Saudi Arabia: All Atheists Are Terrorists’, New Laws to Crack Down On Political Dissidents
New Age Islam News Bureau
2
Apr 2014
Hamas P M in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniya (C) waves to the audience during a public rally marking 10 years since an Israeli air strike killed Hamas spiritual leader Photo by AFP
Arab World
• Saudi Arabia: All Atheists Are Terrorists’, New Laws to Crack Down On Political Dissidents
• Qatar report: Saudis destabilized nations revolutionized by ‘Arab Spring’
• Syrian Army Targets Gunmen Hideouts in Daraa, Quneitra, Kills Scores
• Jaafari: Militants in Syria Prepare Chemical Attack in Damascus
• Six killed in suicide attack on Iraq army recruits
• Three explosions at Cairo University, at least one dead
• Extremists have hijacked Islam: OIC Secretary General
• Penalties are the very small part of the Sharia system - Islam expert
• Don't be influenced by Orientalist's propaganda: renowned Hadeeth scholar to Muslims
• Assad: Syrian People Have no Option but to Triumph over Terrorism
• Egypt Muslim Brotherhood chief calls Sisi a "tyrant"
• No voting in Iraq's militant-held areas, says Anbar governor
• Al-Azhar Grand Imam - Al-Azhar Keen to Spread Islamic Values, Culture
South Asia
• 32 Taliban militants killed or injured, 8 detained in Afghan operations
• Suicide attack near interior ministry in Kabul kills 6 policemen
• Kidnapped Afghan candidate executed in northern Afghanistan
• Anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism bill passed
• UK delegation ‘surprised’ at Tarique’s ‘first president’ comment
Africa
• 15 civilians killed in 'suicide attack' in Nigeria: Military
• Libyan rebels will agree to end oil port blockade within days
• Libya burns cash, halts projects to battle budget crisis
• Slain Kenyan Muslim cleric an avowed Al-Qaeda sympathiser
• Kenya arrests 657 after blast, Muslim scholar killed
Pakistan
• Pakistan lawmakers move to close Sharia advisory body
• Lawmakers for regulating madrassa education
• PPP wants action against Lashkar-i-Jhangvi’s ‘150 sleeper cells’
• Missing man left Jamaat-i-Islami after returning from Afghan Jihad
• Efforts to sell small arms and jets to S. Arabia underway: Aziz
• At least two killed, 13 injured in blast near Pak-Afghan border
• Three people killed, two women injured in Quetta firing
• Faith trial: SHO issued notice in blasphemy case
• Pakistan’s largest religious minority, the Hindus, demand rights
Europe
• British sniper kills 6 Taliban fighters with a single bullet
• Le Pen: ‘We don’t have problems with Islam’
• UK ‘thanks’ Dhaka for abstaining from voting on Crimea issue
• UN aims to evacuate 19,000 Muslims under threat in CAR
• Terrorism: European Islamic Terrorists Inspired By Syria
• UN concerned Rohingya excluded from Myanmar census
Mideast
• As Hamas declines and Islamic Jihad strengthens, chaos could ensue in Gaza
• Police bust alleged teen prostitution ring in Tel Aviv
• Qaeda attack on army HQ in south Yemen kills 4: Security
• Zionist Minister: Palestinians to Pay ‘Heavy Price’ for UN Move
• Palestinians to seek further UN recognition: Abbas
• The EU should consult with us before making claims: Turkish FM
Southeast Asia
• Indonesia's secular parties too strong for pro-Sharia contenders
• Indonesia’s Islamic Finance Sector Broadens
• Bible Society told to write to attorney-general for return of Al-Kitab
India
• Bangladesh watches election process in India keenly
• Pak envoy to meet Kashmiri separatist leaders today
• Security beefed up at Welham Girls' School after IM letter
• India increases Omani student scholarships
• PM proposes a global convention ‘no-first use of nuclear weapons’
North America
• US Prosecutors say Hamza sent lieutenants to jihad training camps
• FBI, military hunt ex-Army recruit suspected of plotting 'Ft. Hood-inspired jihad'
• US officials: Abbas playing for leverage, not trying to scuttle talks
• US has not refused Pakistan’s request for defence equipment
Australia
• Aussie Cleric Supports Banned Terrorist Group, Jabhat al- Nusra
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/saudi-arabia-all-atheists-terrorists’,/d/66386
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Arab World
Saudi Arabia: All Atheists Are Terrorists’, New Laws to Crack Down On Political Dissidents
April 02, 2014
Saudi Arabia has officially identified atheists as terrorists in sweeping new laws that threaten up to 20 years in prison for almost any criticism of the government or Islam.
The regulations place secular citizens who commit thought crimes in the same category as violent terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda's Yemen branch and Saudi Hezbollah.
Under the new decree by King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia will jail for up to 20 years anyone who fights in conflicts abroad - an apparent move to deter Saudis from joining rebels in Syria.
But the law also applies to any Saudi citizen or a foreigner residing in the kingdom that 'calls for atheist thought in any form or calls into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based.'
The laws have been denounced by human rights groups for making no distinction between religious expression and violent extremism.
'Saudi authorities have never tolerated criticism of their policies, but these recent laws and regulations turn almost any critical expression or independent association into crimes of terrorism,' said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
The counter-terrorism measure have also been mocked by Al Qaeda's Yemen branch which said they would not deter the Islamist group's fighters and that they proved the kingdom was in the pay of the United States.
In an online statement, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) also said Riyadh's designation of the Muslim Brotherhood - a group whose political wings have contested elections in several countries - as a terrorist organisation proved that secular authorities would never tolerate Islamist groups.
AQAP, seen as one of the most dangerous Al Qaeda branches after it plotted attacks on international airliners, is thought to have several hundred Saudi militants fighting alongside Yemeni counterparts against the government in Sanaa.
On Feb 3, Saudi Arabia announced tougher punishments for Saudis seeking to join Islamist militant groups abroad and on March 7 the interior ministry designated a number of groups, including the Brotherhood, as terrorist organisations.
In the group's first public response to the measures, senior AQAP official Ibrahim al-Rubaysh said of the Saudi authorities in an audio tape posted online: 'Their employers are the White House.' He added that Riyadh appeared to consider the U.S. authorities as 'gods.'
Addressing pro-government Muslim preachers in Saudi Arabia, Rubaysh said: 'You are more American than the Americans themselves.'
Under the new measures, Saudi Arabia will jail for up to 20 years any citizen who fights in conflicts abroad - an apparent move to deter Saudis from joining rebels in Syria and then posing a security risk once they return home.
Saudi Arabia's Islamic religious authorities have spoken out against Saudi fighters going to Syria, but the Interior Ministry estimates that around 1,200 Saudis have gone nonetheless.
Riyadh fears returning fighters will target the ruling Al Saud royal family - as happened after the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
An appeal contained in the counter-terrorism measures for fighters to turn themselves in had not been answered, Rubaysh said, adding that this showed 'there is no weight on the hearts of the Mujahideen (holy warriors)'.
Saudi authorities also fear the Muslim Brotherhood, whose Sunni Islamist doctrines challenge the Saudi principle of dynastic rule, has tried to build support inside the kingdom since the Arab Spring revolutions.
In Egypt, the Brotherhood, which won every election after the toppling of veteran leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011, has been driven underground since the army deposed President Mohamed Mursi, a member of the group which also suffered repression in the Mubarak era.
Rubaysh said the listing of the Brotherhood as a terrorist group sent 'a message for all groups who are softening their processes and abandoning some of their principles' that they would never be accepted by the 'heads of disbelief'.
'Heads of disbelief' is a phrase used by al Qaeda to indicate secular or pro-Western authorities.
'It is required to stand firm unto death if we desire the satisfaction of Allah,' Rubaysh said.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2594139/Saudi-Arabia-declares-atheists-terrorists-new-laws.html#ixzz2xldP62HU
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Qatar report: Saudis destabilized nations revolutionised by ‘Arab Spring’
Special to WorldTribune.com
April 02, 2014
ABU DHABI — Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been identified as destabilizing Arab states.
A Qatari think tank asserted that Abu Dhabi and Riyad were trying to stop the Islamic revolt throughout the Middle East.
The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies said Saudi Arabia was alarmed by the prospect that the so-called Arab Spring would reach the Gulf Cooperation Council kingdom.
“From the beginning, Saudi Arabia, the most conservative state in the region, viewed the Arab Spring, as a threat, prompting it to lead the counter-revolutionary axis,” the report said.
The report, which sought to explain the withdrawal of ambassadors from Qatar by Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, said Riyad also opposed the revolt in Libya, and for six months did not intervene in the pro-democracy demonstrations against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2011. Riyad was also said to have undermined the Islamist government of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi in 2012.
The report, dated March 10 and titled “Recalling GCC Ambassadors from Doha: A Background and Future Predictions,” said Saudi Arabia and the UAE targeted two Arab League countries over the last three years. They were identified as Tunisia and Yemen.
“Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are playing an active role in destabilizing the post-revolution regimes in Tunisia and Yemen, as Saudi Arabia remains uninterested in the success of any pluralistic political experiment that involves an alternation of power,” the report said.
In contrast, Qatar has supported the Arab Spring as well as such Iranian proxies as Hamas and Hizbullah. Doha was also a leading ally of the new Islamist regimes in Egypt and Libya. “The main challenge that Qatar constitutes to Saudi Arabia, and the entire political system in the region, is the adoption of an independent foreign policy from both the Saudi and Iranian axes,” the report said. “Saudi’s government was not discouraged by the success of the Arab revolutions in overthrowing corrupt regimes,” the report said. “Instead, it
continued to undermine the nascent democracies and veer the process of democratic transition off course. Its greatest success in this endeavor was in Egypt, the most contested subject with Qatar.”
The report said the UAE was not threatened by Arab Spring. Still, Abu Dhabi adopted a “quasi-jihadist attitude” against the Muslim Brotherhood. The UAE was also said to favor normalization with Israel. The think tank warned that Saudi Arabia and its allies were pushing Qatar away from the GCC. The report said Doha, despite Saudi pressure, would not tolerate any interference in its diplomatic or domestic policy. “Conversely, these actions could potentially move Qatar closer toward the Iranian axis, an option that was not on the table even in far more
difficult times in the past, especially after it became evident that bowing to pressure only leads to further demands, and that there are some that accept nothing less than complete surrender,” the report said.
http://www.worldtribune.com/2014/04/01/qatar-report-charges-saudis-destabilized-nations-revolutionized-by-arab-spring/
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Syrian Army Targets Gunmen Hideouts in Daraa, Quneitra, Kills Scores
April 02, 2014
The Syrian army carried out several successful operations against the armed terrorist groups across Syrian provinces on Wednesday, killing and injuring a number of terrorists and destroying their hideouts and weapons.
A unit of the armed forces targeted an armed terrorist group in Tesil area in the western countryside of Daraa, killing all its members, including the leader Yaser Abu Yahya.
A military source told SANA news agency that army units killed and injured a number of terrorists in al-Zabayer area in Allajat, al-Samaqiyat farms and Etman town in the countryside and the surrounding of al-Hajeh town in Quneitra countryside.
The army also destroyed a number of the terrorists’ cars equipped with heavy machineguns in the operation.
Earlier, one civilian was killed and seven others injured by terrorists' mortar shells fired on various areas in Jaramana city in Damascus countryside, hitting al-Turbeh and al-Nasim neighborhoods, al-Siyouf square and the yard behind al-Radi Hospital.
Meanwhile, a mortar shell fired by terrorists landed on al-Fayha Sport City, causing material damage only.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=143834&cid=23&fromval=1&frid=23&seccatid=20&s1=1
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Jaafari: Militants in Syria Prepare Chemical Attack in Damascus
April 02, 2014
Armed gangs in Syria are conspiring to stage aJaafari chemical attack in the Damascus suburbs in order to later lay the blame on the Bashar Assad’s government, Syria's UN Ambassador Bashar Jaafari has warned the Security Council.
“Competent Syrian authorities intercepted a wireless communication between two terrorists in the Jawbar area of the Damascus governorate,” Jaafari said in a letter addressed to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council. The letter was published on Tuesday on the UN website.
In that communication, the diplomat said, one “of the terrorists said that another terrorist named Abu Nadir was covertly distributing gas masks.”
The Syrian security services, Jaafari said, also intercepted another communication between militants one of whom was called Abu Jihad. During that conversation, the latter indicated that toxic gas would be used and “asked those who are working with him to supply protective masks.”
Back in March, Jaafari informed the Security Council that a person named Haytham Salahuddin Qassab “transported chemical substances from Turkey on behalf of the terrorist organization known as Ahrar al-Sham.” He allegedly purchased the chemical agents from Turkey’s Dharwa Import and Export Company.
The substances reportedly included among others white phosphorous and isopropyl hydroxylamine. It was alleged, Jaafari said, that militants planned to use them to produce white smoke in certain areas and later claim that Syrian planes had bombed them.
“However, the primary reason for requesting those substances was to use them as chemical weapons,” the Syrian diplomat warned.
The information in the previous letter along with new details obtained from the intercepted communications confirm “that armed terrorist groups are preparing to use toxic gas in the Jawbar quarter and other areas, in order to accuse the Syrian Government of having committed such an act of terrorism,” Jaafari said.
Syria agreed to the destruction of its chemical weapons arsenal through a deal brokered largely by Russia, after the US threatened to use military force against the country. That followed a deadly chemical attack in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta in August, 2013. The Syrian government and the opposition have pointed the finger of blame at each other over the incident that killed hundreds, and both have denied their involvement.
So far, 49 percent of the raw materials for Syria's poison gas and nerve agent program scheduled for destruction have been shipped overseas, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said last week.
The rest is expected to leave the country by the end of April, the global chemical weapons watchdog added in a report to the UN, reported AP. The total amount of chemicals either removed or already destroyed inside Syria is 53.6 percent.
According to the OPCW, Damascus pledged to remove all chemicals by April 13, except for those in areas “that are presently inaccessible,” which face an April-27 deadline. But so far the deadlines have not been met, with the Syrian government blaming the unstable situation inside the country.
Under the deal, some chemicals are to be destroyed at facilities in the US and Europe, while a large part of the toxic material is to be eliminated on board a ship at sea. Syria has declared around 700 tons of the most-dangerous chemicals, 500 tons of less-dangerous precursor chemicals and 122 tons of isopropanol – an active ingredient in sarin gas production. The deadline for the mission’s completion is June 30.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?fromval=1&cid=23&frid=23&eid=143768
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Six killed in suicide attack on Iraq army recruits
April 02, 2014
A suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to an army recruitment centre in north Iraq Wednesday, killing six would-be soldiers, the latest in a year-long surge of nationwide bloodshed.
The morning attack at the recruitment centre in Riyadh, a mostly-Sunni town in ethnically-mixed Kirkuk province, injured 14 other recruits, according to army Major General Mohammed Khalaf al-Dulaimi.
Dr. Mohammed al-Juburi at the main hospital in nearby Hawijah confirmed the toll.
The attack comes amid a surge in violence, Iraq's worst since it emerged from a brutal sectarian war that left tens of thousands dead in 2008, with just weeks to go before parliamentary elections.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/98091/World/Region/Six-killed-in-suicide-attack-on-Iraq-army-recruits.aspx
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Three explosions at Cairo University, at least one dead
April 02, 2014
Three bombs have exploded at Cairo University, killing one policeman and injuring at least five others.
A fourth device was deactivated.
Shortly before midday, two explosions took place near a police guard post outside the university, according to Hesham Youssef, the head of the explosives section at Giza security directorate.
At around one o'clock, a third bomb went off in a tree near the university's front gate.
They were detonated remotely.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/98104/Egypt/Politics-/UPDATE--Three-explosions-at-Cairo-University,-at-l.aspx
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Extremists have hijacked Islam: OIC Secretary General
April 02, 2014
Extremist voices and groups have hijacked Islam and misappropriated the right to speak on its behalf, according to Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani.
In his address at the inaugural session of the 25th Session of the Arab Summit held in Kuwait recently, he stressed that in actual fact, Islam with its established values and aspirations and with its advocacy of justice, equality, concord, coexistence and mutuality, is totally unrelated to them and to their ideologies and what they call for.
Madani said that the relations between the OIC and the League of Arab States are of a fundamental and pivotal character, with the cause of Palestine, Al-Aqusa Mosque and Al-Quds at the forefront, particularly under the recurrent and systematic Israeli violations aimed at judaising Al-Quds and the stifling and brutal constraints meted upon the Jerusalamities.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/news/549511
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Penalties are the very small part of the Sharia system - Islam expert
April 02, 2014
The new criminal code, based on Sharia law, that includes such punishments as flogging, the dismemberment of limbs and stoning to death, comes into force in Brunei this month. The Sultan of Brunei approved the new code last autumn saying he wanted to introduce a full Sharia system in his country. The Voice of Russia talked to Dr. Zakaryya Abdel-Hady in Doha, an Associate professor of Islamic Thought and culture.
The 67-year monarch claimed that the transition to a system of Islamic law would help bringing justice in his country. In particular, the sharia based criminal code envisages flogging for use of alcohol, dismemberment of limbs for a theft and stoning to death for adultery.
The sharia law punishments are envisaged only for Muslims who account for 70 percent of the country’s population. The rest of the population of which 15 percent are ethnic Chinese will still stand trial in civil courts.
Full report at:
http://voiceofrussia.com/2014_04_01/Penalties-are-the-very-small-part-of-the-Sharia-system-Islam-expert-6258/
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Don't be influenced by Orientalist's propaganda: renowned Hadeeth scholar to Muslims
April 02, 2014
RIYADH — Orientalists are spreading false propaganda about the Qur’an and Hadeeth and their voice is above others as they are read and heard all over the world.
All their misleading works are called research and even some groups of educated Muslims are influenced by them, a renowned Hadeeth scholar and King Faisal Award winner said here recently.
"Muslims should not get influenced by their malicious and false propaganda," Dr. Muhammad Mustafa Azmi said at the fourth Lajna Ilmiya workshop titled “From the cradle to the grave” here recently.
Azmi, who was the chief guest at the event, said both the teacher and the student should follow the Qur’an and Hadeeth as the teacher is a trainer on one hand while on the other he is a witness and a witness should follow Islam completely because today’s student is a teacher of future.
Full report at:
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20140402200576
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Assad: Syrian People Have no Option but to Triumph over Terrorism
April 02, 2014
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Wednesday that the important role which Russia is today playing in the international arena contributes clearly to drawing up a new map for a multi-polar world, state-run news agency SANA reported.
In a meeting with a delegation of the Russia-based Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, headed by Sergey Stepashin, Assad said the new world achieves international justice and serves the interest of the countries and peoples who are adherent to their sovereignty and the independence of their decision.
Full report at:
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=143823&cid=23&fromval=1&frid=23&seccatid=20&s1=1
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Egypt Muslim Brotherhood chief calls Sisi a "tyrant"
World Bulletin/News Desk
April 02, 2014
The top leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood accused Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief widely tipped to become the country's next president, of being a tyrant and predicted he would fail to stay in power.
Speaking on Tuesday from a cage in a courtroom where he faces trial for inciting violence, Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie also dismissed accusations by the military-backed government that the group engaged in terrorism.
"The people will not accept an army tyrant," Badie said in reference to Sisi, who resigned from the military on Wednesday in order to contest a presidential election on May 26-27.
Sisi toppled President Mohamed Mursi, who was freely elected in 2012 after many years rising through the Brotherhood, last July after mass protests against his rule.
Full report at:
http://www.worldbulletin.net/headlines/132616/egypt-muslim-brotherhood-chief-calls-sisi-a-tyrant
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No voting in Iraq's militant-held areas, says Anbar governor
World Bulletin / News Desk
April 02, 2014
Residents of rebel-held cities and towns in Iraq's western Anbar province will have to leave their neighborhoods to cast ballots in upcoming parliamentary elections, Anbar Governor Ahmed al-Dulaimi said.
Al-Dulaimi told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday that Iraq's electoral commission would "monitor the affairs" of residents of militant-held areas – along with those who have been internally displaced – who wish to cast ballots.
"Residents of [rebel-seized towns] can participate in elections, but from outside their cities if they can manage to leave," the governor said.
Full report at:
http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/132675/no-voting-in-iraqs-militant-held-areas-says-anbar-governor
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Al-Azhar Grand Imam - Al-Azhar Keen to Spread Islamic Values, Culture
April 02, 2014
Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb received on Monday 31/3/2014 at his office at the headquarters of al-Azhar a delegation of senior scholars from Morocco and Algeria.
Al-Tayyeb affirmed the keenness of al-Azhar to spread the Islamic values and culture expressed by scientists over the centuries.
He asserted that al-Azhar is ready to publish heritage books that reflect the depth of relations between the two Arab people in Mashreq and Maghreb.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201404011285.html
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South Asia
32 Taliban militants killed or injured, 8 detained in Afghan operations
Apr 02 2014
At least 32 Taliban militants were killed or injured during coordinated military operations by Afghan national security forces in the past 24 hours.
The operations were conducted by Afghan national police (ANP) in cooperation with the Afghan national army (ANA) and Afghan intelligence – national directorate of security (NDS) operatives.
Interior ministry of Afghanistan confirmed in a statement that 20 Taliban militants were killed and 12 others were injured during the operations.
The statement further added that the operations were conducted in Kabul, Laghman, Zabul, Uruzgan, Maidan Wardak and Logar provinces of Afghanistan during the operations.
Interior ministry also added that 8 Taliban militants were detained during the military operations and Afghan national security forces confiscated various types of weapons and explosives during the operations.
Full report at:
http://www.khaama.com/32-taliban-militants-killed-or-injured-8-detained-in-afghan-operations-3528
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Suicide attack near interior ministry in Kabul kills 6 policemen
Apr 02 2014
A suicide bomber detonated his explosives near the interior ministry of Afghanistan on Wednesday afternoon, leaving six policemen dead.
Interior ministry spokesman, Sediq Sediqi confirmed that the incident took place around 2:30 pm on Wednesday.
Sediqi further added that a suicide bomber was looking to enter the ministry compound but detonated his explosives after he was recognized by security forces.
Full report at:
http://www.khaama.com/explosion-heard-in-capital-kabul-3530
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Kidnapped Afghan candidate executed in northern Afghanistan
Apr 02 2014
The Taliban militants group killed a provincial council candidate along with nine other civilians in northern Sar-e-Pul province of Afghanistan, local security officials said.
The provincial council candidate, Hussain Nazari was abducted by the Taliban militants from Jawzjan-Sar-e-Pul highway two days back.
Provincial security chief, Noor Habib Gul Bahar confirmed that the provincial council candidate Hussain Nazari was executed by Taliban militants.
Mr. Gul Bahar further added that nine other civilians who were kidnapped by Taliban were also executed.
Full report at:
http://www.khaama.com/kidnapped-afghan-candidate-executed-in-northern-afghanistan-3527
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Anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism bill passed
By Ahmed Naish | April 2nd, 2014
Parliament yesterday passed legislation on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) following review by the national security committee.
All 53 MPs in attendance at yesterday’s sitting voted in favour of passing the bill.
Presenting the committee report (Dhivehi) to the Majlis floor, MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, chair of the national security committee, explained that the legislation introduces rules governing financial transactions and the inflow and outflow of money from the Maldives.
The bill will also address the persisting dollar shortage, the foreign currency black market, and counterfeiting of dollars, Moosa added.
Moreover, a limit would be placed on the amount of cash that can be taken out of the country, which has to be declared to customs, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party MP said.
Full report at:
http://minivannews.com/politics/anti-money-laundering-and-combating-financing-of-terrorism-bill-passed-81577
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UK delegation ‘surprised’ at Tarique’s ‘first president’ comment
April 02, 2014
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam said a British delegation had expressed surprise over a recent comment by BNP leader Tarique Zia contending that his father, Ziaur Rahman, was the first president of Bangladesh.
“I raised the issue and asked them where Tarique Zia, who is now living in England, got such information after 43 years and what they thought about it,” Shahriar Alam said after meeting with a delegation led by Alan Duncan, UK minister for international development, at the foreign ministry in Dhaka yesterday.
“They told me that they were surprised to hear that. They were smiling when they said so. They did not have any explanation as to why a political party gave such distorted information. They were very surprised,” Shahriar said.
Full report at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/foreign-affairs/2014/apr/02/uk-delegation-
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Africa
15 civilians killed in 'suicide attack' in Nigeria: Military
April 02, 2014
Fifteen civilians were killed and 17 others were injured in a suicide attack in northeast Nigeria carried out by suspected Boko Haram militants, the military said on Tuesday.
Defence spokesman Chris Olukolade said one of the victims was a member of a civilian vigilante group and that the blast, on the outskirts of the capital of restive Borno state, Maiduguri, destroyed eight vehicles.
"Six of the terrorists died while one has been arrested," he added in a statement.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/98080/World/International/-civilians-killed-in-suicide-attack-in-Nigeria-Mil.aspx
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Libyan rebels will agree to end oil port blockade within days
World Bulletin/News Desk
April 02, 2014
A rebel group in eastern Libya has agreed with the government to end its seizure of vital oil ports within days, a senior leader told Reuters on Tuesday, raising hopes for an end to an eight-month stalemate that has dried up state income and fuelled chaos.
There was no immediate comment from the Tripoli government which has been trying since summer to end the blockage of three eastern ports, which previously accounted for more than 600,000 barrels a day of oil exports.
The oil conflict is just one aspect of the turmoil in the OPEC producer where the weak central government is unable to control militias that helped topple Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but refuse to disarm and are trying to grab a share of power or oil wealth.
Full report at:
http://www.worldbulletin.net/headlines/132625/libyan-rebels-will-agree-to-end-oil-port-blockade-within-days-updated
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Libya burns cash, halts projects to battle budget crisis
April 02, 2014
TRIPOLI – Libya is burning through central bank reserves and scrapping infrastructure projects to overcome its worst budget crisis in decades after the seizure of oil installations by armed groups has reduced the government’s income almost to zero.
Oil exports - Libya’s lifeline - fell to less than 100,000 barrels a day last week after militiamen shut down two large oilfields, compounding closures of ports in the east by rebel groups campaigning for regional autonomy.
Exports had exceeded one million bpd before armed militias, who helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in the 2011 civil war, started seizing oil facilities last summer to grab a slice of the country’s oil wealth.
Full report at:
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20140402200552
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Slain Kenyan Muslim cleric an avowed Al-Qaeda sympathiser
AFP
April 02, 2014
MOMBASA - Radical Kenyan Muslim cleric Abubaker Shariff Ahmed, better known as Makaburi, predicted his own violent death barely a month before being gunned down on the streets of Mombasa.
A firebrand preacher who was outspoken in his admiration for the late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Afghanistan's Taliban and Somalia's Shebab rebels, Makaburi had come to be seen by Kenyan authorities as a key instigator of home-grown Islamist terrorism.
Makaburi, who was in his 50s, was also subject to UN sanctions -- a travel ban, asset freeze and targeted arms embargo -- for being a "leading facilitator and recruiter of young Kenyan Muslims for violent militant activity in Somalia", and for having "strong ties with senior Al-Shebab members".
Full report at:
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/654135-slain-kenyan-muslim-cleric-an-avowed-al-qaeda-sympathiser.html
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Kenya arrests 657 after blast, Muslim scholar killed
World Bulletin / News Desk
April 02, 2014
Kenyan police have arrested 657 suspects in Nairobi's mainly Somali neighborhood of Eastleigh following explosions that rocked the area one day earlier and killed six people.
"This act of cowardice perpetrated against innocent and peace-loving Kenyans who were going about their normal activities is barbaric; immediate action has been taken by our security agencies," Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku said in a statement mailed to Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.
Six people were killed and at least 25 others, including women and children, were injured late Monday when twin explosions hit Nairobi's Eatsleigh district.
Officials at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya's main public referral hospital, confirmed to AA that two blast victims were in critical condition.
Full report at:
http://www.worldbulletin.net/headlines/132641/kenya-arrests-657-after-blast-muslim-scholar-killed
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Pakistan
Pakistan lawmakers move to close sharia advisory body
April 02, 2014
Government and opposition lawmakers from Pakistan’s Sindh province came together yesterday to call for the abolition of the country’s official body of Islamic scholars.
The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), which was established in 1962, is constitutionally authorized to advise parliamentarians on the compatibility of laws with Islamic sharia.
Last month, the CII drew strong condemnation from human rights campaigners and civil society after it declared that under Sharia men are permitted to take more than one wife without seeking permission from the existing wife.
"Sharia allows men to wed again without the consent of first or existing wives and we demand that the government amend the [family] law," council chairman Maulana Mohammad Khan Sheerani said in a meeting.
Sheerani went on to say that the country’s laws regarding the minimum age of marriage were un-Islamic and that children of any age should be allowed to get married if they had reached puberty.
Full report at:
http://www.ucanews.com/news/pakistan-lawmakers-move-to-close-sharia-advisory-body/70615
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Lawmakers for regulating madrassa education
April 02, 2014
ISLAMABAD - Agencies - The National Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution, urging the government to regulate education in religious seminaries.
The resolution, seeking improvements in the curriculum and the disciplinary processes of religious seminaries, was supported by both the treasury and the opposition.
While tabling the resolution, PPP MNA Nafisa Shah said a majority of the madrassas was playing a constructive role, but many were engaged in promoting sectarianism and extremism. She added science should also be taught as a subject in religious schools.
PPP MNA Shazia Marri said introducing reforms in seminaries was the need of the hour, adding unregistered seminaries should be registered.
Full report at:
http://www.nation.com.pk/national/02-Apr-2014/lawmakers-for-regulating-madrassa-education
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PPP wants action against Lashkar-i-Jhangvi’s ‘150 sleeper cells’
2014-04-02
LAHORE: The PPP has called upon the Punjab government to take action against what it called ‘150 sleeper cells’ of the outlawed Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ) in the province.
Fawad Chaudhry, the media adviser of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, told Dawn on Tuesday that the party had taken serious notice of a threatening letter sent by the LJ to Bilawal Bhutto.
Ali Sufian who claimed to be a LJ spokesperson said in the letter that his group would kill the PPP chairman for his hostile stance against militants.
Fawad Chaudhry said: “The LJ was involved in the attack on Bilawal Bhutto’s security guards in Karachi and we believe that members of this group were hiding in Punjab.” He accused the provincial government of being reluctant to take action against the LJ.
Full report at:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1097153/ppp-wants-action-against-ljs-150-sleeper-cells
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Missing man left Jamaat-i-Islami after returning from Afghan Jihad
April 02, 2014
ISLAMABAD: The man whose disappearance led the Islamabad High Court (IHC) issue notice to the director general of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) last week was once a member of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI).
It is learnt that the man, known to his friends as Arif Balakoti, parted ways with the JI in mid 1990s, on return from Afghanistan where he had gone to participate in ‘jihad’, and started a printing press in Rawalpindi Saddar.
On March 24, Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan of the IHC directed the ISI chief, Lt-Gen Zaheerul Islam, to appear before the court on April 2. He was issued the notice in connection with a petition filed by Parveen Bibi, the wife of Mohammad Arif, who has been missing since November 2013.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1096786/missing-man-left-ji-after-returning-from-afghan-jihad
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Efforts to sell small arms and jets to S. Arabia underway: Aziz
2014-04-02
Adviser to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said in an interview with the BBC that Pakistan was making efforts to sell small arms and fighter jets to Saudi Arabia while also maintaining a balance between its ties with Iran and Saudi Arabia.
When asked if Pakistan would supply arms to Syria, Aziz said at this point in time there was no Syria-specific agreement, adding that Pakistan was making efforts to sell small arms and fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.
The prime minister's adviser said that like any country which with a flourishing arms industry, Pakistan was trying to sell its arms and there was nothing dubious about Saudi Arabia's interest in purchase weapons from Pakistan.
Full report at:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1097268/efforts-to-sell-small-arms-and-jets-to-s-arabia-underway-aziz/print
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At least two killed, 13 injured in blast near Pak-Afghan border
2014-04-02
QUETTA: At least two people were killed and 13 others wounded on Wednesday after a powerful explosion occurred near the Pak-Afghan border, police said.
The blast ripped through a private bank in the Vash Mandi area on the Afghan side of the border.
An Afghan police official who requested anonymity told Dawn.com that militants had planted an improvised explosive device in a motorcycle parked outside the bank.
"The Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off when a vehicle of Afghan police approached the bank," he said.
Full report at:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1097261/at-least-two-killed-13-injured-in-blast-near-pak-afghan-border
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Three people killed, two women injured in Quetta firing
2014-04-02
QUETTA: At least three persons were killed and two women injured in a firing incident on Wednesday in the Satellite Town area of Quetta, the capital of the southwestern Balochistan province, police said.
Imran Qureshi, the Superintendent of Police Sariab told Dawn.com that the armed militants riding on a motorcycle opened fire at a car and killed three people inside it.
"Two women inside the car sustained serious wounds," Qureshi said. The injured women were taken to Civil Hospital Quetta for medical treatment.
Full report at:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1097266/three-people-killed-two-women-injured-in-quetta-firing
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Faith trial: SHO issued notice in blasphemy case
April 2, 2014
LAHORE: An additional district and sessions judge issued a show cause notice on Tuesday to the Green Town SHO for not producing the police record for the bail petition of a suspect accused of blasphemy.
Petitioner Asif Parvaiz had allegedly used derogatory language about Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the Holy Quran.
At previous hearings the court has sought police record but it has not been provided. The court had directed the SHO last week to produce a record of the case at the next hearing.Parvaiz said in his petition that he was innocent and had not committed the alleged offences. Saeed Ahmed Khokhar had registered case against Parvaiz under sections 295/A,295/B,295/C and 25-D of the Telegraph Act in Green Town police station on September 25, 2013.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/690162/faith-trial-sho-issued-notice-in-blasphemy-case/
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Pakistan’s largest religious minority, the Hindus, demand rights
April 2, 2014
LAHORE: A fifty-member delegation of the Pakistani Hindu community demanded on Tuesday that the government ensure religious freedom, respect for worship places, protection of their lives and properties.
The concerns were expressed at the celebration of Holi organised by the South Asia Partnership-Pakistan (SAP-PK) at its office on Tuesday. The delegates came from various districts in the Punjab.
Kanwal Kishor from Rahim Yar Khan said what Quaid-i-Azam had said in his speeches about minority rights had not been honoured, especially in the case of Hindus.
He said there were eight reserved seats for minorities in the Punjab Assembly, out of which only one was for Hindus even though they were the largest religious minority group in the province.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/690172/pakistans-largest-religious-minority-demands-rights/
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Europe
British sniper kills 6 Taliban fighters with a single bullet
Kounteya Sinha,TNN | Apr 2, 2014
LONDON: A young British sniper has become the toast of the armed forces after a single bullet fired by him killed six Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
The ministry of defence later confirmed that a 20-year-old army sniper killed six Taliban fighters with a single bullet when the shot hit the trigger switch of a suicide bomber's vest.
Lt Col Richard Slack, commanding officer of 9/12 Royal Lancers, described what happened. British and Afghan troops were confronting 20 Taliban fighters. The sniper - a 20-year-old lance corporal from the Coldstream Guards - shot a would-be suicide bomber from a range of 850 metres. The bullet hit the vest of an Afghan suicide bomber, killing him and several men around him after his explosive vest detonated. The marksman hit the trigger in Kakaran, southern Afghanistan, last December.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/British-sniper-kills-6-Taliban-fighters-with-a-single-bullet/articleshow/33101376.cms
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Le Pen: ‘We don’t have problems with Islam’
By Elaine Ganley, Associated Press
April 02, 2014
HENIN-BEAUMONT — Marine Le Pen saw political gold in the abandoned coal mines of northern France that once pumped life, jobs and an identity into places like Henin-Beaumont — a bleak town that the far-right leader says is the avant-garde of her anti-immigration party’s march to power.
Le Pen’s party, which disdains the European Union and globalization and fears that Islamic culture will subvert French civilization, is seeking to build a grassroots base upon which to draw ahead of May elections for the European Parliament and the French presidential vote in 2017.
Full report at:
http://buenosairesherald.com/article/155847/le-pen-%E2%80%98we-don%E2%80%99t-have-problems-with-isla
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UK ‘thanks’ Dhaka for abstaining from voting on Crimea issue
April 02, 2014
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam said British High Commissioner in Dhaka Robert Gibson “thanked” Bangladesh for abstaining from voting on Crimea issue in the United Nations General Assembly.
“Thank you for abstaining from voting,” he quoted Robert Gibson as saying. Robert Gibson and British State Minister for International Development Alan Duncan met Shahriar Alam at the foreign ministry yesterday.
The UNGA on Thursday adopted a non-binding resolution on Crimea where Bangladesh abstained from voting without explaining the reason.
“He [Gibson] actually expressed his satisfaction and we also said there are friends who are not so happy, but they [British] actually said they are happy that we remained abstained,” Shahriar said.
Full report at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/foreign-affairs/2014/apr/02/uk-%E2%80%98thanks%E2%80%99-dhaka-abstaining-voting-crimea-issue#sthash.VaFBj3kK.dpuf
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UN aims to evacuate 19,000 Muslims under threat in CAR
World Bulletin/News Desk
April 02, 2014
The United Nations said on Tuesday it was trying to evacuate 19,000 Muslims urgently from Bangui and other parts of Central African Republic who are surrounded by anti-balaka Christian militia threatening their lives.
Anti-balaka forces control major routes to and from Bangui as well as many towns and villages in the southwest, the U.N. refugee agency said. The militia has become more militarised as it steps up attacks on Muslims and African Union peacekeepers.
"What we don't want is to stand by and watch people being slaughtered," UNHCR spokeswoman Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba told a news briefing about a conflict that U.N. officials have warned could spiral into genocide.
Full report at:
http://www.worldbulletin.net/headlines/132601/un-aims-to-evacuate-19000-muslims-under-threat-in-car
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Terrorism: European Islamic Terrorists Inspired By Syria
By Syria Religion News - Google News
April 02, 2014
Europe is facing a growing problem with young Moslem men being recruited by Islamic clergy to go fight alongside (and often against) the Syrian rebels. European intelligence officials believe about 2,000 European Moslems have gone to Syria so far and about ten percent have been killed. More than ten percent have returned and these jihad veterans often seek out new recruits. These jihadis are very effective at attracting new volunteers, although so far only about 10 per 100,000 Moslems have been persuaded to go. As small as that portion is, a far larger percentage (over ten percent) of European Moslems will admit to admiring the goals and methods of Islamic terrorists. Most of those who did go to Syria are now more radicalized than when they left and police fear they may contribute to more Islamic terrorism in Europe. Full report at:
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htterr/articles/20140331.aspx
http://pressgrab.com/SY/damascus/counter-terrorism-european-islamic-terrorists-inspired-by-syria-strategy-page/
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UN concerned Rohingya excluded from Myanmar census
Associated Press | Myanmar | April 2, 2014
The first thing Khalid was asked when census workers entered his home in Myanmar’s troubled state of Rakhine was his ethnicity. In a clear, confident voice, the father of eight responded “Rohingya.” The workers, most of them school teachers, said thank you, turned around and left.
Accompanied by police, the women continued going from home to home in the tiny, dusty Muslim village, carrying their large box of mostly blank questionnaires.
And with every same answer they moved on.
Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation, only recently emerged from a half-century of military rule. Though it is carrying out its first census in 30 years, hundreds of thousands of members of the long-persecuted Muslim minority are likely to go uncounted.
Full report at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/world/asia/un-concerned-rohingya-excluded-from-myanmar-census/
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Mideast
As Hamas declines and Islamic Jihad strengthens, chaos could ensue in Gaza
April 02, 2014
The decline of Hamas and increasing strength of Islamic Jihad may result in a new wave of chaos in the Gaza Strip, The Economist magazine writes in its latest issue.
One sign of the change was the most recent round of mutual shelling two weeks ago, which was conducted, on the Palestinian side, by Islamic Jihad. When Egypt wanted to bring an end to the firing, it bypassed Hamas and went straight to Islamic Jihad – and, "within minutes, calm was restored."
"Islamic Jihad thus claimed credit for the fighting—and for the subsequent truce," the magazine writes.
Islamic Jihad is receiving "dollops of money" from Iran, as well as weaponry that is more advanced than anything Hamas can field. "Flush with Iranian cash, Islamic Jihad has been trying to take the lead in dispensing charity during Gaza’s Muslim festivals."
Full report at:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.583022
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Police bust alleged teen prostitution ring in Tel Aviv
April 02, 2014
Seven men between the ages of 17-45 were arrested in Tel Aviv on suspicion of running a prostitution ring of 25 teenage girls between the ages of 14-18, according to the police.
The girls allegedly performed sexual acts in return for money and sexual favors.
In a separate incident last week, seven teenage boys were arrested for the alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl in Tel Aviv.
In another similar case in December, police arrested five teenage boys suspected of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl.
http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Police-bust-alleged-teen-prostitution-ring-in-Tel-Aviv-347270
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Qaeda attack on army HQ in south Yemen kills 4: Security
April 02, 2014
Suspected Al-Qaeda militants launched a rocket and car bomb attack on an army headquarters in Yemen's main southern city of Aden on Wednesday killing four people, a security official said.
The assailants fired rocket-propelled grenades at the headquarters in the Tawahi district of Aden, before infiltrating the complex, he said. They also blew up a car bomb at the entrance.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/98098/World/Region/Qaeda-attack-on-army-HQ-in-south-Yemen-kills--Secu.aspx
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Zionist Minister: Palestinians to Pay ‘Heavy Price’ for UN Move
April 02, 2014
Renewed Palestinian action to join UN agencies and international treaties could push ‘Israel’ to annex territory in the occupied West Bank, a hardline Zionist minister warned on Wednesday.
"If they are now threatening (to go to UN institutions), they must know something simple: they will pay a heavy price," Tourism Minster Uzi Landau told public radio.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Tuesday said he had begun steps to join several UN agencies, abandoning a pledge to freeze such action for the duration of peace talks -- which end in just four weeks.
The Palestinians had repeatedly threatened to resume their action through international courts and the UN over Israel's settlement expansion on occupied territory in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem.
Full report at:
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?fromval=1&cid=23&frid=23&eid=143780
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Palestinians to seek further UN recognition: Abbas
2014-04-02
RAMALLAH: In a surprise move that could jeopardise US peace efforts, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday resumed a bid for further Palestinian recognition by the United Nations, despite a promise to suspend such efforts during nine months of negotiations with Israel.
Abbas signed “State of Palestine” applications for 15 UN agencies in a hastily convened ceremony televised live from his West Bank headquarters. Abbas said he was compelled to take action because Israel had failed to carry out a promised released of veteran Palestinian prisoners.
Full report at:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1097142/palestinians-to-seek-further-un-recognition-abbas
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The EU should consult with us before making claims: Turkish FM
April 02, 2014
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has urged the EU’s Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle to ask for Turkey’s view before making statements about the ongoing ban on accessing Twitter and YouTube in Turkey.
Davutoğlu held a meeting with Füle in Brussels late April 1, on the sidelines of a foreign minister meeting of NATO.
Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Davutoğlu said he voiced Tukey’s concerns and convictions concerning Füle’s statements on the bans of Twister and YouTube, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
“Davutoğlu spoke to the press following the meeting, which took place upon Füle’s request, stating he conveyed to Füle that having consultations with Turkey would be useful before making these kinds of statements,” Anadolu reported.
Full report at:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/the-eu-should-consult-with-us-before-making-claims-turkish-fm.aspx?pageID=238&nID=64438&NewsCatID=338
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Southeast Asia
Indonesia's secular parties too strong for pro-Sharia contenders
April 02, 2014
Despite a recent poll showcased by fundamentalist groups saying 72% of Indonesians think Sharia should be the law of the land, judging by past elections and current voter sentiment, Sharia won't be instituted countrywide anytime soon.
An entity calling itself the SEM Institute, evidently connected with the group Islam in Indonesia, says it obtained the result after polling 1,498 people in 38 cities between late December 2013 and late January this year. Islam in Indonesia and Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) posted the survey's results on their websites.
Yet five Islamic parties competing in next week's parliamentary elections are forecast to win a combined 15% of the vote – down from 26% in 2009, and 38% in 2004– according to the Indonesian Survey Institute (ISI).
Full report at:
http://khabarsoutheastasia.com/en_GB/articles/apwi/articles/features/2014/04/02/feature-04
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Indonesia’s Islamic Finance Sector Broadens
April 02, 2014
Indonesia’s Islamic banks maintained double-digit asset growth last year while rural and non-bank segments made further gains, broadening the industry’s consumer base in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population, but that potential has yet to fully translate into the country’s Islamic banking sector which remains underdeveloped, lagging behind neighbour Malaysia.
Islamic banking assets grew by 24.2 percent to 242.3 trillion rupiah ($21.4 billion) last year, giving the sector a 4.9 percent share of total banking assets, data from Indonesia’s financial service authority or Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK) showed.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/indonesias-islamic-finance-sector-broadens/
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Bible Society told to write to attorney-general for return of Al-Kitab
April 02, 2014
The Selangor government has advised the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) to write to the attorney-general for the return of the Bibles, or Al-Kitab, which were seized by the state religious authorities in January.
Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said today’s exco meeting had agreed that BSM take this course of action to get the 300 Bahasa Malaysia dan Iban language Bibles returned to them.
"We suggest this as under the present circumstances it would be best for them to write to the attorney-general.
“This is also to show that the BSM is keen to get back the seized copies,” he told the media after the weekly exco meeting.
Full report at:
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/bible-society-told-to-write-to-attorney-general-for-return-of-al-kitab
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India
Bangladesh watches election process in India keenly
Jayanta Gupta,TNN | Apr 1, 2014
KOLKATA: Bangladesh is keenly watching the developments in India leading to the Lok Sabha elections. Sources in the neighbouring country said that the Sheikh Hasina government there wants a stable government in India for overall development of the region. Political experts there are also trying to learn how a country like India has succeeded in bringing down the number of incidents of pre-poll violence. Bangladesh witnessed severe violence before the general elections earlier this year, resulting in several deaths.
"A stable government in India will bring stability and development to the region. Countries like Bangladesh will benefit from this. The smaller countries look up to India for development of the region. These countries can develop - both socially and economically - only if the political situation in India is stable. It is also much easier to develop ties with a stable government rather than one that is worried about its own future. There are issues pending such as the Teesta water-sharing agreement. These can only be resolved if there is a stable government in power in India," a source close to the government in Bangladesh indicated.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/lok-sabha-elections-2014/news/Bangladesh-watches-election-process-in-India-keenly/articleshow/33087282.cms?
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Pak envoy to meet Kashmiri separatist leaders today
M Saleem Pandit,TNN | Apr 2, 2014
SRINAGAR: Pakistan's envoy to India, Abdul Basit, has invited several Kashmiri separatists, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Yasin Malik and Mirwiaz Umar Farooq, for a meeting at the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Sources said Pakistan wants the separatist leaders to unite. The separatist on their part are likely to press for concerted efforts from Islamabad to resolve the Kashmir issue when they meet the newly appointed high commissioner.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pak-envoy-to-meet-Kashmiri-separatist-leaders-today/articleshow/33094986.cms
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Security beefed up at Welham Girls' School after IM letter
Seema Sharma,TNN | Apr 2, 2014
DEHRADUN: Welham Girls' School, one of the most well known residential schools in the country, took special measures to secure its campus a day after receiving a threat letter, purportedly from the Indian Mujahideen.
The principal has allowed anxious parents to take their girls home for a week. Visitors are barred and all school trips have been cancelled till further notice.
A mobile van with a wireless set has been stationed outside the school. Police on Cheetah bikes are keeping watch over students crossing the main road while moving from one campus to another.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Security-beefed-up-at-Welham-Girls-School-after-IM-letter/articleshow/33094576.cms
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India increases Omani student scholarships
Apr 2, 2014
The bilateral assistance programme focuses on technological cooperation
India has increased the number of scholarships to 150 offered to Omani students under a bilateral assistance programme.
“In 2011—12, the number of scholarships under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme was only 50. Now, from April 1, it will become 150, which will be a 200 per cent increase,” Indian Ambassador to Oman J S Mukul said.
He urged the Omani government and institutes to utilise to the maximum extent the programmes offered by India, the Times of Oman reported.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-increases-omani-student-scholarships/article5859869.ece
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PM proposes a global convention ‘no-first use of nuclear weapons’
April 2, 2014
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday proposed a global convention on ‘no-first use’ of nuclear weapons as it could lead to elimination of atomic arsenal.
“If all states possessing nuclear weapons recognise that if this is so (nuclear weapons are only for deterrence) and are prepared to declare it, we can quickly move to the establishment of global no-first use norm.
“In many ways this can open the ways to gradual reduction and finally elimination through a nuclear weapon convention.
Such a convention would require necessary verification. It would also require political measures to ensure the stability is maintained at the level as nuclear arsenal approaches zero,” he said.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/pm-proposes-nofirst-use-of-nuclear-weapons/article5862039.ece
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North America
US Prosecutors say Hamza sent lieutenants to jihad training camps
April 02, 2014
Hate preacher Abu Hamza has been dubbed a ‘terrorist leader of global reach’ by the US government who claim he sent ‘lieutenants’ to terror camps worldwide.
A decade after he was first arrested in Britain on a US warrant for terrorism charges sparking an extraordinary extradition battle costing British taxpayers over £2million, the hook-handed cleric is finally due to go on trial next month in New York facing allegations that he controlled a global network of jihadists.
Prosecutors have lodged legal papers ahead of his forthcoming trial alleging that: ‘The [American] government will show that the defendant was a terrorist leader of global reach who ... sent his young lieutenants around the world to engage in terror training.’
The prosecution will say the preacher used Finsbury Park mosque in north London as a recruiting base, not only inspiring jihadists with his hateful sermons, but also allegedly directly providing support to Al Qaeda from Britain.
Full report at:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2593002/US-labels-Hamza-terrorist-leader-global-reach-Prosecutors-say-hook-handed-cleric-sent-lieutenants-jihad-training-camps.html#ixzz2xlYQvICy
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FBI, military hunt ex-Army recruit suspected of plotting 'Ft. Hood-inspired jihad'
April 02, 2014
The FBI is searching for a recent Army recruit believed to be planning a "Fort Hood-inspired jihad against U.S. soldiers," FoxNews.com has learned.
The alert, whose legitimacy was confirmed by military and law enforcement officials, stated that a man identified as Booker had told friends of his "intention to commit jihad." Booker, who is also known as Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, was recruited by the U.S. Army in Kansas City, Mo., in February 2014 and was scheduled to report for basic training on April 7. But he was discharged last week, apparently after law enforcement authorities learned of his alleged plan.
Full report at:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/04/01/military-hunts-one-time-recruit-planning-ft-hood-style-jihad/
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US officials: Abbas playing for leverage, not trying to scuttle talks
April 02, 2014
US officials believe the Palestinians were seeking leverage against Israel by applying for membership in 15 international organizations on Tuesday, rather than trying to torpedo negotiations, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
The fact that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas did not apply to join the International Criminal Court was proof of his desire to continue the talks, the Times quoted the officials as saying, since that move is one that Israel fears could be used to contest its presence in the West Bank.
Full report at:
http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/US-officials-Abbas-playing-for-leverage-not-trying-to-scuttle-talks-347252
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US has not refused Pakistan’s request for defence equipment
2014-04-02
WASHINGTON: The United States has not refused Pakistan's request for excess defence articles (EDA) from its worldwide pool, the State Department said while citing Washington's continued security cooperation with the key South Asian country.
“To be clear, the United States has not refused Pakistan's request regarding EDA sourced from the worldwide pool - to include any request that might involve mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles (MRAPs),” office of the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson's remarks came in response to a series of questions raised at the daily briefing about reports on possible provision of MRAPs to Pakistan.
Full report at:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1097141/us-has-not-refused-pakistans-request-for-defence-equipment
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Australia
Aussie Cleric Supports Banned Terrorist Group, Jabhat al- Nusra
April 02, 2014
Australian Cleric Abu Sulayman continues with his widespread teachings in behalf of the banned terrorist group Jabhat al- Nusra as revealed by his biography released through al-Nusra's Twitter account.
According to the release, Abu Sulayman left his religious study and joined a jihad to Syria. He was motivated by the rampant violence in different Islamic communities. He was particularly agitated by the sufferings of Muslim brothers in Syria.
According to the biography, Abu Sulayman is now a high ranking member of al Nusra's General Islamic Council.
"Having joined the ranks of the Mujahideen, the Shaykh continues his studies and teaching, as well as standing alongside and encouraging his brothers, on and off the battlefield. He has also helped to establish many Islamic programs, travelling around Syria offering Islamic instruction, mediation and legal services to both the Muhajireen and Ansar as well as everyday citizens.''
Full report at:
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/545979/20140401/jihad-al-quaeda-abu-sulayman.htm#.Uzys2qhdUqM
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/saudi-arabia-all-atheists-terrorists’,/d/66386