Sunni Coalition to Demand Arrest of Shia Clerics and Eulogists Accused of Blasphemy in Pakistan During the Recently Concluded Ashura
New Age Islam
News Bureau
04 September
2020
Shia Muslims flagellate
themselves during an Ashura procession during the holy month of Muharram in
Quetta, Pakistan, on Aug. 30. (Photo: AFP)
-----
• Indo-Islamic
Cultural Foundation Will Ensure the Crowdfunding for The Ayodhya Mosque Is
Strictly Adhered to Sharia Law
• Five Years
After Terror Attack, Why Charlie Hebdo Has Reprinted Caricatures of The Prophet
• Uighur Issue
Resonates in US Presidential Polls, China’s ‘Iron Brother’ Pakistan Silent
• Beirut
Residents Race Against Rain to Save Historical Homes Ravaged by Explosion
• Hamas Chief
Haniyeh In Lebanon To Meet Palestinian Factions, Hezbollah’s Nasrallah
Pakistan
• Sunni
Coalition to Demand Arrest of Shia Clerics and Eulogists Accused of Blasphemy
in Pakistan During the Recently Concluded Ashura
• Pakistan
regrets politicisation of UN sanctions regime
• PM’s aide
quits following family business allegations
• Pakistan court
directs govt to raise Jadhav's lawyer issue with India again
• Pakistani
officials: Roadside bomb hits army, kills 3 troops
• Officer, two
soldiers martyred in North Waziristan attack
--------
India
• Indo-Islamic
Cultural Foundation Will Ensure the Crowdfunding for The Ayodhya Mosque Is
Strictly Adhered to Sharia Law
• 'No Elements
of Babri Masjid in New Ayodhya Mosque', Says Architect Designing It
• 180 Sikh
families from Afghanistan arrive in Delhi
• India paves
the way for return of 410 Pakistani Hindus stranded across the border
• J&K: Army
officer injured in Baramulla encounter with terrorists
--------
Europe
• Five Years
After Terror Attack, Why Charlie Hebdo Has Reprinted Caricatures of The Prophet
• UK Public
Tribunal to Probe Uighur ‘Genocide’ Claims In China
• Europe's top
human rights judge visits Turkey despite frequent violations
• Greece, Turkey
agree to talks to avoid accidental clashes in Eastern Med: NATO
• Turkey,
Pakistan rebuke French weekly for reprinting anti-Islam cartoons
• Russia praises
3rd round of Syrian peace talks
• Macron berates
reporter for unveiling Hezbollah talks
• Danish racist
leader applies for Swedish citizenship
--------
South Asia
• Uighur Issue
Resonates in US Presidential Polls, China’s ‘Iron Brother’ Pakistan Silent
• UNAMA Stresses
Need for Women Participation in Intra-Afghan Talks
• Afghanistan’s
new State Minister for Peace officially assumed office
• Afghan,
Taliban Prisoner Swap Ends: Deadlock to Intra-Afghan Talks
• Rohingya
arrested at sea shunted back to Myanmar camps
--------
Arab World
• Beirut
Residents Race Against Rain to Save Historical Homes Ravaged by Explosion
• Bahrain To
Allow Israel Flights to UAE Over Its Airspace
• Airstrike
kills 16 pro-Iran fighters in Syria, Israel suspected as behind it: Report
• Conflict in
Syria requires political solution without foreign interference: Lavrov tells UN
envoy
• US-backed SDF militants
kidnap civilians, prevent food from entering al-Hawl refugee camp
• Less than a meter
separates rescuer from what they hope is a survivor of the Beirut blast, buried
under the rubble
• Saudi project
saves Yemenis from Houthi landmines
--------
Mideast
• Hamas Chief
Haniyeh In Lebanon To Meet Palestinian Factions, Hezbollah’s Nasrallah
• Israel Remains
Enemy, Does Not Belong To Middle East Despite UAE Deal: Hamas Leader
• Yemeni vice
president slams Houthis for blocking international peace efforts
• Iran Condemns
Notorious French Magazine’s Sacrilegious Cartoon
• FM Zarif
Discusses Bilateral Ties with Pakistani Counterpart
• Iranian FM
Raps Israel for Continued Crimes against Palestinians
• Turkey Releases
Hunger-Striking Lawyer After Death of Fellow Imprisoned Attorney
• Turkey’s power
projection risks military clash in Mediterranean, former PM says
--------
Southeast Asia
• Indira Gandhi
Says No Issue with Daughter Embracing Islam, Just Hopes To Reunite With Her By
Deepavali
• PAS MP Stands
by Controversial Comments on Alcohol Consumption
• Another former
Sabah chief minister hopes to make a comeback in Sept 26 poll
• After meeting
with cops, Indira hopes for Deepavali reunion with daughter
• Over 600
Indonesian Islamic School Students Infected with Covid-19
--------
Africa
• UN Chief Guterres
Calls for Closure of Libya Migrant Detention Centres
• Blasts hit
Libya capital Tripoli, residents report
• UN laments
‘blatant’ violations of Libya arms embargo
• Nigeria: 20
villagers kidnapped in armed raid
• Kenya names 9
terrorism financiers, freezes assets
--------
North America
• Top Turkish, US
Officials Discuss East Med Over Phone
• US’ Kushner
discuss Israel-UAE deal in London
• US sanctions
11 entities for aiding Iran's oil sector
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
--------
Sunni Coalition to Demand Arrest of Shia Clerics and Eulogists Accused of Blasphemy in Pakistan During the Recently Concluded Ashura
Zahid Hussain
September 04,
2020
Shia Muslims flagellate
themselves during an Ashura procession during the holy month of Muharram in
Quetta, Pakistan, on Aug. 30. (Photo: AFP)
-----
A newly formed coalition of Sunni groups will stage a sit-in protest in Islamabad on Sept. 14 to demand the arrest of Shia clerics and eulogists accused of blasphemy.
The demand came
despite an unprecedented wave of arrests of Shias on charges of insulting the
Prophet Muhammad’s companions during the recently concluded Ashura, a 10-day
mourning period marked annually by the Muslim minority sect during the holy
month of Muharram.
According to
news reports and activists, more than 42 people, mainly Shias and Christians,
have been arrested in the past month for blasphemy.
Shias, who make
up 15 percent of Pakistan’s 220 million population, commemorate the
seventh-century massacre of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Imam Husayn and his
family and friends at the Battle of Karbala in Iraq for refusing to pledge
allegiance to the then Muslim ruler Yazid ibn Muawiya.
Shias blame
certain Islamic figures for events that led to the Karbala tragedy but the same
people are revered by Sunnis for being companions of the Prophet Muhammad.
Several Sunni
organizations known for their vocal support for controversial blasphemy laws —
Jamiat Ulema Islam, Ahle Sunnat Pakistan, Aalmi Majlis Tahuffuz Khatm Nubawwat,
Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith, JUI-S, Sunni Ulema Council and others — met in
Islamabad and announced the creation of a new coalition to demand the arrest of
Shias under blasphemy laws.
In a joint
statement after the meeting, the groups condemned “insults to Prophet’s
companions” during Shia majalis (processions).
The groups
called for the registration of cases under terrorism laws against Shias who
hold licenses for taking out Muharram processions.
They also
demanded the establishment of a national commission to stop sectarianism,
religious hatred and incitement.
The Sunni groups
also demanded that a controversial Islam Protection Bill recently passed by the
Punjab Assembly be replicated in other provinces.
Meanwhile,
lawyers’ groups have voiced concern over a tweet by Prime Minister Imran Khan
which appeared to criticize Shias.
“I want to thank
our nation for the peaceful observing of Ashura in the country. However,
unfortunately, information has come to me of elements who tried to ignite
flames of sectarianism on this occasion and I will be taking very tough action
against them,” Khan tweeted.
In a statement,
the Pakistan Bar Council and the Supreme Court Bar Association expressed
concern and dismay over Khan’s tweet “targeting a section of the Shia community
and subsequent registration of cases against a number of persons of that
community and their arrest being accused of blasphemy without any reason and
justification. “
“The prime
minister of Pakistan, being executive head of the country, is expected to play
the role of a wise statesman, striking a balance among different religious
sects and communities rather than to cause discrimination against a particular
community/sect.
“The prime
minister of Pakistan should be a symbol of unity for its citizens irrespective
of religious beliefs, which in the current situation of the country is badly
needed.”
Blasphemy is a
highly sensitive issue in deeply conservative Pakistan where mere allegations
have led to extrajudicial killings and mob violence.
Human rights
campaigners have long sought the repeal of draconian blasphemy laws, arguing
they are used to victimize religious minorities or settle personal scores.
https://www.ucanews.com/news/sunni-coalition-to-demand-arrest-of-shia-clerics-in-pakistan/89408#
--------
Indo-Islamic
Cultural Foundation Will Ensure the Crowdfunding for The Ayodhya Mosque Is
Strictly Adhered to Sharia Law
By Namita Bajpai
03rd September
2020
For representational
purposes
-----
LUCKNOW:
Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF), the trust constituted for building Ayodhya
mosque, will ensure that the crowdfunding for the shrine is strictly adhered to
Sharia law.
According to the
sources close to IICF members, the crowdfunding for the mosque and other
utilities including hospital, community kitchen, library, Indo-Islamic Cultural
Centre, etc would be dealt with separately.
“We will have to
be very sensitive and alert as money generated as interest, profit, hoarding of
stocks, etc, cannot be utilised to build a mosque,” said a senior trustee
seeking anonymity.
With the trust
office already in place in Lucknow and two bank accounts opened -- one in ICICI
bank and the other in HDFC bank -- to facilitate crowdfunding, the trust is now
in the process of creating its portal, which will have the payment gateways for
taking donations for the mosque and the public utility construction as part of
the mosque project.
The portal would
provide separate payment gateways for the mosque in compliance with the norms
of Sharia, said the IICF sources.
Last month, the
foundation was handed over the land for the proposed mosque at Dhannipur
village under Sohawal tehsil, in Ayodhya district after measurement by the
local revenue department officials.
The state
government had allotted 5 acres of land, around 20 km from Ram Janmabhoomi
premises, to UP Sunni Central Waqf Board for the construction of the mosque
following the directives of the Supreme Court which had delivered the order in
the vexed issue on November 9, 2019.
On Tuesday, IICF
appointed Prof SM Akhtar, founder dean, Faculty of Architecture, Jamia Millia
Islamia University, Delhi as consultant architect of IICF, masjid complex
project.
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/sep/03/donations-for-ayodhya-mosque-as-per-sharia-law-trustee-2192056.html
--------
Five Years After
Terror Attack, Why Charlie Hebdo Has Reprinted Caricatures Of The Prophet
by Rahel
Philipose
September 4,
2020
A person holds up a "Je
Suis Charlie" (I am Charlie) sign during a ceremony to pay tribute to the
victims of the shooting at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in
Paris (Reuters/File)
-----
Five years after
Islamist terrorists stormed its offices in Paris and slaughtered 12 people and
injured at least 11, the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Tuesday
(September 1) republished controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet, which
had provoked that attack.
Among those
killed in the January 7, 2015 attack by brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, were several
cartoonists, including some of France’s most celebrated. The massacre left a
deep scar and sparked global debates on free speech, blasphemy and religion.
The caricatures
were reprinted a day before the scheduled opening of the trial of 14 suspected
accomplices who were accused of providing logistic and material support to the
two terrorists. The Kouachi brothers themselves were killed by French gendarmes
in a standoff outside Paris on January 9, 2015.
The suspects
will be tried on multiple charges, including complicity in murder and terrorist
conspiracy, at a courthouse in northwest Paris over the next few months.
Why did Charlie
Hebdo republish the cartoons?
Many believe
that by republishing the cartoons a day before the landmark trial, the iconoclastic
French publication sought to make a loud and defiant statement in support of
free speech and expression. Some others have said that by its provocative
action, Charlie Hebdo is needlessly reopening old wounds.
In an editorial
note accompanying the new edition, publishing director Laurent ‘Riss’
Sourisseau, who sustained injuries in the 2015 attack, wrote, “We will never
give up. The hatred that struck us is still there and, since 2015, it has taken
the time to mutate, to change its appearance, to go unnoticed and to quietly
continue its ruthless crusade.”
Sourisseau, who
named each of the victims of the attack in the foreword, said the only reasons
to not publish the cartoons again would “stem from political or journalistic
cowardice”, according to media reports. The drawings “belong to history, and
history cannot be rewritten nor erased”, the magazine said.
Charlie Hebdo
has had a history of provocation
The cover of the
latest edition of the magazine features all 12 cartoons, which were criticised
around the world, and triggered violent protests in some Muslim countries.
The cartoons
were first published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on September 30,
2005, and subsequently reprinted by Charlie Hebdo the following year.
Jyllands-Posten claimed that the caricatures were meant to serve as a
commentary on the culture of fear and self-censorship within the Danish media.
The cartoons
were condemned by Muslim groups, which said they were blasphemous. They were
also criticised strongly for furthering stereotypes about Muslims, and for
unfairly branding them as terrorists.
In the months
that followed the publication of the cartoons in Jyllands-Posten and Charlie
Hebdo, violent protests broke out across Asia and the Middle East. Religious
leaders in Muslim countries called for a boycott of Danish goods. The
editor-in-chief of the newspaper ultimately issued a lengthy apology for
publishing the cartoons, which he said had caused “serious misunderstandings”.
In France, an
attempt to sue Charlie Hebdo for hate speech was defeated in court. In 2011 and
2012, the magazine again published illustrations that were offensive to
Muslims, and triggered criticism and a backlash that included a firebomb attack
on its office.
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-five-years-after-deadly-terror-attack-why-has-charlie-hebdo-reprinted-caricatures-of-the-prophet-6580382/
--------
Uighur issue
resonates in US presidential polls, China’s ‘Iron Brother’ Pakistan silent
Edited by: Amit
Chaturvedi
Sep 02, 2020
China’s
treatment of Uighur minorities has been widely criticised across the world, and
many international bodies have demanded action against the Chinese government.
Last week, Joe
Biden, the Democratic nominee for US presidential election, called the Chinese
action a genocide. His campaign said the Biden stands strongly against it in
strongest terms.
Biden also took
the opportunity to lash out at his Reublican rival by questioning President
Donald Trump what action his administration is planning to take.
Though Trump has
criticised Beijing for the coronavirus crisis, and often called the Sars-CoV-2
“China virus”, he has also sought a trade pact. What he got was a mini trade
deal last year, and the ties have since soured. So, Biden hose to score a
political point in race to White House.
China has been
widely condemned for setting up complexes in remote Xinjiang region (where
Uighurs mostly live) that it describes as “vocational training centres” to
stamp out extremism and give people new skills. The United Nations says at
least 1 million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims have been detained.
Pakistan, which
calls China its “Iron Brother” has so far remained silent on the issue.
In July this
year, the Uighur Turks and other Muslim communities in China also protested
Beijing’s action against the community. They asked asked the United Nations and
other international organisations to put pressure on Beijing and investigate
the “acts of genocide” perpetrated against the Uighurs.
Campaign for
Uighurs, which works for the community and keeps highlighting their status in
China, released a report titled ‘Genocide in East Turkistan’ in which it listed
instances where the Chinese government persecuted the embers of the minority
community.
The report said
that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chinese government continues its
oppression and persecution of Uighur Turks and other Muslim communities for its
own political and economic interests.
“The Chinese
government sent 1.1 million Han Chinese cadres to East Turkistan to control the
daily life of Uighurs. Their job is to stay in Uighur homes, share the same bed
with them if necessary and to control all aspects of their daily lives,” the
report claimed.
In order to
disrupt the Uighur family structure, the Beijing administration offers the Han
Chinese money, jobs and free homes for these arranged marriages, it further
claimed.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/uighur-issue-resonates-in-us-presidential-polls-china-s-iron-brother-pakistan-silent/story-VzSBO32jMy0Rsyn8Jkyy5H.html
--------
Beirut residents
race against rain to save historical homes ravaged by explosion
04 September
2020
Built in 1920,
the house that Riad Asad’s family has called home for decades outlasted 15
years of civil war but took what could be a fatal blow in last month's mammoth,
port-side explosion.
Asad says his
family - who has sought refuge outside Beirut - wants to restore the elegant
home, with its high, ornate ceilings, arched windows and marble floors.
It faces quite a
task.
The roof is
caved - right to the dusty floor - and its structural bones are in danger of
total collapse.
In the sitting
room, a grand piano sits shrouded in blankets, lit by the warm afternoon
sunlight. The glassless windows give onto Beirut's once-lively Gemmayze
neighbourhood, its many cafes shuttered a month on from the blast.
What's left of
Asad's home is skeletal; many walls, windows and wooden shutters went while the
house awaits its rebuild.
“We have about
40 days until the weather shifts, it’s a tight window,” said Asad, a structural
engineer, his voice riven with anguish. “It’s a race against the rain.”
Restoration is
right off the agenda for now, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation; the aim
is just to strengthen the walls and cover the roof with plastic sheets.
“What we’re
doing now is trying to prevent the worst - a total collapse. Restoration is a
longer, more expensive process, which will take months, years even. It’s not
compatible with a state of emergency.”
On Aug 4, an
explosion stunned the Lebanese capital, killing at least 182, injuring more
than 6,000 and damaging about 50,000 homes when 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate
blew up in the port.
The blast -
hundreds of metres from Beirut's historic heart - rocked streets long lined
with grand French- and Ottoman-style homes, balconies and terraces overlooking
mosques and churches.
The area, now
destroyed, was beloved by locals and visitors alike; a place where cultures
sometimes at odds mingled easily over a morning coffee or an evening glass of
wine.
Labor of Love
Like many
Lebanese engineers and architects, Asad has been working for free ever since
the explosion, not only taking on the rescue of his family home, but of several
others, too.
“The damage is
so vast, we have to do what we can,” he said.
While Gemmayse’s
streets have been cleared, many houses lie in rubble, missing windows and
doors, pillars and balconies.
The Ministry of
Culture says more than 300 historical buildings in the immediate area of the
explosion were damaged - 86 are in critical condition.
Work is underway
on just 14, according to Asad.
Independent
heritage architects and structural engineers teamed up to form the Beirut Built
Heritage Rescue 2020 two days after the blast, a collaborative of 40 Lebanese
professionals intent on restoring the city’s oldest houses - as well as turning
them back into homes.
“We try to have
people back in their buildings as soon as possible, but if the structure is at
risk, the move will have to be delayed until international funds have arrived,”
explained architect and archeologist Yasmine Makaroun.
Makaroun said
many Beirutis had moved in with relatives after the blast or had fled to nearby
mountains.
Juggling
priorities is hard, she said.
“We are trying
to find the right balance between making houses habitable again quickly and
renovating heritage, which requires specific, precise skills and is much
slower. But right now, the priority is to secure houses before the rain.”
High Cost
Given the
economic climate in Lebanon - with months of political turmoil essentially
bringing the economy to a halt - spending scarce money on old houses may not be
a top priority amid a slew of competing interests.
Structural engineer
Michel Chalhoub, also part of the collective, estimates that restoring a
historical home - officially any house that predates 1935 - could cost $1,200
per square meter, a sum most homeowners cannot afford.
All restoration
plans need the Ministry of Culture's approval, which is a lengthy process, he
added.
And the money
needs to be found, too.
Even before the
explosion, Lebanon had debts several times the size of its economy and was in
talks for a bailout.
“Reconstruction
funds will come from abroad - from UNESCO and non-governmental organisations,
as well as from the private sector,” the Ministry of Culture’s press attache
Amal Mansour told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
She refused to
specify what financial role - if any - the government will play in the rebuild.
Abbas Mortada,
Lebanon’s Minister of Culture, told a press conference that the state and the
president are keen to preserve heritage buildings, but the population is
skeptical, citing past controversy over reconstruction.
According to
Save Beirut Heritage, a non-profit founded in 2010 to preserve architectural
heritage, Beirut had about 4,000 heritage buildings when the civil war ended,
many of them damaged. Numbers have since decreased to about 600.
“Around 80
percent of the buildings could have been saved,” said Beirut Heritage’s Founder
Naji Raji.
“Today it
(downtown) is barely recognizable and has lost its heart. We don’t have any
laws to protect heritage buildings.”
Almost a month
after the explosion, shops and businesses are slowly opening again in Gemmayze.
Engineer
Chalhoub said so many people were donating time and expertise to restore the
vibrant neighborhood.
“It’s not only
about restoring cultural buildings; it’s the social culture, the life, the
neighborhood dynamics that need restoration. Eventually we hope we can do just
that.”
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2020/09/04/Beirut-residents-race-against-rain-to-save-historical-homes-ravaged-by-explosion
--------
Hamas chief
Haniyeh in Lebanon to meet Palestinian factions, Hezbollah’s Nasrallah
03 September
2020
Hamas chief
Ismail Haniyeh arrived in Beirut on Wednesday for a week-long visit that will
see him meet with Palestinian factions over growing cooperation between their
enemy Israel and Arab states.
Haniyeh’s visit,
his first to Lebanon in 27 years, comes after an August 13 announcement that
Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to normalize ties.
For all the
latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Meanwhile, Osama
Hamdan, a senior representative of Hamas in Lebanon, pointed to the possibility
of a meeting between Haniyeh and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
“It is natural
for the head of the political bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, to meet the
Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, during his current visit to
Lebanon,” Hamdan said.
Haniyeh met on
Wednesday with both Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker
premier Hassan Diab, according to the Lebanese news agency NNA.
On Thursday, he
will meet representatives of other Palestinian factions in rare talks on how to
respond to such accords and to a Middle East peace plan announced by Washington
this year, said the Islamist movement’s representative in Lebanon, Ali Baraka.
The meeting at
the Palestinian embassy in Beirut will coincide with talks in Ramallah between
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and representatives of Palestinian factions
there.
Thursday’s joint
discussions in Ramallah and Beirut aim to develop “a unified Palestinian
strategy to confront normalization schemes... and to reject plans to annex the
West Bank as well as (Trump’s) ‘deal of the century’,” Baraka told AFP.
Speaking to AFP
from Ramallah, Ahmad Majdalani, a member of the executive committee of the
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said the talks also sought to boost
ties between the factions.
They aim “to
open a new page, to end divisions, achieve national reconciliation and build a
national partnership between all factions,” he said.
The Palestinian
embassy in Lebanon said that a part of the meeting was organized in Lebanon
because most participating officials were residing either in Beirut, Syria or
Ramallah.
Baraka justified
the choice of Lebanon by saying the country is a supporter of the Palestinian
cause and has a large population of Palestinian refugees who would be adversely
affected by US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the Middle East.
The last time
most heads of Palestinian factions held joint talks was in 2013 in Cairo.
Under the US
plan unveiled this year, Israel would retain control of the disputed city of
Jerusalem as its “undivided capital” and annex settlements and other areas in
the occupied West Bank.
On August 13,
Trump announced an agreement between the UAE and Israel to normalize ties.
Under the
watershed US-brokered deal, Israel has suspended, but not permanently dropped,
annexation plans.
The UAE became
the third Arab country to agree to normalize ties with Israel, after Egypt
signed a peace deal in 1979 and Jordan followed suit in 1994.
Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that “there are many more unpublicized
meetings with Arab and Muslim leaders to normalize relations with the state of
Israel.”
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/09/03/Hamas-chief-Haniyeh-in-Lebanon-to-meet-Palestinian-factions-Hezbollah-s-Nasrallah
--------
Pakistan
Pakistan regrets
politicisation of UN sanctions regime
04 Sep 2020
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan on Thursday regretted the politicisation of the United Nations
sanctions regime after five UN Security Council members blocked its bid to get
two Indians accused of terrorism here listed.
“We regret the
decision by some members of the UNSC Sanctions Committee to block the
designation of two Indian nationals, Gobinda Patnaik and Angara Appaji, to
the sanctions list on 2 September 2020,” Foreign Office spokesman Zahid Hafeez
Chaudhri said at the weekly media briefing.
Pakistan had
proposed designation of the Indian nationals under the United Nations Security
Council’s Islamic State of Iraq and Levant and Al Qaeda Sanctions list in 2019.
As per media
reports, the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Belgium blocked
the request to list the two Indian nationals as global terrorists under the UN
Security Council 1267 sanctions committee on the pretext that evidence was not
provided.
Assails India’s
imposition of Hindi language in occupied Kashmir
Besides, the
spokesman said that the forcible imposition of Hindi language on Kashmiris in
occupied territory was part of India’s actions aimed at changing the demography
of the region and depriving Kashmiris of their identity.
“Pakistan
condemns the Indian government’s decision to forcibly impose Hindi language on
the Kashmiri people in Occupied Kashmir through the ‘Jammu and Kashmir
Languages Bill, 2020’, approved by the Indian cabinet,” he said.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1577816/pakistan-regrets-politicisation-of-un-sanctions-regime
--------
PM’s aide quits
following family business allegations
04 Sep 2020
ISLAMABAD: A
week after allegations were levelled regarding his family’s assets, retired Lt
Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa, while rejecting the allegations, said on Thursday he was
resigning as special assistant to the prime minister (SAPM) on information and
broadcasting and would submit his resignation to the PM on Friday (today).
However, Mr
Bajwa said, he would continue working as chairman of the China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority.
He said he had
all documents about his family’s assets and was ready to present them and money
trail before any judicial forum.
A few days ago,
journalist Ahmed Noorani broke the news on a website alleging that Mr Bajwa had
used his offices in setting up of off-shore businesses of his wife, sons and
brothers.
The report said
Mr Bajwa’s younger brothers opened their first Papa John’s pizza restaurant in
2002, the year he started working as a lieutenant colonel on the General Pervez
Musharraf’s staff.
However, Asim
Bajwa will continue working as CPEC Authority chairman
According to the
news report, Nadeem Bajwa, 53, who started as a delivery driver for the pizza
restaurant franchise, his brothers and Asim Bajwa’s wife and sons now own a
business empire which set up 99 companies in four countries, including a pizza
franchise with 133 restaurants worth an estimated $39.9 million. Out of the
total 99 firms, 66 are main companies, 33 are branch companies of some of the
main companies while five firms are dead now.
The Bajwa
family’s companies spent an estimated $52.2m to develop their businesses and
$14.5m to purchase properties in the United States.
The news report
further said that Mr Bajwa’s wife was a shareholder in all the foreign
businesses from the very beginning and at present she is associated with or is
a shareholder in 85 companies including 82 foreign companies (71 in United
States, seven in UAE and four in Canada). The records of US state governments
and other documents related to the companies show that some of these American
companies (all jointly owned by Mr Asim’s wife Farrukh Zeba) also have
investments in real estate sector and own 13 commercial properties in the
United States, including two shopping centers. Estimated current net worth of
businesses and properties of these companies jointly owned by Farrukh Zeba stands
at $52.7m.
In his
statements of assets and liabilities signed in June as the special assistant to
prime minister, Asim Bajwa had declared an investment of $18,468 in his wife’s
name and they have no “immovable property” outside Pakistan.
Mr Bajwa, soon
after the news surfaced, had refuted the allegations about his family’s assets
in strong words and termed them “incorrect and false”.
In a statement
on Thursday, he rejected the allegations hurled by the journalist and said:
“The news broken by Ahmed Noorani on an unknown website on 27.08.2020 regarding
myself, is vehemently denied as incorrect and false.
“I have not
shied away to explain the allegations shamelessly levelled against me. These
allegations have been hurled at me to tarnish my image.”
According to the
statement, the news carried allegations that his declaration of assets and
liabilities as an SAPM dated Aug 22 was incorrect because he had failed to
disclose the investment made by his wife abroad.
The news report
also alleged that Mr Bajwa’s brothers had conducted businesses in the US and
the growth of their business was relatable to his promotion in the Pakistan
Army.
Mr Bajwa, who
was also asked by his colleagues including Information Minister Shibli Faraz to
respond to the allegations, said that on the date of filing of the assets
declaration, i.e. Aug 22, his wife was no longer an investor or shareholder in
any business of his brothers or anyone else, abroad.
“My wife had
disinvested all her interests as at 01.06.2020 in any entity abroad and such
fact has been duly documented in the official records in the USA. It may be
pointed out that company registered in the SECP in Pakistan was liaison office
of the companies in the USA. The process of change of name in the SECP in
Pakistan has been conducted in due course, but that was only a ministerial
function since the interest in the parent companies in the USA stood no more in
the name of my wife as on 22.06.2020 i.e. the date of filing of my declaration
of assets and liabilities as an SAPM,” he said.
Mr Bajwa said
from 2002 till Aug 1 this year, (18 years) the total amount out of investment
made by his wife in the companies of his brothers in the US had been $19,492.
“This investment was made by my wife through my savings spread over a period of
eighteen years, all of which are fully accounted for. Not once the rules or
regulations prescribed by the SBP were violated,” he claimed.
With regard to
the alleged investment of his brothers in the pizza chain Papa John’s in the US
and the UAE, he said the news story asserted that Bajco Global Management, LLC
was the parent company of all Bajco-related businesses. “This is far from truth
as Bajco Global Management, LLC is not parent of any company and is only a
management company that provides management services to all Bajco-related
businesses on a fee basis. Bajco Global Management, LLC does not have any
ownership interest in any Papa John’s in the USA, DQ, UAE or any real estate.
The author
further makes a false claim that Bajco owns 99 companies. The author has listed
many companies multiple times in his list. There are a total of 27 active
companies in the US and 2 in the UAE,” he said. “In a span of 18 years i.e.
from 2002 till date my brothers purchased the franchise and assets related
thereto and real estate to the tune of $70 million, out of which around $60
million was through bank loans and financial facilities.
“Over a period
of 18 years the actual out of pocket cash investment into the said businesses
by my brothers and wife has been about $73,950. It is further pointed out that
out of $73,950, my wife’s contribution, as stated aforesaid, is $19,492. Thus,
the total out of pocket cash contribution of my five brothers, over a period of
eighteen years, has been $54,458,” he said.
Regarding
allegations about businesses of his children, Mr Bajwa said it had been alleged
that one of his sons owned a company, Scion Builders and Estates (Pvt) Ltd,
which had been registered in the SECP. “However, this company has never done
any business and is dormant since inception,” he claimed.
Mr Bajwa said
one of his sons was not the sole owner of a private company called Himalaya
Ltd, but owned only 50pc of its shares.
Regarding a
business entity, Mochi Cordwainers, registered in the name of one of his sons,
he said it was true that his son was the sole proprietor of the small entity,
but for the last five years it had only incurred losses.
Mr Bajwa said a
business entity, Krypton, was owned by his son. It dealt in mines and minerals
and was registered at the time when he was posted in Balochistan.
“Unfortunately, no one has bothered to find out the said business entity is
registered as a sole proprietorship in the FBR in 2019, but it has always been
dormant and has not done any business.”
He said another
company, Advance Marketing (Pvt) Ltd, was owned by one of his sons, but it had
also remained dormant and had never conducted any business.
“This is an
averment levelled against me that the company, Scion Management Group LLC,
owned by my sons owns a house in the USA. If the journalist in question had
bothered to find out facts honestly, justly and fairly, he would have also
found out that the house in question was only bought for an amount of $31,000
in a cheap foreclosure proceedings; and the amount of $31,000 is fully
justified by my two sons through their own independent sources. This is a small
house,” he claimed.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1577818/pms-aide-quits-following-family-business-allegations
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Pakistan court
directs govt to raise Jadhav's lawyer issue with India again
Sep 3, 2020
Omer Farooq Khan
ISLAMABAD: The
Islamabad High Court on Thursday asked the Pakistan government to approach New
Delhi and Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav once more to clarify their stance
on pursuing the case.
The direction
came after the attorney general for Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Javed Khan informed
the larger bench of Islamabad HC’s – comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah,
Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb -- that the
government has not received a reply from the Indian government yet.
During the
hearing, the court inquired whether its last order was implemented.
The attorney
general said that on August 6, Jadhav was informed of the government’s decision
to appoint a counsel for him but he had turned it down and the Indian foreign
ministry is yet to respond. The AGP said it appears that the Indian government
was not interested in availing the opportunity of legal representation and its
“focus is on embarrassing Pakistan”.
“Pakistan is
ready to abide by the decision of the International Court of Justice,” the
attorney general said, adding that “India is becoming an obstacle in the way of
the review.”
The AG requested
the court to take the matter forward and order the appointment of a counsel.
“What will be
the status of the review petition if India or Kulbhushan does not want to take
advantage of the facility?” the CJ asked, saying that the review process should
be effective. “Wouldn’t it be appropriate to make India an offer once more
under the principles of a fair trial?” he said.
The attorney
general noted that India has not refused to plead Jadhav’s sentence.
“I agree that
India should get one more opportunity to appoint a counsel for Jadhav,” the AG
told the bench, saying that Islamabad was ready to make India another offer for
consular access to Jadhav.
Meanwhile, the
attorney general said that no Indian lawyer can come here to practice law under
the Pakistan Legal Practitioners Act and the law is the same in India since
1961. He said the Supreme Court of India had also ruled recently saying that no
foreigner can fight a case in India.
The Pakistan
government had filed a petition in the high court in July, requesting the court
to appoint a counsel for Jadhav so that the International Court of Justice’s
verdict, which requires Pakistan to review the Indian national’s death penalty
awarded by a secret military court here, can be implemented.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pakistan-court-directs-govt-to-raise-jadhavs-lawyer-issue-with-india-again/articleshow/77918170.cms
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Pakistani
officials: Roadside bomb hits army, kills 3 troops
Sep 3, 2020
PESHAWAR: A
powerful roadside bomb targeted a military vehicle in northwestern Pakistan, a
former Taliban stronghold, killing three soldiers, officials said. The
Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which is raising fears
the militants are regrouping in the region.
The bombing
happened as the troops were patrolling in South Waziristan, which lies in the
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, said two intelligence
officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not
authorized to speak to the media.
There was no
immediate statement from the military or the government but Mohammad Khurasani,
a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, is a separate insurgent
group from the Afghan Taliban.
South Waziristan
served as a base for Pakistani and foreign militants until recent years, when
the military claimed it cleared the region.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pakistani-officials-roadside-bomb-hits-army-kills-3-troops/articleshow/77917982.cms
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Officer, two
soldiers martyred in North Waziristan attack
04 Sep 2020
KARACHI: An army
officer and two soldiers were martyred in a terrorist attack on security forces
in North Waziristan on Thursday.
According to the
Inter-Services Public Relations, the terrorists planted an improvised explosive
device on a roadside. It went off near a convoy of troops providing protection
to road construction teams working on Ghariom section of Shaga-Nishpa road in
North Waziristan.
As a result,
Lieutenant Nasir Hussain Khalid, 23, resident of Muzaffarabad; Naik Muhammad
Imran, 33, resident of Faisalabad; and Sepoy Usman Akhtar, 30, resident of
Rawalpindi, embraced martyrdom. Four soldiers were injured.
Security forces
cordoned off the area and launched a search operation.
Sources said Lt
Nasir Hussain was a brilliant cadet. Due to his outstanding performance in the
Pakistan Military Academy, he was selected for training at Royal Military
College, Duntroon, Australia.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1577821/officer-two-soldiers-martyred-in-north-waziristan-attack
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India
'No Elements of
Babri Masjid in New Ayodhya Mosque', Says Architect Designing It
Ismat Ara
Sep 04, 2020
New Delhi: The
architect tasked with designing a mosque in Ayodhya on the five acres of land
given by the Centre says it will be done in a ‘contemporary style’ and not as
per ‘traditional, nostalgic imagery.’
S.M. Akthar, who
is dean Jamia Milia Islamia’s architecture department, has been chosen for the
mosque that is to be constructed by the UP Sunni Waqf Board in the alternate
piece of land that the Supreme Court’s order handed the Muslim litigants in the
Ayodhya title case. The top court’s November 2019 judgment said the disputed
land ‒ where
the Babri Masjid stood and was demolished ‒ should be handed over to a
trust to be created by Government of India to build a Ram temple.
On August 5, the
foundation stone of the temple was laid and a bhoomi pujan event held, which
was attended by Bharatiya Janata Party and Sangh parivar leaders, including
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath,
governor Anandiben Patel, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat, Uma
Bharti and Ram temple trust president Nritya Gopal Das. Bharti and Das are facing
trial for their role in the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid.
Though the
mosque’s foundation stone yet to be laid in the alternate land, on Tuesday,
Athar Hussain, secretary of the trust formed by the Waqf Board for the
construction of the mosque, said Akhtar will
design the mosque. The trust, called the Indo-Islamic Cultural
Foundation (IICF), will oversee the construction of a mosque, an Indo-Islamic
research centre, library and hospital in the five-acre land allotted in
Ayodhya’s Dhannipur village.
Akhtar has been
at Jamia Millia Islamia since 2003, and established its Department of
Architecture n 2005. Since then, he has been the department’s dean five times.
Formerly, he worked independently as a consultant in Lucknow.
Akhtar told The
Wire, “My designs have diversity. I design architecture as per the needs and
desires of people. My core interest is to find out where Islamic architecture
is moving now. My work defies traditional nostalgic images and is more about
contemporary Islamic projects. The belief that only medieval dome-shaped
architecture is Islamic is nostalgia. Since Islam is a religion, no obsolete
period’s architecture can be considered Islamic, as it is ever-evolving.” He
has also written a book on the subject.
‘Contemporary
designs’
Akthar is quite
clear about his vision: “We will keep in mind the contemporary challenges faced
by people while designing the mosque. The mosque is only one component of the
project – and it will be bigger than the Babri mosque, and grander.”
He say since five
acres of land is available, “We will follow the basic virtues of Islam as well
as our country, Khidmat-e-Khalq [to serve humanity] and will work towards the
cause of humanity. The mosque should be holistic and should bridge the gap
between people and communities. And what are the two things that people need
the most? Education and healthcare. And there is a dearth of these two things,
especially in the area of Faizabad. There are hardly any hospitals.”
He added, “So
our vision is to create a multi-speciality hospital on that land and
institutions that impart formal and informal education. We may also have
museums. The three main themes of the mosque will be: Spirit to serve humanity,
Indian ethos and Islamic philosophy.”
Talking about
the Babri mosque, he said, “Mughal architecture is not necessarily Islamic.
Islamic philosophy is just about purity of soul, truthfulness, and being
functionally effective. The new mosque will not have any elements of the Babri
Mosque, it will be contemporary instead for contemporary people.”
‘Nothing to do
with controversies’
He refuses to be
drawn into the controversies surrounding the Babri masjid. “I have absolutely
nothing to do with controversies. I am an architect. Our work and vision are to
think about the future considering the present scenario. We are not concerned
with the past. There are many others to look at the past of the Babri mosque.
We are mazdoor [labourers] who will help the construction of the mosque brick
by brick.” He adds, “It’s a major, prestigious project, but we see it as a
responsibility, a duty.
He has begun
working on the design but is still waiting for inspiration to strike him. “In
creative work, there is no such deadline. Architecture cannot be replicated.
Maybe I will have a vision tonight and the design will be ready by tomorrow
morning. But after the concept is done, the technical work will start, which
will take time,” he said.
In the past,
Akhtar has helped develop many structures within Jamia and elsewhere. In the
university, he was consulted in the architecture of the pavilion for its
cricket stadium and the buildings for several hostels and centres.
According to his
profile on the university’s website, Akhtar was a consultant in the
conservation and site development of six heritage monuments under the
Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation of the Delhi government. The monuments
he helped conserve are the tomb of Sheikh Ali in Defence Colony; mosque and
tomb of Syed Yasin at Arab ki Sarai; tomb south of DPS Mathura Road; Gateway at
Oberoi Hotel and Jharna.
https://thewire.in/religion/new-ayodhya-mosque-babri-sm-akhtar-jamia-design
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180 Sikh
families from Afghanistan arrive in Delhi
Sep 3, 2020
NEW DELHI: A
batch of 180 Sikh families from Afghanistan arrived at the IGI airport here on
Thursday on "long-term" visas, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management
Committee president Manjinder Singh Sirsa said.
Following an
attack on a gurdwara in Afghanistan in March this year, there has been an
"exodus" of Sikh and Hindu families. They are arriving in India on
the initiative of the DSGMC, Sirsa said in a statement.
"Till date
more than 450 families have already arrived in the national capital and the
DSGMC is making arrangements for their stay in the inns of gurdwaras. The
families also brought with them Guru Granth Sahib, in a chartered plane,"
he said.
They were
welcomed at the airport by Sirsa and Vikramjeet Singh Sahni of the World
Punjabi Organisation.
Sirsa thanked
the central government, particularly Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Minister
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, for facilitating "long-term visas" for these
families, the statement added.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/180-sikh-families-from-afghanistan-arrive-in-delhi/articleshow/77917894.cms
--------
India paves the
way for return of 410 Pakistani Hindus stranded across the border
Dinesh Bothra | Edited by
Abhinav Sahay
Sep 04, 2020
The Indian
government has extended the term of the NORI (No Objection to Return to India)
visas issued to at least 410 Pakistani Hindu immigrants-- who were living in
India on long-term visas (LTV) before their intended short-trip to Pakistan
earlier this year left them stranded due to the travel restrictions imposed in
the wake of Covid-19—to facilitate their return to India, according to an office
memorandum issued by Union ministry of home affairs.
The term of the
lapsed NORI visas of such migrants will be treated as deemed extended for a
period up to 15 days from the date of lifting of such travel restrictions by
the government of India.
HT has seen the
memorandums sent by the MHA to the external affairs ministry (MEA) and to the
additional director of the Bureau of Immigration on July 31, paving the way for
the return of such immigrants to India.
The migrants
stranded in Pakistan include a 33-year-old Janata Mali, who travelled with her
husband and three children to see her ailing mother in Mirpur Khas in February
before the Covid-19 lockdown was clamped. Being Indian citizens, her husband
and children returned to Jodhpur in the last week of June through a shuttle
service operated for citizens stuck on both sides of the border but Janata
Mali, a Pakistani living in Jodhpur on long-term visa since 2007, was denied
permission to travel.
The July orders
were issued after an earlier decision taken on May 9 to extend the NORI visas
could not be implemented properly by the Indian high commission in Islamabad
due to some technical difficulties. The MEA then requested the MHA for a review
of the order on June 17.
Also Read:
Pakistan trying to politicise UNSC’s terrorist listing process, says India
The MEA gave
details to MHA of 410 Pak nationals, who held NORI visas issued by India and
had been registered with the Indian high commission in Islamabad for the
purpose of return to India. It was then decided to allow return of these
individuals through the integrated border check post at Attari, subject
adherence to the health/ Covid protocols issued by the health ministry.
“Due endorsement
of the physical extension of their Return Visas would be made on their passports
at ICP Attari at the time of arrival. The HCI, Islamabad shall intimate to MHA
the names and particulars of all such Pak nationals who have registered with
them for Return Visa extension,” the memorandum stated.
The MEA and the
HCI Islamabad have been asked to intimate date and time, along with detailed
particulars, of these Pak nationals return to India, well in advance to the MHA
to facilitate their arrival and necessary arrangements to quarantine them.
The memorandum
has also asked for details of other stranded Pak nationals holding NORI visas
issued by India if and when they register with the Indian high commission in
Islamabad, so that the matter may be taken up with the security agencies for
prior clearance.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-paves-the-way-for-return-of-410-pakistani-hindus-stranded-across-the-border/story-WfVKJY5vEUffgCwvwFNXjN.html
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J&K: Army
officer injured in Baramulla encounter with terrorists
Edited by
Shivani Kumar
Sep 04, 2020
An Indian Army
officer was injured during a gunbattle with terrorists in a village in Jammu
and Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Friday.
The encounter
broke out in Yedipora village in Pattan area on Friday morning. According to a
report by PTI, security forces were conducting a search operation in the area
and they were fired upon, triggering the encounter.
The officer was
injured in the initial exchange of firing and has been rushed to a local
hospital in Srinagar for treatment, reported PTI. Two to three terrorists are
still trapped while personnel of the police, army, and Central Reserve Police
Force (CRPF) are engaged in flushing them out.
The area has
been cordoned off and the encounter is still underway.
In the last two
weeks, police and the army have launched several operations in the area after
the presence of terrorists was reported.
On Thursday
evening, multiple checking points were established at Kralhar, after specific
input regarding the movement of terrorists in Pattan, said Police.
“During routine
checking, three persons moving from Zangam crossing to main market Pattan on
National highway Baramulla were observed moving in a suspicious manner. The
individuals were challenged by the personnel at naka Aangam crossing as they
tried to flee on being challenged from the spot. The security force personnel
cordoned and apprehended the fleeing individuals and recovered three grenades
from them,” a police spokesperson said on Thursday.
The arrested men
have been identified as Abid Parvaiz of Andergam, Javaid Hassan Ittoo of
Goushbugh, and Jan Nissar Khaliq of Chanderhama Pattan.
Police said all
three were working as overground workers for Lashkar-e-Taiba outfit.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/j-k-army-officer-injured-in-baramulla-encounter-with-terrorists/story-eQsMw5d4osSk321QajcRRL.html
--------
Europe
UK public
tribunal to probe Uighur ‘genocide’ claims in China
September 3,
2020
A prominent
British human rights lawyer is convening an independent tribunal in London to
investigate whether the Chinese government’s alleged rights abuses against
Uighur Muslims in the far western Xinjiang region constitute genocide or crimes
against humanity.
The tribunal is
expected to reveal new evidence and testimony over several days’ hearings next year.
While the tribunal does not have government backing, it is the latest attempt
to hold China accountable for its treatment of the Uighurs and ethnic Turkic
minorities, who have been subject to an unprecedented crackdown since 2017.
Barrister
Geoffrey Nice, who previously led the prosecution of ex-Serbian President
Slobodan Milosevic over the Balkans war and worked with the International
Criminal Court, was asked by the World Uighur Congress to investigate “ongoing
atrocities and possible genocide” against the Uighur people.
Allegations
against China about potential genocide are “questions that should be asked and
answered” but such claims have never been legally scrutinized in public, Nice
told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Organizers are
in the initial stages of gathering evidence, and expect to receive a
substantial number of submissions from Uighurs exiled abroad over the next few
months. New evidence that may emerge includes testimony from several former
security guards who were involved in the Xinjiang detention camps.
“At the moment,
the strongest evidence would appear to be evidence of incarceration and
possibly evidence of enforced sterilization,” Nice said.
A recent
investigation by the AP found that the Chinese government is systematically forcing
birth control on Uighurs and other Muslims in an apparent effort to reduce
their population. The report found that authorities regularly subject minority
women to pregnancy checks and force intrauterine devices, sterilization and
abortion on hundreds of thousands. While scores have been thrown in detention
camps for alleged “religious extremism,” many others were sent to the camps
simply for having too many children.
Such enforced
sterilization practices could be found to breach the Genocide Convention, Nice
said.
The Chinese
Embassy in London did not respond to an emailed request for comment. Chinese
officials have repeatedly derided allegations of rights abuses in Xinjiang as
fabricated, and insist that all ethnicities are treated equally.
China has long
suspected the Uighurs, who are mostly Muslim, of harboring separatist
tendencies because of their distinct culture, language and religion. In a
lengthy press conference in August, the Chinese ambassador to the U.K. played
graphic videos of terrorist attacks in Xinjiang to show that the Chinese
government’s measures there are “necessary and important.”
Ambassador Liu
Xiaoming also called allegations about rights abuses in Xinjiang made in
Western media “lies of the century,” and denied that nearly 1 million Uighurs
have been detained in Xinjiang.
The London
tribunal’s judgement is not binding on any government. However, Nice said that
the process will nonetheless be one way to address the lack of action in
tackling the alleged abuses by “filling the gap with reliable information.”
“There is no
other way of bringing the leadership of the (Chinese) Communist Party
collectively or individually to judgement,” Nice said.
In July, lawyers
representing exiled Uighur activists filed a complaint with the International
Criminal Court against China, asking the court in The Hague, Netherlands, to
investigate the forced repatriation of thousands of Uighurs from Cambodia and
Tajikistan and alleged genocide in Xinjiang.
However, Beijing
does not recognize the international court’s jurisdiction, and Nice — who is
not involved in that case — said it will likely focus more on the repatriating
countries’ culpability and less on that of Chinese authorities.
The World Uighur
Congress, an international organization representing Uighur exiles, has
provided initial evidence and funding to the London tribunal. Organizers expect
to hold two public hearings in London next year, each lasting several days.
The tribunal
will comprise of at least seven members who will act as jury. A verdict is
expected by the end of 2021.
https://indianexpress.com/article/world/uk-public-tribunal-to-probe-uighur-genocide-claims-6581483/
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Europe's top
human rights judge visits Turkey despite frequent violations
03 September
2020
Europe's top
human rights judge began a controversial visit to Turkey on Thursday despite
criticism of what civil liberties groups view as the country's fast
deteriorating record on human rights.
Robert Spano, an
Icelandic-Italian who began his term as president of the European Court of
Human Rights (ECHR) in May, is due to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan.
He began his
visit by meeting the president of Turkey's constitutional court and delivering
an address at the Turkish justice ministry titled: “The independence of the
judiciary – a cornerstone of the rule of law.”
For all the
latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Spano is also
expected to receive an honorary doctorate from Istanbul University on Friday.
The visit comes
at a time of growing alarm over the state of freedom of expression in Turkey
under Erdogan, who became president in 2014.
The ECHR ranked
Turkey second after Russia on its list of human rights violations recorded in
2019, lodging 113 offences in Turkey and 198 in Russia.
The country is
often chastised by rights advocates over arresting journalists, civil society
leaders and opposition politicians.
Turkey has also
tightened control of the internet - including access to social media - and has
in the past few years shut down television stations and critical media outlets.
Turkey's P24
press freedom group reports that 92 journalists are behind bars in Turkey
today.
The government
has also jailed tens of thousands of people and sacked more than 100,000 from
their state jobs as part of a nationwide crackdown that followed a failed
putsch in 2016.
Critics claim
the focus of the crackdown has gone well beyond alleged coup plotters and is
designed to silence dissent in Turkey.
Journalist
Mehmet Altan, an economics professor who spent almost two years in prison over
alleged links to the failed coup, criticised the top judge's visit in an open
letter, calling it ill-timed.
“Under normal
circumstances, of course it would be a pleasure to hear that you will be
visiting Turkey. Unfortunately that's not the case,” he wrote this week.
Altan was
acquitted by an Istanbul court in November, one year after the ECHR ruled that
Turkey had violated his freedom of expression.
He was dismissed
from his job at Istanbul University under an emergency decree issued after the
failed coup.
His brother
Ahmet Altan, a journalist and author, remains in prison pending an appeal.
Prominent civil
society leader Osman Kavala and Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas are also
languishing behind bars.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/09/03/Europe-s-top-human-rights-judge-visits-Turkey-despite-frequent-violations
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Greece, Turkey
agree to talks to avoid accidental clashes in Eastern Med: NATO
03 September
2020
NATO allies
Greece and Turkey have agreed to talks to avoid accidental clashes in the
Eastern Mediterranean, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on
Thursday.
“Following my
discussions with Greek and Turkish leaders, the two allies have agreed to enter
into technical talks at NATO to establish mechanisms for military deconfliction
to reduce the risk of incidents and accidents in the Eastern Mediterranean,”
Stoltenberg said in a statement.
For all the
latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app
NATO Secretary
General Jens Stoltenberg announced the possible diplomatic opening in a
statement on the military alliance’s website the same day that Turkey announced
that Russia plans to conduct live-fire naval exercises this month in the
eastern Mediterranean.
“Greece and
Turkey are valued Allies, and NATO is an important platform for consultations
on all issues that affect our shared security,” the statement read. “I remain
in close touch with all concerned Allies to find a solution to the tensions in
the spirit of NATO solidarity.”
There was no
immediate confirmation from Ankara or Athens and it was not immediately clear
when the talks would begin.
Turkey announced
the Russian exercises in a navigational notice issued late Wednesday that said
they would take place on September 8-22 and September 17-25 in areas of the
Mediterranean Sea where Turkish research vessels are doing seismic work for oil
and gas exploration. Greece says the disputed area is over its continental
shelf.
There was no
immediate comment from Moscow on the exercises, which Turkey announced after
the United States said it was partially lifting a 33-year-old arms embargo
against ethnically divided Cyprus. Like Greece, Cyprus has been in a dispute
with Turkey over drilling rights in the Mediterranean.
In Athens, Greek
government spokesman Stelios Petsas said the planned Russian exercises were
being “monitored by all the countries in the region, as well as our NATO allies
and European Union partners.”
It’s unclear why
NATO-member Turkey announced such drills on Russia’s behalf, but the two
countries have in recent years significantly strengthened their military,
political and economic ties. They are coordinating closely on their military
presence in Syria, while Turkey has purchased Russia’s advanced S-400 missiles
and has broken ground on a Russian-built nuclear power plant on its southern
coast.
Cyprus government
spokesman Kyriakos Koushos said that Russia notifies Cypriot authorities
directly about issuing any navigation notice. He said Cyprus has no issue with
Russia and that its only complaint concerns Turkey’s attempts to “take
advantage” of the situation.
German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by
phone on Thursday. Germany currently holds the European Union’s rotating
presidency and has been trying to informally mediate the dispute over eastern
Mediterranean drilling.
A statement from
Erdogan’s office said the Turkish leader wants an arrangement in which
resources are shared “fairly” and complained that Greece, Greek Cypriots, and
countries backing the two, were the ones escalating tensions.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2020/09/03/Greece-Turkey-agree-to-talks-to-avoid-accidental-clashes-in-Eastern-Med-NATO
--------
Turkey, Pakistan
rebuke French weekly for reprinting anti-Islam cartoons
03 September
2020
Turkey and
Pakistan have separately censured the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo for
republishing offensive cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
In an editorial
this week accompanying the blasphemous caricatures, the magazine said they
"belong to history, and history cannot be rewritten nor erased."
The insulting
sketches were reprinted on the eve of the trial of suspects in a deadly attack
on the paper’s Paris offices in 2015.
French President
Emmanuel Macron refused to censure the more and claimed it was not his place to
pass judgment about what he called a matter of free speech.
In a statement
released on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy strongly
condemned the magazine’s republication of the cartoons, adding that the
approach of the French authorities, especially Macron, regarding the incident
is also "unacceptable."
He further
stressed that it is not possible to justify the insult and disrespect toward
Muslims by saying it is freedom of the press, art or expression.
“At every
opportunity, those who define themselves as democrat and liberal are serving
the new generation of fascists and racists in France and Europe by using such
racist and discriminatory actions that increase anti-Islamism and xenophobia,”
Aksoy said.
He also urged
politicians and European countries to take a clear stance against such attacks
against Islam which are on the rise and hurt Muslim sentiments.
Similarly,
Pakistani Foreign Ministry denounced the French weekly’s move as a “deliberate
act” meant to offend Muslims’ sentiments.
"Pakistan
condemns in the strongest terms the decision by the French magazine, Charlie
Hebdo, to re-publish deeply offensive caricatures of the Holy Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH)," it tweeted.
"Such a
deliberate act to offend the sentiments of billions of Muslims cannot be
justified as an exercise in press freedom or freedom of expression. Such
actions undermine the global aspirations for peaceful co-existence as well as
social and inter-faith harmony," it added.
In a video
message on Thursday, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that
the blasphemous caricatures hurt the sentiments of millions of Muslims across
the world, adding that Islamabad had conveyed its concerns to the French
government.
The
republication of the sketches was carried out without any reason and no amount
of condemnation was enough, he noted.
"We are
seeing a rise in Islamophobia, racism and xenophobia across the world and
Pakistan has highlighted this at all forums,” Qureshi warned.
"Pakistan
is a democratic country and a democracy believes in freedom of expression. But
freedom of expression does not give you the license to harm the sentiments of
others," he added.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/03/633228/Turkey-Pakistan-France-Charlie-Hebdo
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Russia praises
3rd round of Syrian peace talks
Elena
Teslova
03.09.2020
MOSCOW
Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov praised on Thursday the results of the third round of
the Syrian peace talks in Geneva.
"Not
everything was resolved, not everything was agreed upon, but in general, we
consider the meeting fruitful and meaningful," Lavrov said at a meeting
with UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen in Moscow.
He urged
Pedersen to step up efforts in repatriation of Syrians who want to return,
saying it will help ease "the unbearable burden borne by the refugees host
countries, primarily Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey".
In turn,
Pedersen joined Lavrov's assessments, saying he did not expect
"miracles" but had some expectations, some of them were achieved.
"What I
noticed that there was what we call the more respectful tone between the
parties and that is also important. Both co-chairs told me that they felt there
were commonalities between them. That of course doesn’t mean that there are not
very serious differences, that’s why we are meeting, that’s why we are sitting
down and discussing, to try to sort it out and identify commonalities," he
said.
The work of the
constitutional committee on Syria is to push the sides to cooperation, because
the decisions are made based on consensus, therefore all sides need to interact
to achieve it, he added.
"As you
know we didn’t manage to agree on the agenda so we don’t have a date for the
next meeting. But we will continue to work on this," Pedersen said.
Syria has been
marred by civil war since 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on
protesters using disproportionate force.
Turkey has
worked to protect the local civilian population as well as rid the wider region
of terrorist elements.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/russia-praises-3rd-round-of-syrian-peace-talks/1962163
--------
Macron berates
reporter for unveiling Hezbollah talks
Cindi Cook
03.09.2020
PARIS
French President
Emmanuel Macron lashed out at a journalist following a news conference in
Beirut, Lebanon Tuesday evening for his exposing an unannounced meeting by the
leader with Hezbollah in a recent article.
French
journalist Georges Malbrunot wrote a piece published in Le Figaro on Monday
which reported Macron having threatened to impose sanctions against leaders of
the militant faction who may be resistant to the necessary reforms that France
seeks.
The president's
rebuke came during his official two-day visit to Beirut to discuss reforms and
the necessary reinvention of the country in the wake of the Aug. 4 deadly
chemical explosions in the capital city.
Video of the
footage broadcast by franceinfo TV reveals the president dressing down
Malbrunot, with the two abruptly walking away after the exchange.
"What you
are doing here is irresponsible in regard to the sensitive nature of the issue.
It is highly irresponsible towards France and the parties involved, considering
what you know about the history of this country.
"You know
that I always defend journalists, I always will," he continued, "but
I speak to you frankly. What you are doing is serious, unprofessional and
petty," the leader cried.
For his part,
Malbrunot was confounded.
"I am very
surprised at the virulence of this attack, which is unacceptable and to which I
responded."
Malbrunot is no
stranger to the region and is considered an expert in Middle East relations.
While reporting for Le Figaro in August 2004, he and a fellow journalist were
taken hostage by a group called the Islamic Army of Iraq during the US-led war
there. The two were released four months later.
The Elysee
Palace defended Macron's reprimand, expressing their need to simply be
informed.
"What the
president reproached him for is not having given the Elysee the possibility of reacting
to information which implicated him."
Macron was the
first foreign leader to visit Lebanon, just two days after the port blast that
left 190 dead, 6,500 injured, and 300,000 people displaced. His recent visit
came with the objectives of rebuilding the economy and the country's crumbling
infrastructure, and most importantly, aiding in the formation of a new
government.
Lebanon is on
the verge of bankruptcy, and has seen months of protests over a corrupt regime,
members of which resigned after the explosion.
After reading
Malbrunot's article, Macron criticized those who "write the worst nonsense
on the subject without any verification." He requested rather that
reporters question him directly.
The president
did go on to say however that he did not negate "a broader sanctions
mechanism" down the road.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/macron-berates-reporter-for-unveiling-hezbollah-talks/1961827
--------
Danish racist
leader applies for Swedish citizenship
Atilla
Altuntas
03.09.2020
STOCKHOLM
Danish far-right
leader and convicted racist Rasmus Paludan announced he applied for Swedish
citizenship to be able to freely burn Muslim holy book Quran in the country.
A copy of the
Quran was burned by supporters of racist Danish leader Rasmus Paludan, the
leader of the anti-Islamic group Tight Direction (Stram Kurs), in the southern
Sweden city of Malmo last week.
The rally was
marred by violence, which left several police officers injured. At least 10
people were arrested. Police also banned Paludan from entering Sweden for two
years.
“Today, I have
been to Sweden's Embassy in Copenhagen asking for investigation and
confirmation that I have a right to a Swedish passport [as his father is of
Swedish-origin],” Paludan said on his Facebook page on Wednesday.
Paludan said
they asked police for permission to burn the Quran on Sept. 12 in the capital
Stockholm’s Rinkeby district, an area mostly populated by Muslims and
immigrants.
If his
citizenship is not approved until then, his friends will go to Stockholm and
burn the Quran, he added.
The Organization
of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Sunday condemned the burning of a copy of the
Muslim holy book Quran.
The OIC
Islamophobia Observatory, a body that monitors Islamophobic incidents across
the world, welcomed the measures taken by the Swedish authorities against those
who burned the Muslim holy book.
In a statement,
the observatory called on the Muslim community in Sweden "to exercise
restraint and avoid violence”.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/danish-racist-leader-applies-for-swedish-citizenship/1961755
--------
South Asia
UNAMA Stresses
Need for Women Participation in Intra-Afghan Talks
By Mohammad Arif
Sheva
04 Sep 2020
KABUL,
Afghanistan – United Nations Special Representative and Head of the United
Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Deborah Lyons stressed the
need for women participation in coming Intra-Afghan dialogues on Peace in the
country.
“The issue will
be more central, this issue of women’s rights, will be more central in the
Afghan peace process than we have ever seen in any other peace negotiation in
recent memory,” she said in a briefing to the UN Security Council Thursday
evening.
Lyons believes
women direct involvement on the Afghan peace process will ensure their “rights
are upheld”.
“We all know
that it is women’s representation at the peace table that offers the best
opportunity to ensure that their own rights are upheld, and that their vision
for elements of a peaceful Afghanistan is reflected in all aspects of the
talks,” she added.
Meanwhile, Lyons
hopes the Taliban as well will consider woman’s participation in their
negotiating team, who will play constructive role in the peace process.
“…We are not yet
aware of any women’s representation on the Taliban side, but we remain hopeful
that they, too, will find a way of meaningfully including women,” she added.
This came at a
time Afghanistan is preparing to lead its negotiating team to Qatar – where the
first meeting on Intra-Afghan talks will be held – after both sides have
settled their oppositions on prisoner swaps.
https://www.khaama.com/unama-stresses-need-for-women-participation-in-intra-afghan-talks-345345/
--------
Afghanistan’s
new State Minister for Peace officially assumed office
03 Sep 2020
The new State
Minister for Peace officially assumed office on Thursday.
Fazal Mahmood
Fazli, the head of the Administrative Office of the President recited the
President’s decree on the appointment of the State Minister of Peace.
According to the
decree, Sayed Sadat Mansoor Naderi, the former Minister of Urban Development
and Housing has been appointed as the new State Minister of Peace.
Naderi called on
the Taliban to listen to the public’s voice as the government has taken
practical steps towards the peace.
“The Afghan
government has taken practical steps toward achieving peace, we hope the
Taliban, as Afghans who deeply have suffered from the situation, shall stand by
their nation and understand this is a unique and historic opportunity,” Naderi
said.
This comes as,
an Afghan delegation is scheduled to leave Kabul for Doha on Friday to meet
with the Taliban negotiating team.
https://www.khaama.com/afghanistans-new-state-minister-for-peace-assumed-office-9797697/
--------
Afghan, Taliban
Prisoner Swap Ends: Deadlock to Intra-Afghan Talks
By Mohammad
Haroon Alim
03 Sep 2020
The demand for
exchanging prisoners between the Afghan government and Taliban are said to have
met Wednesday night, according to sources, breaking the deadlock for
intra-Afghan dialogues to begin in coming days.
Two Afghan
commandos – languishing in Taliban prison – were handed over to local officials
in Kandahar, while a total of 113 Taliban prisoners were released by the Afghan
government.
Their release came
at a time, the Taliban demanded Afghan government to set their 400 prisoners
free before any talk on peace, among who are seven hardcore prisoners who
killed a number of foreign nationals.
Afghan
Government said the seven hardcore prisoners were not released based on the
request of French and Australian governments.
According to
sources, the remaining seven Taliban prisoners are due to be transferred and
monitored in Qatar during the Intra-Afghan Talks.
Masoom Stanekzai
Chairman of the Peace Negotiating Committee Said today, “The government’s
negotiating team will soon begin peace talks with the Taliban, in which the
rights of all citizens of the country are protected.”
Earlier, the
Afghan government was requested by the French and Australian governments to not
release these staunch members, since they are involved in killing French troops
and Australian civilians in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile,
Khwazoon, a spokesperson to HCNR, told Khaama Press on Wednesday, “Process of
releasing prisoners is scheduled to complete by today (Thursday).”
The
controversies over releasing of Taliban prisoners were a huge barriers to push
through the intra-Afghan talks.
https://www.khaama.com/afghan-taliban-prisoner-swap-ends-deadlock-to-intra-afghan-talks/
--------
Rohingya arrested
at sea shunted back to Myanmar camps
September 3,
2020
YANGON: Myanmar
has returned dozens of Rohingya to camps in conflict-wracked Rakhine state,
officials said Thursday, after arresting them at sea as they tried to flee what
rights groups brand as “apartheid” conditions.
A group of 42
Rohingya Muslims — including two children — was detained last Thursday offshore
of Bogale in Ayeyarwady region, local police told AFP.
The
long-persecuted Rohingya are widely regarded as illegal immigrants in Myanmar,
refused citizenship and unable to travel freely.
One of the group
tested positive for coronavirus, but the rest arrived Wednesday night in
Kyaukphyu in central Rakhine state, local MP Ba Shein told AFP.
His constituents
were “very worried” by the coronavirus risk, he said.
Local officials
said the group was due to be sent by boat to camps further north on Friday.
Military
operations in 2017 forced some 750,000 Rohingya to flee from northern Rakhine
to Bangladesh in violence that now sees Myanmar facing genocide charges at the
UN’s top court.
But around
600,000 more Rohingya remain in Myanmar, living in what Amnesty International
describes as “apartheid” conditions.
Kyaukphyu is one
of many strictly segregated towns with its Muslim population of over 1,000 people
confined to a camp since inter-communal violence in 2012.
It is mainly
home to Kaman Muslims, a minority that — unlike the Rohingya — is officially
recognised in the Buddhist-majority country, even though they also suffer
discrimination.
The detained Rohingya
were taken to the Muslim camp, where its inhabitants were told they had no
choice but to accept them, one resident told AFP, asking not to be named.
“They had been
travelling without sleep or food … so we agreed to let them come in,” he said,
adding his community was scared it would be even more stigmatised because of
the coronavirus risk.
“We’re already
facing huge problems — they (the authorities) are just causing more trouble for
us.”
Hundreds of
Rohingya have been arrested while trying to flee Rakhine state and seek refuge
in other countries, many spending months or even years behind bars.
Burma Human
Rights Network (BHRN) last week called for more international pressure on
Myanmar in its report titled “Nowhere to Run in Burma: Rohingya trapped between
an open-air prison and jail”.
Executive
Director Kyaw Win decried the “weaponisation” of Myanmar’s legal system
“against an entire ethno-religious group born and living in the country for
generations”.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2020/09/03/rohingya-arrested-at-sea-shunted-back-to-myanmar-camps/
--------
Arab World
Bahrain to allow
Israel flights to UAE over its airspace
04 Sep 2020
Bahrain will
allow “all flights coming to and departing from the United Arab Emirates” to
cross through the island kingdom’s airspace — a statement apparently allowing
Israeli flights after neighboring Saudi Arabia issued a similar announcement.
The state-run
Bahrain News Agency (BNA) made the announcement without directly naming Israel,
just as Saudi Arabia had. However, the announcement late Thursday came just
days after the kingdom allowed the first direct Israeli commercial passenger
flight to use its airspace to reach the UAE.
The statement
makes no mention of the kingdom’s rival, Iran, nor Qatar, which Bahrain, Saudi
Arabia and the UAE are currently boycotting.
Flights between
Bahrain and the UAE now skirt just north of Qatari airspace as Doha remains banned
from the airspace of boycotting nations amid a yearslong political dispute.
Iranian flights to the UAE similarly don’t need to enter the airspace of
Bahrain, an island nation just off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian
Gulf.
BNA cited an
unnamed Transportation and Telecommunication Ministry official for the
announcement, saying it came at the request of civil aviation authorities in
the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Earlier this
week, Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, flew
with a high-level Israeli delegation to the UAE on the first direct commercial
passenger flight between the two countries. The flight traversed Saudi
airspace, signaling at least acquiescence for the breakthrough US-brokered
agreement by the United Arab Emirates to normalise relations with Israel.
The UAE has
promoted the deal as hinging on Israel halting its contentious plan to annex
parts of the West Bank sought by the Palestinians for their future state. The
deal also may allow Abu Dhabi to purchase advanced weaponry from the US,
including the F-35 stealth fighter jet.
The Palestinians
have fiercely opposed the normalisation as peeling away one of their few
advantages in moribund peace talks with Israel.
Bahrain, which
hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet and a British naval base, has a historic Jewish
community. The kingdom has slowly encouraged ties to Israel, with two US-based
rabbis in 2017 saying King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa himself promoted the idea
of ending the boycott of Israel by Arab nations.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1577885/bahrain-to-allow-israel-flights-to-uae-over-its-airspace
--------
Airstrike kills
16 pro-Iran fighters in Syria, Israel suspected as behind it: Report
03 September
2020
Airstrikes on eastern
Syria killed 16 Iran-backed fighters Thursday, a war monitor said, hours after
Damascus said it intercepted Israeli missiles fired at a central air base.
Those killed
were “Iraqi paramilitary fighters loyal to Iran, seven of whom were killed
outside the city of Mayadeen,” Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the Britain-based
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said.
The other nine
were killed in strikes south of the city of Abu Kamal, on the Iraqi border
further east.
Abdul Rahman
said Israel was “likely” responsible for the attack, which if confirmed, would
mark the second such strike in less than 24 hours and the third this week.
Late Wednesday,
Syrian air defenses intercepted missiles fired by an Israeli warplane at the T4
air base in central Syria, state news agency SANA reported.
“Our air
defenses intercepted most of them,” it said, adding the attack caused only
material damage.
On Monday,
Israeli strikes killed one civilian, three government troops and seven allied
foreign fighters, the Observatory said.
Monday’s strikes
hit Syrian army positions south of Damascus and facilities used by Iran-backed
paramilitaries, including fighters of Lebanese Hezbollah, in the southern
province of Daraa, the Observatory said.
Israel has
carried out hundreds of air and missile strikes on Syria since the civil war
broke out in 2011, targeting Iranian and Hezbollah forces as well as government
troops.
The Israeli army
rarely acknowledges individual strikes, but did confirm on August 3 that it had
used fighter jets, attack helicopters and other aircraft to hit military
targets in southern Syria.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/09/03/Airstrike-kills-16-pro-Iran-fighters-in-Syria-Israel-suspected-as-behind-it-Report
--------
Conflict in Syria
requires political solution without foreign interference: Lavrov tells UN envoy
03 September
2020
Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov has stressed the need for a political solution to the
conflict in Syria, saying the settlement of the conflict must be in accordance
with UN Security Council Resolution 2254 and without foreign interference.
Speaking in a
meeting with UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen in Moscow on Thursday,
Lavrov stated that Russia, as a guarantor country for Syria peace talks in the
Astana format, supports UN efforts to facilitate the work of the Syria
Constitutional Committee in line with Security Council Resolution 2254.
UNSC Resolution
2254 was unanimously adopted on December 18, 2015. It calls for a ceasefire and
political settlement in Syria.
It calls for the
formation of a “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian” government and
UN-supervised “free and fair elections.”
Moscow, Tehran,
and Ankara have been mediating peace negotiations between representatives from
the Damascus government and Syrian opposition groups in a series of talks held
in Kazakhstan’s capital, Nur-Sultan, formerly called Astana, since January
2017.
Russia has also
hosted parallel talks in the resort city of Sochi aimed at solidifying the
three countries’ cooperation towards returning peace and stability to Syria.
Elsewhere in his
remarks, Lavrov praised the results of the third round of the Syrian peace
talks in Geneva.
“Not everything
was resolved, not everything was agreed upon, but in general, we consider the
meeting fruitful and meaningful,” the top Russian diplomat said.
The third
session of the UN-facilitated Syria peace negotiations convened in Geneva on
Monday after a nine-month break, caused by differences over the agenda and the
coronavirus pandemic.
Lavrov also
underlined the need to preserve Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,
and to continue the war on terror until all terrorists operating in the
conflict-plagued Arab country are eliminated.
“There are grave
difficulties concerning the humanitarian situation in Syria, especially in
light of the coronavirus pandemic, whose solution requires removal of coercive
Western economic sanctions imposed on the country,” the Russian foreign
minister pointed out.
Lavrov then
called for stepped up efforts in repatriation of Syrian willing to return home,
saying it will help ease “the unbearable burden borne by the refugees on host
countries, primarily Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.”
Pederden, for
his part, underscored UN’s support for efforts aimed at a political solution to
Syria crisis in accordance with UN Resolution 2254, noting that economic
sanctions against Syria must be lifted to improve the humanitarian situation
there.
‘Western
sanctions negatively impact war on terror in Syria’
Later on
Thursday, Pederden met with Russia's Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu, who said
the sanctions imposed on Syria by the Western countries have a negative impact
on solving the country’s crisis and the anti-terror fight.
“There are
several factors that negatively affect the effort made to find a solution to
the crisis in Syria and combating terrorism, which include in particular the
Western sanctions,” Sputnik News Agency quoted Shoygu as saying during the
meeting.
Russia's top
military official also chastised foreign parties for violating Syria’s
sovereignty and plundering its energy resources amid restrictions imposed by
the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
Shoygu then
lauded Syrian government’s effort to overcome the existing hurdles in the way
of reconstructing the war-torn country.
“It is difficult
to understand the logic of Western countries, which on the one hand claim to be
concerned about the Syrian people, while on the other hand, impose sanctions on
them, which practically prevent the supply of medicine and foodstuffs and
impede the return of the displaced,” Russian defense minister said.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/03/633260/Conflict-in-Syria-requires-political-solution-without-foreign-interference-Lavrov-tells-UN-envoy
--------
US-backed SDF
militants kidnap civilians, prevent food from entering al-Hawl refugee camp
03 September
2020
Militants
affiliated with the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have abducted
several civilians from the al-Hawl refugee camp in the northeastern Syrian
province of al-Hasakah, and prevented the entry of food stuff highly needed for
thousands of people stranded at the camp.
Local sources
told Syria’s official news agency SANA that US-backed SDF militants on Thursday
stormed the camp, located near the border with Iraq, and arrested a number of
people, before preventing food from crossing into the site amid a worsening
humanitarian situation there.
SANA added that
the development took place only a day after more than 25 minors suffered nausea
and breathing difficulties after they were apparently given various doses of
sleeping bills to be smuggled out of the refugee camp to a training camp run by
the SDF militants.
SDF militants’
positions attacked in Dayr al-Zawr, Raqqah
Also on
Thursday, the positions of the US-sponsored militants were attacked by
unidentified assailants in Syria’s eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr as well as
the northwestern province of Raqqah.
SANA, citing
civil sources in Dayr al-Zawr, reported that unknown people hurled a hand grenade
at an SDF position in Abu Hamam town in Abu Kamal district, causing material
damage. There were no reports of casualties.
Elsewhere in
al-Hous village in Raqqah province, several SDF militants were injured when a
car bomb explosion struck them.
Security
conditions are reportedly deteriorating in SDF-controlled areas in Hasakah,
Dayr al-Zawr and Raqqah amid ongoing raids and arrests of civilians by the
militants.
Local Syrians
complain that the SDF’s constant raids and arrest campaigns have generated a
state of frustration and instability, severely affecting their businesses and
livelihood.
Residents accuse
the US-sponsored militants of stealing crude oil and refusing to spend money on
service sectors.
Local councils
affiliated with the SDF have also been accused of financial corruption.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/03/633245/US-backed-SDF-militants-kidnap-civilians-prevent-food-from-entering-al-Hawl-refugee-camp
--------
Less than a
meter separates rescuers from what they hope is a survivor of the Beirut blast,
buried under the rubble
September 04,
2020
BEIRUT: Rescue
workers in Lebanon are in a race against time with about half a meter of rubble
left between them and what they believe could be a survivor of the devastating
Aug. 4 Beirut blast.
Local channel
AlJadeed reported the heartbeat of the possible survivor buried under the
rubble has dropped to 7 beats per minute.
Live feeds from
the site were briefly interrupted through the morning as rescuers asked those
at the scene to turn off phones, cameras and other electrical devices.
State news
previously reported that a rescue and recovery team with a specially trained
search dog had detected signs of a pulse and breathing under a destroyed
building in the Gemmayze area of Beirut, one of the worst hit areas by the
blast.
The team of
rescue workers included volunteers from Chile, as well as Lebanon and members
of the local civil defense force.
A crane was
brought to the search area to help by carefully lifting up steel girders and
other heavy pieces of debris.
Residents
gathered nearby, holding out hope that someone could be found, while some
voiced frustration that not enough had been done earlier to find survivors.
“How many people
could have survived if there had been a state and rescue operations ready?”
asked 28-year-old Chadem.
Rescue workers
initially suspended the search operation late on Thursday night, sparking
angered reactions from locals, The Washington Post reported.
Oscar-nominated
director Nadine Labaki joined angered residents as they demanded the work
continued.
“There could be
someone alive,” she said. “That cannot wait until tomorrow morning.”
“You have no
brains,” another woman was quoted as saying. “If your sister or mother was
there, would you leave them?”
Soldiers had to
escort people off the rubble as they scrambled over the debris of the collapsed
building to resume the work the rescuers appeared to be leaving, the Washington
Post added..
The search was
eventually resumed shortly after 1 a.m. on Friday.
The explosion
ripped through a swathe of the capital, smashing up districts such as Gemmayze,
home to many old, traditional buildings, some of which collapsed in the
shockwave.
The building
where the search was being conducted had once housed a bar on its ground floor.
The search came
as Lebanon was to mark one month since the blast that killed about 190 people
and injured 6,000 others, leaving the country traumatized. A moment of silence
was planned at 6:08 p.m., the moment that marks the most destructive single
incident in Lebanon’s history on Aug. 4.
“These (signs of
breathing and pulse) along with the temperature sensor means there is a
possibility of life,” rescue worker Eddy Bitar told reporters at the scene.
Rescue workers
in bright jackets clambered over the building that had collapsed in the blast.
Bitar said a
civil defense unit had been called in to help with extra equipment to conduct
the search.
Local media said
any search and rescue effort, if it became clear that someone was still alive,
was likely to take hours.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1729146/middle-east
--------
Saudi project
saves Yemenis from Houthi landmines
SAEED AL-BATATI
September 03,
2020
AL-MUKALLA: The
Saudi Project for Landmine Clearance (Masam) in Yemen has cleared mines from
across the country to allow displaced people to return home, according to the
project director.
Osama Al-Gosaibi
said that the Iran-backed Houthis had put down tens of thousands of mines in
Yemen since taking over Sanaa in late 2014.
He added that
the project’s demining engineers were working as hard as they could to clean
land before civilians were hit. “We are racing against time,” Al-Gosaibi told
Arab News.
Masam, which was
established in mid-2018 by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center
(KSRelief), aims to clear Yemen of landmines and unexploded ordnances. It
trains local demining engineers, equips them with state-of-the-art machines and
also helps landmine victims.
In June,
KSRelief extended Masam’s contract for one year at a cost of $30 million.
Al-Gosaibi said
the project has 32 demining teams. They have tackled more than 180,000
landmines, anti-personnel and anti-tank mines as well as other explosive
devices since 2018. Their activity has covered an area exceeding 13 million
square meters in the provinces of Marib, Jawf, Shabwa, Taiz, Lahj, Dhale,
Hodeidah and Saada.
Compared to
other countries such as Lebanon, where Al-Gosaibi and his teams have also
worked, a demining mission in Yemen is more dangerous and arduous. It has cost
Masam the lives of 21 engineers.
“The Houthi
militia has extensively and indiscriminately planted mines in all areas,” he
said. “We retrieve mines from purely civilian areas. We remove them from
schools, houses, farms, roads, children's playgrounds and animal pastures.”
Figures
collected by Masam and the US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data
Project show that the Houthis planted around a million landmines in contested
areas and even in areas under their control.
“As much as we
are keen to secure and clear the largest amount of mined areas, the militias
are still laying mines in the areas under their control.”
Local and
international right groups say that hundreds of Yemeni civilians have been
killed over the last five years.
Masam said that
the latest confirmed victims of Houthi landmines were two people who were
killed on Monday in a landmine explosion in the central province of Al-Bayda.
Local media
outlets recently reported that entire families were killed in Jawf when
vehicles drove over landmines laid by Houthis.
“Landmine
victims are in their thousands, mainly children and women, and this bloodshed
will stop when Yemen is entirely secured from landmines. And this is our chief
objective,” Al-Gosaibi said.
Most landmines
retrieved by Masam teams are locally made, while others originate from Iran.
Al-Gosaibi
accused the Houthis of targeting civilians by planting landmines disguised as
rocks and children’s toys in villages, farmlands, schools, roads and parks.
Thousands of
Yemenis who fled fighting in their home villages have been able to return
thanks to the project’s efforts, however. “By securing these areas, we helped
thousands of displaced people to safely return to their homes, farms and
schools,” Al-Gosaibi said.
Yemeni demining
officials have hailed the role of Masam in helping the country get rid of
landmines and supplying local demining teams with knowledge and equipment.
“Masam is a
great project that came at the right time,” Maj. Gen. Ameen Saleh Al-Aqeli, the
director of the Yemen Executive Mine Action Center (YEMAC), told Arab News. “It
achieved great work at record time. The number of landmine victims would have
been much higher if Masam did not come to Yemen. It has saved the lives of many
Yemenis.”
YEMAC has
received support from the Saudi government and other international donors that
have helped it stand on its feet during the war.
Al-Aqeli
attributed the high number of civilian casualties to the intensity of landmines
planted by the Houthis and people’s lack of awareness, as many displaced
Yemenis had hastily returned to liberated areas before demining teams were able
to finish their missions.
“Due to poverty
and hunger many people do not heed to our warnings against returning to their
houses. So they cause a disaster to themselves and the others when they
return.”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1729161/saudi-arabia
--------
Mideast
Israel remains
enemy, does not belong to Middle East despite UAE deal: Hamas leader
03 September
2020
The chief of the
political bureau of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement has condemned
landing of Israel's first passenger flight in the United Arab Emirates,
stressing the recent UAE-Israel normalization deal will not change the facts as
the Tel Aviv regime will remain an enemy.
“Israel is an
enemy and such a point must remain clear to everyone. Such agreements [like
that concluded between the UAE and Israel] and [subsequent] visits will not
change the historical and geographical facts,” Ismail Haniyeh said in a
statement released by his office on Wednesday, emphasizing “Israel is neither
part of the solution [to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict] nor of the region.”
He added that
the flight was “an unfortunate and painful moment for every Palestinian and
every free Arab man and woman.”
The website of
the Israel Airports Authority listed the flight taking off Monday for Abu Dhabi
last Friday, saying it was numbered LY971, a nod to the UAE's international
calling code number.
A return flight
to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport on Tuesday was numbered LY972,
the international calling code for the Israeli-occupied territories.
Israel and the
UAE agreed to a US-brokered deal to normalize relations on August 13. Under the
agreement, the Tel Aviv regime has purportedly agreed to
"temporarily" suspend applying its own rule to further areas in the
occupied West Bank and the strategic Jordan Valley that Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu had pledged to annex.
While Emirati
officials have described the normalization deal with the Tel Aviv regime as a
successful means to stave off annexation and save the so-called two-state
solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israeli leaders have lined up to
reject the bluff of Abu Dhabi's crown prince and de facto ruler of the UAE,
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, that Israel's annexation plans were off
the table.
Netanyahu has
underlined that annexation is not off the table, but has simply been delayed.
The Palestinians
have unanimously censured the UAE-Israel peace deal, which runs counter to a
long-standing Arab consensus that any normalization of ties with the Tel Aviv
regime has to come in the context of the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict and the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state.
They say the
UAE, as an important Arab player in the region, has stabbed fellow Palestinians
in the back.
They also say
the agreement does not serve the cause of the Palestinians.
"This
agreement does absolutely not serve the Palestinian cause, it rather serves the
Zionist narrative. This agreement encourages the occupation [by Israel] to
continue its denial of the rights of our Palestinian people, and even to continue
its crimes against our people," Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a
statement after the announcement of the deal.
The Palestinians
also maintain that Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv had long been in talks behind the
scenes to pave the way for normalization.
Private jets had
reportedly flown between the UAE and Israel as their officials were in covert
talks.
The UAE-Israel
agreement has also sparked protests and condemnations from Muslim and other
Arab countries, who described it as an act of treason against the
Palestinians.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/03/633236/Israel-is-an-enemy-does-not-belong-to-Middle-East-region-Hamas-leader
--------
Yemeni vice
president slams Houthis for blocking international peace efforts
September 04,
2020
DUBAI: Yemeni
Vice President Ali Mohsen Saleh criticized the Iran-backed Houthi militia for
blocking international efforts to implement lasting peace in the strife-ridden
country.
Mohsen
highlighted the Houthis’ continued escalation across the country, including the
launch of ballistic missiles and drones against Yemeni and Saudi cities and the
obstruction of initiatives to resolve the Safer oil tanker issue, state news
agency Saba News reported.
The vice
president made his comments after meeting with diplomats from the Netherlands
and Sweden and discussing ongoing peace efforts ‘to achieve permanent peace
aimed at helping the Yemeni people’ and ‘to reinstate the official government
and eliminate Iran-allied Houthi’ militia.
The Yemeni
leader praised the significant contribution of the Netherlands and Sweden to
the peace efforts, with both countries reaffirming their support for the
humanitarian and relief actions in Yemen.
Houthi elements
meanwhile abducted 11 individuals, including five children, in the
Al-Quraishiyah district of Yemen’s central province of Al-Bayda, the state news
agency reported
The kidnapping
is part of the campaign by Houthis against the people of Al-Shiryaf village and
villages near it, a local source told Saba New.
The militia are
accused of crimes and violations against the people at Al-Shiryaf village,
including storming and shelling houses, killing and injuring people among them
women and children, the source added.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1729371/middle-east
--------
Iran Condemns
Notorious French Magazine’s Sacrilegious Cartoon
Sep 04, 2020
Khatibzadeh said
any irreverence to the Prophet of Islam or other prophets is totally
unacceptable.
He noted that
the provocative move, under the disguise of freedom of speech, has hurt the
feelings of all monotheists in the world and also disrespected Islamic values
and the beliefs of more than one billion Muslims.
Charlie Hebdo is
a French magazine with a very black record of publishing anti-Islamic content.
It had published caricatures of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in 2012 and 2015
that sparked million-strong rallies of Muslims around the globe.
In early January
2015, the ISIL terrorist group attacked the weekly after it released a cartoon
of ISIL leader Abu Bakr Al-Baqdadi. At least 12 people were killed when masked
gunmen stormed the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo and opened fire.
Iranian
officials condemned the attack, but warned that the incident should not be used
as a pretext for accusing Islam or pressuring the Muslim community in the West,
reminding that ISIL is not an Islamic group.
The same day,
the former Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham condemned the attack,
and said any act of terrorism against innocent people is opposed to Islamic
teachings.
https://en.farsnews.ir/newstext.aspx?nn=13990614000081
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FM Zarif
Discusses Bilateral Ties with Pakistani Counterpart
Sep 04, 2020
Zarif and
Qureshi in a phone contact on Thursday discussed bilateral relations, the Joint
Commission for Cooperation between Tehran and Islamabad, Shanghai Cooperation
Organization, as well as the latest developments in Afghanistan and Kashmir.
The Iranian top
diplomat also offered his condolences to the Pakistani government and nation
over the flood in the Sindh province last week.
Local media have
reported that the Monsoon rains in various parts of the country, especially in
the city of Karachi, have claimed more than 100 lives in recent days,
destroying 1,000 homes.
In relevant
remarks last week, Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini
voiced sympathy to the Pakistani people and government over the recent flood
that has claimed scores of lives and caused much destruction.
"Deeply
saddened over the loss of precious lives due to heavy rains and floods,”
Hosseini wrote on his Twitter page on Thursday, August 27.
https://en.farsnews.ir/newstext.aspx?nn=13990614000129
--------
Iranian FM Raps
Israel for Continued Crimes against Palestinians
Sep 03, 2020
In a Twitter
post on Wednesday, Zarif showed a picture portraying an Israeli soldier
kneeling on a Palestinian’s head, and said,” The only thing that has been
normalized is this.”
Zarif was
referring to a Tuesday incident where Israeli forces brutally confronted an
elderly Palestinian man during a protest held near the occupied West Bank
village of Shufah.
The protest came
after the Palestinians gathered to protest against the confiscation of their
land to expand settlements there.
In relevant
remarks on Tuesday, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed
Ali Khamenei lashed out at the UAE for normalizing ties with Israel, describing
it as a betrayal of Islam, the Arab and Palestinian people and the regional
states.
"The UAE
betrayed the world of Islam, the Arab nations, the region’s countries and
Palestine. Of course, this betrayal won’t last long," Ayatollah Khamenei
said, addressing the directors and heads of the Education Ministry via a
videoconference.
"The UAE
rulers opened the door of the region to the Zionists, and they have ignored and
normalized the question of Palestine, which is a question about the usurpation
of a country. This stigma will remain on them," he added.
"The nation
of Palestine is under various, severe pressures. Then, the UAE cooperates with
the Israelis and the filthy US agents - such as the Zionists in Trump’s family
- against the interests of the world of Islam and commits the greatest atrocity
against it," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
He expressed the
hope that the UAE would wake up soon and compensate for what they’ve done.
Also, last week,
the Iranian foreign ministry blasted again the recent compromise deal between
Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, warning that the UAE should account for any threat
posed by Israel to the region.
“The agreement
between the UAE and the Zionist regime is a scar on the Muslim world’s body and
the UAE has made a big mistake and we hope that it makes up for this mistake as
soon as possible. The Muslim world will never forget betrayal of the holy
Quds,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters in Tehran.
He further
downsized Israel as a serious threat to Iran, and said it is seen as too small
and too weak as a threat, but warned that although Israel is not among the
threats perceived by Iran’s defense and security doctrine in the Persian Gulf
region, the UAE will be held to account if the regime poses any threat to the
region.
Khatibzadeh
stressed Iran’s seriousness about defending its security and national
interests.
US President
Donald Trump on August 13 announced a deal brokered by his government between
Israel and the UAE which he said would lead to full normalization of ties
between the two.
Critics see the
deal as the latest attempt by Trump to save his presidential campaign against
the Democrat Joe Biden.
Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani decried the recent normalization deal between the UAE
and Israel, describing it as a gift to Trump before elections.
“These days we
have faced a neighboring country which has approached the enemy of the Islamic
world and the region and the murderer of the Palestinian nation in a decision
to get close to the Zionist regime,” Rouhani said, addressing a meeting of the
national coronavirus campaign headquarters in Tehran last month.
He added that
the UAE rulers are wrongly thinking that their security and economy will improve
through relations with Israel, noting that the measure is aimed at helping
Trump win the November elections.
“(The UAE’s)
measure is one hundred percent wrong and condemned,” Rouhani said.
He warned the
regional states not to pave the way for Israel to have a foothold in the
region.
In a relevant
statement on August 14, the Iranian foreign ministry strongly condemned the
UAE's decision to set up diplomatic relations with "the Zionist regime of
Israel" and termed it as a strategic act of idiocy by Abu Dhabi and Tel
Aviv which will undoubtedly result in the further reinvigoration of the axis of
resistance in the region.
The statement
further stressed that "the oppressed nation of Palestine as well as other
freedom-seeking peoples worldwide will never forgive the sin of normalization
of the ties with the occupier and bloodthirsty regime of Israel and also the
act of those who approve and cooperate with its crimes".
Undoubtedly the
innocent bloods shed during the past seven decades of resistance to free the sacred
land of Palestine which is Muslims' first Qibla will sooner or later take those
that betrayed the Palestinian cause by the throat, it added.
The statement
also stressed that the Islamic Republic of Iran considers as dangerous Abu
Dhabi's act of normalizing ties with the fabricated, illegitimate and
anti-human regime of Israel, and warns the Zionist regime against any kind of
meddling in the Persian Gulf region's equations.
The UAE
administration and all other governments which approve of this move should be
ready to take the responsibility of all the consequences of such a measure, it
further said.
The Iranian
foreign ministry's statement also noted that the history will definitely
demonstrate how this strategic mistake by the Zionist regime and the dagger
which stabbed both the Palestinian nation and the Muslim peoples in the back
will backfire and further strengthen the resistance axis by enhancing unity and
solidarity against the Zionist regime and the backward governments in the
region.
The foreign
ministry advised those rulers who, from inside their "glass castles",
hatch plots against the Palestinians and other regional oppressed nations,
including Yemen, to regain consciousness and stop erring in distinguishing
between friends and foes.
https://en.farsnews.ir/newstext.aspx?nn=13990613000291
--------
Turkey Releases
Hunger-Striking Lawyer After Death of Fellow Imprisoned Attorney
03 September
2020
Turkey’s supreme
court Thursday ordered the release of a hunger-striking lawyer, one week after
a fellow attorney died 238 days into a fast she staged seeking a fair trial.
A judgement from
the court’s appellate division said an extension of Aytac Unsal’s detention in
an Istanbul hospital, where he was transferred from jail in July, “would be
dangerous to his life.”
The 32-year-old
had been on hunger strike for over 200 days, his friends and family told
Turkish media.
He was sentenced
in 2019 to 10 years and six months in prison on terror-related charges which he
denies.
Unsal and fellow
lawyer Ebru Timtik, who died last week, were members of the Contemporary
Lawyers’ Association.
The group is
accused of having close ties to the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation
Party-Front (DHKP-C), a far-left Marxist organization.
The DHKP-C has
claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks, including a 2013 suicide
bombing at the US embassy in Ankara, which killed a Turkish security guard.
In 2019, an
Istanbul court handed multiple sentences to 18 lawyers, including Timtik and
Unsal, on charges of “forming and running a terror group.”
After the
sentencing, Timtik, Unsal and several other lawyers went on hunger strike,
after their appeals were ignored by the courts.
The two lawyers
turned their hunger strike into a death fast in April, consuming only liquids
and vitamins.
They were
transferred to a hospital but formally kept in detention after a medical report
ruled that their lives were at risk in July.
At the time of
her death last Thursday, Timtik weighed just 30 kilograms (65 pounds), her
friends told AFP.
The supreme
court ruling was issued shortly after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
met in Ankara with Robert Spano, the new president of the European Court of
Human Rights.
Spano stressed
to Erdogan “the importance of the rule of law and democracy and in particular,”
the ECHR said after the talks.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/09/03/Turkey-releases-hunger-striking-lawyer-after-death-of-fellow-imprisoned-attorney
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Turkey’s power
projection risks military clash in Mediterranean, former PM says
September 04,
2020
ANKARA: Turkey
risks military confrontation in the Eastern Mediterranean because it prizes
power over diplomacy, a former prime minister who championed a less
confrontational policy in the first decade of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
rule told Reuters.
Ahmet Davutoglu,
whose “zero problems with neighbors” mantra was a hallmark of Erdogan’s early
dealings with Europe and the Middle East, broke with the president’s ruling AK
Party last year to set up the rival Gelecek (Future) Party.
He criticized
what he described as a lurch toward authoritarianism under Turkey’s new
executive presidency, and accused the government of mishandling a series of
challenges including the economy, the coronavirus outbreak and the growing
tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Last month
Turkey sent a survey vessel, escorted by frigates, to explore for oil and gas
in waters claimed by Greece, a move Athens said was illegal. The two NATO
allies are locked in a dispute over the extent of their continental shelves and
maritime economic zones.
The European
Union, backing EU members Greece and Cyprus, has imposed minor sanctions
against Turkey, and a collision between Greek and Turkish warships shadowing
the survey vessel last month highlighted the potential for military escalation.
Davutoglu said
Ankara had genuine grievances over Greek claims to tens of thousands of square
kilometers of sea extending up to Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, but added that
Erdogan’s approach carried high risks.
“Unfortunately
our government is not doing a proper diplomatic performance,” he said in an
interview, warning that if both Greece and Turkey prefer “power projections”
over diplomacy, “at any time any crisis may erupt and escalate.”
Time to talk
Turkey should
say clearly to the EU: “‘Let’s come around the table and share all views’,”
Davutoglu said. It should also sit down with Greece to “discuss all matters
(and) deescalate the tension.”
Erdogan’s
government said it was on the verge of announcing a resumption of talks with
Greece last month when Athens signed a deal setting out its maritime border
with Egypt — an agreement which cut across waters claimed by Turkey.
Ankara cut off
the process in protest, and a visit to Greece and Turkey by Germany’s foreign
minister last week appeared to make no headway. EU leaders will discuss the
standoff later this month and could take further action against Turkey.
Davutoglu, who
served as Erdogan’s foreign minister from 2009 to 2014 and then as prime
minister for two subsequent years, worked to strengthen Turkish ties and
influence in the Mediterranean and Middle East.
But years of
talks with Greece were suspended in 2016, and Davutoglu’s Middle East strategy
was derailed in the turmoil of the Arab uprisings, when relations with Syria
and Egypt collapsed over Ankara’s support for Muslim Brotherhood groups.
Davutoglu’s
Future Party is one of two which has broken away from Erdogan’s AKP. Neither
has registered above low single figures in recent polls, but by eroding the
AKP’s support they have made Erdogan’s quest for a majority in elections due by
2023 more challenging.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1729286/middle-east
--------
Southeast Asia
Indira Gandhi
Says No Issue with Daughter Embracing Islam, Just Hopes to Reunite with Her By
Deepavali
04 Sep 2020
BY JOHN BUNYAN
KUALA LUMPUR,
Sept 4 — M. Indira Gandhi has no issue with her long-lost daughter Prasana
Diksa embracing Islam as all she wants is to be reunited with her before
Deepavali in November.
The mother-of-three
said she just wants to meet her daughter, whom she last held in 2009 when the
child was 11 months old, the Star Online reported today.
“I just want to
meet her. I want to hold her. That’s my main reason for finding Prasana,” she
told reporters after a meeting with investigators at Bukit Aman yesterday.
Indira, 45, was
accompanied by lawyer and activist Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and Indira Gandhi
Action Team (Ingat) chairman Arun Dorasamy to the meeting.
According to the
report, Indira was unable to meet Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul
Hamid Bador as he had to attend another meeting in Putrajaya.
Arun said there
was still a deficit of trust between them and the police, adding that they
remained unconvinced even after the meeting.
On Monday, Ingat
called off a planned hunger strike after Abdul Hamid agreed to meet them on
Thursday instead of just the Hindu mother alone.
Indira’s
daughter, Prasana Diksa, was taken by her ex-husband Muhammad Riduan Abdullah,
known as K. Pathmanathan before he converted to Islam in 2009 when she was just
11 months old.
He had also
converted their three children to Islam without Indira’s knowledge.
After a
protracted court battle that spanned years, the Federal Court ruled in January
2018 that the unilateral conversions of Indira’s children were unlawful.
Their two elder
children, Tevi Darsiny, now 22, and Karan Dinish, now 21, have stayed with
Indira.
Despite the
ruling, the police have yet to recover Prasana and return her to Indira.
Police have yet
to locate Muhammad Riduan despite an arrest warrant issued by the High Court in
2014.
Indira last saw
Prasana Diksa briefly in court when she was about 18 months old.
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/09/04/indira-gandhi-has-no-issue-with-daughter-embracing-islam-just-hopes-to-reun/1900049
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PAS MP stands by
controversial comments on alcohol consumption
September 3,
2020
PETALING JAYA:
The PAS MP who sparked a controversy on the consumption of alcohol today said
he stood by his views, citing several verses from the Bible to back his
argument.
“I stand by what
I said that all religions forbid the consumption of alcohol.
“Thus, I beseech
those who distorted my explanation in the Dewan Rakyat to return to the right
path and give their support to YB Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong in his fervent
campaign against drink driving,” said Pasir Puteh MP Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh
in a statement today.
In a Dewan
Rakyat debate on proposed higher penalties for drink driving last week, Zawawi
had said that biblical injunctions about drinking alcohol had been “distorted
or altered” — leading to rebuke from Christian associations and politicians.
Breaking his
silence on the matter, Zawawi said it was his “noble intention” to highlight
that all religions forbid the consumption of alcohol, and therefore saw no need
to apologise to Christians for his comments.
Zawawi said it
would be “a sin unto Christianity” for those who say that Christians were
allowed to consume alcohol, as it would lead to drunkenness.
However, he did
not deny that there are mentions in the Bible of alcohol being used for
medicinal purposes.
Zawawi said he
has deep respect for Christians and has read both the Old and New Testaments in
the Bible.
Stating that the
Old Testament “explicitly” stated that alcohol is forbidden, he said there are
75 scripture warnings in the Bible against drinking alcohol – going on to
provide two examples from the New International Version (NIV) translation;
“Wine is a
mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise” he said,
quoting the book of Proverbs chapter 20, verse 1.
The other
passage he shared reads as follows: “Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when
it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a
snake and poisons like a viper” (Proverbs 23:31).
Stating that
Muslims also believe in Prophet Isa (Jesus), Zawawi said Muslims are also
required to believe in the original scripture which was revealed to Prophet Isa
(Jesus).
“Even though I
questioned if the Bible was changed from the original scripture that was
revealed to him, I say it as a Muslim who believes in Prophet Isa (Jesus),” he
said.
“Thus, I see no
need to apologise to Christians as some quarters have asked me to.
“We as Muslims
are very clear that we should believe in all the divine scriptures revealed to
the Prophets before Prophet Muhammad.
“May the
Christians too take it upon themselves to believe in these divine scriptures as
well as the Holy Quran.”
Stating that he
does not intend to insult anyone or any religion, Zawawi called on those who
continue to insist on an apology to meet him, have a cup of tea and discuss the
issue amicably, so as to understand one another better.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2020/09/03/pas-mp-stands-by-controversial-comments-on-alcohol-consumption/
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Another former
Sabah chief minister hopes to make a comeback in Sept 26 poll
03 Sep 2020
BY JULIA CHAN
KOTA KINABALU,
Sept 3 — Former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat today announced his
return to active politics just days before the state goes into full election
mode.
The Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP) honorary lifetime president, who was Sabah chief
minister from 2001 to 2003, said he hoped to provide voters with a local party
with a clean slate as an alternative to the recent mass crossovers of 13 state
lawmakers.
In a press
conference here, Chong denounced the recent party-hopping antics in the state
and said Sabahans have every right to be angry with “disgraceful party hoppers”
and “political frogs”.
“There will be
no political frogs if there is no political party to accept them.
“It is these
‘frog collectors’ that gave a bad name to Sabah. Sabahans must condemn these
politicians who had unashamedly embraced and accepted them into their political
parties,” he said.
Chong confirmed
the LDP intends to run in more than 40 state seats, but stopped short of
disclosing which seat he plans to contest.
He said LDP will
announced its candidates before nomination day, which falls on September 12.
He said LDP had
been relegated to being a Chinese-based party under the Barisan Nasional (BN)
power sharing concept for 31 years, but added that it has since undergone a
change and expanded its base to include Muslims and non-Muslim Bumiputera
members for a multicultural appeal.
Chong said LDP
is aspiring to form the next state government.
The crux of his
administration would be to rid Sabah of its perennial illegal immigrant issues
which he described as out of hand since the start of the Warisan administration
under the leadership of Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal.
“Today we see
the increasing presence of illegal immigrants everywhere in the state. They are
getting braver and more blatant under the Warisan government. When I was chief
minister, I sent back hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants and I
demolished over 10,000 illegal squatters. I did this all with good relations
with the federal government and with help from Malaysia police, armed forces
and other authorities based in Sabah.
“I have no doubt
that the same support will be given to an LDP state government,” Chong said.
He added that a
state government that was in good terms with the federal government was another
priority for him.
“We will never
take sides but respect and cooperate and engage with any federal government led
by whoever so long as he is appointed by His Majesty. Any acrimony will only
bring Sabah back to the Parti Bersatu era of the ‘80s, where Sabah was fighting
with the federal government,” he said.
He also promised
to be more frugal with the state finances, first by abolishing the state
Education, Health and Public Well-being Ministry and the Law and Native Affairs
Ministries which he said duplicates several federal ministries.
“We will also
never have a chief minister and the finance ministry be the same person. This
is not a family affair. They will be of a different race. Why not?” he said.
Chong said that
he would also terminate mega projects like the controversial Kaiduan or Papar
dam.
“Our politicians
are obsessed with projects. We won’t waste time and bluff that we have billions
in our treasury. We don’t. We will instead address issues like non-revenue
water and fix those problems. With whatever money we have, we will address
horrendous flooding in Penampang and Petagas. We don’t need billions for this.
Just a few hundred million,” he said.
In announcing
his manifesto, Chong also promises to revive Sabah “to its glorious past” as a
world-class tourism destination which attract high end tourists via
full-service airlines.
He also wanted
to make Sabah a regional education hub and upgrade Sabah’s railway into the
west coast.
“Above all, we
want to maintain Sabah as harmonious, respectful and tolerant of all religious
practices without political or bureaucratic hindrances
“Under an LDP
state government, there shall be no more political exploitations when giving
out educational and religious grants. All such grants from the state government
are the entitlements of all educational and religious institutions and must be
delivered as a matter of course and not for political mileage,” he said.
Chong was chief
minister from 2001 to 2003 under a rotation system which allows the Chinese,
Muslim Bumiputera and non-Muslim Bumiputera leaders to rule the state.
He later
resigned as deputy chief minister in 2007 after a fallout with the chief
minister Tan Sri Musa Aman over the construction of a Mazu statue in his
hometown of Kudat.
He retired and
remained on a low profile although staying close to LDP affairs since
then.
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/09/03/another-former-sabah-chief-minister-hopes-to-make-a-comeback-in-sept-26-pol/1899839
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After meeting with
cops, Indira hopes for Deepavali reunion with daughter
Adam Abu Bakar
September 3,
2020
KUALA LUMPUR:
Indira Gandhi, the former wife of fugitive Muhammad Riduan Abdullah, is hoping
for a reunion with her daughter Prasana Diksa during the forthcoming Deepavali
in November, after not seeing her for 11 years.
Indira said this
matter was not related to religion, but simply out of a mother’s longing desire
to meet her daughter.
“If she chooses
to embrace Islam, that’s not an issue. I have no problems with her becoming a
Muslim.
“I just want to
meet her. I want to hold her. That’s my main reason for finding Prasana,” she
told reporters outside Bukit Aman today.
Indira had
earlier attended a meeting with the police, accompanied by her lawyer, Ambiga
Sreenevasan, and Indira Gandhi Action Team (Ingat) chairman Arun Dorasamy.
Ambiga said
Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Abdul Hamid Bador was unable to join the
meeting as he had another appointment in Putrajaya.
“We have already
received some information from police. We were told that because of Covid-19,
the movement control order and other factors, their probe was interrupted.
“We had a good
meeting with the police. We were also given information on those involved and
we also voiced our worries,” she said.
Ambiga said they
wanted to cooperate and help in the police investigation, adding that they are
ready to provide authorities with any information they have.
Riduan is the
former husband of Indira who won custody of their daughter after a legal battle
over the unilateral conversion of their children to Islam.
He fled with his
daughter in 2009 when she was only 11 months old after he converted to Islam
and no longer uses his birth name, K Pathmanathan.
In 2016, the
Federal Court ordered then IGP Khalid Abu Bakar to arrest Riduan and retrieve
Prasana.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2020/09/03/after-meeting-with-cops-indira-hopes-for-deepavali-reunion-with-daughter/
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Over 600
Indonesian Islamic school students infected with Covid-19
September 2,
2020
BANYUWANGI: More
than 600 Islamic school students in Indonesia have tested positive for the
coronavirus, a health ministry official said, marking the latest outbreak as
classrooms reopen across the country.
The Darussalam
Blokagung boarding school in East Java’s Banyuwangi regency has initiated a
two-week quarantine of some 6,000 students after at least 664 pupils were
infected.
Most of the
cases involved mild or no symptoms but the local police and the military have
blocked access to the school.
“All activities
must be halted,” health ministry spokesman Benget Saragih said Tuesday.
“Mass prayer has
been temporarily stopped and all students must stay in their rooms.”
Mass testing had
been carried out from the middle of August after some students complained of
feeling unwell, according to the school.
There are
thousands of religious boarding schools across Indonesia, the world’s biggest
Muslim-majority nation.
The mass
infection comes after nearly 1,300 people at an Indonesian military academy
tested positive for the virus in July.
The country of
nearly 270 million has since seen smaller outbreaks nationwide as schools began
to reopen following months-long closures.
Indonesia on
Wednesday reported more than 3,000 new cases to bring its official total to
over 180,000 infections and 7,616 deaths.
But with some of
the world’s lowest testing rates, the true scale of the crisis is widely
believed to be much greater in the vast archipelago.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2020/09/02/over-600-indonesian-islamic-school-students-infected-with-covid-19/
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Africa
UN Chief
Guterres Calls for Closure of Libya Migrant Detention Centres
04 September
2020
UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for the closure of migrant
detention centers in Libya, denouncing what he called rights violations
committed there.
In a report
submitted on Thursday to the UN Security Council, Guterres said: “Nothing can
justify the horrendous conditions under which refugees and migrants are
detained in Libya.”
“I renew my
appeal to the Libyan authorities... to fulfill their obligations under
international law and to close all detention centers, in close coordination
with United Nations entities,” he said.
For all the
latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app
According to the
secretary-general’s report, more than 2,780 people were being detained as of
July 31 in centers across Libya. Twenty-two percent of the detainees were
children.
“Children should
never be detained, particularly when they are unaccompanied or separated from
their parents,” Guterres said, calling on Libyan authorities to ensure the
children are protected until “long-term solutions” are found.
The UN chief
cited reports of torture, enforced disappearances, and sexual and gender-based
violence in the centers, committed by those running the facilities.
He also
mentioned a reported lack of food and health care.
“Men and boys
are routinely threatened with violence when they are calling their families, to
pressure them to send ransom money,” he wrote.
“Migrants and
refugees have been shot at when they attempted to escape, resulting in injuries
and deaths,” the report said, alleging that some are even “left on the streets
or bushes to die” when they are deemed too weak to survive.
In centers where
arms and munitions are stored, some refugees and migrants are recruited by
force, while others are forced to repair or reload firearms for armed groups,
it said.
More than a year
after a July 2019 air strike killed more than 50 refugees and migrants and
wounded dozens more at a detention center near Tripoli, no one has been forced
to account for the deaths, Guterres said.
Libya has been
in chaos ever since the 2011 overthrow and killing of dictator Muammar Gaddafi
in a NATO-backed uprising, with warring rival administrations battling for
power.
Since the
downfall of Gaddafi, Libya also has become a key route for irregular migration
from Africa into Europe, across the Mediterranean Sea.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/north-africa/2020/09/04/UN-chief-Guterres-calls-for-closure-of-Libya-migrant-detention-centers-
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Blasts hit Libya
capital Tripoli, residents report
01 September
2020
A loud blast hit
the Libyan capital Tripoli early on Tuesday, residents said, with the noise
audible across much of the city and dark smoke in the sky.
Local television
stations reported that a suicide bomber on a motorbike had detonated a device
at a roundabout where the main highway from the west enters the city, but there
was no immediate official confirmation.
If confirmed as
an attack, it would be the first for more than a year.
“I was driving
on the motorway early morning at about 7:30 and I heard a massive explosion...
Most of the other vehicles turned back after we saw black smoke in the sky,”
said a witness who asked not to be named.
Libya has been
convulsed by political chaos and warfare for much of the period since the 2011
revolution that ousted Muammar Gaddafi.
The country is
split between the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and the
eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) loyal to Khalifa Haftar in Benghazi.
In June, the GNA
ended a 14-month LNA assault on the capital and forced it to retreat, bringing
a close to months of heavy bombardment.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/north-africa/2020/09/01/Blasts-hit-Libya-capital-Tripoli-residents-report
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UN laments
‘blatant’ violations of Libya arms embargo
September 04,
2020
NEW YORK: The
interim UN envoy for Libya, Stephanie Williams, on Wednesday denounced what she
called “blatant” ongoing violations of the arms embargo in effect on the
war-wracked country.
Since UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last briefed the Security Council on July 8
about 100 resupply flights landing in Libya to help forces loyal to the
Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and its rival forces led by
Khalifa Haftar in eastern Libya.
Nine cargo ships
docked in western Libya, while three others reportedly arrived in the east of
the country. She also accused foreign powers of “fortifying their assets” on
both sides.
“The arms
embargo remains totally ineffective,” according to an interim report from UN
experts, who added that the violations are “extensive, blatant and with
complete disregard for the sanctions.”
Williams said
the activity “constitutes an alarming breach of Libya’s sovereignty, a blatant
violation of the UN arms embargo.”
The UN mission
in Libya, whose mandate is up for renewal in mid-September, “continues to
receive reports of large-scale presence of foreign mercenaries and operatives,”
she said.
Williams added
that their presence complicates “chances of a future settlement.”
Russia’s UN
envoy, Vassily Nebenzia, rejected any accusation of Russian interference.
“Not a single
Russian serviceman is currently in Libya,” he said, while his US counterpart
Kelly Craft slammed the presence of Russian mercenaries linked to the Kremlin.
“There is no
place for foreign mercenaries or proxy forces in Libya, including the Russian
Ministry of Defense proxy Wagner Group, which is fighting alongside” Haftar,
she said.
France’s UN
Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere called for a reinforcement of the world body’s
mission in Libya, so that it can help shepherd an eventual cease-fire and
ensure that the arms embargo is respected.
Several Council
members called for a quick nomination of a permanent UN special envoy for
Libya.
Ghassan Salame
stepped down in March for health reasons, and bickering between the US and its
partners on how the role should be defined has stalled naming a successor.
Libya has
endured almost a decade of violent chaos since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising
that toppled and killed veteran ruler Muammar Qaddafi.
The GNA and a
Haftar-backed eastern administration are now vying for power against a backdrop
of dozens of local conflicts.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1729296/middle-east
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Nigeria: 20
villagers kidnapped in armed raid
Adam
Abu-bashal
04.09.2020
At least 20 villagers
in central Nigeria were abducted in an armed raid, local media reported
Thursday.
In Niger state,
gunmen on motorcycles raided Adagbi village in Shiroro district and opened
fire.
After they
kidnapped the villagers, mostly women, the remaining villagers abandoned their
homes out of fear.
There were no
reports of fatalities or injuries in the raid, while Niger police have yet to
issue a statement on the incident.
Separately, 17
people were killed by gunmen on motorcycles in an attack in the Rijau region of
Niger state, according to local media.
The attack also
left many injured, reports said.
Local
authorities confirmed the attack but remained silent on the death toll.
Niger Governor
Abubakar Sani-Bello called on people to remain calm and said security forces
were rushed to the region.
Recently, the
country banned the use of motorbikes in some states due to attacks carried out
on them.
The country’s
northwest sees occasional clashes between the herder Fulani people -- one of
the largest ethnic groups widely dispersed across West Africa -- and
neighboring sedentary tribes.
The Fulani, who
migrated to the south of the country to graze their animals, claim that farmers
try to steal their animals and attack their people.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/nigeria-20-villagers-kidnapped-in-armed-raid/1962599
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Kenya names 9
terrorism financiers, freezes assets
Andrew
Wasike
02.09.2020
Kenya’s Interior
Ministry on Wednesday named nine top financiers of terror activities carried
out by Somali-based al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab group.
In a statement,
Fred Matiang'I directed all the assets of the individuals be seized and funds
frozen for supporting al-Shabaab that has wreaked havoc in East Africa leading
to the deaths of thousands of people and destruction of property.
“The only way to
deny terrorists the means to threaten our way of life is to choke their
facilitation networks, and this is why I have published the foregoing list so
that they can no longer finance Al-Shabaab’s operations within our borders,”
Citizen TV Kenya quoted Matiang'I as saying.
The accused
include Halima Adan Ali, Waleed Ahmed Zein, Sheikh Guyo Gorsa Boru, Mohammed
Abdi Ali (Abu Fidaa), Nuseiba Mohammed Haji, Abdimajit Adan Hassan, Mohammed
Ali Abdi, Muktar Ibrahim Ali and Mire Abdullahi Elmi.
Kenya
contributes troops to the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia which
has weakened al-Shabaab that has been fighting to overthrow the Somali
government for years.
Al-Shabaab has
vowed to carry out terror attacks in Kenya until Kenya pulls out its soldiers
from Somalia. In 2015, more than 140 university students were killed by the
group marking their worst attack in Kenya.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/kenya-names-9-terrorism-financiers-freezes-assets/1961089
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North America
Top Turkish, US
officials discuss East Med over phone
Yildiz Nevin
Gundogmus
04.09.2020
Senior officials
from Turkey and the US held a phone call Thursday on various issues including
recent developments in the Eastern Mediterranean.
According to a
statement by Turkey's presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, he told US National
Security Advisor Robert C. O'Brien that Ankara did not desire an escalation in
its dispute with other countries in the region.
Rather it
supports a model under which all sides could equitably share the region and its
resources in a fair way, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has
previously proposed, said the statement.
Kalin also
underlined that Greece's unilateral and maximalist policy, which has served to
escalate tensions and ignored international law, is unacceptable and that such
approaches should be avoided for there to be a political solution.
Stressing
Turkey's determination to protect its rights and those of the Turkish Republic
of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in the Eastern Mediterranean, he also said all of
effort will be made to make the Mediterranean a "sea of peace."
Kalin and
O'Brien also discussed bilateral relations and regional issues, the statement
added.
Greece has
disputed Turkey's current energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean,
trying to box in Turkish maritime territory based on small islands near the
Turkish coast.
Turkey -- the
country with the longest coastline on the Mediterranean -- has sent out
drillships to explore for energy on its continental shelf, saying that Turkey
and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) have rights in the region.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/top-turkish-us-officials-discuss-east-med-over-phone/1962559
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US’ Kushner
discuss Israel-UAE deal in London
Rabia Iclal
Turan
03.09.2020
US President
Donald Trump's senior advisor Jared Kushner held a meeting Thursday with UK’s
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made
a "short drop-in” on the meeting, Downing Street confirmed to British
media.
“We discussed
the historic Israel-UAE deal and UK efforts to encourage Israeli-Palestinian
dialogue,” Raab wrote on Twitter. “I reaffirmed UK commitment to a negotiated
two state solution.”
Kushner paid a
visit to London on his way back from a Middle East tour to persuade other Arab
nations to normalize ties with Israel.
Last month, the UAE
and Israel announced a US-brokered deal to normalize relations, including
opening embassies.
Palestinian
groups denounced the deal, saying it ignores the rights of Palestinians and
does not serve the Palestinian cause.
After the deal
was announced, Kushner visited Jordan on Aug. 26 and flew to Israel, the UAE,
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-kushner-discuss-israel-uae-deal-in-london/1962419
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US sanctions 11
entitites for aiding Iran's oil sector
Michael Hernandez
03.09.2020
WASHINGTON
The US imposed
sanctions on 11 entities and three executives Thursday for allegedly aiding an
Iranian energy firm that was blacklisted in January, and helping Iran export
petroleum products .
The new
designations of companies and executives include six under the Treasury
Department's authorities and five under the State Department. All are based in
Iran, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) or China.
The State
Department's sanctions target Iran-based Abadan Refining Company; China-based
Zhihang Ship Management, New Far International Logistics LLC and Sino Energy
Shipping; and UAE-based Chemtrans Petrochemicals Trading.
The department
also imposed sanctions on New Far executive Min Shi, Sino Energy executive
Zuoyou Lin and Abadan managing director Alireza Amin.
"All
entities targeted today continued to facilitate Iran’s export of petroleum,
petroleum products, and petrochemicals contrary to U.S. sanctions. This is
another reminder that the United States will not waver in its commitment to
sanctions enforcement. Our sanctions will remain in place until Iran changes
its behavior," Secretary of State Mike Pomeo said in a statement.
The Treasury
Department is further designating six "front companies" used by
Triliance Petrochemical, which was designated in January.
Among those
sanctioned are Iran-based Zagros Petrochemical Company, which the Treasury said
agreed to sell Triliance "hundreds of thousands of metric tons of Iranian
petrochemicals during the year 2020."
The scheme
allegedly involved Trilliance using UAE-based Petrotech FZE to purchase
petrochemical products. Petrotech has also been sanctioned.
UAE-based Trio
Energy and Hong Kong-based Jingho Technology Co. Limited, Dinrin Limited and
Dynapex Energy Limited were also sanctioned for helping Triliance and Zagros.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-sanctions-11-entitites-for-aiding-irans-oil-sector/1962348
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