Taliban Gunmen Hunted 'Pimps' and 'Prostitutes', Witnesses Say
New Age Islam News Bureau
22 Jun 2012
South Asia
• Taliban Gunmen Hunted 'Pimps' and 'Prostitutes', Witnesses Say
• The Book, Bangladesh's Prime Minister Was Never Allowed To Read By Her Father!
• Standoff at Afghan hotel over; 17 dead
Pakistan
• Pak-origin ringleader of ‘child sex grooming gang’ unmasked
• LHC issues notice to Zardari over holding dual offices
• PPP nominates Raja Pervez Ashraf as new Pakistan PM
• It’s better to tolerate a colleague than an army general: JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman
Quetta mosque blast kills two
• New PM will be another Zardari minion: Imran
• ‘Gilani verdict shows Pak SC has gone berserk’: Markandey Katju
• ‘Corrupt’ Pak PM Nominee dropped
• A Baloch Doctor has been killed in Karachi
• Pakistan to hold early parliament elections
• Pak EC announces bye-poll schedule of NA seat held by Gilani
• By-polls on Gilani’s vacated seat on July 19
• Exhibition celebrating more than five decades of cooperation between the U S and Pakistan
• Child labour: capital no different than other cities of Pakistan
• Teacher held for damaging an eight-year-old student’s eye
India
• Pakistan-Born Starlet’s Friend with ‘Militant Links’ Arrested
• J-K police sanctions scholarships for 153 children
• Indo-Pak flag meet to be held LoC tomorrow
• NC again demands pre-1953 status for Kashmir
• Abid Hussain, Former Indian Ambassador to US, Dies In London
Southeast Asia
• Indonesia’s ‘Demolition man’ sentenced to 20 years
• 110 rescued, 90 still missing after boat capsizes off Indonesia
Mideast Asia
• Yemenis Arrest Al Qaeda Suspect after Major Killed
• Israel kills members of 'global jihad movement'
Arab World
• As militants join Syria revolt, fears grow over arms flow
• Egypt Military Blames Muslim Brotherhood for Woes
• West's clemency offer for Assad
• Hotels bankrolled by Muslim spiritual leader eyeing locations in Syria
• Syrian TV Says Gunmen Kidnapped and Killed 25
• Blasts kill eight, wound 50 in Iraqi market: sources
• Bahraini police arrest five over ‘terror attacks’
• Nearly 170 Syrians killed in clashes on Thursday
• Egypt on edge as fraud charges delay poll result
Africa
• Snatched and detained: Libya’s ‘jungle law’
• Burundi Sentences Journalist to Life in Prison for Terrorism
• Somali Piracy Death Toll Rises as Violence Worsens
North America
• US mull new covert raids in Pakistan
• US adds first Boko Haram members to ‘terrorist’ list
• US says it’s only providing humanitarian aid to Syrian rebels
• Stop terrorism, stop losing sovereignty: Hillary to Pakistan
• Stop keeping poisonous snakes in backyard, US tells Pakistan
• US diplomats in Pakistan facing harassment: Report
• US government refuses to lift lid on CIA drone strikes
• Pentagon chief rules out apology to Pak
Europe
• Muslim pair accused of planning jihad bomb attack on Jews in Britain
• Reform UN to reflect change of time, situation: Germany
• Oslo Killer’s Lawyers Say He Is Sane
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
Photo: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/taliban-gunmen-hunted-pimps-prostitutes/d/7700
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South Asia
Taliban Gunmen Hunted 'Pimps' and 'Prostitutes', Witnesses Say
22 June, 2012
KABUL (Reuters) - For 8-year-old Rasoul Khan, a cleaning job at a favored weekend relaxation spot for Kabul's wealthy was meant to help bring a better life in a country stricken by widespread poverty.
Instead, the Spozhmai Hotel beside Qargha Lake will probably evoke terror whenever he remembers the five Taliban gunmen who burst through its doors as the privileged gathered to relax on the eve of the Friday religious holiday.
"They were asking everyone where the pimps were. They shot anyone who would not co-operate with them," said Khan, bearing a facial injury and standing barefoot after fleeing the leafy grounds.
For the deeply conservative Taliban, men and women who simply mingle, perhaps flirt, are condemned as pimps and prostitutes who deserve punishment sanctioned by God.
The attack again showed the ability of insurgents to easily stage high-profile raids even as NATO nations prepare to withdraw most of their combat troops by the end of 2014 and leave Afghans to lead the fight.
Gunmen shifted a large store of rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), heavy weapons and rifles, as well as suicide vests, into the stone-walled, single storey structure surrounded by trees and gardens.
The Taliban said it launched the attack to target wealthy Afghans and foreigners who used the hotel, about 10 km (6 miles) from the center of Kabul, for "wild parties".
The hotel, like a building site in central Kabul used by militants in April to unleash barrages of RPGs and automatic gunfire on Western embassies, was only lightly defended by a handful of poorly paid 'chowkidar' guards.
HUMAN SHIELDS
As in the earlier attack in the city center, two guards were immediately shot dead, beginning a horrifying 12-hour ordeal in which hostages were used as human shields against a counter-attack by Afghan and Norwegian special forces.
With a quavering voice, Ebadullah, 14, another cleaner at the hotel, described how one of his friends wet himself when an insurgent demanded information on the whereabouts of other guests who had not been hunted down.
"He cried and said that he was an orphan and was the only bread winner for his family," said Ebadullah, wearing traditional baggy trousers and a long flowing shirt.
"They were calling to everyone 'where are the pimps, where are the prostitutes'. They killed many people."
Inside the hotel, around eight bodies, some with bullet wounds to the head, still lay on the floor amid shattered doors and windows. A bomb lay beneath the body of a young man -- planted by the Taliban to inflict more casualties.
Many of the victims were dressed in jeans and shirts, the kind of Western clothes that used to draw fury from the Taliban. It seems they were shot while trying to hide.
At a military hospital in Kabul where the wounded were treated, engineer Salder Rahi recalled how he had gone to the hotel to meet his brother and three friends. By the end of the ordeal, his sibling was among the dead.
"They opened fire on everybody. Everybody just ran. There was a party outside and I saw the father shot dead and his wife wounded," Rahi said.
Some, like Abdullah Samadi, 24, feel so lucky to be alive they believe it had to be divine intervention. He was just settling in at about 9 pm when he heard a huge blast from an RPG, followed by gunfire.
"We tried to escape, but we were surrounded by suicide bombers. We hid ourselves beneath a tree until morning. God protected us," he said.
The gunmen, Samadi said, had been closely watching their prisoners and searching for illegal stocks of wine.
"Around dawn they came closer to us and we had to jump in the water," he said.
"We were there until 9 am and then the situation got better and we slowly, slowly swam toward security forces."
(Writing by Rob Taylor; Editing by Michael Georgy and Jeremy Laurence)
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/06/22/world/asia/22reuters-afghanistan-hotel-witness.html?ref=global-home&gwh=C3BAD90A6F91E98579A332FFEB19F041
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The Book, Bangladesh's Prime Minister Was Never Allowed To Read By Her Father!
Jun 22 2012
New Delhi: It is a book Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the architect of Bangladesh's independence, never allowed his daughter Sheikh Hasina to read when he was alive.
It is an autobiography he wrote when he was lodged in Dhaka central jail by the authorities of erstwhile East Pakistan between 1967 and 1969.
It is a book Hasina, now Bangladesh's Prime Minister, decided to bring out when she was in the same jail as an Opposition leader for alleged graft during the army-backed caretaker government of Fakhruddin Ahmed (2007-09).
Thirty-five years after Mujib was assassinated in a military putsch on August 15, 1975, the book “Ashomapto Attojiboni” (Unfinished Autobiography) hit the book stores in India and Bangladesh earlier this week.
The 300-page book, based on his diary he had penned in jail, chronicles his upbringing, family, movements during his life as a student activist, riots in Kolkata and Bihar, the Partition, Muslim League politics in Kolkata, politics at the initial stage of Pakistan, East Pakistan and of Pakistan in general, formation of Awami League and the 1952 Language Movement that sowed the seeds of Bangladesh's freedom.
The book also contains some facsimile of his writings and some of his rare photographs.
Interestingly, the book would have been lost to posterity but for a chance discovery in 2004 by one of Hasina's relatives in a drawer of Sheikh Fazlul Haq Moni, nephew of Sheikh Mujib who too was killed along with Bangladesh's founder on August 14-15, 1975. Sheikh Moni was given the diary by Mujib for preparing a typed copy.
“Don't read it as long as I am alive. Read it after my death,” those words by Bangabandhu, as Mujib is reverentially called, continue to ring even today, Hasina said as she launched the book in Dhaka.
“I can remember those words even today,” she said in an emotion-choked voice.
For Hasina, the diary was a prized possession.
“We became very emotional and were gripped by pain when we handed over the notebook to Mohiuddin Ahmed, the owner of University Press Limited for its publication.”
Hasina wrote the preface of the book and veteran Bangladeshi artist Qayyum Chowdhury has sketched the cover of the Bangla version.
University Press Limited (UPL) has published Mujib's diary in Bengali and will also publish an English version of the book.
Penguin India has taken the copyright to publish Dhaka University professor Fakhrul Alam's English translation. As per the agreement between the two publishing houses, Penguin India will publish the book in several Indian languages including Hindi and Tamil.
University Press of Pakistan has shown interest to publish the book's Urdu version, UPL said.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/965378/
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Standoff at Afghan hotel over; 17 dead
Jun 22 2012
Kabul : An Afghan security official says Taliban insurgents have killed 17 people most of them civilians in an attack on a lakeside hotel just north of Kabul.
The attack set off an hours-long gunbattle with Afghan forces. The Kabul police department says the fifth and final attacker was killed about midday Friday and that the standoff is over.
Afghan army commander Gen. Kadam Shah Shayem says the dead include 12 civilians, four security guards and a police officer. Shayem is the army commander for Kabul city.
At least three suicide bombers armed with machines guns, rocket-propelled grenades and vests laden with explosives stormed the Spozhmai hotel at Qargha Lake before midnight on Thursday.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/965324/
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Pakistan
Pak-origin ringleader of ‘child sex grooming gang’ unmasked
Jun 22 2012
London: The ringleader of a gang of Asian men who preyed on young white girls in Britain has been unmasked after he was found guilty of 30 child rape charges.
Pakistani-origin Shabir Ahmed was the ringleader of a group of men who preyed on dozens of young girls in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, and then passed them around for sex.
He was jailed last month, but can only now be identified, after he was convicted of 30 more horrific rapes in a separate trial, the Daily Mail reports.
Ahmed, known as ‘Daddy’, was one of nine Pakistani men jailed at Liverpool Crown Court for a total of 77 years last month for sex attacks on young British girls.
The takeaway worker and former taxi driver was given a 19-year sentence for conspiracy, two rapes, aiding and abetting rape, sexual assault and sex trafficking.
The Manchester Crown Court heard that Ahmed repeatedly raped and sexually abused a young Asian girl for more than a decade, treating her as a ‘possession’ to use for his own sexual gratification.
The court was told that the victim got the courage to report the rapes to police only after an investigation was launched into the sex grooming scandal in Rochdale.
According to the paper, Ahmed smirked as the jury returned the unanimous verdicts.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/965381/
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LHC issues notice to Zardari over holding dual offices
22 June, 2012
LAHORE: The Chief Justice Lahore High Court has issued a notice to President Asif Ali Zardari for holding multiple offices despite an earlier LHC full bench declaration ordering against it, DawnNews reported.
The LHC was hearing a petition seeking contempt of court proceedings against President Asif Ali Zardari for not relinquishing political office.
The court had ruled on May 12, 2011 that President Zardari should surrender the position of co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and that the Presidency should not be used for political activities.
“The use of Presidency for political activity is inconsistent with its sanctity, dignity, neutrality and independence. Therefore, it is expected that the president of Pakistan would cease the use of the premises of Presidency for political meetings of his party (PPP),” a four-judge bench of the LHC had said in its orders.
Zardari, however, has yet to relinquish either of his offices.
The notice was issued to the president’s principal secretary on Friday.
Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said that the full bench which had issued the orders had expected that president would relinquish one of his offices, but that did not happen.
The chief justice issued a notice to the president’s principal secretary, asking for a reply from his office within a week. Moreover, a larger bench was also constituted for further proceedings of the case.
http://dawn.com/2012/06/22/lhc-issues-notice-to-zardari-over-holding-dual-offices/
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PPP nominates Raja Pervez Ashraf as new Pakistan PM
Jun 22, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's main ruling party, Pakistan Peoples Party, on Friday named Raja Pervez Ashraf as its nominee for prime minister after a court issued an arrest warrant for its first choice, Makhdoom Shahabuddin.
Ashraf has been dogged by allegations of corruption and controversy from his tenure as water and power minister.
He served as information technology minister until the Supreme Court dismissed prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday.
On Thursday, an anti-narcotics court took the unusual step of issuing an arrest warrant for former textiles minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin over a drugs scandal. Shahabuddin had been President Asif Ali Zardari's first choice to succeed Gilani.
The Lower House of Parliament has been summoned to vote in the new PM at 5:30 pm (1230 GMT) on Friday.
"Raja Pervez Ashraf is our candidate," senior party official Syed Khurshid Shah told a news conference, hinting that the government could call an election before its mandate expires early next year.
"This is election year and we are going towards elections," Shah said.
"If we have committed some mistakes or did not fulfill our manifesto, then the decision should be left to the people of Pakistan," Shah said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/PPP-nominates-Raja-Pervez-Ashraf-as-new-Pakistan-PM/articleshow/14335666.cms
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It’s better to tolerate a colleague than an army general: JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman
22 June, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Referring to the election of new prime minister, JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman on Thursday advised politicians to tolerate a colleague instead of suffering at the hands of a general.
Talking to the media after a meeting with PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Fazl warned political forces in the country that “judges are dominating now a days... It’s better to tolerate a colleague instead of suffering at the hands of a general”.
Justifying his move to file nomination papers for the office of prime minister, Fazl said he has presented himself as an “undisputed candidate to establish political harmony”. He said he believed that a unanimous candidate could steer the country out of the prevailing crisis. He said that he had filed papers to contest elections and not to withdraw them.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\06\22\story_22-6-2012_pg1_6
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Quetta mosque blast kills two
22 June, 2012
QUETTA: Two people were killed and 17 others injured in a bomb blast in a mosque in Gausabad area of Satellite Town on Thursday. According to Quetta Deputy Commissioner Hashim Gilzai, the bomb was planted inside Farooqia Mosque. “Around 400 to 500 people were offering Asr prayers when an explosive device went off,” said Ajmal Mustafa, a witness. “The bomb was fixed to a pillar of the mosque.” According to Bomb Disposal Squad, around four to five kilogrammes of explosive material were used in the bombing, which also damaged the mosque partly. The deceased were identified as Mohsin and Inayatullah. The deceased and injured were taken to Provincial Sendman Hospital.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\06\22\story_22-6-2012_pg7_6
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New PM will be another Zardari minion: Imran
By Samia Malik
June 22, 2012
KARACHI: The appointment of a new prime minister, following Yousaf Raza Gilani’s disqualification, will not change the course of national politics, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman said on Thursday, while calling for free and fair elections.
“The new prime minister will be another manservant of [President Asif Ali] Zardari, planted just to protect his property of Rs6 billion in the Swiss banks,” said Imran Khan upon his arrival at Karachi Airport.
Over the years, the PTI chief says, political parties have failed to deliver.
“The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has been in power five times but if you ask the people of Punjab, they believe the government of [former president Pervez Musharraf] was better.”
However, according to Imran, the fall of Gilani is a landmark in the country’s history and a decision that the masses should rejoice in.
“In the past, only the poor and weak were tried in our courts, but this event has changed the course of history,” he said.
Imran denounced the attack on the Karachi protest that his party had organised in favour of the judiciary. “It was Pakistan Peoples Party’s attack on our peaceful protesters that we strongly condemn,” he said.
Imran is in Sindh for a three-day visit to address a rally in Hyderabad today and to “interact with local Sindhis”. The party chief will start his campaign from Hyderabad, moving on to Sanghar and then back to Karachi for fund-raising activities continuing till June 24.
Hyderabad jalsa
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/397474/new-pm-will-be-another-zardari-minion-imran/
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‘Gilani verdict shows Pak SC has gone berserk’: Markandey Katju
Jun 22, 2012
When I was I was a student of law in the Allahabad University I had read of the British Constitutional principle 'The King can do no wrong'. At that time I did not understand the significance of this principle and what it really meant. It was much later, when as a legal practitioner its real significance dawned on me.
The British were experienced and able administrators. They realized from their own long, historical experience that while everybody should be legally liable for his wrongs and made to face court proceedings for the same, the person at the apex of the whole Constitutional system must be given total immunity from criminal proceedings, otherwise the system could not function. Hence the King of England must be given total immunity from criminal proceedings. Even if he commits murder, dacoity, theft, or some other crime the King cannot be dragged to Court and made to face a trial.
One may ask, why should the King be given this immunity when others are not? The answer is that in the practical world one does not deal with absolutes. The British were one of the most far sighted administrators the world has known. They realized that if the King is made to stand on the witness box or sent to jail the system could not function. A stage is reached at the highest level of the system where total immunity to the person at the top has to be granted. This is the only practical view.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Gilani-verdict-shows-Pak-SC-has-gone-berserk/articleshow/14329728.cms
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‘Corrupt’ Pak PM nominee dropped
22 June, 2012
FACED with a non- bailable arrest warrant against Makhdoom Shahabuddin, its first choice for the Prime Minister’s post, ruling Pakistan Peoples Party ( PPP) on Thursday dropped him and fielded senior leader Qamar Zaman Kaira at the last minute besides a covering candidate.
President Asif Ali Zardari, the chief of the PPP, had earlier nominated Shahabuddin for the post of the prime minister.
Senior PPP leader Raja Parvez Ashraf, was named as a covering or alternative candidate in case Shahabuddin’s nomination papers were rejected for some reason.
As Shahabuddin was filing his nomination papers at the National Assembly, a special court of the Anti- Narcotics Force in Rawalpindi issued a nonbailable arrest warrant against him in connection with alleged irregularities in the import of a large quantity of the controlled drug Ephedrine during his tenure as the health minister. Though it was not immediately clear whether the warrant would affect
Makhdoom accused of ‘ irregularities’ when he was health minister
Shahabuddin’s candidature, the PPP decided to take no chances and senior leader Kaira, too, filled nomination papers for the election of the Prime Minister.
Kaira’s papers were submitted shortly before the National Assembly Secretariat stopped accepting nominations at 2 pm.
Full report at: Mail Today
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A Baloch Doctor has been killed in Karachi
22 June, 2012
Karachi: A Baloch Doctor has been killed in Malir City as the extra judicial killings of innocent people by the government backed drug mafia groups continue across Karachi.
According to details Dr Rahim Baksh Baloch was sitting at his medical store, Rahim Clinic, when the armed gangsters belonging to so called People’s Aman Committee has barged in and shot him dead on spot.
Bam Hal, a Balochi language news blog wrote that Dr Rahim Baksh Baloch who was also a renowned social worker was killed by the gang of Sohail Saalari. The blog further wrote that Saalari is ring leader of a gang that is closely linked with Uzair Baloch, the leader of People’s Aman Committee.
Dr Rahim Baksh Baloch has been at fore front to help his Baloch brothers not only in Karachi but in different areas of Balochistan as well. He was a devoted member of BNM (Baloch National Movement) and worked with Baloch Komakaar (Baloch Helper) to help the flood victims of Cyclone Phet in Makuran region. The deceased was brother of BNM’s Karachi zone vice president Mir Mohammad Ali Zaib Baloch.
It is worth mentioning that Siddiq Goth, in Malir, city has been attacked by the same gang several times in the past and previously Latif Baloch was killed when the drug mafia groups had clashed with the inhabitants of the area.
Meanwhile the Baloch National Front (BNF) has strongly condemning the target killing of Dr Baloch has said that the daylight murder of a Baloch social worker and senior member of BNM by goons of Peoples Aman Committee (PAC) is a grave conspiracy against the Baloch liberation struggle.
BNF paid rich tribute to the deceased. The statement further said that the inhabitants of Siddique Goth, who are living there for centuries, are continuously harassed by the occupying state. The agents of occupying states, in the form of Peoples Aman Committee, killed Abdul Lateef Baloch and injured many on 24th March, when the inhabitants had destroyed a wall erected by land grabbers. The PAC goons also disgraced women. Subsequently the heads of PAC assured that no more attacks would be conducted against the Baloch inhabitants but in spite of that harassment continued. This clearly shows that they have confirmed links with the occupying state and this has always been state’s tactic to ignite hatred and force Baloch to fight each other.
BNF clarifies it that any act against Baloch struggle is an unpardonable offense. The state machinery is coloring its conspiracies into actions by killing great person and social worker, Dr. Raheem Baksh Baloch.
The statement further questioned that what sort of good the murder of Baloch has done to the claimants of Baloch protectors? The current actions of PAC are uncovering their covert connections with the occupying state.
Dr. Raheem Baksh, 40, was an old member of BNM who had connections with the organization since long. He always remained active in social and welfare works including stationing of a free camp during Makuran floods. He participated in all camps of welfare organization, Baloch Kumakar (Baloch helper). He also used to practice as a doctor at a clinic in Malir on very nominal charges.
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Pakistan to hold early parliament elections
Jun 22 2012
Islamabad : Pakistan's ruling party says parliament elections will be held this year, earlier than expected.
The party has also put forward lawmaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as its new candidate for prime minister. The announcement came during a news conference Friday in the capital, Islamabad.
The parliament is scheduled to vote on Ashraf's candidacy later in the evening. The ruling coalition has a majority so he is expected to be approved.
The news tops a tumultuous week in Pakistani politics. The Supreme Court on Tuesday disqualified Yousuf Raza Gilani as prime minister for failing to initiate a corruption probe of the president's affairs.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/965392/
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Pak EC announces bye-poll schedule of NA seat held by Gilani
June 22, 2012
Pakistani authorities today announced the schedule for the bye-election to the parliamentary seat that was held by former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani before his disqualification by the Supreme Court. The bye-poll to the constituency in Multan in Punjab province will be held on July 19, the
Election Commission said in a statement.
Gilani, who has been disqualified for five years, will not be eligible to contest the bye-election and the PPP is expected to field a loyalist from the constituency.
Nominations for the bye-poll can be submitted on June 25 and 26 and the papers will be scrutinised on June 28 and 29.
Appeals against the rejection of nomination papers can be filed on July 2 and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is July 5. The final list of candidates is expected to be made public on July 6.
The PPP, which has announced plans to carve out a new province in the southern part of Punjab, is expected to face no problems in retaining Gilani’s constituency.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Pakistan/Pak-EC-announces-bye-poll-schedule-of-NA-seat-held-by-Gilani/Article1-877005.aspx
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By-polls on Gilani’s vacated seat on July 19
22 June, 2012
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan, on Friday, issued a revised schedule according to which the by-polls in NA-151, Multan constituency, will be held on July 19.
The seat fell vacant when the former prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani was declared disqualified by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
According to the Election Commission, the nomination papers will be received on June 25 and 26 whereas the polling will be held on July 19.
Scrutiny of the papers will be conducted on June 28 and 29 whereas the last date for filing appeals against decisions of the returning officer rejecting or accepting the nomination papers will be July 2.
Last date for deciding appeals by the tribunal will be July 4 while last date for withdrawal of papers will be July 5.
Revised list of candidates will be published on July 6.
http://dawn.com/2012/06/22/by-polls-in-na-151-to-be-held-on-july-19/
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Exhibition celebrating more than five decades of cooperation between the U S and Pakistan
22 June, 2012
LAHORE: The 50th Anniversary Photo Exhibition of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) titled “Cherishing the past, welcoming the future” kicked off at Alhamra on Thursday.
Acting US Consul General (Punjab) and USAID Provincial Mission Director Theodore Gehr inaugurated the exhibition, celebrating more than five decades of cooperation between the United States and Pakistan. Representatives from the private sector, civil society and USAID implementing partners were present on the occasion.
The exhibition highlights US efforts in supporting a prosperous future for the people of Pakistan through development cooperation.
Speaking during the opening of the exhibition, Gehr said, “The history of the United States’ work with Pakistan to support its development efforts began with Pakistan’s very creation in 1947.” He said that the US government’s work was ultimately about helping the people of Pakistan achieve a brighter future. “The US supports Pakistan’s efforts to ensure that the fruits of development assistance benefit everyone, thereby creating lasting peace and stability in Pakistan,” he said.
He said that since the passage of the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009, more commonly known as the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Bill, the US had spent over $2.6 billion in civilian assistance and emergency relief in response to floods.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\06\22\story_22-6-2012_pg13_6
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Child labour: capital no different than other cities of Pakistan
22 June, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Citizens have expressed their concern over the rising menace of child labour in twin cities, saying the ever-increasing poverty in the country is the main reason behind child labour. The citizens said it is quite surprising that child labour exists at the same rate in the federal capital as in the other parts of the country.
They said that the lack of opportunities, high rate of population growth, and uneven distribution of resources and outdated social customs are the main factors behind this social menace. Children from the ages of nine to 18 are almost equally vulnerable to child labour. Children work in the federal capital’s industrial area where they work under extreme pressure and are paid less as compared to other workers. When contacted, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) officials told APP, “We are convinced that hazardous work of children in specified sectors can be eradicated, given a concerted effort by government, employers, workers and civil society.” Pakistan has already taken note-worthy steps that need now to be expanded. There is need to highlight that children do not enter in hazardous forms of child labour.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\06\22\story_22-6-2012_pg11_4
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Teacher held for damaging an eight-year-old student’s eye
June 22, 2012
MULTAN: A seminary teacher has been arrested by Shujabad police for damaging the left eye of an eight-year-old student.
Police have yet to register an FIR against Qari Ismaeel. They say they have postponed the registration of the FIR until a medical report is available from the Shujabad tehsil headquarters (THQ) hospital where the child, Abu Bakr, was referred for medical examination on Thursday.
THQ hospital Medical Officer Idrees Bhatti told The Express Tribune the child’s eye had been badly damaged from the beating. He said a medical report would be issued on Friday after a detailed examination by an eye surgeon. “The eye specialist will be in a better position to tell if the child will be able to see from the affected eye or mot,” he said.
Child’s father Muhammad Rafiq told the Tribune that he was beaten as a punishment for his absence from the seminary on Wednesday.
He alleged that the seminary was not registered with the government but said that most poor people enroll their children there because there was no school in the vicinity.
SHO Fayyaz Khan claimed that the cleric had confessed during questioning to beating the child.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/397364/brutal-beating-teacher-held-for-damaging-childs-eye/
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India
Pakistan-Born Starlet’s Friend with ‘Militant Links’ Arrested
S Ahmed Ali,
Jun 22, 2012
MUMBAI: The Jammu and Kashmir police on Thursday arrested Parvez Ahmed Tak, a friend of Pakistan-born starlet Laila Khan who has been missing from Mumbai for a year now. A special team of J&K police picked up Tak from his relative's home in Jammu early on Thursday and took him to the police headquarters there in the evening. Tak reportedly has terror links.
Deputy inspector-general Gareeb Dass said, "Our team has arrested Tak from a hideout in Jammu. We will book him in connection with the missing vehicle and produce him in court on Friday. We will interrogate him to find out the whereabouts of Laila and her family." While interrogating Laila's disappearance, the police suspect that a vehicle belonging to her was used in a blast outside the Delhi high court and that Tak was the last person to use it.
A source said the police will also book him for cheating, forgery, breach of trust and criminal conspiracy in two other cases. According to the police, Tak had allegedly cheated a Punjabi woman of gold ornaments, promising to marry her. He had also conned a Jammu resident of Rs 4-5 lakh on the pretext of getting him a government contract.
"The police have told us about Parvez's arrest and will interrogate him about Laila's Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Laila-Khans-friend-with-militant-links-arrested/articleshow/14327538.cms
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J-K police sanctions scholarships for 153 children
Jun 22 2012
Srinagar : The Jammu and Kashmir police has sanctioned scholarships worth Rs 11 lakh to 153 school-going children of policemen, including 81 children of security personnel who laid down their lives for the security of the state.
The scholarships were awarded at a meeting of the executive body of Police Parivar Fund chaired by Director General of Police K Rajendra Kumar, a police spokesman said today.
The beneficiaries, include 81 children of those personnel, who laid down their lives for the security of the state.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/965417/
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Indo-Pak flag meet to be held LoC tomorrow
Jun 22 2012
Jammu : India and Pakistan will hold a 'brigade commander' level flag meeting along the LoC in Poonch tomorrow to discuss the recent ceasefire violations by the latter.
"Brigade Commanders's flag meeting is being held tomorrow at Chakan-Da-Bagh LoC point in Poonch sector at 1100 hours. Pak has agreed to the meeting", a senior Army officer told media.
The Indian Army had sent a hotline message to Pakistan Army and called for a Brigade commander-level flag meeting to discuss the issues of increasing incidents of firing and ceasefire violations in Poonch sector on June 19.
The issue is serious in view of the fact that two jawans have been killed and four others injured in direct firing on them by Pakistan troops, unseen in the past, the officer said.
The two jawans, including one of BSF, were killed and four others injured in the firing by Pakistan troops in four ceasefire violations since June 11 to June 16 along the LoC in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/965410/
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NC again demands pre-1953 status for Kashmir
June 22, 2012
Ruling National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir has demanded that the Centre restore the pre-1953 position to the state to fulfil the "broken promises".
"The instrument of accession was based on three important components -- defence, foreign affairs and communication --and as such the
autonomy or 1952 position has to be restored to fulfil all the broken promises," NC, which is ruling the state in a coalition with Congress, said in a statement.
Considering autonomy as a legal document, the statement quoted party general-secretary Sheikh Nazir Ahmad as saying that National Conference will continue to fight for restoration of "sovereign character of the state".
Ahmad, while interacting with various delegations at his residence on Thursday, said "the promises should be kept as per the instrument of accession" to win the hearts of people.
The senior most NC leader accused the opposition parties in the state of eroding the constitution.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Srinagar/NC-again-demands-pre-1953-status-for-Kashmir/Article1-876978.aspx
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Abid Hussain, former Indian ambassador to US, dies in London
Jun 21, 2012
NEW DELHI: Abid Hussain, a former Indian ambassador to the US and who held a series of senior positions at the centre, died in London Thursday following a massive heart attack. He was 85.
He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
Born on December 19, 1926, Hussain was a member of the Indian Administrative Service and served in various capacities at the centre. He was secretary in the heavy industries and commerce ministries and chairman of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. He became a member of the Planning Commission in 1985.
Currently, he was a senior trustee of the Observer Research Foundation and also chancellor of Hyderabad's English and Foreign Languages University, a member of the International Panel on Democracy & Development of UNESCO, Prof Emeritus at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Prof. Emeritus at the Foreign Service Institute of the external affairs ministry, chairman of the Ghalib Academy and vice president of the Rumi Foundation.
He was a trustee of various prestigious educational, cultural and charitable institutions. He was a member of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco and the B.P. Koirala Foundation and a trustee of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts.
Hussain was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, in 1988 for meritorious services.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Abid-Hussain-former-Indian-ambassador-to-US-dies-in-London/articleshow/14322862.cms
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Southeast Asia
Indonesia’s ‘Demolition man’ sentenced to 20 years
22 June, 2012
JAKARTA: Umar Patek, dubbed Indonesia’s “Demolition Man”, was sentenced to 20 years’ in jail Thursday for his role in the deadly 2002 Bali attacks that triggered a decade-long crackdown on terrorism in the Southeast Asian nation.
Patek, 45, was found guilty of premeditated murder over the twin Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mostly tourists, and is suspected of being an expert bomb maker for the regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).
Patek is believed to have contacts with the central command of al Qaeda’s international terror network.
Born into a family of Yemeni descent in Pemalang, central Java, on July 20, 1966, Patek admitted to attending a mujahedeen militant camp on the Afghan-Pakistani border.
He became Indonesia’s most-wanted terror suspect after the Bali bombings and had a $1 million bounty on his head under the US Rewards for Justice Programme.
After more than eight years on the run, he was arrested in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad in January 2011, where US commandos killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden four months later.
He was extradited to Indonesia in August and his trial began in February this year.
US Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent Frank Pellegrino testified in April that Patek was a known bomb-making teacher among militants in the region and that he planned to kill US troops.
Pellegrino quoted a witness interviewed by the FBI in the Philippines, who said Patek “was interested in going back to Pakistan and Afghanistan and working with Osama bin Laden” and reviving links with al Qaeda, something Patek denies.
Farihin, a fellow JI member who goes by one name, told AFP that “Umar is an expert in demolition”.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/06/22/indonesias-demolition-man-sentenced-to-20-years/
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110 rescued, 90 still missing after boat capsizes off Indonesia
Jun 21, 2012
CANBERRA (Australia): A boat carrying about 200 people capsized south of Indonesia and scores were feared drowned Thursday in an apparent attempt to reach Australia to seek asylum. Indonesian and Australian navies launched efforts to rescue survivors.
An Australian navy patrol boat and three cargo ships had rescued 110 survivors by late Thursday and were taking them 200 kilometers (120 miles) south to the Australian territory of Christmas Island, Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman Jo Meehan said.
She declined to comment on any bodies discovered. She said the patrol boat would return to the scene of the sinking to continue the search for survivors through the night.
The boat capsized about halfway between Christmas Island and Indonesia, Meehan said.
It was not immediately clear where the passengers were from.
Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean, is closer to Indonesia than the Australian mainland. It is a popular target for a growing number of asylum seekers, many from Iran, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, who attempt to reach Australia on overcrowded fishing boats from Indonesia, sometimes with deadly consequences.
"There's about 40 on the hull and the rest are in the water," Western Australia state Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said earlier. "Some of the very early reports suggest that up to 75 people may have drowned, but I do stress that they're unconfirmed at this stage."
O'Callaghan said bodies had been seen in the water. "We can't confirm that they've died, but it's likely," he said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/110-rescued-90-still-missing-after-
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Mideast Asia
Yemenis Arrest Al Qaeda Suspect After Major Killed
22 June, 2012
ADEN (Reuters) - Yemeni security forces have detained a local al Qaeda leader suspected of links to an attack that killed a top military commander earlier this week, a security source said on Friday.
Yemeni security forces have tightened security across the country after a suicide bomber killed Major General Salem Qatan, the commander of military forces in southern Yemen, on Monday after his forces drove al Qaeda allies Ansar al-Sharia from their strongholds in the Abyan province.
A Yemeni security source said Sami Dayyan, who they believe is a local al Qaeda leader, was captured along with two other suspected militants while travelling by car to Lahej province from the port city of Aden.
The source said that explosives and suicide belts were found in the vehicle, which was stopped for a routine search outside Aden on Thursday evening. The three men were being questioned.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/06/22/world/middleeast/22reuters-yemen-
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Israel kills members of 'global jihad movement'
DONALD MACINTYRE
21 JUNE 2012
The Israeli military claimed yesterday that two men targeted in an air strike in Gaza were members of a "global jihad" movement involved in a recent attack across the Egypt-Israel border which killed an Israeli civilian.
The strike killed Ghaleb Armiilat and seriously wounded Mohammed Rashdan, who was a member of the Tawhid and Jihad organisation, an ultra-militant group that the army said had played a "central role" in Monday's border attack.
The assassination came amid a new wave of apparently unconnected Israeli air strikes and Palestinian rocket attacks in Gaza which have left at least six Palestinians dead. Hamas's armed wing has claimed responsibility for many of the rocket attacks, after a year in which it had largely maintained an undeclared ceasefire.
The Tawhid and Jihad is an extreme Islamic group said to draw inspiration from al-Qa'ida and ideologically at odds with Hamas. The group last year kidnapped Vittorio Arrigoni. The group threatened to kill him unless Hamas released one of its leaders and when armed Hamas police stormed a house in a rescue attempt, they found the hanged body of the Italian.
Monday's cross-border attack claimed the lives of Said Fashfashe, an Israeli Arab worker on the new border security fence, and two militants.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-kills-members-of-global-jihad-movement-7870082.html
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Arab World
As militants join Syria revolt, fears grow over arms flow
June 22, 2012
WASHINGTION: As evidence mounts of militant forces among the Syrian opposition, senior US and European officials are increasingly alarmed by the prospect of sophisticated weapons falling into the hands of rebel groups that may be dangerous to Western interests, including al Qaeda.
In an interview with Reuters, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta articulated US worries that shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, also known as MANPADS, could find their way onto the Syrian battlefield.
Intelligence experts believe that hundreds, if not thousands, of such weapons were looted from arsenals accumulated by late Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, and are floating on the Middle East black market.
“I think it’s fair to say that we have a concern about the MANPADS coming out of Libya,” Panetta said in the Thursday interview. “We’ve had an ongoing view that it was important to try to determine where these MANPADS were going, not only the concern that some of them might wind up in Syria but elsewhere as well,” he said.
Panetta added that he had seen no direct intelligence yet that such missiles had made their way to Syria. He did not specifically cite the rebels as potential recipients.
But other US and allied officials voiced that concern, while saying they had no evidence that Syrian rebels had yet acquired MANPADS.
Signs of al Qaeda Joining Rebels
The urgency of Western concerns stems as much from the recipients of the weapons as the weapons themselves. High-level sources at multiple national intelligence services report increasing evidence that militants, including al Qaeda and its affiliates and other hard-line Sunni groups, had joined forces with opponents of the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer who has advised President Barack Obama on counter-terrorism policy, said that al Qaeda and other militants were “deeply engaged” with anti-Assad forces. He cited public pronouncements by senior al Qaeda figures, including the group’s leader, Ayman al Zawahiri that urged Sunni rebels in Syria to kill members of Assad’s Alawite Muslim minority.
A western government source said that Al-Nusrah, a “spinoff” from al Qaeda’s Iraq-based affiliate, was responsible for at least some atrocities that have occurred in Syria. The source said the group publicly confirmed its role in killings.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/397641/as-militants-join-syria-revolt-fears-grow-over-arms-
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Egypt Military Blames Muslim Brotherhood for Woes
22 June, 2012
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's ruling military council has blamed the Muslim Brotherhood for raising tensions in the country by releasing election results early.
Friday's statement comes as tens of thousands rally in Cairo's Tahrir Square to support the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate for president Mohammed Morsi. The group declared Morsi the winner hours after polls closed.
The military council says announcing the results before an official statement was "unjustified" and is the main reason behind the confusion and divisions plaguing the political situation.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/06/22/world/middleeast/ap-ml-egypt-.html?ref=world&gwh=3DCDF6D9772AFBDE463CF6E6928A65BC
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West's clemency offer for Assad
HASAN SUROOR
22 June, 2012
Britain and America were on Thursday reported to be working on a plan to offer clemency to the beleaguered Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, as part of a U.N.-sponsored diplomatic initiative to facilitate political transition in Syria.
British officials were quoted as saying that the initiative was prompted by signs that Russia, which had until now been opposed to a regime change in Syria, was willing to relent.
Russian stand
According to media reports, British Premier David Cameron and U.S. President Barack Obama received “encouragement” from Russian President Vladimir Putin to explore peaceful political transition when they met him at the G20 summit in Mexico. British and American officials claimed they were “convinced” that Mr. Putin was no longer “wedded” to Mr. Assad remaining in power indefinitely, though this is disputed in Moscow.
“On the basis of these discussions, the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, will now seek to persuade the former UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, to change the format of his plans to construct a contact group on Syria, and instead host a conference using the transition on Yemen as the model,” The Guardian reported.
It said the conference, chaired by Mr. Annan, was expected to be held by the end of the month with “an objective of establishing a broader-based government leading to elections in 18 months time”.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article3555558.ece
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Hotels bankrolled by Muslim spiritual leader eyeing locations in Syria
Stephanie Findlay
22 June, 2012
A location in Syria isn’t the first choice for most hoteliers — unless they are working for Serena Hotels. Then, it’s ideal.
Serena Hotels runs a network of “luxury resorts, safari lodges and hotels,” across East Africa and Southern Asia. Part of its unconventional business plan is opening five-star destinations in war torn places.
The chain is run by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, an agency that “focuses on building enterprises in parts of the world that lack sufficient foreign direct investment” by making “bold but calculated investments in situations that are fragile and complex,” according to its website.
The fund is bankrolled by Aga Kahn, a billionaire investor, moderate Muslim leader and believed descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, who acts as leader to some of the world’s 15 million Ismailis. He is the son of a playboy prince, Aly Khan, once married to the Hollywood starlet Rita Hayworth.
Full report at:
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1213793--hotels-bankrolled-by-muslim-spiritual-
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Syrian TV Says Gunmen Kidnapped and Killed 25
22 June, 2012
BEIRUT (AP) — A video emerged Friday showing more than a dozen bloodied corpses in Syria, some of them piled on top of each other and in military uniforms, in what the government said was a "massacre" by rebels in the northern province of Aleppo.
The circumstances of the killings were not immediately clear. But in the video — which The Associated Press could not independently verify — the narrator said the dead were members of the "shabiha," or pro-regime gunmen.
Syria's state-run news agency, SANA, said terrorist groups had killed and mutilated at least 25 people in Daret Azzeh, a rebel-held area in the Aleppo countryside.
The government refers to rebels as terrorists.
"The terrorist groups in Daret Azzeh committed a brutal massacre against the citizens, whom they had kidnapped earlier in the day," SANA said.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/06/22/world/middleeast/ap-ml-
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Blasts kill eight, wound 50 in Iraqi market: sources
Jun 22 2012
Baghdad : At least eight people were killed and more than 50 wounded when two roadside bombs exploded in quick succession at a popular market on the northern outskirts of Iraq's capital on Friday, police and hospital sources said.
The attack was the latest in a wave of bombings this month that have targeted mainly Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims and religious sites and have revived concerns of widespread sectarian violence.
The first explosion struck a main market area of Husseiniya - a predominately Shi'ite area on the edge of Baghdad - where people were shopping for groceries and other goods, sources said.
The second blast occurred shortly after in the same area, as security forces and people gathered to tend to the injured, one police source said.
Tensions have been high in Iraq since the departure of U.S. troops in December especially due to feuding between Iraq's main Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish political factions over power.
While overall violence in Iraq has dropped since the peak of sectarian fighting in 2006-07, recent bombings against Shi'ites have reignited fears the country risks sliding back into major bloodshed.
On Monday, a suicide bomber killed at least 15 people mourning at a Shi'ite funeral in the northern Iraqi city of Baquba.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/965408/
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Bahraini police arrest five over ‘terror attacks’
22 June, 2012
DUBAI: Bahraini police said on Thursday they had arrested five of a group of 20 people wanted over “terror attacks”, including for alleged bombings and causing harm to civilians and security personnel.
The five were identified as Hasan al-Muallem, Ibrahim Ali, Ali Abbas al-Asfur, Ibrahim Mohammed al-Asfur and Hussein Zaed, in a statement to BNA state news agency by General Tareq Hasan, the head of General Security. Security forces “arrested five of those accused of terror crimes which included making and detonating bombs, and carrying out criminal acts that resulted in wounding civilians and police,” he was quoted as saying, without indicating when the arrests were made.
Hasan said police had circulated photographs of the wanted men through the media, which had facilitated their capture.
The detainees, who appear to be from the Shiite majority, have been referred to the public prosecution while police hunt for the other fugitives, Hasan said in the statement, which did not provide any details of the attacks. Bahraini authorities accuse Shiite youth protesters of using petrol bombs against security forces during frequent demonstrations in villages outside the capital Manama.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\06\22\story_22-6-2012_pg4_5
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Nearly 170 Syrians killed in clashes on Thursday
Jun 22, 2012
BEIRUT: Clashes in Syria killed nearly 170 people, mainly civilians, on the deadliest day since a ceasefire came into force, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"It's the bloodiest day since the start of the ceasefire (on April 12) and one of the bloodiest since the start of the revolt against the Syrian regime," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP yesterday.
The day's violence had killed at least 104 civilians, 54 soldiers and 10 rebel fighters, according to the toll compiled by the London-based organisation, based on the reports of activists inside the country.
The heaviest losses were in the central region of Homs, where 31 civilians and a rebel fighter died; and in the opposition bastion of Douma, near Damascus, where 30 civilians died.
In the southern region of Deraa, 24 civilians -- including two children -- and five rebels were killed.
Those killed elsewhere in Syria included a young girl, who died in the northwestern city of Idlib, the Observatory added.
More than 15,000 people have been killed since the revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime began in March 2011, according to the Observatory.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Nearly-170-Syrians-killed-in-clashes-on-Thursday-Observatory-for-human-rights/articleshow/14330878.cms
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Egypt on edge as fraud charges delay poll result
Jun 22, 2012
CAIRO: Allegations of fraud delayed the result of Egypt's presidential election on Thursday, fraying nerves as the Muslim Brotherhood, which claims victory, threatened to take to the streets in protest at moves by the ruling generals to deny them power.
For a second night, thousands of protesters gathered in Tahrir Square to demand that the officers who took over from Hosni Mubarak keep their word and hand over to civilians by July 1.
Though there is little sign that will happen after the ruling military council dissolved the Islamist-led parliament and set strict limits on the new president's powers, prominent Islamists sought to dampen talk of violence. The state election committee has spent four days collating counts from the two-day runoff ballot but said it would miss a target of Thursday for announcing the result as it was going through hundreds of complaints submitted by either side. As the weekend starts on Friday, that might mean a wait until Sunday.
"We are taking our time to review the appeals to investigate them properly but, God willing, the results will be announced by Sunday at most, if not before that," judge Maher el-Beheiry , a member of the election committee, said. Both candidates, Ahmed Shafik, a Mubarak's former PM, and the Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsy have called for national unity.
Cairo's cafe's and social media was alive with chatter about troops preparing to secure major cities, but military denied any unusual activity beyond an alertness. in case of trouble from supporters of whichever side loses the election.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Egypt-on-edge-as-fraud-charges-delay-poll-result/articleshow/14329704.cms
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Africa
Snatched and detained: Libya’s ‘jungle law’
22 June, 2012
Libya’s aspirations to replace Gaddafi’s repressive rule with an ordered, democratic nation are being undermined by increasingly wayward volunteer militias who operate outside the control of fragile state institutions
ABDULNASSER Ruhuma was asleep in his bed when the militia fighters barged into his Tripoli home. The shouting woke the Libyan bank worker and he rushed downstairs to find around 40 men pointing their rifles at him. Moments later they started beating him. Ruhuma’s wife and relatives begged the intruders to stop but they dragged him and his uncle away. Punched, hit with rifle butts and cut with knives, Ruhuma was taken to a makeshift detention centre in the middle of the night.
In a stark reminder of the lawlessness that prevails in Libya eight months after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, the gunmen never told Ruhuma why they abducted him. He says it stems from a family issue - a relative wanted revenge, so he called on the help of an armed brigade. “We weren’t told anything, we were just beaten - our hands, our legs, our bodies,” the 42-year old father-of-two said. “I thought I would never make it out alive.”
Libya’s aspirations to replace Gaddafi’s repressive rule with an ordered, democratic nation are being undermined by increasingly wayward volunteer militias who operate outside the control of fragile state institutions. The militias attract most attention when, mounted on their battered pick-up trucks with anti-aircraft guns welded to the back, they fight pitched battles in city streets against rival groups, usually over some perceived slight or a dispute over territory. But it is their less visible activities that have done the most to puncture the sense of euphoria and freedom that followed Gaddafi’s downfall.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\06\22\story_22-6-2012_pg4_8
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Burundi Sentences Journalist to Life in Prison for Terrorism
By JOSH KRON
22 June, 2012
KAMPALA, Uganda — A journalist from Burundi has been sentenced to life in prison as a terrorist for what the government has called his involvement in a deadly gun attack there last year.
Hassan Ruvakuki, a correspondent for Radio France Internationale in Burundi, in East Africa, was convicted on Wednesday along with 13 others for his involvement in what the Burundian government called a terrorist attack at a bar in September in the country’s east near the border with Tanzania. The attack, in which gunmen wearing army fatigues and carrying military-grade weapons burst into the crowded bar, left more than 50 people dead and wounded.
The government blamed an armed opposition political party for the attack. Mr. Ruvakuki was accused of involvement in the attack in part because he interviewed a rebel leader.
Local and international human rights organizations criticized the court decision.
“It’s the duty of any reporter to interview both sides in a conflict,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement. “That is what Hassan Ruvakuki tried to do. We call on the court of appeals to overturn the conviction.”
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/world/africa/burundi-sentences-journalist-to-life-for-
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Somali Piracy Death Toll Rises as Violence Worsens
22 June, 2012
LONDON (Reuters) - Somali pirates seizing Indian Ocean ships were responsible for at least 35 hostage deaths in 2011, a report showed on Friday, with levels of violence rising.
The number of prisoners taken by pirates fell to 555, at least, in 2011 from 645 in 2010, the report by the U.S.-based One Earth Future foundation and International Maritime Bureau said.
Eight were known to have been killed by their captors either during their initial capture or were executed later, it said, with another eight dying of malnutrition or disease. The remainder were killed either during rescue attempts by military forces or while trying to escape.
While solid data on previous years is limited, the total of 35 is seen as by far the highest number of piracy-related fatalities in a single year.
"We know these figures are almost certainly an underestimate," project manager Kaija Hurlburt told Reuters. "A lot of the ships now being taken are regional dhows that are often never reported. They might have 12 to 20 people aboard each time."
Despite a major naval effort by several nations, hundreds of young Somalis engage in piracy every year in the hope of ransoms that can run to millions of dollars.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/06/22/world/africa/22reuters-somalia-
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North America
US mulls new covert raids in Pakistan
Jun 22 2012
Washington : U.S. military and intelligence officials are so frustrated with Pakistan's failure to stop local militant groups from attacking Americans in neighboring Afghanistan that they have considered launching secret joint U.S.-Afghan commando raids into Pakistan to hunt them down, officials told The Associated Press.
But the idea, which U.S. officials say comes up every couple of months, has been consistently rejected because the White House believes the chance of successfully rooting out the deadly Haqqani network would not be worth the intense diplomatic blowback from Pakistan that inevitably would ensue.
Members of the Haqqani tribe have been targeted by pilotless U.S. drone aircraft, but sending American and Afghan troops into Pakistan would be a serious escalation of the hunt for terrorists and potentially the final straw for Pakistan, already angered over what it sees as U.S. violations of its sovereignty.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/965372/
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US adds first Boko Haram members to ‘terrorist’ list
22 June, 2012
WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday named three alleged leaders of the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram as “foreign terrorists”, the first time it has blacklisted members of the Islamist group blamed for attacks across Africa’s most populous nation.
The State Department identified the three as Abubakar Shekau, who it called the “most visible” leader of the group, and Abubakar Adam Kambar and Khalid al-Barnawi, who it said were tied both to Boko Haram and to al Qaeda’s north African wing.
“Under Shekau’s leadership, Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in northern Nigeria, its primary area of operation. In the last 18 months, Boko Haram or associated militants have killed more than 1,000 people,” the State Department said in an announcement.
“These designations demonstrate the United States’ resolve in diminishing the capacity of Boko Haram to execute violent attacks,” it said.
The action by the State and Treasury departments, first reported by Reuters on Wednesday, follows growing pressure on the Obama Administration to take stronger action against Boko Haram, which has stepped up attacks on Christian places of worship this year in its drive to establish an Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria.
US officials say the decision to list individual Boko Haram members, rather than apply the more sweeping “Foreign Terrorist Organization” label to the group as a whole as some US lawmakers have demanded, reflected a desire not to elevate the group’s profile.
The action freezes any assets the three men have in the United States, and bar US persons from any transactions with them.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/06/22/us-adds-first-boko-haram-members-to-terrorist-list/
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US says it’s only providing humanitarian aid to Syrian rebels
22 June, 2012
The US today said it is only providing humanitarian aid and non-lethal assistance to the Syrian opposition, a day after a media report claimed that CIA officers were distributing assault rifles, anti-tank rocket launchers and other ammunition to rebels.
“We do not, as a matter of policy, provide lethal aid to the opposition,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters.
“We provide humanitarian aid to the Syrian people. We provide non-lethal assistance to the opposition, and we continue to work with the opposition, in concert with our international partners, to help them organise themselves, to help them develop greater capacities,” he said.
His remarks came after the New York Times yesterday reported that for weeks now, CIA officers based in southeast Turkey have supervised the flow of illegal arms to numerous opposition factions ready to fight the Syrian regime.
In response to a question, Carney said it is up to the Syrian people to decide the fate of President Assad.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article3558414.ece
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Stop terrorism, stop losing sovereignty: Hillary to Pakistan
21 JUNE 2012
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned Pakistan that unless it cracks down on its terror safe havens with speed, it cannot put a stop to losing its own sovereignty to the likes of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and the Haqqani Network.
“What we’ve said to the Pakistanis is look, if there were ever an argument in the past for your policy of hedging against Afghanistan by supporting the Haqqani Network or the Afghan Taliban or the LeT against India, those days are over,” she said in an interview to noted talk show host Charlie Rose.
To drive home the point, Clinton reverted to an earlier example, likening Pakistan to “the guy who keeps poisonous snakes in his backyard convinced they’ll only attack his neighbours”.
What is happening because of this sort of approach is that Pakistan is “losing sovereignty” with large areas of its territory that are “ungoverned”, she said.
Full report at:
http://dailypioneer.com/world/74845-stop-terrorism-stop-losing-sovereignty-hillary-to-pakistan.html
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Stop keeping poisonous snakes in backyard, US tells Pakistan
Jun 22, 2012
WASHINGTON: In a blunt warning to Pakistan against supporting anti-India and anti-Afghanistan terror groups, secretary of state Hillary Clinton has asked Islamabad to do more about terrorist safe havens in its territory.
"What we've said to the Pakistanis is look, if there were ever an argument in the past for your policy of hedging against Afghanistan by supporting the Haqqani Network or the Afghan Taliban or the LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) against India, those days are over," she said on a TV talk show.
"Because that's like the guy who keeps poisonous snakes in his backyard convinced they'll only attack his neighbours," Clinton said appearing on the Charlie Rose show with former secretary of state James Baker for "Conversations on Diplomacy".
Noting that US "relationship with Pakistan has been challenging for a long time" she lamented that in the aftermath of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, Pakistanis "had embraced a kind of jihadi mentality in part to stimulate fighters both from the outside and within Afghanistan."
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Stop-keeping-poisonous-snakes-in-backyard-US-tells-Pakistan/articleshow/14333680.cms
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US diplomats in Pakistan facing harassment: Report
Jun 22, 2012
WASHINGTON: US diplomats working in Pakistan face increasing harassment amid a sharp deterioration in ties in the wake of last year's killing of Osama bin Laden, a State department report said Thursday.
Such harassment and obstruction is described by US embassy staff as "deliberate, wilful and systematic," according to the 76-report by the department's watchdog, the office of inspector general.
"Official Pakistani obstructionism and harassment, an endemic problem in Pakistan, has increased to the point where it is significantly impairing mission operations and program implementations," the report said.
Harassment included such things as delaying visas for staff, blocking shipments of materials for aid programs and construction work, and surveillance of staff and contractors.
The official report, made available Thursday, comes after a February fact-finding tour of the US diplomatic missions in Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar and Lahore.
It urged US officials to ensure that the issue of harassment is raised in bilateral talks with the Pakistani government.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/US-diplomats-in-Pakistan-facing-harassment-Report/articleshow/14332565.cms
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US government refuses to lift lid on CIA drone strikes
Jun 22, 2012
WASHINGTON: The US government has asked a federal court to reject lawsuits demanding the release of documents on CIA drone strikes targeting suspected militants abroad, saying the entire subject is "classified."
Shortly before a midnight deadline, US government lawyers filed a brief to the district court in New York defending the veil of secrecy around the drone campaign, which has killed numerous al-Qaida figures and associates in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.
"Whether or not the CIA has the authority to be, or is in fact, directly involved in targeted lethal operations remains classified," the government brief stated.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the New York Times had filed lawsuits after having requested papers on the drone bombing campaign under the Freedom of Information Act.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/US-government-refuses-to-lift-lid-on-CIA-drone-strikes/articleshow/14328174.cms
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Pentagon chief rules out apology to Pak
June 22, 2012
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta all but ruled out an apology over an air strike last year that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and badly set back efforts to improve US-Pakistani ties, saying it was "time to move on." Pakistan banned trucks from carrying NATO supplies into neighboring
Afghanistan after the air strike, a move that costs US taxpayers $100 million a month given the need to use more expensive, longer routes to the north.
To re-open the routes, Pakistan wants to impose high tariffs on NATO supplies and foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar said last week that Islamabad is still seeking an unconditional apology.
But Panetta, in an interview with Reuters on Thursday, suggested that past expressions of regret and condolences were enough and held out hope that troubled talks on re-opening Pakistani supply routes for the NATO war effort could succeed anyway.
Asked whether he would oppose any further apology, Panetta said: "We've made clear what our position is, and I think it's time to move on."
"If we keep going back to the past, if we keep beating up each other based on past differences, we'll never get anywhere," he said.
"The time now is to move forward with this relationship, on the (supply routes), on the safe havens, on dealing with terrorism -- on dealing with the issues that frankly both of us are concerned about," Panetta said.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Americas/Pentagon-chief-rules-out-apology-to-Pak/Article1-876898.aspx
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Europe
Muslim pair accused of planning jihad bomb attack on Jews in Britain
Helen Carter
20 June 2012
Mohammed and Shasta Khan 'driven by al-Qaida propaganda, took steps to mount terror attack with home-made explosive'
A Muslim couple were assembling components of a home-made bomb to attack Jewish neighbourhoods after becoming radicalised by al-Qaida propaganda on the internet, a court heard on Wednesday.
Mohammed Sajid Khan, 33, and his wife, Shasta, 38, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, bought substances and equipment from supermarkets to assemble an improvised explosive device to launch a terrorist attack after carrying out visits to potential Jewish targets in Manchester, the city's crown court heard.
Bobbie Cheema, the prosecutor, at Manchester crown court, said: "Perhaps it can be summarised this way: it was jihad at home. Between them they acquired substances, common or garden, that can be purchased in supermarkets, equipment and information of use that would help them to make explosives, and began the process of assembling an improvised explosive device."
The couple also carried out "multiple reconnaissance" trips to Jewish areas of Salford or Manchester, it was alleged.
Behind their "apparent normality of daily life", Khan, an unemployed car valeter, and his wife, a hairdresser, planned to carry out "jihad at home", Cheema told the court.
The couple were only stopped by chance after a minor domestic row led to police being called to their home in Oldham.
Shasta decided to inform the police after her brother told officers went to the house: "I think he's a home-grown terrorist."
Full report at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jun/20/muslims-accused-planned-jews-attack?newsfeed=true
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Reform UN to reflect change of time, situation: Germany
Jun 22 2012
Bangalore : Global financial crisis, reform of United Nations, terrorism threats and other issues of mutual interest were today discussed in a meeting between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle.
In a joint press conference with Westerwelle, Krishna said they had extensive discussions on issues pertaining to bilateral relations, G-20 process, global financial crisis, reform of global institutions including UNSC and global threat of terrorism.
The German foreign minister said his country shares India's view that architecture of the UN should be changed.
"The time has changed; situation has changed...the architecture of the UN and also permanent membership of the Security Council should represent the (present) situation in the world," he said.
On Afghanistan, Westerwelle said Germany would not stop at the end of 2014, when it will withdraw international combat troops from the nation but "in the interest of long-term stability in Afghanistan and in the region, we will continue to support Afghanistan with civil assistance and by training".
In this context, he said Germany appreciated very much that India would soon host a private sector conference to attract more private sector investment in Afghanistan.
"We share this philosophy; we share this policy because we know that security and development are two sides of the same coin," he said.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/965444/
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Oslo Killer’s Lawyers Say He Is Sane
By MARK LEWIS
22 June, 2012
OSLO – On the final day of testimony, defense lawyers sought on Friday to depict Anders Behring Breivik as being "of sound mind" when, by his own admission, he killed 77 people in Norway's worst peacetime atrocity, planting a bomb in central Oslo before gunning down 69 people, mainly teenagers, on the island of Utoya last year.
A day earlier, prosecutors asked the court to order Mr. Breivik confined for compulsory psychiatric treatment instead of sentencing him to prison. Mr. Breivik has acknowledged the bloody acts on July 22, 2011, but has told the court he carried them out in self-defense to combat what he has termed the "Islamic colonization" of Europe. He has argued that an insanity judgment would detract from his cause.
In a closing argument, Mr. Breivik's defense lawyer, Geir Lippestad, said Mr. Breivik accepts that the attacks were carried out in the way the attacks were described during the hearings.
"That little, safe Norway would be hit by such a terror attack is almost impossible to understand," Mr. Lippestad said, according to The Associated Press.
"July 22 was an inferno of violence," Lippestad said. "But we must also look at how he carried out the attacks to see whether it was violence in itself or radical politics that was the cause." Mr. Breivik is expected to take the stand later on Friday.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/23/world/europe/oslo-killers-lawyers-say-he-is-
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