The London Post Web journalist Faisal Qureshi Murdered in Lahore
Bangladeshi woman Wasfia Nazreen conquers top of Africa
Deobandis, Wahhabis to join Qadri protests
US criticism of Pakistan will encourage Taliban: Saifullah
Muslim women leaders convene at global conference
Ghulam Nabi Fai's aide dies of stroke
Two Saudis beheaded for murders
Saudi Arabia executes 8 Bangladeshis
Syrian security forces fire on funeral, 2 killed
Syrian Kurdish activist Mishaal al-Tammo shot dead
Albania’s last communist leader Ramiz Alia dies
NATO claims killing 25 militants in assault on US bases in Afghanistan
Indonesian police arrest five over mosque bombing
Pakistani police foil terror plot in Islamabad
Musharraf paying $25,000 per month to promote interests in US: Official US Record
Pak Army ready to address US concerns on Haqqanis: Report
Afghanistan downplays Karzai threat
Political, legal experts want release of Justice Dept. memo supporting killing of Anwar al-Awlaki
India wants to weaken, dominate Pak, claims Musharraf
US urges cooperation with Pakistan over terror threats
‘US-Pakistan spies rebuild ties’
Ahmadi students, teacher expelled from Pak schools
Rallies across Pak for release of Taseer’s killer
Libyan fighters assault main Gaddafi base in Sirte
Afghan Taliban claim credit for US withdrawal
US media outlets seek access to Headley's interrogation tapes
Pastor's possible execution reveals nuances of Islamic law
Finns police release Somali terror suspect, hold another
France’s Sarkozy warns Turkey over 'genocide' denial
Secularists force Tel Aviv to change 'Jewish' classification
War is only option to topple Syrian leader: colonel
Drones: US veil of secrecy lifting?
US calls on Assad ‘to step down now’
State Department readies Iraq operation, its biggest since Marshall Plan
Nobel winners show need to empower women: Obama
I won’t be caged in: Omar Abdullah
Soharabuddin's accomplice escapes from police custody
'50,000 Syrians rally' after Kurdish leader slain
US war drones keep flying despite computer virus
Pak. to repatriate bin Laden family: reports
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/the-london-post-web-journalist/d/5647
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The London Post Web journalist Faisal Qureshi murdered in Lahore
8 October 2011
LAHORE: Police have found the body of a journalist working for a London-based online news site in Lahore, police said Saturday.
Faisal Qureshi, 28, who worked for Internet publication The London Post, was murdered early Friday, senior police officer Razzaq Cheema told AFP.
“His throat was slit and there were stab wounds on his body,” Cheema said, adding that Qureshi, a bachelor, lived alone in his family home where he was found, and no arrests had yet been made. “The motive is not clear.”
His laptop and mobile phone were missing, another police officer said, adding that Qureshi had also been working for an IT firm in Lahore.
One of his brothers, Zahid Ahmed, told police Qureshi had been “receiving threats” from unidentified people over some news reports in his paper.
“He was victim of targeted killing. My brother had been murdered because of stories he sent to his paper,” he said, but did not name any group or party thought to be responsible.
The online publication is edited by his London-based older brother, Shahid Qureshi.
Another Pakistani journalist, Saleem Shahzad, was found dead on May 31 outside the capital in a killing blamed on his coverage of links between rogue navy officials and Al-Qaeda.
At the time, Reporters Without Borders said 16 journalists had been killed since the start of 2010 in Pakistan, which it ranks 151st out of 178 countries in its press freedom index.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/08/web-journalist-faisal-qureshi-murdered-in-lahore.html
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Bangladeshi woman Wasfia Nazreen conquers top of Africa
8 October 2011
A female mountaineer of Bangladesh, Wasfia Nazreen, has conquered the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa and the fourth highest point in the world.
The young adventuress touched Uhuru Peak, 5895 metres above sea level, on October 2, says a press release. Kilimanjaro is situated in Tanzania.
Wasfia launched the expedition under the campaign "Bangladesh on Seven Summits" supported by the Liberation War Museum in celebration of 40 years of the country's independence.
The release said Wasfia's team climbed the mountain through the second toughest routes out of 6-7 paths that Kilimanjaro has to reach the summit. They were also met by severe thunderstorm and heavy snowfall, an anomaly in the African continent.
Like her previous expedition to Mount Elbrus this July, Wasfia was helped by a female guide this time as well. Meredith Riley, a female guide of Mountain Guides International (MGI), led her in the historic journey.
Wasfia has received full support and encouragement of the volunteer wing of JAAGO Foundation, Volunteer for Bangladesh.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=205628
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Deobandis, Wahhabis to join Qadri protests
By Rana Tanveer
October 8, 2011
LAHORE: Deobandi and Ahl-i-Hadith (Wahhabi) parties have jumped on the blasphemy bandwagon, with 40 religious parties resolving to start a countrywide protest movement against the death sentence handed to Mumtaz Qadri, assassin of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, at an “all parties conference” on Wednesday.
Barelvi parties such as the Sunni Tehreek and Jamiat Ahl-i-Sunnat had been protesting against the anti-terrorism court’s verdict since it was announced on October 1.
On Wednesday, more than 40 parties including representatives of Deobandi groups Jamaat-i-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl and Sami groups), Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz Khatam-i-Nabuwat, Tanzeem-i-Islami, Tehreek-i-Islami, Ittehadul Ulema Pakistan and Jamia Ashrafia – as well as Wahhabi groups Jamaatud Dawa, Tehreek Hurmat-i-Rasool, and Muttahida Jamiat Ahl-i-Hadith – met to discuss a coordinated response to the sentence. Tehreek Namoos-i-Risalat and Tanzimul Madaris, both Barelvi groups, also attended.
The speakers criticised the court’s decision to sentence Qadri to death as against Islamic injunctions and the ideology of Pakistan.
JI Ameer Syed Munawwar Hassan said that the court’s verdict reflected an “unfortunate secularist atmosphere” in Pakistan. He urged the participants to unite against the judgement. He said there would be protests all over the country on Friday.
Tahaffuz Namoos-i-Risalat Mahaz, an alliance of Sunni Barelvi parties, has already called a strike on Friday.
Jamaatud Dawa Ameer Hafiz Saeed said the court’s decision was part of “the conspiracy against Islam” and an attack on Pakistan’s ideology. He said Muslims should stand up and tell the world that they are ready to die but not ready to allow blasphemy. He said all Muslims felt just like Mumtaz Hussain Qadri about the issue.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/267875/deobandis-wahhabis-to-join-qadri-protests/
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US criticism of Pakistan will encourage Taliban: Saifullah
8 October 2011
ISLAMABAD: President Barack Obama’s warning to Islamabad over suspected ties to militants will only fuel anti-Americanism and make it harder for Pakistan to support US efforts to stabilise Afghanistan, a senior senator said on Friday.
Pakistan is seen as critical to bringing peace to neighbouring Afghanistan, but the United States has failed to persuade it to go after militant groups it says cross the border to attack Western forces in Afghanistan. “This is not helping either the United States, Afghanistan or Pakistan,” Saleem Saifullah, chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said.
“There will be pressure on the (Pakistan) government to get out of this war,” he said, referring to the US war on militancy. Obama warned Pakistan on Thursday that its ties with “unsavoury characters” had put relations with the United States at risk, as he ratcheted up pressure on Islamabad to cut links with militants mounting attacks in Afghanistan.
His comments are likely to deepen a crisis in the strategic alliance between the United States and Pakistan. Obama accused Pakistan’s leaders of “hedging their bets” on Afghanistan’s future, but stopped short of threatening to cut off US aid, despite calls from lawmakers for a tougher line over accusations that Pakistani intelligence allegedly supported strikes on US targets in Afghanistan.
Pakistan says it has sacrificed more than any other nation that joined America’s global “war on terror” after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, losing 10,000 soldiers and security forces, and 30,000 civilians.
But its performance against militants operating in border region is a frequent source of tension between Washington and Islamabad.
Instead of public confrontation, Obama should work more closely with Pakistan to help Afghanistan, said Saifullah. “This is no time for this kind of (allegation) when they are pulling out,” he said. “They should be seriously working on the endgame.”
Saifullah said Washington’s public criticism of Pakistan would only encourage militant groups.
“War in Afghanistan is passing through a critical phase, evolutionary phase,” he said. “At this stage, muddying water is not appropriate. This is exactly what the militants want. They are playing to their tune. This is adding strength to them.”
Some analysts agree with his assessment. “This will create more tension and what the Americans want is not likely to happen in the near future,” said political analyst.
Obama made clear that future US-Pakistani relations would depend heavily on whether Islamabad complies with Washington’s demands to sever connections with insurgents.
Mahmud Ali Durrani, a former Pakistani ambassador to Washington, wondered if the two sides could ever repair ties. “There are too many issues, and too much mistrust to call this a strategic relationship,” he said.
But public demands from Washington will make Islamabad more reluctant to take action because caving in after constant pressure could be political suicide in a country where anti-American sentiment runs high, and the government is unpopular.
Many Pakistanis believe they have been dragged into a war against militancy that only serves American interests.
That sentiment is growing because of an escalation of US drone aircraft missile strikes against militants in Pakistan under the Obama administration.
“Are we owned by the United States? If so, please make our terms of servitude clear, Mr Obama, so we can just get on with it,” said Mishayl Naek, a bank employee in Karachi, in reaction to the US president’s demands of Pakistan.
For Asad Ali Bangash, 45, Obama’s comments were proof of what he has feared all along.
“America wants an excuse to invade Pakistan. There are difficult times ahead for Pakistan, because America has decided that Pakistan has to be eliminated because it is a fort of Islam,” said Bangash, who runs a medical supply business.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\10\08\story_8-10-2011_pg7_23
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Muslim women leaders convene at global conference
8 October 2011
NEW YORK: The American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA) announced the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality (WISE) Conference to be held from October 14 to October 17 in Istanbul, Turkey.
“Soon the world will witness how Muslim women activists, scholars, politicians jurists and poets have assumed leadership roles largely perceived to be restricted to Muslim men, ” says Daisy Khan, Executive Director of ASMA and the organiser of this conference.
Over one hundred and seventy five Muslim women leaders from 45 countries will participate in Muslim Women Leaders: At the Frontlines of Change, a global conference of WISE, a programme of ASMA.
“Our goal is to legitimise a coherent global movement, highlighting the groundbreaking advancements of powerful Muslim women who are sharing and building on their individual experiences,” adds Khan.
Top leaders attending the conference include Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary General Nafis Sadik; Palestine’s first female judge, Judge Kholoud Al Faqeeh, appointed to the Shariah Court; Esin Celebi, the descendant of the 13th century poet Rumi; Notable female Spiritual Sheikha’s Aisha Rafea (Egypt) and Seemi Ghazi (Canada); Pakistan’s Shahina Akbar, a lawyer who recently was elected as a member of parliament.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\10\08\story_8-10-2011_pg7_24
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Ghulam Nabi Fai's aide dies of stroke
October 8, 2011
Dr Zaheer was accused of lobbying for Pakistan’s Kashmir cause. PHOTO: ONLINE/ FILE
ISLAMABAD: Dr Zaheer Ahmad, said to be an associate of Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, died of brain haemorrhage in Islamabad on Friday. He was 63.
Ahmad, who was also the founder of Shifa International Hospital, was accused of influencing US government officials to promote Pakistan’s Kashmir cause without declaring to do so. It was claimed that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) used Ahmad to transfer money to Fai.
Nabi Fai, 62, a US citizen and the director of Kashmiri American Council (KAC) was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US this July. He was charged with donating money received from the ISI on political campaigns in the US besides influencing politicians for ISI’s Kashmir cause.
The FBI had charged Dr Zaheer with working for Fai. He had been admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU) of SIH on September 28. Doctors said his condition deteriorated on Friday and he died in the hospital he had founded. Ahmed was laid to rest in H-8 graveyard. The former chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, Qazi Hussain Ahmed led his funeral prayers. Many politicians including PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal, bureaucrats and senior doctors from the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi attended the funeral.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/269492/spying-suspect-doctor-linked-with-nabi-fai-dies-in-
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Two Saudis beheaded for murders
8 October 2011
RIYADH — Two Saudi men convicted of murder were executed by the sword on Friday in the northern city of Tabuk, the interior ministry said.
Karim bin Farhan al-Messeyden al-Atawi was found guilty of stabbing to death brothers Hammud and Saud Ali al-Atawi, the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency.
In a separate case, Ahmed bin Awdeh al-Atawi was convicted for having shot dead an Afghani, Mohammed Zaki Zaher Khan, with a machine gun, the ministry said in a separate statement.
The executions bring the total number of beheadings in Saudi Arabia this year to at least 48.
Saudi Arabia has “resumed executions at an alarming pace” since the end of August, Amnesty International said last month, adding that around 140 prisoners were believed to be on death row in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom.
The London-based watchdog said Saudi Arabia was one of a minority of states that voted against a UN General Assembly resolution last December calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions.
Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under the oil-rich Gulf state’s strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/October/middleeast_October129.xml§ion=middleeast&col=
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Saudi Arabia executes 8 Bangladeshis
8 October 2011
The Saudi authorities executed eight Bangladeshi workers on Friday in the country’s capital Riyadh for their involvement in killing an Egyptian man.
The migrant workers, who were beheaded in public, were sentenced to death for the murder of the man in April 2007, according to the Amnesty International.
The executed are: Ma'mun Abdul Mannan, Faruq Jamal, Sumon Miah, Mohammed Sumon, Shafiq al-Islam, Mas'ud Shamsul Haque, Abu al-Hussain Ahmed and Mutir al-Rahman.
Details of executed Bangladeshis could not be learnt immediately.
According to a news posted on the AI website, the Egyptian man was killed during a clash between the Bangladeshi workers and a group of men who allegedly were stealing electric cable from a building complex where the Bangladeshis used to work.
Three other Bangladeshis were sentenced to prison terms and flogging for the murder.
Executions have resumed in Saudi Arabia at an alarming rate since the end of the Holy month of Ramadan, said the AI.
“Court proceedings in Saudi Arabia fall far short of international standards for fair trial and news of these recent multiple executions are deeply disturbing,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Middle East and North Africa.
“The Saudi authorities appear to have increased the number of executions in recent months, a move that puts the country at odds with the worldwide trend against the death penalty.”
“The government must establish an immediate moratorium on executions in the Kingdom and commute all death sentences, with a view to abolishing the death penalty completely,” she added.
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=32820
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Syrian security forces fire on funeral, 2 killed
8 October 2011
BEIRUT — Security forces opened fire at tens of thousands of mourners who turned out for the funeral of a slain opposition leader in northeastern Syria on Saturday, killing at least two people, activists said.
People marched through the streets of Qamishli in the funeral procession for Mashaal Tammo, one of Syria’s most prominent opposition figures, who was gunned down Friday by masked gunmen in the city. The slaying was the latest in a string of targeted killings in Syria as the country slides further into disorder, seven months into the uprising against President Bashar Assad.
“All of Qamishli is out today, the funeral is turning into a massive protest,” Kurdish activist and lawyer Mustafa Osso said, as the grieving cries of fellow mourners were heard through the phone.
The mourners swelling through Qamishli’s streets called on Assad to step down, with chants of “Leave, Leave.” Osso said more than 50,000 people were on Qamishli’s streets to take part in the funeral.
Security forces opened fire during the funeral procession, killing two mourners and wounding several others, he said.
The Local Coordination Committees activist network also said at least one person was killed and other were injured in gunfire. The group said the city has been completely shut down after a general strike was declared to mourn Tammo.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/October/
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Syrian Kurdish activist Mishaal al-Tammo shot dead
8 October 2011
Gunmen have shot dead prominent Syrian Kurdish opposition figure Mishaal al-Tammo in his home in Qamishli, north-eastern Syria, activists say.
Anti-regime activists said four men entered his home and opened fire.
The US state department blamed the Syrian authorities for the deaths, reportedly calling the killing a "clear escalation of regime tactics".
Meanwhile, at least eight people were killed in protests following Friday prayers.
The deaths occurred in the central city of Homs, the Damascus suburb of Douma and in Zabadani, near the Lebanese border, activists reported.
Mr Tammo's son and a fellow Kurdish political activist were wounded in Friday's shooting, reports said.
Mr Tammo was in the Kurdish Future party and had recently been released after spending more than two years in jail.
He was also a member of the executive committee of the newly formed Syrian National Council, a broad front bringing together opposition figures inside and outside the country in an attempt to unite the dispersed dissident movement.
It is not clear who was behind the attack. Mr Tammo was a vocal critic of President Bashar al-Assad and had also angered powerful Kurdish parties.
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15222001
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Albania’s last communist leader Ramiz Alia dies
8 October 2011
TIRANA: Ramiz Alia, the hand-picked successor of Albania’s late Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha and the man who presided over the Balkan country’s transition to multi-party democracy, died on Friday aged 85.
Doctors told Albanian television he died of a pulmonary embolism.
A partisan fighter during World War II and student of Marxist-Leninist philosophy in Moscow, Alia climbed the communist hierarchy under Hoxha in isolationist Albania, then officially atheist and a foe of East and West.
After Hoxha’s death in 1985, Alia embarked on limited reforms as the Cold War began to thaw, but Albanians continued to be gunned down trying to breach the barbed wire on Albania’s heavily-patrolled borders.
In July 1990, UN mediation with Alia secured the departure to the West of thousands of Albanians who stormed foreign embassies in the capital Tirana demanding an escape from food shortages and poverty. As communist regimes fell across eastern Europe, Alia launched talks with Albanian intellectuals on reform and Albania finally adopted a multi-party system in December 1990 and allowed the country’s Muslims and Christians to practice again.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article513404.ece
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Nato claims killing 25 militants in assault on US bases in Afghanistan
8 October 2011
KABUL: Nato said Saturday that at least 25 insurgents were killed during the largest coordinated insurgent attack on military bases in the eastern Afghan province of Paktika since 2009.
The attacks targeted US-led troops near the border with Pakistan on Friday as Afghanistan and the United States marked the 10th anniversary of the US bombing campaign that forced the Taliban from power in late 2001.
A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said one soldier was lightly wounded when a car bomb exploded about 300 metres from the outer wall of Combat Outpost Margah.
The military said air strikes and gunfire killed at least 25 insurgents during the attacks in the Gormal, Sarobi and Barmal districts of Paktika.
There was no immediate independent confirmation of the death toll.
Eastern Afghanistan is one of the main flashpoints in the 10-year Taliban insurgency.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/08/nato-claims-killing-25-militants-in-assault-on-us-bases-in-afghanistan.html
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Indonesian police arrest five over mosque bombing
8 October 2011
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s counter-terrorism police on Saturday arrested five people in connection with a suicide bombing of a mosque in April, a spokesman said.
Heru Komarudin, a 31-year-old man, was arrested by Detatchment 88, an elite counter-terrorism police unit, at a market in central Jakarta in the early hours of the morning, national police spokesman Anton Bachrul Alam said.
“We saw on his mobile phone he had been calling this one number a lot. We traced that number to a house in Bekasi (near Jakarta) and arrested two men and their wives,” Alam said without identifying the four.
“All five arrested today are being questioned by police.”
Komarudin was one of five suspects linked to the bombing in Cirebon, more than 200 kilometres east of Jakarta, which wounded dozens, six of them seriously.
On April 15, Mohammed Syarif, 32, detonated explosives strapped to his body at a mosque within a police station during a Friday prayer service.
The dozens wounded in the explosion — who were mostly policemen, including the Cirebon police chief — were found with nails, nuts and bolts lodged in their bodies.
Another suspect on the same wanted list, Achmad Yosepa Hayat, executed an almost identical attack on a packed church in Solo, a city in central Java, on September 25, injuring dozens of others with a similar explosive.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/08/indonesian-police-arrest-five-over-mosque-bombing.html
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Pakistani police foil terror plot in Islamabad
October 08, 2011
Pakistani police say they have foiled a terror plot in the capital, arresting two suspects and seizing several explosives-laden vests and ammunition from a militant hideout.
Senior police officer Bani Yamin says authorities detained the two suspects on Saturday as they drove
through the Shahzad neighborhood of Islamabad.
He says the men had concealed more then a dozen rockets, 12 hand grenades and vests packed with explosives in their car and at an Islamabad home.
Yamin did not give further details and only said officers were still investigating. It was not clear what the suspects may have been targeting.
Islamabad and many of Pakistan's other major cities have witnessed scores of suicide and bomb attacks, most blamed on Taliban militants.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/pakistan/Pakistani-police-foil-terror-plot-in-Islamabad/Article1-754913.aspx
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Musharraf paying $25,000 per month to lobbyist to promote interests in US
Oct 8, 2011
WASHINGTON: Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has hired a US lobbyist at $25,000 per month, according to an official US record on lobbyists.
According to the official documents of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the lobbying firm would approach US officials, Senators and Congressmen to promote the interests of Musharraf in the United States.
The document, having registration number 6062, says that Musharraf "remains a political and public figure in Pakistan and throughout the world."
Musharraf's representative who signed the agreement with the firm is named Raza Bokhari, according to the justice department record.
The agreement was made on Sept 1, 2011 and will end on March 30, 2012, unless the parties agree to extend the term.
The total fee for the services to be provided to the lobbying firm is one hundred and seventy five thousand ($175,000.00) US dollars.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Musharraf-paying-25000-per-month-to-lobbyist-to-promote-interests-in-US/articleshow/10276881.cms
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Pak Army ready to address US concerns on Haqqanis: Report
Oct 8, 2011
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Army is ready to address US concerns on the Haqqani network but has no intention of going after the militants in North Waziristan tribal region where the Taliban faction has its headquarters, according to a media report on Saturday.
At a meeting chaired by Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in Rawalpindi on Friday, Pakistan's top army commanders expressed their willingness to lower tensions with the US by narrowing down differences on the Haqqani network, The Express Tribune newspaper quoted its sources as saying.
"Pakistan wants a constructive engagement with the US to deal with the Haqqani issue," an unnamed official familiar with the development said.
The official ruled out the possibility of a military operation in North Waziristan Agency.
"Use of force is not the answer to every problem," the official said, repeating a recent statement by Kayani.
Addressing troops participating in a Pakistan-Saudi Arabia joint military exercise in Mangla on Thursday, Kayani reportedly said military operations were not the ideal way of dealing with every issue.
His remarks are being seen as Pakistan's hardening stance on the conducting an operation in North Waziristan despite mounting US pressure.
It is unclear what exactly Pakistan is offering to the US as an alternative to a military operation to deal with the Haqqanis, the report said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pak-Army-ready-to-address-US-concerns-on-Haqqanis-Report/articleshow/10277800.cms
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Afghanistan downplays Karzai threat
8 October 2011
KABUL - Afghanistan on Saturday downplayed the risk to President Hamid Karzai after officials foiled an alleged assassination plot, denying that a bodyguard under arrest ever had free access to the palace.
The intelligence service announced this week that one of Karzai’s personal bodyguards and two university lectures were among six people under arrest over an alleged Al-Qaeda plot to kill Karzai hatched in Pakistan.
The reports appeared to underline the president’s vulnerability after losing a series of key allies, including peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani — assassinated last month — and his younger brother who was murdered in July.
But the presidency said the guard, Muhibullah Ahmadi, was assigned only to the “outside gates of the presidential palace” where he was not authorised to act independently and was not allowed to enter the presidential compound.
The National Directorate of Security (NDS) said the six were recruited to Al-Qaeda by a religious teacher at Kabul Medical University.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle11.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/October/international_October304.xml§ion=international
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Political, legal experts want release of Justice Dept. memo supporting killing of Anwar al-Awlaki
By Peter Finn
8 October 2011
A bipartisan chorus of political and legal voices is calling on the Obama administration to release a declassified version of the Justice Department memo that provided the legal analysis sanctioning the killing in Yemen last week of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen.
They said that the reasoning behind the extraordinary step of killing an American cannot be kept secret from scrutiny if the public is to continue to support counterterrorism operations. Awlaki was killed in a CIA drone strike.
“While U.S. counterterrorism operations are, by necessity, classified, I do believe the administration should make public its legal analysis on its counterterrorism authorities, whether in the form of a legal opinion or a white paper,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. “For both transparency and to maintain public support of secret operations, it is important to explain the general framework for counterterrorism actions.”
Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also said this week, “I would urge them to release the memo. I don’t see any reason why they shouldn’t.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.
Both Feinstein and Levin said they supported the lethal action.
Awlaki was born in New Mexico, and administration officials said he was the chief of “external operations” for al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen, which has attempted a number of terrorist attacks on the United States.
Full report at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/political-legal-experts-want-
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India wants to weaken, dominate Pak, claims Musharraf
Oct 08 2011
Washington : Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has claimed that India's ambition is to weaken Pakistan so that the country can be dominated.
“I mean, dominance in todays' world, I think, dominating a country or moving against a country doesn't mean that they want to take over Pakistan. I don't think that (India taking over Pakistan) can happen,” Musharraf said at a think tank.
“After all, they helped Bangladesh get independence. They haven't taken over Bangladesh. It implies dominating their foreign policy, dominating their economic policies, their trade, their commerce,” he said.
Responding to questions, Musharraf claimed that India's ambition is to weaken Pakistan, to have a weak Pakistan so that it can be dominated, so that it does not have any confrontationist attitude, which does not go well with India's vision of “dominating the region” and maybe being if not a world power, at least a regional power.
Musharraf, who has leveled allegations against India's developmental work in Afghanistan in the past, said the US needs to ask New Delhi to stop this.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/india-wants-to-weaken-dominate-pak-claims-
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US urges cooperation with Pakistan over terror threats
8 October 2011
WASHINGTON: The United States has denied that it is orchestrating an anti-Pakistan campaign with a series of recent statements, saying it is only trying to make the case for cooperative efforts against terrorist threats.
“We obviously reject that completely,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said in response to a question about negative perceptions created in Pakistan by a series of statements emanating from Washington, particularly the claims made by retired Admiral Mike Mullen over the Haqqani militants.
“We believe and we are trying to make the case to the Pakistani people, as well as to Pakistani leaders, that only by working together are we going to defeat this threat to both of us,” she clarified, as the US sought progress towards ending the decade-old conflict in Afghanistan.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/08/us-urges-cooperation-with-pakistan-over-terror-threats.html
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‘US-Pakistan spies rebuild ties’
8 October 2011
WASHINGTON: US and Pakistani officials say Pakistan’s spy agency has quietly stepped up cooperation with the CIA to hunt al Qaeda, despite a string of public criticism by US officials.
Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper says Pakistan’s spy agency has been cooperative and helpful, after a series of blunt meetings between intelligence chiefs following the covert US raid that killed Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan.
US and Pakistani officials say Pakistan has recently arrested several al Qaeda suspects at the CIA’s request, and allowed the CIA to question terrorist detainees again. The officials spoke anonymously to discuss sensitive strategic matters.
The officials also say that Pakistan, for now, has stopped demanding that the CIA suspend the covert drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/08/%E2%80%98us-pakistan-spies-rebuild-ties%E2%80%99.html
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Ahmadi students, teacher expelled from Pak schools
October 8, 2011
Islamabad: Ten students, including seven girls, and a woman teacher belonging to the minority Ahmadi sect have been expelled from two schools in Pakistan's Punjab province amid a hate campaign against the community, a media report said on Saturday.
They were expelled from Chenab Public School and Muslim Public School at Dharanwali in Hafizabad.
A public meeting held recently in Dharanwali had spread hatred against Ahmadis, Jamaat Ahmadiyya Pakistan spokesman Saleemuddin said.
The expulsions came in the aftermath of intolerance that some religious preachers were bent on evoking among local residents, Saleemuddin told 'The Express Tribune' daily.
"They went so far as to say that they would never allow for an Ahmadi to be buried in their graveyard, let alone allow an Ahmadi to study in a school with their children," Saleemuddin alleged.
Soon after the hate speeches, 10 Ahmadi students and the teacher were expelled from the schools.
Khalil Ahmad, whose three daughters were among the expelled students, said: "It is extremely unfortunate that my daughters are being deprived of the most basic and fundamental human right such as education...all because of religious intolerance."
He said: "I have no alternative to ensure that their education continues."
He questioned why authorities were not implementing Constitutional provisions that ensure equal rights for all.
"I've never seen Christians and students belonging to other religions ever having to deal with such restrictions," he said.
Muslim Public School principal Yasir Abbas said he had "personally opposed the expulsion on the basis of faith”.
Full report at:
http://zeenews.india.com/news/south-asia/ahmadi-students-teacher-expelled-from-pak-
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Rallies across Pak for release of Taseer’s killer
October 08, 2011
Lahore: Religious and religio-political parties have held rallies across Pakistan to protest against the death sentence awarded to Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, the self-confessed assassin of former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, and to press the government for his early release.
Qadri, one of Taseer's own elite security force protectors, had shot the then Punjab governor dead on January 04 because of his vocal opposition to the blasphemy law that was recently used to sentence a Pakistani-Christian woman, Asia Bibi, to death.
An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi had sentenced Qadri, the self-confessed murderer of Taseer, to death last Saturday, saying that it was a heinous crime and there was no justification to it.
A declaration unanimously adopted at an all parties’ conference hosted under the banner of Tehrik Tahaffuz Namoos-e-Risalat (TNR), two days back, had demanded immediate dismissal of the Rawalpindi judge who pronounced the judgment, announcing a countrywide protest on October 07 against the verdict.
In Lahore, the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) rally emerged from Data Darbar and culminated at Nasir Bagh. The participants were carrying flags and placards and banners inscribed with writings condemning the court decision and demand of early release of Mumtaz Qadri, The Nation reports.
Full report at:
http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/rallies-across-pak-for-release-of-taseer-s-
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Libyan fighters assault main Gaddafi base in Sirte
8 October 2011
SIRTE, Libya — In the largest push on Moammar Gaddafi’s home town in weeks, revolutionary fighters on Friday assaulted a convention center in the heart of the city that forces loyal to the ousted leader had turned into their main base.
The forces of Libya’s new rulers advanced into the port city from the west, east and south, attempting to squeeze Gaddafi loyalists into an ever-smaller area during what commanders described as a final offensive to crush resistance in Sirte after a lengthy siege.
The two sides battered each other with rockets, mortar shells and tank fire, as Gaddafi snipers fired on fighters advancing through housing complexes. Smoke drifted over the skyline and explosions thundered throughout the city, as long lines of residents fleeing by car formed at revolutionary forces’ checkpoints.
Fighters entering through the western gate quickly advanced to within a mile of the city center but faced heavy resistance from a loyalist force of roughly 800 men, according to one commander’s estimate.
At least 12 revolutionary fighters were killed and 195 were wounded, doctors said.
Sirte is considered the most crucial of the areas that remain in the hands of Gaddafi’s supporters more than a month after revolutionaries swept into the capital, Tripoli, toppling him from power.
Full report at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/libyan-fighters-assault-main-gaddafi-base-in-
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Afghan Taliban claim credit for US withdrawal
8 October 2011
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan: The Taliban marked Friday’s 10th anniversary of the Afghan war by claiming to have forced the United States and Nato to withdraw from the country.
Operation Enduring Freedom, launched on October 7, 2001 after the Taliban refused to surrender Osama bin Laden, took just weeks to topple the Islamists.
But the militia later regrouped to wage an increasingly deadly insurgency.
“The US invader, who claim they are supporters of peace, proved in 10 years that they are the most merciless and cruel people,” the militia said.
“The US deprived Afghans of their Islamic, independent laws in the last 10 years and also deprived people of security and stability.
The Afghan nation showed readiness to struggle against the US invaders,” it added.
“The mujahedeen gradually strengthened jihad operations and used different war tactics against the enemy, which resulted in a number of casualties that led the invader enemy to think about withdrawing from this country.”
The United States and its Nato allies have said they will withdraw combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
According to the independent icasualties.org website, at least 2,754 foreign troops have died in Afghanistan, 1,802 of them American.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/07/afghan-taliban-claim-credit-for-us-withdrawal.html
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US media outlets seek access to Headley's interrogation tapes
October 08, 2011
Key US media organisations have filed a motion in a court here demanding access to behind-the-scene video tapes of FBI interrogation of Mumbai attacks plotter David Headley, including one showing him "palpably nervous" as he groped for a plea bargain deal.
The motion was filed
late on Thursday after federal prosecutors here refused to turn over to various media outlets the video tapes, which were played during the trial of LeT operative Headley's childhood friend Tahawwur Hussain Rana in June. Headley was the star witness in the trial.
Rana's lawyer had played parts of the tapes in court, suggesting that Headley was trying to dupe their client and save himself.
But the lawyer neglected to enter the video into evidence, a technicality now claimed by prosecutors as the reason they do not have to make it public, according to ABC News channel.
As a motion has been filed requesting that the US attorney be directed to turn over the tapes to the media, prosecutors will now have to explain why they are refusing to do so.
In the video, Headley is shown confessing that he took training in LeT camps and under ISI and Pakistani militants linked to al-Qaeda and accepted his role in scouting targets and conducting a recce of Mumbai before the 2008 attacks that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/americas/US-media-outlets-seek-access-to-Headley-s-interrogation-tapes/Article1-754904.aspx
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Pastor's possible execution reveals nuances of Islamic law
By Dan Merica
October 08, 2011
(CNN) – The possible hanging of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani for converting from Islam to Christianity has exposed a division among Islamic jurists on whether Iran would be violating Islamic law by carrying out the execution.
According to some of these scholars, the Quran not only outlaws the death penalty for the charge of apostasy, but under Sharia law, conversion from Islam is not a punishable offense at all.
"Instead, it says on a number of occasions that God prefers and even demands that people believe in Him, but that He will handle rejection of such belief by punishing them in the afterworld," wrote Intisar Rabb, an assistant professor of law at Boston College and a faculty affiliate in research at Harvard Law School, in an e-mail to CNN.
But Rabb also acknowledges that there is a more nuanced view to Islamic law, too.
Clark Lombardi, an associate professor of law at the University of Washington, said there is more room for interpretation because the Quran is not the only source of Islamic law.
"Most Muslims look past the Quran and say the Quran needs to be looked at in the practice of the Prophet. So they look to see what rules the prophet laid down," Lombardi said.
And, according to Lombardi, if you look at literature about the life of Mohammed, "then apostasy is clearly something very bad. And there are examples of apostates being punished."
Full report at:
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/07/pastors-possible-execution-reveals-nuances-of-islamic-law/
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Finns police release Somali terror suspect, hold another
8 October 2011
HELSINKI: Finnish police say they have released a Somali woman arrested on suspicion of financing terrorism, but will keep holding a Somali man pending further investigation into allegations he recruited potential terrorists.
The pair’s detentions were the first known terror-linked arrests in the Nordic country. They were detained Sept. 7 and are suspected of links to the Somali Islamist militant group Al-Shabab, which has ties to Al-Qaeda.
Detective Inspector Kaj Bjorkvist added Friday that the woman has been ordered not to leave Finland.
The National Bureau of Investigation said both suspects, who live in Finland and know each other, allegedly sent small amounts of money to Al-Shabab.
http://arabnews.com/world/article513168.ece
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France’s Sarkozy warns Turkey over 'genocide' denial
8 October 2011
YEREVAN: President Nicolas Sarkozy warned Turkey on Friday that it might soon become illegal in France to deny that the mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 was genocide.
Sarkozy, in Armenia, his first stop on a visit to the Caucasus, called on Turkey to make a “gesture of reconciliation” and recognize the killings as genocide.
If it does not, he said, France “will consider it must go further to amend its legislation to penalize this denial.”
Sarkozy warned the measures could be adopted in “a very brief” timeframe but said the comments were not an ultimatum.
The challenge by the president of France — which opposes Turkey’s bid to join the European Union — drew an angry rebuttal from Ankara on Friday.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister said France should confront its colonial past before giving lessons to others. The French “do not have the right to teach Turkey a history lesson or call for Turkey to face its history,” Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference.
Armenia, backed by many historians and world parliaments, says some 1.5 million Armenians died during the upheaval that accompanied World War I, and calls it genocide.
Ankara rejects the term genocide and says large numbers of both Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks were killed.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article513200.ece
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Secularists force Tel Aviv to change 'Jewish' classification
8 October 2011
JERUSALEM: In its troubled peace talks with the Palestinians, Israel has demanded that it should be recognized as a Jewish state, but there is deep domestic division on what that means.
Yoram Kaniuk, a rambunctious 81-year-old author, was hailed by Israeli secularists this week for winning a court victory that compelled the state to stop listing Judaism as his “religion” while keeping “Jewish” as his “ethnicity.” He is the first Israeli Jew to have done so.
Israel defines itself as a “Jewish and democratic” state. Kaniuk’s legal triumph comes at a time when society is increasingly polarized between those who say the state’s Jewish character must be strengthened and opponents who say this comes at the expense of civil rights and liberties.
“I feel great relief,” said Kaniuk, one of Israel’s best-known writers.
“I was sick and tired of an extremist right-wing religious establishment taking over our lives. We are a secular majority and we just give in to it. I hope (my) court ruling will change this,” he told Reuters.
Kaniuk’s wife is Christian, and because Orthodox rabbinical law identifies only those born to a Jewish mother as Jews, the couple’s daughters are classified as “without religion.” It was seeing his grandson also classified as without religion that prompted him to mount his protest against the influence of the religious establishment.
“I was never a practicing Jew and I don’t believe in God,” he said. “When the Jews were scattered across the world, religion bound us together, but we don’t need this any more.” Tensions run high on issues of citizenship, ethnicity and faith. All three categories are used in the census to classify Israelis, the majority of whom are listed as “Jewish” under both religion and ethnicity.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article513464.ece
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War is only option to topple Syrian leader: colonel
8 October 2011
The most senior officer to defect from Syria’s armed forces has said there is no option but to topple President Bashar al-Assad by force and he was directing a military uprising against the Syrian leader from within Turkey.
Colonel Riad al-As’aad, who is now living under Turkish government protection in Hatay province on the Syrian border, said some 15,000 soldiers, including officers, had already deserted, and he was waiting to move his command inside Syria. As’aad, A slim, softly-spoken man dressed in civilian clothes and open-collared shirt, said rebel soldiers were forming brigades around the country who were setting up ambushes against government forces to prevent them entering villages. Morale in the Syrian army, he said, was low.
“Without a war, he will not fall. Whoever leads with force, cannot be removed except by force,” As’aad told Reuters in a Syrian refugee camp in Hatay. “The regime used a lot of oppressive and murderous tactics so I left, so that I will be the face outside for the command inside, because we have to be in a secure area and right now there is no safety in all of Syria,” he said. As’aad sat in the shade of a tree as Syrian refugee children laughed and played in the background. Music rang out from a nearby tent that served as a makeshift school.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\10\08\story_8-10-2011_pg4_8
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Drones: US veil of secrecy lifting?
8 October 2011
NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA (Italy): There was a time when US officials wouldn’t breathe a word about the CIA’s clandestine use of Predator drones.
Now it seems that the veil is lifting, at least a bit.
Defence Secretary Leon Panetta — a former CIA director — is occasionally weaving the CIA’s unmanned aircraft into his remarks.
On Friday, he joked to an auditorium full of troops at a base in Naples, Italy, that “obviously I have a helluva lot more weapons available to me in this job than I had at the CIA”. Then he added, as an aside, “Although the Predators aren’t that bad.”
At a stop at Sigonella air station a short time later, he was ticking off the attributes of the coalition forces there who have been participating in the Libya operation.
Standing in front of a Global Hawk surveillance drone, he observed that the troops have used the unarmed aircraft in missions over Libya, as well as the armed Predators. And then he added that the Predators were “something I was very familiar with in my last job”.
During Mr Panetta’s tenure at the CIA, the use of armed drones to target insurgents, particularly inside the borders of Pakistan, escalated and expanded. And just last week, a CIA Predator was used in a strike in Yemen to kill US-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a key Al Qaeda figure, in the Arabian Peninsula.
The CIA’s use of drones to strike militants in Pakistan — largely those who are involved in launching attacks against US and Nato-led coalition forces in Afghanistan — has drawn sharp criticism from Pakistan and cries that the missions violate the country’s sovereignty.
At no time did Mr Panetta mention any of the countries or CIA operations where the drones were used — saying only that he finds them to be a key weapon.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/08/drones-us-veil-of-secrecy-lifting-2.html
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US calls on Assad ‘to step down now’
8 October 2011
In a statement, spokesman Jay Carney condemned the killing of Kurdish opposition leader Meshaal Tamo as well as the beating of a prominent Syrian activist, saying it showed “again that the Assad regime’s promises for dialogue and reform are hollow.”
“The United States strongly rejects violence directed against peaceful oppositionists wherever it occurs, and stands in solidarity with the courageous people of Syria who deserve their universal rights,” Carney said.
“Today’s attacks demonstrate the Syrian regime’s latest attempts to shut down peaceful opposition inside Syria. President Assad must step down now before taking his country further down this very dangerous path.”
Tamo, 53, a member of the newly formed Syrian National Council (SNC) opposition grouping, was killed when four masked gunmen stormed his house in Qamishli in the north and opened fire.
His son and another fellow activist in the Kurdish Future Party were wounded, activists said.
Former MP Riad Seif, meanwhile, was also attacked and beaten in the street.
The US State Department earlier charged that the Assad regime was escalating its tactics against the opposition with bold, daylight attacks on its leaders.
“This is a clear escalation of regime tactics,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters, referring to reports of Tamo’s murder.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle11.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/October/middleeast_October136.xml§ion=middleeast
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State Department readies Iraq operation, its biggest since Marshall Plan
By Mary Beth Sheridan and Dan Zak
8 October 2011
The State Department is racing against an end-of-year deadline to take over Iraq operations from the U.S. military, throwing up buildings and marshalling contractors in its biggest overseas operation since the effort to rebuild Europe after World War II.
While attention in Washington and Baghdad has centered on the number of U.S. troops that may remain in Iraq, they will be dwarfed by an estimated 16,000 civilians under the American ambassador — the size of an Army division.
The scale of the operation has raised concerns among lawmakers and government watchdogs, who fear the State Department will be overwhelmed by overseeing so many people, about 80 percent of them contractors. There is a risk, they say, of millions of dollars in waste and limited supervision of bodyguards.
“We’re very, very worried,” said Christopher H. Shays, a former Republican member of Congress who served on the Commission on Wartime Contracting, at a House hearing on Tuesday. “I don’t know how they’re going to do it.”
State Department officials say they are working flat-out to finish their preparations, adding contracting professionals to prevent fraud and focusing on ensuring U.S. personnel will be protected.
“We’ve spent too much money and lost too many kids’ lives, not to do this thing right,” said Deputy Secretary of State Tom Nides.
But officials acknowledge they have never done anything quite like this. “Make no mistake, this is hard,” said Nides.
Full report at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/state-department-readies-iraq-operation-its-biggest-sin
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Nobel winners show need to empower women: Obama
Oct 8, 2011
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama hailed the three "remarkable" women who shared the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, calling the award a reminder of the need to empower women.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, compatriot "peace warrior" Leymah Gbowee and Yemen's Arab Spring activist Tawakkul Karman were awarded the accolade for their non-violent work on behalf of women's safety and women's rights to participate fully in peace-building.
Obama, who won the 2009 Peace Prize, was effusive in his support of the trio's efforts after a meeting in the Oval Office.
"The three women who won the Nobel prize today are all remarkable examples of not only their determination and spirit but also a reminder that when we empower women around the world, everyone is better off," he said.
"Countries and cultures that respect the contributions of women inevitably end up being more successful than those that don't."
In a subsequent written statement, Obama said the win "sends a powerful message that the struggle for universal rights and human dignity can only be fulfilled with the full participation of women around the globe."
"Nations are ultimately more successful when all of their citizens can reach their full potential, including women," he added, calling for gender equality and equal access to opportunities.
The US president commended Sirleaf, Gbowee and Karman "for showing the world that the rights and voices of half of humanity cannot and will not be denied."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/-Nobel-winners-show-need-to-empower-women-Obama/articleshow/10273473.cms
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I won’t be caged in: Omar Abdullah
October 08, 2011
In a sharp counter-attack against opposition PDP, J and K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday dubbed the party as “utterly irresponsible” and told it bluntly that he was not “going to be caged in” by their “vicious” campaign for his ouster.
“They have always been uncomfortable with me. They have never loved the idea of my being the Chief Minister,” Mr. Omar said in answer to questions on PDP’s demand for his resignation in the wake of the death of a National Conference (NC) worker Haji Syed Yusuf in police custody.
PDP led by father-daughter duo of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti “was willing to sacrifice everything to keep me out of power”, he said, adding, “It will do anything to topple my government irrespective of consequences for them or for the state.”
Recalling the political manoeuvres that followed the 2008 assembly elections in which none of the three principal parties, Congress, NC or PDP, got a clear majority, Mr. Omar said that PDP had made offers to the Congress to be part of a coalition in which they would even not take any ministries.
Therefore, PDP’s bitterness against NC was not surprising, “but they do not realise that I am not going to be caged in like this,” Mr. Omar told PTI.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2520546.ece
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Soharabuddin's accomplice escapes from police custody
Oct 8, 2011
UDAIPUR: Silvester, an alleged accomplice of Soharabuddin Sheikh, escaped from the custody of Gujarat Police here after being produced in a local court here.
"The accused Silvester alias Dipu was produced in a local court by a team of Gujarat Police and was being taken back to Gujarat when he managed to escape from their custody," IG-Udaipur range Govind Gupta said.
Dipu escaped when the police vehicle in which he was being taken to Gujarat broke down near Reti area on Friday night, he said.
On the pretext of going to the toilet, Dipu managed to escape from the scene, he said.
However, reports from Vadodara said that Dipu escaped when the police party stopped on the highway for tea.
A complaint in this regard has been registered in a Rajasthan police station.
Silvester was an accused in a firing case at the office of Popular builders in Vadodra for ransom. He could have been an important witness for CBI which is investigating the Soharabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.
A team of police officers from Vadodara will be soon be sent to Rajasthan to nab Dipu.
Sheikh was killed in an alleged fake encounter. Fourteen policemen including three IPS officers are behind bars in the encounter case.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Soharabuddins-accomplice-escapes-from-police-custody/articleshow/10278311.cms
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'50,000 Syrians rally' after Kurdish leader slain
October 8, 2011
NICOSIA — Fifty thousand Syrians rallied against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday during the funeral of Meshaal Tamo, a Kurdish opposition figure slain the previous day, activists said.
"The funeral of Kurdish leader Meshaal Tamo, who was assassinated yesterday in the city of Qamishli, turned into a mass rally with more than 50,000 demonstrators calling for the fall of the regime," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.
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US war drones keep flying despite computer virus
October 8, 2011
WASHINGTON: The US government’s unmanned Predator and Reaper drones are continuing to fly remote missions overseas despite a computer virus that has infected the plane’s US-based cockpits, according to one source familiar with the infection.
Government officials are still investigating whether the virus is benign, and how it managed to infect the heavily protected computer systems at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, where US pilots remotely fly the planes on their missions over Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
“Something is going on, but it has not had any impact on the missions overseas,” said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Armed tactical unmanned planes have become an increasingly valuable tool used by the US government to track and attack individuals and small groups overseas, but the virus underscores the vulnerability of such systems to attacks on the computer networks used to fly them from great distances.
Wired magazine first reported the virus infection on its website on Friday and said it was logging pilots’ every keystroke as they remotely flew missions over Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/269630/us-war-drones-keep-flying-despite-computer-virus/
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Pak. to repatriate bin Laden family: reports
October 08, 2011
Pakistan has contacted governments of Saudi Arabia and Yemen for the repatriation of slain al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s three wives and their children, according to media reports.
The development came after a judicial commission probing the al-Qaeda chief’s presence in Pakistan announced on Thursday that it had withdrawn its order barring bin Laden’s family from leaving the country.
Authorities had contacted Saudi Arabia and Yemen to arrange for the repatriation of bin Laden’s widows and children, unnamed Pakistani officials were quoted as saying by CBS News and CNN.
Bin Laden’s family, including his two Saudi and a Yemeni widow, has been in the custody of Pakistani security agencies since he was killed by U.S. special forces during a raid in the garrison town of Abbottabad on May 2.
“We have now completed our investigations and pieced together all that we wanted to know from these family members,” a senior Pakistani intelligence official told CBS News.
U.S. agents too had interviewed bin Laden’s family members, the official said.
“I believe the Americans have done their interrogation, so I don’t think there is further need for U.S. access to these people. Pakistan gave access to U.S. officials some time back,” he said.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2520554.ece
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/the-london-post-web-journalist/d/5647