Transgender Law Does Not Violate the Injunctions of Islam or Encourage Gay Rights in Pakistan, Federal Shariat Court told
New Age Islam News Bureau
04 March 2022
Photo: ParhLo.com
-----
• 45 Killed, Over 65 Injured In Mosque Blast during Friday
Congregation Inside A Shiite Muslim Mosque in Northwest Pakistan
• Genocide of Muslims Has Already Started In India:
Experts, Civil Society Leaders and Officials from International Organisations
at a Global Summit
• ‘I Don’t Care’ What Biden Thinks Of Me: Saudi Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman
• UN Vote: Muslim Countries Divided Over Russia’s
Invasion of Ukraine
• Kazan Claims To Have First Printed Quran in Muslim
World
Pakistan
• Govt blocks all avenues leading towards misuse of
blasphemy law: Ashrafi
• Ahmadiyya Sect Remains Most Vulnerable In Pakistan,
Find No Peace Even In Death: Report
• Fully confident no-confidence motion against Imran
Khan govt. will win: Opposition
• PDM, PPP make some headway on snap polls
• Pakistan likely to remain on FATF grey list until
June
• Pledge reaffirmed to implement Indus Waters Treaty
in its true spirit
• PM urges transformation of youth along moral lines
--------
India
• Uttarakhand: Muslim Man Denied Permission to Offer
Gangajal on Shivaratri
• India Ranked 'Partly Free' For the Second
Consecutive Year in Freedom House, a US-Based NGO, Report
• Karnataka: Muslims face communal violence, assault
by cops in Gulbarga
• Pakistan court asks India to appoint lawyer for
Kulbhushan Jadhav by April 13
--------
Arab
World
• King Has the Authority to Issue the Final Fatwa
(Religious Edict), Asserts Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman
• Russia-Ukraine War: Saudi Crown Prince Plays the Oil
Card In Quest for US Recognition
• UAE to better Arab League ties with UN Security
Council as it assumes presidency
• Saudi Arabia and Iran should ‘coexist’, Israel is a
‘potential ally’: Crown Prince
• Syrian opposition leader slams West’s ‘double standards’
on crises in Ukraine, Syria
• Giant picture of Putin in Baghdad sparks controversy
among Iraqis
• Syrian govt. forces, locals block US military
convoys in Hasakah, force them to turn back
--------
Europe
• NATO chief slams Russia ‘recklessness’ in Ukraine
nuclear plant shelling
• Crown Prince Says Saudi Arabia Ready to Mediate
Between Russia, Ukraine during Calls with Putin, Zelensky
--------
Mideast
• Taiwanese Muslim Diplomat Says Israel Forced Him to
Recite Quran to 'Prove' His Faith during Al-Aqsa Visit
• Dozens of extremist Jewish settlers defile Aqsa
Mosque
• Iran: UN Resolution against Russia Not Prepared by
Engagement of All Member States
• 3 Members of Anti-Iran Separatist Terrorist Group
Sentenced to Prison by Danish Court
• Iran Declares Readiness to Help Relief Operations in
Ukraine
• UN nuclear watchdog chief to travel to Iran on
Saturday: Spokesman
--------
South
Asia
• Taliban Intelligence Trying To Control Afghan Media,
Says Watchdog
• Doha Hosts Discussion on Afghanistan’s Humanitarian
Situation
• Mullah Baradar assures investors of security in
Afghanistan
--------
Africa
• Israel to Turn Jordan Valley Nature Reserve into
Settlement, Says Official
• Muslim World League Hosts Tanzania Forum for the
Service of Revelations
• Libya crisis worsens with rival government preparing
to take oath
• UN voices concern over Libya parliament vote on new
Prime Minister
• Burkina Faso’s junta leader names economist as prime
minister
--------
North
America
• To Spare Afghanistan, World Must Engage with
Taliban, Head of UNAMA Tells Security Council
• US congressman apologises for affair with ex-wife of
Islamic State leader
• Biden extends national emergency against Iran amid
‘final stages’ of Vienna talks
• US forces transfer Daesh terrorists from Syria’s
Hasakah to Iraq
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Eyes on Lithium, China Talks to Taliban While
World's Focus Is On Ukraine Crisis
• Indonesia Islamic International University to
Augment Nation's Status as Islamic Civilization Epicentre: KSP
• Islamic Affairs Minister: Discussions Will Be Held
With Health Ministry on SOP Relaxation For Tarawih Prayers
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/transgender-law-pakistan-shariat/d/126505
--------
Transgender Law Does Not Violate the Injunctions of
Islam or Encourage Gay Rights in Pakistan, Federal Shariat Court Told
Photo: ParhLo.com
-----
Nasir Iqbal
March 4, 2022
ISLAMABAD: The Transgender Persons (Protection of
Right) Act 2018 does not violate the injunctions of Islam or encourage gay
rights in Pakistan, a transgender representative pleaded before the Federal Shariat
Court on Thursday.
In a reply moved through her counsel Asad Jamal,
lecturer and transgender representative Aisha Mughal contended that the claims
of the petitioners were frivolous and malicious. [This is] an obvious attempt
to abuse the constitutional jurisdiction of the court and an attempt to make
the law controversial, Ms Mughal maintained in her reply.
Headed by Chief Justice Muhammad Noor Meskanzai, the
FSC had taken up a Shariat petition moved by Hammad Hussain and Muhammad Irfan
Khan challenging the act for being against Islam. The FSC assumed its
jurisdiction in exercise of power under Article 203-D of the Constitution.
Keeping in view the importance of the law, the FSC had
at the last hearing on Oct 27, 2021 passed an order that any person, whosoever
intends to become a party in the case, may implead in the matter.
Trans representative calls petition ‘frivolous’ and
based on ‘personal fears’
The court had also allowed TV anchor Orya Maqbool Jan,
Bubbly Malik and Ms Mughal to become parties in these petitions by arraying
them as petitioners in the Shariat petition.
On Thursday, the FSC rejected a reply furnished on
behalf of the Ministry of Human Rights and directed the DG Human Rights to
appear before the court on Friday to state the ministry’s stance in clear
terms. The court observed that in case the court was not satisfied, it may even
summon the minister or secretary concerned.
In his petition, Mr Hussain had pleaded before the FSC
that the act was providing legal recognition to gay and lesbian rights in the
name of transgender rights. The petition maintained that the legislature
intentionally or unintentionally committed blunders, since the definition of
transgender person was not limited to real transgenders but also included lesbians
and gays.
The petitioner had pleaded before the FSC to declare
sections 2(n) and 3(1) of the law as repugnant to the injunctions of Islam.
In response to the petition, Ms Mughal denied that the
law under challenge — especially Sections 2(n) and 3(1) of the 2018 act — was
somehow designed to provide legal cover to the registration of same sex
marriages.
Referring to Mr Hussain’s petition, Ms Mughal’s reply
contended that the petitioner had challenged a duly passed law by parliament
merely on the basis of his personal fears and apprehensions rather than on the
basis of recognised directly relevant injunctions of Islam.
Source: Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
45 Killed, Over 65 Injured In Mosque Blast during Friday
Congregation Inside A Shiite Muslim Mosque in Northwest Pakistan
A general view of the
prayer hall after a bomb blast inside a mosque during Friday prayers in
Peshawar, Pakistan, (REUTERS)
-----
Mar 4, 2022
PESHAWAR: A powerful bomb exploded inside a Shiite
Muslim mosque in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar on Friday, killing at
least 45 worshippers and wounding some 65 others, many of them critically,
police said.
Peshawar Police Chief Muhammed Ejaz Khan said the
violence started when two armed attackers opened fire on police outside the
mosque in Peshawar's old city. One attacker and one policeman were killed in
the gunfight, and another police official was wounded. The remaining attacker
then ran inside the mosque and detonated a bomb.
Local police official Waheed Khan said the explosion
occurred as worshippers had gathered in the Kucha Risaldar mosque for Friday
prayers. The death toll will likely rise as many of the wounded are in critical
condition, he added.
Ambulances rushed through congested narrow streets
carrying the wounded to Lady Reading Hospital, where doctors worked feverishly.
At least 150 worshippers were inside the mosque at the time of the explosion,
witnesses said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the
blast, but both the Islamic State group and a violent Pakistani Taliban
organization have carried out similar attacks in the region, located near the border
with neighboring Afghanistan.
Shayan Haider, a witness, had been preparing to enter
the mosque when a powerful explosion threw him to the street.
``I opened my eyes and there was dust and bodies
everywhere,'' he said.
At the Lady Reading Hospital Emergency department,
there was chaos as doctors struggled to move the many wounded into operating
theaters. Hundreds of relatives gathered outside the emergency department, many
of them wailing and beating their chests, pleading for information about their loved
ones.
Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the bombing.
Retired army officer Sher Ali who had been inside the
mosque at the time of the explosion was injured by flying shrapnel. He made a
impassioned plea to the Pakistani government for better protection of the
country's minority Shiite Muslims.
``What is our sin? What have we done? Aren't we
citizens of this country?'' he said from within the emergency department, his
white clothes splattered with blood.
In majority Sunni Muslim Pakistan, minority Shiite
Muslims have come under repeated attacks.
In recent months Pakistan has experienced a broad
increase of violence. Dozens of military personnel have been killed in scores
of attacks on army outposts along the border with Afghanistan. Much has been
claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, which analysts say have been emboldened by
the Afghan Taliban's return to power last August.
Pakistan has urged Afghanistan's new rulers to
handover Pakistani Taliban insurgents who have been staging their attacks from
Afghanistan. Afghanistan's Taliban say their territory will not be used to
stage attacks against anyone, but until now they have not handed over any
Pakistani insurgents.
Source: Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Genocide of Muslims Has Already Started In India:
Experts, Civil Society Leaders and Officials from International Organisations
at a Global Summit
VHP workers at the dharma
sabha at Ayodhya in November, 2018. Photo: Reuters
-----
The Wire Staff
02/MAR/2022
New Delhi: At a three-day global summit held
virtually, experts working on hate speech and genocide concluded that since
genocide is a process and not a one-time event, it can be stated that the
genocide against Muslims in India has begun.
Experts, civil society leaders and officials from
international organisations came together for the ‘India on the Brink:
Preventing Genocide’ summit between February 26 and 28.
“We have had direct calls [for genocide] in India
recently,” said Greg Gordon, a former attorney with the International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda, at the . “Conditional calls – ‘If they do this, we will do
that’ – are also incitements.”
Maung Zarni, a researcher at the Genocide
Documentation Center in Cambodia, said, “I believe that India is not only on
the Brink but is already in the process of an unfolding genocide. …The killers
portray vulnerable populations as a security threat to their religion. When
this dehumanisation begins, the country is already deep in the genocidal
process even though the killings may not have started.”
Human rights attorney Meetali Jain brought up the
extent of hate speech and misinformation in India “of a genocidal character,
very much akin” to what has been seen in Myanmar and Ethiopia. “We advocate for
a nuanced understanding of hate speech that takes into account the kind of
speech that may not technically qualify as hate speech but still gives people
the feeling of wanting to do harm offline,” Jain said. “We need much more
experts on staff in social media companies who understand the nuances.”
Also read: Teenage Bajrang Dal Worker in Karnataka
Calls for Genocide of ‘Those Who Want Hijab’
Adama Dieng, special advisor to the prosecutor at the
International Criminal Court, said, according to a press release issued by the
summit’s organisers, that though India had a long and cherished history of
peaceful coexistence, intolerance and discrimination on the grounds of religion
and belief had increased.
Two Indian journalists speaking at the event – Alishan
Jafri and Kaushik Raj – talked about how anti-Muslim violence had only been
rising ever since Narendra Modi government came to power. What’s more, members
of the ruling party and ministers at the state and Central level have issued
and supported such calls for genocide, without facing action.
Christopher Tuckwood, the executive director of the
Sentinel Project, a Canadian nonprofit, expanded on what the two said by adding
that preventing genocide in India would be difficult, as the state was both the
perpetrator and an active protector of other perpetrators.
Jason Stanley, a professor of philosophy at Yale
University and the author of How Fascism Works, compared what is happening in
India now to Nazi Germany. “The early thinkers of the RSS made explicit
suggestions that India should follow the Nazi’s model,” he said. “The CAA looks
frighteningly like the Nuremberg laws. There is a movement to strip from
Muslims the right to have rights. The map is extremely clear.”
Open calls for genocide in India have become less and
less rare of late. Most recently, a teenage Bajrang Dal member in Karnataka
said all those who propagate the hijab will be “cut with Shivaji’s sword”.
Before that, at the Haridwar ‘Dharma Sansad’, multiple Hindu right leaders had
called on supporters to kill Muslims.
Source: The Wire
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
‘I Don’t Care’ What Biden Thinks of Me: Saudi Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Saudi Crown Prince
Mohammed Bin Salman
-----
03 March, 2022
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said
in an interview published Thursday that he does “not care” what US President
Joe Biden thinks of him, but stressed that it was Riyadh’s aim to maintain
strong ties with Washington.
“We have a long, historic relationship with the US.
For us in Saudi Arabia, our aim is to keep it and to strengthen it,” the Crown
Prince told American magazine, The Atlantic.
Ties soured between the two countries after Biden
targeted Saudi Arabia in his first foreign policy moves. The US president ended
support for “offensive” operations in Yemen, removed the Iran-backed Houthis
from the terror blacklist, froze arms sales to Riyadh and the UAE, and vowed to
“recalibrate” ties with Saudi Arabia.
Biden has since said he was reconsidering designating
the Houthis following their near-daily attacks on Saudi Arabia and recent drone
attacks on Abu Dhabi. The group also continues to refuse to negotiate a
political solution to the yearslong war in Yemen, which involves the Arab
coalition led by Saudi Arabia.
Mohammed bin Salman noted political, economic,
security, defense, and trade interests between the two countries. “And we have
a huge opportunity to boost all of these things.”
But he said there was a “big possibility” of these
ties being “downgraded.”
“If you ask Saudi Arabia, we want to boost it in all
areas,” he added.
The crown prince was asked about damaged relations
between Saudi Arabia and the US following the murder of journalist Jamal
Khashoggi and its impact on the US president’s opinion of him.
“Simply, I don’t care. It’s up to him to think about
the interests of America,” he said in the interview.
Asked what interests the US had in Saudi Arabia, the
crown prince said he was not an American, so it is not his position to speak of
American interests.
Mohammed bin Salman pointed to Saudi’s economic growth
and Vision 2030.
“Where is the potential in the world today? It’s in
Saudi Arabia. And if you want to miss it. I believe other people in the East
are going to be super happy to see,” he said.
Fast-growing country
The crown prince said Saudi Arabia was one of the
fastest-growing countries in the world, with two of the 10 biggest global funds
and one of the largest global cash reserves.
“The total Saudi investment in America is $800
billion. In China, to date, we’ve invested less than $100 billion,” he said.
“The American companies have a huge concentration in
Saudi Arabia. We have more than 300,000 Americans in Saudi Arabia, some of them
Saudi-American, living in Saudi Arabia, and it’s growing every day. So, the
interest is obvious. Whether you want to win in Saudi Arabia or lose it in
Saudi Arabia, is up to you.”
US influence in Saudi domestic affairs
The crown prince was asked about US influence in
internal Saudi affairs and how the US judges its allies by pursuing policies
similar to American interests or ideologies.
“Actually, if you try to pressure us on something that
we believe in already, you just make it harder for us to implement it,” he
said.
“For example, in Saudi Arabia, is social development
going backward or forward? Just see what’s happened five years, see what’s
happening today, and see what’s going to happen next year," he said,
suggesting a chat with any locals or a visit to Saudi Arabia.
Nevertheless, he said socially, the two countries
would never be in complete tandem.
“We will not reach 100 percent because we have some
beliefs that we respect in Saudi Arabia. It’s not me. It’s the Saudi people,
and it is my duty to respect and to fight for the Saudi beliefs and for my
belief as a Saudi citizen among them.”
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
UN Vote: Muslim Countries Divided Over Russia’s
Invasion of Ukraine
United Nations General
Assembly. Editorial credit: Drop of Light / Shutterstock.com
------
04 March, 2022
Muslim countries seem to be split over Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine, according to a vote yesterday at the United Nations
General Assembly.
In a resolution demanding that Russia immediately end
its military operations in Ukraine, 29 Muslim nations voted for, one Muslim
country voted against, and 19 abstained or did not vote at all.
The Muslim countries that voted in favour were:
Afghanistan, Albania, Bahrain, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brunei, Chad, Comoros, Cote
D’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Gambia, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya,
Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
Somalia, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arabs Emirates and Yemen.
Syria, which has invited Russian troops into the
nation to fight rebels, voted against.
And 18 Muslim countries abstained or did not vote –
Algeria, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mali, Pakistan,
Senegal, Sudan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Morocco,
Togo, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
In the end the resolution easily carried with a total
of 141 countries voting in favour, thus reaffirming Ukrainian sovereignty,
independence and territorial integrity.
Assembly President Abdulla Shahid struggled to read
the results of the vote as ambassadors began applauding, and then stood up, as
he started speaking.
Speaking afterwards to reporters, Mr. Shahid said the
resolution reflected the international community’s grave concerns about the
situation in Ukraine.
“I join member states in expressing concern about
reports of attacks on civilian facilities such as residences, schools and
hospitals, and of civilian casualties, including women, older persons, persons
with disabilities, and children,” he said.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who also
addressed reporters, stated he was duty bound to stand by the resolution and be
guided by its call.
“The message of the General Assembly is loud and
clear: End hostilities in Ukraine now.
Silence the guns now. Open the door to dialogue and diplomacy now.”
The UN chief stressed the need to act quickly as the
situation in Ukraine threatens to get much worse, adding “the ticking clock is
a time bomb.”
“Looking ahead, I will continue to do everything in my
power to contribute to an immediate cessation of hostilities and urgent
negotiations for peace,” Mr. Guterres told journalists. “People in Ukraine
desperately need peace. And people around the world demand it.”
Source: 5pillarsuk
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://5pillarsuk.com/2022/03/03/un-vote-muslim-countries-divided-over-ukraine-invasion/
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Kazan Claims To Have First Printed Quran In Muslim World
The Institute of History
named after Shihabutdin Marjani of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of
Tatarstan held a panel discussion “Kazan editions of the Koran: history and
research” on the first day of March.
------
March 3, 2022
The Institute of History named after Shihabutdin
Marjani of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan held a panel
discussion “Kazan editions of the Koran: history and research” on the first day
of March.
The event was participated by historians, Islamic
scholars and journalists. Mufti of Tatarstan Kamil-hazrat Samigullin, his deputy
for education, Russian Islamic Institute and Kazan Islamic University rector
Rafik Mukhametshin, Honored Architect of the Republic of Tatarstan, independent
researcher Sergey Sanachin, as well as Kazan and Dagestan scientists.
As is known, at the last plenary meeting of the
Russia-Islamic World Strategic Vision Group in Jeddah, the President of
Tatarstan and the head of the Group, Rustam Minnikhanov, made a proposal to
designate 1803 as a memorable date for the publication of the first printed
Koran and proclaim Kazan “The city of the first printed Koran in the Muslim
world.”
Yesterday’s panel discussion was the first step to the
implementation of that initiative. During the discussion, questions were raised
regarding the history of the publication of the Koran in Russia and abroad, the
first Kazan editions of the Koran, the activities of the Asian (Gymnasium)
printing house, the Kazan printed editions of the Koran in the Muslim world,
the memorialization of the activities of the Asian printing house in publishing
the Koran and, in general, book publishing among the Tatars in Arabic.
In his speech, Mufti of Tatarstan Kamil-hazrat
Samigullin cited as an example the work “Printing Mushafs in the City of
Kazan”, in which the author Ganim Kadduri Hamd emphasizes that the Kazan
edition of the Koran of 1803 is the first edition that was printed in the
Muslim world and met the standard “Ar -Rasm al-Usmani. Mufti, in support of
these words, conducted a comparative analysis of the Kazan and St. Petersburg
editions of the Koran.
“Kazan old printed Korans are very popular in
Dagestan, they have become “folk Korans”. As archaeological expeditions show,
they are available not only to wealthy people, but to ordinary Dagestanis as
well,” noted Milena Osmanova, Candidate of Historical Sciences, senior
researcher at the Institute of History of the Dagestan Federal Research Center
of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ABNA24
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://en.abna24.com/news//kazan-claims-to-have-first-printed-quran-in-muslim-world_1235329.html
--------
Pakistan
Govt blocks all avenues leading towards misuse of
blasphemy law: Ashrafi
MARCH 3, 2022
ISLAMABAD:Special Representative for Interfaith
Harmony and Middle East and Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman Hafiz Tahir Mehmood
Ashrafi Thursday said the incumbent government had blocked all the avenues
leading towards misuse of blasphemy law in Pakistan. Addressing an event
organized by All Pakistani Minorities’ Alliance to pay tributes to former
minorities’ rights minister Shahbaz Bhatti on his 11th death anniversary here
at a local hotel, he urged the Christian community to boost the confidence of
their people realizing that they were equal citizens of the state.
The Constitution of Pakistan had provided the same
rights to minorities as enjoyed by the majority population of the country, he
added. He, brushing aside the negative propaganda regarding the citizenship of
minorities, categorically said there was no second class citizen in Pakistan.
This was a wrong perception that if someone hailing from a minority community
would be treated as half a Pakistani, he added.
He further said neither there was ‘forced conversion’
nor ‘forced marriage’ in Islam. The
people who were allegedly involved in such filthy practices, it was their
personal acts and it could not be associated with the religion of Islam. He
said if someone felt that the blasphemy law was being misused, he should
immediately report to the government apparatus in a bid to handle it
accordingly.
He informed that during the period of 14 months, he
had resolved 137 cases of unacceptable behavior and Muttahida Ulema Board
Punjab had given relief to the people in 113 cases out of total 117. He urged
the chief justice of Pakistan to direct lower and superior courts to expedite
the judicial process particularly in blasphemy cases and penalize all those who
were the real culprits and release the innocent ones.
He lamented that recently an accused of blasphemy was
released by the court in Lahore after the passage of 14 years, now who would
return him the golden period of his life, he spent as jailbird, he questioned.
He also appreciated the judiciary to announce a historic decision in the Noor
Mukadam case in a short span of time.
Seeking Christian community’s support to overcome the
issues of unacceptable behavior, he assured that he would not let anyone to
misuse blasphemy law anymore in the country. He said the legacy of Shahbaz
Bhatti being carried out by his brother Dr Paul Bhatti was about love, peace,
interfaith harmony and strong and established Pakistan and this was the noble
cause of every Pakistani. Ashrafi said this was our joint responsibility to
take the country to new heights of development and prosperity.
Source: Daily Times Pakistan
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Ahmadiyya sect remains most vulnerable in Pakistan,
find no peace even in death: Report
3 March, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], March 3 (ANI): The Ahmadiyya
Muslims in Pakistan are not only treated like pariahs in their life but also
desecrated, dug up and humiliated after their death.
The recent incident of Punjab Police destroying about
50 tombstones in an Ahmadiyya cemetery has once again brought to light the
deep-rooted disdain for minority communities in the state of Pakistan, reported
Islam Khabar.
The reason for destroying and damaging the cemetery
was the use of Quranic verses on some of them. Some local Sunnis had complained
to the police about the same, which according to Pakistani law, was a criminal
offence.
Although leading human rights groups in Pakistan have
condemned the act, the state has chosen to remain silent and complicit,
reported Islam Khabar.
Numbering close to four million, Ahmadiyya has been
deprived in Pakistan, over a year, about 150 graves of Ahmadiyya have been
desecrated in Pakistan. Most of these desecrations are caused by local
administrations who argue that Ahmadiyyas were at fault for using Islamic
symbols.
The graves were desecrated in the Hafizabad district
of Punjab on February 4 and 5, 2022. This is not the first time Ahmadiyya
graves have been desecrated.
Earlier, (June 6, 2021) when a grave for a deceased
Ahmadiyya woman was being dug up in Sheikhupura district, Punjab, a mob of
local Sunni Muslims tried to prevent the burial, reported Islam Khabar.
Pakistani Constitution forbids the Ahmadiyya community
from using Islamic signs and symbols. While there is hardly any official record
of such desecrations, details maintained by the Ahmadiyya community show 39
Ahmadiyya corpses getting exhumed and 69 burials denied from 1984 to 2018.
Source: The Print
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Fully confident no-confidence motion against Imran
Khan govt. will win: Opposition
March 03, 2022
Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Chief Maulana
Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday claimed that at least 180 members of the National
Assembly (MNAs) are ready to support the no-confidence motion against the Imran
Khan government, reported news agency ANI. Speaking to journalists in Islamabad
on Wednesday, Fazlur Rehman said he was 100 per cent certain a no-confidence
motion against the government would win.
Earlier, an alliance of Pakistani opposition parties
on Saturday vowed to step up protests against Prime Minister Imran Khan's
government.
The Pakistan Democratic Movement was formed in
September last year and includes Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's Pakistan People's
Party (PPP) and Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N). The
alliance was a result of resentment among opposition parties that the elections
of 2018—which brought Imran to power—were rigged.
At a rally in Karachi on Saturday, PDM chief Maulana
Fazlur Rehman said the Imran Khan government was a threat to Pakistan's
sovereignty and warned the country was staring at “imminent economic collapse
and international isolation”, Dawn reported. Rehman is head of the Jamiat
Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl), an Islamist outfit.
At the rally, the PDM reiterated that “immediate and
fair general elections” were the only solution to the woes plaguing the
country. Rehman lashed out at the government for its perceived failure to curb
inflation.
Source: The Week
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
PDM, PPP make some headway on snap polls
Zulqernain Tahir | Amir Wasim
March 4, 2022
LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: The nine-party opposition alliance,
the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), and Pakistan Peoples Party appear to
have made some headway on reaching a consensus over snap polls in case they
manage to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan through a no-confidence move.
Meanwhile, after his meeting with PPP co-chairman Asif
Ali Zardari, PDM president Maulana Fazlur Rehman claimed that the draft of the
no-trust move had been prepared and the final date for tabling it would be
announced in the next couple of days.
Some senior PML-N leaders Dawn spoke to on Thursday
confirmed the opposition parties had almost reached a consensus on fresh polls
in the wake of a success of the no-trust move. PPP chairman Bilawal
Bhutto-Zardari also hinted at agreeing to the snap polls following certain
electoral reforms, they said.
Snap polls have been a major sticking point between
the PML-N and PPP in the opposition’s efforts to table a no-confidence motion
against PM Khan.
After meeting Zardari, Fazl says no-confidence motion
draft prepared, date for tabling to be announced in couple of days
“Mr Zardari now seems willing on snap polls. Other
issues like (who will be) the prime minister during the interim three to six
months before the fresh elections and dissolution of provincial assemblies are
still being discussed,” a PML-N leader said, adding that although Mr Zardari
had asked PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif to make his brother Shehbaz the
interim premier, after the PPP conceded to the PML-N’s major demand the slot
might go to Peoples Party.
Senate Opposition Leader Yousuf Raza Gilani from the
PPP told Dawn: “The top party leadership is in talks with other opposition
parties to finalise the issue [of snap polls]. They will meet again very soon.”
A PDM insider said the Nawaz camp was very much clear
about its stance and not ready to budge. “The Shehbaz group however seems
flexible, pressing only to send the PTI government home,” he said.
After meeting Mr Zardari, the Maulana said PML-N
president Shehbaz Sharif had also joined them over the phone, adding there was a
possibility that some allies of the ruling PTI might support their move in
parliament.
Bilawal wants PML-Q to be appeased further
On the other hand, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari
was of the view that the opposition should make a much more lucrative offer to
the PML-Q to gain its support.
Talking to a news channel on Thursday, Mr
Bhutto-Zardari said the PML-Q would not side with the opposition for free.
“Khan sahib has given the PML-Q speakership (in Punjab). We should come up with
an offer for a more important office,” he said.
A PPP leader told Dawn that his party leadership had
asked Nawaz Sharif to present a better package to the Chaudhrys but since the
elder Sharif was pressing the PPP for snap polls, the chief minister’s seat for
just three months was insignificant for the government’s ally.
Federal Water Resources Minister Moonis Elahi of PML-Q
also met the prime minister at the PM House on Thursday.
Source: Dawn
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of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1678174/pdm-ppp-make-some-headway-on-snap-polls
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Pakistan likely to remain on FATF grey list until June
Khaleeq Kiani
March 4, 2022
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is likely to remain on the
so-called grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for another four
months — i.e. until June — for a couple of unmet targets under the additional
criteria.
The concluding session of the plenary meeting of the
FATF, a Paris-based global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog,
is due on Friday (today) and includes Pakistan’s review on the agenda.
Pakistan is now targeting the full completion of the
2021 action plan on anti-money laundering and combating terror financing
(AML/CFT) by the end of January 2023.
Pakistan has been on the grey list for deficiencies in
its counter-terror financing and anti-money laundering regimes since June 2018.
In October 2021, the FATF acknowledged Pakistan’s
progress on a 27-point action plan on completion of 26 items but retained the
country on its “increased monitoring list” to exhibit terror financing
investigations against and prosecutions of top cadres of UN-designated terror
groups.
At the time, FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer said
Pakistan had to complete two concurrent action plans with a total of 34 items.
“It has now addressed or largely addressed 30 of the items,” he said.
The most recent action plan of 2021 on money
laundering from FATF’s regional affiliate — the Asia Pacific Group (APG) —
largely focused on money laundering and had found serious deficiencies. In this
new action plan, four out of the seven items now stood addressed or largely
addressed.
In October, FATF encouraged Pakistan to continue to
make progress in addressing the one remaining CFT-related item as soon as
possible by continuing to demonstrate that terror financing investigations and
prosecutions target senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated terrorist
groups.
In response to additional deficiencies later
identified in Pakistan’s 2019 APG Mutual Evaluation Report in June 2021,
Pakistan provided further high-level commitment to address these strategic
deficiencies pursuant to a new action plan that primarily focuses on combating
money laundering.
The FATF had asked Pakistan to “continue to work to
address its other strategically important AML/CFT deficiencies, namely by: (1)
providing evidence that it actively seeks to enhance the impact of sanctions
beyond its jurisdiction by nominating additional individuals and entities for
designation at the UN; and (2) demonstrating an increase in ML [money
laundering] investigations and prosecutions and that proceeds of crime continue
to be restrained and confiscated in line with Pakistan’s risk profile,
including working with foreign counterparts to trace, freeze, and confiscate
assets”.
The completion of APG’s action plan for the
effectiveness of AML/CFT is also a structural benchmark of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) for end-March.
Recently, the IMF asked Pakistan to complete the last
remaining item in the 2018 AML/CFT action plan on the effectiveness of terror
financing investigations and prosecutions of senior leaders of UN-designated
terrorist groups, and promptly address the deficiencies identified in
Pakistan’s Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering Mutual Evaluation Report
under the 2021 AML/CFT action plan.
The government has given a commitment to the IMF to
review the implementation of AML/CFT controls by financial institutions by the
end of June with respect to the tax amnesty programme for the construction
sector and promised to “meet the timelines for the implementation of APG’s 2021
action plan, including on the mutual legal assistance framework, AML/CFT
supervision, transparency of beneficial ownership information, and compliance
with targeted financial sanctions for proliferation financing”.
The government has also committed that with respect to
the construction sector’s tax amnesty scheme, the State Bank of Pakistan, by
the end of June, will conduct a thematic inspection of banks’ compliance with
AML/CFT obligations (such as customer due diligence, recordkeeping, and
suspicious transaction reporting) on funds received under the programme through
the designated bank accounts (including a random sampling of beneficiaries).
Source: Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1678171/pakistan-likely-to-remain-on-fatf-grey-list-until-june
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Pledge reaffirmed to implement Indus Waters Treaty in
its true spirit
Khaleeq Kiani
March 4, 2022
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India on Thursday reiterated
their commitment to implement the Indus Waters Treaty in its true spirit and
expressed the hope that the next meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission of
the two nations would be held at an early date in India.
On the conclusion of the 117th meeting of the
Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said the whole gamut of
water-related issues between Pakistan and India were discussed.
“Pakistan reiterated its observations on the Kiru
Hydroelectric project (HEP) located upstream river Chenab and India’s new
run-of-the-river small HEPs on Western rivers,” said a statement issued by
MOFA.
It said the response to Pakistan’s objections to
Indian projects, including Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai, was also sought and the
Indian side was also urged to communicate advance flood-flow information as per
the provisions of the Treaty and the practice in vogue since 1989 until 2018.
Under the relevant provisions of the Indus Waters
Treaty (IWT), 1960, the meeting takes place alternatively in Pakistan and India
annually. The Indian delegation comprising 10 members was headed by Indian
Commissioner for Indus Waters Pradeep Kumar Saxena, while Pakistan’s
delegation was led by the country’s Commissioner for Indus Waters, Syed
Mohammad Mehar Ali Shah.
Informed sources said that Islamabad conveyed to the
visiting side on the issue of 1,000MW Pakal Dal Hydropower project on the
Chenab River that the Pakistan Commissioner Indus Water (PCIW) had decided to
invoke Article 9 of the treaty that provides for resolution of differences and
disputes through various international forums of arbitration.
The Indian side was of the view that it was too early
to invoke Article 9 of the treaty, saying that discussions on the project at
the commissioner level had not reached a stage where it could be taken to the
international forum. It said it had attempted to address Islamabad’s concerns
and was ready to do more to satisfy Pakistan.
Pakistan has serious objections over spillway and
freeboard of the project. The hosts demanded that a visit to the site should be
arranged in the early part of May and hold another annual meeting on the issue
so that its discussions could be made part of the annual report and minutes of
the PCIW.
On the matter of Lower Kalnai, the Indian side
reported that 2014 floods had damaged the project and development works could
not be resumed since then nor there was any likelihood of any immediate
resumption of works and hence should been seen in that context.
The Pakistani side required the visitors to provide
advance information about the resumption of works as required under the treaty
and arrange a site visit for Pakistani experts. The Indian delegation agreed to
this demand.
Source: Dawn
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PM urges transformation of youth along moral lines
March 04, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday called for
character-building of the younger generation, stressing that transformation
towards morality and ethics would help the nation emerge as a strong entity in
the world.
Addressing a ceremony in connection with the Rehmatul
Lil Alameen Authority, which became fully functional on Thursday, the prime
minister said following in the footsteps of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon
Him) was the best way to ensure human rights and socio-welfare norms.
Emphasising the importance of character-building of
the younger generation, the prime minister told the ceremony that a morally
strong society never allowed the powerful and elite to plunder the public money
through corruption.
“The last sermon of the Prophet (PBUH) was the Charter
of Human Rights that focused on the rights and responsibility towards each
other,” he said. He hoped that the Rehmatul Lil Alameen Authority would promote
research on Seeratun Nabi to prevent misconceptions about Islam from spreading.
The Rehmatul Lil Alameen Authority was set up last
year under Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision in line with Islam’s first
socio-welfare State of Medina. Another objective of the authority was to
provide global awareness on Islamophobia and to take practical steps in this
regard.
“One of the main reasons for establishing the Rehmatul
Lil Alameen Authority was to guide the young generation towards the glowing
teachings of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) for real success in this
world and hereafter,” the prime minister told the ceremony.
“The Rehmatul Lil Alameen Authority has been made
functional and the scholars will play their roles in educating the society
about the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). He expressed confidence that
the scholars of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) and the Islamic
International University would immensely contribute to the authority with their
positive intellectual input.
The prime minister emphasised that corruption led to
the downfall of a nation but regretted that the society had accepted the
corrupt practices and failed to distinguish between right and wrong.
Source: Tribune Pakistan
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https://tribune.com.pk/story/2346321/pm-urges-transformation-of-youth-along-moral-lines
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India
Uttarakhand: Muslim Man Denied Permission To Offer
Gangajal On Shivaratri
Mar 3, 2022
HARIDWAR: A 40-year-old Muslim man from Haridwar, who
works as a driver, was denied permission to offer Gangajal at a local Shiva
temple on the occasion of Mahashivaratri on Tuesday. Sarafraz Ansari said he
sought to “promote religious harmony” but authorities said they didn’t find
Ansari’s application "credible" and were forced to stop him to
“maintain law and order”.
Ansari said he wasn’t allowed to explain himself
before being turned down. “Police simply called me in and without asking
anything detained me. They called two other people from my village and it was
only after the three of us submitted written assurance that we wouldn’t offer
Gangajal at the temple that we were allowed to leave,” he said. Ansari said he
is a member of Samajik Sena, a local social organisation run by a seer of the
Juna akhada.
Source: Times Of India
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India Ranked 'Partly Free' For the Second Consecutive
Year in Freedom House, a US-Based NGO, Report
Mar 3, 2022
NEW DELHI: For the second consecutive year, India has
been termed 'partly free' in terms of democracy and free society, according to
the annual report of Freedom House, a US-based NGO that 'assesses political
rights and civil liberties'.
India scored 66 out of 100 this year. It had scored 67
in 2021; and 71 in 2020, which is classified as 'free'.
While India is a multiparty democracy, the government
led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has
presided over discriminatory policies and a rise in persecution affecting the
Muslim population, said the report titled “Freedom in the World 2022 – The
Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule".
The constitution guarantees civil liberties including
freedom of expression and freedom of religion, but harassment of journalists,
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and other government critics has
increased significantly under PM Modi. Muslims, scheduled castes (Dalits), and
scheduled tribes (Adivasis) remain economically and socially marginalized, it
further noted.
* In February, the government introduced new rules
that made it easier for authorities to compel social media platforms to remove
unlawful content. Among other removals during the year, Twitter was ordered to
take down posts that criticised the government’s handling of the Covid-19
pandemic.
* Several states governed by the BJP passed or
proposed “love jihad” laws meant to curb the alleged practice of Muslim men
marrying Hindu women in order to convert them to Islam. The legislation
effectively created obstacles to interreligious marriage and came in the
context of escalating threats and violence against the Muslim community, said
the report.
* A media investigation found in July that Pegasus
spyware had been detected on smartphones belonging to dozens of leading
opposition politicians, activists, businesspeople, and journalists.
Source: Times Of India
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Karnataka: Muslims face communal violence, assault by
cops in Gulbarga
4th March 2022
Hyderabad: Sameer, and a group of other Muslim men
stood outside the Hazrat Ladle Mashaikh Ansari Shareef dargah in Aland Taluk of
Gulbarga district in Karnataka on March 1. The aim of the collective, as Sameer
points out, was to prevent castist BJP/RSS leaders from invading and
dehumanising the Dargah on the day of Shivaratri.
However, what followed was a violent assault on the
group carried out by baton-holding policemen, who reportedly attacked and
humiliated the group.
In an attempt to chronicle the events, Siasat.com
spoke to the members of a family who are still recovering from the assault
which took place over the preceding two days in Karnataka’s Gulbarga district.
“Main abhi ghar nai jaa sakta, madam. Police utha legi
mujhe,” (I cannot go home now madam. Police will take me away.) 24-year-old
Sameer told Siasat.com. He spent last night hiding in his farm. For sustenance,
he has been living-off whatever food kind acquaintances have been offering.
How it all began
The tussle between the Dargah protectors and BJP
leaders is in tune with the latter’s larger game plan: To claim that there is a
Hindu deity in Muslim places of worship. In this particular case, it is being
claimed that that there exists a shivalinga in the Dargah premises.
The violence began on February 1, after the head of
the Karuneshwar Mutt, Siddalinga Swami, issued an ’Aland chalo’ call, in an
attempt to ‘purify’ the shivalinga.
“Ye log, Bidar ke MP, BJP leader Bhagwanth Khuba ke
sunte hain, (These rabble-rousers obey Bidar MP Bhagwanth Khuba)”, said Sameer.
He further stated that local MLAs are in cahoots with Khuba with the sole aim
of usurping power of the Dargah.
History of the dargah:
The dargah that is currently facing a dispute, is a
protected monument under the state’s department of Archaeology Museums and
Heritage.
The government-approved document suggests that the
shrine and the Black Mosque which was built by Ali Farhad (the brother of Afzal
Khan, a general of the Adil Shahi dynasty) stands a few meters from the shrine.
Both the constructions are state-protected monuments.
The historic town of Aland in Kalaburagi is well known
for the 14th-century dargah of the great Sufi-saint Hazrat Shaikh Alauddin
Ansari, better known as Ladle Mashaikh, and also that of Bande Nawaz Gesudaraz.
Aftermath of the tussle:
A curfew under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure
Code (CrPC) was imposed in Aland following the scuffle. However police forces
entered the Muslim majority areas of Aland in the early hours of March 2 and
allegedly indulged in vandalism. Further, they also reportedly arrested
numerous individuals including women.
Sameer’s sister, 26-year-old Ameena* is still in
custody. Before the Fajr (Morning namaz prayer), a group of policemen
forcefully entered Sameer’s residence and took his sister away.
Speaking to this reporter, Sameer’s mausi (maternal
aunt), who is also the arrested woman’s mother-in-law, said that they beat her
bahu with footwear.
“Aise maare jaisi ki woh bachhi koi gunegarh ho,”
(They beat her like she was a criminal of some kind.) adds Farzana* lamenting
over the plight of her daughter-in-law. If Farzana and Sameer’s accounts are to
go by, there was no female police present during the said arrest.
Ameena was beaten on all parts of her body. As Farzana
remarks, the police made sure no part of her body was spared. When Ameena tried
to don her niqab before she was taken away, the police, full of contempt,
taunted her. “Burqa pehnege tu? (Oh you will wear a burqa is it?)”, they
reportedly asked sneeringly.
Ameena’s three-year-old daughter was a witness to the
entire incident and burst into tears. Ameena’s sister-in-law Fatima*, further
added to the account stating that Ameena’s dupatta was stripped off her body
and the police used it to tie Ameena’s hands behind her back.
“Hum toh Dargah ke bahar gaye bhi nahi the madam. Hum
ladies log ghar pe the bacchon ke saath,” (We did not even protest at the
Dargah on March 1st. All us women, were at home, with the children) said a
rather distraught Fatima.
Police claims stone-pelting:
When contacted, the PSI of Aland taluk, Mahantesh G
Patil remarked, “All Muslims were involved in stone-pelting in which cops were
injured and hence they had to be arrested.” He further said that there were
over 500 women and 2000 men involved in the pelting of stones.
“March 1st se pehle ye nahi hua tha,” (Such things
never happened before March 1st. ) says Sameer. He claims that even when two
people died as a result of the violence, their funeral rites were hindered by
the right-wing.
Source: Siasat Daily
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.siasat.com/karnataka-muslims-face-communal-violence-assault-by-cops-in-gulbarga-2284677/
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Pakistan court asks India to appoint lawyer for
Kulbhushan Jadhav by April 13
Mar 3, 2022
ISLAMABAD: A high court here on Thursday asked India
to appoint a lawyer for death-row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav by April 13 to
argue his case for a review of his conviction and sentencing by a Pakistani
military court.
Jadhav, a 51-year-old retired Indian Navy officer, was
sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and
terrorism in April 2017. India approached the International Court of Justice
(ICJ) against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav and challenging
the death sentence.
After hearing both sides, the Hague-based ICJ issued a
verdict in July 2019, asking Pakistan to give India consular access to Jadhav
and also ensure review of his conviction.
The Islamabad High Court formed a three-member larger
bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Amir Farooq and Justice
Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb in August 2020 which has repeatedly asked India to
nominate a lawyer from Pakistan for Jadhav but New Delhi so far refused by
insisting that it should be given a chance to appoint an Indian lawyer.
After hearing arguments by Attorney General of
Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Javed Khan, the court on Thursday asked India to appoint
a lawyer for Jadhav by April 13.
Khan told the court that India was consciously
delaying the case so that it could get a chance to knock at the doors of the
ICJ with the complaint that Pakistan was in violation of its judgement to
provide an opportunity of review to Jadhav.
In November 2021, Pakistan's Parliament enacted a law
to give Jadhav the right to file a review appeal against his conviction by the
military court.
The International Court of Justice (Review and
Re-consideration) Act of 2021 of Pakistan allowed Jadhav to challenge his conviction
in the high court through a review process which was a requirement of the ICJ
verdict.
India has said the the law "simply codifies"
the "shortcomings" of a previous ordinance and that Islamabad has
"failed" to create an atmosphere to ensure a fair trial in the case.
When the Pakistan government promulgated the ordinance
to let Jadhav file a review, he refused. Later, the Pakistan government through
its defence secretary filed a case in the IHC in 2020 to appoint a defence
counsel for Jadhav.
Source: Times Of India
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Arab
World
King Has the Authority to Issue the Final Fatwa
(Religious Edict), Asserts Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman
March 03, 2022
RIYADH – Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said that
the King has the authority to issue the final fatwa (religious edict).
Speaking to the US magazine “The Atlantic,” he noted
that in Islamic law, the head of the Islamic establishment is wali al-amr, the
ruler. So the final ruling is not for the mufti as the mufti and the Fatwa
Board are like advisers to the King, to give him what they advise. But in
Islamic teachings, the ruler, has the final fatwa, has the bay'a (allegiance).
The final word is for the King of Saudi Arabia.
They know that they can argue – you have to argue, you
have to explain yourself, you have to use evidence, based on Islamic
jurisprudence, based in the Prophet's time, based in the Caliph’s' time, you have
to look into the Holy Qur’an you have to argue Hadith (Tradition of the
Prophet), until you make your point. And then you have to make sure the people
are ready for it and believe in it. And then the King makes that decision. But
just if you use the power as a King and make the decision, without going
through the whole process, this could create a shock in the street and shock to
the people.
Replying to a question about the role of muftis, the
Crown Prince explained that mufti’s job is to answer the people who ask
day-to-day questions, questions of daily interest. So for example, if someone
ate in Ramadan and he wants to know what he should do, did he sin or not, and
then he wants to call someone to give him an answer to that, that should be
regulated. So no one can just say, "I know how to do it" and can
answer his question. it has to be regulated. You have to have certificates from
the government. So the ifta' board and all the people working in that area,
that's their goal: to answer the people’s questions about their needs.
Foreigners are free to practice their faith
The Crown Prince noted that in Islam, some things are
forbidden for Muslims and God specified a punishment for it, and some other
things God didn’t specify a punishment—that means the judgment is between
people and God. But if you are foreign, Islamic teachings cannot be applied to
you. So if you are a foreign person who's living or traveling in Saudi Arabia,
you have all the right to do whatever you want, based on your beliefs,
regardless of what they are as long as they are in line with the country’s
laws. That's what happened in the Prophet's time and the period of the four
Rightly Guided caliphs. They didn't apply social rules to non-Muslims,
regardless of whether they are citizens, or just traveling in their country.
No penalty without a law
Referring to the flexibility in application of
stringent penalties, including capital punishment, the Crown Prince stated that
Saudi Arabia got rid of the death penalty except for one category, and this one
is written in the Qur’an. We cannot do anything about it, even if we wished to
do something, because it is clear teaching in the Qur’an . If someone killed
someone, another person, the family of that person has the right, after going
to the court, to apply capital punishment, unless they forgive him. Or if
someone threatens the life of many people, that means he has to be punished by
the death penalty. That's a teaching in the Qur’an. Regardless if I like it or
not, I don't have the power to change it.
We are doing that. So if you have time, we can take
you to all governorates, and if you go to the headquarters, there is a
department just working on that issue. And if there is a death penalty, it's
not carried out right away. It would be carried out after six months or even
one year, to give time to the family of the victim to cool down, to stop and
think. And a high percentage of executions are canceled based on these kinds of
settlements. So we are doing our best in that area. But we are going to do more
about that. The flogging penalty—that's being cancelled totally in Saudi
Arabia.
Source: Saudi Gazette
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Russia-Ukraine war: Saudi crown prince plays the oil
card in quest for US recognition
Mar 4, 2022
DUBAI: Saudi Arabia's crown prince says he simply
doesn't care whether Joe Biden misunderstands him.
The prince is instead looking to his oil power to
deliver his goals, according to sources familiar with Riyadh's thinking:
recognition from the American president that he's the real ruler of the kingdom
and a stronger hand in the costly Yemen war.
That's one reason why Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
is resisting US pressure to pump more crude to lower the price of oil that has
surged since Russia attacked Ukraine, besides keeping Riyadh's oil pact with
Moscow alive, the sources said.
"The Saudis have demands too, before they meet
any of the US requests. The Yemen file and the recognition of the crown prince
as the de facto ruler are on top of these," one of the sources familiar
with Saudi government thinking told Reuters.
Traditionally strong ties between Riyadh and
Washington were shaken when Biden released a US intelligence report implicating
Prince Mohammed in the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and ended US
support for offensive operations in Riyadh's costly war against Iran-aligned
Houthis in Yemen.
So far, Biden has refused to speak to Prince Mohammed
directly, saying 86-year-old King Salman is his counterpart - even though the young
prince effectively runs the kingdom and had a close relationship with Biden's
predecessor Donald Trump.
In an interview with The Atlantic published on
Thursday, Prince Mohammed said his aim was to strengthen Riyadh's long,
historical relationship with Washington, but he was not concerned about whether
Biden misunderstood him.
"Simply, I do not care," the crown prince
was quoted as saying. "It's up to him to think about the interests of
America."
The Saudi authorities did not respond to Reuters
requests for comment. Prince Mohammed, who is known as MbS, denies any
involvement in Khashoggi's death.
Riyadh has repeatedly stressed the strength of its
strategic partnership with the United States and that its oil policy is based
on a commitment to market stability and supply security driven by market
fundamentals.
Only card to play
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC) and its allies led by Russia have been unwinding historic output cuts
they instated in 2020 to boost prices after the coronavirus pandemic caused an
unprecedented fall in global demand.
But since Russian troops moved into Ukraine last week
and the West hit Moscow with stringent sanctions, oil prices have surged to the
highest since 2012 on concerns about disruptions to supply, with little global
spare capacity to pump more crude.
Washington would like the producer alliance, known as
OPEC+, to increase output faster than it has been doing since August but only a
few countries have spare capacity, including de facto OPEC leader Saudi Arabia
and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The US State Department's special envoy for energy
affairs, Amos Hochstein, flew to Riyadh last month for talks about managing the
potential impact on oil markets if Russia were to invade Ukraine - which it did
a week later.
"MBS's only card is oil policy to press the
Americans to give him what he wants, which is recognition and weapons for
Yemen," said a second source familiar with Saudi thinking.
On Wednesday, the OPEC+ alliance stuck to its
long-standing plans for gradual increases in output of 400,000 barrels per day
each month, rather than boosting supply faster.
"Saudi Arabia ... has sought not to be seen
acting against Russian interests. In doing so, the kingdom could kill two birds
with one stone: keep the door open to Moscow and give President Joe Biden some
payback for his refusal to engage with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,"
wrote James Dorsey, a senior fellow at National University of Singapore's
Middle East Institute.
In a sign of his eagerness to be part of the
conversation with Washington, Prince Mohammed cancelled a trip to China for the
Winter Olympics to ensure he was at his father's side when Biden called King
Salman bin Abdulaziz on February 9, three sources told Reuters.
In the call, which covered energy, Iran and Yemen, the
king spoke about maintaining market stability and emphasised the need to
maintain the OPEC+ pact, state media said.
"The situation is still as is - counterpart to
counterpart - but given how the US is in a difficult situation now, they might
compromise," said one Riyadh-based diplomat, adding that Prince Mohammed
wanted official US recognition and Washington's support in Riyadh's seven-year
Yemen campaign.
Asked for comment, a US State Department spokesperson
said: "While energy and security issues are important policy
considerations for both countries, we will not discuss the details of our
private diplomatic engagements."
"As we have noted publicly, we have held
discussions with Saudi Arabia on a collaborative approach to managing potential
market pressures stemming from Russia's invasion of Ukraine."
Trying to stay neutral
The sources and analysts said Saudi Arabia and other
Gulf states could not afford to remain neutral between their Western allies and
Russia for long, and would ultimately choose the region's security guarantor
America - especially given the risk of secondary sanctions over Ukraine.
But for now, Riyadh and other Gulf oil producers may
get away with a neutral stance that allows OPEC+ to continue to function, a
senior oil industry source said.
The last time the producers pact unravelled, Riyadh
and Moscow became embroiled in a price war and all-out battle for market share
that caused oil prices to plummet, ultimately hurting OPEC and US oil producers
alike.
Other OPEC producers also say the surge in prices is
being driven by geopolitical tension, rather than market fundamentals, and the
potential return of Iran to the market if a deal is reached to revive its
nuclear agreement needs to be taken into account when determining oil output
levels.
"The feedback that we got from the Saudis is that
they see the OPEC+ agreement with Russia as a long-term commitment and they are
not ready yet to endanger that cooperation ... while making it clear that they
stand with the West when it comes to security cooperation," said a Western
diplomat in Riyadh.
"They are trying to stay neutral as far as
possible, but now that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has gone for a full
invasion, they may no longer have that luxury."
With us or against us
Gulf states also have business and geopolitical
interests with Russia, whose president stood by the crown prince when Western
leaders shunned him in the uproar over Khashoggi's killing at the kingdom's
consulate in Istanbul.
But it was the West that sent troops to liberate
Kuwait in the 1990-1991 Gulf War and defended Riyadh when late Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.
And Riyadh and other Gulf states still rely on the
American security umbrella even as they move to diversify defence partners due
to a perception that US commitment is waning.
"The United States is committed to advancing
Saudi defenses," the US State Department spokesperson said. "We also
have a robust dialogue on helping Saudi Arabia improve its ability to defend
its territory against security threats from Yemen and elsewhere in the
region."
Dorsey said the problem for Gulf leaders was that
Ukraine could potentially open a Pandora's Box in which major powers either
side of the divide invoke former US President George W. Bush's post 9/11 maxim:
"You're either with us or against us."
Source: Times Of India
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UAE to better Arab League ties with UN Security
Council as it assumes presidency
03 March ,2022
The UAE will prioritize the United Nation’s Security
Council’s cooperation with the Arab League as it assumes the presidency of the
council for March, according to a statement issued by the Permanent Mission of
the UAE to UN.
A briefing to strengthen cooperation between the
Security Council and the League of Arab States will be held by the UAE on March
23, WAM reported on Thursday.
It will reportedly be chaired by Khalifa Shaheen
Almarar, UAE Minister of State while the presence of UN Secretary-General
António Guterres is expected.
“In addition to addressing recent developments on
security issues across the globe, the UAE will prioritize the Women, Peace, and
Security (WPS) agenda, climate security, and cooperation between the Council
and the League of Arab States during the month,” said the statement.
The tenure will be overseen by Lana Nusseibeh,
Permanent Representative of the UAE to the UN, who said that the responsibility
falls on UAE “at a time of immense global turbulence.”
The UAE follows Russia’s month-long presidency in
February 2022 which was chaired by Vassily Nebenzia.
Over the weeks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,
Nebenzia has maintained consistently that Russia’s “special military operation”
in Ukraine has not targeted civilian infrastructure and there is no evidence of
civilian deaths caused by their military.
This claim has been refuted multiple times by
evidenced facts and figures published by government agencies and other
monitors.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Saudi Arabia and Iran should ‘coexist’, Israel is a
‘potential ally’: Crown Prince
03 March ,2022
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said
the Kingdom and Iran are neighbors that cannot get rid of each other, adding
that the solution is coexistence.
“[Iran and Saudi Arabia] are neighbors. Neighbors
forever. We cannot get rid of them, and they can't get rid of us. So it’s
better for both of us to work it out and to look for ways in which we can
coexist,” the Crown Prince said, speaking to The Atlantic in a wide-ranging
interview published on Thursday.
Highlighting the four-rounds of negotiation between
the two countries, the Crown Prince said the statements they heard from Iranian
leaders were welcomed in Saudi Arabia.
He added that the Kingdom will “continue through the
details of the negotiation” and voiced hope that a position which is good for
both countries and which paves way to a brighter future for both is reached.
Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran in 2016, but talks
between the two countries were launched last year hosted by Iraq, as global
powers sought to salvage a nuclear pact with Tehran.
Asked about Iran’s nuclear program and whether he is
in favor of reaching a nuclear deal with it, the Crown Prince said that any
country’s possession of a nuclear bomb is “dangerous.”
“I believe any country around the world that has a
nuclear bomb, that’s dangerous, regardless if it’s Iran or any other country.
So, we don’t want to see that. And also, we don’t want to see a weak nuclear
deal, because that’s going to end up with the same conclusion.”
The Vienna talks began in April 2021 to bring Iran
back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and facilitate a US return to the
agreement. Washington withdrew from the deal in 2018 under then-President
Donald Trump, reimposing sweeping sanctions on Tehran.
Israel a ‘potential ally’
Commenting on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and on
whether the Kingdom would follow suit and establish an open and diplomatic
relationship with Israel, the Crown Prince said Saudi Arabia views Israel as a
“potential ally,” noting however that several matters need to be resolved
first.
“For us, we hope that the conflict between the
Israelis and Palestinians is solved. We don’t look at Israel as an enemy, we
look to them as a potential ally, with many interests that we can pursue
together. But we have to solve some issues before we get to that.”
The UAE became the first Gulf state to normalize
relations with Israel under a US-brokered normalization agreement, dubbed the
“Abraham Accords,” in 2020. Gulf neighbor Bahrain then followed.
Saudi media and laws
The Crown Prince also noted that he welcomes the Saudi
media’s criticism of the government’s work because it’s useful.
“I believe the Saudi media should criticize the
government’s work, the government’s plans… because that’s healthy.”
Source: Al Arabiya
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Syrian opposition leader slams West’s ‘double
standards’ on crises in Ukraine, Syria
Muhammad Sheikh Yusuf
03.03.2022
A leading Syrian opposition figure has accused the
West of “double standards” in dealing with the crises in Syria and Ukraine.
Anas al-Abdah, who heads the Syrian Negotiation
Commission, made the remarks during an interview with Anadolu Agency as
Russia’s war on Ukraine enters its second week.
"In Syria, there is a massacre of an entire
people in front of the eyes of the world and with international complicity,
while in Ukraine, the whole Western world is trying to protect it and its
people," al-Abdah said.
Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has
been met with international outrage, with the EU, US, and UK, among others, implementing
tough financial sanctions on Moscow.
Over 2,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since
the start of the war, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Western double standards
Explaining the Western double standards, al-Abdah said
he supports the safety of Ukrainians against Russian aggression but accused the
West of favoring some countries over others.
"We support the protection of Ukrainians from the
weapons of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but we are against this crude and
public duplicity of Western countries," he said, adding that “the killing
of a person should not be tolerated, regardless of the victim's nationality or
belief."
The politician noted the strong support extended by
the US and its European allies to the Ukrainians but said their strategy
towards the Syrian crisis has “slackened” and has “flaws.”
The West "gave Russia direct and indirect support
to carry out new adventures that may not stop at the borders of Ukraine,"
al-Abdah said.
He added: "Failure to anticipate the danger
before it becomes a reality on the ground, is the biggest failure that any
country's leadership can fall into."
Al-Abdah said he believes that "the acceleration
of Western countries to take strong positions against Russia in its invasion of
Ukraine is because they felt this invasion poses a direct threat to their
interests and national security."
However, he said, “in Syria, their positions were
weaker against President Bashar al-Assad (of Syria) and Russia, not because
they do not threaten their national security, but because Western countries did
not sense the reality of that threat.”
Al-Abdah warned the West that “they are losing the
Middle East to Russia and Iran" that together “have made the region a
hotbed of cross-border terrorism, and turned Syria into a drug lab that kills
all peoples."
Ukraine and Syria crises
Al-Abdah noted that similarities exist between what
happened and is happening in Syria and what is happening in Ukraine.
"Russia's invasion of Ukraine aims to weaken the
West and its political and economic control in a region with an important
geopolitical and geostrategic dimension," he said.
But he pointed out that while the leadership of
Ukraine “supported the struggle of its people against the ambitions of Russia,”
in Syria, the regime has been “serving the interests of Russia and Iran” by
inviting them to intervene in the Arab country and has used “all possible
weapons to kill the Syrian people who only demanded their freedom and
dignity."
Al-Abdah accused Russia of killing Syrians for years
and supporting the Assad regime with weapons to kill Syrians while the world
remained “deaf to the cries of the Syrians and their distress."
Western media
Al-Abdah also accused the Western media of “double
standards” in the way they covered refugees.
He said some Western media worked on “demonizing the
Syrian opposition as promoting terrorist organizations” which also contributed
to the mistreatment of Syrian refugees.
"Western countries are fully aware of the
misinformation and attempt to stigmatize the Syrian opposition and the Syrian
people with terrorism and they remain silent about it," he said.
He added: "This situation harmed us and our
struggle against the fascist regime in Damascus and its supporters, our
struggle for our freedom and the future of our country."
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Giant picture of Putin in Baghdad sparks controversy
among Iraqis
Ali Jawad
03.03.2022
BAGHDAD
A giant picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin in
the Iraqi capital Baghdad has sparked controversy among Iraqis.
Witnesses told Anadolu Agency that the picture was
erected on Wednesday evening by unknown individuals in the Karrada district in
central Baghdad as an expression of support to Russia in its war on Ukraine.
“We Support Russia,” was written at the edge of the
picture with the individuals describing themselves as “Friends of the
President,” said the witnesses.
They added that Iraqi security forces removed the
photo on Thursday.
Putin's picture sparked negative reactions on social
media in Iraq with many decrying the war for causing casualties and unrest.
Baghdad has balanced relations with both Washington
and Moscow.
Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has
been met with international outrage, with the European Union, US and UK, among
others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Syrian govt. forces, locals block US military convoys
in Hasakah, force them to turn back
03 March 2022
Two US military convoys have separately been forced to
retreat from areas in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah after local
residents in coordination with government forces prevented them from attempting
to pass through their communities.
Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that a US
convoy, escorted by US-backed Kurdish militants affiliated with the so-called
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), was forced on Thursday afternoon to turn around
and head back in the direction it came from after locals of the village of
al-Salihiyah blocked the road, and prevented its movement.
Separately, a US military convoy of four armored
vehicles was forced to retreat after Syrian government forces and angry
residents of al-Da’doushiya village blocked its way.
On February 13, scores of people blocked a US military
convoy of six military vehicles and forced it to turn around and head back in
the directions it came from after locals, supported by government forces,
intercepted it in the village of Tell Dahab. The villagers threw stones at the
convoy.
SANA reported at the time that the convoy was
accompanied by a car belonging to SDF militants.
A US military convoy was forced to retreat from an
area near the village of Salhiyeh Harb, close to Qamishli city, on January 15
after Syrian government forces and groups of local residents, upset with their
presence in the region, blocked its way, and prevented the passage of US armored
vehicles.
The US military has stationed forces and equipment in
eastern and northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment
is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of
Daesh terrorists.
Damascus, however, says the unlawful deployment is
meant to plunder the country’s resources.
Source: Press TV
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Europe
NATO chief slams Russia ‘recklessness’ in Ukraine
nuclear plant shelling
March 04, 2022
KYIV/BRUSSELS: NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Friday
decried Russia’s “recklessness” over the shelling of a nuclear power plant in
Ukraine and demanded Moscow stop the war against its neighbor.
“Overnight we have also seen reports about the attack
against the nuclear power plant. This just demonstrates the recklessness of
this war and the importance of ending it and the importance of Russia
withdrawing all its troops and engaging good faith in diplomatic efforts,”
Stoltenberg said ahead of a meeting with Western foreign ministers.
Russian forces seized control of Europe’s largest
nuclear power plant earlier Friday after a battle with Ukrainian troops that
caused a fire and fears of a catastrophic accident.
The Ukrainian nuclear regulator said that the fire had
been extinguished and no radiation leak had been detected, with site staff
still able to work at the Zaporizhzhia site.
“The Zaporizhzhia NPP site has been seized by the
military forces of the Russian Federation,” the State Nuclear Regulatory
Inspectorate of Ukraine said, in a statement.
“The fire was extinguished by the Ukrainian State
Emergency Service units. Information on the dead and injured is absent.”
Earlier, fighting had erupted between Russian invasion
forces pushing toward the city of Zaporizhzhia and Ukrainian defenders, causing
a blaze at the plant and global alarm.
The power station is located in southern Ukraine on
the Dnipro river and produces a fifth of Ukraine’e electricity.
Any fire in a nuclear plant revives memories of the
1986 Chernobyl disaster, also in Ukraine, which left hundreds dead and spread
radioactive contamination west across Europe.
Of the six reactors at Zaporizhzhia, the agency said,
one is in operation and producing power, one has been turned off and four are
being cooled to prevent overheating.
The regulator did not say, however, what each
reactor’s status had been before the fire.
An on site inspection is being carried out by
Ukrainian staff.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow
of resorting to “nuclear terror” by risking a repeat of the Chernobyl disaster
and begged world leaders to back Kyiv.
“No country other than Russia has ever fired on
nuclear power units,” he said in a video message released by his office.
Source: Arab News
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of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2035821/world
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Crown prince says Saudi Arabia ready to mediate
between Russia, Ukraine during calls with Putin, Zelensky
March 03, 2022
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman said on Thursday that the Kingdom was ready to exert all efforts to
mediate between parties in the Ukrainian conflict.
Speaking during a phone call with Russian President
Vladimir Putin, Prince Mohammed “clarified the Kingdom’s stated position” and
said it supports efforts that leads to a political solution to end the crisis
and achieves security and stability, Saudi Press Agency reported.
“With regard to the impact of the Ukraine crisis on
energy markets, he reiterated the Kingdom’s keenness to maintain the oil
market’s balance and stability,” the statement said.
Prince Mohammed also stressed the role of the OPEC+
agreement in this and the importance of maintaining it.
The two sides also discussed relations between their
two countries and ways of enhancing them in various fields.
The crown prince also spoke to President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy of Ukraine and during their phone call affirmed the Kingdom's support
for everything that contributes to de-escalating the crisis and its readiness
to mediate, and Saudi Arabia’s support for all international efforts aimed at
resolving the crisis politically.
Source: Arab News
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2035591/saudi-arabia
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Mideast
Taiwanese Muslim diplomat says Israel forced him to
recite Quran to 'prove' his faith during Al-Aqsa visit
03 March, 2022
A Muslim Taiwanese diplomat has said he was forced to
recite an excerpt of the Quran by Israeli forces in order to prove his faith,
reported Arabi 21.
Ismail Mae, the head of Taiwan's diplomatic mission in
Jordan, told local station Radio Al-Balad that the incident occurred when he
was visiting Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.
Mae said Israeli soldiers stopped him at the entrance
gates of the mosque, considered Islam's third holiest site, because they didn't
believe he was Muslim.
The soldiers requested that he recite Surat Al-Fatiha,
the opening chapter of the Quran, in a way to "prove his faith".
He said that the soldiers were surprised but not
satisfied at his recitation, and went on to interrogate him further.
The soldiers then asked him other questions about the
Quran which Mae said he answered accordingly.
He was then permitted to enter the mosque.
The diplomat, who is fluent in Arabic, went on to
recite another chapter from the Quran during the radio broadcast and said that
he has memorised the Muslim holy book in its entirety.
Source: The New Arab
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https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/taiwan-diplomat-says-israelis-made-him-prove-hes-muslim
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Dozens of extremist Jewish settlers defile Aqsa Mosque
March 3, 2022
Hordes of Jewish settlers escorted by police forces
desecrated the Aqsa Mosque in Occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem) on Wednesday
morning.
According to the Islamic Awqaf Administration in
al-Quds, at least 134 settlers entered the Mosque in different groups through
its Maghariba Gate and toured its courtyards.
85 students of Talmudic institutes were among the
settlers who defiled the Mosque in the morning tours.
During their tours at the Islamic holy site, the
settlers received lectures from rabbis about the alleged temple mount and a
number of them provocatively performed Talmudic prayers.
Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation police imposed
movement restrictions on Muslim worshipers at the Aqsa Mosque’s entrances and
gates.
Source: ABNA24
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https://en.abna24.com/news//dozens-of-extremist-jewish-settlers-defile-aqsa-mosque_1235316.html
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Iran: UN Resolution against Russia Not Prepared by
Engagement of All Member States
2022-March-3
“We believe that the current text of the resolution
before the General Assembly lacks impartiality and realistic mechanisms for
resolving the crisis through peaceful means. Furthermore, not all member states
of the United Nations were given the opportunity to engage in negotiations on
the text of the resolution,” Takht Ravanchi said on Wednesday.
He said Iran is pursuing the ongoing conflict between
Russia and Ukraine with grave concern, and reiterated Tehran’s principled
stance on the need for a peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with
international law and for all parties to fully respect the well-established
provisions of the UN Charter and international humanitarian law.
“We emphasize that sovereignty and territorial
integrity of all states must be fully respected and safety and security of all
civilians must be guaranteed,” the Iranian diplomat said.
He stressed the importance of addressing the root
causes of such crises in order to find long-term and sustainable solutions to
them, saying, “We note that the current complexities in the fragile region of
Eastern Europe have been exacerbated by the provocative actions and decisions
of the US and NATO. The security concerns of Russia must be respected.”
Takht Ravanchi expressed Iran’s opposition to wars and
destruction inflicted on civilian lives and infrastructures, no matter where they
occur.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran calls for urgent
cessation of hostilities and de-escalation of tensions in the current conflict.
In this regard, Iran underlines the essentiality of dialogue to address issues
of concerns to all sides leading to long-lasting results,” Takht Ravanchi
added.
He urged the UN to avoid double standards,
particularly on issues related to the maintenance of international peace and
security, saying, “It is unfortunate to note that the UN, in particular the
Security Council, has at times neglected this principle which has undermined
its credibility. A case in point is the Security Council’s handling of the
conflict in Yemen.”
Takht Ravanchi added that the Iranian government would
continue to call for a “comprehensive, peaceful, and sustained” resolution to
the current conflict “including an immediate ceasefire and start of the
dialogue as well as provision of humanitarian assistance to the people in
need.”
Source: Fars News Agency
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3
Members of Anti-Iran Separatist Terrorist Group Sentenced to Prison by Danish
Court
2022-March-3
A
court in the city of Roskilde, west of Copenhagen, sentenced three leaders of a
group behind terrorist attacks in Iran to up to eight years imprisonment after
they were convicted of spying for Saudi Arabia.
The
court announced in a statement on Wednesday that Habib Yabor Kabi, of the
so-called Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz terrorist group
(SMLA), was sentenced to eight years in prison and his brother Tamim Farouk
Beck to seven years.
Kabi's
son-in-law Jacob Mohamed, a Danish citizen, was also sentenced to serve six
years in jail, it added.
The
men, aged 40 to 51, have been held in custody in Denmark since February 2020.
The
court last month found the trio "guilty of creating an intelligence unit
for a Saudi intelligence service over a period of several years,” based among
other places at an address in the Copenhagen suburb of Ringsted.
They
were further convicted of "promoting terrorism" for supporting the
armed activities of the SMLA.
Meanwhile,
the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR), which had access to materials from
the closed-door trial, said the SMLA leaders had compiled a list of 100
individuals and companies to monitor and pass on to Saudi services.
Two
of the men will be deported after completing their sentence, according to the
court.
SMLA
ringleader Farajollah Chaab, also known as Habib Asyud, was arrested in
November 2020 on the back of a set of “specialized and combined measures” by
Iranian intelligence forces.
He
has appeared in several court sessions, with the prosecution presenting
evidence showing the Saudi and Israeli sponsorship for his separatist outfit.
Chaab
is accused of corruption on earth through forming, managing and heading the
SMLA, as well as planning and carrying out terrorist operations, and destroying
public property.
The
SMLA has been pushing to separate the Southwestern province of Khuzestan — home
to the country’s Arab population — from the rest of Iran through engaging in an
armed conflict against the Iranian government.
Source:
Fars News Agency
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Iran
Declares Readiness to Help Relief Operations in Ukraine
2022-March-3
Amir
Abdollahian made the remarks in a phone conversation with President of the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Peter Maurer on Wednesday.
He
discussed aid delivery in border areas of Ukraine and the humanitarian
situation in Yemen and Afghanistan as well as ways to boost bilateral
relations.
The
Iranian foreign minister stressed the importance of resolving the Ukraine
crisis politically, and said, “War is not a solution."
Maurer,
for his part, briefed the Iranian foreign minister on his talks with the
Russian and Ukrainian officials about the dispatch of humanitarian aid, the
exchange of dead soldiers and the provision of access to prisoners of war.
The
ICRC president said Ukraine is grappling with a tough and critical situation.
Amir
Abdollahian and Maurer agreed that medical and relief teams of the IRCS and the
ICRC would be deployed in border areas to help the displaced.
Right
after the conflict broke out, Iran began making efforts to support its citizens
in Ukraine and set up a special committee in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to
improve the humanitarian situation, he said.
The
top Iranian diplomat called for strengthening cooperation between the ICRC and
the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) in this regard.
Source:
Fars News Agency
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UN
nuclear watchdog chief to travel to Iran on Saturday: Spokesman
03
March ,2022
The
head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear
watchdog, will travel to Iran on Saturday “for meetings with senior Iranian
officials,” the IAEA said Thursday.
Director
General Rafael Grossi will then hold a press conference on his return to
Vienna, an agency spokesman said.
The
announcement comes a day after Grossi vowed that the IAEA would “never abandon”
its attempts to get Iran to clarify the previous presence of nuclear material
at several undeclared sites there.
Iran
has said the closure of the probe is necessary in order to clinch a deal to
revive the 2015 deal with world powers on its nuclear program.
The
talks on the deal taking place in Vienna are widely seen as being at a crunch
point, with the next few days key to their success or failure.
Diplomats
from Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran and Russia restarted the talks in
late November to revive the 2015 accord, also known as the JCPOA or Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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South
Asia
Taliban
intelligence trying to control Afghan media, says watchdog
4
March, 2022
Kabul
[Afghanistan], March 4 (ANI): Taliban intelligence is trying to control the
Afghan media by torturing and beating Afghan journalists, the Committee to
Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said in its latest report.
The
New York-based media watchdog said these intelligence agents are pressuring the
media for not publishing critical reports about the Taliban.
On
January 19, the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) publicly called
on Afghan media to refrain from publishing and broadcasting what it termed
“false news and baseless rumors.”
The
warning amounted to the first public acknowledgement of something that Afghan
journalists already knew: a tough new cop was on the beat.
The
emergence of the GDI – an intelligence agency formerly known as the National
Directorate of Security (NDS) – comes against the backdrop of a reported
internal power struggle between the Taliban’s southern and Haqqani network
factions for control of the six-month-old regime. For Afghan reporters, it has
brought an increasingly hard edge to the Taliban’s treatment of the media,
suggesting it could be entering a chilling new phase in its clamp down on the
strikingly robust media scene that emerged in the two decades after the 2001
U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.
When
the Taliban took Kabul last August, media policy initially was managed by
civilian institutions: the Ministry of Information and Culture and later, the
Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
These
ministries were hardly bastions of liberalism. Even as Taliban leaders
indicated tolerance for the continued operation of independent media, they
issued vague guidelines that seemed to compromise these positions, such as
their two-pillar media strategy, projecting a “press-friendly image”
internationally while actually ratcheting up pressure on reporters and their
outlets.
The
first set of restrictions on Afghan media came on August 17, 2021, just two
days after the Taliban’s takeover of the capital, Kabul. Taliban spokesperson
Zabihullah Mujahid broadly announced a framework for Afghan media operations,
which he termed “suggestions.” He stressed that “no broadcast should contradict
Islamic values, reporting should be impartial and there should be no broadcast
against national interests,” according to media reports.
On
September 19, 2021, the Taliban-controlled Government Media and Information
Center (GMIC) announced 11 new publishing rules, including directives that
journalists should coordinate with the GMIC when preparing content.
The
Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice issued more restrictive
directives on November 21, banning women from appearing in Afghan television
dramas and ruling that female journalists and presenters must wear hijab –
headscarves covering their heads and necks – on screen.
However,
the GDI’s January move into the spotlight did not come out of the blue. It
followed media reports on the agency’s night raids and arrests of women
protesters in Kabul and cases documented by CPJ of GDI’s involvement in
extralegal detention and harsh interrogation of journalists and media owners.
The
GDI’s predecessor, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), was accountable
to the now-defunct Afghan parliament and government leaders for its primary
mission of counterterrorism and foreign intelligence operations. The Taliban’s
GDI has shifted its main focus to domestic affairs, including actively
suppressing media and civil society activists and the detention, torture and
even killing of former Afghan government military and civilian officials,
according to three former government intelligence operatives who spoke to CPJ
on condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation.
The
Taliban have now imposed an unwritten, unannounced security regime on
journalists operating across Afghanistan, according to several journalists and
media executives, who spoke with CPJ on condition of anonymity because they
feared reprisal from the group.
These
sources said that all Afghan and foreign reporters are required to have an
accreditation letter from the office of the Taliban’s spokesperson, who,
according to the journalists, takes his orders from the GDI.
A
number of other Afghan journalists who have been arrested, threatened or beaten
by members of the GDI or other Taliban agencies refused to talk to CPJ, even
off the record, fearing the GDI digital surveillance and telephone-tapping
capabilities.
Source:
The Print
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of the original story:
https://theprint.in/world/taliban-intelligence-trying-to-control-afghan-media-says-watchdog/857583/
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Doha
hosts discussion on Afghanistan’s humanitarian situation
4th
March 2022
Doha:
Amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, Doha hosted a round-table
discussion on the current and future of the war-ravaged country.
The
talks were organised in co-operation between the International Federation of
Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Qatar Red Crescent Society and its
Afghan counterpart, with the participation of special advisors and ambassadors
of several countries, Gulf Times reported.
The
sessions are intended to support the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan that
threatens the lives of millions of families.
Rina
Amiri, the US special envoy for Afghan women, girls, and human rights said that
she discussed issues concerning women’s rights and human rights in Afghanistan.
“Spent
several days in Doha discussing women’s & human rights in Afghanistan &
the importance of the Muslim world leading on these issues. Qatari women
leaders are a great example of Muslim women in public & political roles to
advance their country,” Amiri tweeted.
“Will
continue to engage the Muslim world to show rich diversity in Islam & women
& girls’ place in political, economic & social spaces. Afghanistan
needs to utilize the talent of its women & girls to move towards stability
& a future Afghans deserve,” she said in another tweet.
Six
months after the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, it is time for concerned
countries to deepen their engagement with the country’s new authorities and
take action to prevent an irreversible economic collapse, the top UN official
in Kabul told the Security Council on Wednesday.
“Six
months of indecision … are eroding vital social and economic coping systems and
pushing the population into greater uncertainty,” said Deborah Lyons, who is
the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the UN mission in
Afghanistan, known as UNAMA.
Source:
Siasat Daily
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of the original story:
https://www.siasat.com/doha-hosts-discussion-on-afghanistans-humanitarian-situation-2285257/
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Mullah
Baradar assures investors of security in Afghanistan
03
Mar 2022
First
Deputy PM of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar
asked Afghan investors in exile to return to the country and invest in
Afghanistan.
Speaking
at Private Sector National Conference in Kabul on Thursday, March 3, 2022, the
Baradar said the situation is conducive for investment in Afghanistan and that
full security will be provided to investors across Afghanistan.
Mullah
Baradar who is also leading the IEA’s Economic Commission expressed hope that
Afghanistan’s economic situation is getting better as the world is gradually
easing the limitations on the country.
“Peace
has returned to Afghanistan, security has been established, girls and boys go
to schools and universities, so there is no reason for Afghans and Afghan
investors to stay in other countries. I ask them to return to the country
because dignity is only in Afghanistan.” Said Baradar.
Source:
Khaama Press
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of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/mullah-baradar-assures-investors-of-security-in-afghanistan-5678756/
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Africa
Israel
to turn Jordan Valley nature reserve into settlement, says official
03
March 2022
Israeli
authorities have started turning a farmland and a nature reserve area into a
new settlement in the occupied Jordan Valley, the latest in the regime's land
theft policies despite international outcry.
Mutaz
Bisharat, a local Palestinian official who monitors Israel’s settlement expansion,
said settlers on Thursday began to set up tents and sheds in the Bayyoud area,
400 meters east of Ein al-Hilweh community in the northern Jordan Valley.
The
placement of such structures on this tract of land, which was declared as a
nature reserve few years ago, is a prelude to building a new settlement in the
area, he added.
Separately,
Israeli authorities dismantled and razed an agricultural structure in Jordan
Valley’s Kardala village northeast of Tubas, the Palestinian media reported.
Mohammad
Qabaha, a local resident, confirmed that Israeli forces forced their way into
the village and seized a 600-square-meter structure, which served as a
vegetable packaging facility.
Israeli
authorities usually demolish Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank,
claiming that the structures have been built without permits, which are nearly
impossible to obtain. They also sometimes order Palestinian owners to demolish
their own homes or pay the demolition costs to the municipality if they do not.
In
the fertile Jordan Valley, which makes up some 30 percent of the occupied West
Bank, Palestinian residents outnumber Israeli settlers to a great extent.
However, the Tel Aviv regime considers the region crucial to its security and
has pledged to annex it.
Since
1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank, it has sent thousands of settlers to
the Jordan Valley. Some of the settlements in which they live were built almost
entirely on private Palestinian land.
Back
in March 2019, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said in a
report that Israel had occupied more than 85 percent or 27,000 square
kilometers of historical territories of Palestine in an expropriation process.
According
to the report, Palestinians now live on and own only 15 percent of their ancestral
land.
The
Palestinians living in the Jordan Valley regularly face evacuations due to
Israeli military exercises in the region. Much of the Jordan Valley is fully
controlled by the Israeli military.
More
than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967
Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East
al-Quds.
Emboldened
by an all-out unconditional support by the United States, Israel has stepped up
its settlement construction activities in recent years.
Source:
Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/03/03/677922/Palestine-West-Bank-Jordan-Valley-Israel-PCBS-
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Muslim
World League Hosts Tanzania Forum for the Service of Revelations
3
March, 2022
The
Muslim World League (MWL) concluded on Tuesday the Tanzania Regional Forum for
the Service of the Two Revelations, which discussed several axes including the
role of the Makkah Al-Mukarramah Document in highlighting the tolerance of
Islam and spreading societal awareness in urgent contemporary issues.
The
three-day forum also discussed the role of women in serving the local
community, scientific revelations in the Qur’an and Sunnah, and the integration
of Quranic centers and institutions.
The
forum entitled, “The Qur’an and the Sunnah, An Approach to Life and Development”,
was held in the presence of President of Zanzibar Dr. Hussein Ali Mwinyi, and
Dr. Muhammad Al-Issa, Secretary-General of the Muslim World League, in
partnership with senior scholars in the African continent.
In
his speech, Mwinyi said that the gathering of scholars was gaining great
importance in light of global changes and the challenges facing societies. In
this regard, he emphasized the key role assumed by religious leaders and
institutions in addressing threats to Islamic nations.
He
also stressed the governments’ urgent need for the contributions of such
institutions and other development partners to achieve stability and
counter-violence, discrimination, corruption, mistreatment of women and
children, and all that threatens the peace, security and development of
societies.
Source:
Aawsat
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of the original story:
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Libya
crisis worsens with rival government preparing to take oath
03
March ,2022
Libya’s
political crisis looked set to worsen on Thursday with a risk of a return to
fighting or territorial division as a new government preparing to take office
accused the incumbent administration of abducting two proposed cabinet members.
Parliament
has been preparing to swear in Fathi Bashagha’s government later on Thursday in
Tobruk, in eastern Libya. The incumbent prime minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah in
the capital Tripoli, in the west has vowed not to cede power.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Two
sources close to Bashagha said an armed group affiliated with Dbeibah in the
coastal city of Misrata had seized Bashagha’s proposed foreign minister and
culture minister as they tried to make the journey by land from Tripoli to
Tobruk.
A
spokesperson for Dbeibah’s government did not immediately respond to a request
for comment about the accusation.
The
sources asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the
media. Bashagha’s office said it “confirmed the kidnapping of the foreign
affairs and culture ministers.”
The
parliament moved to seize control of government and the political process after
a scheduled election collapsed in December.
Armed
groups affiliated with opposing factions have been mobilizing in the capital
over recent weeks and many Libyans fear the political crisis will plunge the
country into violence, division and chaos after a year and a half of
comparative calm.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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of the original story:
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UN
voices concern over Libya parliament vote on new Prime Minister
03
March ,2022
The
United Nations voiced concern on Thursday over reports that a vote in Libya’s
parliament to install a new government, a move that may trigger new fighting or
a return to territorial division, “fell short of the expected standards.”
An
emailed statement from the UN secretary general’s spokesperson said there were
reports that the vote did not meet standards of transparency and procedure, and
that there were acts of intimidation before the session.
The
UN is instead focused on renewing its push for elections, the spokesperson
said, adding that UN Libya adviser Stephanie Williams will soon hold talks
between the parliament and an opposing political body, the High Council of
State.
The
position of international powers will be key in the coming tussle for power
between the incumbent administration of interim prime minister Abdulhamid
al-Dbeibah, and the government newly installed under Fathi Bashagha.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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of the original story:
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Burkina
Faso’s junta leader names economist as prime minister
James
Tasamba
04.03.2022
KIGALI,
Rwanda
Burkina
Faso’s junta leader Lt Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba named Albert Ouedraogo
as his prime minister Thursday.
The
move came a day after Damiba was inaugurated as the West African country’s
transitional president under a recently adopted charter.
Ouedraogo,
53, is an economist and specialist in business development and management with
rich experience in public administration management, development projects and
private companies.
He
has conducted several studies on the development of the private sector, the
economic and financial feasibility of business creation and organization and
the elaboration of strategic plans as well as organizational audits, according
to his biography.
Since
2007, he has been the director of IPSO Conseils, a research firm specializing
in economic studies, organizational audits and human resources audits.
Before
heading the research firm, Ouedraogo held the position of director of the
consulting department of Deloitte Burkina from January 2003 to March 2007.
The
new prime minister also taught in the country’s public and private universities
from October 1996 to December 2002.
The
transitional government is to rule for 36 months from the date of the
inauguration of the president, according to the transition charter signed by
Damiba on Tuesday.
Damiba
led a group of soldiers who ousted former President Roch Kabore in January.
Kabore
was detained and later resigned on Jan. 24 following the coup.
In
a statement earlier Thursday, the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS) expressed “deep concern” over Kabore’s continued detention and
reiterated its call for his immediate release.
A
ministerial delegation of the bloc will travel to Ouagadougou, the capital of
Burkina Faso, in the coming days to meet with the junta leaders.
Nana
Akufo-Addo, Ghana’s president and chairman of the Authority of Heads of State
and Government of ECOWAS, and Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum had been
scheduled to travel to Burkina Faso on Thursday but cancelled following the
adoption of the transition charter by the junta, according to the statement.
ECOWAS
and the African Union suspended Burkina Faso from their governing bodies
following the coup.
Under
the charter, the president of the transition “is not eligible for the
presidential, legislative and municipal elections which will be organized at the
end of the transition.”
The
same provision applies to the 25 members of the transitional government.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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of the original story:
--------
North
America
To
Spare Afghanistan, World Must Engage with Taliban, Head of UNAMA Tells Security
Council
2
March 2022
“Six
months of indecision … are eroding vital social and economic coping systems and
pushing the population into greater uncertainty,” said Deborah Lyons, who is
the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the UN mission in
Afghanistan, known as UNAMA.
Thanking
donors for generous humanitarian contributions since August 2021, when
international forces left Afghanistan after a two-decades-long engagement, she
said the worst possible outcome was averted thanks to their support.
“As
the winter season comes to an end, we have perhaps averted our worst fears of
famine and widespread starvation,” she said.
Economy
in freefall
Those
short-term mitigation measures notwithstanding, however, the Special Representative
told Council members that humanitarian relief is not the same as giving hope to
the Afghan people or preparing a strong foundation for Afghan self-reliance.
“It
is imperative that we not find ourselves six months from now in the situation
we faced six months ago - with millions of Afghans facing another winter of
starvation and the only tool at our disposal being expensive and unsustainable
humanitarian handouts,” she said.
Today,
the most critical challenge facing the country is a looming economic tipping
point that will see more businesses close, more people unemployed and more
falling into poverty.
She
also cited a cessation of all development assistance and restrictions on
international payments, as well as lack of access to hard currency reserves,
lack of liquidity and constraints on the Central Bank.
While
UNAMA has taken all conceivable measures to inject liquidity into the economy,
she stressed that more international action is needed.
Taliban
‘feels misunderstood’
Ms.
Lyons recalled that, when UNAMA’s mandate was rolled over for six months in
September 2021, it was still too early
for the international community to react to the Taliban’s seizure of
power.
Today,
it has become clear that truly assisting the Afghan people will be all but
impossible without working with the de facto Taliban authorities.
Acknowledging
the enduring distrust between the Taliban and much of the international
community, she said the group feels misunderstood and complains that
international reports “do not reflect reality as they see it”.
Above
all, the Taliban want greater acknowledgement for the security that now
prevails in Afghanistan, and often point out that since the fall of the
previous Government the country has seen a 78 per cent decline in civilian
casualties.
They
also cite reduced corruption and the re-opening of schools to girls and boys.
“This
clash of perspectives forms the basis of a serious distrust that must be
addressed,” said the Special Representative.
High
stakes for UN presence
For
its part, she said, UNAMA, continues to report on what it sees on the ground,
including concerning restrictions on fundamental rights, extrajudicial
killings, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention.
Describing
the country’s situation as complicated - with both positive and negative trends
occurring simultaneously - she said the Mission can do more by working with the
Taliban on the main issues facing Afghan society.
Meanwhile,
UNAMA’s main purpose must remain to ultimately see Afghanistan re-join the
international community as a member in good standing.
Against
that backdrop, Secretary-General António Guterres has proposed a one-year UNAMA
mandate renewal, after which the results of a sustained political engagement
will be evaluated.
Source:
News UN
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1113172
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US
congressman apologises for affair with ex-wife of Islamic State leader
3
March 2022
A
Texas Republican congressman has apologised and dropped his bid for re-election
after it emerged he had an affair with a British woman who was once married to
an Islamic State leader.
Van
Taylor, who was planning on running for a third term in the US House of
Representatives, wrote in an email to his supporters that “about a year ago, I
made a horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain among those I love
most in this world.
"I
had an affair, it was wrong, and it was the greatest failure of my life.”
A
right-wing website revealed the infidelity on Sunday, just before a primary on
Tuesday.
The
British woman in question, Tania Joya, told the Dallas Morning News that she
had met Taylor through her work with former jihadists.
In
2020, The Guardian spoke to Joya, who explained that she had been married to
John Georgelas, from Plano, Texas, in the early 2000s, who converted to Islam
and took her and their children to Syria.
Joya
wrote that it was only after she left Syria that she “found out that he had
died, most likely during the US bombing in 2017".
“John
played an essential part in establishing the caliphate and was a leading
propagandist for [the] Islamic State, helping to groom other westerners,” she
explained.
The
Atlantic has called Joya “the first lady of ISIS”.
But
the nine-month affair between Taylor and Joya was published on a right-wing
website, National File, and reshared by Breitbart after a third candidate,
Suzanne Harp, found out about the affair and sent a journalist to interview
Joya.
Source:
Middle East Eye
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Biden
extends national emergency against Iran amid ‘final stages’ of Vienna talks
04
March 2022
US
President Joe Biden has extended a national emergency against Iran for another
year, in yet another act of bad faith amid the ongoing Vienna talks which
diplomats say are progressing toward a possible deal.
In
a statement on Thursday, Biden said the national emergency declared by former
president Bill Clinton on March 15, 1995, must continue in effect beyond March
15, 2022.
The
actions and policies of the Government of Iran continue to pose an unusual and
extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of
the United States, the statement read.
“Therefore,
in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C.
1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency with respect to
Iran declared in Executive Order 12957,” it added.
Earlier,
the European Union’s deputy foreign policy chief, Enrique Mora, who coordinates
the Vienna talks, tweeted that “we are at the final stages of the #ViennaTalks
on #JCPOA.”
In
recent days, diplomats participating in the eighth round of negotiations in the
Austrian capital have said that “a deal is within reach” provided that the
remaining, narrowed-down issues are resolved.
The
Vienna talks began last April between Iran and the other parties to the Iran
deal on the assumption that the US, under the Biden administration, is willing
to repeal the so-called maximum pressure policy against Tehran.
Former
US president Donald Trump instigated the maximum pressure campaign after he
pulled the US out of the Iran deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive
Plan of Action (JCPOA), in 2018 and unleashed what he called the “toughest
ever” sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
One
key issue on which Iran and the US are now in full agreement is that the
maximum pressure campaign of sanctions has failed.
However,
since the beginning of the talks, the US has taken several measures that run
counter to its claim of favoring diplomacy, including the imposition of several
fresh rounds of anti-Iran sanctions.
Source:
Press TV
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of the original story:
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US
forces transfer Daesh terrorists from Syria’s Hasakah to Iraq
03
March 2022
The
US military has secretly transferred a large number of Daesh members from the
al- Khan al-Jabal Camp in Syria’s northeastern Hasakah province, which is run
by allied Kurdish militants, to a facility in neighboring Iraq, a report says.
Syria’s
official news agency, SANA, citing local sources, reported on Thursday that
American forces relocated hundreds of Daesh terrorists and their families on
board heavy-duty inmate transports, and the vehicles were escorted by militants
from the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The
US forces used a convoy of more than 200 vehicles to transport them to Iraq
through the illegitimate al-Waleed crossing, it added.
The
US military frequently trains anti-Damascus militants at the al-Tanf base near
Syria's borders with Iraq and Jordan.
A
number of captured Daesh terrorists have already confessed to close cooperation
with US military forces stationed at al-Tanf in the central Syrian province of
Homs on carrying out various acts of terror and sabotage.
Washington
has unilaterally declared a 55-kilometer “de-confliction zone” around the
facility, and frequently threatened to target Syrian forces within the area.
The
US military has stationed forces and equipment in eastern and northeastern
Syria, claiming that it is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from
falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists.
Damascus
says the unlawful deployment is meant to plunder the country’s resources.
Former
US president Donald Trump admitted on several occasions that American forces
were in Syria for its oil.
Failing
to oust the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad through its proxies
and direct involvement in the conflict, the US government has in recent years
stepped up an economic war on the Arab country.
A
US-led military coalition has also been active inside Syria under the pretext
of fighting Daesh since September 2014 without any authorization from the
Damascus government or a UN mandate.
US
military strikes in the Arab country have on many occasions resulted in
civilian casualties and failed to fulfill their declared aim of countering
terrorism.
The
new development comes as security conditions have been deteriorating in the
SDF-controlled areas in Syria’s northern and northeastern provinces of Raqqah,
Hasakah and Dayr al-Zawr.
Source:
Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/03/03/677915/US-SDF-Hasakah-al-Waleed-Daesh-Bashar-al-Assad-
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Southeast
Asia
Eyes
on lithium, China talks to Taliban while world's focus is on Ukraine crisis
Mar
03 2022
By
Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha
New
Delhi, Mar 3: While the world is focused on dealing with the crisis in Ukraine,
China is trying its best to gain control over the vast minerals of Afghanistan.
Beijing has had its eye on the country's vast mineral resources ever since the
Taliban took over last year and Chinese companies are discussing mining rights
and research access with the Kabul regime.
"Chinese
mining companies have been scouting opportunities to access Afghanistan's
lithium & copper deposits. Chinese mining industry representatives met with
Taliban officials to discuss mining rights and research access to such
minerals," says Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction
(SIGAR) in its latest report.
According
to the report, Afghanistan's s lithium deposits could be among the largest in
the world, rivaling those of Bolivia.
Although
Afghanistan has vast mineral resources, most projects in extractive activities
require a 5 to 10 years lead time, and will require significant improvements in
security and a more investor-friendly regulatory environment. Uncertainties
regarding security, poor infrastructure, and mining policies were acting as a
bottleneck for the mining industry. The multiple obstacles to formal
development have left a large percentage of mining activity in Afghanistan to
informal or illegal small-scale operations that smuggle their products out of
the country.
Afghanistan
has lithium deposits which are estimated to be worth around $1 trillion which
could rival Bolivia's 21MT.
However,
while China is trying to get the ball rolling, Afghan officials at the Ministry
of Mines and Petroleum said no plans are on the table to extract lithium,
adding the plan regarding the mine is to protect it.
But
officials said that China will start extraction from the copper mine in the
spring of the coming year.
"In
response to every country which contacted us so far, we said our policy is that
we are trying to protect mines, including lithium mines for now, but regarding
the copper mines, the Islamic Emirate is committed," Burhan Afghan, a
spokesman of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum told TOLO News.
While
50 per cent of all known lithium reserves are in the Lithium triangle of ABC -
Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, estimates are that it is Afghanistan that is
sitting on huge deposits of untapped Lithium that could rival the South
American deposits.
Where
lithium is concerned, it is also central to China dominating the world's
lithium-ion battery production. China accounts for more than 60 per cent of
global lithium-ion battery production. As the largest global importer of raw
lithium, China is constantly looking to augment its supply chain.
From
electric vehicles or EVs to cell phones and computers, China needs to ensure
its supply chain and one way of doing it is to aggressively acquire ownership
of mines abroad especially in Afghanistan. Though China has not yet officially
recognised the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, it has been in talks with the
Taliban leaders since before the takeover. China's interest naturally lies in
the huge deposits of minerals that are believed to be present in the
mountainous country.
Source:
Daiji World
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay?newsID=932980
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Indonesia
Islamic International University to Augment Nation's Status as Islamic
Civilization Epicentre: KSP
04
Mar 2022
Jakarta
(ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo’s (Jokowi) decision to develop Indonesia
Islamic International University (UIII) as a moderate Islam research centre
would augment the nation’s position as the epicentre of Islamic civilization,
the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) said.
Besides
being the largest Muslim-majority country, Indonesia has also remained free
from the historical burden of religious conflict seen in other parts of the
world, KSP's main expert, Rumadi Ahmad, said in a press statement issued here on
Tuesday.
"This
strategic position has enabled Indonesia to communicate with representatives of
all major religions," he noted.
Indonesia
also has a strong social, intellectual, and political basis to serve as an
example and reference for a tolerant and moderate Islam, the KSP expert
highlighted.
Lauding
the development of UIII as a national strategic project, he said it
demonstrates the firm commitment of President Widodo and Vice President Ma’ruf
Amin to elevating Indonesia's status as the epicenter of global civilization.
"UIII
must contribute to make Indonesia the leader in the global civilization. We can
say that this national strategic project is Jokowi-Amin's testament to Islamic
civilization development," Ahmad remarked.
Earlier,
Vice President Amin had expressed the hope that UIII management and academic
activities will meet international standards.
He
also asked UIII leadership to strive to make the university the center of
Islamic civilization to demonstrate Indonesia's success in maintaining a moderate
stance on Islam to the global community.
Source:
Antara News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Islamic
affairs minister: Discussions will be held with Health Ministry on SOP
relaxation for Tarawih prayers
04
Mar 2022
PUTRAJAYA,
March 4 ― Discussions will be held with the Ministry of Health (MoH) to
implement a more relaxed standard operating procedure (SOP) for Tarawih
prayers, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs)
Datuk Idris Ahmad.
He
said the SOP would be prepared based on the current Covid-19 situation in the
country.
“We
need to discuss with the MoH first. Insyallah, it (the SOP) will be announced
soon,” he told a press conference after the flagging-off of the Musa'adah
Keluarga Malaysia aid mission for flood victims in the East Coast, here today.
Yesterday,
Idris gave the assurance that Tarawih prayers would be allowed to be performed
in mosques and suraus nationwide during Ramadan based on a more relaxed SOP
which would be announced later.
On
the Musa'adah Keluarga Malaysia aid mission, Idris said about 40 volunteers
would distribute cash donations and basic necessities, involving a special
allocation of RM3.77 million to more than 20,000 flood victims in Kelantan and
Terengganu.
Source:
Malay Mail
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/transgender-law-pakistan-shariat/d/126505