India's Rwandan Media Stumped on 'UPSC Jihad': Delhi HC Stays Broadcast of Sudarshan News Show Claiming Infiltration of Muslims In Civil Services
New Age Islam News
Bureau
29 August 2020
On August 26, Chavhanke had
tweeted the trailer of his upcoming show, which he claimed was an “expose” on
the “infiltration of Muslims” in the Civil Services
-----
• Pak
Anti-Terror Court sentences 3 Close Aides of JuD Leader Hafiz Saeed To Over 16
Years In Jail For Terror Financing
• Church Leaders
Tell PAS MP Drinking No Sin in Christianity As Bible Only Condemns Drunkenness
• First Israel
To UAE Flight Scheduled for Monday Under Israeli El Al Airlines
• Riot Erupts in
Sweden's Malmo After Anti-Islam Activities
• West African
Countries Insist on Return to Civilian Rule in Mali
India
• UPSC Jihad: Delhi
HC Stays Broadcast of Sudarshan News Show Claiming 'Infiltration of Muslims' In
UPSC
• Tablighi
Jamaat: HC Judge Disagrees With ‘Indirect Warning to Indian Muslims’ Remark by
Fellow Justice
• Assamese TV
Serial 'Begum Jaan' Banned For 2 Months for Promoting ‘Love Jihad’
• Yogi Adityanath
asks UP officials to stop ‘love jihad’ as police say cases rising
• Jammu and
Kashmir Police detain several Shia mourners trying to take out Muharram
procession
• 1 soldier killed;
3 terrorists gunned down in J-K’s Pulwama
• ‘Paints itself
as victim, shelters terrorists’: Jaishankar pans Pakistan
--------
Pakistan
• Pak
Anti-Terror Court sentences 3 Close Aides of JuD Leader Hafiz Saeed To Over 16
Years In Jail For Terror Financing
• Govt plans
another joint sitting of parliament for FATF bills passage
• ECP to take up
PTI foreign funding case shortly
--------
Southeast Asia
• Church Leaders
Tell PAS MP Drinking No Sin in Christianity As Bible Only Condemns Drunkenness
• Ku Li urges Umno
MPs to resign from Cabinet following Bersatu’s proposal to admit non-Bumiputera
members
--------
Mideast
• First Israel
To UAE Flight Scheduled for Monday Under Israeli El Al Airlines
• Iran Urges
International Pressure on Israel to Join NPT
• EU set to
sanction Turkey over east Mediterranean: Top diplomat
• Iranian man
who beheaded teenage daughter sentenced to nine years in prison
• Turkish lawyer
Ebru Timtik dies on hunger strike after 238 days
• Human Rights
Watch raps Jordan over arrest of cartoonist criticizing UAE-Israel deal
--------
Europe
• Riot Erupts In
Sweden's Malmo After Anti-Islam Activities
• US mulls
pressure on European allies for siding with Iran: Report
• French
minister heads to Iraq amid Islamic State resurgence
• Mutating terror
threat still looms over Europe
--------
Africa
• West African
Countries Insist on Return to Civilian Rule in Mali
• Nigeria: Boko
Haram Has Political Patrons, the Question Is - Who Are They?
• Two Killed, 15
Injured in Jihadist Ambush in Nigeria
• Militants kill
four Malian soldiers in ambush
• Mozambique:
Terrorist Behead Seven on Nhonge Island
--------
South Asia
• Ex-President Hamid
Karzai Says ‘Serious Mistakes Were Made by the US’ In Afghanistan
• Afghan
Leaders: US-Backed Peace Talks with Taliban to Begin Next Week
--------
Arab world
• Deadly
Firefight in Lebanon Sparks Warnings of More Sectarian Trouble
• Turkey uses
drinking water as weapon of war against civilians in Syria’s Hasakah: UN envoy
• Lebanese
presidency to consult with Parliament on Monday to designate new PM
• Egypt arrests
Muslim Brotherhood leader Mahmoud Ezzat
• Saudi Arabia’s
Public Prosecutor to review of death penalties against three minors
• Bin Salman
cancels Washington meeting with Netanyahu over leak fears: Report
• US to slash
number of troops in Iraq by about one-third: Report
• Organization
of Islamic Cooperation condemns Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia
• Lebanon: Two
killed in armed clashes with Hezbollah supporters
--------
North America
• US expected to
reduce troops in Iraq by a third to about 3,500: Official
• Will Europe
back more US sanctions against Iran? And why?
• US to slash
number of troops in Iraq by about one-third: Report
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
--------
UPSC Jihad: Delhi HC Stays Broadcast of Sudarshan News Show Claiming 'Infiltration of Muslims' In UPSC
August 28, 2020
On August 26, Chavhanke had
tweeted the trailer of his upcoming show, which he claimed was an “expose” on
the “infiltration of Muslims” in the Civil Services
-----
The Delhi High Court on Friday stayed the broadcast of a showby Sudarshan channel on the "infiltration of Muslims" in the civil services, after controversy erupted over a clip promoting the show. The editor of the channel, however, claimed his show was only raising questions about the "bias" in the selection process, adding that people should make up their mind after watching the show.
A single judge
bench of Justice Navin Chawla issued notices to the Centre, the Union Public
Service Commission (UPSC), Sudarshan News, and its editor in chief, Suresh
Chavhanke. The next hearing in the matter is on 7 September.
In the petition
filed by students and alumni of the Jamia Milia Islamia university, petitioners
said that the show "sought to defame, attack and incite hatred against
Jamia Milia Islamia, its alumni and the Muslim community at large," The
Leaflet reported. The report added that the show carried the hashtag 'UPSC
Jihad'.
The plea added
that Chavhanke had "openly incited his target non-Muslim audience by
fear-mongering that "jihadis" or terrorists from Jamia Millia Islamia
would soon hold positions of authority and power like that of Collector and
Secretary."
Petitioners also
said that the content "constitutes hate speech and criminal defamation in
terms of Sections 153A (1), 153B (1), 295A and 499 of Indian Penal Code,"
Bar and Bench reported.
The show, which
was promoted as an 'expose' and was scheduled to air on Friday night, was
condemned by alumni of the university and several public figures, including
serving and retired IAS officers. They criticised the show for its insinuation
against the minority community.
The IPS
Association, the central body of the Indian Police Service officers, reacted
strongly saying, "A news story targeting candidates in civil services on
the basis of religion is being promoted by Sudarshan TV. We condemn the
communal and irresponsible piece of journalism."
The Indian
Police Foundation, an independent think-tank bringing together the police and
citizens to work for police reforms and scientific policing, also tweeted that
the "hate story" "against minority candidates joining IAS/IPS is
dangerous bigotry".
The foundation
further said it hoped that the News Broadcasting Standards Authority, the Uttar
Pradesh Police and other concerned government authorities would take strict
action.
Several people
tweeted their opposition against the promotional clip, which also appeared to
raise questions about a coaching centre run by Jamia Millia Islamia for IAS
aspirants.
Jamia Millia
Islamia PRO Ahmed Azeem said, "We have written to the Education Ministry
informing about the whole episode and requested them to take appropriate
action. We told them that the Sudarshan Channel has not only tried to tarnish
the image of JMI and a particular community but the image of UPSC also."
Bahujan Samaj
Party's Lok Sabha MP Kunwar Danish Ali, an alumnus of Jamia Millia Islamia,
said the educational institution has played a leading role in nation-building
before and after Independence.
A number of
serving and retired civil service officers also condemned the video posted by
the channel.
IPS officer
Niharika Bhatt slammed the video, saying it was a "despicable attempt at
hate mongering".
"To
question the credentials of officers on the basis of religion is not only
laughable, but should also be dealt with strictest legal provisions. We are all
Indians first," she said.
Retired IPS officer
NC Asthana said, "By casting doubts on the integrity and impartiality of a
constitutional body like the UPSC in the selection of officers for All-India
Services, he is spreading disaffection for the constitutional scheme of
governance."
IPS officer RK Vij
said it was "disgusting" and "condemnable", and must be
stopped.
Before the Delhi
high court's stay order on the show, PTI quoted Chavhanke as saying that he
would go ahead with the programme as scheduled. He had also alleged that the
issue was being twisted by the IPS Association.
He added that
the issue was the "sudden spike in the number of people of certain
categories selected in UPSC" examinations in the last few years. He also
urged people to watch the episode first and then react.
Chavhanke also said
he was not saying anything against the serving IAS or IPS officers and his show
was only raising questions about the "bias and conspiracy" in the
selection process.
https://www.firstpost.com/india/delhi-hc-stays-broadcast-of-sudarshan-news-show-claiming-infiltration-of-muslims-in-upsc-next-hearing-on-7-sept-8764981.html
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Pak Anti-Terror
Court sentences 3 Close Aides of JuD Leader Hafiz Saeed To Over 16 Years In
Jail For Terror Financing
Omer Farooq Khan
Aug 29, 2020
The US named Hafiz Saeed as
a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a
USD 10-million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice. (File
photo)
-----
ISLAMABAD: An
anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Friday sentenced up to five years three
top leaders of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and close aides of the 2008
Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed on terror related charges.
ATC judge Ejaz
Ahmad Buttar sentenced Abdur Rehman Makki (Saeed’s brother-in-law), Malik Zafar
Iqbal and Abdus Salam on different counts. They were sentenced to imprisonment
for one-and-a-half year with a fine of Rs 20,000 each under Section 11-F of the
Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997. According to Section 11-F of ATA, a person is
guilty of an offence if he belongs or professes to belong to a proscribed
organization, supporting activities of a banned outfit or addressing a meeting
or delivering a sermon to its members and supporters.
The trio was also
sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 50,000 each
under ATA for the use and possession of money or any other property for the
purposes of terrorism.
They were also
awarded separate five years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 50,000 each
for fundraising for acts of terror.
The three
terrorists were also sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment with a
fine of Rs 50,000 each for funding arrangements for the purposes of terrorism.
“All the
sentences shall run concurrently of this case and of previously awarded, if any
(sic),” the verdict read.
The Counter
Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police had registered 23 FIRs against
70-year-old Saeed and his accomplices on the charges of terror financing in
2019 in police stations of Lahore, Gujranwala, Multan, Faisalabad, Sahiwal and
Sargodha.
The CTD accused
them of using properties of religious seminaries and mosques for terror
financing.
Saeed had also
been indicted in at least five cases along with his other colleagues. The
suspects, however, had rejected the allegations as baseless and claimed the
government registered the cases as a result of “international pressure”.
Last February,
the court had handed down five-and-a-half-year rigorous imprisonment each to
Saeed and Malik Zafar Iqbal in two of such cases.
Saeed, a UN
designated terrorist whom the US has placed a $10 million bounty on, was
arrested on July 17, 2019, and is lodged at the high-security Kot Lakhpat jail
here.
Saeed-led JuD is
the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is responsible for the
2008 Mumbai carnage that had left 166 people dead, including six Americans.
The US named
Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and since 2012, has offered a
$10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice. He was listed
as a terrorist under the UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pak-anti-terror-court-sentences-3-jud-leaders/articleshow/77811507.cms
--------
Church Leaders
tell PAS MP Drinking no Sin in Christianity as Bible only Condemns Drunkenness
28 Aug 2020
BY JERRY CHOONG
Rev Clarence Devadass,
director of the Catholic Research Centre in the archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur,
said the church is not against alcohol per se but abuses that result in harm. —
Picture by Choo Choy May
-----
KUALA LUMPUR,
Aug 28 — Christianity does not forbid liquor but only condemns intoxication and
debauchery, church leaders said today in response to a PAS lawmaker who claimed
all religions prohibited the consumption of alcohol.
Rev Clarence
Devadass, director of the Catholic Research Centre in the archdiocese of Kuala
Lumpur, said the church is not against alcohol per se but abuses that result in
harm.
“In fact, a
small amount of wine is integrally used for the celebration of the Catholic
Mass.
“The Bible does
not forbid the consumption of alcoholic beverages, but drunkenness is clearly
condemned and considered sin,” he told Malay Mail when asked to respond to Nik
Muhammad Zawawi Salleh’s claim in Parliament last Wednesday.
The Pasir Puteh
MP who professed to have studied comparative religions made the sweeping
statement during a debate on drink driving and even told Beruas MP Datuk Ngeh
Koo Ham, a Christian, that Jesus Christ forbade the consumption of alcohol but
that the Bible was later “manipulated”.
“On the whole,
the church teaches that the virtue of temperance or moderation disposes us to
avoid every kind of excess, which includes the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco
and even medicine.
“Irresponsible
actions arising from the abuse of substance incurs grave guilt,” Clarence said.
Likewise,
Council of Churches Malaysia general secretary Rev Hermen Shastri said alcohol
consumption has been used in civilisations worldwide for religious celebrations
and medicinally since long ago.
“It has been
used for its medicinal value. In countries with colder climates, it helped
people survive winters without heated rooms.
“Additionally,
it was also used for religious celebrations and socialising. In the case where
most religions frown upon alcohol is due to the susceptibility of abuse and
potential addiction,” he said.
Hermen said
Christianity only warns against drunkenness and its adherents are reminded to
set good examples to others.
“The PAS MP
should not impose his views on others. In a diverse society we need governance
based on rational thinking and not taking the religious high ground,” he added.
Christian
Federation of Malaysia executive secretary Tan Kong Beng who taught theology in
a seminary for seven years suggested Islamist party lawmaker Nik Zawawi take
another look at what he had studied about Christianity.
“I do not recall
whether he quoted any texts to support his claim,” he said of Nik Zawawi,
adding that those familiar with Christian scripture would know there were a
number of passages about alcohol, but in praise rather than in prohibition.
Tan cited
several examples to support his assertion, including Psalms 104, verses 14 to
15 which he said spoke of God’s greatness in creating all things.
“Among the
things these verses mention, wine is specifically highlighted, referred to as
wine that gladdens hearts. All this we receive from God with thanksgiving,” he
said.
Like the other
two Christian clerics contacted by Malay Mail, Tan said consuming alcohol was
not the problem but overindulgence and cited other passages from the Bible that
he said addressed this.
“Of course if we
overindulge in wine, it will mock us because we become inebriated, losing our
faculties and our rationality. Indeed, Proverbs 20:1 states that overindulgence
in wine leads us astray.
“Similarly,
Ephesians 5:18 tells us not to get drunk on wine but instead be filled with the
Spirit of God,” he said.
Tan also cited 1
Timothy 5:23 which relates how Paul the apostle told his younger colleague
Timothy of Lystra who was later made a saint, to stop drinking only water and
instead use a little wine when the later complained of stomach ailments and
other illnesses.
“So as you can
see, wine comes from what God has given to us, and this also applies to
alcoholic beverages in general. There is no outright prohibition, just a
warning.
“I think it
would be better that everyone, Muslim and non-Muslim, come together and learn
from each other for the sake of religious harmony. We should learn from one
another’s scriptures, as opposed to speaking out of turn and mentioning the
religions of others without much knowledge,” Tan said.
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/08/28/church-leaders-tell-pas-mp-drinking-no-sin-in-christianity-as-bible-only-co/1898037
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First Israel to
UAE flight scheduled for Monday under Israeli El Al Airlines
28 August 2020
Israel's El Al
Airlines will fly a plane to the United Arab Emirates on Monday, an online
flight timetable for Israel's Ben Gurion Airport showed, which would make it
the first-ever commercial flight between the two countries.
The flight
between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi is expected to carry an Israeli delegation and
accompanying US officials for talks on cementing Israel and the UAE's
normalisation agreement.
For all the
latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The website of
the Israel Airports Authority listed the flight on Friday.
It said the
flight would be numbered LY971, a nod to the UAE's international calling code
number. A return flight to Ben Gurion International Airport on Tuesday will be
numbered LY972, Israel's international calling code.
A return flight
from Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, the online
timetable showed.
Authorities in
Israel and the UAE did not immediately acknowledge the flight. The US Embassy
in Abu Dhabi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/08/28/First-Israel-to-UAE-flight-scheduled-for-Monday-under-Israeli-El-Al-Airlines.html
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Riot erupts in
Sweden's Malmo after anti-Islam activities
29 August 2020
A riot erupted
as at least 300 people protested against anti-Islam activities in a Swedish
city of Malmo on Friday, police said.
Protesters threw
objects at police officers and set car tyres on fire, with violence
intensifying as the evening wore on, a police spokesperson said.
The police said
the protests were linked to an incident earlier in the day in which right-wing
extremists burned a copy of the Quran, the Islamic holy book.
"We don't
have this under control, but we are working actively to take control,"
police spokesman Rickard Lundqvis said.
He added that
the protests had escalated in the same area where the Quran had been burned.
"We see a
connection between what is happening now and what happened earlier today."
Rasmus Paludan,
leader of Danish far-right political party Hard Line, was due to travel to
Malmo, Sweden's third-largest city, to speak at the far-right rally, which was
being held on the same day as Muslim Friday prayers.
Authorities
pre-empted Paludan's arrival by announcing he had been banned from entering
Sweden for two years. He was later arrested near Malmo.
"We suspect
that he was going to break the law in Sweden," Calle Persson, another
police spokesperson in Malmo told AFP.
"There was
also a risk that his behaviour... would pose a threat to society."
Daily
Aftonbladet said several anti-Islam activities took place in Malmo on Friday
after the ban on Paludan, including three men kicking a copy of the Quran
between them in a public square.
Three people
were arrested at the anti-Islam events for inciting racial hatred.
Last year,
Paludan attracted media attention for burning a Quran wrapped in bacon – a meat
prohibited in Islam.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/malmo-sweden-riot-anti-islam-activities
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West African
countries insist on return to civilian rule in Mali
28 August 2020
West African
countries on Friday insisted on a return to civilian rule in Mali, where rebel
troops ousted president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on August 18 and held him for
nine days.
"If we
consider that the question of (Keita's) release is resolved, it is not the same
concerning the return to constitutional order, which pre-supposes that all
troops return to their barracks," President Mahamadou Issoufou Keita of
Niger, who currently chairs the regional bloc ECOWAS, told a video summit.
The 15-nation
Economic Community of West African States slapped sanctions on Mali after the
coup, including a closure of borders and ban on trade and financial flows.
It has demanded
the release of Keita and other detained leaders and insisted on a swift return
to civilian rule.
The conference
Friday has to weigh the future of the sanctions in the light of events since
the putsch.
These include a
three-day ECOWAS mission that foundered over a timetable for civilian
transition, and the announcement by the junta on the eve of the summit that
Keita had been freed.
Issoufou said
Keita had told the ECOWAS envoys "that he resigned quite freely, convinced
that this decision was necessary for peace and stability in Mali."
"The junta
accepted letting president Keita return to his home with the security
appropriate to his rank as former head of state, as well as the possibility of
having the doctor of his choice and of travelling abroad for medical
checkups," he said.
Within hours of
taking control, the junta promised to enact a political transition and stage
elections within a "reasonable time" but in their public statements
have not spelt out any details.
According to the
chief ECOWAS envoy, former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, the coup
leaders wanted a three-year transition period.
This was
rejected by the ECOWAS team, which called for an interim government,
"headed by a civilian or retired military officer, to last for six or nine
months, and maximum of 12 calendar months," Jonathan was quoted as saying
in a statement issued by the Nigerian president on Wednesday.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/08/28/632794/West-Africa-civilian-rule-Mali
--------
India
Tablighi Jamaat:
HC judge disagrees with ‘indirect warning to Indian Muslims’ remark by fellow justice
by Omkar Gokhale
August 29, 2020
Justice Mukund G
Sewlikar, one of the two judges of the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High
Court that last week quashed FIRs filed against 29 foreign nationals and six
Indians in connection with a Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Delhi amid Covid-19
restrictions at the end of March, on Thursday disagreed with the observations
made by the senior judge on the bench, who said that action against the foreign
nationals was an “indirect warning to Indian Muslims” after the protests
against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
A division bench
of Justice Tanaji V Nalawade and Justice Mukund G Sewlikar had on August 21
passed judgment on three petitions filed by the 29 foreigners, charged with
violating their visa terms and Epidemic Act guidelines, and the six Indians
accused of granting them shelter in Ahmednagar.
“A political
government tries to find a scapegoat when there is a pandemic or calamity and
the circumstances show that there is a probability that these foreigners were
chosen to make them a scapegoat,” the court had said.
Justice Sewlikar
had then said that while he agreed with the part of the order quashing the
FIRs, he had differing views on a few observations made by Justice Nalawade.
Justice Sewlikar on Thursday passed a separate order mentioning his reasons.
Maintaining that
he agreed with all observations made by Justice Nalawade except the one
pertaining to CAA protests, Justice Sewlikar said that since none of the
offences could be proved by the prosecution, the chargesheets against the
petitioners deserved to be quashed.
He referred to
Justice Nalawade’s observations in the 58-paged judgment, which stated, “There
were protests… at many places in India from at least prior to January 2020.
Most of the persons (who) participated in the protests were Muslims. It is
their contention that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, is discriminatory
against Muslims… They were protesting against the National Register of
Citizens.”
He added, “It
can be said that due to the action taken, fear was created in the minds of
those Muslims. This action indirectly gave warning to Indian Muslims that
action in any form and for anything can be taken against Muslims. It was
indicated that even for keeping contact with Muslims of other countries, action
will be taken against them. Thus, there is smell of malice to the action taken
against these foreigners and Muslim for their alleged activities. The
circumstance like malice is an important consideration when relief is claimed
of quashing of FIR and the case itself.”
In light of
these observations, Justice Sewlikar noted in his August 27 order, “I find it
difficult to concur with these observations as allegations in this respect are
(neither) made in the petitions nor there is any evidence in this regard.
Therefore, in my opinion these observations are outside the scope of the
petitions.”
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/tablighi-jamaat-aurangabad-bench-order-of-august-21-hc-judge-disagrees-with-indirect-warning-to-indian-muslims-remark-by-fellow-justice-6573725/
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Assamese TV
serial 'Begum Jaan' banned for 2 months for promoting ‘love jihad’
28th August 2020
GUWAHATI: An
Assamese TV serial, which was allegedly promoting “love jihad”, has been banned
for two months by the local administration.
Guwahati Police
Commissioner Munna Prasad Gupta said “Begum Jaan” had been banned based on the
recommendations of a 10-member district level monitoring committee. The serial
was aired by the entertainment channel 'Rengoni'.
“A prohibitory
order under the Cable Television Network (Regulations) Act, 1995 has been
passed to suspend the telecast of the serial for two months. We received
several complaints and they were deliberated upon by the district level
monitoring committee. The order of ban was issued based on the committee’s
recommendations,” Gupta told this newspaper.
“There are
apprehensions that there may be a breach of peace and tranquility. As such, the
committee recommended the ban,” he added.
The action was
taken in the wake of protests lodged by some right-wing groups, including the
Hindu Jagran Manch, and social media users. Alleging that the serial promoted
love jihad and belittled Hindu and Assamese culture, they had demanded its
complete ban. An organisation, called the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, had
launched an online campaign calling for a ban on its broadcast.
Preety Kongkana,
who plays the role of the protagonist, said love jihad in “Begum Jaan” was a
figment of some people’s imagination.
“This is
basically about a Hindu girl being caught in a difficult situation and is
helped by a Muslim man. However, the rumour is spread that Janmoni (her
character) eloped with the Muslim man,” she said, adding, “There’s no communal
angle in it. It, in fact, depicts humanity above faith”.
Preety alleged
that she was trolled, bullied and she received rape threats on the Internet.
She had lodged a complaint with the police earlier. The Guwahati Police
Commissioner said they were looking into her charges.
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/aug/28/assamese-tv-serial-begum-jaan-banned-for-2-months-for-promoting-love-jihad-2189496.html
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Yogi Adityanath
asks UP officials to stop ‘love jihad’ as police say cases rising
by Maulshree
Seth
August 29, 2020
Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday directed senior officials of the state
Home Department to prepare a plan to stop incidents of “love jihad”, following
several such cases reported from different parts of the state, according to
senior officials.
Love jihad is a
terminology used by Hindutva groups to describe inter-religious marriages,
which they allege involves conversion of the woman – either by force or guile –
to marry a Muslim man.
According to
officials, the direction came on the back of multiple incidents reported from
Kanpur, Meerut, and a recent one in Lakhimpur Kheri, where the police claim
there is evidence that the women were being forced to convert and marry.
“There are
increasing cases of love jihad being reported from different parts of the
state. Thus the Chief Minister instructed senior Home Department officials to
prepare a plan to stop such incidents,” Mrityunjay Kumar, media adviser to
Adityanath, said.
He said
officials have been told to prepare a strategy and see whether a new law is
required.
Additional Chief
Secretary, Home, Awaneesh Kumar Awasthi, who was part of the informal meeting,
said: “This is a social issue. To stop it, they would have to be taken
seriously – action needs to be taken against the accused, and we have to be
harsh. These days, social media is available everywhere and it goes into the
mind of others as well”
Awasthi said
while modalities will be worked out, among issues being looked into is to make
possible fast-track hearing of such cases, as a lot of these matters are pending
in courts due to their coronavirus-induced closure. “The accused should not be
allowed to get bail; then the woman’s family should be given monetary help,
etc,” he said.
Asked if a new
law will be brought in, Awasthi said that as of now the existing law would
suffice, but it needs to be implemented properly.
Recently,
following several cases of inter-religious marriages in Kanpur’s Juhi Colony,
the police had formed a special investigating team (SIT) to probe allegations
of conversion – either by force or by “brainwashing” the women – before
marriage. The SIT was formed after families of five women from Juhi Colony met
senior police officials and sought help, alleging that the women were allegedly
brainwashed into converting before marrying.
The recent
incident being cited by the police took place in a village in Lakhimpur Kheri
district earlier this week, where a teenage girl was found raped and murdered.
The police later caught one Dilshad, who they say confessed to raping the girl
and later slitting her throat following a heated discussion.
Call records of
the victim’s cellphone showed she was in touch with Dilshad, according to the
police.
Adityanath has
directed invoking NSA, if required, in the Lakhimpur Kheri case.
In Meerut, one
Shamshad was arrested in connection with murder of a mother-daughter duo and
then burying them at their home. Since there was no other relative, a friend of
the women filed the police complaint.
During
investigation, the police said, it emerged that Shamshad had changed his name
and allegedly projected himself as a Hindu before approaching the woman for
marriage.
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/lucknow/love-jihad-yogi-adityanath-up-6574283/
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Jammu and
Kashmir Police detain several Shia mourners trying to take out Muharram
procession
Aug 29, 2020
SRINAGAR: The
police on Friday detained dozens of Shia mourners to foil repeated attempts
made by them to take out a Muharram tazia procession through the streets of
uptown Srinagar.
The mourners had
earlier emerged out of dark alleys of the City’s Batamaloo, Shaheed Gunj and
Dal Gate areas, chanting slogans and rhymes in praise of Imam Hussain, the
grandson of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, who was martyred along with 71 of his
family members and companions in the Battle of Karbala in October 680.
The witnesses
said that as the police came in their way, the mourners offered stiff
resistance and marched ahead but only to be overpowered by the cops, bundled
into police vans and then driven to Shaheed Gunj and Kothi Bagh police
stations.
The police
sources said that 68 people were detained for violating an official ban on
Muharram processions and rallies in the Valley announced by Kashmir’s
Divisional Commissioner, Pandurang K Pole, earlier in view of the spike in
COVID-19 deaths and positive cases.
The sources said
that among the detainees are two youths who raised a banner reading ‘Free
Kashmir’ while attempting to march along Srinagar street. Earlier this week,
the police had arrested two youth on charge of raising pro-freedom slogans at
one of the Muharram tazia processions on the outskirts of Srinagar.
At dawn on
Friday, the J-K police and Central armed police forces sealed Srinagar’s
central square Lal Chowk, its neighbourhood and some other parts the summer
capital by laying spools of Concertina razor wires and other barricades to
enforce a security lockdown.
The officials
said that restrictions under Section 144 CrPC were imposed on areas falling
under eight police stations - Batamaloo, Shaheed Gunj, Karan Nagar, Maisuma,
Kothi Bagh, Shergari, Krala Khud and Ram Munshi Bagh.
On
Thursday, Pole had urged the heads of
religious organizations to use their influence and make people aware of the
importance of following coronavirus related SOPs, including social distancing
protocol and use of face masks while commemorating martyrdom of Imam Hussain.
Several Shia
religious organizations and leaders had earlier announced that no mass rallies,
processions or congregations (gatherings) would be held this year to commemorate
the martyrdom of Imam Hussain in view of coronavirus and appealed the devotees
to follow SOPs strictly while even holding restricted majalis (mourning
assemblies) in their respective areas. However, such appeals were ignored in
some areas, including the central town of Budgam where the police used force to
break up a large mourning procession on Wednesday.
In Kashmir
Valley, an official ban remains in force on organizing mourning rallies and
processions along select traditional routes on the 8th and 10th day of
Muharram, mainly in Srinagar, ever since the separatist campaign became violent
way back in 1989. Only small mourning rallies and processions with certain
restrictions would be permitted in the areas having sizable Shia populations,
including at Imam Barahs or the places where functions connected with Muharram
are held by them traditionally. However this year, the authorities decided to
impose a blanket ban on such rallies and procession in view of COVID-19.
http://www.asianage.com/india/all-india/290820/jammu-and-kashmir-police-detain-several-shia-mourners-trying-to-take-out-muharram-procession.html
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1 soldier
killed; 3 terrorists gunned down in J-K’s Pulwama
Edited by: Harshit
Sabarwal
Aug 29, 2020
A soldier of the
Indian Army was killed and three terrorists were gunned down on Saturday during
a gun battle in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
“One AK and two
pistols recovered. One soldier was critically injured and succumbed to his
injuries. A joint operation is in progress,” Colonel Rajesh Kalia, the army’s
spokesperson, said.
Police officials
said that the encounter started at around 1am on Saturday in Pulwama’s Zadoora
area when army and police personnel launched a joint operation.
Three terrorists
were killed in an encounter in Shopian district on Friday, which has taken the
total number of terrorists killed in the Valley to six in less than 24 hours.
One terrorist was captured alive.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/3-terrorists-killed-in-encounter-in-jammu-and-kashmir-s-pulwama/story-bALavkJVZspUa5hoo8xklL.html
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‘Paints itself
as victim, shelters terrorists’: Jaishankar pans Pakistan
Aug 28, 2020
External affairs
minister S Jaishankar on Friday criticised Pakistan for portraying itself as a victim
of terror while grudgingly acknowledging the presence of wanted terrorists and
crime leaders on its territory due to sustained international pressure.
Jaishankar
didn’t directly name Pakistan in his remarks while presiding over the Darbari
Seth memorial lecture. He described the 9/11 terror attacks in the US and the
Covid-19 pandemic as “stand-out moments that disrupted the trajectory of human
society”.
Nineteen years
after the 9/11 attacks and 12 years since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the world
has a range of mechanisms to counter terrorism, including the Financial Action
Task Force (FATF), several UN sanctions committees and the Counter Terrorism
Executive Directorate, he said. However, it lacks a comprehensive convention on
international terrorism as members of the UN are still “wrestling with certain
foundational principles”, he added.
“All the while,
states that have turned the production of terrorists into a primary export have
attempted, by dint of bland denials, to paint themselves also as victims of
terror,” Jaishankar said, a clear reference to Pakistan’s use of terrorism as
an instrument of state policy.
“But as we have
seen last week, sustained pressure through international mechanisms to prevent
the movement of funds for terror groups and their front agencies can work. It
has eventually compelled a state complicit in aiding, abetting, training and
directing terror groups and associated criminal syndicates to grudgingly
acknowledge the presence of wanted terrorists and organised crime leaders on
its territory,” he said.
Weeks ahead of
an expected assessment of Pakistan’s counter-terror financing regime, Islamabad
issued two notifications on August 18 to enforce UN Security Council sanctions
on hundreds of terrorist individuals and entities, including Lashkar-e-Taiba
founder Hafiz Saeed, Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim.
One of the documents listed three addresses in Karachi for Ibrahim, wanted by
India for his role in the 1993 Mumbai bombings.
After the issue
was widely reported in the Indian media, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a
statement the notifications didn’t amount to “Pakistan admitting to the
presence of certain listed individuals on its territory”.
Jaishankar
acknowledged the “struggle against terror and those who aid and abet it is a work
in progress”. He said, “It remains for the international system to create the
necessary mechanisms to shut down the structures that support and enable
terrorism, whether in South Asia or across the globe.”
The world, he
said, also faces a structural challenge in improving the global architecture
used to fight pandemics. In similar crises over the past century, the outbreaks
occurred in remote sites or the monitoring systems managed to head off a
crisis. “This time, however, the international warning systems, reporting
protocols and response mechanisms were unable to prevent the spread beyond
ground zero,” he said.
This has
highlighted the need for a more enlightened and responsive multilateral system,
and a “new, inclusive and non-transactional approach to multilateralism”, he
said. “The reform of international organisations is not merely desirable but
imperative. We need to modernise the international system, step by step, to
make it fit for purpose, beginning by making each entity relevant to the age in
which we live, not when it was created,” he added.
This will
require revisiting membership and structures of control, reorienting
operational principles and rules, and rebuilding resourcing channels of key
pillars of multilateralism, Jaishankar said.
Strengthening
skill sets and creating a better enabling environment are the goals of the
“Atmanirbhar Bharat” campaign since India can make a difference at the global
level only by scaling up its capacities, he said.
The spirit of
local action for global outcomes is reflected in India’s work with France to
create the International Solar Alliance, whose framework agreement has so far
been ratified by 67 countries, and the launch of the Coalition for Disaster
Resilient Infrastructure, Jaishankar said.
The memorial
lecture was delivered by UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres, who said India
has all the ingredients for exerting leadership at home and abroad. He added
the drivers are poverty alleviation and universal energy access – two of
India’s top priorities.
“Scaling up
clean energy, particularly solar, is the recipe for solving both. Investments
in renewable energy, clean transport and energy efficiency during the recovery
from the pandemic could extend electricity access to 270 million people
worldwide – fully a third of people that currently lack it,” he said. He added,
“These same investments could help create nine million jobs annually over the
next three years.”
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/paints-itself-as-victim-shelters-terrorists-jaishankar-pans-pakistan/story-W7UzvUDhwNbjTe7IvMA2xK.html
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Pakistan
Govt plans
another joint sitting of parliament for FATF bills passage
Amir Wasim
29 Aug 2020
ISLAMABAD: After
the rejection of two FATF-related bills by the opposition-dominated Senate, the
government is now planning to convene another joint sitting of parliament next
week to get the crucial legislation passed, Dawn has learnt.
Adviser to the
Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan on Friday talked to National
Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser over phone to discuss the agenda for the upcoming
joint sitting in order to ensure the smooth passage of the bills required to be
passed to fulfil conditions of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to bring
the country out of the grey list of the countries in terms of terror financing.
After the
passage of the 18th Constitution Amendment, if a bill passed by one house of
parliament is rejected by the other house, it can only become a law after its
passage from a combined sitting of the two houses.
When contacted,
Mr Awan said that so far no date had been finalised for the joint sitting. He
said that he planned to have a joint meeting with the NA speaker and Senate
Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to finalise the date and agenda for the joint session.
In reply to a
question, he said the government was ready to talk to the opposition, but no
compromise would be made on the issues of national security and accountability.
He alleged that the opposition was only interested in putting “a lock at the
gate of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB)”.
PM’s aide rules
out compromise on national security, accountability
The 104-member
Senate had on Aug 25 rejected through a voice vote the Anti-Money Laundering
(Second Amendment) Bill and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Waqf
Properties Bill that had already been passed by the National Assembly only the
previous day after the opposition objected to some of the provisions of the
laws and linked its cooperation to retraction of the remarks made by Leader of
the House Dr Shahzad Waseem about their leadership.
Responding to
the opposition’s insistence on withdrawal of his remarks on Tuesday, Mr Waseem
said he had not named anybody.
Some opposition
members, however, said he did name Shahbaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari.
The opposition
members had also sought an apology from him, whereas the government side
accused the opposition of trying to blackmail it.
A day after the
rejection of the two bills, the opposition questioned the legality of the
entire proceedings leading to the voting process and said the bills could not
be sent to the joint sitting of parliament.
While the
opposition controverted the discretionary powers exercised by the Senate
chairman to allow the motion seeking permission to take the bills for
consideration, Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani ruled that the proceedings were in
accordance with the rules of business.
The opposition
has a thin majority of just nine votes in the joint sitting of parliament, but
the government is hopeful of getting the two bills passed from it.
The opposition’s
attitude in the Senate drew an immediate and strong reaction from Prime
Minister Imran Khan who wrote a series of tweets to attack the opposition
parties after the rejection of the bills, stating that “from day one, I have
maintained that the self-serving interests of the opposition leaders and the
country’s interests are divergent”.
Mr Khan stated
that the opposition leaders had become desperate to save their corrupt money by
trying to prevent parliament from functioning “by seeking to undermine
government’s effective Covid-19 strategy — a recognised global success story —
and now by trying to sabotage Pakistan’s efforts to exit FATF grey list”.
The prime
minister further said that the opposition tried to hide behind facade of
democracy to protect their loot and plunder.
“To blackmail
for NRO by defanging NAB, they would even have Pak put on FATF black list to
destroy nation’s economy & increase poverty. They keep threatening to bring
down govt unless given NRO,” he had said, adding that “no matter what happens,
my government will not allow any NRO as it would be betrayal of nation’s trust
in holding plunderers of public wealth accountable”.
Soon after the
prime minister’s tweets, both the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) defended their act of opposing the bills.
PPP’s Sherry
Rehman, while replying to the PM’s remarks, also through tweets, said they had
opposed the bills as powers to arrest without warrants were being given to the
police and investigators, adding that “this is neither required by FATF nor is
it defensible in any even the most illiberal democracy”.
“These laws are
being pushed as draconian laws,” she said. Moreover, she added, the FATF was
being used “to expand the scope of NAB to witch hunt the opposition”.
PML-N’s Shahid
Khaqan Abbasi had also declared the proposed bills as “black laws” and in
violation of the fundamental rights of the citizens.
The government
had previously convened joint sittings of parliament on Aug 6 and Aug 20.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1576920/govt-plans-another-joint-sitting-of-parliament-for-fatf-bills-passage
--------
ECP to take up
PTI foreign funding case shortly
Iftikhar A. Khan
29 Aug 2020
ISLAMABAD: The
Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is in the process of examining the report
of its scrutiny committee and will shortly take up for hearing the PTI foreign
funding case, informed sources told Dawn.
The ECP Scrutiny
Committee submitted its report to the commission on August 17 after meeting on
over 70 occasions since March 2018 when it was formed.
The committee
was initially mandated to complete scrutiny in one month. However, its mandate
was extended for another two months and subsequently for an indefinite period.
Finally on applications filed by the petitioner and PTI founding member Akbar
S. Babar complaining about lack of progress, the ECP on July 2, 2020 ordered
the committee to complete its scrutiny by August 17 and submit a report to the
ECP.
Dawn has gained
exclusive access to ECP Scrutiny Committee order sheets that make shocking
revelations about the PTI’s continued failure right till the end of the
scrutiny this month to share financial details ordered by the committee in
April 2018. The financial records include details of bank accounts in and
outside Pakistan and sources and details of funds received from different parts
of the world.
The Scrutiny
Committee order sheets reveal that in April 2018, the committee for the first
time listed 10 financial instruments that included statements of all bank
accounts maintained by the PTI in Pakistan and abroad. On May 28, 2018, the
committee asked the PTI lawyer “whether the accounts and other information
asked for vide order, dated April 25, 2018, have been prepared or not”. The
reply was in negative.”
Documents
highlight party’s refusal to share details of its bank accounts with scrutiny
committee
Once again in
its order sheet dated July 23, 2019, the committee states that “despite
repeated directions, the respondent did not provide complete information”. On
June 2, 2020, the committee once again wrote in its order sheet that the
“learned counsel for the respondent (PTI) was asked to provide details of
foreign accounts as per direction of the Committee dated April 25, 2018”. As
late as July 15, 2020, the committee reminded the PTI to submit details of
sources of income of the period in question. It further asked the party to make
available the record of domestic contributions/donations, along with details of
expenditures of the period.
Even during the
final meetings of the committee, the PTI failed to provide the requisite
information as the committee notes in its order of July 23, 2020 that “the
respondent party (PTI) is directed to provide the requisite information on the
next date of hearing to come up for further proceedings on August 6, 2020”.
The ECP Scrutiny
Committee order sheets also confirm the exclusive “Dawn Story of January 10,
2019” in which the discovery of more than a dozen PTI bank accounts, mostly
concealed from the ECP, was revealed. The story was contested by the PTI. The
Scrutiny Committee order sheet dated July 18, 2018 confirms that “in response
to our letter dated July 3, 2018, addressed to the Governor, State Bank of
Pakistan, Karachi, Statement of 23 banks have so far been received”.
The Scrutiny
Committee order sheets make another shocking revelation on the pressure exerted
by the PTI on the committee to refuse sharing details of its bank statements
with the petitioner.” The order sheet dated December 2, 2019 states that the
“learned Counsel for the complainant (Akbar S. Babar) was told that copies of
the documents submitted by the respondent cannot be provided at this stage as
the respondent (PTI) seriously opposes it, however he will be allowed to inspect
the same during the proceedings of scrutiny”.
Subsequently,
the ECP Scrutiny Committee even refused to allow the petitioner to examine the
PTI bank statements in contradiction of its earlier order of December 2, 2019.
The subsequent order of February 25, 2020 states that “the Committee vide order
dated December 2, 2019 had decided to allow the complainant to peruse the
documents submitted by the respondent except bank statements which have been
requisitioned by the committee from the Banks through State Bank of Pakistan
and also from the respondent (PTI).”
During the
two-and-a-half years, the committee met on 70 plus occasions, during which time
on more than 24 occasions, the PTI sought adjournments on various pretexts.
There is
documented evidence on how the PTI raised objections about one of the auditors
who was subsequently replaced.
The last meeting
of the Scrutiny Committee was held on August 13, 2020, when the petitioner
Akbar S. Babar submitted a note challenging the scrutiny of allegedly fake and
fabricated documents while the committee refused to share authenticated PTI
bank statements received on the instructions of the State Bank of Pakistan. Mr
Babar termed such scrutiny an “eyewash and a vain attempt to rubber-stamp
unauthenticated and fake documents submitted by PTI”.
Mr Babar claims
that the committee had made no serious attempt to proactively verify the
evidence submitted before it by the petitioner. In the note submitted before
the committee, the petitioner concludes that he cannot be part of “eyewash and
a vain attempt to rubber stamp scrutiny on the basis of fake documents to
re-engineer facts”.
Mr Babar, who
filed the foreign funding case in November 2014, claims that no auditor worth
his name would categorise an audit of any organisation as transparent and
credible:
where 23
SBP-certified PTI bank accounts are kept secret;
where all
international PTI bank accounts (6 identified) are kept secret;
where a
five-year scrutiny is reduced to four years, excluding year 2013 against the
written orders of the Supreme Court;
where the
evidence of a damming Imran Khan-certified PTI special audit report is ignored
and declared a non-paper;
where accounts
of two US- based limited liability companies registered under the instructions
of Imran Khan are kept secret;
where documented
evidence of illegal funding from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere is not even
investigated.
Mr Babar has now
called for an ECP inquiry to ascertain why the committee failed to conduct a
full and transparent scrutiny of PTI accounts and bowed to the pressure of the
party by not sharing bank account details received on instructions of the SBP.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1576944/ecp-to-take-up-pti-foreign-funding-case-shortly
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Southeast Asia
Ku Li urges Umno
MPs to resign from Cabinet following Bersatu’s proposal to admit non-Bumiputera
members
28 Aug 2020
BY RADZI RAZAK
KUALA LUMPUR,
Aug 28 — Umno veteran leader Tengku Tan Sri Razaleigh Hamzah has urged MPs from
his party today to quit their Cabinet posts, following Parti Pribumi Bersatu
Malaysia’s proposal to accept non-Malays as members.
The Gua Musang
MP, more commonly known as Ku Li, said the decision means that Bersatu can no
longer be a part of a Malay-Muslim ruling pact supported by Muafakat Nasional,
the alliance between Umno and PAS.
“Umno has never
joined Perikatan Nasional and we only gave our support to form the government
in the interest of the country’s political stability.
“With the
changes in Bersatu, it is appropriate for Umno leaders in the Cabinet to
withdraw from the government.
“This should be
done as soon as possible so we do not waste time which should be used to focus
on bigger issues such as the difficulty of youth to find jobs in the Covid-19
pandemic,” he said in a statement.
Tengku Razaleigh
also said this issue must be addressed in the party’s annual general meeting
soon.
Last month,
during a lavish ceremony welcoming the faction of former PKR deputy president
Datuk Seri Azmin Ali into Bersatu, Muhyiddin proposed a new chapter in the
Malay native party to accommodate and allow non-Malay leaders to contribute and
hold positions in the party.
The party
currently allows non-Malays to join the party as associate members but they
cannot hold leadership positions.
Bersatu recently
agreed to join Muafakat Nasional along with Umno and PAS.
It is also in
the process of registering the Perikatan Nasional coalition with PAS and two
Sabah parties SAPP and STAR.
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/08/28/ku-li-urges-umno-mps-to-resign-from-cabinet-following-bersatus-proposal-to/1898110
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Mideast
Iran Urges
International Pressure on Israel to Join NPT
Aug 28, 2020
Deputy Permanent
Representative of Iran to the UN Eshaq Al Habib said that the international
community must force the Zionist regime to sign the NPT.
"The
destructive role of the US and the Israeli regime has prevented the realization
of the Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone," Al Habib said.
He made the
remarks in a virtual meeting held on the anniversary of the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) on Thursday.
Al Habib pointed
to the destructive and criminal role of the Israeli regime in the region,
emphasizing that the regime must allow IAEA access to its nuclear facilities.
The diplomat
strongly slammed Washington’s role in the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and
noted that with 1054 nuclear tests, the US has had the highest number of the
tests in the world.
"The US has
the world's largest nuclear arsenal and is the only country that has used
nuclear bombs," said he, adding that Washington does not intend to end its
nuclear tests, and rather, aims to modernize its nuclear arsenal.
"Nuclear
disarmament must remain at the top of the international community's
agenda," Al Habib said, adding that the nuclear tests must be stopped
since they are against the soul of CTBT and commitment to nuclear disarmament
as per the Article VI of the NPT.
In relevant
remarks in June, Iranian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to
Vienna-Based International Organization Kazzem Qaribabadi reaffirmed Tehran’s
principled position for complete obliteration of nuclear weapons, and expressed
deep concern over violation of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT)
by France and the US.
Addressing the
54th Session of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) in Vienna on Thursday June 25,
Qaribabadi stressed once again Iran’s long-standing and principled position on
the urgent need for the full elimination of nuclear weapons, and added,
“France’s recent test of a missile, which is capable of carrying multiple
nuclear warheads, and nuclear test explosions proposed by the US, are in serious
breach of international nuclear nonproliferation treaties.”
He noted that
unfortunately, after more than two decades since the approval of the treaty,
achieving its main goal to terminate nuclear weapons’ development has become
more out of reach.
Iran’s envoy
underlined that the modernization and testing of nuclear weapons threaten NPT
as well as the global peace and security.
The unilateral
and illegal withdrawal from many international agreements, such as the Open
Skies Treaty, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the Intermediate-Range
Nuclear Forces Treaty and JCPOA has become normal for the US that is not only
against multilateralism but also damages international peace and security, he
said.
He also
expressed concern over US Senate approval of a $10 million budget for such a
nuclear test, calling on the US and France to live up to their commitments to
comply with protecting the objectives of disarmament treaties.
https://en.farsnews.ir/newstext.aspx?nn=13990607000445
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EU set to sanction
Turkey over east Mediterranean: Top diplomat
28 August 2020
The European
Union is preparing sanctions against Turkey that could be discussed at the
bloc’s next summit on Sept. 24 in response to the eastern Mediterranean dispute
with Greece, the EU’s top diplomat said on Friday.
The measures
could include individuals, ships or the use of European ports, said Josep
Borrell, adding the EU would focus on everything related to “activities we
consider illegal.”
Tensions between
Turkey and Greece escalated after Ankara sent a survey vessel to disputed
eastern Mediterranean waters this month, a step Athens called illegal.
Turkey said
Thursday it will host military drills involving the use of live ammunition in
the eastern Mediterranean next week, according to a tweet by Turkey's TRT
Arabic news outlet.
The drills will
take place on Tuesday, September 1, and Wednesday, September 2, said TRT,
despite concerns being voiced by Greece, Cyprus and other countries over
Turkey's increasingly assertive claims over mineral rights in vast swathes of
disputed waters.
“We are
determined to protect our rights in the eastern Mediterranean,” the Turkish
media outlet quoted the country's Defense Minister Hulusi Agar as saying.
Agar echoed the
words of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said on Wednesday that
Ankara was “determined to do whatever is necessary” to secure its claims in the
eastern Mediterranean.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/08/28/EU-may-sanction-Turkish-ships-over-east-Mediterranean-Top-diplomat.html
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Iranian man who
beheaded teenage daughter sentenced to nine years in prison
28 August 2020
An Iranian man
who beheaded his teenage daughter in a so-called “honor killing” back in May
has been sentenced to nine years in prison, the victim’s mother said on Friday.
The victim’s
mother, Rana Dashti, said she intends to appeal for a harsher sentence against
her husband, Reza Ashrafi, who beheaded their 13-year-old daughter Romina
Ashrafi in her sleep on May 14 in a so-called “honor killing” that shook Iran
and stoked a nationwide outcry.
The court’s
verdict has “caused fear and panic in me and my family,” Dashti told the
semi-official ILNA news agency.
“I object to
this verdict and I want to appeal to the Supreme Court,” she said.
Dashti said she
worries about the safety of her only other child should her husband be
released, saying: “I do not want my husband to ever return to our village.”
Iranians have
also expressed their dissatisfaction with the verdict on social media.
Many noted that
the country regularly issues much harsher sentences for journalists and
activists.
The victim,
Romina Ashrafi, had run away from home with an older man – reportedly 35 years
old – following her father’s opposition to the two getting married.
The man Ashrafi
had run away with has been sentenced to two years in prison, her mother said.
Ashrafi was
found and handed over to her father by the police despite her “repeated
warnings” that she would be in danger at home, according to reports. The
incident occurred in the city of Talesh in the northern province of Gilan.
Iran’s judiciary
chief Ebrahim Raisi had promised at the time that the case will be dealt with
in a manner that would deter others from committing similar acts.
Many Iranians
believe the country’s laws facilitate “honor killings” by being overly lenient
on those who carry them out.
A month before
killing his daughter, Ashrafi had checked and found out through his son-in-law,
who is a lawyer, that based on Iran’s laws, he would not receive the death
penalty for killing his own child, an Iranian daily reported.
A father who
kills his child is not considered a murderer and escapes the death penalty,
according to Iran’s laws. Yet last month Iran executed a man for drinking
alcohol.
The exact
figures for honor killings in Iran are unknown.
In 2014, Hadi
Mostafaei, a senior police official at the time, said that honor killings made
up 20 percent of the murder cases in the country.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/08/28/Iranian-who-beheaded-teenage-daughter-sentenced-to-nine-years-in-prison.html
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Turkish lawyer
Ebru Timtik dies on hunger strike after 238 days
28 August 2020
A Turkish lawyer
demanding a fair trial after being charged with membership of a terrorist
organization has died in an Istanbul hospital on the 238th day of her hunger
strike.
Friends said
Ebru Timtik weighed just 30 kilogrammes (65 pounds) at the time of her death,
which has sparked condemnation from opposition parties in Turkey.
“Ebru Timtik,
who has been on hunger strike for 238 days demanding fair trial, became a
martyr!” the People's Law Bureau, a leftist lawyers' organization mainly
focused on Turkey's political cases, announced on Twitter late Thursday.
For all the
latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Timtik was a
member of the Contemporary Lawyers' Association (CHD), another leftist group
accused of having close ties to the outlawed Revolutionary People's Liberation
Party-Front (DHKP-C), a far-left Marxist organization.
The DHKP-C has
claimed responsibility for a number of deadly attacks in Turkey, including a
2013 suicide bombing at the US embassy in Ankara, which killed a Turkish
security guard.
In 2019, an
Istanbul court handed multiple sentences to 18 lawyers, including Timtik, on
charges of “forming and running a terror group” and “membership in a terror
group.”
Timtik, who had
been initially detained in September 2018, was sentenced to 13 years and six
months in prison, which prompted her and some other lawyers to start a hunger
strike in February.
She had been
jailed in Silivri - a huge court and prison complex on the outskirts of
Istanbul.
Last October, an
appeals court unheld the lawyers' jail sentences.
Hunger strike in
Turkish prison
Timtik, who
turned her hunger strike into a death fast together with another lawyer, Aytac
Unsal, was moved from the prison to a hospital in July.
The pair were
consuming only liquids and vitamins, and a forensic report showed at the time
that their condition was “not suitable” for a continued stay in prison.
A few dozen
people were waiting Friday outside an Istanbul forensic lab which was examining
her body.
Police
heightened security measures around the building, according to an AFP reporter.
The death of
Timtik, who friends said was born in 1978, has been condemned by opposition
parties.
“Ebru Timtik was
massacred by the tyrants in power!” Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker
Garo Paylan said in a tweet.
Turkey has in
the past seen hunger strikes launched by left-leaning political groups.
Last year,
thousands of prisoners ended their hunger strike against the conditions of
jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan around 200 days after launching their
fast.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/08/28/Turkish-lawyer-Ebru-Timtik-dies-on-hunger-strike-after-238-days.html
--------
Human Rights
Watch raps Jordan over arrest of cartoonist criticizing UAE-Israel deal
29 August 2020
Human Rights
Watch has censured the detention of prominent Jordanian cartoonist Emad
al-Hajjaj for publishing a cartoon satirizing the recent agreement between the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel to normalize full diplomatic relations,
calling on authorities to immediately release and drop abusive charges against
him.
“Calling a
satirical cartoon a terrorism offense only confirms that Jordan intends to
muzzle citizens who speak freely,” Joe Stork, Deputy Director for the Middle
East and North Africa division of the New York-based organization, said on
Friday.
He added, “This
arrest sends the message that Jordanian authorities would rather abuse the
rights of their own citizens than risk offending a [Persian] Gulf leader’s
feelings.”
On August 26,
Jordanian authorities arrested Hajjaj after he posted a cartoon to his website
and social media, which shows Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al
Nahyan holding a dove with the Israeli flag painted on it, spitting on the face
of the UAE de facto ruler, who is also known as MBZ.
The cartoon
referenced recent reports that Israel had urged the United States not to sell
F-35 stealth combat aircraft to the UAE despite the recent normalization deal
between the Tel Aviv regime and the Persian Gulf state.
The public
prosecutor referred the 53-year-old cartoonist to the State Security Court the
following day, on the charge of “disturbing [Jordan’s] relations with a foreign
state.”
The court, a
military tribunal which deals with terrorism-related cases, decided to keep
Hajjaj in detention for 14 days pending an investigation. He could face up to
five years in prison if found guilty.
Hajjaj’s
detention reflects a broader deterioration of protections for free expression
and media freedom in Jordan in recent years, the HRW said.
The human rights
organization underlined that Jordanian authorities should release the
cartoonist and drop the abusive charges against him, and work to remove overly
broad articles from the country’s Penal Code, Electronic Crimes Law, and
counterterrorism law that are frequently used to unduly restrict Jordanians’
right to freedom of expression.
“Jordan should
be more concerned about harming its international standing through these
politically motivated prosecutions than about its citizens peacefully
criticizing other countries’ rulers,” Stork said.
Meanwhile, the
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned Hajjaj’s arrest and
recent attacks on media freedom in Jordan, and demanded the immediate release
of the renowned cartoonist whose satirical cartoons have appeared in major
Jordanian daily newspapers for decades.
“These
unfortunate developments reveal a rapid and severe deterioration of press
freedom and union rights in Jordan. The media blackout crushes journalists’
ability to report on issues of the utmost importance, and restricts people’s
right to engage in a democratic debate. Jordan must immediately lift the media
blackout and release Emad Hajjaj,” IFJ Secretary General, Anthony Bellanger,
said.
The Committee to
Protect Journalists has also urged Jordanian authorities to immediately release
Hajjaj, drop all charges against him, and let him work freely.
“Journalists and
cartoonists like Emad Hajjaj are entitled to express their views freely on the
Israel-UAE deal, which affects the lives of millions of people across the
region,” CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa representative, Ignacio Miguel Delgado,
said.
He added,
“Jordanian authorities should immediately release Hajjaj, drop all charges
against him, and allow him to provide political commentary without fear of
imprisonment.”
Under the
agreement between Israel and the UAE, the Tel Aviv regime has purportedly
agreed to "temporarily" suspend applying its own rule to further
areas in the occupied West Bank and the strategic Jordan Valley that Netanyahu
had pledged to annex.
While Emirati
officials have described the normalization deal with the Tel Aviv regime as a
successful means to stave off annexation and save the so-called two-state
solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israeli leaders have lined up to
reject MBZ’s bluff that Israel's annexation plans were off the table.
Netanyahu has underlined
that annexation is not off the table, but has simply been delayed.
A senior Israeli
source also said Trump’s administration had requested to temporarily suspend
the announcement of annexations "to first implement the historic peace
agreement with the UAE.”
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/08/29/632833/Human-Rights-Watch-raps-Jordan-over-arrest-of-cartoonist-criticizing-Israel-UAE-deal
--------
Europe
US mulls
pressure on European allies for siding with Iran: Report
28 August 2020
The
administration of US President Donald Trump is reportedly considering options
to pressure European members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
following their refusal to support the United States in its efforts to extend
an illegal arms embargo on Iran.
Multiple
American officials, who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon news website on
Thursday, said the Trump administration was mulling repercussions for its
European allies after they broke with the US on a proposed Iran arms ban
earlier in the month, a move that plunged US diplomatic ties with Europe to a
new historic low.
On August 14,
the 15-member UNSC unanimously rejected a US resolution to extend an arms
embargo on Iran, which is due to expire in October in line with a landmark
nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA).
The resolution
needed nine of 15 votes to pass. Eleven
members abstained, including France, Germany and Britain, while the US and the
Dominican Republic were the only “yes” votes.
The vote
highlighted the division between Washington and its European allies since Trump
unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA, which had been endorsed by Security
Council Resolution 2231, in May 2018.
The Trump
administration’s affiliates in Congress expressed anger over Europe’s move at
the UNSC and acknowledged that relations with the United States could crumble
over the Iran dispute.
Washington Free
Beacon cited some American officials as saying that the US diplomats were
seeking to force European allies to split with Iran as well as Russia and
China.
"The
fecklessness shown over the last few weeks by Britain, France, and Germany will
obviously and unfortunately complicate our relations," said a spokesman
for US Republican Senator Ted Cruz, an Iran hawk.
As part of
efforts to exert pressure on France, Germany, and the United Kingdom — the E3 —
Washington is projected to move forward with plans to levy sanctions on a
financial mechanism known as INSTEX, which has been used by Europe to bypass sanctions
on Iran and facilitate the export of medical goods from Europe to the country.
The United
States could also freeze assets and deny visas to European diplomats who work
with INSTEX to help Iran gain access to liquid assets, according to a former senior
administration official familiar with the matter.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/08/28/632790/US-repercussions-UNSC-European-allies-arms-embargo
--------
French minister
heads to Iraq amid Islamic State resurgence
AUGUST 27, 2020
PARIS (Reuters)
- French armed forces minister Florence Parly began a trip to Iraq on Thursday
that the ministry said formed part of the country’s ongoing commitment to the
fight against terrorism and its support for Iraq’s sovereignty.
“The minister
for the armed forces is insistent upon the fact that Islamic State remains a
serious challenge which we must continue to face up to. French airstrikes
against isolated pockets of Islamic State have picked up in recent months,” the
French armed forces ministry said in a statement.
Ministry
officials said Paris was concerned by a resurgence in Iraq of the group, which
is profiting from political uncertainty in the country and rivalries between
Iran and the United States in the region.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-iraq/french-minister-heads-to-iraq-amid-islamic-state-resurgence-idUSKBN25N0TP?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1478976_
--------
Mutating terror
threat still looms over Europe
28/08/2020
The terrorist
threat against Europe has mutated in the last half-decade as jihadist groups
have seen their Middle East sanctuaries eroded, but analysts say the West must
remain braced for more attacks.
Both Al-Qaeda
and the Islamic State group -- together responsible for the highest-profile and
most horrific terror attacks of the past two decades -- have lost potency as
global organisations.
Despite
splintering into branches and franchises, their murderous ideology is still
able to inspire individuals to carry out random attacks in their name.
Next week in
Paris, 14 people face trial over the massacres in January 2015 at satirical
magazine Charlie Hebdo, a policewoman and hostages in a Jewish supermarket --
violence claimed for both IS and Al-Qaeda.
The murderous
shooting spree heralded an unprecedented wave of attacks in France.
The deadliest
were the coordinated attacks in Paris on November 13 that year at the Bataclan
music venue and other venues, when gunmen killed 130 in a plan stemming from
the IS group's core leadership in Syria.
Experts believe
the same style of assault would be unlikely to recur now, not least because IS
has seen a dramatic loss of its territory and membership in Iraq and Syria.
More typical
this year were "isolated individuals who were not spotted by the
intelligence services... and their limited or even non-existent contacts with
identified jihadist networks," a source in the French anti-terror
prosecutors' office told AFP.
Since 2015,
France has seen 17 crimes classified as acts of terror.
Three took place
in 2020, none of which were claimed by the terror groups but were instead
perpetrated by isolated individuals suffering from psychological problems.
But anti-terror
prosecutors still see signs of operational coordination, including
"networks of false documents and funding," the source said.
- 'Attack
possible' -
Seth Jones,
director of the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, said that in recent years, US and
other military operations had "decimated" the IS external operations
network, killing or capturing many of its key operational leaders.
Its military
rout and the loss of territory IS had declared as a caliphate in Iraq and Syria
have also diminished its status, and the motivation for individuals to carry
out attacks in its name.
It remains
possible that Al-Qaeda could carry out a major attack in Europe, Jones said,
either directly or through individuals inspired by its ideology, though this
was "not a high probability".
The Covid-19
pandemic may have taken some focus off terrorism for security forces worldwide.
But it has also
complicated the task of the jihadists, who have been active on a local level
but very cautious about ranging further afield.
"In
general, the short-term terrorist threat has risen in conflict zones and fallen
in non-conflict zones," a UN report said in mid-July.
- 'Easier in
Africa' -
Plots continue
to emerge, however.
German
authorities said in April they had foiled a plot to target American military
installations, and arrested five Tajiks suspected of acting in the name of IS.
Another source
of risk comes from individuals released from jail in Europe or freed or escaped
from Kurdish-controlled prisons in northern Syria where they have been held
since IS was defeated.
Jean-Charles
Brisard, head of the France-based Center for the Analysis of Terrorism (CAT),
told AFP he did not rule out a new targeted action by IS, pointing to recent
attacks foiled in Europe.
"The next
cycle will be that of those who are leaving jail," he said.
The CAT has
established that 60 percent of prisoners in France convicted over their actions
in past conflicts in Bosnia, Iraq or Afghanistan reoffended violently after
their release.
A French
security source, who asked not to be named, said West Africa is a particular
concern after France's forces deployed in the region in June killed the head of
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Abdelmalek Droukdel.
Eight people,
including six young French aid workers, were killed in a suspected jihadist
raid on August 9 in Niger but no group has claimed responsibility for the
attack.
"I find it
more likely that AQIM will conduct a revenge attack against French forces or
other French targets in Africa -- including North and West Africa -- than in
France itself," said Jones. "It is easier for the group to operate in
Africa."
https://www.france24.com/en/20200828-mutating-terror-threat-still-looms-over-europe?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1478976_
--------
Africa
Nigeria: Boko
Haram Has Political Patrons, the Question Is - Who Are They?
27 AUGUST 2020
By Olu Fasan
Obadiah
Mailafia, former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, recently
stirred up a hornet's nest when he told a radio station that "one of the
northern governors is the commander of Boko Haram".
As quick as a
flash, the Department of State Services, DSS, invited him for
"questioning", and the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, NBC, slammed
a N5m fine on the radio station, Nigeria Info 99.3 FM, for giving Dr. Mailafia
a platform "to promote unverifiable and inciting views".
Defending the
DSS's action, President Buhari's senior media assistant, Garba Shehu, said:
"When somebody claiming to be a responsible citizen makes such a claim as
Obadiah Mailafia did ... and he shouldn't be asked questions, so what kind of
society do we want?"
My immediate
reaction was: What an utter distraction! The Yoruba would say A kii fi ete sile
pa lapalapa, meaning: "One does not ignore leprosy to treat a rash."
But that's what the Buhari government is doing.
It is ignoring
the leprosy of terrorism that is devastating lives and communities across
Nigeria and focusing on the rash of so-called hate speech!
The truth is
that all major terrorist organisations have financial backers and political
patrons who fund and arm them; otherwise, they would easily be crushed by the
state's firepower.
So, given the
seeming indestructibility of Boko Haram and the killer herdsmen, whose attacks
are well-planned, organised and systematic, with sophisticated weaponry, such
as machine guns, AK47s, rocket launchers and rocket-propelled grenades,
according to an Amnesty International report, Nigerians are entitled to ask:
Who are behind them?
Dr. Mailafia is
not the first to say that powerful political forces are behind the terrorist
groups. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo once described Boko Haram's agenda
as the "Fulanisation" and "Islamisation" of Nigeria, and,
in March 2018, General Theophilus Danjuma, former chief of army staff and
defence minister, told the Middle-Belt people to "protect"
themselves, saying: "The armed forces are not neutral. They collude with the
armed bandits. They facilitate their movements, they cover them"!
Crucially, those
views are shared internationally. Indeed, while some of us, including me, are
being politically correct by using the term "killer-herdsmen" instead
of "Fulani herdsmen", international observers are not that
circumspect. For instance, in several recent debates on Nigeria in the UK House
of Lords, most speakers referred to "Fulani militia" or "Fulani
insurgents". Nigerians may be sugar-coating the facts; the world is not!
Furthermore, few
around the world believe that the so-called herder-farmer clashes are driven
only by desertification and competition for resources. As Baroness Cox, a
regular visitor to Nigeria, put it, "there is a strong ideological
dimension to the Fulani attacks".
And Lord Alton
posited that "given the escalation, frequency, organisation and asymmetry
of the Fulani attacks", the references to "farmer-herder
clashes" no longer sufficed.
In other words,
the insurgencies have ethnic, religious and ideological drivers, and,
inevitably, financial backers and political patrons, who align with and fuel
those motivations.
Strange, then,
that some commentators pooh-poohed Mailafia's comment as a "conspiracy
theory". But if Mailafia's theory of political leadership of Boko Haram is
flawed, if Obasanjo's thesis of Fulanisation and Islamisation is wrong and if
Danjuma's postulation about the military's collusion in ethnic cleansing is
outlandish, so what exactly is the correct theory?
Why is the
military offensively and defensively too weak to confront Boko Haram's spread
and daringness? How could the insurgents, supposedly "technically
defeated" since 2015, overrun an army base in 2018, "leaving hundreds
of soldiers unaccounted for"?
Where are the
Islamist Fulani herdsmen getting their highly sophisticated weaponry from?
Allow me one more question: Buhari vowed during the 2015 election campaign to
bring Boko Haram insurgency to a rapid end, so why, five years later, has he
raised the white flag, saying rather blithely recently: "I am surprised
Boko Haram still exists"?
Of course, there
is another theory: Nigeria is a failed state! After all, a state's basic claim
to legitimacy is that it has a monopoly on the use of organised violence within
its territory. But when a 'state' lacks the capacity to respond effectively to
organised non-state violence, well, it has become a failed or fragile state.
Sadly, Nigeria
is too ill-equipped to tackle the widespread security threats from organised
non-state violence. When terrorists are overrunning army bases and overpowering
soldiers, as Boko Haram often does, we are in a failed or fragile state
territory, aren't we?
Even if, as some
might argue, the problem is the trafficking of weapons and migration of
terrorists from neighbouring states, well, it's only failed or fragile states
that can't secure their borders
But valid as the
failed or fragile state theory might be, it cannot explain or excuse the
serious ethno-religious dimensions of the Boko Haram and herdsmen's attacks.
Nor can it disguise what seems like the state's passive support - government
sometimes turns a blind eye to the atrocities of the armed bandits - and the
political patronage that embolden the insurgents.
https://allafrica.com/stories/202008270109.html?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1478976_
--------
Two Killed, 15
Injured in Jihadist Ambush in Nigeria
August 29, 2020
Jihadists have
ambushed a civilian convoy in northeast Nigeria's Borno state, killing two
people and injuring 15, militia sources said Friday.
The gunmen
opened fire as the convoy, under military escort, was heading to the town of
Gamboru near the border with Cameroon late Thursday, they said.
"The
insurgents killed two civilians and seriously injured 15," militia leader
Ibrahim Liman told AFP.
The convoy,
comprising mostly traders, was coming from the regional capital Maiduguri, 130
kilometres (80 miles) from the Cameroonian border, when the attack occurred in
the village of Mussine.
"The troops
returned fire and the attackers retreated, but unfortunately two people were
killed among the passengers," said another militia leader, Umar Kachalla.
Travelling on
highways in northern Borno has become dangerous as fighters from the so-called
Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and rival Boko Haram set up bogus
checkpoints where they kill or abduct passengers.
The situation
has prompted the authorities to organise travellers in convoys under military
protection but attacks have persisted.
It was not
immediately clear which jihadist faction was behind the latest attack as both
Boko Haram and ISWAP operate in the area.
The decade-long
jihadist conflict, which spilled into nighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, has
left 36,000 and and displaced around two million from their homes in Nigeria
alone.
A regional
military coalition involving troops from the four countries, is fighting to end
the violence.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/274469?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1478976_
--------
Militants kill
four Malian soldiers in ambush
AUGUST 27, 2020
BAMAKO (Reuters)
- Four Malian solders were killed and 12 wounded on Thursday after militants
ambushed a military anti-poaching patrol in the violence-plagued central region
of Mopti, the army said.
Mali was rocked
last week by a coup that ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, which
international powers fear could further destabilise the country and undermine
the fight against insurgents there and in the wider Sahel region.
Islamist groups
with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State operate in arid central and northern
Mali, using the area as a base to attack soldiers and civilians in neighboring
Burkina Faso, Niger and beyond.
Reinforcements
have been sent to the area of the Mopti attack around 25 km (16 miles) from the
town of Konna, the army said in a statement.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mali-security-attack/militants-kill-four-malian-soldiers-in-ambush-idUSKBN25N2GM?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1478976_
--------
Mozambique:
Terrorist Behead Seven On Nhonge Island
27 AUGUST 2020
Maputo —
Islamist terrorists have beheaded seven people in an attack against the island
of Nhonge, off the coast of Mocimboa da Praia district, in the northern
Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, reports Thursday's issue of the
independent newssheet "Mediafax".
According to
local sources, cited by "Mediafax", the island was formerly regarded
as a safe haven. People used to flee to Nhonge from the mainland to escape the
atrocities committed by the terrorists, known locally as
"Al-Shabaab", although they do not seem to have any organisational
links with the Somali organisation of that name.
But the island
came under attack last Friday, perhaps because, at low tide, it is possible to
walk to the island from the main land village of Ulo. The attackers seized
seven men and beheaded them.
They kidnapped a
further ten to 20 people (the paper's sources differed as to the exact number)
and looted goods from the informal shops on the island. The stolen goods were
loaded onto five boats and taken to the mainland.
https://allafrica.com/stories/202008270856.html?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1478976_
--------
South Asia
Ex-president
Hamid Karzai says ‘serious mistakes were made by the US’ in Afghanistan
29 August 2020
Former president
of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai said that serious mistakes were made by the United
States in his country but held out hope that ongoing intra-Afghan negotiations
with the Taliban brokered by Washington would bring lasting peace.
Karzai, speaking
from Kabul with Al Arabiya senior anchor Mayssoun Noueihed in a special
interview, said the US’ so-called “War or Terror” was the basis of the issues
Afghanistan has faced in the past two decades.
For all the
latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
“Serious
mistakes were made by the United States of America. They did not conduct their
so-called War on Terror from where it was coming. But they went and began to
hurt and bomb the Afghan villages, the Afghan people and began to arrest of
Afghan people, that became the foundation of the troubles that we have now and
the foundation also of my disagreements with the United States,” Karzai said.
Karzai became
Afghanistan’s president after a 2001 US-led invasion ousted the Taliban
government.
Peace talks
between warring Afghan sides will begin in September said the country’s top
peace negotiator last Thursday in Kabul, a crucial diplomatic process needed to
end about two decades of war in Afghanistan.
US President
Donald Trump’s administration has been pushing both sides to resolve difference
and sit across the negotiating table, paving way to end one of America’s
longest war.
“For the start
of talks, the most important thing, the most important element in that
agreement is an end to hostilities in Afghanistan and inter-fighting
Afghanistan, and the withdrawal of US troops and the return of Afghanistan to
intra Afghan dialogue and peace talks. These are fundamental principles to
which we agree,” Karzai told Al Arabiya.
“The aspirations
for Afghanistan are the same, a peaceful Afghanistan, a stable Afghanistan, a
United Afghanistan. Now how to function, how to govern, how to move towards
that, there may be different interpretations, it is these interpretations of
certain values within society, the interpretation of how to move progress. What
is progress is to be discussed, and I'm sure that agreement will come,” the
former president added.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2020/08/29/Former-leader-Hamid-Karzai-says-serious-mistakes-were-made-by-the-US-in-Afghanistan.html
--------
Afghan Leaders:
US-Backed Peace Talks with Taliban to Begin Next Week
By Ayaz Gul
August 27, 2020
ISLAMABAD,
PAKISTAN - Top leaders in Afghanistan announced Thursday that U.S.-backed peace
talks with the Taliban insurgency will start next week to negotiate a political
settlement to the country’s long conflict.
The proposed
dialogue stems from a landmark pact the United States sealed with the Taliban
in February to promote a negotiated settlement to the Afghan war, the longest
U.S. overseas military intervention.
Abdullah
Abdullah, who leads the state peacemaking High Council for National Reconciliation,
told a seminar in Kabul his team “is well prepared” to enter what he referred
to as intra-Afghan negotiations.
Just hours
later, Afghan Foreign Minister Haneef Atmar confirmed to an online forum in
Washington that his government has moved to finally settle the dispute over a
prisoner swap that had prevented the Taliban from joining the talks.
“We are
optimistic that next week we will be making big progress in this respect. The
last hurdles in terms of release of prisoners are being addressed successfully.
So, hopefully we will be soon done with all those initial hurdles that were in
the way of starting the peace negotiations,” Atmar said in his speech at the
U.S. Institute of Peace.
Atmar noted he
was “cautiously optimistic" that there will not be a further hurdle on the
way to the talks. He also said he expected the Taliban to meet its promise that
the freed prisoners will not return to the battlefield, saying the inmates are
a “very dangerous” group of people.
“With the
release of the last batch of the Taliban prisoners, we will have released by
the end of next week over 5,600 of the Taliban’s prisoners ... Second, we want
a reduction in [Taliban] violence,” the Afghan foreign minister stressed.
'The ball was in
their court'
Taliban
spokesman Suhail Shaheen swiftly but cautiously welcomed Thursday’s
announcements by the Afghan government.
“The ball was in
their court, and if they have decided to free the prisoners and remove the last
hurdle in the way to negotiations, then it is, indeed, good news,” Shaheen told
VOA.
The February 29
U.S.-Taliban agreement calls for the insurgents to free 1,000 Afghan security
personnel from their captivity. Kabul, which is not part of the pact, was
required to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners to pave the way for the two adversaries
to come to the negotiation table.
While the
Taliban already has set free the prisoners to meet their obligation, the Afghan
government released all but 320 insurgent fighters citing security concerns.
Kabul also insisted that foreign governments were opposing the release of some
of the detainees for allegedly killing their nationals.
The Taliban
clarified in a recent statement that the start of intra-Afghan negotiations
will not mean a cease-fire or reduction of violence by insurgents, saying the
subject will be part of the agenda in the intra-Afghan talks. The insurgent
group also has stated that its leadership has instructed all Taliban members
released by Kabul to go back to their families and not to rejoin the fighting.
For its part,
the U.S. has already reduced its forces in Afghanistan to about 8,600 since
signing the deal with the Taliban. President Donald Trump said earlier this
month that the number of American troops would be cut to “between 4,000 and
5,000” by the November U.S. presidential election.
Washington has
committed itself to pull out all U.S. forces from the country by mid-2021 in
return for assurances the Taliban will prevent the use of Afghan soil for
international terrorism and successfully negotiate a deal with rival Afghan factions.
Pakistan's role
Pakistan, which
shares a long border with Afghanistan, has played a key role in organizing and
facilitating the U.S.-Taliban deal. The neighboring country’s spy agency,
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), is known for its traditionally close ties
with Afghan armed groups, including the Taliban, since the time of the former
Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s.
The latest
positive developments in the troubled Afghan peace process followed Tuesday’s
talks between Pakistan and a visiting high-level Taliban delegation in
Islamabad.
On Wednesday,
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan telephoned Abdullah and told him that
"Pakistan looks forward to the commencement of intra-Afghan negotiations
at the earliest.”
Renewed hopes
for peace talks come as deadly clashes continued in Afghanistan, inflicting
heavy casualties on combatants and civilians. The United Nations reported
Thursday that days of fighting between government forces and insurgents in the
northern province of Kunduz have also displaced more than 64,000 people.
Meanwhile,
Afghan officials said the death toll Thursday had risen to at least 150 after
two days of rain-triggered heavy flooding in northern and eastern parts of the
country.
The calamity
compounded challenges for authorities as they struggled to contain the spread
of the coronavirus that has infected more than 38,000 Afghans and killed 1,400.
https://www.voanews.com/south-central-asia/afghan-leaders-us-backed-peace-talks-taliban-begin-next-week?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1478976_
--------
Arab world
Deadly firefight
in Lebanon sparks warnings of more sectarian trouble
NAJIA HOUSSARI
August 29, 2020
BEIRUT: A deadly
battle between two major Lebanese sectarian groups has prompted warnings of
more violence as the country is pushed to the breaking point by a financial
meltdown and political tensions.
Two people — a
13-year-old Lebanese Sunni boy and a Syrian man — were killed in the Khaldeh
area south of the capital in the shootout on Thursday night. Machine guns and
rocket-propelled grenades were used in the fighting, which witnesses said
lasted four hours.
A Sunni Arab
tribe to which the boy belonged accused members of the Iran-backed Shiite group
Hezbollah of opening fire.
The Lebanese
army, which was heavily deployed in the area on Friday, said the problem
spiralled out of a row over a poster put up by Shiites.
Lebanese
President Michel Aoun has set Aug. 31 as a date for binding parliamentary
consultations to designate a new prime minister to succeed Hassan Diab’s
government.
Sources close to
the former leaders told Arab News: “There is a decision not to give President
Aoun political authority, and we have to wait to see who will respond to Aoun’s
invitation to the consultations on Monday in light of the significant political
dispute with him.”
Leader of the
Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt said: “After a delay in calling for
consultations and violating the Taif Agreement, it appears that some political
forces are already examining a new constitution, and some are loudly calling
for it.”
Aoun objected to
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s proposal to nominate Hariri to head the next
government, and Hezbollah objected to nominating Nawaf Salam, a judge on the
International Court of Justice in The Hague, and Mohammed Baasiri, who was
vice-governor of the Banque du Liban and the secretary of the Special
Investigation Commission fighting money laundering.
Aoun’s office
released a schedule of the consultations that will begin Monday morning and end
in the afternoon. The person who gets the largest backing from parliamentary
blocs and members will be asked by Aoun to form a new Cabinet.
French President
Emmanuel Macron will next week meet iconic singer Fairuz and members of Lebanon’s
political leadership as he returns to the country in search of serious reform
in the wake of the devastating Beirut port blast.
Macron will be
in Lebanon on Monday and Tuesday for his second visit in less than a month.
Fairuz, 85, is
one of the rare figures in Lebanon who is admired across the multi-confessional
country.
Karim Emile
Bitar, a political science professor in France and Lebanon, tweeted it was an
“excellent decision” by Macron to meet Fairuz, describing her as “arguably the
most iconic, dignified and consensual Lebanese figure.”
An official in
the French presidency said that Macron’s visit to Beirut aims “to pressure
Lebanon’s political leaders to move forward in forming a government that can
implement urgent reforms. The president will not give up.”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1726236/middle-east
--------
Turkey uses
drinking water as weapon of war against civilians in Syria’s Hasakah: UN envoy
28 August 2020
Syria's
Permanent Representative to the United Nations Bashar al-Jaafari says Turkey
uses drinking war as a weapon of war against ordinary people in the country’s
northeastern province of Hasakah.
“The sufferings
of people in the Jazira Region are neither limited to the criminal practices of
Daesh nor the crimes being committed by the illegal international coalition,
which loots Syria’s resources. Their ordeal is escalated by the crimes of US
and Turkish troops and those of their associated separatist militants and
members of terrorist groups,” Jaafari said during a virtual UN Security Council
session on the situation in Syria on Thursday.
The Syrian
diplomat noted that more than one million civilians in Hasakah and surrounding
neighborhoods are thirsty, suffering from the lack of drinking water for more
than 20 days.
Jaafari added
that Turkish forces and their allied terrorists have cut off water from the
Allouk station, located near the border town of Ra's al-Ayn, and feeding wells
more than 16 times.
He went on to
say that even though the US-led military coalition has recently admitted to the
killing of at least 1,377 civilians since 2014, the matter will go unnoticed as
long as Belgium and Germany are the so-called Syria humanitarian co-penholders
at the Security Council.
The Syrian UN
ambassador emphasized that the Damascus government and Syrian humanitarian
organizations are carrying their responsibilities in the face of Turkey’s water
supply cuts in Hasakah, but deployment of US and Turkish forces to the area is
impeding the process.
Jaafari added
that terrorists, in line with the policies of states hostile to Syria, blew up
the Arab Gas Pipeline between the towns of Ad Dumayr and Adra a few days ago,
causing a blackout across Syria.
“The terrorist
attack carried out by US-sponsored terrorist groups in al-Tanf region is only a
fraction of the economic terrorism that has been ongoing against Syria,” he
said.
“The economic
terrorism is being practiced by some UN member states against Syria through
imposition of unilateral coercive measures, including the so-called Caesar Act,
besides crimes being committed by their allied separatist militants and
terrorists to plunder Syria’s crude oil, natural gas, antiquities as well as
agricultural crops, and to destroy civilian infrastructure,” Jaafari noted.
Syria’s official
news agency SANA reported late on Thursday that water pumping resumed in
Hasakah after “government efforts and international pressure” on Turkey.
On October 9,
2019, Turkish forces and Ankara-backed militants launched a cross-border invasion
of northeastern Syria in a declared attempt to push Kurdish militants
affiliated with the so-called People’s Protection Units (YPG) away from border
areas.
Ankara views the
YPG, which is supported by the White House, as a terrorist organization tied to
the homegrown Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been seeking an
autonomous Kurdish region in Turkey since 1984.
Two weeks after
the invasion began, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip
Erdogan signed a memorandum of understanding that asserted the YPG had to
withdraw from the Turkish-controlled "safe zone" in northeastern
Syria within 150 hours, after which Ankara and Moscow would run joint patrols
around the area. The patrols have come under attacks by militants ever since.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/08/28/632778/Turkey-uses-drinking-water-as-weapon-of-war-against-civilians-in-Syria%E2%80%99s-Hasakah-UN-envoy
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Lebanese
presidency to consult with Parliament on Monday to designate new PM
28 August 2020
The Lebanese
presidency will convene consultations with parliamentary blocs on Monday to
designate a new prime minister, the presidency said, after the government quit
earlier this month following the catastrophic explosion at Beirut port.
The president is
required to designate the candidate with the greatest level of support among
MPs.
Sunni politician
Saad al-Hariri is so far the only serious name floated for the post. But he
said earlier this week he was not a candidate after several major parties said
they did not support his return to the job.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/08/28/Lebanese-presidency-to-consult-with-Parliament-on-Monday-to-designate-new-PM.html
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Egypt arrests
Muslim Brotherhood leader Mahmoud Ezzat
28 August 2020
Egyptian
authorities have arrested the Muslim Brotherhood leader Mahmoud Ezzat,
according to a statement from the Interior Ministry on Friday.
Ezzat was
serving as one of the leaders of the organization's military wing in absentia
and was arrested in a hideout in Cairo, said the ministry.
For all the
latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The ministry
said that it had discovered Ezzat in a fifth floor apartment in New Cairo as
part of its wider operation to track down dissident Brotherhood leaders.
In a statement,
the ministry listed the alleged crimes committed and roles played by Ezzat.
"The
terrorist leader is primarily responsible for establishing the armed wing of
the terrorist Brotherhood organization and supervising the management of
terrorist and sabotage operations committed by the organization in the country
after the June 30, 2013 revolution until its arrest, which was most notable:
The
assassination of former Attorney General Hisham Barakat in 2015.
The
assassination of Brigadier General Wael Tahoun in front of his house in Ain
Shams in 2015.
The
assassination of Brigadier General Staff Adel Rajai in Obour City in 2016.
Attempt to
assassinate Counselor Zakaria Abdulaziz, former Assistant Attorney General, in
2016.
A car bomb
explosion in front of the Oncology Institute in August, 2016."
The arrest
According to Al
Arabiya sources, Ezzat had been moving between a series of underground hideouts
in the Egyptian capital and using technology to avoid being tracked.
After being
arrested, Ezzat was moved to a security headquarters where he will be
interrogated.
A security team
from the National Security Agency and the Ministry of Interior is currently
unloading several computers and mobile phones found with Ezzat, added the source,
saying that the authorities are collecting data from the devices.
Authorities are
also reportedly looking into a number of people who frequented the hideout
where Ezzat was caught.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/08/28/Egypt-arrests-Muslim-Brotherhood-leader-Mahmoud-Ezzat.html
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Saudi Arabia’s
Public Prosecutor to review of death penalties against three minors
Ismaeel Naar
28 August 2020
Saudi Arabia’s
Public Prosecutor has issued an order to review the death penalty issued
against three individuals who were sentenced after committing crimes when they
were minors, according to a statement on Thursday.
Saud al-Mojeb,
Saudi Arabia’s Public Prosecutor, said he would review the death penalty issued
against Ali al-Nimr, Daoud al-Marhoun, and Abdullah al-Zahir, who were
sentenced to death for committing crimes related to terrorism, when they were
minors before their eighteenth birthday, according to the head of the Saudi
Arabia’s Human Rights Commission Awwad al-Awwad.
For all the
latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
In a statement,
al-Awwad said that the Public Prosecutor's order represents “an important step
in the way of reforming the judicial system and promoting human rights in Saudi
Arabia.”
“These referrals
mark important progress in faithfully implementing an important reform in the
legal system, and in advancing human rights in Saudi Arabia,” said al-Awwad,
president of the rights commission.
“They
demonstrate the critical importance of these reforms not just in changes to the
legal code, but in actions,” he added.
Saudi Arabia
said in April that it will no longer use the death sentence for individuals who
committed crimes while still minors under 18 years of age, according to a
document seen by Al Arabiya English at the time citing a royal decree by King
Salman bin Abdulaziz.
The abolishment
of the death penalty on minors is the second major judicial reform this year
after the Kingdom ended flogging as a form of punishment in “Ta’zir” cases, in
a decision by Saudi Arabia’s General Commission for the Supreme Court. That
punishment is to be replaced by prison sentences or fines, or both.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/08/28/Saudi-Arabia-s-Public-Prosecutor-to-review-of-death-penalties-against-three-minors.html
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Bin Salman
cancels Washington meeting with Netanyahu over leak fears: Report
29 August 2020
Saudi Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has reportedly cancelled a planned visit to
Washington to meet Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid fears that
the news of his trip has been leaked.
Citing an
informed top Saudi source, the Middle East Eye (MEE) news portal reported that
bin Salman was expected to arrive in the US on August 31 after the end of the
Republican Convention.
The report said
four houses had been purchased at a secret location just for bin Salman’s stay
as he did not want to stay in the embassy or the ambassador’s residence, which
are known locations to attract demonstrations against the heir to the Saudi
throne.
Bin Salman’s
advisers had calculated that the crown prince's opponents in US Congress would
have no time to prepare statements and that campaigners for the murdered Saudi
journalist Jamal Khashoggi and lawyers acting for ex-intelligence official Saad
al-Jabri would have no time to prepare legal actions.
However, the
report added, the heir to the Saudi throne cancelled the visit after he
received reports that it had been leaked.
“His bottom-line
condition with the White House was that the visit should go ahead in total
secrecy and that his presence in the capital would only be known once the event
itself was taking place,” it said.
US President
Donald Trump and his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, who were pushing for
the meeting to take place, saw the prospect of a handshake between Netanyahu
and bin Salman as a way to shore up regional support for the US-brokered
normalization deal between the UAE and Israel.
“MBS was going
to Washington on 31 August. It was fixed. It was meant to be to do something
big related to Israel. What exactly was still under discussion,” said the Saudi
source, who was speaking on condition of confidentiality.
"The
meeting itself with Netanyahu would either have been private or in front of the
cameras. Either way it was meant to be a big thing. It was not expected to be
full announcement of normalization of relations, but giving a hint he is going
in that direction."
He further noted
that other announcements, possibly from Bahrain, were expected to coincide with
the crown prince’s presence in Washington.
The initiative
for the handshake on this occasion came from the US side. However the crown
prince had one condition: that the visit be kept secret until he was in
Washington, the source said.
"His
advisers told him that if the visit were leaked, the CIA, Congress,
journalists, campaigners for Khashoggi and lawyers for Jabri would all have
time to launch a massive negative campaign against him and his presence in
Washington would become a nightmare.
"MBS was
calculating that if he suddenly appears with Netanyahu the big event would be
enough to re-launch his image as a peacemaker,” the source pointed out.
In a joint
statement issued by the White House on August 13, Israel and the UAE announced
that they had “agreed to the full normalization of relations.”
Delegations from
Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi are expected to sign bilateral agreements regarding
investment, tourism, direct flights, security and the establishment of
reciprocal embassies.
All Palestinian
factions have unanimously condemned the UAE-Israel deal, describing it as a
stab in the back of the oppressed nation.
Senior Saudi
princes have distanced themselves publicly from the normalization agreement
between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi.
In an interview
with CNBC, Kushner said it was inevitable that the Riyadh regime would follow
the UAE’s suit in forging ties with Israel.
"I do think
that we have other countries that are very interested in moving forward,"
he added. "And then, as that progresses, I do think it is an inevitability
that Saudi Arabia and Israel will have fully normalized relations.”
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/08/29/632834/Saudi-Arabia-Mohammed-bin-Salman-Israel-Benjamin-Netanyahu-Washington
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US to slash
number of troops in Iraq by about one-third: Report
28 August 2020
The Pentagon is
planning to decrease the number of American troops in Iraq by about one-third,
a report says.
The Wall Street
Journal cited American officials as saying that the number of the American
troops stationed in Iraq would decrease from the current approximately 5,200 to
about 3,500 over the next two to three months.
Iraq’s Prime
Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi visited Washington last week, discussing, among
other things, the US obligation to pull out its forces from the country in
accordance with a mandate issued by the Iraqi parliament in January.
Anti-American
sentiments have been running high in Iraq since the US assassinated Iranian
commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and the second-in-command of the
Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in the Iraqi capital,
Baghdad, on January 3.
Just two days
later, Iraqi lawmakers unanimously passed a bill mandating the withdrawal of
all foreign troops from Iraq.
Last Sunday, US
troops withdrew from the Taji base north of the Iraqi capital and handed it
over to Iraqi security forces.
Despite the
Iraqi parliament’s mandate for the withdrawal of foreign troops, US President
Donald Trump is likely to use any pullout to claim progress toward ending
American wars abroad, a promise that he made during his 2016 presidential
campaign but that he never fulfilled.
More than 17 years
after the US invasion of Iraq, Trump has said he would withdraw all American
troops from the country but has not provided a timetable. His term in office
comes to an end this year.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/08/28/632819/US-troops-Iraq-one-third-Wall-Street-Journal
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Organization of
Islamic Cooperation condemns Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia
August 29, 2020
JEDDAH: The
secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation praised the combat
effectiveness of the Arab coalition after the latest Houthi attacks on Saudi
Arabia were thwarted.
The coalition
intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone laden with explosives targeting Saudi
Arabia’s southern region on Friday. The forces also destroyed a ballistic
missile launched by Houthi militants toward the city of Najran on Thursday.
Dr. Yousef
Al-Othaimeen denounced the militia group’s targeting of civilians and civilian
infrastructure, and the use of civilians as human shields at missile launch
sites.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1726191/saudi-arabia
--------
Lebanon: Two
killed in armed clashes with Hezbollah supporters
August 27, 2020
At least two
people were killed and 10 wounded when clashes broke out between armed members
of the militant group Hezbollah and tribal members south of Beirut on Thursday,
local media reported.
The clashes in
Khaldeh, south of the Lebanese capital, reportedly erupted after a row over
banners that had been hung.
The National
News Agency said the two dead were a Lebanese and a Syrian citizen; the three
wounded were members of the same family.
Heavy automatic
weapons fire could be heard in videos posted to social media.
The clashes took
place around the motorway that links Beirut with the country’s south.
The Lebanese
army was sent to the area, made four arrests and sealed off the motorway.
"Four
people have been arrested in Khaldeh, including two Syrians, and the rest of
those involved are being pursued," the army said.
It said
reinforcements were being sent to the area.
The fighting
lasted nearly three hours and a nearby building was torched.
Lebanese
President Michel Aoun called different political factions to try to calm the
situation.
Last week, a
brief clash broke out in the same area when Hezbollah supporters tried to raise
a poster of Salim Ayyash, a Hezbollah member charged by a UN-backed tribunal of
involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri
in a huge suicide truck bombing in Beirut 15 years ago.
In its verdict
August 18, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon convicted Ayyash and acquitted
three others of involvement in the assassination, which sent shock waves
through the Middle East.
The country is
still reeling from devastating explosion that destroyed Beirut port on August
4.
It is also
suffering from a crippling economic crisis.
Hezbollah's
leader Hassan Nasrallah warned of a risk of civil war in Lebanon after the
blast.
https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/lebanon-two-killed-in-armed-clashes-with-hezbollah-supporters-1.1069434?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1478976_
--------
North America
US expected to
reduce troops in Iraq by a third to about 3,500: Official
28 August 2020
The United
States is expected to reduce its troops' presence in Iraq by about a third in
the coming months, a US official said on Friday, a move that had been expected
after President Donald Trump’s administration committed to a reduction
recently.
The United
States has around 5,200 troops that were deployed in Iraq to fight ISIS.
Officials in the US-led coalition say Iraqi forces are now mostly able to
handle the remnants of ISIS on their own.
For all the
latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The United
States and Iraq in June affirmed their commitment to the reduction of US troops
in the country in the coming months, with no plans by Washington to maintain
permanent bases or a permanent military presence.
In 2016 Trump
campaigned on ending America’s “endless wars,” but US troops remain in
countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, albeit in smaller numbers.
A US official,
speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States would go down to
about 3,500 troops in Iraq in the next two to three months.
The Pentagon did
not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This month
during a meeting with the Iraqi prime minister, President Donald Trump
redoubled his promise to withdraw the US troops still in Iraq.
Trump’s meeting
with the Iraqi leader came amid a new spike in tensions between Washington and
Tehran after Washington said it would seek to reinstate all previously
suspended US sanctions on Iran at the United Nations.
Iraq’s
parliament had voted earlier this year for the departure of foreign troops from
Iraq, and the United States and other coalition troops have been leaving as
part of a drawdown.
The number of
troops to be withdrawn was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/08/28/US-expected-to-reduce-troops-in-Iraq-by-a-third-to-about-3-500-Official.html
--------
Will Europe back
more US sanctions against Iran? And why?
28 August 2020
By J. Michael
Springmann
The article in
the Washington Free Beacon is possibly suspect. It's an online newspaper that
has Conservative leanings, and sometimes has problems with reporting accurately
or using bias in its reporting with loaded words. But, conceivably, somebody in
the Trump administration, a spokesman might have contacted them because it is a
right-wing organization. If that is so, and if it was in fact not made up by
the Washington Free Beacon or changed in some fashion, I think the Europeans
would get their backs up about this.
However, in the
past, the Europeans have not been terribly strong in their support of Iran and
the efforts to circumvent the ridiculous illegal and questionable American
sanctions. While the Europeans have been going on about protesting the American
sanctions, they let their companies, VW and Renault, and a number of other
large firms like Adidas, the shoe people, move out of Iran rather than lose the
American market.
And so Trump is
threatening the Europeans with sanctioning anybody who is involved with INSTEX
- the so far ineffective means of swapping Euros for the Iranian currency. I
think it is going to be a way of pressuring the Europeans and the Europeans may
well back down.
As to why this
happened, I think it's, basically, Israel the apartheid entity, which seems to
control the entire world, even to the point of having the Chinese block the
visit of an African, Dieudonné M'bala M'bala, who has spoken out against
Israel. They have even stopped his
podcasts reaching China.
So I think the
Israelis are behind this. The Israelis are on a roll. They've gotten the
Americans to pressure the United Arab Emirates into establishing diplomatic and
trade relations with Israel.
So, why is the
United States doing this? It is basically Israeli pressure, Israeli influence,
and they have so far succeeded in destroying Lebanon. They destroyed Iraq,
they've destroyed Syria, and they are very good at getting what they want from
the Americans. The Americans are backing them in their efforts to destroy
Iran. And I think they're doubling down
on this, again getting the United States involved with more sanctions because
Trump wants to play up to the Jewish vote in the country, and also to play up
to the Evangelical Christians who support Israel, no matter what.
So I think, on
balance, the Europeans are going to knuckle under to the Americans, they will
often huff and puff about the situation.
But, they will face the threat of sanctions and they will avoid the
threat of sanctions. They will lay down and say or do whatever the US wants.
"We won't oppose you." And, of course, the Americans are completely
under the thrall of the Zionist entity, and they will continue to pressure Iran
until Iran is destroyed or the Americans are destroyed in the process.
J. Michael
Springmann is a former American diplomat, and political commentator based in
Washington, DC. He had formerly worked
at the US Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration and as a
diplomat with the US Department of State. He had been assigned to Germany,
India, Saudi Arabia, and the Bureau of Intelligence and Research in Washington,
DC.
He’s the author
of two books, Visas for Al Qaeda: CIA Handouts That Rocked the World: An
Insider's View and Goodbye, Europe? Hello, Chaos?: Merkel's Migrant Bomb.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/08/28/632821/Will-Europe-back-more-US-sanctions-against-Iran?
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US to slash
number of troops in Iraq by about one-third: Report
28 August 2020
The Pentagon is
planning to decrease the number of American troops in Iraq by about one-third,
a report says.
The Wall Street
Journal cited American officials as saying that the number of the American troops
stationed in Iraq would decrease from the current approximately 5,200 to about
3,500 over the next two to three months.
Iraq’s Prime
Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi visited Washington last week, discussing, among
other things, the US obligation to pull out its forces from the country in
accordance with a mandate issued by the Iraqi parliament in January.
Anti-American
sentiments have been running high in Iraq since the US assassinated Iranian
commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and the second-in-command of the
Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in the Iraqi capital,
Baghdad, on January 3.
Just two days
later, Iraqi lawmakers unanimously passed a bill mandating the withdrawal of
all foreign troops from Iraq.
Last Sunday, US
troops withdrew from the Taji base north of the Iraqi capital and handed it
over to Iraqi security forces.
Despite the
Iraqi parliament’s mandate for the withdrawal of foreign troops, US President
Donald Trump is likely to use any pullout to claim progress toward ending
American wars abroad, a promise that he made during his 2016 presidential
campaign but that he never fulfilled.
More than 17
years after the US invasion of Iraq, Trump has said he would withdraw all
American troops from the country but has not provided a timetable. His term in
office comes to an end this year.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/08/28/632819/US-troops-Iraq-one-third-Wall-Street-Journal
--------