US bars media from covering return of 30 soldiers killed in Afghanistan
At least eight killed in Karachi violence
Islamabad sees rise in court marriages
Muslim Brotherhood Wants Shariah Execution for Mubarak
Family rivalry behind Pak minister Bhatti's killing: report
IPS officer who took on Modi suspended
Muslim Radicals Kill Ten Christians in Nigeria
6 militants killed in Orakzai
Syrian security forces kill at least four: rights group
Paris Muslims offered disused barracks to stop prayers in the streets
Muslim man sues after being fired because of his beard
Muslim Teenagers Convicted After Painting Burkas over Women in Advertising Posters
‘UK diplomats tell Pak to rein in JuD chief Hafiz Saeed’
US slams Pak media on conspiracy angle in Afghan helicopter crash
AIDS Cases Increasing in Muslim Countries
US Museum Explores Muslim Roots
Syria Comes Under Global Reproach for Crackdown
How Jihad Influenced the Norway Massacre
UK Shariah Law Alarms Critics
Shifting loyalties among Libya’s Islamists
Shariah law in the West goes against fight for reforms
Under NATO’s Flag: An Interim Assessment of the Mission in Libya
ISI trained Ulfa, says outfit's 'foreign secretary'
Egg on Army face: J&K encounter fake
Only words cannot stop slaughter in Syria
Special Forces key to new AfPak strategy
U.S. convinces Saleh not to return to Yemen: report
Pak agencies ''fail'' to dismantle HuT communication network
Punjab youth lured into Iraq death trap
Damages for men ‘framed’ for blasts
US will succeed in Afghanistan: Obama
Islamophobes Strike Whilst We’re Being Spiritual
Karachi will be de-weaponised in phases: Malik
Quran wants obeying of Allah’s orders: Pakistan Ulema Council
Kuwait, Bahrain follow Saudi lead as Syria crackdown continues
Sri Lankan officials in last-ditch effort to save a housemaid on Death row
Rights situation is Fragile in Iraq: UN
Visually impaired, 8-yr-old competes for Quran Award
Toronto district school board sees dueling demonstrations over Muslim prayers
Radha Kumar has not quit Kashmir panel: Government
Pakistan-born Khawaja claims his Indian visa held up
Oslo massacre inspires tolerance and an activist spirit for a more open society
Change and freedom squares in Yemen
American survey reviews Al-Qaeda popularity in Yemen
Yemen: It ain’t over till the fat lady sings “Freedom”
Arab awakening and western media: Time for a new revolutionary discourse
No shame for religious killings in Indonesian town
No bail for Sadhvi Pragya Singh in Malegaon bomb blast case
Boko Haram is not Jihad, rather it is bringing Islam backward: Al-Azhar Cleric
Bangladesh braces for more protests as ex-PM charged with corruption
Expatriates — between the oppressor and oppressed
Lebanon must denounce Syria ‘massacre:’ Hariri
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/us-bars-media-covering-return/d/5215
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US bars media from covering return of 30 soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Aug 09 2011
Washington : The Pentagon has ruled out media coverage of a ceremony marking the return of 30 US soldiers, including 22 Navy SEALs, who were killed when the helicopter they were travelling in was shot down in Afghanistan.
The return of the remains in flag draped coffins to the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, possibly today, was denied media coverage because given the nature of the attack there were "no identifiable remains" of these servicemen, Pentagon spokesman Marine Col David Lapan told reporters during an off camera briefing.
The International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said the CH-47 Chinook helicopter was reportedly shot down by an insurgent rocket-propelled grenade while transporting the US service members and Afghan commandos to the scene of an engagement between ISAF and insurgent forces.
As a result of the attack, the helicopter exploded in midair, killing everyone on board.
"Due to the catastrophic nature of the crash, the remains of our fallen service members will be returned to the US via Dover AFB in unidentified status, until they can be positively identified by the Armed Forces Mortuary Affairs Office at Dover," another Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt Jane Campbell said in a statement later.
"Because the remains are unidentified at this point, next-of-kin are not in a position to grant approval for media access to the dignified transfer," he said.
Therefore, in accordance with the policy of the Department of Defence, no media coverage of the arrival and dignified transfer is permitted, Campbell said.
"Families will however, be given the opportunity to be present for the arrival," he said.
Coverage of arrival of soldiers killed in battlefield was banned for the media during the previous Bush Administration.
The Obama Administration permitted media coverage of the return ceremony for service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, subject to the approval by the next-of-kin. But this time the Department of Defence ruled against the media coverage.
Pentagon Press Association president Nancy Youssef said the organisation has protested the decision to ban media coverage and had sought to reverse the decision.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/us-bars-media-from-covering-return-of-30-dead-soldiers/829248/
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At least eight killed in Karachi violence
Aug 09 2011
KARACHI: At least eight people were killed during incidents of violence in Karachi during the past 12 hours, DawnNews reported.
Moreover, 75 suspected individuals had been arrested by law enforcement agencies carrying out search operations in the city.
Earlier on Monday, fear gripped parts of Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Gulistan-i-Jauhar and a few housing societies in Scheme-33 after armed attacks and an exchange of fire killed at least four people and left at least five wounded, police and witnesses said.
The firing incidents that erupted about an hour before sunset continued into Monday night, prompting the police and the Rangers only to cordon off the affected areas and launch a snap checking of motorists.
Showing unawareness about the motive and people behind the firing, police said they had spotted the affected areas and would launch a ‘search operation’.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/09/at-least-eight-killed-in-karachi-violence.html
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Islamabad sees rise in court marriages
By Malik Asad
Aug 09 2011
Three main nikkah registrars in Islamabad district courts – Qari Imdad, Qari Ismail, and Qari Noor Ilahi Chishti – helped solemnise about 250 court marriages in 2010. But during the first eight months of 2011, they have already solemnised 240 court marriages, a number expected to cross 300 by coming December.
For Mr Imdad, inflation and increasing poverty are the main reasons behind court marriages. He said parents were not paying attention towards marriages of their children, especially daughters.
“Young people are left with no option but to go for court marriage, which is very economical.”
According to him, a court marriage only costs Rs5,000. “Parents of bride and groom also accept this inexpensive marriage at a later stage.”
Apart from poverty, social media networking is also contributing to court marriages.
Akhtar Mehmood advocate, an Islamabad-based family court lawyer, said most of the couples approaching him for court marriage were users of Facebook, Twitter, HI5 or other social networking websites.
“In some cases of court marriages, girls from rural areas have chosen rich married men as their life partners.”
But he was quick to point out that love marriages are not “sustainable”, saying their success rate is lower than the arranged marriages. “Parent pressure, domestic issues and clashes force the couple to approach the court for divorce within six months.”
Linking increase in love marriages with social networking websites, Wahaj Siraj, convener Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (ISP), said during the last one year, the number of internet users has increased by 10 per cent in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
“Currently total number of internet users in Islamabad and Rawlpindi is 500,000 and it is gradually increasing.”
According to him, the young people spend most of their time on social networking websites where they not only make new friends but also find partners.
Barrister Afzal Hussain, another family court lawyer, supports the notion that due to social media networking, love marriages are on the rise but added that the couples face threats, registration of abduction cases and lengthy litigation. “In most of the cases, angry relatives of bride lodge case of her abduction against the groom and the couple faces lengthy litigation.” Barrister Hussain said sometime the wife is forced to record statement against the husband, putting the “innocent man behind the bar”.
Recently the chief justice of Islamabad High Court (IHC) has quashed an FIR registered against Saima Shaheen and her husband, Muhammad Ikram.
They pleaded before the court that they are lawfully married couple, rejecting the FIR registered with Shahzad Town police claiming that they are involved in an illicit relationship. The case was registered against the couple by Saima`s uncle, Tahir Mehmood. She said after the marriage in February this year her brothers with the help of police were harassing them.
In another case, Ayesha Aziz and her husband Shaharyar Ali also approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) for quashing the FIR registered against them. Relatives of Ayesha got registered the FIR against her husband under section 365-B in New Town police station of Rawalpindi. The court`s Rawalpindi bench had directed the police to quash the FIR.
Barrister Hussain suggests some amendments in the existing law to protect the couples. He also proposed penalty for registration of fake FIRs. “To discourage this trend, litigation expenses should be recovered from those who lodge fake FIRs.”
http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/08/islamabad-sees-rise-in-court-marriages.html
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Muslim Brotherhood Wants Sharia Execution for Mubarak
By Evann Gastaldo
Aug 09 2011
(Newser) – If Hosni Mubarak is found guilty of murder, the Muslim Brotherhood wants him hanged—or worse. "Beheading by the sword" would be the more traditional punishment under sharia law, says the Islamic movement's spokesperson. As for sons Gamal and Alaa, if found guilty of corruption? "If a man has stolen millions of the state's money, the penalty is that I must cut off his hand," says the spokesperson. "There is no argument. These are God's words."
The Australian notes that the Muslim Brotherhood, only recently legalized in Egypt after being banned for decades, purports to be a moderate movement and claims sharia law is more merciful than Egypt's current legal system.
http://www.newser.com/story/125305/muslim-brotherhood-wants-sharia-execution-for-egypts-hosni-mubarak-if-found-guilty-of-murder.html
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Family rivalry behind Pak minister Bhatti's killing: report
Aug 09 2011
Islamabad : A family rivalry over property was behind the assassination of Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, who was gunned down earlier this year, and the killing was not religiously motivated, a media report said today.
Bhatti's murder in Islamabad was due to a property dispute between relatives and police investigators have concluded the killing was not religiously motivated in their latest report despite the fact that the Punjabi Taliban had claimed responsibility for the assassination, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.
However, Bhatti's murderers have fled Pakistan and are currently believed to be in Dubai or Kuala Lumpur, according to an investigator.
The murderers have not been identified as yet. "We will approach Interpol for their arrest," an investigator said.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/family-rivalry-behind-pak-minister-bhattis-killing-report/829286/
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IPS officer who took on Modi suspended
Aug 09 2011
CONTROVERSIAL IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who publicly took on Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi over the post- Godhra riots in 2002, was suspended by the state government on Monday.
Bhatt was suspended for unauthorised absence from his posting as principal of the State Reserve Police Training College Chowky at Sorat in Junagarh.
The suspension order has been signed by Varesh Sinha, additional chief secretary ( home) in the Gujarat government. The order stated that Bhatt was being suspended with immediate effect for his various acts of omission and commission, and for conduct unbecoming of a senior IPS officer.
Among the other reasons cited in the letter are unauthorised absence from his last posting, not appearing before an inquiry when called and misuse of official car. “ The letter was delivered at around 10 pm at my place,” Bhatt said.
Full report at: Mail Today
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Muslim Radicals Kill Ten Christians In Nigeria
Aug 09 2011
Washington, D.C. (August 8, 2011)–International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that members of a radical Islamic group, Boko Haram, killed at least ten Christians in Maiduguri, Nigeria over the past two months in what a Christian leader is calling a “silent killing” of Christians.
In an interview with ICC, an anonymous local church leader explained, “Boko Haram is seeking to eliminate Christianity because they want Islamic (Sharia) law. They don’t want to see anything Christian in the northern states [of Nigeria]. That is why churches are being persecuted and Muslims who don’t follow the [hardline teachings of] Boko Haram are also persecuted.”
Boko Haram is close to achieving its goal of eliminating Christianity from Maiduguri. Most of the Christians have fled the city in fear of further attacks by the Islamists. Of the churches that remain, some have felt compelled to suspend their services to protect their congregations.
Full report at:
http://www.persecution.org/2011/08/08/muslim-radicals-kill-ten-christians-in-nigeria/
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6 militants killed in Orakzai
Aug 09 2011
KALAYA, Aug 8: Six militants were killed and four others injured when security forces targeted their hideouts in upper tehsil of Orakzai Agency on Monday.
Officials said that several hideouts were destroyed in the operation. Security forces targeted militant positions with artillery. One vehicle was also destroyed in the shelling.
In another incident, one soldier suffered injuries in a landmine explosion in Meshti Mela area on Monday. Officials said that soldiers were heading towards Dabori area when one of them stepped on a landmine. He was immediately rushed to a military hospital.
Meanwhile, bullet-riddled body of two-year-old Hussain Ahmad was found in Khwa Darra area on Monday. The child was kidnapped two weeks ago.
His body carrying multiple bullet injuries was sighted by a local shepherd.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/09/6-militants-killed-in-orakzai.html
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Syrian security forces kill at least four: rights group
Aug 09 2011
NICOSIA: Security forces killed at least four people on Tuesday as they kept up a crackdown in the northwestern Idlib province bordering Turkey and the flashpoint city of Hama, rights activists said.
“Operations this morning in Idlib resulted in two deaths and several wounded by security forces’ gunfire,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement.
“Around a dozen tanks and other armoured vehicles attacked the Binnish and Sarmin areas” of Idlib, the Britain-based group said.
A human rights lawyer, on condition of anonymity, said two other people were also killed as security forces opened fire in the central city of Hama, where some 50 tanks were deployed in the Hilfaya and Tibet al-Imam districts.
The Syrian Observatory also said two others died on Tuesday of their wounds in the city of Deir Ezzor, the largest in eastern Syria.
Intense gunfire was heard in Deir Ezzor – scene of a deadly army assault on Sunday that killed 42 people – “where a woman and a young man died of their wounds,” the Observatory added.
It also said at least 17 people were arrested in a security swoop on the Huweika district of the city.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/09/syrian-security-forces-kill-at-least-four-rights-group.html
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Paris Muslims offered disused barracks to stop prayers in the streets
Aug 09 2011
Muslims who have been praying in the streets of a Paris neighbourhood have been offered a disused barracks to pray in, French Interior Minister Claude Guéant announced Monday. Muslim leaders have visited the site and agreed that it is suitable, he said.
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Muslims who have been praying in the streets of a Paris neighbourhood have been offered a disused barracks to pray in, French Interior Minister Claude Guéant announced Monday. Muslim leaders have visited the site and agreed that it is suitable, he said.
“Praying in the street is something that is not acceptable,” Guéant told the AFP news agency, insisting that it is contrary to the French state's secular principles. “It has to stop.”
Muslims have been praying in public in two streets in Paris’s 18th arrondissement - rues Myrha and Polonceau - for some time because the local mosques are not big enough.
The practice prompted an attempt, backed by far-right, Islamophobic groups, to organise a sausage and wine street party, which was banned by city authorities but spawned copycat events elsewhere. Front National leader Marine le Pen revived the controversy last December when she compared it to the German occupation in World War II.
French Muslim leaders have visited a former barracks in the same arrondissement and agreed that it is appropriate, according to Guéant, who says that it will be ready for use on 16 September.
Announcements that the practice must end will be made throughout the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, he said.
Measures are being taken to find a similar solution in France’s second city of Marseille, where prayers in the street are also reported to take place.
http://abna.co/data.asp?lang=3&Id=258554
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Muslim man sues after being fired because of his beard
Aug 09 2011
A Muslim man from SeaTac, Wash., who claims he was fired from his job as a security guard after refusing to shave his beard has filed a federal lawsuit against his former employer.
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A Muslim man from SeaTac, Wash., who claims he was fired from his job as a security guard after refusing to shave his beard has filed a federal lawsuit against his former employer.
Abdulkadir Omar, 22, began working in Kent, Wash., for California-based American Patriot Security in May 2009. He said no one told him when he was hired that he would have to shave his beard, which he keeps closely trimmed and said is part of his Islamic faith.
But six months later a supervisor told Omar he was required to shave, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle last month against American Patriot. The lawsuit seeks compensation for 65 hours Omar said he worked and wasn't paid, as well as emotional and general damages.
The company declined to comment for this story.
Omar told the supervisor he was religiously obligated to keep his beard and continued to work at the company until April 2010, when he met with a regional project manager to discuss wages he hadn't received, according to the suit.
Full report at:
http://abna.co/data.asp?lang=3&Id=258550
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Muslim Teenagers Convicted After Painting Burkas over Women in Advertising Posters
Aug 09 2011
Last week, two Muslim teenagers who were arrested for painting burqas over scantily-dressed women in Lynx advertising posters at a bus stop in London in February, were convicted at Thames Magistrates’ Court in East London.
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Last week, two Muslim teenagers who were arrested for painting burqas over scantily-dressed women in Lynx advertising posters at a bus stop in London in February, were convicted at Thames Magistrates’ Court in East London.
The teenagers admitted to drawing burqas over a number of advertising posters, as the way in which the posters showed women was against their religion. As it was considered to be a “sin” for women to be uncovered, the two vandals were “trying to do good”, the Daily Mail reports. The two young men were each told to pay £283 and released on a 12-month conditional discharge.
http://abna.co/data.asp?lang=3&Id=258531
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‘UK diplomats tell Pak to rein in JuD chief Hafiz Saeed’
Tue Aug 09 2011
Islamabad : Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed may face detention again after British diplomats met senior Pakistani officials to convince them to crack down on the organisation, a front for the banned Lashkar-e-Toiba, according to a media report Monday.
Diplomats from the British missions in Islamabad and New Delhi had “successful rounds of talks with Pakistani leaders in the last week of July”, The Express Tribune newspaper quoted unnamed diplomats as saying.
These talks “might lead to the detention of JuD chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and a possible crackdown on his group”, the report said without giving details.
The report contended that the developments were an outcome of a “covert diplomatic campaign” by India to pressure Pakistan to rein in the JuD, which New Delhi has blamed for the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/uk-diplomats-tell-pak-to-rein-in-jud-chief-hafiz-saeed/829031/
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US slams Pak media on conspiracy angle in Afghan helicopter crash
Aug 09 2011
Islamabad : The US described as “baseless” reports in a section of the Pakistani media suggesting that troops from the unit that conducted the raid against Osama bin Laden may have been deliberately killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.
“Some Pakistani media outlets have insinuated the United States killed its own troops in the tragic helicopter crash in Afghanistan to prevent the 'truth' about the death of Osama bin Laden from coming out,” US Embassy spokesman Alberto Rodriguez said in a statement.
“These reports are baseless. We are deeply disappointed that Pakistani media would publish such patently false allegations and call on responsible media to accurately report the facts," he said.
Noting that the US government had “repeatedly honoured the loss of Pakistani lives in terrorist attacks,” Rodriguez said the two countries “share a common interest in standing together against extremists and terrorists.”
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/828878/
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AIDS Cases Increasing in Muslim Countries
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Aug 09 2011
AIDS is on the rise in many Muslim countries, driven by men having sex with other men in secret because of homophobia, religious intolerance and fear of being jailed or executed, according to a new study.
The new report, released last week in the journal PLoS Medicine, was led by researchers from the Qatar branch of Weill Cornell Medical College who drew from dozens of smaller studies in Arabic, French and English.
About 2 to 3 percent of men in the region have sex with other men, consistent with global averages, the study found. But condom use is low, gay and bisexual prostitution is common, and many married men hide their bisexuality and risk infecting their wives. In some countries, even male prostitutes often marry for appearances’ sake.
Truck drivers, prisoners and street children often have high rates of H.I.V. infection; in Pakistan, infection rates are rising rapidly among transgender prostitutes known as hijra.
The lowest rates of condom use were reported in populous countries like Egypt and Pakistan, while they were highest in Sudan (above), Oman and Lebanon.
To fight their nascent epidemics, some countries have adopted compulsory H.I.V. testing for marriage licenses and work visas.
Because of religious taboos, accurate statistics on some aspects of health are hard to get from Middle Eastern governments. For example, international health authorities say that the world’s highest rates of birth defects are in Muslim countries where cousins are encouraged to marry but that governments are reluctant to admit it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/09/health/09global.html?hpw=&pagewanted=print&gwh=CEA4A3E0BC24A43BF68B5CC14970A71A
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US Museum Explores Muslim Roots
Aug 09 2011
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Digging into the history of early Muslims who came to America centuries ago, a new Islamic Heritage Museum has opened recently in Washington DC in a new attempt to fight misconceptions about Muslim roots.
“So many times people, Americans and non-Americans, Muslims and non-Muslims, have misperceptions of Muslims saying they came from the Nation of Islam or that they came through the immigrations in the 60s and the 70s,” co-founder and curator Amir Muhammad told Press TV on Friday, August 5.
“Muslims have been a part of the American fabric since its conceptions.”
The museum, located on 2315 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, traces the history of Muslims in America.
Stories begin with African Muslims like Estevanico, a servant to the Spanish explorers in the early 1500s- to Muslims living amongst Native American tribes in the eighteenth century.
The museum also traces some early Muslims who came to settle in the States to start their own business in the new world.
Muhammad Ali bin Said is an example.
Bin Said came to the United States of his own free will in the nineteenth century and settled in Detroit in 1861.
The museum also focuses on the presence and contributions of African-American Muslims in the 18th and 19th centuries with pieces gathered from university collections, census records, newspaper archives, state historical societies and private collections.
It also tells the stories of early Muslim communities in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, and Illinois.
The museum also offers stories of the enslaved Muslims and their adeptness to keep their faith to demonstrate the diversity with which Islamic principles became a part of the American fabric.
http://abna.co/data.asp?lang=3&Id=258520
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Syria Comes Under Global Reproach for Crackdown
Aug 09 2011
BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's president held talks with neighboring Turkey's foreign minister Tuesday as the regime faced a chorus of global reproach, with envoys from India, Brazil and South Africa also heading to Damascus to press for an end to the violent crackdown on a five-month-old uprising.
The visit by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was significant because Turkey until recently had close ties to Damascus. But Ankara has become increasingly critical of its neighbor over the bloodshed.
Turkey's state-run news agency confirmed that Assad was meeting Davutoglu, but there were no details.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner lauded the visit and said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had spoken to Davutoglu.
"They did talk about the situation in Syria, you know, and we believe it's another opportunity to send yet another strong message to Assad that this crackdown on peaceful protesters cannot stand," Toner said Monday.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/08/09/world/middleeast/AP-ML-
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How Jihad Influenced the Norway Massacre
Raymond Ibrahim
Aug 09 2011
In his manifesto, Anders Breivik, the perpetrator of the Norway massacre, in which 80 people were killed and many wounded, mentioned the Crusades and aspects of it as they had been an inspirational factor to him. Predictably, Western elites—especially through the mainstream media—have begun a new round of moral, cultural, and historical relativism, some even conflating the terrorist with former President Bush, who once used the word "crusade."
The fact is, there are important parallels between the Crusades and Breivik's actions—but hardly the way portrayed by the media. Ironically, this terrorist attack, like the historic Crusades, was influenced by the doctrine of jihad.
While many are aware that historically the Crusades were a retaliation to centuries of Muslim aggression (see Rodney Stark's God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades), few are aware that the idea of Christian "holy war"—notably the use of violence in the name of Christianity and the notion that Crusaders who die are martyrs forgiven their sins—finds its ideological origins in Muslim jihad.
As historian Bernard Lewis puts it, "Even the Christian crusade, often compared with the Muslim jihad, was itself a delayed and limited response to the jihad and in part also an imitation." How? The popes offered
forgiveness for sins to those who fought in defense of the holy Church of God and the Christian religion and polity, and eternal life for those fighting the infidel. These ideas … clearly reflect the Muslim notion of jihad, and are precursors of the Western Christian Crusade.
Full report at:
http://www.hudson-ny.org/2327/jihad-influenced-norway-massacre
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UK Sharia Law Alarms Critics
Aug 09 2011
“To understand the impact of Sharia law you have to look at other countries...at its heart it has basic inequalities between Muslims and non-Muslims, and between men and women.”
08/07/2011 UK (The Telegraph)-After being beaten repeatedly by her husband – who had also threatened to kill her – Jameela turned to her local Sharia council in a desperate bid for a way out of her marriage. Today she discovers the verdict. Playing nervously with her hands, the young mother-of-three listens as the panel of judges discuss whether they should grant her a divorce.
The council meets once a month at the Birmingham Central Mosque. Many of the cases relate to divorce and involve the husbands and wives entering the room separately to make their appeals.
In an airless room in the bowels of the mosque, Jameela is asked to explain why she wants a divorce. She replies that her husband spends most of his time with his second wife – Islamic law allows men to have up to four wives – but complains he is abusive whenever he returns to her home.
Across the desk, Dr Mohammed Naseem, chair of the mosque’s Sharia council, sits alongside Talha Bokhari, a white-robed imam, and Amra Bone, the only woman sitting on an Islamic court in this country.
Full report at:
http://www.persecution.org/2011/08/08/uk-sharia-law-alarms-critics/
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Shifting loyalties among Libya’s Islamists
Aug 09 2011
The shifting battle lines of the anti-Gaddafi struggle have seen old Libyan Islamist fighters regroup and reconfigure their agendas to join the rebel ranks of the current uprising. But who controls yesterday’s foes, who are now today’s allies?
It was a seemingly stunning reversal that was met with large doses of scepticism. But it nevertheless exposed some little-known facts about an ally the international community has trustingly supported for the past few months.
In a rambling midnight interview with the New York Times last week, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s newly bearded son Saif al-Islam revealed that his father’s regime is allying with radical Islamists among the rebel ranks.
Gaddafi has a bloody track record with Islamists, and the Libyan leader has repeatedly blamed al Qaeda for the current uprising in invective-riddled speeches vowing to crush his Islamist opponents.
In the past, Gaddafi has lived up to his word, with brutal crackdowns against homegrown Islamists opposing his regime in eastern Libya. But that was in the 1990s and few were paying attention.
But if Saif al-Islam is to be believed, his father is now cutting deals with his longtime domestic foes.
Full report at:
http://www.france24.com/en/20110805-libya-uprising-islamists-rebels-ntc-gaddafi-fighters-transition-council-shifting-allies
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Sharia law in the West goes against fight for reforms
Ida Lichter
August 09, 2011
ATTEMPTS to introduce sharia family law into Western societies run against the tide of reforms spearheaded by female activists in the Muslim world.
Many aspects of these laws are unpalatable to a society that has enforced equal rights for divorce, custody, inheritance and court testimony, and criminalised polygamy and forced, under-age marriage.
Moreover, the experience with sharia in Britain and Canada is cautionary. It is estimated thousands of British Muslim men have taken advantage of a loophole in the law against bigamy to avoid official registration and seal polygamous marriages in mosque ceremonies.
Religious divorces, much more difficult for women, were issued by sharia councils in a form of mediation under the Arbitration Act of 1996. In 2007, Sheikh Faiz-ul-Aqtab Siddiqi took advantage of a clause in the act to establish the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal, which could now make judgments enforceable under British law. The tribunal also ran sharia courts. Matters such as commercial and inheritance disputes could be resolved provided both parties agreed and the procedures were fair, but criminal and family issues such as forced marriage, domestic violence or civil divorce, were prohibited.
Full report at:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/sharia-law-in-the-west-goes-against-fight-for-reforms/story-e6frg6ux-1226111214151
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Under NATO’s Flag: An Interim Assessment Of The Mission In Libya
Aug 09 2011
NATO embarked almost haphazardly in March on the Libya mission. The Alliance became the third entrant to this mission in a rapid sequence, after the United States and the Franco-British tandem. The respective leaderships never defined the political, economic, or strategic interests in Libya for these nations, for NATO collectively, the European Union or the West writ large. Those interests are substantial (see EDM, August 5). However, failure to articulate them undermines domestic support for a prolonged military operation amid a financial crisis.
The mission’s sole declared goal was (and seems to remain) humanitarian: to prevent Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s forces from inflicting reprisals on rebels and civilians alike. But unlike NATO’s 1999 intervention in Kosovo, where a mass-scale “humanitarian crisis” was a demonstrable fact, the decision to intervene in Libya was basically preventive: to stop a massive humanitarian crisis from developing. Moreover (and again unlike Kosovo), this decision involved taking sides in an incipient civil war. On both of these counts, the intervention in Libya significantly lowered the threshold for humanitarian intervention.
Beyond that shared rationale, each of the major participants (Washington, Paris, London, and NATO) proceeded from its own specific motivations, short-term and non-strategic, rather than common strategic objectives. Their motivations were for the most part unrelated to Libya or, at best, indirectly related to it.
Full report at: Jamestown Foundation
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ISI trained Ulfa, says outfit's 'foreign secretary'
Rakhi Chakrabarty
Aug 9, 2011
NEW DELHI: From the jungles of Myanmar, a life in disguise in Bangladesh to the power corridors of Delhi's North Block, it's been an arduous trek for United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa) leaders.
For 12 years till his arrest in November 2009, Ulfa foreign secretary Shashadhar Choudhury lived in Bangladesh with his wife and 10-year-old daughter. "I lived in Bangladesh as Rafiqul Islam. My wife Runima, a member of Ulfa's cultural wing, assumed the name Sabina Yasmin," said Choudhury, who lived in a rented house in Dhaka's upscale locality Uttara Sector 3.
Choudhury and Runima got married in Bangladesh in 1997 and set up home there. Their daughter studied in Dhaka's International Turkish Hope School.
"I had Bangladeshi national ID card issued by their army and passports of several countries, including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Fiji and South Africa," he said. Individuals in various Bangladeshi agencies helped Ulfa with logistics and support.
Choudhury was not the only one. While Indian security agencies hunted for them, the top Ulfa leadership, including chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, found a safe haven in Bangladesh.
Ulfa leaders, their wives and children assumed Islamic names and lived a life of disguise in Bangladesh till Sheikh Hasina swept to power in 2009. Soon after, top Ulfa leaders were picked up by Bangladesh and handed over to India.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/ISI-trained-Ulfa-says-outfits-foreign-secretary/articleshow/9535774.cms
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Egg on Army face: J&K encounter fake
Randeep Singh Nandal
Aug 9, 2011
SRINAGAR: Abu Usmaan alias Abu Adnan alias Doctor, top commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba, shot dead after a 12-hour encounter. The Army had all the names right, except they shot the wrong man.
The Poonch incident is now unraveling. Two men - a special police officer (SPO) and a Territorial Army jawan - have been arrested and charged with murder. And the LeT 'commander' was a man picked up from Rajouri and then shot dead. The victim has been identified as Ashok Kumar of Reasi. A senior police officer told reporters in Poonch that SPO Noor Hussain and the jawan Abdul Majeed were arrested on Monday for the fake encounter. "The two conspired and stage-managed the encounter for personal benefits," he said. He meant promotions and rewards.
The duo reportedly picked up an unidentified mentally challenged civilian from Rajouri on August 5 and took him to Dobawali Doka forests in Surankote where they allegedly shot him dead the next day.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Egg-on-Army-face-JK-encounter-fake/articleshow/9536269.cms
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Only words cannot stop slaughter in Syria
By Robert Fisk
Aug 09 2011
WORDS, words, words. Bashar al Assad knows his Hamlet, and he is not impressed. Yes, his isolation grows daily. A day after King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia pulled his ambassador out of Damascus, the Kuwaitis and Bahrainis — we shall naturally ignore, here, Bahrain’s own bloody internal suppression — have dutifully followed his example.
The Arab League believes that Bashar should “immediately stop” the violence. The UN has roared, though it managed to smear Syria’s protesters by calling for both sides “to exercise restraint” — as if the demonstrators had tanks — and Mr Medvedev, the Russian President, has talked grimly of Bashar’s “fate”. Even Turkey, according to the Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has “run out of patience”. A Turkish “safe haven” in the north of Syria, anyone?
The trouble is that everyone has been running out of patience with Syria since the spring, and no one has done more than turn up the rhetoric as the statistics of innocent dead ticked up from 500 to 1,000, to more than 2,000. And of course the absence of journalists inside Syria means that the full story is not known. Syrian television has shown gunmen among demonstrators in Hama, while nightly I watch Syrian state television recording the funerals of dozens — now perhaps 300 — soldiers. Who killed them? Who are the gunmen? YouTube is a dodgy witness to history but there can be little doubt that, faced with state violence on such a scale, civilians have armed themselves to protect their families, to take revenge on the regime, to keep the Syrian militias out of their cities.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/09/only-words-cannot-stop-slaughter-in-syria.html
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Special forces key to new AfPak strategy
Kevin Sieff
Aug 09 2011
The mission that left 30 American troops, including 22 Navy SEALs, dead on Saturday in Afghanistan was just one of dozens of operations carried out by US Special Operations forces every week in Afghanistan. The only difference was the disastrous ending. The ill-fated operation
reflected the reality of a unit that regularly targets insurgents whose names and faces are almost completely unknown outside military and intelligence circles.
US Special Operations forces have been a critical component of the war strategy in Afghanistan, executing operations in remote and volatile locations that are often inaccessible to ground troops. In Wardak Province's Tangi Valley, where the crash occurred, US troops had recently withdrawn from the area's sole combat outpost.
Such missions are expected to become important as the US begins withdrawing troops in the coming months and years, leaving Nato without the manpower to conduct the traditional counterinsurgency operations at the heart of the troop surge over the past 18 months.
Senior US military officials said the loss would have little impact on the ability to conduct strikes on senior and mid-level Taliban officials.
In an exclusive partnership with Th e Washington Post. For more log on to www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Special-forces-key-to-new-AfPak-strategy/H1-Article1-731030.aspx
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U.S. convinces Saleh not to return to Yemen: report
Aug 09 2011
U.S. officials have convinced Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, convalescing in Saudi Arabia from an assassination attempt, not to return to his country, the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported on Monday.
The report came a day after the veteran Arab leader left hospital in Riyadh and was moved to a government residence for further recuperation, as mass protests against his 33-year rule wore into their seventh month.
Yemeni officials denied the report and said the president would return to Sanaa, where fighting between troops loyal to Saleh and pro-opposition tribesmen has been increasing.
Officials at the U.S. embassy in Sanaa were unavailable for comment.
Since the June bomb blast at Saleh's presidential compound, a period of relative calm has been broken by a rise in regional clashes -- including a bloody battle with Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda in the south.
Citing U.S. sources, the London-based Asharq al-Awsat said Washington had managed to pressure Saleh, 69, into retreating from his promise to return and lead a dialogue in Yemen.
They told Asharq al-Awsat that Saleh had been greatly influenced by the spectacle of toppled Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, who faced charges from within a black cage in a Cairo court last week.
Full report at: Hindustan Times
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Pak agencies ''fail'' to dismantle HuT communication network
Aug 09 2011
Islamabad, Aug 8 (PTI) Pakistan security agencies have ''failed'' to dismantle a "multi-faceted" communication network of banned outfit Hizb ut-Tahrir, even months after detaining some mid-ranked army officers for links to the group, a media report said today.
"Yes, we are at it... making efforts to dismantle whatever means they (HuT activists) are using to communicate with society and within the outfit," an unnamed official was quoted as saying by a report in The Express Tribune.
He added: "There has not been any major breakthrough yet".
The official said that the organisation''s presence outside Pakistan was a key factor that was hindering attempts by the country''s spy agency to break HuT activists'' links among themselves and with other people.
"It seems that the communication network is being operated from countries like the United Kingdom or some other European states where the outfit is not banned... that makes all the difference," said the official in an apparent attempt to justify the so called ''failure''.
The "revelation" came three months after Brigadier Ali Khan, a serving army officer, and some other unnamed personnel were detained for their alleged links with the HuT ? an organisation that seeks to establish a caliphate in Pakistan by overthrowing the democratic government.
Subsequently, intelligence agencies launched a countrywide crackdown on HuT activists and some of its activists ? allegedly the masterminds behind its ''highly sophisticated cyber warfare'' ? were picked up from different parts of the country. .
Hindustan Times
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Punjab youth lured into Iraq death trap
Aug 09 2011
IT IS the favourite dream of the youth in Punjab: to work abroad and earn in dollars.
But the script went horribly wrong in the case of 200 young boys who, landing in Iraq to work for the army and construction companies after paying job consultants and travel agents through their nose, were “ enslaved” and made to clear explosives from agricultural fields.
The remnants of the 2003 Gulf War — bombs, missiles, rockets, shells, cartridges and other ammunition — are still strewn across the barren- looking Iraqi farmlands, which had turned into a battlefield during the invasion of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq by the US- UK allied forces. These fields, left unattended for over eight years, are now being prepared for farming and growing crops like potato and cucumber.
This is where the Indian workhands — the youth from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh — come into the picture.
Tricked by immigration consultants in Punjab and Iraq, they were allegedly sold to the foreign land owners for the perilous job meant only for the technically skilled.
Some of these youth stated over the phone on Monday that they were forced to pluck out the explosives/ ammunition from the farmlands without the assistance of technical knowhow or suitable equipment.
Jorawar Singh, who is from Haryana Bhunga village in Hoshiarpur district, said an immigration consultant had promised him work in a construction company in Iraq. “ Upon landing here, we were pushed into the fields to clear bombs,” he said. “ The Iraqi agent sold me off to a land owner. We ploughed his fields with a tractor to level these and clear the grenades,” Jorawar said, adding: “ Now I am a hostage with another agent. He does not allow me to go out… He forces me to work for a mere $ 300 ( ` 13,400) against the promised $ 800 ( ` 35,750) a month.” Jorawar’s mother Manjit Kaur has been unsuccessfully pleading with the sub- agent for his help in getting her son back from Iraq.
“ But he is fooling us with an excuse a day,” she said.
Full report at: Mail Today
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Damages for men ‘ framed’ for blasts
Aug 09 2011
By Aman Sharma
THE CENTRE is considering compensation for the Muslim youth who were wrongly implicated for the Malegaon and Mecca Masjid blasts in 2006 and 2007, respectively.
The home ministry brass is contemplating this decision after the National Investigation Agency ( NIA) probes pointed to the role of rightwing terror elements in both the bombings.
Though the finger of suspicion pointed at Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Sunil Joshi for these explosions, over a dozen Muslim youth were arrested in both the cases.
Nine such accused in the Malegaon case, since being imprisoned in September 2006 under MCOCA, are still behind bars. The ministry sources said that efforts were being made to ensure they were released and “ adequately compensated”, at least in monetary terms, for their misery in jail.
Home minister P. Chidambaram had earlier this week hinted in Parliament at the “ wrongs” committed against such Muslim youth. “ For years, we thought that all terror groups belonged to one religion.
Full report at: Mail Today
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US will succeed in Afghanistan: Obama
Aug 09 2011
Washington : President Barack Obama has said that the US will succeed in its mission in Afghanistan despite a recent incident in which 30 American soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash in the war-ravaged country.
"I know that our troops will continue the hard work of transitioning to a stronger Afghan government and ensuring that Afghanistan is not a safe haven for terrorists. We will press on and we will succeed," Obama said in his remarks to the White House correspondents yesterday.
There is no one who embodies the qualities that I mentioned more than the men and women of the United States armed forces, and this weekend we lost 30 of them when their helicopter crashed during a mission in Afghanistan, he said.
"And their loss is a stark reminder of the risks that our men and women in uniform take every single day on behalf of their country. Day after day, night after night, they carry out missions like this in the face of enemy fire and grave danger. And in this mission, as in so many others, they were also joined by Afghan troops, seven of whom lost their lives as well," he said.
"These men and women put their lives on the line for the values that bind us together as a nation. They come from different places, and their backgrounds and beliefs reflect the rich diversity of America," he said.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/us-will-succeed-in-afghanistan-obama/829213/
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Islamophobes Strike Whilst We’re Being Spiritual
Aug 09 2011
Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The face veil ban has now hit Italy. They are going to fine people between €150-300 for wearing a veil. Those who force their women to wear it face up to a €30,000 plus a 12-month prison sentence. Italian lawmaker Barbara Saltamartini, welcomed the move by saying the following:
"Final approval will put an end to the suffering of many women who are often forced to wear the burka or niqab, which annihilates their dignity and gets in the way of integration."
If Italy gives that much of a damn regarding the “suffering of many women” and their annihilation of dignity, can they please explain what they are doing regarding the 60,000 or so prostitutes of whom around 40,000 are immigrants? In 1998, a study showed that of those sex workers, 8,000 were Albanian girls of whom 30% were under 18. Nigerian prostitutes are also common in Italy and suffer a horrendous amount of cultural ordeal, with many thinking they will actually be working in bars and have their debts paid off; little do they know of their fate, until they arrive in Italy.
It seems the Italian government doesn’t give a damn about these women and yet for some reason, obsesses over the handful of women that cover their faces in Italy. The Italian government is clearly targeting Muslims, further highlighted by the fact that some show sympathy for the terrorist Anders Breivik.
Full report at:
http://abna.co/data.asp?lang=3&Id=258509
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Karachi will be de-weaponised in phases: Malik
Aug 09 2011
KARACHI: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Monday said that no arms licences, except issued by NADRA, would be valid after August 31 while all the arms licences issued by the Ministry of Interior would stand cancelled with effect from September 1.
Talking to reporters after presiding over a high level meeting at the National Crisis Management Cell, he said that Karachi would be de-weaponised in phases and extensive measures would be taken for the purpose.
He said the criminals carrying illegal arms would be tried Anti-Terrorism Act and Arms Ordinance 1969 while a special cell, headed by Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police, was being set up to deal with “extortion mafia”. It will be a non-bailable offence with punishment starting from seven years to life imprisonment.
The police have been directed to maintain forensic record of weapons used by criminals and target killers, enabling the law enforcement agencies to identify usage of the same weapons in various crime incidents.
The meeting decided that Rs 20,000 for automatic weapons and Rs 50,000 would be given for heavy weapons as award to informants. Their identity of the informers will be kept secret, the minister said.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\08\09\story_9-8-2011_pg1_5
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Quran wants obeying of Allah’s orders: Pakistan Ulema Council
Aug 09 2011
LAHORE: Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Chairman Maulana Tahir Ashrafi has said that the holy Quran has been sent for obeying the orders of Allah and leading our lives according to its teachings.
In his programme on Ramazan and Quran, Ashrafi said that the holy prophet, Muhammad (PBUH), is last prophet of Allah and similarly holy Quran is the last book from Allah for human beings.
He said Allah says in the holy Quran that He has sent this book and He will protect it. During the holy month of Ramazan, he said Huffaz and Qurras recite and repeat the holy Quran throughout the day in their effort to avoid any possible mistake while reciting during Taraweeh prayers.
They have no other activity except reading and reciting from the holy Quran. It is one of the miracles of the holy Quran that same words are recited in Indonesia, Pakistan, Africa and elsewhere in the world without any change.
The other miracle is that a seven-year-old boy and a 70-year-old man read and recite it with the same passion.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\08\09\story_9-8-2011_pg7_22
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Kuwait, Bahrain follow Saudi lead as Syria crackdown continues
Aug 09 2011
BEIRUT: Bahrain and Kuwait joined the international chorus of condemnation against President Bashar Assad’s regime Monday, pulling out their ambassadors as a besieged Syrian city came under fresh artillery fire. Jordan also described the escalation violence by the Assad regime as “disturbing.”
Assad, meanwhile, replaced his defense minister with the army chief of staff even as the crackdown on a five-month uprising continued.
Gen. Ali Habib, the country’s defense minister since 2009, was removed from his post because of health problems, the SANA report said, but some analysts said the general was unhappy with the crackdown.
He was replaced by Gen. Dawoud Rajha, a 64-year-old Christian, SANA said. The agency did not say who will succeed Rajha as chief of staff. His deputy is Maj. Gen. Assef Shawkat, who is married to Assad’s sister, Bushra.
The army has played a leading role in the bloody crackdown, shelling cities with heavy weapons and tanks.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article485374.ece
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Sri Lankan officials in last-ditch effort to save a housemaid on death row
Aug 09 2011
RIYADH: Senior government officials from Sri Lanka have arrived in Riyadh to negotiate a last-minute pardon for a Sri Lankan housemaid on death row.
Sri Lanka's Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Minister Dilan Perera, Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment Chairman Kingsley Ranawaka and former Sri Lankan Ambassador in Riyadh Ibrahim Sahib Ansar, who is currently posted in Cairo, have arrived in Riyadh on a mission to negotiate Rizana Nafeek’s release.
A leading Sri Lankan newspaper reported on Monday that a pardon has now been granted to Nafeek and the ministerial delegation is currently in Riyadh to complete formalities.
According to informed sources, however, there is so far no indication of a pardon for Nafeek.
“However, we are trying our level best during the holy month of Ramadan to seek clemency for the housemaid, who had become a victim of circumstances,” one of the sources told Arab News on Monday.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article485616.ece
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Rights situation is ?fragile in Iraq: UN
9 August 2011
BAGHDAD — A UN report released on Monday said the human rights situation in Iraq is still “fragile,” citing issues including economic and political stagnation, continued violence and attacks on minorities.
“The human rights situation throughout Iraq remains fragile as the country slowly transitions from a conflict to post-conflict country that faces enormous development challenges,” the 2010 Report on Human Rights in Iraq said.
“Widespread poverty, economic stagnation, lack of opportunities, environmental degradation and an absence of basic services constitute ‘silent’ human rights violations that affect large sectors of the population,” it said.
The report, from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq’s human rights office and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, also cited inconclusive March 2010 parliamentary elections and the ensuing nine-plus months of deadlock as a source of rights problems.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/August/middleeast_August212.xml§ion=middleeast
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Visually impaired, 8-yr-old ?competes for Quran Award
Ahmed Shaaban
9 August 2011
DUBAI — The Dubai International Holy Quran Award’s 15th session will witness two visually-impaired contestants and the youngest in the history of the award vying for the prestigious honour.
The session started on Sunday night at the Cultural and Scientific Association in Dubai’s Al Mamzar area with seven contestants from Netherlands, Congo Brazzaville, Jordan, the Philippines, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan and Guinea Conakry.
The contestants from Qatar and Turkey are visually-impaired while the eight-year-old participant is from Ireland. Of the 78 memorisers who have already arrived, seven from Turkey, Central Africa, Oman, France, Togo, Russia, and Sierra Leone sat for tests on Monday. Contestants from Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Ethiopia, Syria, Gambia, Denmark and Mozambique will be tested on Tuesday.
In his inaugural speech, Head of the five-member arbitration committee Dr Sheikh Ahmed bin Ali Al Sudais said that the Quran is holy book of Muslim nations “wherein is its survival, solution for all crises, honour and happiness in both lives.”
Dr Alsudais then briefed the audience on the rules of award and said that another contest for tuneful recitation will be held on the sideline of the competition. “Of the best ten voices, three will be chosen for the prize.”
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2011/August/theuae_August215.xml§ion=theuae
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Toronto district school board sees duelling demonstrations over Muslim prayers
Aug 09 2011
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - About a hundred demonstrators congregated on the steps of the Toronto District School Board on Monday evening toting signs and shouting chants condemning the city’s public schools for allowing Muslim prayer groups.
“No Islam in our schools! Never, never, never!” shouted Ron Banerjee, director of the Canadian Hindu Advocacy.
The demonstration comes several weeks after a similar one was held at the same location with groups such as the Jewish Defense League and the Christian Heritage Party.
The Canadian Egyptian Congress, which represents some Coptic Christians, joined the groups in voicing concern over the conversion of auditoriums and cafeterias into prayer spaces for Muslim students.
Full report at:
http://abna.co/data.asp?lang=3&Id=258492
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Radha Kumar has not quit Kashmir panel: Government
Aug 9, 2011
NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday dismissed reports that academician Radha Kumar has offered to quit from the three-member panel of Jammu and Kashmir interlocutors following a tiff with her colleague MM Ansari.
The home ministry clarified that "Radha Kumar has not tendered her resignation".
"The interlocutors have completed their visit of Jammu and Kashmir and are busy finalizing their report," a home ministry spokesperson said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Radha-Kumar-has-not-quit-Kashmir-panel-Government/articleshow/9540413.cms
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Pakistan-born Khawaja claims his Indian visa held up
Aug 9, 2011
MELBOURNE: Pakistan-born Australian batsman Usman Khawaja on Tuesday claimed that his visa for travelling to India to participate in next month's Champions League T20 was held up because of his country of birth.
24-year-old Khawaja, who has lived in Australia since he was three, travels on an Australian passport and has been to India before.
Khawaja said he was denied by the Indian High Commission in Australia to obtain a visa to play for New South Wales Blues in the Champions League Twenty20 in India next month.
"Indian Visa department need to sort their issues out. Refusing to let me travel to India as an Australian, because I wasn't born here. Wow," Khawaja tweeted.
NSW officials are hopeful that the matter would be sorted out by tomorrow and Khwaja would get his visa, according to his manager Daniel Zammit.
Khawaja, who became the first Muslim to play Test for Australia when he was picked for the final Ashes match against England at the SCG in January, is on the 20-man long list for the NSW T20 side, of which 15 will ultimately represent the team.
He is set to join the rest of the Australian squad later this month for the three-Test series in Sri Lanka.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistan-born-Khawaja-claims-his-Indian-visa-held-up/articleshow/9541200.cms
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Oslo massacre inspires tolerance and an activist spirit for a more open society
By ELIZABETH CASE
Aug 09 2011
After nine years of meticulous planning, Anders Behring Breivik drove to Norway’s capital on July 22 with a car full of fertilizer set to explode. The bomb set off near one of Oslo’s government buildings claimed the lives of eight people.
The distraction allowed Breivik time to catch a ferry to Utøya, a nearby island home to a summer camp for one of the country’s political parties. Dressed as a police officer and claiming to have news of the bombing, he gathered the students together – and started shooting. He eventually hunted down and killed 68 of them, in a rampage he declared necessary to end Islam’s sway over European and Norwegian society.
More than 60 miles away in Kongsvinger, Norway, Astrid Karstensen was driving home after her shift at the local historical museum. Her mom turned on the radio.
They could not believe the news reports.
“We didn’t know what was going on,” said Karstensen, a student at the University of Oslo. “It was a total shock. I almost threw up.”
Two countries south, I spent my Saturday morning sprinting from house to bus stop to taxi stand – I’d woken up a half hour before my program was leaving for Hamburg, Germany.
I arrived with minutes to spare, sweaty and frustrated, when a friend asked me if I’d heard – 90 kids had been shot in Norway.
Full report at:
http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2011/08/_oslo_massacre_inspires_tolerance_and_an_activist_spirit_for_a_more_open_society_
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Change and freedom squares in Yemen
Amira Al-Arasi
Aug 09 2011
The square sits in the heart of Hodeida city in Al-Sha’ab garden. “On Feb 13th we used to go to the square, our numbers were small, not more than 60 persons. We were holding symposiums and activities and would later return home. It was only a week later that we started real protest. We announced the location as the protest space in a local newspaper and on speakers on street,” said Yahya Al-Qadi, the spokesman of the square.
The protest began with around five tents. There were no fences, but there are three ports. The first and biggest is the western port, which leads to the Al-Mina’a Street; the governorate office is in the north, the eastern direction of the protest square leads up to the garden and a number of hotels overlook the square from the southern direction.
At the beginning of the revolution, the number of protesters jumped to around 40.000 protesters and the numbers swelled on Fridays. The heat brings a different story: the number has decreased to 30 percent due to the high temperature. (It is after all a coastal land and the economic situation is dire as it is the poorest governorate in the country.
In this governorate, everything is sold in small quantities to enable households to afford daily food. For example they buy cooking oil in a plastic bag with YR 30 and half a kilo of sugar and 20 gm tea and so on.
Full report at:
http://www.yementimes.com/defaultdet.aspx?SUB_ID=36425
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American survey reviews Al-Qaeda popularity in Yemen
Nadia Al-Sakkaf
Aug 09 2011
SANA’A — A recent report by an independent American organization called the Foreign Policy Research Institute revealed findings of a survey on stability in Yemen. The survey conducted by Glevum Associates indicated that there is an alarming support for Al-Qaeda among Yemen’s populous as well as a profound resistance to US intervention in the country.
The survey which its implementers claim to be the most extensive survey done to date of Yemen’s population and is considered a reference guide to influence US policy on Yemen especially since there has been a shift in US policy toward a public role in easing Yemen’s President out of office despite his cooperation in fighting Al Qaeda.
More than one thousand Yemenis older than 15 years old from eight governorates were interviewed between January and February 2011 for the purpose of this survey which was locally conducted by Glevum research Partner, Hot Zone Research.
Full report at:
http://www.yementimes.com/DEFAULTDET.ASPX?SUB_ID=36409
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Yemen: It ain’t over till the fat lady sings “Freedom”
Safa Mubgar
Aug 09 2011
Mark Twain said:”Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.” For many, Yemen is one of the least-known countries in the world, newsworthy only for Islamist militants, or its backward, “savage” exoticism. Yet Yemen, situated on the south west corner of the Arabian Peninsula, cradled successive, significant civilisations: being ruled by Minean, Sabaean and Himyarite civilisations, each depending for their fabulous wealth on the incense trade. Myrrh and frankincense were the oil of the ancient world: they fuelled sacred rituals across myriad ancient cultures, including Egyptian, Greek and Roman. Now fast forward through 2000 years of colonialism, internal conflicts, dictorship and poverty. Today, buoyed on the tidal wave of Middle Eastern uprisings and revolts, Yemen is the subject of international attention once more.
Full report at:
http://www.yementimes.com/DEFAULTDET.ASPX?SUB_ID=36402
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Arab awakening and western media: Time for a new revolutionary discourse
Ramzy Baroud
Aug 09 2011
When President Ali Abdullah Saleh tried desperately to quell Yemen’s popular uprising, he appealed to tribalism, customs and traditions. All his efforts evidently failed, and the revolution continued unabated.
When Saleh denounced women for joining men in demonstrations in Sana’a — playing on cultural sensitivities and a very selective interpretation of religion — the response was even more poignant.
Thousands of women took to the streets, denouncing Saleh’s regime and calling for its ouster.
The immediate popular response was notable for its level of organization and decisiveness. It was also interesting because most of the women protesting did so while wearing the Niqab. Fully covered Yemeni women have continued to inspire — if not fuel — the revolution which started in February. Without their active participation and resilience in the face of violent attempts to quash the uprising, one wonders if Yemen could have held on for so long.
Full report at:
http://www.yementimes.com/defaultdet.aspx?SUB_ID=36418
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No shame for religious killings in Indonesian town
Aug 09 2011
Cikeusik (Indonesia) : Residents of an Indonesian town are celebrating the release from prison of a teenager who smashed in the skull of a member of a Muslim sect.
Seventeen-year-old Dani bin Misra and other suspects received relatively lenient sentences for a ferocious attack that left three dead in February. Dani was released almost immediately because of time served.
The victims belong to the Ahmadiyah sect. Many mainstream Muslims consider them heretics.
Other members fled the town after the attack.
Residents called Dani a hero and said their village had to be cleaned.
Their reaction is part of a wider wave of intolerance against religious minorities that is challenging Indonesia's image as a beacon of how Islam and liberalism can coexist.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/no-shame-for-religious-killings-in-indonesian-town/829325/
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No bail for Sadhvi Pragya Singh in Malegaon bomb blast case
Aug 09 2011
Mumbai : A special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court today rejected the bail application filed by Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a key accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case.
"We had prayed for the bail as she is medically unfit but the court today rejected it", said Sadhvi's lawyer Rameshwar Gite.
She had moved the bail application citing medical grounds.
Twelve persons, including Sadhvi and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, were arrested for allegedly carrying out blast in powerloom town of Malegaon in Nashik district on September 29, 2008.
Six persons were killed and about 100 others injured in the blast.
The accused were booked under stringent provisions of MCOCA, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), besides the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The trial is yet to commence as the appeal of some of the accused against invocation of MCOCA in the case was pending before the Supreme Court.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/no-bail-for-sadhvi-pragya-singh-in-malegaon-bomb-blast-case/828962/
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Boko Haram is not Jihad, rather it is bringing Islam backward: Al-Azhar Cleric
Aug 09 2011
“Those who acquire knowledge are not even using it. If you go to all sectors, how many Muslims do we have there? Does it mean that there are no knowledgeable Muslims? Boko Haram is not Jihad. Rather it is bringing Islam backward,” he added.
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The Mudir of Markaz Islamic and Arabic Institute, Lagos, Sheik Habeebullah Adam, has urged Muslims to use the flexibility of the religion to overcome contemporary challenges facing them.
Sheikh Adam speaking at the 25th NTA/MKO Abiola Ramadan lecture held at Tejuoso, Lagos, said terrorism and other forms of violence being exhibited by Boko Haram are not Islamic.
Adam who spoke on Islam and Contemporary Challenges said those who kill in the name of religion are uninformed.
“Islam abhors terrorism because the same religion has taught us life is sacred. But it is regrettable that some Muslims take pride in terrorism. Islam has taught us that if a soul is killed, more than one soul has been killed and if a soul is saved, more than one soul has been saved,” he said.
Full report at:
http://abna.co/data.asp?lang=3&Id=258526
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Bangladesh braces for more protests as ex-PM charged with corruption
Aug 09 2011
DHAKA: Bangladesh is bracing for more protests after the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission on Monday filed a case against former premier Khaleda Zia, accusing her of buying land in a trust’s name by using undeclared funds.
Politics in impoverished Bangladesh has been dominated for two decades by a violent rivalry between Khaleda Zia and current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, often trading corruption charges and organizing massive protests when in opposition.
The commission charges, the first since Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League Party took power in 2009, come after a series of anti-government strikes last month that have crippled business over issues ranging from a constitutional amendment on election procedures ahead of 2013 polls to a recent natural gas exploration pact with ConocoPhillips .
The commission, responsible for investigating official corruption charges and used widely when an army-backed government under emergency rule took power between 2007 and 2009, alleges Khaleda Zia bought land in 2005 for 65.2 million taka ($881,000) for a charity named after her slain husband former president Ziaur Rahman.
“But the trust failed to show any valid source for part of the payment of the land purchase,” a commission official told reporters. Khaleda Zia’s two sons also face corruption charges, which her Bangladesh Nationalist Party said were politically motivated.
http://arabnews.com/world/article485448.ece
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Expatriates — between the oppressor and oppressed
By ALI AL-SHIDDI
The anti-Saudi campaign unleashed by Indonesian and Filipino media following a few isolated incidents of housemaid abuse has triggered many discussions on the state of the expatriates in the Kingdom.
An objective look at the issue would, however, show that expatriates, the majority of them housemaids, could not totally be justified or blamed for the present dilemma.
The expatriate worker is clearly to blame if his presence in the Kingdom is illegal, if he cheats in his work or is engaged in criminal activities. We, Saudis, do not want such people in the Kingdom, even if it means our work would be stalled in their absence.
On the other hand, foreign workers are most welcome, provided they are legitimate residents, hardworking and law-abiding.
No unfairly treated worker, especially if his employer delays paying his wages and forces him to work in the simmering sun, should be left without help to get his right. Not only government agencies, but also fair-minded Saudis should come forward to help such workers. Muhammad Abdul Latif Al-Sheikh stressed in a recent article in Al-Jazirah daily the need for a commission to ensure the rights of expatriates. I was happy to read his article, because it underpinned what I wrote four years ago calling for a “Friendship Society for Expatriates under the Saudi Human Rights Commission.”
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article485629.ece
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Lebanon must denounce Syria ‘massacre:’ Hariri
Aug 09 2011
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s ex-premier Saad Hariri on Monday urged his country to denounce the “massacre” taking place in Syria, saying it should not remain silent in the face of the brutal crackdown against pro-democracy protests.
“Lebanon cannot dissociate itself from the open massacre taking place” in Syria, Hariri, whose cabinet was toppled in January by the Syrian-backed militant party Hezbollah and its allies, said in a statement.
He called on the new government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in which Hezbollah plays a key role, to dissociate itself from backing the repression in neighbouring Syria.
“Lebanon must stand next to Syria... but standing next to Syria this time means standing with its people,” he said.
Hariri’s statement came amid mounting condemnation by Arab states of the violence in Syria, including a firm rebuke by the Saudi monarch, whose country until now had remained largely silent over the bloodshed.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain all announced on Monday that they were recalling their ambassadors from Damascus.
Lebanon last week dissociated itself from a statement by the UN Security Council condemning Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad for unleashing a fierce campaign against civilians and violating human rights.
Mikati on Monday reiterated that Lebanon’s position was linked to the fact that it did not wish to meddle in Syria’s internal affairs
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/August/middleeast_August207.xml§ion=middleeast
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/us-bars-media-covering-return/d/5215