US To Show Syria 'It Better Not' Use Chemical Arms Again, Says Obama
Photo: Time magazine labelled Wirathu "The face of Buddhist terror"
North America
US to show Syria 'it better not' use chemical arms again, says Obama
CIA files prove America helped Saddam as he gassed Iran
US lauds Pakistan's reconciliatory efforts with Afghanistan
Any Western strike on Syria will be symbolic, limited: experts
Fort Hood shooter sentenced to death for 2009 killings
Arab World
Gulf Islamists irked as monarchs back Egypt's generals
Brain drain: Saudi Arabia to import more Pakistani doctors
Assad says Syria will be 'victorious' against US: report
At least 75 dead in Iraq bloodshed on Wednesday: officials
U.S. officer, 12 Jihadis arrested in Sinai after attack: source
Syria will become 'graveyard of invaders': PM
Arab League opposed to military attack
Egyptian addicted to stealing cuts off both his hands
KSA provides housing for disabled Syrians in Jordan
No attack on Syria from our soil: Jordan
South Asia
Militants kill 15 policemen in western Afghanistan
Anti-Muslim monk, Shin Wirathu, stokes Burmese religious tensions
'Killers of Bangabandhu will be brought back’
Dhaka: ‘Eviction of sex workers not a moral issue anymore’
India
'Blasts happen, nothing new about them', remorseless Yasin Bhatkal says
India, Pak turn to back-channel diplomacy in Dubai to relieve LoC tension
Syria: Delhi concerned about military strikes
Yasin Bhatkal, founder of Indian Mujahideen, arrested
Mumbai serial blasts convict, Manoj Kumar, held in Kerala
Delhi media is biased, says Separatist Leader Geelani
Yasin Bhatkal wanted in 8 cases in Maharashtra
Two Israelis get scholarship for promoting Indian art, culture
Indian troops died because of infighting: Hizb
Europe
Putin, Rouhani agree chemical weapon use 'impermissible': Kremlin
US may bypass UN over Syria after Russian ‘veto’ stand
Syrian opposition urges strike on Assad, France says western action 'difficult'
Russia to send warships to Mediterranean to counter western forces
Russia blocks UK call for strike on Syria
UN chief awaits Syria attack probe as West holds back
Mideast
5 schools in Al-Quds, in occupied Jerusalem, use Israeli textbooks
Israel will hold Assad responsible if Hezbollah attacks
Israel calls up reservists, deploys missile defences against Syria
Turkey 'on alert' against possible chemical attack
Turkey wants ‘to contribute to the establishment of a new Syria’
Pakistan
The custom-built green bus court in Taliban-hit Pakistan
Jamaat-e-Islami asks govt to appoint army chief on merit
Senate body approves ‘freedom of information law’ draft
After 14 years: Akhtar Mengal returns to Balochistan Assembly
Punjab CM seeks EU help against terrorism
Three militants held in Hangu District
Pakistani among five held in largest Australian people-smuggling raids
Southeast Asia
Kedah to step up efforts to curb spread of Shi’ite sect teachings
Boxer Muhammad Ali awards to honour humanitarian efforts
Africa
Detainees disappearing to fight Islamic uprising in north Nigeria
131 artifacts recovered since Malawi Museum raided
S. Sudan police find up to half of force ‘fake’
Libya oil exports fall to a fifth of pre-war level
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
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North America
US to show Syria 'it better not' use chemical arms again, says Obama
August 29, 2013
US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he had not yet signed off on a plan to strike Syria, but action appeared likely after Washington abandoned the hunt for a last-minute UN mandate. Political uproar in London, meanwhile, cast doubt on whether Britain will join American military
action to punish President Bashar al-Assad's regime for a chemical weapons attack, should the response take place before next week.
And a team of UN inspectors pressed on with its hazardous work in Damascus, testing victims of the alleged poison gas attack, which killed hundreds of people last week and threatens to draw reluctant Western states into a vicious civil war.
Obama, who has warned that the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a US "red line," said Washington had definitively concluded that the Assad regime was to blame for last week's attack. (READ: US may bypass UN over Syria after Russian ‘veto’ stand)
A senior White House official told AFP that the administration will brief senior US lawmakers on Thursday about classified intelligence about the chemical attack.
Asked how close he was to ordering a US strike, expected to start with cruise missile raids, Obama told PBS NewsHour: "I have not made a decision."
But he warned that US action would be designed to send a "shot across the bow" to convince Syria it had "better not do it again."
He admitted that the limited strikes envisioned by the White House would not stop the killing of civilians in Syria but said he had decided that getting involved in a civil war that has already killed 100,000 people would not help the situation.
The US leader, who wants to seal a legacy of ending foreign wars, not getting into new ones, argued that it was vital to send a clear message not just to Syria, but around the world.
"We do have to make sure that when countries break international norms on weapons like chemical weapons that could threaten us, that they are held accountable."
Earlier, Washington bluntly signaled that a UN Security Council resolution proposed by Britain that could have given a legal basis for an assault was going nowhere, owing to Russian opposition.
"We see no avenue forward, given continued Russian opposition to any meaningful Council action on Syria," State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said.
"We cannot be held up in responding by Russia's continued intransigence at the United Nations, and quite frankly the situation is so serious that it demands a response," Harf said.
British Prime Minister David Cameron was meanwhile slowed by a parliamentary revolt and was forced to pledge he would not order military action until the report by UN inspectors has been published.
Cameron plans to put his case to lawmakers on Thursday, but with a majority in doubt on the issue a second vote, possibly early next week, will now have to take place before British forces can join the fray.
White House officials would not immediately say whether Washington would wait for Britain before launching any military action.
Syria's nervous neighbors meanwhile stepped up their preparations for conflict as a strike appeared imminent.
Israel authorized a partial call-up of army reservists, Turkey said its forces were on heightened "vigilance," and New York oil hit the highest level - $112.24 per barrel - for more than two years.
"The region is like a gunpowder depot," Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned in a condemnation of the West's reported military plans.
The United Nations says its inspection team needs two more days to finish their work. But it has given no deadline for reporting on whether chemical weapons have been used.
The inspectors went to the Ghouta district east of Damascus on Wednesday to collect blood, urine and hair samples from victims of the August 21 attack.
The United States, Britain and France blame Assad's forces for the attack using chemical weapons, which are banned under an international convention.
The Syrian government has blamed the attack on "terrorist" rebels. Its UN ambassador, Bashar Jaafari, said Wednesday that Syrian soldiers had been gassed in three new incidents near Damascus since last week.
Russia, which has vetoed three UN Security Council resolutions aiming to increase pressure on Assad, has maintained its support for his government.
But it also evacuated more than 100 people from the Syrian city of Latakia on Wednesday.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague that the international community must wait for the UN inquiry to be completed before taking any further steps, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
In another conversation with UN Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, Lavrov said Western military strikes against Assad would destabilize the entire Middle East.
The Syrian government has meanwhile defiantly shrugged off the growing military threat.
Prime Minister Wael al-Halki accused the West of inventing excuses to intervene and warned that the country would become the "graveyard of the invaders."
"Western countries, starting with the United States, are inventing fake scenarios and fictitious alibis to intervene militarily in Syria," he was quoted as saying by state television.
UN leader Ban Ki-moon called on the international powers to head off conflict. He said more time must be given to the inspectors and made a new plea for the Security Council to overcome its divisions on Syria.
"Syria is the biggest challenge of war and peace in the world today. The body entrusted with maintaining international peace and security cannot be missing in action," he said.
"The Council must at last find the unity to act. It must use its authority for peace," Ban said.
Ban has been a frequent critic of Assad over the conflict, which erupted in March 2011 with anti-regime protests but soon escalated into a full-scale uprising in which more than 100,000 people have died, according to UN figures.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/americas/US-to-show-Syria-it-better-not-use-chemical-arms-again-says-Obama/Article1-1114426.aspx
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CIA files prove America helped Saddam as he gassed Iran
SHANE HARRIS AND MATTHEW M. AID
2013-08-28
WASHINGTON: The US government may be considering military action in response to chemical strikes near Damascus. But a generation ago, America’s military and intelligence communities knew about and did nothing to stop a series of nerve gas attacks far more devastating than anything Syria has seen, Foreign Policy has learned.
In 1988, during the waning days of Iraq’s war with Iran, the United States learned through satellite imagery that Iran was about to gain a major strategic advantage by exploiting a hole in Iraqi defences. US intelligence officials conveyed the location of the Iranian troops to Iraq, fully aware that Saddam Hussein’s military would attack with chemical weapons, including sarin, a lethal nerve agent.The Iraqis used mustard gas and sarin prior to four major offensives in early 1988 that relied on US satellite imagery, maps and other intelligence. These attacks helped to tilt the war in Iraq’s favour and bring Iran to the negotiating table, and they ensured that the Reagan administration’s long-standing policy of securing an Iraqi victory would succeed. But they were also the last in a series of chemical strikes stretching back several years that the Reagan administration knew about and didn’t disclose.
US officials have long denied acquiescing to Iraqi chemical attacks, insisting that Saddam’s government never announced he was going to use the weapons. But retired Air Force Col. Rick Francona, who was a military attaché in Baghdad during the 1988 strikes, paints a different picture.
“The Iraqis never told us that they intended to use nerve gas. They didn’t have to. We already knew,” he told Foreign Policy.
According to recently declassified CIA documents and interviews with former intelligence officials like Francona, the US had firm evidence of Iraqi chemical attacks beginning in 1983. At the time, Iran was publicly alleging that illegal chemical attacks were carried out on its forces, and was building a case to present to the United Nations. But it lacked the evidence implicating Iraq
In contrast to today’s wrenching debate over whether the United States should intervene to stop alleged chemical weapons attacks by the Syrian government, the United States applied a cold calculus three decades ago to Saddam Hussein’s widespread use of chemical weapons against his enemies and his own people.
The Reagan administration decided that it was better to let the attacks continue if they might turn the tide of the war. And even if they were discovered, the CIA wagered that international outrage and condemnation would be muted.
It has been previously reported that the United States provided tactical intelligence to Iraq at the same time that officials suspected Saddam would use chemical weapons. But the CIA documents, which sat almost entirely unnoticed in a trove of declassified material at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, combined with exclusive interviews with former intelligence officials, reveal new details about the depth of the knowledge United States possessed of how and when Iraq employed the deadly agents. They show that senior US officials were being regularly informed about the scale of the nerve gas attacks.
Francona, an experienced Middle East hand and Arabic linguist who served in the National Security Agency and the Defence Intelligence Agency, said he first became aware of Iraq’s use of chemical weapons against Iran in 1984, while serving as air attaché in Amman, Jordan. The information he saw clearly showed that the Iraqis had used Tabun nerve agent (also known as “GA”) against Iranian forces in southern Iraq.
But it was the express policy of Reagan to ensure an Iraqi victory in the war, whatever the cost.
In March 1984, the CIA reported that Iraq had “begun using nerve agents on the Al Basrah front and likely will be able to employ it in militarily significant quantities by late this fall”.
The initial wave of Iraqi attacks, in 1983, used mustard agent.
Hard evidence of the Iraqi chemical attacks came to light in 1984. But that did little to deter Saddam from using the lethal agents, including in strikes against his own people.
The Defence Department had proposed an intelligence-sharing programme with the Iraqis in 1986. But according to Francona, it was nixed because the CIA and the State Department viewed Saddam Hussein as “anathema” and his officials as “thugs”.
IRAQIS UNDER PRESSURE: The situation changed in 1987. CIA reconnaissance satellites picked up clear indications that the Iranians were concentrating large numbers of troops and equipment east of the city of Basrah, according to Francona, who was then serving with the Defence Intelligence Agency. What concerned DIA analysts the most was that the satellite imagery showed that the Iranians had discovered a gaping hole in the Iraqi lines southeast of Basrah. The seam had opened up at the junction between a corps deployed east of the city and another deployed to the southeast, in and around the hotly contested Fao Peninsula.
The satellites detected Iranian engineering and bridging units being secretly moved to deployment areas opposite the gap in the Iraqi lines, indicating that this was going to be where the main force of the annual Iranian spring offensive was going to fall, Francona said.
In late 1987, the DIA analysts in Francona’s shop in Washington wrote a Top Secret Codeword report partially entitled “At The Gates of Basrah”, warning that the Iranian 1988 spring offensive was going to be bigger than all previous spring offensives, and this offensive stood a very good chance of breaking through the Iraqi lines and capturing Basrah.
The report warned that if Basrah fell, the Iraqi military would collapse and Iran would win the war.
President Reagan read the report and, according to Francona, wrote a note in the margin addressed to Secretary of Defence Frank Carlucci: “An Iranian victory is unacceptable.”
The sarin attacks then followed. CIA analysts could not precisely determine the Iranian casualty figures because they lacked access to Iranian officials and documents. But the agency gauged the number of dead as somewhere between “hundreds” and “thousands” in each of the four cases where chemical weapons were used prior to a military offensive.
By 1988, US intelligence was flowing freely to Saddam’s military. That March, Iraq launched a nerve gas attack on the Kurdish village of Halabja in northern Iraq.
A month later, the Iraqis used aerial bombs and artillery shells filled with sarin against Iranian troop concentrations on the Fao Peninsula southeast of Basrah, helping the Iraqi forces win a major victory and recapture the entire peninsula. The success of the Fao Peninsula offensive also prevented the Iranians from launching their much-anticipated offensive to capture Basrah. According to Francona, Washington was very pleased with the result because the Iranians never got a chance to launch their offensive.
In the ensuing months, Francona reported, the Iraqis used sarin in massive quantities three more times in conjunction with massed artillery fire and smoke to disguise the use of nerve agents. Each offensive was hugely successful, in large part because of the increasingly sophisticated use of mass quantities of nerve agents.
The last of these attacks, called the Blessed Ramazan Offensive, was launched by the Iraqis in April 1988 and involved the largest use of sarin nerve agent employed by the Iraqis to date. For a quarter century, no chemical attack came close to the scale of Saddam’s unconventional assaults. Until, perhaps, the strikes last week outside of Damascus.-
By arrangement with Foreign Policy magazine
http://dawn.com/news/1038806/cia-files-prove-america-helped-saddam-as-he-gassed-iran
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US lauds Pakistan's reconciliatory efforts with Afghanistan
August 29, 2013
WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday expressed appreciation for Islamabad’s efforts towards Afghan reconciliation and welcomed this week’s meetings between the top leadership of the two neighboring countries.
“We welcome any opportunity like this one for increased bilateral dialogue” between Afghanistan and Pakistan, State Department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf said.
The spokesperson, asked to comment on discussions between Pakistani and Afghan leaders during Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s visit to Islamabad, said that “Pakistan’s own security and stability is tied, of course, to a successful outcome in Afghanistan.”
“We have been appreciative of Pakistan’s efforts to further reconciliation. Clearly there is an ongoing process here. And I don’t have any more details.”
http://tribune.com.pk/story/596838/us-lauds-pakistans-reconciliatory-efforts-with-afghanistan/
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Any Western strike on Syria will be symbolic, limited: experts
August 29, 2013
Expected Western strikes on Syria will target the military, intelligence services and possibly sites with symbolic regime links, but will not alter the balance of power in the country, experts say.
The raids, if they do occur, would be aimed at punishing President Bashar al-Assad's regime and sending him a message rather than wiping out his military capacity and handing the rebels a decisive advantage, they say.
"Specific targets should include the Damascus-area headquarters, barracks and support facilities of the fourth and Republican Guard armoured divisions, two units heavily involved in the bombardment of civilian areas," said Jeffrey White of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy think tank.
"Allied forces should also strike higher-level military and intelligence headquarters and command-and-control facilities associated with military operations around the capital."
The Republican Guard, reputed to be one of the best armed and best trained units in the country, is commanded by the Syrian president's brother, Maher al-Assad. Highly feared, it has special responsibility for defending the capital.
Washington and its allies are pressing for military action against Assad's regime over deadly suspected chemical attacks, despite stern warnings against intervention from key Damascus supporters Russia and Iran.
Analysts expect to see cruise missiles launched from US and allied submarines, ships and possibly warplanes from outside Syria's territorial waters and airspace.
French General Vincent Desportes, former director of the Ecole de Guerre military training academy, told AFP any strikes would be "more symbolic than military".
"It is a question of reestablishing the West's credibility by doing something. The declared 'red line' cannot be crossed to this degree without something being done, otherwise all US credibility would be lost, particularly where Iran is concerned."
"But it should not be too much, because if President Assad dies or if the regime collapses, that would lead to a terrible bloodbath, chaos on a national scale. It would be another strategic failure, the like of what was seen in Libya," he added.
Desportes agreed that any strikes would be brief, with symbolic targets that could include government buildings, military command centres, air force bases and even the presidential palace - as long as it could be ascertained that Assad was not inside.
Strategic leaks from the capitals concerned have already indicated that any strikes will be limited in time and space.
They will not be powerful enough to weaken the state's military capacity and tilt the balance of power in favour of the rebels, analysts say - even if, as White believes, they could "encourage fissures within the regime, increase defections and bolster the armed and political opposition".
Christopher Harmer, a naval analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, said a Tomahawk attack would not have the capacity to eliminate the regime's military or chemical weapons capabilities, "nor cause more than a temporary degradation in regime operations".
"Targets chosen to simply punish the Assad regime will have little impact on the strategic outcome," he said.
The US fleet currently has around 200 Tomahawk missiles on four ships in the Mediterranean, an arsenal that Harmer said would be more than enough to carry out a series of medium-intensity strikes on various targets.
But with the countdown practically in public, and the Western powers clearly stating their intentions, experts believe the missiles are likely to destroy only buildings evacuated days earlier, deserted command posts or runways that can quickly be repaired.
"Targets chosen to simply punish the Assad regime will have little impact on the strategic outcome," Harmer said.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/europe/Any-Western-strike-on-Syria-will-be-symbolic-limited-experts/Article1-1114425.aspx
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Fort Hood shooter sentenced to death for 2009 killings
AP | Aug 29, 2013
FORT HOOD, Texas: A military court on Wednesday sentenced Nidal Hasan to death for the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, giving the US Army psychiatrist a path to the martyrdom he seemed to want in the attack on unarmed fellow soldiers.
Hasan could become the first US soldier executed in more than half a century. But because the military justice system requires a lengthy appeals process, years or even decades could pass before he is put to death.
The US-born Muslim has said he acted to protect Islamic insurgents abroad from American aggression, and he never denied being the gunman.
He acknowledged to the jury that he pulled the trigger in a crowded waiting room where troops were getting final medical checkups before deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan. Thireteen people were killed and more than 30 wounded.
It was the worst ever attack on a US military base.
The same jurors who convicted Hasan last week had two options: agree unanimously that Hasan should die or watch the 42-year-old get an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole.
The lead prosecutor assured jurors that Hasan would "never be a martyr" despite his attempt to tie the attack to religion.
"He is a criminal. He is a cold-blooded murderer," Col. Mike Mulligan said Wednesday in his final plea for a rare military death sentence.
Hasan made no statement Wednesday before the sentence and had no visible reaction when it was read. Officials said he will be transported on the first available military flight to the military prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.
For nearly four years, the federal government has sought to execute Hasan, believing that any sentence short of a lethal injection would deny justice to the families of the dead and the survivors.
Hasan has seemed content to go to the death chamber for his beliefs. He fired his own attorneys to represent himself and barely put up a defense during his trial.
He was never allowed to argue in front of the jury that the shooting was necessary to protect Islamic and Taliban leaders from US troops. During the trial, Hasan leaked documents to journalists that revealed him telling military mental health workers in 2010 that he could "still be a martyr" if executed.
All but one of the dead were soldiers, including a pregnant private who curled on the floor and pleaded for her baby's life.
The attack ended only when Hasan was shot in the back by an officer responding to the shooting. Hasan is now paralyzed from the waist down.
Death sentences are rare in the military, which has just five other prisoners on death row. The cases trigger a long appeals process. And the president must give final authorization before any service member is executed. No US soldier has been executed since 1961.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Fort-Hood-shooter-sentenced-to-death-for-2009-killings/articleshow/22128494.cms
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Arab World
Gulf Islamists irked as monarchs back Egypt's generals
Reuters
August 29, 2013
A scuffle broke the reflective atmosphere of Friday prayers in Riyadh's al-Ferdous mosque after the imam deplored the recent bloody crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood protesters by the military in nearby Egypt.
The fight between members of the congregation, recorded on a widely circulated Youtube clip and reported by the daily al-Hayat newspaper, demonstrated how high feelings are running in the devoutly Muslim kingdom.
While they have been careful to express only muted dissent in public, Islamists and some other conservative Gulf Muslims are quietly seething at Saudi Arabia's whole-hearted backing of Egyptian army chief General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi.
After Sisi's military seized power last month, a group of clerics in the kingdom signed a letter calling on King Abdullah to reverse his position, and since the violence began two weeks ago, many Saudis have spoken out on social media.
Full report at:
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/analysis-gulf-islamists-irked-monarchs-back-egypt-s-generals
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Brain drain: Saudi Arabia to import more Pakistani doctors
August 29, 2013
LAHORE: The country is again set to lose a number of doctors, many of whom benefitted from millions of rupees in subsidies on their medical education, to more lucrative posts abroad.
Pakistan has become a huge market for Gulf countries looking to get doctors. A Saudi delegation is to conduct interviews for doctors in Lahore on August 31, in Multan on September 5 and in Islamabad on September 9.
An official with the consultants organising the interviews told The Express Tribune that he expected the Saudis to hire some 150 doctors in this year’s recruitment drive. “They never tell us exactly how many doctors they want, but they are expected to hire around 150 this time,” the official said.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/596609/brain-drain-saudi-arabia-to-import-more-pakistani-doctors/
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Assad says Syria will be 'victorious' against US: report
August 29, 2013
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has vowed that his country would emerge "victorious" in any confrontation with the United States and its allies, in comments published Thursday by a Lebanese daily. Washington and other Western powers have warned of imminent military strikes against
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/restofasia/Assad-says-Syria-will-be-victorious-against-US-report/Article1-1114583.aspx
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At least 75 dead in Iraq bloodshed: officials
August 29, 2013
The toll from a wave of violence in Iraq, including attacks in the capital, rose on Thursday to at least 75 killed and over 200 wounded, officials said.
The unrest on Wednesday included more than a dozen bombings in the capital, with the deadliest attacks targeting Shiite Muslim
neighbourhoods.
It was the latest in surging violence nationwide that has sparked worries Iraq may be sliding back towards the all-out sectarian war that killed tens of thousands in 2006 and 2007.
Overall, 71 people were killed in Baghdad and towns just south of the capital, security and medical officials said on Thursday, updating a toll from the previous day.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/RestOfAsia/At-least-75-dead-in-Iraq-bloodshed-officials/Article1-1114614.aspx
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U.S. officer, 12 jihadis arrested in Sinai after attack: source
August 29, 2013
Egyptian security services arrested on Wednesday a retired U.S. officer and 12 jihadis in Sheikh Zuwayed, North Sinai, German news agency DPA quoted a security source as saying.
The U.S. national possessed documents, some including information on Sinai.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. officer is being interrogated by authorities in Arish without giving further details on the documents or circumstances of the arrest.
Full report at:
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/us-officer-12-jihadis-arrested-sinai-after-attack-source
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Syria will become 'graveyard of invaders': PM
August 28, 2013
Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi said Wednesday that Syria will turn into a "graveyard of the invaders" in case of foreign military intervention and accused the West of inventing pretexts to attack.
Syria will "surprise the aggressors as it surprised them in" the 1973 Yom Kippur war, when Arab forces caught Israel off guard, and become "the graveyard of the invaders," he said.
The "colonialist threats" of Western powers "do not terrorise us because of the will and determination of the Syrian people, who will not accept being humiliated," Halqi said, quoted on state television.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/restofasia/Syria-will-become-graveyard-of-invaders-PM/Article1-1114296.aspx
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Arab League opposed to military attack
ATUL ANEJA
August 29, 2013
The 22-nation Arab League has opposed a military attack, despite holding “the Syrian regime responsible for this heinous crime” of chemical attack on civilians.
Also on Wednesday, Iran, a top ally of the Syrian leadership stepped up the level of its opposition in anticipation of U.S.-led military strikes in Syria. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned the Americans that the consequences of military intervention in Syria would be catastrophic, as Washington would incur losses comparable to its experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/arab-league-opposed-to-military-attack/article5068886.ece
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Egyptian addicted to stealing cuts off both his hands
August 29, 2013
An Egyptian man has sliced off both his hands by placing them in the path of a speeding train to overcome his stealing addiction.
Ali Afifi, 28, was apparently so appalled by his habitual crimes that he took his punishment into his own hands.
The young man, apparently guided by the rules of Sharia law, severed both his hands in his self-inflicted purgatory.
Full report at:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2404082/Egyptian-addicted-stealing-cuts-hands-allowing-TRAIN-run-wrists.html#ixzz2dLbK7LE3
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KSA provides housing for disabled Syrians in Jordan
August 29, 2013
Saudi Relief Campaign, which is aiding Syrians in Jordan, signed recently 131 contracts to rent residential units for Syrian families with special needs.
Attending the signing of the contracts Saad bin Muhana Al-Swaid, director of the office and the projects.
The office of the campaign in Jordan is represented by the Interior Minister councilor and Saa’ed Al-Urabi Al-Harthi, head of the campaign for the relief of the Syrians.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/news/462841
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No attack on Syria from our soil: Jordan
August 29, 2013
AMMAN: Jordan’s opposition rebels on Wednesday rejected a possible Western military action against the Syrian regime, warning of “dangerous repercussions” for the region.“We reject any kind of military intervention in Syria, regardless of its motives and justifications,” said the Islamic Action Front, the political arm of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, urging the international community to turn to negotiations.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013\08\29\story_29-8-2013_pg4_4
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South Asia
Militants kill 15 policemen in western Afghanistan
2013-08-29
KABUL: An Afghan official says 15 policemen have been killed and another 10 wounded in a Taliban ambush in western Afghanistan's Farah province.
Farah provincial spokesman Abdul Rahman Zhawandai said Thursday that the Afghan National Police squad was on patrol along the region's main highway when they were ambushed in a mountain pass.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/news/1039158/militants-kill-15-policemen-in-western-afghanistan
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Anti-Muslim monk, Shin Wirathu, stokes Burmese religious tensions
By Jonah Fisher
August 29, 2013
This week, religious violence has once again flared in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Hundreds of Muslim homes have been burnt to the ground in Sagaing region after being attacked by Buddhist mobs.
In just over a year more than 200 people, mostly Muslims, have been killed and many more displaced as unrest has spread from Rakhine state in the west to towns across the country.
Many are blaming a controversial monk and the nationalist organisation he helps lead for the rising tensions.
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23846632
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'killers of Bangabandhu will be brought back’
August 29, 2013
Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni said the government is determined to bring back the six fugitive killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
She said: “The government will bring them back and try them at any cost.”
She made the claim while addressing a discussion and prize distribution ceremony at Dhaka University's Charukala Art Institute.
Full report at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2013/aug/29/killers-bangabandhu-would-be-brought-back%E2%80%99
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Dhaka: ‘Eviction of sex workers not a moral issue anymore’
Muktasree Chakma Sathi Law & Rights
August 29, 2013
Sex workers and human rights activists opine that eviction of sex workers from a land that belongs to them is a violation of their constitutional and social rights.
Eviction of sex workers from their registered brothels is not only an immoral act but a sign of power play of the influential of the society, observed sex workers and human rights activists.
They also opined that eviction of sex workers from a land that belongs to them is a violation of their constitutional and social rights. “It is a punishable crime, too,” they said.
Full report at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/law-amp-rights/2013/aug/29/%E2%80%98eviction-sex-workers-not-moral-issue-anymore%E2%80%99
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India
'Blasts happen, nothing new about them', remorseless Yasin Bhatkal says
TNN | Aug 29, 2013
NEW DELHI/PATNA: Branded as the face of modern day terrorism, Zarar Ahmed Siddibaba alias Yasin Bhatkal of the banned Indian Mujahideen (IM) who was arrested on Wednesday night gained cult status in the home grown terror network after the 2008 Delhi serial blasts.
After he managed to give the slip to police on two occasions, 30-year-old Yasin, one of India's most wanted terrorists, is a prize catch for which Intelligence Bureau(IB) sleuths worked day and night after picking up his presence in Nepal.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Blasts-happen-nothing-new-about-them-remorseless-Yasin-Bhatkal-says/articleshow/22143430.cms
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India, Pak turn to back-channel diplomacy in Dubai to relieve LoC tension
Aug 29 2013
Islamabad: Former Pakistan Foreign Secretary Shahryar Khan and ex-Indian diplomat S K Lambah, the point men for India- Pakistan back-channel diplomacy, are to meet in Dubai on Thursday to ease tensions and draw a planned meeting between the premiers of the two countries.
The decision to initiate back-channel diplomacy to address tensions caused by ceasefire violations along the Line of Control was taken at a meeting of Pakistan's Defence Committee of the Cabinet on August 24.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/india-pak-turn-to-backchannel-diplomacy-in-dubai-to-relieve-loc-tension/1161818/
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Syria: Delhi concerned about military strikes
Aug 29 2013
New Delhi: With major world powers preparing for military strikes against Syria for what the US and its allies say was a deadly chemical weapons attack on civilians last week, a worried New Delhi is concerned over the fallout, a combination of impact of oil prices on the current account deficit, spillover on millions of Indians living in the Gulf, and India’s dilemma over its stated position on non-intervention.
New Delhi has been critical of alleged use of chemical weapons, as reports surfaced last week calling it a matter of “grave concern” and stressing that international norms must not be breached. In a dilemma over Delhi’s non-interventionism, South Block once again sees the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) passed by the UN General Assembly in 2005, becoming a point of debate.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/syria-delhi-concerned-about-military-strikes/1161572/
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Yasin Bhatkal, founder of Indian Mujahideen, arrested
Raj Shekhar, TNN | Aug 29, 2013
NEW DELHI: Indian Mujahideen founder Yasin Bhatkal has been held by Indian agencies from near Nepal border.
According to sources, IB and other Indian agencies negotiated Yasin Bhatkal's custody at Sanauli border of Nepal near Gorakhpur.
Sources say special teams had been camping in Darbhanga in Bihar for some time for his arrest.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Yasin-Bhatkal-founder-of-Indian-Mujahideen-arrested/articleshow/22134036.cms?
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Delhi media is biased, says separatist leader Geelani
August 29, 2013
The separatist Hurriyat Conference’s hard-line faction, led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, has said New Delhi-based newspapers and TV channels are portraying Kashmiris as intolerant with their “biased reporting and distortion of facts.”
In a statement here on Wednesday, spokesman Ayaz Akbar said the Hurriyat had merely expressed some reservations about holding Zubin Mehta’s concert in Kashmir and appealed to the German Ambassador to “review the programme.” But the New Delhi-based media created an impression that the Kashmiris were bigots.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/delhi-media-is-biased-says-hurriyat/article5068976.ece
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Yasin Bhatkal wanted in 8 cases in Maharashtra
Sharad Vyas, TNN | Aug 29, 2013
MUMBAI: Applauding the work of central agencies in nabbing YasinBhatkal, founder of Indian Mujahideen (IM), state home minister RR Patil on Thursday said the IM leader was wanted in as many 8 crimes perpetrated in Maharashtra.
A team of officials from the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad have already left for New Delhi and areas around India-Nepal border to study the case and interrogate the terrorist.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Yasin-Bhatkal-wanted-in-8-cases-in-Maharashtra/articleshow/22139119.cms
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Two Israelis get scholarship for promoting Indian art, culture
PTI | Aug 29, 2013
TEL AVIV: A disciple of flute maestro Hariprasad Chaurasia and an Odissi dancer have become the first Israeli recipients of a scholarship for the promotion of Indian art and culture in the Jewish state.
Ran Cohen, a disciple of Hariprasad Chaurasia and Odissi dancer Yuval Cohen, who learnt the classical dance from Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in New Delhi, have been awarded the NaanDan Jain scholarships, carrying Rs 1,00,000 for each.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Two-Israelis-get-scholarship-for-promoting-Indian-art-culture/articleshow/22126819.cms
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Indian troops died because of infighting: Hizb
AHMED ALI FAYYAZ
August 29, 2013
Making a volte-face on its previous claim that the outfit’s militants had carried out the fatal attack on the Indian troops on the Line of Control (LoC) on August 6, Hizbul Mujahideen on Wednesday instead said that the five soldiers had died in the “infighting” between two Army units in the Poonch sector of Jammu.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/indian-troops-died-because-of-infighting-hizb/article5068981.ece
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Europe
Putin, Rouhani agree chemical weapon use 'impermissible': Kremlin
August 29, 2013
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani agree that chemical weapon use is "impermissible" but oppose intervention in their ally Syria, the Kremlin said after the two held telephone talks. "Both sides consider that the use of chemical weapons by anyone is
impermissible," said a statement posted on the Kremlin website late on Wednesday.
"Considering the calls for outside military intervention in the Syrian conflict, they have also highlighted the need to seek ways to settle (the conflict) solely through political-diplomatic means," it said.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/europe/Putin-Rouhani-agree-chemical-weapon-use-impermissible-Kremlin/Article1-1114524.aspx
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US may bypass UN over Syria after Russian ‘veto’ stand
August 29, 2013
Russia’s decision to veto any move towards armed intervention in Syria may make the US bypass the UN Security Council course. A strong indication to this effect was given by US state department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf soon after the the face-off in the UN Security Council meeting.
Expressing disappointment over the Russian decision to veto any move towards armed intervention in Syria, the United States has said that there is "no point" in going forward in the UN Security Council.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/northamerica/US-may-bypass-UN-over-Syria-after-Russian-veto-stand/Article1-1114442.aspx
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Syrian opposition urges strike on Assad, France says western action 'difficult'
Aug 29 2013
Paris : The opposition Syrian National Coalition urged Western powers to launch a punitive strike against Bashar al-Assad's government quickly and offer real military and political support to stop people being "exterminated".
President Barack Obama has made a case for a limited military strike against Syria in response to last week's alleged chemical weapons attack, but any action could be slowed by the presence of U.N. weapons inspectors near Damascus and the need to ease divisions in Britain and among U.S. lawmakers.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/syrian-opposition-urges-strike-on-assad-france-says-western-action--difficult-/1161833/
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Russia to send warships to Mediterranean to counter western forces
Aug 29 2013
Moscow/Washington/London/Damascus : With the United Nations Security Council divided and the western clamour for a strike at Syria becoming imminent, Russia on Thursday said that the country “over the next few days” will be sending an anti-submarine ship and a missile cruiser to the Mediterranean.
"The well-known situation shaping up in the eastern Mediterranean called for certain corrections to the make-up of the naval forces," a source in the Russian General Staff told Interfax news agency.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/russia-to-send-warships-to-mediterranean-to-counter-western-forces/1161812/
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Russia blocks UK call for strike on Syria
Associated Press
Aug 29 2013
United Nations : The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — failed to reach an agreement Wednesday on a British-proposed resolution that would authorise the use of military force against Syria.
The draft resolution — if it were to be put to a vote — would almost certainly be vetoed by Russia and China, which have blocked past attempts to sanction President Bashar Assad’s regime.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/russia-blocks-uk-call-for-strike-on-syria/1161484/
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UN chief awaits Syria attack probe as West holds back
August 29, 2013
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday his investigating team would report back this week on suspected chemical weapons attacks in Syria as the US and its allies held back from immediate military action.
US President Barack Obama said he has yet to sign off on a plan to strike
Syria over the horrific attacks last week that activists say killed hundreds of people and threatened to draw the West into the brutal 29-month conflict.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/restofasia/UN-chief-awaits-Syria-attack-probe-as-West-holds-back/Article1-1114610.aspx
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Mideast
5 schools in Al-Quds, in occupied Jerusalem, use Israeli textbooks
Mohammed Mar’i
August 29, 2013
RAMALLAH — Five Arab schools in occupied Jerusalem began to use Israeli textbooks instead of Palestinian ones, a Palestinian official said on Wednesday.
Samir Jibreel, the director of Palestinian Ministry of Education office in Jerusalem, said that the Abdullah Bin Al Hussein, Ibn Roshd, Sour Baher boys’ school, Sour Baher girls’ school, began using the Israeli textbooks instead of Palestinian textbooks for this scholastic year.
Jibreel said that the Israeli textbooks were altered and heavily censored by the Israeli Ministry of Education. He added that the Jewish-dominated Jerusalem runs 50 schools in East Jerusalem, which are attended by 48 percent of 75,000 Palestinian students in the city. He added that 52 percent of students attended 68 private, Waqf and Palestinian Authority schools in the holy city.
Full report at:
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130829178555
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Israel will hold Assad responsible if Hezbollah attacks
By HERB KEINON
08/29/2013
The lines between Hezbollah and the Syrian regime are so blurred that Israel will hold Damascus responsible if Hezbollah bombards Israel in the coming days, Israeli officials indicated on Wednesday.
Israel has made it very clear over the past two days that while it is not involved in the Syrian civil war, it will respond fiercely if Syrian President Bashar Assad decides to respond to an expected Western attack by firing missiles at Israel.
Full report at:
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Israel-will-hold-Assad-responsible-if-Hezbollah-attacks-324615
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Israel calls up reservists, deploys missile defences against Syria
Reuters | Aug 28, 2013,
JERUSALEM: Israel ordered a small-scale mobilization of reservists on Wednesday and strengthened its missile defences as precautions against possible Syrian attack should western powers carry out threatened strikes on Syria.
However, an Israeli official briefed on a meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet said the Jewish state believed the probability of it be targeted by Syria, its northern neighbour and long-time foe, was low.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Israel-calls-up-reservists-deploys-missile-defences-against-Syria/articleshow/22123310.cms
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Turkey 'on alert' against possible chemical attack
August 29, 2013
Officials say Turkey is on alert against possible chemical attacks from Syria and has stocked food and gas masks along their shared border.
The Turkish government's crisis management center said on Twitter on Thursday that officials had designated bunkers at seven areas along the border to protect the people in the area from harm.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/restofasia/Turkey-on-alert-against-possible-chemical-attack/Article1-1114631.aspx
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Turkey wants ‘to contribute to the establishment of a new Syria’
08/29/2013
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said Turkey’s aid to the Syrian people and its support of the opposition forces was based on the “responsibility to contribute to the foundation of a new Syria.”
In his answer to a parliamentary question by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) lawmaker Atilla Kart, regarding the claims that Saudi Arabian cargo planes used Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport as a base to channel arms to the Syrian rebels, Davutoğlu said the planes only carried humanitarian aid.
Full report at:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-wants-to-contribute-to-the-establishment-of-a-new-syria.aspx?pageID=238&nID=53464&NewsCatID=338
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Pakistan
The custom-built green bus court in Taliban-hit Pakistan
08/29/2013
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Sweat pours down Judge Fazal Wadood's back as he sits perched behind a desk inside a custom-built green bus that is the latest weapon in the battle against Taliban influence in Pakistan.
The $98,000 vehicle, whose striped awnings make it more reminiscent of a giant fast food van than an arm of the state, allows Judge Wadood to preside over Pakistan's first mobile court.
Boasting a portrait of Pakistan founding father Muhammad Ali Jinnah -- and an air conditioner that struggles to fend off the intense summer heat -- the bus is designed to go directly to the people, resolving their daily disputes in some of the most remote and dangerous parts of the country.
Full report at:
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130829178603
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Jamaat-e-Islami asks govt to appoint army chief on merit
August 29, 2013
Multan: Jamaat-e-Islami Punjab Ameer Dr Syed Waseem Akhtar has asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to learn a lesson from the past governments and appoint new army chief on merit.
He added that the country could not afford any instability at this critical point and the rulers should give up the policy of favouritism. He said that the only way to put the country on path to progress and prosperity was to bury the doctrine of necessity.
Referring to National Security Council, he said that the formation of the council without any legislation was highly alarming and it could lead the country towards a new crisis. He claimed that the parliament was being bypassed on important issues and the decisions were being made somewhere else. He said that the current regime also looked like continuation of Musharraf and PPP regimes because of rulers’ policies. He asked the rulers to respect public mandate and avoid conducting experiments on the country and the nation.
Full report at:
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/national/29-Aug-2013/ji-asks-govt-to-appoint-army-chief-on-merit
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Senate body approves ‘freedom of information law’ draft
SYED IRFAN RAZA
2013-08-29
ISLAMABAD: The Senate committee on information and broadcasting on Wednesday approved the draft of a much-awaited “Freedom of Information Law”. The committee finalised the draft after eight months of deliberations. It ignored reservations of the defence authorities. The draft was prepared by the ministry on the recommendations of a sub-committee headed by Farhatullah Babar, the President’s spokesman.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/news/1039044/senate-body-approves-freedom-of-information-law-draft
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After 14 years: Akhtar Mengal returns to Balochistan Assembly
August 29, 2013
QUETTA: After spending the last 14 years away from parliamentary politics, prominent nationalist politician Sardar Akhtar Mengal returned to the Balochistan Assembly as a member of the house on Wednesday.
Former chief minister and president of his own faction of the Balochistan National Party (BNP-M), Sardar Akhtar Mengal, returned to Pakistan in March this year, ending his four-odd years of self-exile to lead his party in the May 11 elections.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/596801/after-14-years-akhtar-mengal-returns-to-balochistan-assembly/
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Punjab CM seeks EU help against terrorism
August 29, 2013
LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that present government is determined to root out the scourge of terrorism and a policy is being evolved with consensus at national level for coping with this challenge.
The CM expressed these views during a meeting with a delegation of European Union-led by Ms Ana Gomes, on Wednesday. Ambassador of European Union Lars Gunnar Wigemark, other members of the delegation, Provincial Ministers Khalil Tahir Sindhu, Raja Ashfaq Sarwar and concerned secretaries were present on the occasion.
Full report at:
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/lahore/29-Aug-2013/cm-seeks-eu-help-against-terrorism
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Three militants held in Hangu District
August 29, 2013
HANGU: The Doaba police on a tip-off raided a house in Sarokhel area of the district and apprehended three militants while they were making bombs. Three arrested militants were identified as Israfeel, Mujibur Rehman and Siddiqullah. The police confiscated 3,350 grammes of explosives, one detonator, tapes, batteries and other material from them. Hangu District Police Officer Sajjad Khan reiterated his resolve to stamp out terrorism from the area and to protect lives and properties of the people. He said that militants held in the raid wanted to use the explosives in a terror activity and due to the timely action of police they were captured. Sajjad Khan said that support of people was vital, as the menace of terrorism could not be wiped out without their support.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013\08\29\story_29-8-2013_pg7_4
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Pakistani among five held in largest Australian people-smuggling raids
2013-08-29
SYDNEY: Five men from Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan have been arrested and accused of facilitating the passage of up to 132 asylum-seekers boats in Australia's largest-ever people-smuggling sting, police said Thursday.
The men –a Pakistani national, 46, an Iranian, 21, and three Afghans aged 40, 34 and 33 – were detained in a major nationwide operation culminating 12 months of work and seven separate probes into 132 voyages.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/news/1039151/pakistani-among-five-held-in-largest-australian-people-smuggling-raids
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Southeast Asia
Kedah to step up efforts to curb spread of Shi’ite sect teachings
August 29, 2013
ALOR SETAR: Kedah will be able to step up its efforts in curbing the spread of the teachings of the Shi’ite sect here with the passing of a Bill by the state assembly on the amendment to the Syariah Criminal Offences.
Mentri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said 21 of the 36 assemblymen voted for the Bill while nine opposed it. Four had abstained while two did not vote.
“This enactment provides penalties for those spreading the teachings of the Shi’ite sect, thus allowing enforcement on any individual who tries to spread it,” he said after the assembly meeting adjourned sine die at 10.45pm on Tuesday.
Full report at:
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/08/29/Kedah-to-step-up-efforts-to-curb-spread-of-Shiite-sect-teachings.aspx
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Boxer Muhammad Ali awards to honour humanitarian efforts
August 29, 2013
Boxing great Muhammad Ali wants to recognize some of the greatest humanitarians around the world.
The first-ever Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards will be presented Oct. 3 in the former heavyweight champion's Kentucky hometown.
The Muhammad Ali Center said Tuesday that six awards will honor people ages 35 and under for making significant contributions for peace, social justice and other humanitarian causes. Those awards will be given for exemplifying six core principles — confidence, conviction, dedication, giving, respect and spirituality.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/08/27/muhammad-ali-awards-honor-humanitarian-efforts.html
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Africa
Detainees disappearing amid military crackdown to fight Islamic uprising in north Nigeria
August 29, 2013
Associated Press
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – In an area of Nigeria where an Islamic insurgency has caught fire, security forces are carrying out night raids in residential neighborhoods and have arrested many people. No one knows where the detainees have wound up, whether they're in good health or even if they're still alive.
Distraught relatives, human rights organizations and journalists have asked the army, the police, intelligence services and government officials where the arrested people are, to no avail. No one even knows, or is saying, how many people have been detained.
Full report at:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/08/28/detainees-disappearing-amid-military-crackdown-to-fight-islamic-uprising-in/#ixzz2dLb394Ge
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131 artifacts recovered since Malawi Museum raided
August 29, 2013
The Tourism and Antiquities Police have recovered 131 artifacts stolen from Minya's Malawi Museum in mid-August, following violence that erupted after sit-ins supporting deposed President Mohamed Morsy were dispersed by security forces in Cairo.
Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim had ordered Minya Security Directorate to intensify efforts to retrieve the stolen artifacts.
UNESCO had condemned the looting of the museum, offering help to assist the Egyptian authorities to retrieve a range of historical items.
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/131-artifacts-recovered-malawi-museum-raided
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S. Sudan police find up to half of force ‘fake’
2013-08-28
JUBA, Aug 27: A probe into policing in the troubled new nation of South Sudan has uncovered 11,000 fake names on the payroll, an official said Tuesday, offering some explanation into rising crime. Worse still, Interior Minister Aleu Ayeny Aleu told reporters, a further 16,000 names were being investigated, meaning half the force on the payroll may be fictitious.
The scam has enabled corrupt officials to pocket their salaries, he said.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/news/1038790/s-sudan-police-find-up-to-half-of-force-fake
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Libya oil exports fall to a fifth of pre-war level
August 29, 2013
Libya’s deputy oil minister says that protests by security guards have knocked the country’s oil exports down to five times less than what they were prior to the 2011 war that toppled longtime dictator Muamar Qadhafi.
Omar el-Shakmak told reporters late Tuesday that Libya is currently exporting between 300 and 320 thousand barrels of oil per day, down half of what it was last week and five times less than the 1.6 million it was exporting before the war.
Protests by guards at refineries and ports, as well as gunmen demanding money, have also hurt Libya’s oil exports and shut down ports in the east.
http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/libya-oil-exports-fall-to-a-fifth-of-prewar-level/article5068258.ece
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/us-show-syria-it-better/d/13264