Violent Tendencies in Pakistan’s Youth Show Extremism Rooted Deep within Society: Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights
New Age Islam News Bureau
28 February 2022
Representative image. Image Credit: ANI
Country: Pakistan
----
• Justice For Muslims Collective Blames U.S. For
‘Institutionalized’ and ‘Internalized’ Islamophobia
• Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Calls World Leaders to End
Russia-Ukraine War
• Ansarullah: US, Israel Use Some Arab States as Tools
to Plot against Muslims
• European Union Reacts To the Taliban’s Home Search
Operations Calling It a Crime
Pakistan
• Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan Opposes ‘Aurat March’,
Says It Is Against Islamic Norms
• Jamaat-e-Islami leaders likely to call on Chaudhrys
• PPP Begins Its ‘Awami Long March' From Karachi To Islamabad
To Force Pakistan PM Khan To Quit
• ‘Khojaly genocide’ in Azerbaijan was crime against
humanity: ministers
• Pakistan urges de-escalation through dialogue,
diplomacy
• Archbishop of Canterbury calls for peace, religious
harmony
• Pak-Afghan trade activities resume as Chaman border
reopens
• JI continues campaign to drum up support for Karachi
Rights Caravan
--------
North
America
• US announces plans to ease restrictions on
Afghanistan
• Pakistani killed in US during carjacking
--------
Arab
World
• UAE Official Gargash Says UAE Encourages Political
Solution to Ukraine Conflict
• Russia Sees Military Coordination with Israel on
Syria Continuing Amid Ukraine Crisis
• Saudi Crown Prince discusses Ukraine developments,
energy market with France’s Macron
• Arab Coalition intercepts drone targeting Jizan, no
damage, injuries reported
• No safe paths out of Ukraine for Lebanese nationals:
Beirut
• Ukrainians in Saudi Arabia speak of dread and angst
• Assad’s adviser: West left Russia with no choice,
Russia entitled to launch deterrent military operation in Ukraine
--------
Mideast
• Turkey, Pakistan Pursue World’s First ‘Islamic
World’ Fighter
• Yemen’s Houthi: US, Israel Use Some Arab States as
Tools to Plot against Muslims
• Islamic Jihad Blames Israel for Assassination
Attempt against Its Official
• FM: Iran Sticking to Redlines in Vienna Talks
• President Rayeesi: NATO Expansion Main Threat to
Independent States' Security
• Turkey, overseeing passage to Black Sea, calls
Russian invasion ‘war’
• Palestinian Lawmaker: In Harming Al-Aqsa Mosque, Israel
Playing With Fire
• Hamas delegation, Hezbollah chief meet to discuss
latest developments in Palestine
• One big lesson from Ukraine conflict is that era of
US unilateralism has ended, Hamas official says
• Ukraine conflict striking example of US habit of
abandoning own allies, says Hezbollah official
--------
Europe
• Ukraine’s President, Christian Orthodox Spiritual
Leader Speak by Phone
• Ukrainian president thanks Pope Francis for his
‘spiritual support’
• Syria Censures US-Led Smear Campaign against Russia
to Maintain Global Hegemony
• Iran Dismisses Ambassador to UK over ‘Unconventional
Event’ At London Embassy: Report
• Turkiye's Orthodox community prays for peace between
Ukraine and Russia
--------
South
Asia
• Islamic Emirate's Mujahid Comments House-To-House
Searches "Constructive"
• US unveils relaxations for humanitarian aid in
Afghanistan
• Afghan-Pak Chaman crossing reopens after four days
• Taliban Halts Evacuation Until Afghan Refugees’
Livelihoods Get Better
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Ukraine Is Much Closer To Malaysia Than We Think
• After complaints, ministry delays expansion of
cashless aid scheme for people with disabilities
• PAS’ religious rhetoric won’t work in Johor, says
Umno’s Nur Jazlan
--------
Africa
• Sudan's Sovereign Council Says Keen to Boost Ties
with Turkiye
• Mothers and Fathers protest in Khartoum to support
Sudan’s anti-coup youth
• UN mission seeks political strategy for Sudan
• Sudan, Russia hold talks on military cooperation
--------
India
• Nawab Malik Must Be Probed but Muslims Must Not Be
Linked To Terror, Aurangabad Lok Sabha MP
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
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Violent Tendencies in Pakistan’s Youth Show Extremism
Rooted Deep within Society: Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights
Representative image.
Image Credit: ANI
Country: Pakistan
-----
26 February, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], February 26 (ANI): The
participation of Pakistan’s youth in acts of violence demonstrates how
extremism exists deep within the heart of Pakistani society, local media
reported.
The country’s Senate Standing Committee on Human
Rights was aghast on the instances of this extremism that is ingrained equally
in the educated as well as illiterate, the Dawn newspaper reported.
The meeting, which commenced with criticism of the
Mian Channu incident, discussed how violent tendencies were mostly reported in
19 to 30-year-old people mostly influenced by social media forums.
Notably, a mob comprising men mostly in their 30s
lynched a mentally-unstable man for burning Quranic scriptures in Mian Channu,
the publication reported citing Human Rights Secretary Inamullah Khan.
Khan further informed the senate body members that in
the murder case of Sri Lankan national in Sialkot, 120 out of 130 suspects were
between 18 and 20 years of age.
The committee stressed that religious forums must
spread the true spirit of Islam and its stance on tolerance to help avoid the
occurrence of such incidents.
As many as 14 to 15 cases of violence have been
reported in Pakistan since the start of this year, the Pakistani newspaper
reported citing Additional IG Sahibzada Shahzad Sultan.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s influence of extremist ideology
has increased with radical elements dominating the violence in the society.
The threat from extremism in Pakistan comes from the
Taliban insurgency to militant organizations to individuals who wish to join a
mob-burning a man alive without actually getting into the depth of why the
person was being targeted, according to an opinion piece in News International.
The youth bulge of Pakistan’s population between ages
15-24 is estimated at 36 million, while a staggeringly high number of 58
million individuals are below the age of 15. The above youth population
gravitates towards radicalization because there is high unemployment and income
disparity innate in the Pakistan society, the article noted. (ANI)
This report is auto-generated from ANI news service.
ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Source: The Print
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original story:
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Justice For Muslims Collective Blames U.S. For
‘Institutionalized’ and ‘Internalized’ Islamophobia
Maha Hilal of the Justice
for Muslims Collective
------
FEBRUARY 27, 2022
The University of California Santa Barbara’s
Multicultural Centre hosted a scholar/activist earlier this month who blamed
the United States for the phenomena known as “institutionalized” and
“internalized” Islamophobia.
Maha Hilal of the Justice for Muslims Collective said
the former is comprised of “racial profiling and hyper-surveillance of Muslim
communities,” while the latter is “members of the Muslim community feeling
compelled to participate in Islamophobic narratives,” according to the Daily
Nexus.
In critical theory style, Hilal alleged that, like
racism, institutionalized Islamophobia is “officially built into state and
societal structures” so the government can oppress Muslims and “justify [its]
wars.” The official sentiment of the U.S. is that Islam is a “violent,
barbaric, uncivilized and opposed to normative democratic values.”
The government uses this to justify “militarism,
draconian immigration policies and torture,” Hilal said. As a result of these
factors, non-radicalized Muslims buy into the “negative and problematic tropes”
about their demographic.
“There is a way to stop the violence, and part of it
is the United States taking responsibility for this violence,” [Hilal said]. “I
should note, however, … that US wars never actually end; they just morph into
new wars that preserve the violence of wars past.” …
“What I really want to impart here is just how
powerful narrative is in the course of the war on terror and how it has served
to define the state’s interests in the way that those targeted by the state
have been almost powerless to confront,” Hilal continued. “If you are the one
who gets to construct what terrorism is, what evil is, what violence is, you
have the power.“
Hilal noted the U.S. government’s Islamophobia is a
bipartisan affair: George W. Bush and his successor Barack Obama both used
inflammatory rhetoric with regards to the War on Terror, such as referring to
radical Muslim terror attacks as “evil.”
In a recent tweet regarding the United States’
still-lingering relationship with Afghanistan, Hilal referred to the former as
“irredeemable.”
According to her Linkedin page, Hilal received a
“Critical Language Scholarship” from the U.S. State Department in 2011 and specializes in “political education
programming and narrative shifting programming.”
Source: The College Fix
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original story:
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Grand Imam of al-Azhar calls World leaders to end
Russia-Ukraine war
The grand imam of Al-Azhar
called on Russia and Ukraine to heed the voice of reason and end the war
between the two countries.
-----
February 27, 2022
The grand imam of Al-Ahzar called on Russia and
Ukraine to heed the voice of reason and end the war between the two countries.
In a statement released in Arabic and English, Sheikh
Ahmed El-Tayyeb also called on world leaders and international institutions to
support peaceful solutions to the conflict, elkalimanews.com reported.
He stressed that wars will only bring more killing,
destruction and hatred to the world.
El-Tayyeb added that differences can be resolved only
through dialogue.
Many world leaders, including religious leaders, have
called on Moscow and Kiev to resolve their issues diplomatically.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced
the launch of an operation to eliminate what he called a serious threat to his
country, citing the need to “denazify” Ukraine and accusing its Western-backed
leadership of genocide against Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine.
Western countries have announced a barrage of
sanctions on Russia, including blacklisting its banks and banning technology
exports. But they have stopped short of forcing it out of the SWIFT system for
international bank payments, because it would harm their own economies.
At the United Nations, Russia vetoed a draft Security
Council resolution deploring its operation.
Source: ABNA24
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original story:
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Ansarullah: US, Israel Use Some Arab States as Tools to
Plot against Muslims
Sayyed Abdul-Malik
Al-Houthi
------
February 28, 2022
The leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement says the
United States and Israel use certain regional Arab states as tools to implement
their plots against the Muslim world.
Abdul-Malik al-Houthi was speaking during a televised
speech broadcast live from the capital Sana’a on Sunday, while addressing a
ceremony held to mark the martyrdom anniversary of Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi,
who was assassinated by forces loyal to slain former Yemeni dictator Ali
Abdullah Saleh back in 2004.
Criticizing certain Arab states for their inaction
toward the plots hatched against the Muslim world by the US and its regional
ally, Israel, the Ansarullah leader said, the US and the Zionist regime have actually
no respect for the regimes in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Saudi
Arabia, which have already taken steps to normalize ties with Tel Aviv or are
considering plans to do so.
“The US and Zionists view regional Arab states only as
expendable tools to implement their plots” against the Muslim world,” Houthi
said, denouncing “some traitor Arab states for collaborating with US, Israeli
plots.”
The Ansarullah chief then stressed that Washington
only loves and trusts the Israeli regime in the region and will eventually
abandon other regimes.
Houthi then warned that US, Zionist enemies “pretend
to be friends of people” in our region through propaganda while at the same
time they only seek to steal natural and human resources of Muslim nations.
“Enemies seek to prevent Muslim nations’ development and keep them occupied with conflicts,” the
Ansarullah leader went on to say. “Zionists only take advantage of traitors in our
region, while they hate people of our region.”
Houthi touched on the occupation of Palestinian land
by the Zionists, saying they occupied Palestinian territories based on
“fabricated religious scripts” and that their lobby in the world is the “main
instigator of conflicts in our region.” He said the Zionist lobby has taken
control of Western states to a large extent.
The Ansarullah chief emphasized that enemies seek to
create religious supremacy for the Zionists in our region and that they want to
take full control of our nations to silence all voices that oppose their plots.
In conclusion, Houthi stated, “We need to be steadfast
to stand against enemies’ projects.”
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies,
backed by the US and European powers, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015,
with the goal of bringing the government of former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh
Mansour Hadi back to power and crushing popular Ansarullah resistance movement.
The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead
and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and
spread famine and infectious diseases there.
Despite Saudi Arabia’s incessant bombardment of the
impoverished country, the Yemeni armed forces have gradually grown stronger,
leaving Riyadh and its allies, most notably the UAE, bogged down in the
country.
Source: ABNA24
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original story:
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European Union Reacts To the Taliban’s Home Search
Operations Calling It A Crime
(Representative Photo)
-----
27 Feb 2022
The European Union Ambassador to Afghanistan reacted
to the Taliban’s home search operations calling it a crime and urging it must
stop.
Von Brant, the European Union Ambassador to
Afghanistan in a Twitter message has said to the Taliban that Afghanistan is
being watched by the world besides the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
The intimidations, house searches, arrests, and
violence against members of different ethnic groups and women are crimes and
must stop immediately, Von Brant tweeted.
Despite Putin’s war, we are watching you, he has
added.
This comes as the Taliban have launched comprehensive
home search operations in Kabul since last week. The move has been widely
criticized in the media and on social media platforms by the citizens,
journalists, and civil society members watching Afghanistan from outside.
Source: Khaama Press
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Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan opposes ‘Aurat March’, says it is against Islamic norms
27 February, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], February 27 (ANI): Pakistan’s
opposition party Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has voiced its opposition to
the Aurat March, women’s rights movement in Pakistan saying it was against the
norms of the society as well as Islam.
This comes at a time when other parties like Jamiat
Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which
are at loggerheads, have also come together to oppose Aurat March.
TLP leader Mohammad Yaqub Saifi on Saturday said the
participants of the Aurat March chanted unethical slogans. He further opposed
the holding of the march on the occasion of the International Women’s Day on
March 8, reported the Dawn.
Earlier, ahead of Aurat March that coincides with
International Women’s Day, the federal religious affairs minister and a leading
light of the JUI-F have both termed it ‘un-Islamic’.
“If any attempts are made for obscenity on March 8 in
Islamabad, we will condemn it,” Abdul Majeed Hazarvi, the chief of JUI-F
Islamabad wing had warned.
Their argument would have weight if backed by logic,
knowledge or even plain common sense but their driver appears to preconceived,
archaic notions about a woman’s place in society and outright misogyny.
Source: The Print
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of the original story:
https://theprint.in/world/pakistan-tlp-opposes-aurat-march-says-it-is-against-islamic-norms/850748/
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Jamaat-e-Islami leaders likely to call on Chaudhrys
February 28, 2022
LAHORE: The Jamaat-e-Islami has contacted the PML-Q
leadership and plans to visit the Lahore residence of Chaudhrys of Gujrat to
inquire after the party president Shujaat Hussain.
As per party sources, the JI’s five-member delegation
led by Emir Sirajul Haq will visit the Chaudhrys around 1.30pm on Monday
(today). Other members of the JI delegation may include Amirul Azeem, Liaquat
Baloch, Qaiser Sharif and Dr Farid Piracha, they say.
Source: Dawn
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of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1677486/jamaat-e-islami-leaders-likely-to-call-on-chaudhrys
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PPP begins its ‘Awami Long March' from Karachi to
Islamabad to force Pakistan PM Khan to quit
Feb 27, 2022
KARACHI: The Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP), one of the
main opposition parties in the country, on Sunday began its ‘Awami Long March'
from Karachi to Islamabad to force Prime Minister Imran Khan to step down.
The long march led by the party's chairman Bilawal
Bhutto Zardari, the son of slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto, will pass
through 34 major cities before reaching Islamabad on March 8 where the PPP
activists would camp outside the parliament.
"The time has come to bring the no-confidence
motion against an incompetent and selected government,” Bilawal said while
addressing the gathering here.
"The people of Karachi have become fed up with
this puppet government which has completed three years and now want a change,”
he said while raising slogans of “go selected go” to thunderous applause from
the people.
Riding on motorbikes, cars and other modes of
transportation, the PPP activists began their long march from the mausoleum of
Pakistan's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
Bilawal is riding on the same truck which his mother
rode when she returned to Pakistan from exile in 2007.
Incidentally, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party on
Saturday launched a "Huqooq-e-Sindh” (right of Sindh) march from Ghotki in
Sindh to Karachi against the PPP government which rules the southern Sindh
province.
Led by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the
march is against the PPP and wants a change in the province which has been
ruled by the PPP for decades now.
"The masses present here to join this march
against PPP shows that they want a change and support Prime Minister Khan,”
Qureshi said.
Source: Times Of India
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‘Khojaly genocide’ in Azerbaijan was crime against
humanity: ministers
February 26, 2022
ISLAMABAD: Members of the federal cabinet called the
“Khojaly genocide” in Azerbaijan in 1992 a historical crime against humanity.
Speaking at a seminar on the 30th anniversary of the
genocide that was organised by MUSLIM Institute, a think tank, and the
Azerbaijan embassy in Islamabad, Minister for Food Security and Research Syed
Fakhar Imam and Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan said Pakistan
always stood with Baku against the illegal actions of Armenia.
“Pakistan and Azerbaijan are two brotherly Islamic
countries which are closely related to each other in the spirit of Islam,” Imam
said in a statement issued by the MUSLIM Institute.
Khan said relations between the two countries are
based on mutual trust and Pakistan has always given full moral and diplomatic
support to Azerbaijan without any interest in the war caused by Armenia’s
illegal occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Pakistan has always supported the principle stance of
Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh, that’s why Pakistan has not recognised Armenia
to date. This position of Pakistan is in fact in line with the ideas of
Muhammad Ali Jinnah,” he said.
The seminar was also attended by the Turkish
Ambassador in Pakistan Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul, Ambassador of Azerbaijan Khazar
Farhadov, MUSLIM Institute chairman Sahibzada Sultan and Quaid-e-Azam
University Vice Chancellor Professor Muhammad Ali Shah.
The speakers also urged the international community to
take action against the perpetrators of a 1992 massacre carried out by Armenian
forces in Khojaly, Nagorno-Karabakh that left more than 600 people dead.
On February 26, 1992, with the Soviet Union just
dissolved, Armenian forces took control of the town of Khojaly in occupied
Karabakh after battering it with heavy artillery and tanks, assisted by
infantry.
The massacre is seen as one of the bloodiest
atrocities by Armenian forces against Azerbaijani civilians in the Karabakh
region, which was liberated by Azerbaijan forces in November 2020 after decades
of occupation.
Source: Pakistan Today
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Pakistan urges de-escalation through dialogue,
diplomacy
Amir Wasim
February 28, 2022
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on
Sunday held a telephonic conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro
Kuleba and expressed “serious concerns” over the situation after the Russian
invasion of Ukraine and called for de-escalation through dialogue and
diplomacy.
According to an official statement issued by the
Foreign Office, Mr Qureshi during telephonic talk shared Pakistan’s perspective
in detail at the situation, “underscoring the importance of de-escalation and
stressing the indispensability of diplomacy”.
The foreign minister noted that Prime Minister Imran
Khan in his recent visit to Moscow had regretted the latest situation between
Russia and Ukraine and said Pakistan hoped diplomacy could avert a military
conflict.
Mr Qureshi told the Ukrainian foreign minister that
conflict was not in anyone’s interest and that developing countries were always
hit the hardest economically in case of a conflict. He underlined Pakistan’s
belief that disputes should be resolved through “dialogue and diplomacy”.
Qureshi phones Ukrainian FM; 411 more Pakistanis
evacuated from war-hit country; 21 return home; PIA to operate two special
flights to Warsaw
Mr Qureshi also took up the important matter of
evacuation of Pakistani community and students in Ukraine and their safe return
to Pakistan. He appreciated the role played by the Ukrainian authorities in the
evacuation process.
Evacuation
According to Pakistan’s embassy in Ukraine’s capital
city of Kyiv, there were 3,000 students in Ukraine and majority of them had
left the country. It said efforts were being made to evacuate 600-700 more
students.
As many as 411 more Pakistanis, including 12 family
members of the embassy staff, were evacuated on Sunday. There were 143
Pakistanis on the border posts and 15 at Lyiv and Ternopil reception desks.
Another 101 Pakistanis were on their way to Lyiv from various other cities,
including Kharkiv, Poltava and Kyiv.
The embassy claimed that nearly 90 per cent evacuation
had been completed to ‘safe zone’ and the remaining would be completed in the
next couple of days. The embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are
actively engaging the Ukrainian government to expedite the process.
According to the statistics released by the embassy,
as many as 358 Pakistanis were evacuated to Poland, 22 to Romania, six to
Slovakia, three to Hungary and one Pakistani to Moldova. The statement said 21
Pakistanis had been brought back to Pakistan.
An earlier statement of the embassy said that the
mission had been providing accommodation to the students in Ternopil. It said
night curfew had been imposed in different cities, including Kharkiv, Lyiv,
Ternopil and Kyiv.
It said that currently there was no safe place in
Ukraine and even cities like Lyiv and Ternopil that were in the west of Ukraine
had been hit.
“The government of Ukraine is dysfunctional, yet the
embassy is making all-out efforts to facilitate evacuation of Pakistanis from
the country,” said the statement.
Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan has said
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was all set to launch an evacuation plan
to airlift Pakistani students standard in Poland.
Speaking at a news conference in Taxila, the minister
said the Pakistanis would be airlifted from Warsaw, the capital of Poland, as
landing on another airport near the Poland-Ukraine border was not possible due
to technical reasons. He said Pakistan had initially planned to send two
special flights of Boeing-777 to Warsaw to bring back Pakistanis, mostly
students.
Pak-UK relations
Foreign Minister Qureshi received a telephone call
from Lord Tariq Ahmad, Minister for South Asia, North Africa, the UN and the
Commonwealth at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on Sunday.
The two sides, according to an FO statement, exchanged
views on Pakistan-UK relations and regional and international issues of mutual
interest.
Mr Qureshi reiterated the importance Pakistan attached
to its good relations and close cooperation with the UK and other European
partners. He expressed the hope that the next round of strategic dialogue with
the UK would take place in near future.
The two sides reiterated their resolve to celebrate
the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year.
Source: Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1677429/pakistan-urges-de-escalation-through-dialogue-diplomacy
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Archbishop of Canterbury calls for peace, religious
harmony
Ali Hazrat Bacha
February 28, 2022
PESHAWAR: Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby
participated in Sunday mass at All Saints Church here and gave a message of
peace and religious harmony to people, especially in the context of war between
Russia and Ukraine.
During his brief visit to Peshawar, he met with the
relatives of the members of Christian community, who were killed in acts of
terrorism. He was accompanied by Special Representative of Prime Minister for
Interfaith Harmony and Middle East Hafiz Mohammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi and
President of Church of Pakistan Bishop Azad Marshal.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby also laid the
foundation stone of peace and interfaith reconciliation centre at All Saints
Church, Kohati Gate.
Justin Welby participates in Sunday mass at All Saints
Church
A large number of members of Christian community
including priests of different churches attended the Sunday mass. The guests
were offered traditional gifts. Pakistan Council of World Religions Faith
Friends representatives headed by Qari Rohullah Madani were also present on the
occasion.
All Saints Church Vicar Shahzad Murad, Bishop of
Diocese of Peshawar Humphrey Sarfraz Peter welcomed the guests and briefed them
about the twin-bombing at All Saints Church Kohati Gate that took place on
September 22, 2013 and about murder of a priest of Chamkani church William Siraj
on January 31, 2022.
Tahir Ashrafi said that archbishop of Canterbury was a
spiritual leader of Christians and was being respected and loved all over the
world. He said that people and government of Pakistan welcomed the archbishop
as his visit would promote interfaith harmony in the country.
Pastor Shahzad Murad told Dawn that archbishop of
Canterbury was on a three-day visit to Pakistan. He came to Peshawar for a
short visit to express solidarity with the heirs of the members of Christian
community, who were killed in different incidents of terrorism.
“He participated in the Sunday mass and gave a message
of peace and religious harmony, especially in the context of war between Russia
and Ukraine. He urged the international community to work for peace, religious
harmony and protection of each other rights,” said Shazad Murad.
He said that work on the peace and interfaith
reconciliation centre had been started in 2004 to promote religious harmony. He
said that followers of different religions were members of the centre.
Meanwhile, strict security measures were in place
across the city to avert any untoward incident. Personnel of army and police
were deputed in a large number on City Circular Road and Kohati area.
Roads were temporarily closed to traffic when the
convoy of the archbishop was passing. Fork-lifters were also deputed in
different areas that were lifting vehicles from roadsides on the route of the
archbishop’s convoy.
Source: Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1677482/archbishop-of-canterbury-calls-for-peace-religious-harmony?preview
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Pak-Afghan trade activities resume as Chaman border
reopens
Saleem Shahid
February 28, 2022
QUETTA: The Chaman-Spin Buldak border between Pakistan
and Afghanistan, which was closed after clashes between the two countries’
forces began last week, was reopened on Sunday morning.
All hurdles have been removed from both sides of the
Friendship Gate on the border.
The border was reopened after a delegation of ulema
from Chaman headed by tribal elder Molvi Haji Faizullah Nourzai held
negotiations with Kandahar Governor Yousef Wafa and other Taliban leaders.
Sources said that the ulema delegation also remained
in contact with senior Pakistani officials during their talks with Afghan
officials.
“Our negotiation remained fruitful and resulted in
opening of the border,” Mufti Mohammad Qasim, spokesman for the Ulema
delegation, said.
He said the delegation conveyed a message of goodwill
from Pakistani authorities to the Kandahar governor and other Taliban leaders.
He said the people involved in trade from both sides
were facing financial losses due to the closure of the bother.
According to Mufti Qasim, “both sides regretted the
clashes which caused loss of lives from both sides”.
He said a flag meeting between border officials from
both sides is expected in a couple of days to resolve the issue which caused
the clashes. Direct talks between senior officials of the two countries would
help in reducing tension in border areas on both sides, he added.
Mufti Qasim hoped the situation would improve in the
coming days.
After opening of the border traffic was also restored
which was suspended on Feb 24.
A large number of trucks carrying Afghan transit trade
goods, import and export items, fresh fruits and vegetables crossed the border.
Hundreds of Pakistani and Afghan nationals, who were
stranded on both sides of the border, also returned to their countries. They
included women and children.
Source: Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1677434/pak-afghan-trade-activities-resume-as-chaman-border-reopens
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JI continues campaign to drum up support for Karachi
Rights Caravan
February 27, 2022
KARACHI: The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), in connection with
the Karachi Rights Movement, continues its door to door campaign to drum up
support for the upcoming Karachi Rights Caravans to be taken out all across the
city.
The caravans will be taken out on daily basis at one
after another area of the megalopolis. The activity will be started in the
first week of March.
For the past several days, JI workers have been
approaching people across the city to update them in connection with the JI’s
Karachi Rights Movement and to invite them to the caravans.
Meanwhile, protest demonstrations were held across the
city, demanding the provincial government to curb the rising and deadly street
crimes.
Source: Pakistan Today
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North
America
US announces plans to ease restrictions on Afghanistan
26 February 2022
The United States has announced plans to ease its
sanctions for businesses in Afghanistan as the people face food insecurity and
hunger there following the two-decade-long US war of aggression against the
impoverished country.
The UN World Food Program (WFP) warned recently that
almost all people in Afghanistan “do not have enough to eat," after the US
invaded and occupied the country following the 9/11 attacks in the US.
Afghanistan had nothing to do with the attacks.
The US Treasury Department ease of sanctions is the
seventh so-called general license to aid Afghanistan, clarifying the
institutions and sectors of the Kabul government with which entities can do
business without violating the harsh economic sanctions imposed on the Afghan
nation following the US military's abrupt exit and the subsequent Taliban's
sudden seizure of the country in August 2021.
“The license will ensure US sanctions do not stand in
the way of transactions and activities needed to provide aid and support the
basic human needs of the people of Afghanistan. They reflect our deep
commitment to supporting the people of Afghanistan during this ongoing
humanitarian and economic crisis,” a senior Biden administration official was
quoted as saying on Friday.
The US Treasury's previously issued general licenses
had mainly outlined how nonprofit organizations were allowed to provide
humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. The new general license, however, allows
banking, infrastructure development and maintenance, commercial trade, safety
and maintenance operations for transportation systems, and telecommunications
to operate.
The Treasury's waiver comes after US President Joe
Biden issued an executive order authorizing the release of half of the $7
billion in frozen Afghan funds held in the US for humanitarian aid to be made
available for a possible payment to victims of the September 11 attacks.
Biden's' move met with angry reaction in Kabul.
Source: Press TV
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/02/26/677601/Afghan-Economy-US-Sanctions-Treasury-Waiver-
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Pakistani killed in US during carjacking
Anwar Iqbal
February 28, 2022
WASHINGTON: Abdul Rauf, a popular member of the
Pakistani community in the Washington DC area, was fatally shot on Saturday
night in Maryland’s Oxon Hill neighbourhood during a carjacking.
Mr Rauf’s friends and relatives said that the carjackers
tried to snatch his car and shot him three times from a close range when he
resisted. He died on the spot. The robbers took his car.
Two years ago, Mr Rauf received a bravery award from
the Alexandria police department for rescuing a woman officer from local
hooligans who were attacking her with iron rods.
For 18 years, his Chutney restaurant was the centre of
the cultural and social activities of the Pakistani and Indian communities in
the Washington DC area.
Last year, another Pakistani, Mohammad Anwar, 66, was
also killed during a carjacking in Washington’s Nationals Park area. Two
teenagers were arrested for his murder.
Source: Dawn
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of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1677435/pakistani-killed-in-us-during-carjacking
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Arab
World
UAE official Gargash says UAE encourages political
solution to Ukraine conflict
27 February ,2022
The diplomatic adviser to the UAE president Anwar
Gargash said on Sunday that the UAE rejects military solutions and encourages a
political settlement to the Ukraine conflict.
“We believe that taking sides will only lead to more
violence. [When it comes to] the Ukraine crisis, our priorities are encouraging
all sides to adopt diplomacy and negotiations to reach a political settlement
that ends this [conflict],” Gargash said on Twitter.
He also said that the UAE has a “firm stance”
regarding the basic principles of the UN, international law and sovereignty of
countries.
Gargash added that the “sharp polarization” which the
world faces as a result of the conflict in Ukraine “increases the factors of
instability.”
“Based on our experience in a region full of conflicts,
we [believe] that [reaching] political solutions and creating balances that
strengthen security and stability are the best way to confront crises and
mitigate their consequences,” he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday launched
a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Russia sees military coordination with Israel on Syria
continuing amid Ukraine crisis
26 February ,2022
Russia sees its military coordination with Israel over
Syria continuing, the Russian embassy said on Saturday, after Moscow signaled
displeasure with Israeli statements about the Ukraine crisis.
Following the 2015 Russian intervention in the Syrian
civil war, Israel set up a “deconfliction mechanism” with the big power to
prevent them clashing inadvertently during Israeli strikes against Iranian
deployments and arms transfers in the neighboring Arab state.
“Our military officials discuss the practical issues
of this substantively on a daily basis. This mechanism has proven to be useful
and will continue to work,” the Russian embassy in Israel said in a statement.
But while voicing support for Israel’s security needs,
it also reiterated opposition to violations of Syrian sovereignty.
The Israeli military, asked about prospects for
continued coordination with Russia over Syria, said only that its forces “will
act when needed to counter threats, defend the people of Israel and our
sovereignty.”
Israel, whose main ally is the United States,
condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Thursday as “a serious violation
of international order” and has since remained largely muted on Moscow’s
actions.
In response, Moscow - which calls its actions in
Ukraine a “special operation” - summoned the Israeli ambassador for talks.
Russia’s UN mission restated opposition to Israel’s occupation of the Golan
Heights. Israel captured the strategic plateau from Syria in a 1967 war and
annexed it, a move that won US recognition in 2019.
Source: Al Arabiya
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of the original story:
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Saudi Crown Prince discusses Ukraine developments,
energy market with France’s Macron
28 February ,2022
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
discussed the developments in the Ukraine war and its repercussions on the
energy markets with France’s President Emmanuel Macron in a phone call on
Sunday, state news agency SPA reported.
The two leaders discussed bilateral relations and
opportunities for developing cooperation in various fields.
“They also discussed the latest regional and
international developments and the efforts exerted in their regard, especially
the promotion of international peace and security,” SPA reported.
“During the call, they discussed the situation in
Ukraine and the impact of the crisis on energy markets. The Crown Prince
affirmed the Kingdom's keenness on the stability and balance of oil markets and
the Kingdom's commitment to the (OPEC+) agreement.”
Source: Al Arabiya
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Arab Coalition intercepts drone targeting Jizan, no
damage, injuries reported
26 February ,2022
The Arab Coalition has said that a booby-trapped drone
that took off from Sana’a’s International Airport fell in the Jidian village in
Jizan, Saudi Arabia, without causing injuries or damage, Saudi Press Agency
(SPA) reported on Saturday.
The Coalition reported that the drone attack was
deliberately targeting civilians.
The Arab Coalition conducted 28 targeted strikes in
Yemen’s Hajjah on Wednesday, in an attempt to deter the Iran-backed Houthis,
the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
Source: Al Arabiya
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No safe paths out of Ukraine for Lebanese nationals:
Beirut
Stephanie Rady
26.02.2022
BEIRUT
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said
Saturday there are no safe paths out of Ukraine for Lebanese nationals stranded
in the country.
“The Lebanese who are currently present there are
advised to stay in safe places until things clear up,” he said following his
meeting with Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
He added that Lebanese nationals who have sought
refuge in Poland and Romania will be evacuated “at a date to be determined
later.”
"As for the Lebanese who have decided to head to
the border crossings at their responsibility, they are urged to take utmost
care and caution in order to preserve their safety," Bou Habib added.
Estimates put the number of Lebanese nationals in
Ukraine at around 4,000, including 1,000 students.
Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine entered its
third day on Saturday, with latest reports indicating clashes between Russian
and Ukrainian troops in Kyiv.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the military
intervention Thursday, days after recognizing two separatist-held enclaves in
eastern Ukraine. He claimed that Moscow had no plan to occupy its western
neighbor, but wanted to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Ukrainians in Saudi Arabia speak of dread and angst
ZAID KHASHOGJI & SALEH FAREED
February 27, 2022
RIYADH/JEDDAH: Ukrainians living in Saudi Arabia have
been watching the news, concerned for the safety of their families and friends,
and alarmed by events in their home country.
“Missiles, sirens all the time, explosions in this
area, and bomb shelters,” said 23-year-old Ukrainian Kateryna Tkachenko, who
lives in Jeddah. “This is all the news that we've been getting since it began.”
The Russia-Ukraine crisis has devastated and displaced
many, with explosions lighting up the skies and air raid sirens sounding
throughout the country.
Those who spoke to Arab News shared their feelings of
dread and angst as they received frantic calls from loved ones back home,
describing the situation as “devastating.”
Tkachenko said her friends and family, who decided to
stay in their homes, had placed blankets and mattresses in the corridor and put
tape on the windows so the glass would not shatter in the event of an
explosion.
“My loved one is in the center of Kyiv at the moment.
He couldn't go to the shelter because his collarbone is broken,” Tkachenko told
Arab News. “He stayed home alone, and so far, it's the safest place he can make
for himself.”
With hopes of the COVID-19 pandemic ending soon,
Tkachenko said that she and her friends had begun discussing their futures,
choosing career paths, and all that had come to a standstill.
Olena Solodovnyk, 28, works at a beauty salon in
Jeddah. She said she and her family members could not believe a war was
happening and felt completely powerless.
“My whole family is in different cities and I am very
worried about their fate. It is not easy to understand what’s happening with
this situation, you cannot do anything,” Solodovnyk told Arab News. “I thank
God that my parents are now in Pavlograd and are safe, but we pray and worry
about my sister with children who live near Kyiv.”
Pavlograd is a city and municipality in central east
Ukraine, located within the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. It is the administrative
center of Pavlograd Raion with a population of around 100,000.
“Some of my relatives could leave the country or go
west to the Carpathians (a mountain range across central and eastern Europe),”
Solodovnyk said. “The worst thing is my friends, who are now in Kyiv and hide
in bomb shelters and spend the night in the subway.
“Every day of my life starts with the fact that I call
and write to everyone, to make sure they’re alive. What is happening now is
terrible. It changes your attitude toward life and values.
“It's just so scary because you come to realize that
every time you say 'I love you' or ‘Goodnight' or ‘Please take care' or ‘Stay
safe,’ it might be the last time or the last words you're telling this person,”
said Tkachenko.
Irina Bloxham who has been living in the Kingdom for
22 years, has been following the news closely from Riyadh. She told Arab News:
“We are very concerned about what's going to happen to our families — to Ukraine
in general. And on the other hand, it's: ‘What can we do for our country?’”
Bloxham, who works as the recreation manager of
Braira, a valley resort in Riyadh, added: “Besides being concerned for my
family back home, I’m just afraid that they will absolutely destroy the country
and the nation, but we are strong and Ukraine will be free soon.”
Bloxham, who is originally from Kharkiv near the
Russian border, said that being away from home made it very difficult at this
critical time and that, while they were scared, they were very proud of how the
Ukrainian people, army men, women and children were handling the threat.
“We are not defeated, we are fighters and we are
braves,” she said.
Jeddah resident Alyona Malinovskaya told Arab News
that nobody expected war to break out. She said she saw the news online while
at home.
Although she left the country three years ago, she
still had family and friends living in Ukraine.Since the crisis between Russia
and Ukraine escalated, she had been in communication with her family every
three hours every day in order to make sure they were alright.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2032901/saudi-arabia
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Assad’s adviser: West left Russia with no choice,
Russia entitled to launch deterrent military operation in Ukraine
28 February 2022
An adviser to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has
stressed that Western countries left Russia with no choice other than to launch
a military operation in Ukraine as they failed to honor their commitments and
the US-led NATO kept expanding eastward.
According to Syria’s official news agency (SANA),
Bouthaina Shaaban said in an interview with Syria's al-Ikhbariyah TV channel
that the Russian military operation was “a necessary step” to preserve Russia’s
national security and interests.
She emphasized that the West left Russia with no other
option in Ukraine after it reneged on its commitments not to expand NATO
eastward.
Assad’s aide attributed the current crisis in Ukraine
to decades of accumulation of tensions in the Russia-West relationship.
She added that when former US President George H. W.
Bush and his Secretary of State James Baker led negotiations with the former
President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev on the entry of United Germany
into NATO, Moscow accepted the admission under the condition that “NATO does
not move one inch eastward”, but it has since expanded to include 30 member
countries.
Shaaban also referred to the misleading coverage of
the conflict in Western media, saying “Moscow can’t accept that Kiev becomes a
member of NATO” or that its neighbor hosts nuclear weapons “because that means
the destruction of Russia.”
The Russian military campaign came to “avoid a greater
loss”, she added.
The adviser also questioned whether Washington would
accept a similar scenario in which its neighbor, Mexico, joins a military
alliance with Russia.
Noting that US sanctions against countries such as
Russia and Syria violate international law, Shaaban said that it is therefore
“unacceptable” that Western countries speak about a Russian violation of
international law.
She also expressed hope that the Ukraine conflict
would herald a “global transformation” for the benefit of the nations and the
end of the last stage of “the colonial mindset” and that the crisis would push
the people to recognize the urgent need for a new global system that respects
the sovereignty of the countries and ties between them.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin
announced a “special military operation” aimed at the “demilitarization” of the
Donetsk and Lugansk republics in eastern Ukraine.
The regions broke away from Ukraine in 2014 after refusing
to recognize a Western-backed Ukrainian government that had overthrown a
democratically-elected Russia-friendly administration.
Source: Press TV
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Mideast
Turkey, Pakistan pursue world’s first ‘Islamic world’
fighter
By GABRIEL HONRADA
FEBRUARY 28, 2022
Turkey and Pakistan are teaming up to develop a 5th
generation stealth fighter in a bid to replace their aging US-made F-16 fleets.
In a Pakistani TV interview this month, Turkish
Aerospace Industries (TUSAS) CEO Temel Kotil announced the Turkish Fighter
Experimental (TF-X) will be a joint Turkish-Pakistan project.
The TF-X, first announced in 2016, is envisioned to be
a twin-engine multirole aircraft focused on air-to-air capabilities but will
also have air-to-surface roles.
It is also planned to use a mixture of US and Russian
technologies, as Turkey license-produces the US General Electric F118 engine,
and Russia can provide the necessary avionics, propulsion system, radar,
sensors, ejection seat and data link systems.
Describing how the fighter jet will be developed,
Pakistani Air Vice-Marshal Rizwan Riaz said the Turkey-based development team
offloads smaller pieces of work to students and researchers based in Pakistan.
Project components are divided into smaller tasks, after which they are
integrated.
CEO Kotil added that some of TUSAS’ operations will
move to Pakistan this year as part of activities to further improve defense
industry cooperation between the two countries.
Pakistan has its own indigenous 5th generation fighter
jet project under its ambitious Project Azm, which aims to establish an
aviation industrial base in the country. It was formally announced in 2017 and
aims to produce a fighter that can carry heavier payloads and boast a greater
range than the JF-17.
Analysts believe the type will be a clean-sheet design
powered by an advanced derivative of the Chinese WS-10 jet engine, possess
low-observable characteristics and will be optimized for offensive counter-air
(OCA), maritime and deep-strike platforms.
It is intended to replace Pakistan’s aging F-16s and
Mirage IIIs. However, both Turkey and Pakistan face issues in developing their
own 5th generation fighters.
For Turkey, the choice of a US engine for the TF-X may
be too optimistic, as the US Congress will most likely block jet engine
technology transfers to Turkey as part of sanctions imposed over its purchase
of Russian S-400 air defense systems in 2017.
That Russian hardware purchase also caused Turkey to
be removed from the US’ F-35 program and raised concerns of possible
restrictions on US parts and technical assistance for its large F-16 fleet.
In the case of Pakistan, Project Azm’s stated
objectives and deadlines are imprecise and frequently changing, which hints at
questionable budget and technological resources. While Pakistan has produced
the JF-17 in collaboration with China, it has never produced an aircraft by
itself.
Pakistan’s struggling economy and depleted finances
also means it has limited resources to spare for such an ambitious project.
Moreover, both countries have a limited technology base, which may be
insufficient for the development of 5th generation fighters.
Despite all these challenges, both Turkey and Pakistan
have their reasons for pursuing the joint fighter project. As Pakistan is
slated to operate the J-10C fighter, Turkey may be poised to pursue
collaboration with Islamabad to gain access to China’s fighter technology.
Apart from fighter jets, China has supplied Pakistan
with other advanced military equipment including tanks, rocket artillery,
surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), radar, submarines and frigates.
In 2015, Turkey chose China Precision Machinery Import
and Export Corporation as a partner to develop a long-range SAM system in a
US$3.4 billion deal, but later canceled it due to Chinese concerns of
unauthorized Turkish copying and NATO pressure.
Some analysts have suggested the proposed but later
scuppered deal may have been a bluff to pressure the US over its support of the
Kurds in Syria.
By using Pakistan as a third intermediary party,
Turkey may aim to circumvent the sensitivities of the US and NATO by directly
engaging China to acquire sophisticated military technology.
This joint project also aims to enhance already substantial
Turkish-Pakistani defense cooperation, as Turkey is building four MILGEM
frigates for Pakistan and has modernized Pakistan’s French-built Agosta class
submarines.
Such collaboration would showcase Turkey as an
emerging alternative weapons supplier. Notable high-end Turkish defense
products include Bayraktar drones, which have been exported to Azerbaijan and
Ukraine, and its STM-500 mini-submarines, which are planned for export.
Source: Asia Times
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://asiatimes.com/2022/02/turkey-pakistan-pursue-worlds-first-islamic-world-fighter/
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Yemen’s Houthi: US, Israel use some Arab states as
tools to plot against Muslims
27 February 2022
The leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement says the
United States and Israel use certain regional Arab states as tools to implement
their plots against the Muslim world.
Abdul-Malik al-Houthi was speaking during a televised
speech broadcast live from the capital Sana’a on Sunday, while addressing a
ceremony held to mark the martyrdom anniversary of Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi,
who was assassinated by forces loyal to slain former Yemeni dictator Ali
Abdullah Saleh back in 2004.
Criticizing certain Arab states for their inaction
toward the plots hatched against the Muslim world by the US and its regional
ally, Israel, the Ansarullah leader said, the US and the Zionist regime have
actually no respect for the regimes in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain
and Saudi Arabia, which have already taken steps to normalize ties with Tel
Aviv or are considering plans to do so.
“The US and Zionists view regional Arab states only as
expendable tools to implement their plots” against the Muslim world,” Houthi
said, denouncing “some traitor Arab states for collaborating with US, Israeli
plots.”
The Ansarullah chief then stressed that Washington
only loves and trusts the Israeli regime in the region and will eventually
abandon other regimes.
Houthi then warned that US, Zionist enemies “pretend
to be friends of people” in our region through propaganda while at the same
time they only seek to steal natural and human resources of Muslim nations.
“Enemies seek to prevent Muslim nations’ development and keep them occupied with conflicts,” the
Ansarullah leader went on to say. “Zionists only take advantage of traitors in our
region, while they hate people of our region.”
Houthi touched on the occupation of Palestinian land
by the Zionists, saying they occupied Palestinian territories based on
“fabricated religious scripts” and that their lobby in the world is the “main
instigator of conflicts in our region.” He said the Zionist lobby has taken
control of Western states to a large extent.
The Ansarullah chief emphasized that enemies seek to
create religious supremacy for the Zionists in our region and that they want to
take full control of our nations to silence all voices that oppose their plots.
In conclusion, Houthi stated, “We need to be steadfast
to stand against enemies’ projects.”
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies,
backed by the US and European powers, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015,
with the goal of bringing the government of former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh
Mansour Hadi back to power and crushing popular Ansarullah resistance movement.
Source: Press TV
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/02/27/677646/Yemen-Houthi-US-Israel-Palestine-Saudi-Arabia
--------
Islamic Jihad Blames Israel for Assassination Attempt
Against Its Official
2022-February-27
Palestinian media reported that Islamic Jihad official
Khader Adnan had been targeted in a shooting attack by armed assailants in the
West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday.
He was visiting the families of the three Palestinians
recently martyred in Nablus when he came under attack.
Adnan was unharmed, but the brothers of the three
martyrs were injured in the failed assassination attempt.
Islamic Jihad Secretary General Ziyad Al-Nakhalah
expressed outrage at the incident, saying it was a "clear crime" and
that the "Zionist intelligence" was behind it.
He also warned that the group considered the
assassination attempt an attack against itself and thus would "act
accordingly".
The Hamas resistance movement condemned the incident
as well, saying that it held the Palestinian Authority's security services
"fully responsible" for it.
This crime, it added, shows that the Palestinians to stand firm as the threats
posed by the occupying regime are on the rise.
Adnan stated that "mercenaries" fired at him
and a group of other Islamic Jihad members, who were accompanying him during
the visit, according to SAFA news agency.
Source: Fars News Agency
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FM: Iran Sticking to Redlines in Vienna Talks
2022-February-27
Iran seeks a good agreement through the ongoing talks
in the Austrian capital on the revival of the 2015 deal, but is determined not
to cross its headlines, Amir Abdollahian said in the phone talks on Saturday
night.
During the conversation, the two sides discussed the
latest situation of the talks that are aimed at reviving the landmark deal,
which is officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Amir Abdollahian also expressed gratitude for the
efforts made by the EU's foreign policy chief and his deputy, Enrique Mora, who
is also the coordinator of the JCPOA revival talks.
"It is the Islamic Republic's final decision not
to cross its red lines" during the Vienna talks, Iran's foreign minister
emphasized.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Amir Abdollahian called it
necessary for the opposite side in the Vienna talks to take the required
“political decision” that could pave the way for the achievement of an
agreement.
“Iran is after a good agreement, but [one that would
be] within the framework of [the country’s] national interests and does not
violate its red lines,” the top diplomat said.
Amir Abdollahian and Borrell stressed that the talks
have reached a sensitive and important juncture, adding that all the
negotiating parties have gone the major part of the distance that they should
cover.
“Some important issues remain that could be resolved
if the Western side adopted a realistic approach that would lead to realization
of a final agreement,” the Iranian foreign minister noted.
Borrell, for his part, affirmed that the Vienna talks
have reached a decisive point at which all the concerned parties are needed to
take serious decisions.
Following the phone call, Iran's top diplomat took to
Twitter, saying that he had discussed the draft of a possible agreement in
Vienna with the EU's foreign policy chief in a serious manner.
He added that all participating parties in the Vienna
talks are trying to reach a good deal, adding, however, that "Our red
lines are made clear to western parties".
Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA --
Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China -- started talks in the Austrian
capital of Vienna last April on the assumption that the US, under the Joe Biden
administration, is willing to repeal the so-called maximum pressure policy.
Tehran says it will not settle for anything less than
the removal of all US sanctions in a verifiable manner. It also wants
guarantees that Washington would not abandon the agreement again.
The eighth round of talks between Tehran and the G4+1
group of countries continues in Vienna on the JCPOA revival and removal of
sanctions.
Last Sunday, the Iranian legislators issued a
statement, calling on the administration of President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi to
adhere to Iran’s red lines as the talks inched forward in Vienna.
They said the US government and its European allies
had shown that they were not bound by any agreement over the past few years, so
Iran was obliged to learn from the experience and set clear red lines.
Source: Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14001208000242/FM-Iran-Sicking-Redlines-in-Vienna-Talks
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President Rayeesi: NATO Expansion Main Threat to
Independent States' Security
2022-February-26
The Iranian president made the remarks in a telephone
conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
"The eastward expansion of NATO is a source of
tension," President Rayeesi said during the phone talk.
"The continued expansion of NATO is a serious
threat against the stability and security of independent countries in various
regions” of the world," the Iranian president added.
The Russian president, for his part, said what is
happening in Ukraine is "a legitimate response" to several decades of
violation of security agreements by the West and its efforts to undermine his
country’s security.
The phone call came amid Russia's military operation
in the eastern parts of Ukraine, which started after Putin said he had ordered
the Russian Federation's military to carry out a “special military operation”
in the Donbass region.
Putin’s order came after the leaders of the
self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk in the Donbass region asked
the Kremlin for military assistance in response to what they called “Ukrainian
aggression".
In 2014, Ukraine’s two regions of Donetsk and Lugansk
were turned into self-proclaimed republics by ethnic Russians, leading to a
bloody conflict between the government forces and the armed separatists.
Source: Fars News Agency
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Turkey, overseeing passage to Black Sea, calls Russian
invasion ‘war’
27 February ,2022
Turkey called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a “war” on
Sunday in a rhetorical shift that could pave the way for the NATO member nation
to enact an international pact limiting Russian naval passage to the Black Sea.
Under the 1936 Montreux Convention, Turkey has control
over the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits that connect the Mediterranean and
Black seas and can limit the passage of warships during wartime or if
threatened.
Balancing its Western commitments and close ties to
Moscow, Ankara has said the Russian attack is unacceptable but until Sunday had
not described the situation as a war.
“On the fourth day of the Ukraine war, we repeat
President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s call for an immediate halt of Russian
attacks and the start of ceasefire negotiations,” presidential spokesperson
Ibrahim Kalin said on Twitter.
Fahrettin Altun, Turkey’s communications director,
said “we are witnessing yet another war in our region,” and repeated Erdogan’s
offer to mediateKyiv has appealed to Ankara to block any more Russian warships
from passing toward the Black Sea, from which Moscow has launched one of its
incursions on Ukraine’s southern coast.
But Turkey’s foreign minister said on Friday that
Russia had the right under Montreux to return ships to their home base, which
could limit any Turkish policy shift.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Palestinian lawmaker: In harming al-Aqsa Mosque,
Israel playing with fire
27 February 2022
A Palestinian lawmaker has denounced Israel’s
restrictive and provocative measures at al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of the
occupied Jerusalem al-Quds, saying the regime is “playing with fire.”
Ahmed Attoun, a legislator from al-Quds, recently
described the Mosque as “a red line” and warned that the occupying regime had
burned itself and adopted a policy of self-destruction. He said the Palestinian
resistance would always be ready to repel Israeli aggression against the holy
site.
“The occupation imposes millions of Shekels on the
Jerusalemites, demolishes their homes, and forces them to pay exorbitant taxes
and fines. All its institutions, including its security agencies, agree on
persecuting the Jerusalemite citizen,” the lawmaker said.
He also defined Israel’s policy of Judaization of East
al-Quds, its settlement expansion, and the forced displacement of Palestinian
families as “a naked aggression and an open war.”
“The occupation is waging an open war against our
identity and existence, and is trying to falsify the history and visual
identity of al-Quds through its settlement construction in the Old City and
near the al-Aqsa Mosque.”
Israeli legislators and settlers regularly intrude
into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, infuriating Palestinians. Such mass settler
break-ins almost always take place at the behest of Tel Aviv-backed temple
groups and under the auspices of the Israeli police in al-Quds.
The al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which sits just above the
Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Jewish visitation of al-Aqsa is permitted, but
according to an agreement signed between Israel and the Jordanian government in
the wake of Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem al-Quds in 1967, non-Muslim
worship at the compound is prohibited.
In May 2021, frequent acts of violence against
Palestinian worshipers at the al-Aqsa Mosque led to an 11-day war between
Palestinian resistance groups in the besieged Gaza Strip and the Israeli
regime, during which the regime killed at least 260 Palestinians, including 66
children.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/02/27/677649/Palestine-West-Bank-al-Quds-Aqsa
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Hamas delegation, Hezbollah chief meet to discuss
latest developments in Palestine
27 February 2022
A leading delegation of the Palestinian resistance
movement Hamas has met with the Secretary-General of Lebanon's Hezbollah
resistance movement Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to discuss the latest bout of
Israeli aggression in Palestinian territories.
The delegation, led by the deputy head of the
movement's political bureau, Saleh al-Arouri, met and exchanged views on
Saturday with Nasrallah and other Hezbollah’s officials on the latest events in
Palestine, particularly Israel’s right violations against Palestinians and the
regime’s attacks on Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of the occupied East al-Quds.
Sheikh Jarrah has been the scene of frequent
crackdowns by Israeli forces on the Palestinians protesting against the planned
expulsion of dozens of Palestinian families from their homes in favor of
Israeli settler groups.
Since Israel seized East al-Quds in a 1967 war,
Israeli settler organizations have claimed ownership of land in Sheikh Jarrah
and have filed multiple lawsuits to force Palestinians from the area. Much of
the international community considers the Israeli settlement structures illegal
under international law due to their construction on occupied territory.
The two sides also discussed on Saturday “the horizon
of the existing conflict between the Axis of Resistance and the temporary
Zionist entity," as well as the latest political situation in the region,
according to Hezbollah-affiliated media.
The participants in the meeting stressed the stability
and solidity of the Axis of Resistance in the face of all pressures and
threats, saying, “Great hopes were placed on it.”
The two sides pointed to the strength of the
relationship between Hezbollah and Hamas, and underlined the expansion of
cooperation and coordination between the two parties.
They reiterated their rejection of the entire
agreements opposing the Palestinian cause, calling on countries normalizing
relations with Israel to reverse their course as the move would “harm the
Palestinian cause and only served the Zionist entity.”
They also hailed Palestinian prisoners in Israeli
jails as individuals who are waging a new battle against the occupying regime,
calling for solidarity with the prisoners.
Israeli jail authorities keep Palestinian prisoners
under deplorable conditions lacking proper hygienic standards. Palestinian
inmates have also been subjected to systematic torture, harassment, and
repression.
There are reportedly more than 7,000 Palestinians held
in Israeli jails. Hundreds of the inmates have been incarcerated without
charge. Some prisoners have been held in so-called administrative detention for
up to 11 years.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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One big lesson from Ukraine conflict is that era of US
unilateralism has ended, Hamas official says
27 February 2022
A senior member of the Palestinian Hamas resistance
movement says the international community should draw lessons from the
increasingly complicated Russia-Ukraine crisis, one of which is that the era of
American unilateralism is over.
“One lesson of the Russian-Ukrainian war is that the
era of 'US unipolar domination' has ended. The US was not in a position to
declare war on Russia because it is not the sole decision maker in international
politics. Here we can talk about the future of the Zionist entity,” Hamas
political bureau member, Musa Abu Marzouk, wrote in a post published on his
official Twitter page.
Ukrainians in Gaza living in a constant state of
anxiety
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian community in the Gaza Strip
has been living in a state of panic ever since the first moments of the war.
Ashraf al-Nimr, the official in charge of the
community, said he is communicating with the Ukrainian consulate in the West
Bank city of Ramallah to get information about the latest developments in the
Eastern European country.
He said that the Ukrainian community is one of the
largest in the Gaza Strip, with more than 800 people.
“Most of the residents are doctors, pharmacists,
nurses, and engineers. This community is deeply attached to its country, and it
is therefore following up on all the developments. But all we can do is pray
for peace,” Nimr said.
Svetlana al-Farra, a Ukrainian doctor who lives in the
southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis, said, “I fear for everyone. My sister
told me that she took my mother to stay at one of the neighbors’ houses, while
the rest of my acquaintances are taking refuge in the metro station.”
Imad al-Hassoumi also said that his 40-year-old
Ukrainian wife Natalia was “very worried about her brother and aunts. Since the
war broke out, she has been communicating with them all the time, and the
scenes of the war there terrify her.”
In a televised speech early on Thursday, Russian
President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation"
aimed at “demilitarization” of the Donetsk and Lugansk Republics in eastern
Ukraine, collectively known as Donbass.
The regions broke away from Ukraine in 2014 after
refusing to recognize a Western-backed Ukrainian government that had overthrown
a democratically-elected Russia-friendly administration.
Announcing the operation, Putin said the mission was
aimed at “defending people who for eight years are suffering persecution and
genocide by the Kiev regime.”
The United Nations Refugee Agency says more than
120,000 Ukrainians have left the country since Russia started the military
campaign against Ukraine on February 24.
Nearly 200 people have been killed so far, including
civilians, three of whom were children, according to the Ukrainian health
ministry.
On Friday, a senior official with the Lebanese
Hezbollah resistance movement referred to the ongoing crisis as an example of
Washington’s habit of betraying and abandoning its allies.
“The United States tends to change course and give up
assistance, when it realizes its interests are at stake,” Safieddine
highlighted.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Ukraine conflict striking example of US habit of
abandoning own allies, says Hezbollah official
26 February 2022
As fighting between Ukrainian and Russian military
forces rage, a senior official with the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement
has referred to the ongoing crisis as an example of Washington’s habit of
betraying and abandoning its allies.
Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, head of the Executive
Council of Hezbollah, said in a ceremony on Friday that it will be tragically
wrong to place bets on US support, stressing that Lebanon and the entire Middle
East region will head off the existing conflicts once they are truly liberating
from the clutches of US hegemony.
“The United States tends to change course and give up
assistance, when it realizes its interests are at stake,” Safieddine
highlighted.
He added that the United States and some European
countries initially provoked Ukraine, but later withdrew their support and the
Kiev movement is confronting the Russian military campaign alone.
“US President Joe Biden, having seen how serious the
matter is, has announced that he would not be sending forces into Ukraine,” the
top Hezbollah official said.
“This is an undeniable fact about the United States as
we know here in Lebanon. How many times has it shunned those whom it has
deceived and given empty promises to? It has dragged them to the abyss of
sedition in Lebanon and then abandoned them,” Safieddine pointed out.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced
the launch of an operation to eliminate what he called a serious threat to his
country, citing the need to "denazify" Ukraine and accusing its
Western-backed leadership of genocide against Russian-speakers in eastern
Ukraine.
Western countries have announced a barrage of
sanctions on Russia, including blacklisting its banks and banning technology
exports. But they have stopped short of forcing it out of the SWIFT system for
international bank payments, because it would harm their own economies.
At the United Nations, Russia vetoed a draft Security
Council resolution deploring its operation.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Europe
Ukraine’s president, Christian Orthodox spiritual
leader speak by phone
Talha Yavuz
28.02.2022
KYIV, Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke by phone
early Monday with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of
around 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide.
“Thank you for the warm conversation, Your
All-Holiness #Bartholomew. Your words are like hands that hold us up in this
difficult time. Ukrainians feel the spiritual support and strength of your
prayers. We hope for the soonest peace,” Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter after the
phone call.
Bartholomew I, the head of Istanbul's Fener Greek
Orthodox Patriarchate and the spiritual leader of the world's Eastern Orthodox
Christians, released a statement earlier calling for an end to the war with
Russia and any acts of violence in Ukraine.
"Indeed, a tragic humanitarian catastrophe has
been unfolding in Ukraine for the last 24 hours. A war which, like any war, is
an abominable and reprehensible situation. It is the domination of
irrationality over reason, hatred over love, darkness over light, death over
life.
“We call, and from this position, another church to
end the war now! To immediately stop any act of violence, anything that spreads
pain and death. Let reason prevail, love for fellow human beings,
reconciliation and solidarity, the light of the Risen Christ, the gift of
life,” he said in a speech Sunday after the Divine Liturgy.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine entered its fourth day
after Moscow launched an attack on Kyiv last Thursday.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Ukrainian president thanks Pope Francis for his
‘spiritual support’
Ali Murat Alhas
26.02.2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday
thanked Pope Francis for his support as Russia launched military intervention.
"(I) thanked Pope Francis for praying for peace
in Ukraine and a ceasefire. The Ukrainian people feel the spiritual support of
His Holiness," Zelenskyy said in a Twitter post.
Pope Francis had earlier tweeted: "Jesus taught
us that the diabolical senselessness of violence is answered with God's
weapons, with prayer and fasting. May the Queen of Peace preserve the world
from the madness of war."
The pontiff also visited the Russian Embassy in Rome
on Friday and appealed for “greater space for negotiations.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the military
intervention on Thursday, a move that has met strong response from the West.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Syria censures US-led smear campaign against Russia to
maintain global hegemony
28 February 2022
Syria has strongly condemned the smear campaign of
Western countries, in particular the United States, against Russia, saying they
are distorting facts, exacerbating the situation, and aggravating the crisis in
order to maintain their hegemony over the world.
“The Syrian Arab Republic affirms that Russia has the
full right to defend itself and counter imminent dangers to its people in the
face of attempts by the West and the US to threaten its national security and
undermine its stability,” Syria’s official news agency SANA cited an unnamed
official source at the Syrian Foreign Ministry as saying on Sunday.
The source added that Western states and the US in
particular, which have violated international law and massacred millions of
innocent people through its wars, including the Korean War, the Vietnam War,
and the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, are in no position to lecture
others about international law.
He called on the international community to stand up
against Western and US policies, which constitute a serious threat to
international peace and security.
Meanwhile, NATO has escalated its war of words against
Russia since Thursday, when President Vladimir Putin announced a “special
military operation” aimed at “demilitarization” of the Donetsk and Lugansk
Republics in eastern Ukraine.
The regions broke away from Ukraine in 2014 after
refusing to recognize a Western-backed Ukrainian government that had overthrown
a democratically-elected Russia-friendly administration.
More than 14,000 people have been killed so far across
the regions as a result of the conflict that ensued between the Ukrainian
military and the pro-Russian separatists.
Announcing the operation, Putin said the mission was
aimed at “defending people who for eight years are suffering persecution and
genocide by the Kiev regime.”
Attending a United Nations Security Council meeting on
Ukraine, the Russian ambassador to the UN slammed the West’s disinformation
campaign on the Ukraine conflict, saying Russia’s forces never attack civilians
or civilian infrastructure during their operation.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/02/28/677674/Syria-raps-West-smear-campaign-against-Russia
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Iran dismisses ambassador to UK over ‘unconventional
event’ at London embassy: Report
26 February, 2022
A newspaper close to Iran’s supreme leader said on
Saturday that the country’s ambassador to the UK has been dismissed due to an
“unconventional event” held at Tehran’s embassy in London earlier this month.
The ambassador, Mohsen Baharvand, “is on the change
list along with 37 other ambassadors,” the semi-official ILNA news agency
quoted foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as saying on Saturday.
Khatibzadeh did not say why Baharvand, who has been
Iran’s ambassador to the UK for under a year, was being replaced. Baharvand’s
predecessor, Hamid Baeidineajd, held the post for almost five years.
Iran’s Kayhan newspaper, whose editor-in-chief was
appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said that “one of the reasons for
Baharvand’s dismissal was the holding of an unconventional ceremony at the
Iranian embassy (in London).”
Kayhan was referring to an event held at Iran’s
embassy in London earlier this month to mark the anniversary of Iran’s 1979 revolution.
In one video from the event shared on social media,
some women could be seen without headscarves, which prompted criticism from
some Iranian pro-regime users.
By not covering their hair, Kayhan said, the event’s
female guests “violated the basic protocols for attending Iranian diplomatic
venues.”
Wearing a headscarf and covering all parts of the body
was made mandatory for women in Iran soon after the establishment of the
Islamic Republic in 1979.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Turkiye's Orthodox community prays for peace between
Ukraine and Russia
Ali Murat Alhas
27.02.2022
ALANYA, Turkiye
Orthodox Christians in Turkiye's southern Antalya
province gathered on Sunday and prayed for peace as military clashes between
Ukraine and Russia entered the fourth day.
The prayers were held at a church under the
Russian-speaking Orthodox Believers Association in Alanya district, and Moscow
Orthodox Priest Dmitri Bogatyr led the event.
"We invite all warring parties to peace. We do
not want people to die," he said, adding that the two countries had deep
historical relations and peace should prevail so that innocent people would not
suffer.
Constantine Sorkin, a Russian citizen, said he was
deeply upset with the ongoing war. "I hope that a peace treaty is signed
as soon as possible ... We will be the same once there is peace. What matters
is the unity and solidarity now," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special
military operation” in Ukraine on Thursday, a move that has met strong response
from the West.
Western powers have imposed financial sanctions on
Moscow, and decided to supply Ukraine with weapons and ammunition.
Putin has also ordered his defense chiefs to put
"deterrence forces" on high alert, saying major NATO countries have
made "aggressive statements" about Russia.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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South
Asia
Islamic Emirate's Mujahid Comments House-To-House
Searches "Constructive"
Feb 27, 2022
The Islamic Emirate called the recent house-to-house
searches "constructive," saying that many weapons and ammunition were
captured. Also several Daesh fighters, robbers and kidnappers were captured in
the so-called clearing operation.
Talking at a press conference in Kabul on Sunday,
Islamic Emirate spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said recent house clearings were
intended to catch criminals, some of whom were released from prison during the
change of government.
According to Mujahid, women were among the Islamic
Emirate forces searching homes, and only "suspected areas" were
searched.
“Nine kidnappers, six affiliated with Daesh, and 53
robbers were detained,” Mujahid said.
Some residents of Kabul said that their houses were
raided by Islamic Emirate forces.
“They said that the family should remain inside the
house—they looked everywhere except one room where women were,” said Ali Yasar,
a resident of Kabul.
“Today around 10:30am, they (Islamic Emirate Forces)
came. There was a woman among them, they entered the houses and conducted the
searches in a good way,” said Mohammad Rafi, a resident of Kabul.
Residents of the capital earlier complained about the
house-to-house searching by the Islamic Emirate.
Mujahid said that two girls who were chained up at a
residence in Kabul were found during the operation. He said that an
investigation is underway to find information about the situation.
At the press conference, Mujahid also welcomed the new
US license allowing financial activity and called for more restrictions to be
lifted and for the expansion of diplomatic efforts.
The Islamic Emirate is against those who are leaving
the country with their families "without any excuse," because Afghans
living in camps abroad face severe problems, Mujahid said.
“Based on Islamic values women are not allowed to
travel without an accompanying male,” he said, adding that the fate of female
students who are studying abroad is being considered in light of this
requirement.
When asked about women protestors who are detained,
Mujahid said that there is no fresh information regarding that and the Attorney
General's Office is investigating the case.
Source: Tolo News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-176893
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US unveils relaxations for humanitarian aid in
Afghanistan
Feb 27, 2022
WASHINGTON: The United States on Friday unveiled a
slew of relaxations for a wide range of financial and commercial transactions
in Afghanistan.
"The United States took the decision today to
facilitate a broad range of commercial activities in Afghanistan to benefit the
people there," the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a press
statement.
The new relaxation issues a "General Licence
20", allowing "financial institutions, non-governmental
organizations, international organizations, and private sector companies to
engage in wide-ranging transactions and activities in Afghanistan while
complying with the US sanctions."
Blinken specifically clarified that the sanctions on
the Taliban regime are still in place, saying, "To be clear, sanctions on
the Taliban remain in place." Today's action facilitates private companies
and aid organizations to work with Afghanistan's governing institutions, he
added in the official statement.
The new measures are expected to have wide
implications for the Afghan economy, affecting sectors like personal and
commercial banking, infrastructure development and maintenance, commercial
trade, safety and maintenance operations for transportation systems,
telecommunications and information transactions.
"This new licence announcement has gotten buried
in Ukraine news, but it's big," said Michael Kugelman, a scholar of South
Asian Affairs at Wilson Centre, Washington.
Source: Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Afghan-Pak Chaman crossing reopens after four days
27 Feb 2022
Local officials of the southern Kandahar province said
that the Chaman crossing in the Spin Boldak district of the province reopened
on Sunday, February 27, 2022, after it remained closed for four days.
The crossing closed on Thursday after clashes between
Pakistani border guards and the Taliban that affected hundreds of pedestrians
on both sides.
Both the Pakistani and Afghan security forces accused
each other of causing the clashes.
Spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Zabiullah Mujahid had said that the problem is small but had added that the
Pakistani force had opened fires initially.This comes as commerce ministers of
Afghanistan and Pakistan are all set to meet at the Torkham crossing on Monday
to discuss various issues at the crossing point.
The Durand Line has been one of the biggest
controversial issues for the Taliban after they recaptured power in
Afghanistan.
Source: Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/afghan-pak-chaman-crossing-reopens-after-four-days-87667576/
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Taliban halts evacuation until Afghan refugees’
livelihoods get better
28 Feb 2022
As tens of thousands of Afghans claiming to be
eligible for evacuation still await flights from Kabul, the Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan said that no evacuation operation will be allowed until the
livelihoods of Afghan refugees get better.
Speaking in a press conference in Kabul on Sunday,
February 27, 2022, spokesman of the IEA Zabiullah Mujahid said that the living
situation of those who left Afghanistan in the past six months must be assured
first so that they allow further vacation because they are responsible for the
lives of Afghans.
Zabiullah Mujahid said that are fully aware of the
very bad situation of the Afghanis who are still in camps in Abu Dhabi or without
camps in Turkey.
This comes nearly a month after thousands of Afghan
evacuees in Abu Dhabi protested and complained about their destiny is unclear
as they have been living in the camps for more than six months.
Source: Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Southeast
Asia
Ukraine is much closer to Malaysia than we think
February 28, 2022
Regardless of the outcome of the current lethal
conflict in Ukraine, this much is indisputable. Ukrainians, nationalists,
pro-Russians as well as the vast majority who just want to pursue a peaceful
life are already paying a severe and unrecoverable price.
They will continue doing so for a considerable time
beyond, even if a peace treaty were to be signed today. As for the soldiers
killed or maimed on both sides, well, not to be callous, theirs is an
occupational hazard.
The consequent global gyrations, as with Wall Street
jitters and increases in gas and food prices on Main Street, are trivial. Even
to mention them seems insensitive, if not obscene.
Ukraine may be thousands of kilometres away from
Malaysia but to Malaysians, it is much closer emotionally. A routine Malaysian
Airline Flight 17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down there on July
17, 2017, killing all 298 on board. That scar is still raw.
Beyond raw emotion, Ukraine holds many eerie
similarities with Malaysia. Malaysians ignore these at their peril. The world
may refer to Ukrainians by that term but to them, the old, ugly and perennial
ancient tribal dynamics of “them” versus “us” are very much operative – the
“us” being ethnic Ukrainians, “them” those of Russian ancestry and speaking
that language.
Malaysians may have difficulty differentiating between
these Eastern European sub-varieties of people and view both the Russian
Cyrillic and its sub-variant Ukrainian script as chicken scratch. Those
differences are surface ripples, but they hide dangerous treacherous reefs just
underneath.
What the world labels as Ukrainians applies to 70% of
the population. They are proud of their culture, heritage and language. They
also have their own heroes.
A substantial minority, however, are Russians; they,
too, are proud of their ethnicity, culture and language as well as having their
own separate heroes. Worse, their heroes are but villains to the majority of
their countrymen.
Yet another disconcerting demographic reality that
Malaysians should take note is that ethnic Russians are concentrated in the
eastern part of the country, bordering Russia. In Malaysia, while Malays are
the majority in the west or the peninsula, the picture in East Malaysia is far
different.
The mother tongue of the majority there is not Malay,
the national language, but their own, be it Iban or Hokkien. Yet another
volatile element – while Ukrainians and Russians share the same Orthodox
Christianity, Malaysians do not share the same faith. Even Muslim- Malays are
divided in our interpretations of Islam.
As for Malaysian “Russians”, the Chinese, the paranoia
of “Ketuanan Melayu” notwithstanding, have seen the fate of their kin in Hong
Kong and share the anxieties their brethren in Taiwan have for their
“motherland”.
Demographic demon aside, there are two other eerie
similarities between Ukraine and Malaysia. One is geographic destiny. Former
foreign minister Anifah Aman asserted that Malaysia has the same potential
dynamics vis a vis China with respect to the brewing South China Sea conflict,
as Ukraine to Russia today.
A simplistic assessment. First, land borders are
intrinsically more problematic than maritime ones. Besides, the South China Sea
is a wide stretch of water, even without factoring in the unpredictable
monsoon.
Second, Malaysia is not the only party to that
dispute. There are other and far greater powers with direct interests. Japan
for one; likewise Europe and America. Over 30% of global maritime trade flows
through that stretch of water.
Anifah’s observation applies more to Laos and Myanmar.
Vietnam also shares a long land border with China and is also a party to the
South China Sea dispute. Vietnam had bloodied the Chinese nose more than once.
If a crisis were to erupt in the South China Sea
today, Malaysia would be but a minor player in all respects. We would, of
course, be forced to take sides but that would be a separate issue.
Malaysia’s relationship with Indonesia, a country with
a long land border with Malaysia, a la Ukraine to Russia, is more relevant.
Recall “Konfrontasi” of the early 1960s.
That crisis was more the consequence of the
conflicting personalities of Tunku Abdul Rahman and Sukarno. Notice how quickly
that conflict was resolved once both protagonists were pushed aside.
Likewise with Russian President Vladimir Putin and
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelinsky. Even if they were not national leaders,
it would not be difficult to visualise the two being drawn into a bar brawl
with minimal provocation.
The last eerie commonality between the Zelinsky
administration and the one in Putrajaya is that both are corrupt and
incompetent, a lethal combination. Ukraine was an economic basket case before
the crisis, it will be worse afterwards.
As for endemic corruption, just follow the current
trial related to 1MDB now being played out in a New York courtroom. As for
incompetence, well, ask the man in the street.
Far more consequential but less commented aspect to
the current leadership in both countries is this. Kyiv has its share, albeit
small, but still influential enough cadre of ultra-rightwing, nationalist,
white supremacists, enough for Putin to exploit it.
The pro-Russian secessionist movement in East Ukraine
did not develop de novo. Those “white supremacists” in Kyiv have their local
variant in Putrajaya, the “Ketuanan Melayu” types. Only their sheer
incompetence made them less destructive than they already are.
Unlike the earlier demographic demon and geographic
destiny, this third blight is man-made and thus at least theoretically much
more remediable. Perversely, the reality is far different.
I am struck by this observation of one Kyiv resident.
On Tuesday evening, he was having a nice leisurely dinner with friends in a
restaurant. On Wednesday evening, they were scrambling for their lives, hiding
in an underground subway station.
That is the central lesson for Malaysians and citizens
everywhere. If we do not pay attention to our leaders’ greed, incompetence and
shenanigans, that is what we can expect. This was true in Kyiv on Wednesday,
Feb 23, 2022, as in Washington, DC, on Jan 6, 2021 (when a mob of Trump
supporters attacked the Capitol building).
Source: Free Malaysia Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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After complaints, ministry delays expansion of
cashless aid scheme for people with disabilities
27 Feb 2022
BY R. LOHESWAR
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 — The Ministry of Women, Family
and Community Development (KPWKM) will put off introducing the Social Welfare
Department’s (JKM) new cashless payment system, JKMPay, to more locations in
the country.
It said the ministry’s deputy head of strategy,
Rosmahwati Ishak, had informed related groups and agencies of the decision on
Friday.
“The ministry has decided today to postpone the Social
Welfare Department’s (JKM) Cashless Assistance Payment Pilot Project to other
states and districts pending further studies.
“KPWKM always takes note of issues raised by the
relevant parties and have taken into consideration their suggestions for
improvement,” the ministry said in a statement today.
“We would like to add that this scheme will benefit
only 4,722 new recipients of this scheme consisting of the elderly, poor and
disabled while the remaining 519,409 aid recipients are not involved in this
pilot project.”
JKMPay was mooted by Minister Datuk Seri Rina Harun
last year, when she said the new method was purportedly to regulate the
recipients’ spending so that they do not buy liquor and cigarettes.
Phase one of the cashless payment pilot project in
collaboration with Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad (BIMB), involved JKM aid
recipients in several districts in Perlis, Kedah and Melaka, with the
participation of 246 premises.
It was then expanded across the three states as well
as to Terengganu, Kelantan and Selangor.
The new scheme has come under scrutiny from the
community that said it made life difficult for the recipients who could only
buy products from designated retailers and would be cash strapped if an
emergency happened.
Source: Malay Mail
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PAS’ religious rhetoric won’t work in Johor, says
Umno’s Nur Jazlan
February 26, 2022
PETALING JAYA: The more PAS talks about religion, the
better it will be for Barisan Nasional (BN) in the Johor state elections as the
state has a balanced population of Malays and non-Malays, says state Umno
deputy chief Nur Jazlan Mohamed.
He said the Islamic party, which is contesting 15
seats, is bereft of ideas and all they talk about is polygamy and promoting
ridiculous practices like saying husbands can beat their wives “lightly”, among
others.
“In Johor, we have a multiracial society, with Malays
and non-Malays. PAS is welcome to talk about their brand of religion.
“They can’t engage in discussions about education or
the economy. They only know how to talk about religion.
“Go ahead, the more they do it, the more non-Malays
will return to the BN fold,” he said in a video interview with Malaysia Gazette
last night.
Nur Jazlan said even the Malays in Johor were not
interested in listening to PAS’ version of religion because they have had a
holistic education that had enabled them to gain deep religious knowledge in
their own way.
The former deputy home minister said PAS leaders were
also performing poorly as ministers, which was obvious to any casual observer.
“Look at the party’s leader, Abdul Hadi Awang. He is
the prime minister’s special envoy to the Middle East but he is not allowed to
enter some of the countries in the region because of his adherence to a different school of thought in Islam.
“Then he goes to Qatar to meet the Taliban leaders
although Malaysia does not have any diplomatic ties with them. On top of that,
he pledges aid for them, which he should not do as it is a government policy
matter.”
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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Africa
Sudan's Sovereign Council says keen to boost ties with
Turkiye
Buhram Abdel-Men'em
27.02.2022
KHARTOUM, Sudan
Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council on Sunday reiterated
keenness to strengthen cooperation with Turkiye.
Council member Abdul-Baqi Abdul-Qadir Al-Zubair met
Sunday in the capital Khartoum with Turkish Ambassador Irfan Neziroglu.
During the meeting, Al-Zubair hailed the depth of
relations between Sudan and Turkiye in all fields, according to a statement
issued by the Sovereign Council.
“Sudan is keen on creating a safe environment to
attract foreign investments to serve the interests of the two countries,” he
added.
Neziroglu, for her part, underlined keenness of the
Turkish private sector to carry out joint projects between the two countries.
The envoy said Sunday’s meeting highlighted the
development of bilateral relations, and promoting cooperation in the health,
education and environmental fields.
Relations between Ankara and Khartoum have been
developing since Turkiye’s Justice and Development (AK) Party came to power in
late 2002, when it developed an ambitious plan to strengthen ties with African
countries.
Bilateral ties also gained momentum with President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s December 2017 visit to Sudan, when the two countries
signed 22 agreements in a host of fields.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Mothers and Fathers protest in Khartoum to support
Sudan’s anti-coup youth
26 February ,2022
A demonstration of “mothers and fathers” took to the
streets of the Sudanese capital Khartoum Saturday to support the young
anti-coup protesters who have for months rallied against the military.
“We are demonstrating today to tell our sons and
daughters that they are not alone,” Faiza Hussein, one of the protesters, told
AFP.
She added that they are also calling on the
authorities to “stop killing our children.”
At least 83 people have been killed and thousands
injured in unrest that has gripped the country since an October 25 military
coup led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, according to independent medics.
“We are here to support the youth in their revolution,
and to demand an end to the killings,” said Hassan Ali, 63.
A United Nations expert on Thursday urged Sudanese
forces to stop firing live ammunition and tear gas canisters at protesters.
“Firing live ammunition on the people is a huge
violation against human rights,” said UN expert Adama Dieng during a visit to
Khartoum.
Sudanese authorities have said they arrested several
police and soldiers who fired at demonstrators with Kalashnikov rifles,
disobeying orders.
The October coup derailed a power-sharing agreement
between the army and civilians negotiated following the 2019 ouster of longtime
autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
Source: Al Arabiya
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UN mission seeks political strategy for Sudan
Buhram Abdel-Men'em
27.02.2022
KHARTOUM, Sudan
The United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance
Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) said Sunday it is working with regional partners to
form a common strategy for Sudan’s political process.
In a statement, UNITAMS said it postponed a press
conference scheduled for Sunday "to allow further coordination with
regional partners on a common strategy and the design of next phase of a
political process for Sudan."
On February 10, UNITAMS said it finalized talks with
different Sudanese groups with a view to reaching a political settlement to the
country’s crisis.
Last month, UNITAMS head Volcker Perthes announced the
launch of UN-facilitated consultations among Sudan’s political process in an
effort to safeguard the country’s democratic transition.
Sudan has been in turmoil since Oct. 25, 2021, when
the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government
and declared a state of emergency, in a move decried by political groups as a
“military coup”.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/un-mission-seeks-political-strategy-for-sudan/2517000
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Sudan, Russia hold talks on military cooperation
Talal Ismail
26.02.2022
KHARTOUM, Sudan
The deputy leader of Sudan’s Sovereign Council,
Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, held talks Saturday with Russian
Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin in the Russian capital Moscow.
Discussions between the two sides dwelt on bilateral
relations and means of boosting cooperation in the political and military
fields, the Sovereign Council said in a statement.
Hemedti said Sudan enjoys “enormous potentials which
represent a great opportunity for Russian investments in order to achieve
mutual benefits for both countries.”
Fomin, for his part, underlined the Russian commitment
to "strengthening prospects for cooperation and working to improve joint
coordination in all forums based on the principles of non-interference in
internal affairs,” the statement said.
Hemedti arrived in Moscow on Wednesday on an official
visit for talks with Russian officials.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/sudan-russia-hold-talks-on-military-cooperation/2516162
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India
Nawab Malik Must Be Probed but Muslims Must Not Be
Linked To Terror, Aurangabad Lok Sabha MP
27th February 2022
AURANGABAD: The charges against Maharashtra minister
Nawab Malik must be probed but Muslims must not be linked to terror, Aurangabad
Lok Sabha MP and AIMIM leader Imtiaz Jaleel said on Sunday.
He said his party stood in support of Mailk, who has
been jailed, while others in the MVA government, who also have cases against
their names, are yet to be arrested.
The MP alleged NCP activists had gathered in large
numbers outside the Enforcement Directorate when their chief Sharad Pawar had
appeared for questioning, but that kind of zeal and anger was missing after
Malik's arrest.
"If need be, we will take to the streets in large
numbers to support Malik. We stand by Nawab Malik because we say don't connect
Muslims of this country with terror. The support being offered by MVA
constituents to Malik is just a show off," Jaleel claimed.
Speaking on local issues, Jaleel said his party will
oppose the visit of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday to attend a
function linked to laying of gas pipelines here, adding that the city needed
water lines more.
Source: New Indian Express
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