Woman Who Fled Iraq Suffers Brutal End in US
New Age Islam News Bureau
27 March 2012
• Iraqi-born Islamist cleric sentenced to 5 years in Norwegian prison for death threats
• Pakistan Acid
attack: Man burns wife’s face ‘to make her stay home’
• China sentences
Xinjiang attack ringleader to death
• Tunisia’s ruling
Ennahda to oppose Sharia in constitution
• ‘F1’: the
nameless spy who put Indian businessman in jail
• Relationship
between ISI, terror groups not surprising: Top US General
• Israel ends
contact with UN Human Rights Council
• Sarkozy Asks TV
Channels Not to Show Killings Film
• Saudi student
discovers two new genes related to breast cancer
• J&K CM terms
Geelani's hecklers as "bloody idiots"
• Mansoor Ijaz
abused Kashmiri Muslims: JKLF Chairman Yasin Malik
• Sarkozy to Bar
Some Imams from Entering France
• Tribal clashes in
south Libya kill 20
• Egypt's Brotherhood Considering Presidential Run
• Tunisia constitution will not be based on Islamic law: party
• Indian President withholds
assent to Gujarat anti-terror Bill
• Nuclear terrorism
still remains potent challenge: Obama
• LeT, Hizb plan to
target J&K leaders
• Anti-terror law
of UK was repressive: watchdog
• In Pakistan,
Hindus Say Woman’s Conversion to Islam Was Coerced
• Osama's widows,
family to be charged with illegal Pakistan stay
• Obama says
Pakistan review must respect security needs
• Indian Union Home
Minister launches website for J&K youth
• UN rapporteur to
examine J&K killings
• Arab leaders’
summit in Baghdad will offer plans for resolving Syria’s crisis, Iraqi FM says
• French gunman
visited occupied West Bank in 2010
• Two killed in
Somali rebels’ mortar attack on palace
• Soldier stabbed,
3 Palestinians shot in West Bank
• At least eight
killed in Syria violence
• Karachi violence
updates: 5 killed
• Balochistan
violence: Two killed in Quetta target shooting
• Afghan arrests
after authorities foil 'suicide attack'
• Manmohan, Gilani
greet each other at Nuclear Security Summit
• 1034 former
militants from PoK apply for rehabilitation: Omar Abdullah
• India: Tripura CM
leaves for Dhaka to receive award
• India: Minority
Affairs Minister says Karnataka govt. will have to take a call on Wakf scam
• Support in U.S.
for Afghan War Drops Sharply, Poll Finds
• Justices Decline
to Say if Jerusalem-Born Americans Can Claim Israeli Birthplace
• Kofi Annan in
Beijing for talks on ending Syria crisis
• Turkey shuts
embassy in Syria to isolate Assad
• Troops shell
Syrian town; Brotherhood wants democracy
• Israel needs to
learn from Osirak ‘mistake’ Attack may accelerate Iran’s nuclear endeavours
• Journalist fired
for criticising Israel on Facebook
• Pakistan: School
blown up in Mohmand
• Ahmadinejad
tirade on Afghanistan prompts US walkout
• Haqqani given
last chance to appear before commission
• First Bangladeshi
woman Wasfia Nazreen attempts climbing Mt Everest
• Pakistan, Islam
and the West: “Why do they hate us?”
Complied by New Age Islam News Bureau
Photo: Islamist cleric Mullah Krekar who was sentenced to five years in prison Monday for making death threats against Norwegian officials and three Kurdish men
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/woman-fled-iraq-suffers-brutal/d/6930
27, Mar 2012
EL CAJON, Calif.
(AP) — Shaima Alawadi and her family fled Iraq nearly two decades ago as Saddam
Hussein crushed a Shiite uprising, settling in the U.S. so they would no longer
face persecution, a family friend said.
Alawadi, 32, grew
up in the country's largest Iraqi enclaves, wore the Muslim headscarf and
volunteered at the mosque.
Now, after her
body was found severely beaten in her suburban San Diego home, police, the FBI
and members of the Iraqi community are wondering whether her death was a hate
crime or something else.
Among the
evidence that police have collected is a threatening note that was near
Alawadi's body. Her daughter told a television station that it said: "Go
back to your country, you terrorist."
El Cajon Police
Chief James Redman declined to discuss the contents of the note Monday, though
he said that it has led police to regard the killing as a possible hate crime.
He said he was confident the case would be solved.
"I want to
stress there is other evidence in this case that we are looking at and the
possibility this is a hate crime is just one aspect," Redman said.
"We don't
have tunnel vision on this case," he said. "We're looking at the big
picture."
Redman said he
was confident it was an isolated incident but would not say why.
The death rippled
across the world, with Alawadi's name being mentioned on Twitter and the case
being discussed in Iraqi communities in the San Diego and Detroit suburbs.
Lawmakers in Baghdad called for a full investigation.
Her slaying was
being compared to that of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed Florida teen shot by a
neighborhood watch volunteer, said Dawud Walid, executive director of the
Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"Trayvon was
black wearing a hoodie. Shaima was wearing a hijab," Walid said, referring
to the Muslim headscarf. "It's the same racist principle at play that
killed both of these individuals."
Others were more
guarded, saying they wanted to wait for the investigation to unfold.
"It is
absolutely devastating for the family and the community, so we need move on
very, very cautiously. Emotions are high, but we need to make sure we let the
professionals do what they need to do," said Hanif Mohebi, executive
director of CAIR's San Diego chapter.
The chief said
Alawadi died of severe head trauma. She was taken off life support Saturday,
three days after her teenage daughter found her unconscious in the dining room
of the family's El Cajon home, east of San Diego.
The victim's
daughter, Fatima Al Himidi, told KUSI-TV in San Diego that her mother had been
beaten on the head repeatedly with a tire iron, and the threatening note was
next to her. Police would not confirm the type of weapon used in the attack.
Police said the
family found another threatening note within the last month but did not report
it to authorities. Mohebi said family members told him they dismissed the
initial note as a prank.
The victim and
her family fled Iraq in the early 1990s after a failed Shiite uprising, living
in Saudi Arabian refugee camps before coming to the U.S., said Imam Husham
Al-Husainy of the Karbalaa Islamic Education Center in Dearborn, Mich.
Saddam's troops
hanged Alawadi's uncle.
"She lost
her uncle by Saddam," he said, "and when they came here to seek
freedom, she got killed."
The family
arrived in the Detroit area in 1993 and later moved to San Diego. Shaima
Alawadi was a religious Shiite Muslim who wore a hijab and volunteered at a
mosque, Al-Husainy said.
Alawadi's father,
Sayed Nabeel Alawadi, is a cleric in Iraq, said Al-Husainy, who described
himself as a close family friend.
Hayder Al-Zayadi,
a family friend, told the Detroit Free Press that Alawadi's brothers worked for
the U.S. Army, serving as cultural advisers to train soldiers who were going to
be deployed to the Middle East.
Another family
friend told U-T San Diego that Alawadi's husband had a similar job. Redman said
Alawadi's husband was currently on disability and didn't know his previous
employment.
Flowers were set
on the doorstep of the home Monday. One of the glass panels on a sliding back
patio door was boarded up with wood. The backyard overlooks a middle school.
Alvin Luckenbach,
who lives next door, exchanged pleasantries with Alawadi and her husband. He
said she recently apologized for her kids making noise playing basketball on
Alawadi's back patio.
"They were
always nice," Luckenbach said.
The Iraqi foreign
minister said Monday that Alawadi's body will be flown to Iraq.
The FBI, which is
assisting El Cajon police in the investigation, defines a hate crime as an
offense motivated by a bias against race, religion, ethnicity, disability or
sexual orientation. There were 1,409 hate crimes nationwide based on religion
during 2010, including 186 targeting Muslims. There were 1,040 based on
ethnicity or national origin, including 359 targeting groups other than
Hispanics.
Karoub reported
from Detroit. Associated Press writer Lara Jakes, Sameer N. Yacoub and Sinan
Salaheddin in Baghdad contributed to this report.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/03/27/us/ap-us-iraqi-woman-beaten.html?ref=global-home&gwh=4A778DD22A1B0A78BEADAF90E13F1A5A
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Iraqi-born Islamist cleric sentenced to 5 years in Norwegian prison for death threats
27 March 2012
OSLO, Norway — An Iraqi-born Islamist cleric was sentenced to five years in prison Monday for making death threats against Norwegian officials and three Kurdish men.
The Oslo district court convicted Najmaddin Faraj Ahmad, also known as Mullah Krekar, of making online death threats against the three other Kurdish immigrants he said had insulted Islam. The 55-year-old cleric, who came to Norway as a refugee in 1991, was also convicted of threatening Norwegian government officials in an attempt to force a reversal of a 2005 order to deport him to Iraq.
Krekar is the founder of Ansar al-Islam, a Kurdish group listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and other nations.
Krekar immediately appealed the ruling and his defense lawyer, Brynjar Meling, said he was “surprised” at the judgment.
Like other Scandinavian countries, Norway places emphasis on the freedom of speech, but the court said Krekar’s statements were so strong that they could incite violence.
The court said he had posted death threats on the Internet against the three Kurdish men, two of whom had burned parts of the Quran in a political protest in 2010 that also condemned the repression of women.
The third man had in 2005 published a book containing an academic analysis of the Quran’s references to women and sex, which Krekar found was offensive to Islam.
According to the ruling, Krekar said that all three could be killed under Islamic law for having insulted the Quran, statements that judge Per Fleisje said could inspire his followers or sympathizers to commit murder. Krekar claims he was simply explaining what Islamic law says, not making death threats.
Scholars of Islamic law have long had varying interpretations of how Muslims should respond to insults to Islam or its holy book.
The judge said Krekar also crossed the line with comments to reporters at a news conference in 2010 that Norwegian officials would pay with their lives if he were deported to Iraq and killed.
In 2005, a Norwegian court declared Krekar a national security threat and ordered him deported, but later postponed the move because of concerns he could face execution or torture in Iraq.
Prosecutor Marit Bakkevig told The Associated Press that “the judgment shows that the moment your speech creates danger, you can’t claim freedom of speech. Threats are punishable.”
She expected Krekar’s appeal to go to the Appeals Court within two months, and that the case would be taken up for a new trial at that court in the fall.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/iraqi-born-islamist-cleric-sentenced-to-5-years-in-norwegian-prison-for-death-threats/2012/03/26/gIQAYXo0bS_story.html
----------
Pakistan Acid
attack: Man burns wife’s face ‘to make her stay home’
Mar 27, 2012
MULTAN: A woman
in Multan was hospitalised on Monday with burns she suffered in an acid attack
allegedly by her husband to stop her from continuing a job.
Doctors who
treated the victim at Nishter Hospital said 60 per cent of her face was
damaged. They said she also had suffered burns to her neck and arms. Deputy
medical superintendent Noor Jauta told The Tribune that surgery would be
required to fix the woman’s wounds. He said the reports of a medical
examination to be carried out on Monday night would determine the kind of operation.
The DMS described the victim’s condition as ‘out of danger’.
Talking to The
Tribune at the hospital, the victim said the attack on Sunday night had
followed an argument over her job at an advertising agency. “He wanted me to
quit the job and stay home. He said he would send our son to work to ensure
that the family income was not affected,” she said. She said she wanted
everyone of her four children, all under eight years old, to finish their
schooling before they started working.
The victim said
the suspect had accused her of continuing the job so that she could maintain
‘relationships’ with other men. “I had taken up the job to help him feed the
family. His income as a personal assistant to a lawyer was not enough to run a
family of six people,” she said.
She said the
suspect fled the scene following the attack.
Gulgasht police
have registered an FIR against Muneer Ahmed*, husband of the victim, under
Section 324 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
SHO Amir Khan
said the complaint filed by the victims’ sister did not require the inclusion
of Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (needed to be added in acid attack cases
in accordance with a recent legislation making the offence non-bailable) in the
FIR. He said the police might reconsider the decision about the section as the
case progressed.
The complainant
told The Tribune that she had rushed to her sister’s house on receiving a phone
call from the suspect at around 3am on Monday. “He said someone had attacked
one of their children with acid and asked me to go to his house to help her
take the child to hospital,” she said. The suspect told her that he was away
from home and could not return anytime soon, she added. The complainant said on
reaching the scene she found out that her sister had been attacked with acid.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/355661/acid-attack-man-burns-wifes-face-to-make-her-stay-home/
----------
Mar 27, 2012
BEIJING: A man
accused of plotting a deadly knife and hatchet attack last month in China’s
restive Xinjiang region has been sentenced to death, judicial authorities said.
The man’s name –
Abudukeremu Mamuti in Chinese – suggested he was from the mainly Muslim Uighur
minority that populates the northwestern region and has long complained of
political and religious oppression under Chinese rule.
A court in
Kashgar sentenced him to death on Monday for leading a “terrorist” group to a
market in a remote town in Xinjiang on February 28, and hacking to death 15
people.
According to a
statement posted on an official Xinjiang judicial website, the defendant
started preaching “religious extremism” last year and recruited people to form
a “terrorist group”.
Then on February
28, he gathered all members at his home, armed them with knives and hatchets and
took them to the market in Yecheng town – which belongs to the wider Kashgar
prefecture – the statement said late Monday.
There, they
killed 13 people on the spot and injured 16 others – two of whom later died of
their injuries. Mamuti was detained on the scene and seven other attackers were
shot dead. One other suspect also later died.
A local police
officer told AFP at the time of the attack that most of the victims were people
from China’s dominant Han ethnic group.
Xinjiang, which
borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, is home to around nine million Uighurs.
The number of Han
living in Xinjiang has increased dramatically over the past decade, which
government critics say results from a policy of migration to dilute any Uighur
nationalist tendencies and has bred resentment in the region.
Xinjiang has been
under heavy security since July 2009, when Uighurs launched attacks on Han
people in the regional capital Urumqi.
The government
says nearly 200 people were killed and 1,700 injured in the violence, which shattered
the authoritarian Communist Party’s claims of harmony and unity among the
country’s dozens of ethnic groups.
Many Uighurs
remain angry at the harsh crackdown that followed the violence.
The government
blames much of the violence in the resource-rich region on what it calls the
three “evil forces” of extremism, separatism and terrorism.
But some experts
doubt terror cells operate in Xinjiang, where the Turkic-speaking Uighurs
practice a moderate form of Islam.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/355776/china-sentences-xinjiang-attack-ringleader-to-death/
----------
Tunisia’s ruling
Ennahda to oppose sharia in constitution
Mar 27, 2012
TUNIS: The
moderate Islamist Ennahda party, which leads Tunisia’s government, said on
Monday it would oppose naming Islamic law, or sharia, in the new constitution,
an issue that has threatened to derail the country’s transition to democracy.
A constituent
assembly, elected in October, is hashing out a new constitution after popular
protests ousted Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali last year, sparking the Arab Spring
uprisings.
Religious
conservatives, including the third largest party in the constituent assembly,
have called in recent weeks for the constitution to include sharia as the key
source of legislation.
Secularists
oppose the move, which they say will open the way for the religious right to
impose its values on what had been one of the Arab world’s most secular
countries.
The debate has
polarised Tunisian society and prompted people to demonstrate in the streets.
Rachid Al-Ghannouchi,
Ennahda’s co-founder and leader, said the group would instead be satisfied with
retaining the existing first clause of the constitution, which identifies Islam
as the religion of state but makes no mention of the role of sharia.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article597472.ece
----------
‘F1’: the
nameless spy who put Indian businessman in jail
PRAVEEN SWAMI
VINAYA DESHPANDE
Mar 27, 2012
Evidence
presented in the trial of alleged Barcelona suicide bomber leaves key questions
unanswered
F1's phone call
to his handlers at the Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire (DST),
France's counter-terrorism intelligence service, arrived late in the afternoon
of January 17, 2008. His last call, F1 said, was to his wife—the last, he had
been told, he would ever make to her. In a few hours, F1 went on, he would walk
into the Barcelona metro and blow himself up.
Minutes after
midnight, Spanish authorities raided a cluster of homes and prayer halls around
Maçanet street, the base from which F1— guaranteed anonymity by
witness-protection laws — said the suicide bombings he was tasked with were to
begin. Fourteen men would be held, 11 of whom were identified by F1 as members
of the plot.
Mumbai
businessman Roshan Jamal Khan has been in prison since that evening, sentenced
to eight-and-half years on four terrorism counts. Mr. Khan's family, which is
preparing to move the European Court of Human Rights to seek his exoneration,
has long insisted he is innocent — and documents obtained by The Hindu show there
is little but F1's story to suggest that is untrue.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3248236.ece
----------
Relationship
between ISI, terror groups not surprising: Top US General
Mar 27 2012
Washington: The
relationship between Pakistan's ISI and terror groups is not surprising, says a
top US General based in Afghanistan, who has also recommended that the dreaded
Haqqani network of Taliban be slapped with sanctions.
"I don't
think we should be surprised that they (ISI) have a relationship with them
(terrorist organisations). That relationship between the ISI and a number of
these organisations goes back a very long time," Gen John Allen, Commander
of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said yesterday.
His comments came
in response to a question at the Brookings Institute, an eminent
Washington-based think-tank.
"So we
shouldn't be surprised they have a relationship with them, but I would not
speculate on what specific operational support they have or whether they're an
action arm. I would just say that the relationship potentially is unhelpful in
that regard," Allen said.
The top US
General said that he has also recommended that the Haqqani network be slapped
with sanctions.
However, he said
there are opportunities for the US to work with Pakistan to increase the
bilateral cooperation.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/928988/
----------
Israel ends
contact with UN Human Rights Council
Mar 27, 2012
Israel has cut
working relations with the UN Human Rights Council, officials say, after it
decided to investigate Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
The foreign
ministry has reportedly told its envoy in Geneva not to co-operate with the
council or with UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay.
It will also
prevent a UN team entering Israel to assess the effects of settlements on
Palestinian rights.
Last week, Israel
said the decision to establish the probe was "surrealistic".
Negotiations
between Israel and the Palestinians on a two-state solution stalled in late
2010 after a dispute over settlement construction.
About 500,000
Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of
the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements are considered illegal under
international law, though Israel disputes this.
'Superfluous and
extravagant'
Full report at:
the fact-finding
mission set up by the council following the conflict in Gaza in 2009.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17510668
----------
Sarkozy Asks TV
Channels Not to Show Killings Film
Mar 27, 2012
PARIS (Reuters) -
French President Nicolas Sarkozy begged television networks on Tuesday not to
broadcast video footage filmed by an al Qaeda-inspired gunman of his spate of
deadly shootings in southern France this month.
France is still
reeling at Mohamed Merah's close-range shootings, a month before a presidential
election, of three Jewish children, a rabbi and three soldiers in the southern
city of Toulouse.
Qatar-based
network Al Jazeera said it was considering whether or not to air the images
received at its Paris bureau on a memory stick late on Monday that were filmed
by Merah with a camera attached to his body.
The clips had
been edited into a montage with Islamic chants and readings from the Koran, the
network said.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/03/27/world/middleeast/27reuters-france-sarkozy-shootings.html?gwh=388901AC84E85D109CB121CD265C7CAF&ref=global-home&pagewanted=print
----------
Saudi student
discovers two new genes related to breast cancer
Mar 27, 2012
A Saudi
scholarship student has achieved a new scientific landmark after he discovered
two new genes that have close links with breast cancer.
Hani Chaudhry, a
Ph.D. student sent by King Abdulaziz University to Oxford University, has been
conducting his study for two years using next generation sequencing (NGS)
techniques to decode and identify the genetics of cancer cells.
Saudi students
reportedly studied the activity of genes in more than 120 cases of breast
cancer at Oxford University Hospital.
Based on these
studies, he discovered more than 72 genes that were not known before. Two were
subject to exhaustive tests that will hopefully play a leading role in stopping
the growth of cancer cells. The activity of the two genes was proven in more
than 260 cases of breast cancer patients. This can be used as indicators for
the early diagnosis of breast cancer.
Chaudhry is
currently registering his scientific achievement at the Human Genome
Organization (HUGO), whose reference will be made under the name of King
Abdulaziz University (KAU).
HUGO is the
international organization of scientists involved in human genetics.
It has increased
its membership base to over 1,200 members, and played an essential role behind
the scenes in the human genome project.
Meanwhile, senior
researchers at Oxford University have appreciated Chaudhry’s achievement of
this scientific landmark.
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article597601.ece
----------
J&K CM terms
Geelani's hecklers as "bloody idiots"
Mar 27, 2012
NEW DELHI: Jammu
and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah today condemned the heckling of
separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani here during a seminar and said such attacks
were of no help in solving the Kashmir issue.
Reacting to the
news of attack on 81-year-old Geelani, the Chief Minister said "these
Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena (BSKS) and ABVP goons are bloody idiots."
"Anyone can
assault an old man. As if attacking SASG (Geelani) will make the Kashmir issue
just disappear," the Chief Minister remarked on the micro-blogging site
Twitter.
Geelani was
heckled at a seminar in North Delhi today by activits of BSKS and ABVP but
timely intervention by Delhi Police prevented the situation from worsening.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Omar-Abdullah-terms-Geelanis-hecklers-as-bloody-idiots/articleshow/12417174.cms
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Mansoor Ijaz
abused Kashmiri Muslims: JKLF Chairman Yasin Malik
Mar 27, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Jammu
and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Yasin Malik has alleged that
Mansoor Ijaz abused Kashmir Muslims at a conference in India.
Yasin Malik is
appearing before the judicial commission tasked with probing the memo scandal.
Malik claimed
that Ijaz was appearing at the conference as a guest of former US President
Bill Clinton.
In his statement
to the memo commission, Malik called Ijaz a mad person and said that when Ijaz
crossed his limits during the conference, he threw a shoe at him and snatched
the microphone.
Malik had
requested the Supreme Court to allow him to become a party before the commission
after Mansoor Ijaz had alleged that he had arranged a meeting between Malik and
then-chief of Indian intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) at
the behest of US government.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-41640-Ijaz-abused-Kashmiri-Muslims:-Malik
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Sarkozy to Bar
Some Imams From Entering France
Mar 27, 2012
PARIS (Reuters) -
President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday he would bar some Muslim preachers
from entering France to participate in an Islamic conference next month as part
of a crackdown after shootings by an al Qaeda-inspired gunman.
Sarkozy, who is
campaigning for re-election, has also announced plans to punish people viewing
Islamist websites and going abroad for indoctrination since the killings.
"I have
clearly indicated that there are certain people who have been invited to this
congress who are not welcome on French soil," Sarkozy told France Info
radio.
He cited Sheikh
Youssef al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian cleric based in Qatar who is one of the most
prominent Sunni Muslim clerics in the Arab world and a household name in the
Middle East due to regular appearances on the Al Jazeera news channel.
A former member
of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, Qaradawi is independent of the group but remains
close to it. Sarkozy said the situation was complicated because the imam holds
a diplomatic passport and does not require a visa to enter France.
"I indicated
to the Emir of Qatar himself that this person was not welcome on the territory
of the French republic," Sarkozy said. "He will not come."
Ahmed Jaballah,
the president of the Union of French Islamic Organisations (UOIF) which is
organizing the conference, told Reuters he regretted Sarkozy's decision, saying
Qaradawi had already visited France various times.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/03/26/world/middleeast/26reuters-france-election.html?ref=global-home
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Tribal clashes in
south Libya kill 20
Mar 27, 2012
TRIPOLI: Clashes
between rival militias in southern Libya killed 20 people on Monday, a doctor
at a regional hospital said, highlighting the challenge the government faces in
imposing its authority months after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.
Local council
member Ahmed Abdelkadir said clashes first broke out on Sunday between former
rebel fighters from Sabha, Libya's fourth largest city, and gunmen from the
Tibu tribe after a Sabha man was killed in a dispute over a car.
He said the
militias opened fire at each other on the outskirts of Sabha. A local doctor,
Ibrahim Misbah, said 20 fighters died of gunshot wounds and more than 40 people
were wounded.
"The numbers
are from the Sabha side only. The Tibu wounded are being taken to a different
hospital," he said by phone.
Full report at:
http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-41711-Tribal-clashes-in-south-Libya-kill-20
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Egypt's
Brotherhood Considering Presidential Run
27, Mar 2012
CAIRO (AP) — The
leadership of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is meeting to decide whether to field
a candidate from its ranks for the country's upcoming presidential election.
The outcome of
Tuesday's meeting will send a signal as to whether the fundamentalist group
intends to escalate or defuse rising tensions with the rest of Egypt's
political players.
Liberal parties
have expressed alarm with the growing control over Egypt's political levers by
the Brotherhood and other Islamists, including their taking a majority of seats
on a panel tasked with writing a new constitution.
The Brotherhood
had pledged not to contest the presidential vote in a bid to assure liberals
and Egypt's western allies that it doesn't intend to govern alone. But
Brotherhood officials have recently suggested they could field a candidate.
THIS IS A
BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier
story is below.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/03/27/world/middleeast/ap-ml-egypt.html?ref=global-home&gwh=B01861CD6A2266A2FC05EB84E883A076
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Tunisia
constitution will not be based on Islamic law: party
27, Mar 2012
TUNIS: Tunisia’s
governing religious party said it will not enshrine Islamic law in the new
constitution and will maintain the secular nature of the north African state,
putting it sharply at odds with hardliners.
Ennahda, which
emerged as the biggest party after Tunisia’s first democratic elections last
year, said on Monday that it would keep the first article of the 1956
constitution in the new basic law now being drafted.
“We are not going
to use the law to impose religion,” Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the moderate
religious party, told a press conference.
The first article
of the previous constitution stipulates that “Tunisia is a free, independent
and sovereign state, its religion is Islam, its language is Arabic and it is a
republic.”
The Ennahda
decision “aims to strengthen the national consensus and promote the country’s
successful democratic transition by uniting the majority of political forces to
confront the challenges facing the country,” added another leading figure in
the party, Zied Doulatli.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/27/tunisia-constitution-will-not-be-based-on-islamic-law-party.html
----------
Indian President withholds
assent to Gujarat anti-terror Bill
March 27, 2012
President
Pratibha Patil has withheld her assent to the controversial Gujarat Control of
Terrorism and Organised Crime Bill, 2003 (GUJCOC) following state government's
refusal to make amendments to it.
"The
President has withheld her assent from the Bill on January 22, 2012 as the
state government
had not made any amendments in clauses 16 and 20 in the said Bill as per the
directives contained in Presidential message to the earlier bill.
"The same
has been conveyed to the Secretary to the Governor, Gujarat on February 2,
2012," minister of state for home Mullappally Ramachandran told Lok Sabha
today.
The Minister said
the Gujarat government has re-submitted the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and
Organised Crime Bill, 2003, as passed by the State Legislature and reserved by
the Gujarat Governor for consideration of the President, which was received in
the Home Ministry on November 11, 2009.
The controversial
anti-terror Bill GUJCOCA has been vigorously pursued by Chief Minister Narendra
Modi.
The proposed law
was earlier rejected by the Centre on the ground that it was not in line with
its new legislation dealing with terrorism like Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Amendment Act.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Prez-withholds-assent-to-Gujarat-anti-terror-Bill/Article1-831497.aspx
----------
Nuclear terrorism
still remains potent challenge: Obama
Mar 27 2012
Seoul : US
President Barack Obama on Tuesday warned that the threat of nuclear weapons
remains a challenge as there are still “too many bad actors in search of these
dangerous materials”, asserting that the world's security depends on the
actions that the global community takes.
“There are still
too many bad actors in search of these dangerous materials, and these dangerous
materials are still vulnerable in too many places,” Obama said at the Nuclear
Security Summit in Seoul.
“It would not
take much -- just a handful or so of these materials -- to kill hundreds of
thousands of innocent people. And that's not an exaggeration; that's the
reality that we face,” he said.
Even as the
international community has taken a series of steps in the past two years to
secure the world's nuclear material, he said the threat of nuclear terrorism
still remains a potent challenge.
“The security of
the world depends on the actions that we take,” the US President said.
Two years ago at
the first Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, the world leaders, Obama said,
had agreed that atomic terrorism is one of the most urgent and serious threats
to global security.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/929027/
----------
LeT, Hizb plan to
target J&K leaders
Mar 27, 2012
Following
specific wireless intercepts of top commanders of terror outfits
Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Hizbul Mujahideen over the last few days the intelligence
agencies have cautioned the Srinagar-based Unified Command that these militant
groups will target important individuals, including political leaders in the
Kashmir Valley, during the summer season.
A recent alert
issued by the Intelligence Bureau goes on to state, “there is a great sense of
desperation among terror groups operating in the Valley, particularly the
Hizbul and Lashkar and they will go on to attack specific targets and
individuals in the days to come.”
Highly-placed
intelligence sources said the militant outfits are out to prove a point this
time as the summer of 2011 was one of the most lean seasons as far as militancy
in the Valley is concerned. Even from tourism point of view 2011 was considered
one of the best seasons ever since militancy broke out in the state in 1989.
Thus, the
militant outfits have already started preparing a blueprint to hit back with a
vengeance this time around.
And the first
glimpse of this came on last Thursday when a car carrying large quantity of
explosive material exploded in Anantnag.
Full report at:
http://www.asianage.com/india/let-hizb-plan-target-jk-leaders-473
----------
Anti-terror law
of UK was repressive: watchdog
By David Stringer
27th March, 2012
LONDON: A British
system under which suspected terrorists not charged with any crime were forced
to live under partial house arrest was among the most repressive tools used in
the West, the country’s anti-terrorism watchdog said on Monday.
David Anderson, a
lawyer responsible for reviewing Britain’s legal efforts to combat terrorism on
behalf of the government, disclosed in an annual report that a total of 52
people had been held under the control order between 2005 — when the
measures were
introduced — and the end of 2011, when the system was replaced.
The system
allowed authorities to impose a curfew of up to 16 hours per day, required a
suspect to wear an electronic anklet, restricted their contact with others and
could ban an individual from using the Internet or travelling overseas.
Anderson said
that a total of 23 people also had been forced to move away from their home to
a different part of Britain under the system. The tactic — dubbed internal
exile by its critics — was intended to help disrupt suspected terrorist cells
in specific cities.
He called the
controversial program the “more repressive end of the spectrum of measures
operated by comparable Western democracies.”
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/27/anti-terror-law-of-uk-was-repressive-watchdog.html
----------
In Pakistan,
Hindus Say Woman’s Conversion to Islam Was Coerced
By DECLAN WALSH
Mar 27, 2012
GHOTKI, Pakistan
— Banditry is an old scourge in this impoverished district of southern
Pakistan, on the plains between the mighty river Indus and a sprawling desert,
where roving gangs rob and kidnap with abandon. Lately, though, local passions
have stirred with allegations of an unusual theft: that of a young woman’s
heart.
In the predawn
darkness on Feb. 24, Rinkel Kumari, a 19-year-old student from a Hindu family,
disappeared from her home in Mirpur Mathelo, a small village off a busy highway
in Sindh Province. Hours later, she resurfaced 12 miles away, at the home of a
prominent Muslim cleric who phoned her parents with news that distressed them:
Their daughter wished to convert to Islam, he said.
Their protests
were futile. By sunset, Ms. Kumari had become a Muslim, married a young Muslim
man, and changed her name to Faryal Bibi.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/26/world/asia/pakistani-hindus-say-womans-conversion-to-islam-was-coerced.html?ref=world
----------
Osama's widows,
family to be charged with illegal Pakistan stay
Mar 27, 2012
ISLAMABAD: A
Pakistani court will formally charge slain al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden's
widows and other family members with illegally entering and living in the
country next week, a defence lawyer said on Monday.
The court is
expected to frame charges against three widows and two of Bin Laden's grown up
daughters on April 2, lawyer Muhammad Aamir told the media.
The Federal
Investigation Agency had filed a case against Bin Laden's family members
earlier this month under the Foreigners Act and Pakistan Penal Code for
illegally entering and living in the country.
The family
members are currently being held in a house in Islamabad that has been declared
a sub-jail.
The court
provided the five women copies of the charges and evidence against them today.
If the women are
convicted, they could be deported or imprisoned.
Under Pakistani
law, the maximum sentence for such offences is five years, Aamir said.
The family
members were detained by Pakistani security agencies after US special forces
killed Bin Laden at a compound in the garrison town of Abbottabad on May 2 last
year.
Bin Laden's two
Saudi Arabian and one Yemeni wives were living with him along with eight of
their children and three employees.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Osamas-widows-family-to-be-charged-with-illegal-Pakistan-stay/articleshow/12419356.cms
----------
Obama says
Pakistan review must respect security needs
Mar 27, 2012
SEOUL:US
President Barack Obama told Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday he
hoped a Pakistan parliamentary review of ties with Washington would be balanced
and respect US security needs.
The two men met
on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit in South Korea, with the crucial
anti-terror alliance still rocked by a row sparked when US air strikes
mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.
Their meeting
comes amid heightened tensions between the US and Pakistan following a series
of incidents that have marred trust.
The relationship breaking
point in November when US forces returned fire they believed came from a
Pakistani border post, killing 24 Pakistani troops.
Both leaders
spoke of their mutual interest in a stable Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s
parliament has been drawing up recommendations on how to proceed on ties with
Washington.
“I welcome the
fact that the parliament in Pakistan is reviewing, after some extensive study,
the nature of this relationship,” Obama said at the start of the meeting on the
sidelines of a nuclear security summit. “I think that it’s important for us to
get it right.”
“There have been
times — I think we should be frank — in the last several months where those
relations have experienced strains,” Obama said.
Pakistan shut off
ground supply lines to the US-led Nato mission in land-locked Afghanistan in
the wake of the Salala attack.
Obama said he
hoped the parliamentary review would take a “balanced approach that respects
Pakistan’s sovereignty, but also respects our concerns with respect to our
national security and our needs to battle terrorists who have targeted us in
the past”
http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/27/obama-says-pakistan-review-must-respect-security-needs.html
----------
Indian Union Home
Minister launches website for J&K youth
Mar 27, 2012
Union Home
Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday launched an interactive website aimed to
facilitate job prospects for 40,000 youths from Jammu and Kashmir over a period
of five years.
The website -
www.nsdcindia.org/udaan - will be run by the National Skill Development
Corporation (NSDC). It will act as a platform to bring the unemployed youth of
Jammu and Kashmir in touch with corporates seeking talented workforce.
Eight corporate
houses, including HCL, Wipro BPO and Future Group, also signed an agreement with
the NSDC in the presence of Mr. Chidambaram, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister
Omar Abdullah and Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Chairman C
Rangarajan who headed the expert group to formulate a job plan in this regard.
"We are
facilitating a unique programme that will be run by NSDC and the corporate
sector. There are four firms (under the MoU) from the software sector, a couple
(firms) in retail and others in services sector. This is a good
beginning," Mr. Chidambaram said as he unveiled the website.
The youth of
Jammu and Kashmir should be encouraged to take jobs in other states. The
success of this initiative lies in the hands of NSDC, corporates and the youth,
he said.
Chief Minister
Omar Abdullah said it was an important step in increasing more employment
opportunities for the youth of the State. "The youth in my state are
devoid of skill sets...hence a scheme like Udaan assumes importance. This is a
tentative start from today which will grow further," he said while lauding
the corporates for showing interest in the initiative.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article3247666.ece
----------
UN rapporteur to
examine J&K killings
Mar 27, 2012
YUSUF JAMEEL
United Nations
special rapporteur Christof Heyns said on Monday that his current visit to
India is aimed at examining all killings that are in violation of international
human rights or humanitarian law. The focus of the visit, however, is “prevent
such incidents and ensure justice is meted out to the victims,” he said.
Mr Heyns, who
began his 12-day India visit on March 19 arrived in Srinagar on Monday and has,
so far, held open and close-door sessions with senior police officials, human
rights activists, academicians, prominent lawyers, relatives of victims and
sections of the society.
He will also
examine the legislative framework applied in India vis-à-vis the issues
encompassed by his mandate. He will submit a provisional report by Friday
followed by a full report to the United Nations General Assembly for a review
during the forthcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council in 2013.
Full report at:
http://www.asianage.com/india/un-rapporteur-examine-jk-killings-437
----------
Arab leaders’
summit in Baghdad will offer plans for resolving Syria’s crisis, Iraqi FM says
Mar 27, 2012
BAGHDAD — Arab
leaders will offer plans this week to break the political “stalemate” that has
engulfed Syria but they won’t demand the resignation of President Bashar Assad,
Iraq’s top diplomat says.
Iraqi Foreign
Minister Hoshyar Zebari says opposition forces to Assad’s regime need to agree
on a single strategy for ending the yearlong crisis in Syria. The issue will be
at the top of the agenda of the three-day Arab League summit that begins
Tuesday in Baghdad.
A meeting of the
League’s 21 invited nations will open the event Tuesday. It will end Thursday
with a summit of the nation’s rulers and heads of government. There are 22
nations that make up the Arab League, but Syria has not been invited to the
annual event, held in Iraq this year for the first time in a generation.
“There is a
mounting crisis in Syria,” Zebari told reporters in Baghdad on Monday. “There
is daily killing, there is daily bloodshed, there is a stalemate in the
political solution. What should be done? This is a responsibility on all the
attendees at the conference.”
He said leaders
will likely agree on a “doable” solution to end the violence but “it’s up to
the Syrian people to determine their own future.”
“It’s not up to
other countries to dictate to the Syrians what kind of leaders they have or
don’t have,” he said. “I don’t think there will be a call on Bashar to step
aside.”
The new plan will
be similar to earlier League proposals for Assad to peacefully transfer power
to his vice president until new, open elections can be held, Zebari said. The
League also has called for an immediate cease-fire from both sides and
humanitarian assistance to be allowed into the combat zones.
Full report at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/arab-leaders-summit-in-baghdad-will-offer-plans-for-resolving-syrias-crisis-iraqi-fm-says/2012/03/27/gIQABTDadS_story.html
----------
French gunman
visited occupied West Bank in 2010
Mar 27, 2012
JERUSALEM: The
French gunman who went on a killing spree in a Jewish school in France last
week traveled from Jordan to the Israel-occupied West Bank in 2010, an Israeli
security official said.
The official did
not say why Mohamed Merah had made the trip or whether he had also visited
Israel, which is next to the West Bank.
“He crossed the
Allenby bridge and passed a security screening. He stayed for three days before
leaving through Allenby again,” the official told Reuters on Monday.
The Allenby
bridge links Jordan and the West Bank, and most visitors holding foreign
passports can easily travel on to Israel, a short drive away.
Israeli media
reports said Merah, a French citizen of Algerian origin, told Israeli border
authorities at the bridge that he planned to go sightseeing.
Merah, 23, was
killed by a police sniper on Thursday as he jumped from the balcony of his
lodgings, firing a pistol, after a standoff of more than 30 hours and a
gunbattle inside his apartment in Toulouse.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article597373.ece
----------
Two killed in
Somali rebels’ mortar attack on palace
Mar 27, 2012
MOGADISHU: At
least two people were killed and 8 others wounded after mortar rounds fired by
Somali rebel group Al-Shabab toward the presidential palace landed on a nearby
camp for the internally displaced, witnesses and officials said on Monday.
Under pressure
from African Union and Somali government troops, the Al-Qaeda-linked militants
withdrew from Mogadishu in August prompting a return to relative calm in the
capital, although they still manage to launch sporadic attacks.
Paddy Ankunda,
spokesman for the African Union force known as AMISOM, said some mortars hit a
camp for Somalis displaced by war and famine about 300 meters from the
presidential palace.
Ismail Nur, a
resident of the camp, said one mortar killed two members of a single family.
“A mortar landed
on our camp - a father and his son died. Eight others including three women
were injured,” Nur, who is a nephew to the dead father, told Reuters.
Al Shabab said
they fired mortars at the heavily protected presidential compound, their third
attempt to strike at the heart of the government in a fortnight.
The group also
lost control of a strategic town in central Somalia to Ahlu Sunna, a
pro-government militia and Ethiopian troops.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article597291.ece
----------
Soldier stabbed,
3 Palestinians shot in West Bank
27 March 2012
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories — An Israeli
soldier was stabbed and three Palestinians were shot during a confrontation
near the West Bank town of Ramallah overnight, sources on both sides said.
The soldier was
lightly wounded in the incident but the condition of the three Palestinians was
not immediately clear, the Israeli army said.
Palestinian
witnesses and security sources said the three men, Rashad Deeb and his brothers
Akram and Anwar, were injured during an incident in Rammun village, 10
kilometres (six miles) northeast of Ramallah.
They said the men
had heard someone moving around during the night and had gone out to confront a
group they believed were thieves.
But the ‘thieves’
turned out to be Israeli soldiers working undercover, who were dressed to look
like Palestinians and opened fire after one of the Palestinians attacked them
with a knife, they said.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2012/March/middleeast_March591.xml§ion=middleeast
----------
At least eight
killed in Syria violence
Mar 27, 2012
BEIRUT: At least
eight people, including four civilians, were killed early Tuesday across Syria
in clashes between regime forces and rebel troops, the Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said.
The Britain-based
group said one woman was killed by a stray bullet in the Damascus suburb of
Douma and two other women died in Maaret al-Numan, in the northwest province of
Idlib.
One civilian was
killed by sniper fire in Deblan, a neighbourhood of the flashpoint central city
of Homs which has been under attack for weeks by regime forces trying to root
out rebels.
Four soldiers
also died in the clashes with rebel troops in Maaret al-Numan, the Observatory
said.
Activists
reported violence in several other towns in the province of Homs or Hama.
The Observatory
said more than 70 per cent of the population of Saraqeb in northwest Idlib
province has fled in recent days in the face of a government assault that began
on Saturday.
It said at least
18 civilians have been killed there and more than 63 homes torched.
The uprising in
Syria began as a popular revolt in March of last year but has transformed into
an insurgency that many fear will lead to a full-blown civil war.
Monitors say more
than 9,100 people have died in the revolt against the regime of Bashar
al-Assad.
http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/27/at-least-eight-killed-in-syria-violence.html
----------
Karachi violence
updates: 5 killed
Mar 27, 2012
KARACHI: Tension
gripped the city after an MQM activist was shot dead in PIB Colony area early
on Tuesday morning, Geo News reported. Dozens of vehicles including a police
mobile were burnt in different areas.
Full report at:
http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-41721-Karachi-violence-updates:-5-killed-
----------
Balochistan
violence: Two killed in Quetta target shooting
Mar 27, 2012
QUETTA: In a
fresh spurt of target shootings on Monday, two men belonging to the Hazara
community were killed when unidentified men opened fire on them on Quetta’s
Sabzal Road before fleeing the scene.
As a result, Ejaz
died on the spot while Asghar received critical wounds. The body and injured
were shifted to Bolan Medical Complex. “The injured is in a very critical
condition and was referred to the Combined Military Hospital,” doctors said.
A local police
official said that it might be a case of sectarian attack. However, he hastened
to add that investigations were ongoing to determine this aspect. Despite
presence of paramilitary forces, target killings continue to increase in the
restive province. Earlier, a young scholar was shot dead by unknown assailants
in Quetta.
Police and
counter-terrorism officials say that outlawed militant groups such as Sipah-i-Sahaba
Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi were actively involved in fomenting sectarian
hatred in the province. However, no group has claimed responsibility for the
killings.
FC personnel
killed
Meanwhile, a
Frontier Corps official identified as Gul Zaman was killed in a landmine
explosion in Dera Bugti.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/355735/balochistan-violence-two-killed-in-quetta-target-shooting-2/
----------
Afghan arrests
after authorities foil 'suicide attack'
Mar 27, 2012
Sixteen people
have been arrested in the Afghan capital, Kabul, after plans for an apparent
mass suicide attack were foiled.
Intelligence
officials have told the BBC that 11 suicide jackets were seized in the ministry
of defence.
They say the
attacks would have caused significant loss of life if they had gone ahead.
Some of those
arrested are reported to be soldiers in the Afghan National Army.
The jackets were
seized on Monday afternoon from three separate rooms around a ministry car
park, less than a kilometre from the presidential palace.
Six soldiers were
arrested at the time - initial reports suggested they were armed and prepared
to attack.
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17520430
----------
Manmohan, Gilani
greet each other at Nuclear Security Summit
Mar 27, 2012
SEOUL: Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani on
Tuesday exchanged pleasantries, their second informal chat in two days at the
Nuclear Security Summit here.
Singh and Gilani
shook hands as they greeted each other during the photo-op for the top world
leaders attending the summit in the South Korean capital.
Singh was later
seen having a longish chat with Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is set to
visit India for the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit
in New Delhi this week. Last night, the Prime Minister and his Pakistani
counterpart Gilani had a "meet and greet" encounter prior to a dinner
hosted for dignitaries attending the summit here.
"Prime
Minister said hello to Mr Gilani," Indian sources had said. Singh and US
President Barack Obama also exchanged pleasantries and hugged each other when
they came face-to-face at the summit yesterday.
Obama told Singh,
"Nice to see you here Mr Prime Minister."
The last
Singh-Obama meeting had taken place on November 17, 2011 on the sidelines of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Bali, Indonesia.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Manmohan-Gilani-greet-each-other-at-Nuclear-Security-Summit/articleshow/12425537.cms
----------
1034 former
militants from PoK apply for rehabilitation: Omar Abdullah
Mar 27, 2012
JAMMU: The Jammu
and Kashmir government today said 1034 applications have been received from
former militants in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), for their return under
rehabilitation policy.
"So far 1034
applications have been received on behalf of persons presently in POK who
intent to return under rehabilitation policy", chief minister Omar
Abdullah said, in reply to a cut motion by CPI(M) member M Y Tarigami in
J&K Assembly today.
Omar Abdullah,
whose home department's grants are being debated, said, "out of these
applications, 67 cases have been recommended, the decision on which is
awaited".
He further said,
rest of the applications are being scrutinised and verified.
Giving further
details, he said working group on "Confidence Building Measures across the
segment of people in the state" had recommended a definite policy and
package for the return and rehabilitation of state's subjects from across the
border.
Acting on working
group's recommendations, the state government had notified the policy and
procedure on November 23, 2010, for the return of ex-militants, he said.
Replying to
another question of JKNPP MLA Yashpal Kundal, he said, those who have gone to
POK and Pakistan between 1-1-1989 and December 31, 2009 and their dependents
will be eligible for consideration under the policy.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/1034-former-militants-from-PoK-apply-for-rehabilitation-Omar-Abdullah/articleshow/12426959.cms
----------
India: Tripura CM
leaves for Dhaka to receive award
March 27,
2012
After putting
into rest the controversy over his Bangladesh honour for contributions to the
liberation war, the chief minister Manik Sarkar left for Dhaka on Monday.
Bangladesh
President Zillur Rahman will confer the honour to 129 foreign friends of
Bangladesh, including 47 Indians, on Tuesday in a special programme at Dhaka as
part of the 40th anniversary of their independence.
Inclusion of Mr
Sarkar’s name in the honour list raised a controversy here as the Opposition
Congress and many civil society organisations said that he had no significant
contribution during the liberation war of Bangladesh. The issue was raised in
the state assembly too when Mr Sarkar clarified that he consider it as an
honour for the people of Tripura.
Meanwhile, the
Bangla-desh foreign minister Dipu Moni, who is also the chairperson of the
national committee for selection of persons to be honoured, in a press
conference said they have selected Mr Sarkar after considering all pros and
corn. Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma, who was only 11-years-old at the
time of the liberation war of Bangladesh, also said I am going to receive the
honour on behalf of the people of my state.
Sachindra Lal
Singha, the first chief minister of Tripura, who was instrumental in
facilitating Shekh Muzibur Rahaman to cross over to Tripura in 1963 that
culminated to the infamous Agartala conspiracy case in 1967, figured in the top
of the long list of dignitaries. This secret visit of Shekh Mujibur long before
he became Bangabandhu believed to have sewed the seed of freedom struggle for
Bangladesh.
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/others/manik-leaves-dhaka-receive-award-005
----------
India: Minority
Affairs Minister says Karnataka govt. will have to take a call on Wakf scam
Mar 27, 2012
NEW DELHI: With a
Karnataka government-appointed panel unearthing an alleged scam with regard to
wakf land, minority affairs minister Salman Khurshid on Tuesday said it is a
state level issue and they would have to take a decision on it.
However, if the
state government wanted, it could refer the matter to the Union government, he
said.
Khurshid said,
"This ( wakf scam) is actually a state level issue, state level
entitlement, so they will have to look at it," he told reporters outside
Parliament.
"State
government will have to decide what they want to do, if they refer something to
us, it is another matter," he said.
Karnataka
minorities commission chairman Anwar Manipaddy had on Monday submitted a report
on alleged scam of over Rs 2 lakh crore, involving Wakf Board land, to chief
minister DV Sadananda Gowda.
Khurshid said
that "nothing had come" to him till present regarding the Karnataka
government's findings.
Noting that a
council for Waqf Boards existed at the central level, he said the minority
affairs also has overall monitoring capacity and responsibility.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Khurshid-says-Karnataka-govt-will-have-to-take-a-call-on-Wakf-scam/articleshow/12426281.cms
----------
Support in U.S.
for Afghan War Drops Sharply, Poll Finds
By ELISABETH
BUMILLER and ALLISON KOPICKI
Mar 27, 2012
WASHINGTON —
After a series of violent episodes and setbacks, support for the war in Afghanistan
has dropped sharply among both Republicans and Democrats, according to the
latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
The survey found
that more than two-thirds of those polled — 69 percent — thought that the
United States should not be at war in Afghanistan. Just four months ago, 53
percent said that Americans should no longer be fighting in the conflict, more
than a decade old.
The increased
disillusionment was even more pronounced when respondents were asked their
impressions of how the war was going. The poll found that 68 percent thought
the fighting was going “somewhat badly” or “very badly,” compared with 42
percent who had those impressions in November.
The latest poll
was conducted by telephone from March 21 to 25 with 986 adults nationwide. It
has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.
The Times/CBS
News poll was consistent with other surveys this month that showed a drop in
support for the war. In a Washington Post/ABC News poll, 60 percent of
respondents said the war in Afghanistan had not been worth the fighting, while
57 percent in a Pew Research Center poll said that the United States should
bring home American troops as soon as possible. In a Gallup/USA Today poll, 50
percent of respondents said the United States should speed up the withdrawal
from Afghanistan.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/world/asia/support-for-afghan-war-falls-in-us-poll-finds.html?_r=1&ref=global-home&gwh=2C486AA9F106697EE787A61574C89C81
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Justices Decline
to Say if Jerusalem-Born Americans Can Claim Israeli Birthplace
By JOHN H.
CUSHMAN Jr.
Mar 27, 2012
WASHINGTON — The
Supreme Court on Monday ordered a lower court to decide whether Congress has
the authority to allow Americans born in Jerusalem to claim Israel as their
birthplace on their passports.
The decision
postpones resolution of a long-running dispute between Congress and the
executive branch over the power to set foreign policy, in this case the highly
fraught issue of whether to formally recognize Israel’s claim that Jerusalem is
its capital.
At issue is
whether Congress overstepped its authority when it passed a law in 2002
requiring that Americans born in Jerusalem be allowed to name Israel as their
birthplace in passports and other official documents.
The State
Department has refused to enforce the law, saying that it interferes with a
matter of foreign policy that is the president’s to decide.
For more than
half a century, the United States has not recognized any state as having
sovereignty over Jerusalem, a central issue in the intractable diplomatic
negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
The court,
without settling the case on its merits, ruled that the balance of power
between Congress and the president in foreign policy was not inherently beyond
the reach of judicial review.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/us/justices-return-jerusalem-status-case-to-lower-court.html?ref=global-home&gwh=875AC954C0E7A99AD76A1A2B90252E29
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Troops shell
Syrian town; Brotherhood wants democracy
27th March, 2012
BEIRUT, March 26:
Syrian forces fired shells at a central city that has come to symbolise the
anti-government uprising on Monday, activists said, while the country’s Muslim
Brotherhood branch said it would work for a democratic state if President
Bashar Assad falls.
The announcement
by the exiled Syrian Muslim Brotherhood was an appeal by the Muslim group to
minorities who fear for their place in a post-Assad Syria.
Since the
uprising started last March with protests calling for political reform, it has
stoked tensions among Syria’s varied religious and ethnic groups.
Many in the
opposition are from the country’s Sunni majority. Religious minorities —
Christians, Shias and Alawites, who include Assad — have largely stuck by the
regime, fearing new rulers could threaten their communities.
Speaking to
reporters in Turkey, Brotherhood official Ali Bayanouni said the group would
not monopolize power.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/27/troops-shell-syrian-town-brotherhood-wants-democracy.html
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Israel needs to
learn from Osirak ‘mistake’ Attack may accelerate Iran’s nuclear endeavours
By Mehdi Hasan
27th March, 2012
LONDON: On June
7, 1981, a phalanx of Israeli F-16 fighter-bombers entered Iraqi airspace on
the orders of the then Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin. Their mission,
codenamed Operation Babylon, was to destroy Saddam Hussein`s nascent nuclear
programme. In less than two minutes the eight F-16s dropped 16 1,000-kg bombs
on the unfinished Osirak nuclear reactor, situated 10 miles south of Baghdad.
It was an audacious attack: the world`s first air strike on a nuclear facility.
Begin claimed to
have averted “another Holocaust” by denying Saddam “three, four, five” nuclear
bombs. American politicians — from Dick Cheney to Bill Clinton — would later
agree with him.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/27/israel-needs-to-learn-from-osirak-mistake-attack-may-accelerate-iran-s-nuclear-endeavours.html
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Journalist fired
for criticising Israel on Facebook
27th March, 2012
NEW YORK: An
American-Muslim journalist working for a public radio in Baltimore has been
dismissed for referring to Israel`s occupation of Palestinian and Syrian
territories as “brutal”, according to news reports here.
Sunni Khalid,
managing news editor at “WYPR-FM”, was fired by the station last week after
more than nine years on the job, The Baltimore Sun reported over the weekend.He
had been on probation following criticism of comments he made on Facebook about
Israel`s continued illegal occupation of Palestine.
“I, for one, have
had enough of this pandering before the Israeli regime,” he wrote. “The
war-mongering towards Iran has, once again, distracted the world from Israel`s
brutal military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan
Heights.”
Khalid, who
previously worked for National Public Radio, has also written for Time
Magazine, The Washington Times and USA Today.
http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/27/journalist-fired-for-criticising-israel-on-facebook.html
----------
Pakistan: School
blown up in Mohmand
27th March, 2012
GHALANAI, March
26: Miscreants blew up a government boys primary school, telephone exchange and
a community health centre in Atta area of Khewazai tehsil on Monday, officials
said.
They said miscreants
had planted explosive devices in the buildings of school, CHC and telephone
exchange, which went off with a big bang. Residents said they heard ten blasts,
which were so powerful that the windowpanes of several houses were shattered.
No loss of life was
reported in the incidents. No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts.
It is to be
recalled that 91 schools, dozens of health centres and telephone exchanges have
been blown up so far in Mohmand Agency. As a result more than 20,000 children
have been deprived of education facility. While due to destruction of health
centres in the far flung areas of the tribal region people lack proper
healthcare.
Political
tehsildar of Khewezai Fazl-i-Karim Khan confirmed the incident. He said as the
area was remote and the blasts took place during night, they were yet to assess
how much damage was done.
ROAD ACCIDENT:
Seven people were injured as a vehicle carrying wedding guests turned upside
down near Dahand Karapa area of Pandiali tehsil on Monday.
Political administration
officials said the vehicle (No.C-9132) coming from Ghandahab to Shabqadar Ocha
Wala area overturned at Dahand area. As a result seven passengers suffered
injuries. All the injured were shifted to Peshawar hospital. Names of the
injured were not ascertained.
Meanwhile, a
marble-loaded truck plunged into a deep ravine in Darawo area of Ambar tehsil,
injuring the cleaner. The injured was taken to a local hospital.
http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/27/school-phone-exchange-blown-up-in-mohmand-2.html
----------
Ahmadinejad
tirade on Afghanistan prompts US walkout
Mar 27, 2012
DUSHANBE: A US
delegation walked out of a conference in Tajikistan on Monday during a speech
by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lambasting US policy on Afghanistan as
the source of all the nation’s troubles. Ahmadinejad launched his new tirade
against Washington at the meeting in the Tajik capital Dushanbe attended by
leaders of Afghanistan’s neighbours as well as a US delegation led by Assistant
Secretary of State Robert Blake. “The cause of all the ills in Afghanistan is
the presence on Afghan soil of NATO forces and above all those of the US,” the
Iranian president told the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on
Afghanistan (RECCA). As the firebrand Iranian president was giving his speech,
Blake pointedly led the US delegation out of the conference hall. Once his
address was over, the delegation returned to listen to other speakers. Karzai
said that Afghanistan had worked out a national development strategy and had
opened up its markets but complained that previous conferences had been long on
words and short on actions.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\03\27\story_27-3-2012_pg7_2
----------
Haqqani given
last chance to appear before commission
Mar 27, 2012
ISLAMABAD: The
memo investigation commission, while rejecting the former ambassador to United
States Husain Haqqani’s plea to permit him to record his statement via video
link from the Pakistan High Commission in Landon, has given him the last chance
to appear before the commission.
The commission
also decided to approach Supreme Court, seeking further time for completing its
finding regarding the memo fiasco. It is to be noted that the duration of
commission is being ended on March 31. The commission directed Deputy Attorney
General of Pakistan Tariq Mahmood Jhangeri for submission of Haqqani’s
employment contract, Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ annual report 2011 regarding
US, descript version of telegrams sent by Haqqani to Pakistan office, ambassador
code of conduct and special briefings held in year 2011. The commission also
summoned former foreign secretary Salman Bashir and Director General US
division, Dr Sohail Khan on next hearing, which has not been fixed.
Balochistan High
Court Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa chairs the judicial commission while other
two members are Sindh High Court Chief Justice Musheer Alam and Islamabad High
Court Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman. The commission allowed the chairman
of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Yasin Malik to record his
statement over the allegations levelled against him by Mansoor Ijaz.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\03\27\story_27-3-2012_pg7_3
----------
First Bangladeshi
woman Wasfia Nazreen attempts climbing Mt Everest
Mar 27, 2012
A leading
Bangladeshi social activist-turned-mountaineer today became the first woman
from the country to attempt scaling Mt Everest, the world's highest peak.
Wasfia Nazreen's
expedition coincided with Bangladesh's 41st Independence Day.
Commenting on her
mission, the Nepal Tourism Board said she was undertaking the attempt to
"celebrate the resilience and diversity of the peoples of
Bangladesh."
As the country
turned 40 in 2011, Nazreen started climbing the seven highest mountains on each
of the seven continents to celebrate freedom as part of the 'Bangladesh on
Seven Summits' campaign.
"I am fully
determined to reach the top of all seven continents and have invested
everything I knew in my life on this mission," Nazreen was quoted by the
campaign's website as saying.
After
successfully scaling the Kilimanjaro summit in Africa on October 2nd and South
America's Aconcagua on 16th December last year, she will now attempt to conquer
the 8,848 meters high Mt Everest.
http://www.dailypostindia.com/news/16030-first-bangladeshi-woman-attempts-climbing-mt-everest.html
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Pakistan, Islam
and the West: “Why do they hate us?”
Mar 27, 2012
KARACHI: In a
post-9/11 world a question about Muslims that is often asked by Americans or
people in the west is, “Why do they hate us?”
The answer to
this question, and whether it is hate or something deeper and more nuanced, is
what Irfan Husain seeks out in his book Fatal Faultlines: Pakistan, Islam and
the West.
Ultra-nationalists
and conspiracy theorists may not like what the veteran columnist and ex-civil
servant has to say. “We need to be more objective and critical of our own
people,” said Husain and took a jab at politicians and the public who blame
Pakistan’s problems on foreign forces. “It’s much easier to be in a state of
denial than to accept reality.”
The author spoke
with Zohra Yusuf, who is the chairperson of the independent Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan, at the launch of his book at the Beach Luxury Hotel on
Monday. The event was well attended by writers, intellectuals and journalists.
Yusuf pointed out
that Husain has been writing for decades, sometimes under pseudonyms to avoid
persecution, especially during General Zia’s rule. She said many people had
wondered when Husain would finally publish.
Husain said he
always found the idea of an unlimited blank canvas, as opposed to the
restrictions of newspaper columns, to be daunting but he always had a book in
the back of his mind.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/355777/pakistan-islam-and-the-west-get-mad-says-irfan-husain-but-at-the-atrocities-at-home-first/
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/woman-fled-iraq-suffers-brutal/d/6930