Muslim Community Responds: Why PM Modi Is Only Talking About Pasmanda Muslims "When He Should Take All Muslims Along"
New Age Islam News Bureau
20 January 2023
While some appreciated PM
Modi's statements, many remained sceptical (India Today photo)
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• Iran Hands Death Sentence to Mentally Ill Man, Javad
Rouhi, Over Alleged Qur’an Burning During an Anti-Regime Protest
• Court Sends Sharia Court Judges, Others to Prison
for Allegedly Diverting N500m Meant For Orphans in Kano
• Saudi Prosecutors Want Cleric, Awad Al-Qarni, Executed
For Using Social Media to Stoke Unrest
• Former LeT Chief Makki Denies Link to Al-Qaeda,
ISIS; Says 'Never Met Osama Bin Laden'
India
• Banners near Kadri Sri Manjunatha Temple Banning
Muslim Traders Removed by Police
• MP: Man Arrested For Raping, Threatening To Cut
Muslim Woman into Pieces and Forcing Her to Marry Him
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Mideast
• Netanyahu discusses with US security advisor
‘normalizing ties’ with Saudi Arabia
• Tehran Denies Reported Meeting between Its UN Envoy
and Biden’s Iran Envoy Malley
• Iranian Envoy Decries UNSC's Inaction on Israeli
Crimes against Palestinians
• MP: Iranian Parliament Seeking to Declare EU's Armed
Forces as Terrorist Organization in Tit-for-Tat Step
• Palestinian prisoner released after 40 years amid
Israeli ban on celebrations
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Africa
• Over 40 Al-Shabaab Terrorists Killed In New
Operation, Says Somali Military
• Funke Akindele’s Ex-Husband, Abdul Rasheed Bello,
Popularly Known As JJC Skillz, Returns To Islam, Says ‘I Was Lost, But Now I’m
Found’
• Jordan, Iraq Call for Greater Cooperation among Arab
Nations
• Will fragile peace in Ethiopia’s Tigray endure?
--------
Arab World
• Saudi Arabia Presses Israel to 'Work Seriously' On
Resolving Palestine Issue
• Saudi Regime Forces Arrest Renowned Cleric from
Shia-Populated Eastern Province
• Saudi Arabia Restricts Loudspeakers to 4 to Make
Prayer Calls in All Mosques across the Kingdom
• German lawmakers recognize Islamic State crimes
against Yazidis as genocide
• Islamic State Attacks Still Claiming Iraqi Lives
Five Years after Defeat
• Stampede outside stadium in Iraq’s Basra kills 2,
injures dozens
--------
Pakistan
• Gilgit-Baltistan Protestors Demand Unification with
India: Islam Khabar
• Shehbaz government ‘U-turn’ on Toshakhana policy
• NAB tweaks do not ‘abridge’ fundamentals of
Constitution, SC told
• Swabi Marchers Vow To Stand United Against Terrorism
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
• Terrorist attack on police post leaves three dead in
Khyber
• Ali Zaidi, around 200 party men booked on terror,
rioting charges
• Two policemen martyred in suicide attack on Jamrud
checkpost
• Pakistan urges Iran to investigate attack that
killed four soldiers
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Europe
• North London Man Charged With ‘Islamist Terrorism’
Offences in Met Police Operation
• NZ Boxer Sonny Bill Williams Performs Umrah, Shares
Pics
• Germany recognises IS crimes against Yazidis as
genocide
• EU assembly wants Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on
terror list
• Türkiye takes helm of NATO’s Response Force Maritime
Component for 1 year
• European Parliament calls for listing Iran’s Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps as terrorist entity
• Turkish military chief attends NATO meeting in
Brussels
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South Asia
• The Plight of Afghan Journalists under the Taliban
Regime
• Pakistan Taliban Kill 3 Police Officers in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa
• Foreign Minister Muttaqi Meets AKDN Representative
for Afghanistan
• Second phase of Biswa Ijtema begins
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Southeast Asia
• Stronger Relationships between Indonesia, Malaysia
and Turkey Can Promote World Peace
• Indonesia to Provide Funding Assistance to Islamic Schools
Soon
• PM Anwar launches new slogan for Malaysia, promises
to be clean, help everyone
• Study: Malay votes in GE15 not a monolith, but
discourse dominated by anti-DAP sentiment
• Human rights activists urge move toward abolishing
death penalty
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North America
• US ‘Clear-Eyed’ About Threat Hezbollah Poses To
Lebanon: State Department
• US, UAE, Bahrain, Israel National Security Advisors
Meet On Expanding Normalization
• Harvard Backtracks After Denying Fellowship to
Rights Leader over His Criticisms of Israel
• Turkish foreign minister hopes US extradites members
of FETO terror group
• US sees Türkiye 'as a reliable ally,' says White
House
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/pasmanda-muslims-community-modi/d/128925
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Muslim Community Responds: Why PM Modi Is Only Talking
About Pasmanda Muslims "When He Should Take All Muslims Along"
While some appreciated PM
Modi's statements, many remained sceptical (India Today photo)
-------
Siraj Qureshi
Jan 20, 2023
At the recently held BJP national executive meeting,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked party workers to approach every citizen and
let them know about the country's rising status ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha
elections. His main focus was on the Muslim community, especially the Pasmanda
Muslims.
THE COMMUNITY REACTS
When India Today reached out to the community to gauge
the effect of PM Modi's statement, most of them appreciated the prime
minister's sentiments. However, many also said his statements need to be
translated into actions and did not easily sing his praise.
Amir Ahmed Jafri, senior advocate and former secretary
of the Collectorate Bar Association, asked why PM Modi is only talking about
Pasmanda Muslims "when he should take all Muslims along".
He added, "It is his responsibility to do
concrete work, to give benefits of government schemes to the Muslims, and give
representation to Muslims in the BJP and government as well. Speech alone will
not work."
Haji Mohammad Iqbal, Chief of Islamic Peace and
Foundation Development, said, "We fully support the positive initiative of
Prime Minister Modi, but whether what he has said will be implemented or not,
time will tell. Mere rhetoric will not work."
Senior High Court advocate Rubina Anjum said that
these are all political gimmicks.
"What has happened suddenly that only Pasmanda
Muslims are being talked about while there are other classes/castes among
Muslims whose condition is not good? There should be equal treatment according
to the Constitution. There is a system according to the Constitution and there
are also fundamental rights, so nothing is going to happen with the statements.
Modi's statement has to be implemented to be believed."
Sami Aghai, the president of the Indian Muslim
Development Council, said PM Modi and the BJP are focusing on the upcoming
assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
"If Prime Minister Modi is so concerned about the
upliftment of the Muslim community, then he should bring the Sachchar Committee
to the Lok Sabha to discuss it or make a plan of the same level and follow it
and give a place to the Muslim community in the organisation and the
government."
According to the information received by India Today,
the country has had 400 Muslim MPs so far, out of which 60 were Muslim
Pasmandas.
Source: India Today
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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Iran Hands Death Sentence to Mentally Ill Man, Javad
Rouhi, Over Alleged Qur’an Burning During an Anti-Regime Protest
Javad Rouhi and two
teenagers were sentenced to death after protests in the town of Nowshahr in
September. He says he was unaware a Qur’an had been burned. Photograph: Twitter
-----
January 19, 2023
LONDON: Iran has sentenced a mentally ill man to death
on apostasy charges for allegedly burning a Qur’an during an anti-regime
protest, with rights groups warning that the 35-year-old was severely tortured
in custody and faced an unfair trial, The Guardian reported on Thursday.
Javad Rouhi, from a village in northern Iran, was
sentenced to death on three charges: Waging war against God, corruption on
Earth and apostasy.
After his arrest, he was transported to a detention
facility overseen by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He was left
unable to speak and walk after suffering extreme torture while in custody.
His family were only permitted one visit before his
court hearing, with his father saying: “They didn’t allow any more visits or
phone calls after that.”
Rouhi, who suffers from severe mental illness, was
accused of entering a local traffic police headquarters last September, along
with two others, and setting the building on fire, including copies of the
Qur’an.
Iran state media reported that he had “confessed to
the fact that he destroyed the headquarters and set it on fire.”
Rouhi was prevented from hiring a lawyer of his
choice, with court authorities requiring him to be represented by a state
defender, Habibullah Qazvini.
Qazvini said during the trial: “The review of the CCTV
footage and the statements of Javad Rouhi only show his presence at the
gathering place, and there is no evidence that he participated in burning and
destroying public property.”
He added: “Javad had separated from his wife due to
mental illness and unemployment; in September, he had gone to Nowshahr to meet
his ex-wife and try to bring her back. He didn’t have any money, so he had
slept on the street during those few days in Nowshahr before his arrest.”
In further evidence of an unfair trial, Rouhi’s
charges were also connected with the deaths of five protesters who rights groups
say were killed by Iranian security officers.
Norway-based Iran Human Rights said: “At least 109
protesters are currently at risk of execution, death penalty charges or
sentences. This is a minimum, as most families are under pressure to stay
quiet; the real number is believed to be much higher.”
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2235501/middle-east
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Court Sends Sharia Court Judges, Others to Prison for
Allegedly Diverting N500m Meant For Orphans in Kano
By Umar Audu
January 19, 2023
A chief magistrate’s court in Kano has ordered the
remand of 15 persons in a prison for allegedly diverting N 500 million meant
for the orphans.
According to Daily Trust, those remanded include
judges, registrars, and a cashier with the Kano State Sharia Court of Appeal,
Hussaina Imam.
The accused are standing trial for offences bordering
on criminal conspiracy, joint act, and criminal breach of trust by public
servants, theft and forgery.
The offence is contrary to Sections 97, 79, 315 and
289 of Penal Code Law.
According to the first information report, FIR, the
defendants, Bashir Ali Kurawa, Sa’adatu Umar, Tijjani Abdullahi, Maryam Jibrin
Garba, Shamsu Sani, and Hussaina Imam, sometimes in 2020/2021 committed the
offence in which Mrs Imam reportedly used her official position as the court
cashier to conspire with her co-accused persons.
The cashier allegedly forged the letterheads and
signatures of the two signatories to the Stanbic IBTC Bank account 0020667440
belonging to Kano State Sharia Court of Appeal and stole money to the tune of
N484,067,327:07.
Mrs Imam was accused of fraudulently authorizing the
bank to transfer the said amount to various bank accounts without the knowledge
and or consent of the authorized body or person.
In a separate charge, the accused were arraigned for
the alleged offences of criminal conspiracy, joint act, criminal breach of trust
by a public servant, and theft by a clerk or servant, contrary to Sections 97,
79, 315, and 289 of the Penal Code.
“An official complaint was received by the Commission
from Kano State Ministry of Justice that sometime ago, in the year 2018 to
2021, you Sani Ali Muhammad, Sani Buba Aliyu, Bashir Baffa, Garzali Wada, Hadi
Tijjani Mu’azu, Alkasim Abdullahi, Yusuf Abdullahi, Mustapha Bala Ibrahim,
Jafar Ahmad, Adamu Balarabe, Aminu Abdulkadir, Abdullahi Suleiman Zango, Garba
Yusuf, Bashir Ali Kurawa and you Hussaina Imam, criminally conspired, breached
the trust in you as a public servant, acted jointly and create 15 fake civil
servants’ death benefit files and fraudulently siphoned funds to the tune of
N96,250,000.00 that was remitted by the Kano State Pension Fund Trustee to the
bank accounts of Kano State Sharia Court Appeal and stole the said amount
through eight Sharia Courts under the Kano State Sharia Court Appeal without
the consent and knowledge of the authorizing authority,” the FIR reads.
However, all the defendants pleaded not guilty to the
charges, and the counsel representing them applied for the court to admit the
defendants on bail.
The defendants, through their counsels, argued that
the application was brought pursuant to sections 35 and 36 of the Constitution
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,[1999 as amended] and sections 168 and 172
of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2019 of Kano.
In his response to the bail applications by the
defense counsel, the prosecution counsel, Zaharaddeen Kofarmata, urged the
court to consider the huge amount involved in the case while granting the bail.
The trial magistrate, Mr Datti, therefor adjourned the
case to February 1, 2023 for hearing and ordered the remand of all the
defendants in a correctional center.
Speaking to journalists after the proceeding, the
acting chairman of the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption
Commission, Mahmoud Balarabe, said the commission, during its investigations on
the matter, had recovered vehicles, jewelry, landed properties, and other
valuable property, including N8 million, from the defendants and would be used
as exhibits.
Source: Daily Nigerian
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://dailynigerian.com/court-sends-sharia-court/
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Saudi Prosecutors Want Cleric, Awad Al-Qarni, Executed
For Using Social Media To Stoke Unrest
Detained hard-line Saudi
cleric Awad Al-Qarni
-----
January 20, 2023
DUBAI: Saudi prosecutors are seeking the death penalty
for a prominent cleric accused of using social media to stoke unrest, according
to a court document seen by this news agency on Thursday.
Awad al-Qarni was among dozens of prominent clerics
and dissidents arrested in September 2017, three months after Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman became first in line to the throne.
Human rights activists accuse Prince Mohammed of
overseeing a crackdown on critics seen as harsh even by the standards of Saudi
Arabia, which does not allow political opposition. The prosecution’s filing was
shared by Qarni’s son Nasser, who last year fled to the United Kingdom to seek
asylum.
Prosecutors accuse Qarni of spreading anti-government
messages on Facebook and on Twitter, where he has two million followers.
“He tweets from his Twitter account at every
opportunity, using it as a means to express his misguided opinions and
direction,” the court document states.
Objectionable posts cited in the document include
statements of support for the Muslim Brotherhood, criticism of Saudi judicial
decisions and commentary on a diplomatic rift that saw Saudi Arabia lead a
years-long boycott of neighbouring Qatar.
The two Gulf countries later mended ties during a
summit in January 2021.
The posts are seen as being part of “efforts to
destabilise the nation’s foundation, turning society against its rulers,
stirring up unrest and showing sympathy for a hostile state (Qatar),” the
filing states.
They also convey “support for the agenda of the Muslim
Brotherhood terrorist organisation against the homeland and its rulers,” the
filing added.
Qarni is also accused of “striving to destabilise the
social fabric… and stir up public opinion by inciting sedition and division
between Muslims and between the ruler and the ruled”.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, is
pursuing an ambitious reform agenda intended to attract foreign investment and
tourists while diversifying its oil-dependent economy.
Yet the kingdom still faces lingering reputational
damage from the 2018 killing by Saudi agents of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at
the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
And it is routinely criticised for harsh court
rulings, including decades-long prison sentences handed down last year to two
women who tweeted and retweeted posts critical of the government.
Saudi officials have not commented on those cases, and
they did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday about the
case against Qarni.
The prosecution’s request for the death penalty for
Qarni is another example of overreach by “kangaroo courts”, said Abdullah
Alaoudh, Gulf research director for Democracy for the Arab World Now, a
US-based rights group founded by Khashoggi. Alaoudh’s father, Salman al-Awdah,
is another prominent cleric who was arrested around the same time as Qarni.
The cases against the two men stem from “bogus charges
relating to their peaceful work, books and tweets”, Alaoudh said.
Source: Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1732598/saudi-prosecutors-want-cleric-executed-for-tweets
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Former LeT Chief Makki Denies Link to Al-Qaeda, ISIS;
Says 'Never Met Osama Bin Laden'
Former Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Abdul Rehman Makki |
Twitter
-----
20 JAN 2023
Pakistan-based deputy leader of terror outfit
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) Abdul Rehman Makki released a video on Thursday from the
Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore, denying any links with al-Qaeda or Islamic State.
Makki, the brother-in-law of the Mumbai terror attack
mastermind and Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) Hafiz Saeed, however, did not mention the
26/11 attack that killed 166 people.
The UN Security Council's 1267 ISIL (Da'esh) and Al
Qaeda Sanctions Committee added 68-year-old Makki to its list of designated
terrorists on Monday, subjecting him to an assets freeze, travel ban and arms
embargo, after years of efforts by India and its allies.
He has been in jail since 2019 where he is serving
multiple sentences in terror finance cases along with Saeed and some other LeT
and JuD senior leaders.
What did Makki say?
"I believe that the grounds for my listing are
based on heresy and disinformation by the Indian government. I never met Osama
Bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahiri or Abdullah Azam as alleged by some propaganda
reports," Makki said.
He said he considers the views and actions of Al-Qaeda
and ISIS totally opposite of what he believes in.
"I denounce all kinds of terrorism and violence
perpetrated by such groups. I believe in the principal position of the
Pakistani government regarding Kashmir…," he said.
He regretted the UNSC decision to enlist him without
giving fair opportunity to respond to allegations or hearing his point of view.
"No due process was followed or information was
provided regarding these listings," Makki said.
He denied allegations against him for being a faculty
member of Islamic University Islamabad in the 1980s where he was accused of
meeting Al-Qaeda leaders or Afghan commanders.
He said that he had not studied or taught at Islamic
university and had never had any contact with Abdullah Azam, Ayman Al Zawahiri
or Bin Laden.
Source: Outlook India
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original story:
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India
Banners near Kadri Sri Manjunatha Temple Banning Muslim Traders Removed by Police
Jan 20, 2023
Banners appeared near the Kadri Sri Manjunatha temple
fair prohibiting Muslim traders from carrying out business activities near the
temple.
Police sources said the banners, put up by Vishwa
Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, were removed on Thursday.
The fair started on January 15 and will end on January
21. The banners put up by right wing outfits were seen on Thursday which
mentioned the cooker blast and alleged that the primary target of the accused
in the case was the Kadri Manjunatha temple.
The banner also said people with such a mindset and
those who opposed idol worship cannot engage in trade and business during the
fair near the place of worship.
The banners also stated that only traders who believed
in the rituals and ceremonies of the Hindu religion will be allowed to continue
with their trade and business.
The temple administration, which falls under the
Religious Endowment department, did not approve of the banner that was put up
in the vicinity of the temple fair.
Source: India Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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MP: Man Arrested For Raping, Threatening To Cut Muslim
Woman into Pieces and Forcing Her to Marry Him
19th January 2023
A young man was arrested for allegedly raping and
threatening a 22-year-old Muslim woman and forcing her to marry him.
The incident happened in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, where
the accused – Shubham Kumar – forced the victim, from the same town, to have a
sexual relationship with him. He further threatened her that if she refused his
demands, he will cut her into 35 pieces, the police said.
Unable to bear his torture, the victim lodged an FIR
with the Banganga police station. Shubham has been arrested under section 323
(Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 376 (2) (n) (commits rape repeatedly
on the same woman), 454 (Lurking house-trespass or house-breaking in order to
commit offence punishable with imprisonment) and 506 (Punishment for criminal
intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Rajesh
Raghuvanshi said, “The 22-year-old Muslim girl had lodged a complaint against
the accused at Banganga police station in the city. The accused had made
physical relations with the girl and was pressuring her for marriage. He also
threatened her that if she did not marry him then he would cut her into
pieces.”
Source: Siasat Daily
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.siasat.com/mp-man-arrested-for-raping-threatening-to-cut-woman-into-pieces-2506282/
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Mideast
Netanyahu discusses with US security advisor
‘normalizing ties’ with Saudi Arabia
19 January ,2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed
normalizing ties with Saudi Arabia in talks with visiting White House National
Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Thursday, his office said.
Netanyahu, who returned to power last month with the
formation of a new government, was also at the helm in 2020 when Israel
established ties with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco as part of
the Abraham Accords.
The Israeli premier has repeatedly expressed his
desire to see Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, join the list.
In their talks, Netanyahu and Sullivan discussed
“measures to deepen the Abraham Accords and expand the cycle of peace, with an
emphasis on a breakthrough with Saudi,” the Israeli leader's office said in a
statement.
They also discussed joint efforts to curb Iran's
nuclear program and its regional activities, with Netanyahu thanking his
American guest for President Joe Biden's commitment to prevent Tehran from
obtaining nuclear arms, the statement said.
“You come at a special time because we have acute
challenges to our security and vast opportunities for peace,” Netanyahu said in
televised remarks relayed by his office.
“I am convinced that by working together we can both
meet the challenges and realize the opportunities,” he said. “That's something
that bolsters our extraordinary alliance but also can change the region and
change history.”
The White House said that Sullivan reiterated the US
pledge to “ensure Iran can never acquire a nuclear weapon”.
Netanyahu and Sullivan “also discussed Ukraine, as
well as the burgeoning defense partnership between Russia and Iran and its
implications for security in the Middle East,” National Security Council spokeswoman
Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
Touching on an area where the new hardline Israeli
government and the Biden administration do not see eye to eye, Sullivan said he
opposed policies endangering the “viability” of a future Palestinian state, according
to the statement.
Sullivan likewise “underscored the urgency of avoiding
unilateral steps by any party that could inflame tensions on the ground, with
special attention to maintaining the historic status quo with respect to the
holy places in Jerusalem.”
Sullivan's visit, the first by a senior US official
since Netanyahu's new government was sworn in, also saw him meet President
Isaac Herzog on Wednesday for talks about “ways to deepen the strategic
cooperation”, Herzog's office said.
Before speaking with Netanyahu on Thursday, Sullivan
had met with the head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, David Barnea, and Israeli
national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Tehran denies reported meeting between its UN envoy
and Biden’s Iran envoy Malley
19 January ,2023
Iran denied on Thursday media reports that its
permanent representative to the United Nations had met with US special envoy
for Iran Robert Malley.
Iran’s permanent mission to the UN said it had “not
conducted any negotiations with any American officials,” the semi-official ISNA
news agency reported.
The denial comes after London-based news channel Iran
International reported that Malley had met Saeed Iravani, Iran’s envoy to the
UN in New York, “at least three times in the last two months.”
A US delegation led by Malley had been participating
in indirect talks with Iran for over a year starting April 2021 to revive the
2015 nuclear deal.
But these efforts have stalled for months and
Washington has since said that Iran’s crackdown on domestic protesters and its
supplying of drones to Russia have turned its focus away from reviving the
deal.
The 2015 deal offered Iran relief from international
sanctions in exchange for strict but temporary curbs on its nuclear program.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Iranian Envoy Decries UNSC's Inaction on Israeli
Crimes Against Palestinians
2023-January-19
Iravani made the remarks while addressing a UN
Security Council open debate on the situation in the Middle East, including the
Palestinian question, on Wednesday.
“Sympathy alone is not enough,” he stated.
The diplomat added that the Israeli regime’s
oppressive, expansionist and apartheid practices against Palestinians continued
unabated in 2022, and the Palestinian people, particularly women and children,
are facing severe poverty and violation of their basic rights.
The Israeli regime has committed atrocities in the
occupied Palestinian territories without accountability for more than 70 years,
he continued, stressing the importance of fully recognizing, upholding and
protecting the Palestinian nation’s right to self-determination.
But long as the Security Council remains silent, this
is impossible to do so, Iravani noted.
The Security Council is duty-bound to remain committed
to the UN Charter and maintain international peace and security, he stated,
emphasizing that it should use all legal channels to hold the Israeli regime
accountable for all the crimes it is committing.
The Iranian envoy underscored that the Israeli
regime’s incursion into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound earlier this month violated
the mosque’s sanctity and worship rites and was a brazen provocation of Muslim
feelings.
“This illegality and recklessness have serious
consequences that should not be underestimated,” he underlined, noting that if
not properly addressed, it can further destabilize an already fragile situation
and endanger regional and international peace and security.
Iravani further emphasized that the UN silence on Tel
Aviv’s crimes will only encourage the regime to continue its occupation of the
Palestinian territories and intensify its brutal aggression against
Palestinians.
He stated that Iran is responsible to support the
Palestinian people’s legitimate right to resist the oppression and violence of
the racist Israeli regime in accordance with Palestinians’ right to
self-determination, emphasizing that it will be Tehran’s permanent position
until the end of the occupation.
Nearly 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli
forces in the illegally occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip since the
beginning of the year, including 51 Palestinians during Israel’s three-day
assault on Gaza in August, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
International rights groups have condemned Israel’s
excessive use of force and “shoot-to-kill policy” against Palestinians.
Iran describes Israel as the root cause of the
region’s instability, but also stresses Israel's US-supported barbarity will
not change the inevitable fate of the Tel Aviv regime.
Source: Fars News Agency
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MP: Iranian Parliament Seeking to Declare EU's Armed
Forces as Terrorist Organization in Tit-for-Tat Step
2023-January-19
Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Khodabakhshi stated on
Thursday the parliament is going to put a double-urgent bill to vote as part of
a response to the EU’s potential move to blacklist the IRGC as a terrorist
organization.
He added the legislation would call for blacklisting
the armed forces of the EU as terrorist.
The bill describes the IRGC as a pillar of the Iranian
ruling establishment and says if it is blacklisted by the bloc, Iran will
blacklist the EU armed forces in West Asia, in which case any cooperation with
them will be treated as complicity in act of terrorism.
The legislation obliges Iran’s intelligence community
to provide a list of the commanders of the EU’s armed forces for prosecution by
the Iranian Judiciary.
The bill requires the Iranian foreign ministry to use
all its legal and political capacities to push the EU’s forces from the region.
Any country abiding by the bloc’s blacklisting of the
IRGC will be subject to a response in kind, according to the legislation.
The Iranian government will be obliged, under the
legislation, to protect all legal and real persons affiliated with the IRGC
against any harm or damage.
On Wednesday, the European Parliament's members backed
an amendment added to an annual foreign policy report, calling for "the EU
and its member states to include the IRGC in the EU's terror list". The
step was passed by a vote of 598 in favor and nine against, with 31
abstentions.
The amendment will urge Brussels to blacklist the IRGC
military force, the volunteer Basij force, and the IRGC's Quds Force.
Tehran has repeatedly announced that the IRGC is an
official state body which has had and will continue to have an important and
key role in ensuring the security of Iran and the region.
Iranian officials have recently warned the EU that its
plan to blacklist the IRGC as a “terrorist organization” may have unbearable
consequences and ruin any chance of negotiations.
Source: Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Palestinian prisoner released after 40 years amid
Israeli ban on celebrations
20 January 2023
Palestinian prisoner Maher Younis has been released
after forty years in Israeli jails for resistance against occupation forces.
Maher, 65, along with several others including his
cousin, Karim Younis, was put behind bars in 1983 on charges of capturing and
killing an Israeli soldier three years earlier.
Maher was initially sentenced to death, but his
sentence was reduced to 40 years in jail. He was ultimately released on
Thursday, two weeks after Karim.
In his hometown of Arara, Maher was warmly welcomed despite
Israel’s decision to ban any gathering around his house. His mother showered
him with petals and adorned him with a traditional white gown, a necklace of
red flowers, and a ring, which belonged to his father, who died in 2008.
“The best gift is to see our people walk on the path
of reconciliation, and to live in freedom, as there was hope, after 40 years,
to live in the homeland freely,” he said.
“The attempts of the [Israeli] occupation and its
policy of diverting our joy will not succeed. Although there is a policy of
arrogance, they will not prevent our joy. Palestine is implanted in our hearts
and its flag is drawn in the hearts, and any attempts to remove it from us will
not succeed,” added the former prisoner.
Israel still holding 23 pre-Oslo prisoners
Despite the release of the two cousins, the Israeli
regime is holding 23 Palestinians who have been imprisoned since before the
signing of the Oslo accords between the Palestinians and Israel in 1993, which
called for the release of all Palestinian prisoners
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said in a
statement that Mohammad al-Tous, who has been incarcerated since 1985, has
become the longest-serving Palestinian freedom fighter in Israeli jails after
the release of Karim and Maher.
According to the statement, carried by WAFA news
agency, 10 other Palestinians who were arrested before the Oslo accords and
were released during prisoner exchange deals have been re-arrested by the
occupation forces with their sentences being re-instated.
The PPS said over 340 Palestinian freedom fighters
have spent more than 20 years in Israeli jails.
There are reportedly more than 7,000 Palestinians held
in Israeli jails. Hundreds of them have been incarcerated under the practice of
“administrative detention,” under which some prisoners have been held without a
charge for up to 11 years.
Palestinians and human rights groups say the detention
policy violates the right to due process since the evidence is withheld from
prisoners while they are held for lengthy periods without being charged, tried,
or convicted.
The detention takes place on orders from a military
commander and on the basis of what the Israeli regime describes as secret
evidence.
Human rights organizations have condemned the
so-called administrative detention as a “cruel, unjust practice” which helps
maintain “Israel’s system of apartheid” against Palestinians.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/01/20/696664/Palestinian-prisoner-released-40-years-Israeli-jail
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Africa
Over 40 al-Shabaab terrorists killed in new operation,
says Somali military
Mohammed Dhaysane
20.01.2023
MOGADISHU, Somalia
More than 40 al-Shabaab terrorists have been killed in
an operation in the Middle Shabelle region, the Somali military said on
Thursday.
The operation was launched in response to Tuesday’s
deadly attack on a military base in Hawadley, some 60 kilometers (37 miles)
north of the capital Mogadishu.
At least 10 soldiers, including a senior commander,
were killed in that early morning assault, which began with a suicide car
bombing and ended after heavy gun battles.
The operation was carried out with intelligence
support from Somali spy agency NISA and the country’s international partners,
Abdiaziz Ahmed, a security official, told Anadolu.
“We focused on farmlands and areas on the outskirts of
Hawadley,” he said, adding that heavy weaponry, including an anti-aircraft
twin-barreled autocannon, was also destroyed.
The Somali army, backed by local militias, has been
engaged in a sweeping offensive against al-Shabaab since last year, when
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared “all-out war” on the terrorist group.
Somalia has been plagued by insecurity for years, with
al-Shabaab and Daesh/ISIS being among the main threats.
The UN has warned of growing instability in the
country, issuing periodic reports last year that detailed attacks by al-Shabaab
and pro-Daesh/ISIS terror groups.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Funke Akindele’s Ex-Husband, Abdul Rasheed Bello,
Popularly Known As JJC Skillz, Returns To Islam, Says ‘I Was Lost, But Now I’m
Found’
By Umar Audu
January 19, 2023
Abdul Rasheed Bello, popularly known as JJC Skillz,
has announced that he has reverted to Islam, his former religion.
The award-winning songwriter and filmmaker, made this
known in a post on his verified Instagram handle, @JJCSkillz.
Mr Bello, who is a former husband of movie star cum
politician, Funke Akindele, said he was born a Muslim but never practiced the
religion as he followed the religion of his mother.
“I was lost, but now I’m found, O Allah, I ask You for
Your pardon and well-being in this life and the next. O Allah, I ask You for
well-being in my religious and worldly affairs, and my family and my wealth.
“O Allah, veil my weaknesses and set at ease my
dismay, and preserve me from the front and behind and on my right and my left
and from above, and I take refuge with You lest I be swallowed up by the earth.
In an interview with an online Islamic publication,
Muslims News, the musician said it was the will of God that he would finally
embrace Islam, saying the religion has given him direction and focus.
“I was born a Muslim—AbdurRasheed by name. My dad,
Bello, is a Muslim, but my mum is a Christian. Back then, I used to go to
Islamiyah, but all I remembered about it was getting beaten. They used to scare
us with hellfire, so I never practiced.
“It’s God’s design that I will return to Islam.” I
thank Allah for sparing my life,” he said.
Source: Daily Nigerian
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://dailynigerian.com/funke-akindele-husband/
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Jordan, Iraq call for greater cooperation among Arab
nations
January 19, 2023
DAVOS: The leaders of Jordan and Iraq have called for
deeper Arab collaboration in the energy, agriculture and oil sectors to achieve
regional prosperity.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on
Thursday, Iraq’s President Abdulatif Rashid and Jordan’s Prime Minister Bisher
Hani Al-Khasawneh said the Amman-Baghdad-Cairo mechanism would benefit the
broader regional economy.
Rashid said that after years of wars, civil conflicts
and terrorism, Iraq was ready to embark on a new journey of achieving peace and
stability at home, while contributing to a better reality for the region.
He pointed to an “optimistic” outlook if the Middle
East was “able to solve its conflicts without foreign interference.”
The newly formed Iraqi government planned to increase
oil, gas and agriculture projects to help advance the regional economy, which
has been reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising inflation,
he added.
But Iraq needed “regional cooperation and some
international help in terms of investment and contracts,” Rashid said.
“We get most of our water from neighboring countries.
In many cases, we share oil fields with Kuwait, Iran and other countries. We
don’t have many ways but to cooperate along these lines, but in Iraq, we are
lucky to have agriculture, tourism, oil fields and gas.”
Al-Khasawneh said the war between Ukraine and Russia
had “reinforced beliefs in Jordan that the key to progress rests upon the
foundation of collective action.”
But, he said, the region suffered from a serious
deficiency in inter-Arab trade, which “does not exceed 13 percent of the total
volume of Arab countries’ trade.”
“All synergies are fundamental and essential to the
advancement of the economies of the region and in dealing with the challenges
that respective countries face,” he added.
Al-Khasawneh said that the Amman-Baghdad-Cairo
mechanism “does not exist in the void, and it’s open to all interested parties
in the region.”
The mechanism essentially focuses on building an
industrial zone on the Jordanian-Iraqi border and establishing a pipeline to
carry oil and gas from Iraq to the borders of Jordan and Egypt.
Al-Khasawneh said that for a country that lacked
natural resources, building on its human capital and establishing ties with
neighboring countries in the region had been essential to achieving Jordan’s
national objectives.
Due to collaborations with the International Monetary
Fund and other regional and international institutions, the country had been
able to keep its inflation rate at 4.2 percent, which, according to
Al-Khasawneh, was a “low number compared to neighboring countries with the
exemption of those with natural resources.”
Meanwhile, Rashid stressed the need to encourage
private enterprise and modernize financial laws and banking regulations.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2235586/middle-east
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Will fragile peace in Ethiopia’s Tigray endure?
Sadik Kedir Abdu
20.01.2023
Eyes welled with tears of joy, faces beamed with
genuine smiles, and hearts brimmed with cautious hope as dozens gathered in
Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa for a journey that, just months ago, seemed all
but impossible.
Their destination was one propelled to global fame,
rather a notoriety, in recent years: Mekele, capital of Ethiopia’s northern
region of Tigray, where war, death, and destruction have been unwelcome guests
for far too long.
Since late 2020, Ethiopia has been at war with itself,
and Tigray has been the battlefield.
The conflict is between the Tigray People’s Liberation
Front (TPLF) – known today as a rebel group but a force that wielded
unparalleled power in Ethiopia for decades – and the federal government led by
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Yet, it has been far more about just them, cascading
into a clash of regions and cultures, ripping apart loved ones, and tearing at
the very fabric of Ethiopian society.
After more than two years of devastating violence,
peace seems within grasp.
Hopes have risen after the warring sides signed an
agreement in South Africa in November 2022, a deal that Ethiopians want to
believe has paved the way for some sort of mutual understanding and a lasting
solution.
There are visible signs of progress, such as the
crowds seen at the airport in Addis Ababa as flights to Mekele resumed after a
shutdown lasting 18 months.
“There was a mix of feelings. People were so hopeless
they questioned whether it was true or not,” Mohammed Hagos, a university
lecturer in Mekele, told about the general public reaction to the November
peace deal.
When the fighting was at its peak, it felt “as if the
world had turned upside down,” said Mohammed, who saw the violence firsthand
for more than a year before making an “adventurous and life-threatening” trek
to Addis Ababa.
He said the crisis made him feel like a “second-class
citizen,” particularly while trying to “escape from one part of my country to
another.”
The provisions of the November agreement include
immediate cessation of hostilities, restoration of basic services such as
electricity and telecommunications, unimpeded humanitarian access, and
withdrawal of foreign forces, particularly Eritrean troops.
Another key point is the TPLF’s disarmament and
reintegration into Ethiopian politics once the government delists it as a
terrorist group.
“Having access again to those basic services has given
everyone hope. It is a very emotional moment when you get to hear your
children’s voices after years,” said Mohammed, who had no direct communication
with his family for months.
Seeds of conflict
In a way, the war started long before the actual
fighting began in October 2020, as both sides churned out divisive rhetoric and
propaganda sprinkled with threats and displays of military might.
“This was a clear case of mismanagement of a political
transition,” said Mukerrem Miftah, assistant professor of policy studies at the
Ethiopian Civil Service University in Addis Ababa.
He was referring to the change of guard in 2018 that
brought Prime Minister Abiy into power after the nearly 30-year rule of a
coalition led by the TPLF.
Over a year after taking office, Abiy unveiled his
Prosperity Party to replace its predecessor, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary
Democratic Front (EPRDF), a coalition of four parties representing the
country’s most powerful ethnic communities based in its northern and central
parts, as well as some 50 smaller groups in the south.
The TPLF, the then-dominant force in the EPRDF,
refused to be part of Abiy’s new political entity and retreated to its
stronghold in Tigray.
The descent into war gathered pace when the TPLF went
ahead with regional elections in Tigray in Sept. 2020, defying the federal
government’s decision to delay all polls due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the TPLF tried to use the results to further its
claim as Tigray’s sole legitimate political authority, the all-out conflict
became the only probable result and eventually erupted on Oct. 4, 2020.
Both sides blamed each other for the violence. The
government contended that it was a TPLF attack on a major military base that
sparked the war, while the rebels viewed the entire conflict as an invasion by
Abiy’s government and its ally Eritrea.
Regardless, their clash for political power has
plunged Ethiopia into a crisis of unprecedented proportions.
According to the latest figures from the African
Union, the conflict has claimed up to 600,000 lives and displaced more than 2.5
million people, apart from wreaking economic and humanitarian devastation.
What brought them to the table?
The agreement has so far brought about a certain level
of calm in Tigray, according to Mukerrem.
“At this point in time, the situation in northern
Ethiopia is relatively stable. At least there is no active violence. From this
vantage point, we can say this deal is significant,” he told Anadolu.
He also delved into what remains a burning question in
the country and a source of doubt over the deal’s durability: What exactly
brought the TPLF and the government to the negotiating table?
“Exhaustion was the primary factor. This war has been
miscalculated by both sides, who each believed they could get a total
submission from the other,” said Mukerrem.
“They no longer have the means or resources to continue
this war,” he added.
Economic considerations also had a role, with the war
draining the government’s budget and rendering it incapable of pursuing any
sort of development project.
Over in Tigray, life was a struggle for survival as
the government severed basic utilities and barred essential services such as
banking.
Adding to the internal factors was the erosion of
Ethiopia’s diplomatic ties with its strategic partners, including the US.
“I believe that third parties, particularly the US,
played a major role in the negotiations. Not only in facilitating dialogue, but
also in designing the terms and agenda,” said Mukerrem.
As the crisis festered, the US punished Ethiopia with
a raft of sanctions, including its exclusion from the US African Growth and
Opportunity Act duty-free trade scheme.
Just a month after the successful talks, Washington
named a new ambassador to Ethiopia, a post that was vacant for nearly two
years, while its allies France and Germany sent their respective foreign
ministers on visits that were clear indicators of rapprochement.
A fragile peace
According to Mukerrem, there is a great need to tread
carefully in terms of implementing the peace deal.
“Foremost is the issue of inclusivity, and it should
be taken seriously,” he said.
For the deal to last, all stakeholders need to feel
included and like they have a part in it, he added.
He warned of growing voices of discontent and claims
of exclusion in regions such as Amhara and Oromia.
Cooperation is also essential for this agreement to
work, particularly on points such as disarmament and cessation of hostilities,
said Mukerrem.
For Mohammed, the teacher in Mekele, the withdrawal of
Eritrean forces from Tigray “could be a breaking point if not handled gently.”
“Given the longstanding border issues between Eritrea
and Tigray, this can be an arduous task,” he warned.
“Unless the Eritrean government is included in the
peace process, it will jeopardize this push for stability in the region,” he
added.
Another problem between the TPLF and the federal
government relates to the border of Tigray and its neighboring Amhara region.
Amhara wants to renegotiate the borderline in a
disputed area known as Welqait, a small region of over 1,300 square miles with
a population of some 130,000 people.
The Tigray conflict has also raised constitutional
questions in Ethiopia, as one of the TPLF’s grievances against the government
is that it is centralizing power.
Making sure peace endures
For Mukerrem, “transitional justice” is essential to
ensure lasting peace in Ethiopia.
“One important challenge would be mediation and
ensuring justice for the crimes committed by both sides during the war,” he
said.
“Unless and until justice is served to the victims of
war, unless and until this is guaranteed, this peace agreement will be null and
void,” he stressed.
Mohammed also urged both parties to “honor their word”
while reiterating the need for an inclusive approach for sustained peace.
Another factor is the structure of the Ethiopian
state, which is based on the principles of ethnic federalism, recognizing the
autonomous rights, even as far as self-determination, of all ethnic groups.
According to various analysts, there is potential for
more conflict in other regions of Ethiopia unless the issue of federalism is
addressed and the autonomy of ethnic groups is assured as enshrined in the
constitution.
This is what Mukerrem alluded to as he warned of a
looming threat of unrest in central and eastern parts of Ethiopia, mainly in
its largest region of Oromia, where the Oromo Liberation Army, a group the
government has labeled a terrorist entity, is gaining ground and influence.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/will-fragile-peace-in-ethiopia-s-tigray-endure/2792557
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Arab World
Saudi Arabia presses Israel to 'work seriously' on
resolving Palestine issue
Ibrahim Al-Khazen
19.01.2023
RIYADH
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister has urged Israel’s new
government to “work seriously to solve the Palestinian issue.”
“We must focus on a path to resolve the Palestinian
issue, which will happen through negotiation between the two sides,” Prince
Faisal bin Farhan said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on
Wednesday.
“This is what we are trying to achieve at the level of
the international community, but the new Israeli government is not enthusiastic
about finding a solution,” he added.
Talks between Palestine and Israel broke down in 2014,
largely due to Israel’s refusal to stop building settlements on confiscated
Palestinian land.
The minister emphasized that “a solution is in
Israel’s and the region’s interest,” according to Saudi news channel Al
Ekhbariya.
“Israel must work seriously to solve the Palestinian
issue,” he said.
On developments in Yemen, Prince Faisal said the push
for “a permanent cease-fire must continue.”
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Saudi regime forces arrest renowned cleric from
Shia-populated Eastern Province
19 January 2023
Saudi regime forces have reportedly arrested a
prominent cleric in the country’s oil-rich and Shia-populated Eastern Province,
as the kingdom intensifies a heavy-handed crackdown against members of the
religious community as well as opponents of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
and his policies.
Social media activists reported that the forces
detained Sheikh Hassan al-Khuwailidi amid authorities’ attempts to silence
influential religious scholars, and press ahead with plans aimed at
transforming the the cultural setting of Saudi Arabia, which is greatly
influenced by the Arab and Islamic culture, to the Western style.
The report comes as Saudi officials sentenced
prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Kadhim al-Amri to four years in prison late last
year.
Lebanon-based al-Ahed news website announced that the
clergyman – the son of Shia cleric Sheikh Muhammad al-Omari, who is the son of
the late Sheikh Muhammad al-Amri and among distinguished religious figures in
the holy city of Medina – received the ruling on December 24.
A month earlier, Saudi forces had re-arrested
distinguished Shia scholar Sheikh Muhammad al-Abbad in al-‘Umran city in
al-Ahsa province without a warrant, and taken him away to an unknown location.
Saudi Arabia has stepped up politically-motivated
arrests, prosecution, and conviction of peaceful dissident writers and human
rights campaigners, in particular in Eastern Province.
The province has been the scene of peaceful
demonstrations since February 2011. Protesters have been demanding reforms,
freedom of expression, the release of political prisoners, and an end to
economic and religious discrimination against the region.
The protests have been met with a heavy-handed
crackdown, with regime forces increasing security measures across the province.
Ever since bin Salman became Saudi Arabia’s crown
prince and de facto leader in 2017, the kingdom has arrested dozens of
activists, bloggers, intellectuals, and others perceived as political
opponents, showing almost zero tolerance for dissent even in the face of
international condemnations of the crackdown.
As a result, Islamic scholars have been executed,
women’s rights campaigners have been put behind bars and tortured, and freedom
of expression, association, and belief continue to be denied.
Over the past years, Riyadh has also redefined its
anti-terrorism laws to target activism.
Source: Press TV
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Saudi Arabia restricts loudspeakers to 4 to make
prayer calls in all mosques across the kingdom
January 19, 2023
Khitam Al Amir
Dubai: Saudi Arabia has issued directives to restrict
the use of loudspeakers in all mosques across the Kingdom, local media
reported.
Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Dr. Abdul Latif bin
Abdul Aziz Al Sheikh has set the number of external loudspeakers at four which
are only to be used in mosques to make the prayer calls.
Dr. Al Sheikh has instructed all Imams to remove extra
loudspeakers, if any, from mosques and store them in a warehouse for later use
or give away to mosques that do not have enough.
The minister's directives come almost two months ahead
of Ramadan, which is expected to fall on March 23.
Last year, the ministry issued restrictions on volume
levels for loudspeakers at mosques during the fasting month. Speakers must not
exceed a third of their maximum volume.
Officials at the ministry asked mosque staff to ensure
they abide by the circular that limits the use of external loudspeakers for the
first (adhan) and second (Iqamah) calls to prayer.
It also stressed that speakers cannot be used for
additional prayers during the holy month, and banned the live transmission of
prayers from mosques on all types of media during last Ramadan.
Source: Gulf News
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German lawmakers recognize Islamic State crimes
against Yazidis as genocide
JANUARY 19, 2023
German lawmakers on Thursday recognized as genocide
crimes committed by Islamic State (IS) militants against minority Yazidis in
Iraq in 2014.
The jihadist group killed thousands of Yazidis,
enslaved 7,000 Yazidi women and girls and displaced most of the 550,000-strong
community from their ancestral home in northern Iraq.
The Yazidis are an ancient religious minority in
eastern Syria and northwest Iraq that Islamic State viewed as supposed devil
worshippers for their faith that combines Zoroastrian, Christian, Manichean,
Jewish and Muslim beliefs.
"Three years ago, I met Yazidi women in northern
Iraq: they were abducted, enslaved, raped. I cannot let go of their pain,"
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock tweeted.
"The Bundestag has decided to name the IS crimes
against the Yezidis for what they are: genocide," she added.
The parliamentary resolution is expected to facilitate
the further prosecution of IS perpetrators in Germany.
Islamic State's territorial gains
An offshoot of al Qaeda, Islamic State seized large
swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014 before being ousted by U.S.-backed counter-offensives,
losing its last territorial redoubt in 2019.
Thursday's move by lawmakers in the Bundestag (lower
house of parliament) came after a German court in 2021 jailed a former Islamic
State militant for life for involvement in genocide and crimes against humanity
against Yazidis in Iraq and Syria, including the murder of a five-year-old
girl.
"We know that no parliamentary resolution in this
world can undo their suffering," Baerbock added.
"But I am deeply convinced that this decision
makes a difference: a decisive step towards recognition of the suffering and
towards justice for the survivors."
Source: J Post
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-729034
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Islamic State attacks still claiming Iraqi lives five
years after defeat
By GUILLAUME DECAMME
19 January 2023
ALBU BALI, Iraq (AFP) — The attack came after sunset
in the quiet Iraqi village of Albu Bali when Islamic State group gunmen drove
into town and unleashed fire with automatic rifles.
“I heard the shots, I went out and I saw my nephew
lying on the ground,” recalled Ali Menwar about the deadly violence that
shattered the local calm on December 19.
The group of Sunni Muslim extremists “arrived at about
8:15 pm and started firing randomly,” said another local from the mainly Shiite
village, Abbas Mazhar Hussein, 34.
As Menwar rushed inside, bullets smashed into the wall
around him and two grazed his neck, which now bears angry red scars, before he
could slam the gate shut behind him.
Others were less lucky in the village of 5,000 people,
about 70 kilometers (40 miles) north of the capital Baghdad.
“My son, my grandson and my cousins fell as martyrs,”
said Menwar’s neighbor Jabbar Alwan, his eyes welling up with tears.
“It’s very painful,” said the elderly man, who lost
four relatives. “We didn’t expect this.”
When it was all over, eight people lay dead and
another six were wounded in Albu Bali.
None of the attackers have been caught.
Fear of reprisals
Iraq has come a long way since major fighting ended
over five years ago against IS, putting an end to its self-declared “caliphate”
which once stretched across swathes of Iraq and Syria.
After a grueling urban battle in the northern Iraqi
city of Mosul, forces backed by a US-led coalition declared victory over IS in
the country in late 2017.
But periodic attacks still claim lives among Iraq’s
war-weary citizens who have endured decades of conflict which flared especially
after a 2003 US-led invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.
An IS ambush last December 18 killed nine federal
policemen in Kirkuk, 100 kilometers north of Baghdad — but all too often it is
civilians who fall victim.
The residents of Albu Bali, like the majority of
Iraqis, are predominantly Shiites, a branch of Islam that the Sunni extremists
of IS consider apostates and label “rawafid” or “rejectors.”
Claiming the bloody attack on the Telegram messaging
service, IS did not refer to civilians but claimed it had targeted “rawafid
militiamen,” a term used to describe members of the Shiite-led former
paramilitary group Hashed al-Shaabi.
Sheikh Khalis Rashid, the local chief, said Iraq’s
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani had called him after the attack and
“begged me to prevent any” violent reprisal.
Such reprisals would likely have taken the form of
attacks on nearby Sunni-majority villages sometimes accused of providing a safe
haven to the jihadists, the local chief said.
‘Gangster operations’
According to a police colonel who asked not to be
named, “the terrorists hide in the countryside and continue to attack
sporadically.”
The municipality of Al-Khalis, where Albu Bali is
located, is used as a “transit” zone for jihadists, explained mayor Uday
al-Khadran.
The surrounding Diyala province and neighboring
Salaheddin are crossroads for jihadists to the northern autonomous Kurdistan
region, which according to Khadran “is not secure.”
A United Nations report last July estimated that “between
6,000 and 10,000” IS fighters remained across Iraq and Syria, “concentrated
mostly in rural areas.”
According to Khadran, the group “no longer conducts
military operations or seizes territory.”
Instead, he labeled IS attacks as “gangster
operations,” noting that while there were security forces in the village at the
time of the attack, there were not enough military forces.
Since the bloody attack on Albu Bali, nearly 200 army,
police and Hashed forces have been stationed there, and surveillance cameras
have been installed, said the police colonel.
Source: Times Of Israel
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Stampede outside stadium in Iraq’s Basra kills 2,
injures dozens
19 January ,2023
A stampede outside a stadium in southern Iraq killed
at least two people and injured dozens Thursday.
The deadly incident happened as spectators gathered to
attend the final match in the first international soccer tournament held in the
country in four decades.
The Iraqi News Agency said one person was killed and
60 people who were injured outside the Basra International Stadium some of whom
are in critical condition.
A doctor at Basra General Hospital told The Associated
Press that two people were killed and 38 were injured, some of whom have been
discharged from the hospital.
Iraq’s Interior Ministry in a statement urged people
who don’t have tickets for the final match to leave the stadium area. It said
that the stadium is full and all gates have been closed.
Iraq’s new Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani
urged people help authorities in order to “show the final match of 25th edition
of the Gulf Cup in its most beautiful form.”
INA later reported that giant screens were placed in
different public places in Basra so that people can watch the match.
The final match in the eight-nation Arabian Gulf Cup
is scheduled to be held later Thursday between Iraq and Oman.
The tournament faced several incidents, including
chaos inside the VIP section during which a Kuwaiti prince was not able to
attend the opening match earlier this month.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Pakistan
Gilgit-Baltistan Protestors Demand Unification With
India: Islam Khabar
19 January, 2023
Islamabad [Pakistan], January 19 (ANI): The unrest in
Gilgit-Baltistan has become a matter of concern for Pakistan as the protestors
have been demanding to get united with India, according to Islam Khabar.
Pakistan’s mainstream news media has ignored such
protests in Gilgit-Baltistan, it said.
All Pakistan provinces except Punjab have some time in
the past stated that they wanted to get separated from Pakistan. None have,
however, desired to go with India. Gilgit-Baltistan has now demanded to get
united with India, the news portal said.
According to the Islam Khabar report, it can be
detrimental to Pakistan’s narrative about the whole Kashmir dispute.
Though India has not responded to the developments
officially, it is likely to cite these protests against Pakistan when the
Kashmir dispute is discussed in global events, it said.
“India has maintained its claims on Pakistan-occupied
Kashmir as an integral part of India. Pakistan, on the other hand, wants the
independence of Jammu and Kashmir, which is under India’s control by blaming
India for human atrocities,” according to the Islam Khabar report.
The Indian government, social activists, and news
media regularly highlight the issues in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir including
the protests over military oppression, lack of basic rights, high inflation,
unemployment, and unsustainable resource exploitation among others, the report said.
The Islamabad government may not have realised that
such demands for unification may come up. Pakistan’s mainstream news media has
ignored such protests in Gilgit- Baltistan.
Source: The Print
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Shehbaz government ‘U-turn’ on Toshakhana policy
Jan 20, 2023
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government
told the Lahore high court Thursday that disclosing Toshakhana (state
depository) gifts could cause “unnecessary media hype” and “potentially damage
Pakistan’s interests in international relations”, months after accusing ex-PM
Imran Khan of concealing such gifts and complaining to the election commission
about it.
The reservations were expressed by the Shehbaz-led PML
(N) coalition government in a report submitted before a single-judge bench of
the HC as it heard a petition seeking to make the Toshakhana gift records
public. The petition was filed by a private citizen, Munir Ahmad, last month.
It contends that people have the right to such details about public
functionaries in a democratic society.
Fawad Chaudhry, leader of Imran’s
Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), expressed surprise at the court stance,
pointing out that “a Toshakhana watch was the top agenda of the (Shehbaz)
government until a few days ago and now it is finding an escape route due to
fears of being exposed”.
The Toshakhana -- a state repository that preserves
gifts received by public officeholders -- caught public attention after the
poll watchdog started proceedings against Imran for allegedly hiding details of
gifts he had received as PM.
In the HC Thursday, the government’s three-page
response states: “The Prime Minister’s Office (dated 26-11-2015), declared that
the information pertaining to Toshakhana gifts is classified as disclosure of
such information can cause unnecessary media hype, which could be potentially
damaging to the interests of Pakistan in the conduct of international
relations.”
According to the response, PM Shehbaz’s office
constituted an inter-ministerial committee to formulate a new Toshakhana policy
based on international best practices and principles of transparency. In doing
so, the PM’s office also wanted to maintain confidentiality of the information
“as per existing SOPs till the new policy was formulated”, the reply states.
Source: Times Of India
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NAB tweaks do not ‘abridge’ fundamentals of
Constitution, SC told
Nasir Iqbal
January 20, 2023
ISLAMABAD: The changes to the National Accountability
Ordinance (NAO) have not “abridged” the fundamentals of the Constitution or
eroded the “concept of public trust and accountability”, said Makhdoom Ali
Khan, counsel representing the federal government in a petition against NAB
amendments.
The counsel was arguing before a three-judge bench
headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial that had taken up challenges to the
Aug 2022 amendments to the NAB law by former prime minister Imran Khan.
Makhdoom Ali Khan emphasised that when the parliament
legislates a law to be applied with retrospective effect then it also reserves
the right to repeal the same law.
He added right from the Ehtesab (Amendment) Ordinance
of 1998 to NAO of 1999, all of these laws have been applied with retrospective
effect.
Citing a book authored by Islamic scholar Muhammad Hashim
Kamali called “Islamic Jurisprudence”, the counsel argued that a concept of
Islamic jurisprudence was emerging which described that what happens in
parliament through debates was a kind of ‘Ijma’ (consensus) and ‘Ijtihad’
(independent reasoning by an expert).
Justice Mansoor asks whether a law should be examined
on basis of ‘constitutionality’ or ‘morality’
He added the scholar also emphasised that one should
never read Islamic concepts narrowly when interpreting things, especially when
no specific command was available in Islam and the Holy Quran.
During the hearing, Justice Ijazul Ahsan wondered that
when the Islamic laws prescribe capital punishment, could Pakistan, being an
Islamic state, abolish the death penalty? The concept of accountability essentially
has its roots in Islamic jurisprudence, he added.
Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, however, observed that
what bothers him about the approach to judicial review was whether a judge
should examine the validity of the law in light of its constitutionality and on
the touchstone of the fundamental rights or on the basis of morality and
religion, especially if the judge hails from a different faith.
If tomorrow, parliament decides to abolish capital
punishment, will the changes to the law be retrospective, he wondered. If the
NAB was repealed completely, could someone challenge its annulment before the
courts, and could the court dub this act of parliament ‘unconstitutional’
citing the absence of accountability laws after its abolition?
The counsel argued that no constraint could be placed
on the powers of parliament to repeal a law completely. He added that the
removal of the death penalty through legislation would definitely apply with a
retrospective effect.
Referring to Islamic jurisprudence, the counsel argued
that the punishment of death was a custom of the time during the period of the
Holy Prophet (PBUH). While citing eminent Islamic scholar Khalid Masood, the
counsel emphasised that “capital punishment was a tribal customary law though
not displaced during the Islamic period”.
But at the same time, Islam also sanctioned the
concept of ‘Qisas’ and ‘Diyat’ so that a private settlement between the
aggressor and victim parties could be reached, he added. But no court in
Pakistan had ever struck down this concept by asking how one could “put a value
on the life of a person who had been murdered”.
The ‘Qisas’ and ‘Diyat’ law is a “progressive” piece
of legislation, the counsel contended, adding that there was no intention to
end the “doctrine of public trustee” through these amendments.
Source: Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1732587
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Swabi Marchers Vow To Stand United Against Terrorism
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Muqaddam Khan
January 20, 2023
SWABI: People from different walks of life thronged
the venue of a mammoth peace march here on Thursday and pledged to stand united
for fighting the fresh wave of terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The leaders of Awami National Party (ANP), Jamiat
Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), Jamaat-i-Islami (JI),
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), National
Democratic Movement (NDM) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) addressed
the peace march.
They alleged that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) ruled
the province for 10 years but it failed to counter the new wave of terrorism.
They said that PTI leaders were responsible for increasing incidents of terrorism
in the province.
The participants of the march chanted slogans of “we
want peace” and “terrorism is unacceptable”. Such peace marches were already
held in Swat, South Waziristan and Bajaur.
People poured in from different areas to reach Karnal
Sher Khan Chowk and participate in the march. They were holding white flags and
placards inscribed with different slogans. No political party was allowed to
display its flag at the march.
Speakers blame PTI for current law and order situation
in province
Swabi-Jehangira, Swabi-Mardan, Swabi-Topi and
Swabi-Maneri roads remained closed to traffic for more than five hours.
Political activists, social workers, traders and youth participated in the
march in a large number and said that peace should be maintained at all costs
as it was prerequisite for development and progress.
ANP provincial general secretary Sardar Hussain Babak,
PPP provincial vice-president Liaquat Shabab, PTM head Manzoor Pashteen, JUI-F
central vice-president Maulana Fazal Ali, JI’s Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, NDM
provincial president Bushra Gohar and PML-N district general secretary Babar
Saleem addressed the march.
They said that they were ready to play leading role in
the present testing times. They said that PTI ruled the province for 10 years but
its leaders were passing the buck to the federal government.
Manzoor said that Pakhtuns were targeted under a
well-planned strategy to keep them backward. He said that there was lawlessness
in the country as parliament had little authority. He added that Pakhtuns were
not terrorists and they would fight together for peace.
Sardar Babak said that they believed in non-violence
philosophy of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and inked peace agreements with militants
but they violated the accords and started increasing their influence through
brutal tactics.
He said that they remained steadfast against terrorism
and tendered sacrifices. He said that their leaders and workers were targeted
by terrorists.
Maulana Fazal Ali said that PTI during its rule failed
miserably on all fronts. “PTI has destroyed all the institutions. It is
responsible for economic instability and worsening law and order,” he added.
Senator Mushtaq said that it was the responsibility of
the government to ensure protection of life and property of the people. “We
call the killing of Pakhtuns state terrorism. He also flayed imprisonment of
MNA Ali Wazir.
Liaquat Shabab also criticised PTI for the present
situation in the province. He said that PTI failed to protect people from
terrorism. “The people (militants) against whom we are fighting today are
those, who kill our children in schools and target police and army. Benazir
Bhutto, Bashir Bailour and other people, who sacrificed their lives, were
fighting for peace,” he added.
Bushra Gohar said that the people of Waziristan taught
them to fight for peace. She said that Pakhtuns were united and ready to render
sacrifices for peace. “Our peace is linked with the policies of Rawalpindi and
Islamabad. We are not ready to allow anyone to spill our blood anymore,” she
added.
Source: Dawn
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of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1732515/swabi-marchers-vow-to-stand-united-against-terrorism
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Terrorist attack on police post leaves three dead in
Khyber
Ibrahim Shinwari | Ghulam Mursalin Marwat
January 20, 2023
KHYBER/LAKKI MARWAT: Three persons including two
policemen and a cook were killed when terrorists attacked a checkpost in Jamrud
tehsil of Khyber tribal district on Thursday evening.
Khyber DPO Mohammad Imran told journalists that
terrorists conducted a three-pronged coordinated attack at Takhtabeg checkpost
on the main Peshawar-Torkham Highway at around 7:30pm.
He said that the attackers, including a suicide
bomber, initially hurled hand grenades at the police post alongside resorting
to indiscriminate firing which resulted in the killing of a policeman on the
spot while critically injuring two others including a cook.
“One of the injured policeman succumbed to his
injuries while being shifted to hospital while the cook died at Hayatabad
Medical Complex in Peshawar later,” said the DPO. The two martyred policemen
included Younas Khan and Manzoor Shah while the cook was identified as Rafiq,
all hailing from Jamrud.
He said that police courageously intercepted the
suicide bomber at the entry point of the checkpost as he was trying to enter
and blew himself inside the checkpost.
He was killed when his explosive-laden jacket was
blown up with police firing.
“No policemen was either killed or injured in the
suicide explosion,” said the DPO. He added that police collected body parts of
the suicide bomber for forensic investigation.
He said that a part of the checkpost was also damaged
due to explosion of suicide jacket and grenade attack. He said that an
extensive search operation was immediately launched in the surrounding
localities jointly by police and counter-terrorism department personnel to
trace and arrest the attackers, who managed to escape.
Nobody claimed responsibility of the attack till
filing of the report while police officials said that they recently received
threats from militant groups and were on high alert.
Sources told Dawn that the attack was carried out at a
time when there was rush on the main road. They said that traffic was
immediately suspended while the motorists and passersby ran for cover in the
surrounding localities. No civilian was, however, affected in the attack.
In Lakki Marwat, a search operation was launched after
a clash between police and terrorists in a forest along the Kurrum River in
Ihsanpur area on Thursday.
Officials said that the clash took place when a large
police contingent raided the hideout of terrorists in the dense forest locally
called Darga.
“Terrorists fired at police with automatic weapons.
They also used rocket launchers and other heavy weapons,” they said. They added
that the forest spreading over a vast area along the river was used by the
terrorists as safe haven.
Ihsanpur area is located on plain and saline lands
between Gambila and Kurrum rivers. A bridge over the Gambila River links the
area with Lakki Marwat city.
The trans-Kurrum river locality known as Kurrum Par
area borders Karak and Mianwali districts where several terrorist attacks on
police force had taken place in the recent months. Six policemen had embraced
martyrdom when terrorists attacked them in the Kurrm Par area two months ago.
Officials said that policemen were dispatched to the
area on credible information about the presence of terrorists in in the forest.
They said that a police van was damaged in the attack by terrorists. “Policemen
equipped with modern and heavy weapons also took positions and returned the
fire bravely,” they added.
They said that the policemen engaged the terrorists
until an additional contingent reached there to assist them. They said that
security forces and commandos of Quick Response Force (QRF) also reached
Ihsanpur area and took part in the operation against terrorists.
Source: Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1732524/terrorist-attack-on-police-post-leaves-three-dead-in-khyber
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Ali Zaidi, around 200 party men booked on terror,
rioting charges
Imtiaz Ali
January 20, 2023
KARACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Ali Zaidi
along with 150-200 party workers and supporters was booked on the charges of
terrorism, rioting, attempt to murder, stealing laptops, criminal intimidation
etc at the SITE-A police station on Thursday.
The complainant, Kashif Mobin, the district manager of
Peoples Service Centre functioning at the Keamari deputy commissioner’s office,
stated in the FIR that the suspects carried out an “armed attack” on the
Keamari DC/DRO office while the process of recounting of votes and
consolidation of results of the [Jan 15] LG polls was under way.
He said he was present at his office for public
dealing when at around 5pm the PTI workers led by Ali Zaidi, Bilal Ghaffar,
Attaullah, Saeed Afridi, Shabbir Qureshi, Haider Khalil, Hazrat Khalil, Ismail
Khalil, Burhan, Tariq Khan, Meraj, Koman Khan, Qadir Pathan, Idris Afridi,
Fayaz Yusufzai, Chaudhry Zubair, Qaiser Awan and Dawa Khan carried out the
attack.
According to the FIR, the suspects started beating up
the people present there and also opened fire with the intention of murder.
Ghafoor Khan, Hayat Panchhi and Lal Khan were wounded, he added.
The PTI workers pelted the offices with heavy stones
and while forcibly entering the offices, they damaged furniture, doors, windows
and other goods. They also took away laptops and other stuff from the DC
office. They escaped after ransacking the DC office, claimed the complainant.
The FIR has been registered under sections 147
(punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every
member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of
common object), 324 (attempt to commit qatl-i-amd), 506-B (punishment for
criminal intimidation), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty
rupees), 380 (theft in dwelling house, etc), 186 (obstructing public servant in
discharge of public functions) and 7-ATA (anti-terrorism act of 1997). SITE-A
SHO Zulfiqar Ali Bajwa told Dawn that so far, no one had been arrested.
FIR against JI workers
Separately, a female returning officer (RO) on
Thursday got an FIR registered against Jamaat-i-Islami workers and supporters
for allegedly attacking her car and injuring the driver at the Federal Urdu
University on Wednesday.
The RO, Shahana Rizwan, was posted at Safoora TMC,
Federal Urdu University, Block-9, Gulshan-i-Iqbal. She claimed that during the
recounting of votes, representatives of PPP, JI and PTI were present at the
camp office. A large number of JI activists chanting slogans tried to enter the
camp office by constantly hitting the gate with sticks which caused a delay in
the recounting process, which could be completed at about 9pm. When the PPP
candidate was declared winner, the JI workers got enraged as they wanted result
of their own wishes, according to contents of FIR.
The complainant said that when she came out from the
camp office at 9:40pm, around 300-400 workers of the JI armed with sticks and
stones attacked her. However, SHO Aziz Bhatti and other law enforcers helped
her to reach her car. The JI workers attacked her car with sticks and stones,
resultantly her vehicle sustained substantive damages and her driver was also
injured.
SHO Aziz Bhatti and other law enforcers helped her to
go outside.
The complainant has nominated 14 workers of the JI
namely Ateeq, Faizan, Afzal Dalmia, Jehangir, Tariq, Kashif, Junaid, Huzaifa,
Bilal, Kamran, Qutub, Noman, Salman and Manan and other unknown.
The complainant RO said the JI workers attacked her
with sticks and ballot boxes with intention to kill her, injured her driver,
damaged her car, created hindrances in performance of her official duty, blocked
road while resorting to stones and threatened her of dire consequences,
therefore, she wanted legal proceedings against the nominated suspects and
others.
Source: Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1732569/ali-zaidi-around-200-party-men-booked-on-terror-rioting-charges
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Two policemen martyred in suicide attack on Jamrud
checkpost
January 20, 2023
PESHAWAR: At least two police officials were martyred
and three others injured when armed militants, including a suspected suicide
bomber, attacked a security check post in Jamrud area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s
Khyber district, police officials said on Thursday.
According to District Police Officer (DPO) Imran Khan,
the terrorist activity took place at the Takhta Baig checkpost in the
district’s Jamrud area during which the attackers also used hand grenades and
also opened gunfire.
He said that a large contingent of police reached the
area as soon as information about the incident was received. Imran said that
the police killed the attackers and cordoned off the area.
He further said that there were conflicting reports
about the attack as the operation against the terrorists was ongoing, adding
that further details would be shared with the media soon.
Source: Pakistan Today
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Pakistan urges Iran to investigate attack that killed
four soldiers
January 19, 2023
ISLAMABAD: Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokesperson of the
Foreign Office, called on Iran to investigate a recent attack in the Panjgur
district of Balochistan that killed four Pakistan Army soldiers and bring the
perpetrators to justice.
In a weekly news briefing in Islamabad, Baloch said
the terrorists had used the neighbouring nation’s soil to target a convoy of
security forces patrolling in the remote district along the border, and
emphasised that Pakistan will not allow its territory to be used for
cross-border attacks in Iran.
No group immediately claimed responsibility, and the
Iranian embassy in Islamabad tweeted that Tehran “strongly condemns (the)
terrorist attack.” “Terrorism is the common pain of Iran and Pakistan. Both
sides are victims of the ominous phenomenon,” the embassy added.
The spokesperson also noted that communication
channels with Iran are active and that Pakistan has shared its concerns
regarding the attack with Tehran.
Following the attack, the prime minister had also
called on Iran not to allow its territory to be used for “cross-border
attacks.”
“I strongly condemn the killing of our four security
officials in a terrorist incident along the Pakistan-Iran border in Balochistan,”
Shehbaz Sharif said in a tweet. “Nation pays homage to the sacrifices of their
martyred soldiers in line of duty. We expect Iran will ensure that its soil is
not used for cross-border attacks.”
Source: Pakistan Today
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Europe
North London man charged with ‘Islamist terrorism’
offences in Met Police operation
By Lydia Chantler-Hicks
A man from north London been charged with six terror
offences following an investigation relating to Islamist terrorism, the
Metropolitan Police said.
Abdiwahid Abdulkadir Mohamed, 31, was arrested and
charged on Wednesday with six counts of “possessing documents likely to be
useful for committing or preparing an act of terrorism”, after an investigation
by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.
A Scotland Yard statement said on Thursday: “He is in
custody, and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
“Mohamed was arrested on Wednesday, January 18 as part
of a proactive operation by counter terrorism officers.
Source: Standard
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NZ boxer Sonny Bill Williams performs Umrah, shares
pics
Sakina Fatima
19th January 2023
Professional heavyweight boxer and former Rugby player
from New Zealand, Sonny Bill Williams is the second famous Muslim convert to
mark the religious trip to Makkah and Madinah this year after South Korean pop
singer, YouTuber, Daud Kim.
Sonny performed his first Umrah of 2023 and shared
several glimpses of pilgrimage on his Instagram handle.
Sharing several photos of himself in an ihram, the
garments worn to perform Umrah by men from Makkah Sonny Bill Williams wrote,
“Umrah 2023 ✅ To anyone that myself or my family have upset or may have wronged
please forgive us 🤲🏽 love and blessings my friends ❤️🕋.”
In another post, Sonny also shared photos from Madinah
and wrote, “A surreal feeling being at a Janazah in Madinah. Always puts this
life into perspective. Forever grateful for each day. 🤲🏽❤️
Alhamdullilah.”
Umrah is a pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia. It
can be undertaken at any time of the year, while Haj is an annual pilgrimage
performed around Eid-Al-Adha.
More about Sonny Bill Williams
37-year-old Sonny Bill Williams, who is of Samoan and
European descent, converted to Islam in 2009 after meeting a Tunisian Muslim
family who lives with their five children in a small apartment in Toulon
(southern France).
According to him, he was the guy who used to chase
girls, drink wine, and indulge in luxury, which made him feel empty and empty
in his heart. He said my message is about unity, love and peace – that’s what
Islam is. His life conversion greatly affected many other people but mainly his
mother and his teammate, leading them to convert to Islam.
He was a Christian before converting to Islam.
Sonny, who has now turned his attention to boxing, is
never shy about his faith — his social media is full of Islamic threads and
topics.
Sonny met his wife Alana for the first timd at a shop
where she worked at in 2013. After a few chaperoned meetings, they had their
nikah (wedding).
In August 2022, Sonny shared his delight with fans
about his wife Alana’s decision to wear the headscarf.
“My wife’s a hijabi! Alhamdullilah my wife decided to
put the head scarf on. One of the proudest moments of my life,” he wrote on
Twitter.
Source: Siasat Daily
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of the original story:
https://www.siasat.com/nz-boxer-sonny-bill-williams-performs-umrah-shares-pics-2506194/
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Germany recognises IS crimes against Yazidis as
genocide
January 19, 2023
BERLIN: German lawmakers today recognised as genocide
crimes committed by Islamic State (IS) militants against minority Yazidis in
Iraq in 2014.
The jihadist group killed thousands of Yazidis,
enslaved 7,000 Yazidi women and girls and displaced most of the 550,000-strong
community from their ancestral home in northern Iraq.
The Yazidis are an ancient religious minority in
eastern Syria and northwest Iraq that IS viewed as supposed devil worshippers
for their faith that combines Zoroastrian, Christian, Manichean, Jewish and
Muslim beliefs.
“Three years ago, I met Yazidi women in northern Iraq:
they were abducted, enslaved, raped. I cannot let go of their pain,” foreign
minister Annalena Baerbock tweeted.
“The Bundestag has decided to name the IS crimes
against the Yezidis for what they are: genocide,” she added.
The parliamentary resolution is expected to facilitate
the further prosecution of IS perpetrators in Germany.
An offshoot of Al-Qaeda, IS seized large swathes of
Iraq and Syria in 2014 before being ousted by US-backed counteroffensives,
losing its last territorial redoubt in 2019.
Today’s move by lawmakers in the Bundestag (lower
house of parliament) came after a German court in 2021 jailed a former IS
militant for life for involvement in genocide and crimes against humanity
against Yazidis in Iraq and Syria, including the murder of a five-year-old
girl.
“We know that no parliamentary resolution in this
world can undo their suffering,” Baerbock added.
“But I am deeply convinced that this decision makes a
difference: a decisive step towards recognition of the suffering and towards
justice for the survivors.”
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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EU assembly wants Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on terror
list
January 19, 2023
BRUSSELS: The European Parliament on Thursday called
for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to be put on the European Union’s terrorist list
and insisted that sanctions targeting Tehran had to be expanded after the
violent suppression of protests.
In a nonbinding resolution, the legislature mustered a
large majority to call on the EU’s 27 member states for such punitive action to
counter what it sees as a swift backsliding of human rights in Iran.
Beyond the call to put the organization on its
terrorist blacklist, the European Parliament also wants the EU to ban any
economic or financial activity that can linked to the Revolutionary Guard
Corps. The United States has already designated the corps as a “foreign
terrorist organization,” and subjected it to unprecedented sanctions.
Iran warned on Thursday that the European Union would
“shoot itself in the foot” if it designated the Revolutionary Guard Corps as a
terrorist entity.
“We have repeatedly said the Revolutionary Guards are
a formal and sovereign organization whose role is central for guaranteeing
Iran’s security,” Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said during a
phone call to the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell.
“Steps taken by the European Parliament to list the
organization as terrorist are in a way a shot in the foot of Europe itself.”
The European Parliament action came before Monday’s
meeting of EU foreign ministers where more sanctions against Tehran are
expected to be approved.
Thursday’s resolution came after four months of
anti-government protests in Iran sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a
22-year-old woman who was being held by the morality police for allegedly
violating the country’s strict Islamic dress code.
The protests quickly escalated into calls for the
overthrow of the theocracy and mark one of the biggest challenges it has faced
in more than four decades.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2235361/middle-east
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Türkiye takes helm of NATO’s Response Force Maritime
Component for 1 year
Durmuş Genç, Sabri Kesen
20.01.2023
Türkiye has taken over the helm of NATO's Response
Force Maritime Component from the UK for one year.
The command of the NATO component will be performed by
the Turkish Maritime Force (TURMARFOR) until Jan. 31, 2024.
Rear Admiral Huseyin Tigli, head of TURMARFOR and the
Turkish Surface Action Forces, said NATO has five headquarters with this
capability and TURMARFOR’s headquarters is one of these five.
Tigli said it has a large headquarters that can plan
and coordinate such a comprehensive operation and coordinate the command.
"Giving such a capable headquarters structure to
NATO's service shows the importance Türkiye attaches to NATO,” he added.
Cuneyt Talayman, a Turkish Navy official and the
secretary general of TURMARFOR, said NATO high readiness naval component
commands were created to command its operations in case of crisis and war.
Noting that the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Türkiye
already have these kinds of headquarters, Talayman said Germany is on its way
to achieving it.
Possible missions were determined as collective defense,
contributing to the protection of territorial integrity, peace support
operations, embargo operations, the protection of critical infrastructure and
security and pioneer force operations, he added.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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European Parliament calls for listing Iran’s Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps as terrorist entity
20.01.2023
BERLIN
The European Parliament urged the European Union on
Thursday to place Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on its
terrorist list, according to the website of the Strasbourg-based legislative
body.
In a nonbinding resolution, EU parliamentarians
managed to get a large majority to urge the EU’s 27 member states to take such
a punitive move.
The resolution said the Iranian regime’s blatant
disregard for human dignity and the democratic aspirations of its own citizens
as well as its support to Russia “necessitate further adjustments in the EU’s
position towards Iran.”
“All those responsible for human rights violations
should face EU sanctions, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps should be
on the EU terrorist list,” the members of the European Parliament (MEPs) urged.
They also called on the EU and its member states to
add the IRGC’s subsidiary forces, including the paramilitary Basij militia and
the Quds Force, to the EU terrorist list.
Any country in which the IRGC deploys military,
economic or informational operations should sever and outlaw ties with this
organization, the resolution said.
The MEPs also urged the EU to expand its sanctions
list to cover all individuals and entities responsible for human rights
violations and their family members, including Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei, President Ebrahim Raisi, Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar
Montazeri and all foundations linked to the IRCG.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament condemned "in
the strongest terms the death sentences against and executions of peaceful
protesters in Iran and called on the Iranian authorities to end the crackdown
on their own citizens."
The MEPs urged the authorities of the Iranian regime
"to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of all protesters
sentenced to death.”
They also “condemn the fact that criminal proceedings
and the death penalty have been weaponized by the regime to stamp out dissent
and to punish people for exercising their basic rights."
"Those responsible for the killing of hundreds of
protesters must be brought to justice," they added.
The resolution also called for “the expansion of
restrictive measures” against Iran as it continues to provide unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAVs) and plans to provide surface-to-surface missiles to Russia.
Finally, the MEPs expressed “deep concern over the
structural transnational repression carried out by the authorities of the
Islamic Republic, which includes espionage and assassinations, against the
Iranian diaspora living in the EU.”
They called on the EU and the member states “to
protect those affected more robustly against such repression.”
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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Turkish military chief attends NATO meeting in
Brussels
Diyar Guldogan
19.01.2023
Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Guler on
Thursday attended NATO’s highest meeting of military officers in Brussels.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Guler held separate
bilateral meetings with Gen. Christopher Cavoli, supreme allied commander
Europe (SACEUR), UK Chief of Defence Staff Adm. Tony Radakin, and French
military Chief of Staff Thierry Burkhard, the Turkish Armed Forces said on
Twitter.
Starting on Wednesday, the two-day meeting of the NATO
Military Committee in Chiefs of Defense Session (MCCS) gathered the allied
military chiefs to discuss issues of strategic importance to the alliance,
including Ukraine, NATO's military capacity, and the Kosovo Force (KFOR).
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/turkish-military-chief-attends-nato-meeting-in-brussels/2792069
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South Asia
The Plight of Afghan Journalists Under the Taliban
Regime
By Nizamuddin Rezahi
January 20, 2023
It is extremely difficult to report under the
Taliban-run administration, with strict regulations restricting journalistic
activities and media freedom, according to Afghan journalists.
It is hard to continue doing journalistic activities
under Afghanistan’s de facto regime, because the Taliban do not allow
journalists to cover security issues, such as explosion and suicide attacks,
says local reporters.
Media workers can report what the de facto authorities
want to be covered, and have to receive government approval before publishing
reports.
Following the return of the Taliban to power in August
2021, they promised that media would be free and independent to operate across
the country, however, a month later, a new set of rules were imposed that
strictly monitor and censor the journalist and medial. The short-lived media
freedom was gone after the initial weeks of the Taliban-rule government.
More than 200 violation cases have been recorded
against journalists in Afghanistan in 2022, which include arbitrary arrest,
ill-treatment, harassment, threats, and intimidation according to the United
Nations.
Media freedom in Afghanistan has gone from bad to
worse and journalists are suffering from low morale under the ruling regime.
Many reporters have been arrested, persecuted and threatened with death for
reporting sensitive issues which are not to the likes of Taliban authorities
across the country.
Taliban’s return had a devastating effect on the media
which are struggling to survive. A considerable number of radio and TV stations
as well as news agencies have closed their doors, with some estimates
indicating that more than 6,000 journalists have lost their jobs.
Worst of all, female Afghan journalists suffer from
double pressure for being a journalist and a woman. The latest restrictions
imposed by the Taliban administration restricting women from attending
university, working with government or non-governmental aid organizations, and
appearing in public places have turned the situation extremely for female
journalists.
Source: Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/the-plight-of-afghan-journalists-under-the-taliban-regime/
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Pakistan Taliban Kill 3 Police Officers in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa
By Nizamuddin Rezahi
January 20, 2023
Local authorities have reported that militants
attacked a police outpost using in northeastern Pakistan, killing three
security personnel on Thursday evening.
The terror attack took place in the Khyber district of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan late yesterday evening.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, claimed
the responsibility for the deadly attack, resulting in the death of three
security force members.
Imran Khan, the district police chief told reporters
that at least four heavily armed attackers, including a suicide bomber, stormed
the premises in what he said was a “coordinated attack” and inflicted
casualties.
khan said, “they opened fire and lobbed hand grenades
at police officers before a suicide bomber blew himself up. The other
perpetrators managed to escape the area afterward.
Terror incidents have rapidly increased throughout
Pakistan over the past months, ending in the death of hundreds of security
officials and civilians. The outlawed Taliban Pakistan has been mostly behind
such brutal attacks.
TTP, the ideological twin of the Afghan Taliban has
been waging deadly attacks in the country for more than 15 years to enforce
what they call the “Islamic system” in Pakistan.
The TTP called off their unilateral months-long
ceasefire with the government in November and intensified their attacks on
military personnel, police officers, ISI officials, and local citizens.
Thousands of people have lost their lives in the brutal attacks executed by the
militant group.
The Afghan Taliban hosted the talks between the TTP
and Pakistan government which did not last very long. Meanwhile, the Pakistani
government accuses the de facto authorities of Afghanistan of providing
sanctuaries to Pakistani Taliban in border areas between the two countries, and
not fulfilling the promises of the Doha agreement signed between the Taliban
and the United States.
Source: Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/pakistan-taliban-kill-3-police-officers-in-khyber-pakhtunkhwa/
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Foreign Minister Muttaqi Meets AKDN Representative for
Afghanistan
By Nizamuddin Rezahi
January 19, 2023
Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister, Amir Khan
Muttaqi met with Akbar Ali Pasnani Special Representative of the Aga Khan
Development Network (AKDN) to Afghanistan on Thursday.
The two sides discussed stocks of topics during the meeting.
The special representative of the AKDN expressed his deep condolences over the
brutal terror attack which took place near the entrance of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, resulting in the death of scores of servicemen
and innocent civilians.
Pasani thanked the Islamic Emirate authorities for
insuring security for non-governmental aid organizations, providing much-needed
life-saving support to vulnerable families across the country during these
difficult times.
Muttaqi asked the international aid organizations to
enhance their coordination and interactions with the Afghan government across
areas in the future as well.
AKDN has been functioning in most parts of Afghanistan
with a wide range of services aimed at improving the living conditions of
people in the rural and urban parts of the country.
AKDN began working in Afghanistan in 1996,
distributing food aid during the civil war. Since 2002, the aid organization
along with its partners has committed over $1 billion in development assistance
to the country.
AKDN’s development work now spans the humanitarian,
economic, social, and cultural fields. The economic projects cover over 240
cities and towns in the country’s 34 provinces. The organization’s social
development and humanitarian works are focused on 61 districts in seven
provinces, impacting over three million people. Its cultural programs, which
operate in Kabul, Herat, Balkh and Badakhshan, have restored over 90 historic
buildings.
AKDN works to strengthen Afghan institutions and the
public sector, engaging communities and local leadership. In the private
sector, it supports the Chamber of Commerce, business associations and
entrepreneurs. Local civil society organizations are also strengthened as
critical partners, for example, extending community savings programs to further
districts.
Source: Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/foreign-minister-muttaqi-meets-akdn-representative-for-afghanistan/
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Second phase of Biswa Ijtema begins
Jan 20,2023
The second phase of Bishwa Ijtema, one of the largest
Muslim congregations of the world, began on early Friday on the bank of the
river Turag in Tongi, on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka.
This phase of 56th edition of the Biswa Ijtema began
with the ‘a’m bayan’ (general sermons) after Fazr prayers with the
participation of a large number of devotees.
The second phase, attended by followers of Muhammad
Saad Al Kandhalvi, would end on January 22 with akheri munajat. The first phase
took place at the same venue from January 13-15, which Tablig group Zubair
Hassan’s followers attended.
However, Maulana Saad is not attending this year’s
Ijtema. The sermons were delivered by Pakistani Islamic scholar Maulana
Mohammad Osman which were translated into Bangla by Maulana Zia bin Qasim.
Thousands of devotees from home and abroad thronged
the banks of the Turag River to listen to scholars reciting and explaining
verses from the Quran and to renew their commitment to Islamic values.
Gazipur Metropolitan Police commissioner Molla Nazrul
Islam said that the authorities took strict measures to maintain law and order
during the second phase of Ijtema.
‘All the security measures we took for the first phase
will also be available during the second phase. Members of special units, such
as dog squads, bomb disposal units, helicopter patrol, and observation teams,
will be on duty,’ Nazrul mentioned.
Saad would not be attending the Ijtema but his three
sons, Yousuf, Sayeed and Ilias and son-in-law Hasan reached the venue on
Thursday afternoon, said organising committee member Wasiful Islam.
‘For allegations of disorder and a lack of a permit,
Saad could not attend Ijtema since 2019. However, his three sons will deliver a
speech in the second phase this year,’ he said.
The authorities will restrict vehicular movements
around the venue ahead of akheri munajat on Sunday.
To facilitate the attendees, the metro rail will run
non-stop from Uttara North station to Agargaon station from 8:00am to 5:00pm on
January 22 to ensure a smooth journey for passengers, Bangladesh Sangbad
Sangstha reported.
The Tabligh Jamaat authorities split the Ijtema into
two phases in 2011, dividing the participation of the 64 districts to reduce
the pressure on the venue and to ensure better management and security.
But, due to a conflict between the followers of two
factions over the nomination of the chief of the World Tabligh Jamaat in
December 2018, the Ijtema has been held in two phases based on the following of
the faction leaders.
Source: New Age BD
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.newagebd.net/article/192160/second-phase-of-biswa-ijtema-begins
--------
Southeast Asia
Stronger relationships between Indonesia, Malaysia and
Turkey can promote world peace
January 20, 2023
JAKARTA – The recent visit of Malaysia’s Prime
Minister Anwar Ibrahim to Indonesia to meet with his counterpart President Joko
“Jokowi” Widodo of Indonesia was both important and strategic in three ways.
They affirmed the obvious, that Indonesia and Malaysia do have a “special
relationship”.
But more importantly they opened the way for other
countries who are already a part of the ASEAN process, such as Turkey, all of
whom can jointly pioneer new ways of finding solutions to global peace, notably
the most-important current global peace issue, the conflict between Russia and
Ukraine, which has triggered Japan to double its defense spending between
2022-2027 for the first time since the end of World War II in 1945.
Should this dyad continue to become even more toxic
than it already is, the whole Asia-Pacific would be on the most extreme alert.
No amount of goodwill between Indonesia and Malaysia alone can show the way
forward. Why? China, India, Russia, North Korea and the United States are all
nuclear-weapons states with conflicting claims on what should be their roles in
the world’s most-populous continent.
If anything, with each passing day, the animosity
between Russia and Ukraine, not excluding Belarus, of which President Alexander
Lukashenko is the leader and is on the side of President Vladimir Putin, has
become extremely acute and lethal. This is precisely because Russia is a
nuclear weapon state that has threatened on numerous occasions to use various
munitions loaded with fissile materials.
When Malaysia and Indonesia are closer in their
“special relationship”, as both nations speak almost the same language, it is a
lesson for the pan-Slavic nations of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus that also
understand each other linguistically up to 62
percent to stop the dehumanizing violence immediately.
The reach of Malaysia and Indonesia alone is not
enough to cause the aggrieved parties to cease and desist from these mindless
aggressions. Turkey, more specifically, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has to
work with PM Anwar and President Jokowi to show Europe how one exits from a
destructive conflict that can literally end human civilization if nuclear
weapons are used.
Thus, granted that Indonesia and Malaysia do have a
good relationship with Turkey, of which the latter is a sectoral partner of
ASEAN, more rather than less can be done to foster world peace. It is with this
hope that all should embrace the arrival of 2023 not with “fear” lest the
psychosis become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Now, back to why the visit of
Anwar to meet Jokowi is of critical importance.
First, not only is this the inaugural visit of Anwar
to Indonesia as the 10th prime minister of Malaysia, it needs to be said that
this is the last time all the key meetings involving ASEAN and the East Asian
Summit will be held in Jakarta, before they are next organized in Nusantara,
the new administrative capital of Indonesia in East Kalimantan, in 2033.
Whether there is a next decade or not depends on how
Malaysia, Indonesia and Turkey, the Muslim country closest to the conflict, can
handle this conflict deftly in the service of humanity.
Second, the “veranda diplomacy” of Anwar and Jokowi at
the Bogor Presidential Palace was a prelude and sign for Malaysia to send an
ambassador as soon as possible. This is a good sign. The fact that Anwar has
always considered Indonesia the most “loyal friend”, as is Erdogan, speaks
highly of the respect that all these leaders deserve.
As a pan Asia-Pacific power, Indonesia is trying its
level best to prevent the United States and China from coming to blows, both
militarily and metaphorically. As a pivotal power, Turkey is trying to restrain
Russia from any further self-aggrandizing actions. The fact that Turkey is not
succeeding does not mean that Malaysia and Indonesia cannot enhance the peace
process.
Third, the relationship between Indonesia and Malaysia
has never been about any balance of power. Russia does outsize Ukraine several
times over. Yet, this is the same situation as in Indonesia and Malaysia. If
Indonesia has never made Malaysia feel any threat since the end of 1965 to this
very day, it boggles the mind why Russia should be so insecure.
NATO is a collective defense organization. Article 5
of NATO says when one member state is attacked every member state must respond.
Yet, NATO’s reaction to the sea change in global security since the seeming end
of the Cold War in 1989 that has now proven to be false remains extremely
restrained. This was the case albeit Russia’s claim of NATO’s unrestrained
eastward expansion.
Yet, it was only after the Russian invasion of Ukraine
on Feb. 24, 2022, that all 30 members of NATO all united in agreement they must
increase their defense spending collectively.
Therefore, just because Ukraine was guided, perhaps
misguided, into believing that it would be safer to become a member of NATO in
the future does not warrant a frontal and almost immediate attack from Russia
and Belarus, not forgetting the annexation of almost 20 percent of Ukraine in
its eastern border with Russia, of which Ukrainian forces have clawed back some
8 percent. This does not preclude the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014.
To be sure, Indonesia and Malaysia have had maritime
conflict for ages too. Neither side has chosen armed actions. If anything, the
two have always seen it proper to form a regional concert of diplomacy, be it
through ASEAN, ASEAN Regional Forum, ASEAN Defense Plus Meeting, or just as
importantly, the East Asian Summit, indeed, to foster what is known as “open
regionalism” in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
As for Indonesia, it was extremely wise of the
government of President Jokowi to receive PM Anwar well. Sabah and Sarawak are
now designated as “regions” not “states” of the Federation of Malaysia
effective from January 2023.
With the onset of the new Unity Government, the
Malaysia Agreement of 1963 is being redeemed and respected by the Anwar
administration, which is why for the first time in the history of Malaysia,
there is a deputy prime minister from Sarawak, namely Datuk Fadhilah Yusuf.
As the Lunar New Year and Ramadan are fast
approaching, in the third week of January and March 2023 respectively, more
acts of “forgiveness in international relations” are needed to crystalize them
into an arch of open embrace. The whole Asia-Pacific should be adopting such an
ethos and ethic as the highest level of statecraft.
Source: Asia News
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Indonesia to provide funding assistance to Islamic
schools soon
January 20, 2023
The Religious Affairs Ministry will soon disburse the
2023 School Operational Assistance (BOS) to private Islamic schools (madrasas),
with the total allocation pegged at Rp4 trillion.
“Some time ago, I had approved the disbursement (of
the assistance),” director general of Islamic education at the ministry, M. Ali
Ramdhani, informed here on Wednesday.
According to the procedures, the funds were to be
disbursed by the Directorate General of Treasury of the Finance Ministry to the
Directorate General of Islamic Education at the Religious Affairs Ministry’s
BOS channeling bank account (RPL) on Wednesday, he said.
The ongoing disbursement is the first phase of
madrasas’ BOS distribution, he added. The funds will be provided to 49,074
private madrasas.
Director of madrasa curriculum, facilities,
institutions, and student affairs (KSKK) at the Religious Affairs Ministry, M.
Isom Yusqi, informed that Rp1.7 trillion of the Rp4 trillion assistance will be
handed to 24,034 private Islamic elementary schools (MIs).
Meanwhile, Rp1.4 trillion will be disbursed to 16,667
private Islamic junior high schools (MTs) and Rp801 billion to 8,373 private
Islamic senior high schools (MA).
Starting from 2023, the Gradual BOS policy for
madrasas will be implemented, he added.
The Gradual BOS will provide financial assistance of
varying amounts based on the operational expense of each madrasa.
“With the Gradual BOS policy, it is hoped that
madrasas can better meet their operational needs and improve the quality of
education in the schools. Utilize the budget according to their designation and
in an accountable manner,” Yusqi noted.
He said that the Religious Affairs Ministry has
prepared the EDM ERKAM V.2 application, which can be used in the transfer
process of the BOS.
“This year (in 2023), no new account will be created.
Source: Pak Observer
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of the original story:
https://pakobserver.net/indonesia-to-provide-funding-assistance-to-islamic-schools-soon/
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PM Anwar launches new slogan for Malaysia, promises to
be clean, help everyone
JAN 19, 2023
PUTRAJAYA - Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday
launched a new slogan for his administration – called Malaysia Madani – which
he said aims to bring the country forward.
The slogan followed those introduced by previous prime
ministers, including Keluarga Malaysia (Malaysian Family) by Datuk Seri Ismail
Sabri, 1Malaysia by Najib Razak, and Islam Hadhari (Civilisational Islam) by
Tun Abdullah Badawi.
Datuk Seri Anwar said in a speech that the concept’s
main core are accountability and transparency, and he promised to help every
Malaysian regardless of ethnicity.
Behind him on the stage in Putrajaya where he spoke
were the words “Membangun Malaysia MADANI” (Developing Malaysia MADANI). The
word “madani” in Arabic carries the general meaning of civilised or modern.
The premier said that the word Madani is the Malay
acronym for Sustainability, Care & Compassion, Respect, Innovation,
Prosperity and Trust, The Star daily reported.
Mr Anwar, who assumed the premiership two months ago,
said he wants to reset the country’s attitude towards race and religion, a
mainstay of Malaysian politics.
“Our country’s pillar is still the Malay majority and
with an emphasis on the principles of Islam, the Malay language, and Malay
rights, but we are a multiracial country.
“We do not want this country to be developed in a way
where certain groups of the people, whether it is a minority race or the poor
or those in rural areas or in Sabah or Sarawak, are still left behind,” he
said, as quoted by Malaysiakini news site.
The country’s long-standing Bumiputera policy, which
aims to uplift the Malay majority and other indigenous races, is widely seen
today as hobbling Malaysia’s development and causing the migration of talent.
PM Anwar leads a multiracial coalition and is aware
that he must corral higher Malay-Muslim support, including from the
Malay-majority civil service, to strengthen his leadership.
“We want to ensure that while the economy will grow robustly,
the people will not be forsaken and that the government is accountable in its
service to the country,” said Mr Anwar, who became prime minister after
November’s general election.
He added that for the 33-million-strong country to
grow and move forward, past weaknesses must not be repeated. “If we can rectify
mistakes, we can save the country and bring her back to her former glory,” he
said at the launching at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre. The
event was attended by Cabinet ministers and senior civil servants.
The launch also saw the unveiling of PM Anwar’s book
titled Developing A Madani Nation, The Star reported.
The book among others features his ideas from his
political experience and knowledge gathered from four decades of reading that
began from his days as a student to leading the Reformasi movement.
On the Madani concept, PM Anwar said the government is
introducing something holistic that will ensure development goes hand in hand
with the interests and well-being of the people.
He said the Madani concept would see to it that growth
would prioritise the people’s needs – especially those of the poor – so that
they could be freed from poverty.
On racial unity, he said the leadership would protect
the people from racism and put a stop to attempts to use identity politics to
split the people.
Source: Straits Times
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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Study: Malay votes in GE15 not a monolith, but
discourse dominated by anti-DAP sentiment
By Shahrin Aizat Noorshahrizam
20 Jan 2023
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — A research conducted by Iman
Research said it found that the Malay community's voting patterns during the
15th general election were "the most diverse", and not as easy to
pigeonhole.
The think tank pointed out that pre-election, there
was a prevalent sentiment that "Malay rights were being eroded and that
Islam is under threat by non-Muslims" — which led to the situation where
numerous ethnic-based political parties were fighting over the same
demographic, the Malays.
"This has led to the rise in ethnoreligious based
campaigning where each political party tried to outdo the other. The Malay
voting segment alone is estimated to be around 40 per cent of the total voters,
a significant piece of the pie," it said in the report titled
"Election Sentiments Analysis of Malaysia’s 15th General Election”.
Its research said that there were two factors at the
top of the majority group's mind: their livelihoods and the position of Malays.
This led to them utilising a two-tier process in choosing their
representatives.
"First, as their livelihood is seen as connected
to corruption, they want clean and non-corrupt leaders. Second, they are
looking for leaders that will safeguard the position and ‘take care’ of the
Malays,” it said.
The study also showed that as Malay-Muslim narratives
became the central theme of the election, campaigning tended to focus on the
community "taking care” of its own interests rather than any clash of
ideologies. In this regard, PH was not seen as fulfilling this criterion.
"As the campaign from both Pakatan Harapan (PH)
and Perikatan Nasional (PN) to portray Barisan Nasional/Umno as corrupt,
naturally the Malay voters would lean into the coalition that fulfils the two
criteria mentioned above — PN," it said.
Iman suggested there were three main points that were
presented as threats to the Malay community prior to the election: the alleged
threat of DAP, liberalism, and the polarising effect of PH chairman Datuk Seri
Anwar Ibrahim who was despised by the conservatives.
It highlighted how its respondents in non-urban areas
said they were worried about a "non-Muslim party" winning easily in
urban areas, which was a reference to DAP.
"This fear of losing out to a non-Muslim party is
seemingly obvious amongst Malay-Muslim respondents interviewed. Although, there
are some Malay-Muslim respondents who dismissed the 'fear-mongering' tactics
that a non-Muslim win of the election would bring detriments to the majority
Malay-Muslim population, a tactic that is 'too often used by Malay-Muslim
groups to sow hatred towards other Malaysians'," it related.
Iman Research focuses on the domains of protective
security, peacebuilding and sustainable development, with experts in sectors of
preventing and countering violent extremism, ethnoreligious issues, social
policy and community resilience.
The think tank conducted the latest research through
news reports and interviews nationwide prior to and during the GE15 campaigning
period.
The last general election saw an unprecedented result
as no political side managed to get a simple majority of 112 seats to form the
federal government.
Source: Malay Mail
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Human rights activists urge move toward abolishing
death penalty
20-01- 2023
KUALA LUMPUR: In June last year, Malaysia announced
its intention to abolish the mandatory death penalty for non-violent offences
and give the courts discretion in sentencing but the road to achieving this is
long and winding albeit with an end in sight.
With the new coalition government, led by Pakatan
Harapan which first put the moratorium on the death penalty in 2018, in place,
work on the necessary amendments to existing legislation has continued. Deputy
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms)
Ramkarpal Singh said in a statement on Jan 10 that they were re-examining and
reviewing alternative sentences to the mandatory death penalty before tabling
the amendments in the Dewan Rakyat next month.
The first reading of the amendments abolishing the
death penalty was on Oct 6, 2022. In the first reading, the amendments proposed
imprisonment for natural life as a replacement for the mandatory death penalty.
There have not been any announcements of changes so far.
“(The only difference is) either you are executed and
you will die or you end up being in prison for the rest of your life. But it is
a substantial change ... to do away with the death penalty and give discretion
to the judges,” said Datuk Seri M Ramachelvam, chairman of Bar Council
Malaysia’s Law Reform and Special Areas Committee.
Previously, the government had agreed to amend the
related Acts to pave the way for the abolishment of the mandatory death
sentence. At the first reading in the Dewan Rakyat in October last year, the
amendments were presented via the following seven government Bills: the Penal
Code (Amendment) Bill 2022, the Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) Bill 2022,
the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2022, the Kidnapping (Amendment) Bill
2022, the Firearms (Increased Penalties) (Amendment) Bill 2022, the Arms
(Amendment) Bill 2022 and the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2022.
However, four days after the amendments were tabled,
Parliament was dissolved to make way for the 15th general election.
Now that work on the abolishment of the mandatory
death penalty has resumed, lawyers and human rights activists are urging the
government to consider more penal reforms, such as adding more alternative
sentences in place of the mandatory death sentence and clarifying the fate of
the current death row inmates. They say Malaysia needs to join most of the
world in having a more just system that not only deals with retribution but
also allows for rehabilitation, reform and reintegration, in spite of the
public which mostly supports capital punishment.
However, the focus in Malaysia has mostly been on
retribution.
Abdul Rashid Ismail, former president of the National
Human Rights Society (HAKAM), said the proposed amendments in their current
iteration were not just.
“From my perspective, that (imprisonment for natural
life) is a regressive type of penal sanction to be introduced in place of the
death penalty. Simply for the simple reason that natural life does not accord
with the principle that we want to rehabilitate or reform the individuals who
have committed the wrong,” he said.
“We live in the year 2023. The concept of an eye for
an eye is no longer relevant.”
Nevertheless, that attitude, recorded in public
opinion surveys conducted in the past decade or so, is still very much
prevalent in Malaysian society.
MIXED PUBLIC SUPPORT
Poll after poll has found that most Malaysians are
highly supportive of the death penalty. However, that support is complicated
and not necessarily intransmutable.
A 2018 study by The Centre – a Kuala Lumpur-based
centrist think tank – and a 2021 study by Associate Prof Dr Saralah Devi
Mariamdaran Chethiyar and her team from Universiti Utara Malaysia found most
people who support capital punishment considered it as a deterrent. Many also
cited retribution for their support. Other factors that influence support for
and against the death penalty are cost and rehabilitation.
Bernama talked to several members of the public whose
responses ran the whole gamut – from those who wanted to execute and forget to
those who favoured execution for only violent and heinous crimes to no death
penalty.
“I prefer to maintain the death penalty. If confirmed
they are convicted (committed the crime), then why should we be keeping them
around? They don’t benefit society,” said Anis, a 34-year-old financial analyst
who only wanted to be identified by her first name.
When asked about cases of drug mules who are mostly
poor and uneducated – such as the 55-year-old single mother from Sabah with
nine children who was sentenced to death in 2021 for drug smuggling – Anis told
Bernama she was sorry to hear of cases like that but added poverty was not an
excuse. She said the woman could have done something else to make a living.
Others thought differently, with a few thinking the
moratorium on the death penalty meant Malaysia had actually abolished the death
penalty.
Marketing executive Yap Swe Lian, 35, said he was
against sentencing people to death, with rare exceptions.
“For me (drug mules should) get prison, regardless of
whether they know or they don’t know. Because some of them, they’re poor so
they just do it. So for this one, can give a lighter sentence like 10 or 20 years
but must still be punished,” he said.
He added murder with the intention to kill others,
such as the recent bomb attack in Pandan Indah here that killed a 29-year-old
waiter, should receive the death penalty.
As for newly-minted engineer Ahmad Arif Abu Zaimah,
26, he was against the death penalty as it was absolute. As such, he said there
should be more options in sentencing to allow for rehabilitation.
“It’s better than death. Other sentences should be
allowed to give people a (second) chance. (They) can still bring good things to
others. (They) can still contribute to society,” he said, especially after
hearing about Chu Tak Fai, a British-Hong Kong national who served 27 years in
prison in Malaysia for smuggling heroin.
Chu had been sentenced to death but had his sentence
commuted to natural life. While in prison, Chu converted to Islam and became a
model prisoner. Bernama wrote about Chu’s journey in January 2021 after he
received a pardon from the Sultan of Kedah a few months earlier. He has now returned
to Hong Kong.
Abdul Rashid said not many people consider the
rehabilitative aspect of the penal system or mitigating factors surrounding a
case, which contribute to their support for the mandatory death penalty.
“Mandatory death penalty is an unfair punishment
because you don’t take into account the personal circumstances of the
individual. Take for example someone with mental health issues whose
culpability may be in question. With the mandatory system, the court would not
be able to take that into account,” he said.
He added educating the public on the nuances and
various scenarios of capital cases would help the public understand the issue
better.
Roger Hood in his 2013 Death Penalty Project on
Malaysians’ attitudes regarding capital punishment found that when confronted
with different scenarios, support for capital punishment halved. The 2018 study
by The Centre found that the older you were and the more money you made, the
less likely you were to support the death penalty.
Oddly enough, those with tertiary education were 45
percent more likely to support capital punishment. The Malays least support the
death penalty while the Chinese are 16 percent more likely and Indians most
likely at 18 percent.
REMOVING LIMBO
There are other issues at play here. While the focus
has mainly been on the abolishment of the mandatory death sentence, there has
been little mention of what to do with the 1,327 inmates currently on death
row, most of whom were convicted of drug offences, followed by murder.
Human rights activists are concerned that the
amendments will not address them. Due to the moratorium, all have had their
execution stayed but some or all may be at risk of being put to death once the
amendments have passed.
Amnesty International Malaysia said there must be
clarity in the law that the measures will be applied retroactively and all
individuals on death row will have a chance to have their sentences
reconsidered by the courts.
Its executive director Katrina Jorene Maliamauv told
Bernama the government has not addressed the issue so far.
“This is very concerning because the proposals from
October (2022) do not contain provisions to commute the death sentences of the
more than 1,300 people on death row in light of the changes, essentially
extending the ‘limbo’ they have been in for potentially several years now. It
also brings back the prospect that they might face execution and that is just
plain cruel,” she said in an email.
“It is an opportunity to give a second chance and for
judges to weigh in individually on all cases for all factors that they could
not consider due to the mandatory death penalty and this opportunity must not
be missed.”
She added any alternative punishments introduced in
place of the death penalty must be consistent with international human rights
principles.
Ramachelvam agreed, saying at the end of the day,
there needed to be a holistic reform of sentencing processes in the court
system and judicial criminal justice system.
One way is to set up a Sentencing Council to lay down guidelines
on sentencing depending on the offence.
Source: The Sun Daily
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North America
US ‘clear-eyed’ about threat Hezbollah poses to
Lebanon: State Department
19 January ,2023
The Biden administration is “clear-eyed” about the
threat Hezbollah poses to Lebanon and will continue to work to counter and
combat the Iran-backed group’s influence in the crisis-struck country, a senior
State Department official said Thursday.
Hezbollah, designated a terrorist organization by the
US and several Gulf countries, continues to impose its will upon Lebanese
politicians as they struggle to elect a new president and is the only group
possessing weapons outside the state’s control.
Decades of corruption and clientelism have also played
a key role in plunging Lebanon into what the World Bank has said is one of the
worst economic crises globally since the mid-nineteenth century.
“As these crises compound, we are also clear-eyed
about the threat Hezbollah continues to pose to Lebanon, the United States, and
to the broader region,” Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern
Affairs Ethan Goldrich said on Thursday.
Goldrich vowed that the US would continue to use a
range of tools “at our disposal” to undercut the threat of Hezbollah. He
pointed to US sanctions as recently as last Fall on individuals and entities
for providing financial services to Hezbollah. Another batch of sanctions
targeted a smuggling network that helped divert money from illicit Iranian oil
to Hezbollah.
“Indeed, combating Hezbollah’s influence and shoring
up Lebanon’s stability and security remain key objectives for this administration,”
Goldrich said during a webinar with the American Task on Lebanon.
Government formation, World Bank deal
The State Department official hit back at claims that
the US or foreign powers were the ones who would choose Lebanon’s next
president.
Hezbollah has been adamant about electing pro-Syria
Sleiman Frangieh and Parliament today failed to elect a president for the 11th
time. Anti-Hezbollah lawmakers have been casting their ballots for Michel
Moawad, the son of slain Lebanese President Rene Moawad.
On Thursday, Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah said, “We
want a president who does not submit to American threats.”
Goldrich said it was for the Lebanese parliament to
determine the next president in accordance with the demands of the Lebanese
people. “We, the US government, are not in the business of picking winners and
losers,” he asserted.
But Goldrich said the next president needed to be
capable of uniting the country and implementing critical economic reforms that
take into account the interests of the Lebanese people.
The IMF and Lebanon signed a draft agreement last year
that would see $3 billion for Beirut after several reforms were implemented.
The previous government and the current caretaker government have yet to carry
out their part of the deal.
Source: Al Arabiya
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US, UAE, Bahrain, Israel national security advisors
meet on expanding normalization
19 January ,2023
The national security advisors of the US, UAE, Bahrain
and Israel met today to discuss deepening regional integration as the Biden
administration looks to increase the number of Arab states normalizing ties
with Israel.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who is in Tel
Aviv this week, and his Israeli counterpart took part in the meeting, which was
virtually attended by Bahrain’s Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa and the
UAE’s Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed.
Discussions touched on clean energy, emerging
technology, regional security, and commercial relations, according to a joint
statement from the four countries.
They reaffirmed their intention to further deepen and
expand progress achieved since the signing of the Abraham Accords, the peace
deal brokered by the Trump administration.
The meeting also focused on “promising new
partnerships,” including the I2U2, which brings together the US, India, UAE and
Israel to address the food security crisis.
The Negev Forum is another topic that was discussed
during Thursday’s meeting.
Around 150 officials from the US, Bahrain, Egypt,
Israel, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates attended an American-led summit
earlier this month, which the Biden administration created as it looks to
continue the progress made by the Trump administration on peace efforts between
Israel and its neighbors.
But Jordan and Palestine continue to abstain from
attending, a decision the US is trying to reverse.
Source: Al Arabiya
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--------
Harvard backtracks after denying fellowship to rights
leader over his criticisms of Israel
Michael Gabriel Hernandez
20.01.2023
WASHINGTON
Harvard University's Kennedy School reversed course
Thursday after initially denying a fellowship to Ken Roth, the man who led
Human Rights Watch (HRW) for three decades.
The school's decision came after Dean Douglas
Elmendorf initially blocked Roth from receiving an illustrious one-year
fellowship at the school's Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. Roth led HRW
since1993 before recently retiring and has been dubbed the
"godfather" of human rights by The New York Times.
Roth had long been involved with the Carr Center, and
the organization's executive director, Sushma Raman, contacted him soon after
news of his exit from the rights group became public in April to extend an
invitation to join the center.
Roth expressed interest in accepting, which prompted Raman
to send the offer to Elmendorf, the Kennedy School dean, in what was supposed
to be a formality, according to an in-depth article published in the Nation, a
left-leaning bi-weekly magazine.
But two weeks after a video call with Roth, Elmendorf
announced that he would not approve the fellowship. At issue for Elmendorf was
HRW's "anti-Israel bias," Kathryn Sikkink, the Ryan Family Professor
of Human Rights Policy at the Kennedy School, told the Nation.
The disclosure prompted widespread backlash from several
corners, including the school's faculty and academic freedom, rights and
Palestine advocates.
Roth, who is Jewish and whose father fled Nazi
Germany, lashed out against Elmendorf, saying, "he has no backbone
whatsoever," indicating the decision was primarily driven by the school's
pro-Israel donors.
Elmendorf denied in a letter to the Kennedy School
community that his initial decision to block Roth's fellowship was motivated by
donors but did not specify what was behind the decision other than to say that
it "was based on my evaluation of his potential contributions to the
School."
He acknowledged, however, that he had been in
"error."
"I am sorry that the decision inadvertently cast
doubt on the mission of the School and our commitment to open debate in ways I
had not intended and do not believe to be true," he wrote.
"I have spoken now with a colleague at the Carr
Center, and we will extend an offer to Mr. Roth to serve as a Fellow. I hope
that our community will be able to benefit from his deep experience in a wide
range of human rights issues," he added.
After being rebuffed by Elmendorf, Roth accepted an
offer to become a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Perry World House.
Speaking to the MSNBC television network, Roth voiced
appreciation for the decision but said "this is about a lot more than
me."
"I am relatively privileged. I was able to shine
an intense spotlight on this really misguided decision. But what about those
many scholars, those many academics, the students, who rightfully fear that
their future could be jeopardized if they criticize Israel?" he said.
"What I hope is that, beyond just reversing the
decision on my fellowship, that the Kennedy School and Harvard University more
broadly finds some way to reaffirm the principle of academic freedom to make
clear that criticizing Israel is never grounds for penalizing scholars."
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Turkish foreign minister hopes US extradites members
of FETO terror group
Servet Günerigök
20.01.2023
WASHINGTON
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said
Thursday that he "hopes" Washington will extradite members of the
Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) based in the US.
Speaking at an event to meet members of the Turkish
American community and Ahiska Turks in Houston, Texas, Cavusoglu stressed that
FETO members are "intensely" present in the city.
Stating that FETO's educational institutions were shut
down in many countries and their members were handed over to Türkiye, Cavusoglu
said: "I hope the United States will also extradite" them.
The minister said the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) has been carrying out investigations in connection with FETO's activities
in several US states and added that officials with the US investigative bureau
traveled to Ankara and provided their counterparts with information about their
work.
"The FBI told us that they saw the dark side of
the FETO terrorist organization and that they resorted to all kinds of methods,
including human smuggling, irregularities in visas, money laundering,"
said Cavusoglu.
"I hope the entire US will see what FETO is at
the end of these investigations," he added.
FETO orchestrated the July 15, 2016 defeated coup in
Türkiye in which 251 people were killed and 2,734 injured.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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US sees Türkiye 'as a reliable ally,' says White House
Servet Günerigök
19.01.2023
WASHINGTON
The US sees Türkiye as "a reliable ally,"
the White House said Wednesday, as the two nations’ top diplomats met in
Washington, D.C.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre made the
remarks in response to a question about Sweden and Finland’s NATO bids. A
reporter asked if President Joe Biden considers Türkiye "a reliable NATO
ally," citing "an impasse" over the accession of the Nordic
nations to the military alliance.
"We do see Turkey as a reliable ally,"
Jean-Pierre responded.
The Biden administration also hailed US relations with
Türkiye, with State Department spokesman Ned Price saying, “We have a very
constructive relationship with Turkey.”
"We are grateful for the role that Turkey has
played in helping to address many of the most pressing challenges of our
time," said Price.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as part of the Türkiye-US Strategic
Mechanism.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-sees-turkiye-as-a-reliable-ally-says-white-house/2791298
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