Qutub Minar Mosque's Walls Have Sculptures of Hindu Deities, Says Imam of Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque Built in Qutub Campus
New Age Islam News Bureau
24 May 2022
The Qutub Minar in New Delhi.
----
• Policies of 'Muslim Middle Powers' Like Pakistan,
Turkiye, Iran, and Saudi Arabia Can No Longer Be Dictated By West: Pakistani
Senator
• Senior Israeli Lawmaker Warns Of ‘Religious War’
After Court Allows Settlers to Pray At Al-Aqsa Mosque
• Taliban Leaders Remember Former Amir-ul-Muminin of
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on 6th Martyrdom Anniversary
• Israel Bans Member of European Parliament from
Visiting Palestine
India
• Malappuram Man, Shihab Chottur, Set To Walk 8,640 Km
to Mecca for Haj
• Hindu Petitioner Seeks Permission for 'Purification'
Ritual in Mathura's Shahi Idgah Mosque
• Lawyer, files application in SC seeking to be
impleaded in the ongoing case of Gyanvapi Mosque
• Gyanvapi Mosque Case: Varanasi Court to Decide
Future Course Of Action Today
• CMs competing to see who can hassle Muslims most:
Mehbooba Mufti on Assam CM's 'madrasa' remark
• Will dismantle terror ecosystem in J&K, LG tells
Kashmiri Pandits
• Case filed against Asaduddin Owaisi for allegedly
inciting religious sentiments
--------
Pakistan
• Over 100 Opposition Activists Arrested In Pakistan
• Pakistan govt rejects PTI’s demand to hold general
elections, decides to complete its tenure
• Pakistani Generals push for early election to
appoint new Army Chief
• Fazlur Rehman claims Imran sent delegation to US to
form relations with Israel
• Seven Tableeghi Jamaat members drown in Thatta’s KDA
canal
--------
Mideast
• Israel Army: ‘No Suspicion’ Of Crime In Journalist
Shireen Abu Akleh Shooting
• Turkey's foreign policy reset sign of Brotherhood's
dwindling influence
• IRGC Member Martyred in Assassination Attempt in
Tehran
• Iran president Raisi visits Oman with multiple trade
deals expected
• Palestinian foreign minister hails relations with
Turkiye
• Turkish foreign minister to hold talks with senior
officials in Palestine, Israel
• Over 1,200 Palestinians held by Israel last month:
NGOs
--------
South
Asia
• Afghan Politicians Expect Taliban to Collaborate for
Future Decision
• The Taliban’s Clash in Parwan Province Kills Three Armed
Men
• Afghan Refugees Hold Rally, Want To Settle In
Developed Countries
• Rohingya refugee boat sinks off Myanmar, dozens dead
or missing
--------
Europe
• UK Withdrawal from Afghanistan Was a 'Disaster' and
'Betrayal', Inquiry Reveals
• Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Mosque to Be Recognised
In Police Awards Ceremony
• British-Iranian says was ‘forced to sign false
confession’ before release
• Security guard killed inside Qatar Embassy in Paris
• UN unequivocal about right of Afghan girls to
education, World Economic Forum told
• UK lawmakers criticize ‘absence’ of Afghan
evacuation plan
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Singapore Says Abdul Somad Batubara, Indonesian
Muslim Preacher, Radicalized Its Citizens
• Uyghurs Urge UN Rights Chief To Ask Hard Questions In
Xinjiang
• Shahidan, Muthu poised to clash for MAF presidency
• Non-local control of Sabah hampers ties, says
Sarawak minister
• Join hands for political stability, says Muhyiddin
--------
Arab
World
• ‘We Will Act When We See A Serious Government in
Lebanon,’ Saudi Minister Tells Davos Panel
• Explosive-laden drone strikes Baghdad's airport:
Report
• Turkey's Erdogan threatens new incursion into Syria
• At least 6 people killed in Daesh/ISIS attack in
northern Iraq
• Several terrorists killed, injured as PMU hits Daesh
positions in northern Iraq
• Syrian Interim Government against YPG/PKK’s ‘census’
• Saudi minister receives Swedish special envoy to OIC
--------
Africa
• Tunisian Union Calls National Strike, Rejects
President Saied’s Move
• Turkiye-Africa Media Summit to be held in Istanbul
on occasion of Africa Day
• Jordan says Iran-linked groups in Syria wage drug
war along border
--------
North
America
• US GOP Senators Vow To Kill Domestic Terrorism Bill,
Despite Spike in Hate Crimes
• Israel used US weapons against American assets,
businesses in Gaza: Report
• US warns American companies against business in
Sudan, assails military for violence
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/qutub-minar-mosque-hindu-deities/d/127081
--------
Qutub Minar Mosque's Walls Have Sculptures of Hindu
Deities, Says Imam of Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque Built in Qutub Campus
The Qutub Minar in New Delhi.
----
Arvind Ojha
New Delhi
May 24, 2022
Maulana Sher Mohammad, the Imam of the Mughal mosque
built in Qutub Minar, said that the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque on the campus of the
Qutub Minar, which is being disputed, has sculptures of Hindu deities on its
walls.
A controversy erupted after ASI’s ex-regional director
Dharamveer Sharma claimed that the Qutub Minar was constructed by Raja
Vikramaditya and not by Qutub al-Din Aibak, to study the direction of the sun.
The Imam said that Namaz cannot be offered in a place
where there are idols of deities. “The Quwwat-ul-Islam Masjid is in ruins now.
Hindu organisations had raised the issue even 20 years ago, but the
administration of the time had ruled in our [the masjid's] favour and quietened
the matter,” he said.
Maulana Sher Mohammad, however, said that when kings
started capturing lands, there were very few mosques. “Sculptures of deities
were carved on the stones used to build this mosque,” he said.
Maulana Sher Mohammad, who had been offering Namaz at
the Mughal Masjid since 1976, said Namaz was stopped at the Qutub Minar from
May 13.
According to the cleric, a guard came on May 13 and
said that officials from the ASI had come. “They asked us not to offer Namaz
here. When we said that we were only four persons and assured them that no
outsider would be allowed to offer namaaz, the officials told us that the order
(to stop Namaz) had come from higher officials.”
“We met Waqf Board chairman Amanatullah and told him
about this. He is looking into the matter now,” Maulana Sher Mohammad said.
Source: India Today
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Policies of 'Muslim Middle Powers' Like Pakistan,
Turkiye, Iran, and Saudi Arabia Can No Longer Be Dictated By West: Pakistani
Senator
Pakistani Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed
-----
Riyaz ul Khaliq
23.05.2022
The policies of “Muslim middle powers” can no longer
be dictated by Western nations, while these nations should focus on
connectivity, boosting their economies, and coming together for “mutual
interests,” a Pakistani senator said.
Calling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a “lion
of Asia” who has a “vision and will,” Mushahid Hussain Sayed told Anadolu
Agency: “We have what I call ‘Muslim middle powers’ emerging like Pakistan,
Turkiye, Iran, and Saudi Arabia… and these are important elements who are
playing a role for stability.”
“Their policies can no longer be dictated by people
sitting in London, Washington or New York or Brussels,” said Sayed, who was
visiting Istanbul for a meeting on Palestine with lawmakers from several other
countries.
Citing the “role” of Turkiye and Pakistan in
Azerbaijan’s second Nagorno-Karabakh war which started on Sept. 27, 2020 and
lasted 44 days to recapture its territory from Armenia, Sayed called for
greater cooperation on regional connectivity, the economy, defense, and issues
of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Palestine, and Kashmir.
‘Relations between Turkiye and Pakistan not dependent
on respective governments’
Sayed, who also chairs the Pakistani Senate’s Defense
Committee, said Turkiye and Pakistan enjoyed “a rather unique relationship.”
“It predates the existence of even Pakistan,” he
noted.
Recalling the help extended by South Asian Muslims
during Turkiye’s war of liberation, he said “this relationship, irrespective of
any government in Turkiye or in Pakistan, is always a strong bond.”
“It's now strengthened through mutual interests. The
mutual interests are linked with our worldview,” he said.
Sayed said the two countries “have similar positions
on the issue of Palestine, Kashmir, and the TRNC.”
“This relationship has been reinforced by our
cooperation in the fields of economy, defense, diplomacy, and in the field of
regional connectivity, and that is extremely important,” he said, citing the
resumption of the Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad (ITI) freight train as one example.
“When Azerbaijan was fighting the Armenian aggression
and occupation of the homeland, Pakistan Turkiye were two countries which rose
to the occasion,” he said, adding “because of this move,” the flags of Turkiye
and Pakistan were raised in Azerbaijan when they celebrated the Nagorno-Karabakh
victory.
Sayed said Pakistan was the first country to send a
delegation of parliamentarians to “express solidarity” with Turkiye after the
failed coup by the Fetullah terrorist organization in July 2016.
“I, myself, in my speech at the Asian Parliamentary
Assembly in Cambodia, said that President Erdogan is 'the lion of Asia',” he
recalled. “I meant it because he is a man who has vision, like (former
Malaysian Prime Minister) Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.”
Sayed said Erdogan is “a man who takes positions on
issues, and he has shown the vision and will to do that.”
Acknowledging that progress in bilateral relations
between Turkiye and Pakistan faced “bureaucratic obstacles,” Sayed, however,
said, “there are no limits to Pakistan-Turkiye collaboration.”
He said the two countries should sign a free trade
agreement “and we should cut through the bureaucratic red tape.”
“It's not a decision for bureaucrats. It is a
political decision,” he asserted.
“And there is the issue of dual nationality, which
should also be there,” he said. “I will work on these issues.”
Sayed said Istanbul and Turkiye are “the favored
destinations of Pakistanis when they go abroad because of love, esteem, and
respect.”
“Two big anniversaries are coming up and we are
celebrating them together,” he said, referring to the 75th anniversary of the
founding of Pakistan in 2022 and the centenary of the founding of the Republic
of Turkiye in 2023.
“We will be there with our Turkish brethren to
celebrate the historic anniversary because Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had
said that when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk died in October 1938, that this is a day
of mourning for the Musalmans (Muslims) of India,” said Sayed, a renowned
political commentator.
“That is how high in esteem the father of our nation
held the father of the Turkish nation.”
‘Element of racism in Ukraine war’
Commenting on Russia’s war on Ukraine, the Pakistani
senator said Pakistan and Turkiye “have broadly similar positions on the issue
of the Ukraine war.”
“Of course, nobody can endorse any invasion of any
foreign country. But there’s a context to that. And Pakistan, therefore,
abstained on that issue because basically, we see it as a European war,” said
Sayed.
“We are also concerned! I, as a Pakistani, and as a
person who has links with the media, believe that there are, unfortunately, a
lot of double standards in the Western media’s coverage of the Ukraine war,
because there is an element of racism -- as if the lives of Europeans in
Ukraine are perhaps more precious than the lives of non-Europeans, be they
Kashmiris or Palestinians or Afghans or Syrians or Iraqis,” he said. “That
needs to be put on the record.”
Sayed said there is the “context of the NATO
expansion” around the Ukraine war.
“We wish that it should not become a part of another
new Cold War,” he said.
Complimenting Turkiye for its role in attempting to
diffuse the situation, Sayed said “Turkish drones are playing a very important
role.”
“The Bayraktar drone has been very effective. It has
been used on almost 80 occasions in the Ukraine war, and this drone was also
effective in the Azerbaijan war,” he said.
“It is a tribute to Turkish technology that it is so
sophisticated. And we as Pakistanis, who are brothers and friends of Turkiye,
take pride in the achievements of this country.”
Sayed said President Erdogan is “among those leaders…
Perhaps the only international statesman who has the capacity…who has the
vision, and who has the will to bring both parties (Russia and Ukraine) to the
conference table.”
He warned that “prolonging the war is part of a new
Cold War.”
“We do not agree with that view because prolonging the
war would create other complications like shortages of oil and food. And it is
in that context, it is important that President Erdogan play that role. He has
already done it at the level of foreign ministers,” Sayed said, referring to a
meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine on the eve of the
Antalya Diplomacy Forum in March.
“I hope that if there is a summit between (Ukrainian)
President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy and (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin that
it will be President Erdogan who will host it, Insha Allah!”
‘Resurgence of the East’
Lauding the vision of Pakistani philosopher and
national poet Sir Muhammad Iqbal, Sayed said: “this great Muslim philosopher
saw it 90 years ago that the sun is rising in the east.”
“I think he was referring to the resurgence of Asia
and the emergence of the Asian century,” he said.
Pointing to President Erdogan’s slogan “the world is
bigger than five,” Sayed said: “What we are seeing today in the world, and what
President Erdogan alluded to, is that it has become a multipolar world where --
and this is very important -- the balance of economic and political power is
shifting from the West to the East. And by the West, I mean the United States
of America and Europe.”
He said there were “multiple power centers now…no one
superpower, self-styled, can control what is happening today.”
“We see the decline of the US… We see the decline of
Europe also, in front of our own eyes. It’s their political clout that is
limited… their economies are in bad shape,” he said, citing Brexit as an
example.
“In that context,” Sayed emphasized, “I feel that the
world has to adjust to new powers, especially in the Muslim world.”
He quoted a remark by Pakistan’s founder, Muhammad Ali
Jinnah, during an interview with an American magazine in October 1947, in which
Jinnah said: “Pakistan will be the pivot of the world placed on the frontier
around which the future geopolitics of the world will revolve.”
“You can see that today when we talk of regional
connectivity… we are the hub of regional connectivity,” he said, referring to
initiatives like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Economic
Cooperation Organization (ECO), which was earlier known as the Regional
Cooperation for Development (RCD).
In 1964, said Sayed, “Pakistan, Turkiye, and Iran
launched the first initiative in the Muslim world for regional connectivity --
the RCD.”
Later on, the RCD evolved into the ECO with the participation
of the Central Asian republics, Azerbaijan, and Afghanistan.
The over $50 billion CPEC is the flagship project of
China’s multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
“The train, which leaves London, reaches Beijing in 10
to 12 days. And Turkiye is the center,” he said.
He said thanks to these initiatives, a “greater South
Asia” was emerging which “was not a geographical concept that is just a South
Asia.”
“It’s a geopolitical concept,” he noted. “This
regional connectivity is driven by the economy, energy, roads, railways, ports,
and pipelines.”
“A whole new world is opening. And we are at the
center of that. So Pakistan and Turkiye, together with countries like China and
Iran as well as Central Asia, have to play a historical role,” said Sayed.
“This is the need of the hour.”
‘Reject new Cold War era’
Sayed, known for his sharp analysis of China’s
socio-politico-economic development, said two “visions were emerging.”
“One is a vision of a new Cold War, conflict,
confrontation,” he said, adding this phenomenon was already “happening in
Europe, where they see Russia as the enemy.”
“The hawks in Washington talk of China as the enemy…
We reject this kind of thing,” he emphasized, arguing that “after so many years
of conflict, we cannot have a return to a Cold War…a zero-sum game mindset.”
“We're talking of regional connectivity, connectivity
based on cooperation, based on consultations, and it is connectivity among
countries, civilizations, and continents,” he added.
Lauding what he called the “historic visit” of Chinese
Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Islamabad, where he attended the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Foreign Ministers Summit in March this year, Sayed
said: “I do recall that President Xi Jinping hosted a conference on the
dialogue among civilizations in 2019.”
“He talked of how Islamic civilization has enriched
the Chinese civilization -- the Confucian civilization. He talked of the Great
Mosque of Makkah. He talked of the Indus Valley Civilization. He talked of Ibn Batuta,
the traveler who went to China and who has written about China in the past,”
said Sayed.
Wang was the first Chinese top diplomat to represent
his country at the OIC at this level.
“So there is a lot which is linking the Chinese
civilization with the Islamic civilization,” he said.
Sayed said Xi had also presented “for the first time a
peace plan for the Middle East on the issue of Palestine.”
He said China was the “first country to support” the
war of liberation by Palestinians on the first of January 1965 while Pakistan
was the first country which hosted the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
under Yasser Arafat in April 1974 in Lahore at the Islamic Summit, where the
PLO was accepted and recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the people
of Palestine.
“Pakistan’s support to Palestine predates the creation
of our country because Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the father of our
nation, gave that support to Palestine,” he recalled.
“In that context,” he said, “there are a lot of commonalities
between the positions of Pakistan, Turkiye, and China viz-a-viz Palestine.”
“This needs to be taken forward. This initiative of
inviting Chinese Foreign Minister Mr. Wang Yi to Pakistan was very important.
And that has reinforced this relationship and together with the BRI, together
with the $400 billion China-Iran agreement,” he said, calling it “extremely
important.”
Referring to the Beijing Olympics held this February,
Sayed said China-Saudi relations and China-UAE relations also add to this phenomenon.
“Pakistan, Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, other
countries. And Turkiye was also represented there.”
“This camaraderie is developing. And interestingly,
when Mr. (Samuel P.) Huntington talked in a negative way about the clash of
civilizations in 1993, it seems that the Confucian civilization and Islamic
civilization are moving closer together, not against anybody, but for the
common good. For connectivity, for cooperation, for strengthening development
in these countries,” he said.
‘Kashmir and Palestine are inextricably intertwined’
Sayed said the issues of Kashmir and Palestine “are
inextricably intertwined.”
“They are both linked with peace, security, and
stability in South Asia and the Middle East, respectively,” he added.
“Both (of) our lands are under brutal foreign
occupation,” he said, referring to UN Security Council resolutions that grant
the peoples of these lands the right of self-determination.
He said Palestinians and Kashmiris were facing “human
rights sufferings” while the “demographic balance is sought to be changed by
Israel in Palestine and by India in occupied Kashmir.”
“There is a genuine, popular, indigenous, spontaneous
resistance to this repression.”
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Senior Israeli Lawmaker Warns Of ‘Religious War’ After
Court Allows Settlers To Pray At Al-Aqsa Mosque
Israeli settlers gesture as Israeli forces secure the
area at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in al-Quds Old City, on May 5, 2022.
(Photo by Reuters)
-----
May 24, 2022
A senior Israeli lawmaker has warned that a recent
court ruling allowing settlers to pray at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the
occupied Old City of al-Quds could trigger a "religious war."
Ram Ben Barak, head of the Israeli parliament's
foreign affairs and defense committee, made the remark on Monday, a day after
the Israeli Magistrate’s Court in al-Quds rescinded a restraining order against
three settlers who had prayed while visiting the holy site.
"I think that during this sensitive period care
must be taken," he said, adding, "We should not, with our own hands,
cause a religious war here or all kinds of provocations that are liable to
ignite the Middle East."
He also voiced concern about the so-called flag march
by far-right Israeli settlers at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied
East al-Quds, which its route includes the Muslim quarter of the Old City.
Ben Barak predicted that Prime Minister Naftali
Bennett would wait until the night before the planned march to decide on its
final route to prevent possible conflict.
"It is not always worth paying this price for a
demonstration that is all about spectacle and little else," he said.
The so-called flag march was originally scheduled to
be held on May 10, but Israeli right-wing groups shelved the controversial
parade after the Israeli police refused to authorize it and Hamas warned of the
consequences.
Nonetheless, the Israeli right-wingers reached an
agreement with the Israeli public security minister Omer Bar-Lev to let the
show roll in the occupied holy city on May 29.
The march marks Israel's occupation of the West Bank
and East al-Quds in 1967.
Khaled al-Batsh, member of the politburo of Islamic
Jihad, said going ahead with the flag march would be a "message of
war" against Palestinians.
"The Palestinians will confront the flag march
and the resistance will do all it should to protect al-Aqsa Mosque and the
sacred sites," Batsh said.
As per a long-standing convention, settlers may visit
the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, but are not allowed to pray. However, an uptick in
settlers' visits to the mosque has angered Palestinian Muslims and led to
protests, which were met with Israeli forces’ brutal attacks on the protesters.
Palestinian officials and resistance groups have
repeatedly voiced concerns over the Israeli regime’s plot to divide al-Aqsa
into Jewish and Muslim sections or set visiting times.
Recently, there has been a sheer escalation of
atrocities by the Israeli regime against Palestinian worshipers at the al-Aqsa
Mosque compound.
Outraged by the Israeli barbarity, Palestinian
resistance groups have intensified their operations throughout the occupied
territories.
The clashes in al-Quds had sparked fears of another
armed conflict similar to an 11-day war in May last year between Israel and
Gaza-based Palestinian resistance groups, including Hamas.
Source: ABNA24
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Taliban Leaders Remember Former Amir-ul-Muminin of The
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on 6th Martyrdom Anniversary
Mullah Akhtar Mansour
-----
May 23, 2022
KABUL: Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar said that double progress was made at the chain of
Jihad under the late Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, former Amir-ul-Muminin of
the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
A grand ceremony, attended by hundreds of the IEA
members and high-ranking officials, was held at the Isteqlal Hall to mark the
6th martyrdom anniversary of late Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, former
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Emirate here in Kabul. The Deputy Prime Minister
of the Islamic Emirate, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar said: “Due to the blessings
of the martyrdom of the elders and the sacrifices and dedication of the
subordinates, we have now gotten together under the Islamic umbrella.” He asked
for mercy from the leaders towards their subordinates and obedience of the
subordinates to their leaders.
Speaking on the occasion, Mawlavi Abdul Salam Hanafi
the Deputy Prime Minister said that late Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was
martyred in ‘a wronged manner.’
“All the world witnessed that his sacred body was
completely burned.
This happened for the holy Islam. Respected Mansour
sacrificed his live for the country’s independence and the rule of the Islamic
system,” said Hanafi.
Likewise, the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Mawlavi Amir Khan Muttaqi said that Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was the
owner of a great plan. He could unify this society and protected it from any
conspiracies, after the demise of late Mullah Mohammad Omar Mujahid.
Shir Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, Deputy to the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, also praised and enumerated the good characteristics of the
late Mansour, former Supreme Leader, as saying he was very kind, modest,
generous as well as a brave man.
The country’s acting Minister of Defense, Mullah
Mohammad Yaqub Mujahid also spoke on the advent of late Mullah Akhtar Mohammad
Mansour as saying: “We do our best to have Afghanistan a rival country in any
fields at the regional level.”
According to a report, the Supreme Court of the
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also held a Holy Quran praying ceremony for the
Late Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour at the conference hall of the court, where
scores of officials and Holy Quran memorizers have taken part.
Source: The Kabul Times
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Israel Bans Member Of European Parliament From
Visiting Palestine
Photo:aa.com
----
Zehra Nur Düz
23.05.2022
Israel has banned Manuel Pineda, a Spanish communist
politician from the United Left coalition who is a member of the European
Parliament (MEP) and also the head of the delegation for EU-Palestine
relations, from entering the country.
Pineda in a Twitter post announced that he had
canceled the mission he was going to lead on Monday to assess the current
situation of the Palestinians.
He also shared the rejection statement delivered by
the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
According to “the information received from the
competent authorities in Israel,” the ministry has decided “not to approve the
arrival” of Pineda in the country, said the statement, without giving reasons.
Pineda accused Israel of “blocking the work of the
European Parliament.”
“The mission was planned to meet with the Palestinian
authorities and civil society, to see the consequences of the occupation on the
daily life of the Palestinian population on the territory, as well as to see
the effects of the policies of EU cooperation,” Pineda said.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola also
regretted the decision to refuse entry to Pineda to Israel.
“I will raise the issue directly with authorities
concerned. Respect for MEPs and the European Parliament is essential for good
relations,” Metsola said on Twitter.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
India
Malappuram Man, Shihab Chottur, Set To Walk 8,640 Km
to Mecca For Haj
24th May 2022
By KP Vishnuprasad
MALAPPURAM: Before modern transport facilities came
into existence, many Indians made the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca entirely on foot.
The faithful rarely take such a risk these days. But Shihab Chottur, a
30-year-old from Malappuram, has decided to do just that. He plans to walk
8,640 kilometres to be a part of Haj 2023. With the journey scheduled to start
on July 2, he is expected to complete the trip in 280 days.
An intense desire to travel on foot to Mecca led him
to the decision, Shihab says. “I just decided to do it. Then I worked for it.
And so I am now ready to start the journey. All able Muslims are obliged to
visit Mecca at least once in their lifetime. I am healthy and able to walk at
least 25 kilometres a day. I think I should do it now as I have the support of
a large number of people, including my family members and friends,” he says.
Shihab -- who runs a supermarket at Kanhipura -- plans
to carry with him a luggage weighing around 10kg. It will include a sleeping
bag, four t-shirts and trousers, and an umbrella. He will use the free
accommodation and food provided by the worship places on the way. He began
preparing for the journey eight months ago.
“I needed to take travel insurance to get financial
help in case something goes wrong while travelling. Then, I had to get visas to
enter Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The ministry of external
affairs and Union Minister V Muraleedharan helped me during the process. Almost
all preparation is over,” he says.
Once he reaches Saudi Arabia after walking through six
countries, Shihab will apply for Haj 2023.
Source: New Indian Express
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Hindu Petitioner Seeks Permission for 'Purification'
Ritual in Mathura's Shahi Idgah Mosque
MAY 24, 2022
A petitioner in the Shri Krishna Janmasthan-Shahi
Idgah Masjid dispute has sought permission from a local court to perform a
Hindu ritual inside the mosque, claiming that the sanctum sanctorum of the
temple was located there.
The petitioner submitted an application in the court
of the Civil Judge on Monday seeking permission for purification of the sanctum
sanctorum of the Keshav Dev temple, which he claimed was inside the mosque, his
counsel said.
The petitioner, Dinesh Chandra Sharma, wants to revive
the sanctity of sanctum sanctorum inside Shahi Masjid Idgah by purifying the
divine place with holy water of Ganga and Yamuna, Deepak Sharma, the counsel
for petitioner said.
Dinesh Chandra Sharma, the National Treasurer of Akhil
Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, on May 19 had submitted a similar application in the
court of Civil Judge senior division Mathura, he said.
Through the application, Sharma had sought the
permission for performing abhishek' (anointment) of Laddu Gopal in the Katra
Keshav Dev temple claiming it to be inside the mosque, he said. Both his
applications are pending in the court here for disposal, the counsel said.
According to him, his client has submitted these
applications seeking early disposal of the suit. Sharma had filed a suit on
February 26, 2021 in the court of Civil judge Senior division Mathura seeking
shifting of Shahi Masjid Idgah constructed on a part of the 13.37 acre land of
Katra Keshav Dev temple.
UP Sunni Central Waqf board, Intezamia committee Shahi
Masjid Idgah, Sri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan, and Srikrishna Janmabhumi
trust, are the defendants in the lawsuit. Several suits have been filed so far
in the matter with a common prayer of shifting of Shahi Masjid Idgah, which has
been claimed to have been constructed in the temple premise.
Source: News18
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Lawyer, files application in SC seeking to be
impleaded in the ongoing case of Gyanvapi Mosque
May 24, 2022
Lawyer and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader,
Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, has filed an application before the Supreme Court
seeking a direction for impleadment in the Gyanvapi Mosque dispute case, going
on in the SC.
The lawyer, Upadhyay, in his Intervention Application
(IA) filed before the Supreme Court, said that the Places of Worship Act of
1991 cannot govern the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque issue.
Upadhyay has also filed a petition before the Supreme
Court last year, challenging the constitutional validity of the Places of
Worship Act. The matter is pending before the Supreme Court,
Upadhyay in his Public Interest Litigation filed in
the Apex Court challenged the constitutional validity of the Places of Worship
Act, in October 2020 and the Court had issued notice on his plea.
Upadhyay has stated in his application that, “only
those places can be protected, which were erected or constructed in accordance
with the personal law of the person erected/constructed them, but places
erected or constructed in derogation of the personal law, cannot be termed as a
‘place of worship’.
He has stated that the “Temple’s religious character
does not change after the demolition of the roof, walls, pillars, foundation
and even offering Namaz. After the Pran Pratishtha of idol, A Temple is Always
a Temple until the Idol is shifted to another temple with the rituals of
Visharjan. Moreover, the Religious Character of the Temple (Place of Worship)
& Mosque (Place of Prayer) is totally different. So, the same Law can’t be
applied to both”.
Upadhyay has stressed that the SLP filed before the
Supreme Court is infructuous as the Places of Worship Act does not bar the
determination of religious character. He mentions in the application that the
Act is a penal Law so it must be interpreted literally, not purposively.
Upadhyay also submits in his application that “The
mosque constructed at temple land cannot be a mosque, not only for the reason
that such construction is against Islamic law but also on grounds that the
property once vested in the deity continues to be deity’s property and right of
deity and devotees are never lost, howsoever long illegal encroachment
continues on such property. Right to restore back religious property is unfettered
and continuing wrong and injury may be cured by judicial remedy.”
Source: The Statesman
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Gyanvapi Mosque Case: Varanasi Court To Decide Future
Course Of Action Today
24 MAY 2022
A district court in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi reserved
its order for Tuesday on which petition is to be heard first in the
Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri temple case transferred to it by the Supreme Court.
The court of District Judge A K Vishvesh heard
arguments from both the Hindu and Muslim sides.
A fresh plea seeking permission to worship the
"Shivling" claimed to have been found on the mosque premises during a
videography survey ordered by a lower court was also filed.
The apex court had on Friday transferred the
Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri temple case from a civil judge (senior division) to a
district judge, saying looking at the "complexities" and
"sensitivity" of the issue, it is better if a senior judicial officer
having an experience of over 25-30 years handles this case.
"After hearing arguments of both sides, the court
will on Tuesday give its verdict on which petition is to be heard first,"
said Madan Mohan Yadav, a lawyer for the Hindu side.
The Hindu side argued that since a court-appointed
commission has completed its work, the opponents should present their
objections on it.
Yadav said they pleaded to make available the
commission's report and videography done by it to present its side on it.
Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee's lawyer Mohammad
Tauhid Khan argued that the writ is not sustainable, hence, it should be
dismissed.
Source: Outlook India
Please click the following URL to read the full text of
the original story:
--------
CMs competing to see who can hassle Muslims most:
Mehbooba Mufti on Assam CM's 'madrasa' remark
May 23, 2022
A day after Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma launched an
attack on madrasas while speaking at an RSS event, former Jammu and Kashmir
chief minister Mehbooba Mufti claimed that chief ministers in the country were
competing to see who can hassle Muslims most.
"CMs are competing against each other that who
can hassle Muslims the most. So, issues of temples and mosques are being
raised. Muslims are being provoked to react so that these people get a chance
to execute another episode like that in Gujarat or UP," Peoples Democratic
Party chief Mehbooba Mufti said on Monday, as per ANI news agency.
She added, "The British pitted Hindus against
Muslims, today BJP is doing it. PM Modi is watching silently. His party thinks
it means what they're doing is right. The Constitution on which this country
was based is now being taken apart."
WHAT ASSAM CM SAID
Speaking at an RSS event on Sunday, Assam CM Himanta
Biswa Sarma said the word ‘madrasa’ should cease to exist and stressed
"normal education" in schools for all.
He was responding to a former chancellor of the
Hyderabad Maulana Azad University who hailed the Assam government’s decision to
dissolve all madrasas and turn them into general schools.
“Till the time this word (madrasa) exists, children
will not be able to think about becoming doctors and engineers. If you tell
children that they will not become doctors or engineers if they study in
madrasas, they themselves will refuse to go,” he said.
“Teach the Quran to your children, but at home,” the
chief minister said, adding that children are admitted to madrasas “in
violation of their human rights”.
Source: India Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Will dismantle terror ecosystem in J&K, LG tells
Kashmiri Pandits
May 24, 2022
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj
Sinha, while addressing protesting Kashmiri Pandits at Sheikhpora in central
Kashmir’s Budgam district on Monday, said the administration is resolved to
target not only those who kill the innocent but also those running the terror
ecosystem.
The agitators have been staging a sit-in protest inside
the residential cluster in Sheikhpora — demanding security for the Kashmiri
Pandit community and the presence of LG Sinha — for the past 11 days following
the targeted killing of fellow Kashmiri Pandit Rahul Bhat, a revenue department
employee who was gunned down by terrorists at his office in Chadoora on May 12.
LG Sinha on Monday went to the cluster to meet the
protestors and assured them that the administration will not rest till the
terror ecosystem is dismantled completely. “The roots of terrorism have
remained strong in J&K for too long. There was a time when even a case
wouldn’t be registered. While nobody can compensate for the death of a person,
the government is taking measures to provide job compensation to Bhat’s next of
kin,” said Sinha.
The LG said security forces have had the upper hand in
tackling terrorism in the Valley over the past year. “Despite this, some
incidents have taken place. There are (terrorist) informers everywhere. Nobody
can even identify them,” he said, adding: “We will not stay calm until this
(terror) ecosystem is put to an end… (we) can’t tolerate this anymore.”
Source: Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Case filed against Asaduddin Owaisi for allegedly
inciting religious sentiments
24th May 2022
New Delhi: A case has been filed against All India
Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin
Owaisi for allegedly inciting religious sentiments over the Gyanvapi mosque
row.
The case which was filed in Varanasi court also
alleged that Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav hurt the religious sentiment.
Advocate Harishankar Pandey alleged that both the
leaders have tried to incite the religious sentiment by commenting on the
Gyanvapi mosque row.
Asaduddin Owaisi on Gyanvapi mosque row
Recently, Asaduddin Owaisi said that he will not let
the mosque meet the fate of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
He also said that bhakts of Godse (Nathuram Godse who
assassinated Mahatma Gandhi) are spreading hatred against Muslims by raising
issues such as hijab, job jihad, etc.
On the Gyanvapi mosque issue, Akhilesh Yadav accused
BJP of dividing people based on communal lines and creating fear among Muslims.
Gyanvapi mosque issue
Varanasi district court on Monday completed the
hearing of the Gyanvapi mosque case. The court has reserved its judgment. The
verdict is expected to come on Tuesday.
During the hearing, only 23 people, including 19
counsels and four petitioners, were allowed inside the courtroom.
Source: Siasat Daily
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Pakistan
Over 100 Opposition activists arrested in Pakistan
May 24, 2022
Over 100 activists belonging to ousted Pakistani
premier Imran Khan's party have been arrested in the country's Punjab province
for a planned mega-march to the federal capital, Islamabad, demanding early
elections.
The police, who later confirmed that the arrests were
made at the behest of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) ruling
coalition, launched the clampdown on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) activists
late on Monday night.
PTI chief Khan has demanded the government to dissolve
the Federal Assembly and call for elections. To press these demands, the PTI protests
have grown louder with each passing day. The agitators were scheduled to
assemble in Islamabad on May 25.
"Police have so far arrested over 100 PTI
activists, including a lady lawmaker Rashida Khanum, from different parts of
Punjab province to stop them from reaching Islamabad to take part in the 'Azadi
March'," said PTI Punjab information secretary Mussarat Cheema.
She said most of the PTI office bearers and workers
were arrested from Lahore. She said a number of provincial leaders of the party
have gone underground to escape the arrests. She said the arrests were 'fascist
tactics' of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to stop the PTI workers from reaching
Islamabad.
PTI leader and former Punjab minister Raja Basharat
said the police raided almost every former minister and adviser of the former
Punjab government belonging to the PTI.
He said one party worker suffered injuries in
Gujranwala city, 80 km from provincial capital Lahore, during a clash with a
police raiding team.
He warned the government was forcing the PTI workers
to besiege the Raiwind Residence of the Sharif family. He also uploaded videos
of police raids at various PTI workers and leaders' homes.
PTI chairman Khan, in a tweet on early Tuesday, said:
"Peaceful protest is the right of all our citizens. The brutal crackdown
on PTI leaders and workers in Punjab and Islamabad has once again shown us what
we are familiar with - the fascist nature of PML-N when in power. The present
crackdown also raises serious questions about the handlers."
Khan further said when he was in office his government
never stopped opposition protest marches of the Pakistan Peoples Party,
Pakistan Muslim League-N and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F)
"This is the difference between democrats and
kleptocrats," Khan said, adding that already the economy was in a
tailspin.
"I want to warn the crooks and their handlers
that these undemocratic and fascist steps will further exacerbate the economic
situation and push the country into a state of anarchy."
Cash-strapped Pakistan is passing through a phase of
economic turmoil.
The newly-formed Shehbaz Sharif government is saddled
with an economy which is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and is
dealing with spiked global prices of essential goods due to the Russia-Ukraine
war and other such conflicts.
Pakistan's currency, current account deficit and trade
deficit numbers are in red because of huge debt payments. Pakistan's foreign
exchange reserves have dwindled to USD 7.5 billion.
According to a senior police officer, the PML-N led
ruling government had issued the arrest orders and to take PTI leaders and
workers into custody.
"We will seal GT Road and motorway at different
points to stop the PTI workers from reaching Islamabad on May 25," an
official said.
Ruling PML-N supreme leader and three-time prime
minister Nawaz Sharif tweeted that the people should not be left at the mercy
of miscreant jathas (group of people) which already played havoc with their
lives," he said.
Earlier, the nine-party coalition government at the
Centre had claimed that it would not stop anyone from coming to Islamabad to
join the PTI protest.
However that contradicts the police action on Monday
night.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Defence Minister
Khawaja Asif have affirmed that the government would complete its tenure till
August 2023.
Khan, ousted through a no-trust vote on April 10, has
accused the US of orchestrating the fall of his government after his decision
to follow an independent foreign policy over the issue of Ukraine.
Source: Hindustan Times
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Pakistan govt rejects PTI’s demand to hold general
elections, decides to complete its tenure
24 May, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], May 24 (ANI): Prime Minister
Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) government on Monday
rejected the demands of ousted former prime minister and Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan for holding re-elections in the country,
and said that the government will complete its tenure, as per the Pakistan
media reports.
PML-N and its allies announced that the current setup
will complete its tenure till August 2023 and the general elections would be
held at the stipulated time next year, reported Express Tribune quoting
sources.
This comes after PTI chief Imran Khan announced to
begin the protest march to Islamabad on May 25 against the present government
demanding the dissolution of the National Assembly and a date for the next
general election.
The sources said that the PML-N and allies have
decided to take measures against the economic instability and improve the
governance in the country.
They also said that allies were of the view that the
Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had already announced a date for the next
elections hence it is not possible to hold polls early, reported Express
Tribune.
The report further said that the PM Shehbaz Sharif
will chair a meeting of the coalition government on Wednesday to decide the
action regarding the next general election.
Regarding the PTI’s protest march, the allies said
that they will handle it in a democratic way and will not allow the protestors
to hold a rally on Srinagar Highway in Islamabad, sources said adding that the
government will provide PTI a ground to hold a rally or stage sit-in, reported
Express Tribune.
Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Imran Khan announced that his
party’s long protest march to Islamabad will begin on May 25 demanding the
dissolution of the National Assembly and a date for the next general election
and invited people to join in large numbers.
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday after his
party’s core committee meeting in Peshawar, Imran Khan said that he will meet
the people on the Srinagar highway on May 25.
Source: The Print
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Pakistani Generals push for early election to appoint
new Army Chief
24 May, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], May 24 (ANI): In recent months,
the call for the general election in Pakistan has grown louder and it seems
that the ‘neutral generals’ are giving up their neutrality and are coming back
into the game as they are pushing for an early election in the country so that
they can appoint the next Army chief.
Army has been talking to select a political and
financial leader as there is a possibility of creating a caretaker government
before declaring the election, Islam Khabar reported citing credible reports.
Notably, these reports are more than rumours circulating
in Islamabad.
Former Pakistan Finance Ministers Hafiz Sheikh and
Shaukat Tarin, along with the former State Bank Governor Raja Baqir, were
called by the Generals for consultations on the International Monetary Fund
deliberations. The Generals do not want to lose the IMF deliberations and urged
a united approach to get an urgent bailout.
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Imran Khan has
announced that he will launch the Islamabad long march on May 25. Tabling his
demands, the PTI chairman said that he is demanding the date of fresh elections
and the dissolution of the assembly, reported Islam Khabar.
In response, the interim government, led by Prime
Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has unleashed a revenge campaign against PTI leaders
like Shireen Mazari and journalists who are siding with Imran Khan.
Charges are flying thick and strong, all of which puts
the country’s future in dire straits.
The Shehbaz Sharif government has its own woes to deal
with. It is at best a coalition of convenience and offers no hope of a united
front against the imminent challenges like inflation, and debt that the country
is facing. Even within the government, there is the problem of elder Sharif in
London and the young one in Islamabad trying to pull a lame horse to trot. This
is reflected in the critical issue of the IMF bailout, according to Islam
Khabar.
Accepting the bailout means ending the fuel subsidy, a
highly unpopular decision which would bury the chances of the party winning the
election. There is talk that the Shehbaz Sharif government would rather quit
than end fuel subsidies.
There is no unity in the PMLN and its allies in the
party, hence there are different voices being heard on this issue.
The factor which seems to spur such anxious
confabulations and worries is that time-the government has to take some hard
decisions or else the economy is primed for a nosedive and this is what makes
the Generals worry the most. They felt that Pakistan can turn into the Sri
Lanka issue where angry people would turn on the road in protest, reported
Islam Khabar.
Imran Khan’s supporters, in thousands, are already on
the streets and are indoctrinated enough to take on the state institutions
which can turn out to be a civil war as the Prime Minister warned.
Regarding this, the Generals have already warned the
Imran Khan brigade to step back on mudslinging. The Shireen Mazari incident is
a part of one of their game. Pro-Imran journalists have also been charged with
sedition. The media authority has issued a strict warning against casting a
slur on Generals and judges.
Source: The Print
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Fazlur Rehman claims Imran sent delegation to US to
form relations with Israel
By Yousaf Ali
May 22, 2022
PESHAWAR: Central chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl
(JUIF) and President Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Maulana Fazlur Rehman
has claimed that former prime minister Imran Khan had sent a delegation to the
US in Donald Trump's tenure as president to form relations with Israel.
While addressing the Taqaddus Hurmat Masjid-e-Nabvi
(SAW) Conference here on Saturday night, Fazlur Rehman said that former US
president Donald Trump tried to convince Arab countries at the diplomatic level
to recognise Israel.
"Imran Khan was a part of that campaign with the
Pakistan Embassy in Washington being used as its base camp,” the PDM chief
alleged. He warned that Jewish agents would be kicked out of the country by
JUIF activists.
Fazlur Rehman said that Saudi Arabia and China are
true friends of Pakistan but both are not happy with us anymore because of the
previous government's policies. “We have to restore that relations with both
Saudi Arabia and China,” he said.
Fazlur Rehman also urged the institutions to keep
national solidarity above their petty personal, political gains and limited
benefits and play a role for the well-being and prosperity of the country.
"I have a message for the military leadership and
the establishment that when we had grievances against you, we expressed them
openly. And now that we think you are moving towards performance of your
constitutional role, we would support you,” he said in his late-night address.
Tens of thousands of people from across the province
turned up to attend the mammoth conference. At least 5,000 volunteers of the
security wing of the party had been deployed for the security of the event.
Fazlur Rehman said that Pakistan should not be made a
testing ground anymore. "The country will get stronger when its
institutions are strong. And the institutions will get strength once they
perform their role in accordance with their constitutional limits,” he said. He
said that the judiciary too had some question marks over its role, which it
would have to wash away. He said that the judiciary de-seated some members of
the parliament over the reference of a dummy president, which was against the
lawmakers' privilege of expressing no-confidence against the prime minister.
"The judiciary, on the one hand, de-seated
members of the parliament over a controversial reference and, on the other hand,
it had given a stay over the de-seating of a former deputy speaker, who had
polled some 65,000 fake ballots. And he served as the deputy speaker for nearly
four years on the same stay order,” Fazlur Rehman said.
He blasted former prime minister Imran Khan for
creating chaos in the country. He urged his party workers to get ready for
countering Fitna-e-Imrania. “Stop provoking our youth. They are ready to render
every sacrifice for Islam. If they get provoked, none of the youthias will dare
come out of their houses,” he threatened.
The PDM chief ridiculed Imran Khan’s claim of ‘foreign
conspiracy’ to topple his government. “No conspiracy was hatched against you.
We were present in the field against you. We carried out a declared struggle
against your illegitimate rule and we ousted you from the corridor of powers,”
he said.
Fazlur Rehman said that the former prime minister was
hiding behind a piece of paper while terming it as proof of foreign conspiracy.
“Don’t hide behind just a piece of paper. Show your three-year performance. You
destroyed the national economy. You supported the election campaign of Trump
and Modi and you made a compromise over Kashmir,” he said, while referring to
the ex-prime minister Imran Khan.
He also criticised the use of foul language against
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Maryam Nawaz by Imran Khan. He said that
Imran Khan has lost his political worth after being ousted from corridors of
power and after his so-called public gatherings, he would lose his mental
balance as well.
"Some elements in institutions and aunties at
home are grieved over his ouster from power and they are making comments over
his public gatherings. Let me tell them, if you gather 10 million people over a
dead body, it won’t get up,” he stressed.
Fazlur Rahman strongly criticised the PTI leaders and
workers for desecrating the sanctity of Masjid-e-Nabvi (SAW). He said that they
could take every criticism against them, but they won’t tolerate anything
against the sanctity of Islam, the Holy Prophet (SAW) and the holy places of
Islam.
Earlier, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs
Maulana Abdul Shakoor said that the Haj expenses had been increased several
times in the four-year government of the PTI. “When I took oath, I was informed
that the Haj expenses had reached Rs950,000. I would announce the Haj policy
soon after finalising the expenses,” he said.
Federal Minister for Communication Maulana Asad Mahmud
said that they would remain in power as long as they wanted and they would hold
elections whenever they wanted. He criticised President Arif Alvi for what he
termed his controversial role. He announced that the Haj expenses this year
would not be more than Rs750,000.
Source: The News Pakistan
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Seven Tableeghi Jamaat members drown in Thatta’s KDA
canal
May 24, 2022
THATTA: Seven members of the Tableeghi Jamaat drowned
after the tri-wheeler they were travelling in fell into the KDA Canal, located
some 14 kilometres from here, along National Highway on Monday evening. Local
divers managed to rescue three other group members soon after the incident.
The survivors said that a 10-member group of Tableeghi
Jamaat had hired a loader rickshaw (having a capacity of 10-12 persons) to
proceed to Gul Manda, a small settlement within Thatta district, with intention
to stay at a mosque there in their preaching tour. They took the route of KDA
Canal bank which is a shorter one to reach Gul Manda than the main route along
the highway. They said the tri-wheeler overturned due to some unknown reason
and plunged into the canal.
The survivors — Ali Gul Khan, a resident of Malir,
Karachi; and Mohammad Naseer and Abdul Ali, residents of Sohrab Goth, Karachi —
said residents of a nearby village rushed to their rescue after hearing a hue
and cry and some of them dived into the canal and save them from drowning.
Source: Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1691134/seven-tableeghi-jamaat-members-drown-in-thattas-kda-canal
--------
Mideast
Israel Army: ‘No Suspicion’ Of Crime In Journalist
Shireen Abu Akleh Shooting
23 May ,2022
Israel's army said Monday that if an Israeli soldier
fired the shot that killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, it did not
appear that the soldier was guilty of criminal misconduct.
“Given that Ms Abu Akleh was killed in the midst of an
active combat zone, there can be no immediate suspicion of criminal activity
absent further evidence,” said a statement citing Military Advocate Yifat
Tomer-Yerushalmi.
Tomer-Yerushalmi will ultimately be responsible for
determining whether any individual soldier will face disciplinary action over
the fatal May 11 shooting during clashes in the occupied West Bank flashpoint
of Jenin.
She stressed that Israel does not yet know whether Abu
Akleh, a Palestinian-American, was killed by stray Palestinian gunfire or by an
Israeli bullet aimed at a Palestinian.
The army “is taking every effort to examine the
circumstances of the incident in order to understand how Ms Abu Akleh was
killed,” the statement said.
Qatar-based Al Jazeera has accused Israel of killing
Abu Akleh “deliberately” and “in cold blood”.
Tomer-Yerushalmi restated Israel's request to examine
the bullet extracted from the body of the reporter. The projectile is in the
Palestinian Authority's custody.
“The inability to inspect the bullet, which is being held
by the Palestinian Authority, continues to cast doubt on the circumstances of
Ms Abu Akleh's death,” the statement said.
The army has said it had zeroed in on one incident
where an Israeli soldier using “a telescopic scope” fired at a “Palestinian gunman”.
That gunman “was near” to Abu Akleh, the army has
said, adding that it wants to compare the bullet with the weapon fired in this
incident.
Israel has offered to conduct the ballistic
examination with Palestinian and American experts present.
By procedure, Tomer-Yerushalmi decides on next steps
in the military probe based on the initial findings, known as a commander's
inquiry.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Turkey's foreign policy reset sign of Brotherhood's
dwindling influence
Pinar Tremblay
May 23, 2022
Turkey’s Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati’s upcoming
visit to Egypt scheduled for June 1 has created excitement, particularly among
Turkey’s pro-government media outlets, as it will mark the first high-level
visit from Ankara to Cairo after years of a deep freeze.
Nebati will attend the Islamic Development Bank summit
to be convened in the Red Sea resort province of Sharm el-Sheikh, and he is
also set to hold talks with “his counterparts” on the sidelines of the meeting,
Turkey’s Finance and Treasury Ministry said in a statement without clarifying
whether he will also meet with his Egyptian counterpart. The visit will mark
the first ministerial-level meeting from Ankara to Cairo in nine years.
Yet despite that Ankara has made a significant effort
to reduce the activities of Muslim Brotherhood members based in Turkey,
including forcing some of its members to leave the country by not extending
their residency permits, the planned visit appears to be failing to generate
similar sentiment on the Egyptian side.
Egyptian diplomat and Egypt’s last Ambassador to
Turkey Abdel-Rahman Salahuddin, who returned to his country in 2013 as a result
of Ankara’s protest of the ouster of the country’s then Muslim Brotherhood-led
government, said Cairo was still waiting for more concrete steps from Ankara.
Describing Ankara’s efforts as a “step in the right direction,” Salahuddin told
Turkey’s independent ANKA news agency, “We hope they follow their statements
with more action,” referring to the Turkish government.
Ankara’s halt to its support for the Muslim
Brotherhood — which Cairo considers a terrorist organization — remains the
major Egyptian demand, with conflicting interests in Libya and Syria standing
as other predicaments before the normalization of ties.
Speaking in early May, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu also expressed his disappointment at the “slow” progress in talks
with Cairo toward normalization.
Turkey and Egypt’s economic relations are based on
trade. Despite the rupture in the diplomatic ties of bilateral relations, trade
has continued to flourish, especially for Cairo. “Between 2016 and 2020,
Egyptian exports to Turkey grew at an annual average of 7% compared to imports
from Turkey that grew at an average of 2%” said Amr Adly of the Carnegie Middle
East Center.
Although trade ties and economic cooperation between
the two countries remain intact, the political price of Ankara’s diplomatic isolation
in the region has forced the Turkish government to improve poor relations with
Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and finally Egypt.
Islam Ozkan, a scholar who specializes in Islamist
movements in the Middle East, describes this price as an “impasse.”
“Turkey’s foreign policy got stuck. Its unintended
consequences are one impasse after another in economic and political realms,”
he told Al-Monitor. Ozkan also argued that the rapprochement between Ankara and
Gulf capitals could also accelerate the slow-going normalization talks between
Ankara and Cairo. “Turkey realized the path to normalization of relations with
Egypt goes through UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he added.
According to Zenonas Tziarras, a researcher at the
PRIO Cyprus Center, one of the other reasons for Ankara’s effort to mend ties
with Cairo is aiming to adapt itself to the regional order that emerged after
the Abraham Accords between Israel and Gulf countries.
“Through the improvement of its relations with Eastern
Mediterranean states, Turkey is trying to deconstruct the regional network of
cooperation that emerged out of the so-called trilateral partnerships — e.g.,
Cyprus-Greece-Egypt and Cyprus-Greece-Israel — and the Eastern Mediterranean
Gas Forum, which Turkey sees as threatening,” he said.
According to Soli Ozel, a political scientist at
Istanbul’s Kadir Has University, another factor stands out as the Muslim
Brotherhood’s swiftly diminishing foothold in the region. Speaking to
Al-Monitor, Ozel said the visit reflects the “charm offensive” that Ankara has
launched as part of its “efforts to normalize relations with” the Gulf
countries and Egypt. Ozel added that Ankara ramped up its efforts as the energy
crisis fueled by the Russian invasion of Ukraine forces European capitals to
find alternative sources for the Russian gas. Turkey stands as a major transit
route to carry Middle Eastern gas to Europe.
As political costs of hosting the Muslim Brotherhood
rise, Ankara — trying to improve its ties with Gulf capitals and Cairo —
appears to have realized that the movement has turned from an asset to a
liability.
Source: Al Monitor
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
IRGC Member Martyred in Assassination Attempt in
Tehran
2022-May-23
The IRGC member was assassinated on Sunday afternoon
when he was dismounting his car to enter his home in Eastern Tehran.
Colonel Hassan Sayyad Khodayee was martyred after two
motorcyclists shot him five times before fleeing the scene.
IRIB news agency reported that three bullets hit him
in the head and two bullets hit his hand.
The IRGC issued a statement soon after the
assassination, saying that its former member was assassinated in a terrorist attack
by counterrevolutionary elements.
The statement condoled with his family, adding that
necessary measures have been taken to identify and arrest the assailant or
assailants.
Following the assassination, Head of Tehran Court of
Justice Ali Alqasi ordered Tehran prosecutor to speed up efforts to identify
and arrest those behind this criminal act.
He also stressed the need to expedite judicial
measures aimed at the identification of the perpetrators of this assassination.
Source: Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010302000145/IRGC-Member-Maryred-in-Assassinain-Aemp-in-Tehran
--------
Iran president Raisi visits Oman with multiple trade
deals expected
23 May, 2022
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Oman on
Monday with trade deals on the agenda and as international talks on Tehran’s
nuclear program hang in the balance.
Raisi, on his second Gulf visit since taking office in
August, was greeted by Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said at the airport and
received a 21-gun salute at the royal palace, an Omani statement said.
Raisi’s one-day trip comes at a time when renewed
talks on restoring a 2015 nuclear deal are at a stalemate. Oman played a
mediating role between Tehran and Washington in the build-up to the original
agreement.
“Trade exchanges between the two countries of Oman and
Iran will improve definitely,” Raisi said before departure, according to Iran’s
official IRNA news agency.
“Both countries are determined to upgrade the level of
political and economic ties,” he added.
Raisi said he expected memoranda of understanding to
be signed during the visit, making mention of the fields of transport, energy,
tourism, and health tourism.
A delegation of 50 Iranian businessmen travelled to
Oman last week, IRNA said, adding that Iran’s minister for roads and urban
development has announced plans for a joint shipping line and tourist flights.
Oman is also seeking to import gas from Iran by
building an offshore pipeline between the two countries, who are discussing the
development of joint gas fields offshore.
The sultanate, which faces Iran across the Gulf of Oman,
endured economic pain during the pandemic, with its GDP dropping 6.4 percent in
2020 and government debt soaring.
Raisi visited Qatar in February, where he met with
Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and took part in a conference of gas exporting
countries.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Palestinian foreign minister hails relations with
Turkiye
Qais Abu Samra
23.05.2022
RAMALLAH, Palestine
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki has
hailed Palestinian-Turkish relations as “solid and strong.”
"The Palestinian-Turkish ties have been solid and
strong for a long time, and we are working to strengthen them in every
way," al-Maliki told Anadolu Agency.
Al-Maliki is scheduled to meet with Turkish Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who will visit the West Bank city of Ramallah on
Tuesday.
"We are proud of our relations with Turkey, and
there is a relationship between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that moves on all levels,” al-Maliki said.
The top diplomat said Ramallah and Ankara are working
together “to lift the injustice and end the suffering of the Palestinian
people, including (helping them achieve) their right to
self-determination."
"We are confident that the efforts made by the
Turkish state will serve the interest of the Palestinian people,"
al-Maliki said, noting that the second round of the Palestinian-Turkish
ministerial committee will also take place during Cavusoglu’s visit “to consolidate
bilateral relations between the two countries."
Israeli violations
Meanwhile, al-Maliki accused Israel of “exploiting the
lack of accountability” by the international community to commit more
violations against the Palestinians.
“Israel must be held accountable for its crimes,” he
said, going on to slam the “weakness and inaction of the international
community” towards the Israeli violations.
"The international community contributed to
creating the Palestinian cause, and it must contribute to putting an end to
this suffering," he stressed.
Al-Maliki cited Israeli plans to build thousands of
settlement units in the Palestinian area of Masafer Yatta in the southern West
Bank as an example of Israel’s latest violations against Palestinians.
He said the Palestinians there “are reliving the Nakba
as Israel attempts to expel them from their homes.”
The Nakba, or Catastrophe, refers to the 1948 forced
expulsion of nearly 800,000 Palestinians from their homes in historical
Palestine to make way for the creation of the state of Israel.
Slain journalist
Al-Maliki said the Palestinian Authority has submitted
a file about the death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to the
International Criminal Court (ICC).
On May 11, Abu Akleh, 51, was covering an Israeli
military raid near the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank when she
was shot dead. Palestinian officials and her employer, Al Jazeera, said she was
killed by Israeli forces.
"Abu Akleh’s killing was a crime,” al-Maliki
said. “We have documented (the crime) and submitted a file about it to the ICC
prosecutor alongside other Israeli violations,” he said.
Al-Maliki called on The Hague-based court to add Abu
Akleh’s death to other crimes committed by Israel against Palestinians to
facilitate an official investigation and bring Israel to accountability.
US-Palestine ties
As for the Palestinian-US relations, al-Maliki
expressed dissatisfaction on the “very slow implementation of the promises of
the administration of President Joe Biden (towards Palestine)."
Washington’s position has been "shy and
traditional … and continues to shield Israel from accountability and
questioning," he said.
Despite this, al-Maliki said Palestine wants to give
the US another opportunity to prove that “it does not apply double standards”
regarding the Palestinian issue.ü
"The US administration must prove that it is
committed to providing justice to the Palestinian people, and does everything
possible to achieve the two-state solution and end the occupation."
He also called on Washington not to allow its
preoccupation with the Ukrainian crisis and other global concerns to trivialize
the Palestinian issue.
"The American administration does not act unless
it feels that the issue will disturb Israel and affect its relations with
neighboring countries," he explained.
Kach movement
Al-Maliki also described a recent US decision to
remove radical Jewish group Kach from the list of foreign terror organizations
as a “sin”.
"We were surprised by this step that came from
the American administration, because the Kach movement still exists through
Kahane's heirs in the Knesset (Israel’s Parliament)," the minister said.
On Friday, the US Department of State removed five
extremist groups from its list of foreign terrorist organizations, including
Kach movement.
The Jewish movement is classified as a terrorist group
by the European Union and Israel itself, where its founder Meir Kahane was
banned from participating in the elections in 1988.
"The movement's heirs are still expressing their
hatred of the Palestinian people, and calling for the expulsion of our people
from their land and now the US gives them freedom and legitimacy,” al-Maliki
remarked.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Turkish foreign minister to hold talks with senior
officials in Palestine, Israel
Ali Murat Alhas
23.05.2022
Turkiye's foreign minister is scheduled to go on a
two-day visit for official talks in Palestine and Israel, according to an
official statement on Monday.
Mevlut Cavusoglu is set on Tuesday to chair the second
meeting of the Joint Committee of the Palestinian and Turkish foreign
ministries, which was established in 2010, followed by talks with counterpart
Riyad al-Maliki and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the Turkish
Foreign Ministry.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Over 1,200 Palestinians held by Israel last month:
NGOs
Qais Abu Samra
23.05.2022
RAMALLAH, Palestine
More than 1,200 Palestinians were detained by Israeli
forces in the occupied West Bank last month, according to Palestinian NGOs on
Monday.
“A total of 165 minors and 11 women were among 1,228
Palestinians arrested by the Israeli army in April,” four Palestinian groups
said in a joint statement.
The occupied city of East Jerusalem recorded the
highest number of detentions with 793 people arrested, including 139 minors,
the statement said.
“Israel issued 154 administrative detention orders
last month,” it added.
The NGOs cited violations against detainees and their
families during the arrests, including opening fire on detainees and terrifying
them by dogs.
The statement was issued by the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO)’s Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees, the Palestinian
Prisoner Society, the Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association (Addameer)
and the Jerusalem-based Wadi Hilweh Information Center.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/over-1-200-palestinians-held-by-israel-last-month-ngos/2595150
--------
South
Asia
Afghan Politicians Expect Taliban to Collaborate for
Future Decision
By Arif Ahmadi
23 May 2022
Kabul, Afghanistan – Political figures still in
Afghanistan expect the Taliban government to collaborate for any future
decision concerning all aspect of the country, according to sources, following
the establishment of a commission that engages former politicians.
In March, the Taliban officials had established a
“Commission for Return and Communications with Former Afghan Officials and
Political Figures” to encourage return of the former government officials and
political figures who fled the country after the Taliban takeover in August
last year.
But according to these figures, the commission has
been inactive, saying the so-called Islamic Emirate government has forgotten
politicians inside the country.
“I think the establishment of this commission is very
good, in terms of composition as well, and I hope that they will have relations
with the elders inside the country and get their views,” said Asif Nang, the
former governor of Laghman, as local media quoted.
Meanwhile, the political figures suggest transparency
and open talks with politicians residing in Afghanistan, which is said to be
one of the main objectives of the commission.
“First, the commission should make it clear about what
it is talking about with them, and then talk once with a number of them who are
inside Afghanistan, along with the figures who have been involved in Afghan
politics for 45 years,” said Sayed Ishaq Gailani, the leader of the Afghan
People’s Solidarity Movement.
While the commission aims to facilitate internal
communication, encouraging former authorities to return to the country, a
number of politicians are concern whether they will be handed back their role
in respective government bodies, questioning the context of the commission and
its usefulness for the former officials.
“Those who have left Afghanistan want to come back if
they can resume their activities in the society, in the government and in the
political society of the country, and this commission has not proposed this,”
said Tariq Farhadi, a political analyst.
“If these figures, the government officials and
professional cadres, who have left Afghanistan are not given chances, then I
think this will add to the number of unemployed,” said Ghulam Sakhi Ehsani, a
university lecturer.
Meanwhile, the commission head assures those who
return to the country will have their legitimate demands met, saying it has
drafted a procedure in fifteen articles that provided short-term accommodation
for political figures and former military personnel.
Although the “Commission for the Return and
Communications with Former Afghan Officials and Political Figures” was
established in March, it formally started operation on Saturday.
The commission is chaired by Shahabuddin Delawar so as
to facilitate communication channels and safe pathways for the return of the
former officials and political figures who fled the country during the chaotic
troop withdrawal last year.
Source: Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/afghan-politicians-expect-taliban-to-collaborate-for-future-decision/
--------
The Taliban’s Clash in Parwan Province Kills Three
Armed Men
By Saqalain Eqbal
23 May 2022
Three gunmen were killed in a clash with Taliban
security forces in Parwan province’s Jabal Al-Saraj district, according to
Taliban security officials.
According to the Taliban, three gunmen were killed and
one detained in the clashes, according to Kamran Habibi, a spokesman for the
Taliban’s police chief in Marwan.
Kamran Habibi has not provided any other details of
the incident, and the identity of the gunmen are still to be determined.
Opposition groups, based primarily in northern
Afghanistan, have remained silent about the clash.
The Taliban have been accused of killing former
government soldiers, officials and dissidents during their nine months in
power.
Source: Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/the-talibans-clash-in-parwan-province-kills-three-armed-men47898/
--------
Afghan refugees hold rally, want to settle in
developed countries
May 24, 2022
ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of Afghan nationals on Monday
staged a protest rally in Islamabad to get shelters in developed countries
saying they don’t want to go back to their country being governed by Taliban.
The Afghan nationals, who have been camping outside
the National Press Club for the last several weeks, brought out the rally from
the press club to D-Chowk.
Some of the protesters Dawn spoke to said they were
insecure under the Taliban government that’s why they left their country.
“We are here and want to get settled in any developed
country. So far, we are not being given the status of refugees here,” said Alyas
Zaki, a protester.
He said Pakistan was also not providing asylum to
them, adding: “We know people of Pakistan are also facing several challenges
such as unemployment and high inflation, therefore, frankly speaking, we want
to stay in any developed country,” he said.
Another protester, Mir Waiz, said after the takeover
by Taliban last year, thousands of Afghan nationals came to Pakistan and were
now facing issues of documentation as Pakistan, it seems, is not going to
provide asylum to them. He urged the developed countries to look into the
issues of Afghans who along with their families were moving from one place to
other.
Many of the protesters were wearing white shrouds
inscribed with the slogan “kill us, kill us”.
The protesters, most of them unable to speak Urdu or
English, seemed committed to their cause. Some elderly people on wheelchairs
were also part of the protest.
“I don’t want to go back; I will stay here or any
other country but will not go back to Kabul because of life threats,” said
50-year-old Habiba, who along with her four daughters moved from Kabul to
Islamabad.
She said his husband was a police official but since
the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban he has been missing.
Source: Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text of
the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1691173/afghan-refugees-hold-rally-want-to-settle-in-developed-countries
--------
Rohingya refugee boat sinks off Myanmar, dozens dead
or missing
May 24, 2022
Dozens of ethnic Rohingya refugees were dead or
missing after a boat with about 90 people aboard, including children, capsized
and sank in bad weather off the coast of Myanmar over the weekend, according to
media reports.
More than 20 survivors were detained by authorities in
Myanmar's Ayeyarwady region, the US-funded Radio Free Asia reported, citing
residents in the coastal district of Shwe Taung Yan.
According to survivors, the boat, which was bound for
Malaysia, ran into trouble within a couple of days after setting out from
Sittwe in Myanmar's Rakhine State on May 19, the Ayeyarwaddy Times reported.So
far, at least 14 bodies had been recovered, but more than 50 people were still
missing, Radio Free Asia said.
There are only around 600,000 Rohingya Muslims left in
Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country with a long history of military rule.
Rohingya have been rendered as stateless by Myanmar, and as a result of past
ethnic violence and persecution the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that 148,000 of them are displaced, with many living
in camps.
A spokesman for the military government did not
respond to a request for comment on the latest reported tragedy involving
Rohingya perishing at sea in a bid to escape persecution in Myanmar.
More than 730,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh in 2017
to escape a military-led crackdown that UN investigators have said was carried
out with "genocidal intent" and included mass killings and rapes.
Myanmar has denied widespread atrocities, framing the
violence as a response to attacks by Rohingya militants.
The other main destination for Rohingya refugees has
been Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country that is seen as sympathetic though
they are not officially recognised there as refugees.
Some 630 Rohingya had attempted sea journeys across
the Bay of Bengal between January to May this year, UNHCR said, noting women
and children made up 60% of the maritime crossings.
Source: Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Europe
UK withdrawal from Afghanistan was a 'disaster' and
'betrayal', inquiry reveals
24 May 2022
The chaotic and hasty withdrawal of the US-led allied
forces from Afghanistan last year, including the British troops, has been
described by the UK lawmakers as “systemic failures of leadership, planning,
and preparation”.
A damning inquiry by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs
Committee, published on Tuesday, reveals a “fundamental lack of planning, grip
or leadership at a time of national emergency” before and during the Taliban
takeover of Kabul in August 2021.
“The manner of our withdrawal from Afghanistan was a
disaster and a betrayal of our allies that will damage the UK’s interests for
years to come,” the scathing report reads, pointing to the botched exit from
the war-ravaged country after 20 years of military occupation.
The British government faced blistering criticism for
following the decision of its ally, the US, to hastily abandon the South Asian
country last August.
“The UK government failed adequately to shape or
respond to Washington's decision to withdraw, to predict the speed of the
Taliban's takeover, or to plan and prepare for the evacuation of our Afghan
partners,” the report notes.
Hundreds of Afghans eligible for relocation were left
behind after the UK pulled out, which drew widespread criticism and
condemnation.
“Most damning for the Foreign Office is the total
absence of a plan for evacuating Afghans who supported the UK mission, without
being directly employed by the UK government, despite knowing 18 months before
the collapse of Afghanistan that an evacuation might be necessary,” the report
adds.
The cross-party committee started working on the
report in September and inquired the Foreign Office, whose answers were
“intentionally evasive and often deliberately misleading.”
However, two whistle-blowers provided crucial
testimony to the committee.
“Those who lead the Foreign Office should be ashamed
that civil servants of great integrity felt compelled to risk their careers to
bring the situation to light,” the report states.
The inquiry also highlighted a lack of arrangements
and “unaccountable political interventions” referring to the evacuation by a
British ex-serviceman of around 150 dogs and cats from his animal charity on a
privately chartered plane, which the MPs said absorbed “significant” resources
during the chaotic period.
According to the committee’s report, the situation
around Nowzad animal charity highlighted the “arbitrary and chaotic” nature of
the Foreign Office’s role in the evacuation process.
It also laid the responsibility on Prime Minister
Boris Johnson’s door, saying he had the main role in prioritizing the
evacuation of Nowzad’s staff over other more vulnerable people caught in the
conflict.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Mosque to be recognised in
police awards ceremony
23 May, 2022
Police are recognising 59 staff for their involvement
in Operation Deans, following the 2019 mass shooting at two mosques that left
51 people dead.
Muslim community members, civilians, and other
organisations will be also be recognised.
Al Noor Mosque Imam Gamal Fouda told Morning Report
both himself and the Linwood Mosque Imam will be receiving an award.
It's difficult for the Muslim community to attend
events like the awards ceremony, he said.
"The 15 March changed our lives forever but ...
it shouldn't change the way we act, the way we think and the way we work
together.
"We will continue working together and we will
not let hate divide our nation."
Fouda says the way the members of the Muslim community
acted after the 15 March terrorist attacks comes from their faith - "the
most understood faith around the world".
"...People assume ISIS represents Muslims which
in fact is a misconception. They are a very very small number and they do not
represent us.
"The rise of white supremacy and the far right
wing is so alarming to our world, not only New Zealand but around the world so
the police actually is doing a great job for our country."
He says the Muslim community will continue its message
of love.
"This actually doesn't come from our cultures
first of all, it comes from our faith which calls for the mutual understanding
and the cooperation between people of different race and colours."
Fouda praised police for their quick response in
arresting the terrorist after the attack and says he will continue to support
them.
Source: RNZ
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
British-Iranian says was ‘forced to sign false
confession’ before release
23 May ,2022
British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe said in an
interview on Monday that she was forced to sign a last-minute false confession
before she was freed after six years' imprisonment in Tehran.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 43, returned home in March along
with a fellow dual national, after Britain agreed to pay a longstanding debt to
Iran.
She was imprisoned for allegedly plotting to overthrow
the Iranian government and for propaganda against Iran, charges she has always
denied.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe told the BBC that she was coerced
into signing a confession to the alleged crimes in the presence of a British
diplomat who said nothing.
“I was made to sign the forced confession at the
airport in the presence of the British government,” Zaghari-Ratcliffe said.
“They told me that they have been given the money. So
what is the point of making me sign a piece of paper which is incorrect. It's a
false confession.”
Zaghari-Ratcliffe said the Iranian Revolutionary
Guards filmed her signing the confession because “they enjoy showing how scary
they are”.
She stressed that such false confessions “have no
value. They are just propaganda for the Iranian regime to show how scary they
are and they can do whatever they want to do”.
“Why would I sign something? I have been trying very,
very hard for the past six years to say I have not done it,” she added.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe worked as a project manager for the
Thomson Reuters Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the news and data agency,
and was arrested on a visit to see family with her young daughter.
Morad Tahbaz, an environmental campaigner who holds
British, US and Iranian citizenship, was supposed to be released under house
arrest at the same time was freed but he was swiftly returned to prison.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Security guard killed inside Qatar Embassy in Paris
23 May, 2022
A security guard was killed in the early hours of
Monday inside the Qatar Embassy in Paris in an incident that does not appear to
have any links to terrorism, a source close to the investigation said.
The incident took place at around 0630 (0430 GMT), the
source said, adding that the suspect had entered the embassy and had a row with
the security guard, who died after being punched.
The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed the death and
said one person had been arrested on the spot.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
UN unequivocal about right of Afghan girls to
education, World Economic Forum told
ZAYNAB KHOJJI
May 23, 2022
LONDON: The UN is clear about the human rights it
expects authorities in Afghanistan to uphold, one of which is the right of
girls to education, an official from the organization said on Monday.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Achim
Steiner, the administrator of the UN Development Program, said that girls in
the country should be free to complete their education and pursue careers.
The UN “is unequivocal about the fundamental human
rights that we expect a country like Afghanistan to uphold and to respect and
that includes … the right of girls to attend educational institutions,” he
said. “And not just primary school but also secondary school, and their ability
to pursue careers and to go to university.
“It is without doubt a grave misjudgment that up to
now the Taliban have not fulfilled the commitment that they have repeatedly
made to their own public, but also to the international community, that they
would reopen the secondary schools” to girls, Steiner added.
The Taliban has barred girls from attending school
after the sixth grade, reversing previous promises made by Taliban officials
when they took control of the country last year that girls of all ages would be
allowed to continue their education.
The group has placed other strict restrictions on
females, including ordering all women to wear clothing in public that covers
them head to toe with only their eyes visible. They also issued a decree stating
that women should leave their homes only when necessary and that male relatives
would face punishment for any violations of the women’s dress code, starting
with a summons and escalating to court hearings and jail time.
Steiner said the first thing that must be
reestablished in the country is “a rule of law in the sense of fundamental
rights.” He added: “I think this is perhaps the greatest single litmus test
that the international community holds up to the Taliban — and I think quite
rightly.”
However, Steiner warned that the most urgent need in
Afghanistan is action to save its economy from complete collapse.
“We cannot abandon 40 million Afghans simply on the
principle of moral outrage,” he said. “That is why the UN stepped back into
Afghanistan and became the backbone of an international community’s presence.
“We are there because we see the desperation of the
Afghan people. And while the international community finds a way with the
Taliban to conclude a process of political rapprochement, we are trying to
essentially intervene in an economy that has to keep people alive.”
The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan nine months ago
following the withdrawal of US troops triggered an economic crisis.
Underpinning this was the decision of the Biden administration to freeze about
$9.5 billion deposited by the Afghan central bank in American financial
institutions.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2088121/world
--------
UK lawmakers criticize ‘absence’ of Afghan evacuation
plan
May 24, 2022
LONDON: Britain’s withdrawal from Afghanistan was a
“disaster and betrayal” hampered by a lack of leadership from senior politicians
and civil servants, the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said in a
report released Tuesday.
The committee criticized the Foreign Office for the
“total absence” of a plan for evacuating Afghans who supported the UK mission
despite knowing for 18 months that such an evacuation might be necessary.
This was compounded by the fact that there seemed to
be no clear lines of leadership among political leaders, with decisions made on
the basis of “untraceable and unaccountable political interventions,” the
committee said in its report.
“The fact that the Foreign Office’s senior leaders
were on holiday when Kabul fell marks a fundamental lack of seriousness, grip
or leadership at a time of national emergency,” the committee said.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2088421/world
--------
Southeast
Asia
Singapore Says Abdul Somad Batubara, Indonesian Muslim
Preacher, Radicalized Its Citizens
By: Heru Andriyanto
MAY 23, 2022
Jakarta. Singapore provided more details about the
reason behind its refusal to allow entry of Abdul Somad Batubara, saying on
Monday that some of its citizens have been investigated for following
“extremist teachings” by the Indonesian controversial Muslim preacher.
In a lengthy media statement explaining the
government’s stance on the issue, Singaporean Home Affairs Minister
Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam said that Somad doesn’t respect Singapore’s
sovereignty by implying that the city state is part of Indonesia.
“Some of the people that the ISD [Internal Security
Department] have investigated in Singapore for radicalization, one of the
things we picked up was that they were watching videos of Somad and following
his preaching,” Shanmugam said according to the transcript uploaded on the Home
Affairs Ministry website.
“One of them was a 17-year-old detained under the
Internal Security Act two years ago, in January 2020. He had watched Somad’s
YouTube lectures on suicide bombing and the young boy began to believe that if
you fought for ISIS, and if you are a suicide bomber, you can die as a martyr
and receive rewards in heaven. So you can see, Somad’s preaching has real-world
consequences.”
Somad, 45, was denied entry upon arrival at
Singapore’s Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal from Batam accompanied by his wife,
their child, and four other people last week.
The cleric later appeared in several interviews at
home to denounce the refusal and demand an apology from Singapore.
“He says Singapore is a, I quote, ‘Melayu land’ –
Tanah Melayu, claims that people in Riau see Singapore as part of their land,
because of Singapore’s history as part of the Temasek Malay Kingdom,” Shanmugam
said.
“So this is all part of Indonesia, a larger Tanah
Melayu. And therefore, our sovereignty is irrelevant. We are not a separate
country from his perspective,” he added.
Shanmugam, who is also the minister for law, said
Somad’s supporters have called for cyberattacks on Singapore, government
websites, and social media accounts and also called for a boycott of Singapore
products and for Indonesians to stop visiting Singapore, “all because we
exercised our right to deny someone entering into Singapore”.
A social media user even threatened a 9/11-style
attack on Singapore before his account was disabled, he said.
“Somad has publicly promoted extremist, divisive
teachings … He has claimed that suicide bombing attacks are legitimate, and
they are legitimate martyrdom operations. This kind of support for violence, in
our view, is very dangerous,” Shanmugam said.
“He has labeled non-Muslims as ‘kafirs’ (infidels) –
that’s most of you here, and most Singaporeans. He has preached that Muslims
should not accept non-Muslims as their leaders, given that he says non-Muslims
could conspire to oppress Muslims and, I quote, ‘slit their throats'. You
consider that acceptable in Singapore?”
“If someone said this in Singapore, the Internal
Security Department will be visiting him or her, and they will be behind bars.
So the language, the rhetoric, as you can see, is very divisive – completely
unacceptable in Singapore,” he said.
Shanmugam said Somad was denied entry for his divisive
teachings, not his religion, and that he is not the only person not given an
entry permit to Singapore.
“We take a zero-tolerance approach and even-handed
approach towards any form of hate speech and divisive ideologies. And it is not
directed at any specific individual, any specific religion, or any specific
nationality. Our position applies equally to all,” he said.
In 2017, two foreign Christian preachers were banned
from preaching in Singapore after making derogatory comments towards other
religions, he said.
Source: Jakarta Globe
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://jakartaglobe.id/news/singapore-says-abdul-somad-radicalized-its-citizens
--------
Uyghurs Urge UN Rights Chief To Ask Hard Questions In
Xinjiang
May 24, 2022
BEIJING: Uyghurs have urged UN human rights chief
Michelle Bachelet to avoid falling victim to a public relations stunt as her
trip to China enters a delicate new phase on Tuesday with a visit to the remote
Xinjiang region.
The ruling Communist Party is accused of detaining
over one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the far-western region
as part of a years-long security crackdown the United States has labelled a
“genocide.”
China vehemently denies the allegations, calling them
the “lie of the century.”
Bachelet is expected to visit the Xinjiang cities
Urumqi and Kashgar on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of a six-day tour.
“I hope she can also ask the Chinese government for
the whereabouts of my mother,” said Jevlan Shirememet, adding that he had not
been able to contact her in four years.
The Turkey-based 31-year-old — from the province’s
northern reaches near the border with Kazakhstan — also said he hoped Bachelet
would venture further than her itinerary.
“I don’t know why she can’t visit these places,” he
told AFP.
Nursimangul Abdureshid — another Uyghur living in
Turkey — was “not very hopeful that her trip can bring any change.”
“I request them to visit victims like my family
members, not the pre-prepared scenes by the Chinese government,” she told AFP.
“If the UN team cannot have unlimited access in
Xinjiang, I will not accept their so-called reports.”
Regional capital Urumqi — population four million —
houses major government bodies believed to have orchestrated the province-wide
campaign China described as a crackdown on religious extremism.
It is home to a sizeable Uyghur community and was the
site of deadly ethnic clashes in 2009 as well as two terrorist attacks in 2014.
Meanwhile, Kashgar — home to 700,000 people — lies in
the Uyghur heartland of southern Xinjiang.
An ancient Silk Road city, it has been a major target
of Beijing’s crackdown, researchers and activists say, with authorities accused
of smothering the cultural hub in a high-tech security blanket while bulldozing
Uyghur homes and religious sites.
The outskirts of both cities are pockmarked with what
are believed to be detention camps, part of a sprawling network of recently
built facilities stretching across the remote province.
Campaigners have voiced concern that Chinese
authorities will prevent Bachelet from conducting a thorough probe into alleged
rights abuses and instead give her a stage-managed tour with limited access.
The US has said it is “deeply concerned” that she had
not secured guarantees on what she will see, adding that she was unlikely to
get an “unmanipulated” picture of China’s rights situation.
Speaking in Guangzhou where she met with Chinese
Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday, Bachelet said she would be “discussing some
very important issues and sensitive issues.”
“I hope this will help us build confidence, and enable
us to work together,” she added.
Bachelet also gave assurances on her access to
detention centers and rights defenders during a Monday virtual meeting with the
heads of dozens of diplomatic missions in China, according to diplomatic
sources in Beijing.
Caroline Wilson, the UK’s Ambassador to China, was on
the call and said she stressed “the importance of unfettered access to Xinjiang
and private conversations with its people.”
“There is no excuse for preventing UN representatives
from completing their investigations,” Wilson wrote on Twitter.
Bachelet’s office has also said she will meet with
civil society organizations, business representatives and academics.
In addition to mass detentions, Chinese authorities
have waged a campaign of forced labor, coerced sterilization and the
destruction of Uyghur cultural heritage in Xinjiang, researchers and
campaigners say.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2088181/world
--------
Shahidan, Muthu poised to clash for MAF presidency
Frankie D'Cruz
May 24, 2022
KUALA LUMPUR: Shahidan Kassim has joined the fight for
the top post in the Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF), hoping to restore the
credibility of the conflict-ridden body.
Perlis Athletics Association secretary Iyaru Muthusamy
said his president has confirmed that he will contest the MAF election on June
12.
He said Shahidan, who is the federal territories
minister, held firm that the trust of the athletics family had to be restored
and words turned into action.
Shahidan will face the incumbent president SM Muthu,
who has been under increasing pressure to step down over his non-performance
and Malaysia’s rapid decline in track and field.
Two former MAF deputy presidents, Danyal Balagopal
Abdullah and Wan Hisham Wan Salleh, are expected to pull out with Shahidan’s
entry into the fray. Nominations close on May 28.
MAF’s constitution allows for anyone to contest for
the post of president but only affiliate members can stand for the other
positions.
A Shahidan-Muthu clash will ramp up a bitterly fought
campaign for the presidency of the MAF that is engulfed in a credibility
crisis.
It is believed that Shahidan, who was the MAF
president from 2008 to 2012 and is the present Malaysian swimming chief,
already has the support of eight of the 12 state affiliates.
Selangor and Sabah AAs are not in the equation because
of alleged irregularities.
State affiliates have three votes each and a shift of
support over perks, trips and money cannot be ruled out, said a source.
The source claimed the current batch of state office
seemed unmoved by the severe lack of junior development, athletes’ wellbeing
and a questionable coaching system.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Non-local control of Sabah hampers ties, says Sarawak
minister
Alvin Jeffreyson
May 22, 2022
KUCHING: Control of Sabah by non-local parties is
hampering the efforts of the East Malaysian states to cooperate on their rights
under the Malaysia Agreement 1963, says PBB vice-president Abdul Karim Rahman
Hamzah.
“Everybody knows that the administration in Sabah is
under the control of non-local based parties,” he said, referring to Umno and
Bersatu which are members of the ruling GRS coalition.
“And their big bosses are not from Sabah,” he said,
pointing out that when important decisions or policy matters such as MA63 are
needed, Umno and Bersatu ministers would refer to their “big bosses” first.
Karim said “deep down” within them, the Sabah leaders
would love to be like their Sarawak counterparts.
“I believe they are quite envious of us, the full
control we have,” he said, referring to GPS (the ruling coalition of Gabungan
Parti Sarawak) which has full control in making decisions for the state.
GPS comprises local parties Parti Pesaka Bumiputera
Bersatu, Sarawak Unted People’s Party, Parti Rakyat Sarawak and Progressive
Democratic Party.
Karim, a state minister in Sarawak and a member of the
Sarawak consultative committee on MA63, said “things might change, maybe after
the next general election”.
While not wishing to interfere in matters of another
state, Karim said he would “love to have the Borneo states to be independent to
make their own decisions”.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Join hands for political stability, says Muhyiddin
May 21, 2022
BUKIT MERTAJAM: Perikatan Nasional chairman Muhyiddin
Yassin has urged all political parties, including Pakatan Harapan and Barisan
Nasional, to work together to create political stability in the country.
Muhyiddin, who is also Bersatu president, said it was
time for all political parties to set aside their political differences to
reset the nation for recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, Bernama reported.
“Political parties, no matter who, BN, PH, or PN, we
must find a way together. There must be sacrifices. It’s better if we can
cooperate. It isn’t easy, but that’s one way of resolving problems,” the news
agency quoted him as saying after attending an Aidilfitri open house by Penang
Gerakan today.
Muhyiddin said that other countries abroad had
confidence and supply arrangements for their Parliaments and this could be one
of the solutions to create a stable government.
“This issue is big. It’s vital for all interested
parties who are concerned for the nation’s interest to sit together and form a
stable government,” he said, Bernama reported.
However, in a statement quoted by Sinar Harian later,
Muhyiddin’s office said the report was inaccurate.
“Tan Sri Muhyiddin did not specifically mention any
party but stated that these parties must have a common stance in creating
political stability and against kleptocracy. He also stated that he did not
want to see kleptocrats in parties like BN returning to full power in the
country,” the statement said.
In power without a majority
A confidence and supply agreement in parliamentary
systems allows a political party without a parliamentary majority to form a
government with the voting support of minority parties on crucial confidence
votes and on finance bills.
A government which loses a confidence vote, or whose
budget fails to obtain parliamentary approval, is required by convention to
resign.
The current government of Ismail Sabri Yaakob has an
informal confidence and supply arrangement with Pakatan Harapan, which has
agreed not to vote out the government in exchange for certain political
reforms.
Ismail’s government has the support of 112 MPs from
Barisan Nasional (41), Perikatan Nasional (42), GPS (18), GRS (9) and PBM (2).
Source: Free Malaysia Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Arab
World
‘We will act when we see a serious government in
Lebanon,’ Saudi minister tells Davos panel
TAREK ALI AHMAD
May 23, 2022
DAVOS: Only Lebanese citizens can help their country,
Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan said on Wednesday at the World
Economic Forum.
Responding to a question by Arab News regarding the
outlook of Lebanon following the elections, Al-Jadaan said that Saudi Arabia
wants to see the best for the country, but that others cannot act for Lebanon.
The Lebanese public last week cast their ballots in
the country’s general election, with Hezbollah and its allies suffering a blow
to their majority.
The outcome signaled a shift in a country devastated
by an ongoing financial crisis and soaring poverty.
“We really care about Lebanese people,” Al-Jadaan
said, adding: “We want to see the best for Lebanon but then we can’t act as
Lebanese — it is the Lebanese who need to act.
“As and when we see a serious government that is going
to take care of the people of Lebanon, we will act. We have been (acting)
historically and there is no reason why we wouldn’t come to support.”
Ties between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon have been strained
amid growing illegal drug and captagon smuggling attempts from Beirut into the
Kingdom.
Hezbollah is known to have primary control of captagon
production and smuggling in the region, which it uses to finance its
operations.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2087996/middle-east
--------
Explosive-laden drone strikes Baghdad's airport:
Report
24 May ,2022
An explosive-laden drone struck near a military base
by Baghdad International Airport on Tuesday morning, according to an Al Arabiya
and Al Hadath correspondent.
Sirens were heard in the vicinity of the airport, and
its air defense system was reportedly activated.
Drones have previously targeted the Victory Base
Complex situated near the airport.
The base includes international forces, including
Americans, as well as Iraqi personnel.
There have been several attempted missile attacks on
military bases housing US personnel in Iraq over the last few months.
Six missiles were fired towards the airport in late
January, with three landing inside the compound and damaging a disused civilian
airplane, Iraqi police sources told Reuters.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Turkey's Erdogan threatens new incursion into Syria
23 May, 2022
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened
Monday to launch a new military operation in Syria to secure Turkey's southern
border.
Speaking following a Cabinet meeting, Erdogan said the
aim of the operation would be resume Turkish efforts to create a 30-kilometer
(20 mile) safe zone along its border with Syria.
“We will soon take new steps regarding the incomplete
portions of the project we started on the 30-km deep safe zone we established
along our southern border,” Erdogan said.
Erdogan did not provide further details but said the
operation would begin after Turkey’s military, intelligence and security forces
complete their preparations.
Turkish forces have launched three major incursions
into northern Syria, taking control of areas along the border in a bid to
secure its frontier from threats from the ISIS group and Kurdish militia group,
the People’s Protection Units, or YPG.
Turkey views the group as an extension of the banned
Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK which is listed as a terror group by Turkey,
the US and the European Union. The PKK has waged an insurgency against Turkey
since 1984. Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
At least 6 people killed in Daesh/ISIS attack in
northern Iraq
Ali Makram Ghareeb
24.05.2022
BAGHDAD
At least six people were killed in an attack carried
out by Daesh/ISIS in northern Iraq, officials said late Monday.
The terrorist group targeted residents of Taza
Khurmatu district south of the city of Kirkuk, where the majority of Turkmen
live, the government-affiliated Security Media Network said in a statement.
An operation was launched to arrest the attackers, the
statement added.
The terrorist group gained control in Mosul,
Salahuddin and Anbar provinces in June 2014 and partly captured Diyala and
Kirkuk provinces, but Iraqi authorities regained control afterwards.
Former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory
over Daesh/ISIS on Dec. 9, 2017.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Several terrorists killed, injured as PMU hits Daesh
positions in northern Iraq
23 May 2022
Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), an umbrella
organization composed of the Arab country’s resistance groups, has fired
artillery shells at a position of the remnants of the Daesh (ISIS) terrorists
in northern Iraq.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the PMU, better known
as Hashd al-Sha’abi, said the Brigade 22 launched an artillery attack on a
Daesh position on al-Ayth Island, east of Salahuddin Province.
It asked the Iraqis “not to worry” as long as the PMU
forces exist.
Iraqi security forces reportedly said several
terrorists were killed and injured in the operation.
Meanwhile, Iraq’s Security Media Cell announced on
Sunday that the country’s security and military forces arrested 21 Daesh
terrorists, including commanders, in several provinces across the country,
including Anbar, Kirkuk, Nineveh, and Diyala, as part of their operations
against the remnants of the Takfiri militants.
Also on Sunday, three terrorists were killed in
several rounds of Iraqi airstrikes in Salahuddin.
Iraq declared victory over Daesh in December 2017
after a three-year counter-terrorism military campaign.
The terror outfit’s remnants, though, keep staging
sporadic attacks across Iraq, attempting to regroup and unleash fresh violence.
Daesh has intensified its terrorist attacks in Iraq
since January 2020, when the United States assassinated top Iranian anti-terror
commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and PMU’s deputy commander Abu
Mahdi al-Muhandis near Baghdad International Airport.
Anti-US sentiments sharply increased in Iraq in the
aftermath of the assassination, prompting Iraqi lawmakers to pass a bill – only
two days after the terrorist attack – that required the Baghdad government to
end the presence of all foreign military forces led by Washington.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/05/23/682584/PMU-hits-Daesh-positions-northern-Iraq
--------
Syrian Interim Government against YPG/PKK’s ‘census’
Ethem Emre Özcan
24.05.2022
The YPG/PKK terrorist group is conducting a false
census which is illegal and has no validity, the head of the Syrian Interim
Government said Monday.
"We are against the so-called census of the
separatist YPG/PKK," said Abdurrahman Mustafa, speaking to Anadolu Agency.
He said the terrorist organization is carrying out
"profiling" under the name of a "census" in the region east
of the Euphrates River.
"The YPG/PKK's so-called census serves its
separatist aims, its plans to change the demographic structure, and its
existence built on tyranny," he said, adding it aims to make demographic
changes in the geographies dominated by the Arab population according to the
data to be obtained.
Noting that the local community living in the region
is worried sick about the false census, he said: "The terrorist
organization had previously changed the education system and imposed a
curriculum against the culture of the people in the region."
As internally displaced Syrians suffered racism at the
hands of the terror group’s members in the region, the group confiscated the
properties of Syrians who it forced to leave their native land, he noted.
"This false census once again shows the true
racist face of the terrorist organization. The separatist group wants to
destroy the real identity of the people of the region," he said.
Underlining that the YPG/PKK does not represent the
people of the region, Mustafa said that as they are conducting a so-called
census, the terrorist group is also collecting information about the displaced
people and the assets they left behind.
"Under the name of the census, the members of the
group will confiscate more assets of those who had to leave the region,"
he said.
- Federation plan, ‘census’ to increase international
aid
As of May 7, the YPG/PKK had initiated a kind of
"profiling" which they called a "census" in Syria’s Al-Hasakah
province. Moreover, it plans to carry out the so-called census in other regions
in the coming days.
The terror group’s members in plain clothes go to
people’s homes and ask questions about their religious and ethnic origins,
place of birth, residential address, marital and educational status,
displacement, health status and occupation.
It is noteworthy that the members also collect
information about the assets and immovables left behind by locals’ relatives
abroad.
Some regional politicians told Anadolu Agency that the
YPG/PKK is preparing to identify the owners of immovable properties that are
not in the region and to confiscate these properties.
As part of a plan called a "social contract,”
which aims for a federation, it plans to take steps such as a “census,”
identifying the electors and so-called elections to seek external legitimacy.
After the “census,” the YPG/PKK is expected to demand
an increase in the share of foreign aid allocated to the occupied territories.
Population density is a very important criterion in
the distribution planning of international aid within Syria.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/syrian-interim-government-against-ypg-pkk-s-census-/2595838
--------
Saudi minister receives Swedish special envoy to OIC
May 23, 2022
RIYADH: Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dawah and
Guidance Sheikh Abdullatif Al-Asheikh received in Riyadh Ambassador Ulrika
Sandberg, special envoy of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the
Organization of the Islamic Conference for interreligious and intercultural
dialogue.
The meeting was attended by the counter-terrorism
coordinator at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs Ambassador Erika
Ferrer, the Swedish Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Niclas Trouvé and an
accompanying delegation.
Al-Asheikh said the Kingdom endeavors to spread the
principles of moderation, rejecting extremism and respect for all human beings,
as stipulated in the Holy Quran and the way of the Prophet.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2088031/saudi-arabia
--------
Africa
Tunisian union calls national strike, rejects
president Saied’s move
23 May ,2022
Tunisia’s powerful labor union said on Monday it would
hold a national strike over wages and the economy after refusing to take part
in a limited dialogue proposed by the president as he rewrites the
constitution.
With more than a million members, the UGTT is
Tunisia’s most powerful political force and its call for a strike may present
the biggest challenge yet to President Kais Saied after his seizure of broad
powers and moves to one-man rule.
The president’s opponents accuse him of a coup that
has undermined the democratic gains of the 2011 revolution that triggered the
Arab spring, but he says his moves were legal and needed to save Tunisia from a
prolonged political crisis.
The union has demanded a meaningful national dialogue
on both political and economic reforms, but it rejected Saied’s proposal that
it join a small advisory group of other civil society organizations that could
submit reform ideas.
Saied said last week that political parties would be
barred from a role in forming the new constitution, which would replace the
2014 document that emerged from an inclusive debate among Tunisia’s main
political factions and social organizations.
“We reject any formal dialogue in which roles are
determined unilaterally and from which civil and political forces are
excluded,” UGTT spokesperson Sami Tahri said.
The date of the strike, by UGTT members working in
public services and state companies, will be announced later, Tahri said.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Turkiye-Africa Media Summit to be held in Istanbul on
occasion of Africa Day
Mumin Altas
23.05.2022
A two-day summit marking May 25, Africa Day, organized
by Turkiye’s Communications Directorate, will start in Istanbul this Wednesday.
Attending the event will be 80 press members from 45
African countries, African diplomats, and officials of public institutions,
media representatives, academics, and representatives from the private sector
and NGOs, said a directorate statement.
Fahrettin Altun, the directorate head, will deliver
the opening speech of the summit, which aims to strengthen cooperation and
coordination between Turkish and African media members, share experiences, and
develop a partnership perspective.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Jordan says Iran-linked groups in Syria wage drug war
along border
24 May ,2022
Jordan said on Monday pro-Iranian Syrian army units
and militias loyal to Tehran are stepping up their attempts to smuggle hundreds
of millions of dollars worth of drugs across the Jordanian border to wealthy
Gulf markets.
The army said it was bracing for an escalation in
confrontations with armed smugglers trying to drop large amounts of drugs along
the rugged border terrain with Syria.
“We are facing a war along the borders, a drugs war
and led by organisations supported by foreign parties. These Iranian militias
are the most dangerous because they target Jordan's national security,” senior
army spokesperson Colonel Mustafa Haiti told state-owned Al Mama.
Jordan said four smugglers were killed by the army on
Sunday in the latest showdown along the border that has left at least 40
infiltrates dead and hundreds injured since the start of the year, mostly
nomads employed by Iran-linked militias who hold sway in southern Syria.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
Jordan is both a destination and a main transit route
to the oil-rich Gulf countries for the Syrian-made cheap amphetamine known as
captagon.
War-torn Syria has become the region's main production
site for a multi-billion-dollar trade also destined for Europe. Syrian
President Bash al-Assad's government denies involvement in drug making and
smuggling.
The sharp rise in smuggling attempts has forced Jordan
to change army rules of engagement along the border where it has given its
military the authority to use overwhelming force.
Jordan's King Abdul said last week he feared that a
Russian withdrawal from southern Syria as a result of the Ukraine war would
allow Iran-backed militias to fill the void.
The growing influence of Iranian-backed militias
including Lebanon's Hezbollah group in southern Syria in recent years has
already alarmed both Jordan and Israel.
Jordanian officials say their concerns about the
alarming spike had been raised with Syrian authorities but have not seen any
real attempt to clamp-down on the illicit trade.
“Our demands were always that forces do their job but
we have not felt so far we have a real partner in protecting the borders,”
Brigadier General Ahead Khleifat, the head of border security, told al Glad
newspaper.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
North
America
US GOP senators vow to kill domestic terrorism bill,
despite spike in hate crimes
22 May 2022
US Republican senators are lining up against
Senate-passed domestic terrorism legislation, in the wake of the racist mass
shooting which killed ten people in New York last week.
The House passed the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act
Wednesday night to address the growing threat of white supremacists and other
domestic extremist groups, just days after a gunman shot 13 people, 11 of whom
are Black, at a supermarket in Buffalo.
White supremacists and hate crimes were being
investigated as key motivating factors in mass shootings.
The incident prompted Democrats to push for more
actions against the threat of domestic terrorism across the US.
The measure would authorize offices in the Department
of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the FBI to investigate and
monitor domestic terrorism.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer said he will
bring the bill to the floor this week as a response to the recent killings.
Sen. Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin said at
a press conference that the mass killing "was a tragic reminder of the
threat posed by violent White supremacists and other far-right
extremists."
Durbin said that he would circulate the Senate’s
domestic terrorism bill among GOP colleagues in hope of winning their
support.
But the efforts have run into opposition from the
Republicans.
Senate conservatives say empowering the federal
offices to monitor domestic terrorism could easily morph into federal policing
of political speech.
"I’m completely opposed to this idea that we
would be giving the federal government and federal law enforcement power and
authority to surveil Americans,"
said Sen. Josh Hawley.
Sen. Ron Johnson, a senior member of the Homeland
Security Committee, said law enforcement is already supposed to be tracking
domestic terrorism threats.
FBI Director Christopher Wray testified in March of
last year that the threat of domestic terrorism is “metastasizing” across the
country.
Durbin said,
“We’ve seen evidence of that in so many places. Sadly we saw it in
Buffalo.”
But so far, no Republicans have signed onto the bill,
he added.
After the Buffalo shooting, President Joe Biden called
for an end to “hate-fueled domestic terrorism.
He said, "A racially motivated hate crime is
abhorrent to the very fabric of this nation.”
Since Democrats lack the support in the Senate to move
forward with any sort of gun control legislation, they are instead putting their
efforts into a broader federal focus on domestic terrorism.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Israel used US weapons against American assets,
businesses in Gaza: Report
21 May 2022
The Israeli regime used weapons made and funded by the
United States to destroy American projects and businesses in the Gaza Strip
during its devastating 11-day war on the besieged enclave last year, according
to a report.
In an article published on Thursday, The Intercept
said it reviewed documents and reports that showed hospitals, water treatment
facilities, and schools funded by US agencies destroyed during the Israeli
regime’s bombardment of Gaza in May 2021.
“Also impacted were the Foamco mattress factory — the
main producer of mattresses for Gaza — the Abu Iskandar plastic factory, the
Clever detergent factory, the Siksik plastic pipes factory, and the Al-Wadi
food plant, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in damage. The factories
employed 1,500 Palestinians and were severely impacted by the shelling in the
early morning hours on May 17 and 18, 2021,” the report said.
It added that a Coca-Cola factory, built by a US
citizen, served as yet another casualty of Israeli shelling during the May
onslaught, in a “highly symbolic display of just how far Israel’s disregard for
US material interests in Gaza extends.”
“Coca-Cola is also a shareholder, not just a licensor,
and I am a shareholder as a US citizen, so this affected many US citizens,”
Zahi Khouri, the factory’s owner, told The Intercept.
“We had thousands of pallets burned, and there was
damage to the logistics area. There was damage in the industrial estate, but
what was also damaged was the investment of Coca-Cola in a project through
Mercy Corps where we built a water purification station for a refugee camp.”
The Israeli war on Gaza, which continued between May
10 and May 21 last year, killed at least 250 Palestinians, including 66
children, and injured more than 1,900 others.
The Israeli airstrikes also displaced tens of
thousands of people and demolished, completely or partially, dozens of
buildings, schools, and hospitals.
“The vast majority of ammunition used by Israel is
manufactured or subsidized by the US,” Raed Jarrar, advocacy director at
Democracy for the Arab World Now, or DAWN, told The Intercept. “It’s fair to
say that every Israeli munition is subsidized by the US one way or another, by
US tax dollars.”
Israeli regime is the largest recipient of US military
aid. It has received over $150 billion in assistance from the US government
since 1948, but the regime has never been subjected to any inspections in
Washington on how it uses weapons made or funded by the US.
Also, under that weapons assistance program, Israel is
allowed to spend US tax dollars on its own weapons industry without disclosing
how it spent the money to Congress or the American public.
The first anniversary of the 2021 Israeli war on Gaza
was marked past week with intensified Israeli aggression against Palestinians
in both the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military’s killing of Al Jazeera
Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh earlier this month once again attracted global
attention to the Israeli regime’s atrocities.
“A major reason for the perpetuation of the Israeli
occupation, and the deaths and suffering which accompany it, is the
extraordinary military, diplomatic, and political support given to it, largely
without conditions, by the United States,” said Michael Lynk, the recently
departed UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the
Palestinian territories.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
US warns American companies against business in Sudan,
assails military for violence
23 May, 2022
The US government issued an advisory on Monday warning
American companies and individuals from doing business with Sudanese
state-owned companies and military-controlled companies.
“These risks arise from, among other things, recent
actions undertaken by Sudan’s Sovereign Council and security forces under the
military’s command, including and especially serious human rights abuse against
protesters,” State Department Spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
The business advisory, which was issued by the Departments
of State, Treasury, Commerce, and Labor, said some of the risks predated the
October 2021 military coup. But they criticized the Sudanese military’s actions
for “exacerbat[ing]” the risks.
Monday’s warning called on American individuals and
companies to take extra precautions related to human rights issues and to be
aware of the risks of dealing with state- or military-owned companies.
.@StateDept, @USTreasury, @CommerceGov, and @USDOL
today issued a Business Advisory on Sudan, highlighting the reputational risks
associated with conducting business with Sudanese State-Owned Enterprises and
military-controlled companies. https://t.co/QUkU0g0orN
— Ned Price (@StateDeptSpox) May 23, 2022
Price also said that US businesses and individuals
should beware of working with any sanctioned individuals or entities.
“The United States remains committed to supporting the
Sudanese peoples’ aspiration for a civilian-led transition to an elected
government. We continue to support the Sudanese-led, UN-AU-IGAD facilitated
dialogue around the transition process,” he added.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/qutub-minar-mosque-hindu-deities/d/127081