| Islamic World News | ||||||
15 Apr 2010, NewAgeIslam.Com
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Man kills five, says 'Allah' had told him to do it
Apr 15, 2010
Chicago : In a bizarre case termed "horrendous" by Chicago police, a 32-year old man was arrested after he shot dead his wife, three children and an adult claiming "Allah" had told him to do it.
Three children and an adult were killed in the incident, while two more have been injured.
Police have taken a 32-year old man, believed to be from neighbouring Wisconsin, into custody but they did not revealed his identity.
According to sources quoted by the Chicago Sun-Times, the shooter told police "Allah" had told him to kill his family and that he felt "too bad I ran out of bullets".
"It is really horrendous. Something like this is pretty incomprehensible," Chicago Lawn District Police Commander John Kupczyk said.
The dead included a woman believed to be the pregnant wife of the shooter; 16-year-old Keyshai Fields, who was four months pregnant; a 3-year-old girl named Keleasha Larry; and a 7-month-old boy who was the shooter's son, according to law enforcement officials.
Family members said the dead 7-month-old was named Jihad.
Chicago Police Department spokesman Roderick Drew said the offender is in custody, and "we believe we have the weapon used".
Two others injured - the children's 57-year-old grandmother, Leona Larry who was visiting from Wisconsin and a 13-year-old boy were taken to a hospital.
According to the police, a 12-year-old girl who was inside the house, got away and ran to a gas station called 911, saying her uncle had come from Wisconsin with his wife and began shooting family members.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/A-man-shoots-five-people-saying---Allah---had-told-him-to-do-it/606853
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Saudi Arabia: Woman elected head of JCCI panel
By GALAL FAKKAR
Apr 15, 2010
JEDDAH: The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) elected its first chairwoman of an influential committee on Tuesday.
Farida Farsi received seven of 10 votes to become head of a panel for private girls’ schools.
Rafa Binladin was elected deputy chairperson of the panel, which is a subsidiary of the private education committee.
During its first meeting, the new panel discussed obstacles and problems facing at least 110 private girls’ schools in the city. About 3,000 people, including teachers, work at these schools.
“The new panel will look into a number of important issues facing girls’ schools and make its proposals to JCCI’s board of directors, which will then take up the matter with official authorities to find solutions,” Farsi told Arab News.
She said a separate panel was set up for girls’ schools in light of the large number of issues that they currently face.
“They have been intermingled with issues concerning general education,” she added.
Previously, the committee of owners of private and international schools handled issues concerning private girls’ schools.
Meanwhile, Ahmed Keraishan has been elected chairman of the new Umrah committee at the chamber.
“We’ll work on solving the problems facing national companies that have suffered as a result of changes in Umrah regulations,” he said.
Adnan Mandoura, acting secretary-general of JCCI, said elections to subsidiary committees would continue until April 20.
“There are about 60 subsidiary committees. They will support the chamber’s activities and play a big role in implementing JCCI’s 13 strategic objectives,” he said.
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article43481.ece
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Highest Saudi religious body denounces terrorism
Apr 15, 2010
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's highest religious authority issued a fatwa (edict) denouncing all acts of terrorism and criminalising its financing, Asharq al-Awsat daily reported today.
The Council of Supreme Scholars declared "any act of terrorism, including providing financial support to terrorists, a crime," regardless of where it takes place, the London-based newspaper said.
According to the fatwa, the financier of acts of terrorism will be considered a "partner" in the crime, the newspaper said.
The council did not specify a penalty to the act of financing terrorism, leaving that decision for the Islamic courts to determine, the newspaper said.
The newspaper did not say if the council prescribed a penalty for carrying out acts of terrorism.
The council described terrorism as any act that involves "targeting of public resources," "hijacking planes" or "blowing up buildings."
With this edict, the conservative body denounces all attacks carried out by Al-Qaeda cells around the world, including some against targets in the Gulf kingdom.
Since a triple suicide bomb attack in May 2003, Saudi security forces have cracked down on supporters of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Highest-Saudi-religious-body-denounces-terrorism/articleshow/5801919.cms
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PML-Q supports demand for Hazara province
By Ahmad Hassan
15 Apr, 2010
ISLAMABAD, April 14: PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has reiterated support for the proposed Hazara province and called for creating new provinces wherever needed.
Briefing reporters after presiding over a meeting of his party’s central executive committee here on Wednesday, Chaudhry Shujaat supported the demand of the people of southern Punjab for a separate province, saying “Punjab should not usurp the rights of others”.
He reiterated his stance that his party legislators would not block the passage of the 18th amendment in the Senate. However, he added, his party would register its disagreement over the renaming of NWFP as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Former president and PML-Q leader Sardar Farooq Leghari said the demand for new provinces in Punjab and the NWFP was based on administrative and not linguistic considerations. “We are not demanding creation of new provinces to support the cause of an independent Balochistan, Pakhtunistan or Jinnahpur, rather the spirit of this decision is to get grievances of ignored, abused and deprived people of underdeveloped areas of both the provinces redressed,” Mr Leghari added.
He added: “We are against the renaming of the NWFP because the name was agreed upon by Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and we feel that a conspiracy is being hatched in renaming the province on linguistic basis.”
Former chief minister of Punjab Pervaiz Elahi criticised the PML-N leadership for accepting ‘Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’ as the new name for NWFP, saying Nawaz Sharif had bargained with ANP over the ideology of the PML just to get the two-term premiership condition repealed.
Meanwhile, the chief of the ‘likeminded’ faction of PML-Q, Salim Saifullah Khan, submitted an amendment for the 18th constitution amendment in Senate, proposing a separate Hazara province.
Speaking in the upper house of the parliament, he criticised the NWFP government over killing of some protesters in Abbottabad and called upon Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti to step down.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/pmlq-supports-demand-for-hazara-province-540
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Blasts 'kill nine' in Burmese city of Rangoon
15 April 2010
Many revellers were left in shock after the explosions
Three explosions in Burma's former capital city, Rangoon, have killed at least nine people, reports say.
The blasts happened in a park by Kandawgyi Lake as residents marked the New Year water festival.
Reports said scores of people had been injured and one hospital official said the death toll was expected to rise.
Burmese state TV said the blasts had been caused by bombs. Burma's generals usually blame attacks on dissidents or ethnic groups fighting for autonomy.
State TV at first confirmed that six people - and later eight - had been killed, but multiple reports quoting hospital sources and officials put the death toll at nine.
There were no claims of responsibility but state TV blamed the attacks on "terrorists", without naming any group.
Bomb blasts occur sporadically in and around Rangoon, which is the military-ruled nation's commercial hub.
But co-ordinated attacks which cause a large number of casualties are very rare.
'Drenched in blood'
Reports said the explosions happened at about 1500 local time (0830 GMT) near pavilions erected for the celebrations.
Hundreds had been attending the water festival in Rangoon
Witnesses said the emergency ward of Rangoon hospital was closed to outsiders after at least 30 injured people were rushed there, AP news agency reported.
One described a scene of chaos and commotion, with injured people arriving drenched in blood and people crying and moaning.
State TV said 75 people had been wounded.
The blasts come as Burma prepares to hold its first elections in two decades.
Imprisoned opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, has already said it will not take part because of election laws which it says are unjust.
Burma's rulers announced in 2005 that Rangoon was to be replaced as the country's capital by Nay Pyi Taw.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8622068.stm
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Amnesty International and Jihad: Why is a human rights group working with a Taliban supporter?
APRIL 14, 2010
Amnesty International defines itself as "a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all." So why is the organization working hand-in-glove with one of the Taliban's most notorious defenders?
That's a question serious human-rights campaigners are asking themselves in light of Amnesty's curious collaboration with Moazzam Begg. Mr. Begg is a British citizen and former Guantanamo detainee who, following his release in 2005, wrote a memoir and became director of a group called Cageprisoners, which Amnesty calls a "leading human rights organization."
In his memoir, Mr. Begg acknowledges that he moved to Afghanistan in the summer of 2001 to "live in an Islamic state . . . free from the corruption and despotism of the rest of the world." He added that "the Taliban were better than anything Afghanistan has had in the past 25 years."
Such views alone might have at least given Amnesty pause before it decided to offer him speaking platforms and bring him along to a meeting at 10 Downing Street. It certainly raised questions for Gita Sahgal, until recently the head of Amnesty's Gender Affairs Unit, who was suspended from her job earlier this year for opposing the organization's links to Mr. Begg and Cageprisoners. Ms. Saghal left her job for good on Friday, saying in a statement posted on the Internet that Amnesty has "made a mockery of the universality of rights."
Full report at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303720604575169414119507770.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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Saudi accused of raping 69-year-old in Manhattan
By LAURA BASHRAHEEL
Apr 15, 2010
JEDDAH: A 28-year-old Saudi student in the US has reportedly been accused of raping and robbing a 69-year-old man.
According to a report published last week in the Daily News, Nayef Al-Mutairy picked up the old man at a Manhattan nightclub in February 2009.
Al-Mutairy told a hearing on April 13 that he is a homosexual and was soliciting sex with the old man.
However, his lawyer claimed that it was just rough sex between two adults who were completely drunk.
Al-Mutairy could be sentenced to 25 years if charges of burglary, kidnapping and aggravated sexual abuse are proved. The old man’s identity has not been revealed.
Al-Mutairy is reportedly being represented by three lawyers. The court rejected an attempt by the Saudi Embassy to bail him out.
However, it is still not clear what a 69-year-old was doing with a young man at a nightclub.
Although prosecutors say the victim invited Al-Mutairy back to his apartment where the burglary and the rape allegedly took place, it does not fully explain why the defendant is facing kidnapping charges.
Reports also claim that Al-Mutairy was under the influence of alcohol when he beat him with a hanger, stole $60 and three watches, and raped him twice. In addition, the defendant allegedly forced the man to go to an ATM machine and withdraw more than $1,000.
Al-Mutairy told the old man not to go to the nightclub again or to the police.
According to another report, the Saudi Embassy in Washington is understood to be following the case after the story was published in some US newspapers.
The defendant stayed in prison for six months without contacting an attorney or the Saudi Embassy until the news were out in the papers.
An estimated 60,000 Saudi men and women are studying in 26 countries on government scholarships.
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article43534.ece
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Blasphemy laws: a fact sheet
By Mansoor Raza
15 Apr, 2010
THE draconia blasphemy laws enacted by the Ziaul Haq regime haunt the current democratic set-up as much as they do the Christian, Ahmadi and other minority communities of Pakistan.
Despite demands that these laws be totally repealed, the ultra-rightist lobby prevents the taking of any daring action that would attract the anger of the mullahs.
This situation must be understood in context of the fact that the enactment and acceptance of the blasphemy laws is a result of the manner in which the state of Pakistan has evolved. Their presence in the Pakistan Penal Code is rooted in the Indian Penal Code of 1860. In 1927, Section 295(a), which aimed to prevent tension between Hindus and Muslims, was added by the British to the Indian Penal Code and was with minor changes absorbed by Pakistani law after partition.
The contentious sections 295(b) and 295(c), introduced during the dictatorial Zia regime, aimed to protect the holy personages of Islam, the state religion. Section 295(c), which was added by an act of parliament in 1986, made it a criminal offence to use derogatory remarks with respect to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and made the crime punishable with life imprisonment or death.
Between 1927 and 1986 there were less than 10 reported cases of blasphemy. From 1986 onwards, however, as many as 4,000 cases have been reported. Between 1988 and 2005, Pakistani authorities charged 647 people, of which 50 per cent were non-Muslim, with offences under the blasphemy laws. More than 20 people have been murdered for alleged blasphemy. Two-thirds of all the cases have occurred in Punjab.
Full report at: dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/blasphemy-laws-a-fact-sheet-540
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Teacher under fire over poem
By FATIMA SIDIYA
Apr 15, 2010
JEDDAH: The case of a teacher accused of likening the Ka’aba to a Turkish actress has been referred by the Prosecution and Investigation Commission (PIC) to Madinah’s Shariah Court.
A poem that was circulated on the Internet and allegedly written by the teacher compared the House of God to the actress Lamis and also criticized a number of top Islamic scholars in the Kingdom.
The accused teaches at a Madinah school and was interrogated a few months ago by the PIC on orders from the Ministry of Interior.
Al-Madinah newspaper reported that a number of his colleagues and friends were also subpoenaed by the PIC.
It also said the Department of Education had initially formed a four-member investigation committee a year ago on the orders of then Minister of Education Dr. Abdullah Al-Obaid to interrogate the teacher, who was teaching at a Qur'an memorization school in Al-Hanakiya district of Madinah.
According to the newspaper, the defendant had protested his innocence, telling the committee he never wrote poems.
The teacher said he was willing to accept any punishment if it was proved that it was he who wrote the poem.
Al-Madinah said authorities were not convinced by the outcome of the committee’s investigations and asked the PIC to investigate further.
A source at the Department of Education in Madinah told Arab News that the teacher is still working at the school since he has an otherwise clean record.
He confirmed that his department had previously investigated the case and that it was subsequently transferred to the PIC.
The poem appeared in online forums with the teacher’s name and a photo of a man that strongly resembles him.
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article43408.ece
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Afghans 'abused at secret prison' at Bagram airbase
By Hilary Andersson
15 April 2010
Afghan prisoners are being abused in a "secret jail" at Bagram airbase, according to nine witnesses whose stories the BBC has documented.
The abuses are all said to have taken place since US President Barack Obama was elected, promising to end torture.
The US military has denied the existence of a secret detention site and promised to look into allegations.
Bagram was the site of a controversial jail holding hundreds of inmates, who have now been moved to another complex.
The old prison was notorious for allegations of prisoner torture and abuse.
But witnesses told the BBC in interviews or written testimony that abuses continue in a hidden facility.
Sleep deprivation
"They call it the Black Hole," said Sher Agha who spent six days in the facility last autumn.
"When they released us they told us we should not tell our stories to outsiders because that will harm us."
Full report at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8621973.stm
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India cryogenic satellite space launch fails
15 April 2010
India's bid to launch an advanced communications satellite into orbit for the first time by using a cryogenic engine has failed, scientists say.
The rocket took off as planned but the phase powered by the new engine failed to perform and deviated from its path.
Cryogenic engines are rocket motors designed for fuels that have to be held at very low temperatures to be liquid. They would otherwise be gas.
Officials say that only five countries in the world have this technology.
Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) Chairman K Radhakrishnan said that an investigation would now be held to find out what exactly went wrong.
Scientists say the mission failed because control of the two engines controlling the satellite was lost, resulting in loss of altitude and velocity.
Full report at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8622602.stm
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Jordan protests to Israel over expulsions
15 April 2010
Amman, Jordan -- Jordan has called in Israel's ambassador for an official protest over a controversial decision to expel Palestinians that Israel says are living illegally in the West Bank, the Jordanian state news agency reported Wednesday.
The Jordanian government considers the Israeli move "a flagrant violation of international law and conventions" and a violation of Israel's obligations as the occupying power in the West Bank, the state news agency Petra announced.
Israel has controlled the West Bank since the 1967 Mideast war. The order at the center of the controversy threatens Palestinians living in the territory without an Israeli-issued permit with deportation or imprisonment as "infiltrators."
The order modifies rules that date back to 1969. It took effect Wednesday.
A group of Israeli human rights organizations had asked Defense Minister Ehud Barak to delay the order's implementation, arguing it would "turn all residents of the West Bank into criminals," but the Israeli government said the order makes "no change with regard to who is illegal or illegal."
Full report at: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/14/jordan.israel/index.html
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Kerala top cop charged with meeting terror suspects in Gulf
VR Jayaraj
Apr 15, 2010
Inspector General of Kerala Police Tomin J Thachankery has been charged with holding discussions in Dubai with certain suspects in terror cases in the State with the intention of saving them. The Muslim Youth League, youth wing of Congress ally Indian Union Muslim League, on Wednesday claimed that there were eyewitnesses, who could testify against the police official. The IGP (North) is facing disciplinary procedures for touring the Gulf. Additional DGP (Intelligence) Sibi Mathews reported to the Chief Minister that Thachankery had violated All-India Service rules by travelling to the Gulf without Government clearance.
He is also accused of “escorting” a CPI-M team currently on a fund-raising tour of the Gulf. Thachankery is known to have close connections with the official leadership of the Kerala CPI-M and it is said that he has managed to escape action in several scandals because of this.
State Muslim Youth League general secretary M Shamsuddeen told newsmen in Kozhikode that Thachankery had met some people, who were on the list of suspects in some terror-related cases in Kerala. He charged the IGP with holding negotiations with them with promise to save them in the terror cases. Shamsuddeen demanded a probe by the National Investigation Agency or the CBI into this.
Full report at: dailypioneer.com/249159/Kerala-top-cop-charged-with-meeting-terror-suspects-in-Gulf.html
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Muslim students host Islam Awareness Week
By Ibrahim Hirisi
04/01/2010
The former Somali prime minister visited the campus on Tuesday.
Islam Awareness Week, which concludes Friday, has been at the University of Minnesota this week and aims to eradicate common misconceptions about Islam and Muslims in western culture.
Muslim students at the University initiated Islam Awareness Week in 1998 with the goal of educating non-Muslim people.
Former Somali Prime Minister Ali Khalif Galaydh said many people in the world view Muslims as radicals, against the west and violators of human rights. Galaydh spoke Tuesday at the University, showing a documentary that dealt with a backlash to Somali immigration in Maine and a conflict between neo-Nazi groups and human rights advocates.
Journalism professor Catherine Squires said a lot of these stereotypes grow from the way the western media depicts Islam and Muslims. The predominant images the media report are sensational, such as women being beaten or abused, Squires said.
“You always hear the worst case scenario,” she said.
However, with events that raise awareness and remove misconception, Galaydh said the future of Muslims in the western societies is hopeful.
“I think the event will make an enormous difference,” he said.
Full report at: mndaily.com/2010/04/01/u-muslim-students-host-islam-awareness-week
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Housing quota for Muslims?
Apr 15, 2010
Mumbai : Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar today said the Maharashtra government should explore possibility of giving reservations to Muslims in housing schemes.
"Many poor Muslims come to meet me with grievances that they cannot avail of a home," Pawar said. He asked minister of state for housing Sachin Ahir to look into the issue as cohabitation is good for society.
Addressing party workers at a meeting organised by NCP Mumbai unit, Pawar said Navi Mumbai municipal corporation election results have proved that people don't support parochial politics for long.
The uniqueness of Mumbai lies in the fact that every Indian can come and live here with dignity through hard work.
"If this secular and cosmopolitan fabric is damaged, Mumbai's future is at stake," he said.
NCP's base can be expanded only if we give opportunity to new generation of leaders who come up from grassroots.
He asked city unit to plan strategy for BMC polls scheduled in two years by taking up issues like water and electricity and expose Shiv Sena-BJP which has been in power in the Mumbai civic body for over 15 years.
Pawar said Marathi speaking people should encourage non-Maharashtrians when they show inclination to learn Marathi and speak the language for communication purpose.
Citing his own experience, Pawar said when he got the opportunity to travel in north India, he had problems speaking in fluent Hindi.
"But people in Lucknow, Bareilly and Allahabad appreciated my efforts when I spoke in broken Hindi and my confidence level also grew," he said.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/housing-quota-for-muslims/606376/
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Pak panel for ban on Indian TV channels
15 APRIL 2010
Lahore, April 14: A Pakistani parliamentary panel has recommended an immediate ban on Indian TV channels that it said are telecasting “immoral” programmes.
Begum Belium Hasnain, chairperson of the committee on information and broadcasting of the National Assembly or Lower House of Parliament, claimed several Indian entertainment channels were involved in airing immoral programmes.
“We want an immediate ban on them and strict action against cable operators in case they do not follow the government’s instruction,” she said. “We have to protect our young generation from the onslaught of Indian channels,” Ms Hasnain told reporters.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority should also look into copyright violations by cable operators.
“The cable operators are telecasting pirated Indian movies and they should be stopped and penalised,” she said.
The issue of banning Indian movies in Pakistani cinema halls was raised some months ago after a perceived snub of the country’s cricketers during the auction for the Indian Premier League
http://www.asianage.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9094:pak-panel-for-ban-on-indian-tv-channels&catid=36:international&Itemid=61
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Indians, Pakistanis should study their common history: Jaswant Singh
April 15, 2010
ISLAMABAD: To avoid becoming the victims of "revenge of geography" Indians and Pakistanis should study their common history to know the roots of partition, former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh said today.
"We must not undo the partition but we have to undo the consequences that are damaging both countries," Singh said, at a function marking the launch of his book 'Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence.'
Singh said, that the tragic event is still affecting both the countries.
Singh, currently in Pakistan to promote his controversial book that led to his ouster from the BJP last year, said the impression in the country that India wanted to undo the partition was "wrong".
"If we don't study our common history, we become victims of the revenge of geography," he said. His book was a search for the "roots of partition", he added.
India, he said, wanted to live in peace with all its neighbours. He told an audience comprising writers, journalists and former diplomats that he did not question "the existence and legitimacy of Pakistan."
However, people need to know "what caused Pakistan" and this is what he had attempted to tackle in his book, he added.
Full report at: publication.samachar.com/pub_article.php?id=8688481&navname=India%20&moreu
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Saudi Arabia keen on boosting scientific ties with India: Salman
Apr 15, 2010
NEW DELHI: A leading Indian university on Wednesday conferred an honorary doctorate on Riyadh Gov. Prince Salman who called for strengthening education ties between the two countries.
“Jamia Millia Islamia honors His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, a world renowned philanthropist, internationally acclaimed statesman and above all a man of high moral fabric and integrity, with the degree of Doctor of Letters,” said a citation read during the award ceremony at the university.
“India and Saudi Arabia have a historic relationship. There is a need to deepen education ties between the two countries,” said Prince Salman after receiving the degree from the university’s Vice Chancellor Najeeb Jung.
The governor referred to the age-old education relations between the two countries, adding that many Saudi scholars who studied in India returned to the Kingdom to hold important positions including those in the judiciary. “King Abdul Aziz used to praise those scholars,” he pointed out.
Full report at: http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article43564.ece
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Levies force restored in Balochistan
By Saleem Shahid
15 Apr, 2010
QUETTA, April 14: The Balochistan government has restored the Levies force with the same jurisdiction that it had before its merger with police, within the revenue limits of 23 of the 30 districts of the province.
An official notification issued by the home secretary on Wednesday night said: “All personnel of Levies merged into police shall stand restored to the Balochistan Levies Force. All police stations meant to administer areas falling into “B” areas shall stand restored to the force with immediate effect. All movable and immovable assets handed over to the police force at the time of merger will be returned to the Levies force.”
The Levies force is already working in six districts of the province.
The provincial assembly approved the Balochistan Levies Force Bill 2010 on April 5. The cabinet had approved restoration of the force on March 5 last year.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/levies-force-restored-in-balochistan-540
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Mufti fears Church sex abuse case impact
Apr 15, 2010
It is the case of one-bad-apple-spoils-the-whole-bunch. This time, fearing a whiplash are religious heads, which a Muslim cleric has brought to the forefront.
A scandal over the sexual abuse of children by priests could harm the credibility of other religions as well as Roman Catholicism, a senior European Muslim leader says.
Mustafa Ceric, the spiritual leader of Bosnia's Muslim majority and a key figure in Christian-Muslim dialogue, said he hoped Pope Benedict would act decisively to tackle the paedophilia problem and prevent further harm.
The Church is going through a very difficult time and I wish the current pope will be capable and up to the challenge that he is put in, the grand mufti of Bosnia said in an interview on Wednesday. He stressed his reluctance to comment on what he called an internal matter for the Church.
Full report at: financialexpress.com/news/Mufti-fears-Church-sex-abuse-case-impact/606876/
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Africans worry about future religious conflict; Nigeria, Rwanda top list
By: TOM MALITI
04/15/10
LAGOS, NIGERIA — More than a quarter of people in sub-Saharan Africa worry about future conflict along religious lines, though concerns in Rwanda and Nigeria are even higher, according to a new survey on religious attitudes released Thursday.
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, which conducted the survey, however, found that unemployment, crime and corruption are of greater concern to Africans than future religious conflict.
But the survey found that in Nigeria and Rwanda — countries that have suffered from vicious sectarian conflict — 58 percent in each country fear future bloodshed.
The survey, which involved interviewing 25,000 people in 19 sub-Saharan African countries, found that in many cases fear of religious conflict were tied to fears of ethnic conflict.
"For many in Africa religion and ethnicity are very closely connected in that basically they see the two working together in terms of their concern about violence," said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
Full report at: washingtonexaminer.com/world/survey-a-quarter-of-africans-worry-about-future-religious-conflict-nigeria-rwanda-top-list-90925309.html
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Africans among world's most religious people, study finds
By Richard Allen Greene
April 15, 2010
At least half of all Christians in sub-Saharan Africa believe Jesus will return to Earth in their lifetime -- part of a pattern that indicates the region is among the most religious places in the world, according to a huge new study.
It's not only Christians in Africa who experience their religion passionately, either. Nearly one in three Muslims in the region expect to see the re-establishment of the caliphate -- Islam's golden age -- before they die.
At least three out of 10 people across much of Africa said they have experienced divine healing, seen the devil being driven out of a person or received a direct revelation from God, according to the study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in Washington.
"In many countries across the continent, roughly nine in 10 people say religion is very important in their lives," the study found.
That puts even the least religious countries in the region ahead of the United States, which is among the most religious of advanced industrial countries, the study's authors wrote.
For example, only one in five American Christians said they expected to see Jesus return to Earth in their lifetime -- far lower than the African result of more than half -- according to a 2006 Pew survey, which asked a slightly different question.
Full report at: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/04/15/africa.religion/
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At least 100 killed in India-Bangladesh storm
April 15, 2010
Strong winds destroyed thousands of homes and left a trail of destruction
At least 100 people have died in a powerful storm that hit areas on the border between India and Bangladesh.
Many more are injured or trapped in rubble as about 50,000 houses were hit by winds of up to 160 km/h (100mph).
Medical and food supplies have been rushed to the area after the cyclone struck overnight on Tuesday.
North-eastern areas of West Bengal and Bihar states and the Bangladeshi state of Rangpur were worst-hit, said officials.
It is the most violent storm in this area since Cyclone Aila hit eastern India and Bangladesh in May last year, killing more than 150 people.
West Bengal's Uttar Dinajpur district was struck badly, with nearly 40 dead.
Many were killed by falling trees or debris
Much of the district is without power because electricity poles collapsed after trees uprooted by the storm fell on them.
Full report at: http://publication.samachar.com/topstorytopmast.php?
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US forces pull out of isolated Afghan valley
Apr 15, 2010
US troops are pulling out of Afghanistan’s perilous Korengal Valley as part of a new focus on protecting population centres, NATO said on Wednesday. The isolated mountainous region of caves and canyons on the eastern border with Pakistan has seen fierce fighting between NATO and Taliban insurgents, who use it as a route for infiltrating weapons and fighters into Afghanistan.
The repositioning reflects the new thinking among commanders that forces are best used to protect the civilian population rather than placed in scattered outposts that are highly exposed to militant activity and difficult to resupply and reinforce.
“This repositioning, in partnership with the Afghan National Security Forces, responds to the requirements of the new population-centric counterinsurgency strategy,” Lt Gen David M Rodriguez, joint commander of international forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement e-mailed to media. “The move does not prevent forces from rapidly responding, as necessary, to crisis there in Korengal and in other parts of the region, as well.” The strategic shift coincides with the deployment of an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, most on missions to drive the Taliban from populated areas and provide enough security to allow local Governments to consolidate control and bring about economic recovery.
Korengal, in eastern Kunar province, has a reputation as one of most dangerous areas in the country, where its rugged mountainous terrain makes it a perfect insurgent hunting ground. Three Navy SEALs were killed in an ambush in 2005, while a helicopter carrying American special forces sent to rescue them was shot down.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/249100/US-forces-pull-out-of-isolated-Afghan-valley.html
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Jamaat supported Pakistan in 1971
Apr 15, 2010
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leaders on Tuesday said they had supported Pakistan during the War of Independence in 1971, but there are no war criminals in their party.
‘The government is going to make a farce of the war crimes trial,’ said Shamshul Islam MP, Ameer of the city unit of Jamaat, at a press conference held at their Chandanpura office in the city.
He also said they did not accept the war crimes trial as the matter was settled 39 year back, adding that the government had been trying to divert public attention from their failures in the name of war crimes trial.
The press conference was organized in protest against foiling a meeting of the party which was scheduled to be attended by the party general secretary Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed on Sunday, and police attack on a procession at Andarkillah on Monday.
City unit general secretary Nurul Islam, Nayeb-E-Ameer Afsar Uddin Chowdhury and district (south) Ameer Jafar Sadique among others were present at the press conference.
The city unit Jamaat Ameer, while reading out written statement at the press conference, alleged that police foiled their meeting at Chandanpura area on Sunday when the Chhatra League organized a rally at the venue under police protection.
He also alleged that police launched an attack on their procession, brought out in protest against Sunday’s incident at Andarkillah, without any provocation and arrested a number of their leaders and workers.
‘The law and order situation will turn worse if the government continues to interrupt democratic programmes.’ he said.
Jamaat would hold rallies at each thana in Chittagong to protest police action on Friday and Saturday and hold meetings with the leaders of different professional bodies on Thursday.
http://www.newagebd.com/2010/apr/14/nat.html
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Jamaat faces protest in Sylhet
April 10, 2010
Bangladesh Jamaat-e Islami could not hold its scheduled meeting in Sylhet city on Friday in the face of a strong protest by the Bangladesh Chhatra League, associate student organisation of the ruling Awami League, and Muktijoddha Command, a forum of freedom fighters.
The Sylhet Metropolitan Police early Friday imposed a ban on all types of public gathering on the Sylhet Judge Court premises and in its surroundings till evening after the local MJC and BCL leaders announced they would stage a sit-in at the Surma Market Point, the gateway to Sylhet Judge Court, to prevent holding of the Jamaat’s programme.
The activists MJC and BCL staged the sit-in at Surma Market point in the morning defying the police ban on gatherings in the area.
SMP commissioner Aftad Uddin Ahmed told New Age that the ban was imposed to maintain law and order in the city. ‘No untoward incidents have been reported till evening,’ he added.
Local activists of Jamaat activists, however, held rallies at six places in the city after failing to arrange its regional representatives’ meeting scheduled for 9:30am at the district bar.
Full report at: http://www.newagebd.com/2010/apr/10/front.html
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Civilians deaths hurt Pakistan anti-Taliban drive
Apr 15, 2010
By Zeeshan Haider
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A Pakistani air strike on suspected Taliban militants which killed civilians in a village could alienate those the army needs most in its struggle to stabilise the country -- pro-government tribesmen.
Before the attack on Saturday, remote Saravilla was one of the few villages in northwest Pakistan where the Pakistan Taliban were too scared to go, residents say.
After details of the operation became clear this week, analysts wonder whether the assault may turn some of the few Pakistanis brave enough to resist the Taliban against the army as it widens a crackdown on al Qaeda-backed Taliban insurgents.
Villagers and local government officials said 63 civilians were killed. The military initially denied civilians died. Then military officials said the strikes killed 30 militants and then another assault killed up to 20 civilians who gathered afterwards at the site and were mistaken for Taliban fighters.
"Siravilla is a place where the Taliban cannot dare enter. The government well knows where are the hideouts of the militants," Ameer Baz, a villager whose relative was wounded in the attack, told Reuters.
Full report at: © Thomson Reuters 2010
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Haqqani network hardened foe for NATO in Afghanistan
April 15, 2010
SHEMBOWAT: Hours before the children arrive, US soldiers take up position in a darkened school, where classrooms are riddled with bullet holes from attacks blamed on a group known as the Haqqani network.
At daybreak, their Afghan counterparts go house-to-house around Shembowat village to try to root out supporters of a Haqqani cell who have been attacking security forces in the mountains of Khost province.
The sweep yields 15 rifles, two pistols and some explosives but no arrests are made. Local elders are tight-lipped, unwilling to betray a family that has been in the area long before US troops arrived.
"The Haqqanis are from the Zadran tribe, which is in Paktya and Khost provinces, and most of them -- because of family ties -- support them," said Brigadier General Mohammad Asrar Aqdas, commander of the Afghan army in Khost.
This is the heartland of the Haqqani network, a Taliban-affiliated armed group that has become a particularly prickly thorn in the side of US-led forces trying to bring security to eastern Afghanistan.
The network is one of their toughest foes. Its leadership is based in Pakistan, it has a decentralised cell structure, close ties with foreign militant groups including Al-Qaeda and a long history in the area.
"The Haqqani leadership is the Pablo Escobar of the Taliban," said US Army Major Steven Bower, referring to the infamous Colombian drug lord.
The Afghan Taliban, leading the nearly nine-year fight against foreign forces and the Western-backed Afghan government, want to regain power and impose Sharia law but the Haqqani network wants more, he added.
"Haqqani I see much more as a desire for control," said Bower, who is NATO's intelligence officer in the group's eastern strongholds of Khost, Paktika and Paktya provinces.
http://thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=102872
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Show-cause notices to 47 SIMI members
Apr 15, 2010
PUNE: District collector Chandrakant Dalvi on Wednesday said that show-cause notices about 'unlawful associations' have been issued to 47 activists of the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in Pune following a notification from the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal of the Delhi high court.
Dalvi said that the procedure for issuing of notices was underway since Tuesday. The notices will be served by the city police. He said that the notices are as per the central government's notification dated February 5, 2010, under section 3 (1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, which declared SIMI as an unlawful association'.
It states, "The notice is hereby given to you under sub section (2) of section 4 of the Act to show cause in writing within 30 days from the date of service of this notice as to why your association should not be declared unlawful and why an order should not be made confirming the declaration made in the above mentioned notification.”
The Centre had extended the ban on SIMI for another two years in February.
The outfit — allegedly found to be involved in all the major terrorist attacks in India in terms of providing logistics and foot soldiers to major Pakistan-based terror groups — has been facing a ban since September 2001.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Show-cause-notices-to-47-SIMI-members/articleshow/5807253.cms
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An Islamist in Professor's Garb: Tariq Ramadan Returns to America
By Brendan Goldman
April 15, 2010
A capacity crowd of 860 students, professionals, hijab-clad women, and others filled Cooper Union's Great Hall on Thursday, April 8, to hear Tariq Ramadan deliver his first public address in the U.S. since the Bush administration revoked his visa in 2004. The controversial Swiss Muslim, who teaches Islamic history at Oxford University, was banned for his 2002 donation to a Muslim charity with links to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas -- a move that cost him an endowed chair at the University of Notre Dame. Earlier this year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton personally intervened to allow Ramadan to enter the country.
Cooper Union President George Campbell's voice swelled with pride when, in introducing Ramadan, he boasted that his college had earned a reputation of hosting countless "radical campaigners of every sort" who were described in their day "as the most dangerous men and women in America." Campbell, the ACLU, the PEN American Center, and the other sponsoring organizations portrayed the event, "Secularism, Islam and Democracy," as a celebration of free speech.
Full report at: americanthinker.com/2010/04/an_islamist_in_professors_garb.html
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'Punish 26/11 perpetrators, we'll talk'
Indrani Bagchi
Apr 15, 2010
WASHINGTON: India is willing to resume talks with Pakistan if it takes action against Lashkar-e-Taiba and perpetrators of 26/11, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.
Taking an unusually sharp approach to Pakistan, Singh told journalists at a post-summit press conference, "If anyone asks me about bilateral relations with Pakistan, then I explain our position which is an open secret — if Pakistan takes credible steps to bring perpetrators of the horrible crimes of 26/11 to book, that's the minimum we expect. If Pakistan does that, we will be very happy to begin talks once again."
While Singh's stand is now official Indian policy, what was striking was that the normally mild-mannered PM showed a toughness Pakistan would do well to note. His comments are significant in the context of the possibility that an India-Pakistan summit-level meeting may be planned on the sidelines of the Saarc summit in Bhutan in a couple of weeks. Even on that the PM was almost dismissive. "Bhutan is still some time away. We will cross that bridge when we come to it," he said.
Full report at: timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Punish-26/11-perpetrators-well-talk/articleshow/5806715.cms
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India will get access to Headley: PM
Apr 15, 2010
Two days after he held talks with US President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday expressed confidence that India will get access to David Coleman Headley, the Mumbai terror plotter who is currently in the US custody.
"The president is aware of legal position and we will get access to Headley," Manmohan Singh told journalists at the end of his four-day visit.
The issue of access to Headley, who is wanted in India for his role in scouting targets for the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008, figured prominently in wide-ranging discussions Manmohan Singh had with Obama Sunday.
Obama had assured Manmohan Singh that he was "fully supportive" of India's request for access to Headley and American officials are working through their legal system to make it possible.
Subsequently, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon discussed modalities and legal processes to enable India to get access to Headley when he met his counterpart James Jones.
Headley, an American-Pakistani LeT operative, confessed to his role in plotting the 26/11 carnage in a plea bargain in a Chicago court last month to avoid death penalty.
The 49-year-old Headley also admitted that he attended training camps in Pakistan operated by LeT on five separate occasions between 2002 and 2005.
Source: The Asian Age, New Delhi
No dialogue before 26/11 attackers punished
Apr 15, 2010
A fortnight before a likely meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani in Bhutan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday said India can resume dialogue with Pakistan on all issues only if it takes "credible steps" to bring the known perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage to justice.
Underscoring India's growing exasperation with lack of action by Pakistan against 26/11 terrorists, the prime minister stressed that there was no need to give more evidence about the complicity of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its founder Hafiz Saeed in the Mumbai carnage.
"We have said more than once that Pakistan, if it takes credible steps to bring the perpetrators of the horrible crime of 26/11 to book..." Manmohan Singh told journalists at the end of his four-day trip to the US.
"...that's the minimum we expect from Pakistan and if Pakistan does that, we would be very happy to talk to them and beginning talking to them once again on all our issues," he said.
Manmohan Singh said he ran into Gilani twice here on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit, but clarified that there was no serious discussion beyond exchanging pleasantries.
Manmohan Singh was evasive when asked about the possibility of a bilateral meeting with Gilani on the sidelines of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in the Bhutanese capital Thimpu April 28-29.
Full report at: http://www.dailypioneer.com/249068/India-will-get-access-to-Headley-PM.html
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Cotton fields in Saudi Arabia
Apr 15, 2010
Homemade and homebred: Our cotton fields are no fig of fiction but real!
Take a peek with "thine own eyes"! There is a whole variety of them in each of our own vicinities! Or even better, meet those whose stubbed, scarred and scabbed fingers are the "proof of the cotton-picking pudding"!
Take Zakir and Bilal for example, who have come all the way from Bangladesh for the pleasure of cleaning our street cotton fields. So loyal they are, that they work round the clock (according to my honest-to-God 16-hour stake out - until sleep ran me over. When and where were they dropped off or picked up from? God knows).
So content, healthy, fulfilled, well-fed, well-housed, well-clothed etc., they are, that they can go months without their SR700 salaries (yes, I admit the sum most likely is exaggerated here) unneeded by their families back home who are also so content, healthy, fulfilled, well-fed, well-housed, well-clothed!
They are super beings (possible Superman descendants? Fictional fig or not!) feeding on scraps (so affordable even without the exaggerated SR700!) lest they outgrow their cotton field purple gowns costing us to inconveniently accommodate their grand bodies!
Full report at: http://arabnews.com/opinion/columns/article43470.ece
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Ousted Kyrgyz president must stand trial: New leader
Apr 15, 2010
BISHKEK: Kyrgyzstan's interim leader on Wednesday refused to offer any compromise to deposed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, demanding he be put on trial for the bloodshed in protests last week.
The comments by interim government chief Roza Otunbayeva came as the United States and Russia gave guarded signals of support for the new leadership in the strategic Central Asian country after Bakiyev was overthrown in the uprising.
"Bakiyev has exceeded the limits of his immunity by spilling blood and now he must be brought to trial and answer before the law," Otunbayeva said after talks with visiting US envoy Robert Blake.
Bakiyev fled to southern Kyrgyzstan after protests last week erupted into violence, killing 84 people and bringing the interim government to power.
The toppled president had Tuesday offered for the first time since the protests to resign, but only on the condition that the security of himself and his family was guaranteed.
Blake, the first senior US official to visit Kyrgyzstan since the uprising, said after talks with Otunbayeva that the actions of the interim government gave the United States grounds for "optimism."
Full report at: timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Ousted-Kyrgyz-president-must-stand-trial-New-leader/articleshow/5802494.cms
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Hamas orders Gaza smuggling tunnels shut
Karin Laub
Apr 15, 2010
Gaza’s Hamas rulers have ordered residents to shut smuggling tunnels along the border with Egypt indefinitely, cutting off the economic lifeline for 1.5 million Palestinians in the impoverished territory, residents and tunnel operators said on Wednesday.
Forces of the Islamic militant Hamas moved into the border area late on Tuesday and ordered tunnel operators to cease operations until further notice. The operators were allowed to retrieve food and other perishable goods, but otherwise barred from the area on Wednesday.
“This is the first time this has happened,” said Jasser Younes, a 25-year-old tunnel worker who helps smuggle cement into Gaza. Two other tunnel operators said Hamas security forces warned people they would be punished if they defied the order. They declined to be identified for fear of punishment. A Hamas security official confirmed the closure.
Hamas has long controlled the tunnel industry and it was not clear why it was suddenly ordering them shut, given their importance to the economy.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/249097/Hamas-orders-Gaza-smuggling-tunnels-shut.html
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Re-imagining India-Pakistan relations
By A S Panneerselvan
April 15, 2010
The relationship between India and Pakistan is at the cusp of being re-imagined. Since 1947, the two neighbours were governed by mutual antagonism and the Cold War drove further wedges into a relationship that was drifting into narrow nationalistic jingoism. The end of the Cold War did not help matters, and the geopolitical equations of the early 1990s created a new flux. The Kargil incursions, the nuclear tests at Pokhran and the Chagai mountains, the attack on the Indian Parliament and Operation Parakaram all overshadowed the Lahore initiative and the Agra Summit. While policymakers were not swift enough to change gears and see things in terms of the new reality, the people of the two countries embarked on a journey to redefine the relationship. And the media leaders helped us to constantly map and document the new imagination.
Panos South Asia (PSA) and the Kathmandu-based monthly magazine Himal Southasian realised that the most significant factor to contribute to any mutual trust deficit is a lack of information. As such, in 2002 PSA (then headed by the late Saneeya Hussain) and Himal invited some prominent editors and owners of media houses from both of the countries for an open, informal and informed sharing of experiences and information.
Full report at: http://thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=234240
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Bomb rocks central Baghdad, gunfire follows
Apr 15, 2010
BAGHDAD: A bomb ripped through a busy central Baghdad commercial district on Wednesday, wounding at least three people, an official and witnesses said.
A correspondent reported an eruption of gunfire soon after the blast rocked Al-Rasheed street at about at 1:40 pm (1040 GMT).
An interior ministry official said initial reports indicated that the explosion was the result of a bomb and that at least three people were injured.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Bomb-rocks-central-Baghdad-gunfire-follows/articleshow/5802662.cms
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Al-Qaeda 'plotted Iraq mosque attacks'
Apr 15 2010
Iraqi authorities have uncovered plans by al-Qaeda to fly hijacked planes into the country's Shi'ite mosques in Iraq, a US counter-terrorism official say.
But it remained unclear how far the plot had advanced, the official said.
"There are indications that such a plot was, in fact, in the works. It may not have been that far along, but that's obviously a key question people are looking at now," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Wednesday.
He added that "the Iraqis are working hard to make sure that everyone connected to it is wrapped up."
The comments came after an airport in Najaf, 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of the Iraqi capital, was closed on April 7, but Iraqi officials did not report any al-Qaeda plot.
Authorities had cited security concerns for the closure, saying the Kuwaiti company responsible for passenger operations had failed to meet its contractual obligations to provide security-related equipment.
Full report at: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1040055/al-qaeda-plotted-iraq-mosque-attacks
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World is safer after N-summit: Obama
Apr 15, 2010
WASHINGTON: US president Barack Obama declared the world safer after a 47-nation summit agreed to a four-year deadline to lock down loose nuclear materials to prevent them from falling into militant hands.
"Because of the steps we've taken the American people will be safer and the world will be more secure," Obama said at the end of the summit on Tuesday in Washington.
The unprecedented gathering met a challenge laid down by Obama, who said the world was littered with poorly guarded fissile material and that a nuclear-armed militant group could threaten global "catastrophe".
"We welcome and join President Obama's call to secure all vulnerable nuclear material in four years, as we work together to enhance nuclear security," the leaders said in a joint statement.
Full report at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/World-is-safer-after-N-summit-Obama/articleshow/5805546.cms
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UN commission to unveil report on Benazir’s murder today
April 15, 2010
UNITED NATIONS: A United Nations commission investigating the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto would unveil its findings today (Thursday), said a spokesman for the world body on Wednesday.
The spokesman said the three-member team would file its report with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at “4.30pm local time on Thursday”, and he would then hand it over to Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Hussain Abdullah Haroon. The UN chief would also file the report with the Security Council.
After handing over the report to the UN chief, the head of the commission, the Chilean ambassador to the UN, would release the report at a press conference at 5:30pm, or 2:30 PST (Friday).
About suggestions by Pakistan for interviews of more internal figures – including Afghan President Hamid Karzai and former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice – the spokesman said the commission had told the UN secretary general that all relevant facts and circumstances had been explored, the report was complete and would not be changed.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\04\15\story_15-4-2010_pg7_4
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Pakistan seizes three Indian boats, arrests 17 fishermen
Rathin Das
Apr 15, 2010
Pakistani security forces have seized three Indian fishing boats along with 17 fishermen from near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) in the high seas.
Fishing industry sources said the three fishing boats belonging to Porbandar were intercepted by the Pakistan Marine Security Agency (PMSA) on Tuesday evening and taken to Karachi harbour.
This action by the PMSA could be a retaliation to last week’s arrest of a dozen Pak intruders by the marine wing of the Border Security Force (BSF) from near the Harami Nala area.
With this latest incident, the total number of Indian fishing boats in Pakistani custody touched 444 while the number of fishermen abducted goes up to 584.
Latest information from Pakistani side indicate that the PMSA have since released two of the seized boats along with some fishermen, Porbandar Boat Association leader Manish Lodhari told The Pioneer on Wednesday.
It has been the practice of the PMSA to release some of the captured boats along with children and old or ailing fishermen after taking away the cache of fish and costly equipment from the vessels.
The number of fishermen released would be known only after they reach the Indian coast some time on Thursday evening, said Manish Lodhari.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/249155/Pakistan-seizes-three-Indian-boats-arrests-17-fishermen.html
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Sultan Shahin
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