Pakistan marks Muhammad Iqbal as "Poet of
Islam"
Roots of Islamic funamentalism lie in Nazi propaganda for Arab world,
book claims
Row over namaz on road in South Delhi
Malaysian lawmaker in trouble over polygamy
France to ban full Islamic veil from public
spaces
JEDDAH: ‘Exploitation’ of women during Janadriya
denied
India won't scale down activities in Afghanistan: Foreign
Minister
Pakistan signs $65 million deal for US warship
Sania, Shoaib to be Pakistan brand
ambassadors
Hafiz on tape, Masood on phone to address Srinagar
meet
Decapitating the Iraq insurgents
Banned Islamist outfit chief coordinator held in
Bangladesh
‘Corruption fuelling terrorism in Indonesia’
‘False Religion’ Is How Long-Time U.S. Aide Now Describes Mideast
Peace Process
Top 2 Qaida leaders in Iraq killed
Language trips Afghans posing as Nepalese
fliers
'Pak needs to do much more on ending terror'
Indians on death row in UAE allege torture
Omar speaks against human rights violations
China for diplomatic solution to Iran nuclear
issue
Zia went into hiding before border guard mutiny:
Hasina
Benazir Bhutto’s assassination: 'Indirectly
complicit'
Israel hinders mosque renovation
Iran arrests members of a "terrorist group"
East Sudan parties concede defeat, cry fraud
Sunni Iraqi leader on Jordan terrorism list
From Neptune to Gaza: On language, identity and
hope
‘Killing’ of Qaeda leaders won’t end Iraq
attacks
Beware the coming war by Matein Khalid
Placing Karzai in the hot seat by Fareed
Zakaria
Compiled by Asit Kumar
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Speaking of fatwas: What about female
circumcision?
Sheema Khan
April 21st, 2010
Last month, a group of prominent Muslim scholars met in the Turkish
city of Mardin to revisit the Mardin fatwa, the 14th-century legal edict written
by Muslim scholar Ibn Taymiyya, who lived during the brutal Mongol invasion.
While the Mongols eventually embraced Islam, they unleashed terror on their
religious brethren. Ibn Taymiyya declared that, although the Mongols were
nominally Muslim, they did not rule according to classical Islamic law and,
therefore, could be killed. The Mardin fatwa is often quoted by Osama bin Laden
and other extremists to excommunicate and murder Muslims who don’t share their
views. The fatwa is also used to justify the murder of unarmed
combatants.
The scholars declared that these interpretations of the Mardin fatwa
are erroneous, that the killing of non-combatants is forbidden. Furthermore,
they made it clear that jihad has multiple meanings, one of which is armed
conflict. But only a head of state, not individuals, can declare armed jihad,
and only as a defensive means against aggression.
The strong opinion followed a remarkable 600-page fatwa issued by an
influential Pakistani scholar, Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, who categorized
individuals committing terrorism in the name of Islam to be outside the fold of
the faith. He, too, said in no uncertain terms that the killing of
non-combatants is forbidden, as is suicide. Suicide bombings, he said, lie
outside the bounds of Islam and can in no way be justified. He reiterated this
stand by condemning the “black widow” terror attacks in the recent Moscow subway
bombings.
These declarations are important in the ideological fight against
extremism, for they provide strong ammunition against justifications provided by
extremists. Yet, there’s another fatwa of Ibn Taymiyya that deserves no less
critical examination, given its harmful implications on the lives of so
many.
Ibn Taymiyya advocated female circumcision, ruling that “its purpose
is to reduce the woman's desire; if she is uncircumcised, she becomes lustful
and tends to long more for men.” Today, many who practise female genital
mutilation and infibulation point to this fatwa as justification for this
barbarism. There’s no mention of female circumcision in the Koran, while
unauthentic narrations relating to this practice are attributed to the Prophet
Mohammed. The debilitating effects of female genital mutilation are
well-documented, and Muslim scholars must unequivocally condemn this affront to
women’s dignity.
Perhaps a conference of scholars – such as the one in Mardin – can be
held in Egypt, where Ibn Tayyima’s views hold sway. The United Nations estimates
that as many as 90 per cent of Egyptian women have undergone female genital
mutilation.
Or given the underlying intent of the ruling – the control of women –
such a conference might take place in Saudi Arabia, where a woman is under male
guardianship from cradle to grave. Just look at the plight of 24-year-old Nazia
Quazi, a Canadian citizen who’s languished in that country since 2007 because
her father refuses to sign her exit visa. Despite being a signatory to a number
of international human-rights agreements, Saudi Arabia routinely allows cultural
patriarchy to trump human dignity, as chronicled in the 2008 Human Rights Watch
report Perpetual Minors: Human Rights Abuses Stemming from Male Guardianship and
Sex Segregation in Saudi Arabia.
What’s urgently needed is an examination of how women in
predominantly Muslim countries are lagging behind. Some compare the condition of
Muslim women to that of a collapsed lung, which incapacitates the entire body. A
community, a nation, can never reach its full potential if half its members are
denied certain rights.
There’s also a connection between the status of women and terrorism.
In their book Half the Sky, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn say greater
female involvement in society and the economy seems to undermine extremism. Some
point to the low level of female education and societal participation as reasons
why some Muslim countries have been disproportionately afflicted by terrorism.
Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, argues that, when women are
educated, they’re more likely to restrain their sons.
While the Mardin fatwa initiative is commendable, it’s incomplete.
Theological pronouncements against terrorism must go hand in hand with a resolve
to better the condition of women in Muslim societies.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/speaking-of-fatwas-what-about-female-circumcision/article1540876/
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Pakistan marks Muhammad Iqbal as "Poet of
Islam"
By Ubaid ur Rahman
21 April 2010
Pakistan on Wednesday observes the 72nd death anniversary of great
poet-philosopher Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal with due reverence and solemnity. Dr
Allama Muhammad Iqbal gave the vision of an independent state for the Muslims of
British India that led to the creation of Pakistan.
One of the most prominent leaders of the All India Muslim League,
Allama Iqbal encouraged the creation of a "state in north-western India for
Muslims" in his 1930 presidential address. After studying in England and
Germany, Iqbal started law practice, but concentrated primarily on writing
scholarly works on politics, economics, history, philosophy and
religion.
He died on 21st April 1938 at the age of 60. To mark the day, special
programmes, seminars and debate competitions will be held to pay homage to the
services of Dr Iqbal. In Lahore.
The newspapers have published special editions while TV channels
would air different programmes to mark 72nd death anniversary of Dr Allama
Iqbal. Bang-e-Dara, Baal Jabreel, Zarb-e-Kaleem and Payam-e-Mashriq are his
great books. Allama Iqbal is best known for his poetic works, including
Asrar-e-Khudi-which brought a knighthood- Rumuz-e-Bekhudi, and the Bang-e-Dara,
with its enduring patriotic song Tarana-e-Hind. Iqbal was a strong proponent of
the political and spiritual revival of Islamic civilisation across the world,
but specifically in South Asia.
Who is Muhammad Iqbal?
Iqbal was born in1938 in Sialkot. He received his early education in
Sialkot and Lahore later on, he studied law in England and Germany. His primary
focus was on the creation of works on politics, religion, economics, philosophy
and history. He also composed a number of poems and is well-known for his poetic
works like Rumuz-i-Bekhudi, Asrar-e-Khudi and Bang-i-Dara among others. He is
held in high honor in Afghanistan and Iran and he is fondly called as
Iqbal-e-Lahori, which means Iqbal of Lahore.
His poetry in Urdu, Arabic and Persian is considered to be among the
greatest of the modern era.He gave the vision of an independent state for the
Muslims of British India that led to the creation of
Pakistan.
Among his 12,000 verses of poem, about 7,000 verses are in Persian.
In 1915,he published his first collection of poetry, the Asrar e Khudi (Secrets
of the Self) in Persian. The poems delve into concepts of ego and emphasise
thespirit and self from a religious, spiritual perspective. Many critics have
called this Iqbal's finest poetic work.
Iqbal's philosophy
In Asrar e Khudi, Iqbal has explained his philosophy of "Khudi," or
"Self." He proves by various means that the whole universe obeys the will of the
"Self." Iqbal condemns self destruction. For him the aim of life is self
realization and self knowledge. He charts the stages through which the "Self"has
to pass before finally arriving at its point of perfection, enabling the knower
of the "Self" to become the viceregent of Allah.
A very strong supporter of the revival of Islam around the world, he
also advocated for the cause that the spiritual and political resurgence of
Islam was very essential. He delivered a famous set of lectures in India that
was compiled and published as Reconstruction of Religious Thought in
Islam.
Iqbal was a strong proponent of the political and spiritual revival
of Islamic civilisation across the world, but specifically in South Asia; a
series of famous lectures he delivered to this effect were published as "The
Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam." Iqbal's poetic works are written
mostly in Persian rather than Urdu.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=57430
---------
Roots of Islamic funamentalism lie in Nazi propaganda for Arab world,
book claims
By Allan Hall in Berlin
21 Apr 2010
Roots of Islamic funamentalism lie in Nazi propaganda for Arab world,
book claims Photo: PA "Your only hope for rescue is the destruction of the Jews
before they destroy you!" Hitler said in a 1942 message, one of thousands
broadcast across the Middle East in an attempt to woo the Arab
world.
In a broadcast aimed at provoking an anti-Semitic uprising in Egypt,
he said: "A large number of Jews who live in Egypt, along with Poles, Greeks,
Armenians and Frenchmen, have guns and ammunition.
"Some Jews in Cairo have even asked the British authorities to set up
machine guns on the roofs of their houses," he claimed.
But the Nazi's wartime broadcasts had remained a largely hidden
chapter in the history of the war until the transmissions were unearthed by a US
scholar, who believes they have fuelled continuing unrest in the Middle
East.
"The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians would have been
over long ago were it not for the uncompromising, religiously inspired hatred of
the Jews that was articulated and given assistance by Nazi propagandists and
continued after the war by Islamists of various sorts," said Jeffrey Herf, a
history professor at the University of Maryland.
In his new book, "Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World", Mr Herf argues
that Nazi propagandists offered a message that neatly dovetailed with underlying
prejudice.
"Islamic fundamentalism, like European totalitarianism in the 20th
century, was and is a mixture of very old and very modern
elements.
"It is also a product of a mixture of some indigenous currents in the
history of Islam with the hatred of democracy, liberalism and the Jews that were
so central to National Socialism.
Mr Herf uncovered 6,000 transmissions, produced under the propaganda
minister Josef Goebbels and sent around the Arab world from 1939 to
1945.
The transcripts of the broadcasts were made by the American embassy
in Cairo during the war, and classified until 1977 in Washington. But it was not
until two years ago that Mr Herf became the first scholar to be given access to
the files.
The Nazis relied on radio broadcasts - translated into Arabic - to
sew propaganda because of high illiteracy in the Arab world at the time.
Although radio ownership was small, it was commonplace for cafes and bazaars to
draw large crowds to listen to broadcasts.
This propaganda campaign comprised an important chapter in the
history of the war," Mr Herf said.
"The Arab language propaganda produced in wartime Berlin was a
significant chapter in the longer history of radical Arab nationalism and
militant Islam."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/7613925/Roots-of-Islamic-funamentalism-lie-in-Nazi-propaganda-for-Arab-world-book-claims.html
---------
Row over namaz on road
Rahul Tripathi & Abhinav Garg
Apr 21, 2010
NEW DELHI: Residents of Aravali Apartment in Alaknanda in south Delhi
and people offering namaz at a local mosque are locked in a dispute over the
devout occupying road space and blocking traffic in the area.
The residents had filed a contempt petition against Delhi Police
after the Delhi high court passed an order in January last year asking the cops
to ensure that the prayers were offered within the walls of the mosque. However,
on Tuesday the HC dismissed the contempt petition after getting an assurance
from the police that the area beyond the mosque boundary will be kept free of
the namazis.
The Madni mosque is located at Gate no. 10 of Aravali Apartment and
more than 600 people offer prayers every Friday, forcing closure of the road.
Recently, more than 300 cops were deployed to prevent the namazis from coming to
the road but they have pleaded that it's not possible for them to make this
arrangement every Friday.
"The problem of namazis spilling over on to the roads is not limited
to Madni Mosque. We face this problem all over Delhi. The mosques do not have
the capacity to accommodate so many people due to which they are forced to offer
prayers on the road. We have to close down one carriageway near Mata Anandmai
Marg every Friday. A lot of our manpower is being wasted on these arrangements,"
said a senior police officer.
He claimed they have been making efforts to comply with the high
court order. "Between February and March 2010, we have detained 113 people for
encroaching on the road while offering prayers. They were booked under section
65 of Delhi Police Act," the officer added. The cops had also called a meeting
with 23 representatives of the Muslim community after which notices were put up
around the mosque about the high court order.
Meanwhile, representatives of the mosque too had filed a contempt
petition against Delhi Police and the residents for not allowing them to offer
prayers. A complaint has also been sent to the ministry of home affairs.
Speaking to TOI, the Imam of the mosque, Mufti Nasimuddin Qasmi,
said, "We have been forced to go on to the road to offer prayers. The place
where we used to offer prayers has been taken up by the residents for parking.
It is the courtyard of the mosque and namazis have the right to offer prayers
there. We have been cooperating with Delhi Police."
RWA vice-president R G Gupta said, "When the allotments of the flats
were made, the mosque did not exist. It came up during the construction of the
apartments and has been made in connivance with the contractor."
After receiving an assurance from the police, Justice G S Sistani
made it clear in his order on Tuesday that they would be bound in future by the
assurance given in court that the HC's orders will be complied
with.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Row-over-namaz-on-road/articleshow/5837954.cms
---------
Malaysian lawmaker in trouble over polygamy
By JULIA ZAPPEI
Apr 20, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR: A ruling party lawmaker and his second wife pleaded
guilty Tuesday to entering into a polygamous marriage without official consent
amid a debate in Malaysia over Islamic morality among
politicians.
Lawmaker Bung Mokhtar Radin and actress Zizie Ezette A. Samad pleaded
guilty in a lower Islamic Shariah court in central Selangor state to getting
married without the consent of a registrar, said a court official, who declined
to be named due to protocol.
Polygamy - although not widely practiced - is legal among Malaysia's
roughly 20 million Muslims, provided marriages are registered in an Islamic
court.
Bung, 50, and Zizie, who is in her early 30s, married in December
last year - confirming monthlong speculation in the local press of their
liaison. Zizie has been quoted by The Star as praising Bung's first wife as a
"very good" woman.
Each faces a possible 1,000-ringgit ($300) fine and jail sentence of
up to six months. Sentencing has been set for May 18. Five friends and relatives
pleaded guilty to abetting Bung. They face the same penalty as Bung and Zizie,
said the couple's lawyer, Amli Embong.
Muslim men can marry up to four wives under the country's Islamic
law, which governs civil matters for Muslims.
Non-Muslims, who account for about a third of Malaysia's population,
are not subject to Islamic law.
Morality among public officials recently became a hot topic in
Malaysia after an opposition candidate for Parliament acknowledged consuming
alcohol in the past.
Muslims in Malaysia are banned from drinking alcohol. They can face
fines, jail terms and caning if found guilty of the
offense.
Zaid Ibrahim, who is running for Parliament in a special election on
Sunday, made the admission last weekend. He said he has repented but added that
ruling party coalition members were guilty of doing the same
thing.
http://arabnews.com/world/article45406.ece
---------
France to ban full Islamic veil from public
spaces
Apr 21, 2010
PARIS: The French government is drawing up a law to ban the full-face
Islamic veil from all public spaces, despite a warning from experts that it
could face a legal challenge, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
The spokesman for President Nicolas Sarkozy's government, Luc Chatel,
said the bill would be presented to ministers in May and would go beyond a mere
ban on women wearing the niqab and the burqa while dealing with French
officials.
"We're legislating for the future. Wearing a full veil is a sign of a
community closing in on itself and a rejection of our values," he said.
Last month, the State Council -- France's top administrative
authority -- warned Sarkozy against a full ban on the veil, suggesting instead
an order that women uncover their faces for identity checks or for state
business.
Full report at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/France-to-ban-full-Islamic-veil-from-public-spaces/articleshow/5840473.cms
---------
JEDDAH: ‘Exploitation’ of women during Janadriya
denied
By MUHAMMAD HUMAIDAN
Apr 21, 2010
JEDDAH: There were no attempts to take advantage of women working at
the Janadriya festival, according to the event’s director- general on
Monday.
Saud Al-Roumi strongly denied allegations by some newspapers and web
sites that there were “ethical violations” against women during the National
Festival For Heritage and Culture.
“These allegations are totally untrue and uncalled for. There was
nothing of the sort during the festival or after that,” he told Arab
News.
Al-Roumi slammed claims published by Kuwaiti writer and poet Misfir
Al-Dousari in a Kuwaiti newspaper.
Full report at: http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article45393.ece
---------
India won't scale down activities in Afghanistan:
Krishna
April 21st, 2010
Ruling out any scaling down of India’s reconstruction activities in
Afghanistan, the government on Wednesday told parliament that although 17
Indians have been killed there so far, its commitment to rebuilding the war-torn
country was not shaken.
The government also underlined that it has reviewed and enhanced
security measures for over 3,500 Indians involved in different reconstruction
projects in Afghanistan.
India has “no plan to scale down” its activities in Afghanistan,
External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna told the Lok Sabha.
The minister informed parliament that nine Indians lost their lives
in 2008 including seven in the terror attack on its embassy in Kabul, one in
2009 (a private firm employee) and seven in 2010 (in a terror attack on a
hotel). No Indian was among those killed in Afghanistan in 2007, he
said.
Full report at: http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article406986.ece
---------
Pakistan signs $65 million deal for US warship
Apr 21, 2010
WASHINGTON: Pakistan has signed a $65 million deal with the United
States for the "hot transfer" of refurbished American frigate USS McInerney by
August 31.
The contract for the "hot transfer" of the USS McInerney, a
Perry-class guided missile frigate, was signed by senior officials of the two
countries here on Tuesday. Under the agreement, the Pakistan Navy will take over
the vessel on August 31.
The sale of the frigate, which would be inducted into the Pakistan
Navy as PNS Alamgir at a ceremony in the US, was approved by the United States
Congress in September 2008.
Commissioned in 1979, the frigate would be handed over after a
refurbishment that includes anti-submarine capability that has been paid for
with the foreign military aid provided by the United States to friendly
countries. On completion of the refurbishment in January next year, the vessel
will sail to Pakistan to join the country's naval fleet.
Pakistani officials described the deal to acquire the warship a major
"milestone" towards further strengthening the wide-ranging Pakistan-US
relationship.
Full report at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Pakistan-signs-65-million-deal-for-US-warship/articleshow/5838889.cms
---------
Sania, Shoaib to be Pakistan brand ambassadors
Apr 21, 2010
New Delhi: Tennis player Sania Mirza and her Pakistani
cricketer-husband Shoaib Malik will be declared brand ambassadors of Pakistan's
Population Welfare Ministry.
Pakistan has announced that the two “superstars” would be its
ambassadors to help the country control the rising
population.
“When they reach Pakistan, they will be designated brand ambassadors
at an official function,” Population Welfare Minister Firdous Aashiq Awan told
journalists at an Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India meet
here. The Minister was present at their marriage in
Hyderabad.
“It is up to her”
Asked if she would like Sania to play for Pakistan, Ms. Awan said,
“It is up to Sania.”
Post-marriage, Sania and Shoaib are expected to settle in
Dubai.
In an interview to PTI, Sania said tennis remained on top of her
agenda and that she was focussing on doing well in the October 3-14 Commonwealth
Games in Delhi, followed by the Asian Games in Guangzhou,
China.
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/21/stories/2010042161350800.htm
---------
Hafiz on tape, Masood on phone to address Srinagar
meet
RIYAZ WANI
Apr 21, 2010
Srinagar : Lashkar-e-Toiba founder Hafiz Saeed, Jaish-e-Muhammad
chief Masood Azhar and Hizbul Mujahideen supremo Syed Salahuddin will address a
seminar on the “Kashmir issue” in Srinagar on Wednesday, say
organisers.
The seminar is being organised by a little known body called Human
Rights Forum. Its leader, Muhammad Ahsan Antoo, spent five years in prison
before being released in 2009.
The chairmen of both factions of the Hurriyat, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq
and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, have been invited to the seminar, titled ‘Role of
pro-freedom leaders vis-a-vis Kashmir issue’.
The participation of Saeed, Azhar and Salahuddin has been kept mostly
under wraps. Azhar and Salahuddin will address the seminar by phone, the
organisers said.
Antoo said he has already received an audiotape of Saeed’s address,
which would be played at the seminar. In the tape, Saeed draws a parallel
between the “struggles” in Afghanistan and Kashmir, and seeks their simultaneous
resolution.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hafiz-on-tape-masood-on-phone-to-address-srinagar-meet/609084/
---------
Decapitating the Iraq insurgents
Apr 21, 2010
The timing was certainly fortuitous. In an interview Sunday, Gen. Ray
Odierno, the U.S. commander in Iraq, said he was confident that the U.S.
withdrawal would proceed on schedule with 45,000 troops leaving by the end of
August, when the U.S. will no longer be conducting combat
operations.
One of the reasons for Odierno's confidence, he said, was a steady
and significant degrading of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, or AQI. On Sunday, that Islamic
terrorist group was degraded even further in what Odierno called "potentially
the most significant blow to AQI since the beginning of the
insurgency."
The blow came when Iraqi forces, backed by the U.S., killed Abu Ayyub
al-Masri, who in 2006 replaced his slain predecessor, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, as
military commander of AQI. Also killed was Abu Umar al-Baghdadi, who fancied
himself "Prince of the Faithful" and would have been leader of the Islamic State
of Iraq if AQI had ever taken over. Masri's deputy and al-Baghdadi's son were
also killed and an additional 16 suspected AQI operatives were taken
prisoner.
Full report at: http://www.dailynewstribune.com/opinions/editorials/x53548513/Editorial-Decapitating-the-Iraq-insurgents
---------
Banned Islamist outfit chief coordinator held in
Bangladesh
Anisur Rahman
Apr 21, 2010
Globally banned Islamist outfit Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Bangladesh unit
chief coordinator, a professor at the elite Dhaka University, has been arrested
on charges of instigating “subversive activities” in the country, officials
said. “We brought him under our custody for questioning” as Mohiuddin Ahmed was
remanded in custody for three days on an order by a Dhaka court, a police
official said.
He said Ahmed, a professor of business administration of premier
Dhaka University, was faced with two cases for his alleged attempts to
reorganise the outfit which was banned in October last year “in the interests of
public security”.
Court officials said Ahmed was escorted to the downtown court complex
under heavy security escorts soon after his arrest from his residence in central
part of the city while Metropolitan Magistrate Roksana Begum granted three days
for interrogation against a police prayer for 14 days.
Full report at: http://www.dailypioneer.com/250476/Banned-Islamist-outfit-chief-coordinator-held-in-Bangladesh.html
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‘Corruption fuelling terrorism in Indonesia’
April 21, 2010
JAKARTA: Indonesia has succeeded in dismantling a major new
al-Qaeda-style terrorist network but corruption and complacency threaten to
unravel its gains against home grown extremists, a think tank said on
Tuesday.
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) also warned
against calls for Indonesia to mimic Singapore’s harsh internal security
measures with a new intelligence bill due for debate this year.
“The bottom line is that the government is taking terrorism
seriously, but much more needs to be done for political will to translate into
effective action,” the ICG said in a report entitled “Jihadi Surprise in
Aceh”.
“The Indonesian police, at both local and national levels, deserve
credit for their fast work. But no one should be complacent that the job is
over.” Police have arrested 48 alleged terrorists and killed another eight,
including Dulmatin, one of the region’s most wanted men and a key figure in the
2002 Bali bombings, since raiding a terrorist training camp in Aceh province,
Sumatra island, in February.
Full report at: http://thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=235277
---------
‘False Religion’ Is How Long-Time U.S. Aide Now Describes Mideast
Peace Process
By YOUSSEF IBRAHMIM
April 21, 2010
An architect of the America’s Middle East peace process, who over the
past 30 years served both Republican and Democratic administrations, is
describing the continued pursuit of mediation among Palestinians and Israelis as
“a false religion,” a pointless effort that will only meet with
failure.
“I am no longer a believer,’’ Aaron Miller asserted in an article
published in Foreign Policy and in an interview aired last night on CNN prime
time news program with John King.
Mr. Miller, who since 1978 has played a key role in several
administrations and became a senior advisor to several secretaries of state,
said the United States has far too many other priorities in the Middle East
including two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a serious preoccupation with
Iran’s impending status as a nuclear power to expend more energy on the Mideast
peace process. He also argued that in terms of strategic priorities, peace
between Israelis and Palestinians ranks far below the America’s policies in
Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Mr. Miller described the peace process between Israelis and
Palestinians as moribund and predicted that it would be a loosing proposition
for President Obama. He noted that the logic behind the exercise now is an
unthinking and automated process, which he described as “a sort of catechism we
all could recite by heart among State Department officials” instead of as a
strategic necessity. He said he has concluded that the Arab-Israeli conflict is
‘’intractable’’.
Full report at: http://www.nysun.com/foreign/false-religion-is-how-long-time-us-aide-now/86921/
---------
Top 2 Qaida leaders in Iraq killed
Apr 20, 2010
BAGHDAD: The top two al-Qaida figures in Iraq, who had direct links
with Osama bin Laden, were killed north of Baghdad, dealing the organisation a
“potentially devastating blow”, the US army said on Monday.
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayub al-Masri were killed on Sunday in a
series of operations 10km southwest of Tikrit, the home city of now executed
dictator Saddam Hussein.
Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki, holding pictures of both men before and
after their deaths, said al-Qaida was now “bleeding... and severely weakened”,
and that a major threat to the country’s security had been removed. He said
Baghdadi and Masri’s identities had been confirmed after medical
tests.
He said Baghdadi and Masri were killed in a house in an operation
that had yielded significant evidence that had also helped them foil future
attacks.
“During the operations computers were seized with emails and messages
to the two biggest
terrorists, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri,” Maliki
added.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Top-2-Qaida-leaders-in-Iraq-killed/articleshow/5833675.cms
---------
Language trips Afghans posing as Nepalese
fliers
Apr 21, 2010
KOLKATA: Immigration officers at the Kolkata airport arrested six
Afghanistan residents on Tuesday while they were trying to leave the country
posing as Nepalese with forged passports.
The six — Karim Ali, Kasim Ali, Fayez Ali, Golam Reza, Muhammad
Yasin, Mohammed Ismail — were booked on a Kingfisher flight to Bangkok. When
they reached the airport on Tuesday morning, the immigration official on duty
suspected that the passports were forged.
"When we typed the passport number in our dedicated software system,
it revealed that the passports were fake. None of the six even remotely
resembled a Nepalese person," said a senior immigration official.
Full report at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Language-trips-Afghans-posing-as-Nepalese-fliers/articleshow/5838195.cms
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'Pak needs to do much more on ending terror'
Apr 21, 2010
Describing cross-border terrorism as a "core" concern, India on
Tuesday said Pakistan would have to do "much more" in addressing it before other
aspects of the relations can be pursued.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna told the Lok Sabha that India
wanted to have good relations with Pakistan and in the recent past efforts have
been made to "open up" talks with the neighbour to convince it that "once the
question of terrorism is addressed by Pakistan, then certain other things will
follow".
He was replying to a debate on Demand for Grants for the Ministry of
External Affairs during which the opposition slammed the government's foreign
policy as "hazy and directionless" and said India should not look up to the US
in dealing with Pakistan over terrorism.
Responding to the views expressed by opposition members, including
Murli Manohar Joshi (BJP), Krishna contended that security considerations were
part of the country's foreign policy.
Full report at: http://www.dailypioneer.com/250666/Pak-needs-to-do-much-more-on-ending-terror.html
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Indians on death row in UAE allege torture
Apr 21, 2010
Seeking justice, 17 Indian youth on the death row in the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) have alleged before human rights activists from India that they
have been framed in the murder case of a Pakistani national after being
tortured.
Representatives of a Punjab-based NGO, Lawyers For Human Rights
International (LFHRI) who recently returned after meeting the 17 Indians
sentenced to death in Sharjah, Tuesday alleged here that the youth were tortured
and were not being given proper legal aid.
A two-member team of LFHRI had visited Dubai and Sharjah April 13-14
and met the prisoners and also held a meeting with lawyers who are fighting
their case.
"We had a two-hour meeting with 17 Indians and we came across a very
sorry state of affairs. The apathy of prisoners revealed a total miscarriage of
justice," alleged LFHRI general secretary Navkiran Singh while talking to
reporters here.
The 17 Indians, aged between 17 and 30 years, were sentenced to death
by a court in Sharjah for killing a Pakistani man and injuring three others in
January 2009 following a fight over illegal liquor business.
Full report at: http://www.dailypioneer.com/250464/Indians-on-death-row-in-UAE-allege-torture.html
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Omar speaks against human rights violations
Khursheed Wani
Apr 21, 2010
Embarrassed by the recent killing of a 70-year-old beggar who was
passed off as “elderly militant” by the Army, the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah
on Tuesday sought to instill confidence in people living in frontier Kupwara
district.
“The blood of innocent people in Jammu and Kashmir is not so cheap
that those responsible will be allowed to go scot free,” Abdullah said at a
public rally at Kalamchakla village in Langate pocket of the
district.
The State has initiated inquiry into the killing of Habibullah Khan
who was allegedly killed in fake encounter in Rainawari forest of Kupwara last
week. His relatives identified him through photographs published in local
newspapers.
Abdullah spoke tough at a time when Army Chief General VK Singh has
arrived in Jammu and Kashmir on his maiden trip. He is meeting the Chief
Minister in Jammu on Wednesday. Union Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah has said that
Omar would take the issue of beggar’s killing with the Army
Chief.
“We will ensure justice to every sufferer as has been done by us in
various such cases during the last 15 months”, Omar said adding, “No compromise
at all will be made on the issue of human rights
violations”.
Archrival and former Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed has also
castigated his government for alleged human rights violations and “prevailing
lawlessness in the state”.
“We are perturbed at the unabated violation of human rights. The
70-year-old Habibullah Khan of Kupwara and the teenaged Zubair of Sopore are
only the latest mascots of the insensitive, cruel and repressive handling of the
situation here,” Mufti said.
Rubbishing the PDP accusations, Omar said that his government
believes in deeds rather than slogans. He maintained that his six years of
Government will be known as the period of development, progress and welfare.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/250536/Omar-speaks-against-human-rights-violations.html
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China for diplomatic solution to Iran nuclear
issue
Apr 21, 2010
China on Tuesday said it will continue to press for a diplomatic
solution to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue and gave no sign of giving up its
opposition to US-backed move to impose fresh UN sanctions on
Tehran.
China still regards dialogue and talks as the best method in settling
the Iranian nuclear issue, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said
here.
Representatives of the five permanent members of the UNSC — Britain,
China, France, Russia and the United States — and Germany, discussed possible
steps over fresh sanctions on Iran last Thursday in New
York.
“Such discussions does not mean that the door for dialogue and talks
has been closed,” she said.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/250479/China-for-diplomatic-solution-to-Iran-nuclear-issue.html
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Zia went into hiding before border guard mutiny:
Hasina
April 20, 2010
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has hinted at a probe against
opposition leader Khaleda Zia who she says was "hiding for three days" before
the country's border guard troopers mutinied in February last
year.
Repeating a charge that she had made on the floor of the National
Assembly last year, Hasina told a meeting of her party leaders on Monday: "Why
she went out from her residence riding a black-tinted glass car just before the
BDR mutiny? Did she know what will happen at Pilkhana?"
Pilkhana is the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters located in the
heart of the national capital. On Feb 25 last year, thousands of troopers
stationed there entered an officers' meeting and gunned down several of them,
including the force commander, Major General Shakil Ahmed.
Seventy-one people, including 57 Bangladesh Army officers on
deputation to the BDR died in the two-day mutiny that took place within six
weeks of Hasina's taking power. The troopers rebelled over low wages and poor
working conditions.
Media reports said Hasina asked of her arch political rival: "She was
in a secret place for three days after hiding just before the BDR mutiny on
February 25, 2009."
"Where have you been? How did you know what will happen there? What
was in your mind?"
She said there is a need for further investigation regarding the
opposition leader's movements on that particular day. "The reason why the
opposition leader hid and the secret place should be brought into
light."
Hasina alleged that the opposition leader, her family members and her
finance minister earned black money during their tenure, The Daily Star reported
on Tuesday.
"If you didn't steal how did you amass black
money?"
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/bangladesh/Zia-went-into-hiding-before-border-guard-mutiny-Hasina/Article1-533522.aspx
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Benazir Bhutto’s assassination:'Indirectly
complicit'
Shamshad Ahmad
April 21, 2010
What an irony that it took Shaheed Benazir Bhutto's party and its
government nearly two years-and-a-half only to know that she died because the
"security arrangements" for her were "fatally insufficient and ineffective" and
that subsequent official investigations into her death were "prejudiced" and
amounted only to a "whitewash."
Benazir Bhutto had herself been publicly voicing apprehensions about
the inadequacy of her security. She addressed a letter to President Musharraf
before her return to Pakistan in October in which she had even named individuals
whom she suspected of plotting to kill her. According to the PPP, she addressed
another letter to Pakistan's interior secretary on Oct 26, highlighting her
security concerns and seeking foolproof security arrangements.
This sordid tale was further compounded by a story CNN's Wolf Blitzer
had hoped he would never have to report -- an email sent to him by Benazir
Bhutto through an intermediary eight days after her narrow escape from the
bombings of Oct 18 in Karachi. She wrote that if anything happened to her, "I
would hold Musharraf responsible," and that because of inadequate security "I
have been made to feel insecure by his minions."
Joseph Biden, then chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations
Committee and a leading presidential candidate, released a letter that he and
two of his Senate colleagues wrote to President Musharraf at Ms Bhutto's request
soon after the Oct 18 attack on her in Karachi. In it he had urged him to give
her "the full level of security support afforded to any former prime minister,"
including bomb-proof vehicles and jamming equipment.
In a television interview after the Dec 27 tragedy, Senator Biden
deplored that the appeal failed to evoke a response and that the Pakistani
government was "indirectly complicit" in the assassination because it failed to
provide adequate security to her. "I'm not saying had she had the protection she
would have lived, but it sure bothers me that she did not have the kind of
protection she needed," Biden said.
Not only was Ms Bhutto riding an old and defective vehicle and was
without a proper security cordon around her vehicle, but those within her own
party who were responsible for her security also did not ensure adequate
protective cover for her despite the gravity of the known threat to her life.
Full report at: http://thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=235253
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Israel hinders mosque renovation
By MOHAMMED MAR'I
Apr 21, 2010
RAMALLAH: The Palestinian Ministry of Waqf and Religious Affairs on
Tuesday said that the Israeli occupation authorities barred Palestinian
Authority (PA) from renovating Al-Ibrahimi Mosque (the Cave of the Patriarchs)
in Hebron.
The ministry said in a press statement that the "occupation
authorities prevented Palestinian laborers hired by the ministry from renovating
some parts inside the mosque and its external wall." It added that the Israeli
move is an "assault on the PA's religious and national
duties."
According to the ministry, Al-Ibrahimi Mosque is the fourth holiest
mosque in Islam in terms of religious importance and
prestige.
Full report at: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article45335.ece
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Iran arrests members of a "terrorist group"
Apr 21, 2010
TEHRAN: Iran said on Tuesday it had arrested members of an extremist
group in the west of the country who had planned to carry out "terrorist
attacks" in the Islamic state, the official IRNA news agency
reported.
Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar said the group, identified
and arrested by the Intelligence Ministry, was armed and guided by American
forces, IRNA reported.
Mohammad-Najjar did not identify the group or say whether those
detained belonged to Kurdish separatist groups, based in mountainous areas close
to the borders with Iraq and Turkey.
Iranian security forces often clash with guerrillas from the Party of
Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),
which took up arms in 1984 for an ethnic homeland in southeast
Turkey.
Like Iraq and Turkey, Iran has a large Kurdish minority, mainly
living in the country's northwest and west.
Tehran sees PJAK, which seeks autonomy for Kurdish areas in Iran and
shelters in Iraq's northeastern border provinces, as a terrorist
group.
Sectarian violence is relatively rare in Iran, whose leaders reject
allegations by Western rights groups that it discriminates against ethnic and
religious minorities.
Iranian officials often accuse the United States and Israel of
supporting "terrorists.” The United States dismisses such
allegations.
The Islamic Republic is locked in a dispute with the United States
and its allies over its nuclear program which Washington fears will allow Tehran
to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies any such
intention.
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article45440.ece
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East Sudan parties concede defeat, cry fraud
Apr 21, 2010
KHARTOUM: Two parties in Sudan's underdeveloped east on Tuesday
accused the president's party of using fraud and intimidation to secure election
victories across their region, as the US White House said the vote had been
beset by "serious irregularities.” Sudan is holding its first open polls in 24
years as part of a peace deal that was supposed to bring the oil-producing
nation back to democracy after decades of civil war.
Much of the opposition boycotted the proceedings before voting
started citing irregularities, and observers have already said the elections did
not meet international standards.
Officials are still counting in many areas, but the few results they
have announced point to a big win for the National Congress Party (NCP), led by
President Omar Bashir.
The United States had already said the elections were neither free
nor fair, and redoubled its criticism on Tuesday.
"Political rights and freedoms were circumscribed throughout the
electoral process, there were reports of intimidation and threats of violence in
South Sudan, ongoing conflict in Darfur did not permit an environment conducive
to acceptable elections, and inadequacies in technical preparations for the vote
resulted in serious irregularities," the White House said in a
statement.
Full report at: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article45438.ece
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Sunni Iraqi leader on Jordan terrorism list
By ABDUL JALIL MUSTAFA
Apr 20, 2010
AMMAN: Jordan's influential Muslim Brotherhood movement on Tuesday
criticized the government for putting Iraqi Sunni leader Muthanna Al-Dhari on
the terrorism list, saying the step was taken in response to US
pressure.
"This is a hostile classification which lacks legitimacy, because
Muthanna Al-Dhari adheres to ethical standards in the struggle against American
occupiers," the movement's official spokesman Jamil Abu Bakr said in a
statement.
Muthanna, who visits Jordan frequently, is son of Hareth Al-Dhari,
head of the Iraqi Scholars Association, which is campaigning to ensure a
withdrawal of the US-led military coalition.
According to local reports, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh has
notified the Finance Ministry and other major financial institutions to place
Al-Dhari on the Unified Terrorism List in compliance with instructions from the
UN Security Council.
"We don't see any justification for the government's capitulation to
such international pressures which are being exercised by proxy on behalf of
hostile powers," Abu Bakr said.
He voiced hope that the government would reconsider its decision.
"Al-Dhari and his likes deserve backing because they fight for a just cause," he
added.
The Muslim Brotherhood is Jordan's major opposition political
gathering, sympathetic of Iraqi groups, which seek an eviction of the US forces
from the neighboring country.
Jordan currently hosts about 500,000 Iraqis who fled the country for
safety after the 2003 invasion.
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article45333.ece
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From Neptune to Gaza: On language, identity and
hope
Apr 21, 2010
Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines everybody is
saying, or else you say something true, and it will sound like it’s from
Neptune.” — Noam Chomsky
My name is Ramzy Baroud, and I am from Neptune.
In actual fact, I am a Palestinian from Gaza. And I am a Palestinian
from other places too, places that no longer exist.
Sometimes it’s not who you are, but where you come from that shapes
your identity, your moral convictions, your sense of purpose, your priorities in
life, and eventually who you become.
We Palestinians are cursed in many ways, but blessed in others. We
live in a constant state of physical loss and spatial bewilderment. We know
where we belong physically and territorially, but we cannot actually be there.
The authorities have decided that we don’t belong where we have always belonged,
the place with which we have always identified. That is the curse: the sense of
loss and constant search for the place. But that very curse represents the
essence of our blessing as well: the search for meaning, value, sense and
purpose.
Full report at: http://arabnews.com/opinion/columns/article45391.ece
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‘Killing’ of Qaeda leaders won’t end Iraq
attacks
21 April 2010
BAGHDAD - The purported
killing of two top Al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders will send shockwaves through the
jihadist network but mid-level commanders must also be removed if attacks are to
stop, analysts said Tuesday.
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayub al-Masri — both linked with
Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden — died in a shootout on Sunday near Tikrit, the
home town of executed dictator Saddam Hussein, according to Iraqi and US
officials.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the US military said on
Monday that Baghdadi and Masri were killed in a raid on a safehouse which
yielded computers filled with emails and messages to bin Laden and his deputy
Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Witnesses to the joint Iraqi-US operation told AFP that helicopters
circled overhead, American ground troops surrounded a house and gunfire broke
out before the sound of a huge explosion rocked the area.
Full report at: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/April/middleeast_April295.xml§ion=middleeast
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Beware the coming war Matein Khalid
21 April 2010
The July 2006 war between
Israel and Hezbollah transformed both Lebanese and Arab politics. Hezbollah
emerged as the heroic champion of resistance to Israeli aggression across the
Arab and Islamic world. While Hassan Nasrallah claimed “divine victory”,
Hezbollah lost its autonomy to operate in south Lebanon to units of UNIFEL and
the Lebanese Army.
Israel lost its psychological aura of invincibility in the Middle
East when its troops were unable to defeat Hezbollah in the village battlefields
and rock strewn hills of south Lebanon even though the northern Galilee border
is calm for the first time since the late 1960’s. Unfortunately, the balance of
power between Hezbollah and Israel is unstable and the calculus of deterrence
cannot last.
Israel has myriad strategic reasons to launch a preemptive strike
against a resurgent Hezbollah. Despite Ehud Olmert’s brutal Dahiya doctrine,
Israeli warplanes were unable to terror-bomb the Shia militia into submission,
unable to kill or capture its high command. In fact, Israel’s devastating aerial
firepower only turned Nasrallah into the first truly popular Arab war hero since
President Nasser during the Suez war in 1956. Hezbollah’s defiance of Israel
narrowed the Sunni-Shia cleavage in the Arab world created by the overthrow of
Saddam Hussein.
Full report at: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/opinion/2010/April/opinion_April122.xml§ion=opinion&col=
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Placing Karzai in the hot seat :Fareed Zakaria
20 April 2010
President Barack Obama keeps
saying that he intends to win the war in Afghanistan. “There will be difficult
days ahead, but I am absolutely confident that we will succeed,” he promised in
this year’s State of the Union address.
And yet his administration is undermining its own chances of success
by constantly criticizing, weakening, and undercutting America’s only credible
partner in the country, Hamid Karzai.
For the sake of argument, let’s assume that the Afghan president is
ineffective and corrupt. Even if the allegations are all true, there’s an
overriding reason to support him: there is no alternative. A foreign power can’t
hope to run a successful counterinsurgency campaign without a local ally who has
at least a modicum of mass appeal.
In Afghanistan, that means a major figure from the country’s dominant
ethnic group, the Pashtuns, and one who’s willing to make common cause with the
United States.
Karzai is the most popular, most credible politician who fits that
description. Despite his many flaws, no one satisfies the criteria better than
he does. And he’s the country’s elected president—reelected in a process that
was, after some controversy, endorsed by the United Nations and other
international institutions.
Full report at: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/opinion/2010/April/opinion_
12:33 AM
Sultan Shahin
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