Mumbai attacks: Qassab gets the death penalty
Poppy seeds
with honey: The first online sex shop for Muslims
Army Major caught spying for Pak, tip-off came from
US
Taliban cut off hands of three tribesmen
Boy rescued from ‘maniac child rapist’
Marrying is prohibitive for many Saudi men
Qassab reads book on Tipu Sultan's life before
D-Day
UN has ‘no evidence’ of Hezbollah Scud smuggling
Bangladesh war crime probe chief quits
Afzal Guru's mercy plea is not yet on President's
table
Iran ready to address ‘rights abuse’ charges
Libya wastes state cash on women, says Kadhafi's
son
Big' burqa-clad woman in air scare
Major, rifleman killed in
gunbattle
Jordanian beauty muscles her way into male
bastion
‘I was expecting you. Are you NYPD or FBI?’
Now, 'war porn' growing in numbers!
Pak, India back channel diplomacy restored
Gulf states vow combined efforts to tackle terror
threat
Can the terrorists halt India’s peace deal with
Pakistan?
Marathi, Urdu schoolchildren bake cookies, learn
English
Muslim women speak out against
misrepresentation
Six juniors held in torture case: Policewomen get bail, men sent on
judicial remand
'Embracing Islam just for marriage is against
religion'
Recognise right to worship Ram Lalla'
Accused in Marriott Hotel suicide attack
acquitted
Militants launch deadly suicide attack on Afghan
city
Banning burqa an infringement of rights
Obama calls war council after NY plot
Five Kurdish rebels killed in Iran
Iran welcomes Brazil mediation over nuclear
issue
Swiss region wants nationwide burqa ban
Court: Nothing to prove Salman was minor during
blasts
Obama welcomes Indonesian announcement to ratify
CTBT
Schism in J&K Congress
4 killed in deadly suicide attack on Afghan
city
Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua dies
Saudi diplomat attacked in Kenya
Al-Qaeda sympathizer surrenders to Saudi
authorities
Man sends son-in-law to jail, forces daughter to go with new
husband
Malaysia top court hears landmark religious
dispute
Yemen bans Arab conference on Darfur
crisis’
Iraq’s Shiite parties edge out Sunni-backed coalition
Palestinians say talks must deal with core
issues
Compiled by Asit Kumar
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Mumbai attacks: Qassa bgets the death
penalty
May 6, 2010
Judge M L Tahaliyani has awarded the death sentence to Pakistani
terrorist, Ajmal Amir Kasab. The judge felt Qassab’s crime fell under the
judicial definition of "rarest of rare" and death by hanging was well deserved.
Qassab was given the death penalty on four counts. The court said
there was no chance of Qassab reforming.
This man had lost the right of getting humanitarian benefit, the
judge said.
Qassab will now set out on a long journey where legal and moral
issues will be considered by authorities for years, even decades, before he is
finally put to death.
Immediately after pronouncement of the death sentence judge
Tahaliyani will have to send his order for confirmation to the Bombay HC. He is
bound by the Section 366 of the Criminal Procedure Code to do so. In normal
cases it is the convicted man who goes in appeal to the HC but where it is the
case of his life being taken away, the trial court must send the case papers to
the high court.
The Bombay HC will call for all the evidence and weigh it at its own
discretion. It is a practice for the high court to be satisfied on the facts as
well as the law of the case, that the conviction is right, before it proceeds to
confirm the sentence. This could take a few months.
Even after the high court has given its nod to the death sentence,
Qassab has the option of going in appeal to the Supreme Court. For instance last
year Surinder Koli, the man whose death sentence in the Nithari case was
confirmed by the Allahabad High Court, went in appeal to the Supreme Court. His
petition is still pending. Similarly, Qassab's appeal too would be considered in
detail by the highest court as it looks at all the arguments in favour of and
against the death sentence.
Going by past record, the longest wait in execution of the death
sentence will start once it is out of hands of the judiciary and into the domain
of the government. After the Supreme Court too gives assent to the death
sentence, Qassab will have the legal right to file a mercy petition before the
President of India under article 72 of the Constitution. While this petition is
pending Qassab's execution will stay suspended — maybe for decades.
The President's powers under Article 72 are always exercised with the
aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. There is no time limit for how long
this consultation takes place and the whole process can remain in abeyance for
years. Currently mercy petitions of 32 death row convicts are pending decision
with the President for over five years and the oldest mercy petition dates back
to 1998.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Mumbai-attacks-Kasab-gets-the-death-penalty/articleshow/5897555.cms
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Poppy seeds with honey: The first online sex shop for
Muslims
By Thomas Burmeister
May 6, 2010
Amsterdam - He got the idea while making a pilgrimage to
Mecca.
'Even near to the holy sites there is, like in other Arab countries,
a boutique for lingerie,' says Amsterdam resident Abdelazai Aouragh. 'Many
people can hardly believe this is possible because they regard Muslims as being
hostile to lust.'
So, in order to prove the opposite, the 29-year-old family man has
now opened the world's first internet erotic shop which adheres to the religious
rules of Islam. And with great success.
'Orders and queries are coming in from many parts around the world,'
Aouragh reports. 'The interest is enormous.' In fact, at the website launch, the
server turned out to be too small as it collapsed after the 70,000 clicks which
the site got - in its first hour online. In the meantime, the El-Asira.eu site
is now stable and firmly in the internet - and 'Sharia law
compatible.'
Aouragh's line of massage oils, lubricant jellies and various
aphrodisiacs are produced in Sweden and made without any alcohol or pork fat, or
from any other products from animals which have not been slaughtered according
to Islamic law.
If there was a Halal stamp of approval for erotic products, then El
Asira would deserve one. Even the website front page makes clear that traditions
are being carefully observed: there are separate doors, one for men, another for
women. The layout is also Islam-compatible.
'It goes without saying that we don't have any nude pictures much
less any pornographic depictions,' says Aouragh, who is a devout Muslim, born in
Amsterdam as the son of a Moroccan carpenter. 'And on the packages themselves
there are no images which would be looked down on by our
culture.'
Naturally he wants to earn money with El Asira, Aouragh says. After
all, he has absorbed the mercantile trading instincts of the Dutch. But at the
same time he also would like to help to correct a 'wrong image of Islam' in
society. 'The picture of the woman in the kitchen, subservient and forced to
wear a burqa is not representative. There is much love, lust for life and
eroticism for Muslim couples.'
He adds, 'we also want to stimulate the discussion within the Islamic
community. That's why we called the website El Asira, which means
community.'
However, there are some Muslims for whom the topic of 'sex and Islam'
are taboo. 'It is no wonder that we receive protest and threatening emails. But
that was above all before the website was launched. Some people were imagining
some very bad things.'
As to those critics from Islamic circles, the online entrepreneur
refers them to the Imam Boularia Houari. The 35-year-old who preaches in the
Netherlands and, among other things, provides counselling to Muslim couples
regarding sexual topics, sought and received advice from Islamic scholars in
Saudi Arabia who are generally regarded as being
conservative.
'They confirmed to us that sexuality in Islam is to be regarded
positively, both by men as well by women,' Houari said. After all, going back
for centuries Muslims have known of means for stimulating sexual lust and
desire.
'It's still the same case today,' Houari added in remarks to the
Dutch paper NRC Handelsblad. 'Many people may have some reservations about
Viagra, but only because it is regarded as a medication.
'But in Islam there are instead herbs. Scholars for example recommend
oil from poppy seeds, together with honey.'
Beyond this, Islam's position towards sex is clear: 'It is forbidden
outside the marriage, but within the marriage it is
encouraged.'
But this is precisely where there can be a problem which Aouragh
cannot solve for Muslims with his online erotic site. How is he to know whether
the person buying such products as 'Masculine,' 'Lovpil,' or 'Pure Power' is
married or single? The imam has assured him that this is not his responsibility.
'For one's sins each person will be punished individually after
death.'
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/lifestyle/life/news/article_1553693.php/Poppy-seeds-with-honey-The-first-online-sex-shop-for-Muslims
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Army Major caught spying for Pak, tip-off came from
US
Ritu Sarin
May 06, 2010
New Delhi : Around the time last month when the Ministry of External
Affairs (MEA) was alerted about the possibility of one of their officers being
involved in espionage, another sensitive counter-intelligence operation
involving the Ministry of Defence (MoD) was in progress.
For over two weeks now, top Government sources say, an Army Major has
been kept in “safe custody” of the Military Intelligence (MI). The
officer—posted in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands—is alleged to have passed on
classified information to Pakistan.
The first tip-off in what could develop into another espionage
scandal, according to sources, came from American authorities. Suspicious
internet traffic first came to the notice of American intelligence agencies when
intercepts showed a user in Andaman and Nicobar Islands had dispatched a picture
of a serving Indian Brigadier, who was attending a training programme in the US,
to Pakistan.
Indian agencies quickly zeroed in on the officer and a quiet
operation was planned to call him to New Delhi. Sources say the officer pleaded
ignorance of the traffic from his computer to Pakistan saying it could have been
generated by some virus or unknown software.
However, suspicion persisted since the Major’s computer had been
recently formatted and cleaned of all contents. An early forensic examination
done in New Delhi revealed the dispatch of classsified military information,
some of which should not have been in the officer’s possession. The hard disk of
the officer’s computer has since been sent by military authorities to a
Hyderabad laboratory for accessing the erased contents.
“I do not have any information yet. I will have to find the details
and then can get back to you,” Army spokesperson Col S Om Singh said when
contacted for a reaction.
Both Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Home Minister P. Chidambaram
are learnt to be aware of the developments in the case, given the serious
implications involved.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/army-major-caught-spying-for-pak-tipoff-came-from-us/615795/
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Taliban cut off hands of three tribesmen
06 May, 2010
PESHAWAR: Taliban militants Wednesday cut off the hands of three
alleged thieves in a troubled Pakistani tribal region, police and hospital
officials said.
The incident took place in the remote Ghaljo village of Orakzai,
which is controlled by the Taliban. “A Taliban court ordered the cutting off of
the right hands of three local tribesmen in Orakzai tribal region after finding
them guilty of theft,” a police official told AFP on condition of
anonymity.
He said that the three men were later taken to the northwestern town
of Kohat for medical treatment.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/06-taliban-cut-off-hands-of-three-tribesmen-rs-04
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Boy rescued from ‘maniac child rapist’
06 May, 2010
SIALKOT, May 5: Police claimed on Wednesday to have arrested an
alleged maniac child rapist and seized a minor boy from him whom he had
kidnapped for rape three days ago.
District Police Officer (DPO) Waqar Ahmad Chohan told reporters at
the Daska ASP office that Tauheed had abducted 11-year-old Hamza from outside
the Government MC Primary School some three days ago. Tauheed put the child on
sedatives while moving him to his hideout in Kotli Chambwali, Daska.
The Daska city witnessed a complete strike in the last two days over
several kidnap for rape incidents of minor children prompting the province’s top
court to take an independent notice of the issue.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/boy-rescued-from-maniac-child-rapist-650
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Marrying is prohibitive for many Saudi men
By SULTAN AL-TAMIMI
May 6, 2010
JEDDAH: Getting married these days is seen as a mission impossible
for many young Saudis. The rising cost of living expenses hinders many wanting
to get married. Families who demand big wedding ceremonies are also discouraging
young Saudis struggling to get by on a minimal income.
There are no figures on how much Saudis earn per month in the private
sector. Some studies estimate average income at between SR3,000 and
SR5,000.
Estimated figures on the cost of living published in Eqtisadiah
reveals that Saudis pay a monthly average of SR500 for gas, SR200 for their
mobile phone/telephone, up to SR2,500 for their groceries and at least SR2,000
for rent.
Saudis working in labor jobs such as security guards are regarded as
living below the minimal wage, with salaries not exceeding SR1,500 per
month.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article50571.ece
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Qassabreads book on Tipu Sultan's life before
D-Day
Mateen Hafeez
May 6, 2010
MUMBAI: As guards monitored Ajmal Amir Kasab's special cell at Arthur
Road Jail through close-circuit television cameras on Wednesday, they could help
but wonder what was going through the mind of the 23-year-old terrorist who will
be sentenced today. Qassabwas found guilty on 80 counts for the role he played
during the 26/11 terror strike in Mumbai.
Clad in a kurta and pair of trousers, Qassabdid not seem to be overly
disturbed or worried about his fate, said an official, adding that he spent the
better part of Wednesday reading the book, 'Aur Talwar Toot Gayee' (And the
Sword is Broken) by Pakistani author Sharif Husain, who wrote under the
pseudonym Naseem Hijazi.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Kasab-reads-book-on-Tipu-Sultans-life-before-D-Day/articleshow/5896100.cms
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UN has ‘no evidence’ of Hezbollah Scud
smuggling
06 May, 2010
BEIRUT - A UN peacekeeping
force said in a newspaper report on Wednesday that it has no evidence of any
Scud missiles in southern Lebanon, after Israel accused Syria of smuggling the
missiles to Hezbollah.
“We have no evidence of any Scud missiles in UNIFIL’s area of
operations” in southern Lebanon, the daily An-Nahar quoted Major General Alberto
Asarta Cuevas of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, as
saying.
“These missiles are large and difficult to hide,” he added in
comments made in English.
Israel’s President Shimon Peres sparked controversy in April when he
accused Syria of supplying the Shiite Hezbollah movement with long-range Scud
missiles, a charge Damascus has staunchly denied.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/May/middleeast_May79.xml§ion=middleeast&col=
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Bangladesh war crime probe chief quits
06 May, 2010
DHAKA, May 5: The lead investigator at Bangladesh’s new war crimes
tribunal, set up to prosecute perpetrators of atrocities during the 1971
independence war against Pakistan, resigned on Wednesday, an official said.
Abdul Matin, a former top bureaucrat, submitted his resignation in
the wake of allegations by senior officials that he had ties to the country’s
main Islamist party, Jamaat-i-Islami, which sided with Pakistan during the war.
“He resigned citing personal reasons,” the home ministry’s senior
information officer Mohammad Sahenor Miah said.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/international/bangladesh-war-crime-probe-chief-quits-650
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Afzal Guru's mercy plea is not yet on President's
table
Prafulla Marpakwar
May 6, 2010
MUMBAI: Though it has been widely believed that the mercy petition of
Mohammed Afzal Guru, who was sentenced to death in the December 2001 Parliament
attack case, has been pending at Rashtrapati Bhavan since January 4, 2006, a
senior official on Wednesday said that the petition is not yet ready to be
considered by President Pratibha Patil. "Afzal Guru's mercy petition is not
pending with the President's office. As per official records, it is currently
pending with the government of New Delhi," the official said.
While the President's office has received 27 mercy petitions from 49
death-row inmates across the country, only 25 petitions are awaiting the
President's decision. Two of the petitions—Guru's and one from Bandu Tidake in
Karnataka—are still being considered by the Union ministry of home affairs
(MHA), which seeks details and opinions from the respective state governments.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Afzal-Gurus-mercy-plea-is-not-yet-on-Presidents-table/articleshow/5896109.cms
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Iran ready to address ‘rights abuse’ charges
06 May, 2010
TEHRAN, May 5: Iran is willing to address accusations of rights
violations and host UN human rights chief Navi Pillay and experts, a senior
official was quoted as saying on Wednesday.Human rights chief Mohammad Javad
Larijani made the comments as Iran faces mounting international pressure over
its controversial nuclear programme and risks further sanctions.
Iran has also come under fire by international rights organisations
over its handling of the post-vote unrest and violence against protesters
rejecting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election last June.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/international/iran-ready-to-address-rights-abuse-charges-650
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Libya wastes state cash on women, says Kadhafi's
son
May 6, 2010
Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's son Seif al-Islam said on Wednesday
that state resources were "wasted" on women who prefer to get married and stay
at home rather than work.
"Women don't face any kind of discrimination in Libya. Women and men
are equal," Kadhafi told students, academics and dignitaries at the American
University in Cairo.
"Women are very powerful in Libyan society. They are in the army,
they are pilots... women are taking part in every company, any ministry," he
told the packed auditorium, adding "they can drive" in a dig at Saudi Arabia,
with which Libya had tense relations for years.
"The problem in Libya is that they waste the resources of the
society... the state spends a lot of money to educate women and then they get
married and stay at home. "This is the problem in Libya -- the
women."
Seif al-Islam's father, Moamer Kadhafi, who has ruled Libya for over
40 years and who has in the past described himse
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/africa/Libya-wastes-state-cash-on-women-says-Kadhafi-s-son/Article1-539847.aspx
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Big' burqa-clad woman in air scare
May 6, 2010
KOLKATA: This was Russian citizen Albi Evoasle Onara's maiden visit
to the country. Seems it will be her last. "This is really too much," her
husband Asal Becov Artur repeatedly muttered in disgust after the couple was
grilled for four hours on their arrival at the airport on Wednesday afternoon.
For Onara, it was sheer humiliation as she was first suspected of
being a man disguised as a woman and then interrogated on why she wore a burqa
when she was fair! The treatment meted out to the duo could trigger a diplomatic
row, with Russian diplomats reportedly seeking an explanation on why their
citizens had been harassed at the airport.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Kolkata-/Big-burqa-clad-woman-in-air-scare/articleshow/5895707.cms
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Major, rifleman killed in gunbattle
May 6, 2010
SRINAGAR: Two Army soldiers, including a major, were killed in a
protracted gunbattle with terrorists in a densely forested area at Chattibandi
in north Kashmir's Bandipora district on Wednesday.
Defence spokesperson Lt Col J S Brar said the encounter was triggered
on Tuesday when Army launched an operation on a tip-off that terrorists were
hiding in the area. "The operation was on when the reports last came in," said
Lt Col Brar. He said the terrorists fired at the Army patrol when they were
closing in on them. "Major Yogendra Rajbar and rifleman Uttam Singh were injured
when terrorists sprayed bullets at the patrol," he said. He said the two later
succumbed to their injuries at a military hospital.
Major Rajbar was from Dehradun and had been posted in the area for
two years. The officer was credited with breaking the back of insurgency in the
area, once a known militant hub due to its treacherous
terrain.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Major-rifleman-killed-in-gunbattle/articleshow/5896002.cms
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Jordanian beauty muscles her way into male
bastion
May 6, 2010
HER HIGHLY muscled body is smothered in tattoos, she is constantly
criticised by her fellow Jordanians and she suffers deep inner
torment.
No matter what it takes, however, 26- year- old Farah Malhass is
determined to become the first Arab woman to enter an international bodybuilding
competition.
“ Everyone is against me. No one understands why I want to become an
international star in figure bodybuilding,” she said. “ If I win first prize, I
would then be able to participate in professional competitions.” Her pursuit
comes at great personal cost. Many Jordanian men have strict views on “ correct”
behaviour for women.
The Jordanian bodybuilding federation has difficulty accepting a
woman into its ranks. “ Aren’t you ashamed of parading in front of the world in
a bikini,” she is asked.
Malhass is a sitting target for Jordan’s hardliners, not least of all
because her body is covered in tattoos: a bare- breasted angel is depicted on
her upper thighs, angel wings cover her back, and edgy statements are branded
across her arms.
So far only one Jordanian athlete, Zeid al- Far, has supported
her.
He is also competing in Toronto and they are sharing the cost of
their training.
“ You are somebody when you stop being nobody,” reads one of her
tattoos. She insists she wants to reach her goal by herself, without family
help.
Mail Today
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‘I was expecting you. Are you NYPD or FBI?’
May 6, 2010
Failed Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad jeered at his
captors...
Pak govt detains 7 others in bomb link
Faisal’s elite origins baffle investigators
THE PAKISTANIAMERICAN who has confessed to trying to blow up a car
bomb in New York’s Times Square was only caught “ at the last second”,
authorities have admitted.
In scenes that could have come straight from a Hollywood film, Faisal
Shahzad managed to give authorities the slip and board a flight out of the US.
He was actually belted into his seat, the Emirates flight to Dubai on the runway
waiting for take- off, when federal agents managed to stop the plane. “ I was
expecting you. Are you NYPD or FBI,” Newsweek magazine claimed he said as he was
arrested. Despite the best efforts of highly trained investigators armed with
the most advanced technology in the world, two simple security failings appear
to have allowed Shahzad to come within minutes of escape.
Full report at:
Mail Today
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Now, 'war porn' growing in numbers
May 6, 2010
New York : Videos featuring the gruesome killing of Iraqi soldiers
and civilians in the Iraq war are growing in numbers online, earning them the
name “war porn” as they are viewed for entertainment.
According to Newsweek, thousands of gruesome videos of Iraqi soldiers
getting shot in the head, rocket-propelled grenades destroying buildings, and
others, are being watched millions of times over.
But the so-called “war porn” videos, which vary in the amount of
violence they depict, always show attacks on enemy soldiers and civilians, not
Americans, thereby serving up a one-sided perspective of the
conflict.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/now-war-porn-growing-in-numbers/615428/
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Pak, India back channel diplomacy restored
06 May, 2010
ISLAMABAD—Backdoor diplomacy between India and Pakistan has been
restored and in this regard a 10 member delegation headed by former Army Chief
General Jahangir Karamat has left for India on Wednesday.
According to a private TV channel, track two diplomacy between both
the countries have been restored after the deadlock created due to Mumbai
Attack, while the governments of US and UK have played pivotal role in this
regard.
The 10 member delegation headed by former Army Chief including Sherry
Rehman, Ahsan Iqbal, Jahangir Badar, Najam-ud-Din, Humayun Khan, Shafqat Mehmood
and Aziz Ahmed Khan would stay for 3 days in India.
Full report at:
http://dailymailnews.com/0510/06/FrontPage/FrontPage5.php
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Gulf states vow combined efforts to tackle terror
threat
By GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN
May 6, 2010
RIYADH: Ministers of interior from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) pledged on Wednesday to work together to tackle terrorism, money
laundering and organized crime.
“The move to step up security and stability, as discussed by the
interior ministers, requires coordination between all nations in the region,”
GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah said after a ministerial meeting
in Riyadh.
“Gulf states are facing serious challenges in the forms of terrorism
and organized crime that call for increased vigilance and intelligence
sharing.”
The ministers, who were attending the consultative meeting, discussed
a whole range of security issues currently confronting the Gulf region, as well
as plans and policies to tackle terror cells, drug traffickers, pirates and
swindlers.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article50548.ece
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Can the terrorists halt India’s peace deal with
Pakistan
May 6, 2010
INDIANS are inured to violence and death. Yes and no. Over the years
as far back into history as one can go there have been famines, wars, ethnic
killings and plagues. At the time of independence there was the division of the
country into two as Pakistan, a Muslim state, was created. The breakup of India
led to massive pogroms.
In recent years in India there have been a regular if intermittent
Muslim-Hindu clashes, some resulting in the deaths of hundreds or more. There
was the murder of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards who were
persuaded to commit their dastardly act by the militant movement fighting for a
separate Sikh state. People who know India and have watched India and Pakistan
go to war three times and be on the verge of a nuclear war in 1999 say that if
the nationalist drum roll reached a certain crescendo public opinion would
welcome an Indian nuclear attack on Pakistan, totally careless of the
consequences. Today also there is the insurgency of the Maoists in eastern
India, fuelled by the deep poverty of India’s tribal people who rarely live
beyond the age of forty.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/opinion/columns/article50485.ece
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Marathi, Urdu schoolchildren bake cookies, learn
English
Vignesh Sridharan
May 06, 2010
On Tuesday afternoon, students of the Urdu medium Anjuman-i-Islam
Girls’ High School and Marathi medium Anuyog Secondary School pored over
dictionaries in groups of five at the Vidyanidhi complex in
Juhu.
They competed to complete a word search for the ingredients of
chocolate-chip cookies, which most had probably never eaten
before.
Next they unscrambled a jumbled up recipe to make the cookies and
shouted out the steps to Lynne Gadkowski, who has been running the Access
Microscholarship Programme to teach the 14-year-olds English for the last six
months.
“We find the Access Programme a good way to interact with young
people,” said Gadkowski, acting director of the American
Centre.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Marathi-Urdu-schoolchildren-bake-cookies-learn-English/Article1-539971.aspx
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Muslim women speak out against
misrepresentation
May 6, 2010
While the headlines haggle over whether burkas and nikabs should be
banned in Switzerland, Muslim women are speaking out. They say they are feeling
misunderstood and misrepresented. Mouna Ben Dhaou is a PhD student at the
University of Lausanne. She came to Switzerland two and a half years ago from
her native Tunisia to study accounting and finance, and no, she doesn’t wear a
burka or a veil. WRS’s Carla Drysdale asked her if she felt Swiss feminists were
patronizing Muslim women, by telling them not to wear the
burka:
http://worldradio.ch/wrs/news/switzerland/muslim-women-speak-out-against-misrepresentation.shtml?18942
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Six juniors held in torture case: Policewomen get bail, men sent on
judicial remand
06 May, 2010
FAISALABAD, May 5: Former station house officer of the women police
station and her three other subordinate policewomen secured bail from the court
of a judicial magistrate immediately after their arrest on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the former investigation in charges of the Civil Lines
police station and People’s Colony police station Nasrullah Niazi and Raja
Toheed, respectively, were sent on judicial remand.
Sources said the Rail Bazaar police station SHO inspector Rehman
Qadir took into custody former women police station SHO Zahida Tariq, SI Gulnaz
Rohi, constables Bushra and Zahida, besides SHO Niazi and SI Toheed, from the
Police Lines.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/six-juniors-held-in-torture-case-policewomen-get-bail,-men-sent-on-judicial-remand-650
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'Embracing Islam just for marriage is against
religion'
May 6, 2010
Muzaffarnagar : Islamic seminary Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband has said
conversion to Islam just for the sake of marriage is against
religion.
Its comments came after a Hindu man in Garhi Pukhta village said he
wanted to convert to Islam to marry his domestic help, who is a
Muslim.
Last month, 82-year-old Om Prakash, also a freedom fighter, and Gasia
Begum (50) had applied at the marriage registrar office. Following stiff
opposition to the relationship by his two sons, Prakash said he would convert to
Islam if he was not allowed to marry Gasia.
Their decision attracted the attention of the Islamic seminary, which
termed any such move against the 'Shariat'.
Deputy In-charge of the fatwa department of Deoband, Mufti Ahsan
Kasmi, said conversion of person to Islam for the purpose of getting married is
"against the Shariat".
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/embracing-islam-just-for-marriage-is-against-religion/615497/
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Recognise right to worship Ram Lalla'
J. Venkatesan
May 6, 2010
New Delhi: The right to worship Ram Lalla at the disputed site at
Ayodhya must be recognised by court. For, this place has been believed to be the
birth place of Lord Ram by millions of Hindus for several centuries, senior
counsel Ravi Shankar Prasad argued in the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High
Court.
A Full Bench comprising Justices S.U. Khan, Sudhir Agarwal and D.V.
Sharma is hearing final arguments in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.
In the suits pending since 1989 Muslims sought a declaration that the area in
dispute be declared a Babri mosque.
After the completion of arguments on behalf of the plaintiffs in
March, senior Supreme Court lawyer Prasad, representing the interest of Hindu
worshippers, who claim as of right worship of the deity of Ram Lalla at Ram
Janmasthan at Ayodhya, commenced his arguments on May 3.
Full report at:
http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/06/stories/2010050660151100.htm
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Accused in Marriott Hotel suicide attack acquitted
By Khalid Iqbal
May 06, 2010
RAWALPINDI. Justice Malik Muhammad Akram of the Anti-Terrorism Court
(ATC) No-I here on Wednesday acquitted the accused involved in the Marriott
Hotel suicide attack case as the police failed to provide evidence against
them.
As many as 60 people were killed and scores injured in the incident
on September 20, 2008. The court acquitted four accused namely Dr Muhammad
Usman, Rana Muhammad Ilyas, Muhammad Hameed Afzal and Tehsinullah Khan. The
accused filed an acquittal application of 265-K in the court taking a plea that
the police failed to provide evidence against them.
Secretariat Police Station registered a case against Dr Muhammad
Usman, Rana Muhammad Ilyas, Muhammad Hameed Afzal and Tehsinullah Khan for their
alleged involvement in the Marriott Hotel suicide attack.
Full report at:
http://thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=28677
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Militants launch deadly suicide attack on Afghan
city
05 May, 2010
HERAT: Militants armed with guns and suicide vests launched a
coordinated attack in an Afghan city on Wednesday, setting off a series of
explosions and killing three people, officials said.
Such coordinated attacks targeting the Western-backed government have
become increasingly prevalent in Afghanistan, underscoring the increasing
sophistication of Taliban-led insurgent attacks nine years into the
conflict.
Eight suicide bombers managed to detonate their explosives outside
government buildings in Zaranj, the capital of Nimroz province, where witnesses
reported gunbattles between police and militants in government
offices.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/04-afghanistan-militant-attack-qs-08
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Banning burqa an infringement of rights
Mustafa Farooq
MAY 6, 2010
On April 30, the lower house of Belgium's government passed a law
that would ban women from wearing the burqa in public. This follows a series of
similar events going on in France, Italy, and Switzerland where governments,
following popular fervour, have moved to restrict the head covering. Closer to
home, in Quebec, the Charest government recently introduced landmark legislation
that would ban women wearing the niqab from accessing public
services.
Part of the debate stems from the confusion around both the purpose
and the form of what the Muslim "dress code" is. The point of the code, in
essence, is to preserve modesty for both males and females. Muslim males, for
example, are required to cover everything from directly below the knee to the
navel. For females, while the purpose of being modest remains the same, the form
differs.
Full report at:
http://thegatewayonline.ca/articles/opinion/2010/05/06/banning-burqa-infringement-rights
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Obama calls war council after NY plot
06 May 2010
An image of Faisal Shahzad is seen on a tv screen as security
officials hold a meeting over the NY failed bombing.
US President Barack Obama is to convene a war council, in wake of a
failed New York City bomb attack, for security talks on Afghanistan and
Pakistan.
The meeting on Thursday will bring together Defense Secretary Robert
Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, top US commander in Afghanistan
General Stanley McChrystal and other intelligence and counterterrorism
officials.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=125623§ionid=3510203
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Five Kurdish rebels killed in Iran
06 May, 2010
TEHRAN, May 5: Five Kurdish rebels, including two women, were killed
after they battled Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards in the western province of
Kermanshah, Fars news agency reported on Wednesday.
The clashes erupted on Tuesday when the Guards “ambushed a terrorist
team from PJAK in the region of Dalahu and after clashes five of them, including
two women were killed,” Guards commander Ali Akbar Nouri was quoted as saying by
Fars.
The Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, or PJAK, is closely allied with
the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which operates in Turkey and is listed as
a “terrorist” group by Ankara and much of the international
community.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/international/five-kurdish-rebels-killed-in-iran-650
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Iran welcomes Brazil mediation over nuclear
issue
May 06, 2010
TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has agreed "in
principle" to a Brazilian role in breaking the deadlock over a U.N.-backed
nuclear fuel swap with the West.
Under the U.N. plan first put forward in 2009, Western powers would
send nuclear fuel rods to a Tehran reactor in exchange for Iran's stock of
lower-level enriched uranium. The U.S. and its allies fear Iran's disputed
nuclear program aims to build nuclear weapons, and view the swap as a way to
curb Tehran's capacity to do so.
Iran, which insists its nuclear program only aims to generate
electricity, rejected the original exchange proposal. At the same time, the
country's leaders have worked to keep the offer on the table, proposing
variations, though without accepting the terms set in the U.N.
proposal.
Full report at:
http://thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=104252
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Swiss region wants nationwide burqa ban
May 6, 2010
Lawmakers in Switzerland's northern canton (state) of Aargau have
called for a nationwide ban on burqa-style Islamic garb in public spaces, Swiss
newspapers reported on Wednesday. Aargau's parliament voted to introduce a
motion in Switzerland's Council of States - representing the 26 cantons - that
would forbid people from wearing the dress that covers women from head to toe
with only a small mesh to see through.
The move, which was approved by 89 votes to 33, follows a decision by
the Belgian parliament last week to back a bill banning burqa-type clothing on
security grounds.
In France, a bill that would outlaw the veils in all public places
will be introduced in parliament later this month despite a ruling by the
country's highest administrative body that it could be
unconstitutional.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/europe/Swiss-region-wants-nationwide-burqa-ban/Article1-539883.aspx
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Court: Nothing to prove Salman was minor during
blasts
Zahid Rafiq
May 06, 2010
New delhi : After two months of arguments over suspected IM militant
Salman Ahmad’s age, a city court on Wednesday decided that he was an adult at
the time of the 2008 Delhi blasts. After the ossification test conducted by a
panel of AIIMS doctors said Salman was about 26 years old, Chief Metropolitan
Magistrate Kaveri Baweja ruled there were no documents to prove he was a minor
at the time of the blasts.
The decision has come as a relief to the Special Cell which arrested
him on March 3. If Salman was declared a minor, the case would have been
transferred to the Juvenile Justice Board and he could not have been
sentenced.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/court-nothing-to-prove-salman-was-minor-during-blasts/615681/
-------
Obama welcomes Indonesian announcement to ratify
CTBT
May 6, 2010
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has welcomed Indonesia's
announcement to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and said that
the United States is also committed to ratify it and its early entry into force.
"The United States is committed to the ratification of the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and to its early entry into force, and we
will work with the United States Senate to help achieve advice and consent to
this important international agreement," Obama said in a statement.
The US stands ready to work with all states and encourages them to
ratify the treaty and to help bring it into force, he said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Obama-welcomes-Indonesian-announcement-to-ratify-CTBT/articleshow/5891957.cms
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4 killed in deadly suicide attack on Afghan
city
06 May, 2010
HERAT: Taliban militants armed with guns and suicide vests launched a
coordinated attack on a city in south-western Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing
four people, officials said.
Police said at least eight attackers took part in the siege on
government buildings in Zaranj, the capital of the province of Nimroz, which has
seen levels of violence creep up in recent years, and that all were
killed.
Coordinated attacks targeting the Western-backed government have
become increasingly prevalent in Afghanistan, underscoring the increasing
sophistication of Taliban-led insurgent attacks nine years into the
conflict.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\05\06\story_6-5-2010_pg7_37
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Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua dies
By RANDY FABI & CAMILLUS EBOH
May 6, 2010
ABUJA: Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua has died at age 58 after a
long illness, presidential aides said. State television said on Thursday that
acting President Goodluck Jonathan had been informed of Yar'Adua's death and the
government would make a statement shortly
Yar'Adua had been absent from the political scene in Africa's most
populous nation since November, when he left for medical treatment for a heart
condition in Saudi Arabia. He returned to Nigeria in February but remained too
sick to govern.
Acting President Jonathan assumed executive powers in February and
has since appointed a new cabinet and his own team of
advisers.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article50616.ece
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Saudi diplomat attacked in Kenya
May 6, 2010
JEDDAH: A Saudi diplomat in Kenya, Muhammad Mahmoud bin Muhammad,
came under attack on Tuesday from unknown gunmen and has been admitted into the
intensive care unit of a hospital in Nairobi.
A source close to Muhammad, who is working as a religious attaché at
the Saudi Embassy in the Kenyan capital, told Arab News that four gunmen
attacked the diplomat at his home.
The source added that the diplomat’s condition was critical. The
Saudi Foreign Ministry did not comment on the shooting when this report went to
press.
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article50562.ece
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Al-Qaeda sympathizer surrenders to Saudi
authorities
May 6, 2010
JEDDAH: A Saudi militant and former Al-Qaeda sympathizer has
surrendered himself to the Kingdom’s security authorities, Interior Ministry
spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki said on Wednesday.
“The man, who had gone to a region of unrest, contacted his family,
expressing his desire to return to the Kingdom and surrender to the
authorities,” said Al-Turki in a statement.
He said the ministry made arrangements to facilitate the man’s return
to the Kingdom and that he has been reunited with his
family.
He added that the man would be called to complete legal procedures.
“We have taken his initiative into consideration.”
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article50557.ece
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Man sends son-in-law to jail, forces daughter to go with new
husband
May 6, 2010
MADINAH: A Shariah Court in Madinah is looking into the case of a
married woman who has filed a complaint against her father that he has misused
his parental authority to marry her off to a man even though she wants to
continue living with her first husband.
The first husband, a Tunisian expatriate, has also complained to
Madinah Gov. Prince Abdul Aziz bin Majid that he was jailed by the Passport
Department after his father-in-law, who is also his sponsor, filed a false
allegation against him, Al-Madinah newspaper reported.
The husband claims a judge in Madinah sided with his father-in-law to
take away his rights over his wife while he was in prison. Prince Abdul Aziz has
ordered the Passport Department to investigate why the man was put in
jail.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article50572.ece
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Malaysia top court hears landmark religious
dispute
By RAZAK AHMAD
May 6, 2010
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia: Malaysia's highest court began proceedings on
Monday on a landmark inter-religious child custody dispute whose outcome could
further raise political tension in this mainly Muslim
country.
The Federal Court heard objections by lawyers representing an ethnic
Indian couple fighting each other for custody of their two children and
adjourned for two weeks before hearing the case.
A Hindu woman, Shamala Sathiyaseelan, won temporary custody of her
two children in 2004 following her husband's conversion to Islam. She is seeking
full custody and a declaration that it is illegal under Malaysia's constitution
for a parent to convert a minor to Islam without the other's
consent.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article49783.ece
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Yemen ‘bans Arab conference on Darfur crisis’
6 May 2010
SANAA - Yemen on Wednesday slapped a last-minute ban on a meeting of
Arab parliamentarians to discuss the crisis in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region,
the head of one group due to attend said.
“We were surprised a few hours before the conference began when
security men blocked participants access to the hall,” Yemen’s Social Democratic
Forum secretary general Nabil Abdulhafiz said.
He cited the security men as saying they had “received instructions
to do so.”
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/May/middleeast_May87.xml§ion=middleeast
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Iraq’s Shiite parties edge out Sunni-backed
coalition
6 May 2010
BAGHDAD - Iraq inched towards
a new government Wednesday with power set to be vested once more in the hands of
Shiite religious parties that have close ties to Iran, pushing Sunni-backed
secularists to the margins.
A deal was struck late on Tuesday between the war-torn country’s two
biggest Shiite Muslim alliances, allowing them to squeeze out a secular
coalition that won a March 7 general election but failed to build a
parliamentary majority.
The agreement, struck after two months of haggling that paralysed
politics and alarmed the United States ahead of its planned military withdrawal
from the country, was condemned by the secular bloc as “a sectarian
merger.”
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/May/middleeast_May86.xml§ion=middleeast
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Palestinians say talks must deal with core
issues
06 May, 2010
Jordan — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that
U.S.-brokered indirect peace talks with Israel could quickly collapse if they do
not focus on core issues like the final borders of a Palestinian
state.
Israel says it is willing to address key issues in the indirect talks
beginning Wednesday but maintains that their resolution can only come in direct
negotiations.
“Negotiations will focus on final status issues and there’s no need
to enter into details and small matters because we have had enough of that in
the previous negotiations,” Abbas said after talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah
II in the Jordanian capital.
Abbas gave the talks four months to make progress. After that, he
said, he will seek Arab League advice on next steps.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/May/middleeast_May80.xml§ion=middleeast&col
9:59 PM
Sultan Shahin
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