Imam
accused of launching 'jihad' against prostitutes in
Spain
JEDDAH: Mother armed with assault rifle storms into Hail
school
Muslim woman, panchayat face-off over
'hubby'
Canadian Muslims still have reason to be anxious
Bride’s age must in new Saudi marriage
contracts
Bangladesh newspaper forced to close down
Israel asks South Asian Muslims to help bridge gap with
Palestine
US drones are ‘licence to kill’: UN expert
Israel sorry for dragging India into flotilla
row
Australian woman held in Yemen over Qaeda suspicion:
lawyer
Iran's supreme leader pardons opposition
prisoners
Turkish activists get hero's welcome in
Istanbul
Indian role key to future success in Afghanistan:
US
Army plans to use micro audio bugs to keep watch on
terrorists
India violating treaty on sharing of river waters:
Pak
About 60,000 people evacuated as Phet threatens
Pakistan
Turkey says ties with Israel 'will never be the
same'
Terrorists trying to obtain nuke, biological material:
Russia
The Danger of Demonizing Adherents of Islam
JUI holds protest against killing of
clerics
Taliban balkanize Jinnah’s vision of Pakistan
Palestine, grave contemporary human rights issue: Supreme
Leader
Afghan parliamentarian calls for execution of
Christians
Protesters slam Israeli brutality
Religious leaders join to condemn Cahill's comments on Muslim
community
Turkey flies Gaza aid activists home after deadly Israeli
raid
New York bomb suspect Shahzad's case postponed for three
weeks
Pakistan's nuke arsenal bigger than India's
Iran's supreme leader pardons 81 jailed opposition
prisoners
Turkey flies Gaza aid activists home after deadly Israeli
raid
India got Samad from UAE after four IM men escaped
net
Israel calls Gaza blockade critics 'hypocrites'
Israel Deports 700 Activists
Israel Wants US To Deflect Outcry
Top Al Qaeda leader killed in drone strike
PPP women slam ‘conspiracies against govt’
New sanctions could mean confrontation:
Iran
UN investigator snubs US drone strike
‘Terrorists seeking nuclear materials’
Punjabi Taliban getting more dangerous: Malik
Facebook and the Muslim outrage
Berlin academy honors Prince Salman
OIC calls emergency meeting to discuss Israeli
attack
Israel tension boosts Turkey popularity among
Arabs
Flotilla provokes world conscience
Compiled by Asit Kumar
Photo: Iranian Christian women Maryam Rostampour and Marzieh
Amirizadeh
--------
Iran drops apostasy charges against women
converts
Jun 3, 2010
Two female converts in Iran were acquitted of all charges and arrived
safely in another country.
Maryam Rostampour and Marzieh Amirizadeh were cleared of apostasy,
anti-state activities, and participating in illegal gatherings, according to
Elam Ministries, an Iran-focused ministry that has followed the case since the
beginning.
Iranian authorities warned the women that they faced serious
consequences if they continue their Christian activities in
Iran.
The founders of Elam Ministries, Sam and Lin Yeghnazar, received the
two young women at an airport in an undisclosed country on Saturday. The name of
the country was withheld for security reasons.
“It was very emotional when we first saw them,” said Lin Yeghnazar.
“Now, we want to see them rest and recover.”
Rostampour and Amirizadeh were arrested in March 2009 on charges of
anti-state activity and for “taking part in illegal gatherings”, in other words,
involvement with house churches. They were detained in the notorious Evin
prison, a facility known for its human rights violations, while their trial took
place in Tehran.
The young converts suffered psychological abuse during their
detainment, including sleep deprivation and intense interrogation lasting hours.
They also suffered from health problems but were denied medical
attention.
In prison, they were pressured to renounce their new Christian faith
and to return to Islam but they repeatedly refused.
During an August 9 court hearing, they reportedly told the judge, “We
love Jesus,” “Yes, we are Christians,” and, “We will not deny our faith.” In
October they learned that a third charge of apostasy had been
added.
They were conditionally released on November 18, but updates on their
condition in April revealed that the two women were still in frail physical
condition.
“We are most grateful to everyone who prayed for us,” said Amirizadeh
in a statement Saturday. “I have no doubt that God heard the prayers of His
people.”
Rostampour also thanked Christians worldwide for their prayers, which
she credits for sustaining them throughout the ordeal. She said eventually they
would like to share what occurred during their detainment, but for now they
wanted to pray and “seek the Lord for His will”.
In Iran it is illegal for Muslims to convert to Christianity,
although Christians are allowed to convert to Islam.
Over the past year, authorities have shut down at least three
churches and accused them of converting Muslims. None of the three churches have
been given permission to re-open yet.
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/iran.drops.apostasy.charges.against.women.converts/25960.htm
--------
Imam accused of launching 'jihad' against prostitutes in
Spain
By Fiona Govan
3 Jun 2010
An imam who has launched a "jihad" on prostitutes, encouraging women
to harass the women in a city in southern Spain, is facing a restraining order
to prevent him from harassing them.
Street walkers in Cartagena, on Spain's southern Mediterranean coast,
have complained that the imam of a local mosque has launched a campaign of
intimidation to get them off the streets.
Yazid Koudri, president of the Islamic community of Cartagena and the
imam of the Ennour mosque, has been accused of sending a team of "Muslim guards"
onto the streets to prevent the women from working.
Police confirm that they have received several complaints from
prostitutes working in the streets around the mosque, including one woman who
claimed the imam had tried to run her over in his car.
Others said the imam sent a team of his faithful onto the streets
encouraging them to "insult the sex workers" and "threaten
violence".
Mr Koudri has openly lobbied authorities to crack down on the red
light district, which has emerged on several streets around the mosque in what
local newspapers have termed a "jihad against
prostitution".
Last month, he presented a petition to the city hall, calling for
more policing of the area. The letter had more than 200 signatures, believed to
be collected from among the 300 people who regularly worship at the
mosque.
"We are not against what these women do," Mr Koudri stated. "But ask
that they don't do it in the streets where our children
walk."
Members of the mosque have reportedly been placed at the entrance to
streets favoured by prostitutes to prevent any Muslim passing through, an act
which the women complain has led to a drop in clients.
The local prosecutor has applied for a restraining order to prevent
the Imam going within 200 yards of the sex workers.
Prostitution is legal in Spain, although living off earnings derived
from prostituting other people is not.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/7798375/Imam-accused-of-launching-jihad-against-prostitutes-in-Spain.html
--------
Jeddah: Mother armed with assault rifle storms into Hail
school
By MUHAMAD AL-SULAMI
Jun 3, 2010
JEDDAH: A 40-year-old Saudi woman armed with an assault rifle walked
into a village school close to Hail and demanded teachers hand over her
son.
The woman entered the school in the village of Al-Thekra armed with
an AK-47. She was, however, overpowered by teachers and then, along with the
nephew, arrested by police.
The school’s principal said he was surprised to see the mother walk
into the school with the gun, adding that the woman threatened to shoot her to
scare him into handing over the boy.
The school principal, however, refused to hand over the boy. Other
teachers then came and tried calming her down. The woman then became aggressive
and was physically restrained and disarmed.
According to police sources, the woman’s husband beat her up the day
before and that she had vowed to leave him along with their son to live at her
father’s home.
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article60529.ece
--------
Muslim woman, panchayat face-off over 'hubby'
Jun 03 2010
Muzaffarnagar : A community panchayat has asked a Muslim woman to go
back to her first husband but she has rejected the diktat and instead lodged a
complaint against it with the police.
Mehrana got married with Ansar Tyagi ten years ago but had a divorce
and on October 8, 2008, she remarried Shakil, according to the complaint filed
in Ambavihar locality here yesterday.
It said a community panchayat asked the woman to go back to her first
husband and pronounced her second marriage as "illegal" because she had not got
talaq from her first husband.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/muslim-woman-panchayat-faceoff-over-hubby/628889/
--------
Canadian Muslims still have reason to be anxious
BY DOUGLAS TODD, VANCOUVER SUNJUNE
Jun 3, 2010
A young Port Moody Muslim is travelling to Europe for the first time
and is worried about being racially profiled.
Raised in the relative tolerance of Metro Vancouver, Shaheed Devji
has won a European Union-Canada Young Journalist Award that has him flying alone
to Belgium, where Muslims are sometimes treated suspiciously in airports and
elsewhere.
Devji, a B.C. Institute of Technology broadcast student and SFU
soccer play-by-play announcer, wondered if he was just being "paranoid" about
whether his laptop was going to be searched.
Unfortunately, he has a right to be anxious.
Racial profiling may be just one of the problems Devji experiences
away from Metro Vancouver, which has roughly 70,000 Muslims. Some Muslims in
Europe, and especially in the U.S., are being subjected to shocking
discrimination, harassment and violence.
Full report at:
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Canadian+Muslims+still+have+reason+anxious/3105863/story.html
--------
Bride’s age must in new Saudi marriage
contracts
3 June 2010
JEDDAH — The new marriage
contracts represent a serious step to prevent the marriage of young girls,
according to sources at the Ministry of Justice.
“There is a serious drive by the ministry to determine an age for
girls to marry following the recent reporting of older men marrying young
girls,” the sources said.
The ministry has began distributing new marriage contracts to
marriage officials that contain a section that includes a question about the
bride’s age, a move that has been described by human rights organisations and
officials at the ministry as part of a new drive to stop underage
marriages.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/June/middleeast_June98.xml§ion=middleeast&col=
--------
Bangladesh newspaper closed down
03 Jun, 2010
The Bangladeshi government has ordered the closure of the country's
third largest national daily newspaper Amar Desh, which supports the opposition
Bangladeshi National Party.
Police raided the paper's Dhaka headquarters and arrested the acting
editor Mahmudur Rahman. He has written editorials and articles critical of the
government of prime minister Sheikh Hasina, documenting human rights abuses and
corruption.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2010/jun/03/press-freedom-bangladesh
--------
Israel asks South Asian Muslims to help bridge gap with
Palestine
By Iftikhar Gilani
Jun 3, 2010
NEW DELHI: Facing international backlash over its raid on the
Gaza-bound Turkish aid flotilla, Israel on Wednesday sought help from South
Asian Muslims to build bridges between Israel and the moderate Palestinian
leadership. At a specially convened press interaction for selected Delhi-based
Muslim journalists, Israeli Ambassador to India Mark Sofer said top Pakistani
journalist and TV anchor Talat Hussain was safe and would return to Pakistan
soon. He asked Muslims to look at the wider picture in Middle East, denying it
was a battle between Jews and Muslims. “We respect Islam and the conflict in
West Asia is not a religious one. Islam is a religion of peace and beauty.
Whoever indulges in violence in the name of Islam, abuses and misuses the
religion,” Sofer said.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\06\03\story_3-6-2010_pg7_33
--------
US drones are ‘licence to kill’: UN expert
3 June 2010
GENEVA - A UN human rights
expert on Wednesday condemned the United States’ targeted killings using drones,
warning that the practice amounted to a “licence to kill without
accountability”.
In a report to the UN Human Rights Council, Philip Alston, the
special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, said the “prolific” US use of
targeted killings, mainly by unmanned aircraft, was setting a damaging example
that other countries would follow.
“I’m particularly concerned that the United States seems oblivious to
this fact when it asserts an ever-expanding entitlement for itself to target
individuals across the globe,” he told the 47-member
council.
“But this strongly asserted but ill-defined licence to kill without
accountability is not an entitlement which the United States or other states can
have without doing grave damage to the rules designed to protect the right to
life and prevent extrajudicial executions.”
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2010/June/international_June107.xml§ion=international&col=
--------
Israel sorry for dragging India into flotilla
row
Jun 3, 2010
NEW DELHI: Fearing a major outrage in India over remarks made by its
foreign ministry in the context of the attack on the Gaza aid flotilla, Israel
on Wednesday attributed the statement bracketing India with Pakistan,
Afghanistan and Iraq to a "human error" and said it was "regrettable". Israel's
envoy to India Mark Sofer said the issue had been taken up to ensure that no
misunderstanding was caused by it.
India had earlier strongly condemned the Israeli strikes saying there
could not be any justification for such indiscriminate use of force. The Israeli
foreign ministry then issued a statement saying that foreign minister Avigdor
Lieberman had reminded the UN Secretary General that "in the past month alone,
500 people were killed in various incidents in Thailand, Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Iraq and India, while the international community remained silent and passive,
and generally ignored the occurrences, while Israel is condemned for
unmistakably defensive actions".
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Israel-sorry-for-dragging-India-into-flotilla-row/articleshow/6004434.cms
--------
Australian woman held in Yemen over Qaeda suspicion:
lawyer
Jun 3, 2010
Sanaa : An Australian mother has been taken into custody by Yemeni
authorities over suspected links to Al-Qaeda, while her two children were placed
under house arrest, her lawyer said on Wednesday.
Shyloh Jayne Giddens, who had converted to Islam, was arrested on May
15 by the intelligence services along with other Muslim women, Abdul Rahman
Barman told AFP.
The authorities did not provide any reasons for the arrests, Barman
said, adding that two Bangladeshi women were arrested with Giddens and that one
of them has been deported.
"In light of wrong US intelligence information, people get arrested
without any legal justification. Dozens of innocent people are being arrested
and accused of working for, or belonging to, Al-Qaeda," he
said.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/australian-woman-held-in-yemen-over-qaeda-suspicion-lawyer/628481/
--------
Iran's supreme leader pardons opposition
prisoners
Jun 3, 2010
TEHRAN: Iran's supreme leader pardoned 81 jailed opposition
supporters who had been found guilty of having a role in the unrest triggered by
last June's disputed presidential election.
Wednesday's pardons were seen as a gesture of goodwill by Iran's
leaders just days before the anniversary of the June 12 election, when the
opposition says it will attempt to mount the first street protests in months.
Authorities have warned they will confront any unauthorized
gatherings.
Opposition activists took to the streets after last year's vote,
claiming President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won re-election through fraud. Over the
weeks, activists broadened their protests to challenge Iran's clerical
establishment and were met with a heavy crackdown.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article60517.ece
--------
Turkish activists get hero's welcome in
Istanbul
By SELCAN HACAOGLU & MARK LAVIE
Jun 3, 2010
ISTANBUL: Hundreds of activists deported from Israel following a
bloody raid by Israeli commandos on a pro-Palestinian flotilla returned to a
hero's welcome in Turkey early Thursday. Nine bodies were on the first
plane.
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc and several Turkish lawmakers
welcomed them at the airport after Turkey pressured Israel to release the
detainees, most of whom are Turkish. Others were from Arab countries, Europe and
the United States.
"They faced barbarism and oppression but returned with pride," Arinc
said.
A few thousand jubilant relatives and supporters, waving Palestinian
and Turkish flags, burst into applause outside the airport, chanting "God is
Great!" They later walked to the perimeters near the tarmac to see their loved
ones.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article60648.ece
--------
Indian role key to future success in Afghanistan:
US
By Anwar Iqbal
03 Jun, 2010
WASHINGTON: “We refuse to accept the notion that somehow we can have
strong relations with only one country in South Asia at a time,” says a senior
US official while defining the Obama administration’s policy towards India and
Pakistan.
Speaking at a seminar on the start of US-India Strategic Dialogue
this week, Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs William J. Burns also
hinted that the US was not against India’s inclusion in the UN Security Council
as a permanent member.
“India’s expanding global role will naturally make it an important
part of any future consideration of reform of the United Nations Security
Council,” he said.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/indian-role-key-to-future-success-in-afghanistan-us-360
--------
Army plans to use micro audio bugs to keep watch on
terrorists
Jun 3, 2010
NEW DELHI: Army plans to induct new-age gadgets such as micro audio
bugs and video devices to keep a watch on terrorist hideouts and their meeting
places and activities, apparently taking a leaf out of James Bond flicks.
"Possible nanotechnology applications are micro-audio bugs and video
recording devices with high capacity data storage to plant at likely meeting
places of terrorists, over ground agents and sympathisers," army said on the
possible uses of nanotechnology products in the 'Technology Perspective and
Capability Roadmap' for the defence ministry.
Nanotechnology is an expected future manufacturing technology that
will make most products lighter, stronger, cleaner, less expensive and smaller
in size.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Army-plans-to-use-nanotech-to-monitor-terrorists/articleshow/6006757.cms
--------
India violating treaty on sharing of river waters:
Pak
Jun 03 2010
Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday said India had been violating a
treaty on the sharing of river waters and that it had "strong reservations" over
two hydropower projects being built in Jammu and Kashmir.
"There have been violations by India of the Indus Waters Treaty of
1960. For instance, we still have strong reservations vis-a-vis the Kishanganga
and Nimmo-Bazgo projects," Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit told a weekly
news briefing.
Pakistan wants to settle all differences and disputes with India over
the sharing of river waters in accordance with the dispute settlement mechanism
of the Indus Waters Treaty, Basit said while replying to a
question.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/india-violating-treaty-on-sharing-of-river-waters-pak/629065/
---------
About 60,000 people evacuated as Phet threatens
Pakistan
Jun 3, 2010
KARACHI: More than 60,000 people living on Pakistan's Arabian sea
coastline were evacuated and emergency declared in Sindh and Balochistan
provinces, as tropical cyclone Phet closed in on the country.
Thousands of people were moved out from vulnerable villages along the
coast in the Sindh province and another half a a million could be affected in
neighbouring Balochistan, if the cyclone smashes into Pakistan, officials said.
President Asif Ali Zardari directed the armed forces and all
government departments to be on full alert to tackle the possible fallout of the
cyclone Phet, which has weakened over Oman and is now moving towards Pakistan's
coastline.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Pakistan/About-60000-people-evacuated-as-Phet-threatens-Pakistan/articleshow/6007888.cms
---------
Turkey says ties with Israel 'will never be the
same'
Jun 3, 2010
ANKARA: Turkey's ties with Israel suffered "irreparable" damage and
"will never be the same" after the deadly raid on aid ships bound for Gaza,
Turkish President Abdullah Gul said today.
"From now on, Turkish-Israeli ties will never be the same. This
incident has left an irreparable and deep scar" on relations, he said in
televised remarks.
Gul added that Monday's attack by Israeli forces, in which eight
Turks and a US national of Turkish origin were killed, "is not an issue that can
be forgotten... or be covered up."
"Israel has made the biggest mistake in its history. It will realise
this better in the future. Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Middle-East/Turkey-says-ties-with-Israel-will-never-be-the-same/articleshow/6008001.cms
---------
Terrorists trying to obtain nuke, biological material:
Russia
Jun 3, 2010
MOSCOW: Russia's top security official has said the terrorists active
in the post-Soviet nations are trying to obtain nuclear, biological and chemical
material for terror strikes.
"We posses information indicating that the terrorists are trying to
gain access to nuclear, biological and chemical components," FSB security chief
Gen Alexander Bortnikov said in his televised remarks.
Speaking after the CIS security agencies' conference in the Urals
city of Yekaterinburg Gen Bortnikov said: "We are constantly paying attention to
this problem."
He said that as a result of joint inter-agency operations several
terror attempts were foiled in the former Soviet republics, now members of the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Rest-of-World/Terrorists-trying-to-obtain-nuke-biological-material-Russia/articleshow/6007266.cms
--------
The Danger of Demonizing Adherents of Islam
By RICHARD BERNSTEIN
Jun 3, 2010
NEW YORK — They are not exactly ubiquitous, but according to The
Daily News, 40 New York City buses are rolling these days with an unusual and,
to be frank, dubious advertisement emblazoned on their
sides.
“Fatwa on your head?” the ad reads, in a message apparently aimed at
Muslims who want to convert to another religion or simply not to be Muslims
anymore. “Is your family or community threatening you?”
The ad is promoting a Web site, RefugeFromIslam.com, where,
presumably, New York Muslims whose lives have been threatened because they want
to convert can turn for help, and the site contains links to other sites with
various anti-Islamic purposes. “Muslims Against Sharia,” for example, aims “to
educate Muslims about dangers presented by Islamic religious texts and why Islam
must be reformed.”
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/us/03iht-letter.html
--------
JUI holds protest against killing of clerics
Jun 3, 2010
QUETTA: The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) staged a rally at the Meezan
Chowk on Wednesday to protest against the killing of religious scholars Qari
Abdul Mateen and Hafiz Muhammad Usman. The rally, after marching through
different parts of the city, concluded at the Meezan Chowk. Addressing the
rally, former senator Fazal Barech, Maulana Abdul Qadir and Maulana Muhammad
Hanif criticised the government for failing to protect the life and property of
the citizens. “The government is responsible for protecting the life and
property of the common man but it seems to be powerless before the criminals,”
Fazal Barech said adding that if the government could not protect the citizens
then weapons be provided to every person for protecting his life and property.
He said that some elements wanted to create sectarian differences amongst the
masses but they would not succeed in their evil designs. The former senator
alleged that the US was encouraging terrorist attacks in the country and was
also behind the target killings of religious scholars. The protesters demanded
the government to arrest the killers of Maulana Mateen and Usman and bring them
to justice.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\06\03\story_3-6-2010_pg7_22
--------
Taliban balkanize Jinnah’s vision of Pakistan
Jun 3, 2010
Noted Pakistani humorist Ibn-e-Insha once wrote about his encounter
with a Pakistani troubled by his countrymen’s overwhelming ethnic and
sub-nationalist sensitivities.“Aajkal Pakistan mein koyi apney aap ko Sindhi
kehta hai to koyi Baluchi, Punjabi ya Pathan. Agar yahi sab karna tha tou
Pakistan bananey ki kya zaroorat thi?” he asked.
“Maaf kijiyega, galti ho gayi, agey sey nahin banayenge,” responded
Insha in a telling acceptance of contradictions that bedevil Pakistan as a
nation State. That happened some years ago as the Leftist thinker died way back
in 1978.
In the years thereafter, sharpened ethnic, regional, linguistic and
sub-nationalist identities have put under greater strain the State’s
cohesiveness. The Punjabi imperialism, Pakhtoon and Baloch alienation,
Shia-Sunni divide and the Mohajir versus Sindhi sentiments have only lent
greater meaning to Insha’s apology.
Full report at:
http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/separated-at-birth/2010/05/31/taliban-balkanize-jinnah%E2%80%99s-vision-of-pakistan/
--------
Palestine, grave contemporary human rights issue: Supreme
Leader
Jun 3, 2010
TEHRAN(ISNA)-Islamic Revolution Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei
issued a statement in condemnation of the Monday bloody Israeli attack against
Fleet of Freedom humanitarian aid ships, saying that the atrocity was an
aggression against world public opinion.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the Palestinian issue was no longer merely an
Arabic or even Islamic issue rather it was a grave contemporary human rights
issue to which the supporters of the Zionist regime especially America, Britain
and France must be held accountable.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the savage and barbaric attack against the
humanitarian fleet was another leaf in the log of massive criminal acts
committed by the regime.
Full report at:
http://www.isna.ir/ISNA/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-1550223&Lang=E
--------
Afghan parliamentarian calls for execution of
Christians
June 3, 2010
An Afghan parliamentary secretary has called for the public execution
of Christian converts from the parliament floor, according to International
Christian Concern.
On Tuesday, the Associated Free Press reported that Abdul Sattar
Khawasi, deputy secretary of the Afghan lower house in parliament, called for
the execution of Christian converts from Islam.
Speaking in regards to a video broadcast by the Afghan television
network Noorin TV showing footage of Christian men being baptized and praying in
Farsi, Khawasi said, "Those Afghans that appeared in this video film should be
executed in public. The house should order the attorney general and the NDS
(intelligence agency) to arrest these Afghans and execute them."
Full report at:
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/afghan.parliamentarian.calls.for.execution.of.christians/26025.htm
--------
Protesters slam Israeli brutality
By MOHAMMED AL A'ALI
Jun 3, 2010
HUNDREDS of people demonstrated yesterday in front of the UN House,
in Hoora, demanding action from the international community following Israel's
attack on a Gaza aid flotilla.
Members of political, vocational and social organisations took part
in the demonstration, which was spearheaded by members of Al Menbar National
Islamic Society.
People from all faiths gathered with flags and placards, condemning
the latest actions taken by Israel.
Al Menbar parliamentary bloc president MP Dr Shaikh Abdullatif Al
Shaikh read out the statement at the end of the demonstration, saying that they
were not surprised with Israel's behaviour.
Full report at:
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=279330
--------
Religious leaders join to condemn Cahill's comments on Muslim
community
By Martin Finucane and Michael Levenson
Jun 3, 2010
Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim leaders, adorned in the
vestments of their respective faiths, stood shoulder to shoulder on the steps of
a Roxbury mosque today and strongly condemned Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill’s
remarks blasting Governor Deval Patrick’s attendance last weekend at a forum at
the mosque.
The gathering included leaders from the Archdiocese of Boston, the
Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, the Massachusetts Council of Churches,
some of Boston’s most prominent black churches, and several Jewish temples.
Full report at:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/05/cahills_comment.html
--------
Turkey flies Gaza aid activists home after deadly Israeli
raid
Jun 3, 2010
ANKARA: Hundreds of activists from the Gaza-bound aid flotilla seized
by Israeli commandos arrived in Turkey on Thursday, as Israel's prime minister
denounced some of them as "violent supporters of terrorism."
A crowd of about a thousand people, some chanting anti-Israeli
slogans, welcomed the three planes carrying 488 activists at Istanbul airport as
they arrived in the small hours of the morning.
The planes were also carrying the bodies of nine activists killed
when Israeli commandos took control of the six aid vessels in Monday's pre-dawn
operation, deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc told journalists at the airport.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Turkey-flies-Gaza-aid-activists-home-after-deadly-Israeli-raid/articleshow/6005805.cms
--------
New York bomb suspect Shahzad's case postponed for three
weeks
Jun 3, 2010
NEW YORK: Times Square car bomb suspect Faisal Shahzad has agreed to
let the government delay seeking an indictment against him while it continues
discussions with his lawyer.
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday released paperwork saying they can
delay until June 21 deciding how to proceed with charges in the May 1 attempted
bombing, in which a sport utility vehicle laden with gasoline and propane tanks
was parked near a Broadway theater but didn't blow up.
Shahzad was arrested on May 3. The ex-budget analyst from Bridgeport,
Connecticut, was on a Dubai-bound plane at a New York City airport.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/New-York-bomb-suspect-Shahzads-case-postponed-for-three-weeks/articleshow/6006609.cms
--------
Pakistan's nuke arsenal bigger than India's
Rajat Pandit
Jun 3, 2010
NEW DELHI: After racing ahead of India in ballistic and cruise
missiles, with covert help from China and North Korea, Pakistan seems to be
surging ahead on the nuclear front too.
A series of recent estimates by international nuclear watchdogs and
reputed thinktanks hold that Pakistan has a total of 70 to 90 warheads compared
to India's 60 to 80. China, in comparison, has around 240 warheads.
Even as global fears about the possibility of jihadis gaining access
to Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, enriched uranium or technical know-how continue,
its deadly inventory is only going to expand in the coming years.
Pakistan, after all, is supplementing its ongoing enriched
uranium-based nuke programme with a weapons-grade plutonium one. Its two new
heavy-water reactors being built at Khushab nuclear facility, with China's help,
are clearly geared towards producing weapons-grade plutonium, as reported by TOI
earlier.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pakistans-nuke-arsenal-bigger-than-Indias/articleshow/6005178.cms
--------
Iran's supreme leader pardons 81 jailed opposition
prisoners
Jun 3, 2010
TEHRAN: Iran's supreme leader pardoned 81 jailed opposition
supporters who had been found guilty of having a role in the unrest triggered by
last June's disputed presidential election.
Wednesday's pardons were seen as a gesture of goodwill by Iran's
leaders just days before the anniversary of the June 12 election, when the
opposition says it will attempt to mount the first street protests in months.
Authorities have warned they will confront any unauthorised
gatherings.
Opposition activists took to the streets after last year's vote,
claiming President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won re-election through fraud.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Irans-supreme-leader-pardons-81-jailed-opposition-prisoners/articleshow/6005579.cms
--------
Turkey flies Gaza aid activists home after deadly Israeli
raid
Jun 3, 2010
ANKARA: Hundreds of activists from the Gaza-bound aid flotilla seized
by Israeli commandos arrived in Turkey on Thursday, as Israel's prime minister
denounced some of them as "violent supporters of terrorism."
A crowd of about a thousand people, some chanting anti-Israeli
slogans, welcomed the three planes carrying 488 activists at Istanbul airport as
they arrived in the small hours of the morning.
The planes were also carrying the bodies of nine activists killed
when Israeli commandos took control of the six aid vessels in Monday's pre-dawn
operation, deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc told journalists at the airport.
Israel has identified four of the dead as Turkish nationals, but
there has been no word yet as to the identity or nationality of the others.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Turkey-flies-Gaza-aid-activists-home-after-deadly-Israeli-raid/articleshow/6005805.cms
--------
India got Samad from UAE after four IM men escaped
net
Jun 3, 2010
New Delhi : India was able to get back Abdul Samad, the brother of
alleged Pune blast accused Yasin Bhatkal, from Dubai after New Delhi conveyed to
the UAE its serious concern over four key Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives
being allowed to escape from Sharjah two months ago.
Top government sources told The Indian Express that at a security
coordination meeting two months ago, New Delhi had asked UAE for help in nabbing
four IM operatives suspected to be involved in the Pune attack, who were then in
Sharjah. Their addresses were handed over; however, the four men escaped. India
was later told that the men could not be found at the given addresses. Indian
agencies believe the IM men escaped to Pakistan.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/india-got-samad-from-uae-after-four-im-men-escaped-net/628744/
--------
Israel calls Gaza blockade critics 'hypocrites'
Jun 3, 2010
Jerusalem: Defending Israel's enforcement of its blockade of Gaza,
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday it was vital for security
and would stay in place.
In a televised speech after world outrage erupted over nine deaths in
Monday's seizure of a Turkish ship bound for Gaza, a defiant Netanyahu said
easing controls would put Iranian missiles in the hands of the Palestinian
enclave's Hamas rulers.
This threatened not just Israel but Europe too, he
said.
Turkey, a Muslim country that had been Israel's strategic ally,
accused it of "state terrorism" and has recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv
and demanded it lift its blockade.
Those calls have been echoed by European leaders and the United
Nations whose Human Rights Council voted to set up an independent fact-finding
mission into the incident.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/israel-calls-gaza-blockade-critics-hypocrites/628819/
--------
Israel Deports 700 Activists
Jun 3, 2010
Israel on Wednesday was deporting the last of the nearly 700 foreign
activists detained in a deadly raid on an aid flotilla bound for Palestinians in
the blockaded, Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Israel’s attorney-general Yehuda Weinstein ordered everyone be
deported after deciding not to prosecute any of the activists taken into custody
during Monday’s raid.
Officials had earlier said they were considering prosecuting about 50
people believed to be involved in violence, but Mr Weinstein wrote in his order
Wednesday that “keeping them here would do more damage to the country’s vital
interests than good.”
Full report at:
http://www.asianage.com/international/israel-deports-700-activists-060
--------
Israel Wants US To Deflect Outcry
Jun 3, 2010
Israel can probably live with the diplomatic cost of its bloody
storming of Turkish-backed aid ships bound for Gaza — unless its US ally fails
to shield it.
Israel’s high-seas interception of the flotilla, in which nine people
were killed, has provoked a firestorm of criticism around the world and shredded
the Jewish state’s already tattered relationship with Turkey, once its only
Muslim ally.
Demands will intensify for Israel to end its siege of Gaza’s 1.5
million Palestinians, decried as “inhumane” by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip
Erdogan on Tuesday. The European Union and Russia urged Israel to open crossings
for aid, goods and people.
Full report at:
http://www.asianage.com/international/israel-wants-us-deflect-outcry-980
--------
Top Al Qaeda leader killed in drone strike
Jun 3, 2010
PESHAWAR, June 2: A jihadi group announced on Wednesday that top Al
Qaeda operative Osama bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Damjan Al-Dawsari had been killed
in a drone attack in Nezai Narray near Angoor Adda in South Waziristan.
Al-Fajr Media Centre, run by a jihadi group, had earlier reported the
death of Al Qaeda’s third-ranking leader Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid in a drone attack
in Laand Mohammadkhel area of North Waziristan on May 18.
Dawsari was reportedly killed when he was attending a meeting in the
house of one Omar Khaitab, a close associate of militant commander Maulvi Nazir.
Local people said that Khaitab, two other tribesmen and an Afghan
national were killed in the attack.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/top-al-qaeda-leader-killed-in-drone-strike-360
--------
PPP women slam ‘conspiracies against govt’
Jun 3, 2010
HYDERABAD, June 2: Sindh chapter of the Pakistan People’s Party
(women wing) has adopted many resolutions condemning conspiracies against the
government.
At its convention here on Tuesday, the provincial chapter also
launched party membership drive and expressed full confidence in the leadership
of PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and
president of the party (women wing) Ms Faryal Talpur.
It termed passage of the 18th amendment a big achievement and vowed
to complete the mission of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto for the welfare the common
man.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/ppp-women-slam-conspiracies-against-govt-360
--------
New sanctions could mean confrontation: Iran
Jun 3, 2010
BRUSSELS—Fresh international sanctions against Iran over its nuclear
programme could lead to confrontation, foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki
warned during a visit to Brussels on Wednesday.
"There are two options," to resolve the problem, he told an audience
at the European Policy Centre think-tank. "The first is based on cooperation,
the other is based on confrontation," he said on the second and last day of his
visit to the Belgian capital.
"The resolution" at the United Nations Security Council on imposing
new sanctions against Iran "is a basis for confrontation," he warned. "That is
not our preferred option but that's up to other parties who would like to move
in that direction," Mottaki added.
Full report at:
http://dailymailnews.com/0610/03/FrontPage/FrontPage9.php
--------
UN investigator snubs US drone strike
Jun 3, 2010
WASHINGTON—A senior United Nations official said Wednesday that the
United States should halt the CIA’s drone campaign against al-Qaeda and Taliban
forces in Pakistan, charging that the official secrecy surrounding the strikes
violates the legal principal of international accountability.
But a report by Philip Alston, the United Nations special rapporteur
on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, stopped short of declaring
the CIA program illegal, reported The Washington Post. Alston presented a
29-page report to the U.N.’s Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday that
focused on so-called targeted killings by countries such as Russia and Israel as
well as the United States.
Full report at:
http://dailymailnews.com/0610/03/FrontPage/FrontPage5.php
--------
‘Terrorists seeking nuclear materials’
Jun 3, 2010
MOSCOW: Militants in the post-Soviet region are attempting to obtain
nuclear materials for use in attacks, Russia’s security services chief said on
Wednesday.
“We have information showing that terrorists are continuing attempts
to gain access to nuclear materials (and) biological and chemical components,”
Alexander Bortnikov said at a press conference in Yekaterinburg, the RIA Novosti
news agency reported.
“We are constantly paying attention to this problem,” he said. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has
worked with security forces of other countries in the post-Soviet CIS region to
prevent a number of attacks, Bortnikov said.
Full report at:
http://thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=242885
--------
Punjabi Taliban getting more dangerous: Malik
Jun 3, 2010
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik believed that the Punjabi
Taliban holed up in southern Punjab had become more dangerous and were geared up
for large-scale sabotage in the country, Geo TV reported on
Wednesday.
Briefing the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Interior here, he
revealed that the Laskhar-e-Jhangvi had been involved in the Marriott Hotel
bombing, the GHQ attack and Lahore terror incidents.
He said that no military operation was planned against banned outfits
in Punjab, rather effective action would jointly be taken to eliminate them.
Malik maintained that the assistance of the Punjab government had been sought to
launch an action against the suspectedoutfits.
Full report at:
http://thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=29246
--------
Facebook and the Muslim outrage
Jun 3, 2010
News agencies wrote: “Any depictions of the Prophet (peace be upon
him) are considered blasphemous by Muslims.”
The above statement is meant to fully summarize the reason behind the
outrage that arises in Pakistan and other parts of the Muslim world whenever a
provocative “artist” decides to express his freedom of expression and “expose”
Muslims as anti-democratic.
Such a simplistic interpretation of such an intricate
issue.
There is no denial — and no shame — in the fact that most Muslims
hold their Prophet (peace be upon him) in the highest regard. Despite the
continued decrease in the number of faithful in increasingly secularized Western
societies, Muslims are clinging even tighter to their faith. However, while the
outrage over the latest transgression by some Facebook users may appear as a
straightforward news story — that of Western values versus Muslim
narrow-mindedness — the true underpinnings of the outrage are suspiciously
missing.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/opinion/columns/article60444.ece
--------
Berlin academy honors Prince Salman
Jun 3, 2010
BERLIN: Riyadh Gov. Prince Salman was awarded on Wednesday the Kant
Medal by Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities in appreciation
of his contributions to the field of science.
Prince Salman received the medal during a ceremony organized by the
academy in Berlin. A number of German scientists and academics attended the
event.
In a speech on the occasion, Prince Salman thanked the academy
officials for awarding him the medal.
“I am proud to receive this medal,” he said. “The fact is that we
carry out the directives of our wise leaders for the country’s progress. We in
the Kingdom cooperate on virtue and piety as Islam orders its followers. I am
happy to be here. I hope that there would be continuing relations between the
Kingdom and Germany especially in the area of sciences,” the prince
said.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article60504.ece
--------
OIC calls emergency meeting to discuss Israeli
attack
Jun 3, 2010
JEDDAH: The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has called
an extraordinary meeting of the member states of its executive committee in
Jeddah on Sunday.
The call follows a request from a number of OIC member states to hold
an urgent meeting at the level of foreign ministers to review the tragic
developments following the heinous Israeli attack on Gaza aid
flotilla.
The executive committee is comprised of representatives of
Tajikistan, Syria, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Senegal, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and
Palestine.
Meanwhile, the International Forum for Muslim Scholars and Thinkers,
an affiliate of the Muslim World League (MWL), on Wednesday condemned the
Israeli aggression against the aid flotilla. “The Muslim scholars and thinkers
in all parts of the world condemn and deplore this heinous aggression aimed at
preventing peace-loving nations from demonstrating solidarity with the people of
Gaza who are under the yoke of siege,” said a statement issued by the
forum.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article60512.ece
--------
Israel tension boosts Turkey popularity among
Arabs
Jun 3, 2010
RAMALLAH, West Bank: Ankara's diplomatic confrontation with Israel
over the bloody seizure of an aid ship bound for Gaza has boosted Turkey's
popularity among Arabs who long to see their own governments show similar
resolve.
From Cairo to Kuwait, Turkey's red flag has flown across the Arab
world in a show of support for its response to the Israeli raid in which nine
activists, at least three of them Turks, were killed as they tried to break the
sea blockade of the Palestinian enclave.
Ankara's reaction, including the withdrawal of its Tel Aviv
ambassador, has shown up the few Arab governments that also have diplomatic ties
with Israel. These include Egypt, which was already under fire for helping
Israel enforce the Gaza blockade.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article60569.ece
--------
Flotilla provokes world conscience
3 June 2010
The unprovoked and murderous
Israeli commando attack on the peace flotilla is the Selma of the Arab/Jewish
struggle for the land of Palestine. Selma, a small town in Alabama, was where
Martin Luther King based his campaign to win the voting rights for
disenfranchised blacks.
Attempting to march to the state capital, Montgomery, the marchers
were set upon by baton-wielding police as they tried to cross Pettus Bridge. It
provoked a nationwide outpouring of disgust and anger. The march continued,
joined by tens of thousands of people from all over the United States, until it
reached Montgomery. When King spoke it resonated around the world. Shortly
after, President Lyndon Johnson rammed through Congress legislation ensuring
there would be no longer impediments to blacks voting. The election of Barack
Obama as president can be directly traced to ?that
legislation.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/June/middleeast_June119.xml§ion=middleeast
9:20 PM
Sultan Shahin
0 comments:
Post a Comment