Australian woman
accused of al-Qaida link held in Yemen
Pakistani trained in techniques of dealing with a
wife
Muslims want Sharia Law in Ghana
All boys, girls in village married off to check
elopement
French Muslim Council warns govt on veil ban
Child marriage: Sharia Council sues Mark,
Bankole
Are 10-Year Olds Too Young To Marry?
Bomb at Afghan governor office kills 1, wounds
14
Obama to name ex-general James Clapper as new spy
chief
Lead poisoning from mining kills 163 in
Nigeria
India granted access to Headley: US national security
adviser
Rahul Bhatt remembers Headley
Autopsy shows Gaza activists were hit 30 times:
Report
Pak schoolboy ties knot, expelled
Karachi lady who listened, virtually
"India believes in need for dialogue with
Pakistan"
Kashmir survey was sponsored by Gaddafi's son
Saif
Afzal Guru's mercy plea file sent back to Home
Ministry
Turkey's ties with Israel under the scanner
`Secret war' expands globally
Concerns over Myanmar's N-plan
Taliban commander in Kandahar dead: NATO
Amid inflation, steepest hike in Haj expenses
Israel signals flexibility on Gaza
US seeks to avert new violent clash with Gaza-bound
ship
Up to 10,000 protest against Israel in Istanbul
Lahore police on high alert over ‘sensitive’
Friday
Israel seizes new Gaza-bound aid ship:
Activist
Kurds say small unit of Iranian troops enters Iraq
India can thrust war on Pakistan, PM tells
Nato
Taliban kill two men in North Waziristan for
‘spying’
“Individuals, not outfits operating in
Pakistan”
3 militants killed in clash with Lashkar
Israel may come under pressure at IAEA meeting
Gun battles continue in Lyari, 4 more
killed
Blasts, shootings kill 5 in Russia’s Caucasus
Iranians stage massive anti-Israeli demo
Offspring of bin Laden mentor were on ‘Mavi
Marmari’
Gaza rocket strikes Israel: Army
Compiled by Asit kumar
Photo: Osama bin laden
---------
Qaida threat to kidnap Saudi royals to free female
operative
Jun 5, 2010
DUBAI: In order to secure the release of its
female operative arrested by Saudi forces, al-Qaida has threatened to kidnap
Saudi princes and ministers, a television report have said.
In an audiotape played on Al Arabiya TV, an
al-Qaida regional commander reportedly threatened "major operations" against the
kingdom following the arrest of Haylah Al Qassir.
Qassir was believed to be responsible for
recruiting women to the group as well as handling money issues, the report said.
"al-Qaida is organising cells to kidnap princes,
ministers and officials including military commanders," Saeed Al Shehri said in
the audiotape.
He said that "preacher" Heila Al Qsayer, a widow
of a Saudi al-Qaida militant killed six years ago by the Saudi authorities, was
arrested in Qassim, north of the capital, but did not specify when.
"We tell our soldiers: You have to kidnap in order
to release the prisoners," he said.
Shihri, who is purportedly number two in the
Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, insisted that families of
prisoners held in Saudi Arabia should take arms to secure their release instead
of grovelling to officials.
"Stop knocking at the doors of the tyrants and
their deviant ulemas," he said.
"If you want your relatives to be released from
prison, they will only be out by the same way they were taken in," he said.
In April, the group tried to assassinate the
British ambassador to Yemen when a suicide bomber threw himself into the path of
his convoy in the capital, Sana'a.
Last August, a 23-year-old suicide bomber posing
as a repentant militant, tried to kill Prince Mohammed bin Nayef who heads Saudi
Arabia's anti-terrorism campaign.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Qaida-threat-to-kidnap-Saudi-royals-to-free-female-operative/articleshow/6014531.cms
---------
Australian woman accused of al-Qaida link held in
Yemen
Jun 5, 2010
• Muslim convert detained in prison without
charge
• Terrorists trying to recruit westerners, US officials
say
An Australian woman who converted to Islam and moved to Yemen to
raise her children in a Muslim society is being held in prison in Sana'a in
connection with alleged al-Qaida activity.
Shyloh Jayne Giddens, 30, has been held without charge in Sana'a's
political security prison since 15 May. She was detained with several other
foreigners on suspicion of involvement with the al-Qaida branch responsible for
the failed attempt to bomb a US airliner on Christmas Day.
Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian student responsible for that
attack, told US investigators after his arrest that there were "many like me"
trained by the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsular
(AQAP).
US intelligence officials warned in February that al-Qaida was trying
to recruit English-speaking westerners, particularly women, who could easily
slip past security controls to launch terrorist attacks.
In March, Colleen LaRose, a blonde, blue-eyed Muslim convert from
Pennsylvania who went under the online alias Jihad Jane, was charged with
plotting to murder a Swedish cartoonist who drew a controversial picture of the
prophet Muhammad.
Gregory Johnson, of Princeton University, said foreign recruits gave
al-Qaida a dangerous weapon against the west, and a powerful recruiting tool at
home.
"The organisation portrays the foreigners as individuals so enamoured
of the global Islamic community and the Arabian peninsula that they are willing
to sacrifice their lives.
"AQAP then uses this to publicly shame Yemeni men, asking them, 'Why
are foreigners willing to die for you and your lands while you remain
silent?'"
According to her lawyer, Abdul Rahman Barman, Gidden – who converted
to Islam in Australia – arrived in Sana'a in September 2006 "to raise her two
sons in the Muslim community, where she assumed they would grow up with safety,
tranquillity and peace of mind". She took a Muslim name, Soumaya Abu Ali, and
adopted the black abaya cloak and full face veil worn by most women in Yemen.
Like Abdulmutallab, she studied Arabic in one of Old Sana'a's language
institutes.
From there she moved to Nahtha, a neighbourhood dominated by the Iman
University, a school teaching fundamentalist Islam established by Sheikh Abdel
Majed Zindani, Yemen's most powerful cleric and a former mentor of Osama bin
Laden.
Abdulmutallab attended lectures at Iman and met Anwar Awlaki, a
US-born Yemeni cleric considered by US intelligence to be a leading AQAP
recruiter.
The cleric's alleged connections to Abdulmutallab, and the Fort Hood
shootings and Times Square bomb prompted President Barack Obama to issue an
order for US forces to kill him on sight.
Giddens's Australian passport was cancelled in April because the
Australian intelligence service believed she posed a security threat and had "an
extremist interpretation of Islam", Barman said.
He said the authorities had not allowed Giddens's children, Omar,
seven, and Aminah, five, to leave their house. Neighbours were passing the
children food until recently when an Australian woman was allowed in to look
after them, he said.
News of the arrest came as al-Qaida threatened to kidnap Saudi
princes and ministers to secure the release of a female member held by Saudi
authorities. The threat was made in an audiotape by Saeed al-Shehri, a former
inmate of Guantánamo Bay, al-Arabiya TV reported.
Haylah al-Qassir, responsible for recruiting women to the group, was
one of 113 suspects arrested by the Saudis in March after allegedly planning
attacks on oil and security installations.
"Al-Qaida is organising cells to kidnap … princes, ministers and
officials including military commanders," said Shehri.
Al-Qaida's online magazine used Qassir's codename, Umm Rabab, and
described her as the widow of a fighter killed several years ago. It was the
first time the group had acknowledged she was a member. Al-Qaida in the Arabian
Peninsula was formed from a merger between the Saudi and Yemeni branches of
Osama Bin Laden's group. Last summer an Aqap suicide bomber posing as a
repentant militant tried to kill Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who heads Saudi
Arabia's anti-terrorism campaign,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/03/australian-woman-al-qaida-yemen
---------
Pakistani trained in marriage etiquette
By MD HUMAIDAN
Jun 5, 2010
JEDDAH: The Mawadah (Cordiality) Social Center for Reforms and Family
Guidance has organized a special training session for a Pakistani expatriate on
marriage skills and the duties of husband and wife, the center
announced.
It said the Pakistani national, who was about to get married, wrote
to the center requesting training on all aspects of married
life.
"We accepted his application and, as he did not speak Arabic, we had
to seek the help of his eldest brother for interpretation," said
secretary-general of the center, Zuhair bin Abdul Rahman Nasser. He said the
one-man-training session focused on the techniques of dealing with a wife.
Nasser said the trainee was given a certificate at the end of the session and
expressed willingness of the center to organize such training session for
individuals or groups.
The secretary-general said a study conducted by the center proved
that divorce rates among those who were trained on marriage skills were low
compared to others who did not receive any family
training.
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article61327.ece
---------
Muslims want Sharia Law in Ghana
05 Jun 2010
A number of Muslims in Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly have
demonstrated against the activities of homosexuals in the area with a call on
government to enact Sharia Law in Ghana.
The demonstrators, numbering over 1000, believe when the law is
considered by the ongoing constitutional review exercise, and finally enshrined
in the country’s statutory books, it would scare people from engaging in immoral
conducts, like gay and lesbianism, that are gaining root in some parts of the
country.
The Muslims, joined by many interested persons, including disabled
persons, defied a heavy downpour Friday morning to cover over five kilometres
and were expected to present their petition to the Western Regional Minister,
Paul Evans Aidoo, at the offices of Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan
Assembly.
Joy FM’s Western Regional correspondent Kwaku Owusu Peprah, who
followed the demonstrators, said the Minister is expected to forward the
petition to Parliament for consideration and ratification.
The demonstrators feared if immediate steps are not taken to uproot
the activities of homosexuals in the area and the country at large, the
consequences on the society would be dire.
The demonstrators had heavy security protection as they chant Muslims
songs.
The demonstration, Owusu Peprah said, became necessary after it was
rumoured a fortnight ago that a secret gay wedding was held in the
metropolis.
http://news.myjoyonline.com/news/201006/47211.asp
---------
All boys, girls in village married off to check
elopement
By Niaz Mohammad Khan
05 Jun, 2010
SANGHAR, June 4: To rein in the growing trend of elopement, a village
elder proposed to a panchayat to marry off all those boys and girls who had
reached marriageable age after taking consent from them.
The proposal was unanimously approved by the Panchayat (a council of
elders) and, consequently, 13 couples tied the knot in a village near Sinjhoro
on Thursday.
The Panchayat, headed by Haji Usman Bhanojo, was convened to discuss
the elopement of Naz with Guddu Panhwar.
Some villagers suggested killing the couple because they had
‘disgraced’ the community, but sanity prevailed and they all agreed to pardon
the couple. He then came up with a novel idea: marry off all boys and girls who
had come of age.
The suggestion was accepted by all panchayat members, leading to the
marriage of 13 couples.
The girls’ consent was also obtained — a practice unheard of so
far.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/all-boys,-girls-in-village-married-off-to-check-elopement-560
---------
French Muslim Council warns govt on veil ban
4 June 2010
France’s official Muslim
council has warned the government not to expect it to impose a planned ban on
full face veils for women.
Legal experts argue that the ban will be unconstitutional and police
predict will be unenforceable.
Mohammed Moussaoui, head of the French Council of the Muslim Faith
(CFCM), said his group opposed the full veil and would try to convince the tiny
minority of veiled women that it was not a religious obligation and was out of
place in France.
But Muslim leaders could not act as agents of the state during a
six-month “mediation period” during which veiled women will be stopped and
informed about the law but not fined.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2010/June/international_June168.xml§ion=international&col=
---------
Child marriage: Sharia Council sues Mark, Bankole
5 Jun 2010
The Supreme Council of Nigeria has dragged the National Assembly
before a Federal High Court in Abuja, challenging the propriety of the federal
lawmakers to interfere in the marriage of a former Zamfara State Governor Ahmed
Sani to an Egyptian minor.
In the suit by the chairman, Kaduna State chapter of the SCSN, Alhaji
Mohammed Suleman, the plantiff is asking the court to stop government and its
agents from taking any steps, decisions or actions in relating to the
marriage.
The plantiff also joined the Senate President, Mr. David Mark; the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole and the National
Human Rights Commission as co-defendants to the suit.
Full report at:
http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art2010060416433878
---------
Are 10-Year Olds Too Young To Marry?
5 Jun 2010
The title of Nujood Ali’s book was certainly enough to get my
attention. “I am Nujood, Age 10 and
Divorced.” As a very young child, her
father told her she would be marrying a man in his 30s. And sadly, this was expected. This was normal. Marrying at a young age was something Nujood
had seen before.
Nujood grew up in Yemen where 45% of the population lives on less
than $2 a day, the average age of marriage is 12 or 13 years old, and
educational opportunities are lacking.
It is a way of life that many of us can not even imagine. Child brides suffer numerous problems, such
as health issues, early pregnancies, mental health concerns, and continued
poverty. There are no positive outcomes
from a childhood marriage.
Full report at:
http://cchronicle.com/2010/06/are-10-year-olds-too-young-to-marry/
---------
Bomb at Afghan governor office kills 1, wounds
14
Jun 05 2010
Kandahar : A bomb exploded Saturday outside the provincial governor's
office in the Afghan city of Kandahar, killing one policeman and wounding at
least 14 civilians, officials said.
The attack reflects deteriorating security in the largest city in the
country's volatile south - also the Taliban's spiritual home - where NATO is
preparing for a major operation seen as key to combating the insurgency. The
governor was not in his office at the time.
The bombing also comes a day after a national peace conference in
Kabul boosted President Hamid Karzai plans to seek negotiations with the Taliban
in a bid to end Afghanistan's nearly nine-year war.
Kandahar city police Chief Sardar Mohammad Zazai said the explosives
were strapped to a bicycle on the street outside the compound where the governor
lives and works. The bomb detonated around midday.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bomb-outside-afghan-governors-office-wounds-6/629906/
---------
Obama to name ex-general James Clapper as new spy
chief
Jun 5, 2010
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama has chosen a US intelligence
veteran, retired lieutenant general James Clapper, as his new director of
national intelligence.
Clapper, whose nomination comes at a time of mounting domestic
security threats, would replace Dennis Blair, who stepped down late last month
amid heavy criticism after a string of security shortcomings, among them failure
to thwart planned attacks including one by an al-Qaida linked group to bring
down a US airliner on December 25.
"Clapper will be named," an intelligence source said, asking not to
be identified.
An administration official also said he could confirm Clapper would
be picked for the post, which was introduced after the September 11, 2001
terrorist attacks to oversee the 16 agencies that make up the US intelligence
community.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/US/Obama-to-name-ex-general-James-Clapper-as-new-spy-chief/articleshow/6013864.cms
---------
Lead poisoning from mining kills 163 in Nigeria
Jun 5, 2010
ABUJA: Lead poisoning caused by illegal gold mining has killed 163
Nigerians, including 111 children, since March in several remote villages in
northern Nigeria, a senior government official said on
Friday.
International aid agencies, including the World Health Organization
and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are assisting Nigerian
authorities in containing the outbreak in four villages in Zamfara
state.
"We have a total of 355 cases and 163 deaths," Dr Henry Akpan, the
health ministry's chief epidemiologist, told Reuters.
"They were digging for gold, but the areas also have large
concentrations of lead."
Akpan said many of the victims died after touching tools, soil and
water contaminated with large concentrations of lead.
Authorities have stopped the illegal mining and have begun evacuating
some residents.
http://arabnews.com/world/article61249.ece
---------
India granted access to Headley: US national security
adviser
Jun 5, 2010
WASHINGTON: India has been given access to David Coleman Headley,
Pakistani-American LeT operative who has confessed to his role in the Mumbai
attacks, US national security adviser James Jones said on Saturday.
"Yes access (to Headley) has been given. This is an ongoing process
and I don't have any detailed information that will be helpful except to say
that it is in the hands of right professionals from both countries," Jones said
at his White House office.
"We have fulfilled our commitment," he said. However, Jones did not
have detailed information about how and when a team of visiting Indian
investigators was given access to Headley, who is being held in Chicago.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/India-granted-access-to-Headley-US-national-security-adviser/articleshow/6013924.cms
---------
Rahul Bhatt remembers Headley
Anil Singh
Jun 5, 2010
MUMBAI: "Once the bombing of Islamabad's Marriot Hotel came up in our
discussion and he remarked that such attacks would come to India too," said gym
trainer Rahul Bhatt about David Headley who is being interrogated in the US by
India's National Investigating Agency (NIA) about his role in 26/11.
Two months after the Marriot blast, caused by a suicide bomber who
had driven a bomb-laden truck into the hotel, came 26/11, for which Headley has
confessed to gathering information.
"With us though, he was a friend. Even looking back now, we can say
that he never used us in any way," said Bhatt and his friend Vilas Warak, also a
gym trainer. "He never asked to be taken any place or to be introduced to
anyone. Once he wanted us to accompany him to Pune for a trip to Osho Ashram but
Vilas woke up late that Sunday so Headley went there on his own," said Bhatt.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Rahul-Bhatt-remembers-Headley/articleshow/6014266.cms
---------
Autopsy shows Gaza activists were hit 30 times:
Report
Jun 5, 2010
LONDON: Nine Turkish activists killed in an Israeli raid on a
Gaza-bound aid ship were shot a total of 30 times and five died of gunshot
wounds to the head, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Friday.
Autopsy results showed the men were hit mostly with 9mm bullets, many
fired at close range, the Guardian said, quoting Yalcin Buyuk, vice-chairman of
the Turkish council of forensic medicine which carried out the autopsies on
Friday.
Israeli commandos stormed a flotilla of aid ships planning to break
the Israeli sea blockade of Gaza on Monday. The deaths, which all took place on
one ship, the Mavi Marmara, drew widespread condemnation.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Autopsy-shows-Gaza-activists-were-hit-30-times-Report/articleshow/6013286.cms
---------
Pak schoolboy ties knot, expelled
Jun 5, 2010
PESHAWAR: A Pakistani pupil has been expelled from his private school
for getting married on the sly because teachers believe marital relations are
inappropriate playground talk.
Ghairat Khan, a bearded seventh grader, is registered as 13 years old
and attends classes at the English-language Peshawar Model School with 12 and
13-year-old boys, but insisted he is 18.
It can be common for children to fall back several years at school in
parts of Pakistan and Khan said he married his 16-year-old cousin because his
father died and his mother was ill with asthma.
Under civil law in Pakistan, boys can marry at 18 and girls 16, but
under Islamic law, younger unions are permitted with parental consent. About
five feet six inches, Khan said his family comes from the tribal district of
Mohmand.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Pakistan/-Pak-schoolboy-ties-knot-expelled/articleshow/6013663.cms
---------
Karachi lady who listened, virtually
Nandita Sengupta
May 30, 2010
Photographs get morphed; contact numbers from stolen mobiles are used
to stalk; confidential emails and text messages become grounds for bullying.
With cases of cyber-harassment increasingly coming to light in Pakistan,
Karachi-based new media expert Jehan Ara realized how little anyone knew about
the technology of it all.
Ara found that the victims – mostly young women – and those who
sought to help them – women’s groups and activists – were clueless about
abuse-using technology. “They put up lots of photos, lots of their lives’
experiences on social networking sites but don’t know how it can all go wrong,”
says Ara, president of Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@sha). The
ignorance troubled her. She feared the misuse of technology would end up
discouraging women from using it. And she wanted to prevent this.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Home/Sunday-TOI/View-From-Venus/Karachi-lady-who-listened-virtually/articleshow/5989830.cms
---------
"India believes in need for dialogue with
Pakistan"
By Anwar Iqbal
05 Jun, 2010
WASHINGTON: India has assured the United States that it has
consistently believed in the need for dialogue to seek a future of peace and
cooperation with Pakistan.
Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna used a Thursday evening
reception, also attended by US President Barack Obama, to convey this message,
which emphasised the need for improving relations with Pakistan after more than
60 years of war, tensions and mutual suspicions.
President Obama used this opportunity to announce that he was looking
forward to making ‘history’ by visiting India in November.
Although Mr Obama spoke after the Indian foreign minister, he chose
not to comment on Mr Krishna’s remarks about Pakistan, which included a promise
to build a better future and also a strong warning against “the continuing
threat of terrorism”, which he said was “a cause of great concern for us in
India”.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/21-krishna-assures-us-india-believes-in-talks-with-pakistan-560-sk-07
---------
Kashmir survey was sponsored by Gaddafi's son
Saif
Jun 5, 2010
New Delhi: A survey which showed that only 2% of the people in Jammu
& Kashmir want to join Pakistan was sponsored by Libya's president Muammar
Gaddafi's son Saif, its author Robert W Bradnock said here
today.
Bradnock, a senior fellow at British think-tank Chatham House, told
Outlook in an interview that the idea of conducting the survey in Kashmir was
decided upon after several rounds of discussions between him and Saif
Gaddafi.
"We first came in touch when Saif was running a charity in Libya
which was trying to help Kashmiri refugees, mainly in Pakistan," he said. "He
had visited refugee camps in 2001, when Kashmir was dominated by militancy. He
was concerned with the humanitarian nature of the crisis".
The survey had showed that only 2% of Kashmiris wanted to go with
Pakistan and 43% on both sides of the Line of Control preferred independence to
all other options.
The Asian Age
---------
Afzal Guru's mercy plea file sent back to Home
Ministry
Jun 5, 2010
NEW DELHI: The file on the mercy petition of Afzal Guru — the
Parliament attack case convict who was sentenced to death — has been sent back
by Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna to the Union Home
Ministry.
Sources in the Lieutenant-Governor's Secretariat confirmed on Friday
that the file was sent to the Ministry on Thursday evening. Mr. Khanna has given
his opinion on the matter after detailed discussions with Chief Minister Sheila
Dikshit and other officials.
The Ministry sent Afzal's file to the Delhi government in 2006
seeking its opinion on the mercy petition filed before the President of India by
Afzal's wife Tabassum.
The file remained with the Delhi government for nearly four years,
during which the government took the opinion of the Delhi Police, the
Directorate of Prosecution, and the Probation Officer of the Social Welfare
Department.
Full report at:
http://www.hindu.com/2010/06/05/stories/2010060567402600.htm
---------
Turkey's ties with Israel under the scanner
Atul Aneja
Jun 5, 2010
DUBAI: Turkey's ties with Israel could plunge to a new low as Ankara
threatened to draw-down its economic and military ties with Tel Aviv in the wake
of Monday's Israeli attack on the Gaza aid flotilla.
Nine people, most of them Turkish activists were killed when Israeli
commandos slithered from helicopters and stormed Mavi Marmara, the lead Gaza
bound aid ship of the convoy.
On Friday, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said that
Ankara
was “assessing deals with Israel”. “We are serious about this
subject,” he told the Turkish broadcaster NTV.
“We may plan to reduce our relations with Israel to a minimum, but to
assume everything involving another country is stopped in an instant, to say we
have crossed you out of our address book, is not the custom of our
state.”
Full report at:
http://www.hindu.com/2010/06/05/stories/2010060566471800.htm
---------
`Secret war' expands globally IN EXCLUSIVE PARTNERSHIP
WITH
Karen DeYoung & Greg Jaffe
Jun 5, 2010
US Special Operations forces play greater role in clandestine war
against Al Qaeda, radical groups OBAMA HAS ALLOWED THINGS THAT THE PREVIOUS
ADMINISTRATION DID NOT
Beneath its commitment to soft-spoken diplomacy and beyond the combat
zones of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Obama administration has significantly
expanded a large- ly secret US war against Al Qaeda and other radical groups,
according to senior military and administration officials.
Special Operations forces have grown both in numbers and budget, and
are deployed in 75 countries, compared with about 60 at the beginning of last
year. In addition to units that have spent years in the Philippines and
Colombia, teams are operating in Yemen and elsewhere in the Middle East, Africa
and Central Asia.
Full report at: Hindustan Times
---------
Concerns over Myanmar's N-plan
Richard Norton
Jun 5, 2010
The intent is clear and that is a very disturbing matter for
international agreements.
ROBERT KELLEY Researcher
Fresh claims that Myanmar is trying to acquire the know-how and
material to build a nuclear weapon, based on information provided by a former
army officer, are pub- lished on Friday, renewing con- cern about the extent of
the junta's military ambitions.
Unrealistic experiments and crude engineering suggest that success
may be beyond Myanmar's reach,sayresearchers for an opposition media
group.
They base their claims on information provided by Sai Thein Win, a
former major in the Myanmar army, who is said to have been trained in Russia in
missile technology. He has since defected from Myanmar.
Full report at: Hindustan Times
---------
Taliban commander in Kandahar dead: NATO
Jun 5, 2010
KABUL - NATO said Friday that troops had killed the Taliban's top
commander for Kandahar city during a gunbattle with insurgents armed with
machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
NATO identified him as Mullah Zergay, called him "the top Taliban
commander for the Kandahar city area" and accused him of being responsible for
multiple deaths in Kandahar, as well as directing attacks in nearby
districts.
He was killed in Kandahar's Zhari district last week, NATO's
International Security Assistance Force said.
"Zergay directed insurgent activities in the Arghandab and Zharay
districts, including Kandahar City. He used explosives in nearly all of his
operations and was directly responsible for multiple deaths in Kandahar city
alone," it said.
Full report at:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Taliban+commander+Kandahar+dead+NATO/3112151/story.html
---------
Amid inflation, steepest hike in Haj expenses
Zia Haq
Jun 5, 2010
Haj expenses are set to go up steeply, as inflation-hit Saudi Arabia
raised pilgrimage service charges for 2010, par- ticularly accommodation and
transportation costs, by at least 12 per cent.
A hike in airfare charged by Air India, which was raised to Rs 16,000
from Rs 12,000 last year but could not be imple- mented, will also take effect
this year.
Indians make up one of the largest Haj contingents, with 150,461
faithfuls performing the annual Muslim pilgrimage last
year.
Saudi inflation rose for the fourth straight month in April to a
10-month high of 4.9 per cent, according to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency
(SAMA).
Higher food costs and low availability of housing in Saudi Arabia
were pushing up infla- tion, according to analysts.
Full report at: Hindustan Times
---------
Israel signals flexibility on Gaza
Isabel Kershner
Jun 5, 2010
JERUSALEM: While still insisting that its blockade of Gaza is
essential to its security, Israel is now shifting its position, “exploring new
ways” of allowing goods to reach the coastal enclave, an Israeli official said.
Describing the latest thinking within the government on the condition
of anonymity, the official said Israel was determined to have every ship heading
to Gaza inspected to prevent the smuggling of rockets and other weapons. But at
the same time, he said, the government wanted to facilitate the entry of
civilian goods.
The government’s new flexibility follows a week of unrelenting
international outrage over Israel’s commando raid on an aid flotilla, and
reports that senior US officials were calling for a “new approach” in Gaza and
had concluded that the blockade was untenable.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Israel-signals-flexibility-on-Gaza/articleshow/6013638.cms
---------
US seeks to avert new violent clash with Gaza-bound
ship
Jun 5, 2010
WASHINGTON: The United States said Friday it was trying to help avert
another violent clash at sea involving Israel as an Irish aid ship headed for
the Gaza Strip.
"Everybody wants to avoid another confrontation and avoid a repeat of
Monday's... tragic events," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told
reporters.
"We are working with the Israelis. We're working with the Palestinian
Authority, other international partners. We're looking to see how we can best
accomplish this," Crowley said.
"We have been in touch with the Irish government," he said.
The Irish government urged Israel Friday to show restraint over an
Irish aid boat preparing to defy an Israeli blockade and deliver supplies to
Gaza.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/US/US-seeks-to-avert-new-violent-clash-with-Gaza-bound-ship/articleshow/6013195.cms
---------
Up to 10,000 protest against Israel in Istanbul
Jun 4, 2010
ISTANBUL: Around 10,000 people waving Turkish and Palestinian flags
and shouting anti-Israeli slogans rallied today in support of victims of the
Israeli raid on Gaza-bound aid ships, a reporter said.
The crowd gathered at the historic Beyazit Mosque in Istanbul, where
prayers were held for a journalist who was killed in Monday's raid, along with
eight other Turks.
"Murderer Israel, go away from Palestine!", "Long live the global
intifada," the mourners chanted, shouting also "Long live Hamas" in reference to
the Palestinian movement controlling Gaza.
"Close the Zionist embassy," read a giant banner displayed at the
mosque courtyard.
The crowd held both Friday prayers and funeral prayers for Cevdet
Kiliclar, the 38-year-old web editor of the Islamic charity which spearheaded
the campaign to break Israel's blockade of Gaza and deliver some 10,000 tonnes
of supplies to its impoverished people.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Up-to-10000-protest-against-Israel-in-Istanbul/articleshow/6012320.cms
---------
Lahore police on high alert over ‘sensitive’
Friday
Jun 04 2010
Lahore: Keeping in view past terror incidents which took place
particularly on Friday, the Lahore Police have declared a high alert
today.
SSP Operations Lahore, Chaudhry Shafiq has ordered snap checking and
search operation in the city to avert any untoward
incident.
“We have declared Friday ‘sensitive’ because most of the attacks
occurred on that day,” The News quoted Shafiq, as saying.
In a letter to Punjab Inspector General Tariq Salim Dogar, Shafiq
also demanded500 bulletproof jackets and latest weaponry to cope with the
situation.
Exactly a week before, heavily armed attackers had raided two mosques
belonging to minority Ahmedi sects in Garhi Sahu and Model Town areas of Lahore
killing over 80 persons and injuries dozens other.
In the recent past, extremists have particularly struck on Friday
targeting religious places across Pakistan to cause maximum damage, as a huge
number of people gather for special prayers in mosques.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/lahore-police-on-high-alert-over-sensitive-friday/629437/
---------
Israel seizes new Gaza-bound aid ship: Activist
Jun 05 2010
Israel: Israeli forces seized an Irish-owned ship bound for Gaza on
Saturday, boarding the Rachel Corrie some 55 km (35 miles) out in the
Mediterranean, a spokeswoman for the campaign group supporting the ship
said.
It was unclear whether there was any violence, although those aboard
had said in advance they would not resist.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said she had no information. Israel
had said it would not let the ship through.
The vessel, named after an American pro-Palestinian activist killed
in the Gaza Strip in 2003, was seized five days after a convoy of six was
halted, including a Turkish ship on which 9 men were killed by Israeli commandos
who stormed aboard.
Among those aboard the Rachel Corrie, campaigners said, were Nobel
Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire from Northern Ireland and Denis Halliday, an
Irish former senior official at the United Nations.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/israel-seizes-new-gazabound-aid-ship-activist/629834/
---------
Kurds say small unit of Iranian troops enters
Iraq
5 June 2010
ARBIL, Iraq - A small unit of Iranian soldiers has entered Iraqi
territory in pursuit of Kurdish rebels in the north, officials in Iraq’s
semi-autonomous Kurdistan region said on Friday.
A spokesman for the Kurdish region’s security forces, known as
peshmerga, said the Iranians had penetrated two km (1.2 miles) into Kurdistan’s
Arbil province on Thursday with several military vehicles and a tank, and were
erecting positions.
“This is a clear violation of Iraqi borders and the Iraqi government
has to intervene,” said Major-General Jabbar Yawar.
Arbil governor Nawzad Hadi said: “We have informed the head of the
(Kurdistan) regional government in order to take the necessary
action.”
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/June/middleeast_June194.xml§ion=middleeast
---------
India can thrust war on Pakistan, Pak tells
Nato
June 05, 2010
BRUSSELS: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, while pointing towards
the Pakistan-specific Indian military doctrines such as the Cold Start, has
urged the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) to take active interest in
South Asian security perspective.
“We remain concerned over Pakistan-specific Indian military doctrines
such as the Cold Start envisaging a limited conventional war under the nuclear
overhang, huge increase in Indian military budget and massive weapon
acquisitions,” he said.
“These together with discriminatory policies especially in the
nuclear and technological arena have accentuated the regional imbalance in South
Asia,” he said while addressing the North Atlantic Council (NAC) here on Friday.
Gilani said it was a nuclearised region and issues of peace, strategic stability
and security pose formidable challenges to Pakistan and impinge on global peace
and security.
Full report at:
http://thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=29281
---------
Taliban kill two men in North Waziristan for
‘spying’
June 05, 2010
PESHAWAR: Two more men were killed in North Waziristan on charges of
‘spying’ on Taliban for the US forces in Afghanistan.
Tribesmen said beheaded body of a 70-year old Afghan national,
Mohammad Wadeen, was found near Tableeghi Markaz in Miramshah, principal town of
North Waziristan.Unknown armed men, suspected to be militants, had kidnapped him
about four months ago. Tribal sources said the slain Afghan national had taken
an active part during the Afghan jehad against the Soviet forces. He was living
at a village near Chashma Pul, close to Miramshah.
It was after a long time that suspected militants beheaded someone on
spying charges. The militants have stopped beheading the alleged spies after the
Afghan Taliban leader Mulla Mohammad Omar termed beheading as
un-Islamic.
Full report at:
http://thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=243231
---------
“Individuals, not outfits
operating in Pakistan”
04 Jun, 2010
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Friday said that the
federal government had devised a policy about the banned outfits and had
forwarded it to all provinces. He said that it was not the banned outfits but
instead the banned individuals who were operating in the
country.
While addressing the National Assembly and Senate, and talking to
journalists in Parliament House, Malik said the government was taking every
possible step to enforce law and order in the country.
About the situation in Karachi’s Lyari, he said that different gangs
were fighting each other in the area and they were hiding behind the names of
different political parties.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/16-individuals,+not+outfits+operating+in+pakistan-hs-05
---------
3 militants killed in clash with Lashkar
05 Jun, 2010
KOHAT, June 4: At least three militants were killed and one volunteer
injured in an armed clash between Qaumi Lashkar and banned Tehrik-i-Taliban
Pakistan in the semi autonomous tribal area of Kohat district on Friday.
Reports reaching here from the Jawaki Ara Khel area of Frontier
Region of Kohat said that the militants attacked the house of a Levies constable
Janas Khan with hand grenades in which a volunteer was injured.
As the news spread in the area the Qaumi Lashkar reached the spot and
engaged the militants in a gunbattle. The Lashkar claimed that the volunteers
had killed three militants.
The security forces were rushed for the help of the Lashkar and
intense fighting was continuing in the area till filing of this report.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/3-militants-killed-in-clash-with-lashkar-560
---------
Israel may come under pressure at IAEA meeting
05 Jun, 2010
VIENNA, June 4: Arab nations are expected to use a UN atomic watchdog
meeting next week to draw attention to Israel’s policy of nuclear ambiguity and
urge it to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The discussion comes after a month-long UN conference in New York to
review the NPT which put pressure on Israel and at a time of wider international
scrutiny of the Jewish state after its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Although no conclusion is expected, it will be the first time the
International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors has discussed the topic
since 1991. Diplomats say it may be used to divert focus from perennial topics
like Iran and Syria.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/international/israel-may-come-under-pressure-at-iaea-meeting-560
---------
Gun battles continue in Lyari, 4 more killed
05 Jun, 2010
KARACHI: Four more people were killed in the Lyari area on Friday as
gun battles continued in the area for a third consecutive day, bringing the
death toll to 21. A new phase of gun battle started in the wee hours of Friday
when the associates of gangster Ghaffar Zikri fired a rocket at their rivals
near Angara Mosque in Ali Muhammad Muhalla, killing the of People’s Amn
Committee Chairman Uzair Baloch’s bodyguard Ali Muhammad alias Wehshi and two
others. Following the incident, the gun battle entered in the new phrase and
gangsters used heavy machine guns and rockets launchers with each other. During
the gun battles, four people Ilahi Bux, Anwar Ali, Asghar Ali and Abdul Rashid
sustained bullets injuries and immediately shifted to Civil Hospital Karachi for
treatment where Bux succumbed to his injuries. Law enforcement agencies
evacuated the whole of Lyari as the gangsters fired at least 50 rockets and used
heavy ammunition against each other. Gunfights continued between the Rehman
Dakait group and the defector group of Ghaffar Zikri in various areas of Lyari
Town till the filing this story.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\06\05\story_5-6-2010_pg7_16
---------
Blasts, shootings kill 5 in Russia’s Caucasus
05 Jun, 2010
NAZRAN: Blasts and shootings on Friday killed five people and injured
at least 26 in Russia’s North Caucasus where the Kremlin is struggling to
contain an insurgency.
Near the town of Malgobek in Ingushetia, a policeman was killed and
25 people injured when a second bomb exploded in a shop bombed earlier in the
day, a police spokesman told Reuters.
Police at the scene told Reuters an insurgent was also killed in a
gunfight that ensued between officers and militants.
In a separate incident, a woman selling vodka from a kiosk was shot
dead in Malgobek by unidentified gunmen, sources close to the police said.
The mainly Muslim North Caucasus is plagued by
violence.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\06\05\story_5-6-2010_pg4_8
---------
Iranians stage massive anti-Israeli demo
05 Jun 2010
Iranians have staged a massive demonstration to condemn Israel's
deadly attack on a Gaza aid convoy and the continued blockade of the Palestinian
enclave.
Millions of protestors took to streets following the weekly Friday
prayers in protest to Monday's lethal attack by Israel's naval commandos on the
Freedom Flotilla while the six-ship fleet was in international waters.
Protesters chanted slogans in support of the Palestinian people and
in condemnation of the Zionist regime.
A six point statement was issued at the end of the demonstration in
which protestors called on the international community and the UN Security
Council to take “immediate and serious measures” to stop Israeli crimes.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=129030§ionid=351020101
---------
Offspring of bin Laden mentor were on ‘Mavi
Marmari’
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
05/06/2010
A grandson of Sheikh Abdullah Yusuf Azzam will join the next convoy
to Gaza.
Among the activists who were onboard the Gaza aid ships were the
grandson and son-in-law of Sheikh Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, a Palestinian teacher
and mentor of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, Palestinian sources revealed on
Thursday.
The 19-year-old grandson, Muhammad, was accompanied by his father,
Abdullah Anas, who is married to the sheikh’s daughter, Summaya, the sources
said.
Another grandson, Ahmed, 17, is planning to join the next aid convoy
to the Gaza Strip.
Azzam, who was born in a small village near Jenin in 1941, traveled
throughout the Middle East, Europe and North America in the 1980s to raise money
and preach about jihad.
In one speech in Brooklyn, Azzam urged his followers to wage jihad in
the US. He explained that jihad “means fighting only, fighting with the
sword.”
Full report at:
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=177457
---------
Gaza rocket strikes Israel: Army
Jun 5, 2010
JERUSALEM: A rocket fired from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip landed in
southern Israel on Saturday morning but caused no casualties, the Israeli
military said.
"A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip crashed in the western part of
the Negev desert without causing any casualties," an army spokesman said.
Israel launched a devastating assault on the Palestinian coastal
territory in December 2008 aimed at halting rocket fire.
Some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in the 22-day
war.
After a year of quiet following the assault, Gaza militants have
stepped up rocket fire on the Jewish state, with 60 rockets and mortars striking
Israeli territory since January, according to the army.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Middle-East/Gaza-rocket-strikes-Israel-Army/articleshow/6014694.cms
1:10 AM
Sultan Shahin
0 comments:
Post a Comment