Leaks show up undeclared war by Pak on India NATO rocket killed 52 civilians: Karzai
Saudi cleric calls for Muslim maids only
12 Muslims fined for Malaysia Hindu temple protest
US condemns leaks; praises Pak anti-terror effort
Somali group cracks down on TV sets
Pak double game is exposed
No blank cheques for Pakistan: US
Heart of Indian culture lies in Islam: Khurshid
Canada imposes Iran sanctions
Remand of Ahmadis ‘attackers’ extended
Mullen to review plans for US troop withdrawal from Iraq
Now, Pak kids on reality show face MNS ire
US long aware of ISI hand in Af war
Pak using retired gens for proxy war
Guardian proves leaked Afghan war Intel files incredible
Seminar urges implementation of women harassment bill
'The worst thing to be is an Afghan woman'
‘Blasphemous content’ on Facebook still accessible in Pakistan
Philippines to start Muslim peace talks after Ramazan
Saudi envoys in Europe meet in London
WAMY holding youth camps in 80 countries
US hunts for leaker of Afghan war documents
Abdullah to embark on Arab unity tour
Proof of war crimes in leaked papers
Evidence of Pak blackmail, how ISI paid Taliban to hit Indians in Kabul
Dhaka’s war crimes tribunal issues first warrants
Nawaz vows to continue politics of reconciliation
Gul: Middleman for terror
Shah in trouble as cop Amin turns approver
Israel to hit Lebanon if Hezbollah attacks: Defense minister
ISI fuelling Afghan terror: US records
With Shah in jail, CBI moves in for the kill
Amin, Shah spoke 32 times in the week before Sohrab killing
Disclosure puts troops at risk: US
ISI denounces claims that it’s tied to Taliban
Qaida kills French hostage in Africa, Sarko vows action
Action against SHO, two others for custodial killing in J&K
Afghan Govt ‘shocked’
AfPak: US fights a war without allies it trusts
Yemen rebels seize army post, capture soldiers
Six Israeli soldiers killed in Romania
Warrants issued for arrest of Jamaat quartet
5-day strike in Kashmir begins
36 ‘imams’ undergo training
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
Photo: Militants have frequently targeted pilgrims to Imam Moussa al-Kadhim's shrine
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Bombings kill 40 Shia pilgrims in Iraq
Jul 27, 2010
KARBALA/BAGHDAD: At least 40 people were killed and 68 injured in two bomb attacks Monday in the Shia holy city of Karbala as large crowds gathered for a religious ceremony, witnesses and doctors said.
In the first incident, a suicide bomber killed 18 people when he blew himself up in the middle of a large group of pilgrims. Minutes later a car bomb exploded some 300 metres away from the initial blast, killing at least another 22 people.
Both explosions took place some 4 km from the centre of the city located some 118 km from the capital Baghdad.
Hundreds of thousands of Shias are gathered in Karbala for the holiday of the Imam al-Mahdi. Some 30,000 security forces were also deployed to protect the pilgrims, the police said.
Earlier, at least four people were killed and 16 injured Monday in a suicide bombing near the Baghdad office of the Al-Arabiya satellite television station.
The bomber detonated a small explosives-laden truck belonging to a local telecommunications company in the al-Harithiya area of western Baghdad where the broadcaster is located.
Besides the suicide bomber, three security personnel and a woman who worked as an office assistant at the station, were also killed in the attack.
Salam al-Zawbaei, a member of parliament from the secular Iraqiya party who lives in the neighbourhood, was also injured by the blast.
"There was a huge explosion that shook the building and caused severe damage," Hayder Dekhel, an Al-Arabiya employee in Baghdad, told DPA.
Black smoke covered the area and billowed up to the sky after the 120 kg of explosives in the car ignited when the driver slammed the vehicle into a gate. The blast created a crater three metres deep and damaged the building and other vehicles in the area.
"The car was searched at one checkpoint but was allowed to move ahead," Qassem Atta, an official from the ministry, told Al-Arabiya TV. Atta said he had prior information that a branch of the Al Qaeda terrorist network had been planning to attack the television station.
The bomber's ID card was found at the blast site, showing that he was 28 years old, but police said that it might be a fake.
The vehicle used in the attack belonged to a local telecommunications company that is building a mobile tower in the neighbourhood.
According to witnesses, the small truck was initially searched when it passed in the early morning through a checkpoint, located about 100 metres away from the broadcaster's offices. The vehicle then left the zone but returned some hours later and was not thoroughly checked the second time it entered the sensitive area.
The driver told security officers that he had come back carrying "equipment for the tower", witnesses said.
Houses of several high ranking officials are located in the area of the attack. Also in the vicinity is the office of former prime minister Iyad Allawi, the head of Iraqiya, the parliamentary bloc which won the most seats in the March 7 elections.
Iraqi security forces sealed off the blast area, and movement in the city is slower than usual, residents reported.
In June, the Interior Ministry demanded the offices of the broadcaster in Baghdad be closed after receiving information that armed groups were preparing to attack Al-Arabiya.
The Saudi-owned channel and its staff had previously been targeted by insurgents and faced pressure from the government over its coverage of events in the country.
In 2008, Baghdad bureau chief Jawad Hattab escaped a car bomb attack after an explosive device was planted in his vehicle. In February 2006, Al-Arabiya correspondent Atwar Bahjat and two of her colleagues were kidnapped and killed north of Baghdad.
The pan-Arab channel was ordered to stop broadcasting from Baghdad for a month in September 2006 after the government accused it of inciting sectarianism and promoting violence.
Since the elections earlier this year resulted in an ongoing political stalemate in Iraq, the legislative body has only met once and a government has yet to be formed. The second session of the current parliament is due to convene Tuesday.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Bombings-kill-40-Shia-pilgrims-in-Iraq/articleshow/6221715.cms
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Leaks show up undeclared war by Pak on India
Chidanand Rajghatta
Jul 27, 2010
Washington: Pakistans war by terrorism against India in Afghanistan is highlighted in the WikiLeaks cache,including a July 1,2008 report issued by Polish intelligence in Kabul that warns of an attack on the Indian embassy,which was carried out a week later.
The attack claimed more than 50 lives.So strong was the ISI fingerprint that then-US President George Bush and CIA deputy director Stephen Kappes are said to have confronted Islamabad with evidence that ISI elements aided militants in carrying out the mission.
Times of India
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NATO rocket killed 52 civilians: Karzai
Jul 27, 2010
KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Monday that NATO troops had fired a rocket that killed 52 “innocent” villagers in southern Afghanistan.
An investigation by the National Directorate of Security found that a house in Helmand province's Sangin district was hit on Friday “by a rocket launched by NATO/ISAF troops, leaving 52 civilians dead, including women and children,” a statement from Mr. Karzai's office said.
Mr. Karzai's statement came three days after Friday's attack on Regey village, and followed repeated denials by officials of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) that their forces were involved in the incident.
Reports surfaced on Saturday that a helicopter gunship fired on villagers who had been told by insurgents to leave their homes as a firefight with ISAF troops was imminent.
According to witness accounts, men, women and children fled to Regey village and were fired on by helicopter gunships as they took cover.
Abdul Ghafar (45) told AFP he lost “two daughters and one son and two sisters” in the attack.
He and six other families fled to Regey, about 500 metres from their village of Ishaqzai, after being warned about an imminent battle, he said. Men and women took shelter in separate compounds, he said, ahead of an expected firefight between Taliban and NATO troops around 4.30 p.m. (1200 GMT). “Helicopters started firing on the compound killing almost everyone inside,” he said, speaking at the Mirwais hospital in Kandahar city. “We rushed to the house and there were eight children wounded and around 40 to 50 others killed,” he said.
ISAF spokesman Colonel Wayne Shanks said the location of the reported deaths was “several kilometres away from where we had engaged enemy fighters”. “We found no evidence of civilian casualties,” he said.
http://www.hindu.com/2010/07/27/stories/2010072752751300.htm
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Saudi cleric calls for Muslim maids only
27 July 2010
RIYADH — A Saudi cleric said only Muslim housemaids should be allowed in the oil-rich country and they should be kept segregated from men in the home, an online news site reported on Tuesday.
“If there is a need to import workers as female domestics, they should be Muslims,” Sheikh Yusef al-Ahmad, a strong opponent of men and women mixing in the ultra-conservative kingdom, told the sabq.org website.
He also said female domestics should cover themselves in the home, and that, following Islamic requirements for Saudi women, they should also be required to have a male relative guardian, or mahram, with them in Saudi Arabia.
“They should be required to work in the home covered with the hijab (veil), and not mix with men in the home, not enter their rooms or the hall or serve them,” he said.
Sheikh Ahmad is a lecturer at Riyadh’s Imam Mohammed bin Saudi University, the country’s leading Islamic education institution.
He gained notoriety earlier this year when he called for the Grand Mosque of Mecca, Islam’s holiest site, to be torn down and rebuilt with separate entrances and areas for men and women.
His latest comments are directed at the huge foreign labour pool in the country, accounting for an estimated eight to 10 million of a population of about 25 million people.
Saudi families employ millions of foreign cooks, maids and drivers, many of whom already come from large Muslim states like Indonesia and countries in Africa.
Most of the more than one million Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia are female household workers. But they are not required to be in the country with male guardians.
Under Saudi Arabia’s strict Islamic rules, unrelated men and women are not supposed to mix.
However, the rule is never enforced on families with foreign maids and drivers, or on the many foreign men who work as waiters in the family sections of restaurants.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/July/middleeast_July509.xml§ion=middleeast&col=
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12 Muslims fined for Malaysia Hindu temple protest
Jul 27, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR (Malaysia): A Malaysian court Tuesday fined 12 Muslims and sentenced one of them to a week in prison for illegally protesting the construction of a Hindu temple and parading a severed cow's head.
The protest last August stoked tensions among Malaysia's three main ethnic groups the Malay Muslim majority and Chinese and Indian minorities, most of them Buddhists, Christians or Hindus who have complained that their religious rights are often sidelined in favor of Islam.
The 12 men were among scores of Muslims who marched with a bloodied cow's head from a mosque to the central Selangor state chief minister's office on Aug. 28, 2009 to denounce the state government's plan to build a Hindu temple in their largely Muslim neighborhood.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/12-Muslims-fined-for-Malaysia-Hindu-temple-protest/articleshow/6222274.cms
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US condemns leaks; praises Pak anti-terror effort
27 Jul, 2010
WASHINGTON—The United States has strongly condemned the disclosure of classified information by individuals and organizations which, according to an American newspaper account, allege a linkage between the Afghan insurgency and Pakistani intelligence. Reacting to release of the documents by Wikileaks web organization, President Obama’s National Security Advisor James Jones praised the hard won Pakistani gains against Taliban over the last year and reaffirmed close strategic partnership with the ally. He said the “irresponsible” leaks “could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk, and threaten our national security” but these would not impact the ongoing U.S. commitment to deepen partnership with Pakistan to defeat common enemies.
Full report at:
http://dailymailnews.com/0710/27/FrontPage/FrontPage1.htm
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Somali group cracks down on TV sets
27 Jul, 2010
MOGADISHU: Somali Islamist rebels have ordered residents in areas they control to hand over televisions and satellite dishes, warning that anyone who did not would be considered a spy, residents said on Monday.
The affected region is largely controlled by the al Shabaab group, a rebel militia linked to Al Qaeda which enforces a harsh version of sharia law that includes banning school bells, ringtones on cell phones and music on radios.
Members of the militia group, which has also banned watching football and films, have warned residents through loud-speakers mounted on vehicles in towns across southern and central Somalia to give up their TV sets before Ramazan starts in mid-August.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/international/somali-group-cracks-down-on-tv-sets-770
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Pak double game is exposed
Jul 27, 2010
Wikileaks reveals documents that ‘prove’ ISI’s links with the Afghan Taliban as has been claimed by India
IT IS NOT being called the “biggest leak in intelligence history” for nothing. Secret records have revealed the nexus between Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Afghan Taliban.
According to ‘The War Logs’ — 92,201 leaked US military documents revealed by Wikileaks — the ISI continues to support Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and India.
The revelations come just days after American secretary of state Hillary Clinton announced an additional assistance of $500 million to Islamabad to help the US in its fight against terror in Afghanistan. Clinton even said the US and Pakistan were “partners joined in common cause”.
The ISI, however, doesn’t seem to think so as it brazenly continues to collude with the Afghan Taliban, conveniently forgetting the fact that it has milked billions of dollars from its “ally” in the name of waging a war on the outfit.
Full report at: Mail Today
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No blank cheques for Pakistan: US
Jul 27, 2010
WASHINGTON: Downplaying the WikiLeaks revelations about links between Pakistan's spy agency and terrorist groups, the United States has said there are no blank cheques for Islamabad and it must do more to eliminate terrorist safe havens.
"We have certainly known about safe havens in Pakistan; we have been concerned about civilian casualties for quite some time - and on both of those aspects we've taken steps to make improvements," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters on Monday.
When the new US commander in Afghanistan, General Petraeus "testified in front of the Senate there was a fairly robust discussion about the historical relationships that have been had between the Taliban and Pakistan's intelligence services," he said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/No-blank-cheques-for-Pakistan-US/articleshow/6222177.cms
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Heart of Indian culture lies in Islam: Khurshid
July 27, 2010
Posted by admin on Jul 26th, 2010 at 08:50 pm and filed under Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
New Delhi, July 26 – Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid Monday said Islam has played a ‘great role’ in shaping the country’s ‘Indianness’ in terms of art, culture and social behaviour.
‘Islam stands for peace, brotherhood and prosperity and in India this religion has played a great role in shaping the art, culture and social behaviour that today typically signifies the ‘Indianness’,’ Khurshid said, releasing a book on Islam here.
He stressed on the need to ’soak our souls into the idea of secularism’.
Secularism, he said, was ‘love and respect for all religions, and include it in every aspect of our lives’.
Full report at:
http://news-views.in/heart-of-indian-culture-lies-in-islam-khurshid/
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Canada imposes Iran sanctions
July 27, 2010
MONTREAL: Canada unveiled new sanctions against Iran on Monday notably targeting the energy industry, to press it to resume negotiations on its controversial nuclear programme.
The sanctions announced by Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon are similar to those imposed by the United States and the European Union, and take aim at Iran’s energy and banking sectors, as well as chemical, biological and nuclear activities.
Like the EU and the United States, Canada will bar all new investment in Iran’s energy industry, particularly crude oil refining and liquefied natural gas.
Although Iran is the world’s fourth largest oil producer, it imports nearly 40 per cent of its fuel needs because it lacks the refining capacity required to meet domestic demand.
Full report at:
http://thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=253186
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Remand of Ahmadis ‘attackers’ extended
July 27, 2010
AN ANTI-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday extended 14-day physical remand of two terror suspects, Rizwan and Haroon, who had allegedly facilitated four terrorists who attacked two Ahmadi worship places.
The law enforcement agencies produced the alleged terrorists before the court of Rana Muhammad Yousif amid tight security. Shafiqabad Police had sought extension to the remand of the accused in a bid to further investigate. The accused will be produced again before the court on August 9.
Police had arrested Haroon and Rizwan along with five other suspects, Umair, Umer, Haji Javed Alam Arayen and Abbas, all residents of Lahore, for being allegedly involved in terror activities, including attacks on Jinnah Hospital, Moon Market and other places in the City.
Full report at:
http://thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=253041
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Mullen to review plans for US troop withdrawal from Iraq
27 Jul, 2010
KANDAHAR: The US military’s top officer flies to Iraq Tuesday to review plans for a troop drawdown and efforts to form a new governing coalition, amid fresh violence targeting civilians.
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, was due in Baghdad after a two-day visit to Afghanistan, where he checked on progress in the nearly nine-year-old war.
His visit to Iraq comes after twin car bombs killed 21 people Monday in the southern Shiite holy city of Karbala, while four people died in a suicide attack on a Saudi-funded television channel in Baghdad.
US and Iraqi officials have warned of the dangers of a spike in violence as negotiations on forming a new governing coalition have dragged on without agreement, more than four months after parliamentary elections.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/14-mullen-to-review-plans-for-us-troop-withdrawal-from-iraq-j-07
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Now,Pak kids on reality show face MNS ire
Bharati Dubey
Jul 27, 2010
Mumbai: After shunting out Pakistani standup comedian Shakeel Siddiqui,Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is now targeting Pakistani kids who are in the city to participate in a musical show on a private television channel.
MNS members threatened the channel on Monday that they would not tolerate any Pakistani coming to India and participating in any kind of show.MNS Cine Workers Association president Ameya Khoppkar said, This step by the channel and the producer of show has shocked people across the country.How can you allow people from Pakistan to come to India after the 26/11 terror attack
Full report at: Times of India
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US long aware of ISI hand in Af war
Indrani Bagchi
Jul 27, 2010
New Delhi: We hate to say we told you so.The biggest intelligence leak in history on the war in Afghanistan shows clearly what India has known all along that Pakistan,its army and intelligence agency (ISI) are actually behind the Taliban insurgency against US forces in Afghanistan.And they get paid by the US for doing so.
A whistleblowers website,WikiLeaks,put out 92,000 documents (with more to come) that is a kind of Afghan war diary dating from 2004 till December 2009,giving raw field and operational details,intelligence assessments of the Taliban and the insurgency.
Most important has been the revelations that ISI has paid,trained,supported and sent Taliban to fight against US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.For India,a sort of grim confirmation comes from revelations that it was the ISI that ordered the Haqqani network to kill Indians building the Zaranj-Delaram road or attack the Indian consulates.
Full report at: Times of India
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Pak using retired gens for proxy war
Jul 27, 2010
Washington: The WikiLeaks expose on Pakistans ISI gave detailed reports on the plans of the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul.
The report relating to the attack reads: INS [insurgents ] are planning to divide into two groups: first will attack Indian embassy building,whilst the second group will engage security posts in front of MOI [the Afghan ministry of interior],IOT [in order to] give possibility to escape attackers from the first group.The main goal of this operation is to show TBs [Talibans ] ability to carry out attack on every object in Kabul.
While the WikiLeaks cache of documents is replete with instances of Pakistani support and sponsorship of terrorism in Afghanistan,the most charitable explanation being trotted out by Pakistani apologists in Washington is that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing in Pakistan.Another way of looking at it is Pakistan deliberately insulates a section of the ISI (called the S division) that controls and practices terrorism,to maintain what is called plausible deniability.
Full report at: Times of India
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Guardian proves leaked Afghan war Intel files incredible
By Makhdoom Babar in Islamabad & Cherry Ferguson
27 Jul, 2010
British newspaper says that info in leaked files, fail to provide a convincing smoking gun for ISI complicity
Proves most of the reports are vague, filled with incongruent detail, or crudely fabricated
British newspaper The Guardian’s report with regard to the leak of Intelligence files in the US, describing Pakistan’s ISI being hand in glove with Taliban or warlords in Afghanistan proves that the info in the leaked files were not credible and is based in unreliable sources with no evidence available to make the info authentic.
The Guardian report, rejecting the info in the leaked files says “They also link the ISI to some of the war’s most notorious commanders. In April 2007 for instance, the ISI is alleged to have sent 1,000 motorbikes to the warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani for suicide attacks in Khost and Logar provinces. But for all their eye-popping details, the intelligence files, which are mostly collated by junior officers relying on informants and Afghan officials, fail to provide a convincing smoking gun for ISI complicity. Most of the reports are vague, filled with incongruent detail, or crudely fabricated. The same characters – famous Taliban commanders, well-known ISI officials – and scenarios repeatedly pop up. And few of the events predicted in the reports subsequently occurred.”
Full report at:
http://dailymailnews.com/0710/27/FrontPage/FrontPage1.htm
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Seminar urges implementation of women harassment bill
27 Jul, 2010
ISLAMABAD: Emphasising the importance of the Bill on Women Harassment, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Women Development Yasmeen Rehman on Monday said there was a dire need to implement it.
She expressed these views at a seminar arranged by the Planning Commission, which had taken the initiative by adopting the code of conduct and notifying a three-member inquiry committee along with the terms of reference and started creating awareness about it. Yasmeen praised the work done by the Planning and Development Division and asked other ministries to follow in its steps. She talked in detail about the Women Development Programme being implemented by the Ministry of Women Development.
Maliha Hussain, programme director and Aqsa Khan, WORDS executive director, clarified all the clauses of the law and the way it had been implemented by all organisations. They informed the gathering that under the prime minister’s directive, an implementation and watch committee had been formed to ensure the bill’s implementation.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\07\27\story_27-7-2010_pg7_23
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'The worst thing to be is an Afghan woman'
By Lynne O'Donnell
July 27, 2010
MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan — When Shabnam was barely more than a child, her father gave her away to pay off a debt.
She was about 13 years old, her husband was in his 50s, and from almost the moment she entered his house he beat her mercilessly, she said.
Shabnam thinks she is about 17 now. She has a plump, heart-shaped face and Cupid's-bow lips. Her hair is covered with a black scarf and she wears a maroon coat-dress with diamante patterns on the collar.
"My father was a very cruel man," she said, sitting in the basement of one of Afghanistan's few shelters for abused and distressed women.
Full report at:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jpKo00yLLGOOvksyXI7WAXdFIahA
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‘Blasphemous content’ on Facebook still accessible in Pakistan
27 Jul, 2010
KARACHI: Facebook pages carrying ‘blasphemous content’ are still accessible in Pakistan, IT Ministry sources said on Monday.
The sources told Daily Times that an inter-ministerial committee had been analysing all possible measures to block the new links on Facebook containing sacrilegious material.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) discovered the pages a few days ago and later informed the ministry to decide on the issue.
“The ministry is going to block all such material containing blasphemous material as soon as it receives recommendations on the modus operandi,” said Nagibullah Malik, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication secretary.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\07\27\story_27-7-2010_pg7_24
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Philippines to start Muslim peace talks after Ramazan
27 Jul, 2010
MANILA: Philippine President Benigno Aquino said on Monday that peace talks with Muslim separatist rebels would likely resume at the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramazan in September.Aquino said putting an end to the Muslim insurgency, which has killed more than 150,000 people in the impoverished southern region of Mindanao since 1978, was a priority. “We are confident of resuming negotiations after Ramazan,” Aquino said, referring to peace talks with the 12,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that has been fighting for an independent Islamic state in Mindanao. “Our view has not changed when it comes to the situation in Mindanao. We will only achieve lasting peace if all stakeholders engage in an honest dialogue,” he said in his first “State of the Nation” address to parliament. Eidul Fitr, which marks the official end of Ramazan, falls in late September in the largely Catholic Philippines. Aquino’s predecessor, Gloria Arroyo, failed to sign a peace treaty with the MILF despite nearly 10 years in power. Negotiations with her government collapsed after the MILF launched deadly attacks across Mindanao in 2008. The attacks were to avenge a court ruling outlawing a proposed deal that would have given the MILF control over a vast land area. More than 700,000 people were displaced at the height of the fighting, triggering a humanitarian crisis. About 400 civilians and fighters from both sides were also killed. Both sides agreed to a ceasefire last year, but the MILF opted to stall in peace talks until Arroyo stepped down.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\07\27\story_27-7-2010_pg4_6
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Saudi envoys in Europe meet in London
Jul 27, 2010
LONDON: Saudi Ambassador to UK Prince Muhammad bin Nawaf on Monday emphasized the role of ambassadors' in strengthening the Kingdom's political, economic and cultural relations with other countries.
Opening a meeting of the heads of Saudi missions in European countries, Prince Nawaf reminded the envoys of the directive given by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah that they should provide all possible assistance to Saudis.
He said the meeting would discuss the five-year strategy for diplomatic work, a unified strategy for Europe and the operation plan for Saudi missions in the continent. He hoped the meeting would come up with good recommendations to strengthen the Kingdom's position in the comity of nations.
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article90892.ece
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WAMY holding youth camps in 80 countries
By MD RASOOLDEEN
Jul 27, 2010
RIYADH: The World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) has embarked on a global youth training drive this month for thousands of young men and women.
The organization will be working in 80 countries, its secretary-general told Arab News on Monday.
“We have attracted more than 200 undergraduates from the three main Islamic universities — Imam Muhammad bin Saud and King Saud in Riyadh and the Islamic University of Madinah — to help facilitate 200 youth camps in these countries,” said Saleh S. Al-Wohaibi.
“We were able to make use of the large number of volunteers since it is vacation time. The camps are open to both men and women but they will be conducted separately.”
Al-Wohaibi said that the programs would end on the last day of the current month of Shaaban.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article90865.ece
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US hunts for leaker of Afghan war documents
27 Jul, 2010
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon said on Monday it was launching a manhunt to find whoever leaked tens of thousands of classified documents on the war in Afghanistan, one of the largest security breaches in US military history.
US defense officials said the person behind the release of some 91,000 classified documents appeared to have “secret” clearance and access to sensitive documents on the Afghan war. More leaks were possible, officials acknowledged.
“We will do what is necessary to try to determine who is responsible for the leaking of this information,” Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.
“Until we know who’s responsible, you have to hold out the possibility that there could be more information that has yet to be disclosed. And that’s obviously a concern.”
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/14-us-hunts-for-leaker-of-afghan-war-documents-zj-01
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Abdullah to embark on Arab unity tour
By P.K. ABDUL GHAFOUR
Jul 27, 2010
JEDDAH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah will begin a four-nation Arab unity tour on Wednesday, which will take him to Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. He will discuss major issues including Palestine, Iran and Iraq with the leaders of the four countries.
The office of the Egyptian president has announced that King Abdullah will meet President Hosni Mubarak in the resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh on Wednesday, adding that the two leaders would discuss major regional and international issues, especially Middle East peace.
According to high-level sources, reconciliation between Cairo and Damascus would figure high during the Saudi-Egyptian talks. At the Kuwait summit in 2009, King Abdullah urged Arab leaders to set aside their differences and open a new era of unity.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article90903.ece
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Proof of war crimes in leaked papers
Jul 27, 2010
London: Thousands of leaked US military papers from Afghanistan contain evidence of possible war crimes that must be urgently investigated,the founder of the whistle-blowing website that published the papers said.WikiLeaks justified the expose saying its goal in disclosing secret documents is to reveal unethical behavior by governments and corporations.
Julian Assange,who set up WikiLeaks to expose perceived unethical behaviour by government and business,accused US forces of covering up civilian deaths and said sections of the collection of papers supported such accusations.
His website has published 76,000 military reports covering the Afghan conflict between 2004 and 2010,and has promised to release thousands more in the coming weeks.The US has criticized the publication of the material.
Full report at: Times of India
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Evidence of Pak blackmail, how ISI paid Taliban to hit Indians in Kabul
Manu Pubby
Jul 27 2010
New Delhi : Backing New Delhi’s finding that the ISI was actively involved in attacks on Indians working in Afghanistan, intelligence documents leaked Sunday reveal that the Pakistani spy agency paid the Taliban and the Haqqani terror network to target Indian missions, road workers, doctors and engineers working in the country.
US military documents, part of over 90,000 internal logs made public by website WikiLeaks,
reveal that intelligence agencies received regular inputs on the ISI paying terror outfits to plan and execute attacks against Indian interests in Afghanistan.
A March 2008 intelligence report said the ISI paid the Haqqani network $15,000-30,000 to eliminate Indian nationals working on the key Zaranj-Delaram road project and target engineers and road workers. The report said that “in one particular case, it was reported that the ISI ordered Serajuddin Haqqani to eliminate Indian nationals working in Afghanistan” and to kidnap “doctors, officers, engineers and labourers” working on the road project.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/evidence-of-pak-blackmail-how-isi-paid-taliban-to-hit-indians-in-kabul/652296/
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Dhaka’s war crimes tribunal issues first warrants
Anisur Rahman
Jul 27, 2010
Bangladesh’s 1971 war crimes tribunal on Monday issued its first arrest warrants against four top leaders of fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) who were accused of heinous crimes like genocide, rape and murder in the Liberation war which left an estimated three million dead.
“Arrest warrants against the four persons” have been issued, chief of the three-member tribunal Justice Nizamul Haque said at the first hearing of tribunal since its constitution in March this year under the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act 1973.
The four — JI chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, its Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and senior assistant secretaries general Muhammad Qamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Mollah — are already in jail over other charges, including sedition and murder.
Full report at:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/271846/Dhaka%E2%80%99s-war-crimes-tribunal-issues-first-warrants.html
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Nawaz vows to continue politics of reconciliation
27 Jul, 2010
LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will continue with the politics of reconciliation, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif said on Monday, according to private TV channel.
Speaking to reporters at the General Hospital, Lahore, after enquiring after the health of veteran party leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi soon after his arrival from London, the PML-N leader said his party wishes to strengthen all institutions in the country.
He said the PML-N wants to follow the Charter of Democracy in true spirit.
Nawaz said President Asif Ali Zardari had not fulfilled his promises, however the PML-N would continue with the politics of reconciliation.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\07\27\story_27-7-2010_pg7_3
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Gul: Middleman for terror
Jul 27, 2010
Lt Gen Hamid Gul ran the ISI from 1987 to 1989, a time when Pakistan and the CIA joined forces to battle Soviet troops in Afghanistan. After the war stopped, he maintained his contacts with the former mujahedeen, many of whom joined the Taliban.
Two decades later, it appears Gul is still at work.
The Wikileak documents indicate he has worked to reactivate his old networks.
One report describes him meeting a group of militants in Wana, South Waziristan, in 2009. The group sought to avenge the death of “Zamarai,“ an Al Qaeda operative, killed days earlier by CIA. Gul urged the Taliban commanders to focus their operations inside Afghanistan in exchange for Pakistan turning “a blind eye“ to their presence in its tribal areas.
The US has pushed the UN to put Gul on a list of international terrorists. Gul dismissed the allegations as “absolute nonsense.“
Hindustan Time
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Shah in trouble as cop Amin turns approver
Jul 27, 2010
Ahmedabad: A day after he was arrested for murder and conspiracy in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case,Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modis close associate Amit Shah suffered a serious setback with two policemen agreeing to help CBI nail him.
Suspended DSP N K Amin,a co-accused in the case who fell out with Shah and is believed to have loads of information which could help nail the former Gujarat junior home minister,told the CBI court of his decision to turn approver.In a similar development,G C Raiger,former additional DGP,turned a CBI witness after a session with officers of the central agency where he passed on explosive information.Raiger looked after the CID probe into the Sohrabuddin case before Supreme Court handed over the inquiry to CBI.
Full report at: Times of India
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Israel to hit Lebanon if Hezbollah attacks: Defense minister
Jul 27, 2010
WASHINGTON: Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak warned Monday that Israel will strike directly at Lebanese institutions if the militant group Hezbollah launches rockets at Israeli town.
Barak, who held talks in Washington on Monday with US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, made clear in an interview that his government will not tolerate any more Hezbollah attacks.
If Hezbollah fires a rocket into Tel Aviv, "we will not run after each Hezbollah terrorist or launcher," Barak told The Washington Post.
"We will see it as legitimate to hit any target that belongs to the Lebanese state, not just to Hezbollah," he added.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Israel-to-hit-Lebanon-if-Hezbollah-attacks-Defense-minister/articleshow/6221455.cms
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ISI fuelling Afghan terror: US records
Chidanand Rajghatta
Jul 27, 2010
Washington: A treasure trove of US documents implicating Pakistan in its support for terrorism exploded in the public domain on Sunday,sending officials in both countries scurrying to defend a dubious alliance and straining a phony partnership based on a misreading of ground sentiment.
WikiLeaks put a staggering 91,000 documents,mainly ground reports from US military personnel,in the public domain on Sunday.Many of the documents exposed Pakistans double-faced policy of fuelling terrorism in Afghanistan while claiming to be fighting it as a US ally.
In effect,the chronicles suggested Washington is blindly paying Pakistan massive amounts of money for access to Afghanistan even as Islamabad uses its spy agency ISI to plot the death of American and Nato troops,allied Indian personnel,and undermines US policy.
Full report at: Times of India
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With Shah in jail,CBI moves in for the kill
Jul 27, 2010
New Delhi: The arrest of former Gujarat minister of state for home Amit Shah is seen as a significant breakthrough which could not only crack his strongman image but encourage police officers to testify against him,helping CBI cover gaps in evidence in the Sohrabuddin case.
Pleased with how the case has progressed,sources said CBI had done its job of probing whether there were higher levels of complicity going beyond the 14 police officers currently in jail.With Shah seen as the hidden hand behind Sohrabuddins elimination,it was necessary to ensure his resignation and arrest.
CBIs decision not to seek Shahs remand kept in mind the powerful legal challenge the former ministers lawyers were likely to pose and also factor in the utility of the BJP leader being sent to judicial custody.Sending Shah directly to jail could persuade more witnesses to come forward and speak against him.
Full report at: Times of India
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Amin,Shah spoke 32 times in the week before Sohrab killing
Jul 27, 2010
Ahmedabad: Narendra Modi aide Amit Shah could be in for serious trouble over the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case with two policemen former DSP N K Amin and former Additional DGP G C Raiger agreeing to assist the CBI in its investigation into the former Gujarat MoSs role.A corroboration by Amin and other cops of the accusation that the encounter was connected to Shahs alleged involvement in an extortion syndicate run by Gujarat cops would undercut Modis attempt to portray Shah as a victim of political frame-up and his assertion that Sohrabuddin was eliminated purely because he was a dreaded gangster wanted for several heinous crimes in many states.
Full report at: Times of India
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Disclosure puts troops at risk: US
Jul 27, 2010
Washington: The staggering 91,000 documents with WikiLeaks has stunned experts in Washington who are comparing the expose to the leaking of the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War,even as American and Pakistani officials rushed into a damage-control mode on Monday.
What the cache highlighted most was the continuing Pakistani perfidy,and American credulity in accepting Islamabad as an ally and funnelling billions of dollars in aid even as it helped plot US downfall in the region and killed American soldiers.
Americans fighting the war in Afghanistan have long harboured strong suspicions that Pakistans military spy service has guided the Afghan insurgency with a hidden hand,even as Pakistan receives more than $1 billion a year from Washington for its help combating the militants, the New York Times said in its assessment of the report.
Full report at: Times of India
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ISI denounces claims that its tied to Taliban
Jul 27, 2010
Islamabad: Pakistans most powerful spy agency on Monday lashed out against the trove of leaked US intelligence reports that alleged close connections between it and Taliban militants in Afghanistan,calling the accusations malicious and unsubstantiated.
A senior ISI official denied the allegations,saying they were from raw intelligence reports that had not been verified and were meant to impugn the reputation of the spy agency.He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with the agencys policy.
Hamid Gul,a former head of the spy agency who is mentioned many times throughout the intelligence reports released,denied allegations that he was working with the Taliban.These leaked documents against me are fiction and nothing else, said Gul
Times of India
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Qaida kills French hostage in Africa,Sarko vows action
Jul 27, 2010
Paris: French president Nicolas Sarkozy vowed on Monday to punish al-Qaidas north African wing after confirming the death of a 78-year-old French hostage kidnapped in Niger.
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) said on Sunday it had killed Michel Germaneau in response to a raid by France and Mauritania against the group last week,according to a recording aired on Al Jazeera.French commandos,acting with Mauritanian troops,had tried to free Germaneau,a retired engineer kidnapped in April,but had not found him when they raided a desert Qaida camp in Mali,Sarkozy said.
Convinced that he was condemned to a certain death,it was our duty to try to save him from his captors.Unfortunately Michel Germaneau was not there, Sarkozy said in a live televised statement.Far from weakening our determination,his death must reinforce it, the president said.
Full report at: Times of India
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Action against SHO, two others for custodial killing in J&K
Khursheed Wani
Jul 27, 2010
The Jammu and Kashmir Government on Monday attached Station House Officer of Panzalla police station and suspended two other cops for their alleged involvement in custodial killing of a youngster. The police have also initiated a probe into the killing that evoked protests and widespread condemnation in the Valley.
Meanwhile, normal life was crippled in the Valley once again following a separatists' call while authorities imposed severe restrictions in several downtown localities to prevent widespread protests against the recent killings.
Hundreds of people staged protest demonstrations in Rafiabad belt of north Kashmir against the alleged custodial death of a youngster Tariq Ahmad Dar who was allegedly beaten to death by the police personnel in custody. Dar had been taken into custody three days ago for his alleged links with Lashkar-e-Tayyeba outfit.
Full report at:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/271826/Action-against-SHO-two-others-for-custodial-killing-in-JK.html
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Afghan Govt ‘shocked’
Jul 27, 2010
The Afghan Government says it is ‘shocked’ that 90,000 leaked US military documents were released on the war, but most of the information is not new and has been discussed in the past.
Presidential spokesman Waheed Omar said on Monday that Afghan Government officials were studying the papers, especially those about civilian casualties and what role the Pakistani intelligence service has played in destabilising activities inside the country.
Meanwhile, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered an investigation into the deaths of ‘a number’ of civilians in a rocket attack in southern Afghanistan, his spokesman said on Monday.
The rocket attack took place on a village in the Sangin area of Helmand province on Friday, said Siddiq Siddiqi. An unspecified number of Afghan civilians, including women and children, were killed, he said.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/271849/Afghan-Govt-%E2%80%98shocked%E2%80%99.html
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AfPak: US fights a war without allies it trusts
Jul 27, 2010
The six-year archive of 92,000 US military documents, possibly the biggest intelligence leak in history, released by Wikileaks gives an unvarnished, ground-level picture of the Afghan war that is more grim than the official portrayal.
The documents are a diary of a US-led force often starved for resources as it struggled against an insurgency that grew larger, better coordinated and more deadly each year.
The documents --spanning January 2004 through December 2009 -illustrate in mosaic detail why the Taliban are stronger than at any time since 2001. They sketch a war hamstrung by an Afghan government, police force and army of questionable loyalty and competence, and by a Pakistani military that appears at best uncooperative and at worst to work from the shadows as an unspoken ally of the insurgents.
Full report at: Hindustan Time
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Yemen rebels seize army post, capture soldiers
27 Jul, 2010
SANAA, July 26: Yemen’s Shia rebels took control of a strategic army post in north Yemen on Monday and captured some 70 soldiers, in the latest clash to endanger an increasingly fragile truce, army and tribal sources said.
“Huthi (rebels) took control of a military position in Al-Zaala and captured all remaining soldiers,” a tribal source told AFP. “Violent clashes erupted since the early morning hours.”A local military official said the rebels captured some 70 soldiers.
The attack came after residents contacted on Sunday by telephone said six soldiers were killed in fighting between the Zaidi Shia rebels, also known as Huthis, and a government-backed tribe in tense northern Yemen.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/international/yemen-rebels-seize-army-post,-capture-soldiers-770
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Six Israeli soldiers killed in Romania
27 Jul, 2010
BUCHAREST, July 26: Six Israeli soldiers and one Romanian were killed on Monday when a military helicopter crashed in mountainous terrain in central Romania, local media said, quoting defence sources.
“Rescuers on the scene said there were no survivors,” Ciprian Candea of the mountain rescue team based in Brasov told AFP.
But he could not immediately say how many bodies had been found, adding that access to the crash site was extremely difficult.
The defence ministry said six Israeli soldiers and one Romanian were on board of the helicopter but did not confirm their deaths.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/international/six-israeli-soldiers-killed-in-romania-770
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Warrants issued for arrest of Jamaat quartet
Jul 27, 2010
The international crimes tribunal on Monday issued a warrant for the arrest of four top Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, already in custody, on charges of war crimes.
The tribunal asked the investigation agency to report to it on August 2 on the execution of the warrant for the arrest of Jamaat-e-Islami amir Motiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and assistant secretaries general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla.
The tribunal of Justice Md Nizamul Huq, Justice ATM Fazle Kabir and AKM Zahir Ahmed, a former district judge, began its proceedings by hearing a prosecution petition, filed on Sunday seeking its order to show four top Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leaders arrested or detained on war crime charges.
Full report at:
http://www.newagebd.com/2010/jul/27/front.html
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5-day strike in Kashmir begins
By AIJAZ HUSSAIN
Jul 27, 2010
SRINAGAR: Most shops, businesses and schools were closed and streets were deserted in the Indian portion of Kashmir on Monday as separatists called for five days of strikes and demonstrations.
Thousands of armed police and paramilitary soldiers on patrol asked residents to stay indoors in major towns to prevent protests. However, clashes between troops and protesters erupted in several parts of the troubled region.
For the past six weeks, street violence - sparked by the deaths of several protesters in apparent shootings by security forces - has roiled the region.
The separatist strike call this week excludes Tuesday, a Muslim religious holiday, and Saturday, to allow locals to stock up on essentials.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article90878.ece
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36 ‘imams’ undergo training
By EDD K. USMAN
July 27, 2010
To further improve the knowledge of "imams" (prayer leaders) and help promote Islam's message of peace and tolerance for other faith communities and unity with their fellow Filipinos, the Insan Islamic Assembly (IIA), Inc. conducted a two-day imam training seminar in Marawi City for 36 Muslim religious leaders.
Imams are Islamic religious leaders who are qualified to lead prayers as well as deliver sermons, among others.
Insan chairman Aleem Najeeb Taher spearheaded the Imam Training Seminar on July 24-25 at the Marawi Resort Hotel (formerly Ayala Resort Hotel) with the theme "Strengthening the Way of Performing Imamship for the Community" aimed at widening their horizon on many issues confronting Islam and Muslims.
Full report at:
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/269135/36-imams-undergo-training
9:32 PM
Sultan Shahin
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