Saudi: OK to uncover face in anti-burqa countries
Taliban seize key district in Afghan east Drone strike kills five in South Waziristan
Twenty-one militants killed in Kurram, Orakzai
Sohrabuddin fake encounter case: CBI arrests Amit Shah
MINISTER FOR EXTORTION?
Kausarbi's ashes were thrown into river: CBI chargesheet
No plans to quit Afghanistan, says US
Iran says it has 100 vessels for each US warship
Iran will react if ships inspected: Ahmadinejad
Malaysian kids reject polygamy
Islamophobia a rapidly increasing phenomenon in America.
Iran's Constitution converted into Tamil
Muslim educational institutions should form their federation
Qatar government should stop aiding Qadianism: Shahi Imam of Punjab
Support for sharia law is in the minority — and declining
Hizb ut Tahrir is not a gateway to terrorism, claims Whitehall report
Iran urged to free jailed woman
Is Malaysia A Shariah Compliant Islamic Society
Love jihad cases: Mahila Morcha for NIA probe
Terms of Kashmir dialogue finalised
2 American soldiers kidnapped by Taliban in Afghanistan
America already is an Islamic society
Kabul to top agenda on Nirupama's Russia trip
We're goading Pak to rein in LeT, says top US gen
We hope to get something from Pak on 26/11: Chidambaram
Iran to build nucleur-fusion reactor
LeT has expanded its operation to Afghan, West: Mullen
Palestinian President Abbas says entire world wants direct Mideast talks
Kim regime hurting Middle East stability: Israel tells UN
War in Afghanistan challenges air traffic controllers
Iran arrests suspected mosque bombing accomplices
'Impossible to continue talks if Kashmir not given importance'
Mumbai blasts: SC to fix date for final hearings
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa minister’s son shot dead
Iraq arrests three suspected Qaeda leaders
Grand Mosque authorities ready Ramadan plan
Germany offers asylum to 50 Iranian dissidents
Turks protest Israeli volleyball team
Fatah, Hamas welcome aid flotilla probe
Turkish PM proposes amending sensitive army law
Will jihad jump the shark?
Terror suspect took his desire to belong to the extreme
Al Hind and Islam
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
Photo: Saudi cleric Sheik Aedh al-Garni
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Saudi: OK to uncover face in anti-burqa countries
By ABDULLAH AL-SHIHRI
Jul 25, 2010
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- A popular Saudi cleric said Saturday it is permissible for Muslim women to reveal their faces in countries where the Islamic veil is banned to avoid harassment, while deploring the effort to outlaw the garment in France.
Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, is one of the few Muslim countries where women are forced by custom to cover their hair with head scarves and their bodies with cloaks called abayas in most parts of the country. It is also common to see Saudi women wearing full-face veils.
So Sheik Aedh al-Garni's religious advice, delivered in response to a question from a Saudi woman in France, generated some opposition from those less compromising. One cleric said it was better for Muslim women to avoid traveling to such countries unless absolutely necessary.
"We should not confront people in their countries or elsewhere," al-Garni was quoted as saying in the Saudi-owned daily Al-Hayat. "In case a ban is enforced against a Muslim woman there - and as a consequence there is a reaction or negative implications or harassment or harm - it is better for the Muslim woman to reveal her face."
France, Belgium and Spain are debating legislation that would ban the veil. Other nations in Europe too have struggled to balance national identities with growing Muslim populations with cultural practices that clash with their own.
Some secularists as well as those who argue the veil is oppressive have applauded the movement for a ban. Others say it is a ploy to win over right-wing voters.
In France, the lower house of parliament overwhelmingly approved a ban on wearing burqa-style Islamic veils, with proponents of the law saying such attire is incompatible with the French ideal of women's equality or its secular tradition.
In September, the bill goes to the Senate, where it also is likely to pass, though it could be thrown out by France's constitutional watchdog.
"It is illogical and unreasonable for the French government to do this," al-Garni said, according to Al-Hayat. "Objective non-Muslims have also criticized it because the secular state respects freedom of religion. It should respect religious rituals and rites, including those of Muslims."
Not all Islamic clerics agree that the face veil is an obligation, with some calling it a tradition. But most clerics agree a head scarf is a religious requirement.
Beyond Saudi Arabia, the face veil is quietly spreading in other Arab countries. Some governments, like Egypt and Syria, have taken measures to limit its spread, such as barring it in universities and academic institutions.
Al-Garni's religious guidance, or fatwa, is an advisory opinion and not a law. It is significant because it comes from a Saudi cleric whose writings are widely read. But other clerics in the kingdom did not see eye-to-eye with al-Garni.
Mohammed al-Nujemi, a Saudi professor at the Institute of Judicial and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, said it is best to avoid countries were the ban is enforced.
"The Saudi woman should not go on tourism to non-Muslim countries," he told the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television network. "Going to a non-Muslim country without a necessity is not permissible according to the sharia," he said, referring to Islamic law.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/24/AR2010072401034.html
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Taliban seize key district in Afghan east
25 July 2010
Taliban guerrillas have captured a strategic district from the Afghan government after days of clashes in eastern Nuristan province, officials said on Sunday.
Separately, the Afghan government said it was checking reports by locals saying some 40 Afghan civilians were killed in a raid by foreign forces in Sangin district of southern Helmand province on Friday.
In Nuristan’s Barg-e Matal, dozens of Taliban fighters and up to six Afghan police were killed during days of clashes before the district fell to the Taliban overnight.
Barg-e Matal is important for the government and militants because of its location and has regularly changed hands.
Lying near the border with Pakistan, the rugged district has been used as a supply route for arms and fighters for the Taliban in three provinces, most importantly for Badakhshan where the Taliban have mounted a series of deadly attacks recently.
Afghan police forces withdrew from Barg-e Matal to avoid high casualties and in the face of sustained Taliban pressure after days of skirmishes, interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told reporters.
“Right now the police forces in Nuristan are working to recapture it,” he said.
The Taliban have yet to comment about the fall of the district and the reported losses in their ranks.
In Helmand province, where the Taliban insurgency is strongest, Bashary said provincial authorities were checking reports by residents that dozens of civilians were killed in a raid by foreign forces on Friday.
Further details were not immediately available.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/international/2010/July/international_July1137.xml§ion=international
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Drone strike kills five in South Waziristan
25 Jul, 2010
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Unmanned US aircraft fired four missiles at a house in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing five suspected militants in the second drone strike in as many days, intelligence officials said.
The US has launched more than 100 missile strikes in Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal area along the Afghan border over the past several years. Most have them have targeted militants in North and South Waziristan, important sanctuaries for Afghan and Pakistani Taliban fighters.
The house that was destroyed Sunday was in Shaktoi, a village along the border of North and South Waziristan. The attack, which actually occurred in South Waziristan, also wounded four suspected militants, said the intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The strike came a day after US aircraft fired six missiles at a compound in the Nazai Narai area of South Waziristan, killing 16 suspected militants. The hide-out was known to be frequented by foreign fighters who were among the dead, intelligence officials said.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/03-suspected-drone-strike-in-south-waziristan-ss-03
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Twenty-one militants killed in Kurram, Orakzai
25 Jul, 2010
KARACHI: Twenty-one militants were killed during a fresh military operation in Kurram Agency and Upper Orakzai Agency on Sunday.
According to officials, security forces claim to have killed 15 militants when fighter jets bombarded Upper Orakzai's Mamozai and Dabori areas. They also destroyed five militant hideouts during the attack.
Security forces claim to have also killed six militants in Kurram Agency.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/03-twenty-one-militants-killed-in-kurram-orakzai-ss-07
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Sohrabuddin fake encounter case: CBI arrests Amit Shah
Jul 25, 2010
GANDHINAGAR: The CBI on Sunday arrested former Gujarat minister Amit Shah in Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case after he appeared before the agency for questioning in Ahmedabad.
Waving to the mediapersons after getting out from his car at the CBI office, he found that officers of the probe agency were waiting for him.
"The CBI officials told Shah that they will take him straight to the court to which he agreed," BJP leader Vijay Rupani, who accompanied Shah, said.
He was whisked in a car from the CBI office to the residence of judicial magistrate A Y Dave by the agency officials, including IG P Kandaswamy. He was taken to magistrate's house as courts were closed on Sunday, sources in the CBI said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sohrabuddin-fake-encounter-case-CBI-arrests-Amit-Shah/articleshow/6213768.cms
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MINISTERFOR EXTORTION?
By Aman Sharma
25 July 2010
CBI says Amit Shah got Sohrab killed in extortion turf war
ON SATURDAY when Amit Shah resigned from his post of Gujarat’s minister of state for home, it was as if a pulp crime novel had been brought right down to its last chapter.
Perhaps, only the endnotes and an epilogue to be written by the judiciary remain.
If all that the Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI) says in its 30,000- page charge sheet is proven in a court of law, it would mean that Shah was the uncrowned “ extortion king” of Gujarat; a racket that he probably ran for more than a decade with the help of senior police officers in the state. The charges against the minister are serious — murder, conspiracy to murder, extortion, criminal intimidation and destruction of evidence, among other things.
Shah is among the prime accused in the murder of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, who was killed in a fake police encounter on November 26, 2005. But in a state that is utterly divided on communal lines since the Godhra riots of 2002, it was crime and lucre that brought Shah and Sohrabuddin together in a complex web of
Full report at: Mail Today
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Kausarbi's ashes were thrown into river: CBI chargesheet
Jul 25, 2010
AHMEDABAD: CBI investigation has revealed that Sohrabuddin Sheikh's wife Kausarbi was killed in a farmhouse on outskirts of Gandhinagar, her body was burnt and ashes were thrown in Narmada river near Bharuch.
According to the charge sheet filed by CBI in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case of 2005, Kausarbi was murdered in Arham farm and her ashes were thrown in Narmada as per direction of IPS officer D G Vanzara, one of the key accused in the case.
The chargesheet further said Vanzara was instructed to eliminate Kausarbi by Gujarat junior home minister Amit Shah, who is one of the accused in the fake encounter and is untraceable.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Kausarbis-ashes-were-thrown-into-river-CBI-chargesheet-/articleshow/6211762.cms
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No plans to quit Afghanistan, says US
By Anwar Iqbal
25 Jul, 2010
WASHINGTON: The United States has assured its allies in South Asia that it has no plans to quit the region and will stay engaged with Afghanistan as well.
The assurance followed reports in the US media that President Barack Obama’s intention to start withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan from July next year had unsettled the entire region, causing South Asian nations to prepare themselves for a post-withdrawal scenario.
“The fact is, we’re not leaving Afghanistan or the region at the end of next year,” said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley.
“Our commitment to regional security is a significant one. We are going to be engaged with countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India for a long time, because it is in our interest to do so.”
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/16-no-plans-to-quit-afghanistan,-us-assures-south-asian-allies-570-hs-07
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Iran says it has 100 vessels for each US warship
Jul 25, 2010
TEHRAN: The former naval chief for Iran's Revolutionary Guard said the country has set aside 100 military vessels to confront each warship from the US or any other foreign power that might pose a threat, an Iranian newspaper reported Saturday.
Such a military confrontation in the vital oil lanes of the Persian Gulf would be of major global concern. The warning builds on earlier threats by Iran to seal off the Gulf's strategic Strait of Hormuz -- through which 40 percent of the world's oil passes -- in response to any military attack.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Iran-says-it-has-100-vessels-for-each-US-warship/articleshow/6211563.cms
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Iran will react if ships inspected: Ahmadinejad
25 Jul, 2010
TEHRAN: Iran will react swiftly if its commercial shipping or aviation are subjected to inspection, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday.
A UN Security Council resolution on June 9 imposed restrictions on Iranian shipping and other sectors to try to persuade Tehran to curb its nuclear enrichment activities.
Under the latest sanctions, countries would have the authority to inspect cargo ships heading to or from Iran.
“You should know whoever takes a decision against the Iranian nation, such as the so-called inspection of the Iranian ships or so-and-so towards its aircraft, will immediately receive Iran’s reaction,” Ahmadinejad told a conference in a speech broadcast live on radio.
Earlier this month, the European Union banned more planes operated by Iran Air from flying into the airspace of the 27-country bloc on safety grounds.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/44-iran-will-react-if-ships-inspected-ahmadinejad-fa-05
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Malaysian kids reject polygamy
By SEAN YOONG
July 25, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – Malaysian children and first wives in polygamous families overwhelmingly oppose the practice because the men seem too stretched to devote enough time and money to them, according to the country's largest study on the effects of polygamy.
Though sanctioned by Islam, polygamy is a hot-button issue for Malaysia's Muslims, who make up nearly two-thirds of the country's 28 million people. Statements made by about 1,600 members of polygamous households to university researchers appear to bolster claims by women's rights activists, who have long said the practice undermines the well-being of wives and children.
``We do not oppose polygamy, but we believe that monogamy is preferable,'' Adibah Jodi, a representative of Sisters in Islam, a Malaysian women's advocacy group, said Thursday.
Full report at:
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/268752/kids-reject-polygamy
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Islamophobia a rapidly increasing phenomenon in America
By Liz Goodwin
July 25, 2010
Opposition to the construction of mosques has skyrocketed in cities and towns across the country, scholars and advocates of Muslim culture tell The Upshot.
Public protests against three planned mosques have made news in the past week: Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin joined others in opposing the building of a mosque a few blocks from the World Trade Center site. Hundreds demonstrated against a proposed mosque in a small town in Tennessee (pictured above). And some residents of Temecula, California, are opposing the local Muslim community's plan to build a bigger mosque, saying it could become a hotbed of radical Islam.
Full report at:
http://www.defence.pk/forums/current-events-social-issues/66975-islamophobia-rapidly-increasing-phenomenon-america.html
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Iran's Constitution converted into Tamil
25 Jul 2010
IBNA: The book, which won Iran's Book of the Year Award, was translated and published in order to introduce Islamic Republic of Iran's political system to foreign élites, scholars, politicians, policymakers and the public.
Moreover the book was converted into other languages including Turkmen, Thai, Swahili, Hausa, Amharic, Serbian, Bosnian and Bengali.
Al-hoda Int'l Publication has translated "The Constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran" into Tamil" as well. The work was released in 124 pages.
"The Constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran" has been rendered into 30 languages by Al-hoda Int'l Publication. Moreover the book was selected as the best translated work in the 27th Book of the Year Award.
Rendition of the Constitution into some 20 other languages will begin in the near future by the institute which will make the book available in 50 languages.
http://www.ibna.ir/vdce7w8f.jh8pvik1bj.html
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Muslim educational institutions should form their federation: Syed Shahabuddin
July 25, 2010
New Delhi: The President of the All India Muslim Mashawarat Syed Shahabuddin has urged Muslim educational institutions to reorganise themselves on district and state level to face risks of penalty and lockout under RTE and present their problems to the authorities. In a statement he said that Muslims face various problems in acquiring minority status for their educational institutions from their respective states or affiliation from a recognised Board or University. Though the establishment of National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions is an important step towards solving these problems, the truth is that many minority institutions are still deprived of minority status, affiliation or government aid due to political and bureaucratic obstacles. In these adverse circumstances, it is imperative for the
minority institutions to benefit from each other’s experiences and consultations.
Full report at:
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Qatar government should stop aiding Qadianism: Shahi Imam of Punjab
July 25, 2010
New Age Islam News Bureau
Ludhiana: The Shahi Imam of Punjab and President of Majlis-e-Ahrar Islam Hind, Maulana Habibur Rehaman Sani Ludhianvi came down heavily on the ambassador of Qatar in the US, Naseer Bin Hamad in a press conference here. He asked the Qatar government to stop aiding and assisting Qadianism. It should be noted that a cyclone had badly hit the coastal areas of the US, New Orleans destroying property and lives including some mosques and madrasas. Subsequently, the Emir of Qatar, Shaikh Hamd bin Khalifa Al Saani had announced an aid of $1m for the cyclone-ravaged area. The Qatari ambassador who was earlier hosted by the Qadianis granted $10.7 million from the amount to the “Humanity Trust, an organisation of the Qadianis. With this huge amount, the Qadianis are gearing up to propagate and promote Qadianism among the Muslims of the region, the Shahi Imam alleged. He expressed his deep dismay at this act of the Qatari ambassador and warned of a nationwide protest by Muslims if the Qatar government did not review its decision.
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Support for sharia law is in the minority — and declining
July 25, 2010
The army is in the barracks. The press is free. The constitution is alive. But from the way many elected leaders continue to behave, voter may well think politicians were put in office by divine intervention.
The mayor of Bekasi, eager to follow in the footsteps of the mayor of Tangerang, has now declared that he too would like to introduce sharia law. If the mayors believe they are acting in the name of the people who put them in power and enforcing the will of the electorate, then they are both wrong.
True to form, the politicians are again displaying the arrogance of ill-informed bullies who are eager to force their individual whims on a growing majority who reject narrow religious rules.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/07/25/support-sharia-law-minority-%E2%80%94-and-declining.html
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Hizb ut Tahrir is not a gateway to terrorism, claims Whitehall report
By Andrew Gilligan
25 Jul 2010
The Government has opened the way for official links with Muslim extremists after civil servants said radical groups could be a "safety valve" for those tempted by terrorism.
The groups specifically named - in documents leaked to The Sunday Telegraph - include al-Muhajiroun, which has praised 9/11 as “magnificent” and Hizb ut Tahrir, which wants to turn Britain into an Islamic dictatorship under sharia law.
In the classified papers, presented last week to Coalition ministers on the Cabinet’s home affairs committee, officials say a “clear assessment” has been made that individuals “do not progress” to violence through such groups.
Full report at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/andrew-gilligan/7908262/Hizb-ut-Tahrir-is-not-a-gateway-to-terrorism-claims-Whitehall-report.html
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Iran urged to free jailed woman
July 25, 2010
Protest organisers hope international pressure will led Iran's government to free Mohammadi Ashtiani
Rallies are being held in London and around the world to support Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman sentenced to death in Iran for adultery.
Hundreds of people took to the streets of Paris, New York, Berlin, Ottawa and other cities on Saturday to show solidarity with the woman who has been incarcerated in Iran since 2005 and faces execution.
"We do want to save her life," Maryam Namazie, a protest organiser in London, told Al Jazeera.
Full report at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/07/201072417330239647.html
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IS MALAYSIA A SHARIAH COMPLIANT ISLAMIC SOCIETY
July 25, 2010
Yes, we need the Cordoba House complex to set an example for the rest of America and for the world, and so the fear and hate mongers don’t win. It is necessary to show the world that Americans are neither trembling in their boots nor willing to compromise the dignity and rights of American Muslims because of the actions of few dubious “Muslims” around the world.
The Cordoba name harkens back to Muslim dominated Spain — a time and place when Jews, Christians, Muslims lived in relative harmony with each other. This was also a time when Jewish intellectuals spoke and wrote in Arabic, and an Aquinas, an Averroes, and a Maimonidies all drew from a common well of rediscovered Greek knowledge that eventually fed the European Renaissance. The spirit of Cordoba is an ideal of interreligious harmony that Feisal Rauf and Daisy Khan are seeking to recreate to counter a false, ideological Islam that has dangerously stamped and degraded a great monotheistic religious tradition. In the late 19th century admiring Jewish scholars, such as Abraham Geiger and Ignaz Goldziher, venerated and validated Islam as a sister faith.* Goldziher called Islam a pure monotheism towards which other religions should strive, and, more than any other scholar, made Islam a respectable subject of study in European universities where previously it languished in the departments of heresies and Hebrew studies. Again, Jews are emerging as defenders of Islam. Let’s start in Manhattan.
Full report at:
http://maztulis.wordpress.com/2010/07/25/is-malaysia-a-shariah-compliant-islamic-society/
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Love jihad cases: Mahila Morcha for NIA probe
July 25, 2010
THIRUVANATHAPURAM: Bharatiya Janata Mahila Morcha state president Sobha Surendran has urged the authorities to order a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the ‘love jihad’ cases.
She told a news conference here on Saturday that over the past five years, around 5,000 girls had gone missing in the State. Many of them were recruited by terrorist outfits sponsored by the ISI and sent to Pakistan. But the Home Department told the High Court in an affidavit that no such activities were noticed in the State, she said.
Full report at:
http://expressbuzz.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/love-jihad-cases-mahila-morcha-for-nia-probe/192716.html
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Terms of Kashmir dialogue finalised
Jul 25, 2010
JAMMU: The Indian government has finalised the terms of dialogue that it intends to open with all the groups in Jammu and Kashmir, including the separatists, highly placed sources said on Saturday.
The sources here, in touch with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and union home minister P Chidambaram, told IANS that the central government would open dialogue with the groups in Kashmir with a straight offer to dilute the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, the legal cover that shields armed forces from prosecution for any acts of omission and commission in counter-terrorism operations.
It is one of the recommendations of the working group constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2006.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Terms-of-Kashmir-dialogue-finalised/articleshow/6211574.cms
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2 American soldiers kidnapped by Taliban in Afghanistan
Jul 25, 2010
NEW YORK: Two US soldiers were kidnapped by Taliban militants in Afghanistan's southern Logar province, hours after five American troops were killed in bomb blasts in the southern part of the war-torn country.
The abducted soldiers left their compound yesterday "and did not return", a statement from NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said, amid reports one of them may already be dead.
Earlier, five American soldiers were killed in the southern part of the country where fighting has been intensified.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/2-American-soldiers-kidnapped-by-Taliban-in-Afghanistan/articleshow/6212322.cms
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America already is an Islamic society
By John Kiser
Jul 25, 2010
Yes, we need the Cordoba House complex to set an example for the rest of America and for the world, and so the fear and hate mongers don't win. It is necessary to show the world that Americans are neither trembling in their boots nor willing to compromise the dignity and rights of American Muslims because of the actions of few dubious "Muslims" around the world.
The Cordoba name harkens back to Muslim dominated Spain -- a time and place when Jews, Christians, Muslims lived in relative harmony with each other. This was also a time when Jewish intellectuals spoke and wrote in Arabic, and an Aquinas, an Averroes, and a Maimonidies all drew from a common well of rediscovered Greek knowledge that eventually fed the European Renaissance. The spirit of Cordoba is an ideal of interreligious harmony that Feisal Rauf and Daisy Khan are seeking to recreate to counter a false, ideological Islam that has dangerously stamped and degraded a great monotheistic religious tradition. In the late 19th century admiring Jewish scholars, such as Abraham Geiger and Ignaz Goldziher, venerated and validated Islam as a sister faith.* Goldziher called Islam a pure monotheism towards which other religions should strive, and, more than any other scholar, made Islam a respectable subject of study in European universities where previously it languished in the departments of heresies and Hebrew studies. Again, Jews are emerging as defenders of Islam. Let's start in Manhattan.
Full report at:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/07/america_already_is_an_islamic_society.html
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Kabul to top agenda on Nirupama's Russia trip
Sachin Parashar
Jul 25, 2010
NEW DELHI: Close on the heels of the security meet in Kabul, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao will travel next week to Moscow where she will engage the Russians over the issue of political settlement in Afghanistan.
The visit will be yet another initiative in recently intensified attempts by India to garner support from like-minded nations to prevent the Taliban from coming back to power.
Highly placed government sources said on Wednesday that India and Russia were on the same page in the sense that both believe there can't be good Taliban and that the visit by Rao will explore further the extent to which the two countries can cooperate in dealing with the emerging situation in Kabul.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Kabul-to-top-agenda-on-Nirupamas-Russia-trip/articleshow/6212491.cms
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We're goading Pak to rein in LeT, says top US gen
Jul 25, 2010
NEW DELHI: US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen has assured India that Washington was "bringing an extraordinary amount of pressure" on Pakistan to rein in terrorists groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and 26/11 plotter Hafiz Saeed.
"I want to assure you that it's an issue that I don't pay lip service to at all," he told Times Now. The entire administration was committed to the issue.
Admiral Mullen said the US was also focusing on other terrorist organisations operating inside Pakistan. But he underlined that it was a very difficult problem. "There isn't an easy solution associated with this," he said, and added that he had seen the Pakistani leadership recognise it and take significant steps over the last couple of years to address it.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Were-goading-Pak-to-rein-in-LeT-says-top-US-gen/articleshow/6212455.cms
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We hope to get something from Pak on 26/11: Chidambaram
Jul 25, 2010
NEW DELHI: India on Saturday said it was hopeful of getting "something" from Pakistan on the information provided to it last month on 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and was willing to give it some time in this regard.
"We hope to get something from Pakistan. Let's give them some time. It has been only a month since we have had formal contact," Union home minister P Chidambaram told reporters here when asked about India's expectation from Pakistan with regard to the dossiers given to Islamabad to act against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack.
He said: "I travelled there exactly four weeks back. Let us keep our fingers crossed."
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/We-hope-to-get-something-from-Pak-on-26/11-Chidambaram/articleshow/6211769.cms
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Iran to build nucleur-fusion reactor
Jul 25, 2010
TEHRAN: Iran said on Saturday it planned to build an experimental nuclear fusion reactor, state television reported, at a time when the west is demanding that Tehran suspend sensitive nuclear work.
In 2006, Iran said it was pressing ahead with research tests on nuclear fusion, a type of atomic reaction which has yet to be developed for commercial power generation, but this was the first mention in years that the work was continuing.
"We need two years to complete the studies on constructing and then another 10 years to design and build the reactor," Asqar Sediqzadeh, head of Iran's Nuclear Fusion Research Center, said.
The US suspects Iran is trying to build an atomic bomb, and have imposed curbs on it in a drive to convince it to drop sensitive nuclear work.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Iran-to-build-nucleur-fusion-reactor/articleshow/6212075.cms
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LeT has expanded its operation to Afghan, West: Mullen
Jul 25, 2010
ISLAMABAD: LeT, blamed for the Mumbai attacks, has expanded its operations to Afghanistan and the West and has become more active throughout the region, which calls for concerted action against the outlawed group, America's top military official said on Saturday night.
"I've watched LeT (grow) since the end of 2008, move to the West, become more active in other countries, more active throughout the region, more engaged with other terrorist groups," Mullen, who arrived in Pakistan today to meet with the leadership and military officials, said during an interaction with a group of journalists here.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/LeT-has-expanded-its-operation-to-Afghan-West-Mullen/articleshow/6211772.cms
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Palestinian President Abbas says entire world wants direct Mideast talks
Jul 25, 2010
RAMALLAH, WEST BANK: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that despite intense international pressure from the "entire world", he is still not willing to start direct negotiations with Israel.
Abbas told the Voice of Palestine radio that talks would be doomed without a clear framework.
The Palestinians are wary of entering open-ended negotiations with Israel's hardline prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. They want Israel to first accept the principle of a Palestinian state in the lands it captured in the 1967 Mideast War, with some alterations.
Netanyahu has endorsed the creation of a Palestinian state but refuses to be pinned down on the details before direct talks begin. Since May, US Mideast envoy George Mitchell has shuttling between Abbas and Netanyahu to try to narrow the gaps, so far in vain.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Palestinian-President-Abbas-says-entire-world-wants-direct-Mideast-talks/articleshow/6214896.cms
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Kim regime hurting Middle East stability: Israel tells UN
Jul 25, 2010
UNITED NATIONS: Israel has told the UN Security Council's North Korea sanctions panel that missile proliferation by Pyongyang is destabilizing the Middle East and urged countries to step up efforts to stop it.
"Israel would like to express its concern regarding the proliferation of ballistic missiles from (N Korea), and to encourage the international community to strengthen its efforts in response to these dangers," Israel's UN mission said in a letter.
Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said in May that a shipment of North Korean weapons seized last December was headed for Hamas and Hezbollah.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Kim-regime-hurting-Middle-Eaststability-Israel-tells-UN/articleshow/6212009.cms
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War in Afghanistan challenges air traffic controllers
Jul 25, 2010
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD (Afghanistan): A Predator drone takes off into the harsh sunlight against a backdrop of dusty mountains on the outskirts of Kandahar city in southern Afghanistan.
Drones are just one of the 60 types of aircraft that Alex Marsha has to deal with as air traffic manager at Kandahar Airfield, overseeing what must be the most diverse air traffic control operation in the world.
"The biggest challenge obviously is operating in a combat zone, we're handling a vast number of military and civilian aircraft here," he told, looking out from the new control tower which went into operation just days earlier, replacing the old makeshift tower perched on top of a couple of shipping containers.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/War-in-Afghanistan-challenges-air-traffic-controllers/articleshow/6213070.cms
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Iran arrests suspected mosque bombing accomplices
Jul 25, 2010
TEHRAN: Iran said on Saturday that it has arrested suspected accomplices of two suicide bombers who attacked a Shiite mosque in the restive southeast earlier this month killing at least 28 people.
"Some of those who helped the suicide bombers behind the Zahedan crime have been identified and some have been arrested," state news agency IRNA quoted deputy interior minister Ali Abdollahi as saying.
He did not specify how many were in custody.
"It is evident to us that the people who carried out the terrorist attack in Zahedan's Jamia mosque were linked to the Rigi group," Abdollahi said, referring to the Sunni militant group Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Iran-arrests-suspected-mosque-bombing-accomplices-/articleshow/6210584.cms
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'Impossible to continue talks if Kashmir not given importance'
Jul 25 2010
Lahore : Pakistan has said it will be impossible for it to continue the dialogue with India if New Delhi does not pay importance to the Kashmir issue.
India must include the Kashmir issue in talks with Pakistan in order to take forward parleys between the two countries, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said.
"It will be impossible for Pakistan to continue the dialogue if India does not pay importance to the Kashmir issue," Qureshi told reporters at the airport in Lahore on Saturday after returning from a trip abroad.
His remarks came more than a week after his July 15 meeting with his Indian counterpart S M Krishna in Islamabad
during which sharp differences arose between the two sides on the timeframe and roadmap for future talks.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/impossible-to-continue-talks-if-kashmir-not-given-importance/651443/
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Mumbai blasts: SC to fix date for final hearings
Jul 25 2010
New Delhi : The Supreme Court will fix on Monday the date for commencing final hearings in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case in which 100 people were so far convicted by the Special TADA court.
Among the convicts was Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, who was held guilty and sentenced to six years in jail under the Arms Act but was exonerated for terror offences under the stringent TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act). The CBI, which has prosecuted the case for around 14 years involving 123 accused, preferred not to appeal against the special court verdict, acquitting 50-year-old Dutt under TADA.
Around 100 petitions, both by the accused and the CBI, are listed for hearing before a bench comprising Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan.
The blasts had killed 257 people and left over 700 injured on the country's commercial capital.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mumbai-blasts-sc-to-fix-date-for-final-hearings/651383/
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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa minister’s son shot dead
By Waseem Ahmad Shah
25 Jul, 2010
PESHAWAR: The only son of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain was gunned down and his friend injured in their ancestral town of Pabbi, Nowshera district, on Saturday evening.
Mian Rashid Hussain, 27, and his friend Mian Amjid Hussain, were taking a walk in Khan Sher Garhi along the Grand Trunk Road when the attackers sprayed them with bullets, according to witnesses.
It was not clear as to who was behind the assassination, but the immediate suspicion fell on militants, especially Taliban.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/06-unidentified-gunmen-kill-kp-info-ministers-son-rs-01
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Iraq arrests three suspected Qaeda leaders
25 Jul, 2010
BAGHDAD: Authorities have arrested three suspected senior leaders of Al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq, including its self-styled minister of defence, a spokesman said on Sunday.
Also among the group detained were two brothers suspected of masterminding major attacks in the central Iraqi province of Diyala, defence ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari told AFP.
“Iraqi soldiers arrested Saleem Khalid al-Zawbayi, the minister of defence for the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI),” Askari said.
“He was arrested on Wednesday evening south of Baghdad,” he added.
Full report at: Dawn News
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Grand Mosque authorities ready Ramadan plan
By MUHAMMAD HUMAIDAN
July 25, 2010
JEDDAH: More than 5,700 employees will serve the pilgrims to the Grand Mosque in Makkah this Ramadan, according to the authority that governs the Haram.
Deputy Chairman of the Presidency of the Holy Mosques Affairs Nasser bin Muhammad Al-Khuzaim told Arab News that there will be more scholars this year to give religious advice and answer queries from pilgrims.
“The presidency has approved its Ramadan plan, which begins at the end of Shaaban and continues up to mid Shawwal. The plan is aimed at providing serenity and tranquility for worshippers to perform their rituals,” he said.
Final touches are being put on the Grand Mosque expansion project initiated by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, said Al-Khuzaim.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article89656.ece
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Germany offers asylum to 50 Iranian dissidents
By ANESSA GERA
July 25, 2010
BERLIN: The German government says it is offering asylum to 50 Iranian dissidents who took part in the massive street protests that erupted after elections there last year.
A spokesman for Germany's Interior Ministry said 12 of the 50 Iranians have already arrived in Germany and one more is expected in the coming week.
He said the others are mostly in Turkey waiting for Germany to finish examining their cases.
The Interior Ministry spokesman spoke on a customary condition of anonymity required by many German officials.
Germany had originally planned to take in up to 20 Iranians but raised the number to 50 after a group of Iranians already living in exile in Germany and the rights group Reporters Without Borders complained it wasn't doing enough.
http://arabnews.com/world/article89572.ece
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Turks protest Israeli volleyball team
July 25, 2010
ANKARA, Turkey: Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters scuffled with police Saturday near a hall where an Israeli volleyball team played in a game closed to the public because of security concerns.
A relatively tolerant approach to the protests by authorities reflected Turkey's efforts to calibrate public outrage over the May 31 deaths of nine activists aboard a Turkish ship in an aid flotilla bound for Gaza — even as it maintains ties with Israel, which has been a chief supplier of military aid.
"Don't be dogs of Zionism. God will hold you to account," some demonstrators snarled at police in helmets who pushed them back with shields of reinforced plastic.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article89592.ece
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Fatah, Hamas welcome aid flotilla probe
July 25, 2010
RAMALLAH: The Fatah and Hamas movements on Saturday welcomed a decision by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate the circumstances of the calamitous Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May.
Fatah said in a press statement that “it’s time to punish Israel’s war crimes and make Israel stop behaving as if it were above the law.”
It called on international community to pressure Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza Strip.
Israel imposed a siege on Gaza when Hamas routed pro-Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas forces and ousted Fatah in deadly clashes in June 2007. Israeli restrictions also were imposed on all banks operating in the coastal enclave, mainly money transfers, which causes severe losses to them.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article89546.ece
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Turkish PM proposes amending sensitive army law
By SEYHMUS CAKAN
July 25, 2010
BINGOL, Turkey: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, keen to muster support for his reform package ahead of a September referendum, said on Saturday he might amend an army law criticized by the opposition as authoritarian.
The opposition stepped up pressure on Erdogan this week to annul the law which critics say effectively paves the way for the army to intervene in domestic affairs and carry out coups.
Addressing a rally in the southeastern town of Bingol, Erdogan proposed setting up a commission to consider abolishing the law, even though it is not part of his referendum package.
"If necessary we can take it on to the agenda at the start of the new legislative year," he said. "We can make a new revision of Article 35."
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article89596.ece
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Will jihad jump the shark?
July 25, 2010
We’ve seen a rash of homegrown Islamist terrorists in recent years, and there has been a lot of agonizing about why. One explanation that I haven’t seen elsewhere still strikes me as plausible: The attraction that adolescents and the disaffected feel toward groups that their parents and teachers fear. If you’re feeling marginalized, after all, why not choose the margin? And while you’re at it, why not choose a marginalized group that inspires fear and unease on the part of mainstream society? At least then you’ll get a kind of respect.
In the past fifty years, adolescents have joined a host of marginalized groups their parents found dangerous – juvenile delinquents, mods and rockers, punks, skinheads, and Goths. So why not jihadis? Islamist terror certainly scares authority figures; why wouldn’t Western adolescents and misfits be attracted to violent Islamism -- at least as a symbolic stance?
Full report at:
http://www.skatingonstilts.com/skating-on-stilts/2010/07/will-jihad-jump-the-shark.html
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Terror suspect took his desire to belong to the extreme
By Tara Bahrampour
July 25, 2010
Long before 20-year-old Zachary Adam Chesser embraced the cause of jihad, he was passionate about the heavy metal music of Marilyn Manson, the anime culture of Japan and the kinetic energy of American break dancing.
Chesser spent his years at Oakton High School trying out a variety of identities, friends said, before transforming himself into the bearded, robed young man who was arrested by the FBI last week for allegedly trying to join an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group in Somalia.
"Zac" to his high school friends, "Abu Talhah Al-Amreeki" to those he met after converting to Islam, he seems to have spent his adolescence looking for a place to belong.
Full report at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/24/AR2010072402497.html
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Al Hind and Islam
July 25, 2010
The Pew report "Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population," concluded that the world wide Muslim population was 1.6 billion and that the majority of Muslims today reside beyond the birth place of Islam. It is estimated that over 30% of Muslims - the largest - reside in Hind, which comprised of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Contact between the Muslims from Baghdad - the Abbasid Khilafah [800-1300 CE] - took place before the expedition of Muhammed bin Qasim, which has come to be seen as a seminary period in the region’s history books. The Arabs used to visit the coast of Southern India, which then provided the link between the ports of South and South East Asia. After the Arab traders became Muslim, they brought Islam to South Asia. A number of local Indians living in the coastal areas embraced Islam through contact with the Muslim traders.
Full report at:
http://khilafah.com/index.php/concepts/islamic-culture/9921-al-hind-and-islam
9:53 PM
Sultan Shahin
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