Bangladesh bans mandatory veils
Pakistan: Christian community protests against takeover of UCH land2 Sikhs in Afghan poll fray, want to be first elected non-Muslims
Unmarried couples evicted in Malaysia
HRCP condemns denial of relief to Ahmedis
Riyadh: Hindu diplomat's speech on fasting leaves audience spellbound
Second blast kills 8 in Pakistan's tribal area
2 NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Troops kill five Taliban in S Afghanistan
12 Taliban militants killed in E Afghanistan
Blast injures 7 troops in Pakistan's tribal area
Iraq war vet kills pregnant wife, daughter, self
Our struggle not Islamist, says Mirwaiz
4 US troops killed in Afghan fighting
Three militants killed in Buner clash
NATO launches relief operation in flood-hit Pakistan
Development of Saudi society amazing, says US diplomat
60% Americans oppose Afghan war, reveals poll
Bangladesh: 3 sued for inciting people to jihad
Somalia rebels looking increasingly like Taleban
TV Show Irks Muslim Brotherhood
Iran suspends judiciary officials over prison deaths
Pakistan: Punjab Police committing acts of barbarism without restraint
Iran offers friendship to US
Iran working against Iraqi democracy: US general
JuD pitches in with flood aid from Pak Brits
Madani propels Advani to recall Coimbatore serial blasts
Prof attack: Terror charge likely against accused
JuD claims to have received donations from British-Muslims
Taliban momentum reversed in Afghanistan, says Petraeus
No formal peace process with Taliban: Karzai
Iraq will be ready for US pullout in 2011: Odierno
MQM to support generals against corrupt politicians, says Altaf
Intended Hajj pilgrims not ready to withdraw despite massive floods
Seven Al Qaeda militants killed in Yemen
Scholar launches scathing attack on ‘modernists’
Police, protesters clash over power cuts in Iraq
Iran's trade with West soaring despite curbs
Ahmadinejad rules out US, Israeli attack on Iran
US solider killed in rocket attack in Iraq
Next US target: The birthplace of the Taliban
All-women Gaza aid ship delayed
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
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Bangladesh bans mandatory veils
Aug 23 2010
DHAKA—Bangladesh’s high court has ordered places of work and education in the Muslim country not to force employees and students to wear skull caps, veils and other religious clothing, a lawyer said Sunday.
The ruling follows a report in mass-circulated Bengali daily Kaler Kantha that a principal at a state-run college in northern Bangladesh has forced students to wear veils.
“The high court judges passed the order directing that wearing religious attire should be the personal choice of the students or the employees. No one can be forced to wear them,” barrister Mahbub Shafique said.
“Besides, we have noticed that some schools force children as young as five years old to wear veils and skull caps. Following the court order, no schools can now force this attire on their students,” he said.
In April the high court ordered educational institutions not to force veils or head scarves on female employees.
The order followed a complaint lodged by a headmistress who said she was verbally assaulted by a government official for not covering her hair during a staff meeting.
http://dailymailnews.com/0810/23/FrontPage/index.php?id=10
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Christian community protests against takeover of UCH land
Aug 23 2010
LAHORE: Members of the Christian community on Sunday blocked the road in front of the United Christian Hospital (UCH) and protested against the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and Traffic Planning and Engineering Agency (TEPA).
Protesters claimed they were members of the UCH Survival Movement and were protesting against the LDA and TEPA as these authorities were trying to occupy UCH’s land in order to construct a parking plaza. They said that the government authorities had assured them they would give the 30-kanal piece of land in Gulberg to the Christian community but had not fulfilled their promise. A number of female protesters were also present on the occasion.
The Christian activists shouted slogans and held up posters for their demands. They alleged that some people from the Christian community were also bargaining with the government to sell the land belonging to the UCH.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\23\story_23-8-2010_pg7_4
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2 Sikhs in Afghan poll fray, want to be first elected non-Muslims
Aashish Jethra
Aug 23 2010
Kabul : Election campaign posters plaster Kabul’s traffic circles these days but one face stands out. Of a Sikh. But he is not the only Sikh candidate in the fray — there is another, a woman.
Pritpal Singh Pal and Anarkali Kaur Honaryar are running for positions in Afghanistan’s Wolesi Jirga, the 250-seat lower house of parliament, elections for which are scheduled on September 18.
If they win, they will become the first democratically elected non-Muslim parliamentarians in the country — Afghan Hindus and Sikhs have held parliamentary positions before through nomination.
Both are Independent candidates from the Kabul province and are up against Mohammad Mohaqiq and Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, former Mujahideen commanders who are now established politicians.
“I want to serve people regardless of religion. I’m an Afghan,” says 44-year-old Pal, a native of the Pashtun-majority province of Paktia where his parents were also born.
Pal runs an ayurvedic medicine shop established by his father who moved from Paktia to Kabul. Frustrated with the current Afghan government, he says: “I’m running for parliament for the service of all of Afghanistan.”
Of the estimated 3,000 Hindus and Sikhs living here, the majority have had generations living in Afghanistan as far back as they can remember. So most identify themselves as Afghans.
Pal says it is a common misconception that all Afghan Sikhs and Hindus are Punjabis who moved to Afghanistan from India years ago. In fact, many members of this community consider themselves to be the original Afghans who never converted to Islam. And this sense of rootedness only gives their pursuit of governmental representation in Afghanistan more zeal.
Honaryar, 26, was born in Kabul. Her father Kishan Singh is an engineer who moved to Kabul from Khost province. Honaryar’s mother, also a native Afghan, was born in Paktia province.
“I’ve travelled to many countries, including India,” she says at her campaign office in the Karte Parwan area of Kabul. “But I want to serve my own country and countrymen. I love Afghanistan.”
Honaryar trained as a dentist, but became politically active at the age of 19 when she participated in the Loya Jirga — or public assembly — and realised the number of issues facing Afghanistan. She then joined the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission to work for women’s rights. In May, she decided to run for parliament.
Pal and Honaryar consider themselves truly Afghan but they are aware that as a minority group, the Sikhs suffer from problems such as “discrimination” in education, lack of representation, harassment to convert and, in particular, the struggle for cremation grounds.
Before civil war broke out in 1991, the Sikh and Hindu community in Afghanistan numbered 50,000 upward and held a large portion of Afghanistan’s business capital. Since then, their population and wealth have dwindled. They have had hard times, even after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.
Over time, these events have reinforced this community’s relationship with India. For example, while Pal chooses to remain in Afghanistan, his wife and three children live in New Delhi.
“I enjoyed my visit to India,” says Honaryar. “India is a country which is helping Afghanistan politically and economically. And the two have so many cultural similarities and a shared heritage.”
Pal and Honaryar hope that they can serve as a bridge between their disenfranchised community and the government.
The odds against Pal winning the election are high as he is new to politics. However, he says he has many supporters.
“They are also our countrymen,” says Mohammed Ali, a 42-year-old pastry shop owner in central Kabul, of the Sikh and Hindu community. “May be they can serve us better than other Afghans.”
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/2-sikhs-in-afghan-poll-fray-want-to-be-first-elec.../663777/
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Unmarried couples evicted in Malaysia
Aug 23 2010
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian authorities have been evicting unmarried civil servants from government-owned housing if they are caught with their partners alone in a private place, a news report said Sunday.
Several people have been evicted from their homes in government quarters under a campaign launched early this year to rid the country's administrative capital Putrajaya of activities deemed immoral under Malaysian Islamic laws, the New Straits Times reported. Che Mat Che Ali, director of the Federal Territory Islamic Affairs Department, said the measure was introduced under the campaign "Toward Zero Immoral Activities in Putrajaya 2010." "It may seem harsh but we want the people of Putrajaya to know that we take this matter seriously,» he was quoted as saying. He said those caught by the morality police were hauled up in court and then asked to move out. Che Mat or other department officials could not immediately be reached.
http://arabnews.com/world/article110109.ece
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HRCP condemns denial of relief to Ahmedis
Aug 23, 2010
The HRCP is shocked by reports that government officials and local clerics have refused to provide shelter to around 500 flood-affected Ahmedi families from Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh and Rajanpur districts
Lahore, August 20: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed serious concern over the murder of two Ahmedis in the last three days and over reports of denial of shelter to members of the Ahmedi community displaced by massive floods in South Punjab, and has called upon the government to take urgent measures to ensure there is no discrimination on the basis of belief and that assistance and protection are not denied to a community that faces specific threats.
Full report at:
http://www.hrcp-web.org/showprel.asp?id=158
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Diplomat's speech on fasting leaves audience spellbound
Aug 23 2010
RIYADH: A non-Muslim diplomat praised Islam and extolled the role of millions of fellow Indians of Islamic faith during an iftar party hosted by India's Jamia Millia Islamia Alumni Association, Riyadh chapter (JMIAA), and said that Islam is the only religion in the world that offers "30 days of fasting for introspection."
R.N. Vats, second secretary at Indian Embassy, said Islam is a universal religion for "inspiring countless individuals" to lead lives of honesty, integrity and morality.
Vats also called on his countrymen "to donate money to the needy section of society as per the provisions of zakat in Islam." To the applause from an audience of about 200 men, women and children, Vats said that he was committed to build a better relationship between different faiths and communities.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article110254.ece
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Second blast kills 8 in Pakistan's tribal area
Aug 23 2010
At least eight people were killed and several injured on Monday as a bomb blast took place in Khomta,a central town in northwest Pakistan's Kurram tribal agency, reported local TV channels.
The reports said the remote-controlled explosion was detonated when a tribal meeting was being held to resolve dispute over primary school issue.
One hour earlier in adjoining Khyber tribal agency, a minor blast injured seven security troops near a mosque in Bara.
Since July, the security situation in Pakistan has rather improved despite of some sporadic incidents, at a time when the government and the army are going all out for the relief and rescue efforts for millions of flooded Pakistanis
http://en.ce.cn/World/Asia-Pacific/201008/23/t20100823_21749600.shtml
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2 NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Aug 23 2010
Two soldiers of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed in Afghanistan on Monday in the relatively peaceful northern and restive southern regions, the military alliance said in a press release issued on Monday.
"An International Security Assistance Force service member died following an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in northern Afghanistan today," the statement added.
It also said that the second ill-fated trooper was killed in similar bomb blast in Afghanistan's volatile south, the stronghold of Taliban militants.
However, the press release did not disclose the nationalities of the dead troopers, saying it is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities.
Full report at:
http://en.ce.cn/World/Asia-Pacific/201008/23/t20100823_21749581.shtml
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Troops kill five Taliban in S Afghanistan
Aug 23 2010
Gun battle and militancy elsewhere in Taliban hotbed southern region of Afghanistan left five Taliban insurgents dead including their commander, while unknown armed men shot dead a senior police on Sunday, officials said.
"Afghan and NATO-led troops attacked Taliban hideout in Shah Joi district, Zabul province in the wee hours of today, killing five rebels including their commander Mullah Sangaryar," spokesman for provincial administration Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar told Xinhua.
He also asserted that Mullah Sangaryar was an important Taliban leader in Zabul province. However, the outfit has yet to make comment.
Full report at:
http://en.ce.cn/World/Asia-Pacific/201008/23/t20100823_21749156.shtml
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12 Taliban militants killed in E Afghanistan
Aug 23 2010
NATO-led troops killed a dozen Taliban insurgents in Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan, according to a Nato statement on Sunday.
The operation in Pachir-o-Hagam district on Saturday afternoon eliminated 12 insurgents, the statement said.
Meanwhile, Nangarhar provincial government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai confirmed there was no civilian casualty in the operation.
http://en.ce.cn/World/Asia-Pacific/201008/23/t20100823_21749123.shtml
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Blast injures 7 troops in Pakistan's tribal area
Aug 23 2010
At least seven security personnel were injured Monday as an explosion took place near a mosque in Bara, a main town in northwest Pakistan's Khyber tribal agency, reported local TV channels.
According to the reports, a brief shootout was also heard near the mosque after the minor blast occurred. The security forces have cordoned off the area and started a search operation.
Since July, the security situation in Pakistan has rather improved despite of some sporadic incidents, at a time when the government and the army are going all out for the relief and rescue efforts for millions of flooded Pakistanis.
http://en.ce.cn/World/Asia-Pacific/201008/23/t20100823_21749294.shtml
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Iraq war vet kills pregnant wife, daughter, self
Aug 23 2010
In this 2007 photo provided by the Superior Telegram, Pfc. Matthew Magdzas listens to family members outside of the National Guard Armory in Superior, Wis. [Agencies]
April Oles-Magdzas was due to give birth to her second daughter Wednesday, a little more than a year after she and her Iraq war veteran husband became new parents.
But when Oles-Magdzas' mother showed up that day at the couple's home in Superior, she found the entire family dead of an apparent murder-suicide.
Superior police said Thursday that Matthew Magdzas, a 23-year-old Wisconsin National Guard soldier who earned a combat badge in the Iraq war, shot and killed his pregnant wife, their 13-month-old daughter Lila, and their three dogs before turning the gun on himself.
Full report at:
http://en.ce.cn/World/Americas/201008/20/t20100820_21740642.shtml
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Our struggle not Islamist, says Mirwaiz
Aug 23 2010
Srinagar : Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Saturday lashed out at the forces “bent on branding the struggle in Kashmir as Islamist”. The letters urging Sikhs to embrace Islam, he said, was a part of this gameplan.
“We think the indigenous nature of the ongoing uprising has unnerved some forces to start conspiring against the movement,” Mirwaiz told The Sunday Express. “Otherwise how can a few anonymous letters delivered to a few Sikh households be treated as the voice of the Valley’s majority population.”
He alleged the letters were the handiwork of intelligence agencies. “This is part of the deliberate strategy to float the letters and blow the news story about them in a section of media,” Mirwaiz said, adding that when it came to reporting on the ongoing unrest, media was generally not so enthusiastic. “This place has lost 60 people in two months and there is no sense of outrage”.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/our-struggle-not-islamist-says-mirwaiz/663459/
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4 US troops killed in Afghan fighting
Aug 23 2010
KABUL (Afghanistan)— Four U.S. troops were killed in fighting in eastern and southern Afghanistan on Sunday, and a former guerrilla leader who battled Soviet invaders decades ago was killed by a roadside bomb in the country’s north.
Three of the U.S. casualties died in insurgent attacks and one was killed by a homemade bomb, NATO said.
The deaths bring the number of international forces killed in Afghanistan this month to 42, including 28 Americans, according to a count by The Associated Press. Sixty-six American troops were killed in July, making it the deadliest month for U.S. forces in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion.
Full report at:
http://dailymailnews.com/0810/23/FrontPage/index.php?id=12
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Three militants killed in Buner clash
Aug 23 2010
BUNER, Aug 22: Three militants, including a commander, were killed during a clash with security forces in Rajgali Kandaw area of Buner district in the small hours of Sunday.
Sources said that police and security forces got information that some militants would use the Rajgali Kandaw route to sneak into Gokand valley from Elum Ghar.
Security forces enhanced vigilance and spotted the militants at Sehri time. The militants were asked to surrender but they opened indiscriminate firing on security forces. Sources said that three militants were killed in retaliatory action.
They were identified as militant commander Naseeb Zada, a resident of Narbatwal area, and his two accomplices Wazir and Gul Nazar of Dokada area.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/three-militants-killed-in-buner-clash-380
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NATO launches relief operation in flood-hit Pakistan
Aug 23 2010
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has started airlift and sealift for the delivery of aid donated by nations and humanitarian relief organizations for the Pakistan's flood-hit people, the NATO said on Sunday.
The first NATO cargo aircraft carrying relief goods for survivors of the devastating floods in Pakistan arrived at the Chaklala Airbase near the capital city of Islamabad.
In response to a request by the government of Pakistan, the NATO had on Friday decided to provide airlift and sealift for the delivery of aid to Pakistan floods survivors.
The flight departed from Geilenkirchen Airbase in Germany to Islamabad with goods including power generators, water pumps and tents.
Full report at:
http://en.ce.cn/World/Asia-Pacific/201008/23/t20100823_21749221.shtml
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Development of Saudi society amazing, says US diplomat
Aug 23 2010
JEDDAH: “Interacting and communicating more with Saudis is one of my primary duties here,” said Thomas Duffy, the consul general and principal officer at the United States Consulate General in Jeddah. Development of Saudi society amazing, says US diplomat
Duffy, who assumed duties on the June 29, will also be overseeing the return to normal levels the visa issuances from Jeddah.
Making these statements at an arranged round table press conference at the US Consulate General, Duffy said, “I’m very happy to be back in Saudi Arabia after serving in Riyadh 15 years ago.”
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article110239.ece
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60% Americans oppose Afghan war, reveals poll
Aug 23 2010
LAWRENCE—A majority of Americans see no end in sight in Afghanistan, and nearly six in 10 oppose the nine-year-old war as President Barack Obama sends tens of thousands more troops to the fight, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll.
With just over 10 weeks before nationwide elections that could define the remainder of Obama's first term, only 38 percent say they support his expanded war effort in Afghanistan - a drop from 46 percent in March. Just 19 percent expect the situation to improve during the next year, while 29 percent think it will get worse. Some 49 percent think it will remain the same.
The numbers could be ominous for the president and his Democratic Party, already feeling the heat for high unemployment, a slow economic recovery and a $1.3 trillion federal deficit. Strong dissent - 58 percent oppose the war - could depress Democratic turnout when the party desperately needs to energize its supporters for midterm congressional elections.
Full report at:
http://dailymailnews.com/0810/23/FrontPage/index.php?id=13
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3 sued for inciting people to jihad
Aug 23 2010
Three people, including the principal and a teacher of Satkhira Law College, were sued yesterday on charge of distributing leaflets in the town on Saturday night, urging people to join 'jihad' against those who reject Islamic rule in the country.
The accused are Satkhira Law College Principal Rabiul Islam Khan, teacher advocate Sheikh Alamgir. Hossain, and Chitra Press owner Yunus Ali. MA Ahmed, son of Kamor Uddin of Palashpool area of Satkhira town filed the case with Sadar Police Station.
Of the accused, police arrested advocate Sheikh Alamgir. Hossain and Yunus Ali while Rabiul Islam Khan is still at large.
Local people challenged Satkhira Law College Principal Rabiul Islam Khan and teacher advocate Sheikh Alamgir while they were distributing leaflets in puccapool area of the town at around 10:30pm on Saturday.
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=151920
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Somalia rebels looking increasingly like Taleban
Aug 23 2010
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Men are forced to grow beards. Women can’t leave home without a male relative. Music, movies and watching sports on TV are banned. Limbs are chopped off as punishment, and executions by stoning have become a public spectacle.
Somalia is looking more and more like Afghanistan under the Taleban — two rugged countries 2,000 miles apart, each lacking a central government, each with a hard-line Islamist militia that cows the public into submission.
Al-Shabab in Somalia and the Taleban in Afghanistan — their tactics increasingly mirror each other. Those tactics worked for the Taleban until the US invasion overthrew it in 2001, and now they are making a comeback. Meanwhile, Al Shabab has gained control over large swaths of this arid Horn of Africa country.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2010/August/international_August1171.xml§ion=international&col=
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TV Show Irks Muslim Brotherhood
Aug 23rd, 2010
Aug. 22: A prime-time TV show charting the rise of Egypt’s main Opposition movement the Muslim Brotherhood is gripping audiences and angering leaders of the group, who see an attempt to tarnish its name before 2010 elections.
The sweeping historical drama shows how the Brotherhood’s call for a return to Islam’s roots took hold in colonial 1920s Egypt and gained traction after independence as its criticism of Western influence on Muslim society resonated among the poor. The $6.15 million series is being aired every night on Egypt’s main state-owned channel during Ramzan, when TV ratings soar as families and friends gather in the evening.
Full report at:
http://www.asianage.com/international/tv-show-irks-muslim-brotherhood-308
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Iran suspends judiciary officials over prison deaths
Aug 23 2010
TEHRAN: Iran has suspended three high-ranking judiciary officials over the deaths of anti-government protesters last summer at the notorious Kahrizak jail, Mehr news agency reported on Sunday.
“Following an indictment by the Judges’ Tribunal, three senior officials at Tehran prosecutor’s office were suspended over last year’s Kahrizak incidents,” Mehr said, quoting an unnamed source. It did not identify the sacked officials.
Tehran’s feared former prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi was held responsible in a parliamentary probe for sending post-vote detainees to Kahrizak, where at least three young men died in custody. Mehr said the ruling to suspend the officials had been issued on August 15.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\23\story_23-8-2010_pg20_2
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Punjab Police committing acts of barbarism without restraint
Aug 23 2010
LAHORE: We are once again reliving past horrors, and old villains have taken new forms. It used to be people like Genghis Khan, Halaku and Hitler who carried out similar brutalities in other times. Now, their spirits have come back to life, in the form of the Taliban, in the form of the citizens of Sialkot, and at times in the form of the Punjab Police; and it is these new evils that are committing atrocities in our time.
The public killing of two young brothers in the presence of, or rather, under the supervision of, police officials, did not horrify the citizens of Sialkot alone, but shocked the entire world. People across the world watching the barbaric acts on their TV screens must have been thinking that Pakistanis are following in the footsteps of mass murderers like Halaku Khan and Genghis Khan.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\23\story_23-8-2010_pg7_5
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Iran offers friendship to US
Aug 23 2010
CAIRO, Aug 22: Iran’s president offered friendship to the United States but also taunted Washington by saying he does not fear an attack by the U.S. because it could not even defeat a small army in Iraq, according to a television interview with the leader aired on Sunday.
President Barack Obama has repeatedly offered to start a dialogue with Iran, but his administration says Iran chose international isolation instead. The two countries are at odds over Iran’s nuclear program, which the US fears is aimed at producing weapons though Tehran denies it.US military chief Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said earlier this month that the US military has a plan to attack Iran, although he thinks a military strike is probably a bad idea. Still, he said the risk of Iran developing a nuclear weapon is unacceptable and he reiterated that “the military option” remains on the table.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/international/iran-offers-friendship-to-us-380
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Iran working against Iraqi democracy: US general
Aug 23 2010
WASHINGTON — Iran is funding extremist groups in Iraq out of fear of a strong democracy as a neighbor, the commander of US forces in Iraq said Sunday.
‘I think they don’t want to see Iraq turn into a strong democratic country, General Ray Odierno told CNN.
‘They would rather see it become a weak governmental institution so they don’t add more problems for Iran in the future.’
Odierno said Iran is funding and training Shia extremists in Iraq in an effort to improve insurgents’ capabilities.
He said they were working partly to attack US forces, but also ‘to make sure that everybody understands that they can have some impact in the country.’
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/August/middleeast_August431.xml§ion=middleeast
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JuD pitches in with flood aid from Pak Brits
Aug 23 2010
AMID global concerns that terrorists may take advantage of the floods in Pakistan, the Jamaat- ud- Dawa ( JuD) — blamed by India for the 26/ 11 Mumbai attack — has claimed that it has received donations for the deluge- hit people from hundreds of British- Muslims.
The JuD, which acts as a front for the Lashkar- e- Tayyeba ( LeT) that carried out the 2008 strikes in Mumbai leaving 166 people dead, is said to have significant support in the UK, The Sunday Times reported on Sunday.
Atteeq Chohan, a JuD spokesman in Peshawar, said: “ Hundreds of individuals from the Muslim community in Britain are contributing to our relief activities for flood- hit people in Pakistan.” His remarks follow a warning by John Kerry, chairman of the US Senate foreign relations committee, that terrorists may take advantage of the worst floods in Pakistan in 80 years to increase their weight.
Full report at: Mail Today
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Madani propels Advani to recall Coimbatore serial blasts
Aug 23 2010
Chairman of the BJP Parliamentary party LK Advani on Sunday said the entire nation was keenly watching what happens to the trial of Kerala leader Abdul Naseer Madani in connection with Bangalore blasts of July 2008.
It was only last week that Karnataka Police executed the arrest warrant against Madani, chairman of Kerala’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP), for his alleged involvement in the blasts, which left several dead.
As Madani remained in news throughout the week, Advani wrote in his blog on Sunday, “This name (Madani) reminded me of an unforgettable episode in my own life”. Madani was also the prime accused in the Coimbatore blasts case in 1998, but was acquitted from court for want of evidence. The textile city was rocked by a series of bomb blasts just hours before Advani was to hold a rally there.
Full report at:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/277974/Madani-propels-Advani-to-recall-Coimbatore-serial-blasts.html
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Prof attack: Terror charge likely against accused
VR Jayaraj
Aug 23 2010
The Kerala Police are likely to frame charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against the activists of the Islamist Popular Front of India, accused in the case relating to the July 4 attack on Prof TJ Joseph in Muvattupuzha.
Sources in the police said that the nature and magnitude of the crimes committed by the Islamists against the professor called for slapping of terror charges against the accused. They said the attack was not just another case of criminal offence but a planned attack which had anti-national dimensions.
Police sources also said that terror cases could be charged against the PFI activists who took part in the attack directly, those who had participated in the conspiracy and those who had provided shelter to the assailants and helped them in various ways. A total of 20 accused have been arrested so far in the case.
Full report at:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/277917/Prof-attack-Terror-charge-likely-against-accused.html
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JuD claims to have received donations from British-Muslims
Aug 23 2010
Amid global concerns that terrorists may take advantage of the devastating floods in Pakistan, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa’h (JuD), blamed by India for the Mumbai attacks, has claimed that it has received donations for the deluge-hit people from ‘hundreds’ of British-Muslims.
JuD, which acts as a front for Lashkar-e-Tayyeba that carried out the 2008 strikes in Mumbai leaving 166 people dead, is said to have significant support in the UK, The Sunday Times reported on Sunday.
Atteeq Chohan, a JuD spokesman in Peshawar, said: “Hundreds of individuals from the Muslim community in Britain are contributing to our relief activities for flood-hit people in Pakistan.”
Full report at:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/277954/JuD-claims-to-have-received-donations-from-British-Muslims.html
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Taliban momentum reversed in Afghanistan, says Petraeus
Aug 23 2010
LONDON: US General David Petraeus has said that the international troops he commands in Afghanistan have turned the tide on the Taliban’s momentum there, although he warned tough battles still lay ahead. In an interview with the BBC, he played down the prospect of a rapid withdrawal of US troops next year, repeating his insistence that a target of July 2011 was only a date when a process begins. He said the road ahead could be bloody but insisted foreign forces were making progress. “The momentum that the Taliban have established over the course of recent years has been reversed in many areas and will be reversed in the other areas as well. This will entail tough fighting,” he said. “July 2011 is not the date when the US forces begin an exodus and look for the exit,” he said.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\23\story_23-8-2010_pg7_8
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No formal peace process with Taliban: Karzai
Aug 23 2010
WASHINGTON: Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that there is no formal discussion between his government and the Taliban, although he admitted to individual contacts with the former rulers of Kabul.
“Of course, there are individual contacts with some Taliban elements – that’s not yet a formal process,” Karzai told ‘This Week’ programme at the ABC television. However, the Afghan leader said that there was a clear course towards possible future talks peace with the insurgents.
“The roadmap is clear. The indications for peace would be that Afghanistan will be ready to talk to those Taliban powers who belong to Afghanistan and are not part of al Qaeda, who are not part of any other terrorist network, who accept the Afghan constitution and the progress that we have achieved in the past so many years,” he said.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\23\story_23-8-2010_pg7_7
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Iraq will be ready for US pullout in 2011: Odierno
Aug 23 2010
WASHINGTON: The Iraqi security forces are strengthening and will be ready for the pullout of US forces at the end of next year, the US commander in Iraq said on Sunday.
Asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” if the Iraqi army and police would be ready for the 2011 deadline for a remaining 50,000 US troops to depart, General Ray Odierno said, “My assessment today is they will be.”
“I think that they continue to grow. We continue to see development in planning, and in their ability to conduct operations. We continue to see political development, economic development, and all this together will create an atmosphere that creates security, he said.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\23\story_23-8-2010_pg4_3
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MQM to support generals against corrupt politicians, says Altaf
Aug 23 2010
KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) will support any act against ‘corrupt politicians’ and former generals by ‘patriotic Pakistani army generals’, including martial law, MQM chief Altaf Hussain said on Sunday.
In his telephonic address from London to the MQM’s General Workers’ Convention in Azizabad, Altaf said his party would support steps like martial law if taken against “corrupt feudals and landlord politicians”.
He urged “patriotic generals to initiate martial law-like steps against feudal politicians and former generals who disgraced the army institution during the Soviet-Afghan war”.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\23\story_23-8-2010_pg7_9
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Intended Hajj pilgrims not ready to withdraw despite massive floods
Aug 23 2010
ISLAMABAD—Despite heavy floods in most parts of the country, the Ministry of Religious Affairs has not received any application so far from the intending pilgrims, requesting withdrawal from performing Hajj.
It was expected that a large number of the successful candidates would contact the ministry to get their names dropped, citing their inability to perform Hajj following the massive destruction caused by the floods.
Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Hamid Saeed Kazmi said that the ministry has not received such applications so far. However, there could be possibility that the intending pilgrims belonging to the calamity-hit areas would have contacted with those designated bank branches where they had submitted their Hajj applications, he said.
Full report at:
http://dailymailnews.com/0810/23/AcrossPakistan/index.php?id=1
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Seven Al Qaeda militants killed in Yemen
Aug 23 2010
ADEN (Yemen), Aug 22: Seven Al Qaeda members were killed in clashes on Sunday with the Yemeni army in the south of the country after an ultimatum for the militants to surrender expired, the defence ministry said.
“Seven members of Al Qaeda were killed during clashes with the security forces,” in the city of Loder in Abyan province, the ministry said in a statement on its Internet website.It cited Abyan security chief General Abdel Razak Maruni as saying other Al Qaeda militants had taken refuge in houses in Loder and that they had been surrounded.
Earlier, a local official had said five Al Qaeda militants were killed, three in a raid on the house of one of the group’s leaders and two more who were preparing to fire a rocket-propelled at the city’s security services HQ.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/international/seven-al-qaeda-militants-killed-in-yemen-380
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Scholar launches scathing attack on ‘modernists’
Aug 23 2010
BAHA: An Islamic scholar has described Saudi intellectuals with modern views as heretics and followers of the West.
Ahmad bin Abdullah Al-Ammari, former dean of the faculty of the Holy Qur’an at the Madinah Islamic University, said in a lecture at the Baha Literary Club last week that a lot of people were seduced by Western ideals, Al-Madinah daily reported.
Al-Ammari did not spare “the modernists” in his sweeping attack, describing them as “the tails of the intellectuals in the Arab world.”
Al-Ammari began his speech by saying that the title of the lecture, “We and the Others…Our Islam is Our Identity,” was chosen deliberately.
He added that it was a reaction to the theme of a previous event organized by the club focusing on cultural identity in a changing world.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article110242.ece
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Police, protesters clash over power cuts in Iraq
Aug 23 2010
BASRA: Iraqi police used water cannon and batons to disperse protesters in the southern city of Nassiriya after protests flared over crippling electricity shortages and inadequate services, officials said on Sunday.
Unrest over Iraq's dire public services, while US troops prepare to end combat operations seven years after the invasion, has sharpened frustration with political leaders who have yet to form a government more than five months after an election.
Riot police scattered around 250 demonstrators on Saturday evening after they ignored a curfew imposed by local authorities on residents to prevent protesters from taking to the streets without permission, police sources in Nassiriya said.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article110104.ece
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Iran's trade with West soaring despite curbs
Aug 23 2010
TEHRAN: Trade between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council has soared despite a newly imposed round of international economic sanctions on Iran, the semi-official Iranian news broadcaster Press TV has claimed.
A Press TV report claimed that while Iranian imports from the US and the UK have suffered under the new sanctions regime, exports to both countries rose by 76 percent and 61 percent, respectively, over the last four months. Trade with China, by many account's Iran's most important trading partner, saw a 50 percent rise in exports and a 40 percent rise in imports, the news agency found.
On June 9 the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, France and China - all voted to impose a fourth round of sanction on Iran over its nuclear program. Together with Germany the five countries are often referred to as the P5+1 countries, which try to negotiate with Iran as a united block.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article110106.ece
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Ahmadinejad rules out US, Israeli attack on Iran
Aug 23 2010
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ruled out an Israeli or US attack against the Islamic republic, in an interview broadcast on Sunday by the Qatar-based Al Jazeera satellite television channel.
‘I reject the possibility of an attack by Israel. Israel is too weak to face up to Iran militarily,’ said Ahmadinejad, who spoke in Farsi and whose comments were translated into Arabic.
‘Israel doesn’t have the courage to do it... and I do not think its threat is serious,’ he said.
Both Israel and the United States suspect Iran’s controversial programme of uranium enrichment has a covert military aim — to produce a nuclear weapon. Teheran denies the charge, stating its atomic ambitions are entirely peaceful.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/August/middleeast_August434.xml§ion=middleeast
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US solider killed in rocket attack in Iraq
Aug 23 2010
BAGHDAD — An American solider was killed in a rocket attack in southern Iraq on Sunday, the US military said, marking the first American fatality since the last combat unit in Iraq pulled out of the country.
Lt. Col. Bob Owen, a spokesman for the US military in Iraq, said the attack took place while the solider was conducting operations in Iraq’s southern province of Basra.
Owen declined to elaborate, and a US military statement provided no further details, saying only that the incident is under investigation.
The name of the deceased soldier was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/August/middleeast_August430.xml§ion=middleeast
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Next US target: The birthplace of the Taliban
23 August 2010
HOWZ-E-MADAD, Afghanistan - As Lt. Col. Peter N. Benchoff prepares for an assault next month into the birthplace of the Taliban, he doesn’t sugarcoat the hurdles his troops face in this crucial swath of southern Afghanistan.
“Security sucks. Development? Nothing substantial. Information campaign? Nobody believes us. Governance? We’ve had one, hour-long visit by a government official in the last 2 ½ months,” the battalion commander says. “Taliban is the home team here.”
“Here” is 116 square miles (300 square kilometers) of Zhari, a district just west of Kandahar through which the insurgents funnel fighters, drugs, explosives and stage attacks into the city.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/international/2010/August/international_August1186.xml§ion=international
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All-women Gaza aid ship delayed
Aug 23 2010
TRIPOLI (Lebanon): A Lebanese aid ship for Gaza was postponed on Sunday to await a green light from a third country as a transit point for the mission to the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian territory.
The Mariam, a Bolivian-flagged cargo ship, was to have left from Tripoli in north Lebanon later the same day for Cyprus on the first leg of a crossing to Gaza despite an Israeli warning it could use force to keep the blockade intact.
“The trip has not been cancelled but delayed,” one of the organisers, Samar al-Hajj, told a news conference in Tripoli, as efforts continued to secure authorisation from another state in the region to dock before heading for Gaza.
Full report at:
http://www.hindu.com/2010/08/23/stories/2010082356931700.htm
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Sultan Shahin
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