Attacks in Iraq kill 56, raise fears of insurgents
India's home minister warns of ‘Saffron terror’
Cruel Saudi ‘nails’ poor Lankan maid
For critics of Islam,"sharia" becomes shorthand for extremism
1001 inventions: science in Muslim lands
US funds restoration of global Islamic sites
Burqa can't be forced, says Bangla court
To veil or not to veil, Islamic women face tough choices
US public remains ambivalent over Islam
UNESCO urged to inscribe Old Jeddah
Pakistan warned against misuse of relief fund
Militants Kill 8 Policeman in Northern Afghanistan
NY Mayor backs building of 9/11 mosque
Transparency by the Imam is needed
Coordinated Attacks Strike 13 Iraqi Cities
Non-Muslim foreigners keen to abide by Ramadan restrictions
Leap of faith gives Chinese expats spiritual satisfaction
Exhibition in Turkey shows Muslim world’s contributions to science
Militants plan to attack foreign aid workers in Pakistan: US
Non-lethal ways should be followed in Kashmir: PM
Qaida shifting base to urban Pak
Indian held at Houston airport with “Jihadi” material
‘I am wiser now’: President of fictional Islamic Republic of Kamistan
390 terror suspects likely to be released soon in Pakistani Punjab
No discrimination in flood victims’ rehabilitation: Taseer
Schoolgirls in suspected Taliban gas attack
In Kyrgyzstan, nationalism rises from the ashes
Israel eying Pakistan as ally in Muslim world
LAHORE: Father strangles daughter in name of ‘honour’
Mogadishu attack an affront to Muslims: UN
Israeli FM says peace deal in one year unlikely
Iran Said to Bar News Media from Reporting on Protest Leaders
Iran searching for new domestic uranium deposits
US may step up strikes on al Qaeda in Yemen
WikiLeaks founder cleared of sex allegations
Key Karzai Aide in Corruption Inquiry Is Linked to C.I.A.
Young Afghan voters aim to change face of parliament
Mother Teresa's colours to light up Times Square
Al Qaeda in Yemen bigger threat than Pakistan: CIA
India and Afghanistan agree on need to deny safe haven to terror groups
J&K government denies PDP charge of “kickbacks”
Buddhas in Ladakh pray for attention
Afghan driver kills 3 Spaniards in base shooting
WikiLeaks releases CIA memo on terrorist ops in US
US firms should help rebuild Pakistan, says Patterson
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
Photo: Somali militants take positions during clashes with government soldiers and African Union peacekeepers in southern Mogadishu's Hodon neighborhood on Wednesday
------------
Mogadishu toll hits 83 as fighting continues
26 August 2010
MOGADISHU: Somali insurgents pushed toward the presidential palace late on Tuesday but were repelled by heavy shelling by government troops, an army officer said on Wednesday.
More than 80 people have been killed in the latest escalation of violence in the capital Mogadishu, which began on Monday when the Al-Shabab group vowed to intensify its holy war against the fragile government.
The Al-Qaeda-linked militants said they were behind a shooting rampage in a hotel on Tuesday that killed at least 33 people including members of parliament.
One military officer said the insurgents attacked government troops based near Villa Somalia, the presidential palace, in large numbers but were outgunned by the African Union’s (AU) AMISOM peacekeeping force.
“They came close tonight but behind us are AMISOM tanks and at last we drove them away,” army officer Issa Ali, who had been fighting in the frontline overnight, told Reuters.
Residents said bursts of automatic gunfire and the thuds of mortars could still be heard early on Wednesday morning.
“At least 83 people have died in the last three days, including the hotel blast, and 163 others were wounded,” Ali Muse, the coordinator of ambulance service told Reuters.
Tuesday night’s fighting was centered on the government-controlled neighborhoods of Hodan and Wardhiglry. Al-Shabab and a second militant group, Hizbul Islam, control much of the capital, hemming President Sheikh Sharif’s beleaguered government into just a few blocks.
The AU’s peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi concentrate their efforts on shielding the president and guarding the port and airport.
http://arabnews.com/world/article113747.ece
------------
Attacks in Iraq kill 56, raise fears of insurgents
26 August 2010
BAGHDAD - Bombers and gunmen killed at least 56 Iraqis in two dozen attacks across the country Wednesday, mostly targeting security forces and rekindling memories of the days when insurgents ruled the streets.
The attacks made August the deadliest month for Iraqi policemen and soldiers in two years, and came a day after the U.S. declared that its troop levels were at their lowest level since the war began in 2003.
Powerful blasts targeting security forces struck where they are supposed to be the safest, turning police stations into rubble and bringing down concrete walls erected to protect them from insurgents.
“Where is the protection, where are the security troops?” said Abu Mohammed, an eyewitness to a car bombing near Baghdad’s Adan Square that killed two passers-by. “What is going on in the country?”
Iraq’s foreign minister said insurgents are attempting to sow as much chaos as possible, as lawmakers struggle to form a new government and Americans withdraw troops.
“Here you have a government paralysis, you have a political vacuum ... you have the U.S. troop withdrawal,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said. “And, in such environment, these terrorist networks flourish.”
But like most attacks here, they are met with outrage on the streets and condemnation from government officials. Authorities, however, are virtually powerless in the face of the insurgents’ threat.
At least 265 security personnel — Iraqi military, police and police recruits, and bodyguards — have been killed from June through August, compared to 180 killed in the previous five months, according to an Associated Press count.
In August, nearly 5 Iraqi security personnel on average have been killed every day so far.
These numbers are considered a minimum, based on AP reporting. The actual number is likely higher, as many killings go unreported or uncounted.
That rise in deaths coincided with the drawdown of U.S. troops. American officials said on Tuesday that the number of troops fell below 50,000 — a step toward a full withdrawal by the end of 2011.
The scale and reach of Wednesday’s attacks in 14 cities and towns underscored insurgent efforts to prove their might against security forces and political leaders charged with running and keeping stability in Iraq.
“The insurgents hope to regain the initiative once the Americans are gone” said John Pike, the director of the military information website GlobalSecurity.org.
“The longer there’s a stalemate between the Shiite and Sunni politicians,” Pike said, “the greater the opportunity for the extremists to translate political violence into political influence.”
The deadliest attack came in Kut, 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, where a suicide bomber blew up a car inside a security barrier between a police station and the provincial government’s headquarters.
Police and hospital officials said 19 people died, 15 of them policemen. An estimated 90 people were wounded.
In northern Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb in a parking lot behind a police station, killing 15 people, including six policemen.
Police and hospital officials said another 58 were wounded in the explosion that left a crater three yards (meters) wide and trapped people beneath the rubble of felled houses nearby.
A police officer was also killed in Mosul where gunmen attacked a police checkpoint and one person was killed in the city of Beiji, in Iraq’s northern province of Salahuddin.
Iraqi police and soldiers have always been prime targets for insurgents trying to destabilize the country and intimidate new recruits from joining the security services.
Since Iraq’s March 7 elections failed to produce a clear winner, U.S. officials have feared that competing political factions could stir up widespread violence.
Iraqi leaders have failed to end the political impasse.
Iraqi and U.S. officials alike acknowledge growing frustration throughout the nation nearly six months after the vote and say that politically motivated violence could undo security gains made over the past few years.
Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts but they bore the hallmark of al-Qaida in Iraq, which is known to use car bombs and suicide attackers.
For ordinary Iraqis and policemen on the front line, the blasts brought back memories of the dark days of 2006 and 2007 when insurgents, not Iraqi police or soldiers, reigned.
“These attacks are taking us back to when the terrorists had the ability to launch many attacks in different areas,” said Taha Ahmed al-Ajili, a 34-year-old policeman in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s hometown just north of Baghdad.
In Tikrit, a roadside bomb killed a policeman on patrol and wounded another.
Al-Ajili said he feared people would blame what he described as poorly armed policemen and soldiers for the lack of security. He said the security forces are doing their best.
Five others, including an Iraqi soldier and a police officer, were killed in small bursts of violence in Baghdad.
From the northern Iraqi city of Mosul to the holy Shiite shrine town of Karbala to the oil city of Basra, scattered bombings and shootings killed an additional 13 people — including 6 security forces — and injured scores more.
A senior Iraqi intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk to the media, raised the possibility that some of the attackers had inside help.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/August/middleeast_August516.xml§ion=middleeast
------------
India's home minister warns of ‘Saffron terror’
26 August 2010
NEW DELHI: India's Home Minister P. Chidambaram Wednesday cautioned against various forms of extremism, including "saffron terrorism," and revealed that in Jammu and Kashmir the security forces had been "instructed to act with great restraint."
Opening the annual police chiefs' conference here, the home minister also said Maoists have not given a credible response to the government's offer for talks and the fight against them would be a long drawn one.
"I wish to caution you that there is no let-up in attempts to radicalize young men and women in India," Chidambaram said in his inaugural address to the 45th meet of the chiefs of state police and central paramilitary forces here.
Referring to Hindu extremist outfits, he said: "There is this recently uncovered phenomena of saffron terrorism that has been implicated in many bomb blasts of the past."
"My advice to you is that we must remain ever vigilant and continue to build at the central and state levels our capacity in counter-terrorism," he said.
He observed that "save for one incident, the last 21 months have been remarkably free of any terrorist attack. The attack on the German Bakery in Pune was indeed a blot. I sincerely hope that the suspects will be apprehended as soon as possible."
Referring to the continuing turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir, Chidambaram said: "We are concerned that we have not been able to stop the vicious cycle in which the state is caught. The security forces, however, have been instructed to act with great restraint."
He said: "I am afraid Jammu and Kashmir is now caught in a vicious cycle of stone pelting, cane charge, teargassing and firing, leading to casualties and resulting in more stone pelting."
"It is, however, my hope that in the next few days, we would be able to find that elusive starting point from where we could reach out to the protesters, reassure them of their rights and dignity, restore peace and order, redeem the promises made and restart the process of dialogue that will lead to a solution," he said.
On the Maoist insurgency, he said the rebels had refused to respond directly to the central government's call to abjure violence and begin talks.
"We have called upon the Communist Party of India-Maoist to abjure violence and come for talks. I regret to say there has been no direct and credible response to our offers of talks," he added.
"We made it clear (to the states in November 2009) that it would take several years before we are able to contain the CPI-Maoist and roll back their offensive," said Chidambaram.
"I think the people of India understand - even if the critics do not - that the conflict will be a long drawn one, that patience is the key, that mistakes will be made and the security forces need material and moral support to carry out their tasks," he said.
Mulling the transfer of police modernization funds directly to the state police chiefs, bypassing state governments, Chidambaram said: "Should we try to put in place a system for transfer of funds under the MPF (Modernization of Police Forces) schemes directly to director general of police of the state?"
He mooted the idea exactly a month after various state chief ministers, at the 54th National Development Council (NDC) meet July 25, resented the central government's growing tendency to transfer funds directly to various agencies of the states, bypassing their legislatures.
"Is your state making the required 25 percent contribution to the MPF Scheme?" he asked the state police chiefs. "Moreover, do you think, you have been delegated adequate financial powers to spend the money allocated to your departments?"
Chidambaram's remarks on "saffron terrorism" drew prompt reactions from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which called it an attempt to divert attention from the government's failures.
BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said: "The government, led by Sonia Gandhi (United Progressive Alliance chairperson), Manmohan Singh (prime minister) and Chidambaram, has messed up on every front, whether it is international dialogue, disturbances in Kashmir, Leftwing extremism or the Commonwealth Games. They are now trying to divert the attention of the nation," he alleged.
Stating that terrorism was not linked to any religion, the BJP accused the government of targeting Hindus.
http://arabnews.com/world/article113787.ece
------------
Cruel Saudi ‘nails’ poor Lankan maid
26 August 2010
A Sri Lankan housemaid has returned home from Saudi Arabia with 24 nails embedded in her body after allegedly being tortured by her employer, officials said yesterday.
A government minister said police were investigating a complaint from L T Ariyawathi, 49, that her Saudi employer tortured her and drove nails into her body as punishment.
“We are conducting an investigation and we will co-ordinate with Saudi authorities to have the suspects arrested,” Economic Development Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena told reporters.
The woman travelled to Saudi Arabia in March and returned home last week, complaining of abuse by her employer.
Abeywardena said doctors who examined the woman found the nails inside her body and she was currently being treated at a local hospital.
Some of the nails are about two inches (5cm) long, according to pictures of the X-rays published in the local press, and were driven beneath the skin of Ariyawathi’s hands, feet and legs.
According to Sri Lanka’s Foreign Employment Bureau, around 1.8mn Sri Lankans are employed abroad, of whom 70% are women.
Most are employed as housemaids in the Middle East, while smaller numbers work in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Complaints of harassment are made regularly and the government has made it compulsory for migrant workers to register with local authorities, to ensure they can be provided with consular services if they encounter problems.a
Arab News
----------
For critics of Islam,"sharia" becomes shorthand for extremism
By Michelle Boorstein
Aug 26, 2010
Protesters of the proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero waved signs there this past Sunday with a single word: Sharia.
Their reference to Islam's guiding principles has become a rallying cry for those critical of Islam, who use it to conjure images of public stonings and other extreme forms of punishment in countries such as Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan and argue that those tenets are somehow gaining a foothold in the United States.
Blogs are proliferating with names like Creeping Sharia and Stop Sharia Now. A pamphlet for a "tea party" rally last weekend in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. asked: "Why do Muslims want to take over the world and place us under Shariah law?" Former GOP House speaker Newt Gingrich amplified that point in a much-publicized speech a few weeks ago exploring what he calls "the problem of creeping sharia."
Full report at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/25/AR2010082504298.html?hpid=sec-religion
------------
1001 inventions: science in Muslim lands
26 Aug, 2010
ISTANBUL, Aug 25: For generations, the lore of “One Thousand and One Nights” helped shape western notions about Muslim culture. The collection of tales described an exotic world of harems and flying carpets, Sinbad and monsters, Aladdin and the jinn, Ali Baba and the 40 thieves.
Now an exhibition about innovation in Muslim civilisation seeks to highlight what organisers say is an overshadowed period of history, a “Golden Age” in which advances in engineering, medicine and architecture laid groundwork for western progress from the Renaissance until modern times.
In a play on the old stories, it is titled: “1001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in Our World.”
The show seeks to be strictly academic, and shuns political or religious pronouncements. But the robust response of many young Muslims suggests a thirst for cultural pride against a contemporary backdrop of conflict and suspicion between the West and Muslim countries.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/international/1001-inventions-science-in-muslim-lands-680
------------
US funds restoration of global Islamic sites
26 Aug, 2010
WASHINGTON: According to US State Department documents, the Obama administration will this year spend nearly $6 million to restore 63 historic and cultural sites, including mosques and minarets, in 55 nations. Under a programme established by the Congress in 2001, the department will fund at least five projects in as many countries at a cost of more than $271,000. The contributions include $76,135 for the 16th century Grand Mosque in Tongxin, China, and $67,500 for the 18th century Suneri Masjid (Golden Mosque) in Lahore. An additional $62,169 will be spent on restoring a 19th century minaret in Mauritania’s ancient city of Tichitt; $50,437 for the Sunderwala Burj, a 16th century Islamic Monument in New Delhi, and $15,450 to restore the 18th century Gobarau Minaret in Katsina, Nigeria. The amount spent on mosque restoration projects is a fraction of the total in the 2010 Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, which will also fund projects to restore Christian and Buddhist sites as well as museums, forts and palaces.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\26\story_26-8-2010_pg1_7
------------
Burqa can't be forced, says Bangla court
Aug 26, 2010
DHAKA: A court in Bangladesh, an Islamic republic, has directed the government to ensure no woman is forced to wear burqa or religious attires in the educational institutions and offices across the country.
A bench of the Dhaka high court also ordered the government to ensure that the cultural activities and sports in the educational institutions were not restricted in any manner. Judges took notice of a news report that the students of Rani Bhabani Women's College who don't wear burqa were barred from entering the college by principal Mozammel Haque. He had also stopped any cultural activities and sports at the college.
The court directed the government to take action against the principal for imposing restrictions on the students about wearing the burqa.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Burqa-cant-be-forced-says-Bangla-court/articleshow/6423174.cms#ixzz0xhNqUqJD
------------
To veil or not to veil, Islamic women face tough choices
Aug 26, 2010
When Wina decided to shed her jilbab, the headscarf symbolizing, for most people, a woman’s commitment to Islam, her husband commented, “It’s up to you, but it’s degrading.”
She said some of her colleagues at work started gossiping and were cynical toward her following her decision to remove the scarf after three years wearing it.
Wina, a thirty something Jakarta resident, had been one of the subjects in the book “Psychology of Fashion”: Fenomena Perempuan Melepas Jilbab (Psychology of Fashion: The Phenomenon of Women Removing Their Jilbab), launched Tuesday in Jakarta.
The author, Juneman, a psychologist from the University of Persada Indonesia, interviewed three other women who also decided to shed their headscarves.
The choice was often met with shock and criticism — some soft and others openly harsh — from their friends and family.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/08/26/to-veil-or-not-veil-islamic-women-face-tough-choices.html
------------
US public remains ambivalent over Islam
26 August 2010
WASHINGTON: A newly formed group that includes a number of family members of 9/11 victims rallied Wednesday in support of the building of a mosque near Ground Zero.
The 9/11 families group “September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows” is teaming up with at least 40 religious and civic organizations to form a coalition called “New York Neighbors For American Values.”
Meantime the mosque continues to spark debate throughout New York City.
A small group calling for an alternative location for the Lower Manhattan mosque gathered outside the governor’s mansion Tuesday night, where New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg reiterated his support for the proposal saying it is test of “our commitment to American values.”
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article113762.ece
------------
UNESCO urged to inscribe Old Jeddah
26 Aug, 2010
JEDDAH: Education Minister Prince Faisal bin Abdullah on Wednesday called upon UNESCO to enlist the historical part of Jeddah among the world heritage sites.
The prince commended the efforts being made by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) to enlist Old Jeddah among the world heritage sites.
“Heritage is a source of inspiration, which has been agreed upon internationally. It reflects human relations and shared values of civilizations,” he
said.
Prince Faisal made this comment while meeting with Munir Bushnak, deputy director general for culture at UNESCO, and Ziyad Al-Drees, the Kingdom’s permanent ambassador to the UN body.
The minister underscored the strong relations between Saudi Arabia and UNESCO.
He underscored the call of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for dialogue between religious faiths and cultures.
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article113876.ece
------------
Pakistan warned against misuse of relief fund
26 August 2010
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will have to demonstrate it can spend relief funds transparently and well if it wants more help in rebuilding after its massive floods, the US aid chief said, as the United Nations appealed urgently for more helicopters to ferry aid to around 800,000 stranded people.
Washington’s aid chief warned in a visit to the country that the purse strings may be cut for Pakistan’s long rehabilitation effort ahead if the government cannot prove that it is spending money properly. “It will require a demonstration of real transparency and accountability and that resources spent in Pakistan get results,” Rajiv Shah told the AP.
As Washington demands more transparency from Pakistan, a UN agency has launched an unusual appeal for relief funds to be sent directly to a Pakistani or Swiss bank account — with none of the usual monitoring safeguards.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article113849.ece
------------
Militants Kill 8 Policeman in Northern Afghanistan
Aug 26, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Police say insurgents have killed eight Afghan policemen in a raid on a checkpoint outside the northern city of Kunduz.
Kunduz province police chief Abdul Raziq Yaqoubi says fighters from Chechnya who are active in the province were suspected of carrying out Thursday's attack.
More than 10 militants took part in the ambush, two or three of whom were believed to have been wounded when the police fought back, Yaqoubi said.
The militants apparently hoped to steal the policemen's weapons but were beaten back before they could do so, he said.
Kunduz has seen an increasing number of attacks on Afghan and foreign coalition forces who rely on a supply line running south through the province from neighboring Tajikistan.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/08/26/world/AP-AS-Afghanistan.html?hp
------------
NY Mayor backs building of 9/11 mosque
Aug 26, 2010
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has backed plans to building a Muslim community centre and mosque near Ground Zero, saying, opposing the project would "compromise our commitment to fighting terror with freedom."
"If we say that a mosque and community centre should not be built near the perimeter of the World Trade Center site, we would undercut the values and principles that so many heroes died protecting and hand a valuable propaganda tool to terrorist recruiters who spread the fallacy that America is at war with Islam."
"Let me declare that we in New York are Jews and Christians and Muslims, and we always have been. And above all of that, we are Americans, each with an equal right to worship and pray where we choose," he added.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=152317
------------
Transparency by the Imam is needed
By Lanny J. Davis
Aug 26, 2010
My first position on the controversy over the planned mosque and Muslim community center planned to be constructed within two blocks of Ground Zero was to applaud Mayor Bloomberg’s courage in not blaming all Muslims for the murderous actions of extremist, inhuman, suicidal thugs who happen to be of the Muslim faith.
Indeed, I saw a positive advantage in the war against terror — just as President Bush did — by making it clear that this is a war against terrorists, not a war against Islam, and it is al Qaeda’s nightmare if there is a substantial force of moderate, humane Muslims ready to denounce al Qaeda and other extremist fundamentalist Muslims who celebrate death and the killing of innocent civilians. And we should be encouraging — it is in the interest of anyone who wishes to defeat these terrorist monsters — humane voices of Islam to join us in this war against terror and not to broad-brush all Muslims as responsible for 9/11.
That was my first instinct. I hope I was right.
Full report at:
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/homeland-security/115737-transparency-by-the-imam-is-needed-
------------
Coordinated Attacks Strike 13 Iraqi Cities
By ANTHONY SHADID
Aug 26, 2010
BAGHDAD — Insurgents unleashed a wave of coordinated attacks across Iraq on Wednesday in a demonstration of their ability to strike at will, offering their counterpoint to American aspirations of bringing the war in Iraq “to a responsible end.”
In attacks in 13 towns and cities, from southernmost Basra to restive Mosul in the north, insurgents deployed their full arsenal: hit-and-run shootings, roadside mines and more than a dozen car bombs. The toll was in the dozens, but the symbolism underscored a theme of America’s experience here: its deadlines, including the Aug. 31 date to end combat operations, have rarely reflected the tumultuous reality on the ground and have often been accompanied by a wave of insurgent attacks.
“The message the insurgents want to deliver to the Iraqi people and the politicians is that we exist, and we choose the time and place,” said Wael Abdel-Latif, a judge and former lawmaker. “They are carrying out such attacks when the Americans are still here, so just imagine what they can do after the Americans leave.”
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/world/middleeast/26iraq.html?ref=world
------------
Non-Muslim foreigners keen to abide by Ramadan restrictions
26 Aug, 2010
BHA: A professor has claimed that there is no law in Saudi Arabia to punish Muslims or non-Muslims who do not fast or follow guidelines on public behavior during the holy month of Ramadan.
Muhammad Al-Najeemi, professor at the Higher Judicial Institute and Prince Naif Security Academy, told Arab News that a Ministry of Interior directive warning people who don’t fast in Ramadan against eating or drinking in front of others during day hours was a policy adopted by the government to serve public interest.
“Hence, the ruler has the authority to take steps to prevent non-Muslims from eating in public in front of Muslims as that may be offensive and hurt religious sentiments as well,” he added.
According to Al-Najeemi, directives issued by the government regarding such violations are similar to that of Ta’azir crimes, for which punishments can be handed out on the discretion of judges or rulers.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article113863.ece
------------
Leap of faith gives Chinese expats spiritual satisfaction
26 Aug, 2010
MAKKAH: Chinese laborers working on the Haramain Rail project have spoken of their joy after embracing Islam.
There are 4,600 Chinese nationals working on the scheme, which when completed will link the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah via Jeddah and Rabigh. Among them, 370 are already born Muslims.
Last year, over 600 of them embraced Islam, causing controversy with a section of the international media slamming it as a public relations stunt.
At the time, there were calls from sections of Saudi society to replace the non-Muslim workers, who represent the majority Han community in China, with minority Muslims.
Hamza, 42, said he embraced Islam after he saw the Holy Kaaba for the first time on Saudi television.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article112478.ece
------------
Exhibition in Turkey shows Muslim world’s contributions to science
26 Aug, 2010
ISTANBUL: For generations, the lore of “One Thousand and One Nights” helped shape Western notions about Muslim culture. The collection of tales described an exotic world of harems and flying carpets, Sinbad and monsters, Aladdin and the jinn, Ali Baba and the 40 thieves.
Now an exhibition about innovation in Muslim civilization seeks to highlight what organizers say is an overshadowed period of history, a “Golden Age” in which advances in engineering, medicine and architecture laid groundwork for Western progress from the Renaissance until modern times.
The exhibition project was created by the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilization, an academic group based in Britain. Funding came from the Jameel Foundation, a British charity linked to Abdul Latif Jameel Co. Ltd., a Toyota car distributor based in Saudi Arabia.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article113456.ece
------------
Militants plan to attack foreign aid workers in Pakistan: US
Aug 26, 2010
WASHINGTON: The Pakistani Taliban is planning attacks on foreigners offering assistance in the aftermath of devastating floods in Pakistan, a US official warned on Wednesday.
"According to information available to the US government, Tehreek-e-Taliban plans to conduct attacks against foreigners participating in the ongoing flood relief operations in Pakistan," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"Tehreek-e-Taliban also may be making plans to attack federal and provincial ministers in Islamabad," the official warned.
The vast floods have affected an estimated 17.2 million people, at least eight million of whom are believed to need life-saving humanitarian assistance.
The United States and other countries have pledged more than 700 million dollars for relief efforts.
The Pakistani Taliban have previously denounced all foreign aid for victims of the country's catastrophic flooding.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Militants-plan-to-attack-foreign-aid-workers-in-Pakistan-US/articleshow/6436851.cms#ixzz0xgoXZPoT
------------
Non-lethal ways should be followed in Kashmir: PM
Aug 26, 2010
NEW DELHI: Describing the situation in Kashmir as a "cause of serious concern", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said "non-lethal ways should be followed to manage protests".
Addressing the second-day session of the 45th conference of director generals of police and other senior security officials, the prime minister said: "We need to train our police forces more effectively."
Reiterating that the Maoists "are our own people", Manmohan Singh said the government was ready to hold dialogue if they abjured violence. He added that much more had to be done to combat Maoist violence.
Referring to cross-border terrorism, the prime minister said the "the growing presence of non-state actors have worsened matters".
He said policing had become more complex over the years.
The three-day conference was inaugurated by Home Minister P. Chidmabaram Wednesday, who said the government hoped to find an "elusive starting point in Kashmir soon".
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Non-lethal-ways-should-be-followed-in-Kashmir-PM-/articleshow/6437083.cms#ixzz0xgohmavZ
------------
Qaida shifting base to urban Pak
Aug 26, 2010
ISLAMABAD: Al-Qaida is gradually shifting its base from the unsafe and spy-infested tribal belt of Pakistan to "more secure urban areas of the country" like the port city of Karachi that cannot be targeted by US drones, according to a media report on Wednesday.
Al-Qaida had operated in the volatile tribal areas bordering Afghanistan with "near impunity" during 2001-08 "but they are on the move, communicating via couriers and moving stealthily in small groups to urban areas", a former Western intelligence official was quoted as saying by the Daily Times newspaper.
The daily quoted its sources as saying that al-Qaida operatives were now mostly migrating to Karachi, which has a large Pashtun population.
The newspaper said its in-depth investigations had confirmed the presence of senior al-Qaida members and the top leadership of the Afghan Taliban — including members of the Quetta-based "shura" or council — at safe houses located on the outskirts of Karachi.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Qaida-shifting-base-to-urban-Pak/articleshow/6435541.cms#ixzz0xgorboP2
------------
Indian held at Houston airport with “Jihadi” material
Narayan Lakshman
26 Aug, 2010
Washington: An Indian on his way to Houston, Texas, to deliver a lecture to the Hindu Congress of America has been arrested for possessing what has been described by authorities as “Jihadi material.”
Vijay Kumar (40), a documentary filmmaker, was arrested at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport last Friday after officials noticed him behaving oddly in the line for a security check, according to reports.
When he was taken aside for secondary screening, Mr. Kumar's baggage was found to contain books on espionage, information on U.S. military weaponry, and numerous publications on Jihad, including the mention of “infidels.”
When a set of brass knuckles and approximately $10,000 worth of currency were uncovered in his bags, he was arrested.
Full report at:
http://www.hindu.com/2010/08/26/stories/2010082661380100.htm
------------
‘I am wiser now’: President fictional Islamic Republic of Kamistan
Nina C George
Aug 26, 2010
The Bollywood star plays the role of President Omar Hassan of the fictional Islamic Republic of Kamistan (IRK) in Hollywood’s award-winning American action drama television series 24 season 8.
Slumdog Millionaire was Anil’s passport to Hollywood. He says he’s never been more content in his entire acting career. “It has not come late at all. I am now wiser, successful and at a point when nothing affects me either emotionally or financially. The exposure and experience one gets working in Hollywood is unparalleled,” he says.
In 24, Anil plays the President of a Middle-Eastern country. Unlike most head of states, he’s liberal and works for peace between Islamic and Christian countries. He embarks on a peace mission and prepares to meet the US President, all in an effort to usher in an era of goodwill.
Full report at:
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/91375/i-am-wiser-now.html
------------
390 terror suspects likely to be released soon in Pakistani Punjab
26 Aug, 2010
LAHORE: As many as 390 suspects, detained on the charge of having links with banned militant outfits, are likely to be released very soon, sources told Daily Times on Wednesday. Officials of the Home Department, Punjab Police and Prisons Department confirmed the “gradual” release of detainees in the next few days as not a single case had been registered against anyone of them. An intelligence agency has sent a report to the federal government, revealing that this situation was alarming and strong retaliation could not be ruled out after release of these suspects in large numbers.
According to official figures as many as 390 activists belonging to banned outfits like Sipah-e-Sabaha Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Muhammad, Harkatul Jihadul Islami, Al-Asar Trust, Jamatul Furqan and some other banned militant outfits working in previous or new, and fake, names had been detained during the crackdown. At least 42 suspects were detained in Jhang District Jail, 40 in Multan Central Jail, 22 in Bahawalpur Jail, seven in Sahiwal Jail and four in Mianwali Jail while the rest were detained in different jails in southern Punjab.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\26\story_26-8-2010_pg7_4
------------
No discrimination in flood victims’ rehabilitation: Taseer
26 Aug, 2010
LAHORE: Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer on Wednesday said that the rehabilitation of the flood victims will be carried out without any discrimination and political affiliation.
The Punjab governor made these remarks while addressing the flood victims during a visit to a flood relief camp at the Government Boys Degree College, Layyah. Taseer said the flood affectees would be re-settled and financially assisted on the pattern adopted for the rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons (IDP) of Swat.
The Punjab governor said that the $3.8 billion assistance extended to Pakistan by international institutions had belied all claims of mistrust on the federal government.
Taseer informed the flood affectees that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) would not leave the flood victims alone in this difficult time and all the government resources would be made available until their complete rehabilitation, adding that women flood affectees would be assisted through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\26\story_26-8-2010_pg7_16
------------
Schoolgirls in suspected Taliban gas attack
26 Aug, 2010
KABUL: Dozens of Kabul schoolgirls were admitted to hospital on Wednesday after a suspected poison gas attack on their school, officials said.
“Today at around 9:30am (0500 GMT) around 55 people, including nine teachers and 46 students at the Totya Girls’ High School, following an apparent poisoning incident, were taken to hospital,” education ministry spokesman Mohammed Asef Nang said.
“They are in stable condition,” he said, adding that some had become dizzy and others lapsed into unconsciousness.
The suspected attack is the fifth such incident this year in Kabul and the eleventh nationwide, officials said, though they could not confirm the exact cause. Blood tests from girls affected in previous incidents had not yielded any conclusive results, they said.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\26\story_26-8-2010_pg20_8
------------
In Kyrgyzstan, nationalism rises from the ashes
By Matt Siegel
26 Aug, 2010
BISHKEK: Rising nationalism in Kyrgyzstan promoting Kyrgyz at the expense of minority Uzbeks is stoking fears of new unrest, just 10 weeks after the ex-Soviet state was rocked by its deadliest ethnic violence.
Political activists have been distributing photographs of mangled ethnic Kyrgyz bodies at rallies with themes like instituting ethnic quotas for government workers or barring the deployment of an international police force.
Whether the weak interim government will be able to quell the surge of nationalism is a growing concern for Kyrgyzstan’s foreign partners ahead of parliamentary elections in October.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\26\story_26-8-2010_pg20_9
------------
Israel eying Pakistan as ally in Muslim world
By Iftikhar Gilani
26 Aug, 2010
TEL AVIV: A group of Indian journalists visiting Israel encountered a ‘surprising situation’ in Israel, when a top Israeli foreign office official compared human suffering in Darfour with the plight of people in the Indian-held Kashmir.
Support for Kashmir and Pakistan’s efforts to contain terrorism from unexpected quarters in Tel Aviv, indicated a sublime possibility of Israel and Pakistan slowly warming up to each other.
Facing the heat from Turkey and Iran, coupled with the death of Arab nationalism and rising extremism in the region, Israeli strategists seem looking for an alternate ally in the Muslim world.
At the Israeli Foreign Office building in the outskirts of west Jerusalem, a senior official was in a rage against the UN and the Muslim world.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\26\story_26-8-2010_pg7_29
------------
Father strangles daughter in name of ‘honour’
26 Aug, 2010
LAHORE: A man strangled his 22-year-old daughter to death in the name of “honour” in the South Cantt police precincts early on Wednesday.
The victim, Amna, also a mother of a three-year-old daughter, got married to Sarfraz from Okara around four years ago. She left her husband and daughter over a domestic dispute and was living with her parents since over three weeks.
Talking to Daily Times, South Cantt Station House Officer (SHO) Malik Raheel Amjad said Amna’s father, Muhammad Ashraf, had called up the police station concerned and after introducing himself, confessed to killing his daughter. He said the police reached the spot immediately and arrested Ashraf, and also shifted Amna’s body to the morgue for autopsy.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\26\story_26-8-2010_pg13_1
------------
Mogadishu attack an affront to Muslims: UN
26 Aug, 2010
UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has condemned a deadly Ramazan attack on a Mogadishu hotel as an affront to Muslims and peace-loving people everywhere. At the opening of a Security Council discussion on Somalia, he said that it was a sad but pointed reminder of collective responsibility to support the Somali government in bringing stability to this war-torn nation. In a brazen attack on Tuesday, two attackers of the Shebab group sprayed bullets into a Mogadishu hotel, killing 33 before blowing themselves up. The Shebab fighters used heavy machine gun fire against the troops backed by the African Union to try to seize a key route in Mogadishu linking the presidential palace and the airport.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\26\story_26-8-2010_pg7_27
------------
Israeli FM says peace deal in one year unlikely
26 August 2010
Israel’s firebrand foreign minister played down US hopes, shared by his own prime minister, that peace talks starting in Washington next week would bear fruit within one year.
Further putting a damper on a public show of enthusiasm by premier Benjamin Netanyahu and the US administration, settlers threatened to bring down the Israeli government if a partial moratorium on settlement construction is renewed.
Palestinians seek a complete freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem.
“It’s clear that the two sides are so different — in content, in approach — that it’s hard to talk about a peace agreement within a year,” Lieberman told Israeli public radio.
The parties, due to relaunch direct talks in Washington on September 2 after a 20-month hiatus, have been negotiating since 1993, when they signed interim accords after secret peace talks in Norway, but have yet to reach agreement.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/August/middleeast_August515.xml§ion=middleeast
------------
Iran Said to Bar News Media From Reporting on Protest Leaders
By WILLIAM YONG and ROBERT F. WORTH
Aug 26, 2010
TEHRAN — In a further clampdown on Iran’s cowed political opposition, the authorities have issued a ban on any news relating to the leaders of the protest movement that arose after the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last year, opposition Web sites reported.
A leaked copy of a letter that has appeared on opposition Web sites orders the editors of all domestic newspapers and news agencies to refrain from publishing the names, photographs and statements of two defeated presidential candidates, Mir Hussein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, as well as former President Mohammad Khatami, because of the “probable negative influence” this would have on the public mind. Officials from the Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance did not respond to requests for comment on the letter’s authenticity.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/world/middleeast/26iran.html?ref=world
------------
Iran searching for new domestic uranium deposits
26 August 2010
Iran said Wednesday it is making the search for new uranium deposits in the country on top priority as it has started up its first in a planned network of nuclear power plants.
The head of Iran’s atomic energy agency did not explain why Iran was intensifying the exploration at home. Tehran has in the past denied its uranium stockpile was running low, as some international nuclear experts have concluded.
U.N. Security Council sanctions bar countries from selling uranium to Iran in response to its refusal to stop uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to produce fuel for power plants or material for bombs.
“The most important priority, after the Bushehr nuclear power plant, is the exploration and discovery of uranium throughout the country,” the official IRNA news agency quoted nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi as saying.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/August/middleeast_August510.xml§ion=middleeast
------------
US may step up strikes on al Qaeda in Yemen
26 August 2010
WASHINGTON - The United States will likely increase strikes against al Qaeda in Yemen, seeking to apply the same degree of pressure there as covert drone attacks in Pakistan have had on the core group, US officials said on Wednesday.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and one of its leading figures — American-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki — have increasingly become priority U.S. targets since the group took responsibility for a failed plot to blow up a U.S. passenger jet on Christmas Day.
Awlaki has also been tied to an Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 soldiers in a November 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas.
“They’re not feeling the same kind of heat — not yet, anyway — as their friends in the tribal areas. And everyone involved on our side understands that has to change,” a U.S. counter-terrorism official said.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2010/August/international_August1372.xml§ion=international&col=
------------
WikiLeaks founder cleared of sex allegations
26 Aug, 2010
STOCKHOLM — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange no longer faces sex abuse charges in Sweden after a prosecutor decided Wednesday to investigate only one of two complaints against him, and not as a sexual offense.
Assange — who has denied both accusations — is still suspected of molesting a woman on Aug. 13, but molestation is not a sex crime under Swedish law, said Karin Rosander, a spokeswoman for the Swedish Prosecution Authority.
It covers a wide range of offenses, including reckless conduct or inappropriate physical contact with another adult, and can result in fines or up to one year in prison.
Chief Prosecutor Eva Finne formally closed another case involving a woman who claimed Assange had raped her. Finne had dismissed the rape charge over the weekend and recalled a short-lived arrest warrant. She decided Wednesday that the case couldn’t be prosecuted as any other type of sex crime either.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2010/August/international_August1371.xml§ion=international&col=
------------
Key Karzai Aide in Corruption Inquiry Is Linked to C.I.A.
By DEXTER FILKINS and MARK MAZZETTI
Aug 26, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan — The aide to President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan at the center of a politically sensitive corruption investigation is being paid by the Central Intelligence Agency, according to Afghan and American officials.
Mohammed Zia Salehi, the chief of administration for the National Security Council, appears to have been on the payroll for many years, according to officials in Kabul and Washington. It is unclear exactly what Mr. Salehi does in exchange for his money, whether providing information to the spy agency, advancing American views inside the presidential palace, or both.
Mr. Salehi’s relationship with the C.I.A. underscores deep contradictions at the heart of the Obama administration’s policy in Afghanistan, with American officials simultaneously demanding that Mr. Karzai root out the corruption that pervades his government while sometimes subsidizing the very people suspected of perpetrating it.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/world/asia/26kabul.html?_r=1&hp
------------
Young Afghan voters aim to change face of parliament
By Lynne O'Donnell
Aug 26, 2010
KABUL — As Afghanistan prepares for its next test as an infant democracy, a crop of bright young men and women is challenging the traditional Afghan belief that power lies in beards and turbans.
The country's second parliamentary poll is scheduled for September 18, with about 2,500 candidates contesting the 249 seats in Afghanistan's Wolesi Jirga, or lower house of parliament.
Afghanistan's politics are infamously partisan, and the parliament is stacked with people with bloody or questionable pasts, seen as using their connections and positions to enhance personal power and wealth.
Almost a decade after the fall of the Taliban, a new activism is creeping into Afghan politics, with an up and coming generation of politicians ignoring Taliban threats in a bid to turn the tide of corruption and patronage.
Full report at:
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.
------------
Mother Teresa's colours to light up Times Square
Anirudh Bhattacharyya
26 Aug, 2010
New York will be observing Mother Teresa's 100th birth anniversary in many ways, but the iconic Empire State Building has opted out of the citywide celebrations of her life, another, the landmark Times Square will have marquees and hoardings shining on Thursday evening in white and blue, the colours of her Missionaries of Charity. The Great White Way, as it's called, with its bright neon lights will mark the day, according to an announcement by the nonprofit Times Square Advertising Coalition.
While Catholic groups had requested that the lights that crown the spire of the tallest building in New York be coloured white and blue to honour the Nobel Laureate, Empire State Building president Anthony Malkin has refused to accede. The official position is that the towering Building does not honour political or religious figures. It is customary for the Empire State Building's lights to be turned to symbolic colours. For instance, on India's Independence Day, it is suffused with the hues of the tricolour.
Full report at: Hindustan Times
------------
Al Qaeda in Yemen bigger threat than Pakistan: CIA
26 Aug, 2010
WASHINGTON—America’s CIA believes that the al- Qaida terror network in Yemen poses a more serious threat to the US than those in its traditional stronghold of Afghanistan and Pakistan, a media report said on Wednesday.
A fresh assessment of al-Qaida’s affiliate in Yemen has helped prompt Obama administration officials to call for an escalation of US operations there - including a proposal to add armed CIA drones to a clandestine campaign of US military strikes, The Washington Post reported quoting unnamed US officials.
This is for the first time in recent years that the CIA has come out with the assessment that al-Qaida in Yemen is more dangerous than those in Pakistan, where most of its top leadership including Osama bin Laden is believed to have been based.
“We are looking to draw on all of the capabilities at our disposal,” a senior Obama administration official was quoted as saying by the Post.
Full report at:
http://dailymailnews.com/0810/26/FrontPage/index.php?id=4
------------
India and Afghanistan agree on need to deny safe haven to terror groups
26 Aug, 2010
NEW DELHI: Agreeing that terrorism continued to be the threat undermining peace and stability in the region, India and Afghanistan on Wednesday reiterated their stand to work jointly to combat and defeat it.
In a joint statement issued by External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and his Afghanistan counterpart Zalmai Rassoul the two leaders emphasised on the need to ensure that terrorist and extremist groups, targeting Afghanistan and other countries in the region, are denied safe haven and sanctuaries.
They shared their vision of making Afghanistan a hub linking Central and South Asia, through easier trade and transit links and people-to-people exchanges. In line with the London and Kabul conferences on Afghanistan-led solution, India conveyed its desire to see a strong, stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan and reiterated its commitment to assisting the country in its development efforts, in accordance with the wishes and priorities of the people of Afghanistan.
Full report at:
http://www.hindu.com/2010/08/26/stories/2010082663521400.htm
------------
J&K government denies PDP charge of “kickbacks”
Shujaat Bukhari
26 Aug, 2010
SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday refuted allegations of “kickbacks” in a power project and said it would take to court the People's Democratic Party which had made the charges. It also refuted the charge that Rs. 20 crore was spent on Chief Minister's residence.
Talking to journalists here, Finance Minister Abdur Rahim Rather said all the allegations were “baseless and unfounded.”
He said the government would file civil and criminal cases against the PDP. Mr. Rather said there was no truth in receiving kickbacks as the second bidder in the Ratley power project had sent an appreciation letter to the government. The Minister said that so far only Rs. 1.50 core had been spent on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's house and Rs. 50 lakh more was expected to be spent.
Full report at:
http://www.hindu.com/2010/08/26/stories/2010082660702000.htm
------------
Buddhas in Ladakh pray for attention
By Siddharth Tiwari
26 Aug, 2010
THE TALIBAN destroyed the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan.
But all is not lost — similar hulking statues of the Buddha have survived — in India.
In the remote hinterlands of Ladakh, at Mulbek, around 45 km from Leh, a Buddha stands proud.
A second idol, carved out of a mountain near Apati village, has smiled through the rain and the hailstorms through the ages — 2,000 years to be precise.
The third one — a 37- feet- high Maitreya Buddha, is located just a few kilometres from Sanku in Kargil.
And then there is the Panchdhyani Buddha, concealed within the snow- clad peaks of the Zanskar Valley.
The country should be proud of such a heritage, but our team found the idols to be in a state of neglect.
Full report at: Mail Today
------------
Afghan driver kills 3 Spaniards in base shooting
26 Aug, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan: An Afghan driver working for Spanish police opened fire on a NATO base Wednesday, killing three Spaniards including two police trainers and an interpreter before dying in a hail of gunfire.
Afghans angry at the driver's death stormed the base in northwestern Badghis province with stones and set fire to at least one vehicle, underscoring the brewing resentment among many Afghans over the presence of foreigners on their soil and the problems in rapidly expanding Afghanistan's security forces.
Details of the shooting were unclear, but Spain's interior minister, Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, described it as a "terrorist attack." "I can't say if the Taleban were behind this or not," he told reporters in Madrid. "But what is clear is that it was a premeditated attack. The person who opened fire knew exactly what he was doing." He said the assailant had worked with the Spanish Civil Guard, a paramilitary force, since the unit arrived in Afghanistan five months ago to train Afghan police. The victims included two 33-year-old police trainers and a Spanish interpreter of Iranian origin, the minister said.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article113857.ece
------------
WikiLeaks releases CIA memo on terrorist ops in US
26 Aug, 2010
WASHINGTON: WikiLeaks, the whistle-blower website, on Wednesday released a CIA memo analysing the risks of terrorists operating from the US, but the document offered no dramatic revelations of government secrets like the website’s earlier leaks.
The CIA paper – titled “What If Foreigners See the United States as an ‘Exporter of Terrorism’?” – examines the implications of extremists recruiting US nationals and using the US as a base for attacks abroad. The CIA played down the release of the February memorandum, a so-called “red cell” analysis that is supposed to provide an alternative view to the spy agency’s leaders. “These sorts of analytic products – clearly identified as coming from the agency’s ‘Red Cell’ – are designed simply to provoke thought and present different points of view,” CIA spokesman George Little said in an email.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\26\story_26-8-2010_pg7_2
------------
US firms should help rebuild Pakistan, says Patterson
26 Aug, 2010
WASHINGTON: The US ambassador to Pakistan on Wednesday encouraged US companies to invest in reconstruction of the country, saying it will have vast needs after its worst-ever floods.
“Perhaps it’s a little insensitive to talk about this now, but I do want to mention that I think this will provide opportunities for American businesses as we try to build back better,” said Ambassador Anne Patterson. Speaking at a conference arranged by the US Chamber of Commerce, she said the extent of the damage was still unclear but that Pakistan would have major needs, including reviving its battered agriculture sector.
Pakistan has been struggling to attract foreign investment in part due to worries about security in the country at the frontline of the international campaign against terrorism. Despite some criticism at home, the US has is working with local groups and companies instead of American firms in a bid to build capacity in Pakistan.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\26\story_26-8-2010_pg7_17
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamicWorldNews_1.aspx?ArticleID=3341
7:06 AM
Moderate Islamist here
0 comments:
Post a Comment