02 Sep 2010, NewAgeIslam.Com
62 die as jets pound Taliban hide-outs
Pakistani Taliban claim responsibility for Lahore attack on Shias
250,000 Sindhi Hindus forced to migrate by floods
Airstrikes kill 15 Taliban in Kurram, Orakzai
Afghan school poisonings linked to toxic chemicals
2 NATO tankers set on fire in Balochistan
Campaign against Taliban to intensify: NATO chief
Question still remains why Bush waged war: Gates
Al-Qaeda based in border region, says Obama
Contestants from Makkah win Qur’an contest
US blacklists Hakimullah
I stand by ‘saffron terror' remark, says Chidambaram
Offended Pakistani military team cancels U.S. visit
World Bank raises Pakistan aid to one billion dollars
US adds Pakistani Taliban to terrorism blacklist
Libya frees 37 militants including Bin Laden driver
Biden says Iraq close to forming government
King orders SR1.12bn aid for the poor
Saudi Arabia tops in flood aid to Pakistan
Lankan maid’s torture charges baseless: Saudi officials
Muslim backpack program expands in US, abroad
4 killed in Algeria suicide attack, 20 wounded
Lebanon sends warrant for suspected spy to Interpol
17 Indians on death row: Hearing adjourned to hear more witnesses Amira Agarib
Two Israelis wounded in West Bank shooting
Fix political impasse before you go, Iraqis tell US
More aid needed to avert terrorists’ exploitation, says Haqqani
Ahmadinejad dismisses Mideast peace talks
US to utilise Iraq resources along Afghan border
What Obama’s Speech Lacked
US Denies Reports On Talks With Taliban
Mehsud Charged For Killing 7 CIA Agents In Afghanistan
No Chinese troops in PoK: Pak envoy
Israel For Concerted Effort To Deal With Terror
Iran welcomes US pullout, urges punishment for Iraq invaders
Iraq hit by withdrawal symptoms
Islamic World’s Best Quranic Calligraphers to Meet in UAE
Nat’l Quran Recitation Nat’l Contest Concludes in Iraq
British and Tunisian Consul Generals admire Dubai International Holy Quran Award
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
Photo: Vehicles burn in the street after protesters reacted angrily to bomb blasts which targeted a Shi'ite procession
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamicWorldNews_1.aspx?ArticleID=3376
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62 die as jets pound Taleban hide-outs
Sep 2, 2010
PESHAWAR: Pakistani government air raids have killed up to 62 militants, their family members and other civilians with no ties to the fighters, officials said on Wednesday.
Three strikes on Tuesday night targeted Pakistani Taleban militants in one of their strongholds in the Tirah Valley in the northwestern Khyber region on the Afghan border.
"We have reports that 40 to 45 terrorists were killed," a security official told Reuters. Taleban insurgents often deny official death tolls of militants.
More airstrikes by helicopter gunships killed 17 militants and destroyed three of their hideouts on Wednesday in Khyber's neighboring tribal region of Kurram, intelligence officials said.
There was no independent verification of the casualties and militants often deny or dispute government figures.
Pakistani forces have stepped up air strikes in Khyber and adjoining Pashtun tribal lands in recent months against activists who fled military offensives in the Taliban strongholds of Swat and South Waziristan bordering Afghanistan last year.
Air strikes could undermine efforts to win over civilians for the fight against the Taleban.
"Some of the families were living in the vicinity of these hideouts and they were also among the dead," said the security official of the attacks in Khyber.
Rehan Khattak, a government official in Khyber, said six civilians, including women and children, were killed in one of the strikes and they had nothing to do with militants. "Four people were also wounded. They were members of Kokikhel," Khattak told Reuters, referring to a pro-government Pashtun tribe which dominates Khyber.
Anar Bacha, 32, one of the wounded, said they were innocent.
"We are going to our home in a cab when all of a sudden planes appeared and began targeting us," he said. "We are innocent. We are Kokikhels. We are not terrorists."
In April, up to 50 members of the same tribe were killed in an air raid in Tirah after they were mistaken for Taleban, prompting an apology from Pakistan Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani.
Khyber is a key route for US and allied convoys carrying supplies for troops fighting militants in Afghanistan. Fighters frequently attack these convoys, forcing the United States to look at developing alternate routes.
Meanwhile, the US State Department is adding the Pakistani Taleban to a terrorism blacklist and targeting the group and its leaders with financial and travel sanctions.
In a notice published Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the group, known as the Tehrik-e-Taleban or TTP, advances terrorism threatening American interests and US national security. She designated the group a "foreign terrorist organization" under US law.
Lawmakers have been pushing for the move since earlier this year when a Pakistani-born American pleaded guilty to the failed May 1 Times Square car bombing. The man confessed that he had been trained for the attack by the Pakistani Taleban to avenge attacks on Muslims by US forces overseas.
US prosecutors have charged the leader of the Pakistani Taleban, Hakimullah Mehsud, for the plot that killed seven CIA employees at an American base in Afghanistan last December, the US Justice Department said on Wednesday.
Mehsud, believed to be in the tribal areas of Pakistan, was accused of conspiracy to kill Americans overseas and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, the Justice Department said.
http://arabnews.com/world/article122730.ece
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Pakistani Taliban claim responsibility for Lahore attack on Shias
Sep 2, 2010
ISLAMABAD: The banned Tehrik-e- Taliban Pakistan today claimed responsibility for three blasts, including two carried out by suicide attackers, on a Shia procession in Lahore that killed 30 people and injured over 200.
The claim of responsibility was made by top Taliban leader Qari Hussain, who said militants had carried out three suicide blasts in Lahore.
Police officials, however, said the first blast was caused by a timed explosive device and the others by two suicide bombers.
"I, Qari Hussain, accept responsibility on behalf of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan for the three suicide attacks (fidaee hamla) in Lahore on the Shia procession on the Hazrat Ali day on 1st September, 2010," said an audio statement sent to media by the Taliban.
The transcription of the audio message in English was also sent to the media through email.
Hussain claimed the three blasts were carried out to avenge the killing Maulana Ali Shair Haidree "by Shia extremists".
He said: "Maulana Ali Shair was brave, pious and an intellectual alim-e-deen (Islamic scholar)."
He claimed "fidayeen" of the Taliban entered the Shia procession "with great courage" and "offered their lives for the protection and revenge of our famous ulema".
Hussain warned the Taliban would carry out more attacks if the "killing of ulema (clerics) was not stopped".
He added: "We will carry out such harsh attacks on them everywhere that they will not be able to live peacefully in the country."
Earlier, Geo News channel had reported that the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Almi had claimed responsibility for the attacks in Lahore.
But Hussain said in his audio message: "I once again clear it that these attacks were done by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and not by any other organisation."
The three blasts at Karbala Gamay Shah and Bhatti Chowk killed 29 people and injured 213, officials said.
The procession was taken out to commemorate the martyrdom of Hazrat Ali, the fourth Muslim Caliph and one of Shia Islam's most respected holy men.
The Punjab government called in paramilitary Pakistan Rangers to restore peace after an angry mob attacked a police station and burnt police vehicles.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the attacks and said elements playing with the lives of innocent people would not escape the law of the land.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistani-Taliban-claim-responsibility-for-Lahore-blasts/articleshow/6477221.cms#ixzz0yLym4Cgc
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250,000 Sindhi Hindus forced to migrate by floods
Sep 2, 2010
KARACHI: Standing under the fancy canopy of a makeshift tent near a Gauchar, where sacred cows stand and Hindus feed them as part of religious rituals, 10-year-old Sumela and her cousin Deepa reminiscence about their village, where every year they enjoyed the celebrations of Janmashtami, an important religious festival marking the birth of Lord Krishna.
Fate has forced them to stay silent on such an important Hindu festival, which was celebrated on Wednesday, as it was not possible to celebrate the occasion with the same vigour in a relief camp. Both cousins remember how every year they enjoyed the celebrations with special foods, however, at the relief camp, they were being given boiled rice and gram.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\09\02\story_2-9-2010_pg12_5
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Airstrikes kill 15 Taliban in Kurram, Orakzai
Sep 2, 2010
HANGU: At least 15 Taliban fighters were killed and 10 others were injured as jet fighters and gunship helicopters bombed their hideouts in central Kurram and Orakzai agencies on Wednesday, security sources said. Locals and security sources told Daily Times that jet fighters and gunship helicopters pounded Taliban hideouts at Chinark area in Kurram and adjoining areas of Dapar and Bakha in Orakzai Agency, killing 15 terrorists. Meanwhile, the death toll in Tuesday’s air raids on suspected terrorist hideouts in Teerah Valley in Khyber Agency has risen to 60. Security officials and locals have said that dozens of civilians, including women and children, were also among the dead. “Militants were using civilians and their families as human shields and there could be some civilian casualties but we do not know how many,” a senior security official said.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\09\02\story_2-9-2010_pg7_8
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Afghan school poisonings linked to toxic chemicals
Sep 2, 2010
KABUL: Blood samples taken from Afghan schoolgirls who collapsed in apparent mass poisonings showed traces of toxic chemicals found in herbicides, pesticides and nerve gas, the Health Ministry said Wednesday.
Suspicion has fallen on sympathizers of the Taliban, the hard-line Islamist militia that opposes education for women and prohibited girls from going to school when it was in power until it being ousted by a 2001 U.S.-led invasion.
Poisonous levels of organophosphates were found in samples taken from girls sickened in incidents over the past two years, said ministry spokesman Dr. Ghulam Sakhi Kargar.
Samples from more recent cases have been sent to Turkey for analysis and no results have been issued yet, Kargar said.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article122737.ece
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2 NATO tankers set on fire in Balochistan
Sep 2, 2010
QUETTA: Two more NATO tankers were attacked in two separate incidents in Mastung and Khuzdar on Wednesday. According to sources, a tanker, carrying logistic support for NATO forces stationed in Afghanistan, was heading towards Kandahar from Karachi when some unidentified armed men opened fired on it on the national highway in Mastung. Resultantly, the driver received bullet wounds and the assailants managed to escape from the scene. Separately in Wadh, unidentified men intercepted a NATO tanker and took the driver and the cleaner hostage at gunpoint. The attackers sprinkled petrol on the tanker and set it on fire. Local police is investigating into the matter. Attacks on NATO supply containers are consistently being carried out in Balochistan for the past 10 days. No arrest has been made so far in this regard.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\09\02\story_2-9-2010_pg7_10
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Campaign against Taliban to intensify: NATO chief
Sep 2, 2010
COPENHAGEN: NATO forces in Afghanistan are set to intensify the campaign against Taliban strongholds in the coming weeks, the head of the military alliance said on Monday.
"I share the point of view of American military leaders on the intensification of fighting in the coming weeks and months," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Danish channel TV2 News in an interview broadcast on Monday.
"We are in a very decisive phase at the moment. We have sent more soldiers to Afghanistan, where we are attacking Taliban strongholds, which results in more fighting, and unfortunately more losses," he said.
The escalation in combat operations was part of the strategy by international forces to dislodge the Taliban from their strongholds in Helmand province and Kandahar, Rasmussen said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Campaign-against-Taliban-to-intensify-NATO-chief/articleshow/6465140.cms#ixzz0yLypxL5c
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Question still remains why Bush waged war: Gates
Sep 2, 2010
CAMP RAMADI: US defence secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday that America's war in Iraq is over but admitted that the outcome will remain "clouded" over why it was waged in the first place.
Asked by reporters at Camp Ramadi, an American base about 100km west of Baghdad, whether the United States was still at war in Iraq, Gates replied: "I'd say we're not. Combat operations have ceased."
"We are still going to work with Iraqis on counter-terrorism, we are still doing a lot of training and advising," said Gates, who arrived early on Wednesday on an unannounced visit to Iraq. "So I would say we've moved into the final phase of our engagement in Iraq," said Gates, who also met US soldiers staying on to provide assistance to the Iraqi army.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Question-still-remains-why-Bush-waged-war-Gates/articleshow/6478232.cms#ixzz0yLygV8WS
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Al-Qaeda based in border region, says Obama
Sep 2, 2010
WASHINGTON— As the United States approaches into the 10th year of its combat operation in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama said that the leadership of Al-Qaida remains anchored in the border regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. “As we approach our 10th year of combat in Afghanistan, there are those who are understandably asking tough questions about our mission there. But we must never lose sight of what’s at stake,” Obama said in his address to the nation to announce the end of combat mission in Iraq. “As we speak, al-Qaida continues to plot against us, and its leadership remains anchored in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan. We will disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qaida, while preventing Afghanistan from again serving as a base for terrorists,” Obama said.
Full report at:
http://dailymailnews.com/0910/02/FrontPage/index.php?id=9
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Contestants from Makkah win Qur’an contest
Sep 2, 2010
RIYADH: Contestants from Makkah province were declared champions once again during the 9th Holy Qur’an Reading Contest held at the Philippine Embassy on Aug. 26-27.
Aminollah Mimbala Omar from Makkah and Noor Garingan Jadoon of the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ) bagged the championship awards for the professional or adults’ category and non-professional or students’ category, respectively.
Omar won SR7,000, a 32” plasma TV, an iPod, a notebook computer, as well as assorted home appliances and food items. Jadoon received SR3,000, a 32” plasma TV, a digital camera and assorted home appliances and food items.
The other contestants were awarded for their efforts with cash prizes ranging from SR1,000 to SR5,000, assorted home appliances and food items that were similarly given to the champions.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article122896.ece
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US blacklists Hakimullah
Sep 2, 2010
WASHINGTON, Sept 1: The United States on Wednesday formally added Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to its blacklist of foreign terrorist organisations subject to travel and economic sanctions.
The US State Department also offered rewards of up to $5 million each for information leading to the location of two Pakistani Taliban leaders, Hakimullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman.
Since becoming leader of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in August 2009, Hakimullah Mehsud has organised and directed several TTP attacks against US personnel and interests in and beyond the region, says the State Department.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/us-blacklists-hakimullah-290
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I stand by ‘saffron terror' remark, says Chidambaram
Vinay Kumar
Sep 2, 2010
NEW DELHI: Despite the Congress distancing itself from his ‘saffron terror' remark, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday stood by it, saying there was no difference between the party and the government.
“I do not claim patent on the phrase ‘saffron'. It has been used by a number of other persons, including my colleagues in the UPA,” he said responding to questions, seeking a clarification on his remark made at the recent annual conference of State police chiefs and top police officials.
Asked about the Congress displeasure over his remark, Mr. Chidambaram, at his monthly press conference held here to give a report card of his Ministry, said: “Party is supreme.”
However, sticking to his stand, he said the message behind the remark was that “right-wing fundamentalist groups are suspected to be behind some bomb blasts.” The remark brought Full report at:
http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/02/stories/2010090255700100.htm
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Offended Pakistani military team cancels U.S. visit
Narayan Lakshman
Sep 2, 2010
“They were treated like terrorists”
Visit on U.S. invitation
Washington: In an incident that might further test the United States-Pakistan relationship, some Pakistani military officers were offloaded from a flight at the Dulles International Airport in Washington after one of the officers made “what a flight attendant considered to be an ‘inappropriate remark'”.
The Pakistani military said in a statement the nine-member delegation was on a visit to the U.S. after receiving an invitation to attend a meeting at the U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida. According to the statement the delegation was “subjected to unwarranted security checks at Washington airport by U.S. Transport Security Agency”.
Full report at:
http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/02/stories/2010090262350700.htm
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World Bank raises Pakistan aid to one billion dollars
2 September 2010
WASHINGTON - The World Bank raised its emergency funding to Pakistan to one billion dollars on Wednesday to help the nation cope with the massive economic impact of catastrophic monsoon flooding.
The hike, an additional 100 million dollars on top of an existing 900 million dollar loan, was announced by World Bank chief Robert Zoellick as he met Pakistan Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh in Washington.
Zoellick’s statement said the money, which will come from the International Development Association, the World Bank’s arm for low-income countries, was for “immediate recovery needs and longer-term reconstruction.”
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/international/2010/September/international_September71.xml§ion=international
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US adds Pakistani Taliban to terrorism blacklist
Sep 2, 2010
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Wednesday added the Pakistani Taliban to its international terrorism blacklist, targeting the group blamed for the failed car bombing in New York’s Times Square and its leaders with financial and travel sanctions.
The group, known as the Tehrik-e-Taliban or TTP, threatens US national security, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a notice published in the Federal Register. She designated the group a “foreign terrorist organization” under US law.
In addition, Clinton named the group and its top leaders, Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali Ur Rehman, “specially designated global terrorists,” a classification that imposes additional State and Treasury department sanctions.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2010/September/international_September42.xml§ion=international&col=
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Libya frees 37 militants including Bin Laden driver
Sep 2, 2010
TRIPOLI: Libya late Tuesday released 37 militants, including a former driver of Osama Bin Laden and members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG).
An organization run by one of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's sons, The Qaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, said the militants had agreed to give up their extremist ideology and violence before they were released.
Wearing white traditional robes, the mostly young detainees were assembled in a tent put up in Tripoli's Abu Salim prison where they their families joined them.
Bin Laden's former driver, Nasser Tailamoun, and former Guantanamo detainee Abu Sofian Ben Guemou, handed over by the Americans in 2007, were among those released, according to the Kadhafi Foundation.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article122543.ece
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Biden says Iraq close to forming government
2 September 2010
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said he believed Iraq’s political stalemate was nearly over and officials would form a government in “the next couple of months.”
Biden told CBS’s “Early Show” he had spoken with all of Iraq’s main political leaders and thought there was a good chance of a deal being struck soon, a view one senior Iraqi politician called “very optimistic.”
In a separate interview with PBS Newshour, the U.S. vice president offered a broader time frame.
“I’ve met with every one of the groups that won portions of the vote in the elections and I’m absolutely convinced that they are nearing the ability of forming a government, that will be a government representing the outcome of the election which was very much divided,” he said.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/September/middleeast_September54.xml§ion=middleeast
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King orders SR1.12bn aid for the poor
Sep 2, 2010
JEDDAH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah on Wednesday ordered the distribution of SR1.12 billion in emergency aid among the Kingdom’s poor to support them during the fasting month of Ramadan and the Eid Al-Fitr festival.
Social Affairs Minister Yousuf Al-Othaimeen thanked King Abdullah for his humanitarian gesture. He said the aid would be distributed among beneficiaries of social insurance, including the elderly, orphans, patients, widows and families of prisoners.
“The royal gesture reflects the king’s care for the poor and needy in the country and his desire to meet their pressing requirements in order to achieve social stability,” the minister said. He said the amount would be distributed immediately in coordination with the Ministry of Finance.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article122854.ece
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Saudi Arabia tops in flood aid to Pakistan
Sep 2, 2010
JEDDAH: Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif met with Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu at his office here Tuesday and highlighted Saudi Arabia’s efforts to send relief for Pakistan’s flood victims.
He also commended the efforts of the 57-member OIC in following up the issues of Muslims in various parts of the world.
Ihsanoglu earlier briefed the prince on his organization’s activities and future plans. He also thanked Saudi Arabia and its leadership for their generous support to Pakistan to alleviate the suffering of its flood victims.
“Saudi Arabia has won the top position in helping Pakistan confront the present crisis,” the OIC chief said, while praising both the Saudi government and people for their humanitarian gesture.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article122887.ece
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Lankan maid’s torture charges baseless: Saudi officials
Sep 2, 2010
RIYADH: Saudi officials have refuted claims that a sponsor in Riyadh hammered nails into the body of his Sri Lankan housemaid as punishment.
“These allegations against the Saudi employer are baseless and the whole episode looks like one big drama,” said Saad Al-Baddah, chairman of the Saudi Arabian National Recruitment Committee (SANARCOM), which is responsible for the recruitment and management of foreign workers in the Kingdom.
He told Arab News on Wednesday that 49-year-old L.T. Ariyawathi has signed a letter acknowledging her last salary and said that she did not experience any problems with her sponsor before she left Saudi Arabia. Al-Baddah described the torture allegations as a figment of the maid’s imagination, adding that Saudi authorities are wondering how the nails and needles were embedded into her body.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article122855.ece
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Muslim backpack program expands in US, abroad
Sep 2, 2010
WASHINGTON: A Chicago-area Muslim charitable organization is partnering with police departments and social welfare groups to ensure that needy children have what many others take for granted: School supplies.
It all started when Zakat Foundation (http://www.zakat.org/) Executive Director Khalil Demir decided to help his fellow citizens on Chicago's South Side, regardless of their religion.
"When school starts and many kids don't have a backpack, they feel terrible," Demir said.
For the eighth consecutive year, the Illinois-based Zakat Foundation is distributing backpacks laden with notebooks, pens and pencils, rulers and calculators to children in poor neighborhoods.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article122424.ece
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4 killed in Algeria suicide attack, 20 wounded
Sep 2, 2010
ALGIERS: An Algerian security official says a suicide attack on a military convoy in the north of the country killed at least four people and wounded 20.
The official, who refused to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the attacker drove an explosive-laden vehicle into a 12-truck convoy near the town of Zemmouri on Wednesday. Two soldiers in one of the trucks were killed, as was a civilian and the suicide bomber.
The 20 other soldiers in neighboring trucks were injured.
Suicide attacks are rare in Algeria, though the North African country sees occasional violence. Armed hard-line Islamic groups have aligned with Al-Qaeda to stage scattered bombings and other attacks, usually targeting security forces.
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article122869.ece
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Lebanon sends warrant for suspected spy to Interpol
Sep 2, 2010
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's chief prosecutor on Wednesday sent an arrest warrant against a suspected spy for Israel to international police agency Interpol, after reports the suspect, who fled the country last year, may be in France.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah first spoke of Ghassan al-Jid during a news conference last month in which he was presenting testimony that he said linked Israel to the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri.
Nasrallah said Jid had been an "Israeli collaborator" since the early 1990s and that he had been present at the St. Georges yacht club, near the scene of Hariri's killing on the Beirut seafront, a day before the attack took place on February 14, 2005.
After Nasrallah's news conference, Lebanese authorities initiated proceedings against Jid, a retired army colonel, and issued an arrest warrant.
Full report at:
http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE6803LC20100901
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17 Indians on death row: Hearing adjourned to hear more witnesses Amira Agarib
2 September 2010
SHARJAH — The Sharjah Court of Appeal has adjourned hearing to September 29 in the case of 17 Indians who were sentenced to death by the Sharjah Shariah Court.
The court was presided by judge Younus Al Rida in the presence of judges Ahmed Al Mulla and Ali Ridwan and prosecutor Mohammed Al Baroodi.
The court, which adjourned the hearing to hear public prosecution witnesses, will also hear the brother of the victim.
A translator was assigned to translate the statements of the accused from Punjabi to Arabic, as the court had thrice earlier adjourned the hearing in the absence of the translator.
During Wednesday’s hearing, all 17 suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges with most of them saying that they had not even appeared before the Public Prosecution.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2010/September/theuae_September31.xml§ion=theuae&col=
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Two Israelis wounded in West Bank shooting
2 September 2010
JERUSALEM - Two Israelis were wounded in a shooting Wednesday as their car came under gunfire near the West Bank city of Ramallah, an army spokesman said.
Army radio said one of the Israelis was seriously hurt and that according to an initial investigation their car had been fired on from a vehicle which had overtaken them.
The attack came as direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, suspended since the end of 2008, were due to resume on Thursday in Washington.
On Tuesday, four Israelis were killed by Palestinian gunfire in the West Bank, near the town of Hebron. The attack was claimed by the militant Islamist Hamas movement.
Army radio did not say if Wednesday’s attack was related to the issue of Jewish settlements.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/September/middleeast_September56.xml§ion=middleeast&col=
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Fix political impasse before you go, Iraqis tell US
Sep 2, 2010
BAGHDAD - President Barack Obama is pushing Iraq’s democracy out of the nest before it can fly and abandoning Iraqis while they are still at war, many Iraqis said on Wednesday after the end of U.S. combat operations.
Obama said in an address on Tuesday that it was “time to turn the page” in Iraq, declaring the Iraqi people now had primary responsibility for their security and future.
The end of U.S. combat operations on Tuesday has raised fears of spiralling violence in Iraq where sectarian bloodshed killed tens of thousands after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Bombs remain a daily occurrence and attacks against Iraq’s security forces have been rising. Frustrations are also increasing over a political stalemate six months after an inconclusive election.
“Obama is wrong. When they first entered Iraq, it was based on developing Iraq. Now we are on the verge of a chasm. He left us in the middle,” said 55-year-old labourer Nafae Sami.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/September/middleeast_September48.xml§ion=middleeast&col=
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More aid needed to avert terrorists’ exploitation, says Haqqani
Sep 2, 2010
ISLAMABAD: Ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani has warned that terrorist will exploit the aftermath of devastating floods unless the international community moves quickly to help Pakistan.
“The rest of the world has to move fast and make sure that the floods do not result in a situation that can be exploited by extremists and terrorist,” Haqqani told The Washington Times, in an interview published on Tuesday.
Haqqani said the international community had been slow to recognise the scale of the devastation, attributing the tepid global response to the relatively low death toll.
He said international leaders must recognise that the flood was a “major disaster” that affected over 20 millions people in Pakistan.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\09\02\story_2-9-2010_pg7_22
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Ahmadinejad dismisses Mideast peace talks
Sep 2, 2010
TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed on Wednesday the holding of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, saying the negotiations will fail to resolve conflict in the Middle East.
“Tens of negotiations have been held in more than 30 years and tens of plans have been proposed, but they have all failed,” Ahmadinejad told Iran’s Arabic-language Al-Alam Television in an interview.
His remarks came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas prepared to re-launch direct peace talks in Washington on Thursday after a 20-month suspension.
“If the main problems of Palestine are not considered, the fact that two people sit down and talk will resolve nothing,” Ahmadinejad said in comments posted on the website of the channel in Farsi.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\09\02\story_2-9-2010_pg20_1
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US to utilise Iraq resources along Afghan border
Sep 2, 2010
WASHINGTON: In a national address marking the end of US combat mission in Iraq, President Barack Obama declared on Tuesday night that he would use the resources freed from this war to launch a new offensive in the Pak-Afghan region.
“As we speak, Al Qaeda continues to plot against us, and its leadership remains anchored in the border regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he said.
“We will disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaeda, while preventing Afghanistan from again serving as a base for terrorists. And because of our drawdown in Iraq, we are now able to apply the resources necessary to go on offense.”
President Obama used the address, only second since his election, to tell his nation that now was the “time to turn the page” on one of the most divisive chapters in American history.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/us-to-utilise-iraq-resources-along-afghan-border-290
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What Obama’s Speech Lacked
DANIEL SCHULTZ
Sep 2, 2010
You may call me an unrecondite, sandal-wearing, Jesus-bearded peacenik hippie for saying so, but just once —- once! —- I would like an American president to draw a causal connection between this part of his speech:
And so at this moment, as we wind down the war in Iraq, we must tackle those challenges at home with as much energy, and grit, and sense of common purpose as our men and women in uniform who have served abroad. They have met every test that they faced. Now, it is our turn. Now, it is our responsibility to honor them by coming together, all of us, and working to secure the dream that so many generations have fought for –the dream that a better life awaits anyone who is willing to work for it and reach for it.
Full report at:
http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/danielschultz/3253/
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US Denies Reports On Talks With Taliban
Sep 2, 2010
The US on Wednesday dismissed media reports that representatives of Af-Pak special envoy Richard Holbrooke recently met leaders of the Afghan Taliban and Hizb-i-Islami to discuss formation of a national government after the withdrawal of US forces from the country.
"Special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (Richard Holbrooke) did not meet with Taliban leaders. The two individuals mentioned in recent news articles do not represent SRAP in anyway," a State Department official said.
He was responding to a question about reports in Middle Eastern media that two representatives of Mr Holbrooke met leaders of Afghan Taliban.
Full report at:
http://www.asianage.com/international/us-denies-reports-talks-taliban-779
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Mehsud Charged For Killing 7 CIA Agents In Afghanistan
Sep 2, 2010
Pakistan Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud was on Thursday charged for his involvement in the murder of seven American nationals last year at a CIA base in Afghanistan, the US said on Thursday. The two-count criminal complaint, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on August 20, 2010 and unsealed on Thursday, charges Mehsud, with conspiracy to murder US citizens abroad and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives) against US citizens abroad. "Thursday's charges underscore our continuing commitment to seek justice for Americans who are murdered or victimised by overseas terrorist attacks," David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security said. Department of Justice made these announcements as the Secretary of State, Ms Hillary Clinton, designated Pakistani Taliban a foreign terrorist organisation and its leaders Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali-Ur-Rehman as a foreign terrorist. If convicted of the charges unsealed on Thursday, Hakimullah Mehsud faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Full report at:
http://www.asianage.com/international/mehsud-charged-killing-7-cia-agents-afghanistan-930
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No Chinese troops in PoK: Pak envoy
Sep 2, 2010
BEIJING: Rejecting as "fabricated" reports of presence of up to 11,000 Chinese troops in PoK's Gilgit-Baltistan area, Pakistan's envoy here has claimed that only a "humanitarian team" from China was in the region to assist the flood victims.
"The story is totally fabricated," Pakistan's ambassador to China, Masood Khan, told the state-run Global Times daily. He was referring to a New York Times report which said that about 7,000 to 11,000 Chinese troops were deployed in the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan region, where Pakistan faced a state of rebellion from the local people.
Khan said there were no Chinese troops in the area, but added that "a humanitarian team" from China was currently there to help locals who have suffered due to the devastating floods. The NYT report attributed the military presence in the region to China's plans to gain a "grip on the strategic area to ensure unfettered road and rail access to the Gulf through Pakistan". About the NYT story, the Global Times said "the report obviously rattled nerves in India..."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/I-was-a-sucker-for-Princess-Diana-Tony-Blair/articleshow/6474954.cms#ixzz0yLz02DbQ
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Israel For Concerted Effort To Deal With Terror
Sep 02nd, 2010
Israel has said it was 100 per cent behind India, which has been a victim of terrorism from Pakistan, and strongly pitched for "concerted and unified" international approach to deal with "Islamist" terrorism, maintaining that there cannot be any "ifs" or "buts" while dealing with the menace. Making it clear that Israel will "stand behind" India "all the way down the line", Israeli Ambassador to India, Mr Mark Sofer, said his country welcomes New Delhi's recent initiative of holding talks with Islamabad.
"Terrorism is terrorism is terrorism, period. Killing people at a train station, Chabad house or at Taj or Oberoi hotel is pure simple unadulterated terrorism and there are no ifs and there are no buts. There is no reason for it and it must not have happened," Sofer told PTI. Full report at:
http://www.asianage.com/india/israel-concerted-effort-deal-terror-972
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Iran welcomes US pullout, urges punishment for Iraq invaders
Sep 2, 2010
TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad welcomed the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq but called for punishment of the invaders, state television's Arabic-language Al-Alam channel said on Wednesday.
Ahmadinejad "welcomed the pullout of US forces from Iraq but said that those behind the invasion of this country should be put on trial and punished before an international court," the channel reported.
If US President Barack "Obama wants to do something useful, he should pledge not to interfere in Iraq, take his forces out of Iraq and recognise Iraq's independence and punish criminals," the channel quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in an interview.
"The terrorists use the presence of US forces and their crimes as a pretext. If there are no crimes, they will not have any excuses for extremism and terrorism," the hardline president added.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Iran-welcomes-US-pullout-urges-punishment-for-Iraq-invaders/articleshow/6475018.cms#ixzz0yLyw2RQr
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Iraq hit by withdrawal symptoms
Sep 2, 2010
BAGHDAD: The invasion of Iraq, occupation and tumult that followed were called Operation Iraqi Freedom back then. It will be named New Dawn on Wednesday.
But America's attempt to bring closure to an unpopular war has collided with a disconnect familiar since 2003: the charts and trend lines offered by American officials never seem to capture the intangible that has so often shaped the pivots in the war in Iraq. Call it the mood. And the country, seemingly forever unsettled and unhappy, is having a slew of bad days.
"Nothing's changed, nothing!" Yusuf Sabah shouted in the voice of someone rarely listened to, as he waited for gas in a line of cars winding down a dirt road past a barricade of barbed wire, shards of concrete and trash turned uniformly brown. "From the fall of Saddam until now, nothing's changed. The opposite. We keep going backwards."
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Iraq-hit-by-withdrawal-symptoms/articleshow/6478125.cms#ixzz0yLysvELc
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Islamic World’s Best Quranic Calligraphers to Meet in UAE
Sep 2, 2010
The best Quranic calligraphers in the Islamic world are to meet in the UAE on September 5-8 in order to write in calligraphy the complete manuscript of the holy Quran.
Ahlul Bayt News Agency, According to Al-Ittihad Newspaper, this is the second edition of the gathering which will be attended by 30 top calligraphers of the Islamic world who will each write in calligraphy one section (Juz) of the holy Quran.
The seminar is to be organized by UAE’s Ministry of Culture, Youth and Development whose officials are expected to elaborate in a news conference next week on the gathering’s details including the contests and the participating calligraphers.
In the first such gathering which was held last year during the holy month of Ramadan, a complete manuscript of the Quran was written by calligraphers from Islamic countries as well as some from England, Russia and other European countries.
http://www.shiaunity.com/data.asp?lang=3&Id=200711
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Nat’l Quran Recitation Nat’l Contest Concludes in Iraq
Sep 2, 2010
The 7th edition of the National Quran Recitation Contest concluded on August 23 in Al-Hashemi Mosque in the holy city of Kadhimain, Iraq.
Ahlul Bayt News Agency, The contest which was organized by Al-Iraqiah Quranic Center in Kadhimain started on the 9th day of the holy month of Ramadan (August 20) with the presence of reciters from different provinces of Iraq and concluded on August 23 in a ceremony where the winners were awarded.
In a meeting with Raafe’ Al-Ameri, head of Al-Iraqiah Quranic Center, and a number of the center’s members, Farajullah Shazli, the international Quran referee from Egypt congratulated the Iraqi people on the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.
He further appreciated the center’s efforts and activities in serving the holy Quran and holding Quranic contests.
http://www.shiaunity.com/data.asp?lang=3&Id=200713
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British and Tunisian Consul Generals admire Dubai International Holy Quran Award
Sep 2, 2010
"It was an enjoyable evening for me to attend the Dubai International Holy Quran Award, I am overwhelmed with quality of recitation, capacity of memorization and extravagant confidence of participants", said Guy Warrington, the Consul General of British Embassy in Dubai.
Ahlul Bayt News Agency, "It was an enjoyable evening for me to attend the Dubai International Holy Quran Award, I am overwhelmed with quality of recitation, capacity of memorization and extravagant confidence of participants", said Guy Warrington, the Consul General of British Embassy in Dubai.
He said that, the organizers of this great event would be appreciated for the handsome arrangement of the competition, I am proud to be witness today with our participant from UK, which he has anticipated him success in the completion.
Full report at:
http://www.shiaunity.com/data.asp?lang=3&Id=200714
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamicWorldNews_1.aspx?ArticleID=3376
10:09 PM
Moderate Islamist here
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