13 Oct 2010, NewAgeIslam.Com
Mutilated Afghan girl Aisha gets new nose
Nato holds Brussels Afghanistan handover meeting
Al-Qaida magazine offers terror tips, suggests crashing trucks into crowds
18 Guards killed in blast at Iran base: State media
Ten killed in Indonesia landslide
Plane crashes near Kabul; 8 killed
10 Taliban killed in Mardan operation
Dubai: Five new Metro stations to open on Friday
Zardari says US behind Taliban attacks in Pakistan
Pope takes biggest step to revive Christianity
Three interlocutors chosen for Jammu and Kashmir
Interlocutors to start uninterrupted dialogue: Chidambaram
Indian accused of stabbing ex-girlfriend 27 times in Dubai
More Taliban militants could be removed from UN blacklist: US
London bombers planned strike on 6/7, put it off a day
Try Musharraf for treason, says Sharif
Rahul Gandhi's Bihar campaign to start with wooing Muslims
Huge win for BJP in Gujarat civic polls due to Muslim support: Modi
Death of Indian woman at airport: MEA official to visit Muscat
Kargil in PML(N) charge-sheet against Musharraf
Pakistan says it is key to Taliban peace talks
Amit Shah's bail plea admitted
Video showing mob justice surfaces
Fears of sectarian clash in Sehwan
Troops killed in Iran’s explosion
Reforms, anti-terror war to go on: Gilani
Qureshi says his Kashmir remarks in UN speech delayed talks with India
Pakistan needs up to $30 billion for flood recovery
25 Turkish trucks carrying relief aid reach Quetta
Yemen arrests 19 suspects after blasts
11 ex-terrorists leave jail after rehab program
Relief drive for Pakistan extended
Al-Qaeda threatens Iraq ministers' families
Bomb in Algeria kills 5
Israel officials doubt peace reachable; EU says Israel must guarantee equality
UAE tops in Arab Gulf gender equality
Ahmadinejad to begin high-profile Lebanon visit
Lebanon crowds cheer Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Iraq seeks diplomatic thaw with Syria
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
Photo: Aisha's new nose is a rare Afghan good news story
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Mutilated Afghan girl Aisha gets new nose
13 October 2010
The Afghan girl featured on a controversial Time magazine cover in the US has been given a new prosthetic nose.
Aisha told Time her nose and ears had been cut off - with the approval of a Taliban commander - by her abusive husband as punishment for running away.
The front cover generated debate over the headline "What Happens if We Leave Afghanistan" and over the use of the photo itself.
Her surgery was done in California.
'Blood debt'
The Grossman Burn Foundation, which carried out the work, campaigns on the issue of violence against women, as well as doing free plastic surgery work.
Foundation surgeon Peter Grossman carried out the reconstruction surgery.
Aisha was widely photographed and filmed earlier this week receiving the Enduring Heart award at a benefit ceremony staged by the foundation.
She was given the award by California first lady Maria Shriver, the wife of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"This is the first Enduring Heart award given to a woman whose heart endures and who shows us all what it means to have love and to be the enduring heart," Ms Shriver said.
Aisha - whose surname has not been revealed - replied: "Thank you so much."
The 18-year-old was reportedly given away by her family in childhood as a "blood debt" and was subsequently married to a Taliban fighter.
His family abused her and she ran away but was recaptured and mutilated by her husband.
Aisha's case has been used in the West to illustrate the fear of what will happen if US, British and other international forces leave prematurely.
Some critics questioned the tone of the Time cover arguing that it was using emotional blackmail and gender politics to justify continued US involvement in Afghanistan.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11530849
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Nato holds Brussels Afghanistan handover meeting
Oct 13, 2010
US and Nato commander Gen David Petraeus is briefing ambassadors in Brussels on handing over responsibility for security to Afghan forces.
It is hoped that the handover will take place in the first half of next year.
Nato commanders insist that progress - although slow - has been made, even though they had hoped to start the transition before the end of 2010.
Gen Petraeus is expected to say that while some troops could begin to withdraw, others would be reassigned.
They will be given new, supporting missions to help Afghan forces.
The BBC's Nick Childs says that while Nato may meet President Obama's target of beginning to withdraw US forces by July 2011, the numbers may be small at first.
Officials say it all depends on conditions on the ground.
Nato leaders are due to endorse the withdrawal roadmap at a summit in November.
But our correspondent says that commanders are expected to continue emphasising that unless they get more specialist trainers for the mission, the timetable could be delayed further.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11530855
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Al-Qaida magazine offers terror tips, suggests crashing trucks into crowds
Oct 13, 2010
PARIS: Al-Qaida urged Muslims in western countries to weld steel blades to heavy SUV vehicles and plough then into civilian crowds, in the second edition of the group's online English-language magazine.
"Inspire", a 74-page propaganda organ published by the Yemen-based wing of the Islamist group, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), aims to recruit young westerners to the jihadi cause and to inspire random attacks.
In an article titled "The Ultimate Mowing Machine", illustrated with a picture of an imposing civilian Ford four-by-four truck, the group suggests turning the vehicle into a deadly battering ram and targeting crowded areas.
It urges attacks in " Israel, the US, Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Denmark, Holland and other countries where the government and public sentiment is in support of the occupation of Palestine.
"If you have access to firearms, carry them with you so that you may use them to finish off your work if your vehicle gets grounded during the attack," the article continued, warning that militants must be prepared to die.
"After such an attack we believe it would be difficult to get away safely. Hence, it should be considered a martyrdom operation," it said.
Another section, entitled "My Life in Jihad", profiles US citizen Samir Khan, whom US intelligence believes is an internet militant who once operated out of his parent's basement in New York and who is now in Yemen.
"I'm proud to be a traitor to America," wrote Khan, whom authorities suspect is one of the militants behind the magazine. "I'm proud to be a traitor in America's eyes just as much as I'm proud to be a Muslim."
"And I take this opportunity to accentuate my oath of allegiance to the ferocious lion, the champion of jihad, the humble servant of God, my beloved Sheikh Osama bin Laden, may Allah protect him," he added.
Other articles include an interview with Abu Sufyan al-Azdi, a Saudi AQAP leader who was formerly imprisoned for six years at the US detention centre in Guantanamo, and messages from the radical US imam Anwar al-Awlaki.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Al-Qaida-magazine-offers-terror-tips-suggests-crashing-trucks-into-crowds/articleshow/6739012.cms#ixzz12EgwZCsb
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18 Guards killed in blast at Iran base: State media
Oct 13, 2010
TEHRAN: Eighteen Revolutionary Guards were killed in a fire at an ammunitions store at one of the elite force's bases in western Iran, the state IRNA news agency quoted a commander as saying on Wednesday.
"Eighteen members of the forces at the base were killed and 14 wounded" in Tuesday's explosion, IRNA quoted Guards commander Yadollah Bouali as saying.
Two days of mourning have been declared in Lorestan province after the blast at the Imam Ali base near the provincial capital Khorramabad, IRNA said.
Bouali said on Tuesday that the explosion hit when a fire spread to the munitions store at the base.
The Revolutionary Guards have emerged as a powerful military and economic force in Iran in recent years, especially under the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The force was set up after the Islamic revolution of 1979 to defend the revolution against internal and external threats.
The Guards were heavily involved in the government's crackdown on opposition protests that erupted after last's year disputed presidential election results which gave Ahmadinejad a second term.
The force and some of its industrial wings have been targeted by UN sanctions imposed on Iran for pursuing its controversial nuclear programme.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/18-Guards-killed-in-blast-at-Iran-base-State-media/articleshow/6741718.cms#ixzz12EhGurW9
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Ten killed in Indonesia landslide
October 13, 2010
PALU: At least 10 people have been killed and another three were feared dead after they were buried in a landslide on Indonesia's Sulawesi island, police said Wednesday.
A steep part of a hill in the Morowali district of Central Sulawesi province collapsed on Tuesday and engulfed dozens of people working for a local palm oil company, local police chief Suhirman said.
"The workers were taking a lunch break on the hill's slope when the incident happened," he said.
Heavy rains as well as excavation work to build an access road for the plantation company may have been partly to blame for the landslide, he said, adding that 18 people were also injured, most suffering broken bones.
Full report at:
http://www.thenews.com.pk/latest-news/2832.htm
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Plane crashes near Kabul; 8 killed
13 Oct, 2010
KABUL, Oct 12: A cargo plane operating on behalf of a US-based company crashed into mountains and burst into flames near the Afghan capital on Tuesday, killing all eight crew on board, officials said.
The plane had taken off from Bagram, one of the largest US-run military bases in Afghanistan, 60 kilometres north of Kabul.
Local aviation officials said the plane was carrying goods on behalf of the US-led Nato force in Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), but an ISAF spokesman said only that he was checking those reports.
Officials gave no immediate word on the cause of the crash, which happened after dark. Five months ago an Afghan passenger jet crashed into treacherous mountains near Kabul during bad weather.
“A C-130 cargo plane operated by National Air Cargo was on its way from Bagram to Kabul,” Mohammad Yaqoob Rasouli, the director of Kabul International Airport, said.
“It disappeared from radar screens at 19:25 (1455 GMT) six miles on the radar screen northeast of Kabul airport,” Rasouli said.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/international/plane-crashes-near-kabul-8-killed-300
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10 Taliban killed in Mardan operation
13 Oct, 2010
PESHAWAR: Around ten terrorists and one soldier were killed in an operation against terrorists in different parts of the Mardan district on Tuesday, security forces sources told Daily Times.
The sources added that around 800 suspected terrorists had also been arrested in the operation.
The sources said that the army and police on Monday, started a two-day joint operation against terrorists in various parts of Mardan including included Matta, Ghuando, Shamozai and Shikray Baba areas of Katlang tehsil, Sawaldher, Bakhshali and Guli Bagh areas of Mardan district, after the killing of renowned religious scholar and Swat Islamic University vice chancellor Dr Muhammad Farooq.
The sources said that out of the ten terrorists killed, two belonged to a local Taliban group headed by Habibur Rehman, while the other eights were from some other terrorist groups, adding that their names could not be ascertained.
The sources further said that the security forces also arrested around 800 suspected terrorists in the operation, and shifted them to an undisclosed location.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\10\13\story_13-10-2010_pg7_4
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Dubai: Five new Metro stations to open on Friday
13 October 2010
Gone are the days of frenetic pace and mad rush. In Dubai, it’s all measured and assured now. Taking one step at a time and ensuring that it’s a step in the right direction.
The RTA is crossing the penultimate hurdle of the first phase of its ambitious metro project.
Among the descending gloom of economic recession over the last two years, one thing has remained steady – in its speed as well as its development – the Metro. In fact, it has been a story of milestones — stations, passengers, tickets, timing — every movement of the blue streak has been truly memorable. And now is the time of another vital step.
Just five months after adding 10 new stations to the previously operating number of 11, the RTA is gearing up to open five strategically located stops this Friday.
Supported by 28 new feeder buses on 6 new routes, the five stations — Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT), Nakheel, Sharaf DG, First Gulf Bank and Business Bay — are seen as additional gateways to their surrounding neighbourhoods already catered by a station nearby.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2010/October/theuae_October325.xml§ion=theuae
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Zardari says US behind Taliban attacks in Pakistan
By Shaheen Sehbai
WASHINGTON: President Asif Ali Zardari seriously believes that the US was “arranging” the (suicide) attacks by Pakistani Taliban inside Pakistan, a claim he made before Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US envoy to Afghanistan, who thought it was ‘madness’.
The account of this claim by Zardari has been elaborately reproduced by Bob Woodward, on Page 116 of his famous book ‘Obama’s Wars’. The revelation could throw a lot of light on the complex relations between the Zardari-led PPP government which US officials believe is incompetent and the disillusioned US diplomats.
Zardari received this information from President Karzai and passed it on to Khalilzad which also reveals how important the Pakistani president thinks Karzai’s views are, though the Americans consider him a liability.
These views of Karzai and Zardari were considered by the US side as maverick and strengthened their impression that both these leaders and their governments were non-serious players and according to Khalilzad “dysfunctional”.
The Woodward account goes like this: “One evening during the trilateral summit (in Washington, between Obama, Karzai and Zardari) Zardari had dinner with Zalmay Khalilzad, the 58-year-old former US ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq and the UN, during the Bush presidency.
Full report at:
http://www.thenews.com.pk/13-10-2010/Top-Story/1276.htm
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Pope takes biggest step to revive Christianity
Oct 12, 2010
VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI today outlined his most tangible initiative yet to try to revive Christianity, creating a Vatican office for re-evangelising Europe and other traditionally Christian regions where the faith is falling by the wayside.
In an official decree, Benedict said the new office would work with bishops to promote church doctrine, use modern communication methods to get the church's message out and mobilise missionary-type activities using members of religious orders and new religious movements.
But even on its first day of existence, the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelisation ran into an all-too-typical Vatican snag: The four-page decree instituting the office was issued only in Latin and Italian, even though the Pope announced the office's creation four months ago.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Pope-takes-biggest-step-to-revive-Christianity/articleshow/6736832.cms#ixzz12CttZOvI
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Three interlocutors chosen for Jammu and Kashmir
Oct 13, 2010
NEW DELHI: Government on Wednesday named three interlocutors, including eminent journalist Dilip Padgaonkar, to hold talks with all shades of opinion including the separatists in Jammu and Kashmir as part of efforts to bring peace in the state.
Besides Padgaonkar, Information Commissioner M M Ansari and noted academician Radha Kumar were the other two named by Union home minister P Chidambaram as interlocutors chosen in consultation with the state government.
Chidambaram said the three interlocutors are "very credible people" and they will begin work as early as possible. "We may add one more interlocutor later," he said.
The decision to appoint a set of interlocutors was taken at the Cabinet Committee on Security meeting chaired by Prime Mamohan Singh on September 25.
The terms and references of the panel will be to hold talks all shades of opinion including mainstream political parties and separatists. The panel will cover views of all the three regions--Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Three-interlocutors-chosen-for-Jammu-and-Kashmir/articleshow/6741251.cms#ixzz12EfGVQtR
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Interlocutors to start uninterrupted dialogue: Chidambaram
Oct 13, 2010
NEW DELHI: Home minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said the three interlocutors on Kashmir will begin the process of "sustained uninterrupted dialogue" with all shades of opinion to resolve the Kashmir problem.
He said eminent journalist Dilip Padgaonkar, Information Commissioner M M Ansari and academician Prof Radha Kumar have been appointed as interlocutors for Kashmir talks in pursuant to the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Security.
"We hope that they will begin a process of sustained uninterrupted dialogue with all sections of people of Jammu and Kashmir, especially with youths and students and all shades of political opinion," he told reporters here.
Chidambaram said the move was a clear demonstration of the seriousness of the government of India to find a solution to the Kashmir problem which has been there "for many, many years".
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/indiaarticlelist/articleshow/6741406.cms#ixzz12EffBQv
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Indian accused of stabbing ex-girlfriend 27 times in Dubai
Oct 12, 2010
DUBAI: A 41-year-old Indian computer programmer has denied in court the charge of premeditatedly attempting to murder his ex-girlfriend, who claimed he stabbed her 27 times.
According to a news report, prosecutors accused the man, identified only as MN of repeatedly stabbing the 23-year-old Filipina, identified as MS with knife and also attacked her two Indian workmates when they tried to save her, a Gulf News report said.
"I did not have any intention to kill her. The incident happened so suddenly and I did not preplan the whole matter...besides I was under the influence of liquor," MN said, pleading not guilty before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
According to the charge sheet, MN repeatedly stabbed her with a medium-sized kitchen knife. The computer programmer was charged with the victim MS premeditated murder attempt and causing her ten per cent permanent disability.
He was also arraigned with assaulting the Indian workmates identified as, 37-year-old EK and 45-year-old BC, and drinking liquor, the report said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/indians-abroad/Indian-accused-of-stabbing-ex-girlfriend-27-times-in-Dubai/articleshow/6734995.cms#ixzz12CtxxXRf
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More Taliban militants could be removed from UN blacklist: US
Oct 13, 2010
WASHINGTON: The United States has indicated that it was open to the removal of more Taliban militants from a UN sanctions list in order to facilitate peace talks in Afghanistan.
State department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters the department had supported to the list changes in the past, and further adjustments were "certainly possible."
He was responding to reports that a new Afghan peace council, newly set up to broker an end to the war with the Taliban, had proposed removing Taliban from a UN Security Council blacklist in order to promote reconciliation.
In August, the UN panel removed 10 Taliban along with 35 al-Qaida members and affiliates from its sanctions terror list after its first exhaustive review of 488 blacklisted names.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/More-Taliban-militants-could-be-removed-from-UN-blacklist-US/articleshow/6739457.cms#ixzz12Cu2y41j
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London bombers planned strike on 6/7, put it off a day
Oct 13, 2010
LONDON: Terrorists plotting the July 7, 2005 bomb attacks had planned to unleash carnage a day earlier, but changed their plan after their leader's wife had complications with her pregnancy, the inquests into the deaths have heard.
Mohammed Sidique Khan, the terrorists' ring leader, took his pregnant wife to hospital two days before the attacks and sent a text message to the others about the delay. The details emerged as the full inquests into the deaths of those who died at the hands of Khan, Shehzad Tanweer, Hasib Hussain and Jermaine Lindsay in the suicide attacks five years ago opened here on Monday.
Had the bombs been detonated on July 6, the explosions would have come just hours before the announcement that London had been awarded the 2012 Olympic Games. Sidique Khan's wife had a miscarriage on the day of the bombings. pti
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/London-bombers-planned-strike-on-6/7-put-it-off-a-day/articleshow/6739426.cms#ixzz12Cu7G1id
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Try Musharraf for treason, says Sharif
Oct 13, 2010
LAHORE: Dubbing former military dictator Pervez Musharraf as the "most corrupt, callous, immoral and ruthless ruler of Pakistan", the Nawaz Sharif-led PML-N has demanded that the government seek Interpol help to bring him back home to face trial for treason.
Making public a chargesheet against Musharraf who ousted the PML-N government in a bloodless coup 11 years ago, the party has said the former dictators' misdeeds included imposition of martial law, the Kargil misadventure, murder of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti and killings in the Lal Masjid in Islamabad.
The chargesheet comes at a time when Musharraf has launched a move to return to active politics through his new party. pti
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Try-Musharraf-for-treason-says-Sharif/articleshow/6739415.cms#ixzz12CtdUzLS
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Rahul Gandhi's Bihar campaign to start with wooing Muslims
Oct 13, 2010,
NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi will start his Bihar campaign from Katihar, Araria and Supaul, in a move symbolising the Congress hope to wean away Muslim votes in state elections.
The Congress heir-apparent will address rallies in the three places on Thursday, pockets which are part of the minority belt. The choice may not be coincidental as they come in the wake of Allahabad High Court's judgment on Ayodhya and a row sparked by Rahul's statement in Bhopal equating RSS with the proscribed SIMI.
There is anticipation in the party that the AICC general secretary may touch upon the sensitive issues as there is a virtual three-way race for minority votes. While Lalu Prasad's RJD has remained a strong pole for the community, ruling JD(U) is harbouring hopes that it can win a chunk despite being in partnership with BJP on account of Nitish Kumar's governance. Congress is hoping to encash the appeal of its virtual one-party rule in Delhi.
Congress hopes are built around the possibility of Muslims voting for it and upper castes or individual groups polarising around its candidates to give it a winning combination. The party has fielded a record 47 Muslim candidates.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rahul-Gandhis-Bihar-campaign-to-start-with-wooing-Muslims/articleshow/6737945.cms#ixzz12CuWoEEj
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Huge win for BJP in Gujarat civic polls due to Muslim support: Modi
Oct 12, 2010
AHMEDABAD: Ruling BJP today swept the polls to six municipal corporations in Gujarat retaining power with two-thirds majority in all but one of them, in a big victory for Chief Minister Narendra Modi who put all his might behind the civic election campaign.
Besides Ahmedabad, the BJP won the civic polls in Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot and Bhavnagar with a two-thirds majority. The party, which decimated the Congress, got a simple majority in Jamnagar.
Savouring the BJP's huge victory in civic polls in Gujarat, Chief Minister Narendra Modi said this would not have been possible without Muslims voting for the saffron party in good numbers.
"More than 30 per cent of Muslims have voted for us. That is the reason we have been able to get over 80 per cent of votes," Modi said addressing a victory rally after the party swept the elections to six municipal corporations across the state.
"This(electoral support from Muslims) will dispel all the myths regarding Muslims of Gujarat," he added.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Huge-win-for-BJP-in-Gujarat-civic-polls-due-to-Muslim-support-Modi/articleshow/6735618.cms#ixzz12CuboHmo
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Death of Indian woman at airport: MEA official to visit Muscat
Oct 12, 2010
NEW DELHI: External affairs ministry is sending a senior official to Muscat to investigate the case of a woman, who died after being stranded at the airport there for five days after she lost her passport.
"We are sending a senior official of the ministry to Muscat to conduct an enquiry and report back to me," External affairs minister S M Krishna told reporters here.
This move comes in the backdrop of reports that embassy officials did not help 40-year-old Keralite Beebi Lumada, a housemaid who was travelling from Muscat to Chennai via Doha by a Qatar Airways flight last week, who lost her passport while in transit at the Doha airport.
When her passport was not found, she was sent back to Muscat, the port of origin. Lumada, who hailed from Kerala, wanted to go back to her home city Thiruvananthapuram.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Death-of-Indian-woman-at-airport-MEA-official-to-visit-Muscat/articleshow/6734997.cms#ixzz12Cuhycnw
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Kargil in PML(N) charge-sheet against Musharraf
Anita Joshua
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) on Monday came out with a 17-point charge-sheet against the former President, Pervez Musharraf, to mount pressure on the federal government to get him back to Pakistan for trial for high treason, murder of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti and corruption.
The charge sheet was issued on the eve of the 11 {+t} {+h} anniversary of the ouster of PML(N) chief Nawaz Sharif by Mr. Musharraf on October 12, 1999. While the ouster of Mr. Sharif, his detention and imposition of martial rule tops the list of crimes committed by Mr. Musharraf, the “Kargil misadventure'' comes second.
About Kargil, the charge sheet states that Mr. Musharraf planned and undertook the “misadventure''. He concealed it from the elected government and sacrificed the lives of 800 Army officers and men. In doing so, Mr. Musharraf caused irreparable damage to the cause of the Kashmiri people and also a “very honourable peace process which was started by Mr. Sharif in the shape of the Lahore Declaration''.
Full report at:
http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/13/stories/2010101362260700.htm
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Pakistan says it is key to Taliban peace talks
October 13, 2010
Pakistan’s Prime Minister said on Tuesday that peace talks between the Afghan Government and the Taliban cannot succeed without Islamabad’s help, a reminder of the leverage the country has because of its historical ties with the group.
The drumbeat about talks has picked up in recent days, fueled in part by Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s confirmation that his Government has had informal discussions with the Taliban on securing peace in Afghanistan “for quite some time.”
http://www.dailypioneer.com/289464/Pakistan-says-it-is-key-to-Taliban-peace-talks.html
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Amit Shah's bail plea admitted
October 13, 2010
AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the State government and the Central Bureau of Investigation on the bail petition filed by the former minister of State for Home, Amit Shah.
Justice R.H. Shukla admitted Mr. Shah's petition seeking bail and quashing the special CBI court's order rejecting his bail plea and posted it for hearing on October 22. Mr. Shah, the prime accused in the Sohrabuddin–Kausarbi murder case, had filed the bail petition in the High Court on Monday.
http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/13/stories/2010101358320100.htm
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Video showing mob justice surfaces
By Tariq Birmani
13 Oct, 2010
DERA GHAZI KHAN: A video of an incident of mob justice came to the surface on Tuesday, reviving memories of a ghastly lynching incident in Sialkot in the first week of Ramazan.
On March 18, Abdullah Chandia shot dead Naseem Abbas, a cloth merchant and local office-bearer of the Tehrik-i-Jafria, in Choti Zaireen for unknown reasons. Later, he surrendered to police.
A mob chased Abdullah to the Choti police station and came out with his body. The mob celebrated the man’s death and people lifted DSP Iqbal Chandia onto their shoulders.
Later, the mob burnt the body.
Abdullah’s family alleged that he had been murdered by police. On his family’s plea, the DSP and SHO Noor Ahmad Chandia were booked for murder.
Another case was registered against about 1,500 people.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/video-showing-mob-justice-surfaces-300
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Fears of sectarian clash in Sehwan
By Qurban Ali Khushik
13 Oct, 2010
DADU: The shrine of Sufi saint Qalandar Lal Shahbaz was sealed from 5am to 4pm on Tuesday amid sectarian tension. A heavy contingent of police from Sehwan, Lake Shah Sadar, Amri, Jhangara and Bhan Syedabad was deployed in and around the shrine to avert any unpleasant situation.
SPO of Sehwan Rasool Bux Siyal told journalists that Pir Munawwarul Haq, an irrigation officer and brother of Sindh Senior Minister Pir Mazharul Haq, had announced that a Majlis would be held in the shrine’s Dhamal Court on Tuesday afternoon.
But, people belonging to a rival sect and office-bearers of the Citizens Alliance opposed the move and the former warned that they would call for a strike in the town if the gathering was held.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/fears-of-sectarian-clash-in-sehwan-300
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Troops killed in Iran’s explosion
13 Oct, 2010
TEHRAN: An explosion killed several members of the elite Revolutionary Guards at a military base in western Iran, reported local news agencies.
The Fars News Agency said that blast also injured several others, who were taken to hospitals in Khoramabad, some 500km southwest of capital.
The Guards’ official website added that a fire ignited the base’s ammunition depot, but did not indicate how the blaze had started.
Most Iranian news agencies described the explosion as accidental.
The Mashreghnews.ir news website was the sole outlet to give an exact toll, reporting that 12 guards had been killed and 20 injured. The site has ties to Iran’s presidency.—AP
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/troops-killed-in-irans-explosion-300
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Reforms, anti-terror war to go on: Gilani
By Baqir Sajjad Syed
12 Oct, 2010
ISLAMABAD: Having argued for weeks that his government did not suffer from a credibility crisis, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani held a dinner exclusively for diplomatic heads of missions on Monday where he asked the international community to trust his government and continue assisting it in its reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts.
Speaking at a reception held ahead of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP) ministerial meeting scheduled in Brussels for Friday where international support for post-flood activities would be one of the main agenda topics, Mr Gilani touched upon the concerns of the West about governance, accountability, broadening of tax base and commitment to war on terror.
“While we are engaged in reordering our national priorities to mobilise greater resources for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the affected people, we are mindful of the need to continue and persist with the macro-economic stabilisation and reform process that was initiated by the government in consultation with international financial institutions.”
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/reforms,-antiterror-war-to-go-on-gilani-200
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Qureshi says his Kashmir remarks in UN speech delayed talks with India
By Ahmad Hassan
13 Oct, 2010
ISLAMABAD, Oct 12: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said here on Tuesday that the Pakistan-India dialogue was delayed apparently because of his speech in the United Nations General Assembly, stressing the need for resolving the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN resolutions and aspirations of the people of Kashmir.
Talking to reporters after briefing the Senate House Committee on Kashmir and Foreign Affairs on Pakistan’s fresh efforts for resolving the Kashmir dispute, Mr Qureshi said: “Apparently, the Indians did not like my statement and thus have delayed their response to the resumption of dialogue earlier offered by them.”
The in-camera session of the committee, convened by its chairman Senator Salim Saifullah Khan on a request by the Human Rights Society of Pakistan, condemned the Indian atrocities against Kashmiri youths and expressed complete confidence in the government’s Kashmir policy and the methods suggested by the Foreign Office for its resolution.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/qureshi-says-his-kashmir-remarks-in-un-speech-delayed-talks-with-india-300
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Pakistan needs up to $30 billion for flood recovery
By Sajid Chaudhry
ISLAMABAD: The World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) in their joint Damage Need Assessment (DNA) have estimated that Pakistan would need $30 billion to reconstruct infrastructure and rehabilitate affected people in the flood-affected areas.
The survey found that the country suffered a loss of $9.5 billion (around Rs 800 billion) to public and private property, crops and other infrastructure in all four provinces and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The $30 billion estimate covers reconstruction and rehabilitation costs of destroyed infrastructure and compensation of losses in the public and private sector, official sources at the Ministry of Finance confirmed to Daily Times on Tuesday. The banks have shared these figures with the country’s economic managers and a formal announcement would be made at the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FODP) meeting, scheduled on October 14 in Brussels.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\10\13\story_13-10-2010_pg1_2
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25 Turkish trucks carrying relief aid reach Quetta
October 13, 2010
QUETTA: About 25 trucks carrying 400 tonnes of relief goods, dispatched by the Turkish government reached Quetta on Tuesday.
The truks left Ankara on September 24 and took 15 days to reach Quetta.
Turkish Military Attache Captain Levent Karim handed over the relief stuff to the Pakistani army officials. The army officials thanked the Turkish government for extending unflinching support to the flood-hit people of Pakistan.
A 21-member Turkish team, comprising doctors and other volunteers, have been engaged in rescue and rehabilitation activities in the flood-hit areas of Balochistan since August 21.
Turkey in collaboration with Southern Command had set up modern field hospital in Dera Murad Jamali where hundreds of patients had been given medical treatments. The hospital being examined instead of referring them to the hospitals in Sibi and Quetta. app
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\10\13\story_13-10-2010_pg7_24
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Yemen arrests 19 suspects after blasts
Oct 13, 2010
SANAA: Yemen said Tuesday it arrested 19 suspects after twin bomb blasts killed three people at a sports center in Aden, raising security fears ahead of an international football tournament in the restive south.
The attacks, which are yet to be claimed by any group, rocked the southern city on Monday, the same day Al-Qaeda's Yemeni branch announced the creation of an "Aden-Abyan Army" named after two provinces that will host the matches.
Al-Qaeda's offshoot in Yemen warned Tuesday it is setting up the “new army” to overthrow the country's president in response to his US-backed counterterrorism campaign and said it would fill its ranks with snipers and bomb makers.
“Run for your life,” the group's military chief warned President Ali Abdullah Saleh in an audio recording that surfaced on militant-affiliated websites.
The commander, Qassim Al-Raimi, did not reveal the size of the new fighting force, but said its ranks were already overflowing with so many volunteers — including some from abroad — that many had to be turned away.
Al-Raimi, speaking under the nom de guerre Abu Hurira Al-Sanani, said President Saleh would meet the same destiny as Pakistan's former President Pervez Musharraf, who also lost popular support for cooperating with the US in fighting Al-Qaeda's central leadership and the Taleban in northwest Pakistan. Musharraf stepped down in 2008 amid protests and after a heavy election defeat for his supporters.
“You are digging your own grave,” al-Raimi said. “Run for your life, Ali, because Pervez perished.”
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article159581.ece
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11 ex-terrorists leave jail after rehab program
By MUHAMMAD HUMAIDAN
Oct 13, 2010
JEDDAH: Eleven people convicted of terrorism charges have been released after completing their rehabilitation at Prince Muhammad bin Naif Center for Advice and Care, the center announced on Tuesday. This is the 16th batch of prisoners to be released by the center.
A center spokesman said the released prisoners would go through a program involving followup checks to help them psychologically and socially.
He added that a number of released prisoners performed Haj last year, while two of them enrolled at Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University. Three others will join an advanced computer study course at the social service center at King Saud University.
The program of rehabilitating terrorists and encouraging them to abandon their extremist views was the brainchild of Prince Muhammad bin Naif, assistant minister of interior for security affairs.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article159682.ece
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Relief drive for Pakistan extended
Oct 13, 2010
JEDDAH: Governor of Jeddah Prince Mishaal bin Majed extended on Tuesday the popular campaign to collect donations for flood victims in Pakistan by three months.
He urged able Saudi citizens and foreigners to support the campaign by depositing their donations, whether in cash or checks, at the National Commercial Bank (account No. 4,000).
“They can also make their donations through the bank’s telephone or at the bank's website on the Internet,” he said.
Prince Mishaal said people wishing to donate cars or houses should sell them and hand over cash, adding that other material donations such as medicines and foodstuffs should have an expiry date that is no less than a year and be properly packed.
Meanwhile, a team from the governorate is currently choosing easily accessible centers to receive donations.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article159685.ece
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Al-Qaeda threatens Iraq ministers' families
Oct 13, 2010
BAGHDAD: Al-Qaeda's umbrella group in Iraq has threatened to kidnap family members of Iraqi politicians and ministers unless the wife and children of its slain leader are released from prison.
The Islamic State of Iraq, as the terror network's affiliate is known, demanded in a message posted Tuesday on militant websites that Abu Ayyub Al-Masri's family be released.
It purports that the wife and children have been in custody since the joint US-Iraqi air and ground assault near Saddam Hussein's hometown Tikrit in April that killed Al-Masri. Authorities have reported their detention but there has been no word on their whereabouts since.
Al-Qaeda says that unless Al-Masri's family is freed, it will kidnap "wives, daughters and sons" of Iraqi politicians and ministers.
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article159614.ece
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Bomb in Algeria kills 5
By AOMAR OUALI
Oct 13, 2010
ALGIERS: A security official says five people in Algeria have been killed by a remote control bomb that exploded at a work site in the North African country.
The official says the bomb went off Tuesday as public works officials inspected a work site in Tlidjen, near the country’s eastern border.
Those killed were three local public works officials and two entrepreneurs.
A hospital official has confirmed details of the bombing.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to media.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Most attacks in Algeria are claimed by Al-Qaeda in North Africa, a local insurgency movement that joined Osama Bin Laden’s terrorist network in 2006.
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article159627.ece
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Israel officials doubt peace reachable; EU says Israel must guarantee equality
Oct 13, 2010
JERUSALEM: An Israeli Cabinet minister said Tuesday that top officials doubt a peace deal with the Palestinians can be reached soon even though the prime minister has committed to try to reach an agreement within a year.
The Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which resumed last month after a breakdown of nearly two years, have already run aground over Israel's refusal to renew a moratorium on West Bank settlement construction.
“I don't know a single minister in the septet who thinks it's possible to reach a deal in the foreseeable future,” said Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon.
Yaalon was referring to the seven-member decision-making body in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Cabinet.
Yaalon, speaking to Army Radio, accused the Palestinians of being intransigent and of carrying out repeated violence and incitement since 1993, when the two sides signed their first, interim peace accord.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article159740.ece
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UAE tops in Arab Gulf gender equality
13 October 2010
The United Arab Emirates has moved up nine places to win the top spot among the Arab Gulf countries in gender equality.
According to a World Economic Forum report on gender gaps released on Tuesday, the Arabian Peninsula fared poorly on gender gaps, with all of the region’s countries ranking in the bottom quarter, and Yemen in last place at 134.
The UAE was the region’s best-placed nation, but it only ranked 103 out of the 134 countries listed in the WEF annual gender gap index. Kuwait was next at 105th, followed by Bahrain at 110th, Qatar at 117th, Oman at 122nd and Saudi Arabia at 129th, while Yemen finished last at 134th.
The WEF index assesses disparities between genders in terms of economic opportunities, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment. Though overall rankings for countries in the region were low, the report highlighted progress that has been made. The UAE, it said, “gains nine places to attain first position among the Arab countries”.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2010/October/theuae_October324.xml§ion=theuae
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Ahmadinejad to begin high-profile Lebanon visit
13 October 2010
BEIRUT - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrives in Beirut on Wednesday on a controversial visit that will take him to the doorstep of arch-foe Israel in a joint show of force with his ally Hezbollah.
His two-day official trip has sparked criticism among members of Lebanon’s pro-Western parliamentary majority as well as in the United States and Israel, which have sought to isolate Iran over its nuclear programme.
Hezbollah has urged its supporters to turn out en masse to greet the hardline Iranian leader early on Wednesday, with banners of Ahmadinejad and Iranian flags lining the highway leading to the airport south of Beirut.
Giant pictures of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the US-backed shah, also lined the roads in Hezbollah’s stronghold in the capital’s southern suburbs.
Several main streets in Beirut were cordoned off on the eve of the visit, set to take place under tight security.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/October/middleeast_October176.xml§ion=middleeast
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Lebanon crowds cheer Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
13 October 2010
Mr Ahmadinejad's motorcade was showered with rice and flowers on its way from the airport to the presidential palace.
But many people are alarmed at the visit, as Iran backs the Hezbollah group, an avowed enemy of Israel.
In a move likely to outrage critics, Mr Ahmadinejad is set to tour villages on Lebanon's tense border with Israel.
The region was devastated during a 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, and rebuilt partly with Iranian money.
"Ahmadinejad has done a lot for Lebanon, we are here to thank him," 18-year-old engineering student Fatima Mazeh told the Associated Press.
"He's not controlling Lebanon. Everyone has a mind and can think for himself. We are here to stand with him during the hardest times."
'Disgusted'
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11526143
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Iraq seeks diplomatic thaw with Syria
13 October 2010
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s prime minister is looking to strengthen relations with neighboring Syria — while burnishing his own credentials — in a visit Wednesday aimed at easing tension between the longtime rivals.
The anticipated meeting in Damascus comes as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki tries to hang onto his job amid a seven-month political impasse in Baghdad that has left Iraq’s government adrift.
Iraq and Syria have suffered a strained diplomacy for years, going back decades. Efforts to normalize relations suffered a blow last year, when al-Maliki accused Syria of harboring those behind deadly blasts in Baghdad that killed 101 people.
But last month, Iraqi leaders announced they would reopen their embassy in Damascus, and expected Syria to re-establish their ambassador in Baghdad.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/October/middleeast_October175.xml§ion=middleeast
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamicWorldNews_1.aspx?ArticleID=3526
1:52 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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