| Islamic World News | |
| 13 Nov 2010, NewAgeIslam.Com |
Kuwait: 14 nails inserted into Lankan housemaid
US drone strike kills four militants in Pakistan: officials
Indonesia's democratic Islam: What the world can learn
Bomb blast in Afghanistan kills 8, injures 18
Eight militants killed in Orakzai clash
All Hindus held for terror activities linked to RSS: Digvijay
Asma Jahangir: it's time women's quota bill was passed
Iran hangs serial killer of women: report
Want PM's response to begin dialogue on Kashmir: Geelani
Muslim, Christian clerics can help establish justice in world
Headley made his kids do military drills
`Easy divorce ruining lives in Pakistan'
White powder, threats sent to French mosque
“Allah’s Tailors” gaining profile in Turkey
Gaddafi flies Italian women to Libya for 'cultural' tours - and romance
After nine weeks, Friday prayers held in historic Jamia mosque
Stop attacks on RSS offices or face wrath: BJP tells Cong
SC rejects Gujarat's plea against SIT probe into Ishrat case
Pakistan used terror as a hedge against India: Hillary Clinton
Anti-Islam Wilders: 'I want less Islam in Europe'
'No breakthrough on Kashmir without strong govts in India, Pak'
Palestinian held for Facebook criticism of Islam
Lanka denies visas to Al-Jazeera staff
Jewish settler attack two little girls and an elderly woman south of Bethlehem
‘UNESCO withdrew from Iran’s World Philosophy Day under Zionists pressure’
With Words on Muslims, Opening a Door Long Shut
Pakistan Slow to Rebuild Swat Valley a Year After Offensive
Iraq's Allawi: Power - Sharing Deal "Is Dead"
Yemen: the war on terror and a deadly game of cat and mouse
9/11 mastermind to remain in detention without trial: Report
JC agrees to appoint Justice Ejaz Chaudhry as LHC CJ
1st Nat'l Seminar of Quran Translators to Be Held in Qom
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress joins hands with President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government
More than 900,000 pilgrims arrive in Holy City of Madinah
Obama's support to India's UNSC bid not at Pak expense: US
Toll from volatile Indonesian volcano rises to 240
Iraqi govt gets Obama’s cheers but Sunnis’ jeers
Grand ayatollah calls on Pope to condemn U.S. crimes
Israel military says air strike kills Gaza militant
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
Photo: Bangladesh oppositin leader Khaleda Zia
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Khaleda Zia put under house arrest, says Bangladesh opposition
Nov 13, 2010
DHAKA: Bangladesh's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Saturday said its leader and former prime minister Khaleda Zia was put "under house arrest" as the government moved to evict her early morning from the house given to her after her husband's assassination in 1981.
Police and Rapid Action Battallion personnel took possession of the single-storeyed colonial house in the Dhaka Cantonment area, where Zia has lived for the past three decades.
The 2.72-acre plot was originally the official residence of the army's deputy chief of staff, a position held by Zia's husband, Gen. Ziaur Rahman, who later became the army chief, then military ruler and later the elected president. He was assassinated in 1981.
The government told the Dhaka High Court that the allotment of the house was illegal and it should be vacated.
Hasina wants to use the house to resettle families of army officers who were killed in a mutiny staged in February last year by troopers of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), the country's border guards.
Before the BNP went into an emergency meeting Saturday, its secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain said Zia, who was still in the house, was "under house arrest".
The government move came at the end of a month-long quit notice issued to Zia by the Dhaka High Court that rejected her appeal against an earlier eviction order.
Zia's appeal before the Supreme Sourt is pending till Nov 29.
As the eviction process went on, Zia's press aide and other BNP leaders vehemently denied that she was voluntarily leaving the house, the Daily Star newspaper said.
The claim on the house was made by the military, which technically owns the cantonment house, through a statement issued by the Inter Services Public Relations ((ISPR) department.
The ruling Awami League, meanwhile, "hailed" Zia for her reported move to "vacate" the residence.
Awami League central joint secretary Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif told the Daily Star that it was "a wise decision of the opposition leader, which will bring decency to the country and strengthen the rule of law".
There was "no involvement of the state or the ruling party in the matter", he said.
Anticipating the government's move, BNP activists assembled at the Jahangir Gate of the cantonment, but were not allowed to enter, bdnews24.com, an online newspaper reported.
Political observers said the government's move would sharpen the conflict between Zia and her arch political rival, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Zia, who overwhelmingly lost the December 2008 parliamentary election to Hasina, has been boycotting parliament. The government has moved court to secure the return of her two sons, Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman Koko, who were jailed in corruption cases. They were released on bail separately by past government to seek medical treatment in London and Bangkok respectively and have been out of the country since 2008.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Khaleda-Zia-put-under-house-arrest-says-Bangladesh-opposition/articleshow/6918559.cms#ixzz159qneArm
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Kuwait: 14 nails inserted into Lankan housemaid
Nov 13 2010
Colombo : In the second such incident in the past few months, a Sri Lankan housemaid who returned after working in Kuwait for two months has been found to have 14 nails inserted into her body allegedly by her employer.
"We have located 14 metal rods inserted in to her body. Out of that 8 were removed from her right arm and one from left leg," Hospital director Dr S Rajamanthree said, adding, "Another operation will be done to remove 4 rods in left arm and one in right hand."
38-year-old V R Lechchami, a mother of two, is the second victim found within four months with a similar experience.
The victim has lodged a complaint to the police before she got admitted to the hospital stating that the wife of the landlord beat her and hammered the nails into her body, the police said.
In August another housemaid, T Ariyawathi, returned to the country from Saudi Arabia with 23 nails inserted to her body. Doctors removed all of them successfully later.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/kuwait-14-metal-rods-inserted-into-lankan-housemaid/710680/
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US drone strike kills four militants in Pakistan: officials
Nov 13 2010
MIRANSHAH: A US drone strike in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt on Saturday killed four militants, destroying their compound and a vehicle, local security officials said.
Two missiles fired by a US drone hit Ahmad Khel village, some 25 kilometres (15 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan region, local security officials said.
“It was a US drone attack, one missile hit a house and another hit a vehicle. We have reports that four militants were killed,” an intelligence official in Miranshah told AFP.
A second intelligence official in the town confirmed the attack and the death toll, while a security official in Peshawar said two drones fired four missiles, hitting a vehicle and killing three militants.
The area is considered a stronghold of Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked fighters and has seen a dramatic rise in US drone strikes, as intelligence claims emerged last month of a Mumbai-style terror plot to launch commando attacks on European cities.
The leadership of the Haqqani network, which is linked to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, is also based in North Waziristan.
It has been accused of plotting some of the deadliest attacks on US troops in Afghanistan including a suicide bombing that killed seven CIA operatives at a US base in Khost last December.
Officials in Miranshah and Peshawar said they are trying to find out the identities of those killed and whether there was a so-called ‘high value’ target among the dead.
A covert US drone campaign in Pakistan has stepped up strikes in the tribal belt, The United States considers Pakistan’s tribal belt an Al-Qaeda headquarters and the most dangerous place on Earth.
More than 220 people have been killed in over 40 strikes since September 3, heightening tensions with Islamabad over reported US criticism of Pakistan’s failure so far to launch a ground offensive in North Waziristan.
The United States does not as a rule confirm drone attacks, but its military and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy the pilotless aircraft in the region.
Officials in Washington say drone strikes are highly effective in the war against Al-Qaeda and its allies, killing a number of high-value targets, including the Pakistani Taliban’s founding father Baitullah Mehsud.
But the policy is unpopular among the Pakistan public who see military action on Pakistani soil as a breach of national sovereignty.
It has led to reprisals from militant groups who have targeted NATO supply convoys destined for Afghanistan.
http://www.dawn.com/2010/11/13/us-drone-strike-kills-four-militants-in-pakistan-officials-2.html
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Indonesia's democratic Islam: What the world can learn
By Alfred Stepan and Jeremy Menchik
Nov 13, 2010
The visit by "Barry Obama" - the Indonesian nickname for the former resident and current United States President - to Jakarta was intended, as much as anything, to celebrate the achievements of the world's largest Muslim-majority country.
In the 12 years since its transition to democracy, Indonesia has regularly held local and national elections, developed a functioning free market, and strengthened its culture of tolerance towards the country's Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Chinese minorities.
Of the 10 members of Asean, only Indonesia has a "free" rating from Freedom House. American policymakers have, therefore, looked to Indonesia as a model for the rest of the Muslim world. But what lessons are to be learned from Indonesian democracy?
The most important lesson is that Islamic organisations can provide the backbone of a tolerant civil society.
Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), mass Islamic institutions with more than 30 million and 40 million members, respectively, operate more than 10,000 schools and hundreds of hospitals, as well as run youth organisations and support women's movements. Both have connections to political parties, most of which have consistently spoken out for democracy and against an Islamic state.
Mr Syafi'i Ma'arif, the former chair of Muhammadiyah, has made pluralist arguments, grounded in the Quran, against blind obedience to Islamic classical jurisprudence. Mr Abdurrahman Wahid, the former chair of NU, for decades advocated respect for religious pluralism, and was pivotal in mobilising democratic opposition to Mr Suharto.
A third Islamic intellectual, Dr Nurcholish Madjid, called for the "de-sacralising" of politics in the '70s, advocated genuine multi-party democracy in the '90s, and personally urged Mr Suharto to step down in 1998.
Indonesia also demonstrates how Islam can provide support for women's rights. Among the activist community in Jakarta, the most successful organisations are those that draw support from the women's wings of Muhammadiyah and NU: Muslimat, Fatayat and Aisyiyah.
The former head of Fatayat, Ms Maria Ulfah Anshor, has made sophisticated arguments grounded in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) for women's access to reproductive rights. And, thanks to a partnership between state and Islamic scholars stretching back 40 years, Indonesia has one of the most successful family-planning programmes in the developing world.
Ironically, the US has done as much to block the efforts of Indonesia's women's-rights activists as it has to support them. Former President George W Bush's restrictions on funding for health programmes that supported contraception meant that Islamic organisations receiving any funding from the US Agency for International Development were unable to publish material promoting safe-sex and family planning.
This could be, and often was, highly counter-productive. In one absurd case, a group of Muslim feminists who wrote a book promoting women's rights based on Quranic exegesis had to publish their work in secret, because it included arguments for women's reproductive rights and a small percentage of the group's funding came from a foundation that had received money from USAid.
The fact that Islamic organisations have benefited women may also help explain Indonesian women's political success.
Parliament is 18 per cent female (a slightly higher percentage than in the US Congress) and a woman, Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri, was the country's fourth President. Leading organisations like Umar, Fatayat and Muslimat provide a corrective to the widespread view that syariah necessarily impedes women.
Indeed, Indonesian women have shown how syariah can provide a tool for combating misogynist policies. For example, the head of Islamic affairs in the Ministry of Religion, Dr Nasaruddin Umar, is a self-described Islamic feminist who has published sophisticated critiques of gender bias in Quranic exegesis.
Religion permeates almost every aspect of life in Indonesia, including politics. But political parties advocating for implementation of syariah have lost ground in successive elections from 1955 to last year. The parties that still support syariah have largely disappeared or changed their platform. Rather than taking over the state, Islamist parties have been forced by the electorate to alter their policies to account for Indonesian pluralism.
Perhaps the best way to help Muslims is not to attempt to transplant institutions from Indonesia to the Middle East, or to give aid to "US-approved" moderates, but simply to listen more closely to the voices of Indonesian Islam.
But that is difficult to do. Almost none of the writings of the intellectuals who have been crucial to democratisation and women's rights in Indonesia has been translated into English. Perhaps more unfortunately, none has been translated into Arabic. PROJECT SYNDICATE
Alfred Stepan is a professor of political science at Columbia University and the director of its Centre for the Study of Democracy, Toleration, and Religion. Jeremy Menchik, a PhD candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has spent the past two years studying Islam and politics in Indonesia.
http://www.todayonline.com/World/EDC101112-0000044/Indonesias-democratic-Islam--What-the-world-can-learn
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Bomb blast in Afghanistan kills 8, injures 18
13 November 2010
At least eight people have been killed and 18 others injured after a motorcycle bomb exploded in a market in northern Afghanistan, local officials say.
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - At least eight people have been killed and 18 others injured after a motorcycle bomb exploded in a market in northern Afghanistan, local officials say.
The explosion occurred in Imam Saheb district in Kunduz province on Saturday.
"A bomb placed in a motorbike detonated in the middle of a bazaar. Eight people -- two local police and six civilians -- were killed and 18 others, all civilians, were injured," Imam Saheb district chief Mohammad Ayoub Haqyar told AFP.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but according to Afghan officials, the raid was similar to previous Taliban attacks.
Full report at:http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=212898
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Eight militants killed in Orakzai clash
Nov 13, 2010
KALAYA: At least eight militants were killed in a shootout with security forces in the northwestern Orakzai tribal region on Saturday, local officials said.
Two soldiers were wounded in the incident.
There was no independent verification of the incident as the war zone is out of bounds for journalists and is remote.
http://www.dawn.com/2010/11/13/eight-militants-killed-in-orakzai-clash.html
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All Hindus held for terror activities linked to RSS: Digvijay
Nov 13, 2010
BAGPUR: Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh has said that all Hindus arrested for their alleged involvement in terror activities across the country are linked to the Rashtriya Swayayamsewak Sangh (RSS).
Turning tables on the Nagpur-headquartered saffron outfit for its observation that 'all Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims', Singh said,"these fundamentalists (RSS) had always labelled Muslims as anti-nationals. All Hindus arrested for terror activities are linked to the RSS."
"They have dubbed Muslims as perpetrators of terror and are now crying foul when some of their own cadre have been arrested in various parts for their alleged terror links," he said Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/All-Hindus-held-for-terror-activities-linked-to-RSS-Digvijay/articleshow/6919494.cms
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Asma Jahangir: it's time women's quota bill was passed
Nov 13, 2010
NEW DELHI: Making a fervent plea for promoting gender equality in the Indian sub-continent, Pakistani human rights activist Asma Jahangir on Friday expressed the hope that Parliament would pass the much awaited Women's Reservation Bill soon.
Delivering the 16th Justice Sunanda Bhandare Memorial Lecture, Ms. Jahangir noted that the situation of women in the entire subcontinent left much to be desired and said there was need for a movement to create public awareness about the need to ensure equality between men and women.
Referring specifically to the long-pending women's bill, she recalled how women activists in Pakistan were able to get 30 per cent reservation introduced in the country's National Assembly, inspired by the 33 per cent reservation in local bodies in India. “Now it is time similar reservation was made available in the Indian Parliament also.”
Full report at: http://www.hindu.com/2010/11/13/stories/2010111367151500.htm
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Iran hangs serial killer of women: report
Nov 13, 2010
TEHRAN: Iran hanged on Saturday a serial killer convicted of murdering 16 women and girls over a four-year period, Fars news agency reported.
Farid Baghlani was executed in a prison of the southwestern city of Ahvaz, the report said, adding families of the victims celebrated by handing out sweets to people in the detention facility.
The report said Baghlani began the killing spree at the port city of Abadan in 2004, and that he said during his trial that he carried out the murders out of hatred for women.
The latest hanging brings the number of executions in Iran to at least 144 so far this year, according to an AFP count based on media reports. At least 270 people were executed in 2009.
Full report at: http://www.dawn.com/2010/11/13/iran-hangs-serial-killer-of-women-report.html
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Want PM's response to begin dialogue on Kashmir: Geelani
Nov 13, 2010
SRINAGAR: Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani said Saturday that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should accept Kashmir as an international dispute for the separatists to begin a dialogue with the central interlocutors.
Reacting to chief minister Omar Abdullah's statement that Geelani must engage in a meaningful dialogue with the central interlocutors since his foremost demand to accept Kashmir as an international dispute had been met, the hardline Hurriyat leader Saturday said the acceptance should come from the prime minister.
In a statement issued here, Geelani has sought a direct and clear response from New Delhi.
"The prime minister should not shy away from admitting a historical fact", Geelani said.
Omar Abdullah had said two days back in winter capital Jammu that the interlocutors had said Kashmir was a dispute which needed to be resolved and also accepted that Pakistan had to be taken on board to bring in permanent peace in Jammu and Kashmir.
Full report at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Want-PMs-response-to-begin-dialogue-on-Kashmir-Geelani/articleshow/6919083.cms#ixzz159qY1WqJ
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Muslim, Christian clerics can help establish justice in world
13 November 2010
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Tuesday evening that Muslim and Christian clerics can pave the way for establishment of justice throughout the globe.
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Tuesday evening that Muslim and Christian clerics can pave the way for establishment of justice throughout the globe.
The Iranian President made the remark in a meeting with visiting President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in the Roman Curia, Cardinal Jean-Luis Pierre Tauran.
He underlined the need for closer cooperation between the Muslim and Christian Ulema in order to help establish justice and peace in the entire world.
Full report at: http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=212547
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Headley made his kids do military drills
Nov 13, 2010
LeT operative David Coleman Headley had made his children do “military drills“ in a Chicago park last summer, according to a law enforcement officer, who said this observation had helped bring the Pakistani-American terrorist “on the radar.“
“On a summer day last year, Headley, like many fathers, took his children to a Chicago park.
There, Headley, ran his children through military drills, including manoeuvre such as rolling into a shooting position,“ a report in the Chicago Tribune said, quoting the officer.
The “manoeuvre“ had caught the attention of a Chicago police official who, like others in his department, was being trained to be more alert and to document suspicious activities.
Full report at: Hindustan Times
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`Easy divorce ruining lives in Pakistan'
Nov 13, 2010
NEW DELHI: Noted Pakistani human rights activist Asma Jahangir on Friday said easy divorce under the present matrimonial law in her country is ruining the lives of millions of women, leading to various societal problems.
Delivering the 16th Justice Sunanda Bhandare Memorial Lecture on `Impact of law and politics on women in Pakistan', Jahangir said the concept of man as the provider and woman as the up bringer of children and homemaker was still prevalent in the Islamic state.
“Divorce is the cheapest thing in Pakistan. A man has to just spent Rs 10 to send a letter of talaq to the union council and sleep over it. And then he automatically gets a divorce. In 80 per cent of such cases, women have got only Rs 32 as `meher',“ Jahangir said.
Full report at: Hindustan Times
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White powder, threats sent to French mosque
Nov 13, 2010
PARIS: An official at Strasbourg City Hall says an area mosque has received an envelope containing a suspicious white powder and anti-Muslim threats. The official said two employees of the Eyyub Sultan mosque, serving Strasbourg’s Turkish community, opened the letter on Friday. It contained a half-burned page from the Quran and a threatening letter, the official said on condition of anonymity because she was not authorised to speak with the media. She says the powder has not yet been identified, but is not anthrax.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\11\13\story_13-11-2010_pg7_9
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“Allah’s Tailors” gaining profile in Turkey
Nov 13, 2010
ISTANBUL: Along Istanbul’s busy Eminonu waterfront women swathed in dark coats and scarves knotted once under the chin jostle past others clad in vivid colours and head coverings carefully sculpted around the face.
Two decades ago such a polished, pious look scarcely existed in Turkey. But today it has the highest profile exponents in First Lady Hayrunnisa Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s wife Emine, and the brands behind it plan ambitious expansion.
The headscarf remains one of Turkey’s most divisive issues.
Everything from the way it is tied and accessorised, to the poise and demeanour of the wearer, is laden with meaning in this majority Muslim but officially secular country of 74 million.
Full report at: http://www.dawn.com/2010/11/12/%E2%80%9Callahs-tailors%E2%80%9D-gaining-profile-in-turkey.html
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Gaddafi flies Italian women to Libya for 'cultural' tours - and romance
Nov 13, 2010
Silvio Berlusconi and Colonel Gaddafi: Gaddafi ‘is interested in romances developing between youths from Libya and Italy’, according to an Italian agency. Photograph: Reuters
Building on his friendship with Silvio Berlusconi, Libya's leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has begun flying groups of Italian women to Libya for "cultural" tours of the country, with the aim of marrying them off to local men – starting with his nephew.
"The leader wants young people from other countries to visit Libyan hospitals and universities as well as understand its history," said Alessandro Londero, the manager of the Italian hostess recruiting agency which supplies the women.
Full report at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/12/colonel-gaddafi-italy-women-libya
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After nine weeks, Friday prayers held in historic Jamia mosque
Nov 13, 2010
Srinagar : After nine weeks, Friday prayers were held in historic Jamia Masjid here as authorities did not impose curfew following a threat by Islamic scholars to issue a 'fatwa' against the Jammu and Kashmir government.
However, moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, who delivers the sermon ahead of congregational prayers, could not participate as he was placed under house arrest, official sources said.
The last Friday prayers were offered at Jamia Masjid on September 10, a day ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr festival.
Apprehensive of violence after the prayers, authorities used to impose strict curfew to ward off protests and maintain law and order.
Full report at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/after-nine-weeks-friday-prayers-held-in-historic-jamia-mosque/710285/
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Stop attacks on RSS offices or face wrath: BJP tells Cong
Nov 13, 2010
New Delhi : BJP on Saturday asked Congress to put a stop to attacks on RSS offices by its workers in protest K S Sudershan's remarks against Sonia Gandhi and warned that failure to do so would lead to nation-wide agitations on corruption in 2-G Spectrum, CWG and Adarsh Housing Society.
"We are giving a stern warning to Congress that if it continues with its violence and anarchy inspite of all clarifications by BJP and the RSS, which remained calm even after Congress leaders equated RSS with SIMI, we will launch a nation-wide agitation to expose Congress on 2-G Spectrum, Adarsh scam and CWG issues," BJP spokesperson Tarun Vijay said.
Vijay said this violence showed the Congress was trying to "repeat 1984 (anti-Sikh riots)".
Full report at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/stop-attacks-on-rss-offices-or-face-wrath-bjp-tells-cong/710668/
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SC rejects Gujarat's plea against SIT probe into Ishrat case
Nov 13, 2010
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed an appeal filed by Gujarat government challenging a High Court order setting up a new Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged fake encounter killing of Ishrat Jahan in 2004.
The HC had constituted the new SIT headed by Delhi's joint commissioner of police Karnail Singh and comprising senior IPS officers Mohan Jha and Satish Verma on September 24 after the apex court objected to its earlier order directing probe into the fake encounter case by the SC-constituted SIT headed by former CBI director R K Raghavan, which investigated afresh nine sensitive post-Godhra riot cases including the train burning case.
A Bench comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and S S Nijjar made light of the arguments by Gujarat government's counsel, senior advocates Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi, that the HC had no power to constitute a special SIT when the state had already set up a similar body.
Full report at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/SC-rejects-Gujarats-plea-against-SIT-probe-into-Ishrat-case/articleshow/6915153.cms#ixzz158bOYetU
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Pakistan used terror as a hedge against India: Hillary Clinton
Nov 13, 2010
WASHINGTON: Islamabad used to support terror outfits as a hedge against India and an unfriendly Afghan regime, so that the two neighbours of Pakistan do not undermine it, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said.
"They (Pakistan) have in the past hedged against both India and an unfriendly regime in Afghanistan by supporting groups that will be their proxies in trying to prevent either India or an unfriendly Afghan Government from undermining their position," she said.
Clinton said now things are "changing", but she cannot confirm whether Pakistan has stopped the use of terror against India and Afghanistan.
"That is changing... Now, I cannot sit here and tell you that it has changed, but that is changing," she told ABC News in an interview, the transcripts of which was released by the state department.
Full report at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pakistan-used-terror-as-a-hedge-against-India-Hillary-Clinton/articleshow/6918726.cms#ixzz159qbKLgp
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Anti-Islam Wilders: 'I want less Islam in Europe'
13 November 2010
German Der Spiegel recently interviewed Dutch politician Geert Wilders. The headlines focused on his comments that Merkel is afraid of his popularity, or that the Koran is worse than Mein Kampf, though in Wilders' case, saying he doesn't want to ban Islam and doesn't intend to deport Muslims seem more headline-worthy.
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - German Der Spiegel recently interviewed Dutch politician Geert Wilders. The headlines focused on his comments that Merkel is afraid of his popularity, or that the Koran is worse than Mein Kampf, though in Wilders' case, saying he doesn't want to ban Islam and doesn't intend to deport Muslims seem more headline-worthy.
Spiegel now published the entire article in English.
Via Spiegel:
Full report at: http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=212914
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'No breakthrough on Kashmir without strong govts in India, Pak'
Nov 13 2010
Washington : No breakthrough on Kashmir is possible without the presence of strong governments in India and Pakistan, according to a former US diplomat.
"The key thing if you want a breakthrough on Kashmir is that you have to have strong governments in both India and Pakistan that are in a position to take a deal public," said Teresita Schaffer, a former US diplomat and director, South Asia Program, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think-tank.
"That is the principal ingredient that was missing during the otherwise quite successful back-channel talks during the latter part of Musharraf's time in power, which narrowed the gap but did not eliminate it," she said.
Full report at: http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/710629/
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Palestinian held for Facebook criticism of Islam
Nov 13 2010
Qalqiliya : A mysterious blogger who set off an uproar in the Arab world by claiming he was God and hurling insults at the Prophet Mohammad is now behind bars caught in a sting that used Facebook to track him down.
The case of the unlikely apostate, a shy barber from this backwater West Bank town, is highlighting the limits of tolerance in the Western-backed Palestinian Authority and illustrating a new trend by authorities in the Arab world to mine social media for evidence.
Residents of Qalqiliya say they had no idea that Walid Husayin, the 26-year-old son of a Muslim scholar, was leading a double life.
Known as a quiet man who prayed with his family each Friday and spent his evenings working in his father’s barbershop, Husayin was secretly posting anti-religion rants on the Internet during his free time.
Full report at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/palestinian-held-for-facebook-criticism-of-islam/710416/
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Lanka denies visas to Al-Jazeera staff
Nov 13, 2010
Sri Lanka has denied visas to at least three staffers of Al-Jazeera television, after the station broadcast images of bodies and execution-style killings, said to have occurred during the final weeks of the civil war against Tamil rebels last year.
An external affairs ministry spokesman said yesterday that a decision was taken not to issue the visas for the crew who wanted to cover the swearing-in of President Mahinda Rajapaksa for a second term Nov 19 and also visit the Tamil region in the north, where the fighting took place.
Full report at: http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=162416
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Jewish settler attack two little girls and an elderly woman south of Bethlehem
13 November 2010
Two little girls, aged 10 and 11, and an elderly woman were wounded south of Bethlehem city on Thursday morning when an armed Jewish settler from Tekoa settlement savagely threw stones at them.
GAZA (Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Two little girls, aged 10 and 11, and an elderly woman were wounded south of Bethlehem city on Thursday morning when an armed Jewish settler from Tekoa settlement savagely threw stones at them.
Eyewitness said that the settler was heavily armed with weapons and cursed Arabs and Muslims.
Other local sources reported that a large number of Israeli troops and border guards stormed Al-Lawziya village in the city on the same day and clashed with school students there.
Full report at: http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=212888
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‘UNESCO withdrew from Iran’s World Philosophy Day under Zionists pressure’
Nov 13, 2010
TEHRAN -- The Iranian ambassador and permanent delegate of the Islamic Republic of Iran to UNESCO said that UNESCO has pulled out of the World Philosophy Day under pressure from the Zionists.
“Despite all attempted sabotage by the Zionists, the World Philosophy Day will be held in a more impressive manner this year than in past years,” Mohammadreza Majidi told the Persian service of IRNA on Thursday.
In a statement published on Tuesday, UNESCO announced that it would not take part in the World Philosophy Day events, which is scheduled to be held from November 21 to 23 in Tehran.
Full report at: http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=230395
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With Words on Muslims, Opening a Door Long Shut
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN
Nov 13, 2010
THIS quiet, orderly man, who lives in a quiet, orderly house, in a very quiet tree-lined neighborhood has caused a huge public stir here with his volatile book arguing that Muslim immigrants in Germany are socially, culturally and intellectually inferior to most everyone else.
With the certainty of an accountant adding up rows of numbers, Thilo Sarrazin has delivered his conclusion in a book that has sold over one million copies, forced him to quit his job at the German central bank, may get him kicked out of his political party and for the first time since World War II made it socially acceptable in Germany to single out a particular minority for criticism.
“The facts I quoted and analyzed are undeniable and cannot be done away with,” he said without a hint of defensiveness in his quiet, understated manner.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/13/world/europe/13sarrazin.html?src=twrhp
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Pakistan Slow to Rebuild Swat Valley a Year After Offensive
By ADAM B. ELLICK
November 13, 2010
DRUSHKHELA, Pakistan — People here felt a surge of optimism last year when the military declared the Swat Valley cleared of Taliban insurgents, who had bullied their way to power by publicly whipping and beheading opponents.
But more than a year after millions of residents returned home, the absence of virtually any government follow-through has turned that hope into despair.
Throughout the valley, tens of thousands of students are sheltered by broken-down walls and flimsy tents supplied mostly by international aid groups. The government has yet to rebuild even one of the more than 150 schools leveled by the Taliban in their methodical campaign to prevent girls’ education.
Full report at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/13/world/asia/13swat.html?_r=1&hp
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Iraq's Allawi: Power - Sharing Deal "Is Dead"
November 13, 2010
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The head of Iraq's main Sunni-backed political group has pronounced a new power-sharing deal "dead" and predicted more violence, just days after the accord aiming to end political infighting was reached.
Former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya was the final big group to agree to join a coalition this week in an accord that gave Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki a second term.
But two thirds of Iraqiya members walked out of parliament on Thursday saying a deal between blocs was being violated.
Full report at: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/11/13/world/international-us-iraq.html?ref=world
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Yemen: the war on terror and a deadly game of cat and mouse
By Richard Spencer
13 Nov 2010
Tribal customs and a deadly ambivalence towards the West mean that the hunt for Anwar al-Awlaki will be long and frustrating.
Sheikh Ahmed Shuraif certainly has the tools for the job the Americans and British want him to do. Kalashnikov rifles litter the floor of the spacious lounge where he and his men gather in the afternoon to chew qat, Yemenis' favourite narcotic leaf. And this is just his town house in Yemen's capital, Sana'a. Out in the province of Marib, where he commands one of Yemen's most important tribes, he is reputed to have the country's largest private army, including tanks.
Full report at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/yemen/8130379/Yemen-the-war-on-terror-and-a-deadly-game-of-cat-and-mouse.html
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9/11 mastermind to remain in detention without trial: Report
Nov 13, 2010
WASHINGTON: The alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, will likely remain in military detention without trial for the foreseeable future, The Washington Post reported Saturday.
Citing unnamed administration officials, the newspaper said the administration of President Barack Obama has concluded that it could not put Mohammed on trial in a federal court because of the opposition of lawmakers in Congress and in New York.
There is also little internal support for a military prosecution at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, because it would alienate Obama's liberal supporters, the report said.
Full report at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/9/11-mastermind-to-remain-in-detention-without-trial-Report/articleshow/6918695.cms#ixzz159qM4IIs
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JC agrees to appoint Justice Ejaz Chaudhry as LHC CJ
Nov 13, 2010
ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission on Saturday agreed to appoint Justice Ejaz Chaudhry as Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court (LHC), television reports said.
The commission, in its second meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, unanimously decided to appoint Justice Ejaz Chaudhry as Chief Justice LHC as Justice Khwaja Sharif is to retire on December 8.
Justice Ejaz is the senior most judge in the LHC after the incumbent CJ Khwaja Sharif.
As per the 18th Amendment, a parliamentary committee will give the final nod over the appointment of Justice Ejaz. However, the eight-member committee has not yet been constituted.
Full report at: http://www.dawn.com/2010/11/13/jc-agrees-to-appoint-justice-ejaz-chaudhry-as-lhc-cj.html
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1st Nat'l Seminar of Quran Translators to Be Held in Qom
13 November 2010
The first national seminar of holy Quran translators will be held on February 24, 2011, by the Quran Research Center of Qom Seminary in the holy city of Qom.
QOM, Iran (Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The first national seminar of holy Quran translators will be held on February 24, 2011, by the Quran Research Center of Qom Seminary in the holy city of Qom.
This is according to Hojat-ol-Islam Mohammad Ali Rezaee Esfahani, scientific secretary of the seminar who also told IQNA that it would be held with the cooperation of a number of religious institutions in the city.
Full report at: http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=212896
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Sri Lanka Muslim Congress joins hands with President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government
13 November 2010
Sri Lanka’s largest Muslim political party- the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Today (November 12) announced that it will join the ruling United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance’s (UPFA) government, in a bid to partner in Sri Lanka’s era of development.
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - In an exclusive interview with the Asian Tribune, SLMC National Organiser, Shafeek Rajabdeen said that the announcement would be made by Party Leader Rauff Hakeem during Parliamentary session next Tuesday (November 16).
“This move was discussed at length during our recent High Command meeting. All eight MPs as well as other members of the High Command agreed that we will go down in history as traitors, if we do not partner with the government,”
Full report at: http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=212892
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More than 900,000 pilgrims arrive in Holy City of Madinah
13 November 2010
911,381 pilgrims have so far arrived in Madinah, 762,258 pilgrims left the city, and 149,002 pilgrims remained in the city to offer prayers ...
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - 911,381 pilgrims have so far arrived in Madinah, 762,258 pilgrims left the city, and 149,002 pilgrims remained in the city to offer prayers at the Prophet's Holy Mosque in preparation for proceeding to Makkah to perform Hajj rituals.
In its report issued today, the Secretariat of Hajj Committee in Madinah noted that the number of pilgrims who arrived until yesterday in Madinah through Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport, and other entry points amounted to 3,356 pilgrims, while the number of pilgrims who departed from Madinah stood at 52,155.
http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=212874
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Obama's support to India's UNSC bid not at Pak expense: US
Nov 13, 2010
WASHINGTON: US has briefed Pakistan on President Barack Obama's decision to endorse India for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council and assured Islamabad that his support to the bid is not at its expense.
"We have briefed the government of Pakistan on the President's announcement. I'm not aware that there was any particular concern expressed," State Department spokesman P J Crowley said.
"This (Obama's support) is a reflection of the growing importance of the region to the rest of the world, and Pakistan should not see this as something that comes at their expense. It does not," he said at his daily press briefing.
Full report at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Obamas-support-to-Indias-UNSC-bid-not-at-Pak-expense-US/articleshow/6917647.cms#ixzz158a0j7mS
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Toll from volatile Indonesian volcano rises to 240
Nov 13 2010
Mount Merapi : The death toll in a series of eruptions from an Indonesian volcano has hit 240.
The figure has continued to rise since a massive blast on Nov. 5 - the largest in a century - as rescuers have pulled more bodies from smoldering villages, people have died from their wounds and officials have counted deaths indirectly caused by the volcano.
The National Disaster Management Agency reported Saturday on its website that the toll had risen from 206 to 240.
Dewanto, an official with the agency's office, says at least eight more bodies were pulled from the rubble Friday. The rest died at hospitals.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/toll-from-volatile-indonesian-volcano-rises-to-240/710635/
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Iraqi govt gets Obama’s cheers but Sunnis’ jeers
Nov 13, 2010
BAGHDAD: President Barack Obama praised Iraqi moves to form an “inclusive” government on Friday, but the two-day-old deal was already looking fragile after Sunni lawmakers walked out of Parliament, clouding the possibilities for working with Shiite Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki.
Members of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc have accused Al-Maliki’s Shiite coalition of breaking promises under the deal, which aimed to overcome an eight-month deadlock and allow the creation of a new Iraqi government. Iraqiya lawmakers said they intended to press Al-Maliki for explanations on Friday.
Members of the Sunni minority said they feared they were being squeezed out of a major role in power, fearing the new government would just be a continuation of the last four years of Shiite dominance with a strong role for the Shiite parties’ ally Iran.
Full report at: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article188438.ece
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Grand ayatollah calls on Pope to condemn U.S. crimes
Nov 13, 2010
TEHRAN – Grand Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi-Amoli has called on the Pope to disapprove of the U.S. crimes in the region, criticizing the presence of the U.S. troops in Iran’s neighboring countries of Iraq and Afghanistan.
“What is the U.S., which has come from that side of the world, doing in the Middle East?” Ayatollah Javadi-Amoli asked in a meeting with a delegation of the Vatican Pontifical Council in Qom on Thursday.
“Look to the east of Iran; people are killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan everyday. Look to the West; terror and massacre are prevalent in Iraq. Across the Middle East, killings take place everyday,” he explained.
Full report at: http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=230348
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Israel military says air strike kills Gaza militant
Nov 13, 2010
GAZA CITY: A senior member of a group identified with Al-Qaeda died in a fiery car explosion set off by an Israeli airstrike Wednesday, Israel's military said.
The military said the target was Mohammed Namnam, 25, of the Army of Islam group. A military statement asserted that the Army of Islam is tied to Al-Qaeda and world jihad, but Palestinians said it does not have a direct, operational connection with Osama Bin Laden's group.
The military said Namnam was involved in attacks against Israelis, and recently “Namnam was involved with directing a terror attack against American and Israeli targets in the (Egyptian) Sinai Peninsula, in cooperation with Hamas elements in the Gaza Strip.” It gave no further details.
Full report at: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article188475.ece
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamicWorldNews_1.aspx?ArticleID=3675
9:23 PM
Moderate Islamist here
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