| Islamic World News | |
| 14 Feb 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com |
| Awan wants to swap Davis with Dr. Aafia Siddiqui | ||
Omar slams PDP, says can’t ‘gift away’ territory More troops may be pulled out of Kashmir valley Jamiat Ulema Assam committee dissolution vindictive: Badruddin Ajmal Jamat Islami to launch political party on March 26 Treasures looted from Egypt museum ‘Hindus are stupid & drink cow urine’ Ayodhya case: Hashim Ansari to file appeal Couples find novel ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day Terror crimes are falling in the Kingdom: Justice Minister Pakistan hopes diplomatic row won’t scuttle US talks 740 trainers still needed for Afghan forces: NATO Gilani in Kuwait on two-day official visit Palestinian government resigns Pakistani officials denied access to Rahat Fateh Jobless Tunisians arriving at Sicilian Island Mubarak still in Egypt: PM Indonesia's radical cleric on trial for terrorism Thousands of Italian women rally against Berlusconi Economy of love at full play in Pakistan Pakistani singer Rahat hits a bad note with dollar stash Govt plans to question Headley again PPP turns on Qureshi Egypt must change legal system too Mubarak legacy gone and heat is now on army to go Pak court issues arrest warrant for ex-Haj minister Egypt's Parliament dissolved Bahrain pledges media freedom Police attack peaceful Sanaa demonstration Jeddawis make documentary to highlight flood problem Iranian opposition defies warning, calls for rally 18 items missing from Egyptian Museum after unrest Is Al-Ain new home for Mubarak? Loyalists open fire on Qureshi Algerian opposition announces new march, despite ban Three more gas pipelines blown up Thousands rally in Yemen, demand political reforms Pakistan supports Afghan-led reconciliation process: Haroon Seven killed in separate incidents of violence, mishaps Pakistan: 12 die as bus caught fire in Sohara 5 die in Peshawar roof collapse Four flood-hit districts to be included in ROZ law Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau Photo: Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, arrested after he murdered the former Governor Punjab, Salman Taseer. | ||
Qadri indicted in Salman Taseer murder case------
Awan wants to swap Davis with Dr. Aafia Siddiqui
By AZHAR MASOOD
Feb 13, 2011
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's federal law minister has called on the US authorities to exchange a US national currently facing trial for a double murder in Lahore for a Pakistani doctor who was sentenced to 86 years in jail in the US.
“We will demand the release of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui if America demands the release of Raymond Davis,” said Federal Law Minister Babar Awan at a press conference in Gujranwala on Sunday.
Thirty-eight-year-old Aafia Siddiqui, a highly-educated Pakistani neurologist, is serving 86 years in prison after being found guilty of shooting at two US soldiers in dubious circumstances while in custody in Afghanistan.
The case of Davis, who shot dead two Pakistanis in late January, has raised tensions between Pakistan and the US. The US government insists he enjoys diplomatic immunity and should be released.
Awan’s statement shows a different position than that adopted by the Zardari government, which says the courts will decide Davis’ fate.
Awan, who normally articulates the policy statements of President Asif Ali Zardari, has picked the line of the Jamaat-e-Islami, which has been demanding a prisoner exchange. President Zardari also recently canceled a visit to the US due to the case.
Meanwhile, Shah Mahmud Durrani was not inducted in the federal Cabinet as foreign minister because he reportedly gave an undertaking to the US administration for Davis’ early extradition.
http://arabnews.com/world/article259704.ece
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Qadri indicted in Salman Taseer murder case
Feb 14, 2011
RAWALPINDI: A Pakistani court on Monday charged a police commando with terrorism and the murder of leading liberal politician Salman Taseer, whose assassination divided the country.
Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri pleaded not guilty to murder, his legal team said, after the Punjab governor was shot dead outside a cafe in a leafy street of Islamabad on January 4.
Qadri had confessed to killing Taseer, objecting to his calls to reform the blasphemy law, which sentences to death those convicted of defaming the Prophet Mohammed and which rights groups say is exploited in cases of personal enmity.
One of Qadri’s lawyers, Malik Mohammad Rafiq Khan, told AFP after an anti-terrorism court session held behind closed doors: “The judge examined the record and said that apparently the accused committed murder and terrorism.
“The judge read out the charges to the accused. The accused pleaded not guilty,” Khan said in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Qadri denied it was murder saying he had acted on the directives of the Koran and the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed “regarding an apostate”, Khan said.
The next hearing will be held on February 26, when witnesses and evidence will be presented, the lawyer added.
Taseer’s killing was the most high-profile political assassination in Pakistan since former prime minister Benazir Bhutto died in a gun and suicide attack on her motorcade at the end of an election rally on December 27, 2007.
The country’s growing conservative religious right publicly praised Qadri for silencing a dangerous reformer. But the death appalled the tiny liberal elite, who interpreted the killing as a death knell for reform efforts.
Reacting to the indictment, Qari Hanif Qureshi, a firebrand speaker and apparent inspiration for Qadri who demonstrated in his support outside the Rawalpindi jail on Monday, said Islam rewarded the killers of apostates.
“Now it is up to the court to decide,” he told AFP.
Five days before the assassination, the government led by Taseer’s Pakistan People’s Party said it had no intention of amending the blasphemy law despite a global outcry over a Christian mother sentenced to death, whom he supported.
“The government should have taken action against the governor, but since it failed to do so, Qadri was compelled to take the law into in his own hands. He should be punished only for violating the law, not murder,” said Qureshi. – AFP
http://www.dawn.com/2011/02/14/qadri-indicted-in-salman-taseer-murder-case.html
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Omar slams PDP, says can’t ‘gift away’ territory
February 13, 2011
Srinagar: A day after PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti displayed a map of Jammu and Kashmir showing various cross-border trade routes, it generated a controversy with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah saying that “gifting away” of state's territory is not acceptable. The map displayed by Mehbooba at a press conference in Srinagar and later mailed to various media organisations had Aksai Chin marked in red and Pakistan occupied Kashmir in green. The PDP, however, defended by saying that for the first time a mainstream political party has mentioned about other parts of Kashmir.
The CM slammed the map. "It is up to the PDP, how they would want to clear this (controversy about map). I don't think it is acceptable to anyone that part of the state's territory is gifted away like this," he said on Sunday.
Mehbooba, however, defended the map. "For the first time, a mainstream political party has talked about all parts of Kashmir vis-a-vis its resolution. There is a part with Pakistan and a part with China. They (others) have given upon that part, but we have not. We were expecting appreciation from the country's leadership for it. But they missed the important part of it," she said.
On Saturday, Mehbooba showed a power point presentation--Our Vision -- at a press conference here. The presentation was later mailed to media organisations. It showed PoK in green, the Chinese occupied Aksai Chin in red and the rest of the state in yellow colour. She said that the colours didn't mean anything.
"We have not named any part in the map. We were talking about the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir as it existed before 1947 and that it should be made a free economic zone," she added.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/749765/
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More troops may be pulled out of Kashmir valley
Feb 14, 2011
NEW DELHI: The Centre, in consultation with Jammu and Kashmir, may withdraw nearly 10,000 paramilitary personnel from the state in a phased manner this year. At present, the troubled state has over 70,000 central paramilitary personnel.
"There is scope of reduction of troops. There are more than adequate forces in Kashmir and it can do with less central forces," home secretary Gopal K Pillai said.
Asked how many men were being pulled out from the state, he told a news agency that in 2009, the Centre pulled out 10 battalions (10,000 men) from the state. Last year, it did not take out any because of the agitation from June to September.
"I think this year, we can easily take out 10 battalions if not more. Irrespective of the situation, I can take out 10 battalions and it would not have any impact. We have about 70 battalions in Kashmir and we have 62 battalions in seven Left-wing affected states which are big states... I think if I can take out, I will try to pull out as many as I can," he said.
On amendments to AFSPA, whose withdrawal has been demanded by the state, the home secretary said this had to be decided politically. Pillai said if there was no change being made in AFSPA, then the area could be denotified (as disturbed) and the law will not be applicable there.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/More-troops-may-be-pulled-out-of-Kashmir-valley/articleshow/7491191.cms#ixzz1DuGFYb3X
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Jamiat Ulema Assam committee dissolution vindictive: Badruddin Ajmal
By New Age Islam News Bureau
New Delhi: The head of the All India United Democratic Front, Maulana Badruddin Ajmal Qasmi has said that the Assam committee of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind has been dissolved in retaliation to his voting in favour of Maulana Vastanvi in the election of the Vice Chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband. After the election I was warned of its repercussions. He said that the reason cited for the dissolution was that he had made Jamiat a political platform whereas it was a non-political organisation. Repudiating the allegation, Maulana Qasmi said that when Maulana Arshad Madani had made him the President of the Assam unit, he was already the President of a political party and after the formation of his political party one and half year ago, he remained in the Jamiat. “If the President was hurt by my political leanings, why did he make me President in the first place?” He asked. The state minister and Congress leader Raqeebul Hasan has been appointed as the Vice President of the Assam unit of Jamiat. His appointment was illegal. He was a member of neither the Shoura nor of Jamiat, he said. Maulana Badruddin Ajmal expressed his decision to join Mahmood Madani group and said that if he too supported the Tarun Gogoi government, he would oppose him too. He said that the issue of the dissolution of the Assam unit was totally political. “The state government plans to drive the Muslims of the state out of Assam by branding them Bangladeshis. We launched a movement against them. We also met the Prime Minister who gave assurances and the Supreme Court also admitted it which made Tarun Gogoi nervous. The Chief Minister knew that I was the President of the Jamiat and the whole Jamiat was behind me. So he hatched a conspiracy to get me out of Jamiat so that I cannot win the election. A secret meeting between Tarun Gogoi and Maulana Arshad Madani was held. His younger brother played a role in the meeting. And three days after the meeting, an emergency meeting of the Jamiat was convened and the dissolution of the Assam unit was announced”, he said. However, Maulana Qasmi said that 90 per cent of the people of the state were with him and he will emerge victorious at last.
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Jamat Islami to launch political party on March 26
By New Age Islam News Bureau
Aligarh: Jamat Islami will soon launch a campaign to spread the message of Islam and involve the Hindus alongwith Muslims in the campaign to make non-Muslims aware of the true messages of Islam. It will hold a one-day workshop for Muslim women at Sirajul Uloom on February 14 and another training camp will be held on February 20. The Jamat will also invite the leaders of Hindu organisations to know about the Islamic teachings. A spokesman of the Jamat Islami, Dr Shahabuddin Qasmi said that Jamat was established in 1941 and then it was reconstituted in 1948 after the partition. Since then Jamat had been spreading and propagating Islamic teachings. He said that a political wing of Jamat Islami would be launched to fight for the issues concerning the Muslims of the country. The announcement of the party would be made in a meeting on March 26, he said.
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Treasures looted from Egypt museum
February 13, 2011
Cairo: Several ancient treasures were stolen from the Egyptian Museum, including a statue of King Tutankhamun, when looters broke in during the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, authorities said on Sunday.
The pieces include a gilded wooden statue showing the boy pharaoh being carried by a goddess and parts of another statue of him harpooning fish, said Minister of State for Antiquities Zahi Hawass.
Looters broke into the museum in Cairo's Tahrir Square on January 28 when anti-Mubarak protesters drove his despised police from the streets in a series of clashes and torched an adjacent ruling party building.
Museum director Tarek al-Awadi said looters went on a rampage, shattering 13 display cases and at least 70 artefacts. He added that curators were still carrying out an inventory to determine the extent of the losses.
The missing pieces include a limestone statue of Pharaoh Akhenaten holding an offering table, a statue of Queen Nefertiti making offerings and a sandstone head of a princess from Amarna, a vast archaeological site in central Egypt.
Also missing were a stone statuette of a scribe from Amarna and 11 wooden shabti statuettes of Yuya, a powerful courtier from the time of the 18th Dynasty, which ruled along the banks of the Nile more than 3,000 years ago.
Founded in 1858 by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, the museum contains more than 100,000 artefacts, including the world renowned — and reputedly cursed — treasures from Tutankhamun's tomb. — AFP
http://www.hindu.com/2011/02/14/stories/2011021456711700.htm
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‘Hindus are stupid & drink cow urine’
Feb 14 2011
IT IS an assembly hall of the sort found in any ordinary school. Boys aged as young as six and upwards sit crosslegged on the floor in straight rows.
But this is no ordinary assembly. Holding the children’s attention is a man in Islamic dress wearing a skullcap and stroking his long dark beard as he talks.
“You’re not like the non- Muslims out there,” the teacher says, gesturing towards the window. “All that evil you see in the streets, people not wearing the hijab properly, people smoking . . . you should hate it, you should hate walking down that street.” Welcome to one of Britain’s most influential Islamic faith schools, the Darul Uloom Islamic High School in Birmingham.
Darul Ulooms are world- renowned Islamic institutions and their aim is to produce the next generation of Muslim leaders. In fact, these schools have been described as the ‘ Etons of Islam’. However, a Channel 4 current affairs programme, Dispatches , filmed secretly by an undercover reporter inside the school and a West Yorkshire mosque, discovered that Muslim children are being taught religious apartheid and social segregation.
Full report at: Mail Today
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Ayodhya case: Hashim Ansari to file appeal
Feb 14, 2011
LUCKNOW: Hashim Ansari, the oldest litigant in the Ayodhya land dispute, has finally given up hope for an out-of-court settlement on the issue, saying he will file a special leave petition in the Supreme Court Monday against the verdict of the Allahabad High Court.
Ninety-year-old Ansari, who had initiated moves for a final settlement on the vexed issue through negotiations, said Sunday he was compelled to take the decision following much opposition from various parties.
After 21-years of hearing, Allahabad High Court passed the verdict Sep 30 by its special bench comprising Justices S.U. Khan, Sudhir Agrawal and Dharam Veer Sharma, dividing the land where the Babri Mosque once stood into three parts — one each for Ram Lalla and a Ram temple and one for the mosque. It also suggested re-adjustment of land to the parties out of the surplus 67 acres of adjoining land acquired by the union government.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article259709.ece
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Couples find novel ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day
By SARAH ABDULLAH
Feb 14, 2011
JEDDAH: While some retail outlets in the Kingdom have geared up for Valentine’s Day only to be warned by the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice to remove items that are red, many couples have devised novel ways to celebrate Feb. 14 by exchanging other types of gifts.
Instead of exchanging red roses or balloons, couples are now exchanging jewelry, perfumes, chocolates and other gifts, in addition to having dinner in some of the city’s most popular restaurants.
“I have already bought my wife a gold and diamond bracelet and have reserved seats at a local restaurant to celebrate,” said Amjad, a 28-year-old Saudi who recently got married.
He added that if celebrating Valentine’s Day can bring a couple’s relationship closer, then it is well worth it given the high rate of divorce in the Kingdom.
Restaurants in Jeddah have been reporting a 90 percent increase in reservations for Monday evening. Many expect a very busy night as couples and families celebrate Valentine’s Day.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article259949.ece
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Terror crimes are falling in the Kingdom: Justice Minister
Feb 14, 2011
RIYADH: Justice Minister Muhammad Al-Issa said on Friday that terrorists were tried in ordinary judicial courts and there was no special court to look into their cases.
"Saudi courts try terror crimes with all fairness. However, the Kingdom's laws regard terror financing equally dangerous," Al-Issa said while receiving Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations and Chief Executive of the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime Yuri Fedotov at his office in Riyadh.
"Terror crimes are falling in the Kingdom," the minister noted, adding that judicial verdicts in terror crimes in the country would be published as soon as their compilation has been completed.
He also explained with statistical figures that the crime rate in the Kingdom was low compared to other countries. He attributed the low rate to the implementation of the Islamic Law and the just governance in the country.
"Kingdom's security and stability enable the authorities to deal with all crimes related to terror and drugs," he said, adding that the crimes related to drugs were no less dangerous than terror.
Discussing the rights of defendants in the Saudi courts, the minister said defendants could appeal sentences against them.
He also said the Kingdom never ignored any international agreements.
He added that the kingdom was fighting crimes of human trafficking effectively.
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article260070.ece
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Pakistan hopes diplomatic row won’t scuttle US talks
Feb 14, 2011
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan expressed the hope on Sunday that its growing row with the United States over a jailed US embassy employee will not thwart talks with Washington and Kabul on efforts to stabilise Afghanistan.
Tensions have been rising between Pakistan and the United States over the case of Raymond Davis, a US consular employee who shot dead two Pakistanis last month in what he said was an attempted robbery.
The US State Department on Saturday said a meeting scheduled this month in Washington among US, Afghan and Pakistani officials had been postponed, citing “political changes” in Pakistan. Pakistan Prime Minister announced a new, smaller cabinet last week, dropping Shah Mehmood Qureshi as foreign minister.
Neither Pakistan nor the United States has linked the postponement of the trilateral meeting to the detained consular employee, but diplomats have said Washington had put many high-level dealings, including official visits to Pakistan, on hold because of the standoff.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/02/13/pakistan-confident-us-afghan-talks-will-continue.html
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740 trainers still needed for Afghan forces: NATO
February 14, 2011
KABUL: More nations are pledging support, yet NATO still faces a shortage of 740 trainers needed to get Afghan soldiers and policemen ready to take the lead in securing their nation, the coalition’s top training official said on Sunday.
Needed most are 290 police trainers, including those to work in new training centres opening in Afghanistan this year, US Lieutenant General William Caldwell, the commander of NATO’s training mission, said in an interview on Saturday.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai wants his nation’s police and army to take the lead in protecting and defending their homeland by 2014, a deadline that will be reached only if the training effort – already on a fast track – gets even more support from NATO and other nations. Caldwell said the coalition wants to have the additional 740 trainers in place by this summer.
“The NATO secretary general has said, “No trainers, no transition,” Caldwell said. “He is exactly right. If you do not have sufficient numbers of trainers, then we cannot set the conditions for transition in 2014,” he added.
The Afghan security force added more than 70,000 police and soldiers last year and now is 270,000-strong. It is well on its way to meeting Karzai’s goal of reaching 305,600 by the end of October.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\02\14\story_14-2-2011_pg7_12
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Gilani in Kuwait on two-day official visit
Feb 14, 2011
KUWAIT: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani was accorded a very warm welcome, as he arrived here Monday on a two-day official visit to hold talks with Kuwaiti leadership to strengthen bilateral ties.
Prime Minister Gilani was received by Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Pakistan’s Ambassador in Kuwait Iftikhar Aziz and senior Embassy officials were also present on the occasion.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar.
Two children clad in traditional dress presented bouquet to the Prime Minister, as he alighted from the special plane.
During the welcome ceremony at the airport, Prime Minister Gilani was presented a guard of honour and national anthems of the two countries were played.
The two Prime Ministers on this occasion also had an informal meeting. Later Prime Minister Gilani left for the Bayan Palace to meet the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
Besides meeting the political leadership, the Prime Minister during his two-day visit will also hold important meetings with the heads of Kuwait Chambers of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) and Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA).
The Prime Minister will also address a community meeting and will speak about the challenges facing Pakistan and the measures taken by the present democratic government to resolve these. – APP
http://www.dawn.com/2011/02/14/gilani-in-kuwait-on-two-day-official-visit.html
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Palestinian government resigns
Feb 14, 2011
RAMALLAH: Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad on Monday tendered his government’s resignation, a minister told AFP, just months before the Palestinians hold general elections.
The move, which was announced during an early-morning cabinet meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, has been on the cards since the end of November, but was delayed by the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, officials said.
“Dr Fayyad told the ministerial council that our government has resigned,”the minister said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Fayyad told the ministers: “I am going to president Abbas to give him an official letter saying that we have resigned. This government is finished,” the minister said.
In the wake of the move, Abbas was expected to immediately ask Fayyad to form a new government, a senior official told AFP late on Sunday.
Fayyad, who is expected to retain the post of premier he has held since 2007, was locked in discussions on Monday with ministers, officials said.
On Saturday, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority said it would hold presidential and parliamentary elections by September, running into immediate opposition from its Islamist Hamas rivals in the Gaza Strip.
Plans to hold a general election in January 2010 were called off over opposition from Hamas, which does not accept the legitimacy of Abbas’s rule.
Last week, the Palestinian leadership also laid out plans to hold local elections on July 9, in what will be the first time Palestinians have gone to the polls since 2006.
Hamas has rejected all forms of voting called for by the Palestinian Authority, meaning the various polls will be limited to the West Bank.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/02/14/palestinian-government-resigns.html
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Pakistani officials denied access to Rahat Fateh
Feb 14, 2011
NEW DELHI: Famous Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday evening for carrying a huge amount of foreign currency.
The officials of Pakistan High Commission reached the office of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence on Monday to meet the singer but Indian authorities have denied access to the star.
The 37-year-old, hit Bollywood playback singer and nephew of Pakistani singing legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, was being questioned Monday by officials who detained him as he tried to board a flight late Sunday for Lahore in Pakistan along with his 16-member troupe, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
Foreign Office officials said the Pakistani High Commissioner had been directed to ensure that the Pakistani star was not being ill-treated.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Sunday telephoned High Commissioner of Pakistan to New Delhi, Shahid Malik to inquire about the detention of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.
According to a statement, the minister said he was examining the matter and had asked the Pakistani High Commissioner to India to monitor the matter thoroughly.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/02/14/pakistani-officials-denied-access-to-rahat-fateh.html
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Jobless Tunisians arriving at Sicilian Island
Feb 14, 2011
ROME: Hundreds of Tunisians are landing on a tiny Sicilian island by the boatload, swelling the numbers of illegal migrants arriving on Italian shores in just the last few days to well over 4,000.
Palermo-based coast guard official Claudia Viccica has said that in less than 24 hours since Saturday night 16 boats had arrived. The Tunisians are fleeing confusion following street protests and the ouster of the longtime president.
Many were kept in a fenced-in soccer field Sunday on Lampedusa island until ferries could take them to the mainland for document checks. Those ineligible for asylum risk deportation.
Viccica said during the night alone 10 boats arrived.
Authorities rushed to reopen a Lampedusa detention center that had been closed as the Italian government cracked down on illegal migration. The immigrants said they were fleeing poverty and continued unrest in the North African state in the wake of an uprising last month that ousted veteran ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali after 23 years in power.
“We are afraid. The revolution in January has changed nothing, absolutely nothing. We want to find a job in Europe. We are asking the Italian people for help,” said one man, interviewed by news channel SkyTG24.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article260052.ece
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Mubarak still in Egypt: PM
February 13, 2011
Ousted Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak is still in the country's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said on Sunday. "What I know is that the (former) president is in Sharm el-Sheikh," Shafiq told reporters during his first news conference since the 82-year-old Mubarak
left Cairo last Friday amid unprecedented anti-government protests.
Earlier there were rumours that Mubarak, who had ruled Egypt for 30 years, had fled the country. There were media reports that he may go to the United Arab Emirates.
The Dubai-based network Al-Arabiya reported yesterday that Mubarak was making plans to head to the Emirates. A Kuwait daily, Al-Qabas, said Friday that UAE officials have offered Mubarak haven in Al Ain, a desert city near the Omani border.
Mubarak's reign over the Arab world's most populous country came to an end after 18 days of nationwide protests organised by a loose conglomeration of young activists demanding democratic change.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/africa/Mubarak-still-in-Egypt-PM/Article1-661994.aspx
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Indonesia's radical cleric on trial for terrorism
Mon Feb 14 2011
Jakarta: Indonesia's best-known radical cleric went on trial Monday on fresh terrorism charges as the predominantly Muslim nation grappled with a spike in religious tensions and violence.
Abu Bakar Bashir, a spiritual leader of the al-Qaida-linked network Jemaah Islamiyah, faces a maximum penalty of death if found guilty of helping fund a new terror cell in Aceh province and mobilizing foot soldiers.
The 72-year-old has denied all links to extremist activity, saying as he arrived at the tightly guarded South Jakarta District Court that charges filed against him were "fabricated."
"All I ever wanted to do was defend Islam," he said, as more than 100 supporters shouted "Allah Akbar."
The trial is expected to last one month.
Jemaah Islamiyah was blamed for a string of suicide bombings, including the 2002 attacks on Bali island that killed 202 people, most of them Western tourists. Authorities discovered the new cell in Aceh province a year ago.
Bashir, who has been arrested twice before in the past decade and spent 26 months in prison on terrorism charges, is known for his fiery sermons.
He is seen by many experts as a driving force behind the country's small but increasingly vocal hardline fringe.
In the last week, Islamic militants have carried out bloody attack on Christians and members of a minority Islamic sect, raising concerns about escalating religious intolerance.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article1454604.ece
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Thousands of Italian women rally against Berlusconi
Feb 13 2011
Rome: Thousands of women took to the streets of Italian cities calling for 'dignity" and greater rights after a series of lurid prostitution scandals involving Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
"We are defending the dignity of women," read a placard held up at one of the rallies in Palermo, where thousands of women marched through the city.
Thousands more rallied in Bari, Trieste and Venice – with men also joining.
Solidarity protests by women abroad were also expected, with a small rally of around 100 women held outside the Italian consulate in Tokyo earlier Sunday.
"The importance of this rally is in the common participation of men and women, young and old, intellectuals and workers," Naples mayor Rosa Russo Iervolino said as she marched through the southern Italian city.
The initiative has been organised by sisters Francesca and Cristina Comencini, both actresses, who argue that Berlusconi's playboy antics and his sexist comments are part of a much wider problem in Italian society.
"Neither right-wing governments, nor left-wing ones have ever done anything," Cristina Comencini said ahead of the protests.
She also criticised "discrimination in the job market due to a lack of day-nurseries, family helpers and part-time jobs."
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/749557/
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Economy of love at full play in Pakistan
Feb 13 2011
Islamabad: The economy and politics of love are at play yet again in Pakistan with another Valentine's Day ready to strike the country in its stereotypical grandeur.
While the mullah-brigade, as always, has sharpened its knives to teach the wandering a lesson, there's no stopping those in love from painting the town red.
All commercial ventures seem to be zealously endorsing love yet again in a country that has been described by the Western media as the most dangerous place on earth.
So there are restaurants offering "love desserts" and airplanes ready to fly a mushy couple to as far as Dubai.
Posters put up at shops advertise private Valentine's Day parties but offer no details about the venue or the organisers a reflection of the security concerns usually associated with such events.
The Kuch Khaas Café, a hit with the hoity-toity of the federal capital, is offering mouth watering desserts tomorrow to celebrate love.
"Because when they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach they don't lie!" reads the punchline for the special invite.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/749559/
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PAKISTANI SINGER RAHAT HITS A BAD NOTE WITH DOLLAR STASH
By Amandeep Shukla and Vinayak Chakravorty in New Delhi
RAHAT Fateh Ali Khan, the noted Pakistani singer who has belted out numerous chartbusting Bollywood hit numbers, had to face the music at Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday.
He and his troupe members were detained by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence ( DRI) sleuths for allegedly carrying $ 1.24 lakh ( about ` 60 lakh) in undeclared foreign currency.
Amid high drama, Khan and more than 15 of his accompanists were held around 6.30 pm when they had arrived at the airport to board the Emirates Airlines flight ( EK 515) to Dubai. The flight was supposed to take off at 9.40 pm but as officials questioned Khan about the source of the money, it departed without him and two troupe members who were also quizzed. He was reportedly returning after performing at a concert in Delhi to promote Indo- Pak unity.
While nearly $ 24,000 had been found in Khan’s baggage, his two accompanists were carrying $ 50,000 each, Central Board of Excise and Customs chairman S. Dutt Majumdar said. “ The seized documents also included two demand drafts, one for $ 10,000 while another amounting to $ 8,600,” a source revealed.
The officials pointed out that not declaring foreign currency over $ 5,000 in cash violates the provisions of FEMA ( Foreign Exchange Management Act).
Full report at: Mail Today
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Govt plans to question Headley again
Feb 13 2011
THE GOVERNMENT plans to send a commission to the US to get evidence from Lashkar- e- Tayyeba operative David Headley and his wife who have been kept away from Indian investigators.
The National Investigation Agency, which is probing the case, also plans to file a charge sheet against Headley, who did a recce of targets before the 26/ 11 Mumbai terror attacks.
Union home secretary Gopal K. Pillai said, “ We need to get evidence fully on board. We cannot call them here because the request for examining Headley’s wife is still pending with the US government.” He said that when an NIA team visited the US to question Headley, the examination was done under “ particular” circumstances. “ It has no evidential value. It was just a statement, not in the presence of a magistrate... signed or sealed. It is just a hearsay statement. We have to make it into an evidential statement,” Pillai said in an interaction with media on Sunday.
Asked whether India would seek permission from the US to send the commission, he said: “ Yes, that is the legal process. Once the charge sheet is filed, it will be done.” After the charge sheet is filed, the government will take permission from the court to send a commission to Pakistan also to question those who helped Headley and were giving directions to the ten terrorists during the attacks.
The media asked Pillai whether US authorities should have taken Indian agencies into confidence before entering a plea bargain with Headley as India was the place of his terror acts. “ Oh yes, no doubt about that,” he replied.
This issue had figured in the Barack Obama- Manmohan Singh meeting when the US President visited India last November.
Pillai said the US court, which had issued summons to senior ISI officials, including its chief Maj. Gen.
Ahmed Shuja Pasha, along with 26/ 11 masterminds and LeT leaders Hafiz Saeed and Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi, would also take note of Headley’s plea bargain.
http://epaper.mailtoday.in/epaperhome.aspx?issue=1422011
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PPP turns on Qureshi
Feb 14 2011
THE PAKISTAN People’s Party ( PPP) on Sunday slammed former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi for saying a US official arrested for killing two men could not be given diplomatic immunity. PPP leaders also accused Qureshi of working against the party’s interests.
Qureshi — who skipped the swearing- in ceremony for Pakistan’s new cabinet on Friday after learning that he had not been reallocated the foreign affairs portfolio — said US official Raymond Davis was not a diplomat according to official records and “ could not be given blanket diplomatic immunity”. “ The kind of blanket immunity Washington is pressing for Davis is not endorsed by the official record of the foreign ministry,” Qureshi told The News daily.
The PPP launched a frontal attack on the former minister after he made his views public. PPP secretary general Raja Pervez Ashraf compared Qureshi to late President Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari, who had dismissed former premier Benazir Bhutto’s government in 1996 despite belonging to the PPP. Ashraf said the tone and tenor of Qureshi indicated that “another Leghari is in the making” in the party. “ Qureshi’s fate will not be different than that of Leghari,” he added.
Information minister Firdous Aashiq Awan, considered close to Asif Ali Zardari, said Qureshi’s statements were not in Pakistan’s favour and would create a bad environment in the country.
Mail Today
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Egypt must change legal system too
Rajeev Dhavan
THE PEOPLE create a revolution which, in time, turns its back on the people. The people are sovereign. Their sovereignty is taken away. Revolutions are short lived and remain unfinished — often to be finished off.
The Egyptian revolution of 2011 will go down in history as one of the greatest bloodless peoples’ revolution of our times.
The 18- day- long protests shook the world.
While law is no stranger to revolution, common law legal theory is malleable and can favour usurping dictators and revolutionaries.
The British government’s diddling over unilateral independence of Rhodesia’s racist Smith regime is one example. In 1958, Pakistan’s Supreme Court gave a wide berth to usurper Ayub Khan to enable him to claim to be the de jure ruler. In 1969, its courts invoked the doctrine of necessity to uphold yet another usurpation. Bangladesh followed suit. The world is full of usurpers who successfully bring down constitutions and claim the legitimacy of power.
Revolution
A famous English jurist argues in his Concept of Law ( 1961) that it may be that ‘ only officials might accept … a legal system.
Full report at: Mail Today
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Mubarak legacy gone and heat is now on army to go
Feb 14 2011
Egypt’s new military rulers said on Sunday they had dissolved parliament, suspended the constitution and would govern only for six months or until elections took place, following the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.
In a statement, the higher military council which took over after 18 days of protest ended Mubarak’s 30- year rule, promised a referendum on constitutional amendments.
The initial response from opposition figures and protest leaders was overwhelmingly positive. “ Victory, victory,” chanted pro- democracy activists in Cairo's Tahrir Square. “ More is needed, more is needed,” others yelled.
“ It is a victory for the revolution,” said opposition politician Ayman Nour, who challenged Mubarak for the presidency in 2005 and was later jailed on forgery charges which he said were rigged. “ I think this will satisfy the protesters.” Mahmoud Nassar, a youth movement leader, said: “ The army has moved far along to meet the people’s demands and we urge it to release all political prisoners who were taken before and after the January 25 revolution. Only then will we call off the protests.” Earlier, troops took control of Tahrir Square, the fulcrum of the protests, to let traffic through Cairo as the army struggled to return life to normal.
Full report at: Mail Today
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Pak court issues arrest warrant for ex-Haj minister
AZHAR MASOOD
Feb 13, 2011
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court on Thursday issued warrant of arrest for former religious affairs minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi.
Islamabad civil court judge Aslam Gondal issued the warrant against Kazmi for his alleged involvement in massive corruption during Haj operations. Kazmi was the religious affairs minister during Haj and he oversaw the Haj operations.
A team of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) raided the house of Kazmi Thursday but he could not be arrested.
During earlier hearings, FIA officials investigating the case told the Supreme Court they found incriminating evidence against Kazmi.
The officials had also asked the court to question Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s son Abdul Qadir Gilani who was allegedly involved in the scam.
Secretary at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, who appeared in the court, said that the ministry had compensated 96 percent of Haj pilgrims affected by the scam. He said no middleman would be hired for the Haj operation from next year.
http://arabnews.com/world/article255666.ece
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Egypt's Parliament dissolved
Feb 14, 2011
CAIRO: Egypt's military leaders dissolved Parliament and suspended the constitution Sunday, meeting two key demands of protesters who have been keeping up pressure for immediate steps to transition to democratic, civilian rule after forcing Hosni Mubarak out of power.
The military rulers, who took over when Mubarak stepped down Friday, and the caretaker government set as a top priority the restoration of security, which collapsed during the 18 days of protests that toppled the regime. The caretaker government held its first meeting since the president was ousted and before it began, workers removed a giant picture of Mubarak from the meeting room.
The protesters had been pressing the ruling military council, led by Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi, to immediately move forward with the transition by appointing a presidential council, dissolving the Parliament and releasing political prisoners.
"It is a victory for the revolution," said Ayman Nour, who challenged Mubarak for the presidency in 2005 and was later jailed. "I think this will satisfy the protesters."
Full report at: The Times of India
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Bahrain pledges media freedom
Feb 14, 2011
DUBAI: Bahrain's leaders promised Sunday to expand media freedom in another apparent attempt to quell plans for the first major anti-government protests in the Gulf since the uprising in Egypt.
Opposition groups and others have given calls for demonstrations on Monday — the anniversary of Bahrain's 2002 constitution that brought some pro-democracy reforms such as an elected parliament.
Security forces were deployed in malls and other key spots across Bahrain on Sunday in a clear warning against holding the rallies, but a prominent human rights activist predicted "chaos and bloodshed" if attempts are made to crush the planned demonstrations.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article259674.ece
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Police attack peaceful Sanaa demonstration
By SAEED AL-BATATI
Feb 14, 2011
SANAA: Police in the Yemeni capital Sanaa attacked anti-government demonstrators who called for the country’s president to step down.
The peaceful demonstration started from Sanaa University and headed to the presidential palace when it was intercepted by police using tear gas and electric batons.
Many activists and demonstrators were injured and others reportedly rounded up by police. To head off other protests in Tahrir Square, police erected barbed wire in the square and around nearby government facilities.
In southeastern Taiz, one of the densely populated cities in Yemen, thousands of protesters gathered in Tahrir Square and staged a sit-in demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the resignation of his relatives who are in power, including his son, nephews and brothers-in-law.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article259950.ece
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Jeddawis make documentary to highlight flood problem
By MD AL-SULAMI
Feb 14, 2011
JEDDAH: Residents of Jeddah have produced a documentary voicing their concern about the recurrent floods, which they claim are man-made, and requesting the immediate intervention of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to save the city from corrupt or inefficient officials.
The documentary, titled The Gateway to the Two Holy Mosques — Ya Khadim Al-Haramain, stresses the need to bring to court those responsible.
The film begins with a city planner, Ahmad Jeddawi, writing a letter to King Abdullah on behalf of the city’s residents. In the letter, Jeddawi writes about the difficulties faced by people and suggests a series of emergency steps that need to be taken to guarantee their safety.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article259938.ece
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Iranian opposition defies warning, calls for rally
Feb 14, 2011
TEHRAN: Iran’s opposition on Sunday renewed its call for a rally in support of protesters in Tunisia and Egypt despite a government warning of repercussions if demonstrations take place, a reformist website reported.
In a statement published on Kaleme.com, the opposition urged its supporters to rally on Monday in central Tehran and accused the government of hypocrisy by voicing support for the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings while refusing to allow Iranian political activists to stage a peaceful demonstration.
Wary of a reinvigorated opposition at home, Iranian authorities have detained several activists and journalists in recent weeks and opposition leader Mahdi Karoubi was put under house arrest, apparently in connection with the request to stage the rally.
The statement said further restrictions on Karoubi and fellow opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi were a sign of the “increasing weakness and fear of the government about the most peaceful civil and political rights” of Iranians.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article259922.ece
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18 items missing from Egyptian Museum after unrest
Feb 14, 2011
CAIRO: A full inventory of the Egyptian Museum has found that looters escaped with 18 items during the anti-government unrest, including two gilded wooden statues of famed boy king, Tutankhamun, the antiquities chief said Sunday.
The 18-day uprising engulfed the areas around the famed museum, on the edge of Cairo’s Tahrir Square. On Jan. 28, as protesters clashed with police early on in the turmoil and burned down the adjacent headquarters of Mubarak’s ruling party, a handful of looters climbed a fire escape to the museum roof and lowered themselves on ropes from a glass-paneled ceiling onto the museum’s top floor.
Around 70 objects — many of them small statues — were damaged, but until Sunday’s announcement, it was not known whether anything was missing.
Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass said the museum’s database department determined 18 objects were gone.
Investigators searching for those behind the thefts were questioning dozens of people arrested over several days after last month’s break-in.
The most important of the missing objects is a limestone statue of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, the so-called heretic king that tried to introduce monotheism to Egypt, standing and holding an offering table.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article259916.ece
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Is Al-Ain new home for Mubarak?
Feb 14, 2011
DUBAI: For political figures in exile, the United Arab Emirates has been a luxury refuge, a base for plotting attempted comebacks and — for at least one unable to escape assassins — a final stage.
There is no shortage of speculation that Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak could join the list.
The Dubai-based network Al-Arabiya reported Saturday that the former Egyptian president was making plans to head to the Emirates. A Kuwait daily, Al-Qabas, said Friday that UAE officials have offered Mubarak haven in Al-Ain, a desert city near the Omani border.
UAE officials have made no public comment on the reports, which were so persistent that the UAE’s state news agency WAM issued a rare denial Sunday of bulletins that Mubarak’s plane had landed in Sharjah.
But it wouldn’t be out of character to open their doors to a former leader with few options at home.
The roster of Emirate exiles includes former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the late Pakistani ex-Premier Benazir Bhutto and a turncoat Chechen warlord who was gunned down by a killer with a gold-plated pistol.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article259926.ece
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Loyalists open fire on Qureshi
By Amir Wasim
ISLAMABAD: Former foreign affairs minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has no future in Pakistan People’s Party, Information Secretary of the PPP Fauzia Wahab declared here on Sunday.
“Serious disciplinary action will be taken against him (Mr Qureshi) for violating the party discipline and humiliating its leadership,” Ms Wahab said while talking to Dawn.
Former minister Raja Pervez Ashraf also criticised Mr Qureshi for allegedly trying to blackmail the party.
The information secretary said that Mr Qureshi had ditched the party leadership and it was not the first time he had done so.
She said that Mr Qureshi’s role as foreign minister over the past three years had been questionable, adding that he did not support President Asif Zardari when he faced criticism in the media over his foreign trips.
She said that despite all his past acts, the party leadership had decided to include him in the new cabinet, but Mr Qureshi created a crisis just 25 minutes before the oath-taking ceremony at the Presidency on Friday.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/02/14/loyalists-open-fire-on-qureshi.html
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Algerian opposition announces new march, despite ban
Feb 14, 2011
ALGIERS: Algerian opposition leaders, emboldened by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, on Sunday announced a second protest march in the capital despite a longstanding ban on demonstrations there.
The United States and Germany meanwhile called for restraint from the Algerian authorities Sunday, a day after a massive security operation prevented 2,000 protesters from marching in Algiers.
The National Coordination for Change and Democracy (CNCD), a coalition of opposition parties, rights groups and unofficial unions, announced a new march for next Friday after a meeting of its leadership.
It will start from May 1 Square, where Saturday’s demonstration also took place, said lawyer Moustepha Bouchachi, president of the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LADDH), which is part of the CNCD.
On Saturday, nearly 30,000 police prevented some 2,000 protesters marching the four kilometres (three miles) from May 1 Square to Martyrs Square.
The security forces made 14 arrests — 300 according to the opposition.
That did not stop another demonstration in Annaba Sunday, where four police officers were slightly injured during clashes with young protesters outside the local government headquarters.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/02/14/algerian-opposition-announces-new-march-despite-ban.html
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Three more gas pipelines blown up
Feb 14, 2011
QUETTA/HYDERABAD: Three more gas pipelines, two in Balochistan near Dera Murad Jamali and Dera Allah Yar and one in Sindh in Hyderabad, were blown up on Sunday.
According to sources, unidentified men had planted an explosive device near an 18-inch diameter gas pipeline on Chattar Road in Dera Murad Jamali area. The device went off with a huge bang disrupting gas supply to Uch Power Plant. Personnel of Balochistan Levies and other law enforcement agencies rushed to the spot and threw a cordon around the area. Sources in the Uch Power Plant said that the blast had caused a shortfall of more than 500MW.
Separately, unidentified people blew up a gas pipeline with explosive material in Dera Allah Yar area. Due to the blast, gas supply to Sohbatpur and adjoining townships was suspended.
Unidentified culprits blew up an 18-inch diameter gas pipeline supply leading to Hyderabad district near a water filtration plant on Jamshoro Road. Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC) Deputy Manager, Rasheed Leghari, said that although gas supply was not halted but its pressure had been reduced.
Unidentified men have been regularly targeting gas pipelines in Jaffarabad and Dera Bugti districts for the past few days. Gas supply to Balochistan could not be completely restored on Sunday.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\02\14\story_14-2-2011_pg1_4
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Thousands rally in Yemen, demand political reforms
February 14, 2011
SANAA: Yemeni police armed with sticks and daggers beat back thousands of protesters marching through the capital in a third straight day of demonstrations calling for political reforms and the resignation of the country’s US-allied president.
The protests have mushroomed since crowds gathered on Friday to celebrate the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak after an 18-day revolt fuelled by similar grievances. Yemen is one of several countries in the Middle East feeling the aftershocks, as pro-reform demonstrators take inspiration from the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.
On Sunday, uniformed police used truncheons to stop protesters, many of them university students, from reaching the capital’s central Hada Square. Witnesses said plainclothes policemen wielding daggers and sticks also joined security forces in driving the protesters back.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\02\14\story_14-2-2011_pg1_6
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Pakistan supports Afghan-led reconciliation process: Haroon
February 14, 2011
UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan supports an Afghan-led and inclusive reconciliation process in Afghanistan to pave the way for durable peace and stability in the war-torn country, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UNAbdullah Hussain Haroon has said.
“We have a stake in a peaceful and stable Afghanistan,” he said while participating in a discussion panel at the United Nations on the subject of “Afghanistan: Is a Negotiated Settlement Possible?” The well-attended event was organised by the Century Foundation and Mid-Atlantic region of the United Nations Association of the United States. Other participants were a former United States ambassador to Afghanistan, Robert Finn, and Afghanistan’s UN Ambassador Zahir Tanin. Jaffrey Laurentia, senior fellow in international affairs at The Century Foundation, was the moderator.
Elaborating his remarks on the Afghan reconciliation process, Ambassador Haroon said Pakistan had welcomed the establishment of “the High-level Peace Council” in Afghanistan and its head Burhanuddin Rabbani visited Islamabad last month.
“Pakistan wants durable peace and stability in Afghanistan. Development in Afghanistan is in our national interest,” he said, adding that the safe return of more than 1.5 million registered Afghan refugees living in Pakistan was only possible in a peaceful and stable Afghanistan.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\02\14\story_14-2-2011_pg7_7
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Seven killed in separate incidents of violence, mishaps
February 14, 2011
KARACHI: Seven people were killed in separate incidents of violence and mishaps in the metropolis on Sunday.
A decomposed body of a middle age man was found in the precincts of Jamshed Town police station. The body had torture marks. The identity of the deceased could not be ascertained. The body was shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) for medico-legal formalities and later moved to mortuary for identification.
Another two-day-old decomposed body of a man was found in a flat in the limits of Gulistan-e-Jauhar police station. Police said that the body of Muhammad Akram, 45, son of Inamullah, resident of Bismillah Terrace, Block 10, was recovered after breaking the door of a flat on the information of residents as they felt foul smell from the flat. The body was shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for medico-legal formalities. Separately, a man was hit to death at KPT Bridge in the jurisdiction of Jackson police station. Police said Ejaz, son of Allah Bux, was busy in colouring the KPT Bride when an unidentified vehicle hit him, resultantly he suffered severe wounds and died on the way to the CHK. The body was handed over to the family after an autopsy. Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\02\14\story_14-2-2011_pg12_9
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Pakistan: 12 die as bus caught fire in Sohara
February 14, 2011
CHAKWAL: At least twelve people were burnt to death when a bus, full of passengers caught fire while reaching Sohara area of Jehlum on late Sunday, Geo News reported.
According to the motorway police, a bus was moving from Shakaragrh to Rawalpindi to attend a wedding. On the way when the bus reached Sohawa it caught fire, resultantly, 12 people including children burnt to death.
Several passengers sustained burn injuries and were taken to a local hospital for treatment.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=11114
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5 die in Peshawar roof collapse
February 13, 2011
PESHAWAR: At least five people including three children died in a roof collapse incident here on early Monday, hospital sources said.
The incident occurred in Saleemabad area of Khan Mast Colony. Injured have been taken to Lady Reading Hospital
http://www.thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=11118
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Four flood-hit districts to be included in ROZ law
February 14, 2011
ISLAMABAD: The United States has assured to include four flood-hit districts of Pakistan in the proposed legislation of the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) to qualify Pakistani products for zero duty in US market.
Commerce Secretary Zafar Mahmood said this here on Saturday while briefing the media on the three years performance of the Ministry of Commerce, in the presence of the reappointed Commerce Minister, Amin Fahim.
He said that the proposed ROZs legislation, with inclusion of flood affected areas, would be moved again in the House of Representatives. The ROZs were proposed in 2003 by Pakistan to promote economic activity in the war against terrorism affected border areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
Full report at:
http://www.thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=11067
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamicWorldNews_1.aspx?ArticleID=4119
11:31 PM
Moderate Islamist here
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