| Islamic World News | |
| 08 Apr 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com |
| Srinagar: Mosque blast kills Kashmir cleric | ||
Pak frees Indian national held for 27 years Bangladesh: Over 100 hurt in B’baria clashes Pakistan military spells out ‘concerns’ to US commander Islamabad slams US terror report Bangladesh, India mull swap of lost land Some US troops may stay, if Iraq wants: Gates Hunt for ex-Taliban officials threat to peace talks Taliban attack Afghan police center, six killed 5 rebels killed in NATO strike US announces ` 23- cr bounty on key 26/ 11 Pak terrorist Mubarak’s chief of staff, Zakaria Azmi, sent to jail Opposition allies mull “political solution” in Libya Attacks by Qaddafi forces damage rebel oil fields US rebuffs Qadhafi plea to Obama on air campaign Libya rebels unlikely to oust Kadhafi: US general US general sees no military outcome in Libya Unjust war, Qadhafi tells Obama Egypt protests Gaddafi's war crimes Israel orders 'swift' army action after Gaza attack Hariri to visit Egypt, slams Iran Gulf Arabs work on plan for Yemen's Saleh to go Israeli tank shells kills one, wounds four Sudan accuses Israel of attack near main port city Revolution youth can outdo Muslim Brotherhood Turkish military open to all solutions to Kurdish issue Ouattara's forces seal off Gbagbo's bunker in Ivory Coast Palestine summit bid for Istanbul Israel pounds Gaza, kills four after missile hits bus Yemen city hit by a 'tsunami of protest' US report on WoT rejected Tahir Khan Forces not ready for security transition Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau Photo: Supporters wept and chanted pro-independence slogans after the killing. | ||
Pakistani troops kill 54 militants in NW--------
Srinagar: Mosque blast kills Kashmir cleric
APR 08 2011
Maulvi Showkat Ahmed Shah was entering the mosque when the bomb went off. At least one other person was hurt.
It is not clear who carried out the attack. The cleric was close to moderate separatist leader Yasin Malik.
The blast follows a lull in separatist violence in Kashmir, which is claimed by both India and Pakistan.
It is thought to be the first attack of its kind since 2009 when separatist leader, Fazal Haq Qureshi, survived an attempt on his life.
The cleric was entering the mosque for Friday prayers when the attackers detonated an explosive device attached to a nearby bicycle, police said.
Moderate voice
According to a BBC reporter at the scene, his supporters are waiting to bury his body, weeping and chanting pro-independence slogans.
Shopkeepers across the city have closed for the day and traffic has been suspended.
The situation in Srinagar is tense and the police and paramilitary forces have stepped up their presence on the streets.
This was the third attempt on Maulvi Showkat's life in recent years. He was a leader of the Jamiat-e-Ahle Hadith religious party, which represents the Wahabi sect of Muslims.
The party split a few years ago and Maulvi Showkat headed one of the two factions.
He was a well-known supporter of the separatist movement, which wants an independent Kashmir.
But, correspondents say, he was considered to be a moderate voice and was a close ally of the pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front.
Recently he had been criticised by other separatist groups for meeting the state's governor over setting up an Islamic University in the Kashmir Valley, our correspondent says.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13009558
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Pakistani troops kill 54 militants in NW
APR 08 2011
A government official says Pakistani security forces backed by helicopter gunships and jets have killed 54 alleged militants in a northwest tribal region near the Afghan border.
Maqsood Hasan says three security personnel also died in Thursday’s clashes in Mohmand.
It was nearly impossible to verify the information Friday. Pakistan’s military rarely gives details about how it distinguishes militants from civilians, and access to the country’s tribal areas is severely restricted.
The Pakistani military has launched several operations against the Taliban in the Mohmand area, but the insurgents have been resilient.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/April/international_April376.xml§ion=international
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Pak frees Indian national held for 27 years
APR 08 2011
LAHORE/ATTARI (AMRITSAR): Returning to his country after 27 years, Indian national Gopal Das on Thursday came home to an emotional welcome by his elder brother and sister who had last seen him as a young man.
52-year-old Das was set free after Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari remitted his sentence on humanitarian grounds following an appeal by the Indian Supreme Court.
Das crossed over to the Indian side of the border from Pakistan at the Joint Checkpost here after being freed by the authorities in the neighbouring country.
As soon as he entered India, he bowed his head on the soil and kissed it as tears welled up in his eyes.
Das's family members, including his brother Anand Vir, two sisters and niece Navjot besides, a dozen people from Bhaini Mian Khan village of Gurdaspur district of Punjab who were here to receive him. Gopal hugged all his family members as they broke down in tears.
Lamenting that he had lost the "golden period of youth behind bars in Pakistan, he asked the Indian government why it was sitting silent for the last 27 years.
"I have a grudge against the Indian leadership who has never bothered about Indian prisoners rotting in prisons in Pakistan for the last many years.
"32 Indian nationals, who have completed their jail term, are still languishing due of lack of initiative on the part of the Indian government," he claimed.
Thanking the president and prime minister of Pakistan for releasing him, Das said he was also thankful to the Supreme Court of India for his release but said the role of Indian leadership was "disgusting".
He claimed that seven such Indian prisoners who had already completed their sentence died due to ill health. Nearly one dozen Indian nationals have almost lost their senses.
Das had crossed over to Pakistan inadvertently in 1984 and was arrested by Pakistani Rangers on charges of spying. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and was set to be released by the end of this year.
Struggling hard to control his tears, Das's elder brother Anand Vir, said, "It was the voice of the Supreme Court judge which came out from the deepest core of his heart and heard by Almighty, which ultimately fell in the ears of Prime Minister and President of Pakistan."
Anand said that he did not have any hope from the Indian leadership as all their requests went unheard but the request at the door of God was heard.
His elder sister Krishna Devi, who is too weak to move but still managed to reach Attari border to receive her brother, said, "Gopal was young when he was arrested in Pakistan and now there are lot of changes in his appearance. I am enormously happy to see my brother alive here on Indian soil.
"At one time the entire family had lost all hope to see Das again but God is great," said Devi with tears in her eyes.
She told her brother: "I know how I spent 27 years in your absence, since in these years I missed you immensely especially on the festivals of Raksha Bandhan and Tikka.
Navjot, Das' niece said, "My uncle was in Pakistan's prison at the time of my birth. Now I am delighted to see my uncle in the family. I think God has honoured all my prayers".
On March 27, Zardari had remitted the remaining jail term of Das.
The diplomatic gesture came ahead of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's visit to India to watch the Indo-Pak World Cup semi final at Mohali.
A two-judge bench of the Indian Supreme Court had appealed to Pakistan last month to remit the remaining period of Das' sentence and release him on humanitarian grounds.
Asked about the protests launched by social activist Anna Hazare, Das said, "Indian leadership is suffering from the disease of corruption that must be treated. I extend support to the genuine cause of Hazare who is fighting to eradicate corruption from grass-root level."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pak-frees-Indian-national-held-for-27-years/articleshow/7898546.cms
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Bangladesh: Over 100 hurt in B’baria clashes
APR 08 2011
Over 100 people were injured in separate clashes at Dewra-Shahbazpur village in Sharail upazila and in the district town on Friday.
Witnesses said a clash ensued between the supporters of Mintu group and Anu group of the village over previous enmity at about 5:00am, leaving at least one hundred people injured from both sides.
Being informed police rushed in and fired 13 rounds of rubber bullets and teargas shells to bring the situation under control. Police also charged batons to disperse the feuding groups.
Critically injured 30 people were rushed to different clinics in Dhaka, Brahmanbaria, Sharail and Ashuganj.
At least 10 houses were ransacked and looted during the four hours long clash, sources said.
In another incident, an altercation ensued between Suresh Rishi and Bijoy Rishi in the morning over a family feud in Bhadughar Rishipara area of the district town.
Later, their supporters equipped with sharp weapons and sticks attacked each other that left 10 people from both sides injured.
The injured were rushed to Sadar hospital.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=29265
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Pakistan military spells out ‘concerns’ to US commander
APR 08 2011
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan spelt out “concerns” dogging its troubled alliance with the United States at talks Thursday with the most senior American to visit since the release of CIA operative Raymond Davis who murdered two Pakistanis. US commander of the Middle East and Afghanistan, General James Mattis, flew in as relations took a further knock from a White House report criticising Pakistan’s fight against Taliban and al Qaeda on the Afghan border. Mattis was meeting Pakistan’s army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee, General Khalid Shamim Wynne, Lt Col Michael Shavers at the US embassy told AFP. During the meetings, Mattis would “hear from them their concerns with regard to the relationship with the US military here”, Shavers said.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\04\08\story_8-4-2011_pg1_2
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Islamabad slams US terror report
APR 08 2011
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan says it has a clear strategy solely based on its national interests to deal with the menace of terrorism.
Reacting on the US displeasure over Pakistan's anti terrorism efforts in a report presented to the US congress, Foreign Office Spokesperson Tehmina Janjua during the weekly press briefing in Islamabad Thursday emphatically stated that Pakistan does not share the assessment of Washington. She said that we have our own assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the strategy being followed by the US and the ISAF vis-e-vis counter terrorism and peace and security in Afghanistan. She said that Pakistan should not be held accountable for the failures of the strategy in Afghanistan.
Tehmina Janjua pointed out that Pakistan has rendered more sacrifices as compared to any other country of the world. She emphasized the need for engagement between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States to address the common challenges.
When asked about the current status of Pak-US bilateral relations, the spokesperson said that both the countries are trying to build a relationship based on mutual respect and interest.
Full report at:
http://dailymailnews.com/0411/08/FrontPage/index.php?id=1
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Bangladesh, India mull swap of lost land
APR 08 2011
DHAKA: Little bits of India are in Bangladesh, and little bits of Bangladesh are in India. The existence of enclaves on either side of the border is a bizarre anomaly that might finally be solved by a swap.
The islands of land result from ownership arrangements made centuries ago between local princes, surviving partition of the sub-continent in 1947 after British rule, and Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence with Pakistan.
Many thousands of people live in the enclaves – often without basic services such as electricity, schools and hospitals because they are cut off from their national governments.
Most historians believe the messy situation originates from 18th-century peace treaties between the kingdom of Cooch Behar (now in the Indian state of West Bengal) and the Mughal empire, which ruled much of South Asia.
But local folklore suggests some enclaves were wagers during chess games between the Maharaja of Cooch Behar and the Fauhdar of Rangpur, who then ruled northern Bangladesh.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/04/07/bangladesh-india-mull-swap-of-lost-land.html
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Some US troops may stay, if Iraq wants: Gates
APR 08 2011
BAGHDAD – The Obama administration would keep U.S. troops in Iraq beyond the agreed final withdrawal date of Dec. 31, 2011, if the Iraqi government wanted them, but the Iraqis need to decide "pretty quickly" in order for the Pentagon to accommodate the extension, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday during what he said probably is his final visit to this war-torn country.
Whether to negotiate an extended U.S. military presence is up to the Iraqis, he said, adding that he thought an extension might make sense.
"We are willing to have a presence beyond (2011), but we've got a lot of commitments," he said, not only in Afghanistan and Libya but also in Japan, where he said 19 U.S. Navy ships and about 18,000 U.S. military personnel are assisting in earthquake, tsunami and nuclear reactor relief efforts. "So if folks here are going to want us to have a presence, we're going to need to get on with it pretty quickly in terms of our planning," he added. "I think there is interest in having a continuing presence.
Full report at:
http://dailymailnews.com/0411/08/FrontPage/index.php?id=10
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Hunt for ex-Taliban officials threat to peace talks
APR 08 2011
LONDON – Security forces in Afghanistan are targeting homes of former Taliban regime members who have played a vital role in pushing peace talks with insurgents, according to diplomats and leaders of the former hard-line regime.
At a time when the US has called for a "diplomatic surge" to solve the conflict, the most recent target of the greatly expanded night raids programme, which employs electronic eavesdropping and special forces units on a major scale, was Mullah Zaeef, former Taliban ambassador to Islamabad and a proponent of peace talks. He is regarded as sufficiently important by the international community and only last year an international travel ban on him was lifted, enabling him to travel to London.
Just over three weeks ago a mixed force of foreign troops and agents from Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security attempted to enter his house late at night. Zaeef was not present, but there was an armed standoff between the raiding party and his guards, who also work for the directorate.
Full report at:
http://dailymailnews.com/0411/08/FrontPage/index.php?id=6
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Taliban attack Afghan police center, six killed
APR 08 2011
Insurgent suicide bombers and gunmen stormed an Afghan police compound Thursday, setting off explosions and firing assault rifles in a coordinated attack that killed six members of the Afghan security forces.
American Black Hawk helicopters and at least eight U.S. armored vehicles rushed to support dozens of Afghan troops battling the assailants at the three-building police complex in restive Kandahar province. It was unclear how many insurgents were involved in the attack.
Fighting in Afghanistan has intensified recently, with insurgents coming from neighboring Pakistan as the annual spring fighting season gets under way. Thursday's attack began when four suicide bombers stormed police complex, said Zulmi Ayubi, a spokesman for the provincial governor. Three of the bombers blew themselves up, Ayubi said, while the fourth man exchanged fire with Afghan troops.
Full report at:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=taliban-attack-afghan-police-centre-in-kandahar-2011-04-07
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5 rebels killed in NATO strike
APR 08 2011
A NATO air strike killed at least five rebels near the Libyan port of Brega on Thursday, medics said, and insurgents reported Muammar Gaddafi's forces killed five more in a bombardment of besieged Misrata. Wounded rebels being brought to the hospital in Ajdabiyah in rebel-held east Libya said their
position was hit by an air strike on Thursday outside the contested port.
"It was a NATO air strike on us. We were near our vehicles near Brega," wounded fighter Younes Jumaa said from his stretcher at the hospital.
Nurse Mohamed Ali said at least five rebels were dead.
There was no immediate comment from NATO.
The rebels have been fighting to wrest control of Brega from forces loyal to Gaddafi for a week in a see-saw battle along the Mediterranean coast.
Bloodstained stretchers were brought out of the hospital in Ajdabiyah, gateway to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi in the east.
Rebel spokesmen also said that Gaddafi forces killed five people and wounded 25 in an artillery bombardment of the isolated western city of Misrata on Wednesday.
The barrage forced the temporary closing of Misrata's port, a vital lifeline for supplies to besieged civilians, the spokesmen said. They added that NATO air strikes hit pro-Gaddafi positions around Misrata.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/africa/5-rebels-killed-in-NATO-strike/Article1-682402.aspx
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US announces ` 23- cr bounty on key 26/ 11 Pak terrorist
APR 08 2011
THE US has announced a bounty of $ 5 million ( ` 23 crore) on the head of Pakistan- based dreaded global terrorist Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri, a key suspect in the Mumbai terror attacks who is now called the new Osama bin Laden.
The state department said Kashmiri is the commander of the terrorist organisation Harkat- ul- Jihad al- Islami ( HuJI), which is linked to al- Qaeda, and has launched several attacks in India and Pakistan.
HuJI is believed to be behind the March 2006 suicide bombing at the US consulate in Karachi that killed four people, including US diplomat David Foy, and injured 48 others.
Kashmiri, according to Pakistani media reports, has been named as al- Qaeda chief for Afghanistan and Pakistan in place of Mustafa Abu al- Yazid, who was killed in a drone strike in May last year. He is presently believed to be holed up with commanders of al- Qaeda Lashkar al- Zil.
Full report at:
http://epaper.mailtoday.in/epaperhome.aspx?issue=842011
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Mubarak’s chief of staff, Zakaria Azmi, sent to jail
Mohamed Abdel-Latif,
APR 08 2011
Zakaria Azmi, one of the strongest men of the old regime, is now in jail
Following intensive questioning ousted president Mubarak’s chief of staff Zakaria Azmy was today ordered remanded in jail for 15 days pending further investigation. Besides being a close confidante of the former president, Azmi was a member of parliament and was considered among the leading figures of the regime and its ruling National Democratic Party.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentPrint/1/0/9551/Egypt/0/Mubarak%E2%80%99s-chief-of-staff,-Zakaria-Azmi,-sent-to-ja.aspx
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Opposition allies mull “political solution” in Libya
APR 08 2011
DUBAI: With air strikes unable to breach the military stalemate, key western countries supporting the opposition oscillated on Thursday between their search for a “political solution” to the Libyan crisis and the longer option of arming dissidents battling forces loyal to Muammar Qadhafi, Libya's strongman for 42 years.
The enthusiasm for air strikes appeared to have waned after a second “friendly fire” incident was reported. Opposition forces on Thursday were apparently furious, claiming that NATO aircraft, for the second time in a week, had mistakenly bombed dissident fighters, killing seven. The erroneous attack, probably the result of poor communication with the overflying aircraft, was launched when opposition fighters were moving towards the frontline, heavy armour, which they had earlier captured from the pro-Qadhafi forces.
Full report at:
http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/08/stories/2011040865012100.htm
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Attacks by Qaddafi forces damage rebel oil fields
By BEN HUBBARD
APR 08 2011
BENGHAZI, Libya: Three days of attacks by supporters of Libyan ruler Muammar Qaddafi have halted oil production in rebel-held fields in the country’s east, a rebel spokesman said Wednesday.
The rebels had just begun exporting oil again after a weekslong hiatus in an effort to raise funds for their struggle against Qaddafi, who still controls the western half of the country.
The rebels have a deal to sell their oil from the port of Tobruk through the help of Qatar and use the profits to pay salaries and buy food, medicine and weapons.
“I think we will not depend on oil revenues in the coming stage because our production has been affected in this crisis,” rebel spokesman Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga said.
Ghoga said armored vehicles attacked the rebel-held oil field of Messla on Monday and Tuesday and then a day later, the field of Sarir.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article347359.ece
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US rebuffs Qadhafi plea to Obama on air campaign
APR 08 2011
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday rebuffed a personal appeal from Muammar Qadhafi to President Barack Obama to stop an “unjust war” and demanded the Libyan leader withdraw his forces and go into exile.
Obama received a rambling, three-page letter from Qadhafi asking for a halt to a Western air campaign against his forces, but US officials bluntly dismissed the plea.
“Mr. Qadhafi knows what he must do,” Clinton told a news conference with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.
“There needs to be a ceasefire, his forces need to withdraw from the cities that they have forcibly taken at great violence and human cost. There needs to be a decision made about his departure from power and his departure from Libya,” she said.
A top US official told US lawmakers that Libyan agents could be inside the United States and might try to launch retaliatory attacks.
“We want to make certain that we’ve identified these individuals to ensure no harm comes from them, knowing they may well have been associated with the Qadhafi regime,” FBI Director Robert Mueller said.
Qadhafi’s appeal to Obama came as Libyan rebels regained ground in a new advance on an oil port but accused Nato of not doing enough to help them end his 41-year rule.
“We can confirm that there was a letter, but obviously not the first,” Obama spokesman Jay Carney told reporters traveling with Obama to Pennsylvania. “The conditions the president laid out were clear, which is action, not words.”
He declined to provide details on the letter’s contents.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/04/07/us-rebuffs-qadhafi-plea-to-obama-on-air-campaign.html
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Libya rebels unlikely to oust Kadhafi: US general
APR 08 2011
WASHINGTON: A top US general maintained Thursday it was unlikely that Libyan rebel forces could oust the regime's leader Moamer Kadhafi, saying the conflict appeared to be turning into a stalemate.
General Carter Ham, who led the first stage of the coalition air campaign in Libya, said the international bombing raids had succeeded in protecting civilians for the most part but that Kadhafi's regime probably would not be removed by military means.
Asked at a Senate hearing about the chances that the opposition could "fight their way" to Tripoli and replace Kadhafi, Ham said: "Sir, I would assess that as a low likelihood."
Full report at:
http://www.thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=13787
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US general sees no military outcome in Libya
APR 08 2011
AJDABIYAH— Libyan rebels said five of their fighters were killed when Nato planes mistakenly bombed a rebel tank column and a top US general said they were unlikely to be able to oust Muammar Gaddafi by force.
With daily skirmishes near the contested port of Brega in eastern Libya making little impact on the front line and rebels unable to end a brutal government assault on the western city of Misrata, Nato admits its mission to protect civilians is tough.
In rebel-held eastern Libya, wounded rebels being brought to a hospital Ajdabiyah said their trucks and tanks were hit yesterday by a Nato air strike outside Brega, where fighting has dragged on for a week.
It was the second time in less than a week that rebels had blamed Nato for bombing their comrades by mistake after 13 were killed in an air strike not far from the same spot on Saturday.
Full report at:
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/world/article/us-general-sees-no-military-outcome-in-libya/
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Unjust war, Qadhafi tells Obama
Narayan Lakshman
APR 08 2011
Washington: Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi has reached out directly to United States President Barack Obama through a letter in which he described NATO as engaged in an “unjust war against a small people of a developing country” and called on Mr. Obama to “keep NATO off the Libyan affair for good”.
Addressing Mr. Obama as “Our son” and “Excellency,” Mr. Qadhafi said Libya had already been subjected to an arms embargo and sanctions and furthermore it also “suffered a direct military armed aggression during [the former U.S. President, Ronald] Reagan's time.”
Reminding Mr. Obama that democracy and the building of civil society could not be achieved by means of missiles and aircraft, or by backing armed member of Al-Qaeda in the rebel-held city of Benghazi, Mr. Qadhafi said though Libyans had been “hurt more morally [than] physically,” Mr. Obama would still “always remain our son whatever happened”.
Full report at:
http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/08/stories/2011040865032100.htm
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Egypt protests Gaddafi's war crimes
APR 08 2011
The demonstration started at noon and continued to rise in turnout by time of going to press. Most of the protesters held the Libyan revolutionary flag and lifted signs calling for ending the massacres against the Libyan people and putting Gaddafi on trial for war crimes and worse. The protest comes also in commemoration of 7 April, the day that Gaddafi calls "Day of judgment" when in 1976 he sentenced hundreds of protesting students and activists to death.
The streets leading to the Libyan embassy in Zamalek, a district of Cairo, were cordoned by army forces who harassed protesters and told them that they were not allowed to approach except from one tiny street. They cordoned the protest into a very small area and acted like the former state security police, forcing demonstrators to retreat metre by metre. Overall, soldiers were impatient and angry, and slightly violent.
However, protesters chanted anti Gaddafi slogans: "Shame on you! Shame on you! Gaddafi fires and shoots!", "Gaddafi the tyrant, God's eye never sleeps!", "The blood of the martyrs is between us!", "Libya and Egypt, one hand!", "Libya and Egypt, revolution until victory!", "Enough Gaddafi, we don't want more destruction!", "Eman you are virtuous and honorable, Gaddafi is inglorious and disreputable!" (in reference to Eman Al-Obeidi who was reportedly gang raped by pro-Gaddafi militias in a prison in Tripoli and whose case has been a focus for international media in the last two weeks).
Hanya Saleh is a Libyan housewife married to an Egyptian and resident in Egypt for the past 13 years. This is her first protest. She knew about it from Facebook, only signing up for a Facebook account yesterday. "I had my daughter teach me how to use Facebook. I had to learn how to support my country, especially that for the past 20 days all phone networks were cut off in Messrata and I couldn't reach my family. Although I am 35, but my real birth was on 17 February, [when this revolution began]. Before that I couldn't say I am Libyan," said Saleh while waving the Libyan revolutionary flag.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/~/NewsContent/1/64/9532/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-protests-Gaddafis-war-crimes-.aspx
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Israel orders 'swift' army action after Gaza attack
APR 08 2011
Israel's Ehud Barak on Thursday urged the army "to act swiftly" with all necessary means after Gaza combatants fired a projectile at a bus in southern Israel, critically wounding a teenager.
"Defence Minister Ehud Barak ordered the IDF (army) to act swiftly with all the necessary means and to respond to the attack on the bus at Saad Junction," a statement from his office said.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/9536/World/Region/Israel-orders-swift-army-action-after-Gaza-attack.aspx
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Hariri to visit Egypt, slams Iran
APR 08 2011
Hariri’s media bureau released a statement Thursday saying that he will be meeting with Egypt’s Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and several officials to discuss regional and global developments as well as Egyptian-Lebanese bilateral relations.
On another note, Hariri slammed what he calls Iran's "flagrant intervention" in internal Lebanese and Arab affairs.
He said Iran is meddling in Lebanon, Bahrain and Kuwait and added this is "not acceptable anymore."
Hariri spoke in Beirut on Thursday, delivering his harshest criticism yet of Iran, which backs his rival, the Shiite militant Hezbollah group.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/9524/World/Region/Hariri-to-visit-Egypt,-slams-Iran.aspx
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Gulf Arabs work on plan for Yemen's Saleh to go
APR 08 2011
A Gulf Arab plan for Yemen's president to step down will guarantee the veteran leader and his family immunity from prosecution, an opposition source said Thursday. Youth activists said that was enough to reject it.
The United States and Gulf Arab countries, including Yemen's key financial backer Saudi Arabia, now appear ready to push aside their long-time ally against Al-Qaeda's Yemen-based wing to avoid a chaotic collapse of the poorest Arab state.
Saleh's sometimes violent response to two months of protests against his 32-year rule has tried the patience of Washington and Riyadh, both of which have been the target of attempted attacks by Al-Qaeda's Yemeni branch.
The Gulf proposal for talks in Riyadh was presented to Saleh and a coalition of opposition parties this week. Saleh welcomed it, and Gulf sources said it envisaged handing power over to an interim council of tribal and political leaders who would help appoint a national unity government ahead of elections.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/9514/World/Region/Gulf-Arabs-work-on-plan-for-Yemens-Saleh-to-go.aspx
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Israeli tank shells kills one, wounds four
APR 08 2011
One person was killed and at least four wounded on Thursday when an Israeli tank fired a shell at eastern Gaza City, a spokesman for the Palestinian emergency services said.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/9529/World/Region/BREAKING-NEWS-Israeli-tank-shells-kills-one,-wound.aspx
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Sudan accuses Israel of attack near main port city
APR 08 2011
Sudan accused Israel of launching a missile strike that killed two people near its main port city, in an attack that raised concerns about Khartoum's ability to stop arms trafficking across its remote east.
Analysts say weapons are smuggled to Hamas-governed Gaza through desert routes in Sudan's east, and reports said Israel was behind an air strike on a convoy of suspected arms smugglers in the region in 2009. Israel has never admitted or denied this.
"This is absolutely an Israeli attack," Foreign Minister Ali Karti told reporters on the strike that demolished a car and killed its two passengers near Port Sudan on Tuesday.
"Sudan reserves its right to react."
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor declined to comment on the accusation.
The strike comes at an difficult moment for Khartoum, which is hoping to get off the US list of state sponsors of terrorism to attract investment and curb discontent over soaring prices and the secession of its oil-producing south.
Karti accused Israel, which Khartoum considers an enemy state, of undertaking the attack in a bid to scupper Sudan's chances of being removed from the US terror list and portray Sudan negatively.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/9499/World/Region/Sudan-accuses-Israel-of-attack-near-main-port-city.aspx
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Revolution youth can outdo Muslim Brotherhood
APR 08 2011
Major General Mohsen Al-Fangari, member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, ?says those who staged the 25 January Revolution are capable of outnumbering the Muslim ?Brotherhood in this year's upcoming parliamentary elections. ?
?Why do you assume that the Muslim Brotherhood will win the elections? The revolution ?youth can gather millions of citizens to back them up, as they did in the uprising,” Al-Fangari said ?during a meeting with representatives of youth movements in Alexandria.
?Al-Fangari is possibly the most well known face among the military council, next only to the head of that council, Defense Minister Tantawi, for it was he who stood before the TV cameras to announce the armed forces Commumnique number 1, and many others after that. He won wide admiration and respect when he gave a military salute to the martyrs of the revolution.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/9519/Egypt/Politics-/Revolution-youth-can-outdo-Muslim-Brotherhood-says.aspx
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Turkish military open to all solutions to Kurdish issue
APR 08 2011
Turkey’s military had been considering all possible options to a solution to the country’s Kurdish issue, but the topic was too hot to touch on political grounds, according to a recently leaked U.S. Embassy cable written in 2009.
“All options are on the table,” a high-ranking intelligence officer from the Chief of General Staff said in a briefing to resident foreign defense attaches on March 19, 2009, according to the March 27, 2009, cable, which was written in the wake of statements by important figures in northern Iraq on a possible amnesty for members of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or PKK.
The cable, which was released in Turkey on Thursday by WikiLeaks’ local partner, the daily Taraf, said it was significant that Turkish politicians did not oppose the talk of an amnesty – as they had done so in the past.
In their evaluation, cable writer James Jeffrey, who was envoy to Ankara at the time, said an amnesty was a sine qua non for a lasting solution to the Kurdish issue, but added that domestic politicians could not utter the word for fear of upsetting sensitivities in western Turkey.
Full report at:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=8216all-options-are-on-table8217-to-solve-turkey8217s-kurdish-issue-wikileaks-say-2011-04-07
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Ouattara's forces seal off Gbagbo's bunker in Ivory Coast
APR 08 2011
Ivory Coast's internationally recognized President Alassane Ouattara ordered a blockade around his rival Laurent Gbagbo's residence where he remained holed up Friday, as more gunfire shook Abidjan.
Bodies lay in the streets of the country's main city days into a military offensive to force Gbagbo to give up the presidency, with food stocks running low, water and power supplies erratic and security plummeting, witnesses said.
Residents reported explosions and firing as they hid in their homes in the Cocody suburb where the strongman was still hunkered down in a bunker in the presidential residence after Ouattara's forces failed to remove him Wednesday.
Ouattara went on television Thursday night announcing the blockade and calling on his troops to restore order in Abidjan, where roaming militia have been engaged in looting and random attacks in recent days.
"A blockade has been set up around (the) perimeter" of Gbagbo's residence to make the district safe for local residents, said Ouattara, claiming Gbagbo had "heavy weapons and mercenaries" at hand. Addressing Ivorians for the first time since the country's post-election crisis came to a head, Ouattara appealed for national reconciliation and a resumption of economic activity in the world's leading cocoa producer. "The curfew will be relaxed as from Friday April 8 to enable a progressive return to normality," he declared.
Full report at:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=ouattaras-forces-seal-off-gbagbos-bunker-in-ivory-coast-2011-04-08
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Palestine summit bid for Istanbul
APR 08 2011
Turkey has proposed that the leaders of Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah hold a meeting in Istanbul to resolve their differences and form a unity government.
“Turkish President Abdullah Gül had a phone conversation with Palestinian Administration President Mahmoud Abbas last week and also sent the Turkish ambassador in Jerusalem to talk with Abbas on Saturday about the issue of a meeting,” a senior diplomat told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review Thursday on the condition of anonymity.
A similar proposal was dispatched to Hamas political bureau leader Khaleed Meshaal by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Syria late Wednesday.
Meshaal had not categorically dismissed the possibility of making contact with Fatah, a Turkish diplomat told the Daily News on Thursday.
Turkey's foreign minister used the Meshaal meeting to test the waters for a new Palestinian reconciliation initiative.
The secularist Fatah, which controls the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, has proposed elections and the establishment of a transitional unity government formed of technocrats instead of politicians from the two factions. The Islamist Hamas, meanwhile, controls the Gaza Strip.
Full report at:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkey-proposes-istanbul-summit-for-palestinian-groups-2011-04-07
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Israel pounds Gaza, kills four after missile hits bus
APR 08 2011
NAHAL: Hamas militants fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli school bus on Thursday, critically injuring a teenager, prompting the army to pound the the Gaza Strip, killing four and wounding more than 30.
After the missile slammed into the bus, the Palestinians lobbed at least 45 mortar rounds and several rockets into southern Israel, hitting a house, and the army responded by staging multiple raids across the enclave.
Late Thursday, in a bid to prevent further Israeli strikes, Hamas said it had got most armed Palestinian factions in Gaza to sign on to a ceasefire.
As the rockets flew over the border, Israel's Iron Dome short-range missile defence system intercepted a projectile heading for the southern port city of Ashkelon, in what was the first time such a system has ever been successfully used anywhere in a combat situation.
The bus attack was claimed by the military wing of Hamas and was the first time an anti-tank missile from Gaza had hit a civilian target in Israel, prompting Israel to vow a harsh response.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Israel-pounds-Gaza-kills-four-after-missile-hits-bus/articleshow/7908966.cms
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Yemen city hit by a 'tsunami of protest'
APR 08 2011
SANAA: Yemenis converged in the flash point city of Taiz in a “tsunami of protest” on Wednesday as mediators tried to find a way out of the county’s political crisis.
Two groups of protesters met up in the city center where a general strike had closed shops and banks in what activists called the largest demonstration in this troubled southern city to date.
More than 120 people have been killed since Yemen's protests calling for the removal of President Ali Abdullah Saleh began on Feb. 11, inspired by popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.
In Taiz alone, 17 people were killed Monday when government forces opened fire on demonstrators.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article347196.ece
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US report on WoT rejected Tahir Khan
APR 08 2011
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday disputed assessment in a US report that Pakistan still has no “clear path” to defeat militants on its soil and that Pakistan is avoiding direct conflict with the militants in the tribal areas. The new White House report on Wednesday said that in spite of “tremendous human sacrifices” made by Pakistani security forces and increased military co-operation between Pakistan and US in the last three months, the fight against militancy was making little progress. Reacting to the US displeasure over Pakistan’s anti-terrorism efforts in the report presented to the US congress, the Foreign Office Spokesperson Ms. Tehmina Janjua said Pakistan does not share the assessment of Washington. “I would like to emphatically state that we do not entirely share the US assessment,” the spokesperson said when asked about the US displeasure with Pakistan’s efforts to curb extremism and terrorism. “Pakistan has its own assessment of the strengths and weakness of the strategy and approach being followed by US/ISAF vis-a-vis counter terrorism and on issues of peace and security in Afghanistan”.
Full report at:
http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=ts&nid=2088
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Forces not ready for security transition
APR 08 2011
Landstuhl, Ger-many, Helmand, Afghanistan: (INP) Grim combat statistics show U.S. troops in Afghanistan suffered an unprecedented number of catastrophic injuries last year, including a tripling of amputations of more than one limb. A study by doctors at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where most wounded troops are sent before returning to the U.S., confirmed the fears: The battlefield has become increasingly brutal. In 2009, 75 service members brought to Landstuhl had limbs amputated. Of those, 21 had lost more than one limb. But in 2010, 171, 11% of all the casualties brought to Landstuhl, had undergone amputations, a much higher proportion than in past wars. Of the 171, 65 had lost more than one limb. Injuries to the genital area were also on the increase. In 2009, 52 casualties were brought to Landstuhl with battlefield injuries to their genitals or urinary tract. In 2010, that number was 142. Dr. John Holcomb, a retired Army colonel with extensive combat-medicine experience, said he and other doctors involved in the study were shocked by the findings, which he labeled as "unbelievable." "Everybody was taken aback by the frequency of these injuries: the double amputations, the injuries to the penis and testicles," said Holcomb, now a medical professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. "Nothing like this has been seen before." Military brass say the increase in catastrophic injuries can be attributed to the Taliban's use of improvised explosive devices, the roadside bombs that account for the majority of U.S. and NATO deaths and injuries.
Full report at:
http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=an&nid=792
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamicWorldNews_1.aspx?ArticleID=4419
10:52 PM
Moderate Islamist here
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