| Islamic World News | |
| 19 Jun 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com |
| Tajikistan moves to ban adolescents from mosques | ||
 Slain Pak Governor, Salman Taseer’s daughter stands up to his killers
Moroccan king fails to win over youth protest movement
Sex maniac pastor who preyed on minors
Islamic group seeks place in a democratic Egypt
In Pakistan South Waziristan clash kills two soldiers, six militants
Nine killed as insurgents attack Afghan convoys
Explosion kills three in Panjgur Quetta
Yemen caller says Indian Mujahedeen got Journalist killed
Libya: Nine Dead and 18 injured in NATO Air raid
Apology offered for Libya civilian deaths by NATO chief
Obama overruled lawyers on Libya air war: NYT
India, Pakistan accuse each other's Navies of aggression on high seas
Pakistan ‘concerned’ by NATO incursion near border
DNA of relatives used to identify Osama’s body
Dawood may have fled Pakistan, say intelligence reports
Syrian troops on rampage with scorched earth policy
Officials fire Iranian governor after divination
Bahrain to lift ban on opposition party
Britain urges citizens to leave Syria immediately
UN separates Al-Qaeda and Taleban sanctions
Somalia jails Westerners for over ransom money
'Pak failed to demonstrate its real commitment to partner US'
Pak's Osama session video leaked to US?
Pakistan protests to US, Afghanistan over incursions
CIA not conducting operation in Pakistan: Malik
Lebanon sends troops after residents clash on Syria
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
Photo: Tajikistan has taken the first step toward banning children and adolescents from worshipping in mosques.
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| Tajikistan moves to ban adolescents from mosques | |
Slain Pak Governor, Salman Taseer’s daughter stands up to his killers
Moroccan king fails to win over youth protest movement
Sex maniac pastor who preyed on minors
Islamic group seeks place in a democratic Egypt
In Pakistan South Waziristan clash kills two soldiers, six militants
Nine killed as insurgents attack Afghan convoys
Explosion kills three in Panjgur Quetta
Yemen caller says Indian Mujahedeen got Journalist killed
Libya: Nine Dead and 18 injured in NATO Air raid
Apology offered for Libya civilian deaths by NATO chief
Obama overruled lawyers on Libya air war: NYT
India, Pakistan accuse each other's Navies of aggression on high seas
Pakistan ‘concerned’ by NATO incursion near border
DNA of relatives used to identify Osama’s body
Dawood may have fled Pakistan, say intelligence reports
Syrian troops on rampage with scorched earth policy
Officials fire Iranian governor after divination
Bahrain to lift ban on opposition party
Britain urges citizens to leave Syria immediately
UN separates Al-Qaeda and Taleban sanctions
Somalia jails Westerners for over ransom money
'Pak failed to demonstrate its real commitment to partner US'
Pak's Osama session video leaked to US?
Pakistan protests to US, Afghanistan over incursions
CIA not conducting operation in Pakistan: Malik
Lebanon sends troops after residents clash on Syria
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
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Tajikistan moves to ban adolescents from mosques
Jun 19 2011
Roman Kozhevnikov
Tajikistan has taken the first step toward banning children and adolescents from worshipping in mosques and churches, drawing criticism from Muslim leaders who oppose the Central Asian state's crackdown on religious freedom.
The lower house of parliament in the impoverished ex-Soviet republic this week passed a "parental responsibility" bill that would make it illegal to allow children to be part of a religious institution not officially sanctioned by the state.
Authorities say the measures are necessary to prevent the spread of religious fundamentalism in the volatile republic, the poorest of the 15 former Soviet republics, where government troops have been fighting insurgents in the mountainous east.
Muslim leaders said the law, the brainchild of long-serving President Imomali Rakhmon, would only increase discontent among the majority Muslim population of a nation that fought a civil war in the 1990s in which tens of thousands were killed.
"It's a black day for Muslims. Even in Soviet times, such punitive measures and religious persecution did not exist," said prominent Muslim theologist Akbar Turadzhonzoda. "If the state doesn't want to, the people will defend their faith themselves."
Tajikistan, which shares a 1,340 km (840 mile) border with Afghanistan, has accused religious groups of stoking unrest. Rakhmon last year called home students from religious schools abroad and criticised a growing trend for Islamic dress.
The law now passes to the upper house of parliament, but few doubt that the docile Senate will approve the bill for Rakhmon to sign into law. The president has ruled Tajikistan since 1992.
Turadzhonzoda, who became deputy prime minister after the power-sharing agreement that brought the 1992-1997 civil war to an end, said he sympathised with all Muslims about the new bill.
"You cannot frighten believers with fines, arrest and imprisonment," he said. "If discontent grows, it could lead to a stand-off with the government of the likes seen in Tunisia and Egypt."
More than 98 percent of Tajikistan's 7.5 million population is Muslim. Groups representing the Christian minority also expressed unhappiness and confusion about the new laws.
"Churches and Christian organisations are faced with a dilemma: how can we help our parishioners without breaking the law, but continuing to honour our rules?" the evangelical group 'River of Life' said in a statement.
The group represents most of Tajikistan's 2,500 Protestants. The country is also home to another 70,000 ethnic Russians, most of whom are Orthodox Christians.
The bill would also ban young girls from wearing jewellery beyond a single pair of earrings and make it illegal for them to be tattooed or visit night clubs until they turn 20 years old.
Parents must also give their children a "suitable name" and ban them from drinking alcohol, smoking and taking drugs. The penalties for breaching the new laws have not been published.
In a separate legal change passed by the lower house this week, the founders of unregistered religious schools attended by adolescents could be jailed for between five and 12 years.
Tajik authorities imprisoned 158 people last year on charges of belonging to banned religious organisations, up from 37 in the previous year. A local BBC correspondent was detained this week on such charges. (Writing by Robin Paxton; Editing by Alistair Lyon)
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/tajikistan-moves-to-ban-adolescents-from-mosques
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Slain Pak guv’s daughter stands up to his killers
Jun 19 2011
A DAY after her father was gunned down by an Islamist extremist, a grieving Shehrbano Taseer wrote on Twitter , “ A light has gone out in our home today.” It wasn’t long before the 22- year- old realised something else: Her father’s death had lit a fire in her.
In the months since, the daughter of the late Punjab province governor Salmaan Taseer has emerged as one of Pakistan’s most outspoken voices for tolerance. Through her writing and speaking, she warns any audience who will listen of the threat of Islamist extremism, and impatiently waits for her father’s killer to be brought to justice.
Taseer majored in government and film at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and is a journalist by profession.
http://epaper.mailtoday.in/epaperhome.aspx?issue=1962011
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Moroccan king fails to win over youth protest movement
Jun 19 2011
Morocco’s youth-based February 20 Movement on Saturday rejected constitutional reforms proposed by King Mohammed VI, calling for nationwide protests.
‘The plan as proposed by the king Friday does not respond to our demands for a true separation of powers. We will protest peacefully on Sunday against this plan,’ a member of the movement’s Rabat section said.
The king outlined curbs to his wide political powers in an address to the nation, pledging to build a constitutional monarchy with a democratic parliament.
The proposals, to be put to a referendum on July 1, devolve many of the king’s powers to the prime minister and parliament.
They come in the wake of nationwide pro-reform demonstrations that started on February 20 — hence the name of the movement — inspired by other popular uprisings sweeping the Arab world.
The 47-year-old monarch, who in 1999 took over the Arab world’s longest-serving dynasty, currently holds virtually all power in the Muslim north African country, and he is also its top religious authority as the Commander of the Faithful. Under the new draft constitution, the king will retain this religious role and remain as head of state.
His person would be ‘inviolable,’ while the ‘free exercise of religion’ will be guaranteed by the monarch, the king said in his speech.
The king would also remain head of the army and still appoint ambassadors and diplomats. He will also retain the right to name top officials of unspecified ‘strategic’ administrations.
Many political players welcomed Mohammed VI’s proposals. ‘Compared to the current constitution, this plan is an important advance,’ Saad Eddine Othmani, an opposition lawmaker, said. ‘Everything the king promised in his speech of March 9 has been retained.’
That speech was the king’s first since the uprisings that toppled the autocratic rulers of Tunisia and Egypt and came less than a month after the protests erupted in Morocco for more social justice and limits on royal powers.
http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/international/22962.html
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Sex maniac pastor who preyed on minors
By Aravind Gowda
Jun 19 2011
THE poor girls came to the centre to study, but were abused by the person in charge of their teaching and protection.
Over 25 minor girls, who had been visiting the Bethel Student Centre since they could not afford the high cost of education, were sexually exploited by 45- year- old pastor K. Shantharaju. The fear of reprimand by the church made them keep quiet and suffer the ignominy in silence.
The pastor’s shameful behaviour came to light recently after his wife Priyalatha made the shocking discovery. She has filed a police complaint against him and accused him of being a paedophile. The accused, who was on the run, was arrested on Saturday.
“ Pastor Shantharaju of Bethel Church, who has been absconding after his wife Priyalatha registered a complaint against him, was apprehended while he was in transit,” the police said.
Shantharaju was the pastor of the Bethel Church in Jalahalli, north Bangalore. The church was established 20 years ago by Shantharaju’s father. The first such reported incident in Bangalore has left the Christian community here shocked.
“ This is a serious case. He has denigrated the noble profession of teaching. Besides, he is a priest. How could he exploit young children? We will take action against him,” Karnataka’s Home Minister R. Ashoka said.
Shantharaju allegedly sexually abused more than two dozen minor girls since 2004.
Priyalatha claimed that though she had brought the matter to the notice of the eminent people in the Christian community, no action was taken against her husband.
“ I was compelled to approach the police after he threatened me and my daughters with dire consequences if I revealed anything about his misdeeds with the minor girls to anyone,” she added.
Three girls have admitted to the police that they were sexually abused by Shantharaju.
A girl, who has studied at the centre, made a statement to the police that the pastor would take a few girls to his chamber after the evening class ended around 8.30 pm.
“ He would spend some time inside with a girl, having instructed the others to stand guard. We knew what transpired inside but were afraid of taking on the pastor,” she said.
Another 17- year- old girl told the police that she stopped visiting the centre after Shantharaju tried to molest her. She even told her parents of the pastor’s behaviour, she said.
According to the police, Shantharaju was in the habit of taking pictures of the minor girls on his mobile phone. “ There are several photographs of him posing with the girls. We are summoning these girls as part of the investigation,” a police officer said.
The Christian community leaders are planning a series of actions as part of the damagecontrol exercise. “ We will conduct an independent investigation. This incident has seriously dented the community’s image,” a parish priest said. With PTI inputs
http://epaper.mailtoday.in/epaperhome.aspx?issue=1962011
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Islamic group seeks place in a democratic Egypt
Lee keath
Jun 19, 2011
CAIRO: The night breeze blew foul wafts from a nearby canal black with garbage and pollution. The streets jammed with trucks and motorized rickshaws were so shattered that they hardly seemed paved at all.
It was to Cairo’s slum of Munib on a recent evening that the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s biggest Islamic group, brought its election campaign message: The country must turn to Islam to rebuild.
Full report:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article457333.ece
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In Pakistan South Waziristan clash kills two soldiers, six militants
Jun 19 2011
PESHAWAR: Security forces killed six militants after insurgents attacked a military checkpost in the South Waziristan tribal region on the Afghan border, killing two soldiers, Dawn News reported.
The attack occurred in the tribal region’s Ladha area.
South Waziristan was the main sanctuary for the Pakistani Taliban before the military launched a large ground offensive in October 2009. But attacks against security forces have continued in the area.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/06/18/south-waziristan-clash-kills-soldier-three-militants.html
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Nine killed as insurgents attack Afghan convoys
Jun 19 2011
KABUL: Insurgents attacked three convoys ferrying fuel and supplies to Nato troops stationed in western and eastern Afghanistan, killing nine Afghan security guards and torching at least 15 fuel tankers, officials said Saturday.
The Taliban recently launched its long-awaited spring offensive as the insurgents try to regain territory lost in the fall and winter to the US-led coalition. Unable to match Nato’s firepower, the militants instead frequently conduct small-scale strikes — on convoys or Nato patrols — as well as brazen suicide bombings on government targets.
Full report:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/06/18/two-roadside-bombs-kill-four-in-eastern-afghanistan.html
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Explosion kills three in Panjgur quetta
Jun 19 2011
QUETTA: At least three people, including two children, were killed in a bomb blast in Balochistan province’s Panjgur area on Saturday, DawnNews reported.
The blast occurred at the Bismillah chowk and wounded 21 people, including five security officials.
Police said the bomb was planted on a motorcycle.
Security was beefed up in the area following the blast and the wounded were shifted to a nearby hospital.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/06/18/explosion-kills-one-in-panjgur.html
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Yemen caller says Indian Mujahedeen got Journalist killed
June 19, 2011
In a new twist to the ‘whodunit’ J Dey murder, the Mumbai Police control room on Saturday evening received an anonymous phone call from Yemen, with the caller claiming that Indian Mujahideen (IM) was behind the Mid-Day journalist’s killing.
Informed crime branch sources did not divulge details though they confirmed having received the call around 5.30 pm.
Tajikistan has taken the first step toward banning children and adolescents from worshipping in mosques and churches.
Full report:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/347061/Yemen-caller-says-IM-got-J-Dey-killed.html
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Libya: Nine Dead and 18 injured in NATO Air raid
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Nine civilians are known dead and 18 injured after a rocket from a NATO jet hit a residential area in the Libyan capital Tripoli. Libyan officials describe the attack as deliberate.
NATO pledges a probe and re-iterates that its Libya air campaign is aimed at protecting civilians. A NATO spokesman said the alliance was taking the reports of civilian casualties very seriously and it would try to establish if it was a NATO bomb which had killed the residents.
On another front in the four-month-old battle to force out Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, a doctor in the city of Misrata said eight rebel fighters had been killed and 36 wounded in fighting with government troops.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, reporters were taken by Libyan government officials to a residential area in Tripoli's Souq al-Juma district where they saw a body being pulled out of the rubble of a destroyed building.
Later, in a hospital, they were shown the bodies of a child and two others who, officials said, were among a total of seven people killed in the strike.
"There was intentional and deliberate targeting of the civilian houses," deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said at the site. "This is another sign of the brutality of the West."
There was no way for reporters to verify that all the bodies they were shown came from the building.
Full report:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110619/wl_nm/us_libya
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Apology offered for Libya civilian deaths by NATO chief
Jun 18, 2011
BRUSSELS--NATO operations in Libya do not aim at ousting the Libyan regime, but aim mainly at protecting civilians, its Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Saturday.
In an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya in Brussels, Mr. Rasmussen said that NATO fighters launched more than 1,000 air strikes within the past week.
Full report:
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/04/09/144875.html
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Obama overruled lawyers on Libya air war: NYT
Jun 18, 2011
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama ignored legal advice from top Pentagon and US Justice Department lawyers, siding with other advisers who said he had legal authority to continue air strikes against Libya without congressional approval, the New York Times reported on Friday.
Full report:
http://arabnews.com/world/article456779.ece
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India, Pakistan accuse each other's Navies of aggression on high seas
Sandeep Dikshit & Anita Joshua
Jun 19 2011
NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani humanitarian effort that secured the release of Indians along with Pakistanis from Somalian pirates is fast turning into a war of words between the two governments. Each is accusing the other's Navy of aggression on the high seas while escorting m.v. Suez, which was released earlier this week after 10 months in captivity.
Full report:
http://www.hindu.com/2011/06/19/stories/2011061959370100.htm
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Pakistan ‘concerned’ by NATO incursion near border
Jun 19 2011
Pakistan said Friday NATO aircraft attacked one of its military posts in the northwest near the Afghan border and it had expressed its serious concern to the US embassy in Islamabad.
The incident in the Mohmand tribal region comes after relations between the United States and its ally hit a new low following the killing of Osama bin Laden by US SEALS in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad in May.
Full report:
http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/international/22960.html
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DNA of relatives used to identify Osama’s body
Jun 19 2011
FEDERAL authorities used DNA from “ multiple family members” and facial recognition technology to identify Osama bin Laden’s body, according to court papers filed on Friday that formally dropped terrorism charges against the slain al- Qaeda leader.
The papers detail the CIA’s efforts to make sure the man killed on May 2 in the Navy SEALs raid in Abbottabad was indeed bin Laden.
Full report:
http://epaper.mailtoday.in/epaperhome.aspx?issue=1962011
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Dawood may have fled Pakistan, say intelligence reports
Josy Joseph
Jun 19, 2011
NEW DELHI: Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim may have temporarily shifted out of Pakistan fearing for his safety, according to latest inputs available with Indian agencies.
Dawood's reported move is in line with the overall sense of paranoia palpable among Indians figuring in the list of most wanted and hiding in Pakistan. Officials say those hiding in Pakistan are now worried about their personal security since the May 2 killing of Osama bin Laden in a US Special Forces operation.
Full report:
intelligence-reports/articleshow/8907296.cms
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Syrian troops on rampage with scorched earth policy
Jun 19 2011
AMMAN: Syrian troops and gunmen loyal to President Bashar Assad stormed a town near the Turkish border on Saturday, burning houses and arresting dozens, witnesses said, in a persistent military campaign to crush popular revolt. The latest assault followed another Friday of deadly protests.
“They came at 7 a.m. to Bdama. I counted nine tanks, 10 armored carriers, 20 jeeps and 10 buses. I saw shabbiha (pro-Assad gunmen) setting fire to two houses,” said Saria Hammouda, a lawyer living in the border town in the Jisr Al-Shughour region.
Full report:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article457255.ece
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Officials fire Iranian governor after divination
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Jun 19, 2011
TEHRAN, Iran: A newly appointed governor in northern Iran has been dismissed after officials asked for guidance from God through divination, according to a media report Saturday.
The semiofficial Mehr news agency said the interior minister had appointed Ali Babaei Karnami governor of Sari late last month but that he was dismissed Tuesday as a formal ceremony was being organized for him to take up the position.
Full report:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article457332.ece
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Bahrain to lift ban on opposition party
Jun 19, 2011
MANAMA: The government will lift a ban on Bahrain’s second largest opposition party, the group said on Saturday, ahead of a national dialogue to ease the Gulf island kingdom’s political crisis.
Authorities shut down Waad, a leftist party aligned with the largest opposition group Wefaq, in April amid a crackdown by security forces on anti-government protests.
Waad spokesman Radhi Al-Mousawi said the government would lift the ban on its headquarters in Manama and later on its office Muharraq.
The state news agency BNA quoted the Justice Ministry as saying steps were being taken to lift the ban.
Full report:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article457200.ece
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Britain urges citizens to leave Syria immediately
Jun 18, 2011
BEIRUT: The British Foreign office has urged British nationals in Syria to leave the country “immediately.” In a statement posted on the website of the British Embassy in Syria, the Foreign Office says Britons should leave “now by commercial means whilst these are still operating.”
Full report:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article457023.ece
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UN separates Al-Qaeda and Taleban sanctions
By EDITH M. LEDERER
Jun 18, 2011
UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council voted unanimously Friday to treat Al-Qaeda and the Taleban separately when it comes to UN sanctions, a move aimed at supporting the Afghan government’s reconciliation efforts and more effectively fighting global terrorism.
The council’s adoption of two resolutions symbolically severs Al-Qaeda and the Taleban, which were previously tied in the same UN sanctions regime, and recognizes their different agendas.
Full report:
http://arabnews.com/world/article456967.ece
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Somalia jails Westerners for over ransom money
By ABDI GULED
Jun 18, 2011
MOGADISHU, Somalia: A Somali court on Saturday sentenced three British nationals, an American and two Kenyans to at least 10 years in prison each for bringing millions of dollars intended for pirate ransom into the country.
Two of the defendants were sentenced to 15 years in prison and a $15,000 fine, said Somali Information Ministry spokesman Abdifitah Abdinur. The other defendants were sentenced to 10 years and a $10,000 fine.
Full report:
http://arabnews.com/world/article457165.ece
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'Pak failed to demonstrate its real commitment to partner US'
Jun 18 2011
Washington : Pakistan has failed to demonstrate its real commitment to partner with the US in the war against terrorism, a top American lawmaker has said, echoing his colleagues' calls for reviewing the aid to Islamabad.
"Although Pakistan has received billions of dollars in US military assistance, and has assigned a considerable portion of its forces to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, it has failed to demonstrate in fundamental ways a real commitment to partnership with the US in pursuing threats to both of our Nations," Congressman Norman Dicks said.
Full report:
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/805512/
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Pak's Osama session video leaked to US?
Jun 18, 2011
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities are reportedly suspicious that the US mission in Islamabad has clandestinely obtained the video recording of the joint sitting of Parliament held on May 13 to discuss the May 2 raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad.
ISI chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha had briefed parliamentarians during that in-camera session, which lasted for about 11 hours, about the US' unilateral military raid that killed bin Laden.
Sources said that US officials, while interacting with Pakistani authorities, gave the impression they had minute-to-minute knowledge of proceedings of the sitting.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-18/pakistan/29674064_1_bin-pakistani-authorities-isi-chief-lieutenant-general
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CIA not conducting operation in Pakistan: Malik
Jun 19 2011
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Saturday that Pakistan is a sovereign state and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is neither conducting any operation inside the country nor will it be allowed to do so.
Talking to media outside the parliament, he said the law enforcement agencies are conducting operation against illegal immigrants, adding, the people who are living in Pakistan despite their expiry of visa have also been deported.
Full report:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/06/18/cia-not-conducing-operation-in-pakistan-malik.html
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Lebanon sends troops after residents clash on Syria
Jun 19 2011
Lebanon’s army clamped down on two sectarian districts of a northern city on Saturday after a rally in support of anti-government protesters in Syria triggered deadly clashes between rival gunmen.
Troops manned checkpoints and searched cars and houses in Tripoli’s Bab al-Tebbaneh neighbourhood, a Sunni Muslim stronghold, and Jabal Mohsen neighbourhood, whose residents hail from the same Alawite sect as the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.
The communities’ long-running feud erupted into violence on Friday after dozens of people took to Tripoli’s Nour Square to show support for a three-month-old Syrian revolt that has drawn bloody crackdowns by Assad’s government.
Security sources said between four and seven people, among them a boy and a soldier, were killed as street fighters attacked each other with assault rifles and grenades. At least 48 people were wounded.
Full report:
http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/international/22959.html
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10:16 PM
Moderate Islamist here
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