Rethinking Islam with Sultan Shahin

Islamic World News

26 Jun 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

	Suicide bomber in wheelchair kills two in Iraq
	New York Imam Still Holds Mosque Dream Indonesian maid saved from execution in Riyadh Steps against Tableeghi Jama’at Intolerable: Jamiat ul Ulema e Hind Burqa-clad Taliban kill 10 police in Pakistan siege 15 dead in clash between Pakistani militant groups Mauritanian army destroys al-Qaeda camp in Mali Syrians flee to Lebanon, death toll rises to 20 3 Al-Qaeda suspects killed after escape in Yemen Pak Taliban militant and wife staged attack on DI Khan police 11 dead in attack on South Sudan town Pak: Akbar Bugti's grandson among six killed in Karachi firing Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan to 'jointly combat terrorism' Pakistan, India seek to lower nuclear fears US supporting terrorism, says Khamenei Ex-SIMI chief arrested in Kochi Rebels expect Gaddafi proposal 'very soon' Dozens march for freedom in Saudi' NATO denies civilian deaths A mega tribute to M.F. Husain planned in capital Kazakhstan ready to host OIC meeting Pak mum on 26/11 commission's trip to India Pakistani power elite profoundly duplicitous, says Rushdie Multan blast: Suspect taken into police custody Islamabad, Kabul look inwards as Tehran blames US Religious meet planned alongside summer fest Makkah Haia arrests group for illegal sex Brother of Jeddah flood victim arrives from India for DNA test Egypt court sentences ex-trade minister to 5 years Jeddah’s mega stadium to be built near airport Kazakhstan ready to host OIC meeting Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau Pohto: New York Imam Feisal Abdul-Rauf

Suicide bomber in wheelchair kills two in Iraq

New York Imam Still Holds Mosque Dream Indonesian maid saved from execution in Riyadh Steps against Tableeghi Jama’at Intolerable: Jamiat ul Ulema e Hind Burqa-clad Taliban kill 10 police in Pakistan siege 15 dead in clash between Pakistani militant groups Mauritanian army destroys al-Qaeda camp in Mali Syrians flee to Lebanon, death toll rises to 20 3 Al-Qaeda suspects killed after escape in Yemen Pak Taliban militant and wife staged attack on DI Khan police 11 dead in attack on South Sudan town Pak: Akbar Bugti's grandson among six killed in Karachi firing Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan to 'jointly combat terrorism' Pakistan, India seek to lower nuclear fears Steps against Tableeghi Jama’at Untolerable: Jamiat ul Ulema e Hind US supporting terrorism, says Khamenei Ex-SIMI chief arrested in Kochi Rebels expect Gaddafi proposal 'very soon' Dozens march for freedom in Saudi' NATO denies civilian deaths A mega tribute to M.F. Husain planned in capital Kazakhstan ready to host OIC meeting Pak mum on 26/11 commission's trip to India Pakistani power elite profoundly duplicitous, says Rushdie Multan blast: Suspect taken into police custody Islamabad, Kabul look inwards as Tehran blames US Religious meet planned alongside summer fest Makkah Haia arrests group for illegal sex Brother of Jeddah flood victim arrives from India for DNA test Egypt court sentences ex-trade minister to 5 years Jeddah’s mega stadium to be built near airport Kazakhstan ready to host OIC meeting Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau URL: http://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/suicide-bomber-in-wheelchair-kills-two-in-iraq/d/4912 ------ Suicide bomber in wheelchair kills two in Iraq 26 June 2011 BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber in a wheelchair attacked a police station north of Baghdad on Sunday, killing two people and wounding 17, nine of them policemen, officials said. “A suicide bomber detonated his explosives vest at the entrance to a police station, killing two civilians and wounding 17 people, including nine policemen in Tarmiyah,” a town north of Baghdad, an interior ministry official said. A defence ministry official confirmed the report. “The suicide bomber came up to the entrance in a wheelchair,” said Colonel Tawfiq Ahmed al-Jenabi, chief of the town’s police, who added he did not know if the attacker was genuinely handicapped. Meanwhile, two people were wounded by an improvised bomb that exploded next to a convoy transporting Mohammed Ahmed al-Obaidi, mayor of the town of Al-Riyadh in the restive northern province of Kirkuk. Obaidi, who escaped unhurt and spoke to AFP after the attack, lost a foot in a similar bombing in June last year. Twenty-four people were killed on Thursday in three separate attacks in Baghdad, including 21 in a triple bombing at a crowded market, and an American contractor working for USAID whose convoy was hit by an improvised bomb. http://www.dawn.com/2011/06/26/iraq-suicide-attack-kills-two-wounds-17.html ------ New York Imam Still Holds Mosque Dream Jun 26, 2011 CAIRO – As the controversy over a project to build a mosque and Muslim center near the 9/11 site in New York is gradually subsiding, the man behind the project is becoming more hopeful that one day he would see his dream come true. "The dream is still alive," Imam Feisal Abdul-Rauf told The Charlotte Observer in an interview, published Saturday, June 25. "Whether it happens there, whether it happens at another place, it's going to happen." The planned center, which would include a mosque, a swimming pool, a preschool and a 9/11 memorial, has stirred a national debate in the United States. Opponents argue that the planned building would be an insult to the memory of the 9/11 victims, but advocates say that the mosque would send a message of tolerance in 9/11-post America. "These centers are very important in establishing interfaith relations between faith communities," said Abdul-Rauf who spent much of his life preaching religious tolerance and the need for people of different faiths to work together. "We felt our time has come to establish a community center that speaks not only to issues of American Muslims who are in the process of finding their American legs but also in establishing the kind of relationships between the American Islamic community and the American non-Muslim faith communities, where there are a lot of shared values." The controversy over the project has fuelled anti-Muslim sentiments across the United States, with a spree of attacks on Muslim worship places and property. The debate was seized by rightists and politicians to step up inflammatory rhetoric against Muslims, and exposed a raw nerve over US attitudes toward Islam nearly nine years after the 9/11 attacks. Another Dream Abdul-Rauf also has another dream to replicate the success story of a worldwide Christian organization that has over 45 million members from 125 countries. "My vision, which I've had for the last 20 years, is to establish a kind of YMCA-type center which is open to everybody," Abdul-Rauf said, using the acronym of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). "Just like the Christians started the YMCA and the Jews started the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan," Muslims can have their own such project, Abdul-Rauf added. But Abdul-Rauf, who chairs the Cordoba Initiative, an organization working to foster ties between the Muslim world and the West, also believes that Muslims have a responsibility of clearing misconceptions about their faith in US community. "Meet non-Muslims, explain to non-Muslims what our faith is all about. Be friendly. Dress in an American way. Don't do things that, even if allowable, are likely to arouse hostility," he said, addressing the Muslim community. "The Prophet (Muhammad), for example, at the very beginning of his mission, did not perform the noon and afternoon prayers in a loud voice because this would offend the sensitivities of the people against him in Makkah." According to a report by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the University of California, Berkeley's Center for Race and Gender said that Islamophobia in the US is on the rise. A US survey has also revealed that the majority of Americans know very little about Muslims and their faith. A recent Gallup poll, however, found 43 percent of Americans Nationwide admitted to feeling at least “a little” prejudice against Muslims. http://www.onislam.net/english/news/americas/452788-ny-imam-still-holds-to-mosque-dream.html ------ Indonesian maid saved from execution By GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN Jun 26, 2011 RIYADH: The Indonesian government has paid SR2 million in blood money to save the life of an Indonesian maid on death row in Riyadh for killing her Yemeni employer in 2009. Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry sent the money to its embassy in Riyadh to secure the release of Darsem binti Dawud. “The compensation was paid by two officers of the Indonesian Embassy to a panel at the Riyadh governorate dealing with the case,” said Hendrar Pramutyo, an official of the embassy’s Citizen Protection Wing, on Saturday. “The payment of blood money is an expression of the Indonesian government’s commitment to protect its overseas workers at any cost.” He said the Riyadh court had already decided to release the maid, who is currently languishing in the Malaz Jail. “I am hopeful that the maid will be released shortly,” said the embassy official. Dawud is a migrant worker hailing from the city of Subang in Indonesia’s West Java province. She was convicted by a Riyadh court in May 2009. The court sentenced her to death by beheading. The maid has always maintained her employer tried to rape her and she was acting in self-defense, according to reports published in a section of the Indonesian media Saturday. In January the employer's family agreed to forgive Dawud if they were paid the compensation by July this year. Earlier, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa had asked the Indonesian House of Representatives to approve the transfer of blood money to resolve the case, which comes under the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s citizen protection budget. “Due to the sensitive and immediate nature of the issue, we worry that we will miss the deadline if we keep discussing and negotiating … we will end up encountering new problems,” he told legislators in Jakarta on Friday. On Friday, Indonesian activists also demonstrated in front of the Saudi Embassy in Jakarta and protested against the sentence. There have also been frequent protests in Indonesia after a maid was executed in Makkah a fortnight ago. Jakarta called home its ambassador to the Kingdom Gatot Abdullah Mansyur for consultations following the execution of Indonesian maid Ruyati binti Sapubi. A formal letter of protest was also sent to Saudi Arabia. Indonesia has since announced a ban on the recruitment of workers to Saudi Arabia. The ban will be effective from Aug. 1 this year. There are 28 Indonesian maids currently on death row in Saudi Arabia, as well as 1,000 languishing in different jails across the Kingdom for petty crimes. More than 1.2 million Indonesian workers live and work in the Kingdom. http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article461617.ece ----- Govt. Steps against Tableeghi Jama’at Intolerable: Maulana Mahmoud Madani New Age Islam News Bureau New Delhi: A Tablighi Jama’t group from Sri Lanka was sent back by the government administration from Mewat, District Palwal, according to a press release issued by Maulana Syed Mahmoud Madani.General Secretary, Jamiat ul Ulema e Hind. Maulana Madani has expressed his deep heartfelt grief over the incident. According to reports in the Urdu Press, he said, central and state government’s apathy towards the Jama’t is unacceptable and intolerable. “Tableeghi Jama’t, he said, is not a political party and it does not ever talk of politics, national or international issues. It is an organisation which preaches faith among Muslims and imparts lessons of nationalism and brotherhood. The organisation neither has any interest in country’s external or internal policies nor does ever talks about them; rather, it stresses the education of culture and civilisatiion among the Muslims in particular and among the people in general. It exhorts Muslims to offer Namaz and tread the path of Deen and Islam.” Maulan Madani said, “This act of the state and central governments to create hurdle in religious and social work, is a clear indication of communalism.” “Religious groups and religious personalities like Sri Sri Ravi Shankkar keep visiting other countries for their religious preaching. They never face this kind of situation anywhere in the world; nor are they stopped or forbidden to tour for their non-political missions”, added Maulana Madani before departing on a visit to Saudi Arabia for Umra.” “If the situation so demanded a long battle will be fought God willing, for the protection of their religious rights, after returning from Umra,” he threatened. “There is no scope for double standards”, he said. “Tableeghi Jama’t is an organisation with a clean record and such action against it cannot be tolerated,” he further said. We should always be ready to fight in accordance with our constitution, he stated. He expressed the certainly that “we will get support from the secular parties, organisations and people.” He added: “In today’s world every possible effort is being made for the protection of human rights and in a way it has taken the form of the most important issue in the world”. According to reports published in Urdu dailies, “Hamara Samaj” and Ekhbar e Mashrique” of 26th June, 2011, Maulana Syed Mahmoud Madani has sent a delegation comprising Nazim e Aala Maulana Mohammad Yahya and Nazie e Tanzeem Maulana Abdul Majeed to Gurgaon, Mewat to take stock of the situation there. The situation in Mewat had got tense after the Sri Lankan Jama’t was forced to return to Delhi. --- Burqa-clad Taliban kill 10 police in Pakistan siege 26 June 2011 PESHAWAR: At least 10 policemen were killed Saturday when Taliban militants in suicide vests, some of them clad in burqas, laid siege to a police station in northwest Pakistan, officials said. “Police have taken the control of the police station and 10 of our policemen were martyred in the attack and six attackers were killed,” Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, told AFP. Militants armed with guns and hand grenades had attacked Kolachi police station near the border with South Waziristan tribal district and taken a group of policemen hostage. Hussain said the burqa-clad attackers had hoped to secure the release of other militants. “The attackers had come prepared for days of siege and hostage-taking to secure the release of other militants,” Hussain told AFP. “When our armoured car entered the police station two suicide bombers blew themselves up and a third suicide bomber was killed by a rocket,” Hussain said. “Police have found the bodies of three militants and the heads of three suicide bombers,” Hussain said, adding that half of the police station building had been destroyed and 11 policemen wounded. Regional police chief Imtiaz Shah told AFP there was one woman among the suicide bombers. Shah said the siege began when attackers dressed in burqas pulled out guns at the station’s main gate and killed policemen deployed there. The militants then damaged the boundary wall with hand grenades, enabling more rebels to follow them into the building. About 17 policemen were on duty at the time and were taken hostage by the militants once they ran out of ammunition, the police chief said. As security forces were called to the scene and cordoned off the police station, two of the attackers detonated their suicide vests, while three others were shot dead by security forces, Shah said. District police chief Mohammad Hussain Khan said it was likely the attackers had come from the nearby lawless tribal belt. Television footage showed thick black smoke billowing from the roof of the fortress-like police station and security forces and police firing at militants. Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan in a telephone call to AFP claimed responsibility, saying it was the latest in a series of attacks to avenge the killing of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. “We sent one male and one female suicide bomber to participate in the attack, because we want to liberate our people from the slavery of America,” Ehsan said. Nearly 4,500 people have been killed across Pakistan in attacks blamed on Taliban and other extremist networks based in the tribal belt since government troops stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad in 2007. Washington has called the semi-autonomous region the global headquarters of Al-Qaeda, where Taliban and other Al-Qaeda-linked networks need to be defeated if the 10-year war in Afghanistan is ever to end. http://www.dawn.com/2011/06/25/three-dead-in-pakistan-police-station-attack.html ------ 15 dead in clash between Pakistani militant groups Jun 26, 2011 PARACHINAR: A government official says at least 15 Islamist militants have been killed in a shootout between the supporters of two Pakistani Taliban commanders near the Afghan border. The official, Mir Alam, says several insurgents were also wounded during Saturday's gunbattle in the Orakzai tribal region. He said it was unclear what sparked the shootout. However, such clashes are common in Orakzai where an unspecified number of insurgents and their commanders have been hiding after fleeing a military operation in nearby regions in recent years. Pakistan's army declared a victory in Orakzai last year but violence has continued. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/15-dead-in-clash-between-Pakistani-militant-groups/articleshow/8990079.cms ------ Mauritanian army destroys al-Qaeda camp in Mali Jun 26, 2011 Mauritania: The Mauritanian army has “completely destroyed” an al-Qaeda camp in neighbouring Mali in an assault that left four soldiers wounded, a security source said. Friday's attack in the forest region of Wagadou in western Mali involved air strikes and was staged in the evening, the Mauritanian source told AFP, adding that the “terrorists” struck back with “heavy arms”. “The definitive toll on the enemy side will only be known at dawn but it will be heavy. The tents of the camp and three vehicles have been destroyed," the source said, adding that two of the wounded soldiers were in a serious condition. “Strong explosions were heard across a 20-kilometre radius, probably heavy weapons were stocked in the camp,” the source continued. “We are in control of the situation and the zone has been secured.” Full report at: http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/808630/ ------ Syrians flee to Lebanon, death toll rises to 20 Jun 26, 2011 Hundreds of Syrians, some of them with gunshot wounds, streamed into neighboring Lebanon on Saturday in search of a refuge from the increasing violence in their homeland, a Lebanese security official said. The arrivals at the border began shortly after Syrian security forces opened fire on anti-government protesters across the country, killing 20 people, including two children aged 12 and 13, Syrian activists said. The Local Coordination Committees, a group that tracks the anti-government protests in Syria, said most of the deaths occurred in the Barzeh neighborhood of the capital Damascus, as well as the suburb of al-Kaswa. Several others died when security forces opened fire in the central city of Homs, sending residents fleeing into neighboring Lebanon. Full report at: http://www.dailypioneer.com/348427/Syrians-flee-to-Lebanon-death-toll-rises-to-20.html ------ 3 Al-Qaeda suspects killed after escape in Yemen Jun 26, 2011 SANAA: Yemeni forces killed three men Saturday who were among nearly 60 suspected Al-Qaeda militants who escaped from prison this past week, officials said. The three escapees were awaiting execution in the Mukalla prison in southern Yemen, where inmates attacked guards, seized their weapons and fled through a tunnel on Wednesday in another sign that Islamic militants are making gains amid Yemen's political turmoil. Nearly four months of anti-government protests have left the country's president of more than three decades clinging to power. President Ali Abdullah Saleh's forces have failed to silence the dissent with a bloody crackdown and have even been drawn into street battles with tribesmen who have turned against him. An attack on his palace in the capital this month badly wounded him and forced him to fly to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment. The spiraling unrest has raised fears that Yemen's Al-Qaeda franchise will seize the opportunity and carve out more room to operate freely and plot attacks on the West from its redoubts in the country's remote and mountainous hinterlands. Besides the prison escape, Islamic militants, including some believed to be linked to Al-Qaeda, have taken over two towns in southern Yemen in recent weeks. In Saturday's confrontation, the three prison escapees were killed during a chase. Two of them had been hit by gunfire, but the circumstances of the third man's death were unclear, medical officials said. A security official said an investigation of the breakout showed prisoners had mobile phones and digging equipment. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/2011/Jun-26/3-Al-Qaeda-suspects-killed-after-escape-in-Yemen.ashx#axzz1QMhyf2Ds ------ Pak Taliban militant and wife staged attack on DI Khan police By Manzoor Ali June 26, 2011 PESHAWAR: A Taliban militant and his wife carried out a suicide bombing on a police station in Pakistan on Saturday that killed 12 policemen, a Taliban spokesman said on Sunday. The pair, armed with assault rifles and hand grenades, raided the compound and took a dozen policemen hostage forseveral hours in a town near the region of South Waziristan, amajor al Qaeda and Taliban sanctuary on the Afghan border. Ehsanullah Ehsan, a Pakistani Taliban spokesman, said the assault was carried out in retaliation for Bin Laden’s killing and government attacks against militants. “The attackers were a husband and wife. We will keep carrying out attacks with different strategies,” he told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location. Under siege in DI Khan: Bombers storm police station Heavily-armed Taliban insurgents, some of them dressed in burqas, stormed a police station and held over a dozen policemen hostage before commandos recaptured the building after a several hours long standoff in the southern Dera Ismail (DI) Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday. Full report at: http://tribune.com.pk/story/196584/under-siege-in-di-khan-bombers-storm-police-station/ ------ 11 dead in attack on South Sudan town Jun 26, 2011 NAIROBI, Kenya: Eleven people died after a militia group allegedly allied to the northern Sudanese government attacked a southern town, an official said Saturday, as violence in the contested areas between north and South Sudan continued to escalate ahead of the South’s independence next month. A Southern Sudanese County Commissioner Domenic Deng said that eight members of the militia and three Southern Sudanese soldiers died in a morning attack on Turalei. Turalei hosts tens of thousands of people who had been displaced from their homes in the contested north and south region of Abyei following an invasion by Sudan’s army. Last month Deng said that up to 40,000 people had arrived in Turalei, a town just south of Abyei. He said at least 80,000 people have fled Abyei, a zone about the size of Connecticut which northern Sudan invaded late May. Col. Philip Aguer, a military spokesman for the southern army, said the attacks are part of a plan by the north to take over oil rich areas in the south before it gains independence next month. Full report at: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article461490.ece ------ Pak: Akbar Bugti's grandson among six killed in Karachi firing incident By Ahmed Jung June 26, 2011 KARACHI: Six people, including the grandson of former chief of Jamhoori Watan Party Nawab Akbar Bugti, were killed in a firing incident in the Defence area of Karachi late Sunday night. The incident took place outside house no. 121, on 7th street, Khayaban-e-Rahat in Defence Phase VI, at around 2am. At the time of the incident, a dance party was taking place at the residence of Nasir. Two groups clashed at the entrance of the house, and a scuffle broke out over who would enter the premises first. The groups opened fire at each other, killing six people and injuring nine others. According to District Superintendent Police (DSP) Gizri Zameer Abbasi, the dead have been identified as Talha Bugti, Iqbal, Kamran, Moon and Joseph. One girl was also killed in the incident. Her name could not be verified, but she was referred to as Bunty in the police report. The injured include Zeeshan Ziauddin, Zaid Fazl, Faraz Ameer, Irfan Adnan, Qamar, Shahbaz, Bilal and Essa. The police reached the area 30 minutes after the firing occurred, and confiscated equipment from the premises. This included lights, liquor, the the DJ’s equipment. Police also confiscated arms and ammunition from the premises. According to evidence found at the site, police said that 9MM pistols, Kalashnikovs and SMGs were used by the groups during the firing incident. Three cars have also been impounded by the police. The police has taken the owner of the house for questioning, and are searching for Arif Roger, the main accused in the incident. http://tribune.com.pk/story/196639/defence-shooting-four-dead-seven-injured-in-shooting-incident/ ------ Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan to 'jointly combat terrorism' Jun 26, 2011 Tehran: The presidents of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan agreed to join forces in combating militancy as they attended a counter terrorism summit in Tehran under the cloud of an Afghan hospital bombing that killed 60 people. The joint statement by the three neighbours also came hot on the heels of an announcement by US President Barack Obama that Washington will withdraw 33,000 of its 99,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of next summer. "All sides stressed their commitment to efforts aimed at eliminating extremism, militancy, terrorism, as well as rejecting foreign interference, which is in blatant opposition to the spirit of Islam, the peaceful cultural traditions of the region and its peoples' interests," the statement said. "All sides agreed to continue meeting at foreign, interior, security and economy ministers' level to prepare a roadmap for the next summit due to be held in Islamabad before the end of 2011," added the statement carried by Iran's official IRNA news agency. Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Iranian and Pakistani counterparts Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Asif Ali Zardari held three-way talks yesterday ahead of a six-nation counterterrorism conference. The three leaders discussed "ways of battling terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking," IRNA said. In his speech at the opening session of the two-day summit, Karzai said that despite his government's efforts, militancy was on the rise both in his country and in the region. http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/808661/ ------ Pakistan, India seek to lower nuclear fears Jun 26, 2011 ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India agreed Friday to try to ease fears about their nuclear arsenals, in unexpectedly positive talks between the two countries’ top diplomats. Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir agreed to expand confidence-building measures in both their nuclear and conventional weapons. A meeting of experts would be asked to “consider additional measures … to build trust and confidence and promote peace and security,” they said in a joint statement after a two-day meeting in Islamabad. The talks yielded a better than expected outcome, with the foreign secretaries holding an unscheduled joint news conference, and agreeing to try to improve trade and travel across the cease-fire line dividing Kashmir. “The ideology of military conflict should have no place in the 21st century,” Rao told the news conference. Full report at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/International/2011/Jun-25/Pakistan-India-seek-to-lower-nuclear-fears.ashx#axzz1QMhyf2Ds -------- Govt. Steps against Tableeghi Jama’at Untolerable: Maulana Mahmoud Madani New Age Islam News Bureau New Delhi: One Tablighi Jama’t group from Sri Lanka was sent back by the government administration from Mewat, Distt. Palwal, according to a press release of Jamiat ul Ulema e Hind General Secretary Maulana Syed Mahmoud Madani. Maulana Madani has expressed his deep heartfelt grief on the incident. He said, central and state government’s apathy towards the Jama’t is unacceptable and intolerable. “Tableeghi Jama’t, he said, is not a political party and it does not ever talk of politics, national or international. It is an organisation which preaches faith among Muslims and imparts lessons of nationality and brotherhood. The organisation neither has any interest in country’s external or internal policies nor does ever talks about them rather it enforces on the education of culture and civilisatiion among the Muslims in particular and among the people in general. It exhorts Muslims to offer Namaz and tread the path of Deen and Islam.” Maulan Madani said, “This act of the state and central government to create hurdle in religious and social work, is a clear indication of communalism.” “Religious groups and religious personalities like Sri Sri Ravi Shankkar keep visiting other countries for their religious preaching. They never face this kind of situation anywhere in the world nor are they stopped or forbidden to tour for their non political missions”, said and added Maulana Madani before departing on a visit to Saudia Arabia for Umra,” if the situation demanded a long battle will be fought God willing, for the protection of their religious rights, after returning from Umra.” “There is no scope for dual policy”, he said. “Tableeghi Jama’t is a party with a clean chit and such actions against it cannot be tolerated, he said, we should always be ready to fight in accordance with our constitution and we certainly will get support from the secular parties, organisations and people.” He further said, “in today’s world every possible effort is being done for the safety of human rights and in way it has taken the form of the most important issue in the world”. According to reports published in Urdu dailies, “Hamara Samaj” and Ekhbar e Mashrique” dt. 26th June 11, Maulana Syed Mahmoud Madani has sent a delegation comprising Nazim e Aala Maulana Mohammad Yahya and Nazie e Tanzeem Maulana Abdul Majeed to Gurgaon, Mewat to take stock of the situation there. Situation in Mewat had got tense after the Jama’t was forced to return to Delhi. ------ US supporting terrorism, says Khamenei Jun 26, 2011 TEHRAN: Iran's supreme leader on Saturday accused the United States of supporting terrorism, pointing to American drone strikes in Pakistan and Afghanistan that allegedly have killed scores of civilians. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said a country whose military forces are responsible for such deaths can't lecture the world about fighting terror. Strong anti-US salvos are heard regularly from Iran's leadership. But today's statement by Khamenei also reverberated the depth of rift between Iran and the US on who is a terrorist and who is a freedom fighter. "The US and European governments that follow it describe Palestinian combatant groups who fight for liberation of their land as terrorists," Khamenei said in a message to an international conference on combating terrorism that opened on Saturday in Tehran. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/US-supporting-terrorism-says-Khamenei/articleshow/8996822.cms ------ Ex-SIMI chief arrested in Kochi Jun 26, 2011 Kochi/Bhopal: In a quiet operation at the Kochi international airport on Saturday,Madhya Pradesh anti-terror squad swooped down on Syed Salauddeen Salar, former all India president of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI),as he flew in from Dubai. The police had issued a look-out notice for him. There were intelligence inputs that he is coming to Kochi Officers of MP police ATS came here to nab him when he flew in, Bhuvana Chandran,immigration SP at Kochi airport,told TOI. Salauddeen,40,was produced before the Aluva first class judicial magistrate.He was taken to Indore by the MP police for detailed questioning after obtaining his threeday interim custody.He will be produced in an Ujjain court on Monday.The MP police and central agencies are expected to quiz him further on the SIMI network. Salauddeen belongs to Andhra Pradesh.He landed in Kochi from Dubai,where he was in jail in connection with some cases,said DySP Vijayan,who assisted the MP police team to arrest him He was reportedly in hiding in Dubai after SIMI was banned.There were several cases pending against him in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka and much of them related to charges of inciting communal hatred. Full report at: http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/getpage.aspx?pageid=6&pagesize=&edid=&edlabel=CAP&mydateHid=26-06-2011&pubname=&edname=&publabel=TOI ------ Rebels expect Gaddafi proposal 'very soon' Jun 26, 2011 Libya's rebels expect to receive an offer from Muammar Gaddafi "very soon" that could end the four-month-old war, a senior official told AFP said Saturday. Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice chairman of the National Transitional Council, said intermediaries had indicated that a proposal from the Libyan strongm an was in the works, offering the faintest glimmer of hope for a deal to end the bloodshed. "We expect to get an offer very soon; he is unable to breathe," said Ghoga. "We want to preserve life, so we want to end the war as soon as possible," he added. "We have always left him some room for an exit." Ghoga said the NTC was not in direct talks with Gaddafi, but understood through contacts with France and South Africa that an offer was being prepared. "These are the countries chosen by the Gaddafi regime to present a proposal to the National Transitional Council, but we have not received anything to date." "Any proposal that is brought to us we will take a serious look at it so long as it guarantees that Gaddafi and his regime, his inner circle, do not remain in power," Ghoga said. Full report at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/africa/Rebels-expect-Gaddafi-proposal-very-soon/Article1-713889.aspx ------ Dozens march for freedom in Saudi' Jun 26, 2011 Dozens of people wearing white shrouds have staged a peaceful march in the oil-producing region of eastern Saudi Arabia, demanding basic rights and the release of prisoners, according to a video posted on YouTube. The video recording, dated June 24, showed some 30 men, many in Western clothes, marc hing with white shrouds that symbolise willingness to die as martyrs, in the mainly Shi'ite city of Qatif on Friday. It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the recording, but Shi'ites have often held small protests in the area. A Saudi interior ministry spokesman said he was not aware of the report but would check with local police. A local rights activist said the protest, inspired by a government crackdown on fellow Shi'ites in neighbouring Bahrain, was the first one of its kind in the area in two months. "The demonstrators were not calling for bringing down the regime. They were simply demanding basic rights and an end to sectarian discrimination," Mohammed al-Said said by telephone. Full report at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/restofasia/Dozens-march-for-freedom-in-Saudi/Article1-713766.aspx ------ NATO denies civilian deaths Jun 26, 2011 TRIPOLI: NATO came under verbal fire again on Saturday from the Muammar Qadhafi's regime, which accused it of killing 15 more people in strikes on civilian sites in the eastern city of Brega, a claim promptly denied by the alliance. Meanwhile, three powerful explosions struck the eastern Tripoli suburb of Tajura, where a number of military installations are located, and columns of smoke could be seen from the centre of the capital, AFP correspondents said. It was not immediately known if the blasts were the result of an attack by NATO, which has repeatedly targeted the area in the past. And in a likely propaganda coup against Mr. Qadhafi in football-mad Libya, 17 of the country's top players, including national goalkeeper Juma Gtat, have defected to rebels battling to oust him, the BBC reported. Full report at: http://www.hindu.com/2011/06/26/stories/2011062653511500.htm ------ A mega tribute to M.F. Husain planned in capital 26 June 2011 New Delhi: Artists, performers, art protagonists and culture volunteers from across the country will converge in the capital July 2 to celebrate the life and times of Maqbool Fida Husain. Husain, 'MF' to his fraternity, revered as an unmatched master by his admirers, passed away June 9 in London at 95. Hosted by a capital-based socio-cultural forum, SAHMAT (Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust), the tribute will be a "send-off to the artist, whom most of his compatriots, fellow painters and thousands of fans in India could not meet before his death in London or attend his funeral", said long-time friend, artist and coordinator of the mega tribute, Ram Rahman of SAHMAT. Three of Husain's children - Shamshad Husain, Owais Husain and Raisa Husain - will share their memories of the artist, a doting father. Several senior artists like Anjolie Ela Menon and Ram Kumar will recall their associations with Husain, Rahman said. "We will honour Husain, the forerunner of public art, whose contribution to public artscape has been immense," Rahman told IANS. Full report at: http://twocircles.net/2011jun25/mega_tribute_mf_husain_planned_capital.html ------ Pak mum on 26/11 commission's trip to India Jun 26, 2011 New Delhi : Despite its commitment, Pakistan has failed to convey to India as to when its judicial commission will visit here to take the statement of the magistrate, who had recorded the confession of Ajmal Kasab, to pursue the 26/11 attacks case. During the Home Secretary-level talks held in New Delhi in March, India had agreed to host Pakistan's judicial commission to take statements of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate RV Sawant Waghule, Investigating Officer Ramesh Mahale and the doctor who carried out the post-mortem of the terrorists. Islamabad has been maintaining that it is necessary to send the commission to India as part of the judicial process of the 26/11 case in Pakistan and promised at the Home Secretary-level talks that they would do so by May 15. "More than a month after the agreed date, Pakistan has not been able to convey to us when they are sending the commission to India," an official said. The government has already conveyed to the Bombay High Court that Sawant and Waghule should be available for questioning by the Pakistani commission. The commission wants to interview the Indian officials in connection with the trial of seven Pakistani suspects, currently in a jail in that country, in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case. Pakistan's contention is that the charges against the seven Lashkar-e-Taiba members, including its operation commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, are based on Kasab's statement in Mumbai and hence the magistrate and the IO's statements were necessary to submit before the anti-terror court in Islamabad. Full report at: http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/808851/ ------ Pakistani power elite profoundly duplicitous, says Rushdie Jun 26, 2011 London : The power elite of Pakistan is "profoundly duplicitous," says controversial Indian-origin author Salman Rushdie, who finds it "ludicrous" that al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden hid in the heart of that country without anybody's knowledge. Calling the system in Pakistan "deeply unstable, corrupt and militarist", Rushdie said the Indian perspective would believe that in having Pakistan as an ally, the West "is in bed with the wrong people". "For those of us who've been watching for a while, this is not rocket science. If you look at this from the Indian side of the frontier, you know that Pakistan has been harbouring terrorists forever," Rushdie told The Times. The Midnight's Children author also said he had never believed that bin laden would be hiding in a mountainous cave and he was hardly surprised that he was found in Abbottabad. "In this case it was obvious that someone like bin Laden could not have hidden out for a decade in Pakistan, which is not a wilderness. "I never believed the cave. I thought, 'This is a rich kid who's grown up in a world of enormous wealth; he ain't living in no cave'. And Abbottabad? You're living next door to West Point? In a town where all your neighbours are retired generals... Your house is eight times the size of the next- biggest house? And nobody wants to know who lives there? Ludicrous," he said. Terming the power elite of Pakistan as "profoundly duplicitous," he contrasted the set up in that country with India which has a "stable democracy". http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/808665/ ------ Multan blast: Suspect taken into police custody June 26, 2011 MULTAN: Police took into custody a man they suspected was responsible for the bomb that targeted a police building in Multan on Sunday. 10 people were injured in the incident, out of which four are police officials. CPO Multan Amir Zulfikar denied that any policemen had died in the blast. Earlier, hospital authorities reported that three critically wounded policemen had died. Express 24/7 correspondent Owais Jaffery reported that the man who was taken into police custody was under 25 years old and sported a long beard. Jaffery reported that according to the police, the bomb was planted inside bike. He reported that the security arrangements in this area were poor, and that policemen’s motorcycles had been stolen from there last week. He added that the cars present at the venue were tied with chains to secure them. DCO Zahid Akhtar Zaman said it cannot be confirmed at present if it was suicide attack. The civil defence officer said 8-10 kg of explosives were used in the attack. The names of the three severely injured policemen are Khadim Hussain, Qaiser Abbad and Faisal Shahzad. Two other people who were injured were given emergency medical treatment on the spot. The buildings surrounding the checkpost have been badly damaged due to the high intensity of the blast. This checkpost is located on the National Highway connecting Multan to Lahore. http://tribune.com.pk/story/196686/bomber-attacks-multan-checkpost-casualties-feared/ ------ Islamabad, Kabul look inwards as Tehran blames US June 26, 2011 TEHRAN: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran agreed to jointly fight militancy as their presidents spoke at a counter-terrorism summit that opened on Saturday in the Iranian capital. “All sides stressed their commitment to reinforce their efforts to eradicate terrorism and militancy and reject foreign interference, all of which are in opposition to the spirit of Islam, the peaceful cultural traditions of the region and its people,” said a joint statement issued after the summit. They also agreed to continue meeting at the ministerial level ahead of the next summit in Islamabad before the end of 2011, added the statement carried by Iran’s official IRNA news agency. In their individual speeches at the opening session of the two-day summit, the three presidents highlighted their countries’ divergent views on a common problem. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that despite his government’s efforts, regional militancy was rising. “Unfortunately, despite all the achievements in the fields of education, infrastructure and reconstruction, not only has Afghanistan not yet achieved peace and security, but terrorism is expanding and threatening Afghanistan and the region more than ever,” he admitted, around the same time that a brazen suicide attack at a hospital in Afghan capital Kabul killed dozens. Full report at: http://tribune.com.pk/story/196587/islamabad-kabul-look-inwards-as-tehran-blames-us/ ------ Religious meet planned alongside summer fest By MUHAMMAD HUMAIDAN Jun 26, 2011 JEDDAH: Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal has approved a religious awareness mini-festival to be organized during the Jeddah Summer Festival this year. The meet, which will feature cultural events, amusement programs and sport items apart from religious lectures and awareness programs, will be held from July 2 to July 22 at the King Abdul Aziz Culture Center in Abraq Al-Raghamah. “The meet, organized by the Daawah Center of Al-Aziziyah District, will be an attraction with a difference to festival visitors. The meet aims to raise general religious awareness through attractive programs such as lectures, plays and various contests for all, particularly young men and women,” Masoud Al-Qahtani, director of the meet, told Arab News on Friday. While the first 12 days will be meant for men, from July 14 the meet will be dedicated to women alone. Full report at: http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article461628.ece ------ Makkah Haia arrests group for illegal sex By BADEA ABU AL-NAJA Jun 26, 2011 MAKKAH: The Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) in Makkah arrested a young man and two women after its members found them involved in illegal sexual relations in a hotel in the Zahir district. According to a police source, two Saudi youths staying in the bachelor’s area in adjoining rooms arranged for two women who they had met outside the hotel to enter their rooms. The women entered the rooms using keys the youths had hidden under a carpet. The hidden hotel camera showed the women, one of them an Indonesian, entering the rooms. After a while, one youth returned and entered his room, prompting the hotel receptionist to call the Haia. The members arrived and waited at the reception until the youth came out of his room. The officials then checked the room and found evidence of sexual activity. The second youth fled after he saw the Haia members at the counter when he finally returned. Officials ordered the woman waiting in his room to come out and contacted her father. Police are investigating the case. http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article461630.ece ------ Brother of Jeddah flood victim arrives from India for DNA test By MD RASOOLDEEN Jun 26, 2011 RIYADH: The younger brother of an Indian worker who died in the Jeddah flash floods in November 2009 will take a DNA test in the coastal city to identify his sibling, a senior official from the Indian Consulate told Arab News Saturday. “We are helping both the Saudi authorities and the family of the deceased to complete the forensic formalities of Balachandran Amirthalingam, 35, who died in the floods 19 months ago,” said S.D. Moorthy, consul of labor welfare at the consulate in Jeddah. Once the body is identified, a compensation of SR1 million will be paid to his family. The body has been lying in a government morgue in Jeddah since November 2009. Moorthy said five Indian workers died in the devastating floods. The families of two, Mohammed Elyas from Rajasthan and Shanawaz from Kerala, have already received compensation of SR1 million each. Amirthalingam is the third case to be handled by the mission for this purpose, the consul said. Full report at: http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article461620.ece ------ 10 killed in Kenya clashes over water, grazing land Jun 26, 2011 ISIOLO, Kenya: Clashes over control of grazing land and water sources in drought-afflicted northern Kenya killed at least 10 people on Saturday, police said. Police and local leaders said the fighting occurred on the border between the Isiolo and Samburu districts, an area that is prone to drought and has been plagued by deadly clashes over resources in the past few years. Marcus Ochola, the deputy police commissioner for Eastern Province, told Reuters six raiders and four local herders had been killed, more people had been wounded and the death toll might rise. Civic leader Abdullahi Golicha also put the death toll at 10, split roughly between raiders and herders, and said the fighting was still going on so there could be more casualties. The clashes were reportedly sparked by raiders from the Samburu community attacking Somali and Borana herdsmen. In May, about 20 people died in fighting between raiders from Ethiopia and northern Kenyan tribesmen, prompting the two countries to tighten security along the remote frontiers. http://arabnews.com/world/article461541.ece ------ Egypt court sentences ex-trade minister to 5 years Jun 26, 2011 CAIRO: An Egyptian court convicted former Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid in absentia on Saturday and sentenced him to 5 years in prison for profiteering and squandering public funds, the state news agency MENA said. Rachid, a regular at the World Economic Forum in Davos, lost his job in late January and fled abroad, only days after the eruption of the mass uprising that later ousted Hosni Mubarak. He was an important face for Egypt in the commodities market as former minister of trade overseeing global wheat prices in the world’s biggest wheat-importing country. The Cairo court ruled that Rachid unlawfully seized public money from a government export development fund, leading to a waste of public funds, MENA said. The court also ordered him to pay 9.385 million Egyptian pounds ($1.57 million) in fines, MENA added. A judicial source told Reuters the court further ordered the former minister to return a similar amount. Full report at: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article461449.ece ------ Jeddah’s mega stadium to be built near airport By P.K. ABDUL GHAFOUR Jun 26, 2011 JEDDAH: Work on the new 100,000-seat mega stadium in Jeddah will start shortly after Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah ordered it should be built near the city’s King Abdulaziz International Airport. “The king wants to establish the proposed stadium in a place close to Jeddah and near the airport, as well as to expand Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in the city,” said Prince Nawaf bin Faisal, head of the Youth Welfare Presidency. Speaking to reporters after the final match between Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli for the King’s Cup, Prince Faisal said work on the two projects would start as quickly as possible. He said architects were working on the new stadium’s design. “We’ll give top priority to this new stadium project,” the prince told reporters. The stadium is part of the King Abdullah Sports City that will have a specialist hospital, indoor stadiums and youth hostels. Full report at: http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article461627.ece ------ Kazakhstan ready to host OIC meeting By SIRAJ WAHAB Jun 26, 2011 JEDDAH: As Kazakhstan prepares to host the 38th session of the Organization of the Islamic Conference’s Council of Foreign Ministers from June 28-30 in Astana, the nation’s capital, President Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed the significance of the event for the Muslim country. “As the leader of a new nation that will mark only the 20th anniversary of its independence, I am calling upon world leaders to engage in an open dialogue and a joint search for ways to strengthen global peace and security,” Nazarbayev said in a special article for the Jeddah-based OIC Journal. “We have been persistently repeating this call from the first days of Kazakhstan’s independence.” He expressed concern at the growing anti-Islamic sentiments in the world and said any manifestation of intolerance poses serious threat to global peace and security. “We consider increasing intolerance toward Muslims, their discrimination at labor and housing markets apparent in some countries outside the Muslim world, to be dangerous. We condemn the incidents of violence and insult against Muslims in those countries.” Describing Kazakhtan as OIC’s youngest member, the president listed a number of challenges the Muslim world faces, from ongoing conflicts to the turmoil created in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. Full report at: http://arabnews.com/world/article461584.ece URL: http://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/suicide-bomber-in-wheelchair-kills-two-in-iraq/d/4912