The Yemen Hidden Agenda: Behind the Al-Qaeda Scenarios, A Strategic Oil Transit Chokepoint, Current affairs, NewAgeIslam.com

Current affairs

The Yemen Hidden Agenda: Behind the Al-Qaeda Scenarios, A Strategic Oil Transit Chokepoint

By F. William Engdahl

Global Research, January 5, 2010

Yemen itself is a synthetic amalgam created after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, when the southern Peoples’ Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) lost its main foreign sponsor. Unification of the northern Yemen Arab Republic and the southern PDRY state led to a short-lived optimism that ended in a brief civil war in 1994, as southern army factions organized a revolt against what they saw as the corrupt crony state rule of northern President Ali Abdullah Saleh. President Saleh has held a one-man rule since 1978, first as President of North Yemen (the Yemen Arab Republic) and since 1990 as President of the unified new Yemen. The southern army revolt failed as Saleh enlisted al-Fadhli and other Yemeni Salafists, followers of a conservative interpretation of Islam, and jihadists to fight the formerly Marxist forces of the Yemen Socialist Party in the south.

Before 1990, Washington and the Saudi Kingdom backed and supported Saleh and his policy of Islamization as a bid to contain the communist south.[2] Since then Saleh has relied on a strong Salafist-jihadi movement to retain a one-man dictatorial rule. The break with Saleh by al-Fadhli and his joining the southern opposition group with his former socialist foes marked a major setback for Saleh.

Soon after al-Fadhli joined the Southern Movement coalition, on April 28, 2009 protests in the southern Yemeni provinces of Lahj, Dalea and Hadramout intensified. There were demonstrations by tens of thousands of dismissed military personnel and civil servants demanding better pay and benefits, demonstrations that had been taking place in growing numbers since 2006. The April demonstrations included for the first time a public appearance by al-Fadhli. His appearance served to change a long moribund southern socialist movement into a broader nationalist campaign. It also galvanized President Saleh, who then called on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council states for help, warning that the entire Arabian Peninsula would suffer the consequences.

http://newageislam.com/the-yemen-hidden-agenda--behind-the-al-qaeda-scenarios,-a-strategic-oil-transit-chokepoint/current-affairs/d/2368

Religion of the Jahiliya: Jihadism is Kufr, not Islam - Pakistani Jihadists revealed plans for Indian Muslims in 1999, Islam,Terrorism and Jihad

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad

Religion of the Jahiliya: Jihadism is Kufr, not Islam - Pakistani Jihadists revealed plans for Indian Muslims in 1999

By Sultan Shahin

By and large, the western-educated liberal Pakistani intelligentsia, as I found out during several visits, hates this religion and is frightened of it. But as one by one all institutions of governance are succumbing to its growing power and its capacity for evil, they are getting scared to death. Some of them are simply planning to migrate to some non-Muslim majority country. No one is really fighting this malignant force, though some journalists and human rights activists still have the courage at least to express their horror and outrage at grave personal risk. The new democratically-elected government’s commitment or that of President Asif Ali Zardari’s recent plea in a New York Times article rings as hollow as did that of President General Musharraf before that despite their seeming cooperation in the US-led war on terror. The reason is that Pakistan’s moderate secular class has never had the guts to stand up to obscurantist Mullahs right from the beginning of the establishment of the country. Pakistan was carved out of a united India in 1947 by the secular Muslims – almost all religious parties were against the idea of Partition and Two-Nation Theory – but in independent Pakistan the latter were soon able to force the former, the real architects of Pakistan, to pass an Objectives Resolution declaring the country as an Islamic republic to be run by a narrow, sectarian interpretation of Islamic Sharia.

http://newageislam.com/religion-of-the-jahiliya--jihadism-is-kufr,-not-islam---pakistani-jihadists-revealed-plans-for-indian-muslims-in-1999--/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/1048

Part III: PAKISTAN'S ‘ZAMEER FAROSH’ ARMY IS ENOUGH TO DO THE JOB OF KILLING MUSLIMS, The War within Islam, NewAgeIslam.com

The War within Islam

Part III: PAKISTAN'S ‘ZAMEER FAROSH’ ARMY IS ENOUGH TO DO THE JOB OF KILLING MUSLIMS, SIR: Pakistanis Tell American General Petraeus

The picture is provided by BrassTacks Calamity i.e. Mr Zaid Hamid who is promoted by another calamity i.e. Pakistani Private TV Channel NEWSONE was very much part and parcel of the same America [during Afghan War as per himself Zaid was active] and let me refresh your memory. Please tell me if the present government is American tout then what about

General Musharraf ILLEGAL Military Government from 19990-2008. By the way

Musharraf's Devised Rampant and Illegal as well National Security Council is still working rather ruling the country. Would you like to tell as to who are the members of this NSC which is inserted in the 1973 Constitution with the tacit approval of Jamat-e-Islami's Cooperation through LFO/Illegal 17th Constitutional Amendment. Let me ask you one more question regarding this Apostate Zaid Hamid who often raise rhetoric/bogey of Zionist and Hindu lobby working against Pakistan but Zaid is silent on Shaukat Aziz [Former Prime Minister of Pakistan and a tout of know Zionist Paul Wolfowitz (U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, and President of the World Bank)] who with the help of General Musharraf Unlawful Regime stole 4 Billion US Dollars from Pakistan.

http://newageislam.com/part-iii--pakistan-s-%E2%80%98zameer-farosh%E2%80%99-army-is-enough-to-do-the-job-of-killing-muslims,-sir--pakistanis-tell-american-general-petraeus--/the-war-within-islam/d/982

Can we Trust Pakistani commitment to fight Jihadi Terrorism?, Islam,Terrorism and Jihad, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad

Can we Trust Pakistani commitment to fight Jihadi Terrorism?

Just couple of hours after the Pakistani foreign minister’s statement, it was anything but peace.

Terrorists unleashed every piece of artillery in the heart of Mumbai to carry out the most coordinated terror attack in India and with all the evidence stacking up pointing towards the Pakistani link, where do India-Pakistan relations go from here?

Some of the men behind the attack, according to initial reports, are Pakistani nationals trained in maritime terrorism in Karachi by Lashkar-E-Toiba (LeT).

An angry India conveyed to Pakistan that it has all the evidence pointing towards the Pakistani link.

External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee said, “The preliminary information we have received so far points to the certainty that some of Pakistani elements are involved in the activity. We ask Pakistan to arrest these people and put an end to these things.”

Meanwhile Qureshi says, “They have no face. They have no colour, no class, no creed, no religion, no nothing. They are barbarians. They are inhuman and we have to collectively eliminate them.”

Attacks in Mumbai have once again landed India and Pakistan in an embarrassing face-off.

The new lull in the relation has cemented the fear of the failure the joint Anti-terror mechanism.

Apparently, Pakistan is feeling the heat not just from India but around the world.

It is now making efforts to prove itself and is sending ISI chief to India to help in investigations.

Qureshi has continued his visit reassuring India of every possible cooperation.

http://newageislam.com/can-we-trust-pakistani-commitment-to-fight-jihadi-terrorism?--/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/1029

Yemen’s Baha’i community faces problems, Islam and Pluralism, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and Pluralism

Yemen’s Baha’i community faces problems

By Amel Al-Ariqi

Human right activist and lawyer Khaled Al-Anesi, who represents the arrested Baha'i practitioners, said that the Yemeni security has not yet accused any of them of anything and that this renders their jailing illegal. It is forbidden in Yemeni law to hold prisoners without charges, though it is regularly practiced in the country regardless of this law. “The lawyers are not even allowed to meet with the four prisoners or study their files to know the accusations [against them],” said Al-Anesi.

Al-Anesi did not exclude of possibility of the detainees' deportation without trial. “It is not the first time that the Yemeni government would deport or hand over people to other governments under the guise of military cooperation or the war on terrorism, and then these people can be subjected to maltreatment. Such procedure is against international law and human rights,” said Al-Anisi.

He also warned of the possibility of breaching international law by deporting detainees without going through the proper legal measures to guarantee their safety. “Yemen may face international disapproval, and there may be international punishments imposed if it [Yemen] keeps breaching international law,” he added.

http://newageislam.com/yemen%E2%80%99s-baha%E2%80%99i-community-faces-problems/islam-and-pluralism/d/697

Pakistan’s Double-Cross: Newsweek's opinion and Pakistani response, Islam and the West, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and the West

Pakistan’s Double-Cross: Newsweek's opinion and Pakistani response

Newsweek Opinion: Pakistan’s Double-Cross

BY Sumit Ganguly

Ironically, the United States is paying a price for its own errors. Contrary to popular belief and hoary statements from the White House, Pakistan's cooperation in the "war on terror" has always been fitful. During General Pervez Musharraf's tenure as president, he proved to be extraordinarily deft in dealing with the United States. He handed over a few key Al Qaeda operatives--he turned over the Tanzanian Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani in August 2004 and Abu Faraj al-Libi, a senior member of Osama bin Laden's circle, in May 2005--but the arrests were suspiciously well timed. They tended to occur alongside either important U.S. political events or U.S. criticism of Pakistan for its apparent failure to make much progress on the counterterrorism front.

Though this sleight of hand was obvious to close observers, the administration continued to rely almost exclusively on Musharraf and the Pakistani military. Little or no effort was expended to nudge Musharraf away from military rule. Not surprisingly, he and his military acolytes came to see themselves as indispensable to the United Sates. Thanks to this American indulgence, Musharraf's 2002 election brought an Islamist coalition into power and, under its watch, the Taliban reconstituted itself in Pakistan's western borderlands while other Islamist terror networks flourished inside Pakistan.

http://newageislam.com/pakistan%E2%80%99s-double-cross--newsweek-s-opinion-and-pakistani-response--/islam-and-the-west/d/800

Yemen: Youth Shoura Council seeks to tackle unemployment that is breeding terrorism, Islamic Society, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic Society

Yemen: Youth Shoura Council seeks to tackle unemployment that is breeding terrorism

Yemen Times Staff

Council members also stressed the importance of the private sector and its role in helping to decrease unemployment. Faris Al-Himyari, head of the YCC’s media and culture committee, said, “It’s important to talk more about the private sector’s role and seek better cooperation between the public and private sectors. We’re talking about the future here, so I believe it’s important for all sides and parties to help build a safe one.”

In the council’s final statement, members indicated that there should be more cooperation between all educational bodies in Yemen, adding that they look forward to creating a better future for young Yemenis by providing them more jobs.

As Mejalli stated, “Yemen’s Ministry of Higher Education and the Civil Services Ministry should have a strategy of cooperation so that college graduates will be able to find jobs. This also would help dispel the many unacceptable phenomena that are growing in this country, one of which is terrorism.”

http://newageislam.com/yemen--youth-shoura-council-seeks-to-tackle-unemployment-that-is-breeding-terrorism/islamic-society/d/665

TRAGEDY IN KABUL: A policy for the security of Indian diplomats abroad is needed, War on Terror, NewAgeiSlam.com

War on Terror

TRAGEDY IN KABUL: A policy for the security of Indian diplomats abroad is needed

By K.P. Nayar

He has just done three years of demanding political work in Kathmandu, the joint secretary attempted to rationalize with herself. Nepal had been in turmoil and Indian diplomats in Kathmandu did not have an easy time when the world’s only Hindu kingdom — then — was in ferment. In addition, the Nepalese government had hosted the summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, which meant a thankless additional workload for the Indian mission in Kathmandu. What is wrong with him, declining one of the most coveted postings in the Indian Foreign Service, the joint secretary kept asking in the hope that someone — even a visitor waiting in the outer office to see the foreign secretary — would give an answer that would satisfy her logic.

Eventually, Rao did go to Washington, where he was immediately thrown in at the deep end in the mission’s commerce wing. Economic work at the embassy in Washington is divided between a minister who is usually an Indian Administrative Service officer with experience in an economic ministry back home, and an IFS officer, also with the rank of minister, but who is on deputation to what is a post of the commerce ministry.

http://newageislam.com/tragedy-in-kabul---a-policy-for-the-security-of-indian-diplomats-abroad-is-needed--/war-on-terror/d/192

Terrorism is a complex issue’ - Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf, Islam,Terrorism and Jihad, NewAgeISlam.com

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad

Terrorism is a complex issue’ - Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf

Talking to an Iranian delegation led by Syed Mehdi Heshemi, acting interior minister of Iran, on Tuesday evening, President Musharraf said that Pakistan is a victim of terrorism and is key ally in the fight against terror. He said the neighbouring countries are needed to join hands to eliminate terrorism and extremism from the region and also from the world.

Reflecting on the importance of interaction between Iran and Pakistan, the President said that the existing relations between the two countries must be enhanced as greater economic activity would result in further improving Iran-Pakistan relations.

Mr Heshemi said that Pakistan and Iran should enhance economic cooperation in the fields of trade and industry. He said the present trade of $600 million can be enhanced manifold if serious efforts are made. Mr Heshemi added that to achieve these objectives tourism should be promoted between the two countries.

http://newageislam.com/terrorism-is-a-complex-issue%E2%80%99---pakistan%E2%80%99s-president-pervez-musharraf/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/289

Critics slam 'shameful' ad that will run during 9/11 anniversary, Muslims and Islamophobia, NewAgeIslam.com

Muslims and Islamophobia

Critics slam 'shameful' ad that will run during 9/11 anniversary

Islam promotion to hit NYC subway in September

Muslim group pays US $ 48, 000 to run ads about understanding Islam

Wednesday, 23 July 2008

NEW YORK (AFP)

The campaign coincides with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as well as the seventh anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

"You deserve to know," the ads posted in subway cars will read, offering the tagline and contact information for the Islamic Circle of North America as a response to "questions" about the Prophet Mohammed and Islam.

The group is paying the Metropolitan Transit Authority 48,000 dollars to run the ads.

The Islamic Circle of North America describes itself as "a leader in pioneering up to date strategies to better convey the true understanding of Islam to others and clarify many of the misconceptions of Islam," its website says.

"This project is executed with cooperation of several major Islamic organizations and communities," it says.

Republican lawmaker Peter King has urged the MTA to cancel the campaign.

http://newageislam.com/critics-slam--shameful--ad-that-will-run-during-9/11-anniversary/muslims-and-islamophobia/d/298

OIC to Revamp Islamic News Agency,

Islam and the Media

OIC to Revamp Islamic News Agency

P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News

The new IINA chief intends to expand cooperation with news agencies in OIC member states. “We will provide a common platform for these agencies to work together to protect the interests of Muslim countries,” he said, adding that IINA will recruit qualified journalists as part of the restructuring plan.

Kok said his agency would focus more on analytical reports and feature stories rather than breaking news. “We’ll prepare analytical reports on various events in the Muslim world and supply them to news agencies in OIC countries,” he said.

At present IINA distributes news and reports in Arabic, English and French to newspapers, radios and televisions in different parts of the world. The Qatar News Agency carries IINA news to at least 700 subscribers in the Arab world, Europe and America. IINA also sends its news bulletins by email to news agencies of Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia and the Central Asian countries.

http://newageislam.com/oic-to-revamp-islamic-news-agency/islam-and-the-media/d/72

Initiative to provide data on UAE women, Islamic Society, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic Society

Initiative to provide data on UAE women

By A Staff Reporter

Mona Al Marri said, "The agreement is among the initial outcomes of the DWE's five-pronged strategy that aims to enhance Emirati women's contribution in the society. Such exclusive statistics and numbers will help us identify real challenges the UAE working women face in their day-to-day life and will allow us to offer most appropriate solutions while paving the way for their active participation through leadership positions in the private and public sectors.

"Apart from exchanging statistics, our cooperation with the Dubai Statistics Centre will ensure the joint implementation of statistical initiatives including women-oriented surveys. With the guidance of experts from the centre, we will launch new research initiatives exploring women's role in the society and to become the reference on UAE women."

http://newageislam.com/initiative-to-provide-data-on-uae-women/islamic-society/d/146