‘Halal Certificate Money Invested In Shell Companies’; Jamiat Ulama Hind’s President To Appear Before STF Again
New Age Islam News Bureau
14 April 2024
Maulana
Mahmood Madani
-----
·
‘Halal
Certificate Money Invested In Shell Companies’; Jamiat Ulama Hind’s President
To Appear Before STF Again
·
Hindu,
Sikh Citizens Lands to Be Returned: IEA Ministry of Justice
·
Iran
Launches Broad Aerial Attack On Israel Using Drones And Missiles In Retaliation
For Airstrike, Most Intercepted, Claims Tel Aviv
·
World
Cannot Afford Another War: UN Secretary-General On Iran's Attack On Israel
·
US, UK
And Jordan Intercept Many Of The Iranian Drones Headed To Israel
----
India
·
Communal
Murder Cases: Four Hindus And Six Muslims Convicted In Mangaluru
·
India ‘Seriously
Concerned’ At Escalation Of Israel-Iran Hostilities, Calls For ‘Exercise Of
Restraint’
·
Over 2000
Indian Sikh Pilgrims Travel To Pakistan For Baisakhi
·
‘Bade
Miyan Chote Miyan’ Producers Dismiss False Claims Of Explosion Inside Mosque
·
17
Indians on ship seized by Iran off UAE coast amid tensions
·
Iran-Israel
tensions cloud plans for thousands of Indian workers recruited for Israeli
construction sites
-----
South
Asia
·
PMSheikh
Hasina Sends PahelaBaishakh Greetings, Says 'It's The Day Of Great Reunion'
·
Mujahid:
Kabul’s Stance May Be Cause of Delay in UN Envoy Appointment
·
Nearly
7,000 Complaints Filed With Vice Ministry in Past Year
·
No
Israeli flight landed in Bangladesh: CAAB says
·
Contact
group on Afghanistan hits roadblock over Pakistan’s gripe with India
----
Mideast
·
Sheikh
Zayed Grand Mosque Centre Organises 4th ‘Jusoor’ Programme To Promote
Cross-Cultural Communication And Harmony
·
Jordan,
Iraq and Lebanon reopen airspace after Iran attacks
·
Israel’s
Netanyahu vows victory after Iran strikes, fears of wider conflict grow
·
UN
Security Council to meet Sunday on Iran's retaliation against Israel
·
Israel
reopens airspace after 7-hour suspension due to Iranian attack
·
24-hour
protest broadcast begins in Istanbul for journalists killed in Palestine
·
IRGC
attacks occupied Palestine with drones, missiles
·
Hezbollah
hits Israeli military bases with dozens of rockets
·
Iranian
attack shows Oct. 7 did not kill Israel-Sunni regional alliance - analysis
·
Thousands
gather in Iran in show of support for attack on Israel
---
Europe
·
Brazil
urges global efforts to prevent escalation after Iranian attack against Israel
·
UK PM
condemns Iran’s ‘reckless’ attack against Israel, deploys jets
·
France
assists Israel in defending against Iran's unprecedented attack: Military
spokesperson
·
Six
Months Of Rallies In London: Thousands Call For Gaza Ceasefire
·
Italy: G7
leaders to discuss Iranian strikes
·
UK Poll:
Only 24 Percent of Muslims Believe Hamas Committed Rape, Murder on Oct. 7
·
France
and Germany hit by legal action over arms sales to Israel amid Gaza war
------
North
America
·
US House
to consider pro-Israel bill next week, lawmaker says after Iran attack
·
US
President Joe Biden Condemns Iran's Attack On Israel; To Convene G-7 Leaders'
Meeting On Response
·
Biden
says US helped Israel down nearly all Iran attacks
·
Biden
tells Netanyahu US will not take part in Israel's counterattack on Iran
·
Canada
'unequivocally' condemns Iran’s airborne attacks against Israel
·
Trump
says Iran attack on Israel shows US ‘weakness’ under Biden
·
Arrests
as California's Pomona College cracks down on pro-Palestinian activism
----
Africa
·
Borno:
NGO Demands Justice For Deradicalised Boko Haram Victims
·
Nigerian
Military Killed 188 Terrorists, Arrested 330 Others In A Week – DHQ
·
Suspected
Islamist Rebels Kill At Least 10 In Democratic Republic Of Congo
·
‘Reject
All Parties That Support Israel Genocide,’Economic Freedom Fighters Leader
Tells Muslim Voters
·
South
African President Urges Muslim Community Members To Join Active Politics
·
Hundreds
rally in Niger capital to push for US military departure
·
Moroccan
man stabs Christian pensioner in UK as ‘revenge’ for Gaza conflict
·
Somalia
refuses to accept Ethiopian naval base in breakaway region
----
Pakistan
·
President
Zardari, PM Shehbaz Felicitate Sikh Community On Baisakhi Festival
·
Achakzai
Calls For Quashing Cases Against Imran, PTI Leaders Via Parliamentary
Resolution
·
Sharif family
fears incarcerated Imran Khan, claims Omar Ayub
·
Seerat
Museum will help combat Islamophobia: PM
·
Transparency
International Pakistan’s corruption report about judiciary not credible: PHC
·
Two
soldiers martyred during intelligence-based operation in KP’s Buner district:
ISPR
·
Pakistan
expresses concern over ongoing developments in Middle East
·
PM
reaffirms Pakistan's continued support, partnership with Muslim World League
·
Anti-Fazl
slogans spoil PTI-JUI-F ties
·
JI Sindh
chief condemns Israel for its brutalities, pays tribute to resilience of
Palestinians in Gaza
·
Nushki
victims’ bodies sent to native towns after funeral prayers
----
Southeast
Asia
·
Johor
Islamic Affairs Dept Seizes 11 Floor-Mats Bearing Images Of Kaaba From
Supermarket
·
PAS
deputy chief says giving all Opposition MPs same amount of federal funds to
ruling bloc will reflect better on unity govt
·
Malaysia
strongly condemns Israeli attack on humanitarian aid workers in Rafah, says
Foreign Ministry
·
Singapore
advises its citizens against travelling to Iran amid Middle East tensions
·
Thai
Muslim student says he enjoys Eid in Indonesia
·
Vietnamese
Embassy in Israel issues warning amid escalating tension
·
Dewan
Rakyat Speaker denies discussions with Egyptian Ambassador on Rafah-Gaza
crossing
---
Arab
World
·
Qatar, Kuwait
Ban Any Attack From Their Air Bases, Airspace On Iran
·
Yemeni
naval units won’t allow US military to turn Red Sea into its backyard: Houthi
·
Saudi
Arabia expresses concern over military escalation in Middle East
·
Saudi,
Norway foreign ministers discuss Gaza during call
·
UNICEF:
More than 800,000 Yemeni Children Receive Educational Support Thanks to
KSrelief Funding
·
Saudi
Arabia warns against misuse of Umrah visas for employment purposes
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/halal-shell-jamiat-ulama-hind-madani-stf/d/132136
------
‘Halal Certificate Money Invested In Shell Companies’;
Jamiat Ulama Hind’s President To Appear Before STF Again
Maulana
Mahmood Madani
-----
April 14, 2024
New Delhi: Jamiat Ulama Hind’s president Maulana
Mahmood Madani will be questioned again in connection with allegedly issuing halal
certificates through illegal means. According to Amar Ujala Online, Maulana
Madani has been summoned to the UP-STF (Special Task Force) headquarters in the state capital after Eid.
It is evident that the STF had previously questioned
Maulana Madani for two days in February. Sources claim that after questioning
Maulana Madani and four other officials associated with the Halal Certification
Trust, the STF has found several important leads.
Investigations have revealed that the revenue
generated from the distribution of halal certificates has been transferred to
several companies, some of which are suspected to be shell companies.
This is the reason the STF has called Maulana Madani
for further questioning. In fact, Maulana Madani is also the chairman of the
trust associated with the halal institution.
Following the issuance of the FIR in this case,
Maulana Madani, along with Maulana Mudasser, Habib Yusuf Patel, Anwar Khan, and
Mohammad Tahir, has been arrested. All four arrested individuals are associated
with the Halal Council of India.
Source:
muslimmirror.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://muslimmirror.com/eng/halal-certificate-money-invested-in-shell-companies-maulana-mahmood-madani-to-appear-before-stf-again/
------
Hindu, Sikh Citizens Lands to Be Returned: IEA
Ministry of Justice
Barkatullah Rasooli, the
spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice
------
April 13, 2024
The Ministry of Justice said that to return the lands
seized from Hindu and Sikh Afghans has been started the country.
Barkatullah Rasooli, the spokesperson for the Ministry
of Justice, said that the Commission for the Prevention of Land Seizure has
directed its delegations in provinces to identify the lands of Hindus and Sikhs
to better investigate the matter.
"The Commission for the Prevention of Land
Seizure has instructed provincial technical committees to thoroughly
investigate the seized lands of Hindus in the provinces to prevent land seizure
and return the seized lands to their rightful owners." Said Rasooli.
In the meantime, the India’s Ministry of External Affairs
has welcomed the decision of the interim government of Afghanistan, calling it
a positive step.
Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesperson for the India’s
Ministry of External Affairs at a press conference, stated, "We have seen
reports that the Taliban government has decided to return the properties of
Hindus and Sikhs in Afghanistan; indeed, it is a positive action, and we
acknowledge this move."
Experts in legal and political issues also believe
that the interim government should liberate all the lands of Hindus and Sikhs
from usurpers and return them to them.
"The leader of the Islamic Emirate must issue a
decisive order as soon as possible so that all the lands that have been seized
are returned to our Hindu and Sikh brothers." said Hamidullah Hotak, a political
analyst.
Mohammad Asif Faqiri, another expert in legal affairs,
said, "Respecting the rights of minorities is a very serious topic in
social justice and its construction relates to internal actions."
The Ministry of Justice also reported that since the
establishment of the Commission for the Prevention of Land Seizure and the
recovery of seized lands, more than two million jeribs (acres) of land have
been reclaimed from usurpers and powerful individuals across the country.
Source:
tolonews.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-188281
----
Iran Launches Broad Aerial Attack On Israel Using
Drones And Missiles In Retaliation For Airstrike, Most Intercepted, Claims Tel
Aviv
14.04.24
Aaron Boxerman, Ronen Bergman, FarnazFassihi
Iran launched more than 200 drones, cruise missiles
and ballistic missiles toward Israel on Saturday evening, the Israeli military
said, in retaliation for a deadly Israeli airstrike on the Iranian Embassy
complex in the Syrian capital this month.
The attack, which is believed to be the first direct
Iranian assault inside Israel, threatened to open a volatile chapter in the
long-running shadow war between the two nations.
The Israeli military spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel
Hagari, said at a news briefing that the strikes had caused minor damage to an
Israeli military base. The vast majority of Iran’s arsenal, he added, had been
intercepted by Israel with “some assistance” from its allies.
“Only one little girl has been hurt,” he said, without
giving further details.ButHagari called Iran’s strikes “a severe and dangerous
escalation.” He added, “Our defensive and offensive capabilities are at the
highest level of readiness ahead of this large-scale attack from Iran.”
Air-raid sirens sounded across Israel, loud booms were
heard across Jerusalem and in the Golan Heights, and a video showed what appear
to be Israeli air-defence interceptors in the sky above the Old City of
Jerusalem.
President Joe Biden cut short a weekend trip to his
vacation home in Delaware and returned to the White House to huddle with his
national security team over the situation. A Defence Department official,
speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, said
U.S. forces were helping to shoot down Iranian drones, without providing more
details.
“In accordance with our ironclad commitment to
Israel’s security, U.S. forces in the region continue to shoot down
Iranian-launched drones targeting Israel,” the Defence Department official
said.
Britain’s defence secretary, Grant Shapps, said in a
statement that additional British jets and air refuelling tankers had been
deployed to bolster the country’s existing operations in Iraq and Syria, and
its jets would “intercept” airborne attacks within range of its missions there.
Before the drones and missiles arrived, two Israeli
officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss military
intelligence said the targets were likely to be the Golan Heights and an
Israeli air force base in the Negev Desert.
Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group in Lebanon, announced
that it had also fired dozens of rockets at Israeli barracks in the Golan
Heights, a plateau on Israel’s northeast border with Syria and Lebanon that has
been occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War in 1967.
Hezbollah and Israel have been firing at each other
ever since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by another Iranian proxy group, Hamas,
that led to the war in the Gaza Strip.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel met with
his war Cabinet, according to his office. U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin
spoke with Israel’s minister of defence, Yoav Gallant, on Saturday and made
clear that Israel could count on full U.S. support to defend itself, said the
Pentagon’s spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which is responsible for
securing Iran’s borders, said in a statement that it had launched “dozens” of
drones and missiles toward Israel “in reaction to the Zionist regime’s crimes.”
The Guard said in a later statement that it had hit military targets in Israel,
warned the United States against getting involved and threatened more strikes
if Iran or its interests were hit.
“We warn the United States terrorist government that
any support or participation in attacking Iran’s interests will have a fierce
response from Iran’s Armed Forces,” the statement said, warning Iran’s
neighbours that if Iran were attacked from their territory, Iran would respond.
The strikes on Saturday came after a week of diplomacy
and uncertainty about how far Iran would go in response to the Israeli attack
in Damascus, the Syrian capital, on April 1 and whether it would risk starting
an outright war with Israel.
Senior Iranian officials and military commanders had
vowed to retaliate after the airstrike in Damascus, which killed three top
Iranian commanders and four officers.
“We will make them regret this crime and similar
crimes, with the help of God,” Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
declared after the strike.
The U.N. secretary-general, António Guterres, strongly
condemned Iran’s attacks and urged all parties “to exercise maximum restraint”
to avoid further military escalation in the Middle East. “I have repeatedly
stressed that neither the region nor the world can afford another war,” he said
in a statement.The U.N. Security Council said it would hold an emergency
meeting Sunday afternoon to discuss Iran’s attacks on Israel, said Malta’s U.N.
mission, which holds the rotating presidency to the U.N. Israel’s ambassador to
the U.N., Gilad Erdan, had requested the council session.
Iran’s attack came on the same day that its forces
seized a container ship with links to Israel in the Persian Gulf. Adrienne
Watson, a National Security Council spokesperson, called on Iran to release the
vessel and its crew immediately, calling it “a blatant violation of
international law.”
In anticipation of Iran’s counterattack, neighboring
Jordan and Lebanon temporarily closed their airspace, as did Israel.
The Israeli military said all schools would be closed
across the country and gatherings of more than 1,000 people limited from 11
p.m. Saturday to 11 p.m. on Monday. Israeli authorities also ordered residents
of the Golan Heights, some areas of the Negev, and Eilat to remain close to protected
shelters.
Zaki Heller, a spokesperson for Magen David Adom, an
Israeli emergency response service, said by phone that medics treated a
10-year-old girl who was believed to have been wounded in the head by shrapnel
in the Negev Desert and was in serious condition. About 20 other people were
treated for anxiety or injuries suffered while seeking shelter, the group
added.
Iran was split over how to respond after the Israeli
strike in Damascus, a significant move between the two adversaries. Divisions over
possible retaliation arose at an emergency meeting of Iran’s Supreme National
Security Council, three Iranians familiar with the deliberations said.
Arguing that anything short of a direct response would
be taken for weakness, some hard-line members said Iran should strike targets
in Israel. Other Iranian officials called for continuing the policy of
“strategic patience” and to retaliate through its proxy militias in the Middle
East, the three Iranians said.
The Revolutionary Guard said Saturday that the attack
on Israel had been ordered by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, under
the guidance of the senior military body that coordinates Iran’s armed forces.
Source:
telegraphindia.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.telegraphindia.com/world/iran-launches-broad-aerial-attack-on-israel-using-drones-and-missiles-in-retaliation-for-airstrike-mosty-intercepted-claims-tel-aviv/cid/2013226
-----
World Cannot Afford Another War: UN Secretary-General
On Iran's Attack On Israel
UN Secretary-General,
António Guterres
------
14.04.24
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has strongly
condemned the “serious escalation” caused by the large-scale attack on Israel
by Iran, cautioning that neither the region nor the world can afford another
war.
The UN chief urged all parties to exercise maximum
restraint to avoid any action that could lead to major military confrontations
on multiple fronts in the Middle East.
“I strongly condemn the serious escalation represented
by the large-scale attack launched on Israel by the Islamic Republic of Iran
this evening. I call for an immediate cessation of these hostilities,” Guterres
said in a statement on Saturday.
He said he is deeply alarmed about the very real
danger of a devastating region-wide escalation.
“I have repeatedly stressed that neither the region
nor the world can afford another war,” he said.
The Permanent Mission of Iran to the UN informed the
UN Security Council in a letter that Iran carried out a series of military
strikes on Israeli military objectives in the late hours of April 13.
“This action was in the exercise of Iran’s inherent
right to self-defence as outlined in Article 51 of the Charter of the United
Nations, and in response to the Israeli recurring military aggressions,
particularly its armed attack” on April 1 against Iranian diplomatic premises
in Damascus, Syria.
“Regrettably, the United Nations Security Council has
failed in its duty to maintain international peace and security, allowing the
Israeli regime to transgress red lines and violate the fundamental principles
of international law. Such violations have exacerbated tensions in the region
and threatened regional and international peace and security,” the Iranian
mission said.
It said Iran will not hesitate to exercise its
inherent right of self-defence when required.
“Should the Israeli regime commit any military
aggression again, Iran’s response will assuredly and decisively be stronger,
and more resolute,” the mission added.
“While warning about any further military provocations
by the Israeli regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms its unwavering
determination to defend its people, national security and interests,
sovereignty, and territorial integrity against any threat or acts of aggression
and to respond to any such threat or aggressions vigorously and in accordance
with international law,” it said.
The UN Security Council will meet on Sunday evening to
discuss the situation. President of the UN General Assembly Dennis Francis also
expressed deep concern about the unfolding situation in the Middle East,
involving the launch by Iran of drones and missiles against Israel.
He said that the Iranians have explained their action
in the context of Article 51 of the UN Charter, following the recent Israeli
attack on the Iranian Embassy in Damascus.
“The Iranian response compounds the already tense and
delicate peace and security situation in the Middle East,” he said.
Francis strongly called upon all parties to exercise
the utmost restraint to avoid further escalation of tension in the region.
“This is a moment that calls for wise and prudent judgement, in which the risks
and extended risks are very carefully considered,” he said.
Francis said he expected the Iranian authorities would
honour their word that by their action today, the matter could be deemed
concluded.
“A vicious cycle of attack and counter-attack will
lead to nowhere, but inevitably, to more death, suffering and misery. Dialogue
and diplomacy are the only way to resolve any differences through peaceful
means,” he said.
Article 51 of the UN Charter states that “Nothing in
the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective
self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations
until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain
international peace and security.”
Source:
telegraphindia.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.telegraphindia.com/world/world-cannot-afford-another-war-united-nations-secretary-general-antonio-guterres-on-irans-attack-on-israel/cid/2013228
---
US, UK And Jordan Intercept Many Of The Iranian Drones
Headed To Israel
This picture taken on April
14 ,2024, shows intercepted missiles fired from Iran toward Israel, as seen
over northern Israel. (Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
------
14.04.2024
The United States, Britain, Jordan and France all
helped to intercept the massive barrage of drones Iran fired at Israel
overnight Saturday, according to officials.
While the US, Britain and France are military allies
of Israel, the move was a dramatic show of support from Amman, which has
heavily criticized Israel’s prosecution of its war in Gaza against Palestinian
terror group Hamas.
The Israel Defence Forces on Sunday said the Iranian
attack, the Islamic Republic’s first direct assault on Israel, comprised some
170 drones, 30 cruise missiles, and 120 ballistic missiles.
The US and Israel had been bracing for an attack for
days after Iran said it would retaliate for a suspected Israeli strike this
month on what Tehran claims was a consular building in Syria that killed 12
people, including two senior Iranian generals in the Revolutionary Guard’s
elite Quds Force.
The Pentagon said its forces intercepted “dozens of
missiles” and drones launched from Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen that were
headed toward Israel.
US military forces, operating from undisclosed bases
in the region, shot down a number of Iranian drones in Sweida and Deraa
provinces in southern Syria near the Jordanian border, security sources told
Reuters.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari confirmed on
Sunday morning that France was also involved in Israel’s defense, though he
said he did not have exact details on whether French jets had shot down any of
the missiles launched by Iran.
“France has very good technology, jets, radar – and I
know they were contributing in patrolling airspace,” he said.
US President Joe Biden said Saturday that US forces
helped take down “nearly all” the drones and missiles fired by Iran at Israel,
adding that he had reaffirmed his “ironclad” support to Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu.
He said he had ordered US military aircraft and
ballistic missile defense destroyers to the Middle East in recent days as the
likely Iranian threat to the key US ally became clear.
“Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary
skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the
incoming drones and missiles,” Biden said.
“I told [Netanyahu] that Israel demonstrated a
remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks —
sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the
security of Israel,” he said.
No US forces or facilities had come under attack from
Iran, he said.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement the
US took out dozens of the attacks but did not provide details on ships or
aircraft involved in the operation, which commanders had been preparing for
over the past two weeks.
“Our forces remain postured to protect US troops and
partners in the region, provide further support for Israel’s defense, and
enhance regional stability,” Austin said, adding that troops were standing
ready to prevent any further conflict.
Jordan shoots down dozens of Iranian drones
Meanwhile, Jordan’s air force intercepted and shot
down dozens of Iranian drones that violated its airspace and were heading to
Israel, two regional security sources said.
According to a Sunday Jordanian cabinet statement,
Jordan intercepted some flying objects that entered its airspace to ensure the
safety of its citizens. “Some shrapnel fell in multiple places during that time
without causing any significant damage or any injuries to citizens,” it added.
The regional security sources said the army was also
in a state of high alert and radar systems were monitoring any drone activity
coming from the direction of Iraq and Syria.
Sources said drones were brought down in the air on
the Jordanian side of the Jordan Valley that were heading in the direction of
Jerusalem. Others were intercepted close to the Iraqi-Syrian border. They gave
no further details.
Residents in several cities in the northern part of
Jordan near Syria and central and southern areas heard heavy aerial activity.
In neighborhoods south of the capital Amman, 60
kilometers (37 miles) from Jerusalem, several downed drones were seen.
Residents gathered around the remnants of one
suspected large drone that fell in a commercial area of the city’s Marj al
Hamam suburb.
A security source had earlier said the country’s air
force was intensifying reconnaissance flights.
Jordan earlier said it had closed its airspace
starting on Saturday night to all incoming, departing, and transiting aircraft,
in what officials told Reuters were precautionary measures in the event of an
Iranian strike across its border.
“The relevant authorities took the decision to close
the airspace for precautionary reasons as a result of the surrounding security
situation,” Jordan’s government spokesperson MuhannadMubaideen said.
Mubaideen denied media reports that the kingdom had
announced a state of emergency, adding that there was no cause for concern
among its citizens.
Jordan neighbors Syria and Iraq – both countries where
Iranian proxy forces operate – and is next door to Israel and the West Bank.
It has watched Israel’s war against the Palestinian
terror group Hamas, an Iranian ally, with rising alarm for fear of getting
caught in the crossfire.
Late last year, Amman asked Washington to deploy
Patriot air defense systems to the country to bolster its border defenses.
Officials say the Pentagon had since increased its
military aid to the kingdom, a major regional ally, where hundreds of US troops
are based and hold exercises with the army throughout the year.
In January, three US service members were killed and
dozens wounded in a drone attack by Iran-backed terrorists on US troops in
northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border.
It was the first deadly strike against US forces since
the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October and marked a major escalation in
tensions that have engulfed the Middle East.
Britain vows to ‘intercept any airborne attacks within
range’
British Royal Air Force jets in the Middle East “will
intercept any airborne attacks within range of our existing missions, as
required” after Iran targeted Israel with drones and missiles, the country’s
Ministry of Defense said during the night.
“In response to increased Iranian threats and the
growing risk of escalation in the Middle East, the UK Government has been
working with partners across the region to encourage de-escalation and prevent
further attacks,” the statement added.
There were no initial reports on how many drones the
RAF stopped.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Sunday that
99% of the 300 or so projectiles fired by Iran at Israel overnight had been
intercepted by air defenses.
According to Hagari, most of the missiles were
intercepted by the long-range Arrow air defense system, and were mostly downed
outside of Israeli airspace, he said, adding that fighter jets also intercepted
dozens of cruise missiles and dozens of drones.
Some of the missiles managed to bypass Israel’s
defenses, hitting the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel.
Hagari said slight damage was caused to some
infrastructure at Nevatim, but the airbase was running as usual.
Source:
timesofisrael.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-uk-and-jordan-intercept-many-of-the-iranian-drones-headed-to-israel/
----
India
Communal murder cases: Four Hindus and six Muslims
convicted in Mangaluru
April 13, 2024
A District and Sessions court of Mangaluru convicted
four Hindu and six Muslim youths in a communal murder case each reported in
Bantwal and Ullal police station limits in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
The first Additional District and Sessions Judge H.S.
Mallikarjuna Swamy convicted Vijeth Kumar, 22, Kiran Poojary, 24, Aneesh, 23,
and Abhi, 24, in connection with the murder of Mohammed Nazir in SajipaMunnuru
in Bantwal taluk on August 6, 2015, night. The court found the four persons
guilty of offences punishable under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to
murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), and 120 (B)
(criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code.
The Judge convicted Mohammed Asif, 23, Mohammed
Suhail, 20, Abdul Mutalif, 20, Abdul Aswir, 19, Bashit Ali, 17, and Abdul Raneez,
17, for the murder of Rajesh Kotian, 44, on Kotepura Road in Ullal in the early
hours of April 12, 2016. They have been held guilty of offences punishable
under Sections 302, 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148, 153 A
(promoting or attempt to promote disharmony) and 201 (destroying evidence) of
IPC.
The Judge will be hearing on quantum of punishment in
both these cases on Tuesday, April 16.
First murder case
According to the chargesheet filed by the then Bantwal
Police Inspector K.U. Belliyappa, deceased Mohammed Nazir boarded the
autorickshaw of Mohammed Mustafah at Melkar on August 6, 2015 night. The four
accused persons came in two motorcycles and waylaid the autorickshaw at Kunduru
in Sajeepamooda and assaulted Nazir and Mustafah using swords. Nazir succumbed
in a private hospital at Falnir in Mangaluru on August 7, 2015. The assault was
in retaliation to an attack by a group of Muslims on Vijet Kumar and Abhi in
Kolandu village of Bantwal taluk on August 5, 2015.
Prosecutor Shekar Shetty adduced evidence from 29
witnesses and another prosecutor Judith O.M. Crasta presented the arguments.
Second case
According to the chargesheet filed by Ullal police,
the six accused persons were waiting with clubs near a factory, off the
Kotepura Road, to attack a Mogaveera. Around 2.30 a.m. on April 12, 2016, they
attacked Kotian, who was walking towards Kotepura Jetty. As Kotian succumbed to
the injury on the spot, the accused bludgeoned the face of Kotain with heavy
stone and left the place.
Forensic expert Mahabalesh Shetty and his team did the
autopsy. A DNA test was done to identify Kotian. The blood-stained clothes of
the deceased and other samples were sent for test in the Forensic Science
Laboratory. Based on the reports, the chargesheet was filed. Prosecutor Ms.
Crasta examined 28 witnesses and placed arguments before the Judge.
Source:
thehindu.com
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---
India ‘seriously concerned’ at escalation of
Israel-Iran hostilities, calls for ‘exercise of restraint’
April 14, 2024
India on Sunday expressed “serious concern” at the
escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran and called for “immediate
de-escalation”.
New Delhi’s statement came within hours of Iran
launching drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles on Israel. This
followed a suspected Israeli strike on April 1 on an Iranian consular building
in Syria’s Damascus that killed 12 people, including a senior general. Iran had
vowed to avenge the strike.
The Ministry of External Affairs said on Sunday, “We
are seriously concerned at the escalation of hostilities between Israel and
Iran which threatens the peace and security in the region.”
“We call for immediate de-escalation, exercise of
restraint, stepping back from violence and return to the path of diplomacy,” it
said.
The MEA said, “We are closely monitoring the evolving
situation. Our Embassies in the region are in close touch with Indian
community.”
“It is vital that security and stability are
maintained in the region,” it said.
New Delhi on Friday issued a travel advisory in which
it has asked Indians not to travel to Iran and Israel “in view of the
prevailing situation in the region”.
About 18,000 Indians live and work in Israel. About 60
Indian workers went there earlier this month.
India found itself caught in the middle of the tension
between Israel and Iran on Saturday. Iranian commandos Saturday had seized an
Israeli-affiliated container ship carrying 17 Indian crew members, the latest
escalation in West Asia’s spiralling tensions which New Delhi has now found
itself caught up in.
Members of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard rappelled
down from a helicopter onto the Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries near the Strait of
Hormuz and, according to the state-run IRNA news agency, were taking the ship
into Iranian territorial waters.
The seizure followed a suspected Israeli strike this
month on an Iranian consular building in Syria’s Damascus that killed 12
people, including a senior Guard general. Iran had vowed to avenge the strike.
The ship is associated with London-based Zodiac
Maritime, which is part of Israeli billionaire EyalOfer’s Zodiac Group.
Geneva-based MSC later acknowledged the seizure and said 25 crew members were
aboard the vessel. IRNA said a special forces unit of the Guard’s navy attacked
the ship.
Sources in New Delhi said there are 17 Indian
nationals on board, and that officials were in touch with Tehran for the
security, welfare and early release of the Indians.
A source in New Delhi said: “We are aware that Iran
has taken control of a cargo ship, ‘MSC Aries. ‘ We have learnt that 17 Indian
nationals are onboard. We are in touch with the Iranian authorities through
diplomatic channels, both in Tehran and in Delhi, to ensure the security,
welfare, and early release of Indian nationals.”
Source:
indianexpress.com
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---
Over 2000 Indian Sikh pilgrims travel to Pakistan for
Baisakhi
13th April 2024
Marziya Sharif
Lahore: As many as 2,400 Indian Sikh pilgrims arrived
here in Pakistan’s Punjab provincial capital on Saturday via the Wagah Border
to participate in the annual Baisakhi festival, an official said.
Sardar Ramash Singh Orara, the first Sikh Minister in
Pakistan’s Punjab province who is also Pakistan’s Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
President, along with the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) additional
secretary shrines Rana Shahid and other senior officers greeted the Indian
pilgrims at the Wagah border.
“As many as 2,400 Indian Sikh pilgrims arrived here
today to attend Baisakhi festivities in Gurdwara Punja Sahib, Hassanabdal,”
ETPB spokesperson Amir Hashmi told PTI.
The ETPB looks after the holy places of the minority
communities in Pakistan.
He said that the Indian Sikhs were transported to
Hassanabdal by train for the first time after the upgradation of Hassanabdal
Railway Station.
The Indian pilgrims were provided security cover by
the police and the Rangers.
Hashmi said that the Pakistan High Commission in New
Delhi had issued 2,975 visas to Sikh pilgrims to participate in the annual
festival taking place on April 14 at Hassanabdal. However, 2,400 of them
arrived here.
According to the spokesperson, the ETPB has completed
all arrangements for the Baisakhi Mela and for first-time pilgrims coming from
India will use rail transport instead of buses.
Hashmi said that the main event of the festival will
be held on Sunday in which over 11,000 local and foreign Sikh pilgrims will
converge at Panja Sahib.
The other foreign Sikh pilgrims have come from Canada,
the US, the UK, the US, Australia, and New Zealand.
“The Indian Sikhs will be housed in hostels managed by
the ETPB while those from other countries will stay in various colleges and
schools,” Hashmi said.
Baisakhi marks the first day of the month of Vaisakh
in the local calendar. It is not only the spring festival in the region but
also marks the founding anniversary of ‘Khalsa’.
Baisakhi is also the formal founding day of Sikhism as
established by Guru Gobind Singh — the 10th Guru of the Sikhs.
During their stay, the pilgrims will also visit
Gurdwara Janamasthen Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Sacha Sauda Sheikhupura, Gurdwara
Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur,
Gurdwara Rori Sahib, Gujaranwala and Gurdwara Dera
Sahib Lahore, before leaving for their homeland on April 22.
Source:
siasat.com
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----
‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’ Producers Dismiss False
Claims Of Explosion Inside Mosque
13 April, 2024
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 13 (ANI): Amidst
swirling rumours surrounding the portrayal of a bomb explosion in a mosque in
the film ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan,’ the production team has stepped forward to
debunk the false claims, asserting the integrity of their cinematic creation.
The producer of ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’ addressed the
misconceptions circulating on the internet through a statement that read,
“There are certain videos on the internet falsely claiming a bomb explosion in
a mosque in our film Bade Miyan Chote Miyan. As makers, we wish to mention that
we respect all cultural and religious identities and that the explosion in our
film takes place in a Nuclear facility which has the Dome and has got no
connection to any place of religious worship or mosque.”
The producer urged audiences to disregard these
unfounded accusations and emphasized that the sole purpose of the film is to
entertain viewers.
This clarification aims to dispel any misconceptions
and ensure that audiences can enjoy the movie without any unwarranted concerns.
‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’ is an action-entertainer that
Akshay described as a “Bad Boys-like film” during the trailer launch.
The movie directed by Ali Abbas Zafar boasts an
ensemble cast featuring Prithviraj Sukumaran in a captivating villainous role,
alongside Sonakshi Sinha, Manushi Chhillar, and Alaya F in significant parts.
‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’ which was released in cinemas
on April 10, 2024, faced a clash at the box office with Ajay Devgn’s ‘Maidaan’.
(ANI)
Source:
theprint.in
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---
17 Indians on ship seized by Iran off UAE coast amid
tensions
April 14, 2024
Of the 25 crew members aboard the container ship
seized by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards off the UAE coast on Saturday, 17 are
Indian, sources have said.
The container ship, MSC Aries, was seized near the
Strait of Hormuz by carrying out a “heliborne operation”, and it is now headed
towards the territorial waters of Iran, the country’s state-owned IRNA news
agency reported.
A source said, “We are aware that Iran has taken
control of a cargo ship ‘MSC Aries’. We have learnt that there are 17 Indian
nationals onboard. We are in touch with the Iranian authorities through
diplomatic channels, both in Tehran and in Delhi, to ensure the security,
welfare and early release of the Indian nationals.”
The seizure of the vessel comes amid heightened
tensions in the Middle East. There are apprehensions of an attack on Israel by
Iran, which has vowed retaliation for an airstrike on the consular section of
its embassy in Syria’s Damascus almost two weeks ago. Seven people, including,
two generals were killed in the airstrike.
Iran has said that the vessel is “related to the
Zionist regime (Israel) in the Gulf”. Two websites that track shipping traffic,
vesselfinder.com and marinetraffic.com, said MSC Aries is a Portuguese-flagged
container ship and its last reported position was in the Gulf.
“Iran will bear the consequences for choosing to
escalate the situation any further,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a
statement.
“Iran is the world’s biggest state sponsor of terror.
Its network of terror doesn’t just threaten the people of Israel, Gaza,
Lebanon, and Syria; the regime in Iran fuels the war in Ukraine and beyond…
Israel is on high alert. We have increased our readiness to protect Israel from
further Iranian aggression. We are also prepared to respond,” the statement
said.
The Panama-flagged ship, named MT Gulf Star, was
reportedly traveling from the UAE to India when it was intercepted by Iranian
forces. According to the ship’s manager, the vessel was in international waters
at the time of the seizure. The reasons behind the Iranian action remain
unclear, but it is suspected to be related to environmental pollution
violations.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has
confirmed the incident and is in touch with Iranian authorities to seek the
release of the Indian crew members. The MEA spokesperson stated, “We are in
touch with the Iranian authorities to ascertain more details about the incident
and are making all efforts to ensure the well-being and early release of the
Indian nationals.” ( With Agencies Inputs )
Source:
muslimmirror.com
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----
Iran-Israel tensions cloud plans for thousands of
Indian workers recruited for Israeli construction sites
April 13, 2024
SUHASINI HAIDAR,MAYANK KUMAR
War clouds between Iran and Israel have cast a shadow
over the future of more than 5,000 Indians who have been recruited for
construction work in Israel, even as experts questioned the government for
allowing the recruitment at this time.
In an advisory issued on Friday evening, the Ministry
of External Affairs (MEA) asked all Indians “not to travel” to Iran or Israel
until further notice, in view of escalating tensions between the two countries
after Iran threatened reprisal for Israel’s bombing of its embassy in Damascus.
17 Indians
among 25 crew onboard Israel-linked cargo vessel seized by Iran
At least 500 Indians, hired after a process
facilitated by the National Skill Development Council (NSDC) along with
Israel’s Population, Immigration and Border Authority (PIBA), have already
flown to Israel since April 2, when the first group of 64 workers were flagged
off in a ceremony hosted by the Israeli Embassy in Delhi. When asked, NSDC
officials who facilitated the recruitment drive said that the advisory is for
all citizens, and hence the process had witnessed a “temporary disruption”.
Plans on hold
Unnao-based Satish Kumar, who was among a group of 325
Indians who were packed and ready to leave India on April 16, says he is
anxiously following news about developments in the region through social media
chat groups.
“On Friday, we were informed that all plans had been
put on hold until further notice, in view of the rising tensions,” he told The
Hindu over the telephone from Unnao. “We have been assured that the ₹66,800 paid by us for flight tickets
and other charges will not be lost, that the delay is temporary, but I am very
worried,” he added, explaining that he had taken a loan from a relative to pay
for all the expenses ahead of the trip.
According to the terms offered by the Israeli agency,
the workers are expected to travel at their own expense and will only receive
contracts once they land in Tel Aviv. A sample contract available on the PIBA
website seen by The Hindu details that insurance, accommodation, and food will
be arranged by employers but their costs will be deducted from workers’
salaries. Even so, the contracts for a promised ₹1.37 lakh a month are far higher than what these
workers could hope to receive in India, and tens of thousands had
applied for the roughly 10,000 jobs listed, seeking skills such as
carpentering, welding, plastering, and ceramic tiling.
“Now, with uncertainty looming over the process, we
feel we are at a crossroads. On our social media groups, the desperation is
evident from messages by candidates,” Mr. Kumar added.
Hiring amidst rising tensions
Israeli officials had been pushing to fast-track the
recruitment process for the past few months, given a major shortfall in labour
since the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas, following which the Netanyahu
government revoked the entry permits for more than one lakh Palestinian
workers. As a result, groups of Indian workers cleared for employment in Israel
have been flying to Tel Aviv every day on board commercial flights.
On Thursday, an official Israeli government statement
had announced that more than 6,000 Indian workers would reach Israel during
April and May, with the government approving ticketed chartered flights for the
workers. The MEA had also been helping facilitate the process, despite an
earlier advisory issued by the Indian Embassy in Israel regarding the safety of
workers, after an Indian was killed and two injured in a Hezbollah rocket
attack on Israel’s northern boundary.
‘Poor planning’
K.C. Singh, a former Ambassador to Iran and the United
Arab Emirates, said the Union government’s actions “reflected poorly” on its
planning for this eventuality. “The government has known for several months
about tensions in the region. If an advisory was in the works, how morally
justified was it to send workers there at this time?” he asked, in comments to
The Hindu. He also questioned the government’s decision to accept the Israeli
request for workers to replace Palestinians, given that eight million Indians
work in the rest of the Gulf region, where the populations are inimical. “By
allowing workers to go, they are also sowing the seeds of anti-India feelings
in the region,” he added.
About 18,000 Indians live in Israel at present,
working or pursuing their studies there. In addition, more than a thousand
workers are believed to have travelled there in the past few months on private
individual contracts before the government-to-government recruitment process
began.
‘More protections needed’
Labour activists who asked not to be named said that
the “temporary pause” in sending workers to Israel should be used by the
government to ensure more protections for them. At present, neither Israel nor
Iran are on the government’s Emigration Clearance Required (ECR) list of countries
where workers are mandated to register on the “E-migrate” portal that offers
more facilities for those travelling to conflict zones. They also said that New
Delhi should press Israeli authorities to provide more clarity on the locations
where Indians will work, in particular, keeping them away from unsafe border
areas and occupied territories where violence has been on the rise.
“The Iran-Israel tensions may subside in the next few
months, but ensuring pre-insurance, safety should be a long-term priority for
the government,” an activist working with the recruits said.
Source:
thehindu.com
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----
South
Asia
PMSheikh HasinaSends PahelaBaishakhGreetings, Says
'It's The Day Of Great Reunion'
Apr 13, 2024
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has greeted the people of
the country on PahelaBaishakh, the first day of Bangla New Year 1431, which
will be celebrated tomorrow.
PahelaBaishakh is a universal festival and it is a day
of harmony, the premier said in a message.
Sheikh Hasina called upon all, irrespective of
religion and caste, to wake up with new joy, forgetting the sorrows and
failures of the past year.
The search for the identity and roots of Bengalis can
be found through its celebration, Sheikh Hasina said, adding that
PahelaBaishakh is a reflection of the Bangalis.
During the Pakistan period, the colonial power wanted
to destroy the Bangla tradition, the premier said, adding that the Bangalis
resisted it with the strength of self-identity and their own culture.
Bangalis joined the struggle for liberation by holding
that power under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman, she continued.
She said the combined flow of culture and politics has
been turned into a struggle for independence and freedom.
"This is how independent sovereign Bangladesh
emerged in the world."
Following this, the traditional MangalShovajatra has
been recognised as world heritage by UNESCO, she said.
"The international recognition of it is
undoubtedly a great achievement. Following this path, the Bangalis will become
the best nation in the world community."
The Bangali nation cannot be suppressed as the
achievements and progress of the Bangali heroes will be remembered ages after
ages, she said.
Ethnic heritage and pride are also the key to the
lifelong struggle of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in establishing
ideologies such as secularism, liberalism, nationalism and democracy, the
premier added.
She hoped that this year's Baishakh will be a great
inspiration for the nation to fight against militancy, fundamentalism, extremism
and anti-liberation forces and to build a society free from hunger and poverty
and a golden Bangladesh cum Smart Bangladesh as dreamt by Bangabandhu.
Source:
thedailystar.net
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---
Mujahid: Kabul’s Stance May Be Cause of Delay in UN
Envoy Appointment
April 13, 2024
MitraMajeedy
The Islamic Emirate said that their stance to oppose
the appointment of another UN special representative for Afghanistan might be a
reason for the delay in the process.
Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Islamic Emirate,
emphasized that there is no need for such a representative for Afghanistan, and
said that it is likely that some countries in the United Nations have realized
this issue.
"Afghanistan is neither at war nor in crisis to
need a UN representative. This was the demand of the Islamic Emirate, some
countries in the UN might have realized the issue and this may have led to the
delay in appointing an envoy,” Mujahid told TOLOnews.
Meanwhile, Thomas West, the United States special
representative for Afghanistan, discussed the full implementation of UN
Security Council Resolution 2721 with the deputy permanent representative of
the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations.
Nasir Ahmad Faiq, Chargé d'Affaires of Afghanistan's
Permanent Mission to the UN, said that consultations regarding the special
representative will resume in the coming days.
"The new envoy will have the responsibility of
bringing new changes in Afghanistan to cause change in the country’s political
status and to increase engagement between the world and Afghans,” said
WaisNasiri, a political analyst.
“An envoy that works for the betterment of the
economic situation of Afghanistan, attracts more humanitarian assistance,
resolves internal issues and works for lasting peace and stability, is much
needed,” said Salam Paigeer, a political analyst.
Previously, StéphaneDujarric, the spokesperson for the
UN Secretary-General, also stated that the process of selecting the special
representative of the United Nations for Afghanistan is ongoing.
Source:
tolonews.com
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https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-188283
----
Nearly 7,000 Complaints Filed With Vice Ministry in
Past Year
April 13, 2024
The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and
Prevention of Vice of the Islamic Emirate said that the ministry has received
6,800 complaints in the past year.
MawlawiSediqullah, the deputy minister for the
Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, told TOLOnews that more than 1,700
of those complaints were from Kabul alone.
According to him, most complaints were related to
issues of land, homes, the improper conduct of some members of the Islamic
Emirate toward citizens, and women's rights.
"6,800 complaints have been recorded across
Afghanistan which have been addressed. The complainants have been convinced and
their complaints have been addressed. Just from Kabul we had 1,722 complaints,”
said MawlawiSediqullah, the deputy minister for the Promotion of Virtue and
Prevention of Vice.
He added that compared to the past one and a half
years, the number of complaints registered by citizens has been decreasing.
"The distance and differences between the Taliban
and people have been removed. Both sides understood each other. The Taliban
stopped making all the mistakes they used to make,” he added.
Some political experts said that the Complaints Hearing Commission addressing
citizens' complaints strengthens trust between the nation and the caretaker
government.
"The Ministry of Vice and Virtue should do things
which benefit the Afghan society. The should not use force but advise people so
that people get ready to accept and implement what Allah says,” Moin Gul
Samkanai, a political affairs expert said.
MawlawiSediqullah also emphasized that the leader of
the Islamic Emirate in the newly ratified law pertaining to this commission,
has emphasized in several articles that the complaints of the citizens of the
country must be addressed promptly and without neglect.
Source:
tolonews.com
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https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-188282
---
No Israeli flight landed in Bangladesh: CAAB says
Apr 13, 2024
No Israeli flight or plane has landed in Bangladesh,
the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) said in a statement today.
The CAAB statement comes following social media posts
and news reports on the matter.
Two flights of American National Airlines took off
from Tel Aviv Airport on April 7 and landed in Dhaka in order to ship
Bangladeshi-made garments to Europe and the Middle East, reads the statement
signed by Mohammad SohelKamruzzaman, deputy director (public relations) at
CAAB.
The flights departed Dhaka airport on April 12 with
the products.
The flights were operated as part of bilateral
agreements between Bangladesh and the US. Israeli authorities were not a
stakeholder, said the statement.
Source:
thedailystar.net
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---
Contact group on Afghanistan hits roadblock over
Pakistan’s gripe with India
April 14, 2024
The proposal to establish a regional contact group on
Afghanistan has hit a roadblock due to Pakistan’s objection to India’s
participation, the Express Tribune reported on Saturday.
The initiative for a regional contact group stemmed
from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s proposal in February, following a
two-day conference in Doha aimed at charting a roadmap for Afghanistan’s
future.
This group was envisioned to include Afghanistan’s
immediate neighbors and other relevant stakeholders. However, Pakistan’s
objection to India’s participation in the proposed regional group has led to a
deadlock, the Express Tribune reported citing diplomatic sources.
Historically, Pakistan and India have viewed each
other’s roles in Afghanistan with suspicion. Islamabad’s resistance to New
Delhi’s inclusion in the regional contact group stems from its longstanding
concerns that India undermines stability in Afghanistan.
While Pakistan’s relations with the Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan (IEA) remain strained, India has intensified its engagement with
Kabul in recent months, according to the newspaper.
The proposal to establish a regional group was part of
broader UN efforts to enhance coordination in dealing with the IEA-led
government. A UN delegation is scheduled to visit Kabul soon as a follow-up to
the Doha conference, aiming to urge the IEA government to fulfill its
international commitments.
The upcoming UN delegation’s visit seeks to convey to
the IEA government the adverse consequences of its hardline stance, the Express
Tribune reported.
Source:
ariananews.af
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---
Mideast
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre organises 4th
‘Jusoor’ programme to promote cross-cultural communication and harmony
13 April, 2024
Dubai [UAE], April 13 (ANI/WAM): The Sheikh Zayed
Grand Mosque Centre (SZGMC) hosted the fourth edition of “Jusoor” (Bridges)
programme during the holy month of Ramadan as part of its mission to foster
cross-cultural communication and promote the spirit of volunteerism.
As part of efforts to bridge the gap between religions
and cultures, and to promote harmony, the initiative invites people of various
cultures, ethnicities, and beliefs as well as representatives of public and
private sectors in the UAE to experience the spirit of Ramadan at the mosque,
participate in the Centre’s annual ”Our Fasting Guests programme”, and learn
about the mosque’s events and activities during the holy Month. By volunteering
to distribute Iftar meals within the mosque, witnessing the firing of the Iftar
cannon, and taking part in an array of cultural activities, the participants
were introduced to the message and vision of the mosque. The event ended with a
group Iftar, where participants gathered around a table in an atmosphere of
coexistence and fraternity.
Dr. Yousef Al Obaidli, Director-General of the SZGMC),
said:”The gatherings organised and supervised by the Centre provide
opportunities for cultural and human interaction that goes beyond coexistence
to positive interaction, especially in the United Arab Emirates, which embraces
different religions and cultures on its land, where people live together in
peace, within a harmonious social fabric and under ideal conditions of justice
and equality. The experience of the centre, which adopts the visions of late
founding father Sheikh Zayed for consolidating the concepts of human
communication within a framework of noble values, is a source of inspiration
for the world in promoting peace, harmony, and respect for all.”
The centre organised nine sessions of the programme in
its fourth season, with more than 394 participants representing 13 embassies in
the United Arab Emirates and a number of organisations and institutions. They
distributed more than 1,750 Iftar meals at the mosque. (ANI/WAM)
Source:
theprint.in
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---
Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon reopen airspace after Iran
attacks
April 14, 2024
CAIRO: Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon have reopened their
airspace on Sunday after closing it late on Saturday as Iran launched drone and
missile attacks against Israel, the three countries said on Sunday.
Jordan’s state TV said the country had resumed air
traffic operations, citing aviation authorities. The opening of its airspace
came more than three hours earlier than scheduled.
Jordan announced the closure of its airspace to all
incoming, departing, and transiting flights temporarily starting from 20:00
UTC, 11:00pm local time on Saturday, for several hours.
The commission said at the time that the decision was
taken to ensure the security and safety of civil aviation in the Jordanian
airspace.
Iraq’s aviation authority said security risks had now
been overcome.
Many flying objects were spotted over Jordan with
images and videos circulated on social media showing air-defense systems
shooting them down over the capital Amman and the northwestern regions on the
borders with Syria and Israel.
Following a cabinet meeting early on Sunday, Jordanian
government called for self-restraint and de-escalation, the Jordanian news
agency, Petra, reported.
The government also said that Jordan dealt with some
“flying objects” over the Kingdom on Sunday night and shot them down, adding that
some shrapnels fell on uninhabited areas and no injuries were reported.
Lebanon said its airport will resume its activities
after the overnight closure, state TV reported.
Iran launched explosive drones and fired missiles at
Israel late on Saturday — its first direct attack on Israeli territory in a
retaliatory strike that raises the threat of wider regional conflict.
Jordan, which lies between Iran and Israel, had
readied air defenses to intercept any drones or missiles that violated its
territory, two regional security sources said.
US and British warplanes were involved in shooting
down some Israel-bound drones over the Iraq-Syria border area, Israel’s Channel
12 reported.
Source:
arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2492881/middle-east
---
Israel’s Netanyahu vows victory after Iran strikes,
fears of wider conflict grow
April 14, 2024
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
vowed on Sunday his country would achieve victory after the military said it
shot down almost all the more than 300 drones and missiles launched by Iran in
a sharp escalation of the Middle East conflict.
Tehran’s attacks late on Saturday, launched after a
suspected Israeli air strike on its embassy compound in Damascus on April 1
that killed officers of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, raised the
threat of a wider regional conflict.
Iran had relied on its proxies across the region to
attack Israeli and US targets in a show of support for the Palestinian militant
group Hamas in the Gaza war with Israel, which shows no sign of easing despite
numerous mediations efforts.
“We intercepted, we repelled, together we shall win,”
Netanyahu posted on X.
The Israeli military said the armed forces had shot
down more than 99 percent of the Iranian drones and missiles and were
discussing follow-up options.
Israel’s Channel 12 TV cited an unnamed Israeli
official as saying there would be a “significant response” to the attack.
The war in Gaza, which Israel invaded after an attack
by Iran-backed Hamas on Oct. 7, has ratcheted up tensions in the region,
spreading to fronts with Lebanon and Syria and drawing long-range fire at
Israeli targets from as far away as Yemen and Iraq.
’Push toward escalation'
Iran’s most powerful ally in the region, the Lebanese
Shiite group Hezbollah — which has been exchanging fire with Israel since the
Gaza war began — said early on Sunday it had fired rockets at an Israeli base.
Drones were also reportedly launched against Israel by
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group, which has attacked shipping lanes in an
around the Red Sea to show solidarity with Hamas, British maritime security
company Ambrey said in a statement.
Those clashes now threaten to morph into a direct open
conflict pitting Iran and its regional allies against Israel and its main
supporter, the United States. Regional power Egypt urged “utmost restraint.”
Israel’s chief military spokesperson, Rear Admiral
Daniel Hagari, called Iran’s actions “very grave,” telling a televised briefing
they “push the region toward escalation.”
Iran launched dozens of ground-to-ground missiles at
Israel, including more than 10 cruise missiles, and most were intercepted
outside Israeli borders, Hagari said.
The Iranian salvo caused light damage to one Israeli
military facility, he said.
The Israeli military said it was not advising
residents to prepare to take shelter, revising an earlier alert in an apparent
signal of the end of the threat.
UN security council to meet
Iran had vowed retaliation for what it called the
Israeli strike on its embassy compound that killed seven Revolutionary Guard
officers, including two senior commanders. Tehran said its strike was
punishment for “Israeli crimes.” Israel has neither confirmed nor denied
responsibility for the consulate attack.
“Should the Israeli regime make another mistake,
Iran’s response will be considerably more severe,” the Iranian mission to the
United Nations said, warning the US to “stay away.” However, it also said Iran
now “deemed the matter concluded.”
US President Joe Biden, who spoke by phone with
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said he would convene a meeting of
leaders of the Group of Seven major economies on Sunday to coordinate a
diplomatic response to what he called Iran’s brazen attack.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said America did not
seek conflict with Iran but would not hesitate to act to protect US forces and
support defense of Israel.
The UN Security Council was set to meet at 4 p.m. ET
(2000 GMT) on Sunday after Israel requested it condemn Iran’s attack and
designate the Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization.
Iran’s Fars news agency quoted a source as saying
Tehran was closely watching Jordan, which might become the next target is case
of any moves in support of Israel.
Israel and Lebanon said they were closing their
airspace on Saturday night. Israel reopened its airspace at 0430 GMT on Sunday,
its airports authority said. Jordan, which lies between Iran and Israel, had
readied air defenses to intercept any drone or missile that violated its
territory, two regional security sources said.
Residents in several Jordanian cities said they heard
heavy aerial activity.
Syria, an ally of Iran, said it was putting its
ground-to-air defense systems around the capital and major bases on high alert,
army sources there said.
The European Union, Britain, Japan, Czech Republic,
Denmark, France, Mexico, the Netherlands and Norway condemned Iran’s attack.
Source:
arabnews.com
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----
UN Security Council to meet Sunday on Iran's
retaliation against Israel
14 April 2024
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is set to
convene after the Israeli regime requested the council to hold an emergency
meeting on Iran's retaliatory action.
A UN schedule released late on Saturday showed the
UNSC meeting is scheduled to be held at 04:00 pm local time (20:00 GMT) on
Sunday at the UN headquarters in New York.
The Israeli regime permanent representative to the
United Nations, Gilad Erdan, requested the council to hold an emergency meeting
in a letter on Saturday to the council's president.
"The Iranian attack is a serious threat to global
peace and security and I expect the Council to use every means to take concrete
action against Iran," Erdan wrote in a post on X.
Meanwhile, Iran’s permanent mission to the United
Nations defended the country’s retaliation against the Israeli regime’s recent
terrorist attack on the Islamic Republic’s diplomatic premises in the Syrian
capital.
Iran's UN mission said in a statement on Saturday,
“Iran’s military action was based on Article 51 of the United Nations Charter
concerning legitimate defense in response to the Zionist regime’s aggression
against our diplomatic premises in Damascus.”
It added, “The matter can be considered as concluded.
However, Iran's UN mission also warned that if the Israeli regime perpetrated
another mistake, Iran’s subsequent response could be “remarkably more intense.”
The mission stated that the fight was between Iran and
the Israeli regime and that the United States should stay out of it.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of the Iranian
Armed Forces on Saturday night, launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at
Israeli military targets in the occupied territories, naming the retaliatory
action as "Operation True Promise".
Two weeks ago, Israeli aircraft targeted the Iranian
Embassy complex in Damascus, killing seven IRGC members who were on an advisory
mission to Syria.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said during a
speech in Tehran on Wednesday after leading the Eid al-Fitr prayers, that the
Israeli regime “must be punished and will be punished” for its deadly strike on
the Iranian diplomatic premises.
“The evil Zionist regime committed another mistake
... and that was the attack on the
Iranian consulate in Syria. The consulate and diplomatic missions in any
country are considered to be the territory of that country. When they attack our
consulate, it means they have attacked our soil," Ayatollah Khamenei
asserted.
Source:
presstv.ir
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---
Israel reopens airspace after 7-hour suspension due to
Iranian attack
Anadolu staff
14.04.2024
Israel reopened on Sunday its airspace to the movement
of civilian aircraft after a suspension that lasted for several hours due to
the Iranian overnight attack on Israeli territory.
“The airspace was opened to civil aviation traffic
following its suspension for seven hours,” said the Israeli Public Broadcasting
Corporation.
It also reported that “Ben Gurion International
Airport in Tel Aviv resumed departing and arriving air traffic.”
Meanwhile, the Flight Radar 24 website which tracks
civil aviation traffic globally showed a number of aircraft crossing over
Israeli airspace at around 0515GMT.
However, the majority of airlines still use the air
corridors over northern Egyptian Sinai and over Turkish airspace as their route
as tensions continue between Tehran and Tel Aviv.
Iran began an airborne attack Saturday against Israel
in retaliation for an April 1 airstrike on its diplomatic facility in the
Syrian capital. The strike killed at least seven members of Iran’s Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two top generals.
Tehran has accused Israel of carrying out the attack
and vowed to respond. Tel Aviv has not officially claimed responsibility for
the attack but it has for months carried out several strikes against Iranian
targets across Syria.
Iran and Hezbollah, its main ally in Lebanon, have
said the attack will not go unpunished.
Source:
aa.com.tr
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---
24-hour protest broadcast begins in Istanbul for
journalists killed in Palestine
HamdiDindirek and SudeParlak
14.04.2024
Anadolu Publishers Federation (AYF) has launched a
continuous 24-hour live broadcast in Istanbul to commemorate journalists who
have been killed in Israel's attacks against the Gaza Strip and to protest the
attacks.
At the historical German Fountain in Sultanahmet
Square, a stage was set up with the inscription "We stand guard for the
journalists killed in Palestine."
The head of AYF, Sinan Burhan, told Anadolu that with
support from Türkiye's Communications Director FahrettinAltun, that the
broadcast is not politically motivated and is not affiliated with any party.
He said that "140 of our journalists have been
martyred or killed in Palestine. What were these journalists doing? They were
being the voice of the Palestinian people. They were exposing Israeli state
terrorism to the world.”
Altun connected to the program by telephone and said:
"Türkiye has always stood by the rightful cause of Palestine, consistently
supporting innocent civilians and the innocent Palestinians.
"Here, there is an effort to obscure the truth, a
systematic effort to conceal it, and those who resist this systematic effort
are journalists on the ground, engaged in a rightful struggle," he said.
He stressed despite facing numerous obstacles, threats
and attempts on their lives, journalists in continue to "uphold the
integrity of journalism, elevating its status in media history."
"Indeed, Israel's propaganda management closely
resembles the fascist propaganda tactics they supposedly reference and demonize
as backward," he added.
Muin Naim, a Palestinian researcher and journalist,
called recent events in the Gaza Strip the "worst journalist massacre in
history."
He noted that even in major conflicts like World War I
and II, or Russia's attacks on Ukraine, not as many journalists were killed,
accusing Israel of deliberately targeting journalists.
Source:
aa.com.tr
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---
IRGC attacks occupied Palestine with drones, missiles
Apr 14, 2024
TEHRAN, Apr. 14 (MNA) – The Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps attacked targets in occupied Palestine with dozens of drones and
missiles early on Sunday in response to the Israeli terrorist attack on
country's consulate building in Syria on April 1.
Issuing a statement early on Sunday, the IRGC said
that the anti-Zionist operation was carried out against certain targets in the
Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories as part of the response to the Israeli
regime's numerous crimes, including the terrorist attack on the consular
section of Iran's embassy in the Syrian capital.
The IRGC said that the details of the operation will
be announced soon.
The Israeli regime attacked Iran's consulate in the
Syrian capital of Damascus on April 1. The Israeli aggression led to the
destruction of the entire building and the martyrdom and injury of the entire
people inside it.
Seven of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)
military advisors were martyred following the Israeli attack on Iran's
consulate in Damascus on Monday, IRGC said in a statement.
Reacting to the Israeli aggression, Iranian Foreign
Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kan'ani on Monday night said that the Islamic
Republic of Iran, while reserving its rights to take countermeasures, decides
on the type of reaction and punishment of the aggressor.
Source:
mehrnews.com
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---
Hezbollah hits Israeli military bases with dozens of
rockets
Apr 14, 2024
TEHRAN, Apr. 14 (MNA) – The Islamic Resistance in
Lebanon announced early Sunday the targeting of several Israeli military sites
in northern occupied Palestine using dozens of Katyusha rockets.
In a statement, Hezbollah announced strikes on the
Israeli "Nafah," "Yarden," and "Kila" outposts in
the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, according to Al Mayadeen.
It reiterated that the operations were in support of
the steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and their brave and
honorable Resistance and in response to the Israeli aggression on the southern
Lebanese villages and towns, including al-Khiyam and KafrKila, which resulted
in the killing and injuring of several civilians.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in southern Lebanon
reported that Israeli occupation jets carried out airstrikes targeting the
Iqlim al-Tuffah region early this morning.
Hezbollah's operations were conducted while the
Israeli occupation was being hit by dozens of Iranian drones and missiles
launched by the IRGC's Aerospace Force in response to the consulate attack in
Damascus two weeks ago.
The IRGC force said in a statement that the operation
targeting Israeli military sites, dubbed "Truthful Promise," came
"in response to the numerous evil crimes of the Zionist regime,"
including the attack on the embassy. It also added that its forces, supported
by other units of the Iranian Armed Forces, launched the
"wide-ranging" military operation.
The statement pointed out that the attack targeted
Israeli military sites that successfully hit and destroyed their targets.
Source:
mehrnews.com
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---
Iranian attack shows Oct. 7 did not kill Israel-Sunni
regional alliance - analysis
APRIL 14, 2024
The shooting down of hundreds of drones, cruise, and
ballistic missiles from Iran in the early hours of April 14 shows that an
important element of the October 7 grand strategy against Israel failed: the
regional alliance against the Islamic Republic did not crumble.
It is unclear how much, if any, foreknowledge Iran had
of Hamas’ plans for its horrific Simchat Torah attack, but one thing is
certain: the ayatollahs saw it as a golden opportunity to break up the growing
alliance between Israel and moderate Sunni countries in the region.
That alliance was forged not out of any sudden
epiphany among the Sunni states that Israel had a legitimate right to exist in
the region, but rather out of a common fear of Iran and an understanding that
only by working together with Israel can this moderate camp beat back Iran’s
hegemonic Mideast designs.
It was not the love of Tel Aviv that the United Arab
Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, and -- unofficially -- Saudi Arabia
together with Israel, but rather a fear and hatred of Tehran. The presence of
Israel in the region might be an annoyance for those countries, but the
ideology of the leaders in Iran was an existential threat.
Alliance forged by shared challenge
Out of that threat, cooperation -- including close
security cooperation -- was born.
First through the Abraham Accords in 2020, a ball that
began rolling after the moderate Gulf countries saw the seriousness with which
Israel took the Iranian nuclear threat -- even willing, under the Obama
Administration -- to go toe-to-toe with the US president over the issue.
Then, after the Abraham Accords, the next country that
seemed on the verge of normalizing its already existing ties with Israel was
Saudi Arabia, something that -- last summer -- was gaining significant momentum..
Then October 7 hit.
Hamas believed
that with that strike, they placed the Palestinian issue squarely back on the
international agenda, and the Iranians believed that this attack -- and what
they knew would be a fierce Israeli response -- would scuttle any formal
Saudi-Israel pact and would deliver a death blow to the Abraham Accords.
How, they thought, could this alliance continue to
exist and even grow with the inevitable anger in the Arab and Muslim world over
Israel’s war in Gaza and its toll on Palestinian lives?
As the war ground on, as the pictures coming from Gaza
-- broadcast 24/7 in the most grisly way possible by Hamas’ Qatar-sponsored
Al-Jazeera propaganda arm -- the ayatollahs were rubbing their hands in glee
thinking that now any Israeli-Saudi normalization, as well as any new regional
defense architecture in formation to fend off their designs, were dead in the water.
The response early Sunday morning to Iran’s massive
assault showed, however, that this was not the case. The defensive capabilities
built up quietly over the last number of years precisely worked for this
eventuality. Israel, together with regional allies whose names are not being
revealed publicly but whom everyone can imagine, assisted Israel in knocking
Iran’s drones and missiles out of the skies.
Iran had hoped October 7 would destroy the regional
alliance against it being formed with Israel,, but the dramatic events in the
Middle Eastern skies on April 14 proved that those hopes were in vain.
Not only that, but Iran’s decision to attack from its
territory has now shifted the conversation from the Palestinians to their own
capabilities, with the world now wondering what would have happened if Iran had
nuclear capabilities.
The surreal Iranian attack Saturday night -- there is
no other way to describe a night where an entire country is holding its breath
wondering where exactly the projectiles will land, which it knows is heading in
its direction -- gave proof that the war in Gaza did not scuttle the new
regional alliance. Jordanian, Saudi, and Emirati fear of Iran is greater than
their anger at Israel for the war in Gaza (especially since the rulers in those
countries secretly hope that Israel finishes off Hamas).
The Iranian attack did something else as well. At a
time when Israel was feeling isolated in the world when tensions with
Washington were at a fever pitch when US President Joe Biden publicly blasted
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli policies -- giving a green light
to Israel’s other allies like Britain and France to do the same -- the role
these countries, especially the US, played in intercepting those drones and
missiles showed that Israel is not alone.
A few weeks back, the Economist magazine ran a
much-discussed dreary photo on its front page of an Israeli flag flying in what
appears to be a dusty wind under the ominous two-word headline: “Israel alone.”
The response late Saturday night and early Sunday
morning from Israel’s allies -- both regional and further afield -- shows that
the headline was, thankfully, way off
the mark.
Source:
jpost.com
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----
Thousands gather in Iran in show of support for attack
on Israel
April 14, 2024
TEHRAN: Thousands of Iranians took to the streets of
Iran early Sunday in a show of support for the unprecedented drone and missile
attack under way against arch foe Israel.
“Death to Israel!” and “Death to America!” chanted
demonstrators in Tehran’s Palestine Square shortly after the Revolutionary
Guards announced the launch of Operation Honest Promise.
A mural saying “the next slap is fiercer” was unveiled
in the square where a huge banner has hung for days calling, in Hebrew, for
Israelis to “take shelter.”
On Sunday, demonstrators waved Iranian and Palestinian
national flags alongside banners reading “God’s victory is near.”
Iran’s attack came in retaliation for an April 1 strike
that levelled the five-story consular annexe of the Iranian embassy in Damascus
and killed seven Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals.
Tehran has since vowed to avenge the strike which was
widely blamed on Israel.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pledged
that the “evil (Israeli) regime will be punished.”
Iranian media described the attack on Israel as
“complex” as it also involved Iranian allies in Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq.
“This attack did not come from Iran only, and this
regime (Israel) is being punished from four directions,” the Tasnim news agency
said.
A large crowd of demonstrators gathered outside the
British embassy in Tehran.
Supporters of the retaliatory attack also demonstrated
in Iran’s third largest city Isfahan where Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, one
of the generals killed in the Damascus strike, is buried.
Demonstrators also gathered near the grave in the
southern city of Kerman of prominent Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, who was
killed in a 2020 US drone strike in Baghdad.
Tehran had earlier appealed to Washington to keep out
of its conflict with Israel but Iranian hopes were dashed after a Pentagon
official confirmed that US forces were shooting down Israel-bound drones.
Iran insists it acted in “self-defense” after the
targeting of its diplomatic mission in Damascus. It said it hoped its action
would prompt no further escalation and “the matter can be deemed concluded.”
The latest developments took place against the
backdrop of the Gaza war which began with Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel
which killed 1,170 people, mostly civilians.
Tehran backs Hamas but has denied any direct
involvement in its attack on Israel.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has
killed at least 33,686 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to
the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Iran does not recognize Israel, and the two countries
have fought a shadow war for years.
Anticipation of conflict with Israel had gripped Iran
ever since the April 1 strike on its consulate.
“It is better to reach a compromise so that the war
does not begin, and innocent people don’t die,” said Maryam, a 43-year-old
private sector worker.
“God willing, our government will favor reason over
emotion,” said Salehi, a 75-year-old retired government employee in central
Tehran.
Ehsan, a 43-year-old university professor, said it was
“logical” to retaliate.
“War is always bad and worrying — a person who has
experienced war would never support it, but sometimes to achieve peace, a war
is necessary,” he added.
Source:
arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2492811/middle-east
---
Europe
Brazil urges global efforts to prevent escalation
after Iranian attack against Israel
EsraTekin
14.04.2024
Brazil urged the global community on Sunday to come
together to prevent a further escalation following an Iranian attack against
Israel.
“The Brazilian government is closely monitoring, with
serious concern, reports of Iran sending drones and missiles towards Israel,
putting neighboring countries like Jordan and Syria on alert,” the country’s
foreign minister said in a statement.
The statement added that Brazil has been cautioning
about “the destructive potential” of hostilities to areas beyond the Gaza
Strip, including the West Bank, as well as countries like Lebanon, Syria, Yemen
and now Iran.
“The Brazilian government recommends that
non-essential travel to the region not be undertaken and that nationals already
in those countries follow the guidance provided on the websites and social
media of Brazilian embassies,” it said.
It added that the foreign ministry has been watching
the situation of its citizens in the region since October.
Another Latin American nation, Uruguay, Sunday condemned
Iran for its attacks and expressed sadness for the worsening of the conflict in
the Middle East.
Iran began an airborne attack Saturday against Israel
in retaliation for an April 1 airstrike on its diplomatic facility in the
Syrian capital of Damascus. The strike killed at least seven members of Iran’s
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two top generals.
Iran has accused Israel of carrying out the attack and
vowed to respond. Tel Aviv has not officially claimed responsibility for the
attack but it has for months carried out several strikes against Iranian
targets across Syria.
Iran and Hezbollah, its main ally in Lebanon, have
said the attack will not go unpunished.
Source:
aa.com.tr
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---
UK PM condemns Iran’s ‘reckless’ attack against
Israel, deploys jets
14th April 2024
London: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has condemned
Iran’s attack against Israel as “reckless” and pledged that the UK would stand
up for security in the region after Tehran launched dozens of aerial drones and
cruise missiles overnight on Saturday and into Sunday.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said late on
Saturday that several additional Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter jets had been
moved to the region to help intercept the drone attacks.
The aircraft and air-fuelling tankers are being
deployed as part of the UK’s ongoing Operation Shader against the Islamic State
(ISIS) terrorist group in the region.
“I condemn in the strongest terms the Iranian regime’s
reckless attack against Israel,” said Sunak in a statement issued by 10 Downing
Street.
“These strikes risk inflaming tensions and
destabilising the region. Iran has once again demonstrated that it is intent on
sowing chaos in its own backyard. The UK will continue to stand up for Israel’s
security and that of all our regional partners, including Jordan and Iraq,”
said the British Indian leader.
“Alongside our allies, we are urgently working to
stabilise the situation and prevent further escalation. No one wants to see
more bloodshed,” he added.
The Israeli military said it intercepted the majority
of the attacks with the help of other countries, including the US.
“We have moved several additional Royal Air Force jets
and air refuelling tankers to the region. These will bolster Operation Shader,
which is the UK’s existing counter-Daesh (ISIS) operation in Iraq and Syria. In
addition, these UK jets will intercept any airborne attacks within range of our
existing missions, as required,” a UK MoD statement said.
“We will continue to cooperate closely with our
regional partners in the interest of de-escalation,” it stated.
UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said Iran’s
“senseless” actions further undermine regional security amid the Israel-Hamas
conflict.
“We continue to work with Israel and partners in the
region to prevent further escalation. Peace and stability are in everyone’s
interest, and I urge Iran to immediately end all forms of destabilising
behaviour,” said Shapps.
The widely anticipated retaliatory attack by Iran
follows a strike on its consulate in Syria earlier this month, which killed
seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officers, including a top
commander. The Iranian government has accused Israel of carrying out that
attack, but Israel has neither confirmed nor denied it.
India has said it is “seriously concerned” at the
escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran, which threatens the peace
and security in the region.
“We call for immediate de-escalation, exercise of
restraint, stepping back from violence and return to the path of diplomacy. We
are closely monitoring the evolving situation. Our Embassies in the region are
in close touch with the Indian community. It is vital that security and
stability are maintained in the region,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)
statement reads.
Source:
siasat.com
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---
France assists Israel in defending against Iran's
unprecedented attack: Military spokesperson
14.04.24
Israel's chief military spokesperson said on Sunday
that France was among the countries involved in defending against Iran's
overnight attack on Israel, reports Reuters.
"France has very good technology, jets, radar -
and I know they were contributing in patrolling airspace," he said, adding
that he did not have exact details on whether French jets had shot down any of
the missiles launched by Iran.
Earlier, Iran unleashed over 200 drones, cruise
missiles, and ballistic missiles towards Israel on Saturday evening, as
confirmed by the Israeli military.
This action was taken in response to a deadly Israeli
airstrike on the Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus earlier this month.
This attack, marking a significant escalation, is
considered the first direct Iranian assault on Israeli soil and signifies a
potentially explosive turn in the ongoing covert conflict between the two
countries.
Source:
telegraphindia.com
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https://www.telegraphindia.com/world/israeli-military-says-france-helped-in-defence-against-iranian-attack/cid/2013239
----
Six months of rallies in London: Thousands call for
Gaza ceasefire
13 April 2024
Thousands of people have gathered near the British
Parliament in the latest protest in London to call for an immediate halt to
Israel’s hostilities in the Gaza Strip.
Demonstrators, carrying Palestinian flags, changed
slogans like; “Free Palestine” and “Stop the genocide” and started the rally
from Russel Square before proceeding towards Aldwych, and finishing in
Parliament Square on Saturday.
Protesters were also calling for an immediate stop to
arming Tel Aviv.
There was a heavy Metropolitan Police presence in
London with close to 1,000 officers being deployed to several different events
taking place across the city
During the rally, pro-Palestine supporters clashed
with protesters rallying in support of Israel, with one man shouting "You
don't want the hostages" and another making a "cut-throat"
gesture.
This weekend marks six months since Palestine
solidarity demonstrators take to the streets across Britain every Saturday,
despite politicians’ criticism and close police scrutiny.
The rallies began when Israel launched its bloody
military campaign against the people of the Gaza Strip on October 7, which has
killed more than 33,680 Palestinians so far – mainly women and children,
according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Ever since Britain has seen huge swathes of
demonstrators gather to demand an end to the regime’s savagery in the besieged
strip.
According to the director of the Palestine Solidarity
Campaign (PSC), one of the organizers, the protests have been “extraordinary”
in their impact.
“The numbers were phenomenal … that was a moment I
thought: grief, we’ve built something extraordinary,” said Ben Jamal, the
director of the PSC.
He said the demonstrations have continued to attract a
“broad alliance” of people with more than 270,000 people subscribed to the
PSC’s mailing list in April.
The Metropolitan police commissioner Mark Rowley also
acknowledged that there were insufficient grounds to stop the protests, so the
demonstration went ahead, bringing hundreds of thousands of people to the
streets every weekend.
Source:
presstv.ir
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---
Italy: G7 leaders to discuss Iranian strikes
14 Apr 2024
ROME, April 14 — Leaders from the G7 will hold a video
conference later today to discuss the Iranian strikes on Israel, Italy—which
holds the rotating presidency of the group of developed nations—said.
“The Italian presidency of the G7 has summoned G7
leaders for a video conference early this afternoon”, the government said as
Prime Minister GiorgiaMeloni condemned the attack and said she feared
“destabilisation of the region”.
The G7 groups the United States, Japan, Germany,
France, Britain, Italy and Canada.
The operation late yesterday marked the first time
Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israeli territory.
Over the last two weeks, Iranian authorities
repeatedly vowed to “punish” Israel after the death of seven Guards including
two generals of the Quds Force in an attack that levelled the Iranian consulate
in Damascus on April 1.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said: “We are
working to avoid a still more serious military crisis.
“The G7 will send messages to Israel—the greatest
prudence is necessary to ensure the situation does not get worse—last night’s
Iranian retaliation can set off a dangerous spiral,” Tajani told broadcaster
Rai3. — AFP
Source:
malaymail.com
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---
UK Poll: Only 24 Percent of Muslims Believe Hamas
Committed Rape, Murder on Oct. 7
13 April 2024
British Muslims aged 18-34 are largely in denial that
the Hamas terrorists committed the murder and rape atrocities in Israel of Oct.
7, 2023, if not outright backers of the terrorists and espousing antisemitic
views.
Just 24% of British Muslims 18-34 say the Hamas
terrorists murdered and raped Israelis during the attack – including just 19%
of women among them – and J.L. Partners' latest polling points to radical
Islamic views in the United Kingdom if not antisemitism among those younger
voting-age Muslims.
The younger generation of the expanding Muslim
community in the U.K. points to a generational shift of the U.K. population,
electorate, and potentially the political authority of Great Britain.
Alarmingly, just 24% say Israel has a right to exist,
pointing to potential genocidal views among the young U.K. Muslim community.
And a majority of 53% U.K. young Muslims sympathize
with the Hamas terrorists rather than Israel amid the war. Just 24% have a
negative view of the Hamas terrorist group.
Other alarming findings:
A majority 52% of young U.K. Muslims say the BBC is
biased toward Israel versus Hamas terrorists.
And that same 52% majority says Hamas' Oct. 7
terrorist attack was intended to further the anti-Israel cause.
The U.K. Muslim college graduates are even more
radical in their terrorist ideology, as 62% say Oct. 7 terrorism was because
Hamas wanted to forward the anti-Israel cause.
On the electorate, the young Muslims are
overwhelmingly Labour Party voters (61%), compared to just 12% conservative.
Having a large sway over the young Muslim vote could help turn the U.K.
political policymakers to their agenda.
J.L. Partners and Number Cruncher polled a nationally
representative sample of 1,000 British Muslims from Feb. 14-March 12 and a
nationally representative sample of 2,013 in the general public March 4-6. The
margins of error were plus or minus 3.1 percentage points for Muslims and plus
or minus 2.1 percentage points for the general.
Source:
newsmax.com
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---
France and Germany hit by legal action over arms sales
to Israel amid Gaza war
13 April, 2024
Five Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip have filed
a legal complaint in Berlin against the German government over its delivery of
weapons to Israel, an NGO representing them said Friday.
The complaint seeks to "revoke the export
licences issued by the German government for arms deliveries to Israel",
the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) said in a
statement.
A spokeswoman for the administrative court in Berlin
confirmed it received the complaint late Thursday. The five plaintiffs live in
different parts of the Gaza Strip, including Rafah, the official added.
The Palestinians are "challenging the
authorisation already granted for the delivery of anti-tank weapons" and
seeking to stop deliveries that have not yet been authorised, the spokeswoman
said.
The complaint is directed against the economy
ministry, which now has two weeks to respond.
Meanwhile, in Paris, 11 NGOs, including Amnesty
International France, ASER and Attac, have filed three court cases to make
France stop arms deliveries to Israel following Disclose and Marsactu’s
revelations about France’s arms sales to Israel.
The groups are demanding an immediate suspension of
arms export licenses to the Israeli state due to the risk of use against
civilians in the Gaza Strip.
Disclose and Marsactu reported that Paris had sold
space parts for machine guns to Israel that could be used in Gaza, with French
Armed Forces Minister SébastienLecornu saying that “it’s a license only for
re-export” to other customers.
One case focuses on an arms export license for
ammunition and fuse-setting devices known as ML3, the second asks for the
suspension of around 20 other arms export licenses for weapon sights, ML5
bombardment calculators and infrared or ML15 thermal imaging equipment ML15 and
the third demands the suspension of all exports licenses for both weapons and
dual-use goods to Israel.
The five Palestinians have all had family members
killed in Israeli missile attacks since Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October
set off the war, according to the ECCHR.
The plaintiffs say Berlin is failing to fulfil its
obligations under international law, including the 1948 United Nations Genocide
Convention.
"Germany cannot remain true to its values if it
exports weapons to a war in which serious violations of international
humanitarian law are evident," said Wolfgang Kaleck, general secretary of
the ECCHR.
Germany is the second biggest arms exporter to Israel
after the US, accounting for 30 percent of imports between 2019 and 2023,
according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Nicaragua is challenging Germany at the International
Court of Justice, accusing it of contributing to the ongoing war and genocide
in Gaza by supplying Israel with military and financial aid.
Berlin is facing a case in the International Court of
Justice in which Nicaragua says it is in breach of the UN Genocide Convention,
set up after the Holocaust.
On Tuesday, Berlin's representatives insisted that
Germany supplied arms only "on the basis of detailed scrutiny...that far
exceeds the requirements of international law".
Israel has launched a relentless military offensive on
the Gaza Strip since 7 October, with over 33,600 Palestinians, mostly
civilians, killed as a result.
Source:
newarab.com
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---
North
America
US House to consider pro-Israel bill next week,
lawmaker says after Iran attack
April 14, 2024
WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives will make
a change in its schedule to consider legislation that supports Israel and holds
Iran accountable, House Majority Leader Steve Scalize said in a statement on
Saturday.
“The House of Representatives stands strongly with
Israel, and there must be consequences for this unprovoked attack,” he said in
a statement. More details will follow, he said.
Scalize’s office did not immediately respond to an
inquiry seeking clarification of what legislation would be considered.
It was unclear whether Scalize was referring to a
stand-alone bill to aid Israel, or the $95 billion supplemental spending bill
that includes $14 billion for Israel, in addition to $60 billion for Ukraine,
support for Taiwan and billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance.
That package passed the Senate with 70 percent support
in February but has been blocked in the House, whose Republican leaders will
not call it up for a vote, largely because of their objection to further
funding for Ukraine.
The package also faces resistance from a handful of
left-leaning Democrats who object to sending more money to Israel while it
pursues a military campaign that has killed more than 30,000 civilians in Gaza,
according to Palestinian health officials. US Senator Mitch McConnell released
a statement on Saturday evening urging the House to move forward with the
larger aid bill that includes funds for Ukraine and Taiwan. “The national
security supplemental that has waited months for action will provide critical
resources to Israel and our own military forces in the region,” the statement
said.
Source:
arabnews.com
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---
US President Joe Biden condemns Iran's attack on
Israel; to convene G-7 leaders' meeting on response
14.04.24
President Joe Biden has condemned Iran's unprecedented
air attack on Israel and convened a meeting of the G-7 leaders on Sunday to
develop a coordinated response to the brazen assault.
His comments came as American forces joined efforts to
down drones and missiles launched by Tehran.
Israel said it and its allies have intercepted the
vast majority of more than 200 drones and missiles launched by Iran.
"Earlier today, Iran—and its proxies operating
out of Yemen, Syria and Iraq—launched an unprecedented air attack against
military facilities in Israel. I condemn these attacks in the strongest
possible terms," Biden said after his call with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu.
Biden said at his direction, to support the defence of
Israel, the US military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defence destroyers
to the region over the course of the past week.
“Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary
skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the
incoming drones and missiles,” he said.
“I’ve just spoken with Prime Minister Netanyahu to
reaffirm America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel," he
said.
Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend
against and defeat even unprecedented attacks – sending a clear message to its
foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel, he said.
“Tomorrow, I will convene my fellow G7 leaders to
coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack.
"My team will engage with their counterparts
across the region. And we will stay in close touch with Israel’s leaders. And
while we have not seen attacks on our forces or facilities today, we will
remain vigilant to all threats and will not hesitate to take all necessary
action to protect our people,” Biden said.
Source:
telegraphindia.com
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---
Biden says US helped Israel down nearly all Iran
attacks
Apr 14, 2024
President Joe Biden said US forces helped Israel shoot
down nearly all the drones and missiles fired by Iran Saturday, but appeared to
guide the key US ally away from retaliating against Tehran by saying Israel had
now shown its strength.
Biden added that he was convening fellow G7 leaders on
Sunday to coordinate a diplomatic response against Tehran, in another sign that
he is trying to avoid any further military escalation that could ignite a wider
Middle East conflict.
The US president said he had called Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reaffirm Washington's "ironclad"
support for Israel, after recent tense relations over Israel's war in Gaza.
"I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable
capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks -- sending a
clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of
Israel," he said.
He said he had ordered US military aircraft and
ballistic missile defense destroyers to the Middle East in recent days, as the
likely threat following a presumed Israeli strike on Iranians in Damascus
became clear.
"Thanks to these deployments and the
extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly
all of the incoming drones and missiles," Biden said.
Biden said he would on Sunday "convene my fellow
G7 leaders to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran's brazen
attack."
His comments hinted at the US balancing act between
supporting its ally and wanting to deescalate tensions, amid fears of
Washington being dragged into another Middle East war.
Those fears have mounted ever since a presumed Israeli
strike on April 1 leveled an Iranian diplomatic building in Damascus, killing
seven members of the elite Revolutionary Guards including two generals.
After launching the drone strikes, Tehran warned the
United States Sunday to "stay away" from its conflict with Israel.
De-escalation
But US media reported that Biden was looking to
de-escalate.
News outlet Axios said Biden had told Netanyahu that
he would oppose an Israeli counterattack against Iran and that he should
"take the win." NBC said he had privately expressed concerns to
others that Netanyahu was trying to drag the United States more deeply into a
broader conflict.
Earlier Saturday, Biden had cut short a weekend trip
to the Delaware coast and flew back to Washington for an emergency meeting at
the White House with his top national security officials.
He posted a picture of the meeting in the wood-paneled
White House Situation Room with officials including Defense Secretary Lloyd
Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and CIA Director Bill Burns.
Biden's handling of the Middle East conflict will also
be under scrutiny in a US presidential election year.
Former US president Donald Trump, Biden's rival in
November's election, said the Democratic incumbent was showing
"weakness."
"God bless the people of Israel. They are under
attack right now. That's because we show great weakness," Republican Trump
said at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Tensions had ratcheted up earlier in the day when
Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized a container ship near the Strait of Hormuz
that was "related to the Zionist regime," the term it uses for
Israel, state media reported.
The White House condemned the seizure of the
British-owned vessel as an "act of piracy."
The Strait of Hormuz connects the Gulf with the Indian
Ocean and, according to the US Energy Information Administration, more than a
fifth of global oil consumption passes through it each year.
Source:
thedailystar.net
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---
Biden tells Netanyahu US will not take part in
Israel's counterattack on Iran
14 April 2024
US President Joe Biden has told Israeli prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States will not engage in any counterattack
against Iran, according to a senior US administration official.
The comments were relayed during a phone call with
Netanyahu on Saturday, in the wake of Iran's retaliatory strikes against
Israel.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) launched
“extensive” retaliatory missile and drone strikes against the occupied
territories on Saturday night local time, in response to the Israeli regime’s
terrorist attack of April 1 against the Islamic Republic’s diplomatic premises
in the Syrian capital Damascus.
During the conversation, Biden made it clear that the
US will not be involved in any offensive actions against Iran and Netanyahu
reportedly accepted this stance, according to the official.
The White House official said that Biden and his
senior advisors are highly concerned that an Israeli retaliation to Iran's
strike on Israel could escalate into a widespread conflict with devastating
outcomes.
The US military deployed aircraft and ballistic
missile defense destroyers to the region in the past week, assisting Israel in
thwarting incoming drones and missiles from Iran, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq, Biden
said in a statement after the call.
Biden will hold a call with the G7 leaders on Sunday
to discuss and “coordinate a united diplomatic response” to Iran’s attack,
according to a statement released by the White House.
Moreover, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken in
a statement said that the US does “not seek escalation” but will “continue to
support” Israel’s defense and defend US personnel.
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin also said that US forces
helped intercept dozens of Iranian drones and missiles launched against Israel
from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
“We do not seek conflict with Iran, but we will not
hesitate to act to protect our forces and support the defense of Israel,”
Austin said in a statement.
Iran warns Israel against second attack
These comments come after Iranian officials have
warned that any further military aggression by the Israeli regime will set off
a bigger response from Iran.
A senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards
Corps (IRGC) talking to PressTV on Sunday warned that if the Israeli regime
resorts to any military aggression on Iranian soil, Iran “will respond with
twice the force.”
‘Operation True Promise’ was in response to the
assassination of seven Iranian military advisors in Damascus on April 1,
including a senior IRGC commander in Lebanon and Syria, General Mohammad Reza
Zahedi, and his deputy General Hadi Haj Rahemi, the IRGC said in its first
statement.
The second statement said the IRGC retaliation came
after 10 days of "silence and neglect" on the part of the
international organizations, especially the United Nations Security Council, to
condemn Israeli aggression or punish the regime in line with Article 7 of the
UN Charter.
The statement warned the United States -- the Israeli
regime's biggest supporter -- that "any support or participation in
harming Iran's interests will result in a decisive and regrettable response by
the Iranian armed forces.
Source:
presstv.ir
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---
Canada 'unequivocally' condemns Iran’s airborne
attacks against Israel
DiyarGuldogan
14.04.2024
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday that
Canada "unequivocally" condemns Iran’s airborne attacks against Israel.
"We stand with Israel. After supporting Hamas’
brutal October 7 attack, the Iranian regime’s latest actions will further
destabilize the region and make lasting peace more difficult," Trudeau
said in a statement.
He said the attacks demonstrate Iran's disregard for
peace and stability in the region.
"We support Israel’s right to defend itself and
its people from these attacks.
"I am receiving regular updates from the National
Security and Intelligence Advisor, the Chief of the Defence Staff, and the
Clerk of the Privy Council as the situation develops. We are in contact with
allies, and we will continue to monitor closely," Trudeau added.
Iran began an airborne attack against Israel on
Saturday in retaliation for an April 1 airstrike on its diplomatic facility in
the Syrian capital of Damascus. The strike killed at least seven members of
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two top generals.
Iran has accused Israel of carrying out the attack and
vowed to respond. Tel Aviv has not officially claimed responsibility for the
attack but has for months carried out several strikes against Iranian targets
across Syria.
Iran and Hezbollah, its main ally in Lebanon, have
said the attack will not go unpunished.
Source:
aa.com.tr
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---
Trump says Iran attack on Israel shows US ‘weakness’
under Biden
April 14, 2024
SCHNECKSVILLE, United States: Donald Trump on Saturday
blasted President Joe Biden over Iran’s major attack on Israel, alleging that
his rival in November elections showed American “weakness” in the Middle East.
“God bless the people of Israel. They are under attack
right now. That’s because we show great weakness,” he said at a campaign rally
in Pennsylvania.
Iran launched an unprecedented drone and missile
attack on Israel Saturday evening, after pledging retaliation for a strike on
its consular building in Syria that killed seven Revolutionary Guards members,
two of them generals.
Trump, who while in office ordered the killing of a
top Revolutionary Guard leader in Baghdad and withdrew the United States from
the Iran nuclear accord, has repeatedly accused his Democratic opponent of a
soft approach toward Tehran.
“The weakness that we’ve shown, it’s unbelievable, and
it would not have happened if we were in office,” Trump said Saturday.
“But America prays for Israel, we send our absolute
support to everyone in harm’s way.”
Biden meanwhile was huddling at the White House with
his key military and national security advisers, saying on X that the US
“commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and its proxies is
ironclad.”
Source:
arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2492786/world
----
Arrests as California's Pomona College cracks down on
pro-Palestinian activism
14 April, 2024
The arrest of around 20 students and suspension of
several others at the prestigious Pomona College in southern California earlier
this month is among the latest university administration crackdowns on
pro-Palestinian student activism.
Like many campuses around the world, since the
outbreak of Israel's war on Gaza around six months ago, Pomona, part of the
Claremont Colleges consortium, has seen a surge in demonstrations in support of
Palestinians.
The intensity of the protests have increased in recent
days, as the war has passed the six-month mark, with more than 33,600
Palestinians in Gaza killed, mostly women and children. Hundreds more have been
killed in the West Bank.
As the airstrikes and siege on Gaza continue, leading
to mass internal displacement, there are growing reports of starvation, dehydration
and preventable illnesses due to the breakdown of the enclave's healthcare
system. Multiple human rights groups have described Israel's actions in Gaza as
genocide.
Much of the Palestinian activism on university
campuses is focused on advocating for the institutions' divestment from
companies that support the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and war on Gaza,
as well as academic and cultural boycotts of Israeli institutions. Activists
have said they have taken inspiration from divestment campaigns targeting South
Africa's apartheid system.
The students' recent activism has included demands for
the college to divest from Israeli weapons, creating a "mock apartheid
wall" in a common area on campus, and then staging a sit-in at the
president's office, leading to the recent arrests.
On the first Friday of April, the administration began
taking down the apartheid wall. As word quickly spread, many students rushed
over to protect what remained of their installation.
"I got a text from a friend saying they were
removing the wall. I was with friends. We threw on our jackets and then ran to
the mock apartheid wall. It was really devastating. A lot of my friends were
shaking and sobbing," Kae Kidd, a final-year neuroscience student who was
later arrested and suspended, told The New Arab.
"When I got there, I did what I could to protect
the remainder of the wall. I saw them instructing workers to take the items. We
rallied and chanted."
As the news spread of the wall's removal, around 80
more students gathered for two hours in protest. Afterwards, Kidd, along with
several other students, entered Alexander Hall, which student protesters
pointed out was named after the college's last president, who refused to divest
from Apartheid South Africa.
Some of the students then took part in a sit-in for
divestment at the office of Pomona's president, Gabrielle Starr, who told them
they would be subject to suspension.
The students described the sit-in as peaceful, leaving
a pathway open for the administrators to go about their business, though they
could hear other students chanting outside. A student reporter was removed from
the premises, which the protesters believe was to prevent documentation.
The student protesters said the president's office
then called the police. The New Arab contacted Pomona College for comment, but
received no response at the time of publication.
"I knew we were the only ones who could keep each
other safe. We were whispering our Miranda Rights to each other once we heard
the sirens of police," said Kidd.
As someone whose mother is Jewish and father if Black,
both of these identities have played a role in this student's advocacy
Palestinian rights.
Source:
newarab.com
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---
Africa
Borno: NGO demands justice for deradicalised Boko
Haram victims
AtikuGaladima
April 13, 2024
A non-governmental organisation, Allamin Foundation
for Peace and Development has demanded justice for deradicalised Boko Haram
women, victims, survivors after they complained of stigmatisition from some of
the Borno residents.
Speaking in Maiduguri on Saturday during a policy
workshop for the implementation of charters of demands from Survivors, victims,
relations & deradicalised women In Borno State, organised by Allamin
Foundation for Peace, the Executive Secretary of the foundation, Dr.
HamsatuAllamin, disclosed that there is increase of stigmatisation against
deradicalised women which is becoming a menace which is affecting the emotional
well-being and mental health of the victims of the insurgency.
She explained that some of the deradicalised Boko
Haram women, victims, and survivors are facing rejection and maltreatment from
their family and friends as well as important people in their communities.
According to her, the victims, survivors, and
deradicalised women often internalise the stigma they experience and begin to
develop a negative self-image.
“Stigma is one of the main remaining barriers in
reintegration of deradicalised women and children, it is caused by
misinformation about what is really happening with those victims.
“But as a foundation we are trying to see that we help
government and other stakeholders in creating awareness about our sisters who
fled from forest to join the communities, we are working with security agencies
like Army, police, civil defence and others to see Borno people have the needed
peace.
“We are working with ministry of Women’s Affairs and
Borno ministry of Justice in order to ensure transitional justice, and those
people do not deserve to be stigmatize, some of them are victims.
“We have victims and survivors of insurgency, as the
victims, you know Allamin Foundation has different categories of victims and
survivors, we have the Njire Dole Network for mothers of victims of
disappearance, victims of wives of those who disappeared, we have the network
of former detainees, men, and women including minors.
She urged the media to create awareness about the
negative effects of stigmatization, adding that “media plays a major role in
dissemination and publicity of information”.
Speaking, the Shehu of Borno, HRH. Abubakar Ibn Umar
Garba Al-aminElkanemi, said the traditional leaders are creating awareness but
the constitution needs to recognize their in promoting reconciliation, peace,
and progress in the society.
The Shehu was represented by the Senior Prince, the
district head of Mafa, Alhaji Abba Kawu Ibn Umar Garba Al-aminElkanemi who said
“we will continue to support Allamin Foundation for peace in its efforts to
restore peace and security through transitional justice in the state”.
Source:
tribuneonlineng.com
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----
Nigerian Military Killed 188 Terrorists, Arrested 330
Others In A Week – DHQ
Goodness
Adaoyiche
April 13, 2024
The Nigerian military says that no fewer than 188
terrorists were killed and 330 criminal elements arrested during various
operations conducted across the north last week.
Similarly, a total of 133 kidnapped persons were
rescued by troops deployed across the country within the period under review.
The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj-Gen Edward
Buba, disclosed this in a statement on Friday, April 12, 2024.
He noted that the recent achievements of the troops
had placed them in a strong position to win the ongoing war against terrorists.
The statement reads: “The armed forces are working
decisively to kill the terrorists, stop insecurity and ensure the safety of
citizens. Accordingly, we are making the terrorists pay a much heavier price
than we have been forced to pay.
“Troops will continue to operate with tremendous force
against terrorists across the country. During the week under review, troops
neutralised 188 and arrested 330 persons. Troops also rescued 133 kidnapped
hostages.
“The military is in a good and strong position in the
war against terrorists with many terrorist leaders killed. We will continue to
provide security for citizens with the tools at our disposal.”
Source:
politicsnigeria.com
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---
Suspected Islamist rebels kill at least 10 in
Democratic Republic of Congo
April 13, 2024
BENI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO — Suspected
Islamist rebels killed at least 10 civilians in an attack Friday near the city
of Beni in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local authorities and a United
Nations source said.
The assailants fired guns at people working in fields
in Mulekera commune outside Beni, Mulekera Mayor NgongoMayanga said Saturday.
Seven bodies have been collected so far, including
those of three women, with five more victims reported elsewhere, he said.
"Certainly, there are other bodies that we will
find as the search continues," he said by phone, blaming the Allied Democratic
Forces rebel group.
The ADF originates from neighboring Uganda. Now based
in eastern Congo, it has pledged allegiance to Islamic State and mounts
frequent attacks, further destabilizing a region where many militant groups are
active.
A witness to the latest attack said he was working in
a field when he heard bullets shortly after parting from his daughter-in-law.
"My daughter-in-law went in the opposite
direction, but unfortunately that's when she was killed," he said,
describing how he fled into the forest and spent the night there out of fear of
the attackers.
Decades of conflict between the army and numerous
rebel groups have destabilized eastern Congo and fueled a long-running
humanitarian crisis.
Source:
voanews.com
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----
‘Reject All Parties That Support Israel
Genocide,’Economic Freedom FightersLeaderTells Muslim Voters
GcinaNtsaluba
13-04-2024
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader, Julius Malema,
told Muslim voters in Lenasia, South of Johannesburg, to reject all political
parties that support Israel.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) which governs the Western
Cape has been previously accused of supporting Israel in the Middle East
conflict. An allegation the party denies.
‘TOWN HALL MEETINGS ARE ESSENTIAL,’ SAYS MALEMA
SABC News reported that Malema was addressing
community members as part of his Town Hall meetings following the launch of the
EFF manifesto at the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban in February.
“These meetings are an essential because they offer
members of the community a platform to raise concerns and suggestions to the
leadership of the EFF,” said Malema on a social media post.
The EFF Commander in Chief (CIC) said their number one
priority, if voted into power after the May 29 polls, would be to shut down the
Israeli embassy in South Africa.
‘NO MUSLIM SHOULD VOTE FOR PARTY THAT SUPPORTS
GENOCIDE’
Malema said no right-thinking Muslim should vote for
all those who support the genocide in Palestine.
Last October, Malema lead a march to the Israeli
Embassy in solidarity with the people of Palestine. The EFF questioned why
South Africa had economic ties with Israel when thousands of Palestinian women
and children were killed daily in the conflict.
Source:
thesouthafrican.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/reject-all-parties-that-support-israel-genocide-malema-tells-muslim-voters/
---
South African President Urges Muslim Community Members
To Join Active Politics
Apr 14, 2024
Johannesburg, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa
has called on the members of the Muslim community, many of them of Indian
origin, to join active politics like their forebears to make the country a
place of equality, shared prosperity and true freedom.
Ramaphosa was speaking at a huge Eid gathering in the
Indian township of Laudium, near the capital Pretoria.
“It is regrettable that over the years one of our once
vibrant and politically active communities has retreated into the background of
our national life," he said on Thursday.
"Much of our politics has come to be defined by
internal squabbles and regrettably by racial and other forms of chauvinism.
This has led to some of these communities questioning their place in South
Africa today,” Ramaphosa said ahead of next month's general elections.
He was indirectly referring to increasing concerns
among minority communities such as the 1.6 million South Africans of Indian
origin, who have increasingly been concerned about laws and policies on issues
such as employment equality and quotas at educational institutions sidelining
them in favour of the Black majority population.
Ramaphosa highlighted the role that the Muslim
community had played in the freedom struggle.
“We salute the many great leaders that the Muslim
community has produced – Yusuf Dadoo, Rehana Moosa, Ahmed Timol, Cissy Gool,
Imam Haroon, Ahmed Kathrada, Don Mattera, Chief Justice Ismail Mahomed, Dullah
Omar, the parents and sons and daughters of the Cachalia and Pahad families and
many others,” he said as he made an impassioned plea to the gathering.
“Your country needs you. Your country looks upon you.
Join us in rebuilding South Africa,” the president said.
He said South Africa was built through the actions of
patriotic men and women of different races, classes and political affiliations.
"They were united by a common goal and it is this
spirit of unity we must channel today," the President said.
"So let us join hands to make South Africa a
place of equality, shared prosperity and true freedom for all,” Ramaphosa
concluded.
Source:
hindustantimes.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/south-african-president-ramaphosa-urges-muslim-community-members-to-join-active-politics-101713081558803.html
----
Hundreds rally in Niger capital to push for US
military departure
April 14, 2024
NIAMEY: Hundreds took to the streets of Niger’s
capital on Saturday to demand the departure of U.S. troops, after the ruling
junta further shifted its strategy by ending a military accord with the United
States and welcoming Russian military instructors.
Marching arm in arm through central Niamey, the crowd
waved Nigerien flags in a demonstration that recalled anti-French protests that
spurred the withdrawal of France’s forces from Niger last year after the army
seized power in a coup.
One hand-written sign in English read “USA rush out of
Niger,” in a show of support for the junta and its decision in mid-March to
revoke an accord that had allowed around 1,000 U.S. military personnel to
operate on its territory out of two bases.
“We’re here to say no to the American base, we don’t
want Americans on our soil,” said protester Maria Saley on the sidelines of the
march.
Until the coup, Niger had remained a key security
partner of France and the United States, which used it as a base as part of
international efforts to curb a decade-old Islamist insurgency in West Africa’s
Sahel region.
But the new authorities in Niger have joined juntas in
neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso in ending military deals with one-time
Western allies, quitting the regional political and economic bloc ECOWAS and
fostering closer ties with Russia.
The arrival on Wednesday of Russian military
instructors and equipment was further evidence of the junta’s openness to
closer cooperation with Moscow, which is seeking to boost its influence in
Africa.
A few Russian flags were visible at the protest, but
some citizens told Reuters on Friday they did not want the welcome Russian
defence assistance to lead to a permanent presence in Niger.
“We must not subsequently see the implementation of Russian
foreign military bases,” said AbdoulayeSeydou, the coordinator of the M62
coalition of civil society groups that led anti-French protests last year.
His concerns were echoed by student SouleymaneOusmane:
“This is how the French and the Americans and all the other countries settled
in Niger — from military cooperation, they ended up occupying large parts of
our country.”
It is unclear, however, if or when the U.S. troops
will leave. In March, the top U.S. general appeared to suggest there was at least
some support from within Niger’s junta for a continued U.S. military presence
despite its announced revocation of the accord. One of the U.S. programmes in
Niger is a drone base known as Air Base 201, which cost more than $100 million.
Violence in the central Sahel hit a high in 2023, with conflict fatalities in
the region rising by 38% compared with the previous year, according to
U.S.-based crisis-monitoring group ACLED, citing reports of over 8,000 people
killed in Burkina Faso alone last year.
Source:
thenews.com.pk
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1178211-hundreds-rally-in-niger-capital-to-push-for-us-military-departure
---
Moroccan man stabs Christian pensioner in UK as
‘revenge’ for Gaza conflict
DANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD
APRIL 13, 2024
Ahmed Alid, a 45-year-old Moroccan asylum seeking
living in the United Kingdom, allegedly stabbed a Christian pensioner to death
in a “revenge” attack for Israel’s war in Gaza, multiple British media sources
reported on Friday while citing a court hearing.
The stabbing occurred on October 15, only weeks after
Hamas’s October 7 attacks, and was motivated by “the conflict in Gaza and to
further his desire that Palestine would be free from the Zionists”, Teesside
Crown Court was reportedly told.
Alid denied murdering the 70-year-old and denied
attempting to murder his 31-year-old housemate, the Jewish Chronicle reported.
The accused reportedly further denied assaulting two female police officers
that interviewed him after his arrest. However, he reportedly admitted to the
crimes during a police interview, the prosecution reportedly said.
Alid allegedly told police that “They [Israel] killed
children and I killed an old man.”
After he was charged, Alid replied to police that “the
Zionists have killed lots of women, children and innocent people, far more than
him, and he had killed one person.”
Jonathan Sandiford KC, a prosecutor on the case, was
cited as having said Alid armed himself with two knives in the early hours of
October 15, when he attacked his sleeping housemate Javed Nouri.
Alid reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar”, meaning “God
is great” before stabbing his roommate, after finding out that he had converted
to Christianity.
The court heard from two other roommates, who said
that Alid subscribed to an extremist form of Islam. The prosecutor also
affirmed Alid "followed an extreme interpretation of Islam" and
believed Nouri, 31 at the time, was an "apostate", or "someone who
had denied their religion", as he was converting to Christianity, which
meant he "deserved to die," BBC News reported.
The wounded housemate had complained about Alid only
days before the attack, but an officer told him that no offense has been
committed.
The housing managers visited the property on 10
October and warned Alid he would have to leave the house if his behaviour
continued, the jury heard, Sky News reported.
Sandiford reportedly said, “There is evidence that the
defendant had several motives for attacking Nouri, one of which was also the
reason why he killed Carney.
“First, there was some friction between the defendant
and Nouri from living in the shared house.
“In particular, Nouri had reported the defendant to
the police and those responsible for managing their accommodation.
“Second, Nouri was a Muslim who had converted to
Christianity, and the defendant would therefore have regarded him as an
apostate or ‘murtad’.
“Third, when the defendant was interviewed by the
police, he initially thought that he had killed both Nouri and Carney.
“He said he had wanted to kill them because of the
conflict in Gaza and to further his desire that Palestine would be free from
the Zionists, by which he meant Israel.
“The defendant said he would have killed more people
if he had been able to do so.”
The events of October 15
After stabbing his roommate, Alod fled the scene and
crossed paths with 70-year-old at 5:30 in the morning.
Doorbell camera footage was reportedly shown to the
court where the elderly man could be heard screaming “no, no” while he was
stabbed six times in the chest, abdomen and back.
The call to emergency services, which was released by
the Metro, revealed the sound of an adult man repeatedly shouting "Allah
Akbar!"
The site also released footage of the arrest.
Alid was found near the body of the pensioner with a
bloody knife in his waistband, according to the JC.
In custody at Middlesbrough police station, Alid was
recorded speaking in Arabic, saying “Allah willing, Gaza would return to be an
Arab country”.
Sandiford said he went on “to praise Allah and spoke
of him being displeased with those who went astray”, of Palestine, and “that
the Jews had divided the Arabs”.
Alid said that if he had not injured his hands “he
would have continued what he referred to as ‘the raid’”, Sandiford said.
The prosecution added: “The defendant spoke of
returning with the army of Muhammed with the non-believers having to pay tax to
the Muslims and be humbled.”
Sandiford said: “When asked to explain what had
happened, he replied the whole issue was for the independence of Palestine, and
that to have two dead victims was better than more because ‘we’ want the brutal
Israeli colonizer to depart Palestine.
“He said he had killed two adults because Israel had
killed innocent children – in other words he said he had committed the
attempted murder of Javed Nouri and the murder of Carney in revenge for what he
believed to be the killing of children by Israel.
“He swore by Allah that, if he had had a machine gun,
and more weapons, he would have killed more victims.”
Justice Cheeba-Grubb told jurors it was “unlikely”
Alid will deny stabbing the two men but it would be for them to decide what his
intentions were when he did the acts.
The hearing was adjourned until Friday.
Only 6 days after the stabbings, The Jerusalem Post
reported that a Hamas-related terror attack was being kept underwraps in the
UK. It is unclear if that case pertains to Alid's.
Source:
jpost.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.jpost.com/international/islamic-terrorism/article-796803
----
Somalia refuses to accept Ethiopian naval base in
breakaway region
April 13, 2024
NAIROBI: Somalia will never accept Ethiopia’s plan to
build a naval base in its breakaway region of Somaliland but would consider
granting Ethiopia commercial port access if discussed bilaterally, a senior
Somali official said.
Landlocked Ethiopia sparked a diplomatic row with
Mogadishu in January by signing a deal with Somaliland to lease 20 km of its
coastline in return for recognizing the region as an independent state.
Somalia called the deal illegal as it considers
Somaliland part of its territory even though it has had effective autonomy
since 1991.
Landlocked Ethiopia sparked a diplomatic row with
Mogadishu in January by signing a deal with Somaliland to lease 20 km of its
coastline in return for recognizing the region as an independent state.
To defuse the acrimony, Kenya, in consultation with
Djibouti and the Eastern African Bloc Intergovernmental Authority on
Development, or IGAD, has proposed a maritime treaty to govern how landlocked
states in the region can access ports on commercial terms, a senior Kenyan
official said on Thursday.
Somalia’s state minister for foreign affairs, Ali
Omar, said that before discussing port access bilaterally, Ethiopia must annul
its agreement with Somaliland.
“Somalia will never accept (a) naval base,” Omar said.
“Somalia is ready for commercial access in accordance
with the international law of the sea.”
He added that Somalia was willing to discuss proposals
as long as they met the country’s interests, which are to “safeguard (our)
sovereignty, political independence and unity.”
A spokesperson for Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry
declined to comment.
Source:
arabnews.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2492576/world
---
Pakistan
President Zardari, PM Shehbaz felicitate Sikh
community on Baisakhi festival
April 14, 2024
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Muhammad
Shehbaz Sharif have felicitated Sikh community on the celebration of Baisakhi
festival.
In their message on this event, they that this occasion
gives message of love, happiness, peace and affection.
He said that Pakistan felt pride over its diverse
cultural heritage.
The President said that Pakistan will ensure all steps
to facilitate the Sikh community.
Asif Ali Zardari said that Pakistan acknowledged the
contributions made by minorities in the progress and development of the country
and is committed to safeguard the rights of all minorities.
In his felicitation message, Prime Minister Shehbaz
Sharif said Government of Pakistan and all the provincial governments are
ensuring provision of all facilities to the Sikh Yatrees who were visiting
their religious places in Pakistan.
Shehbaz Sharif termed Baisakhi as the festival of
spreading love and happiness.
Prime Minister proudly said that Pakistan was a
beautiful blend of different faiths and culture and the colours of Baisakhi
further add to this beauty.
Source:
radio.gov.pk
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.radio.gov.pk/14-04-2024/president-pm-felicitate-sikh-community-on-baisakhi-festival
----
Achakzai calls for quashing cases against Imran, PTI
leaders via parliamentary resolution
April 13, 2024
Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mahmood
Khan Achakzai has termed incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder
Imran Khan a leader of the "strongest party" in parliament and called
for revoking all cases against the embattled party leaders via parliamentary
resolution.
“[Regardless of] whoever he [Imran Khan] was
yesterday, today he is the leader of the strongest part of parliament,” he
remarked while addressing a rally in Baloshitan'sPishin at Taj Lala Football
Stadium on Saturday.
The gathering as part of an opposition alliance, comprising
PTI, Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Balochistan National
Party-Mengal (BNP), Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) and PkMAP, protest movement
dubbed as Protect the Constitution (Tehreek TahafuzAyin) launched against
alleged rigging in February 8 elections
Ackakzai said a resolution be introduced in parliament
to quash all cases registered against the PTI founder and party workers.
Addressing the gathering, PTI leader Omar Ayub vowed
to reclaim their rights through the protest movement.
"The people of the country came forward to make
this movement successful," the politician said during his address in front
of a charged crowd.
Senior leaders and members of the opposition parties —
including BNP chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal, PkMAP chief Achakzai, SIC chief Hamid
Raza, JI's Dr Ataur Rehman and others — were all present at the gathering.
It should be noted that the political rally was held
despite the imposition of Section 144 owing to the law and order situation in
the district.
Omar Ayub lambasts rulers
Lamenting the imposition of the restrictions, the PTI
politician said: "The government of Balochistan had placed check-posts on
the way to Pishin."
Omar Ayub, during his address, spoke about the release
of his party's founder Imran Khan and others.
Mengal rejects 'Form 47 government'
Addressing the gathering, BNP chief Mengal said he
doesn't consider the government formed at the Centre as the government of
Pakistan.
"This government is Form 47 government. This is
the government of the Election Commission," he said, adding that the
country's mandate was stolen during the February 8 general elections.
Following their win in the general polls, Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), alongside a coalition of multiple parties
including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), has formed a government in the
Centre.
Mengal, while lamenting the formation of government in
Balochistan, said: "In Balochistan, such people were made successful who
are not even recognised by the people in their neighbourhood."
The veteran politician said that “Section 144 is
imposed whenever we protest for our rights”.
"[We] do not recognise the government of Section
144 and Form 47 of the Election Commission."
Their movement, he added, will continue until the
supremacy of the Constitution and the acquisition of rights.
'Opposition parties united to defend Constitution'
JI Deputy Amir Dr Ataur Rehman, during his address at
the gathering, said that the opposition parties are united to defend the
Constitution, as the supremacy of the Constitution is essential in the country.
"The opposition alliance will move forward under
the leadership of Mehmood Khan Achakzai."
Lamenting the imposition of Section 144, PkMAP General
Secretary Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal said the administration has placed obstacles in
the way of the workers.
"Our guests were also banned from staying in the
rest house."
SIC chief Hamid Raza, in his address to the rally,
said: "Pakistan belongs to all of us, but people are tortured."
He maintained that no one can stand before the power
of the people.
"On February 8, it was proven that people voted
for PTI. The party is still talking about people's rights and civil
supremacy."
Resolution
During the rally, the opposition alliance presented a
resolution under the banner of the movement.
“This meeting is for the struggle and to get the
rights of the people. [We] will not hesitate to make any sacrifices to achieve
their rights,” said PkMAP politician Zairatwal, reading the resolution.
He added that the elected parliament should be the
source of making internal and external policies.
“Election results should be compiled and announced
under Form 45,” the politico stated.
Source:
thenews.com.pk
Please
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https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1177958-achakzai-calls-for-quashing-cases-against-imran-pti-leaders-via-parliamentary-resolution
---
Sharif family fears incarcerated Imran Khan, claims
Omar Ayub
April 14, 2024
QUETTA: Secretary General of the Pakistan Tehreek e
Insaf (PTI) Omar Ayub Sunday claimed that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif
and his family feared incarcerated party founder Imran Khan.
“The Sharif family is afraid of prisoner number 804,”
Ayub said talking to media in Quetta, while referring Khan by his prisoner number.
He claimed PTI would form the next government after
the incumbent governments would be dissolved. His party only wanted supremacy
of the law and constitution, he maintained.
“Our party gave people awareness. This is not old
Pakistan. People have now awakened. Despite hurdles, (our) rallies have been
successful,” he said.
The leader of the opposition in National Assembly also
apprised that his party workers were tortured and they were not allowed to wave
party flags in Pishin and Chaman public gatherings.
He said the parties included in their alliance would
hold rallies all over the country.
On April 12, Ayub had announced that under the
umbrella of a "grand opposition alliance", they would launch a
protest movement against the alleged rigging in the February 8 general
elections and for “restoration of the Constitution and democracy” in the
country from Balochistan.
Subsequently, the six-party opposition alliance
launched its protest drive against the government a day earlier with a rally in
Baloshitan'sPishin where PTI Ayub vowed to reclaim their rights through the
"Tehreek TahafuzAyin".
"The people of the country came forward to make
this movement successful," the politician said during his address in front
of a charged crowd.
The gathering was held at the Taj Lala Football
Stadium in Pishin after the alliance comprising PTI, Sunni Ittehad Council
(SIC), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP), Majlis
Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) and Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) decided to begin
a nationwide movement against the government.
Meanwhile, announcing to jump ship his party and join
the PTI, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Sharif Khilji said he never did
politics for favours and funds.
“The PPP has become a party of Zardari, not Bhutto,”
he said.
Source:
thenews.com.pk
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1178241-sharif-family-fears-incarcerated-imran-khan-claims-omar-ayub
---
Seerat Museum will help combat Islamophobia: PM
April 13, 2024
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said the Seerat
Museum will help impart ethical education and combat Islamophobia.
He made these remarks while addressing the foundation
stone ceremony of the Seerat Museum in Islamabad tonight.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the establishment
of the Seerat Museum will provide valuable insight into the virtuous life of
Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) for the younger generation.
Expressing appreciation for the valuable contributions
of Saudi Arabia towards the construction of the Seerat Museum, he said that
such projects solidify the collaboration between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. He
thanked the Saudi leadership for demonstrating their love for Pakistan through
projects like the Faisal Mosque and the Seerat Museum, as well as for their
assistance during difficult times.
He also thanked Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, as
well as the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin
Abdulaziz, for generously hosting his delegation during his recent trip to
Saudi Arabia.
The Secretary-General of the Muslim World League,
Abdulkarim Al-Issa, and Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki also
participated in the ceremony.
Source:
radio.gov.pk
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.radio.gov.pk/13-04-2024/seerat-museum-will-help-combat-islamophobia-pm
---
Transparency International Pakistan’s corruption
report about judiciary not credible: PHC
April 14, 2024
PESHAWAR: Declaring the Transparency International
Pakistan’s National Corruption Perception Survey (NCPS) 2023 report key
findings related to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa judiciary not credible, Peshawar High
Court has ruled that it is suffering from ethical and methodological rigour.
“These unreliable and invalid findings tend to bring
the judiciary into disrepute as well as fuelling ridicule of judiciary on
public forums and media, especially social media,” rules a single-member bench
comprising PHC Chief Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan.
In its 31-page detailed judgment released on Saturday,
the bench observed: “This is very concerning that TIP admitted before the court
in its response of 15 January 2024 that 87% respondents have perceived
judiciary nationally as ‘clean’ and merely l3 % perceive it as ‘corrupt’ but
this key information was not included in NCPS 2023 report.”
“Similarly, TIP admitted that in KP, 85% respondents
perceived judiciary clean whereas only l5% perceived it corrupt but this key
explanation was not included in NCPS 2023,” the bench observed.
Court declares positive findings about judiciary not
mentioned in report
“TIP also claimed in relation to KP judiciary that
compared to NCPS 2022, the perception of the judiciary in KP has improved 57%.
This is the highest improvement witnessed by any department across Pakistan as
per NCPS 2023. This finding, like the 87% and 85% clean claims, was not
included in NCPS 2023,” the court observed, adding that this would have been
encouraging for the nation and taxpayers of Pakistan to know the 87% and 85%
clean findings regarding their judiciary.
“These claims would have also boosted the morale and
confidence of those working in judiciary,” the bench observed, adding that TIP
had only reported negative findings regarding the judiciary.
Similarly, the bench observed that TIP did not mention
that only five of the 39 respondents claimed to have paid bribe to access
judiciary in KP.
It is pertinent to mention that on Dec 14, 2023, the
PHC director of human rights cell had submitted a complaint to chief justice
along with press clippings of newspapers wherein the key findings of TIP’s NCPS
were reported.
The key findings in relation to KP judiciary was that
it was the second most corrupt sector and that citizens paid the highest bribe
of Rs162,000 to access judiciary. The PHC chief justice started proceedings
over the said complaint and issued notice to TIP, which was represented by
advocates Hashmat Ali Habib, Nadia Huma Hashmat and others.
The bench also appointed Prof Niaz A Shah of University
of Hull, as amicus curiae, who appeared through video link and submitted his
detailed findings on the report.
On April 8, the bench pronounced its judgment wherein
it ordered TIP to recall its NCPS 2023 report and issue a revised report in the
light of the judgment. It was further ordered that the revised report should be
published and circulated in the manner and form of NCPS 2023.
In the detailed judgment, the bench observed that TIP
failed to mention the inherent limitation of the perception survey in its
report. The bench observed that in its response, TIP admitted that ‘this
perception does not necessarily mean reality but is shaped by the citizens’
opinions and experiences. “It does not mean that the department, sector, or
institution is corrupt or has financial irregularity.”
However, the bench observed that TIP did not explain
in its two responses to the court as to why it failed to mention the inherent
limitation in its NCPS 2023. It added that without explaining the limitation,
key finding in relation to key question may mislead lay public which, in turn,
contributed to public misperception about the judiciary. “Misperceptions lead
to erosion of public trust and confidence in the judiciary and, in some cases,
fuel public ridicule and scorn.”
The bench observed: “TIP’s intention and aim of
improving institutions across the country is laudable. TIP has, however, done
itself and the institutions it wants to assist and improve a huge disfavour by
not following ethical and methodological rigour; properly analysing data and
reporting full findings in NCPS 2023.”
The bench further stated: “The Constitution of
Pakistan and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
protect the right to freedom of expression not only of individuals, journalists,
etc but also afford protection to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as they
raise awareness through their functions on issues of public importance. The
contribution of NGOs on issues of public importance is undeniable.”
“Their rights and role, however, come with great
responsibilities and duties to those who they engage in their activities such
as surveys, the institutions they aim to research and broadly the public.
Article 19(3) of ICCPR has specially mentioned that the exercise of this right
‘carries with it special duties and responsibilities’. NGOs, like other
organisations and institutions have to operate within the limits imposed by law
especially human rights law and the fundamental rights contained in the
constitution of Pakistan,” the bench observed.
“In this case, it is the right of public and the
institution funded by their taxes to question the validity, reliability and
credibility of research findings by NGOs so that the judiciary is not unfairly
ridiculed and brought into disrepute. Maintaining public trust and confidence
in the judiciary is the sine qua non for the fair administration of justice in
a democratic society. Access to justice and fair administration of justice is a
fundamental right of people,” the bench maintained.
Source:
dawn.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.dawn.com/news/1827271/transparency-international-pakistans-corruption-report-about-judiciary-not-credible-phc
---
Two soldiers martyred during intelligence-based
operation in KP’s Buner district: ISPR
April 13, 2024
Two Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred on Saturday
in an intelligence-based operation (IBO), conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s
Buner district, based on the reported presence of suspected terrorists, the
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.
According to ISPR, Lance Havildar Mudassar Mehmood and
Lance Naik Haseeb Javed embraced martyrdom.
During the operation, a “high-value target” identified
as Saleem Rabbani was “sent to hell” after an intense gun battle, while two
other terrorists were injured, the statement added.
“[The] terrorist Saleem Rabbani remained actively
involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces as well
as extortion [and] target killings of innocent civilians,” the press release
read.
The ISPR stated that weapons, along with a large
quantity of explosives, were also recovered from the slain militants in today’s
operation, adding that they remained “actively involved in numerous terrorist
activities in the area”.
The alleged terrorist Saleem had a bounty of Rs5
million placed on him and was wanted by law enforcement agencies and the
government, the military’s media wing said.
However, during the operation, two brave sons of the
soil, Lance Havildar Mudassar Mehmood, 36, of Rawalpindi, and Lance Naik Haseeb
Javed, 27, a resident of Poonch, having fought gallantly, embraced Shahadat
[martyrdom], the ISPR stated.
According to additional information from the ISPR,
Lance Havildar Mudassar and Lance Naik Haseeb served 16 and five years in the
army, respectively.
A sanitisation operation is under way to eliminate any
other terrorists found in the area, the press release said.
“Security forces of Pakistan remain determined to wipe
out the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further
strengthen our resolve.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif lauded the security
forces for the successful operation and expressed regret over those martyred.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also paid tribute to
the martyrs for their efforts in the operation.
This was the second such operation in KP this week,
with two terrorists killed in an IBO in South Waziristan on Tuesday. A press
release from the ISPR had said that two terrorists were successfully “neutralised
and sent to hell” after an intense exchange of fire between security forces and
militants.
Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities,
especially in KP and Balochistan, after the banned militant Tehreek-i-Taliban
Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.
According to a security report recently issued by the
Centre for Research and Security Studies, Pakistan witnessed 432
violence-linked fatalities and 370 injuries among civilians, security
personnel, and outlaws, resulting from as many as 245 incidents of terror
attacks and counter-terror operations during the first quarter of 2024.
KP and Balochistan, both bordering Afghanistan,
accounted for over 92 per cent of all fatalities and 86pc of attacks, including
incidents of terrorism and security forces operations, during this period.
Individually, the former suffered 51pc and the latter 41pc of all fatalities in
the first quarter of 2024, the report said.
Source:
dawn.com
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1827199/two-soldiers-martyred-during-intelligence-based-operation-in-kps-buner-district-ispr
---
Pakistan expresses concern over ongoing developments
in Middle East
April 14, 2024
Pakistan has expressed deep concern over the ongoing
developments in the Middle East and called on all parties to exercise utmost
restraint and move towards de-escalation.
In a statement today, the Foreign Office said that
Pakistan had pointed on 2nd of this month, to the dangers of attack on an
Iranian consular office in Syria as a major escalation in an already volatile
region and today's developments demonstrate the consequences of the breakdown
of diplomacy.
It said that for months, Pakistan has underlined the
necessity of international efforts to prevent expansion of hostilities in the
region and for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Foreign Office said that these also underline the
grave implications in cases where the UN Security Council is unable to fulfill
its responsibilities of maintaining international peace and security.
It is now critically urgent to stabilize the situation
and restore peace.
Pakistan is deeply saddened and shocked over the
terrible and tragic events at Westfield Bondi Junction in Sydney, Australia.
In a statement, the Foreign Office expressed thoughts
and prayers with the families of those who have lost their lives and prayed for
the early recovery of injured.
Source:
radio.gov.pk
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https://www.radio.gov.pk/14-04-2024/pakistan-expresses-concern-over-ongoing-developments-in-middle-east
---
PM reaffirms Pakistan's continued support, partnership
with Muslim World League
April 13, 2024
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has reaffirmed
Pakistan's continued support and partnership with the Muslim World League.
He was talking to Secretary General of Muslim World
League Abdulkarim Al-Issa who called on him in Islamabad today.
The Prime Minister welcomed Dr. Abdulkarim Al-Issa and
thanked him for visiting Pakistan on the occasion of Eid ul Fitr.
He appreciated the valuable contributions and services
of Dr. Abdulkarim Al-Issa for promoting the true image of Islam around the
world.
He also acknowledged the critical role of Muslim World
League in developing unity among the Muslim Ummah, advocating for Muslim causes
around the world and in spreading the message of peace, tolerance and
inter-faith harmony.
The Prime Minister conveyed his best wishes and
prayers for the health and long life of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz as well
as for the Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin
Abdulaziz.
He underscored that Pakistan attaches utmost
importance to its strong fraternal ties with Saudi Arabia that are rooted in
common faith, shared values and culture.
Secretary General of Muslim World League praised the
Prime Minister for his commitment and efforts to further strengthen ties
between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
He congratulated the Prime Minister on the success of
his recent visit to Saudi Arabia.
Source:
radio.gov.pk
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https://www.radio.gov.pk/13-04-2024/pm-reaffirms-pakistans-continued-support-to-muslim-world-league
----
Anti-Fazl
slogans spoil PTI-JUI-F ties
April
14, 2024
ISLAMABAD:Seeds
of discord were sown between the PTI and JUI-F on Saturday after slogans were
shouted against the latter’s chief, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, in the six-party
opposition alliance’s first rally in Pishin town of Balochistan against the
ruling parties over the alleged “theft of mandate”.
The
cracks emerged between the PTI and JUI-F just when the opposition parties
kicked off their protest against the government.
The
JUI-F not only accused the PTI of resorting to double standards, but also
warned that it would be unable to even remain in the opposition if the focus of
its politics was only to insult political leaders.
Following
the rally, the JUI-F condemned the sloganeering against its party chief and
declared the rally as a “failed” one, saying that the PTI had shown its true
colours at the Pishin gathering.
“Slogans
against JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman during the rally of the opposition
parties in Pishin are condemnable,” the party’s spokesperson Aslam Ghauri said
in a statement.
Both
the PTI and JUI-F have remained at loggerheads with one another for a long
time.
PTI
founding chairman Imran Khan and other party leaders would call the JUI-F chief
“diesel” in rallies and media interactions, referring to an accusation that
Fazl had purportedly benefitted financially by receiving fuel permits during
the PPP government in the 1990s.
The
thaw in relations between the two bitter political arch-rivals was seen when
both sides finally sat together to discuss the situation in the country and
initiate dialogue with other political forces in October last year.
The
first formal contact between the two sides came after Imran gave his nod to
proceed with the move.
It
was seen as a major political U-turn by the PTI to lower tensions between the
two sides when its leaders visited the JUI-F chief’s residence.
Following
the meeting, PTI leaders including Asad Qaiser, Ali Muhammad Khan, and
Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, even offered prayers behind Fazl -- that too
keeping in view the sentiments that their party and its leadership had for him.
Before
and after the elections, both sides have held several meetings and were seen
coming closer to each other as well as mulling to start a joint movement
against the government over what they called “massive rigging” in the general
elections.
On
Saturday, the JUI-F, however, accused PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat of insulting
the Maulana, demanding that party must control its leaders.
During
the rally, Marwat was seen asking people not to chant the slogan of “diesel” as
talks were still under way with the JUI-F.
While
accusing the PTI of having double standards, the JUI-F spokesperson said that
its “hypocrisy” had come to the fore at the opposition parties’ first rally.
“The
opposition has to put a leash on the likes of Sher Afzal Marwat,” Ghauri added
in the statement, reminding the head of the newly-stitched opposition alliance,
Mehmood Khan Achakzai, that he had promised that nobody would be abused at the
public rallies
“It
seems that their [PTI’s] politics is only to insult political leaders with
people like Sher Afzal,” Ghauri continued.
“People
like Sher Afzal are driving the last nail in the PTI’s coffin.”
He
then said the “failed rally” was probably being made the centre of attention of
the media and people by chanting such slogans.
Recalling
how the JUI-F had played a key role in the PTI’s ouster from power in April
2022, Ghauri warned that if its leaders did not control their mouths, they
would not even be left to remain in the opposition.
Source: tribune.com.pk
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https://tribune.com.pk/story/2462517/anti-fazl-slogans-spoil-pti-jui-f-ties
---
JI
Sindh chief condemns Israel for its brutalities, pays tribute to resilience of
Palestinians in Gaza
2024-04-14
MIRPURKHAS:
Muhammad Hussain Mehnti, the Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Sindh on Saturday said
that Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people is their worst act of open
hostility.
The
independence of Al-Aqsa Mosque will be based on the sacrifices made by more
than 33,000 Palestinian martyrs. He expressed his views while addressing at a
Jamaat-e-Islami Mirpurkhas Eid-Milan celebration on behalf of the people of
‘Gaza’ in a straightforward yet respectful ceremony.
The
martyrdoms of the leaders, including the sons and grandsons of the leaders of
the freedom of Palestine and Aqsa, are a practical picture of sacrifice for
Palestine and Aqsa, he added.
In
his speech, Muhammad Hussain Mehnti went on to say that Ramazan is a time for
believers. It’s a really wonderful present. Through the blessing of this holy
month, the believer becomes worthy of its joy, intimacy, and heaven by means of
fasting, charity, remembering, reciting the Qur’an, and prayer.
Zafar
Ahmed Khan, the town chairman of Karachi Model Town, Haji Noor Elahi, and
Muhammad Akram Sheikh spoke at the ceremony as well. At Eid marketplaces,
Eidgahs, and other locations of Eid prayer on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, Haji
Noor Elahi Mughal and other officials under Jamaat-e-Islami Mirpurkhas received
a check for the Muslims of Palestine totalling around six million rupees.
Prior
to this, the residents of Mirpurkhas have already donated over fifty-five lakh
rupees to the Al-Khidmat Foundation, a welfare organization affiliated with
Jamaat-e-Islami, in order to aid the people of Gaza and Palestine. There were a
lot of activists and supporters present.
Afterwards,
Mohammad Hussain Mehnti said funeral prayers in absentia for all the martyrs of
Palestine and Al-Aqsa in last night’s savage missile attack on Israeli jets, as
well as for the three young sons and grandsons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Source:
brecorder.com
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---
Nushki
victims’ bodies sent to native towns after funeral prayers
April
14, 2024
QUETTA:
The bodies of nine labourers, who were abducted and shot dead by unknown
assailants in Nushki district of Balochistan Friday night, were sent back to
their native towns on Saturday after their Namaz-e-Janaza was offered here.
The
funeral prayers of the victims, who belonged to Wazirabad, Mandi Bahauddin and
Gujranwala in Punjab, were offered at the Police Lines. The police said six
people belonged to Mandi Bahauddin and were from the same village Chak Fateh
Shah. Their family members said the men had left for Iraq three days before
Eid.
Balochistan
Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti and high-ranking police officers also attended the
funeral prayers.
Deputy
Commissioner Habibullah Musakhel said the unknown assailants checked the
identity cards of passengers from the Taftan-bound bus and abducted nine of
them. They took them to an area off the road and shot them dead.
Condemning
the incident, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sought a report and expressed
condolences over the deaths and said terrorists and their facilitators would be
brought to justice.
According
to the news agencies, banned outfit BLA [Balochistan Liberation Army] has
claimed responsibility for the Nushki killings.
Separately,
President Asif Ali Zardari Saturday strongly condemned the merciless killing of
passengers in Nushki. “The whole nation rejected the heinous designs of
terrorists,” he said in a statement. He expressed grief and sorrow over the
barbaric killing of passengers by terrorists.
The
president said the security forces, with the support of the nation, were
determined to completely eradicate terrorists.
Interior
Minister Mohsin Naqvi also condemned the incident, saying the government stands
with families of the deceased at this time of grief. “There is no room for such
a tragic incident in Quaid-e-Azam’s Pakistan,” he added.
Meanwhile,
Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz strongly condemned the murder of bus
passengers after abducting them in Nushki. She expressed condolences with the
bereaved families. She vowed, “Pakistanis are a united nation and their unity
will remain intact forever”, adding that such nefarious elements involved in spreading
hatred would be wiped out once and for all.
Also,
Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal-Bhutto Zardari, while strongly
condemning the terror attack in Nushki, instructed the chief minister of
Balochistan to ensure that justice was done and killers were brought to book.
Expressing sympathies and condolences to the bereaved families, he said an
example should be made of the perpetrators.
Meanwhile,
the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said it was appalled by the
cold-blooded murder of nine people, who were forced off a bus near Nushki and
shot dead by unknown assailants.
The
fact that the gunmen checked their identity cards suggested that their
ethnicity or sect might have made them the targets. Deteriorating security in
Balochistan must be addressed by the government as a matter of priority, the
statement said.
At
the same time, the government must tackle the root-cause of militancy and not
by means of force alone.
Source:
thenews.com.pk
Please
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https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1178204-nushki-victims-bodies-sent-to-native-towns-after-funeral-prayers
---
Southeast
Asia
Johor
Islamic Affairs DeptSeizes 11 Floor-Mats Bearing Images Of Kaaba From
Supermarket
13
Apr 2024
BATU
PAHAT, April 13 — Johor State Islamic Religious Affairs Department (JAINJ)
seized 11 floor mats bearing the images of the Kaaba from a supermarket in the
district on Tuesday.
State
Islamic Religious Affairs Committee chairman Mohd Fared Mohd Khalid said the
floor mats were confiscated following complaints from the public.
He
said the supermarket management had been called up to provide explanations and
warned to exercise caution over the products they sell to avoid offending
sensitivities.
“The
supermarket was inspected and monitored on the eve of Aidilfitri (Tuesday)
after we received complaints from the public. It also went viral on social
media.
“From
our inspection, we found 11 floormats with images of the Kaaba in the
supermarket, and they were seized. Monitoring is ongoing throughout Johor,” he
said when Bernama contacted him today.
Mohd
Fared said no statement about the matter was issued earlier out of respect for
the Aidilfitri celebration and to alleviate public concerns. — Bernama
Source:
malaymail.com
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https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/04/13/johor-islamic-affairs-dept-seizes-11-floormats-bearing-images-of-kaaba-from-supermarket/128656
---
PAS
deputy chief says giving all Opposition MPs same amount of federal funds to
ruling bloc will reflect better on unity govt
14
Apr 2024
KUALA
LUMPUR, Apr 14 — PAS is hopeful that the federal government will immediately
grant the same amount of allocation to Opposition MPs as enjoyed by lawmakers
in the ruling bloc after a deputy prime minister promised to raise the matter
this week.
The
Islamist party’s deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said equal
allocation across all MPs will not only help produce a constructive Opposition
in Parliament but would also encourage greater democracy in the country,
BeritaHarian reported today.
By
doing so, Tuan Ibrahim said it reflects the reforms promised by the unity
government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“The
Opposition was also chosen and voted in by the people (during the 15th general
election).
“The
government therefore should respect the choice of the people by disbursing the
allocation to the Opposition MPs.
“Having
said that, we will wait and monitor closely developments on the matter,” Tuan
Ibrahim, who is also KubangKerian MP, was quoted as saying.
Deputy
Prime Minister Datuk Seri FadillahYusof was reported by national news agency
Bernama as saying that the allocations for Opposition MPs will be discussed in
the Unity Government Leadership Council this Wednesday.
Fadillah
promised to raise the issue following his meeting with the Opposition leader
Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin and Bersatu secretary-general in Parliament on March
19.
“In
the meeting, the Opposition said they wanted allocations and any condition was
up to the government.
“I
have informed them that this matter will be brought to the Unity Government
Leadership Council for us to present what they want,” Fadillah was quoted as
telling reporters during an Aidilfitri open house in Kuching, Sarawak
yesterday.
On
March 24, Fadillah reportedly said that there was no draft agreement related to
demands for allocations by the Opposition representatives as claimed by
PerikatanNasional leaders following the meeting.
Source:
malaymail.com
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https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/04/14/pas-deputy-chief-says-giving-all-opposition-mps-same-amount-of-federal-funds-to-ruling-bloc-will-reflect-better-on-unity-govt/128756
---
Malaysia
strongly condemns Israeli attack on humanitarian aid workers in Rafah, says
Foreign Ministry
13
Apr 2024
PUTRAJAYA,
April 13 — Malaysia strongly condemns the merciless attacks by the Israeli
Occupation Forces (IOF) yesterday in Rafah, which blatantly targeted and
injured several humanitarian aid convoy and volunteers, including those
operated by Ops Ihsan from Malaysia.
The
Malaysian Foreign Ministry in a statement today said the attack against
humanitarian workers, volunteers, and unarmed individuals undertaking relief
efforts is totally unacceptable.
“These
shameless acts of violence on Israel’s part reek of cruelty and inhumanity
beyond any comprehension or justification. It is no longer sufficient to
chastise these atrocities from the sidelines,” the statement read.
The
ministry said it is high time for the international community to band together
and demand that Israel stop these indiscriminate acts and be held responsible
for their crimes.
“Where
once Israel made dubious claims that these were necessary measures of
self-defence, its actions since October of last year have clearly signalled the
opposite: Israel is very much the aggressor.
“At
a time when aid is urgently needed to reach Palestinians, the Israeli regime has
continuously imposed obstacles and obstructions and threatened safety to starve
the old, the sick, women and children, and terrorise them,” it said.
According
to the ministry, this is the second time that Ops Ihsan’s operations have been
disrupted, and the lives of its volunteers needlessly jeopardised.
“The
first attack took place on March 14, 2024 and claimed the lives of eight
Palestinians and left more than twenty others injured,” it said. — Bernama
Source:
malaymail.com
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click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/04/13/malaysia-strongly-condemns-israeli-attack-on-humanitarian-aid-workers-in-rafah-says-foreign-ministry/128702
----
Singapore
advises its citizens against travelling to Iran amid Middle East tensions
14
Apr 2024
SINGAPORE,
April 14 — Singapore has advised its citizens to defer all travel to Iran
“given the latest security situation”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)
said today.
MFA
in its travel advisory for Iran also asked Singaporeans who are in the Middle
Eastern country to remain vigilant and monitor developments closely.
“Singapore
has no diplomatic mission in Iran, which constrains our ability to extend
consular assistance in an emergency,” it said, adding that those who need
consular assistance while in Iran can contact MFA’s 24 hours-Duty Office.
MFA
also strongly encouraged Singaporeans to eRegister with them at
https://eregister.mfa.gov.sg so that they can be contacted should the need
arise.
The
travel advisory was released after Iran launched its first-ever direct attack
on Israel yesterday.
Iran’s
Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that the country’s Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force fired dozens of missiles at
specific Israeli targets inside the occupied territories.
The
IRGC said the strikes are in response to numerous crimes committed by Israel,
including an attack on the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus
and a group of its commanders and military advisors in Syria. — Bernama
Source:
malaymail.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.malaymail.com/news/singapore/2024/04/14/singapore-advises-its-citizens-against-travelling-to-iran-amid-middle-east-tensions/128760
---
Thai
Muslim student says he enjoys Eid in Indonesia
April 13, 2024
Depok,
West Java (ANTARA) - Despite being away from his family in Thailand,
IkromIngding, a Muslim international student at the University of Indonesia,
found celebrating Eid festivities in Indonesia to be a happy experience.
“I
am happy to celebrate Eid with Muslims in Indonesia,” he said in a statement
from his university on Saturday.
He
spoke of having performed the Eid prayer with his fellow Thai student, Anas.
Ingding
said that he found various Ramadan activities in Indonesia to be interesting.
Attending an Iftar event with friends was a rare occurrence for him, as he
usually broke the fast only with family back in Thailand.
He
said that this year, the Thai government declared a holiday for several days
for the traditional festival of Songkran, which coincided with the Eid day.
Hence, his family enjoyed a longer Eid holiday.
He
also noticed that the Indonesian people's tradition of returning to their
hometown during Eid was similar to what the Thai people usually do during
Songkran.
Ingding
said that fasting in Indonesia was his first to experience Ramadan in a
Muslim-majority country, as Muslims in his home region of Narathiwat Province
are considered a minority.
"I
felt warmth and comfort because every mosque here provided food for Iftar in a
very appropriate way," he remarked.
He
also commended the solidarity and tolerance among Indonesian people during
Ramadan, for instance, when some people wake their neighbors up for suhoor, or
the pre-fasting meal.
"The
suhoor here is lively because some people went around to wake others up. There
was no such thing in Thailand," Ingding said.
Tolerance
during Ramadan was also evident during class activities, for instance, when
lecturers allowed students to attend class by online means or instructed exams
to be done outside class and taken home during Ramadan, he noted.
The
student stated that experiencing Ramadan in Indonesia convinced him that
Indonesia is a comfortable place to perform rituals during the Islamic fasting
month.
Source:
antaranews.com
Please
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https://en.antaranews.com/news/310710/thai-muslim-student-says-he-enjoys-eid-in-indonesia
----
Vietnamese
Embassy in Israel issues warning amid escalating tension
April
13, 2024
TEL
AVIV — The Vietnamese Embassy in Israel on April 12 recommended Vietnamese
nationals residing, studying, and working in the Middle East country to
proactively take security measures amid the escalating tension between Israel
and Iran.
The
escalating tension followed an April 1 attack on the Iranian embassy compound
in Syria, which has raised concerns among international media and governments
about the potential for direct confrontations between Iran and Israel. Israel's
national emergency portal issued safety guidelines effective from 6pm on April
11 to 6pm on April 14.
The
Vietnamese Embassy has advised the Vietnamese community to stay updated on the
situation through reliable local media sources and safety-related apps,
implement necessary safety measures, comply strictly with local regulations and
guidelines, avoid crowded places, and maintain regular contact with the
embassy.
For
emergencies or further information on citizen protection plans, the embassy has
provided direct contacts and hotlines for the community, as well as links to
relevant websites of the host administration. — VNS
Source:
vietnamnews.vn
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https://vietnamnews.vn/politics-laws/1653883/vietnamese-embassy-in-israel-issues-warning-amid-escalating-tension.html
---
Dewan
Rakyat Speaker denies discussions with Egyptian Ambassador on Rafah-Gaza
crossing
Fuad
Nizam
April 14, 2024
KUALA
LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul has denied the recent
allegations suggesting that there have been discussions with the Ambassador of
Egypt to Malaysia regarding the Rafah-Gaza Crossing.
In
a statement, he said there has been no such discussion or engagement whatsoever
that was made regarding the matter.
"I
intended the statement to be that while the Egyptian side of the border is open
to receive aid, the other side remains to be eased.
"I
hope this clarifies any misconceptions or misunderstandings surrounding this
matter," he said.
It
was reported last Thursday that he has communicated Malaysia's request to the
Egyptian government, asking them to consider opening their borders to
facilitate the delivery of food and medical assistance to the Palestinian
people.
Johari
conveyed the request to the Egyptian Ambassador to Malaysia, RagaiTawfik Said
Nasr, who was present at the open house hosted by the Speaker at his official
residence on April 11.
The
New Straits Times has reached out to the Egyptian Ambassador RagaiTawfik Said
Nasr for comment.
Source:
nst.com.my
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https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/04/1037741/dewan-rakyat-speaker-denies-discussions-egyptian-ambassador-rafah-gaza
---
Arab
World
Qatar,
Kuwait ban any attack from their air bases, airspace on Iran
13 April 2024
Qatar
and Kuwait have banned any use of their airspace and air bases for attacks
against Iran amid heightened tensions between Iran and the Israeli regime
following an Israeli attack early this month on an Iranian diplomatic mission
in Syria.
Reports
on Saturday indicated that both Qatar and Kuwait had issued directives to the
United States stressing that the US military will not be allowed to use air
bases in the two countries for carrying out any potential airstrikes on Iran.
Qatar
and Kuwait have also indicated that their airspace will not be available for
any military action against Iran.
The
US has military aircraft at the Ali Al Salem Air Base and Ahmed Al Jaber Air
Base in Kuwait. The Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar is also the largest US air base
in the West Asia region.
The
directives issued by Iran’s two Arab neighbors come amid reports showing that
Iran is preparing to respond to an Israeli airstrike that killed two of its
senior military commanders in its consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus on
April 1.
Washington
has urged Iran to deescalate while saying that it will defend Israel in case it
is attacked.
Iran,
which has no direct relations with the US, has called on regional Arab
countries to advise the US not to interfere if Israel is attacked.
Countries
have been wary of a major confrontation in the region more than six months into
an Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip.
Reports
show they have already limited the ability of the US to use their airspace and
air bases for attacks on resistance groups that are allied with Iran and have
been attacking Israeli and US interests in the region since the start of the
Israeli aggression on Gaza.
Source:
presstv.ir
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/04/13/723613/Qatar-Kuwait-airspace-air-bases-ban-US-Iran
---
Yemeni
naval units won’t allow US military to turn Red Sea into its backyard: Houthi
13
April 2024
A
high-ranking member of the Yemeni Supreme Political Council says the country’s
naval units will not allow the US military to turn the Red Sea into its
backyard, stressing that the forces will continue their anti-Israel maritime
operations until aggression and blockade on Gaza stop.
Mohammad
Ali al-Houthi stated that Yemeni missile strikes against Israeli interests have
terrified Americans, downplaying the joint strikes by US and British forces
against targets in Yemen.
Houthi
told Lebanon’s Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news channel that the
Yemeni Armed Forces will press ahead with their anti-Israel strikes in the Red
Sea, Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean as long as the Tel Aviv regime continues
its genocidal war and all-out siege against Palestinians in Gaza.
The
top Yemeni official went on to highlight that Americans are concerned about
Yemen’s missile power, stressing that his country’s naval forces will never let
Washington turn the Red Sea into its backyard.
Reacting
to reports that American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D.
Eisenhower will be heading home, Houthi noted that other US Navy warships and
frigates will soon leave the Red Sea.
“Americans
well know that Yemenis are a nation who do what they say they will do,
irrespective of threats as well as media and political hype. Washington's
propaganda cannot by any means scare the people of Yemen,” Houthi said.
Yemenis
have declared their open support for Palestine’s struggle against the Israeli
occupation since the regime launched a devastating war on Gaza on October 7
after the territory’s Palestinian resistance movements carried out a surprise
retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying
entity.
Yemeni
Armed Forces have said that they won’t stop their attacks until unrelenting
Israeli ground and aerial offensives in Gaza, which have killed at least 33,686
people and wounded another 76,309 individuals come to an end.
Leader
of the Ansarullah resistance movement Abdul-Malik al-Houthi has said it is “a
great honor and blessing to be confronting America directly.”
The
attacks have forced some of the world’s biggest shipping and oil companies to
suspend transit through one of the world’s most important maritime trade
routes. Tankers are instead adding thousands of miles to international shipping
routes by sailing around the continent of Africa rather than going through the
Suez Canal.
Source:
presstv.ir
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/04/13/723612/Yemeni-naval-units-won%E2%80%99t-allow-US-military-to-turn-Red-Sea-into-its-backyard--Houthi
---
Saudi
Arabia expresses concern over military escalation in Middle East
April
14, 2024
RIYADH:
Saudi Arabia on Sunday expressed deep concern over the military escalation in
the Middle East and urged all parties involved to exercise restraint, the Saudi
Press Agency reported, citing a statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned of "serious repercussions" on the
region and its peoples from the dangers of a wider war, according to SPA.
Iran
on Saturday launched drones and missiles against Israel, making good its threat
to retaliate against the Israeli air strike that destroyed an Iranian embassy
annex building in Damascus, Syria, killing at least 13 people, including two
generals of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard.
The
Saudi ministry "affirmed the Kingdom’s position calling for the need for
the Security Council to assume its responsibility towards maintaining
international peace and security, especially in this region that is extremely
sensitive to global peace and security, and to prevent the escalation of the
crisis that will have serious consequences if it expands," said the SPA
report.
The
Saudi staement was echoed by the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC), Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, who emphasized the imperative of
upholding regional and global security and stability amidst recent developments
in the Middle East.
He
urged, in a statement, all involved parties to exercise utmost restraint to
forestall further escalation, which could endanger regional stability and
civilian welfare. Albudaiwi underscored the necessity of collaborative efforts
and diplomatic resolutions to address conflicts and ensure regional security.
He
emphasized the pivotal role of the international community in bolstering these
peace and stability endeavors, and warned of the potential ramifications of
heightened tensions.
Egypt
also urged all parties to exercise utmost restraint to prevent further
escalation in the region, aiming to safeguard its stability and the well-being
of its inhabitants.
In
a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last night, Egypt
underscored that the current dangerous escalation in the Iranian/Israeli arena
is a direct consequence of previously highlighted concerns. Egypt has
consistently warned against the perils of expanding conflicts in the region,
particularly stemming from Israeli military actions in Gaza and provocative
maneuvers in the area.
The
statement emphasized Egypt's continuous engagement with all relevant
stakeholders to mitigate the situation, halt the escalation, and avert the
region from spiraling into instability, thereby safeguarding the interests of its
people.
Meanwhile,
Jordan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Al-Safadi emphasizes that stopping
the Israeli aggression on Gaza, ending the occupation, and advancing the
two-state solution are essential measures to halt the escalation in the region.
Source: arabnews.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2492801/saudi-arabia
---
Saudi,
Norway foreign ministers discuss Gaza during call
April
14, 2024
RIYADH:
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Saturday received a
telephone call from his Norwegian counterpart Espen Barth Eide, the Kingdom’s
foreign ministry said.
During
the call, they discussed the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and efforts
to contain the crisis.
The
call comes a day after Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said that
Norway was ready to recognize a Palestinian state together with other
countries,
Source:
arabnews.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2492741/saudi-arabia
---
UNICEF:
More than 800,000 Yemeni Children Receive Educational Support Thanks to
KSrelief Funding
13
Apr, 2024
Saudi
Arabia, through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief),
has allocated $6.2 million to support approximately 827,000 children in Yemen,
ensuring their access to quality education opportunities. This initiative was
undertaken in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
UNICEF
noted that the funding provided by KSrelief facilitated access to public and
private education for girls and boys from vulnerable groups. The funding
supported over 527,000 children in participating in national final exams for
the 2022-2023 academic year. Additionally, 300,000 male and female students
received school bags and recreational supplies, aimed at motivating and
encouraging their return to school while alleviating the financial burden on
families.
Moreover,
the Kingdom's support through the Center enhanced teaching and learning
practices in classrooms. This was accomplished by training 7,520 male and
female teachers across 17 governorates. Additionally, hygiene supplies were
procured and distributed to 71,956 children and 120 schools.
KSrelief's
assistance also facilitated UNICEF's outreach to nearly 4.9 million
individuals, including caregivers, through the implementation of five awareness
campaigns. Outreach activities reached approximately 26,000 community leaders,
officials, and 2,500 families.
UNICEF
Representative to Yemen Peter Hawkins remarked, "One in every four primary
school-aged children in Yemen is currently out of school. Moreover, educational
outcomes for those able to attend do not align with their age. Thanks to
contributions from partners such as KSrelief, UNICEF continues to address the
educational needs of vulnerable girls and boys in Yemen."
KSrelief
remains a steadfast partner of UNICEF, providing continuous funding for
life-saving interventions that enable UNICEF to address the most critical needs
of vulnerable children in Yemen.
Source:
alriyadhdaily.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://alriyadhdaily.com/article/8a7b5ad638c64376a73d16d735b0b759
----
Saudi
Arabia warns against misuse of Umrah visas for employment purposes
April
14, 2024
Dubai:
The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah warned against the misuse of Umrah visas for
purposes other than pilgrimage.
Emphasizing
the importance of adhering to the regulations, the ministry clarified that
Umrah visas should not be utilised for work-related activities.
In
a statement shared via its official account on the “X” platform, the ministry
underscored the significance of fulfilling the purpose of the facilitated Umrah
trip.
Pilgrims
were advised to depart from the Kingdom before the expiration of their visa
tenure and cautioned against any attempt to use the visa for employment
purposes.
This
advisory comes in the wake of an increasing number of instances where Umrah
visas have been exploited for unauthorised purposes, raising concerns regarding
compliance with visa regulations.
Source:
gulfnews.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/saudi/saudi-arabia-warns-against-misuse-of-umrah-visas-for-employment-purposes-1.102157399
----
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/halal-shell-jamiat-ulama-hind-madani-stf/d/132136