Archive for month: October, 2015
Israeli forces detain 26 Palestinians in East al-Quds
Israeli forces have arrested 26 Palestinians during a series of raids on a number of houses across the occupied East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
Mohammad Mahmoud, a lawyer for the Ad-Dameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Association, said Israeli military vehicles stormed the al-Suwanna neighborhood on the Mount of Olives east of the Old City of al-Quds on Thursday morning.
The Israeli forces broke into dozens of homes and rummaged through them, causing excessive property damage before detaining 10 Palestinians.
He added that the rest of the detainees came from the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood in southern East al-Quds, the al-Issawiya neighborhood as well as the Silwan neighborhood on the outskirts of the Old City of al-Quds.
The latest developments come on the same day Israeli forces shot two Palestinians after accusing them of attacking an Israeli with knife in the western part of al-Quds.
The shooting took place near the bus station in the city of Beit Shemesh. One of the Palestinians later succumbed to his wounds, while the other is in critical condition.
The fresh wave of tensions was triggered by the Israeli regime’s imposition in August of restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque.
Palestinians are also angry at increasing violence by Israeli settlers who frequently storm the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina. They say the Tel Aviv regime seeks to change the status quo of the compound.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, more than 50 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of others injured since the Israeli regime began a harsh crackdown in early October on the Palestinians.
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Bahrain sentences activist to one year in prison for ripping king’s photo
Bahraini anti-regime activist Zainab al-Khawaja has been sentenced to one year in prison for tearing up a picture of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa during a court session last year.
Reports said on Wednesday that Bahrain’s Court of Appeals reduced the human rights activist’s sentence from three years in prison to one year.
The court also imposed a 3,000 Bahraini dinar ($7,700) fine on the 32-year-old activist, the daughter of prominent Bahraini imprisoned rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja.
The mother of two who has been detained and released a number of times since December 2011, has already served one year in prison on charges including taking part in illegal gatherings, insulting police forces and ripping another picture of the king back in 2012.
Meanwhile, human rights group Amnesty International (AI) has slammed the court’s decision, saying it is just the latest example of the Al Khalifa regime’s “total disregard” for the right to freedom of expression.
“The Bahraini Court of Appeals’ decision to reject Zainab Al-Khawaja’s appeal for freedom and to incarcerate her for one year is a vindictive assault on freedom of expression and offers yet another example of the Bahraini authorities’ use of oppressive tactics to silence peaceful activists,” Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa Program, James Lynch, said.
Zainab’s father is currently serving a life sentence for allegedly plotting to overthrow the kingdom.
Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations on the streets of Bahrain since mid-February 2011, calling for the Al Khalifa family to relinquish power.
Bahraini regime forces, backed by Saudi troops, have cracked down on protesters, killing scores of them. A large number of Bahraini activists are also serving time behind bars.
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Boko Haram militants kill 20 in NE Nigeria
Boko Haram Takfiri militants have reportedly killed at least 20 people outside a village in northeast Nigeria.
On Wednesday, a large group of Boko Haram terrorists fleeing a military offensive on their camp in Nganzai district opened fire on four cars just outside Jingalta village, 70 kilometres (45 miles) north of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, killing all 20 passengers inside, stated by local sources.
“We received information of an attack by Boko Haram militants on four cars near Jingalta village where they shot dead all the occupants of the vehicles before setting the cars ablaze,” stated Babakura Kolo, a member of an area vigilante staff aiding the army in preventing the Takfiri group in Maiduguri.
“The Takfiri militants were fleeing a military operation against one of their enclaves in the area around 9:30 am (0830GMT) when they came across the vehicles on the highway and opened fire on them,” Kolo said.
The militants, driving pick-up trucks and motorcycles, then looted and burnt the entire village whose residents had already fled following the attack, he added.
The death toll was approved by Jibir Hassan, a commercial bus driver who arrived at the scene after the militants had escaped and said, “When we arrived at Jingalta village, we found it smoldering, with everything completely burnt and just outside the village we saw bodies sprawled by the roadside, 20 of them in all and near the bodies were charred remains of four cars, still smoldering,”
Boko Haram Takfiri militants regularly kill the travelers they come across and attack villages while fleeing military offensives against their bases in the area, he said.
According to Hassan, Boko Haram killed five travelers and injured another in nearby Mile 40 village on Monday.
Boko Haram’s bloody militancy has reportedly claimed at least 17,000 lives and displaced 1.5 million people since 2009. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who put the struggle against Boko Haram high on the agenda just as he took office in May, has given the armed forces until the end of the year to crush the Takfiri movement.
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Saudi warplanes target Yemen’s Sa’ada with cluster bombs
Saudi warplanes have bombarded several areas across Yemen’s Sa’ada province with banned cluster bombs.
Yemen’s al-Massira television channel reported on Wednesday that the Saudi airborne assaults claimed the lives an unspecified number of Yemeni civilians.
Riyadh has used cluster bombs on Yemenis multiple times during the past months. Back on Monday, Saudi warplanes dropped at least 10 cluster bombs on the Haydan district of the northwestern province a day after Yemeni media released a video showing the residential area of Maran village in the same province being targeted with the banned bombs by Saudi warplanes.
Meanwhile, Saudi fighter jets conducted a series of airstrikes, targeting an air defense camp in the western province of Hudaydah, as well as two islands in the northwestern province of Hajjah.
Airstrikes on the western Sana’a province also claimed the lives of at least two people and left several others injured.
In retaliatory attacks against Saudi forces, Ansarullah fighters and allied army units managed to kill at least a dozen supporters of the fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, in the central province of Ma’rib.
Yemen has been under incessant Saudi strikes since March 26. The strikes are supposedly meant to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.
Some 7,000 people have lost their lives in the Saudi airstrikes, and a total of nearly 14,000 people have been injured since late March.
The UN reported earlier this month that some 114,000 people have also been forced to flee the war-stricken country due to the Saudi aggression.
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Iraqi forces found 365 ISIS bodies in Baiji graves
Iraqi security forces discover total of 19 graves around reconquered town of Baiji.
Iraqi forces said Wednesday they found 19 different mass graves containing the bodies of 365 fighters from the ISIS group in the reconquered town of Baiji.
An army officer confirmed a large number of ISIS bodies had been discovered in mass graves, but could not say how many and mentioned that some had also been found in another neighborhood.
In a statement, the security forces said that “the total number of graves discovered by the heroes of the Popular Mobilization is 19”.
It said the mass graves were found in the Asri neighborhood of Baiji, 200 kilometers north of Baghdad, and contained a total of “365 bodies of Daesh terrorists”.
Daesh is an Arab acronym for ISIS.
It was not clear how long the bodies had been buried there nor how all of them were identified as fighters.
Baiji and its nearby refinery — once the country’s largest but now extensively destroyed — has been the scene of almost uninterrupted fighting in the past 16 months.
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Hijab brought me serenity: German Actress Ava Celik
Playing the role of a Muslim student in her latest film, a young German actress has revealed that she felt a strange serenity when she put on hijab for the first time, despite of people looks at her.
“When I put on my headscarf and saw only my pure face, I had initially a strange feeling,” Bild German newspaper reported quoting her as saying.
“It may have been due to the preparation for the role, because when I wore the costume, I went upright at once and had an unusual serenity. “On the road again, I saw turns and looks at me, for two or three times.
But I could not really interpret the looks,” she added.
“I was born in Berlin and did not personally experience exclusion. The term is of course far interpretative nature and so I think tolerance is always something individual,” Celik said.
“Good will alone is not enough, but I think if both sides have it, that’s a good start.”
Celik, a 25-year-old young German actress, is playing the role of Sevda, a young Muslim high school student in Berlin who dons a hijab in the film produced by German official TV channel, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF).
She plays an intelligent Muslim who has a liberal, non-religious parents. This girl opted voluntarily for life as a devout follower of Islam.
Germany has Europe’s second-biggest Muslim population after France, and Islam comes third in Germany after Protestant and Catholic Christianity.
It has between 3.8 and 4.3 million Muslims, making up some five percent of the total 82 million population, according to government-commissioned studies.
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Ritual of Khutba-Khani (Oration) on Ashura Night held in Razavi Holy Shrine
Assistant of Sacred Premises and Pilgrims Affairs of Astan Quds Razavi said, “The traditional ritual of Khutba-Khani (Oration) on the Ashura night will be held in Razavi Holy Shrine.”
Sayed Khalil Munabbati said, “This program will be held with participation of servants of the Holy Shrine including doorkeepers, shoe keepers, sweepers, and Huffaz (reciters) in the Inqilab courtyard in case that weather condition is favorable.”
“In this ceremony that is held every year with presence of Ayatollah Waiz Tabasi, the Respected Representative of Wali Faqih in Khorasan and the Grand Custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, and state and military officials, the servants of the Holy Shrine perform the candle-walking ritual by reciting the Khutba of Imam Hussein’s (A.S.) martyrdom night and also elegizing”, he stressed.
“As an old traditional ritual performed in Astan Quds Razavi, Khutba-khani (oration) is performed only twice a year, one on the night of martyrdom of Imam Reza (A.S.) and one on the night of martyrdom of Imam Hussein (A.S.); in this ceremony, servants, while holding a burning candle, gather around and the special Khutba of the martyrdom night is recited”, he reiterated.
“Ceremony of Sham-e Ghariban (passing the night in darkness as mourning) also will be held as previous years started by performing the evening and night prayers in the Central Organization of Astan Quds Razavi followed by walking of thousands of servants of the Holy Shrine towards the Razavi Holy Shrine while carrying burning candles and reciting mournful voices”, Assistant of Sacred Premises and Pilgrims Affairs of Astan Quds Razavi said.
“In this ceremony, in the midst of grief and mourning of Husseini mourners, the servants holding the burning candles walk from Shohada Square to the Holy Shrine and finally gather in the Jumhuri Islami courtyard to express their condolences to the presence of Imam Reza (A.S.)”, he added.
“Also in this night, a ceremony will be held for commemorating the martyrs of the Razavi Holy Shrine on Ashura in which managers and authorities of Astan Quds Razavi, respected families of the martyrs, servants of the Holy Shrine, and pilgrims will take part”, he pointed out.
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US not reliable mediator in solving issues of Muslim world
Secretary General of Pakistan’s top Islamic party Liaqat Baloch said on Thursday that he strongly believes that the US is not a reliable mediator in solving the issues of Muslim world.
Secretary General of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Liaqat Baloch said that Pakistan should press the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation to help solve the longstanding issue of Kashmir instead of depending on the US.
He said that Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz should not expect any good from the US on Kashmir issue by saying that the US is the most relevant party to help resolve the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan.
“The United States would be the most relevant third party that could intervene to help resolve outstanding issues including Kashmir,” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told US senators during his current visit to Washington.
“Yes I agree with the Prime Minister to the extent that intervention of third party is needed to resolve longstanding issue of Kashmir, but the third party can never be the US,” Liaqat Baloch said.
He said: one thing is very clear; the US would not help Muslims in resolving their issues.
The religious leader was of the view that a long-term strategy has to be formed to find a solution to Kashmir issue.
Liaqat Baloch said that Pakistan has to refer to the United Nations or the OIC on the issue of Kashmir.
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Iran has no ground troops in Syria: Deputy FM
During his visit to Britain, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian reiterated that there is no Iranian fighting force in Syria but noted that Iranian advisers are helping the Syrian army in the battle against terrorist groups.
Iran has boosted the number of military advisers it has sent to Syria where it is determined to help defeat terrorism, Amir Abdollahian confirmed, while reiterating that the future of Syria can be decided only by the Syrian people.
In a Wednesday interview with the Guardian, Amir Abdollahian said there was “no (Iranian) fighting force, as such,” on the ground. But he said advisers were helping the Syrian army.
Amir Abdollahian also lashed out at Saudi Arabia, the leading supporter of terrorist and extremist groups in Syria, saying that its “radical policies” had encouraged the growth of terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIL.
“The fight against terrorism in Syria has intensified and Russia has taken effective steps to fight Daesh (ISIL),” said Amir Abdollahian. “We have decided to increase the number of our military advisers in Syria to help the fight against terrorists. The number of officers and advisers is not important. What is important is an unwavering will to fight against terrorism.”
He said numbers were “commensurate with our capabilities and the requests made by the Syrian government. If need be, we will provide the same advisory services to our Russian friends.”
Amir Abdollahian also dismissed a scenario, related by diplomats, that Iran had urged Russia to intervene directly because it feared Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was in danger of falling after admitting losing territory and men. “We believe that armed groups even in the most demanding times were not able and will not be able to topple the Syrian government,” he said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Amir Abdollahian dismissed a statement this week by the Saudi foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, that Syria was “occupied Iranian territory”, retorting that the Saudis were occupying Yemen, where Riyadh has been launching deadly air strikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to the fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, one of its close allies.
“Considering the fact that for seven months Saudi Arabia has been attempting to occupy Yemen using force, when it comes to Syria they are not in a position to make such comments,” he said. “I recommend that (Jubeir) instead of passing the buck considers cooperation and constructive behavior in the region.”
He also referred to a recent deadly crush in Mina, Saudi Arabia, saying Saudi “mismanagement” was responsible for the deaths of large numbers of pilgrims, including at least 465 Iranians, in the Hajj disaster last month.
Amir Abdollahian further said he had held constructive talks in Brussels with Federica Mogherini, the EU foreign policy chief, on proposals to advance a political solution in Syria.
Amir Abdollahian is the most senior Iranian official to have visited Britain in a decade, weeks after embassies in both capitals were reopened following a four-year closure.
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