Tag Archive for: islamnews

Mufti Tanveer Alam Farooqi, the leader of an extremist group, was sentenced by the court on Monday in the garrison city of Rawalpindi near the capital Islamabad.

Judicial sources said Judge Asif Majeed Awan found him guilty of “acts intended or likely to stir up sectarian hatred” in the violence-wracked country.

“He was awarded a six-month jail sentence and a 50,000-rupee (500-dollar) fine,” media outlets quoted an unnamed senior security official as saying.

He was put on trial on charges of fueling hatred against Shia Muslims and possessing illegal weapons.

Some activists have expressed their discontent with the lenient ruling, saying those found in possession of illegal weapons must be meted out harsher punishments.

Farooqi is linked with the notorious outlawed terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) that has been involved in several attacks on Shia Muslim in recent years across Pakistan.

In late July, Malik Ishaq, the notorious leader of the LeJ group, along with 13 other militants, were killed in a shootout with police in the eastern province of Punjab.

The terrorist group which is responsible for frequent and lethal attacks against Shia Muslims is funded by Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi-funded group has also been involved in the 1990s attack on the Iranian Cultural Center in Multan, the assassination of Iranian diplomat Sadiq Ganji in Lahore, and the killing of Iranian Air Force cadets visiting Pakistan.

Rights groups say the Islamabad government must take decisive actions against forces involved in the targeted killings of Shia Muslims. The Shias also accuse Islamabad of failing to provide proper security for the Muslim community.

Shia Muslims make up about a third of Pakistan’s population of over 180 million.

Thousands of Pakistanis have lost their lives in bombings and other militant attacks over the past decades.

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The clerics who signed the online statement showed strong sectarian and anti-Christian language reflects mounting anger among many Saudis over Russian and Iranian involvement, but not mentioned Saudi and Persian Gulf countries in Syria’s war.

Russia last week started airstrikes against Syrian opposition targets that it describes as aimed at weakening ISIS, a move Riyadh has denounced. The clerics’ statement compared it to the Soviet Union’s 1980 invasion of Afghanistan, which prompted an international jihad. They forgot the invasion of US in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001 and 2003.

“The holy warriors of Syria are defending the whole Islamic nation. Trust them and support them,” the statement said.

Riyadh, along with Turkey and other Persian Gulf states, is a main supporter of terrorists fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad, backed by Iran and Russia, but it is also worried about the rise of terrorist groups such as ISIS among the opposition.

Saudi jets have joined so called airstrikes against ISIS in Syria, while the government has increased its supports of the terrorist groups this year.

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The writer is supposed to address a session at the book fair and the Iranian official Seyed Abbas Salehi dubbed it is an ‘uncultural move’ and has objected to it. “I believe that the program which is planned by the book fair is among the red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as the Islamic Guidance and Culture Ministry and it is indeed an uncultural move,” Salehi said.

Referring to Imam Khomeini’s fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie for his desecration of prophet of Islam in his book which stirred massive protests and anger among Muslim countries Salei asserted that the issue still held a religious aspect.

The Iranian official urged the organizers of the book fair to call off the program.

The 67th Frankfurt Book Fair is scheduled to be held in the German city from October 14 to 18, 2015. According to the event’s website, Salman Rushdie is planned to discuss “the significance of freedom of expression for authors and the book industry” in a speech.

The British Indian novelist and writer was sentenced to death in a Fatwa for insulting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, which was written in 1988 and sparked global protests by Muslims around the world.

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The martyr was named as Mohannad Shafik Halabi, a resident of Al-Bireh located adjacent to Ramallah.

“Mohammed Shafik Halabi, 19, is a member of Islamic Jihad,” a senior member of the Gaza-based resistance group told AFP on condition of anonymity, after the group issued a statement hailing the attack and saying it was in response to Israeli terrorist crimes against Palestinians.

Just days before the attack, Halabi posted on Facebook that “the third intifada has already begun.”

“We are at the start of a true intifada,” wrote Islamic Jihad in an announcement. “The situation is at the breaking point – this isn’t a storm in a teacup. Today (Prime Minister Binyamin) Netanyahu is reaping what he sowed. The Palestinian people have spoken – harming Al-Aqsa is a red line.”

Hamas welcomed the brave attack and called for additional operations. Hamas spokesperson Hussam Bardan called the attack an act of heroism, and said, “we support every attack of this type.”

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