Scores dead in Iraq bomb blasts | |||
At least 127 people have been killed and more than 400 others wounded in a series of bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, police say. Two car bombs exploded near the labour and interior ministries, two more struck in central Baghdad, and another at a police patrol in Dora, in the south of the city. The first explosion in central Baghdad was heard at 10.25 am (0725 GMT) on Tuesday, with a second blast within seconds and a third one a minute later. Iraqiya television reported one of the blasts hit a market there. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks. An interior ministry official said 12 of those killed in Dora were students at a nearby technical college. The remaining three victims were policemen working at the checkpoint. The Iraqi parliament held an emergency session to discuss the bombings. Many MPs have condemned the government's handling of the security situation in the capital. They also condemned the government for failing to provide a senior security minister to answer MPs' questions. 'Security infiltrated' Tuesday's bombings come two days after the Iraqi parliament passed a new electoral law paving the way for parliamentary elections on March 7, 2010. Iraqi and US military officials have expressed concern about a possible spurt in attacks aimed at destabilising the government before next year's polls. Zeina Khodr, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Iraq, said the attacks are another embarrassment for the government. "We just spoke to a high raking official who said he was worried that the security forces were infiltrated," Khodr said. "This is a blow to the security forces and prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is running for re-election on a platform that he has improved security across the country. "Attacks have become part of daily life, not only in Baghdad, but across the country. Security is not only fragile, it is deteriorating." More violence On Monday, eight people were killed when a bomb exploded at a school in Baghdad. The dead included six children, 41 people were wounded in the attack. On the same day gunmen stormed a checkpoint near Tarmiyah, north of Baghdad, killing five members of an anti-al-Qaeda group, police said. The US has 115,000 soldiers in Iraq, but that figure will drop to 50,000 next year as all of its combat troops are pulled out before a complete withdrawal by the end of 2011. | |||
| |||
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Scores dead in Iraq bomb blasts
Afghan army 'in need of US funds'
Afghan army 'in need of US funds' | |||
Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has warned it may take 15 years before his war-torn country can pay for its own security forces. After talks with Robert Gates, the visiting US defence secretary, in Kabul on Tuesday, Karzai said he believed the US and the international community would continue funding the Afghan national army and police. "We hope that the international community and the United States, as our first ally, will help Afghanistan reach the ability to sustain a force," he said. "Afghanistan is looking forward to taking over responsibility in terms of paying for its forces and delivering to its forces with its own resources, but that will not be for another 15 years." At a joint news conference at the presidential palace, Gates stressed the US would not leave Afghanistan, even though the US president has announced plans for a gradual military withdrawal in 18 months. However, the defence secretary said Karzai needed to take a tougher line on corruption, saying he would press the Afghan president to appoint "honest" ministers. "It is important to us, in terms of all of our success, including the Afghan success, to have capable and honest ministers in the areas that matter the most to us," he said, referring to the Afghan defence and interior ministries. "The truth of the matter is the incumbents in these jobs, as far as I'm concerned, fill that criteria." 'Too broad brush' Playing down the need for a wholesale government shakeup, Gates described the defence and interior ministers as "capable" and effective partners. "Yesterday Kabul’s mayor was sentenced to four years in jail for squandering upwards of $16,000." Gates' visit comes a week after Barack Obama, the US president, announced the deployment of 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan and gradual pullout that is expected in 2011. He is the most senior US official to meet Karzai since Obama announced his revised war strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan last week. Karzai, whose re-election was tainted by allegations of rampant fraud in the August 20 election, pledged in his inauguration speech to name competent and honest ministers. His cabinet is expected to be announced in the coming days. | |||
|
Deadly blast rocks Pakistani city
Deadly blast rocks Pakistani city | |||||||||||||||||
At least 12 people have been killed after fighters launched a gun, rocket and suicide attack on the intelligence office in the central Pakistani city of Multan, police sources have said. One of them first fired a rocket and an automatic weapon at a police checkpoint. Then the men drove the car to the intelligence agency and detonated it, he said. The identities of the three dead were not immediately known, said two intelligence officials.
"The army has thrown up a cordon around the area. It's a very sensitive area with plenty of military and police installations. | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Destroy Your Homes: Israel to Palestinians
December 07, 2009 - 06:53
 WEST BANK – With a desperate look in his eyes, Ghazi Dodeen is gazing at his house in the West Bank village of Hijra. “I have always dreamed of building this house on this land,” Dodeen told IslamOnline.net Sunday, December 6. “Now, I’m asked to either demolish it by my own hands of let Israeli bulldozers do it.” The helpless Palestinian man received an order from occupation authorities to demolish the house by himself or get Israeli bulldozers bring it down. The order, which was sent to four other families, warns that the villager would pay the demolition expenses if the house is razed by Israeli bulldozers. “I’m torn apart,” a heart-broken Dodeen said. “Demolishing the house by my own hands would haunt me the rest of my life,” he said. “And if I refused, Israeli bulldozers would destroy it and I would be suffering all my life to collect money to pay for the demolition expenses.” For decades, Israel has been adopting a series of oppressive measures against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including systematic demolition of their homes. Israeli authorities do not issue building permissions for Palestinians who are also banned from renovating their houses unless with an Israeli permit, which they rarely get. In 1968, Israel enacted a law allowing "illegal" houses to be razed even if permits are pending in the bureaucratic pipeline. Israel's HaMoked Center for the Defense of the Individual said last week that Israeli authorities have revoked residency permits of 4,577 Palestinians in 2008, a figure greater than half the total revoked in the past 40 years. A recent UN report has warned that thousands of Palestinian houses in Al-Quds are facing the risk of mass demolitions by Israel. Deception Analysts see the unprecedented Israeli demolition order as an attempt to deceive the world about the situation in the occupied lands. “It aims to convince the international community that the Palestinians demolished the houses by themselves because they were built (in violation of the law),” said Gamal Al-Omla, director of Land Research Center. “(The order aims to show) that the demolition is a legal order and has nothing to do with violating Palestinian rights.” Suhail Khalilia, of the Applied Research Institute (ARIJ), agrees. “It is meant to legitimize Israel’s forced immigration of Palestinians,” he said. Analysts opine that the demolition orders are also a means to swallow Palestinian lands. “It would help Israel to decide any future political solution according to the situation on the ground,” said Omla. Abdel-Hadi Hantch, an expert on Israeli settlement policy, shares his view. “The Israeli occupation is issuing this kind of demolition order as a means of deceiving the world public opinion,” he told IOL. “It is also a way to pressure the Palestinians to leave the area,” added Hantch, a member of the National Committee for the Defense of Palestinian Lands. “Israel is trying to limit the geographical expansion of the West Bank cities in order to be able to expand the settlements in the future.” There are more than 164 Jewish settlements in the West Bank, eating up more than 40 percent of the occupied territory. The international community considers all Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land illegal. For Dodeen, demolishing his house would nip his dreams in the bud. “The occupation is seeking to kill the joy in the hearts of the Palestinians,” he said. “What kind of torture the occupation is trying to impose on us?” the desperate Palestinian asked. “Isn’t enough our daily suffering from Israeli closures, checkpoints and settler assaults?” |
Iran moves to block protests
December 07, 2009 - 06:53
 Iranian riot police and Revolutionary Guard members armed with tear gas, batons and firearms have surrounded Tehran University, witnesses have said. The move comes amid fears that the anti-government movement would use the occasion of Student Day on Monday to stage mass protests. "There are hundreds of riot police, everywhere around Tehran University and nearby streets," a witness said. Another witness told Reuters news agency that dozens of plainclothes security forces had gathered in a northern Tehran square. Clampdown Foreign journalists were ordered to remain in their offices and Tehran residents said internet access, including to email and websites loyal to the political opposition had been limited. Student Day marks the killing of three students at an anti-US protest in 1953 under the former Shah. It has also served as an occasion for protests calling for increased social and political freedoms since the 1990s. Several websites had urged people to gather near the Tehran University campus on Monday, but security forces vowed to prevent any "illegal" rally or any attempt to use the event to stage opposition protests. However, the official news agency IRNA issued a report saying that the opposition movement would fail to gather support on Student Day and described it as the "last nail of the coffin" of the protests which followed the disputed June 12 election. Alireza Ronaghi, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Tehran, said: "The students have been blogging and sending messages over the internet, saying that they will gather. Maybe that's why the government is a little bit worried about today." Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in June in the wake of the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president, claiming that the Iranian authorities had rigged the vote. Dozens were killed in clashes with security forces and hundreds more were detained by the authorities. Mousavi message Mir Hossein Mousavi, the main rival to Ahmadinejad in the elections, said on his website that the reform movement was still alive despite pressure from the clerical establishment. "Let's say you suppressed students and silenced them. What will you do with the social realities?" his Kaleme website quoted him as saying, referring to wide arrests of students in Tehran and other cities in the past few days. "You [the authorities] do not tolerate the student day rallies. What will you do on the following days?" Mousavi said, suggesting that street-protests will continue. Following the restrictions on the media, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former Iranian president and opposition member, criticised the country's rulers of being intolerant of dissent. "The situation in the country is such that constructive criticism is not accepted," he told students in the northern city of Mashhad on Sunday, the ILNA news agency reported. "Those who demonstrate or protest must express themselves through legal means. Leaders must also respect the law." Rafsanjani called on Iran's political groups to work together to "create a climate of freedom which will convince the majority of people and erase ambiguities". |
Jewish occupiers set fire to Palestinian property
December 07, 2009 - 06:53
 RAMALLAH: Jewish occupiers on early Sunday set fire to a house and two vehicles in the West Bank village of Ain Abous, southwest of Nablus, in an apparent attempt to avenge a construction freeze in Jewish settlements. The Israeli Army Radio quoted security sources as saying that the act was carried out as part of the occupiers’ “price tag” policy following the Israeli government decision to freeze constriction in settlements for 10 months. Palestinian security sources in Nablus told Arab News that the house and properties belonged to Nadir Hashim Mofdi and Fayiz Mohammed Allan. The occupiers also set fire to 50 olive trees in the village of Um Salamoneh, southeast of Bethlehem, Palestinian sources said. The incidents came shortly before Israeli police on Sunday forcibly evacuated about 100 occupiers who had blocked roads near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim, west of Nablus, in a bid to prevent Israeli inspectors from handing out orders to implement a construction freeze. The occupiers included local settlers, girls from a religious high school, regional council leaders, and the settlement’s rabbi. The Army Radio added the Kedumim occupiers pelted the inspectors’ cars with eggs, after the officials distributed construction-halt edicts in the northern West Bank settlement. On Saturday, settlers’ leaders and Israeli Knesset members convened an emergency meeting in the West Bank settlement of Ofra, northeast of Ramallah, to discuss tactics to thwart the moratorium. Trying to calm the concerns of Israeli hard-liners, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his stance that the freeze is a “one-time, temporary decision” and that construction will resume afterward. “We made it clear that upon the conclusion of the period of suspension, construction will resume,” Netanyahu said. The Palestinians say the Israeli move is not genuine, since it does not include East Jerusalem or 3,000 homes already under construction in the West Bank. Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak sent former Minister Saleh Tarif to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last week with a message urging him to restart peace negotiations with Israel. The daily Yediot Ahronot said that the move was coordinated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Abbas’ response to the message relayed is still unclear, the report said. |
UAE stock markets recover
December 07, 2009 - 06:53
 DUBAI - Abu Dhabi and Dubai stock markets opened stronger Sunday after heavy losses last week over Dubai's debt woes, but the Dubai bourse remained volatile and had slipped back into the red by mid-morning. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, which shed 11.6 percent of its capitalisation last week, opened up 3.9 percent and gained further ground in early trade to hit 2,686.47 points, up 4.4 percent, by mid-morning. Dubai's DFM index, which dropped 12.5 percent in two days of trading last week, opened up 0.5 percent, hit a peak of 1,873.36 points -- up 2.4 percent -- half an hour after trading resumed following a three day break, and then lost ground to be down 0.5 percent at 10:50 am (0650 GMT). The shares of Dubai's giant property developer, Emaar, which led the losers last week dropping by almost the maximum-allowed percentage of 10 percent, increased 3.5 percent, while Dubai Islamic Bank recovered over 6.0 percent. Emaar later went into red, dropping by just over one percent. All Dubai's indices for traded sectors were in the green at opening, except for banking which was down by over 1.4 percent. Real estate later went into red by 1.78 percent. Abu Dhabi's indices were up in all sectors. The Kuwait Stock Exchange also traded up following a weekend break, increasing by 0.46 percent to 6,729.2 points. |
Israel accused of interrogating medical patients from Gaza
December 07, 2009 - 06:53
 Israeli security agents held a Palestinian patient for three weeks without charge, interrogated him repeatedly and offered access to hospital care if he agreed to become an informant, the Guardian has learned. The treatment of Abd al-Karim al-Atal, 28, is the latest in a series of cases over the past two years in which patients from Gaza referred for hospital treatment in Israel have been held without charge and pressed to become Israeli collaborators, human rights groups say. Atal, who is losing his sight, is still waiting for a permit to travel from his home in the Jabaliya refugee camp, in Gaza, to an eye hospital in east Jerusalem for a cornea transplant operation now scheduled for tomorrow. Physicians for Human Rights, a leading Israeli rights group, says the pressure exerted on these patients amounts to coercion, which is illegal under the fourth Geneva convention, and may even constitute a breach of the UN convention against torture. It says around one in five Gazans who apply for permits to enter Israel for medical care are now submitted to detailed interrogations. B'Tselem, another human rights group, says Israeli security agents "exploited the questionings to exert inappropriate pressure on ill persons, with the aim of forcing them to collaborate with the agency". Israel says such questioning is a necessary security measure to prevent terrorist attacks and says that 5,000 people – patients and their relatives – have been allowed out of Gaza for medical reasons this year. But Ami Gil, of Physicians for Human Rights, said while initial screening of patients referred for treatment in Israel was a legitimate security consideration, the problem lay in the pressure put on patients under interrogation. "There is a screening process to prevent a security threat and another to pressure patients to gather intelligence information that has nothing to do with their own case or background," he said. "That is not about screening. It is about gathering information for intelligence purposes." Atal has a referral from Gazan health officials supported by the St John Eye Hospital in east Jerusalem, which states that he needs a penetrating keratoplasty – a cornea implant. In the west that would be routine, but no hospital in Gaza can perform the operation. He applied for a permit to enter Israel and in early September was called to the Erez crossing which leads into Israel. He was blindfolded and handcuffed for a time. An Arabic-speaking Israeli security officer accused him of falsifying his medical papers. In fact, his vision is so poor he can barely see out of his left eye and has limited vision in his right. Atal, a former member of Gaza's Fatah-led police force, was asked to give detailed information about his five brothers and an uncle living in Egypt. He was accused of involvement in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the military wing of the Fatah movement. "They said if I accepted and gave them information they would allow me to return home and to get a permit in future. If I refused they said they would arrest me," he said. When he said he had no information to give he was taken to a detention centre in the nearby city of Ashkelon. He was photographed, fingerprinted and then held for 19 days alone in a cell with no windows. He was interrogated for hours at a time while seated on a small chair with his hands cuffed behind his back underneath an air conditioner pouring out cold air. Eventually he was questioned while attached to what he was told was a polygraph machine. He was asked about his relatives, about his neighbours and about any Hamas leaders he knew. Again he was accused of involvement in militant groups. "I looked around and said: 'Are you talking to me? I can hardly recognise people in the street?' "They said if I collaborated with them it would be a good thing for the Palestinians, that it would help them target Hamas leaders, not accidentally kill civilians," he said. "They said I should call them and tell them about my neighbourhood: who is living where, is anyone from Hamas there. They said I would get a permit to enter Israel in return. They offered money, they said I would be allowed to travel abroad." Israeli officials deny that entry to Israel for medical reasons is conditional on patients becoming informants but they say security is an issue. In June 2005 a female suicide bomber wearing an explosives belt tried to cross through Erez and Palestinians have used false medical papers in the past. Last year a government official wrote to Physicians for Human Rights saying the questioning was "intended to evaluate the degree of danger posed by the applicant". "For us it is not only a legal issue, but a very basic moral issue," said Gil. "We are talking about patients here." |
Muslim numbers soar in Latin America's Islamic resurgence
December 07, 2009 - 06:53
 "ALLAH Akbar" blares from the loudspeakers as hundreds of Muslims file into the mosque for prayers. Outside, halal meat stores line the street as in Damascus, Cairo or Baghdad, but this is the working-class neighbourhood of Bras in Sao Paulo, Brazil – the heart of Islam's Latin American rebirth. Brazil is experiencing an Islamic boom, with reliable estimates indicating that the Muslim population has increased from a few hundred thousand to 1.5 million this decade alone, out of a total population of 190 million. This is clear as mosques emerge throughout the country, some financed by Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. Nowhere is the Islamic presence felt stronger than in Bras. Syrian-born Mohammed Al Bukai runs a mosque there. He said: "The first waves of Arab immigrants arrived here in the 1920s. It's very centrally-located so we offer classes and seminars here for anyone interested in Islam. "The 9/11 attacks were key in arousing people's curiosity towards Islam, now some 15 per cent of our community are non-Arabs." Paulo Daniel Farah, an expert on Islam at Sao Paulo University, said: "Islam is growing everywhere in Latin America, but especially in Brazil, since Muslim slaves were brought here from Africa in the 19th century, a part of the history that only began to be studied in schools and universities by law in 2003." They led the main rebellions against slavery, mainly the Malê Revolt in 1835 in Salvador de Bahia – the largest urban slave uprising in the Americas – which was followed by decades of repression. They championed values of equality and social justice embodied in Islam, a message that rings very strongly today as blacks remain the poorest segment in the country together with Indians. This explains why conversions are especially strong among Afro-Brazilians who make up half of the country's population, many of whom come from black empowerment movements in search for their past identity. This phenomenon is particularly strong in the massive industrial suburb of Sao Bernardo, an hour's drive from Sao Paulo, where president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has his home. The twin minarets of the area's new white-washed mosque emerge among rows of two-storey houses. Inside, Honerê al-Amin, 32, a black hip-hop artist who turned to Islam more than a decade ago, helps organise Muslim social activities. "I joined hip-hop to denounce the genocide against young blacks in Brazil, only later did I discover in my own history reference to Muslims forced to come to this country. I was fascinated by the film Malcolm X and characters like Muhammad Ali, I wanted to be like them," he said. Conversions are also growing among white Brazilians. In Bras, I find Thamara Fonseca, 24, wearing a colourful hijab. Her family came from Europe and her husband lives in Birmingham. She designs clothes and says how her clients and people generally have come to accept her conversion. "At the beginning I kept hearing in the street, 'Look at Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein's wife, you're a woman bomber', but now people don't say this anymore, now many come and ask me about Islam, everyone wants to know more," she says. |
Rafsanjani accuses Iran rulers of intolerance
December 07, 2009 - 06:53
 TEHRAN - Powerful cleric and former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani accused Iran's rulers on Sunday of being intolerant, saying they have closed the door on constructive criticism. Rafsanjani, one of the main figures in Iran's opposition movement, also called on protesters opposing the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to express their views "within the framework of law." "The situation in the country is such that constructive criticism is not accepted," Rafsanjani told a gathering of students in the northern city of Mashhad, according to ILNA news agency. He urged the Islamic republic's various political factions to unite and work within the law in order to "create a climate of freedom which will convince the majority of people and erase ambiguities." "Those who demonstrate or protest must express themselves through legal means. Leaders must also respect the law," Rafsanjani said on the eve of the annual Students Day when fresh demonstrations are expected against Ahmadinejad. "There have always been extremist factions and excessive attitudes on both sides... but several problems will be solved if we adopt the path of moderation," said the cleric. Iran was thrown into one of its worst crises since the Islamic revolution when hundreds of thousands of people poured onto streets of Tehran to oppose Ahmadinejad's re-election in June. Thousands were arrested by authorities and dozens were killed in clashes which erupted after the June 12 poll which Ahmadinejad's opponents say was rigged to ensure his victory. |
Kenya's Traditional Quran Schools
December 07, 2009 - 06:53
 WAJIR, NORTHERN KENYA -- From the very heart of a village in Wajir town in Kenya’s Muslim-dominated region, the voices of Quran students emanate and echo around the sleepy sprawling settlement. "This traditional system of Islamic education dates back to the times of our beloved Prophet (SAW)," teacher Moalim Nur Osman told IslamOnline.net. "We feel it has played a remarkable achievement in mentoring young Muslims to shape their destiny and to take part in the spread of Islam." The Quran schools, known as Dugsi, are mostly housed under makeshift structures and students operate in study circle very much popular in mosques. Study materials are made of readily available products. Charcoal for instance is crushed to make a black ink for writing. When IOL visited the Dugsi, Mr. Osman sat on a small traditional chair with the more than 70 students working in groups to encourage interpersonal interaction and relations. "Over the years, Dugsi had remained to operate in a simple way that has made an enthusiastic environment for memorizing the Quran, which is the cornerstone of Islamic education," says Osman. "It will take at least three years for a child to complete the memorization of the whole Quran, this will mould the pupil’s life and for sure he/she will be a religious person." His school has over the past 30 years shaped many children in the village to learn the basics of Islam. Reciting verses from the Muslim holy book written in golden letters on wooden slates, light sweats are beading from the forehead of the young boys and girls who have been studying to memorize the Quran for the past four hours. "The struggle here is to learn the Holy Book first," says Ahmed Ali, 13, one of the students. "We take Quran lessons twice everyday." Dugsis are the bedrock of a system of Islamic education that flourished in many parts of Northeastern Kenya predominantly inhabited by Sunni Somalis. Islamic historians say schools typical of the Somali Dugsi have existed in Middle East and Africa since the 7th century AD. It shares a set of historical roots that can be traced back to Arabia and the education practice of prophet Muhammad (SAW). Filling Gaps In the absence of state funding to support Islamic education, the Somali community here assumes the role of educating their children. "Dugsi is the most reliable informal way to teach Islam among the impoverished society," Sheikh Abdulwahab Sheikh Issack, an official of Kenya Council of Imams and Preachers, told IOL. "It offers a cheaper access to education, particularly for Islamic studies." The Quran schools have carved a niche for itself in mapping Islamic values. Apart from offering an efficient elementary teaching of both the Quran and the Arabic language, many recognize these kinds of schools as a critical element of value transfer and Islamic socialization. They provide Islamic education for children, thereby filling a clear religious and social role in the community, and acting as agents and preservation of change. "The goal is to address shortcomings in religious studies," says Osman, the teacher. And even as new forms of diffusing Islamic Knowledge gained momentum in recent years, including the more formal Madarasas, the Dugsi stays put. "We anticipate that the Dugsi system will be here for ever," says Sheikh Mohamed Abdi, another Dugsi teacher. He cited the community's support for the traditional schools with Dugsi teachers working entirely for free or sometimes for a little fee per student. The surprisingly high number of Somalis who are able to recite and memorize the entire Quran is a testimony of the glaring success. "We can attribute this to the role of the Dugsi because every child in the community must pass and learn at a Dugsi, this is the first stage in every child," says Sheikh Issack. For students, the Dugsi is a stepping stone to further their Islamic knowledge giving them an opportunity to shape their Islamic career. "I want to be a Kadhi," says an enterprising 13-year- Mohamed Ali. "I must learn the Quran that is why I have to attend the Dugsi lessons here." |
