Muslim World – Page 41

Iran accuses Saudi Arabia of Yemen embassy air strike

January 7, 2016 by Nasheman

Saudi-led coalition says it is investigating accusation that its jets “deliberately” struck Iran’s embassy in Sanaa.

Iran has accused the Saudi-led coaliton of an air strike on its embassy in the Yemeni capital Sanaa amid rising tensions between Tehran and Riyadh.

Iran’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that Saudi jets “deliberately” struck its embassy in an air raid that injured staff.

“This deliberate action by Saudi Arabia is a violation of all international conventions that protect diplomatic missions,” foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari was quoted as saying by state television.

“The Saudi government is responsible for the damage caused and for the situation of members of staff who were injured,” Ansari added, without specifying when the alleged strike took place.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen will investigate Iran’s accusation, coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri said, according to a Reuters news agency report.

Asseri said coalition jets carried out heavy strikes in Sanaa on Wednesday night targeting missile launchers used by Houthi fighters against Saudi Arabia.

He added that Houthis had used civilian facilities, including abandoned embassies.

Asseri said the coalition had requested all countries to supply it with coordinates of the location of their diplomatic missions and that accusations made on the basis of information provided by the Houthis “have no credibility”.

Tensions between the two regional heavyweights, which support opposite sides in the war in Yemen, have risen in recent days.

On Sunday, Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran after an attack on its embassy in Tehran following the kingdom’s execution of Shia religious leader Nimr al-Nimr, who was put to death along with 46 other mostly Sunni convicts on terrorism charges.

Muslim anger after Netanyahu threatens to stop call to prayer

January 6, 2016 by Nasheman

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu © Sebastian Scheiner / Reuters

by Middle East Monitor

Arabs and Muslims have reacted with anger following remarks made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling for a ban on the call to prayer from mosques, the Anadolu Agency reported yesterday.

During the weekly Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that his government decided to enforce a number of laws including those which deal with “noise and incitement made in mosques”, referring to prayer calls.

General Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories and preacher at the Al-Aqsa Mosque Sheikh Mohamed Hussein said this was a “warning” to mosques.

He stressed that the prayer call is a “subtle supplication addressing the soul, not an incitement call that arouses the interference of the occupation in Muslims’ religious affairs.”

Members of the Arab List warned that the Israeli PM’s remarks “are repeated and dangerous attempts by Netanyahu to get political gains throughout cheap incitement against Arabs.”

Head of the Arab List MK Ahmad Tibi said: “Such remarks feed the atmosphere of racism.”

Aida Touma-Suleiman, another Arab MK, said: “The one who describes the prayer calls as a kind of racism is seeking to divert the eyes from the aggressive policy of the occupation and the ugly discrimination and racist soul being planted among the citizens against Arabs.”

“Netanyahu has to deal with issues as head of a government, not as an autocratic military ruler.”

Refugees, including children, drown off coast of Turkey

January 5, 2016 by Nasheman

At least 27 bodies have washed up on shore on country’s Aegean coast after boats apparently capsized.

About 850,000 migrants and refugees crossed into Greece last year [AP]

by Al Jazeera

At least 27 people, including three children, have drowned off Turkey’s Aegean coast after their boat capsized in rough seas.

Seventeen of the bodies were discovered on the shoreline in the district of Ayvalik, while ten others were found in the district of Dikili, a gendarmerie official in the local headquarters told Reuters news agency on Tuesday.

Twelve people were rescued from the sea and the rocks on the Ayvalik coastline. A coastguard official said three boats and a helicopter were searching for any survivors.

There was no immediate information on the nationalities of the dead.

Refugees are known to set off from the resort town of Ayvalik on boats to reach the Greek island of Lesbos.

On Sunday, a two-year-old boy became the first known refugee to drown in 2016 after the dinghy he was travelling in crashed on to rocks, the Greek coastguard said.

The other 39 passengers onboard were rescued after fishermen alerted the coastguard, but at least 10 were taken to hospital to be treated for hypothermia after the boat got into trouble near the island of Agathonisi.

About 850,000 migrants and refugees crossed into Greece last year, paying smuggling gangs to ferry them over from Turkey in often frail boats.

In a deal struck at the end of November, Turkey promised to help stem the flow of refugees to Europe in return for cash, visas and renewed talks on joining the EU.

Turkey is host to 2.2 million Syrians and has spent around $8.5bn on feeding and housing them since the start of the civil war nearly five years ago.

Outrage follows Saudi Arabia’s execution of nearly 50 prisoners

January 4, 2016 by Nasheman

Shiite protesters carry posters of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr during a demonstration outside the Saudi embassy in Sana’a on October 18, 2014. (Photo: Reuters)

by Deirdre Fulton, Common Dreams

Saudi Arabia—recently chosen to head a key United Nations human rights panel—on Saturday executed 47 people convicted of “terrorism,” including at least four convicted of offenses related to political protest.

According to Reuters, the executions took place in 12 cities in Saudi Arabia, with four prisons using firing squads and the others beheading.

Among those killed was prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, whom the Guardian reports “had called for pro-democracy demonstrations and whose arrest in 2012 sparked protests in which three people died.”

“Nimr,” the Guardian added, “had long been regarded as the most vocal Shia leader in the eastern Saudi province of Qatif, willing to publicly criticise the ruling al-Saud family and call for elections. He was, however, careful to avoid calling for violence, analysts say.”

The Associated Press noted that “The execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr is expected to deepen discontent among Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority and heighten sectarian tensions across the region.”

The mass execution comes on the heels of a deadly year that saw Saudi Arabia execute more than 150 people, “many of them for non-violent offenses,” said Maya Foa, director of the death penalty team at international human rights organization Reprieve.

“Today’s appalling news, with nearly 50 executed in a single day, suggests 2016 could be even worse,” Foa said on Saturday. “Alarmingly, the Saudi Government is continuing to target those who have called for domestic reform in the kingdom, executing at least four of them today.”

What’s more, she added, “there are now real concerns that those protesters sentenced to death as children could be next in line to face the swordsman’s blade.” According to Reprieve, the list of people executed did not include the names of a number of people sentenced to death as children who are still facing execution—including Ali al Nimr, Sheikh Nimr’s nephew; Dawoud al Marhoon; and Abdullah al Zaher, who were also sentenced to death over their alleged involvement in the 2012 anti-government protests, despite having been aged 17, 17, and 15 respectively at the time.

“Saudi Arabia’s allies—including the U.S. and UK—must not turn a blind eye to such atrocities and must urgently appeal to the Kingdom to change course,” Foa concluded.

Many echoed that call on social media, highlighting the apparent hypocrisy of Saudi Arabia’s seat on the UN Human Rights Council.

Meanwhile, the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition that has been dropping bombs in Yemen for more than nine months, killing scores of civilians anddestroying critical infrastructure, announced Saturday the end of a ceasefire that had been in place since December 15.

Saudi Arabia executes 47, including Shia cleric Nimr

January 2, 2016 by Nasheman

Interior ministry says executed ‘terrorists’ took part in attacks against residential and government buildings.

by Al Jazeera

Saudi Arabia has executed 47 “terrorists”, according to the interior ministry, including Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr and al-Qaeda-affiliated Faris al-Zahrani.

In a press release read on state TV on Saturday, the ministry listed the names of all those it said were already convicted on charges of terrorism.

The death sentence of Nimr al-Nimr, who led anti-government protests in the country’s east, was confirmed by the Supreme Court in October.

Al-Zahani, once considered one of Saudi Arabia’s “most wanted terrorists”, was detained in 2004 while allegedly in possession of weapons.

Among those executed were an Egyptian citizen and a Chadian citizen, the ministry said.

It added that those convicted had participated in attacks against residential compounds and government buildings.

The announcement comes just days after Amnesty international said that Saudi Arabia executed at least 151 people in 2015, the most beheadings in 20 years.

“The Saudi Arabian authorities appear intent on continuing a bloody execution spree,” Amnesty’s report released on Monday said, quoting James Lynch, deputy director at the Middle East and North Africa programme.

It is the most people put to death in the kingdom in one year since 1995, when 192 executions were reportedly carried out.

Amnesty said the large number of executions shed further light on what the London-based human rights group referred to as unfair judicial proceedings, with a disproportionate imposition of capital punishment on foreign nationals.

“Of the 63 people executed this year for drug-related charges, the vast majority, 45 people, were foreign nationals,” the report said.

Khalid al-Dakhil, a Saudi political commentator based in Riyadh, challenged “the integrity” of Amnesty’s report, saying it failed to mention Iran’s execution record.

“Iran executes far more people a year than Saudi Arabia, but it does not get the negative publicity Saudi Arabia has. This is something that must be addressed,” Dakhil told Al Jazeera.

Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, the United States, and Iraq are the top five countries with the most executions.

Hundreds evacuated after fire engulfs Dubai tower

January 1, 2016 by Nasheman

No casualties caused by blaze at the Torch in Marina district, which was brought under control after several hours.

The fire reportedly started on the 50th floor of the Torch, a skyscraper in Dubai’s Marina district [AP]

by Al Jazeera

A huge fire engulfed one of the world’s tallest residential towers in Dubai’s Marina district, sending bright yellow flames several stories high, but there were no reports of casualties, civil defence officials said.

The fire broke out at about 2am on Saturday in the 86-storey Torch tower on the northeast end of the densely populated district, which is packed with multi-storey skyscrapers.

High winds whipped through the area and debris from the fire cluttered nearby streets after the blaze appeared to be extinguished.

The civil defence officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there were no reports of deaths or injuries.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.

The Marina area is home to dozens of towering apartment blocks and hotels, many of them built over the past decade. The apartments are popular with Dubai’s large number of expatriate professionals.

Police blocked off areas around the 336 metre-high Torch tower, which still had power. Lights were on in many of the apartments inside and multiple fire trucks and police vehicles were on the scene.

Residents of at least one neighbouring tower were told to evacuate as a precaution because of strong winds, but they were later allowed back inside.

One witness said the fire started in the middle of the tower before spreading down, describing it as like “the Titanic going down”. Flaming material falling from the initial fire then set a lower part of the building ablaze, witnesses said.

Rescue efforts

Torch tower resident Steve Short, 53, of Liverpool, England, praised the work of firefighters who arrived quickly. He said fire alarms alerted residents to the blaze and building management sent workers knocking on doors to ensure residents got out.

Resident RJ Morlock, 33, of Houston, shot video on his phone that showed bright yellow flames reaching what appeared to be several storeys on two separate parts of the building. He said residents were nervous coming out but fire crews were able to bring the situation under control.

“I was really surprised they got it under control pretty quickly,” he said. “It looked like it was going to go up.”

As daylight broke, residents waiting across the street to be allowed back home were able to see the extent of the blaze: External cladding on the corner of more than two dozen storeys from roughly the 50th floor to the top were mangled and charred black.

Cleanup crews dressed in orange uniforms swept up pieces of shattered glass and other debris covering the street outside the building.

Bomber on motorbike hits government office in Pakistan

December 29, 2015 by Nasheman

Suicide bomber crashes into government office in northwest, killing at least 18 and wounding many, according to police.

More than 40 people were being treated at the city’s main hospital after a Taliban suicide bomber blew himself outside a government office [Khuram Parvez/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

At least 18 people have been killed and many others wounded in a suicide attack outside a government office in Pakistan, police told Al Jazeera.

The attack happened on Tuesday at an office of the National Database and Registration Authority in the town of Mardan, in the country’s northwest.

“A suicide bomber riding an explosives-laden motorcycle hit the Nadra office in Mardan where a large number of people were standing in queues,” police officer Naeem Khan told Reuters.

Jamat Ul Ahrar, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility, saying the office was a legitimate target as it was a part of the “heathen Pakistan state”.

“God willing, we will target all Pakistani organisations that are either directly or indirectly a part of this war,” Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the group, said in a statement.

Pakistan has been battling armed groups since 2004, in a conflict that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of civilians and security forces personnel.

Overall levels of violence have decreased in 2015 after a nationwide military-led offensive against the groups, blocking their sources of movement, communication and funding.

The crackdown came after the Taliban school attack in December 2014, in which more than 150 people, mainly school children, were killed.

Iraqi army declares Ramadi ‘liberated’ from ISIL

December 28, 2015 by Nasheman

Troops raise Iraqi flag over recaptured central government complex but fighting for full control of city continues.

The Iraqi military says it has liberated the city of Ramadi from ISIL [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Iraqi forces claimed victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Ramadi as clearing operations were under way to flush out the armed group’s remaining fighters in the key city.

“Yes, the city of Ramadi has been liberated,” Brigadier General Yahya Rasool said in a televised statement on Monday, a day after the army took control of the key government compound in Ramadi’s Al Huz neighbourhood.

“The Iraqi counter-terrorism forces have raised the Iraqi flag over the government complex in Anbar,” Rasool added, saying the fighting will continue until the whole city is liberated.

“This is a new chapter in the history of the country.”

‘Long war’

Ramadi, the capital of the Anbar province, fell to ISIL in May in an embarrassing setback for Iraqi forces.

Analysts say recapturing the provincial capital, which is just 100km west of Baghdad, could deprive ISIL of its biggest prize of 2015.

“By controlling the complex this means that we have defeated them in Ramadi,” said Sabah al-Numani, a spokesman for government forces.

“The next step is to clear pockets that could exist here or there in the city.”

Mark Kimmitt, a former US assistant secretary of political and military affairs, said recapturing Ramadi was just a small part of defeating ISIL

“The Iraqi army has improved but to take Ramadi is going to take thousands and thousands of soldiers, and one question is whether those soldiers are ready at this point,” Kimmitt told Al Jazeera.

“It could well be that next year by this time that ISIS is pushed out of Iraq and Iraq has restored its borders, but anybody that thinks that is the beginning of the end of ISIS I think doesn’t understand that ISIS has truly metastatised inside the region,” he added.

“We are going to be fighting this long war for a generation.”

First major victory

US Army Col Steve Warren congratulated Iraqi forces for its recent gains.

“We congratulate the Iraqi security forces for their continued success against ISIL in Ramadi. The clearance of the government centre is a significant accomplishment and is the result of many months of hard work,” Warren said in a statement.

If the recapture of Ramadi is confirmed, it will be the first major city seized from ISIL by Iraq’s military, which in past battles against the armed group had operated mainly in a supporting role alongside Iran-backed Shia militias.

The militias were held back from the battlefield in Ramadi this time to avoid antagonising the mainly Sunni population.

The government has said the next target after Ramadi will be the northern city of Mosul – by far the largest population centre controlled by ISIL in either Iraq or Syria.

More than 11,100 Iraqis killed in 2015: UN

December 25, 2015 by Nasheman

Iraqi mourners carry the body of one of the soldiers who were killed the previous day in a so-called friendly fire from a US-led coalition aircraft west of Baghdad, on December 19, 2015 during a funeral in the Shia holy city of Najaf. (AFP/Haidar Hamdani)

by Andolu Ajansi

At least 11,118 Iraqis, mostly civilians, were killed in violence across the country this year, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said.

According to UNAMI, Baghdad saw most of the violence, which included explosions and clashes, while Daesh claimed responsibility for most of the attacks.

Meanwhile, Maitham al-Ghazzi, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the situation calls for more enhanced international cooperation to combat terrorism.

Iraqi security forces, backed by the U.S.-led international coalition and al-Hashd al-Shaabi, as well asKurdish Peshmerga forces and Sunni fighters, have been fighting Daesh for more than a year in northern and western Iraq.

Afghan and Taliban forces trade blows in Sangin battle

December 25, 2015 by Nasheman

At least 20 civilians killed in past 24 hours, officials say, as Afghan special forces re-take police headquarters.

The fight for control of Sangin has raged for days, with both sides claiming to have the upper hand [File: Watan Yar/EPA]

by Al Jazeera

Afghan special forces troops are locked in an intense battle with Taliban fighters in Afghanistan’s strategic Sangin district, after re-taking some government buildings from the armed group, officials said.

At least 20 civilians have been killed during the past 24 hours of fighting, local council officials told Al Jazeera on Friday morning.

The fight for control of the town in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province has raged for days, with both sides claiming to have the upper hand.

The most recent battle on Friday morning was taking place around the town’s central bazaar, said Al Jazeera’s Qais Azimy, reporting from the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.

“The government [fighters] have been able to get control of the police headquarters and the district chief’s office,” he said.

Our correspondent said that about 100 Afghan special forces soldiers are believed to have dropped into the Sangin some time on Thursday and that they were now waiting for reinforcements and supplies to be trucked in.

“They are desperately looking to open the road between Lashkar Gah and Sangin so they can supply the soldiers there,” he said.

“But they are facing difficulties on the 70km stretch of road. There are a lot of improvised explosive devices and mines that have been placed by the Taliban, which makes it hard to travel. And they are facing ambushes as well.”

He added that several hundred civilian families are believed to still be in Sangin, mainly those who could not afford to leave.

While not confirming that they had lost control of the police headquarters, a Taliban spokesman told Al Jazeera acknowledged that the special forces troops had won some ground in Sangin.

Afghan forces in Sangin have been supported by US aircraft, which carried out two attacks in the district on Wednesday, and British forces, which have been deployed to Helmand.

The UK Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday that British troops had been deployed to the province to support local forces after the Afghan defence minister called for a desperate international support and air cover.

This month marks a year since the US-led NATO mission in Afghanistan transitioned into an Afghan-led operation, with allied nations assisting in training local forces.

In a separate development, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani are holding talks in Kabul on Friday.

Modi is expected to hand over four attack helicopters to Afghanistan during his one-day visit.

Iran accuses Saudi Arabia of Yemen embassy air strike

Muslim anger after Netanyahu threatens to stop call to prayer

Refugees, including children, drown off coast of Turkey

Outrage follows Saudi Arabia’s execution of nearly 50 prisoners

Saudi Arabia executes 47, including Shia cleric Nimr

Hundreds evacuated after fire engulfs Dubai tower

Bomber on motorbike hits government office in Pakistan

Iraqi army declares Ramadi ‘liberated’ from ISIL

More than 11,100 Iraqis killed in 2015: UN

Afghan and Taliban forces trade blows in Sangin battle

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