Nasheman

India's largest selling Urdu weekly, now also in English

You are here: Home / Archives for Muslim World

Seven sentenced to death over Kuwait mosque bombing

by

Court sentences seven suspects over suicide attack that killed at least 26 people during Ramadan, state media reports.

Kuwaiti police cordon off the mosque after the suicide bombing. (AFP/File)

Kuwaiti police cordon off the mosque after the suicide bombing. (AFP/File)

by Al Jazeera

A Kuwaiti court has sentenced seven suspects to death over the Imam al-Sadiq Mosque bombing, which killed at least 26 people and injured more than 200 others, the country’s state news agency reported.

Kuwait’s criminal court on Tuesday sentenced eight others to two and 15 years behind bars and acquitted 14 others, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) said.

The court heard statements from the defence lawyers and later charged the defendants with using explosives with the intention of “killing, spreading terror, committing murders, joining an internationally banned group that promotes toppling the ruling system with illegitimate means and threatening the country’s unity”, KUNA reported.

The Imam al-Sadiq Mosque in Kuwait City was attacked by a Saudi suicide bomber on June 26 during Friday prayers in the holy month of Ramadan.

Kuwait launched a security crackdown on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) after the attack was claimed by the group.

Hundreds of inmates escape as Taliban raid Afghan jail

by

Taliban fighters storm prison in eastern Afghan province of Ghazni, freeing hundreds of inmates, police officials say.

The interior ministry said up to 400 inmates managed to escape the prison following the Taliban attack [FILE - AP]

The interior ministry said up to 400 inmates managed to escape the prison following the Taliban attack [FILE – AP]

by Al Jazeera

Taliban fighters have stormed a prison in the central Afghan city of Ghazni, killing police officers and releasing many prisoners, police officials said.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred early on Monday.

“Around 2:30am six Taliban insurgents wearing military uniforms attacked Ghazni prison. First they detonated a car bomb in front of the gate, fired an RPG and then raided the prison,” deputy provincial governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi told AFP news agency.

Ahmadi said at least four police guards were killed and seven others were wounded, and that three Taliban fighters were also killed in the early morning battle.

The interior ministry said 355 of the prison’s 436 inmates escaped. Most were charged with crimes against national security and other criminal offences.

“This successful operation was carried out at 2:00am and continued for several hours. The jail was under Taliban control,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.

“In this operation, 400 of our innocent countrymen were freed … and were taken to mujahideen-controlled areas,” it added.

In 2011 almost 500 Taliban fighters and commanders escaped from a prison in an audacious jailbreak in Kandahar province, in what the government described as a security “disaster”.

The Taliban at the time said they sprang the inmates through a one-kilometre tunnel that took five months to dig.

The Taliban are stepping up their summer offensive despite a simmering leadership succession dispute after the confirmation of the death of longtime chief Mullah Omar.

Renewed clashes at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound

by

At least three arrested in second day of clashes as Israeli security forces storm the compound of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Al-Aqsa Mosque

by Al Jazeera

Palestinians and Israeli police clashed at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for a second straight day on Monday, prompting several arrests.

“As the police entered the compound, masked youths fled inside the mosque and threw stones at the force,” an Israeli police statement said.

Police said they entered the hilltop compound to ensure that Muslim youths massing there did not harass Jews or tourists during the morning visiting hours. The statement added that three protesters were arrested.

Israeli security personnel on Sunday used tear gas and stun grenades in a move condemned by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as they entered the compound to arrest what they called Palestinian “stone throwers”.

“The presidency strongly condemns the attack by the occupier’s military and police against the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the aggression against the faithful who were there,” a statement from his office said.

Non-Muslims are allowed to visit the compound, but Jews must display national symbols for fear of triggering tensions with Muslim worshippers.

Muslims fear Israel will seek to change rules governing the site, with far-right Jewish groups pushing for more access and even efforts by fringe organisations to erect a new temple. Al-Aqsa Mosque is Muslim’s third holiest site.

Israel seized East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, in the Six Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.

Saudi claims it has taken in 2.5 million Syrians since uprising

by

Saudi Arabia has recently been heavily criticized for its response to the Syrian refugee crisis. (Al Bawaba/File)

Saudi Arabia has recently been heavily criticized for its response to the Syrian refugee crisis. (Al Bawaba/File)

by Arab News

Saudi Arabia has hosted around 2.5 million Syrians since the beginning of the crisis in that country in 2011, the Foreign Ministry has said.

In a statement issued to SPA, the ministry said the Syrians have been leading a decent and normal life in the Kingdom like other expatriates. “The Kingdom does not deal with Syrian expats like refugees. They are living in a normal environment not in special camps.”

According to the ministry, the Syrians have been granted legal residence permits and full freedom to travel inside the country.

“Moreover, they are allowed to study in Saudi schools as per the royal order issued in 2012.

A total of 100,000 Syrians are registered in public schools,” the ministry clarified, reacting to reports about the Kingdom’s role in tackling the Syrian refugees crisis. “All Syrians in the Kingdom receive free medical treatment. They are allowed to work in the private sector like other expatriates,” the ministry added.

Saudi Arabia has spent $700 million to help Syrian refugees, according to figures made available during the Third Intentional Conference of Donors in Kuwait in March this year, the ministry said.

The Kingdom played a vital role in helping Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon through humanitarian aid including food, medical treatment, medicines and clothes,” the ministry added.

An online publication quoted a source as saying that the Labor Ministry has excluded Syrians from labor inspections being carried out to correct expat status. “This will be a great help to my fellow Syrian visitors,” said a Riyadh-based Syrian expat. “We have lived here for many years and benefited not only financially from this country but also from free education for our children,” he observed.

The visitors residing with their families here feel that the gesture would help them put their skills to good use and benefit from their stay, he said, adding that it will be a win-win situation for them and the host country.

The directive by King Salman aims at letting the departments that face skills’ shortage to benefit from Syrian visitors, many of whom are experienced and highly qualified to make a qualitative change to the local market.

Western countries have realized the advantage of absorbing refugees with a wealth of talent and skills, which is a cost effective solution for them amid the global economic slump.

Similarly, these Arab refugees could be a blessing in disguise for the Kingdom in the face of declining oil prices. Their professional skills, along with knowledge of Arabic, will give them an edge over non-Arabic speaking expats.

This year, the king also ordered rectification of the residential status of Yemeni illegals to let them work in various sectors.

Saudi crane collapse kills 107 in Mecca Grand Mosque

by

Accident which also injured more than 230 people, just weeks before Hajj pilgrimage, blamed on violent thunderstorms.

Saudi crane collapse

by Al Jazeera

At least 107 people have been killed after a crane toppled over at Mecca’s Grand Mosque, less than two weeks before Islam’s annual Hajj pilgrimage.

In addition to the deaths, 238 people were wounded in Friday’s disaster, according to Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defence Authority.

The Saudi Press Agency quoted a spokesperson for the two holy mosques as saying that the crane was brought down by strong wind and heavy rain.

Pictures circulating on social media showed pilgrims in bloodied robes and debris from a part of the crane that appeared to have crashed through a ceiling.

Other pictures showed queues of Saudi men volunteering to donate blood for the injured. “All those who were wounded and the dead have been taken to hospital. There are no casualties left at the location,” General Suleiman al-Amr, director-general of the Civil Defence Authority, told Al Ikhbariya television. He said strong wind and rains had uprooted trees and rocked cranes in the area. “The crane collapsed near Al-Salam gate on the upper side of Al-Masaa area, and that caused the collapse of a small part of Al-Masaa and another section of Al-Mataf, the bridge area around the holy Kaaba,” Amr told Saudi state TV.

Official statement

A statement by a spokesperson for the administration of the mosques in Mecca and Medina said the crane toppled in the part of the Grand Mosque where worshippers circle the Kaaba – the black-clad cube towards which the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims face to pray. Al Jazeera’s Hasan Patel, reporting from Mecca, said witnesses told him that the crane fell on the third floor of the Grand Mosque at around 5.30pm on Friday.

He said the mosque was packed even though the incident happened before the 6.30pm prayer.

“Dozens of ambulances headed to the site. The authorities closed off the area shortly afterwards,” he said. “This whole place is already a giant construction site. What made it worse is that around 5.30pm there was severe rain and it was just gushing down the road. “I am surrounded by people who are grieving. The mood here is of sadness.” Saudi authorities go to great lengths to prepare for the millions of Muslims who converge on Mecca to perform the sacred pilgrimage. Last year, they reduced the numbers permitted to make the Hajj pilgrimage on safety grounds because of construction work to enlarge the Grand Mosque.

Prone to disasters

The Hajj, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, has been prone to disasters in the past, mainly from stampedes as pilgrims rush to complete rituals and return home. Hundreds of pilgrims died in such a crush in 2006. Saudi authorities have since spent vast sums to expand the main Hajj sites and improve Mecca’s transport system, in an effort to prevent more disasters.

Security services often ring Islam’s sacred city with checkpoints and other measures to prevent people arriving for the pilgrimage without authorisation.

Those procedures, aimed at reducing crowd pressure which can lead to stampedes, fires and other hazards, have been intensified in recent years as security threats grow throughout the Middle East.

Richard Angwin, Al Jazeera’s senior weather presenter, said the autumn period is when half of Mecca’s thunderstorms occur, so “it was no great surprise that there were thunderstorms in the area”.

“The area of low pressure which brought sandstorms across the Levant region moved further south, allowing hot, moist air to develop into thunderstorms along the mountains bordering the Red Sea, and some of those drifted northwards across Mecca,” he said.

UN approves resolution to fly Palestinian flag at headquarters

by

The US dismissed the move by the UN, calling it "counterproductive". (AFP/File)

The US dismissed the move by the UN, calling it “counterproductive”. (AFP/File)

by Press TV

The United Nations has approved a resolution calling for the hoisting of the Palestinian flag at the world body’s headquarters in New York.

On Thursday, the UN General Assembly decided that the flags of the non-member observer states of Palestine and the Holy See “shall be raised at (UN) Headquarters and United Nations Offices following the flags of the member states.”

As many as 119 countries voted in favor of the resolution, eight voted against, and 45 abstained.

The draft resolution of the Palestinian proposal was submitted to the General Assembly on August 27.

The resolution requested UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to take “the measures necessary” for the implementation of the decision. The UN has 20 days to carry out the decision.

Based on the Thursday decision, delegations of the two nations can participate in the UN sessions.

Before the voting session, Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour touched upon the significance of the resolution, saying although symbolic, the measure gives “our people some hope that the international community is still supporting the independence of the state of Palestine.”

The United States and Israel had expressed their opposition to the measure, with US State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner describing it as “counterproductive” and Israel’s envoy to the UN, Ron Prosor, dismissing it as “a blatant attempt to hijack the UN.”

Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the besieged Gaza Strip, and are demanding that Israel withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories. Israel, however, has refused to return to the 1967 borders and is unwilling to discuss the issue of al-Quds.

On November 29, 2012, the General Assembly voted to upgrade Palestine’s status at the UN from “non-member observer entity” to “non-member observer state” despite strong opposition from Israel and the US.

UN calls on Israel to halt demolition of 13,000 Palestinian homes

by

Some 13,000 Palestinian homes are scheduled for demolition in the occupied West Bank. (AFP/File)

Some 13,000 Palestinian homes are scheduled for demolition in the occupied West Bank. (AFP/File)

by Press TV

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on Israel to halt a plan to demolish some 13,000 Palestinian structures in the occupied West Bank.

“As we have said repeatedly, the secretary general calls on the Israeli authorities to halt demolitions of Palestinian-owned structures,” Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesperson for Ban Ki-moon, told reporters in New York on Tuesday.

The UN chief also called on Israeli authorities “to revoke plans that would result in the forcible transfer of Palestinian communities, and to implement an inclusive planning and zoning regime that will enable Palestinians’ residential and community development needs to be met,” Dujarric added.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a Monday report that the Palestinian structures are currently under Israeli demolition orders, adding that the orders “leave affected households in a state of chronic uncertainty and threat.”

It also warned that the destruction of Palestinian homes leads to “displacement and disruption of livelihoods” among other things.

Tel Aviv claims the Palestinian structures are demolished because they were built without construction permits, but Palestinians argue such authorizations are routinely denied.

On September 3, Israel destroyed seven Palestinian structures in the East Tayba Bedouin community of the central West Bank, displacing nine Palestinians, including five children.

The Tel Aviv regime intensified the destruction of Palestinian homes last month, razing to the ground as many as 143 Palestinian structures, which is the highest such number in five years.

In August, 31 international organizations, including Oxfam and Amnesty International, criticized a “surge” in West Bank demolitions, saying Tel Aviv is using them to seize property for the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements.

More than half a million Israelis live in more than 120 settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories in the West Bank in 1967.

The settlements are considered illegal by the UN and many countries because the territories were occupied by Israel and are thus subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.

13,000 Palestinian buildings to be demolished in West Bank – UN report

by

Palestinians ride a truck loaded with their belongings after their shanty was demolished by the Israeli army east of the West Bank city of Ramallah © Mohamad Torokman / Reuters

Palestinians ride a truck loaded with their belongings after their shanty was demolished by the Israeli army east of the West Bank city of Ramallah © Mohamad Torokman / Reuters

by RT

Palestinians have little chance of obtaining a construction permit in the West Bank, while Israel keeps issuing new demolition orders for Palestinian buildings faster than it can bulldoze them, says a new report from the local United Nations mission.

“Official  data  released  by  the  Israeli  authorities indicate  that  over  11,000  demolition  orders – affecting  an  estimated  13,000  Palestinian-owned structures, including homes – are currently ‘outstanding’ in Area C of the West Bank,” begins areport, titled “Under Threat,” published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian territory (OCHA-oPt).

While Israel has destroyed over 2,800 buildings since it began issuing demolition orders in 1988, most of them have never been carried out, remaining a Sword of Damocles hanging over the heads Palestinian residents.

“Structures built without permits are regularly served with demolition orders. While only a minority of the orders issued are executed, these orders do not expire and leave affected households in a state of chronic uncertainty and threat,” say the authors.“Where the orders have been implemented, they have resulted in displacement and disruption of livelihoods, the entrenchment of poverty and increased aid dependency.” A shockingly low percentage of Palestinian applications for permits is ever approved. Israeli Civil Administration data reveals that Palestinians submitted 2,020 requests for building permits in Area C between 2010 and 2014 and only 33 of them (1.5 percent) were approved. “The planning and zoning regime applied by the Israeli authorities, including the ways in which public land is allocated, makes it virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain building permits in most of Area C,” the report adds.

In reality, less than 1 percent of Area C has been allocated for Palestinian buildings, and even structures like a tent or a fence need an official permit.

Out of a total 11,134 demolition orders, 570 were labeled as ready to be carried out. In the first half of 2015 alone, the Civil Administration destroyed 245 Palestinian structures in Area C. Meanwhile, 2,454 orders were put on hold in light of legal issues, and another 8,110 were said to be “in process.”

Area C represents about 60 percent of the West Bank, which was temporarily divided into three parts – A, B and C – in accordance with the 1995 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, more commonly known as the Oslo accords.

Under the signed agreement, Area C was to be transferred to the Palestinian Authority by the end of 1998. This never happened, however, and Israel has assumed military control of the territory. Currently, 300,000 Palestinians reside inside the area.

Palestinians have been demanding full recognition as a sovereign state from the UN and the international community for years now.

Recently, a number of international organizations have intensified their criticism of Israel’s stepped up demolition activities in the West Bank.

“For 70 years they have been trying to get Arabs off the land so the Jews can move in. We feel like we can’t live, it’s not something people feel in the West, only us here. When I tell Israeli forces that I have a family to provide for they don’t care,”Saidi, who is from a Palestinian Bedouin family, told The Guardian.

Meanwhile, in response to the report, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said that residents can still file a request to legalize “illegal” construction through the planning and inspection mechanisms available at the IDF’s Civil Administration, The Times of Israel reported.

‘Pakistani Army capable of tackling any kind of war’

by

AFP PHOTO/Aamir QURESHI

AFP PHOTO/Aamir QURESHI

Rawalpindi: In an obvious reference to India, the Pakistani Army chief, General Raheel Sharif, has said the force is “fully capable” of dealing with any kind of threat” and that any “misdaventure” would come at an “unbearable cost”.

“(The) armed forces of Pakistan are fully capable of dealing with all types of internal and external threats, may it be conventional or sub-conventional; whether it is cold start or hot start. We are ready,” Dawn quoted Gen. Sharif as saying at the Defence Day ceremony at the General Headquarters here to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1965 war with India.

“If the enemy ever resorts to any misadventure, regardless of its size and scale – short or long – it will have to pay an unbearable cost,” the army chief said.

“Gen. Sharif’s curt comments came against the backdrop of Indian Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag’s remarks (that) his troops were ready for the ‘swift, short nature of future wars’. Indian Army’s 2 ‘Kharga’ Strike Corps had, in April, also carried out large-scale war games codenamed ‘Brahmashira’ to rehearse ‘swift multiple offensives’,” Dawn said.

Gen. Sharif paid rich tributes to the nation’s martyrs, saying that their sacrifices will not go in vain.

“I am honoured that soldiers from that war are present among us today,” he sid.

The army chief said in the past 50 years, Pakistan has seen many ups and downs.

“But I can say with certainty that today we are stronger than before and the nation is more hopeful than ever,” he said.

Gen. Sharif also said that Kashmir is an unresolved regional issue since the partition of the subcontinent.

“There can be no peace in the region without resolution of the Kashmir issue according to the UN resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people,” he said.

(IANS)

Saudi coalition airstrike hits Sana’a orphanage

by

sanaa_yemen

by dpa GmbH

An airstrike launched by the Saudi-led alliance in Yemen appears to have struck an orphanage Saturday morning in Sana’a’s al-Nahda neighbourhood, killing and injuring an unknown number of people, local medical sources told dpa.

There have been contradicting reports about the casualties, and whether they include children or not. No further details were immediately available.

Separately, a residential building was bombarded by an airstrike earlier in the day in the Hadda area, also in Sana’a, killing three and injuring five civilians, local sources said.

Meanwhile, sources at the Health Ministry said a state of emergency was announced due to the rising number of casualties from mistaken strikes upon civilian sites since Friday.

“Due to the ongoing airstrikes, there is no way to make an exact estimation of the number of the dead and injured at this stage, but they are dozens,” a source at the ministry told dpa.

Airstrikes against Houthi-held military sites in Sana’a and other parts of Yemen have intensified since Friday, but that has increased the possibility of them mistakenly targeting civilian areas.

Saudi Arabia and fellow Sunni partners have mounted since March an air campaign in Yemen against Shiite Houthi rebels, who still control large parts of the country.

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives