Egypt prepares new law for non-Muslims

June 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Egypt will draft a law to govern marriage and divorce for non-Muslims, a state newspaper reported, a move analysts see as an attempt to contain anger after a court overruled the Coptic Orthodox Church last month.

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Egypt’s Coptic church has long called for changes to the country’s personal status laws, which say Islamic rules on marriage and divorce prevail except in cases where both husband and wife are non-Muslims and from the same sect.

Under the current law, for instance, a Catholic husband with a Coptic wife could be subject to Islamic law.

“The Egyptian Minister of Justice Mamdouh Marie has decided to form a committee to prepare a personal draft law for Christians and non-Muslims, state-run al-Akhbar newspaper reported, adding it would take 30 days.

Analysts said the announcement was timed to calm anger after a court ruled that two Coptic men were allowed to remarry, challenging the church’s efforts to hold sway over its flock in Muslim-majority Egypt.

The court’s decision drew resistance from Pope Shenouda, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, who had appealed against the court’s earlier ruling in March 2008.

Divorce is an accepted practice in Egypt’s Muslim community but is prohibited by the Coptic Orthodox Church except in cases of adultery.

“The latest crisis is behind this statement,” said Nabil Abdel Fattah, a political analyst at the Al-Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies in Cairo. “The Egyptian state is trying to contain the current dispute.”

Coptic lawyer and activist Mamdouh Ramzi said the church has proposed a unified personal law since the 1980s. “We don’t need a new law, we need to put the old (proposed) one into practice,” he said.

Relations between Muslims and Christians in Egypt are generally calm, but have occasionally turned violent over issues such as land and interfaith marriages.

Christians, mostly Orthodox Copts, make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s 78 million people. Many Christians grumble about discrimination, although some have risen to ministerial rank or are top business executives.

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Bangladesh lifts ban on Facebook

June 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Dhaka, June 6 — Authorities in Bangladesh have lifted a ban on popular social networking website Facebook, more than a week after the government temporarily restricted access to the site, officials said. Mango Telecom Services, a private internet service provider, on Saturday reopened the site for Bangladeshi users as directed by telecom regulators, Mir Masud Kabir, the managing director of the company, told local media.

The restriction was imposed May 29 after what officials said was a section of the site out to hurt religious sentiments in the Muslim-majority country by uploading a number of controversial images on the site that go against the Muslim belief. Some members of the social networking site had organized an “Everyone Draw Mohammed Day” competition, prompting protests among Muslims who believe images of the prophet are blasphemous.

The organisers said the event was meant to promote freedom of expression, but Muslims across the world expressed anger over it.

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Dhaka, Delhi to talk boundary disputes next month

June 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Dhaka, June 6 (IANS) The Joint Boundary Working Group of Bangladesh and India is expected to meet next month to comprehensively address long-pending land boundary disputes, a media report quoting officials said here.

Both sides are working to implement various decisions and fulfil commitments made by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during her New Delhi visit in January.

They also decided to work on 115 enclaves created by the demarcation of the boundary determined by the British between India and the then East Pakistan during the 1947 partition of undivided India.

The partition was on Hindu-Muslim lines. However, these enclaves, considered ‘in adverse possession’, have Muslim majority areas in India and Hindu majority areas in Bangladesh.

The South Asian neighbours having a porous 4,098 km border are committed to addressing the land boundary issues keeping the spirit of the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement signed by the then prime ministers, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Indira Gandhi.

‘The joint boundary group will meet either on July or August to resolve the boundary disputes between the two countries,’ India’s Home Secretary G.K. Pillai said in New Delhi on Friday.

However, Bangladesh officials maintain that they were ready to convene the meeting much earlier.

Officials of foreign and home ministries here are hopeful that the Joint Boundary Working Group will resolve issues related to adverse possessions, enclaves and the un-demarcated areas, Pillai said.

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Now, a Muslim-centred biz plan!

April 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

After antagonising most of the Islamic world, the US is looking to make amends from a standpoint that matters – profit.

The US today launched a Global Entrepreneurship programme and several other ambitious projects in an effort to bridge the gap with the Muslim world and take its engagement with the community across the globe to a new level of mutual trust and friendship.

The series of announcements made by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the conclusion of a two-day meeting was greeted by applause from the entrepreneurs from more than 50 countries who were invited by US President Barack Obama.

Clinton said the Global Entrepreneurship Program’s first pilot programme had been launched in Egypt, and the US would soon launch a second programme in Indonesia, before expanding it to a dozen countries within the next two years.

In her speech to more than 250 entrepreneurs at the conclusion of the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship, Clinton specially mentioned successful Indian entrepreneur Shaheen Mistri for her educational programmes in slums.

“Entrepreneurs are tackling problems of poverty and inequity, like Shaheen Mistri, whose non-profit body provides after-school tutoring to children in slums in India,” Clinton said as she referred to stories of several similar successful entrepreneurs.

“They’re closing gaps in healthcare delivery and access to capital, like Amjid Ali, a banker who leads health and finance outreach programmes for South Asian immigrants in England.

The Global Entrepreneurship Program, Clinton said, is an initiative that will provide concrete support to new entrepreneurs, starting in Muslim-majority communities and eventually expanding to others worldwide.

“Through this programme, we will work with the United States private sector partners and local businesses, along with civil society groups, to help create successful entrepreneurial environments,” she said.

Additionally, the administration has established partnerships with two Silicon Valley-based organisations — the Global Technology and Innovation Partners, and the Innovators Fund.

Both were started by US venture capitalists and business leaders inspired by Obama’s call at Cairo to support innovation and entrepreneurship in Muslim majority communities worldwide.

“Both partnerships will launch in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Malaysia, and will then expand from there,” Clinton said.

“These new efforts will help increase access to seed funding, venture capital, and Silicon Valley’s technology and business expertise. The State Department will help facilitate this effort by connecting these funds with local partners and institutions,” she said.

The US will be working to implement an exciting partnership with private US citizens headed by the former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, to achieve its goals.

“This is a team of eminent Americans from across sectors and industries who will lead an effort to engage the US private sector in carrying out our vision for a new beginning with Muslims in communities globally,” she said.

Clinton also announces the launch of a new effort to expand access to mentors for aspiring and emerging entrepreneurs.

“Mentors provide invaluable support and advice, but for too many entrepreneurs, good mentors are hard to find.

“Through the e-Mentor Corps, an entrepreneur seeking a mentor can go online and find a person with the expertise they need on everything from securing financing to writing a business plan,” she said.

Several private sector groups have pledged to supply mentors from their global networks, including Intel, Ernst & Young, the Kauffman Foundation, Endeavor, TechWadi, the Young Presidents’ Organisation, and Babson College.

“… they reflect the Obama Administration’s commitment to a new approach to development, one based on investment, not aid; on supporting local leadership and ideas rather than imposing our own.

“We believe that this approach is more likely to yield lasting results in the form of greater security, dignity, prosperity, and opportunity for more people worldwide,” Clinton said.

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Bombs kill 56 in Baghdad after al Qaeda deaths

April 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

BAGHDADReuters) – Bombs targeting Shi’ite areas killed at least 56 people in Baghdad on Friday in a possible backlash after Iraq touted a series of blows against al Qaeda.

Eight people were also killed by bombs in the Sunni west of the country.

Seven blasts hit different areas of the Iraqi capital around the time of Muslim prayers, mostly near Shi’ite mosques and at a marketplace, an interior ministry source said. Around 112 people were wounded.

“Targeting prayers in areas with a certain majority,” Baghdad security spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said, referring to Iraq’s Shi’ite Muslim majority, “is a revenge for the losses suffered by al Qaeda.

“We expect such terrorist acts to continue.”

Last Sunday, al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the purported head of its affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq, were killed in a raid in a rural area northwest of Baghdad by Iraqi and U.S. forces.

In Friday’s attacks, at least 21 people were killed and more than that number were wounded when three bombs exploded in populated Sadr City slum.

Another bomb killed at least 11 and wounded 17 near a Shi’ite mosque in al-Ameen district in southeastern Baghdad. An earlier car bomb killed three people near a Shi’ite mosque in the northwestern neighbourhood of al-Hurriya, police said.

Hours earlier, seven members of one family were killed in a series of blasts in Khalidiya, a town in Iraq’s turbulent western province of Anbar 83 km (50 miles) west of Baghdad. One police officer died trying to defuse a bomb.

The mainly Sunni province of Anbar has been relatively quiet since tribal leaders in 2006 started turning on Sunni Islamist groups such as al Qaeda who had once dominated it. But insurgents continue to operate in the vast desert province.

“At four in the morning, I heard a movement behind my house and found some barrels nearby, so I took my family out of the house,” said Fadhil Salih, a judge at the Khalidiya courthouse.

“An hour later the bomb went off and destroyed my house but, thank God, there were no casualties in my family,” Salih said.

At least 10 people were wounded in the blasts, including two policemen. Authorities imposed a ban on vehicles and motorbikes in Khalidiya after the blasts.

AL QAEDA IN IRAQ UNDER PRESSURE

Iraqi officials say they have been expecting revenge attacks from Sunni Islamist insurgents after security forces scored a number of victories against al Qaeda in the past month.

The strike against al Qaeda’s Iraq leadership has been accompanied by a string of smaller battlefield victories in which more than 300 suspected al Qaeda operatives have been arrested and 19 killed, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.

Overall violence in Iraq has fallen in the last two years as the sectarian bloodshed that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion faded, but tensions were stoked last month after a national election that produced no clear winner.

Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s bloc came a close second to a cross-sectarian alliance heavily backed by the once-dominant minority Sunni community.

But Maliki’s allies are attempting to capture the lead through a recount of votes in Baghdad and through court challenges to winning candidates because of their alleged ties to Saddam Hussein’s outlawed Baath party.

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India to open 100 Kashmir peaks to foreign climbers

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

SRINAGAR, India, April 9 (Reuters Life!) – Mountaineers, rejoice: India will, for the first time, allow foreign climbers to scale more than 100 high-altitude peaks this summer in the Himalayan state of Kashmir.

Officials said the move was an effort to boost the scenic region’s ailing tourism industry, hit by two decades of separatist rebellion. Officials say 60 percent of Kashmiris are dependent on tourism.

Kashmir was once dubbed the Switzerland of the east. It was once a mecca for climbers, skiers, honeymooners and film-makers drawn to the state’s soaring peaks, fruit orchards and timber houseboats bobbing on Dal Lake in Srinagar, the summer capital.

But the number of visitors began falling after a revolt broke out in 1989 that has killed more than 47,000 people so far.

Pakistan and India have fought two wars over Muslim majority Kashmir, which is divided between the South Asian neighbours who both claim it in full. India accuses Pakistan of backing separatist militants fighting its forces. Pakistan says it only offers them political backing.

The peaks to be opened for trekking and mountaineering are situated at an altitude ranging from 3,000 meters (9,842 feet) to 7,800 meters (25,590 feet), mostly in the Eastern Karakoram mountain range of Ladakh.

“This summer 104 peaks in Ladakh region will open for trekking and expeditions which would pave the way for adventure tourism and attract foreign tourists in a big way,” Nawang Rigzin Jora, Kashmir’s tourism minister, told Reuters.

“The defence ministry, which had earlier expressed reservation on throwing open the peaks, has given its nod.”

The mountainous Ladakh region along India’s border with Pakistan and China, which has been largely free of rebel violence, is a heavily militarised zone.

“The situation is fast improving in the state and tourism is picking up, we hope a very good (tourist) season ahead,” Jora added.

Officials say violence involving Indian troops and separatist militants has declined since a peace process began in 2004 between India and Pakistan.

But people are still killed in daily shootouts and occasional bomb attacks.

Many foreign governments still advise against travel to Kashmir, where six Western tourists were infamously abducted while trekking in 1995. Of the six, a Norwegian was beheaded, an American escaped and the rest are presumed dead.

Tourism operators say opening new peaks will help Kashmir tourism but they remain sceptical about a lasting peace in the region.

“Climbers will definitely find plenty to love in this remote and stunningly beautiful region, and this will help our business in a big way,” Umar Tibatbakal, a tour operator said. “But Kashmir is unpredictable, violence can break out any time.”

(Editing by Matthias Williams and Miral Fahmy)

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India to open 100 Kashmir peaks to foreign climbers

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

SRINAGAR, India (Reuters Life!) – Mountaineers, rejoice: India will, for the first time, allow foreign climbers to scale more than 100 high-altitude peaks this summer in the Himalayan state of Kashmir.

Lifestyle

Officials said the move was an effort to boost the scenic region’s ailing tourism industry, hit by two decades of separatist rebellion. Officials say 60 percent of Kashmiris are dependent on tourism.

Kashmir was once dubbed the Switzerland of the east. It was once a mecca for climbers, skiers, honeymooners and film-makers drawn to the state’s soaring peaks, fruit orchards and timber houseboats bobbing on Dal Lake in Srinagar, the summer capital.

But the number of visitors began falling after a revolt broke out in 1989 that has killed more than 47,000 people so far.

Pakistan and India have fought two wars over Muslim majority Kashmir, which is divided between the South Asian neighbors who both claim it in full. India accuses Pakistan of backing separatist militants fighting its forces. Pakistan says it only offers them political backing.

The peaks to be opened for trekking and mountaineering are situated at an altitude ranging from 3,000 meters (9,842 feet) to 7,800 meters (25,590 feet), mostly in the Eastern Karakoram mountain range of Ladakh.

“This summer 104 peaks in Ladakh region will open for trekking and expeditions which would pave the way for adventure tourism and attract foreign tourists in a big way,” Nawang Rigzin Jora, Kashmir’s tourism minister, told Reuters.

“The defense ministry, which had earlier expressed reservation on throwing open the peaks, has given its nod.”

The mountainous Ladakh region along India’s border with Pakistan and China, which has been largely free of rebel violence, is a heavily militarized zone.

“The situation is fast improving in the state and tourism is picking up, we hope a very good (tourist) season ahead,” Jora added.

Officials say violence involving Indian troops and separatist militants has declined since a peace process began in 2004 between India and Pakistan.

But people are still killed in daily shootouts and occasional bomb attacks.

Many foreign governments still advise against travel to Kashmir, where six Western tourists were infamously abducted while trekking in 1995. Of the six, a Norwegian was beheaded, an American escaped and the rest are presumed dead.

Tourism operators say opening new peaks will help Kashmir tourism but they remain skeptical about a lasting peace in the region.

“Climbers will definitely find plenty to love in this remote and stunningly beautiful region, and this will help our business in a big way,” Umar Tibatbakal, a tour operator said. “But Kashmir is unpredictable, violence can break out any time.”

(Editing by Matthias Williams and Miral Fahmy)

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Iraq’s Arab neighbors wary of Shi’ite sway after vote

March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Iraq’s Arab neighbors fear a split Iraqi election could further marginalize minority Sunnis and hope any coalition government formed by the Shi’ite frontrunner will resist Iran’s sway.

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Many Sunni Arabs had wanted a stronger showing by secularists, who they now hope will bring cross-sectarian balance to any coalition government that could be formed by Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

“These election results show that there is a Shi’ite wave in the region which threatens Arab security in the region. Iran has a hidden role in the Arab region and it supports Shi’ite elements in the area, particularly in Iraq,” said Magid Mazloum from the Center for Gulf Studies in Cairo.

“Sunnis in Iraq are a scattered minority stuck between Shi’ites on the one hand and Kurds on the other. This is bound to create instability in the country.”

Early election results showed Maliki pulling ahead on Sunday in an election Iraqis hoped would end years of sectarian strife, but a divided vote suggested long and fraught talks to form a government are ahead.

But the overall picture, reflecting a nation fragmented by decades of sectarian and ethnic conflict, was still incomplete a week after the vote. Results released so far represent just over a quarter of 12 million votes cast, and may change.

Sunni-led Arab countries, particularly in the Gulf where there are significant and marginalized Shi’ite minorities, worry about the repercussions of Iranian influence in Iraq. They are concerned that the Shi’ite majority is trying to deprive Iraq’s once dominant Sunnis of their fair share of power.

They fear meddling by Shi’ite non-Arab Iran in Iraq, an Arab country with a Shi’ite Muslim majority, could incite their own Shi’ite populations and that sectarian instability in Iraq could spill over.

“The big worry for us is that such a divided and sectarian Iraq is easily penetrated by regional powers and here of course Iran comes as the biggest and meddling regional power,” said Emirati analyst Abdul-Khaleq Abdullah.

“That really does not settle very nicely with the GCC, the smaller Gulf countries,” he added, referring to a bloc of six Gulf Arab states, including top oil exporter Saudi Arabia.

The outcome of Iraq’s first parliamentary poll since 2005 will shape its future as its stability is tested by an upcoming U.S. troop withdrawal and political struggles undermining Iraq’s efforts to re-establish itself on the world stage.

FRAGILE DEMOCRACY

While Maliki’s State of Law bloc appeared to be ahead in seven of 18 provinces, the secularist Iraqiya list headed by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a secular Shi’ite, was leading in five.

The Iraqi National Alliance (INA), Maliki’s main competitor and led by a party with close ties to Iran, trailed close behind. Maliki would likely get first go at forming a government.

“From my point of view I hope they mix the authorities together. It’s the best choice they have … That’s why a coalition would be a good thing,” said Yasser Ahmed Ali, 28, an Emirati production engineer.

Final results are not expected for weeks.

“The new Iraq will be an imbalanced Iraq. Results show Shi’ites in the lead,” said Abdullah al-Ashaal, former assistant to Egypt’s minister of foreign affairs.

“Such results are in line of what Iran wants and the Shi’ite coalitions seem to be with Iran.”

Few Arabs thought that elections in Iraq would put pressure on other Arab governments to give voices to their own citizens. But Saudi commentator Abdullah bin Bijad al-Oteiby said the vote showed fragile but growing democracy there.

“Everyone knows that Iraq is still a stage for regional and international influences, but the Iraqi citizen’s awareness of the vote’s value has increased,” he wrote in a column in Okaz newspaper.

Western diplomats say Riyadh, the leading political player in the Gulf, fears Iraq’s democracy inspiring Saudis to question the system of government in the absolute monarchy.

In Kuwait, with often tense ties to Iraq, said it did not matter whether the government was led by Sunnis or Shi’ites.

“Any result of a democratic process in Iraq is a gain for us and the region,” said Ali al-Baghli, Kuwaiti political analyst and former oil minister.

“Kuwait was threatened by Iraq several times when it was under a Sunni ruler (Saddam Hussein). It was Sunni Iraq that threatened Kuwait and it was Sunni Iraq that invaded Kuwait,” he added.

(Additional reporting by Raissa Kasolowsky and Rania Oteify in Dubai, Eman Goma in Kuwait, Marwa Awad in Cairo and Ulf Laessing in Riyadh; Writing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Samia Nakhoul)

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Meeting to resolve relocation of temple in Malaysia

September 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Putrajaya, Sep 3 (ANI): The Shah Alam Section 23 residents’ committee will meet the Malaysian Hindu Sangam Council tomorrow to resolve the relocation of a Hindu temple to the 90 percent Muslim-majority area.

They are also expected to issue a joint statement to clear the air about the use of a cow’s head in last Friday’s protest.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein told reporters about the relocation yesterday after meeting the committee members at his ministry.

He said he was convinced the protesters had no political motive or reason to egg racial or religious tension.

Hussein added that it was not the first time that the heads of animals had been used in protest, citing the time a pig’s head, wrapped in the Umno flag, was left at Menara Tun Hussein Onn at the party’s headquarters.

He said the organisers did not realise a cow’s head had been brought in until the last minute, The Star reported.

Hussein said the ministry would monitor the discussion to ensure a “win-win situation” was reached.

In Shah Alam, Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has advised residents of Taman Ixora in Section 23 to come up with constructive suggestions.

“Protesting on an issue is fine but it must be based on ethics and conscience and constructive suggestions must come forth. We will hold a dialogue this Saturday to clarify doubts and explain to the residents the proposed relocation of the Hindu temple.”

He said the Selangor Pakatan-led government inherited the problem when they took over the state.

“Now we want to resolve the issue that has been in ding-dong mode for 18 years.”

He added that in previous dialogues, suggestions had been made to move the temple in Section 19 to Section 22 or to Klang. (ANI)

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Obama uses first Ramazan message to promise better ties with Muslim world

August 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug.22 (ANI): U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday used his first Ramazan message to assure Muslims that his administration had an ‘unyielding’ determination to resolve issues that plague relations between the Muslim and western worlds.

“We are…committed to keeping our responsibility to build a world that is more peaceful and secure. “That is why we are responsibly ending the war in Iraq. That is why we are isolating violent extremists while empowering the people in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Obama said.

He also said that his government is “unyielding in our support for a two-state solution that recognises the rights of Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security.”

The US president not only identified the real issues, but also demonstrated a better understanding of Islam and its rituals.

All his efforts, he said were a part of America’s commitment to engage Muslims and Muslim-majority nations on the basis of mutual interest and mutual respect.

“And at this time of renewal, I want to reiterate my commitment to a new beginning between America and Muslims around the world,” he said.

“This new beginning must be borne out in a sustained effort to listen to each other, to learn from each other, to respect one another and to seek common ground. I believe an important part of this is listening,” he added.

He said that in the last two months, American embassies around the world had reached out not just to governments, but directly to people in Muslim-majority countries, receiving ‘an outpouring of feedback’ about how America could be a partner on behalf of peoples’ aspirations.

“We have listened. We have heard you. And like you, we are focussed on pursuing concrete actions that will make a difference over time – both in terms of the political and security issues that I have discussed, and in the areas that you have told us will make the most difference in peoples’ lives,” Obama said.

Such consultations, Obama said, were helping his government implement the partnerships that he called for in Cairo. (ANI)

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Partition of India weakened Muslims: MQM

June 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Lahore, June 29 (ANI): MQM chief Altaf Hussain has said the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 weakened Muslims, as it divided their power.

In an interview with Najam Sethi on Dunya News, Altaf said the partition harmed the Muslims, as a result of the formation of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and divided their power into three parts.

He said there would have been no partition had the Congress accepted the Quaid-e-Azam’s 14 points.

Altaf said few people knew that even Allama Iqbal had not demanded the establishment of Pakistan in his famous Allahabad address in 1930.

“He had in fact demanded the creation of Muslim states in the Muslim majority areas,” he said, adding that Iqbal son Justice (r) Javed Iqbal could confirm this.

Altaf said that both Pakistan and India should learn a lesson from European countries and normalise their relations.

He said it was unfortunate that the ruling elite of India had always projected Pakistan as a threat to India while the Pakistani ruling elite had always ‘taught’ Pakistani masses that India was a threat to Pakistan.

He said several wars had been fought in Europe, including the First and Second World Wars, yet European countries had learnt a lesson from these wars and forged a unity, manifested in the European Union.

Altaf requested the Indian leadership and Pakistani establishment to follow the European example and work towards improving relations between the two countries. (ANI)

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Thai troops kill two suspected separatists in deep South

May 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Pattani, Thailand – Thai troops killed two suspected Muslim separatists in the troubled province of Yala where insurgents set off eight bombs and fires on Wendesday, police said Thursday.

The two suspected separatists were killed in a joint police-army ambush at 8 pm Wednesday as they returned to Yaha district of Yala, 700 kilometres south of Bangkok.

“We think these two men were members of a new group who have recently received training in a neighbouring country,” Yaha Police Captain Thannapon Yawapak said.

According to military intelligence, more than 500 Muslim youths have left their homes in the Yaha neighbourhood to receive military training in the “neighbouring country,” Thannapon said. Thailand’s deep South – a majority Muslim region comprising Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces – has been the scene of escalating sectarian violence over the past five years. More than 3,700 people have died in clashes, beheadings, bombings and assassinations.

On Wednesday, insurgents set off bombs and fires in eight different locations in Yala, killing no one but causing more than 100 million baht (2.9 million dollars) in damages.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban and army chief Anupong Paojinda travelled to the south Thursday to assess security measures in the region.

After five years of violence in the Muslim-majority three-province region bordering Malaysia, there is no sign of an abatement in the conflict.

Of the 300,000 Thai Buddhists who lived in the region, about 70,000 have left since separatists raided an army depot in January 2004, killing four soldiers and making off with 300 weapons, leading to an escalation of the region’s long-simmering separatist struggle.

The incident sparked a series of brutal government crackdowns on the separatist movement, which turned much of the area’s 2 million people, 80 per cent of whom are Muslim, against the central government.

Although the region, which centuries ago was the independent Islamic sultanate of Pattani, was conquered by Bangkok about 200 years ago, it has never wholly submitted to Thai rule.

Analysts said the region’s Muslim population, the majority of whom speak a Malay dialect and follow Malay customs, feels alienated from the predominantly Buddhist Thai state.(dpa)

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ROUNDUP: Obama praises Turkey and seeks to end rift with Muslim world

April 7, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Ankara – US President Barack Obama on Wednesday moved to heal rifts between the United States and Turkey, as well as the wider Islamic world, caused by the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Part of his approach lay in stressing cooperation – not just the use of force – as a way to stop Islamic extremists.

“I know that the trust that binds us has been strained, and I know that strain is shared in many places where the Muslim faith is practiced. Let me say this as clearly as I can: the United States is not at war with Islam,” Obama said in a wide-ranging speech to the Turkish parliament in Ankara.

Referring to terrorism in the Middle East and Central Asia, Obama was clear that terrorism must not only be answered with force.

“Force alone cannot solve our problems, and it is no alternative to extremism. The future must belong to those who create, not those who destroy,” Obama said.

In a speech in which he made several references to US history, Obama praised the Islamic faith saying that the religion has shaped the world, including the United States for the better.

“The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their family, or have lived in a Muslim-majority country – I know, because I am one of them.”

On a two-day trip to Ankara and Istanbul, fulfilling his pledge to visit a Muslim nation in the first 100 days of his administration, Obama praised Turkey as a strong ally.

He thanked his hosts for Turkey’s role in Afghanistan where it has provided troops and training for Afghan police and military forces. He was applauded by parliamentarians when he repeated his support for Turkey joining the European Union.

“Turkey is a critical ally. Turkey is an important part of Europe. And Turkey and the United States must stand together – and work together – to overcome the challenges of our time,” Obama said.

“Turkey is bound to Europe by more than bridges over the Bosporus. Centuries of shared history, culture, and commerce bring you together.”

He also praised efforts between Turkey and neighbouring Armenia to normalize relations. He also called for resolution in the argument between Armenia and Turkey over the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman forces during the First World War.

“History, unresolved, can be a heavy weight. Each country must work through its past. And reckoning with the past can help us seize a better future,” Obama said.

Asked earlier on Monday on the question of whether he would use the term genocide to describe the massacres – a promise Obama made on the presidential campaign – the president said that even though he still held his own views on the matter, he did not want to upset current efforts by Turkey and Armenia to normalize relations.

“I’m not interested in the United States in any way tilting these negotiations,” Obama said.

Analysts say that if the US president uses the term genocide during an annual April 24 statement in which the US president commemorates the Armenian massacre, Turkish-US relations would be seriously damaged.

Obama also used his speech to the parliament to call for a permanent solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict and for Iran to forgo any nuclear ambitions. He also gave his support to efforts to solve the Cyprus problem.

The president praised Turkey for legal reforms it had made to strengthen human rights, specifically mentioning the recent launch of a state-run Kurdish-language television station.

But he also called for further implementation of reforms, including the reopening of the Greek Orthodox Halki Seminary, which has been closed since the early 1970s. He also pledged to continue US cooperation with Turkey against the separatist Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK).

Earlier on Monday, Obama paid his respects at the mausoleum of the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and laid a wreath at Ataturk’s tomb.

Obama later met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan behind closed doors and was scheduled to fly to Istanbul later on Monday. Obama will leave Istanbul Tuesday afternoon.

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Radio Pakistan says Sikhs in India are forcibly converted

April 6, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Abohar, April 6 (ANI): Facing criticism both internationally as also at home over the increased number of attacks against peaceful citizens, Radio Pakistan has been trying hard to project that India too is facing similar problems.

Through the recent broadcast of the Punjabi Durbar program, the programme has been heard trying to spread misinformation that Hindus are forcing members of minority communities to convert themselves in India.

Residents living in the border areas of Punjab, where Pakistan Radio has many listeners, are surprised at such allegations.

“This is a part of Pakistan’s propaganda to create tension among people in India. The Hindus are neither forcing people of Muslim majority nor Sikhs to convert themselves. These allegations are being made to create tension and disturb the law and order situation. According to the Indian Constitution, every citizen has right to profess any religion. These allegations are not going to have any effect on the people here because everybody knows that this is Pakistan’s propaganda to disturb peace in India ” said Dr. Harbhajan Singh, a Sikh scholar.

“So far as my experiences are concerned in Punjab, people are very much concerned about each other. There is no discrimination in Punjab. I am staying in Punjab for the last sixteen years and in Abohar, for the last 13 years and I have not been forced to change my religion. Actually I am getting more support from other religions,” said Jijoi, a Christian.

Broadcasters of the Radio Pakistan need to educate themselves about the provision of the Constitution of India which ensures freedom to every citizen of this country to practice his religion. The right to equality is also a fundamental right.

Perhaps the programmers are obsessed with the situation around them, where there is hostilitity among the Shias and Sunnis, the Punjabis, Baluchs and the Sindhis.(ANI)

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‘Contest between Asad and I’

April 6, 2009 By Leave a Comment

HYDERABAD: Grand Alliance candidate for Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat Zahid Ali Khan said on Saturday that Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) is raising
the BJP bogie to scare Muslim voters and pocket their votes.

“After delimitation, Hyderabad has become a Muslim majority seat from where only a strong Muslim candidate can win. There is no question of BJP candidate winning from here. The MIM is using its old tactics of scaring the Muslim voters with the slogan of `threat to Islam.’ Fearing the victory of BJP, the Muslims have always given vote to MIM. This time the contest is directly between MIM candidate Asaduddin Owaisi and me,” he said.

Explaining his reasons of giving up on fighting as an independent candidate and accepting TDP ticket at the last minute he said he did it to counter the MIM mischief. The MIM had fielded one little-known person who carried the name of Zahid Ali Khan and whose father’s name was Abid Ali Khan, like his own. “The MIM had brought this person on scene to create confusion among the voters. To check this move, I had to have a well known symbol that is of TD’s cycle. Also, I have known Chandrababu Naidu for several years and helped him in bridging the TD misunderstandings with the Muslims. I believe Naidu, as in the past, would change the face of Hyderabad and the state as such,” he said.

After working as a journalist for 42 years, Khan said, he realized that if the situation of the people in the Old City had to be changed it could be done only through politics. “I have entered politics with a mission. I want to bring about a change in society. I want to give education to every child and employment to every employable person. MIM has been in power in the Old City for the last five decades but did nothing to uplift the conditions of the people,” he said.

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BJP bets on Hindutva as it woos middle class, military votes

April 5, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, April 3 (IANS) Making a determined pitch to return to power in what promises to be one of India’s toughest elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday unveiled major sops for the military, the middle class and the poor as it sought the popular mandate.

Leading the multi-party National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the BJP, however, stuck to its Hindutva agenda while making it clear that nothing controversial would be thrust on its allies without whose help it cannot form a government.

BJP’s prime ministerial nominee L.K. Advani told journalists at the BJP headquarters that the so-called Third Front did not stand a chance in the April-May Lok Sabha elections and that any new government would be linked either to the Congress or his party.

The 48-page manifesto made no reference to the ‘India Shining’ theme that led to the NDA’s shock defeat in 2004, propelling the Congress, which then focussed on ‘aam admi’ (common man), to power.

The BJP said it was committed to building a grand Ram temple at the site of Ayodhya’s Babri mosque that was razed in 1992 after an emotive campaign led by Advani.

It vowed to work for an altered shipping channel through the Palk Strait so as not to damage the Ram Setu, which it is believed was built by Hindu god Ram.

‘There is an overwhelming desire of the people in India and abroad to have a grand temple at the birthplace of (Lord) Ram,’ the manifesto said. ‘The BJP will explore all possibilities, including negotiations and judicial proceedings, to facilitate the construction of the Ram temple.’

The BJP added that it remained firm on abrogating article 370 of the constitution which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir, India’s only Muslim majority state.

Advani underlined that the manifesto reflected the BJP’s thinking and he was not asking (its allies) to accept it. ‘We will send it to them and ask (what) they agree with and then jointly prepare a NDA agenda.’

Even as it harped on Hindutva issues, it announced a string of fiscal concessions amid the current economic downslide to attract the millions of decisive poor and middle class votes.

The manifesto promised that a BJP-led NDA government would provide 35 kg of rice or wheat every month at Rs.2 per kg to the poorest of the poor and waive off farm loans.

The BJP said all military and paramilitary personnel would be exempted from income tax, take steps to set up a separate Pay Commission for armed forces and implement a one-rank-one-pension scheme. The party said those earning up to Rs.300,000 a year would be exempted from paying income tax, the amount going up to Rs.350,000 for women and senior citizens.

And for a party that has traditionally counted on traders as its support base, it pledged a ban on foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail sector so as to help the domestic retail trade.

The manifesto blamed the Congress for the socio-economic backwardness of Muslims, India’s largest religious minority, and said every Indian felt proud about ‘the success stories of Muslims in sports, cinema, industry and a host of other fields’. The BJP said it would promote all languages, Urdu included.

Advani made no reference to the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which last month ended its 11-year-old alliance with the BJP, but pointed out that besides the Shiv Sena, Akali Dal and Janata Dal-United (JD-U), four new parties had teamed up with the BJP to fight the elections that begin April 16.

He identified them as the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM).

In other promises, the BJP said it would introduce:

– education and job quotas for economically backward sections other than Dalits, tribals and Other Backward Castes (OBCs).

– an improved law on the lines of the Prevention of Terrorist Activities (POTA).

– use of coercive diplomacy against countries engaging in exporting terror.

– a comprehensive National Identity Card for all Indians.

The Congress dismissed the BJP manifesto as one of no consequence. Congress spokesperson Kapil Sibal told reporters: ‘They have a narrow agenda, narrow vision and narrow mind. This manifesto has no meaning since it is not the NDA’s manifesto.’

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Troops on alert to halt Kashmir protests

February 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Thousands of police and soldiers locked down Kashmir’s main city on Wednesday to prevent separatist protests over the killings of two Muslim men, blamed on the army.

In Srinagar, Kashmir’s summer capital, troops patrolled deserted streets and erected barricades, cutting off residential enclaves after the weekend killings in north Kashmir sparked fresh protests against Indian rule in the disputed region.

Shops and businesses remained closed across the Kashmir valley in protest. Last year, the Muslim-majority region witnessed some of the biggest pro-independence protests since a separatist revolt against Indian rule erupted 20 years ago.

Those protests had tapered off and state elections were held peacefully in December.

At least 10 people were injured on Wednesday when police and stone-throwing protesters clashed in Srinagar, police said.

“Killing the innocents in cold blood is a shameful act,” Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the separatists alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, said.

The state government and the army, which has widespread powers of arrest in Kashmir, have ordered separate investigations into the deaths.

More than 47,000 people have been killed in the region since discontent against New Delhi’s rule turned into a full-blown rebellion in 1989. Separatists put the toll at 100,000.

But overall violence involving Indian troops and separatist guerrillas has declined significantly across Kashmir since India and Pakistan began a slow-moving peace process in 2004.

New Delhi put a pause on that dialogue after last November’s Mumbai attacks in which 179 people were killed.
Sheikh Mushtaq

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Bangladesh to send medicine for wounded Palestinians

January 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Dhaka – Bangladesh was to send a consignment of medicine as humanitarian aid to wounded Palestinians in Gaza, which has been devastated by Israeli air and infantry attacks for the last three weeks, officials said Tuesday.

The aid will soon be dispatched to the Gaza Strip, where over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and several thousands others, including women and children, were injured by indiscriminate shelling by the Israeli forces, a foreign ministry statement said.

Dipu Moni, foreign minister of Muslim-majority Bangladesh, conveyed her government’s decision to send the medical aid after a meeting with Shaher Mohammad, the Palestinian ambassador to Bangladesh.

Talking to the media after his meeting with Moni, the Palestinian envoy said the Muslim nations needed more unity and cooperation to establish peace in the Middle East.

He expressed hope for a change in the US policy on the Palestine-Israel issue with Barack Obama taking over as the new president.

“We may see a change next week,” he said.

Bangladesh called on the Israeli authorities earlier to halt attacks on innocent civilians in Gaza. It also urged Israel to adhere to the United Nations resolutions to ensure peace in the Gaza Strip. (dpa)

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