Contrary to the general notion that Karachi is located on the major earthquake fault lines, researchers at the Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology (SSUET), have discovered that Karachi is in fact situated along the Minor Earthquake Zone and is not prone to any major or devastating earthquakes.
The Institute of Human Settlement and Environment (IHSE) at the SSUET Department of Civil Engineering has also established that Murray Ridge Area, located about 200 kilometres southwest of Karachi, in the North Arabian Sea is vulnerable to the generation of Tsunami if a major earthquake strikes the region.
Civil Engineering Department Chairman, Dr S.M. Makhdumi, informed The News that IHSE has prepared four reports on disaster management , that include Disaster Preparedness & Development of Warning System for Coastal Region of Pakistan, Global Warming, Planning & Mitigation and Seismic Zones of Pakistan.
Dr Makhdumi said that IHSE that was established in 2001 has been working on the projects that are vital to the general public. “It has undertaken exhaustive scientific studies of natural disasters affecting Sindh and Coastal North Arabian Sea. The study established the vulnerability of coastal waters, south of Karachi, to the occurrence of Tsunami and recommends development of ‘Warning System’ for effective remedial and relief measures necessary to minimise the loss of human lives in case a Tsunami hits the coastal regions of Sindh.”
The IHSE has also updated the existing seismic zone map of Pakistan (1980) on the pattern of Sindh-Balochistan map already published by the university.
The revised Seismic Zone Map of Pakistan, according to Dr Makhdumi, will assist the engineering institutions in Pakistan in revising and updating the building code of the country.
Former Pakistan Meteorological Services Director General, Syed Amir Ahmed Kazmi, who is currently an environment consultant at SSUET, said that the
major seismic fault in Sindh, Sarjan-Jampir Fault, which devastated upper Sindh and buried Moenjodaro some 5000 years ago and remained active for centuries, is (according to the new definition of Active Fault 1986) in the process of stabilisation. “No major earthquake has struck Sindh during the last several centuries”,
Kazmi asserted.
According to Kazmi, the Rann of Kutch area is seismically active and has generated Tsunamis in the past. However, due to the drying up of the sea water in the area around the island, the Rann of Kutch is now a solid mass of land and unlikely to generate Tsunamis in future. “Tsunamis will continue to be generated along the Makran coastal waters in future and cause major damage to Pasni, Gwadar, Jiwani and other towns in the coastal areas of Balochistan. However Tsunamis occurring along Makran Coast are not expected to cause damage to the Karachi coastal region”, Kazmi explained.
Shahid Saleem, Assistant Professor at the SSUET Department of Civil Engineering, and a member of IHSE team talked about the lethal effect that Tsunami could have. “Tsunamis can move at the speed of a hundred miles per hour, and its waves can be as high as 100 feet or more. The time lag between the occurrence of Tsunami and its waves hitting the coast is the controlling factor. This is the time that could wisely be used to minimise the brutal force of Tsunami if a warning system exists in the area”, Saleem emphasised
Pacific Tsunami Warning System, according to Kazmi, has two Warning Systems in Hawaii and Alaska. The United Nations, in collaboration with World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR), had decided to set up a Tsunami Warning System in the Indian Ocean after the devastating Tsunami that hit several countries of the region. The system was installed in 2006 and now 25 countries have joined in. The countries include Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, the Maldives, the Seychelles, Kenya, Tanzania and France (for Réunion), Australia and India.
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Magnitude 2.5 quake jolts Landhi, Korangi Updated at: 0300 PST, Saturday, March 07, 2009 KARACHI: Low intensity earthquake jolted areas of Karachi including Landhi and Korangi on early Saturday, Geo News reported.
The magnitude was recorded at 2.5 on Richter scale while its epic center lies between Karachi and Thatta, said metrological office.
Tremors sparked panic among people as they came out of their homes being terrified but no loss of life or property was confirmed according to preliminary reports, sources said.
People should be judged on the basis of their conduct, not views imputed to them by virtue of a religious symbol they wear. Haleh Chahrokh, researcher in the Europe and Central Asia division
(Berlin) - German state bans on religious symbols and clothing for teachers and other civil servants discriminate against Muslim women who wear the headscarf, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 67-page report, "Discrimination in the Name of Neutrality: Headscarf Bans for Teachers and Civil Servants in Germany," is based on extensive research over an eight-month period. It analyzes the human rights implications of the bans and their effect on the lives of Muslim women teachers, including those who have been employed for many years. It says that the bans have caused some women to give up their careers or to leave Germany, where they have lived all their lives.
"These laws in Germany clearly target the headscarf, forcing women who wear it to choose between their jobs and their religious beliefs," said Haleh Chahrokh, researcher in the Europe and Central Asia division at Human Rights Watch. "They discriminate on the grounds of both gender and religion and violate these women's human rights."
Half of Germany's 16 states (Länder) - Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Bremen, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saarland - have laws prohibiting public school teachers (and other civil servants in several states) from wearing the headscarf at work. The laws were all introduced in the last five years, following a 2003 Constitutional Court ruling that restrictions on religious dress are only permissible if explicitly laid down in law. The other eight German states have no such restrictions.
Some of the laws allow some exemptions for Christian and "Western" cultural traditions. None of the laws explicitly target the headscarf, but parliamentary debates and official explanatory documents prior to their introduction make clear that the headscarf is the focus. Every court case about the restrictions (the most recent ruling was on January 26, 2009, on a case in Baden-Württemberg) has concerned the headscarf issue.
"The claim that these restrictions don't discriminate doesn't stand up," said Chahrokh, "In practice, the only people affected by them are Muslim women who wear the headscarf."
Human Rights Watch has repeatedly criticized governments such as Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran when they force women to wear religious clothing. But laws such as those in German states, which exclude women who wear the headscarf from public employment, run afoul of the same international standards, undercutting women's autonomy, their right to privacy, self expression and religious freedom in a similar way.
The research for the report included interviews with Muslim women in Germany affected by the ban. It documents the profound effect of the bans on women's lives. The laws in all eight states effectively prohibit women who wear the headscarf from working as teachers. Teachers wearing the headscarf have been told to remove it and been have subject to disciplinary action if they refused.
If a teacher refuses to remove her headscarf and subsequently is unsuccessful in court proceedings, she runs the risk of losing her civil servant status and of being removed from her teaching position. Muslim trainee teachers cannot find employment as public school teachers after successful completion of their education unless they remove their headscarves.
State officials justify the restrictions on the basis that teachers have a duty to ensure that schools remain neutral on questions of religion and ideology. But there is no evidence that the teachers' conduct violated that duty. Instead, the bans are based on the notion that merely wearing the headscarf places neutrality at risk.
"People should be judged on the basis of their conduct, not views imputed to them by virtue of a religious symbol they wear," said Chahrokh. "If there are concrete concerns about individuals, they should be addressed through ordinary disciplinary procedures, on a case-by-case basis."
Some of the teachers affected told Human Rights Watch that they had offered to wear alternatives to the headscarf, such as large hats, or to tie the scarves in atypical styles, but that these offers were rejected. As a result of the bans, some of the women left their home states or Germany altogether, while others felt compelled to remove their headscarf to keep their jobs, after years of studies and investment in developing their skills. They complained of feeling alienated and excluded, even though many have lived in Germany all their lives.
Proponents of restrictions on the headscarf frequently argue that bans protect women from oppression and empower them. The women interviewed by Human Rights Watch said they had all freely chosen to wear the headscarf. Even for women who are pressed to wear a headscarf, but are able to become teachers, blocking access to their profession will not protect them from oppression. Some affected women pointed out that, far from empowering them, the bans had led to deterioration in their social position. In the words of one woman: "As long as we were cleaning in schools, nobody had a problem with the headscarf."
Human Rights Watch calls on state governments to revise and repeal legislation on prohibition of religious dress and symbols and ensure that their legislation and procedures comply with Germany's international human rights obligations. The German states should guarantee in particular that regulations do not discriminate on grounds of gender or religion and that freedom of religion and expression are fully protected.
Elected city council chief leads ouster as storm swirls outside municipal building
James Glanz, New York Times
(08-10) 04:00 PST Baghdad -- Armed men entered Baghdad's municipal building during a blinding dust storm Monday, deposed the city's mayor and installed in his place a member of Iraq's most powerful Shiite militia. Images A massive suicide car bomb hit a US military convoy Tuesd...Iraqis inspect the destruction left by a suicide bomb exp...A US soldier clears onlookers from the scene of a massive... View Larger Images More News
The deposed mayor, Alaa al-Tamimi, who was not in his office at the time, recounted the events in a telephone interview Tuesday and called the move a municipal coup d'etat. He added that he had gone into hiding for fear of his life.
"This is the new Iraq," said al-Tamimi, a secular engineer with no party affiliation. "They use force to achieve their goal."
The group that ousted him insisted that it had the authority to assume control of Iraq's capital city and that al-Tamimi was in no danger. The man the group installed, Hussein al-Tahaan, is a member of the Badr Organization, the armed militia of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, known as SCIRI.
The militia has been credited with keeping the peace in heavily Shiite areas in southern Iraq, but it also is accused of abuses such as forcing secular women to wear the hair coverings demanded by conservative Shiite religious law.
"If we wanted to do something bad to him, we would have done that," said Mazin Makkia, the elected city council chief who led the ouster Monday and who had been in a lengthy and unresolved legal feud with al-Tamimi.
"We really want to establish the state of law for every citizen, and we did not threaten anyone," Makkia said. "This is not a coup."
Makkia confirmed that he had entered the building with armed men, but he said that they were bodyguards for him and several other council members who accompanied him. Witnesses estimated that the number of armed men ranged from 50 to 120. Makkia is a member of a Shiite political party that swept to victory during the across-the-board Shiite successes during January's elections.
Al-Tamimi, the deposed mayor, was appointed by the central government and held ministerial rank. He was originally put in place by Paul Bremer, the top American administrator in the country until an Iraqi government took over in June 2004.
Baghdad is the only city in Iraq that is its own province, and the city council had previously appointed al-Tahaan as governor of Baghdad province, with some responsibilities parallel to al-Tamimi's. But the mayor's office was clearly the more powerful post.
Makkia provided a phone number for al-Tahaan, but the phone did not appear to be turned on. A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said that he was aware of the developments but that he had no immediate comment.
When asked whether Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a politician with another Shiite Islamic party, Dawa, was concerned about developments at the municipality, a spokesman, Laith Kubba, said, "My guess is, yes, he is."
Weeks ago, al-Tamimi had offered to resign or retire, saying that the budget he had been given was not adequate. For a city of 6 million people, the central government had given him a budget of $85 million; he had requested $1 billion.
"It's more or less a fait accompli that he's not going back to office," Kubba said. He added that al-Tahaan would be considered an interim mayor until the prime minister settled on someone to take the post permanently.
Leaders of the country's major political parties, meanwhile, resumed a summit meeting to break the deadlock over Iraq's new constitution, which was delayed by the same sandstorm Monday.
The deadline for the constitution is next Monday, and the parties have so far failed to resolve several crucial issues -- including the role of Islam in the government, the future of the ethnically mixed and oil-rich city of Kirkuk and the scope of self-rule for regions outside Iraqi Kurdistan.
After the meeting, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said discussion focused mainly on the issue of autonomy and the distribution of oil revenues. He expressed confidence that the group would complete the constitution on time, but added, "As the English people would say, the devil is in the details."
By Sudarsan Raghavan Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, February 25, 2009; Page A11
BAGHDAD, Feb. 24 -- Two Iraqi policemen opened fired on four American soldiers and two Iraqi interpreters inside a police station in the northern city of Mosul on Tuesday, the third deadly attack on U.S. troops in two weeks in the still-volatile provinces of Nineveh and Diyala.
One American soldier and one interpreter were killed, the U.S. military said. The three other soldiers and second interpreter were wounded. An Iraqi police captain at the scene was slightly wounded, police officials said. The assailants escaped.
The assault highlighted the violence that continues in large patches of northern and central Iraq, even as security has improved in Baghdad and other areas. Sunni Muslim insurgents remain entrenched in Nineveh -- especially in the provincial capital, Mosul -- and in Diyala, 40 miles north of Baghdad.
Tuesday's attack came a day after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki reopened Iraq's National Museum, declaring it a symbol of the nation's stability and progress. Hours later, a roadside bomb killed three American soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter during combat operations in Diyala.
Two weeks ago, a suicide car bomber killed four U.S. soldiers and their Iraqi interpreters in Mosul, the deadliest assault against American troops in nine months. Despite massive U.S. and Iraqi military offensives in the past year, Mosul remains a stubborn stronghold of the Sunni insurgency, especially the group al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Tuesday's assault occurred in broad daylight. About 2 p.m., the American soldiers were inside the headquarters of a brigade that protects bridges in the western section of the city, said Brig. Gen. Saeed al-Jubouri, a spokesman for the Nineveh provincial police. Two policemen opened fire, killing one of the Iraqi interpreters instantly, he said.
The attack appeared well planned. After firing their weapons, the policemen ran outside the station and up the stairs of a nearby bridge. "They got into a car that was waiting for them and escaped," Jubouri said.
By the time police forces went to the assailants' homes, their families had also fled, police officials said.
"Al-Qaeda has infiltrated the police forces in Mosul," said an Interior Ministry official in Baghdad, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. The ministry oversees the police.
Iraq's police and Interior Ministry have long been infiltrated by Shiite Muslim militias, and less so by Sunni insurgents. For years, Iraqis were reluctant to approach police checkpoints for fear they might become targets. The police were widely thought to have committed some of the most heinous sectarian killings.
That mistrust of the police lingers to this day, even though Maliki and Jawad al-Bolani, Iraq's interior minister, have worked hard to rid the ministry of militia members and insurgents. More than 60,000 employees of the Interior Ministry have been fired in the past year.
The latest effort to stop the infiltration came Monday when the ministry announced the arrest of a Shiite gang, made up of police officers, accused of killing the sister of Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, in April 2006. The slaying was part of a series of kidnappings and killings by the gang, officials said. Twelve gang members were arrested, all former employees of the Interior Ministry, officials said.
On Tuesday, Brig. Gen. Hussein Ali Kamal, deputy interior minister for intelligence, publicly condemned the attack on the American soldiers in Mosul and apologized to the U.S. military, declaring that there was "harmony between the two sides."
"This operation is extraordinary and is not representative of the Iraqi police," Kamal said on Iraq's al-Sharqiya television network.
Meanwhile, in Baghdad, an influential Sunni politician publicly spoke in support of a Sunni lawmaker accused of orchestrating the 2007 bombing of Iraq's parliament.
Saleh al-Mutlaq, the leader of a Sunni political party that made a strong showing in Sunni areas in last month's provincial elections, charged that Iraq's Shiite-led government was doing little to investigate abuses committed by Shiites during the height of Iraq's sectarian war.
"We demand that all files against other lawmakers be opened and investigated by a special parliament committee that is free from government pressures," he told a news conference.
Mutlaq's comments came a day after Mohammed al-Daini, the accused lawmaker, asserted that the government was conspiring to silence him because he had criticized Iraq's Shiite political leaders. The government has released videotaped confessions by Daini's bodyguards implicating him as the organizer of a series of attacks, including mortar strikes into the Green Zone, where the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi government buildings are situated.
Special correspondents Zaid Sabah in Baghdad, Qais Mizher in Damascus, Syria, and Washington Post staff in Mosul contributed to this report.
8th of Sahwwal 1430 A.H. - Anniversary of the destruction of the cemetery of al-Baqi.
The cemetery of al-Baqi is located in Medina, Saudi Arabia. It is the cemetery where four honorable Imams - Imam Hasan(a.s.), Imam Zain al-Abideen(a. s.), Imam Mohammad Baqir(a.s.) and Imam Jaffer Sadiq(a.s.) - and the beloved daughter of the Prophet Mohammad(sawaw) and the leader of the women of Paradise Bibi Fatima Zehra(s.a.) are buried. In addition, a number of important personalities and honorable companions of the Holy Prophet(sawaw) are also buried there.
On 21st April 1925, 8th Shawwal 1345 A.H., the ruling Saudi Government bombed and destroyed the holy Cemetery and razed all the mausoleum structures. Their main excuse was the teachings of their Wahabi Sect which considers all types of intercession to Allah(swt) through the Prophet(sawaw) and his Ahl-e-Bait(a. s.) a bid'ah and a sin. Their teachings also consider the visiting of the graves of the Prophet(sawaw) and other personalities as shirk - polytheism. Their real aim, however, was to distance the Muslims from their history and important historical personalities. Their teachings have, however, been refuted logically and referentially proven wrong by all other sects of Islam including the Shiite and Sunnites.
The detailed account of the destruction of the cemetery of al-Baqi and several pictures are available at http://www.ziaraat. com/mdnjan01.php
Detailed History: ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~
On 8th Shawwal, Wednesday, in the year 1345 AH (April 21, 1925), mausoleums in Jannatul Al-Baqi (Medina) were demolished by King Ibn Saud. In the same year (1925), he also demolished the tombs of holy personalities at Jannat al-Mualla (Makkah) where the Holy Prophet (sawaw)'s mother, wife, grandfather and other ancestors are buried. Destruction of sacred sites in Hijaz by the Saudi Wahhabi's continues even today.
The origins of Jannat Al-Baqi ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ Literally "Al-Baqi" means a tree garden. It is also known as "Jannat Al-Baqi" due to its sanctity, since in it are buried many of our Prophet's relatives and companions.
The first companion buried in Al-Baqi was Uthman bin Madhoon who died on the 3rd of Sha'ban in the 3rd year of Hijrah. The Prophet (sawaw) ordered certain trees to be felled, and in its midst, he buried his dear companion, placing two stones over the grave.
In the following years, the Prophet's son Ibrahim, who died in infancy and over whom the Prophet (sawaw) wept bitterly, was also buried there. The people of Medina then began to use that site for the burial of their own dead, because the Prophet (sawaw) used to greet those who were buried in Al-Baqi by saying, "Peace be upon you, O abode of the faithful! God willing, we should soon join you. O Allah, forgive the fellows of Al-Baqi".
The site of the burial ground at Al-Baqi was gradually extended. Nearly seven thousand companions of the Holy Prophet (sawaw) were buried there, not to mention those of the Ahlul Bayt (as). Imam Hasan bin Ali (as), Imam Ali bin Hussain (as), Imam Muhammad bin Ali (as), and Imam Ja'far bin Muhammad (as) were all buried there.
Among other relatives of the Prophet (sawaw) who were buried at Al-Baqi are: his aunts Safiya and Aatika, and his Aunt Fatima bint al-Asad, the mother of Imam Ali (as). The third caliph Uthman was buried outside Al-Baqi, but with later extensions, his grave was included in the area. In later years, great Muslim scholars like Malik bin Anas and many others, were buried there too. Thus, did Al-Baqi become a well-known place of great historic significance to all Muslims.
Jannat Al-Baqi as viewed by historians ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ Umar bin Jubair describes Al-Baqi as he saw it during his travel to Medina, saying "Al-Baqi is situated to the east of Medina". You enter it through the gate known as the gate of Al-Baqi. As you enter, the first grave you see on your left is that of Safiya, the Prophet's aunt, and further still is the grave of Malik bin Anas, the Imam of Medina. On his grave is raised a small dome. In front of it is the grave of Ibrahim son of our Prophet (sawaw) with a white dome over it, and next to it on the right is the grave of Abdul-Rahman son of Umar bin al-Khattab, popularly known as Abu Shahma, whose father had kept punishing him till death overtook him. Facing it are the graves of Aqeel bin Abi Talib and Abdullah bin Ja'far al-Tayyar. There, facing those graves is a small shrine containing the graves of the Prophet's wives, following by a shrine of Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib.
Hazrat Fatima Zahra (S.A.): Used to lament over her father s demise for six months continuously till she died. The Place where she was lamenting was an attic occupied by her in the grave yard at Jannatul Baqi. At this place after the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (A.S.) Janab Um ul Baneen wife of Amir ul Momeneen Ali Ibne Abi Taleb (A.S.) and the mother of Janab Abbas used to lament over Imam Hussain (A.S.) in a heartrending manner. It was here that the citizens of Medina used together to join in the wailings. Hazrat Rabab, wife of Imam Hussian (A.S.) also frequented this place to cry. Janab-e-Zainab and Umm-e-Kulsoom were also among the regular mourners. This place is popularly known as Baitul Huzn. Its original name was Baitul Ahzaan (The house of mourning).The grave of Hasan bin Ali (as), situated near the gate to its right hand, has an elevated dome over it. His head lies at the feet of Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib, and both graves are raised high above the ground; their walls are paneled with yellow plates and studded with beautiful star-shaped nails. This is how the grave of Ibrahim, son of the Prophet (sawaw) has also been adorned. Behind the shrine of Abbas there is the house attributed to Fatima, daughter of our Prophet (sawaw), known as "Bayt al-Ahzaan" (the house of grief) because it is the house she used to frequent in order to mourn the death of her father, the chosen one, peace be upon him. At the farthest end of Al-Baqi is the grave of the caliph Uthman, with a small dome over it, and there, next to it, is the grave of Fatima bint Asad, mother of Ali bin Abi Talib (as).
After a century and a half, the famous traveler Ibn Batuta came to describe Al-Baqi in a way which does not in any way differ from the description given by Ibn Jubair. He adds saying, "At Al-Baqi are the graves of numerous Muhajirin and Ansar and many companions of the Prophet (sawaw), except that most of their names are unknown."
Thus, over the centuries, Al-Baqi remained a sacred site with renovations being carried out as and when needed till the Wahhabi's rose to power in the early nineteenth century. The latter desecrated the tombs and demonstrated disrespect to the martyrs and the companions of the Prophet (sawaw) buried there. Muslims who disagreed with them were branded as "infidels" and were subsequently killed.
The first destruction of Jannat Al-Baqi ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ The Wahhabi's believed that visiting the graves and the shrines of the Prophets, the Imams, or the saints was a form of idolatry and totally un-Islamic. Those who did not conform to their belief were killed and their property was confiscated. Since their first invasion of Iraq, and till nowadays, in fact, the Wahhabi's, as well as other rulers of the Gulf States, having been carrying out massacres from which no Muslim who disagreed with them was spared. Obviously, the rest of the Islamic World viewed those graves with deep reverence. Had it not been so, the two caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar would not have expressed their desire for burial near the grave of the Prophet (sawaw).
From 1205 AH to 1217 AH, the Wahhabi's made several attempts to gain a foothold in Hijaz but failed. Finally, in 1217 AH, they somehow emerged victorious in Taif where they spilled the innocent blood of Muslims. In 1218 AH, they entered Makkah and destroyed all sacred places and domes there, including the one which served as a canopy over the well of Zamzam.
In 1221, the Wahhabi's entered Medina to desecrate Al-Baqi as well as every mosque they came across. An attempt was even made to demolish the Prophet's tomb, but for one reason or another, the idea was abandoned. In subsequent years, Muslims from Iraq, Syria, and Egypt were refused entry into Makkah for Hajj. King Al-Saud set a pre-condition that those who wished to perform the pilgrimage would have to accept Wahhabism or else be branded as non-Muslims, becoming ineligible for entry into the Haram.
Al-Baqi was razed to the ground, with no sign of any grave or tomb whatsoever. But the Saudis were still not quite satisfied with doing all of that. Their king ordered three black attendants at the Prophet's shrine to show him where the treasures of valuable gifts were stored. The Wahhabi's plundered the treasure for their own use.
Thousands of Muslims fled Makkah and Medina in a bid to save their lives and escape from the mounting pressure and persecution at the hands of the Wahhabi's. Muslims from all over the world denounced this Saudi savagery and exhorted the Caliphate of the Ottoman Empire to save the sacred shrines from total destruction. Then, as it is known, Muhammad Ali Basha attacked Hijaz and, with the support of local tribes, managed to restore law and order in Medina and Makkah, dislodging the Al-Saud clansmen. The entire Muslim world celebrated this victory with great fanfare and rejoicing. In Cairo, the celebrations continued for five days. No doubt, the joy was due to the fact that pilgrims were once more allowed freely to go for Hajj, and the sacred shrines were once again restored.
In 1818 AD, the Ottaman Caliph Abdul Majid and his successors, Caliphs Abdul Hamid and Mohammed, carried out the reconstruction of all sacred places, restoring the Islamic heritage at all important sites. In 1848 and 1860 AD, further renovations were made at the expense of nearly seven hundred thousand pounds, most of which came from the donations collected at the Prophet's tomb.
The second plunder by the Wahhabi's ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ The Ottoman Empire had added to the splendor of Medina and Makkah by building religious structures of great beauty and architectural value. Richard Burton, who visited the holy shrines in 1853 AD disguised as an Afghan Muslim and adopting the Muslim name Abdullah, speaks of Medina boasting 55 mosques and holy shrines. Another English adventurer who visited Medina in 1877-1878 AD describes it as a small beautiful city resembling Istanbul. He writes about its white walls, golden slender minarets and green fields.
1924 AD Wahhabi's entered Hijaz for a second time and carried out another merciless plunder and massacre. People in streets were killed. Houses were razed to the ground. Women and children too were not spared.
Awn bin Hashim (Shairf of Makkah) writes: "Before me, a valley appeared to have been paved with corpses, dried blood staining everywhere all around. There was hardly a tree which didn't have one or two dead bodies near its roots."
1925 Medina surrendered to the Wahhabi onslaught. All Islamic heritages were destroyed. The only shrine that remained intact was that of the Holy Prophet (sawaw).
Ibn Jabhan says: "We know that the tomb standing on the Prophet's grave is against our principles, and to have his grave in a mosque is an abominable sin."
Tombs of Hamza and other martyrs were demolished at Uhud. The Prophet's mosque was bombarded. On protest by Muslims, assurances were given by Ibn Saud that it will be restored but the promise was never fulfilled. A promise was given that Hijaz will have an Islamic multinational government. This was also abandoned.
1925 AD Jannat al-Mu'alla, the sacred cemetery at Makkah was destroyed along with the house where the Holy Prophet (sawaw) was born. Since then, this day is a day of mourning for all Muslims.
Is it not strange that the Wahhabi's find it offensive to have the tombs, shrines and other places of importance preserved, while the remains of their Saudi kings are being guarded at the expense of millions of dollars?
Protest from Indian Muslims ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ 1926, protest gatherings were held by shocked Muslims all over the world. Resolutions were passed and a statement outlining the crimes perpetrated by Wahhabi's was issued and included the following:
The destruction and desecration of the holy places i.e. the birth place of the Holy Prophet (sawaw), the graves of Banu Hashim in Makkah and in Jannat Al-Baqi (Medinah), the refusal of the Wahhabi's to allow Muslims to recite Ziyarah or Surah al-Fatiha at those graves.
The destruction of the places of worships i.e. Masjid Hamza, Masjid Abu Rasheed, in addition to the tombs of Imams and Sahaba (Prophet's companions).
Interference in the performance of Hajj rituals. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ Forcing the Muslims to follow the Wahhabi's innovations and to abandon their own ways according to the guidance of the Imams they follow.
The massacre of sayyids in Taif, Medina, Ahsa, and Qatif. The demolition of the grave of the Imams at Al-Baqi which deeply offended and grieved all Shias.
Protest from other countries ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ Similar protests were lodged by Muslims in Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Indonesia, and Turkey. All of them condemn the Saudi Wahhabi's for their barbaric acts. Some scholars wrote tracts and books to tell the world the fact that what was happening in Hijaz was actually a conspiracy plotted by the Jews against Islam, under the guise of Tawheed. The idea was to eradicate the Islamic legacy and heritage and to systematically remove all its vestiges so that in the days to come, Muslims will have no affiliation with their religious history.
A partial list of the demolished graves and shrines ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ Al-Mualla graveyard in Makkah which includes : The grave of Sayyida Khadija bint Khuwailid (sa), wife of the Prophet (sawaw), The grave of Amina bint Wahab, mother of the Prophet (sawaw), The grave of Abu Talib, father of Imam Ali (as), The grave of Abdul Muttalib, grandfather of the Prophet (sawaw) The grave of Hawa (Eve) in Jeddah The grave of the father of the Prophet (sawaw) in Medina The house of sorrows (Bayt al-Ahzaan) of Sayyida Fatima (as) in Medina The Salman al-Farsi mosque in Medina The Raj'at ash-Shams mosque in Medina The house of the Prophet (sawaw) in Medina, where he lived after migrating from Makkah The house of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (as) in Medina The complex (mahhalla) of Banu Hashim in Medina The house of Imam Ali (as) where Imam Hasan (as) and Imam Hussain (as) were born The house of Hamza and the graves of the martyrs of Uhud (as)
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http://www.shiatube.net/view/2809/ http://www.shiatube.net/view/2808/ http://www.shiatube.net/view/2770/-2-/ http://www.shiatube.net/view/2770/-2-/ http://www.shiatube.net/view/2769/-25-1430/ http://www.shiatube.net/view/2787/-/ 24 Feb 2009 13:19:25 GMT Source: Reuters RIYADH, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Saudi authorities arrested at least nine Saudi Shi'ite pilgrims after clashes in the holy city of Medina, Shi'ite and security sources said on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia sees itself as the bastion of mainstream Sunni Islam and is worried about the rising influence of non-Arab Shi'ite power Iran in the region.
Jaafar al-Shaib, a leading figure among minority Saudi Shi'ites, said clashes occurred between Shi'ite pilgrims and morals police near a mosque that houses the tomb of Prophet Mohammad.
"Some 1,500 Shi'ite pilgrims gathered near the mosque for the commemoration of Prophet Mohammad's death," he said.
"Stick-wielding members of the morals police backed up by plainclothes policemen sought to disperse them."
Morals police often prevent pilgrims venerating tombs, seen as idolatry under the strict Saudi version of Islam.
Some pilgrims were injured in a stampede after police fired into the air to disperse the crowd, al-Shaib said, adding ambulances took some away. He said some shops owned by Shi'ites were attacked.
An Interior Ministry spokesman for security affairs described the incident as "a quarrel between visitors and worshippers".
"Now there is an investigation to establish motives and reasons," spokesman Mansour al-Turki said. He declined to confirm that the clash was between the morals police and Shi'ites.
He said nine people were taken in custody, but declined to give more details saying an official statement would be issued later.
A security source who asked not to be named because he is not authorised to talk to the media told Reuters seven Shi'ite pilgrims were injured in the resulting stampede and were taken to the city's King Fahd Hospital.
(Reporting by Souhail Karam; editing by Thomas Atkins and Michael Roddy)
جددت عناصر وهابية تابعة لهيئة الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر اعتداءها على المواطنين الشيعة بعد أن أقاموا بعد صلاة المغرب من مساء هذا اليوم (الاثنين) العزاء في مناسبة وفاة الرسول عليه أفضل الصلاة والسلام، وذلك قرب مقبرة البقيع. وأفاد شهود عيان لـ"شبكة الملتقى" أن السلطات السعودية راقبت الوضع في البداية عبر حضور مكثف لقوات مكافحة الشغب، إلا أنها سرعان ما انهالت بالضرب على الزوار بعد اشتباكات "عنيفة" وقعت بين وهابيين وشيعة من السعودية، وقال شاهد عيان في اتصال هاتفي: (كنا نعزي وتحرش بنا وهابيون تابعون للهيئة، مما اضطرنا للدفاع عن أعراضنا وأنفسنا).
وشدد الشاهد على أن قوات الشغب لزمت الصمت لفترة من الزمن، وكأنها تعطي نحو ألفي وهابي الضوء الأخضر لضرب الشيعة، وحين تجمع نحو 2500 شيعي انتقلت الإشتباكات لداخل الحرم النبوي (قرب الضريح)، عندها تحركت قوات الشغب لتصب غضبها على الشيعة داخل المسجد، وليس على المتسبب الأول في كل هذه الاشتباكات، وهي الهيئة وبعض مناصريها من التيار الوهابي.
من جهة ثانية تحاول السلطات السعودية أن تمنع نشر بعض الصور ومقاطع الفيديو التي ينتظر بثها عبر اليوتيوب. وأفادت مصادر مطلعة على تحركات السلطة أنها تجتهد في الوقت الحالي لمحاصرة من صور من الجانب الشيعي في محاولة منها لسد الطريق على تنزيل مقاطع الفيديو على الانترنت، وهو ما فضحهم في مجريات الأيام الماضية حول المتسبب الأول في استثارة الزوار والمعتمرين.
وكانت أنباء قد أفادت بخروج مسيرات عزاء في البقيع ضمن حشد قدر بنحو 500 شخصاً. وتقوم قوات الحكومة الآن بدفعهم للخارج.
وقالت مصادر مطلعة بأنه تم دفع الزوار بالقوة الى الخارج بواسطة قوات الشغب وبعد مراشقات بالكراسي تمت في مقبرة البقيع.
وقالت قناة أهل البيت بأن آلاف الزوار احتشدوا في مجلس حسيني ورددوا هتاف (لبيك يا حسين).
تفيد آخر الأنباء عن تعرّض الزوار الشيعة في المدينة المنورة لهجوم عنيف من قبل قوات الأمن السعودية يرافقهم في ذلك عدد من المدنيين الوهابيين من رجال الهيئة والأمن الذين قاموا برشق المواطنين الشيعة بالحجارة ومطاردتهم لإلقاء القبض عليهم. وقال شهود عيان، أن عدداً من الزوار قد سقطوا نتيجة الإعتداء الحكومي السافر، وأن دماء عدد غير قليل منهم قد أهدرت بسبب الضرب بالهراوات ورمي الحجارة، كما تم اعتقال عدد غير محدد من الشيعة، فيما تمت ملاحقة آخرين لمسافات بعيدة عن الحرم. These images and events that took place in the real capital of the Islamic holy city of Medina in 2009
Where I used the security forces with the citizens in Saudi Arabia and the Wahhabi Islam visitors to the tomb of the Prophet Mohammed and the Shiite Muslims reneged baht and the four of
-- http://moltaqaa.com/media/vedio/baqee3.mp4 The events of the city, a new study of the Arabic شبكة الملتقى - 23 / 2 / 2009م - 2:10 م Forum Network - 2-23-2009 - 2:10 p.m.
لاتزال قضية معتقلي المدينة المنورة تتفاعل محليّاً، بعد إجهاض محاولة التظاهر يوم السبت الماضي، من خلال استعراض الدوريات الأمنية في مدن شيعية مختلفة لمنع المواطنين من التجمع احتجاجاً على ما قامت به هيئة الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر بحق الزوار الشيعة، خاصة النساء منهم. Still the issue of detainees Medina interact locally, after the aborted attempt to demonstrate on Saturday, through a review of security patrols in the Shiite cities of various means of preventing citizens from gathering in protest at what was done by the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the right of pilgrims, especially women.
وقد غطت الصحافة المحلية وجهة نظر واحدة، وهي وجهة النظر الحكومية، بل وجهة نظر الهيئة، خلاف عادتها في تغطية المسائل المتعلقة بالهيئة والتي تعرضت لانتقادات واسعة خلال الفترة الماضية، من خلال نشر تجاوزاتها وكتابة المقالات التي تحاججها. The local press covered the one point of view, a government point of view, but the point of view of the body, other than the usual coverage of issues relating to the Authority, which was widely criticized during the last period, through the publication of its excesses and writing articles Thajajha.
ولكن يبدو أن الموضوع يختلف بالنسبة للمواطنين الشيعة، فوجهة نظرهم لم تعرض بتاتاً رغم وجود تصويرات فيديو لبعض ما جرى، ولم تقم الصحف بإجراء لقاءات مع أحد من الضحايا نساءً أو رجالاً، كما لم تتعرض للحادثة بوجهة نظر محايدة. But it seems that the topic is different for citizens of the Shiites, their Vugep did not show up at all despite the presence of Tsoirat video of some of what happened, did not press for a meeting with one of the victims are women or men, as the incident had not been exposed to a neutral point of view.
ابتداءً اعتبرت الصحف (ومن خلفها الحكومة) أن القضية طائفية. From newspapers (and left the government) that the sectarian issue.
مشركون (وهم الشيعة) تجاوزوا الحدّ. Polytheists (the Shiites) over the limit. ورجال الهيئة اعتدي عليهم!، والقضاء الوهابي الذي يشتمه ليبراليو الصحف المحلية ليلاً ونهاراً، صار له الكلمة الفصل في الأمر! The men assaulted the body!, And elimination of the Wahhabi Eshetmh Ibralio to the local press for day and night, has become a word in it!
هكذا اختصرت القضية. Thus, summed up the case.
لأول مرة تصبح الهيئة (مظلومة)! For the first time the body (aggrieved)! فمادام الطرف الآخر شيعياً فلا بد أن يكون هذا الأخير هو المعتدي! So long as the other Shiite party must be the latter is the aggressor!
هيئة حقوق الإنسان لم تنبس ببنت شفة كما هي العادة. Human rights body has not expressed a word as is customary.
ومؤسسات الدولة الأخرى ـ الأمنية ـ وقفت هي الأخرى في صف المعتدي قبال الضحية. And other State institutions and security is the other stood on the side of the assailant off the victim.
فإذا كان القضاء والأمن والصحافة وحتى حقوق الإنسان ومن ورائهم الهيئة ورجال السلطة وأمارة المنطقة الشرقية وقفت ضد الشيعة، وتبنت وجهة نظر واحدة، ولم تتكفل حتى بعرض وجهة النظر الأخرى، كيف يراد من الشيعة أن لا يعتبروا هذه البلاد المسعودة طائفية حتى النخاع، وما هي قيمة التعديلات الإدارية التي جاء بها الملك وتم التطبيل لها في كل الصحف، وهي تعديلات امتدحها بعض الشيعة للأسف؟ If the justice and security, the press and even human rights, and the men behind the body and the Principality of the eastern region and stood against the Shiites, and has one point of view, did not even provide for the presentation and other point of view, how to be that of the Shiites do not consider this country Almsaudp sectarian to the core, and what is the value of management changes that are enshrined in the King beating was in all the newspapers, which were praised, unfortunately, some Shi'ites?
نحن نقول، بأن هذه الدولة طائفية، وأن أجهزتها النجدية منحازة ضد الشيعة، وأن حقوق الشيعة لا بد وأن تؤخذ وتنتزع لا أن تستجدى من النظام. We say, that these state-sectarian, and its Alnagdip biased against the Shiites, the Shiites and that the rights must be extracted and not appealing from the system.
ونقول أيضاً، بأن شعارات الوحدة الوطنية والحوار الوطني وما أشبه تكلف الضحية، ولا تسعفه حتى في أخذ أبسط حقوقه. We say also, that the slogans of national unity and national dialogue and the like assigned to the victim, does not serve me to take even the most basic rights.
ليس أمام الشيعة إلا أن يتكاتفوا، وأن يتيقنوا بأن سلطة آل سعود لن تتحول في يوم ما الى صفهم مهما كانت قضيتهم عادلة. Not only for the Shiites to work together, and convinced that the authority of Al-Saud will not turn on regardless of what was described to cause fair.
مواجهة السلطة وليس الإنحناء لها هو الذي يعيد لهم حقوقهم. The face of authority, and not bow to them is their rights back.
التضحية وليس الإستجداء هو الذي يعيد لهم الإعتبار كمواطنين وكبشر. Panhandling is not sacrifice, which is re-account for them as citizens and as human beings.
هذا هو الدرس الذي يجب أن يحفظوه جيداً. This is the lesson that we must Ihfezoh well.
------- Shiite Al-Saud .. المزيد من التصعيد والصدام Further escalation and confrontation (مقالة نشرت في 9/1/2009 في الملتقى) (Article published in the 9/1/2009 in the forum) شبكة الملتقى - 24 / 2 / 2009م - 4:24 م Forum Network - 2-24-2009 - 4:24 p.m.
نحن نتجه الى التصعيد.. We are heading to the escalation ..
الحكومة السعودية لم تغير مواقفها من مسألة التمييز الطائفي ضد الشيعة في البلاد، ولا يبدو في نيتها انها ستفعل ذلك في المستقبل المنظور، وبدون ضغوط حقيقية يقوم بها الشيعة أنفسهم. The Saudi government did not change their positions on the issue of sectarian discrimination against the Shias in the country, does not appear in the intention that it will do so in the foreseeable future, and without the real pressure of the Shiites themselves.
الوضع الإقليمي من جهة الخسائر المتتالية للسياسة الخارجية السعودية ومكانة الدولة السعودية في محيطها العربي والإسلامي، قد يشجعها ويدفعها للإنتقام من مواطنيها الشيعة بالذات. The regional situation, on the successive losses of the foreign policy position of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi state in its Arab and Muslim, has encouraged and paid by its citizens in retaliation for the Shiites in particular.
والسبب أن آل سعود وحلفاءهم الوهابيين يرون أن معركتهم مذهبية ، ومع إيران بالأساس، وليست دينية سياسية مع اسرائيل. The reason that the Al-Saud, Wahhabis and their allies believe that the sectarian battle, with Iran mainly, but not with the religious political Israel. ونظراً للخسائر السياسية السعودية، والتي ترى الأخيرة انها تمت على يد الإيرانيين، فإن الذي يتوقع حدوثه هو زيادة التوتر السعودي ليأخذ وجهتين وليست وجهة واحدة: تصعيد الموقف مع ايران، وزيادة التحريض السعودي لأميركا والغرب على مواجهتها عسكرياً تحت عنوان ملفها النووي، وهو ما تفعله السعودية الآن، وزيادة التنسيق والإلتحام مع الموقف الإسرائيلي الذي يسعى لذات الهدف. In view of the political loss of Saudi Arabia, which sees the latter it was at the hands of the Iranians, which is expected to occur is to increase the tension and Saudi Arabia to take two, not one hand: the escalation of the situation with Iran, Saudi Arabia and to increase the incitement of America and the West to face a military nuclear program under the title, which is what Saudi Arabia Now, to increase coordination and coherence with the Israeli position, which seeks the same goal. الوجهة الثانية: الإنكفاء على الداخل، ربما بسبب زيادة المخاوف السعودية من مواطنيها الشيعة، أو لأن المواجهة تأخذ طابعاً استمرارياً، فكلما تصاعد الصراع مع ايران، تصاعدت حدة التوتر الطائفي الحكومي ضد مواطنيها الشيعة، وهو ما شهدناه طيلة عقد الثمانينات وحتى منتصف التسعينيات الميلادية الماضية. The second destination: to resist the home, perhaps because of increased fears of the citizens of Saudi Shiites, or because the confrontation took Astmrraria character, the more the escalation of the conflict with Iran, tensions have escalated sectarian Shiite government against its citizens, as we have seen over the contract until the mid-eighties and nineties calendar years.
وما يدعو لتوقع التصعيد الحكومي السعودي ضد المواطنين الشيعة، إضافة الى مواجهة آل سعود الفشل الإقليمي، والنظرة المذهبية للصراعات السياسية، فإن فشل الحكومة السعودية في حلحلة مسألة التمييز الطائفي رغم توافر الظروف طيلة السنين الخمسة عشر الماضية، وبالتحديد منذ 1993م، وهو تاريخ الحوار بين المعارضة الشيعية مع السلطة.. And escalation of calls to expect the Saudi government against Shiite citizens, as well as to meet the Al-Saud, regional failure, and the view of the sectarian political conflicts, the failure of the Saudi government in resolving the issue of sectarian discrimination, despite the availability of circumstances over the past fifteen years, specifically since 1993, the date on which the dialogue between the opposition Shi'ite power .. أخذ يرتد على نظام الحكم، وظهرت بوادر مواجهة شهدنا بدايات ملامحها منذ نحو ثلاثة أشهر، حيث تصاعد الخطاب السياسي بالنسبة للناشطين السياسيين الشيعة، وظهرت ملامح توثب في الشارع الشيعي، في وقت تشعر فيه الحكومة السعودية بالقلق من جهة الوضع الإقليمي وتداعيات خسائره عليها، خاصة مع خسارتها الجديدة في غزة. Taking back the government, appeared the face of signs of the beginnings of features we have seen for nearly three months, with the escalation of the political discourse for the Shiite political activists, and new features Tothb in the Shiite street, at a time when the Saudi Arabian government is concerned, on the regional situation and the repercussions of losses, especially with new loss in the Gaza Strip. كل هذا يشجع الحكومة السعودية على التصعيد، خاصة وأن هناك بين المسؤولين السعوديين الطائفيين من يعتقد بأن المواطنين الشيعة يجب أن يسحقوا وأن لا حل معهم إلا بالمزيد من الشدة والعنف وشمولية التمييز الطائفي. All this encourages the Saudi government on the escalation, especially since there are between Saudi officials believed that the cult of Shiite citizens must Ishakoa and not only a solution with more intensity and universality of violence and sectarian discrimination.
بالطبع فإن الحكومة السعودية أيضاً لا تشعر بضغط خارجي، اقليمي أو دولي، وبالتالي فإنها ترى إمكانية كبيرة في التعاطي مع الشأن الداخلي قمعاً وإرهاباً دونما خشية من ضغوط، اللهم إلا بعض الصرخات الخافتة المتوقعة من المنظمات الحقوقية الدولية. Of course, the Saudi government also does not feel the pressure of an external, regional or international, and therefore it is of the view is great potential in dealing with domestic repression and terrorism without fear of pressure, except some low cries of the expected international human rights organizations.
لكل هذه الأسباب، وضمن هذه الرؤية الشاملة، فإن على الناشطين الشيعة أن يتوقعوا أيام قمع سوداء سعودية. For all these reasons, and within this overall vision, the activists have to expect the suppression of a black day Saudi Arabia. وعليهم أن يعدوا العدة لمواجهة التصعيد الطائفي، فكل المعطيات المحلية والإقليمية والدولية تدفع للإعتقاد بأن صدام النظام مع مواطنيه الشيعة مسألة وقت. They must prepare to face the escalating sectarian, all the local, regional and international levels to believe that Saddam's regime and his Shiite matter of time.
"Bakie events" ... كي لا نخطيء في توجيه المسئولية عما جرى So as not to draw Nkte been doing for ناصر علي الصادق - « شبكة الملتقى » - 24 / 2 / 2009م - 9:59 م Nasser Ali Sadiq - «Network Forum» - 24 / 2 / 2009 m - 9:59 p.m.
هل يمكن تصنيف ما وقع من أحداث على بعد أمتار من قبر رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم، مجرد صدفة؟ Can the classification of the events which took place a few meters away from the tomb of the Messenger of Allah may Allah bless him and his family and peace, just a coincidence?
ويمكن طرح السؤال بصيغة أخرى: إلى أي مدى يمكن اعتبار الحكومة السعودية متورطة فيما بات يُعرف بـ"أحداث البقيع"؟ The question could be put another way: to what extent is the Saudi government was involved in what has become known as the "events Bakie"?
تصريحات وبيانات أصدرتها شخصيات Statements issued by the figures شيعية في السعودية، تحمل مسؤولية ما حدث لعناصر هيئة الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر، وربما تنتابهم الجرأة ويحملونها للهيئة ككيان، والذي تُوج برئاسته الشيخ عبد العزيز الحمين، في تغييرات السبت ما قبل الماضي، وهو المعروف بقربه من الملك عبدالله عبد العزيز. Shia in Saudi Arabia, take responsibility for what happened to the elements of the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the boldness and perhaps lingering hold of the entity, which culminated in his Sheikh Abdul Aziz Ahumain, changes in the Saturday before last, which is known as near to the King Abdullah Abdel-Aziz.
لن أجيب على السؤال أعلاه، ولكنني سأخوض في جولة إقليمية وأبعد من ذلك قليلاً، فربما نجد من خلال وصل بعض الأحداث التي تبدو متفرقة، إجابة على السؤال، وعلى ضوئه يمكن فهم الكثير من الأمور. I will not answer to the above question, but I'm on a tour of regional and go a little further, you may find it through some of the events that seem to separate, the answer to the question, on the basis of which can be understood a lot of things.
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قبل نحو أقل من أسبوعين وقع انفجار استهدف تجمعاً شيعياً في باكستان، وخلال تشييع إحدى الشخصيات الشيعية المُستشهدة في ذلك الانفجار؛ وقع انفجار آخر، حصد أرواح العديد من الشيعة الباكستانيين. By less than two weeks was an explosion targeting the Shi'ite Muslim group in Pakistan, during the funeral of a prominent Shiite Aishdp in that explosion; another explosion, claimed the lives of many Pakistani Shiites.
يمكن القول إن الصراع الطائفي بين الوهابيين والشيعة في ذلك البلد محلي صرف، ولكن لنسجل على الأقل أن الوهابية طرفاً فيه، ولنتذكر التمويل والدعم الذي كانت (ولا زالت) الحكومة السعودية تقدمه للمتشددين الوهابيين في باكستان، وتغذية هذا الخط بالمال والفكر، فهو يُعد ربيبها فعلاً. We can say that the sectarian conflict between the Wahhabis and the Shiites in the country a local exchange, but to record at least that Wahhabism is a party, and remember the support and funding were (and still is) the Saudi government support for Wahhabi militants in Pakistan, and to feed this line of thought and money, it is already Rbebha .
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تشعر القيادة السعودية بنوع من الحنق، لأن الرئيس الأمريكي السابق جورج دبليو بوش، رحل عن سدة الرئاسة في البيت الأبيض قبل أسابيع، ولم يوجه الضربة الموعودة والمنتظرة (في الرياض)، إلى طهران. Saudi leadership is a kind of frustration, because the former U.S. President George W. Bush, left the presidency in the White House a few weeks ago, the strike did not make the promised and expected (in Riyadh), to Tehran. حتى أن أحد أركان الحكم السعودي (بندر بن سلطان) أسرّ لبعض من حوله: أن الضربة آتية لا محالة، فقط انتظروا إمساك بنيامين نتانياهو بزمام الأمور في تل أبيب. Even one of the pillars of the Saudi ruling (Bandar bin Sultan) of some of the families around him: the strike is bound to come, just waited for keeping control of things, Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv.
منحت الرياض (الوهابية) لصراعها السياسي مع طهران (الشيعية)، بُعداً طائفياً، غدته من خلال آلتها الإعلامية بشكل واسع، الذي يقدم في المقروء والمسموع والمكتوب منه، إلكترونياً وورقياً، خطاباً طائفياً غرائزياً، يصل في بعض الأحيان إلى حدود الإسفاف (الأصول اليهودية للرئيس أحمد نجاد أنموذجاً). Riyadh granted (Wahhabism) to its political conflict with Iran (Shiite), a sectarian dimension, Gdth through the media machine is known, which is submitted in print, audio and written, the electronically Orkie, addressed sectarian Graizia, in some cases up to the limits Bathos (Jewish assets to the President Ahmadinejad model).
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قد لا نحتاج إلى مجهر لاكتشاف مدى التورط السعودي فيما يجري على الساحة العراقية، واستهداف شيعته، تارة بالتفجيرات والعمل الأمني، وأخرى سياسياً، حين أصرت على عدم استقبال رئيس الوزراء العراقي نوري المالكي (الشيعي)، أو مسار المماطلة والابتزاز السياسي في افتتاح سفارة لها في بغداد، أو ضغطها على دول تدور في فلكها السياسي، لعدم إسقاط الديون عن العراق، وأغلبها منحته للنظام السابق. May not need a microscope to detect the extent of Saudi involvement in what's going on in the Iraqi arena, and the targeting of Shiites, sometimes in the bombings and security work, and other politically, while insisted on not receiving the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (Shiite), or the path of procrastination and political blackmail in the opening of an embassy in Baghdad, or to put pressure on countries that move in its orbit the political, in the absence of debt forgiveness for Iraq, mostly granted to the former regime.
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في الساحة اللبنانية يتجلى الحقد الطائفي السعودي على الشيعة هناك، فمن الغطاء السياسي الذي منحته للعدوان الإسرائيلي في حرب تموز عام 2006، إلى إقحام حلفاء الرياض من فريق 14 آذار، في خضم معركة طائفية، وإشعال الفتنة المذهبية هناك تحت عناوين متعددة، مستعينة مرة أخرى بآلتها الإعلامية، أو بشراء ذمم بعض السياسيين اللبنانيين. Reflected in the Lebanese arena of sectarian hatred, Saudi Shiites, there is the political cover given to the Israeli aggression in the war in July 2006, to involve the allies of the Group of Riyadh, March 14, in the midst of a sectarian battle, and ignite sectarian strife there under multiple addresses, using again Baltha information, or the purchase of receivables of some Lebanese politicians.
ح تى العمل الأمني لم يكن غائباً، فلقد كانت الأجهزة الأمنية السعودية تقوم بأدوار خطيرة جداً، في تمويل وإسناد بعض المجموعات السنية المتطرفة، وهو ما أثار مخاوف حتى بعض الدول الأوروبية، وتحديداً فرنسا، التي تجري حالياً تحقيقاً أمنياً، حول وصول أسلحة فرنسية باعتها باريس للرياض، إلى أيدي عناصر متشددة في طرابلس وبعض مخيمات الفلسطينيين في لبنان. Sun T security work is not absent, has been the Saudi security services are very serious roles, in the financing and the assignment of some Sunni extremist groups, which raised fears of even some European countries, particularly France, which are currently under way to achieve security, on the arrival of French weapons sold Paris Riyadh, into the hands of radical elements in Tripoli and some Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.
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توترات مذهبية في البحرين، تأخذ بُعداً أمنياً، واعتقالات تطال نشطاء شيعة، ومحاكمة لهم لتورطهم فيما يدعيه نظام الحكم هناك بأنه "محاولة انقلابية". Sectarian tensions in Bahrain, taking a security dimension, and of arrests against Shiite militants, and to prosecute them for their involvement in the claim of the regime there as a "coup attempt".
وتوترات تحمل الطابع ذاته في الكويت، واستهداف لرموز وشخصيات شيعية هناك. And tensions with the same character in Kuwait, and the targeting of the Shiite symbols and figures there.
ويتزعم الجانب الأبرز من التوتير المذهبي في هذين البلدين شخصيات معروفة ببعدها السلفي مثل النائبان البحريني جاسم السعيدي، والكويتي وليد الطبطائي. The leader of the most prominent aspect of sectarian tension in these two figures are known dimension, such as the Salafi MPs Bahrain Jassim al-Saidi, and Kuwaiti Walid Tabtaii.
وهنا يبدو من الصعب إغفال الأيدي السعودية، السياسية أو الدينية في التوتير المذهبي، سواءً على الساحة البحرينية أو الكويتية أو في دول أخرى. Here, it seems difficult to disregard the hands of Saudi Arabia, political or religious sectarian tension, both on the ground in Bahrain or Kuwait or other countries. على الأقل يمكن تحميلها مسؤولية كل تبعات تيار التشدد السلفي محلياً وخارجياً، والذي رعته ومولته لعقود مضت، بالإضافة إلى الخطاب الطائفي البغيض الذي يصدر من آلتها الإعلامية. At least can be held responsible for all consequences of the Salafi trend of militancy at home and abroad, which is sponsored and funded for decades, in addition to the hateful sectarian discourse emanating from the media machine.
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Hyder Hyder Hussain Hussain Baqih Graveyard, Saudi Police is standing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGcHDA7QI0o
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Shiek Jawwad Al Farroghi is critically injured after Salafis stabbed knife and has been taken to the hospital.Also quoted by the news channel Al-Manar Sheikh stabbed various parts of his body وقناة العالم تغطي الحدث عبر الشريط الأخباري Channel and the world covering the event via video news يجب التصعيد واعلام كل العالم بما يجري في ارض الحرمين Escalation and the media should be all over the world to what is happening in the Land of the Two Holy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBytbGEFcMA
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Very urgent: the Saudi government to stop abuses against pilgrims Madinah
24\2\2009 24 \ 2 \ 2009
تتواصل الأخبار المقلقة جدا عن تعرض الزوار الشيعة للمدينة المنورة لتحرشات وإعتداءات سافرة بدأت بتصوير النساء الشيعيات من قبل أحد أفراد هيئة الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر ثم مهاجمة مجموعات من الهيئة لتجمعات الشيعة بل وبعض مناطق سكنهم في المدينة المنورة وأخيرا التقارير المفجعة عن تدخل رجال الأمن لا للحد من هجمات المتطرفين على مواطنين وزوار عزل بل ضد هؤلاء الشيعة المستفزون أساسا من قبل رجال هيئة الأمر بالمعروف Are very disturbing news that a Shi'ite pilgrims to the city of Medina for the blatant harassment and attacks began photographing women Alcieiat by a member of the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, and then to attack groups of the body of the Shiite groups and even some areas of residence in Medina, and finally the tragic reports of interference by security personnel not to reduce of extremist attacks on unarmed citizens and visitors, but against the Shiite Almstvzon mainly by the men of the Propagation of Virtue
إن جمعية حقوق الإنسان أولا وهي تعبر بداية عن أشد إستنكارها للتهجم على الشيعة زوارا ومقيمين في المدينة المنورة لتحذر الحكومة السعودية من عواقب كارثية إذا لم تسارع الحكومة لردع الإعتداءات على جزء من شعبها وعلى عقيدة وتعبد هذا الجزأ The Assembly of Human Rights First, a cross from the beginning of the condemnation of the attacks on Shiite pilgrims and residents in Medina to the Saudi government is warning of disastrous consequences unless the Government to deter aggression on the part of the people and on the doctrine and worship that Algeria
إن جمعية حقوق الإنسان أولا تطالب الحكومة السعودية بما يلي The Assembly of Human Rights First called on the Saudi Government, including the following
أولا:تحقيق نزيه يشارك فيه قيادات شيعية معروفة لأصل المشكلة وتقديم المتسبب الأساس للقضاء ويشمل ذلك دور هيئة الأمر بالمعروف في المدينة المنورة فالمدينة مكان للعبادة على جميع مذاهب الإسلام قاطبة وليس على طريقة مذهب معين فقط I.: impartial investigation in which the Shi'ite leaders are known to the root of the problem and provide the basis for the author of the Judiciary and include the role of the Promotion of Virtue in Medina city is a place of worship to all the doctrines of Islam and not all the way to the doctrine of a single
ثانيا:يجب أن تنظر الحكومة بعمق للمسببات الحقيقية لماحدث ويحدث في المدينة وأن تعلن أن المملكة ليست أحادية المذهب ولكنها دولة مسلمة متعددة المذاهب ومن مواطنيها:شيعة،إسماعيلية وصوفية وعليه فإنه إذا كان لابد من هيئة للفضيلة فيجب أن يكون أعضاؤها وقادتها من جميع المذاهب المتعبد بها في المملكة Second: The government must consider in depth the real causes of what happened and is happening in the city and to declare that the Kingdom is not a single doctrine, but a Muslim sects is a multi-citizens: the Shia, and Sufi Ismaeilip, therefore, whether the body should be a virtue must be its members and leaders from all sects of the worshiper in the UK
ثالثا:إن المدقق لما بين سطور الأحداث سيلاحظ أن أحداثا مثل هذه أودونها تقع دائما بعد كل دفع بالوطن تجاه الإصلاح من قبل الملك عبدالله بن عبدالعزيز وعليه فإن القيادة السياسية السعودية مطالبة بأن تكون حاسمة وصارمة في معاقبة المتسببين بإثارة الفتن الطائفية وتفتيت الوحدة الوطنية III: The Auditor for the lines between the events will be noted that events such as this is always Oodunha after payment of the home to the reform by King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, the Saudi political leadership is required to be decisive and firm in punishing the perpetrators of stirring sectarian strife and the fragmentation of national unity
جمعية حقوق الإنسان أولا Human Rights First Society
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Entity, the Saudi security forces prevented hundreds of Shiite pilgrims from visiting Bakie
22/2/2009 22/2/2009
في يوم الجمعة 20 فبراير 2009 قام عدد من عناصر ما تسمى بـ (هيئة الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر) بمنع العديد من النساء الشيعيات القادمات من المنطقة الشرقية لأجل زيارة أئمة أهل البيت عليهم السلام من الدخول الى مقبرة البقيع , حيث قام المسؤول عن المقبرة بإغلاق أبوابها أمام النساء الأمر الذي أدى إلى احتجاج الزائرات , بعد ذلك قام أحد عناصر الهيئة بتصوير النساء بكاميرة فيديو بالإضافة إلى قيام عناصر الهيئة بالتحرش بهن ونبزهن بألفاظ بذيئة ، مما أدى إلى حصول مواجهة بين النساء وعناصر الهيئة حيث استخدمن الأحذية لضرب المطاوعة . On Friday, February 20, 2009, the number of elements of the so-called (the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice) to prevent many women Alcieiat coming from the eastern region of the Imams of the people to visit the home, peace be upon them from entering the cemetery Bakie, where he is responsible for the cemetery to close its doors for women, which led visitors to the protest, then one of the elements of the photographed women Bcamirp video in addition to the elements of the harassment and Nbizen them to use racial slurs, which led to a confrontation between the women and the elements of the body where the shoes used for striking plasticity. كما قام المئات من الشباب والرجال الشيعة ممن يصطحبون النساء بالتجمع أمام مركز هيئة البقيع وطالبوا رجال الهيئة بتسليمهم أشرطة الفديو التي تم تصويرها. As hundreds of young men and women accompanied by the Shiites, who gather in front of the body and demanded the men Bakie body handed over video tapes that have been photographed.
وقامت سلطات الكيان السعودي على أثر ذلك باستدعاء عدد كبير من قوات الأمن وقوات مكافحة الشغب وقوات الطوارئ , لتفريق المحتجين الذين بلغ عددهم أكثر من 2000 شخصا كما اعتقلت قوات الأمن خمسة من الشباب الشيعة بعد نقلهم إلى جهة غير معلومة . The Saudi authorities on the impact of the entity to call that a large number of security forces and riot police and emergency forces, to disperse the protesters, who numbered more than 2000 people and security forces arrested five young men to death after being transferred to an unknown destination.
وقد حاول الكيان السعودي تبرير الأفعال التي قامت بها عناصر الهيئة وكما صرح به الناطق الأمني لشرطة المدينة (العقيد) محسن بن صالح الردادي إلى صحيفتي الرياض والوطن المملوكتين للحكومة بان (الزوار الشيعة قد أصروا على الدخول إلى مقبرة البقيع بعد أن أغلقت أبوابها وقاموا بإحداث فوضى ورفع الأصوات أمام بوابة البقيع مما دعا رجال الأمن المتواجدين بالقرب من الموقع إلى القبض على خمسة أشخاص وتم تحويلهم إلى جهات الاختصاص للتحقيق معهم حيال ما بدر منهم). Saudi entity has tried to justify the actions carried out by elements of the body and also said the security spokesman for the Metropolitan Police (Colonel) Radadi Mohsin bin Saleh al-Riyadh and the home belonging to the Government that the (Shiite pilgrims had insisted on going into a cemetery Bakie after it closed its doors and they cause chaos and raise the Bakie votes before the gate, prompting the security of the site located near to the arrest of five persons have been transferred to the concerned authorities for questioning about the Badr them).
والجدير بالذكر أن الآلاف من الزائرين الشيعة يقصدون كل عام المدينة المنورة وقبل ذكرى شهادة الرسول صلى الله عليه وآله قادمين من القطيف والأحساء , وهذا ما يؤدي إلى استفزاز (هيئة الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر) حيث يعتبرون الأمر برمته استفزازاً لسلطات الكيان السعودي الذي يمنع المسلمين ممن لا يدينون بالعقيدة الوهابية ومن جميع المذاهب الإسلامية الأخرى من أداء شعائرهم الدينية والتي يعتبرها أعمالا شركية تتنافى مع الدين الإسلامي . It is worth mentioning that thousands of visitors each year go to the Shiite holy city of Medina and the testimony before the anniversary of the Prophet may Allah bless him and his family from Al-Ahsa and Qatif, and this leads to a provocation (the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice), where the whole matter is considered a provocation to the authorities of the entity in Saudi Arabia, which prevents Muslims who do not condemn the Wahhabi doctrine of Islamic doctrines and all other performance of their religious rites and acts Crkip which are considered incompatible with the Islamic religion.
لقد خضع سجل الكيان السعودي لحقوق الإنسان إلى تمحيص وتدقيق من قبل المنظمات العالمية لحقوق الإنسان وخاصة مجلس حقوق الإنسان التابع للأمم المتحدة الذي قام بعقد حلقة مراجعة تقرير الكيان السعودي في السادس من الشهر الجاري في مقره في جنيف حول أوضاع حقوق الإنسان في (السعودية). وقالت منظمة هيومن رايتس ووتش بأن التقرير المذكور أخفق في ذكر الانتهاكات الجسيمة القائمة بمجال حقوق الإنسان في المملكة، ومن بين ذلك التضييق على حرية التعبير وتكوين الجمعيات والتجمع والمعتقد الديني، ونظام العدالة الجنائية المتعسف، والتمييز ضد المرأة، وإساءات جسيمة تُرتكب بحق المواطنين الشيعة في المملكة. The record of the entity subject to the Saudi Human Rights to the examination and scrutiny by the international organizations for human rights and, in particular the Human Rights Council of the United Nations by holding a review of the report of the Saudi entity in the sixth of this month at its headquarters in Geneva on the situation of human rights in the (Saudi Arabia) said. Human Rights Watch said that the report failed to mention the area of the existing gross violations of human rights in the Kingdom, and between that restrictions on freedom of expression, association, assembly and religious belief, and the criminal justice system arbitrary, and discrimination against women, and serious abuses committed against the Shia population in the Kingdom.
لقد حاول الكيان السعودي وبعدة مناسبات تبرير أفعاله التي تنتهك حقوق الإنسان لمواطني شبه الجزيرة العربية , وكذلك محاولته لصرف الأنظار من خلال إجراء تغييرات جديدة في هيكلية المؤسسة الدينية المسؤولة المباشرة عن إصدار الفتاوى والقرارات الخاصة بالحجر الديني على الطوائف والأقليات الدينية الغير منضوية تحت مذهب السلطة , إلا أن محاولاته لم تأت بجديد , ولا زال الكيان يعيش في عقلية متخلفة عفى عليها الزمن , معتمدا على تأثيره في الاقتصاد العالمي في إسكات أصوات الانتقاد من المجتمع الدولي . Saudi entity has tried a number of occasions and justify actions which violate the human rights of the citizens of the Arabian Peninsula, as well as trying to distract attention through new changes in the structure of the religious institution directly responsible for issuing advisory opinions and decisions of the stone of religious communities and religious minorities under the umbrella of others the doctrine of power, that there was nothing new in his attempts, and still live in the mindset of the entity backward outdated, relying on its impact in the global economy in silencing the voices of criticism from the international community.
تطالب لجنة الدفاع عن حقوق الإنسان في شبه الجزيرة العربية المجتمع الدولي بالرد على تجاوزات الكيان السعودي على حقوق الأقليات والطوائف الدينية وبالخصوص شعب المنطقة الشرقية من الشيعة لما يلحقهم كل يوم من مساوئ يرتكبها الكيان بحقهم , ووضع المصالح والعلاقات الاقتصادية جانباً في التعامل مع حقوق الإنسان . كما تطالب اللجنة سلطات الكيان السعودي بالكشف عن مصير المواطنين الخمسة الذين جرى اعتقالهم , وإطلاق سراحهم فوراً . Calling the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in the Arabian Peninsula, the international community to respond to the excesses of the Saudi entity to the rights of minorities and religious communities and in particular the people of the eastern region of the Shiites, usually for each day of the evils committed by the right entity, and the development of economic relations and interests aside to deal with human rights. The Committee calls upon the authorities of the Saudi entity to disclose the fate of the five people who have been arrested, and released immediately.
خروج المئات من المتظاهرين من بلدة العوامية وهم يحملون صور السجناء المنسيين ويهتفون الموت للوهابية الموت للتكفريين Out of hundreds of demonstrators from the town, carrying pictures of Awamiya forgotten prisoners and chanting death to the death of the Wahabite Tkvrien
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Order to qualify for the bodies of three young Shiites .. والعوامية تكسر قيود النظام بتظاهرة حاشدة Awamiya restrictions and break the rules of a mass demonstration
نساء الشيعة يعتصمن أمام شرطة المدينة ويطالبن بإطلاق سراح المعتقلين Shiite women vigil in front of the city's police and demanded the release of prisoners شبكة الملتقى - 24 / 2 / 2009م - 7:49 م Forum Network - 2-24-2009 - 7:49 p.m. جانب من التظاهرة في العوامية Part of the demonstration in the Awamiya
انتهت قبل قليل مظاهرة العوامية الثانية دون حدوث صدامات، إذ يبدو أن السلطات الأمنية خشيت من أن يؤدي تدخلها المباشر الى احتمال استخدام السلاح ضد تلك القوات والذي تعتقد الحكومة أنه متوافر، وان النفوس مستعدة لاستخدامه. Demonstration ended shortly before the second Awamiya without clashes, it appears that the security authorities feared it could lead to the possibility of direct interference with the use of arms against those forces which the Government believes that it is available, and that the soul is ready to use.
وكانت القوات المتواجدة في مركز شرطة العوامية قد أطلقت النار في الهواء لإخافة المتظاهرين، ولكن الأخيرين واصلوا التظاهرة ورشقوا المركز بالحجارة والعلب الزجاجية الفارغة، وهتفوا بشعارات: (تسقط سلطة الوهابية/ تسقط سلطة آل سعود/ تسقط سلطة نايف). The troops were stationed in the police station Awamiya shot in the air to frighten the demonstrators, but the latter continued to protest and threw stones at the Center and the empty cans, glass, and chanted slogans: (Down Wahabite authority / Down with the authority of Al-Saud / Down Nayif authority).
وكانت الحكومة قد استقدمت قوات الأمن لمواجهة المتظاهرين في العوامية، وقد وصلت القوات الى العوامية فيما التظاهرات قائمة، ولكنها رابطت عند مداخل المدينة. The government had brought the security forces to confront the demonstrators in Awamiya, and the troops arrived at Awamiya with a list of events, but was stationed at the entrances to the city. وقال شهود عيان أن أكثر من عشر حافلات تقل ما يقارب من خمسمائة عنصر أمن قد أغلقت مداخل المدينة. Witnesses said that more than a dozen buses carrying nearly five hundred of the security element has closed the entrances to the city. ويعتقد على نطاق واسع ان قوات امنية اضافية قد استقدمت لكل مدن وقرى المنطقة الشرقية تحسباً لتطورات الأوضاع في الأيام القادمة.
من جهة أخرى أعلنت القوى الشبابية التي نظمت مظاهرة العوامية أن الجمعة القادم سيكون يوم تظاهر لجميع مدن وقرى محافظة القطيف، وسيكون التجمع في ساحة القلعة بالقطيف. The other hand, has been organized by the youth forces Awamiya that the demonstration will be on Friday demonstrated to all cities and villages of Qatif province, and will be gathering in the courtyard of the castle Balkotaiv.
المظاهرة الأولى The first demonstration
وكانت العوامية قد شهدت عصر اليوم مظاهرة أولى شارك فيها عدد من رجال الدين، تقدمهم الشيخ نمر النمر، ما لبث ان التحقت بها حشود من الرجال والنساء، ورفع المتظاهرون شعارات، مثل "تسقط السلطة الوهابية، لبيك يا رسول الله، لن نركع إلا لله، من مات دون عرضه فهو شهيد". The Awamiya have seen a demonstration this afternoon the first in which a number of clerics, led by Sheikh Nimr Nimr, soon joined by crowds of men and women, and raising slogans such as "Down with the Wahhabi, oh Messenger of Allah, will not kneel to God, Matt is introduced without a martyr. "
وجال شبان وشابات من مختلف مناطق القطيف شوارع العوامية الرئيسة من دون تدخل أمني، حيث لم تُشاهد أي دورية أمنية في العوامية عصر هذا اليوم، مما ساهم في تجمع الحشود التي شوهدت تتظاهر أمام مسجد الرسول الأعظم في حي الجميمة حتى طريق العوامية صفوى العام، واختتمت المسيرة وجهتها في مصلى كربلاء الذي هدمته السلطات السعودية قبل فترة. And toured the young men and women from different parts of the streets of Qatif Awamiya President without the intervention of security, where they have not seen any security patrol in Awamiya this afternoon, which contributed to the gathering crowd pretends to be seen before the Great Prophet mosque in the district Albmp Awamiya Safavi, even through the year, and concluded with a addressed in the Chapel of Karbala, which was demolished by the Saudi authorities.
وشدد المتظاهرون على حق الشيعة في تأدية زيارة أهل البيت والرسول الأعظم في المدينة المنورة، وقال مشاركون في التظاهرة التي اتسمت بحضور مثقفين من مختلف التوجهات لـ"الملتقى" إننا نأتي هنا لنتضامن مع أهلنا الذين يلاحقون حاليا في المدينة المنورة، منددين بالهجوم التكفيري الإرهابي، محملين في الوقت نفسه السلطة المسؤولية فيما جرى. They stressed the right of the Shiites in the performance of the home and visit the people of the Great Prophet in Medina, said participants in the demonstration, which was characterized by the presence of intellectuals from different orientations of the "Forum" We come here in solidarity with our people who are currently prosecuted in the city of Medina, condemning the terrorist attack takfiri, loaded At the same time the responsibility was.
Demonstration Awamiya 2
مشاركة نسائية في تظاهرة العوامية Women's participation in a demonstration Awamiya
طعن رجل دين ومصلين Stabbed a man of God, prayer
وفيما أفادت أنباء عن استشهاد ثلاثة من المواطنين في الهجمات الحكومية، فإن إسماً واحداً فقط قد تم تداوله، وهو زكي عبدالله المحاسنة، والبالغ من العمر 16 عاماً، والذي تعرض لطلقة رصاص في صدره. As reported in the deaths of three people in the government attacks, the only one name, had been circulated, which Mahasnp Zaki Abdullah, the 16-year-old, who was shot in the chest.
وشهد الثلاثاء مواصلة الإعتداءات على الزوار الشيعة من قبل قوات الأمن وداعميها من المتشددين الوهابيين، الأمر الذي حرم الكثيرين من الصلاة في المسجد النبوي، كما بقي عدد غير قليل من الزائرين في مقرات سكناهم خشية التعرض لهم. Tuesday saw the continuation of attacks on Shiite pilgrims by the security forces and militants Daamiha of the Wahhabis, which was denied many of the prayers at the Prophet's Mosque, and stayed quite a few visitors at the headquarters of their fear of exposure to them.
وكانت عدة مصادر قد أكدت صباح اليوم نبأ طعن الشيخ جواد الحضري ( 50 عام ) من مدينة العمران بالأحساء بالسلاح الأبيض على يد أحد المتطرفين تحت أنظار رجال الأمن دون أن يتدخلوا لحمايته أو إسعافه. And several sources have confirmed this morning the news of Sheikh Jawad urban challenge (50 in) of the city built-Ahsa with knives at the hands of extremists under the eyes of one of the security men without intervening to protect him or succor. في حين أفاد موقع شجون الأحساء أن شابين أحسائيين من آل بقشي طالتهما سكاكين وعصي الوهابيين أُدخلا على أثر مهاجمتهما المستشفى، وكان احدهما في حالة خطرة وهو حسين علي البقشي، الذي تلقى عدة طعنات غادرة بالسكين، في حين تم اعتقال رضا حسين البقشي رغم اصابته. While emotional Ahsa site reported that two young men from the Al Ohsaiien Bakeci Talthma knives and sticks Wahabis Mhajmthma alterations to the impact of the hospital, one in critical condition, a Bakci Ali Hussein, who received several stab wounds treacherous knife, while Hussein was arrested Reza Bakci despite the injury.
عودة الزائرين Return visitors
وكانت جموع من الزائرين عبر البر قد أبدت خشيتها من العودة عبر القصيم، حيث معقل الوهابية وسط نجد، وقد اعتاد الوهابيون مهاجمة حافلات الشيعة، في تجسيد حي لمزاعم (الدمج الوطني). The crowds of visitors from across the mainland have expressed concern over the return Quassim, where we find the central stronghold of Wahhabism, has been used to attack the bus Wahhabi Shiite neighborhood in the embodiment of the allegations (national integration). ووردت انباء يوم امس الإثنين من بعض المواقع بأن السلطة تعهدت بمرافقة الحافلات الشيعية عند تخوم القصيم، لكن الزوار الذين انهوا زيارتهم اليوم وانطلقوا الى المنطقة الشرقية، اكدوا بأن الشرطة لم ترافق أياً منه. It was reported on Monday from some of the sites that the Authority undertook to escort the buses at the edge of the Shiite Al Qassim, but the visitors who ended their visit today, and sped away to the eastern region, confirmed that the police did not accompany any of it.
وفي الوقت نفسه أفاد عدد من المواقع (وبينها موقع شجون الأحساء) أن عدداً من حافلات الزائرين الشيعة تعرضت لرشق بالحجارة حين مرت بمنطقة القصيم، وأن هناك إصابات بين الركاب عديدة. At the same time a number of sites (including the site of Al-Ahsa emotional) that a number of buses visiting the Shiites were stoned when passed Qassim region, and that there are many casualties among the passengers.
التعقيبات المنشورة لا تعبر بالضرورة عن رأي الموقع Published comments do not necessarily reflect the view of the site » التعليقات «23» »Comments« 23 » محمد Mohamed [1] [1] 24 / 2 / 2009م - 8:05 م 2-24-2009 - 8:05 p.m. الأن خروج مظاهرات ثانية في العوامية Now again in demonstrations Awamiya بدأت الساعة 7:30 مساء Started at 7:30 p.m. خالد Khaled [2] [2] [ العوالي - المدينة ]: 24 / 2 / 2009م - 8:19 م [Awali - City]: 2-24-2009 - 8:19 p.m. بحق كل قطرة دم سالت The right of every drop of blood shed بحق كل شهيد The right of every martyr بحق محمد وال محمد The right of Muhammad and Muhammad سننتقم We will take revenge محمد Mohamed [3] [3] 24 / 2 / 2009م - 8:28 م 2-24-2009 - 8:28 p.m. اخبار مؤكدة News uncertain
الآن التظاهرة الثانية بالعوامية Now the second demonstration Balawamip حشود اكثر من المظاهرة الاولى Crowds of more than the first demonstration (رجال ونساء) (Men and women) خرجت من كربلاء I came out of Karbala وسارت نحو الشارع العام ووصلت الآن الى حي الريف And marched towards the street and now arrived to the rural district الجذير بالذكر ان مركز شرطة العوامية يقع في حي الريف مكان وصول المظاهرة حالياً Aljazir noted that Awamiya police station is located in a rural location and the arrival of the demonstration is currently عبداالله الاحسائي Abdaallah Alahsaii [4] [4] [ الاحساء - الهفوف ]: 24 / 2 / 2009م - 8:57 م [Ihsa - Hofuf]: 2-24-2009 - 8:57 p.m. انا لله وانا اليه راجعون I am God and to Him we return الويل للوهلبيه لن يذهب دم الشهداء هدر سننتقم ايه والله ياي وسيلة كانت Ohlp of the heart blood of the martyrs will not go waste and God's revenge Yai means وهيهات منا الذله - لبيك ياحسين The humiliation of us are crying to the moon - Here Iahasin محمد Mohamed [5] [5] 24 / 2 / 2009م - 9:00 م 2-24-2009 - 9:00 p.m. سماع اطلاق نار بعد وصول المتظاهرين قرب مركز الشرطة بحي الريف Heard gunfire after the arrival of the demonstrators near the center of the rural police district ابو محمد Abu Muhammad [6] [6] [ القطيف ]: 24 / 2 / 2009م - 9:06 م [Qatif]: 2-24-2009 - 9:06 p.m. مركز شرطة العوامية تطلق رصاص كثيف لأخافة المتظاهرين في المظاهرة الثانية قبل قليل Police station Awamiya heavy bullets fired to scare away the protesters in the rally shortly before the second ليلاً وعند الساعة السابعة والنصف خرجت المظاهرة الثانية في العوامية And night at the seventh and a half left in the second demonstration Awamiya ومازالت الأوضاع متوترة The situation is still tense مغترب Expatriate [7] [7] [ أمريكا ]: 24 / 2 / 2009م - 9:07 م [America]: 2-24-2009 - 9:07 p.m. هنيئاً لكم الشهادة يا أنصار الله .. Blessed are you, supporters of the certificate to you God .. والموت للنواصب ! And death of Noesb! ابو محمد Abu Muhammad [8] [8] [ القطيف ]: 24 / 2 / 2009م - 9:14 م [Qatif]: 2-24-2009 - 9:14 p.m. تعرض بعض المصلين داخل الحرم النبوي للطعن بالسكاكين من الخلف اثناء صلاتهم في الحرم النبوي Some of the worshipers inside the mosque of the Prophet stabbed with knives in the back while praying in a Mosque اصيب اثنان من عائلتنا بطعنات غادرة احد المصابين طفل في الحادية عشر من العمر Two family treacherous stab one of the injured children in the age of eleven المجرم الذي طعنه جاءه من الخلف وهو يصلي وقام المجرم بالتكبير والتسمية قبل ان يطعن هذا الطفل البريء في ظهره The offender, who came from behind and stabbed him as he prayed and the name and offender Allaahu akbar challenged before this innocent child in the back
هذا الكلام نقلاً من منتدى الديوانيات This is quoted from the forum forums علي Ali [9] [9] [ الأمارات - دبي ]: 24 / 2 / 2009م - 9:31 م [United Arab Emirates - Dubai]: 2-24-2009 - 9:31 p.m. هيهااات من الذله Hiaaaat of the Fight
نحن لكم بالمرصات يا آل سلول لعنكم الله وعلى أتباعكم. We are you, O Al Palmrsat Slol to you for following God.
والله لانبالي الموت أروحناا لكم الفداء يا أهل البيت. God Anpali death Orouhnaa you sacrifice the people of my home.
يا شيعة العالم أستيقضووو الموت للنواصب الوهابية والسلفيه. Oh Shiite death to the world Ostiqdowo Noesb Wahhabi and Salafi.
هنيئا لمن استشهدو على ولايه أمير المؤمنين. Blessed are those who A_i_hdo to the mandate of the faithful.
نقف صامدين بوجه الأعداء النواصب. Stand firm in Nawasib enemies. مهدي Mahdi [10] [10] 24 / 2 / 2009م - 9:32 م 2-24-2009 - 9:32 p.m. الحكومة تطلق النار لتخويف المتظاهرين في العوامية Government fire to intimidate demonstrators in Awamiya محمد Mohamed [11] [11] 24 / 2 / 2009م - 9:45 م 2-24-2009 - 9:45 p.m. وصول عدد من قوات مكافحة الشغب The arrival of a number of riot police قادمة من صوفى الى مركز شرطة العوامية Coming from Sophie to the police station Awamiya محمد Mohamed [12] [12] 24 / 2 / 2009م - 9:45 م 2-24-2009 - 9:45 p.m. وصول عدد من قوات مكافحة الشغب The arrival of a number of riot police قادمة من صفوى الى مركز شرطة العوامية Safavi, coming from the police station Awamiya قبل قليل Shortly before hussain hussain [13] [13] 24 / 2 / 2009م - 9:55 م 2-24-2009 - 9:55 p.m. وثقوا المظاهرات بارك الله فيكم The demonstrations have confidence in you God bless عبداالله الاحسائي Abdaallah Alahsaii [14] [14] [ الاحساء - الهفوف ]: 24 / 2 / 2009م - 9:58 م [Ihsa - Hofuf]: 2-24-2009 - 9:58 p.m. عاجل00 انباء وردتني قبل قليل (تعرض عدة باصات تقل الزوار من المدينه المنوره متجهين الى المنطقه الشرقيه وعند مرورهم في منطقة القصيم تعرضوا لهم وهابيه بالسب والشتم والاعتداء عليهم بالضرب 000 Urgent: 00 I have news shortly before (been a number of buses carrying pilgrims from Medina, heading to the eastern region and as they passed in the Qassim region, Wahhabite them were cursing, reviling and abuse beat 000 وتم بلاغ الجهات الامنيه لكي تسيطر عالاوضاع00 It was a communication to the security control Alaaudhaa 00 غربة الروح Strangeness spirit [15] [15] [ عوامية وافتخر - قلب عواااام ]: 24 / 2 / 2009م - 10:58 م [Awamip and proud - the heart of Awaaaam]: 2-24-2009 - 10:58 p.m. ياربي وينكم ياشيوخنا وينكم عن هالظلم ليش هالسكوت تحركو حرااام الاروح تروح Iarpi and Enkm Iashiwkhana and Enkm on Halzlm Why Halscott Thrko Hraaam lives you وانتو تتتفرجو لا زم تتحركو كفايه نوم كام زين بيد النساء والله ماوقفنا ننطالع Lantu Ttaatfarago and do not tuck Taathrko Enough sleep Cam Zine, however, women and God Maoagafna Nntala ابو محمد Abu Muhammad [16] [16] [ القطيف ]: 24 / 2 / 2009م - 11:20 م [Qatif]: 2-24-2009 - 11:20 p.m. أناشد القائمين على موقع شهداء القطيف بفك الحجب عن الزوار لكي يطلع الجميع على الحقائق Based on the appeal to the martyrs of Qatif on the visitors to break the block in order to make all of the facts وقلت هذا هنا لأنني غير مسجل والكثير مثلي يتمنى فك الحجب على الأقل لمدة اسبوع. I said this here because I am not registered and wishes to break a lot like me, blocking at least a week. Silent Silent [17] [17] [ أرض الأحرار - القطيف ]: 24 / 2 / 2009م - 11:37 م [Land of the Free - Qatif]: 2-24-2009 - 11:37 p.m. كما طلب الأخ أبو محمد وأؤيده فيما طلب وازيد عليه يجب على جميع المواقع وخصوصاً المنتديات الشيعية إلغاء طلب التسجيل وجعل الموقع مفتوح للجميع فلا حاجة للتسجيل إلى متى نبقى على هذا الفكر الذي لا معنى له تعلموا من الغرب فعند حاجتي لدخول موقع اجنبي استطيع الاطلاع على كل ما فيه حتى ان بعضها تستطيع التعليق بدون تسجيل .. He also asked the brother, Abu Mohammed, and I asked for and more for all the sites and forums, especially the Shiite and the cancellation of the registration request to make the site open to all, there is no need to register once to keep this thought, which is meaningless when the West learned from my entry for the foreign site, I can see everything where some even unable to comment without registering .. والحال الآن يتطلب هذا الامر فأرجو من الجميع الاستجابة ونشر طلبي هذا في الكثير من المنتديات ورسائل البريد الالكتروني The situation now requires this of everyone, please respond and deploy applications that in many forums and e-mails فالاعلام هو اقوى سلاح لدينا ويجب علينا ان نستغله في فضج هذه الحكومة الوهابية وازلامها النواصب الاجلاف. Media is the most powerful weapon we have and we must seize Vdj in this government and the Wahhabi Azlamha Nawasib Alajlav. ألا لعنة الله على الظالمين Only to curse God for the wrong-doers حسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل Suffice it, and yes, the agent الموت لأل سلول الموت للوهابية المنافقين Goals Slol death Death to hypocrites Wahabite نور الهدى Nur Al-Huda [18] [18] [ عوام - قلب العواميه القريه المسوره ]: 24 / 2 / 2009م - 11:59 م [Ordinary - the heart of the fenced village Awamiya]: 2-24-2009 - 11:59 p.m. انا اضم صوتي لكم I join you, I am منتديات نهر الكوثر Al Kawthar River Forums محمد حسن Mohamed Hassan [19] [19] [ القطيف ]: 25 / 2 / 2009م - 12:35 ص [Qatif]: 2-25-2009 - 12:35 am انباء عن توزيع نشرات من الوهابية في مجمع طيبة تدعو لقتل الشيعة. On the distribution of news bulletins from the Wahhabism in the compound of a good call for the killing of Shiites. يا فرج الله Ya Allah Faraj متى نتحد When we unite والله لو يتحدوا علمائنا ونسويها ثورة God, if our scientists and unite Nsoeha Revolution لكن الله يلعن الكراسي والانانية والمصالح But God curse the chairs and selfish interests ويش مستفيدين من هذا النظام اللا نظام؟ Wish the beneficiaries of this system of no system? الله يلعنهم هم وجلازتهم الوهابية Allah curse them and their Wahhabi Gelazathm قاتلهم الله الظلمة God fought the darkness ابو محمد Abu Muhammad [20] [20] [ القطيف ]: 25 / 2 / 2009م - 12:38 ص [Qatif]: 2-25-2009 - 12:38 am وصلتني عدة دعوات عن طريق الفيس بوك تدعو للتظاهر يوم الجمعة الموافق I received several calls by Elvis Bok calls to protest on Friday, 3\3\1430 3 \ 3 \ 1430 أسم القروب Name Alkarob مظاهرة البقيع يوم الجمعة 3\3\1430 Bakie demonstration on Friday, 3 \ 3 \ 1430
المكان Location جميع مساجد القطيف وقراها. Qatif and mosques all the villages. الزمان Time بعد صلاة الظهرين مباشرة Zhreinn prayers immediately after the ساهم بالنشر والتسجيل والمشاركة Contributed to publication and registration and participation محمد علي Muhammad Ali [21] [21] [ بلاد الحرمين - القطيف ]: 25 / 2 / 2009م - 1:06 ص ['s Holy - Qatif]: 2-25-2009 - 1:06 سنثأر لدم الشهداء ولكرامتنا ولعرضنا ياانجاس اليوم يوم الأستحقاق ياتكفيريين Revenge the blood of martyrs and our dignity and our Iaanjaas day of Merit Tvirien ومن هنا أعلنها فل تعلم ياهايف أنا لدمنا مطالبون وثائرون Hence, by the Phil Yahayv I know we are required to and Thairon ابو محمد Abu Muhammad [22] [22] [ القطيف ]: 25 / 2 / 2009م - 1:27 ص [Qatif]: 2-25-2009 - 1:27 مقطع من يوتوب الشيعة يبين كيف أن المطاوعة الفجار بمساندة مكافحة الشغب يطاردون الشيعة Section of the Uotob Shiite shows how the plasticity lechery riot chasing the support of the Shiites
http://www.shiatube.net/view/2807/-/ Http://www.shiatube.net/view/2807/-/ ابو محمد Abu Muhammad [23] [23] [ القطيف ]: 25 / 2 / 2009م - 1:55 ص [Qatif]: 2-25-2009 - 1:55 لقد قمت بالطلب من إدارة شهداء القطيف بفتحه للزوار وجاء الرد كالتالي I have taken the request of the Department of Martyrs Qatif open to visitors, and the reply came as follows
...إن حدثاً كالذي نشهده هذه الأيام لابد أن تتم تغطيته أولاً بأول ومن حق الجميع أن يعرف الحقائق ويشارك فيما يحصل ويقرأ ويوصل المعلومة لكل معارفه وأقاربه ... The event, which we see these days must be covered to keep the right to know all the facts and get involved with and read and passing on knowledge and information of all relatives
لذلك فإنه قد تقرر فتح الموقع للزوار ابتداءً من هذه اللحظة ليتمكن الجميع من الحصول على آخر الأخبار وأولاً بأول, وسيبقى الموقع مفتوحاً طيلة هذه الفترة لتغطية الأحداث فمن يرغب بالتسجيل فإننا نرحب به ونفرش له الأرض ورداً ومن لايرغب فبإمكانه متابعة الأخبار دون تسجيل... Therefore, it has been decided to open up the site for visitors, starting from this moment to be able to get all the latest news, I. Powell, and the site will remain open throughout this period to cover the events it wishes to register and we welcome him Nfrc land and is in response to Aergb you can follow up on the news without registration ...
فجزاهم الله ألف خير A good God Vdzahm وأتمنى أستجابة لبقية المواقع I wish the rest of the sites in response to فالحدث كبير ولابد من فتح المواقع The event must be a large open sites
Shiites protest in Saudi after violence
RIYADH (AFP) — Shiite Muslims held protests in eastern Saudi Arabia after an outbreak of violence between Shiite pilgrims and religious police in Medina, a Shiite human rights activist said on Wednesday.
Hundreds of people joined two protests late on Tuesday near the city of Qatif in Eastern Province, Ibrahim Mugaiteeb of the Human Rights First Society told AFP.
Mugaiteeb said anti-riot forces sought to break up the demonstrations but there were no initial reports of injuries or arrests.
The protests followed an outbreak of violence between Shiite pilgrims and security forces in the Muslim holy city of Medina in western Saudi Arabia late Monday.
The interior ministry said nine people were arrested in the violence near Al-Baqi cemetery adjacent to the Prophet Mohammed's mosque, which attracts millions of pilgrims every year.
According to accounts from Saudi Shiite Muslims, the pilgrims were angered when Sunni religious police made videos of Shiite women in their group last week, and the dispute boiled over into violence Monday near the holy sites.
"People are really angry," Mugaiteeb said by telephone, noting that few Saudi Muslims of any confession accept women being photographed or filmed without permission.
Interior ministry spokesman General Mansur al-Turki confirmed on Tuesday that nine people were arrested in Medina on Monday, but denied Internet and foreign media reports that one or more people had died in the violence.
"The security authorities will issue a statement later to clarify what happened, the nationalities of the participants in the fight and their motives, once the investigation is over," Turki said.
Shiites account for only about 10 percent of the Muslim population of Saudi Arabia, which is dominated by an ultra-conservative version of Sunni Islam.
Some Saudi Sunni clerics deride Shiites as Muslim rejectionists, but recent government initiatives have sought to bridge the sectarian divide, most recently King Abdullah's decision last week to name several new Shiite members to the kingdom's consultative Shura Council.
Human Rights First condemned the attack on the pilgrims, calling on the government to launch an investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice.
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Tensions in Saudi Shi'ite town over secession call
14 Apr 2009 11:51:49 GMT Source: Reuters By Souhail Karam
AWWAMIYA, Saudi Arabia, April 14 (Reuters) - The street graffiti is so brazenly political in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province that it hardly seems like Saudi Arabia at all.
"Down with the government", "Death to the traitors" read the messages on the walls of Awwamiya, a small town in the eastern region on the Gulf coast where most of the conservative Sunni state's Shi'ite minority lives.
The fear of landing in jail would normally curb such talk, but right now the mood in the Shi'ite region is more enflamed that normal.
Hundreds of Shi'ites have staged protests in recent weeks as police searched in vain for firebrand preacher Nimr al-Nimr, who breached a taboo to suggest in a sermon that Shi'ites could one day seek their own separate state.
The threat, which diplomats say is unprecedented since the 1979 Iranian revolution provoked anti-Saudi protests, followed clashes between the Sunni religious police and Shi'ite pilgrims near the tomb of Prophet Mohammad in the city of Medina, in the western region of the vast desert state.
"Graffiti like this underscores the fact that moderate Shi'ites are losing influence on public opinion," said Nasrallah al-Faraj, a Shi'ite from Awwamiya who is among hundreds who have signed a petition asking police to stop their search for Nimr.
"Nimr was only expressing what the majority here feels ... While the option of secession is not on the table, you cannot stop people from thinking about it," he said.
Saudi officials say Shi'ites make up less than 10 percent of the population, although diplomats believe the figure is closer to 15 percent. Most live in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy that grants no political rights.
Shi'ite leaders who went into exile after the 1979 protests returned to the country in the 1990s in a historic deal with the government. But many say the community has not reaped the dividends and complain of continued second class status in a state whose brand of Sunni Islam sees them as virtual heretics.
The rising influence of Shi'ite Iran, after the 2003 Iraq invasion empowered its Iraq's Shi'ite majority, has revived official fears that Shi'ites could become a fifth column against the Saudi state, analysts say.
There could be disturbances in the Eastern Province if Iran is attacked by Israel or the United States over its nuclear programme. And they could become more vociferous over their status if Iran comes to a deal with Washington.
"What scares Saudi society as a whole is that they (Saudi Shi'ites) are being used as a bridge for external forces, on the pretext of defending rights,"
said Mohammed al-Zulfa, a Sunni member of the Shura Council, the kingdom's quasi-parliament.
NEGLECTED REGION
The Shi'ite region is visibly less affluent than other parts of Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter which has enjoyed huge oil revenues in recent years.
Roads are poorer, and schools and hospitals scarcer. Ironically, most of the oil fields are in the eastern region.
Shi'ites say state oil giant Aramco, the province's largest employer, is no longer recruiting as many Shi'ites as before.
Officials at the Interior Ministry and the governorate of the Eastern Province were unavailable for comment. The government says it has begun removing disparaging references to Shi'ites in school textbooks.
Zulfa said Shi'ites should travel further afield to find work, rather than sticking to their region.
"The average Saudi now looks for a job everywhere in the country ... I don't want the Shi'ites to remain confined to one area," Zulfa said. "Without realising it, they are discriminating against other people's right for a job in the Eastern Province."
Several Shi'ite clerics and community leaders, including Sheikh Hassan al-Saffar, have tried to calm the situation down, issuing a statement rejecting Nimr's secession call.
"We reiterate our commitment to the unity of the beloved homeland and reject any ... threat to its unity or cohesion, standing as one behind our wise leadership,"
they said after a meeting with Interior Minister Prince Nayef last month.
In Awwamiya, residents said the situation was beginning to calm down. "Riot police have left. It's a lot better now," said a young woman who declined to give her name. (Editing by Andrew Hammond and Dominic Evans)
Article Tools Sponsored By By ROGER COHEN Published: February 22, 2009
Esfahan, Iran
Earl Wilson/The New York Times
Roger Cohen »
At Palestine Square, opposite a mosque called Al-Aqsa, is a synagogue where Jews of this ancient city gather at dawn. Over the entrance is a banner saying: “Congratulations on the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution from the Jewish community of Esfahan.”
The Jews of Iran remove their shoes, wind leather straps around their arms to attach phylacteries and take their places. Soon the sinuous murmur of Hebrew prayer courses through the cluttered synagogue with its lovely rugs and unhappy plants. Soleiman Sedighpoor, an antiques dealer with a store full of treasures, leads the service from a podium under a chandelier.
I’d visited the bright-eyed Sedighpoor, 61, the previous day at his dusty little shop. He’d sold me, with some reluctance, a bracelet of mother-of-pearl adorned with Persian miniatures. “The father buys, the son sells,” he muttered, before inviting me to the service.
Accepting, I inquired how he felt about the chants of “Death to Israel” — “Marg bar Esraeel” — that punctuate life in Iran.
“Let them say ‘Death to Israel,’ ” he said. “I’ve been in this store 43 years and never had a problem. I’ve visited my relatives in Israel, but when I see something like the attack on Gaza, I demonstrate, too, as an Iranian.”
The Middle East is an uncomfortable neighborhood for minorities, people whose very existence rebukes warring labels of religious and national identity. Yet perhaps 25,000 Jews live on in Iran, the largest such community, along with Turkey’s, in the Muslim Middle East. There are more than a dozen synagogues in Tehran; here in Esfahan a handful caters to about 1,200 Jews, descendants of an almost 3,000-year-old community.
Over the decades since Israel’s creation in 1948, and the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the number of Iranian Jews has dwindled from about 100,000. But the exodus has been far less complete than from Arab countries, where some 800,000 Jews resided when modern Israel came into being.
In Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Iraq — countries where more than 485,000 Jews lived before 1948 — fewer than 2,000 remain. The Arab Jew has perished. The Persian Jew has fared better.
Of course, Israel’s unfinished cycle of wars has been with Arabs, not Persians, a fact that explains some of the discrepancy.
Still a mystery hovers over Iran’s Jews. It’s important to decide what’s more significant: the annihilationist anti-Israel ranting, the Holocaust denial and other Iranian provocations — or the fact of a Jewish community living, working and worshipping in relative tranquillity.
Perhaps I have a bias toward facts over words, but I say the reality of Iranian civility toward Jews tells us more about Iran — its sophistication and culture — than all the inflammatory rhetoric.
That may be because I’m a Jew and have seldom been treated with such consistent warmth as in Iran. Or perhaps I was impressed that the fury over Gaza, trumpeted on posters and Iranian TV, never spilled over into insults or violence toward Jews. Or perhaps it’s because I’m convinced the “Mad Mullah” caricature of Iran and likening of any compromise with it to Munich 1938 — a position popular in some American Jewish circles — is misleading and dangerous.
I know, if many Jews left Iran, it was for a reason. Hostility exists. The trumped-up charges of spying for Israel against a group of Shiraz Jews in 1999 showed the regime at its worst. Jews elect one representative to Parliament, but can vote for a Muslim if they prefer. A Muslim, however, cannot vote for a Jew.
Among minorities, the Bahai — seven of whom were arrested recently on charges of spying for Israel — have suffered brutally harsh treatment.
I asked Morris Motamed, once the Jewish member of the Majlis, if he felt he was used, an Iranian quisling. “I don’t,” he replied. “In fact I feel deep tolerance here toward Jews.” He said “Death to Israel” chants bother him, but went on to criticize the “double standards” that allow Israel, Pakistan and India to have a nuclear bomb, but not Iran.
Double standards don’t work anymore; the Middle East has become too sophisticated. One way to look at Iran’s scurrilous anti-Israel tirades is as a provocation to focus people on Israel’s bomb, its 41-year occupation of the West Bank, its Hamas denial, its repetitive use of overwhelming force. Iranian language can be vile, but any Middle East peace — and engagement with Tehran — will have to take account of these points.
Green Zoneism — the basing of Middle Eastern policy on the construction of imaginary worlds — has led nowhere.
Realism about Iran should take account of Esfehan’s ecumenical Palestine Square. At the synagogue, Benhur Shemian, 22, told me Gaza showed Israel’s government was “criminal,” but still he hoped for peace. At the Al-Aqsa mosque, Monteza Foroughi, 72, pointed to the synagogue and said:
“They have their prophet; we have ours. And that’s fine.”
Amira Eidan, center, director of Iraq's National Museum, shows Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki recovered antiquities on the day the museum was formally rededicated in Baghdad. Enlarge image Enlarge By Khalid Mohammed, AP Amira Eidan, center, director of Iraq's National Museum, shows Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki recovered antiquities on the day the museum was formally rededicated in Baghdad.
By Jim Michaels, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's effort to have a special military unit report directly to him is raising concerns that he is accumulating too much power and following in the footsteps of Saddam Hussein.
Al-Maliki's government proposed legislation that would make permanent the placement of Iraq's special forces outside the purview of the Defense and Interior ministries, which supervise most security forces.
Ayad Allawi, a former prime minister and critic of the current government, said the proposed law is a dangerous throwback to Saddam's days. "It mimics very much the old days of darkness," Allawi said.
The legislation would institutionalize a power shift. In April 2007, al-Maliki issued a directive establishing the counterterrorism bureau separate from the Defense and Interior ministries. A law would establish a separate budget for the agency.
The bureau controls about 4,000 Iraqi special forces, which are among the best-trained forces in the nation's military. They are used to target high-level al-Qaeda and Shiite militia leaders.
"The Americans used to talk about our officials being too weak," said Abbas al-Bayati, a Shiite member of parliament and al-Maliki supporter. "Now that al-Maliki is strong, they fear him."
U.S. officials in Iraq did not want to comment on Iraqi legislation but said the current arrangement is not subject to abuse.
"It's for (the Iraqis) to decide how they want to set up their agencies," said Lt. Col. Gary Kolb, a military spokesman in Baghdad.
"Right now they are not part of the (Defense or Interior ministries), but they do have their own checks and balances," Kolb said of the counterterrorism bureau. "They still need warrants and have to go through series of approvals at different levels. They can't just do things on their own."
Recent changes in Iraqi law require a warrant issued by a judge before suspects are detained.
Al-Maliki is a Shiite Arab who rules over a country still divided by mistrust among rival Sunni Arabs and Kurds. Efforts to circumvent the military chain of command often are viewed as a way to target personal enemies.
"The danger is … he'll use it to target his political enemies," said Peter Mansoor, a retired Army colonel who served as a brigade commander and top staff officer in Iraq.
Iraqi security forces have grown more professional in recent years but are still accused of carrying out sectarian agendas, particularly in Diyala province, a mixed Sunni-Shiite region.
Moderate Sunnis last year suspected Iraqi security forces and U.S. troops of using operations to intimidate moderate Sunni leaders and self-defense groups, according to the latest quarterly Pentagon report on Iraq.
The report mentions an incident in which members of Iraqi special forces detained a prominent Sunni leader in Diyala, provoking Sunni outrage.
Iraqi and U.S. officers have reviewed and improved "targeting procedures" following operations last summer in Diyala, the report said.
The streamlined command structure allowed for the quick deployment of forces and prevented meddling from factions within the government when Iraq was in the middle of a tough fight against al-Qaeda and Shiite militia.
A force directly under the prime minister's control also can defend against challenges to his authority.
Iraq's special forces have worked closely with their U.S. counterparts since the war started and have become Iraq's most capable troops.
"The Iraqi special forces are without a doubt the finest, most capable military unit in the Iraqi army today," Mansoor said.
Contributing: Aamer Madhani and Alan Gomez in Baghdad
A prospective bidder examined a car on Wednesday at a Dubai auction. Debt-ridden foreigners are selling or abandoning cars.
Article Tools Sponsored By By ROBERT F. WORTH Published: February 11, 2009
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Sofia, a 34-year-old Frenchwoman, moved here a year ago to take a job in advertising, so confident about Dubai’s fast-growing economy that she bought an apartment for almost $300,000 with a 15-year mortgage.
Times Topics: Dubai Enlarge This Image Bryan Denton for The New York Times
An abandoned car in a parking garage in Dubai. One report said 3,000 cars were sitting abandoned at the Dubai Airport.
Now, like many of the foreign workers who make up 90 percent of the population here, she has been laid off and faces the prospect of being forced to leave this Persian Gulf city — or worse.
“I’m really scared of what could happen, because I bought property here,” said Sofia, who asked that her last name be withheld because she is still hunting for a new job. “If I can’t pay it off, I was told I could end up in debtors’ prison.”
With Dubai’s economy in free fall, newspapers have reported that more than 3,000 cars sit abandoned in the parking lot at the Dubai Airport, left by fleeing, debt-ridden foreigners (who could in fact be imprisoned if they failed to pay their bills). Some are said to have maxed-out credit cards inside and notes of apology taped to the windshield.
The government says the real number is much lower. But the stories contain at least a grain of truth: jobless people here lose their work visas and then must leave the country within a month. That in turn reduces spending, creates housing vacancies and lowers real estate prices, in a downward spiral that has left parts of Dubai — once hailed as the economic superpower of the Middle East — looking like a ghost town.
No one knows how bad things have become, though it is clear that tens of thousands have left, real estate prices have crashed and scores of Dubai’s major construction projects have been suspended or canceled. But with the government unwilling to provide data, rumors are bound to flourish, damaging confidence and further undermining the economy.
Instead of moving toward greater transparency, the emirates seem to be moving in the other direction. A new draft media law would make it a crime to damage the country’s reputation or economy, punishable by fines of up to 1 million dirhams (about $272,000). Some say it is already having a chilling effect on reporting about the crisis.
Last month, local newspapers reported that Dubai was canceling 1,500 work visas every day, citing unnamed government officials. Asked about the number, Humaid bin Dimas, a spokesman for Dubai’s Labor Ministry, said he would not confirm or deny it and refused to comment further. Some say the true figure is much higher.
“At the moment there is a readiness to believe the worst,” said Simon Williams, HSBC bank’s chief economist in Dubai. “And the limits on data make it difficult to counter the rumors.”
Some things are clear: real estate prices, which rose dramatically during Dubai’s six-year boom, have dropped 30 percent or more over the past two or three months in some parts of the city. Last week, Moody’s Investor’s Service announced that it might downgrade its ratings on six of Dubai’s most prominent state-owned companies, citing a deterioration in the economic outlook. So many used luxury cars are for sale , they are sometimes sold for 40 percent less than the asking price two months ago, car dealers say. Dubai’s roads, usually thick with traffic at this time of year, are now mostly clear.
Some analysts say the crisis is likely to have long-lasting effects on the seven-member emirates federation, where Dubai has long played rebellious younger brother to oil-rich and more conservative Abu Dhabi. Dubai officials, swallowing their pride, have made clear that they would be open to a bailout, but so far Abu Dhabi has offered assistance only to its own banks.
“Why is Abu Dhabi allowing its neighbor to have its international reputation trashed, when it could bail out Dubai’s banks and restore confidence?” said Christopher M. Davidson, who predicted the current crisis in “Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success,” a book published last year. “Perhaps the plan is to centralize the U.A.E.” under Abu Dhabi’s control, he mused, in a move that would sharply curtail Dubai’s independence and perhaps change its signature freewheeling style.
For many foreigners, Dubai had seemed at first to be a refuge, relatively insulated from the panic that began hitting the rest of the world last autumn. The Persian Gulf is cushioned by vast oil and gas wealth, and some who lost jobs in New York and London began applying here.
But Dubai, unlike Abu Dhabi or nearby Qatar and Saudi Arabia, does not have its own oil, and had built its reputation on real estate, finance and tourism. Now, many expatriates here talk about Dubai as though it were a con game all along. Lurid rumors spread quickly:
the Palm Jumeira, an artificial island that is one of this city’s trademark developments, is said to be sinking, and when you turn the faucets in the hotels built atop it, only cockroaches come out.
“Is it going to get better? They tell you that, but I don’t know what to believe anymore,” said Sofia, who still hopes to find a job before her time runs out. “People are really panicking quickly.”
Hamza Thiab, a 27-year-old Iraqi who moved here from Baghdad in 2005, lost his job with an engineering firm six weeks ago. He has until the end of February to find a job, or he must leave. “I’ve been looking for a new job for three months, and I’ve only had two interviews,” he said. “Before, you used to open up the papers here and see dozens of jobs. The minimum for a civil engineer with four years’ experience used to be 15,000 dirhams a month. Now, the maximum you’ll get is 8,000,” or about $2,000.
Mr. Thiab was sitting in a Costa Coffee Shop in the Ibn Battuta mall, where most of the customers seemed to be single men sitting alone, dolefully drinking coffee at midday. If he fails to find a job, he will have to go to Jordan, where he has family members — Iraq is still too dangerous, he says — though the situation is no better there. Before that, he will have to borrow money from his father to pay off the more than $12,000 he still owes on a bank loan for his Honda Civic. Iraqi friends bought fancier cars and are now, with no job, struggling to sell them.
“Before, so many of us were living a good life here,” Mr. Thiab said. “Now we cannot pay our loans. We are all just sleeping, smoking, drinking coffee and having headaches because of the situation.”
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Panorama: Slumdogs and Millionaires is on BBC One, Monday 6 April at 8.30pm.
Dubai: From riches to rags
Ben Anderson BBC Panorama reporter Just say the word Dubai and the images appear: impossible glass structures glistening in the year-round sun, perfect man-made beaches, yachts, private helicopters, malls and spreads of food that would satisfy Roman emperors - all the things huge amounts of new money can buy.
And yet for me these images are the opposite of what should come to mind.
Ben Anderson spent three months in Dubai with migrant workers Having spent the last three months travelling there, I no longer think of the seven star Burj Al Arab hotel when I think of Dubai, but of emaciated, wretched men, lining up for buses before the sun has risen, resigned to the fact that their hard day's work wouldn't earn them enough to buy a round of coffee here. The branding of Dubai has to be one of the greatest PR triumphs of the past 20 years.
It works out incredibly well for the developers - they can charge first world fortunes for the dream villas and apartments, but pay third world salaries to the men actually building them.
Poor and illiterate
Many in Dubai say that this is just globalisation working, and that while the lives of the workers, and the salaries they are paid, look bad to us, to them, where they come from, it's good.
This excuse doesn't stand up to scrutiny.
The story of Dubai's immigrant construction workers shocks and depresses in several different stages. The poor and often illiterate men, who come here in their millions from the Indian sub-continent, are getting exploited from so many different angles that it's sometimes hard to know who to be angry at.
It all starts in their home countries - often India or Bangladesh, where local recruitment agents promise them high salaries and generous overtime payments.
In Pictures: Slumdog workers But often they also charge a "visa" or "transit" fee, averaging 200,000 taka, or £2,000 ($2,980).
This is supposed to be illegal.
The workers pay the fee because they believe the figures they've been promised. In most cases, it will take them the entire two-to-three year contract for them just to pay back that fee and break even.
It often takes that long because many developers, or their sub-contactors pay shockingly low wages - often less than £120 ($178.83) a month, for, on average, a 10-hour a day, six-day working week.
Rivers of stinking waste
We followed dozens of workers back to their "labour camps" where they cooked rice and potatoes (they can only afford meat or fish two-to-three times a month) in filthy rooms equipped with the most basic gas hobs.
In one camp sewage had leaked out from toilet blocks, and there was so much of it that the workers had built an entire network of stepping-stones just to get to their accommodation blocks.
"The dream," as one Indian recruitment agent told me "soon turns into a nightmare the moment they arrive."
Upon arrival, they are then bussed to their labour camp, where they will share a room with at least six other workers for the duration of their time in Dubai.
Jamie Oliver was an ambassador for Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai If they are given contracts, they are often not worth the paper they are written on, and collective bargaining and trade unions are illegal in Dubai anyway.
The developments we investigated are both enthusiastically endorsed by a long line of celebrities, who allow themselves to be described as "ambassadors."
England footballer Michael Owen, cricketer Freddie Flintoff and golfer Sam Torrance endorse developments by the First Group in Dubai's Sports City.
British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, golfers Greg Norman, Vijay Singh, and Sergio Garcia are all ambassadors for Jumeirah Golf Estates, which will be home to the $20M "Race to Dubai," the richest tournament in the golfing world.
The master developer of Jumeirah Golf Estates is a company called Leisurecorp, which owns Turnberry and has a stake in Troon.
'Like a prison sentence'
We looked hard for a single example of good practice on two different developments, interviewing dozens of workers employed by many different companies - some British, some owned by the Dubai government.
But I didn't find a single exception, not one worker who hadn't paid a visa fee, not one who was being well paid (the highest monthly salary I heard of was being paid to a skilled crane operator- approximately £220 ($327) a month), not one who could eat well or was free to go home if he chose to.
They all said they were much worse off than they had been back at home. "We are doing slavery," said one worker, "we feel we are in jail, it's like a prison sentence. This is how I feel. I am helpless. What can I do?"
Nick McGeehan, who runs Mafiswasta, one of the few NGOs working on behalf of the immigrant construction workers, is not surprised. I asked him what role we were playing in this, as property buyers, or as one of the million plus British tourists that visited Dubai last year.
"You're contributing, directly or indirectly, to the enslavement of a migrant workforce. That's a difficult pill to swallow, but when you look at the evidence that's a fact."
And what about the celebrities who endorse these developments, some of whom told us they sought, and got, re-assurances that the workers were being treated well.
"It's not enough to say that. At best that's naive and at worst that's negligent."
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Fear for remittances as Pakistanis abroad lose jobs
14 Apr 2009 10:55:22 GMT Source: Reuters By Faisal Aziz
KARACHI, April 14 (Reuters) - Thousands of Pakistanis have lost their jobs overseas in the global downturn in recent months, particularly in the Gulf, boding ill for a major source of foreign exchange for the cash-strapped country.
Pakistan received nearly $740 million in remittances from overseas workers last month, its highest-ever monthly amount.
But finance officials and analysts have warned that the good figure likely heralds bad news -- that Pakistanis thrown out of work are repatriating the last of their pay and savings, and the income stream is about to dry up.
A downturn in the property market in Dubai has hit unskilled Pakistanis particularly hard.
The trade and tourism hub in the United Arab Emirates is a prime destination for unskilled workers and, according to Human Rights Watch, is home to an about 3 million workers from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.
"Our business is seeing one of its slowest paces ever," said Iqbal Ahmad, chief executive of the Karachi-based recruitment firm Iqbal Brothers.
"Most of our unskilled workers were going to Dubai in the construction sector, but that is not happening any more and those who went earlier are returning," said Iqbal, who has been in the business for more than 30 years.
Iqbal declined to give specific figures but said business was a fraction of what it was a year or so ago.
"If we were sending 100 workers before, now it's just 25," he said.
Pakistan's economy is already suffering, propped up by a $7.6 billion International Monetary Fund loan programme over two years agreed in November to avert a balance-of-payments crisis.
The government hopes to secure aid pledges of $4 billion for socio-economic needs when donors meet in Tokyo on Friday.
SIGN OF WORRY
During the first nine months of this July-June fiscal year, Pakistan received $5.66 billion from its citizens working overseas, about half of total foreign exchange reserves of $11.17 billion.
But the record high figure for March is making people nervous.
"This is a sign of worry for me," said Ashfaque Hasan Khan, dean of the NUST Business School in Islamabad. "It appears that people who are out of jobs and unemployed are bringing their savings back."
About 430,000 Pakistanis went abroad to work last year, most to the Middle East, according to official figures. There is no data for those coming home.
"We may benefit from this jump in remittances in the current fiscal year but the next year would be pretty tough," said Khan, who until recently was an economic adviser to the government.
Khan said some skilled workers were also returning from Europe and the United States, coming home to an economy already suffering from high unemployment.
Anjum Nisar, president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said prospects for those coming home were grim with the economy unable to absorb them.
"The cost of doing business is very high here and those returning are unlikely to find new jobs or investment opportunities easily," he said.
"It will require a lot of work on the part of the government. This should be looked at on an urgent basis as the government will also suffer because of its dependence on remittances," Nisar said. (Editing by Robert Birsel and Alex Richardson)
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer Qassim Abdul-zahra, Associated Press Writer – Fri Feb 20, 4:25 pm ET
BAGHDAD – The firebrand anti-American cleric whose militia battled U.S. troops for years is facing a strong challenge for leadership of Iraq's poor, urban Shiites from a small, well-organized faction with loose links to Iran, senior figures within his movement say.
The split within Muqtada al-Sadr's organization has widened as Shiite groups weigh the outcome of last month's provincial elections and prepare for a national ballot this year that will determine the leadership in Baghdad.
The dissident faction is expected to mount a campaign to become a rival force appealing to al-Sadr's base among poor Shiites, senior officials close to the cleric said in interviews this week. This would offer greater openings for Tehran's influence in Iraq and give political cover to the so-called "special groups" of Sadrists that have continued attacks on U.S.-led forces.
For al-Sadr, the internal battle may become a critical test of his credibility and resilience after being weakened by crackdowns on his once-powerful and now disbanded militia, the Mahdi Army.
"Iraq has turned a new page after (the provincial) elections,"
said a statement attributed to al-Sadr read at Friday prayers in the Sadr City district, his group's stronghold in Baghdad.
"It marks a gate for liberation; a gate to serve Iraqis and not to keep occupiers to divide Iraqis," the statement said.
Results from the Jan. 31 balloting, announced Thursday, had al-Sadr's loyalists gaining a handful of seats on influential provincial councils across Iraq's Shiite south. This was seen as a sign that al-Sadr is wounded, although he is considered still capable of staging a comeback.
The splinter group within the movement wants to take on that role, however, and is angling to supplant al-Sadr amid wider political jockeying among Iraq's Shiite majority.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a more secular-oriented Shiite, saw his allies make strong showings across the oil-rich south in the provincial races, giving the government the early advantage against an expected challenge in national elections from the largest Shiite political group, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, which also has close ties to Iran.
Al-Sadr's sharp rhetoric against the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 — and his militia's later battles with American forces — catapulted him from relative obscurity to a position of significant power, particularly among the poor and powerless in Shiite neighborhoods.
But his standing began to erode after al-Sadr lost control of longtime strongholds in Basra, Baghdad and Amarah after al-Maliki launched offensives against Shiite militias last year.
At the same time, the splinter "special groups" set their own course, pushing on with attacks on U.S.-led forces even after the young cleric declared a unilateral cease-fire in 2007 and then dissolved the Mahdi Army last year.
Now the breakaway faction with ties to the armed groups is planning to field candidates in the elections for the Iraqi parliament — with the apparent goal of transforming parts of Iraq into a Shiite state modeled after Iran.
Al-Sadr has lived mostly in Iran since early 2007, reportedly studying to become an ayatollah under the tutelage of an Iraqi-born cleric who has lived in Iran for decades. But al-Sadr claims to reject Iranian involvement in Iraqi affairs and portrays himself as an Arab patriot against Persian influence.
Some key figures in the breakaway groups include former close aides to al-Sadr's late father — a revered ayatollah who founded the Sadrist movement and was believed assassinated by Saddam Hussein's agents in 1999.
The breakaway leaders complain about what they say were al-Sadr's missteps, including dismantling the Mahdi Army, once Iraq's biggest and most feared Shiite militia.
Two senior Sadrists, interviewed separately by The Associated Press, estimated the breakaway factions represent 30 percent of the movement and say it is better organized and funded than al-Sadr's camp.
Both Sadrists spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue and fears for their own safety. Each is well-known in the movement, and one said he had developed a "relationship" with the rival camp.
They said al-Sadr has made overtures to his rivals, but is afraid of confronting them and touching off a showdown.
Especially prominent among the rivals is Qais al-Khazali, a Shiite cleric who has been in U.S. custody since March 2007. The U.S. military believes that before his arrest, al-Khazali organized the "special groups," which were responsible for the Jan. 20, 2007, raid on the Karbala provincial headquarters that killed five U.S. soldiers.
After al-Khazali's arrest, command of the splinter network is believed to have shifted to another militant cleric, Akram al-Kabi, who was overall commander of the Mahdi Army until al-Sadr replaced him in May 2007.
Al-Khazali's network took the name Asaib Ahl al-Haq — League of the Righteous — and is one of the two major Iranian-backed militias operating in Iraq, the other being Kateb Hezbollah, according to U.S. officials.
Iran's government denies having any links to Shiite extremists in Iraq. But American officials believe the two groups are controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Brigade, which trains Shiite militants from various Middle Eastern countries.
A former Mahdi Army commander backed the U.S. view. He said he had been approached by Asaib Ahl al-Haq, but turned down the recruitment offer because he considers the group too close to Iran.
The ex-commander, who agreed to discuss the matter only if not quoted by name because of fear for his safety, said Asaib Ahl al-Haq is quietly organizing itself across southern Iraq with the goal of taking control of the region.
By CHELSEA J. CARTER, Associated Press Writer Chelsea J. Carter, Associated Press Writer – Sat Feb 21, 3:04 pm ET
BAGHDAD – The American military is shipping battlefield equipment through Jordan and Kuwait, testing possible exit routes in advance of a U.S. withdrawal in Iraq, military officials said.
The convoys — carrying armored vehicles, weapons and other items — mark the Pentagon's first steps in confronting the complex logistics of transporting the huge arsenal stockpiled in Iraq over nearly six years.
It's also part of a wider assessment, ordered by U.S. Central Command, to decide what items the military can transfer, donate, sell or toss away once a full-scale withdrawal is under way, Marine Corps and Army officials told The Associated Press.
"Because they are starting to see a potential reduction of forces, they are looking to get more stuff out," Terry Moores, the deputy assistant chief of staff for logistics for Marine Corps Central Command, said Saturday.
"We started slow," Moores said, but added "it's picked up speed" in recent months.
The Iraqi-U.S. security pact, which took effect Jan. 1, calls for American troops to withdraw from Iraq's cities by June 30 and completely pull out troops by 2012 — a timeline that could speed up if President Barack Obama keeps to a campaign promise to have troops out of Iraq within 16 months of taking office.
In testimony before the U.S. House of Representative earlier this month, the independent Government Accountability Office said the Pentagon needed to redefine its withdrawal strategy, saying it did not take into account either the security pact deadline or Obama's possible accelerated timeframe.
The biggest obstacle is the question of how to move tens of thousands of personnel and millions of tons of equipment out of Iraq, according to testimony by a GAO managing director.
The U.S. brought most of its material in through Kuwait, one of the main staging grounds for the 2003 invasion. There are currently more than 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.
"The capacity of facilities in Kuwait and other neighboring countries may limit the speed at which equipment and material can be moved out of Iraq," the GAO report said.
It recommended looking at multiple routes through Jordan, Kuwait and Turkey, where the U.S. has already constructed bridge overpasses for heavy tanks on the road between the Iraqi border and the Mediterranean ports of Iskenderun and Mersin.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said the Pentagon has already examined exit routes through Turkey and Jordan. Both countries, longtime U.S. allies, support the withdrawal planning contingencies, said Mullen.
The Marines have made 17 shipments of vehicles and weapons — totaling 20,000 items — through Jordan's Aqaba port, using contractors to haul the items to either commercial container ships or U.S. Navy ships, Moores said in a telephone interview from Bahrain, the base of the U.S. 5th Fleet.
"Jordan and Kuwait offer a great mix of routes and great infrastructure to get our stuff out," he said.
The shipments through Jordan also has given the leaders in Amman an "understanding about what it takes to move equipment and personnel," he said.
"They have already said that if we are willing to move more through Jordan as we draw down, they are willing" to allow it, Moores said.
Though Jordan has close ties to Washington, popular sentiment has been solidly against the war in Iraq.
The route to Jordan would take the military through the desert province of Anbar, which was the hub of the Sunni insurgency and where Marines and Iraqi soldiers fought some of their bloodiest battles. An uprising by local Sunni tribes in late 2006 forced insurgents from their Anbar strongholds in one of the pivotal moments of the war.
Meanwhile, the Army has shipped hundreds of armored and non-armored vehicles to Kuwait, said Army. Col. Ed Dorman, who works on logistics and supply for Multi-National Corps Iraq.
"We're already reducing what we have on hand," he said, adding that the equipment has been returned to bases in Kuwait or the United States.
Much of the Army equipment being moved is material no longer used, such as older mine-resistant vehicles — known as MRAPs — that can be used for training.
Even if the United States sticks to the longer-range withdrawal plans, it still has less than three years to determine how to get its forces and equipment out of Iraq.
"You don't take everything out," Moores said, adding that some items, such as food, water, barricades and sandbags may be left.
Moores said the Corps has been working on a withdrawal plan with a 2010 deadline in mind for the Marines, which has been preparing to expand its presence in Afghanistan.
"If our focus is correct and our thought process is correct, we are well on our way with our planning," he said. "It won't be a mass exodus. It will be a gradual withdrawal."
KARACHI: The five alleged terrorists of the banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi were remanded to the custody of CID police until November 3 on Thursday by the Judicial Magistrate, West.
CID police disclosed the arrest of the accused, Shakeel, Atif, Nasir, alias Saifullah, Waseem and Afzal, and claimed recovery of Indian-made RDX weighing 150 kilogrammes, two suicide vests and other weapons. Police claimed that their accomplices, Rasheed, Arif, Danish and Naseer managed to flee during the raid.
The alleged terrorists had been arrested on Wednesday after a brief encounter carried out by the CID.
Two political activists shot dead; two cops detained Friday, March 20, 2009
By our correspondent
Karachi
Two political workers were killed on Thursday while a boy who was wounded during Wednesday’s violence in the Sharah-e-Noor Jahan area, died on Thursday morning.
Two activists of a political party - Zeeshan alias Shani and Muhammad Shan - were killed by unidentified gunmen riding a rickshaw. Both men were sitting outside their residence in Sadat Colony, Shah Faisal Colony, when three unidentified gunmen shot at them and fled.
The families of the deceased alleged that Shah Faisal police personnel were behind the killing, because some police personnel had threatened them with dire consequences following a verbal clash a few days ago.
They were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) but they succumbed to their wounds. The Shah Faisal police station registered a case on the complaint of Syed Abbas Abidi, the father of one of the deceased, and took into custody two policemen, ASI Naveed and Constable Iqbal, of their own police station.
The complainant alleged that a clash had taken place between the deceased and the policemen on March 17 over the issue of aerial firing when the two police personnel threatened his son with dire consequences. An official of Shah Faisal police station confirmed the detention of two policemen but said they had not been charged for want of medico-legal and forensic reports.
Tension gripped the entire Shah Faisal Colony when the bodies of the deceased were brought to Imam Bargah Sadat Colony for funeral prayers. Later, a large number of people placed the bodies of the two men on the road and protested against their killing.
Emotionally-charged protestors accused the police personnel of killing the innocent youths and demanded of the authorities to take stern action against the culprits. Heavy contingents of police and Rangers were deployed in the area, however, some unidentified youths opened fire at the police personnel on duty. No one was injured.
The city burns again
* Killing of Shia youth in Shah Faisal Colony sparks sectarian violence
By Faraz Khan
KARACHI: Sectarian riots broke out in the city in reaction to the killing of a youth belonging to the Shia community.
Law enforcers were unable to control the law and order situation as the miscreants put at least five vehicles, three shops, one printing press, one beauty parlor and a house on fire. The miscreants also resorted to aerial firing in different localities of the city that suspended routine and commercial life and resulted in a massive traffic jam. According to reports, the areas where the riots broke out include Shah Faisal Colony, Ancholi, Al-Noor Society, Jaffer Tayyar, Malir and Liaquatabad. Miscreants burned three more vehicles in various parts of the city including Nazimabad, Rizvia Society and Liaquatabad.
It is pertinent to mention here that a youth named Haseeb Abbasi was shot dead while two others were wounded when a clash erupted over putting up flags and wall chalking between rival religious organisations at night on Friday within the jurisdiction of Shah Faisal Police Station.
On Saturday, the relatives of the deceased put his body on Sharah-e-Faisal and protested over his murder while demanding the arrest of the culprits behind the incident.
An FIR No 56/09 was registered on the behalf of the deceased’s brother Anis Abbas against three people affiliated with the Sunni Tehreek named Emran Qadri, Ehtisham and Shafi.
Shah Faisal DSP Raza Hussain Shah told Daily Times that after the burial, the angry crowd started riots in the area. The mob blocked Sharah-e-Faisal and Sharah-e-Pakistan for several hours by burning tyres on the road and pelting stones at passing vehicles.
It is important to mention here that the house and one of the three shops set on fire were owned by Emran who is nominated in the FIR.
DSP Shah said that on Friday night, a clash erupted between the two organisations. However on Saturday, the ST men were involved in the firing incident outside the Imambargah in which the Moizzin, his son and a passerby were wounded. There were reports that the miscreants also tried to damage the Chishti Masjid in Shah Faisal however the DSP did not confirm the news.
However, Gulberg DSP Iftikhar Lodhi confirmed the riots in the area while adding that three vehicles were set on fire within his jurisdiction. “We have arrested six culprits red-handed and further raids are being conducted for the arrests of others,” said Lodhi.
Fire Brigade Department Spokesman Abdul Wahid added that the fire brigades were sent to extinguish the flames.
ST spokesman, condemning the incident, demanded legal action against the miscreants behind the incident. “It is a conspiracy against both the religious organisations,” the spokesman said. “Extremist of a religious organisation erased the wall-chalking done by another religious party which resulted in peace in the city deteriorating.”
All Pakistan Shia Action Committee (APSAC) Chief Allama Mirza Yousuf Hussain told Daily Times that the police high ups said that the culprits will be arrested soon. This statement finally calmed the people and also ended the riots. He further said that after ending the protest, the Shia community received information regarding the target shooting of the Moizzin of the Imambargah Nasiran in Shah Faisal Colony No 5 and they immediately retaliated, restarting the riots. “All the culprits should be arrested immediately otherwise countrywide protests will be held,” he warned the government.
Meanwhile, Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, taking serious notice of the riots, ordered police high ups to ensure that peace in the city is restored. He said that anti-democratic elements are trying to derail peace and trying to uproot democracy. Mirza further urged the police to talk to the clerics so that the city can be freed of violence. The law enforcers have been put on high alert and have been ordered to enhance deployment at Masajids, Imambargahs, governmental and non-governmental buildings while ensuring regular patrols of the city
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Suicide bomber killed by constable on bank duty
RECORDER REPORT
KARACHI ( 2009-02-21 15:00:29 ) :An alleged suicide bomber from a Jihadi group was killed on Saturday when he intruded into a bank in Sabzi Mandi area for committing dacoity. Inspector. Nasir Mashwani SHO Sohrab Goth police station told Business Recorder. 5 kg explosive, 12 rods attached to live battery and a hand-grenade in his hand were recovered. He said:
"The intending suicide bomber came to MCB Bank in the morning, along with an accomplice, in a taxi."
He said: "When the bomber, whose identity has been ascertained but is being kept secret for investigation purposes, entered the bank, he was encountered by a police guard, Aslam, on duty." Afraid of being caught, the bomber fired at the constable and the bullet hit his leg, he said adding that the police guard, sensing greater danger, wasted no time and shot him to death, before he could have blasted himself.
He said: "Sohrab Goth Police have established a check post near bank and after listening gunfire other police officials present in police picket rushed to the scene and took the injured constable to hospital." He said that there were about 25-26 customers inside the bank, and if the bomber would have exploded him it would have caused a big loss of human lives. He said:
"Aslam played on his life and foiled 76.5 million bank robbery bid."
Meanwhile, acknowledging the courage and bravery of the constable, Sindh Home Minister Zulfikar Mirza promoted him as Head Constable, besides announcing a cash award for him. Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Karachi Waseem Ahmed said that identity of the bomber had been ascertained but was being kept secret for investigation purposes and for early arrest of his accomplices.
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Protests cause traffic jams
Sunday, February 22, 2009
By our correspondent
Karachi
Protesters on Saturday evening blocked three main arteries of the city over the killing of a worker of a religious political party. Shahrah-e-Faisal, Shahrah-e-Pakistan and University Road were blocked, when workers of the ISO and people belonging to the Shia community protested the killing of their worker in Steel Town on Friday night. They took out protest rally that caused a traffic jam on Shahrah-e-Faisal.
While traffic was diverted, it was not until after six in the evening when the traffic began to flow smoothly.
The incidents in Ancholi were far sinister as protesters set alight a minibus, a dumper and a private vehicle, and resorted to aerial fire. Their protests blocked the Shahrah-e-Pakistan form Water Pump to Sohrab Goth for over an hour and motorists were forced to find alternative routes. There were reports of traffic jams near Hasan Square as the traffic was diverted away from Essa Nagri where there were reports of aerial firing.
The fire department too dispatched its tenders to various locations, especially to Ancholi and the Airport area.
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City tense after ISO-ST clash
Sunday, February 22, 2009
By our correspondent
Karachi
Hostility between two religious groups entered into a second day, as eight vehicles, several houses and shops were torched on Saturday in Shah Faisal Colony.
Al-Falah Supervisory Police Officer (SPO), Syed Raza Hussain Shah, said that late Friday night, activists of Sunni Tehrik (ST) started wall chalking and hoisted their flags in Shah Faisal Colony No 4, but were stopped by activists of Imamia Students Organisation (ISO). In retaliation, activists of ST opened fire, due to which an ISO activist, 25-year-old Haseeb Abbas, died.
Shah added that the area became tense after the incident, and some unidentified persons also resorted to aerial firing. Meanwhile the relatives of the deceased came to the police station and registered a case of murder, and nominated ST activists Imran Qadri, Safee Qadri and others.
The funeral of the deceased Abbas took place in Shah Faisal Colony and he was buried in the Colony Gate Graveyard. After the funeral, those who attended the funeral blocked the road for vehicular traffic on the Natha Khan Bridge, Sharea Faisal. They demanded that authorities immediately arrest the killers.
During their protest, some unidentified persons torched a house of Imran Qadri, who was nominated in the murder case, while three of his shops were also set ablaze in Shah Faisal Colony No 2.
Police and fire station sources added that the miscreants also torched a printing press, a beauty parlour in Shah Faisal Colony No 5. They also torched a house No 21/77. Moreover, the miscreants torched a house No 5/3 and also torched a Jeep (KB-1627) belonging to Allama Zafar Abbas.
The miscreants also torched the house of Zafar, a leader belonging to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), torched the house of Akhtar Hussain and also torched the house of Ali Mehdi in Shah Faisal Colony.
Furthermore, unidentified persons shot and injured a father and son who were identified as Khuda Hassan and Ghulam Hussain in front of Nasraan Trust near Raza Chowk in Shah Faisal Colony. According to unconfirmed reports Hussain succumbed to his injuries.
After the violence in Shah Faisal Colony, violence also gripped other areas of the city, including Ancholi, Rizvia and Liaquatabad.
Unidentified persons resorted to aerial firing in Ancholi and forced shopkeepers to shut their shops. Later they blocked the Water Pump road, pelted stones at moving vehicles and also torched a truck, a dumper and damaged two mini-buses. Miscreants also torched a truck in front of the Liaquatabad police station, and a water tanker near Rizvia Chowrangi.
Till the filing of this report, Shah Faisal Colony, Ancholi and Rizvia were reportedly tense. However, no arrests have been made as yet by the police in this regard.
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9 vehicles torched in Karachi clashes Updated at: 0500 PST, Sunday, April 19, 2009
KARACHI: As many as nine vehicles have been set ablaze and a person was killed near Phelwan Goth in Gulistan-e-Johar block 18 and 19 areas during the clashes between two rival groups which sparked panic among public while, unknown miscreants opened fire at traffic which resulted in traffic jam, police sources said.
According to sources, armed militants barged into Rabia City apartment, which destroyed streetlights and kept conducting suspected patrolling in the area.
In a mean time, fire brigade sources said they received reports of setting many vehicles on fire in Gulistan area but due to unavailability of police help, they could not dispatch fire tenders to fire scene as yet.
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Protestors terrorise citizens after MQM activist’s murder
KARACHI: Tension engulfed Gulberg after the killing of a Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activist.
According to details, 22-year-old Rizwan Abdus Salam was shot dead outside the grocery store he owned by unidentified motorcyclists late night on Friday in Federal B Area. The protestors burnt six shops and 16 stalls and stands in Khawasti Brohi Goth, while the whole area was terrorised with continuous firing.
According to the police, no cases have been registered against the protesters as none of the burnings took place within their jurisdiction. However, a case has been registered against the unidentified men who killed Salam. aaj kal report
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One killed, eight vehicles set alight in Pehlwan Goth
Monday, April 20, 2009
By Salis bin Perwaiz
Karachi
An Awami National Party (ANP) activist was shot dead by armed men in the Sharea Faisal police limits. Later, two political groups clashed in Pehlwan Goth for four hours. They torched eight vehicles, including a National Logistic Company (NLC) tanker, and damaged several shops and vehicles in the area.
Subsequently, on Sunday morning, Gulistan-e-Jauhar was completely paralysed and residents of Rabia City and other apartments continued to move to safer places due to continuous firing on late Saturday night. A heavy contingency of police and Rangers was present in the area. Sources said that the ANP has given two to three days time for the arrest of the killer of the ANP activist.
According to police sources, on Saturday night, some armed men belonging to a political group had a dispute with Shahrukh Rasool, an ANP activist, at a tea stall in Block-19, Gulistan-e-Jauhar. During the dispute, the rival political activists kidnapped Rasool.
In the meantime, hundreds of ANP activists blocked Pehlwan Goth, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, and informed the police that some activists belonging to a political group had kidnapped Rasool, and had called them to take his body from the area. The police searched three spots described by the ANP activists, but claimed to have found no trace of Rasool.
Eyewitnesses said that activists belonging to two political groups clashed at Pehlwan Goth and Rabia City. They blocked Jauhar Chowrangi, Pehlwan Goth and the road to the Airport. Passersby and shopkeepers ran for their lives when they heard gunfire.
They added that the protestors and miscreants attacked some shops and pelted stones at passing vehicles. Meanwhile, a mob stopped an NLC tanker (No. 88-1819), and set it on fire. Seven other vehicles were also torched. Residents of the area maintained that the firing between the two political groups lasted for more than three hours and it seemed that a regular war between two countries was on. On Sunday afternoon the funeral prayers for Rasool were conducted at Pehlwan Goth amid a very charged and tense atmosphere.
In a separate case, 25-year-old Hussain, a singer, was shot dead by armed men in the Peerabad police limits. The police said that Hussain lived in the Banaras Chowk area. Late Saturday night, he, along with his friends, was returning home in a rickshaw after performing at a musical function, when unidentified armed men opened indiscriminate fire. Hussain died on the spot, his friend, Zubair, was injured, and the armed men fled.
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9 vehicles set ablaze: ANP man’s killing sparks violence
By Imran Khan
KARACHI: Nine vehicles, including a water tanker, were burnt and windows of dozens of cars were smashed in Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Pehalwan Goth on late Saturday night and Sunday morning, after an Awami National Party (ANP) activist was kidnapped and later murdered.
According to details, 26-year-old ANP activist Shahrukh Ateeq Rasool was kidnapped around midnight from a teashop near his residence in Gulistan-e-Jauhar. Subsequently, the areas of Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Pehalwan Goth and Rabia City turned into battlegrounds, with a continuous exchange of fire between two groups.
The residents of the areas were confined to their homes, and the police and Rangers avoided the affected areas, besides not registering any cases against the protestors who damaged government property, including streetlights. The protesters also terrorised the citizens by aerial shooting and blocking the Pehalwan Goth-Jinnah International Airport intersection.
Meanwhile, unidentified men also entered into a flat situated in Rabia City and shot at Mohammad Shafeeq, 45, who, as a result, was severely wounded and was admitted to a hospital. The tension in the area prevented fire brigade vehicles from reaching the scene.
The situation worsened when the kidnappers dumped Rasool’s bullet-ridden body in the area at around 6:00 am. The deceased was taken to the Jinnah International Airport under tight security and his body was flown to his hometown for the funeral.
Resultantly, security was beefed up in the entire city, while SHOs of respective police stations have been asked to be present in their areas until the tension diffuses.
It is important to mention here that Gulistan-e-Jauhar has been the victim of unrest between two groups for the past one month and no action has been taken in this regard.
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5 more killed in Karachi violence
Updated at: 1120 PST, Thursday, April 30, 2009
KARACHI: Tension still grasped different localities of metropolis after overnight spate of violence.
Five more people were killed in fresh incidents of firing as more than 30 people including four police and Rangers personnel were injured. As many hotels, restaurants and vehicles torched during violent incidents.
An armed attack on a locality of North Karachi on Wednesday triggered violence on a large scale in central and eastern parts of Karachi.
In the North Karachi gunbattle, five people, including two activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), were killed, while several vehicles and 10 shops were torched.
Following the incident, target killings started in which several people lost their lives. Also, stalls and tea hotels were torched in several localities, including Sohrab Goth, Samanabad, Gulistan-e-Johar, New Karachi and other areas.
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Unrest continued in Karachi throughout last night Updated at: 0400 PST, Thursday, April 30, 2009
KARACHI: The violence which started in Karachi Wednesday evening continued throughout the last night during which a number of hotels, shops and vehicles were set ablaze.
At least 21 people were killed and 22 others wounded as violence broke out in different parts of Karachi on Wednesday.
Shops and markers started to close early as the violence spread from one place to other.
The process of unending firing erupted in North Karachi where two activists of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) were found shot dead. The police and rangers personnel, who reached the scene to calm down the situation, also caught up in the firing in which a Sub-inspector Moinur Rehman, Head Constable Sajjad and six others were injured.
In another incident, unknown persons set 10 vehicles ablaze in Bilal Colony while a 40-year-old Juma Khan was also gunned down.
In Sarjani Town and Shah Faisal Colony, unidentified gunmen shot dead two more persons, yet to be identified.
Security forces arrested 21 persons during a search operation launched in Khawaja Ajmir Nagri. Besides, more violence incidents were reported in Samanabad, Al-Asif Square and Hyderi.
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killed as violence grips Karachi
* Rioters torch vehicles, shops; Rangers and police fail to control situation
* Educational institutions closed today Zardari slams violence, Altaf appeals for peace
By Faraz Khan
KARACHI: At least 23 people, including political workers, were killed and several wounded on Wednesday as violence erupted in the capital of Sindh province after two MQM workers were allegedly killed by Pashtuns in North Karachi.
Various television channels, however, reported that at least 34 people had been killed.
The violence erupted in North Karachi when bodies of two MQM workers, Khalid and Mehmood, were found.
The city witnessed bloodshed in the ensuing riots, clashes and target killings. The violence quickly spread from North Karachi to other areas of the city and continued late into the night. Rival groups in these areas clashed with each other, and rioters killed several people. Passenger buses also came under attack in some incidents. Rioters set ablaze over 15 vehicles and torched several shops.
Rangers, police fail: Despite a joint flag march by the Rangers and police, the law-enforcement agencies were unable to bring the situation under control. Around 25 Pashtuns were detained after a two-hour door-to-door operation in Zareena Colony, North Karachi, while 14 more were detained in other areas. The law-enforcement agencies also claimed to have seized a huge cache of weapons. Dr Seemin Jamali, emergency department director at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), told Daily Times that eight bodies and nine injured people – three of whom later died – were brought to the hospital. Sources at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital told Daily Times that a total of 14 bodies were brought to the hospital – of which four were shifted to JPMC. Sources at Civil Hospital Karachi said that a passer-by gunned down in Teen Hatti was brought to the hospital. The Sindh chief minister has ordered stern action against those involved in the unrest, and called a meeting on Thursday to discuss the situation.
Institutions closed: Amid the riots, a private TV channel reported that the Sindh government has announced the closure of all education institutions on Thursday.
Zardari, Altaf: The electronic media also reported that President Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif have condemned the violence. MQM chief Altaf Hussain has appealed to the people of Karachi to ensure peace in the city. Witnesses told Daily Times that shots were heard from the hills of Pahar Ganj as a funeral procession was passing from the area. MQM workers Khalid and Mehmood rushed to the hills to take a look, but were shot and died immediately. The witnesses said that the firing was so intense that they were unable to recover the bodies of the two workers for the next two hours. Following the incident, clashes erupted and two pedestrians were shot dead near the same place where the MQM workers were killed.
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Violence erupts after 2 MQM workers slain: All hell breaks loose in city as 23 die in riots
By Faraz Khan
KARACHI: At least 23 people, including political workers, were killed and several others wounded on Wednesday, as violence erupted in the city after two MQM workers were allegedly killed by some Pakhtoon members of the land mafia in North Karachi.
The city witnessed bloodshed as riots, clashes and target killings ensued; the violence began in the afternoon in North Karachi, quickly spread across the city and continued till the night. Miscreants set ablaze over one-and-a-half dozen vehicles, including passenger buses, coaches, loading trucks and dumpers, while several shops were also set on fire.
Despite the joint flag march held on the directives of Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza by the Rangers and the police on Wednesday, the law enforcers failed to control the situation. Around 25 Pakhtoon miscreants were detained after a two-hour long door-to-door operation was conducted in the mountainous area of Zareena Colony, North Karachi, within the limits of Khawaja Ajmair Nagri police station, while 14 more were detained in other areas. The law enforcers claimed to have recovered a huge cache of weapons from the possession of the detained miscreants. The violence started from the said area when bodies of two MQM workers, Khalid and Mehmood, were discovered. The affected areas included Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Orangi Town, Banaras, Pahar Ganj, Sharah-e-Noor Jehan, Shah Faisal Colony, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Hyderi, North Nazimabad, North Karachi, Sohrab Goth, Federal ‘B’ Area, Drigh Road, Sarjani Town, Gadap Town and Abul Hassan Ispahani Road. In these areas, miscreants restored to firing, killed several people, rioted and clashed with each other. They even openly targeted passenger buses. In some of the areas, bodies of those people who were killed after being kidnapped were found.
Dr Seemin Jamali, emergency department director of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), told Daily Times that eight bodies and nine injured were brought to the hospital, while three persons died in the casualty ward. The bodies brought to JPMC were identified as Dost Ali, Jalil, Javed, Zahoor Shah, Deen Mohammad, an activist of MQM, and Sanobar Khan. She further said that she is not sure how many bodies were shifted to JPMC from the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH), adding that the body of Deen Mohammad was referred to ASH from JPMC.
Witnesses told Daily Times that a burial procession of an area resident was passing by when aerial firing was heard from the hills of Pahar Ganj. MQM workers Khalid and Mehmood rushed to the hill to monitor the firing and, as a result, they sustained bullet wounds and died on the spot. The witnesses added that the firing was so intense that they were unable to recover the bodies of the deceased activists and they were recovered after almost two hours.
Following the incident, firing from both sides started and two pedestrians were shot dead near the same place where the first incident took place. Thus, a series of firing incidents erupted in various areas, especially North Karachi, New Karachi, Banaras, Sohrab Goth, Abul Hassan Ispahani Road, Safura Goth, Quaidabad, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Shah Faisal Colony and Sarjani Town, where intense firing continued between the rival groups.
Sources in ASH told Daily Times that a total of 14 bodies were brought to hospital, out of which, four were shifted to the JPMC. Some of the bodies taken to ASH were identified as Mehmood Khalil, Mohammad Shahid, Ibrahim, Sanwal, Jamil Siddiq and Sarfaraz.
Sources in the Civil Hospital, Karachi said that a passerby, Mohammad Hanif, who was gunned down in Teen Hatti, within the limits of Jamshed Town police station, was brought to the hospital. Moreover, another man was killed when unidentified men fired at a passenger bus in Korangi at night, before setting two buses on fire.
Three more bodies were brought to various hospitals late at night.
Meanwhile, ANP Media Coordinator Qadir Khan told Daily Times that 12 of the people slain in the violence in city were their party activists.
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MQM RC condemns killing of party workers
KARACHI: The Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) Rabita Committee (RC) condemned the killing of two MQM workers by members of the land mafia in Zareena Colony, Gulzar-e-Hijri. The committee said that terrorists, belonging to the land mafia, came from the mountainous area to Zareena Colony, situated within the jurisdiction of Gulzar-e-Hijri, and attacked the innocent party workers. The RC said that MQM has informed the government time and again about the nexus between terrorists of Taliban and the land mafia, however, the government has continuously ignored the party’s complaints and concerns. It further said that it was the government’s negligence that encouraged these terrorists to openly attack the residential areas and target innocent people and MQM workers in various areas of the city, adding that these terrorists also targeted law enforcement personnel including Rangers personnel. The MQM RC demanded President Asif Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad and Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza to take immediate notice of the killings of MQM workers and the activities of the Taliban land mafia. The RC also urged MQM workers to remain calm and avoid retaliation. staff report
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Death toll rises to 33: Karachi still tense as riots continue
By Faraz Khan
KARACHI: The deployment of over 15,000 security personnel in the provincial capital on Thursday failed to bring the situation under control – a day after riots erupted in the port city – as the death toll from violence rose to 33.
With law-enforcement agencies patrolling Karachi, major markets remained closed and there was virtually no public transport on the roads. But the death toll continued to rise as seven people, who were injured in riots on Wednesday and were under treatment at various hospitals, died on Thursday and a Pashtun vendor was shot dead in Khokhrapar.
The number of those injured now stands at 50. Despite the shoot-at-sight orders by the prime minister and the heavy deployment of police and Rangers, rioters torched around 20 shops, five hotels, two warehouses and over 12 vehicles.
Firing broke out at the funeral of two Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activists –Khalid and Mehmood, whose alleged killing by Pashtuns on Wednesday triggered the riots – Khwaja Ajmair Nagri. There was no loss of life. At least 80 separate incidents have occurred across the city since Wednesday, but very few cases have actually been registered.
Around 60 suspects have been held in raids in various parts of the city. It is believed that the arrested men include political workers from the Awami National Party (ANP) and the MQM. The law-enforcement agencies patrolled Khawaja Ajmair Nagri, North Karachi, New Karachi, Sohrab Goth, Sarjani Town, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Shah Faisal Colony, Banaras, Orangi Town, Nazimabad, North Nazimabad and Gulshan-e-Iqbal among other areas.
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Will Karachi witness more violent clashes?
Friday, May 01, 2009
By Tahir Hasan Khan
Karachi
The recent spate of disturbances in the city was the third occurrence of ethnic clashes in the megapolis during the last three months. More than 25 people were killed in a single day, while many vehicles, tea shops and restaurants were destroyed and political parties, particularly the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Awami National Party (ANP), kept blaming each other for the violence.
Earlier, more than 50 people were killed in two separate waves of violence and the situation returned to normal after the efforts of the government and political parties. The recent wave of violence started after clashes in Gulistan-e-Jauhar between two groups. It later spread to the University of Karachi, with two rival student organizations targetting each other. Subsequently, the situation became tense in almost entire Karachi.
Political analysts view the clash between two ethnic groups as a “pilot project” for any future crisis. Analysts claim that such clashes will continue in the near future, as groups involved in this “war” want to build pressure on each other.
What was the purpose of this fighting? Different reasons have been put forward but a majority saw the influence of certain external forces who wanted to destroy the economic life of the country by stirring riots in the megapolis. Life in Karachi has been paralyzed in the past through ethnic and sectarian disturbances, and analysts claim that “external forces” would again exploit this situation.
The other reason behind the recent violence could be an attempt to stop the elements who want to strengthen their position in the city by promoting “Talibanization.” MQM chief Altaf Hussain has repeatedly claimed that the Taliban have reached Karachi, while the ANP repeatedly said that no Pashtun was involved in Taliban activities in the city.
Analysts point out that this crisis was damaging the efforts of President Asif Ali Zardari who started political reconciliation in the country. The clashes on ethnic lines in Karachi were destroying the plans of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led government. However, in order to maintain peace, coalition partners MQM and ANP have agreed to work together with the PPP-led government.
Senior Sindh Minister Pir Mazharul Haq had recently claimed that violence erupts in Karachi whenever the government tries to arrange a meeting between Altaf Hussain and Asfandyar Wali Khan. Haq alleged that the land mafia was involved in these clashes.
Wednesday’s violence, however, created an impression that the Sindh government has failed to maintain law and order and that, the PPP could not unite the coalition partners. Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza had claimed in Sindh Assembly during the last session that peace had been restored in Lyari due to the efforts of the government. The PPP eliminated one group from Lyari as part of its strategy and the whole area was given under the control of a rival criminal group, which also enjoys the backing of the provincial administration.
However, PPP’s federal minister Nabil Gabol, who was elected from Lyari as an MNA, claimed that the reason of this clash was the fighting between the land mafia and the builder mafia. Authorities claimed that a new group, headed by a builder, Hingora, belonging to Kuchchi community, has been formed and it refuses to pay extortion to Rehman Dakait. Heavy weapons, including rockets, were used in this clash and more than 10 people were killed.
Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah held a joint meeting of coalition partners on Thursday on the direction of President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. Sources said that rival MQM and ANP leaders blamed each other at the meeting, while officials claimed that the meeting was held successfully and it was decided that all efforts would be made to restore peace in the city.
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Threat of sectarian violence looms over city
By Faraz Khan
KARACHI: A sectarian organistion, declared outlawed in the regime of General Pervez Musharraf, has resumed its activities across the province especially in the city.
According to details, defunct sectarian organisations including Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) and defunct Sipah-e-Mohammad Pakistan (SMP) are gaining strength day by day.
The putting up of flags, wall chalking and widely circulated hate literature, hints at the possibility of sectarian violence hitting the city in the near future, as various defunct sectarian organisations have restructured their setup across the province especially in the city.
It is pertinent to mention here that hundreds of their workers, detained for different cases, were released during the last few of months.
The recently held congregations are an example of the failing government policies as during Musharraf’s tenure even hoisting a flag was impossible.
Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) organised three majors gatherings while in the congregation held at Khuda Ki Basti, they showed up in sizeable numbers of approximately five to seven thousands.
SSP that been renamed as Millat-e-Islamia and Ahle-Sunnat-Wal-Jamat Pakistan (ASWJP) organised a procession, where hundreds of workers were seen carrying old SSP flags, chanting their conventional slogans against their rival sects.
Participants of the procession arrived from across the city holding SSP flags openly chanting slogans against their rival sects and in favour of their solidarity.
The second last congregation held at Siddique-e-Akbar flock declared that the masjid is headquarters of the SSP once again and the workers took oath there.
Interestingly, time by time, the high ups of the police departments and the Sindh government has also been informed but the law enforcement agencies are unable to take any action without a clear government policy. “We are helpless as the government still has not cleared its policy regarding the banned religious outfits that are getting stronger,” said an official on the condition of anonymity. “There is a high possibility of sectarian clashes erupting in the near further. If they erupt they would end in disaster.”
Disputed wall-chalking and widely circulated literature from defunct organisations may flare up sectarian violence once again. He pointed out that SSP used to target only the Shia sect as an enemy but now there is possibility of a clash between the Sunni Tehreek and SSP.
It has also been learned that many of the defunct organisations have recently reestablished their offices in different parts of the city including Shah Faisal Colony, Mehmoodabad and Khuda Ki Basti to name a few.
It has also been learnt that tension between rival sects is increasing, as they have been attacking each other in various parts of the country including Dera Ismail Khan, Parachanar and in southern Punjab.
A source pointed out that the recent killing of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi’s (LJ) mastermind Mazharul Hassan within the limits of Preedy police station on April 15 was once the beginning of sectarian violence. Earlier on April 14, six people belonging to a religious organisation in the Gulberg area were targeted and wounded by the rival group.
A source further pointed out that the recent killing of the president of Timber Market Izat Khan along with two of his companions on February 24, in front of Safari Park was in retaliation to sectarian violence of Parachanar. The source further said that assailants had arrived in Karachi from Parachanar to assassinate Khan because he had allegedly played a role in the Parachanar sectarian violence.
A 10-page copy of a widely circulated hate literature obtained by Daily Times, argued on the basis of pictures that there isn’t any difference between the Qadyani (Ahmedis) and Shia.
It is pertinent to mention here that pictures were disgraceful to the sahaba (companions of Hazrat Muhammad PBUH) which is enough for people to draw blood. Furthermore, recently wall chalking by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Sipah-e-Mohammad Pakistan and SSP can be seen in various parts of the city including Lyari, Patail Para, Banaras, Orangi Town, Malir, Landhi, Ancholi, Soldier Bazaar, Sohrab Goth, Surjani Town, Shah Faisal Town and various other areas. Not only SSP but wall chalking by Sipah-e-Muhammad has also been seen in areas such as Ancholi, Soldier Bazaar, Malir and Shah Faisal Colony which could be a reaction to the graffiti by the SSP while SMP have still not held any massive gatherings.
The fact that the situation is getting serious can be judged by the fact that SSP flags have been hoisted in various parts of the city, painting a bloody picture for the city’s future.
The black color flag inscribed with ‘Sirf Yah Allah Maddad’ above the picture of a Kalashnikov can be seen at various mosques and offices of the SSP.
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15 Activists including Two Muttahida activists shot dead
Sunday, June 07, 2009
By our correspondent
Karachi
Various political workers target-killed: CCPO Karachi Updated at: 1614 PST, Sunday, June 07, 2009
KARACHI: Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Karachi Waseem Ahmed said the operatives of various political parties were target-killed, Geo News reported Sunday.
The CCPO Waseem said the cause of these target-killings is the increasing tension among various political parties.
Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik has convened a meeting on law and order in Karachi, he added.
Two activists of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) were shot dead in Shah Faisal Colony and Awami Colony police limits, while the bullet-riddled body of a man was found from Korangi Industrial Area and a bike rider was crushed to death in Sharafi Goth on Saturday.
According to MQM sources, Ajmal Moin (39) was sitting at his cellphone shop in Shah Faisal Colony No-3 in the afternoon when two armed men riding a motorcycle appeared there and shot him dead. The area people rushed Moin to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where the doctors said that the deceased received bullet wounds in his chest and legs.
After the incident, MQM leaders and Rabitta Committee members Shoaib Bukhari, Saif Yar Khan and Sheikh Mohammed Afzal along with party activists reached the hospital and launched a protest, demanding for the immediate arrest of the killers.
Shoaib Bukhari and other MQM leaders said that it was the fourth incident of target killing of MQM activists during the past few days. Ealier, unidentified terrorists had killed Khalid Ansari in Malir, Mohammed Arshad in Scheme-33 and their Pakhtoon activist Khan Sher Khan in Sohrab Goth area, but the culprits were still at large.
Ajmal Moin was an activist of MQM’s Unit-105, Shah Faisal Colony Sector. The deceased was the resident of Shah Faisal Colony No-1 and he started cellphone business after returning from South Africa about four months before. The deceased has left behind a widow, a son and a daughter.
After Moin’s killing the entire Shah Faisal Colony was closed and aerial firing was reported in the area.
In another incident, Farooq (35) was shot dead while Iffat Ali was injured in Awami Colony police limits. Farooq was sitting along with his neighbour Iffat outside his house in Landhi-36-B, Awami Colony late night, when two armed men riding a motorcycle came there and opened indiscriminate firing.
Farooq was jobless and an activist of MQM’s Unit-84, Landhi. He has left behind two children. Iffat received a bullet wound on his leg. He was taken to a private hospital for treatment. After the incident, Landhi area was closed and aerial firing was reported from the area.
In another case, the bullet-riddled body of Gul Mohammed was found from Allahwala Town in Korangi Industrial Area (KIA) police limits. The deceased was the resident of Sector-6G, Mehran Town, KIA.
According to SHO KIA Abid Tanoli, Gul Mohammed was a respectable person of the area and a few weeks ago he along with other people residing in huts had decided to construct cement houses on the land. However, one of the neighbours Fatima opposed their plan and threatened Gul of dire consequences.
Gul Mohammed had gone out for some work on Friday night but did not return. Police lodged an FIR on the complaint of his brother Ghulam Murtaza who nominated Fatima and Asif for the murder. Police conducted a raid and arrested Fatima, however, she denied murdering Gul. Further probe was underway.
KARACHI: At least four people including two women were seriously injured in firing incident near Malir Bridge, media reported Sunday.
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Seventeen die in Karachi ‘targeted killings’ during June
Sunday, 07 Jun, 2009 | 01:35 PM PST
KARACHI: At least 17 people have been killed in the first week of June in Karachi. During the early hours of Sunday, a local leader of the MQM-Haqiqi became the latest victim, DawnNews reported.
According to police sources, gunmen barged into the house of Saleem Knight, head of the MQM-Haqiqi Lawyers’ Wing in Jamshed Town. Indiscriminate firing killed Saleem, while his wife and daughter received bullet injuries.
According to senior police officials, the MQM claims five of their activists, while Haqiqi claims ten of their workers have been targeted. Meanwhile, at least one worker of the PPP and the Shabab-i-Milli have also been killed.
Areas such as Landhi, Malir, Shah Faisal, Korangi, Lyari, and Jamshed Town have remained tense in the wake of this violence.
Police would not disclose who could be behind the murders but attributing political sources they claim varying reasons. MQM Haqiqi claims it is a backlash of an imminent release of Afaq Ahmed and Amir Khan.
The deputy convener of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Dr Farooq Sattar said that the MQM is being targeted for raising its voice against Talibanisation and the government should probe into these killings.
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MQM and Haqiqi men shot dead Sunday, June 07, 2009
Karachi: Two more political activists were gunned down in separate acts of violence in the city. Ajmal Moin alias Lalu, who was affiliated with the MQM, was shot dead at his mobile phone shop located in Shah Faisal Colony No 3, within the limits of Shah Faisal Colony police station. Soon after the incident, tension gripped Shah Faisal Colony and its adjacent areas where unidentified armed men resorted to aerial firing and forced the shopkeepers to shut their shops. There were some unconfirmed reports that the residents of Hazara Colony resisted when unknown men tried to suspend routine and commercial life there and opened fire, as result of which two people got injured in the crossfire. However, Shah Faisal Colony SP Abdul Qayyum Patafi said no crossfire incident occurred in the area but one civilian named Suleman was wounded when unknown persons restored to firing after the killing of MQM Ajmal. DSP Shafi Rind said that the deceased was a resident of Shah Faisal Colony No 1 and affiliated with Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). The incident took place on Saturday while Ajmal was sitting in his shop. Two men riding a motorbike came there and opened indiscriminate fire on him and fled from the scene. His body was taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for legal formalities. No case was registered till the time this report was filed. MQM’s coordination committee condemned the killing of Ajmal, adding that MQM is being punished for raising a voice against Talibanisation. They asked the president, PM and interior minister to take notice of the target killings. MQM vowed that it cannot be forced to change its upright stand against the Taliban. Meanwhile, Babar Rasheed, son of Abdul Rasheed, a former Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) worker was shot dead by two unidentified motorbike riders within limits of Model Colony police station. The injured was taken to JPMC where he succumbed to his injuries while receiving treatment. Police has registered a case against unknown culprits on the complaint of deceased’s brother Ahsan Rasheed. staff report
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36 more died in Karachi target killings
The death toll from the recent unrest in the southeastern Pakistani city of Karachi has risen to thirty two, police says.
Five other people were also wounded in attacks in different parts of Karachi after clashes between rival political groups entered a second day on Monday.
The casualties were reported in Shah Faisal Colony, Landhi area, Khokhrapar and Madina Colony. In one incident, unknown gunmen opened fire on two men sitting outside their home in Old Haji Camp, killing both on the spot.
In another incident of violence, gunmen attacked a family of three in Landi, killing the father and injuring the mother and her daughter, a Press TV correspondent reported.
Earlier reports had put the death toll from the violence dubbed "targeted tit-for-tat shootings" at 19.
Police say several people have been arrested on suspicion of having a role in recent attacks in Karachi, which has a history of ethnic and religious violence.
HE/SC/MMN
* Five men linked to MQM-H among deceased
* 29 politically motivated killings during first week of June
By Faraz Khan
KARACHI: The capital of Sindh witnessed a day of bloodshed on Sunday, as 13 people, including 10 members of various political parties, were murdered in 12 separate incidents.
The number of political activists murdered in target killings during the first week of June has now reached 29. Police officials told Daily Times they believed the situation could worsen unless the Home Department intervenes and re-establishes the government’s control in the city.
MQM-H targeted: Sunday’s unrest started early in the morning when unidentified gunmen barged into the house of Salimuddin — a legal adviser for the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) — within the limits of Jamshed Quarters Police Station and killed him, while injuring his wife Farida, and daughter Sehrish. His daughter has filed a first information report (FIR) against unidentified persons. Another murder believed to be a political killing was that of Nadeem Khan, whose brother, Moin, is a unit incharge of MQM-H. Khan was also shot dead by unidentified assailants. Forty-year-old Naseem Ahmed, a member of the MQM-H eldersrs’ wing, was also killed at his house, while his wife, Seema, was injured in the attack.
In Malir City, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a taxi, killing 28-year-old Noman, and injuring his brother, Zeeshan, and mother, Nasima. Police said the attack might have been politically motivated, as Zeeshan was the former bodyguard of MQM-H Chairman Afaq Ahmed. The body of MQM-H activist Hassan Ali was found near Azeem Pura graveyard, while the body of a fruit vendor, Shehzad, was found in Korangi. Shehzad was also a former activist of the MQM-H.
Other parties: In Korangi Industrial Area’s Mehran Town, a rift between two groups over the encroachment of government land resulted in the death of 14-year-old Hardeen Khan. His family has nominated activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Raees Mama, Naeem Gadha, Asif and Hussain, in the FIR. Local leaders of the Jeay Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party, meanwhile, have claimed the deceased was a party worker. At Eidgah, near old Haji Camp, 40-year-old Faqeer Muhammad and Razaullah alias Pappu were killed by unidentified people. Razaullah was a transporter, but police sources said Faqeer had been an MQM worker. A friend, Yaseen, was also injured in the shooting. Unidentified assailants also killed a daily wager, Jamil Khan, on Sunday. Police believe this killing to be politically motivated, as Khan was a supporter of the Awami National Party.
Also on Sunday, Shakeel Naata was killed while his associate Imran, alias Para, was injured. Police claim the two were robbers who turned their guns on each other when they started fighting over the distribution of their loot. There were also reports that the two were MQM-H workers, but party leaders have refuted the claims. Police also found the gagged bodies of two unidentified men.
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Three more perish in Karachi target killing incidents
Updated at: 0600 PST, Tuesday, June 09, 2009
KARACHI: Unknown militants have killed three more people during incidents of target killing here on early Tuesday, police sources said.
According to police sources, unidentified bike riders opened fired on a young man who was playing Carom with friends near Al-Azam Square in Liaqatabad locality, sources added.
The youth was later identified as 30-year-old Ali Abbas, the resident of Gulshan-e-Iqbal area and was employeed at a local bank here, sources added.
The second firing incident occurred near Alladin Park wherein two motorcycle riders opened fire killing two persons on the occasion, sources revelaed.
One of two deceased persons was a former political activist, relatives added.
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Political violence continues
Six more activists perish in target killings
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
By Salis bin Perwaiz
Karachi
Six activists belonging to the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) were killed on Monday in separate incidents in the city.
In the recent spate of target killings, unidentified people attacked the residence of Bilawal House Chief Security Officer Bilal Sheikh, in Gulbahar, in which three people were killed and Sheikh’s security officer was injured.
Sources said that due to the continuous spate of target killings, Rangers personnel had been given the affected areas of East Zone which includes Shah Faisal Colony, Korangi, Khokharapar, Landhi, Saudabad, and Malir. There were also reports that the Sindh Rangers personnel had constructed check posts in these localities and were operating with the coordination of local police.
Abdul Naeem, 35-year-old Basheer (alias Sheera), and 11-year-old Alam were shot dead, while Irfan Commando, a security guard of Bilal Sheikh, was shot at and injured in the Gulbahar police limits.
Police sources said that on Monday afternoon five armed men riding motorcycles attacked Bilal Sheikh’s residence in Khamosh Colony and resorted to indiscriminate firing.
Due to the continuous firing, Abdul Naeem, an activist of MQM-H was killed, while Basheer, Alam, and Irfan were injured. The criminals fled the scene and passerby and supporters shifted the dead and injured to the Abbasi Shaheed hospital, where Basheer and Alam were pronounced dead, while Irfan was referred to the Aga Khan University Hospital.
During inquiry, it was found that Abdul Naeem was an activist of MQM-H and a resident of Nazimabad, while Basheer was a resident of Pak Colony and was a juice vendor running his stall in Khamosh Colony. Alam was standing at Basheer’s stall when he fell victim to the firing. Furthermore, Irfan is an ex-activist of the MQM-H and is presently working for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
In another case, Saifullah Haq Siddiqi was shot dead by armed men in the Shamim Shaheed police limits.
Police sources said that Siddiqi was a resident of Gol Market and an employee of the City District Government Karachi (CDGK).
During investigation it was found that Siddiqi went to offer Fajr prayers when armed men riding a motorcycle shot and killed him, and fled. The deceased was an activist of MQM-H. A case was registered at the police station.
Twenty-five-year-old Amir Zaib, an activist of the MQM-H, was shot dead by armed men in the Landhi police limits. The police said that the victim was a resident of Landhi 37-D, and went out to Babar Market, when armed motorcycle riders opened indiscriminate fire, killing Zaib on the spot, and fled. The deceased was an activist of the MQM-H and came to the area to celebrate June 19 which was the Foundation Day of the MQM-H. A case was reported at the police station.
In yet another case, 45-year-old Fahimuddin was shot dead by armed men in the Liaquatabad police limits. The police said that the deceased was the resident of Sikandarabad. On Monday morning he was heading home on his motorcycle, when armed men opened indiscriminate fire at him was near Sajid Decoration, Liaquatabad No-6. Fahim died on the spot, and his attackers fled.
Forty-four-year-old Khwaja Sibtain Raza, an activist of the MQM was shot dead by armed men in the Jauharabad police limits. Police sources said that the deceased was a resident of Block-9, F.B. Area. On Monday afternoon he went outdoors for some work.
When was near Wahaj hospital, two armed men riding a motorcycle shot and killed him and fled. The deceased was a member of MQM Buzurg committee. A case was registered at the police station.
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KARACHI: At least 36 people, including the activists of political parties besides common men, have been killed during fresh wave of firing and target killing incidents here in metropolis by Monday, Geo news reported.
The Home Minister Sindh Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza chaired a meeting here at Central Police Office wherein it was decided that culprits, having involvement in the incidents, will be dealt with iron hands.
According to sources, a person was shot dead in North Karachi area, 4 other persons were gunned down in Khamosh Colony near Bismillah Hotel while unknown militants killed 25-years-man in Baloch Colony area on Monday during last 24 hours.
Six more people perished in various other incidents of violence in separate localities in city, sources added.
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MQM-H slams killing of party workers
Staff Report
KARACHI: Mohajir Qaumi Movement–Haqiqi (MQM-H) Vice Chairman Younis Khan has condemned the killings of his party’s workers as well as the torture on the families of MQM-H activists. In a statement issued on Monday, Khan, a former MPA, claimed that 20 MQM-H activists including women were killed by terrorists during the past six days including the party’s lawyer wing member Saleemuddin and Zeeshan Baig, chief security guard of party chairman Aamir Khan. He said that the government’s silence on the killings of MQM-H activists was tantamount to its failure and was rather encouraging the terrorists to continue their activities.
He asked the government that if it was unable to protect the MQM-H party workers and sympathisers, then it should shift the MQM-H activists to camps anywhere in the country so that their lives are safe. Khan demanded of President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and the COAS to play their role in putting an end to the killings of MQM-H workers.
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Tuesday, July 07, 2009
3 MQM-H men killed in separate incidents
KARACHI: Three men associated with the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) were gunned down in separate incidents of target killings on Monday. As per details, Nadeem alias Chitta, 32, son of Sa’dat Ali was shot dead when he was standing outside a store at Chandni Chowk, within the limits of Paposh Nagar police post. Terming it as target killing, police officials said the victim received multiple bullets in his body. He was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for legal formalities. No case was registered till this report was filed. In another incident, the body of a middle aged man was found from Ammar Yar Society within the limits of Malir City police station. The body was shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for legal formalities where the victim was identified as Haider, 40, son of Aziz. He was a resident of Khokhrapar area and the father of four children. Police officials said the deceased was shot thrice including once in the face, suggesting that this too was a target killing. The deceased used to work in a textile factory and the incident took place soon after he left his house for work. A case has been registered against unidentified people. In the early hours of Monday, Shahid, 30, son of Naseem was shot dead by unknown persons in Regal Chowk within the limits of Preedy police station. Police officials said that the deceased used to work as a newspaper hawker and was the father of three children. His body was taken to Civil Hospital Karachi from where his family took it away after the legal formalities were completed. MQM-H (Amir Khan Group) Information Secretary Feroz Haider while talking to Daily Times claimed that all three victims were his party workers and were killed by the rival group. staff report
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Battlefield Landhi
By Faraz Khan
KARACHI: The whole of Landhi echoed with gunshots and clouds of tear gas smoke billowed from various parts of the area on Tuesday as the riots that erupted on Monday night following the murder of two brothers in a robbery bid grew worse.
Following the murder of two brothers Rashid, 36, and Sajid, 31, who lost their lives resisting a robbery bid at their shop in Landhi No 4 just opposite to the Landhi police station, a heavy deployment of law enforcers including Rangers personnel was unable to bring the situation under control as the town became somewhat of a battlefield. Shopkeepers in the area closed down their businesses and protested against police, However they started rioting when police refused to register a case of the dual killing.
On Monday, they burnt tyres on roads and pelted passing vehicles with stones. A heavy contingent of law enforcers reached the spot and tried to disperse the crowd but the mob also attacked the law enforcers and then went on to attack the Landhi police station.
They surrounded the police station and policemen present inside were stuck for several hours. They protesters only backed out after several police high-ups and political and non-political personalities calmed them down and assured them that the culprits would be arrested.
Shopkeepers and residents of Landhi continued their protest on Tuesday and blocked roads and shouted slogans against the police. The angry protesters tried to attack the Landhi police station twice since Monday, exacerbating the clash between law enforcers and scores of angry area residents.
On Tuesday, the funeral prayers for the victims were offered at Rangers Ground in Landhi No 3 1/2 and then they were laid to rest in the Haji Ismail Goth Graveyard in Landhi No 2 in the presence of hundreds of people. On the occasion, a heavy contingent of law enforcers including Rangers’ personnel, were deployed in the entire area to avoid any untoward incident. However, the situation turned violent again after the participants of the funeral returned from the graveyard. They tried to attack the Landhi police station again but were stopped by a heavy contingent of law enforcers. An angry mob started rioting and clashed with law enforcers. During the clash, the mob pelted the police and Rangers with stones and damaged several of their vehicles. The law enforcers including plainclothes personnel restored to aerial firing as well as used baton charge and tear gas to control the mob. Meanwhile, the area residents who were in their houses faced immense difficulties due to the situation.
Later, the situation calmed down when General Secretary Anjuman-e-Falah-e-Behbood Ansari Community Zainuddin Ansari negotiated with the law enforcers and other high officials. He assured that his community was not involved in rioting. Later, after the passage of almost 22 hours, police registered a case of dual murder against unidentified culprits on Ansari’s behalf.
DSP Choudhry Anwar Ali said a case has been registered and a probe had been initiated into the dual killing. “The culprits would be arrested soon,” he assured. The officer claimed that some political partiers were trying to manipulate the issue, however, the situation was under control.
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Two MQM-H men slain
KARACHI: Two more people associated with the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) were shot dead in separate target killings on Saturday. As per details, 27-year-old Mohammad Asif, son of Sami Khan, was shot dead in an incident of target killing when he was standing outside his house located in Reta Plot, Shah Faisal Colony no 3, within the limits of Shah Faisal Colony police station, with his father, when two men came riding a motorbike, opened indiscriminate fire and fled. He received three bullets and died on the spot. His body was taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for legal formalities. DSP Shafi Rind said that the deceased used to work in a carpet factory located in the area. However, police sources said that the deceased was a former activist of MQM-H, who had left the party after submitting an apology letter to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), although MQM-H (Amir Khan Group) Information Secretary Feroz Haider claimed that the deceased was affiliated with his party. No case was registered when this report was filed. Earlier, another MQM-H man, namely Mohammad Haseen, 29, son of Iftikhar, was shot dead near his residence in Malir, within the limits of Khokhrapar police station. His body was taken to JPMC. Haider said that the deceased was a former Unit Committee member and was presently associated with the MQM-H Unit 98. He said that at least 75 of his party workers have been killed since June. Moreover, an MQM worker named Sadiq, son of Jalal, who had received bullets around three days ago, succumbed to his injuries at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital on Saturday while receiving treatment. Police officials said that the victim was targeted by unknown culprits near his residence located in Gulshan-e-Hadeed, within the limits of Steel Town police station. After his death, tension prevailed in the area, as the deceased was associated with MQM’s Bin Qasim Sector. staff report
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Death toll in Karachi targeted killing climbs to 13
Updated at: 0530 PST, Sunday, July 12, 2009
KARACHI: The death tally in targeted killing incidents here in metropolis has mounted to 13 including a policeman in last 24 hours, according to Geo news.
According to police sources, four persons were shot dead and one injured by armed miscreants in Liaqatabad and Ghasmandi localities on Sunday.
Earlier, eight persons were killed in separate areas here during firing incidents including a police inspector on Saturday.
Those gunned down included Waseem, Haseeb, Ateeq son of Rafiq, Nazim son of Azam, Asadullah, Asif son of Sameer Khan and others.
Police termed all shooting incidents as targeted killings while the spokesman to Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) said all killed persons were their party’s activists whereas Sunni Tehreek (ST) said also its one activist fell victim to these incidents.
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Five MQM-Haqiqi activists killed in Karachi
Sunday, July 12, 2009
By Salis bin Perwaiz
KARACHI: Unidentified armed men killed five activists of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM-Haqiqi) in separate incidents here on Saturday.
Muhammad Asif, 32, was shot dead by armed men in the Shah Faisal Colony police limits. Police sources said the deceased was present in a shop near Reeta Plot when two armed men, riding a motorcycle, opened fire on him, killing him on the spot.
Separately, four gunmen, riding a motorbike, opened fire on three persons in the Model Colony police limits.
One of the victims died on the spot, while the other two were shifted to the Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC), where they succumbed to their injuries. The dead were identified as Asad, Atiq Ahmed and Lazim Khan.
The police sources said the dead were friends and were sitting at a footpath situated at the Abbasi Market, Model Colony, when the armed men opened fire on them.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Waseem, 35, was shot dead by gunmen in the Preedy police limits.
The police sources said Waseem was working at a bookshop situated in the Urdu Bazaar. At the time of closing the shop, two armed men, riding a motorcycle, shot him dead on the spot. He received five bullets wounds on various parts of his body. The police have registered cases and started investigation.
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KARACHI: Twelve persons including a policeman were killed in various shooting incidents in Karachi while five others were injured.
12 killed in Karachi firing
Unknown armed men gunned down a policeman Arshad and injured a pedestrian in Eidgah police jurisdiction.
In another firing incident near Aleempura graveyard in Shah Faisal Colony an activist of Sunni Tehrik was killed, while two persons Azeemuddin 40, and another man were gunned down in New Karachi’s Mubeena Colony.
Meanwhile, a man Shaukat Mushtaq was killed and his brother and a relative were injured in firing near Erum Bakery in Liaquatabad. Two persons were killed and two were injured in firing incidents in Urdu Bazaar and Model Colony.
Moreover, two persons were murdered in Shah Faisal Colony-3 and Saudabad.
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16 killed in Karachi in 24 hours
KARACHI: At least 16 people – six of them from various political parties and two from the Police Department – fell victim to target killings in Karachi in 24 hours between Saturday and Sunday.
At least 11 people – one MQM worker, one Sunni Tehreek (ST) worker and four Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) workers – were killed on Sunday, while five people, including three MQM-H, workers were killed on Saturday.
Meanwhile, a DSP and five SHOs have been suspended for being negligent in duty. However, none of the target killings took place in the jurisdictions of the suspended officers. On Sunday, two brothers – who were associated with the MQM-H – were shot dead by unidentified motorcyclists in Liaquatabad.
In New Karachi, an MQM-H worker’s body was dumped outside an Edhi centre.
MQM-H worker Wasim was shot dead near Burnes Road. In Shah Faisal Colony, an ST activist – a former MQM-H activist – was killed.
An MQM worker and a police constable were shot dead near Timber Market.
The body of a man was found in a sack near Karachi Civil Hospital. The man is reportedly a friend of a CID official whose body was found in Kharadar area, also on Sunday. A man was gunned down near Abdullah Heights.
In Peerabad area, unidentified men broke into Usman Rafiq’s house and shot him. The body of an unidentified man was found at a bus stop in Korangi. Those killed on Saturday, including another CID official, were targeted in Shah Faisal Colony, Khokhrapar, Model Colony and Kharadar. faraz khan
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Nine killed in spate of drive-by shootings
By Our Staff Reporter
Monday, 13 Jul, 2009 | 10:48 AM PST |
People offer funeral prayers for a Sunni Tehreek worker who was killed in firing by unknown assailants. Chairperson ST Sarwat Ejaz Qadri is also seen in the picture. – Online photo
Metropolitan
KARACHI: Nine people, including at least three political party activists, were killed in various incidents of violence across the city in the last 24 hours.
Two men were killed and one was wounded when unidentified suspects sprayed them with bullets in Model Colony late on Saturday night.
Police said that Atiq, Nazim Khan and Asadullah were sitting at Hashim Raza Road in the limits of the Model Colony police station, when unknown persons riding on a motorcycle opened fire on them and then escaped.
The injured were rushed to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where Atiq and Nazim Khan were pronounced dead while Asad was admitted for treatment. Police have registered an FIR (No 162/2009) under Sections 302/34 and 324 of the PPC at the Model Colony police station against unknown suspects. Police said that the political affiliations of the victims were not immediately known.
In an incident in the limits of the Eidgah police station, a policeman and another man were killed by unknown persons.
A duty officer at the Eidgah police station said that the incident occurred near Ghas Mandi, near Ramzan Weighbridge, where unknown persons riding a motorcycle opened fire on Yaseen and Mohammad Ramzan, the head constable posted at the Sir Syed police station.
Police say it is not yet clear who the suspects’ target was.
The incident occurred near a rummy club, and police registered a case (FIR No 158/2009) under Section 302/34 at the Eidgah police station.
Yaseen was reported to be an activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, but police said that his political affiliation could not be confirmed.
In Liaquatabad, a man was killed and two others were injured when unknown suspects opened fire on them near the furniture market late on Saturday night.
A duty officer at the Sharifabad police station said that Shaukat died in the firing, while Liaquat and his son Adeel sustained gunshot wounds when unknown persons riding a motorcycle sprayed them with bullets.
The body of the dead man and the injured were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
Police didn’t confirm the political affiliation of the victims, saying that they were meat merchants. FIR No 113/2009 under Sections 302, 324/34 was registered at the Sharifabad police station.
An activist of the Sunni Tehreek was killed by unknown persons in Al Falah, Malir, late on Saturday night.
Police said that Abid Beg, 25, a resident of Block 5 of Shah Faisal Colony, was traveling on his motorcycle when he reached the gate of the Azeempura graveyard. Unidentified suspects then opened fire on him.
The victim suffered a single bullet wound in the head and died on the spot. His body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for a post-mortem examination.
In Shah Faisal Colony, an activist of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (Haqiqi) was killed by unknown suspects on Saturday night.
Police said that Mohammad Asif was standing near his house in Shah Faisal Colony No 3 when unknown suspects on motorcycles came and sprayed him with bullets. The suspects managed to escape while resorting to aerial firing.
The victim was rushed to the JPMC where he was pronounced dead.
Earlier on, another activist of the MQM-H was killed in the Aram Bagh area, police said.
Waseem Ahmed, a government servant, used to do a part-time job at a book stall in Urdu Bazaar. On Saturday night, unknown suspects came to the shop and opened fire on him, shooting him in the head. The suspects then managed to escape.
Also late on Saturday night, the body of a young man stuffed in a gunny bag was found near the Urdu College, close to the Civil Hospital. Police said that the victim’s body bore marks of torture. The victim could not be identified. Following legal formalities, the body was shifted to the Edhi morgue for identification.
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Saturday, July 25, 2009
JSQM man’s killing ignites riots in city
By Faraz Khan
KARACHI: The divisional president of the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mohaz (JSQM) was killed and another man was injured when assailants opened fire at a JSQM rally near Safoora Goth within Malir Cantt police limits on Friday.
One of the assailants was also killed while another sustained injuries and was arrested in the incident.
JSQM Chairman Bashir Khan Qureshi has announced a two-day wheel-jam strike and seven days of mourning across the Sindh over the assassination of the JSQM leader.
As per details, the incident took place when the JSQM rally headed by Qureshi, was passing Safoora Goth to stage a protest demonstration at Super Highway, Sohrab Goth against the killing of their party’s worker, Zulfiqar Mallah, who was gunned down on July 15 within the limits of Sachal police station. In the FIR registered Awami National Party (ANP) workers Ataullah, Anwar and Ashiq were nominated.
Shah Faisal Town SP Abdul Qayyum Patafi told Daily Times that two of the four assailants restored to aerial firing first when the participants of the rally reached Safoora Chowrangi and then they opened indiscriminate firing, using a Kalashnikov, on Qureshi’s car.
As a result, Mushtaq Khaskheli, JSQM’s president for the Thatta division, who was in Qureshi’s car, sustained bullets wounds and died shortly after the incident while another JSQM worker was also wounded.
The JSQM activists returned the fire, killing one of the attacker, who was identified as Syed Mustafa Zahid Baloch and injured his accomplice named Ejaz, who was later arrested by the police. The bodies and the injured were shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for legal formalities and medical treatment.
Following the incident, tension and fear gripped various parts of the city, including Safoora Goth, Sachal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Sohrab Goth, Abul Hassan Isphani Road, Shah Faisal, Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Baldia and Lyari. Unknown persons restored to aerial firing that suspended routine and commercial life while unidentified miscreants set a coach ablaze at the National Highway and also it for hours. An angry mob barged into a petrol pump at Safoora Goth, deprived its staff of cash and also tried to damage the pump by torching it.
Sources have said that the arrested assailant was repeatedly changing his statements. They further said motorcycle on which the culprits came carried a Faisalabad registration plate. The motorcycle, however, was set ablaze by JSQM workers following the incident.
The sources have claimed that official cards of intelligence agencies were recovered from the possession of the deceased and arrested assailants. But the SP Patafi declined to comment in this regard.
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Killing of JSQM man sparks protests By Tahir Siddiqui
Saturday, 25 Jul, 2009 | 05:00 AM PST |
A large number of people gather on New Pul, Hyderabad during a demonstration in reaction to firing on Jiye Sindh Qaumi Mahaz Leader Bashir Khan Qureshi in Karachi.
KARACHI: The Thatta district chief of the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz and a suspected attacker were killed on Friday afternoon in an attack on the car of the party’s central chairman, Bashir Khan Qureshi, near Race Course Ground in the remit of the Malir Cantt police station, witnesses and police said.
They said that the party chief, who was sitting in the front seat of his golden Toyota Saloon (AQC-681), however, remained unhurt and Mushtaq Ahmed Khaskheli was killed instantly when at around 4.50pm four attackers on two motorcycles sprayed them with volleys of bullets fired by AK-47 (Kalashnikov) rifles and pistols.
They said that the JSQM leaders and workers in 10 cars and a dozen buses, led by their chief, were on their way to join a rally on the Superhighway against the killing of a party worker, Zulfiqar Mallah, on July 15 at Sikandar Goth, and the police failure to arrest the suspects named in the FIR.
The witnesses said that one of the attackers was killed and the other wounded when Mr Qureshi’s guards in another vehicle returned fire. They said that that the two other attackers rode away amid heavy fire when they saw two of their accomplices having been hit and overpowered.
Waqas Memon, the finance secretary of the Jeay Sindh Student Federation, who was in one of the vehicles in the convoy, said that two attackers on a motorcycle overtook the party chairman’s car and the pillion rider, armed with an AK-47 rifle, fired a burst of bullets at the car from the left side.
‘The guards on a vehicle behind the chairman’s car retaliated and hit the two attackers,’ he said, adding that one of the attackers received bullet wounds and died on the spot, while the other was wounded after he was beaten up by the party men.
He said that the party workers recovered the identity cards of the attackers which showed they were sub-inspectors in an intelligence agency.
He said that the JSQM chief, who later held a press conference at a party office in Sachal Goth, also distributed the photocopies of the attackers’ identity cards among the newsmen.
The killed suspect was identified as Syed Mustafa Zahid alias Taifi Bhai and the wounded suspect as Zulfiqar.
Sub-Inspector Mohammed Sultan of the Malir Cantt police told Dawn that the wounded man earlier identified himself as Ijaz, then he told the police his names as Rehan, Javed and Zulfiqar. He said that the identity cards of the suspects were taken away by the JSQM workers.
The wounded suspect and the bodies of the slain JSQM leader and the suspected attacker were shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. Hospital sources said that the JSQM leader was hit by two bullets in his left hand and the abdomen.
They said that the killed suspect was hit by at least eight bullets and the wounded suspect by three bullets. The sources said that the wounded suspect was out of danger.
The attack on the JSQM leaders triggered a violent protest in different parts of the city where enraged party men burnt old tyres, pelted vehicular traffic with stones and forced the shopkeepers to pull down the shutters.
Traffic remained suspended on the National Highway for well over two hours as protesters staged a sit-in near Gulshan-i-Hadeed.
Parts of Malir and its outskirts echoed with heavy gunfire as the protesters resorted to firing into the air.Two people were shot and wounded in the remit of the Steel Town police station.
Identified as Umer Daraz and Kabir, the wounded were brought to the JPMC where the sources said that both the victims were in a stable condition.
Tension and panic gripped parts of Gulshan-i-Hadeed when a mob forced the shopkeepers to close their businesses.
Meanwhile, the Malir Cantt police registered a case against the two attackers and their unidentified accomplices on the complaint of Naeem Mandero, the JSQM central cultural secretary, who was also sitting with Mushtaq Khaskheli in the rear seat at the time of the attack.
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Five lose life in Karachi violence
Updated at: 1755 PST, Monday, August 10, 2009
KARACHI: At least two people were killed when some unidentified miscreants opened fire at the funeral procession of notorious Rehman Baloch alias Rehman Dakait. While, in various incidents of violence and firing in different Karachi areas, three people were killed raising today’s toll from violence to five.
According to reports, the body of Rehman Dakait was being taken to Mawach Goth cemetery for burial there after the funeral prayers were offered in Nawalain. The gunshots were fired at the funeral procession at two places, killing two people Rafi 32 and a 22-year youth.
It should be mentioned here that famed Abus Sattar Edhi also attended the funeral procession.
Meantime, some unidentified miscreants shot down two people near Taleemi Bagh in Water Pump area of FB Area. Their bodies have been taken to Abbasi Shaheed hospital. The deceased could not be identified.
Also, Farman 25 was killed in Pak Colony. While, Usman s/o Faqeer Muhammed got injured.
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2 MQM workers gunned down
Staff Report
KARACHI: Two workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) were gunned down within the jurisdiction of Shah Faisal Colony police station.
The victims were identified as Ejaz Baig, 30 and Atiq Ahmed 35, who sustained bullet injuries when unknown motorcyclists targeted and sprayed them with bullets, while they were playing ‘dabbu’ or carom at Qadri Mohalla, Shah Faisal Colony No 2. Police officials said that the incident took place during the wee hours of Tuesday and both the injured persons were taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) where doctors pronounced them dead.
Police officials further said that the victims were the workers of the MQM and associated with MQM’s unit 106. Following the incident, tension and fear spread across the city, which disturbed commercial and routine life. Both the activists were laid to rest in separate graveyards after joint funeral prayers. Police have still not registered a case and are waiting for the heirs of the deceased.
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MQM, ANP clash in Gulistan-e-Jauhar
KARACHI: Unidentified suspects torched a minibus in Gulistan-e-Jauhar on Wednesday when a fight broke out between members of Awami National Party (ANP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). The Shahrah-e-Faisal police said that the fight erupted after ANP members hoisted their party flags on the rooftop of a residential apartment building, namely Faraz Avenue. The police also said that after MQM members’ objection, intense firing ensued in the area, adding that the miscreants set ablaze a Mazda bus of route no G-3 at Jauhar Chowrangi, which bore the registration number JE-8630. Tension gripped Gulistan-e-Jauhar and its surrounding areas as both parties took over rooftops of different buildings and continued firing, suspending all public and private life. SP Shah Faisal Town Abdul Qayyum Patafi said that heavy contingent of law enforcers had been deployed in the area, adding that the situation was under control. Patafi also said that the police was trying to resolve the issue by dialogue between the leaders of both parties, adding that cases would be registered against the miscreants, followed by their arrests. staff report
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17 hurt in Shah Faisal Colony clash
Staff Report
KARACHI: At least 17 people were injured in a clash in Shah Faisal Colony on Monday. The clash broke out between two groups that were affiliated with different political parties. Police failed to handle the situation as unidentified men torched around five vehicles, some houses, a hotel, some fruit carts, a hardware shop and four other shops.
According to fire brigade officials, a two-storey building collapsed when a hardware shop located at its ground floor caught fire and escalated.
According to police officials, the clash erupted over Fitra and Zakat and it got worse when both the groups opened fire on each other.
According to other reports, heavy contingent of law enforcers arrived at the scene, but they were unable to tackle the situation until the filing of this report, however, the police was trying to resolve the matter by talking to leaders of the concerned political parties. It was also reported that the police would register cases and arrest the people involved in the incident. The flow of traffic was suspended for hours and many people had to break their fast outside their homes.
According to sources, the political parties involved had abducted and killed several members of their rival parties in the past, which had resulted in a severe clash in Shah Faisal Colony.
According to reports received from different parts of the city, similar incidents have taken place across the city.
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ANP condemns attack on Pukhtoons
KARACHI: The Awami National Party (ANP) on Tuesday condemned the attacks on Pukhtoons’ lives and properties in Shah Faisal Colony.
“Why peaceful Pukhtoons are being targeted in a fight between the two partners of the ruling coalition,” asked Qadir Khan Mandokhel, ANP’s spokesman.
He said that the PPP’s jubilant workers were receiving their comrade, who had been discharged from a local hospital. The comrade had been involved in a fight with the MQM. He said that suddenly firing started and it seemed that the PPP and MQM members had resumed their fight.
“But, Pukhtoons were hit in the crossfire. The attackers fired upon Kakar Hotel and also tried to burn innocent people there,” he said. Mandokhel said that Pukhtoon settlement near Natha Khan Goth was also attacked. He said that the reconciliationists and confrontationists should not drag the peaceful ANP into their fight.
If you study why empires have collapsed in the past you will not be surprised if the current scale of spending on weapons, arms and wars will not cause the fall of the US empire. It was late President Reagan who said about the Soviets, "we will make them go hungry for spending too much on weapons". It is not me who will close down the Pentagon but the hungry and un-employed Americans.
I am sure many red-neck, racist bigots will love to see America collapse and blame it on the nigger president.
The president must be like a manger who works hard to ensure that American human and natural resources are put into meaningful working formula and that the country and its people are safe and prosperous. There is no better time in the history of America where a good manager is needed at the top than right now; when the economic crisis is the worst ever experienced.
Besides the desperate attempts to repair the damage done by the crooks and fraudsters, Obama must seriously re-arrange his budget priorities. As an example, GM that produces 1% of the nation’s GDP may go down with the loss of hundreds of thousands of Jobs.
At the same time, the Pentagon with a 2008 budget of $623 billion is mostly spent on non-productive personnel and war machines.
Furthermore, no-one can check on how the $30 billion allocated to the CIA for 2008 or the $75 billion allocated to NSA is spent; with some staff allowances may exceed those of GM. One may easily agree with a wealthy bank to spend on security and body guards, but not when the bank goes bust.
America is on the verge of Bankruptcy and can’t afford old-style wasting of Taxpayers money on the Pentagon war mongers or on the glamorous 007 agents and sophisticated tools of the spy agencies. After all, they have all failed to detect the 19 Hijackers using US civilian planes to attack NY on 9/11.
The lack of serious budgetary prioritization may leave Obama as the last president of a failed American empire.
Democrats are supposed to be weak on security while the Republicans are known for doubling and trippling the Pentagon Budget. Part of the $623 billion pentagon budget will go for lobbyists and for former Pentagon officials who supervised wepaon acquisition. Naturally, politicians will also get a share from the weapon industry through contributions. But the question is where will the money come from? In the recent past America went through crises and came up swinging. But time has changed and the challenges are far bigger than anyone can handle. I may be a pessimist, but America as we know it today, may not survive another generation.
This kind of rhetoric is outdated now. America is begging for help in Afghanistan and borrows from China! Don't forget that Americans are still dying in Iraq.
America is like a beggar with a dagger!
America has military presence in 135 countries. It is currently fighting two wars and subsidising Israeli wars on Palestinians. America reminds me of the last days of the Ottoman empire, where everything for the Gendarmes but nothing for the people.
In 1989, the mighty USSR became history. The Russians decided on withdrawing their 160,000 soldiers from Afghanistan after their defeat at the hands of CIA-supported Muslim Mujahideen led by Mullah Omar and Bin Laden. At the time the Soviet Union had close to 2,000,000 soldiers, 220 mechanised divisions, 30,000 tanks 2500 combat aircrafts, 6000 warheads and hundreds of warships and submarines. Similarily, the strong Pentagon will not prevent the collapse of bankrupt America.
Obama: A mute singer to deaf Wall Street Jews!
Eloquent Obama has been explaining his stimulus package to cheering audiences in many states across the land. But at Wall Street he looks like a mute singer to a deaf audience. Because the more he talks about saving the banks, the real estate market and the car industry the lower the Dow Index, NASDAQ and S&P 500 fall.
Naturally, the Jews controlling the US financial markets don’t like anyone, let alone the government, to check on what they are doing or to regulate their bonuses. If Obama continues his current push to acquire equities and to control Banks he may end up investigating the big Jewish bank robbers and recover the loot, hidden mostly in Israel and in Switzerland.
To the hard luck of the Jewish financial Dracula (s) UBS has accepted to release the names of US citizens hiding cash in the Swiss bank branches throughout the world. Currently, there is an undeclared race between the Jewish bank robbers and the federal police. Many give Obama a little chance of winning as Jewish money wields a strong political clout in Washington D.C.
Kuwait, Dubai. UAE have higher per capita income than the US. Don't forget that 50 million Americans are without a health insurance; while no Israeli is without one. That is in a Jewish rogue state that survives on American donations.
There is a strong troika made up of the arm industry, the Jewish Lobby and US politicians. This was made very clear before the Iraq war when representatives of Lockheed-Martin, the Pentagon and the Jewish Lobby prepared the ground for the American march on Baghdad to Israeli drums. Many Jewish-oriented corporations benfited from the war and continue until today 21.02.09 to carry out works here in Iraq. But the current American economic meltdown, mostly blamed on the Jewish financial mafia started to weaken the links of this Kosher-dominated Traingle. Bankrupt America will open up the old and the not-so-old files.
Thanks to the unscrupulous practices of the Jewish financial mafia, America is on the verge of bankruptcy. Most banks, hotels, airlines, car industry and even restaurants my go bust making millions of workers un-employed. Americans must wake up and catch the bank robbers if they happen to be mostly Jews. If America goes bankrupt, there will be less wars and killings throughout the world. In this regard, one must thanks the Jewish financial mafia for bankrupting America.
It will not take long before Israel is forced to devalue its currency. The Jews who have bankrupted America can't send fat tax-deductable donations to Israel at least not for the coming year. If the present US economic crisis continues, most Jews will leave Israel.
All Americans must put the interests of America before those of Israel, especially after what the Jewish financial mafia has done to America.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
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Russian Scholar Says U.S. Will Collapse Next Year
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
MOSCOW — If you're inclined to believe Igor Panarin, and the Kremlin wouldn't mind if you did, then President Barack Obama will order martial law this year, the U.S. will split into six rump-states before 2011, and Russia and China will become the backbones of a new world order.
Panarin might be easy to ignore but for the fact that he is a dean at the Foreign Ministry's school for future diplomats and a regular on Russia's state-guided TV channels. And his predictions fit into the anti-American story line of the Kremlin leadership.
"There is a high probability that the collapse of the United States will occur by 2010,"
Panarin told dozens of students, professors and diplomats Tuesday at the Diplomatic Academy — a lecture the ministry pointedly invited The Associated Press and other foreign media to attend.
The prediction from Panarin, a former spokesman for Russia's Federal Space Agency and reportedly an ex-KGB analyst, meshes with the negative view of the U.S. that has been flowing from the Kremlin in recent years, in particular from Vladimir Putin.
Putin, the former president who is now prime minister, has likened the United States to Nazi Germany's Third Reich and blames Washington for the global financial crisis that has pounded the Russian economy.
Panarin didn't give many specifics on what underlies his analysis, mostly citing newspapers, magazines and other open sources.
He also noted he had been predicting the demise of the world's wealthiest country for more than a decade now.
But he said the recent economic turmoil in the U.S. and other "social and cultural phenomena" led him to nail down a specific timeframe for "The End" — when the United States will break up into six autonomous regions and Alaska will revert to Russian control.
Panarin argued that Americans are in moral decline, saying their great psychological stress is evident from school shootings, the size of the prison population and the number of gay men.
Turning to economic woes, he cited the slide in major stock indexes, the decline in U.S. gross domestic product and Washington's bailout of banking giant Citigroup as evidence that American dominance of global markets has collapsed.
"I was there recently and things are far from good," he said.
"What's happened is the collapse of the American dream."
Panarin insisted he didn't wish for a U.S. collapse, but he predicted Russia and China would emerge from the economic turmoil stronger and said the two nations should work together, even to create a new currency to replace the U.S. dollar.
Asked for comment on how the Foreign Ministry views Panarin's theories, a spokesman said all questions had to be submitted in writing and no answers were likely before Wednesday.
It wasn't clear how persuasive the 20-minute lecture was. One instructor asked Panarin whether his predictions more accurately describe Russia, which is undergoing its worst economic crisis in a decade as well as a demographic collapse that has led some scholars to predict the country's demise.
Panarin dismissed that idea: "The collapse of Russia will not occur."
But Alexei Malashenko, a scholar-in-residence at the Carnegie Moscow Center who did not attend the lecture, sided with the skeptical instructor, saying Russia is the country that is on the verge of disintegration.
"I can't imagine at all how the United States could ever fall apart,"
Malashenko told the AP.
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Ahmadinejad says the age of empires has ended
Updated at: 1745 PST, Tuesday, June 16, 2009 YEKATERINBURG: Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Tuesday said the age of empires had ended and the capitalist system has started to crumble.
"The international capitalist order is retreating," the controversial president told world leaders, including Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and China's Hu Jintao, in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.
"It is absolutely obvious that the age of empires has ended and its revival will not take place."
A broadly-smiling Ahmadinejad, wearing a dark suit and as usual no tie, earlier shook hands with a beaming Medvedev before the leaders went into the second day of the summit.
Whether Ahmadinejad -- who has a habit of stealing the limelight at such events -- would turn up had become a source of intrigue after he postponed his planned arrival on Monday following unrest in Iran.
Ahmadinejad later held a bilateral meeting with Medvedev, the Kremlin said.
"Iraq is still occupied. There is no order in Afghanistan. The Palestinian problem is unsolved," he said.
"America is overwhelmed by economic and political crises and there is no hope in their decisions.”
"The allies of the United States are also not in a position to wrestle with these problems."
Pointing to the economic crisis, Ahmadinejad said that "drastic changes are an unavoidable necessity in the wake of damage caused by international capitalism"
Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov earlier described the elections as an "internal affair of the Iranian people", in Moscow's first official reaction to the controversy.
The Iranian president was attending the summit in Iran's capacity as an observer to the organisation and Tehran has in the past expressed interest in becoming a fully-fledged member.
The visit to Russia was Ahmadinejad's first foreign trip since his landslide re-election victory over his moderate rival Mir Hossein Mousavi.
As Major General Mark Hertling prepared to take on a 15-month command of coalition forces across northern Iraq, the best intelligence, military assessments and political analysis led him to believe his division's mission would be 70 percent reconstruction and development, and just 30 percent combat operations.
But the enemy was different than anticipated. Hertling and the First Armored Division arrived in the autumn of 2007, confronted by a sharp rise in terrorist and insurgent violence that, for months at a time, resulted in the north of Iraq's suffering the majority of all attacks nationwide.
It was not just bombs hidden along the roads that claimed the lives of soldiers. Entire houses were booby-trapped. Explosives were packed into cars, even bicycles. And terrorist networks, pushed north by successes of the additional American "surge" forces flowing into Baghdad and of the Awakening alliance with tribal sheiks in Anbar Province, fielded a new and unexpected weapon: women in suicide vests.
Because Hertling had fewer troops than might be needed, he and his team had to find other ways to build their fighting strength. Their decisions — analyzed in an after-action review by commanders here this month — offer lessons to the Obama administration as it prepares for further reductions of American troops. The analysis suggests that there may indeed be ways for the American military to do more with less, as will be required in the months ahead.
Commanders found that it was possible to leave some zones of northern Iraq more or less uncovered, to focus their forces elsewhere in a series of combat and reconstruction missions. So frequently did fighting forces and civil affairs personnel move that commanders dubbed their battlefield locator map "the Dancing Icons."
With conventional troops spread thinly across the north, commanders also relied heavily on Special Operations forces to carry out missions against top insurgent and terrorist leaders.
To promote better coordination, a newly minted general, Brigadier General Tony Thomas, an Army Ranger who had just completed a Special Operations tour, was appointed deputy commander of the First Armored Division just a month before deployment. He was assigned to a command post in Mosul, a city of two million, where he assisted in commanding a small American force and helped coordinate with American Special Operations units and the Iraqi Army and police.
At different times, one to three American battalions were assigned to the city then, compared with 24 battalions in Baghdad during the surge.
The American forces also relied more and more on Iraqi Army troops in the north, whose numbers more than tripled, to 63,000, during the division's tour. Some in the division acknowledged that at times the Iraqis had carried out missions that seemed aimed at supporting policies of the Shiite government in Baghdad over the interests of local Sunni leaders.
The division also sought to promote better ties between provincial leaders and the central government, persuading some cabinet members to leave Baghdad for the first time so that they could meet regional leaders in the provincial capitals.
It was the battle against female suicide bombers in the north that truly tested the American forces. It had been all but impossible to detect an explosive vest hidden under a woman's loose-fitting abaya; in a traditional Muslim society, women cannot be searched by men, and the all-male Iraqi security forces were bound by tradition.
One answer was to counter the idea that the bombings were justified under religious tenets. The Americans wanted to get the word out that at least some of the women who had carried out the attacks were coerced — although some were widows of terrorists and some appeared driven by outrage over the deaths of husbands, brothers and fathers.
The division headquarters organized a women's conference in Erbil, where Hertling challenged the participants to break with old ways and "provide me a list of brave women who would want to go into the police force."
With a list of volunteers in hand, Hertling went to the police commander in Diyala Province, the focus of the female suicide bombers. With great reluctance, the commander agreed that women could enter training. A first class of 27 policewomen graduated within weeks. Today more than 60 women across Diyala are police officers, assigned to markets and other public locations to search for female bombers.
Commanders also sought to enlist Iraqis in trying to deter women from participating in the attacks.
A breakthrough came when Rania, a 15-year-old, was captured before her explosive vest could be detonated at a checkpoint. She told interrogators that she had been given juice that made her queasy and dizzy, and that she was wrapped in the vest before being pushed toward a checkpoint. Her debriefing allowed Americans and Iraqis to understand how at least some of these women were recruited.
American commanders wanted to spread the word that Rania and others appeared not to have been willing bombers, and that the killing of innocent Iraqis could not be defended as an approved religious act. But they wanted to do so without American fingerprints that might undermine the message.
American officers convened sessions with Iraqi politicians, activists and journalists in which the terrorist threats were discussed. They provided information about the suicide bombers, including details of Rania's debriefing. They suggested ways to promote a public debate.
But the commanders said that unlike in the early years of the war, when the American military wrote and produced information campaigns in the Iraqi news media — and even paid off local reporters — the content of this discussion was left to the Iraqis.
"We tried to get at the motivations of those who might become suicide bombers," said Colonel Darryl Williams, who ran the division's unit that analyzed the effects of combat and noncombat operations. "We supplied suggestions, information. But we had no control over editorial content."
The Iraqi news media leapt on the story; a female radio host in northern Iraq broadcast discussions on Rania's case that became one of the most popular shows on regional radio.
By the time the First Armored Division turned over command of northern Iraq to Iraqi forces in December, instances of female suicide bombers in the region had dropped significantly, although the threat has not disappeared.
Pakistani-American charged with beheading his wife
NEW YORK: A Pakistani-American businessman has been arrested and charged with the murder of his estranged wife, according to media reports on Sunday.
Police in the town of Orchard Park, near Buffalo, have charged Muzzammil Hassan, 44, with the murder of his wife, Aasiya Hassan, 37. It was reported that he beheaded his wife at his company's office in upstate New York. Police found his wife’s body in his office, the reports said. Hassan had told the police on Thursday evening where his wife’s body was. The couple was in the process of divorcing after bouts of domestic violence, Aasiya’s lawyer told the Buffalo News. She had an order of protection that had him out of the couple’s house as of February 6. app
More details on the case: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,493645,00.html http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29189095/ http://www.sindhtoday.net/world/63839.htm http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\02\16\story_16-2-2009_pg7_27
Chelby
The following is an open letter issued by the Islamic Society of North America in response to the murder.
RESPONDING TO THE KILLING OF AASIYA HASSAN: AN OPEN LETTER TO THE LEADERS OF AMERICAN MUSLIM COMMUNITIES
By Imam Mohamed Hagmagid Ali Executive Director, ADAMS Center Vice-President, The Islamic Society of North America
The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is saddened and shocked by the news of the loss of one of our respected sisters, Aasiya Hassan whose life was taken violently. To God we belong and to Him we return (Qur’an 2:156). We pray that she find peace in God’s infinite Mercy, and our prayers and sympathies are with sister Aasiya’s family. Our prayers are also with the Muslim community of Buffalo who have been devastated by the loss of their beloved sister and the shocking nature of this incident.
This is a wake up call to all of us, that violence against women is real and can not be ignored. It must be addressed collectively by every member of our community. Several times each day in America, a woman is abused or assaulted. Domestic violence is a behavior that knows no boundaries of religion, race, ethnicity, or social status. Domestic violence occurs in every community. The Muslim community is not exempt from this issue. We, the Muslim community, need to take a strong stand against domestic violence. Unfortunately, some of us ignore such problems in our community, wanting to think that it does not occur among Muslims or we downgrade its seriousness.
I call upon my fellow imams and community leaders to never second-guess a woman who comes to us indicating that she feels her life to be in danger. We should provide support and help to protect the victims of domestic violence by providing for them a safe place and inform them of their rights as well as refer them to social service providers in our areas.
Marriage is a relationship that should be based on love, mutual respect and kindness. No one who experiences a marriage that is built on these principles would pretend that their life is in danger. We must respond to all complaints or reports of abuse as genuine and we must take appropriate and immediate action to ensure the victim’s safety, as well as the safety of any children that may be involved.
Women who seek divorce from their spouses because of physical abuse should get full support from the community and should not be viewed as someone who has brought shame to herself or her family. The shame is on the person who committed the act of violence or abuse. Our community needs to take a strong stand against abusive spouses. We should not make it easy for people who are known to abuse to remarry if they have already victimized someone. We should support people who work against domestic violence in our community, whether they are educators, social service providers, community leaders, or other professionals.
Our community needs to take strong stand against abusive spouses and we should not make it easy for them to remarry if they chose a path of abusive behavior. We should support people who work against domestic violence in our community, whether they are educators or social service providers. As Allah says in the Qur’an: “O ye who believe! Stand firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you swerve, and if you distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well-acquainted with all that you do” (4:136).
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) never hit a women or child in his life. The purpose of marriage is to bring peace and tranquility between two people, not fear, intimidation, belittling, controlling, or demonizing. Allah the All-Mighty says in the Qur’an: “Among His signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquility with them and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts): verily in that are signs for those who reflect” (30:21),
We must make it a priority to teach our young men in the community what it means to be a good husband and what the role the husband has as a protector of his family. The husband is not one who terrorizes or does harm and jeopardizes the safety of his family. At the same time, we must teach our young women not to accept abuse in any way, and to come forward if abuse occurs in the marriage. They must feel that they are able to inform those who are in authority and feel comfortable confiding in the imams and social workers of our communities.
Community and family members should support a woman in her decision to leave a home where her life is threatened and provide shelter and safety for her. No imam, mosque leader or social worker should suggest that she return to such a relationship and to be patient if she feels the relationship is abusive. Rather they should help and empower her to stand up for her rights and to be able to make the decision of protecting herself against her abuser without feeling she has done something wrong, regardless of the status of the abuser in the community.
A man’s position in the community should not affect the imam’s decision to help a woman in need. Many disasters that take place in our community could have been prevented if those being abused were heard. Domestic violence is not a private matter. Any one who abuses their spouse should know that their business becomes the business of the community and it is our responsibility to do something about it. She needs to tell someone and seek advice and protection.
Community leaders should also be aware that those who isolate their spouses are more likely to also be physically abusive, as isolation is in its own way a form of abuse. Some of the abusers use the abuse itself to silence the women, by telling her
“If you tell people I abused you, think how people will see you, a well-known person being abused. You should keep it private.”
Therefore, to our sisters, we say: your honor is to live a dignified life, not to put on the face that others want to see. The way that we measure the best people among us in the community is to see how they treat their families. It is not about how much money one makes, or how much involvement they have in the community, or the name they make for themselves. Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) said, “The best among you are those who are best to their families.”
It was a comfort for me to see a group of imams in our local community, as well as in the MANA conference signing a declaration promising to eradicate domestic violence in our community. Healthy marriages should be part of a curriculum within our youth programs, MSA conferences, and seminars as well as part of our adult programs in our masajid and in our khutbahs.
The Islamic Society of North America has done many training workshops for imams on combating domestic violence, as has the Islamic Social Service Associate and Peaceful Families Project. Organizations, such as FAITH Social Services in Herndon, Virginia, serve survivors of domestic violence. All of these organizations can serve as resources for those who seek to know more about the issues of domestic violence.
Faith Trust Institute, one of the largest interfaith organizations, with Peaceful Families Project, has produced a DVD in which many scholars come together to address this issue. I call on my fellow imams and social workers to use this DVD for training others on the issues of domestic violence. (For information, go to the website: http://www.faithtrustinstitute.org/). For more information, or to access resources and materials about domestic violence, please visit www.peacefulfamilies.org.
In conclusion, Allah says in the Qur’an “O my son! Establish regular prayer, enjoin what is just, and forbid what is wrong; and bear with patient constancy whatever betide thee; for this is firmness (of purpose) in (the conduct of) affairs” (31:17). Let us pray that Allah will help us to stand for what is right and leave what is evil and to promote healthy marriages and peaceful family environments. Let us work together to prevent domestic violence and abuse and especially, violence against women.
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Muslim Television Channel Founder Charged With Beheading His Wife
Monday, February 16, 2009 By Joshua Rhett Miller
Muzzammil Hassan, right, founder of Bridges TV, is charged with murder in the beheading of his wife, Aasiya Hassan, left, in Orchard Park, N.Y.
The estranged wife of a Muslim television executive feared for her life after filing for divorce last month from her abusive husband, her attorney said — and was then found beheaded Thursday in his upstate New York television studio.
Aasiya Z. Hassan, 37, was found dead on Thursday at the offices of Bridges TV in Orchard Park, N.Y., near Buffalo. Her husband, Muzzammil Hassan, 44, has been charged with second-degree murder.
"She was very much aware of the potential ramification her filing for divorce might have," said attorney Elizabeth DiPirro, whose law firm, Hogan Willig, represented Aasiya Hassan in the divorce proceeding. "But she wanted to proceed despite the potential for it to erupt."
DiPirro said the couple had "physical confrontations off and on" for their entire eight-year marriage that had recently escalated to death threats. The grounds for divorce were "cruel and inhuman treatment," DiPirro said, referring to mulitple prior incidents of abuse. She declined to elaborate.
"We were worried about the situation becoming volatile," DiPirro said.
The couple had two children, ages 4 and 6, DiPirro said. Muzzammil Hassan also has two children, ages 17 and 18, from a previous marriage.
DiPirro said Aasiya was a brave mother who sought a better life for her young children.
"She was a very brave woman who was extremely devoted to her children and had come to this decision after a long, thoughtful process and was determined to change her life for herself and her children," DiPirro said.
Orchard Park Police Chief Andrew Benz said authorities continue to search for the murder weapon.
Asked if the slaying is being investigated as an honor killing, Benz replied, "It's safe to say we're investigating all the angles we can, all the possibilities in conjunction with the district attorney's office. We're looking at whatever we might come across."
Benz said officers were called to the couple's home on Feb. 6, when Aasiya Hassan had obtained an order of protection barring her husband from the home.
"He was served with divorce papers that day at the [television studio]," Benz said. "He came back to the residence and was pounding on doors and broke one window … He left the premises that night."
Benz said Hassan's body was found on an office floor at the Orchard Park television station. He declined to discuss further details of the killing other than to say investigators believe Muzzammil Hassan acted alone.
"At this point, that's what we believe," Benz told FOXNews.com.
Muzzammil Hassan, who founded Bridges TV in November 2004 to counter anti-Islam stereotypes, surrendered to police Thursday. Hassan touted the network as the "first-ever full-time home for American Muslims," according to a press release.
"Every day on television we are barraged by stories of a 'Muslim extremist, militant, terrorist, or insurgent,'" Hassan said in the 2004 release. "But the stories that are missing are the countless stories of Muslim tolerance, progress, diversity, service and excellence that Bridges TV hopes to tell."
Hassan, who was arraigned Thursday, remains jailed at the Erie County Holding Center. No bail had been set and an attorney for Hassan was not listed, according to a jail spokeswoman. Hassan has a court hearing scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, Benz said.
Dr. Khalid Qazi, a friend of the couple and president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council of Western New York, said the channel had been under financial strain.
"I cannot believe it — I know them both well," Qazi told the Buffalo News. "I cannot get a handle on this."
Samira Khatib, a friend of the couple, said Aasiya Hassan encouraged her husband to launch the cable channel.
"They were really more than married — they encouraged each other in everything," Khatib told the Buffalo News. "She was such a lovely person."
According to a Web site for Bridges TV, Aasiya Hassan "came up with the idea" for the network. The Web site, which shows an undated photo of the couple, identifies her maiden name as Aasiya Zubair.
"Bridges TV is deeply shocked and saddened by the murder of Aasiya [Zubair] Hassan and subsequent arrest of Muzzammil Hassan," a statement posted late Monday read. "Our deepest condolences and prayers go out to the families of the victim. We request that their right to privacy be respected."
I received permission from someone to post this here; she's in her late 60's now and this was her take on the way things have changed in this country (USA).
Miami says:
"Just some food for though:
in 1981 the Supreme Court overturned state laws designating a husband “head and master” with unilateral control of property owned jointly with his wife. Prior to this if you wanted a divorce and didn't have access to any money outside of your marriage you couldn't hire an attorney. No money meant no attorney and if your husband said no money you got none.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act was not passed until 1978. Prior to that you could be fired or forced to take maternity leave. Until 1976 women were not even eligible for unemployment at any time during their pregnancy. That would make it pretty difficult to leave a marriage while you were pregnant if you didn't have any outside support systems. You couldn't support yourself.
Until 1973 it was not illegal to place help wanted ads specifically for only men. A woman could not apply for the job qualified or not.
Until 1971 in most states men were given automatic preference as administrators of wills. Women were automatically viewed as less competent.
Until well into the 60's, in many states it was not illegal for a man to beat his wife so long as she didn't sustain permanent physical harm.
Until the early 60's many states weighted jury selection against women because women were "the center of the home" and many states outright prohibited them. Lets say you file for divorce and it goes to court. The chances were very very good that the jury would be entirely composed of men. Doesn't exactly increase the woman's chances of winning, does it?
Until 1965 in many states birth control was prescribed only to married couple. This did not, of course, include condoms. It only included birth control that could be used by women. Well into the 70's, in most states a woman could not get birth control without her husband's consent. Until well into the 80's a woman could not get sterilized without her husbands consent.
Think on this. You have several children due to the fact that you have no birth control and you have no right to deny your husband his conjugal rights. It was within his rights until the late 70's to rape you. You cannot get a well-paying job as these are reserved for men. You have no money of your own and you can't get any because your husband, as the head of household, controls all the money. If you do leave your husband you MIGHT get a small amount of alimony but you wouldn't get any of the money that he "earned." Does it sound like it would be easy to divorce a cheating husband?
I think that we today forget how far we have come and how in the very recent past women were discriminated against in every way. For women who came of age after this time, it's hard to imagine the degree to which women were denied rights but all one has to do is take a basic look at history to see it in black and white." http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2009/02/imams_asked_to_preach_against.html
Tue Feb 17, 2:11 pm ET Iraq sells its uranium to Canadian company AFP/File – Children walk by the walls of the Tuwaitha nuclear plant compound in Iraq in 2003. Iraq has sold its …
BAGHDAD (AFP) – Iraq has sold its 550 tonnes of uranium concentrate or "yellow cake", built up by former dictator Saddam Hussein, to Cameco of Canada for 90 million dollars, the government said on Tuesday.
"The cabinet has today approved this sale because we have signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and we no longer need this material accumulated by the former regime," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told AFP.
Iraq launched a tender offer last year and Sakatoon-based uranium producer Cameco Corp won the contract, he said.
The last remains of Saddam Hussein's nuclear ambitions were secretly transported to a Canadian port in July 2008 with US support.
Iraq still has to clean up the last radioactive waste at the former nuclear power station at Tuwaitha south of Baghdad.
Uranium concentrate or yellow cake is partially processed uranium ore.
TEHRAN, Feb 18 (Reuters) - A sound bomb exploded in a city mosque in a volatile area of eastern Iran near Pakistan on Wednesday, causing minor damage but no casualties, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.
The blast in Al-Ghadir mosque in the city of Zahedan came less than a week after Iranian state media said four members of the security forces had been killed in a booby-trap attack set by rebels in the same region.
"The aim of this bombing was to create fear," Fars quoted a local police official, Salah Asgarpour, as saying.
He said the device had been placed in the mosque's kitchen area and caused no major damage.
Zahedan is capital of Sistan-Baluchestan province, where Iranian security forces often clash with heavily armed drugs smugglers and bandits. The province is home to Shi'ite-dominated Iran's mostly Sunni ethnic Baluchis.
In December, Iran said the Sunni rebel group Jundollah (God's Soldiers) had killed 16 police hostages who were abducted from a checkpoint in Sistan-Baluchestan in June.
Tehran has said Jundollah is part of the Sunni Islamist al Qaeda network and has also accused the United States and Britain, the Islamic Republic's two Western arch foes, of backing the group.
Last April, a blast in a mosque in the southern city of Shiraz killed 14 people and wounded 200. Iran's Intelligence Ministry said U.S. agents had trained and armed those behind the blast. (Reporting by Parisa Hafezi; Writing by Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Alison Williams)
The first came on February 10 in Tehran where the 30th anniversary of the fall of the pro-USraeli Shah and his hated CIA-established SAVAK secret service that carried out torture and executions. Besides the CIA whose former head, Richard Holmes, became US ambassador to Tehran, the Shah had also depended on the advice of large numbers of Israeli MOSSAD agents in liquidating the political opposition of mostly seculars and leftists. This had left the field wide open for the religious opposition, lead by Ayatollah Khomeini. It was no wonder that one of Khomeini’s first actions was to close the US embassy and to hand the Keys of the Israeli embassy to Yasser Arafat who raised the Palestinian flags on top of the building in Tehran. Thirty years have gone and the Iranians continue to chant Death to America and Death to Israel.
The second is the anniversary of February 15, 1979, when the CIA-financed and trained Afghan Mujahidyeen to toppled the secular government of Dr Najeebullah, forced the Russians to retreat and the former USSR to collapse. Following that, the CIA continued to support successive governments of religious fundamentalists; that ended with the establishment of the Taleban regime supported by Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda men.
This honeymoon with the Taleban ended on November 7, 2001 when America decided to topple the regime of Mullah Omar after failing to hand in Bin Laden following the attack of 9/11. With the help of the CIA, Bin Laden can easily claim credit for the dismantlement of the USSR and for bankrupting America. Due to US short-sighted foreign policy, the lack of appropriate tactics and clear strategies, and the unlimited support for Israeli Nazi-style atrocities against Arabs have put the Americans in conflict with Shiat and Sunni Muslims throughout the world.
Many cruel empire had sent their soldiers to occupy our lands; including the Romans, Alexander the Great, the Moghuls, the Ottomans and the American Barbarians. Our rivers continued to flow and our date palm trees remained lush producing sweet dates. Alexander the Great died in Mesopotamia. The Moghuls became Muslims and the Americans continue to die until they call it a day. Here is somrthing for you: In America one shouldn't ask Who robbed the bank? or why Linda and Jack are dying on the Tigris bank?
By Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY BAGHDAD — To belong to the elite Hunting Club here, members must abide by a couple of important rules.
"No talk of politics, and no talk of religion. It's absolutely forbidden," says manager Maksood al-Sanjary. "People come here to enjoy themselves, and talk of such things does not belong at the club."
Once the most prestigious social club in Iraq's capital, the Hunting Club takes pride in the fact that it remained open during years of war — even during the worst sectarian fighting that turned the surrounding neighborhood into a killing field.
Al-Sanjary and others admit that the sprawling complex has seen better days. The lawn is brown and barren in spots, and the grand banquet hall is a bit shabby and dusty.
Now that security in Baghdad has improved, the management and members of the club are trying to bring back the old, jovial atmosphere. It's a task easier said than done considering the club's recent history.
In 2004, seven employees were dragged from a bus and murdered on their way home from the club, which once was a favorite hangout for Saddam's Hussein's oldest son, Uday Hussein. Two years later, a member of the club's board and his driver were shot dead, and several members have been killed.
Al-Sanjary estimates that at the height of the insurgency in 2006, about 60% of the club's members fled the country.
As violence peaked, al-Sanjary says so few paying members were showing up that he closed the club two days a week — he couldn't afford gasoline for the generators to keep the lights on.
"There were days in 2005 and 2006, when I would come and there were only three or four members in the entire club," says Anmar Mawozi al-Kassam, who sat in the garden on a recent afternoon with his wife and two young daughters.
Attendance is up, with membership swelling to 5,000 families — from about 2,000 at its low point, al-Sanjary says. The pool gets crowded late afternoons most days, and the club hosts Arabic singers and musicians to perform, just like the old days.
Many longtime members who were too scared or wary to hang out at the club during the worst of the violence are reappearing. And some who had fled Baghdad are now back at the club, catching up with old friends over a drink or lunch.
On a recent Friday afternoon, cars packed with families had to wait 15 minutes just to get into the parking lot.
"My parents feel safe when I am here, so we come often," says Ahmed Abdul Hussein, 19, who, with two friends, was on the lookout for girls. "The problem today is that all the girls are with their families. How can we talk to them?"
And though it was a warm day, hundreds of men and women crowded the banquet hall to play bingo, while dozens of men retired to a cozy, dark bar.
In one corner of the bar, two old friends — a Shiite Arab retired from the military and a Sunni Kurd businessman — were two-thirds through a bottle of Martini Rosso vermouth, and it wasn't quite 2 p.m.
"There is no place like this club in all of Iraq," says retired brigadier Najim Abdul Ridha Ali. "The food is not as good as it used to be, but the people who come here are friendly and educated. It's where I can come and relax."
The Hunting Club was a playground for many of Saddam Hussein's cronies in previous decades. The former dictator had frequented the Cairo Hunting Club when he was in exile in Egypt, and called for a similar club in Baghdad in 1969, the year after his Baath Party swept into power.
In the 1980s, his son Uday was a regular.
"Before I became a member, I was invited one night to come to a party at the club," recalls Hamid Mihali Zubaydi. "Uday was walking around with a tiger on a leash. I stayed far away from him."
During Saddam's rule, it was difficult to win club membership without belonging to the Baath Party. After Saddam was ousted in 2003, the club accepted members based on their profession, income and education.
Membership now requires recommendations from two current members, plus the ability to pay an $850 fee and monthly dues.
Al-Sanjary appears flexible about that last requirement. His cellphone buzzes from one of the guards at the entrance saying he had stopped a member behind on her dues.
Al-Sanjary says to let the woman in.
"I am sure she will pay as soon as she can," he explains. "She is one of the good people we must keep at the club."
The collision of two British and French nuclear submarines was described last night as the most severe incidents involving nuclear submarines since the sinking of the Russian Kursk.
By Caroline Gammell and Thomas Harding Last Updated: 4:13PM GMT 16 Feb 2009 HMS Vanguard: Two British and French nuclear submarines collided in heavy seas in the Atlantic. HMS Vanguard, which is beleived to have been involved in an underwater collision with a French submarine Photo: MOD
HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant were both damaged in the deep underwater crash in the middle of the Atlantic, which is expected to cost up to £50 million in repairs.
Dents and scrapes were clearly visible on each submarine, while the French vessel completely destroyed its sonar dome in the incident which took place in heavy seas on the night of February 3 and 4.
The Vanguard, Britain's first Trident class submarine, returned to Faslane on the Clyde on Saturday, while Le Triomphant took three days to get home to L'Ile Longue, near Brest in north west France.
Investigations were launched on both sides of the Channel as the two countries tried to work out how such a seemingly simple error could have been made.
Although both are fitted with state-of-the-art technology aimed at detecting other submarines, it appears neither saw the other until it was too late.
One theory being considered was that their respective anti-sonar devices - which hide submarines - were just too effective in concealing one from the other.
Only two people out of a 135-strong crew on a nuclear Trident submarine such as Vanguard know the precise location of the vessel, the captain and the navigator.
A senior British submariner source said: "We are embarrassed about this but let's see what the inquiry shows."
First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Jonathan Band said the submarines collided at low speed.
"Two submerged SSBN, one French and the other UK, were conducting routine national patrols in the Atlantic Ocean," he said.
"Recently, the two submarines came into contact at very low speed. Both submarines remained safe and no injuries occurred.
"We can confirm that the capability remained unaffected and there has been no compromise to nuclear safety."
A French naval source said the £50 million figure for repairs was "conservative" and would be met by the French and British taxpayer.
The badly damaged sonar dome should have detected the Vanguard but Le Triomphant's crew of 101 claimed to have "neither saw nor heard anything".
A French naval spokesman said: "The collision did not result in injuries among the crew and did not jeopardise nuclear security at any moment."
Kate Hudson, from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said the collision could have unleashed a radioactive disaster: "This is a nuclear nightmare of the highest order.
"The collision of two submarines, both with nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons onboard, could have released vast amounts of radiation and scattered scores of nuclear warheads across the seabed.
"This is the most severe incident involving a nuclear submarine since the sinking of the Kursk and the first time since the Cold War that two nuclear-armed subs are known to have collided."
The Kursk sank in 2000 with the loss of its entire 118-man crew.
Miss Hudson called on the Government to bring an end to its policy of deploying at least one nuclear submarine at sea at all times.
SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson demanded a Government statement into what went wrong.
"The UK Ministry of Defence needs to explain how it is possible for a submarine carrying weapons of mass destruction to collide with another submarine carrying weapons of mass destruction in the middle of the world's second-largest ocean."
Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Nick Harvey called for an internal inquiry with the partial publication of its conclusions to reassure the public.
"Now that this incident is public knowledge, the people of Britain, France and the rest of the world need to be reassured this can never happen again and that lessons are being learned."
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence, Dr Liam Fox, said the crash showed the inherent danger of military operations.
"For two submarines to collide whilst apparently unaware of each other's presence is extremely worrying.
"Hopefully lessons have been learned to prevent anything like this ever happening again in the future."
The UK submarine service has been badly undermanned for some time with technicians in particular shortage.
The Vanguard, which went into operation in 1994, is one of Britain's four nuclear-powered submarines. Alongside Le Triomphant, it is capable of carrying up to 16 nuclear-armed Trident missiles.
A senior naval officer said: “Manning in the submarine service is in a parlous state and is recognised by the Navy Board as a serious risk to the maintenance of the strategic deterrent and the nuclear submarine service.
“At the moment is it not a pretty picture and I am not convinced it will get better in the short term.”
Shortages are particularly evident among Warfare Officers and in the Strategic Weapons Systems department.
Articles: 23, Last update: Feb 14, 2009 8:59:00 PM, Start: Feb 14, 2009 12:14:00 PM More about this story...
-- to government
latimes Saturday, February 14, 2009 8:59:00 PM CET More about this article...
Entities:Crown Prince Abdullah[1];
Other categories:Citizenship; FinancialCrisis; TerroristAttack;
The king's moves weaken the grip of Islamic hard-liners. He dismisses a top fundamentalist cleric and the head of the religious police, and appoints a woman to a ministerial post for the first time. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia weakened the hold of Islamic hard-liners today by appointing the first.
-- First woman minister ignites hopes Hassna’a Mokhtar | Arab News
JEDDAH: History was made yesterday with the appointment by royal decree of a Saudi woman, Nora bint Abdullah Al-Fayez, as the deputy education minister for girls’ affairs.
“This is an honor not only for me, but for all Saudi women. In the presence of a comprehensive operational team, I believe I’ll be able to face challenges and create positive change,” Al-Fayez told Arab News.
Al-Fayez began her career as a schoolteacher in 1982 working her way up to become in 2001 the director general of the women’s section at the Institute of Public Administration. Her long experience in the educational sector and her husband’s encouragement and support paved the way for her to reach this position.
Many Saudis welcomed the new deputy minister expressing hope in her appointment. A woman educator working in a supervisory position said this was a wise decision to serve and develop the Kingdom’s educational sector.
“This is a successful step. We’ve always suffered from having a man occupy the position. A woman knows what problems and challenges her peers face. It’s a change for the better,” said the educator.
Ali Al-Twati, a Saudi academic and writer, said having a woman occupy the position of deputy minister is a must. “It is compulsory, not optional, to have women occupy leadership positions. Since the number of schools in Saudi Arabia exceeds 10,000, girls need a reference in the ministry to listen to their issues and understand them,” said Al-Twati.
He also said that segregation makes it easier for women in the Kingdom to reach high leadership positions. There are more women in key positions in the country than in developed countries, he added.
Haifa Jamal Al-Lail, dean of Effat College, expressed her delight, adding that the appointment serves as an impetus for women to get into leading positions to contribute to the development of Saudi society.
“This is not just about having the first woman deputy minister. It’s about having more women in important positions. Al-Fayez’s presence in the Ministry of Education will make women’s voices heard,” said Al-Lail.
Despite optimism for a better future, Khaled Al-Radihan, assistant professor of anthropology at King Saud University in Riyadh, said it would not be easy. “There is a conservative stream of people who won’t accept the situation easily. If the deputy minister proves herself and succeeds, then things might take a different turn. However, it’s a positive change and a good opportunity for a better future,” said Al-Radihan.
Asma Siddiki, associate dean for development at the Dubai School of Government, congratulated Al-Fayez, describing her appointment as a milestone for women in Saudi Arabia.
“Our government is to be commended for recognizing women’s achievements. Given the remarkable progress women are making in the Kingdom, and the investment the government is making in education, I don’t doubt there’ll be many such senior appointments in the future,” said Siddiki.
How would you explain that despite $500 billion from Geitner, wall stereet tumbles by 4% today 10.02.09? It is a divine punishment.
In Old Chinese mythology it was known that the more ignorant a nation is the easier it is for the ruler.That is how a deranged person like G.W. Bush was able to rule the Americans while being led from the nose by Jews. After bankrupting America the Iraqis continue to fight. Yesterday 09.02.09 four US soldiers died in Mosul and another near Tikrit.
It is the turn of the Australians to be inflicted by the curse of Babylon. Never in the history of a country used to bush fires that a man-made hell can unleash such miseries. The destruction and death are of biblical proportion and can only be invoked by a divine wrath.
The John Howard people who enjoyed seeing Baghdad on fire by American, British and Australian warplanes are getting a taste of their own medicine.
Like the curse of the Pharaoh that was very hard to explain, so is the curse of Babylon. The Americans can’t be punished more harshly than by the current economic and financial meltdown that is leaving 600000 out of work per month. The same Americans who cheered their troops marching on Baghdad to Israeli drums are being awed and shocked by a divine force.
To add insult to injury, the economy of Tony Blair’s Britain is expected to suffer more than the American. Finally the Jews who cheered the destruction of Baghdad can’t be punished more than having their bankrupt mentors, the Americans, exposing them as the real cause of the current global financial crisis.
The Babylonian Gods were upset seeing the Americans, the British, the Australian and their Jewish allies desecrating their remains and killing the Iraqi people. It is not enough for the Christians and the Jews to pray to their own Gods; they should repent and ask forgiveness from the Gods of Babylon in order to avoid their wrath.
The media in America are controlled by Jews who are benefiting from not reporting the American losses and embarassing local commanders. The crimes against Iraqis will haunt the Americans for years to come. Obama must appologise and pay.
The Iraqis have successfully punctured the American baloons of arrogance. No Iraqi will shine American shoes as they are too afraid to come too close. Have Americas heard of how afraid Iraqi interpreters who are currently working for the Americans? They will all be punished.
The Jews are behind all the troubles facing America today. The war on Iraq, which did cost $700 billion, was to protect the rogue Jewish state of Israel. That is at the time when the Jews were fleecing Americans. Only an nation of Zombies accept to be led by Jews to their destruction.
RPT- 14 Feb 2009 06:44:20 GMT Source: Reuters TEHRAN, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Four members of Iran's security forces have been killed by an explosion set off in a booby-trap attack by rebels near the Pakistani border, state radio reported.
The report late on Friday said the four policemen were buried the same day in the city of Zahedan in southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, but it did not specify when they were killed. Two others were wounded in the blast, it said.
Iranian security forces regularly clash with heavily armed drug smugglers and bandits in the southeast border area, which is home to Iran's mostly Sunni ethnic Baluchis.
Last month, state media said several members of Iran's border security forces were killed in an ambush near the Pakistani border.
In December, Shi'ite-dominated Iran said the Sunni rebel group Jundollah (God's Soldiers) had killed 16 police hostages who were abducted from a checkpoint in Sistan-Baluchestan in June. Tehran has said Jundollah's head, Abdolmalek Rigi, is part of the Sunni Islamist al Qaeda network. (Reporting by Hashem Kalantari; Writing by Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Michael Roddy)
Female bomber kills 32 on Iraqi pilgrimage route 13 Feb 2009 13:25:24 GMT Source: Reuters (Adds background, Shi'ite cleric)
By Wisam Mohammed and Sami al-Jumaili
KERBALA, Iraq, Feb 13 (Reuters) - A female suicide bomber blew herself up in a crowd of Shi'ite pilgrims on Friday, killing 32 people and wounding 84 others south of Baghdad during one of the holiest events of the Shi'ite calendar, police said.
The attack on the pilgrimage route in Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of the capital, came a day after a bomb killed eight in the Shi'ite holy city of Kerbala, to which hundreds of thousands if not millions were headed to mark Arbain.
Arbain is one of the most important Shi'ite Muslim rites, and marks the end of a mourning period after the anniversary of the death in battle in the seventh century of the Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein.
Some pilgrims, hardened to attacks by suspected Sunni Islamist insurgents in the years since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, said the bombs would not deter them.
"We came here for the pilgrimage. Nothing will stop us. We aren't afraid. We've been through worse events in the past,"
said 63-year-old Sadia Ali, who had travelled to Kerbala from Baghdad's Sadr City slum.
The attacks occurred despite heavy security on the pilgrimage route. The ranks of troops and police patrolling Kerbala were boosted by 5,000 to 30,000, a city official said.
The Arbain rite, which culminates early on Monday, is difficult to secure. Many pilgrims walk all the way to Kerbala, and are easy targets as they cover hundreds of miles clutching religious banners.
Shi'ite religious rites have drawn huge crowds in Iraq since the invasion that toppled the Sunni-led government of Saddam Hussein, who curtailed large Shi'ite gatherings.
The events have been regular targets of Sunni insurgents such as al Qaeda during the sectarian bloodshed that followed Saddam's fall. Al Qaeda views Shi'ites as heretics. A suicide attack during Arbain last year killed 63 people.
"These cowardly actions will not undermine the determination and patience of the pilgrims. We call upon our people and especially the security forces to take more precautions and be alert,"
said a statement on the website of Ayatollah Sadiq al-Husseini al-Shirazi, a member of Iraq's top Shi'ite clergy.
HIGH ALERT
Many women and children were among the dead and wounded in Friday's attack, police said. Emergency services were on high alert, and people were asked to give blood as a precaution.
"I have been sleeping in the ambulance," said emergency worker Ahmed Kadhom.
Kadhom said that after Thursday's attack, he saw a grief-stricken man carrying his dead young son.
"He was shouting and crying. I will never forget this scene," he said.
Militants have increasingly used women for suicide bombings because they are less likely to be thoroughly searched by male guards, and because their voluminous robes can easily conceal vests packed with explosives and ball bearings or nails.
A recent sharp drop in violence helped allies of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki score victories in the Shi'ite south in local elections last month. But the security gains are fragile, and suicide and car bomb attacks remain common.
Security sources have also warned that there could be an increase in attacks after Maliki's strong electoral showing, as political rivals and militants try to undermine the perception that the insurgency is on its last legs. (Additional reporting by Waleed Ibrahim and Khalid al-Ansary in Baghdad; Writing by Mohammed Abbas; Editing by Michael Christie)
-----------
Seven Iraqis killed when bus hits UK army vehicle
18 Feb 2009 08:54:44 GMT Source: Reuters BASRA, Iraq, Feb 18 (Reuters) - At least seven Iraqis died and several were injured when a minibus carrying Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims crashed into a British army vehicle near the southern city of Basra, British and Iraqi officials said on Wednesday.
The British armoured vehicle was on a routine night patrol on Tuesday and was stationary at the time of the accident, British military spokesman Major Bill Young said.
The mini bus hit the army vehicle at high speed from behind, he said.
Iraqi police sources said more than seven people may have died in the crash near the airport of Basra, Iraq's second largest city and the heart of its oil industry.
The passengers on the bus were Shi'ite pilgrims returning from the holy city of Kerbala after the end of Arbain, one of the most important religious events in the Shi'ite calendar. (Reporting by Aref Mohammed; Editing by Michael Christie)
A commuter plane crashed into a suburban Buffalo home and erupted in flames late Thursday, killing all 48 people aboard and one person on the ground, authorities said.
Flames silhouetted the shattered home after Continental Connection Flight 3407 plummeted into it around 10:20 p.m.
“The whole sky was lit up orange,” said Bob Dworak, who lives less than a mile from the crash site. “All the sudden, there was a big bang, and the house shook.”
The 74-seat Q400 Bombardier aircraft, operated by Colgan Air, was flying from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey to Buffalo Niagara International Airport in light snow, fog and 17 mph winds.
Dworak said while residents of his neighborhood about 16 kilometers from the Buffalo airport were used to planes rumbling overhead, but this one sounded louder than usual, sputtered and made some odd noises. After hearing the crash, he drove over to take a look, and “all we were seeing was 50 to 100 foot flames and a pile of rubble on the ground. It looked like the house just got destroyed the instant it got hit,” he said.
Witness Tony Tatro said he saw the plane flying low and knew it was in trouble.
“It was not spiraling at all. The left wing was a little low,” he told WGRZ-TV.
It was the first fatal crash of a commercial airliner in the United States since Aug 27, 2006, when 49 people were killed after a Comair jetliner took off from a Lexington, Ky, runway that was too short.
Prior to the crash, the voice of a female pilot on Continental Flight 3407 can be heard communicating with air traffic controllers, according to a recording of the Buffalo air traffic control’s radio messages shortly before the crash captured by the website http://www.liveatc.net. Neither the controller nor the pilot exchange any concerns that anything is out of the ordinary as the airplane is asked to fly at 2,300 feet.
A minute later, the controller tries to contact the plane but hears no response. After a pause, he tries to contact the plane again.
Then the controller asks the pilot of a nearby Delta Air Lines plane to see if he can see the Continental flight.
“Delta 1998, look off your right side about 5 miles for a Dash 8 about 2,300 (feet). You see anything there?” he asks.
“Uh, negative,” the Delta pilot says.
Houston-based Continental Airlines issued a statement saying that preliminary information showed the plane carried 44 passengers and a crew of four.
“At this time, the full resources of Colgan Air’s accident response team are being mobilized and will be devoted to cooperating with all authorities responding to the accident and to contacting family members and providing assistance to them,” the statement said.
Chris Kausner, believing his sister was on the plane, rushed to a hastily established command center after calling his vacationing mother in Florida to break the news.
“To tell you the truth, I heard my mother make a noise on the phone that I’ve never heard before. So not good, not good,” he told reporters.
Clarence emergency control director Dave Bissonette said the crash killed one person on the ground.
Manassas, Va-based Colgan did not immediately return telephone calls. The Federal Aviation Administration had no immediate comment.
Twelve homes were evacuated near the crash site, about 16 kms from the airport. The tail or part of a wing was visible through flames and thick smoke that engulfed the scene.
Two women believed to be residents of the neighborhood were being treated at Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital for what were described as non-life threatening injuries, hospital spokesman Michael Hughes said. They were transported by ambulance approximately 11:35 p.m.
The crash came less than a month after a US Airways pilot guided his crippled plane to a landing in the Hudson River off Manhattan, saving the lives of all 155 people aboard. Birds had apparently disabled both its engines.
On Dec 20, a Continental Airlines plane veered off a runway and slid into a snowy field at the Denver airport, injuring 38 people.
Continental’s release said relatives and friends of those on Flight 3407 who wanted to give or receive information about those on board could telephone a special family assistance number, 1-800-621-3263.
___
Associated Press writers Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, Linda Franklin in Dallas, Daniel Yee in Atlanta and Cristian Salazar and Jennifer Peltz in New York contributed to this report.
By Jon Swaine and Stephen Adams in London Fri, Feb 13, 2009
Space scientists issued a stark warning yesterday over the "inevitable" prospect of more satellites crashing into each other after the first collision between two orbiting devices.
The crash between American and Russian satellites happened 485 miles over Siberia.
Russia's defunct Kosmos-2251, which weighed nearly a ton, and America's half-ton Iridium 33, which was part of the satellite telephone network, were both travelling at 25,200mph.
According to NASA, the Kosmos, which was launched in 1993, was out of control. The Iridium was put into orbit in 1997. British and American tracking stations believe that more than 500 sizeable pieces of debris -- bigger than 4in across -- were created by the crash.
They will add to thousands of fragments already orbiting the Earth.
Scientists gave warning that crashes in space would become more frequent, with Earth's orbit more crowded than ever. About 6,000 satellites have been launched since the USSR sent up Sputnik 1 in 1957 and about 3,000 remain in operation.
The collision risk is increased by the vast quantity of debris now in orbit. Last year, NASA estimated that there were 17,000 pieces of debris bigger than 4in, while the Space Security Index, a monitoring group, said there were more than 300,000 objects measuring between 0.4in and 4in and "billions" of even smaller fragments.
Even tiny objects pose a threat to manned space shuttles because they travel at such high speed.
Mark Matney, an orbital debris scientist at Johnson Space Centre in Houston, said of Tuesday's crash: "We knew this was going to happen eventually. Collisions will become more and more important in the coming decades."
Both the satellites were in a low, crowded orbit, said experts.
Israel prides itself on being a democratic country, albeit being controlled by the corrupt religious-military mafia and despite 20% of its Arab population is not proportionately represented. But security conscious Israel is worse than Burma when it comes to dealing with its Arab population as its IDF (SS) are killing with impunity, thousands of Arabs are detained in concentration camps and hundreds are being tortured in Guantanamo-style cages.
The contenders for the February 10 parliamentary election are an array of fascist (Lieberman), Terrorist (Netanyaho), Assassin (Barak) and a former MOSSAD agent killer (Livni).
There is no front runner who is a plain civilised or cultured Israeli. Although Israeli security is a major issue in the election but the declared policies of those running will never help Israel to attain peace that have eluded her during the last 60 years. Fascist Lieberman wants Arabs to be loyal to Israel, forgetting that most Jews living abroad are not loyal to the countries they live in but to Israel. Should Obama for, example, fire and send home his Jewish chief of staff, for being loyal to Israel as he is a reserve army officer in Israeli notorious IDF (SS)?
The Jews must realise that the West is right now in a financial crisis and can’t possibly continue to finance and arm Israel to carry out NAZI-Style atrocities against Arabs. To Arabs it makes no difference whether Jewish Himmler or Jewish Hitler is elected. Israeli remains as a Nazi rogue state in breach of 39 UN Security Council Resolutions.
The world is fed up with a re-incarnated Nazi practices replacing the Swastika with David Star. Many Jews have already labelled Lieberman as a fascist. A very strong Wehrmacht didn't help Hitler to survive.
I continue to label Israel as a Nazi state because it carries out Nazi-style atrocities. I have already made a detailed list of such practices. It is not whether one can criticize or change the Nazi hierarchy but how to stop their aggression and violations.
The Jewish inmates of Nazi concentration camps shouldn't complain since Himmler had sent musical bands to welcome them upon arrival at Auschwitz.
One of the pillars of democracy is the presence of a strong parliamentary opposition which insists on the presence of effective checks and balances and to ensure that the government doesn’t turn into an autocracy bordering dictatorship. In the recent past, the Israeli politics had what was called left, centre and right. But the political platforms of most political parties which participated in the election of 10.02.09 didn’t differ much and can be described as right.
of centre (Kadima), extreme right wing (Likud) and fascists (Israeli Beitneu). No matter who is going to form the next government, he/she will say adios to the Middle East peace process that started in Oslo, to the two-state solution as promoted by the Americans or to the land for peace of the Arab peace proposal.
It will also be a kick in the teeth for the so-called Arab moderates the prostrated and useless Abbas, Mubarak and Kings of Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The Israeli election will help to unify Arabs and to polarise their positions with Hamas playing a major role in future Palestinain unity government. It is the first time that Arabs don’t care who forms the next government in Israel. It is like asking a Jew in 1944 whether he prefers Hitler or Himmler. And like Hitler whom the Germans voted for in 1932, Netanyahu and Co. will lead his country to destruction.
Author: Adnan Date: 10-02-09 12:55
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Israel faces gridlock, peace prospects dim
11 Feb 2009 19:02:17 GMT Source: Reuters (Adds party talks under way)
By Douglas Hamilton
JERUSALEM, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Israel headed for political gridlock on Wednesday with both sides declaring victory in an election that left the prospect of Israel and the Palestinians making peace as distant as ever.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's centrist Kadima party won the most votes but had little chance of building enough support for a resilient coalition government. Right-wing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu can get the backing in parliament, but analysts said the likely alliance would prove dysfunctional.
"I won," read the headline of the country's biggest newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, over photographs of both leaders. But to some commentators, the rival claims showed that Israel, deeply beset with divisions over constitutional issues and years of failed diplomacy with Arabs, had lost.
"One thing is clear to all Israeli voters," said the paper's Eitan Haber. "The political system is shattered."
Washington signalled equanimity. The new administration of U.S. President Barack Obama wants to revive peace talks to give the Palestinians a state alongside Israel, provided they can repair a schism triggered by Islamist Hamas's hold on Gaza.
"We certainly hope that a new (Israeli) government will continue to pursue a path to peace. I see no reason to think a new government would do something otherwise," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.
Israeli President Shimon Peres must now decide whether to call on Livni or Netanyahu, who then has 42 days to form a government. An official election tally is due out by Feb. 18, after which Peres would have a week to make his nomination.
As the parties began negotiating possible pacts, Israeli media said it seemed Peres would have no choice but to tap Netanyahu if the majority rightists all back him.
But it would be the first time in Israel's 60-year history that the winner of an election would be passed over.
The results, not yet official, gave Netanyahu 27 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, while Livni's Kadima won 28.
She said she would be prime minister and invited Netanyahu to join a "unity government". But Netanyahu said he would lead the "nationalist camp" in parliament, and control 64 seats.
"With God's help I will lead the next government," Netanyahu, 59, told supporters of his Likud party.
"Tzipi Livni has only the slightest chance, or none at all, of forming a government under her leadership," said Abraham Diskin, a political scientist at Jerusalem's Hebrew University.
HARD RIGHT IN PIVOTAL POSITION
Avigdor Lieberman's far-right Yisrael Beiteinu party, which surged to third place in the ballot with its demand to test the loyalties of Israeli Arabs, emerged as a potential kingmaker.
He met Livni and Netanyahu on Wednesday, appearing to favour the latter though he deferred any decision. Another linchpin party, the conservative Shas, held it own talks with the Likud.
"We want a nationalist government. We want a rightist government," Lieberman said. A deal was needed as fast as possible because the state "has been paralysed for half a year".
"People may not be aware, but we are still without a budget ... in conditions of global financial crisis," Lieberman said.
Netanyahu had been cruising ahead in opinion polls until Olmert's centre-left coalition, including Livni, launched a military offensive against Hamas and other factions in the Gaza Strip, to stop them firing rockets at towns in southern Israel.
The 22-day January war cost 1,300 Palestinian lives versus 13 Israelis killed, but had massive public support. After a truce on Jan 18, the election campaign resumed as Israel pursued Egyptian-brokered talks with Hamas on a durable Gaza truce.
The ceasefire talks are still going on, and uncertainty in Israel will not stop them, both sides said on Wednesday.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Israel's next government must also restart serious talks on a comprehensive peace deal, and could not let them stagnate.
"I think if we continue in a crisis management mode, if we don't enter into a conflict resolution mode it will be going back and back again," Solana told Reuters.
Livni, 50, led the main peace talks last year with the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas, and would try to revive them. Netanyahu is cooler on the key trade-offs for an accord -- ceding occupied land and curbing Jewish settlement.
Lieberman and religious parties in a coalition would be likely to set virtually impossible conditions for a peace deal.
The Palestinian Authority, which governs the occupied West Bank, said that whoever ends up in charge Israel is obliged to continue talks and to meet international obligations.
"The ascent of the Israeli right does not worry us," Abbas told Italy's La Repubblica newspaper. "In whatever form, the government, once in power, will ultimately end up with responsibility, pragmatism prevailing."
But many Palestinians were gloomy. "Israelis voted for the right and against peace," said office worker Ali Zaidan. "We will not see progress in the peace process in the coming years." (Additional reporting by Sue Pleming in Washington; Editing by Peter Millership) (For blogs and links on Israeli politics and other Israeli and Palestinian news, go to http://blogs.reuters.com/axismundi)
09 Feb 2009 14:37:32 GMT Source: Reuters (Updates death toll)
By Simone Giuliani
WHITTLESEA, Australia, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Weary firefighters and rescuers pulled the remains of dozens of people from charred buildings on Monday as the toll from Australia's deadliest bushfires rose to 171, police said.
"Everybody's gone. Everybody's gone. Everybody. Their houses are gone. They're all dead in the houses there. Everybody's dead," cried survivor Christopher Harvey as he walked through the town of Kinglake, where most people were killed.
A Victoria state police spokesman told Reuters by telephone late on Monday the toll had risen to 171 from about 135 hours earlier. He said the toll would almost certainly rise further.
Police believe some of the fires, which razed rural towns near the country's second biggest city, Melbourne, were deliberately lit and declared one devastated town a crime scene.
"There are no words to describe it other than mass murder," Prime Minister Kevin Rudd earlier told local television. "These numbers (of dead) are numbing."
The bushfires are the country's worst natural disaster in more than a century, and will put pressure on Rudd to deliver a broad new climate policy.
One massive bushfire tore through several towns in the southern state of Victoria on Saturday night, destroying everything in its path. Many people died in cars trying to flee and others were killed huddled in their homes, yet some escaped by jumping into swimming pools or farm reservoirs.
The inferno was as tall as a four-storey building at one stage and was sparking spot fires 40 km (25 miles) ahead of itself as the strong winds blew hot embers in its path.
"It's going to look like Hiroshima, I tell you. It's going to look like a nuclear bomb. There are animals dead all over the road," said Harvey.
More than 750 houses were destroyed and some 78 people, with serious burns and injuries, are in hospital.
Many patients had burns to more than 30 percent of their bodies and some injuries were worse than the Bali bombings in 2002, said one doctor at a hospital emergency department.
In Canberra, lawmakers fought back tears as they suspended parliament for the day after expressing condolences to the victims on behalf of the stunned nation.
"It is the beauty and the wonder of our country," National Party leader Warren Truss said. "It can also be harsh and cruel. How can these idyllic landscapes also become killing fields?"
**** For more stories, double-click on [nSP435072] ****
CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY
Wildfires are a natural annual event in Australia, but this year a combination of scorching weather, drought and tinder-dry bush has created prime conditions.
The fires, and major floods in Queensland state in the north, will put pressure on Rudd, who is due to deliver a new climate policy in May. Green politicians are citing the extreme weather to back a tougher climate policy. [ID:nSP292660]
Adding to the nation's grief, authorities in northern Queensland searched unsuccessfully for a five-year-old boy who they believe was killed by a crocodile when he chased his pet dog into the flooded Daintree River.
Scientists say Australia, with its harsh environment, is set to be one of the nations most affected by climate change.
"Continued increases in greenhouse gases will lead to further warming and drier conditions in southern Australia, so the (fire) risks are likely to slightly worsen," said Kevin Hennessy at the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Centre (CSIRO).
The Victorian bushfire tragedy is the worst natural disaster in Australia in 110 years. In 1899, Cyclone Mahina struck Australia's northern Cape York, killing more than 400.
PLEAS FOR MISSING
Thousands of firefighters continued to battle the main fires and scores of other blazes across Victoria on Monday, as well as fires in neighbouring New South Wales state.
While cooler, calmer conditions helped firefighters, 10 major fires remained out of control in Victoria. But the week-long heatwave that triggered the inferno was over.
The fires burnt out more than 330,000 ha (815,000 acres) of mostly bushland in Victoria, but a number of vineyards in the Yarra Valley were also destroyed. The Insurance Council of Australia said it was too early to estimate the bill.
The small town of Marysville was sealed off by police as forensic scientists searched through the rubble for evidence.
As dawn broke in the town of Whittlesea, near Kinglake, shocked residents wandered the streets, some crying, searching for loved ones still missing.
"The last anyone saw of them, the kids were running in the house, they were blocked in the house," cried Sam Gents, who had not heard from his wife Tina and three children, aged 6, 13 and 15, since the fire swept through Kinglake.
"If they let me up the mountain I know where to go (to try and find them)," Gents sobbed. Police sealed off Kinglake, where at least 35 died, because bodies were still being recovered.
Handwritten notes pinned to a board in the Whittlesea evacuation centre told the same sad story, with desperate pleas from people for missing family and friends to contact them.
Rudd said it would take years to rebuild the devastated towns and has announced a A$10 million ($6.8 million) aid package. He has also called in the army to help erect emergency shelter.
The previous worst bushfire tragedy in Australia was in 1983, when 75 people were killed.
($1=A$1.50) (Writing by Michael Perry; Editing by Paul Tait)
Australia fears more than 200 dead in bushfires
----------- By Michael Perry
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian police combed through a blackened landscape searching for clues in the hunt for possible arsonists on Tuesday as the death toll from the nation's worst bushfires looked likely to top 200.
Victoria state Police Commissioner Christine Nixon launched the nation's biggest arson investigation, dubbed "Operation Phoenix," vowing to catch anyone who started a blaze.
The bushfires which swept through Victoria on Saturday night were "suspicious" because there were no natural events such as lightning which would have sparked the blazes, police said.
Authorities said anyone found guilty could face manslaughter or murder charges.
"The laws of the state provide that they can be put away and put away for life," said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. "My own personal view is they should be allowed to rot in jail. This is unspeakable murder on a mass scale."
The disaster area, more than twice the size of London and encompassing more than 20 towns north of Melbourne, has been declared a crime zone by officials. Police tape flutters around charred houses where bodies have been found.
At least 181 people have been confirmed killed in the fires, but officials say the toll will rise.
"There are still a large number of people, in excess of 50 ... who the coroner believes are already deceased, but are not yet identified," Victorian Premier John Brumby told reporters.
"This is going to be a significant number, it will exceed 200 deaths."
About 25 fires were still burning in Victoria on Tuesday, with a dozen towns placed on alert as strong winds flared.
"The fires are nowhere near controlled for people to let their guard down," said emergency official Kevin Monk.
The fires have increased pressure on the prime minister to take firm action on climate change. Scientists blamed global warming for conditions that fueled the disaster.
"This week's tragedy shows that we are now dealing with a changed climate in Australia and it is now apparent to all just how much we stand to lose," Greenpeace campaigner Trish Harrup said in a statement.
Major bushfires are not unusual, however.
"The fire weather experienced on Saturday ... although infrequent, is not unexpected, as on average this extreme fire weather occurs every 5 to 20 years," said Justin Leonard at the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organization.
Australia is particularly vulnerable to climate change because of its hot, dry environment, but is dependent on coal-fired power. Rudd has set a target to cut overall greenhouse gas emissions by only 5 percent by 2020.
HORROR, COURAGE, LUCK
Stories of horror, courage and luck emerged as shocked townspeople rallied to rebuild their shattered lives.
One woman told Australian television how she and her children survived by hiding in a wombat hole in the ground. Many Australian animals survive bushfires by burrowing.
Ross Buchanan lost his two children in a blaze in the town of Kinglake, where more than 30 people died. He had taken them to his in-laws in another town, where he thought they would be safe.
His children died when fire swept through the other town while Buchanan battled to save his Kinglake home.
Victoria has ordered a Royal Commission of Inquiry to probe all aspects of the bushfires, including safety guidelines.
Officials say the golden rule of surviving forest fires is to evacuate early or stay and defend homes, but experts say that it appears many victims panicked and fled at the worst time. Some were incinerated in cars as they tried to outrun the flames.
"Our research has shown that fleeing at the last moment is the worst possible option. This is where most people have died or been injured," said John Handmer at the Bushfire Cooperative Research Center.
Australia is the most fire-prone country on earth, say scientists, and most of its bushfires are ignited by lightning.
Fire officials monitor lightning strikes and any fire that does not correspond with a strike is assumed to be started by people, either accidentally or deliberately.
The bushfire tragedy is the worst natural disaster in Australia in 110 years. The previous worst bushfire was the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983 which killed 75 people.
BAGHDAD — An 8-year-old Iraqi girl was killed Saturday and several other civilians were wounded when gunfire from an American military convoy struck a crowd of Shiite pilgrims traveling to the holy city of Karbala, witnesses and Iraqi officials said.
In a statement on Saturday, the American military said that there had been an accidental discharge of a weapon and that it had reports of two people wounded in Diwaniya, the area in central Iraq where the shooting took place. It said it was starting an investigation, but declined to give any details.
The shooting came at a delicate time for American forces in Iraq, after a security agreement between the United States and Iraq set new ground rules that greatly limit American military actions. When American forces are operating outside their bases, the agreement requires them to consult directly with their Iraqi counterparts.
Iraqi officials have said that the Americans violated the agreement twice in recent weeks by attacking Iraqi criminal suspects without consulting Iraqi forces.
The shooting on Saturday seemed to fall into another category, occurring while the Americans were on an official mission guarding a supply convoy but were not pursuing any Iraqi suspects. While condemned by local officials, it drew a surprisingly muted public response, perhaps a reflection of how rare American military actions are in that part of Iraq.
Although violence has diminished greatly across the country, there were other scattered attacks over the weekend, highlighting the fragility of the security gains.
A bomb in northern Baghdad early Sunday morning killed two people and wounded 11 others as they began their pilgrimage to Karbala, Iraqi officials said. Another explosive device placed in a vehicle in the center of Baghdad wounded two people.
It was unclear how the shooting on Saturday began. Col. Asaad Malek, the commander of a joint American and Iraqi military outpost in Diwaniya, said the Americans had been protecting a convoy of fuel trucks when they stopped to attend to a disabled vehicle.
The road was crowded with pilgrims heading to Karbala, witnesses said. Salah Mon’em, 26, who was wounded, said the patrol had sounded horns to keep the crowds at bay. Before he realized what was happening, he said, “I fell down because of a bullet that hit me.”
Jassim Hassan, a 25-year-old college student, described a scene of chaos and confusion. “I don’t know how all of this happened and I can’t remember a thing, because everything was so fast and sudden,” he said.
After the short burst of gunfire, the 8-year-old girl, Sa’adiya Saddam, collapsed on the ground by her wailing mother, witnesses said.
Her brother, Hussein, also 8, said: “We didn’t notice the Americans before the gun shooting started. My sister fell immediately, swimming in her own blood.”
Colonel Malek said the Americans had sent a representative to apologize to the victim’s family and had begun the process of compensation.
On Sunday, a trial date was set for the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush during his farewell visit to Iraq in December. The journalist, Muntader al-Zaidi, 29, was charged with assaulting a foreign leader. His trial is set to begin on Feb. 19, a spokesman for the court said.
Lawyers for the journalist had tried to get a reduction in the charges stemming from the episode, which made him a folk hero in much of the Arab world and beyond. In setting a trial date, however, Iraq’s top court, the Higher Federal Court, let the most serious charges stand. If convicted, he could face as many as 15 years in prison.
His trial could become an important test of Iraq’s evolving judicial system. It is not clear how much of his trial, if any, will be open to the public.
A brother of Mr. Zaidi’s, Maytham al-Zaidi, said he was surprised and disappointed by the decision. “I am scared now,” he said in a telephone interview. “The Higher Federal Court was our only hope. Now it looks like the Iraqi government is insisting on sending him to jail for the longest time.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, whose party made significant gains in provincial elections on Jan. 31, has stepped up his outreach to a number of former members of the government of Saddam Hussein. The prime minister has promised them safe passage should they return to Iraq, and the possibility of government jobs or pensions.
The move represents a significant effort to repair the breach with former members of Mr. Hussein’s Baath Party, who have been largely excluded from the Iraqi government.
Steven Lee Myers contributed reporting from Baghdad, and Imad al-Khozay from Diwaniya.
BAGHDAD: On battered blast walls and rusted telephone poles, hanging from street lights and village homes, the election posters that line the rubble-strewn road from Baghdad to Karbala show the familiar faces of the would-be leaders of Iraq.
Already withered and peeling, they are reminders of the election last weekend, in which national leaders, including Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, backed local candidates in an effort to solidify power.
But is not among them.
Habboubi, a former Baathist who has largely been out of politics since 2003, managed to defeat not only the religious parties who controlled the province of Karbala but also Maliki's preferred candidates by a 2-1 margin in one of the bigger surprises in the provincial elections last week.
Habboubi had no list of candidates and ran under no party name, only his own. He succeeded, according to interviews with residents and other candidates, largely on the strength of a reputation earned years ago, before Iraq descended into chaos.
Born in Najaf, Habboubi worked in the 1970s at a local firehouse in Karbala and, even as he ascended the Baathist ranks, he maintained his reputation as a friend of the people.
"He sold his own car to help restore Ahmed bin Hashim shrine," recalled Muhammad Abdul Hassan, a firefighter in Karbala.
In one respect, Habboubi's victory is a reflection of how far Iraq has come since the first days after Saddam Hussein was overthrown. In turning away from the religious parties whose opposition to the occupation fueled their popularity, the voters in Karbala seemed to be looking for leaders offering pragmatic solutions to everyday concerns.
On his second visit to Iraq, the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki Moon, said Friday that provincial elections were a big step toward full democracy, but told Iraqis they still had work to do before they could "enjoy genuine freedom and security and prosperity," The Associated Press reported from Baghdad.
"You have come such a long way, but still you have to go a far way to say that you will fully be able to enjoy genuine freedom and security and prosperity," he said during a meeting in Baghdad with President Jalal Talabani.
In the Shiite-dominated south, the willingness to turn to Habboubi, a figure tied to Saddam's regime, also underscored continuing frustration over the failure to restore basic services.
In that regard, Habboubi's success also highlights the slow pace of reconstruction despite more than a year of relative security.
Habboubi could not be reached for comment and some residents speculated that he might be in hiding.
In the weeks before the election, a rumor circulated widely that Habboubi had been shot and killed.
"It was a great boost for him," said Ali Hussein, sales manager at a medical supply company.
The logic was that someone worth killing might be capable of battling corruption and entrenched interests.
But since Habboubi had no list of candidates and can not fill all the seats he seemingly won, there is speculation that he may be negotiating with either the religious parties or Maliki's Dawa party to share power.
There are 28 seats on the provincial council. Habboubi won 17 percent of the vote, according to a preliminary count, and the next two closest parties won 8 percent each. The result is all the more surprising since Maliki, whose party had a strong showing across the country, is from the Karbala region.
If Habboubi does attain a degree of control in Karbala, it will return him to a position he held before the war, when he was a deputy governor.
Sheik Ahmed Jabbar said that Habboubi had always maintained a strong reputation with the overwhelmingly Shiite population.
"He never caused problems for the people," Jabbar said, sitting in his office in central Karbala, sipping a can of orange soda while seated in front of an enlarged photo of Miami harbor.
Habboubi, though viewed as a secularist, is best known for creating four parks linking Karbala's holy shrines, often working on the project himself.
He bolstered his reputation during the invasion by returning to the firehouse where he once worked.
"He came here as a supervisor to take care of the employees and he never left his position," Hassan, the firefighter, said.
Tariq Maher, an employee of The New York Times, contributed to this article.
When I first saw this picture back in '79, I kept asking myself how could IRI at its infancy inflict so much pain and terror? We had barely celebrated the revolution that the killings started.
I always saluted the brave photographer that took this Pulitzer prize winning picture and wondered who he was. Now after 27 yrs we get to meet this hero.
This is a great historical read exposing the unjust mass executions by Akhond Khalkhali with Khomeini's blessing.
December 02, 2006 The Wall Street Journal Joshua Prager
Flash Point,Iranian photographer Jahangir Razmi, below, took 70 pictures of an execution in Kurdistan on Aug. 27, 1979. One picture (No. 20) won the Pulitzer Prize. It was, however, awarded to an unnamed photographer -- the only anonymous recipient in the 90-year history of the award. Mr. Razmi preserved 27 of the photos on a contact sheet and stowed it away in his home:
Twenty-six years ago, a picture of an execution in Iran won the Pulitzer Prize. But the man who took it remained anonymous. Until now.
On Aug. 27, 1979, two parallel lines of 11 men formed on a field of dry dirt in Sanandaj, Iran. One group wore blindfolds. The other held rifles. The command came in Farsi to fire: "Atesh!" Behind the soldier farthest to the right, a 12th man also shot, his Nikon camera and Kodak film preserving in black and white a mass execution.
Within hours, the photo ran across six columns in Ettela'at, the oldest newspaper in Iran. Within days, it appeared on front pages around the world. Within weeks, the new Iranian government annexed the offending paper. Within months, the photo won the Pulitzer Prize.
Taken seven months after Islamic radicals overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah, the photo remains one of the most famous images of Iran. It is an icon of government terror, invoked in critiques of the regime from the 1979 poem "Screaming," to the 1986 music video "Speak To Me From My Land, Iran" to the 1997 book "Kurdistan." Davood and Davar Ghassemlouie, brothers who operate a photo shop in Los Angeles, say they have made tens of thousands of reprints for demonstrators, including 200 in late September when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited the U.S.
On Jan. 16, 1979, the Shah fled Iran following mass demonstrations protesting his rule. Sixteen days later, Ayatollah Khomeini, a radical Islamic cleric, returned from France and seized control. Mr. Razmi photographed Mr. Khomeini in his Qom headquarters so regularly that he came to greet the imam with a handshake. Using his favorite Nikon lens, a 28mm wide-angle lens with automatic focus, Mr. Razmi chronicled the conversion of Iran to theocracy from autocracy.
By August, about 500 alleged counter-revolutionaries and officials of the former regime had been executed. The judiciary decreed it illegal to criticize Islam and Iran's spiritual leaders. A holding company formed by the regime appropriated Kayhan, the only newspaper in Iran larger than Ettela'at. Journalists who pushed back at censorship under the Shah were petrified.
"Under Khomeini they would kill you," says Amir Taheri, then editor of Kayhan and now a political analyst living in England. "It was a different ballgame."
On Aug. 16, Mr. Khomeini called on Iranian troops to suppress restive Kurds hoping for autonomy. Thousands of soldiers headed 300 miles northwest to the Iranian province of Kurdistan. Mr. Razmi and Khalil Bahrami, an Ettela'at reporter, followed.
Ten days later, Mr. Bahrami received a tip that a judge he had befriended was set to try Kurds in an antechamber of the municipal airport at Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan. The reporter, then 37, had worked at Ettela'at for 22 years and was thankful he was paired with the young Mr. Razmi, whose father had lived in Sanandaj and had raised his son to admire the Kurds and their traditions. "He knew his responsibility," says Mr. Bahrami, who lives in Iran and is retired. "And he was quicker than the others."
At the airport, Mr. Razmi stood ready outside the makeshift courtroom as 10 handcuffed men filled a wooden bench before the judge, a black-bearded Shiite cleric named Sadegh Khalkhali. An injured 11th prisoner lay on a stretcher beside the door.
The judge removed his turban, Mr. Bahrami recalls. He removed his shoes. He put his feet on a chair. Scanning the prisoners through thick eyeglasses, he asked their names. Officers of the court told of the defendants' alleged crimes -- of trafficking arms, inciting riots and murder. The prisoners, some with leftward or nationalist leanings, denied the accusations.
No evidence was presented, Mr. Bahrami says. "It was pure speculation." After roughly 30 minutes, Mr. Khalkhali declared the 11 men "corrupt on earth" -- mofsedin fel arz -- the Koranic phrase he cited before issuing a sentence of death. A few of the men cried.
Mr. Bahrami summoned his colleague Mr. Razmi. "It was Razmi's luck that day that he was with me," the reporter says.
Mr. Razmi withdrew from his green canvas shoulder bag a 35-80mm lens and attached the zoom to his Nikon FE. The handcuffed men were blindfolded. Each put his hand on the shoulder of the man before him and together they walked single-file through the airport's concrete lobby, through a metal doorframe and toward an open airfield. Mr. Razmi darted ahead and shot, untroubled by security forces: "I was totally free," he says. Unbeknownst to Mr. Razmi, a soldier present also was taking pictures, which were never published.
The caravan passed roughly 30 airport workers, both men say. Up front walked Mr. Razmi. In the rear, both men say, was Ali Karimi, one of the judge's bodyguards, wearing white shoes, white pants, white shirt, sunglasses and twin hip holsters. After about 100 yards, an officer halted the condemned on a plain of dry dirt. All but one of the executioners tied about their own heads Iranian shawls called chafiyehs. Both the faces of the Shiites and the eyes of the Kurds were now concealed.
Mr. Karimi asked the prisoners if they had last words, the two journalists recall. The men didn't, all silent save a man Mr. Bahrami later reported to be Essa Pirvali, who wept aloud. A sandwich maker, he belonged to no political party but possessed a handgun and had been accused of murder. "He was scared," Mr. Razmi says. "He wouldn't stand." The soldiers instructed a fellow prisoner to hold him.
An afternoon sun shone behind the prisoners and Mr. Razmi reached for his 28mm lens. He sidled in behind members of the firing squad, who stood in brown leather boots laced to the calf. He thought, he says, only about "speed and angle." The prisoners stood in plainclothes. The firing squad crouched in camouflage.
"Afrad mosallah!," yelled the commanding officer, calling his troops to attention. His charges aimed their G3 rifles at the midsections of the men standing little more than a body's length away.
Standing farthest to the right, Naser Salimi, an employee of the Sanandaj health department, raised his right hand to his chest. It was bandaged, injured in a street fight that had led to his sentencing, according to contemporary newspaper reports. Opposite him, the only soldier who wore no chafiyeh raised his rifle.
Mr. Razmi stood a few feet behind this unmasked gunman. He raised his camera. At 4:30 p.m., the command came to fire: "Atesh!" Eleven guns discharged. Eleven bodies dropped. "When they fell, it was dusty," Mr. Razmi says. The photographer lowered his camera.
The soldiers eyed Mr. Karimi, the judge's bodyguard, lifting a pistol off his right hip. Not all of the men were dead, the photographer recalls. The bodyguard leaned over Ahsan Nahid, the injured prisoner on the stretcher, and fired one bullet into his head. Mr. Razmi snapped his Nikon. Mr. Karimi stepped to the next man and shot him, too. He proceeded along -- one bullet per body, both journalists say. (Recent efforts to locate Mr. Karimi were unsuccessful.)
WITHIN MINUTES, ambulances ferried away the 11 bodies, airport workers returned to work, the huddle of soldiers thinned and Mr. Razmi stowed his two rolls of Kodak 400 film in a pocket of his canvas bag. After a helicopter flight landed the pair too late to cover a second execution, Mr. Razmi left his colleague, flagged a passing minibus and returned to the airport in Sanandaj, where at 8 a.m. the only daily flight to Tehran departed.
The photographer fell asleep. He was awakened at a checkpoint by shouts from airport officers, the same men who had shared their lunch with him the previous afternoon as they awaited the Kurdish prisoners. "It's me!" yelled Mr. Razmi. "Jahangir!" The men held their fire. Mr. Razmi told them he had film and an article that had to get back to Tehran. "I put it in an envelope and gave it to the flight attendant," he says, needing to continue his work in the region.
Mr. Razmi called Ettela'at, which dispatched a courier to the airport. The man picked up the white envelope from Tehran airport and delivered it to the newspaper. Ali Akbar Moradi, head of the paper's darkroom, says he knew the 70 exposures were taken by Mr. Razmi and that he turned them into two contact sheets with the help of a technician. An office runner gave them to the photo editor, the late Fereydoun Ebrahimzadeh, who marked the frames he wished turned into prints and delivered them to Mohammed Heydari, the chief Ettela'at editor, Mr. Heydari says.
Mr. Heydari was examining the layout of that day's front page and flipped through the stills. At about noon, he says, he stopped, overwhelmed by a single image of the moment when some of the squadron had fired and some hadn't. Bodies fell. Dust rose.
Mr. Heydari, then 35, had little time to think -- the afternoon paper was about to go to print. He says he told himself that the country was conflicted over the killing of the Kurds and angry over censorship. He decided to publish the photograph, although not in the edition distributed in the Kurdistan province, where it would be tantamount to a call to arms. "Considering the political climate, I knew I could get away with it," Mr. Heydari says.
The Ettela'at editor made another snap decision. The photograph would run with no credit. "I was aware that if I published his name, he would be in danger," Mr. Heydari says. "I wanted to protect Razmi."
By 2 p.m., newsstands across Tehran trumpeted word of the Kurdish executions. The banner headline read: "Forty People Executed in Sanandaj, Marivan and Saqqez." The accompanying photograph was a sensation, the seven months of Iranian firing squads distilled to one image.
Copies of Ettela'at sold out and representatives of international news agencies hustled to Khayam Street to buy prints. The photo editor, Mr. Ebrahimzadeh, "sold it to everyone like he was selling French fries," says Alfred Yaghobzadeh, 47, then a photographer for the Associated Press, now a photojournalist based in France.
The first to arrive at Ettela'at was Sajid Rizvi of United Press International. Mr. Rizvi, then 30, had seen the newspaper at his home, ordered a copy by phone and sped off in the company's pistachio-colored sedan. He picked up the photo roughly 15 minutes later inside the Ettela'at newsroom.
"It was almost wet when I took it," says Mr. Rizvi, now editor of an arts publishing house in London. "I don't think I have ever seen a picture as moving as that," he says. "It is a picture between life and death."
Mr. Rizvi asked who had snapped it. "They said, 'better not to give out the name of the photographer.' " Once home, he walked into the bathroom he had converted into a darkroom, dried the photo with a hairdryer, composed a caption on his yellow Olympus typewriter, phoned the UPI desk in Brussels and transmitted the print.
Genghis Seren, a photo editor in Brussels, sat transfixed beside the company UniFax. "The drama of that machine was that the picture took 15 minutes to complete," recalls Mr. Seren, then 25 years old and in his first year at UPI. "It came a 10th of an inch after a 10th of an inch.... It was something!" Mr. Seren forwarded the photo to UPI bureaus in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, and to company headquarters in Manhattan.
"It was transmitted to us with no name," says Larry DeSantis, the UPI managing editor who received the photo 11 stories above 42nd Street. "Not knowing who made it interested me."
At about 3 p.m., several armed agents from the Islamic Revolutionary Council arrived at Ettela'at, ascended four flights and entered the office of the editor, Mr. Heydari. They asked for the negative of the photo and asked to speak with the photo editor, Mr. Heydari recalls.
Mr. Heydari refused. "I said, 'No. I am the editor. I take full responsibility.' " Mr. Heydari says he told the men: "If I am arrested, the negative consequences will outweigh the effect of this photo."
The chief agent backed off. Both men telephoned government and religious officials, and the judge who ordered the executions radioed the agent seated beside Mr. Heydari, the editor says.
Mr. Khalkhali, the judge, declared the photo a fabrication and told the agent to arrest the editor, Mr. Heydari says. He says he responded by offering to show the negatives to the agent "as long as you agree not to use force to confiscate them."
The agent agreed and viewed the negatives with two fellow officials. "They were astonished," recalls Mr. Heydari. The agent made another call and told Iran's attorney general that "the newspaper has been considerate to only publish this one," Mr. Heydari remembers. The agents left with one proviso: Upon their return from Kurdistan, Messrs. Bahrami and Razmi should come in for questioning.
THAT SAME DAY, Mr. DeSantis, the UPI editor, had prints of the photo distributed by motorcycle to the New York papers and by telephoto machine to thousands of papers across the country. On Aug. 29, the New York Times, Washington Post, Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin and the Daily Telegraph in London were among the many newspapers to run it. Nearly all credited UPI.
"Our play was fabulous," exults Mr. DeSantis, now retired. "It was a once in a lifetime.... Like it was a movie set. One guy kneeling, aiming. One guy falling. A mass execution."
Mr. Razmi remained in Kurdistan, where at a Sanandaj newsstand he came across a copy of Ettela'at featuring one of his other photos showing the blindfolded men standing in wait. He understood why his more incendiary photographs were unprinted but nonetheless was disappointed. "I expected my name to be published," he says.
Two days later, reporter and photographer returned to the Ettela'at office in Sanandaj. The office manager lifted from his desk the Tehran edition of the paper that had reported the execution, they recall. He said copies brought to Kurdistan were selling for more than double the cover price. The manager was a Kurd and Mr. Razmi recalls him saying: " 'We have to build a statue of gold of you.' And because of what he told me, I understood that this photo was dangerous."
Close readers of Ettela'at could have surmised Mr. Razmi was the photographer. On Aug. 26, the day before the execution, the newspaper named him as one of three employees it had sent "to the Western portion of the country." An Aug. 29, the day after the photo ran, the paper reported on its front page that he and Mr. Bahrami had been "sent to Kurdistan."
Home in Tehran, after a long shower, Mr. Razmi spoke about the execution to his wife and again the next morning to curious colleagues in the newsroom. He says he asked Mr. Heydari why his photo had carried no credit and didn't object when the editor explained his worry. "I told him jokingly that you would have also been executed in Kurdistan on the spot," Mr. Heydari says.
Mr. Razmi walked to the newspaper darkroom and saw for the first time what had been the 18th exposure of his first roll of film. "There I realized what I had taken," he says. Turning on the red safelights in the studio, the photographer made prints of eight stills and preserved on a contact sheet 27 of his 70 photographs.
Mr. Razmi asked the darkroom supervisor for his negatives and locked them in the middle of his three metal drawers together with his other prints. A few days later, he slipped the contact sheet and stills into the fold of a newspaper and hid them in his home, "somewhere no one would have noticed," he says. The next morning, he returned to Kurdistan.
On Sept. 9, the Islamic Revolutionary Council published a notice in the Islamic Revolution newspaper: "we hereby draw your attention to the picture which was published on the front page of [Ettela'at] on 6/6/1358 and was objected to harshly by the public." It continued: "If this occurs again, serious decisions will be made."
A serious decision already had been made. The day before, the Foundation for the Disinherited -- the holding company that in August had swallowed Kayhan, Iran's largest paper -- also seized Ettela'at. Overnight, the paper, privately held since 1920, became state-owned.
The image continued to spread. Reza Deghati, then 27, a free-lance Iranian photographer, had seen the photo. It is "the most stirring execution picture in the history of photojournalism, of the human being," he says. Mr. Deghati says he procured five additional photos of the execution from an Ettela'at employee and mailed them to SIPA, the Paris agency that had been publishing his own photos since the revolution.
Goksin Sipahioglu says he received the prints from Mr. Deghati at his agency on Paris's Rue Roquepine. Even though UPI had already published one, Michele Sola, photo editor of Paris Match magazine, paid 14,000 French francs (about $10,000 today) for the additional prints. Mr. Sipahioglu forwarded half that sum to Mr. Deghati in Tehran.
The magazine went on sale in Paris days before its Sept. 21, 1979, cover date. About 2,600 miles east, readers in Iran turned to page 66. Titled "Les Kurdes, sous les balles d'Allah" ("The Kurds, under Allah's bullets"), the photos spread rapidly. People paid 20 times the cover price for the magazine, and dozens of Iranians tacked the photos about town.
No one, however, neither Mr. Razmi nor the Iranian brain trust, seemed to notice the magazine's erroneous credit -- "Reza (Sipa)" -- printed in the lower left corner of the index page. "When someone sends a picture to us," explains Mr. Sipahioglu, "we always credit him."
Mr. Deghati says he sent SIPA a letter saying he didn't take the photos and that SIPA sent out a news release via the AP retracting his name. Representatives at SIPA, Paris Match and the AP don't recall Mr. Deghati clarifying the matter and didn't find such a release in their archives.
Mr. Razmi returned from Kurdistan in late September and Mr. Ebrahimzadeh approached him at his desk. The photo editor asked for the negatives of the 70 photos and extended his hand. "I couldn't protest," Mr. Razmi says. "It belonged to him." He unlocked his metal drawer. Mr. Ebrahimzadeh told the photographer the police wished to speak to him in Tehran's Evin prison, Mr. Razmi recalls.
Mr. Razmi says he arrived at the prison with Mr. Bahrami and two Ettela'at editors, and quickly found himself alone with the late Asadollah Lajevardi, a future warden of the prison already notorious for torturing inmates. As part of his newspaper duties, Mr. Razmi had often photographed men housed in Evin whom the state would soon execute. "I had a right to be nervous," he says.
Mr. Lajevardi asked him who had photographed the Sanandaj execution, Mr. Razmi says. When Mr. Razmi said he had, the guard asked why he had hidden his negatives in the drawer. "So that no one would take them," Mr. Razmi recalls answering.
He told Mr. Lajevardi that he had permission from the judge to shoot the scene and that he hadn't sent the pictures overseas. The interrogation was soft, and it became apparent to Mr. Razmi that he wouldn't be harmed. Mr. Razmi returned to the paper, and a few weeks later was consumed with work when, on Nov. 4, Iranian students took hostages inside the U.S. Embassy.
The next month, UPI managing editor Mr. DeSantis sat down to submit his newswire's best work of the year for awards. At the top of his list was the execution photo. "I was a very good picture editor," Mr. DeSantis says, "but on this one you could be a dumb dog and pick this out."
That neither he nor anyone at UPI knew who took the photo was of little concern. The agency had been the first to provide it to the press and presented it as the work of an unnamed UPI photographer, which, says Mr. DeSantis, he assumed it was. "It came on the UPI wire," he explains.
"Because of the present unrest in Iran," wrote the editor to the Pulitzer committee, "the name of the photographer cannot be revealed at this time."
Mr. Razmi didn't know his photograph had been nominated for the Pulitzer. He didn't know the jury nominating finalists for Spot News Photography was overwhelmed by the entry UPI titled, "Firing Squad in Iran." Robert Duffy, then an editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and chairman of the jury, says he informally lobbied a member of the Pulitzer Board that spring to pick the photo. "We were hell-bent on giving the prize to 'Anonymous,' " he says.
On April 14, 1980, seven days after the U.S. severed diplomatic relations with Iran, 'Anonymous' won the Pulitzer Prize. Mr. Heydari told Mr. Razmi the news. But the same people who, in effect, had ordered the execution now owned his employer. Mr. Heydari says he was fired two months later. Representatives of the paper cancelled an August 2005 appointment at their Tehran head office and declined to be interviewed for this article.
Ettela'at didn't report news of its prize-winning employee. Mr. Razmi says he "didn't have the guts to celebrate."
UPI did. The newswire flew its Tehran bureau chief Mr. Rizvi to the U.S. and had him speak to subscribers. "They were trying to show me off," he says. Asked about the anonymous photographer, Mr. Rizvi recalls answering: "Eventually it will be revealed."
IN THE SPRING, Ettela'at promoted Mr. Razmi, then 32, to photo editor. Iraq attacked Iran in September and Mr. Razmi covered the war. A mortar deafened his right ear in 1987. When months later Ettela'at asked him to work in Iraq, he decided he was tired of war. He quit his employer of 15 years, sold the home he had built by himself in a leafy neighborhood of northern Tehran, bought an apartment and opened a photography studio.
Forty years old, the photographer had come full circle, developing film and shooting portraits as he had as a boy. Says Mr. Razmi: "I was looking for a peaceful life."
Mr. Razmi called the studio "Abgineh," the Farsi word for glassware, which he says connoted for him the clarity of water. He didn't advertise the studio. Still, six days a week, brides in gowns flocked to the shop, looked at Mr. Razmi and smiled.
Mr. Razmi thought often of Sanandaj. In his shop, he hung a large portrait of a boy wearing a Kurdish shawl and sash. Every summer, during the month of Shahrivar, he locked himself in his bedroom and looked at the execution photographs he had hidden.
On Aug. 3, 1997, three weeks before Shahrivar, Mohammad Khatami took office as president of Iran and hired Hashem Taleb to head his public relations. Mr. Razmi had met Mr. Taleb years before and saw a business opportunity. He drove to the office of the president, pronounced the headshots of Iranian officials unbefitting their rank and "suggested I take photographs of the president and the cabinet," he recalls. Mr. Taleb hired him.
Days later, Mr. Razmi, the first "Official Photographer of the President and his Cabinet," set up his flash umbrellas inside the Iranian presidential residence at the intersection of Palestine and Pastor streets. He shot pictures of the new government. He developed the color portraits. Before mailing the prints to the president's office, he stamped his name on the back of each.
The name Jahangir Razmi, however, remained unconnected to his most famous photograph. Monir Nahid, mother of two of the executed men, who has since settled in Los Angeles, says over time, "10, 20 people came to me and said, 'I took the picture.' "
Among them, say Mrs. Nahid and her daughter, was Mr. Deghati, the stringer who in 1979 sent the photo to Paris Match. Mr. Deghati, who left Iran in 1981 and today lives in France working for the Webistan Photo Agency, says he has never met the Nahids. Last September, Paris Match magazine quoted him saying he took the photo, adding in French that Mr. Khomeini "was furious." Mr. Deghati says he knows Mr. Razmi took the photo, and that the magazine misquoted him.
Mr. Razmi says he first learned about a decade ago that others were claiming his work. Kaveh Golestan, Iran's best-known photographer, reported to him that Mr. Deghati had said as much at a European photo exhibit. Mr. Razmi didn't know that Mr. Golestan also had taken credit for the photo in classes he taught, according to several of his photojournalism students at Tehran University.
When Mr. Golestan died in 2003, after stepping on a landmine in Iraq, newspapers around the world reported that he had won a Pulitzer Prize. His widow, Hengameh Golestan, says her late husband never took credit for the photo and that the obituaries were mistaken. Mrs. Golestan says she knows Mr. Razmi took the photo.
On the fourth floor of a cement apartment building in northern Tehran, Mr. Razmi sat on a dimpled leather couch. His living room walls were barren of his work. Beside him on his couch, his son Ali sat rapt, tamping down a pinch of Cavendish tobacco in his father's pipe. Mr. Razmi struck a match and puffed.
"My sons have told me a lot of times that I should go and prove that I am the photographer," Mr. Razmi said, his voice soft and his eyes cast down. "I said, 'No. Better not.' "
It is understandable why he feared claiming credit for such a public indictment of the Islamic Revolution. The hardline Mr. Ahmadinejad, elected in June 2005, shuttered Shargh, the country's last large reformist newspaper, three months ago. Mr. Razmi also was still the official government photographer and returned the next morning to the presidential residence to shoot Mr. Ahmadinejad's cabinet, including the defense minister who in 1979 helped quell the Kurds.
But Mr. Razmi, who is now 58, said part of him always wanted to step forward. He was disappointed when he first saw that his photo didn't carry his name. He was irked when others took credit, people who "never feel the danger," he said. And all the time, he was weighted by his secret, that of an ordinary man witness to extraordinary events. "Without this picture," he said, "I wouldn't be anything."
Emboldened by time and dismayed by the opportunism of his fellow photographers, Mr. Razmi decided the moment was right to tell his tale after this newspaper approached him. "My name should be there," he said.
Minced lamb and baghali polo -- a dish of green rice and beans -- awaited Mr. Razmi at home, and he sat down to eat with his wife and sons, his sister, two nephews and his father-in-law. They talked about Mr. Razmi identifying himself, for the first time, as the anonymous photographer.
Mr. Razmi had done nothing wrong, they reasoned. He photographed the execution with the permission of the judge. He turned over his negatives to the photo editor. He described his work to the prison guard. He wasn't the one who sent the six images abroad. He didn't earn a single rial or credit from his photo, the rights to which had passed from UPI to the Bettmann Archive to Corbis Corp.
The family approved of his decision to come forward. Voicing hope that it wouldn't harm Mr. Razmi, eight people around the table spoke as one: "Inshallah," if Allah wills it.
Past midnight, Mr. Razmi retreated to a bedroom closet and lifted his canvas camera bag by the faded strap that had hung over his shoulder during the 1979 revolution. Here in pale black ink on the inside flap of a pocket was written in Farsi, "Jahangir Razmi, Ettela'at, 328 331" -- the newsroom number to phone in the event of his death.
Mr. Razmi returned to his living room. He had unearthed his contact sheet and stills for his annual look back at the execution. "I have pictures that have never been published," he said.
The photographer held in his right hand a sheaf of black-and-white photographs, 27 images that were 26 years, five days old. He withdrew from a plastic sleeve a furling photo of the sandwich maker who cried as he waited to be shot.
Mr. Razmi thrust it forward. "Who has this picture?" he asked, his voice rising. "Nobody." He thrust forward a photo of the dust that rose over 11 fallen men. "Who has this picture?" he asked. "Nobody." He thrust forward a photo of the bodyguard surveying the men he had shot. "Who has this picture?" he asked. "Nobody."
Mr. Razmi returned the photos to the sleeve that had held them since 1979. And for the first time since he had secreted them home in a folded newspaper, he put them in a Samsonite briefcase he had long used to store chosen photos from his career.
After Elections, A Call to Block Fleeing Corrupt Provincial Authorities
Iraqi MP Khayrallah al-Basri.
An Iraqi MP from an electoral bloc that gained seats in many Iraqi provinces in the last election, has called for blocking all former members of Iraq’s outgoing provincial councils from leaving the country, citing fears of corruption and graft.
Khayrallah al-Basri, an MP with the secular al-Iraqiya list of former Iraq interim Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, has asked the Iraqi minister of Interior to issue orders to...
WASHINGTON, (AFP) – The White House is weighing several options for US troop withdrawals from Iraq, with timetables ranging from President Barack Obama's campaign pledge to remove all combat troops within 16 months to a 23-month option, a defense official said.
A 19-month scenario was also presented to the president by military advisers at the White House's request, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, confirming an earlier report by US-based McClatchy Newspapers.
"We know they would like to do it in 16 months" but "we presented a range of options and the risks associated with it," said a second defense official, who also requested anonymity.
The newspaper group said the White House had received assessments of the risks associated with the 16, 19 and 23-month troop withdrawal options.
Obama warned in late January that he would have to make "difficult decisions" on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, following his maiden meeting as commander-in-chief at the Pentagon with military brass.
During his first week in the White House, he asked top military commanders to draw up plans for a "responsible" military drawdown in Iraq, where there are currently 142,000 US troops.
US military commanders in Iraq worry that a precipitous withdrawal would threaten security gains as Iraqis go to the polls in a series of elections this year.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said that a 16-month drawdown was one of "various options" being evaluated, warning about a potential reversal in Iraq.
"Let me just say, I think our obligation is to give the president a range of options and the risks associated with each of those options," Gates said after meeting with Obama in late January. "And he will make the decision."
McClatchy Newspapers said Obama would likely announce his Iraq strategy by mid-March.
Obama is also preparing to send up to 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan, which he has called "the central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism."
Some 36,000 US troops, some part of a broader NATO force, fight a resurgent Taliban and Al-Qaeda there.
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Some US forces will face combat after Iraq pullout
By ANNE GEARAN, AP Military Writer Anne Gearan, Ap Military Writer – 2 hrs 56 mins ago
Officials: Most troops out of Iraq in 18 months Play Video AP – Officials: Most troops out of Iraq in 18 months
In this Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009 picture, U.S. soldiers stand guard after a road AP – …
WASHINGTON – Some of the U.S. forces likely to remain in Iraq after President Barack Obama fulfills his pledge to withdraw combat troops would still have a combat role fighting suspected terrorists, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
Obama plans to announce his withdrawal strategy as early as Friday. He will travel that day to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, the White House announced Wednesday.
While there, Obama is expected to outline a compromise withdrawal plan that leaves behind as many as 50,000 troops for cleanup and protection operations.
"The president will thank the Marines and their families for their incredible sacrifice, and will outline his plan for a way forward in Iraq," said a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the plan has not been announced.
Although most of the fighting forces would be withdrawn in the next 18 months, some troops could remain in Iraq for years to come. An agreement forged by the Bush administration with Iraqi officials requires removal of all U.S. forces by 2012.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that a holdover, or "residual," force would number in the tens of thousands.
His spokesman said Wednesday that assuming there is such a force, it would have three primary functions: Training and helping Iraqi forces; protecting Americans and U.S. assets in Iraq and limited counterterrorism operations in which Iraqi forces would take the lead.
"I think a limited number of those that remain will conduct combat operations against terrorists, assisting Iraqi security forces," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said. "By and large you're talking about people who we would classify as enablers, support troops."
Obama campaigned on ending the Iraq war, and pledged to do so in 16 months. The withdrawal timetable he is expected to approve would stretch over 19 months, counting from Inauguration Day. That means more than 100,000 troops would leave over the coming 18 months.
The pullout would free up troops and resources for the war in Afghanistan, where Obama has said the threat to national security remains high.
"We are now carefully reviewing our policies in both wars, and I will soon announce a way forward in Iraq that leaves Iraq to its people and responsibly ends this war," Obama said in his address to Congress on Tuesday.
Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen and others met with Obama at the White House on Wednesday. There was no announcement afterward.
"The president has not made a final decision about our force structure in Iraq going forward," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Wednesday. "I don't think it would be a surprise, though, to anybody in this room that the president since his first full day in office has been working toward a solution that would responsibly draw down our troops in Iraq."
Morrell said he anticipates an announcement this week.
The role and makeup of residual forces has been unclear throughout last year's negotiations between the United States and Iraq, and during Obama's planning for an exit strategy.
Plans became only slightly clearer Wednesday. Morrell said many troops would be long-term advisers in such areas as intelligence, or would help the Iraqi military fill in gaps in equipment such as helicopters.
Although he said Iraq would still be considered a "war zone," Morrell said most remaining forces would not do anything that resembles fighting.
"But just because these troops would carry a sidearm, as all U.S. troops do in theater, that should not be confused with them having a combat mission," Morrell said.
"For example, U.S. personnel assigned to the Ministry of Finance may have a sidearm," he said, "but I doubt they'd consider themselves a combat force, and certainly wouldn't be equipped in that fashion to perform combat operations."
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Associated Press writer Ben Feller contributed to this report.
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SCENARIOS-Risks of speedier U.S. troop pullout from Iraq
