Posts

Showing posts from October 9, 2011

Sufi Islamic sect warns against spread of Wahabi extremism

( A hlul B ayt N ews A gency) - The All-India Ulama & Mashaikh Board (AIUMB), a Sufi Islamic branch claiming to represent 80 per cent of Indian Sunni Muslims, has come out strongly against hardline Wahabism, holding the ideology responsible for the radicalization of young Indian Muslims. The AIUMB counts itself among the significant Sufi Khanquahs in India, among them Ajmer Shareef and Dargah Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya.  “Wahabi-influenced terrorism has taken a section of Indian Muslim youth in its grip,” said Maulana Syed Mohd Ashraf Kachochavi, AIUMB general secretary at a press conference on Wednesday. He said the AIUMB would hold a Muslim Maha Panchyat at Moradabad (on October 16) from where a call would be given to the masses to rescue Islam and Muslims from the clutches of Wahabi extremism which was sustained largely by (Saudi) petro dollars. Cash-rich organisations “Peace-loving Sufi Muslims are in a huge majority in this country but regrettably the major Islam

Kazakhstan passes restrictive religion law

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Kazakhstan's president has approved a bill tightening registration rules for faith groups that has been described by critics as a blow to freedom of belief in the ex-Soviet nation. Supporters of the bill signed into law Thursday by Nursultan Nazarbayev say it will help combat religious extremism, an issue that has come to the fore after a series of Islamist-linked attacks in the west of the country over the summer. The law will require existing religious organizations in the mainly Muslim nation to dissolve and register again through a procedure that is virtually guaranteed to exclude smaller groups, including minority Christian communities. It will also impose a ban on prayer in the workplace. Passage of the bill marks a reversal of Nazarbayev's earlier attempts

Group bucks civilian militias' deployment

MANILA, Philippines — An international human rights group Saturday appealed to the Philippine government to withdraw its plan of deploying civilian militias to augment security at private mining operations, citing the possibility of human rights violations in local communities. Amnesty International (AI) cited the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) report that such militias, including the Citizens’ Armed Forces Geographical Units (CAFGUs), have been responsible for arbitrary detention, torture, and killing of local community leaders. The group said the use of such militias at remote mining areas has put indigenous people at risk, according to the United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on indigenous issues. President Benigno S. Aquino III earlier approved the proposal to deploy private soldiers after forces from insurgent group New People’s Army (NPA) attacked mining operations in Surigao del Norte. “The military cannot ensure proper discipline and accounta

500 Maoist cadres join Nepali Congress

Altogether 500 Maoist cadres on Saturday deserted the ruling party and joined the opposition Nepali Congress, saying the organisation lacks transparency and democratic culture. They include a dozen district committee members and one hundred area committee members. Nepali Congress president Sushil Koirala handed over party membership to the former Maoist workers. Welcoming the former guerrillas, Nepali Congress president Koirla asked the Maoists to lay down arms, to dissolve their paramilitary organisation, the Young Communist League, and return the seized property in order to win the heart of the people and to clear their international image. He asked the Maoists to conclude the peace process at the earliest and to draft a democratic constitution so as to institutionalise democracy and establish lasting peace in the country. There is no place for totalitarianism in this modern world, he said adding that the Nepali Congress will not compromise on th

Akamai: Cyber spies are hiding behind Anonymous

Countries are perpetrating cyber espionage while pretending the cyber attacks come from the Anonymous and LulzSec hacking groups, according to an Akamai security executive. Nations are launching distributed denial of service (DDoS), and data-stealing attacks against other states for espionage purposes, and claiming to be Anonymous or LulzSec, Akamai director of security intelligence Joshua Corman told a press event on Thursday. "A couple of [Anonymous events] have actually been state-sponsored espionage," Corman said. "They would do a DDoS, and make it look like it was LulzSec or Anonymous." Corman called the events "false flag operations", and said that organised crime had also used the tactic. "Now that Anonymous exists, whether you're a criminal organisation, organised e-crime, or state-sponsored espionage, you can now hide your tracks, or throw off law enforcement," Corman told ZDNet UK. "They can leverage a false fl

The Confluence of Drugs and Terror – 21st Century Organized Crime

I recently testified before the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade. Below is an excerpt from my testimony. The nexus between drugs and terrorism is growing at a rate far faster than most policy makers in Washington, D.C. choose to admit, and far fewer will even talk about. In many ways this is not an entirely new threat; executives of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have testified before Congress on many occasions over the past thirty-five years on the important role that drugs play in funding terrorist organizations and insurgencies around the world. Prior to the 9/11 attacks on our Nation, experts usually found themselves talking about the terrorist organizations based in the Western Hemisphere when evaluating the drugs/terror nexus, with an occasional mention of insurgent groups such as the Burma (now Myanmar) based, 10,000 man Shan United Army led by the notorious heroin trafficker Khun Sa, who dominated the sourcin

Passport to danger: Deadliest tourist destinations

Massacres in Egypt, murder in upmarket Kenya and mayhem in Mexico have led Irish tourists to reassess their holiday plans. Paul Melia reports It was supposed to be a safe place to holiday, where visitors went on day trips to world-famous tourist attractions including the Ancient Pyramids at Giza and the Sphinx. But in an instant everything changed. Flames lit up the Egyptian city of Cairo last Sunday after angry clashes between Christians, Muslims and the security forces left 25 dead and 200 injured. They were the worst riots since the uprising last February which ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak and which were supposed to herald a safe and democratic society. But the riots weren't isolated incidents of violence in a country reliant on the tourist dollar. There's been kidnappings in Kenya and mayhem on the streets of Mexico -- is anywhere safe for the adventurous traveller? The Irish are used to spreading their wings. Once it was to escape a downtrodden eco

HuJI demands extortion from private university

Source: weeklyblitz Outlawed Islamist militancy group Harkat Ul Jihad al Islami [HuJI] has demanded TK. 400 million as extortion from Asha University, which is located at Dhaka's Shyamoli area. The notorious group has set October 17 as deadline for payment of the demanded money and threatened to blow-up the university campus, if authorities of Asha University fail to comply with such demand. In a letter sent by courier service to the management of the university, two men named Masud and Shohag demanded TK. 400 million as extortion. They [Masud and Shohag] introduced themselves being members of Harkat Ul Jihad al Islami [HuJI], and claimed to have fought in Afghan war for 3 years. They also elaborated the their 95 murder cases in the letter and warned the university authorities to refrain from reporting the issue to law enforcing or intelligence agencies. The HUJI letter said, in recent times, a large number of their "party comrades" are arrested

'Gaddafi loyalists' and Libya NTC Tripoli battle ends

Image
The BBC's Nick Springate said the clashes followed the release of a tape reportedly from Col Gaddafi A gun battle in the Libyan capital Tripoli between forces loyal to the transitional government and gunmen they say support fugitive ex-leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has now ended. It was the first serious confrontation in Tripoli since the city fell to the forces of the National Transitional Council (NTC) in August. The fighting started after a demonstration by Gaddafi loyalists. A hospital doctor has told the BBC that nine people were seriously injured. Although the gun battle has finished, the BBC understands that NTC forces are carrying out an operation to root out Gaddafi loyalists from the Abu Salim district at the centre of the disturbance. Security vacuum At the scene Rana Jawad BBC News, Tripoli For two hours, we heard a very heavy exchange of gunfire. Word got out that clashes

BlackBerry Blackout Underscores Cyberterror Threat

Did you open your BlackBerry Wednesday or even Thursday morning and find — nothing? No new emails or tweets. No new text messages. Just blackness and that familiar screen-saver photo of your child, spouse, or dog? Welcome to the world of cyberterrorism vulnerability. The mysterious worldwide virus that crippled BlackBerrys this week and spread like the plague — more on that threat later — across crossing oceans and five continents may spell financial catastrophe for the struggling Research In Motion, aka RIM, whose stock shares have lost 60 percent of their value since the start of the year. An RIM spokesman said that the outage was caused by what Security Week called "a core-switch failure within RIM's infrastructure," and not by a deliberate disabling attack. But the outage highlights the threat that determined cyberwarriors could pose to the nation's communications systems if they target them. For over a decade, cyberexperts have urged the United

Aid agency MSF pulls foreign staff from Kenyan camp

Aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres said Friday it has pulled all its foreign staff from Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp after two Spanish aid workers were kidnapped there. "The teams have left the refugee camps. The work is carrying on thanks to the local staff," the president of the Spanish branch of MSF (Doctors Without Borders), Jose Antonio Bastos, told a news conference. The organisation has 49 foreign employees in the Dadaab refugee camp, including the two kidnapped Spanish women, and 343 local staff, he added. At least three gunmen who Kenyan police say were Somali Islamist Shebab rebels seized the two women from the refugeee camp on Thursday after shooting their Kenyan driver in the neck. Regional police chief Leo Nyongesa told AFP that there were indications that the women were taken across the border to Somalia but Bastos said the medical NGO had received no indication where they are. The Dadaab refugee camp is the world's largest.

Spain requests extradition of ETA suspect from Cuba

Spain said Friday it will request the extradition from Cuba of an alleged member of the Basque separatist group ETA who allegedly sought explosives training from Colombian rebel group FARC. Venezuelan authorities detained Jose Ignacio Echarte and two other suspected ETA members in August after the boat they were in ran aground on the Venezuelan island of Los Roques, just south of Cuba. They then turned him over to Cuban authorities. The extradition request is based on information found on computer archives seized from three ETA leaders in Paris in 1999 which allegedly showed Echarte had requested permission to work with explosives, Spain's justice ministry said in a statement. "Echarte requested permission to take part, with several members of FARC, in the launch of grenades and mortars in the Colombian-Venezuelan jungle," it said. Spain's National Court Judge Eloy Velasco, who has been investigating suspected ties between ETA and the Revol

‘US’ air strikes take out top Yemen Qaeda leaders

Suspected US air strikes took out a raft of top Al Qaeda leaders in Yemen barely two weeks after a drone killed US-born jihadist cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi, provincial and tribal sources said on Saturday. The seven killed in last evening's triple raid included a son and cousin of Awlaqi, as well as three other members of his tribe and the media chief of Al Qaeda's feared Yemen arm, the sources told AFP. The Yemeni defence ministry confirmed that seven Al Qaeda militants, including its regional media chief, had been killed in a raid. But it reiterated its standard denial of US involvement in offensive operations on Yemeni soil and insisted its own forces carried it out. A member of the Awlaqi tribe said the tribal members killed included Awlaqi's 21-year-old son Abderrahman and Sarhan al-Qussa'a, brother of Fahd al-Qussa'a, a leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula he said was on a US wanted list. The defence ministry said that AQAP&#

Deadly protests erupt in Yemen capital Sanaa

Image
    A wounded dissident soldier is carried for treatment in Sanaa Violent protests against Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh have again erupted in the capital Sanaa, with at least nine demonstrators killed and dozens hurt, doctors and officials say. Tens of thousands marching to the city centre were met with live rounds, tear gas and water canon. President Saleh has been battling eight months of street protests. Separately, the media chief of militant group al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was reportedly killed in an air strike. Witnesses in Sanaa said protesters calling for the resignation of Mr Saleh were marching from their stronghold in Change Square to an area controlled by the elite Republican Guard force, which is loyal to the president. Dozens of wounded were being taken by ambulances to a field hospital in Sixty Street. Anti-government protesters have been camping there for months. Mr

NATO service member killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — NATO forces say an international service member has been killed in an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan. The international military coalition did not provide further details in its Friday statement on the attack, which happened the previous day. NATO typically waits for national authorities to release specifics about their casualties. It was the ninth international military death since the beginning of October. So far this year, at least 462 international troops have been killed in Afghanistan. Source: KSPLOCAL

Somali lawmaker wounded in Mogadishu bomb blast

MOGADISHU — A Somali lawmaker lost his legs in a bomb blast whilst driving a car in southern Mogadishu, police said Friday, the latest explosion to rock the war-ravaged Somali capital. "The MP had his legs blown off when an explosion hit the car," police officer Abdi Arale said. "Some reports suggest it was caused by explosives planted in the car, others suggest it was roadside bomb, and we are still investigating the incident," he added. No group has claimed responsibility, but last week Islamist Shebab insurgents vowed to scale up bombing attacks after carrying out their worst ever suicide attack in Mogadishu killing at least 82 people. Witnesses said MP Mohamed Ananug was dragged out the car shortly before the vehicle burst into flames, in the Seypiano area of Mogadishu. "I saw him being removed from the car before it totally burnt up," said Mohamed Shekhey, a witness. African Union and Somali government forces launched renewed

'Occupy' protests at financial crisis go worldwide

Image
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Athens, Berlin, Rome and London Protests against alleged corporate greed and government cutbacks have been held in cities around the world. Clashes erupted at the biggest rally, in Rome, when riot police intervened after a small group of masked militants attacked property. Police used tear gas and water, and baton-charged the crowd. Inspired by the Occupy Wall St movement and Spain's "Indignants", demonstrators turned out from Asia to Europe, but numbers were generally small. Organisers expect rallies in 82 countries, with the protests due to come full circle when they reach New York. Organisers said on their website that the aim was to "initiate the global change we want". "United in one voice, we will let politicians, and the financial elites th

Report: Arab Spring upheaval cost $55bn

Image
  Libyan exception: Where other oil producers have gained, Libyan revenues have fallen by 84%   The popular protests this year in North Africa and the Middle East - known as the Arab Spring - have cost the region more than $50bn, a new report says. The report, by consultancy group Geopolicity , says Egypt, Syria and Libya paid the highest financial price. It warns that without a regional support programme, the effects of the Arab Spring could be regressive. But oil-producing nations that have avoided or suppressed rebellions have benefited most, it says. Using data from the International Monetary Fund, the group says countries that have experienced intensive civil disturbances or conflict during the Arab Spring, are expected to lose the most in the short term. However, the report makes clear that costing the Arab Spring in 2011 cannot be done precisely. "Many critical economic indicators are unavailable, and the

Syria uprising: UN says protest death toll hits 3,000

Image
Source: BBC The United Nations says 3,000 people have been killed in Syria in the seven months of protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said at least 187 children were among the dead. The UN also says hundreds of people have also been arrested since the protests began seven months ago. Activists say at least 11 more protesters were shot dead by security forces as thousands rallied on Friday. The demonstrations were called "Free Soldiers" - a reference to several thousand who have defected. They called on those in the military to abandon President Assad's regime and join a dissident army. The UN report said 100 people had died in the past 10 days. The government in Damascus blames armed "terrorist gangs" for the trouble, and says 1,100 members of the security forces have been killed. Emergency meeting Six Gulf nations

Police Work on 4 Leads in Blast against Bulgarian Journalist

Image
TV journalist Sasho Dikov's car was blown up Thursday evening in front of the residential building he lives in. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency Bulgaria's police are working on four possible leads in the blast that destroyed the car of popular Bulgarian journalists, Sasho Dikov, Thursday evening. The main one is the explosion deemed to be the work of extremists, with ties to the opposition, who wanted to influence the October 23 presidential and local elections rather than killing or intimidating Dikov, according to the Bulgarian Trud (Labor) daily. Dimitar Vuchkov, who is temporarily in charge of the Interior Ministry because Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, is on leave over being the head of the election headquarters of the ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, GERB, party, is quoted saying that the blast could very well be a pre-election provocation. He has also confirmed a possible connection between the attack on the journalist and the bo

More Homemade Explosives in Berlin

It seems that the rail system in Berlin cannot catch a break. In fact, police are saying that a total of seven homemade explosives have now been found along side the Berlin railway system over the past three days. This is of course causing some very bad delays and cancellations. Police in Berlin are doing all they can to get this problem under control as quickly as possible. Reports now show that two of the homemade devices have exploded. One of them blew up on Monday and the other on Wednesday. However, authorities say that no one was injured or killed in these blasts. The blast that took place on Monday caused some bad damage to the rail system between Hamburg and Berlin. So far, this damage has yet to be repaired. There was another attempt at arson on Monday. Apparently, someone tried to burn down Berlin’s central train station. However, this attempt failed, as officials were able to discover the device before it exploded. Ever since the first bomb on Monday, at least 2,00

Will Mamata’s move change India’s Maoist policy?

Maoists’ Bengal area secretary Akash’s disclosure that he and few of his comrades sat with a couple of interlocutors chosen by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on September 30 and gave written consent to begin negotiations with the state government with some riders is another feather on Banerjee’s cap. The interlocutors, led by well-known civil rights campaigner Sujato Bhadra, former secretary, Association for Protection of Democratic Rights, deserve praise for convincing the Maoists of dialogue with the state government for working out a mutually acceptable strategy for socio-economic development directly reaching the ‘wretched of the earth.’ The Maoists’ propose a ceasefire on both sides — Maoists and the joint forces comprising central paramilitary forces like the CRPF and state police including cessation of raids — for a month. Akash told a few newspersons after inking the statement that if operations by the joint forces are stalled for a month, “we also promise

Friday Release: Will court case help 'Aazaan'?

Image
New Delhi : The recent controversy surrounding the film 'Aazaan' will only bring smiles to the faces of the public relation team of the film which is sweating it out to get the film known to more and more audiences. A group of people have filed a case against the film that it has the potential of hurting the religious sentiments of a specific community and thus the film should be banned. The group's chief problem is with the name 'Aazaan' and they want it to be removed from the film, however that does not seem to happen. The film has created quite a big buzz despite a new star cast. The film's promos are doing rounds everywhere from the public transport stations to video uploading sites and of course 24 hour channels are there. IBNLive The guthka baron father had earlier tried to launch Sachin Joshi in south Indian films twice in the years 2002 and 2005 but junior Joshi failed to excel on both the occasions. One more interesting person associated