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Showing posts from September 16, 2012

Australia cleared over Khmer Rouge kidnap murder

Coroner supports decision not to pay ransom Sydney: Canberra was Wednesday cleared of blame over the kidnap and killing of an Australian backpacker in Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge, with a coroner supporting the decision not to pay a ransom. David Wilson, 29, was snatched from a train ambushed by Khmer Rouge militia between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville on July 26, 1994, along with Briton Mark Slater and Frenchman Jean-Michel Braquet. The trio were held hostage for 100 days as their captors attempted to pressure the Australian, French and British governments into paying a ransom of US$50,000 (Dh183,645) in gold for each man. They were ultimately murdered as Khmer forces retreated from a military offensive on their southern Phnom Vor base, near Kampot, by the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces on or around September 28. Wilson died from a blunt force injury to the head. The other two men were shot. Their bodies were exhumed by Australian police in November 1994. An inquest into Wils

Sri Lankan boatpeople choose return over Australia asylum

Canberra has insisted that asylum seekers arriving by boat will gain no advantage in paying people-smugglers to bring to them Australia Sydney: A group of Sri Lankans have chosen to return to their homeland rather than apply for asylum in Australia, where they faced being sent to a Pacific island for processing, the government said on Saturday. Canberra has begun sending boatpeople to the tiny state of Nauru, and intends to ship others to Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island, as a disincentive to stem a record number of arrivals making the dangerous sea journey to Australia. Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said 16 Sri Lankan men who were eligible to be sent offshore were voluntarily returning home and left on a flight from Christmas Island to Colombo on Saturday. “These individuals chose not to pursue asylum claims and face transfer to a regional processing centre in Nauru or Papua New Guinea, and instead chose to return home voluntarily,” Bowen said. Conditions on Nauru are bas

63 rioters sent to police remand

At least 19 people were killed as protests against anti-Islam film and blasphemous sketches turned violent Karachi: An anti-terrorism court Saturday ordered 63 suspects in police custody in the widespread riots and arson on Friday during the day-long protests against the blasphemous film that has sparked agitation across the Muslim world. The police rounded up the suspects on Friday after two cinema houses, a foreign restaurant and many vehicles were ransacked by protesters. Justice Shabbir Ahmad Khoso of Anti Terrorism Court Number one, remanded all the suspects into police custody for further interrogation till September 25. At least 19 people including 14 in Karachi, were killed and over 100 injured as protests against the anti-Islam film and blasphemous sketches turned violent in several cities across Pakistan. Earlier in the day peaceful rallies were held in Karachi but after the Friday congregations the protesters set five cinema houses on fire. Shops, banks, vehicles

US using MKO as assassination vehicle: Analyst

PressTV - The United States is reportedly planning to remove the anti-Iranian Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) from the US State Department's list of terrorist organizations. The MKO fled to Iraq in the 1980s, where it enjoyed the support of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and set up Camp Ashraf in the eastern province of Diyala, near the Iranian border. The group also cooperated with Saddam in the massacres of Iraqi Kurds and in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq. The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community and has committed numerous terrorist acts against Iranians and Iraqis. Iran has repeatedly called on the Iraqi government to expel the group, but the US has been putting pressure on Baghdad to resist the calls. Press TV has conducted an interview with Ralph Schoenman, author and political commentator from Berkeley, to further discuss the issue. The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

What now for Muslim-Western relations?

- Inside Story - Al Jazeera English As protests over an anti-Islam video spread, we ask what should be done by both sides to stem the anger. Muslim-Western relations are under the spotlight again after widespread protests over an anti-Islam video made in the US and cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published in a French magazine. "There remains this misunderstanding of the other .... Whilst we're discussing a film and ... the riots we saw on the various media, actually I think it is about neither. This is all about the dynamics of power, about a people that feel that they are still being seen as lessers of an equal. And therefore any criticism that is directed towards them or their faith ... is seen as an insult, not just as a mere constructive criticism or something that ought to be taken in their stride." - Anas al-Tikriti, the CEO of the Cordoba Foundation Western diplomatic missions in Muslim countries are on high alert as the protests spread. In Pakistan,

A Yemeni response to cultural Islamophobia

- Opinion - Al Jazeera English Murad Alazzany Murad Alazzany is a professor in the department of English Studies at Sana'a University, Yemen. His main research areas are 'the representation of Islam and Muslims in the Western media' and 'the political discourse of Islamic movements in the media'. Last Thursday morning, hundreds of Yemenis gathered in front of the American Embassy. Like many in other Arab and Islamic countries, they were provoked by reports in their media that a Jewish man named Sam Bacile had produced a film maligning prophet Mohammed peace upon him. The angry protesters succeeded in climbing the walls of the embassy and to set some cars in its parking lot into fire. The protest left three people killed and more than 30 wonded according to some media reports but no causalities among the Americans An apology is made by Abd Raboh, the president of Yemen, to Barack Obama over the breaking incident of the American Embassy, and a vow to form a c

The unjust fate of an American 'terrorist'

' - Opinion - Al Jazeera English Muhammad Salah's "internal banishment" sentence is even more severe than those imposed in South Africa, writes Silver. Before Hamas was designated a "terrorist organisation" in the United States, it wasn't. And before Sami al-Arian, The Holy Land Five, and the countless other Palestinian Americans whose lives have been wrung through harrowing immigration and counter-terrorist proceedings for their connections - however slight - to Gaza, there was Muhammad Salah. It's useful to view the shift in the US relationship to Hamas alongside the story of Muhammad Salah, a Palestinian-born citizen of the United States, who was seized in 1993 by Israel when he was on his way into the Gaza Strip to distribute humanitarian aid. The aid had been raised in the wake of Israel's mass deportation of 415 men from Gaza to South Lebanon in the dead of winter in 1992. In 1993, Salah was a grocer in the suburbs of Chicago; a hu

Deaths reported in Pakistan drone attack

- Central & South Asia - Al Jazeera English Vehicle carrying three people destroyed in raid in Dattakhel area of North Waziristan tribal district, official says. At least three people have been killed in a suspected US drone attack in Pakistan's northwestern region along the Afghan border, according to a Pakistani security official. The target of Saturday’s attack was a vehicle in Dattakhel area in North Waziristan, one of seven tribal districts and hotbed of al-Qaeda-linked fighters. All three people travelling in the car were killed and the vehicle completely destroyed, the security official said on condition of anonymity. "The identity of the militants was unclear but this area is mostly occupied by members of the militant commander Gul Bahadur's group," another security official in Peshawar told AFP news agency. Yet another official on the ground in Miranshah said that the vehicle had been driving through a village 35km west of Miranshah, the head

Firebrand cleric walks a fine line in Yemen

- Features - Al Jazeera English Labeled a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" by the US, Sheikh Abdul Zindani tries to temper his rhetoric. Sana'a, Yemen - Most people refer to Sheikh Abdul Majeed Zindani, one of the leading figures in Yemen's Salafist movement, as the cleric with the red beard. Surrounded by rumours and legend, Zindani remains emblematic of divisions in today's Yemen. Some see it as a country in transition while others believe it is a state facing intractable divisions. Yemen is seen as misunderstood by some while others believe it's a danger to the world. It remains unclear whether the controversial cleric will be able to ride the waves of change in post-revolutionary Yemen. When a few hundred protesters attacked the US embassy in Sana'a, the capital, last Thursday, the New York Times reported that it “came hours after a Muslim cleric, Abdul Majid al- Zindani, urged followers to emulate the protests in Libya and Egypt”.

Islamists Say Mali Must Apply Shariah Before Talks

| The Jakarta Globe Gao, Mali. Mali’s government must apply Islamic Shariah law before armed Islamist groups who control the north of the country will negotiate, an Islamist official said on Saturday. Alioune Toure, a security chief in the city of Gao held by the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), was responding to an offer of talks made late Friday by Mali’s interim president, Dioncounda Traore. In a televised speech given on the eve of the country’s Independence Day, Traore said, “As we are preparing for it, we will wage war if no other choice is left to us....” “But we reaffirm here that our first choice remains dialogue and negotiation.” “I call on all armed groups operating in the north of our country to agree to commit resolutely to the path of dialogue and of negotiation in a sincere and constructive fashion,” he added. “We accept the hand Mr Traore has held out on one condition, that Mali implements Shariah, the law of God, that’s the only condi

An Open Letter to Abu Bakar Bashir

Dear Abu Bakar Bashir, I read a news article that you recently urged Indonesia’s Muslims to attack the US Embassy in Jakarta, because of a contemptible, provocative anti-Islamic film made by a filmmaker in the United States. "What happened in Libya can be imitated," you announced. "If it is defaming God and the Prophet [Muhammad], the punishment should be death." As a born and raised American residing in Jakarta, I received a text message from our embassy on Thursday, warning me and fellow US citizens that US Embassy in Jakarta and consular offices in Surabaya, Medan and Bali would be closed on Friday for safety concerns. You issued your call for attacking the US Embassy from your jail cell. Apparently, you think this is a good idea, even though you've been imprisoned because of your role in organizing the 2002 Bali suicide bombings, which murdered 202 people. But since you believe the US Embassy staff in Jakarta also deserve death, allow me to first describ

Mob Attacks Freeport Office in Papua

| The Jakarta Globe A mob of some 300 people on Friday attacked an office of gold mining company Freeport Indonesia in Timika, Papua. The angry crowd also burned two cars and threatened to burn down the Mimika district office if Freeport failed to fulfill their demands. According to Antara news agency, the incident started during a meeting between relatives of the recently deceased Papua affairs manager for Freeport, David Beanal, and the company’s management. Relatives of David and the mob that later converged on the office wanted Freeport’s absent president director, Rozik B. Soetjipto, to be present at the meeting to discuss their demands, which included appointing locals to lead the company’s community development division. A daughter of the late Papua affairs manager stepped out of the meeting and spoke to the crowd gathered outside, not long after which the mob began destroying the building. About 40 cars and 12 motorcycles were damaged, and two cars were burned. The

Six Arrested in Day Full of Bombs in Solo

After apprehending two alleged terrorists early on Saturday in Solo, authorities identified two more terrorism suspects detained later in the day, with a National Police spokesman saying a total of six people were arrested in a sweep of the Central Java city. Kamidi, 43, was arrested at his house in Griyan village, Solo, at 7 a.m., and Subarkah Himawan, or Wawa, was nabbed two hours later. Earlier, police arrested Baderi Hartono and Rudi Kurnia Putra, both of whom were found to have bombs in their houses. National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Suhardi Alius said six in total were arrested on Saturday, but he and an anonymous source with the anti-terrorism squad Densus 88 did not provide details on the other two individuals detained. On Saturday afternoon, police detonated four bombs found in Kamidi’s house. Haryanto, Kamidi’s neighbor, said the alleged terrorist is single and jobless. “He has a big house, several young men often go there,” Haryanto told Antara news agency. “He

Indonesian Military Warn of Threat to Borobudur Temple

Yogyakarta. Indonesian intelligence has gathered information that a terrorist network has set its sights on one of the country's most important cultural and historical heritage sites. The world famous Borobodur Temple in Magelang, Central Java, could be targeted because it's a Buddhist temple and a top destination for foreign tourists, Yogyakarta Military Commander Brig. Gen. Adi Widjaja said on Friday. “We still need to analyze the information further, we should not respond to it as though it was accurate information,” Adi said. “So far there is an indication of a threat, but it should not be interpreted as an immediate threat.” In 1985, the Borobudur temple, a Unesco World Heritage Site, was also attacked by a terrorist named Ibrahim, or Mohammad Jawad alias Kresna. Nine stupa were destroyed in the bomb explosion. “Based on the terror pattern, temples in Indonesia were considered [by terrorists] as products of ancient era that deserved to be demolished,” Adi said. “Th

Indonesian Military Warn of Threat to Borobudur Temple

Yogyakarta. Indonesian intelligence has gathered information that a terrorist network has set its sights on one of the country's most important cultural and historical heritage sites. The world famous Borobodur Temple in Magelang, Central Java, could be targeted because it's a Buddhist temple and a top destination for foreign tourists, Yogyakarta Military Commander Brig. Gen. Adi Widjaja said on Friday. “We still need to analyze the information further, we should not respond to it as though it was accurate information,” Adi said. “So far there is an indication of a threat, but it should not be interpreted as an immediate threat.” In 1985, the Borobudur temple, a Unesco World Heritage Site, was also attacked by a terrorist named Ibrahim, or Mohammad Jawad alias Kresna. Nine stupa were destroyed in the bomb explosion. “Based on the terror pattern, temples in Indonesia were considered [by terrorists] as products of ancient era that deserved to be demolished,” Adi said. “Th

Explosion at Surabaya Dump Site Kills Two

| The Jakarta Globe An explosion at a dump site in Tandes, Surabaya, on Saturday afternoon killed two people and injured one. “There was suddenly a big explosion that threw some people who were close to the location to more than three meters away,” a witness told Antara news agency. The fatalities, Jayus, 40, and Kamri, 45, from Rembang, Central Java, were inside a hut near the explosion. The wounded victim, who was also in a hut, is 45-year-old Supandi from Gresik. Only one witness to the blast, Rasman, was not injured. An East Java Police bomb squad arrived at the scene to assess the situation, but there has been no official explanation from authorities of the incident’s cause. People have been barred from accessing the site of the explosion. Adj. Sr. Comr. Farman, the Surabaya Police’s chief of detectives, said police had not yet uncovered the source of the blast. “There is nothing that could be indicated as explosive material,” Farman said. “The Forensic laboratory wil

US missile strike kills 4 militants in NW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani intelligence officials say a U.S. drone has fired two missiles at a vehicle in northwest Pakistan, killing four suspected militants. The officials say the attack took place Saturday in Mohammed Khel village in the North Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan. They say the identities and nationalities of the slain men was not immediately known and their agents are trying to get more details. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters. The latest attack comes despite Pakistani demands to halt the missile strikes. It also comes at a time when Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar is visiting Washington to discuss a range of issues, including how to resolve differences over U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan. Source http://news.yahoo.com/us-missile-strike-kills-4-militants-nw-pakistan-043207734.html

Islam vs tolerance debated in Prophet film's wake

CAIRO (AP) — Behind the anger over a film mocking the Prophet Muhammad, public protest is giving way to measured debate over free speech in the new Muslim world. But while many crave more openness, few if any will go so far as to say that includes the right to blaspheme. Angry shouts of "No, no to America!" and "No to Israel!" have been balanced by voices condemning the weeklong violence that has targeted U.S. and other Western embassies and left more than 30 dead in seven countries, including Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. "Muslims should know that Islamic extremist groups bear some responsibility for the uproar taking place now, and for the collision of the world cultures," said Sheik Hameed Marouf, a Sunni cleric in Baghdad. "The moderate people and clerics in the Islamic world should do their best to isolate and stop such groups that do not represent the true moderate values of

Massacre of preachers in Mali sign of broken army

DIABALY, Mali (AP) — It was dusk when the aging Toyota pickup truck pulled into the first military checkpoint, loaded with at least 17 bearded men fingering prayer beads. This pinprick of a village in central Mali is not even large enough to appear on most administrative maps. Cars pass through here so rarely that donkeys fall asleep in the center of the highway. The preachers were coming from Mauritania and had paperwork showing they were on their way to a religious conference in Mali's capital, 270 miles (430 kilometers) away. None of them was armed. Soldiers arrested them and brought them to a military camp. There they opened fire on the stationary truck, spraying it with their machine guns. Then they dragged out the corpses, buried them in a mass grave and launched a manhunt for those who had escaped. Within 1½ hours of the car arriving at the checkpoint, 16 of the 17 men were dead. The AP has found that rank-and-file soldiers carried out the massacre of their own ac

Mexico stays on gun probe despite US report

Associated Press – 10 hrs ago MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican prosecutors say they will continue investigating the botched-gun smuggling probe known as Operation Fast and Furious even after a U.S. Justice Department internal watchdog report concluded that more than a dozen officials should be disciplined. In a Friday statement, the Mexican Attorney General's Office says it's looking at the document released this week to see what it could add to its own probe. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has been accused of knowing about the bungled operation, but the report cleared him and faulted mid-level and senior officials for not briefing him. Fast and Furious allowed low-level "straw" buyers in gun-trafficking networks to leave with loads to track the guns to major traffickers. But some guns wound up at crime scenes in Mexico and the U.S. Source http://news.yahoo.com/mexico-stays-gun-probe-despite-us-report-031046543.html?_esi=1

Syrian rebels move command from Turkey to Syria

BEIRUT (AP) — The leaders of the rebel Free Syrian Army say they have moved their command center from Turkey to Syria. Brig. Gen. Mustafa al-Sheikh, who heads the FSA's Military Council, told The Associated Press that the move aims to unite all rebel groups. He said Saturday that the move was made the week before, without specifying its new location. FSA commander Col. Riad al-Asaad issued a video titled "Free Syrian Army Communique Number 1 from Inside" that the command has moved to "liberated areas." The FSA has been the most prominent of the rebel groups trying to remove President Bashar Assad from power. But its commanders have come under criticism in the past for leading from Turkey, and its authority over numerous locally-based networks of fighters is limited. Source http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-rebels-move-command-turkey-syria-124031803.html?_esi=1

Facebook party turns to rioting in Netherlands

AMSTERDAM (AP) — Thousands of revelers descended on a small Dutch town sparking a riot after a party invitation posted on Facebook went viral, authorities said Saturday. Prosecutor Hessel Schuth said 34 people were arrested were arrested Friday night and in the early hours of Saturday morning and would be prosecuted for public order offenses. Several people were injured, but none were believed to be seriously hurt. "Scum ran amok in our town," said Rob Bats, mayor of Haren, 185 kilometers (115 miles) north of Amsterdam. "An innocent invitation on Facebook for a party led to serious rioting, destruction, plundering, arson and injuries in the middle of Haren," he said. Bats said an initial analysis showed a core group of rioters "were very violent and well-prepared and deliberately sought confrontation" with hundreds of police who had been dispatched to the town amid fears of trouble. Dutch media reported that the party originally was planned as a

Bahrain says it arrested 29 during protest on Friday

DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain arrested 29 people in the commercial district of the capital Manama on Friday as anti-government protesters marched in the city centre in defiance of a government ban, state media said late on Friday. Bahrain, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based, has been in political turmoil since a protest movement dominated by majority Shi'ite Muslims erupted in February 2011 demanding the Sunni-led monarchy enact democratic reforms. The demonstration was organized by an opposition group called February 14, said Jasim Husain, one of the leaders of the main opposition group, Wefaq.- It came two weeks after protesters and police clashed in the city centre for the first time since last year, following months of demonstrations in other parts of Manama and elsewhere in the country. "Rioters hurled petrol bombs, iron rods and stones, endangering both the police and civilians in the area," the government Information Affairs Authority said in an emailed state

Philippines close to landmark peace deal in rebel south

MANILA/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The Philippine government and Muslim rebels are closing in on a peace deal after nearly 15 years of violence-interrupted talks, a potential landmark success for President Benigno Aquino that could pave the way for more investment in the country's impoverished but resource-rich south. Negotiators from both sides told Reuters that the major obstacles to a framework deal being signed this year appear to have been surmounted after a period of intense diplomacy. The deal would formalise a ceasefire in Muslim-majority areas of Mindanao island and set in train a roadmap to create a new autonomous region in the mainly Catholic country before the end of Aquino's term in 2016. "What we are saying is that the whole thing will be completed this year," said Marvic Leonen, a law professor who is the government's chief negotiator, describing the deal as the "architecture" for the peace process. The deal to end the 40-year-old co

Man releases hostage, surrenders to police in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - A man armed with a kitchen knife and a hammer took a business owner hostage for several hours inside a Pittsburgh high-rise building on Friday and posted messages on Facebook before surrendering to police, officials said. Klein Michael Thaxton, 22, released his hostage unharmed after holding him for about six hours, said Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper. Police had been negotiating with Thaxton by telephone after he went into the 16th-floor office of 3 Gateway Center shortly after 8 a.m., grabbed his hostage and told everyone else in the office to leave, Harper said. Thaxton did not disclose any motive to police, Harper said, but he posted several messages on Facebook during the standoff. He also posted what he said was his telephone number. "i cant take it no more," he wrote in one Facebook message. "this life im livn rite now i dnt want anymore ive lost everything and i aint getting it back," said another message. Police aske

France bans protests over Prophet Mohammad cartoons

PARIS (Reuters) - France banned protests on Friday against cartoons published by a satirical weekly denigrating Islam's Prophet Mohammad as part of a security clamp-down while prayers took place across the Muslim world. The country's Muslim population, drawn largely from ex-colonies in North and West Africa, shrugged off the controversy as imams in mosques denounced the pictures but urged their followers to remain calm. The drawings have stoked a furore over an anti-Islam film made in California that has provoked sometimes violent protests in several Muslim countries, including attacks on U.S. and other Western embassies, the killing of the U.S. envoy to Libya and a suicide bombing in Afghanistan. Interior Minister Manuel Valls said prefects had orders to prohibit any protest and to crack down if the ban was challenged. "There will be strictly no exceptions. Demonstrations will be banned and broken up," he told a news conference in the southern port city of M