Page 122 of 212 FirstFirst ... 2272112120121122123124132172 ... LastLast
Results 1,211 to 1,220 of 2112

Thread: Today's Top Islamic News (DAILY)

  1. #1211
    Deadly blast rocks NW Pakistan
    Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:03:36 GMT

    An alleged bomb explosion in northwestern Pakistan has killed at least 10 people and inflicted injuries on 15 others, local police say.

    The Tuesday blast rocked a busy intersection in the town of Charsadda.

    "We have reports of 10 people killed and 15 wounded," Malik Naveed, the police chief for the North Western Frontier Province, was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.

    Rescue operations are underway at the scene.

    HN/AKM

  2. #1212
    Guantanamo conditions 'deteriorate'
    By Andrew Wander

    Some prisoners say conditions have deteriorated at Guantanamo Bay this year

    On the night that Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, 21-year-old Mohammed el Gharani was sitting in a segregation cell in Guantanamo Bay's high security Echo Block.

    He remembers the excitement among his fellow prisoners at the prospect of an Obama presidency. "Everyone was very hopeful; people were saying he was going to change things, that he would close the prison," Gharani, who was released in June, says.

    "Even the guards were telling us that if he won, things would improve for us."

    They were to be disappointed. A year after Obama's election win, Al Jazeera has learnt that despite the new president's pledge to close the prison and improve the conditions of detainees held by the US military, prisoners believe that their treatment has deteriorated on his watch.

    Authorities at the prison deny mistreating the inmates, but interviews with former detainees, letters from current prisoners and sworn testimony from independent medical experts who have visited the prison have painted a disturbing picture of psychological and physical abuse very much at odds with White House rhetoric on prisoner treatment.

    While no-one is alleging a return to the early days of the prison, when detainees were subjected to "enhanced interrogation" techniques that are today widely regarded as torture, prisoners say day-to-day life at Guantanamo has become harder under the Obama administration.

    Within days of Obama's inauguration and subsequent announcement that he would close Guantanamo, prisoners say authorities introduced new regulations and revoked previous privileges at the prison.

    "They took away group recreation for prisoners in segregation, which was the only time we saw anyone," Gharani remembers. "They took away the books we had from the library. They even sprayed pepper spray into my cell while I was sleeping, so I'd wake up unable to breathe."

    Gharani says he was beaten so badly by guards that he is still suffering pain today.

    'Humiliating rules'

    Al Jazeera has obtained letters written by those currently being held in Guantanamo that tell a similar story. In one, written in March, a prisoner, who has asked that he remains anonymous for fear of repercussions, says he is writing to "depict to what degree our conditions inside Guantanamo detention have deteriorated" since Obama took office.

    "I am in the very same cell, wearing the same uniform, eating the same food, yet treated much worse compared to mid-2008," the prisoner writes. "We are unable to understand the goals of the policy of more restrictions and inflexibility."

    Letters describe 'fading hopes' [GALLO/GETTY]
    According to the letter, prison authorities inflict "humiliating punishments" on inmates and prisoners face "intentional mental and physical harm".

    "The situation is worsening with the advent of the new management," the prisoner writes, noting, like Gharani, that the new rules were imposed in January this year. Conditions, he says, "do not fit the lowest standard of human living".

    Separately, two prisoners have complained to their lawyer that their belongings, including their bedding, were removed from their cells on several occasions for no reason. Each time, they were told that the removal was a "mistake," and the belongings were returned, only to be confiscated again.

    More disturbingly, the same two prisoners say that during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, their recreation time was moved to prevent them from taking part in traditional group prayer.

    Using religion to punish prisoners is illegal under international law. Authorities at Guantanamo deny the prisoners are kept from practising their religion, although they concede that recreation times are sometimes moved "due to operational needs".

    They say that personal belongings are not removed from cells "unless detainees misuse the items"; the prisoners categorically deny that they did so.

    The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which monitors prisoner treatment at Guantanamo, declined to comment on specific allegations at the prison, but says that it recognises the cumulative effect low-level abuse can have on the well-being of prisoners in general.

    "In some cases, a single act may amount to torture," ICRC spokesman Simon Schorno says. "In others, ill treatment may be the result of a number of methods used over time, which, taken individually and out of context, may seem harmless."

    Hunger strikes

    For the Guantanamo prisoners, avenues of protest against their treatment are limited and many have resorted to hunger strikes. Now there is concern that the force-feeding regime to which hunger strikers are subjected is having a detrimental effect on their mental and physical health.

    Abdul Rahman Shalabi has been on hunger strike since August 2005. He has been force-fed twice a day by Guantanamo personnel, who insert a feeding tube through his nose in order to administer a liquid diet aimed at keeping him alive.

    But independent doctors who have evaluated him say that the insertion of the tube has done permanent damage to his nose and throat, making inserting new feeding tubes difficult and stopping him from receiving the calories he needs.

    His lawyers say that persisting with the current treatment could be doing more harm than good. Shalabi was hospitalised in March, and his weight has dropped to just 107 pounds, 30 per cent below his ideal body weight and at the threshold of major organ failure.

    Doctors say force feeding methods are causing permanent damage

    Shalabi's lawyer, Jana Ramsey, is bringing a case aimed at forcing the government to allow medical specialists to work with Guantanamo personnel to prevent the further weight loss she says is inevitable if his current treatment persists.

    "While participating in the strike, Abdul Rahman has, among other things, been overfed to the point of vomiting, had tubes inserted and removed repeatedly until his nose bled, choked until he passed out and been blasted by pepper spray more times than he can remember," she says.

    "He is now dangerously underweight. We are deeply concerned that the medical staff at Guantanamo have no plan to keep Abdul Rahman from starving to death."

    As part of the case, Ramsey arranged for independent medical experts to examine Shalabi at the prison over the summer. Dr Sondra Crosby, an ear, nose and throat specialist who examined him in August, said that without a change in treatment, the prisoner will die.

    "Mr Shalabi has been on a hunger strike for four years, and only recently has his condition severely deteriorated," her testimony notes.

    His current treatment is also having a negative impact on his mental health, experts have found. Dr Emily Keram, a psychiatrist who evaluated him in July, told the court he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression.

    "Mr. Shalabi exhibits symptoms and disorders consistent with his reports of coercive interrogations and other mistreatment," she said, adding that some of this trauma occurred this year.

    "The medical records do indicate that Mr. Shalabi was subjected to Forced Cell Extraction in connection with his feeding multiple times per day through the months of January and February. Mr Shalabi's psychological symptoms are consistent with the distress he reported experiencing as a result of these extractions."

    Shalabi himself attributes his weight loss to his treatment at the prison.

    "My weight has dropped from sadness and provocations, daily humiliations and harassments and the sickness," he says in a letter written in September. "I am a human who is being treated like an animal."

    Mistreatment denied

    Authorities at Guantanamo deny that hunger strikers are subject to different treatment to other prisoners and say that no-one is being mistreated.

    The Guantanamo File

    "All allegations of abuse are fully investigated and if warranted, further action taken," says Lieutenant Commander Brook DeWalt, a military spokesman for the prison. "As with any facility of this nature, we receive many allegations and we investigate any claim, no matter what the source, and take appropriate action when warranted."

    But lawyers say that efforts to raise these issues with the relevant authorities have been met with inertia.

    Ahmed Ghappour, who represents Guantanamo prisoners, has lodged several requests to initiate investigations since Obama took office.

    "I have requested four investigations regarding prisoner abuse just this past year," he says. "The military responded to my first request indicating that they would investigate, but have been radio silent since then."

    Released after a federal court found him to be entirely innocent, Mohammed el Gharani is now adjusting to life outside prison. He says that the allegations made by current inmates match his experience of Guantanamo during the months leading up to his release.

    "I recognise all of this," he says. "There are still more than 200 people in Guantanamo. Since Obama became president, less than 20 have been released. I don't know why, but he has broken his promises."
    Source: Al Jazeera

  3. #1213
    S Korea 'will pay dearly for sea clash'
    Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:52:28 GMT
    Font size :

    North Korea has threatened its southern neighbor after naval clashes between the two Koreas intensified tension in the region, according to North Korean media outlets.

    South Korea would face costly consequences if it continues its aggressive posture, the North's government-run Minju Joson newspaper said Thursday.

    The navies of the two sides clashed off the countries' west coast Tuesday for the first time in seven years, leaving a North Korean naval boat severely damaged.

    Following the incident, the two Koreas accused each other of violating the controversial maritime border.

    South Korea has put its forces on alert but says it does not want the clash to damage relations.

    However, the South has sent one of its newer destroyers equipped with torpedoes and guided missiles closer to the border in addition to two extra patrol boats.

    In another article in the North's official Rodong Sinmun daily, Pyongyang said the South will pay an expensive price for Tuesday's clash.

    "Warmongers who like to play with fire will be certain to pay an expensive price," the paper said in an editorial.

    "The armed clash on the West (Yellow) Sea was not an accident but was a premeditated act of aggression by the South's military seeking intensifying of tensions on the Korean peninsula."

    The two Koreas are still technically at war as their 1950-53 Korean War ended with a ceasefire and not a peace treaty.

    AGB/AKM

  4. #1214
    PARIS/ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari allegedly received millions of dollars in kickbacks for the purchase of three French submarines for the Pakistani Navy in 1994, a French daily has reported.

    Citing documents acquired by it, the daily 'Liberation' in Tuesday's edition claimed Zardari received $4.3 million in kickbacks from the sale of three Agosta-90 submarines for 825 million euros (currently $1.23 billion).

    In addition, the daily said investigators believed that the non-payment of the full amount of the agreed kickbacks may have led to the deaths of 11 French nationals in a 2002 terror attack in the port city of Karachi.

    In Islamabad, a spokesman of the government has taken serious exception to the claims made by the daily.

    The spokesman said the purchase of equipment by the Armed Forces of Pakistan is done through a proper competitive process under the supervision of the Ministry of Defence.

    Zardari was neither the President nor the Prime Minister nor the Defence Minister when the submarines were purchased, the spokesman said.

    The then 'Admiral' responsible for this purchase was investigated by the Accountability Bureau but no allegation of misdoing could be established by the investigation authorities against Zardari, the spokesman added. - TOI

  5. #1215
    US Afghan mission 'not open-ended'
    Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:09:18 GMT

    US President Barack Obama visits section 60 on Veterans Day at Arlington National Cemetery November 11, 2009 in Arlington, Virginia.

    President Barack Obama has warned that the US commitment to Afghanistan is 'not open-ended' and that he does not plan to accept any of the options presented by his advisors, a White House official says.

    It came as the US Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry reportedly voiced deep concern over possible deployment of thousands of new troops to the war-torn country.

    "The president believes that we need to make clear to the Afghan government that our commitment is not open-ended," a White House official told reporters following Obama's latest round of talks with military chiefs.

    "After years of substantial investments by the American people, governance in Afghanistan must improve in a reasonable period of time to ensure a successful transition to our Afghan partner," the official said.

    According to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, during the Wednesday meeting, the president posed questions about the number of the troops needed in the Afghan war and possible revisions to the current US strategy.

    A second top US administration official said Eikenberry, the US ambassador in Afghanistan, has expressed concern to Obama about sending more troops to the country until the government in Kabul deals with corruption and mismanagement.

    Over the past week, Eikenberry sent multiple classified cables to Washington that question the wisdom of adding forces when the Afghan political situation is unstable and uncertain.

    Eikenberry was the top US military commander in Afghanistan for two years before moving to Brussels to become deputy chairman of NATO's military committee in 2007.

    Meanwhile, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has largely fallen from favor amid persistent allegations of corruption and fraud-tainted election.

    A sharp fall in public support for the Afghan mission among Americans with some 800 US soldiers killed in Afghanistan and the rising number of casualties in recent weeks have also placed the Obama administration in a real dilemma.

    The president is considering options that include adding 30,000 or more US forces to take on the Taliban in key areas of Afghanistan and to buy time for the Afghan government's fighting forces to take over.

    The other three options on the table are ranges of troop increases, from a relatively small addition of forces to the roughly 40,000 that the top US general in Afghanistan prefers, according to military and other officials.

    Obama is yet to announce his revamped war strategy which is expected to come after he returns from a trip to Asia that ends on November 19.

    RZS/AGB/AKM

  6. #1216
    Defiant UK soldier faces new charges
    Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:46:41 GMT

    British soldier Joe Glenton is already facing a court martial for alleged desertion.
    A British soldier who refused to return to Afghanistan has been arrested and faces charges of speaking out against the Afghan mission which could put him in prison up to 10 years.

    Lance Corporal Joe Glenton is accused of leading an anti-war demonstration and has been charged with failing to obey a lawful order and other disciplinary offences.

    He allegedly led the protest in London last month against the continued presence of UK troops in Afghanistan.

    The Stop the War Coalition, which organized the rally, called for the soldier's release and accused the Ministry of Defense of trying to stop the freedom of speech.

    The charges carry a maximum of ten years in prison. Glenton could face another four-year term as he is already facing a court martial for alleged desertion after going absent without leave in 2007.

    "This is not about a breach of military regulations. This is about the persecution of a soldier who believes in telling the truth in accordance with his conscience," said Lindsey German, convener of the Stop the War Coalition.

    "He is saying what the majority of the population believe — that this war is unwinnable and immoral."

    According to recent polls, a majority of Britons have called for withdrawal of UK forces from Afghanistan.

    Britain has 9,000 troops in Afghanistan and Prime Minister Gordon Brown has authorized the deployment of another 500.

    A total of 232 British troops have died since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

    AGB/AKM

  7. #1217
    Budget 'disasters' await ten US states
    Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:17:15 GMT


    Financial woes continue to defy the US exit from recession.
    Nine US states have joined California in the club of the worst financially-hit states which face a fiscal 'disaster' over America's reeling economy, a report says.

    A new report published by the Washington-based research center on national advances in various fields, Pew Center, has portrayed a bleak outlook for the state of economy in the US and listed ten large states to be in 'grave' need of financial plan adjustments in order to escape insolvency.

    Pew's Wednesday analysis has raised the alarm for California, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon and Wisconsin, urging local legislatures and administrations to take strong action in an effort to prevent a 'looming' economic catastrophe.

    The widening double-figure budget gaps, increasing job losses and high property foreclosures have amounted to the states' teetering economies that constitute one third of US financial power.

    The study, named 'Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril', also counts single industry economy, history of budget deficits and legal obstacles in the way of tax increases as other contributors to the ongoing financial woes that have hit America in the aftermath of the 2007 economic recession.

    US economy has had its worst nightmare since 1930's Great Depression, with some states considering mortgaging Capitol buildings or cutting public expenditures such as public schools and healthcare costs in order to help ease the economic havoc.

    The need for cash in the frozen credit market forced the California government to print IOUs, or payable notes, earlier in 2009 to help pay out bills.

    A number of other states, however, came up with local money in a bid to inject capital into their cash-strapped economies.

    Despite a 0.9 percent gain in economic transactions during the third quarter of the 2009 fiscal year, financial woes in the world's largest free market system continue to defy the US exit from recession due to the hundreds of billions lost in the latest economic downturn.

    GHN/AKM

  8. #1218
    Veil martyr' murderer gets life sentence
    Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:02:10 GMT

    Wearing a hood and dark glasses, Alex Wiens is led into the Dresden courtroom.
    A court in Germany has handed the life sentence to the Russian-born German who murdered an Egyptian Muslim woman during a Dresden trial.

    The Dresden court on Wednesday sentenced Alex Wiens to life imprisonment for stabbing Marwa El-Sherbini to death in July, AFP reported.

    The victim, who has come to be known as the 'veil martyr', was three months pregnant at the time of her brutal murder.

    The murder, committed with an 18-centimetre (seven-inch) kitchen knife, took place before the Egyptian woman's three-year-old son Mustafa and her husband, Elwy Okaz who was injured while trying to shield his wife.

    Wiens had been trail for hurling racial insults at Sherbini.

    The incident sent tremors throughout the international community and the Muslim world while reigniting widespread anger against Berlin's failure to control hate crimes.

    In an attempt to prove the convict's diminished capacity or unaccountability for his actions, his lawyer had earlier presented the court with papers from Russia which pointed to the convict's alleged schizophrenia.

    HN/HGH

  9. #1219
    Blackwater bribe plot uncovered
    Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:26:15 GMT

    The shadowy US-based paramilitary security company has continued its ongoing relationship with Washington under President Barack Obama.
    A report reveals that private US security firm Blackwater had allocated USD1 million to Iraqi officials to buy their support and silence criticisms leveled against the firm after a fatal Baghdad shooting in 2007.

    In an interview with The New York Times on Tuesday, four former executives revealed that in December 2007 Blackwater's then-president, Gary Jackson, approved the payment of a one-million-dollar bribe to Iraqi officials in a bid to hush-down condemnations.

    The former executives, however, added that they did not know the identity of the Iraqi officials in question, or whether money was actually delivered.

    This is while, under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bans bribes to foreign officials, any payments would have been illegal.

    According to the four officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, Blackwater's strategy created a deep rift inside the company.

    Stacy DeLuke, a spokeswoman for company has dismissed the report as 'baseless' and said the company would not comment about former employees.

    In September 2007, Blackwater agents opened random fire on pedestrians with machine guns and rocket launchers, killing 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad's Nisour Square in an 'unprovoked' attack.

    The bloody incident drew worldwide condemnation, prompting the Iraqi government to refuse to extend Blackwater's license. the company later changed its name to Xe Services LLC in an attempt to distance itself from the 2007 incident.

    However, despite its controversial records in Iraq during the Bush administration, the shadowy US-based paramilitary security company has continued its ongoing relationship with Washington under President Barack Obama.

    FF/MMN

  10. #1220
    Karadzic advisors go on strike over unpaid fees
    Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:55:33 GMT

    Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic
    Legal advisors to Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic have gone on strike over unpaid fees; as Karadzic insists on representing himself at the Tribunal.

    Court papers filed by Karadzic on Wednesday claim his legal team is owed some 70,000 euros (100,000 dollars) in unpaid bills.

    While 64-year-old Karadzic insists on representing himself at the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY), the genocide and war crimes suspect has eight legal advisors helping him to prepare his defense.

    Marko Sladojevic, one of Karadzic's advisors, said the team stopped work on Tuesday. "Mr Karadzic has been completely on his own since yesterday," he told AFP.

    The whole team suspended work because they have not yet been paid. We cannot continue working for free," he added.

    Defendants' legal bills are normally paid for by the court. The ICTY declined to comment.

    Karadzic faces 11 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the 1992-95 Bosnian war in which some 100,000 people were killed and 2.2 million forced to flee their homes.

    SG/SS/RE

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •