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Thread: Today's Top Islamic News (DAILY)

  1. #121
    MOGADISHU — Ethiopian troops began on Tuesday, January 13, withdrawing from the capital Mogadishu after two years of deployment, to the celebration of jubilant Somalis. "Ethiopian troops have left their strategic main bases in Mogadishu and the others will withdraw today," Suleiman Olad Roble of the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia, told Reuters.

    Ethiopian troops abandoned two bases overnight in the Yakshid district in the north of Mogadishu, according to local residents.

    The 3000 troops were expected to leave the other 10 bases by late Tuesday.

    Ethiopia began withdrawing from its war-wracked Horn of Africa neighbor at the beginning of January.

    Overjoyed Somalis celebrated the pullout of the Ethiopians, their long-rime regional rival.

    "We were chanting 'Praise be to Allah', who made the troops leave our area," Hussein Awale told Reuters.

    Hundreds of jubilant Somalis gathered at one of the four military bases vacated by the Ethiopians.

    Somalia has plunged into an abyss of almost daily violence since Ethiopia sent troops into the country in 2006 to topple the Islamic Courts, which restored a rare peace to the country.

    Since then, more than 10,000 have been killed and one million displaced.

    Rights groups have accused the Ethiopian troops of perpetrating rights abuses, including rape and extrajudicial executions of civilians.

    Security Concerns

    Some believing the withdrawal of the Ethiopian troops would bode well for the future of the war-ravaged country.

    "The ball is now in the court of the Somalis, particularly those who said they were only fighting against the Ethiopian forces, to stop the senseless killings and violence," UN envoy Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah said in a statement.

    Somalia's interim government and the ARS, headed by Islamic Courts leader Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, recently signed a UN-brokered power-sharing deal.

    It gives ARS 200 seats in the new 500-member parliament while 75 others will be set aside for civil society members, including women.

    But experts fear things would not be that smooth, especially with other groups still fighting the government and refusing to join the political process.

    The Shebab movement, once an off-shot of the Islamic Courts, has been gaining grounds across Somalia.

    At least 11 civilians were killed by shells in Mogadishu on Monday when fighters battled government forces and their Ethiopian allies.

    More than 50 people were killed last week in clashes between Shebab and the rival Ahlu sunna Wal-jama`ah in central Somalia.

    Somalia has lacked an effective central government since the 1991 downfall of strongman Mohamed Siad Barre sparking a series of bloody power struggles.

    Source: IslamOnline

  2. #122
    Bolivia to take Israel to The Hague
    Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:35:31 GMT
    Israel ignores international calls to end Gaza invasion.
    Bolivia is seeking to take Tel Aviv to International Criminal Court over the brutal atrocities the Israeli forces have committed in Gaza.

    The Andean state says it is intended to make regional allies take a unified stance against "the Israeli political and military leaders responsible for the offensive on the Gaza Strip" and make it to stand trial at the international body in the Hague, said Sacha Llorenti, whose portfolio covers civil society.

    Moves to begin the legal process will begin "probably next week," Bolivia's deputy justice and human rights minister Wilfredo Chavez told journalists during the visit to Geneva, AFP reported on Friday.

    Bolivia followed in the steps of its ally Venezuela and severed diplomatic ties with Israel over its massacre of the Gazans and snubbing the international calls for an 'immediate' and 'durable' truce, said the Latin American governments.

    The Bolivian president Evo Morales told a group of diplomats in the administrative capital of La Paz that he will request the International Criminal Court (ICC) to file genocide charges against Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

    The ICC is competent to adjudicate war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed after 2002.

    Israel and its closest ally, the United States, are not among the 108 signatories of the Rome Statute creating the Hague-based court in 2000 to investigate and prosecute war crimes.

    After 21 days of non-stop bombardment and aggression, the Israeli invasion of Gaza has left 1,133 Palestinians killed and more than 5,200 wounded.

  3. #123
    Qatar, Mauritania suspend ties with Israel
    Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:56:00 GMT
    Qatar and Mauritania have decided to suspend their ties with Israel following a regional summit in Doha to discuss the war on Gaza.

    "Mauritania and Qatar have decided during a meeting behind closed doors to suspend their ties with Israel," a Mauritanian diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.

    Qatar has hosted an Israeli trade bureau since 1996, while Mauritania has had diplomatic ties with the Israeli regime since 1999.

    The Nouakchott government called back its ambassador to Tel Aviv after Israel refused to heed international calls to halt attacks on the Gaza Strip.

    Tel Aviv launched Operation Cast Lead on December 27 to put an end to rocket attacks against southern Israeli towns. At least 1,133 Palestinians have died during the offensive, while some 5,150 others have been wounded.

    Hamas, the democratically-elected ruler of the impoverished Gaza Strip, demands a cessation of an 18-month Israeli blockade on the coastal enclave -- home to some 1.5 million Palestinians -- before its fighters suspend retaliatory rocket attacks.

    The UN Security Council adopted resolution 1860 which calls for an immediate end to the ongoing crisis. Both sides, however, have rejected the resolution.

    The decision by Mauritania and Qatar to suspend ties with Israel comes after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called on Arab countries at the Friday meeting to severe all 'direct and indirect ties with Israel' and close their embassies.

    Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also called for a boycott on all Israeli goods.

  4. #124
    Israel shelling Gaza despite ceasefire
    Sun, 18 Jan 2009 05:14:44 GMT
    An Israeli helicopter hovering above the Gaza City continues to carry out fresh strike despite a unilateral ceasefire announced by Tel Aviv.

    Press TV broadcast live images of an Israeli helicopter hovering above the city and dropping its white phosphorous bombs on the city during a report by our correspondent Akram al-Sattari in the city.

    Columns of smoke could be seen rising from the targeted neighborhoods on the 23rd day of the Israeli offensive against the impoverished coastal silver which has so far killed around 1,200 Palestinians and injured 6000 others.

    A large number of the victims are women and children, according to figures by the UN and Palestinian medics.

    There has been no immediate report of the casualties of the fresh strike.

    The nonstop Israeli attacks come shortly after Tel Aviv announced a 'unilateral ceasefire' which it says has been in effect since 2:00 a.m. local time (0000 GMT).

    Hamas, the democratically-elected government of Gaza, has ruled out the possibility of any deal unless its demands are met, insisting that it would not accept the presence of Israeli troops in the region.

    The resistance movement also seeks the cessation of an 18-month Israeli blockade on the coastal sliver before its fighters suspend rocket attacks on Israel.

    In a response to a question about the arrival of the humanitarian aid for the Gazan people due to the ceasefire our correspondent said that Israeli officials have not taken a clear stance on this matter.

    Al Sattari added that he has unconfirmed information that Israeli troops may soon withdraw from the Strip.

  5. #125
    First Palestinian killed after truce
    Sun, 18 Jan 2009 09:28:18 GMT
    Israeli forces have killed a 20-year-old Palestinian in the southern Gaza Strip after declaring a unilateral ceasefire, medical workers say.

    The incident occurred near the Gazan town of Khan Younis, the workers said, identifying the man as a civilian.

    This is the first Palestinian killed since Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire after 22 days of attacks on Gaza Strip, which have killed at least 1,240 Palestinians.

    Tel Aviv began pounding and shelling the impoverished strip shortly after it announced a 'unilateral ceasefire'.

    AKM/DT

  6. #126
    100 bodies pulled out from rubble in Gaza
    Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:30:55 GMT
    Palestinian medics work in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, in the area of destroyed houses searching for bodies.
    At least 100 bodies are pulled out from Gaza's rubble after Israel was forced to agree to a ceasefire and starts pulling out its forces from Gaza.

    Medical workers sifting through mounds of concrete have said they have recovered bodies, including those of several children, mostly in the northern Gazan towns of Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya.

    A new cease-fire along with Israeli troops withdrawing from Gaza, allowed families and medics to intensify the search for bodies with more than 100 dead recovered only on Sunday, according to Palestinian health officials.

    A fragile ceasefire ended a three-week Israeli assault on impoverished Gazans as Hamas warned that they would not accept the presence of a single Israeli soldier in Gaza until next Sunday.

    "We have clearly said: if Israeli troops remain in Gaza, this will be a wide window for the resistance against the occupation," Osama Hamdan, the group's representative in Lebanon, said in an interview with al-Jazeera television on Sunday.

    Meanwhile Palestinians are returning to their homes to see what is left of their residence after Israel's merciless air and ground assault. Bulldozers shoved aside rubble in Gaza City to clear a path for cars.

    In south Gaza, a 20-year-old man became the first Palestinian killed since the ceasefire went into effect when Israeli troops shot him in the chest while he traveled in a vehicle near the southern town of Khan Yunis, medics said.

    The 22-day Israeli onslaught against the impoverished strip has killed 1,300 Gazans, including 411 children and 98 women, and has wounded over 6,000 others.

  7. #127
    By Christian Fraser
    BBC News, Rafah

    An explosion is seen where the Israeli military is bombing an area around alleged smuggling tunnels in Rafah p on 14 January
    The Israelis bombed the tunnels between Gaza and Egypt

    Hani Bakear has probably endured the longest war of anyone in Gaza.

    His house is directly opposite the Egyptian border overlooking the tunnels.

    For three weeks the land beneath his house has been bombed repeatedly.

    And yet Mr Bakear has refused to leave. With his 10 children he has sat it out within his crumbling apartment block, as shrapnel rained down around him, some of it coming through the wall.

    "I have nowhere else to go," said Mr Bakear.

    "Why should I leave my home. The Israelis have tried everything to force us out. But the will of the Palestinian people is unshakeable."

    The Israelis estimate there were 300 tunnels running beneath the wall. They have thrown everything at them.

    Today the landscape is pitted and scarred. The explosions were thunderous - goodness knows what it must have been like sitting through it in Mr Bakear's tiny apartment.

    Touched by war

    But with this latest ceasefire, the town of Rafah is now counting its losses.

    Every family has been touched by this war.


    They don't see us as human beings. I have lost school friends. Every family here has lost someone
    Mohammed, 17

    At the morgue they were still queuing on Saturday for the bodies. In the corner of the room a small boy wept - a son without a father.

    And there are plenty of fathers without sons.

    Ziad Al Absi lost three of his boys. A rocket attack on his house destroyed his bedroom, where his children were sleeping around him.

    But neighbours say Mr Absi is nothing to do with Hamas.

    "I only support Palestinians who kills Israelis," said Mr Absi. "Because the Israelis believe all our children are terrorists."

    Deeper hatred

    And therein lies the dangerous legacy of this war. The hatred runs deeper than ever, with the next generation of Palestinians already vowing revenge.

    Palestinian medics wheel a man wounded in an Israeli missile strike into hospital in Rafah
    Every family has been touched by this war

    Mohammed, 17, lives in the house in which we are sheltering. He is well educated despite all the difficulties and he speaks immaculate English.

    He might ordinarily be classed as a moderate. In fact he is on most topics - but not when it comes to Israel.

    "They kill indiscriminately," he said. "They don't care what they hit.

    "They don't see us as human beings. I have lost school friends. Every family here has lost someone.

    "We have lived in fear for three weeks. And why? Because we refuse to be imprisoned behind these walls, without food, medicine, our basic human rights?"

    Exhausted welcome

    But everyone in this house welcomes the ceasefire, pleased to have some respite from the bombing. There are plenty of exhausted faces.

    There is no way you can sleep through the scream of an F-16 - no matter how inured you are to it.

    There are however some real concerns about where Gaza goes now.

    Man walks down a destroyed street in the Salahaddin street area of Rafah
    After weeks of bombing, people are unclear what the future will bring

    Hamas is still in control. In Rafah their flags still fly in the streets. Their fighters are hailed as heroes. For Hamas survival is considered a victory.

    No-one knows yet what damage has been inflicted on the organisation and whether it's power and control has diminished.

    "We wonder who is going to govern," said Abu Moustafa, the owner of a hardware store.

    "The divisions between Fatah and Hamas run deep as ever. There is a danger that in the months ahead there will be a political vacuum in Gaza. That is a dangerous scenario, it could spell more misery for people here."

    'Lifeline' tunnels

    And Abu Moustafa does not trust the Israelis to provide for people in Gaza.

    "We depended on the tunnels for all our supplies," he said.

    "They were our lifeline. Now we are totally cut off from the outside world. The Israelis promise to open the crossings - but they have made those promises before."

    So for the moment, while the rockets may have stopped, many of the same uncertainties remain.

    There is only temporary relief here. The longer-term future of the Gaza people is as precarious as ever.

  8. #128
    UN official: Israel violated truce term
    Mon, 19 Jan 2009 09:24:52 GMT
    A Palestinian woman and her baby sit in the rubble of buildings left after Israeli attacks
    A top UN official has accused Israel of failing to honor its commitment to open Gaza border crossings before the bloody Gaza offensive.

    Maxwell Gaylard, the UN's chief humanitarian coordinator in Israel said Tel Aviv did not fulfill its commitments to open its border with Gaza during several months of truce from June 19 last year.

    "The food was in Israel but we couldn't get it in. This is before. The blockade was very tight," he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

    "The Israelis would not let us facilitate a regular and sufficient flow of supplies into the Strip," he added.

    Israel said it launched Operation Cast Lead on Dec. 27 in a bid to stop Palestinian rocket attacks into Israel and topple Hamas government.

    Palestinians, however, said they fired rockets to revenge Israeli daily killings and because the regime did not cease its 18-month old blockade against the people in Gaza.

    Gaylard went on to add that when Israel started its military campaign, the UN's warehouses in Gaza were nearly empty, with all food and equipment sitting in nearby port facilities.

    On Saturday, Israel declared a halt in its military operation and enforced a unilateral truce on Sunday. However, it has kept its ground troops inside the Gaza Strip.

    Hamas which has been able to maintain its capability to fire rockets into Israel rejected Tel Aviv's terms of the truce and set next Sunday as the deadline for Israeli troops to withdraw from Gaza completely.

    Gaylard, who is also the UN's deputy special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said it would require several billion dollars and at least five years to repair the physical damage caused by the fighting.

  9. #129
    Israel denies medical teams, food supplies entry to Gaza
    Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:01:19 GMT
    Israel has denied Human Rights Watch and aid agencies entry to the Gaza Strip as Palestinians are grappling with a shortage of vital supplies.

    Israeli officials on Wednesday refused to allow famous European medical teams and Human Rights Watch representatives to cross the border and assist Gazans who are in dire need for humanitarian aid following a three-week long Israeli onslaught on the costal sliver, said Alram al-Sattari, a Press TV correspondent at the Rafah border crossing.

    Gaza hospitals are also running out of fuel supplies and they had to take measures to continue providing service to the thousands of people who have been injured in Israeli attacks.


    Only three truck load of aid supplies have so-far crossed the border into the Gaza Strip whose population are struggling with hunger and a serious humanitarian crisis.

  10. #130
    'Gaza carnage recap on Holocaust'
    Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:57:42 GMT
    Sir Gerald Bernard Kaufman, Labor MP for Manchester
    The following is the complete text of Labor Member of Parliament and former government minister Sir Gerald Bernard Kaufman's speech, made during the January 15, 2009 House of Commons debate on Gaza:

    I was brought up as an orthodox Jew and a Zionist. On a shelf in our kitchen, there was a tin box for the Jewish National Fund, into which we put coins to help the pioneers building a Jewish presence in Palestine.

    I first went to Israel in 1961 and I have been there since more times than I can count. I had family in Israel and have friends in Israel.

    One of them fought in the wars of 1956, 1967 and 1973 and was wounded in two of them. The tie clip that I am wearing is made from a campaign decoration awarded to him, which he presented to me.

    I have known most of the Prime Ministers of Israel, starting with the founding Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. Golda Meir was my friend, as was Yigal Allon, Deputy Prime Minister, who, as a general, won the Negev for Israel in the 1948 war of independence.

    My parents came to Britain as refugees from Poland. Most of their families were subsequently murdered by the Nazis in the holocaust. My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town of Staszow. A German soldier shot her dead in her bed.

    My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza. The current Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploits the continuing guilt among Gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians. The implication is that Jewish lives are precious, but the lives of Palestinians do not count.

    On Sky News a few days ago, the spokeswoman for the Israeli army, Major Leibovich, was asked about the Israeli killing of, at that time, 800 Palestinians-the total is now 1,000. She replied instantly that "500 of them were militants."

    That was the reply of a Nazi. I suppose that the Jews fighting for their lives in the Warsaw ghetto could have been dismissed as militants.

    The Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni asserts that her government will have no dealings with Hamas, because they are terrorists. Tzipi Livni's father was Eitan Livni, chief operations officer of the terrorist Irgun Zvai Leumi, who organized the blowing-up of the King David hotel in Jerusalem, in which 91 victims were killed, including four Jews.

    Israel was born out of Jewish terrorism. Jewish terrorists hanged two British sergeants and booby-trapped their corpses. Irgun, together with the terrorist Stern gang, massacred 254 Palestinians in 1948 in the village of Deir Yassin. Today, the present Israeli government indicates that they would be willing, in circumstances acceptable to them, to negotiate with the Palestinian President Abbas of Fatah. It is too late for that. They could have negotiated with Fatah's previous leader, Yasser Arafat, who was a friend of mine. Instead, they besieged him in a bunker in Ramallah, where I visited him. Because of the failings of Fatah since Arafat's death, Hamas won the Palestinian election in 2006. Hamas is a deeply nasty organization, but it was democratically elected, and it is the only game in town. The boycotting of Hamas, including by our government, has been a culpable error, from which dreadful consequences have followed.

    The great Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban, with whom I campaigned for peace on many platforms, said: "You make peace by talking to your enemies."

    However many Palestinians the Israelis murder in Gaza, they cannot solve this existential problem by military means. Whenever and however the fighting ends, there will still be 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza and 2.5 million more Palestinians on the West Bank. They are treated like dirt by the Israelis, with hundreds of road blocks and with the ghastly denizens of the illegal Jewish settlements harassing them as well. The time will come, not so long from now, when they will outnumber the Jewish population in Israel.

    It is time for our government to make clear to the Israeli government that their conduct and policies are unacceptable, and to impose a total arms ban on Israel.

    It is time for peace, but real peace, not the solution by conquest which is the Israelis' real goal but which it is impossible for them to achieve. They are not simply war criminals; they are fools.

    HN/MMN

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