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Thread: Today's Top Islamic News (DAILY)

  1. #41
    Muslim scholars are calling for a joint crisis management plan to defuse tension between the world's two largest religions.

    VATICAN CITY — One day before an anticipated meeting with the Vatican, Muslim scholars are calling for a joint crisis management plan to defuse tension between the world's two largest religions.

    "We should develop a crisis reaction mechanism so if there is another cartoon crisis, we could get together and make a joint statement," Turkish Ibrahim Kalin, an Islamic studies professor at Georgetown University in Washington, told Reuters on Monday, November 3.

    Muslim-Christian relations strained after a Danish newspaper published a series of cartoons lampooning Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) in 2005.

    A year later, interfaith relations sustained a heavy blow after Pope Benedict XVI cited a medieval text that characterized some of the teachings of Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman."

    The pope repeatedly expressed regret for the Muslim reaction his speech but stopped short of the clear apology sought by Muslims.

    Tuesday's meeting will bring together nearly 50 Muslim and Vatican leaders to discuss interfaith relations.

    They will hold closed-door talks about a raft of issues, including theology, human dignity and mutual respect.

    Pope Benedict will address the participants on Thursday.

    The meeting is the first since Vatican and Muslims leaders agreed in March to establish a Catholic-Muslim forum to meet regularly to bridge their gap.

    The move followed an open letter by 138 Muslim scholars and intellectuals to Christian spiritual leaders for dialogue between the two Abrahimic faiths.

    * Model

    The scholars will also discuss religious persecution, such as the recent attacks on Iraqi Christians in the northern city of Mosul.

    "We have to look out for each other," said Sohail Nakhooda, editor of the Amman-based magazine Islamica.

    Iraqi Muslim scholars have spoken out against attacks on Christians and churches in Mosul.

    The Iraqi Red Crescent and other groups have been offering aid packages for displaced Christians.

    Kalin, the Islamic studies professor at Georgetown University, cited cooperation between mosques and churches in the Netherlands against an anti-Islam movie by a far-right MP as a model for future cooperation.

    "That was the first fruit of the kind of cooperation we want to have."

    Geert Wilders, a far-right lawmaker, released a documentary entitled "Fitna," an Arabic word for sedition or strife, on the internet last March.

    The 15-minute documentary accuses Qur'an of inciting violence and intersperses images of terror attacks with verses from the Noble Qur'an.

    Dutch Muslim leaders urged followers not to provoked by Wilders' insults.

  2. #42
    WASHINGTON: Democrat Barack Obama captured the White House on Tuesday after an extraordinary two-year campaign, defeating Republican John McCain
    US president Barack Obama
    Democrat Barack Obama has been elected 44th US president. (AFP Photo)
    to make history as the first black US president. ( Watch )

    Obama will be sworn in as the 44th US president on January 20, 2009 and will face a crush of immediate challenges, from tackling an economic crisis to ending the war in Iraq and trying to overhaul the US health care system.

    McCain saw his hopes for victory evaporate with losses in a string of key battleground states led by the big prizes of Ohio and Florida, the states that sent Democrats to defeat in the last two elections.

    The win by Obama, son of a black father from Kenya and white mother from Kansas, marked a milestone in US history. It came 45 years after the height of the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King.

    "It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, at this defining moment, change has come to America," Obama, 47, told 125,000 ecstatic supporters gathered in Chicago's Grant Park to celebrate.

    "The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America --I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there," he said.

    Obama, a first-term Illinois senator, led sweeping Democratic victories that expanded the party's majorities in both chambers of Congress and marked an emphatic rejection of President George W Bush's eight years of leadership.

    McCain, a 72-year-old Arizona senator and former Vietnam War prisoner, called Obama to congratulate him and praised his rival's inspirational and precedent-shattering campaign.

    "We have come to the end of a long journey," McCain told supporters. "I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him but offering our next president our goodwill."

    News of Obama's win set off celebrations by supporters around the country, from Times Square in New York to Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, King's home church.

    "This is a great night. This is an unbelievable night," said US Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, who was brutally beaten by police in Selma, Alabama, during a voting rights march in the 1960s.

    The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights leader, joined the celebrations in Chicago, tears streaming down his cheeks.

    ECONOMY THE KEY
    In a campaign dominated at the end by a flood of bad news on the economy, Obama's judgement on handling the crisis tipped the race in his favour. Exit polls showed six of every 10 voters listed the economy as the top issue.

    Obama has promised to restore US leadership in the world by working closely with foreign allies, and has pledged a tax cut for low- and middle-class workers while raising taxes on those making more than $250,000 a year.

    McCain would have become the oldest president to begin a first term in the White House and his running mate Sarah Palin would have been the first female US vice president.

    The vice-presidency goes to Obama's running mate, Senator Joe Biden.

    In addition to Ohio and Florida, Obama won Virginia, Iowa, New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado -- all states won by Bush in 2004. McCain's loss in Pennsylvania eliminated his best hope of capturing a Democratic-leaning state.

    Obama was on the way to winning more than 300 Electoral College votes, far more than the 270 needed. With nearly two-thirds of US precincts reporting, he led McCain by 51% to 48% in the popular vote.

    The vote capped an epic two-year campaign marked by a rapid rise from obscurity for Obama and a bitter Democratic primary battle with New York Senator Hillary Clinton, as well as McCain's comeback from the political scrap heap to win the Republican nomination.

    Obama hammered his favourite theme throughout the campaign, accusing McCain of representing a third term for Bush's policies and being out of touch on the economy.

    McCain's campaign attacked Obama as a tax-raising liberal and accused him of being a "pal" with terrorists.

    But in a difficult political environment for Republicans, McCain struggled to separate himself from Bush. Exit polls showed three out of every four voters thought the United States was on the wrong track.

    In the fight for Congress, Democrats were making big gains as well, but it appeared they would fall short of picking up the nine Senate seats to reach a 60-seat majority that would give them the muscle to defeat Republican procedural hurdles.

    Democrats gained at least five Senate seats and knocked off two-high profile Republican incumbents -- North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole, a former presidential candidate and wife of 1996 Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole, and New Hampshire Senator John Sununu.

    Democrats also gained about 25 more House of Representatives seats to give them a commanding majority in that chamber.

  3. #43
    Israel has sparked widespread controversy with its construction of a synagogue in lieu of a mosque in Jerusalem (al-Quds).

    The 25-meter-high religious site is believed to have become the largest synagogue of its kind in Jerusalem.

    Israeli religious figures insist that no political objectives are behind the construction of the synagogue and that it is has been built solely for religious reasons.

    "It is the same as Muslims, if there is a mosque that was being destroyed they will rebuild it. Everyone wants a place to worship the same father," Rabbi Efraim Holseberg told Press TV correspondent Shireen Yassin.

    "We have the same father. There is nothing political here," he continued.

    The move has raised criticism with Muslims saying that Israel is striving to eradicate the Islamic identity of the ancient city.

    On October 12, Israel launched its monumental synagogue 'Ohel Yitzhak' (Tent of Isaac) only 50 meters away from al-Aqsa mosque amid a campaign to expel Palestinian residents from the city.

    The leader of the Islamic movement in the occupied territories, Sheikh Ra'ed Salah, said at a press conference that the Jewish organization 'Utarit Kohanim' stole the prayer site of the 'Tankeziya' school - one of al-Aqsa's buildings - and turned it into the synagogue.

    The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in a press release denounced the construction of the synagogue and termed it as a major offense against Islam's third-holiest mosque.

    Ihsanoglu said the act was a violation of international law and the Geneva Convention, which bans Israel from committing any aggression against holy shrines in the occupied lands.

    SBB/AA
    Source: Press TV

  4. #44
    NEW DELHI: Congress on Friday accused the BJP of "saffronizing" the Army by inducing some of its officials to engage in terrorist activity like
    bomb making to retaliate against the jihadi brand of violence.

    Pointing an accusing finger in the wake of the arrest of Lt-Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit and Major (retd) Ramesh Upadhyay for their role in the Malegaon blast, the party claimed the BJP and its ideological allies had "infiltrated" a neutral institution like the Army to pursue its divisive agenda.

    "The BJP must come clean on this issue shedding all camouflages and tell the country how many other institutions have been saffronized," Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said. He claimed that the BJP had in the past used the HRD ministry and an educational organization like the NCERT to work on the minds of people holding sensitive positions. "Such institutions being targeted by the BJP are the basis of our democracy," he said.

    Singhvi alleged that pro-BJP elements had set up an outfit called 'Sankalp Sanstha' ostensibly to train Civil Service aspirants but actually to "brain-wash" future government officials. "We are proud of our Army and ashamed of those who are trying to infiltrate them," Singhvi said.

    He, however, said that despite such attempts, the success of the saffronizing attempt was minimum because the institutions had withstood such manoeuvres. "Lt Col Purohit and Major Upadhyay represent a rare aberration," he said, pointing out that not many in the Army had been influenced by such a campaign.

  5. #45
    MUMBAI: Lieutenant-Colonel Purohit, the first serving officer of the Indian Army to be arrested in connection with a terror bomb attack, has
    confessed to being the mastermind of the Malegaon blast. The 37-year-old officer reportedly told police he had mapped the conspiracy and provided the explosive for the September 29 'revenge' attack which killed six people. ( Watch )

    It is learnt that Purohit, who was arrested on November 5, admitted to supplying the deadly RDX and weapons to members of the Abhinav Bharat, a radical Hindu outfit. Sources said the Mumbai's Anti-Terrorism Squad was planning to question another serving army officer in this connection whose name cropped up during Purohit's interrogation. However, the confessional statement given to the police is not admissible in court.

    Sources said Purohit was conclusively cornered after he was confronted with telephone records that showed his links with another accused, retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay. "I am the mastermind of the blast. I arranged for the RDX and weapons but I can't understand how the weapons reached Abhinav Bharat members," sources quoted Purohit as telling police. Abhinav Bharat is the Hindu extremist group which wanted to avenge the terror attacks by Islamist groups. Several members of the group had links with other saffron outfits.

    While no anti-terrorism squad (ATS) officer was willing to comment on the reported confession, ATS spokesperson Dinesh Agrawala said for the record, "It's not correct."

    He may now be cooling his heels in detention, but Purohit was an accomplished athlete during his college days. He was a national-level waterpolo player and had also won a state-level weightlifting competition.

  6. #46
    MUMBAI: Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, arrested for her alleged links to the Malegaon September 29 bomb blast, used to take instructions from a
    senior and was not the sole deciding member of the group that triggered the blast, said police sources on Friday.

    "Someone appears to have instructed Pragya at every stage, but she is not ready to disclose his name," a police source said. The senior's name emerged while the police
    were questioning the other accused in the case.

    Investigators suspect that this senior person also attended meetings with Pragya prior to the blast and was in constant touch with her. She was arrested on October 23 along with two other accused for conspiring to commit the Malegaon terror strike.

    Pragya had disclosed another arrested suspect Sameer Kulkarni's name, but the police suspect that someone bigger than Kulkarni is the senior in this case. The police had earlier told the court that they were probing the role of the accused in a "larger conspiracy". Sources said that Pragya was asked about her senior during her first narco-analysis test as well, but she did not give satisfactory answers.

    An LML Freedom motorbike, registered in Pragya's name, was used. According to the police, Pragya spoke to absconding accused Ramji over the phone about her worries that police would probe the bike's ownership. The conversation has been produced in the court as evidence. Ramji was in possession of the bike before the attack.

  7. #47
    Muslims in the northwest Xinjiang province feel confident that their dairy products are safe, thanks to their halal standards.

    CAIRO — While China is still suffering from a tainted milk scandal, Muslims in the northwest Xinjiang province are feel confident their dairy products are safe, thanks to their halal standards.

    "Halal food is traditional," Hui Li Huang, manager of Urumqi Arman halal food store, told the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday, November 7.

    "There are few additives to the food during the processing, so it's safer."

    China, the world's most populous country, has been hit by its worst tainted milk scandal in modern history.

    At least four babies died of kidney failure and 53,000 children fell sick after drinking milk contaminated by industrial chemical melamine, which was added to make the milk appear richer in protein.

    The scandal led to massive recalls of Chinese food products containing milk at home and abroad.

    But the Muslim-majority Xinjiang province was safe from the contaminated milk because of the halal food standards.

    "The dairy industry is regulated by both religious and government institutions," said Wei Sheng Wang, director of the government's Xinjiang trade commission.

    In Xinjiang, food products have to be certified by a local Islamic Council which includes imams trained to make sure the products adhere to halal standards.

    The council members and government inspectors regularly visit processing factories to ensure the food safety.

    "We don't have contamination at the moment," said Wei.

    The concept of halal -- meaning permissible in Arabic -- has traditionally been applied to food.

    Muslims should only eat meat from livestock slaughtered by a sharp knife from their necks, and the name of Allah, the Arabic word for God, must be mentioned.

    Now other goods and services can also be certified as halal, including cosmetics, clothing, pharmaceuticals and financial services.

    * Flourishing

    Most dairy products in Xinjiang are produced in the province to be used by the customers.

    "Other provinces lost control of the milk supply because they had to get their product from middlemen," said Dan Feng Zhang, general manager of the province's largest milk company, Gary Dairy.

    "Here in Xinjiang, the enterprises themselves own the dairy farms and follow strict standards, customs and habits of local Muslims."

    The halal food standards have increased confidence in the Xinjiang food products, earning it the name of "China's New Zealand", a reference to that nation's small area but large food export capacity.

    For example, Ihlas candy factory on the outskirts of Urumqi, have increased candies and snack pastries exports to Turkey and is planning to expand its markets to other Muslim countries.

    Halal meat companies also export its products to neighboring countries with sizable Muslim populations, such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

    Xinjiang also exports halal products to Mongolia, Japan and Malaysia.

    The northwest Xinjiang province has been autonomous since 1955 but continues to be the subject of crackdowns by Chinese authorities.

    Beijing views Xinjiang as an invaluable asset because of its crucial strategic location near Central Asia and its large oil and gas reserves.

  8. #48
    MUMBAI: The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has ruled out the possibility of any other army officer apart from Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant
    Purohit being involved in the Malegaon blast, even as it revealed it was investigating the role of three VHP leaders from Gujarat.

    The three are alleged to have links with arrested accused Sameer Kulkarni, a founder member of Abinav Bharat.

    ATS chief Hemant Karkare told STOI on Saturday they were not investigating any other officers and denied news reports that two more serving colonels and a retired Major were under scrutiny.

    "No one else except Purohit is involved in the blast case. We have not sought permission from the Army to question any other officer," Karkare said.

    The ATS chief said the investigation was heading in the right right direction but declined to elaborate saying it would hamper the investigation. Karkare said the ATS is trying to locate Purohit's laptop, which is believed to contain vital information about the conspiracy. The laptop, which Purohit bought while posted in Kashmir three years ago, went missing after he was brought to Mumbai.

    Purohit, 37, the first serving officer to be charged with terrorist activity, was arrested on November 5. He has admitted to supplying RDX, hatching a conspiracy and arranging weapons for his co-accused.

    Meanwhile, ATS sources said that Sameer Kulkarni, who used to print and distribute pamphlets to educate Hindu youth, had visited Gujarat several times. A Gujarat police officer added that Kulkarni visited Ahwa-Dangs, the border district of Gujarat for the past eight years to recruit members and he had set up an office there. He was also believed to be involved in the large-scale desecration of churches in the Dangs area in December 1998, the officer added.

    The ATS, which is investigating Abhinav Bharat's funding, will seek details of financing from major banks, using the account details of Purohit, Rakesh Dhawde and Ajay Rahirkar. Police suspect that the accounts were used to receive and send the money allegedly used for anti-national activity.

    With the arrest of Dhawde, Jagdish Mhatre and Rahirkar, ATS claims to have busted the "fund-raisers" linked to the Malegaon blast.

    "Purohit used to collect money for his activities and the financial transactions are through banks and hawala. We are probing the role of a few hawala agents but are yet to reach a conclusion," said an officer.

    Police suspect that some money was also routed through Bangladesh where Abhinav Bharat sympathisers are active. "The bank's transaction would give us a clear picture of others who raised funds for the arrested accused," the source said.

    A CBI team on Thursday and Friday questioned Purohit and his accomplices in connection with other blasts across the country.

  9. #49
    ISLAMABAD — A clandestine agreement between the new Pakistani leadership and the US allows American drones to strike targets inside the restive tribal belt where suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban militants are reportedly taking shelter. "Under this secret deal, Pakistan will keep complaining about US air strikes. It will also summon the US ambassador to the Foreign Office to register its protest, but no action on the ground would be taken," a senior official of President Asif Ali Zardari-led government told IslamOnline on the condition of anonymity.

    The deal reportedly clinched after Zardari's first official visit to Washington in September.

    "The secret accord provides new mechanics for coordinating predator attacks and a jointly-approved list of high-value targets," said the official.

    Thirteen people were killed and many injured in a US missile attack on a residential compound in North Waziristan on Friday, November 7.

    Local sources told IOL that most of the deceased were women and children.

    Some 15 attacks have been conducted by US drones in South and North Waziristan during the last two weeks, killing over 200 tribesmen, mostly children and women.

    However, US and Pakistani intelligence officials insist that some top Al Qaeda leaders, including its deputy chief of operations Khalid Habib, were among the dead.

    According to Pakistani officials, Habib was killed on October 16 in a predator strike on targets in South Waziristan.

    "Now, officially, Pakistan will oppose any violation of its airspace and issue statements protesting the drone attacks, but will not go beyond that," said the government official.

    Pakistan is the key supply route for US troops in Afghanistan.

    Security analysts believe that if Islamabad had been serious about its protest, it would have at least threatened to halt supplies to Americans forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

    Economic Price

    Sources link the secret deal to Pakistan's crashing economy and dire need of financial assistance.

    "The US administration has made it clear that the drone attacks are essential to get rid of Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders, who have been hiding in South and North Waziristan," said the senior government official.

    "And if Pakistan doesn't allow that then it (US) will not help arrange an International Mary Fund (IMF) loan."

    Pakistan is desperately seeking a sum of 5 billion dollars to avoid a default.

    Government officials say negotiations with the IMF have almost been completed, and a loan will soon be issued.

    Well-paced government sources say Pakistan agreed to the secret deal with Washington after the World Bank cancelled last month its 300-million-dollar loan, which had already been approved.

    "It was certainly not the IMF that pressurized the World Bank. It was America that forced the World Bank to do that," said the senior government official.

    But the government categorically denied any such secret deal with Washington.

    "This is totally baseless," Ashfaq Gondal, the federal secretary information, told IOL.

    "There is no secret accord with US. Only Pakistani forces are responsible for any action within its territory."

    He insists that had there been any such deal, the president and his premier could not have protested American strikes in the tribal area.

    "The president and the prime minister have continuously been condemning such attacks. They are against our sovereignty," said Gondal.

    Asked why Islamabad stops at mere publicized protest, Gondal said: "I can't tell you right away what action Pakistan can take against the strikes. But I totally deny any such secret deal."

    Source: IslamOnline

  10. #50
    MUMBAI: The ATS on Monday established a link between arrested Lt-Col Srikant Prasad Purohit and Thane theatre blast accused Dr Hemant Chalke.
    Lt-Col Purohit taken to Bangalore
    Probing for Truth: Lt-Col Purohit was taken to Bangalore on Friday in a private aircraft and subjected to a narco analysis test at Jayanagar general hospital.


    A homeopath by profession, Chalke was a sympathiser of Sanatan Sanstha and was arrested in June for doing the recce of Vashi’s Bhave theatre where a bomb was found on May 31 this year. ( Watch )

    According to ATS sources, they got the link while making inquiries about the Sanatan Sanstha, a revivalist group run by Hindu Janjagruti Samiti.

    Purohit is believed to have told cops that he knew Chalke and was in touch with him before the September 29 Malegaon blast.

    The ATS may seek Chalke’s custody to question him in the Malegaon blast case. He is currently in Arthur Road jail. Purohit is accused of masterminding the blast and procuring arms and ammunition to fund his terror activities.

    Purohit is also suspected to have imparted terror training to over youth in and around Maharashtra. Chalke and five others were arrested by the ATS for planting bombs in Thane’s Gadkari theatre, a vashi theatre and a cinema hall in Panvel.

    They were protesting against the release of a Marathi play and alleged that Hindu God and Goddesses were shown in poor light. Chalke was accused of doing a recce to check at Vashi theatre and had even gone to purchase timers for the bomb. His two other accomplices were also involved in a bomb blast in Ratnagiri in 2006.

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