Today's Top Islamic News (DAILY)

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SEOUL: North Korea reminded the US on Monday that it has nuclear weapons and warned it will strike back if attacked, as a US destroyer continued
to trail a North Korean cargo ship suspected of carrying illicit weapons.

The Kang Nam, previously involved in weapons shipments, is the first vessel monitored under new UN sanctions adopted after the North’s nuclear test last month. It could become a test case for interception of North Korean ships at sea — something Pyongyang has said it would consider an act of war.

The Kang Nam appeared headed to Myanmar via Singapore, the South Korean news network YTN reported on Sunday. On Monday, North Korea’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper called it “nonsense” to say the country is a threat to the US. The paper also warned it is prepared to strike back if attacked. “As long as our country has become a proud nuclear power, the US should take a correct look at whom it is dealing with,” its said in commentary.

“It would be a grave mistake for the US to think it can remain unhurt if it ignites the fuse of war on the Korean peninsula.” A senior US military official said a navy ship, the USS John S. McCain, was close to the North Korean vessel but had no orders to intercept it and had not requested that authority.
TOI

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BOGOTA: Leftist guerrillas attacked a vehicle carrying Colombian police on Monday, setting off a battle that killed seven officers and 25 rebels,
authorities said.

A local rebel commander known as "El Enano," or The Midget, appeared to be among the guerrillas killed in the fighting near the town of Buenos Aires in Cauca province, police said.

Government security forces continued battling members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, into Monday night around Buenos Aires, authorities said.

Thousands of people are killed, displaced or maimed by landmines every year in Colombia's conflict, which started with the birth of the FARC in the 1960s.

The cocaine-financed rebels say they are fighting for socialism in the Andean country. President Alvaro Uribe is popular for his US-backed crackdown on the guerrillas.
TOI

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Civilians 'bear the brunt of war'
A Georgian woman stands near a damaged apartment block in Gori, Georgia
Residential buildings were hit during the conflict in Georgia

Civilians bear the brunt of modern conflict, a report by the International Committee of the Red Cross suggests.

The report, called "Our world, views from the field" asked 4,000 civilians from eight countries to relate their personal experiences of war.

Of those, 44% said they had witnessed armed conflict first hand and one in three had seen a relative killed.

The countries were Afghanistan, Georgia, Haiti, Liberia, DR Congo, Colombia, Lebanon and the Philippines.

More than half - 56% - said they had been forced to leave their homes and almost half had lost contact with a loved one.

The research was commissioned to mark the 150th anniversary of an event that became the inspiration for the founding of the Red Cross movement.

Henri Dunant founded the organisation after witnessing the dead and dying soldiers at the battle of Solferino during the Italian wars of independence.

The fighting in 1859 caused 40,000 military casualties but only one civilian death.

Today, says Red Cross director of operations, Pierre Krähenbuhl, civilians are the chief sufferers in war.

The report also suggests that most civilians caught up in war turn first to relatives or friends for help, a sign, the ICRC says, that more needs to be done to support those carers.
BBC

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MELBOURNE:: Racial attacks on Indian students in Australia continued unabated with a 20-year-old youth from Hyderabad becoming the latest victim
of a spate of assaults on the community members when he was badly punched in the face.

M A Khan, pursuing a hospitality course from Victoria Institute of Technology, was walking near a railway station in eastern suburb of Melbourne on Monday evening when two Caucasian men, wearing hooded jackets, walked-up to him and punched him without any provocation.

Khan was punched so badly that he suffered cuts below his eyes and forehead and was admitted to a local hospital were he received multiple stitches on his face.

"Two guys came from the side in front of me and gave a very bad punch on my face and ran away. This incident happened around 5.30pm, the peak hour of traffic on the road," Khan, who had moved to Melbourne last year, said.

"They did not ask for any money or anything, they did not try to snatch anything from me. After 10 minutes, police came down there and an ambulance also," he added.

This was the 15th attack on Indian students in Australia in less than a month.
TOI

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CAIRO — Armed with knowledge and skills, a like-minded group of Filipino young Muslim intellectuals who retuned to their homeland Mindanao after pursuing education are joining hands to nurture peace and stability in the disputed Muslim-majority region.

“We could not remain apathetic to the plight of our communities," engineer Don Loong, a member of Young Moro Professional Network (YMPN), told the Philippine Star Monday, June 22.

Founded in 2000, the group joins some 200 highly-educated young Muslims who returned to their restive province of Mindanao after studying elsewhere in the country's best schools or overseas.

They are advocating peaceful means to improve the socio-economic situation of the Mindanao people.

The group envisioned a network of young Muslim professionals who promote volunteerism, using their own resources, talents, education and training.

With their laptops, MP3 players and cameras, they brave the exchange of gunfire to visit evacuation camps and help Muslims in unfortunate circumstances uplift themselves.

Some of them also rolled out news and in-depth stories over the conflict and its aftermath on the Internet.

"[We want to use our own skills] to uplift the plight of the marginalized Muslim communities" in the Philippines, YMPN Membership Convener Samira Gutoc, a 34-year-old former fellow at Oxford University, says.

Mindanao, the birthplace of Islam in the Philippines, is home to more than 5 million Muslims.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's biggest Muslim group, has been struggling for an independent state in the mineral-rich southern region for some three decades now.

More than 120,000 people have been killed since the conflict erupted in the late 1960s.

* Peace-builders

Many in the youth group say they were obliged to leave Mindanao in order to receive the education they were never to gain in their war-torn homeland.
"We had no choice, but to leave," said Aleem Siddiqui Guiapal, project director of the YMPN, who first studied in the Mindanao State University and later completed his Master's Degree in Manila.

But now after returning, the young Muslim elites are determined to play a central role to bring an end to a conflict that is older than many of them.

"These people form part of the Muslim middle classes and intelligentsia, who may be made -- if supported -- a potent force for peace-building," said YMPN Communications Specialist Sarah Matalam.

Peace talks between MILF and Manila were shelved last year after the Supreme Court ruled against a government agreement on an autonomous ancestral Muslim homeland in the south.

Under the deal, the Muslim-majority south would have been allowed its own law and police force and full authority to run its own banking and finance system, civil service, education, legislative and electoral institutions.

The situation worsened recently as the army has declared about 100 MILF fighters have been killed in the heavy fighting in central Mindanao since June 4.

Some YMPN members have been engaged in talk with both government officials and separatist leaders in a bid to put an end to the conflict.

The YMPN has also been recognized for its contributions by local groups, separatist leaders, as well as senior government officials and statesmen in Manila.

Mohagher Iqbal, chairman of the MILF Peace Panel, believes that the young Muslims group is playing "a definitive role" in the peace process.

"This war may go on past our lifetime,” Iqbal says.

“May the next generation of Muslims see the end of this war and come to know another side of their homeland, a side that is marked by peace."
Source: IslamOnline.net

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PESHAWAR: A gunman shot dead on Tuesday a Pakistani militant commander who was a rival to Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, police said.


The militant commander, known as Qari Zainuddin, had recently given statements to the media opposing Mehsud. He was killed in the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan, police said.

"I confirm that Qari Zainuddin has been shot dead," Salahuddin, superintendent of police in the city, said.

It was not clear who was behind the killing, he said. Militants are split into several factions in northwest Pakistan, some of which are rivals.

The government has ordered the military to go on the offensive against Mehsud, who has been accused of a string of bomb attacks, including the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007.

The military has launched air strikes on Mehsud's bases in the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border and soldiers have been securing the main road into the mountainous region populated by ethnic Pashtun tribes.

The United States has offered a reward of $5 million on information leading to Mehsud's location or arrest.

Suspicion is likely to focus on Mehsud for Zainuddin's murder.

Zainuddin's strong statements against Mehsud in recent days had led to speculation authorities were encouraging him to stand up to his rival, Mehsud.
TOI

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MOGADISHU — Amid growing calls for foreign military intervention, Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmad declared a state of emergency on Monday, June 22, in a bid to save his six-month government. "As of today, the country is under a state of emergency," Sharif said at press conference in the capital, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Sharif said his government had decided to announce the emergency "after witnessing the intensifying violence across the country."

The state of emergency decree still has to be approved by parliament to be officially effective.

It was not immediately clear where and when the national assembly would convene.

Somalia has sunk into deadly violence between government troops and hardline militants from Al-Shaabab group its Hizbul Islam allied militia seeking to unseat the government.

At least 300 people have been killed and more than 125,000 displaced in the six-week fighting, according to UN figures and casualty tolls compiled by AFP.

Sheikh Sharif was elected by Somalia parliament as president of the Horn of Africa country late January.

But Al-Shaabab rejected Sharif's election, vowing war to unseat his regime.

Intervention Calls

The announcement comes amid growing calls for foreign military intervention against the hardline rebels.

"There is also need to provide military assistance to deal with the situation in Somalia," Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said after a meeting in Nairobi Monday with his Somali counterpart Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke.

He, however, stopped short of committing his own troops.

Kenya said on Friday it would not sit by and allow the situation in its neighbor to deteriorate further because it would destabilize the region.

The African Union on Monday also gave its blessing to Somalia's appeal for foreign backing.

AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping said the Somali government "has the right to seek support from AU members states and the larger international community."

Parliament speaker Sheikh Aden Mohamed Madobe had earlier called on neighboring countries, including Ethiopia, to step in militarily to rescue the Somali government.

But Addis Ababa said that it would only send troops into Somalia under a mandate from the international community.

Ethiopia sent troops into Somalia in 2006 to topple the ruling Islamic Courts Union and install the West-backed interim government.

But under the ferocity of resistance attacks, Ethiopia withdrew troops from the Horn of Africa country in January.

Secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, on Sunday called for urgent international action against Somali rebels.

"It has become inevitable that the international community should intervene immediately to support the transitional government, re-establish order and lighten the suffering of innocent civilians."

Source: IslamOnline

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's army offensive in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan heated up Monday, with militants attacking three security force bases
and military jets responding with airstrikes that killed at least 21 people, intelligence officials said.

The overnight and early morning clashes follow artillery attacks Sunday on suspected militant hideouts in two towns in the northwest that killed 27 fighters, officials said. Elsewhere in the volatile region, a citizens' militia killed seven suspected militants.

The government announced last week that the military would go after Pakistan's Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud, in the South Waziristan tribal area. His stronghold is a chunk of the remote and rugged mountainous region where heavily armed tribesmen hold sway and al-Qaida and Taliban leaders are believed to be hiding.

Washington supports anti-militant operations, seeing them as a measure of nuclear-armed Pakistan's resolve in taking on a growing insurgency. The battle in the tribal region could also help the war in Afghanistan because the area has been used by militants to launch cross-border attacks on US and other troops.

Militants used mortars, rockets, gunfire and even an anti-aircraft gun to attack three military bases overnight in South and North Waziristan, five intelligence officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk with media. Their reports could not be confirmed because of a lack of media access to the conflict zones, and official military spokesmen could not be reached for comment.

No government casualties were reported, but the intelligence officials said security forces responded with artillery and airstrikes on at least six villages against militant targets, including a suspected training camp where eight people were killed.

While most of the dead appeared to be militants, three women and three children died when the house of a local tribal leader was hit in the Razmak area, one official said.

The military is trying to avoid civilian casualties, worried about a public backlash at a time when support for a crackdown on extremism has been gathering strength in anger over suicide bombings and other attacks.

Qari Hussain, a close aide of Mehsud, telephoned The Associated Press on Monday to say the military strikes had not weakened the Taliban in South Waziristan, and claim they hit civilians and destroyed their homes.

"With the grace of God we all are safe and no damage has been caused to Taliban ranks, but innocent women, children and men are being killed in the aerial bombing and shelling by the army," Hussain said.

There was no way to verify the claims because there is no media access to the region.

President Asif Alil Zardari claimed Sunday that the entire country backs the battle against the extremists, citing the support as key to the military's success so far.

"The operations before this were not successful because they did not have public support," Zardari said in a speech.

Local citizens militias, known as lashkars, have been emerging that have attacked and reportedly killed dozens of Taliban.

A majority of Pakistanis oppose extremism, but the Taliban have gained influence in several areas, including Dir and Swat Valley, in recent years. The militants also have some support in the tribal regions.

Public support for the army offensive also could erode if the government is perceived to have failed more than 2 million people displaced by the fighting. The first refugees are expected to start going home at the end of the week.
TOI

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CAIRO — Taliban fighters in war-torn Afghanistan have managed to escape US and NATO attacks and carry out painful assaults against foreign forces, thanks to an American state-of-the-art military technology that reached their hands. "Based on our conversations with the Department of Defense, terrorists have used US uniforms and the infrared patches to get close to US and allied forces on the battlefield and at bases," Jonathan Meyer, of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), told The Washington Times Monday, June 22.

"This is more of a potential suicide-bomber risk."

A recently concluded GAO report found that Taliban fighters avert attacks by wearing special infrared patches designed to protect foreign forces from being targeted by friendly fire during battles.

The report said by using the US patches, Taliban can prate among US and NATO military, while signaled as friends rather than foes, to make severe attacks.

"An enemy fighter wearing these infrared flags could potentially pass as a friendly service member during a night combat situation, putting US troops at risk," the report said.

GAO affirmed that Taliban seized a huge amount of the patches mainly over the inte, where it can be easily purchased online for about $10 each.

During its investigation, GAO bought patches using fake names and a front company with only a valid credit card. It also purchased the patches from a New York-based military-supply dealer.

“These items are completely legal to buy and sell within the United States."

Some of the patches were also stolen during raids on US convoys in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Meyer, who led the GAO investigation, said.

Former ruler Taliban is engaged in protracted guerrilla warfare against foreign forces and the Kabul government since the 2001 US invasion.

Many recent reports have affirmed that the movement is growing more technologically capable with high-tech tools and powerful online and media machine.

The year 2008 has proved the worst for US-led troops and Afghan forces since the invasion with 290 foreign soldiers and 1,000 Afghan troops have been killed.

Just on Sunday, two US soldiers were killed and six more wounded in a daring Taliban attack on the main US base in Afghanistan, Bagram, taking the death toll of US forces to more than 712 and of the foreign forces to over 1,194 since 2001.

Overstated

US lawmakers were worried by the GAO report, saying that the US should take necessary time to avoid such equipment do not reach its adversaries.

"If there is an item that has only a military use, like the patches, the fact that they are non-lethal doesn't mean we should not treat them as munitions," Brad Sherman, California Democrat congressman who chairs the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee that deals with export controls, told The Times.

"The term 'munitions' perhaps should apply to anything that does not have a legitimate civilian use."

But Senator Bart Stupak, chair of the House Energy and Commerce oversight and investigations subcommittee, believes the measure would not make a lot of change.

"It is rather simple technology," Stupak said.

"We not only sell this to domestic people here, and they sell them to anybody, but you can get them from China, and the Chinese will sell them to others."

Experts, however, believe the fear from the risk patches bring to troops in Afghanistan is very much overstated.

"Since the beginning of warfare, people have been dressing up as the enemy to infiltrate," Jack Keane, a retired four-star general, said.

"We certainly have done this in the past to our enemies, and our enemies have done this to us."

Keane, who played a key role in developing the counterinsurgency strategy for Iraq, said the patches are not everything in the battle.

"There are other safeguards in addition to these patches," Keane noted. "A visual identification and other identification are in the soldier's possession. There are multiple things that are being checked."

Nevertheless, the expert backed the call for measures to make it difficult for military equipment to reach US enemies.

"It would seem to me that something we are using to help identify ourselves should not be available to the general public."

Source: IslamOnline

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Rwanda official jailed for genocide
Hutus butchered 800,000 minority Tutsis during the 100-day massacre in 1994 [EPA]

A United Nations court has sentenced a former Rwandan interior minister to a 30-year jail sentence for tricking thousands of people to hide on a hill before they were killed during the country's 1994 genocide.

The Tanzania-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) said Callixte Kalimanzira, a close ally to the president and prime minister during the killing spree, was guilty of genocide and complicity to commit genocide.

In its 2005 indictment, the ICTR accused Kalimanzira, of encouraging thousands of Tutsi civilians to take refuge at Kabuye Hill in Ndora commune with promises of food and protection, only for Hutus then to kill them in his presence.

Kalimanzira, 54, who was also accused of seeking military and police reinforcements for the massacre, was arrested in 2005 and had entered a not guilty plea.

Recriminations

Hutus butchered 800,000 minority Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus during 100 days of slaughter in Rwanda fifteen years ago.

Kalimanzira's sentencing raises the number of ICTR's judgements delivered to 38, six of which were acquittals.

The court had until the end of last year to complete all trials, and until 2010 to hear all appeals before winding up.

However, cases have spilt over and the ICTR says it is working hard to finish hearing evidence in all trials by the end of 2009.

There are still recriminations over the international community's inability to prevent or stop the genocide, and over who exactly was to blame.
Source: Agencies
Al Jazeera