Today's Top Islamic News (DAILY)

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'Not guilty' plea entered for airliner bomb suspect
Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:09:23 GMT

This courtroom drawing shows Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, right, charged with attempting to blow up a Detroit-bound US airliner, at his hearing in Detroit federal court on Friday January 8.
A 'not guilty' plea has been entered for the 23-year-old Nigerian, who is accused of trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane on Christmas Day.

In his first court appearance on Friday, amid tight security, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab did not actually enter a plea and the judge entered the plea of 'not guilty' on his behalf — a common practice in federal criminal cases.

US Magistrate Judge Mark Randon in Detroit entered 'not guilty' plea for all six charges, including the attempted murder of 290 people aboard and trying to use a weapon of mass destruction.

Abdulmutallab said little during the hearing. In a hearing that took less than five minutes, the young Nigerian, indicted on January 6, said that he clearly understood the charges against him.

Prosecutors said, after Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to trigger an explosion on Flight 253 from Amsterdam, passengers and crew restrained him until the aircraft landed.

If convicted, the Nigerian would face life imprisonment.

FTP/MMN

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US consulate building in Herat targeted
Sat, 09 Jan 2010 02:27:03 GMT

Unknown attackers have fired three rocket-propelled grenades at the US consulate building in the western Afghan city of Herat.

"The building was targeted by RPG7, but did not cause any casualty," as there was no one in the building on Friday, said Ikramuddin Yawar, a senior police official.

One rocket hit the building, shattering windows, while two other rockets landed nearby.

A US embassy official in Kabul confirmed the attack and said that there were no American diplomats at the consulate at the time of the attack.

The US consulate building was formerly a five-star hotel, which was leased by the American government in 2009. The US has yet to station its diplomats there but plans to open the consulate this year.

FTP/MMN

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Two foreign troopers fall in Afghanistan
Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:52:07 GMT

Danish soldiers in Afghanistan
Two foreign troopers with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have died in Afghanistan in two separate incidents.

In one incident, an explosive device kills a Danish soldier and injures two others in Afghanistan's restive Helmand province, Denmark's military said.

The incident took place on Friday when their vehicle hit the device. Three other Danish soldiers also received minor injuries. All the injured have been transferred at a field hospital and are undergoing treatment, the military statement said.

Helmand province is a Taliban stronghold in the south of the country, where 42 percent of the world's total opium is produced.

The killing raises the Danish military's death toll to 29 since international forces were deployed in Afghanistan in late 2001.

This Scandinavian country of 5.5 million people has suffered more deaths than any other country proportionally to the number of troops it has in ISAF.

More than 700 Danish troops are taking part in NATO's ISAF in Afghanistan.

In another incident, a young Spanish soldier died of his injuries sustained during an accident at a vehicle maintenance site at the Spanish military base in Herat Province.

An investigation has been launched to clarify the circumstances of the accident, which caused the death of 24-year-old Christian Quishpe Aguirre, who is of Ecuadorian descent.

Reports say he was run over by a vehicle and died later on Friday.

His death comes two days after a poll published in the Spanish daily El Mundo showed that Spaniards are largely opposed to the government's decision to send a further 500 troops to Afghanistan.

Over 47 percent considered the decision "bad" or "very bad", 26 percent judged it "normal" and only 22 percent felt the decision was "good" or "very good."

Spain's 1,068 troops currently in Afghanistan are located in the west of the country.

FTP/MMN

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Device explodes outside Greek parliament
Sun, 10 Jan 2010 03:26:50 GMT

Police investigators search for evidence in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside the Greek parliament in Athens.
An explosive device has gone off outside the Greek parliament in Athens.

Prime Minister George Papandreou condemned the attack, saying “Democracy can not be terrorized," on Saturday evening, shortly after the unprecedented terrorist bomb attack occurred.

No one was injured in the blast and no damage was immediately reported, police said.

Police evacuated the area around the site where passers-by normally stroll close to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier guarded by the presidential Evzones guards.

This was the first time a guerrilla group targeted the Greek parliament, located in one of the best guarded areas of the Greek capital.

As the Greek premier issued the laconic statement from his office inside the parliament, Protection of Citizens Minister Michalis Chrisohoidis rushed to the scene. The minister observed that apparently the terrorists did not intend to cause casualties this time, but only wanted to cause panic and terror.

Greece has been rocked by a string of attacks against economic interests and offices of politicians since a youth was killed by a police officer in December 2008.

SG/HGL

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"Beat for Peace" in Sudan campaign kicks off
Sun, 10 Jan 2010 03:21:48 GMT

Protesters call for UK government intervention to prevent war in Sudan near 10 Downing Street in London, Saturday, Jan. 9.
"Beat for Peace" events are being held in 15 countries around the world on the fifth anniversary of the faltering peace deal in Sudan.

A fragile North-South Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended a devastating 22-year war between the majority Muslim North and the mainly Christian and animist South, entered its sixth year on Saturday.

Activists, beating their drums, made their presence known as they gathered opposite London's Downing Street on Saturday — joined by demonstrators in 15 countries, including Norway — and called on governments to take action to prevent a deterioration of the situation in Sudan.

Even the United Nations expressed concern Saturday over the flare-up of violence in southern Sudan that has taken at least 150 lives over the past two weeks and displaced thousands.

Ashraf Qazi, the head of the UN mission in Sudan, urged the South's regional government "to investigate these incidents and to redouble their efforts to help de-escalate the rising wave of violence in southern Sudan."

The events were organized by a coalition of groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Save Darfur Coalition, and Refugees International. The one-year campaign will urge world powers to prevent more bloodshed in the oil-producing state.

As well as the demonstrations, a film of the global "Beat for Peace" — featuring drummers from five continents — was released to coincide with the launch of the campaign.

FTP/HGL

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US making moves to back Iran's Green Movement
Sun, 10 Jan 2010 02:57:09 GMT

The US administration is progressively moving to find ways to support Iran's opposition Green Movement, senior US officials have made it known.

The White House is crafting new financial sanctions specifically designed to punish the Iranian entities and individuals most directly involved in putting down the riots, rather than just those involved in Iran's nuclear program, IRNA cited a report published by The Wall Street Journal as saying on Saturday.

The report added that US Treasury Department strategists previously focused on the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and have made up a list of IRGC-related companies that are to be targeted.

The companies on the list include Iran's largest telecommunications provider, the Telecommunication Company of Iran, which is majority-owned by the IRGC, and the Iranian Aluminum Co.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has blamed the latest unrest in Iran on the United States and Israel.

"This is a play staged by the US and the Zionists, which just makes us sick. Both those who staged and those who acted in this play are making a mistake, as the Iranian nation has seen many such plays and will not be affected," Ahmadinejad said in late December.

He also accused the US and Britain of supporting the protesters and said the two countries would regret it.

Anti-government protesters staged rallies in Tehran on December 27, taking advantage of the Ashura ceremonies, which commemorate the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (PBUH). Police used tear gas to disperse the protesters, who vandalized public property and set trash cans aflame, provoking clashes with security forces.

Seven people died during the unrest. The deputy police chief, Ahmad-Reza Radan, said after the incidents that the police force had not used violence against protesters and rejected accusations that they were responsible for the deaths.

In response to the Ashura riots, millions of Iranians took to the streets on December 30, 2009, demanding that the rioters be brought to justice.

Iranian officials have said that the nation knows that the anti-government riots were incited by foreigners.

MP/HGL

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'US responsible for insecurity, extremism in Mideast'
Sun, 10 Jan 2010 03:12:21 GMT

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says US policies are responsible for the alarming surge of extremism, insecurity, and drug production and trafficking in the Middle East.

"The defective US policies of former US President George W. Bush are the basis of insecurity in the Mideast. The US forces marched into Afghanistan about eight years ago by means of grandiose schemes to establish security, eradicate radicalism and terrorism, and also combat drug production and smuggling," Mottaki told visiting Bahraini Parliament Speaker Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Dhahrani in Tehran on Saturday.

He added, "Due to wrong policies, nonetheless, insecurity has mushroomed throughout the conflict-stricken country and production of illicit drugs has jumped from several hundred tons to nine thousand tons."

Mottaki said that an increase in cooperation between the Iranian and Bahraini parliaments would guarantee that regional crises would be resolved.

Al-Dhahrani underlined the necessity of additional exchanges of meetings and consultations between the two countries, saying that Manama and Tehran have similar stances on regional issues such as developments in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the rest of the Middle East.

MP/HGL

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US denies plane entered Venezuela airspace
Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:57:51 GMT

The US on Saturday denied a claim by Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, that a US military plane entered Venezuelan airspace.

Chavez claimed that the plane was met by the Venezuelan military's F-16s and was escorted out of the country's airspace.

The president said that the P-3 plane had taken off from the Dutch Caribbean of Curacao and entered Venezuelan airspace twice on Friday.

Reacting to the remarks, Air Force Tech Sgt. Shanda De Anda said Saturday that, "No US aircraft entered Venezuelan airspace."

She said ''without prior consent and coordination" the US does not fly over any country.

President Chavez believes the alleged action is a provocation by the US.

MSD/MD

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'Profiling' of Muslims in US slammed
Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:08:29 GMT

Nihad Awad, the national executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations
The increasing number of crimes caused by anti-Islam hatred has become alarming in the US, the Council on American Islamic Relations warned.

In a letter to US President Barack Obama, CAIR's national executive director, Nihad Awad, complained about the situation.

Washington-based CAIR officials claim that new airport security guidelines, under which anyone traveling from or through 14 Muslim-majority nations will be required to go through enhanced screening techniques before boarding flights, will disproportionately target American Muslims who have family or spiritual ties to the Islamic world and are therefore subject to religious and ethnic profiling.

In a statement, the CAIR leadership claimed that the Transport Security Administration's security directives would result in the profiling of Muslims.

"Under these new guidelines, almost every American Muslim who travels to see family or friends or goes on pilgrimage to Mecca will automatically be singled out for special security checks--that's profiling," said Awad.

While singling out travelers based on religion and national origin may make some people feel safer, it only serves to alienate and stigmatize Muslims and does nothing to improve airline security, he said.

"We all support effective security measures that will protect the traveling public from an attack such as that attempted on Christmas Day," added Awad. "But knee-jerk policies will not address this serious challenge to public safety."

Cuba, Sudan, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen are on the list of countries subject to the enhanced screening for travelers heading to the United States.

HSH/HGH/MD

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US distances itself from 'drill anywhere' policy
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:13:27 GMT

The US is moving away from the "drill anywhere, whatever the cost" energy policy of the previous administration, US officials say.

"We don't believe we have to be drilling everywhere and anywhere," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told a news conference where he and other officials announced changes to the way the US government manages onshore oil and gas exploration leases, AFP reported on Wednesday.

"We believe we have to have a balanced, thoughtful approach that allows for the development of oil and gas resources but at the same time protects the treasured landscapes of America," Salazar said.

The new policy also marks a break from the way the previous administration of president George W. Bush did oil and gas business, said Salazar.

The Bush administration put up some "highly controversial areas" in the western United States for drilling, including municipal watersheds, wildlife habitats or lands close to national parks.

Under the proposed reforms to the onshore oil and gas leasing program, more environmental analyses will be conducted before leases are auctioned and the public will be engaged "earlier and more frequently in the process," said Salazar.

SG/SS/RE