Today's Top Islamic News (DAILY)

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US servicemen have been proven more suicidal than the public at large over the past six years, a major American newspaper reports.

Since 2003, the army has witnessed a 60 percent rise in suicide rates -- a figure which exceeded that of the general American population, The Washington Post said on Friday.

The alarming figure and last year's unprecedented 140 cases of suicide have prompted the army to consider taking on more mental health and substance abuse counselors.

Military chiefs, directing overseas operations, have started holding gatherings to look into the causes.

Multiple secondments, long hours on combat duty, blundering health monitors, irresponsible prescriptions and dated questionnaires on the soldiers' health problems have been singled out so far as the chief reasons behind the increase.

"We probably don't know how many mental health care providers we need after eight years of war and three and four deployments," Chiarelli said briefing the Pentagon on the calamity.

HN/HAR

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CAIRO – Some American experts are accusing the FBI of "cooking" an alleged plot to attack Jewish synagogues and military planes in New York by implanting an informant in a mosque to induce people into terror intrigues. "This whole operation was a foolish waste of time and money," Terence Kindlon, a New York-based lawyer, told the Sunday Times on May 24.

"It is almost as if the FBI cooked up the plot and found four idiots to install as defendants."

Police arrested four people last week on charges of plotting to attack two Jewish synagogues and a military base in New York.

The FBI had sent an informant, Shahed Hussain, to the Masjid al-Ikhlas mosque in Newburgh to lure people to talk about jihad.

As Hussain, a former New York state motel owner who became an FBI informant in 2002 to avoid deportation to Pakistan after fraud charges, used to trigger discussions about jihad.

He was accused by some worshippers of being a government agent.

"Anyone with any smarts knew to stay away from Hussain," notes Salahuddin Mustafa Muhammad, the imam of Masjid al-Ikhlas mosque.

Hussain later met James Cromitie, described by authorities as the ringleader of the plot, and together hatched up the attack plan.

He provided the group with bogus C4 explosive and a fake Stinger missile and launcher supplied by the FBI.

Many experts took issue with the FBI’s reliance on undercover informants – known as confidential witnesses (CWs) – who lure people into far-fetched plots that are then foiled by the agents monitoring them.

"One question that has to be answered is: did the informant go in and enlist people who were otherwise not considering trouble?" asked Kevin Luibrand, a lawyer who represented a Muslim businessman caught up in an FBI sting three years ago.

"Did the government induce someone to commit a crime?"

Dimwits

Many believe the suspects, three petty criminals and a mentally ill Haitian immigrant, none of whom had any connection with any known terrorist group, were an easy catch for the authorities.

"They were all unsophisticated dimwits," contends Kindlon, the New York-based lawyer.

Cromitie is a 44-year-old ex-convict and so are David Williams, 28, and Onta Williams, 32.

The fourth suspect is Laguerre Payen, 27, a Haitian former Catholic and paranoid schizophrenic.

Kindlon also questioned the high-profile arrest which involved heavily armed SWAT teams who were watching as the suspect planted the dud bombs outside the two synagogues before hauling them away in handcuffs.

"Did they really need all those men in ninja suits with M16 rifles to arrest four idiots?"

Flanked by more than 100 homeland security and counter-terrorist specialists, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg praised the police officers and federal agents who helped disrupt a plot "that would make the country gasp."

State Governor David Paterson described the alleged plot as "a heinous crime".

But Kindlon, a former marine sergeant, finds that laughable and fears that domestic US agencies focus on fantasists as opposed to real terrorists.

"Somewhere, someone in Al-Qaeda must be laughing."

Source: IslamOnline

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Police in Austria say one of the two Sikh gurus who was shot in a violent dispute between rival Sikh groups at a temple in Austria has died.

The guru, Sant Rama Anand, was attacked during a religious ceremony by six men armed with knives and a pistol.

The other preacher Sant Nirajnan Das, who was among 15 other people injured in the clash, was said to be stable.

Following the incident, rival Sikh groups clashed in the Indian state of Punjab.

Indian police said protesters in the city of Jalandhar set fire to vehicles and put up roadblocks.

Mapof Austria and Vienna

Witnesses said the protests appeared to be a reaction to the fight at a temple in Vienna, which reportedly began when fundamentalist Sikhs from a higher caste attacked the preachers, whom, they believed, were disrespected of the Sikh holy book.

The fight involved five men armed with knives and another with a pistol, the BBC's Bethany Bell reports.

Police spokesman Michael Takacs said the scene was "like a battlefield". Six people have been detained, and more arrests were possible.

Everybody was praying and then it started with knives and a pistol," said eyewitness Nermal Singh.

Several hundred worshippers were at the temple at the time of the attack.

The temple is situated in Vienna-Rudolfsheim, in the 15th district of the capital.

It is estimated that fewer than 3,000 Sikhs live in Austria.

The Rudolfsheim temple is run by devotees of Shri Guru Ravidas, who founded a Sikh sect called Dera Sach Khand in the 14th Century.

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N Korea 'conducts nuclear test'
breaking news

North Korea appears to have conducted a nuclear test, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reports.

The agency quoted an unnamed official from South Korea's ruling party.

The president of South Korea is reported to have convened an emergency security meeting.
BBC

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A Kuwaiti official has confirmed that eighteen U.S. soldiers have developed H1N1 flu, as the first cases of the disease in the Arab country.

"They are 18 U.S. soldiers that were confirmed with the virus upon their arrival from their country to the military base (in Kuwait)," Ibrahim al-Abdulhadi, undersecretary of the health ministry told Reuters on Sunday.

Kuwait's states news agency, KUNA, on Saturday had quoted an unnamed government official as saying that an unspecified number of U.S. soldiers have been detected with H1N1 flu.

Kuwait is the first country in the oil-rich Persian Gulf region in which cases of swine flu have been reported.

Kuwait is a logistics base for the U.S. troops in Iraq.
Source: Press TV

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One of Bollywood’s most popular singers, Abhijeet Bhattacharya, finds himself embroiled in a communal controversy for badmouthing the Muslim practice of namaaz and terming a reputed Indian advocate “a member of Taliban”.

The singer, who owns three flats at the Versova Breeze building in Andheri, Mumbai, has apparently been letting out his flats to a large group since more than two years, with about 40-50 people staying in them at a time and without obtaining the mandatory permission from the society or getting a police verification done.

When residents and society committee members raised objections about this and called Abhijeet for a meeting citing water shortage and security problems, he is learnt to have stormed in and vehemently abused the Secretary.

Thereafter, without any personal matter with advocate Mr Rizwan Siddiquee, another member of the society, Abhijeet abused him and termed him “a member of Taliban”.

He further went on to disrespect the advocate’s religious faith and made insulting comments about the pious Muslim practice of namaaz and other religious processes followed by the community. Around a dozen members were witness to the incident.

Being a reputed and respected advocate, Mr Siddiquee could not tolerate such indecent and unruly behaviour and has dragged the singer to court. “I am a proud Indian and equally proud of my religion. Abhijeet not only hurt my religious sentiments but has also shown his biased attitude and hatred towards the followers of Islam, ” the advocate lamented.

The case has been filed in Andheri Court and Siddiquee has pleaded the court to issue process against the singer for offences punishable under Section 290 (for creating public nuisance), Section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), Section 298 (uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person), Sections 352 and 355 (grave provocation with intent to dishonour person), Section 500 (defamation), Section 504 (criminal intimidation, insult intended to provoke breach of peace, which is punishable under Section 506) and Section 506 (whoever commits the offence of criminal intimidation shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or both).

“I also want Abhijeet to issue a public apology for abusing and attacking Islam and talking about namaaz in a derogatory and rowdy manner, ” said Siddiquee.

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The world condemns North Korea after the regime announced it had tested a nuclear device -- which is reported to have been as powerful as the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.

In defiance of international warnings, North Korea said Monday that it carried out the powerful underground nuclear test.

The regime "successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of measures to bolster its nuclear deterrent for self-defense," the country's official Korean Central News Agency said.

The announcement, coupled with reports of an apparent test-firing of three short-range missiles, sparked outrage around the globe.

The UN Security Council called an emergency meeting to discuss the issue.

"I sincerely hope that the Security Council will take necessary corresponding measures," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told The Associated Press.

Chinese Foreign Ministry said Beijing is resolutely opposed to the nuclear test, while Russia condemned the test and called on Pyongyang to return to talks aimed at curbing the country's nuclear arsenal.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran said his country opposed the test and called for renewed international efforts toward global denuclearization.

"We recommend all countries not to waste national resources and their people's wealth on moving toward nuclear proliferation and making weapons of mass destruction," said the Iranian president.

He also addressed western accusations that Tehran and Pyongyang were working together on a number of military projects in Iran, saying his country has had no missile or nuclear cooperation with North Korea.

Although the dimensions of the test were not immediately verifiable, Russia's Defense Ministry estimated the explosion's yield at between 10 and 20 kilotons -- as powerful as the bombs the United States used against Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.

In October 2006, North Korea became the world's eighth atomic power. Its first test was measured at 1 kiloton -- One kiloton is equal to the force produced by 1,000 tons of TNT.

US President Barack Obama strongly condemned the test and termed the action as "reckless".

"The United States and the international community must take action in response," he said. "North Korea's nuclear ballistic missile programs pose a grave threat to the peace and security of the world."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown condemned the test as "erroneous, misguided and a danger to the world."

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said the test "clearly violates UN Security Council resolutions", while adding that Tokyo had no tolerance for the continuation of such tests.

Although it is still unclear whether North Korea has mastered the ability to deliver a working nuclear weapon, the Monday test is a stark reminder of the world's need to move forward with a global ban on nuclear tests.

MD/MMN

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Germany has discontinued investigating a soldier who killed an Afghan woman and two children last year, citing murder by fright as just cause.

The unnamed staff sergeant from the 350th Military Police Battalion killed the civilians in a hail of bullets on August 28, 2008, when he opened fire at them from behind in the town of Kunduz, reported Spiegel Online last week.

He claimed that he was frightened of being attacked and therefore decided to act preemptively against the Afghans, although the car the family were traveling in had turned round and was moving away from the German checkpoint.

At the time, the Kunduz Chief of Police and Security, Abdul Rahman Aqdash, blasted the Germans for being trigger-happy.

Nevertheless, German authorities decided that the fact that the soldier was frightened justified his attack.

The soldier's attorney, Berlin lawyer Klaus Lübke welcomed the decision, as it was "an important signal to German troops in Afghanistan," who now have a de facto immunity to shoot first and ask questions later, in whatever circumstances that they see fit.

Since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan by the US and its allies, ostensibly to liberate the Afghans from the tyranny of the Taliban, thousands of Afghan civilians have been killed by the occupation forces.

Observers have blamed the resulting resentment for the resurgence of the Taliban whose ranks are thought to be reinforced by those seeking revenge after losing their relatives to their Western 'liberators'.

ZAP/SME/HAR
Since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan by the US and its allies, ostensibly to l

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BLANTYRE – Despite a huge participation, Muslims have performed poorly in Malawi’s fourth multiparty democratic general elections, a development analysts link to the negativity with which the Muslim faith is being seen in the Southern African country.

"A good number of Muslims have been unable to make it to the National Assembly during this year’s general elections," Rafique Hajat, a political analyst, told IslamOnline.net.

Millions of Malawians cast their ballots on May 19 in the country's fourth democratic multi-party elections to elect a new parliament and president.

Out of about 300 Muslim candidates who contested the general elections, only 20, including two women, have made it to the 193-seat National Assembly.

All, except two, win in constituencies in the southern region of the country where there is a larger Muslim population.

"As you can see 18 of the 20 Muslims who triumphed have come from areas where there are a majority of Muslims, a clear indication that they were voted en masse by fellow Muslims," notes Hajat.

The outgoing legislature had 30 Muslim legislators.

Since independence, the number of Muslims in the National Assembly has been very low.

Islam is the second largest faith in Malawi after Christianity.

According to state figures, Muslims constitute 12 percent of the population, though Muslim organizations put the figure at nearly 40 percent.

* Negativity

Hajat, who heads the civil society think tank Institute for Policy Interaction (IPI), blames the Muslims' poor performance on several factors.

"But the major one is that Islam in Malawi suffers from a certain degree of negativity. Christians look at Muslims with disdain," he argued.

"They always think twice before they vote for a Muslim for either a president or parliamentarian."

He contends that the global negative attitude that people have towards Muslims is also having an impact in his country.

"Despite the good education that most of the aspiring candidates had, they were not considered for the National Assembly," he said, adding that the voters opted for Christian candidates.

"This trend has always been there and it is likely to continue for many years to come. Christian electorates have not yet recognized Muslims as people with potential to be part of the country’s development agenda."

Dr. Yusuf Aufi, a graduate of the London School of Economics who lost the election a Christian candidate, said religion hugely influences election results in Malawi.

"While most Christians have also failed in the elections, but one is clear that most Christians have problems to vote for a Muslim as a member of parliament," he told IOL.

"We are becoming victims of the global negativity towards Muslims."

Although he won a parliament seat in a Christian-dominated area in the Central region of the country, Edwin Baghwanji agrees.

"The attitude that Christians have towards us is quite a bad one," he told IOL.

"We are struggling to sail through in leadership roles because they think so negative about us. Most of the Muslims who stood up in the elections have fallen by the wayside because Christians were not yet ready to accept them. It is an issue of religion and nothing else."

But Yusuf Kanyamula, the chairman of the umbrella Muslim Association of Malawi (MAM), believes that much as Muslims were suffering a certain degree of negativity, they are themselves blamed for inactive participation in various aspects of political life.

"Most Muslims in the country have not exposed themselves to the people. They only come out during elections," he told IOL.

"Their participation in the political spheres is quite low. Therefore, it is very difficult for people to accept them in a country where Christians dominate in a lot of things."
Source: IslamOnline

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ISLAMABAD: There are 66,000 pregnant women living at the relief camps in Pakistan and many of them are likely to give birth in the next three
months, the UN has said.

According to a UN report, 66,000 pregnant women live at the camps of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and most of these women are in the advance stage of pregnancy
, Geo TV said Monday.

Officials are concerned for the welfare of these women as lack of facilities and very few trained medics at the camps might cause serious health problems.

The North West Frontier Province (NWFP) has been the scene of a major military offensive against the Taliban insurgents.

Hundreds of people have been dislodged from their homes since the fighting started last month.

Women and children have been the worst victims, with many of them landing up at the government relief centres for help.

The welfare of the displaced people has been a major concern for the government and the international aid agencies.