Today's Top Islamic News (DAILY)

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JEDDAH/MOGADISHU — As violence rages in the Horn of Africa nation, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) called Sunday, June 21, for an urgent international action against rebels in Somalia.

"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," OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said in a statement cited by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Ihsanoglu called on OIC member-states to help the Somali government, assuring it of the organization's "unshakeable support."

He also condemned the rebels' attacks as "terrorist acts contrary to Islam's principles of peace and reconciliation."

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 Somalia government.

The six-week fighting killed around 300 people and displaced more than 125,000, according to UN figures and casualty tolls compiled by AFP.

The Somali government late Saturday declared a state of emergency, amid calls for foreign intervention against the Islamists.

"Today the Somali cabinet has unanimously declared that the country is in a state of emergency," a cabinet statement said.

Parliament speaker Sheikh Aden Mohamed Madobe also called on neighboring countries to step in militarily to rescue the Somali government.

"The government is weakened by the rebel forces. We ask neighboring countries -- including Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Yemen -- to send troops to Somalia within 24 hours."

"We've been forced to make this request because of the escalating violence. Those fighting the government are being led by a (former) Pakistani army general, they are burning the flag and killing people."

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.

* Rebels warning

But Al-Shaabab group vowed a deadly fighting against any country sending troops into Somalia.

"We tell our enemy that we do not fear any invasion from outside," Shabaab's Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage told a press conference.

"We forced Ethiopia to withdraw from Somalia early this year and we shall do the same again.

"We, the Somali young mujahideen, shall fight against any troops deployed here to help the government until our last holy fighter passes away. This is a clear signal that the so called government established by the enemy had totally failed."

Shaabab has emerged during its fighting against the western-backed interim government and its Ethiopian allies who invaded Somalia late in 2006 to topple the Islamic Courts.

But the group has rejected the election of Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed as Somalia's president, launching deadly attacks against his government.

Ethiopia said on Saturday it would only send troops into Somalia under a mandate from the international community.

"Any further action from Ethiopia regarding Somalia will be done according to international community decision," Communications Minister Bereket Simon told AFP.

He stressed Addis Ababa's support to the Somali government.

"We have supported them in the past and we will continue. An unstable Somalia is a danger for everyone," he said.

"We are following the situation very closely and wait for any answer from the international community.
Source: IslamOnline

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Following Britain's interference in Iran's recent post-election unrest, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani has called for a revision in Tehran-London ties.

Addressing Iranian lawmakers on Monday, Larijani called on the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission to carefully review the issue of Tehran-London relations.

In recent days, the US and a slew of European powers namely Britain and France have lashed out at the Iranian government for its attempts to restore security in the country.

Following the victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran's 10th presidential elections, the country has become the scene of rallies with defeated presidential hopefuls Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi rejecting the result as fraudulent and demanding a re-run.

Members of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission also urged the Foreign Ministry to review Iran's ties with Britain.

"While the Islamic Republic of Iran favors amicable relations with all countries, it will not allow other states to meddle in its internal affairs," Commission spokesman Kazem Jalali said Monday.

He added that the Islamic Revolution is based on independent principles.

In a Sunday address to foreign reporters, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki spoke out against Western efforts that seek to dramatize the post-election violence in the country.

He focused much of his criticism on France, Germany and Britain, advising them to "think twice before questioning the democratic process of the recent election."

Mottaki criticized the British foreign secretary for his inappropriate and illogical comments on Iran's elections. He blamed Britain for causing insecurity in the Middle East by helping create the Zionist regime decades ago.

However, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband rejected the claims made by his Iranian counterpart, saying, "Foreign Minister Mottaki's attempt in remarks to diplomats in Tehran this morning to turn the dispute among Iranians about the election results into a battle between Iran and other countries -- the UK in particular -- is without foundation."

"I reject categorically the idea that the protestors in Iran are manipulated or motivated by foreign countries," Miliband said on Sunday.

"The UK is categorical that it is for the Iranian people to choose their government, and for the Iranian authorities to ensure the fairness of the result and the protection of their own people," he added.
Source: Press TV

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In the first appearance of a French president in parliament in 136 year, Nicholas Sarkozy says women wearing 'burqa' have no place in France.

Sarkozy on Monday addressed parliament on various issues including the controversial subject of 'burqa', which has sparked many campaigns and protests across France.

The French president voiced support for the parliament's 'burqa' proposal, saying they were "a sign of the subjugation of women".

"The issue of the burqa is not a religious issue, it is a question of freedom and of women's dignity," he said in his speech.

Last week around 60 cross-party lawmakers backed a proposal to look into the growing 'burqa' trend in France.

More than 900 legislators from both houses of parliament - the National Assembly and the Senate - attended Sarkozy's speech at the Versailles Palace.

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CAIRO: One of Iran’s most powerful men may be playing a key role behind closed doors in the country’s escalating postelection crisis.

Former President and influential religious figure Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has made no public comment since Iran erupted into confrontation between supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and reformists who claim he stole re-election through fraud.

Iranian TV said yesterday that authorities have arrested Rafsanjani’s eldest daughter, the clearest sign to date that the seasoned politician may be at odds with the rest of the ruling establishment.

The television said Faezeh Hashemi and four other family members it did not identify were arrested late Saturday for taking part in unauthorized protest rallies. It gave no other details, but Rafsanjani’s daughter, a former lawmaker, was shown on state TV last week speaking to hundreds of opposition supporters.

And Rafsanjani, who has made no secret of his distaste for Ahmadinejad, was conspicuously absent from an address by the country’s supreme leader calling for national unity and siding with the president.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised Rafsanjani, 75, on Friday as one of the revolution’s architects and an effective political figure for many years, but he acknowledged that the two have “many differences of opinion.” “Of course, the president’s ideas are closer to mine,” Khamenei said, warning opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and his supporters to halt protests or face the consequences.

While his true views, and even his whereabouts, remain unclear, any support for the opposition would place Rafsanjani in direct conflict with many of the most powerful figures in Iran’s highest echelons of power.

The regime’s militant wing, with Ahmadinejad its most visible face, takes a hard-line position on relations with Washington and is determined to push forward with the nuclear program regardless of the consequences, experts say.

A camp of pragmatic politicians led by Rafsanjani, while loyal to the revolution’s principles, wants to build better ties with the West and a more friendly image of Iran.

“What is clear is that the leadership is far more polarized and splintered than has been clear in the past,” said Anthony Cordesman, a former Pentagon analyst with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Friday’s comments showed the country’s ultimate authority is firmly behind Ahmadinejad, who has publicly accused Rafsanjani and members of his family of corruption. Experts said that could mean Rafsanjani’s power is waning.

“Now that the leader has made clear he was supportive of Ahmadinejad and sharing the same vision of the future of the Islamic Republic, it can be taken as a major defeat for Rafsanjani and for the political options he promotes,” said Frederic Tellier, an Iran expert in the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank.

Rafsanjani was president between 1989 and 1997, but failed to win a third term when in 2005, losing to Ahmadinejad in a runoff. He was a close follower of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, father of Iran’s revolution. He now heads the Expediency Council, a body that arbitrates disputes between Parliament and the unelected Guardian Council, which can block legislation.

He also is the head of the powerful Assembly of Experts, which comprises senior scholars who can elect and dismiss the country’s supreme leader.

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Source: Arab News

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Around 1,500 people will be homeless if the demolition programme proceeds in Silwan [EPA]

The Palestinian village of Silwan clings to a steep hillside facing the southern walls of Jerusalem's Old City.

In the valley below, Al Bustan neighbourhood stretches out in the shadow of Haram al-Sharif, also known as the Temple Mount. It is a setting rich in meaning for Muslims, Jews and Christians.

But the Israeli authorities in Jerusalem have plans for the network of narrow alleyways and walled compounds that make up Al Bustan.

They say the area has been ear-marked for parks and open spaces – and most of the homes here were built without permits.

Which is bad news for Khaled Mohammad Rouwady, his children and grandchildren who live crammed together in a few small rooms.

"They give building permits to the Jews... but the Arabs living here... they are finished"

Khaled Mohammad Rouwady, Silwan resident

Their house is among 88 buildings which have received demolition orders from the Israeli-controlled Jerusalem municipality.

The family has to pay heavy fines every month for living in what the authorities describe as an "illegal structure".

"They give building permits to the Jews," Rouwady complains.

"They give them everything they need. But the Arabs living here in Jerusalem – they are finished, destroyed. They pay municipal taxes, they pay fines, but they have no rights."

If the municipality proceeds with its demolition plans, 1,500 people will become homeless. At one stage, local officials proposed moving the whole community to land in the Beit Hanina area on the outskirts of Jerusalem, far away from the holy sites.

The people of Al Bustan said no. Instead, they submitted an alternate zoning plan for their neighbourhood, which was rejected by the district planning commission of the interior ministry.

'Holy basin' project

Another person who risks losing his home is the local imam, Sheikh Mousa Mahmoud Odeh.

He believes there is a systematic plan to remove Palestinians from areas close to the Old City and redevelop the area for Jewish residents and the tourism industry. And he accuses the municipality of working hand-in-hand with right-wing Jewish settler groups.

"I see a black future," said Sheikh Mousa. "The Jews are trying to displace all the Palestinians – from Silwan and from Jerusalem itself – so they can build a so-called 'holy basin'.

"They consider all places overlooking Al-Aqsa mosque to be part of that holy basin. I think that we have lost Jerusalem."

As the Palestinians are being squeezed out, the settlers are creeping in.

"When the municipality defines a certain area as a residential area, it doesn't say whether it's going to be Arab houses or houses for Jews"

Yakir Segev, councillor for Arab East Jerusalem
There are now about 70 Jewish families living in the Silwan area. They either buy homes from Palestinians or simply grab them under Israel's Absentee Property Law, claiming that they have been abandoned.

The Jerusalem municipality denies that it is involved.

"We don't have a plan as far as how many Jews or Arabs will live in East Jerusalem," says Yakir Segev, a member of the city council recently appointed by Mayor Nir Barkat to oversee the Arab eastern part of the city.

"When the municipality defines a certain area as a residential area, it doesn't say whether it's going to be Arab houses or houses for Jews. This is up to the owner of the land to decide."

The threat of this mass demolition has provoked a huge outcry.

The Fourth Geneva Convention forbids an occupying power from destroying the property of people living in the territory it controls.

However, the Palestinians are under no illusions about Israel's attitude to international law – and the people of Al Bustan remain vigilant.

Al Jazeera's Holy Land Grab series will be broadcast from Tuesday, June 23 to Thursday, June 25. Alternatively, return to this page to watch online.

A special half-hour documentary will also air from Wednesday, June 24 at 14:30 GMT until the following Sunday.
Source: Al Jazeera

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Washington: US President Barack Obama has signed into law a bill giving the government historic powers to curb cigarette makers. Obama affixed his signature to the measure with a nod to his own struggles to kick the habit. He added, “I... know that kids today don’t just start smoking for no reason – they’re aggressively targeted as customers by the tobacco industry.”

The law grants the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a regulatory body, the authority to ban flavourings added to some tobacco products and require tough new warning labels, in a bid to lessen tobacco use among young people.

Mumbai Mirror

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The catholic nun, allegedly raped during the Kandhamal riots, on Tuesday identified a third person in an identification parade and a charge sheet is now likely to be filed against the three people.

Seventy persons were on Tuesday produced at the second Test Identification Parade (TIP) held at Choudwar jail in Cuttack, official sources said.

Earlier during the first TIP on January 5, the nun had identified two persons, they said.

"With identification of three persons, police will now file charge sheet against them," a senior crime branch official said, indicating that its search for accused persons had ended as all the three persons allegedly involved in the incident had been identified by the victim.

The nun was forcibly taken to a room where she was allegedly raped during Orissa bandh in the aftermath of VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati's killing on August 23 last year.
Indian Express

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Chechens 'to fight Ingush rebels'
Car destroyed in bomb attack on Ingush President Yevkurov
The wreck of a car - presumed to be the bomber's - lay near the attack site

The president of the Russian republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, says Moscow has ordered him to help fight insurgents in neighbouring Ingushetia.

The president of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, was wounded in an apparent assassination attempt on Monday.

Speaking to the Reuters news agency, Mr Kadyrov said the Russian leadership had told him to intensify operations in both Chechnya and Ingushetia.

Both republics have experienced an upsurge in violence over recent months.

President Yevkurov is still fighting for his life in hospital.

Human rights abuses

Mr Kadyrov, whose own father Akhmad was killed by a bomb in 2004, has brought relative calm to Chechnya, but human rights groups accuse his militias of widespread abuses.

He has often been accused by critics for being responsible for ordering the murder in 2006 of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, something he has repeatedly denied.

On Tuesday Mr Kadyrov said he had been ordered by Russia's Dmitry Medvedev to run operations in both countries.

He told Reuters: "He told me to intensify actions... including in Ingushetia. I will personally control the operations... and I am sure in the near future there will be good results."

In October Mr Yevkurov replaced Murat Zyazikov, who was criticised for boosting the rebellion with his heavy-handed tactics.
BBC

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MUMBAI: The CPI (Maoist) swells the list of indigenous terror groups operating on our soil to 27, making India home to the largest number of
domestic terrorist organisations in the world. On Monday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) named the CPI (Maoist) as 34th terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act; seven of these are transnational terror groups.

CPI (Maoist) joined ranks with Ulfa and SIMI and lesser known entities such as Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council of Meghalaya, Kanglei Yaol Kanba Lup of Manipur and Akhil Bharat Nepali Ekta Samaj, which though virtually unheard of are considered deadly enough by the government to be designated as terrorist organisations.

Of the seven transnational terror groups, only two —al-Qaida and LTTE — are truly global names. The other five are Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Harkatul Mujahideen, Al Badr, Jamat-ul-Mujahid and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) which are all Pakistan based terror outfits fighting Indian security forces in Kashmir.

"I am not surprised that we have so many local terror groups," said Prakash Singh, former director-general of Border Security Force (BSF). "Since Independence we have seen the rise of a new terrorist movement in every decade, whether it be the Naxals, militants in Punjab, terrorists in the North East or in J&K. It is failure of governance that has led to this situation," Singh said.

Going by number of organisations that other countries currently designate as terrorist, they too feel threatened by a number of groups. But none of them have as many home grown extremist groups as India does. The list runs into more than 40 in both US and Canada but includes only international names such as Hezbollah, Hamas, FARC, Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional, Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) etc — none of which operate directly on their soil.

Amongst developed countries, only UK has a significant number of terror groups breeding close to home in form of nine Irish militias such as the Ulster Freedom Fighters and the Irish Republican Army.

"India is a large country with such great diversity and so many grievances. This complexity leads to growth of radicals who survive on extremist ideology and terror. Developed countries have not had to deal with problems like ours that breed extremism," said intelligence affairs expert B Raman.
TOI

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NEW DELHI: Many Indian Muslim women in cities and small towns can barely veil their disgust over French president Nicolas Sarkozy's comments on
Katrina Kaif
Actor Katrina Kaif, burqa-clad, visits the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, in Ajmer. (Agency Photo)
the burqa. From the college lecturer in Mumbai to the young married woman in Bihar's Munger to the student in Lucknow — all say the burqa is an article of faith, a pillar of support. "It is so embarrassing that a head of state can make such an ill-conceived statement. There's simply no compulsion to wear a burqa," says Jamia Millia geography professor Haseena Hashia, member of Muslim Law Board.

In a world where sexual-crime is rampant, the burqa denotes comfort, security and allows a woman her dignity, they say. Daughter of Nawab Jafar Mir Abdullah of Lucknow's royal family, 26-year-old Mahruq, who is pursuing her BEd feels safer wearing a burqa to public places like Nakhaas, a crowded locality. "I feel protected from eve-teasers and anti-social elements as they don't get to see me or my body," she says.

"A covered body sends out a positive signal that says no sexual mischief will be tolerated," says Moonisa Bushra Abedi, professor of nuclear physics in Maharashtra College in Mumbai.

When wearing a burqa, Aligarh-based doctor Bazigha Tabassum says she is 'azaad from societal pressures' and adds, "In a burqa, I'm my own person. 'Chalta-firta' strangers can't give me the once-over."

"Muslim women wear burqa by choice and not force. I don't see it as a religious sign," says newly-married Sana Hashmi 26, from Munger in Bihar. Sana drapes a large dupatta instead of a burqa because it's easier to handle. "I feel uncomfortable without it," she says. "When I wear the burqa, I feel safer and more protected than I do in a salwar suit. It is a way of life for my family's women, part of our culture rather than religion."

The need for modesty is pointedly made out in the Quran, say these women, and a chador is perfectly in order. They scoff at Sarkozy who had said that the burqa is not a religious sign but a sign of subservience."Any Muslim woman who is close to her Quran will embrace the burqa," says Tabassum.

For Muslims, modesty in dressing is not left to individual discretion. Women are urged to 'protect themselves from evil elements', says professor Hashia. A woman's behaviour is her message, their scriptures say. "It is not easy to separate a Muslim woman from burqa," says Tabassum.

Denying that the burqa has any oppressive value to it, they say modern burqas are quite fashionable, with gems and jewels embroidered on them. Fancy ones can be priced as much as Rs 50,000, and these aren't the bridal ones.

TOI