PressTV - Leader urges Muslims to remain vigilant against enemy plots

Leader urges Muslims to remain vigilant against enemy plots

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei addresses the Eid al-Fitr prayers at Tehran University, August 19, 2012.

Sun Aug 19, 2012 5:20AM GMT

Issues of the Muslim world are unique. Developments of the Muslim World are strange and shocking and chart the course of Muslim nations in the future."

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has urged the Muslims of the world to remain vigilant against the conspiracies of the enemies of the Muslim world.

“The issues of the Muslim world at the current juncture are unprecedented ones. These developments that have occurred in the Muslim world are peculiar, shocking and determine the course of the Muslim Ummah in the future,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in an address to massive crowds of worshippers during the Eid al-Fitr prayers at Tehran University on Sunday.

Ayatollah Khamenei described the US and the Israeli regime as the enemies of the Muslim nations and cautioned against committing errors in the analysis and understanding of developments.

The enemies further complicate their plots against Muslims day by day, the Leader warned.

Ayatollah Khamenei added, however, that the enemies have not been able to overcome the resolve of the Muslim Ummah, expressing hope that the Muslim nations and officials would proceed with their proper measures as before.

The Leader stated that a new era has begun and that the Muslim world is experiencing a new situation, which will affect the lives of all nations throughout the globe.

Ayatollah Khamenei also praised the high turnout of the Iranian nation in the massive rallies on the International Quds Day in support of the Palestinian resistance against the Israeli regime.

Ayatollah Khamenei stated that the Iranian nation displayed a “brilliant” move on the International Quds Day on Friday and supported the oppressed Palestinian people and a “fundamental and important” issue of the Muslim world.

“Undoubtedly, this proper and timely move will result in great consequences for the Muslim world,” the Leader said.

The Leader emphasized that the top officials of Muslim countries shoulder heavy responsibilities and expressed hope that they would be able to fulfill their duties.

Millions of Iranians held massive rallies in Tehran and more than 550 cities and towns on the International Quds Day on Friday in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance against the Israeli regime.

In 1979, Imam Khomeini, the late founder of the Islamic Republic, designated the last Friday of the lunar month of Ramadan as the International Quds Day, during which Muslims across the world hold rallies to show their solidarity with Palestinians.

Ayatollah Khamenei also pointed to the earthquake tragedy in northwestern Iran and said positive measures have been taken in the quake-stricken areas but it is important to further continue such efforts in the future.

Iranian officials should be able to nullify the negative effects of the event and turn it into a factor for the development and progress of the area, the Leader pointed out.

On August 11, two devastating earthquakes, measuring 6.4 and 6.3 on the Richter scale, jolted the city of Ahar and Varzaqan and Haris districts, respectively, in East Azarbaijan Province. The quakes left 306 people dead and 3,037 people injured.

SF/MYA/HJL/MA

Syria welcomes Brahimi as Annan successor | GulfNews.com

Syria welcomes Brahimi as Annan successor

Syria welcomed former Algerian diplomat Brahimi as the UN’s new point-man

• AP
• Published: 22:38 August 18, 2012

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• Image Credit: AP
• An injured Syrian fighter arrives at a field hospital in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. Rebel footholds in Aleppo have been the target of weeks of Syrian shelling and air attacks as part of wider offensives by President Bashar Assad's regime

Beirut: The Syrian government on Saturday welcomed the naming of a former Algerian diplomat as the UN’s new point-man in efforts to halt the country’s escalating civil war.

Activists reported more shelling by regime troops, including an air attack on a northern border town where scores died earlier this week.

In a statement, the office of Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa not only expressed support for Lakdar Brahimi, it also denied reports circulating in Arab media that al-Sharaa had defected to the opposition.

Al-Sharaa “did not think, at any moment, of leaving the country,” the statement said.

The vice president’s cousin Yaroub, a colonel in the military defected to the opposition earlier this month, appearing on the pan-Arab Al-Arabiya TV. The regime of President Bashar Assad has suffered a string of prominent defections in recent months, though his inner circle and military have largely kept their cohesive stance behind him.

The highest-ranking political defector so far, Assad’s former prime minister Riad Hijab, has gone to Qatar where he may reveal his future plans, according to Syrian rebels and a relative of Hijab. Qatar is among a group of Gulf Arab nations that have backed the rebellion against Assad.

The new U.N. envoy, Brahimi, takes over from former Secretary-General Kofi Annan who is stepping down on Aug. 31 after his attempts to broker a cease-fire failed. His appointment comes as U.N. observers have begun leaving Syria, with all due to leave by Sunday - ending a mission that had been one of the only concrete achievements in Annan’s peace attempts. The observers had been intended to watch over a cease-fire, but no truce ever took hold.

Al-Sharaa’s office said the vice president “supports Brahimi’s demand to get united support from the Security Council to carry out his mission without obstacles.”

On Saturday, Syrian activists said government troops shelled and carried out air raids at rebel areas across the country, including the southern province of Daraa, the northern region of Aleppo and the suburbs of the capital, Damascus.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said one of the air raids targeted the northern town of Azaz, near the Turkish border, but it was not clear if there were casualties. The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said the raid targeted fields adding that no one was hurt but the residents were scared.

On Wednesday, warplanes exacted a heavy toll with airstrikes on a residential neighborhood in Azaz close to the Turkish border. International watchdog Human Rights Watch said more than 40 people were killed and at least 100 wounded, many of them women and children. AP reporters saw nine bodies in the bombings’ immediate aftermath, including a baby.

Azaz, which is home to around 35,000 people, is also the town where rebels have been holding 11 Lebanese Shiites captured in May.

A series of hostage-takings by the rebels - including grabbing a member of a powerful Lebanese Shiite clan - has touched off retaliatory abductions of Syrians in neighboring Lebanon and raised worries about the country being dragged into deeper unrest.

Lebanese security officials said Saturday that five more Syrians were abducted in Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight. It was not clear who carried out the latest abductions but members of Lebanon’s al-Mikdad clan say they are holding others Syrians, as well as at least one Turkish citizen.

The al-Mikdad clan said they had kidnapped Syrian nationals and the Turkish man in Lebanon in retaliation for the abduction of their relative, Hassane Salim al-Mikdad, who was captured in Syria this week.

In Damascus, a U.N. spokeswoman said the last of the organization’s observers still in Syria have started to leave the country ahead of the official end of their mission at midnight Sunday.

Juliette Touma told The Associated Press that most of the remaining observers will depart within hours while the travels of the others could be delayed because of logistics. There are about 100 observers left in Syria - a third of the number at the peak of the mission earlier this year.

The Security Council agreed this week to end the U.N. mission and back a small new liaison office that will support any future peace efforts.

The U.N.’s top body acknowledged that international efforts to significantly reduce the violence and end the Syrian government’s use of heavy weapons - conditions set for the mission’s possible extension - have failed.

PressTV - US conveys concern to Kabul over insider attacks

US conveys concern to Kabul over insider attacks

The US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta (L) and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai during their joint press conference at the Presidential Palace in Kabul on December, 14, 2011

Sun Aug 19, 2012 5:23AM GMT

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The US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to curb the surge of attacks by Afghan forces on US-led foreign troops.

In a telephone conversation on Saturday, Panetta urged the Afghan president to cooperate with General John Allen, who heads the international coalition forces ISAF in Afghanistan, “to counter the insider attacks against coalition and Afghan forces.”

The top US defense official also advised the adoption of counterintelligence measures for identifying the potential assailants as well as "more rigorous vetting of Afghan recruits, and stepped up engagement with village elders, who often play a key role by vouching for Afghan security personnel," Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a statement.

The two officials “expressed shared concern” about the insider attacks against the foreign and Afghan forces, the statement added.

Panetta’s phone call signaled Washington’s growing concern over the increasing number of the so-called green-on-blue attacks by Afghan soldiers who turn their guns on American and foreign forces.

Panetta showed his first reaction to insider attacks on Tuesday, saying the growing attacks on foreign troopers by local forces would damage the two countries' partnership.

At least 39 US-led forces have been killed in 29 such incidents so far this year in Afghanistan, according to a NATO count.

In the latest incident, an Afghan policeman killed two American forces in the western Farah province on Friday.

In another incident on the same day, two American troopers were wounded by an Afghan soldier in the southern province of Kandahar.

Some analysts believe that the humiliation and maltreatment of Afghan soldiers by American officers is the main reason behind the green-on-blue attacks in the war-ravaged country.

Thousands of NATO troops, due to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, are still in the country under the pretext of ‘training and working alongside Afghan soldiers’ in anti-insurgency campaign.

AO/HN

KPK clerics push govt to declare Eid tomorrow

KPK clerics push govt to declare Eid tomorrow

P eshawar: The official Zonal Ruet-e-Hilal Committee of Peshawar has asked the provincial government of Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa to announce Eid-ul-Fitr tomorrow.
The Zonal Committee also raised objections over the decision of Central Committee, headed by Mufti Munib-ur-Rehman, to declare Eid on Monday.
The Zonal Committee claimed receiving 18 testimonies of Shawwal moon being sighted.
Clerics have yet again failed to develop consensus over the decision to celebrate Eid on a single day across the country.
The Meteorological Department had earlier ruled out the possibility of moon’s sighting anywhere in the country.
Chief Meteorologist Tausif Alam said there was no possibility of sighting the Shawwal’s moon in Asia, including Pakistan
But residents of Waziristan marked Eid today after local clerics’ committee announced that Shawwal moon had been spotted in the tribal area on Friday.

Moon not sighted, Pak to celebrate Eid on Monday

Moon not sighted, Pak to celebrate Eid on Monday

K arachi: Pakistan’s Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee (CRHC) has announced that Shawwal moon has not been sighted in any part of the country, and Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated on Monday, August 20.
A meeting of the CRHC was held Saturday at Pakistan Meteorological Department in Karachi to sight the Shawwal moon, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
CRHC Chairman Mufti Munibur Rehman presided over the committee’s meeting, which is being assisted by Met, SUPARCO and naval experts.
The Met Office had earlier ruled out the possibility of moon’s sighting anywhere in the country.
Chief Meteorologist Tausif Alam said there was no possibility of sighting the Shawwal’s moon in Asia, including Pakistan.
However, Eid ul Fitr was celebrated in parts of North Waziristan today after an unofficial committee of local clerics proclaimed that the moon had been sighted in Miranshah.

PTI, NYT and the Massive Media Fail

PTI, NYT and the Massive Media Fail


Let's get one thing straight here. I'm not upset at Pankaj Mishra for doing his job.


After reading the feature in the New York Times about Imran Khan, entitled "Imran Khan Must Be Doing Something Right", I was in shock for several minutes. And then when I was able to close my mouth, I immediately opened it in order to let out several whoops of disbelief. For here was a piece in arguably the world's most important newspaper that made IK look like Bozo the Clown.


Okay, perhaps I'm being too harsh. Sugandha Gupta, a resident of LA with whom I connected recently on Twitter, says that she thought it was an accurate portrayal of "the delicate balance of South Asian politics". And of someone who seems "conflicted", to put it mildly.


Here we have a writer who is allowed hours and hours of special alone time with Imran Khan - in his bedroom, amongst other venues - while the would-be leader of Pakistan spills his heart out on various subjects. He rants about "Westoxified Pakistanis" (according to Omar Waraich, "Westoxified" was a term used in a 2001 essay by Salman Rushdie about how progressive thinkers are lambasted in the Muslim world; IK's hatred of Salman Rushdie is well known and he should stop using this term immediately) and makes fun of Bilawal Bhutto for not speaking Urdu without batting an eyelash at the fact that his own two sons are being brought up in London and only visit Pakistan on school holidays. Pankaj Mishra accompanies him on a road trip to a convention in a rural town in Punjab, where IK promises to rid the nation of corruption but doesn't pay the road toll. The "media coordinator" tells Mishra about how hard it is for her to do her job in the face of male opposition in the party.


Here's another gem from the article:
“Morons!” he exclaimed. “First you have to guarantee basic social and economic rights before you get to gender rights! What is the point of these NGO workers showing up in conservative tribal areas wearing bluejeans?!”
So, it appears that IK has just reduced the fight for gender equality - which is a part and parcel of social rights - to frivolous women wanting to wear tight clothing. (Probably IK is unaware of the death of Farida Afridi, cofounder of women's NGO SAWERA, who was not wearing blue jeans when she was shot in the head by unknown assailants in Peshawar last month after receiving death threats for her work in the tribal areas making women aware of their "basic social and economic rights".)
All of this ends up on the pages of the New York Times and beamed around the world.


I mean, what the hell?


Are Imran Khan's handlers completely insane? How on earth did the PTI "media coordination department" overlook vetting Mishra? It's a fact of modern journalism that every journalist has an angle, either of his or her own construction or dictated suggested by his or her editor. An angle, or a slant. The job of the media coordinator or publicist of any celebrity, politician, or other public figure is to vet that journalist and find out that angle. Accompany the journalist everywhere and steer him or her away from awkward lines of questioning, complete blunders, and divisions within the party.


Journalists will ferret these things out from anybody who hasn't had extensive experience and training in how to handle the media - another area in which the PTI "media coordinators" seem to have dropped the ball. Why hasn't IK been briefed on each journalist and told what to say and what to stay away from? Perhaps they use the excuse that IK is his own man and won't be told what to say or not to say in interviews. But this is completely naive and foolish. These are not sycophantic Pakistani talk shows anymore This is the big league. This is where the Big Boys come out to play.


This is not cricket.


I get a lot of flak for criticizing Imran Khan and the PTI, and I'm definitely no fangirl of his contradictory stance on many issues. My own political stance is non-existant; I'm not in favor of any party or politician currently working in Pakistan today. But I am a writer, and as a writer, I can safely say I don't feel this was a hatchet job on IK in the least. I think this was a case of a renowned writer sitting back, letting IK talk, and letting the story write itself. The PTI "media coordination team" is simply too Mickey Mouse to handle anything other than the most basic level of "media coordination"; Imran Khan should hire a professional publicist, stat. Otherwise his political campaign will be DOA before the elections even arrive, if this is the level of professionalism with which his party handles his affairs.






Bina Shah at 10:36 AM

Bina Shah: PTI, NYT and the Massive Media Fail
 

All Muslims Observing Youm Ul Quds

All Muslims Observing Youm Ul Quds

Pakistan News / Youmul Quds News > Muslims of the entire world including those in Pakistan are observing the Youmul Quds today (Friday) against Israeli occupation of Palestine including Jerusalem.

The rallies, processions and public gatherings will be held in connection with Youmul Quds across the world including Pakistan.
This day is observed to express support and solidarity with the wronged and oppressed Muslims of Palestine, who have been divested of their first Qibla Baitul Maqdis.
The last Friday of Ramazan is marked annually as Youm al-Quds to oppose Israel’s control over Jerusalem and express resolve to wrest Jerusalem from the possession of Israel.
Muslims of Pakistan will today protest against Israeli aggression today