In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful Inews Daily Saturday 18th February 2006 - 19th Muharram 1427
Islamabad bans protest rally The Pakistani law-enforcement agencies detained over 200 activists on Saturday in an attempt to thwart a protest march planned for the capital on Sunday to protest against blasphemous cartoons. A security official said that Islamabad would be sealed. Police pickets have been set up at exit and entry points of Islamabad while random checking of vehicles had started. Information minister Rashid Ahmed said the government had taken every step to convey its displeasure over the publication of sacrilegious cartoons in Europe. He said that some elements wanted to gain political mileage from the violent protests and were hoping such demos would continue until next month when US President George W. Bush would be visiting Pakistan. Mr Ahmed said that violent protests in the country had provided Jews and the anti-Muslim lobby with another opportunity to defame them. Hamas takes over parliament Hamas took over as the dominant party in the Palestinian parliament yesterday and swiftly rejected President Mahmoud Abbas's call to pursue his peacemaking efforts with Israel. The swearing-in of the parliament, elected last month, paves the way for Hamas to form a government that is on a potential collision course with Abbas and faces a boycott by the US and Israel unless it renounces its freedom-fightinhg efforts. Hamas won control of the Palestinian Legislative Council in a January 25 parliamentary election. Nigeria cartoon riots kill 16 Rioting over the controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) claimed another 16 lives last night in Nigeria as Muslims marched in protest. The violence erupted as the Danish cartoonist whose drawings originally sparked the outcry, Kurt Westergaard, said in an interview with a British newspaper that the Islamic faith provided 'spiritual ammunition' for terrorism. The cartoonist, who has since gone into hiding after a bounty was put on his head, said he did not regret the drawings. Meanwhile, more than 10,000 Muslims gathered in the UK Capital yesterday to protest the blasphemous cartoons. Yemeni soldiers die fighting rebels Five Yemeni soldiers and an army captain have been killed in battles with Shia rebels in the northwest of the country, near the border with Saudi Arabia. At least 22 people - 16 of them government forces - have been killed in battles in the region over the past week. Tribal officials said government troops were attacking rebel hideouts near Saada on Saturday and that dozens of families had fled the region in the past two weeks.The fighting dates to June 2004, when Shia Muslim cleric Hussein Badraddin al-Hawthi lead his forces in an uprising against the government. Al-Hawthi was killed in September 2004, but his followers have continued their minority rebellion. Several die in Somalia clashes At least 12 people were killed and more than 40 others wounded when rival militias using mortars, anti-aircraft guns and artillery clashed in Somalia's capital on Saturday. Residents said civilians including women and children were among the casualties when heavy fighting over territory broke out between gunmen loyal to Mogadishu's Islamic courts and a local warlord in the south of the capital. Fighting among Somalia's myriad of clans and sub-clans has been common since warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and took over the nation of about 10 million. China, Iran close to completing deal to develop oil field Iran and China are close to setting plans to develop Iran's Yadavaran oil field in a multibillion-dollar deal that comes as Tehran faces the prospect of sanctions over its nuclear program. In exchange for developing Yadavaran, one of Iran's largest onshore oil fields, China would buy 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas a year for 25 years beginning in 2009, a Chinese official said. The deal, which is thought potentially to be worth about $100 billion, could complicate efforts by the Bush administration to isolate Iran economically. Bahrain's Islamist MP calls for removal of Karbala banners A Bahraini MP on Saturday called upon the government to remove banners that he said promoted disunity and stressed sectarian divisions. Shaikh Jassem Al Saeedi said that the banners put up by the Bahrain Enlightenment Society in several areas of the country were fuelling social and religious tension and the government had a duty to take them off the streets. The large banners, allegedly quoting Shiite cleric Shaikh Eisa Ahmad Qasim, and signed by the Islamic Enlightenment Society read: "The battle of Karbala is still going on between the two sides in the present and in the future. It is being held within the soul, at home and in all areas of life and society. People will remain divided and they are either in the Hussain camp or in the Yazid camp. So choose your camp." US-Islamic forum opens in Qatar A US-Islamic forum seeking to find common ground between the United States and the Muslim world opened in the Gulf state of Qatar on Saturday with Islamic anger against the West at boiling point. Karen Hughes, the United States' top image-maker abroad and a close adviser to President George Bush, addressed the gathering amid fury over the publication in the European press of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed and the broadcast of new images of US prisoner abuse in Iraq. Hughes reiterated the US stance against Iran and the Hamas and declared that the worldwide protests against the blasphemous cartoons were unjustified. Spate of roadside bombings kill six in Iraq At least seven people were killed in a series of road side bombs in Baghdad and to the north of the capital yesterday. A bomb exploded on the eastern Baghdad highway killing two Iraqi soldiers and wounding three while they were guarding an oil tanker. Another explosion in the eastern Ghadir district of Baghdad missed the police patrol it was targeting and instead hit two cars killing three Iraqi civilians and wounding four. In Baquba, 60 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, one Iraqi civilian was killed and five wounded in a similar blast. Bush sees need to expand role of NATO in Sudan President Bush signaled a new American commitment to addressing the crisis in Darfur, saying he would support an expanded role by NATO to shore up a 'failing African peacekeeping mission' there. He also said he favored doubling the number of peacekeepers operating in Darfur under United Nations control, as proposed by the Security Council last month. NATO has played a small logistical role in Sudan thus far, primarily airlifting African troops. Over the last year, about 7,000 African Union peacekeepers troops have been stationed in Darfur to monitor and enforce a cease-fire between rebel and government troops. Indian minister offers cash reward to behead cartoonists An Indian state government minister has offered a reward of 11.5 million dollars for the beheading of any of the cartoonists who drew the controversial images of the Prophet Mohammed (s.a.w.). The offer, which made the front pages of Indian newspapers Saturday, was made by Mohammed Yaqoob Qureshi, a minister in the northern Uttar Pradesh state government, at a Muslim rally after Friday prayers. But the influential All-Muslim Personal Law Board Muslims, an authoritative national body of Muslim clerics, slammed the reward as 'anti-Islamic and anti-humanity', the Indian Express newspaper reported. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inews Daily - No Copyright - http://www.fsphost.com/inewsdaily - [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe by sending an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/TXWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Save Aceh now! visit http://www.pusatkrisisaceh.or.id Click English section for contact Islam Relief Organizations Want to learn about Islam and Christian? visit: http://come.to/christian-islam Yahoo! 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