In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Inews Daily
Tuesday 28th February 2006 - 29th Muharram 1427
Iraqi Sunni, Shia hold joint prayers
Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Sunni leadership in the southern city
of Basra have held joint Sunni-Shia prayers in a show of unity following last
week's bomb attack on a Shia shrine. The joint prayers were held at the Grand
Basra Mosque yesterday. In a speech after the prayers al-Sadr urged Iraqis to
avoid civil discord and blamed the US occupation for the wave of sectarian
attacks sparked by the bombing of the al-Askari shrine in the city of Samarra.
He also urged his followers to resist the occupation 'by acts not by words'.
Meanwhile, Shaikh Jawad al-Khalisi, a revered Shia scholar, sent a delegation
to visit and help clean and reconstruct Sunni mosques that have been attacked
after the Samarra blast.
UN watchdog refuses to give Iran clean bill of health
The head of the world's nuclear watchdog declared last night that he could not
give Iran's nuclear programme a clean bill of health, blaming Tehran for
frustrating almost three years of inspections and detective work by experts
from the International Atomic Energy Agency. The verdict delivered by Mohamed
ElBaradei, the head of the IAEA, set the scene for a diplomatic battle next
week in Vienna when the IAEA's 35-strong board is to take the longrunning
dispute to the UN security council in New York.
EU 'grants' funds to Palestinian Authority
The European Union has agreed to give $143 million in urgent aid for the
Palestinian Authority before a government led by Hamas takes office. Announcing
the grant, the French foreign minister said the aid funds were required to
avoid 'economic chaos'. Earlier an international envoy warned that the
Palestinian Authority faced financial collapse within two weeks because Israel
has stopped reimbursing millions of dollars in customs duties. Some 140,000
people are on the Palestinian Authority payroll, including 58,000 security
personnel.
Lahoud sees foreign plot to oust him
Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, has accused 'foreign powers allied to Israel'
of planning to oust him in favour of the country's main anti-Syrian coalition
which has been calling on him to quit. In a letter to a Lebanese daily
newspaper published yesterday, Lahoud launched his most scathing attack against
the parliamentary coalition led by Saad al-Hariri, the majority leader. An
unnamed presidential palace official had previously singled out France as one
force supporting the anti-Syrian coalition to impeach the president. Syria
ended its 29-year military presence in Lebanon in April.
Five people killed in Saudi raids
Saudi security forces yesterday killed five 'militants' sought for a daring
attempt to blow up car bombs inside a huge oil-processing complex - an
al-Qaida-claimed attack that made oil prices jump by more than $2. In two
simultaneous raids at dawn, security forces confronted the five at a house in
eastern Riyadh and detained a sixth at an undisclosed location in the same part
of the city. The men were killed in what officials described as a "fierce" but
brief gun battle. The security forces suffered no casualties.
Somali interim parliament meets
Somalia's interim parliament has held a session inside the war-torn country for
the first time. It is the 14th attempt to restore central government to
Somalia, whose last national president was overthrown by militias in 1991,
ushering in an era of anarchy. It was also the first parliamentary session
since a meeting in neighbouring Kenya last year ended with lawmakers brawling,
throwing chairs and smashing ballot boxes. The parliament met in Baidoa as it
was considered a neutral site by both factions in the divided government.
Conflict and famine have killed hundreds of thousands in Somalia
US Muslims fight halal meat scam
Muslims in the US are willing to pay a premium for halal, and across the
country halal foods - and their look-alikes - are popping up in grocery store
meat cases, on carryout menus and in fast food drive-throughs. Some vendors
blend regular meat with a little halal meat to justify Muslim-friendly labels
and higher prices. Others simply lie, preying on Muslims' trust and devotion.
But legislators say creating laws could put state governments in the touchy
position of interpreting religious rules.
Russia deceiving world on Chechnya'
Europe must not by duped by Russian claims that Moscow is fighting a war
against terror in Chechnya and turn a blind eye to abuses committed in the
rebel province, lawmakers participating in a conference in Lithuania said
yesterday. "Russia is busy deceiving the world by saying that the war in
Chechnya is a war against terrorism. The truth is that Russia is carrying out a
determined policy to annihilate the Chechen people," a Lithuanian lawmaker told
a press conference. The seminar on Chechnya was held to mark the 62nd
anniversary of what Chechens call Deportation Day. On February 23, 1944, almost
half a million Chechens were forcibly moved to central Asia, on orders from
then Soviet leader Josef Stalin.
Pope says 'embryo' and 'human adult' alike in God's eyes
Pope Benedict XVI said on Monday that God makes no distinction between a human
embryo and a child or adult. The Pope made his comments while hosting a
Vatican-organised scientific conference on the status of the human embryo.
"God's love doesn't make the distinction between the embryo inside its mother,
the child, the youth, the mature adult or the elderly person," said the pope.
The pontiff's statement reaffirmed the Catholic church's official position that
"all human life is sacred and inviolable, from conception to its natural end."
Iran unveils plan for pro-Palestinian conference
Iran has unveiled plans on Monday to host a conference on the
Palestinian-Zionist conflict and more controversial discussion of the
Holocaust. The "International Conference on al-Quds and support of the rights
of Palestinian people" will be held from April 14-16, the chief organiser told
reporters. Iran's anti-Zionist government has held such gatherings before -
with groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad taking part - drawing accusations
in the US and Israeli press that Iran hosts "terrorist summits". Earlier this
month, Iran also vowed to fund a new Palestinian government headed by Hamas
saying, "Iran will, along with other Islamic and non-Islamic nations, pay its
share in helping Hamas."
Pakistani tribal rebels bomb key gas pipes
Suspected tribal militants blew up two key gas pipelines in Pakistan, cutting
the supply to four power plants and sparking a blaze that melted a main railway
track, officials said yesterday. No injuries were reported in the blast in
central Punjab province late Sunday, which had targeted pipes bringing gas from
the insurgency-hit southwestern province of Baluchistan. The ruptured pipelines
supply a US and British-owned thermal power station at Kot Addu as well as
three other smaller plants in Punjab. The tribal militants of Baluchistan have
repeatedly attacked gas pipes, railway lines and government targets to press
their demands for more autonomy and a bigger share of profits from the
impoverished region's vast oil and gas reserves.
Army threatens to storm Afghan jail after two-day standoff
A standoff between security forces and hundreds of rioting inmates at
Afghanistan's main jail dragged into a second day yesterday, with the army
threatening to storm a seized cell block if negotiations failed.
With more than seven dead and 38 injured, the prisoners have not been given
food since the riot erupted late Saturday at the dilapidated Pul-e-Charkhi
prison on the outskirts of Kabul. Security forces had closed the gate into the
complex to hold back prisoners who appeared to have armed themselves with
makeshift weapons including steel bedposts and shards of glass, witnesses
inside the jail said. Negotiations between the prisoners and government
officials started early Monday.
Arab League chief says cartoons part of anti-Islam battle
Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa yesterday considered the Prophet
Mohammed's cartoons as part of a 'battle against Islam' rather than a symptom
of conflict among civilizations, and urged Arab parliamentarians to put
pressure on the UN to come up with a 'strict' solution to this problem. The
cartoons, considered by Muslims as sacrilegious to the Holy Prophet, drew sharp
reactions throughout the Islamic world. Statement of a UN legislation that bans
offences to prophets was high on the agenda of the two-day APU meeting.
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