islam is the way of life

Russia snubs US on Iran sanctions

2009-10-14T03:45:00.000-07:00

The US has failed to win Moscow's support for fresh sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, with Russia's foreign minister saying that further sanctions would be "counter-productive".

Sergei Lavrov said after his meeting with Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, that recent talks in Geneva between Tehran and the so-called P5-plus-1 group - Russia, China, Britain, France, the US and Germany - had raised hopes of a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear programme.

"All forces should be aimed at supporting talks" with Iran, he said on Tuesday, adding: "Threats of sanctions and threats of pressure in the current situation are, in our opinion, counter-productive."

The US and several European nations say Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon but Tehran has repeatedly denied that its uranium enrichment programme is geared towards the construction of a nuclear bomb, saying that it seeks the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

At a joint news conference with Lavrov in the Russian capital, Clinton said they had held "productive and comprehensive discussions."

But she did not succeed in getting any detailed pledges from Mosco on sanctions.

'Not at that point'

Clinton said she agreed with a recent statement by Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, that sanctions against Tehran may be inevitable if no progress was made, but said "we are not at that point yet".

"That is not a conclusion we have reached. And we want to be very clear that it is our preference that Iran works with the international community ... to fulfil its obligation on inspections," she said.

Clinton's visit to Moscow is her first since becoming Washington's top diplomat and comes a week before international talks on a proposal to send Iranian uranium abroad for further processing.

Nazanine Moshiri, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Tehran, said it was "extremely important" for Iranians not to have the immediate worry of sanctions.

"They don't want a forfeit round of sanctions right now. That's why they're keen to continue this diplomatic track and keen to talk to the Americans at Vienna on October 19th," she said.

"And also to open up [the nuclear site of] Qom to inspections. It's a very clever move by the Iranians to continue this track."

Arms reduction

On negotiations aimed at replacing a key Cold War-era nuclear disarmament treaty by the end of the year, Lavrov said there had been a "substantial movement forward".

The 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start), which places strict limits on the US and Russian nuclear arsenals, expires on December 5 and negotiators have been seeking to thrash out a successor agreement.

Lavrov also said Russia and the US should work more closely on missile defence plans, after Washington's recent shelving of a missile defence system in Eastern Europe ended a major dispute with Moscow.

The Russian foreign minister had called for "full clarification" about the new sea-based missile defence system which Barack Obama, the US president, unveiled last month to replace an earlier version, backed by his predecessor, George Bush, to deploy missile defence facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Russia had fiercely opposed Bush's plan and welcomed Obama's move to alter it as a "responsible approach".

Lavrov confirmed that he and Clinton had also discussed the Middle East, North Korea and Afghanistan.

Iraq releases new death toll figure

2009-10-14T03:44:00.000-07:00

The ministry said its findings represent a 'huge challenge' for the rule of law in Iraq [EPA]

At least 85,000 people have been killed in Iraq by bombs, murders and fighting from 2004 until 2008, Iraq's human rights ministry says.

The government released the figures on Tuesday in a draft report based on death certificates issued by the health ministry, the Reuters news agency reported.

It said 147,195 people had been wounded in the same four years, but the number of undocumented injuries and deaths could be far higher.

"These figures draw a picture about the impact of terrorism and the violation of natural life in Iraq," the rights ministry said.

'Terrible figures'

"Outlawed groups through terrorist attacks like explosions, assassinations, kidnappings or forced displacements created these terrible figures, which represent a huge challenge for the rule of law and for the Iraqi people."

The report did not distinguish between civilian deaths and others, and a senior government official said the findings did not include missing persons, believed to be around 10,000 people.

It said some 15,000 unidentified bodies were also found within the time period.

"Thousands of Iraqis killed since 2003 without being identified by their relatives were buried in special cemeteries called unidentified body cemeteries," the report said.

The figures in the report are lower than that of the Iraq Body Count project run by a group of academics and peace activists.

The project estimates that 102,071 civilians have died in the violence so far since 2003.

Hamas Minta Mesir Segera Bebaskan Tapol Sebelum Terbunuh Karena Siksaan

2009-10-14T03:39:00.000-07:00

Gaza – Infopalestina: Gerakan Hamas mengecam keras gugurnya mujahid mereka Yusuf Hamdan Abu Zuhri, 38, saudara kandung Sami Abu Zuhri jubir Hamas bersama pengawal pribadinya setelah ditahan di salah satu penjara Mesir dan mengalami siksaan fisik. Akibatnya, korban mengalami pendarahan selama dua pekan dan akhirnya menghempuskan nafas terakhir di dalam penjara.

Dalam salinan pernyataan resminya yang diterima oleh Infopalestina kemarin Selasa (13/10), Hamas mengatakan, “Kami menyampaikan takziyah dan duka mendalam kepada warga Palestina saudara Yusuf Hamdan Abu Zuhri dan memohon kepada Allah agar keluarganya diberikan kesabaran dan ketegaran serta diberikan rahmat kepada sang syahid, juga kepada saudara kami Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri kami sampaikan takziyah dan duka bersama,”

Gerakan Hamas menilai, pembunuhan akibat siksaan terhadap korban syahid Yusuf Abu Zuhri merupakan kejadian berbahaya yang memerlukan penyikapan serius dan harus ada tanggunjawab. Hamas meminta kepada pejabat-pejabat Mesir melakukan penyelidikan untuk mengungkap kasus ini dan memberikan hukuman kepada pelakunya.

Hamas menyerukan kepada elit Mesir untuk segera membebaskan tahanan-tahanan politik, terutama komandan Aiman Naufal sebelum mereka meninggal dunia di penjara akibat siksaan serupa. “Apalagi sangat mengkawatirkan nasib dan nyawa tahanan Palestina di penjara-penjara Mesir”, imbuh Hamas.

Dalam pernyataan penutupnya, gerakan Hamas meminta kepada lembaga-lembaga HAM Mesir dan Arab bertanggungjawab penuh dan mengungkap skandal kejahatan ini serta mengambil sikap tegas dengan menyeret pelakunya ke pengadilan. (bn-bsyr)

IITWOL (Palestine) : Birth defects in Gaza due to illegal weapons used by Israel during the war

2009-09-26T03:13:00.000-07:00

By Saed Bannoura

IMEMC & Agencies:

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported Friday that eight months after the Israeli war ended, several birth defect cases were reported among the Gaza Strip newborns.

Dr. Mowaiya Hassanen, director of the Emergency department at the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, stated that several newborn babies have heart defects and abnormalities.

He said that such cases are caused by Israel’s use of illegal munitions against the civilians in the Gaza Strip.

Dr. Hassanen further said that five cases appeared after the war, and that illegal weapons were used by Israel in several areas in the coastal region, especially in Al Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza, Izbit Abed-Rabbo, and the Gaza valley, the Maan News Agency reported.

He said that several international researchers and specialists from France and Italy took samples of the mentions used by the Israeli army in Gaza, and found that the army used white phosphorous, and Dense Inert Metal Explosive which could cause biological defects on fetuses, Maan added.

http://www.imemc.org/article/61756

IITWOL (CENTRAL/S.ASIA) : iIran denies violating IAEA rules

2009-09-26T02:59:00.000-07:00

Ahmadinjed rejected US criticism as a political game in the run-up to nuclear talks in October [AFP]

Iran's president has denied his government violated International Atomic Energy Agency rules after disclosing the existence of a new nuclear-enrichment facility to the UN watchdog.

Speaking in Tehran on Saturday, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country had in fact informed the IAEA a full year in advance of the deadline set by the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

"If you want to build the building, you can do that. If you want to lay the pipes, you can do that. Six months before you start processing itself ... then you need to inform the IAEA so it is prepared to begin its inspection programme," Ahmadinejad said.

"Now is this the right thing or the wrong thing to do?" he asked. "It is not a secret facility. If it was, why did we inform the IAEA a year ahead of time?"

Even as he insisted that Iran, as a sovereign state, did not need to report to Washington, Ahmadinejad said that Tehran would allow IAEA inspectors to visit the site.

Marc Vidricaire, an IAEA spokesman, told Al Jazeera on Friday that Tehran had notified the body of the second enrichment plant's existence in a letter earlier this week.

Iran was previously known to have one enrichment plant at Natanz, in central Isfahan province, which is under daily surveillance by IAEA inspectors.

The New York Times reported that the facility was being built inside a mountain near the city of Qom, where Iran's supreme leader and the country's influential religious leadership are based.

Criticism rejected

Ahmadinejad's comments came just hours after Barack Obama, the US president, took to the stage in Pittsburgh - site of a G20 summit - to condemn the building of the new plant, describing it as a "direct challenge" on the NPT regime.

"Iran is on notice that when we meet with them in October, they are going to have to come clean and they are going have to make a choice: Are they going to go down the path of giving up the acquisition of nuclear weapons and abide by international standards in their pursuit of peaceful nuclear energy, or continue going down a path that will lead to confrontation?" Obama said.

in depth


	Interview: Jordan's Queen Noor on her campaign for nuclear disarmament
	Riz Khan: Nuclear double standard
	Empire: Iran - Influence or threat
	Iran in arms race with Israel
	Who's afraid of Iran?
	Timeline: Iran's nuclear programme

"The international community has spoken. It is up to Iran to respond. I am not going to speculate on the type of action we are going to take. I am going to give October 1st a chance. But we do not rule out any options when it comes to US security interests."

For his part, Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister, accused the Iranians of "serial deception", saying: "Iran must abandon any military ambitions for its nuclear programme."

And Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, described the situation as a challenge to the entire international community.

But Ahmadinejad dismissed their criticism and said the three Western leaders were trying to gain a negotiating advantage before planned talks in Geneva on October 1.

"What Mr Brown and Sarkozy say isn't very important to us ... they want to set up a media game to get the upper hand in the upcoming negotiations," he said.

"When you go into negotiations you are supposed to go in with honesty and sincerity. And respect for international law."

'No smoking gun'

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Washington DC on Saturday, Gareth Porter, a Middle East policy analyst, played down the importance of the new nuclear facility under construction near the city of Qom.

"This is very far from a smoking gun, certainly with regard to Iranian intentions as far as nuclear weapons are concerned and also to the capablity of manufacturing a nuclear weapon."

Porter also said that under existing regulations, Iran had a strong case that it was in legal compliance with the NPT as it never ratified an additional protocol that it signed in 2003.

"I think they have a case ... they never ratifiied the protocol that is at stake here, the one that involves an additional obligation to notify immediately upon a decision to begin construction of a nuclear related facility.

"They voluntarily accepted many of the conditions .... that is why they make the argument and I think there is something to that."

System failure

On the other hand, John Large, a nuclear engineer based in the UK, said that the Qom facility showed that the international non-proliferation system, operated by the IAEA, had simply failed.

"Once Iran develops the centrifuge technology, which it seems to have done, then it is a relatively straightforward step to transfer that technology into a production unit in another location," he told Al Jazeera on Friday.

"That provides all sorts of opportunities for detouring material away from the main production plant ... [and] finishing to a nuclear weapons grade enrichment level at this new plant.

"The logic of Iran's enrichment programme has been very much doubted, because it just simply doesn't have the civil nuclear-reactor capacity to demand an enrichment programme that it has in place."

IITWOL (MIDDLE EAST) : IRAQ, 'Al-Qaeda members' flee Iraq jail

2009-09-25T08:21:00.001-07:00

At least 15 senior al-Qaeda members have escaped from a prison in Tikrit, Iraqi officials said, with authorities locking down the city as they search for fugitives.

Major-General Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Iraqi military spokesman, said on Thursday that six of the escaped inmates are considered dangerous.

Police sources told Al Jazeera that all of the men are charged with killing civilians and attacking security forces in the province in Salahiddien, north of Baghdad.

They added that one of the prisoners, who has been sentenced to death, was re-arrested near the jail.

The prisoners are said to have escaped through a window space half a metre square.

The break-out is not the first time al-Qaeda members have escaped from jail, suggesting the prisoners received outside assistance.

Al-Qaeda are believed to pay up to $20,000 for someone who can help to free their senior leaders from jails.

A curfew was imposed on the city after the escape, which occurred on Wednesday night.

Authorities are distributing wanted posters with photos of the fugitives and are running checkpoints around Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein, the deposed Iraqi leader.

The city is about 130km north of Baghdad, the Iraqi capital.

IITWOL (AFRICA) : LIBYA, Gaddafi urges 'one state solution'

2009-09-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York earlier this week.

His 96-minute speech, which broke the alloted 15-minute protocol, marked the first time he addressed the international body since leading a coup in September 1969 which ended rule by monarchy in Libya and brought him to power.

In an interview with Al Jazeera's Ghida Fakhry on Thursday, Gaddafi repeated his belief that a two-state solution is not a feasible approach to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and bringing peace in the Middle East.

"Everyone is calling for a two-state solution [but] they don't understand the demographics of the region. Israel would be reduced to 14km and Israel will not accept this," Gaddafi said.

"There is no way to have these two states so close, because they are already integrated. Two million Palestinians live in Israel, Gaza is isolated … torn apart and isolated. Israel should get rid of their nuclear weapons - the Muslim countries will not recognise Israel as long as they have nuclear weapons - and these problems would be done," he added.

"I don't believe that Barack Obama [the US president] really understands the problem," he said.

"He was a senator; he used to worry about the state that he represents and the American people. So he doesn't understand it deeply enough. Maybe in the future he might."

The Libyan leader also said the current Arab approach to resolving the 60-year Arab-Israeli conflict and creating a Palestinian state would not yield positive results.

"There is no way to have two states in that piece of territory."

Lockerbie controversy

In depth

Profile: Abdel Basset al-Megrahi
Release prompts anger and relief
Libyans hail al-Megrahi's return
Video: Al-Megrahi speaks out
Al-Megrahi statement in full

On the question of whether Tripoli and London had reached some kind of agreement on the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, Gaddafi said that no "deals" were struck between the two governments to release the only man convicted of the attack.

He said the matter should now be closed.

"This problem [Lockerbie] is over. There is no way to discuss it or appeal it or anything," Gaddafi said.

"Abdel Basset [al-Megrahi] on a personal basis had the right to appeal, but because of his illness they released him. There is no need it seems to appeal anything," he said of the decision by the Scottish justice minister to release al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds last month.

Libya has faced severe criticism for the celebrations in the capital Tripoli that greeted the man who was found guilty of the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988.

Forty families of some of the 270 people killed in the attack protested outside the UN on Wednesday while Gaddafi was giving his first ever address to the General Assembly.

Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, snubbed the Libyan leader by not attending his speech in protest at the official reaction to al-Megrahi's release.

The US senate also passed a resolution condemning the "lavish" welcome-home ceremony and demanded Tripoli apologise for the celebration.

'Illegitimate and undemocratic'

In the interview with Al Jazeera's Ghida Fakhry, Gaddafi took the opportunity to repeat his fierce criticism of the UN Security Council.

"It [Security Council] is illegitimate and undemocratic and we won't go to it and give it recognition," he said.

"I ask the world not to accept this situation. Many wars have happened and it hasn’t stopped. It's a tool in the hands of the big countries and they use it to advance their own interests."

Gaddafi said he had a representative at the special session of the Security Council of which his country is currently a member but only because it was "Libya's turn".

He maintained that he was only in the US because of his role as the current head of the African Union.

Despite this criticism, Gaddafi said he saw "no obstacles" to improved relations with the US under the Obama administration, and said relations with the US and UK were good.

When asked if he was tired after more than 40 years of power, Gaddafi said he had already handed power over to the Libyan people.

"I am out of power. The people are in power now," he said. "I am not under heavy political or administrative burdens ... or else I would not have lasted for 40 years.

"We handed over power to the people in 1977. The policies are done by the national congress ... Libya runs by itself and by its people. The democracy is direct from the people."

IITWOL : IRAN NEWS

2009-09-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

Ahmadinejad vows to 'cut the hand off' Iran's enemies ahead of UN summit

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is set to appear at the United Nations today, warned foreign powers against striking Iran, saying it would “cut the hand off” of any potential attackers before they had the chance to do so, as Tehran flaunted its hardware in a military parade.

His fiery address came just hours before he flew to New York for the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, where world leaders hope to hammer out a consensus over how to deal with Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

With protests continuing at home and widespread goodwill buoying President Obama’s diplomatic efforts on multiple fronts, this year’s meeting may see Mr Ahmadinejad more isolated than ever.

He has chosen to go into the meeting fighting, with last week's widely condemned speech questioning the Holocaust followed by his defiant assertions of Iran’s military strength on Tuesday, the anniversary of the beginning of the Iran-Iraq War.
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“No power dares to contemplate an invasion against Iran,” Mr Ahmadinejad said in a speech at the parade marking the day. “The Iranian nation will resist all invaders. Our armed forces will cut the hand off anyone in the world before it pulls the trigger against the Iranian nation.”

Upping the ante further, the chief of Iran’s nuclear agency chose the day to announce a new generation of centrifuges for enriching uranium, stronger and faster than those previously used. Diplomats said there was little new in the announcement, but the timing was significant.

The leaders of the E3 + 3 – the US, Britain, Russia, China, France and Germany – are due to meet for dinner tomorrow to forge a strategy for talks with Iran, scheduled to begin on October 1. Hopes of winning over Russia to a tougher line have been lifted by Washington’s concession over the Eastern European missile shield.

Those talks will come just hours after Mr Ahmadinejad addresses the assembly. His reception will be keenly watched. The post-election crisis in Iran has sapped much of his legitimacy and Mr Obama’s global popularity makes it harder for the Iranian leader to cast himself as the plucky challenger to American hegemony.

In previous years, Mr Ahmadinejad has used his speech to voice anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric – to widespread condemnation. The Israeli and United States delegations habitually boycott his speech and Israel has launched a diplomatic offensive this year to persuade more countries to walk out, linking his words to the nuclear issue.

At least two separate demonstrations by opposition Iranian groups are planned outside the UN Secretariat building. Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gabriella Shalev, said his country is explaining to others “how dangerous this man is, how dangerous his country is, how dangerous the process of nuclear development is”.

Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israel prime minister, will use his own speech on Thursday to focus on Iran. On Monday, Israel reiterated that it is keeping “all options on the table” to prevent its enemy from building a nuclear weapon, including military action.

Among the hardware on display in Tehran for the first time yesterday was the Russian-made Tor-M1 air-defence system, meant to defend Iran’s nuclear facilities against airstrikes. Iran is awaiting delivery of a newer version of the S-300 system from Russia but the shipment has been on hold for months due to pressure from the US and Israel, who now hope to get Russia to halt the sale altogether.

The parade also showed off various types of Iranian missiles, including the Shahab-3 and Sejjil, with ranges capable of hitting Israel. Western intelligence agencies believe that Iran has developed the Shahab-3 to carry a nuclear warhead despite Tehran’s continued denials about a weaponisation programme.

“Today, Iran is experienced and powerful,” Mr Ahmadinejad proclaimed. “Our armed forces are ready to confront the forces of darkness.” But the show of forces was overshadowed when a military transport plane crashed in the show, killing seven people.

News Middle East Iraqi Shias form new alliance

2009-08-24T18:30:00.001-07:00

Al-Maliki is planning to form a coalition that will include tribal Sunni leaders, an aide said [GETTY]

A group of Shia Muslim parties in Iraq have formed a coalition ahead of January's election, but Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, has not joined the bloc.

The coalition will include the Iranian-backed Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), the largest Shia party, and followers of Muqtada al-Sadr, the populist Shia leader known for his anti-US stance and his al-Mahdi Army militia.

Adel Abdul-Mehdi, Iraq's vice-president and SIIC member, said on Monday: "I wish that our brothers in [al-Maliki's] Dawa party would be among us today and, God willing, efforts will continue to include everyone, with Dawa at the top of the list."

Dawa was left out because of disagreements over who would lead the alliance, a senior SIIC member said.

Deep divisions remain among the Shia parties and al-Maliki is said to be planning a multi-confessional coalition that will include tribal Sunni leaders.

'Multi-confessional coalition'

Ali al-Mussawi, an adviser to al-Maliki, said: "Mr Maliki wants a real national coalition, not just in the word, but in the programme and composition of the alliance."

The grouping formed without the Dawa party, to be called the Iraqi National Alliance, announced its list of election candidates at a news conference in Baghdad on Monday.

Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a former prime minister and SIIC member, read a statement noting that Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the ailing leader of the Supreme Council, was absent because he is in hospital in Iran.

Also absent was al-Sadr, who is believed to be in Iran.

The announcement is a major shift in Shia politics, which have long been dominated by SIIC and the Dawa party.

The divisions among the Shia leaders could mark a move away from the sectarian alliances that have dominated Iraqi politics since 2003 as Shia blocs scramble
for partners among Kurds and Sunnis.

'No threat'

Several Sunnis are set to join the new Shia coalition, including a small faction from the western Anbar province that includes fighters who joined forces with US troops against al-Qaeda in Iraq and won power in provincial elections earlier this year.

Nouri al-Maliki hopes to attract Sunni groups to his coalition [AFP]

Sheikh Hameed al-Hais, who leads the Anbar faction, said: "Al-Qaeda announced their Islamic state and we managed to topple them. We call on the new alliance to be serious in dealing with security in Iraq."

Abdel Hadi Al-Hassani, a member of parliament for the Dawa party, told Al Jazeera that al-Maliki did not have to feel threatened by the new coalition: "People believe the honesty and leadership of al-Maliki, whose own alliance is the best to lead from any type of racism and sectarianism."

However, Adel Darwish, the political editor of the Middle East Magazine, said that if a motion of no confidence was tabled against al-Maliki and the new alliance voted for it then the prime minster would have to resign and elections would be held early.

"On the other hand, they might just keep him on his toes, waiting for the next election," Darwish said.

"Al-Maliki and his coalition have done much better in local government elections, but the way of Iraqi electoral law, which is proportional representation, would mean that Iraqis are going to vote along tribal and sectarian lines. And that is very dangerous for Mr al-Maliki in the next election."

National elections are due to be held in Iraq by March 2010.

Belasungkawa Ustaz Asri: 'Bila-bila pun syurgaku selalu bersamaku'

2009-08-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

Oleh ZIEMAN
Keluhuran budi Allahyarham Ustaz Asri akan senantiasa dikenang -foto blog Ustaz Asri

BELASUNGKAWA

USTAZ ASRI RABBANI (3 Ogos 1969- 13 Ogos 2009)

BERITA kematian di bulan Syaaban sekali lagi menyentap di hati. Pemergian mengejut Ustaz Asri Ibrahim, teraju utama kumpulan Rabbani jam 10.30 pagi 22 Syaaban adalah perkhabaran yang cukup sedih kerana Allahyarham adalah seorang insan yang sangat istimewa, luhur budi perkerti, penuh hemah bila menyusun kata dan amat disayangi di kalangan rakan artis.

Terngiang-ngiang bait lagu 'Pergi Tak Kembali', 'Intifada', 'Qiblat', 'Suara Takbir' dan alunan zikrullah yang dititipkan oleh Allahyarham.

Kumpulan nasyid Rabbani.Kemunculan Rabbani yang turut dianggotai oleh Mohd. Asri Baidul @ Ubaidullah, Azadan Abdul Aziz, Muhammad Luqman Abd Aziz, Muhammad Rithauddeen Yaakob, Mohamad Afandi Shahbudin, Ahmad Shafie, Nazrul Azhar Tamrin dan Zulkiflee Azman begitu unik kerana ada konsep tersendiri

Sebaik membuka blog peribadi Dr Asri, (asrirabbani.blogspot.com) setiap patah perkataan bagai menggambarkan peribadi arwah selama 40 tahun di bumi ini. Jelas sekali kehadirannya sebagai penyanyi, sahabat, suami, ayah, adik, abang dan anak cukup disenangi. Hilangnya akan selalu dirindui....

"Aku adalah pengejar syurga akhirat, bagiku dunia ini adalah tempat mempersiapkan segala sesuatu untuk meraih syurga akhirat; aku yakin bahawa syurga akhirat tidak akan pernah dapat aku raih kecuali aku boleh menikmati syurga dunia terlebih dahulu. Maka rumah dan keluargaku adalah syurga dunia paling indah buatku. Tempat kerja syurga dunia harianku. Tetangga, masyarakat,dan bangsa adalah syurga duniaku yang lebih luas. Ke manapun dan sampai bila-bila pun syurgaku selalu bersamaku."

Begitulah pembuka kata blog Allahyarham Ustaz Asri.

Ramadhan yang akan menjelma selang beberapa hari lagi akan membuat kita lebih mengingati Ustaz Asri kerana kegemersikan, kesyahduan ayat-ayat Quran alunannya sudah begitu sebati dengan kita.

Justeru bila saja perkhabaran tentang pemergian Ustaz Asri diterima, ramai wartawan yang tidak dapat menahan sebak dan menitiskan air mata rasa kehilangan.

Memetik kata arwah Ustaz Asri tika ditanya bagaimana dia menjaga ukhuwah antara anggota kumpulan Rabbani. Kata arwah, "semuanya dianggap bagai teman sejati dan saling membantu dan mengingatkan masa susah dan senang."

TINGGAL KENANGAN...Saat-saat bahagia bersama anak-anak

Dan itulah yang diterapkan di dalam menjalin semangat persahabatan antara sembilan anggota Rabbani.

Kini hanya wajah-wajah sugul keluarga tersayang, teman dan taulan mengiringi pemergian arwah dengan doa agar ditempatkan bersama roh-roh yang baik.

Pernah beberapa kali ketika buntu mengalami kesulitan hidup, arwah sering berpesan, "walau selama manapun kita hidup, penghujungnya pasti mati. Jadi jangan lupa bawa bekalan untuk pulang. "

Begitulah sikap arwah yang paling diingati. Apa saja yang dilakukan, dia akan tetap selitkan nasihat berguna. Walaupun sedang berjenaka, arwah akan tetap berpesan agar buat kebaikan.

Anak bongsu Allahyarham Ustaz Asri...Hamdi Rabbani yang berusia 4 tahun

Ustaz Asri dilahirkan pada 3 Ogos 1969 di Klang, Selangor. Beliau mempunyai 13 orang adik beradik. Beliau meninggalkan seorang balu, Haliza, 38 dan enam orang anak iaitu Mohd Nasimudin, 15, Mohd Fathi, 14, Nur Atikah, 12, Mohd Ilhan, 10, Sufiyah Munawarah, 6, dan Hamdi Rabbani, 4.

Arwah jatuh pengsan semasa memberikan ucapan dalam sidang media program 'Syahadah' di Angkasapuri, Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) kira-kira pukul 10 pagi tadi.

Ustaz Mohd Asri Ibrahim, 40, disahkan meninggal dunia kira-kira pukul 10.30 pagi tadi akibat serangan jantung ketika dalam perjalanan ke Hospital Pantai, Bangsar.

Jenazah telah dibawa ke rumahnya di Jalan Ikan Keli, Kampung Bukit Lanchong, di sini dan dikebumikan di Tanah Perkuburan Islam, Seksyen 21, di sini selepas Maghrib bagi memberi peluang kepada keluarga mertuanya yang datang dari Johor memberikan penghormatan terakhir buat arwah.

KUMPULAN RABBANI

Permata hati arwah Ustaz Asri...Hamdi Rabbani

Kumpulan Rabbani telah ditubuhkan pada 1 Mac 1997. Rabbani bermaksud "Yang Arif dan Yang Soleh" atau tafsiran umum "ingin mengajak diri, keluarga dan komuniti kepada kebaikan".

Ianya dianggotai oleh 9 orang yang membawa kelainan dari sudut penampilan, imej dan persembahan.

Kehilangan Asri kini bermakna hilanglah tunjang Rabbani memandangkan arwah banyak menyumbangkan kemajuan prestasi dan memberikan kejayaan kepada Rabbani.

Anak arwah, Sufiyah Munawarah berusia 6 tahun paling manja dengan Ustaz Asri

Kemunculan Rabbani yang turut dianggotai oleh Mohd. Asri Baidul @ Ubaidullah, Azadan Abdul Aziz, Muhammad Luqman Abd Aziz, Muhammad Rithauddeen Yaakob, Mohamad Afandi Shahbudin, Ahmad Shafie, Nazrul Azhar Tamrin dan Zulkiflee Azman mempunyai tarikan mereka sendiri kerana konsep yang berbeza.

Bermula dengan berkonsepkan nasyid klasik melalaui irama-irama yang dipetik dari Timur Tengah, Afrika dan Mediteranean, kemudian diadun dan diolah mengikut citarasa yang sesuai dengan era semasa juga dipersembahkan bersesuaian dengan citarasa remaja.

Disamping itu, ianya ditampilkan dengan alunan muzik ala Melayu Timur dan digabungkan dengan adunan muzik Timur Tengah.

Antara banyak kumpulan nasyid, konsep muzik Rabbani lebih global dan menampilkan world muzik.

Kegigihan dan kesungguhan kumpulan ini untuk senantiasa memberikan sesuatu yang baru dan terbaik, dibawah bimbingan Ustaz Asri maka terhasillah 'Rabbani Productions (M) Sdn Bhd' yang akhirnya turut mencipta nama dalam bidang perniagaan.

PENGHASILAN ALBUM

Rabbani telah melahirkan 16 album kesemuanya seperti berikut:

Arwah bersama ibu tersayang

1) Rabbani. 19962) ARAH Dari Mana… Ke Mana… 19973) Muhammad Ya Habibi. (Kompilasi) 19984) Ramadhan Remix (Rabbani / H.Madani) 19995) Pergi Tak Kembali. 19996) Iqrar 1421. 20007) Intifada 20008) Aman 20019) Qiblat 200210) Kenangan (Kompilasi) 200311) Epik 200312) Yalla Beena 200413) Suara Takbir 200514) Malam Sinar Maulidurrasul 1427 (VCD) 200615) Ramadhan Syawal 200616) Maulana 200717) Rabbani 1418-1428H 200718) Rabbani 1418-1428H (VCD&VCD Karaoke) 2008

ANUGERAH INDUSTRI MUZIK (AIM)

1. Album Nasyid Terbaik 2001 - Iqrar - 14212. Vokal Berkumpulan Terbaik Dalam Album 2001 - Iqrar-14213. Album Terbaik 2001 - Iqrar-14214. Album Nasyid Terbaik 2002 - Intifada5. Album Nasyid Terbaik 2003 - Qiblat

ANUGERAH BINTANG POPULAR BERITA HARIAN

1. Penyanyi Nasyid Popular 20012. Penyanyi Nasyid Popular 20023. Penyanyi Nasyid Popular 20034. Penyanyi Nasyid Popular 20045. Penyanyi Nasyid Popular 20056. Penyanyi Nasyid Popular 2006

ANUGERAH ERA

1. Lagu Nasyid Pilihan 2001 - Intifada2. Lagu Nasyid Pilihan 2006 - Nawaitu

ANUGERAH CARTA NASYID IKIM.FM

1. Juara ACNI 2004 - Handzalah2. Naib Juara ACNI 2005 - Yalla Beena3. Vokal Terbaik ACNI 2005 - Yalla Beena

ANUGERAH NASYID MINGGU INI

1. Naib Juara 2004 - Yalla Beena2. Persembahan Terbaik 20063. Penyanyi Solo Terbaik 2006

RINTIHAN ZIKRULLAH

Arwah Ustaz Asri seorang yang amat beratkan bacaan zikir Zikir adalah penawar sewaktu kita hadapi kesedihan dan kegelisahan hati.

Justru 'Rintihan Zikrullah' merupakan album munajat Ustaz Asri yang menghimpunkan zikir-zikir, petikan ayat suci Al-Quran dan bait-bait rintihan.

Sesiapapun akan rasa insaf mendengar alunan zikrullah ini, kolaborasi antara IME dan Rabbani Productions (M) Sdn. Bhd.

Arwah Asri menganggap album ini begitu bermakna kerana ia banyak memaparkan pengalaman hidupnya.

Malah, Ustaz Asri menghasilkan 'Zikir Lailahailallah' buat arwah ayahandanya, Ibrahim Busro, 83, yang meninggal dunia 27 Mei 2007.

"Ia jadi kenangan manis buat saya kerana arwah sering mendendangkan zikir itu setiap kali bulan puasa," jelas arwah.

Dalam coretan terakhir di blognya, arwah merakamkan ucapan terima kasih kepada rakan-rakan yang menjayakan konsert terakhirnya di Stadium Malawati, Shah Alam, 28 Februari lalu.

Pencapaian kumpulan Rabbani amat membanggakan. Walaupun arwah adalah tunjak kejayaan kumpulan Rabbani selama ini, beliau lebih senang berkongsi setiap detik kejayaannya bersama anggota yang lain.

Peribadi arwah yang begitu luhur kini tinggal kenangan.

Al-Fatihah buat Allahyarham. Mudah-mudahan rohnya dicucuri rahmat oleh Allah S.W.T dan ditempatkan bersama-sama orang yang beriman. Amin.

IITWOL (UMMAH) : The Rise And Fall Of The Ummah

2009-07-07T08:29:00.000-07:00

The catastrophe became eminent in 1924
The might of Islam’s Khilafah was no more
The world cornered the Muslims after depleting our core
They took out their militaries and came knocking on our doors
They then began to invade our countries from every shore
They taught us nationalism, tribalism and our unity was out the door

They made us pledge to useless flags and brought their kufr to our lands
They showed us their culture and we became instant fans

We abandoned our religion and so Allah abandoned us
We broke our deal with Allah within our mutual trust
We were supposed to remain obedient and in Allah place our trust
But we fell into sins and were betrayed by our lust
Allah sent us a Messenger who taught us success:
To aim for Jannah and love this dunya much less

But we took the blessings of honor and power for granted
So when we strayed from Islam, a wake-up call we were handed
The troops of the devil in our nations quickly landed
To colonize the Muslims, with their kufr so candid
But we still didn’t learn and so soon we became related
They were far from Allah and Islam is what they hated
We, too loved this Dunya, and our Iman had long faded
We didn’t realize that the gates of Jannah are gated

Earning Jannah means putting desires to the side
If we expect the gates of Paradise to open for us wide

But since we abandoned Allah and forgot our religion
Allah says Be and so He carries out His decision

The worst amongst us were made to lead us
But they, too were oppressors and didn’t even feed us

Allah withdrew our Khilafah and woke us up to a reality
That our success is with Allah and not with ethnic principalities

That we need to put our ethnicities and worldly love to the side
And hold firmly to the rope of Allah, not swimming with the tide
Our return to success as an Ummah resides
In following the Prophets’ and Sahaba’s lives

In learning about and adhering sternly to the Qur’an and the Sunnah
And implementing Allah’s laws collectively as an Ummah

To rise back to the top, we must return to our Deen
Beginning with our own individual beings
Then move onto our families, communites, and nations
Establishing with Allah the best of relations

So let’s invest in the Aakhira instead of over-enjoying life
And be prepared for this means considerable strife

The hatred from the mouths of the kuffar continues to emanate
The time is for Jihad, and Salam to the Believers who participate
Allah’s Messenger, Sal-Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam said
That the Kuffar would attack and Muslim blood would be shed
Because we’re obsessed with the Dunya and abandoned Jihad
That we love this life and would hate to be dead

And until we return to our Deen, this condition remains
That we stand humiliated until we rethink our aims

We are here to establish Islam on this Earth
So by the Will of Allah, let’s give Islam a rebirth!

——————————————-

Surah An Nisaa’ Verse 95

Not equal are those Believers who sit (at home) and receive no hurt, and those who strive and fight in the cause of Allah with their goods and their persons. Allah hath granted a grade higher to those who strive and fight with their goods and persons than to those who sit (at home). Unto all (in Faith) hath Allah promised good: but those who strive and fight hath He distinguished above those who sit (at home) by a special reward.

Surah An Nisaa Ayat 95
Tidaklah sama keadaan orang-orang yang duduk (tidak turut berperang) dari kalangan orang-orang yang beriman selain daripada orang-orang yang ada keuzuran dengan orang-orang yang berjihad (berjuang) pada jalan Allah (untuk membela Islam) dengan harta dan jiwanya. Allah melebihkan orang-orang yang berjuang dengan harta benda dan jiwa mereka atas orang-orang yang tinggal duduk (tidak turut berperang kerana uzur) dengan kelebihan satu darjat dan tiap-tiap satu (dari dua golongan itu) Allah menjanjikan dengan balasan yang baik (Syurga) dan Allah melebihkan orang-orang yang berjuang atas orang-orang yang tinggal duduk (tidak turut berperang dan tidak ada sesuatu uzur) dengan pahala yang amat besar.

IITWOL ( NORTH) : Militant ambush kills 10 Chechen police

2009-07-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

Ten Chechen police were killed on Saturday when militants ambushed their convoy in the neighbouring Russian region of Ingushetia, one of the deadliest recent attacks in the increasingly volatile Caucasus.
The convoy of six vehicles came under grenade and gun fire from unknown individuals hidden in a forest as it travelled on a road in Ingushetia at around 0530 GMT, security officials said. One vehicle burst into flames.
The Chechen police were in Ingushetia to conduct a joint special operation against militants with their Ingush colleagues close to the regional border, the source added.

The attack took place in the Sunzhensky district east of Ingushetia's main city Nazran. The investigative committee of Russian prosecutors said in a statement nine police had been killed and 10 wounded.

"We believe the convoy fell into a well-planned ambush. It was fired upon from at least three different points with machine guns and grenade launchers," an official Ingush source told the RIA Novosti news agency.

Concerns have grown in the last weeks about the stability of Ingushetia, one of Russia's most violent regions, after its leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov was gravely wounded in a car bombing on June 22.

The fact that Chechen police were the victims is especially significant as Chechnya's controversial leader Ramzan Kadyrov has in recent weeks positioned himself as the strongman of the entire Caucasus region.

The attack is the deadliest single militant strike in the Caucasus since April when Russia abolished a decade-long anti-terror operation in Chechnya which was the scene of two separatist wars since the collapse of communism.

Russia justified that move by saying stability had returned to Chechnya under Kadyrov. But analysts warned at the time that other regions of the Caucasus were still mired in unrest.

Islamist militants are battling pro-Kremlin authorities and Russian security forces in a low-level insurgency in the overwhelmingly Muslim regions of Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia.

The militants claim they are trying to form an "Islamic Emirate" in the Caucasus.

Kadyrov said he had given orders to be personally informed of all aspects of the investigation and characterized the attack as a final act of desperation by militants.

"All they can do to us today is crudely shoot us in the back from the bushes. And we are going to put an end to this," he said, according to RIA Novosti.

"Sooner or later we will get them," added Chechnya's interior minister Ruslan Alkhanov, according to Interfax. "Not a single crime will go unpunished."

Officials said Friday that Yevkurov had regained consciousness after almost two weeks in a coma but the Kremlin has appointed the local prime minister Rashid Gaisanov as acting Ingush leader until he recovers.

That move was widely seen as a bid by the Kremlin to halt political infighting in the Caucasus after both Kadyrov and former Ingush president Ruslan Aushev showed interest in filling the power vacuum.

Dagestan is also of particular concern after militants in June shot dead the region's long-serving interior minister as he attended the wedding of a colleague's daughter.

Militants on Wednesday staged a brazen attack in the ancient Dagestani city of Derbent, opening fire on a police station and then exploding a car parked next to it.

Kadyrov's own tactics also remain the focus of attention amid allegations of rights abuses. This week Human Rights Watch accused his security forces of systematically burning down homes of the families of alleged militants.

HISTORY OF IRAN : AYATOLLAH

2009-07-01T19:26:00.000-07:00

Rouhollah Mousavi Khomeini was born on 24 September 1902 (20 Jamadi al-Akhir 1320), the anniversary of the birth of Hazrat Fatima, in the small town of Khomein, some 160 kilometres to the southwest of Qom. He was the child of a family with a long tradition of religious scholarship. His ancestors, descendants of Imam Mousa al-Kazim, the seventh Imam of the Ahl al-Bayt, had migrated towards the end of the eighteenth century from their original home in Neishapour (in Khorasan province of Iran) to the Lucknow region of northern India. There they settled and began devoting themselves to the religious instruction and guidance of the region's predominantly Shi'i population.

Khomeini's grandfather, Seyed Ahmad, left Lucknow (according to a statement of Khomeini's elder brother, Seyed Morteza Pasandideh, his point of departure was Kashmir, not Lucknow) some time in the middle of the nineteenth century on pilgrimage to the tomb of Hazrat 'Ali in Najaf. While in Najaf, Seyed Ahmad met Yousef Khan, a prominent citizen of Khomein. Accepting his invitation, he decided to settle in Khomein to assume responsibility for the religious needs of its citizens and also took Yousef Khan's daughter in marriage.

Seyed Ahmad, by the time of death, the date of which is unknown, had two children: a daughter by the name of Sahiba, and Seyed Moustafa Hindi, born in 1885, the father of Khomeini. Seyed Moustafa began his religious education in Esfahan and continued his advanced studies in Najaf and Samarra (this corresponded to a pattern of preliminary study in Iran followed by advanced study in the "Atabat", the shrine cities of Iraq; Ayatollah Khomeini was in fact the first religious leader of prominence whose formation took place entirely in Iran). After accomplishing his advanced studies he returned to Khomein, and then married with Hajar (mother of Rouhollah Khomeini).

In March 1903, Khomeini when was just 5 months old lost his father. And in 1918, Khomeini lost both his aunt, Sahiba, who had played a great role in his early upbringing, and his mother, Hajar. Responsibility for the family then devolved on his eldest brother, Seyed Mourteza (later to be known as Ayatollah Pasandideh).

Khomeini began his education by memorizing the Qoran at a maktab (traditional religious school). In 1920-21, Seyed Mourteza sent the Rouhollah Khomeini to the city of Arak (or Sultanabad, as it was then known) in order for him to benefit from the more ample educational resources available there.

Young Rouhollah Khomeini

In 1923, Khomeini arrived in Qom and devoted himself to completing the preliminary stage of madreseh (school or academy) education.

Khomeini did not engage in any political activities during the 1930's. He believed that the leadership of political activities should be in the hands of the foremost religious scholars, and he was therefore obliged to accept the decision of Ayatollah Haeri to remain relatively passive toward the measures taken by Reza Shah against the traditions and culture of Islam in Iran. In any event, as a still junior figure in the religious institution in Qom, he would have been in no position to mobilize popular opinion on a national scale.

In 1955, a nationwide campaign against the Baha'i sect was launched, for which the Khomeini sought to recruit Ayatollah Boroujerdi's (he was the most prominent religious leader in Qom after the death of Ayatollah Haeri) support, but he had little success.

Ayatollah Khomeini therefore concentrated during the years of Ayatollah Boroujerdi's leadership in Qom on giving instruction in fiqh (Islamic science) and gathering round him students who later became his associates in the movement that led to the overthrow of the Pahlavi Dynasty, not only Ayatollah Mutahhari and Ayatollah Muntaziri, but younger men such as Hojatolislam Muhammad Javad Bahonar and Hojatolislam Ali Akbar Hashimi-Rafsanjani.

The emphases of the Ayatollah Khomeini's activity began to change with the death of Ayatollah Boroujerdi on March 31, 1961, for he now emerged as one of the successors to Boroujerdi's position of leadership. This emergence was signaled by the publication of some of his writings on fiqh, most importantly the basic handbook of religious practice entitled, like others of its genre, Tozih al-Masael. He was soon accepted as Marja-e Taqlid by a large number of Iranian Shi'is.

In the autumn of 1962, the government promulgated new laws governing elections to local and provincial councils, which deleted the former requirement that those elected be sworn into office on the Qoran. Seeing in this a plan to permit the infiltration of public life by the Baha'is, Imam Khomeini telegraphed both the Mohammad Reza Shah and the prime minister of the day, warning them to desist from violating both the law of Islam and the Iranian Constitution of 1907, failing which the 'ulama' (religious scholars) would engage in a sustained campaign of protest.

In January 1963, the Shah announced a six-point program of reform called the White Revolution, an American-inspired package of measures designed to give his regime a liberal and progressive facade. Ayatollah Khomeini summoned a meeting of his colleagues in Qom to press upon them the necessity of opposing the Shah's plans. They sent Ayatollah Kamalvand, to see the Shah and gauge his intentions. Although the Shah showed no inclination to retreat or compromise, it took further pressure by Ayatollah Khomeini on the other senior 'ulama' of Qom to persuade them to decree a boycott of the referendum that the Shah had planned to obtain the appearance of popular approval for his White Revolution. Ayatollah Khomeini issued on January 22, 1963 a strongly worded declaration denouncing the Shah and his plans. Two days later Shah took armored column to Qom, and he delivered a speech harshly attacking the 'ulama' as a class.

Ayatollah Khomeini continued his denunciation of the Shah's programs, issuing a manifesto that also bore the signatures of eight other senior scholars. In it he listed the various ways in which the Shah had violated the constitution, condemned the spread of moral corruption in the country, and accused the Shah of comprehensive submission to America and Israel. He also decreed that the Norooz celebrations for the Iranian year 1342 (which fell on March 21, 1963) be cancelled as a sign of protest against government policies.

On the afternoon of 'Ashoura (June 3, 1963), Imam Khomeini delivered a speech at the Feyziyeh madreseh in which he drew parallels between the Umayyad caliph Yazid and the Shah and warned the Shah that if he did not change his ways the day would come when the people would offer up thanks for his departure from the country. The immediate effect of the Imam's speech was, however, his arrest two days later at 3 o'clock in the morning by a group of commandos who hastily transferred him to the Qasr prison in Tehran. As dawn broke on June 3, the news of his arrest spread first through Qom and then to other cities. In Qom, Tehran, Shiraz, Mashhad and Varamin, masses of angry demonstrators were confronted by tanks and paratroopers. It was not until six days later that order was fully restored. This uprising of 15 Khordad 1342 marked a turning point in Iranian history.

Ayatollah Khomeini going to exile

After nineteen days in the Qasr prison, Ayatollah Khomeini was moved first to the 'Eshratabad' military base and then to a house in the 'Davoudiyeh' section of Tehran where he was kept under surveillance.

He was released on April 7, 1964, and returned to Qom.

The Shah's regime continued its pro-American policies and in the autumn of 1964, it concluded an agreement with the United States that provided immunity from prosecution for all American personnel in Iran and their dependents. This occasioned the Khomeini to deliver a speech against the Shah. He denounced the agreement as surrender of Iranian independence and sovereignty, made in exchange for a $200 million loan that would be of benefit only to the Shah and his associates, and described as traitors all those in the Majlis who voted in favor of it; the government lacked all legitimacy, he concluded.

Shortly before dawn on November 4, 1964, again commandos surrounded the Ayatollah Khomeini house in Qom, arrested him, and this time took him directly to Mehrabad airport in Tehran for immediate exile to Turkey on the hope that in exile he would fade from popular memory. As Turkish law forbade Ayatollah Khomeini to wear the cloak and turban of the Muslim scholar, an identity which was integral to his being. However, On September 5, 1965, Ayatollah Khomeini left Turkey for Najaf in Iraq, where he was destined to spend thirteen years.

Ayatollah Khomeini and his son Mostafa
in exile (Iraq)

Once settled in Najaf, Ayatollah Khomeini began teaching fiqh at the Sheikh Mourteza Ansari madreseh. At this madreseh he delivered, between January 21 and February 8, 1970, his lectures on Velayat-e faqeeh, the theory of governance and Islamic Leadership (the text of these lectures was published in Najaf, not long after their delivery, under the title Velayat-e faqeeh ya Hukumat-i Islami). The text of the lectures on Velayat-e faqeeh was smuggled back to Iran by visitors who came to see the Khomeini in Najaf.

The most visible sign of the popularity of Ayatollah Khomeini in the pre-revolutionary years, above all at the heart of the religious institution in Qom, came in June 1975 on the anniversary of the uprising of 15 Khordad. Students at the Feyziyeh madreseh began holding a demonstration within the confines of the building, and a sympathetic crowd assembled outside. Both gatherings continued for three days until they were attacked military forces, with numerous deaths resulting. Ayatollah Khomeini reacted with a message in which he declared the events in Qom and similar disturbances elsewhere to be a sign of hope that "freedom and liberation from the bonds of imperialism" were at hand. The beginning of the revolution came indeed some two and a half years later.

In January 7, 1978 when an article appeared in the semi-official newspaper Ittila'at attacking him in such terms as a traitor working together with foreign enemies of the country. The next day a furious mass protest took place in Qom; it was suppressed by the security forces with heavy loss of life. This was the first in a series of popular confrontations that, gathering momentum throughout 1978, soon turned into a vast revolutionary movement, demanding the overthrow of the Pahlavi regime and the installation of an Islamic government.

Ayatollah Khomeini arrives in Tehran.
He is received by officers of Royal Air Force

Shah decided to seek the deportation of Ayatollah Khomeini from Iraq, the agreement of the Iraqi government was obtained at a meeting between the Iraqi and Iranian foreign ministers in New York, and on September 24, 1978, the Khomeini's house in Najaf was surrounded by troops. He was informed that his continued residence in Iraq was contingent on his abandoning political activity, a condition he rejected. On October 3, he left Iraq for Kuwait, but was refused entry at the border. After a period of hesitation in which Algeria, Lebanon and Syria were considered as possible destinations, Ayatollah Khomeini embarked for Paris. Once arrived in Paris, the Khomeini took up residence in the suburb of Neauphle-le-Chateau in a house that had been rented for him by Iranian exiles in France. From now on the journalists from across the world now made their way to France, and the image and the words of the Ayatollah Khomeini soon became a daily feature in the world's media.

On January 3, 1979, Shapour Bakhtiar of the National Front (Jabhe-yi Melli) was appointed prime minister to replace General Azhari. And on January 16, Shah left Iran.

The Ayatollah Khomeini embarked on a chartered airliner of Air France on the evening of January 31 and arrived in Tehran the following morning. He was welcomed by a very popular joy. On February 5, he introduced Mehdi Bazargan as interim prime minister (yet Bakhtiyar was appointed prime minister of Shah).

Ayatollah Khomeini's
last years

On February 10, Ayatollah Khomeini ordered that the curfew should be defied. The next day the Supreme Military Council withdrew its support from Bakhtiyar, and on February 12, 1979, following the sporadic street gunfight all organs of the regime, political, administrative, and military, finally collapsed. The revolution had triumphed.

On March 30 and 31, a nationwide referendum resulted in a massive vote in favor of the establishment of an Islamic Republic. Ayatollah Khomeini proclaimed the next day, April 1, 1979, as the "first day of God's government". He obtained the title of "Imam" (highest religious rank in Shia). With the establishment of Islamic Republic of Iran he became Supreme Leader (Vali-e Faqeeh).

He settled in Qom but on January 23, 1980, Ayatollah Khomeini was brought from Qom to Tehran to receive heart treatment. After thirty-nine days in hospital, he took up residence in the north Tehran suburb of Darband , and on April 22 he moved into a modest house in Jamaran, another suburb to the north of the capital. A closely guarded compound grew up around the house, and it was there that he spent the rest of his life as absolute ruler of Iran.

Ayatollah Khomeini, on June 3, 1989, after eleven days in hospital for an operation to stop internal bleeding, lapsed into a critical condition and died.

Ayatollah Khomeini in his 10 years of leadership established a theocratic rule over Iran. He did not fulfil his pre-revolution promises to the people of Iran but instead he started to marginalize and crash the opposition groups and those who opposed the clerical rules. He ordered establishment of many institutions to consolidate power and safeguard the cleric leadership. During his early years in power he launched the Cultural Revolution in order to Islamize the whole country. Many people were laid off, and lots of books were revised or burnt according to the new Islamic values. Newly established Islamic Judiciary system sentenced many Iranians to death and long-term imprisonment as they were in opposition to those radical changes.

French parliament sets up burqa commission

2009-07-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

PARIS (Reuters) - French legislators on Wednesday set up a panel to look into the spread of full burqas and niqabs among Muslim women in France and will hand in its report by the end of the year.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said that burqas were not welcome in France because they are a symbol of the subjugation of women. Sarkozy's remarks came after 60 legislators signed a proposal calling for the commission to be set up.

A woman wearing a niqab walks at Trocadero square near the Eiffel Tower in Paris June 24, 2009. (REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes)

Al Qaeda's north African wing has threatened revenge against France for launching a "war" against women wearing the garments.

"These threats do nothing to change our determination to do our work while respecting rights and tolerance," Bernard Accoyer, president of the lower house of parliament, told reporters.

"Threats or no threats, that does not change our determination. Rather it reassures us that we should not accept a society where threats prevail over freedom," he said.

The panel is made up of 32 members of the lower house of parliament from parties on the left and the right. It will begin work on July 8.

France, home to Europe's largest Muslim minority, is strongly attached to its secular values and to gender equality.

(Reporting by Emile Picy; Writing by Anna Willard; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Israel blamed over drone attacks

2009-07-01T03:20:00.000-07:00

At least 1,400 Palestinians were killed in
the Gaza offensive [EPA]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has alleged that Israeli operators failed to verify targets of drone aircraft at least six times during the Gaza war, firing missiles that killed at least 29 Palestinians.

In a 39-page report released on Tuesday, the New York-based group said that despite having advanced surveillance equipment, drone operators failed to exercise proper caution "as required by the laws of war" in verifying their targets.

Israel has a fleet of spy drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), but does not discuss whether some of these aircraft also carry weapons.

The Israeli army issued a statement casting doubt on reseach methods of HRW, asserting that all Israeli forces' combat actions "conform to international law, as do the weapons and munitions used".

Israel said it launched its December-January offensive to counter rocket fire from Hamas-ruled Gaza.

It has since weathered foreign censure over the killing of some 1,400 Palestinians, many of them civilians, during the fighting.

HRW based its findings primarily on debris from Israeli-made Spike missiles, which it said are fired from drones.

Palestinian witnesses

But Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd, Spike's state-controlled manufacturer, said the missile, which has been sold widely abroad, can be fired by helicopters, infantry units and naval craft.

Marc Garlasco, HRW's senior military analyst, said they were able to establish that drones fired the missiles after gathering evidence from Palestinian witnesses who said they had seen or heard the unmanned aircraft.

But he conceded that two of the incidents cited took place in the evening or night, ruling out the possibility of anyone seeing the small and often high-flying aircraft.

Asked about the possibility of an armed drone being spotted solely from the distinctive buzz of its propellers, an Israeli defence industry official noted that surveillance drones had regularly patrolled Gaza during the war.

"How could you tell what exactly you were hearing?" the official asked.

The Spike has a range of 8km, Rafael says.

Konsep '1Kelantan' diperkenal sejak 1990

2009-06-30T11:19:00.000-07:00

KOTA BHARU, 30 Jun (Hrkh) - Dasar Membangun Bersama Islam yang dilaksana kerajaan Kelantan sejak 1990 ternyata turut diterima rakyat pelbagai kaum di negeri ini.

Di mana ia mencerminkan seakan-akan konsep 1Kelantan apabila semua kaum dapat hidup dalam keadaan aman dan sentosa di bawah dasar tersebut.

Sedangkan konsep 1Malaysia baru diperkenalkan Perdana Menteri, Dato' Seri Najib Razak selepas mengambil alih teraju pentadbiran negara daripada Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi April lalu.

Anggota Exco kerajaan negeri, Dato' Anuar Tan Abdullah berkata, kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN) baru sedar konsep tersebut sedangkan ia sudah lama diamalkan di Kelantan kini hampir 20 tahun.

"Konsep 1Kelantan dibuktikan apabila masyarakat berbilang kaum di negeri ini dapat hidup aman damai. Mereka seperti satu keluarga.

"Keadaan itu berlaku kerana Menteri Besar, Tuan Guru Dato' Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat sejak awal lagi menekankan semua manusia adalah sama kerana berasal dari Nabi Adam dan Hawa," katanya ketika menjawab soalan Dato' Abdul Aziz Derashid (BN - Kuala Balah) pada persidangan Dun hari ini.

Beliau berkata, konsep 1Kelantan kini diterima pula rakyat di Selangor, Pulau Pinang, Kedah dan Perak pada pilihan raya umum lalu setelah berjaya menolak kerajaan BN.

Menurutnya konsep perpaduan itu akan terus menular pada masa akan datang sehingga mampu menggugat kerajaan BN.

Perdana Menteri baru-baru ini melancarkan logo konsep 1Malaysia, dengan tema 'Rakyat Didahulukan dan Pencapaian Diutamakan'.

Bagaimanapun kata Anuar Tan majlis pelancaran tersebut sendat dengan hiburan seakan-akan program Citrawarna dengan menampilkan ramai artis.

"Konsep 1Malaysia Umno mengutamakan nyanyian dan tarian sedangkan 1Kelantan lebih menumpukan kepada keharmonian kehidupan masyarakat berbilang kaum," katanya.

Sementara itu, Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Kerajaan Tempatan, Pelancongan dan Kebudayaan, Dato' Takiyuddin Hassan berkata, pelbagai undang-undang dan peraturan telah digubal bagi mencegah jenayah dan kemungkaran namun masih gagal mencapai matlamat.

Katanya, hanya dengan penguatkuasaan hukum Islam mampu mencegah segala kemungkaran dan gejala sosial yang berlaku sekarang.

Ketika menjawab soalan Haji Abdul Aziz Kadir (PAS - Jelawat) katanya, di setiap 12 pihak berkuasa tempatan di Kelantan ada skuad Amru yang berperanan mencegah perkara mungkar.

Beliau juga memberitahu Majlis Perbandaran Kota Bharu Bandar Raya Islam mempunyai pusat pemulihan yang terletak di Jalan Mustafa bagi memberi kesedaran agama kepada remaja yang ditahan di kawasan bandar. - mj _

IITWOL

2009-06-29T17:30:00.000-07:00

"Oh look at them! They look so sweet together...don't they?" my friend smiles dreamily at me.

In a corner, I see a young muslim girl wearing hijab shyly speaking to a boy beside her. They seem lost in their own private world. The boy inches closer to the girl, reaches out for her hand and bends his head closer to hers, they laugh at something he says. I try my best not to snort with disapproval . My friend laughs at the expression on my face. As we near a shop selling various trinkets, another couple walks toward us. This time, a boy proudly parades his pretty girlfriend as they saunter down the shopping isle. The girl is clad modestly from head to toe, with a shawl wrapped carefully around her head. Yet she is practically glued to her partner's side, unaware that her actions portray a distorted image of the modern muslimah. Every square foot of the mall is crawling with people from all walks of life. Most of them, couples having a good time. Laughing, holding hands, shopping. I hear my heart scream its displeasure. These couples aren't married! They look too young, and they definitely do not act like any married couple I know! How easily they flaunt their disobedience of Allah's law in front of the public, without a care in the world... I sigh inwardly.

At my age of 21 years, not having someone special in your life is considered strange. It is the hip and trendy thing to have a boyfriend and go out on dates to the mall. Texting each other every single time of the day is a must! Conversations over the phone can continue late into the night. This is a common scenario in western societies where the majority are not muslims. But shouldn’t citizens who are born muslim know better?

In the holy Quran, Allah SWT says,

"And come not near to the unlawful sexual intercourse(zina) Verily, it is a Fahishah [i.e. anything that transgresses its limits (a great sin)], and an evil way (that leads one to Hell unless Allah forgives him)."

Surat al Isra' verse 32

It may be they recite the Quran, but do not know the meaning of the verses. It may be they have read the meaning but have failed to interpret it. It may be they understand the meaning, but fail to act on it. The human heart is a complicated thing. Many muslim youth feel it is normal to ‘couple’ with each other. Breaking up is a phase everyone must go through. After the painful heart-break, the no longer devoted couple who had once declared undying love for each other move on and find another to fill the empty place in their hearts.

This cycle repeats itself until they find the right person to marry. This looks more and more like a plot from a Hollywood movie. And it comes as no surprise since it is the Western way of living, and it has garnered a huge following; muslim youths not withstanding. My eye is suddenly drawn to a young Arab couple. The lady is clad all in black, a hijab wrapping her head. The gentleman is pushing a stroller where an adorable baby peeks out to survey his surroundings. I would give everything to see a sight like this every time I went to the mall. My heart will no longer scream its silent protest but beat a steady drum of approval. Isn’t it beautiful if your first love was your one and only true love? No heartbreaks before this to mar the new relationship and the ties that bind you together is that of marriage. What a perfect union. As perfect as Islam and its followers who strive to remain in Allah’s blessing.

This fleeting, wonderful dream still lingers in my mind’s eye as I turn to my friend,
‘Husband, let’s go get something to eat, shall we?’
He smiles and takes my hand in his. “Anything for my sweetheart...”

Pakatan councillors must brush up their acts

2009-06-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

I believe it is time the Rakatan Rakyat Selangor state government do something about the ‘sulit’ (top secret) culture.

The coalition government is supposed to be a transparent, accountable and responsible administration but after a year, nothing much seems to have changed. One councillor has allegedly threatened to ask a local council to use the OSA on those who reveal official documents concerning the people's well-being.

Meanwhile, when questionable deals are exposed, the state executive councillor responsible for local councils, Ronnie Liu, cannot be reached for comments. There is a deafening silence.

If the Pakatan Rakyat state government continues this ‘sulit’ culture of the previous Barisan Nasional state administration and fails to be transparent, accountable and responsible, then many of its supporters will be put off and the next general election will not be smooth going for Pakatan Rakyat.

Many of the blunders that reflect badly on Pakatan Rakyat can be attributed to the appointed councillors showing off, abusing their position and power, threatening the people with OSA charges, and talking nonsense.

Some are plain publicity-crazy, while a few have been tainted by allegation of corruption. Such people should not be reappointed.

In view of the fact that direct election to the local authorities is not legally possible now, Pakatan Rakyat should consider a sort of indirect election, in which those selected as councillors are nominees of the community, ie, officials of residents associations, representatives of traders and hawkers, and those recommended by the professional bodies.

To safeguard the interest of the people and to avoid conflicts of interests, businessmen, especially those who have dealing with the local authorities like contractors and suppliers of materials, should be barred from being appointed councillors.

As it is, there has be a case where one businessman councillor has been alleged to have used his position to promote his own business. Whether the claim is true or not, the fact is that he has been tainted and he has lost much respect among the people.

Even his own fellow party members have doubts about him. To avoid such a situation, Pakatan Rakyat should not appoint business people as councillors.

Finally, as a demonstration of its sincerity in upholding transparency and accountability, Pakatan Rakyat should make all local councillors declare their assets on taking office and on completing their term.

Such a move will ensure that only people of credibility and integrity are made councillors. As it is, the people don't seem to think much of councillors now, and look upon them as being on the take, although it may not be true.

Declaring assets will enhance the status of the councillors and bring about some respect to them.

The honeymoon is over, Ronnie Liu, and you need to do something concrete and fast to protect the good name of Pakatan Rakyat.

Dajjal

2009-06-29T09:48:00.000-07:00

Author Haji Ahmad Thomson, a British convert to Sufi Islam – in his book Dajjal: The Emperor Without Clothes - wrote that there are three aspects of Dajjal: Dajjal the individual, Dajjal the world-wide social and cultural phenomenon, and Dajjal the unseen force. The author believes that before the Dajjal as an individual appears – there must already be present and established a system and people running that system who would follow Dajjal. The evidence of that corrupt social system (economic disparity, bank bailouts, etc.) and political system (civilian and military dictatorship, etc.) is quite evident – which means that Dajjal the individual is soon to appear. The way the mainstream media is being used to fulfil the agenda of The Protocols by the Zionist mafia against whosoever criticizes Israel – fits in that system.

Holy Qur’an doesn’t mention the ethnicity of Dajjal but amongst the many sign of his coming, described in Hadiths, are: Dajjal has one eye like a squashed grape with letter Kufr written on his forehead (interestingly, some of Israeli airforce jets have word KFR painted on their noses!); Dajjal can be heard all over the world at the same time (mass media); Dajjal will travel in large hops (mass transporation); Dajjal will show people fire but it would not burn them; Dajjal will show them water but they would not drink it (capitalism), and Dajjal will talk of the Garden (prosperity and freedom) but make it seem like the fire.

In 1869 popular book entitled La Juif, le judaisme et la judaisation des peuples chretiens written by Gougenot Mousseaux – in which Mousseaux pictured Antichrist as a Jewish king whom all nations would accept as their savior. Mousseaux writes: “the Jews will raise up a man with a genius for political imposture, a sinister bewitcher around whom fanatical multitudes will cluster. The Jews will hail this man as the Messiah, but he will be more than that. After destroying the authority of Christianity, he will unite mankind on the basis of universal peace and brotherhood, and bestow on it a superabundance of material goods. For these great services, the Gentile nations will accept him, exalt him, and worship him as a god – but in reality, for all his apparent benevolence, he will be Satan’s instrument for the perdition of mankind.”

The top pro-Israel evangelist preacher, Rev. John Hagee, in his televised sermon on March 16, 2003 described Anti-Christ being a “half Jewish” – “There is a pharase in Scripture used solely to identify the Jewish people. It suggests that this man (Anti-Christ) is atleast going to be partially Jewish, as was Adolf Hitler, as was Karl Marx….This fierce gay Jew would slaughter one-third of Earth’s population and make Adolf Hitler look like a choirboy….”

Rev. Pat Robrtson on his TV show The 700 Club, made a similar statement in 2002, based on Biblical prophecy of The Beast (Anti-Christ).

Turkish scholar Harun Yahya in the article titled The Messiah Dajjal Has Secretly Started Work wrote:

“The Dajjal is attempting to deceive Christians in the name of preparing the groundwork for the coming of the Messiah. Making preparations for the coming of Prophet ‘Isa (as) is of course a great service and is an expression of very pleasing love and respect shown to the prophet. However, the Dajjal aims to make the people he takes under his spell do this by very different means, depicting oppression and bloodshed as legitimate. In fact, according to the indications in the hadith, the Dajjal’s endeavors in this regard will not come to an end until Prophet ‘Isa (as) returns to earth, and he will continue to deceive the people he gathers round him in the name of service to Allah and to religion, and loyalty to Prophet ‘Isa (as). Neither the unmasking of these wiles of the Dajjal, nor warning people who fall under his spell and incite terror, violence, war and bloodshed will be enough to halt the Dajjal. Some Christians will pay no heed to these warnings, because of the Dajjal making the claims exactly as they are expecting, his appearing at the expected time, and his performing fake marvels that they imagine to be miracles. The strife of the Dajjal, the number of his supporters and the extent of their Dajjal-like actions will increase still further (Allah knows best, of course)…..”

On December 5, 2005 – Sartre in article titled USrael and Armageddon wrote: “You don’t have to be a follower of Cyrus Scofield to be duped into believing that the rogue nation of Israel is Zion. all those faithfully challenged love their celebrated dispensationalist saint. But what about the remaining secular nut cases that run to the defense of that despotic state that claims to be democracy? “O, woe is me, To have seen what I have seen, see what I see!” – yes, we are all Hamlets when it come to being exploited by the propagandists of perdition…..”

Probe into China building collapse

2009-06-29T02:45:00.000-07:00

Nine people have been detained and urgent safety checks ordered after a nearly finished 13-storey apartment block collapsed in the Chinese city of Shanghai, state media has said.

The city government has ordered checks at other construction sites after Saturday's incident in which the building at the Lotus Riverside apartment complex toppled over almost intact, killing one worker.

Reports on the city government's website said nine employees of the real estate developer, the contractor and the supervisor for the project had been put "under control" and the developer's bank account had been frozen.

Safety checks

Shanghai officials issued a notice requiring work safety checks at all construction projects in the city, with top officials warning of severe punishment for those responsible for the building's collapse.

An initial probe suggests digging under the building caused its collapse [Reuters]

Initial investigations found that the building – one of 11 in the complex - fell over after workers dug underneath it to install an underground garage.

Earth removed from under the building and dumped in a landfill area nearby had caused the bank of the river next to the complex to collapse, the state-run Shanghai Daily reported.

Home buyers who had paid about $2,100 a square metre and had been preparing to move in, are now demanding their money back.

China's construction sector has long been plagued with quality problems and the collapse of bridges, highways and buildings have often been linked to corruption, as officials and contractors skimp on construction materials or issue approvals without proper inspections.

Heavy casualties among students whose school buildings collapsed during last year's earthquake in China's southwestern Sichuan province raised complaints from parents and others who accused builders of cutting corners to boost profits.

In a separate incident in northeast China early on Monday, vehicles were sent plunging into a river after part of a road bridge caved in.

Zhang Yang, the mayor of Tieli, the city in Heilongjiang province where the bridge collapsed, said rescuers had saved all 16 drivers and passengers from the seven vehicles that fell into the river.

Faith

2009-06-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

1. Unity of God
The Islamic creed is that THERE IS NO GOD SAVE ALLAH AND THAT MUHAMMAD IS HIS PROPHET. (LA ILAAHA ILLA-ALLAH MUHAMMADUR- RASOOLILLAH).

Muslims believe that Allah is ONE. He was neither begotten nor does He beget. He has no Partner. He is the Beginning and He is the End. He is Omniscient and Omnipresent.

The Quraan says that He is closer to man than his jugular vein yet He cannot be encompassed by human intellect.

See the following verses of the Quraan:

II:115 II:163 II:255 VI:101 VII:7 XXIII:91-92

XXXVII:4-5 XXXVIII:65-68

CXII:1-4

Imam Ali says in a supplication:

"Oh God, verily I ask Thee by Thy Name, in the name of Allah, the All-merciful, the All-compassionate, O the Possessor of Majesty and Splendour, the Living, the Self-subsistent, the Eternal, there is no God other than Thou, Oh He of Whom no one knows what He is, or how He is, or Where He is, or in respect of what He is, And yet, we know that He is."

2. Justice of God
Allah is Just. In XCV:8, the Quraan says "Is not Allah the most conclusive of all judges?"
Again in XXI:47 "And we have provided a Just balance for the Day of Judgement. No soul shall be dealt with unjustly in any way. (Any good deed or evil deed) though it be as small as a grain of the mustard seed, will be brought forth by Us (in testimony). We suffice as the best of reckoners."
The Sunni School of thought subscribes to the view that nothing is good or evil per se. What God commanded us to do became good by virtue of His command. What he forbade became evil.
The Shias believe that there is intrinsic good or evil in things. God commanded us to do the good things and forbade the evil. God acts according to a purpose or design. Human reason cannot comprehend this design or purpose in its entirety though man must always strive to understand as much as he can.
Compulsion or Freedom?
The various schools of thought are divided.

Mutazzilas believe that man is totally free and God exercises no power over his action. Those who subscribe to this view are also known as Qadariyyas.

Mujabbira school of thought believe that man has no freedom and is only a tool in the hands of God.

The Asharia school of thought to which most Sunnis subscribe believe that though man has no free will, he will earn the reward of his good deeds. The Sunni scholar Al-Ghazzalli sums up this doctrine as follows: "No act of any individual, even though it be done purely for his benefit, is independent of the will of Allah for its existence. There does not occur in either the physical or the extra-terrestrial world the twinkle of an eye, the hint of a thought, or the most sudden glance except by the Decree of Allah, of His Power, Desire, and Will. This includes evil and good, benefit and harm, success and failures, sin and righteousness, obedience and disobedience, polytheism and true belief."

The Shias believe that there is neither total compulsion nor total freedom. The true position is the one in-between. They maintain that Allah has fore-knowledge of human action but does not compel man to any particular course of action.

See Quraan:

II:284 IV:79 VI:17 IX:51 X:107 XI:6

XI:56 XXVII:62 XXX:60 XXXIX:52-54
XLII:30

Gaza residents 'live in despair'

2009-06-28T19:17:00.000-07:00

Residents lack basics such as shelter
and medical care, the report said

The International Committee of the Red Cross has described the 1.5 million Palestinians living in Gaza as people "trapped in despair".

In a report, it said that a main cause was the continuing Israeli blockade.

The report comes six months after the end of Israel's military offensive in Gaza in which at least 1,100 Palestinians died.

Israel said the offensive was aimed at curbing rocket attacks into southern Israel by Palestinian militants.

The Red Cross says that the people of Gaza are unable to rebuild their lives and sliding ever deeper into despair.

There is not the cement or steel to reconstruct neighbourhoods hit by Israeli strikes.

RED CROSS REPORT

Residents lack adequate shelter after homes destroyed

Building materials, pipes and spare parts urgently needed

Basic medicines, reliable hospital equipment are in short supply

Collapse of Gaza's economy has caused poverty to soar

Seriously ill patients are not receiving the treatment they need. The water supply is patchy, sanitation on the point of collapse.

Poverty is at what the Red Cross calls an "alarming" level. Large numbers of children are malnourished.

All this, says the Red Cross, is directly linked to Israel's tight closure of the crossing points into Gaza after the Islamist Hamas movement took power there two years ago.

The Israeli prime minister's spokesman told the BBC that Hamas is primarily responsible for the hardship of Gaza's civilian population.

And he said the idea that, should building materials be allowed in, Hamas would not siphon them off for what he called its military machine was simply not credible.

Army warning follows Beirut unrest

2009-06-28T17:04:00.001-07:00

The Lebanese army has warned that any armed person on the streets will be fired on, after at least one person was killed in clashes between supporters of two political rivals.

Security officials said that the 30-year-old woman was killed by a stray bullet in the Aicha Bakkar area of western Beirut on Sunday.

Two other people were reportedly wounded in the violence. The shots were fired after followers of the Future bloc of Saad al-Hariri, the prime minister-designate, clashed with supporters of Amal, which is led by Nabih Berri, the parliamentary speaker.

An army spokesman said that Sunday's fighting had lasted between two and three hours, but soldiers had now been deployed to keep calm in the area.

"Orders have been given to [the army] to open fire on any armed person appearing on the streets and it will not tolerate any breach of security," a statement from the army leadership said.

In depth

Profile: Saad Hariri
Who's who in Lebanese politics
Country profile: Lebanon
Lebanon: The family business
Inside Story: Winners and losers in Lebanon
Riz Khan: What now for Hezbollah?
Witness: Beirut diaries

The fighting came just a day after Hariri was named as prime minister-designate with the support of MPs from Amal, part of the opposition bloc which also includes the Hezbollah.

Amal and Hezbollah are regarded as political representatives of Lebanon's Shia Muslim community. The Future bloc, on the other hand, draws much of its support from the country's Sunni Muslim.

After accepting the invitation to form a government, Hariri has pledged to work with the opposition "to have a harmonious government that will respresent the interests of all Lebanese people".

Hariri, whose bloc retained the parliamentary majority after defeating the opposition alliance in general elections on June 7, is expected to begin negotiations in an attempt to pick a cabinet on Monday.

Heavy clashes previously erupted between the two factions in May 2008, with Hezbollah, backed by Amal, seizing control of some predominantly Sunni Muslim parts of west Beirut.

More than 100 people were killed in the violence.

An uneasy peace was restored after the two sides agreed to form a government of national unity with veto power for the opposition bloc.

New Gov’t Will Be Hard on West

2009-06-28T16:48:00.000-07:00

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday said his new government would be more decisive in its policies toward the West.
“Without doubt in the new (presidential) term the government will have a more decisive and powerful approach towards the West,“ he told a meeting of judiciary officials in Tehran.
Ahmadinejad said that the June 12 presidential election in Iran which has strengthened his government also marked the end of liberal democracy and liberal thought.
Addressing a national gathering of judicial officials he said, “The Iranian nation favors dialogue and wisdom as well as constructive and cultural interaction,“ IRNA reported.
Referring to the recent interference in Iran’s internal affairs and insulting comments by certain western states abut Iran’s handling of protests after the presidential elections, Ahmadinejad said, “From now on we will take you to trial at every international forum.“
“How is it possible that those who have blood on their hands are now talking about human rights and believe that they can harm the Islamic system with their hollow and satanic statements and their propaganda stunts against Iran’s clean and humane system?“
He made the remarks following comments by President Barack Obama about the violence in Iran following the disputed presidential elections.
Obama on Friday said that the way that Tehran has dealt with those involved in recent riots in the country was “outrageous.“
“There is no doubt that any direct dialogue or diplomacy with Iran is going to be affected by the events of the last several weeks,“ Obama said after talks at the White House with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, AFP reported.
“I think we’re going to have to see how that plays itself out in the days and weeks ahead,“ said Obama.

Nuclear Dialogue Unaffected
He, however, added that the talks with the G5+1 over Iran’s nuclear program would likely continue.
Stressing that Iran’s electoral system is one of the most popular, safest and cleanest in the world, the president termed the remarks by Obama as “being impolite and far from acceptable international norms.“
The president advised western states to stop addressing the Iranian people with impolite literature and “correct their behavior.“
Ahmadinejad garnered 24.5 million or 62.6% of the 39.16 million votes cast in the June 12 vote. His main rival Mir Hossein Mousavi won nearly 33 percent with 13.2 million votes. The two other candidates -- Mohsen Rezaei and Mehdi Karroubi--took 1.7 and 0.85 percent respectively. Mousavi a former premier and Karroubi a two-time former Majlis speaker rejected the vote and as a fraud and have demanded new elections

II:115	II:163	II:255	VI:101	VII:7	XXIII:91-92
XXXVII:4-5		XXXVIII:65-68
CXII:1-4

II:284	IV:79	VI:17	IX:51	X:107	XI:6
XI:56	XXVII:62	XXX:60	XXXIX:52-54		XLII:30