The News Tribe

Russia warns West against ‘hasty wars’ which can trigger nuclear war

Daniel Clark — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:39:49 +0000

Moscow: Dmitry Medvedev, prime minister of Russia, warned the West on Thursday against launching ‘hasty wars’ which can escalate to a nuclear war.

“Sometimes these [military] actions—which undermine state sovereignty—could result in a fully-fledged regional war, and even—although I do not want to scare anyone—the use of a nuclear weapon,” AFP quoted him as saying.

US Attorney General Eric Holder and some other top international dignitaries and legal scholars also made speeches during the event Saint Petersburg.

Russia has been critical of with the Western powers over ongoing violence management in Syria, which has caused many deaths over the past year.

Moscow, along with Beijing, has so far vetoed two anti-Syria resolutions, saying a solution to the Syrian crisis must be sought through political dialogue, Press TV reported.

Last year Russia was also against Nato-led war in Libya, which resulted in many civilians deaths after Muammar Gaddafi ouster.

On May 7, Dmitry Medvedev replaced Russia’s newly-elected President Vladimir Putin as Russia’s prime minister.

An American Jihadi in his own words

Areeb Hasni — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:31:58 +0000

Nairobi: Top in Bible school, missing his family, and craving Chinese takeaways: an American extremist in Somalia’s al Qaeda affiliated rebels recounts his life in an autobiography he has penned.

Titled “The Story of An American Jihadi” and posted on religious websites, the book claims to be written by Alabama-born Omar Hammami — better known as Abu Mansoor al-Amriki (the American).

If confirmed, the book — signed by Amriki “still alive and well” on May 16 — would be the first confirmation he is alive after a furious dispute with Shebab leaders. In March, he issued a video warning he feared he would be killed.

“I guess I hope that Muslims around the world also take my life as an example,” he wrote in the book, detailing his time alongside Somali fighters as well as insurgents from the US, Britain, Yemen, Syria, Tunisia, Jordan.

“Not that I’m extremely special, but then again I haven’t seen too many middle class ‘white guys’ from Alabama in jihad these days. Hopefully others will say to themselves: I can do that too!”

“I am not simply a disenfranchised foreigner who is jealous of America,” the 28-year old said, writing thousands of miles from the small town of Daphne, Alamaba where he grew up.

“The real fear that Americans feel when they see an American in Somalia talking about jihad, is not how skillful he is at sneaking back across the borders with nuclear weapons,” he added.

“The Americans fear that their cultural barrier has been broken, and now jihad has become a normal career choice of any youthful American Muslim.”

Amriki, who has reportedly been based in anarchic Somalia since late 2006 and is wanted by the US on terrorism charges, has issued previous videos calling for foreign recruits, including singing rap songs praising holy war.

Britain’s security think tank, the Royal United Services Institute, estimates the total number of foreign fighters within the Shebab to be around 200.

He explains he wrote the book because the “war of narratives has become even more important than the war of navies, napalm and knives.”

Detailing his upbringing by a southern Baptist mother with Irish roots and a Muslim father with a Syrian background, Amriki documents teenage crushes on girls, deer hunting, and how he was once “the best student in Bible school.”

“I think having the IRA on one side of my family tree and al Qaeda on the other might have given me a bit of a bad temperament,” he writes in an apparent joke, adding that he wished he could see his relatives again.

“What I would like though is to have a three day visit to see my mom, dad and sister…I often wonder what this whole experience has done to them,” he writes, as well as missing his daughter whom he abandoned in Egypt as a baby.

“After going through all the hugs and kisses, me and Dena (his sister) would probably go running around town laughing our heads off and talking about a billion things without ever finishing a conversation,” he wrote.

“I’d like to make a round of the restaurants and get some Chinese food, some hot (chicken) wings, some Nestle ice cream, some gourmet coffee and a slew of other foods and beverages.”

He had previously been seen as a key leader for foreign fighters in the Shebab, alongside top Somali commanders Muktar Robow and Sheikh Hasan Dahir Aweys, although many have sought to downplay his significance.

Some suggest Somali Shebab fighters view the foreign gunmen as a liability — even as potential spies — while missile strikes have targeted the foreign extremists.

Amriki details his arrival in Mogadishu airport and struggle to integrate with the fighters, and his joy at being given an automatic rifle — which he admits he had at first “had no idea how to use”.

Later he receives hand grenades, his experience of which he admits was limited to that of “anyone who had previously watched a Rambo flick (film)”.

But he also details hardships including poor food, as well as a constant fear of attacks by unmanned drone aircraft which he claimed “just want to kill off every white” fighter with the Shebab.

“The common discussions were whether or not it was lawful to eat frogs…we would find comfort in remembering the different restaurants, fast food joints and home cooking” left behind, he added.

Amriki, whose closing remarks in the book are “viva la revolucion”, adds that he can now “only pray that Allah grants me a righteous ending”.

“I knew that I was going to become a fugitive for the rest of my life when I made that decision (to fight in Somalia), I was well into the post 9/11 era,” he wrote.

Iran threatens to sue Google over not labelling Persian Gulf on Google Maps

Areeb Hasni — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:16:47 +0000

Tehran: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman says internet giant could face ‘serious damages’; Tehran takes offence to some Arab states’ insistence on calling the body of water the Arabian Gulf.

Iran could due internet giant Google over not mentioning Persian Gulf on Google Maps, a senior Iranian official said Thursday.

The threat comes after the Google left the body of water between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula nameless on its online map service.

If Google does not restore the name of the Persian Gulf, it will face “serious damages”, AFP quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast as saying.

Tehran has already warned Google of possible legal action, he told local Mehr news agency.

Iranians are highly sensitive about the name of the body of water, which has historically and internationally been known as the Persian Gulf.

Blast ‘kills five’ in Baghdad

Areeb Hasni — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:12:46 +0000

Baghdad: At least five people were killed and 24 0thers wounded when blast ripped in a market near Baghdad, media reported on Thursday.

According to reports a bomb exploded in a restaurant in a popular market in Jisr Diyala, Southeast of Baghdad, at around 8:00 pm (1700 GMT), killing at least five people and injuring 24 others.

Violence has diminished in Iraq since its heights in 2006 and 2007, but there are still regular attacks in the country.

In April, 126 Iraqis died in attacks nationwide, compared with 112 in March, the lowest figure since the 2003 US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.

Robert Kennedy Jr’s estranged wife Mary Kennedy died of hanging: autopsy

Katrina Jones — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:41:50 +0000

New York: A medical examiner after an autopsy said on Thursday Mary Richardson Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., died of asphyxiation due to hanging.

Kennedy died yesterday in her home in Westchester County, New York. The Bedford Police Department declined to give more information as probe is still under way.

“We know from a history of this family, it’s very hard being a Kennedy, either being a blood Kennedy or being married to one,” CNN quoted Laurence Leamer, a Kennedy biographer, as saying. “The overwhelming celebrity, the attention, the obligations, the expectations that you’re supposed to do something with your life. It’s very, very hard.”

According to NBC, Kennedy separated from her husband two years ago. At the time, she was battling drug and alcohol addictions. In May 2010, she was arrested for a DUI.

“We deeply regret the death of our beloved sister Mary, whose radiant and creative spirit will be sorely missed by those who loved her,” the Kennedy family said in a statement on Wednesday. “Our heart goes out to her children who she loved without reservation.”

“We have no further comment at this time.”

In 1968, Robert F. Kennedy Sr. was assassinated in California, four years after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

Two policemen Killed in Karachi

Abdullah Zafar — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:40:50 +0000

Karachi: At least two policemen were killed when unidentified miscreants opened fire on a check-post in Karachi, a metropolitan of Pakistan, sources said on Thursday.

The sources said that unidentified armed men riding on two motorcycles came near the police check-post in Ittehad town area of Karachi and started targeting police officials resulting in the killing of two policemen while one succeeded in escaping the attack.

“The bodies of the deceased were shifted to a local hospital in Karachi,” they added.

Police has cordoned off the area and started search operation in order to find the culprits.

US to provide Israel $70m for its anti-rocket shield ‘Iron Dome’

Katrina Jones — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:07:02 +0000

Washington: The US will provide Israel an additional $70 million in this fiscal year for the purchase of ‘Iron Dome’ defence batteries, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta announced on Thursday. ‘Iron Dome’ is Israel’s short-range rocket shield.

Panetta made the announcement following a meeting with Israel’s counterpart Ehud Barak at the Pentagon. Barak was in Washington for talks aimed at coordinating strategy with the US ahead of the second round of talks between western powers and Iran scheduled to open next week in Baghdad, Jerusalem Post reported.

Iron Dome was manufactured by Israel’s state-owned Raphael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. The system uses small radar-guided missiles to blow up in midair Katyusha-style rockets with ranges of 5 km to 70 km, as well as mortar bombs, Reuters said. The US has so far provided $205 million in this regard.

“The US decision to support further enhancing Israel’s security is an important demonstration of the unbreakable bonds between the United States and Israel,” Barak said.

However, top Republicans in US are of the view that funding of U.S.-Israeli missile defence cooperation is unreasonable in US President Barack Obama’s 2013 budget request released in February.

Panetta said the Pentagon would seek additional funding for the Iron Dome program over the next three years “based on an annual assessment of Israeli security requirements.”

“My goal is to ensure Israel has the funding it needs each year to produce these batteries that can protect its citizens,” Panetta said.

He said the $70 million would be provided this fiscal year, which ends in September.

“This is assistance that, provided Congress concurs, we can move quickly, to ensure no shortage in this important system,” Panetta said in a statement after meeting Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak at the Pentagon.

Humeri still waiting for her fiancé’s return from India even after 18 years

Abdul Hafeez — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:03:59 +0000

Hyderabad: Dr. Khalil Chichti has finally reached his homeland from India after two long decades but there many other families and lives that still remain divided on both sides of the border.

One such case is of Humeri Khaskheli, a resident of Hyderabad, who has not given up hope on her fiancé, Yousuf, who had been languishing in Indian jail for the past 18 years.

Although Yousuf’s wife lost her hope regarding her husband but it was like a miracle when a fisherman who had spent time in Indian jail came back with a heart-warming news that Yousuf is alive.

Yousuf, a fisherman, had ventured into open seas in search of livelihood 18 years ago and never came back.

The agony of a wait lasting as long as two decades would normally devour even the strongest of the strong but it failed to erode Humeri Khaskheli’s hope. She rejected many proposals for marriage that came her way during these years.

Humeri now believes that one fine day she would be living with the man for whom she never gave up hope despite all odds.

Nato supply resumption: Govt to act at will if opposition failed to unite, warns Fazl

Mudasser Aziz — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:51:58 +0000

Islamabad: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman on Thursday warned that the government will act on discretion over resumption of NATO supply if the rift on issues among opposition parties widened.

Talking to media men after holding a meeting with Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Ishaq Dar, the JUI (F) chief said his party had some grievances against PML-N which he had conveyed to Ishaq Dar.

“Problems could only be solved through dialogue,” he said.

Fazl said that his party had suggested that parties should be allowed to take turns on getting the chairmanship of Parliamentary Committee on Election Commission.

He regretted that the institutions had failed to change their rules of business in accordance with the recommendations of the Parliament. “If the ruling forces do not accept the supremacy of the Parliament, it will be taken as if they are neglecting the national solidarity,” he added.

The JUI (F) Chief said the US continued to pursue the policy blackmailing against Pakistan. “It (US) causes a damage of Rs70 billion and compensates it with Rs1 billion,” he said.

One-year ban likely for ‘rebel’ hockey players

Nasir Qureshi — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:43:21 +0000

Lahore: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Thursday indicated that it may hand one-year bans to the eight players involved in World Series Hockey (WSH).

Senior members of the Pakistan hockey team, including Rehan Butt, Zeeshan Ashraf and Shakeel Abbasi, among others, participated in the Indian rebel league, which was not approved by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

PHF has said that all the players who signed the board’s contract after March 31, 2012 could be given a one-year ban for opting for the rebel league.

In a move to show its displeasure with their participation, PHF issued show-cause notices to the eight players last month to appear before a disciplinary committee.

In last week’s hearing, the players defended their move to join the league, saying that the PHF did not give any clear instructions to the players.

Apart from Abbasi, Ashraf and Butt, former captain Imran Warsi, Waseem Ahmed, Tariq Aziz, Adnan Maqsood and Mudassar Ali Khan also participated in WSH, which was played between March and April.

The disciplinary committee will submit its report to the federation next week and if the the bans are imposed than the players might miss the Olympic berth.