Saudi extremists arrested three Shia citizens in al-Ahsa

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On Thursday , july 30, 2009 , some members of the Saudi security forces arrested three Shi’a citizens ( Sayyid Anwar Salman al-Ali , 17 years , Abdullah Hussain al-Salman , 20 years , Wa’el Abdul Jaleel al-Shaqaq , 21 years ) from village of Rumaila of Al-Ahsa .

Saudi authorities never charged the three citizens with a crime, but apparently arrested them solely on the basis of their religion and under the orders of  ( Badr bin Muhammad bin Jalawi ) the governor of Al-Ahsa , due to their participating in the celebration of the last Ashura in the eastern province city of al-Ahsa .

The detainees were sentenced to seven days in prison .

Baghdad mosque blasts claim over 27

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The death toll from Baghdad’s multiple car bombings has risen to more than 27 with over four dozen people injured across the Iraqi capital.

The six explosions, which were apparently coordinated, struck Iraqi
worshipers in Baghdad’s Shia dominated neighborhoods as they were
leaving mosques after the weekly Friday prayers.
Four people lost their lives in Diyala bridge, 10 km (six miles) south of Baghdad, where twin bombings left 10 others wounded.
Attacks in Baghdad’s southeastern Zafaraniyah and eastern Kamaliyah
neighborhoods killed two people and left nine people wounded while a
separate blast in al-Elam in western Baghdad injured four others.
The northeastern Baghdad district of al-Shaab witnessed the
bloodiest of Friday blasts when a car bomb detonated, leaving 21 people
killed and 35 others wounded, an interior ministry official said.
In a separate incident earlier in the day, two police officers lost
their lives in a bombing that targeted their patrol in the northern
Iraqi city of Mosul.

Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul Freight Train from August 14

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TEHRAN (FNA)- Director of Pakistan Railways Shafiqullah said Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul international freight train will leave Islamabad on August 14. Speaking to the Islamic republic news agency on Thursday, the official said that planned train service will be operated as pilot project of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in line with agreement signed by the three countries in March this year.

“The train will run on trial basis and in future after removing all the bottlenecks the project would be finally started,” he made it clear.
“We want to make it a ceremonial occasion to launch the container train service from Islamabad on August 14, the independence day of Pakistan,” he added.
He said the service would be of great advantage to the business community of Pakistan, Turkey and Iran because earlier the containers used to be sent to Karachi by ship and after unloading were sent forward to respective destinations in the country either by road or rail and this was costing them quite high.
Earlier Pakistani Minister for Railways Haji Gholam Ahmed Bilour had said that Iran will provide trans-shipment facilities in Zahedan till a standard gauge line is laid between Zahedan and Mirjaveh.
Bilour said that Pakistan Railways is trying to improve the section, but it requires massive investment.
He said out of total 6,506 kilometers Islamabad-Istanbul rail track, the train service covers about 1,900 km of the distance in Pakistan, 2,570 km in Iran and 2,036 km in Turkey.
The minister said that Turkey and Iran already have railway link up at their borders and both have freight and passenger train services.
“We are trying to line up soft credit with international financial institutions to resolve the issue related to rail gauge between Pakistan and Iran before it is made a full-grown train service,” Bilour added.
He said that the freight train would initially be dedicated for the transportation of cargo containers and would eventually include other goods and passenger services.
Bilour said that by the time, the pilot freight train service got matured; other ECO member countries including Afghanistan might also join it.

IRAN:TEHRAN'S FRIDAY PRAYERS SERMONS

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Tehran’s Interim Friday Prayers Leader, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, has stressed that the recent presidential elections in Iran, were the fairest, most free and healthiest elections in the Islamic Republic’s history.

Addressing a huge crowd of the faithful and Friday prayers worshippers in Tehran, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati referred to suggestions of fraud in the 10th presidential elections, saying these suggestions were a plan hatched by some people both inside and outside of the country. He pointedly added: “If the recent elections are not valid as some have claimed, then all the elections held in the Islamic Republic of Iran during the past 30 years have not been valid, but if those elections were free, fair and healthy, then the 10th presidential elections held recently were also free, fair and healthy.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Tehran’s interim Friday prayers leader urged President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to select qualified, capable, experienced, highly committed and principled individuals who are adept at handling the ministerial cabinet-level responsibilities they are given.
Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati also urged Iranian lawmakers in the Majlis to cooperate in giving a vote of confidence to all individuals who are nominated for ministerial positions.images-8

Referendum can end Iran poll crisis: Khatami

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TEHRAN: Former president Mohammad Khatami has called for a nationwide referendum on the legitimacy of the government, saying Iranians have lost faith in their political leaders after last month’s disputed election, according to reports posted Monday on several reformist Web sites.
The opposition charges that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the June 12 election through mass fraud.
“Durability of order and continuation of the country’s progress hinge on restoring public trust,” Khatami, a popular reformist, said, according to the sites.
“From the start, we said there is a legal way to regain that trust. I openly say now that the solution to get out of the current crisis is holding a referendum.”
Khatami, according to the Web sites, also accused hard-liners of undermining democracy and challenging the foundations of the Islamic republic when they chose to stand by the election results.
“We need to ask the people whether they are satisfied with the current situation? If a majority of the people are happy with this situation, we will submit (to their vote),” he said, referring to the referendum.
It is too early to say whether Khatami’s call for a referendum would be adopted by authorities, but it constitutes the latest challenge to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader who has the last word on state matters. Khamenei has declared the results of the elections valid.
Under Iran’s constitution, a referendum has to be ordered by Khamenei himself. All popular votes in Iran are monitored by an oversight body, the Guardian Council. Khatami, however, proposed that a neutral body, such as the Expediency Council, should monitor the proposed referendum instead.
Reformists have accused the Guardian Council of openly supporting Ahmadinejad in the election dispute.
The Expediency Council is a powerful clerical body that arbitrates disputes between the legislature and the government. It also advises Khamenei.
Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi claims he won the election, saying official results showing a landslide victory for Ahmadinejad are fraudulent. Hundreds of thousands of Mousavi’s supporters have staged street protests to denounce the results.
At least 20 protesters have since been killed and hundreds detained in clashes with security forces.
Khatami’s suggestion that a referendum be held as a way out of the ongoing crisis comes just days after another former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, criticized the government’s response to the election dispute in his first public comments since the election.
Rafsanjani denounced the government’s violent crackdown against protesters and demanded the release of those detained. Instead of suppression, he said the government should work to address the concerns Iranians have over the legitimacy of the vote.

27 militants killed in 24 hours: ISPR

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RAWALPINDI: In the operation against militants in Malakand division 27 militants were killed during last 24 hours and 22 others were arrested. A security man was also martyred and nine others injured in the fighting against militants.
According to the ISPR spokesman, search and cordons continued in various parts of Peochar valley and 14 militants were killed and 22 captured during skirmishes in various areas.
Six security men were injured in clashes. A tunnel also found in the area, in which the arms and ammunition was concealed which has also been captured.
The forces have taken back Darmai village in Sakhara valley from the militants.
Moreover, a security man was martyred in militants’ attack over Kalpani check post, while three security men were injured in clashes with militants in Achraisar area.
The spokesman further said that a Lashkar of local tribesmen has expelled militants from four villages in Upper Dir. The Lashkar also killed 13 militants. The tribesmen have surrounded Shatkas and Ghazigai to push the militants out of these villages, spokesman said.
The spokesman said that the military has distributed 1060 tonnes of ration among the displaced persons.

President takes notice of vandalism against Christians in Toba Tek Singh

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ISLAMABAD, Jul 31 (APP): President Asif Ali Zardari Friday expressed serious concern over the reported incident of setting the houses of Christian residents on fire in a Toba Tek Singh village, and called for an immediate inquiry report from the provincial government. Spokesperson to the President former Senator Farhatullah Babar said the President took serious note of the media reports of the incident and asked the provincial government to send him a report and also ensure the security of life and property of the villagers.

The President also advised the federal government to send the Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti to express sympathy with the victims.

The President said there were laws of the land to deal with complaints and accusations against anyone and no one should be allowed to take the law into his own hands to settle scores.

It is against the spirit of Islam and the norms of a civilized society when laws are taken into one’s own hands and members of the minority community are vandalized for real or imagined crimes, he said.

The President asked for a thorough investigation into the incident and to bring the culprits to justice in accordance with the law.

He also took notice the reports of some lawyers manhandling the policemen and journalists, and called for a report from the provincial government.

The President called for mutual tolerance, respect for dissent and reconciliation. Tolerance for plurality and respect for the views of others is part of the culture of democracy, he said.

“It is therefore our responsibility to promote democratic values and culture as a necessary tool of promoting tolerance and harmony,” he said.