KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) — Making good on a threat of election day violence, the Taliban sliced off the index fingers of at least two people in Kandahar province, according to a vote monitoring group.

After they cast their ballots, the fingers of Afghan voters are stained with ink to prevent them from voting multiple times. The fingers of the two women in Kandahar, a stronghold of the Taliban, were cut off because they voted, said Nader Naderi of the Free and Fair Election Foundation.

The Taliban had vowed to disrupt Thursday’s election and the risk was too great for some Afghans to venture out, especially in the southern provinces that form the heartland of the radical Islamist group.

Just days ahead of the election, U.S. Marines and other NATO forces carried out military operations to clear and hold sectors that have long been in the Taliban grip, and free up the population to vote.

Sporadic attacks on election day killed 26 people and injured scores more. Still, Afghan officials hailed the voting as a success.

On Friday, the European Union echoed those sentiments and congratulated Afghanistan for holding elections under what it called challenging circumstances.

“While deploring the loss of life, we believe that the security measures successfully prevented any major disruptions of the elections,” the E.U. said in a statement.

Preliminary results will be announced on a piecemeal basis from Tuesday to September 5, according to the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan.

Faisal Al-Doisan stressed that, despite the directives of the Emir of the country to renounce sectarianism, but unfortunately there are those who do not want this country to stability across the target for the Shiite community.Unfortunately there are those who deliberately struck Shiite activities under a security status.

He added that Ministry of the Interior is responsible for the development of security restrictions. Ministry of the Interior has to remove security restriction against Shia groups.

He pointed out that this is contrary to the 1962 Constitution that provides freedom for all people without any differences between citizens.

It is noteworthy that these restrictions status created by some radical takfiri Kuwait.

J.A.P announce with deep regret that allama Maqsood Domki.Cheif  J.A.P of baluchistan has been targeted  in Quetta .During exchange of fire by allam’s security guard ,one terrorist have been killed.

(CNN) — Carole Grant doesn’t really trust medical doctors. She never has. Whenever she has had a health issue, she has headed straight for an herbalist, acupuncturist or other “natural” healer.A few years ago, her alternative practitioner of choice was a self-described “intuitive healer” in New York, where she lives. The healer put Grant on a regimen of herbs, supplements and vitamins to help her lose weight.

A few weeks later, Grant, a geriatric care manager, was closing up an apartment for an elderly client who’d died when she started feeling strange sensations in her toes.

“They were tingling like crazy,” Grant said. “I thought it was the carpet in the apartment, because it was old and dirty, and I’d taken my shoes off.”

When the tingling in her toes spread to her feet, Grant knew that it was more than just the dingy carpet. When it spread to her legs, she knew that she was really in trouble.

“Both legs went numb up to my knees,” she remembers.

Grant sought help from a podiatrist, who insisted that she get care from a medical doctor. Grant chose Dr. Roberta Lee, vice chairwoman of the Department of Integrative Medicine at the Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan. After some testing, Lee discovered the reason for Grant’s numbness: She had sky-high amounts of vitamin B6 in her blood, which can interfere with circulation.”The intuitive healer had told me to double my dose of vitamin B6,” Grant said. “She never told me when to stop the double dose, and I never checked with her.”

It turned out the healer was having Grant take about 100 times the normal dose of B6, according to Lee. The healer had intended for Grant to take this high dose for a few weeks. Instead, she took it for more than four months.

“It blew my mind to think this could happen to someone like me,” Grant said. “I’m so careful. I’ll use every natural modality I can before taking medicine.”

Lee says that although it’s unusual, she’s seen other patients get into trouble with herbs, supplements and vitamins precisely because they’re less cautious with something that’s natural than they would be with a drug.

“A lot of people think herbs are safe because they come from nature, and they are safe if used properly,” Lee said. “But you can still get into trouble with them.”

“I don’t think any herb is good or bad. It’s how we use it,” said Dr. Brent Bauer, director of the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at the Mayo Clinic. “Sometimes people take too much. They think, if two is good, then 20 must be better.”

Here’s a list of herbs and supplements that can be dangerous if taken the wrong way: either in high doses, in combination with certain drugs or before surgery.1. St. John’s wort

This herb, often taken to relieve depression, is always at the top of the list of potentially problematic natural remedies because it can cause serious side effects and increase or decrease the potency of many medications. The Mayo Clinic recommends that many people should avoid it, including those taking antidepressants, anti-blood-clotting drugs, certain asthma drugs, immune-suppressing medications or steroids.

2. Kava

A sedative herb, kava is associated with serious liver problems, even when taken for a very short time, according to the Mayo Clinic. It’s especially risky if you’re taking drugs to lower cholesterol.

3. Fish oil

Though it’s a very safe supplement to increase your intake of heart-healthy fat, Lee says she’s seen patients have excessive bleeding when taking high doses of fish oil. “It’s not life-threatening, but for example, I’ve seen where people are taking too much fish oil, and they’ll have prolonged bleeding from acupuncture needles.”

How much fish oil is too much? More than 5 grams — or 5,000 milligrams — a day, according to Bauer.

4. Artemisinin

Last week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, details the case of a man who developed hepatitis after taking the herb artemisinin for stomach problems. There was no other reason for his hepatitis, and the disease went away when he stopped taking the herb, and the authors suggested that doctors be aware of a possible relationship between the artemisinin and hepatitis.

5. Various herbs when taken before surgery

Dr. David Rowe, a plastic surgeon, was operating on a patient when he noticed an unusual amount of bleeding.

“The tissue was just oozing, and we couldn’t figure out why,” he remembered, noting that the patient had told him he wasn’t taking any supplements. “After the surgery I asked the patient, ‘Are you sure you’re not taking anything?’ and he said, ‘Oh, yes, I’m taking this, this and this.’ ”

In a paper published this year in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, Rowe listed about a dozen herbs that should be avoided within two weeks of surgery, including common ones such as garlic, ginseng and echinacea. Some increase bleeding and some affect the heart, and others interfere with anesthesia or other drugs.

It’s imperative that you tell your surgeon absolutely every natural remedy you’re taking, says Rowe, an assistant professor of plastic surgery at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland. Studies have shown that 60 to 70 percent of patients don’t tell their physicians about supplements.

He tells his patients to read their supplement labels carefully.

“One supplement can have 10 or 15 things in it, so you may not know what you’re on, which is really scary for us surgeons,” he said.

As for Grant, she’s still feeling tingling and numbness in her legs and feet even three years later.

Despite Taliban attacks in 15 provinces, millions of Afghans on Thursday went to 7,000 polling stations across the country to choose their president, who is elected for a five-year tenure and could serve a maximum of two terms.

Among the 41 candidates, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and former Financial Minister Ashraf Ghani are main rivals of President Hamid Karzai, who won the 2004 presidential election with 55 percent of the vote.

Karzai hailed the election a success, praising the Afghan people for braving Taliban “bombs and intimidations.” His government said at least 26 people have been killed in the attacks. The vote counting could take about three weeks and the final result is expected to be announced on Sept. 17.

“The members of the Security Council welcome the holding of the presidential and provincial council elections in Afghanistan on Aug. 20, 2009,” the statement said.

“The members of the Council reiterate the importance of these elections as Afghanistan, working together with other members of the international community, continues to make progress towards its goals and congratulate the people of Afghanistan on their participation in these historic elections,” it said.

SEOUL: A high-level North Korean delegation arrived in Seoul on Friday to pay respects to late former President Kim Dae-jung, a rare visit that raised hopes of improved relations between the tense neighbors.
A plane carrying the six-member delegation landed Friday afternoon, Gimpo airport official Park Hyun-il told newsmen. He did not provide further details.
The convoy is to head straight for the National Assembly, where Kim’s body will lie in state until his funeral Sunday. Kim, 85, died Tuesday.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry said the delegation is headed by senior Workers’ Party official Kim Ki Nam and includes the country’s spy chief, Kim Yang Gon.
It was not immediately clear whether the North Koreans would hold talks with South Korean officials before returning home Saturday.
Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters no other itinerary for the North Koreans had been set.
However, the trip — the first by North Korean officials to the South in nearly two years — could provide a valuable opportunity for contact between officials from the two Koreas, which technically remain at war.
Ties have been tense since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, a conservative, took office last year, abandoning the previous administration’s “Sunshine Policy” of reaching out to the communist North with aid.
Kim Dae-jung, a longtime defender of democracy and champion of reconciliation on the Korean peninsula, was the architect of the Sunshine Policy.
After holding a historic summit in 2000 with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, South Korea’s Kim won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his efforts at engaging the North after decades of inter-Korean tensions.
Kim Jong Il sent a condolence message to Kim’s family on Wednesday. North Korean media announced the next day that he approved sending a delegation to Seoul to visit the mourning site.
North Korea has only dispatched a condolence delegation only once before — a one-day trip in 2001 during the mourning period for Chung Ju-yung, the founder of South Korea’s Hyundai Group, which funded the first inter-Korean joint projects.

Deputy Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem reiterated that Hezbollah would avenge Imad Mughniyeh’s assassination.

“Hezbollah has kept its promise. The decision to avenge Imad Mughniyeh’s murder has been taken. The place and time would be known during execution (of the plan),” Qassem said on the assassination of Hezbollah commander Mughniyeh in a Damascus car bombing last year.

He reiterated that Israel was behind the Hezbollah commander’s killing.

UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, addressing a ceremony to mark the World Humanitarian Day, condemned on Wednesday today’s terrorist bomb blasts that ripped through Baghdad, leaving some 95 Iraqis killed and more than 563 wounded. According to AFP, Ban Ki-moon expressed regret over the continuation of violence in Iraq that has led to killing of a number of innocent people.
The United Nations on Wednesday marked the first World Humanitarian Day to pay tribute to humanitarian workers killed in missions, including the 22 UN staffers who died in a Baghdad attack six years ago.
In related news, the rotating EU Presidency, the Sweden, issued a statement to censure the bomb blasts, expressing sympathy with the government and people of Iraq.
The terrorist blast is believed to be the work of US agents operating in tandem with certain reactionary Arab regimes in order to destabilize Iraq and provide a pretext to the American troops to re-enter urban areas.

KABUL (Reuters) – Two Taliban insurgents were killed in a gunbattle in the Afghan capital on Thursday as millions voted in an anxiously awaited presidential election marked by sporadic violence across the country.

The Kabul attack, coming after the Talibansaid 20 of their fighters had infiltrated the capital, was the worst of several on polling stations and voters, mainly in the south and east.

Despite the violence, the United Nations said there were encouraging signs of high turnout.

“The vast majority of polling stations have been able to open and have received voting materials,” said Aleem Siddique, spokesman for the U.N. mission in Kabul.

“…we are seeing queues forming at polling stations in the north, also in the capital, as well as, encouragingly, in the east.”

President Hamid Karzai cast his ballot under tight security at a high school in Kabul, telling reporters he hoped for an outright majority in a single round.

He faces an unexpectedly strong challenge from former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, and polls suggest he may not get enough votes to avoid a second round run-off, likely in October. Preliminary results are not expected for at least two weeks.

The election is also a test for U.S. President Barack Obama, who has ordered a massive troop build-up this year as part of a strategy to reverseTaliban gains.

Obama’s envoy for the region, Richard Holbrooke, toured polling stations in Kabul, and said what he’d seen was “open and honest,” adding:” So far every prediction of disaster turned out to be wrong.”

KABUL SHOOTOUT

As he spoke, two Taliban fighters were engaged in a shootout with Afghan forces in the capital. Abdullah Uruzgani, a police battalion commander, told Reuters the two were later killed, while unconfirmed reports said one had blown himself up with a bomb-laden suicide vest and the other had been shot dead.

Attacks have increased in the weeks leading to the poll, with fighters mounting two big suicide car-bomb strikes and a building siege inside the normally secure capital.

Security in most of the country is still better than it was in Iraq when several successful elections were held there, but the Taliban may be able to damage the vote even without big attacks if their threats keep people from the ballot box.

But many Afghans said attacks would not keep them from voting.

“The Afghan people are used to living under the worst circumstances of insecurity and fighting, why should they be afraid to come out and vote?” said Sayed Mustafa, a Kabul student, showing off his ink-stained finger that proved he had voted.

Egyptian demonstrators have gathered in front of the German Embassy in Cairo to protest what they say are intentions to acquit Sherbini’s murderer.

In a silent protest, the crowd condemned “the media silence in Germany over the killing of Marwa el-Sherbini,” who was stabbed 18 times by a German man of Russian decent in a Dresden courtroom back in July.

The demonstrators demanded justice and punishment for the man responsible for the young woman’s death, amid speculations that his lawyers may try to portray him as mentally impaired.

Sherbini’s lawyer Khaled Abubakr, however, has vowed to take all possible measures to prevent such a scenario from unfolding.

Protesters believe that the German media’s reluctance to dedicate adequate coverage to Sherbini’s death point to efforts within the German government to free him.

“This rally, which is being held in protest against the German media’s silence 40 days after Sherbini’s death, shows that national concern over this issue will not fade away with time,” said Nadiya Ata, head of the human rights group organizing the event.

She also called on Egyptian officials to make sure that justice is served and that people are informed about future legal proceedings of the case.

The three-month pregnant Marwa el-Sherbini was killed in early July while giving testimony against Axel W. in an appeal court, when the assailant attacked her in front of German police who failed to protect her against the assailant.

El-Sherbini’s husband, Elvi Ali Okaz, tried to save his wife but was stopped short by the police who shot him the leg after apparently mistaking him for the attacker.

Alex W. had been found guilty and ordered to pay a fine at an earlier hearing for insulting and abusing Sherbini in November after calling her a “terrorist.”

He was at court on that day because the prosecutors had appealed against the earlier punishment believing it to be insufficient in view of his verbal insults against the Egyptian.

El-Sherbini’s death created outrage in Egypt and other parts of the Muslim world where protests have been held in condemnation of the hate crime.

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea is counting down to its first space launch on Wednesday that will likely open the door to its nascent rocket program and rile neighbor North Korea, hit by U.N. sanctions after its own rocket launch in April.

South Korea, which has relied on other countries to launch its satellites, plans to send a domestically built satellite into orbit on its rocket Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, also known as Naro-1, from its space center in the south of country.

The Naro-1 is 33 meters (108 ft) long and the two-stage rocket was built at a cost of 502.5 billion won ($400 million), according to the South’s Yonhap news agency.

It is supposed to launch a 100-kg (220.5-lb) satellite into orbit that will monitor the Earth’s radiant energy. Lift-off is planned for 0740 GMT Wednesday at a site about 350 km (220 miles) south of Seoul.

South Korea has relied on Russia’s help with the Naro-1, with its Khrunichev space production center building the first stage, providing technical assistance and conducting tests.

“If we complete the development of the first-stage engine, we will then have the power to launch on our own. This is a tedious task though,” said Yoon Young-bin, an aerospace specialist at Seoul National University.

South Korea wants to build a rocket on its own by 2018 and send a probe to monitor the moon by 2025. It also wants to develop a commercial service to launch satellites.

But it lags far behind Japan, China, India, and to some extent North Korea, and is betting that after its first successful launch it can use its technical prowess to catch up quickly with its rivals.

South Korea’s space agency tried to play down expectations for the launch, saying in a report that only about 30 percent of countries’ first attempts to put a satellite into orbit succeed.

NORTH KOREA IS WATCHING

The South’s satellite launch serves as a point of pride and irritation for North Korea, which in April shot off a long-range rocket and was hit by U.N. punishment because the move was widely seen as a disguised missile test that violated U.N. resolutions.

North Korea, whose economy is about 2 percent the size of the South’s, has boasted about sending a satellite into orbit, circling the globe playing revolutionary songs, ahead of its richer southern neighbor.

U.S. and South Korean officials have said nothing was put into orbit.

North Korea chastised the United Nations for punishing it for the April launch and a Foreign Ministry spokesman said this month the state will be closely watching how the world body reacts to the South’s.

Apart from North Korea, few doubt the South’s launch will be anything but for its civilian space program. But the launch does raise questions about implications for regional security.

An outstanding Egyptian Shia announced four groups and organizations are active against Egyptian Shia Muslims.

Dr. “Ahmad Rasem al-Nafis” an Egyptian Shia Scholar mentioned that Saudi information organizations and Mossad in assistant with Al-Qaeda and Ba’ath Party are striving against Shia religion in Egypt.
He said main origin of religious differences inside and outside of Egypt originates from Iraq.

In continuation, he stressed religious differences are created by Israel occupiers and only Zionists profited from these disputes.

He mentioned that religious disputes were the leaven for the fall of Fatemian government.

Once again, Saudi authorities started a new phase of religious harassment against Shia citizens in Khobar city by preventing Jama’a prayers in any place after the recent closure of five Shia mosques.

Sources informed Rasid that State authorities is looking for Sayed Hashim Al-Sharaf for opening his house for Jama’a prayers in Thuqba neighborhood as a replacement to the closed Shia mosques in the same neighborhood.

The 30 year old man is wanted by the authorities to sign an undertaking to stop opening his house for Shia prayers otherwise he will be sent to prison.

Authorities had already closed five Shia mosques in Khobar city where about 20,000 Shia citizens live there according to unofficial sources.

In the same context, Saudi Intelligence Department forces Hajj Hussain Al-Rashed to sign an undertaking to stop opening his house for Jama’a prayers in the same city.

All closed mosques are Shia and one of which belongs to Ismaili Shia and the other four belong to Ethna Ashrya Shia who are the majority in the oil rich Eastern Province.

Saudi authorities do not allow their Shia citizens to build their own mosques nor have their own cemeteries in areas outside Qatif, Al-Hasa and Najran where they are majority.

The official bodies in Eastern Province Governance and the Ministry of Religious Affairs do not provide reasons for the ban on Shia.

As a reaction to the above events, Shaikh Hassan Al-Saffar condemned during Friday prayers suppression of religious practices in Saudi and warned of inverse consequences to creed debates and the trials for “imposing and suppressing” people’s practices and rituals.

The recent developments came after of 14 months from the Authorities campaign to close Shia mosques in Khobar which included calling and detaining several Shia clerics and leaders.

More than 20 Shia citizens were arrested for taking part in religious activities during Ashura on last January.

Shaikh Hassan Al-Saffar condemned during Friday prayers suppression of religious practices in Saudi and warned of inverse consequences to creed debates and the trials for “imposing and suppressing” people’s practices and rituals.

During Friday prayers in Qatif, Al-Saffar affirmed people’s freedom to practice their rituals and that societies experiences proved their ability to regained their freedom due to inverse consequences of suppression.

Amid the increasingly suppression rate against Saudi Shia, Al-Saffar condemned any trials to suppress religious practices of any sect.

Recently, Saudi authorities have increased their religious harassment by closing five Shia mosques in Khobar city and the return of arbitrary arrests campaign in Al-Hasa.

Most of the arbitrary arrests were made in Al-Hasa with about 20 detainees for taking part in religious activities during Ashura on last January.

In an  implicit warning to Saudi authorities, Al-Saffar said: “Many governments have tried suppressing people’s practices and rituals but the outcomes were inverse and people regained their freedom.”

He called for practices rationalization of religious festivals of Ahal Al-Bayet (Prophet Mohammad Clan) and not limiting them to trivial practices as “these practices carry deep meanings, goals and great purposes” Al-Saffar said.

Last weekend, about 2 million Saudi Shia celebrated the birth of Imam Al-Mahd (the twelfth Imam as per Shia Imamia sect) in a wide spread religious festivals.

Al-Saffar called the world and humanity attention to Imam Al-Mahdi and said “Imam Al-Mahdi is not an Imam (leader) of one guild, sect, country or nation, rather he comes to spread peace and justice all over the globe.”

He emphasized on ” the necessity to openly direct our attention to humanity away from retarded reality which we have imprisoned ourselves within.”

It should be noted here that all Saudi Shia citizens’ celebrations and festivals are not covered by any official or public media. In addition, official human rights committees are sightless when it comes to Shia suppression or harassment.