Israeli daily Haaretz revealed on Monday that Israel informed the United Nations that it will continue its spying activities in Southern Lebanon after the United Nations has asked the Zionist entity for clarifications on “listening devices” that were uncovered near the village of Hula in southern Lebanon last week. The request was made following an official Lebanese petition to the UN.

According to Haaretz, Israel neither denied nor confirmed that it had placed intelligence-gathering equipment in the area, but informed the UN that “collecting intelligence” in southern Lebanon, in reference to spying, will continue “as long as the government in Beirut is not in full control of its territory.”

Last Wednesday, a tripartite meeting was held at the UNIFIL base near the Rosh Hanikra border crossing between representatives of Israel, Lebanon and the UN regarding recent tensions in the area. Lebanon claimed, according to foreign press reports, that it had uncovered monitoring devices planted by Israel on its soil.

The UN peacekeeping force was represented by the force commander, Major General Claudio Graziano, while Lebanon was represented by the commander of the Lebanese Army’s liaison unit and Israel was represented by the head of the Strategic Branch in the Planning Department at the General Staff, Brigadier Yossi Hayman.

Haaretz quoted a western diplomat as saying that one of the main issues discussed during the meeting was the exposure of the listening devices. The UNIFIL commander and the Lebanese officer asked for details on the listening equipment. The UN officers said that the equipment appeared to have been put in place during the 2006 July War against Lebanon, but the Lebanese officer insisted that the equipment appeared to be more up-to-date. “It seems that something new was put in place recently,” the Lebanese representative argued.

The western diplomat said that Hayman did not deny that the equipment was Israeli listening devices, and did not respond directly to the questions asked by his interlocutors. However, he did stress that Israel will make use of its intelligence gathering capabilities so long as Hezbollah pose what he called a threat. “Israel will continue to use all means necessary to defend its citizens,” Hayman was quoted as claiming.

He said that the exposure of the listening devices should be evaluated “in the broadest sense” and in light of the situation in southern Lebanon. “In view of all this we do not consider this instance as an Israeli violation of Resolution 1701,” Hayman went on to claim.

In the third month of war, the Shia of Saada take over two important military bases in northern Yemen while the Yemeni army was forced to retreat.

Al-Houthi soldiers took over the bases Shawabah Barakan and Bayn al-Hiyaf in the Razukh district of Saada. Shawabah is located on the highest peak of the city al-Nazir where tens of thousands of Yemenis and thousands of people who have become homeless due to the war live. The Bayn al-Hiyaf base is located in the lowest part of the city which is considered a safe place in Saada.

The Al-Houthi movement announced that it took many weapons from these bases and that the mission could not have been successful without the cooperation of the citizens of Yemen.

Clashes between Bahraini police and Shia youths are continuing on a daily basis despite a ruling acquitting 19 youth activists of murder.

“There are clashes almost every night in the villages,” Nader Al-Salatna, Vice President of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, told The Media Line. “Youths start marching, asking for jobs with a living wage, or calling for detained activists to be freed, the government tries to stop it and this leads to clashes.”

The news comes after 19 young men accused of murdering a Pakistani policeman in the Shia village of Karzakan last year were acquitted of the crime by a Bahraini court less than two weeks ago.

The government accused the men of murdering the 24-year-old police officer, Majid Asghar Baksh, by throwing Molotov cocktails at unmarked police vehicles.

The 15-lawyer defense team argued the government’s case was based on confessions obtained using torture and a medical examiner determined the officer to have died as the result of a fall, not from a Molotov cocktail.

“Most of the youth here support more democratic rights,” said Al-Salatna. “After one and a half years of being tortured in jail they were freed without any charges.”

The court found the government to lack sufficient evidence and released all the detainees, but the trial led to a national political drama and to clashes between Bahraini police and primarily Shia youths throughout the country.

Lebanon’s most influential Shia cleric, Sayed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, appears on BBC Arabic television’s flagship interview programme Fil Sameem (To the Point) on Monday 26 October 2009.

Lebanon’s most influential Shia cleric, Sayed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, appears on BBC Arabic television’s flagship interview programme Fil Sameem (To the Point) on Monday 26 October 2009.

In the Programme, the BBC’s Hasan Muawad, queries the imam about the most pertinent issues of Shia-Sunni relations across the Middle East. Hasan Muawad finds out whether there is a common denominator between issues facing Shias in Iraq, Bahrain and Yemen and asks the cleric’s view on the claims of Shia proselytizing in the region.

Fil Sameem also explores Mohamed Hussein Fadlallah’s stance on the system under which Iran is ruled – known as Velayat-e Faqih, or ‘Rule by the Supreme Jurist’ (currently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) – as well as the importance of maintaining a dialogue between Shias and Sunnis.

Fil Sameen is a hard-hitting, one-to-one interview news programme, in which the host, Hasan Muawad, talks to the personalities behind the stories that make the news – from international political leaders to entertainers; from corporate decision-makers to ordinary individuals facing life’s challenges.

On 20 October 2009 the Saudi General Investigation Directorate (al-Mabaheth al-`Amma) of al-Ahsa arrested the Shia citizens Mohammad al-Hattab , 18 years , student , and Ali Hussain al-Qurainy 27 years , employee from Bani Maan village of Al-Ahsa.

The citizens were arrested on accusations that they participated in the celebration of Imam Al-Mahdi Day of Remembrance which Shi’a celebrated last August .

The Saudi Intelligence Department called the two citizens and upon their presence before the department were immediately put in prison.

They were sentenced a period of one week based on orders from Al-Hasa governor ( Badr bin Muhammad bin Jalawi ).

It is worth to mention that on 5 August 2009 the Saudi security forces were sent to Shi’a areas and removed all sorts of celebration and festival decorations meant for Imam Al-Mahdi Day of Remembrance.

Security authorities had instructed custodians and supervisors in the village of Bani Maan to remove all sorts of fixtures and road decorations meant for Imam Al-Mahdi Day of Remembrance otherwise they will be imprisoned.

Mohammad al-Hattab and Ali Hussain al-Qurainy are in these conditions, deprived of their liberty in an arbitrary manner. Their current detention is contrary to both the Saudi laws and relevant international standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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Hangu: 1 Momin Mazhar Ali embraced shahadat.

He was kidnapped 10 days ago.
Pakistan says it will help the Tehran government locate and arrest the masterminds behind a deadly terrorist attack that killed scores of people in southeastern Iran.

In remarks published on Wednesday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced that an Iranian delegation will soon arrive in Islamabad for talks on the matter.

“We will help them and support them in unearthing the people responsible …We will sort this thing out on a government-to-government basis,” Reuters quoted Qureshi as saying.

He said terrorism was a regional problem and Iran and Pakistan should join forces in rooting out extremism and radicalism.

“What we are asking is that we [sic.] as neighbors, as friends, as brotherly friendly countries, have to adopt a cooperative regional approach to deal with this menace,” he continued. “Pakistan is suffering, Pakistan is a victim of terrorism.”

At least 42 people, including senior commanders from the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Nour-Ali Shoushtari and Rajab-Ali Mohammadzadeh, were killed in a Sunday morning bombing during a gathering of Shia and Sunni tribal leaders in the borderline region of Pishin.

The Pakistan-based Jundallah terrorist group, which is closely affiliated with the notorious al-Qaeda organization, has claimed responsibility for the bomb blast.

Led by Abdulmalek Rigi, Jundallah terrorists have staged a tidal wave of bombings and terrorist attacks in Iran, one of which left at least 25 Iranians dead in early June.

The Asia Times reported in May, that al-Qaeda militants had sought to establish an alliance with the exiled Jundallah to fulfill longstanding plans of creating a strategic corridor in the region and lay the foundation for joint regional operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.

Abdulhamid Rigi, the apprehended brother of the Jundallah point-man, told Press TV in a recent interview that Abdulmalek had held several “confidential” meetings with FBI and CIA agents in Karachi and Islamabad.

He added that during one of the meetings, two female US agents had offered weapons, safe bases in Afghanistan and professional trainers and had attempted to recruit volunteers.

Abdulhamid’s remarks comes two years after The Sunday Telegraph declared Jundallah to be a CIA brainchild engineered to achieve the Bush-era goal of “regime change in Iran.”
His beheaded body was found in Shahu Khel village.

Namaz-e-Janaza was held at 7pm yesterday.

Houthi Shia soldiers in north Yemen on Wednesday said control of a number of key government positions in Razeh district of Saada province, a Yemeni news website reported.

The Houthis said they had taken full control of Bisbas, a government military position in Razeh district during the fighting, the report said.

The Shias also seized a strategic military base and a government military checkpoint in the region after hours of heavy clashes.

“These positions were full of military equipment, and we still control them along with an airport we seized yesterday,” the report quoted a spokesman for the Shias Mohamed Abdul-Salam as saying, without giving further details.

The Houthi said on Tuesday they had seized control of an airport in Razeh region bordering Saudi Arabia.

The international campaign for the release of lawmakers stated Tuesday that there are still 25 Palestinian MPs in Zionist occupation authority jails, most of them are affiliated with Hamas.

The international campaign for the release of lawmakers stated Tuesday that there are still 25 Palestinian MPs in Zionist occupation authority jails, most of them are affiliated with Hamas.

It noted that five of the lawmakers did not stand trial and most of them completed their sentences, but the Zionist occupation authority refused to release them and extended their administrative detention.

One of those imprisoned Hamas lawmakers, Hatem Kufaisheh, said in a letter leaked from Israeli jails that the Palestine liberation organization (PLO) deliberately discriminates between Palestinian prisoners.

Kufaisheh added that this discrimination is an insult to the sacrifices of Palestinian prisoners and reflects the state of political division in the Palestinian arena.

He explained that the PLO deprived 55 percent of the Palestinian prisoners, who do not belong to the PLO factions, of 45 percent of their financial allocations, unlike its prisoners who receive their allowances in full.

Beirut- Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite movement, claimed Monday that it had discovered and thwarted an Israeli spy surveillance network in southern Lebanon.

The claim refers to three electronic underground censors seemingly planted during the 2006 incursion by Israeli troops, and which monitored communications in Lebanon.

All three devices were subsequently destroyed after being discovered. A security source in southern Lebanon, who requested anonymity, said two of three devices were detonated remotely by the Israeli army, whilst a third was blown up by the Lebanese army on Sunday morning.

In a statement Hezbollah said it has achieved a ‘major accomplishment’ after its members ‘uncovered and thwarted an Israeli enemy aggression.’

Hezbollah said its group ‘managed to uncover a spy device planted by Israel between Houla and Mais el-Jabal that had been installed prior to the July 2006 war.’ It said the device was booby-trapped.

According to a security source in southern Lebanon, the devices were used for surveillance of communications by Hezbollah.

A United Nations Interim Forces (UNIFIL) statement said preliminary indications showed that these blasts were caused by ‘explosive charges contained in unattended underground sensors’ which were placed in that area by Israeli forces ‘apparently during the 2006 war.’

‘UNIFIL immediately launched an investigation to ascertain all the facts and circumstances relating to the presence of these devices and to establish how the explosions were triggered,’ the statement added.

Israel waged on July 12, 2006 a 33-day war against Lebanon, during which 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 160 mainly Israel soldiers, were killed.

Saudi Arabia issued a ban on building of mosques, cemeteries and religious houses for Shia residing outside the Qatif, Al-Hassa and Najran where dense Shia citizens reside.

Sources informed Rasid that Eastern Province Governance issued a «Secret and Very Urgent» memo that contain clear sectarian instructions against Shia.

The memo outlines instructions for enforcing a ban on building Ismaili mosques outside Najran and religious houses and cemeteries outside Qatif and Al-Hassa.

The memo, which Rasid received a copy of it, is signed by Deputy Prince of Eastern Province, Jalawi bin ABdulaziz, and refers to direct orders from Interior Minister, Naif bin Abdulaziz.

The memo is addressed to the governors of Qatif, Al-Hassa, Jubail, Khobar, Abqaiq, Ras Tanura in addition to Chiefs of Police and Intelligence services. It mandates full compliance to Interior Minister instructions of enforcing a ban on using court yards as mosques and requesting extreme vigilance.

Analysts think that the memo which focuses on Ismaili Shia came late as arbitrary instructions are already in action since long.

It should be noted here that authorities refuse to issue permits for building Shia mosques outside Shia dense areas like Qatif, Al-Hasa and Najran.

Authorities refuses also to provide any justification for permit issuance refusal.

On the contrast, Saudi authorities build big and spacious Sunni mosques in the heart of Shia dense areas in Al-Hassa, Qatif, Najran and Madinah. These mosques used by small groups of expatriates and Shia citizens are not allowed to use them.

Closure of the Seventh Shia Mosque

Sources informed Rasid that Saudi authorities closed on Sunday an Ismaili Shia mosques in the Saudi Kuwaiti border city of Khafgi without giving any reason for the closure.

Seven Shia mosques were closed so far in Dammam, Khobar and Khafgi out of which three were closed within the past two months.

Sectarian Banishment
Sources informed Rasid that Saudi authorities started a campaign to remove high ranked officers from the Shia «Yam» tribe from security services.

Thousands of Ismaili who original come from Najran spread all over Saudi and many of them occupy major and important security positions in the State.

Some Analysts linked the recent banishment to the ongoing tension between Yemni Government and Huthies supporters on South borders of Saudi Arabia.

Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi has called on Islamic countries to make joint efforts to stop followers of Wahhabism from depicting a wrong image of Islam.

The leaders of Islamic countries should team up in their efforts to hold various conferences and gatherings or even invite Saudi Arabian officials in order to help stop such wrong teachings by followers of Wahhabism, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi said in Qom on Wednesday.

He pointed to the recent terrorist attack in south eastern Iran, saying the killing of Muslims in Islamic countries has had two important consequences: it has created insecurity in those countries and it has portrayed a distorted image of Islam.

On Sunday, a terrorist attack killed over 40 people, including five senior commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan.

The terrorist group Jundullah, also known as the Rigi group because it is led by Abdul-Malek Rigi, has claimed responsibility for the attack, which was carried out in the city of Pishin, near the border with Pakistan.

The Ayatollah said as long as such incidents take place, Islam’s enemies can easily misrepresent Islam.

He added that Iran is ready to provide advice in order to help resolve such problems and exterminate the terrorists who are damaging the real image of Islam.

Lucknow: The Shia Muslim Personal Law Board in Lucknow has made it mandatory for all Muslim marriages to be solemnized in local mosques irrespective of their financial status.

The decision was taken at the meeting of the All India Shia Personal Law Board, which is preparing to announce its national policy on October 25 in national capital.

Maulana Mirz Mohaommad Athar, a Muslim cleric and Shia scholar, welcomed this move, and said: “The marriages or the Nikkah (the contract between a bride and bridegroom) should be solemnised in the big mosques which is owned by the Muslim community. Not in the marriage halls or the banquets as neither the family of the girl or the boy gains out of it,”

Echoing similar sentiments was Maulana Khalid Rasheed, Principal of Darul-Quaza-Wal-Ifta, who said that this tradition has been continuing from the time of Hazrat Muhammad.

“As per the Islamic Shariat (Islamic law) performing of nikkah is auspicious if performed in a Masjid and this tradition has been continuing from the time of Hazrat Muhammad,” Rasheed said.

The move also aims to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.

A blast was heard at the Islamic University in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, on Tuesday, TV stations and a police official said, but there were no immediate details of a cause or casualties.

Two bomb blasts tore through a university in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Tuesday, with at least nine people reported injured as paramedics ferried casualties to hospitals, police said.

Police official Mohammad Afzal from the emergency response department said, “We have sent a team to the site. We are collecting information about casualties,” the policeman said.

Pakistan’s state PTV reported that nine people were wounded as private television channels broadcast footage of paramedics stretchering out two casualties with blood stains seeping through their clothes.

Yemeni Information Minister Hassan al-Lawzi says the army is close to quashing the movement by Houthi fighters north of the country.

Yemeni Information Minister Hassan al-Lawzi says the army is close to ending Houthis movement in the north.

“The armed forces are taking calculated moves, and a final end to these confrontations will come soon,” the state-run Saba news agency quoted Lawzi as saying on Tuesday.

His remarks come 10 weeks after the Operation Scorched Earth started on August 11 to crush Shia forces in Saada province and its surrounding areas, triggering fierce clashes which have left hundreds of people killed and wounded.

Yemen’s state media are reporting tight siege of anti-government groups, adding the armed forces have cut off their lines of supply.

Earlier, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi said the government was ready to hold conditional talks with Shia fighters in the north, but reiterated Sana’a’s refusal to negotiate with those who hold ‘separatist’ demands.

Houthis took arms against the Sana’a rule, accusing the dominantly Sunni government of neglect and discrimination against Yemen’s Shia minority, which accounts for almost 30 percent of the country’s population.

Al-Mazraq refugee camp, near the northwestern Yemeni province of Saada, is the only UN relief center for the displaced Yemenis.

Some 150,000 people have been displaced or affected by the conflict since 2004, more than one-third of whom have fled since the army’s latest offensive against the Shia fighters in the northern Saada province.

According to UN officials, tens of thousands of the displaced are still living in Saada, mostly in abandoned buildings, in the mountains and on roadsides in the war zone.

Lack of food, water and other basic necessities are plaguing those in Mazraq camp in Hajjah, the only UN camp for the displaced Yemenis, as widespread malaria, diarrhea and malnutrition have become major concerns.

The Sana’a government has also been facing massive protests in the south, where people are calling for a return to their formerly independent South Yemen prior to the unification of the north and the south in 1990.

Yemen, the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden, is also believed to host al-Qaeda militants around its borders while the waters off the Gulf of Aden nation remain a hotbed of relentless piracy.

The court jailed six others for 15 years in one of a series of trials of members of the movement in Northern provinces by Zaidi Shi’ite Muslims known as Houthis after their religious and clan leaders.

The trials are of men captured during a month-long fight at Bani Husheish only 30 km (19 miles) north of the capital Sanaa last year. Two others were sentenced to death last week.

Upon sentencing the men shouted the Houthi slogan “Allah is great, death to America, death to Israel, curse the Zionism, victory to Islam.”

They were found guilty of belonging to a so-called “terrorist organization,” the first time Yemeni courts have accused Houthis on a charge usually reserved for al Qaeda militants.

The Zaidis first took up arms against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2004, citing political, economic and religious marginalization by the Saudi- and Western-backed government.

But the conflict intensified in August when the army unleashed Operation Scorched Earth. Aid groups, who have been given limited access to the Northern provinces, say up to 150,000 people have fled their homes since 2004.

Saleh, who also faces a separatist movement in the south, said last week the army would crush the uprising “within days.” Top Wahhabi – anti Shia – State and oil exporter Saudi Arabia fears the rise of Shia in Yemen.

Saudi forces on Monday fired into a northern border town in support of the Yemeni army’s operations.

Both the government and Houthis reported heavy fighting on Monday and Tuesday at Razeh near the Saudi border.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has vowed to give a sever response to the Pishin attack that killed 42 people, including commanders and tribal figures.

(A picture taken before his death shows provincial IRGC commander Brigadier Nour-Ali Shoushtari (center) smiling as he greets a local man in the southeastern province of Sistan-Balouchestan)

“The murder of Nour-Ali Shoushtari, Rajab-Ali Mohammadzadeh, and Bluch tribal leaders, whose blood represents the unity between Shia and Sunni in Iran, will not be left unanswered,” commander of the IRGC ground force General Mohammad Pakpour said on Saturday.

Senior IRGC commanders Shoushtari and Mohammadzadeh were killed in a Sunday morning bombing carried out by the Pakistan-based Jundallah separatist group in Pishin, a borderline region in southeast Iran.

Gen. Pakpour said that “global arrogance” had Brigadier Shoustari assassinated because of the “innovative security tactics he was carrying out in the region”.

He added that the attack took place as the senior IRGC commander was beginning to achieve constructive results.

Gen. Pakpour said, however, that Shoustari’s death will breathe new life into the unity that the region’s Shia and Sunni communities already share, much to the enemy’s disappointment.

Jundallah, a terrorist ring closely affiliated with the notorious al-Qaeda organization and led by Abdolmalik Rigi, has carried out countless bombings and other violent attacks in Iran.

According to a 2007 Sunday Telegraph report, the group was originally created by the CIA to achieve ‘regime change in Iran’. The report said the US intelligence agency sought to destabilize Iran by ‘supplying arms-length support’ and ‘money and weapons’ to Jundallah.

Another report posted by ABC also revealed that US officials had ordered the group to ‘stage deadly guerrilla raids inside the Islamic Republic, kidnap Iranian officials and execute them on camera’, all as part of a ‘programmatic objective to overthrow the Iranian government’.

In a recent interview with Press TV, Rigi’s brother also confirmed the Jundallah leader’s suspected links with the US agents.

Abdulhamid Rigi said that in just one of his meetings with the US operatives, his brother had received $100,000 for his projects in Iran.

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According to Ahlul Bayt (A) News Agency – ABNA.ir – Huj. Akhtari in the conference of “Muslim community and cultural identity and attraction politics” in Greece said: Gathering of Shia and Sunni Muslim scholars in non-Muslim countries visualize the Islamic thought.

Secretary General Ahlul Bayt (A) Worlds Assembly said: The Muslims proper interaction with non-Muslim in non-Islamic countries is the Muslim minorities’ tasks and having friendly and loving behavior with non-Muslims creates a society with tender understanding and interaction.

Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Taskhiri, the other speaker of this conference emphasized: In today’s world solving the problems of Muslim minorities is a need and stressed the unity and charity among Muslims.

Naim Alqondur the head of Greece Muslims stressed the need of cooperation and interaction of Muslims in non-Muslim countries and said:
Cooperation together in unity activities is essential, and because Islam is located in our hearts, we can invite others to Islam with correct methods and observe the increasing spread of Islam.

Conference on “Muslim community and cultural identity and attraction politics” was held Oct. 6.

Sayed Mohammad Al-Nasser, Jumaa Imam in Khobar city, said that Saudi Shia will continue performing Jumaa prayers whatever the consequences are and that they are waiting for a royal resolution on the closure of Shia mosques.

Al-Nasser, a leading Saudi Shia scholar of Al-Khobar city, East of Saudi Arabia, said that “performing Jumaa prayers is our natural right as Muslims and as citizens loyal to their land and religion.”

During Jumaa prayer which was held in a house in Al-Khobar, Al-Nasser condemned the religious discrimination among citizens where Sunnis are allowed to perform prayers in their mosques and Shia are not allowed do the same thing.

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

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.

Royal Decree

Al-Nasser said that Shia citizens are waiting for a royal decree by King Abdullah to resolve the issue of continuous closure of Shia mosques.

High level Shia delegation from Khobar met King Abdullah on July 19 to brief him about the closure of Shia mosques and he promised to look in to the subject matter but so far there are no positive results.

Al-Nasser pointed out that some of the local officials encourage Shia, who visit them for complaint, to perform prayers in Sunni mosques instead of granting permission to build their own.

Al-Nasser said “we request one of the Sunni mosques to allow us use their mosque during Ramadan but they refued unless we get a permission from Emara or Awqaf.”

As a result, Shia citizens built a large tent to perform prayers during Ramadan.

Authorities called Hajj Abdullah Al-Muhana, the custodian of the tent, and forced him to sign an undertaking to remove the tent or he will be sent to jail.

Al-Nasser said that we are currently waiting in an anticipation to hear from the officials to resolve pending issues.

Human Rights Watch said in a report released recently, that Saudi is practicing Systematic Discrimination and Hostility toward Saudi Shia Citizens.

State discrimination against Shia extends to realms other than religious freedom. The report cites discrimination in the education system, where Shia may not teach religion in class and Shia pupils learn from Sunni teachers that they are unbelievers.

The Yemeni army said on Wednesday that it has killed 29 Zaidi Shiite as it presses an all-out offensive against their strongholds in the northern mountains.

Troops killed 12 Shias in clashes on Tuesday in the Harf Sufyan district of Amran province, 70 kilometres (40 miles) north of the capital, the official Saba news agency quoted a commander as saying.

The other zealous Shias were martyred in several different clashes in Saada province further north, the commander said.

A plot to assassinate Shaykh Ibrahim Yaqub Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic movement in Nigeria, was foiled when news of it leaked out last month and the Shaykh as well as his followers spoke out against it. The diabolical plot hatched by the Nigerian security operatives at the orders of the American embassy in Abuja and in cooperation with the Israelis was to be carried out in Ramadan both before and during the Quds Day march. Quds Day rallies are held worldwide on the last Friday of Ramadan, which fell on September 18 this year. The plot was to be launched by bombing Shaykh Zakzaky’s residence in Gyallesy, Zaria. Speaking about the plot during Juma Khutbah on September 11, the Shaykh said, if they want to kill me, why do they want to bomb my house where my 88-year-old mother and young children live? He also called on the authorities to realize that such bombings would also kill his neighbors, who are completely innocent.

Details of the plot indicate that in addition to American and Israeli involvement, it also had the backing of the Saudis whose paid preachers are scattered throughout the country. Nigerian security operatives had met in Abuja, the country’s capital, in early September to put final touches to the plot. Part of it included unleashing a wave of denunciations of Shaykh Zak-zaky and his followers by Saudi-funded “ulama” who would brand his group “heretics.” This is an old ploy used against people that the regime wishes to target. The attack plan was concentrated in Zaria where the largest Quds dDay rally takes place each year although such rallies are held in other states — Kano, Katsina and Delta — as well.

The Nigerian security operatives set up a special “Anti-Terrorist Squad” and dispatched its members to all the states but their primary focus was on Zaria. The plan was to carry out a massacre during the Quds Day procession by accusing demonstrators of disobeying orders and disturbing the peace. This was to be followed by fanning out into other towns under the pretext of hunting fleeing members of the movement and remnants of the dislodged “Boko Haram” group. Checkpoints were also to be set up to prevent any help from reaching the movement from other areas. At the same time, government-sponsored “ulama” were to mount a propaganda campaign against the movement by denouncing it as a “deviant sect” whose leader and members deserved elimination. This was intended to limit sympathy for the group from ordinary people if the massacre turned ugly, especially with women and children being murdered in cold blood.

Unlike the past when groups were instigated to attack Shaykh Zakzaky’s movement, this time the security forces were to carry out the massacre themselves. Additionally, plans had been prepared to take members of the movement into the bush before executing them. This would avoid arousing sympathy for them if people saw the brutal tactics of the security forces.

The government was not content with simply attacking and killing the leader and active members of the Islamic movement. There was also a long-term plan; this would be the next phase of the operation and was to identify those scholars that are aligned with or have sympathy with the Islamic movement. They would be targeted in two ways. First, an attempt would be made to buy them off; those willing to cooperate with the regime would be rewarded and provided opportunity to espouse hatred against the movement. The rest would be hunted and eliminated.

The plan also included an intense media campaign in which various outlets were to be utilized to carry government propaganda and statements of “ulama” against Shaykh Zakzaky and his group. One, Dr. Gumi stands out as the most willing tool of the regime and has been given free rein to espouse hateful messages from the Sultan Bello mosque. He is allowed to preach hatred and violence despite the fact that it contravenes an agreement whereby clerics are called upon to guard against divisive and inciting statements during Rama-dan. Particularly targeted were Shaykh Zakzaky’s popular Ramadan tafsir sessions that are attended by large numbers of people. In addition to such attacks, another ploy included the use of singers to attract people and to divert them away from Islam.

The Kaduna State police commissioner was in the forefront of this campaign against Shaykh Zakzaky. It has come to light that he had earlier sent an intelligence report to Abuja proposing drastic action against Shaykh Zakzaky and the Islamic Movement. In his report, he admitted that the US embassy in Abuja had demanded firm action. He was also reported to have held meetings with district heads, Islamic scholars and community leaders in Kaduna in preparation for the planned onslaught.

This is part of the US war on terrorism in which any Islamic activist or independent-minded alim is targeted for assassination. In Nigeria the Zionists are also very active. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, a well-known racist, had only a few weeks earlier visited Nigeria. The visit was presented as part of an agreement on agricultural and technological cooperation between the two countries but it also included a security pact whereby Israel would not only train Nigerian security personnel but also be directly involved in local security operations. The plot to assassinate Shaykh Zazaky coming within days of Lieberman’s visit could not be more revealing especially in view of his racist views and hatred of Islamic activists.

Shaykh Zakzaky is not new to such plots. He has spent many years in prison for defying successive dictatorial regimes in Nigeria. He has a large following among the people because of his courageous stand and sacrificing spirit. During the Quds Day rally that had set out from the Sabon Gari Masjid in Sabon Gari, Zaria on September 18, the security personnel attacked the rally and were planning to perpetrate a bloodbath at Kofar Doka Roundabout area where the march was to end. Despite the peaceful nature of the rally, the Nigerian Police Mobile Force stationed at Kofar Doka attacked the marchers. The Police not only used tear gas but also opened fire, shooting at least four people. One protester was reportedly martyred whose body was immediately taken away by the police.

Faced with such violence, the organizers of the rally decided to change the termination point and the procession was diverted to the nearby Juma‘at Mosque in Tudun Wada Zaria. At the conclusion of the rally Shaykh Zakzaky spoke both about the Quds Day event as well as the police attack. He urged his followers to remain steadfast and not be cowed down by such terror tactics. Reflecting their anger and disgust at Israeli brutality in Occupied Palestine, Israeli flags were set on fire amid shouts of Allahu-akbar and anti-Zionist slogans.

The rally concluded with special du‘as and expressions of solidarity with the oppressed people of Occupied Palestine. It would seem, however, that in Muslim countries it is now a crime to express solidarity with the oppressed people of Palestine and those who do so are likely to face the brutality of the security forces to please their American and Zionist masters.

An official delegation from the United Arab Emirates is expected to arrive in Beirut on Friday as part of efforts to settle the issue of expelled Lebanese Shiites from the UAE. Well-informed sources told the Al-Liwaa newspaper in remarks published Wednesday that Speaker Nabih Berri will contact UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed after having called UAE FM Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed.

Hundreds of Lebanese Shiites have been expelled from UAE in the past three months after refusing to spy on their compatriots and Hizbullah, some of those deported said.

The sources said Berri as well as Hizbullah have taken it upon themselves to settle this issue.

They quoted Berri as cautioning those involved in contacts regarding this issue against “getting engaged in a political or media dispute with the UAE.”

Yemeni army said on Monday it killed five Shias and wounded several others in the old city of Saada in northern Yemen, al-Jazeera TV reported.

Military sources said the army forces fought from street to street with the Houthi Shias in the old city. The Houthis exchanged fire with the army forces from their shelters , according to the unidentified sources.

Local sources said the army took control of several areas, eyewitnesses said a number of innocent citizens have been killed or wounded in fierce battles against Shia Muslims. However, there are no precise reports about the casualties.

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Israel has deployed thousands of security forces in and around the Al-Aqsa mosque compound amid heightened tensions over the closure of the holy site in East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

Tensions were running high in the Holy City on Monday, as tens of thousands of Jews attended a religious ceremony in the compound–known to Muslims as Al-Haram Al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount, AFP reported.

An estimated 30,000 Jews prayed at the Western Wall, below Al-Aqsa, for the Priestly Blessing ceremony, a highlight of the Sukkot celebrations.

Israeli police restricted access to the mosque compound to Muslim men aged 50 and over, with no restrictions for women, after Sunday’s clashes, in which seven Palestinian protesters were injured and three arrested.

“These measures were taken to avert new incidents on the compound and the Old City and to prevent stones being thrown at the Jewish faithful who come to pray at the Western Wall,” Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld claimed.

Clashes broke out after more than 150 Palestinians protested the closure of the holy compound, following what the Israelis claimed to be calls by the Palestinian media to “come protect the Mount.”

Israel occupied East Jerusalem Al-Quds during a 1967 aggression and later annexed it. The status of the city is among the thorniest issues of the peace process with the Palestinians, underscoring the reality that any Palestinian state should include the city as its capital.

Iraq: An official source in the office of Grand Ayatollah Sistani has declined on Monday reports which said that the Grand Ayatullah warned that he may call for a boycott of January’s general election if MPs adopt a closed voting system,Iraq’s Buratha News reported.

“Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani expressed his support for the open list, and we think the open list is one of the ways to push large numbers of Iraqis to vote in the elections,” the official sorce told Iraqi satellite.

AFP, Middle East News and other sites had reported quoting an aide of the Ayatullah that he warned that he may call for a boycott of January’s general election if MPs adopt a closed voting system.