Tehran people slam massacre of Yemen Shias

Posted on by

Shame on Obama the big liar / Wahhabism; the dark point of Islamic world / Tehrani protestors shout slogans while carried placards showed their firm objection of killing innocent women and children by Yemeni government and its collaborators U.S, Saudi.

Following Friday prayers ceremony in Tehran University campus, the people marched towards Palestine’s Square.

The demonstrators carried some placards condemning the massacre of Shias in Yemen and called on the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) for immediate reaction against the massacre.

They also condemned the genocide in Yemen and chanted ‘Death to the US’, ‘Death to Israel’ and ‘Death to Britain’ and ‘Wahhabism; the dark point of Islamic world’.

Bomb attack hits NGO office in Peshawar, one injured

Posted on by

PESHAWAR: A bomb exploded near the building of a non-government organisation offering treatment to the blind in Peshawar on Saturday, injuring one person, police said.

The bomb was planted behind the two-storey building housing the German-funded Comprehensive Health and Education Foundation, senior police officer Imran Kishwar said.

The building targeted in the attack is located on Aabdara Road in the University Town area of the NWFP capital. It is believed to be a high-security zone as several government offices and guest houses are located in the area.

‘It damaged the outer wall and one office employee was wounded. His condition is stable,’ Kishwar told AFP.

The group’s head, Daud Khan, said the early morning blast damaged some office equipment.

‘We are engaged in providing treatment to the blind people in North West Frontier Province. Our teams visit different parts of the province and offer treatment to local people suffering from eye diseases,’ he told AFP.

‘We receive funds from Germany.’

While the exact nature of the blast has not been determined, initial reports suggests a homemade improvised explosive device was used.

Peshawar has been in the grip of a wave of militant violence for the past several weeks and has been rocked by eight bombings in 12 days.

Mine explosion leaves 15 dead, 114 trapped in China

Posted on by

BEIJING: A gas explosion at a mine in northeast China early Saturday killed 15 workers and left 114 trapped, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said.

The incident happened at about 2:30 am at a mine in Heilongjiang province, Xinhua news agency said, quoting the provincial coal mine safety watchdog.

The company said 528 miners were working in the mine, 10 kilometres from Hegang City, when the blast occurred, Xinhua reported. It earlier said 139 miners had been trapped.

CCTV said most of the miners had managed to escape.

Xinhua said vice premier Zhang Dejiang was going to the scene of the incident to direct rescue operations.

The safety watchdog said the mine is owned by the Heilongjiang Longmay Mining Holding Group, based in provincial capital Harbin.

China’s coal mines are among the most dangerous in the world, with safety standards often ignored in the quest for profits and the drive to meet surging demand for coal – the source of about 70 per cent of China’s energy.

Official figures show that more than 3,200 workers died in collieries last year, but independent labour groups say the actual figure could be much higher.

Italy arrests two Pakistanis for Mumbai attacks

Posted on by

ROME: Police in Italy’s northern city of Brescia arrested two Pakistanis accused of logistical support for last year’s terror attacks in Mumbai, Italy’s ANSA news agency reported.

The two men arrested Saturday used a money transfer agency they managed to send funds for the attacks, ANSA cited police sources as saying.

The money was used to pay for an Internet phone account used by people in contact with the attackers.

The agency said the two were accused of aiding and abetting as well as illegal financial activity.

Former Sipah-e-Sahaba leader shot dead in Karachi

Posted on by

KARACHI: Unidentified men shot dead a former leader of a banned militant organisation in Karachi on Saturday.

Ilyas Zubair, a former head of the banned religious outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and Qari Shafiq, another member of SSP were attacked by gunmen in the Teen-Hatti area of Karachi.

While Zubair was found dead at the site of the attack, Shafiq was injured but later succumbed to the gun-shot wounds at a local hospital, according to DawnNews.

Ilyas’s dead body was later shifted Civil Hospital, where a large number of workers of SSP had gathered.

Police officials said that while the exact nature of the attack has not been determined, it appears to be an act of sectarian violence.

Kashmir talks futile without Pakistan:

Posted on by

MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has warned that dialogue between the government of India and the leadership from occupied Kashmir cannot succeed without engaging Pakistan which is a party to the dispute.

Talking to journalists here on Friday, the foreign minister said Pakistan was not engaged in back-channel diplomacy with India over Kashmir.

He said he had met All Parties’ Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in New York and invited the leadership of occupied Kashmir to Pakistan and a delegation was likely to visit Islamabad after Eid.

Mr Qureshi said he had held an informal meeting with the Indian foreign minister in Kabul where both attended the swearing-in ceremony of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

He said he had made it clear to the Indian minister that Pakistan wanted constructive engagement and meaningful dialogue.

And now it was for India to decide what it wanted in the future because Pakistan was not interested in a ‘photo session’.

Mr Qureshi said he had asked the Indian foreign minister about a roadmap for resumption of composite dialogue handed over to him during an earlier meeting in New York.

He said the Indian minister had promised that he would inform Pakistan after discussing the matter with his government but there was no reply yet from his side.

The foreign minister said resumption of dialogue was not only in the interest of Pakistan and India, but also beneficial for the entire region.

Pakistan was ready to discuss ‘everything’ and ‘anything’ with India, he said.

Answering a question about a meeting between Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh and the US president scheduled on Nov 24, he said Pakistan would not bow to pressure from India or any other country because it had its own priorities and would take all decisions in the country’s interest.

Commenting on a Washington Times report about presence of Taliban chief Mullah Omar in Karachi, the minister said that had the information been credible it would have been conveyed through official channels.

He said such reports were often published in newspapers and a number of them were denied by governments of the countries concerned.

Nuclear fuel exchange can be done in Iran: Mottaki

Posted on by

TEHRAN, Nov. 21  — Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says that Iran is prepared to exchange its nuclear fuel inside Iran.

Iran has proposed a new framework for negotiations on the exchange of fuel, whereby the enriched uranium would be exchanged inside Iran, he said at a press conference in Manila on Friday before departing for Iran.

Mottaki added, “We have three ways to obtain the 20 percent (enriched) fuel: increasing the enrichment from 3.5 percent to 20 percent in Iran; buying the 20 percent fuel from other countries; or (through) the proposal made by the (International Atomic Energy) Agency and other countries, and Iran is ready for talks under the proposed framework.”

He also stated that it is not logical to ask Iran to ship its 3.5 percent enriched uranium out of the country and to receive the 20 percent enriched fuel later.

The Iranian foreign minister suggested that a simultaneous exchange of nuclear fuel should not be a problem.

The nuclear fuel talks between Iran, Russia, the United States, and France concluded on October 21 in Vienna without a final agreement, but IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei then presented a proposal for the four countries to study.

Under the draft deal, a large consignment of Iran’s enriched uranium would be shipped out of the country for processing into fuel rods with a purity of 20 percent, which would be used by a research reactor in Tehran that manufactures medical radioisotopes.

On October 23, diplomats from Russia, France, and the United States submitted their formal approvals of the deal to process Iran’s nuclear fuel abroad.

However, several senior Iranian officials, including Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani, have strongly criticized the deal, saying it is neither logical nor legal.

Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee rapporteur Kazem Jalali had said earlier that the proposed exchange of uranium should be done in Iran.

U.S. must unfreeze Iran’s assets: Ahmadinejad

Posted on by

TABRIZ, Nov. 21 (MNA) – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated that the major powers must respect Iran and unfreeze its assets if they want to engage with Tehran.

“If our nation sees they have changed their behavior, dropped their arrogant attitude… and respect the Iranian nation’s rights and return its assets, the nation will accept that,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech in Tabriz.

“But if they are returning to deception and plotting in the region, our nation”s response will be the same as it gave to these men’s predecessors,” AFP quoted him as saying.

The United States froze Iranian government assets in 1979 when students seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

The crisis led to the end of U.S.-Iranian diplomatic relations in 1980.

The asset freeze, which has been renewed every year, is a source of resentment in Iran.

Earlier this month U.S. federal prosecutors said they were moving to seize four mosques and a 36-story New York skyscraper from a non-profit Muslim group suspected of being under the Iranian government’s control.

Fifth Development Plan based on Iranian-Islamic model

Ahmadinejad also stated that the Fifth Development Plan (2010-2015) has been devised based on an Iranian-Islamic pattern.

“While the ideology and system of liberalism is trying to maintain its distance from us, we designed the Fifth Development Plan based on an Iranian-Islamic pattern,” he said in a meeting with managers in Tabriz on Friday.

Ahmadinejad added that the system of liberalism has presented itself as the most complete model of development in order to dominate the world.

“The system of liberalism that is devastating to humanity… regards itself as developed and regards us as developing in order to dominate the world,” he said.

The president also stated that managers should not be unaware of the people’s needs.

Nasrallah re-elected as Hizbullah leader

Posted on by

Lebanon’s Hizbullah group said that Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has been re-elected as its leader for a sixth term. According to the AP, the statement said Naim Kassim also has been re-elected as the group’s deputy leader.

The election came as Hizbullah concluded its congress after months of work and adopted a new political document, believed to be the second of its kind since the open letter of 1985. It also endorsed a series of organizational modifications.

Additionally, Hizbullah elected the Shura Council members as follows:
–         Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah: Hizbullah Secretary General;
–          Sheikh Naim Qassem: Hizbullah Deputy Secretary General;
–          Sheikh Mohamad Yazbek: the head of Hizbullah spiritual body;
–          Sayyed Ibrahim Amin Sayyed: the head of Hizbullah political bureau;
–          Sayyed Hashem Safieddine: the head of Hizbullah Executive Council;
–          Hajj Hussein Khalil: Hizbullah Secretary General political advisor;
–          MP Mohamad Raad: the head of the Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc.

Hizbullah’s leadership elections are usually held every three years but they were last held in 2004. A Hizbullah official said the two-year delay was caused by internal Lebanese differences and the 2006 Israel-Hizbullah war.