Pakistan court indicts seven over Mumbai attacks: lawyer

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ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court on Wednesday charged seven suspects in connection with the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people one year ago, a defence lawyer said.

The men were indicted at an anti-terrorism court in a high security prison in the city of Rawalpindi on the eve of the first anniversary of India’s worst militant attacks, which dramatically soured relations with rival Pakistan.

All seven pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Among the seven, who were arrested by Pakistan over the November 26-29 siege on India’s financial capital, are alleged mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and alleged key Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative Zarar Shah.

‘All seven of them have been indicted, including Lakhvi. The accused pleaded not guilty as the evidence does not support the charges,’ lawyer Shahbaz Rajput told AFP by telephone.

‘They have been indicted under the anti-terrorism act and the Pakistani penal code,’ said Rajput, without elaborating.

Wednesday’s indictments come a week after India handed Pakistan more information about the attacks, which New Delhi blamed Pakistani ‘official agencies’ for abetting – charges that Islamabad flatly denies.

Court proceedings have taken place behind closed doors with journalists barred from the hearings and defence lawyers leaking only small details.

‘We will defend them. The next hearing is December 5,’ said Rajput.

New Delhi has been pressuring Islamabad to speed up a probe of Pakistani militants blamed for the 60-hour siege that saw 10 heavily armed gunmen target luxury hotels, Mumbai’s main railway station, a restaurant and a Jewish centre.

According to news agency Press Trust of India, the latest information handed to Pakistan included statements of key witnesses, including a magistrate and FBI officials, from the trial of the lone gunman to survive the attacks.

The gunman, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, has confessed to his involvement in the attacks in a dramatic announcement to a court in Mumbai.

Swine flu claims 40 more lives in Iran in one week

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TEHRAN, Nov, 25

— A total of 140 patients have lost their lives due to swine flu since it emerged in Iran on June 22, director of the Flu Prevention Program of the Health Ministry said here on Wednesday.

“Swine flu has claimed the lives of 40 Iranians over the past seven days, bringing the country’s total death rate to 140,” Mahmoud Soroush said.

“A total of 3,672 individuals have been so far infected with the H1N1 virus across the country,” he noted.

444 new cases of the disease have been reported over the past seven days, bringing the country’s total number of H1N1 infected cases to 3,672.

There was a decrease in the number of those diagnosed with the disease over the past week compared to the week before the past week.

A total of 444 people have been diagnosed with the disease during the past week, while the number was 466 patients for the week before the last week.

Iran’s first swine flu case was a 16-year-old Iranian-American boy, who tested positive for the disease on June 22, upon his arrival in Tehran.

The H1N1 virus has now become the dominant influenza virus around the globe, with high levels and an increase of activity in many regions, since the disease burst onto the scene in Mexico in April, the World Health Organization said recently.

Israeli army grappled with insubordinate soldiers

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Israel’s military Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi has declared that Israel’s armed forces will have a zero-tolerance policy for insubordinate soldiers.

“We have no tolerance for this type of insubordination, no matter which side of the political spectrum the soldiers are on,” Haaretz quoted Ashkenazi as saying on Monday.

The IOF chief made his comments after several combat soldiers from various units within the Kfir Brigade announced they would not evacuate unauthorized West Bank outposts.

“It is possible that during your service the army will need you for several of our missions, and those who will make the difference are the soldiers on the front line,” said the IOF chief

On Saturday, Israel’s War Minister Ehud Barak had voiced his own pledge to crack down on soldiers who refuse to carry out orders, saying that Israel will not hesitate to crush such a phenomenon.

“A country that wishes to live must end refusal by the right and left with an iron fist,” Barak said.

Earlier this month, the Israeli Army’s chief rabbi had called on military students to “show no mercy” when they fight a war or they will be “damned.”

Displaced Shia Yemenis "face cholera risk, hunger"

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Malnutrition and the risk of a cholera outbreak are threatening lives at Yemen’s main camp for people fleeing fighting in the north, a U.N. official warned on Monday.

Malnutrition and the risk of a cholera outbreak are threatening lives at Yemen’s main camp for people fleeing fighting in the north, a U.N. official warned on Monday.

Clashes between Yemeni troops and Houthis in the northern Saada province have driven 175,000 people from their homes, according to the United Nations.

More than 10,000 are staying in al-Mazraq camp in neighbouring Hajjah province and twice as many people have settled outside the camp, Thomas Davin, a regional chief for the United Nations’ children’s fund UNICEF, told Reuters.

The majority of the displaced are children and women because men tend to stay behind to protect their homes and to fight, he said.

“Malnutrition is the greatest concern about displaced children,” Davin said.

Severe acute malnutrition — a life-threatening condition — is much more common among children who have fled Saada province than in Yemen in general, which already has very high levels of child malnutrition.

UNICEF is also worried about a possible outbreak of cholera because poor hygiene and overcrowding create perfect conditions for the potentially deadly disease, Davin said.

Few of the displaced are used to washing regularly because water is scarce in Yemen and few use toilets, preferring to leave waste in the open.

“Hygiene is terrible, really, really terrible,” Davin said.

In some cases, parents have given foods meant for treating malnourished children to their animals, which they view as part of the family and take with them when they flee.

“People say ‘if we lose the sheep it’s not the child that dies, it’s the whole family’,” Davin said.

“A number of these people who are making it out are saying that it’s generally at least their second or their third displacement because this is the fifth time that war has broken out in the province since 2004,” he added. “Each time of course they spent more money and more of whatever resources they had going around.”

A new camp in Yemen for the displaced is due to open over the next few weeks and will be able to host between 10,000 and 12,000 displaced, Davin said.

“There is a plan for another camp to be built just next to this one (al-Mazraq), which is in the process of being built,” he said, adding it will be managed by the Emirati Red Cross.

He said the new camp might be expanded to accommodate more people if needed.

Because of the fighting in Saada province and insecurity in neighbouring areas, aid agencies are managing to reach regularly only a third of the 175,000 displaced people, Davin said.

In addition, aid funds are insufficient.

In September the United Nations called for $23.75 million to help Yemen’s displaced. So far it has raised only half that.

UNICEF, which has raised $3.2 million as part of that appeal, is in discussions with the European Union for another 600,000 euros ($900,000), Davin said.


Iran launches third phase of aerial maneuver

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Tehran, Nov 25,  – Air forces of the Army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps jointly launched the third phase of a nationwide aerial war game code-named “Defenders of Velayat-2” on Wednesday.

The war game speaker Brigadier General Ali Moqise said the Iranian forces have conducted several tactics including discovery and reconnaissance operations in the second phase of the maneuver.

The war game started on Sunday in western part of the country and will be wrapped up on Thursday.

The maneuver has three phases including preparation of military units, reconnaissance flights and dog fights.

The war game aims to display Iran’s deterrent military power in aerial combats.

The aim of the war game is to coordinate and enhance combat readiness of the Iranian Air Force, IRGC and the Basij (volunteer) forces.

The war games are being conducted in Bushehr, Fars, Yazd, Isfahan, Markazi and Gazvin provinces as well as in the northern and western parts of the country.

Speaker: We should not be deceived by US

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Tehran, Nov 25, – Iran’s Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said Iran should not be deceived by the US tactics assuming that it has changed its behavior and attitudes towards Iran.

Addressing a gathering on “sustainable development and civil defense” on Wednesday, he said the most urging threat Iran was facing was the hegemonic attitudes and behaviors of the US.

Referring to the history of US hostile actions against Iran in the past three decades, he also stressed that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution always stopped some people who were somehow influenced by America.

Outlining the US hostile strategies against Iran, the speaker also noted that the US, though quite aware of the all criminal acts it has undertaken against Iran, refrained from extending apologies to the Iranian nation for its wrongdoings.

He said the Americans sometimes utter seemingly friendly remarks about ties with Iran to Iranian officials while they always hide the dagger they are carrying behind themselves.

Larijani further termed as a big mistake the assumption that the Americans would change their tone during the Obama administration, arguing that the problem with the US was basically not its tone but its strategies.

According to the speaker, both in post-election events and in talks related to Iran’s nuclear program the Americans thought that they could affect the situation but then realized that it was a hollow dream.

Call for Concrete Guarantee on Nuclear Fuel

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Ready for Talks

Iran wants concrete guarantees about receiving nuclear fuel for its research reactor in Tehran, a senior national security official said Tuesday.
Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili made the call in a talk with the press on the sidelines of a police and security meeting in Tehran, IRNA reported.
If the necessary guarantees are not provided, Iran will resort to other options, he said without elaboration.
He added that “Providing nuclear fuel for the Tehran research reactor is not a political issue and has nothing to do with Iran’s talks with the Group 5+1”.
According to the top nuclear negotiator provision of nuclear fuel “is simply a commercial matter and not even a technical or legal issue…”

Talking Proposals
On the resumption of nuclear talks with the G5+1, Jalili said, “Tehran is ready to talk about its proposed package” presented to the western states last month in Vienna. Iran is willing to continue the talks only “over the subjects discussed in its proposed package.”
Referring to the talks between the two sides in Geneva, he said, “The talks were scheduled to be pursued over the issues discussed in Tehran’s proposed package.”
“They (G5+1), apparently, had some discussions among themselves and are not ready now.
Whenever they are ready to continue the talks on Iran’s proposals (then) we will welcome negotiations about the common concerns mentioned in the package.”

Exchange in Iran
The head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi told IRNA that Tehran is ready to send its low-enriched uranium abroad provided there is simultaneous exchange on its own soil of the nuclear fuel processed by big powers.
He said such a move will ensure that Tehran will receive the fuel required for its research reactor.
“The guarantee sought by the Islamic republic is to have simultaneous exchange of fuel in Iran,” Salehi said.
“We will not accept any imposed conditions nor accept treatment as an exceptional case…”
Foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tehran is ready to ship its 3.5 percent low enriched uranium (LEU) but would want a simultaneous exchange on its soil with the 20 percent refined uranium from abroad.

Mechanism
“Iran is not opposed to sending uranium abroad, but is considering how to do that,” he told newsmen.
Tehran wants a “100 percent guarantee” that it would receive the fuel required for its research reactor and “one of the guarantees is a simultaneous exchange of fuel inside the country.”
The UN atomic agency brokered a deal last month under which Iran would send 1,200 kilograms of LEU, or 70 percent of its total stock to Russia and then France for conversion into fuel required for the internationally-supervised Tehran reactor.
Iran has rejected that deal amid stiff opposition from senior officials who oppose sending the LEU in one shipment. They fear the West might renege on its side of the bargain.
Iran has said it accepts the essential elements of the proposal but has demanded modifications to the offer.

Jobs

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Respected Members,

A well reputed institute which provides the education of ACCA & CAT requires the service of Accounts Officer for running Accounts Department Independently from Vouchers to Finalization of Accounts with following Requirements.

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4) Bank Reconciliation Statement

5) Maintaining of Receivables.

6) Maintaining of Advances to Staff

7) Reconciliation of CBE invoices from ACCA UK.

8)  Maintaining of  all ledgers & Trial Balance

Monthly preparation of P&L & Balance Sheet

Good knowledge of Accounting Concepts for Routine Adjustments.

Interested candidates may send CV @ faraz.khan7947@ yahoo.com latest by 20 Dec with mentioning Current & Expected Salary & mentioning  ACCOUNTS OFFICER in Subject Line.

US accuses 10 in Hezbollah weapons ring

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WASHINGTON: US prosecutors on Tuesday accused 10 people of having supported the Shia militant group Hezbollah with weapons, fake passports, counterfeit money, stolen laptops and game consoles.

It was the second set of such charges to be brought in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in as many days.

Four of the men were indicted on Tuesday, three from Lebanon and a fourth, Moussa Ali Hamdan, from New York, on charges of ‘conspiring to provide material support to Hezbollah.’ They faced 15 to 30 years in prison.

Another six were charged with related crimes. Forged in the early 1980s in response to Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, Hezbollah has long been labeled a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel, although it is also a major political party in Lebanon.

According to the indictment, Hassan Hodroj and Dib Hani Harb of Beirut sought to export to the Port of Latakia in Syria about 1,200 Colt M-4 machine guns in June at a price of some 1,800 dollars a piece with the help of a contact who was in fact an undercover federal agent.

With the help of Hamdan and fellow Lebanese Hasan Antar Karaki, Harb is also accused of having sought to support Hezbollah using proceeds from the sale of fraudulent passports, stolen money and about 9,200 dollars in counterfeit US currency hidden inside a photo album.

Harb told the undercover agent that the genuine stolen money came from a string of robberies led by Hezbollah supporters and later smuggled into Lebanon to raise funds for the group.

He also claimed that ‘Iran manufactured high-quality counterfeit US currency for the benefit of Hezbollah,’ the indictment said.

Hamdan and three others, two Americans and a Venezuelan, were charged with having spearheaded the trafficking of over 1,500 cellphones, nearly 150 laptop computers, 400 Sony PlayStation 2 systems and three cars starting around late 2007.

The goods, which the undercover agent presented as stolen and sold to the defendants for a total of over 153,000 dollars in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, were transported to New Jersey, New York, Benin, Lebanon and Margarita Island, Venezuela.

Hamdan, Hamze el-Najjar and Alaa Allia Ahmed Mohamed of Brooklyn, New York, Moustafa Habib Kassem of Staten Island, New York, Maodo Kane of the Bronx, New York and Michael Katz of Plainsboro, New Jersey were charged with having purchased several thousands dollars worth of purportedly counterfeit goods.

Among the merchandise were over 5,500 pairs of Nike shoes and 334 Mitchell & Ness sports jerseys.

‘Today, through the well-coordinated effort of all involved agencies, a blow has been struck to Hezbollah’s efforts to fund its terrorism activities,’ said Special Agent-in-Charge Janice Fedarcyk of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Philadelphia division.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security David Kris noted that ‘the allegations contained in this complaint demonstrate how terrorist organizations rely on a variety of underlying criminal activities to fund and arm themselves.’

Five Lebanese nationals were charged on Monday for engaging in similar trafficking activities, including dual Slovakia and Lebanon resident Dani Nemr Tarraf, who allegedly sought to ship anti-aircraft Stinger missiles and about 10,000 Colt-M4 machine guns to Syria and other ports.

Kashmiris, Sikhs protest outside White House

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WASHINGTON: About 200 Kashmiris protested outside the White House on Tuesday, while US President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed a joint news conference inside the building.

The rally at the Lafayette Park, which faces the White House, started at noon and ended at 3 pm.

The participants urged Mr Obama to resolve the Kashmir dispute, reminding him that it could trigger a nuclear conflict in one of the world’s most populous regions if left unresolved.

They also chanted slogans that called for a plebiscite in the Indian occupied Kashmir valley and demanded the implementation of UN resolutions on Kashmir.

The Kashmiri American Council, which organised the rally, distributed leaflets that reminded Mr Obama that on Sept 25, 2008, he had pledged to ‘continue supporting the ongoing Indian Pakistani efforts to resolve the Kashmir problem in order to address the political roots of the arms race between India and Pakistan’.

On Oct 23, 2008, Mr Obama had said he would be ‘working with Pakistan and India to try to resolve the Kashmir crisis in a serious way’. He noted that ‘Kashmir in particular is an interesting situation where there is obviously a potential for diplomatically’ resolving this issue.

The council also reminded the US president that Kashmir was recognised by the United Nations as a disputed territory.

Iran arrests seven alleged members of Jundallah

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TEHRAN: Iranian authorities have arrested seven alleged members of the Sunni militant group Jundallah and will put them on trial, a judiciary official said on Wednesday.

‘The charges against these seven people are that they are mohareb (fighters against God) and belong to the terrorist group of Abdulmalek Rigi,’ Ebrahim Hamidi, head of the Sistan-Baluchestan province judiciary, told Fars news agency.

Rigi heads the Jundallah (Soldiers of God) group which is engaged in an insurgency against Tehran’s Shiite rule in southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan.

‘The files of these defendants… with their indictments have been sent to the court. Their trial will soon be held and the court of first instance will issue its verdict,’ Hamidi said.

Iran has regularly accused Jundallah of launching attacks in Sistan-Baluchestan province.

It also accuses the intelligence services of Pakistan, the United States and Britain of providing aid to the group so it can launch attacks inside Iran.

Jundallah claimed an October 18 suicide bombing in the province which killed more than 40 people, including 15 members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.

Iran said those responsible for the bombing were based in Pakistan and also demanded that Islamabad hand Rigi over.

Islamabad has strongly denied it helps Jundallah or that Rigi operates from Pakistani soil.

Iran detains scores of students, rights group says

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LONDON: Iran has detained scores of students in an apparent bid to prevent new opposition protests during annual Student Day events next month, a Western-based human rights group said.

Iranian police, seeking to avoid any repeat of the huge demonstrations that erupted after a disputed election in June, have warned opposition supporters against using the December 7 Student Day commemorations to hold more rallies.

The pro-reform opposition says the June 12 presidential poll was rigged to secure President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election. The authorities reject vote fraud allegations.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, based in the West, said scores of students in Iran had been detained and prosecuted in recent days, as authorities ‘apparently seek to stifle protests expected’ on December 7.

The group’s spokesman, Hadi Ghaemi, said in a statement published late on Tuesday: ‘In order to silence the student movement, a wholesale crackdown on Iranian students is underway, which not only violates their rights, but also disrupts their studies and the lives of their families.’

Reformist websites in Iran have also reported on detentions of students in recent weeks, saying some have also been suspended from their studies.

‘Getting closer to Student Day, pressure on students has increased to prevent them from holding gatherings on that day. Around 60 leading students have so far been arrested,’ the pro-reform Norooz website said.

Iran regularly dismisses accusations of human rights violations and accuses its Western foes of double standards and of violating people’s rights in their own countries.

Unable to stage their own demonstrations, reformers have sought to hijack official protests and have urged supporters to turn out on December 7.

Police clashed with supporters of Mirhossein Mousavi, who came second to Ahmadinejad in the June vote, on November 4 when an official rally marking the 30th anniversary of the storming of the US embassy turned violent.

On Sunday police prevented a mourning ceremony for the killing in 1998 of the heads of the illegal but tolerated Iran Nation Party from turning into an opposition rally.

Thousands have been arrested since the election for fomenting protests, which the authorities have portrayed as part of a foreign-backed bid to undermine the Islamic Republic’s clerical establishment.

Most of have been freed, but Iran’s judiciary last week said 81 people have so far been sentenced to jail terms of up to 15 years in connection with post-election unrest. Five people have been sentenced to death.

Jobs

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British Muslim delegation to participate in World Islamic Economic Forum

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For the sixth consecutive year, the Business and Economics Committee (BEC) of the Muslim Council of Britain will be drawing together a high-powered delegation of leading professionals, thought leaders and community representatives to the  World Islamic Economic Forum (the WIEF) to be held next year in Malaysia, it was announced Tuesday The WIEF is an annual conference that acts as an international business platform where the business sectors of the Muslim world meet.
With attendance from government leaders, entrepreneurs, policy makers and academics, the WIEF also acts as a forum where policy proposals on economic development can be formulated.

Around the main programme of the WIEF, the BEC has organised a series of workshops on Islamic finance and thought leadership with local institutions, to share delegation’s experiences and technical expertise. The BEC is also preparing a publication entitled “Nurturing the Future” that will feature the latest thinking in Islamic finance and thought leadership.

“The MCB organises the largest non-OIC delegation to the WIEF and we look forward to building on our successes at previous conferences with our delegation to Malaysia in 2010,” noted Sir Iqbal Sacranie, leader of the MCB delegation and member of the International Advisory Panel of the WIEF Foundation.

Dr. Muhammad Abdul Bari, MCB Secretary General, stated “The MCB exists to serve the common good. Initiatives such as the delegation to the WIEF demonstrate how the wide array of talent in the British Muslim community can benefit all citizens by expanding business opportunities for the UK with Muslim majority countries.”

More than 1500 delegates are expected to attend the 6th edition of the forum.

Training and Education System in Shia Seminaries to be Revised

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System of training and education in Shia seminary schools will be reviewed during a scientific meeting to be held on November 26 in Hojjatiyye School in Iran/ holy Qom.

The meeting will open at 8:30 am local time with presence of Hojjat-ol-Islam A’rafi, head of Al-Mostafa International University.

It is organized with the aim of investigating the training and education system of the seminaries from the day of their establishment up until now.

Research deputy of the school will also deliver a speech as the secretariat of the meeting.

Selected articles regarding the theme of the meeting will also be presented.

Pakistan has important role in S. Asia: Obama

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WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Tuesday re-emphasised Pakistan’s key position in the American strategy for South Asia, telling a joint news conference with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that Islamabad had an enormously important role in the security of that region.

His statement, in response to a question about US military assistance to Pakistan, was a calculated departure from the tributes he had paid to India earlier.

In remarks delivered before the news conference, Mr Obama described India as ‘indispensable’ for his visions for the future of the world, ‘a leader in Asia and around the world,’ and a ‘nuclear power’ with which the United States would like to work ‘in preventing the spread of the world’s most deadly weapons, securing loose nuclear materials from terrorists, and pursuing our shared vision of a world without nuclear weapons.’

While Mr Obama continued this eulogy in the press conference as well, he paused to stress Pakistan’s importance in the South Asian region when an Indian journalist spoke about the perception that US military aid to Pakistan was misused against India.

‘Obviously, Pakistan has an enormously important role in the security of the region,’ said Mr Obama, adding that Islamabad could fulfil this role ‘by making sure that the extremist organisations that often operate out of its territories are dealt with effectively.’

While acknowledging that Pakistan faced the problem of terrorism, Mr Obama said he also had ‘seen some progress’ in Islamabad’s efforts to fight the militancy.

‘The work that the Pakistan military is doing in the Swat Valley and in South Waziristan all indicates the degree to which they are beginning to recognise that extremism, even if initially directed to the outside, can ultimately also have an adverse impact on their security internally,’ he said.

‘So my hope is that over time what we’re going to see is further clarity and further cooperation between all the parties and all peoples of goodwill in the region to eradicate terrorist activity, to eradicate the kind of violent extremism that we’ve seen.’

Such cooperation, he said, would benefit the peoples of Pakistan and India, and the world community as well.

Mr Obama conceded that in the past the US-Pakistan relationship was ‘single-mindedly focussed just on military assistance’ and that the United States didn’t think more broadly about how to encourage and develop the kinds of civil society in Pakistan that would make a difference in the lives of people day-to-day.

His administration, Mr Obama added, had tried to change this approach by re-focussing its attention on helping the Pakistani people.

Showing more diplomatic skill than some of his senior diplomats, President Obama also nudged India and Pakistan to resume their dialogue without appearing intrusive.

‘One of the things I admire most about Prime Minister Singh is that I think at his core he is a man of peace,’ said Mr Obama before stressing the need for a peaceful resolution of India-Pakistan disputes.

‘Obviously, there are historic conflicts between India and Pakistan. It is not the place of the United States to try to, from the outside, resolve all those conflicts,’ he said.

26 Shia wounded in twin bombs in Holly Karbala

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KARBALA, Iraq – Two bombs within minutes of each other exploded at a restaurant early Wednesday in Iraq’s shrine city of Karbala ahead of Arafa day and Eid al-Adha holiday to make insecurity, wounding at least 26 Shia, police and medical officials said.

The first bomb targeted diners inside the restaurant in the heart of the city, located 110 kilometres (69 miles) south of the capital Baghdad, around 9:00 am (0600 GMT), causing several injuries, police said.

They say a suicide bomber on a motorcycle then drove toward the crowd and detonated his explosives.

The officials spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

However, a second bomb minutes later, after an ambulance and medics had arrived to help the wounded, caused most of the casualties.

A senior health official for Karbala province said that at least 26 people had been wounded in the attacks.

The four-day holiday of Eid al-Adha begins in Iraq on Saturday.