| 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.
|
Monthly Archives: November 2009
Nasrallah re-elected as Hizbullah leader
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.
Police arrests suspect over UN attack in Islamabad
ISLAMABAD: Police said Friday they were holding a suspect in connection with a suicide attack at a UN office last month and a string of other bombings in Islamabad.
‘Five blasts took place in Islamabad in 2009, four of them have been investigated and he is involved in all four of those blasts,’ Islamabad police chief Kalim Imam told a press conference.
Police paraded the man before a battery of cameras. He had a shaved head and black beard, and was wearing a traditional brown shalwar qameez.
Imam said the suspect aided in the World Food Programme office suicide attack in Islamabad on October 5 in which five UN workers were killed.
‘He brought the man to the World Food Programme (office),’ Imam said.
Police seized suicide jackets, about eight kilograms of explosives and ball bearings used to make bombs in his possession.
The suspect belongs to Islamabad’s Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) and a group based in the Orakzai tribal region bordering Afghanistan, Imam added.
Around 100 people were killed when troops stormed the mosque to flush out militants in July 2007, sparking a more than two-year suicide and bombing campaign that has killed more than 2,550 people nationwide.
Kuwait prime minister to visit Iran Saturday
| TEHRAN, Nov. 20 (MNA) – Kuwait’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Nasser Mohammed al-Ahmad al-Sabah, will arrive in Tehran on Saturday at the head of a high-ranking political and economic delegation. | |
|
The prime minister is visiting Iran upon an invitation by First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahaimi.
The prime minister is accompanied by the ministers of foreign affairs, oil, energy, commerce and information as well as officials from the Arab country’s investment organization.
The senior Kuwaiti official is scheduled to discuss bilateral relations and exchange views about regional and international issues with high-ranking Iranian officials.
|
Molana Mohammad Waaezi embraced Shahadat
Jafaria Alliance Pakistan announce with deep regards that Molana Mohammad Waaezi have been martyred by terrorists yesterday just before Magrib near Safina Masjid, tori Bangash colony , Orangi town.
Namaz-e-janaza will be performed after Namaz-e-juma at Masjid e Imamia saadat colony Shah Faisal Town Karachi.
Molana Mohammad Waaezi embraced Shahadat
Molana Mohammad Waaezi embraced Shahadat when sipha-e-yazid open fire on him. The incident happens just before magrib prayers near Safina Ahlebait (as) Mosque in tori bangash colony, orange town, Karachi.
Namaz-e-Janaza will be held after namaz-e-juma at mosque imamia qadeem dirg road Karachi. Molana’s age was approx 30. He left 2 children.
JOBS
Multiple Karachi based companies announced multiple jobs in the categories of Management & IT
You are requested to apply on appropriate applying address provided in detail of each job.
For Details
http://www.megajobs .page.tl/ Job.htm
Reply to sender | Reply to group
JOBS
For an engineering company located at SITE, Karachi, require the service of Jr. Officer/Officer HR.
Qualification: BPA/MPA/MBA (HR) from a recognized university
Experience: 6 months to 2 years relevant experience in HR administration (Recruitment; Office adminstration; training etc.)
Candidates should have working knowledge of MS Office with good typing skills. Strong communication and interpersonal skills are required. Person must be self starter; hard working and punctual.
Interested candidates may send their CVs with recent photograph at: trainees.1@gmail. com
Note: Please do not apply, if you intend to join for a short period (less than 2 years)!
Ahmadinejad demands US release Iran assets
TEHRAN (AFP) – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad demanded on Thursday that world powers respect Iran and release its assets if they want to engage with Tehran, in an apparent reference to archfoe the United States.
“If our nation sees they have changed their behaviour, dropped their arrogant attitude … and return Iranian nation‘s rights and assets the nation will accept that,” Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech in the northern city of Tabriz.
“But if they are again after deception and plotting in the region our nation’s response will be the same as it gave to these men’s predecessors,” he warned.
Hardline Ahmadinejad made the comments as US President Barack Obama warned of “consequences” after Iran dismissed a UN-brokered nuclear fuel deal aimed at defusing a long-running standoff with the West over Tehran’s controversial atomic programme.
Obama has pursued a carrot-and-stick policy with Tehran, offering diplomatic engagement after three decades of severed ties and at the same time threatening tougher sanctions if Iran does not come clean over its atomic programme.
The United States froze Iranian government assets in 1979 when Islamist militants stormed the US embassy in Tehran, where they subsequently held more than 50 hostages for 444 days.
The crisis led to the end of US-Iranian diplomatic relations in 1980.
The asset freeze, which has been renewed every year, is a source of resentment in Iran.
Earlier this month US 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.
UN experts visit Iran nuclear plant
TEHRAN: UN experts will visit a controversial uranium enrichment plant south of Tehran on Thursday, as US President Barack Obama warned of ‘consequences’ after Iran dismissed a UN-brokered nuclear fuel deal.
The visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team to the plant, which is being built inside a mountain near the Shiite holy city of Qom, was announced on Wednesday by Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh.
‘It is a routine visit,’ a source close to Iran’s nuclear body told AFP about the inspection, which is the second by the IAEA in less than a month.
Four inspectors first visited the plant on October 25 after its disclosure by Iran to the agency triggered intense outrage in the West.
‘This site will from now on be under the IAEA. And for your information there will be tomorrow another inspection of this site in order to make sure that we are fully cooperating,’ Soltanieh told reporters in Vienna on Wednesday.
The Fordo plant, named after a nearby village where large numbers of Iranians were killed during the war with Iraq in the 1980s, is guarded by anti-aircraft guns.
Iranian officials say the construction of the plant is a message to the West that Tehran will never give up its uranium enrichment work and that the plant is a back-up facility in case the main enrichment plant at Natanz is bombed.
Washington and arch-foe Israel have never ruled out a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities which they suspect are being used to make weapons, a charge strongly denied by the Islamic republic.
Soltanieh has said that Iran has no other enrichment plants apart from Fordo and Natanz.
The UN inspection comes a day after Iran rejected plans for it to send more than 70 percent of its stocks of low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad under the IAEA-brokered deal.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Wednesday that Iran is however ready for more talks with world powers on the issue and is prepared to consider the idea of a simultaneous exchange of uranium for fuel for a Tehran reactor.
The IAEA however has already said that idea is unacceptable to the Western powers, who support the UN-brokered deal because they believe it would leave Iran with not enough stocks of LEU to be able to make a bomb.
Obama stepped up pressure on Iran after the Islamic republic dismissed the fuel deal.
He warned Washington has ‘begun discussions with its international partners about the importance of having consequences.’
‘Our expectations are that over the next several weeks we will be developing a package of potential steps that we could take that will indicate our seriousness to Iran.’
World powers have warned Iran that it could face tough new sanctions if it rejects the deal.
Mottaki, however, scoffed at Western threats of punishment.
‘Sanctions was the literature of the ’60s and the ’70s,’ Mottaki said in Manila on Thursday.
‘Well, in the last four years they have the experience of doing so. And I think they are wise enough not to repeat failed experiences. Of course it’s totally up to them.’
The Obama administration was initially optimistic that Tehran would accept the IAEA deal which emerged from talks between Iran and Russia, China, the United States, Britain, France and Germany.
Under the IAEA-brokered proposals, Iran would send out 1,200 kilograms, which would then be further enriched by Russia and converted into fuel by France before being supplied to a Tehran reactor.
‘The amount they mentioned for the swap is not acceptable … and our experts are still studying it,’ Mottaki said when he announced Iran’s rejection of the deal.
Saudi authorities arrested arbitrarily two Shi'a citizens
On 14 November 2009 the General Investigation Directorate arrested the Shi’a citizens (Hussain Abdul Mohsen al-Hassan , 26 years and Mustafa Ma’took al-Rasheed , 25) from Rummeila of al-Ahsa due to participation religious activities in occasion of the annual celebration of Imam Mahi’s birthday during the Islamic month of Sha’ban , which is not permitted by Saudi authorities .
Hussain al-Hassan and Mustafa al-Rasheed were sentenced to one week imprisonment on orders of Al-Ahsa governor ( Badr bin Muhammad bin Jalawi).
The two mentioned detainees are detained for the second times on the same charge .
It is worth to mention that the Saudi authorities arrested more than eight young Shi’a citizens on charges of participation in religious activities in their areas.
Mecca, to Host Int'l Conference on Muslim Youth and Globalization
According to Rohama website, Abdullah bin Abdul Mohsin Al-Turki, Director General of the league said, “the conference has been organized in order to help solve problems faced by young Muslims in today’s world, make them aware of the threats they are facing and prevent them from going astray morally and intellectually.”
“In the globalization era, Muslim communities are socially and culturally influenced by the West and it is the duty of Muslim scholars, organizations and media to stand up against such negative influences,” he added.
“A number of scholars and intellectuals of the Islamic world and officials in charge of Islamic organizations as well as university lecturers have been invited to take part at the conference,” he stated.
He went on to say that intellectual problems of the Muslim youth and their economic, social and psychological difficulties will be the themes of discussion at the three-day conference.
Israelis demolish Palestinian home
RAMALLAH: Israeli authorities on Wednesday demolished a house belonging to a Palestinian in Arab East Jerusalem saying it was “illegally built.”
The demolition, which comes less than 24 hours after Israel announced the construction of 900 new Jewish homes in East Jerusalem, sparked clashes with stone-throwing youths.
Police said the house in east Jerusalem’s Al-Isawiyeh neighborhood was demolished after a court approved the action.
“Local residents blocked several roads leading to the building and threw stones at police,” said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. No casualties were reported.
The Palestinian Authority denounced the move. “Israel says that it is uniting Jerusalem. In reality, it is dividing Jerusalem through a series of discriminatory policies and laws,” said Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.
Palestinians in East Jerusalem often build or expand their houses without permits because the authorizations are nearly impossible to obtain from the Israeli authorities.
Jihad Abu Znaid, Jerusalem’s representative in the Palestinian Legislative Council, said the demolition came after the house’s owner Abdulhalim Dari “had exerted all efforts to get a license.”
Abu Znaid told Arab News that “the Israeli occupation is going ahead with its barbarian policy against the Palestinian people, especially these arbitrary decisions.”
The Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights said the Jerusalem municipality handed new demolition orders to 14 citizens of Al-Isawiyeh, bringing the number of homes slated for demolition to 70.
The policy of house demolitions and settlement building is being used by Israel to increase the Jewish presence and manipulate the composition of the population in east Jerusalem prior to final status talks with the Palestinian Authority.
Iraq Poll in Doubt after VP Vetoes New Election Law
Iraq’s general election planned for January was thrown into doubt on Wednesday after Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi announced his veto of the election law. “On November 15, I sent a letter to parliament asking for the law to be amended. Parliament said I could veto the contested first article (of the law), which is what I have done today,” Hashemi said.
Parliament must now reopen debate on the proposed law, leading to a likely delay of the polling date. The war-torn country’s presidential council, composed of President Jalal Talabani and two vice presidents, has demanded a greater say in the election for minorities and nationals living abroad.
MPs had finally passed the electoral law for the contest earlier this month after several weeks of wrangling.
Hashemi said he believed the issue could be dealt with in one parliamentary session and need not delay the elections, although the Iraqi Independent Electoral Commission and the UN have warned time is running out.
No final date has been set for the election, but it is expected to be held close to 18 January. Constitutionally, it must be held before the end of that month.
On Tuesday, Kurdish lawmakers also threatened to boycott the election unless their demand for a greater share of parliamentary seats was met.
Statement issued by Saudi Arabian Shaykhs to Murder the People of Yemen
Tens of Wahhabi shaykhs in Saudi Arabia issued a statement demanding the murder of the Shias in Yemen.
After Saudi Arabia invaded Yemen and barbarically bombed villages located on the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, in the Saada province where hundreds of Muslim women and children were killed, Saudi Arabian shaykhs demanded the murder of Shias.
These shaykhs claimed that the invasion of Yemen by the Saudi Arabian forces is religiously legal because it is a measure to prevent Iranian influence. They demanded the destruction of the men of the Al-Houthi Movement as well as the enslavement of their women.
Nasir bin Sulayman al-‘Umar and Sulayman bin Hamd al-‘Awdah, members of the intellectual board of the al-Qasim University, were amongst the signees of the document.
South Waziristan operation has displaced 275,000
ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has verified information about 37,787 displaced families (about 275,000 people).
At least 17,564 families claiming to have been displaced from South Waziristan were declared ineligible for assistance because their records showed multiple registration, invalid ID cards or because they were not from that tribal agency.
According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), families rejected on grounds of invalid cards or because they did not hail from that area could appeal against the decision.
According to a handout, 54,333 families were registered in Dera Ismail Khan and Tank between August and November.
Nadra has verified details of about 67 per cent of applications filed by the displaced people. About 20 per cent have been rejected because of registration issue, and about 11 per cent over concerns about authenticity of ID cards. About two per cent of the applicants were found to be not from South Waziristan.
‘With the conclusion of the verification process, the registration of displaced people from South Waziristan is now largely complete. No new application for registration has been lodged over the past week,’ said Mr Mengesha Kebede, UNHCR’s representative in Pakistan.
However, the registration desk at all centres in Dera Ismail Khan and Tank will remain open for the time being to assist people who have problems with their ID cards.
Suicide attack in Peshawar leaves at least 19 dead
PESHAWAR: At least 19 people were killed and 50 wounded when a suicide bomber struck the district judicial complex on Thursday morning, city administration officials and doctors said.
‘The bomber was on foot and tried to get into the Judicial Complex through its main entry gate. He blew himself up, when he was stopped,’ deputy coordination officer, Peshawar, Sahibzada Mohammad Anis said.
A doctor at the city’s main Lady Reading Hospital put the death toll at seventeen. Amongst those killed were the three policemen who tried to stop the bomber from getting in, Anis said.
The doctor said that six of those wounded were in critical condition.
‘We are looking after them,’ director of the casualty ward, Dr. Shiraz Qayyum said.
The limbs of the bombers and those in close vicinity were scattered all around. Cars and three-wheeler rickshaws parked alongside the outer boundary wall on the main Fakhr-i-Alam road were badly damaged in the blast.
The complex comprises district civil and criminal courts and government departments.
Security has been high at the complex frequented by thousands of people besides lawyers, judicial staff and government employees.
Police said they had intelligence of a possible attack on the complex. The four-storey judicial complex is located just across the sprawling residence of Corps Commander, Peshawar and the now-shut down luxury Pearl Continental Hotel, Peshawar, also hit by suicide bombing in June last that killed 11 people and wounded another 50.
‘I was climbing down the stairs in the complex, when shrapnel from the blast flew just over my head. I was shaken by the blast,’ a court employee said.
‘One of my colleagues was taken to the hospital and now we hear that he has died,’ Shuja’t Ali Khan said.
Peshawar, the capital of the North-West Frontier Province, has borne the major brunt of terrorist attacks since the deadly bombing in a busy shopping area on October 28 that left 121 people dead.
Chief Minister NWFP, Ameer Haider Khan vowed to continue the fight against terrorism but warned that Thursday’s bombing would not be the last one.
‘This is not going to be the last bombing,’ Mr. Hoti warned.
A senior minister in his cabinet said the government would not succumb to pressure from militants’ bombings and would not negotiate with them.
‘We will not negotiate with these animals,’ Bashir Ahmad Bilour said.
A total of 185 people have died in terrorist attacks since then including the latest bombing at the Judicial Complex.
Obama, Hu Show Cooperation and Differences
BEIJING — President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao emerged from hours of intense talks Tuesday determined to marshal their combined clout on crucial issues, but still showing divisions over economic, security and human rights issues that have long bedeviled the two powers.
“The relationship between our two nations goes far beyond any single issue,” Obama said in a joint appearance with Hu that followed about 2 1/2 hours of private conversations.
Both leaders spoke in bold terms of the growing relationship between the countries and emphasized cooperation on the economy, climate change, energy and the nuclear threats of Iran and North Korea.
But in those areas and others, there remained differences that underscored that tensions would hardly be erased in Obama’s first, high-profile visit to China. Obama spoke at length about the nations’ joint interests and said, “I do not believe that one country’s success must come at the expense of another.”
Obama and Hu said they agreed on restarting the collapsed six-nation effort to rid North Korea of its nuclear programs. The Chinese said the effort was essential to “peace and stability in northeast Asia.”
Beijing has supported sterner sanctions against Pyongyang for its continued nuclear weapons program. And, as North Korea’s last major ally and a key supplier of food and energy aid, China is a partner with major leverage in six-nation talks with the North over the issue.
On Iran, where the U.S. needs China’s clout to help pressure the nation to give up any of its own nuclear weapons positions, Obama spoke with sterner language than Hu.
“Iran has an opportunity to present and demonstrate its peaceful intentions, but if it fails to take this opportunity, there will be consequences,” the U.S. president said. Hu made no mention of consequences, saying the Iran conflict is important to resolve through negotiations.
China has significant economic ties with Iran, and Beijing has appeared less willing to endorse a tougher approach to restrict Tehran’s uranium enrichment and suspected pursuit of atomic bombs.
In a minor step forward, Obama announced that the governments will reconvene their on-again, off-again human rights dialogue early next year. Previous rounds have fallen casualty to disputes over arms sales to Taiwan and other issues.
Hu expressed disappointment with the Obama administration over its decision to impose punitive tariffs and duties on imports of Chinese tires and steel pipes. “Our two countries need to oppose and reject protectionism in all its manifestations in an even stronger stand,” Hu said.
The Chinese president also called on the U.S. to respect China’s “core interests” — code for ending support for Taiwan and for the Dalai Lama, in his Tibetan government-in-exile.
On climate, Obama said the United States and China are looking for a comprehensive deal during next month’s climate change summit that will “rally the world.”
Obama said the goal at the Copenhagen meeting should be an agreement that has “immediate operational effect,” not just a political declaration. As the world’s two largest consumers and producers of energy, Obama said the United States and China must play a key role in negotiating an agreement.
Obama said China has helped the United States pull out of the worst recession in a generation. He said a revised economic approach will help increase U.S. exports and create jobs while helping bring about higher living standards in China.
Obama came to China seeking help with an array of global troubles. He and Hu sought to strike a balance between trading partners and competitors during Obama’s trip to China during his Asia tour.
A day before, Obama prodded China about Internet controls and free speech during a forum with students in Shanghai. His message was not widely heard in the country; his words were drastically limited online and shown on just one regional television channel.
He also suggested that China, now a giant in economic impact as well as territory, must assume a larger role on the world stage — part of “burden of leadership” it shares with the United States.
Eager to achieve a successful summit, the two leaders avoided spats on economic issues. With America’s budget deficit soaring to a yearly record of $1.42 trillion, China is the No. 1 lender to Washington and has expressed concern that the falling price of the dollar threatens the value of its U.S. holdings.
In the U.S., American manufacturers blame China’s own low currency value for contributing to the loss of 5.6 million manufacturing jobs over the past decade. During that time, America’s trade gap with China has soared.
With sightseeing in Beijing’s Forbidden City sandwiched in between their talks, the two leaders’ day was to end at a lavish state dinner in Obama’s honor.
Topmost on Obama’s ambitious agenda with Hu is the so-far elusive search for global agreement on a new climate change pact, stymied by disagreement between rich nations like the U.S. and developing nations such as China. Wealthier countries want legally binding greenhouse-gas reduction targets for themselves as well as for energy-guzzling developing nations such as China, India and Brazil. Those poorer nations say they will set only nonbinding goals and they demand assistance to make the transition to harder targets.
Handful of foreign elements trying to disrupt peace: PM
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Tuesday said a handful of foreign elements were trying to disrupt peace in the country and the government would control them with an iron hand.
Addressing a tribal jirga of the Mehsud tribes from Waziristan at the Ratta Kalachi camp set up by the government, Gilani said foreign militants of Arabs, Uzbek, Afghan and Chechen origin were operating in the country and were involved in terrorist activities.
He said the operation ‘Rah-i-Nijaat’ was launched by the Pakistan Army against the anti-state elements who were involved in terrorist activities, killing of the innocent and destruction of private and public property.
Gilani categorically stated that the Mehsud tribes were patriotic Pakistanis and had nothing to do with the handful of terrorists who had taken refuge in their area. He lauded the role of the tribal people in the creation of Pakistan and said the nation can never forget it.
Accompanied by Governor NWFP Owais Ghani, Minister for Information Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan, Minister of State for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar and Farzana Raja, Gilani was on a day-long visit to personally see the facilities being provided to the people.
Prime Minister said Rs 24 billion were earmarked for reconstruction and rehabilitation work as part of the exit strategy and the first instalment of Rs six billion was already paid to the provincial government.
He said Rs 5000 were being paid to each displaced family while the displaced of Waziristan agency will also be provided Rs 25,000 per family during the rehabilitation phase like the Malakand and Swat affected.
He said it was vital that development work is undertaken in the tribal areas and promised to build dams and educational institutions so that they do not feel any sort of deprivation.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said a military operation was no solution and the government under the exit strategy will take measures to fill the administrative, economic, socio-political and cultural vacuum.
He said students belonging to the Mehsud tribe will be given admission in all schools on priority basis, so that they can play an important role in the country’s progress and development.
Pakistan ranked 139 in global corruption list
BERLIN: Graft watchdog Transparency International hit out at rich countries over shady banking practices on Tuesday as it published its annual rankings naming and shaming the world’s most corrupt countries.
‘Corrupt money must not find safe haven. It is time to put an end to excuses,’ said the Berlin-based group’s head Huguette Labelle.
‘Even industrialised countries cannot be complacent: the supply of bribery and the facilitation of corruption often involve businesses based in their countries,’ the report said.
In the wake of the financial crisis, the Group of 20 (G20) industrialised countries turned up the heat on tax havens, targeting rich countries with long-held banking secrecy laws like Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
But Labelle said extra efforts were imperative, calling for more bilateral treaties on information exchange in order to ‘to fully end the secrecy regime.’
Overall, the 2009 corruption list is ‘of great concern,’ the organisation said, with the majority of countries scoring under five in the ranking, which ranges from zero, highly corrupt and 10, which is very clean.
With a score of 2.7, Pakistan was ranked 139 out of the 180 countries on the list, a position it shares with fellow South Asian nation Bangladesh, the SE Asian country Philippines and the Baltic state of Belarus.
The bottom five nations — Somalia, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sudan and Iraq — show that ‘countries which are perceived as the most corrupt are also those plagued by long-standing conflicts, which have torn apart their governance infrastructure,’ TI said.
The five countries seen as least afflicted by corruption were New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden — and Switzerland.
New Zealand scored 9.4 points whereas Somalia scored 1.0 points.
The score is based on perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts.
Eid Al-Ghadir to Be Celebrated in Thailand
On the occasion of Eid al-Ghadir a ceremony will be held on December 6 in Bangkok.
The program will be held by Iran Cultural Center in Thailand for Muslims of the country as well as Iranian, Afghan, Indian and Tajik Muslims residing there.
Jalal Tamle, Iran Cultural attaché in Thailand, Hojjat-ol-Islam Amiri, representative of Al-Mostafa International University, Professor Ilyas, Thai intellectual and Hojjat-ol-Islam Sheikh Hussein bin Salem, a Thai cleric will present lectures on Imam Ali’s (AS) life, his Imamate and Velayah. They will also ntroduce Quranic and historical sources on the Ghadir event in both Persian and Thai.
Other programs of the ceremony will include a contest and a religious song to be performed by Abul Hasani a member of the Iranian center.
Saudi clerics see Iran's hand behind Yemen Shias!
Saudi clerics have accused Yemeni Houthi Shias of working with Iran to try to spread Shi’ism, days before the start of the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage.
“Iranian cooperation with Houthi Shias in Yemen is collusion for sin and aggression,” Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz al-Sheikh said in remarks published on Monday.
Riyadh launched an assault on neighboring Yemen’s Houthi Shias 12 days ago after they staged a cross-border incursion that killed two Saudi border guards.
“Houthi entered our territories, so … it is obvious that they should be fought since the kingdom here is defending itself,” Sheikh said.
The Houthi Shias said the Saudis had been allowing Yemeni troops to launch attacks against them from the mountainous territory they seized inside Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter.
Saudi forces have been using fighter jets and artillery to pound Houthi hideouts to enforce a 10 km (six mile) deep buffer zone inside the Yemeni side of the porous border.
Iran boycotted hajj for three years after 402 pilgrims, mostly Iranians, martyred in clashes with Saudi security forces at an anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rally in Mecca in 1987.
Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally which sees itself as the guardian of Wahhabi Islam, has often been at odds with Shia Iran, particularly since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
In a statement issued over the weekend, about 40 Saudi clerics accused Iran “destabilizes Muslim nations by implanting, financing and arming its agents to spread” Shi’ism, a direct reference to Houthi Shias.
Both the Yemen government and the Shias have said that the conflict between them is not sectarian.
Yemen stepped up a military campaign against Houthi Shias in August. Fighting between Yemeni troops and Houthis, who belong to Yemen’s Zaidi Shia minority and say they suffer religious, economic and social marginalization and neglect and totally discrimination, has flared on and off since 2004 in the northern province of Saada.
Saudi Arabia and its ally, the United States, fear Shia are gaining the rule in Yemen.
There is just some pictures of Yemeni Shia civilians, where Saudi and Yemeni forces brutally attacked them. OH MY GOD, Just see and Judge????!!!
Jobs
Dear Members,
We are looking for a suitable person for the position of Network Engineer as per criteria mention below. Candidates whose particulars match with the below mention requirements kindly send their updated CV through email to recruiters_pk@ yahoo.com . Please note that only-short-listed candidates will be contacted.
Regards
PK Recruiters
Jobs
Dear All
We have following Opportunities
1) Finance Manager
2) Assistant Finance Manager
3) Accounts Officer
4) Admin Officer
5) Software Analyst
click below:
Iran: UN watchdog suspects more secret nuclear sites
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN watchdog, suspects there might be more secret nuclear sites in Iran.
President Barack Obama’s revelation in September that intelligence agencies had identified a second uranium enrichment site in Iran has raised concern at the IAEA about possible further facilities, according to a report by the Vienna-based agency obtained by Reuters.
It said Iran had told the IAEA that it had begun building the bunkered site near Qom in 2007, but the watchdog had evidence the project began in 2002, paused in 2004 and resumed in 2006.
Iran admitted the site’s existence to the IAEA in September.
IAEA inspectors also found that Iran had reduced since August the number of centrifuges enriching rranium at its main Natanz site by 650 to 3,936, while slightly raising the total number of machines installed to 8,692. Western diplomats and analysts said the slowdown was probably caused by technical glitches.
A senior official meanwhile said the UN nuclear agency believes Iran plans to start enriching uranium at the Qom site by 2011.
The official said the IAEA believes that the site will be able to house 3,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges.
A senior international official familiar with the new IAEA report said on Monday that number could allow Iran to eventually enrich enough material to be able to arm one nuclear warhead a year.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denies Tehran wants a nuclear weapons programme, saying it is enriching only to create fuel to generate electricity for civilian use.
Syed Ali Gilani arrested in Srinagar
Srinagar, November 17 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, veteran Kashmiri Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani was arrested in Srinagar, today.
The spokesman of the forum patronised by Syed Ali Gilani told media men that the senior Hurriyet leader was scheduled to address doctors and students of Government Medical College at Karan Nagar this afternoon.
He was taken into custody and lodged in police station Shergrahi.
He said that Syed Ali Gilani, who addressed students at Kashmir University recently, was getting invitations from different educational institutions to visit them. “Today he was scheduled to address in the GMC but was arrested near the main gate of the college,” the spokesman said.
Earlier, addressing a press conference at his residence in Srinagar, today, Syed Ali Gilani had announced that in the fifth phase of district-wise protests against the occupation of Kashmiris’ private land by Indian troops, complete strike would be observed in Pulwama district on Friday. He said that a mammoth rally would also be organised in Pulwama. »
Iran plays down UN nuclear report
Iran has played mastered a interrogation by the UN’s nuclear watchdog that plant questions remained unreciprocated near a atomic installation adjacent the port of Qom.
The Planetary Atomlike Liveliness Authority says Iran staleness explain the story and use of the recently declared parcel.
But primary Persian thermonuclear communicator Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh said the estimation was “continual” and Tehran had handed over all information on the installation.
Persia denies claims by few Occidental nations it is nonindustrial atomic munition.
A UN team was allowed make to inspect the Qom site lowest period.
In its account, the IAEA said the inactive papers of the put increased concerns some additional mathematical surreptitious sites.
‘Overloaded co-operation’
Mr Soltaniyeh told al-Alam TV: “Persia has provided all collection most the new artifact and the crucial interior it.
“We will afterward travel with instalment the required equipment. The artefact testament go online in 2011.
He said he was “snug” with the interrogation, as it habitual Iran was “full co-operating” and that the activities at Qom were “in giving with the IAEA manual and limitations”.
“Inspectors scoured the artifact for two dead days. Everything was congruous with the non-proliferation treaty,” he said.
Iran revealed the existence of the Fordo enrichment artefact, which is beingness collective nearly 30km (20 miles) septentrion of Qom, in Sept.
Suicide attack near Peshawar: 3 killed
PESHAWAR: At least three people were killed and 43 others injured when a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden vehicle at a checkpoint outside the Badbher police station on Monday.
The blast destroyed a mosque, four houses, several shops and parts of the police station and the nearby degree college and disrupted power supply to some areas.
Officials said personnel of the police station had been receiving threats from militants for some time.
NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told reporters at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) that the attack was in retaliation for the military operation in tribal areas.
He reiterated the government’s resolve never to bow to terrorists. He said the attackers’ attempt to take the vehicle into the city had been foiled.
Peshawar SSP (Operations) Mohammad Karim Khan said the police station was the likely target of the bomber, but FC personnel had foiled his attempt by firing at the vehicle.
DSP Khurshid Khan told Dawn that all the deceased were civilians. Two policemen and two Frontier Constabulary personnel suffered minor injuries.
Among the injured were eight schoolchildren, two of them girls. A bomb disposal official said that about 250kgs of explosives mixed with artillery shells had been used in the blast which left a five-foot deep and 10-foot wide crater.
An FC man said the driver of the double-cabin van ignored the signal to stop. ‘When he tried to cross the barrier, FC man Umer Rehman opened fire at the vehicle and the bomber blew himself up,’ he said.
There was a deafening blast and thick smoke engulfed the area. Fruit vendor Sher Nawaz said he was near the police station when FC men warned the van’s driver and a huge blast took place.
Indian nuclear plants on terror alert
NEW DELHI: India has put its nuclear installations on terror alert, the Press Trust of India said on Monday, citing home ministry sources.
It said the new measures were ordered after it was found that David Headley, a US citizen arrested by FBI on terror charges, had visited some states having atomic installations.
The PTI said the Indian home ministry had asked all state governments protecting their nuclear plants to step up patrolling and vigil around the facilities as a precautionary measure.
They said that Mr Headley, accused of plotting terror attacks in India on behalf of Pakistan-based LeT, had visited Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh — all with nuclear installations — raising suspicion that nuclear facilities could be on the radar of the terrorists.
‘The step is precautionary in nature. The states have been asked to increase the vigil and patrolling to thwart any sabotage attempt aimed at these vital facilities,’ a ministry official was quoted as saying.
The PTI listed six major nuclear energy plants operational in the country — Narora in Uttar Pradesh, Kaiga in Karnataka, Tarapur in Maharashtra, Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu, Kakrapar in Gujarat and Kota in Rajasthan, besides several other research and development centres like Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Trombay.
President Zardari hits back at opponents
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari lashed out on Monday at opponents he alleged were carrying out a ‘vilification campaign’ and declared that the Pakistan People’s Party would continue its ‘forward march’.
‘No matter what our opponents said and no matter how much the party leadership was subjected to a campaign of vilification, the party will not be deterred and will continue its forward march in the service of the people,’ the president was quoted by his spokesman Farhatullah Babar as saying at a meeting of the party’s central executive committee held to review the political situation amid criticism by political opponents and a section of the media.
Without naming anyone, Mr Zardari said: ‘Some people write our obituaries almost daily but the more they write our obituaries the more they are disappointed and frustrated. I salute the party, its workers and the people. We have stood together in the past and will stand together in the future as well.’
The meeting, which continued till past midnight, discussed a number of issues, including the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance that has also been opposed by coalition partners — Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Awami National Party and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F.
The PPP had first decided to present the NRO in parliament but had to reverse the decision when the coalition partners refused to support it.
Sources in the PPP said the meeting mainly focussed on NRO, the law introduced by former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf providing immunity to ruling elite, politicians and bureaucrats.
The fate of the NRO is still hanging in the balance and there is a possibility that corruption cases that had been dumped under the NRO may be reopened.
During a meeting held earlier in the day, President Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani were reported to have discussed important political and organisational matters.
The CEC meeting held after three and a half months was put off twice apparently because of the fast changing political scenario in the country.
According to the spokesman, the president was of the opinion that the PPP was a ‘huge political force’ and was fully prepared to face all challenges confronting it politically.
The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Gilani, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Jahangir Badar, Mian Raza Rabbani, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Faryal Talpur, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Naveed Qamar, Babar Awan, Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, Shahbaz Bhatti, Rehman Malik, Sardar Latif Khosa, Sardar Assef Ahmed Ali, Yousaf Talpur, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Farahnaz Ispahani, Mir Ejaz Jhakrani and Farzana Raja.
Mr Babar said the president was of the view that the PPP had formed the government with coalition partners at the centre and in all provinces.
It had thrown out dictatorship, restored presidency to democratic forces and embarked upon a course of political and economic reforms and reconstruction.
The president said: ‘The PPP was not given political victories by anyone as charity, but had triumphed politically with the help of the people of all provinces.’
He said the vilification campaign against the party was aimed at weakening it politically and warned that those hoping to weaken ‘us politically are living in a fool’s paradise’.
He said the party had a long history of rendering great sacrifices for the sake of democracy and people’s rights and was not afraid of rendering sacrifices if need
arose.
President Zardari said the results of elections in Gilgit-Baltistan had convincingly demonstrated yet again that the people stood by the PPP and rejected the vilification campaign against it.
A number of participants spoke on the occasion and gave their own assessment of the political situation.
The meeting also adopted a unanimous resolution reposing complete confidence in the leadership of the party co-chairman and President Zardari and the government, the spokesman said.
Some administrative matters of the party were also discussed. Some PPP leaders complained that they had no access to the party co-chairman.
This complaint had also been conveyed to the president during a recent meeting of party leaders, including some women parliamentarians.
You must be logged in to post a comment.