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Muslim's Holocausts and Genocide Remembrance Day

By Syed Soharwardy, Muslims Against Terrorism (M.A.T.)

In the history of mankind it never happened before that so many human beings suffered and continuously struggled to survive for more than a century without any help from outside. In the past, whenever a calamity came upon a certain community either they were completely wiped out from the face of this earth or someone from outside came and helped them in getting out of calamity or they themselves struggled so hard that they defeated the cause of calamities, hence ending the period of calamity. Moreover, it never happened that at one time so many communities remained under calamities for such a long period. Please look around and see what is going on in this world? Muslims in various parts of the world have been under siege and there seems to be no way out for them. But the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said that all Muslims are like a body. If a part of the body suffers the entire body suffers. I am sure what Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) have said can not be wrong but there is a possibility that we may not be that kind of Muslims which Prophet (Peace be upon him) meant in this Hadith.

The Holocausts and Genocide of Muslims have taken place in the past and recently. But it seems that the people in the western world do not know enough about them and there is a need to create awareness about it. As the Muslims in the western world are still struggling to make their place in the society, it is critical that our Christian friends know these facts and understand the situation of Muslim Ummah. After the World War II the Jewish community was so successful in making the Christians believe that the Christians have victimized them. They have made Christians so guilty conscious that the majority of Christians not only sympathize with the Jewish community but they feel obligated to pay back the Jewish community whatever they can by supporting every action of Jewish community.

Muslims do not need to make anybody guilty of conscious. We just need to communicate with our Christian friends in their language and terminology. I am sure they will understand but Muslims have to take the first step. We want to make sure that the people must recognize and believe in the other Holocausts and genocide as well as the World War II Holocaust. Let's review few Holocausts and Genocide of Muslims around the world.

* Palestine: The Muslim community of Palestine has been struggling for their survival and freedom for almost a century. The Palestinian community was struggling for their homeland long before the creation of Israel. They were expecting to have their homeland when the British leave the area but when British left the area they created Israel not Palestine. After the creation of Israel, the Jewish people of Israel not only captured the homes and lands of poor Palestinians but they also denied them the right of existence in their own homeland. Since 1948 the calamities for the Palestinian people have increased instead of decreasing. Presently, what Israeli forces are doing to Palestinians is worse than the Holocaust of the World War II. There is no doubt in my mind that the Jewish community suffered a lot during world war II from the hands of Nazis and almost six million Jews were killed in that Holocaust. However, all these calamities ended on the Jewish people when the allied forces got victory. The Jewish community was liberated with the help from USA and allied forces. On the other side, the Palestinians have been struggling on their own against a power (Israel + USA + worldwide Jewish and allied communities) which is 100 times more resourceful than the Palestinians. Palestinians have no support from their own Arab brothers. Palestinians have no support from the Muslims of the world. Whatever Palestinians get from the Arab and Muslim world is no more than a lip service. Apparently, we do not see any end to these calamities on the Palestinians in the near future. So far, more than over a million Palestinians have been killed, millions of them have made refugees, and millions of them are in the concentration camps. The Israeli forces have converted Palestinian homes and areas into concentration camps.

* Chechnya: The Muslim community of Chechnya has been struggling for their survival and freedom for almost a century. During early 1900s the Russian forces illegally occupied Chechan land and later Russian government annexed it and made it part of Russia against the will of Chechans. The severity of Russian oppression on Chechnya is so grave that the Russian government looted all the resources of Chechnya such as oil, coal and other minerals and built the European part of Russia while denied the Chechan Muslims any part of their own wealth. Chechnya is one of the least developed areas of Russian Federation. After the collapse of Soviet Union Chechnya announced its independence from Russia. Since then, the Russian forces have carried out the Genocide and Holocaust of Chechan Muslims. Thousands of Muslims have been killed. Buildings have been destroyed. The entire infrastructure of Chechnya has been collapsed. Women have been publicly raped. Their brothers, fathers and husbands have been mutilated in front of them. Just like Palestinians Chechans got no help from the governments of Muslim countries except the lip service. The western governments are the most hypocrites. On one side they want to resolve the Chechnya issue peacefully but on the other side they are providing all the support and the resources to Russian Military to crush the Chechan Muslims.

* Kashmir: The Muslims of Kashmir have been struggling for their freedom for the last two centuries. For the first 145 years they fought the war against the British rule along with the people of India. Finally, when the people of India succeeded in getting independence from Britain in 1947, the Kashmiri Muslims thought that they would also be independent from the rule of non-Muslims. When the British left India, the country was divided into countries. The Muslim majority areas of India became independent country called Pakistan and the remaining Hindu dominated areas became a separate country called India. According to the agreed upon formula of division Muslim dominated areas should have joined Pakistan but the departing British rulers divided the border in such a way that it became very easy for India to annex this beautiful and full of resources land of Muslims into India. After the independence, Pakistan fought a war in early fifties and captured some of the area of Kashmir. But this did not help in reducing the miseries of the Muslims of Kashmir. For the past 55 years India is systematically changing the demographics of Kashmir. Thousands of Muslims have been killed. The Indian forces have carried out the Genocide of Muslims in Kashmir openly and deliberately. There is no house in Indian held Kashmir where at least one or more family members have not been killed by the Indian army. Every Muslim home is under a siege. Women's have been raped. Children have been kidnapped or killed. Muslims are forced to leave Kashmir. For every Muslim house in Kashmir there are three Indian soldiers. Again, Kashmiri Muslims have no help from any Muslim government. They are fighting against an enemy who is 100 times more resourceful and powerful. The west has completely closed its eyes on Kashmir. The Genocide continues in Kashmir and apparently no one cares.

* Bosnia and Kossovo: The conflict in Bosnia Herzgovina and Kossovo is fresh in our memories. The largest Holocaust and Genocide in the recent history of Europe after the Holocaust of Word War II was created against the Muslims of Bosnia and Kossovo. More than half million Muslims were killed, Almost all the adult male population of Bosnia and Kossovo was sent into concentration camps. Women and children were not only tortured and raped but they were forced to kill their own relatives with their own hands. Millions of Muslims were made refugees to take shelter around the world. This genocide and Holocaust took place while the European and America forces were there. They saw it, and pretended, as they were helpless. The United Nations forces, which included Europeans and Americans, supposed to protect the safe heavens for Bosnian Muslims but they failed and thousands of Muslims were slaughtered in front of them. Imagine a hypothetical situation, if instead of Bosnian Muslims few hundred American would have been slaughtered by the Serbs, would the UN forces just had watched it helplessly like they watched the slaughter of Bosnian Muslims? Off course, not. The Holocaust of Bosnian and Kossovar Muslims was carried out by a conspiracy of eliminating Muslims from Europe. That conspiracy failed. Otherwise, the plan was to remove any chances of a Muslim state in Europe.

The situation in Bosnia Herzgovina, Kossovo and Macedonia has been temporarily settled. This is all artificial, because the problem has not been resolved permanently. The conditions under which Muslims are living are not very much different from the conditions that started the conflict in first place. Bosnia Herzegovina is still divided on the ethnic lines. There are pockets of each community and they do not talk to each other. Any small incident can flare up the old wounds and situation will go back to mid 1990s situation. In Kossovo and Macedonia the situation is similar. Both Kossovo and Macedonia are divided on ethnic lines. Forcing the people to live together while they do not want to live together will not solve the problem permanently. To solve the problem permanently Kossovo must get its freedom and Macedonia should be divided into autonomous regions.

* Muslim States in Russian Federation: The history of Muslims in the present Russian Federation goes back to several centuries. But during the past two centuries the Russian forces have occupied most of the Muslim states, which used to surround Russia. Even after the fall of Soviet Union, there are still many Muslim states, which have been illegally annexed into Russia. Chechnya is one of them. Ingushetia, Kergyzia, Ossetia, Turkamania and many other states in Siberia are all Muslim states which have been annexed into Russian Federation against the will of the people of these lands. If a fair and open referendum is held today and people given a chance to vote without any fear of persecution, many Muslim states will choose to breakout from the Russian Federation. The reason is very clear. Since the annexation of these Muslim States into Russia, the Russian governments have been using and exporting the resources of these Muslim states to develop and flourish the regions around Moscow and leaving these areas undeveloped and backward. The Muslims of these states and regions do not even have access to basic human needs such as education, drinking water, transportation, health care, etc.?The Muslim population of these states has any power. The puppets in the parliament represent them. Since Muslims of these states do not have access to education, therefore, they are not well educated which creates a huge vacuum for the leadership of these Muslims. The standard of living of these poor Muslims is worse while their regions are the wealthiest in Russian Federation for their natural and mineral resources.

Muslims in China: There are more than 50 million Muslims live in China. The ancient record of the Tang Dynasty describes a landmark visit to China by Saad ibn Abi Waqqas (May Allah be pleased with him), one of the companions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in 650 A.D. The Chinese emperor Yung-Wei respected the teachings of Islam and considered it to be compatible with the teachings of Confucius. To show his admiration for Islam, the emperor approved the establishment of China's first mosque at Ch'ang-an. That mosque still stands today after fourteen centuries.

Anti-Muslim sentiments took root in China during the Ch'ing Dynasty (1644 - 1911 A.D.), which was established by Manchus who were a minority in China. Muslims in China number more than 50 million, according to unofficial counts. They represent ten distinct ethnic groups. The largest are the Chinese Hui, who comprise over half of China's Muslim population. The largest of Turkic groups are the Uygurs who are most populous in the province of Xinjiang, where they were once an overwhelming majority. This overwhelming majority of Muslims has slowly been reduced but still Muslims are in majority.

The reduction in Muslim population has been drastic during the communist regime of China. So far all the communist governments have seen Muslims as threat and they have killed more than half million Muslims during the communist party rule. The ethnic cleansing of Muslims is continuously going on in China for the last fifty years. Muslims can not worship openly. The areas of Muslim majority have been kept undeveloped and when a Muslim wants to improve his / her standard of living he /she has no choice but to leave the area. When he / she arrives in the developed areas of China they are no more allowed to practice their religion openly.

Today, the entire western world cries for the hard time faced by the followers of Falun Gong movement but no one cries on the genocide of Chinese Muslims. Whenever, the Western governments talk about the human rights issues in China they always mention Falun Gong and Christians. At least, I have never heard any western leader mentioning the Muslims of China. The most unfortunate situation with the Chinese Muslims is that the Muslim countries themselves do not want to talk about them because of the good relations between Chinese government and the Muslims countries. At least the other oppressed Muslims get little lip service from Muslim governments and Chinese Muslims do not even get that.

* Cambodian Muslims: When the civil war in Cambodia took place during Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime, millions of Cambodians were sentenced to death. Among those millions of Cambodians, thousands of Muslims were also murdered. Mosques and Islamic schools were destroyed. Many Islamic institutions were closed. Muslims were forced to step on the Holy Qur'an and eat pig which is against their religious beliefs. The genocide of Cambodian Muslims was not even considered worth mentioning in the media including media in the Muslim world. There are many other countries where Muslims are not allowed to identify themselves as Muslims and practice their religion with freedom. If they try to practice their religion, they become victims of hatred and oppression or face genocide. The oppression of Muslims by the Muslims is also on the rise. Muslims are not allowed to practice Islam in many Muslim countries such as Turkey, Algeria, Tajikistan, Uzbukistan, Qazakistan, Azerbaijan, etc. In many Muslim countries Muslims are not allowed to democratically elect their own government. Most of the Muslim governments are secular and are symbol of oppression.

Afghan war goes on, so will Anti-war activity.

Even before Washington announced the deployment of more troops to Afghanistan, US public support for the war was at an all time low.

Anti-war activists say the decision to send more troops will leave many Americans disappointed.

But Al Jazeera's Sebastian Walker reports that so far there have only been limited protests.

UN rights chief says Swiss ban on minarets ‘clearly discriminatory’

1 December 2009 – The United Nations human rights chief spoke out today against the Swiss ban on the building of new minarets, calling it a discriminatory and deeply divisive step which risks putting the county on a “collision course” with its international rights obligations.

“I hesitate to condemn a democratic vote, but I have no hesitation at all in condemning the anti-foreigner scare-mongering that has characterized political campaigns in a number of countries, including Switzerland, which helps produce results like this,” High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay (pic) stated.

The ban results from a referendum held on Sunday on the subject, which was not supported by the Government of Switzerland, she noted in a news release.

Ms. Pillay said that banning an architectural structure that is associated with one religion only is clearly discriminatory.

“Some of the politicians who proposed this motion argued that it wasn’t targeting Islam or Muslims,” she said. “Others claimed that banning minarets would improve integration. These are extraordinary claims when the symbol of one religion is targeted.”

The High Commissioner added that such a ban is “discriminatory, deeply divisive and a thoroughly unfortunate step for Switzerland to take, and risks putting the country on a collision course with its international human rights obligations.”

Yesterday Asma Jahangir, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, voiced her regret at the vote and its negative consequences for Muslims in Switzerland.

“Indeed, a ban on minarets amounts to an undue restriction of the freedom to manifest one’s religion and constitutes a clear discrimination against members of the Muslim community in Switzerland,” she stated.

U.S. faces 'absolute defeat,' Taliban leader purportedly says

(CNN) -- The United States and its allies are facing "an absolute defeat" against the Taliban in Afghanistan even if additional troops are sent, according to a message purportedly from the Taliban's elusive leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar.

 

In a transcript of the message posted Wednesday on the Afghan jihadi online magazine Al-Somod, the Taliban leader purportedly says the "realities in Afghanistan are simple."

"You and your allies are facing an absolute defeat, and nothing will change that even if you send more troops, no matter what your strategies are, because the logic of force will have no impact on the mujahedeen and you will never be able to control the Afghan people by physical force or by your satanic hypocrisy," the transcript says.

CNN could not independently confirm the authenticity of the report, which appeared in Arabic and in Pashtun.

The transcript continued: "Let it be known that your hostile policies have created a new world of enemies who will fight against you, and the earth is narrowing around you and you will always live the life of all bitterness and sorrow, because the policy of force and tyranny cannot and will not be accepted by anyone."

The message comes days before President Obama is set to announce the U.S. troop strategy for Afghanistan.

In a Tuesday speech, Obama will explain why the United States is in Afghanistan, its interests there and his decision-making process, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

The president ordered more than 20,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in March. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, reportedly has called for up to 40,000 more to wage a counterinsurgency campaign against the Taliban, the Islamic militia originally ousted by U.S. military action in 2001.

There was no immediate response from Washington to the message.

A previous message said to be from Omar was released in September, saying the fight against foreign forces "is approaching the edge of victory."

Iran says : IAEA resolution a 'great failure' for West

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:31:33 GMT | PressTV

The following is a rush transcript of Press TV's exclusive interview with Iran's Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh (Pic) on the UN nuclear Watchdog's Friday resolution, which calls on Tehran to immediately halt construction of the Fordo enrichment plant.

Press TV: Do you think that today's (Friday's) resolution was a politically-motivated one?

Soltaniyeh: First of all I have to say that one of the immediate consequences of the gesture and the resolution today was polarization of member states. We witnessed a division among the countries, [which voted today]. the Non-aligned Movement in fact, was against this gesture and in spite of all attempts that the countries proposing the resolution made and a lot of pressure on the capitals [of the countries that were present in the meeting], they were not able to have consensus and they failed.

That was a great failure for them not to have consensus on this resolution. Nine countries including three voting against — Cuba, Venezuela and Malaysia — and other countries didn't support [the resolution]. This was a very serious political message to them [the West] that they should not politicize the agency and those who explained about their votes clearly mentioned that they considered that this resolution would create a negative environment and would persuade confrontation rather than cooperation.

After the resolution at the [IAEA] Board of Governors, I delivered a very clear message: That they should have learned from the past, that none of the resolutions of the [IAEA] Board of Governors, [resolutions of] the United Nation Security Council (UNSC), sanctions and threats of a military attack, have been able to stop or even suspend [Iran's] enrichment activities.

Press TV: Now that this resolution has been passed, how will Iran respond to the resolution? You previously said that you would scale back your cooperation to just within the legal boundaries. is that what we are looking at now?

Soltaniyeh: Exactly, the second consequence will be that by this resolution they have discouraged Iran from taking voluntary steps that we have taken in many occasions in the past particularly the recent time. When [the IAEA] Director General [Mohamed ElBaradei] was in Iran in fact we took some voluntary steps, and informing them about this new site Fordo was among those voluntary steps. Because we should have not informed [the agency] at this juncture in fact, we have eighteen months ahead of what we are obliged to. Therefore, we will not be committed to any of this even if you wanted to voluntarily cooperate. We will try to confine our activities within the framework of [the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty] NPT comprehensive safeguard. That's what we are going to do.

Regarding this Fordo resolution, the answer to this resolution is definitely 'no'. We are not going to suspend our enrichment activities, we are not going to suspend the completion of the Fordo nuclear enrichment activities, but at the same time as we put it we will continue cooperation with the agency and all these activities will be under IAEA safeguards, but only within the framework of comprehensive safeguard of NPT.

Press TV: Where exactly do we go from here? How do you see this issue resolved?

Soltaniyeh: Well, Let's hope that they will regret the mistake they made, and take steps to compensate and — as I called several times after the first round of negotiations in Vienna — supply fuel for the Tehran research reactor and come to the negotiating table. We are ready to talk with a positive approach and make sure that our legitimate technical and economic concerns are taken into consideration — particularly the issue of guarantee.

The past confidence deficit will be taken into consideration, but of course what they did today was very disappointing and, therefore, I want to say that they shouldn't play delay tactic. The time is essence and we need fuel for the Tehran research reactor. In fact, over 200 hospitals whose patients are struggling with cancer are in need of radioisotopes. If they continue not to cooperate and supply the fuel then the government has to look for other options.

IAEA Chief ElBaradei Reports on Iran

In his final report to the Board as IAEA Director General, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei today reported on nuclear safeguards in Syria and Iran, as well as other issues including the Agency's Technical Cooperation programme and the assurance of supply of nuclear fuel, in his opening statement to the Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria.

The IAEA's 35-member Board of Governors is meeting to discuss the IAEA's work on nuclear verification, safety and security and the peaceful use of nuclear technologies. The Board, which meets five times a year at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, is the Agency's policymaking body

Afghanistan under Obama's Karzai - RAINED BULLETS, will it!

Barack Obama's new strategy in Afghanistan as he considers a surge of U.S. troops in the war-torn country.Can a new military strategy work? And are Afghan politics in order for the US to really succeed?

The Week Afghanistan Becomes Obama's War

After three months of deliberation, U.S. President Barack Obama says he will announce his Afghanistan strategy "in a few days". The generals will likely be pleased, his allies in Britain and Australia remain resolute, but can the strategy work?

Germany Suspects China of Spying on Uighur Expatriates

German investigators on Tuesday morning searched the residences of four suspected Chinese spies. According to information obtained by SPIEGEL ONLINE, the suspects had been spying on Munich's Uighur community on orders from the Chinese government.

Unlike China's imposing embassy in Berlin, the general consulate in Munich is no symbol of power. The representative office in the Bavarian capital is located in the upmarket district of Neuhausen in an inconspicouous corner building close to Nymphenburg Palace.

If you believe the consulate's own PR, the institution deals with pleasant issues such as business and travel visas, the Olympic Games or German-Chinese trade relations. But if German investigators are to be believed, this idyll is merely a facade behind which the Chinese intelligence service is operating a network of spies.

On Tuesday morning, officers from Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office and the Bavarian police searched the homes of four Chinese nationals in the Munich area, SPIEGEL ONLINE has learned. They are under suspicion of being intelligence service agents for the Chinese government tasked with spying on Munich's large expatriate community of Uighurs, a Muslim ethnic minority in China that has been engaging in violent protests this year against perceived discrimination.

A Center for Expatriate Uighurs

 

Several hundred Uighurs live in exile in Munich, and many of them are politically active. Munich has one of the world's largest exile communities of Uighurs and the World Uighur Congress is based there. The government in Beijing is interested in everything the Uighurs think, talk about or plan. The Uighurs are one of the "five poisons" the Communist government is fighting against with all the means at its disposal.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office has discovered that the Chinese government has been recruiting a number of informants to spy on Munich's Uighur community. Investigators believe that the suspected group of agents is controlled from within the Munich consulate by a consul who has been observed conducting conspirative meetings with the alleged agents. The consul himself has diplomatic immunity from prosecution in Germany but prosecutors are investigating four of his alleged informers.

The investigation presents yet another strain on the already tense relationship between China and Germany. The spying activities in Munich are closely coordinated with Beijing, with the consul reporting directly to the homeland. The Chinese government is following every step taken by the German government with interest.

The rigid countermeasures taken by German officials are new. Last year, the Federal Prosecutor's Office established a procedure whereby all evidence regarding suspected Chinese spying activities was collated, but until Tuesday, no searches or arrests had been carried out. Officials largely limited themselves to keeping a close eye on hostile behavior on the part of the Chinese government and on the extreme interest showed by consulate employees in Munich's community of Uighurs in exile.

Two years ago, the Chinese diplomat Ji Wumin, who also lived in Munich, had to leave the country after investigators observed him meeting around a dozen times with spies who provided him with information about the Uighur community. Ji left before he could be expelled.

Ji's case remains a source of tension in diplomatic relations between China and Germany. Beijing would like to send Ji back to Munich, but Berlin fears that he would merely resume his previous spying activities. Tuesday's searches, however, make Ji's return unlikely -- the consul now under investigation is Ji's official successor.

Al Jazeera interviews analysts on Blackwater

A US magazine has reported that the private US military contractor formerly known as Blackwater is running covert operations in Pakistan.

Iran war games commence today

The Iranian military has begun a week-long simulation of air defence exercises aimed at practising responses to possible attacks on the country's nuclear sites.The drills were announced on Saturday by Brigadier General Ahmad Mighani, the head of Iran's army air defence, who said the war games were due to threats against the country's controversial nuclear facilities."It is our duty to defend out nation's vital facilities and thus these manoeuvres covers Bushehr, Fars, Isfahan, Tehran and western provinces," he said.

Tensions are high between Tehran and the six world powers trying to negotiate a deal on Iran's nuclear programme.Western powers believe that Iran's enrichment work is masking an atomic weapons programme but Tehran insists it is purely for generating electricity.Meanwhile, Washington and Israel have never ruled out a military strike against Iran's nuclear sites, but the Islamic republic has warned it will hit back at Israel and US interests in the region if it is attacked.

Iran War Games Fox News ( November 22. 2009 )

What is the American doing in Iraq & Afghanistan?

Afghanistan, Iraq Near Bottom of Corruption Index


Despite billions of dollars spent by the U.S. and other countries to improve governance in Afghanistan and Iraq, the two countries remain among the world’s most corrupt nations, according to the latest edition of Transparency International’s (TI)Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).

Federalism gone wrong!

Kelantan claims existence of oil royalty agreement

KUALA KRAI: The Kelantan government claims that there is an agreement to show that the Federal government is liable to pay the state oil royalty if oil and gas are found on or off its shores.


Speaking at a ceramah in Chuchoh Puteri on Tuesday night, Kelantan senior exco member Datuk Husam Musa said the agreement was signed on May 9, 1975 by the then Menteri Besar Datuk Mohd Nasir and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who was Petroliam Nasional chairman.

He said Tun Salleh Abbas had met with Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat and him (Husam) on Tuesday to explain the background to the agreement. Tun Salleh was the person responsible in drafting the agreement as he was the Attorney General then.

"In the agreement, the Federal government could take the oil and gas but is liable to pay royalty in cash twice a year in the months of March and September," said Husam, adding that Nik Aziz had written to the Federal government to make a claim of RM1 billion.

The oil and gas activity is located about 150km off Kelantan shores and is jointly developed with Thailand. The area is a disputed by Thailand and Malaysia.

"Sabah's oil is found 210km off its shores and Terengganu's oil and gas activity is 220km away. How can they be entitled to royalty and Kelantan doesn't get any," asked Husam.

The oil royalty issue was first brought up by Husam in 2001 while he was the MP for Kubang Kerian. Just about three weeks ago Machang MP Saifuddin Nasution brought up the issue in Parliament again, as Kelantan was found listed in the Statistics Department's State/District Data Bank as one of the four oil and gas producing states.

The other states on the list are Sabah, Sarawak and Terengganu which receive yearly 5% royalty from the Federal Government. Kelantan is the only state ruled by the opposition PMIP (Pan Malaysia Islamic Party) whereas UMNO (a Malay Nationalist Party) ruled the Federation.

courtesy : the edge

silent cry global campaign.

A group of young British students, in search for a story, flew far into East Africa where they discovered the documentary film Silent Cry 

Israel's addiction to the occupation of the Palestinian Territories

Gideon Levy, one of the most prominent Israeli journalists working with Ha'aretz speaks to The Real News' Lia Tarachansky about Israel's addiction to the occupation of the Palestinian Territories. He says there are two ways to deal with a drug addict, you can either help them get more drugs, and this may be perceived as care, but it is not friendship. A real friend helps the drug addict get over their addiction. Levy says the Jewish lobby has decided to take the former route, but he is hoping that the United States and the Obama Administration will take the latter.

Sister of Guantanamo inmate's interview.

The US has announced that five people held at Guantanamo Bay will face trial before a military commission.

Among them is Canadian detainee Omar Khadr. Khadr was only a teenager when he was brought to Guantanamo after being captured in Afghanistan for allegedly killing a US soldier there.

Canadian courts have ordered their government to request his repatriation. But the government is now fighting that ruling before the supreme court.

Al Jazeera's Monica Villamizar sat down with Khadr's sister Zaynab for an exclusive interview and began by asking her how her brother has been treated over the past seven years in detention.

Yemeni Houthi leader asks Riyadh for ceasefire.

A political leader of the Yemeni Zaidi fighters, Yahya al-Houthi, has called on Riyadh to agree to a ceasefire and expressed his group's willingness to negotiate with Saudi security officials.

"We call upon Saudi Arabia to stop its military attacks and start negotiations," he said in an interview with Al-Arabiya late on Wednesday.

"Our war is not with Saudi Arabia," Yahya al-Houthi emphasized.

This is while the Saudi forces continue to pound the positions of Houthis as frequent cross-border confrontations between Shia fighters and Saudi security forces have drawn Riyadh into the ongoing Sana'a military campaign against the northern Yemeni combatants.

A Saudi government adviser told Reuters on Thursday that the world's biggest oil exporter is using air power and artillery to enforce a 10-kilometer (six mile) deep buffer zone inside Yemen to keep Shia resistance fighters away from its southwestern border.

Last week, Riyadh unleashed F-15 and Tornado jets against Houthi positions around the massive Jebel al-Dukhan mountain, which soars 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) out of the coastal plain on the border in southern Jizan province.

Saudi ground troops and heavy long-range artillery lined the sides of the main road to the frontier town of al-Khubah at the foot of the mountain, as soldiers patrolled fields and inspected vehicles for Houthi fighters. The Houthis blame Riyadh of permitting Yemeni troops to use Saudi territory to attack their flank.

The Yemeni government launched Operation 'Scorched Earth' on August 11 to uproot the Shia Houthi fighters whom Sana'a accuses of seeking a return to the Zaidi imamate rule, overthrown in a 1962 coup.

The northern combatants, however, reiterate that they suffer religious discrimination by Sunni fundamentalists who hold sway because of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's cordial relations with the staunchly Wahabi-dominated Saudi regime.

Saada and neighboring Amran province are encircled by fighters and frequently pounded by military jet fighter as helicopter gunships. The conflict zones in northern Yemen remain cut from the rest of the country and are currently grappling with a pressing shortage of food and other basic supplies.

The United Nations puts the figure of displaced people in northern Yemen at around 150,000 civilians. 

Iran urges peaceful resolution to Yemen crisis,

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says military means cannot resolve the crisis between the Yemeni government and Houthi fighters.

Speaking at a joint news conference with the visiting Mosotho foreign minister, Mohlabi Kenneth Tsekoa, Mottaki said Iran is in favor of peace and stability in Yemen.

He added that Tehran is ready to work with regional states to resolve the crisis in Yemen.

The fighting in Yemen started in August when government forces attacked areas inhabited by Shia civilians and Houthi fighters.

The Houthis demand an end to social, economic and political 'discrimination' against Shias in Yemen as well as Saudi-backed attempts to spread Wahhabism — a sect that preaches controversial and violent actions — in the north. They also accuse the government of widespread corruption.

The government accuses the fighters of violating the terms of an armistice by taking foreign visitors hostage in 2009.

The fighting has displaced thousands of civilians, while tens of thousands of others remain at risk as winter approaches. 

Saudi air assaults target Yemeni civilians.

In its week-long offensive in northern Yemen, Saudi forces (photo) have attacked residential areas and border villages, killing and wounding several people.

According to local Yemeni sources, the Saudi air and artillery assaults against the civilians were launched overnight.

The Saudi Army also deployed one of its main brigades from the southern province of Jizan to northern Yemen early Monday morning, the sources reported. The army's Fourth Brigade consists of at least 13,000 troops.

Saudi authorities have also blocked border roads since Saturday in order to utilize them for the movement of armored trucks and military vehicles.

Saudi Arabia launched its Yemen offensive more than two month after the Yemeni government launched its 'Operation Scotched Earth' to crush the Houhti resistance in the mountainous north.

The Houthis have been accused of seeking to restore a religious establishment that was overthrown in 1962. The fighters, however, stress that they only want an end to the social, economic and political 'discrimination' against them in the country, as well as the Saudi-backed attempts to spread Wahabism in the north.

Wahabism is a Saudi-based sect that preaches radical misinterpretations of Islam that encourages violence against anyone that does not share their system of beliefs. 

Yemen seeks US help to quash Houthis

The United States has signed a military agreement with Yemen to help the embattled Sana'a government with its armed offensive on Houthi fighters in the north.

The agreement was signed in Sana'a on Tuesday after two days of talks, the second round of such negotiations, state-run Saba news agency reported.

Under the military pact, Washington will provide the Yemeni army with intelligence and training to strengthen cooperation in the 'extermination of terrorism, smuggling and piracy', Saba quoted Yemen's Chief of Staff Ahmed Ali al-Ashwal as saying.

The deal comes amid accusations against the central government of employing al-Qaeda mercenaries and getting help from foreign forces, the Sunni-dominated Saudi military in particular.

Northern Yemen has been the scene of deadly clashes between the army and the Houthi opposition fighters, who took arms against the Sunni-dominated central government in protest at 'repression and discrimination' against the country's Shia minority.

The conflict escalated to a breaking point in August when Sana'a launched a massive military offensive, namely Operation Scorched Earth, against the Shia fighters.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabian air force launched a deadly offensive against Houthis more than a week ago, accusing the Shia fighters of killing two Saudi soldiers on the border.

While Riyadh says that its offensive targeted Houthi positions on 'Saudi territory', the Shia fighters say Yemeni villages, far from the battlefield, were being bombarded.

They also accuse the Saudi air force of repeated use of the forbidden white phosphorus bombs in their attacks in the areas of al-Malahaid and the border region of Jabal al-Dukhan.

White phosphorus (photo), banned under the Geneva Treaty of 1980, is an incendiary material that erupts into flame on contact with air, causing horrific burns, severe injuries or death when it comes in contact with human skin.

Profile: Yemen's Houthi fighters

Yemen, one of the world's poorest countries and a crucial US ally in Washington's fight against al-Qaeda, is in the midst of a series of conflicts that threaten its stability.

As well as tackling al-Qaeda fighters and sealing with growing secessionist feeling from south Yemen, the government has for five-years waged a campaign against a group of Shia Muslim fighters in the country's north.

The conflict with the Houthi fighters, which has cost the lives of thousands of people, is a mix of local and tribal concerns stemming from historical roots.

Although the current campaign is part of a fight that has been under way since 2004, its roots go back even further.

Zaydi rulers toppled

In 1962, a revolution in Yemen ended over 1,000 years of rule by Zaydi Hashemites, who claimed descendance from the Prophet Mohammed.

Zaydism is a branch of Shia Islam, though its practices often appear closer to Sunni Islam than traditional Shia belief.

Saada, in the north, was their main stonghold and since their fall from power the region was largely ignored economically and remains underdeveloped.

During Yemen's 1994 civil war, the Wahhabis, an Islamic group adhering to a strict version of Sunni Islam found in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, helped the government in its fight against the secessionist south. 

Zaydis complain the government has subsequently allowed the Wahabis too strong a voice in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia, for its part, worries that strife instigated by the Shia sect so close to Yemen's border with Saudi Arabia could stir up groups in Saudi itself.

Although it has received little international coverage, the conflict essentially pits Yemen's Sunni-majority government against Shia fighters, a conflict that has added significance for many Arab countries worried about the rising influence of Shia-ruled Iran.

Yemeni officials have frequently accused Iran of funding the Houthi fighters.

The last five years of fighting against the armed Houthi group were sparked in 2004 by the government's attempt to arrest Hussein al-Houthi, a Zaydi religious leader and a former parliamentarian on whose head the government had placed a $55,000 bounty.

Little authority

The Yemeni government has little authority in the mountainous areas outside the major cities, but amid a sustained campaign, al-Houthi was killed in an attack on his hideout.

The movement is now led by al-Houthi's brothers, including Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.

Fighting eased over the years and in 2007 a deal was signed between the government and the fighters, but never implemented.

A year later, in 2008, Qatari mediators helped revive the deal and the two sides met in Doha to sign a document outlining procedures for the implementation of the earlier agreement.

But on August 10, 2009, Ali Abdullah al-Saleh, the Yemeni president, said the fighters showed no intention of adhering to the peace process and accused them of destroying homes and farms and blocking food distribution.

The campaign began again and Yemen's Supreme Security Committee announced it would crush the fighters with an "iron fist".

 source Aljazeera

Somaliland at crisis point

November 11, 2009  |   ALJaeera

Somaliland has been hailed as a beacon of stability in the troubled Horn of Africa region since declaring independence from Somalia in 1991.

But Al Jazeera's Mohamed Adow, reports that some experts now believe the self-declared republic is at crisis point, as an election row deepens.

The current tension in Somaliland centres on the presidential election, which was due to have been held on September 27.

The polls have been postponed indefinitely due to serious differences between the political parties since 2008.

This uncertainty has led to increased concern about Somaliland in the international community, and a flare-up of political animosity within the territory.

Recent violence, particularly in the capital Hargeysa, has shown that the crisis in Somaliland has changed from being political to one of security and stability.

Fears over the crisis has even led one senior political figure to warn that it could become another failed state, like neighbouring Somalia.

Somaliland is a former British protectorate in north western Somalia.

In 1960, it gained its independence and united with what was then Italian Somaliland to form the Somalia republic.

Limited democracy

In 1991, it declared independence after Mohamed Siad Barre, the Somali military leader, was overthrown.

Somaliland has a population of 3.5 million people, according to government estimates, and is a relatively stable democracy even though it has not been internationally recognised.

This is partly because it has developed a unique hybrid system of government.

The row over elections - largely seen as a test for this fledgeling nation - threatens to divide it.

The hope now lies with a recently appointed electoral commission, entrusted with the task of organising elections, a step seen as vital to Somaliland's quest for international recognition

ElBaradei Suggests Turkey Store Iran's Uranium .

08/11/2009  |   almanartv

Iran's enriched uranium could be transferred to Turkey until Tehran is supplied with nuclear gas from Russia, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Saturday during a television interview.

Mohammed ElBaradei said that he offered Turkey as a third destination country after Iran refused the West's proposal that the uranium be enriched in Russia. “It should work,” he said. The UN watchdog head also added that Iran has great faith in Turkey and that the Obama administration would be open to such a proposal, seeing as the United States is comfortable working with Turkey.

He also noted that the idea has yet to be presented to the Turkish government but estimated that Ankara would agree to store the uranium under the IAEA's supervision. He added that Iran is considering whether to agree to his new proposal.

"I am in contact with them every single day,” ElBaradei said. “They said they would like to keep it on our territory, but I said that defeats the whole purpose of defusing the crisis. We need to get the material out to eliminate the perception that you could develop nuclear weapons tomorrow.”

The Turkish ambassador to the UN said that he was unaware of ElBaradei's new plan while a comment on the proposal has yet to be made by the US State Department.

Earlier on Saturday the Iranian head of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee was quoted as saying that Iran is refusing to send its low-enriched uranium abroad for further processing. "We do not want to give part of our 1,200 kilos of enriched uranium in order to receive fuel of 20%enrichment," Alaeddin Borujerdi told the ISNA news agency.

Following the statements Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned that Moscow could endorse sanctions on Iran should the talks fail.

Abbas' move highlights failure of peace process

The decision by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, to bow out of politics has raised doubts over the future of the Middle East peace process.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, in praising his efforts said she would work with Abbas in whatever capacity he was working in the future.

But it remains to be seen if the US, whose backing of the Israeli position on illegal settlements led to Abbas' decision, will now try to keep him.

Al Jazeera's John Terrett reports.

Israel's Timely Interception??

As claimed - Israel shows arms it intercepted that it says Iran was sending to Hezbollah for terrorism, without any presence of UN peacekeepers.

Karadzic attends trial, calls for delay

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 PressTV

Appearing for the first time in his genocide trial in The Hague, wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic (photo) has asked the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal for further delays in the proceedings.

Karadzic arrived at the court on Tuesday following a boycott of the trial, which opened more than a week ago.

He warned that he would continue the boycott unless he is given time — as long as 10 months — to prepare his defense, which he is undertaking personally, and to review more than a million pages of evidence.

Tuesday's procedural hearing aimed at reviewing options for continuing the trial in the face of Karadzic's continued defiance.

The court adjourned after hearing his arguments with the promise of reaching a decision within a week.

"The trial chamber... will issue its decision on this matter in writing later this week," residing judge O-Gon Kwon said at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.

He is facing 11 charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity over his alleged role in overseeing Serb atrocities in the 1992-95 Bosnian war that claimed some 100,000 lives.

The former Serb leader, who was indicted in 1995 but avoided capture until 14 months ago, told the judges that he 'would really be a criminal' if he accepted to stand trial without being adequately prepared.

Karadzic has refused to leave his jail cell since the trial started on October 26, saying he needed more time to review more than a million pages of prosecution evidence and the statements of hundreds of witnesses.

"Mr Karadzic cannot be permitted to manipulate the proceedings through his decision not to attend," said prosecutor Hildegard Uertz-Retzlaff.

Should the court decide to proceed despite his absence and assign counsel to represent him, the new lawyer may ask for months of delay for acquainting himself with the case. Karadzic, however, has promised to fight such an appointment.

If convicted, Karadzic could be handed a life jail sentence.

On Monday, prosecutor Alan Tieger dubbed the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys 'one of humanity's dark chapters', accusing Karadzic of sanctioning the atrocity.

He also stands charged for the 44-month siege of the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, which ended in November 1995 after some 10,000 people, many of them civilians, were killed.

PALESTINIANS PRISONERS

The kidnapping of 21 international human rights workers attempting to deliver needed aid to a besieged people is an outrage, but it is hardly an isolated one.

Since its founding in 1948 the State of Israel has regularly kidnapped and tortured Palestinians, throwing them into forgotten prisons where they can languish for years. Today, over 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners without benefit of due process, some never even charged - men, women, and children endure torture and isolation in Israeli jails, outdoor prison camps, and secret black sites.

They come from all walks of life: doctors, journalists, parliamentarians, workers, resistance fighters, homemakers, students and others. They are our sisters and brothers.

From the first night, the Free Gaza 21 have been busy trying to get news out of the prison about the illegality of Israel's actions in relation to themselves and the other inmates inside Ramle Prison who have no voice.

Former Bosnian Serb Leader Doesn't Show for War Crimes Trial.

“Abbas to Obama: I'll Quit, There's No Chance for Peace with Netanyahu”

27/10/2009 reported by Almanar

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told U.S. President Barack Obama that he intends to resign his post, Israeli Channel 10 television reported on Monday. According to the report, the Palestinian leader told Obama during a telephone conversation last week that he sees no chance of advancing the so-called peace process with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in power.

Channel 10 also reported that Abbas communicated to the White House his disappointment in the administration's "capitulation" to Tel Aviv on the issue of occupied West Bank settlement construction. The Palestinians are demanding a cessation of Israeli settlement activity as a precondition to the resumption of “peace negotiations”.

According to Channel 10, Abbas told the White House that the Palestinian Authority's initial decision to defer a vote on the Goldstone Report at the United Nations Human Rights Council was politically damaging. The Palestinian Authority agreed to delay debating the report that was condemning the Zionist entity for its aggression in Gaza last winter. The decision led to street protests by Palestinians and condemnation around the Arab world.

In recent days, Abbas has sent a number of blunt, unequivocal messages to the White House, Channel 10 reported. According to information which reached Israeli officials, Abbas told the U.S. president that he will not stand for re-election as Palestinian Authority president given the diplomatic stalemate with Israel.

Abbas called on Friday for presidential and parliamentary elections on Jan. 24, in a bid to regain dominance of the badly divided Palestinian movement and sideline his political rivals, Hamas.

According to Channel 10, Abbas also told the Americans that he sees no possibility that his Fatah faction can reach a reconciliation agreement with Hamas. Hamas and Fatah are currently in the midst of Egyptian-mediated reconciliation talks.

In response to the report, a senior Netanyahu aide told Channel 10: "Netanyahu carried out a number of steps in order to renew the peace process, as the American administration is fully aware. The prime minister called on the Palestinians to renew negotiations immediately and without preconditions."

"In contrast to the prime minister, the Palestinians are assuming a tougher stance and are placing preconditions before negotiations that they did not demand of previous [Israeli] governments," the source told Channel 10. "It is a shame that their transparent political maneuvers are casting a pall over the peace process."

Earlier Monday, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat blamed Israel for the impasse. Erekat urged Washington to also find fault with Israel.

"The gap is still wide and Israel does not give a single sign of meeting its obligations under the road map, halting settlement activities and resuming negotiations where they left off," he told Voice of Palestine radio. "I do not see any possibility for restarting peace talks in the near future," Erekat said.

Tayeb Abdel Rahim, a senior aide to Abbas, on Monday night denied the Channel 10 report.

First US official resigns in protest at Afghan war.

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 - reproted by PressTV

The US-led war in Afghanistan has forced the first American official to resign his post, questioning the reason behind Washington's military presence in the country.

The senior State Department official in Afghanistan's Zabul province Matthew Hoh had stepped down in September, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday. "I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States' presence in Afghanistan," Hoh wrote in his resignation letter to the State Department's personnel chief. "I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end," he added.

The former Marine Corps captain was offered a senior staff-level job at the US embassy in Kabul, which he also turned down. Hoh, who had also served in uniform at the Pentagon and as a civilian in Iraq, said he decided to speak out to influence public opinion. "I'm not some peacenik, pot-smoking hippie who wants everyone to be in love," he said after his resignation became final on Wednesday.

"I want people in Iowa, people in Arkansas, people in Arizona, to call their congressman and say, 'Listen, I don't think this is right.'" Since the 2001 US-led invasion of the country, Afghanistan has been suffering from the devastating war.

A high number of civilians have been killed both by indiscriminate US air strikes and by violent acts including suicide bombings and blasts carried out by militants against the occupying forces. Many other Afghans have also been forced to displace due to the conflict. According to the latest UN report, more than 1,500 civilians have been killed and many others wounded only in the first six months of this year, which shows a 24 percent increase compared to the same period in 2008.