Israeli airstrike kills Palestinian in Gaza

 

A Palestinian in Gaza died early Sunday after being wounded in a series of retaliatory Israeli airstrikes, Gaza medical sources said.

 

The fatality was identified as Abdel Karim Zatuniya, an elderly man serving as a guard at the barracks in the Zeitun area, south-east of Gaza city, who was wounded in an airstrike late Saturday night in which four other people were wounded. No militant faction in Gaza announced Zatuniya a member.

 

Three other Saturday night airstrikes — near the Karni crossing east of Gaza city, east of Khan Younis and at an empty house in Rafah — resulted in no further casualties.

 

The Israeli military confirmed launching the strikes, and in a statement early Sunday said its aircraft “targeted a terror tunnel and a weapon manufacturing facility in the northern Gaza Strip, a terror tunnel in the central Gaza Strip and an additional terror tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip,” noting direct hits.

 

“These sites were targeted in response to the rocket fire on communities in southern Israel,” the statement read, noting that a Friday night rocket from Gaza that struck between two houses in the Hof Ashkelon area had lightly injured an Israeli woman.

 

Earlier Saturday night, a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip hit southern Israel causing no casualties or damage, an Israeli police spokesman said.

 

“A rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip at the Eshkol region. It landed in an open area without causing any damage or injuries,” Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.

 

Speaking in Tehran on Saturday, Hamas prime minister of Gaza Ismail Haniya reiterated his movement s long-held stance it “will never recognise Israel,” as Palestinian efforts to form a temporary unity government headed by Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas continue.

 

Israel rejects efforts by Hamas to link up with Fatah, and views Hamas as a terrorist organisation and Iran as its sponsor and weapon supplier.

 

“The resistance will continue until all Palestinian land, including Al-Quds (Jerusalem), has been liberated and all the refugees have returned,” Haniya said. 

 

Iran slams US, Israel on revolution anniversary

TEHRAN: Iranians, some holding placards declaring “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”, on Saturday marked the anniversary of their country’s 1979 Islamic revolution with mass marches and a speech by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
  
Tens of thousands of demonstrators congregated in cities across Iran under winter skies, state television showed.
  
The main rallying point was in Tehran, where Ahmadinejad was to address a crowd of around 30,000 in Azadi (Freedom) Square from a stage in front of which a full-scale model of a captured US spy drone was erected.
  
In an unusual break with tradition — and a pointed swipe at Israel — the Hamas prime minister of Gaza, Ismail Haniya, was to give a speech from the podium at Ahmadinejad’s side, in which he vowed that the Islamist movement would never recognise the Jewish state.
  
“They want us to recognise the Israeli occupation and cease resistance but, as the representative of the Palestinan people and in the name of all the world’s freedom seekers, I am announcing from Azadi Square in Tehran that we will never recognise Israel,” Haniya told the crowd.
  
“The resistance will continue until all Palestinian land, including Al-Quds (Jerusalem), has been liberated and all the refugees have returned,” he said.
  
His reassertion of the longstanding Hamas position is likely to complicate Palestinian efforts to form a unity government in the teeth of opposition from the Jewish state, which blacklists the Islamist group as a terrorist organisation.
  
The model drone and Haniya were clear signs of defiance by Iran’s regime as it confronts US-led Western economic sanctions and Israeli threats of military action against its controversial nuclear programme.
  
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ahmadinejad and other Iranian officials have said they would not abandon their rights to the nuclear activities, which they maintain are exclusively non-military in nature.
  
The United States and Israel, however, see the nuclear programme as including research to build an atomic bomb that can fit into Iran’s ballistic missiles — a contention given some backing by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, three months ago.
  
The United States and the European Union have ratcheted up economic sanctions on Iran to an unprecedented level to try to force it to halt uranium enrichment and re-engage in long-stalled talks.
  
Iran has instead defiantly stepped up its enrichment activities, notably in a fortified mountain bunker near the shrine city of Qom designed to be bomb-proof.
  
Israel’s government, voicing concerns that Iran could shield its nuclear programme from attack by the end of this year, has fuelled speculation of imminent air strikes against its long-time foe.
  
Iran’s anniversary commemorations mark the day 33 years ago that a revolution led by clerics, students and dissidents overthrew the US-backed shah and installed an Islamic theocracy.
  
The United States cut off all diplomatic relations with Iran in 1980, after Islamic students stormed the US embassy in Tehran in November 1979 and took 52 Americans inside hostage in a crisis that lasted 444 days.
  
Demonstrators on Saturday marched towards rally points, many holding Iranian flags, pictures of Khamenei and his predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, or the placards saying “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”.
  
The US drone replica on display in Tehran was that of an unmanned stealth aircraft, a bat-winged RQ-170 Sentinel, which Iranian officials said they brought down by hacking its flight controls as it overflew their territory in December on a surveillance mission. AGENCIES

Iran vows to reveal nuclear achievement

 

Iran is “to inaugurate important nuclear projects in the next few days,” President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday, adding that his nation “will never yield” to Western coercion aimed at stopping its atomic activities.

 

Ahmadinejad, giving an anniversary speech in Tehran marking the 33rd year of Iran s Islamic revolution, gave no details of the nuclear projects.

 

But he railed against Western economic sanctions imposed to force Iran to give up its controversial nuclear programme, and at threats of possible Israeli and US military action against Iranian nuclear facilities.

 

“If the language of bullying and insult is used, the Iranian nation will never yield,” he said.

 

“The only path is to adhere to justice and the respect of Iran s (nuclear) rights and to return to the negotiating table,” he said. Otherwise, the West will continue to face “defeat” on the issue, he said.

Israel rejects new Palestinian government: minister

 

Israel s foreign minister told the UN Security Council on Thursday that a new Palestinian unity government including Hamas was a setback to peace attempts, diplomats said.

 

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman briefed the 15 Security Council ambassadors on the Middle East peace talks and the growing confrontation with Iran in a meeting at a New York hotel.

 

Lieberman said an accord signed this week by the heads of Fatah and Hamas “does not contribute to the advancement of peace negotiations or the well being of the Palestinian people,” Israel s UN mission said in a statement.

 

The accord “reflects the personal interests” of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, the head of Fatah, and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, the Israeli minister added.

 

“Israel will not accept a Palestinian government that includes Hamas, unless it changes its current policies, recognizes Israel s right to exist and accepts all Quartet conditions,” Lieberman added.

 

Talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been frozen since September 2010. The Palestinians have demanded that Israel halt settlement construction in the Palestinian territories. Israel rejects any conditions for talks to settle the Middle East conflict.

 

Lieberman, who is on a US tour which included meetings in Washington with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, also demanded that the Security Council act on Iran, the statement said.

 

“Israel keeps all options on the table” if international sanctions do not convince Iran to halt its nuclear drive, Lieberman said. Western countries say Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb and many experts say Israel is planning for a military strike. Iran denies it is seeking a weapon.

 

Lieberman called on the Security Council to act on statements by Iran s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who have made calls “to wipe Israel off the map,” the Israeli mission said.
 

SC warns PM Gilani of disqualification for influence on court

TrendPK.com
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry Thursday said the attempt by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani to influence the court may lead to his disqualification, adding the matter may be dissolved, if the government writes a letter to the Swiss courts.

Heading an eight-strong bench hearing the PM Gilani’s intra-court appeal against the court order to indict him on February 13, he said the paragraphs pertaining to the reinstatement of judges are shocking and quite embarrassing to the court, querying if any measure could be rewarded by stepping out of the law.

The Chief Justice Chaudhry further said these things do not behoove of a man sitting on such a high pedestal as the office of premiership, adding, “Can the Prime Minister be held above law in return for his order regarding reinstatement of judiciary?”

the Chief Justice Chaudhry remarked the PM’s bid to pressure any court may become the basis of his ineligibility under Article 63-AG of the Constitution.

Appearing on the part of the PM Gilani, former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Aitezaz Ahsan said, “Is the PM Gilani, incriminated under contempt of court charge, not entitled to just say that he braved difficulties for the judiciary for two years?”

Even then, he added, if the court seeks these paragraphs to be deleted, they will be written off.

Later on, the Advocate on Record told the court the PM Gilani sanctioned to strike off the paragraphs in question.

The apex court said the court was being pressurized for a favorable ruling through these three paragraphs.

Later on, arguing before the bench, Aitezaz said he strongly oppose the confrontation or misunderstanding among the national institutions.

The Chief Justice Chaudhry remarked President Asif Ali Zardari said in one of his interviews, that the decision not to write the letter was made on political basis; and, this indicates the government does not want to implement the para-178 of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) verdict, adding the SC delivered the NRO verdict not in vacuum, but, in accordance with the facts, instead.

the Chief Justice Chaudhry advised the PM Gilani to act upon the court order to maintain the prestige of the court, adding the entire matter will come to naught if the letter is written to Swiss courts.

Reacting to this, the PM’s counsel Ahsan submitted the case was dispensed with in Swiss courts in 1997-98; now, the letter will entail nothing.

Ahsan further argued that his client has no responsibility in matter relating the implementation, adding he will prove that no contempt was committed in this case. TrendPK

Please click ‘Video’ button to watch this news.

Memo case: Lawyer insists recording of Ijaz statement in abroad

TrendPK.com

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court commission, probing into the secret memo scandal, was meeting here Thursday in Islamabad High Court (IHC) as American Pakistani businessmen Mansoor Ijaz, central character of the scam, did not arrive in Pakistan before the investigation body, TrendPK reports.

Resuming its proceedings on Wednesday, the commission, headed by Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising two other high court chief justices, heard Mansoor Ijaz’s counsel Akram Sheikh who contended on recording of Ijaz’s statement in abroad.

He said the Pakistani commission had no authority to summon and record statement of a US citizen in Pakistan, adding that his client should be allowed to give the scam detail to the body members somewhere in abroad.

“The commission has obviously an authority to go abroad to get records or statements but Mr Mansoor Ijaz can’t appear before a Pakistani commission as per the law”.

Over nonappearance of Ijaz, Sheikh said his client had earlier vowed to appear before the commission, but he could not, due to threats to his life.

Sheikh, moreover, said Pakistani law would apply on Ijaz when he entered in the country and all assurances given regarding his security would be void.

On which Justice Isa remarked that you are taking a U-turn after getting all the assurances.

“This is the result of your arguments that he (Mansoor) is not coming to Pakistan. Why commission’s time was wasted when you knew that he is not availability,” head of the commission said.

Sheikh said Ijaz was willing to acquire Blackberry data from the company while Hussain Haqqani did not do so.

Moreover, Sheikh said Ijaz’s statement could be recorded in London.

On which Justice Isa questioned that “who gives surety that he will not then pretend to have a headache or flu. If he did not appear before the commission even in London, then commission’s travel expenses will be put on him. TrendPK

Homs assault kills more 13 in Syria

BEIRUT: Syrian forces killed at least 13 people in the city of Homs early on Thursday, activists said, as they sustained a bombardment of the heart of a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.  
   
“There are 12 people killed in Baba Amro, and one in Khalidiya,” said Rami Abdulrahman of the British-based opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, referring to two Homs districts which have borne the brunt of the latest assault. AGENCIES  

US airstrike kills vital Al-Qaeda leader

ISLAMABAD: US missiles on Thursday killed Al-Qaeda’s vital leader, one of the Americans’ main targets and wanted for attacks that killed scores of people, officials said.

Badr Mansoor, who reportedly sent fighters to Afghanistan and ran a training camp in North Waziristan, was killed in a pre-dawn missile strike near the Afghan border, Pakistani officials and a member of his group told AFP.

“He died in the missile attacks overnight in Miranshah. His death is a major blow to Al-Qaeda’s abilities to strike in Pakistan,” a senior Pakistani official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

His death was confirmed by one of his loyalists.

“Badr Mansoor was killed in the missile attack,” a militant among his group confirmed by telephone.

Intelligence officials in North Waziristan said Mansoor had been killed, but other Pakistani officials were divided.

“We’re not sure. We cannot give confirmation just like that,” one of them told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Four militants were reported killed in the pre-dawn missile strike, which targeted a compound in Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan. AGENCIES

Raja Riaz raps Punjab over mismanagement

TrendPK.com
ISLAMABAD: Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Raja Riaz Ahmed Thursday said there is an emperor who is on one-man show in Punjab.

Talking to media here, he said there is no government even in name in the province, adding the government of Punjab is leveling accusation of conspiracies against others to cover up its incompetency. TrendPK

Please click ‘Video’ button to watch Riaz speak.

I will be in jail tomorrow: Maldives president Nasheed

MALE: The former president of the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Maldives sat inside his house awaiting arrest on Thursday after being ousted from his post in what he said was a coup at gunpoint.  
   
About 200 supporters stood under umbrellas in the pouring rain outside as Mohamed Nasheed spoke to reporters at his home in Male, capital of the islands renowned for their luxury getaway resorts.  
   
“The home minister has pledged (I will be) the first former president to spend all my life in jail,” said Nasheed, who was relaxed and smiling and showed no signs of his reported beating on Wednesday.   
   
“I hope the international community will take note of what is happening in the Maldives.”  
   
He said he hope the international community would act quickly as “the facts on the ground are that tomorrow I will be in jail.”  
   
Only about 400,000 people live in the Maldives but there has been much interest in the tumult there this week because of the huge numbers who visit the islands on holiday. The Maldives receives about one million visitors each year, many of who are seeking a sun-and-sand getaway at resorts that charge up to $1,000 per night.  
   
A criminal court has issued arrest warrants for Nasheed and his former defence minister, but the charges against them were unclear, a senior official of Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said.  
   
“An arrest warrant has been issued for him and his former defence minister,” MDP official Adam Manik told Reuters. “We have no idea (what the charges are).”  
   
Police said on state TV on Wednesday night that protests led by Nasheed after his ouster were “an act of terrorism”.  
   
MDP officials said police and soldiers were on their way to arrest Nasheed, who had just met with a Commonwealth delegation to mediate in the political crisis that followed his resignation on Tuesday.  
   
Nasheed was reported injured on Wednesday when police broke up protests against his ouster. He said earlier he was forced to quit at gunpoint.  
   
“There were guns all around me and they told me they wouldn’t hesitate to use them if I didn’t resign,” he told a news conference.  
   
The unrest has taken place far from areas frequented by tourists, who usually land at an airport on an adjoining island and go directly to the various resorts in the archipelago, bypassing Male.  
   
Vice President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik was installed as president and has said he will form a government of national unity.  
   
Protests against Nasheed’s government started after he ordered the military to arrest the criminal court chief justice, saying he was blocking multi-million dollar corruption and human rights cases against the allies of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, president for 30 years until he was replaced by Nasheed.  
   
The Progressive Party of the Maldives, led by Gayoom, said in a statement it was appalled by Nasheed’s “desperate attempts at insurgency to return to power barely 24 hours after his resignation”.  
   
“Nasheed must know that militancy and chaos do little to repair his tarnished image,” it said.  
   
Western diplomats said they wanted all political parties, including Nasheed’s, to back down and join the unity government.  
   
“We want to take the politics off the streets and cool the rhetoric down,” a European diplomat based in Colombo told Reuters.   
   
The United Nations and Western governments have given the transfer of power at least an apparent seal of approval, based on their public statements.   
  
However, John Rankin, British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, said he was concerned for Nasheed.  
   
“We are aware of reports of an arrest warrant issued for President Nasheed,” Rankin said. “We are concerned that no harm comes to him. If it did, it would be a matter of serious concern for us and the international community.” AGENCIES

Next Page »