[Al Ahram] Leading Salafist preacher Yasser Borhami has given his public endorsement to Egypt's draft constitution, urging Egyptians to vote yes in the national referendum on the draft in January.
"There could be foreign intervention, division in the armed forces, collapse of the economy or an internal war between the people [if people vote no]," he said during a sermon he delivered on Friday at Al-Bokhary Mosque in Upper Egypt's Kafr Al-Sheikh.
The preacher has been in the public eye recently because of his strong endorsement of the amended draft.
The Moslem Brüderbund's Freedom and Justice Party, however, has recently called for a boycott of the upcoming referendum, describing the amended charter as null and void because it was "drafted by a minority and is designed to give immunity to murderers who led a bloody military coup that was an insult to the dignity and will of Egyptians."
Egypt's non-Islamist political forces had repeatedly argued that the 2012 constitution was not representative of all sections of society, having been drafted by an assembly that was dominated by Islamists.
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12/21/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Religious authorities married 1,111 couples at a mass wedding aimed at combating rising rates of divorce and births out of wedlock, and the number of impoverished widows and divorcees forced to make a living on the streets in mainly Musselmen northern Nigeria.
Thursday's wedding in Kano city comes as the Hisbah Board responsible for Shariah law has been clamping down. Thousands have been jugged Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! in recent months for improper dress, prostitution and indecent mixing of the sexes. At one recent ceremony, a bulldozer crushed 240,000 bottles of beer.
Hisbah officials say the mass weddings help promote a stable family life.
Kano government paid a dowry of $65 for each bride. Grooms are not allowed to divorce without permission. Some 4,461 couples have been wedded en masse since 2012.
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12/21/2013 00:00 ||
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A Bosnian court has sentenced an Islamist militant to 45 years in prison for a deadly bomb attack, the longest sentence handed down in that country for terrorism.
Haris Causevic was found guilty of planting and triggering a bomb behind a police station in the town of Bugojno in June 2010. One policeman was killed and several others wounded in the explosion.
The judge said the aim of the terrorist attack was to "intimidate the population and seriously destabilize Bosnia-Herzegovina's basic political, constitutional, and social structures" with a view to establishing Shari'a law in the country.
Causevic, who is a follower of Wahhabism, was the prime suspect in the case. Another suspect was acquitted due to lack of evidence. A third suspect has already been sentenced to 14 years in jail.
[Washington Post] British and U.S. spy agencies targeted the office of an Israeli prime minister, the heads of international aid organizations and a European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... official who oversees antitrust issues involving U.S. technology firms, according to secret documents.
The targets were among more than 1,000 listed in documents leaked to journalists by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
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[DAWN] Punjab Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rana Sanaullah has underscored the need for talks for resolving the issues of terrorism and sectarianism.
In an exclusive interview with Dawn here on Thursday, he reiterated that the PML-N government was according first priority to talks with the Taliban as it was a national consensus and mandate given by the All-Party Conference. The APC did not propose military operation as a first step, he said.
"Whether they (the Taliban) accept or say no to the talks' offer, we've to employ dialogue as the first option," he said.
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[DAWN] A proposed new law that has the White House's approval seeks to fiscally squeeze Pakistain if interruptions to the US/NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... ground supply route through Pakistain continue.
In addition, the US National Defence Authorisation Bill of 2014 seeks a certification from the US defence secretary that Pakistain is taking demonstrable actions against Al Qaeda and other Death Eater groups active along the Pak-Afghan border.
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[DAWN] In a significant development, former president retired Gen Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... on Thursday sought "forgiveness" for any wrongs he may have committed during his nine-year rule.
"Whatever I did, I did it for the country. It could be wrong but there was no bad intention in it. Even then, if someone thinks that I have committed a mistake, I seek forgiveness for it," said an emotional Musharraf in a TV interview with ARY News, which the channel claimed was his first interview after getting bail in all cases pending against him.
Wrapped in a shawl, Gen Musharraf termed revival of the economy and tackling extremism and terrorism as the most serious challenges the country is facing.
This is for the first time that the former army chief, who ruled the country from 1999 to 2008, has offered an apology for the actions and decisions he took as the country's president.
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[DAWN] Lawyers for Pakistain's former president Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... said on Friday a treason charge levied against him was politically motivated and that he would face a "show trial", urging the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... to intervene.
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[DAWN] PESHAWAR: The tribal students of various educational institutions here on Thursday held a protest demonstration against the government for initiating what they called a military operation in North Wazoo Agency.
Holding banners and placards, the students gathered outside Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. Press Club and rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud against the government.
Insaf Students Federation leader Rahim Wazir, who led the protesters, said that security forces started shelling on Wednesday night that resulted in killing and injuring of innocent people.
The tribal people, he said, were already facing serious problems owing to restrictions on their movement and prolonged curfews. The latest shelling further added to their miseries, he added.
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[An Nahar] The Paleostinian leadership said Friday it recognizes the right of civil society groups to boycott Israeli products, although its own embargo is limited to products from settlements.
"The Paleostine Liberation Organization and the State of Paleostine is not opposed to the Paleostinian civil society-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel," it said in a statement received by Agence La Belle France Presse.
"Paleostinian officials and leaders respect and uphold the right of Paleostinian civil society to initiate and lead local and global BDS campaigns against Israel as a means to achieve the inalienable rights of the Paleostinian people."
It also urged all countries to end "all trade and relations with companies from or involved in the illegal Israeli settlements."
EU guidelines, published in July, will ban funding for and financial dealing with settlements in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem starting from January 2014.
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[Al Ahram] Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned Friday that his Lebanese Shiite movement will "punish" Israel for the killing of a top leader earlier this month.
"The killers will be punished sooner or later... Those who killed our brothers will not know safety anywhere in the world," he said in a televised tribute to Hassan al-Lakiss, whose killing Hezbollah blamed on Israel despite its denials.
"We and the Israelis have accounts that need settling. There are old and new debts between us," said Nasrallah.
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#1
"We and the Israelis have accounts that need settling. There are old and new debts between us," said Nasrallah.
[An Nahar] Syria's main opposition groups called Friday for the release of a prominent Assyrian Christian dissident who was tossed in the clink Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! by the security forces.
"The Syrian National Coalition condemns the detention in the city of Qamishli on December 19 of Gabriel Mushi Gowriyeh, head of the Assyrian Democratic Organization's political bureau," the group said in a statement.
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[An Nahar] Russia's pointman on the Syria crisis said Friday that Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... 's regime will be represented by the foreign minister at a historic round of peace talks due to be held in Geneva next month.
"It will be headed by Foreign Minister Walid Muallem," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies following talks in Geneva with U.N.-Arab League
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[Yemen Post] In the wake of yet another attack against a foreign diplomat; Japan second secretary at the embassy in Sana'a was stabbed on Sunday by armed bully boyz as their kidnapped attempt went awry; Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif urged his Yemeni counterpart to secure his own diplomat safe release from the hands of al-Qaeda.
Sources close to the matter confirmed on Tuesday that Minister Zarif called Yemen Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi on Monday to renew his deep concerns over the fate of Nour Ahmad Nikbakht.
The diplomat, who has not been heard from since his abduction in late August, has been rumoured dead by several local Yemeni newspaper since late last week. It is important to note that such reports have neither been substantiated with proofs nor have they been authenticated by officials. The Yemen Post could not either independently verify the allegations.
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#1
If it fits, it ships - for a low price. 1 cu ft packages seems to be the best value
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/21/2013 17:42 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A Bosnian court has sentenced an Islamist militant to 45 years in prison for a deadly bomb attack, the longest sentence handed down in that country for terrorism.
[DAWN] Punjab Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rana Sanaullah has underscored the need for talks for resolving the issues of terrorism and sectarianism.
Pervez 
Wazoo
[An Nahar] The Paleostinian leadership said Friday it recognizes the right of civil society groups to boycott Israeli products, although its own embargo is limited to products from settlements.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
