[ppiindia] Ucapan Seorang Ibu
Ucapan Seorang Ibu By: agussyafii Ada seorang ulama terkenal bernama Zamakhsyari, beliau penulis terkenal tafsir al-Khassyaf yang hanya memiliki satu kaki. Baliau sendiri mengatakan bahwa memiliki satu kaki karena ucapan ibunya. menurut beliau pernah waktu masih kecil, dirinya naik keatas dinding untuk membantu mengeluarkan anak burung dari sarangnya. Anak burung itu berusaha lari dari cengkeraman Zamakhsyari, karena dia menahan kaki sebelahnya sehingga menyebabkan kaki burung itu terputus. Zamakhsyari yang masih anak-anak itu berlari menemui ibunya dan menunjukkan burung itu kepada ibunya karena terkejut dan marah ibu mengatakan, 'Ya Alloh, Engkau akan kehilangan satu kaki.' Dikemudian hari ketika dewasa beliau mengalami sebuah tragedi yang menyebabkan kehilangan satu kakinya. Itulah gambaran ucapan seorang ibu adalah doa bagi anak-anaknya. Sebaiknya apapun yang diucapkan seorang ibu kepada anaknya dipikirkan terlebih dahulu daripada menyesal dikemudian hari. Sekecil apapun kesalahan atas kelakuan anak kita, memaklumi dan memaafkan jauh lebih baik untuk anak kita. -- Dari Jabir bin Abdullah Radhiyallahu anhu, dia menceritakan bahwa Rasulullah Shalallahu alaihi wassalam telah bersabda, 'Janganlah kalian menyumpahi diri kalian, dan jangan pula menyumpahi anak-anak kalian dan harta kalian, kalian tidak mengetahui saat ucapan (do'a) dikabulkan sehingga Allah akan mengabulkan sumpah itu' (HR.Muslim). Wassalam, agussyafii -- Terima kasih atas dukungan dan partisipasi teman2 semua pada program 'Peduli Kasih Amalia (PKA)' Teriring doa 'Semoga Alloh SWT membalas kebaikan teman2 semua' amin ya robbal alamin..info dan dukungan silahkan ke http://agussyafii.blogspot.com, http://www.facebook.com/agussyafii atau sms 087 8777 12431 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Police release images of Jakarta hotel suicide bombers
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25820032-601,00.html Police release images of Jakarta hotel suicide bombers Stephen Fitzpatrick, in Jakarta | July 22, 2009 Article from: The Australian INDONESIAN police today released images of the two suicide bombers who killed nine people in attacks on Jakarta hotels on Friday. Suspect Nur Said was not one of the bombers, police said, based on DNA testing, but he may still have been connected to the attacks on the Ritz-Carlton and the Marriott. Ritz-Carlton florist Ibrahim, who has been linked to the attack, has also been ruled out through DNA testing. Police estimated the Ritz-Carlton bomber was about 40 years old, dark skinned with short-black hair and about 160cm tall. The Marriott bomber is believed to have been much younger - aged between 17 and 20 - with paler skin than the other bomber. He also had short-black hair but, at 180cm tall and with a shoe size of 42-43, was much bigger. Police hope the images, based on two severed heads found at the bomb sites, will help in the identification of the bombers. The bombers are suspected members of the Jemaah Islamiah regional extremist network or one of its offshoots. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Taliban wearing burkas kill 14
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25818571-2703,00.html Taliban wearing burkas kill 14 Article from: The Australian KABUL: Taliban suicide bombers, most of them disguised in burkas, tried to storm government buildings and a military base in two Afghan cities yesterday, as this month's death toll for US forces rose to the highest in the war. Fourteen people died in the attacks in Gardez and Jalalabad, a day after a roadside bomb killed four American troops amid a surge in violence ahead of elections on August 20, when President Hamid Karzai will stand for re-election despite criticisms about security and corruption. Taliban militants have increasingly used co-ordinated suicide and gun attacks in their fight against Mr Karzai's Western-backed government and its foreign military allies deployed in the country for nearly eight years. Six suicide bombers, some of them also carrying guns, tried to enter several government buildings in Gardez in Paktia province but were shot dead before reaching their targets, provincial spokesman Rohullah Samoon said. One of the bombers detonated in front of the intelligence department, killing three intelligence officers. The other bombers were killed by security forces, he said. Two policemen were also killed. The bombers entered Gardez, the provincial capital, wearing burkas -- the traditional all-covering veil worn by Afghan women. In Jalalabad, two other bombers were killed in a shootout with police as they tried to fight their way into the city airport, a base for Afghan and foreign troops. Provincial government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai and a doctor in Jalalabad's hospital said one policeman was killed in the incident. The American deaths on Monday night come two days after Private Benjamin Ranaudo was killed while on foot patrol in the Baluchi Valley, southern Afghanistan -- the 11th Australian killed in Afghanistan since 2002, and the third since the beginning of March. The US deaths brought to at least 30 the number of American service members who died in Afghanistan this month -- two more than the figure for all of June last year, which had been the deadliest month for the US since the 2001 invasion drove the Taliban from power. This month's death toll for the entire US-led coalition, which includes American, British, Canadian and other forces, stands at 55 -- well above the 46 deaths suffered in June and August of last year. US commanders had predicted a bloody summer after President Barack Obama ordered 21,000 additional US troops to Afghanistan to take on a resurgent Taliban and shift the focus on the global war against Islamic extremism from Iraq. Defence Secretary Robert Gates has warned that US-led forces must demonstrate progress in Afghanistan by the middle of next year or face a public perception that the conflict cannot be won. Heavy losses this month have triggered a public debate in Britain that the war in Afghanistan may not be worth the price. AP [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] OOT : Silaturrahmi Dzikir Kautsaran, Masjid Albina - Sabtu, 25 Juli 2009: 12.00-15.00
SILATURRAHMI DZIKIR KAUTSARAN Terbuka untuk Umum Hari/Tgl : Sabtu, 25 Juli 2009 Tempat : Masjid Albina Senayan Jl. Pintu I Senayan Jakarta Pusat Waktu : 12.00 – 15.00 WIB TERAPI DOA UNTUK KESEHATAN JASMANI ROHANI Metode Pengobatan yang mengajak umat untuk melakukan dzikir bersama menuju ketenagan hati (qolbu) dan mencari jalan kesembuhan dengan jalan Allah. Bersama USTADZ : ACHMAD SYAFIIN DASAAD G. GUSTAMAN, SH Beliau adalah mentor Dzikir Pengobat Qolbu [DPQ] di beberapa kota besar di Indonesia, antaranya di : - Masjid Al Bina - Jakarta - HM Asyik dan Al Markaz al Islami - Makasar - Masjid Raya Baiturrahman - Semarang - Nurul Iman Petrokimia - Gresik - Masjid Raya BATAM Centre - Mujahidin dan Al-Islah Genta 2 Muka Kuning - BATAM - Masjid Al-Ikhlas Phapros - Semarang - Malioboro - Yogyakarta - Kota Medan - Kota Siak - Pare-pare Contact Person : Elda : 021-32406249 Teguh : 08881823730 Come n Join Us... Free of Charge bin GRATIS..!! Tiada kata akhir untuk belajar seperti juga tiada kata akhir untuk kehidupan, dan tugas paling sulit dalam hidup adalahbelajar untuk sabar. (Annemarie Schimmel) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Michael Jackson Cardiac Arrest (Penyebab Kematiannya)
Semoga bermanfaat: http://www.bluetoad.com/print.php Apakah Cardiac Arrest itu? Jantung memiliki sistem hantaran listrik yang mengontrol irama dan denyut jantung. Jika tejadi gangguan pada sistem hantaran listrik jantung, dapat menimbulkan abnormalitas irama jantung yang disebut arrhythmias. Arrhythmia,bisa berupa; jantung berdenyut terlalu cepat, bisa juga terlalu lambat, atau bahkan berhenti berdenyut. Berhentinya jantung berdenyut secara tiba-tiba disebut cardiac arrest. atau Full Magazine http://www.majalahindonesiaamerika.com/ wslm taruna New Email names for you! Get the Email name you#39;ve always wanted on the new @ymail and @rocketmail. Hurry before someone else does! http://mail.promotions.yahoo.com/newdomains/aa/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Another Questionable Death in Malaysia
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_contenttask=viewid=1971Itemid=178 Another Questionable Death in Malaysia Written by Our Correspondent Monday, 20 July 2009 How did an opposition party aide manage to throw himself off an anti-corruption agency building? If Teoh Beng Hock had died in the custody of the police in Moscow or Chechnya, the death would have been all over the western media as yet another example of the brutality of the system. But because Malaysia buys lots of arms from the west, western tourists love Langkawi beaches, and Manchester United makes millions from its Malaysian fans, this appalling story rated the briefest of international mentions. Yet murder goes closer to top people in Malaysia than it does to their equivalents in Russia. Teoh was an aide to an executive councilor in the Selangor state government which is controlled by an opposition coalition including the Democratic Action Party (DAP) of which Teoh's boss was a senior member. He was found dead on the fifth floor roof of the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission building having allegedly jumped to his death after an interrogation. The story is not just a tragedy for Beng Hock, his family, fiancée and friends. It is yet another tragedy for the Malaysian system of law and justice. Exactly what happened at the Shah Alam, Selangor, of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission we shall probably never know. Cover-ups will go on indefinitely, as also in the case of the murder of Mongolian model and translator Altantuya Shaaribu , the pregnant former mistress of Razak Baginda a close associate of now prime minister Najib Razak who was killed by members of Najib's security detail. According to the MACC, Teoh's interrogation had ended some hours earlier but he had elected to stay at its offices, from which he later jumped. At the very least, if Teoh had killed himself it could only have been after mental or physical torture or administration of drugs by the MACC. Teoh was not the subject of investigation by the MACC, the agency said, only his boss. He was a former newspaper reporter for the Chinese daily Sin Chiew Jit Poh until joining the state government after the opposition victory last year. He was due to be married soon. The MACC may sound a worthy institution dedicated to clean government. But foreigners should not be fooled. Its interrogation of Yeoh was clearly aimed at trying to dig up something to pin on his boss and hence disrupt an opposition coalition already subject to the money politics which has helped keep the UMNO-led coalition in power at national level for more than 50 years. The MACC meanwhile has singularly failed to investigate the payment of commissions totaling ?114 million to Najib's friend Razak Baginda for the purchase of French submarines while Najib was Defense Minister. The French-speaking Altantuya visited Paris with Razak Baginda during discussions with the French so was almost certainly privy to the deal and, by her own admission, later tried to blackmail Baginda. According to testimony which was not allowed in court, Najib was also present on one of these Paris visits. Indeed, according to a private detective who later recanted his testimony then disappeared, Najib himself had previously had a sexual relationship with Altantuya. The trial of Razak Baginda, who was acquitted, and two members of Najib's squad, who were found guilty, was a bizarre affair which made a mockery of justice. (see Asia Sentinel: Altantuya's Killers Judged Guilty) Yet western governments, which continue to lecture Russia and others on human rights and the rule of law for their own commercial reasons, continue to accord Malaysia's government and courts a liberal and democratic status which they lost two decades ago. The death of Teoh Beng Hock is yet another tragic illustration of how rotten the Malaysian system has become after years of one party rule, racialism and blatant corruption on a massive scale. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Meneg BUMN Temui BI Bahas Utang Garuda
Refleksi: Hutang Rp 1 triiun atau kurang lebih US$ 1,-- milyar, kapan bisa dilunasi ? http://www.antaranews.com/view/?i=1248284601c=EKBs=MON Meneg BUMN Temui BI Bahas Utang Garuda Kamis, 23 Juli 2009 00:43 WIB | Ekonomi Bisnis | Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Menteri Negara BUMN Sofyan Djalil mengatakan ia telah bertemu dengan Bank Indonesia guna membahas penyelesaian restrukturisasi utang perusahaan penerbangan milik negara Garuda kepada Bank Mandiri senilai sekitar Rp1 triliun. Ketemu BI kemarin masalah restrukturisasi garuda, masih perlu pembicaraan lebih lanjut bagaimana dalam konteks UU perbankan bisa dilakukan tapi tujuan menyelamatkan Garuda juga dapat dilakukan, karena banyak peraturan yang BI bisa lakukan, BI akan berupaya untuk melihat bagaimana kemungkinannya, katanya di Jakarta, Rabu malam. Garuda memiliki utang dalam bentuk mandatory convertible bond (MCB) senilai sekitar Rp1 triliun. Utang dalam bentuk MCB berarti utang itu dapat diselesaikan dengan mengubah menjadi kepemilikan saham. Namun demikian, hal ini terkedala oleh aturan perbankan yang melarang kepemilikan saham disektor non finansial kecuali shama gadai (repo) dan kostudian. Sebelumnya Direktur Utama Garuda Emir Syah mengharapkan agar utang yang telah jatuh tempo selema beberapa tahun ini dapat direstrukturisasi, sehingga dapat memperkuat kinerja Garuda. Sementara itu terkait dengan divestasi 14 persen Newmont Nusa Tenggara senilai 493,6 juta dolar AS, Meneg BUMN menyatakan ihaknya akan mengirim surat kepada menteri keuangan perihala kesiapan BUMN untuk membali saham hasil divestasi tersebut bila pemerintah pusat tak mampu membeli. Nanti saya akan kirim surat resmi kalau pemerintah tidak mengambil supaya diberikan pada BUMN, katanya. Ia menyatakan, bahwa BUMN siap untuk ikut serta membeli saham hasil divestasi tersebut. Ia menambahkan, BUMN memiliki dana yang sangat memadai bila pemerintah mau memberikan kesempatan kepada BUMN untuk membeli saham hasil divestasi tersebut. Kalau dana tidak ada masalah, katanya.(*) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Kura-kura Galapagos Berkembang Biak Pada Usia 90
Refleksi : Mungkin rahasia untuk tetap tegang, kencang nan kuat pada usia 90 tahun ialah rajin diminumkan jamu Nyonya Meneer. Ada usulan lain? http://www.antaranews.com/view/?i=1248239341c=TEKs=SAI Kura-kura Galapagos Berkembang Biak Pada Usia 90 Rabu, 22 Juli 2009 12:09 WIB | Iptek | Sains | Dibaca 286 kali Kura-Kura Galapagos (Istimewa)@Quito (ANTARA News) - George, kura-kura darat raksasa yang tersisa dan kesepian, mungkin segera menjadi bapak sehingga membuat gembira para petugas perlindungan margasatwa. Beberapa telur yang belum menetas telah ditemukan di kandang sang bujangan di Kepulauan Galapagos, kata beberapa penjaganya Selasa seperti dikutip Reuters. Selama beberapa dasawarsa, kura-kura terakhir pulau Pinta yang diketahui masih hidup tersebut nyaris tak memperlihatkan keinginan untuk berkembang biak. Tetapi George, yang kini berusia 90 tahun, dikatakan berada pada usia terbaiknya untuk berkembang biak. Kura-kura Galapagos termasuk di antara spesies yang diamati oleh Charles Darwin untuk merumuskan teori evolusinya pada Abad 19. Banyak ilmuwan telah berusaha membawakan pasangan buat George sejak 1993, ketika mereka menghadirkan dua kura-kura betina dari subspesies yang berbeda ke kandangnya. Taman Nasional Galapagos mengatakan lima telur ditemukan pada Senin berada dalam kondisi sempurna dan telah ditaruh di inkubator. Kini kita harus menanti selama masa inkubasi 120 hari untuk mengetahui apakah semua telur itu subur, kata taman tersebut dalam satu pernyataan. George, yang memiliki berat 90 kilogram, mengejutkan para petugas perlindungan tahun lalu, saat untuk pertama kali mengawinkannya dalam 36 tahun hewan itu berada di dalam kurungan. Namun semua telur yang dihasilkan oleh pasangan betinanya ternyata tidak subur. Kura-kura diburu untuk diambil dagingnya oleh pelaut dan nelayan sampai hewan tersebut berada di ambang kepunahan, sementara habitatnya telah dimusnahkan oleh kambing yang dibawa dari daratan utama. Sebanyak 20.000 kura-kura raksasa masih hidup di Galapagos.(* [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Ahmadinejad humiliated over vice-president choice
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/06-ahmadinejad-humiliated-over-vice-president-choice-rs-07 Ahmadinejad humiliated over vice-president choice Wednesday, 22 Jul, 2009 | 03:32 PM PST | TEHRAN: Iran's supreme leader ordered the president, a close ally, to dismiss his controversial choice of a top deputy, the semi-official media reported Wednesday, in a rare split among the country's top conservatives. The order is a humiliating setback for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has strongly defended his decision to appoint Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, his son's father-in-law, as his first vice-president. Mashai angered hard-liners in 2008 when he said Iranians were 'friends of all people in the world, even Israelis.' Mashai was serving as vice president in charge of tourism and cultural heritage at the time. Iran has 12 vice presidents, but the first vice president is the most important because he leads Cabinet meetings in the absence of the president. Ahmadinejad is already in a crisis over opposition claims he stole last month's presidential election from the pro-reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei strongly backed Ahmadinejad, who is seen as his protege, in the June 12 election. 'The view of the exalted leader on removed Mashai from the post of vice-president has been notified to Ahmadinejad in writing,' the semi-official Fars news agency reported Wednesday. It was not immediately clear if Ahmadinejad would cave in to Khamenei's order, who has the final say on all state matters in Iran. Another semi-official news agency, ISNA, quoted vice speaker of the parliament Mohammad Hasan Aboutorabi-Fard as saying that Mashai's dismissal was a decision by the ruling system itself. 'Removing Mashai from key posts and the position of vice-president is a strategic decision of the system ... Dismissal or resignation of Mashai needs to be announced by the president without any delay,' ISNA quoted him as saying late Tuesday. Pressure has been mounting on Ahmadinejad to remove Mashai from the top post immediately after he appointed the controversial figure to the post Friday. But nearly the same time as Khamenei was issuing his order late Tuesday, Ahmadinejad vowed to keep Mashai as his first vice president. 'Mr. Mashai is a pious, caring, supporter of the position of the supreme leader, clean and creative managers of Iran. Why should he resign? ... Mashai has been appointed as first vice president and continues his activities in the government,' the official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying late Tuesday. Iran's state television didn't report Ahmadinejad's comments supporting his deputy. A conservative Web site said TV officials had orders from higher officials not to do so. Ahmadinejad's top adviser, Mojtaba Hashemi Samareh, insisted Tuesday that Mashai won't be removed. 'Mr. Mashai's appointment as fist vice president won't be reconsidered at all,' ISNA quoted Samareh as saying Tuesday. Mashai also angered many of Iran's top clerics in 2007 when he attended a ceremony in Turkey where women performed a traditional dance. Conservative interpretations of Islam prohibit women from dancing. He ran into trouble again in 2008 when he hosted a ceremony in Tehran in which several women played tambourines and another one carried the Quran to a podium to recite verses from the Muslim holy book. The criticism is a change of focus for hard-liners, who have spent the last few weeks lambasting Mousavi and his supporters for challenging the presidential election. On Saturday, hard-liners accused Rafsanjani of defying Khamenei by using his sermon to encourage opposition supporters to continue their protests. -AP [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Muslim woman to be flogged in Malaysia over beer
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/20-muslim-woman-to-be-flogged-in-malaysia-over-beer-sm-04 Muslim woman to be flogged in Malaysia over beer Tuesday, 21 Jul, 2009 | 04:45 PM PST | KUALA LUMPUR: An Islamic court in Malaysia has sentenced a Muslim woman to be flogged with a rattan cane for having a beer in a nightclub, a court official said Tuesday, AP reported. It is rare for a woman in Malaysia to be sentenced to caning - a punishment usually reserved for men in various crimes ranging from rape to bribery. Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno was sentenced Monday to six lashes and a fine of 5,000 ringgit for consuming alcohol, said a Shariah High Court official who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to make public statements. Shukarno, a 32-year-old model, pleaded guilty in the court in eastern Pahang state to a charge of drinking beer when Islamic authorities raided a hotel nightclub in August 2008. Consuming alcohol is a religious offence in Malaysia only for Muslims, who make up nearly two-thirds of the population. Offenders are prosecuted in Shariah courts, which handle cases mainly related to family and moral issues for Muslims. Most offenders are fined, but the law also provides for a three-year prison term and caning. Shukarno was the only Muslim caught in the raid at the Pahang nightclub. Malaysian clubs and lounges typically serve alcohol but are not legally required to check if customers are Muslim before serving them, so the hotel nightclub operators were not charged with any offence. Shukarno plans to appeal the sentence, the New Straits Times daily reported. The punishment 'is aimed at making the accused repent and serves as a lesson to Muslims,' the newspaper quoted Judge Abdul Rahman Yunus as saying. The judge did not elaborate on why he imposed a relatively severe sentence, but local media noted that he had a history of being tough on alcohol offenders, AP reported. Rattan canes used in the punishment are made from palm plants common in tropical parts of Asia. They have been used for decades for corporal punishments in countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. The caning sentence is generally carried out by specially trained officials at prisons. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Saudi terror fight plagued with abuse: AI
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/04-saudi-terror-fight-plagued-with-abuse-ai-qs-13 Saudi terror fight plagued with abuse: AI Wednesday, 22 Jul, 2009 | 03:52 PM PST | In this June 21, 2005 file photo, Saudi security forces patrol the scene where they killed two suspected terrorists on the outskirts of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. - AP photo CAIRO: Saudi Arabia is holding more than 3,000 people in secret detention and has used torture to extract confessions in its anti-terrorism crackdown since the Sept 11, 2001 terror attacks, Amnesty International said in a report Wednesday. The report criticised the international community for turning a blind eye to the kingdom's methods in its crackdown. Saudi Arabia has carried out a heavy wave of arrests against al-Qaeda members in past years after the militant group carried out a string of attacks against expatriate residential compounds, oil facilities and government buildings. 'These unjust anti-terrorism measures have made an already dire human rights situation worse,' said Malcolm Smart, head of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa program, in a press release. Asked about the report, a Saudi Interior Ministry official, Abdulrahman Alhadlaq, said, 'these are claims that have to be proven.' 'Our policies on human rights are very clear and the orders given are for prisoners to be treated with respect and according to international human rights principles,' Alhadlaq said. 'If anything happened, it would be an individual case and if it is brought to anybody's attention it will be dealt with.' The report came two weeks after the Saudi government said it had convicted 330 al-Qaeda militants in the kingdom's first known terrorism trials for suspected members of the terror network. One militant was sentenced to death, and the others were given jail terms, fines and travel bans in trials that were held in the utmost secrecy. Authorities said the defendants were accused of belonging to the 'deviant group,' a euphemism for al-Qaeda, as well as a range of other terrorism-related charges. Amnesty said more than 3,100 people are being held 'in virtual secrecy' and others have been killed in uncertain circumstances. Amnesty criticised the Saudis for carrying out 'secret and summary trials' and for reportedly torturing detainees to extract confessions. They said torture methods include 'severe beatings with sticks, punching, and suspension from the ceiling, use of electric shocks and sleep deprivation.' 'The abuses take place behind a wall of secrecy,' said Smart. 'Most (detainees) are held incommunicado for years without trial, and are denied access to lawyers and the courts to challenge the legality of their detention.' Amnesty said it sought Saudi comment on its report but did not receive 'any substantive response.' The US and other countries strongly pushed Saudi Arabia to crack down on terrorism after it was discovered that 15 of the 19 hijackers in the Sept 11, 2001 attacks in the United States came from the kingdom. Saudi Arabia is also the homeland of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, but Saudi authorities revoked his passport in the mid-1990s. Amnesty criticised the international community for failing to apply the same pressure on Saudi Arabia to improve its human rights practices for fear of angering a key Mideast ally that is the largest exporter of oil in the world. 'Rather than hold the Saudi Arabian government accountable for its dire human rights record, all too often other governments have preferred to look the other way and not question what goes on in the secrecy of Saudi Arabia's interrogation centres and prisons,' said the report. - AP [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Fruitful meeting between Raúl and Dos Santos
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2009/julio/mier22/Fruitful.html Havana. July 22, 2009 Fruitful meeting between Raúl and Dos Santos . Talks took place on the second day of the Cuban president's visit to Angola Jorge Martín Blandino /Photo: Raúl Abreu LUANDA, July 21.- The meeting between Cuban President Raúl Castro Ruz and Angolan President José Eduardo Dos Santos allowed for a broad and fruitful exchange of ideas, as corresponds to the fraternity existing between the two nations. Raúl's arrival at the Presidential Palace where President Dos Santos was awaiting him was followed by a reception ceremony. After the playing of both countries' national anthems and a review of the Honor Guard, the two leaders greeted Angolan high government officials and members of the Cuban delegation. Subsequently, Raúl and Dos Santos had a private meeting while members of the two countries' delegations met simultaneously. This new exchange will give fresh impetus to the already rapidly growing mutual and advantageous cooperation between the two nations, linked together in sisterhood through long years of struggle. Speaking to the press, Angolan Heath Minister Jose Viera Van-Dunen described Cuban cooperation in achieving government objectives in this vital sphere as indispensable. From the end of 2006, the number of Cuban collaborators has grown more than five-fold and currently stands at 2,000-plus, more than half of them in the area of health. Another 500 are university professors or technical school instructors. This year a literacy campaign began with the help of Cuban advisors. Currently more than 200 young Angolans are studying in Cuba, 140 of them in different branches of the medical sciences. In addition, five Faculties of Medicine, with professors from the island, have been operating since last year. In 2014, 500 new doctors will graduate from these programs. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Rafsanjani back in the limelight
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/printArticle.asp?cu_no=2item_no=304588version=1template_id=46parent_id=26 Rafsanjani back in the limelight Publish Date: Wednesday,22 July, 2009, at 10:17 PM Doha Time By Dr S M M Nainar/Doha The current turn of events in Iran has brought former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani back into the limelight. Many are intrigued by his moves and wonder whether he is plotting to succeed the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Hussein Khamenei. Iran is governed by a complex and unusual political system. It combines elements of a modern Islamic theocracy with democracy. A network of unelected institutions controlled by the highly powerful conservative Supreme Leader is countered by a president and a parliament elected by people. Rafsanjani is an outstanding symbol of the Persian stream of the Islamic civilisation. A man of many parts, he is both a clever operator and a model of sobriety and wisdom in politics. He is very apt in playing the game of balancing between politics and ideology - the mundane and the supra-mundane. His moves are like a barometer by which one could gauge the rough and tumble of Iranian politics. He never reacts to any situation but makes others react on his behalf. In spite of being insulted and accused of corruption by President Mahmoud Ahmadinijad in a television debate with Mir Husain Mousavi, Rafsanjani cleverly manipulated matters in such a way so as to provoke the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to publicly reprimand Ahmadinijad. It was a moment of great joy and vicarious pleasure for Rafsanjani to see the tension mounting between the two leaders. Rafsanjani is often described as a reformist among the conservatives and a conservative among the reformists. He is the scholar who suffered torture and imprisonment during the monarchy of Shah Reza Pahlavi. He was the blue-eyed boy of the founder of the Iranian revolution Ayatollah Khomeini in spite of being despised by many. Ironically, he is the one politician always preferred by the Western nations irrespective of the fact that he is strongly committed to the principle of Iran remaining independent in all its decisions. His latest political salvo was to challenge the results of the presidential election certified by the Supreme Leader. He did so in his capacity as the chairman of the Assembly of Experts which is responsible for appointing or removing the Supreme Leader. He addressed a mammoth Friday congregation at the University of Tehran on July 17 and said: All of us, the establishment, the security forces, police, parliament and even protesters, should move within the framework of law... We should open the doors to debates. We should not keep so many people in prison. We should free them so that they can take care of their families... It is impossible to restore public confidence overnight, but we have to let everyone speak out... We should have logical and brotherly discussions and our people will make their judgments. He thus indirectly implied that the Supreme Leader is part of the crisis whereas he is considered to be above any reproach according to the terms of his office. (Based on an article by Saeed Mehio, al-Khaleej, Sharjah, July 20 and other sources) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Saudi anti-terror efforts hurt human rights: Amnesty
http://www.gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi_arabia/10333632.html Saudi Arabia Saudi anti-terror efforts hurt human rights: Amnesty By Jumana Al Tamimi, Associate Editor Published: July 22, 2009, 07:37 Dubai: Efforts to fight terrorism in Saudi Arabia has resulted in a noticeable deterioration in the human rights record in the kingdom in the past few years, an Amnesty International report claimed. However, informed Saudi sources denied Amnesty's conclusions of unjust anti-terrorism measures, and stressed that all efforts in combating terrorism are within the acceptable legal boundaries. According to Amnesty's report, which was released in the early hours of Wednesday, the number of detained people since 2001 has increased from hundreds to thousands. It was also coincided with excessive measures, including arbitrary arrests, prolonged detention of political and security suspects without a trial or an access to lawyers. In July 2007, the Interior Minister reported that 9,000 security suspects had been detained between 2003 and 2007 and that 3,106 of them are still being held. Others have been moved to an official re-education programme though it is unclear how they are selected and under what conditions they can obtain release, the report said. The report also highlighted how trials of political or security detainees in Saudi Arabia take place in extreme secrecy and fail to meet international standards of fairness. Furthermore, torture and ill-treatment methods adopted include severe beatings with sticks, punching, and suspension from the ceiling, use of electric shocks and sleep deprivation. Flogging is also imposed as a legal punishment by itself or in addition to imprisonment, and sentences can include thousands of lashes. These unjust anti-terrorism measures have made an already dire human rights situation worse, Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Program was quoted as saying by a press statement. The Saudi Arabian government has used its powerful international clout to get away with it. And the international community has failed to hold the government to account for these gross violations, he added. We have not chosen Saudi Arabia just because it is Saudi Arabia, Lamri Chirouf, a leading author of the report and a researcher on Saudi Arabia at Amnesty International said. But because the situation of human rights have deteriorated as a result of anti-terrorism measures, which disregarded by the international human rights standards required by the UN, Chirouf told Gulf News. No immediate comment from the concerned Saudi authorities or Saudi human right organization was available despite repeated attempts by Gulf News. They said a comment will follow reading the report. However, Jamal Khashoqshi, Editor-in-Chief of Al Watan Saudi newspaper stressed that as far as he knows, all Saudi measures in terms of fighting terrorism in Saudi Arabia are within the legal measures, (and) which are announced measures. In some security cases and according to the law, the state has the right to keep some (suspects) under detention and in secrecy, Khashoqshi said. We are not talking about political prisoners or prisoners of opinion. We are talking about people who raised their weapons in the face of the state, he told Gulf News. Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia has announced that 330 detainees have been tried in the first known trials of Al Qaeda suspects in the kingdom. They include 289 Saudis and 41 foreigners, and their sentences ranged between death penalty and few months. Seven were acquitted, and three were not charged with any crimes. Furthermore, Sheikh Abdullah Hamad Al Sa'adan, Justice Ministry spokesperson announced then that plans are underway to allow the press to cover subsequent trials. However, priority will be given to the relatives of those on trial based on seating capacity available in the court room, he was quoted as saying. Asked whether the public trials decision was taken under pressure from abroad, Khashogshi refuted such an interpretation. The judicial system in Saudi Arabia is passing through a reform process, and in similar times, you don't expect all experiences to succeed, he said. Saudi Arabia is still in the middle of its fight against terrorism and some times there is a need for secrecy, he stressed. Concerned authorities are in a difficult situation in doing the right thing for everybody, he added. On the other hand, Lamri welcomed the intention to allow media inside court rooms in the future, saying you can't have justice in secrecy. It has to be done. It has to be seen. It has to be transparent. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Israel circulates photo of Hitler greeting late Palestinian mufti
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1102225.html Last update - 23:44 22/07/2009 Israel circulates photo of Hitler greeting late Palestinian mufti By Reuters Tags: Hitler, Palestinian mufti Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has ordered diplomats to use an old photograph of a former Palestinian religious leader meeting Adolf Hitler to counter world criticism of a Jewish building plan for East Jerusalem. Israeli officials said on Wednesday that Lieberman told Israeli ambassadors to circulate the 1941 shot in Berlin of the Nazi leader seated next to Haj Amin al-Husseini, the late mufti or top Muslim religious leader in Jerusalem. One official said Lieberman, an ultranationalist, hoped the photo would embarrass Western countries into ceasing to demand that Israel halt the project on land owned by the mufti's family in a predominantly Arab neighbourhood in East Jerusalem. Advertisement Israel captured East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War, annexing it as part of its internationally unrecognised claim to Jerusalem as its capital. Some diplomats opposed Lieberman's move, arguing it could earn Israel stiffer world criticism for seeming to sidestep the wider conflict it faces with the Palestinians who want East Jerusalem as capital of a future state, another official said. Asked why Lieberman issued the order, a spokesman said: because it's important for the world to know the facts and would not elaborate. The United States and Europe this week protested the plan by private Israeli developers to build 20 apartments on the land which Israel says was bought by an American-Jewish millionaire as well as Israel's threats to demolish Palestinian homes that could leave thousands homeless. The controversy has complicated an Israeli rift with the U.S. over its refusal to meet President Barack Obama's demands to halt settlement building throughout the West Bank so that stalled peace talks may resume. About half a million Israelis live in the settlements built in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas that are home to some three million Palestinians. An official in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's government accused Lieberman of political bankruptcy in ordering the distribution of the Husseini-Hitler photograph. It's an old story that has its own circumstances and doesn't apply to the present, said Adnan al-Husseini, the Palestinian Authority-appointed governor of Jerusalem, and a relative of the late mufti. The Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem said said Husseini supported Nazi Germany to try to win backing for Arab nationalistic goals and that he lobbied for the extermination of Jews in North Africa and Palestine. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Mendagri Diperiksa KPK
http://www.ambonekspres.com/index.php?act=newsnewsid=26815 Rabu, 22 Jul 2009, | 5 Mendagri Diperiksa KPK Jakarta, AE.- Menteri Dalam Negeri Mardiyanto kembali diperiksa KPK terkait pengadaan mobil pemadam kebakaran (damkar). Pemeriksaan yang berlangsung lebih dari dua jam itu menyoroti keterlibatan Mardiyanto semasa dia masih menjabat sebagai Gubernur Jawa Tengah. Mardiyanto sendiri membantah terlibat dalam proses pencairan maupun pembayaran damkar. Semua sistem sudah kita lewati, sebut Mardiyanto, saat keluar dari gedung KPK pukul 12.55 WIB, Rabu (22/7). Kedatangannya ke KPK yang sampai tiga kali, lanjut Mardiyanto, adalah bukti dia selama ini menghormati lembaga antikorupsi tersebut. Sekali diperiksa waktu saya jadi gubernur, dan dua kali saat jadi Mendagri, ungkapnya. Dikatakannya, pengadaan damkar di Jateng tahun 2003, memang diperlukan oleh kabupaten/kota. Hanya saja, Mardiyanto menolak menjawab saat ditanya wartawan apakah semasa menjadi gubernur, pernah bertemu langsung dengan Hengky Samuel Daud. Hengky Samuel Daud adalah Direktur PT Istana Sarana Raya dan PT Satal Nusantara, rekanan yang mendapat penunjukan langsung pengadaan damkar, menyusul terbitnya radiogram tertanggal 13 Desember 2002 dari Dirjen Otonomi Daerah, Oentarto Sindung Mawardi. Radiogram itu secara spesifik meminta daerah agar membeli damkar dari perusahaan mili Hengky Samuel Daud, baik damkar tipe V80 ASM maupun hidrolik tangga. Dari hasil persidangan Tipikor terhadap mantan Gubernur Jabar Danny Setiawan, mantan Gubernur Riau Saleh Djasit, mantan Walikota Makassar Baso Amirudin Maula, Walikota Medan Abdillah, serta pimpinan proyek pengadaan damkar Kaltim Ismed Rusdany, terungkap, selain penunjukan langsung, harga yang ditawarkan Daud di atas harga normal. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Turkey ready to resume Israel-Syria talks, says PM
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkey-ready-to-resume-israel-syria-talks-says-pm-2009-07-22 Turkey ready to resume Israel-Syria talks, says PM Wednesday, July 22, 2009 ALLEPPO - Daily News with wires Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pays a one-day visit to Syria and holds talks that focus on the stalled Turkish-mediated peace negotiations between Israel and Syria. Turkey is ready to resume its role as mediator in the suspended indirect talks, Erdogan says Turkey is ready to resume its role as mediator in indirect talks between Israel and Syria, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday before leaving for a one-day visit to Syria. Requests to resume the process have started to come in; we should get to work on this issue, he said at Ankara's airport, without indicating which country had contacted Turkey. Ankara last year brokered four rounds of indirect talks between longtime foes Israel and Syria, focusing on the contentious issue of the return of the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau seized by Israeli forces during the 1967 war. But talks were suspended when Israel launched an offensive against the Palestinian Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip in late December. Since then, rightist Benjamin Netanyahu has been elected as the Israeli prime minister. Damascus has said it is willing to resume the Turkish-mediated talks if they focus on a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, but Netanyahu has said he is not willing to cede the territory. Meeting in Aleppo We feel a responsibility ... and we should be ready to re-launch the talks, the Turkish prime minister said, according to Agence France-Presse. We are determined to do all we can for peace in the Middle East, he added. In the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, the Turkish prime minister met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his presidential palace. No statement was made following the hour-long meeting, which was also attended by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his Syrian counterpart, Walid al-Moallem. Turkey is Israel's main regional ally and the two countries have enjoyed strong economic ties since signing a military-cooperation accord in 1996. However, the Gaza offensive that killed more than 1,000 Palestinians has strained relations between the two nations. In January, an angry Erdogan stormed out of a debate on the Gaza conflict at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that included Israeli President Shimon Peres. On the eve of Erdogan's visit to Syria, some reports in the Turkish media linked the prime minister's trip to the recent visit to Damascus by Fred Hof, an adviser to U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell. In a meeting with Hof on July 15, Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon emphasized that Tel Aviv is prepared to enter direct negotiations with Syria without preconditions, reported Iran's English-language television channel Press TV. He also argued, though, that it was impossible for Syria to enter peace talks as long as it allies itself closely with Iran and supports the Islamist rulers of Gaza, Hamas, and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Hof presented Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak with a document titled Marking the Border Between Syria and Israel, according to the Israeli media. But Ayalon has said that Hof would not be presenting any maps or border routes. Yedioth Ahronoth had earlier reported that the document includes a future border route, based on an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, which Israel annexed in 1981 with no recognition from the international community. Mitchell returning to region Erdogan's visit comes as U.S. special envoy Mitchell is set to return to the region at the end of this week, according to a statement by the State Department. George Mitchell will be traveling to the region later this week, spokesman Philip Crowley said during a press briefing. His itinerary is still not completely set, but he will be traveling to ... talk to Israeli officials, Palestinian officials, others in the region. Crowley said Mitchell would also head to Bahrain to give a speech. Mitchell's planned visit to Bahrain comes after the country's crown prince Sheikh Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa authored a column in the Washington Post calling on Arab leaders to reach out to the Israeli people by engaging with Israeli media outlets. That message was applauded by the State Department and Crowley said Mitchell would have the opportunity to express once again our gratitude to Sheikh Salman for his message last week. Comments [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Police look for evidence of manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death, attorney says [Updated]
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/07/police-look-for-evidence-of-manslaughter-in-michael-jackson-death-attorney-says.html Police look for evidence of manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death, attorney says [Updated] 11:52 AM | July 22, 2009 A search warrant executed today at the Houston offices of Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson's personal doctor, indicates that authorities are investigating the offense of manslaughter in relation to the pop star's death, Murray's attorney said. The statement by attorney Edward Chernoff is the strongest indication yet that investigators are considering serious criminal charges against anyone connected with Jackson's sudden death June 25. We can confirm that a search warrant was executed today on Dr. Murray's offices in Houston Texas, Chernoff said in a statement. We reviewed the warrant and remained on the premises while the search was being executed. The search was conducted by members of the DEA, two Robbery-Homicide detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department and Houston Police officers. The search warrant authorized law enforcement to search for and seize items, including documents, they believed constituted evidence of the offense of manslaughter. Law enforcement concluded their search around 12:30 p.m., and left with a forensic image of a business computer hard drive and 21 documents. None of the documents taken had previously been requested by law enforcement or the L.A. Coroner's office. On Tuesday, The Times reported that the Los Angeles County coroner's office had requested another interview with Murray and were seeking additional information from him. Murray, 51, is a central figure in the probe as a witness and a possible criminal target. He discovered Jackson unconscious in the bedroom of his rented Holmby Hills home and performed CPR on him until paramedics arrived. Police questioned Murray at UCLA Medical Center, where Jackson was pronounced dead, and two days later, the physician and his attorney met with police detectives for three hours. Through his lawyer, Murray has said he administered no narcotics or other medications that should have caused Jackson's death and remains puzzled as to his death. Murray is one of several doctors the Los Angeles Police Department and other agencies are investigating as they try to determine the circumstance of Jackson's death. Authorities removed prescription drugs and other medical evidence from Jackson's home and are trying to determine whether they played a role in his death. Murray has not been named as any type of criminal suspect, and his attorney said he did nothing wrong. Murray is currently in Las Vegas, where he has his primary practice, according to his lawyer. He worked about two days a month at the Houston clinic, which has served a poor, predominantly black neighborhood. He opened the clinic in 2006 in honor of his late father, who had been a longtime physician and community activist in the neighborhood. [Updated at 12:30 p.m.: Items seized from Murray's office included rolodex cards, e-mails, a photocopied picture of Murray and a folder containing the doctor's bio, according to a source knowledgeable with the search. Investigators also took paperwork, such as receipts for a public storage unit and cellphone and pamphlets from the Sleep Center of Doctors Hospital in Houston, located near Murray's clinic. Although Murray's attorney said the search warrant authorized law enforcement officials to seek evidence in support of manslaughter, sources familiar with the investigation cautioned that the probe may not lead to any criminal charges. To obtain a search warrant, authorities are required to show probable cause for a felony. Police would not discuss the nature of the search warrant, its contents or the statement issued by Murray's lawyer. It is an ongoing investigation into circumstances surrounding Michael Jackson's death, said L.A. Police Department Commander Pat Gannon. No determination has been made yet whether Jackson's death was a homicide or an accident.] -- Harriet Ryan and Andrew Blankstein [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Gunmen kill five Iranian pilgrims in Iraq
http://www.pakistantimes.net/pt/detail.php?newsId=2697 Thursday, July 23, 2009 Rajab 28, 1430 AH Gunmen kill five Iranian pilgrims in Iraq 'Pakistan Times' Wire Service BAQUBA: Gunmen shot dead five Iranian pilgrims - including a woman - in an attack on a minibus near the restive Iraqi city of Baquba on Wednesday, police said. At least five people were killed in an attack by armed men against three buses carrying Iranian pilgrims in the Nabi Wais region, a police official at the provincial security command centre said. He said the five victims were among about 30 pilgrims travelling on minibuses in the area northeast of Baquba, the capital of the province of Diyala north of the Iraqi capital. The attack came a day after 21 people were killed in a wave of attacks across Iraq on Tuesday, one of the bloodiest days since US forces pulled out of towns and cities across the country on June 30. Despite the violence, hundreds of thousands of Iranians travel to Iraq every year to visit holy shrines since the regime of Saddam Hussein was toppled in the US-led invasion of 2003. In April, 56 people were killed in a suicide bombing on a restaurant packed with Iranian pilgrims in Muqdadiyah, north of Baquba in Diyala province, which remains one of the most dangerous areas of the country. Violence had dropped markedly throughout the country in recent months, but attacks increased in the run-up to the US military pullback, with 437 Iraqis killed in June - the highest death toll in 11 months. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Russia May Soon Have Its Own Obama from Guinea-Bissau
http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/22-07-2009/108313-russian_obama-0 22.07.2009 Russia May Soon Have Its Own Obama from Guinea-Bissau Russia's 'Volgograd Obama' The campaign to elect the municipal government of Russia's Volgograd region has turned into a scandal. The candidates use all possible methods, including the racial issue, to attract electors' attention, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports. A native of Guinea-Bissau, Joakim Krima, a 37-year-old graduate of the Volgograd Pedagogical University, set out his wish to run for the head of the regional government. The black Russian was born in Africa and moved to Russia's Volgograd region 12 years ago. Krima, who sells watermelons, refers to himself as a Russian citizen. He says that his name is Vasily Ivanovich (in honor of Vasily Chapayev, a legendary commander of the Red Army). The billboards with Joakim Krima's image and The New Head of the Region slogan have been erected along many regional highways recently. Local reporters have already dubbed him as the Volgograd Obama. Local people joke that if he is elected, he will work like a slave for the region. Volgograd is a city and the administrative center of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. It is 80 kilometres (50 mi) long, north to south, situated on the western bank of the Volga River. The city was the site of the Battle of Stalingrad during World War II. Volgograd originated with the foundation in 1589 of the fortress of Tsaritsyn at the confluence of the Tsaritsa and Volga Rivers. The fortress, which took its name from the local name Sary Su (Yellow Water/River in the Tatar language), was established to defend the unstable southern border of Tsarist Russia and became the nucleus of a trading settlement. It was captured twice by Cossack rebels, under Stepan Razin in the rebellion of 1670 and Yemelyan Pugachev in 1774. Tsaritsyn became an important river port and commercial centre in the 19th century. Under Stalin, the city became heavily industrialized and was developed as a centre of heavy industry and trans-shipment by rail and river. During World War II (Great Patriotic War), the city of Stalingrad became the center of the Battle of Stalingrad as well as the pivotal turning point in the war against Germany. The battle lasted from August 21, 1942 to February 2, 1943. 1.7 million to 2 million Axis and Soviet soldiers were either killed, wounded or captured, as well as over 40,000 civilians killed. The city was reduced to rubble during the fierce fighting, but reconstruction began soon after the Germans were expelled from the city [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] Abu Bakar Bashir's warning: the terror will not end
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25822368-601,00.html Abu Bakar Bashir's warning: the terror will not end Paul Toohey, Solo | July 23, 2009 Abu Bakar Bashir in Solo, Java, says anyone who had thoughts against Islam 'is allowed to be killed'. Picture: Renee Nowytarger Article from: The Australian ABU Bakar Bashir has endorsed the deadly work of Southeast Asia's most wanted terrorist, Noordin Top, saying Allah would protect him in his fight for Islam. The fanatical Muslim cleric, who is the spiritual adviser to the al-Mukmin Islamic school for children on the outskirts of Solo, in central Java, said if the victims of the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton suicide bombings had ever held any thoughts against Islam, they deserved to die. Bashir refused to condemn the suicide bombings, saying the use of terror was justified in the war against infidels, or non-Muslims. Bashir was convicted and jailed for inciting terrorism in relation to the 2002 Bali bombings and has not since moderated his views. He is seen as the spiritual head of Jemaah Islamiah, and while he is deeply unpopular in Indonesia, he carries dangerous influence that marks him as more than a mere ranting eccentric. The 1000 boys and 1000 girls who board at the al-Mukmin school he co-founded are taught predominantly in Arabic, and are indoctrinated to his views from kindergarten through to their leaving certificate. Bashir regularly travels across Java to other pesantrens, or Islamic schools, to speak, although on Tuesday, in the east Java town of Malang, Indonesian police reportedly banned him from giving a public lecture. Yesterday, Bashir attacked the Australian, US and Indonesian governments. The main cause of this disaster (the bombings) is the Indonesian government, which undermines the supremacy of Islamic law. This (terror) will not end until the government follows the right path. Asked by The Australian whether he felt any sadness for the seven victims of the suicide bombings, Bashir said: What makes me sad about the bombings was that it involved innocent people being killed. People such as women and children who are not involved in the fight against Muslims should not be killed. But the problem is we don't know for sure that the victims weren't involved in the fight against Islam. Even the thought of fighting against Islam is involvement. Everyone that thinks like that is allowed to be killed. Fifteen of his former students are said to have been directly involved in acts of terror across the region. Asked if he was embarrassed by this, Bashir said: There are no Muslim terrorists. The terrorists are the CIA, the Americans and the Australians. They're the ones who terrorise Muslims. The Australians are making a fuss about their victims, but when it comes to Muslim victims they don't say anything about it. One of those former students is Nur Said, who many thought was one of the hotel suicide bombers. While DNA tests from the bombers' bodies at both sites have ruled him out, there remains a view that he may have been Noordin Top's second-in-command in the operation. In the little hillside village of Katekan, northwest of Jogjakarta, famed for its tobacco, a media crew said it had been staking out Nur Said's parents' home for days but they had gone into hiding. Bashir said he had never met Nur Said. Speaking within the grounds of the al-Mukmin school, where students studied a noticeboard with newspaper accounts of the attacks, Bashir was asked whether Noordin Top, who used the school as his main recruitment ground, should be apprehended. If Noordin M.Top has bad intentions, then he should be apprehended, said Bashir. If he is right, then Allah will protect him. What I know about Noordin M.Top is that he is a Malaysian who fights to defend Islam. Bashir claimed it was not Muslim terrorists who conducted the suicide bombings. The person who bombed the Marriott is probably influenced by the CIA, which is an enemy of Islam. It will do anything to discredit and destroy Islam in Indonesia. In my opinion, acts of bombing are only allowed after one declares war against infidels. Such as al-Qa'ida, which has declared war on America. Go ahead (and bomb). I'm not saying the (Marriott and Ritz) bombers are wrong, they could have been right. But he would prefer if there was a formal declaration of jihad before targets were attacked. Students and teachers call Bashir Pak Ustad, meaning senior teacher. One teacher, Syehuddin, said he had no problem with the school's record of producing terrorists. Even though terrorists radiated from here, they also come from other places. Foreign intervention leads to all the attention on this school. The school previously ran to university level but has since dropped off. Syehuddin would not say why this was, but it seems an al-Mukmin degree is no longer regarded as something you'd want on your CV. Teachers claim they
[ppiindia] Genetic find links India to Australia
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25820898-2703,00.html Genetic find links India to Australia Peter Wilson, Europe correspondent | July 23, 2009 Article from: The Australian GENETIC research has found links between Australian Aborigines and the earliest settlers of the Indian subcontinent, supporting the belief humans reached Australia via south Asia. The findings indicate that a group of hunter-gatherers moved from the Horn of Africa, across the mouth of the Red Sea into Arabia and southern Asia at least 50,000 years ago. The so-called Southern Route theory of how humans reached Australia was backed by the discovery that modern Indian populations have telltale genetic mutations exclusively shared by Aborigines. Members of 26 Indian relic tribes or communities known to have very early roots in the region were found to have seven DNA genomes that share traits specific to Australian Aborigines. Raghavendra Rao and other researchers from the Anthropological Survey of India carried out the research, which has been reported in the BMC Evolutionary Biology journal. Mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from the mother and so allows us to accurately trace ancestry, he said. We found certain mutations in the DNA sequences of the Indian tribes we sampled that are specific to Australian Aborigines. This shared ancestry suggests that the Aborigine population migrated to Australia via the so-called 'Southern Route'. The genetic evidence that modern human populations expanded rapidly along the coastlines of southern Asia, southeastern Asia and Indonesia to arrive in Australia at least 45,000 years ago is backed by archeological evidence of human occupation in the Lake Mungo area dated to roughly the same period. Human evolution is usually understood in terms of millions of years, Dr Rao said. This direct DNA evidence indicates that the emergence of 'anatomically modern' humans in Africa and the spread of these humans to other parts of the world happened only 50,000 or so years ago. In this respect, populations in the Indian subcontinent harbour DNA footprints of the earliest expansion out of Africa. Understanding human evolution helps us to understand the biological and cultural expressions of these people, with far-reaching implications for human welfare. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[ppiindia] The fourth man speaks: Last testimony of Anthony Blunt
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/the-fourth-man-speaks-last-testimony-of-anthony-blunt-1757483.html The fourth man speaks: Last testimony of Anthony Blunt After 25 years locked away, the memoirs of a Cambridge spy have finally been released. Andy McSmith discovers what drove him to betray his country Thursday, 23 July 2009 a.. pa In 1945 Sir Anthony Blunt was appointed Surveyor of the King's Pictures for Queen Elizabeth II, a role for which he was knighted in 1956 a.. More pictures A very sad, isolated old man set down to write an account of his life, 25 years ago, hoping that he might explain the terrible mistake that had hung over the whole of his adult life. Yesterday the public got its first view of the last testimony of Anthony Blunt, art historian and Soviet spy, which had been kept under a lock and key in the British Library since he died, subject to a 25-year rule banning anyone from reading them. The quarter century is now up and anyone curious enough can join the queue of readers at the library to dip into a long memoir by an old man looking back on a life soured by what he called the, biggest mistake of my life. He had confessed in 1964 but his treachery and confession were kept as state secret for 15 years until, in 1979, the writer Andrew Boyle used the US Freedom of Information Act, for which there was then no British equivalent, to tease out the fact that there was an unnamed fourth man in the Cambridge spy ring. Margaret Thatcher then identified that person as Sir Anthony, Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures. He describes the start of his fascination with Guy Burgess, the man who drew him into the murky world of espionage. When they first met, in 1931, Blunt was 24 and a don at Trinity College in Cambridge while Burgess was a 20-year-old undergraduate. They were both gay, but Blunt denies they were ever lovers. At first he was put off by the younger man, because he began immediately to talk very indiscreetly about the private lives of people who were quite unknown to me. But later he fell for the liveliness and penetrating quality of his mind. Blunt wrote: He could be perverse both in argument and in behaviour, but in the former he would wriggle back to sense and in the latter he would apologise in such an engaging manner that it was difficult to be angry for long. His sex life was already fairly full, but he did not blazon it about as he was to do later. Blunt was not then interested in politics, despite the events unfolding in Europe, but Burgess was. I found that Cambridge had been hit by Marxism and that most of my friends among my junior contemporaries - including Guy Burgess - had either joined the Communist Party or were at least very close to it politically. Eventually, largely owing to the influence of Guy Burgess ... I realised that one could no longer stand aside. The issue of Fascism, as posed by the advent to power of Hitler and later by the Spanish Civil War, became so urgent that the Ivory Tower no longer provided adequate refuge. Blunt considered following his friend's lead by joining the Communist Party, until Burgess revealed the startling secret that he had resigned on instructions from the Comintern, who wanted him working for them inside the government or the BBC. I was thus faced with the most important decision of my life. I might have joined the Communist Party, but Guy, who was an extraordinarily persuasive person, convinced me that I could do more good by joining him in his work. What I did not realise at the time is that I was so naïve politically that I was not justified in committing myself to any political action of this kind. The atmosphere in Cambridge was so intense, the enthusiasm for any anti-fascist activity was so great, that I made the biggest mistake of my life. Blunt also confirmed what historians of the spy trade have long suspected, that Burgess fled east on impulse. Investigators were closing in on Donald Maclean, a London-based diplomat known to his soviet spymasters as Homer. Burgess and the leader of the Cambridge spy ring, Kim Philby, were in New York. Philby persuaded Burgess to cross the Atlantic to warn Maclean, not expecting they would both flee to the USSR. Blunt insists he played no active part in arranging their escape plan via a cross-Channel ferry to France, although he acknowledged that he had been in constant contact with Burgess throughout.I may have conveyed a message from Guy to his Russian contact but I have no recollection of even doing this, he wrote. But after that, anyone expecting a story resembling a John le Carré novel is in for a disappointing read. Blunt gave no details away about how he first contacted the NKVD, the foreunner of the KGB, nor how he stayed in contact with his Russian controllers, or what information he passed on. No names are mentioned except for those already well known. I simply found it unthinkable
[ppiindia] Kuliah Umum Jender, Seni dan Tasauf oleh Amina Wadud di Salihara
Dr. Amina Wadud menjadi muslim berdasarkan pilihan, mengikrarkan syahadat pada tahun 1972. Lahir dan besar di Maryland, Amerika Serikat, ayahnya seorang pendeta Kristen Metodis, dan ibunya merupakan keturunan kalangan budak yang beragama Islam. Selama menempuh pendidikan doktor, Amina belajar bahasa Arab dan studi Quran di Kairo. Dia meraih gelar master dan doktor dalam Studi Quran dan Bahasa Arab dari Universitas Michigan spesialisasi studi dan tafsir Quran. Amina telah menekuni karir intelektualnya selama tiga dekade di empat puluh negara; periset tamu di Harvard University's Divinity School, dosen di International Islamic University di Malaysia, sarjana tamu di Starr King School di Kementrian di Berkeley California, konsultan tamu di International Center for Islam and Pluralism (ICIP) di mana ia melakukan riset tentang Tradisi-tradisi Etik Islam dan Jender. Ia menulis tiga buku termasuk Qur'an and Woman: Re-Reading the Qur'an from a Woman's Perspective—telah diterjemahkan lebih dari setengah lusin bahasa dunia termasuk bahasa Indonesia. Buku terakhirnya: Inside the Gender Jihad: Women's Reform in Islam. Dalam Festival Salihara 2009, Amina Wadud akan membawakan tema Jamal, Keindahan Feminin dari Ilahi: Jender, Seni dan Tasauf. Dia akan mengulas dua artibut Ketuhanan: yang maskulin (jalal) dan yang feminin (jamal) dalam ranah Tauhid: konsep keesaan Tuhan. Bagi Amina, tradisi Tasawuf Islam lebih menekankan pada aspek keindahan Allah atau atribut-atribut yang feminin, seperti Mahapenyayang, Mahapengasih, Mahapengampun, dan Mahaindah. Sedangkan tradisi Fiqh dan Kalam lebih fokus pada aspek keperkasaan Allah seperti Mahakuasa, Mahapemarah, Mahapenghakim. Di tengah kerumitan aspek spiritualitas dan identitas saat ini, kuliah ini akan mengajak pemeluk beragama untuk menanggalkan atribut-atribut itu dan menggantinya dengan atribut yang membuat kita aman dan memberikan manfaat bagi kemanusiaan dan planet ini. Lebih-lebih bagi kaum muslim dan agama Islam yang tengah menerima citra negatif melalui tindakan-tindakan destruktif dari “muslim-teroris”; mereka yang kehilangan ruh kasih-sayang, cinta dan ampunan dalam pemahaman dan perbuatan mereka. Dr. Amina Wadud akan menyampaikan kuliah umumnya dalam bahasa Inggris, dengan terjemahan langsung dalam Bahasa Indonesia. Acara ini akan diselenggarakan pada hari Minggu 26 Juli 2009 pukul 19:00 WIB di Serambi Salihara. Terbuka untuk umum dan gratis! Untuk keterangan lebih lanjut, silakan mengirim konfirmasi ke gun...@salihara.org atau kunjungi www.salihara.org. Apabila ingin mendapatkan detil program Festival Salihara 2009, silakan hubungi Melan di melan.salih...@gmail.com. Sampai bertemu di Komunitas Salihara! Komunitas Salihara; Jl. Salihara 16, Pasar Minggu, Jakarta Selatan 12520. Tel: 021-789-1202. (Tempat parkir terbatas.) Coba Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 baru. Akhirnya datang juga! http://id.messenger.yahoo.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
