On September 4, the office of Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a statement announcing the formation of a High Council for Peace to hold peace talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan.[1] The statement was issued after President Karzai chaired a meeting of senior national personalities, including politicians and former mujahideen leaders, to discuss final steps needed to formally set up the High Council for Peace. The formation of the High Council for Peace is part of President Karzai's moves for peace talks with the Taliban, a strategy that seeks to reintegrate the militants into Afghan society by giving them administrative and police jobs. The Karzai initiative is supported by the United States and the Pakistani military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which backs the Taliban. The ISI hopes that some Taliban leaders will be part of the Kabul government as a result of the talks.[2] According to a report on the Afghan website tolonews.com, the High Council for Peace will have around 50 people, including members of civil society, women, former militants, and figures from the opposition and government.[3] The members' names will be announced after Eid-ul-Fitr (i.e. September 9, 10 or 11), the annual festival that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. In recent months, the ISI has pursued a dual policy of supporting the secret talks with the Taliban in order to gain a foothold in Kabul, as well as of encouraging the Taliban to increase their attacks on the U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan.[4] The prospect of the Taliban returning to power in Kabul as a result of the talks worries India the most, as it has poured in hundreds of millions of dollars in reconstruction works in Afghanistan. Now, India is recalibrating its Afghan policy. According to a report in the Pashtu-language Afghan newspaper Wrazpanra Weesa, India and other regional powers are moving in the direction of forming an anti-Taliban coalition.[5] Over the past two weeks some former leaders of the Northern Alliance, which assumed power after the U.S. troops dislodged the Taliban from power in 2001, have held secret talks with Indian officials to build an alliance against the Taliban in Afghanistan.[6] The Pashtu daily quoted a "reliable source" – who spoke on the condition of anonymity – as saying that General Abdul Rasheed Dostum, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, and Amrullah Saleh have held separate talks with Indian officials.[7] (Separately to these three leaders, Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasul and National Security Adviser Ranging Dadfar Spanta too visited India recently.[8]) All three leaders are known for their strong stance against the Taliban and ISI. General Dostum, chief of Junbish-i-Milli Islami party, is a former Uzbek militia leader who fought against the Taliban regime. Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, the former Foreign Minister of Afghanistan, was Karzai's main contender during the August 2009 presidential elections. Amrullah Saleh was recently removed from his post as the head of the National Security Directorate, the Afghan intelligence, due to his opposition to talks with the Taliban. According to the Wrazpanra Weesa report, these three leaders are trying to garner India's support to again revive the Northern Alliance against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Most of the parties that constituted the Northern Alliance during the Taliban regime are part of the current government headed by President Karzai. According to a second report on the Afghan website tolonews.com, the three reportedly held some meetings in the last ten days with Indian officials in India. The report also noted that General Dostum made trip to India regarding the formation of the anti-Taliban coalition, but such reports have been dismissed as "baseless."[9] As soon as the reports emerged that the three leaders are holding secret talks with India to revive the Northern Alliance as a bulwark against the Taliban's likely return to power, Dr. Abdullah and Amrullah Saleh issued statements on September 5 strongly rejecting these reports as "rumors."[10] However, Amrullah Saleh, who recently argued publicly that he quit his post as intelligence chief because of his opposition to the secret peace talks with the Taliban, rejected the media reports about any talks with India, stating: "I don't need any foreign countries to support or guide me setting political goals and political activities. I am in contact with all Afghan leaders."[11] Dr. Abdullah also rejected the reports, stating: "There is no such thing about the formation of something like a coalition, and it has been months that I haven't had any contact with General Dostum and I haven't sought help from any foreign countries either."[12] *Tufail Ahmad is Director of MEMRI's Urdu-Pashtu Media Project. [1] www.president.gov.af, Afghanistan, September 4, 2010. [2] In recent months, Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and Lt.-Gen. Shuja Pasha, who succeeded General Kayani as the Inter-Services Intelligence chief, have emerged as Pakistan’s chief coordinators of relations with Kabul while the civilian government in Islamabad plays no role. For a critical analysis of ISI’s role in Afghanistan, see Heading Towards a Taliban Takeover of Afghanistan, MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis Series Report No. 630. [3] www.tolonews.com (Afghanistan), September 5, 2010. [4] For an analysis of how Afghan President Karzai has a "virtually impossible choice of negotiating with the Taliban through the Pakistani military leadership," see Growing complexity of Afghan riddle, The Hindu (India), September 6, 2010. [5] Wrazpanra Weesa (Afghanistan), September 5, 2010. [6] Wrazpanra Weesa (Afghanistan), September 5, 2010. [7] Wrazpanra Weesa (Afghanistan), September 5, 2010. [8] For an analysis of the importance of Afghan government leaders’ recent visits to New Delhi, see A refreshing sight, www.deccanherald.com (India), accessed September 7, 2010. [9] www.tolonews.com (Afghanistan), September 5, 2010. [10] www.tolonews.com (Afghanistan), September 5, 2010. [11] www.tolonews.com (Afghanistan), September 5, 2010. [12] www.tolonews.com (Afghanistan), September 5, 2010.
Inquiry & Analysis|633 |September 7, 2010
Urdu-Pashtu Media Project
India in Move to Form Anti-Taliban Coalition in Afghanistan
By: Tufail Ahmad*
Introduction
Report: Dr. Abdullah, General Dostum and Amrullah Saleh Attempt To Form Anti-Taliban Coalition
![[object Object]](http://memri.convio.net/images/content/pagebuilder/11781.jpg)
Image from left to right: Dr. Abdullah, General Dostum and Amrullah Saleh
Tuesday 7 September 2010
Under a British law in Palestine passed in 1930, Jews were forbidden to blow the shofar at the Kotel, pray loudly there, or bring Torah scrolls, so as not to offend the Arab population.
Despite this restriction, for the next seventeen years, the shofar was sounded at the Kotel every Yom Kippur. Shofars were smuggled in to the Kotel where brave teenagers defiantly blew them at the conclusion of the fast. Some managed to get away - others were captured and sent to jail for up to six months.
Six of these men are still alive.
Two weeks ago, these six men returned to the scene of their "crime". Armed with shofars, they recounted their individual stories and blew shofar again at the Kotel.
This is their powerful and inspiring story.
The Qur'an on lashes: "Let no compassion move you" (24:2). No worries there in Iran. After all, Ashtiani has already received 99 lashes once before. "Iran stoning woman 'to be lashed over photograph'," from BBC News, September 5: Stoning isn't off the table. Anything is possible at any time after Ramadan. You do not have the right to a phone call: Per the instructions of the aforementioned Qur'an 24:2: "The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication,- flog each of them with a hundred stripes: Let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment." You do not have the right to remain silent, and anything you are forced to say will undoubtedly be used against you: More on stoning in Islam can be found here. An update on this story. Just yesterday, reports said the sentence was pending, but authorities acted much more quickly -- more eagerly -- than that. The swiftness with which this ridiculous sentence was carried out suggests authorities are in a hurry: either they wanted to carry out the penalty before questions about the picture gained traction, or they have something else in mind. Perhaps both. "Lawyer: Iran woman could be stoned to death soon," by Nasser Karimi for the Associated Press, September 6: Until it does. And Ramadan ends this week.An Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery now faces being whipped for indecency, her son says.
Iranian authorities sentenced Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani to 99 lashes after the Times newspaper published a picture purportedly of her without a headscarf.
The Times later published a correction, saying the photograph was of a different Iranian woman.
After an international outcry, Iranian officials temporarily halted Ms Ashtiani's stoning sentence in July.
There are fears the death sentence could still be carried out by hanging.
Contested confessions
Ms Ashtiani's son has given several interviews saying he was told of the new sentence of 99 lashes by people who have recently been released from the prison in Tabriz where his mother is being held.
On 28 August, the Times published a picture it said was of Ms Ashtiani that it had obtained from one of her lawyers.
The lawyer, Mohammad Mostafei, who has fled Iran, said he received the picture from her son, Sajad Ghaderzadeh - a claim Mr Ghaderzadeh denies.
Mr Ghaderzadeh said the new sentence was "an excuse to increase [the authorities'] harassment of our mother".
In an open letter, he said his mother had been sentenced to receive 99 lashes "on false charges of spreading corruption and indecency by disseminating this picture of a woman presumed to be her without hijab".
He said he did not believe the sentence had been carried out but that her family and lawyer had not been allowed to visit her for two weeks and she had not been allowed to use a telephone.
Mr Ghaderzadeh said the family was appealing against the sentence.
In May 2006, a criminal court in East Azerbaijan province found Ms Ashtiani guilty of having had an "illicit relationship" with two men following the death of her husband. She was given 99 lashes.
But that September, during the trial of a man accused of murdering her husband, another court reopened an adultery case based on events that allegedly took place before her husband died.
Despite retracting a confession she said she had been forced to make under duress, Ms Ashtiani was convicted of "adultery while being married" and sentenced to death by stoning....
TEHRAN, Iran - The lawyer for an Iranian woman sentenced to be stoned on an adultery conviction said Monday that he and her children are worried the delayed execution could be carried out soon with the end of a moratorium on death sentences for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
In an unusual turn in the case, the lawyer also confirmed that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was lashed 99 times last week in a separate punishment meted out because a British newspaper ran a picture of an unveiled woman mistakenly identified as her. Under Iran's clerical rule, women must cover their hair in public. The newspaper later apologized for the error.
With the end of Ramadan this week, the mother of two could be executed "any moment," said her lawyer, Javid Houtan Kian.
The sentence was put on hold in July after an international outcry over the brutality of the punishment, and it is now being reviewed by Iran's supreme court.
Ashtiani was convicted in 2006 of having an "illicit relationship" with two men after the murder of her husband the year before and was sentenced at that time to 99 lashes. Later that year, she was also convicted of adultery and sentenced to be stoned, even though she retracted a confession that she says was made under duress.
"The possibility of stoning still exists, any moment," Kian told The Associated Press. "Her stoning sentence was only delayed; it has not been lifted yet."
Italy is among several countries pressing for Iran to show flexibility in the case. The country's foreign minister, Franco Frattini, said the Italian ambassador in Iran met with authorities in Tehran who "confirmed to us that no decision has been made" about the stoning sentence.
"I interpret that in the sense that the stoning, for now, won't take place," Frattini said in an interview on Italian state TV.
After putting the stoning sentence on hold, Iran suddenly announced that the woman had also been brought to trial and convicted of playing a role in her husband's 2005 murder. Her lawyer disputes that, saying no charges against her in the killing have ever been part of her case file.
In early August, Iranian authorities broadcast a purported confession from Ashtiani on state-run television. In it, a woman identified as Ashtiani admits to being an unwitting accomplice in her husband's killing.
Kian says he believes she was tortured into confessing.
In the latest twist, authorities are said to have flogged her for the publication of a photo of a woman without her hair covered in the Times of London newspaper. The woman in the photo was misidentified as Ashtiani.
She was lashed on Thursday, Kian said, citing information from a fellow prisoner who was released last week. Kian has been allowed no direct contact with his client since last month....
Following are excerpts from a Hamas TV cartoon depicting the Koran-based story of Jews being transformed into apes. The cartoon aired on Al-Aqsa TV on August 25, 2010. To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memri.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2599.htm Grandfather: "Let's finish the story, Majed, and see what scheme the corrupt [Jews] devised." [...] Jewish fisherman: "You have made us lose an opportunity to make a profit and become rich. How could you agree to refrain from fishing on the Sabbath? Can't you see how much money we made by fishing on the Sabbath in this month alone?" 2nd Jewish fisherman: "Who told you that I agreed to the demand [of the village elders]?" 1st Jewish fisherman: "I just heard you promise them that you would not fish on the Sabbath. Everybody witnessed this." 2nd Jewish fisherman: "I will fish on the Sabbath without anybody seeing me." 1st Jewish fisherman: "How? The bay area is in full view of everybody. Are you making fun of me? Do you think I'm stupid?" 2nd Jewish fisherman: "No, I will use my brain, in order to fish on the Sabbath without actually fishing on the Sabbath. [...] "Before the Sabbath, we will cast nets and place barriers at the end of the canals [that we built] by the sea. On the Sabbath eve, when the fish try to swim out to sea via the small canals, they will be unable to do so, because our nets will lie in wait for them. But we will not be fishing on the Sabbath. Instead, we will wait until Sunday morning to gather the fish from the nets, and then we will sell them for a profit. That way we will be doing the Sabbath fishing on Sunday." 1st Jewish fisherman: "Great." 2nd Jewish fisherman: "Nobody will be able to see us fishing on the Sabbath." 1st Jewish fisherman: "It's a devilish idea, for which you should be praised. Thank you."[...] Grandfather: "One night, when the corrupt people continued to violate the prohibition, insisting upon fishing on the Sabbath, something terrible happened." Majed: "What was it, Grandfather?" Grandfather: "God inflicted His punishment upon the corrupt villagers, and the sinning half of the village were transformed into apes. God inflicted His punishment upon them. [...] "Thus, God transformed these sinners into apes. They remained in this form for several days, and served as a lesson to those willing to learn. [...] "Majed, what have you learned from the story of the people of the Sabbath?" Majed: "Grandfather, I learnt that we have to obey God, and not rebel against His commandments, because obedience to God is the path to success and redemption, while rebellion against His commandments is the path to annihilation and perdition. I also learnt that we have to command good and direct people to do good. I also learnt that one's individual liberties do not entail the violation of the rights of others." [...]Special Dispatch|3218 |September 7, 2010
Lantos Archives on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial/Koran and Hadith-Based Antisemitic Myths/Indoctrination of Children
Hamas TV Cartoon Depicts Koran-Based Story of Jews Being Transformed into Apes
![[object Object]](http://memri.convio.net/images/content/pagebuilder/11777.jpg)
![[object Object]](http://memri.convio.net/images/content/pagebuilder/11778.jpg)
![[object Object]](http://memri.convio.net/images/content/pagebuilder/11779.jpg)
Here is your Crux AM update:
Top manager Tilson: Blue chip stocks are as cheap as ever
Says investors have no interest in buying shares of the safest companies...
Seven hidden fees the credit card companies don't want you to know about
"Companies are working hard to recoup the losses they may experience as a result of the new Credit CARD Act."
One of the world's elite investors is going long farmland
"Productive agricultural land with water on site – will be very valuable in the future..."
"Dr. Doom" Roubini: The U.S. dollar will beat gold now
Only two unlikely events could lead to new highs for gold...
The Democrats could get crushed in November
"Odds of a Republican victory in the House of Representatives has surged..."
Record numbers of dividend stocks are yielding more than bonds
"It's definitely a way to say that stocks are cheap relative to bonds..."
Regards,
Justin Brill
Managing Editor, The Daily Crux
www.thedailycrux.com
Savage hosts one of the nation's most popular radio talk shows, with an estimated 8 million listeners a week on about 400 stations, according to his syndicator, the Talk Radio Network. WND Books published his first three political books, beginning in 2003 – all three were New York Times bestsellers. The conference made national news when WND dropped author-columnist Ann Coulter as one of the keynote speakers at the event, after she accepted a speaking engagement for a homosexual Republican group billing itself as "conservative." The event, called "Homocon," takes place in New York a week after WND's "Taking America Back National Conference." Yesterday, WND announced Farah will debate GOProud founder Christopher Barron on whether the group can actually be considered "conservative."
Savage to make rare appearance
at WND conference
Radio talk superstar to preview new book
at 'Taking America Back' event
MIAMI – Talk-radio superstar Michael Savage will make a rare public appearance at WND's "Taking America Back National Conference" here later this month.
Savage will preview his new book, "Trickle Up Poverty" and provide a behind-the-scenes briefing on the campaign to get his name removed from the United Kingdom's list of banned personalities – one dominated by murderers and terrorists.
"Michael Savage may be banned in the UK, but we're delighted and honored to have him join us in Miami," said Joseph Farah, editor and chief executive officer of WND. "There are few Americans who better understand the need to get America off its politically correct and suicidal path. He knows from first-hand experience where this path leads – to the kinds of cowardice, tyranny and injustice we see throughout much of Europe today."
The conference is set for Sept. 17-18 at the Doral Resort in Miami. Reservations and ticket information is available by calling 877-768-2784, extension 105 during regular business hours or by going online to the conference website.
In July, the new Conservative-Party-led government of Prime Minister David Cameron informed Savage it will continue the ban on the top-rated talk-radio host's entry to the UK unless he repudiates statements made on his show that were deemed a threat to public security.
The U.K. Border Agency told Savage through a letter from the treasury solicitor's office that his "exclusion" from the U.K. that began last year under the Labour Party government of Gordon Brown will continue "in the absence of clear, convincing and public evidence" that he has "repudiated his previous statements."
or media@wnd.com
As WND reported, then–British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced May 5, 2009, that Savage was on a list of 16 people, along with terrorists and neo-Nazis, banned from entry because the government believed their views might provoke violence. Smith said it was "important that people understand the sorts of values and sorts of standards that we have here, the fact that it's a privilege to come and the sort of things that mean you won't be welcome in this country."
Savage has called his ordeal a "true nightmare of Kafka."
"The 'new' British government continues 'the big lie' initiated by the previous British government, all based on extracts of radio programs over many years edited by Soros-backed Media Matters to slander me," he told WND.
Savage said that after "over one straight year of legal hell, I had hoped the new British government would remove my name from their list of actual murderers and terrorists."
"Apparently there's been a change of window figures in England," he said.
Savage is uniquely positioned to address an important theme running through the conference – whether U.S.-style conservatism is going the way of conservative movements and parties in Europe.
"This conference was organized largely because of the capitulation and compromise in some quarters of the conservative movement here in this country," says Farah. "Anyone who listens to Savage or reads his No. 1 New York Times bestselling books knows he doesn't compromise or capitulate."
The conference will also feature Rep. Michele Bachmann, Ambassador Alan Keyes, Colorado gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo, former Sen. and retired Admiral Jeremiah Denton, WND's Jerome Corsi, Aaron Klein, David Kupelian, comedienne Victoria Jackson, talk-show host Rusty Humphries, homeschool champion Michael Farris and many others in a lively, interactive forum that will include debates on some of the hottest issues of the day. It will be followed by a weeklong cruise of Caribbean that will include many of the speakers and participants.
The conference also made news when it rejected sponsorship by the Florida Tea Party after an investigation of the group concluded it was misrepresenting itself. Farah announced WND was returning the money the group paid in sponsoring the event and rejected its participation.
"This event and the tea-party movement are not about making money," Farah said. "If we're serious about changing the direction of the country, we've got to start policing ourselves. We hope real tea-party groups all across Florida and the U.S. join us in Miami next month to celebrate the political rebirth of this "
or media@wnd.com
Latest
Titford welcomes leadership race
Tuesday, 7th September 2010
UKIP interim Leader Jeffrey Titford has welcomed the opening of nominations as the Party begins the process of finding a new figurehead. More
UKIP Leadership election timetable
Tuesday, 7th September 2010
UKIP General Secretary Jonathan Arnott has announced the timetable for the upcoming Party Leader elections. More
Monday, 6th September 2010
UKIP heads are shaking in disbelief at the EU's lates waste of taxpayers' money – a vanity postcode for their new London headquarters. More
What next? Shot for not clapping?
Monday, 6th September 2010
Controversial plans to “fine” MEPs if they fail to attend Tuesday’s ‘state-of-the-union’ address by commission president José Manuel Barroso have caused an outcry among deputies. More
UKIP's latest author's labour of love
Monday, 6th September 2010
UKIP regional organiser, Dr Fred McGlade, has achieved a long-held ambition with the publication of his first book. More
Batten warning on EU police state
Saturday, 4th September 2010
UKIP's London MEP Gerard Batten was joined by those who have suffered at the hands of the EU's police state ambitions as he delivered his speech at Torquay's annual conference. More
Page 1 of 171 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · next · >|
VIDEO ZONE
Nigel to Barroso: You're no Obama
Tuesday, 7th September 2010
UKIP's Nigel Farage responds to President Jose Manuel Barroso's State of the Union address to the European Parliament. More
Monday, 6th September 2010
UKIP MEP William Dartmouth told the annual conference of the real consequences for the UK of Turkey's proposed membership of the EU. More
EAW horror in Jason's own words
Monday, 6th September 2010
Jason McGoldrick tells UKIP's annual conference of his Hungarian nightmare as a victim of the European Arrest Warrant. More
Posts
