Islamic World

Tehran, July 02: A group of hardline Iranian members of parliament want the judiciary to prosecute defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi over post-election unrest that rocked the Islamic Republic last month.

“Those who hold illegal rallies and gatherings should be legally pursued,” MP Mohammad Taghi Rahbar was quoted as saying by the hardline Javan newspaper on Thursday.

It said Rahbar was among several MPs preparing to write to the judiciary complaining about Mousavi’s activities after the disputed June 12 election. It did not say how many lawmakers backed the petition.

Baghdad, July 02: An Iraqi soldier has been killed and 10 civilians wounded when a roadside bomb exploded next to an Iraqi military patrol in central Baghdad.

According to police, the blast occurred in Baghdad’s Karrada neighborhood early on Thursday. Two soldiers were also among the injured.

The incident occurs two days after the withdrawal of US combat troops from urban areas.

On Tuesday, American troops handed control of towns and cities nationwide to the Iraqi forces, marking the first major step toward complete withdrawal from Iraq by the end of 2011.

Gaza, July 02: The radical Islamist Hamas movement rejected Thursday accusations by Amnesty International that it had committed war crimes during last winter’s Israeli offensive in Gaza.

The 117-page report from the London-based human rights group accused both Hamas and Israel of war crimes during the 22-day conflict.

Amnesty did not talk to Hamas leaders, making the report “automatically unbalanced,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuchri told a news conference in Gaza City.

Geneva, July 02: A senior Palestinian official was quoted Thursday as saying United States President Barack Obama was the “last chance” for a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel.

“Obama is our savior. He is realistic and pragmatic. He is not a dreamer,” said Yasir Abed Rabbo, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

“He is our last chance,” Abed Rabbo told the Geneva-based Le Temps newspaper, citing the growing Israeli settlements as an impediment to regional peace.

Baghdad, July 02: Iraq has asked for help from both the Iranian and Kuwaiti governments on locating Iraqis who were captured or went missing during Iran/Iraq war and the first Gulf war, officials said Thursday.

Aaround 469 Iraqis were captured and more than 52,000 went missing during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), known as the First Gulf War in Iraq.

“The file of prisoners and missing is one of the important issues adopted by the ministry,” Hussein al-Zuheiry, deputy in the Human Rights Ministry was quoted by al-Sabah newspaper as saying.

Tehran, July 02: Iran has announced that the Martyrs Foundation will support the families of the innocent victims of Tehran’s post-election riots.

Officials say at least 20 people, including eight Basij members were killed in post-election incidents.

The announcement comes a week after informed sources said that terrorists had infiltrated among protesters to foment unrest.

Iran’s Martyrs Foundation supports families of those martyred or maimed in the Iraq-Iran war.

——Agencies

Baghdad, July 02: Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has criticized Baghdad and Washington for their handling of the issue of US forces’ withdrawal from the country.

With at least 131,000 US forces remaining in Iraq, Sadr said the way US troops are leaving the country “shows that the (Iraqi) government and the occupation are not serious about the withdrawal.”

“The withdrawal should include all the occupation forces: army, intelligence, militias, and security companies and others. Otherwise, the withdrawal will be uncompleted and useless,” he added on his website on Wednesday.

Kabul, July 01: US Marines have launched a massive offensive into lower Helmand River in southern Afghanistan, as President Barack Obama unveils a new war plan in the region.

Operation Khanjar (Strike of the Sword) involved nearly 4,000 US forces as well as 650 Afghan police and soldiers, the Marine Expeditionary Brigade said, announcing the pre-dawn launch of the drive in southern Helmand province.

The operation was the Marines first major operation since they were deployed to the region over the past few months.

Washington, July 02: The first units of an estimated 4,000 US Marines began what was described as a major offensive early Thursday against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, the Washington Post reported on its website.
Troops were moving by helicopter and heavy ground vehicles from their bases into Taliban-controlled districts in Helmand and neighbouring provinces, the newspaper and other US media reported.

–IANS

Tehran, July 02: Iranian presidential election runner up Mir Hossein Mousavi on Wednesday renewed a demand for a complete re-run of the vote and pledged to help set up a new group to defend citizen’s rights.

Another defeated candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, saw his reformist newspaper Etemad Melli shut down after he denounced the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as invalid and the new government as not legitimate.

Sana’a, July 02: The Yemen Airways plane that crashed off the Comoros islands with 153 people on board did not issue a distress signal or report any mechanical problems, a company official said Wednesday.

‘Aviation authorities in the Comoros informed us that the Moroni Airport control did not receive a distress signal from the pilot,’ Hassan al-Houthi, head of the technical department of the Yemenia told reporters in Sana’a.

Tehran, July 02: An Iranian woman holds up a picture of the latest crackdown by Iranian police on reformist protesters in Tehran. Photograph: Marwan Naamani/AFP/Getty Images

Iran’s defeated presidential challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, declared today that he considered Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s new government illegitimate, and called for protests to continue.

Dubai, July 01: At least one person died and 29 others, including Indians, went missing after a commercial vessel capsized off the coast of Qatar, officials said on Wednesday.

The ‘Damas Victory’ boat, which belonged to Dubai-based Demas Marine and was hired by Qatar firm HBK Power Cleaning, sank about two nautical miles off Doha early yesterday, a spokesman for Qatar’s Ministry of Interior said.

Five persons were rescued and one body was recovered while search for the remaining people was underway. Among the rescued were three Indian nationals.

Israel, July 01: Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak addresses the media during a news conference at the 48th… Enlarge Photo Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak addresses the media during a news conference at the 48th…

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak played down on Wednesday a rift with the United States over Jewish settlements and said peace efforts should focus on persuading Arab countries to forge ties with Israel.

Gaza, July 01: Israel has demolished a Palestinian house in eastern Jerusalem (al-Quds) without a prior warning, injuring nine people living in the building.

The incident occurred on Monday when Jerusalem (al-Quds) municipality authorities tore down a house on the Mount of Olives on Monday morning.

The Israeli police forces who accompanied the bulldozers clashed with those residing in the house and wounded nine people, including four women. Two of the women were taken to the nearby al-Maqasid Hospital.

The home was 150 square meters in size and belonged to Samir Abu Juma’a.

Kabul, July 01: A key Taliban commander was killed in northern Afghanistan when militants attacked a NATO convoy as Afghan and foreign troops conducted an operation to clear an area of militants, officials said Wednesday.

Mullah Nader was killed late Tuesday in the Darzab district of Jawzjan province during the two-hour clearing operation by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan soldiers, provincial police chief Muhammad Khalil Aminzada said.

Cairo, July 01: Egypt’s intelligence service kept talks aimed at reconciling rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah from collapsing completely, a Fatah negotiator said Wednesday.

“Egypt saved the Palestinian reconciliation from failing, and (intelligence chief) Omar Suleiman played a vital role in pushing the two sides to reach an agreement,” said Azzam al-Ahmad, the head of the Fatah bloc in the Palestinian Legislative Council, before leaving Cairo for Ramallah.

Baghdad, July 01: Iraqi leaders called for vigilance and unity, as the country marked the planned withdrawal of US troops from Iraqi cities and towns.

‘Bless you. Bless you for your efforts to achieve this great success,’ Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told the ministers of defence, interior and national security and associated officers from the security services, in remarks broadcast on state television.

Jerusalem, July 01: Israel killed 87 civilians, including at least eight children, during its offensive against Gaza militants last winter, with missiles fired from remote pilotless vehicles (RPVs), Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report Tuesday.

The report, titled ‘Precisely Wrong: Gaza civilians killed by Israeli drone-launched missiles’, details six specific incidents which resulted in 29 civilian deaths.

Johannesburg, July 01: Hopes dwindled for finding any more survivors of the Yemenia Air plane crash off the Comoros Islands, as rescue teams continued to scour the seas for more wreckage.

A 14-year old girl is the only known survivor so far of the 153 people on the Airbus A310 from Sana’a, Yemen, which crashed at sea after missing its first attempt at landing in the Comoran capital, Moroni, in bad weather.

After suspending search efforts overnight, there was now ‘practically no chance’ of finding more survivors, Comoros Transport Ministry Secretary-General Abdillah Mougni told DPA.

Tehran, July 01: An official breaks the news of a grenade having been planted at a mausoleum in a northern area of the Iranian capital Tehran.

People working at a mausoleum called Imamzadeh Saleh — located at Tajrish Square — on Tuesday night found a grenade that had been planted in a trash can in the women’s restroom, the Fars news agency quoted the head of the Tehran section of the Charity Organization, Yadollah Shirmardi, as saying on Wednesday.

Jerusalem, July 01: The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, has advised the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to fire his Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, according to two senior Israeli government officials.

M. Sarkozy said “you must get rid of that man” and replace him with the more moderate former foreign minister Tzipi Livni.

Mr Netanyahu replied that in private meetings Mr Lieberman “sounds differently” but M. Sarkozy retorted that in private talks, Jean-Marie Le Pen – the far-right French politician – is “a very nice man”.
–Agencies

New York, July 01: US envoy George Mitchell and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak held a ‘constructive’ meeting Tuesday on the ailing Middle Peace process, the pair said afterwards in a joint statement.

Mitchell and Barak were meeting in New York as President Barack Obama’s administration and the right-leaning government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clashed over US demands for a freeze on Jewish settlements in the occupied territory.

The discussions covered the ‘measures needed to create a climate conducive to peace,’ the statement said.

Baghdad, July 01: Iraq is locked in a struggle with the world’s largest oil companies over contracts that would see “Big Oil” return to the Iraqi oilfields for the first time in almost 40 years.

The award of contracts began in Baghdad yesterday and was broadcast live on television to show there were no secret corrupt deals.

But the process was immediately in trouble as some of the 32 international oil companies involved baulked at the low level of fees they would be paid by Iraq.

Tehran, July 01: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has cancelled a planned visit to Libya where he was due to address an African Union summit.

“The president’s visit to the summit that was supposed to start on Wednesday has been cancelled,” Reuters quoted a presidential office spokesman as saying.

No reason has been given for the decision.

Iran’s president had plans to pay a visit to Libya on Wednesday to address the summit of African leaders, which is set to discuss agricultural investment in Africa.

—–Agencies