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Hyderabad, May 19: A total of 4,381 pilgrims were selected for Haj 2011 through ‘qurrah’ (draw of lots) held at Haj House on Wednesday.

From Hyderabad, at least 2,000 pilgrims were selected as against the earlier average of 1,200-1,400. The number is high as more people from the city fall in the reserved category which includes senior citizens aged over 70, those not selected in the draw in the last three attempts and those who were selected but could not go because of passport-related problems.

Hyderabad, May 18: Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Terrorist Sunil Joshi, one of the accused in the 2007-Makkah Masjid blast case, had allegedly collected identity proofs of several Muslims to buy SIM cards to be used in the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) which were set off in various religious places including Makkah masjid. This was reportedly done for to diverting the attention of the investigative agencies.

Ahmedabad, May 18: P R Agarwal, special public prosecutor in a post-Godhra riot case, has sought retirement from the case, alleging non-cooperation from the designated judge.

Agarwal, who is representing the state in Dipda Darwaja riot case of 2002, along with his assistant Hansa Jain, yesterday faxed a letter to SIT chief R K Raghavan saying he wanted to retire from the case as the judge S C Srivastava “was not hearing the arguments of the prosecution.”

Mumbai, May 17: Fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Iqbal Kaskar was shot at by four gunmen in South Mumbai on Tuesday night but he escaped unhurt while his driver was killed.

Two persons, suspected to be among the assailants, were caught by the locals while trying to flee from the spot near J J Hospital and handed over to the police, deputy commissioner of police (operations) Rajkumar Vatkar said.

Two unidentified people opened fire at Iqbal Kaskar, brother of India’s most wanted mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, outside his residence in south Mumbai late Tuesday night, police said. Iqbal was unhurt but his driver was killed.Though Iqbal escaped virtually unhurt in the attack on Pakmodia Street, his driver Arif sustained a fatal bullet injury in the chest, an officer from the Pydhonie police station said.

Police moved in swiftly and deployed very tight security in the vicinity, even as some locals took Iqbal to the nearby Sir J. J. Hospital.

Ahmedabad, May 17: Senior Gujarat police officer Sanjeev Bhatt Monday told the Nanavati-Mehta commission that he had informed Chief Minister Narendra Modi in advance about the attack on the Gulberg Society Feb 28, 2002 but, despite specific intelligence inputs, no orders were issued.

Ahmedabad, May 17: Gujarat’s senior IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt told the Nanavati-Mehta commission that he could name other witnesses who would vouchsafe his presence at a crucial meeting called by Chief Minister Narendra Modi Feb 27,2002 in addition to the names he mentioned in his affidavit made before the Supreme Court.

“I will give the names of the witnesses only when asked by the Supreme Court since the issue was pending before the apex court”, he said in his disposition before the judicial enquiry committee probing the 2002 riots.

Bangalore, May 16: In a dramatic turn of events,a fresh crisis loomed large over the BJP government in Karnataka with Governor H R Bhardwaj recommending dismissal of the Yeddyurappa ministry and imposition of President’s Rule in the wake of Supreme Court quashing the disqualification of 11 party rebel MLAs.

On a day of high drama, the Governor, who has been having a troubled relationship with the Government, has sent a “special” report to the Centre, the Raj Bhawan said. Sources said he has recommended a spell of President’s Rule and keeping the Assembly in suspended animation.

Islamabad, May 15: ISI’s powerful chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha has warned India that any Abbottbad-like attack by it would invite a befitting response from Pakistan as targets inside the country “had already been identified” and “rehearsal” carried out.

Pasha’s warning came as he addressed the in-camera joint session of the Senate and National Assembly held behind closed doors on Friday. Pasha is facing fire over the inability of the ISI to track down al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, where he was living, before he was annihilated by US special forces in a covert operation on May 2.

Hyderabad, May 15: Was the MIM legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi carrying his licensed weapon at the time of attack on him in Barkas?

Police who carefully scanned through video footage of the attack do not rule out this possibility now. A frame of the video footage shows a black object, now believed to be a pistol, in the hand of Mr. Owaisi who fell to ground. In this frame, Mr. Owaisi’s face is blocked by Ibrahim Yafai, who is seen bending over him and attacking him with a knife.

Mainpuri, May 15: Renewing his attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh today alleged the Sangh engineered bomb explosions in the country to defame Muslims.

“To defame Muslims, RSS engineered bomb explosions and for that Muslim youths were arrested, but when the real culprits of Malegaon were arrested bomb explosions stopped,” Singh alleged while addressing a rally of Samajik Chetna Manch Ghosi Yadav Mahasabha in the stronghold of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav here.

Cairo, May 14: Banned for years under President Hosni Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood now functions openly in Egypt and is expected to win a sizable bloc of seats in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Washington Post senior associate editor Lally Weymouth interviewed Essam El-Erian, a physician and senior member of the brotherhood’s ruling guidance council, in the organization’s new $11 million headquarters on May 4. Following are excerpts from their talk.

L.W.: What did you think of the killing of Osama bin Laden?

Hyderabad, May 13: The new-born YSR Congress Party struck a humiliating blow to the 125-year old ruling Congress in the State by winning both Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula Assembly seats with an unprecedented and whopping majority in the by-elections.

The military operation (May 2nd 2011) which killed Osama bin Laden has raised many questions related to the deeper truths of the phenomenon of Al Qaeda, Terrorism and role of US in the region. What is obvious is that US in a neat military operation violated the air space of Pakistan; with the help of highly trained commandoes killed Osama bin Laden, the most dreaded name in the annals of terrorism, the chief of Al Qaeda. Barrack Husain Obama is in the seventh heaven for achieving a feat which US intelligence claims it was trying from many years and finally has succeeded.

Hyderbad, April 12: It was MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi’s heated argument with Younus bin Omer Yafai and Esa bin Younus Yafai on April 13 over an 18-acre patta land near Gurram Cheruvu on Balapur Road that sowed the seeds of bitter animosity between them which later led to the attack on the MLA.

Hyderabad, May 12: Describing the murderous attack on his younger brother and Chandrayangutta MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi as an act of cowardice, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi says his brother has become more popular now and their party, the Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen, will emerge much stronger. In a chat with this correspondent, the senior Owaisi says he has immense faith in God and is not easily perturbed by such incidents. Here are the excerpts from an interview with him:

Q. How do you view the attack on Akbar?

Hyderabad, May 12: In his message to Muslim community regarding the city court judgment on the ‘halal’ and ‘haraam zabiha’ case, Mr. Zahid Ali Khan editor Siasat said “if preventing Muslims from ‘haraam’ and guiding them towards ‘halal’ is a crime then he is ready to repeat this crime again and again and he would happily accept any sentence which worldly courts pronounce. Mr. Zahid Ali Khan asserted that Siasat has made it a custom to guide Muslims towards truth and has never cared for oppositions.

Ten days after the bid on MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi, police are yet to send ballistic samples to forensic experts to clear the air over who fired at the legislator.

Reason: So far, investigating officers have not received any bullets from the body of the dead assailant, Ibrahim Bin Younus Yafai, or injured persons, including Akbaruddin.

Police have so far arrested nine people in the case.

Manama, May 10: Bahrain’s king has set a fast-track timetable to end his martial law-style rule, in an apparent bid to demonstrate his confidence that the Saudi-backed Bahraini forces have smothered the popular anti-government uprising even as rights groups have denounced such measures.

Lebanese University professor Mohsen Saleh further expounded on the issue in a Press TV interview. A rush transcript follows:

Toronto, May 10: The presence of Muslims in Canada threatens the country’s freedoms and democracy, and only if immigration from Islamic countries is suspended can the cultural deterioration of the country be stopped, controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders told a packed house Monday night in Toronto.

“Our Western culture is far superior to Islamic culture,” Mr. Wilders said. “And only once we are convinced of this will we be able to defend our civilization.”

It has been over a month since the investigation of the 2006 Malegaon serial bomb blasts was handed over to the National investigation Agency (NIA). The government has not notified a court for NIA yet. It has led to delay in hearing the blast cases.

Junagadh (Gujarat), May 09: The analysis of the role of police officials involved in law and order management during 2002 Gujarat riots and afterwards, throws interesting and yet shocking facts to the fore. The cops belonging to dalit and backward communities had joined hands with their political bosses to commit heinous crimes against Muslims. On the contrary the upper caste Hindus, particularly Brahmins, resisted the unconstitutional orders of the contemporary BJP government and went out of their way to help Muslims.

Hyderabad, May 08: Amjed Ullah Khan, the Azampura division corporator is unusually net-savvy, his emails on all things big and small dropping into the inboxes of many denizens, or Hyderabadis who he thinks matter. So the latest email from the corporator shows an immaculately dressed Akbaruddin Owaisi at a wedding function in 2006, sharing the stage with Mohammad Pahelwan, the alleged mastermind behind the attack on Owaisi last week.

The media reports of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) getting worried about Hindutva Terror investigations leading to some of the high-profile names in the RSS like Indresh Kumar and the damage it might cause to its image, is nothing more than a PR exercise. It does not probably realize that the public is too well aware of its ideological moorings, its admiration for Hitler and Mussolini and anti-minority bashing as part of its regular diet.

Manila, May 07: Hundreds of Muslim marched on Friday the US embassy in Manila to protest against the “desecration” of Osama bin Laden’s body, with one of their leaders tagging the United States as “the No. 1 terrorist in the world.”

Members of the group Maradeka and the Bangsamoro Supreme Council of the Ulama held the sympathy march condemning Bin Laden’s burial at sea. They said that while the leader of the terror group al-Qaida had been demonized by the US government, he still had the right to a decent burial as a mujahedeen or warrior of Islam.