Muslim World News

By IANS Dhaka : Bazlur Rahman, former editor of the daily Sangbad and a freedom fighter, has died following a massive heart attack. He was 67. Rahman's wife Matia Chowdhury is a former minister and Awami League presidium member. Rahman started his career as a reporter with the Sangbad in 1961. He also had a brief stint with the daily Ittefaq, The Daily Star newspaper said Wednesday. He was once actively involved in politics as a member of the Communist Party of Bangladesh and of the National Awami Party (Mozaffar).

By Xinhua Jerusalem : Israel Defense Forces (IDF) pulled out the ground troops from the northern Gaza Strip early Monday morning, completing the first stage of the activity dubbed Operation Hot Winter. An IDF spokeswoman told Xinhua that counter-terror operations were expected to continue.

By KUNA Islamabad : More than 20 people were killed and scores wounded in three explosions that rocked an east Pakistani city Tuesday morning, a week after two suicide blasts in the city killed over 11 and wounded dozens others, said police and eyewitnesses. The first explosion took place inside the six-storey Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) building on the busiest Temple Road in Lahore, and the second occurred near a school and Bilawal House of slain Benazir Bhutto in Model Town area, police sources told KUNA.

By Abdul Muin Abdul Majid, Bernama Dakar : Malaysia urged the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to mount a defence against extremism and Islamophobia and strive to grow through self-reliance as it handed over the chairmanship of the grouping to Senegal Thursday after four-and-a-half years at the helm.

By WAM Abu Dhabi : The National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology of the Meteorological Department is strongly advising drivers to be cautious while driving on the highways on Saturday and Sunday. It said visibility will be very poor as a result of bad weather caused by sandstorm, particularly in the western region. The department also advised people who have allergy and asthma to remain indoor during this period.

By IANS London : The United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based flight services company Royal Jet has been named the world's leading private jet charter by the World Travel Awards (WTA), WAM news agency reported Saturday. The award was presented to Royal Jet's President and CEO Shane O'Hare by the WTA's Executive Director Manon Han at a function here.

Dhaka, March 25 (IANS) Bangladesh's army-backed caretaker government wants to initiate talks with political parties to evolve a code of conduct for the elections it has promised for this yearend. But it also wants the politicians' support to sustain political and electoral reforms and the anti-graft drive that politicians say is aimed against them.

By SPA Paris : The French Defense Minister says NATO forces have «overall control» of the military situation in Afghanistan. In an interview with The Associated Press, Herve Morin said France is looking at ways of boosting its troop levels there. But he said no decision has been made, and an announcement won't come until next week's NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania.

By DPA Moscow : Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak is expected strike a deal with Moscow during his visit on nuclear cooperation, the terms of which will depend on Russia's ambition to sell arms to Cairo, Russian newspapers said Tuesday. In opening a two-day visit at the Kremlin, Mubarak expressed hope that "relations which have lasted over 50 years will further develop successfully." The Egyptian leader, who trained as a pilot in the former Soviet Union, remembered: "I have been in this country many times, I know it well."

By IRNA Islamabad : The coalition of PPP-PML-N, ANP and others has agreed to distribute the Ministries in an equitable way and decided to appoint five Federal Minister in the first phase to resolve the matter within a week. Reliable sources said Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi of PPP will hold the office of Foreign Ministry and PML-N leader Ishaq Dar will be appointed as Finance Minister, Sherry Rehman as Information Minister and Syed Khurshid Shah as Minister for Parliamentary Affairs. Former head of FIA Rehman Malik will be inducted as Advisor to Interior Ministry.

By SPA United Nations : United Nations (U.N.) Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Tuesday said the “ambitious goal” of an independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel by the end of 2008 is achievable.

By Xinhua Baghdad : Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoudal-Mashhadani on Friday called for an extraordinary session to discuss the ongoing clashes between the government troops and Shiite militiamen.

By IRNA Tehran : Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini on Friday dismissed the US President George W. Bush's "unjustified" anti-Iran claims. "Such claims represent baseless, repeated and boring stances and are an effort to offlay responsibilities of an occupying state," Hosseini said on Friday. He said the US President's claims should be interpreted as evasion of ongoing Iraq realities as the US statesmen have never been ready to accept them and have been willing to cause more insecurity and instability and add up to pains and sufferings of the Iraqi people.

By APP United Nations : UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Friday strongly condemned the Internet broadcast of a video made by the Dutch politician Geert Wilders, describing it as “offensively anti-Islamic,” while calling on those upset by the film to remain calm. In a statement issued by his spokesperson after Thursday night’s airing of the film, Ban said “there is no justification for hate speech or incitement to violence. The right of free expression is not at stake here”.

By SPA Singapore : Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura "MUIS" (The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore), has condemned the production and release of the video called "Fitna". The 15-minute video was produced by Geert Wilders, a Dutch right-wing Member of Parliament. In a statement, 'MUIS' said "the film distorts verses of the Holy Quran. It also incites hatred of Muslim immigrants among Europeans, by including acts of violence that were committed by radicals."

By KUNA New Delhi : In a major anti-graft move, Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has formally leveled charges against Tareque Rahman, detained son of former PM Khaleda Zia, for amassing illegal wealth and concealing information. ACC submitted the charge sheet to the Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Dhaka last night, Bangladesh's leading English daily 'The Daily Star' reported Tuesday.

By IRNA Islamabad : Pakistan's Foreign Minister hinted on Monday to lift restrictions on the country's nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, who has been under detention since January 2004. Khan was put under house arrest after he was produced on the state-run television to say that he exported nuclear technology outside Pakistan. But Khan said in recent interviews that he had taken responsibility of nuclear transfer only to save the country.

By KUNA Washington : The US Department of Defense (Pentagon) declared on Monday charges against a Guantanamo detainee from Afghanistan. "Mohammed Kamin provided material support to terrorism by joining the terrorist organization al Qaeda and receiving training at al Qaeda training camps on making remote detonators for improvised explosive devices (IEDs)", said the Pentagon in a statement.

By KUNA Gaza : A senior Palestinian official said on Wednesday that talks that were held between the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams on Tuesday addressed a host of issues namely those related to the final status. Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, told Voice of Palestine Radio that the discussions that involved him, along with the head of the Palestinian team, Ahmad Qurei, and the Israeli team, led by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, centered on final-status issues. The three-hour meeting, held in Jerusalem, was attended by experts from the two sides, he added.

By SPA Dhaka, Bangladesh : An official says about 10,000 textile workers have clashed with police near Bangladesh's Capital during protests demanding better wages to meet higher food prices, the Associated Press reported. Dozens of people including at least 20 police officials have been injured in violence Saturday, police station Official Angur Akhter said by telephone. The protesters are demanding better wages so that they can face higher food prices, she said.

By KUNA Gaza : A Palestinian was injured early on Sunday after a missile fired by Israeli ground forces targeted Shejaeya district in eastern Gaza. Palestinian security sources said the Israeli forces stationed at Nahal Azor, eastern Gaza, launched a missile towards a number of Palestinian citizens on Al-Mantar Street in Shejaeya, where one of them was injured. The sources added that ambulances rushed to the site and medics transferred the injured Palestinian to the Al-Shefa Hospital in Gaza to receive treatment.

KABUL, Afghanistan, February 08, SPA -- Bitter cold, nowstorms and avalanches have killed at least 654 people in Afghanistan this winter, a government official said. Weather-related incidents have also left 84 people injured and killed at least 100,000 cattle, said Abdul Matin Edrak, head of the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Commission. Afghanistan is one of the world's poorest countries and is largely mountainous, with winter temperatures often plunging well below freezing, the Associated Press reported.

By IANS, Peshawar : Eight security personnel were killed when an abandoned car they sought to check exploded on the outskirts of Pakistan's Peshawar city Saturday. Residents of Badahber village had alerted the police to the car parked on a roadside with a man's body inside. As the police team approached it, the vehicle blew up, the authorities said. A media report identified the dead as five policemen and three Frontier Constabulary soldiers. At least six people were injured. Dawn News quoted a police official as saying that a remote-controlled bomb was planted in the car.

By IINA, Jeddah : Malaysia tops the world’s favorite destinations for Muslim travelers, according to a survey released on Tuesday. The United Arab Emirates and Turkey...