A regularly updated column of news briefs from around the region
Cairo worshipers burn Danish flag, criticize Mubarak
CAIRO - Hundreds of angry Egyptians burned Danish flags and criticized President Hosni Mubarak for his silence over caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed after Friday February 10 prayers at Cairo's renowned Al Azhar mosque. About 500 people chanted pro-Islamic slogans, trampled and then burned Danish flags, following a sermon that had sought to calm the fervor. About 1,000 other worshipers looked on. During prayers, the mosque's imam had called for dialogue, saying that the best solution to the crisis was to educate the West about Islam's tolerance.
Catholic priest harassed in Turkey
ANKARA - A Roman Catholic priest in western Turkey said on February 10 that he has been harassed and threatened following the murder of another priest at the weekend that coincided with uproar in Muslim countries over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Martin Kmetec, 50, a Slovenian priest, said that police stepped up security at the Saint Helen Catholic Church in the Aegean city of Izmir after a group of young men harassed him on February 9.
Denmark blames imams
COPENHAGEN - A Danish government official said that he plans to exclude Danish imams from discussions of integrating immigrants into the country, the Times of London reported. "I think we have a clear picture today that it's not the imams we should be placing our trust in if we want integration in Denmark to work," Rikke Hvilshoj, the integration minister, said. Officials point to a trip made by a group of Danish imams in December to show the Mohammed cartoons published in the newspaper Jyllands-Posten to Middle Eastern leaders.
Islamic Jihad warns against 'attacks' on Prophet
GAZA CITY - The radical group Islamic Jihad threatened on February 10 to "burn the ground beneath the feet" of anyone who makes a future "attack" on the Prophet Mohammed, after controversial cartoons were published in European newspapers. "Apologies from European governments will do, but if they persist in their attack on the Prophet we will burn the ground beneath their feet," said Jihad leader Khader Habib during a demonstration attended by thousands after Friday prayers in Gaza City.
300 march in Kabul in cartoon protest
KABUL - About 300 men marched through the Afghan capital after Friday February 10 prayers in a new demonstration against cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed after a week of similar protests left at least 11 people dead. Police disarmed and dispersed them, a witness said.
South Africans arrested with heroin at Afghan airport
KABUL - Police arrested two South African nationals trying to leave Afghanistan's main airport with two kilos (4.4 pounds) of heroin hidden in a photo album, an official said on February 10. The men, carrying doctored South African passports, were trying to fly to China on February 9, airport police chief Aminaullah Khan said.
Egyptian paper publishes Prophet cartoons
COPENHAGEN - Egyptian newspaper Al Fagr published several of the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that have sparked outrage across the Muslim world, Denmark's ambassador in Cairo, Bjarne Soerensen, told Danish news agency Ritzau on February 9.
School torched in Afghanistan
JALALABAD, Afghanistan - Some 20 gunmen burned down a girls' school in eastern Afghanistan, an education official said on February 9, in the latest in a series of such attacks blamed on Taliban militants. More than 12 schools - most of them in southern Afghanistan - have been torched in recent weeks. A top Taliban commander, Mullah Dadullah, said that the movement had burned down some schools but said that the militants only targeted those "where Christianity is being taught".
Danish paper's culture editor on leave
COPENHAGEN - The culture editor of Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten at the origin of a worldwide row over Prophet Mohammed cartoons has been sent on holiday for an indefinite period, his boss was quoted on February 9 as saying.
No change in Sharon condition
JERUSALEM - A CT scan on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in a coma for the past five weeks after suffering a brain hemorrhage, showed on February 9 that there was no change in his condition, a spokesman from Hadassa hospital said. The 77-year-old was hospitalized on January 4 after suffering a massive stroke and has been comatose since then.
Afghans return home from Guantanamo
KABUL - Seven Afghans held at the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for several years on suspicion of links to the Taliban arrived home as free men on February 9, with one alleging mistreatment by his jailors. One, who was detained for more than two years, alleged that he had been tortured including with "tough interrogations" and loud music. "They kept me for three years for nothing," said another.
Bush aide critical of Yemen after Al Qaeda escape
WASHINGTON - US President George W. Bush's top counter-terrorism advisor sharply criticized Yemen on February 9 for the way that it held 23 Al Qaeda suspects who broke out of prison there last week. "We are disappointed that they were all housed together. We are disappointed that their restrictions in prison weren't more stringent," said Frances Townsend, who is Bush's assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism.
Malaysia shuts down paper over cartoons
KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian government shut down on February 9 a local daily newspaper, The Sarawak Tribune, after it published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed on February 4, the official Bernama news agency said.
Turkey denies rebel leader has heart problems
ANKARA - Jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan is in good shape and reports that he has suffered a heart attack in prison are not true, Turkish officials said on February 9. "Ocalan undergoes medical check-ups every day," a senior justice ministry official, Turker Tok, said, adding, "He has neither cardiological problems nor other serious health problems."
German, Turkish papers in plea over cartoons
BERLIN - The biggest-selling newspapers in Germany and Turkey, Bild and Hurriyet, on February 9 published a joint plea for mutual respect and moderation over the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. In an editorial entitled "We are friends!" the editors of the two papers, Kai Diekmann and Ertugrul Ozkok, said: "The Islamic and Christian worlds share values ... For a Muslim and for a Christian, the most important values are charity and mercy."
Militants freed from Jericho prison
JERICHO, West Bank - Forty-six Palestinian militants who were wanted by Israel have been released from a Palestinian prison in Jericho, a Palestinian security source said on February 9. Thirty-nine of them were affiliated with the radical movement Islamic Jihad, and had been sought by Israel for alleged involvement in attacks against the Jewish state. They walked free on Thursday after spending between four months and two years behind bars, the source said.
Escapee leads attack in Afghanistan
PARIS - One of four Arab militants who escaped from a US military prison in Afghanistan has led an attack on Afghan security forces, according to an Internet videotape posted on February 9. "Several apostates were killed while the others were taken captive or ran away," in the attack which took place on January 7, said the tape showing Libyan Mohammed Hassan, who is also known as Sheikh Abu Yahia Al Libi.
Suez traffic freed after stuck ship moved
ISMAILIYA, Egypt - Traffic on the Suez Canal moved freely again on February 9 after a cargo ship blocking the vital waterway was moved, a canal authority official said. Traffic was interrupted in both directions early on January 8 after a Hong Kong-flagged vessel and its 93,000-ton cargo drifted from its path near Ismailiya and ran aground as it headed northward from the Red Sea, the official said.
Snow blankets Jordan, region
AMMAN - Snow blanketed the Jordanian capital on February 9 forcing the closure of schools and trapping residents at home in many high-altitude areas. Meteorologists expected the cold front that hit Jordan and other regional countries to subside by February 10. Snow covered high-lying areas of western Amman, which is built on seven hills with the highest point at 1,100 meters (3,630 feet).
Jailed Kurdish leader 'gravely ill' after heart attack
ROME - Jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan is in serious condition after suffering a heart attack, his lawyers said on February 8. Ocalan is serving life imprisonment for leading a Kurdish rebellion in southeast Turkey from 1984. He had a heart attack on February 7 in his prison island of Imrali.
Yemeni relatives of hostage-takers released
SANAA - Six imprisoned Yemeni tribesmen, whose relatives kidnapped five Italians in January to demand their release in exchange, have been set free, a lawyer said on February 8. The five Italians, including three women, were captured on January 1 in the Marib region 170 kilometers (100 miles) east of the capital, Sanaa. They were freed five days later, and the kidnappers arrested.
Qatar begins restoring citizenship to tribe
DOHA - Qatar has started the process of restoring citizenship to nearly 5,000 people, including members of a tribe near the Saudi border. "Citizenship is being restored to those who sorted out their legal status and broke no laws," Khaled Al Attiyah, head of the National Human Rights Committee, said on February 8. Qatar has in past years stripped many members of the Murra tribe of their nationality because they also held Saudi citizenship.
Parents force son to marry four women
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia - A divorced Saudi couple forced their son to marry four women in six months, the Arab News has reported. First the father insisted that the son marry a woman from his side of the family. His mother then demanded that he marry a woman from her side of the family. The father came back with a second demand - marry a second woman from his side - and mother retaliated with a similar demand. Finally, the son was hospitalized for stress, the newspaper reported.
US hands over Guantanamo prisoners to Morocco
RABAT - The United States on February 8 handed over three Moroccans held at its Guantanamo Bay detention facility to Morocco, Moroccan security officials said. The prisoners were arrested in 2002 during the US campaign to topple the Taliban in Afghanistan. The five men are suspected of membership of a terrorist organization and have been standing trial since December 6, 2004. The trial has been adjourned several times.
Syria ex-VP mends fences with Islamists
BRUSSELS - Syria's dissident former vice-president Abdel Halim Khaddam reached agreement with the banned Muslim Brotherhood on February 8 on working together against the Damascus regime, his son Jihad said. The agreement was reached after two days of reconciliation talks in the Belgian capital with the Brotherhood's supreme leader Ali Asr Eddin Al Bayanuni, who lives in exile in London. "The two men agreed that they share a common vision to rescue Syria from the crisis it's in," Jihad Khaddam said.
Yemen papers suspended over Prophet cartoons
SANAA - Two Yemeni weeklies have been suspended for reprinting controversial cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed and their editors will be investigated, information ministry undersecretary Mohammed Shaher said on February 8. The Yemen Observer had published the cartoons on February 4, while Al Ray Al Aam did so on February 7. The two periodicals are private.
Afghanistan revokes licenses of 1,600 NGOs
KABUL - Afghanistan's government has revoked the licenses of more than half the nongovernmental aid groups in the country after they did not respond to an order to register, a minister said on February 8. The groups included 127 international aid organizations, economy minister Mohammed Amin Farhang said,. "We asked them to come and register their organizations but they did not do so, so we revoked [the licenses of] 1,620 NGOs," he said. There are some 2,350 NGOs in Afghanistan, more than 300 of them international ones.
Jew jailed for gay pride stabbings
JERUSALEM - An ultra-Orthodox Jew who stabbed three people during a gay pride parade in Jerusalem last summer was sentenced on February 8 to 12 years in prison for attempted murder. One man was seriously injured and two women were lightly hurt when Yishai Schlisel began indiscriminately stabbing marchers in the parade. The Jerusalem district court called Schlisel "a fanatic" after he was convicted last week. He was also ordered to pay 150,000 Israeli shekels ($30,000) as compensation to the victims.
Dubai sacks US prof for distributing Mohammed cartoons
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A US professor at Dubai's Zayed University was fired after she distributed cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed out of "respect" for freedom of expression, the local press reported on February 8. Claudi Keepoz had reportedly told her female students on February 4 Saturday that "we should respect this freedom," as she distributed the cartoons, which have caused an uproar among world's Muslims.
Major settlements 'to remain part of Israel'
JERUSALEM - The massive Jewish settlements of Gush Etzion and Ma'aleh Adumim will remain part of the state of Israel regardless of future developments, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on February 7. "Ma'aleh Adumim and Gush Etzion will be an integral part of the state of Israel, whatever the future developments," Olmert said. Ma'aleh Adumim is about 12 kilometers (eight miles) outside East Jerusalem and home to 28,000 residents. The Gush Etzion bloc lies to the south and houses 15,000 settlers.
Health of jailed Iranian dissident 'deteriorating'
TEHRAN - The wife of jailed dissident Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji said on February 7 that her husband's health has worsened after spending more than five months in high-security solitary confinement. Ganji, Iran's most prominent political prisoner, was sent back to jail after agreeing to end a hunger strike that lasted nearly two months. Ganji, 46, was detained in 2000, and sentenced to six years in prison in 2001 after he wrote articles implicating several regime officials in a string of gruesome murders of opposition intellectuals and writers in 1998.
Turkish tourists die in Rome accident
ROME - Prosecutors in Rome said on February 7 that they had opened manslaughter proceedings against the Italian driver and the owner of a tour bus that plunged into a ravine, killing 12 Turkish tourists and injuring 20 others.
Morocco breaks illegal immigration ring
RABAT - An international network helping Indians migrate illegally to Europe has been broken up in Morocco with 70 arrests, police said on February 6. Among those arrested were 19 Moroccans and five Pakistanis and five Indians, suspected of being the organizers of the network, the Moroccan news agency MAP reported. A policeman at Casablanca's Mohammed V airport was also among those arrested.
PA officials flee over missing funds
GAZA - Several Palestinian Authority (PA) officials reportedly have fled to other nations with the discovery of some $750 million having been stolen. "There are 50 cases of financial and administrative corruption," PA attorney general Ahmed Al Moghani told a news conference, according to the Financial Times. He said that 25 officials have been arrested while seeking the extradition of 10 others who have fled.
Weapons seized from house of Muslim cleric
SIDON, Lebanon - Security forces seized weapons from the house of a Sunni extremist cleric in southern Lebanon suspected of involvement in attacks on army troops. A security source said that police broke into the house of Ahmed Ansari in the southern port city of Sidon on February 6 and confiscated explosives, guns, automatic rifles and fliers inciting Islamic extremism.
Iran produces sophisticated rocket
TEHRAN - Iran kicked off on February 6 the mass production of Mithaq-2, a new shoulder-fired surface-to-air rocket successfully tested last year. Iran's defense minister, Mustafa Najjar, was quoted as saying that the new rocket is capable of intercepting and destroying air targets and confronting electronic war.
20 Yemenis killed in rebel, army clashes
SANAA - Fifteen rebels of the Zaidi minority in northern Yemen and five army soldiers were killed in clashes in Saada province on February 6, military and tribal sources said. "Violent clashes raged for several hours between military forces and supporters of [Zaidi preacher Badreddin] Al Huti," a military official at the scene said. Witnesses said that the fighting broke out as soldiers tried to seize control of a rebel stronghold to the north of Saada, in a mountainous region close to the Saudi border.
'Al Qaeda' bomber caught at Afghan governor's office
MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan - Security forces stopped a suspected Al Qaeda suicide bomber from blowing himself up on February 6 at the offices of the governor of northern Afghanistan's Balkh province, the governor said. The attacker, a Mali national, had arrived at the offices in the provincial capital Mazar-I-Sharif with explosives strapped to his body and a bomb in his mobile phone, governor Atta Mohammad told reporters. Guards had been informed that the man was a suspected attacker and had stopped him in the garden. As they went to arrest him, he shouted "Allahu Akbar" [God is Great] and tried to detonate his explosives, Mohammad said.
Three 'thugs' executed in Iran
TEHRAN - Three men described as "thugs" who "disrupted public security" have been executed in the northeastern Iranian city of Sabzevar, the Khorassan newspaper reported on February 6. The paper gave no further details on their identities, the precise convictions or on whether they were put to death in public or in prison. Most death penalties in Iran are by hanging. The executions bring to 15 the number of people executed in Iran this year, according to an AFP tally based on press reports and witnesses. At least 81 people were counted as executed in Iran in 2005.
Israeli police assaulted envoy's wife
JERUSALEM - Israeli immigration police triggered a diplomatic incident by assaulting the wife of the Dominican Republic's ambassador while trying to arrest her housemaid, a report said on February 6. The Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported that police arrived at Leonardo Cohen's residence after tailing the housemaid on February 5. After asking the envoy's wife to present them with the maid's work permit, the police realized that her tourist visa had expired, and asked the maid to accompany them to the police station. Yedioth quoted police sources as saying that the wife then charged at them wielding a knife before being wrestled to the ground. Cohen's wife, however, told the paper that she was holding a garden tool when the officers beat her. She was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment.
Al Qaeda terrorists tunnel to freedom
SANAA - Interpol has issued a worldwide alert following the escape of 13 convicted Al Qaeda terrorists and 10 other inmates from a prison in Yemen. One of the fugitives, Jamal Mohammed Al Badawi, faces a death sentence for organizing the attack on the USS Cole, which killed 17 sailors in 2000. Another, Fawaz Yahya Al Rabeei, was involved in the 2002 attack on a French tanker, the Limburg, CNN reported on February 5. The escape was made through a 150-yard tunnel dug by the prisoners and outside supporters.
Turkish MP wounded in armed attack
ANKARA - A senior member of Turkey's governing party was shot in the leg on February 5 by an elderly man angry about losing money in a bank scandal several years ago, officials said. Faruk Celik, deputy head of the parliamentary group of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), was attacked outside a building in the northwestern city of Bursa where he was due to attend a party meeting. The 67-year-old assailant fired three bullets, one of which pierced Celik's left leg, but the lawmaker was not seriously injured, AKP's provincial chairman in Bursa, Hayrettin Cakmak, told the CNN Turk television channel.
Syrian Islamist killed, two arrested in security force clash
DAMASCUS - The chief of a radical Syrian Islamist group was killed on February 5 and two members were arrested after clashes with security forces near Damascus, the official SANA news agency said. "The clashes with the armed terrorist group took place in the Kafar Batna village [north of Damascus] and lasted more than a half hour," SANA reported. "The leader of the group was killed and two of his companions were arrested during the clashes," SANA wrote, adjusting the toll after having earlier reported that three Islamists had been killed. "The armed group was plotting terrorist attacks in Damascus and surrounding areas," the news agency said.
Fifty Iraqis released by US military
BAGHDAD - The US military said on February 5 that it has released 50 male detainees after a review of their cases by a joint Iraqi-US board. It did not give other details. Last month it released more than 400 detainees from various US- and Iraqi-run prisons, while on February 4 a US spokesman said that a fresh batch of detainees were to be released within a fortnight. "We will be releasing some detainees in the next 10 to 15 days," a US military spokesman for detention facilities in Iraq said, declining to give any numbers.
Egypt refuses entry to fiery British MP Galloway
CAIRO - Immigration officials at Cairo airport have refused entry to British leftist MP George Galloway, who is reportedly persona non grata in Egypt, airport sources said on February 4. The fiery Scottish politician landed in Cairo on February 3 and was due to be one of the main attractions at a mock trial of US President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The event, organized by the Union of Arab Lawyers, started on February 3 and has attracted several other foreign personalities opposed to the US-led invasion of Iraq and Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Jordanian monarch tours storm-ravaged New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana - King Abdullah II of Jordan toured storm-shattered neighborhoods in the New Orleans area on February 3, offering support for the suffering left in Hurricane Katrina's wake. In the garage of a flood-damaged firehouse, the king told Mayor Ray Nagin and an audience of about 100 rescue workers, and local civic and religious leaders, that the world recognized the continued suffering of storm survivors in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast. "You have the sympathies and support of all of us in the international community," the king said.
Israeli army seizes two explosive belts at checkpoint
JERUSALEM - Israeli troops at a checkpoint outside the northern West Bank city of Nablus on February 3 arrested two Palestinians carrying explosive belts, an army spokeswoman said. The two Palestinians were stopped while trying to leave Nablus through the Beit Iba checkpoint northeast of the city. Soldiers examined their bags and found that they contained two seven-kilogram (15-pound) explosive belts and a knife, she said. Elsewhere in the West Bank, troops arrested seven wanted Palestinians, the army said.
Regional Roundups
TOOLBAR
To add a comment,
Please log in:
Don't have an account?
Register now to comment on stories and stay up to date on important events and issues in the Middle East with our newsletter.