Headlines:

• Mosques Declared Terrorism Organisations by NYPD: Report
• Britain Suspends 49 Export Licences to Egypt
• Iranian Officials: Israel will be First Victim of a Syria Attack
• Pakistani Public Opinion on the US Hits Low Point

Details:

Mosques Declared Terrorism Organisations by NYPD: Report

The New York Police Department (NYPD) has secretly labelled entire mosques as terrorism organisations, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday. The label has allowed the department to spy on imams and record sermons without having specific evidence of criminal activities. This means that anyone attending the prayer service is part of organisation and can potentially be investigated and go under surveillance. As per confidential police documents and interviews, NYPD has initiated more than a dozen "terrorism enterprise investigations" into mosques following the terror attacks on World Trade Centers (WTC) in New York. Although mosques have never been charged for a criminal activity in New York, many TEIs have expanded to continue the on-going surveillance. The TEI, as it is known, is a police tool intended to help investigate terrorist cells and the like. The confidential document also reveals that NYPD investigated numerous innocent Muslims and kept their information in secret files. According to interviews with federal law enforcement officials, as NYPD conducts at least a dozen enterprise investigations, FBI never did one. Following the strategy, NYPD has also sent numerous undercover officers into mosques in order to plant informants in the Islamic institutions. The documents were disclosed in a lawsuit against NYPD accusing the department over racial profiling while combating crime. Earlier this month, a judge ruled that the department's use of the stop-and-frisk tactic was unconstitutional. [Source: The Express Tribune]

 

Britain Suspends 49 Export Licences to Egypt

Britain suspended 49 export licences to Egypt on Wednesday, saying it wanted to prevent British goods being used in unrest that has led to civilian deaths in the Arab country. London has already taken action to restrict exports to Egypt, last month withdrawing five licences for goods such as components for armoured fighting infantry vehicles, communication equipment for tanks and machine gun parts. Wednesday's suspension, which applies to licences for the Egyptian army, air force and internal security forces, covers a range of equipment, including spares for helicopters and aircraft, specialist software and communications equipment. "As a result of the developing situation in Egypt, we have agreed with EU partners in this instance to go further and suspend all export licences for goods which might be used for internal repression," Business Secretary Vince Cable said in a statement. "By acting together, we want to send a clear signal that we condemn all violence in Egypt." More than 1,000 people, including about 100 police and soldiers, have been killed since the army deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on July 3 in the worst internal violence in the Egyptian republic's history. Most died when the security forces dispersed two pro-Mursi protest camps on August 14. The suspension will be kept under review until "conditions in Egypt indicate that it is appropriate to lift these restrictions," Cable's statement added. Last week, the European Union stopped short of agreeing immediate cuts in financial or military assistance to Cairo when the bloc's foreign ministers held emergency talks to find ways to help bring an end to violence in Egypt.[Source: Reuters]

 

Iranian Officials: Israel Will Be First Victim of a Syria Attack

Iranian officials have issued warnings that if a U.S.-led coalition attacks Syria Israel could find itself in the line of fire. "If such an incident takes place, which is impossible, the Zionist regime will be the first victim of a military attack on Syria," Iran's Fars new agency quoted senior parliamentary official Hossein Sheikholeslam as saying on Monday. Iranian officials often refer to Israel as the "Zionist regime" or "Zionist entity".) Sheikholeslam's warning follows a similar one from a senior Syrian official on Monday: Khalaf Muftah, a former assistant information minister in Syria, claimed that Damscus would hold Israel as being "behind the (Western) aggression and (it) will therefore come under fire," reports the Times of Israel. On Tuesday another Iranian parliamentarian, Mansur Haqiqatpur, also emphasized the threat of retaliation against Israel in the event of a military strike on Syria. If it were to occur, "the flames of outrage of the region's revolutionaries will point toward the Zionist regime," said Haqiqatpur. The series of threats come in the wake of increased momentum towards military intervention in Syria from Western governments. The Obama administration, as well as Britain and France, says that there is "undeniable" evidence that President Bashar Assad's regime used chemical weapons on civilians last week, leaving hundreds dead. As the U.K. works on a draft resolution it will put to the UN Security Council on Wednesday "authorizing necessary measures to protect civilians" in Syria, UN weapons inspectors have resumed their investigation into the alleged chemical weapons attack last week. Meanwhile, reports have emerged over the weekend that Israelis are ramping up gas mask distribution. The Israel Postal Company has seen a fourfold rise in gas masks requests across the country since news broke of the suspected use of nerve agents by Assad.[Source: Time World]

 

Pakistani Public Opinion on the US Hits Low Point

Pakistanis' perception of the United States has fallen to a new low, placing Pakistan at the top of the list of countries with unfavourable views of the United States, a survey released by the Pew Research Center indicates. The United States was viewed positively by only 11 percent of 1,201 adults interviewed in Pakistan. The latest findings, released last month, mark a decline in the U.S. image in Pakistan. Last year, 12 percent of respondents had a favourable opinion of the United States, while in 2000, 23 percent of Pakistanis surveyed had a positive perception, the Washington research organization said. Michael Kugelman, South Asia associate at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington, said an anti-American narrative among Pakistani opinion leaders portrayed the United States as a meddling superpower. "What makes things worse is that this narrative -- and the conspiracy theories that fuel it -- has been proven true in certain cases," Kugelman told UPI Next in an email interview. "For example, take the contention that the CIA wreaks havoc throughout Pakistan. Several years back, a CIA contractor shot and killed two Pakistani civilians in broad daylight," he said, referring to CIA contractor Raymond Davis' killing of two men in Pakistan's second-largest city, Lahore, in January 2011. Experts also cited U.S. drone strikes on suspected militant hideouts in tribal areas along the Afghan border as one of the major reasons for a decline in public perception of the United States. "Pakistani leadership, politicians of all political parties have roundly condemned the use of drones, citing violation of sovereignty and collateral damage of innocent lives," Ispahani said. "The Pakistani media, mostly urban, has been vehemently anti-drone and therefore anti-U.S. in their reports, articles and talk shows."  Between 2004 and 2013, the United States mounted 371 drone strikes killing more than 3,000 people, including 195 children, statistics from the United Kingdom's Bureau of Investigative Journalism show. The drone strikes are controversial among Pakistanis who say it is a violation of the country's sovereignty. However, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, during his visit to Pakistan this month, told Pakistan state television that terrorists such as al-Qaida members violate Pakistan's sovereignty.[Source: UPI.COM]

 

Abu Hashim