Headlines 01/08/2015

 Headlines

• UK Muslims Alienated & Demonized by Bank’s Secret Terror Blacklist

• Egypt and Saudi Arabia Sign Pact in Cairo Aimed at Boosting Military and Economic Ties

• Taliban Leadership Transition Sows Discord

• Sartaj says Government Considering to Raise RAW Involvement in Pakistan with UN

Details

UK Muslims Alienated & Demonized By Bank’s Secret Terror Blacklist

The chairman of a North London mosque has demanded the organization be removed from a secret terror blacklist used by UK banks, claiming it “alienated” members of the community. Mohammed Kozbar, who chairs Finsbury Park Mosque, said he was “shocked and astonished” to see the name of his mosque on the terrorism database which is used by all but one of the world’s 50 major banks. He made the discovery after a BBC Radio 4 documentary, which revealed the names of organizations whose bank accounts had been suspended by HSBC, including the Finsbury Park Mosque and the Cordoba Foundation think tank. The organizations appear on the confidential list owned by Thompson Reuters, which curates volumes of financial information. Kozbar said the classification was a betrayal of Prime Minister David Cameron’s pledge to better integrate the Muslim communities in Britain. “The prime minister is talking about integration and Muslims engaging more in wider society – this is exactly what we are trying to do, and look what’s happened. We’ve found that we’ve been forced to deal with the Islamic bank only,” he said. The mosque chief is also vice-president of the Muslim Association of Britain, and said he would be writing to Thomson Reuters to address the issue and demand to be removed from the list. An HSBC spokesman said the bank examined numerous factors when examining clients’ accounts. “For a business customer these factors may include the type of activities the business is involved in, the jurisdictions in which it operates and the banking products and services it uses. Although we can’t always provide customers with specific reasons for closing an account, any such decisions are not taken lightly and are not based on a customer’s race or religion,” he said. “We are committed to working with the UK government and industry bodies to support the not-for-profit sector and to help charity customers manage risk in their operations,” he added. Labour leadership candidate and Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn said the mosque was a “wonderful community asset” when the center was notified its HSBC account was being closed last year. [Source: Russia Today]

UK is spearheading Europe’s war against Islam and is leaving no aspect of life safe from the prying eyes of the state. Yesterday, hijab was banned in several European countries, and today financial transactions undertaken by Muslim institutions face a similar fate.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia Sign Pact in Cairo Aimed at Boosting Military and Economic Ties

In a statement released after a meeting between President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Saudi Defence Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday, Sisi's office said the two leaders also will work to create a joint Arab military force. Arab defence and foreign ministers are to gather in Cairo to discuss the modalities of the force on August 27. The two sides stressed the need to exert all efforts to boost security and stability in the region, and to work together to protect Arab national security," Egypt's presidential office said. In what they called a "Cairo Declaration," they pledged to enhance cooperation and investments in the energy and transport sectors. Relations between the two countries have warmed since the 2013 ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, with Saudi Arabia offering billions in aid to Egypt. In return, Cairo has participated in a Saudi-led bombing campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Cairo had previously said it would also be prepared to commit ground troops if required. [Source: Al Jazeera]

It appears that Saudi Arabia and Egypt have unified on a single agenda and that is to fight political Islam both at home and abroad. Both countries are prepared to overlook the policies and actions of Western powers that have for decades exploited the Middle East to serve their interests and promote Western way of life throughout the Muslim world.

Taliban Leadership Transition Sows Discord

The son of the Taliban’s supreme leader recently gathered a small group of commanders in a madrassa outside Quetta, Pakistan, and made an astonishing revelation: His father Mullah Mohammad Omar was dead, three people familiar with the episode said. Until that day in late July, only a handful of top Taliban leaders and family members knew of his death, which the Afghan government said occurred in April 2013. But the son, Mohammad Yacoub, and others had maintained the secret to keep alive the legend of the one-eyed commander. Mullah Omar had waged jihad with al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and fought the world’s lone superpower, the US, in a war that drove the Taliban from power and left Afghanistan devastated. But his missives, as recently as mid-July, had guided the Taliban’s decisions on who to fight and whether to pursue peace. Now they were facing the crucial decision on whether to press ahead with peace talks—or more war—with Afghanistan’s new government. But instead of rallying the group around a new leader, the disclosure appears to have widened rifts that threaten to fragment Afghanistan’s most formidable fighting force. At the meeting, splits immediately surfaced between Mullah Omar’s apparent successor, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, and those who challenged his appointment, including the late leader’s son Yacoub, his brother, Mullah Abdul Manan, and his longtime rival, Mullah Abdul Qayum Zakir, the powerful former head of the Taliban’s military commission. The discord represents a setback to the Taliban leadership transition. The decision to reveal Mullah Omar’s death was originally intended to help bridge deepening divisions within the movement, people with knowledge of the Taliban’s inner workings said. [Source: Wall Street Journal]

Reports of Taliban splintering into several factions in not new nor is it unexpected. Taliban is not an ideological movement, and its followers easily coalesce around personalities. The West is aware of this, and has used this weakness to create a moderate faction of the Taliban that can seal a peace deal with Ghani’s government and take the ferocity out of the Pashtun resistance. Time will tell whether Mullah Akhtar Mansour will betray the ideals of the Taliban and acquiesce to American demand.

Sartaj says Government Considering to Raise RAW Involvement in Pakistan with UN

Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister told the House during question hour that Pakistan has taken up the issue of RAW’s activities in Pakistan with various foreign leaders. He said during the foreign secretary level talks held in March this year, the foreign secretary had raised the issue with the Indian counterpart. He said the Prime Minister will also raise this issue at the General Assembly. Replying to a supplementary question, he said the government has already condemned the recent terrorism incident took place in Gurdaspure, India and rejected the Indian allegations of Pakistan’s involvement in it. He said it has also been made clear that Pakistan has the capability to give befitting reply in case of any threat from Indian side. [Source: ARY News]

The Pakistani leadership follows a contradictory policy towards India. On the one hand, Pakistan regards India as a foe and wants to expose India’s involvement in Pakistani affairs. On the other hand, Pakistan would like to treat India as a friend and normalize relations. The truth of the matter is that India is Pakistan’s arch enemy and New Delhi will not rest until Pakistan becomes one of India’s provinces. However, Pakistan’s leadership is not only unwilling to comprehend this fact, but is complicit in bolstering India’s status in the region.