Monday, October 22, 2018

Saudi Salafi Shiekh Ibn Baz Fatwa of Apostasy against Saddam Hussein


2003: When will the Americans start begging the world to let them off the hook in Iraq? It seems that the Americans are not going to start begging any time soon. What seems imminent is massive casualties in Baghdad as the Americans try to quicken its fall. We want our army generals to win all kinds of wars for us. In normal times, however, we rail against them for killing democracy in Pakistan instead of killing our enemies. We complain about the growing burden of the defence budget and beef about too many army officers holding civilian posts. But when there is war, we pluck the generals out of their obscurity and want them to give us solace. They do an honest job, giving us hope that we will not lose the war, but they do it at the cost of reality. They also do it at the cost of professionalism and all the lessons they were made to imbibe as officers. Ex-army chief General Aslam beg said in “Nawa-e-Waqt” (3 April 2003) that an invading army normally should have five-to-one superiority but the Americans didn’t have it in Iraq. But if the Americans wanted to yield some corpses they would attack Baghdad. Such an act would be disastrous for the Americans and would bog them down. After that, they would beg the world to extricate them from the quagmire but no one would be able to help them. Aslam Beg has always been strong on predictions which usually don’t come to pass. He predicted an American defeat at the hands of Saddam Hussein in 1991 and was proved wrong. Since he was then chief of the army in Pakistan his “defiance”, while much admired by the Urdu press, destabilised Pakistan’s political system. He believed that Americans would not fight on land after the defeat in Vietnam, but now the Americans seem willing to fight on land and even take body bags. The progress of war in Iraq is quite rapid despite some miscalculations by Rumsfeld and his cohorts in Washington. When is an army bogged down? One month? Two months? Two years? When will the Americans start begging the world to let them off the hook in Iraq? It seems that the Americans are not going to start begging any time soon. In fact Baghdad has fallen more quickly than most had anticipated. Talking to “Khabrain” (3 April 2003), General (Retd) Zahid Ali Akbar said that if America bombed Pakistan then Pakistan should threaten the United States with a nuclear strike on their naval fleet nearest to Pakistan. He said if too many body bags reached America the public there would reject Bush and elect a Democrat president who may firmly take the US back to the United Nations. He said if he was in Saddam’s shoes he would have made chemical weapons. He said if he was General Musharraf he would prepare a missile with a 2000-mile range so as to reach Israel. Zahid Ali Akbar got out of hand as happens usually with generals when they face the public and try to hand them a virtual victory through the use of loose language. A Pakistani threat of a nuclear strike against America is highly unrealistic. America is thousands of miles away and we don’t have an ICBM. Targeting an American fleet passing near Pakistan is comic because that would be a moving target and could simply float out of range upon being threatened. The same would apply to the base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean if we have a missile that can go that far. The target would be too small. As for our missiles, Zahid Ali Akbar should know that they are not as “smart” yet as we would like them to be. The good thing about the Indian cities is that if you miss by a few miles you still hit human targets, but in the sea even the best missiles may miss. It is shocking that Zahid Ali Akbar wants to hit Israel without looking into the consequences of such an aggression on an empty stomach. In talking loose he may have pleased the public but he has put paid to the India-specific national nuclear strategy frequently announced by Islamabad. Famous war expert Captain (Retd) Saeed Tiwana wrote in daily “Pakistan” (3 April 2003) that American troops in Iraq desert would get roasted in the heat of the coming summer. He said the American war-planners were at each other’s throat and that President Bush was taking strong pain-killers like his father, Saddam’s earlier victim. He said America would get “phainti” (great beating) in Iraq and President Bush would stand trial for war crimes. Tiwana is unleashed every time there is war. He is a poor man’s Ollie North. It is good to hear that son Bush is taking pain-killers like father Bush, but Tiwana should tell us what pill we should take to dispel the disrepute into which he brings the Pakistan army every time he opens his mouth. We are all with Tiwana but he should know that we can produce better fantasy on the Iraq war than he can.


Late. Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd Allah ibn Baaz [Saudi Grand Mufti who issued Fatwa against Saddam and then against Osama Bin Ladin] Let me be blunt and allow me to say that since the first day of arrival of First Oil Rich Pedophile/Pederast Arab Rascal Sheikh in Pakistan our Rulers from General Ayub to Zardari [Bhutto is included] played the Role of Pimps and Paddlers for them e.g. Wild Hunting Parties [with every kind of vice] in the most poor areas of Pakistan i.e. South Punjab – The Seraiki Belt – or you may say the HQ of Punjabi Taliban. They way these Rascals Treat Working Class [Educated Middle Class] from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh could only be called worst kind of slavery and cruelty because from Airport to Work Place these Arabs [from Executive to Citizen] insult them and violate every Law given in the book particularly the Labour Laws. And these very Arabs are Financing the Khawarijs in Pakistan, let me show all of you their real face:
King Fahd presented Kalashnikov to another pervert Saddam Hussein [Fahd ordered Mutawwas to Issue Fatwa against the Same Saddam when Saddam fingered Wahabi Kuwait [Kuwait is even worst than Saudi Arabia] Enjoy the picture and after the pictutre read about the Debauch, Womanizer, Gambler Khadimul Haramian Sharifain.

Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd: [The Mutawwa in Chief due to his fingering Streets of Pakistan are burning] Real Face: His visits with his retinue of 3,000 had earned the local tradesmen riches indeed. It is estimated that an extra €30,000 (£21,000) a day was spent just in Puerto Banus. As heir apparent, Fahd first visited Marbella in 1974 and stayed at the Incosol hotel and spa. He booked 100 rooms but some of the princesses didn’t like the decor so he ordered the dark carpets to be changed to white. As a reward, Fahd left the hotel a tip of $300,000 — enough for the entire staff to receive, in effect, an extra year’s salary. He told one Spanish journalist that he liked Marbella because “it was a land blessed by Allah”, referring to the Arab occupation of most of Spain from the 8th to the 13th century. In the early 1980s he started the construction of his Mar Mar Palace, a replica of the White House. Because of increasing ill health (he suffered a stroke 10 years ago), he last visited in August 2002, just after a £134m refurbishment of the palace











Saudi Arabian Hypocrisy, Pakistani Mullahs & SUPERPOWERS.

RIYADH, April 11: A Saudi court sentenced a cleric who fiercely supports the segregation of the sexes to five years in prison on Wednesday for ‘incitement’ against rulers, media reported. Yussef al-Ahmad was also sentenced to a five-year travel ban and fined 100,000 Saudi riyals, said aleqt.com, the website of Al-Eqtesadiya daily. The cleric, who was arrested in July, had been charged with “disobedience to the rulers and incitement against them”, the website said. He called for destroying the Grand Mosque, home to the Holy Kaaba, and rebuilding it in a way that would make it impossible for men and women to mix during pilgrimages. Mr Ahmad was arrested after he posted a YouTube video in which he blamed King Abdullah and other officials for the lengthy periods that people in Saudi Arabia could be detained without trial

Saad al-Faqih was a professor of surgery at King Saud University until March 1994. He was jailed for his heavy involvement in the country's reform movement. On his release from prison, he became director of the London office of the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights (CDLR), then the leading Saudi opposition group. He left CDLR to form the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA) in 1996. MIRA is centered in London and is widely recognized as the only serious opposition to the House of Saud. Aside from his role as head of MIRA, Saad al-Faqih is widely recognized as a leading expert on al-Qaeda and Salafi-jihadism.




Osama Bin Laden, the world's most wanted man, has connections to a leading Saudi dissident based in London, BBC Radio's Five Live Report has revealed. The programme provides evidence that Saad Al-Fagih, a key figure in the London-based campaign opposed to the Saudi regime, bought a satellite phone that was later used by Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation. On 30 July 1998 one of the suicide bombers who blew up the US embassy in Nairobi telephoned the satellite phone number: 00 873 682 505 331. Eight days later the suicide bombers struck in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam killing 247 people. The satellite phone was the very same one that had been bought by Saad Al-Fagih in November 1996. Al-Fagih was also involved in a campaign to stop the deportation of another Saudi dissident, Mohammed Al-Masari, from Britain. The campaign to stop Al-Masari's removal by then Conservative Home Secretary Michael Howard finally succeeded in early 1996. 'Same Cause' Al-Masari admits he has talked with and helped Osama Bin Laden in the past and would do so again, telling Five Live Report: "Yes, why not?" The programme asked Al-Masari why he had helped Osama Bin Laden in the past, he said: 'It's the same cause." When asked if he would still help him he replied: "Yeah, if we can help anything, why not?" Labour MP George Galloway was also part of the campaign to keep Al-Masari from being deported to the Caribbean island of Dominica in 1995. The MP - who had a blazing row at Westminster this week after he was called an apologist for Saddam Hussein by a government minister - told the programme: "I have never seen any evidence that either Al-Masari or Al-Fagih were in any way connected to violence and if you have uncovered any I will listen to your programme with interest.' "To attempt a smear by association with that widely supported campaign is disreputable," Mr Galloway said. There is no suggestion that the MP knew about the purchase of the satellite phone. Evidence that Saad Al-Fagih bought the satellite phone later rung by one of the men who blew up the US embassy in Nairobi emerged during a New York trial in 2000, when four al-Qaeda suspects were found guilty of the African embassy bombings. United States attorney Kenneth Karas told a grand jury what was in Exhibit 1623: an order form for an Exact-M 22 Satellite Telephone, dated 1 November 1996: "and for the record, payment portion, Saad Al-Fagih." The order was signed 'S. R. H. Al Fagih.' When asked about the purchase of the satellite phone, Al-Fagih said: "Go and ask anybody else. I do not confirm anything here. "I do not even confirm there have been any details about purchase or not purchase.....I have no comment on this." He told the programme: "Everybody knows that I am totally committed to peaceful agenda." In 1997 the Select Committee on Standards and Privileges investigated a complaint that George Galloway had not declared an interest when speaking on Saudi Arabia the year before. MPs threw out the complaint but looked more closely into the question of Galloway acting as a financial intermediary. Mr Galloway was paid £5,000 in cash by Al-Fagih in late 1995 to early 1996 to repay costs incurred on behalf of others during the campaign to prevent Al-Masari's deportation. He was also given £1800 in cash by Al-Fagih to pass on to academics to help with the same campaign. Mr Galloway has never identified the academics. Full record In the parliamentary committee's concluding report they found that: 'It is unacceptable for any member to be involved in recycling cash between third parties. "It is also highly undesirable for any member to act on behalf of any organisation where no full record is kept of all financial transactions with which the member is associated. "It is bound to be susceptible to misinterpretation and risks bringing the house into disrepute. We are particularly concerned that Mr Galloway's actions were on behalf of an overseas interest


Sunday, October 21, 2018

Haqqani Network, Proxy War & US History of Proxy War.


Headlines like “Jap City No More” soon brought the news to a joyous nation. Crowds gathered in Times Square to celebrate; there was less of the enemy left. Rarely are victors encumbered by remorse. President Harry Truman declared: “When you have to deal with a beast you have to treat him as a beast. It is most regrettable but nevertheless true.” Not surprisingly, six decades later, even American liberals remain ambivalent about the morality of nuking the two Japanese cities. The late Hans Bethe, Nobel Prize winner in physics of Manhattan Project fame and a leading exponent of arms control, declared that “the atom bomb was the greatest gift 

we could have given to the Japanese”. 











WASHINGTON: Days before he retires as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen has said that Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency has been supporting ‘proxies’ as a strategy. Addressing the audience at the think-tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Mullen adopted a critical tone and focused on the Inter-Services Intelligence agency’s (ISI) links with proxies in the regions, which he said was part of their strategy. “The ISI has to make this decision to strategically disengage. They have been supporting proxies for an extended period of time,” he said. “The Haqqani piece of this has got to be reversed.” He said that he had met General Kayani for four hours in Seville, Spain, on September 16 on the sidelines of the Nato conference, where they discussed the Haqqani network. When asked if General Kayani had given him a commitment on action against the Haqqani network, Mullen evaded a reply by saying that he had managed to protect his relationship with Kayani by not talking in detail about what was discussed in their meetings. “We have a very close relationship … the strength of the connection is what is important so that we can get through hard times.” In response to a question about US assistance with helicopters for Pakistan, Mullen said that while the US had provided a large amount of military equipment to Pakistan and had focused on helicopters, he did not believe there was a direct link between improving Pakistan’s helicopter fleet and an operation in North Waziristan.

We don't know where the body is,' says Saudi FM on Jamal Khashoggi

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. —File photo
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. —File photo
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Sunday the kingdom did not know where the body of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi was, despite admitting to the killing and calling it a “tremendous mistake.”
Speaking in an interview on Fox News, Jubeir said the Saudi leadership initially believed Khashoggi had left its consulate in Istanbul, where he was last seen on October 2.
But following “reports we were getting from Turkey,” Saudi authorities began an investigation, which discovered he was killed in the diplomatic mission.
“We don't know, in terms of details, how. We don't know where the body is,” Jubeir said, adding that the Saudi public prosecutor had put out orders to detain 18 individuals, “the first step in a long journey.”
He termed the killing a “tremendous mistake” but one which the US-Saudi relationship would eventually overcome.
“The individuals who did this did this outside the scope of their authority. There obviously was a tremendous mistake made, and what compounded the mistake was the attempt to try to cover up,” Jubeir told Fox News.
“That is unacceptable in any government. These things unfortunately happen. We want to make sure that those who are responsible are punished and we want to make sure we have procedures in place to prevent it from happening again

15 انٹرنیشنل کرکٹ میچز میں درجنوں فکسنگ کا انکشاف



قطری نشریاتی ادارے الجزیرہ کی رپورٹ نے انٹرنیشنل کرکٹ میں اعلیٰ درجے کی کرپشن کے شواہد پیش کردیے۔
رپورٹ کے مطابق 15 انٹرنیشنل میچز میں 2 درجن سے زائد فکسنگ کے واقعات پیش ہوئے تھے۔
2011 اور 2012 کے شواہد سے انگلینڈ کے چند کھلاڑیوں پر الزام عائد کیا گیا جنہوں نے 7 میچز میں مبینہ اسپاٹ فکسنگ کی
اس ہی عرصے میں آسٹریلوی کھلاڑیوں نے 5، پاکستانی کھلاڑیوں نے 3 جبکہ دیگر ٹیموں کے کھلاڑیوں نے ایک میچ میں اسپاٹ فکسنگ کی جس میں دونوں ٹیم کی جانب سے فکسنگ کی گئی تھی۔
رپورٹ میں بتایا گیا کہ ان اسپاٹ فکسنگ کے واقعات سے کھیل کا چند حصہ متاثر ہوا تھا اور اس سے نتائج نہیں جانے جاسکتے تھے۔ الجزیرہ کو میچ فکسر کی بھارتی بکیز کو کی گئی کالز کی ریکارڈنگ موصول ہوئی۔



فوٹو: الجزیرہ
جن میچز میں فکسنگ کی گئی تھی ان میں لارڈز کرکٹ گراؤنڈ میں کھیلا گیا بھارت بمقابلہ انگلیڈ، کیپ ٹاؤن میں کھیلا گیا جنوبی افریقہ بمقابلہ آسٹریلیا اور متحدہ عرب امارات (یو اے ای) میں انگلینڈ کی پاکستان کے ساتھ کھیلے گئے میچز کی سیریز شامل ہے۔
تحقیقاتی رپورٹ کے مطابق فکسنگ کو بلے بازوں کی جانب سے کیا گیا جنہوں نے اپنی پرفارمنس نہ دکھانے پر رضامندی کا اظہار کیا تھا۔ ان فکسنگ کے واقعات میں چند عالمی معروف کھلاڑیوں کو بلے بازی کرتے دیکھا گیا۔
رپورٹ میں الجزیرہ کی جانب سے ممبئی کے رہائشی مبینہ میچ فکسر انیل منور کے حوالے سے انکشافات کیے گئے جو الجزیرہ کے مطابق 2010 سے بین الاقوامی کرکٹ میں کرپشن میں ملوث ہیں
تحقیقات کے دوران یہ اہم بات سامنے آئی کہ انیل منوقر کو انٹرنیشنل کرکٹ کونسل کی گورننگ باڈی 8 سالوں سے جانتی ہے تاہم الجزیرہ کی جانب رابطہ کیے جانے پر انہوں نے منور کی تلاش کی اپیل کردی۔
الجزیرہ کی رپورٹ کے مطابق انیل منور کی 26 میں سے 25 پیش گوئی درست ثابت ہوئیں۔
انیل منور کو کھلاڑیوں میں معروف بھارتی کھلاڑی ویرات کوہلی کے قریب دیکھا گیا جس کی تصویر بھی الجزیرہ نے اپنی رپورٹ میں پیش کی تھی۔
دیگر کھلاڑیوں میں پاکستان کے عمر اکمل، آسٹریلوی ٹیم کے کوچ اینڈی بچل، سینیئر بھارتی کھلاڑی سریش رائنا، روہت شرما اور لکشمی پتھی بالاجی شامل ہیں۔
واضح رہے کہ اس سے قبل الجزیرہ ہی کو پاکستان کے سابق کرکٹر دنیش کنریا نے انٹرویو دیتے ہوئے اسپاٹ فکسنگ میں ملوث ہونے کا اعتراف کیا تھا۔
دنیش کنیریا نے اپنے سابقہ ساتھی کرکٹرز سے ندامت کا اظہار کرتے ہوئے معافی مانگی اور کرکٹ حکام سے اپنے اوپر لگائی گئی تاحیات پابندی ختم کرنے کی درخواست بھی کی تھی۔

Pakistan is not Fit for Kaafir (Hindus/Christians)


Members of the Hindu minority in Pakistan fear persistent harassment at the hands of religious extremists and complain that there is little official protection accorded to them. Hindu activists argue that ‘secret files are kept on them and their integrity is always in question. They are not allowed into the armed forces, the judiciary or responsible positions in the civil service'. These allegations are substantiated by the facts, which reflect an almost negligible Hindu presence in the higher echelons of the administration, bureaucracy and armed forces. Discrimination and prejudice against the Hindus is reinforced by the religious orthodoxy, within educational institutions as well as by the state-controlled media. As a consequence of the oppression and discrimination, the last two decades have seen a steady exodus of Hindus from Pakistan. This exodus, however, has left behind a community that is most vulnerable and in urgent need of socio-economic protection. A significant proportion of the Hindus within the province of Sindh are the so-called untouchables, the Scheduled Caste Hindus. As haris these Scheduled Caste Hindus make up part of the pool of landless bonded labour of the province of Sindh. Sindh's agricultural wealth, to a large extent, has depended on the intensive and strenuous work of bonded labour in producing hugely profitable cash crops such as sugar cane. While huge profits are made by the wealthy landlords, this landless bonded labour, consisting of substantial number of Scheduled Caste Hindus, continues to suffer from abject poverty. They remain tied to the land where they are forced to work literally as slaves. The landlords ensure that these bonded labourers and their future generations remain illiterate and unable in any way to challenge the unfair system of exploitation. The National Assembly of Pakistan abolished bonded labour through the Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1992. However, the banned practices continue to thrive in many parts of Sindh; officials remain reluctant to interfere for fear of incurring the wrath of powerful ruling families. Hindus who do manage to break the vicious cycle of repression of bonded labour, nevertheless fail to gain any support from the general community. Existing taboos and rampant discrimination ensure that their employment prospects are confined to menial labour as Jamadars. Recent reports suggest increasing harassment and intimidation of women belonging to these Hindu communities. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, during 1998 a number of disturbing cases came to light where Hindu women have been kidnapped, raped or forcibly converted to Islam. With overt, state-sponsored discrimination and repression, the Hindus of Pakistan remain deprived of their fundamental human rights. The Hindus are ‘unwanted' and ‘unwelcome' and continue to be associated with India. During the recent armed uprising in Baluchistan (2005-6) members of the small Hindu community were targeted and attacked by the Security Forces. All Hindus residing in the town of Dera Bugti were forced to take refuge either in the Sui region of Baluchistan or other provinces of Pakistan. The attacks resulted in the deaths of 33 Hindus, mostly men and young children. As with Christians, Hindus too constantly face the issue of forced conversion. Minority groups have expressed concerns about the persecution of Hindus and threats to their places of worship. In 2007 the only Hindu temple in Lahore was demolished to make way for a commercial building.

Friday, October 19, 2018

عرب حکومتوں کو کھلی چھوٹ مل چکی ہے‘: مقتول سعودی صحافی کا آخری کالم


سعودی صحافی جمال خاشقجی 2 اکتوبر 2018 کو استنبول میں واقع سعودی سفارتخانے میں داخل ہوئے اور اس کے بعد سے اب تک لاپتہ ہیں۔ اس حوالے سے جنم لینے والے خدشات اب شدت اختیار کرتے جا رہے ہیں کہ انہیں سفارتخانے کے اندر ہی قتل کر دیا گیا ہے۔ ایک ترک اخبار ’ینی شفق‘ میں یہ انکشاف بھی سامنے آیا کہ جمال خاشقجی کو تشدد کا نشانہ بنا کر زندہ ہی ٹکڑوں میں کاٹ دیا گیا تھا۔ ابھی اس کی ترکی کے تحقیقاتی اداروں یا سعودی عرب کی جانب سے تصدیق سامنے نہیں، مگر مبینہ قتل کی وجہ سے 
امریکا اور سعودی عرب کے درمیان تناؤ دیکھنے میں آ رہا ہے۔
سعودی صحافی جمال خاشقجی 2 اکتوبر 2018 کو استنبول میں واقع سعودی سفارتخانے میں داخل ہوئے اور اس کے بعد سے اب تک لاپتہ ہیں۔ اس حوالے سے جنم لینے والے خدشات اب شدت اختیار کرتے جا رہے ہیں کہ انہیں سفارتخانے کے اندر ہی قتل کر دیا گیا ہے۔ ایک ترک اخبار ’ینی شفق‘ میں یہ انکشاف بھی سامنے آیا کہ جمال خاشقجی کو تشدد کا نشانہ بنا کر زندہ ہی ٹکڑوں میں کاٹ دیا گیا تھا۔ ابھی اس کی ترکی کے تحقیقاتی اداروں یا سعودی عرب کی جانب سے تصدیق سامنے نہیں، مگر مبینہ قتل کی وجہ سے امریکا اور سعودی عرب کے درمیان تناؤ دیکھنے میں آ رہا ہے۔
مندرجہ ذیل مضمون جمال خاشقجی کا آخری کالم ہے، جو انہوں نے امریکی خبر رساں ادارے واشنگٹن پوسٹ کے لیے تحریر کیا تھا، ڈان اپنے قارئین کے لیے اس کا اردو ترجمہ شائع کر رہا ہے۔

حال ہی میں میں فریڈم ہاؤس کی جانب سے شائع کی گئی 2018 فریڈم ان دی ورلڈ رپورٹ دیکھ رہا تھا۔ عرب دنیا میں صرف ایک ملک ہے جسے "آزاد" قرار دیا گیا ہے۔ وہ ملک تیونس ہے۔ اردن، مراکش اور کویت "جزوی آزادی" کے ساتھ دوسرے نمبر پر آتے ہیں۔ عرب دنیا کے باقی تمام ممالک کو "غیر آزاد" کا درجہ دیا گیا ہے۔
نتیجتاً ان ممالک میں رہنے والے عرب یا تو لاعلم ہوتے ہیں یا پھر غلط معلومات رکھتے ہیں۔ وہ خطے اور ان کے روز مرّہ کی زندگیوں پر اثر انداز ہونے والے معاملات کو مناسب طور پر حل کرنا تو درکنار ان پر عوامی سطح پر بات بھی نہیں کر سکتے۔ ریاستی بیانیہ عوامی نفسیات پر حاوی ہے اور جہاں کئی لوگ اس بیانیے کو تسلیم نہیں کرتے، وہیں عوام کی ایک بہت بڑی تعداد اس جھوٹے بیانیے کا شکار بھی ہو جاتی ہے۔ افسوسناک بات ہے کہ اس صورتحال میں تبدیلی کا امکان نہیں ہے۔
2011 کے موسمِ بہار میں عرب دنیا امیدوں سے بھرپور تھی۔ صحافی، تعلیم دان اور عوام اپنے اپنے ممالک میں ایک روشن اور آزاد عرب معاشرے کی امیدوں سے سرشار تھے۔ انہیں امید تھی کہ وہ اپنی حکومتوں کی بالادستی، اور معلومات کے پھیلاؤ میں مسلسل مداخلت اور سنسرشپ سے آزاد ہو جائیں گے۔ یہ امیدیں جلد ہی ٹوٹ گئیں اور یہ معاشرے یا تو واپس پرانے اسٹیٹس کو پر پہنچ گئے یا پھر یہاں پہلے سے بھی زیادہ سخت حالات ہوگئے۔
مشہور سعودی لکھاری اور میرے پیارے دوست صالح الشیہی نے سعودی پریس میں شائع ہونے والے مشہور ترین کالموں میں سے ایک کالم لکھا تھا۔ اب وہ سعودی اسٹیبلشمنٹ کے خلاف مبینہ تبصرے کی وجہ سے 5 سالہ قید کاٹ رہے ہیں۔
مصری حکومت کی جانب سے اخبار مصری الیوم کی تمام کاپیاں ضبط کر لینے پر ساتھیوں کی جانب سے کوئی ردِ عمل یا غم و غصہ دیکھنے میں نہیں آیا۔ اس طرح کے اقدامات پر اب بین الاقوامی برادری کے سخت ردِ عمل کا کوئی خوف نہیں ہوتا۔ اس کے بجائے ان اقدامات کی مذمت تو کی جاتی ہے مگر پھر جلد ہی خاموشی چھا جاتی ہے۔
نتیجتاً عرب حکومتوں کو میڈیا کو خاموش کروانے کے لیے کھلی چھوٹ مل چکی ہے۔ ایک وقت تھا جب صحافی سمجھتے تھے کہ انٹرنیٹ پرنٹ میڈیا میں موجود سینسرشپ اور کنٹرول سے معلومات کو آزاد کروائے گا۔ مگر یہ حکومتیں جن کی بنیاد ہی معلومات پر کنٹرول پر قائم ہے، نے انٹرنیٹ پر سخت ترین پابندیاں عائد کر رکھی ہیں۔ اس کے علاوہ انہوں نے مقامی رپورٹرز کو گرفتار بھی کیا ہے جبکہ اشتہار دہندگان پر مختلف اشاعتوں کے منافع کو نقصان پہنچانے کے لیے بھی دباؤ ڈالا ہے۔
مگر اب بھی اس صحرا میں کچھ نخلستان ایسے ہیں جہاں عرب بہار کی روح موجود ہے۔ قطری حکومت اپنے بین الاقوامی نیوز کوریج کی حمایت جاری رکھے ہوئے ہے جبکہ اس کے پڑوسی ممالک "اولڈ عرب آرڈر" کے تحفظ کے لیے معلومات پر کنٹرول جاری رکھے ہوئے ہیں۔
یہاں تک کہ تیونس اور کویت میں بھی جہاں پریس کو کم از کم "جزوی آزاد" تصور کیا جاتا ہے، وہاں میڈیا مقامی مسائل پر تو توجہ دیتا ہے مگر ان مسائل پر نہیں جن کا عرب دنیا کو مجموعی طور پر سامنا ہے۔ وہ سعودی عرب، یمن اور مصر کے صحافیوں کو پلیٹ فارم مہیا کرنے سے ہچکچاتے ہیں۔ حتیٰ کہ لبنان، جسے پریس کی آزادی کے اعتبار سے عرب دنیا کے سر کا تاج قرار دیا جاتا ہے، وہ بھی قطبیت اور ایران کی حامی حزب اللہ کے دباؤ کا شکار ہو چکا ہے۔
عرب دنیا بھی ایک طرح سے آہنی پردے کا شکار ہے جو کہ بیرونی عناصر کی جانب سے نہیں بلکہ طاقت کی بھوکی مقامی قوتوں کی جانب سے کھڑا کیا گیا ہے۔ سرد جنگ کے دوران ریڈیو فری یورپ، جو کہ آنے والے سالوں میں ایک تنقیدی ادارہ بنا، نے آزادی کی امید پیدا کرنے اور اسے قائم رکھنے میں اہم کردار ادا کیا۔ عربوں کو بھی ایسی ہی چیز کی ضرورت ہے۔ 1967 میں دی نیویارک ٹائمز اور دی واشنگٹن پوسٹ نے اخبار انٹرنیشنل ہیرالڈ ٹریبیون کو مشترکہ طور پر ملکیت میں لیا اور یہ اخبار آگے چل کر دنیا بھر کی آوازوں کا پلیٹ فارم بنا۔
میرے اخبار واشنگٹن پوسٹ نے میرے کئی مضامین کو عربی میں ترجمہ کرنے اور شائع کرنے کا اقدام اٹھایا ہے۔ اس کے لیے میں ان کا شکرگزار ہوں۔ عربوں کو اپنی زبان میں پڑھنے کی ضرورت ہے تاکہ وہ مغرب اور امریکا میں جمہوریت کے مختلف پہلوؤں اور پیچیدگیوں کو سمجھ سکیں اور ان پر بحث کر سکیں۔ اگر کوئی مصری شخص واشنگٹن میں ایک تعمیراتی منصوبے کی اصل قیمت کو آشکار کرنے والا کوئی مضمون پڑھے گا یا پڑھے گی تو وہ اپنی برادری میں اسی طرح کے منصوبوں کے نتائج و اثرات کو بھی سمجھ پائے گا یا پائی گی۔
عرب دنیا کو اب پرانے کثیر الملکی میڈیا کی جدید صورت کی ضرورت ہے تاکہ اس کے شہری بین الاقوامی واقعات سے آگاہ ہو سکیں۔ اس سے بھی زیادہ اہم عرب آوازوں کو پلیٹ فارم مہیا کرنا ہے۔ ہم غربت، بدانتظامی اور خراب تعلیم کا شکار ہیں۔ پروپیگنڈا کے ذریعے نفرت پھیلانے والی قوم پرست حکومتوں کے اثر و رسوخ سے آزاد بین الاقوامی فورم تیار کر کے عرب دنیا کے عام لوگ بھی اپنے معاشروں میں بنیادی مسائل کو حل کرنے کے اہل ہو سکیں گے۔

واشنگٹن پوسٹ کی گلوبل اوپینیئن ایڈیٹر کیرن عطیہ کی جانب سے نوٹ
مجھے یہ کالم جمال خاشقجی کے مترجم اور اسسٹنٹ سے ان کے استنبول میں گمشدہ ہونے کے ایک دن بعد موصول ہوا۔ پوسٹ نے اس کی اشاعت اس لیے روک رکھی تھی کیوں کہ ہمیں یہ امید تھی کہ وہ واپس آئیں گے اور ہم اسے مشترکہ طور پر ایڈٹ کر سکیں گے۔
مجھے اب یہ تسلیم کرنا ہوگا کہ ایسا کبھی بھی نہیں ہونے والا۔ یہ واشنگٹن پوسٹ کے لیے ان کا آخری مضمون ہوگا جو میں ایڈٹ کروں گی۔ یہ کالم عرب دنیا میں آزادی کے لیے ان کے عزم اور جذبے کا عکاس ہے۔ وہ آزادی جس کے لیے بظاہر انہوں نے اپنی جان دے دی ہے۔
میں ہمیشہ ان کی احسان مند رہوں گی کہ انہوں نے ایک سال قبل واشنگٹن پوسٹ کو اپنا آخری صحافتی مسکن بنایا اور ہمیں ساتھ کام کرنے کا موقع دیا۔



Thursday, October 18, 2018

Man linked to MBS was at Saudi consulate when Khashoggi vanished


A member of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's entourage during several trips abroad walked into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul just before writer Jamal Khashoggi vanished there, a surveillance photo leaked on Thursday shows, drawing the kingdom's heir-apparent closer to the columnist's alleged slaying.
The man, identified by Turkish officials as Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, has been photographed in the background of Prince Mohammed's trips to the US, France and Spain this year.
Turkish officials say he flew into Istanbul on a private jet along with an “autopsy expert” October 2 and left that night. That was the same day Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Postwho wrote critically of Prince Mohammed's rise to power, entered the consulate and was not seen again.
Saudi Arabia, which initially called the allegations “baseless,” has not responded to repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press over recent days, including on Thursday over Mutreb's identification. The AP could not immediately reach Mutreb for comment.
But Mutreb's appearance at the consulate, as well as later at the consul general's residence, adds to the growing pressure on Saudi Arabia amid international outrage over the disappearance of the writer, whom Turkish officials say was killed and dismembered.
In a further sign of that pressure, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he will not attend an investment conference in Saudi Arabia, as did senior government officials from France, Britain and the Netherlands. Several top business executives have also canceled plans to attend, as has the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde.
Analysts say that as long as the Saudis refuse to acknowledge what happened to Khashoggi, the leaks about the case will probably continue.
“Turkey wants to show to the world that it cannot be ignoble, selling values and principles in political deals with US or Saudi to try to bury the truth and come up with an acceptable scenario,” said Yusuf Katipoglu, a Turkish analyst.
The pro-government Sabah newspaper on Thursday first published the images of Mutreb, showing him walking past police barricades at the consulate at 9:55am with several men trailing behind him. Khashoggi arrived at the consulate several hours later at 1:14pm, then disappeared while his fiance waited outside for him.
A report on Wednesday by the pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak, citing what it described as an audio recording of Khashoggi's slaying, said a Saudi team immediately accosted the 60-year-old journalist after he entered the consulate, cutting off his fingers and later decapitating him.
Previously leaked surveillance footage showed consular vehicles moving from the consulate to the consul general's official residence, some 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) away, a little under two hours after Khashoggi walked inside.
The Sabah-published pictured showed an image of the Mutreb at 4:53pm at the consul's home, then at 5:15pm checking out of a hotel. He later cleared an airport security check at 5:58pm before flying out of Istanbul.
Mutreb's name matches that of a first secretary who once served as a diplomat at the Saudi Embassy in London, according to a 2007 list compiled by the British Foreign Office. The same name also appears in an email published by WikiLeaks from the 2015 breach of surveillance company Hacking Team of Saudi officials being trained to use their software.
That breach showed how governments were increasingly turning to mercenary hackers-for-hire to pry into the cellphones and computers of their domestic opponents.
Mutreb's identity was confirmed by Turkish officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. Mutreb also was identified in state and pro-government media reports.
It's unclear what relationship Mutreb has with Prince Mohammed.
Images shot by the Houston Chronicle and later distributed by the AP show Mutreb in Prince Mohammed's entourage when he visited a Houston subdivision in April to see rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Harvey. The same man wore lapel pins, including one of the US and Saudi flags intertwined, that other bodyguards accompanying Prince Mohammed wore on the trip.
The three-week trip across the US saw Prince Mohammed meet with business leaders and celebrities, including Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, who now owns the Post.
Mutreb also has appeared in images on Prince Mohammed's trips to Boston, as well as Spain and France.
The Sabah report came as Turkish crime-scene investigators finished an overnight search of both the consul general's residence and a second search of the consulate itself. Authorities have not said specifically what they found, although technicians carried out bags and boxes from the consul general's home. He left Turkey on Tuesday.
The searches and the leaks in Turkish media have ensured attention remains focused on what happened to Khashoggi, a Washington Postcolumnist who went into a self-imposed exile in the US after the rise of Prince Mohammed. It also put further strains on the relationship between the kingdom, the world's largest oil exporter, and its main security guarantor, the US, as tensions with Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East remain high.
President Donald Trump, who initially came out hard on the Saudis over the disappearance but since has backed off, said Wednesday that the US wanted Turkey to turn over any audio or video recording it had of Khashoggi's alleged killing “if it exists.”
After briefing Trump on Thursday on his talks this week with leaders in Saudi Arabia and Turkey, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he told the Saudi rulers that the US takes “very seriously” the disappearance of Khashoggi and will await the outcome of investigations by the kingdom and Turkey before deciding how to respond.
Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Reporters Without Borders jointly called for a UN investigation of the Khashoggi disappearance.
“If the government of Saudi Arabia is not involved in Jamal Khashoggi's fate, it has the most to gain in seeing an impartial UN investigation determine what happened,” said Sherine Tadros of Amnesty International.
“Without a credible UN inquiry, there will always be a cloud of suspicion hanging over Saudi Arabia, no matter what its leadership says to explain away how Khashoggi vanished.”
The Post published on Thursday what it described as Khashoggi's last column, in which he pointed to the muted international response to ongoing abuses against journalists by governments in the Middle East.
“As a result, Arab governments have been given free rein to continue silencing the media at an increasing rate,” Khashoggi wrote. He added: “The Arab world is facing its own version of an Iron Curtain, imposed not by external actors but through domestic forces vying for power.


A member of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's entourage during several trips abroad walked into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul just before writer Jamal Khashoggi vanished there, a surveillance photo leaked on Thursday shows, drawing the kingdom's heir-apparent closer to the columnist's alleged slaying.
The man, identified by Turkish officials as Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, has been photographed in the background of Prince Mohammed's trips to the US, France and Spain this year.
Turkish officials say he flew into Istanbul on a private jet along with an “autopsy expert” October 2 and left that night. That was the same day Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Postwho wrote critically of Prince Mohammed's rise to power, entered the consulate and was not seen again.
Saudi Arabia, which initially called the allegations “baseless,” has not responded to repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press over recent days, including on Thursday over Mutreb's identification. The AP could not immediately reach Mutreb for comment.
But Mutreb's appearance at the consulate, as well as later at the consul general's residence, adds to the growing pressure on Saudi Arabia amid international outrage over the disappearance of the writer, whom Turkish officials say was killed and dismembered.
In a further sign of that pressure, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he will not attend an investment conference in Saudi Arabia, as did senior government officials from France, Britain and the Netherlands. Several top business executives have also canceled plans to attend, as has the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde.
Analysts say that as long as the Saudis refuse to acknowledge what happened to Khashoggi, the leaks about the case will probably continue.
“Turkey wants to show to the world that it cannot be ignoble, selling values and principles in political deals with US or Saudi to try to bury the truth and come up with an acceptable scenario,” said Yusuf Katipoglu, a Turkish analyst.
The pro-government Sabah newspaper on Thursday first published the images of Mutreb, showing him walking past police barricades at the consulate at 9:55am with several men trailing behind him. Khashoggi arrived at the consulate several hours later at 1:14pm, then disappeared while his fiance waited outside for him.
A report on Wednesday by the pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak, citing what it described as an audio recording of Khashoggi's slaying, said a Saudi team immediately accosted the 60-year-old journalist after he entered the consulate, cutting off his fingers and later decapitating him.
Previously leaked surveillance footage showed consular vehicles moving from the consulate to the consul general's official residence, some 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) away, a little under two hours after Khashoggi walked inside.
The Sabah-published pictured showed an image of the Mutreb at 4:53pm at the consul's home, then at 5:15pm checking out of a hotel. He later cleared an airport security check at 5:58pm before flying out of Istanbul.
Mutreb's name matches that of a first secretary who once served as a diplomat at the Saudi Embassy in London, according to a 2007 list compiled by the British Foreign Office. The same name also appears in an email published by WikiLeaks from the 2015 breach of surveillance company Hacking Team of Saudi officials being trained to use their software.
That breach showed how governments were increasingly turning to mercenary hackers-for-hire to pry into the cellphones and computers of their domestic opponents.
Mutreb's identity was confirmed by Turkish officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. Mutreb also was identified in state and pro-government media reports.
It's unclear what relationship Mutreb has with Prince Mohammed.
Images shot by the Houston Chronicle and later distributed by the AP show Mutreb in Prince Mohammed's entourage when he visited a Houston subdivision in April to see rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Harvey. The same man wore lapel pins, including one of the US and Saudi flags intertwined, that other bodyguards accompanying Prince Mohammed wore on the trip.
The three-week trip across the US saw Prince Mohammed meet with business leaders and celebrities, including Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, who now owns the Post.
Mutreb also has appeared in images on Prince Mohammed's trips to Boston, as well as Spain and France.
The Sabah report came as Turkish crime-scene investigators finished an overnight search of both the consul general's residence and a second search of the consulate itself. Authorities have not said specifically what they found, although technicians carried out bags and boxes from the consul general's home. He left Turkey on Tuesday.
The searches and the leaks in Turkish media have ensured attention remains focused on what happened to Khashoggi, a Washington Postcolumnist who went into a self-imposed exile in the US after the rise of Prince Mohammed. It also put further strains on the relationship between the kingdom, the world's largest oil exporter, and its main security guarantor, the US, as tensions with Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East remain high.
President Donald Trump, who initially came out hard on the Saudis over the disappearance but since has backed off, said Wednesday that the US wanted Turkey to turn over any audio or video recording it had of Khashoggi's alleged killing “if it exists.”
After briefing Trump on Thursday on his talks this week with leaders in Saudi Arabia and Turkey, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he told the Saudi rulers that the US takes “very seriously” the disappearance of Khashoggi and will await the outcome of investigations by the kingdom and Turkey before deciding how to respond.
Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Reporters Without Borders jointly called for a UN investigation of the Khashoggi disappearance.
“If the government of Saudi Arabia is not involved in Jamal Khashoggi's fate, it has the most to gain in seeing an impartial UN investigation determine what happened,” said Sherine Tadros of Amnesty International.
“Without a credible UN inquiry, there will always be a cloud of suspicion hanging over Saudi Arabia, no matter what its leadership says to explain away how Khashoggi vanished.”
The Post published on Thursday what it described as Khashoggi's last column, in which he pointed to the muted international response to ongoing abuses against journalists by governments in the Middle East.
“As a result, Arab governments have been given free rein to continue silencing the media at an increasing rate,” Khashoggi wrote. He added: “The Arab world is facing its own version of an Iron Curtain, imposed not by external actors but through domestic forces vying for power.

Rana Sanaullah, MQM and Operation Cleanup 1992.


No alliance with MQM: Sana LAHORE, July 29: Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan has said that PML-N has not changed its stance on the MQM despite the visit of a party’s delegation to the MQM headquarters to seek support for its presidential candidate Mamnoon Hussain. Talking to a TV channel on Monday, Mr Sanaullah said PML-N had not changed its views about the MQM as the case of bogus voting in Karachi was still pending with the Election Commission. He denied the PML-N had entered into an alliance with the MQM. Meanwhile, federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid rejected Mr Sanaullah’s remarks about the MQM and said they were not in conformity with the official stance of the PML-N. He said MQM enjoyed confidence of the masses since long and the PML-N respected its mandate. He asked the MQM leadership not to let the remarks hurt relations between the two parties, adding that Mr Sanaullah had been directed to support the reconciliation process with the MQM



Musharraf and The 9/11

Pakistan’s chief spy Lt. General Mahmoud Ahmad “was in the US when the attacks occurred.” He arrived in the US on the 4th of September, a full week before the attacks. He had meetings at the State Department “after” the attacks on the WTC. But he also had “a regular visit of consultations” with his US counterparts at the CIA and the Pentagon during the week prior to September 11.



AFTER 9/11.

In the afternoon, Mahmood was invited to CIA headquarters at Langley, Virginia, where he told George Tenet, the CIA director, that in his view Mullah Omar, the Taliban chief, was a religious man with humanitarian instincts and not a man of violence! This was a bit difficult for the CIA officials to digest and rightly so as the Taliban’s track record, especially in the realm of human rights, was no secret. General Mahmood was told politely but firmly that Mullah Omar and the Taliban would have to face US Military might if Osama Bin Laden along with other Al-Qaeda leaders were not handed over without delay. To send the message across clearly, Richard Armitage held a second meeting with Mahmood the same day, informing him that he would soon be handed specific American demands, to which Mahmood reiterated that Pakistan would cooperate. {Bush at War by Bob Woodward, published by Simon & Schuster, 2002, New York}, p 32. {Pakistan: Eye of the Storm by Owen Bennett Jones, published by New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2002}, p. 2.

General Mahmood on September 13, 2001, was handed a formal list of the US demands by Mr. Armitage and was asked to convey these to Musharraf and was also duly informed, for the sake of emphasis, that these were “not negotiable.” Colin Powell, Richard Armitage, and the assisstant secretary of state, Christina Rocca, had drafted the list in the shape of a “non-paper”. It categorically asked Pakistan:

Stop Al-Qaeda operatives coming from Afghanistan to Pakistan, intercept arms shipments through Pakistan, and end ALL logistical support for Osama Bin Laden.

Give blanket overflight and landing rights to US aircraft.

Give the US access to Pakistani Naval and Air Bases and to the border areas betweeen Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Turn over all the intelligence and immigration information.

Condemn the September 11 attacks and curb all domestic expressions of support for terrorism.

Cut off all shipments of fuel to the Talibans, and stop Pakistani volunteers from going into Afghanistan to join the Taliban. Note that, should the evidence strongly implicate Osama Bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda Network in Afghanistan, and should the Taliban continue to harbour him and his accomplices, Pakistan will break diplomatic relations with the Taliban regime, end support for the Taliban, and assist the US in the aforementioned ways to destroy Osama and his network.

Having gone through the list, Mahmood declared that he was quite clear on the subject and that “he knew how the President thought, and the President would accept these points.” {Bush at War by Bob Woodward, published by Simon & Schuster, 2002, New York}, p 58-59. Interview: Richard Armitage, “Campaign Against Terror,” PBS (Frontline), April 19, 2002}

Mahmood then faxed the document to Musharraf. While the latter was going through it and in the process of weighing the pros and cons of each demand, his aide de camp that Colin Powell was on the line. Musharraf liked and respected Powell, and the conversation was not going to be a problem. He told him that he understood and appreciated the US position, but he would respond to the US demands after having discussed these with his associates. Powell was far too polite to remind him that he in fact was the government, but did inform him that his General in Washington had already assured them that these demands would be acceptable to the government of Pakistan. {Pakistan’s Drift into Extremism : Allah, the Army, and America’s War on Terror by Hassan Abbas, published by An East Gate Book , M.E. Sharpe Armonk, New York. London, England.}.