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Nine
Years After 9/11
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Duelling protests over mosque near Ground Zero
Karzai’s relatives, aides linked to 12 expensive Gulf homes
‘Mumbai-II could lead to fourth Indo-Pak war’
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Nine
Years After 9/11
Washington, September 11 Addressing fellow citizens on the heels of a Florida pastor threatening to burn copies of Koran and the controversy surrounding plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero, Obama said the terrorist elements might seek to spark conflict between different faiths. The pastor has since abandoned the plans. "...but as Americans we are not — and never will be — at war with Islam. It was not a religion that attacked us that September day — it was Al-Qaida, a sorry band of men which perverts religion," Obama said in his address from Pentagon, one of the sites of the attacks. He also vowed to keep the nation safe come what may and remembered the victims of the terrorist attacks in New York, Pentagon and Pennsylvania that killed more than 3,000 people. "For our nation, this is a day of remembrance, a day of reflection, and — with God's grace — a day of unity and renewal," Obama said as he paid a visit to hallowed ground at the Pentagon and laid a wreath. The main function was held at the Ground Zero site in New York City, attended by Vice-President Joe Biden. First Lady, Mitchell Obama and her predecessor Laura Bush, attended a remembrance ceremony in Pennsylvania. Obama said: "Today, in Afghanistan and beyond, we have gone on the offensive and struck major blows against Al-Qaida and its allies. We will do what is necessary to protect our country, and we honour all those who serve to keep us safe. They may seek to strike fear in us, but they are no match for our resilience.We do not succumb to fear, nor will we squander the optimism that has always defined us as a people," the US President said. "The perpetrators of this evil act didn't simply attack America; they attacked the very idea of America itself — all that we stand for and represent in the world," Obama said in his remarks. "They (terrorists) may seek to exploit our freedoms, but we will not sacrifice the liberties we cherish or hunker down behind walls of suspicion and mistrust. They may wish to drive us apart, but we will not give in to their hatred and prejudice," Obama said. He said as America condemns intolerance and extremism abroad, its citizens should stay true to its traditions here at home as a diverse and tolerant nation. — PTI
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Duelling protests over mosque near Ground Zero
New York, September 11 A swelling group of around 1,500 people backing a Muslim organization's right to build a Muslim community center and place of worship gathered in bright sunshine just down the street, calling opponents religious bigots. Critics of the project gathered a short distance away with plans to hold their own rally later. A heavy police presence separated the two groups amid rising tensions and a volatile mix of crowds visiting Ground Zero for the unusually bitter anniversary of the attacks -- ranging from uniformed marines to peace activists and a muscle-bound troop of Hell's Angels. The police used metal barriers to close off the street outside the proposed cultural center, which has become the focus for a national debate exposing widespread mistrust of Muslims nearly a decade after the September 11, 2001 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people. Supporters of the project at the rally — mostly non-Muslim activists — said opposition was based on racism and anti-Muslim bigotry. "Stop the racist war against Muslim people," one placard read. "People are afraid because there is a campaign against Muslims in our country," said peace activist Jane Toby.
— AFP
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Karzai’s relatives, aides linked to 12
London, September 11 The Daily Telegraph reported that the "property holdings emerged as Karzai, who leads one of the world's poorest and most deprived countries, has struggled to salvage Afghanistan's biggest private bank, Kabul Bank, which bankrolled the purchases." The centrepiece of the holdings is a portfolio of 14 villas on the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai's showpiece property development, registered in the name of Sher Khan Farnood, the former chairman of Kabul Bank. Kabul Bank also owns an apartment, two business plots and a loss-making airline, Pamir Airlines, in Dubai. Mahmoud Karzai, President Karzai's brother and the third-largest shareholder in the bank and Farnood, 46, occupy a "signature" villa valued at up to £4 million. Other properties either owned or occupied by the Afghan President's aides are valued between £1 and 3 million, the Daily reported. Mahmoud also made a £500,000 profit following the sale of a Dubai bought with a loan from Kabul Bank. "The family of Hamid Karzai has been linked to more than a dozen expensive homes in the Gulf, raising fears that western aid money sent to Afghanistan is being misused," it said. Mahmoud Karzai is not the only member of an Afghan political family living in villas distributed across the development where David Beckham, Michael Schumacher, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are also owners. Haseen Fahim, another Kabul shareholder and the brother of the ex-warlord vice-president, Mohammed Qasim Fahim, lives nearby. Senior British government ministers are privately furious that Kabul Bank has been used to buy property in the Gulf, the Telegraph reported. "Ministers will not directly comment on the Karzai family over its business interests, but MPs said the apparent corruption in Kabul is undermining Western attempts to stabilise the country," the newspaper said. — PTI
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‘Mumbai-II could lead to fourth Indo-Pak war’
Washington, September 11 Preventing Mumbai-II from occurring remains a major foreign policy challenge for the US, the report said. “One of the more predictable foreign policy challenges of the next years is a ‘Mumbai II’: a large-scale attack on a major Indian city by a Pakistani militant group that kills hundreds,” said the 42-page report from the Bipartisan Policy Centre’s National Security Preparedness Group, a Washington based research group. Authored by Peter Bergen and Bruce Hoffman, the report “Assessing the Terrorist Threat” appreciated the considerable restraint shown by India in its reaction to the provocation of the Mumbai attacks in 2008. “Another such attack, however, would likely produce considerable political pressure on the Indian government to ‘do something’. That something would likely involve incursions over the border to eliminate the training camps of Pakistani militant groups with histories of attacking India,” the report said. “That could lead in turn to a full-blown war for the fourth time since 1947 between India and Pakistan,” it said.
— PTI
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