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Lawmaker’s ‘xenophobic’
comments spark row
Korea vows action against US sanctions Hasina alliance to take part
in poll Harassed Indian woman seeks help |
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Goodwill gesture: Olmert gives funds to Abbas
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Lawmaker’s ‘xenophobic’
comments spark row
A Virginia Republican lawmaker has lashed out at America's first Muslim member of Congress for preferring to use a Quran during a ceremonial swearing-in service and has warned Americans that if they "don't wake up" many more Muslims will be elected to Congress.
Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr.'s xenophobic comments, made in a letter to constituents, have touched off a firestorm as Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat, prepares to make his debut in the U.S. Congress next month. "The Muslim Representative [Mr. Ellison] from Minnesota was elected by the voters of the district and if American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration, there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran," Mr. Goode warned in the letter. "We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy pushed hard by President Clinton and allowing many persons from the Middle East to come to this country." He added: "I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped." Mr. Ellison is a devout Muslim who prays five times a day and reportedly says he has not eaten pork or had a drink of alcohol since he converted to Islam as a 19-year-old student at Wayne State University in Detroit. The U.S. Constitution says nothing about swearing on the Bible. Newly elected members of Congress raise their right hands and are sworn in together by the Speaker of the House. While no religious texts are used for the official swearing-in ceremony, some members have carried an expanded Bible that included the Book of Mormon, and even a Torah. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has expressed shock at the lack of criticism from the Republican Party of Mr. Goode's anti-Muslim remarks. Meanwhile, Democrats, who won control of both chambers of the U.S. Congress in midterm elections on November 7, have chastised Mr. Goode. Sen. Robert J. Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, called Mr. Goode's statement "an attack on the sanctity of religious freedom that all Americans are guaranteed under the Constitution" and asked him to apologise. On Friday, the Washington Post slammed Mr. Goode in an editorial titled "A Bigot in Congress." "Bigotry comes in various guises -- some coded, some closeted, some colossally stupid," the Post said. "The bigotry displayed recently by Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., a Republican who represents a patch of south-central Virginia, falls squarely in the third category. Mr. Goode, evidently in a state of xenophobic delirium, went on a semi-public tirade against the looming peril and corrupting threat posed by Muslim immigration to the United States." CAIR's national legislative director Corey Saylor said Republican leaders in Virginia should have learned a lesson in tolerance from the controversy over Sen. George Allen's "macaca" episode. While on the midterm election trail Mr. Allen called his opponent James H. Webb's Indian American campaign volunteer a "macaca" -- the word is considered a racial slur in some cultures. Mr. Allen lost his re-election bid largely due to the controversy generated by his remark. The Post editorial contended: "the real worry for the nation is that the rest of the world might take Mr. Goode seriously, interpreting his biased remarks about Muslims as proof that America really has embarked on a civilizational war against Islam." Mr. Goode has refused to apologise for his letter.
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Korea vows action against US sanctions
Seoul, December 24 In a lengthy editorial, Rodong Sinmun newspaper lauded North Korean leader Kim Jong Il for his "iron-like pluck and grit" and for trying to build a powerful military that no enemy would dare confront, the North's Korean Central News Agency said. The newspaper also said the North displayed its determination to "mercilessly punish aggressors trying to pick a fight with us" - a possible reference to its October 9 nuclear test that sent jitters across the globe. Army chief of staff Kim Yong Chun yesterday accused the United States of demanding that North Korea unilaterally end its nuclear programme while refusing to lift financial restrictions the US imposed on the communist government for its alleged money laundering and counterfeiting of USD 100 bills. The nuclear talks —held in Beijing this week after a 13-month break due to a North Korean boycott over the US sanctions — ended Friday without an agreement to move ahead on the North's nuclear disarmament. Last year, the North pledged to disarm in exchange for security guarantees and aid. Negotiators said the North Koreans refused to talk about their nuclear weapons programme until the US lifts its financial restrictions. — AP
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Hasina alliance to take part in poll Dhaka, December 24 "We have decided to take part in the elections as the Election Commission has extended the deadline for filing nomination papers until December 26 and assured us of taking effective steps to correct the voters list," Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, senior leader of Hasina's Awami League, told reporters after a meeting with alliance partners. The decision brings to an end Bangladesh's protracted political crises which started with the Awami League-led alliance threatening to boycott the elections if the "electoral reforms" proposed by it were not implemented. It was also demanding that the elections, scheduled to be held on January 22, be deferred.
— PTI
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Harassed Indian woman seeks help
Karachi, December 24 Sheela, who hails from Bangalore, got married to the Pakistani 14 years ago in Dubai and made her home in North West Frontier Province in May this year. Sheela said her ordeal began in November when, she claims, Palwasha, 19, who used to run a beauty parlour in the neighbourhood, visited her home to show her some ornaments. "The moment I took those ornaments in my hand I was under a spell of black magic and they ordered me to bring all my jewellery and give it to them which I did," she alleged. The woman said she lodged a complaint against the teenager, her mother Farzana and their accomplices after "she came out of the spell 12 hours later". Sheela alleged that instead of helping her, the police was "being pressurized" to register an FIR against her for kidnapping Palwasha, who, the Indian said, has been seen roaming around in the city. — PTI
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Goodwill gesture: Olmert gives funds to Abbas
Jerusalem, December 24 The decision was taken during a close door meeting between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert here last evening in which the two leaders committed themselves to reviving a meaningful peace process based on the internationally brokered 'road map' plan. The meeting, first Israeli-Palestinian summit in a year and a half, is a "first step toward rebuilding mutual trust and fruitful cooperation," Olmert's office said in a statement. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat confirmed during a press conference in Ramallah that Israel has agreed to transfer the funds for humanitarian purposes. More meeting are being planned between the two leaders, Erekat said, adding the two sides also agreed upon transfer of some money to hospitals in East Jerusalem. It was decided that the funds will be transferred directly to the Palestinian Authority Chairman, and not to the Hamas-led government. As a goodwill gesture, Olmert also agreed to remove several West Bank checkpoints, and re-examine security procedures at the Karni commercial crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip in order to facilitate the movement of goods into Gaza. However, the two leaders failed to reach agreement on the key issue of a prisoner swap involving abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit but decided to set up a committee to study it further. Erekat said the PA Chairman asked Olmert to release Hamas lawmakers arrested by Israel, as well as renew a past agreement not to pursue wanted militants. However, he emphasised that no Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails will be freed prior to the release of Shalit. Israel has also agreed in principle to allow Egypt to provide Abbas' security forces with weapons. Olmert warned Abbas that Israel will not maintain restraint in wake of the continued rocket attacks and asked him to take concrete measures to stop it. Responding to a request by the Palestinian delegation to extend the cease-fire to the West Bank, Olmert said the Palestinians must first demonstrate an ability to uphold the truce in Gaza. Abbas has declared fresh poll after failing to form a national unity government with Hamas to facilitate the lifting of severe international sanctions that has a crippling effect on the Palestinian economy.
— PTI
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2 women jailed for raping man 
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