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special to the tribune
Iraq Sunni mosque attack
claims 68 lives
Hamas executes 18 informers for Israel as fighting continues
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PTI lawmakers quit National Assembly
in love with their leader: Supporters of cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri kiss his portrait on a banner hung at an anti-government protest site in front of Parliament in Islamabad on Friday. AFP
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ISIS offered to swap Pak scientist for slain US journalist Foley
Shyam Bhatia in London A highly educated Pakistan-born woman has emerged as the jewel in the crown of Islamic State (IS) terrorists who seek world domination by creating their version of a caliphate that stretches from South Asia to the borders of Rome. Before his barbaric beheading, IS offered to free James Foley and other Western hostages still in captivity if Washington sanctioned the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who was arrested in Afghanistan in 2008. A mother of three, known in Pakistan as the "Grey Lady of Bagram", she is currently serving an 86-year prison sentence in a Texas jail for attempting to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan. When she was being questioned back in 2008, she tried to shoot her interrogators and was shot and wounded in return. At the time of her arrest she was also caught with plans for a 'mass casualty attack' against key US targets, including such New York landmarks such as the New York Metro, Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building. Her plans also involved infecting innocent citizens with Ebola and a dirty bomb. Siddiqui's expertise dates back to her time at Brandeis University in the US where she obtained a Ph.D in biology before training as a neuro-scientist at the Massachusets Institute of Technology (MIT). Karachi-born Siddiqui, who has a PhD from Brandeis University, before training as a neuro-scientist at MIT, is married to a nephew of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. It was he who first mentioned her name to US interrogators. The irony of Siddiqui's significance is that her gender marks her out as part of a lesser breed in the Islamic caliphate where women must be veiled and banned from driving and where goats grazing in the fields are required to have their genitals covered. The Pakistani authorities usually try to distance themselves from suspected terrorists, but when Siddiqui was arrested Pakistani Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani called her the "daughter of the nation" and begged the US to let her go. Violent protests also took place outside the US consulate in Karachi. Former CIA analyst John Kiriakou commented about Siddiqui in 2008, "Her education troubled us. We know that she's extremely bright. She's radicalised. We know that she had been planning, or at least involved in the planning, of a variety of operations, whether they involved weapons of mass destruction or research into chemical or biological weapons, whether it was a possible attempt on the life of the President." Deborah Scroggins, author of 'Wanted Women: Faith Lies and the War on terror" describes Siddiqui as "the poster child for jihadists around the world." She was sentenced at a time when US legislators had approved new rules saying anyone trying to kill US personnel would get special, strict sentencing. The attempts to free Siddiqui in exchange for Foley highlight the perils facing other hostages held by IS which seeks to extract maximum benefits from their governments before they are released. The hostages include some 90 Indian, Turkish, American and British nationals who are being held at various locations in Northern Iraq and Syria. Washington and London have said that where their nationals are concerned, they never negotiate with terrorists, but that is a policy that is selectively implemented. When US soldier Bowe Bergdahl was kidnapped earlier this year by the Afghan Haqqani network, the Americans released five Taliban prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay in exchange for his release. When British hostages Paul and Rachel Chandler and Judith Tebbutt were taken hostage in Somalia in the past four years, London allowed millions to be paid to secure their freedom. Earlier this year, the governments of France, Spain, Italy and Denmark are each alleged to have paid lucrative sums to secure the release of their own hostages held in Syria. Small wonder then that hostage taking is now classified as one of the world's most lucrative professions. According to some estimates ransom taking in recent years has generated more than $1560 million for hostage takers. But money remains only one element when it comes to saving lives. When British IT consultant Peter Moore was kidnapped in Iraq in 2009 by an extremists Shia group, London agreed to release the group's leader from prison in exchange for Moore's own freedom. Knowing Dr Aafia Siddiqui — ‘The Grey Lady of Bagram’
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Iraq Sunni mosque attack
claims 68 lives
Baghdad, August 22 An army officer and a police officer said a suicide bomber first broke into the Musab bin Omair Mosque in Imam Wais village in Diyala province, some 120 km northeast of Baghdad, detonating his explosives before gunmen rushed in and opened fire on worshippers. The officials said fighters with the Islamic State group have been trying to convince members of two prominent local Sunni tribes the Oal-Waisi and al-Jabour to join them but they have thus far refused. Two medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. All of them spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to brief the media. The towns of Jalula and al-Saadiyah have recently fallen to militants with the Islamic State group but Imam Wais is thus far in government control. Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric has called on the country's leaders to settle their differences in a "realistic and doable" manner and swiftly form a new government, amid the growing Sunni insurgency that threatens to break up the country. — AP |
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Hamas executes 18 informers for Israel as fighting continues Jerusalem, August 22 Hamas gunmen executed 11 Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel at an abandoned police station in Gaza earlier in the day, Hamas security officials said. Shortly afterward Hamas shot seven more Palestinians in front of hundreds of people in a central Gaza square, witnesses said. Hamas warned the same punishment will be imposed soon on others. The executions came a day after Israel killed three top Hamas commanders - Mohammed Abu Shamala, Mohammed Barhoum and Raed al-Attar who were key to Hamas operations including smuggling, tunnel construction and also played a role in capturing Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006. — PTI
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PTI lawmakers quit National Assembly
Islamabad, August 22 As protesters continued their siege of Parliament demanding Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's ouster, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Arif Alvi submitted to the National Assembly Speaker's office the resignations of all 34 lawmakers belonging to the party, including that of its chief Khan. However, the resignations do not affect the stability of the government which enjoys a majority with ruling PML-N having 190 members in a House of 342. Khan's PTI is the third largest party in the National Assembly. The anti-government protests in Pakistan are in their second week with thousands of supporters of PTI chairman Khan and firebrand cleric Tahirul Qadri camping outside the Parliament building here. After one round of talks on Wednesday both the protesting groups have suspended dialogue with the government. Following the submission of resignations, the PTI leadership summoned a session of the party's core committee to deliberate on future strategy regarding anti-government protests and resignations of its lawmakers from provincial assemblies. Protest leaders assure SC to follow Constitution
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and cleric Tahirul Qadri, who are leading two anti-government protests in Pakistan, on Friday assured the Supreme Court that they would remain within the limits of the Constitution during their ongoing agitations. The lawyers of Khan's PTI and Qadri's Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) submitted their responses, assuring the court that the protesters will follow the law. — PTI |
Indian Haj pilgrims to be provided holy water 38 killed as two tourist buses collide in Egypt Nepal forms climate alliance to save Himalayas Russian aid convoy reaches war-torn Luhansk |
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In renewed hostilities between Hamas and Israel, the militant group today publicly executed 18 suspected spies for collaborating with the Jewish
state.
Islamabad, August 22
