Islamic world’s hatred of occupiers of Iraq on the rise
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=8/24/2004&Cat=4&Num=016
TEHRAN (MNA) — Animosity toward the United States is on the rise in the Islamic world as U.S. occupation forces have gone beyond the pale in Iraq by desecrating the country’s sacred sites and oppressing the people.
President Mohammad Khatami of Iran on Monday strongly condemned the occupiers’ heavy-handed handling of the Najaf crisis, saying that such behaviors have no justification.
Khatami even said Iraq's interim government risked losing popular support because of its backing for military operations against people in the holy city of Najaf.
Speaking to reporters, Khatami said the fighting was unjustified since Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army had shown it was willing to reach a negotiated settlement.
"It seems there is a desire to crack down on Najaf and scare all Iraqis." "It was Falluja yesterday, today it is Najaf and if the trend continues it will spread to all Iraqis," he said.
"The Iraqi interim government faces a great test and if it fails to resolve the problems it will not be held in high regard by the Iraqi people," he said.
"We want peace and stability to prevail in Iraq,” he added.
Malaysia, which currently heads the world's biggest grouping of Islamic countries, called Monday for an end to violence in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, chairman of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference, urged the United Nations to act to end the fighting.
"If the confrontation in Najaf is not defused, it will inflame emotions and may create unpredictable conditions," Abdullah said in a statement to the official Bernama news agency.
"It will also erode the fragile stability in the country and affect the preparations for the holding of the national elections in Iraq scheduled in January 2005," said Abdullah, who is in South Korea for a three-day visit.
"The people of Iraq deserve to have peace and not more suffering," he said.
Meanwhile, a great number of Shiite Muslims Monday staged a demonstration in the central Pakistani city of Multan against U.S. attacks near their holiest shrine in Iraqi city of Najaf.
Protestors marched and condemned what they called the desecration of the Imam Ali (AS) shrine.
"The United States wants to occupy the oil resources of Muslim states on the pretext of terrorism and the hunt for Al-Qaeda," Shiite leader Anis Haider Naqvi told the rally.
The protestors carried placards reading: "Stop U.S. barbaric operation in Iraq, Najaf", "Stop bombing holy places", "Down with America and Britain" "Bush and allied forces are terrorists" and "Desecration of sacred places will not be tolerated".
U.S. planes pounded Najaf's cemetery and historic centre near the shrine on Monday, dimming hopes of a peaceful end to a near three-week stand-off between US-led Iraqi troops and Shiite militia.
Dense, black smoke spewed into the sky above the enormous, sacred Valley of Peace burial ground after a deafening explosion followed by a second blast in the early afternoon as a U.S. plane flew overhead.
Hours later, another two raids targeted the Old City around a world famous Shiite Muslim shrine, as sporadic gunfights and mortar attacks continued to reverberate through the ravaged streets, said an AFP correspondent.
Brother of Qaeda suspect arrested in Saudi Arabia
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_23-8-2004_pg7_52
MANAMA: The brother of a man detained in Bahrain on suspicion of links with Al Qaeda has been arrested in Saudi Arabia, the family’s lawyer told AFP on Sunday.
“Mohamad Khan was arrested by Saudi authorities at about 10:00 pm (0700 GMT) on Saturday after crossing the King Fahd bridge” linking Bahrain with Saudi Arabia, said Abdullah Hashim. He was returning from Bahrain to Saudi Arabia, where he lives and works for a private company in the eastern part of the kingdom, he said.
Khan is the brother of Mohiedin Mahmud Khan, one of six suspects detained in Bahrain last month for alleged links to the Al Qaeda terror network and for allegedly plotting terrorist attacks in Bahrain.
Hashim said that after his arrest Khan “was taken to his home which was searched by police who confiscated his personal computer, CDs and documents”.
“He was then taken to the city of al-Khobar,” said Hashim. “The family has not been informed on the exact place of his detention,” he added. There was no official confirmation of Khan’s arrest in Saudi Arabia but a policeman on King Fahd bridge told AFP: “We did not detain anyone.”