Al Jazeera apologises for comments against Islam

Web posted at: 3/7/2008 2:30:48
Source ::: The Peninsula

Doha • The Aljazeera Arabic News Channel has apologized to its viewers for offensive comments against Islam made by "Wafa Sultan, a Syrian- born lady" a guest of its last Tuesday programme Al Itijah Al Mu'akis (The Opposite Direction).

The live debate programme was on the reprinting of cartoons in Denmark that insult the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). The channel had also cancelled the rerun of the programme which was to be telecast on Wednesday and Thursday.

The programme had drawn a massive reaction through telephone calls, faxes, and email from inside and outside Qatar criticizing and denouncing the comment made by the guest, Al Sharq daily has said it learnt, adding that the programme had further generated a strong outrage among the channel's staff.

Muslim scholars have, too, strongly criticized the programme, rejecting the argument by some people to defend freedom of speech.

Mowafi Azab, a scholar working with Ministry of Awqaf, said: “We hope for an international law to be in place to curb such cultures which would only increase hatred among people and youngsters, in particular.” He added: "It would be good if the channel had stopped the live debate that day."

Ahmed Al Bouaynen, another scholar and Imam of an Al Wakrah Mosque, said that it was better not to host such guest who has been known for her "offensive" remarks against Islam.

Iraq blast wounds Polish ambassador

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E2E92F8B-EDEF-4230-9F3F-6F20C50344D6.htm Two people died in the attack which targeted the Polish ambassador [AFP] Poland's ambassador to Iraq has been wounded in an apparent assassination attempt after a roadside bomb exploded in central Baghdad, killing two people, Iraqi and Polish officials have said. One bystander and one of the ambassador's bodyguards died in the blast, while 14 people were wounded, including ambassador Edward Pietrzyk, officials said. Sources told Al Jazeera three diplomatic cars were struck by the blasts on Wednesday shortly after leaving the embassy compound in al-Arasat. "The ambassador was injured, but was able to leave the scene," Robert Szaniawski, a Polish foreign ministry spokesman, said from Warsaw, Poland's capital. "Three cars in the Polish convoy were destroyed in the attack," he said. 'Assassination attempt' Officials described the attack as an assassination attempt. Bartosz Weglarczyk, the deputy foreign editor of Gazeta Wyborcza, told Al Jazeera that the attack was "well planned". Your Views "Iraq is still under foreign occupation and Iraqis continue to die in great numbers" albaghawy, Luxembourg Send us your views "It was just two or three blocks away from the Polish embassy in Baghdad," he said. "It means the attack [had been] planned for a long time. The attackers knew who was in the convoy and what their target was." Reuters Television pictures showed a European-looking man with his head, leg and hands bandaged being evacuated in a helicopter which had landed in the street. Iraqi soldiers said the man, who was surrounded by security guards and troops, was the Polish ambassador. They said other wounded people had been taken to the so-called Green Zone for treatment. Pietrzyk was being treated for burns, Waldemar Figaj, the deputy ambassador, said later. "He is going to be fine," he said. 'No withdrawal' Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the Polish prime minister, said that Poland would not withdraw its troops from Iraq in response to the attack. "Desertion is always the worst option," Kaczynski said. "This is a difficult situation, but those who became engaged and were there for years and then withdrew are making the worst possible mistake." Poland backed the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 which toppled Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi president at the time. At the height of its involvement, Poland had 2,500 soldiers in Iraq, though it currently has about 900 troops in the country and the mission has lost popular support at home. Poland's ruling party, which faces a snap election on October 21, supports extending the Iraq mission beyond the end of the year even though a majority of Poles want the the soldiers to return home. Diplomats killed Some opposition parties are also calling for an end to the mission. Weglarczyk told Al Jazeera: "What happened in Baghdad today will change nothing. "Poles don't like to be pushed to do something and we don't like to be threatened ... I don't think it will change the attitude of Polish society toward the Iraq war." A number of diplomats have been killed in Baghdad since the invasion began. Last year four Russian diplomats were abducted and killed and in 2005 fighters said they had killed Ihab el-Sherif, the Egyptian mission chief. In the same year, Bahrain's envoy was also shot and wounded when fighters opened fire on his car. Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Volcano erupts off Yemen coast

The Canadian navy said it was trying to locate people believed missing [AP] A volcano has erupted on an island off Yemen's coast, spewing lava and ash hundreds of metres into the air, Canadian naval officials and the Yemeni state news agency said. The eruption occurred on Jabal al-Tair island, about 130km from Yemen and at least nine Yemeni soldiers were reported missing from a military installation. A government official told Reuters news agency: "At least eight are regarded as dead now." It was not clear how many people were stationed on the island, which is used for naval control and observation because large cargo ships pass nearby. Khaled Mahfoudh Bahah, Yemen's oil minister, said several earthquakes were felt on the island on Sunday which triggered the eruption. Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Yemeni president, gave instructions to Yemen's navy to send rescue teams to the island, state news agency Saba said. 'Catastrophic' Ken Allan, a Canadian navy spokesman, said a Nato fleet just outside the territorial waters of the island reported seeing a "catastrophic volcanic eruption" at 7pm (16:00 GMT) on Sunday. "At this time, the entire island is aglow with lava and magma as it pours down into the sea. We do not have confirmation of how many people were on this island at the time of the eruption," Allan said in an email. "The lava is spewing hundreds of feet into the air, with the volcanic ash also [rising] a thousand feet in the air." Saba said a military garrison on the island was being evacuated. The Canadian armed forces said it was trying to locate nine people believed to be at sea after Yemen's coast guard requested help. The Nato fleet was sailing towards the Suez Canal when it spotted the eruption. The government of Yemen asked Nato to assist in the search for survivors and the closet ship, the HMCS Toronto, is heading towards the island. By english.aljazeera.net

Afghan troops killed in bus bomb

Aid workers freed in Afghanistan

An ICRC staff member, right, stands with the Taliban as he is being released in Wardak province [Reuters] Four employees of the Red Cross have been freed in Afghanistan, after being captured four days ago. The four - two Afghans, one from Myanmar and one from Macedonia - are back in Kabul, according to an AFP photographer at the office of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) in the capital. They were freed "after being seized by an armed group in Wardak province," the ICRC had said in a statement that made no reference to the Taliban. However, a Taliban spokesman had confirmed earlier on Saturday that they had "mistakenly" kidnapped the aid workers. Franz Rauchenstein, deputy head of the ICRC delegation in Kabul, said: "The unconditional release of our four colleagues is a great relief to us and their families." Suicide attack Meanwhile, at least 31 people have died after a bomb tore through a bus carrying Afghan soldiers in the country's capital, Kabul. The explosion on Saturday morning, carried out by a suicide bomber in army uniform, split the bus in two. The Taliban said it carried out the attack, and told Al Jazeera it was carried out by a 28-year-old suicide bomber. The health and defence ministries have said that most of the dead were military personnel, going to work at the defence ministry, but several civilians were also killed. The blast shattered nearby shop windows in the residential suburb. Sayed Mohammad Amin Fatemi, the public health minister, said: "At this time I can tell you that 31, almost all of them military personnel, have been martyred." In video Watch Farid Barsoum's report on the Taliban's combat weaponry Fatemi also said that 17 of the wounded were in a critical condition. Easy target The attacker detonated explosives strapped to his body as he approached the bus, the ministry said in a statement. Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher in Kabul reported that the blast was so loud it could be heard across the city. Fisher said: "This was a very busy intersection. The bus was travelling through the town, picking up army personnel from a number of checkpoints." He also said that the Taliban targets the Afghan army and police because it is easier to reach them than foreign forces operating in the country. The Taliban says it will continue to target them. Hamid Karzai, the president, called for "stronger vigour" worldwide after this latest bombing. Karzai said: "It was an act of extreme cowardice on the part of those that committed it. The person who did this was against humanity, and against Islam." The attack is the deadliest in Kabul since an explosion on a police bus in June that killed as many as 35 people. Carnage Mohammad Azim, a police officer at the scene, said: "For 10 or 15 seconds, it was like an atom bomb - fire, smoke and dust everywhere," Azim said. People gather at the blast site as a clear up operation starts [Reuters] Sulahdin, an army officer at the scene who goes by one name, said there were more than 50 people on the bus at the time of the explosion. One witness, Ahmad Jaweed, told Al Jazeera that he saw several corpses belonging to military personnel being removed from the site, along with local residents. Television pictures had also showed soldiers being pulled from the wreckage. Some of the dead were still in their seats. Month of 'operations' Zabihullah Mujahed, a Taliban spokesman, said the attack was part of Operation Nasrat (Triumph), a military campaign launched during the holy month of Ramadan. There have been more than 100 suicide attacks in Afghanistan this year, many blamed on the Taliban. While most attacks occur in remote areas in the south and east of Afghanistan, there have been a series of blasts inside Kabul this year. This attack was the first inside the heavily patrolled capital since a suicide bomb struck a Nato armoured vehicle on September 21, killing a French soldier and wounding several Afghans

Source: Al Jazeera and Agencies

Iran: US is world's real threat

The American and Israeli delegations were not in chamber to hear Ahmadinejad's speech [AFP]
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has accused the US of being the world's "real threat" and defended his country's nuclear programme.

In a 40-minute speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Ahmadinejad accused Washington and its allies of carrying out human rights abuses.

He said: "Human rights are being extensively violated by certain powers, especially by those who pretend to be their exclusive advocates.

"Setting up secret prisons, abducting persons, trials and secret punishments without any regard to due process ... have become commonplace."

'Rights sacrificed'

"The rights and dignity of the American people are also being sacrificed for the selfish desires of those holding power," he added.


Your Views

"The countries that feel threatened ... should prepare for defence, and even counterattack"

Adolfo Talpalar, Stockholm, Sweden

Send us your views
Ahmadinejad also used his speech to say the issue of Iran's nuclear programme was "closed" and should be handled by the UN nuclear watchdog.

Without specifically naming them, he accused Washington and its allies of bullying Iran - which they say is trying to develop nuclear weapons - and putting pressure on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for their own purposes.

Ahmadinejad said: "Fortunately, the IAEA has recently tried to regain its legal role as supporter of the rights of its members while supervising nuclear activities.

"Today, because of the resistance of the Iranian nation, the issue is back to the agency, and I officially announce that in our opinion the nuclear issue of Iran is now closed and has turned into an ordinary agency matter," he said, adding Iran was prepared to have "constructive talks with all parties".

US silent

Addressing the General Assembly earlier in the session George Bush, the US president, made little reference to Iran.

Instead, both Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and Nicholas Sarkozy, the French president, sought to increase pressure on the Islamic republic, saying they would not accept a nuclear-armed Iran.

Merkel, said: "if Iran were to acquire the nuclear bomb, the consequences would be disastrous."

Sarkozy told the session: "Iran is entitled to nuclear power for civilian purposes, but to allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapon is an unacceptable risk to the stability of the region and the stability of the world."

Iraq invasion criticised

Ahmadinejad also used his speech to criticise the US-led invasion of Iraq, which he said was "occupied under the pretext of overthrowing the dictator and the existence of weapons of mass destruction".

He criticised the UN Security Council for being an exclusive club answerable to no one, saying that those in power were in the "sunset of their times".

He also voiced support for the Palestinians, saying: "The Palestinian people have been displaced or are under heavy military pressure, economic siege or are incarcerated under abhorrent conditions.

"The occupiers are protected and praised, while the innocent Palestinians are subjected to political, military and propaganda onslaughts."

Neither the US nor the Israeli delegation stayed to listen to the Iranian leader's speech.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FB085194-ABDC-4D1C-82C4-8F24FAAFA8CC.htm

How September 11 changed the US 11-Sept-07

US warned in 'bin Laden video'

Al jazeera fight HAHA WATCH IT! English "Translation"

Bin Laden threatens Iraq escalation

Bin Laden threatens Iraq escalation

Bin Laden was last seen in a video message nearly three years ago [AFP/SITE Intelligence Group] Osama bin Laden has used his first videotape message in nearly three years to threaten to escalate the violence in Iraq and attack the US government. The video, which was released just days before the sixth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks, urges Americans to turn to Islam if they want the Iraq war to end. Bin Laden derides George Bush, saying events in Iraq have spun "out of control" and the US president "is like the one who ploughs and sows the sea: he harvests nothing but failure". Convert or else The tape, released on Friday, ends with bin Laden telling US citizens that they should "embrace Islam" if they want the war in Iraq to end. According to a transcript released by a US-based website which monitors radical websites, bin Laden suggests that there are two ways the Iraq war could be ended. Bin Laden's speech Extracts from bin Laden's video address "The first is from our side, and it is to continue to escalate the killing and fighting against you," he said. The second is for the US to abandon its democratic system of government. He said that US Democrats had failed to stop the Iraq war because of the power of US corporations. "The mistakes of Brezhnev are being repeated by Bush," Bin Laden said on the tape, in a reference to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan which began in 1979. He said the war in Iraq was continuing for "the same reasons which led to the failure of former president [John F] Kennedy to stop the Vietnam war - those with real power and influence are those with the most capital". 'Dangerous world' Commenting on the video from Sydney, Australia, where he is attending the Apec forum summit, Bush said the tape was "a reminder about the dangerous world in which we live, and it is a reminder that we must pull together to protect our people against these extremists who murder the innocent in order to achieve their political objective. "If al-Qaeda bothers to mention Iraq, it's because they want to achieve their objectives in Iraq, which is to drive attacks and develop a safe haven." Your Views "Osama has never been a threat to anyone's security, just for those who are aggressors" Euhunza, Karachi, Pakistan Send us your views The tape was released in advance of a testimony on Monday by General David Petraeus, the senior US commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Iraq, on the status of the so-called surge of US troops in Iraq. In the video, bin Laden is shown with his beard much shorter and darker than in his last appearance, when it was streaked with grey. A banner on the screen reads in English: "A message from Sheikh Osama bin Laden to the American people." Authenticity A US intelligence official told AFP news agency that the tape was probably produced as recently as early August because of a reference to the 62nd anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6. "I think people are pretty confident it is his voice," the intelligence official said on condition of anonymity said. References in the video to Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, and Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, are also believed to suggest that the video is only a few weeks old. Authenticity doubted Adel Darwish, political editor of Middle East magazine, told Al Jazeera that he had "doubts" about the authenticity of the tape. "Any kid these days with an electronic kit can alter images and edit the way that he or she likes," he said on Friday. In video Watch John Terrett's report on the purported bin Laden video "There is no close-up of bin Laden, the beard is thick and black and then there are large segments where the image is a still." Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera's senior political analyst, said bin Laden had released the video to tell the Americans that he was still alive and still leading. "[The tape] underlines the strength of words in this new asymmetrical warfare in the 21st century between the US and al-Qaeda," he said. Bin Laden was last seen in a video statement shortly before the US presidential election in 2004. Since then, he has issued a number of audio messages, the last in July 2006 when he vowed al-Qaeda would fight the US across the world.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Wafa Sultan speaks up on Aljazeera Channel