CD/DVD burners have been pretty popular in the market for quite some time now. With the increase in demands for songs, movies and downloads, CD/DVD burners allow for quick copying of soft format to hard format. You want to quickly put your precious collection of downloaded movies, dramas, and song files into hard copy so you can listen to them on DVD or your usual PC player.
Posts Tagged ‘Muhammad’
Pakistan test-fires 1,300 km missile
December 21st, 2010 |
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Pakistan Tuesday successfully test-fired the nuclear capable Ghauri Hatf-V missile that has a range of 1,300 km, an official statement said. The medium-range missile can carry a variety of warheads, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said. The missile was test fired at an unknown location. President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani [...]
Photoshop Tips and Tricks Posted By : Muhammad Suhail
November 21st, 2010 |
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Ever wondered why the fashion photo shoots of glamorous models that get printed on the cover of illustrious magazines are so picture perfect? Most magazines deny it but it is common knowledge that these photos are altered or should I say photo shopped as the popular term goes. Photoshop is revolutionary software that lets you do almost anything with graphics and photos as evident from the name.
Islam’s legal lexicon: How to speak sharia
October 14th, 2010 |
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Telling the fard from the fatwa
LITERALLY the “path” or “path to water”, sharia is a catch-all term for Islamic codes covering everything from social mores to crime. Based on the Koran and the sayings attributed to Muhammad, as well as the work of ulema (Muslim scholars), it is clear and strict in some matters (such as family law) and fluid and evolutionary in others (such as commerce). It comprises five main schools of interpretation (four Sunni and one Shia). In Muslim lands sharia courts are overseen by a kadi (judge) who will have studied both fiqh (legal interpretation) and how to apply qiyas (analogy).
Fiqh classifies behaviour into one of five categories: fard (mandatory), mustahabb (advisable), mubah (neutral), makruh (inadvisable), and haraam (prohibited). Huddud refers to the corporal and capital punishments that are laid down in traditional Islamic law for certain offences, including death by stoning for adultery. However, fatwa (ruling or opinion), contrary to popular opinion in the West, refers to theological, not legal, pronouncements in which one or more scholars opine on some pressing issue (the subjects of recent fatwas have ranged from questions of personal hygiene to the ethics of suicide-bombing). …
19 die as bomber rocks police station in Lakki
September 6th, 2010 |
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LAKKI MARWAT – At least 19 people including policemen and students were killed and 57 others got injured when a suicide bomber rammed his car into a police station here on Monday morning.
According to sources and eyewitnesses, a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden pickup into Lakki Police Station building at 07:00 a.m. causing massive destruction to the police station and nearby buildings. They said that policemen were inside the building while a number of people, mostly students, were passing by the police station on the old Katchery Road to reach their schools.
Intensity of the blast can be gauged from the destruction and damages it caused in the radius of one and a half furlongs, they maintained, saying that the building of police station was completely destroyed in the explosion.
A number of policemen were buried under the debris and wreckage of the building and rescue operation was immediately launched to dig out the injured and the dead. DCO Muhammad Ayyaz Mandokhel, DPO Gul Wali Khan and SSP Investigation Qayyum Jan Marwat also rushed towards the spot soon after the incident and themselves took part in the rescue work. Regional Police Officer Bannu Region also inspected the blast site.
Heavy machinery and excavators were brought to remove the rubbles of the destroyed buildings. Besides the police station building, the blast destroyed the building of Veterinary Hospital, City Hospital, offices of DSP Lakki, SSP Investigation, Assistant Director Livestock and District Collector, residence of Assistant Coordination Officer and several houses and shops in the locality. The blast also shattered shutters and windowpanes of shops in the locality.
Emergency was declared in the city hospitals. A team of doctors along with medicines also arrived Lakki from Bannu.
An official in Lakki City Hospital told reporters that 15 bodies, including seven of policemen, and 57 injured persons had been brought to the hospital so far. Four students, a primary schoolteacher and an Afghan woman are also among the dead, he added.
Due to explosion an electricity transformer and two power pylons installed outside the residence of ACO fell on a motorcar carrying schoolchildren. Many students were killed and injured in the incident.
Out of 57 wounded persons, 24 are police personnel and over eight are students. Eight wounded people were referred to Bannu while four others were taken to DI Khan in critical condition.
Sources told that 500 to 600 kg explosive material was used in the suicide attack. They said that experts collected evidence and parts of the vehicle used in the blast from the site and examined the crater caused by the explosion. Security was beefed up in the city and law enforcers were deputed on roads and streets leading to the site of the blast.
The cops who were killed in the blast included Qasim Khan, Ajab Khan, Muhammad Akram, Ghani Rehman, Hafeezullah, Muhammad Ishaq and Muhammad Hashim, while civilians who died in the explosions included Ms Batakha Bibi (Afghan national), Khalil-ur-Rehman (student), Ms Sehri Hayat (student), Asma Naheed (Student), Ismatullah (student), Faiz Rasool (schoolteacher) and two unknown persons.
The injured police personnel are Muhammad Arif, Munawar Khan, Khan Muhammad, Haroon Rashid, Javed Khan, Abdul Haq, Shehzada, Naqeebullah, Sifatullah, Terri Khan, Javed Iqbal, Faheemullah, Ikramullah, Muhammad Aslam, Muhammad Idrees, Naseer Khan, Muhammad Ayyaz, Fakhar Alam, Illauddin, Afsar Khan, Mamoor Khan, Muhammad Hayya, Muhammad Amin and Zeshaan.
Civilians who were wounded in the explosions included Hafiz Ihasan-ur-Rehman, his brother Shafiur Rehman, Muhammad Hasan, Muhammad Hanif, Fazal Rehman, Samiullah, Sifatullah, Wahid Ali, Sher Bahadar, Kamran, Israruddin, Fayazuddin, Waqaruddin, Jamal Khan, Majid, Muhammad Farooq, Israr Ali, Rustam Khan, Gul Nawaz, Faizullah, Suhail, Kalimullah, Ibrahim, Ikramullah, Ameer Jehan, Naveed Akhtar, Fatima Bibi, Javeria, Farhat, Naveed Asif, Khursheed Begum, Khizar Hayat and wife of Pir Ghulam.
Reuters adds: A Taliban suicide bomber rammed his car into a police station in northwest Pakistan on Monday killing at least 19 people, police said, in a new wave of attacks by al Qaeda-linked militants. The recent bombings end a relative lull in militant violence over the past month and turn up the heat on a government overwhelmed by devastating floods that have made millions homeless and hammered the economy.
Nearly 100 people were killed last week in suicide bombings on processions of minority Shiite Muslims in the eastern city of Lahore and southwestern city of Quetta. “It goes to show that the terrorists have no creed except bloodshed and chaos, and are desperately carrying out their agenda regardless of the precarious conditions,” Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told a meeting of provincial officials.
PakistanÂ’s Taliban claimed responsibility for MondayÂ’s attack in the town of Lakki Marwat, warning the government not to use lashkar or militias to fight the group. The bomber struck a school van before hitting the rear wall of the police station. The blast turned most of the police station into rubble. Burned-out cars were flipped on their sides.
“Nineteen people have been killed. There are nine policemen and two children among the dead,” said the Information Minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, Mian Iftikhar Hussain. Hussain said 34 people, including 20 policemen, were wounded.
Earlier this year, a suicide bomber blew himself up in an SUV at a volleyball game, killing nearly 100 people in a village near Lakki Marwat in one of the deadliest attacks in the country. PakistanÂ’s Taliban have been fighting to topple the US-backed government for years. Their ambitions have grown, complicating the US war on militancy.
Bloodbath as bomber rips through Quetta rally
September 3rd, 2010 |
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QUETTA – As many as 59 people were killed and over 120 including seven journalists suffered serious injuries in a deadly suicide blast, targeting Youm-al-Quds rally at Meezan Chowk of the provincial capital on Friday.
Banned religious outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has accepted responsibility for the attack. Unruly protesters burnt vehicles, ransacked public properties, shops and fired gunshots on media persons.
Hundreds of people from Shia community while leading a rally opposing IsraelÂ’s control of Jerusalem and showing solidarity with Palestinians were passing from Meezan Chowk when a suicide bomber blew himself up right in the middle of the procession. As a result, over 40 people died on the spot and more than 120 people suffered serious wounds. Heavy firing was also heard soon after the blast while several shops were also damaged due to the blast.
The injured and the deceased were shifted to Civil Hospital, Bolan Medical Complex Hospital and Combined Military Hospital where another 15 injured succumbed to their wounds.
An emergency was declared in all government hospitals following the suicide blast. Hospital sources said that 11 bodies were brought to Civil Hospital, 44 to CMH and four were moved to BMC. However, official sources confirmed only 43 casualties.
Driver of a private TV channel namely Sarwar was also killed in the blast while seven journalists, including Noor Elahi Bugti, Ejaz Raisani, Fateh Shakir, Mustafa Tareen, Shahid, Irshad Mastoi and Imran Muktiar suffered serious wounds. After the blast, a large number of people suffered injuries due to stampede in the procession.
Sources said that several people also sustained injuries due to firing that followed the blast. The victims of the blast were shifted to hospital in rickshaws and other available vehicles owing to shortage of ambulances at the blast scene. The critical injured were later shifted to CMH after getting first-aid in Civil Hospital.
Some deceased were identified as Gul Muhammad, Muhammad Javed, Hussain Ali, Naseebullah, Imran, Talib Hussain, Mehdi Hussain, Muhammad Hussain, Syed Abass, Raza Zargar, Ejaz Sarwar, Jalil Ahmed, Barat Ali and Raja Anwar.
The blast was far more deadly and people were seen lying in pools of blood everywhere. “I was witnessing the rally which was heading towards Meezan Chowk when suddenly a huge explosion followed by intense firing took place and people started running helter-skelter,” an eyewitness told TheNation.
Another witness, Naseer Ahmed, that he heard the blast on his way from Shahra-e-Iqbal. “I headed towards the direction of the blast after a few seconds, I heard gunshots, and immediately left the area,” he said. Soon after the blast, shopkeepers pulled down shutters in all main markets and people starting running towards their homes while the public transport disappeared and many people, who had come to the bazaar, had to travel on foot.
In the meantime, several groups of furious people started attacking the public property and vehicles in different areas of the City. More than five vehicles, including a vehicle of security forces and five motorcycles and several shops were set on fire. The infuriated protestors who had gathered outside Civil Hospital Quetta blocked Jinnah Road and also made gunshots on journalists who were covering the incident. However, luckily they remained unhurt in the attack.
Police sources said that when the rally reached Alamdar Road, DIG (Operations) Hamid Shakeel and some other police officers stopped participants from heading towards Meezan Chowk due to security threats but instead of following the instruction they attacked police with sticks and marched towards Meezan Chowk.
IG Balochistan Malik Mohammad Iqbal told the media that the police had earlier tried to stop the rally from going towards Meezan Chowk citing security concerns but the participants refused to follow the instructions. “There were some intelligence reports about any unpleasant incident that is why the rally was requested to follow the planned route but they refused to do so,” he added.
Sources said that due to Juma prayers already foolproof security arrangements were made as police backed by Balochistan Constabulary, Anti-Terrorist Force and Frontier Corps were deployed outside all imambargahs and mosques while tight security arrangements were also made at Meezan Chowk. “Police had also placed barricades to stop procession towards Meezan Chowk but they broke them and the tragic incident occurred,” they added.
Police sources said that head and other body parts of alleged suicide bomber had been recovered from the blast site who was aged between 20 and 22 and further investigations were underway.
Bomb Disposal Squad officials said the bomber used suicide vest weighing 10 to 15 kg to carry out the attack.
Meanwhile, Spokesman of banned religious outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Ali Sher Haideri calling from unspecified location via satellite phone claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on the rally of Youm-al-Quds.
Governor Balochistan Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi and Chief Minister Balochistan Nawab Aslam Raisani have condemned the suicide attack and expressed grief over the loss of precious lives in the incident.
On the other hand, Chairman Tahaffuz Azadari Council Pakistan Muhammad Rahim Jaffari strongly condemned the suicide blast and described it failure of provincial government. He announced observing 40 days of mourning over the tragic incident and a shutter-down strike on Saturday (today) in Quetta.
Unrelenting floods swamp Naseerabad
August 15th, 2010 |
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QUETTA – Floodwater coming from Sindh has played havoc in Jaffarabad and Naseerabad districts of Balochistan on Sunday, killing 12 people and washed away over four thousand villages and forcing hundreds of thousands of people to abandon their homes and seek safety under the open skies.
Following breaches in a number of embankments on the Indus River, flash floods started roared towards Balochistan, inundating a number of towns including Dera Allahyar, Rojhan Jamali, Sohbatpur, Manjho Shori, Baba Kot and Chhatar. Official sources said 12 people including women and children have died in flood-related incidents in Naseerabad district.
A large number of people have started moving towards safer places in wee hours of Sunday after emergent evacuation of towns was announced by the local administration.
Sources said eight feet water flooded Dera Allahyar that had damaged hundreds of houses and forced people to take refuge on the rooftops of the buildings.
Deputy Commissioner Jaffarabad Dr Saeed Jamali told media persons that local administration was utilising all available resources to rescue the affected people. He said the affectees were being shifted to safer places on emergent basis, and official and public transports were being hired for this purpose.
A big flow of water in Indus River was passing from Jaffarabad due to which the Dera Allahyar and Jhat Pat have been submerged in the floodwater. Sources said that in order to protect Shahbaz Airbase, which is located in Jacobabad city, floodwater was diverted towards Jaffarbad and Naseerabad areas of Balochistan that caused immense devastation in these districts.
Due to floodwater, electricity in five grid stations of Balochistan including Osta Muhammad, Rojhan Jamali, Sohbatpur, Jhal Magsi and Gandakha have been suspended from Shikarpur grid station. Official sources said floodwater had affected over 5,000 localities in Naseerabad Division while floods completely inundated district headquarters of Jaffarabad before heading towards Osta Muhammad and Gandakha.
Sources said Jhat Pat was completely under water while Sohbatpur was already swept away and residents had migrated towards Dera Murad Jamali. Officials said road and rail links between Quetta and rest of the country have been suspended again because of inundation of track and highway between Dera Allahyar and Jacobabad in Sindh.
Commissioner Naseerabad Division Sher Khan Bazi said floodwater entering into Balochistan from Jacobabad had caused colossal loss after washing away dozens of villages.
He said so far 12 people had been killed in Naseerabad due to floods while more than 150,000 had been affected and added that over 0.4 million flood-hit people of Sindh had migrated to Naseerabad and other adjoining areas that had further multiplied problems. He said shifting the affected people to the safer places was the first priority of the local government and it direly needed 10 helicopters and 15 boats so that marooned people could be shifted to safer places.
“Owing to non-availability of tents in market, flood affectees are compelled to live under open sky in the scorching heat,” DCO Nasirabad said and appealed philanthropists and citizens to come forward and take active part in relief activities.
Talking to newsmen, Brigadier Tahir said that four to five feet high floodwater had entered Dera Allahyar due to which hundreds of mudhouses collapsed. “Six helicopters and 14 trucks of Army are busy in rescuing trapped people,” he said and added the affected people need food, dates and biscuits on emergency basis.
He said the Army had distributed 780 tents among affectees. However, he said number of affected people were being increased and tent villages were being set up for temporary settlement of the flood-hit people. Reports said that floodwater after causing devastation in Rojhan Jamali had entered Osta Muhammad and the town had been evacuated.
Peshawar suicide attack kills FC Commandant
August 4th, 2010 |
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PESHAWAR – Commandant Frontier Constabulary Sifwat Ghayur was killed along with his three guards when a suicide bomber attacked his vehicle at FC Chowk near Deans Trade Centre on Wednesday.
According to CCTV footage, police sources and eyewitnesses, the suicide bomber targeted the vehicle of Sifwat Ghayur at traffic signal in FC Chowk. At least 10 other persons were also injured in the attack. The intensity of the attack was so severe that it jolted the entire city. Three vehicles were badly damaged while the dead bodies of the killed persons were retrieved after extinguishing fire.
The rescue teams rushed towards the site soon after the blast and shifted the injured persons to Lady Reading Hospital. The injured persons were identified as Shakirullah, Muhammad Aslam, Raza Muhammad, Khan Muhammad, Khalid, Arif Gul, Abdul Rahman, Pervez Imtiaz and Aziz-ur-Rahman while the deceased were identified as Yasir Nadeem, Pervez Iqbal and Azhar Mahmood.
Police and other law enforcement agencies cordoned off the area and started investigations. The head of the suicide bomber was recovered from the site. According to bomb disposal squad, eight kilograms explosive material was used in the attack.
Meanwhile, Tehreek-e-Taliban Darra Adamkhel Chapter claimed the responsibility of the attack.
The Provincial Government announced one-day mourning over the death of Sifwat Gahyur.
Commandant FC Sifwat Ghayur was born in 1959 and was the son of Mohammad Qayyum. He was the grandson of Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar, a prominent leader of the Pakistan Movement. He was brother-in-law of the Chief of Pakistan PeopleÂ’s Party (S) Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and cousin of incumbent DIG Peshawar Liaqat Ali Khan.
Sifwat joined police department as ASP Peshawar in 1981and also remained on key posts in Intelligence Bureau and FIA. He also remained Commandant National Police Academy for three years.
Expressing concern over the tragic death of Sifwat, Senior Minister KP Bashir Ahmad Bilour strongly condemned the incident and said that he was a valiant officer who aggressively dealt militancy and anti-social elements.
KP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that they saluted Sifwat and his fellows who had been martyred in the suicide attack. He said that terrorists could not deter GovernmentÂ’s determination through such mean tactics and the war against them would be continued till logical end.
Agencies add: The suicide bomber struck his explosives-laden motorcycle with the vehicle of Commandant Sifwat Ghayur while he was coming out from FC headquarters in Cantonment area.
The officer was killed on the spot while there are reports that his four gunmen were also killed. The vehicle was completely destroyed in the attack.
The body of what appeared to be a teenage boy lay at the bombsite. His head and legs were severed, an AFP reporter said.
“We killed him, he was our target… all such officers who are active against us will suffer the same fate,” Azam Tariq, a spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, told AFP by telephone.
The precise nature of how the attack was carried out remained unclear.
“It seems the attacker was on foot. He was 13 to 14 years old and he blew himself up near Sifwat Ghayur’s car, but we are still investigating it further,” Shafqat Malik, bomb disposal chief in Peshawar, told AFP.
But one witness told a private television channel that he saw the explosion after a car approached the vehicle in which Ghayur had been present.
Two vehicles were seen engulfed in flames after the attack.
WednesdayÂ’s bombing comes with Pakistan struggling to provide relief to around 3.2 million people affected by the countryÂ’s worst floods in living memory in the northwest and central Punjab.
It was the first deadly suicide attack since July 26 when a bomber killed seven people as he targeted senior officials mourning the murdered son of KP Information Minister.
Militants hiding in South Punjab come out
May 30th, 2010 |
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LAHORE – Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Sunday hidden terrorists in South Punjab had now come in the open with their nefarious designs, and Friday’s terrorist attacks in Lahore were a manifestation of their presence in the region.
He said foreign students would not be allowed to get admission to any religious school in Pakistan.
Talking to the media after visiting AhmadisÂ’ Model Town worship place here, Malik said terrorists who carried out two simultaneous attacks in Lahore on Friday belonged to South Punjab and had their roots in Balochistan and FATA.
He said out of 1,764 persons associated with the two banned religious outfits, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jaish-e-Muhammad, 726 belonged to South Punjab. The minister said he was not here to confront Punjab government but to seek its cooperation to jointly fight the terrorists. He also appealed to the Punjab Chief Minister to make the inquiry report on Gojra tragedy public.
The minister said after successful military operations in Swat and FATA, the government would now focus on South Punjab. To chalk out a strategy in this regard, he added, a meeting of the four chief ministers, home secretaries and IGs would soon be held in Islamabad. He said federal government would soon bring a legislation in the Parliament for protection of minoritiesÂ’ rights given to them by the Constitution.
He said banned organisations like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jaish-e-Muhammad had links with Al-Qaeda, which carried out terrorist attacks in Punjab after getting training.
He said forces working on agenda to destabilise Pakistan had started their activities in the heart of Pakistan (Punjab), after being defeated in Swat and FATA. “Terrorists won’t be able to demoralise us as government is determined to launch more attacks against the terrorists,” he affirmed.
The federal minister further said the government would set up a Wafaqul Madaris authority to regulate religious seminaries where a uniform syllabus also including the subjects of English and Mathematics would be taught to students. The minister informed the media that religious schools would not be allowed to give admission to foreign students according to the new regulations. He said out of total 20,000 religious schools, 17,000 had already been registered. According to him, 44 per cent of madaris out of a total of 20,000 were located in South Punjab.
Malik also visited Jinnah and Services Hospitals to inquire after the health of persons injured during the FridayÂ’s terrorist attacks.
Facebook, YouTube Banned in Pakistan
May 21st, 2010 |
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The Pakistani government temporarily blocked Facebook and YouTube due to what it describes as sacrilegious content. A Facebook group encouraging the submission of images of Muhammad ignited protests throughout Pakistan, leading to a ruling that blocks the social network until May 31. Facebook responded to the incident with a cautious statement, while a Facebook group opposing the original group is attracting attention. – The Pakistani government temporarily blocked in-country access to
YouTube May 20, a day after barring Facebook, and accused both Websites of
sacrilege, following protests across Pakistan
in reaction to a Facebook group titled, quot;Everybody Draw Mohammed
Day! quot;
That Facebook group asked …
Facebook blocked in Pakistan
May 19th, 2010 |
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LAHORE – The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday directed PTA authorities to temporarily block Facebook till May 31st and declared ‘banned’ the website for holding a ‘competition’ of blasphemous caricatures of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on the website.
Mr Justice Ijaz Chaudhry issued the order to ban and block Facebook on a petition filed by the Islamic Lawyers Forum, which sought a complete ban on the website.
Justice Ijaz directed the Foreign Ministry to raise the issue of the blasphemous caricatures at the international level against owners of the Facebook website.
He also directed the Foreign Secretary to register a protest with the concerned Western countries. Besides, banning the website temporarily the court also sought a detailed reply on the matter from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). Earlier, PTA Director Mudassar Hassan appearing before the court submitted that URL link of Facebook website which showed profane caricatures had already been closed down. About complete ban on Facebook, the PTA Director said a total ban on website may cause some problems for Pakistan at international level as it will result in economic loss to the country besides possible disruption in Internet service also. However, lawyers present in the court in large number built pressure on the PTA Director saying what may come being Muslims they wanted complete ban on the website which played with religious sentiments of Muslims.
However, banning the website till May 31 the court in its order said users of the website, if any, in Pakistan would be sued under criminal law and asked PTA to submit a detailed reply in this regard on the next date of hearing of the case.
Following protests in several parts of Pakistan against the posting of the caricatures on Facebook and a competition on the blasphemous cartoons that will continue till May 20, several Internet Service Providers restricted access to the website.
Protests against the caricatures were organised by religious parties like the Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Jamiat Tulba and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam in Lahore, Kasur, Narowal, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi and Peshawar on Tuesday.
A Pakistan Telecommunication Authority official said, ‘Despite thousands of requests, Facebook didn’t pull down this page even though it violated Facebook’s own terms of services’.
Chaudhry Zulfikar, the lawyer who filed the petition on behalf of the Islamic Lawyers Forum, said that a competition on the caricatures was announced on Facebook on April 20 and it would continue till May 20. Members of the website were invited to draw caricatures of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and participate in the competition, he said.
Zulfikar said Article 2-A of the Constitution bars any practice against Islam in the country. Websites having various features against the injunctions of Islam have already been banned in several Islamic countries, he added.
The PTA has already blocked several blasphemous and contemptuous websites but is reluctant to act against Facebook, Zulfikar said.
APP adds: Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has directed all concerned operators in the country to block website www.facebook.com till further orders.
These directions have been issued in compliance with the directions issued by Ministry of IT and Telecom (MoIT) in view of the decision of the Lahore High Court (LHC).
Earlier on May 18, PTA issued instructions to all the operators to block the objectionable link/URL on facebook which were immediately blocked. PTA has established a Crisis Cell to monitor all such contents. PTAÂ’s helpline toll free number 0800-55055 and email www.complaint@pta.gov.pk can be used to report the URL where some objectionable material is placed.
“South Park†Prophet Mohammad Episode “CENSORED†After Threats From Radical Muslim Group
April 22nd, 2010 |
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Has South Park gone too far this time? Producers of the irreverant Comedy Central series South Park beeped out the words Prophet Muhammad and plastered its Wednesday episode with the word “CENSORED” after being issued a grim warning by a radical New York-based Muslim group this week.In a description of last night’s episode, the network wrote: [...]
Radical Islamic Website Issues Warning To “South Park†Creators
April 20th, 2010 |
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A radical Islamic website is warning the creators of the long-running Comedy Central series South Park that they could face violent retribution for depicting the Prophet Muhammad in a bear suit during an episode broadcast airing week, CNN.com reported Tuesday.In a description of tomorrow night’s episode, the network writes: “South Park is in danger [...]
Bomber hits Quetta hospital
April 16th, 2010 |
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QUETTA – A suicide bomber killed at least 11 people, including a cameraman of private TV channel and police officials, in an attack outside the emergency ward of Quetta Civil Hospital on Friday while about 35 persons including PPP MNA Agha Nasir and several journalists sustained injuries in the incident.
The main target of the suicide attack was the PPP legislator and the people belonging to Hazara community who had arrived at the hospital after the target killing of Arshad Zaidi, son of President Balochistan Shia Conference.
According to details, unidentified motorcyclists armed with sophisticated weapons shot dead Bank Manager Arshad Zaidi on Shahra-e-Iqbal on Friday morning. He was shifted to Civil Hospital Quetta where he succumbed to his injuries.
As the news of ZaidiÂ’s murder spread, a large number of people belonging to Hazara community started reaching the hospital. PPP MNA Agha Nasir also reached the hospital and was present outside the emergency ward along with a large number of people when a suicide bomber blew himself up. As a result, eight people including two DSPs, identified as Zahir Shah Kazmi and Ghulam Muhammad, officials of FIA and Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF), and a senior TV cameraman Malik Arif died on the spot.
About 35 people including six media persons of private channels identified as Malik Sohail, Khalil Ahmed, Noor Elahi Bugti, Salman Ashraf, Naseer Kakar and Farid sustained injuries. The media persons were in the hospital to cover the protest of people against killing of Arshad Zaidi. Heavy firing was also heard in the area after the blast. “Soon after the huge blast, there followed a heavy firing that caused panic in the hospital. I saw people running helter-skelter to save their lives”, an eyewitness told The Nation.
An emergency was declared in the Civil Hospital and majority of the injured were later shifted to Bolan Medical Complex Hospital and CMH for further treatment because emergency ward of hospital and other nearby wards were damaged due to the severe blast.
DIG (Investigations) Qazi Abdul Wahid said it was a suicide bomb blast of sectarian nature. He said that after blast unknown people started firing from the roof of the hospital. “We have recovered head of the alleged bomber,” the DIG said.
The blast rocked the city and shattered windowpanes of the hospital, nearby buildings, vehicles and caused fear among the patients in the hospital.
Khalil Ahmed, reporter of a private TV channel who also got injured in the blast told The Nation that as PPP MNA Agha Nasir reached the hospital, a young boy aged between 18 to 19, having a small beard and looking like an Afghani detonated explosives strapped on his body. “I fell on the ground after splinters hit my body,” he added. Heavy contingents of Frontier Constabulary and other law enforcement agencies reached the spot after the blast and cordoned off the area. The security in the city was put on high alert and heavy contingent of police and FC personnel were deployed outside Imam Bargahs and mosques to avoid further incidents. Hundreds of people hailing from Hazara community blocked Jinnah Road and other roads leading to Civil Hospital Quetta by burning tyres to protest incident of target-killing and suicide blasts. Shopkeepers closed their shops and business activities shortly after the incident.
Balochistan Shia Conference has strongly condemned the killing of Arshad Zaidi and suicide blast in Civil Hospital and announced 10 days mourning over both the incidents. Official sources said that around 14 kg explosives were used in the suicide blast.
Banned religious outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has claimed the responsibility for the suicide blast and killing of Arshad Zaidi.
Strongly condemning the incident, Balochistan Union of Journalists has announced three-day mourning over the killing of Malik Arif and other people. Malik Arif had been in the field of journalism for the past 30 years. He belonged to Sialkot but was currently residing in Quetta. He had been working with Samaa TV for the last two years. Earlier, he was attached with PTV 30 years and he had started his career as a light man and later on promoted as cameraman. He has been survived by four sons, a daughter and a widow.
Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Khan Raisani and Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi and have strongly condemned the suicide blast and appealed to the people to remain calm and foil the malicious designs of the anti-state elements. The Chief Minister has directed Home Department for submitting a comprehensive report about the suicide blast. He has also announced Rs 10 lakh each for the families of deceased police officials, Rs 500,000 each for the families of deceased hospital workers while Rs 400,000 each for families of other deceased persons.
He also announced Rs 100,000 for injured persons of suicide blast.
He strongly condemned the target killing of Arshad Zaidi and suicide blast
and directed authorities concerned for ensuring security of citizens and
immediate arrest of the perpetrators.
Meanwhile, two people were wounded in a bomb blast on Sariab Road of the provincial capital, said police on Friday. Unidentified people had planted an explosive device with a bicycle which was parked at Mir Ghai Khan Chowk. The device exploded and caused injuries to two people including a girl identified as Azra and 26-year-old Muhammad Asif who were passing through the area. The injured were taken to the Bolan Medical Complex Hospital for treatment. Police and personnel of Frontier Corps reached the site after the blast and cordoned off the area.
Meanwhile, Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ghulam Shabbir Sheikh has said that ‘incidents of target killings could be eradicated through target killings’.
Addressing a Press conference here on Friday, he said that police arrested
culprits but they got released by court due to lack of evidence.
He said that 11 people including two DSPs, two police personnel and a cameraman of channel were killed and 26 others were wounded in suicide bomb blast in Quetta Civil Hospital where many people gathered after the murder of Arshad Zaidi at Manan Chowk.
He said that police succeeded in foiling an attempt of ransacking and looting public property by rioters at Manan Chowk and dispersed them.
To a query, CCPO said that incidents of target killings could only be eradicated through target killings because accused involved in target killings were released from courts.
‘Police had arrested a professor and other persons involved in bomb blasts in Khuzdar but courts released them’, he added.
Responding to a question, CCPO said that police did not conduct the autopsy of victims on the request of their relatives though it was very essential for investigations in such incidents.
Irish police arrest seven over cartoonist plot
March 10th, 2010 |
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Irish police arrested seven Muslims for planning to kill a Swedish cartoonist who drew a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad with a dog’s body. In response, several Swedish papers reprinted the cartoons on Wednesday.
Danish cartoonist intruder shot
January 2nd, 2010 |
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Danish police have shot and wounded a man at the home of Kurt Westergaard, whose cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad sparked an international row. Westergaard scrambled with his young granddaughter into a panic room at his home in Aarhus after a man wielding an axe and a knife broke in.
Peshawar courthouse blasted
November 19th, 2009 |
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PESHAWAR – At least 19 persons including three policemen were killed and 51 others got injured in a suicide blast here at the main entrance to Judicial Complex on Thursday.
Police sources and eyewitnesses informed that the suicide bomber got out of a taxi and tried to enter Judicial Complex at 10:30am. However ASI Khaista Gul deployed at the gate asked him for body search. On this, the suicide bomber tried to overpower Gul but the latter did not let him inside, resultantly he blew himself up at the crowded gate. 17 people including Gul and two other policemen were killed and 51 others sustained injuries, while the head of the suicide bomber was found on the rooftop of the Judicial Complex. The attacker had reportedly used 10 kilograms explosive material.
The blast was so powerful that it was heard several kilometres away. A number of vehicles were destroyed in the attack while the building sustained partial damages.
Soon after the blast, rescue teams and Edhi ambulances rushed towards the site and shifted the dead and the injured to the major hospitals of the City where emergency was declared. The condition of five injured persons was stated to be critical.
The personnel of police and Frontier Constabulary cordoned off the area and collected evidences. Later Speaker N.W.F.P. Assembly Karamatullah Chagharmati and DCO Sahibzada Anees visited the blast site and confirmed that it was a suicide blast.
According to SP Cantonment, Nisar Marwat, the suicide bomber wanted to enter Judicial Complex but he blew himself up after the cops asked him for body search. He said that the policemen sacrificed their lives to protect the lives of others, which was a matter of pride for the department.
Police also launched search operation in the area and arrested several suspected persons including some illegal afghan refugees.
The deceased were identified as Adil son of Safeer Hussain, Arshad son of Wahid Gul, Ayub son of Saifur Rehman, Fakhr-e-Alam son of Muhammad Alam, Fazal Hayat son of Badruddin, Ibrahim son of Muhammad Akram, Ahsan son of M. Akhtar, Imran Khan, Jawad Shah son of Qasim Shah, Khaista Gul son of Said Afzal, Murad son of Pir Bukhsh, Sakhawat son of Abdul Ghaffar, Sarwar son of Rasool, Umara Khan son of Rehmanud Din, Fazal Rahim, Gahayasud Din son of Zain-ud-Din and Samiullah Advocate.
The injured included Abdur Rehman son of Gul Feroz, Alam Zeb son of Fazl-e-Rehman, Amanatullah son of Sher Muhammad Khan, Amjad Murad son of Murad Khan, Asghar son of Amir Shah, Azhar son of Amin Shah, Bahramand son of Sarwar Khan, Firdus Khan son of Shah Wali Khan, Gul Wali son of Khair Wali, Hameedullah son of Ahmad Jan, Hayat Khan son of Murad Khan, Ibn-e-Amin son of Bashir Ahmad, Israel son of Abdul Latif, Javed son of Mohammad Yousaf, Jehanzeb son of Gul Rehman, Lali son of Mazhar Gul, Liaqat son of Sarfaraz, Mohammad Alam son of Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Rizwan son of Muhammad Abbaas, Misbah son of Samiullah, Mushtaq Ali Shah son of Mir Saeed Khan, Muzaffar Shah son of Noor Shah, Samiullah son of Naik Muhammad, Samiullah son of Zeshan, Sanubar Shah son of Ghulab Shah, Shafi Rehman son of Gul Rehman, Shahabullah son of Abdus Subhan, Shaheed son of Abdul Mateen, Shehzad son of Rahmanud Din, Tehseenullah Jan son of Abdullah Jan, Umar Hassan son of Shahum, Umar Hayat son of Pahlawan Shah, Zarghun Shah son of Payoo Khan and Ziaullah son of Samiullah.
Agencies add: A suicide bomber struck a court in Peshawar Thursday killing 19 and wounding 45 people, the sixth attack on the northwestern city in 11 days as troops press a major anti-Taliban offensive.
The bomber hit at the main gate of the building, near the five-star Pearl Continental Hotel on Khyber Road. Blood, flesh and shattered window glass littered the ground outside the court building, whose main gate was uprooted and where an old man who used to repair spectacles and fountain pens was killed, an AFP reporter said.
“It was a suicide blast. The attacker was on foot and was trying to enter the Judicial Complex. When the security personnel stopped him, he blew himself up,” Sahib Zada Anis, head of the city’s administration, told reporters.
“The death toll has risen to 19 as three seriously injured died in hospital,” Anis told AFP.
Police said the bomber blew himself up as a van carrying prisoners passed. “It was a huge explosion. I saw smoke and dust everywhere. I fell on the stairs and then I started running to save my life,” said Haji Hijab Gul, who was walking upstairs to court when he heard the blast.
The attack came just three days after a suicide bomber blew up a car packed with explosives, killing four people in a suburb as children were going to school, devastating a mosque, damaging a college and police station.
Security forces are on the front line of a deadly Al-Qaeda-linked campaign that has killed more than 2,550 people in 29 months across the country and has recently increased in intensity.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for ThursdayÂ’s bombing, but Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has vowed to attack the cities to avenge a military assault on its South Waziristan stronghold, now into a fifth week.
Sniper who terrorised Washington executed
November 11th, 2009 |
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John Allen Muhammad was executed on Tuesday for masterminding and carrying out with his teenage accomplice the 2002 sniper shootings that killed 10 people and terrified the Washington, D.C., region a year after the September 11 and the deadly anthrax attacks. The 48-year-old Muhammad
Washington, DC Sniper John Allen Muhammad Execution Tuesday
November 10th, 2009 |
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Unless Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine steps in, sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad will be executed Tuesday for the attacks that terrorized the Nation’s Capital for three weeks in 2002.