TASEK PAUH blogspot

July 10 - In this week’s message, Mr. Mohamed Mahdi Akef, the MB chairman shed light on the state of tension, especially in Arab and Islamic world, resulting from differences of stances between people and their rulers. In the time people’s awareness of the importance of development, governments in many of these countries insist on marginalizing, and sometimes canceling, the role of people through pressure and hindering laws. This results in preventing people of doing their duties and gaining their rights.

He added that this the age of peoples and their will which is the source of authorities. He gave Ukrane as an example. Changes took place in its regime through its people’s peacful, effective and strong demonstrations. He said that tyranny, injustice and oppression do not build nations. Justice is the base of ruling. God lets the just nation win and does not let the unjust one win even if it is a Muslim one. He indicated that Qura’an and Prophetic sayings support that. He added that the action of the people of our region is very clear. They are resisting occupation in Palestine and Iraq; interantional threats against Iran and Syria; and injustice and tyranny in all Arab and Muslim countries. Although regimes are using force to suppress their peoples, this will not last for long. more

Labels: Luar Negeri, Mesir

February 28 - The US will not meet any request by Italy to extradite 26 Americans, most thought to be CIA agents, to stand trial over the kidnapping of a Muslim imam, the US state department's legal adviser has said.

John Bellinger, at a news briefing in Brussels, said on Wednesday: "We've not got an extradition request from Italy.

"If we got an extradition request from Italy, we would not extradite US officials to Italy."

A Milan judge earlier this month ordered the Americans to stand trial with Italian spies for kidnapping a Muslim imam and flying him to Egypt, where he says he was tortured.

Among those indicted for the 2003 abduction are the former heads of the US Central Intelligence Agency in Rome and Milan, and Nicolo Pollari, the former head of Italy's SISMI military intelligence agency, defence lawyers in Italy said.

'Renditions' trial

Bellinger's comments confirm widespread expectations that Washington would not hand over the indictees, who will now most likely be tried in absentia when the trial begins on June 8.

The trial will be the first criminal case over "renditions" - one of the most controversial aspects of the US president's "war on terror".

Prosecutors say a CIA-led team, with SISMI's help, grabbed terrorism suspect Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, off a Milan street in February 2003, bundled him into a van and drove him to a military base in northern Italy.

From there, prosecutors allege the CIA flew him via Germany to Egypt where he says he was tortured with electric shocks, beatings, rape threats and genital abuse.

A European Parliament report published this month concluded that renditions were illegal and had gone on with the collusion of a number of European governments and their secret services.

Bellinger rejected the findings of the parliament report as "unbalanced, inaccurate and unfair". Agencies

Labels: Abu Umar, Berita, Luar Negeri, Mesir, U.S.

AlJazeera, February 16 - A Milan judge has ordered 26 US citizens, most of them believed to be CIA agents, to stand trial on charges of the 2003 abduction of an Egyptian imam.

At least five Italians, including Nicolo Pollari, the former head of Italian military intelligence, were also ordered to stand trial.

Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was allegedly snatched from a Milan street and flown to Egypt, where he said he was tortured.

It is expected to be the first criminal trial over "renditions", one of the most controversial aspects of the Bush administration's "war on terror".

The trial will be the biggest ever of US intelligence agents in an allied country, although they will almost certainly be tried in absentia.

The Italian government has not yet sought the US citizens' extradition.

Legal battle

Bob Seldon Lady, the former CIA station chief in Milan and one of the defendants, said via his lawyer last month that he did not recognise the court.

All of the US agents have court-appointed lawyers, who have said they have had no contact with their clients.

Alessia Sorgato, a lawyer who represents three Americans, said she was happy about the ruling because she would be able to fully argue the case in court.

Judge Caterina Interlandi ordered the trial to start on June 8.

An Italian policeman, Luciano Pironi, has recieved a 21-month prison sentence as part of a plea-bargain deal after admitting stopping Omar on the street so the CIA could grab him.

He says the CIA told him they were trying to recruit Omar and that the operation was approved by Rome and the US.

Pollari says Italian military intelligence did nothing wrong but has not co-operated with the court, saying the evidence is covered by the state secrets act.

'Wreck'

Omar said he was snatched from a Milan street and bundled into a van.

The cleric is thought to have been taken to the US air base in Aviano, northern Italy and from there transported to Egypt.

Omar was released from prison on Sunday and says he would like to return to Italy.

"I have been reduced to a wreck of a human being," he told ANSA news agency after his release.

European report

The European Parliament approved a report on Wednesday that said governments in the region helped conceal secret US transfers of terrorism suspects.

And prosecutors elsewhere in Europe are going ahead with cases aimed at the transfers.

This week, the Swiss government approved prosecutors' plans to investigate the flight that allegedly took Omar over Swiss air space from Italy to Germany.

And a Munich prosecutor recently issued arrest warrants for 13 people in connection with another alleged CIA-orchestrated kidnapping - a German citizen who says he was abducted in December 2003 at the Serbian-Macedonia border and flown to Afghanistan. Agencies

Labels: Berita, Islamophobia, Luar Negeri, Mesir

CAIRO, EGYPT, February 12 - An Egyptian Muslim preacher allegedly kidnapped by CIA agents off the streets of an Italian city and taken to Egypt has been released, his lawyer and a security official said Monday.

Attorney Montasser al-Zayat said Osama Hassan Mustafa Nasr, known as Abu Omar, was ordered freed Sunday by an Egyptian State Security Court that found his detention in Egypt "unfounded."

Al-Zayat said Nasr was released at a police station in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed the court's ruling and Abu Omar's release.

"He was freed and he is now at his family home Alexandria," al-Zayat told The Associated Press. "I talked to him, and he is fine, but said he wants to have some rest."

Nasr was allegedly abducted from a Milan street in February 2003 and flown out of Italy and taken to Egypt, where he says he was tortured.

The security official said Nasr will remain in Egypt and will not be sent back to Italy.

Al-Zayat said the Egyptian court made the ruling after Nasr filed a lawsuit against the Interior Ministry accusing it of unlawful detention.

Italian prosecutors say Nasr was kidnapped on Feb. 17, 2003, by CIA agents with help from Italian agents, in a breach of Italian sovereignty.

According to Italian officials, the cleric fought in Afghanistan and Bosnia and was suspected of recruiting fighters for radical Islamic causes. But al-Zayat said Abu Omar had only traveled to Jordan, Yemen, Albania and Germany before entering Italy illegally in 1997.

No charges have ever been brought against Nasr. But Italian courts continued a preliminary hearing on Monday to decide whether to indict 26 Americans and five Italian intelligence officials on criminal charges in Milan.

Italian investigators said they believe the abduction was overseen by the CIA's station chief in Rome and orchestrated by officials assigned to the U.S. Embassy there.

A trial would be the first criminal prosecution involving the CIA's extraordinary "rendition" program, in which terror suspects were secretly transferred for interrogation to third countries where critics say they may face torture.

Italian prosecutor Armando Spataro said Nasr's release would have little affect on the preliminary hearing, because in the Italian system the injured party cannot be called to testify at this stage.

But defense lawyer Guido Meroni, who is representing six American agents, said the release may help his clients as it may produce more definitive information on who was involved. He said evidence tying his clients to the abduction was circumstantial — including phone records and their presence at hotels in Italy before the abduction.

Egyptian officials have not publicly acknowledged Nasr's abduction or his detention in Egypt. They also have not publicly confirmed his country took part in renditions. But Egypt's Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif told NBC's "Meet the Press" in 2005 that "people have been sent" to Egypt but would not say how many or discuss their cases. Associated Press writer Colleen Barry in Milan, Italy, contributed to this report. AP

Labels: Berita, Luar Negeri, Mesir

AlJazeera, February 10 - Egyptian authorities have arrested dozens of Muslim Brotherhood members following protests the day before over Israel's renovation work near Islam's third-holiest shrine.

An interior ministry official said 38 members of the group were arrested in Cairo on Friday on allegations that they attacked security forces and threw bricks at them.

Two other Brotherhood members were also arrested for allegedly being involved in skirmishes with the police in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Protests broke out across the Middle East on Friday, with demonstrations in Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, demanding an immediate halt for the Israeli digging near the holy site.

Israel denies the repair work and accompanying excavations will come anywhere near the compound, known as the Temple Mount to Jews and the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims.

Egyptian anti-riot police scuffled with demonstrators in Cairo and prevented worshippers from getting inside the Al-Azhar mosque, the Sunni Arab world's most powerful institution. Demonstrators held a smaller protests in Alexandria and other Egyptian cities.

Since late last year, police have detained at least 140 Brotherhood members, including its number 3 leader, Khayrat el-Shater, whose case was one of 40 who have been referred to a military court. State owned media have recently intensified their campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood.

The banned but tolerated movement is Egypt's largest opposition group, after having won 88 out of the 454 parliament seats in the 2005 legislative elections. Agencies

Labels: al-Aqsa, Ikhwan, Luar Negeri, Mesir

MB Leader Arrested in Alexandria

Cairo, Thursday, January 18, 2007 - Egyptian security forces in Alexandria arrested on Wednesday Ahmed Al Nahhas, the Engineers' Syndicate treasurer and Muslim Brotherhood leader. Sources said to Ikhwanweb that Al Nahhas is still being held in the state security headquarters and he hasn't appeared yet before the prosecution for interrogations.

The arrest of Al Nahhas is part of a wider campaign by the Egyptian regime targeting the Muslim Brotherhood, largest opposition to gvernment, in attempt to pave the way for the President proposed constitutional amendments which was approved by parliament yesterday and widely criticized by the MPs affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. The crackdown also comes ahead of the Brotherhood's preparations underway for the upcoming Shura Council (Egypt's lower hourse) elections next Spring

The regime's crackdown, which was first launched in December 2006, led to arresting dozens of Muslim Brotherhood leaders topped by Mohamed Khayrat Al Shater, the MB second deputy chairman, Dr. Mohamed Ali Beshr, member of the MB Executive Bureau, in addition to a large number of businessmen and owners of companies and Islamic publishing houses. Ikhwanweb

Labels: Berita, Ikhwan, Luar Negeri, Mesir

Egypt has sent a large quantity of arms to the forces of of moderate Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party with the help of Israel, an Israeli official said.

"In coordination with Israel, Egypt delivered a large quantity of guns and munitions to the Abbas forces," the official told AFP, asking to remain anonymous.

The Haaretz daily meanwhile reported that "a load of 2,000 Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles as well as 20,000 cartridge clips and two million bullets were transferred to Fatah's armed groups in the Gaza Strip, in coordination with the Israeli army."

The paper said the arms had been transported by a convoy of four trucks from Egypt into Israel vie the Kerem Shalom crossing point to the south of the Gaza Strip, and had then been taken to the Karni crossing further north where they were received by Palestinian Authority security services loyal to Abbas.

The arms transfer followed official discussions among Israel, Egypt and the United States and was decided upon at a summit Saturday in Jerusalem between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Abbas, Haaretz said.

Israeli public radio reported that there would shortly be another delivery of weaponry to Abbas's forces in the West Bank, this time from Jordan. Agencies.

Labels: Berita, Luar Negeri, Mesir, Palestin

Egyptian police have detained the deputy leader of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, about 10 other prominent members and scores of Brotherhood students in dawn raids.

On Thursday, Khairat el-Shatir - one of two deputies to Mohamed Mahdi Akef, the group's general guide - was taken from his home in a northeastern suburb of Cairo.

The main target of the crackdown appeared to be leaders and members from the movement who are associated with the students at al-Azhar University. The students had set up a union independent of that vetted by the authorities.

The Muslim Brotherhood is the country's largest opposition group, with 88 members in the 454-seat lower house of parliament.

Abdel Moneim Mahmoud, a Brotherhood official, said the sweep took in 180 students from the university's halls of residence, including Suhaib Gawdat el-Malt, whom he called the head of the free students union at the university.

Another prominent detainee is Ayman Abdel-Ghani, who runs the organisation's student section at the university, and three members of the teaching staff, he said.

The government refuses to recognise the Muslim Brotherhood and the police frequently harass its members by detaining them without charge, sometimes for months at a time.

But the Islamist group does maintain an office and is able to organise some events within limits. alJazeera.net

Labels: Berita, Ikhwan, Luar Negeri, Mesir