Middle Orient

Call to protect Gulf internal front amid jihadist blitz

Call to protect Gulf internal front amid jihadist blitz Gulf torn  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, June 19, (AP): Saudi Arabia and other petro-powerhouses of the Gulf for years encouraged a flow of private cash to Sunni rebels in Syria. Now an al-Qaeda breakaway group that benefited from some of that …

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Muslims close shops to protest Lanka riots

COLOMBO, June 19, (AFP): Several hundred Muslim-owned businesses shut down in the Sri Lankan capital on Thursday to protest deadly riots by extremist Buddhists, defying President Mahinda Rajapakse’s plea to stay open. Shops and restaurants in central Colombo were shuttered following the riots in two mainly Muslim coastal resorts popular …

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Philippine troops battle Abu Sayyaf militants

7 security forces and 10 rebels killed in clashes MANILA, Philippines, June 19, (AP): Philippine security forces battled Abu Sayyaf militants in the south on Thursday in fierce clashes that killed seven troops and 10 rebels in the latest confrontation in the insurgency-wracked region, military officials said. Government forces were …

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Pakistani jailed for honor killing

AMMAN, June 19, (AFP): A Jordanian court Thursday reduced the sentence of a Pakistani man who killed his teenaged wife and her alleged lover last year “to cleanse his honour”, a judicial official said. “Amman criminal court today initially condemned the 28-year-old Pakistani to death by hanging but immediately reduced …

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Battle for refinery; foreigners taken

SAUDIS IN APPARENT WARNING TO IRAN BAGHDAD, June 18, (AP): Iraqi security forces battled insurgents targeting the country’s main oil refinery and said they regained partial control of a city near the Syrian borderWednesday, trying to blunt a weeklong offensive by Sunni militants who diplomats fear may have also seized …

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Qaeda sexually abused Yemen children

SANAA, June 18, (AFP): The United Nations children’s agency accused Yemen’s al-Qaeda affiliate of sexually exploiting children, pointing to incidents in the south in 2012 in a report published Tuesday. Al-Qaeda loyalists forced around 100 girls, some as young as 13, to marry its fighters in the southern province of …

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Islamist insurgents in Iraq, Syria plan to attack UK

Cameron chairs National Security Council meeting LONDON, June 18, (Agencies): Prime Minister David Cameron warned Wednesday that militants making advances in Iraq and fighting in Syria were also planning to attack Britain. “I’d disagree with those people who think this is nothing to do with us and if they want …

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Twitter restores access to ‘blasphemous’ content in Pak

Move hailed by free speech activists ISLAMABAD, June 18, (AFP): Twitter has restored access inside Pakistan to dozens of tweets and accounts, after blocking them last month following official complaints about “blasphemous” content, in a move hailed by free speech activists. The microblogging site said it had changed its May …

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FIGHTING NEARS BAGHDAD; U.S. FORCES IN TO SECURE ASSETS

UN warns Iraq risks disintegration BAGHDAD, June 17, (Agencies): Fighting erupted at the northern approaches to Baghdad Tuesday as Iraq accused Saudi Arabia of backing militants who have seized swathes of territory in an offensive the UN says threatens its very existence. Washington deployed some 275 military personnel to protect …

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460 suspected Boko Haram rebels detained

Status will be known after probe LAGOS, June 17, (AFP): Nigeria’s military said on Tuesday that they had detained more than 460 people travelling from the country’s north to the south, reportedly on suspicion of being Boko Haram members. Army spokesman Brigadier General Olajide Laleye said 462 people, including eight …

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