Will remain in Syria until final victory: Hezbollah

October 24, 2016

Lebanon, Oct 24: The secretary general of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement says the group's fighters will remain in neighboring Syria until they achieve the final victory over foreign-sponsored Takfiri terrorists and purge the crisis-hit Arab country of extremists.

HezbollahAddressing people in a speech marking a week since the killing of the movement's military commander, Hatem Hamade, in Syria, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah dispelled illusions about Hezbollah forces' withdrawing from Syria, stressing that the fighters will leave Syria only after they have defeated Takfiri terrorists there.

"Our choice of going to Syria was very well studied after observing the regional developments that began in Tunisia and reached Syria," he said, adding, "Time has revealed that the battle in Syria is aimed at making existential changes on the ground as well as to the political map of the region."

“We will continue this battle until the end, and we are proud of our martyrs in Syria, and whoever bargains on our tiredness will lose,” he said, emphasizing that the security “we are living in now is not the outcome of agreements or mere prayers," but it is the outcome of efforts made by martyrs and their blood.

Nasrallah pointed out that Hezbollah fighters were not ordered by any third party to play a role in Syria, but rather entered the neighboring country following a comprehensive and extensive analysis.

The Hezbollah leader stated that the ongoing foreign-backed militancy in Syria is not simply aimed at toppling the incumbent Damascus government, but rather meant to make changes to demographic map and borders of the region in order to uproot certain groups of people.

The Hezbollah secretary general further condemned Saudi Arabia as the country actively supporting and financing the Daesh Takfiri terrorists group.

He added that leaded private emails related to former US secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, attest to the fact that Saudi Arabia and US were behind forming Daesh group.

Nasrallah also condemned the inaction and passivity of international human rights bodies toward crimes being perpetrated by Daesh terrorists in Iraq and Syria, noting that despite hundreds and thousands of people have been either beheaded or killed in other ways by this group, world rights bodies maintain their silence toward its crimes.

Yemen blockade threatening over 20 million people

Turning to the Saudi-led coalitions' aerial and naval blockade of Yemen, Nasrallah stated that the restrictive measures adopted by Riyadh toward its impoverished southern neighbor have affected the lives of more than 20 million people.

Nasrallah also took to task international organizations for their failure to adopt any decisive measure to end Saudi Arabia's brutal embargo on the Yemeni people.

All Iraqis fighting Daesh to liberate Mosul

Elsewhere in his speech, the Hezbollah secretary general said that people from all walks of life are currently fighting the Daesh Takfiri terrorists in Iraq, and dozens or even hundreds of people are sacrificing their lives in order to liberate the northern Iraqi city of Mosul from Daesh terrorists.

“Unfortunately, what Daesh is doing is under the name of [Prophet] Mohammad (PBUH). They want to throw this name, which has always shined in this world with glory, into darkness of Daesh,” Nasrallah said, adding that committing crimes under the name of Islam and its prophet is a deliberated and preplanned act by Daesh.

The secretary general of Hezbollah also slammed Turkish authorities' for their effort to pave the way for Turkish military to play a role in the operation for the liberation of Mosul, saying that they have a greedy eye on that area of the Iraqi territory.

Hezbollah endorses Aoun for Lebanon president

Elsewhere in his speech, Nasrallah focused on internal issues of Lebanon, including election of the country's new president.

The secretary general of Hezbollah praised former Lebanese prime minister, Saad Hariri, for his endorsement of the founder of Michel Aoun for presidency, emphasizing that the move paves the way for holding presidential election in a realistic manner.

In a televised news conference on Thursday, Hariri, who leads Lebanon's March 14 Alliance, voiced support for his rival, raising hopes for the settlement of a long-running deadlock on Lebanon's political stage.

"I announce today before you my decision to endorse the candidacy of General Michel Aoun for the presidency of the republic," Hariri said, adding that his decision "comes from the need to protect Lebanon and the state and the people."

Aoun, the founder of the Free Patriotic Movement, is an ally of the Lebanese resistance bloc, Hezbollah.

Nasrallah added, “Everything can be solved through dialogue. We do not impose any decision on our allies. Each of us has his own approach.”

Nasrallah emphasized that Hezbollah's members of parliament would vote for Aoun to become president of Lebanon at a parliamentary session at the end of October.

Lebanon has been without a head of state since 2014, when the term of President Michel Suleiman expired.

The Lebanese parliament has repeatedly failed to elect a president due to the lack of quorum. The presidential election has been put off until the end of October.

Under Lebanon's power-sharing system, the president must be a Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the parliament speaker a Shia Muslim.

Lebanon's resistance movement Hezbollah has accused Saudi Arabia of thwarting political initiatives and blocking the election of a president in Lebanon.

Hezbollah has strong relations with Amal

In another part of his speech, leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah noted that the movement has strong and deep-seated relations with the Amal (Hope) Movement, and that relationship cannot be disturbed with fabrications.

“We are honest and faithful to our allies and all we seek is to have a secure country,” Nasrallah said.

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Agencies
February 29,2020

Islamabad, Feb 29: A coalition comprising digital media giants Facebook, Google and Twitter (among others) have spoken out against the new regulations approved by the Pakistani government for social media, threatening to suspend services in the country if the rules were not revised, it was reported.

In a letter to Prime Minster Imran Khan earlier this month, the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) called on his government to revise the new sets of rules and regulations for social media, The News International reported on Friday.

"The rules as currently written would make it extremely difficult for AIC Members to make their services available to Pakistani users and businesses," reads the letter, referring to the Citizens Protection Rules (Against Online Harm).

The new set of regulations makes it compulsory for social media companies to open offices in Islamabad, build data servers to store information and take down content upon identification by authorities.

Failure to comply with the authorities in Pakistan will result in heavy fines and possible termination of services.

It said that the regulations were causing "international companies to re-evaluate their view of the regulatory environment in Pakistan, and their willingness to operate in the country".

Referring to the rules as "vague and arbitrary in nature", the AIC said that it was forcing them to go against established norms of user privacy and freedom of expression.

"We are not against regulation of social media, and we acknowledge that Pakistan already has an extensive legislative framework governing online content. However, these Rules fail to address crucial issues such as internationally recognized rights to individual expression and privacy," The News International quoted the letter as saying.

According to the law, authorities will be able to take action against Pakistanis found guilty of targeting state institutions at home and abroad on social media.

The law will also help the law enforcement authorities obtain access to data of accounts found involved in suspicious activities.

It would be the said authority's prerogative to identify objectionable content to the social media platforms to be taken down.

In case of failure to comply within 15 days, it would have the power to suspend their services or impose a fine worth up to 500 million Pakistani rupees ($3 million).

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Agencies
June 29,2020

Tehran, Jun 29: Iran has issued an arrest warrant and asked Interpol for help in detaining President Donald Trump and dozens of others it believes carried out the drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad, a local prosecutor reportedly said Monday.

While Trump faces no danger of arrest, the charges underscore the heightened tensions between Iran and the United States since Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said Trump and more than 30 others whom Iran accuses of involvement in the Jan. 3 strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad face “murder and terrorism charges,” the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported.

Alqasimehr did not identify anyone else sought other than Trump, but stressed that Iran would continue to pursue his prosecution even after his presidency ends.

Interpol, based in Lyon, France, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Alqasimehr also was quoted as saying that Iran requested a “red notice” be put out for Trump and the others, which represents the highest level arrest request issued by Interpol. Local authorities end up making the arrests on behalf of the country that request it. The notices cannot force countries to arrest or extradite suspects, but can put government leaders on the spot and limit suspects’ travel.

After receiving a request, Interpol meets by committee and discusses whether or not to share the information with its member states. Interpol has no requirement for making any of the notices public, though some do get published on its website.

It is unlikely Interpol would grant Iran’s request as its guideline for notices forbids it from “undertaking any intervention or activities of a political” nature.

The U.S. killed Soleimani, who oversaw the Revolutionary Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force, and others in the January strike near Baghdad International Airport. It came after months of incidents raising tensions between the two countries and ultimately saw Iran retaliate with a ballistic missile strike targeting American troops in Iraq.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

Kuala Lumpur, Jul 28: Malaysia's ex-leader Najib Razak was found guilty Tuesday in his first trial over the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal, two years after the fraud contributed to the downfall of his long-ruling government.

The former prime minister could now face decades in jail after being convicted on all charges in the case related to the looting of sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

Billions of dollars were stolen from the investment vehicle and spent on everything from high-end real estate to pricey art, while investment bank Goldman Sachs also became embroiled in the scandal.

Anger at the looting played a large part in the shock loss of Najib's long-ruling coalition in elections in 2018, and he was arrested and hit with dozens of charges following his defeat.

The verdict was a test of Malaysia's rule of law. It comes about five months after Najib's scandal-plagued party returned to power as part of a coalition, development observers had feared could affect the outcome of the case.

About 16 months after it began, the Kuala Lumpur High Court delivered the verdict in Najib's first trial, which centred on the transfer of 42 million ringgit ($9.9 million) from a former 1MDB unit, SRC International, into his accounts.

Najib had vehemently denied wrongdoing.

But Judge Mohamad Nazlan Mohamad Ghazali took apart all the arguments put forward by his defence, and found him guilty on the seven charges he faced.

"In conclusion, after considering all the evidence in this trial, I find the prosecution has successfully proven the case," the judge told the court.

The charges were one of abuse of power, three of criminal breach of trust and three of money-laundering.

The counts of abuse of power and criminal breach of trust are punishable by up to 20 years in jail each, while the money-laundering charges are punishable by up to 15 years each.

Sentencing was not handed down straight away. The 67-year-old will likely appeal and he may not be sent to jail immediately. If his conviction is upheld, he will also be barred from political office for several years.

Najib had insisted he was ignorant of the transactions.

The defence team portrayed Najib as a victim and instead sought to paint financier Low Taek Jho, a key figure in the scandal who has been charged in the US and Malaysia, as the mastermind.

Low, whose whereabouts are unknown, maintains his innocence.

Prosecutors insisted Najib was in control of the 1MDB unit, SRC International.

The return of Najib's party to power as part of a coalition in March followed the collapse of Mahathir Mohamad's reformist administration.

Since then, 1MDB-linked charges were unexpectedly dropped against the ex-leader's stepson Riza Aziz, a producer of Hollywood movie "The Wolf of Wall Street", in exchange for him agreeing to return assets to Malaysia.

Prosecutors also dropped dozens of charges against Najib ally Musa Aman, the former leader of Sabah state.

The amounts involved in Najib's first case are small compared to those in his second and most significant trial, which centres on allegations he illicitly obtained more than $500 million.

Malaysia had charged Goldman Sachs and some current and former staff, claiming large amounts were stolen when the bank arranged bond issues for 1MDB.

But the two sides agreed to a $3.9 billion settlement last week in exchange for charges being dropped.

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