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SHAFAQNA – President Muhammadu Buhari has assured inteational and local human rights groups of “appropriate response” to a report of the judicial inquiry into the Army’s barbaric attack towards unarmed members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria last December. This was revealed on Tuesday, August 16, in a statement by a presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, who shared it on his Facebook page. Read the statement below: “President Muhammadu Buhari has assured inteational and local human rights groups of appropriate response over the report of the judicial inquiry into the clashes between soldiers and members of the Shiite movement in Nigeria, led by Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky. The president is studying the details of the report before announcing appropriate response in due course. The president’s commitment to human rights remains unchanged because it is a cardinal component,nigerian president buhari,nigerian president buhari news,nigerian president buhari speech,nigerian president buhari cabinet,nigerian president buhari daughter,nigeria president muhammadu buhari,salary of nigerian president buhari ...ادامه مطلب

SHAFAQNA – President Muhammadu Buhari has assured inteational and local human rights groups of “appropriate response” to a report of the judicial inquiry into the Army’s barbaric attack towards unarmed members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria last December. This was revealed on Tuesday, August 16, in a statement by a presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, who shared it on his Facebook page. Read the statement below: “President Muhammadu Buhari has assured inteational and local human rights groups of appropriate response over the report of the judicial inquiry into the clashes between soldiers and members of the Shiite movement in Nigeria, led by Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky. The president is studying the details of the report before announcing appropriate response in due course. The president’s commitment to human rights remains unchanged because it is a cardinal component,nigerian president buhari,nigerian president buhari news,nigerian president buhari speech,nigerian president buhari cabinet,nigerian president buhari daughter,nigeria president muhammadu buhari,salary of nigerian president buhari ...ادامه مطلب

SHAFAQNA – Nigerian Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), on Sunday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, if the army chief fails to voluntarily resign following the revelation that he purchased properties worth $1.5m in Dubai. Falana said in a statement that despite Buratai’s commendable feat of leading the Nigerian Army to defeat Boko Haram in the North East, the war on corruption was also a must-win for the Buhari Administration. The lawyer described as a “cock and bull story” the explanation by the Nigerian Army authorities that Buratai paid for the properties in installments through his personal savings. He regretted that the name of the Nigerian Army had been “illegally” used to defend Buratai in the unfolding scam. While he condemned the involvement of the Nigerian Army in defending Buratai, he said no one had yet to explain to Nigerians how an army General could manage to save $1.5m. He added, “In view of the ban on the opening and operation of foreign accounts by public officers, the Code of Conduct Bureau should be involved in the investigation. “If the Chief of Army Staff does not deem it fit to resign forthwith President Buhari should not hesitate to remove him in the interest of national morality.” Falana commended the Buhari Administration for how it has handled cases involving military officers allegedly involved in the diversion of the sum of $15bn meant for procurement of arms. The diversion of the fund, he explained allowed the Boko Haram insurgents to kill about 25,000 Nigerians and displace two million others, including children. He also said since the administration had assured Nigerians that there would be no sacred cow in the fight against corruption, Buratai should step down and allow a full scale scale investigation by the Arms Procurement Panel and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're r, ...ادامه مطلب

SHAFAQNA – US President Obama said Wednesday that he planned to leave 8,400 American troops in Afghanistan until the end of his term. During a press briefing at the White House on Wednesday, Obama said that he would leave behind 8,400 American forces by the year-end, nearly 3,000 more than what he had promised last year. Currently around 9,800 US troops are in Afghanistan, reportedly training Afghan forces to battle militant groups such Daesh and the Taliban. “The security situation in Afghanistan remains precarious,” Obama said a day before heading to Poland to attend a NATO summit and meet with leaders of other nations engaged in Afghanistan. “We have to deal with the realities of the world as it is. We can’t forget what’s at stake in Afghanistan. This is where al-Qaeda is trying to regroup, this is where ISIL continues to try to expand its presence,” said the president, who was flanked by Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford. Obama said last October that he would keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan through 2016 and slash the level to 5,500 upon leaving office in January 2017. Having failed to deliver on his campaign promise of ending the war by then, Obama now seems willing to put the fate of America’s longest-running war in the hands of his successor. “The decision I’m making today ensures that my successor has a solid foundation for continued progress in Afghanistan as well as the flexibility to address the threat of terrorism as it evolves,” Obama said, adding that the situation in Afghanistan directly affects America’s safety. Let's block ads! بخوانید, ...ادامه مطلب

SHAFAQNA – IHRC has written to the Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari to raise conces about information it has received that the Nigerian Army will be out in force at the annual Al Quds Day rally on Friday 1 July 2016. The army’s presence is of grave conce since the rally is led by the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), members of whom have been repeatedly targeted by the armed forces. Over three days in December 2015 more than 1000 people were killed as well as property and religious spaces destroyed by the armed forces in Zaria. Leading members of the movement were shot and imprisoned without charge. The assault over two days in the northe Nigerian city left a trail of bloodshed and destruction including the shooting of the movement’s leader Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky and his wife Zeenat. Both remain in the custody of the Nigerian intelligence services, detained without charge. Earlier this year IHRC called on the Inteational Criminal Court to open a preliminary enquiry into the events in Zaria last year in which soldiers attacked the Islamic Movement of Nigeria’s (IMN) supporters, symbols and property. There is a history of attacks against IMN, especially during the Al Quds Day rally. In 2014 soldiers attacked the al-Quds Day procession in Zaria, Kaduna State, killing 32. In 2009 four people were killed and several injured when police opened fire on civilians, also in Zaria. Following the December 2015 attacks against IMN, the state govement in Kaduna set up a Judicial Commission of Inquiry (JCI) but human rights organisations, including IHRC, believe it is not sufficiently independent and impartial to be able to hold those responsible to account, nor is there any reasonable prospect of any prosecutions. This lack of accountability has the potential to create an environment where such horrific deaths are acceptable, and that IMN are easy targets. This means that Al Quds Day on Friday poses multiple risks, particularly with the perpetrators of the crimes – the Army , ...ادامه مطلب

SHAFAQNA – As usual, since the Zaria massacre, I used to send messages to our brothers and sisters, so today, I would like to use this opportunity to once again condole with all the people who have fallen victim to this barbaric crime committed by the Nigerian army, that has affected hundreds of families, and continues to do so to this day. May God accept the dead as martyrs, give them strength and perseverance, and a speedy recovery to the injured. I would also like to thank the large number of people in their millions around the world who have not only shown sympathy and kindness but also acted in numerous ways in support of our plight. I would however like to draw the attention of the members of the Islamic movement to certain important issues regarding the current adversity we are going through, there is need for all of us to excercise caution when it comes to our utterances and actions, when it comes to spreading our messages on social media. There are certain salient issues that require a great deal of introspection. We should not under any circumstance spread messages that are capable of flaming the embers of violence in the society. It is imperative to weigh in the impacts of what one is about to write even if the message is relevant to our activism, as every member movement must realize that he is a defacto ambassador of the movement to the world. This means that every thing we choose to write can and would most likely be taken as the opinion of the millions of our brothers and sisters, rather than the emotional out burst of a single person. And could be twisted by the enemies who are more than happy to perpetuate the negative light in which they our enemies are trying to paint us. I would like to therefore reiterate that the Islamic Movement in Nigeria is a nonviolent movement, whose message is one of change for the better. We should under no circumstances be found resorting to spreading messages of hatred or intolerance. The use of abusive language shoul, ...ادامه مطلب

SHAFAQNA – Muslims who attacked and stripped an elderly Christian woman in a southe Egyptian village will be punished, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said Monday. The Muslim mob in Minya province’s Karma village had also torched and looted seven houses of Christian families during the May 20 attack, which was triggered by a rumour that the 70-year-old woman’s son was having a relationship with a Muslim woman. The elderly woman was paraded on the streets of Karma after being stripped. Sisi said such attacks divide Egyptians. “We are all one and the law must take its course,” Sisi reportedly said. The attack which quiet rightly prompted widespread outrage is sadly symptomatic to Egypt’s descent into religious fascism. Under the influence of Wahhabism, and Salafism Egyptians are being taught to abhor all other religious denominations – both within and without Islam. Such intolerance is now being played in the cold light of day. Although many will see in such an attack the hand of Islam, it is important to remember that such violence is the product of hate and ignorance. Radicalism in fact is the embodiment of vengeful ignorance and arrogance. Islam, which calls on men and women to be the best version of themselves does not profess religious ostracization, and harassment – it stands of religious freedom, equity, and justice. Of course Wahhabi Islam has a very different interpretation of religious freedom … under Wahhabism only Wahhabism stands worthy. The violence carried by Wahhabism has now infiltrated Egypt, and warped Muslims’ principles and sense of religious duty. There is nothing glorious about targeting an innocent, and defenseless elderly Christian woman. What crimes did she commit to deserve to be paraded naked in the streets of her city? None of course … no crimes could ever warrant such a sick display of chauvinism. Christians comprise 10 percent of the Egyptian population, which is dominated by Muslims. Following the attack, the Coptic Orthodox Church lash, ...ادامه مطلب

SHAFAQNA – I was motivated to write this article due to the recent statement of the Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir on #Yemen in an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro. Al-Jubeir said that the priority of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen is not to fight the Iranian-backed Houthi freedom fighters but to contain #AlQaeda and #ISIS. Al-Jubeir added: “The two organizations Al-Qaeda and Daesh are terrorist organizations. However, the Houthis are Yemenis and are our neighbors with whom one can hold talks.” In Tweets on his page on Twitter, Al-Jubeir said “whether we disagree or agree with the Houthis, they remain a part of the social fabric of Yemen”. The Saudi regime assumed this new position due to its repeated defeat by the Houthi Ansarullah freedom fighters in Yemen and its monumental failure to achieve any of its objectives. If the Saudi regime agreed that “Houthis are Yemenis and are our neighbors with whom one can hold talks” then why not hold talks from the beginning? Why did the Saudi regime assembled a coalition to attack Yemen that included 10 Arab regimes and Senegal from Africa combined with massive supports from the US and UK? Why did the Saudi regime spent more than 100 billion Dollars for the aggression against Yemen if it knows that talks can solve disagreements? And why did the Saudi-led coalition killed close to 10,000 Yemeni civilians and destroyed the country’s infrastructures and historical sites if talks and negotiations from the beginning can resolve the disagreements? The right conclusion is that the Saudi regime assumed this new position due to its gross failure to realize its objectives through the war it imposed on Yemen, its present pathetic financial state and the growing discontent and dissent in Saudi Arabia. It is an open secret that the Saudi and its allied forces fought alongside AlQaeda and ISIS in Yemen against the brave and courageous Houthi freedom fighters but now they claimed they want to concentrate on the fight a, ...ادامه مطلب

[embedded content] SHAFAQNA – The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) staed a protest and vigil for Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky in London, where President Muhammadu Buhari attended an anti-corruption summit. The aim of the protest is to call attention to the Zaria massacre, in which over 350 Shiite Muslims were killed by the Nigerian military, and the abuse and unlawful detention of Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN). The massacre, took place between December 12 and 14, 2016, by Nigerian army against hundreds of unarmed members of the Islamic Movement. President Buhari and top military leaders have not taken meaningful legal action connected to the Zaria massacre to date, which has sparked outrage among the Muslim and non-Muslim communities around the world. The Kaduna State govement established an apparent Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate the incident, but thus far, no concrete steps have been taken to hold the perpetrators of the massacre accountable. IHRC is hoping that its protest will pressure the Buhari administration and Nigerian military to thoroughly investigate the matter and bring justice to the families of the victims. SHARE Facebook Twitter Previous articleThe way to reach the position of Divine Praise and Glory Let's block ads! بخوانید, ...ادامه مطلب

SHAFAQNA – The brutal Zaria massacre by the Nigerian army that killed close to 1000 defenseless and unarmed Nigerians will go down in history as the most barbaric, inhuman and wicked mass-murder that was masterminded and executed by the highest-ranking Nigerian govement officials to serve an evil foreign imperialist agenda that has the savage Saudi regime as a front. After the Zaria massacre various events unfolded but the two important happenings that occured in the same week changed the dynamics of the brutal Zaria massacre by the Nigerian army that killed close to 1000 defenseless and unarmed Shia Muslims last December;the public confession by the Kaduna state Goveor Nasir Elrufai via his officials at the Judicial Commission of Inquiry (JCI) that he in connivance with the Nigerian Army buried 347 Shiites killed by the Nigerian army in Mando in a single mass grave and the comprehensive and damning report on the Zaria massacre by the London-based human rights body Amnesty Inteational that detailed the heinous crimes and atrocities committed by the Nigerian army. After the occurrence of these two happenings the Nigerian army that is a front for the Nigerian President Buhari who from credible information ordered the inhuman Zaria massacre, the corrupt Northe Nigerian elites and the bloodthirsty Nigerian Wahhabi clerics, went on the defensive to limit the damages done by these important revelations. Before then they were sponsoring mushroom “human rights groups” to organize protest to the Iranian Embassy and to try to link the peaceful Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) under the leadership of His Eminence Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky to terrorism and violence. They launched a massive smear campaigns of calumny and demonization to portray the peaceful #IMN as a “violent extremist group” that should be proscribed and banned. Then these disclosures occurred and the dance of Shame of the masterminds and perpetrators of the Zaria massacre changed as confusion, division and pan, ...ادامه مطلب

SHAFAQNA – Beie Sanders has backed legislation that would let Americans sue Saudi Arabia over the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The bill is opposed by the Obama administration, but it is important to victims’ families, some of whom believe Saudi officials played some part in the attacks. The Democratic presidential candidate spoke in favour of the legislation on NBC’s “Today Show” ahead of the New York presidential primary. He said it was important to have a full understanding of the “the possible role of the Saudi govement in 9/11.” US inquiries have not reported a link between the Saudi govement or its senior officials and the attacks, but Sanders notes that some conclusions remain classified. He said Saudi Arabia promotes an extreme and “very destructive” version of Islam. Hillary Clinton has also come out in support of the bill. “Obviously, we’ve got to make anyone who participates in or supports terrorism pay a price, and we also have to be aware of any consequences that might affect Americans, either military or civilian or our nation,” she told ABC’s “This Week.” Fifteen of the 19 hijackers in the September 2001 attacks, which destroyed the World Trade Center and killed thousands, were citizens of Saudi Arabia. The stakes in New York for both Mr Sanders and Ms Clinton are higher than ever. After taking eight of the last nine nominating contests, Mr Sanders arguably has the better wind behind him. Were he to win New York and take the largest share of its trove of 247 delegates, the effect would be electrifying.  Which is precisely why Ms Clinton cannot let that happen. The state should be Ms Clinton’s to lose. Unlike Mr Sanders who cut his electoral teeth in the relatively genteel climes of Vermont, she has lots of experience of New York’s especially rough brand of politics. She won the New York primary competing with Barack Obama for the nomination in 2008 and was sent by the state to the US Senate not once but twice. Let's block ads! بخوانید, ...ادامه مطلب

[embedded content] SHAFAQNA – Muslims are up against quite a few Republican contenders who are competing on how stringent they will be on Islamic Terrorism if elected. Not only that, they are also demanding proper management as it relates to the issue of immigration. A new survey has revealed that Muslims living in the U.S. share the same views as their non-Muslim counterparts, pertaining to the American society and where it is heading. What do Muslims, Jews, and Protestants Have in Common? TWEET THIS A survey was done on March 15 by a non-profit research group known as the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), which was founded by and comprised of physicians, business entrepreneurs and Muslim professionals in order to analyze issues within the Muslim community and its interrelation with the broader society. According to Dalia Mogahed, Director of Research at ISPU, the Muslim community is “both pious and patriotic, optimistic and weary of discrimination, similar to Jews in its politics, and much like Protestants in its religious practice.” THE ECONOMY IS LEADING PRIORITY FOR THE 2016 ELECTION. While this is true for Jews, Democrats, African-Americans and Muslims alike, in the eyes of Protestants and Catholics it has fallen second to national security, while on the list of the other mentioned parties Islamophobia and education are second and third respectively. MUSLIMS ARE QUITE SIMILAR TO PROTESTANTS. In every four, ten among Muslims and Protestants, frequent religious meetings and went on to say that religion is a key part of their lives (87% for Muslims and 94% for Protestants). However, they both had a statistical tie as it relates to the subject of them having strong American identity and approximately 2 in every 10 Jews and 4 in every 10 Catholics Protestants and Muslims say attend religious meetings regularly. MUSLIMS LEAN TOWARDS THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, JUST LIKE JEWS. The survey revealed that 44% of Muslims and 44% of Jews vote Democratic. The, ...ادامه مطلب

In this Monday, May 5, 2014 file photo, women attend a demonstration in Lagos calling on the govement to rescue kidnapped school girls of a govement secondary school in Chibok. (AP Photo/ Sunday Alamba, File) SHAFAQNA- Angry over lack of progress to resolve one of the highest-profile mass kidnappings in the world, Nigerians marched in their country’s major cities on Thursday to demand the safe retu of girls who were abducted by Boko Haram extremists two years ago from a school in Chibok. Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was expected in the northeaste town of Chibok for the anniversary of the kidnappings, said Yakubu Nkeki, leader of a support group of parents of the kidnapped girls. He said the community is angry that their only school remains in ruins. Boko Haram firebombed buildings as they took off with girls. Some 20,000 children in the town and its surroundings have no school to attend, Nkeki said Thursday as parents gathered at the ruins of the school to pray for the safe retu of their daughters. “Boko Haram has achieved its aim. They say they don’t want us to have Weste education and our children don’t,” Nkeki said. Two years ago, the Islamic extremists seized 276 girls who had gathered for science exams at the Govement Girls Secondary School in the northeast town of Chibok. Some managed to escape, jumping off pickup trucks as the Islamic extremists drove them toward the Sambisa Forest. A total of 219 remain missing. On Wednesday, CNN broadcast parts of a Boko Haram video of girls wearing the Islamic hijab, and CNN also aired its own images of tearful mothers, including one reaching out to a computer screen as she recognized her kidnapped daughter. The video shows 15 of the girls – one with a mischievous grin, one looking uncompromising, downright defiant, and one downcast. One can feel the pain that shows in the eyes of many of them. They give the date of the video as Christmas, Dec. 25, 2015. While Boko Haram is thought to have abducted thousands of pe, ...ادامه مطلب

SHAFAQNA- A former student of Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky , leader of Islamic Movement of Nigeria, voiced conce over the health conditions of the senior cleric. Mustafa Muhammad said members of the IMN who met with Sheikh Zakzaky on Friday have described his health as grave. He said the situation of Shias in Nigeria is not good at all as the govement has adopted a confrontational approach against them. The govement has been taking measures aimed at eliminating Shia Islam in the country, he added. According to Mustafa Muhammad, the govement is worried about the spread of Shia Islam in the African country. In December last year, Nigerian military forces surrounded the house of the religious leader in the northe city of Zaria. Heavy fighting broke out afterwards between the govement forces and members of the Islamic Movement. Nearly a thousand Shia Muslims were killed and Sheikh Zakzaky was arrested in the attack. The Nigerian Army alleged that members of the movement were involved in an attack on the convoy of the Chief of Nigeria’s Army Staff, Tukur Buratai. The Islamic Movement vehemently denied the allegations. The IMN is still under siege and its leader Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky remains under arrest. Although mass protests have called for Sheikh Zakzaky to be released, Nigeria hasn’t budged. Human rights groups say the govement’s allegations against him are bizarre. An advocate of human rights and religious freedoms, the senior cleric is claimed by the govement of having incited public unrest. Meanwhile, Nigeria has been failing to deal with a group that is practicing violence – Boko Haram, a Saudi-influenced Takfiri movement that condemns Shias as heretics. The UK-based Islamic Human Rights Commission is conceed that Nigerian killing of Shias continues under the pretext of hunting Boko Haram. Let's block ads! بخوانید, ...ادامه مطلب

SHAFAQNA- Nigerian soldiers have removed worshipers from a mosque in Katsina, northe Nigeria, in what appears to be an escalating campaign against the country’s Islamic Movement (IMN). Eyewitnesses reported that the soldiers, who were armed, first surrounded the Friday Mosque before entering the building and forcing out worshippers. IMN members deliberately stayed away from the mosque in order to avoid any confrontation. Friday’s army action against the IMN came despite calls from IHRC on Wednesday March 30 for the British Foreign and the Commonwealth Secretariat to intervene and pressure Nigeria to stop its armed forces persecuting the IMN. The calls followed reports that Nigerian soldiers were massing in Katsina to attack followers of the movement. The army had setup roadblocks on almost all the major roads leading into Katsina and soldiers were heard chanting that this is “the end of the Shia in Katsina.” A similar chant was used before and during attacks on the movement in Zaria last December in which at least 1000 civilians were killed. Last week IHRC referred the events in Zaria to the Inteational Criminal Court asking it to open a preliminary war crimes investigation into the massacre. IHRC believes that the army’s assault was a systematic and pre-planned attempt to snuff out the IMN whose growing popularity has made it a tho in the side of Nigerian govements. A similar army assault in July 2014 during a religious procession led to the deaths of 34 IMN members including three sons of Sheikh Zakzaky who were apparently singled out for execution. Let's block ads! بخوانید, ...ادامه مطلب