Headline News 17/11/2017

Headlines:

• Burmese Military Guilty of Widespread Rape
  Jewish Military Chief wants Closer Saudi Ties as Iran Tensions Rise
  Imran Khan's Plan to Switch Pakistan from US to Chinese Orbit

Details:

Burmese Military Guilty of Widespread Rape

Human Rights Watch have accused Burmese security forces of committing widespread rape against women and girls as part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing during the past three months against Rohingya Muslims in the country's Rakhine state. The allegation in a report by the New York-based rights group echoes an accusation by Pramila Patten, the UN special envoy on sexual violence in conflict, earlier this week. Patten said sexual violence was “being commanded, orchestrated and perpetrated by the Armed Forces of Burma.” Burma's army released a report on Monday denying all allegations of rape and killings by security forces, days after replacing the general in charge of the operation that drove more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh. The United Nations has denounced the violence as a classic example of ethnic cleansing. The Burmese government has denied allegations of ethnic cleansing. Human Rights Watch spoke to 52 Rohingya women and girls who fled to Bangladesh, 29 of whom said they had been raped. All but one of the rapes were gang rapes, Human Rights Watch said. “Rape has been a prominent and devastating feature of the Burmese military's campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya,” said Skye Wheeler, women's rights emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. “The Burmese military's barbaric acts of violence have left countless women and girls brutally harmed and traumatised,” she said in a statement. Human Rights Watch called on the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Burma and targeted sanctions against military leaders responsible for human rights violations, including sexual violence. The 15-member council last week urged the Burma government to “ensure no further excessive use of military force in Rakhine state.” It asked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to report back in 30 days on the situation. Burma has said the military clearance operation was necessary for national security after Rohingya militants attacked 30 security posts and an army base in Rakhine state on 25 August. Burma is refusing entry to a UN panel that was tasked with investigating allegations of abuses after a smaller military counteroffensive launched in October 2016. The Burmese army has employed the psychological tactic of mass rape to instill fear and prevent Rohingya Muslims from returning to their lands. [Source: The Independent]

It is a great shame to see not even a single Islamic country taking military measures to punish the Burmese army. On the contrary, Islamic countries are fortifying the Burmese army by providing telecommunication services as well as military hardware.

Jewish Military Chief Wants closer Saudi ties as Iran Tensions Rise

Jewish military chief has given an “unprecedented” interview to a Saudi newspaper underlining the ways in which the two countries could unite to counter Iran’s influence in the region. Speaking to the Saudi newspaper Elaph, Gen Gadi Eisenkot described Iran as the “biggest threat to the region” and said the Jewish state would be prepared to share intelligence with “moderate” Arab states like Saudi Arabia in order to “deal with” Tehran. The interview, however, is particularly striking in its very public and confrontational messaging: an appeal by the Jewish state to Riyadh for a joint action on Tehran, delivered by the Jewish state’s most senior soldier. It is the latest dramatic twist in weeks of turmoil in the region, which followed an unexpected purge of Saudi princes and officials by crown prince Mohammad bin Salman, who has also increasingly locked Saudi Arabia on a path to confrontation with Iran. While the Jewish and Saudi Arabia do not have diplomatic relations, they have been edging closer recently, including a visit last year by a retired Saudi general heading a delegation seeking to encourage better relations. Eisenkot told Elaph that the two countries agree about Iran’s intentions and that the Jewish state is increasingly “highly regarded by the moderate countries in the region”. Asked about Jewish intelligence sharing with Saudi Arabia, he insisted: “We are prepared to share information if it is necessary. There are many mutual interests between them [Saudi Arabia] and us.” The interview – described by the Jewish newspaper Haaretz as “unprecedented” – would have required Jewish political approval at the highest level, given the lack of diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia. It is significant for its intended symbolism, designed to show off a warmer relationship with Riyadh in public, not least the emerging US-backed axis against Iran. “There’s an opportunity to form a new international coalition in the region with President Trump,” Eisenkot added. “We need to carry out a large, comprehensive strategic plan to stop the Iranian threat.” Last week Saudi Arabia ordered its citizens to leave Lebanon immediately, escalating a regional standoff with Iran centred on the fragile state, which it claims is being run by Tehran’s proxy, Hezbollah. The move followed the unexpected resignation of Lebanon’s prime minister, Saad Hariri, citing Iranian influence across the region and claiming he feared for his safety. Tensions have also been rising over the conflict in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is fighting against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.Echoing the recent rhetoric of Jewish prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Eisenkot charged Iran with “seeking to take control of the Middle East creating a [Shia] crescent from Lebanon to Iran and then from the Gulf to the Red Sea,” adding that “we must prevent this from happening”. “In this matter there is complete agreement between us and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has never been our enemy. It has not fought us nor have we fought it. “When I was at a meeting of the [US] joint chiefs of staff in Washington and heard what the Saudi representative had to say, I found it identical to what I think in the need to confront Iran and its expansion in the region.” [Source: The Guardian]

The Jewish state is finding renewed confidence in King Salman’s secularization drive that it wants to establish formal ties with the Kingdom. Decades of covert relations between the Jewish state and the Kingdom have started to reveal themselves.

Imran Khan's Plan to Switch Pakistan from US to Chinese Orbit

A quarter of a century ago, Imran Khan was one of the greatest and most charismatic sportsmen in the world. He had just led the Pakistan cricket team to their momentous first victory in the Cricket World Cup, converting himself into a national hero in the process. Khan retired from cricket, and let it be known that he was set on pursuing a second career as a national politician. However, for many years Imran Khan's political career was a litany of humiliating defeats and failure. Most observers wrote him off completely. Then, in the 2013 elections, Khan's political party, the PTI (Movement for Justice) made a major breakthrough. It polled strongly among young and middle-class voters in Pakistan’s major cities and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly North West Frontier Province). It has been the dominant party in that province’s government for the last five years. It's time to take him seriously as a front rank politician. Two political parties have dominated Pakistan during this period. One is the PPP (Pakistan People’s Party), formed by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1967, which has its power base in Sindh province in southern Pakistan. The second is PMLN (Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz) which dominates Pakistan's second largest province, the Punjab. Both parties have become associated over the years with grotesque levels of political corruption. Since the start of his political career, Imran Khan has been utterly consistent in treating these two parties as a cartel intent on plundering the assets of the state for their own advantage. To start with Imran has found it very hard to make headway against the entrenched power block. But factors have suddenly swung dramatically in his favor. In the south, the Pakistan People’s Party has collapsed. It has never found a satisfactory replacement for Benazir Bhutto, who was cruelly murdered in mysterious circumstances in the garrison city of Rawalpindi ten years ago next month. She was replaced by her husband, Asif Ali Zardari. Elected president in a sympathy vote, Zardari left office with a reputation for corruption from which the party has found it impossible to recover. Meanwhile, the Muslim League is also mired in corruption scandals. PMLN leader, Nawaz Sharif, has been declared disqualified from public office on account of forgery and lying on oath, in the wake of the ‘Panama Papers’ revelations. Here events are also conspiring to help Imran Khan in his tilt for the leadership of his country. For the last 20 years, Khan has campaigned against the power exercised by the United States in Pakistan politics. He has campaigned tirelessly against the murderous use of drones in the Tribal Areas and opposed the CIA's involvement in extraordinary rendition and torture of Pakistan citizens. This strong moral stance is now paying off. Just as with his domestic anti-corruption campaign, the mood of the country is on his side. Pakistan was for decades the most important client state of the United States in South Asia. Recently, the US has changed sides and has thrown its weight behind India. This means that Pakistan – whether it wants to or not - is switching sides as well. Its ties with neighboring China, always strong, have deepened profoundly. There is a risk that Pakistan will have traded one dependent relationship for another – but most Pakistanis seem willing to take it. To sum up, on the international as well as the domestic front, Imran's analysis has proved timely and wise. [Source: Russia Today]

Imran Khan like most of the civil and military leadership is in a delusional state to think that by becoming China’s slave the future of Pakistan will be any brighter. What Pakistanis need is to work for the re-establishment of Khilafah Rashidah (righteous Caliphate) that will enable Pakistan to break free from both America and China.