(Burma) Myanmar sentences Suu Kyi to more house arrest
— AP reports:
— “Myanmar’s generals have again succeeded in isolating democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but her fleeting emergence during a grueling trial showed that her steely resolve and charisma remain intact.”
— “A Myanmar court on Tuesday convicted the 64-year-old Nobel Peace laureate of violating her house arrest by allowing an uninvited American to stay at her home. Her sentence of three years in prison with hard labor was quickly commuted to 18 months house arrest after an order from the head of the military-ruled country, Senior Gen. Than Shwe.”
— “Suu Kyi has been in detention for 14 of the last 20 years, and the extension will remove her from the political scene next year when the junta holds its first election since 1990. Her party won in the polls then but was never allowed to take power.”
— “Her conviction and continued detention were condemned by world leaders and sparked demonstrations in cities from London to Japan. The European Union began preparing new sanctions against the country’s military regime and a group of 14 Nobel Laureates, including the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, called on the U.N. Security Council to take strong action against the country.”
— “President Barack Obama termed Suu Kyi’s conviction a violation of ‘the universal principle of human rights’ and said she should be released immediately.”
Category: Other
Al-Arabiya TV Deputy Secretary-General on Palestinian Human Rights
MEMRI: “Al-Arabiya TV Deputy Secretary-General Calls for Resettlement of Palestinian Refugees”
— “Objecting to Refugee Resettlement Is Objecting to Peace”
— “Stop Treating the Palestinians Like A Plague”
— “The Arabs Have Turned the Palestinians Into a People Defeated Both Morally and Materially”
— Daoud Al-Shiryan, Al-Hayat columnist and deputy secretary-general of Al-Arabiya TV reported as stating regarding Arab countries:
— “These countries must stop treating the Palestinians like a plague, using slogans which, as we all know, have become nothing but empty utterances in a loathsome struggle. We must break the isolation of the Palestinians in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. A Palestinian should be made to feel like a welcome and dear guest – before some external intervention comes along and grants him the right to live in dignity, to everyone’s consternation.”
Iran: UN’s Ban congratulates Iran President Ahmadinejad
Iran prisoners were ‘savagely raped’ after protests
Iran prisoners were ‘savagely raped’ after protests
— “A reformist candidate defeated in the Iranian presidential election has claimed that arrested protesters have been ‘savagely raped’ while in custody”
— Karroubi Calls On Rafsanjani to Deal with Rape of Young Men and Women in Iranian Prisons
Iraq: Attacks kill at least 42 in Iraq on Shiite religious holiday
(Iraq) Attacks kill at least 42 in Iraq on Shiite religious holiday
— “At least 42 people were killed and 154 were wounded in five attacks on a religious holiday Friday, an Interior Ministry official said.”
Iraq: Bombing near Shiite mosque north of Mosul
Police: bombing in northern Iraq
— “A series of bomb attacks targeting Shiite pilgrims and worshippers struck Iraq on Friday, killing at least 27 people and seriously damaging a mosque, police and medical officials said”
— “The official says the bomb exploded Friday at about 1 p.m. north of Mosul and dozens have been injured.”
— “It is the latest bombing in a series of attacks Friday to target Shiites. In Baghdad, three bombs killed seven people and injured dozens.”
UK: Hate-Mongering Saudi Cleric Draws Support in UK
Peter Tatchell: Anti-Semitic Saudi chief imam feted in London
East London Advertiser: Thousands pack streets of East End to see Mecca imam at prayer
IPT News: Saudi Cleric’s London Sermon Draws Fire
— “Abdul Rahman al-Sudais is the chief cleric at Mecca’s Grand Mosque.”
— “He has disparaged Jews as ‘monkeys and pigs,’ Christians as ‘cross worshippers’ and Hindus as ‘idol worshippers'”
East London Advertiser: Fury at East London mosque inviting Mecca imam
al-Sudais sermon in Mecca:
“Yesterday’s Jews are evil predecessors and today’s Jews are worse successors…They are…the worst of mankind. Allaah cursed them and cast His wrath upon them. He turned some of them to monkeys and pigs and worshippers of creatures… History of Jews is full of deception, trickery, rebellion, oppression, evil and corruption. They always seek to cause mischief on the earth and Allaah loves not the mischief-makers…They always think of betrayal and trick; and injustice and aggression run in their veins. They want only corruption and harming others.”
Daily Telegraph reports: “In Mecca two years ago, al Sudais described Jews as ‘scum of the earth,’ ‘rats of the world’ and ‘monkeys and pigs who should be annihilated'”
— BBC reports: “Sheikh Abdur-Rahman Al-Sudais, Imam, Ka’ba, Mecca, Saudi Arabia: The history of Islam is the best testament to how different communities can live together in peace and harmony. Muslims must exemplify the true image of Islam in their interaction with other communities.”
— “John Ware: Sheikh Sudais is a leading Imam from the great mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city.”
— “He had one voice for his Western audience – another for his followers in Saudi. Sheikh Abdur-Rahman Al-Sudais: The worst … of the enemies of Islam are those… whom he… made monkeys and pigs, the aggressive Jews and oppressive Zionists and those that follow them: the callers of the trinity and the cross worshippers… those influenced by the rottenness of their ideas, and the poison of their cultures the followers of secularism… How can we talk sweetly when the Hindus and the idol worshippers indulge in their overwhelming hatred against our brothers… in Muslim Kashmir…”
— “John Ware: The East London mosque received $1m from the Saudis towards their new centre. The mosque’s links to Saudi go back many years.”
Sudan: Activists Demand More Action from UN on Darfur
Iran: Trials of reformist protesters ‘postponed’
Iran Protest News: August 5, 2009
(Iran) Ahmadinejad sworn in as riot police break up protests
Latest Updates on Iran’s Post-Election Crisis
(Iran) White House U-turn on Ahmadinejad as president sworn in amid protests
— “‘Let me correct a little bit what I said yesterday,’ Robert Gibbs, President Obama’s spokesman, said as thousands of Iranian riot police beat back protesters outside the inauguration ceremony in Tehran. ‘Whether any election was fair…we’ll let (the Iranian people) decide about that.'”