Gohar Jarchvi Slams GEO Over Morning Show (Express TV Silence)

Gohar Jarchvi Slams GEO Over Morning Show Blunder by arynews جیو ٹی وی کے مارننگ شو اٹھو جاگو پاکستان میں متنازع موادچلانے کیخلاف پیمرا کا شوکازنوٹس ، وضاحت طلب ،مارننگ شو اٹھو جاگو پاکستان معطل کر دیا ،معاملے کی انکوائری کی جارہی ہے ، جیو ٹی وی انتظامیہ ،نادانستہ غلطی ہوئی، ناظرین کی دل آزاری اورجذبات مجروح ہونے پرشرمندہ اور اللہ تعالیٰ کے حضور معافی کے طلبگار ہیں ،شائستہ لودھی،مذہبی حلقوں کا جیو ٹی وی کی اہل بیت کی شان میں جسارت پر شدید برہمی کا اظہار، سنی اتحاد کونسل نے جیو چینل دیکھنا حرام قرار دے دیا : اسلا م آباد(اُردو پوائنٹ اخبار آن لائن۔16مئی۔2014ء)جیو ٹی وی کے مارننگ شو اٹھو جاگو پاکستان میں متنازع موادچلانے کیخلاف پیمرا نے شوکازنوٹس جا ری کر دیا ہے ،جس میں فوری وضاحت طلب کی گئی ہے۔تر جمان پیمرا کے مطابق جیوانٹرٹینمنٹ پرمتنازع موادچلانے پراسے شوکازنوٹس جاری کیا گیااور اٹھوجاگوپاکستان میں متنازع موادچلانے پرفوری وضاحت بھی طلب کی گئی ہے ۔ پیمرا کو جیو کے پروگرام کے خلاف پیمر کے کال سینٹر اور ویب سائٹ کے ذریعے پانچ ہزار درخواستیں موصول ہوئی ہیں،یہ پیمرا ایکٹ 2007ء کی دفعہ 26کے تحت شکایات کونسل کو بھجوائی جارہی ہیں اور اسے ایک ہفتے میں فیصلہ کرنے کی ہدایت کی گئی ۔ دوسری جانب جیو ٹی وی انتظامیہ کے مطابق مارننگ شو اٹھو جاگو پاکستان کومعطل کردیا گیا ہے اور معاملے کی انکوائری شروع کر دی گئی اس حوالے سے پروگرام کی ہوسٹ ڈاکٹرشائستہ لودھی اورادارے نے کہا کہاٹھوجاگوپاکستان کے پروگرام میں نادانستہ غلطی ہوئی، جس سے ناظرین کی دل آزاری اورجذبات مجروح ہونے پرشرمندہ ہیں،نادانستہ غلطی پرہم اللہ تعالی کے حضورمعافی کے طلب گار ہیں۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ مستقبل میں آپ کی تجاویز کے ذریعے ہم اپنے آپ کوبہتر کرتے رہیں گے۔ادھر مذہبی حلقوں کا جیو ٹی وی کی اہل بیت کی شان میں جسارت پر شدید برہمی کا اظہار، نجی ٹی وی کے مالکان فی الفور قوم سے معافی مانگیں اور وضاحت کریں ، پیمرا کو بھی معاملے کا نوٹس لینا چاہیے، پوری قوم کے مذہبی جذبات کو ٹھیس پہنچی، انتہاء پسندی و دہشت گردی ایسی مادر پدر آزاد ی کے باعث جنم لے رہی ہے جبکہ سنی اتحاد کونسل کے نجی ٹی وی کی بندش کا مطالبہ کرتے ہوئے جیو ٹی وی کو دیکھنے کو حرام قراردیدیا۔ علامہ سید ساجد علی نقوی کے ترجمان نے کہاہے کہ لوگوں کی عقیدت و عقائد پر مبنی قصائد کو اس قسم کے پروگراموں میں پیش کرنا لوگوں کے مذہبی جذبات کو مجروح کرنے کے مترادف ہے، مذکورہ چینل کے ذمہ داران اس جسارت پر قوم سے معذرت کریں اور یقین دہانی کرائیں کہ آئندہ ایسے پروگرامز نشر کرنے سے اجتناب کیا جائیگا جس سے عقائد پر حرف آتا ہو اور مذہبی جذبات مجروح ہوں. پیمرا بھی ایسے پروگرامز کی روک تھام کیلئے اپنا کردار ادا کرے۔ ملی یکجہتی کونسل کے ڈپٹی سیکرٹری جنرل و ترجمان ثاقب اکبر سے جب رابطہ کیاگیا تو انہوں نے ”خبر رساں ادارے “سے گفتگو کرتے ہوئے کہاکہ کافی عرصہ سے بعض چینل کو دیکھ رہے ہیں جو معاشرتی اقدار کو پامال کرنے پر تلے ہیں انہیں اس بات کا ادراک تک نہیں کہ وہ کس ملک میں اور کس معاشرے میں رہ رہے ہیں اور انہیں اس بات کا ذرا برابر بھی خیال نہیں کہ پاکستان کی معاشرتی اقدار کیا ہیں بلکہ اگر یوں کہا جائے کہ وہ معاشرے کی اقدار کو جاننا گوارہ ہی نہیں کرتے اور آزادی اظہار کے نام پر مادر پدر آزاد ویلیوز متعارف کرانے میں لگے ہیں انہوں نے ایک سوال پر کہاکہ بعض اوقات دہشت گردی و انتہاء پسندی ایسی حرکتوں کی وجہ سے جنم لیتی ہے جبکہ مادر پدر آزادی بھی انتہاء پسندی و دہشت گردی کی غلیظ شکل ہے اب مشکل ہوگیاہے کہ خبرنامہ بھی کوئی شریف آدمی اپنی فیملی کے ساتھ نہیں دیکھ سکتا۔ ہمیں اب وقت آگیاہے کہ فحاشی و عریانی کو روکیں ورنہ یہ ہماری معاشرتی اقدار کو مزید تباہ کردے گا انہوں نے کہاکہ گزشتہ روز ہونیوالے پروگرام کی نہ صرف مذمت کرتے ہیں بلکہ مطالبہ کرتے ہیں اس معاملے پر باز پرس کی جائے۔ سنی اتحاد کونسل کے چیئرمین صاحبزادہ حامد رضا نے کہاکہ بدھ کو جیو ٹی وی کے مارننگ شو” اٹھو جاگو پاکستان “میں بے پردہ خواتین کے جھر مٹ میں بیہودگی اور غیر سنجیدگی کے ماحول میں ناچ گانے کے دوران جوتے لہراتے ہوئے منقبت مولائے کائنات سیدہ خاتون جنت رضی اللہ عنہماپڑھا جانا حرام و ناجائز ہے۔سٹیج پر جس دلہا اور دلہن کیلئے یہ سارا کھیل رچایا گیا ان پر منقبت کے اشعار فلمانا صریحََا گستاخی ہے کیونکہ معظمان دینی کی توہین مطلقََا حرام ہے اگرچہ اس کے ساتھ ہزار تعظیمیں ہوں جبکہ یہاں تو کسی قسم کی تعظیم کا شائبہ تک نہیں تھا۔ یہ فعل حرام ہے۔اس کو جائز جاننا بذات خود کفر ہے۔ لہو لعاب کے مقامات پر ایسی پاکیزہ ہستیوں کا ذکر کسی صورت بھی روا نہیں۔ اس حرکتِ قبیہہ کے سبب بلا شبہ کروڑوں مسلمانوں کی دل آزاری ہوئی ہے۔ کسی مسلمان کی دل آزاری بلا اجازت شریعت میں حرام اور حرام جہنم میں لے جانے والا کام ہے۔میڈیا کاکام ملک و ملت کی اصلاح کرنا اور اخلاقی روایات کو پروان چڑھانا ہے نہ کہ غیر اخلاقی اور توہین پر مبنی روایات کو پروان چڑھانا ۔ ایسی مجالس اور محافل جس میں توہین اہل بیت کرام ہو قطعََا حرام اور اس میں شرکت نہ جائز اور گناہ شدید ہے۔اس طرح کے خرافات اور حرام و ناجائز افعال کی نشر و اشاعت روکنا حکومت وقت کا فریضہ ہے اور مسلمانوں کا ایسی محافل اورمجالس میں جانا اور ایسے چینل کو دیکھنا حرام ہے۔ حکومت وقت اگر ایسی خرافات کا تدارک نہ کرے تو عام مسلمانوں پر اسے بند کرنا واجب ہوگا کیونکہ جس طرح فتنہ کو حرام قرار دیا گیا ہے اسی طرح دواعئی فتنہ کو بھی حرام قرار دیا گیا ہے اور گناہ ہ حرام پر معاونت(اشتہارات) وغیرہ کی صورت میں حرام و ناجائز ہے اور مسلمانوں پر جس سے اجتناب واجب ہے۔ جیو نے دینی اقدار اور اخلاقی روایات کی دھجیاں اڑانے کی انتہا کردی ہے۔ جیو نے قومی سلامتی کے اداروں کو نشانہ بنانے کے بعد اب شعائر اسلام پر حملے شروع کردیئے ہیں جو اسلام و پاکستان دشمن عالمی طاقتوں کا ایجنڈا ہے۔ جیو کا غیر ذمہ دارانہ ، غیر محتاط، توہین آمیز ، گستاخانہ ، باغیانہ اور ملک دشمن طرز عمل ناقابل برداشت ہے۔ جیو کی غیر اخلاقی ، غیر شرعی اور اوچھی حرکت سے پوری قوم کے سر شرم سے جھک گئے ہیں۔جیو نے دین کا مذاق اڑایا ہے جس پر خاموش نہیں رہ سکتے۔ اس سنگین جرم کی تلافی معافی سے ممکن نہیں اس لئے جیو چینل کے مالک ،پروگرام پروڈیوسر ، میزبان اور دوسرے متعلقہ افراد کے خلاف فی الفور سخت ترین کاروائی کی جائے۔ ان پر توہین اہل بیت اور توہین قر آن کا مقدمہ درج کیا جائے تاکہ دنیا بھر میں جیو کی توہین اہل بیت کی جسارت پر غم و اضطراب می مبتلا ہونے والے کروڑوں محبان اہل بیت کے زخمی دلوں پر مرحم رکھا جاسکے۔ اہل سنت والجماعت کے سربراہ علامہ محمد احمد لدھیانوی کا کہنا تھا کہ جس طرح جیومارننگ شو میں گستاخانہ گیت چلایا گیا جس میں حضرت علی  اور حضرت فاطمہ الزہرہ کانام لیکر عام جوڑوں کو منسوب کیا گیا جس سے پوری قوم کی دل آزاری ہوئی ہے۔انہوں نے کہا کہ اس وقت ملک میں ہر جگہ انتشار سی کیفیت ہے اوپر سے ایسے پروگرامات نشر کرنا مجرمانہ فعل ہے جس کی جتنی مذمت کی جائے کم ہے ،انہوں نے کہا کہ ملک پاکستان میں صحابہ کرام  واہلبیت عظام  کی گستاخی کسی صورت برداشت نہیں کی جائے گی ۔انہوں نے مطالبہ کیا کہ جیوسمیت تمام چینل ایسے پروگرامات پر پابندی عائد کریں جو فرقہ واریت پھیلاتے ہیں ۔انہوں نے کہا کہ ملک اور اسلام دشمن عناصر ایسے واقعات کی تاک میں رہتے ہیں اور ان کو بنیاد بناکر کاروائیاں کرتے ہیں اس لیے ایسے واقعات کا حکومت پاکستان کو سنجیدگی سے نوٹس لینا چاہیے۔انہوں نے اپنے بیان میں کہا کہ اس وقت تمام اسلامی ممالک میں فرقہ وارانہ جنگ پھیلی ہوئی ہے جبکہ ملک شام میں صحابی رسولﷺ حضرت خالدبن ولید کے مزار پر فورسز کی جانب سے حملہ اور اس کو گرانے کی سخت الفاظ میں مذمت کرتے ہیں اور مطالبہ کرتے ہیں کہ تمام اسلامی ممالک اس پر اپنا احتجاج ریکارڈ کروائیں ۔جبکہ سنی اتحاد کونسل نے جیو ٹی وی کے مارننگ شو میں توہین آمیز پروگرام نشر کرنے پر پر چینل کو دیکھنا حرام قرار دے دیا ہے۔ صاحبزادہ حامد رضا کہتے ہیں معافی تلافی سے کام نہیں چلے گا اگر ہمیں انصاف نہ ملا تو اتوار سے کراچی میں غیر معینہ مدت تک دھرنا دیں گے۔نیشنل پریس کلب اسلام آباد میں فیصل رضا عابدی کے ہمراہ پریس کانفرنس سے خطاب میں چیرمین سنی اتحاد کونسل حامد رضا نے کہا کہ جیو ٹی وی کے مارننگ شو میں جس طرح منقبت اہل بیت کی توہین کی وہ حرام ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ حکومت وقت اگر ایسی خرافات کا تدارک نہ کرے تو عام مسلمانوں پر اسے بند کرنا واجب ہوگا۔ حامد رضا نے کہا کہ جیو کا غیر ذمہ دارانہ، گستاخانہ اور توہین آمیز طرز عمل ناقابل برداشت ہے۔ پروگرام کے پروڈیوسر اور میزبان کے خلاف مقدمہ درج کیا جائے۔ اس موقع پر فیصل رضا عابدی نے کہا کہ اتوار سے شروع ہونے والا احتجاج جیو کی تالا بندی تک جاری رہے گا۔ سنی اتحاد کونسل کے جیو کے مارننگ شو کے خلاف سپریم کورٹ میں بھی جانے کا اعلان کیا ہے۔ واضح رہے جیو ٹی کے اینٹرٹینمیٹ چینل کے مارننگ شو میں گذشتہ روز اداکارہ وینا ملک اور ان کے شوہر اسد خٹک کی شادی کی تقریب کی عکس بندی کی گئی اس دوران چلائی گئی قوالی کے بول اس حد تک شان صحابہ کے خلاف تھے کہ کوئی بھی مسلمان اس کا تصور بھی نہیں کر سکتا۔ ادھر ملتان میں مجلس وحدت مسلمین نے جیو ٹی وی کی طرف سے توہین آمیز پروگرام نشر کرنے پر نشر کرنے پر احتجاجی ریلی نکالی اور مقدمہ درج ہونے تک احتجاج جاری رکھنے کا اعلان کر دیا۔ وحدت المسلمین سمیت متعدد مذہبی جماعتوں نے مذہبی منافرت اور انتشار پھیلانے پر جیو کیخلاف احتجاجی ریلیاں نکالیں جس میں شہریوں کی کثیر تعداد نے شرکت کی۔ ریلی کے شرکاء کا کہنا تھا کہ وینا ملک کی رسم حنا کو اہل بیت سے تشبیہ دینا انتہائی المناک ہے جس کا حکومت اور چیف جسٹس آف پاکستان نوٹس لیں۔ قاری حنیف جالندھری نے کہا کہ پیمرا کا کوئی کردار نہیں جس کی وجہ سے جیو بے لگام ہو چکا ہے جس کے نتائج انتہائی خطرناک ہونگے۔ مذہبی تنظیموں نے جیو کی بندش اور مالکان کیخلاف مقدمے کے اندراج تک احتجاج کا سلسلہ جاری رکھنے کا بھی اعلان کیا ہے۔ دوسری جانب تحریک انصاف نے جیو ٹی وی پر توہین آمیز پروگرام کی مذمت کرتے ہوئے حکومت سے کارروائی کا مطالبہ کیا ہے۔ تحریک انصاف کی ترجمان شیریں مزاری کی جانب سے جاری بیان میں جیو ٹی وی کے مارننگ شو میں توہین آمیز مواد نشر کرنے کی شدید مذمت کی گئی۔ بیان میں کہا گیا ہے کہ پروگرام سے کروڑوں مسلمانوں کی دل آزاری ہوئی۔ حکومت جیو ٹی وی کی نشریات کا نوٹس لیتے ہوئے قانون کے مطابق کارروائی کرے۔ http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1uo45o_shameful-act-of-geo-hurts-religious-sentiments_news A Tuareg man waves the flag of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MLNA) during a demonstration in support of the MLNA on July 28, 2013 in Kidal, northern Mali SCRIPT: Bashar al-Assad became president of Syria in July 2000. An ophthalmologist by profession, he had little interest in politics. That all changed when his brother Basel, who’d been primed all his life for the presidential role, was killed in a car crash in 1994. SOUNDBITE 1 - Wiam Wahhab (man), former Lebanese environment minister (Arabic, 12 sec): "The death of Basel led President Bashar to return home from London, and he slowly started to get involved in political life until his father died." At age 34, Bashar took over from Hafez al-Assad who had ruled with an iron-fist for three decades. And through him, he continued the Alawite minority’s domination over the country. At the start, Bashar had a reputation as a modernist as he began to implement economic reforms liberalising the private sector. But it would prove harder to reform the political system. The old guard suppressed debate and steered the new president toward more authoritarian policies. SOUNDBITE 2 - Hilal Khashan (man), political science professor at the American University of Beirut (English, 13 sec): "Instead of leading the drive to engage in talking reforms he decided to use the tactics that were employed by his father in the early 1980s." The late Hafez was a controversial figure. Criticised by some as a dictator, his regime is remembered for widespread human rights abuses, including the massacre of more than ten thousand dissidents in the city of Hama in 1982. Like his father, Bashar became one of the region's most ruthless leaders. He waged an increasingly brutal war to crush an uprising that broke out in March 2011, and left 70,000 dead and millions homeless in the first two years. Bashar described the conflict as a "crucial and heroic" battle for the very future of Syria which he said was the target of "foreign conspiracies." SOUNDBITE 3 - Bashar al-Assad (man), Syrian president (Arabic, 23 sec): "The crisis has other dimensions, not only internal ones as has become clear to all who want to see. Regionally, there are parties who seek to divide Syria, others who want to weaken it, some parties are providing the criminals with funds and weapons, while others are providing support and training." And even though the conflict escalated into a full-blown civil war, the embattled premier insisted he had the backing of the Syrian people and remained determined to fight tooth and nail to stay in power. Bashar's draconian repression of his own people will undoubtedly contribute to the diehard Assad dynasty legacy that his father left behind. SHOTLIST: DAMASCUS, MARCH 30, 2011, SOURCE: AFPTV - VAR of Bashar al-Assad waving to supporters as he arrives at parliament DAMASCUS, 1985, SOURCE: AFP - A family portrait shows Bashar al-Assad posing with his father Hafez, his mother Anissah Makhlouf, brothers Maher, Basel, who died in a car accident in 1994, Majd and his sister Bushra BEIRUT, FEBRUARY 21, 2013, SOURCE: AFPTV/M. GHANDOUR - SOUNDBITE 1: Wiam Wahhab, former Lebanese environment minister DAMASCUS, AUGUST 23, 2011, SOURCE: AFPTV/D. BELAID - VAR of a statue of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad at Arnoos square in Damascus DAMASCUS, APRIL 24, 2000, SOURCE: AFP/L. BESHARA - A picture of Bashar al-Assad standing in front of a portrait of his father, Hafez al-Assad SYRIA, JULY 12, 2000, SOURCE: SANA - A picture of Bashar al-Assad attending his first military exercise since his arrival to power with Syrian army chief Ali Aslaa DAMASCUS, JANUARY 11, 2012, SOURCE: SYRIAN TV - MS of Bashar al-Assad giving a speech in the Ummayad mosque in Damascus - WS of Bashar waving to regime supporters after his speech DAMASCUS, FEBRUARY 26, 2012, SOURCE: SYRIAN TV - MS of Bashar al-Assad and his wife, Asma al-Assad, before voting PARIS, JULY 14, 2008, SOURCE: POOL - VAR of Bashar al-Assad attending the French National Day official ceremony BEIRUT, FEBRUARY 26, 2013, SOURCE: AFPTV/M. GHANDOUR - SOUNDBITE 2: Hilal Khashan, political science professor at the American University of Beirut DAMASCUS, SYRIA, MAY 10, 2012, SOURCE: AFPTV - MS of a portrait of Hafez al-Assad on the wall of a damaged building after an explosion DAMASCUS, OCTOBER 27, 1973, SOURCE: AFP - A picture of Hafez al-Assad after a prayer in the Ummayad mosque in Damascus DAMASCUS, MARCH 11, 1999, SOURCE: AFP/R. HAIDAR - A picture of Hafez al-Assad waving to supporters as he arrives at parliament for a swearing in ceremony ALEPPO, SYRIA, OCTOBER 12, 2012, SOURCE: AFPTV/Q. LEBOUCHER - VAR of protesters burning a picture of Bashar al-Assad at an anti-regime demonstration held after the weekly Muslim prayers IDLIB, SYRIA, FEBRUARY 29, 2012, SOURCE: AFPTV - WS of a bombing - WS of families running in the streets after a bombing ALEPPO, SYRIA, JANUARY 31, 2013, SOURCE: AFPTV/C. COURCY - VAR of unidentified bodies being buried in a common grave that were found in a river in Aleppo after being shot at close range DAMASCUS, JANUARY 6, 2012, SOURCE: SYRIAN TV - VAR of Bashar al-Assad waving to supporters as he arrives at the opera houseto give a rare speech - SOUNDBITE 3: Bashar al-Assad, Syrian president HAMA, SYRIA, AUGUST 10, 2011, SOURCE: AFPTV, DURING AN OFFICIAL SUPERVISED VISIT - WS of armoured vehicles leaving the city of Hama - MS of soldiers standing on armoured vehicles holding a poster of Bashar al-Assad DAMASCUS, MARCH 29, 2011, SOURCE: AFPTV - Pan of pro-regime protesters chanting while carrying Syrian flags, pictures of Bashar al-Assad, with one poster reading "We are one people in Syria" SWEIDA, SYRIA, JANUARY 23, 2013, SOURCE: AFPTV/M. GHANDOUR - VAR of Syrian soldiers holding their weapons next to a large picture of Bashar al-Assad in the Druze mountain in southern Syria DAMASCUS, JUNE 13, 2000, SOURCE: AFP/R. MOGHRABI - A picture of Bashar al-Assad waving to supporters as he marches behind the coffin of his father, Hafez al-Assad, during his funeral DAMASCUS, AUGUST 23, 2011, SOURCE: AFPTV/D. BELAID - MS of a picture of Bashar al-Assad and his father Hafez al-Assad on top of a building between a Palestinian flag and a Syrian flagand the words in Arabic "Assad our leader" ALEPPO, SYRIA, AUGUST 3, 2012, SOURCE: AFPTV/J. CASAS - MS of rebels stomping on a photo of Bashar al-Assad and Hafez al-Assad in Bab al-Hadid, the entry point to the old city of Aleppo *NO RESALE FOR NON EDITORIAL PURPOSES* /// ---------------- AFP TEXT STORY: Syria-conflict-anniversary-Assad,FOCUS Assad 'will fight to the end' despite setbacks =(VIDEO+FILE PICTURE)= BEIRUT, March 11, 2013 (AFP) - Syria's President Bashar al-Assad comes across as a remorseless autocrat ready to go to any lengths to stay in power, despite military setbacks and growing ever more isolated from much of the world, observers found. "He appears relaxed and confident, and certainly doesn't give the impression of being about to quit," said Hala Jaber, a Sunday Times reporter who recently interviewed Assad. An eye doctor by training, Assad became his father Hafez's heir only after his older brother Bassel died in a car accident. He became president in 2002 and has made it clear that he will not leave power before his mandate ends in 2014. In rare speeches and interviews, he projects a confident image that is occasionally tarnished by nervous laughter. Two years into Syria's revolt, Assad's previously shy, clumsy and unspontaneous persona has hardened, his previously reformist, modern image morphing into that of an unpitying chief. He refused to condemn members of the security forces who savagely tortured children who scrawled anti-regime slogans on their school walls in the southern province of Daraa. Their imprisonment became the spark that lit Syria's uprising. While demonstrators called for reform rather than Assad's fall at the start of the revolt, the brutal repression of peaceful protest turned him into a hated man among dissidents, though a section of the population continues to support him. "Now he is much more the 'boss' than before, though he of course could not do without his military and security supporters," Nikolaos van Dam, a Dutch diplomat and leading expert on Syria, told AFP. "He will fight until death if necessary," said van Dam, author of "The struggle for power in Syria." -- Too much at stake -- "There is too much at stake here, not only for him, but for his Alawite followers and the Alawite community as well." The Alawites are an offshoot of Shiite Islam, while the rebels in Syria are mostly Sunni. "The future may hold a long and ferocious civil war," van Dam added. Despite the loss of army control over large swathes of territory in northern and eastern Syria, Assad is certain he will emerge victorious from a war that the United Nations estimates has already left more than 70,000 people dead. "He seems both more erratic and more delusional, still convinced he can win militarily," said Berlin-based Volker Perthes, who heads the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. Steeped in the "anti-imperialist" ideology of the Baath party which has ruled for 50 years, Assad believes Syria is the target of a foreign conspiracy because his government supports movements fighting Israel, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah. He also believes that control over Syria's main cities -- chiefly Damascus -- and the west of the country will give him cards to play in any future negotiations led by the United States and Russia. Assad has the unwavering backing of the leadership of the army and security forces, although they are suffering increasing difficulties in their efforts to parry rebel advances. A pro-Damascus Lebanese former minister who recently met Assad said the Syrian leader appears "sad, though his conscience is clear." "He is sad for Syria because many things he and his father built are being destroyed before his eyes; but he is calm because he knows he cannot be defeated," Wiam Wahhab told AFP. "He hasn't changed. Every day, he does sport, he checks the news on the Internet and reads the reports he receives. Last time I saw him, he was relaxed. "Of course there are things he can't do for security reasons, such as going to a restaurant or driving his children to school," Wahhab added. According to Perthes, the Syrian president will not change his stance, despite international talk of dialogue between the regime and the opposition aimed at setting up a transitional government. "I don't think Assad would negotiate his own departure and future," Perthes said. less http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1uo45o_shameful-act-of-geo-hurts-religious-sentiments_news Express News screengrab of daughter of the famous singer Noor Jehan, Zil-e-Huma. LAHORE: Daughter of the famous singer Noor Jehan, Zil-e-Huma, passed away on Friday at the age of 70, Express News reported. Zil-e-Huma was admitted a local hospital in Lahore where she was receiving medical treatment. It was reported that her condition was getting worse and worse before she passed away today. A few days ago doctors had amputated her leg as she was diabetic. Zil-e-Huma was the youngest of the three children of the well-known singer Noor Jehan and director Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. She leaves behind four sons; Mohammad Ali Butt, Ahmed Ali Butt, Mustafa Ali Butt and Hamza Ali Butt. She was also hospitalised at Agha Khan Hospital, Karachi before she was shifted to Lahore reportedly about eight to ten days ago.

Algeria toll rises as attack claimed for al Qaeda

Algeria toll rises as attack claimed for al Qaeda Sun, Jan 20 23:46 PM EST 1 of 18 By Lamine Chikhi ALGIERS, Algeria (Reuters) - The death toll has risen to at least 48 hostages killed during a four-day siege at a gas plant deep in the Sahara as a veteran Islamist fighter claimed responsibility on behalf of al Qaeda for the attack. Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal is expected to give details at a Monday news conference about one of the worst international hostage crises in decades, which left American, British, French, Japanese, Norwegian and Romanian workers dead or missing. A security source said on Sunday Algerian troops had found the bodies of 25 hostages, raising the number of militants and their captives killed to at least 80. He said six militants were captured alive and troops were still searching for others. One-eyed veteran Islamist fighter Mokhtar Belmokhtar claimed responsibility on Sunday for the attack on behalf of al Qaeda. "We in al Qaeda announce this blessed operation," he said in a video, according to Sahara Media, a regional website. He said about 40 attackers participated in the raid, roughly matching the government's figures for fighters killed and captured. The fighters swooped out of the desert and seized the base on Wednesday, capturing a plant that produces 10 percent of Algeria's natural gas exports, as well as a nearby residential barracks. They demanded an end to French air strikes against Islamist fighters in neighboring Mali that had begun five days earlier. However, U.S. and European officials doubt such a complex raid could have been organized quickly enough to have been conceived as a direct response to the French military intervention. The siege turned bloody on Thursday when the Algerian army opened fire saying fighters were trying to escape with their prisoners. Survivors said Algerian forces blasted several trucks in a convoy carrying both hostages and their captors. Nearly 700 Algerian workers and more than 100 foreigners escaped, mainly on Thursday when the fighters were driven from the residential barracks. Some captors remained holed up in the industrial complex until Saturday when they were overrun. The bloodshed has strained Algeria's relations with its Western allies, some of whom have complained about being left in the dark while the decision to storm the compound was being taken. Nevertheless, Britain and France both defended the Algerian military action. "It's easy to say that this or that should have been done. The Algerian authorities took a decision and the toll is very high but I am a bit bothered ... when the impression is given that the Algerians are open to question," said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. "They had to deal with terrorists."

British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a televised statement: "Of course people will ask questions about the Algerian response to these events, but I would just say that the responsibility for these deaths lies squarely with the terrorists who launched this vicious and cowardly attack. "We should recognize all that the Algerians have done to work with us and to help and coordinate with us. I'd like to thank them for that. We should also recognize that the Algerians too have seen lives lost among their soldiers."

Algeria had given a preliminary death toll of 55 people killed - 23 hostages and 32 militants - on Saturday and said it would rise as more bodies were found. The security source said that toll did not include the bodies of 25 hostages found on Sunday, which meant the total number of captives killed - foreign and local - was at least 48. The search was not over, and more could yet be found, he said. Among foreigners confirmed dead by their home countries were three Britons, one American and two Romanians. The missing include at least 10 Japanese, five Norwegians, three other Britons, and a British resident. The security source said at least one Frenchman was also among the dead. LAST WORDS? Alan Wright, now safe at home in Scotland, said he had escaped with a group of Algerian and foreign workers after hiding for a day and a night. While hiding inside the compound, he managed to call his wife at home with their two daughters. "She asked if I wanted to speak to Imogen and Esme, and I couldn't because I thought, I don't want my last ever words to be in a crackly satellite phone, telling a lie, saying you're OK when you're far from OK," he recalled to Sky News. Despite the incident, Algeria is determined to press on with its energy industry. Oil Minister Youcef Yousfi visited the site and said physical damage was minor, state news service APS reported. The plant would start back up in two days, he said. The Islamists' assault has tested Algeria's relations with the outside world and exposed the vulnerability of multinational oil operations in the Sahara. Algeria, scarred by the civil war with Islamist insurgents in the 1990s which claimed 200,000 lives, insisted from the start of the crisis there would be no negotiation in the face of terrorism. France especially needs close cooperation from Algeria to crush Islamist rebels in northern Mali. (Additional reporting by Balazs Koranyi in Oslo, Estelle Shirbon and David Alexander in London, Brian Love in Paris and Daniel Flynn in Dakar; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Sophie Hares and Myra MacDonald) =========================== Insight: Mystery Canadian coordinated Algeria gas field attack, premier says Mon, Jan 21 12:40 PM EST 1 of 3 By Lamine Chikhi ALGIERS (Reuters) - The Islamist attack on the sprawling desert gas complex in southern Algeria that triggered one of the worst hostage crises in years was conceived in Mali and coordinated by a mystery Canadian named only as Chedad, the Algerian prime minister said. Five days after about 40 jihadist fighters raided the facility not far from the Libyan border and Algeria responded with a full-on military operation to kill or capture them, a picture of what happened is emerging. While some hostages escaped in the early stages of the crisis, hopes soon faded for dozens of others once the army decided to take on the raiders. Workers from the United States, Britain, France, Japan, Romania, Norway and the Philippines were either dead or missing, with the overall death toll among hostages and militants put at 67 and potentially rising by up to five. Those who escaped had harrowing tales to tell. One Briton recounted how the attackers had strapped Semtex plastic explosive around his neck, bound his hands and taped his mouth. Another man hid for more than a day and a half under his bed as jihadist fighters searched the workers' residential complex. Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said the plot had been hatched in war-ravaged Mali and the attackers had traveled through Niger and Libya before slipping into Algeria. The jihadists were said to come from Egypt, Mauritania, Niger, Tunisia, Mali, Algeria and, in one case, from Canada. The Canadian, identified initially as Chedad, was coordinating the raiders, Sellal said. The In Amenas gas plant probably felt impregnable to those who worked there - fenced in, hundreds of miles from anywhere and with the Algerian army patrolling its desert approaches. That was a mirage. Libya, an ex-police state turned arms bazaar and now open for jihad, lies just 50 miles away. At least some of the Islamist guerrillas who stormed in before dawn on Wednesday had driven along smugglers' tracks across the Libyan border, an Algerian security official told Reuters, citing evidence from mobile phones traced to the militants. NINE TOYOTAS The militants arrived in nine Toyotas with Libyan plates and painted in the colors of Sonatrach, the Algerian oil and gas company that has a share in the plant, according to the Algerian daily El Khabar. The ease with which they entered the fortified housing compound and nearby natural gas plant left Algerians in little doubt the gunmen had allies among people at the site. "They had local cooperation, I'm sure, maybe from drivers or security guards, who helped the terrorists get into the base," was the immediate reaction of Anis Rahmani, editor of Algeria's Ennahar newspaper and a writer on security issues who said he was briefed by officials. Sellal confirmed that a driver who had formerly worked at the plant had been supplying information to the raiders. Locally hired workers who escaped told Reuters of seeing the gunmen moving around the facility with confidence, apparently familiar with its layout and well prepared. The militants said they launched the raid to halt French military intervention in neighboring Mali, which began earlier this month, however the link is not yet clear. It is possible the attack would have happened anyway, or that the French military operation provided a trigger to carry out an attack based on preparations made earlier. First word of trouble came crackling over a walkie-talkie to the communications room at In Amenas, where a 27-year-old radio operator called Azedine logged a contact with a bus driver who, at 5:45 a.m. (0445 GMT), left to take some foreigners to the airstrip at the town of In Amenas, some 50 km (30 miles) away. "Moments after the bus left, I heard shooting, a lot of shooting, and then nothing," Azedine told Reuters on Friday. BUS SKIRMISH Two people, one British and one Algerian, were killed on two buses heading for the airport. The Briton was identified as a Gulf war veteran who had been in the French Foreign Legion and was working for a security company. Sellal said the raiders planned to seize the foreign passengers, but came under fire from soldiers guarding them. It is not clear whether that incident was part of the plan that secured the militants access to the compound. Almost immediately after the bus skirmish, they were inside, in at least three vehicles. They shot an Algerian guard but he was able to raise the alarm before dying, Sellal said. People who have worked at the site say there was normally an overnight curfew, leaving it unclear how the gunmen were able to get so close before being challenged. Their initial approach may have been well off the main roads. Freed hostages spoke of frightened people staying in their offices or hiding in their dormitories. Azedine saw a gunman put on the ID badge of a French supervisor who had been shot dead. A French catering firm employee spent 40 hours cowering alone under his bed, terrified he would be killed. Alexandre Berceaux said he had survived by staying in his room away from other foreigners, hidden behind a barricade of wooden planks and having Algerian colleagues sneak him food and water. "I was completely isolated ... I was afraid. I could see myself already ending up in a wooden box," Berceaux said in a radio interview. Rapidly the area was surrounded by heavily armed Algerian troops, with tanks, armored vehicles and helicopter gunships from a nearby military base. Sellal said there had been an attempt to negotiate but it had collapsed over the hostage-takers' demands. SMUGGLERS' TRAILS People who know the site, operated by Britain's BP and Statoil of Norway along with Algeria's Sonatrach, said a barracks housing several hundred soldiers lies along the three km (two miles) of road separating the accommodation compound from the industrial plant. A former senior Algerian government official said guards appeared to have been caught napping: "They have all kinds of equipment, detailed surveillance, cameras," he said. "They were caught maybe at the right time, at five in the morning." But he also acknowledged the militants may have had help among the local workforce: "Out of 700 Algerians, I am sure they will find a couple who will cooperate. It always happens." Militant leaders like Taher Ben Cheneb, said by officials to have been one of the commanders of the operation and to have been killed on Thursday, have stoked resentment among southerners at the way foreigners and northerners dominate the better paid jobs in the oil fields. Ben Cheneb, described as a high school maths teacher in his 50s, led the Movement of the Islamic Youth in the South. Security expert Rahmani said he joined forces for this operation with followers of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a veteran of Afghan wars and a leading figure in Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) who recently formed a new group named Mulathameen. Belmokhtar, the overall commander but not present during the attack, claimed responsibility on behalf of al Qaeda for a raid he called a "blessed operation". While Ben Cheneb's group appeared to have moved on In Amenas from a base inside Algeria, Rahmani said, another group led by Abu El Bara appeared to have come in from Libya. ONE-EYED JACK The group's field commander was a veteran fighter from Niger called Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri, Mauritanian media reported. He led his men into the gas plant, where he is believed to have been killed, while Abu El Bara died at the residential complex. Noting the one-eyed Belmokhtar's reputation as a cigarette smuggler as well as a holy warrior - locals call him "Mister Marlboro" - Rahmani added: "They use the same back roads as the smugglers. You need a perfect knowledge of the Sahara to do it. Canadian diplomat Robert Fowler, who was captured by Belmokhtar in Niger in 2008 and released after four months, nicknamed him "Jack" so as to be able to discuss him privately with fellow captives. Belmokhtar in turn referred to his prisoners as apostates and infidels. More than a decade after Algeria's civil war killed some 200,000 people, Islamist fighters roam the sandy wastes of Africa's biggest country, mixing smuggling and kidnapping for ransom with opposition to the political establishment that has ruled in Algiers since French colonists left half a century ago. These groups have been energized by the return of heavily armed ethnic Tuaregs and others from Libya, where they fought as mercenaries for Muammar Gaddafi until his overthrow in 2011. The new Libyan authorities are struggling to control their own deep south and it provides a launchpad for raids across the frontier. ARMY ASSAULT While security forces seek to impose control, the tracts of sand are vast, borders among the half dozen countries around the desert are unmarked, and the big money that can be made from illicit trade or kidnapping tourists and Western engineers can be used to buy favors from ill-paid officials. Al Qaeda says it is fighting for a Muslim caliphate that transcends artificial borders in the Maghreb set by colonial powers. Once inside the facility, militants, including bearded, ragged fighters and others in more urban dress, herded groups of Westerners together. Hundreds of Algerians were guarded more loosely. One Algerian worker told Reuters the gunmen said they were only interested in killing "Christians and infidels". Algeria told Western governments, which voiced dismay at the storming of the facility on Thursday, that troops moved in only because guerrillas were trying to leave with hostages, hoping to reach Mali. The captors loaded hostages into a convoy. Special forces backed by helicopters moved in around noon, some 30 hours after the plant was seized. In what appears to have been the deadliest part of the siege, as described by the family of Irish survivor Stephen McFaul, government forces bombed the convoy, blasting apart four vehicles full of hostages. McFaul was in a fifth truck which crashed. He dashed for his life and escaped, and believes all those in the other vehicles were killed. McFaul told how the attackers had turned him into a human bomb, strapping Semtex around his neck. Another Briton, Garry Barlow, called his wife from within the site during the attack and said: "I'm sat here at my desk with Semtex strapped to my chest." During Thursday, most of the hundreds of people at the site were able to flee, some of them Westerners posing as Algerians. "We cut the wire with clippers and ran for it, all together, about 50 of us with the three foreigners," one man was quoted as saying by The Times. By Friday night, it remained unclear how many of the gunmen and their hostages were still in the facility. The operation at the larger, residential compound was over and troops were now surrounding the industrial site, where Nigeri and his men were reported to be holding a group of hostages. But this left Western governments and intelligence officials, long used to difficult relations with Algeria which is proud of its sovereignty, desperate for hard facts about the fate of their nationals. Western capitals seemed to be in the dark when the dramatic and bloody final assault came on Saturday morning. Algerian soldiers shot dead 11 gunmen who had executed seven foreign hostages, according to the state news agency. The militants were then found to have booby-trapped the gas complex with explosives, which the army had to defuse. The operation was over, authorities said, but mopping up went on for hours, with dozens more bodies found and many questions still to be answered. (Additional reporting by Alex Lawler and Jessica Donati in London, Writing by Alastair Macdonald and; Giles Elgood, editing by Peter Millership) =============

Malik Ishaq, Ajmal Pahari, Mulla Brader all released on name of "Reconciliation"

Pakistan to release Mullah Baradar, other Afghan Taliban detainees By Reuters Published: January 18, 2013 A file photo of Mullah Baradar. PHOTO: NYT/FILE ABU DHABI: Pakistan plans to release all Afghan Taliban prisoners still in its detention, including the group’s former second-in-command Mullah Baradar, Pakistan’s foreign secretary Jalil Jilani said on Friday, the clearest signal yet that it backs reconciliation efforts. “The remaining detainees, we are coordinating, and they will be released subsequently,” Jilani said at a news conference in Abu Dhabi. Asked if the former Taliban number 2 Baradar would be among those to be released, he said: “The aim is to release all,” without elaborating further. Pakistan, in a bid to support peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan and answering requests of the Afghan government and the high peace council, agreed to release a number of high profile Taliban detainees in November 2012. Pakistan released around 26 Taliban leaders since then. ============= A Most Dangerous Man The release of Malik Ishaq, a highly-connected terrorist, speaks well for no one. By Khaled Ahmed | From the July 29‚ 2011‚ issue Arif Ali / AFP The Supreme Court of Pakistan on July 15 released on bail Malik Ishaq, leader and founder of Al Qaeda-linked Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, on grounds of “lack of evidence.” The man had been facing a number of cases at the antiterrorism court in Lahore charging him with hundreds of murders. He remained in jail for 14 years while evidence against him gradually decayed and disappeared—a pattern traced by terrorists in custody, none of whom has so far been punished in a country crawling with terrorist organizations. On his release, he was received outside Kot Lakhpat prison by leaders of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, banned in 2001 as a terrorist organization but now—after being renamed harmlessly to Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat—resting in a legal grey area because of an appeal lying with the higher judiciary. The Sahaba leader heading the welcome party was Maulana Muhammad Ahmad Ludhianvi—recalling an anti-Shia 1980s polemicist who was assassinated in Karachi—who came in handy when the current Army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, called on Ishaq to talk to the terrorists who had attacked Army General Headquarters in Rawalpindi in 2009. The Army chief’s personal plane had carried Ishaq to Rawalpindi, while another plane belonging to the ISI chief, Gen. Shuja Pasha, carried Ludhianvi. Sipah-e-Sahaba’s welcome party was hardly a dozen strong, but by the time it reached the border of South Punjab, the numbers began to swell. If in Okara it was a few hundred, and a thousand in Khanewal, it was nearly 5,000 in Bahawalpur—the city of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi’s sister terrorist organization, Jaish-e-Muhammad. When Ishaq arrived in his village of Tarinda Sawai Khan in Rahim Yar Khan, the crowd out to greet him was actually 15,000-strong, as claimed by a Sahaba publication. Their newspaper, Daily Ummat Karachi, in its July 16 edition said Ishaq had been freed without any “secret deal” and that he had rededicated himself to war against the proliferation of “insulters” of the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) on the Internet as he now fought under the flag of Sipah-e-Sahaba after disbanding Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. How far Jhangvi will be disbanded after appearing on the flag of Al Qaeda’s 313 Brigade (which includes Jandullah and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan) is yet to be seen. One reason Ishaq has joined Sahaba is that the banning order against it is on hold and this takes him away from the mischief of the antiterrorism law. According to the publication, Ishaq was wanted in 43 cases, involving 70 murders, out of which he had been acquitted in 37 and awarded bail in eight. The last case, involving planning—from prison—the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in 2009 has concluded in another bail at the Supreme Court after which he has been released. Earlier resistance to release by the Punjab government had required Lahore to pay for the monthly sustenance of Ishaq’s family. This time Lahore let him go. Daily Ummat says that, because Punjab was not releasing Ishaq, Sipah-e-Sahaba decided to reach an agreement with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on electoral support in Bhakkar from where the latter was elected unopposed with the help of Ishaq’s brother. Arriving back in South Punjab, Ishaq has consolidated the power of the hard-line sectarian organizations emanating from the state policy of jihad. He is ranked at par with the chief of Jaish-e-Muhammad, Maulana Masud Azhar, famous for his companionship with Osama bin Laden and his linkage with Omar Sheikh, who contributed to the killing of The Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi in 2002. Sheikh, too, has been charged with planning terrorist acts—including against then President Pervez Musharraf—from his prison cell in Sindh. Azhar and Sheikh were both sprung from an Indian jail in 1999 and released in Kandahar, after the hijacking of an Indian airliner in Nepal, as a result of a deal facilitated by a Pakistan-dominated Taliban government in Afghanistan. Ishaq headed a union of shopkeepers in Rahim Yar Khan when he fell under the thrall of Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, the founder of the Shia-apostatizing Sipah-e-Sahaba in 1982 after his contacts with Arab princes enjoying extraterritorial hunting rights in Rahim Yar Khan made him strong. Against the background of an Arab-Iranian confrontation in the region, Sahaba flourished financially, too. The other devotees of Maulana Jhangvi were Jaish-e-Muhammad’s Azhar and Riaz Basra, who was killed in a “police encounter” in 2002 because “no judge could sentence him.” Basra and Ishaq founded Laskhar-e-Jhangvi. After Ishaq was arrested in 1997 in the wake of the killing of five Iranian Air Force trainees in Rawalpindi, Basra threatened the government with dire consequences unless he was released. Meanwhile, another Lashkar-e-Jhangvi commander, Akram Lahori, went on killing Shias in Karachi, which according to Ishaq was much easier because the Jhangvi cadre there was better trained than in the Punjab. (Training was received in Al Qaeda camps in Surobi, Afghanistan.) Facing trial in Multan, Lahori, responsible for the killing of such well-known Karachi figures as businessman Shaukat Mirza and prominent Shia doctors, was indicted in 2010 after living comfortably in jail for seven years. Witnesses against him in Multan continue to die or disappear. Witnesses against Ishaq also have a hard time surviving, as in the case brought against him by a Shia citizen, Fida Husain Ghalvi, charging that Ishaq had killed 10 of his family. The Punjab government has made a deal with Sipah-e-Sahaba after seeing its growing clout in South Punjab. One well-known episode was recorded by jihadist newspaper Islam: “Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah visited Jhang and paid his respects at the tomb of the founder of the greatest banned sectarian-terrorist Deobandi organization, Sipah-e-Sahaba, Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi. He led a delegation of the [Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)] which also included parliamentary secretary Iftikhar Baloch and party M.P.A. from Jhang, Sheikh Yaqub. He also visited the tombs of other Sipah-e-Sahaba martyr-leaders like Maulana Isarul Qasimi and Allama Azam Tariq.” Threatened communities have reacted predictably. Shia outfit Imamia Students Organization issued the following statement: “The planned release of terror kingpin Malik Ishaq who is also the co-founder of banned organization Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, with the blessing of Punjab government’s weak prosecution and the court’s blind decision is likely to fuel the ruthless killings of Shias across the country.” Sri Lanka, which hoped to get justice for the attack on its cricket team, and Iran, whose cultural consul Muhammad Ali Rahimi was allegedly killed by Ishaq in Multan in 1997, will also be offended. His release was badly timed. President Asif Ali Zardari’s paid a goodwill visit to Iran the same week. When the Iranian consul in Lahore Sadeq Ganji was assassinated in 1990, the strong presence of Sipah-e-Sahaba in politics prevented the due process of law to unfold. At the Lahore High Court, where the killers faced trial, many judges retired or were elevated before the court was able to pass the obvious death sentence. Sahaba wanted to pay diyat or blood money for the killer it wanted spared, and even approached Iran in this respect. The power of apostatizing sectarian elements has redoubled in 2011 and “legal” political parties have to align with them to survive in certain regions. All it takes is a renaming of the banned organization. Ahmed is a director at the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) in Lahore. To comment on this article, email letters@newsweek.pk ============= http://www.thenewstribe.com/2013/01/19/accused-of-100-murders-ajmal-aka-pahari-released-from-karachi-central-jail/ ====================== Algeria militants want Aafia Siddiqui released in proposed prisoner swap By AFP Published: January 18, 2013 Militants say they will swap hostages for the release of Aafia Siddiqui and Egyptian militant Omar Abdul Rahman and an end to French offensive in Mali. PHOTO: REUTERS/ FILE NOUAKCHOTT: Gunmen in Algeria who are holding about 60 hostages at a gas plant, want to swap the American hostages for prisoners held in the United States including Pakistani Aafia Siddiqui, the ANI news agency quoted sources close to their leader as saying on Friday. The abductors, who are also holding other Algerian and foreign hostages, have also demanded negotiations for an end to French intervention in Mali, the agency said, quoting sources close to Mohktar Belmokhtar. Veteran fighter Belmokhtar, a one-eyed Algerian militant apparently with ties to al Qaeda, has claimed responsibility for launching Wednesday’s attack. ANI said Belmokhtar, in a video that would be distributed to the media, proposed proposed that “France and Algeria negotiate an end to the war being waged by France in Azawad” (northern Mali). He also proposed “exchanging American hostages held by his group (the ‘Signatories in Blood’)” for Egyptian Omar Abdul Rahman and Pakistani Aafia Siddiqui, who are jailed in the United States on charges of terrorist links. Abdul Rahman, the spiritual leader of the radical Jamaa Islamiya group, was convicted in 1995 for his role in a 1993 attack on the World Trade Centre in New York City, in which six people were killed. He is serving a life sentence for the attack in which hundreds more people were injured when a truck bomb was detonated in the building’s garage. Abdul Rahman, known as the “blind sheikh,” was also convicted of plotting to bomb other New York targets including the United Nations and a plan to assassinate ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak’s successor, Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, said earlier this month he will urge US President Barack Obama to free Abdul Rahman, during a visit he is due to make to the United States later before the end of March. Siddiqui, a US-educated neuroscientist, is an al Qaeda-linked would-be extremist who tried to murder American officers on July 18, 2008, after she was detained by security services in Afghanistan. The abductors are believed to have at least four American nationals in their custody. There were over 710 people working on the plant when it came under attack from militants. However, action by Algerian special forces managed to free 650 of those including 573 Algerians and 100 of the 132 foreigners who work at the plant. The fate of the rest was unknown, but militants claim they still have hostages. ============== The Pakistani Taliban’s “preposterous” ask By Knox Thames Friday, January 18, 2013 - 1:11 PM Share Just after Christmas, the Pakistani Taliban (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP) offered a peace deal of sorts to the Pakistani government. In exchange for a cessation of TTP violence, they demanded Pakistan's constitution be brought into conformity with their version of Islamic law and the government break ties with the United States. In response, a senior Pakistani government official reportedly called the offer "preposterous." Yet it may not be, especially regarding the implementation of religious law. Similar demands were met in 2009 after the TTP took the Swat valley, with the Pakistani government giving away these very rights. The local government led by the Awami National party agreed to establish sharia law in Swat and the broader Malakand Division, which was approved by the national parliament and signed by President Zardari. It was only when the Pakistani Taliban pushed for more territorial gains that the government responded with force of arms. If past is prologue, the government may bend to get a deal now. However, the status quo arguably meets TTP demands regarding religious law, as much of what they seek already exists - Islamic law plays a major role in governance, and militants are free to violently force their religious interpretations on the population. This slide towards religious governance goes back to the country's founding. From the outset, the Objectives Resolution of 1949, which preceded the first of several constitutions, tilted Pakistan towards an Islamic state where citizens and their rights were defined by religion. This occurred despite Jinnah's famous speech two years earlier to the Constituent Assembly, in which he said, "You are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed -- that has nothing to do with the business of the State." The Objectives Resolution went in a different direction, and while it recognized the presence of religious minorities, it only promised "adequate provision" of basic rights, while defining the entire state in Islamic terms. Constitutions that followed built off and expanded this foundation. The biggest leaps came from Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan's secular Prime Minister from 1973-1977, and General Zia ul Haq's reign from 1978-1988. Under Bhutto, the Ahmadis were effectively outlawed through constitutional changes that created a definition of a Muslim that excluded Ahmadis. The constitution was also amended to establish the Council of Islamic Ideology to advise on whether proposed laws are compatible with Islam. Not considered particularly devout, he took these and other steps to shore-up his flagging political fortunes, currying the support of religious leaders. Zia went even further, setting into place much of what the TTP wants today, changing both statutory law and constitutional provisions. He amended the blasphemy law, a colonial era holdover, and increased the penalty to include death, but without requiring the provision of evidence. This alone has had far-reaching effects. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) where I work knows of at least 17 people on death row in Pakistan for blasphemy and 20 others serving life sentences. Many more are in jail awaiting trial or appeal. The surprising outcome of the Rimsha Masih case is an exception to the sad norm. In addition, Zia altered the penal code to criminalize the basic acts of the Ahmadi faith. He amended the constitution to create the Federal Shariat Court to review legislation that may conflict with sharia law, creating an unclear legal structure that appears to run parallel to or oversee the secular system. In addition, Zia Islamicized the education system, the banking system, and the penal system through the Hudood ordinances. And today, for what the law does not forbid (which is much), militants have free reign to impose their religious views at the point of a gun. This was shockingly evident last week, with the January 10 attack that killed 81 Shi'a Muslims in twin bombings in a Shiite area of Quetta. The attack was tragically predictable, as the targeting of Shia Muslims steadily increased throughout 2012, with rights groups estimating (before this attack) more than 400 murdered. The TTP, and fellow travelers like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, regularly claim responsibility. Human rights organizations continue to criticize government inaction, but the body count keeps rising. Another case in point is the TTP murder of Shahbaz Bhatti, the Federal Minister of Minority Affairs and the only Christian in Zardari's cabinet. Working bravely against the blasphemy law, the TTP answered Shahbaz's efforts in 2010 by assassinating him steps from his mother's Islamabad home in broad daylight. The TTP were so brazen as to leave fliers at the scene claiming responsibility, but no one has been held accountable and the investigation fizzled. Ahmadis continue to suffer discrimination, abuse, and violence. 80 Ahmadis were killed in May 2010 when two of their mosques were attacked by the TTP. Violence continues today throughout the country - in July of this year the president of a local Ahmadi community outside Karachi was murdered and in December over 100 Ahmadi graves desecrated in Lahore. Hindus too are among the victims of Pakistan's climate of intolerance. The forced conversion and marriage of Hindu girls has increased in Sindh Province, and in 2012 upwards of 250 Pakistani Hindus from Sindh and Baluchistan Provinces have migrated to India to avoid increasing violence. Christians remember the violence of Gojra in 2009, where an entire village was burned to the ground and no one held to account, and last year the National Commission for Justice and Peace found nine places of worship were damaged, destroyed or vandalized, including 5 churches and 3 Hindu temples. Clearly, the Pakistani Taliban's demand for enforcement of their version of Islamic law is not far from reality. In the current environment, Pakistani law is used to enforce religious views, and militants act with impunity against those they consider un-Islamic. Both the majority Muslim population and minority religious communities are at risk. Pakistan's active civil society must continually retreat and retrench to protect the small openings for peaceful debate and human rights work. Consequently, the very fabric of Pakistan is being torn, and if this "preposterous" ask is implemented, it could unravel more. Knox Thames is the Director of Policy and Research at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. The views expressed here are his own and may or may not reflect the views of the Commission. He can be followed on Twitter @thames22. BANARAS KHAN/AFP/GettyImages EXPLORE:AFPAK, AFPAK POSTER 1, AFPAK CHANNEL, CULTURE, FREEDOM, HUMAN RIGHTS, ISLAM, LAW, PAKISTAN, POLITICS, RELIGION, SECURITY, TALIBAN, TERRORISM =====================

Sahara Islamists take hostages, spreading Mali war

Sahara Islamists take hostages, spreading Mali war Wed, Jan 16 18:54 PM EST 1 of 11 By Lamine Chikhi and Bate Felix ALGIERS/BAMAKO (Reuters) - Islamist fighters seized dozens of Western and Algerian hostages in a dawn raid on a natural gas facility deep in the Sahara on Wednesday and demanded France halt a new offensive against rebels in neighboring Mali. Three people, among them one British and one French, were reported killed, but details were sketchy and numbers of those held at Tigantourine ranged from 41 foreigners - including perhaps seven Americans as well as Japanese and Europeans - to over 100 local staff, held separately and less closely watched. What is clear is that with a dramatic counterpunch to this week's French build-up in Mali, the region's loosely allied, al Qaeda-inspired radicals have set Paris a daunting dilemma and spread fallout from Mali's hitherto obscure civil war far beyond northwest Africa, challenging Washington as well as Europeans and shutting down a major gas field that pumps energy to Europe. The attack, which Algeria said was led by a veteran, Afghan-trained holy warrior-cum-smuggler dubbed "The Uncatchable" by French intelligence, came just as French ground troops in Mali launched their first assault after six days of air strikes. The United States, which like European powers endorsed France's decision to intervene last week against Islamists who have seized vast tracts of northern Mali, confirmed Americans were among the hostages and said it would work to "secure" them. Western and African governments have been alarmed by a flow of weapons and fighters across the unmarked Sahara borders following the end of Libya's civil war in 2011 and fear that Mali, where Islamists drive the national army from the north nine months ago, could become an Afghan-style al Qaeda haven. The militants, who said they had dozens of fighters in the gas field, issued no explicit threat but made clear to media in neighboring Mauritania the hostages' lives were at risk. "We hold the Algerian government and the French government and the countries of the hostages fully responsible if our demands are not met and it is up to them to stop the brutal aggression against our people in Mali," read one statement from the group, which called itself the "Battalion of Blood". In other comments carried by the Mauritanian news agency ANI, the group said its fighters had rigged explosives around the site and any attempt to free the hostages would lead to a "tragic end". The unusually large numbers of gunmen and hostages involved pose serious problems for any rescue operation. After dark, ANI quoted a militant source saying fighters had repelled a raid by Algerian troops. He added that the hostage-takers' weaponry included mortars and anti-aircraft missiles. AMERICANS The militants said seven Americans were among the 41 foreign hostages - a figure U.S. officials said they could not confirm. Norwegian energy company Statoil, which operates the gas field in a joint venture with Britain's BP and the Algerian state company Sonatrach, said nine of its Norwegian employees and three of its Algerian staff were being held. Also reported kidnapped by various sources were five Japanese working for the engineering firm JGC Corp, a French national, an Austrian, an Irishman and a number of Britons. The Algerian government, which fought a bloody civil war against Islamists in the 1990s, said it would not negotiate. French media said the militants were also demanding that Algeria release dozens of Islamist prisoners from its jails. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said: "I want to assure the American people that the United States will take all necessary and proper steps that are required to deal with this situation." He said he lacked firm information on whether there were links to the situation in Mali. Analysts pointed to shifting alliances and rivalries among Islamists in the region to suggest the hostage-takers may have a range of motives. In their own statements, they condemned Algeria's secularist government for "betraying" its predecessors in the bloody anti-colonial war against French rule half a century ago by letting French warplanes fly over its territory to Mali. They also accused Algeria of shutting its border to Malian refugees. Algerian Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia told the state news agency APS there were about 20 hostage-takers led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, an Algerian who fought against Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s and set up his own group in the Sahara recently after falling out with other al Qaeda leaders. Some of those held at the facility, near the small town of In Amenas, close to the Libyan border and about 1,300 km (800 miles) inland, had sporadic contact with the outside world. The head of a French catering company said he had information from a manager who supervised some 150 Algerian employees at the site. Regis Arnoux of CIS Catering told France's BFM television the local staff were being prevented from leaving but were otherwise free to move around inside and keep on working. "The Westerners are kept in a separate wing of the base," Arnoux said. "They are tied up and are being filmed. Electricity is cut off, and mobile phones have no charge. "Direct action seems very difficult ... Algerian officials have told the French authorities as well as BP that they have the situation under control and do not need their assistance." MALI OFFENSIVE Just days after a bold deployment of French troops to Mali, another former colony, that had largely silenced critics questioning his leadership after eight months in office, French President Francois Hollande faced a possible further escalation of the conflict, with Western targets at risk across Africa. He has called for international support against insurgents who France says pose a threat to Africa and the West, and admits it faces a long struggle against well-equipped fighters who seized Timbuktu and other oasis towns in northern Mali and have imposed Islamic law, including public amputation and beheading. Islamists have warned Hollande that he has "opened the gates of hell" for all French citizens. French army chief Edouard Guillaud said ground forces were stepping up their operation to engage directly "within hours" the alliance of Islamist fighters, grouping al Qaeda's North African wing AQIM and Mali's home grown Ansar Dine and MUJWA. Residents said a column of some 30 French Sagaie armored vehicles has set off toward rebel positions from the town of Niono, 300 km (190 miles) from the capital Bamako. A Malian military source said French special forces units were taking part in the operation. Guillaud said France's strikes, involving Rafale and Mirage jet fighters, were being hampered because militants were sheltering among civilians. Many inhabitants of northern Mali have welcomed the French attacks though some also fear being caught in the cross-fire. Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian acknowledged that France faced a hard slog, particularly in western Mali where AQIM's mostly foreign fighters have camps: "It's tough. We were aware from the beginning it would be a very difficult operation." Hollande said on Tuesday that French forces would remain in Mali until stability returned to the West African nation. Hollande said France hoped, however, to hand over to African forces in its former colony, "in the coming days or weeks". West African military chiefs met for a second day in Bamako to hammer out details of a U.N.-mandated deployment that had been expected to start only in September but was suddenly kick-started by French intervention. They said their aim was to send in the first units of a 2,000-man emergency force on Thursday. Hollande's intervention in Mali brings risks for eight French hostages held by AQIM in the Sahara as well as the 30,000 French citizens living across West Africa. A French helicopter pilot was killed on Friday, France's only combat death so far. The conflict in Mali, a landlocked state of 15 million twice the size of France, has displaced an estimated 30,000 people and raised concerns across mostly Muslim West Africa of a radicalization of Islam in the region. "There is a great hope," one man said from Timbuktu, where he said Islamist fighters were trying to blend into civilian neighborhoods. "We hope that the city will be freed soon." (Additional reporting by Pascal Fletcher and Andrew Callus in London, Balazs Koranyi in Oslo, Laurent Prieur in Nouakchott, Daniel Flynn in Dakar, John Irish, Catherine Bremer and Nick Vinocur in Paris, David Alexander in Rome and Andrew Quinn in Washington; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Kevin Liffey) ======== Union of World Muslim Scholars:Serious efforts must be made to end war in Mali 16 January 2013 22:25 (Last updated 16 January 2013 22:29) Union of World Muslim Scholars underlined that France acted hastily in its military intervention in Mali. CAIRO The Union of World Muslim Scholars wanted the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and African countries to make serious efforts to end the war in Mali and find a peaceful solution. In a written statement released, the Union of World Muslim Scholars underlined that France acted hastily in its military intervention in Mali. We are very concerned with the developments in Mali, the Union of World Muslim Scholars stressed. " France acted very hastily with its military intervention inMali. Military intervention will bring damage, death and migration. The military intervention will make things worse in Mali," the union also said. ================== French defense minister: Difficult job 16 January 2013 13:29 (Last updated 16 January 2013 14:11) French Minister of Defense said that they knew the mission in Mali wouldn't be easy to carry on. PARIS French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian on Wednesday said, "We knew the military mission to be difficult in Mali from the very beginning" in regards to the hardening conditions while proceeding to the northern region of Mali. "The French troops on duty in Mali have worked to protect the civilians in the capital including French and EU citizens until this day. The troops started moving up north" said Le Drian to the RTL radio. The French Minister stated that they were intensifying air attacks on rebel camps to ease the work of the land forces. Stating that the situation in Mali was more favorable compared to the previous week, Le Drian said that the conflict would go on for a while. France has 800 soldiers in Mali at the moment and aims to increase this number to 2500 gradually. =========================== Algeria government says had to storm plant, action continues Thu, Jan 17 14:32 PM EST 1 of 11 ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria's government spokesman confirmed some hostages were killed in a continuing military operation at a desert gas plant on Thursday but said troops had been forced to act to free them due to the "diehard" attitude of their captors. In the first official comments by the government on the day's events, Communication Minister Mohamed Said was quoted as telling state news agency APS that many militants had been killed and that efforts to free foreign hostages were going on. He acknowledged there had been "several deaths and injuries" among the hostages, but insisted Algeria, which fought a bloody war against Islamists through the 1990s, would not negotiate. "We say that in the face of terrorism, yesterday as today as tomorrow, there will be no negotiation, no blackmail, no respite in the struggle against terrorism," APS quoted Said as saying. Adding that Algerian forces had done all they could to ensure the hostages' survival and bring the siege to a successful conclusion, he blamed "the diehard attitude of the terrorists" for forcing the military to launch its operation. Western leaders whose citizens are among the hostages, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, said they were told of the assault only after it started. He told Britons to prepare for "bad news" and an aide said Cameron would have preferred to have been consulted before the raid began. Said said the militants' goals had been to destabilize Algeria and draw it in to the civil war in Mali. The guerrillas had demanded that France stop its offensive against Mali's Islamist rebels and that Algerian withdraw its cooperation with the French operation. (Reporting by Lamine Chikhi; Editing by Alastair Macdonald) =================== Irishman freed in Algeria hostage crisis Updated: 19:22, Thursday, 17 January 2013 Stephen McFaul rang his wife and family this afternoon to say he was safe The natural gas complex is now surrounded by Algerian troops Irishman held hostage in Algeria is freed Great relief amongst McFaul family Related Stories Irish oil worker kidnapped in Algeria The Irishman who was being held hostage at a gas facility in eastern Algeria has been freed. The Department of Foreign Affairs has said that Stephen McFaul contacted his wife and Irish diplomats this afternoon to say he was safe and well. Mr McFaul indicated he was in another part of the complex to the one attacked by Algerian forces earlier today. The 36-year-old, who works a Scandinavian oil company, was born in Belfast and lives in Antrim. Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore this afternoon said: "I am extremely thankful and relieved to learn that the Irish national who was a hostage in Algeria has made contact with his family and is safe. "I spoke with his family yesterday, and I know how relieved they will be that he is well after his ordeal. This is the news that we all wanted to hear. "At the same time, my thoughts are with the other oil-field workers who are caught up in this terrible situation and with their families who are also waiting for news at this difficult time." DUP MP Ian Paisley Jnr has said he had been informed by the UK government that one of the hostages still being held was from his North Antrim constituency. However, Mr Gilmore has said there was no other person from Northern Ireland involved. There were reports earlier from a Mauritanian news agency that 34 hostages were killed in air strikes by the Algerian military. ANI news agency, which has been in constant contact with the militants, also said 14 kidnappers had been killed in the air strikes. A kidnapper told ANI that seven hostages are still being held. He said they were three Belgians, two Americans, one Japanese and one British citizen. A local source has told Reuters that 180 Algerian hostages managed to escape, while some are still being held. Reuters also reported that a local source had said six foreign hostages and eight of their captors were killed by a military strike on a vehicle being used by the kidnappers. The Algerian army has surrounded the remote desert gas pumping station in In Amenas where the kidnappers were holding the remaining foreigners captive. ANI quoted a spokesman for the kidnappers as saying they would kill the rest of their captives if the army approached. Governments around the world are holding emergency meetings to respond to one of the biggest international hostage crises in decades. The Tánaiste has been speaking to the Algerian Foreign Minister, and urged him to use "great care, caution, subtlety and patience" in dealing with the situation. Algeria has refused to negotiate with what it said is a band of about 20 fighters. A group calling itself the "Battalion of Blood" claimed responsibility for the attacks. It said it seized 41 foreigners, including Americans, Japanese and Europeans, after storming the pumping station and employee barracks before dawn yesterday. The attackers have demanded an end to the French military campaign in Mali, where hundreds of French paratroopers and marines are launching a ground offensive against rebels a week after France began firing on militants from the air. ================ Algeria says hostages killed in military raid on gas field, militants 'neutralised' AFP January 18, 20137:48AM Increase Text Size Decrease Text Size Print Email •Who is behind the BP Algeria attack? • Algerian forces raid BP gas field • Militants say 35 hostages killed Watch Algeria oil hostages reported dead after air strike Reports suggest hostages, among dozens of locals and foreigners held at an Algerian oil plant, have escaped, while others have been killed ... Algeria oil hostages reported dead after air strike .... REPORTS suggest 25 foreign hostages escaped and six were killed when Algeria launched a military raid at a natural gas plant held by Islamic militants. Algeria's state news agency APS reported about 7.30am AEST that the military operation to free hostages at a remote desert gas facility had ended, quoting an unnamed official source who gave no further details. Reuters is quoting "Algerian sources" for the casualty figures, which included eight of the militants being killed. Foreign governments have expressed growing alarm over the safety of their citizens as reports indicated the ongoing rescue operation had left many hostages dead. Algeria confirmed several captives had been killed or wounded when the Algerian army struck the militants' positions inside the In Amenas plant. Officials said fleeing Islamists had been "neutralised". Initial reports suggest at least four foreign national hostages have been freed. Stephen McFaul, a 36-year-old Irish electrician, phoned his wife early this morning to tell them he was safe. A family photograph of escaped Irish hostage Stephen McFaul, seen with his sons. Mr McFaul has contacted his family in Belfast to tell them he is safe, Ireland said. Picture: AFP/HO/Family album . His Belfast family says it cannot believe he's escaped from the Algerian hostage crisis - and never wants him to work in the oil fields there again. While dozens of families in many nations waited in hope for similar news, the McFauls jumped with joy and expressed tearful disbelief. His sobbing 13-year-old son Dylan said "I feel over the moon. ... I'll never let him go back there." He plans to give his father "a big hug, and I won't let go." Japan demanded the assault be "immediately" stopped, while Britain and the United States, both of which also have nationals among the hostages at the remote gas plant in the Algerian desert, voiced concern. British Prime Minister David Cameron cancelled a key speech he was to give today on the future of the European Union, citing the unfolding crisis. A photo of the In Amenas gas field in Algeria, where Islamist militants took dozens of foreign hostages on Wednesday. Picture: AFP/Statoil/Kjetil Alsvik . Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague will return early from his trip to Australia to deal with the Algeria crisis, the Foreign Office said. A spokesman said: "The Foreign Secretary will be returning to the UK earlier than previously planned, leaving Australia immediately after the high-level UK/Australia talks on defence, security and foreign policy issues.'' Earlier, the al-Qaeda-linked kidnappers claimed the army air and ground assault on the In Amenas complex had left 34 hostages dead. "The operation is ongoing," said Algeria's Communication Minister Mohamed Said, speaking on national television. "Several people" were killed or wounded, he added, saying an "important number" of hostages were also freed. Islamists raided the site on Wednesday in an attack that left two dead, in retaliation for a French offensive against Islamists in neighbouring Mali, demanding a halt to hostilities across the border. In Amenas

(Frame content direct link: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=In Amenas, Algeria&hl=en&ll=32.287133,6.899414&spn=15.607967,47.592773&sll=30.202114,9.624023&sspn=18.141805,23.796387&t=h&hnear=In Amenas, Illizi, Algeria&z=5&iwloc=near&output=embed.)

. Algerian media reports said nearly 600 Algerian workers and four foreigners - two from Britain, one from France and one from Kenya - were freed during the rescue operation. A total of 41 foreigners had been reported among the hostages. "We are deeply concerned about any loss of innocent life and are seeking clarity from the government of Algeria,'' White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said US counterterrorism officials were in touch with their Algerian counterparts and that she planned to speak with Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal today. The Irish government also said one of its citizens was freed, but Norway said it had no news of nine of its nationals. Japan's vice foreign minister Minoru Kiuchi, who is now in Algeria, urged the government to "stop the operation immediately" in a meeting with his local counterpart, the government's chief spokesman Yoshihide Suga said in Tokyo. Cameron's spokesman said he would have preferred to have been told beforehand about the "very grave and serious" military operation. This video grab shows former al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) emir Mokhtar Belmokhtar speaking at an undisclosed location. Picture: AFP . French President Francois Hollande said he was receiving regular updates on the "dramatic" situation, while Washington was seeking "clarity" about the reports of deaths in the raid. "We are certainly concerned about reports of loss of life. And are seeking clarity from the government of Algeria," White House spokesman Jay Carney said. The kidnappers told Mauritanian news agency ANI they would "kill all the hostages if the Algerian forces succeed in entering the complex". The Islamists claimed the army air strike had killed 34 hostages and 15 Islamists. A foreign diplomat in Algiers confirmed that the rescue mission "did not go too well for the hostages". Fifteen foreigners and 30 Algerian hostages earlier managed to escape from the plant, jointly operated by British oil giant BP, Norway's Statoil and state-run Algerian energy firm Sonatrach, Algerian media reported. No Australians in Algeria attack - Smith Defence Minister Stephen Smith believes no Australians have been caught up in a terrorist attack in Algeria. Veteran Islamist fighter Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a one-eyed Algerian jihadist with al-Qaeda ties, has claimed responsibility for launching the attack. Belmokhtar, dubbed "The Uncatchable" by French intelligence and "Mister Marlboro" for his illicit cigarette smuggling, was until recently one of the leaders of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). But he was pushed out of the organisation towards the end of last year and set up a group called "Signatories in Blood". He has been blamed for previous abductions and the killings of both Algerians and foreigners. The chief hostage taker on the ground, Abu al-Baraa, was reported killed in the Algerian operation by ANI, which often carries reliable reports from al-Qaeda-linked groups. "We demand the Algerian army pull out from the area to allow negotiations," Abu al-Baraa earlier told Al-Jazeera news channel. But Algeria has insisted it will not negotiate with "terrorists". ================ Japan's JGC says contacted three of its Japanese workers in Algeria Thu, Jan 17 18:36 PM EST TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese engineering firm JGC Corp said on Friday that it had been able to contact three of its Japanese workers in Algeria, but that it was unable to reach 14 other Japanese employees. No other details were immediately available. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that the government was still checking on the situation. (Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Chris Gallagher) ================ Hostage's family says Algerian army attacked hostage jeeps Thu, Jan 17 18:42 PM EST By Eamonn Mallie BELFAST (Reuters) - A hostage who escaped unharmed from Islamist militants in Algeria on Thursday said the Algerian army bombed four jeeps carrying fellow captives and probably killed many of them, his brother told Reuters. Irishman Stephen McFaul, who was among dozens of Western and local captives seized by militants at an Algerian natural gas plant on Wednesday, told his family that he survived because he was on the only one of five jeeps not hit by Algerian bombs, according to his brother Brian. "They were moving five jeep-loads of hostages from one part of the compound. At that stage they were intercepted by the Algerian army. The army bombed four out of five of the trucks and four of them were destroyed," Brian McFaul said. "The truck my brother was in crashed and at that stage Stephen was able to make a break for his freedom," he said. "He presumed everyone else in the other trucks was killed." Brian McFaul said he did not speak to Stephen directly, but got an account from Stephen's wife Angela after she spoke to him. The hostages had their mouths taped and explosives hung from around their necks, McFaul added. Thirty hostages and at least 11 Islamist militants were killed on Thursday when Algerian forces stormed the desert gas plant in a bid to free many dozens of captives, an Algerian security source said. Western governments were unhappy at having been kept in the dark by Algeria before the raid and its bloody result. Two Japanese, two Britons and a French national were among at least seven foreigners killed, the source told Reuters. Eight of the dead hostages were Algerian. The nationalities of the rest, along with perhaps dozens more who escaped, were unclear. (Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Mark Heinrich) ==================== Thirty hostages reported killed in Algeria assault Thu, Jan 17 18:42 PM EST 1 of 13 By Lamine Chikhi ALGIERS (Reuters) - Thirty hostages and at least 11 Islamist militants were killed on Thursday when Algerian forces stormed a desert gas plant in a bid to free many dozens of Western and local captives, an Algerian security source said. Details remained scant - including for Western governments, some of which did little to disguise irritation at being kept in the dark by Algeria before the raid and its bloody outcome. Two Japanese, two Britons and a French national were among at least seven foreigners killed, the source told Reuters. Eight of the dead hostages were Algerian. The nationalities of the rest, as well as of perhaps dozens more who escaped, were unclear. Americans, Norwegians, Romanians and an Austrian have also been mentioned by their governments as having been captured. Underlining the view of African and Western leaders that they face a multinational, al Qaeda-linked insurgency across the Sahara - a conflict that prompted France to send troops to neighboring Mali last week - the official source said only two of the 11 dead militants were Algerian, including their leader. After an operation that appeared to go on for some eight hours, after Algeria refused the kidnappers' demand to leave the country with their hostages, the bodies of three Egyptians, two Tunisians, two Libyans, a Malian and a Frenchman were found. So too was that of Taher Ben Cheneb, an Algerian whom the security official described as a prominent jihadist commander in the Sahara. The gunmen who seized the important gas facility deep in the desert before dawn on Wednesday had been demanding France halt its week-old offensive against Islamist rebels in Mali. French President Francois Hollande said the hostage drama, which has raised fears of further militant attacks, showed that he was right to send more than 1,000 French troops to Mali to back up a West African force in support of Mali's government. A Algerian government spokesman, who confirmed only that an unspecified number of hostages had died, said the tough response to a "diehard" attitude by the militants showed that, as during its bloody civil war against Islamists in the 1990s, Algiers would not negotiate or stand for "blackmail" from "terrorists". SECURITY IN QUESTION The apparent ease with which the fighters swooped in from the dunes to take control of an important energy facility, which produces some 10 percent of the natural gas on which Algeria depends for its export income, has raised questions, however, over the reliability of what was thought to be strong security. Foreign companies said they were pulling non-essential staff out of the country, which has only in recent years begun to seem stable after a decade of blood-letting. "The embarrassment for the government is great," said Azzedine Layachi, an Algerian political scientist at New York's St John's University. "The heart of Algeria's economy is in the south. where the oil and gas fields are. For this group to have attacked there, in spite of tremendous security, is remarkable." Algiers, whose leaders have long had frosty relations with the former colonial power France and other Western countries, may also have some explaining to do over its tactics in putting an end to a hostage crisis whose scale was comparable to few in recent decades bar those involving Chechen militants in Russia. Communication Minister Mohamed Said sounded unapologetic, however. "When the terrorist group insisted on leaving the facility, taking the foreign hostages with them to neighboring states, the order was issued to special units to attack the position where the terrorists were entrenched," he told state news agency APS, which said some 600 local workers were freed. A local source told Reuters six foreign hostages had been killed along with eight of their captors when troops fired on a vehicle being used by the gunmen at the Tigantourine plant. The standoff began when gunmen calling themselves the Battalion of Blood stormed the facility early on Wednesday morning. They said they were holding 41 foreigners. In a rare eyewitness account of Wednesday's raid, a local man who had escaped from the facility told Reuters the militants appeared to have inside knowledge of the layout of the complex and used the language of radical Islam. "The terrorists told us at the very start that they would not hurt Muslims but were only interested in the Christians and infidels," Abdelkader, 53, said by telephone from his home in the nearby town of In Amenas. "'We will kill them,' they said." Mauritanian agency ANI and Qatar-based Al Jazeera said earlier that 34 captives and 15 militants had been killed when government forces fired at a vehicle from helicopters. BAD NEWS EXPECTED British Prime Minister David Cameron said people should prepare for bad news about the hostages. He earlier called his Algerian counterpart to express his concern at what he called a "very grave and serious" situation, his spokesman said. "The Algerians are aware that we would have preferred to have been consulted in advance," the spokesman added. Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said he had been told by his Algerian counterpart that the action had started at around noon. He said they had tried to find a solution through the night, but that it had not worked. "The Algerian prime minister said they felt they had no choice but to go in now," he said. The incident dramatically raises the stakes in the French military campaign in neighboring Mali, where hundreds of French paratroopers and marines are launching a ground offensive against Islamist rebels after air strikes began last week. "What is happening in Algeria justifies all the more the decision I made in the name of France to intervene in Mali in line with the U.N. charter," Hollande said, adding that things seemed to have taken a "dramatic" turn. He said earlier that an unspecified number of French nationals were among the hostages. A French national was also among the hostage takers, a local source told Reuters. A large number of people from the former French colony live in France. Algerian Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia said the kidnappers were loyal to Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a veteran Islamist guerrilla who fought in Afghanistan and set up his own group in the Sahara after falling out with other local al Qaeda leaders. A holy warrior-cum-smuggler dubbed "The Uncatchable" by French intelligence and "Mister Marlboro" by some locals for his illicit cigarette-running business, Belmokhtar's links to those who seized towns across northern Mali last year are unclear. Britain said one of its citizens was killed in the initial storming on Wednesday and "a number" of others were held. The militants had said seven Americans were among their hostages. The White House said it believed Americans were among those held but U.S. officials could not confirm the number. "This is an ongoing situation and we are seeking clarity," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. FOREIGN FIRMS Norway's Statoil, which runs the plant with BP of Britain and Algeria's state energy company, said it had no word on nine of its Norwegian staff who had been held, but that three Algerian employees were now free. BP said some of its staff were being held but would not say how many or their nationalities. Japanese media said five workers from Japanese engineering firm JGC Corp. were held, a number the company did not confirm. The Irish government said one Irish hostage was freed. Hollande has received public backing from Western and African allies who fear that al Qaeda, flush with men and arms from the defeated forces of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, is building a desert haven in Mali, a poor country helpless to combat fighters who seized its northern oasis towns last year. However, there is also some concern in Washington and other capitals that the French action in Mali could provoke a backlash worse than the initial threat by militants in the remote Sahara. The militants, communicating through established contacts with media in neighboring Mauritania, said on Wednesday they had dozens of men armed with mortars and anti-aircraft missiles in the compound and had rigged it with explosives. They condemned Algeria's secularist government for letting French warplanes fly over its territory to Mali and shutting its border to Malian refugees. The attack in Algeria did not stop France from pressing on with its campaign in Mali. It said on Thursday it now had 1,400 troops on the ground there, and combat was under way against the rebels that it first began targeting from the air last week. The French action last week came as a surprise but received widespread public international support. Neighboring African countries planning to provide ground troops for a U.N. force by September have said they will move faster to deploy them. Nigeria, the strongest regional power, sent 162 soldiers on Thursday, the first of an anticipated 906. A day after launching the campaign in Mali, Hollande also ordered a commando raid in Somalia on Saturday, which failed to free a French hostage held by al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants since 2009. Al Shabaab said on Thursday it had executed the hostage, Denis Allex. France said it believed he had died in the raid. (Additional reporting by Ali Abdelatti in Cairo, Gwladys Fouche in Oslo, Mohammed Abbas in London and Padraic Halpin in Dublin; Writing by Peter Graff, Giles Elgood, Philippa Fletcher and Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Kevin Liffey) ================ With no end-game in sight U.S. moves cautiously on Mali Thu, Jan 17 17:59 PM EST By Andrew Quinn WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is responding cautiously to Mali's widening civil war, hoping to limit U.S. exposure even as French troops go on the offensive against Islamist rebels in the African country and U.S. citizens are caught up in a hostage crisis unfolding in neighboring Algeria. The escalation of fighting in northern Mali, where West African troops are joining French soldiers battling al Qaeda-inspired rebels, has emerged as the first foreign policy flashpoint facing U.S. President Barack Obama as he begins his second term next week. True to form, the Obama administration's approach has been measured and wary, promising U.S. logistical assistance but ruling out direct U.S. military involvement in an unpredictable conflict. "What we are seeing in Mali, in Algeria, reflects the broader strategic challenge, first and foremost for the countries in North Africa and for the United States and the broader international community," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday. "Instability in Mali has created the opportunity for a staging base and safe haven for terrorists." Despite those concerns, however, analysts say the cautious U.S. approach demonstrates that Washington sees few immediate security implications for the United States itself and big risks in a French-led military action without accompanying political progress on the ground. A U.S. official on Thursday said the United States has agreed to a French request for airlift capacity to help France move its troops and equipment to Mali - a relatively modest expansion of U.S. assistance. "I think the administration is going to be very wary of getting involved in any direct military operations. That will be an absolute last resort," said Jennifer Cooke, director of the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "It doesn't want the political aspect of this -- which is vital -- to get lost." The United States has said it stands behind France's decision last week to launch air strikes and send ground troops to its former colony, where Islamist rebels were pressing southwards after seizing the north of the country following a military coup in March. But the French move leap-frogged U.S.-backed proposals to concentrate on returning a legitimate government to the capital Bamako, which Washington had long insisted was an essential first step toward restoring order to the country. "You'd have to ask the French what their exit plan is," said one senior State Department official. WORSENING CONFLICT France argued that intervention was essential to prevent a worsening of Mali's conflict, which has displaced an estimated 30,000 people as fighters from groups including al Qaeda's North Africa branch, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and the local Tuareg Islamist group Ansar Dine seized Timbuktu and other towns. They imposed a harsh version of Islamic law, including public amputations and beheadings. But the United States, already accelerating plans to pull troops out of Afghanistan and fending off pressure for more robust action on Syria, shows little appetite for stepping into a more direct role in Mali. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other U.S. officials say the United States already has boosted intelligence sharing with France. Other potential areas of U.S. support could include refueling and surveillance including drones, although these are already in high demand in Afghanistan as well as other parts of Africa. "If we move one to Mali, for example, we take it from somewhere else, where it is also needed," a U.S. defense official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. But with U.S. law barring direct support to governments produced by coups such as the fragile interim administration in Bamako, the United States is concentrating on the ECOWAS group of West African nations which on Thursday sent its first deployment of troops into the conflict. "We do best if we are in a strong supporting and sustaining role, and not in a role in which we are taking the lead," the senior State Department official told reporters on Wednesday. "This is primarily an African problem." The United States has offered training and non-lethal supplies, ranging from boots and medical kits to maps, to the African forces. It also stands ready to help transport them into Mali, although U.S. officials say this could be done through paying for third countries to airlift the troops rather than using U.S. military personnel or equipment. HOSTAGE FEARS Western fears that the al Qaeda-linked insurgents are expanding operations across Northern Africa were underscored on Wednesday when Islamist militants attacked a gas field in neighboring Algeria, taking dozens of foreigners hostage, including some Americans. While the attack illustrated that U.S. interests remain exposed across an unstable region, few analysts expect it to force a change in Washington's overall approach. Republican U.S. Representative Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said the parallel crises in Mali and Algeria, like the deadly September 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, showed the need for a broad and sustained push to bolster unraveling security in the region. "You can't just handle Mali. You can't just handle the Tuareg. You can't just handle Benghazi. You have to have an overarching plan that puts pressure on these groups from all of it," Rogers told CNN on Wednesday. "And you can't just fire a few missiles and pack up and go home and hope for the best. It's not going to work." Some analysts expect the United States will continue to try to buy time, giving notional support to France while at the same time pressing for a more durable political solution for Mali. "Fundamentally we have to face the reality that what we have here is an insurgency, and we have to fight a counterinsurgency," said J. Peter Pham, director of the Michael S. Ansari Africa Center at the Atlantic Council. "You cannot fight a counterinsurgency unless you have a legitimate government to rally around, and that is what we do not have in Mali right now." (Additional reporting by Phil Stewart. Editing by Warren Strobel and Doina Chiacu) ===============