Friday, 28 March 2014
Pakistani Christian Gets Death in Blasphemy Case
A court convicted a Pakistani Christian man and sentenced him to death Thursday in a blasphemy case that sparked a riot last year in the eastern city of Lahore, according…
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A court convicted a Pakistani Christian man and sentenced him to death Thursday in a blasphemy case that sparked a riot last year in the eastern city of Lahore, according to his lawyer.
Naeem Shakir, the lawyer for Sawan Masih, said a judge announced the verdict during a hearing at the jail where the trial has been held out of fears that Masih might be attacked on his way to court. Shakir said he would appeal.
Although Pakistan has never executed anybody under the law, crowds angered over blasphemy accusations have been known to take the law into their own hands and kill those they suspect of violating it. Once an accusation is made it is extremely difficult to reverse, in part because law enforcement personnel do not want to appear to be going easy on suspects.
Such vigilantism has created a climate of fear, forcing frightened judges into holding court sessions inside jails and keeping witnesses from coming to the defense of those on trial.
Many human rights activists say the blasphemy law, which allows for punishment of life in prison or death, is misused as a way to target people for personal gain or revenge.
The incident that led to Thursday's conviction began March 7 last year when a young Muslim man accused Masih of maligning the Prophet Muhammad. Police arrested Masih, but the next day a mob ransacked the neighborhood where he and other Christians live, setting fire to homes and destroying household possessions.
Fearing for their safety, hundreds of Christian families fled the area overnight ahead of the riots. Many in the neighborhood have since moved back, and their homes have been rebuilt.
The police arrested 83 suspects following the rampage, including the man who brought the complaint against Masih, said a Lahore police official, Rana Taseer Riaz. But so far none of the suspects have been convicted and all were released on bail, he said.
Pakistan's blasphemy law has existed since even before the country's 1947 founding. During the 1980s, the U.S.-backed military dictator, Gen. Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq, amended it to add the death penalty and single out Islam as the religion that may not be insulted, among other changes.
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Naeem Shakir, the lawyer for Sawan Masih, said a judge announced the verdict during a hearing at the jail where the trial has been held out of fears that Masih might be attacked on his way to court. Shakir said he would appeal.
Although Pakistan has never executed anybody under the law, crowds angered over blasphemy accusations have been known to take the law into their own hands and kill those they suspect of violating it. Once an accusation is made it is extremely difficult to reverse, in part because law enforcement personnel do not want to appear to be going easy on suspects.
Such vigilantism has created a climate of fear, forcing frightened judges into holding court sessions inside jails and keeping witnesses from coming to the defense of those on trial.
Many human rights activists say the blasphemy law, which allows for punishment of life in prison or death, is misused as a way to target people for personal gain or revenge.
The incident that led to Thursday's conviction began March 7 last year when a young Muslim man accused Masih of maligning the Prophet Muhammad. Police arrested Masih, but the next day a mob ransacked the neighborhood where he and other Christians live, setting fire to homes and destroying household possessions.
Fearing for their safety, hundreds of Christian families fled the area overnight ahead of the riots. Many in the neighborhood have since moved back, and their homes have been rebuilt.
The police arrested 83 suspects following the rampage, including the man who brought the complaint against Masih, said a Lahore police official, Rana Taseer Riaz. But so far none of the suspects have been convicted and all were released on bail, he said.
Pakistan's blasphemy law has existed since even before the country's 1947 founding. During the 1980s, the U.S.-backed military dictator, Gen. Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq, amended it to add the death penalty and single out Islam as the religion that may not be insulted, among other changes.
Killer of far-right Dutch gay politician Pim Fortuyn to be freed early
The man who shot dead far-right Dutch gay politician Pim Fortuyn is to be freed in May.The man who shot dead far-right Dutch gay politician Pim Fortuyn is to be freed in May.The animal rights activist said he killed Fortuyn because he was worried about the way he stigmatised vulnerable groups, including Muslim immigrants and asylum seekers.
Van der Graaf “can be freed on parole from May 2,” junior Justice Minister Fred Teeven told journalists on Wednesday.
Mr Teeven rejected freeing Graaf in October last year as he still “posed a threat to public order.”
Van der Graaf is eligible for parole after serving two-thirds of his sentence and had asked the State to rule on his request to push forward his release date.
“All the advice and enquiries indicate the same thing, that there’s little chance of re-offending,” AAP reports Mr Teeven said.
On release Van der Graaf will have to report to authorities once a week and wear an electronic ankle tag. He will not be allowed to go to Rotterdam, the city where Fortuyn was a politician, or to Hilversum, where he was killed.
Fortuyn provoked controversy with his views about multiculturalism, immigration and Islam.
He called Islam “a backward culture”, and said that if it were legally possible he would close the borders for Muslim immigrants.
During his life, Fortuyn always rejected being labelled a far-right populist by the Dutch media.
Fortuyn was assassinated by Van der Graaf on 6 May 2002. The attack took place in a parking lot outside a radio studio where Fortuyn had just given an interview. This was nine days before the general election, for which he was running.
The assassination shocked many residents of the Netherlands and highlighted the cultural clashes within the country.
Officials warned last year that Van der Graaf’s early release could reopen old wounds, given the widespread public anger that followed Fortuyn’s assassination.
Don’t wait for black box, set up panel to probe MH370 disaster immediately, say DAP
The Cabinet should not wait until the black box from the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is retrieved to begin a probe into the disaster, said DAP parliamentarian leader Lim…
The Cabinet should not wait until the black box from the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is retrieved to begin a probe into the disaster, said DAP parliamentarian leader Lim Kit Siang.Calling on Putrajaya to support an opposition-headed Parliamentary Select Committee to look into the events surrounding the disappearance of the aircraft 20 days ago, Lim said the Cabinet should immediately lay the basis for a full-scale investigation.
He was responding to the statement by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, that the government would consider setting up a parliamentary select committee or a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into the MH370 disaster only after the black box was discovered.
"More and more questions have come up with each passing day since MH370 went missing, many of which have nothing to do with the technical explanations of the disaster or the retrieval of the black box," Lim said in a statement today.
Describing Shahidan's statement as "highly debatable and questionable", he asked if there would be no investigation into the incident if the black box was never found.
"This will make Malaysia an even bigger laughing stock," he added.
The DAP adviser and Gelang Patah MP noted there were many questions surrounding the plane's disappearance which has nothing to do with the black box.
The fact that the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) had not intercepted MH370 when it was detected on military radar flying in Malaysian air space on March 8 due to the "assumption" that the flight had been ordered to turn back by the civil aviation control tower, was one such question, Lim said.
Yesterday, Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri told Parliament that the RMAF had detected the plane but as it was a non-hostile aircraft, they had assumed that it was under instructions from the control tower located in Subang.
Today, Abdul Rahim retracted his statement. He said his statement in Parliament was "just an assumption and that it might be incorrect".
"Wasn't the failure to cross-check with the civil aviation authorities a gross dereliction of duty, especially as national security was involved?" asked Lim.
Besides that, whether or not the search and rescue operation was launched in a timely manner, "when time was of the essence in an air disaster to ensure the safe rescue of passengers and crew", should also be investigated, he said.
"I call on the Cabinet to decide tomorrow to support an opposition-headed Parliamentary Select Committee on MH370 to be established at the current meeting of Parliament."
Lim said the establishment of a select committee on the MH370 disaster is imperative to restore national and international confidence in Malaysia and to lay a basis for a larger investigation into the incident later on.
"It will send a clear and unmistakable message that the Malaysian government has nothing to hide and wants a full and transparent accounting of the whole series of events constituting the MH370 disaster," he added. – March 27, 2014.
Rare closed court called in ex-sultanah's case - Malaysiakini
The court also disallowed her children by the late Johor sultan Mahmud Iskandar (right), - Tuanku Masera and her siblings, to be present in court.Tuanku Zanariah, who filed the application to appeal the earlier Johor Syariah High Court decision that affirmed the divorce, could not be present as she was unwell and wanted her daughters to represent her.
Even lawyers who are assisting the lead counsel for Tuanku Zanariah were given the boot by the court.
One of Tuanku Zanariah's lawyers, Kamar Ainiah Kamaruzaman, confirmed that this was what transpired at today's court proceedings.
A closed court is only normally called in civil cases involving sex crimes, when the victim is testifying, or when a child is testifying in custody battles.
However, even then the lawyers assisting the lead counsel are allowed to be present.
The Syariah Court of Appeal is the highest religious court in the state.
'Never happened before'
The court session began with a three-member panel led by justice Syed Ali Syed Abu Bakar, Marsid @ Morsid Mahrof and Jainuddin Mt Sum.
It is understood the proceedings took place in a special court that was to hear the Johor Islamic Religious Department as an intervener in the case on the side of the respondents, that also comprises the fatwa council.
It is learned that the Syariah Court of Appeal had not sat for some time, and was hastily formulated to hear the present appeal.The proceedings began with one of the judges reciting the Al-Fatihah for the late sultan Mahmud.
It then proceeded with the judges ordering those in the public gallery to leave the court.
“This resulted in reporters and special branch officers having to leave the court,” said Kamar Ainiah.
She added that the judges then ordered the late sultan's children to leave the court as well.
“Tuanku Masera then stood up and said, 'We are the siblings by our mother whom the court and fatwa council may have accused of committing zina (adultery),” Kamar Ainiah said.
"But the court remained persistent and ordered them to leave the courtroom."
Kamar Ainiah said when she wanted to sit beside the lead counsel, the court also ordered that lawyers assisting the lead counsel to leave.
“This has never happened before. I do not know what to say,” she said, adding that the court then postponed proceedings to Monday.
Divorce backdated after sultan's death
Tuanku Zanariah’s plight began last August, after she received a letter informing that the divorce which had been backdated to Jan 23, 2009, despite Sultan Mahmud Iskandar having passed away on Jan 22, 2010.
The letter from the Johor mufti Mohd Tahrir Syamsuddin to her, was accompanied by three other documents including a divorce certificate dated Oct 8, 2010, that states the divorce took place on Jan 23, 2009.
The second letter was from the former Johor menteri besar Abdul Ghani Othman dated Dec 9, 2010, informing her of the Johor fatwa committee’s decision on Aug 6, 2010 that recognised the validity of the divorce.
The final document was from the Lower Syariah Court dated Sept 30, 2010 that affirmed the divorce.
Sultan Mahmud Iskandar passed away on Jan 22, 2010. He and Tuanku Zanariah were married on Aug 19, 1961. It was Mahmud's second marriage and they have 10 children.
Tuanku Zanariah claims the divorce is not valid and wants the Lower Syariah Court order to be set aside as she was not called for any divorce proceedings.
She also sought the court to investigate whether Sultan Mahmud Iskandar's proclamation in Jan 2009 that was allegedly witnessed by Abdul Ghani and the Johor royal committee chairperson Tengku Osman Tunku Temenggong Ahmad was valid, based on a statutory declaration they made.
"A person who passed away on Jan 22, 2010 does not have the legal capacity to initiate any court proceedings unless it is for the administration of its estate.
"Furthermore, during his lifetime the sultan had not filed for any divorce proceedings at any Johor syariah court against me,” she said in court documents challenging the divorce.
Her title as a former sultanah was also revoked following this.
However, the Johor Syariah Court had dismissed the review application in upholding the Lower Syariah Court's decision and issued a gag order not to report it, resulting in this proceeding.
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Rulers of Malaysia
Thai satellite sights 300 objects near search area
The Thailand Earth Observation Satellite
(Thaichote) has spotted 300 floating objects in the Indian Ocean, some
200 kilometre southwest of the area being searched for Malaysian
Airlines Flight MH370.
…
The Thailand Earth Observation Satellite
(Thaichote) has spotted 300 floating objects in the Indian Ocean, some
200 kilometre southwest of the area being searched for Malaysian
Airlines Flight MH370.
Thailand is the fifth country that has produced satellite images of floating objects in the same area after Australia, France, UK and China.
According to the AFP, the floating objects were identified by Thailand's Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency.
It said that the objects ranged from two to 15 metres in size, scattered over an area about 2,700 km southwest of Perth.
The images were taken on March 24, top financial daily The Wall Street Journal reported.
The images were taken on March 24, top financial daily The Wall Street Journal reported.
Thai newspaper The Nation reported that the images have been submitted to the caretaker premier it will be forwarded to Malaysia.
Yesterday, acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein announced that French satellites spotted 122 pieces of suspected debris in the search area, which is slightly larger than the size of Sabah.
The multinational search, which resumed this morning was called off
after about four hours due to bad weather in one of the roughest seas in
the world. Ships, however, remain in the ocean.
The Nation said that Thaichote is a remote sensing satellite for natural resources observation.
Japan reports sightings
Meanwhile in the evening Japan's Kyodo News and NHK reported a Japanese satellite has spotted about 10 "suspicious objects" about 2,500 km south-west of Perth in the vicinity of other similar sightings.
The objects were seen drifting in a roughly 10km radius, with one measuring about 8m long and 4m wide
According to government sources, the images were taken from 9am to 3pm Japanese local time on Wednesday.
Malaysia has been briefed on the sighting, it said.
Japan reports sightings
Meanwhile in the evening Japan's Kyodo News and NHK reported a Japanese satellite has spotted about 10 "suspicious objects" about 2,500 km south-west of Perth in the vicinity of other similar sightings.
The objects were seen drifting in a roughly 10km radius, with one measuring about 8m long and 4m wide
According to government sources, the images were taken from 9am to 3pm Japanese local time on Wednesday.
Malaysia has been briefed on the sighting, it said.
Labels:
MAS
Hisham: Malaysian delegation to leave for Perth
The team, which will include officers from DCA, MAS and the military will assist the Australians in the search for MH370.
PETALING JAYA: A Malaysian delegation would be leaving for…
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The team, which will include officers from DCA, MAS and the military will assist the Australians in the search for MH370.
PETALING JAYA: A Malaysian delegation would be leaving for Perth, Australia soon to assist in the search and rescue operation in the Indian Ocean
In a press statement today, Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that the high level team will comprise officers from the Department of Civil Aviation ( DCA), Malaysia Airlines, Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
“The team will work closely with the Australian Rescue Coordination Centre to assist with the search operation, “ he said.
Earlier today, British media Sky News reported that the Thai satellite had picked up images of about 300 objects floating in the Indian Ocean, possibly from the crashed flight MH370.
The items’ size were said to be in the range from two to 15 meters (6.5 to 50 feet) and were scattered over an area of about 1,700 miles southwest of Perth.
The sightings was announced by Thailand’s Geo Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISDA)
However, search and rescue effort at the area was hampered due to bad weather in the Indian Ocean
There are now five different satellite leads which are pointing towards debris, possibly from MH370′s wreckage.
Hishammuddin, who is also Defence Minister, said that he had met a Chinese delegation yesterday, led by Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui, to brief him on the technical aspect of the search and rescue work and their findings that led to the conclusion that MH370 has crashed in the Indian Ocean.
“And today, Zhang met the Chinese relatives of those on board flight MH370, who are currently in Kuala Lumpur.
“Rest assured that Malaysia is committed to working closely with China and will share all information pertaining flight MH370,” said Hishammuddin.
On the search and rescue operation, he said that nine planes were deployed to the Indian Ocean to find the debris today, which included planes and ships from China, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
“However, the SAR operation was suspended at 11.40am due to bad weather conditions,” said Hishammuddin.
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In a press statement today, Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that the high level team will comprise officers from the Department of Civil Aviation ( DCA), Malaysia Airlines, Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
“The team will work closely with the Australian Rescue Coordination Centre to assist with the search operation, “ he said.
Earlier today, British media Sky News reported that the Thai satellite had picked up images of about 300 objects floating in the Indian Ocean, possibly from the crashed flight MH370.
The items’ size were said to be in the range from two to 15 meters (6.5 to 50 feet) and were scattered over an area of about 1,700 miles southwest of Perth.
The sightings was announced by Thailand’s Geo Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISDA)
However, search and rescue effort at the area was hampered due to bad weather in the Indian Ocean
There are now five different satellite leads which are pointing towards debris, possibly from MH370′s wreckage.
Hishammuddin, who is also Defence Minister, said that he had met a Chinese delegation yesterday, led by Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui, to brief him on the technical aspect of the search and rescue work and their findings that led to the conclusion that MH370 has crashed in the Indian Ocean.
“And today, Zhang met the Chinese relatives of those on board flight MH370, who are currently in Kuala Lumpur.
“Rest assured that Malaysia is committed to working closely with China and will share all information pertaining flight MH370,” said Hishammuddin.
On the search and rescue operation, he said that nine planes were deployed to the Indian Ocean to find the debris today, which included planes and ships from China, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
“However, the SAR operation was suspended at 11.40am due to bad weather conditions,” said Hishammuddin.
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MAS
Why cops mum on MH370?
The world is waiting for the police to clear the air on the ill-fated MH370.
The Malaysian police have been overly cautious in revealing information on the investigations into the…
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The world is waiting for the police to clear the air on the ill-fated MH370.
The Malaysian police have been overly cautious in revealing information on the investigations into the ill-fated Beijing-bound MH370 flight which has crashed in the southern Indian Ocean according to satellite data received.
Although the response from Malaysia Airlines, Department of Civil Aviation and the Transport Ministry has been good, there is lack of information from the police.
Of course, the police will not disclose the full information which may jeopardise their investigation but this is not a normal case.
Citizens from 14 nations were on the plane and the governments of these countries want to be kept abreast with the status of investigations.
To make matters worse, more than half of MH370′s passengers were Chinese nationals. China is demanding answers and pressure is mounting for a full disclosure of information related to the case.
The families of the 50 Malaysians on board the plane are also demanding answers.
The lack of information on the outcome of investigations has resulted in Malaysia being accused of withholding information.
But the police are also in a quandary. Should they reveal what they know? What happens if the families decide to sue MAS or the government based on police information?
Critics say the authorities owe it to the families of those on on board and a full disclosure is necessary.
Now, after 19 days since the Boeing 777-200ER went missing, the police have yet to come out with any solid information of what might have happened on board the aircraft.
All eyes are now on Bukit Aman CID director Hadi Ho Abdullah, who is heading the investigation.
The Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar has so far only announced that more than 100 people have been questioned as part of their investigations.
Khalid, who has attended several daily press briefings on the MH370 alongside Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, has been tight-lipped on the status of investigations and this has lead to speculations, some absurd.
For now, MH370 pilot Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah remains the main suspect. Some reports have even labelled him as a political fanatic. Some reports have mentioned that he decided on a suicide mission due to marital problems.
Close friends of the pilot have come out in droves to defend the man. They say Zaharie was a successful and kind man with no ill intention to hurt anyone.
Burning questions
There are several questions unanswered.
If hundreds have been quizzed, what sort of information have the police gathered and what can be concluded from it.
Have the police retrieved the deleted flight simulator data with the help of computer geeks?
If yes, was there any concrete proof that Zaharie has practised flying over the Indian Ocean? How many times did he succeed or fail?
If he did commit the act, where is the note explaining his action? What is the point of undertaking the act if the world does not know why he did it?
What about the four angles of investigation “Sabotage, hijack, personal differences between the crew and passengers and psychological problems of the crew and passengers”? Have the police narrowed down the angle of the investigation? Are they going to cancel out all four angles or add more to it?
Intelligence agencies have cleared the passengers for terrorism so it leaves 12 crew members as suspects. What have the police received so far?
These and many other burning questions need to be answered by the police. They owe this to the family and friends of relatives of those on board.
The foreign governments are also waiting for answers so that they can move on from this tragedy.
This is not a minor case which can be swept under the carpet. It is not only Malaysians, the whole world is waiting as well.
The police must not only disclose what they have found but also be answerable to the method of the investigations.
They must also explain how they came to a conclusion. The onus is now with the police. Will they do it?
▲
Although the response from Malaysia Airlines, Department of Civil Aviation and the Transport Ministry has been good, there is lack of information from the police.
Of course, the police will not disclose the full information which may jeopardise their investigation but this is not a normal case.
Citizens from 14 nations were on the plane and the governments of these countries want to be kept abreast with the status of investigations.
To make matters worse, more than half of MH370′s passengers were Chinese nationals. China is demanding answers and pressure is mounting for a full disclosure of information related to the case.
The families of the 50 Malaysians on board the plane are also demanding answers.
The lack of information on the outcome of investigations has resulted in Malaysia being accused of withholding information.
But the police are also in a quandary. Should they reveal what they know? What happens if the families decide to sue MAS or the government based on police information?
Critics say the authorities owe it to the families of those on on board and a full disclosure is necessary.
Now, after 19 days since the Boeing 777-200ER went missing, the police have yet to come out with any solid information of what might have happened on board the aircraft.
All eyes are now on Bukit Aman CID director Hadi Ho Abdullah, who is heading the investigation.
The Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar has so far only announced that more than 100 people have been questioned as part of their investigations.
Khalid, who has attended several daily press briefings on the MH370 alongside Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, has been tight-lipped on the status of investigations and this has lead to speculations, some absurd.
For now, MH370 pilot Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah remains the main suspect. Some reports have even labelled him as a political fanatic. Some reports have mentioned that he decided on a suicide mission due to marital problems.
Close friends of the pilot have come out in droves to defend the man. They say Zaharie was a successful and kind man with no ill intention to hurt anyone.
Burning questions
There are several questions unanswered.
If hundreds have been quizzed, what sort of information have the police gathered and what can be concluded from it.
Have the police retrieved the deleted flight simulator data with the help of computer geeks?
If yes, was there any concrete proof that Zaharie has practised flying over the Indian Ocean? How many times did he succeed or fail?
If he did commit the act, where is the note explaining his action? What is the point of undertaking the act if the world does not know why he did it?
What about the four angles of investigation “Sabotage, hijack, personal differences between the crew and passengers and psychological problems of the crew and passengers”? Have the police narrowed down the angle of the investigation? Are they going to cancel out all four angles or add more to it?
Intelligence agencies have cleared the passengers for terrorism so it leaves 12 crew members as suspects. What have the police received so far?
These and many other burning questions need to be answered by the police. They owe this to the family and friends of relatives of those on board.
The foreign governments are also waiting for answers so that they can move on from this tragedy.
This is not a minor case which can be swept under the carpet. It is not only Malaysians, the whole world is waiting as well.
The police must not only disclose what they have found but also be answerable to the method of the investigations.
They must also explain how they came to a conclusion. The onus is now with the police. Will they do it?
Labels:
MAS
Marina Mahathir questions need to interrogate Kassim Ahmad until 4am
(The Rakyat Post) - Social activist Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir today lashed out at the way former political and social activist Dr Kassim Ahmad was charged by religious authorities.
“It’s…
(The Rakyat Post) - Social activist Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir today lashed out at the way former political and social activist Dr Kassim Ahmad was charged by religious authorities.
“It’s so cruel and unfair. They (authorities) had questioned the elderly man until 4am, what is that?
“They even wanted to have him remanded for a week, I don’t think that is the best solution,” she tearfully told reporters at the Syariah High Court here today.
Marina appeared in the court today as Kassim’s surety after the court agreed to a bail with one surety on condition that the guarantor resides in the Federal Territory.
Kassim, when asked to comment on the conditions set by the court, said the existing law should be changed because it is difficult for the accused to find a guarantor.
“The system needs to be changed. A guarantor must reside in the Federal Territory?
“This law is trivial and stupid. The conditions are ridiculous. We cannot continue to live in a stupid system like this.”
In a related matter, the Sunnah Wal Jamaah Association of Malaysia (Aswaja) has shown its support to the Federal Territory Islamic Affairs Department (Jawi) for arresting Kassim, who is believed to have sown anti-Hadith sentiments in the country.
Aswaja’s president Zamihan Mat Zin said the ideology of Kassim had been deemed as deviant by some states as it may lead to apostasy.
“Aswaja gives full support to the arrest and charges made by Jawi because Kassim’s ideology is clearly against the teachings of Islam and is upsetting to the Muslims in the country,” he said in a statement.
“Aswaja supports the arrest that was done in a “civilised” manner and followed protocol.”
Zamihan said that his group once had a meeting with Kassim to persuade him to repent and return to the true path of Islam, but he remained defiant and continued to defend his anti-Hadith leanings.
Labels:
Marina Mahathir
MH370 mystery complicates last rites for the missing
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| A relative of passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. |
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| A relative of passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. |
The flight carried passengers from around the world following a number of major religions, and the failure to achieve closure via last rites has added to the anguish of grieving relatives.
Hindus traditionally perform special prayers on the first, 16th and 30th day after a person's death.
"I will not do any solemn prayers until I am really convinced my son is dead," said Subramaniam Gurusamy, 60, a Malaysian Hindu whose son was on the plane.
"How can we say everyone is dead when we have not found the plane or the black box?" he added, referring to the trove of on-board flight data that is being sought for clues to what happened.
"There have been instances when someone is lost in the jungle and is believed to have died but comes out alive after many years."
The Malaysia Airlines flight went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8. Malaysia believes it crashed in the southern Indian Ocean but no wreckage has yet been found, despite an ongoing multi-nation search.
Jamil Khir Baharom, Muslim-majority Malaysia's minister in charge of Islamic affairs, was quoted by local media as saying Muslims aboard MH370 were still seen as "missing", and that proper funeral rites cannot be performed until the search is called off.
Hindus were being advised, however, to "accept fate" and go ahead with their prayers, said Mohan Shan, president of Malaysia Hindu Sangam, the country's main advisory body on Hindu worship.
"They can't do the funeral rites until they get the bodies. But they can perform prayers at home or in temples on the 30th day," he said.
"It's a difficult time to pass through. Without the body we cannot 100 per cent confirm they are dead. But we have to ask them to accept the fate. There is no point in waiting."
Usually in a deadly accident, Taoists must perform funeral rites at the site where the death occurred, said Tan Hoe Chieow, president of the Federation of Taoist Associations Malaysia.
But he said due to the unprecedented nature of MH370, families could go ahead with such ceremonies elsewhere, perhaps in their homes.
"We hope they can come to terms with this unfortunate incident. They have to come to terms with the reality. Some are still holding on to hope," he said. "In this particular disaster I don't think it's possible to retrieve the bodies."
Christians also could lay their loved ones to rest without a body if they are convinced they died, said Reverend Wong Kim Kong, a Christian community leader.
"They should not be discouraged, but acknowledge the fact that their loved ones are in a better place, that is - heaven," he said.
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MAS
Need For Asean To Address Conflict-Hit Areas - Najib
From Muin Abdul MajidMANILA, March 27 (Bernama) -- Following the historic signing of a Malaysia-brokered peace accord for southern Philippines Thursday, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has expressed hope…
From Muin Abdul MajidMANILA, March 27 (Bernama) -- Following the historic signing of a Malaysia-brokered peace accord for southern Philippines Thursday, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has expressed hope that Asean would have addressed trouble spots in this region by the time Asean Community 2015 comes into being.
"We must ensure that all areas that have become areas of conflict no longer continue to be in conflict but strive to find a political solution.
"This is so that when Asean is declared a community, it will truly portray the image of a region that is truly peaceful and progressive," the prime minister told Malaysian media after witnessing the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement (CAB) on the Bangsamoro here.
The peace agreement between the Philippine government (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) seeks the creation of the self-governing political entity called Bangsamoro that will have greater political and economic powers.
The new entity will replace the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao in accordance with the Bangsamoro Basic Law to be passed by the Philippine Congress and ratified by the affected populace.
Najib said Kuala Lumpur hoped that the momentous pact, hammered out following arduous negotiations spanning 17 years between GPH and MILF, would result in a more peaceful and prosperous southern Philippines that may well benefit people living across the border in places like Sabah.
Malaysia came on board the peace process in 2001.
"The spill over effects (of peace) will continue to be felt, more so by Malaysians particularly in Sabah. They will get to enjoy a situation that is more peaceful. Besides this, economic development that will follow in the area will also have spill over effects in Sabah," said Najib.
The prime minister pointed out that Malaysia had shown a leadership role in the crafting of the CAB.
"It means that Malaysia is acknowledged as a country that's able to help out in conflict resolution, especially in this region.
"It goes to show that we're not only a peace-loving country but also one that's prepared to play an active role in contributing towards the good of our Southeast Asian region," Najib said.
He reckoned that Malaysia's image had been given a boost in the eyes of the international community as a result of its role in the Bangsamoro peace accord.
The prime minister said Malaysia was committed to continuing its role as peace facilitator and part of the International Monitoring Team in southern Philippines.
"Our role will continue until we reach the end, that is the creation of the Bangsamoro government," he said.
He added that Kuala Lumpur was prepared to extend a helping hand in skills development and creating economic opportunities in southern Philippines, including in the field of agriculture.
Najib was accompanied on his working visit to Manila by his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.
Also in his delegation were Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Armed Forces Chief Gen Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zain, as well as senior government officials.
Najib is scheduled to leave Manila tonight after attending a dinner at Malacanang Palace.
Thursday, 27 March 2014
Unprecedented Christian Persecution in Iran: UN Report
Oppression under the “moderate” President Rouhani is even greater than under the more vocally extreme President Ahmadinejad.
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Oppression under the “moderate” President Rouhani is even greater than under the more vocally extreme President Ahmadinejad.
A new United Nations report concludes that the persecution of Christians in Iran is at unprecedented levels. A minimum of 50 Christians are in prison, with the most famous inmate being American Pastor Saeed Abedini. Evangelical ministries see the regime as trying to suppress a rising tide of conversions to Christianity.
The report states that 35 of the 42 Christians arrested last year were guilty of forming “house churches,” where church services, Bible studies and even baptisms happen in someone’s home. The punishment for this crime against Iran’s theocracy is one to 10 years behind bars.
The U.N. report shows that the oppression under the “moderate” President Rouhani is even greater than what it was under the more vocally extreme President Ahmadinejad. That is because every Islamist believes in sharia governance, so any increase in Christian numbers will lead to an increase in arrests of Christians.
The number of Christians in Iran was miniscule before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, by some accounts numbering in the low hundreds. Amazingly, the takeover of oppressive theocrats acted like a growth hormone for the faith. By claiming to represent Islam, the mullahs made many Muslims second-guess their faith.
Now, it is relatively easy to find atheist or agnostic Iranians or those who practice a reformist, liberal interpretation of their faith compatible with secular democracy. Others turn to other faiths, most commonly evangelical Christianity.
Operation World says that evangelical Christianity is growing faster in Iran than anywhere else in the world, with an estimated annual growth of 19.6%. Todd Nettleton, Director of Media Development for Voice of the Martyrs told me that the church in Iran is “growing at an absolutely phenomenal rate.”
One of the results of this disaffection with the Iranian regime and its version of Islam is a collapse in the number of Iranians going to mosque. In 2010, Planet-Iran.com reported that Mohammad Ali-Ramin, the Deputy Minister of Islamic Guidance and Culture for Media Relations, made an astonishing admission.
“We call upon all clergy to abandon civic and politics issues, partisan matters, NGO’s and western-style organizations and return to the mosques where they can benefit from greater social clout that will ultimately elevate societal and Islamic interests. We need to be able to put our clergy to proper use, as mosque attendance has thinned out,” he said [emphasis mine].
In 2010, Supreme Leader Khamenei publicly warned about the threat posed by the “network of house churches” that “threaten the Islamic faith and deceive young Muslims.” This was the first time that such language had been used towards Iranian Christians. The regime is worried and is responding with the repression permitted by sharia governance.
Islamists (Muslims who believe in governance by sharia) argue that sharia law is tolerant because it gives Christians and Jews some rights and technically permits them to practice their faith and have houses of worship. However, the restrictions on them are designed to make their faiths unsustainable so they are ultimately a thing of the past.
To understand these discriminatory restrictions, it must be understood that Islamists reference the interpretations of authoritative Islamic scholars. One such book is Reliance of the Traveler, certified by Al-Azhar University, the highest school of Sunni learning. It is also endorsed by the U.S.-based International Institute of Islamic Thought. Although Iran is Shiite, the features of sharia governance in relation to religious minorities are fundamentally the same.
Here are some features of Sharia governance that oppress Christians with a reference to the corresponding section of Reliance of the Traveler:
O9.5(8): Religious minorities including Christians are required to pay the jizya, or a special tax, as second-class citizens. (This creates a financial and societal pressure to convert to Islam.)
O11.5(2-4): Non-Muslims must be identifiable by dress and keep to the side of the street.
O11.5(5): Non-Muslims buildings must be shorter than Muslim buildings.
O11.5(6): Christians cannot ring church bells or display crosses, recite the Torah or Gospel aloud, or have funerals or religious celebrations in public.
O11.5(7): No additional churches may be constructed.
O11.10(1): Non-Muslims may not marry a Muslim woman.
O11.10(2): Non-Muslims may not hide a foreign spy. (This and other sharia determinations against subversion are used by the Iranian regime to arrest Christians as “threats to national security.” If one is not fully supportive with the regime’s foreign policy, then that can be seen as treason. For example, nine Christians were arrested for preaching to Muslims and branded as “Christian Zionists.”)
O11.10(3): It is illegal for non-Muslims to proselytize to Muslims. If any Muslim leaves the faith, that former Muslim is to be executed.
In summary, the persecution of Christians in Iran is not solely about a weak regime trying to stay in power. There is an ideological foundation for this persecution. You can change the leadership of Iran, as happened when the presidency passed from Ahmadinejad to Rouhani, but that doesn’t necessarily change the belief system.
If Christian persecution is to end in Iran and the Muslim world, governance by sharia must end as well.
▲
American Pastor Saeed Abedini (shown here
with his wife) was arrested in Iran after having traveled there to set
up an orphanage and visit his family. He has reportedly been tortured
and is being held at a notorious maximum security prison.
The report states that 35 of the 42 Christians arrested last year were guilty of forming “house churches,” where church services, Bible studies and even baptisms happen in someone’s home. The punishment for this crime against Iran’s theocracy is one to 10 years behind bars.
The U.N. report shows that the oppression under the “moderate” President Rouhani is even greater than what it was under the more vocally extreme President Ahmadinejad. That is because every Islamist believes in sharia governance, so any increase in Christian numbers will lead to an increase in arrests of Christians.
The number of Christians in Iran was miniscule before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, by some accounts numbering in the low hundreds. Amazingly, the takeover of oppressive theocrats acted like a growth hormone for the faith. By claiming to represent Islam, the mullahs made many Muslims second-guess their faith.
Now, it is relatively easy to find atheist or agnostic Iranians or those who practice a reformist, liberal interpretation of their faith compatible with secular democracy. Others turn to other faiths, most commonly evangelical Christianity.
Operation World says that evangelical Christianity is growing faster in Iran than anywhere else in the world, with an estimated annual growth of 19.6%. Todd Nettleton, Director of Media Development for Voice of the Martyrs told me that the church in Iran is “growing at an absolutely phenomenal rate.”
One of the results of this disaffection with the Iranian regime and its version of Islam is a collapse in the number of Iranians going to mosque. In 2010, Planet-Iran.com reported that Mohammad Ali-Ramin, the Deputy Minister of Islamic Guidance and Culture for Media Relations, made an astonishing admission.
“We call upon all clergy to abandon civic and politics issues, partisan matters, NGO’s and western-style organizations and return to the mosques where they can benefit from greater social clout that will ultimately elevate societal and Islamic interests. We need to be able to put our clergy to proper use, as mosque attendance has thinned out,” he said [emphasis mine].
In 2010, Supreme Leader Khamenei publicly warned about the threat posed by the “network of house churches” that “threaten the Islamic faith and deceive young Muslims.” This was the first time that such language had been used towards Iranian Christians. The regime is worried and is responding with the repression permitted by sharia governance.
Islamists (Muslims who believe in governance by sharia) argue that sharia law is tolerant because it gives Christians and Jews some rights and technically permits them to practice their faith and have houses of worship. However, the restrictions on them are designed to make their faiths unsustainable so they are ultimately a thing of the past.
To understand these discriminatory restrictions, it must be understood that Islamists reference the interpretations of authoritative Islamic scholars. One such book is Reliance of the Traveler, certified by Al-Azhar University, the highest school of Sunni learning. It is also endorsed by the U.S.-based International Institute of Islamic Thought. Although Iran is Shiite, the features of sharia governance in relation to religious minorities are fundamentally the same.
Here are some features of Sharia governance that oppress Christians with a reference to the corresponding section of Reliance of the Traveler:
O9.5(8): Religious minorities including Christians are required to pay the jizya, or a special tax, as second-class citizens. (This creates a financial and societal pressure to convert to Islam.)
O11.5(2-4): Non-Muslims must be identifiable by dress and keep to the side of the street.
O11.5(5): Non-Muslims buildings must be shorter than Muslim buildings.
O11.5(6): Christians cannot ring church bells or display crosses, recite the Torah or Gospel aloud, or have funerals or religious celebrations in public.
O11.5(7): No additional churches may be constructed.
O11.10(1): Non-Muslims may not marry a Muslim woman.
O11.10(2): Non-Muslims may not hide a foreign spy. (This and other sharia determinations against subversion are used by the Iranian regime to arrest Christians as “threats to national security.” If one is not fully supportive with the regime’s foreign policy, then that can be seen as treason. For example, nine Christians were arrested for preaching to Muslims and branded as “Christian Zionists.”)
O11.10(3): It is illegal for non-Muslims to proselytize to Muslims. If any Muslim leaves the faith, that former Muslim is to be executed.
In summary, the persecution of Christians in Iran is not solely about a weak regime trying to stay in power. There is an ideological foundation for this persecution. You can change the leadership of Iran, as happened when the presidency passed from Ahmadinejad to Rouhani, but that doesn’t necessarily change the belief system.
If Christian persecution is to end in Iran and the Muslim world, governance by sharia must end as well.
Labels:
Christianity
Austria: Muslims Outnumber Catholics in Vienna Schools
by Soeren Kern
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Austria is also in the process of introducing new taxpayer-funded textbooks for the formal teaching if Islam in all public elementary schools across the country.... This…
by Soeren Kern
The data—which show that Muslim students are also on the verge of overtaking Catholics in Viennese elementary schools—reflect an established trend and provide empirical evidence of a massive demographic and religious shift underway in Austria, traditionally a Roman Catholic country.
The Muslim population in Austria now exceeds 500,000 (or roughly 6% of the total population), up from an estimated 150,000 (or 2%) in 1990. The Muslim population is expected to reach 800,000 (or 9.5%) by 2030, according to recent estimates.
In the current school year, 10,734 Muslim students are enrolled in Viennese middle and secondary schools, compared to 8,632 Roman Catholic students, 4,259 Serbian Orthodox students and 3,219 students with "no religious persuasion," according to statistics compiled by the Vienna Board of Education (Stadtschulrat für Wien) and published by Radio Vatican website on March 21.
As far as elementary schools are concerned, there are 23,807 Roman Catholic students, followed by 17,913 Muslim students, 11,119 "non-religious" students, 6,083 Serbian Orthodox students and 2,322 Protestants.
The statistics show that the only Viennese schools where Muslims remain a distinct minority are in the gymnasium, advanced secondary schools that place a strong emphasis on academic learning rather than on vocational skills. Students graduating from a gymnasium are more likely than others to be admitted to attend university in Austria.
Austria is also in the process of introducing new taxpayer-funded textbooks for the formal teaching of Islam in all public elementary schools across the country.
The textbooks are called "Islam Hour" (Islamstunde) and have been prepared by the Islamic Religious Authority of Austria (Islamische Glaubensgemeinschaft in Österreich, IGGiÖ), a Muslim umbrella organization whose main responsibility is the state-funded supply of Islamic religious education at Austrian public and private schools.
According to the IGGiÖ, the new textbooks are based on "secure and recognized sources of Islam" aimed at "embedding Islam into the lives of students." Unlike previous versions of the books, which were criticized for being "overly martial in tone" and for not being "sufficiently oriented toward European values," the new books have been developed based a "completely new didactic model for competency-based education."
Previously, the main textbook used for Islam instruction in Austrian public schools was a vehemently anti-Western screed entitled "The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam" (Erlaubtes und Verbotenes im Islam) and authored by none other than Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Among other Islamic doctrines, the book taught students that Islamic Sharia law takes precedence over secular laws, that women have fewer rights than men, and that those who abandoned Islam are to be put to death.
The book was eventually banned from Austrian schools (although it is still being openly promoted on the website of the Vienna Islamic Centre, the largest mosque in Austria) after Al-Qaradawi[1] — a spiritual advisor for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas — began publicly endorsing suicide attacks against Jews as "martyrdom in the name of Allah."
The new textbooks come in four volumes along with a companion CD that
includes not only recitations of the Koran, but also a rap song which
deals with the aspects of Ramadan.
In an interview with the Austrian newspaper Heute, an IGGiÖ project manager named Amena Shakir said the aim of the new textbooks is to "learn about how the Koranic suras [chapters] can be applied to everyday life." Shakir added that this is the first time Islam is being taught to Austrian students in the German language and that the textbooks contextualize Islam in the Austrian countryside rather than in Arabia.
"We want our young people in Austria have a sense of home," said the president of IGGiÖ, Fuat Sanac. "We have tried for years to bring these books into being."
Sanac also called on the Austrian government to approve and promulgate a new "Islam Law" that would provide Muslims with more legal rights and protections than they enjoy in the current law, which dates back to 1912.
The original law was adopted to help integrate Muslim soldiers from Bosnia-Herzegovina into the Austro-Hungarian army of the Habsburg monarchy. The law recognized Islam as a religious community in Austria, and allowed Muslims to practice their religion in accordance with the laws of the state.
In an interview with Austrian Public Radio Ö1-Morgenjournal on March 21, the Minister for Integration and Foreign Affairs, Sebastian Kurz, said he would honor a campaign pledge to update the law, which would more clearly stipulate the rights and responsibilities of Muslims living in the country.
Kurz said Muslims would be expected to adhere to Austrian values (as yet undefined) and to acknowledge the primacy of Austrian law over Islamic Sharia law. That is to say, Muslims would be prohibited from citing Islamic law as legal justification for ignoring or disobeying Austrian civil laws, he said.
The new law would also clearly stipulate that Islam classes may not contradict or override Austria's civil educational system. In addition, Kurz said Islamic religious institutions in Austria should be financed exclusively from within Austria and that there should be more government scrutiny of funding obtained from abroad, presumably from Saudi Arabia and other oil rich Muslim countries.
At the same time, Muslims would obtain the legal right to operate their own cemeteries according to Islamic law. The law would also regulate the activities of Muslim clergy in hospitals, prisons and the army.
Kurz did not address Muslim demands for the official recognition of Islamic holidays (Muslim students are already entitled to two such holidays each year but Muslim workers are not) in Austria.
In addition, the Austrian government would actively promote the training of Muslim clergy (imams) within the Austrian university system (modeled on the Institute for Islamic Studies at the University of Vienna), with the aim of promoting a "European" Islam.
Kurz said he did not expect significant resistance to the initiative from other political parties in Austria. "We need a new law that clearly defines that there are rights and obligations for every individual in Austria," Kurz said. "It makes sense to have an orderly legal framework regarding Islam, a topic that often raises emotions. Austria needs a clear framework for Islam."
▲
Austria is also in the process of introducing new taxpayer-funded textbooks for the formal teaching if Islam in all public elementary schools across the country.... This is the first time Islam is being taught to Austrian students in the German language.Muslim students, according to new statistics, now outnumber Roman Catholic students at middle and secondary schools in Vienna, the capital and largest city of Austria.
"What remains, then, is to conquer Rome. This means Islam will come back to Europe for a third time, after it was expelled from it twice. We will conquer Europe! We will conquer America! Not through the sword but through our Dawa [proselytizing]." — Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Muslim Brotherhood
The data—which show that Muslim students are also on the verge of overtaking Catholics in Viennese elementary schools—reflect an established trend and provide empirical evidence of a massive demographic and religious shift underway in Austria, traditionally a Roman Catholic country.
The Muslim population in Austria now exceeds 500,000 (or roughly 6% of the total population), up from an estimated 150,000 (or 2%) in 1990. The Muslim population is expected to reach 800,000 (or 9.5%) by 2030, according to recent estimates.
In the current school year, 10,734 Muslim students are enrolled in Viennese middle and secondary schools, compared to 8,632 Roman Catholic students, 4,259 Serbian Orthodox students and 3,219 students with "no religious persuasion," according to statistics compiled by the Vienna Board of Education (Stadtschulrat für Wien) and published by Radio Vatican website on March 21.
As far as elementary schools are concerned, there are 23,807 Roman Catholic students, followed by 17,913 Muslim students, 11,119 "non-religious" students, 6,083 Serbian Orthodox students and 2,322 Protestants.
The statistics show that the only Viennese schools where Muslims remain a distinct minority are in the gymnasium, advanced secondary schools that place a strong emphasis on academic learning rather than on vocational skills. Students graduating from a gymnasium are more likely than others to be admitted to attend university in Austria.
Austria is also in the process of introducing new taxpayer-funded textbooks for the formal teaching of Islam in all public elementary schools across the country.
The textbooks are called "Islam Hour" (Islamstunde) and have been prepared by the Islamic Religious Authority of Austria (Islamische Glaubensgemeinschaft in Österreich, IGGiÖ), a Muslim umbrella organization whose main responsibility is the state-funded supply of Islamic religious education at Austrian public and private schools.
According to the IGGiÖ, the new textbooks are based on "secure and recognized sources of Islam" aimed at "embedding Islam into the lives of students." Unlike previous versions of the books, which were criticized for being "overly martial in tone" and for not being "sufficiently oriented toward European values," the new books have been developed based a "completely new didactic model for competency-based education."
Previously, the main textbook used for Islam instruction in Austrian public schools was a vehemently anti-Western screed entitled "The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam" (Erlaubtes und Verbotenes im Islam) and authored by none other than Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Among other Islamic doctrines, the book taught students that Islamic Sharia law takes precedence over secular laws, that women have fewer rights than men, and that those who abandoned Islam are to be put to death.
The book was eventually banned from Austrian schools (although it is still being openly promoted on the website of the Vienna Islamic Centre, the largest mosque in Austria) after Al-Qaradawi[1] — a spiritual advisor for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas — began publicly endorsing suicide attacks against Jews as "martyrdom in the name of Allah."
The Vienna Islamic Centre.
|
In an interview with the Austrian newspaper Heute, an IGGiÖ project manager named Amena Shakir said the aim of the new textbooks is to "learn about how the Koranic suras [chapters] can be applied to everyday life." Shakir added that this is the first time Islam is being taught to Austrian students in the German language and that the textbooks contextualize Islam in the Austrian countryside rather than in Arabia.
"We want our young people in Austria have a sense of home," said the president of IGGiÖ, Fuat Sanac. "We have tried for years to bring these books into being."
Sanac also called on the Austrian government to approve and promulgate a new "Islam Law" that would provide Muslims with more legal rights and protections than they enjoy in the current law, which dates back to 1912.
The original law was adopted to help integrate Muslim soldiers from Bosnia-Herzegovina into the Austro-Hungarian army of the Habsburg monarchy. The law recognized Islam as a religious community in Austria, and allowed Muslims to practice their religion in accordance with the laws of the state.
In an interview with Austrian Public Radio Ö1-Morgenjournal on March 21, the Minister for Integration and Foreign Affairs, Sebastian Kurz, said he would honor a campaign pledge to update the law, which would more clearly stipulate the rights and responsibilities of Muslims living in the country.
Kurz said Muslims would be expected to adhere to Austrian values (as yet undefined) and to acknowledge the primacy of Austrian law over Islamic Sharia law. That is to say, Muslims would be prohibited from citing Islamic law as legal justification for ignoring or disobeying Austrian civil laws, he said.
The new law would also clearly stipulate that Islam classes may not contradict or override Austria's civil educational system. In addition, Kurz said Islamic religious institutions in Austria should be financed exclusively from within Austria and that there should be more government scrutiny of funding obtained from abroad, presumably from Saudi Arabia and other oil rich Muslim countries.
At the same time, Muslims would obtain the legal right to operate their own cemeteries according to Islamic law. The law would also regulate the activities of Muslim clergy in hospitals, prisons and the army.
Kurz did not address Muslim demands for the official recognition of Islamic holidays (Muslim students are already entitled to two such holidays each year but Muslim workers are not) in Austria.
In addition, the Austrian government would actively promote the training of Muslim clergy (imams) within the Austrian university system (modeled on the Institute for Islamic Studies at the University of Vienna), with the aim of promoting a "European" Islam.
Kurz said he did not expect significant resistance to the initiative from other political parties in Austria. "We need a new law that clearly defines that there are rights and obligations for every individual in Austria," Kurz said. "It makes sense to have an orderly legal framework regarding Islam, a topic that often raises emotions. Austria needs a clear framework for Islam."
Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter.[1] Al-Qaradawi speaks openly about the goals of Islam: "What remains, then, is to conquer Rome. (...) This means that Islam will come back to Europe for the third time, after it was expelled from it twice. (...) Conquest through Dawa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe! We will conquer America! Not through the sword but through our Dawa."
Labels:
Islam
Zahid admits weaknesses in Immigration Dept - Malaysiakini
The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines
(MAS) Flight MH370 enters the 19th day today, resuming in the south
Indian Ocean, after being hampered by bad weather all of yesterday.…
The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines
(MAS) Flight MH370 enters the 19th day today, resuming in the south
Indian Ocean, after being hampered by bad weather all of yesterday.
On
Monday, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced that the plane went
down in the Indian Ocean, based on calculations by British satellite
company Inmarsat.
Following this, Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein declared yesterday that searches in the northern corridor, as well as in the northern tip of the southern corridor, near Indonesia, have been called off.
This means search and recovery operations are now exclusively being carried out at the south Indian Ocean, led by Australia, where attempts are being made to relocate and retrieve several objects, possibly MH370 debris, spotted on Monday.
Below are updates and the latest coverage from various sources and news agencies:
Conspiracy theories Wiki
11pm: A Wikipedia entry on conspiracy theories regarding MH370's disappearance is slowly expanding, but there are also efforts to delete the entry altogether.
The
theories ranges from early speculations to the outright bizzare -
theories about Illuminati involvement, UFOs and pop-star Shakira.
The entry was created on March 25 and efforts are underway to remove it.
PM's wife expresses sympathy
8.46pm: Prime minister's wife Rosmah Mansor has expressed profound sympathy and conveyed her condolences to family members, friends and acquaintances of the MH370 passengers and crew.
In a statement today, reports Bernama, she called on all family members of the passengers and crew to be strong in accepting the will of God.
"I have received telephone calls from several wives of world leaders to express sympathy over the tragedy.
"I thanked them for their concerns and it shows Malaysia has many friends in such times of need," she is quoted as saying.
Iranians with stolen passports
"We have investigated and came to this conclusion," he told the Parliament today.
'Sealed evidence that can't be revealed'
7.05pm: Emotions spill over once more over in Beijing at a briefing by Malaysian officials to families of MH370 passengers, who are told that there is 'sealed evidence' that cannot be revealed.
According to Singapore’s The Straits Times, it includes air traffic control radio transcripts, radar data and airport security recordings.
It adds the families continue to pressure Malaysian officials for evidence which could convince them that the plane did indeed crash into the Indian Ocean and that their loved ones are dead.
"You expect us to accept a report you cannot defend?" one family member is quoted asking Malaysian envoy to China Iskandar Sarudin, who can only reply, "no comment".
The next-of-kin are also upset at the lack of caregivers tasked with helping them, when told there were only 50 due to problems finding volunteers, with one relation asking: "Two-thirds of MH370 passengers are Chinese but only 50 caregivers?"
They also asked how much the Malaysian government is paying for the UK satellite analysis, saying "you've been cheated," The Straits Times further reports.
More objects sighted
6.02pm: Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) reports that three objects have been sighted by search planes at the south Indian Ocean, two of which are likely to be ropes while the third is described as blue.
However, it says none have been relocated upon further passes.
5.45pm: The daily press briefing on the status of the ongoing search for MAS Flight MH370 begins. As usual, Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein leads the session, now being held at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) in the centre of Kuala Lumpur.
Here are some of the highlights:
5.20pm: Deputy Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri tells Parliament that the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) did not act to intercept MH370 when it was detected on the military radar off the Straits of Malacca on March 8 not long after it ceased communications with air traffic control, as it "assumed" that the flight was ordered to turn back by the control tower.
Read the full story here.
Minister denies missed meeting sparked protest
5pm: Foreign Affairs Minister Anifah Aman denies a media report claiming yesterday's protest in Beijing was sparked by Malaysia's envoy to China, Iskandar Sarudin, failing to keep an appointment with families of Flight MH370 passengers.
Read the full story here.
Search region geologically 'extremely active'
4.28pm: Search teams looking for MH370 are facing challenges ranging from huge waves to underwater volcanoes, says experts quoted by the AFP.
The report says that the region being searched is very windy with waves up to 15 metres during winter, and is also geologically “extremely active”.
“It's rugged, it's covered in faults, fine-scale gullies and ridges, there isn't a lot of sediment blanketing that part of the world because it's fresh (in geological terms),” says James Cook University underwater geologist Robin Beamen.
On the bright side, University of New South Wales oceanographer Erik van Sebille says the remoteness of the suspected crash site also means any large debris sighted is likely to have been part of the missing aircraft rather than unrelated flostsam.
Abbott moves motion of condolence in Parliament
4.05pm: Australian PM Tony Abbott today tables a motion in Parliament to express the government's condolences to grieving families.
"We mourn all those 239 passengers and crew. We especially mourn the six Australian citizens and one Australian resident who must be presumed dead and we grieve with their families and loved ones," he says.
Several of the family members are present to hear the motion.
Daily Mail floats fresh 'suicide' theory
4pm: After Telegraph, another British tabloid is pursuing the 'pilot suicide' theory by speculating that the plane was flown to its maximum altitude as part of the plot.
Citing an anonymous source, the Daily Mail claims that MH370 flew at 43,000 to 45,000 feet for 23 minutes, 11 minutes longer than oxygen supply in depressurised cabins.
It quotes an aerodynamics professor as saying that emergency air supply would not automatically kick in if the plane flew at 43,000 feet.
It also reports that investigators are probing the possibility that the pressurisation system was deliberately turned off, thereby jeopardising filtered cabin air.
Yesterday, Germany's Speigel Online posited the ghost plane theory—that an electrical fire caused the system to halt, knocking out all on board and leaving the aircraft to fly on auto-pilot until it ran out of fuel.
Special equipment no use without wreckage
3.30pm: BBC reports that the US Navy has flown in "specialist underwater detection equipment" which will aid detection of the plane's flight recorder.
However,
it says that can be carried out when the wreckage is found, and even
then, it states it will still be several days before the ship carrying
the detectors will arrive at the search site.
BBC further warns that tomorrow's weather threatens to deteriorate once more, "with a cold front bringing thunderstorms and strong winds", and that this could further slow the progress of search efforts.
Chinese envoy meets PM
3pm: China’s news agency Xinhua reports that special envoy to Malaysia Zhang Yesui meets with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to discuss the search for the missing plane.
This comes as family members of Chinese national on board Flight MH370 protested in Beijing yesterday, unwilling to accept the Malaysian government’s announcement that the plane crashed into the south Indian Ocean and none survived, due to lack of any concrete evidence.
China's Foreign Ministry also reportedly requested for all relevant satellite data from Malaysia and British satellite company Inmarsat.
It is later reported by Reuters that he requests for "unremitting
efforts" on the search for the missing plane.
Meanwhile, Bernama reports that Indonesia, too, is sending a special envoy to hold an “intensive dialogue” with Malaysia.
It cites Antara news agency, which quotes Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa as saying: “We need clarification from the Malaysian authorities. We do not want the families to miss out on clear information”.
'Little can be done without debris'
2pm: Oceanographers have used data from drift models to construct a dynamic map of the sea in order to find where MH370 went down. But without debris, there is little they can do.
Time is also running out, Australia's leading scientific agency Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, or CSIRO's team leader David Griffin tells the Wall Street Journal.
“You can really only follow things with any certainty for a couple of weeks. We’re getting to the end now of the time when you can backtrack to the original location (of the crash),” Griffin says.
'Families shouldn't have been informed by text'
1.50pm: PKR vice-president Tian Chua says families should not have been informed that their loved ones in all certainty did not survive, via text message.
"I
urge Malaysian Airlines to choose a more comforting method to handle
the situation...After two weeks anxiously waiting for some good news,
receiving a text message with such news would have been very painful,"
he says in a statement.
He also urges media to not publish speculations accusing the pilot of suicide, fingering specifically the UK's Daily Telegraph.
MAS has defended contacting families via text message, saying that it was a "last" resort when it could not call or speak to the 1,000 family members to avoid them learning about it on the news.
Flags to be flown at half-mast
1.37pm: The sultan of Pahang ordered that the Pahang and Malaysian flags be flown at half-mast in the state for three days from today as a mark of respect over the MAS aircraft tragedy, Bernama reports.
The state Information Department says in a statement that the order was directed at all government departments and agencies and private sector firms.
Families opt to stay put, for now
12.30pm: Some families of MH370 passengers are opting not to go to Australia, despite MAS' offer to fly them out until the wreckage is found.
Indonesian news outlet Tempo reports that the family members of Indonesian passengers Indra Suria Tanurisman and Firman Chandra Siregar as holding on to belief their son is alive, opting to wait at home until there is physical evidence of a crash.
"At this moment, Firman's mother and myself still believe that our son is working with in China," Firman's father Krisman is quoted saying.
Firman's family is mulling legal action.
Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald reports that Chinese families, too, feel there is no point travelling to Perth until more concrete evidence is found.
PM Abbott: Search not open-ended
12.01pm: Another three Chinese ships have now joined merchant vessel Xue Long and Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) HMAS Success at the MH370 search site, along with five aircraft, reports The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa).
11.30am: Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott says that while there is no deadline set for the search for MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean, the search is not endless.
"It's not absolutely open-ended, but it's not something we will lightly abandon," Abbott is quoted by dpa as saying.
Locators useless if pinger damaged
11.20am: While the US Navy is shipping its towed pinger locator to Australia to find MH370’s black box, its manufacturer tells Sydney Morning Herald that the device has limitations despite numerous past successes.
The
pinger locator is designed to search up to a depth of 6,000 metres, but
the Indian Ocean can be as deep as 7,000 metres in parts.
In addition, the device can only be used once the search area is narrowed down further, while the black box’s pinger have a battery life of some 30 days. MH370 went missing on March 8.
The pingers may have also been damaged upon impact, rendering the locators useless as it did in the Air France Flight 447, which crashed in 2009.
Pingers are attached to the black box and emits a sound when submerged in water, while the pinger locator is comprised of highly sensitive underwater microphones designed to find it.
11 days left before black box battery dies
11am: It has been 19 days since MAS Flight MH370 disappeared.
The
clock ticks as that leaves less than just 11 days for search teams to
find the plane before the black box battery runs out and it ceases to
emit 'pings'.
According to Australia's news.com.au, the black box emits one 'ping' per second for 30 days, which can be picked up by sonar and acoustic-locating equipment.
However, Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has vowed that search for the missing plane will not stop even after the black box battery runs out after the 30-day mark.
He says there are other means investigators and search parties can employ to locate the black box.
China, US affirms support
10.20am: Both the Chinese president Xi Jinping and US president Barack Obama reaffirm their support towards the search for MH370, says Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
The New Straits Times reports that Muhyiddin met the two leaders at the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Hague, to express Malaysia’s appreciation for the two country’s contribution in the search efforts.
To
a question whether China is dissatisfied with Malaysia’s handling of
the crisis, Muhyiddin is quoted saying that Xi empathised with Malaysia
over the large scale of the SAR effort, and alluded to longstanding
diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China.
However, in apparent disatisfaction at the PM's announcement on Monday, Reuters had reported that China's Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng ‘immediately demanded’ all relevant satellite data from Malaysia.
The ministry is also seeking satellite data from British satellite company Inmarsat, to know exactly how the final conclusion was derived.
What are they searching for
10am: Another recap - On Monday, Australia announced spotting two objects in the search area - an orange rectangular object and a green or grey circular one.
Although it said it maintained aerial view of the objects as at yesterday, the search was called off for 24 hours yesterday due to rough weather.
The objects were located more than 2,000km west of Perth in what is described as one of the most remote corners of the globe.
However, Al Jazeera reporter Andrew Thomas, who was on board the Australian P3 Orion aircraft that spotted the reported debris, claimed that there were five objects.
How the Doppler Effect factors in
9.15am: To recap, investigators determined that MH370 had flown to the southern corridor by looking for subtle shifts in the radio frequency that the aircraft used to communicate with Inmarsat’s satellite.
The
shifts - caused by the Doppler Effect - is akin to a police siren that
sounds differently as the police car passes by. The same principle that
changes the sound of moving vehicle also applies to the radio frequency
of a moving aircraft.
By measuring these shifts and comparing it against what would have been expected if MH370 had turned north or south, investigators found a good match between the measurements and the expected radio frequencies of the southerly route.
This type of analysis has not been used to locate an aircraft before, and investigators tested the method with six other aircraft whose flight path were known to ensure that it works.
Read more here.
Final ping 'not by human interaction'
8.50am: British satellite operator Inmarsat says the final "partial ping", that is a digital handshake between MH370 and its satellite was not from human interaction.
It says investigators are investigating if the partial ping which originated from the aircraft at 9.15am Malaysian time on March 8 was "failed login" or the system "resetting itself".
"We're not looking at (the partial ping) as someone trying to turn on the communication system," Inmarsat senior vice-president Chris McLaughlin tells the Wall Street Journal.
Australia defends Malaysia
8am: Australian Minister of Defence David Johnston defends Malaysia’s handling of the MH370 crisis, saying that its critics have the benefit of hindsight.
"Look, this has been a tragedy that has come from nowhere, who would have anticipated anything like this, an aircraft just going off the radar?
"And
now we believe it’s about three and a half thousand kilometres away
from where it was supposed to be at its last point of identification –
and may I say – in one of the most outrageously remote parts of the
planet.
"I mean, there is just nothing down there…," he says in an interview with CNN yesterday.
He adds analyses on satellite data used to determine MH370’s location took time because the relevant data needs to be filtered from large amounts of other data, including those from other aircraft communicating with the satellite.
“I think they’ve achieved something that might be the beginning of something concrete. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
“As I say, when we pull something out of the ocean and someone says this is clearly a part of this aircraft, I think that will be a significant step,” he says.
A transcript of which is available from the Australian Ministry of Defence. Read the full transcript here.
Weather permits search
7am: The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) confirms that the search for objects sighted in the south Indian Ocean has resumed as weather conditions improves.
It says a total of 12 aircraft will be involved in searches covering 80,000 sq km.
Meanwhile, Australian vessel HMS Success and Chinese ice-breaker Xue Long are in the search area.
Background:
On
Monday, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced that the plane went
down in the Indian Ocean, based on calculations by British satellite
company Inmarsat.Following this, Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein declared yesterday that searches in the northern corridor, as well as in the northern tip of the southern corridor, near Indonesia, have been called off.
This means search and recovery operations are now exclusively being carried out at the south Indian Ocean, led by Australia, where attempts are being made to relocate and retrieve several objects, possibly MH370 debris, spotted on Monday.
Below are updates and the latest coverage from various sources and news agencies:
Conspiracy theories Wiki
11pm: A Wikipedia entry on conspiracy theories regarding MH370's disappearance is slowly expanding, but there are also efforts to delete the entry altogether.
The
theories ranges from early speculations to the outright bizzare -
theories about Illuminati involvement, UFOs and pop-star Shakira.The entry was created on March 25 and efforts are underway to remove it.
PM's wife expresses sympathy
8.46pm: Prime minister's wife Rosmah Mansor has expressed profound sympathy and conveyed her condolences to family members, friends and acquaintances of the MH370 passengers and crew.
In a statement today, reports Bernama, she called on all family members of the passengers and crew to be strong in accepting the will of God."I have received telephone calls from several wives of world leaders to express sympathy over the tragedy.
"I thanked them for their concerns and it shows Malaysia has many friends in such times of need," she is quoted as saying.
Iranians with stolen passports
8pm: Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that the two
Iranians who boarded the MH370 flight with stolen passports were not
terrorists and nor were they asylum seekers.
"We have investigated and came to this conclusion," he told the Parliament today.
He also said that the immigration officers could not identify the Iranians, and not Europeans, because of "weaknesses".
He also blames China's press for instigating families of the passengers in Beijing. Read our full story.
He also blames China's press for instigating families of the passengers in Beijing. Read our full story.
'Sealed evidence that can't be revealed'
7.05pm: Emotions spill over once more over in Beijing at a briefing by Malaysian officials to families of MH370 passengers, who are told that there is 'sealed evidence' that cannot be revealed.
According to Singapore’s The Straits Times, it includes air traffic control radio transcripts, radar data and airport security recordings.
It adds the families continue to pressure Malaysian officials for evidence which could convince them that the plane did indeed crash into the Indian Ocean and that their loved ones are dead.
"You expect us to accept a report you cannot defend?" one family member is quoted asking Malaysian envoy to China Iskandar Sarudin, who can only reply, "no comment".
The next-of-kin are also upset at the lack of caregivers tasked with helping them, when told there were only 50 due to problems finding volunteers, with one relation asking: "Two-thirds of MH370 passengers are Chinese but only 50 caregivers?"
They also asked how much the Malaysian government is paying for the UK satellite analysis, saying "you've been cheated," The Straits Times further reports.
More objects sighted
6.02pm: Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) reports that three objects have been sighted by search planes at the south Indian Ocean, two of which are likely to be ropes while the third is described as blue.
However, it says none have been relocated upon further passes.
5.45pm: The daily press briefing on the status of the ongoing search for MAS Flight MH370 begins. As usual, Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein leads the session, now being held at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) in the centre of Kuala Lumpur.
Here are some of the highlights:
-
Yesterday Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency (MRSA) received new satellite
images from France, taken on March 23 and covering an area of 400sq km,
shows 122 potential objects 2,557km from Perth.
-
Of these objects, some are 1 metre in length and some 23 metres, and bright, possibly indicating solid material. This "new lead" was immediately forwarded to Perth yesterday.
-
Malaysia has established an international working group comprising,
among others, satellite company Inmarsat, UK Air Accidents Investigation
Branch (AAIB), The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), US
National Transport Safety Bureau (NTSB) and Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), as well as Boeing, engine maker Rolls Royce, as
well as relevant Malaysian authorities.
-
The group will study the Inmarsat data try to determine, more accurately, the final position of Flight MH370.
-
Malaysia Airlines (MAS), tasked with briefing and dealing with affected
families of those on board Flight MH370, will be holding another press
conference tomorrow.
-
Hishammuddin, who is also defence minister, says he cannot confirm if the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) didn't act as it had assumed Flight MH370 was asked to turn back by Subang air traffic control.
-
Hishammuddin assures that security at Malaysian embassy in Beijing is under control.
-
He assures that anger directed at Malaysia by Chinese citizens has not
affected China-Malaysia bilateral ties. He says PM Najib Abdul Razak
will go ahead with plans to visit China in May.
-
He also opines that Malaysia has handled this crisis "admirably"
and considering its unprecedented nature, was able to garner the "most
sophisticated" assets from all over the world to come assist in the
search and rescue operations.
-
He appeals for understanding from Chinese families, saying that as a brother and a father, he understands their ordeal.
He points out that Malaysia, along with several other nations, have also lost citizens.
5.20pm: Deputy Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri tells Parliament that the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) did not act to intercept MH370 when it was detected on the military radar off the Straits of Malacca on March 8 not long after it ceased communications with air traffic control, as it "assumed" that the flight was ordered to turn back by the control tower.
Read the full story here.
Minister denies missed meeting sparked protest
5pm: Foreign Affairs Minister Anifah Aman denies a media report claiming yesterday's protest in Beijing was sparked by Malaysia's envoy to China, Iskandar Sarudin, failing to keep an appointment with families of Flight MH370 passengers.
Read the full story here.
Search region geologically 'extremely active'
4.28pm: Search teams looking for MH370 are facing challenges ranging from huge waves to underwater volcanoes, says experts quoted by the AFP.
The report says that the region being searched is very windy with waves up to 15 metres during winter, and is also geologically “extremely active”.
“It's rugged, it's covered in faults, fine-scale gullies and ridges, there isn't a lot of sediment blanketing that part of the world because it's fresh (in geological terms),” says James Cook University underwater geologist Robin Beamen.
On the bright side, University of New South Wales oceanographer Erik van Sebille says the remoteness of the suspected crash site also means any large debris sighted is likely to have been part of the missing aircraft rather than unrelated flostsam.
Abbott moves motion of condolence in Parliament
4.05pm: Australian PM Tony Abbott today tables a motion in Parliament to express the government's condolences to grieving families.
"We mourn all those 239 passengers and crew. We especially mourn the six Australian citizens and one Australian resident who must be presumed dead and we grieve with their families and loved ones," he says.
Several of the family members are present to hear the motion.
Daily Mail floats fresh 'suicide' theory
4pm: After Telegraph, another British tabloid is pursuing the 'pilot suicide' theory by speculating that the plane was flown to its maximum altitude as part of the plot.
Citing an anonymous source, the Daily Mail claims that MH370 flew at 43,000 to 45,000 feet for 23 minutes, 11 minutes longer than oxygen supply in depressurised cabins.
It quotes an aerodynamics professor as saying that emergency air supply would not automatically kick in if the plane flew at 43,000 feet.
It also reports that investigators are probing the possibility that the pressurisation system was deliberately turned off, thereby jeopardising filtered cabin air.
Yesterday, Germany's Speigel Online posited the ghost plane theory—that an electrical fire caused the system to halt, knocking out all on board and leaving the aircraft to fly on auto-pilot until it ran out of fuel.
Special equipment no use without wreckage
3.30pm: BBC reports that the US Navy has flown in "specialist underwater detection equipment" which will aid detection of the plane's flight recorder.
However,
it says that can be carried out when the wreckage is found, and even
then, it states it will still be several days before the ship carrying
the detectors will arrive at the search site.BBC further warns that tomorrow's weather threatens to deteriorate once more, "with a cold front bringing thunderstorms and strong winds", and that this could further slow the progress of search efforts.
Chinese envoy meets PM
3pm: China’s news agency Xinhua reports that special envoy to Malaysia Zhang Yesui meets with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to discuss the search for the missing plane.
This comes as family members of Chinese national on board Flight MH370 protested in Beijing yesterday, unwilling to accept the Malaysian government’s announcement that the plane crashed into the south Indian Ocean and none survived, due to lack of any concrete evidence.
China's Foreign Ministry also reportedly requested for all relevant satellite data from Malaysia and British satellite company Inmarsat.
It is later reported by Reuters that he requests for "unremitting
efforts" on the search for the missing plane.
Meanwhile, Bernama reports that Indonesia, too, is sending a special envoy to hold an “intensive dialogue” with Malaysia.
It cites Antara news agency, which quotes Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa as saying: “We need clarification from the Malaysian authorities. We do not want the families to miss out on clear information”.
'Little can be done without debris'
2pm: Oceanographers have used data from drift models to construct a dynamic map of the sea in order to find where MH370 went down. But without debris, there is little they can do.
Time is also running out, Australia's leading scientific agency Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, or CSIRO's team leader David Griffin tells the Wall Street Journal.
“You can really only follow things with any certainty for a couple of weeks. We’re getting to the end now of the time when you can backtrack to the original location (of the crash),” Griffin says.
'Families shouldn't have been informed by text'
1.50pm: PKR vice-president Tian Chua says families should not have been informed that their loved ones in all certainty did not survive, via text message.
"I
urge Malaysian Airlines to choose a more comforting method to handle
the situation...After two weeks anxiously waiting for some good news,
receiving a text message with such news would have been very painful,"
he says in a statement.He also urges media to not publish speculations accusing the pilot of suicide, fingering specifically the UK's Daily Telegraph.
MAS has defended contacting families via text message, saying that it was a "last" resort when it could not call or speak to the 1,000 family members to avoid them learning about it on the news.
Flags to be flown at half-mast
1.37pm: The sultan of Pahang ordered that the Pahang and Malaysian flags be flown at half-mast in the state for three days from today as a mark of respect over the MAS aircraft tragedy, Bernama reports.
The state Information Department says in a statement that the order was directed at all government departments and agencies and private sector firms.
Families opt to stay put, for now
12.30pm: Some families of MH370 passengers are opting not to go to Australia, despite MAS' offer to fly them out until the wreckage is found.
Indonesian news outlet Tempo reports that the family members of Indonesian passengers Indra Suria Tanurisman and Firman Chandra Siregar as holding on to belief their son is alive, opting to wait at home until there is physical evidence of a crash.
"At this moment, Firman's mother and myself still believe that our son is working with in China," Firman's father Krisman is quoted saying.
Firman's family is mulling legal action.
Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald reports that Chinese families, too, feel there is no point travelling to Perth until more concrete evidence is found.
PM Abbott: Search not open-ended
12.01pm: Another three Chinese ships have now joined merchant vessel Xue Long and Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) HMAS Success at the MH370 search site, along with five aircraft, reports The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa).
11.30am: Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott says that while there is no deadline set for the search for MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean, the search is not endless.
"It's not absolutely open-ended, but it's not something we will lightly abandon," Abbott is quoted by dpa as saying.
Locators useless if pinger damaged
11.20am: While the US Navy is shipping its towed pinger locator to Australia to find MH370’s black box, its manufacturer tells Sydney Morning Herald that the device has limitations despite numerous past successes.
The
pinger locator is designed to search up to a depth of 6,000 metres, but
the Indian Ocean can be as deep as 7,000 metres in parts.In addition, the device can only be used once the search area is narrowed down further, while the black box’s pinger have a battery life of some 30 days. MH370 went missing on March 8.
The pingers may have also been damaged upon impact, rendering the locators useless as it did in the Air France Flight 447, which crashed in 2009.
Pingers are attached to the black box and emits a sound when submerged in water, while the pinger locator is comprised of highly sensitive underwater microphones designed to find it.
11 days left before black box battery dies
11am: It has been 19 days since MAS Flight MH370 disappeared.
The
clock ticks as that leaves less than just 11 days for search teams to
find the plane before the black box battery runs out and it ceases to
emit 'pings'.According to Australia's news.com.au, the black box emits one 'ping' per second for 30 days, which can be picked up by sonar and acoustic-locating equipment.
However, Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has vowed that search for the missing plane will not stop even after the black box battery runs out after the 30-day mark.
He says there are other means investigators and search parties can employ to locate the black box.
China, US affirms support
10.20am: Both the Chinese president Xi Jinping and US president Barack Obama reaffirm their support towards the search for MH370, says Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
The New Straits Times reports that Muhyiddin met the two leaders at the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Hague, to express Malaysia’s appreciation for the two country’s contribution in the search efforts.
To
a question whether China is dissatisfied with Malaysia’s handling of
the crisis, Muhyiddin is quoted saying that Xi empathised with Malaysia
over the large scale of the SAR effort, and alluded to longstanding
diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China.However, in apparent disatisfaction at the PM's announcement on Monday, Reuters had reported that China's Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng ‘immediately demanded’ all relevant satellite data from Malaysia.
The ministry is also seeking satellite data from British satellite company Inmarsat, to know exactly how the final conclusion was derived.
What are they searching for
10am: Another recap - On Monday, Australia announced spotting two objects in the search area - an orange rectangular object and a green or grey circular one.
Although it said it maintained aerial view of the objects as at yesterday, the search was called off for 24 hours yesterday due to rough weather.
The objects were located more than 2,000km west of Perth in what is described as one of the most remote corners of the globe.
However, Al Jazeera reporter Andrew Thomas, who was on board the Australian P3 Orion aircraft that spotted the reported debris, claimed that there were five objects.
How the Doppler Effect factors in
9.15am: To recap, investigators determined that MH370 had flown to the southern corridor by looking for subtle shifts in the radio frequency that the aircraft used to communicate with Inmarsat’s satellite.
The
shifts - caused by the Doppler Effect - is akin to a police siren that
sounds differently as the police car passes by. The same principle that
changes the sound of moving vehicle also applies to the radio frequency
of a moving aircraft.By measuring these shifts and comparing it against what would have been expected if MH370 had turned north or south, investigators found a good match between the measurements and the expected radio frequencies of the southerly route.
This type of analysis has not been used to locate an aircraft before, and investigators tested the method with six other aircraft whose flight path were known to ensure that it works.
Read more here.
Final ping 'not by human interaction'
8.50am: British satellite operator Inmarsat says the final "partial ping", that is a digital handshake between MH370 and its satellite was not from human interaction.
It says investigators are investigating if the partial ping which originated from the aircraft at 9.15am Malaysian time on March 8 was "failed login" or the system "resetting itself".
"We're not looking at (the partial ping) as someone trying to turn on the communication system," Inmarsat senior vice-president Chris McLaughlin tells the Wall Street Journal.
Australia defends Malaysia
8am: Australian Minister of Defence David Johnston defends Malaysia’s handling of the MH370 crisis, saying that its critics have the benefit of hindsight.
"Look, this has been a tragedy that has come from nowhere, who would have anticipated anything like this, an aircraft just going off the radar?
"And
now we believe it’s about three and a half thousand kilometres away
from where it was supposed to be at its last point of identification –
and may I say – in one of the most outrageously remote parts of the
planet."I mean, there is just nothing down there…," he says in an interview with CNN yesterday.
He adds analyses on satellite data used to determine MH370’s location took time because the relevant data needs to be filtered from large amounts of other data, including those from other aircraft communicating with the satellite.
“I think they’ve achieved something that might be the beginning of something concrete. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
“As I say, when we pull something out of the ocean and someone says this is clearly a part of this aircraft, I think that will be a significant step,” he says.
A transcript of which is available from the Australian Ministry of Defence. Read the full transcript here.
Weather permits search
7am: The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) confirms that the search for objects sighted in the south Indian Ocean has resumed as weather conditions improves.It says a total of 12 aircraft will be involved in searches covering 80,000 sq km.
Meanwhile, Australian vessel HMS Success and Chinese ice-breaker Xue Long are in the search area.
Background:
-
The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER aircraft went missing not long after
taking off from KL International Airport in the early hours of March 8,
with 12 crew members and 227 passengers.
-
Authorities have determined the plane intentionally made a turn-back and
altered its course shortly after cutting communications with tower
controllers for unknown reasons.
- Its whereabouts is now narrowed to the southern Indian Ocean after employing a "new analysis" method to deduce the location based on six pings the aircraft sent out to British satellite communications provider Inmarsat's satellite before disappearing into the waters.
Labels:
MAS
MH370: Major breakthrough in search
New satellite images show 122 objects floating in the southern Indian Ocean.
KUALA LUMPUR: Investigators scouring for the missing MH370, which disappeared 18 days ago, have made a major breakthrough…
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New satellite images show 122 objects floating in the southern Indian Ocean.
KUALA LUMPUR: Investigators scouring for the missing MH370, which disappeared 18 days ago, have made a major breakthrough in locating the runaway jet with the emergence of new satellite images showing hundreds of floating objects in the Southern Indian Ocean, where the jetliner is suspected to have crashed.
Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said latest satellite images have been verified by the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency and sent to the Australian Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Perth for search efforts in southern Indian Ocean.
He said that the images were taken on March 23 and handed over to Malaysia on March 25. He said that the new images were from Airbus Defence and Space, which is based in France.
The minister said a total 122 potential objects measuring from 1 metre to 23 metres in length have been found some 2,557 km south of Perth.
“This is the most credible lead that we have,” said Hishammuddin.
“MRSA analysed the images and – in one area of the ocean measuring some 400 square kilometres – were able to identify 122 potential objects.
“Some objects were a metre in length; others were as much as 23 metres in length. Some of the objects appeared to be bright, possibly indicating solid materials.
“The objects were located approximately 2,557 kilometres from Perth,” he added.
He said that there were now four separate satellite leads – from Australia, China and France, showing possible debris.
He added it was imperative to link the debris to MH370.
“This will enable us to further reduce the search area, and locate more debris from the plane.
“It must be emphasized that we cannot tell whether the potential objects are from MH370. Nevertheless, this is another new lead that will help direct the search operation,” he added.
International working group
Hishammuddin also announced that an international working group has been established to try and refine more accurately the final position of MH370 in the Indian Ocean.
The agencies involved in this working group include satellite providers Inmarsat, the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch, the Chinese CAAC and AAID, National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration from the US, MH370 makers Boeing, the airplane’s engine providers Rolls Royce as well as the relevant Malaysian authorities.
Meanwhile, Australia which is leading the search effort in the southern Indian Ocean has divided the search area into two sectors, East and West.
“Twelve planes will travel to the search area; six in the East sector and six in the West.”
In the East sector, searches will be conducted by one Australian P3 Orion, three Australian civilian aircraft, one Chinese Ilyushin IL-76 and one New Zealand P3 Orion.
Chinese ship ‘Xue Long’ has today been deployed to the East sector.
In the West sector, searches will be conducted by one US P8 Poseidon, one Korean P3 Orion, one Japanese P3 Orion, two Australian P3 Orions, and one civilian aircraft. Two ships will also join the search operations.
‘HMAS Success’ which was redeployed to the south of the search area due to bad weather will also support the search operation in the West sector.
A Japanese Coast Guard Gulfstream aircraft which left Subang this morning for Perth has also joined the search operation.
Closure
Hishammuddin stressed that the new satellite images continue to provide clues in the search for MH370.
“With improved weather conditions, aircraft are now able to investigate objects of interest.
“Our determination to find MH370 remains steadfast. As we have said all along, we will never give up trying to find the plane in order to bring closure for the families, and to establish exactly what happened to MH370.”
He however refused to answer a question if this was solely as search effort or a search and rescue mission.
MH370 disappeared from the radar on March 8 while on its journey from KLIA to Beijing, carrying 239 passengers and crew members.
Investigators found that the plane’s communications and transponder were deliberately disabled, and the plane flying away from its original journey towards the Indian Ocean.
▲
Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said latest satellite images have been verified by the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency and sent to the Australian Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Perth for search efforts in southern Indian Ocean.
He said that the images were taken on March 23 and handed over to Malaysia on March 25. He said that the new images were from Airbus Defence and Space, which is based in France.
The minister said a total 122 potential objects measuring from 1 metre to 23 metres in length have been found some 2,557 km south of Perth.
“This is the most credible lead that we have,” said Hishammuddin.
“MRSA analysed the images and – in one area of the ocean measuring some 400 square kilometres – were able to identify 122 potential objects.
“Some objects were a metre in length; others were as much as 23 metres in length. Some of the objects appeared to be bright, possibly indicating solid materials.
“The objects were located approximately 2,557 kilometres from Perth,” he added.
He said that there were now four separate satellite leads – from Australia, China and France, showing possible debris.
He added it was imperative to link the debris to MH370.
“This will enable us to further reduce the search area, and locate more debris from the plane.
“It must be emphasized that we cannot tell whether the potential objects are from MH370. Nevertheless, this is another new lead that will help direct the search operation,” he added.
International working group
Hishammuddin also announced that an international working group has been established to try and refine more accurately the final position of MH370 in the Indian Ocean.
The agencies involved in this working group include satellite providers Inmarsat, the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch, the Chinese CAAC and AAID, National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration from the US, MH370 makers Boeing, the airplane’s engine providers Rolls Royce as well as the relevant Malaysian authorities.
Meanwhile, Australia which is leading the search effort in the southern Indian Ocean has divided the search area into two sectors, East and West.
“Twelve planes will travel to the search area; six in the East sector and six in the West.”
In the East sector, searches will be conducted by one Australian P3 Orion, three Australian civilian aircraft, one Chinese Ilyushin IL-76 and one New Zealand P3 Orion.
Chinese ship ‘Xue Long’ has today been deployed to the East sector.
In the West sector, searches will be conducted by one US P8 Poseidon, one Korean P3 Orion, one Japanese P3 Orion, two Australian P3 Orions, and one civilian aircraft. Two ships will also join the search operations.
‘HMAS Success’ which was redeployed to the south of the search area due to bad weather will also support the search operation in the West sector.
A Japanese Coast Guard Gulfstream aircraft which left Subang this morning for Perth has also joined the search operation.
Closure
Hishammuddin stressed that the new satellite images continue to provide clues in the search for MH370.
“With improved weather conditions, aircraft are now able to investigate objects of interest.
“Our determination to find MH370 remains steadfast. As we have said all along, we will never give up trying to find the plane in order to bring closure for the families, and to establish exactly what happened to MH370.”
He however refused to answer a question if this was solely as search effort or a search and rescue mission.
MH370 disappeared from the radar on March 8 while on its journey from KLIA to Beijing, carrying 239 passengers and crew members.
Investigators found that the plane’s communications and transponder were deliberately disabled, and the plane flying away from its original journey towards the Indian Ocean.
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Anwar ordered to pay Nalla RM20,000, court decides case has ‘triable issues’
The five-person panel lead…
The five-person panel lead by Chief Justice of Malaya Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin over turned an earlier High Court decision in August 2013 which struck out Nallakaruppan’s defence.
“Striking out is only for plain and obvious matters,” said Zulkefli Ahmad. The court also ordered Anwar to pay RM20,000 in cost to Nallakaruppan.
Elaborating on the decision, Nallakaruppan’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said the panel found there to be matters which are contestable for a trial process in court.
“There are triable issues in the defence,” he told reporters.
During submissions today, Muhammad Shafee argued that it’s not the case where Nallakaruppan was not “willing to provide the facts” but rather “was simply unable to give (facts)” as the incident occurred almost nine years ago.
He had also requested for damages amounting to RM100,000 to be paid to Nallakaruppan.
Muhammad Shafee also argued that due to the “fragility of the human memory”, his client could not remember the exact amount or time. He also argued that it was “naive” of the Court of Appeal to demand for receipts of the transaction.
“The transaction happened in various stages. This is “back-alley” payment. There is naivety of the Appeal Court when they asked for audited statements or accounts. Back-alley payments are never captured,” he said.
He argued that Nallakaruppan should be called to his defence as there was a difference between primary facts and evidence. He said that Nallakaruppan would be able to provide these primary facts to the court in his defence.
Zulkefli Ahmad was also one of the members in the five-person Court of Appeal panel which granted a stay to Nallakaruppan last year.
Anwar’s counsel, R Sivarasa argued that Nallakaruppan was not consistent in his allegations.
“First he said that the money transferred through his own hands. Later he changed his statement saying that it was delivered.
“This is a huge sum of money. So we just know (how the transaction occurred),” he argued.
Tan Sri Suriyadi Halim Omar, Datuk Hasan Lah, Datin Paduka Zaleha Zahari and Datuk Jeffrey Tan Kok Wha were the other four members in the panel today.
On June 19,2012 High Court Judge Su Geok Yiam ruled that Nallakaruppan is liable for making defamatory statements in 2008 against the PKR leader. The decision was reached after Su allowed Anwar’s application to strike out Nallakaruppan’s defence.
The basis for Anwar’s application then was that Nallakaruppan had failed to furnish better and further particulars in his allegations, which was directed by a court order issued on Aug 28, 2009. The High Court also ruled that Nallakaruppan should pay damages to Anwar which will be assessed by the deputy registrar.
Nallakarupan who is president of the Malaysian Indian United Party (MUIP), allegedly made the statements in an article entitled “Anwar terima RM60 juta” (Anwar receives RM60 million) which was carried by some local dailies.
On August 1 last year, a five-person panel lead by Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif granted leave to Nallakaruppan to appeal the High Court’s decision to the Federal Court. Justice Zaleha was also part of the panel which granted this stay order. The other judges on the panel were Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum and Federal Court judges Tan Sri Ahmad Maarop.
Zahid accuses Chinese media of flaming anger - FMT
Home Minister says the Chinese print media is stirring up emotions of the passengers' kin through its manipulative reports.
KUALA LUMPUR: Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today accused the Chinese…
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Home Minister says the Chinese print media is stirring up emotions of the passengers' kin through its manipulative reports.
KUALA LUMPUR: Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today accused the Chinese media of inciting anger among families of 154 passengers aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Speaking at Parliament today, Zahid said the Chinese print media through its provocative reports have stirred up the emotions of the passengers’ family members, despite the government trying its best to locate the jetliner.
“The prime minister has used all the means available to try to solve the crisis. This is a tragedy, nobody wants it to happen.
“But unfortunately, these (Chinese) newspapers have manipulated the families’ sentiments, causing them, especially those in Beijing to be upset,” he said in his winding up speech for the debate of royal address this evening.
It remained unclear whether Zahid was criticising the local Chinese newspapers or the ones in China.
Zahid said he would not hesitate to take action against individuals spreading manipulative facts in the media or social media.
Most media practitioners from China have been critical of Malaysia’s search and rescue operations since the Boeing
777-200ER that carried 239 passengers disappeared on March 8.
More than half of the passengers were from China.
Some of them have openly called the MH370 “a Malaysia conspiracy”, while top Chinese tennis player Li Na told a Chinese media that she would never take a Malaysia Airlines flight again.
Meanwhile, Zahid said the two Iranians who boarded the plane using fake passports were able to avoid trouble at the Malaysia immigration checkpoint because their passport photograph matched the one shown in the system.
He said similarly the authorities have allowed them to board the plane because they did not overstay in the country.
“This is the standard operating procedure of immigration system around the world.
“But if they come to Malaysia using a different passport in the second visit, we would be able to track that through our biometric system,” he said.
He said the fake passports cost US$10,000.
▲
Speaking at Parliament today, Zahid said the Chinese print media through its provocative reports have stirred up the emotions of the passengers’ family members, despite the government trying its best to locate the jetliner.
“The prime minister has used all the means available to try to solve the crisis. This is a tragedy, nobody wants it to happen.
“But unfortunately, these (Chinese) newspapers have manipulated the families’ sentiments, causing them, especially those in Beijing to be upset,” he said in his winding up speech for the debate of royal address this evening.
It remained unclear whether Zahid was criticising the local Chinese newspapers or the ones in China.
Zahid said he would not hesitate to take action against individuals spreading manipulative facts in the media or social media.
Most media practitioners from China have been critical of Malaysia’s search and rescue operations since the Boeing
777-200ER that carried 239 passengers disappeared on March 8.
More than half of the passengers were from China.
Some of them have openly called the MH370 “a Malaysia conspiracy”, while top Chinese tennis player Li Na told a Chinese media that she would never take a Malaysia Airlines flight again.
Meanwhile, Zahid said the two Iranians who boarded the plane using fake passports were able to avoid trouble at the Malaysia immigration checkpoint because their passport photograph matched the one shown in the system.
He said similarly the authorities have allowed them to board the plane because they did not overstay in the country.
“This is the standard operating procedure of immigration system around the world.
“But if they come to Malaysia using a different passport in the second visit, we would be able to track that through our biometric system,” he said.
He said the fake passports cost US$10,000.
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Malaysia’s airliner response exposes a ruling malaise
By washingtonpost,
IF YOU are perplexed by Monday’s announcement on the missing Malaysian airliner, no wonder. Prime Minister Najib Razak declared that the flight “ended” in the southern Indian Ocean,…
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IF YOU are perplexed by Monday’s announcement on the missing Malaysian airliner, no wonder. Prime Minister Najib Razak declared that the flight “ended” in the southern Indian Ocean,…
By washingtonpost,
IF YOU are perplexed by Monday’s announcement on the missing Malaysian airliner, no wonder. Prime Minister Najib Razak declared that the flight “ended” in the southern Indian Ocean, and the state-owned airline said that “we have to assume beyond a reasonable doubt” that the plane went down in the ocean, far off its course to Beijing. Both announcements were vague; neither said much about why or how.
From the moment the plane went missing, the Malaysian government has been ham-handed in its dealings with grieving families and the global glare of attention. It delayed for hours saying anything after the plane first vanished, and over the next few weeks much of the information it disseminated was conflicting, wrong or misleading.
Such a bizarre disaster would be difficult for any government
to deal with, and a fair amount of uncertainty and confusion is
expected. But the Malaysian government has shown signs of a deeper
malaise that comes from a half century of rule without challenge or
transparency. When the prime minister was about to make a statement
recently, his spokesperson told reporters there would be no questions.
According to Joshua Kurlantzick of the Council on Foreign Relations, writing
in Bloomberg Businessweek, when reporters pressed for more access, the
reply came back: “Go watch a movie.” When China, no champion of
transparency, complains — as it did recently, asking for “more thorough and accurate information” from Malaysia — you know the depth of the problem.
Malaysia, ruled by the same governing coalition since independence, has enjoyed strong economic growth, and we had hopes before last year’s election that, if the vote was free and fair, the country would be on a path toward a more competitive democracy. Mr. Najib has taken steps toward modernization and reform, but the election fell short. Mr. Najib’s coalition won a majority of seats in Parliament largely through gerrymandered districts, while the opposition coalition led by Anwar Ibrahim won a popular majority and disputed the outcome. Clearly there is rising popular discontent with corruption, authoritarianism and ethnic favoritism of the ruling powers.
It is especially disturbing that the government has renewed its politically motivated prosecution of Mr. Anwar on dubious charges of sodomy in order to sideline him from politics. On March 7, he was sentenced to five years in prison by a court, overturning a 2012 acquittal. The move had the effect of removing him from eligibility to run in an important by-election. The use of the sodomy charge is shameful and archaic, but as Graeme Reid of Human Rights Watch pointed out this month in Foreign Policy, if upheld, it could effectively remove Mr. Anwar from politics for 10 years. Malaysia should not tolerate this brazen manipulation.
It is entirely premature to say what happened to the airplane. But it is not too early for Malaysia’s rulers to draw lessons from their unsteady performance of recent weeks and commit themselves to transparency and openness. Their alternative is not working.
▲
IF YOU are perplexed by Monday’s announcement on the missing Malaysian airliner, no wonder. Prime Minister Najib Razak declared that the flight “ended” in the southern Indian Ocean, and the state-owned airline said that “we have to assume beyond a reasonable doubt” that the plane went down in the ocean, far off its course to Beijing. Both announcements were vague; neither said much about why or how.
From the moment the plane went missing, the Malaysian government has been ham-handed in its dealings with grieving families and the global glare of attention. It delayed for hours saying anything after the plane first vanished, and over the next few weeks much of the information it disseminated was conflicting, wrong or misleading.
Malaysia, ruled by the same governing coalition since independence, has enjoyed strong economic growth, and we had hopes before last year’s election that, if the vote was free and fair, the country would be on a path toward a more competitive democracy. Mr. Najib has taken steps toward modernization and reform, but the election fell short. Mr. Najib’s coalition won a majority of seats in Parliament largely through gerrymandered districts, while the opposition coalition led by Anwar Ibrahim won a popular majority and disputed the outcome. Clearly there is rising popular discontent with corruption, authoritarianism and ethnic favoritism of the ruling powers.
It is especially disturbing that the government has renewed its politically motivated prosecution of Mr. Anwar on dubious charges of sodomy in order to sideline him from politics. On March 7, he was sentenced to five years in prison by a court, overturning a 2012 acquittal. The move had the effect of removing him from eligibility to run in an important by-election. The use of the sodomy charge is shameful and archaic, but as Graeme Reid of Human Rights Watch pointed out this month in Foreign Policy, if upheld, it could effectively remove Mr. Anwar from politics for 10 years. Malaysia should not tolerate this brazen manipulation.
It is entirely premature to say what happened to the airplane. But it is not too early for Malaysia’s rulers to draw lessons from their unsteady performance of recent weeks and commit themselves to transparency and openness. Their alternative is not working.
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Malaysia’s credibility at stake in search for missing flight MH370, says report
(TMI) Putrajaya’s handling of search efforts for flight MH370 has set the country on a long road to repair its reputation, The Wall Street Journal said, following a slew of…
(TMI) Putrajaya’s handling of search efforts for flight MH370 has set the country on a long road to repair its reputation, The Wall Street Journal said, following a slew of criticism over disorganised search efforts besides the conflicting and opaque information released since the aircraft disappeared on March 8.The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said that complaints have stung a government seldom used to such global scrutiny, and this week, authorities appeared to seek a new course.
The business daily cited Monday night's press conference where Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had explained how foreign experts had concluded from new satellite data analysis that the plane had gone down in a remote portion of the southern Indian Ocean.
WSJ said that Najib’s statement was uncharacteristically forthright, and the new information was released unusually fast – and the backlash was just as intense.
A source familiar with the matter told WSJ that Najib had dismissed the Malaysian army's warnings that the country shouldn't reveal sensitive military data to speed up the search, and overruled armed forces chief General Zulkefli Zin, who had opposed the release of the data.
"He (Najib) was quite adamant. He said this absolutely had to be done," the source was quoted as saying.
Mike Smith, a crisis management expert at Australia-based Inside Public Relations Pty Ltd, told WSJ that Malaysia "swung the pendulum back too far the other way".
"Malaysia needs to find some equilibrium and control, but that's not going to happen overnight," he said.
Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein had said at yesterday's press conference that Monday’s announcement was because of Putrajaya's "commitment to openness and respect for the relatives, two principles which have guided us in our investigations".
He also said that despite new satellite analysis, physical evidence such as debris would be a more acceptable reason for families to come to terms with the claim that flight MH370 had indeed ended up in the Indian Ocean.
"Until we know that, it is very difficult to have closure for the families," he had said.
Reuters said today that the prolonged and so far fruitless search and investigation have taken a toll, with dozens of distraught relatives of Chinese passengers clashing with police outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing yesterday, accusing Malaysia of "delays and deception".
The news agency added that Malaysia's confused initial response to the plane's disappearance and a perception of poor communications has enraged many relatives of the 153 Chinese passengers and has strained ties between Beijing and Kuala Lumpur.
The Economist earlier, in an editorial, also criticised Malaysia’s handling of the search and said the authorities had provided information “in dribs and drabs, much of it confusing, even contradictory”.
The newsweekly said: “Until parts of the plane are examined, how it came to grief will remain unknown. In the meantime, for the grieving relatives, there is little comfort to be taken from the fact that such mysteries should soon be a thing of the past.”
According to WSJ, some experts suggested that Malaysia and its national airline might still be able to recover from the fallout of the search for flight MH370 if it regains control of the information flow.
"But Malaysia is still in a bad place," Smith, the crisis-management expert, was quoted as saying.
"They'll be scrutinised no matter what they do." – March 26, 2014.
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