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Hezbollah leader: US offered money to relinquish anti-Israel fight
Hassan Nasrallah asks supporters to tear plots with high election turnout
In one of the major revelation Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah’s chief Hassan Nasrallah has claimed that US under President George W Bush offered his group reconciliation and money on the condition the relinquishing its resistance against Israel.
The group is considered to be a terrorist organization by the governments of the US, Israel, Canada, the Arab League, the GCC, along with its military wing by the United Kingdom, Australia and the EU.
According to Hezbollah’s official media network Almanar, while addressing the nation live on television on Sunday, Nasrallah revealed that following 9/11 attacks in 2001, former Vice President Dick Cheney had delegated a US-Lebanese journalist George Nader who had Hezbollah anything at that time in return for ceding resistance.
“We were offered money and to be part of the authority in Lebanon on condition that we cede resistance. My fault at that time is that I didn’t accept to take his paper, so that it would be a proof now,” he said.
He further said that following the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon in 2005, the US offer for Hezbollah was repeated, noting that some European states also presented such offers.
Referring to Israel-Lebanon war in 2006, Nasrallah noted that conspiracy at that time was aimed at creating conflict between the resistance (Hezbollah) and the Lebanese army. He pointed out that the order by former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to the national army to seize arms truck belonging to the resistance-was part of the conspiracy.
Hassan Nasrallah’s speech was basically aimed to call on Lebanese people for high turnout in the upcoming parliamentary elections saying that Hezbollah should be fortified at the Lebanese parliament. He stressed that “in order to foil such conspiracies” political fortification of resistance is required.
The Lebanese resistance leader said that US, the Zionist entity (Israel) and some Gulf states have been betting once again on such plot stressing that Lebanese army is the guarantee of the resistance.
Fine tuning his appeal, Nasrallah said, “Factions who believe in resistance must be represented at the parliament in order to cut off hands of all those who want to eliminate the resistance,”
General elections in Lebanon were supposed to be held in 2013. However, due to failure of Parliament in electing a new President, two thirds of the body extended its own term until 2017 and then 2018.
Election scheduled has not been announced yet. However it is expected to be undertaken later this year.
In the present 128 member parliament, Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Future Movement occupy 26 seats, Gebran Bassil led Free Patriotic Movement hold 19 seats and Nabin Berri led Amal Movement has got 13 seats. Hezbollah of Hassan Nasrallah is the fourth party in the parliament with 12 seat while Samir Geagea led Lebanese Forces and Walid Jumblatt led Progressive Socialist Party have 8 and 7 seats respectively. All these groups are part of the coalition government, while remaining dozens of the groups are in opposition.
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Suicide bombing near Turkey Parliament building in Ankara, 2 cops injured
Turkey’s main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has slammed the attack in Ankara and stated that terrorism is a crime against humanity.
Turkey’s interior minister Ali Yerlikaya on Sunday asserted that two terrorists carried out a bomb attack in front of the ministry buildings in Ankara. He added that one of them died in the explosion and the other was “neutralised” by authorities there.
Earlier, Turkish media reported that an explosion was heard near the parliament and ministerial buildings, and broadcasters showed footage of debris scattered on a street near the Interior Ministry. A footage from Reuters showed soldiers, ambulances, fire trucks and an armoured vehicle gathered near the centre of Turkey’s capital, where the police have blocked multiple key roads.
Taking to social media X, formerly Twitter, Ali Yerlikaya, the interior minister, said that two police officers were slightly injured in the incident at 9:30 a.m. He added that two terrorists came with a light commercial vehicle in front of the entrance gate of the General Directorate of Security of their Ministry of Internal Affairs and carried out a bomb attack.
The interior minister further mentioned that one of the terrorists blew himself up and the other was neutralised, which usually means was killed. He noted that their struggle will continue until the last terrorist is neutralised.
Reports said that Ankara’s chief prosecutor initiated an investigation into what it also called a terrorist attack. Authorities did not identify any specific militant group, as yet.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has slammed the attack in Ankara and stated that terrorism is a crime against humanity. The leader of the Republican People’s Party mentioned that no matter from whom and where it came from, they will fight it together as a country and will never give treacherous ambitions a chance.
The concerned authorities in Ankara have cautioned the citizens over suspicious packages and bags that are being detonated in a controlled manner. Ankara Security Directorate asked citizens not to panic.
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Balochistan blast: Pakistan alleges India’s involvement in suicide attack, toll rises to 60
Sarfaraz Bugti told media that civil, military and all other institution will jointly strike against the elements involved in the Mastung suicide bombing.
Pakistan interior minister Sarfaraz Bugti in a shocking claim alleged India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) intelligence agency for the suicide blast in Balochistan. The blast that took place on Friday claimed the lives of nearly 60 people, leaving 60 others injured. The Indian government, on the other hand, is yet to make an official statement on Sarfaraz Bugti’s allegations.
The suicide bomb attack targeted a procession which gathered to celebrate Prophet Muhammad’s birthday near the Madina Masjid at a place called Mastung. The blast tore through the mosque in the southern province of Balochistan after the bomber denoted his explosive near a police vehicle where the people gathered for the procession.
Sarfaraz Bugti told media at Quetta that civil, military and all other institution will jointly strike against the elements involved in the Mastung suicide bombing. Without providing much details or evidence, the Pakistan minister claimed that RAW is involved in the suicide attack.
Wasim Baig, the spokesman for Balochistan’s health department, asserted that seven more people had died in hospital since Friday, which had caused the rise in the death toll. He added that more patients remained in critical condition.
In addition, a second attack on Friday at a mosque in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had killed nearly five people. Police on Saturday lodged a report to initiate an investigation, mentioning that they had sent DNA from the suicide bomb attacker to be analysed.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for either attack. A surge in terror attacks in Pakistan’s western provinces has cast a shadow on preparations and public campaigning in the run-up to January’s general elections, but until now the attacks had mostly targeted security forces.
The Pakistani Taliban (TTP), which is responsible for some of the bloodiest attacks in Pakistan since the group’s formation in 2007, denied responsibility for Friday’s blasts. On Saturday, a statement from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) said that an FIR with murder charges and terrorism offences has been registered against an unidentified attacker.
The caretaker government of Balochistan announced three days of mourning in the wake of the attack.
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Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Mahmood Qureshi held guilty in cipher case
The PTI leaders’ trial has been requested by the FIA, and it is expected that they would be sentenced in accordance with the law.
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi were found guilty on Saturday by Pakistan’s top investigating agency in the cypher case, a case involving the alleged exposure of state secrets.
The charge sheet against Khan, the Tehreek-e-Insaf party chairman, and Qureshi, who are both presently being held in custody on judicial remand, was submitted by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to a special court set up under the Official Secrets Act, according to the Pakistan Observer website.
Imran Khan, 70, was detained last month following the filing of a complaint against him for allegedly breaking the Official Secrets Act by revealing a covert diplomatic cable (cypher) issued by the nation’s embassy in Washington last year in March.
The PTI leaders’ trial has been requested by the FIA, and it is expected that they would be sentenced in accordance with the law.
The vice chairman of PTI is 75-year-old Shah Mahmood Qureshi. Asad Umar, the former general secretary of the PTI, is not on the FIA’s list of suspects, but former principal secretary Azam Khan has been portrayed as a key witness in the FIA’s case against Imran Khan, according to GeoTV, a well-known news outlet. The challan also contains Azam Khan’s statement recorded under sections 161 and 164.
The speeches by Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Imran Khan from March 27 are also included in the FIA’s attachment.
The Pakistan Observer further noted that the FIA had provided the court with a list of 28 witnesses in addition to the charge sheet. According to the report, the list of witnesses includes names such as current foreign secretary Asad Majid, previous foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood, and additional foreign secretary Faisal Niaz Tirmizi.
Imran Khan had been imprisoned on remand three times earlier on September 26. Along with Qureshi, his judicial remand was initially extended until September 13 and then again until September 26.
The former PM was transferred from Attock prison to the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on the same day, one day after the Islamabad High Court instructed authorities to do so.
