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international
Thursday, 11.08.11
‘Arafat was poisoned’ claims Fatah
Chinese Muslims banned from fasting in Ramadan
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oyalists of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have accused a rival of poisoning the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, in an apparent effort to discredit him politically. Top officials of Abbas’ Fatah Party issued a report Sunday contending that former Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan sent poison disguised as medicine to Arafat while he was in a Paris hospital. They offered no evidence to back up their claim, other than to say Dahlan ordered Arafat guards to burn the vials in which the alleged poison was stored. The report also says, without providing evidence, that Dahlan stole $300 million the United States ¬sent the Palestinians to build a security force. “There are false and baseless accusations of Abbas and his people, they are clearing Israel of Arafat’s blood,” Dahlan said Monday in a telephone call from Dubai. “If Abbas spent his time preparing for independence instead of fighting me, he would have won.” Arafat died in November 2004 under mysterious circumstances in France. Many Palestinians believe Israel poisoned him. Dahlan was widely blamed by colleagues for the 2007 loss of Gaza to Fatah’s rivals, the militant Hamas group, when he was the security chief in the seaside strip. He and Abbas have been feuding for months. Work displayed in saarc int. are a review of southasianmedia.net. The information on this page is for information purposes only. The South Asia Tribune and SAARC International Ltd. assume no liability for any inaccurate, delayed, or incomplete information, nor for any actions taken in reliance thereon. The full story can be viewed at www.southasianmedia.net
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mid fresh arrests, restrictions on fasting and prayers at mosques, Uighur Muslims are suffering under the latest episode of Chinese government crackdown on their ethnic minority in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. “If any religious figure discusses Ramadan during the course of religious activities, or encourages people to take part, then they will lose their license to practice,” Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the Munich-based World Uighur Congress, told Eurasia Review on Friday, August 5. “The more serious cases will result in arrests for incitement to engage in illegal religious activity,” he said. A day before the start of the holy fasting month for China’s Muslims, at least 11 people were killed in a series of attacks in the north-western region
of Xinjiang. Chinese authorities blamed the attacks to the ethnic minority, after which the Chinese police shot dead two Muslims last Sunday. The attacks came less than two weeks after 18 people were killed in an attack in the restive Xinjiang region. Following the unrest, more than 100 uighurs were detained by Chinese authorities. Most of those detained as suspects were committed Muslims who attended mosque and whose wives wore veils, residents say. Xinjiang’s capital, Urumqi, was the scene of deadly violence in July 2009 when the mainly Muslim Uighur minority vented resentment over Chinese restrictions in the region. In the following days, mobs of angry Han took to the streets looking for
revenge in the worst ethnic violence that China had seen in decades. The unrest left nearly 200 dead and 1,700 injured, according to government figures. But Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority, say the toll was much higher and mainly from their community. China’s authorities have convicted about 200 people, mostly Uighurs, over the riots and sentenced 26 of them to death. No Fasting Beijing slapped severe restrictions on Chinese Muslims as the holy fasting month of Ramadan started. As for Muslim members of the government throughout Xinjiang, the government forced them to sign “letters of responsibility” promising to avoid fasting, evening prayers, or other religious activities.
“Fasting during Ramadan is a traditional ethnic custom, and they are allowed to do that,” an employee who answered the phone at a local government neighborhood committee office in the regional capital Urumqi said confirming the restrictions. “But they aren’t allowed to hold any religious activities during Ramadan,” she added. “Party members are not allowed to fast for Ramadan, and neither are civil servants.” As for private companies, Uighur Muslim employees were offered lunches during fasting hours. Anyone who refuses to eat could lose their annual bonus, or even their job, Raxit added. Officials have also targeted Muslim schoolchildren, providing them with Continued on page 8 >>