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Opinion : The Gulf Crisis- There is more to it by Abu Mazeedatil Khayr Bn Sa'eed

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SECRETS OF THE RIFT BETWEEN QATAR AND SAUDI ARABIA

Each time I write, I have in my mind those who are capable of independent thinking, because they are the only ones addressed by Allah in the holy Qur’an. They belong to the only set of humans who can comprehend the language of logic and revelations. It’s however pathetic that we now live in a clime where an alternative view is a crime. Thus, I cannot count the number of friends who have called to harass and also declare me a renegade on account of my blunt critique of the Saudi royals.

I make bold to say here today that the Saudi kingdom is the best place to live on earth, and its citizens are kind-hearted Muslims, arguably the best I have encountered in the course of my global itinerary. But the policy of its government constitutes a great jeopardy to the future of the global Muslim Ummah. I am afraid, the security of our two holy shrines in Makkah and Madina seems to fall in doubt, with the kingdom’s continued habit of trusting the state of Israel and her age-long ally, the United States of America. We pray against a probable usurpation of the two holy houses. For the past 70 years, we are yet to dry our tears for the loss of Aqsa!

Ladies and gentle men, I do not hate the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, I re-affirmed; and in fact, the best scholars in the Muslim world today are, arguably, products of the kingdom’s citadel. However, this raging issue is not one that is open to all scholars and students of students, for it’s neither of Fiqh nor Usuul Din. It’s of course a terrain of Muslim experts in the field, who have been following the regional politics of the gulf states from inception. So, with your lack of the requisite knowledge, you must be totally mute, whatever your emotional allegiance. It’s not because this sad occurrence is a turmoil, but simply because it’s not the knowledge of Fiqh you brandish with pride!

The Qataris came on board the global relevance just of recent.They are, like the Saudis, Sunni Muslims. However the Al-Thani ruling family of Qatar had descended from a tribe of Bedouins who fought the Al-Saud family well before the Lawrence of Arabia made the Al-Saud family the rulers of Mecca, and then promptly crashed his motorcycle. My 2001 book, BULLETS, BLOOD AND TEARS (The Arab-Israeli Encounter in Palestine) discusses the event of that turbulent era in detail.You can search it out in bookstores.

The ruling class family of Qatar is from Al-Thani dynasty of Banu Tamim clan, one of the most influential Arab tribes of the peninsula. The land space of Qatar was discovered in 1850 or thereabouts. By the time it gained its independence in 1971, Saudi Arabia was already at the height of its oil wealth, prompting the Qataris to cuddle up to the powerful Saudi monarch of that era, King Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The later then showered them with so much wealth, political goodwill, advice and competent advisers; and thus, helping the newly urbanized Bedouin Arabs to set up the modern state of Qatar with Saudi funds, not minding the past feud with the Bedouins.

Thus, predictably, the newly emerging Arab nation became politically subservient to its economic benefactor right from independence. However, immediately after its discovery of huge gas reserves in 1990s, her political subservience to Saudi Arabia gradually waned with time. The Qatari government was no longer in need of Saudi money, as they started to chart their own course, often times without consulting Riyadh. They felt so economically independent and formidable in the gulf that they could now project their own country in the image of modernity, bidding for the FIFA World Cup in 2022, for example.

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not comfortable with Qatar’s audacity, especially in the area of diplomatic manoevouring and loyalty. A one time loyal boy of the gulf whose birth and growth we witnessed, now claiming the right to compete favourably with us, working against our wish and sharing a plate of dry khubz and dates with our enemies. Worse still, this repugnant reign of little Tamim, the leadership of Saudi Arabia had probably mused grudgingly. King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud doesn’t go well with Sheikh Tamim and his father, seeing them as being too overtly ambitious and liberal for his taste.

It is indisputably clear that, since rising to power in 2013 at the age of 36, the Qatari emir, Shaykh Tamim, has tried to interact with King Salman as a political equal, rather than an elderly “uncle,” as Arab custom demands. The king of Saudi Arabia is older than Tamim’s father, and yet the later refused to take his advice on Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, seeing him as being too old and socially disconnected with the contemporary language of global politics. On several occasions, he had also refused the Saudi’s request to expel Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the aged scholar who has been living in Qatar since 1961.

Why breaking ties with Iran if we could have it with the Zionist state of Israel, especially since the bilateral relations with Iran is providing us the necessary growth and a sundry other economic advantages, which is rare with any other country of the Arab world, including Saudi Arabia? That’s probably the thought system of the Qatari administration, which is also shared by its other neighbours – Kuwait and Oman as well as the geographically distant Pakistan.

Oman has always distanced itself from the Saudi bloc. For instance, Sultan Qaboos deliberately avoided the Riyadh summit and his representative did not get a short bilateral meeting with Trump, as did all the other GCC representatives. The country also stayed out of the Saudi war in Yemen and has kept open its ties with Iran. Of course, both Qatar and Oman enjoy the strong economic ties with Iran that constrain their approach to Tehran.

Also, Saudi’s relation with Pakistan has been greatly affected since the breakout of the war in Yemen, which Pakistan decisively refused to join despite repeated diplomatic lobby from Saudi Arabia. The Pakistani parliament even voted overwhelmingly to keep out of the senseless genocide. Pakistan is, indeed, the Muslim world’s biggest military power and the only Muslim country with nuclear weapons. Therefore, it could have nourished the Saudi’s political ego if the Asian country had fallen for the lobby and partaken in the war.

In the final analysis, the main problem lies in Qatar’s sympathy for the Muslim Brotherhood, against Saudi Arabia’s will. Although the Saudis had in the past hosted the movement’s leading figures fleeing Egyptian persecution in the 1950s and 1960s, they soon had them expelled when some Egyptian and Palestinian clerics started criticizing the Saudi government and then publicly condemning its support of the Americans in Operation Desert Storm.

Qatar, however, picked them up — one after the another — using the Muslim Brotherhood movement to increase its leverage in Arab politics and influence the internal affairs of far larger and better-established countries in the Arab world. We may be interested in knowing that the Saudi royals are always agitated at the mention of the Muslim Brotherhood simply because of the later’s influence in the region and its capability to seize power at any slight opportunity – with the level of political awareness, educational qualifications, economic capability, professional sophistication and social exposure of its members, all of which stand the movement out in the Arab world. Hence, the royals guard the throne jealously!

Will Qatar succumb to the pressure and send AlQaradawiy packing? Will it withdraw its support for the Brotherhood movement? Will the state of Qatar adjust the focus of its foreign policy? Alqaradawiy arrived in Doha in 1961 as a fugitive, a year after Ahmad Bn Ali Al-Thani stepped on the throne. He later encountered the heir apparent to the throne of Qatar, Hamad Bn Khaleefah Al-Thani, and became his bosom friend. It was an era of mass persecution of the Brotherhood members in Egypt. He then picked up a career in teaching at the Qatari University’s faculty of Shari’ah. However, a few years after, Hamad Bn Khaleefah Al-Thanni (Qaradhawi’s friend) who had already become the emir after his father’s death was dethroned by his child, Khaleefah Bn Hamad Al-Thani, in June1995, when the later was away in Switzerland, with the support of both Saudi Arabia and the state of Kuwait.

The new emir was initially suspicious of AlQaradawiy, especially when the Shaykh visited his friend in exile. He was then arrested on his return at the airport in Doha. It was at a time when the emir was still subservient to the Saudi government. But after discovering the potential intellectual value of the scholar in question, he reconciled with him and also opened the palace’ gate to his father’s friend. Nevertheless, while in his late 60s in June 2013, Hamad Bn khaleefah Al-Thanni abdicated the throne and honorably stepped down for his 36year old son called Tamim Bn Hamad Al-Thani who by then had become a loyal student of the Shaykh.

Thus, this clearly answers the question of whether the state of Qatar will ever succumb to the demands of the house of Saud. Also, with an insight into the political evolution of this tiny Arab state as well as the kind of relationships which had existed between it and Saudi Arabia – discussed so far, we can now understand what informs the Saudis’ demand for total dismantling of Qatar’s sovereignty through its thirteen points demand and ten day ultimatum.

Abu Mazeedatil Khayr Bn Sa’eed
A summary of his presentation at the monthly discourse of MUSLIM INTELLIGENTSIA CIRCLE (MIC) and then followed by numerous questions and answers on issues around the Muslim world.

Kaduna, Nigeria.

This article contains the author’s opinion and they do not reflect knowislam.com.ng policies.

Who are the terrorists? Muslim brotherhood or Sisi government?

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After a revolution and a military coup, Egypt faces abuses to a degree unseen in the Mubarak years, analysts say.

In just over two years, Morsi became the second Egyptian leader to be overthrown
Four years ago today, Egypt witnessed the overthrow of its first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, in a military coup.The Muslim Brotherhood member had been in office for just a year when army chief, General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, announced his overthrow on state television, along with the suspension of the constitution and the installment of an interim government.The military said it was responding to the people, who had poured into the streets by the millions on June 30, 2013, over fears that Morsi was becoming increasingly authoritarian.

In just over two years, Morsi became the second Egyptian leader to be overthrown. During a wave of popular uprisings that swept across the Arab world in 2011, the Egyptian people also overthrew the 30-year dictatorship of military leader Hosni Mubarak.

The social and political upheaval during those years plunged Egypt into an economic crisis, created a security vacuum, and deeply divided the nation.

But Sisi’s rise in June 2014 was supposed to herald a new era of stability. He introduced rapid economic reforms, such as slashing fuel subsidies and raising taxes in an effort to ease unemployment and generate long-term revenues. He also initiated several new infrastructure projects, including the expansion of the Suez Canal and the country’s farmland area, which he said would make Egypt more self-sufficient and generate jobs. As violence dwindled, tourism revenues increased.

Yet experts say the temporary stability, which has begun to erode, came at the cost of public freedoms.

“Some Egyptians have accepted the return of some of the ‘old guard’ because they believe that, for all its faults, the Mubarak regime brought them more stability than the Morsi regime,” Sarah Yerkes, a fellow at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Al Jazeera. “In the long run, this type of thinking is irrational – Mubarak was only able to control Egypt for so long – but in the short run, some people are willing to put up with more repression [and] less freedom in exchange for what they perceive to be greater stability.”

Shortly after Morsi’s removal, the military-backed interim government embarked on a crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood supporters, many of whom who continued to stage counterprotests and express their support for Morsi.

In August 2013, the army and security forces attacked a demonstration in Rabaa al-Adawiya Square, killing some 1,000 Morsi supporters. Human Rights Watch described it as “one of the largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history”.

And in a widely criticised mass trial, Egypt sentenced hundreds of alleged supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood to death – “the biggest mass sentence given in modern Egyptian history”, according to Amnesty International. The movement, which is Egypt’s oldest, most influential Islamist group, was also banned and had its assets seized before being declared a “terrorist organisation” by the government.

“The violent repression of Morsi’s supporters sent a stark message to all Egyptians that under the resurgent authoritarian rule of the Sisi regime: Dissent will not be tolerated. Along with the mass imprisonment of over 50,000 people, this has ensured that opposition to the regime has remained limited in the years since,” Abdullah al-Arian, a professor of history at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar, told Al Jazeera.

A few months into office, Sisi passed a law banning demonstrations without prior police approval, leading the protest movement to practically dry up. Such oppressive measures, analysts say, were bound to tighten the noose on the country and bring in a facade of stability.

“Many Egyptians just wanted economic and political stability; hence, the support for the Sisi coup. Immediately after Sisi took power, Saudi and Gulf money began to flow into Egypt, temporarily stabilising the Egyptian economy and winning for Sisi the support Morsi had squandered,” James Gelvin, a professor of Middle Easthistory at the University of California, Los Angeles, told Al Jazeera.

“Egypt is much more authoritarian today than it was under any leader since Gamal Abdel Nasser … Under Sisi, all oppositional activity has been outlawed, the Muslim Brotherhood banned, and political opponents – whether Islamist or secular – killed, imprisoned and tortured.”

Under Mubarak, there was not much room for dissent, but there were clear red lines. People could mostly go about their business, as long as they did not criticise Mubarak, Islam or the security forces. Today, no one is safe.

Sarah Yerkes, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Human rights defenders, civil society groups and NGOs have also been targeted, systematically summoned for questioning, banned from travel and having their assets frozen. A new law, signed in May, criminalises the work of many NGOs and places them under the direct surveillance of the country’s security bodies.

“Under Mubarak, there was not much room for dissent, but there were clear red lines,” Yerkes said. “People could mostly go about their business, as long as they did not criticise Mubarak, Islam or the security forces. Today, no one is safe. The government is fractured, so there is no clear line of control, and anyone can become a target of the regime at any time.”

Despite electing him to power, millions came out against Morsi’s moves to grant himself broad legislative and executive authority. Many people, mainly secularists and members of the old guard, feared that the uprising could end badly. The chaos that gripped Syriaand Libya after the Arab Spring served as a stark warning to the public.

“With 30-40 percent of the country living on $2 a day or less, there is very little room for manoeuver for them,” Mark Levine, a professor of Middle East history at University of California, told Al Jazeera. “If the country grinds to a halt with new protests, literally millions of people face financial ruin and even hunger very quickly.”

While Sisi’s public standing went largely unchallenged during his first two years in power, a series of recent decisions have tested his popularity and grip on the country.

Last year, the government announced a maritime agreement with Saudi Arabiato transfer control over two Red Sea islands, leading thousands to take to the streets in peaceful protests. In response, the government sentenced 71 people to two years in prison.

Cracks in the economy have also resurfaced. In May, Egypt’s inflation rose to 30 percent, the highest in three decades. Under a $12bn IMF bailout loan to support Egypt’s economic reform plan, the government floated the currency and raised the price of fuel by 55 percent for the second time in months.

The other large domestic threat Egypt is facing is the violence in the Sinai, where armed groups, affiliates of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), have launched an open war against the government, security forces and civilians.

“While Egypt did experience bouts of terrorist violence under Mubarak, the insurgency in Sinai is now more protracted and attacks are continuing against civilians and security forces regularly on the mainland,” Allison McManus, research director of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, told Al Jazeera.

“In response, the government has carried out a widening range of security, legal and political actions in the name of a war on terror that have targeted and ensnared not only violent actors, but also opposition figures and others, to a degree unseen in the Mubarak years.”

And while the government claims it has the issue under control, its efforts to contain the violence in the Sinai, which dates back to before 2011, have been largely unsuccessful.

Among what have now become almost systematic attacks, the group downed a Russian passenger jet, killing 224 people in 2015, and this year, targeted churches and buses carrying Christians in Sinai province, killing close to 100 people in recent months.

“The government has faced a serious terrorist threat and received some criticism for its handling of it. The country is clearly less secure, but this is also a result of regional trends, especially the rise of ISIS,” Issandr el-Amrani, head of the North Africa section at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera.

Though Egypt’s position on the international front seems to be strengthening as it forges closer ties with the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel, analysts say that domestically, Egypt is on the decline.

“On virtually every indicator, Egypt is worse off today than it was under Mubarak,” Yerkes said. “The security situation is far worse, the economy is worse, the levels of repression are far higher and the ability of the government to deliver basic goods and services has declined.”

Written by Zena Tahhan

Source: Al Jazeera

"OVERSIMPLIFICATION" OF 'AQD: THE BANE OF MUSLIM MARRIAGE by Sirnucy Lafiagi

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On our way back from Leo two days ago, we examined some of the issues ravaging Muslim marriages, tearing families apart, and destroying the moral fabric and architecture of the society. Of all the reasons adduced by those that spoke, I find my view of “oversimplification” of ‘aqd by the waliy (parent or guardian) of the would-be bride as a very valid point.

What do I mean by “oversimplification” of aqd?

Under the Islamic law, a lady requires the permission of her waliy (father, his designate or guardian) before she could be engaged to her suitor. In Q.4:25, Allaah said:

“Marry them, then, with the leave of their guardians, and give them their bridal-due in a fair manner…”

Similarly, in a hadith narrated by Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), the Messenger of Allah (upon him be peace) said:

وعن عائشة رضي الله عنها قالت : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : ” أيما امرأة نكحت بغير إذن وليها فنكاحها باطل فنكاحها باطل ، فنكاحها باطل ، فإن دخل بها فلها المهر بما استحل من فرجها ، فإن اشتجروا فالسلطان ولي من لا ولي له .

” Any lady that got married without the permission of her waliy, her marriage is null; her marriage is null; her marriage is null…”

It’s based on the injunctions in these texts that a suitor must approach the parent (father, his designate or the guardian) of the lady to obtain his consent or permission before any marital contract between them is sealed.

In the case of the man, he’s not obliged to have a waliy before he could enter into a marriage contract. There’s no single text either in the Qur’an or Sunnah that stipulates this. He can decide to approach the parent of his would-be bride alone or go in company of others depending on the tradition of the people.

In typical Nigerian culture, no family would consent to a marriage contract between their daughter and a strange man before meeting his parents. In fact, the tradition as far as we know is that it is not the suitor himself that will make the official approach to the bride’s family. Rather, his father will delegate one of his own brothers or a middleman to carry out such task.

So usually, the bride, after the nikaah will be handed over to the groom’s father (as an Amaanah) who will in turn hand her to his son. This practice is symbolic. What it means is that henceforth, the groom’s father is responsible for the welfare and safety of the bride. It also means that whenever there arises misunderstanding between the couple, he’s the first point of call to mediate between them and reconcile them before things go awry.

This traditional practice was so effective that it made divorce rate to be so low while marital life was, at the average blissful. No one dare divorces his wife out of his own volition except his father had consented having exhausted all reconciliation mechanisms. No one dare insults or humiliates his inlaws or behaves rudely towards them. In my own family, once your wife reports you to dad (رحمه الله) for assault, you’re sure to be guilty as charged. Because even when your wife was guilty, you’re expected to come and report her at best.

However, due to the oversimplification of Sunnah, especially where the two major criteria of marriage have been met (religious uprightness and sound character) most parents downplay the significance of the tradition of meeting the groom’s parents. They get carried away by mere sainthood appearance of suitors who had come in company of a few friends to the ‘aqd. In the end, many sisters end up with deranged folks who abuse them and then divorce them for frivolous reasons.

I have received disheartening and heartwrenching tales of sisters who were deceived into marriage by Sunni-looking brothers many of whom have even severed ties with their parents having pronounced takfeer on them in the granduosity of their self-acclaimed Salafism: a manhaj that’s completely conflicting with the manhaj of the Salaf.

Inasmuch as the Sunnah is simple, I find nothing unusual or wrong in the bride’s parents requesting to meet with the groom’s parents before consenting to the marriage. This, especially in view of the unfortunate circumstances that we’ve found ourselves in will go a long way in restoring sanity and decorum in Muslim marriages.

These shenanigans of molesting and divorcing our sisters anyhow by clowns and thugs in the garb of Sunnah have got to stop. We cannot afford to fold our hands and allow these black sheep to ridicule the Deen and get away with it. Parents must remain ever vigilant and should not be carried away by the cosmetic Sunni appearance of monsters that are serially abusing their daughters.

You want my girl, go and bring your biological father or the Magaji of your house, accompanied by the Imam of the mosque where you pray among other responsible personalities. It’s because you’re getting them on the platters of gold that’s making you to misbehave. Assuming you have to present expensive gifts to the bride’s family before the nikaah, maybe your head go correct small.

Enough is enough!

Sirnucy Lafiagi

Prof. Ishaq Oloyede: Shocking Revelations from JAMB (1&2) By Steve Nwosu

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Professor Ishaq Oloyede, Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), is not your archetypal Nigerian public servant. There is this transparency and openness to his style of administration that makes one wonder why our country is still in the mess it is, if public office was so easy to run.

I can’t honestly put his style down to the fact that Prof. is a devout Muslim and that we were having our latest encounter in the month of Ramadan. No! There are millions of others, who profess the same faith but go on to commit the kind of atrocities that would leave the devil himself green with envy.

Since he took over at JAMB, Prof. has never stopped telling anyone, who cares to listen that there is a lot of money in JAMB – in fact, a lot more than the examination body actually needs.

I don’t know if the principalities and powers around JAMB would be happy with him, though.

Prof. Oloyede is presently toying with the idea of actually reducing the cost of JAMB’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) registration form to N2, 500, down from the current price of about N4, 700.

He says there is hardly anything the examination body wants to do (in the course of carrying out its statutory functions) that it does not have the money to do.

In fact, he revealed that JAMB recently paid about N5 billion into the Federal Government account, as surplus accruals from the last sale of forms exercise.

Of course, some contractors and other service providers to the board have been kicking and, in some cases, blackmailing Oloyede (and his directors) for daring to review their contracts with JAMB and consequently slashing contract fees and breaking the seeming scratch card monopolists and racketeers that had hitherto held the board by the jugular.

In fact, at some point, one of the piqued contractors was believed to have actually sabotaged both JAMB’s registration process and the mock examination with which Jamb wanted to test the fidelity of its processes ahead of the last UTME.

Then, you’d want to ask: What had been happening to all this excess money before Oloyede happened on the scene?

I couldn’t ask Oloyede that question, but I was able to put two and two together.

I remember that one newspaper recently published a story about how Oloyede had silently recovered cash and property worth several billions of naira from some of his predecessors and staff. The report claimed that many of the affected officers had agreed to co-operate on the understanding that Oloyede would not escalate the matter to the anti-graft agencies.

Other public officers, who find themselves in Oloyede’s position or head similar examination bodies would not only loot their own “internally generated revenue”, but they’ll also go cap-in-hand to the Federal Government to ask for money to enable them conduct the exams. Some had even borrowed from the banks for the same process. Meanwhile, year after year, the system generated more money than the exam processes could ever gulp. What a country!

But this piece is not about Oloyede as much as it is about our new-generation mothers and the things they do in their desperation to give their kids a head-on in life. And maybe, brag to their friends that “my child is so, brilliant”. They have literally fouled up the system from top to bottom.

But, come to think of it, how come it’s mothers who always seem to go overboard on matters, relating to their children’s education?

I, for one, without my wife’s prodding, would be just fine, giving my 16-year-old his bus fare to the exam centre on JAMB Saturday. That was how we all went to write and pass our own JAMB exams. And the situation has not really changed. Or better still, it would not have changed if our wives did not insist on literally going to write the exam for our children. Thankfully, my own wife stops just where the child’s responsibility should begin. But not too many husbands are as lucky as I am.

A few years ago, my little daughter, who was barely nine years old then, came back from writing the entrance exam into Unity Colleges with unbelievable tales of how several “mummies gave the invigilators money” to allow their little children cheat.

She told me of how one ‘Uncle’ actually came into the hall to shade the answer sheet for the girl, sitting next to her.

Another girl’s mummy was standing by the window and calling out the answers (to the multiple choice questions) to her own child, who had been deliberately seated near the window by conniving invigilators.

Surely, when mothers take to crime and unwholesome ways, the society instantly goes to the dogs.

As a sophomore in the university, I got the shock of my life in an exam hall (for a General Studies course) when a girl, sitting next to me undid her blouse buttons all the way down. She had no bra on. She then folded her skirt all the way up to her panty’s edge, spread her legs apart, and opened her notebook on her now exposed thighs and started copying unto her answer sheet.

I did not immediately understand why she had to go almost naked, especially when the weather was not really hot. But I observed that the seemingly embarrassed young male invigilating lecturer stayed away from our row of seats. I guess he did not know how to confront a near-naked female student – or how to apprehend her either. Where would he hold her? Would he touch the unbuttoned blouse gingerly perching on the sides of the full, ripe breasts, pointing menacingly at him? How could he forcefully take away the ‘expo’ notebook without his fingers accidentally caressing the exposed thighs? Or even tugging at the white underpants clearly visible under the raised skirt? Would the girl not shout and accuse him of something more grievous?

I just noticed that he intermittently stole a glance at the direction of the girl’s chest and looked away almost immediately, trying to avoid any eye contact with the mischievous girl and the even more mischievous me sitting next to her.

My only regret that day? I won’t say it here!

But I got a first hand lesson female desperation. A few years later, another female student was to offhandedly tell me that she considered male teachers, who did not accept ‘sorting’ (with cash) and did not also sleep with their female students, as wicked.

I guess, having secured their own grades through these ‘ways and means’, these mothers of today actually have no qualms starting out their own children along that path early in life.

Now, I have nothing against women. In fact, I’ve seen more boys than girls cheat in exams. It’s just that there is always something shocking (and usually novel) about girls treading that path.

That was why I could resonate with Prof. Oloyede, as he narrated his experience with women in the few months he has stayed, as Registrar of JAMB. And it was not just about ‘expo’, or students smuggling in pieces of paper with a few lecture notes and points to prompt themselves inside the exam hall. It was also not that such note points are now written on the reverse sides of candidates’ shirts, scarves, shawls, belts, slippers, etc. The cheating has now gone digital, in keeping with the times we live in.

Even after several years at University of Ilorin and pioneering the CBT exam model, Prof. Oloyede was still not prepared for the challenge of JAMB candidates and their desperate mothers.

Even I, who really had no business with JAMB, got so many phone calls from JAMB candidates, asking that I lend my voice to their plight, as JAMB’s computers failed to read their fingerprints on exam day and thus they were barred from taking the UTME. They said JAMB, which had promised to fix another day for them to retake the exam, had suddenly gone quiet and might not hold the exam again.

It was JAMB’s Dr. Fabian Benjamin, who eventually reassured me that the repeat exam would still hold but that JAMB was still sieving the genuine cases from the cheats.

I didn’t quite understand what he meant until I was invited, alongside others, to the Bwari, Abuja, headquarters of JAMB to observe the Post 2017 UTME Review Meeting with Chief Examiners and Other Major Stakeholders about two weeks ago.

There, I saw that some candidates, thinking that the questions for the morning and afternoon sessions would be the same, undertook double registration. The plan was as soon as they finished writing in the morning at one centre, they would dash to the other centre in another part of town to join the afternoon session, having already seen the questions and gone out to crosscheck and reconfirm the answers. But JAMB disappointed them by changing the questions.

Source: https://sunnewsonline.com/shocking-revelations-from-jamb-1/amp/

Gulf crisis: Qatar FM in Kuwait to respond to demands

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Response will be the focus of a meeting on Wednesday between ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and UAE.

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has previously dismissed the list of demands [Maxim Shemetov/Reuters]

Qatar’s foreign minister has arrived in Kuwait to hand over the state’s response to the list of 13 demands from Saudi Arabia and its allies.

Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani is meeting Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah to discuss the demands. Kuwait is mediating in the dispute.

Al Thani will immediately fly back to Qatar after the meeting.

NEWSGCC

Gulf crisis: Qatar FM in Kuwait to respond to demands

Response will be the focus of a meeting on Wednesday between ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and UAE.

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has previously dismissed the list of demands [Maxim Shemetov/Reuters]

Qatar’s foreign minister has arrived in Kuwait to hand over the state’s response to the list of 13 demands from Saudi Arabia and its allies.

Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani is meeting Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah to discuss the demands. Kuwait is mediating in the dispute.

Al Thani will immediately fly back to Qatar after the meeting.

Qatar FM urges dialogue amid Gulf rift (2:44)

Qatar’s response will be the focus of a gathering in Cairo on Wednesday of foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE.

The four countries severed diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed sanctions on it on June 5, accusing it of supporting “terrorism”. The allegation has been rejected by Doha as “baseless”.

They also imposed a land, sea and air embargo.

After more than two weeks, the four countries gave Doha 10 days, or until Sunday night, to comply with a 13-point demand list in exchange for the end of the anti-Qatar measures.

The demands included that Qatar shut down the Al Jazeera Media Network, close a Turkish military base and scale down ties with Iran.

Late on Sunday, the four countries said it would meet on Wednesday in Cairo to discuss their next steps.

Qatar’s foreign minister has already said that Doha would not meet the demands, saying the list “was meant to be rejected”.

Speaking on Saturday, the foreign minister said Doha offered instead “a proper condition for a dialogue” to resolve the Gulf crisis.

US President Donald Trump spokeseparately with leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi late on Sunday.

He “underscored that unity in the region is critical to accomplishing the Riyadh summit’s goals of defeating terrorism and promoting regional stability”, the White House said.

Source: Al Jazeera News

Al Jazeera demands press freedom

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Al Jazeera demands press freedom.

 

Any call for closing down or obstructing access to our channels is an attempt to silence freedom of expression. To those who demand that Al Jazeera be shut down and that people’s right to the truth be suppressed, we too have demands.

 

We demand journalists be able to do their jobs free from intimidation and threat.

We demand diversity of thought and opinion be cherished, not feared.

We demand the public have access to unbiased information.

We demand journalists not be treated as criminals.

We demand those without a voice be heard.

We demand press freedom.

At Al Jazeera, we believe that any call for closing down or obstructing access to our channels is nothing but an attempt to silence freedom of expression and to suppress people’s right to information and the right to be heard.

You can join the conversation and share your demands on the hashtag #DemandPressFreedom.

 

 

 

Source : Al Jazeera News.

Assad appears on Syrian banknote for first time

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New 2,000-pound banknotes featuring Bashar al-Assad’s face go into circulation in Damascus and a number of provinces.

The currency previously only carried images of historic icons or pictures of Assad's late father [Reuters]
The currency previously only carried images of historic icons or pictures of Assad’s late father [Reuters]

President Bashar al-Assad has appeared on the Syrian currency for the first time since taking office, with his portrait printed on a new 2,000-pound banknote ($3.9) that went into circulation on Sunday.

Syria‘s Central Bank governor Duraid Durgham said the bill was one of several new notes printed years ago but the decision to put it into circulation was delayed “due to the circumstances of the war and exchange rate fluctuations”.

Citing wear and tear of the existing notes, Durgham said the time was right to put the new note into circulation.

The bill featuring Assad’s portrait was put into circulation “in Damascus and a number of the provinces”.

The currency previously only carried images of historic icons or pictures of his father, the late President Hafez al-Assad, who appeared on coins and on an older version of the 1,000-pound note still in circulation.

Syria’s currency has plunged in value since the country’s conflict began in 2011. Trading at 47 pounds to the dollar in 2011, it is going for 517 pounds to the dollar at present.

Inflation has also soared, reaching an all-time high in 2013, at over 120 percent. Estimates in 2016 put the inflation rate at 50 percent.

Source: News agencies

Did Holy Prophet Muhammad commit sin?

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By Waqar Akbar Cheema

 

We will often find Christians taking a lot of pain to prove that Prophet Muhammad was not sinless and Prophet Jesus was so. Indeed all the Prophets including, Jesus and Muhammad, peace be upon them both, were sinless and at times some mistakes made by them were not sins as such. In the following lines we do explain the whole thing and expose another Christian lie.

SOME QURANIC VERSES AND THEIR ACTUAL MEANING:

Allah Almighty says in the Holy Quran:

فَاصْبِرْ إِنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لِذَنْبِكَ وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ بِالْعَشِيِّ وَالْإِبْكَارِ

“Patiently, then, persevere: for the Promise of Allah is true: and ask forgiveness for thy fault (wastaghfir li-zanbika) , and celebrate the Praises of thy Lord in the evening and in the morning.” (Quran 40:55)

اعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لِذَنْبِكَ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مُتَقَلَّبَكُمْ وَمَثْوَاكُمْ

“Know, therefore, that there is no god but Allah, and ask forgiveness for thy fault (wastaghfir li-zanbika), and for the men and women who believe: for Allah knows how ye move about and how ye dwell in your homes.” (Quran 47:19)

لِيَغْفِرَ لَكَ اللَّهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِكَ وَمَا تَأَخَّرَ وَيُتِمَّ نِعْمَتَهُ عَلَيْكَ وَيَهْدِيَكَ صِرَاطًا مُسْتَقِيمًا

“That Allah may forgive thee (li-yaghfira laka) thy faults (zanbika) of the past and those to follow; fulfill His favour to thee; and guide thee on the Straight Way;” (Quran 48: 2)

A TOKEN OF HUMILITY AND MODESTY:

One of the morals taught to man by Islam is also this: however hard and sincerely may man be trying to serve and worship his Lord and fighting and struggling in the cause of His Religion, he should never be involved in the misunderstanding that he has done and accomplished whatever he was required to do. Rather, on the contrary, he should have the feeling that he has not been able to do full justice to what was expected of him by his Lord and Master. Therefore, he should confess his errors constantly and pray to Allah saying ‘Lord, forgive me for whatever fault and error I may have committed in Your service.” , this is indeed the essence of Allah’s Command: ‘O Prophet. ask forgiveness for your fault ..” And in Hadith we find Holy Prophet (PBUH) praying exactly on the same lines, e.g.

اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِي مَا قَدَّمْتُ وَمَا أَخَّرْتُ وَمَا أَسْرَرْتُ وَمَا أَعْلَنْتُ

“O Allah! Forgive me my sins that I did in the past or will do in the future, and also the sins I did in secret or in public.” (Sahih Bukhari, Hadith 5919)

This does not mean that the Holy Prophet had actually committed an error willfully, but its correct meaning is that it did not even behoove the servant who was the greatest worshiper of his Lord that he should harbor even a tinge of the pride of accomplishment in his heart, but his true position also was that in spite of all his great and glorious services he should continue confessing his shortcomings before his Lord. It was under this state of the mind that the Holy Prophet often implored his Lord for forgiveness.

One also needs to understand that for a person with more responsibility and greater honor, the standards are also different. Holy Prophet (PBUH) received direct revelations from the Almighty so he was supposed to be the best and at times when he had actually done no wrong as we can see, he was still admonished because of the higher levels set for him.

Further, there is a Hadith that gives the answer of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) as to why did he pray to Allah so much and seek His Mercy:

عن الْمُغِيرَةَ يَقُولُ قَامَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ حَتَّى تَوَرَّمَتْ قَدَمَاهُ فَقِيلَ لَهُ غَفَرَ اللَّهُ لَكَ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِكَ وَمَا تَأَخَّرَ قَالَ أَفَلَا أَكُونُ عَبْدًا شَكُورًا

Narrated Al-Mughira (RA): The Prophet used to offer night prayers till his feet became swollen. Somebody said, to him,” “Allah has forgiven you, your faults of the past and those to follow.” On that, he said, “Shouldn’t I be a thankful slave of Allah)?” (Bukhari, Hadith 4459)

A TEACHING FOR THE FOLLOWERS:

Holy Prophet (PBUH) used to ask Allah for forgiveness as a token of his modesty and also to teach his companions and followers to do the same.

قَالَ أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ وَاللَّهِ إِنِّي لَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْهِ فِي الْيَوْمِ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً

Narrated Abu Huraira: I heard Allah’s Messenger saying.” By Allah! I ask for forgiveness from Allah and turn to Him in repentance more than seventy times a day.” (Sahih Bukhari, Hadith 5832)

Another narration makes it absolutely clear that he prayed to Allah this way as a token of modesty and more importantly to teach his followers:

يُحَدِّثُ ابْنَ عُمَرَ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ تُوبُوا إِلَى رَبِّكُمْ فَإِنِّي أَتُوبُ إِلَيْهِ فِي الْيَوْمِ مِائَةَ مَرَّةٍ

Ibn Umar narrated: I heard Allah’s Messenger saying, “O people ask Allah for forgiveness verily I ask Him for forgiveness hundred times a day.” (Musnad Ahmad Hadith 17173)

The very words of the Hadith above prove that he did and said this to inspire his followers to repent to Allah often.

Another interesting point we need to consider here is that Quran 48:2 quoted above which says all the past and future sins of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) are forgiven was revelaed in 6th year after Hijrah while Abu Huraira, who is the narrator of the hadith saying that Holy Prophet (pbuh) repented 70 times a day, accepted Islam and came to the Holy Prophet in the 7th year after Hijrah. This proves Holy Prophet (pbuh) prayed even after Allah that verse was revealed. This is enough to prove that it was only out of modesty and to teach the followers.

ETYMOLOGY OF THE ARABIC WORDS USED:

According to Mufarridat fi Gharaib al-Quran, a book on the etymology of the Quranic words, by Isfahani, the word ‘Ghafar’ means ‘to cover with something that protects from dirt’ (vol.1 p.362). Keeping this in mind the verses can mean that Holy Prophet (PBUH) is asked to pray to be saved from the sins.

And as to the word ‘zanb’ which generally means ‘sin’ Isfahani in his above mentioned books says; ‘it is used for every deed whose outcome is not good.’ (vol.1 p.181) This makes it evident that the word can be used for everything whose outcome is not good or as expected. The following supports our contention on these lines.

AN EXAMPLE OF A ‘SIN’ WHEN IT COMES TO THE PROPHET (PBUH):

Holy Prophet (PBUH) was once even admonished by the Almighty and that one event clearly shows what the matter was. It is stated in Qur’an 80:1.

عَبَسَ وَتَوَلَّى (1) أَنْ جَاءَهُ الْأَعْمَى (2) وَمَا يُدْرِيكَ لَعَلَّهُ يَزَّكَّى (3) أَوْ يَذَّكَّرُ فَتَنْفَعَهُ الذِّكْرَى (4) أَمَّا مَنِ اسْتَغْنَى (5) فَأَنْتَ لَهُ تَصَدَّى (6) وَمَا عَلَيْكَ أَلَّا يَزَّكَّى (7) وَأَمَّا مَنْ جَاءَكَ يَسْعَى (8) وَهُوَ يَخْشَى (9) فَأَنْتَ عَنْهُ تَلَهَّى

“He frowned and turned away his face because there came up to him the blind man. And what would make you know that he might reform, or heed the admonition, and admonishing might profit him? As for him who is indifferent, to him you attend, though you would not be responsible if he did not reform. And the one ‘who comes to you running, of his own will, and fears, from him you turn away.”(Qur’an 80:1-10)

It so happened that Holy Prophet (PBUH) was talking to some leaders of Makkah who had not embraced Islam and right them one of his companions Ibn Umm Maktum came in and Holy Prophet (PBUH) disliked his entry at that time. In fact Holy Prophet (PBUH) thought that even if a single man from among the people whom he was trying to bring to the right path, listened to him and was rightly guided, be could become a powerful means of strengthening Islam. Therefore, none of his companions should interrupt at that time; whatever he wanted to ask or learn, he could ask or learn at some later time.

By this style the Holy Prophet (PBUH), by a subtle method, has been made to realize that it was an act unseemly for him. Had somebody familiar with his high morals witnessed it, he would have thought that it was not he but some other person who had behaved in that manner.

So, this was a deed which the Holy Prophet (PBUH) did, and was disliked by the Almighty Allah. We can see Holy Prophet’s (PBUH) intention was not to commit sin and hurt anyone but Allah who knew that those to the Prophet was talking were not sincere but the blind man who came was sincere. And so he was admonished.

This is a clear manifestation that for Holy Prophet (PBUH) the standards were much higher. And so what’s called a ‘sin’ is only this much when it comes to The Most Perfect of All Humans.

NOW LET ME TURN THE TABLES!

Having explained the Quranic verses that Christians misinterpret, now we come to the Bible and what it tells us about Jesus Christ (PBUH) whom Christians take not a holy man or perfect human but God Incarnate.

According to the Gospel of Matthew:

Jesus (PBUH) prayed to the Father in the Heaven; “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12)

The Greek word translated as ‘debts’ is opheilēma (of-i’-lay-mah), which according to Strong’s Bible Dictionary (Entry G3783) means ‘something owed, that is, (figuratively) a due.; morally a fault: – debt.’ In Thayer’s lexicon the words ‘offense’ and ‘sin’ are clearly used.

Infact according to Smith and Van Dyke Arabic Bible, the word used to denote the actual Greek word is ‘zunubana’ (i.e. our sins):

(وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا كَمَا نَغْفِرُ نَحْنُ أَيْضاً لِلْمُذْنِبِينَ إِلَيْنَا) transliterated as ‘waghfirlana zunubana’ i.e. forgive us our sins. Infact same words are used in Quran and Hadith where there is a mention of sin concerning Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Agreed that the context of the verse says he asked his disciples to pray this way but Bible proves he himself often prayed to God and it no where says he prayed differently.

Further Jesus (pbuh) was Baptized by John the Baptist and we know about John the Basptist; “And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” (Luke 3:3)

Now Christians can take only two courses; either they can argue that this is only in fugitive sense or a lesson for the disciples and later followers. We, the Muslims, have no problem with either of these explanations but this only exposes the double standards of the Christians.

If Jesus Christ, the ‘God Incarnate’ and a ‘God’ himself can pray for the forgiveness of his sins and take the Bapstism of repentance then there is no problem in Prophet Muhammad who was human only, indeed the best and perfect of them but a human still, doing the same. A human, however great needs to show his modesty but not so a divine person as Christians think of Jesus.

And also the fact that it makes more sense of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who came with a doctrine of salvation based on good deeds and repentance, asking the Almighty God for forgiveness teaching his followers the same then Jesus (PBUH) who as per Christian belief brought the gift of salvation merely through his own vicarious sacrifice.

These double standards of the Christians remind one of Jesus (PBUH) who said:

“First cast out the beam out of your own eye; and then shall you see clearly to cast out the mote out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:5)

And also: “You blind guides, you strain out a gnat, and swallow the camel.” (Mathew 23:24)

INDEED ALLAH KNOWS THE BEST !!!

Rescue helicopter crash kills 8 after volcano erupts

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A helicopter heading to evacuate residents near an erupting volcano crashed near Java’s Dieng Plateau in Indonesia.

A rescue helicopter crashed while heading to help evacuate residents near an erupting volcano on Java, the main island of Indonesia, killing all eight people on board, officials said on Monday.

Inna lillahi wa inallah-e-raji’oon!!!

The helicopter reportedly hit a cliff about three minutes from arriving at Dieng Plateau, a popular tourist area where a volcanic crater erupted on Sunday, injuring at least 10 people.

The Indonesian-made Dauphin AS365 helicopter crashed at Butak Mountain in Candiroto subdistrict in Central Java province’s Temanggung district.

Ivan Tito, director of operation and training at the National Search and Rescue Agency, said the bodies of all the victims were taken to Police’s Bhayangkara Hospital in Central Java’s capital of Semarang.

“The helicopter was airworthy,” Tito told TVOne station in a live interview on Monday from Temanggung, the closest town to the crash site. “There were four crewmen, all navy officers and four rescuers on board the helicopter.”

The Sileri Crater at Dieng Plateau spewed cold lava, mud and ash as high as 50 metres into the sky when it erupted on Sunday morning, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

The sudden eruption occurred while about 17 visitors were around the crater. Ten people were injured and were treated at a hospital.

Soldiers and police officers were dispatched to the scene, while local residents and visitors were asked to evacuate the area in case of further eruptions, Nugroho said.

Sileri is the most active and dangerous among some 10 craters at Dieng Plateau. Its most recent eruption was in 2009 when it unleashed volcanic materials up to 200 metres high and triggered the creation of three new craters.

Dieng Plateau, located in the Central Java district of Banjarnegara, is a popular tourist attraction because of its cool climate and ninth-century Hindu temples. It sits about 2,000 metres above sea level.

Some 142 people were reportedly asphyxiated in 1979 when the volcano erupted, spewing gases.

Source: News agencies

Saudi bloc gives Qatar 48 more hours to accept demands

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Foreign ministers of nations boycotting Qatar will meet in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss their next steps.

Kuwait’s emir has been mediating between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours to end the blockade [File: EPA]

Saudi Arabia and three allies boycotting Qatar have agreed to a request by Kuwait to extend by 48 hours Sunday’s deadline for Doha to comply with a set of demands, according to a joint statement on Saudi state news agency SPA.

Kuwait had received a response by Qatar to a list of 13 demands presented to it by a Saudi-led bloc of Arab countries, Kuwait’s state news agency KUNA said on Monday.

Without stating whether Qatar had rejected the ultimatum as was widely expected, KUNA said Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah asked Saudi Arabia and three other countries that have boycotted Qatar to grant it a 48-hour extension. Kuwait is mediating in the crisis.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates(UAE), Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed sanctions on it on June 5, accusing it of supporting “terrorism”. The allegation is rejected by Doha.

After more than two weeks, the four countries gave Doha a 10-day ultimatum, which expired on Sunday night, to comply with a 13-point demand list in exchange for the end of the anti-Qatar measures.

There was no other information about Qatar’s official response, but the Qatari foreign minister has already said that Doha would not meet the demands, saying the list “was meant to be rejected”.

Speaking on Saturday, the foreign minister said Doha offered instead “a proper condition for a dialogue” to resolve the Gulf crisis.

“Everyone is aware that these demands are meant to infringe the sovereignty of the state of Qatar, shut the freedom of speech and impose auditing and probation mechanism for Qatar,” he said during a visit to Italy’s capital, Rome.

“We believe that the world is not governed by ultimatums, we believe that the world is governed by the international law, it is governed by an order that does not allow large countries to bully small countries.”

Speaking in Rome on Saturday, Qatar’s foreign minister said no one has the right to issue an ultimatum against his country [AP]

But Saudi Arabia and its allies have insisted the demands were non-negotiable.

The foreign ministers of the four countries will meet on Wednesday in Egypt’s capital, Cairo, to discuss their next steps, according to a statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry.

The UAE ambassador to Russia, Omar Ghobash, has previously said that Qatar could face fresh sanctions if it does not comply with the demands.

The demands submitted by Saudi Arabia and its allies included that Qatar shut down the Al Jazeera network, close a Turkish military base and scale down ties with Iran.

In the list, the four Arab countries also demand that Doha sever all alleged ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and other groups, including Hezbollah, al-Qaeda and ISIL (also known as ISIS), and pay an unspecified sum in compensation for what they claimed to be “loss of life and other financial losses caused by Qatar’s policies”.

A US state department official said on Sunday that Washington encourages “all parties to exercise restraint to allow for productive diplomatic discussions. We are not going to get ahead of those discussions. We fully support Kuwaiti mediation”.

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies

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