Headlines

 UN Report Condemns Vatican over the Systemic Sex Abuse of Tens of Thousands of Children

 UKIP MEP says British Muslims Should Sign Charter Rejecting Violence

 Egypt Army Chief Sisi says Will Run For President: Report

 Islam First Then Peace, Negotiators Tell Islamabad

Details

UN Report Condemns Vatican over the Systemic Sex Abuse of Tens of Thousands of Children

The UN's damning report on the Vatican's handling of child sex abuse cases has turned up the pressure on the Church to convince a sceptical international community it has adopted a zero-tolerance approach. "The Vatican has taken some steps forward, but they have been largely symbolic: energetic words rather than actions. The UN is right to have spoken out so strongly," Vatican commentator Paolo Flores D'Arcais told AFP. The Church was denounced by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on Wednesday for failing to stamp out predatory priests, and urged to hand over known and suspected abusers for prosecution. The UN committee's recommendations are non-binding but have held up a fresh mirror to highly damaging Vatican failures. The report was a bolt from the blue for an institution revelling in the popularity of its new pope, Francis, who has spoken little of the abuse and who appeared to hope the Church had left the crisis behind it. But the Vatican's lack of transparency -- insisting on dealing with the scandal behind closed doors -- has disappointed victims. For more than a decade, the Church has been rocked by a cascade of scandals around the world, with victims describing the trauma of abuse at the hands of people charged with their care. The Vatican says it continues to receive around 600 claims against abusive priests every year, many dating back to the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Former pope Benedict apologised in 2010 for the "sinful and criminal" acts committed by members of the clergy, saying he was "truly sorry" and going on to defrock 400 offenders between 2011 and 2012.

British Member of European Parliament says British Muslims Should Sign Charter Rejecting Violence

A British MEP believes that British Muslims should sign a special code of conduct and warns that it was a big mistake for Europe to allow "an explosion of mosques across their land". Gerard Batten, who represents London and is member of the party's executive, told the Guardian on Tuesday that he stood by a "charter of Muslim understanding", which he commissioned in 2006. The document asks Muslims to sign a declaration rejecting violence and says parts of the Qur'an that promote "violent physical Jihad" should be regarded as "inapplicable, invalid and non-Islamic". Critics said his comments represent the "ugliest side of (United Kingdom Independent Party) Ukip" and "overlap with the far-right", in spite of the efforts of party leader Nigel Farage to create a disciplined election machine ahead of the European elections. Asked on Tuesday about the charter, Batten told the Guardian he had written it with a friend, who is an Islamic scholar, and could not see why "any reasonable, normal person" would object to signing it. Batten also repeated his view that some Muslim texts need updating, claiming some say "kill Jews wherever you find them and various things like that". "If that represents the thinking of modern people, there's something wrong, in which case maybe they need to revise their thinking. If they say they can't revise their thinking on those issues, then who's got the problem - us or them?" he added. Asked why Muslims have been singled out, rather than followers of other faiths, Batten said: "Christians aren't blowing people up at the moment, are they? Are there any bombs going off round the world claimed by Christian organisations? I don't think so." [Source: The Guardian]

وَلَن تَرۡضَىٰ عَنكَ ٱلۡيَہُودُ وَلَا ٱلنَّصَـٰرَىٰ حَتَّىٰ تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَہُمۡ‌ۗ قُلۡ إِنَّ هُدَى ٱللَّهِ هُوَ ٱلۡهُدَىٰ‌ۗ وَلَٮِٕنِ ٱتَّبَعۡتَ أَهۡوَآءَهُم بَعۡدَ ٱلَّذِى جَآءَكَ مِنَ ٱلۡعِلۡمِ‌ۙ مَا لَكَ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ مِن وَلِىٍّ۬ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ

"And the Jews will not be pleased with thee, nor will the Christians, till thou follow their creed. Say: Lo! the guidance of Allah (Himself) is Guidance. And if thou shouldst follow their desires after the knowledge which hath come unto thee, then wouldst thou have from Allah no protecting friend nor helper." [TMQ: Al-Baqara:120]

Egypt Army Chief Sisi says Will Run For President: Report

Egypt's army chief Field Marshal Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has said he will run for president, a Kuwaiti newspaper says. Asked by the al-Seyassah Newspaper if he would be standing, the army chief said he had to meet the wishes of the Egyptian people and run for election. He had been widely expected to declare his candidacy but there has been no official confirmation from the army. The army leadership backed him to stand in the election last month, promoting him to the rank of field marshal. Presidential elections in Egypt are due within six months. Correspondents say Field Marshal Sisi is expected to win by a landslide if he does indeed become a candidate. He is hugely popular in Egypt since the army removed Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last July, following mass protests. Mr Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, is currently in detention and facing four separate trials. "I will not reject the demand [of the people]," Field Marshal Sisi told al-Seyassah. "I will present this to the Egyptian people to renew confidence through free voting."Last month, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) gave its approval for Field Marshal Sisi to run for the presidency, saying: "The people's trust in Sisi is a call that must be heeded as the free choice of the people."

The state-run al-Ahram Newspaper said his chief-of-staff, Gen Sedky Sobhy, had been chosen to replace him as head of the armed forces. Field Marshal Sisi's supporters say he is a strong leader who can restore stability after years of unrest. However, his critics say he is a military hardliner who is returning Egypt to the repression of the past. [Source: BBC]

Islam First Then Peace, Negotiators Tell Islamabad

Negotiators representing Taleban insurgents said Wednesday there was no chance of peace in Pakistan until the government embraces Islamic Shariah law and US-led forces withdraw completely from neighbouring Afghanistan. The tough conditions appear to deal a blow to hopes that talks with the Pakistani government could end the Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP) insurgency that has rocked the nuclear-armed country since 2007. Initial peace talks failed to get under way Tuesday when the government delegation refused to meet the militants' negotiators, citing confusion about the make-up of their team. The two sides are expected to try to meet again though no definite arrangements have yet been made. Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, the head of the TTP's three-man talks team, told AFP there could be "no peace" in the region while there were still US troops across the border. His comments were echoed by his fellow TTP negotiator Maulana Abdul Aziz, who also said the TTP's long-held commitment to imposing sharia law across Pakistan was not open to debate. "Without sharia law, the Taliban won't accept (the talks) even one percent," he told AFP. "If some factions accept it, then the others won't accept it.

There has been scepticism about what the talks could achieve. Local peace deals reached with the militants in the past have quickly fallen apart. "Their real agenda is sharia," Aziz said, suggesting that all Pakistan's secular courts based on the common law system be abolished. "I don't think the government will accept this but they should, because war isn't the way forward." [Source: Arab News]

Talban's efforts to demand Islamic Shariah for Pakistan are commendable. However, they need to start advocating the establishment of Khilafah "Caliphate" in Pakistan, as the only means of implementing Sharia. For the Khilafah "Caliphate" is the only legal and practical method to bring back Islamic rules and regulations to both Pakistan and Afghanistan.