Blasphemous Iranian article saying prophet Muhammad (PBUH & HP), Hazrat Sakina (PBUH) liked listening to music causes outrage

By: Sheikh Muhammad Khurasani

TEHRAN, Iran: A blasphemous article published late last month in the government-owned newspaper, Iran, has sent a wave of resentment in people belonging to different walks of life in Iran.

The article, written by an Iranian journalist Banafsheh Samgis said that the holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (peace of Allah be upon him & his pure progeny) and Hazrat Sakina Bintul Hussain (Peace of Allah be upon them) enjoyed listening to music.

Hundreds of students of Hoza Ilmia Khurramabad launched a protest rally against the newspaper.

In the holy city of Qom, the clerics staged a protest rally Monday calling for the punishment of Culture Minister Ahmad Masjed Jame'ei and Abdollah Nasseri Taheri, who is in charge of the official Iranian news agency as well as the Iran daily, according to the Bonyan newspaper Wednesday.

"God's verdict should be enforced against them," the clerics chanted.

Wednesday, the journalist Banafsheh Samgis was in court after she was summoned for questioning over the article.

Meanwhile, a leading pro-reform journalist Mohsen Sazgara wrote a daring open letter to Iran's supreme leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, accusing him of pushing Iran into international isolation, trampling freedoms and promoting dictatorship. The letter appeared on the popular Iranian website, gooya.com.

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Arafat visits West Bank, slams Sharon

By: Ahmad Hammadi

RAMALLAH, West Bank: Palestinian president Yasser Arafat on Thursday denounced the tactics of Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon as he began a tour of West Bank areas hard hit by the Israeli military campaign.

After leaving his headquarters here for the first time since the start of a month-long Israeli siege that was lifted late Wednesday, Arafat Said: "It is racism, it is fascism."

Arafat visited the Ramallah chamber of commerce, a cemetery and a hospital in Ramallah and the destroyed compound of his security chief just outside the city and called on all international organizations to come and see what has happened.

The Palestinian president accused Sharon of repeating the depredations committed by the Israelis and their allies in Lebanon when he was defense minister.

Meanwhile, Israeli army backed by tanks and troops entered the West Bank town of Tulkarem early Thursday and arrested five Palestinians.

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Coalition troops launch new operation in Afghanistan

By: Special Reporter

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan: A senior British military official said on Thursday that some 1,000-coalition troops have launched a fresh operation against a key base for terrorists in southeastern Afghanistan.

Talking to newsmen at Bagram Air Base, Brigadier Roger Lane said that the operation is aimed at destroying al-Qaida caves and bunkers and killing or capturing enemy fighters.

According to an Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman several hundred Afghan troops are also taking part in the operation - code named 'Operation Snipe'.

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US urged to maintain 'One-China' policy

By: Jafariyanews

WASHINGTON: Chinese vice-president Hu Jintaois has warned that United States sales of sophisticated weapons to Taiwan could harm Washington-Beijing relations, and urged the US to maintain its 'One-China' policy.

During a speech in Washington, hours after talks with President Bush Wednesday at the White House, Hu, who returns home Thursday after a 6-day visit to the US, called the Taiwan issue the most sensitive in relations between Washington and Beijing.

Bush, after his meeting with Hu said he is pleased with the state of US-Chinese relations and believes disagreements can be addressed productively.

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