Iraq steps up security for Ashura

Tens of thousands of Iraqi security personnel have been deployed in the holy shrine city of Kerbala for the climax of the Shia Muslim Ashura commemorations.

More than one million pilgrims are likely to pour into the city on Sunday, where authorities will also check the expected 60,000 foreign worshippers to ensure they do not have the H1N1 flu virus.

General Ali Jassim Mohammed, Karbala police chief, said that about 25,000 policemen and soldiers had been deployed.

Ashura pilgrims have been targeted in a number of attacks over the past week, killing more than 179 people, including nine people on Saturday.

In one attack, three worshippers undertaking part of the 10 days of rituals were killed when bombs exploded at a procession in Baghdad, the capital.

Shia commemoration

Ashura is a commemoration of the death of Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Imam Hussein bin Ali, who was killed by armies of the Ummayad Caliph, Yazid bin Abi Sufian in Karbala in 680 AD.

"I came to show my belief in Imam Hussein. This event has nothing to do with personal motivations or politics," Mohammed Abdul Hussein, a 40-year-old who travelled from neighbouring Babil province, said.

About 20,000 soldiers have formed eight cordons around Karbala, according to Amal al-Hir, the provincial governor of the city.

About 1,000 snipers have been positioned on roof-tops and sniffer dogs are to be employed to help find any explosives.

About 600 female staff have been placed on three roads entering the city to counter women suicide bombers, who have struck in the past.

CCTV cameras are also being used to follow any incidents in the city.

Baghdad has also seen a rise in security personnel during the commemorations. Some pilgrims will visit a Shia shrine in the Kadhimiya district of the capital.

Security for the commemoration is seen as key test for Nouri al-Maliki's government, with a general election planned for March 7.
Agencies

Nigerian charged with trying to blow up US airliner

DETROIT: A Nigerian man was charged Saturday with attempting to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner, while unnamed security officials told US media the suspect had confessed that Al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen trained him for the mission.

Airport security was stepped up worldwide after the botched terror attack as British police raided premises where the suspect, the son of a wealthy Nigerian businessman, was thought to have lived while studying at a London university.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, was to appear in court later Saturday facing charges that he tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane with 290 people on board as it began its final descent on Friday into Detroit.

CNN reported that the hearing could take place at the University of Michigan medical center, where Abdulmutallab was being treated for burn injuries sustained as a device strapped to his body burst into flames but failed to explode properly.

“A preliminary FBI analysis found that the device contained PETN, also known as pentaerythritol, a high explosive,” the charge sheet said.

Abdulmutallab confessed once in custody that he had mixed a syringe full of chemicals with powder taped to his leg to try and blow up the Northwest Airlines flight, according to senior officials quoted by US media.

Other law enforcement officials quoted by ABC News and NBC said the suspect had also admitted that he was trained by Al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen and given specific instructions about how to carry out the attack.

“This alleged attack on a US airplane on Christmas Day shows that we must remain vigilant in the fight against terrorism at all times,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

“Had this alleged plot to destroy an airplane been successful, scores of innocent people would have been killed or injured.” Questions mounted over how Abdulmutallab managed to sneak an incendiary device past airport security in Amsterdam and Lagos, where he started his journey. Dutch authorities said he was carrying a valid US visa.

The attack, which sparked alarm and fear among the 279 passengers and 11 crew on board the Airbus A330, had echoes of British-born Richard Reid's botched “shoe-bomb” attempt almost eight years ago to the day.

British police searched addresses in London, including an upscale mansion flat where the suspect is believed to have lived while studying mechanical engineering at University College London (UCL) between 2005 and 2008.

Nigerian newspaper This Day reported that Abdulmutallab's wealthy businessman father, Umaru Mutallab, had grown so distraught over his son's religious extremism that he contacted US authorities about it in mid-2009.

Meanwhile, the hero of Northwest Airlines Flight 253, a Dutch video producer and director by the name of Jasper Schuringa, was achieving cult status on the Internet for tackling the would-be bomber and helping the crew to restrain him.

Schuringa told CNN how he had jumped over the passenger next to him and lunged onto Abdulmutallab's seat as the suspect held a burning object between his legs.

“I pulled the object from him and tried to extinguish the fire with my hands and threw it away,” said Schuringa, adding that he stripped off the suspect's clothes to check for explosives before a crew member helped handcuff him.

“My hands are pretty burned. I am fine,” said Schuringa, who within a day of the attack already had four Facebook sites dedicated in his honor with new members signing up in their droves.

White House officials and US lawmakers called the incident a terror attack and President Barack Obama, vacationing in Hawaii with his family, ordered security measures to be stepped up at airports.

The Department of Homeland Security said it had put additional screening measures in place for all domestic and international flights, and urged holiday travelers to remain vigilant.

Observers were baffled that a man reportedly listed for some time in a US intelligence database had managed to board a plane with an incendiary device.

Dutch anti-terrorism officials stressed that proper procedures had been followed on their end, and that US authorities had cleared the flight for departure.

The attack, eight years after “shoe-bomber” Reid tried something similar on a flight from Paris to Miami, served as a grim reminder to Americans of the specter of airborne terror.

It was Christmas week in 2001, with the country still reeling from the September 11 attacks, when Reid tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic jet by lighting explosives in his shoes. He is serving a life sentence in a US prison.

Checks were tightened Saturday at major world airports, including in Paris, Rome and London, but US officials said there were no immediate plans to elevate the nation's aviation threat level from orange to red, its most severe status. – AFP

World on Alert After Botched US Plot

WORLD CAPITALS — A botched terror plot to blow up a Detroit-bound plane has put the world on alert, triggering massive security crackdowns in several countries and high-profile investigations into the attempt.

"We are in liaison with the US authorities and searches in London are being conducted as part of ongoing enquiries," a Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Anti-terror police raided a number of buildings in London as part of investigation into a bid by a Nigerian man to blow up the Northwest Airline Flight coming from Amsterdam to Detroit on Friday.

"The searches are being carried out at more than one address," the spokeswoman said, declining to give further details.

Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, tried to set off a sophisticated explosive device on the plane on Christmas Eve before he was overpowered by passengers.

The Nigerian man told US authorities that he had used a syringe filled with chemicals to mix with powder taped to his leg to cause an explosion.

Unconfirmed reports said that the suspect was a student of mechanical engineering at University College London (UCL).

According to the BBC, officers wearing forensic suits had entered a basement flat near one of the university's buildings in central London.

The flat was the last known address of the suspect in Britain.

Media reports said that Abdulmutallab, who boarded the plane in Amsterdam, had flown to the Dutch city's Schiphol airport from Lagos.

Probes

The European Commission also launched an investigation into airport security measures following the botched plot.

"I am horrified by the attempted terrorist attack on a flight between Amsterdam and Detroit on Christmas Day," Jacques Barrot, vice-president of the European Commission in charge of Justice, Freedom and Security, said in a statement.

"The European Commission is in contact with the relevant authorities to make sure that all rules and procedures were followed in Europe. We are in touch with our Dutch and US counterparts.

"This incident shows once again that vigilance is necessary at all times in the fight against terror."

Airports and airlines across Europe moved rapidly to tighten security on US-bound flights after the incident.

Authorities in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands either increased passenger checks or reinforced security measures.

"Passengers traveling to the United States should expect their airline to carry out additional security checks prior to boarding," British airports group BAA, which manages two of the 10 busiest airports in Europe, said.

In Rome, home to Europe's sixth busiest airport, civil aviation authority ENAC confirmed it had ordered security for all flights bound for the United States to be beefed up.

In Madrid, passengers were being held in a "sterile zone", similar to measures taken after the 9/11 attacks, and were being told to check in as much luggage as possible to reduce carry-on baggage.

In Nigeria, the home country of the suspect, an investigation was launched into the incident.

"The Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has directed Nigerian security agencies to commence full investigation of the incident," the Nigerian government said in a statement.

Information Minister Dora Akunyili said the government will be "providing updates as more information becomes available."

"While steps are being taken to verify the identity of the alleged suspect and his motives, our security agencies will cooperate fully with the American authorities in the on-going investigations."

IslamOnline

China launches world's fastest train service

BEIJING: China on Saturday launched what it described as the world’s fastest train service covering a distance of 1,068 kms at the average speed of 350 kms an hour. The distance between Wuhan in central China and Guangzhou in the country’s south was covered by the high-speed train in two hours forty five minutes.

The new service will cut the travel time between these cities by more than six hours. The train reached a maximum speed of 394.2 km per hour during trail runs that begun on December 9. The commercial operation was launched today with two trains covering the distance while passing through 20 different cities along the route.

The high speed line will use technology developed in co-operation with foreign firms such as Siemens, Bombardier and Alstom, sources said.

The new service is expected to act as a catalyst in the development of central China that includes backward areas like Xianning by linking it to the highly developed Pearl River Delhi, which is an industrial hub in south China.

Chinese railway authorities pointed out that the average speed of the high-speed railways is 243 km per hour in Japan, 232 km per hour in Germany and 277 km per hour in France.

The era of high speed railway began in China in 2004 when Guangzhou was linked to Shenzhen, both in Guangdong Province, with a train traveling at 160 km per hour. This was followed by the launch of a high-speed line linking the capital with the port city of Tianjin at the time of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The government recently announced it plans to build 42 high-speed lines by 2012 in order to spur economic growth amid the global downturn. China has unveiled a massive rail development program, considered to be the world’s biggest plan outside the United States. The goal is to take the rail network from the current 86,000 kilometers to 120,000 kilometers.

Shia pilgrims descend on Iraq’s Karbala for Ashura

KARBALA, Iraq: Hundreds of thousands of Shia pilgrims descended on the holy shrine city of Karbala on Saturday for the climax of Ashura commemorations, despite fears of violent attacks by Sunni extremists.

Security forces have beefed up their presence in the central city and authorities are also checking on the 60,000-odd foreign worshippers also expected to attend the ceremonies to ensure they do not have swine flu.

Black flags, representing the sadness of Shias during Ashura, were to be seen all over the city, 110 kilometres south of Baghdad, along with pictures of Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas, who are both buried there.

“I came to show my belief in Imam Hussein — this event has nothing to do with personal motivations or politics,” said 40-year-old Mohammed Abdul Hussein, who came from neighbouring Babil province.

Karbala police chief General Ali Jassim Mohammed said that around 25,000 policemen and soldiers had been deployed to secure the commemoration ceremonies, which climax on Saturday and Sunday, and mark the death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, in 680 AD.

Security perimeters have also been formed throughout the city, while helicopters are providing extra surveillance and bomb-sniffing dogs are being used at checkpoints.

To counter women suicide attackers who have struck Karbala before, security forces have deployed 600 female personnel on three roads into the city.

During Ashura in March 2004, near-simultaneous bombings at a Shia mosque in Baghdad and in Karbala killed more than 170 people.

Authorities are also concerned about the spread of swine flu from foreign worshippers, the majority of whom are arriving from Iran, Pakistan and Arab Gulf countries.

“We expect more than 60,000 foreign pilgrims to come, and we have ordered them to visit health centres to be sure they do not have any diseases,” said provincial governor Amal Adin al-Her.

“All hotel owners must inform authorities about any cases of illness among their residents.”

He estimates that around one million pilgrims will visit Karbala on Saturday and Sunday.

Ashura, which means tenth in Arabic, falls on the 10th day of the Muslim month of Muharram.

Tradition holds that Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, was decapitated and his body mutilated by the armies of the Sunni caliph Yazid.

To express remorse and guilt for not saving Hussein, Shia volunteers flay themselves with chains or slice their scalps during processions to the Karbala shrines.

Shias make up around 15 per cent of Muslims worldwide. They represent the majority populations in Iraq, Iran and Bahrain and form significant communities in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Sixty injured as Indian police stop Kashmiri Shia procession

SRINAGAR: At least 60 mourners were injured on Saturday when police used batons, firing in the air and tear gas to break up a procession by hundreds of Shia Muslims in Indian-administered Kashmir's main city, officials said.

During the first Muslim month of Muharram, Shias across the world mourn the death of the Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein in the Iraqi city of Karbala in the year 680.

But in Kashmir, Muharram processions and public gatherings by separatists have been banned since a rebellion against Indian rule broke out in 1989.

“More than 50 people were also detained,” police officer Ali Mohammad said.

Saturday's procession in Srinagar was headed by members of Ittihadul Muslimeen Jammu Kashmir, part of the region's main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference.

Stone-throwing Shias clashed with police in several parts of Srinagar after the procession was stopped, forcing police to fire tear gas shells, witnesses said.

The mourners were beating their chests with their fists, and chanted “La ilaha illalah” (There is no god but Allah).

“We strongly condemn the police brutality,” said Moulana Abbas Ansari, a leading Shia priest and chief of Ittihadul Muslimeen.

The injured included at least six photojournalists, police said.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state since an anti-India insurgency broke out two decades ago.