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IRAQ WARS
Iraq's Sadr warns Assad could share Kadhafi's fate
by Staff Writers
Najaf, Iraq (AFP) April 11, 2017


Chinese official demoted for not smoking in front of Muslims
Beijing (AFP) April 11, 2017 - A Chinese official who allegedly declined to smoke in front of Muslims in Xinjiang has been demoted for taking an "unstable political stance," a state-run newspaper reported Tuesday.

Xinjiang, home to China's Muslim Uighur ethnic minority, restricts religious practises -- such as growing beards, wearing headscarves, and fasting during Ramadan -- that are seen as symbols of "Islamic extremism".

A notice from the Hotan district government over the weekend accused Jelil Matniyaz, a village-level secretary for the ruling Communist party in the far-western region, of being afraid to smoke before religious figures.

"His behaviour of 'not daring' to smoke conforms with extreme religious thought in Xinjiang," a local official told the Global Times newspaper.

He added that a dutiful party member would choose to smoke in front of religious believers in order to demonstrate his or her commitment to secularism.

Matniyaz's failure to do so meant that instead of "leading the fight against extreme religious thought," he was "failing to confront the threat of extreme regional forces", the official said.

Matniyaz was given a "stern warning", stripped of his party secretary duties and downgraded from senior staff member to staff member.

Xinjiang has been racked for years by a series of violent attacks which Beijing blames on exiled Uighur separatist groups whom it says are aligned with foreign terrorist networks.

Rights groups have countered that unrest in the region is largely a response to repressive policies, and that tighter measures are counterproductive.

Uighurs, a traditionally Muslim group, complain of cultural and religious repression and discrimination.

China introduced new anti-extremism legislation in Xinjiang late March, including a provision that bans "abnormal" beards.

Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr on Tuesday warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that he risked suffering the same fate as slain Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi if he did not step down.

The maverick cleric had last week condemned the suspected deadly use of chemical weapons by Assad's forces against civilians, becoming a rare Shiite leader to openly challenge the Syrian president's legitimacy.

Sadr issued a new statement on Tuesday that reiterated his position.

"I have urged him to step down to preserve the reputation of the Mumanaa and to escape a Kadhafi fate," he said, using a word that refers to a so-called anti-Western "resistance front" that includes Lebanon's Hezbollah, Iran and Syria.

The Libyan strongman was captured and brutally killed in 2011 after 42 years in power while trying to flee Sirte, his hometown, as NATO-backed rebels closed in.

A chemical attack which has been widely blamed on Assad's regime killed 87 civilians, including 31 children, in the rebel-held Syrian town of Khan Sheikhun on April 4.

The United States subsequently fired a barrage of 59 cruise missiles at Shayrat air base in Syria to punish Damascus, despite its denials of responsibility.

Sadr, who led a militia that fought the US occupation of Iraq, also condemned the American missile strike, urging all foreign parties involved in the Syria conflict to withdraw.

He had similar advice for two other leaders: President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi of Yemen and Bahrain's King Hamad.

"I have not only called for the resignation of Bashar, but I had already called for Abedrabbo and the ruler of Bahrain to step down because they are still oppressing their people," Sadr said in his statement.

IRAQ WARS
First Palm Sunday since IS in Iraq's main Christian town
Qaraqosh, Iraq (AFP) April 9, 2017
Members of Iraq's Christian minority celebrated Palm Sunday in the country's main Christian town of Qaraqosh for the first time since it was retaken from the Islamic State group. Hundreds of faithful gathered inside the town's burnt out Immaculate Conception church for mass before starting the traditional Palm Sunday march, a procession during which palms are carried to commemorate Jesus's e ... read more

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