Habib Toumi

Israel on Wednesday said it had arrested an Israeli soldier for allegedly spying for Hezbollah.

The soldier, a resident of northern Israel, is suspected of having taken part in a gang that smuggled drugs from Lebanon and transferred sensitive military information on Israeli security to a Hezbollah-linked figure, Haaretz reported.

The military police arrested the suspect several weeks ago, but was brought before a judge for another extension of his remand on Wednesday at the military court in Haifa. continue reading…

Muslim countries should avail of the several possibilities available to achieve stability in Afghanistan and help the war-torn country move forward in the reconstruction process, North Atlantic Organisation Treaty (Nato) secretary general has said.

“Countries with a Muslim majority can play a very strong role in Afghanistan because our Muslim partners can draw on their cultural and religious backgrounds and provide assistance that is highly appreciated by the local community,” Anders Fogh Rasmussen said. “The broad variety of possibilities includes supplying soldiers, training, contributing money and helping with organizing activities,” he told journalists from the Arab world at a special interview in Brussels.

The presence of Muslim soldiers will make it highly visible that the ongoing fight is not religiously-motivated and is not against Islam in any way, Rasmussen said. continue reading…

Al Fadhala and the Prime Minister - Al Aan

Khalid Al Fadhala, the secretary general of the Kuwait Democratic National Alliance, was on Wednesday sentenced to three months in jail for slandering the prime minister.

Kuwait’s lower court also ruled that Al Fadhalah pay a KD 150 fine for accusing the prime minister Shaikh Nasser Mohammad Al Ahmad Al Sabah of involvement in money laundering. The civil case against Al Fadhala will be reviewed on July 9, the court said.

The prime minister had sued Al Fadhala for slandering him at a public rally in November at a public square in Kuwait City. continue reading…

 A Kuwaiti man has been summoned by the police for allegedly breaking his wife’s nose for nagging him during a World Cup match.

In her charges, the woman said that her husband had beaten her up after blaming him for devoting too much time to watching a football match.

The angry husband insulted her before beating her up until she lost her consciousness and left the house, the wife said.

The woman said that she later called her brother who took her to hospital where doctors treated her and gave her a report explaining that she had a nasal double fracture. continue reading…

More than 93,000 Kuwaitis and Kuwait-based foreigners have been banned from travel after they failed to pay their debts.

According to Ali Al Dhubaha, the chairman of the Sentences Enforcement Department Counselor, out of the 93,099 people, 30,970 are Kuwaitis who owe KD 785 million to people or establishments and the rest are expatriates who reportedly owe KD 543 million.

Under the law, Kuwaiti citizens who are banned from travel are allowed to go overseas for treatment only once. continue reading…

A gag on news about the case a Kuwaiti blogger and lawyer has not been lifted despite his release following a 49-day detention period.

Mohammad Al Jassem was allowed to go home pending his trial in September, but the public prosecutor said that the gag imposed on the print, audio and visual reporting on his case remains.

Al Jassem, 54, was sued by the Minister of the Royal Court and was charged with undermining the emir’s status, attacking the regime and spreading false information damaging to Kuwait’s national interests. continue reading…

The first woman who sought to chair Bahrain’s medical society has called for a probe into the board elections, saying there are persistent doubts of mismanagement.
“There was some chaos during the elections and the tallies do not add up,” Dr Ibtisam Al Alawi said in her first statement after she ran but lost in the polls on Friday. “I want a probe to explain the causes of the confusion that marred the elections, the frequent stoppages in the voting process and the discrepancies between the number of the votes (166) and ballot papers (176),” she said as she submitted a letter to the ministry of social development.
However, Dr Ahmad Jamal, the incumbent chairman and winner of the elections last week, said that the elections were fair and credible, citing the official approval of the ministry representative. continue reading…

Muslims are planning to land a scientific lab called Mohammad I on the moon by 2013, a scientist has said.
“The station will be called Mohammad after the Prophet and it is our scientific response for the negative stereotyping against the prophet,” Radhouane Fakir, a Canadian scientist of Moroccan descent, said at Al Fanar Islamic Centre in Doha on Saturday evening.
“We will launch Mohammad II in 2015 in order to boost the scientific work of Mohammad I. We wanted a scientific reaction to all the offenses against the prophet so that we are closer to his values than to those of the people who offended him. The scientific labs will serve to remind the world of the importance of Prophet Mohammad,” he said. continue reading…

The Islamic Action Society, the second largest Shiite political and religious formation in Bahrain, has denied claims it was working on a deal with Al Wefaq, the country’s largest society, to secure seats in the forthcoming parliamentary and municipality elections.
“We have heard rumours that our society is striking a deal with Al Wefaq so that we support them in the parliamentary elections while they back us up in the municipal polls,” Mohammad Al Mahfoodh, the secretary general of the Islamic Action Society, said. “That is simply not true. In fact, we have not yet decided whether we will be taking part in the elections. The fact that we have not announced our final stance does not necessarily that we are maneuvering with Al Wefaq to reach an accord,” he said. continue reading…

A Saudi entrepreneur has announced the launch of the region’s first satellite channel on consumer issues.
Dr Sami Abdul Aziz Osman, the channel chairman, said that the channel, to be based in Qatar, would go on air on September 11, 2011 and will deal with issues faced by Arab consumers.
Initially, programmes would be beamed for 12 hours a day, which would subsequently be extended to 24 hours, Sami said.
“The recruitment drive is progressing. We are looking for specialised anchors, presenters and technicians,” he said.
Sami said that his choice of Doha was “because Qatari media enjoys a good reputation in the Arab world.” continue reading…