A massive government crackdown on activists and supporters of the opposition Islamic parties is fuelling unrest in Bangladesh. Thousands of opposition activists have been arrested in a massive security crackdown over the past three weeks. “As a political party whenever Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) got hold of the power it never tolerated any opposition party,” Abdul-Kader Mollah, Assistant Secretary-General of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami said. “The present oppression and tor...

The Khartoum government and the largest and most powerful rebel group in restive Darfur have signed a ceasefire agreement and a framework of final peace deal. Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Khalil Ibrahim embraced one another after signing the deal, which came into effect at midnight in Darfur. The signing took place at a huge ceremony in Doha attended by Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno and Eri...

The government in the southern African country Zambia may deregister the umbrella Islamic Council of Zambia (ICZ) on continuous leadership struggles and violating its constitution. ICZ was established in 1988 as an outcome of a National Islamic Convention to promote and support the Islamic community in the country. It is a loose Islamic organisation whose establishment was supported by the government as a way of uniting various Islamic individual associations within the country. It is most do...

Iran accused the new head of the U.N. nuclear agency of issuing a misleading and unbalanced report on Iran’s atomic activities, saying he omitted important information. The International Atomic Energy Agency report, the first issued since Yukiya Amano became director-general, voiced concern Iran may be actively trying to design a nuclear-armed missile now. The report, which brought expressions of alarm from Western powers and Russia, used unusually forthright language and took a harder-...

Twelve senior Turkish military officers were charged over an alleged plot to topple the government. Turkey’s top military commanders held an emergency meeting and warned in a statement of a “serious situation.” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan consulted overnight with his deputy and the interior and justice ministers. The tensions were triggered by a dramatic police swoop that detained around 50 serving and retired officers in an unprecedented operation. The most senior d...

Life returned to normal in Muslim-majority Niger on February 19, a day after a military coup that ousted President Mamadou Tandja. Troops stormed into the presidential palace during a cabinet meeting and detained Tandja and his ministers. At least three soldiers were killed during fierce gun-battles that accompanied the coup. Calling itself the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy (CSRD), the junta immediately dissolved the government and suspended the Constitution. Niger has been...