CENTRAL ASIA VISIT 2009

Activities of the Imam and the Noorani family.
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kmaherali
Posts: 25105
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2003 3:01 pm

Post by kmaherali »

Afghan vote decision expected amid horse-trading
Published: Friday October 16, 2009

Two months after Afghans voted in controversial presidential elections,
electoral authorities are expected to announce on Saturday if they have a
winner or if another poll is needed.

Officials in Kabul dismissed a US media report that a run-off will be called
as President Hamid Karzai's share of the vote had dropped below the
50-percent victory threshold with the cancellation of fraudulent ballots
cast for him.

But they said that Afghan politicians and their international backers have
been involved in days of vigorous horse-trading in the hope of averting a
run-off, which many fear could further destabilise the fragile country.

Afghanistan's August 20 election has been overshadowed by allegations of
fraud, mostly against Karzai, including findings by EU observers that a
quarter of all votes, or 1.5 million, were suspicious.

Karzai leads preliminary results with around 55 percent of the vote. He
needs 50 percent plus one vote to be declared the winner.

His main rival Abdullah Abdullah has around 28 percent.

An official announcement is to be made by the Independent Election
Commission (IEC), widely regarded as pro-Karzai, which acts on the orders of
the UN-approved Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC).

The ECC should send its order, based on the findings of investigations into
ballot-stuffing allegations, to the IEC on Saturday, an ECC source told AFP,
adding that the IEC is constitutionally bound to obey.

But some officials expressed concern late Friday that the two bodies were
still wrangling over details, which could delay the IEC's announcement.

The Washington Post reported that Karzai's share of the vote had dropped to
47 percent after thousands of suspicious ballots were investigated by the
ECC.

"There is no way anyone can make that prediction and stand it up, it is just
so close," said a Western diplomat familiar with the process.

"Karzai is hovering around 50 percent and the feeling is that he could just
clinch it."

This week has seen international efforts to broker a deal between Karzai and
Abdullah to avoid both a run-off and any outbreak of violence.

Influential visitors to Kabul included the Aga Khan, leader of a minority
Islamic sect and one of the world's wealthiest men, whom one European
diplomat described as the biggest single aid donor to Afghanistan.

His followers account for about six percent of the national vote.


Former US ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, met Karzai
and Abdullah in what diplomats interpreted as an effort to bind the two into
a coalition government.

Khalilzad told reporters that "Afghan leaders" had been urged "to recognise
the importance of the moment and seize it" as Western governments debate
their continued military and financial commitment.

"The Afghan people should not assume that the international community will
stay here regardless and indefinitely," he said.

Abdullah has said he will not accept a post in a Karzai government if the
president is found to have won a new term through corrupt means, but during
the week appeared to soften his stance.

Diplomats have said Abdullah has used the election campaign and aftermath to
position himself as a future player and that, aged 48, he has a potentially
long political career ahead of him.

A Western official familiar with the negotiations said discussions were
focusing on whether the Afghan constitution allows a coalition government to
be formed to avoid a run-off.

Constitutionally, a second round should be held within two weeks of the
announcement, and experts say it would have to be held quickly as winter
snows will soon make large parts of the country impassable.

Preparations have been made, with ballot papers printed in London and
indelible ink waiting in Kabul to be sent to polling stations.

But there are concerns that a new vote would attract even fewer voters than
the first, which saw overall turnout of lower than 40 percent -- five
percent in some troubled regions -- after a fearsome Taliban campaign kept
people away from polling stations.

Pashtun tribal leaders in the south -- heartland of Karzai's support as well
as Taliban influence -- said this week they would not vote a second time
because the government had proved itself incapable of providing security.

Some observers see a run-off as the only way to salvage credibility for the
election, which has highlighted corruption in Karzai's government as US
President Barack Obama mulls whether to send more troops to the country.

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Afghan_vot ... 0162009.ht
kmaherali
Posts: 25105
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2003 3:01 pm

Post by kmaherali »

Ismaili Centre Opens Doors in Dushanbe

Senior figures from across the political spectrum gathered for the opening of an Ismaili centre in the Tajik capital this week.

Shahodat Saibnazarova filed a report from the opening ceremony, at which the Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the worldwide Ismaili community, and Tajik president Imomali Rahmon both made speeches.

Like other Ismaili centres around the world, the one in Dushanbe is designed to serve the broader community with cultural and educational facilities as well as religious activities for this branch of Shia Islam. The architects used a design reflecting Central Asia’s historic religious buildings.

Most of Tajikistan’s Ismaili minority live in Badakhshan, a high-altitude region in the southeast.

Politicians and other leading figures interviewed in the report hailed the new centre. Communist Party leader Shodi Shabdolov said it showed how Islam can be a modern, open religion.

Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda, a leading Sunni cleric, stressed that “there is no discord among Tajiks even though they follow different strands of Islam. The majority are Sunni of the Hanafi school… there are no disagreements because neither Hanafis nor Ismailis prosyletise.”

http://www.iwpr.net/?p=car&apc_state=henh&s=f&o=356566
Indigo
Posts: 52
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:30 pm

Dushanbe - a trip full of happiness and blessings!!!

Post by Indigo »

Allahamdullilah!!

With the grace and mercy of our beloved Hazir Imam, we have just returned home successfully from our second visit to that beautiful part of the world that is known as Tajikistan.

This time, many people had decided to form a travel group and go to Tajikistan. Many of our friends and family suggested that we should join such a group as that would certainly make travel to such a remote part of the world easier and there would be greater support all around. <BR>But we remained adamant. As we did in the Golden Jubilee last year, we decided to ask beloved Mowla to take our hands in His and to lead us there by ourselves.

....for a complete pictorial account, please click on the following link:

http://indigo786.wordpress.com
password: 1312
kmaherali
Posts: 25105
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2003 3:01 pm

Re: Dushanbe - a trip full of happiness and blessings!!!

Post by kmaherali »

Indigo wrote: ....for a complete pictorial account, please click on the following link:

http://indigo786.wordpress.com
password: 1312
Very nice! Thanks for sharing....
kmaherali
Posts: 25105
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2003 3:01 pm

Post by kmaherali »

Last edited by kmaherali on Mon Oct 19, 2009 3:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
kmaherali
Posts: 25105
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2003 3:01 pm

Post by kmaherali »

Gallery: Architecture of the Ismaili Centre, Dushanbe

http://www.theismaili.org/cms/891/Galle ... e-Dushanbe
kmaherali
Posts: 25105
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2003 3:01 pm

Post by kmaherali »

Video: Opening Ceremony of the Ismaili Centre, Dushanbe

http://www.theismaili.org/cms/889/Video ... e-Dushanbe
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