Man shot dead in Sweden ahead of court verdict over Qur’an burning, five people arrested

Man shot dead in Sweden ahead of court verdict over Qur’an burning, five people arrested
Salwan Momika protests outside a mosque in Stockholm on June 28, 2023, during the Eid Al-Adha holiday. Momika, who repeatedly burnt the Qur’an in 2023 in Sweden, sparking outrage in Muslim countries, has been shot dead, media reported on January 30, 2025, with police confirming a man died in a shooting the day before. (AFP/File)
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Updated 30 January 2025
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Man shot dead in Sweden ahead of court verdict over Qur’an burning, five people arrested

Man shot dead in Sweden ahead of court verdict over Qur’an burning, five people arrested
  • Salwan Momika protested outside mosque in Stockholm on June 28, 2023
  • Momika was shot in a house in the town of Sodertalje near Stockholm

STOCKHOLM: An Iraqi refugee and anti-Islam campaigner was shot dead in Sweden hours before he was due to receive a court verdict following a trial over burning the Qur’an, and five people were arrested over the shooting on Thursday.
The five were arrested in connection with the incident late on Wednesday and ordered detained by a prosecutor, Swedish police said on their website. They did not say if the shooter was among those detained.
Salwan Momika, 38, was shot in a house in the town of Sodertalje near Stockholm, public broadcaster SVT reported, citing unnamed police sources.
Momika had burned copies of the Qur’an, the Muslim holy book, in public demonstrations in 2023 against Islam.
A Stockholm court had been due to sentence Momika and another man on Thursday in a criminal trial over “offenses of agitation against an ethnic or national group,” but said the announcement of the verdict had been postponed.
A police spokesperson confirmed a man was shot dead in Sodertalje, but gave no other details.
The other defendant in the same court case was giving interviews on Thursday and posted a message on X, saying: “I’m next.”
The Security Service said that police were leading the investigation but “we are following the development of events closely to see what impact this may have on Swedish security,” a spokesperson told Reuters.
Swedish media reported that Momika was streaming live on TikTok at the time he was shot. A video seen by Reuters showed police picking up a phone and ending a livestream that appeared to be from Momika’s TikTok account.
Sweden in 2023 raised its terrorism alert to the second-highest level and warned of threats against Swedes at home and abroad after the Qur’an burnings, many of them by Momika, outraged Muslims and triggered threats from jihadists.
While the Swedish government condemned the wave of Qur’an burnings in 2023, it was initially regarded as a protected form of free speech.
Sweden’s migration agency in 2023 wanted to deport Momika for giving false information on his residency application, but couldn’t as he risked torture and inhumane treatment in Iraq.
Burning the Qur’an is seen by Muslims as a blasphemous act because they consider it the literal word of God.


France tries five for holding reporters hostage in Syria

France tries five for holding reporters hostage in Syria
Updated 5 sec ago
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France tries five for holding reporters hostage in Syria

France tries five for holding reporters hostage in Syria
PARIS: Five men went on trial in France on Monday charged with holding four French journalists hostage for Daesh in war-torn Syria more than a decade ago.
Daesh emerged in 2013 in the chaos that followed the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, slowly gaining ground before declaring a caliphate in large parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq.
The extremists abducted a number of foreign journalists and aid workers before US-backed forces eventually defeated the group in 2019.
Reporters Didier Francois and Edouard Elias, and then Nicolas Henin and Pierre Torres, were abducted 10 days apart while reporting from northern Syria in June 2013.
The journalists were held by Daesh for 10 months until their release in April 2014.
They were found blindfolded with their hands bound in the no-man’s land straddling the border between Syria and Turkiye.
More than a decade later, jailed extremist Mehdi Nemmouche, 39, is among five men accused of their abduction at a trial to last until March 21.
Nemmouche is already in prison after a Belgian court jailed him for life in 2019 for killing four people at a Jewish museum in May 2014, after returning from Syria.
“I was never the jailer of the Western hostages or any other hostage, and I never met these people in Syria,” Nemmouche told the Paris court, breaking his silence after not speaking throughout the Brussels trial or during the investigation.
All four journalists told investigators they were sure Nemmouche, then called Abu Omar, was their jailer.

Henin, in a magazine article in September 2014, recounted Nemmouche punching him in the face and terrorizing Syrian detainees.
He described him as “a self-centered fantasist for whom jihad was finally an excuse to satisfy his morbid thirst for notoriety. A young man lost and perverse.”
The journalists told investigators Nemmouche was an avid follower of news and a French crime show called “Bring in the accused,” who would quiz the detainees on their general knowledge or imitate famous French comedians.
He would also threaten to slit their throats, and once left a dead body outside their door to scare them.
Nemmouche, whose father is unknown, was brought up in the French foster system and became radicalized in prison before going to Syria, according to investigators.
Also in the dock are Frenchman Abdelmalek Tanem, 35, who has already been sentenced in France for heading to fight in Syria in 2012, and a 41-year-old Syrian called Kais Al Abdallah, accused of facilitating Henin’s abduction.
Both have denied the charges.

Belgian extremist Oussama Atar, a senior Daesh commander, is being tried in absentia because he is presumed to have died in Syria in 2017.
He has already been sentenced to life over attacks in Paris in 2015 claimed by Daesh that killed 130 people, and Brussels bombings by the group that took the lives of 32 others in 2016.
French Daesh member Salim Benghalem, who was allegedly in charge of the hostages, is also on trial though believed to be dead.
Governments have said hundreds of Westerners joined extremist groups in Syria.
Two US journalists, James Foley and Stephen Sotloff — with whom all four French journalists said they were kept for a period — were videotaped being beheaded by a militant who spoke on camera with a British accent.
El Shafee Elsheikh, an extremist from London, was found guilty in 2022 of hostage-taking and conspiracy to murder US citizens — Foley and Sotloff, as well as aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller — and supporting a “terrorist” organization.

Philippines, UAE team up to restore the world’s most polluting river in Manila

Philippines, UAE team up to restore the world’s most polluting river in Manila
Updated 17 February 2025
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Philippines, UAE team up to restore the world’s most polluting river in Manila

Philippines, UAE team up to restore the world’s most polluting river in Manila
  • About 63,000 tonnes of plastic waste flows through the Pasig River annually, study shows
  • UAE’s Clean Rivers also pledged $20m to fund cleanup efforts, prevent solid waste pollution

Manila: The Philippines and the UAE have teamed up to restore the Pasig waterway, the world’s most polluting river, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.

The Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources signed an agreement with the UAE-based nonprofit Clean Rivers Foundation on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit in Dubai last week in a ceremony witnessed by First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos.

“The agreement will provide the framework for projects that support the improvement of the Pasig River and prevent waste from leaking into it, which will also promote the preservation of the river ecosystem, enhancing economic opportunities and advancing tourism activities,” the DFA said in a statement.

The Pasig River, which runs through the heart of the Philippine capital, was ranked as the most polluting river out of over 1,600 others around the world in a 2021 study published in the Science Advances journal.

The Philippines is also the largest contributor of plastic waste that ends up in the world’s oceans, emitting more than 356,000 tonnes annually — about 63,000 of which came from the Pasig River.

The agreement also “expands the partnership between the Philippines and the UAE to areas that will prioritize the preservation and enhancement of the environment toward securing a sustainable future,” the DFA added.

As part of the partnership, Clean Rivers had announced its commitment of up to $20 million for Philippine programs aimed at rehabilitating the Pasig River and supporting initiatives that prevent waste leakage.

“We look forward to working closely with the Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and local organizations to turn the tide on river pollution,” Clean Rivers said in a statement.

The fund pledge from the UAE will also help “support sustainable solutions for communities” living along the Pasig River, as it will restore its ecological, commercial and residential value, DENR said in a statement

“With plans for green infrastructure to trap waste and projects to stop pollution at its source, the partnership marks a major step toward a cleaner, healthier Pasig River,” DENR said.

For Filipino environmental NGO BAN Toxics, the new cooperation with the UAE is a welcome first step in rehabilitating the waterway.

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“We’re hopeful that it could do something good for the rehabilitation of the Pasig River, which we know has been, historically, a victim of environmental degradation,” Jashaf Shamir Lorenzo, BAN Toxics deputy executive director, told Arab News.

Though efforts to prevent waste leakage are helpful, Lorenzo said that such projects would be more effective if they tackled the root of the pollution issue.

“The thing with waste management is it should start with waste reduction,” he said. “We could reduce the waste in the first place, not just waste leakage, but the production of these products and how we could replace them with more sustainable alternatives, how we could prolong the lives of these products.”


UK Special Forces vetoed asylum applications of Afghan ex-commando allies

UK Special Forces vetoed asylum applications of Afghan ex-commando allies
Updated 17 February 2025
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UK Special Forces vetoed asylum applications of Afghan ex-commando allies

UK Special Forces vetoed asylum applications of Afghan ex-commando allies
  • Over 2,000 Afghan personnel had claims rejected following fall of country to Taliban in 2021
  • Afghan commandos could be compelled to testify at war crimes inquiry if resettled in Britain

LONDON: More than 2,000 resettlement applications by former Afghan Armed Forces commandos were rejected after UK Special Forces personnel vetoed their claims, preventing them from testifying to an inquiry into alleged war crimes, the BBC reported on Monday.

The UK Ministry of Defense revealed in a court case brought by a former Afghan soldier that officers denied applications from thousands of men who had fought the Taliban alongside the British in Afghanistan, having previously denied that a policy of doing so existed.

The MoD also refused to say, when asked by the BBC, if any applications for Triples Afghan soldiers — so-called because of the three-number identifications their units were assigned — had been supported by UK Special Forces senior figures.

Afghan Triples units were trained and funded by the UK. They were deemed at risk of reprisals following the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban in 2021, and allowed to apply for resettlement in the UK.

However, controversy has surrounded the failure to support applications by UK Special Forces officers, as an inquiry is ongoing into allegations of war crimes committed by Special Forces soldiers in Afghanistan, where Triples commandos were present.

If resettled in the UK, the Triples could be compelled by the inquiry to give evidence. Many remain in hiding in Afghanistan.

One former Triples officer told the BBC: “Although (some asylum application) decisions have been overturned, it’s too late for some people.

“The delays have caused a lot of problems. People have been captured by the Taliban or lost their lives.”

The officer said Afghan commandos felt “betrayed” by their former “brothers” in the Special Forces, adding: “If Special Forces made these rejections they should say why. They should have to answer.”

The MoD denied that the Special Forces had the power to veto asylum applications, but former Defense Minister Andrew Murrison later admitted that they did after a BBC investigation.

Mike Martin MP, a former British Army officer who served in Afghanistan, told the BBC: “There is the appearance that UK Special Forces blocked the Afghan special forces applications because they were witnesses to the alleged UK war crimes currently being investigated in the Afghan inquiry.”

He added: “If the MoD is unable to offer any explanation, then the matter should be included in the inquiry.”

Former Conservative MP Johnny Mercer, who also served in Afghanistan and was an armed forces minister while in government, said he had heard “horrific” allegations made by Triples soldiers against UK Special Forces members.

It is “very clear to me that there is a pool of evidence that exists within the Afghan (special forces) community that are now in the UK that should contribute to this inquiry,” he added.

The ministry previously told the BBC: “There has been no evidence to suggest that any part of the MoD has sought to prevent former members of the Afghan specialist units from giving evidence to the inquiry.”


Hungary says European leaders aim to ‘prevent’ Ukraine truce

Hungary says European leaders aim to ‘prevent’ Ukraine truce
Updated 17 February 2025
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Hungary says European leaders aim to ‘prevent’ Ukraine truce

Hungary says European leaders aim to ‘prevent’ Ukraine truce
  • Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has repeatedly called for peace talks
  • He has also refused to send military aid to Ukraine since Russia’s offensive in 2022

BUDAPEST: Hungary’s foreign minister said European leaders’ meeting in Paris on Monday to discuss Washington’s shock policy shift on the Ukraine war was an effort to “prevent” peace.
The summit comes after US President Donald Trump sidelined Kyiv and its European backers last week when he called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to talk about starting negotiations to end the conflict.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban – one of the closest EU partners of Trump and Moscow – has repeatedly called for peace talks and refused to send military aid to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022.
“Today, in Paris, pro-war, anti-Trump, frustrated European leaders are gathering to prevent a peace agreement in Ukraine,” Peter Szijjarto told a press briefing which was livestreamed on his Facebook page.
“Unlike them, we support Donald Trump’s ambitions, unlike them, we support the US-Russian negotiations, unlike them, we want peace in Ukraine,” he added.
Leaders from the UK, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark are expected at the Paris meeting, which falls ahead of the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Antonio Costa, who heads the European Council representing the European Union’s 27 nations, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, and NATO secretary general Mark Rutte will also be present.
The French presidency said the meeting would address “the situation in Ukraine” and “security in Europe.”
Meanwhile, Slovenia’s pro-EU president also criticized the Paris meeting for not including all 27 of the bloc’s leaders.
“On a symbolic level, the organizers of the Paris summit show to the world that even within the EU not all states are treated equally,” Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar said in a statement.


Singapore opposition leader fined for lying to parliament

Singapore opposition leader fined for lying to parliament
Updated 17 February 2025
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Singapore opposition leader fined for lying to parliament

Singapore opposition leader fined for lying to parliament
  • Pritam Singh, secretary-general of the Workers’ Party, was found guilty on two counts of lying
  • Singh, who said he would appeal the court’s decision, was fined S$7,000 ($5,200) for each charge

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s opposition leader was fined on Monday for lying to parliament while helping a fellow party member cover up a false witness account, but narrowly avoided being barred from contesting upcoming national elections.
Pritam Singh, 48, secretary-general of the Workers’ Party, was found guilty on two counts of lying to a parliamentary committee probing a fellow MP.
The conviction comes as the Southeast Asian nation’s struggling political opposition is seeking to challenge the overwhelming dominance of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) in elections expected within months.
The PAP has ruled the wealthy city-state since 1959.
District court judge Luke Tan said that contrary to what Singh told the committee, he had not done enough to get rookie MP Raeesah Khan to admit to her lie in parliament.
The judge also gave credence to Khan’s testimony that Singh had told her during a meeting to “take the lie to the grave.”
Singh, who said he would appeal the court’s decision, was fined S$7,000 ($5,200) for each charge.
“It’s not going to be an easy election... we’ll have to fight hard, and that’s what we will do,” Singh told reporters outside the court.
“The path of choosing opposition politics is not for the faint hearted.”
Under the constitution, a person fined a minimum of Sg$10,000 or jailed for at least one year, is disqualified from running for election or holding a parliamentary seat for five years.
“He will not be disqualified as the threshold of $10,000 fine per charge is not crossed. You can’t stack up the fines,” Eugene Tan, who teaches constitutional law at Singapore Management University, said.
The Elections Department later confirmed this via a statement on Facebook.
Khan, who resigned from the legislature following the scandal, had admitted to making up a story she told in parliament about a female rape victim she accompanied to make a police report.
The former MP confessed that she lied when telling parliament in 2021 that a police officer supposedly made “insensitive comments” about the way the alleged victim was dressed and that she had drunk alcohol.
But Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam had said there was no record in the police files of such an incident and Khan eventually admitted to lying.
Singh was then accused of lying to the parliamentary committee investigating Khan.
He allegedly told the committee that he was not aware that Khan had made up the story about the rape victim, in an apparent attempt to downplay his responsibility as party leader, court documents said.
But the judge tore through Singh’s credibility as a witness.
In the 2020 general elections, the PAP won 83 of the 93 seats at stake to retain its dominance.
The main opposition Workers’ Party captured 10 seats – four more than previously held – in its strongest performance since independence in 1965.
Its leaders have said they hope to further increase the party’s numbers in parliament in the upcoming elections, which will be new premier Lawrence Wong’s first major political test.