Afghan refugee pleads no contest to 2 murders in case that shocked Albuquerque’s Muslim community

Afghan refugee pleads no contest to 2 murders in case that shocked Albuquerque’s Muslim community
Muhammad Syed enters the court room before opening statements at the Bernalillo County Courthouse in Downtown Albuquerque, N.M, on March 12, 2024. Syed, an Afghan refugee, is accused in the slayings of three Muslim men in Albuquerque. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 04 September 2024
Follow

Afghan refugee pleads no contest to 2 murders in case that shocked Albuquerque’s Muslim community

Afghan refugee pleads no contest to 2 murders in case that shocked Albuquerque’s Muslim community
  • Bernalillo County prosecutors say Syed faces a life prison sentence in Aftab Hussein’s killings and will serve 30 years behind bars for the no-contest pleas

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.: An Afghan refugee convicted of first-degree murder in one of three fatal shootings in 2022 that shook Albuquerque’s Muslim community pleaded no contest Tuesday to two homicide charges stemming from the other killings.
Prosecutors said Muhammad Syed, 53, entered the pleas to two counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, and Naeem Hussain.
A jury had convicted Syed in March in the shooting death of Aftab Hussein, 41, in July 2022.
The three ambush-style killings happened over the course of several days, leaving authorities scrambling to determine if race or religion might have been behind the shootings. Investigators soon shifted away from possible hate crimes to what prosecutors called the “willful and very deliberate” actions of another member of the Muslim community.
Syed, who settled in the US with his family several years earlier, denied involvement in the killings after being stopped more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Albuquerque. He told authorities he was on his way to Texas to find a new home for his family, saying he was concerned about the killings in Albuquerque.
Bernalillo County prosecutors say Syed faces a life prison sentence in Aftab Hussein’s killings and will serve 30 years behind bars for the no-contest pleas. A sentencing date hasn’t been set.
Authorities said Afzaal Hussain, an urban planner, was gunned down Aug. 1, 2022, while taking his evening walk. Naeem Hussain was shot four days later as he sat in his vehicle outside a refugee resettlement agency on the city’s south side. Aftab Hussein was a student leader at the University of New Mexico who was active in politics and later worked for the city of Española.
After Syed’s conviction in March, prosecutors acknowledged that no testimony during the trial nor any court filings addressed a possible motive. Prosecutors had described him as having a violent history, but his public defenders argued that previous allegations of domestic violence never resulted in convictions.


Chad president welcomes ‘complete’ departure of French forces

Chad president welcomes ‘complete’ departure of French forces
Updated 12 sec ago
Follow

Chad president welcomes ‘complete’ departure of French forces

Chad president welcomes ‘complete’ departure of French forces
  • Soldiers and fighter aircraft from France have been stationed in Chad almost continuously since the country’s independence in 1960, helping to train the Chadian military

N’DJAMENA: President Mahamat Idriss Deby on Friday welcomed the “definitive and complete departure” of French forces from Chad, which marks the end of France’s last foothold in the wider terrorist-hit Sahel region.
After a closed-door military ceremony a day earlier, Deby addressed Chadian forces and diplomats at an event in the capital, N’Djamena.
The handover of the Kossei base, the French army’s last such facility in the central African country, follows Chad’s surprise breaking off military cooperation with its former colonial ruler in late November.
“We are not breaking off our relationship with France, but we are ending the military dimension of this cooperation,” Deby said at the base where only the Chadian flag was flying.
Chad must build an “even stronger, better-equipped army” and “forge new alliances based on mutual respect and without losing sight of the demands of independence and sovereignty,” he added.
Soldiers and fighter aircraft from France have been stationed in Chad almost continuously since the country’s independence in 1960, helping to train the Chadian military.
The country had been a key link in France’s military presence in Africa.

 

 


Legal battle intensifies over Gaza as ICJ rulings face defiance

Legal battle intensifies over Gaza as ICJ rulings face defiance
Updated 25 min 36 sec ago
Follow

Legal battle intensifies over Gaza as ICJ rulings face defiance

Legal battle intensifies over Gaza as ICJ rulings face defiance
  • The two nations are spearheading the newly formed Hague Group, a coalition of nine countries

LONDON: The international legal battle over Gaza has deepened as South Africa and Malaysia announced a campaign to uphold rulings from the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, responding to what they described as widespread defiance of international legal orders.

The two nations are spearheading the newly formed Hague Group, a coalition of nine countries — also including Belize, Honduras, Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, Senegal and Namibia — committed to defending the global legal framework, The Guardian newspaper reported on Friday.

Their initiative follows mounting frustration in the Global South over perceived Western double standards in the application of international law, particularly in the cases of Gaza, Ukraine and Mediterranean human smuggling.

South Africa’s Minister of International Relations Ronald Lamola, said: “The Hague Group’s formation sends a clear message: No nation is above the law and no crime will go unanswered.”

South Africa has taken a leading role in pursuing legal accountability for the war in Gaza, having filed a case at the ICJ accusing Israel of genocide.

Israel has fiercely rejected the claim but interim rulings from the ICJ in January last year mandated it to take immediate measures to prevent genocidal acts and allow humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.

However, a recent Oxfam survey of nongovernmental agencies operating in Gaza found that 89 percent of agencies reported deteriorating access to aid since the ICJ’s orders were issued. The ongoing humanitarian crisis and Israel’s apparent noncompliance have intensified calls for international enforcement mechanisms.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the campaign was not about punishing Israel but about defending the integrity of global legal institutions.

“These rulings strike at the very foundations of international law, which the global community has a duty to defend,” he said.

The growing resistance to ICJ rulings has drawn attention to broader concerns over the erosion of international law. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has issued a report outlining steps that member states could take to ensure Israel’s compliance, including reaffirming the ICJ’s finding that its continued occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and should end within a year.

Switzerland has been tasked with convening a conference in March for the 196 signatories of the Geneva Conventions to reaffirm the legal obligations regarding occupied Palestinian territory. A conference in June in New York is set to discuss the feasibility of a two-state solution.

But enforcing ICJ rulings remains a challenge. Newly appointed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has endorsed a congressional bill proposing sanctions against any individuals or entities cooperating with ICC investigations targeting the US or its allies. The bill could extend to family members, further complicating efforts to hold Israel accountable.


Divers returning to the Potomac River for DC plane crash recovery, investigation

Divers returning to the Potomac River for DC plane crash recovery, investigation
Updated 34 min 20 sec ago
Follow

Divers returning to the Potomac River for DC plane crash recovery, investigation

Divers returning to the Potomac River for DC plane crash recovery, investigation
  • Investigators have already recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder

ARLINGTON: Divers are expected to return to the Potomac River on Friday as part of the recovery and investigation after a midair collision killed
67 people in the US’ deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter century.

Investigators have already recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder of the American Airlines plane that collided with an Army helicopter as the plane was landing Wednesday night at Ronald Reagan National Airport next to Washington, DC. Officials are scrutinizing a range of factors in what National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Hommendy has called an “all-hands-on-deck event.”
All aboard the two aircraft were killed, with officials examining the actions of the military pilot as well as air traffic control after the helicopter apparently flew into the path of the American Airlines jet.
Air crash investigations can take months, and federal investigators told reporters Thursday they would not speculate on the cause.
Authorities were still looking for the helicopter’s black box recorder, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday on Fox News Channel. Other factors in the crash, including the helicopter’s altitude and whether the crew was using its night vision goggles, are still under investigation, Hegseth said.
At least 28 bodies have been pulled from the Potomac River. The plane carried 60 passengers and four crew members, and three soldiers were aboard the helicopter.
One air traffic controller was responsible for coordinating helicopter traffic and arriving and departing planes when the collision happened, according to a report by the Federal Aviation Administration that was obtained by The Associated Press. Those duties are often divided between two people, but the airport typically combines the roles at 9:30 p.m., once traffic begins to slow down. On Wednesday the tower supervisor directed that they be combined earlier.
“The position configuration was not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” the report said.
A person familiar with the matter, however, said the tower staffing that night was at a normal level. The positions are regularly combined when controllers need to step away from the console for breaks, during shift changes or when air traffic is slow, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal procedures. The FAA has long struggled with a shortage of air traffic controllers.
Officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet arrived from Wichita, Kansas, carrying, among others, a group of elite young figure skaters, their parents and coaches, and four union steamfitters from the Washington area.
A top Army aviation official said the crew of the helicopter, a Black Hawk, was “very experienced” and familiar with the congested flying that occurs daily around the city.
“Both pilots had flown this specific route before, at night. This wasn’t something new to either one of them,” said Jonathan Koziol, chief of staff for Army aviation.
The helicopter’s maximum allowed altitude at the time was 200 feet (about 60 meters), Koziol said. It was not immediately clear whether it exceeded that limit, but Hegseth said altitude seemed to be a factor in the collision.
Koziol said investigators need to analyze the flight data before making conclusions about altitude.
Flights at Reagan National resumed around midday Thursday.
Wednesday’s crash was the deadliest in the US since Nov. 12, 2001, when an American Airlines flight slammed into a residential area of Belle Harbor, New York, just after takeoff from Kennedy Airport, killing all 260 people aboard and five people on the ground.
The last major fatal crash involving a US commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, along with one person on the ground, bringing the total death toll to 50.

 


Medicine shortage sparks worry in Central Asian Kyrgyzstan

Medicine shortage sparks worry in Central Asian Kyrgyzstan
Updated 31 January 2025
Follow

Medicine shortage sparks worry in Central Asian Kyrgyzstan

Medicine shortage sparks worry in Central Asian Kyrgyzstan
  • Landlocked Kyrgyzstan is one of the poorest of former Soviet republics and brings in most of medicines from Russia, India and Pakistan
  • Many Kyrgyz have to build up considerable savings in order to receive treatment abroad, a practice that authorities have promised to end

BISHKEK: Kyrgyzstan announced on Friday it was facing a shortage of medicines, particularly for treating serious illnesses in the Central Asian country, that imports almost all pharmaceutical products.
Landlocked Kyrgyzstan is one of the poorest of the former Soviet republics and brings in most of its medicines from Russia, India and Pakistan.
Many Kyrgyz have to build up considerable savings in order to receive treatment abroad — a practice authorities have promised to end.
In 2023, the Kyrgyz government set up a state-owned company — Kyrgyzpharmacy — to centralize the distribution to hospitals of medicines needed to treat cancer, blood diseases and epilepsy.
The measure — which involved buying medicines directly from manufacturers — was designed to combat corruption.
“The company needs 3.5 billion Som — more than 38.5 million euros ($40 million) — to guarantee the purchase of medicine and increase volumes,” said Health Minister Alymkadyr Beishenaliev.
The government has also launched a network of state-run pharmacies designed to bring down the price of medicines — which is higher than in most other ex-Soviet states.
The health minister acknowledged on Friday that most of them were not profitable and announced he had sacked the head of Kyrgyzphamarcy, at the request of President Sadyr Japarov.
Members of parliament have warned about the shortage of medicines, criticized the state of the medical infrastructure and suggested raising funds for children with cancer.
On Thursday, parliamentary speaker Nurlan Shakiyev said: “Supply of medicines to the population is a thorny issue.”
He noted the public was “concerned about a significant increase in the price of essential and sought-after medicines.”


Sweden releases 5 arrested following the killing of an Iraqi who carried out Qur’an burnings

Sweden releases 5 arrested following the killing of an Iraqi who carried out Qur’an burnings
Updated 31 January 2025
Follow

Sweden releases 5 arrested following the killing of an Iraqi who carried out Qur’an burnings

Sweden releases 5 arrested following the killing of an Iraqi who carried out Qur’an burnings
  • Salwan Momika staged several burnings and desecrations of Islam’s holy book in Sweden
  • Momika was killed in a shooting Wednesday night at an apartment building

STOCKHOLM: Swedish prosecutors said Friday they have ordered the release of five men who were arrested after the fatal shooting of an Iraqi man who carried out several Qur’an burnings.
Salwan Momika staged several burnings and desecrations of Islam’s holy book in Sweden in 2023. Videos of the Qur’an burnings got worldwide publicity and raised anger and criticism in several Muslim nations, leading to riots and unrest in many places.
Momika was killed in a shooting Wednesday night at an apartment building in Sodertalje, near Stockholm. Five people were arrested in the following hours on suspicion of murder.
Prosecutor Rasmus Öman said in a statement Friday that the suspicions they committed a crime have weakened and he no longer sees a reason to keep them in custody.
The statement added that the suspicions have not yet been dismissed completely and investigators are still looking into what exactly happened and who was behind the killing.