Khalid Ibrahim akan selesai hutang USD18 juta Bank Islam lebih murah The Malaysian Insider

Dalam satu langkah yang mengejutkan, Bank Islam Malaysia yang sebelum ini beria-ia membawa Menteri Besar Selangor Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim ke mahkamah kerana hutang USD18 juta (RM66.67 juta) kini bersedia untuk menyelesaikan perkara ini dengan amaun lebih rendah.

The Malaysian Insider difahamkan, Mahkamah Persekutuan mengadakan pendengaran sampingan di antara kedua-dua pihak semalam selepas diberitahu tentang rundingan penyelesaian yang sedang berjalan.

Kemungkinan penyelesaian itu mengejutkan ramai pihak termasuk pemimpin tertinggi PKR dan peguam Abdul Khalid. Salah seorang peguam mengatakan beliau mendengar penyelesaian sedang berjalan.

“Saya ada dengar tentang penyelesaian ini dan sedang cuba dapatkan butiran lanjut,” katanya.

Seorang pemimpin kanan PKR mengesahkan Abdul Khalid memberitahunya perjanjian sedang berjalan untuk hutang ditanggung semasa beliau menjadi ketua pegawai eksekutif Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd bagi pembelian 20% saham syarikat.

Bank Islam Malaysia membawa perkara itu ke mahkamah pada 2007, setahun sebelum Abdul Khalid dinamakan sebagai menteri besar Selangor.

Bank Islam Malaysia dimiliki 100% oleh BIMB Holdings Bhd (BHB), di mana pemegang saham majoritinya merupakan Lembaga Urusan Tabung Haji (LUTH) yang menguasai 54%. Pemegang saham lain adalah Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja (KWSP), Permodalan Nasional Bhd dan Amanah Saham Bumiputera.

Mahkamah Rayuan memutuskan pada Mac 2010 Abdul Khalid tidak perlu membayar RM66.67 juta kepada Bank Islam selepas mengenepikan rumusan penghakiman bank tersebut terhadapnya kerana gagal menyelesaikan kemudahan pinjaman Islam itu.

Pada 21 Ogos, 2009, Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur membenarkan permohonan bank untuk untuk mengemukakan penghakiman terus terhadap Abdul Khalid dan memerintahkannya membayar RM66.67 juta.

Tetapi Hakim Mahkamah Rayuan Datuk Zainun Ali, Datuk Jeffrey Tan Kok Wha dan Datuk Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad secara sebulat suara membenarkan rayuan Abdul Khalid dengan kos.

Mereka juga mengembalikan semula kes ini ke Mahkamah Tinggi selepas memutuskan isu dalam kes ini memerlukan perbicaraan penuh.

Semasa mengenepikan penghakiman terus itu, Zainun berkata, mahkamah berpendapat di bawah prinsip perbankan Islam, pendapat daripada pakar undang-undang Islam mengenai peraturan Islam tentang kesahan transaksi, adalah diperlukan.

Terdapat dua saman difailkan berhubung kes itu, satu yang difailkan oleh Abdul Khalid terhadap bank dan yang kedua saman balas bank terhadap menteri besar itu.

Dalam samannya terhadap BIMB, Abdul Khalid menuntut ganti rugi dan pengisytiharan, dengan mendakwa terdapat penjualan yang salah saham-saham dalam Guthrie di bawah kemudahan pinjaman Al-Bai Bithaman Ajil (BBA).

Abdul Khalid, yang ketika itu ketua pegawai eksekutif Guhtrie Berhad, mendakwa wujud kontrak kolateral antara beliau dan BIMB bersampingan dengan perjanjian kemudahan Al-Bai Bithaman Ajil (BBA) bertarikh 30 April, 2001.

Beliau mahu satu perisytiharaan kemudahan BBA itu secara berasingan dan tanpa kontrak kolateral itu adalah batal dan tidak sah dan BIMB melanggar kontrak kolateral dan atau kemudahan BBA.

Dalam saman balas terhadap Abdul Khalid, BIMB mendakwa berlaku pelanggaran perjanjian Al-Bai Bithaman Ajil ekoran kegagalan beliau membayar balik pinjaman. – 13 Februari, 2014.

Khalid to settle US$18 million Bank Islam debt for far less

In a surprising move, Bank Islam Malaysia, which has been doggedly pursuing Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim in court for a US$18.52 million (RM66.67 million) debt, is now willing to settle for much less.

The Malaysian Insider has learnt that the Federal Court stood down an ancillary hearing between the parties in chambers yesterday after receiving word of ongoing settlement talks.

The possible settlement caught many by surprise, including bigwigs in PKR and lawyers for Khalid. One his lawyers for the matter said he heard of a deal in the works.

"I've heard of a settlement and am trying to get the details," he said.

A senior PKR leader confirmed that Khalid confided in him that a deal was being hammered out for the debt incurred for the then Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd chief executive officer's purchase of 20% of the company's shares.

Bank Islam Malaysia took the matter to court in 2007, a year before Khalid was named Selangor menteri besar. He was then the PKR treasurer.

Bank Islam Malaysia is a 100%-owned unit of BIMB Holdings Bhd (BHB), whose majority shareholder is the national pilgrims’ management fund Lembaga Urusan Tabung Haji (LUTH) with a 54% stake. The other shareholders are the government-linked Employees Provident Fund, Permodalan Nasional Bhd and Amanah Saham Bumiputera.

The Court of Appeal had ruled in March 2010 that Khalid need not pay RM66.67 million to Bank Islam when it set aside the summary judgment obtained by the bank against him for failure to settle an Islamic loan facility.

On August 21, 2009, the Kuala Lumpur High Court granted the bank's application to enter summary judgment against Khalid and ordered him to pay RM66.67 million.

But appeal court judges Datuk Zainun Ali, Datuk Jeffrey Tan Kok Wha and Datuk Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad had unanimously allowed Khalid's appeal with costs.

They also sent the case back to the High Court as they ruled that the issues in the case must get a full trial.

In setting aside the summary judgment, Zainun had said the court was of the view that under Islamic banking principles, an opinion from Islamic jurists on the precepts of Islam on the legality of the transaction was required.

There were two suits filed related to the matter, one by Khalid against the bank and the second was the bank's counter-suit against the menteri besar.

Khalid, in his suit, is seeking declaratory relief and general damages, claiming that there was a wrongful sale of his shares under the Al-Bai Bithaman Ajil (BBA) facility.

As the then chief executive officer of Guthrie Bhd, he claimed that there existed a collateral contract between him and the bank with the said loan agreement dated April 30, 2001.

He wanted the court to declare that the BBA facility, in isolation and without the collateral contract, is null and void and that Bank Islam had breached the collateral contract and the BBA facility.

In its counterclaim suit, Bank Islam Malaysia claimed that Khalid had breached its contract in the BBA loan agreement following his failure to repay the loan. – February 13, 2014.

Pemain, pengurusan T-Team tunai janji Oleh ISWAN SHAFIQ MAT ISA sukan@utusan.com.my Artikel Penuh: http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/Sukan/20140211/su_01/Pemain-pengurusan-T-Team-tunai-janji#ixzz2sya8ta00 © Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd

KUALA TERENGGANU - Penolong jurulatih dan seorang pemain pasukan T-Team bersumpah dengan al-Quran semalam bagi membuktikan kebenaran berhubung insiden dalam terowong yang berlaku di Stadium Tan Sri Hj. Hassan Yunos, Larkin pada 1 Februari lalu.

Upacara angkat sumpah itu berlangsung di Hotel Tabung Haji di sini sambil disaksikan Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Ahmad Said; Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Belia, Sukan dan Sumber Manusia negeri yang juga Pengurus T-Team, Rozi Mamat dan Presiden Persatuan Bola Sepak Negeri Terengganu (PBSNT), Datuk Wan Ahmad Nizam Wan Abdul Hamid.

Penolong jurulatih T-Team, Azlan Johar menjadi saksi pertama yang mengangkat sumpah sebelum diikuti oleh seorang pemain tengah T-Team, Khairan Izuan Razali yang turut berada dalam terowong berkenaan ketika kejadian itu berlaku.

Dalam akuan tersebut, Azlan dan Khairan Izuan bersumpah mengatakan mereka berada dalam keadaan sedar dan waras ketika kejadian itu berlaku dan melihat sendiri bagaimana pemain import T-Team, Evaldo Goncalves ditumbuk di bahagian muka.

Majlis yang berlangsung kira-kira pukul 10 malam itu turut disaksikan oleh semua pemain T-Team dan Terengganu serta pihak pengurusan untuk kedua-dua pasukan.

Bagaimanapun, kelibat pemain pertahanan kontroversi T-Team yang juga bekas pemain Johor Darul Takzim, Mohd. Irfan Abdul Ghani tidak kelihatan dalam majlis berkenaan kerana dipercayai masih berada di Johor.

Sementara itu, Ahmad berkata, beliau tidak menganggap perbuatan mengangkat sumpah itu sebagai menghina kesucian agama Islam.

"Upacara bersumpah ini sebenarnya bertujuan membuktikan dakwaan yang dibuat itu benar, sekali gus menafikan tohmahan bahawa T-Team sengaja mengada-adakan cerita tentang kejadian tersebut.

"Jika Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) tidak mahu mengangkat sumpah, itu terpulang kepada mereka. Yang penting melakukan perkara yang sepatutnya kita buat," katanya dalam sidang akhbar selepas majlis berkenaan.

Dalam perkembangan berkaitan, Ahmad mencabar Mohd. Irfan supaya tampil untuk mengangkat sumpah bagi membuktikan dakwaan bahawa kejadian dalam terowong itu tidak pernah berlaku sebelum ini.

"Saya sanggup beli tiket 'flight' untuk dia datang ke mari jika dia sanggup bersumpah," katanya.

Artikel Penuh: http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/Sukan/20140211/su_01/Pemain-pengurusan-T-Team-tunai-janji#ixzz2syXcBqA5
© Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd 

Kami akan lakukan sekali lagi jika Melayu dihina, kata penganjur protes The Malaysian Insider

Keputusan Kementerian Dalam Negeri  (KDN) mengabaikan ancaman penganjur protes "ayam dan tampar " sebagai bukan sesuatu yang serius menyebabkan pemimpin badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) berkenaan memberi amaran akan ada lagi bantahan jika "perkara tidak berubah" .

Majlis Jemaah NGO Islam, terdiri daripada kumpulan berkait Umno, berkata mereka tidak takut akan akibat dan tidak menunjukkan sebarang penyesalan terhadap Khamis lalu, di mana mereka menyembelih dua ekor ayam dan menawarkan ganjaran sebanyak RM1,200 kepada sesiapa yang berjaya menampar Ahli Parlimen Seputeh Teresa Kok kerana klip video didakwa menghina pemimpin Melayu.

"Jika ahli-ahli politik terus dengan sikap cauvinis mereka, kami akan mengadakan bantahan lain. Kami tidak takut," kata Setiausaha Agung Pertubuhan Permuafakatan Majlis Ayahanda Malaysia (Permas) Zulkifli Sharif kepada The Malaysian Insider.

Zulkifli mengetuai kumpulan memprotes Kok dan pemimpin DAP yang lain, tindakan yang dikatakan Menteri Dalam Negeri Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi "bukan satu ancaman".

"Mengapa kita perlu menyiasat perkara itu? Menampar bukannya ancaman. Jika mereka berkata bunuh, maka ia adalah ancaman," kata menteri itu semalam.

Presiden Pertubuhan Kebajikan Insan Bakti Malaysia (Perkib), Mohd Mokhtar Ghazali yang menyertai bantahan itu berkata, kumpulan itu "tidak mempunyai apa-apa untuk dibimbangkan".

"Jika kita berani untuk melakukannya, maka kita perlu berani untuk menghadapi akibatnya.

"Pihak polis harus terlebih dahulu mengambil tindakan terhadap Teresa Kok kerana kita terlebih dahulu membuat laporan sebelum beliau," katanya.

Lima kumpulan Islam yang dikatakan mengambil bahagian dalam tunjuk perasaan itu termasuklah Permas dan Perkib.

Kumpulan lain adalah Persatuan Pengguna Islam Malaysia (PPIM), Martabat Jalinan Muhibbah Malaysia (MJMM) dan Pertubuhan Kebajikan Dakwah Islamiyah (Pekida), yang dikaitkan dengan Umno dan pemimpin terdahulu termasuk bekas perdana menteri dan presiden Umno, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Kumpulan berkenaan mendakwa beberapa pemimpin pembangkang menghina kepimpinan Melayu dan Islam.

Selain penyembelihan ayam dan tawaran ganjaran, mereka melumur darah ayam yang disembelih di kain rentang yang memaparkan gambar Kok, Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, Lim Guan Eng, Penasihat DAP, Lim Kit Siang dan Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adun) Machang Bubuk PKR, Lee Khai Loon.

Penunjuk perasaan berkata, mereka bertindak disebabkan klip video Tahun Baru Cina Kok bertajuk "Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014", yang turut dikritik beberapa ahli-ahli Kabinet dan NGO Islam.

"Beliau (Kok) seolah-olah mempunyai agenda tersembunyi terhadap orang Melayu berdasarkan apa yang dikatakannya dalam video itu," kata Zulkifli yang mendakwa beliau menganjurkan tunjuk perasaan itu demi agama, bangsa dan negara.

Mokhtar menambah: "Mengapa beberapa pemimpin ini bermain dengan isu-isu yang boleh mengeliru  atau menyakiti perasaan orang lain.”

Kedua-dua pemimpin NGO menafikan terdapatnya pengaruh luar ketika ditanya jika kumpulan mereka didalangi mana-mana ahli-ahli politik .

"Ini adalah inisiatif kami sendiri," Zulkifli menegaskan .

"Kami membiayainya sendiri. Kami tidak ada penaja politik atau korporat," ujar Mokhtar.

Walaupun kedua-duanya telah menafikan wujudnya kaitan dengan mana-mana parti politik, kumpulan tersebut dikatakan mempunyai kaitan dengan Umno.

Mokhtar berkata, kumpulan itu akan bersuara terhadap sesiapa yang menghina Islam dan mempersoalkan hak-hak Melayu, tanpa mengambil kira parti mereka.

"Kami tidak peduli mereka daripada parti mana. Saya bersedia walaupun untuk mengkritik kerajaan jika ada keperluan," katanya.

Perkib ditubuhkan pada 2008 bagi menjaga kebajikan dan membasmi kemiskinan di kalangan umat Islam. Dalam blog, NGO itu berkata matlamat akhirnya adalah untuk "mencari keamanan kekal di dunia dan akhirat ".

Sementara itu, Permas adalah gabungan para pemimpin Pekida seluruh negara ini dan ia mengatakan perjuangan mereka adalah bersandarkan kepada menegakkan agama Islam, bangsa Melayu, raja-raja Melayu dan negara.

Pekida dikenali dengan kegiatan kebajikan di kalangan umat Islam tetapi ia juga dikaitkan dengan kegiatan samseng walaupun kumpulan itu menafikannya dengan mengatakan mereka mungkin daripada kumpulan serpihan .

Bekas Timbalan Menteri Pelajaran, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah pernah mempertahankan kumpulan ini walaupun reputasi mereka sebagai samseng.

"Di antara mereka terdapat tiga kumpulan yang berbeza. Walaupun Pak Lah adalah Ayahanda kepada Pekida, beliau tidak termasuk puak yang samseng," kata Saifuddin tahun lepas . – 9 Februari, 2014.

Mengapa Pas tidak menjadi MB Selangor? MOHAMMAD AGUS YUSOFF 9 Februari 2014

SEORANG rakan bertanya saya, dengan andaian DS Anwar Ibrahim kalah dalam PRK Kajang, masih perlukah Pas memberikan ruang kepada PKR untuk menjadi MB lagi?

Soalan ini timbul kerana dalam PRU-13 yang lalu, Pas merasakan partinya telah kuat di Selangor setelah memenangi 15 kerusi. Pas lupa bahawa DAP juga memenangi 15 kerusi. Parti lain yang memenangi kerusi ialah PKR 14 dan BN 12 kerusi. Dengan jumlah 56 kerusi Dun semuanya, Pas perlu memenangi minimum 29 kerusi untuk membentuk kerajaan negeri secara sendirian.

Adakah Pas mempunyai kerusi sebanyak itu? Pas tidak mempunyai kerusi itu. Hatta jika Pas bergabung dengan BN (Umno) pun, Pas akan hanya mempunyai 27 kerusi dan masih belum boleh membentuk kerajaan.

Tapi Pas tidak berbaik dengan BN. Kawan Pas dalam PRU-13 ialah PKR dan DAP. Tetapi DAP tidak menyokong calon as untuk menjadi MB. DAP menyokong calon Melayu dari PKR, maka sebab itulah TS Khalid Ibrahim dari PKR yang menjadi MB.

Maka, apa lagi isunya yang Pas tidak puas hati? Apakah kerana DAP tidak menyokong calon Pas untuk menjadi MB, maka kita boleh katakan DAP membuli Pas? Saya tidak nampak begitu.

Oleh itulah, jika Pas tidak berpuas hati dalam soal calon MB ini, Pas jangan menyokong calon PKR menjadi MB. Jika itu berlaku, maka hanya DAP dan PKR sahaja yang perlu mendapat 29 kerusi untuk membentuk kerajaan. Jika DS Anwar Ibrahim memang dalam PRK Kajang nanti, maka PKR dan DAP masih lagi mempunyai suara majoriti untuk mencalonkan MB mereka.

Tetapi sekiranya DS Anwar Ibrahim tewas dalam PRK Kajang dan Pas tidak menyokong calon PKR untuk menjadi MB, maka kedudukan kerusi ialah 28 kerusi bagi DAP dan PKR, Pas 15 kerusi dan BN 13 kerusi.

Jika ini berlaku, maka yang pasti ialah akan berlakunya Dun yang tergantung. Apabila berlaku Dun yang tergantung, siapakah yang layak menjadi MB Selangor? Jawapan kepada pertanyaan ini telah saya bincangkan dalam posting saya bertarikh 2 Mei 2013 mengenai parlimen tergantung.

Satu pertanyaan menarik sebelum saya tutup perbincangan ini ialah, puas hatikah Pas apabila calon PKR tidak lagi menjadi MB Selangor? Puas hatikah Pas apabila wujudnya Dun tergantung di Selangor? Apakah Pas merasakan kedudukan mereka akan kekal kuat tanpa kerjasama dalam PR?

Aduhai, sikap pemimpin politik kita sukar untuk kekal konsisten.

* Ini adalah pendapat peribadi penulis yang dipetik dari blog beliau sendiri dan tidak semestinya mewakili pandangan Sinar Harian Online.

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Why House of Saud fears/hates Iran

Why House of Saud fears/hates Iran

Saudi spy chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan

Thu Feb 6, 2014 6:2AM GMT

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By Finian Cunningham

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In countless media interviews and statements, it is clear that the Saudi rulers have an abiding obsession with Iran - an obsession that betrays an intense fear and hatred.

Senior members of the House of Saud have let it be known that their real focus in Syria, for example, is not primarily the government of Bashar al Assad, and their desire for regime change, but rather the main target is Assad's closest regional ally - Iran.

Everywhere in the region, the paranoid House of Saud sees the hand of Iran. In an oped piece in theNew York Times in December, the Saudi Ambassador to Britain, Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz al Saud, accused Iran without any evidence, saying that it "has financed and trained militias in Iraq, Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon and militants in Yemen and Bahrain." This is, of course, ironically crass, coming from the House of Saud, which is provably the sponsor of terrorists or terror regimes, such as the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al Nusra in Syria, ISIS in Iraq and the ruling Al Khalifa despots in Bahrain.

But the main point here is that Saudi Arabia, or at least its rulers led by the aging King Abdullah, is transfixed in animosity towards Iran. That obsession is driven by a visceral hatred. Why?
The short answer is self-preservation. But there are at least three specific reasons for this hatred, and they are inter-related.
The first is religious. The official religion of Saudi Arabia is Wahhabism. In this extreme deformation, Shia Islam is viewed as an intolerable apostasy. It is not just Shia that are perceived as "infidels". All forms of Muslim faith, including Sunnis, as well as Christians and other religions, that are deemed to not conform with the Wahhabi fundamentalist doctrine are considered infidels and are subject to merciless attack, even to the point of death.
In the warped Wahhabi belief Shia Muslims are the worst kind of "infidels". This explains why Shia and the closely related Alawite are subject to the most barbaric forms of violence in the Syrian conflict, where the anti-Syrian government militants are mainly driven by Wahhabi ideology - also known as Takfiris.
For historical reasons, Iran is the centre of Shia Islam in the region and the world. Iran therefore qualifies as the centre of Saudi hatred.
The second factor goes back to the Islamic Revolution in Iran. When the Iranian revolution succeeded in 1979 to kick out the US-backed dictator, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, that turmoil threatened all autocratic rulers in the region from the inspirational impact it conveyed to other populations to rise up against oppressive regimes. The House of Saud felt particularly threatened. That is why the Saudi rulers responded immediately by setting up the Persian Gulf Defense pact in the early 1980s, which comprised the other monarchies of Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
Indeed, the Saudi rulers' hatred of Iran has only intensified since the Iranian revolution. The House of Saud views Iran's demonstratively more democratic credentials as a mortal threat to its despotism. The more Iran's political influence grows in the region, the more the Saudi rulers fear an existential threat. This explains the paranoid mindset of the House of Saud towards Iran, as expressed by its ambassador to Britain cited above, which suspects that Iranian subversion is everywhere, even when it isn't.
The third factor is more mundane, but perhaps is the ultimate concern for the House of Saud - the vital issue of oil and gas economics.
Of the 12 OPEC member states, the top three producers are Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. Of most significance is Iran's enormous gas wealth, which is as yet hardly tapped as an economic resource. Natural gas is the fuel of the future for the next century, being more efficient as an energy source in terms of transport via pipelines and in terms of calorific output. Environmentally, natural gas is a much cleaner fuel than oil, giving off much less harmful byproducts from combustion.
Iran is reckoned to hold the largest known reserves of natural gas on Earth in its Pars Field. If Iran's international relations were normalized by the removal of trade sanctions, the country stands to become an even more formidable global source of energy. Of particular strategic importance is the European market for which Iran would be a top supplier, along with Russia (a non-OPEC member).
This development, which has an inexorable trajectory owing to irrepressible human need, is seen by the House of Saud as an imperative threat. Saudi Arabia is endowed with oil, but much less so with natural gas. Saudi strategic value as an energy producer is therefore on the wane, whereas Iran is bound to grow owing to its vast natural gas deposits.
At all costs, from the Saudi point of view, Iran must be prevented from developing its potential energy wealth. Saudi Arabia is living on borrowed time. Its oil reserves will eventually be surpassed by Iran's gas riches. Already, the Saudi rulers are sitting atop a demographic time bomb of an increasing and unemployed youth population, which so far has been placated with state fiscal handouts from its oil exports. The days for those handouts are numbered.
What will happen when Saudi's oil economy goes into demise, and is sidelined with the new global energy economy of natural gas in which Iran is a leading nation? That will translate into greater Iranian political influence in the region and a diminishing hold on power by the sclerotic Saudi autocrats.
The political and economic fate of the United States is closely tied to the Saudi petrodollar economy and that of the other Persian Gulf monarchies. The bankrupt American dollar is already largely on life-support due to the Saudis and their related sheikhdoms dealing in the commodity with the greenback and funneling profits into the US Treasury, propping up the dollar.
If Iran were to develop to its full potential, trade in oil and more importantly natural gas would most likely be denominated in Euro, Ruble, Yen or Yuan. That is a doomsday scenario for the US dollar and its long overdue collapse.

Ultimately, Washington shares the intense antipathy of the House of Saud towards Iran's unfettered political and economic freedom. Not for arcane Wahhabi reasons, but for vital economic self-preservation. Hence, the sharp rebuke from Washington this week when a French business delegation visited Iran to explore possible partnerships. US Secretary of State John Kerry reportedly phoned his French counterpart Laurent Fabius in a panic to protest at the delegation. The last thing the Americans want to see is Iran doing independent trade with Europe without the dollar.

The Saudi despots and their American patrons cannot afford Iranian development as an economic power. That directly threatens the House of Saud, politically and economically, which in turn threatens Washington to its very core.
For all of the above reasons, the Saudi rulers fear Iran above all else. The Zionist Israeli regime and its desecration of Islamic sanctities in East Al Quds (Jerusalem) does not even raise a single heckle for the Al Saud - the self-proclaimed Custodians of Islam. Their only fear and hatred are expressed in waging covert war against Iran and its allies, including Syria and the people of Bahrain, Iraq, Yemen and anywhere else. They want Iran contained, thwarted, sanctioned at all costs, and Washington by geopolitical necessity is on the Saudi side.
But as the tectonic plates of global energy needs shift inexorably over the coming decades, the Saudi rulers and their American patrons will find themselves on the losing side. In a very real way, this spells death to al Saud and the American Empire. Hence, the hatred.
HMV/HMV

Finian Cunningham (born 1963) has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Master’s graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent. Originally from Belfast, Ireland, he is now located in East Africa as a freelance journalist, where he is writing a book on Bahrain and the Arab Spring, based on eyewitness experience working in the Persian Gulf as an editor of a business magazine and subsequently as a freelance news correspondent. The author was deported from Bahrain in June 2011 because of his critical journalism in which he highlighted systematic human rights violations by regime forces. He is now a columnist on international politics for Press TV and the Strategic Culture Foundation.More articles by Finian Cunningham

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The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of Press TV.

MB minta pemain T-Team bersumpah NOOR HAYATI MAMAT 8 Februari 2014

MB minta pemain T-Team bersumpah

NOOR HAYATI MAMAT

8 Februari 2014

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Ahmad Said

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MENTERI Besar Terengganu, Datuk Seri Ahmad Said akan memanggil kesemua pemain T-Team serta pihak pengurusan pasukan berstatus kelab itu untuk melakukan sumpah al-Quran di depan beliau sendiri dalam waktu terdekat ini, lapor NOOR HAYATI MAMAT.

Beliau yang ternyata kecewa dengan keputusan dibuat FAM berhubung kemelut antara T-Team dan JDT itu, menyarankan pengurusan dan pemain pasukan JDT turut melakukan perkara sama (sumpah al-Quran) bagi memastikan siapa di pihak yang benar.

Menurut Ahmad, sumpah itu dijangka dilakukan Isnin atau Selasa ini dalam usaha mencari kebenaran berhubung insiden itu, sambil menyifatkan keputusan dibuat FAM tidak profesional serta hanya bersikap ‘double standard’.

“Saya akan panggil pasukan T-Team dan semua yang berkaitan, kita akan dapatkan penjelasan sebenar dan akan minta mereka yang saksikan insiden itu bersumpah al-Quran depan saya, termasuklah Muhd Irfan Ghani.

“Apakah dia (Muhd Irfan) lihat sendiri apa yang berlaku. Saya difahamkan dia pemain simpanan dan sudah tentu kalau ikut proses biasa, bila rehat, dia tak masuk dalam terowong kerana kena memanaskan badan di padang.
“Sebagai orang Islam saya ingin lihat perkara ini benar. Saya minta JDT juga bersumpah al-Quran bagi memastikan siapa berada di pihak yang benar. Kita bukanlah bodoh sangat, suka-suka nak tarik diri tanpa alasan tertentu.

“Saya dimaklumkan, T-Team diiring keluar oleh polis dengan bas hingga ke Mersing. Jadi, sudah tentulah ia melibatkan soal keselamatan dan sepatutnya ini diambil kira FAM. Saya kecewa dengan keputusan dibuat FAM,” katanya di Kampung Pelandan, di sini, semalam.

Ahmad turut mempersoalkan kewibawaan FAM sambil menyifatkan badan induk itu membuat satu keputusan yang tidak profesional, kerana keengganan T-Team meneruskan perlawanan adalah setelah mengambil kira faktor keselamatan pemain.

“Difahamkan, keputusan FAM berasaskan laporan dan komisioner perlawanan, mungkin mereka tak terlibat dalam terowong serta tidak ketahui cerita sebenar. Sepatutnya jawatankuasa FAM perlu meneliti dengan lebih mendalam.

“Bagaimanapun kita akan serahkan kepada pihak Persatuan Bola Sepak Negeri Terengganu (PBSNT) dan pengurusan T-Team sama ada perlu mengemukakan surat bantahan atau sebaliknya berhubung keputusan FAM itu,” katanya.

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• Terengganu MB slams FAM, says failed to carry out its duty

Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said (pic) today questioned why FAM did not take into account the security of T-Team's players and officials when awarding a 3-0 win to Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) over their abandoned FA Cup tie in Johor Baru last Saturday.

He said T-Team were not stupid to simply withdraw from the match for no reason and that FAM should have studied the case more deeply and not decide merely based on the reports of the referee and match officials.

"If not due to security reasons, for what? I was informed the players had to be escorted out by police right up to the Mersing border, and requested not to wear their jerseys. Is it not a question of security?," he said.

He said this to reporters during a visit to the Telemong state constituency together with its assemblyman Rozi Mamat, who is also State Youth and Sports Committee chairman, in Hulu Terengganu.

Ahmad said the FAM Competitions Committee's decision (to award the match to JDT) was not apt because the referee and match officials were not involved and did not actually see what actually took place in the tunnel during half-time.

"Yes, I am definitely disappointed with FAM's attitude which has caused the national football to be in limbo compared with South Korea and Japan who Malaysia used to easily beat in the past.

"South Korea and Japan have advanced to the semi-finals of the World Cup, but Malaysia are still struggling because its management (FAM) is not competent, not responsible and incapable," he said.

Meanwhile, the players and officials of the T-Team who witnessed the event in the tunnel of the Tan Sri Datuk Haji Hassan Yunos Stadium in Larkin, Johor Baru, have been asked to swear on the Quran to uphold truth.

Ahmad said this was because as Muslims, lying on what happened would damage the image of the country's football.

He added that he would also leave it to the team's management pertaining to appeals.

In the incident, T-Team refused to resume the match after half-time, claiming the safety of the players was at stake, since a high ranking JDT official had allegedly assaulted a player and the fitness coach from T-Team while heading to the dressing room.

FAM's decision to award the match to JDT, who were leading 2-1 when the match was abandoned, saw them qualifying for the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. – Bernama, February 7, 2014.

Mais dan Jais yang pertama halang kempen Anwar The Malaysian Insider

Program kempen Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim di Kajang mendapat halangan sejak hari pertama lagi daripada pihak berkuasa agama negeri iaitu Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (Mais) dan Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Jais).

Halangan ini membayangkan kesukaran untuk Anwar bergerak ke kerusi menteri besar Selangor.

Ia dilakukan dengan cara menyekat Anwar menemui penduduk Kajang menggunakan masjid yang terletak di bawah pentadbiran Mais.

Mais didakwa mengugut akan menangkap Anwar jika dia memberikan tazkirah di sebuah masjid di Selangor pada hari pertama kempen.

Ia berlaku apabila pasukan kempen Anwar merancang untuk membolehkan Anwar menyampaikan tazkirah sebelum solat Jumaat di Masjid Batu 10, Cheras pada Jumaat lalu.

"Pada pagi Jumaat kami mendapat panggilan bahawa Mais dan Jais akan menangkap Anwar dan Dr Muhd Nur Manuty sekiranya membaca khutbah dengan alasan tidak ada tauliah," kata sumber daripada pasukan kempen Anwar melalui Facebooknya.

Anwar dan Ketua Penerangan PKR, Dr Muhd Nur Manuty dijadualkan bertemu penduduk Kajang di Masjid Batu 10 pada Jumaat lalu.

Berdasarkan perbincangan dengan pengurusan masjid, Anwar dijadualkan memberikan tazkirah di situ manakala Muhd Nur menyampaikan khutbah Jumaat.

Akibat halangan itu, Anwar tidak boleh memberikan tazkirah dan Muhd Nur juga tidak boleh membaca khutbah di masjid berkenaan.

Sebelum itu, pasukan kempen Anwar merancang untuk berbuat demikian di Masjid Impian Saujana, Kajang namun dihalang oleh Mais.

"Awalnya masjid bersetuju namun selepas subuh 30 Januari, pihak nazir memberitahu mereka menerima tekanan daripada Mais. Mereka tidak berani melaksanakan program kami. Kami lantas mencari masjid lain," kata sumber itu.

Kerusi DUN Kajang kosong susulan peletakan jawatan Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adun) Lee Chin Cheah daripada PKR. Sehubungan itu, Menteri Besar Selangor, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim mengumumkan PKR memilih Anwar sebagai calonnya di situ.

Pengumuman itu turut disertai oleh pemimpin PAS dan DAP yang menyokong keputusan itu.

Mengikut perancangannya, Anwar dijangka dilantik menjadi menteri besar Selangor bagi menggantikan Abdul Khalid.

Bekas Hakim Mahkamah Rayuan, Datuk Mohd Noor Abdullah sebelum ini berkata Sultan Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah mempunyai kuasa mutlak dalam menentukan pelantikan individu yang layak menjadi menteri besar negeri itu.

Beliau berkata, kuasa itu diperuntukkan dalam Artikel 51, Undang-undang Tubuh Kerajaan Negeri Selangor 1959.

"Sultan Selangor mempunyai kuasa mutlak dalam dua perkara dan boleh membuat keputusan tanpa perlu nasihat iaitu yang pertama dalam hal pemilihan menteri besar dan kedua, pembubaran Dewan Undangan Negeri.

"Dalam membuat keputusan menyentuh kedua-dua perkara itu, sultan tidak perlu bertindak atas nasihat sesiapa," katanya. – 2 Februari, 2014.

Anwar’s Kajang campaign faces first roadblock from Selangor Islamic authorities

PKR top leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s attempt at meeting Kajang voters before the start of official campaigning hit a snag last Friday when he was barred from giving talks at mosques in the state.

It is learnt that Anwar was barred from giving the tazkirah (a short speech before the Friday sermon) at the Impian Saujana mosque in Kajang on orders from the Selangor Islamic Affairs Council (Mais), the body which regulates mosques in the state and which comes under the purview of the Selangor Sultan.

Anwar was supposed to give the tazkirah before a Friday sermon delivered by PKR information chief Dr Muhd Nur Manuty.

“But after subuh prayers on Januari 30, the mosque’s caretaker told us that they were pressured by MAIS to stop the event. So the mosque committee did not dare go ahead with the plan.

“So we had to quickly look for another mosque,” said the source, who is part of Anwar's team, explaining how the programme was later moved from the Impian Saujana mosque to the Kariah mosque in Batu 10 Cheras, which is part of the Kajang state constituency. This, too, was blocked by Mais at the last minute.

The source said Mais and the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) threatened to arrest Anwar if he delivered the tazkirah, pointing out that he did not have tauliah (certificates of approval) to give talks or sermons in Selangor mosques.

Due to the ban, Anwar, Muhd Nur, Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and other Pakatan Rakyat leaders who were present, performed their prayers at the Kariah Mosque. They later spoke to the congregation after the prayers.

The latest development reflects the bumpy road ahead for the "Kajang move", which is said to pave the way for Anwar to replace Khalid as the Menteri Besar.

On January 28, PKR announced that it was fielding Anwar as candidate in the upcoming Kajang by-election, after incumbent Lee Chin Cheh of PKR resigned.

There are 38,965 voters in the constituency, with Malays making up 49% of the voters, while the Chinese make up 41%, and Indians, 10%.

In the 2013 general election, PKR’s Lee got 19,571 votes against Barisan Nasional's Lee Ban Seng (12,747 votes) and Mohamad Ismail of Berjasa (1,014 votes). – February 2, 2014.