The National Islamic Center in Washington DC is an imposing building with a towering minaret. One of America’s iconic mosques, it is surrounded by the flags of the Islamic countries which helped pay for its construction in the 1950s.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – Its design was influenced by classical and traditional architecture in Egypt. Akbar Ahmed, a professor of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington DC and one of the world’s leading experts on contemporary Islam, says it would be impossible to build such a national mosque today because of the controversy it would arouse.

“It’s a bad time for Islamic architecture,” says Mr Ahmed, former Pakistani ambassador to the UK. “If there was some visionary with money who wanted to build the Taj Mahal in the US, he’d be attacked as a stealth Jihadist.”

Mr Ahmed says he sympathises with attempts to modernise Islamic architecture and to create mosques that are more in keeping with American culture.

“For non-Muslims [the mosque] has become the symbol of Islam and therefore a target,” he says. “Therefore, the building of a mosque is not just the innocent putting together of brick and mortar. It signifies a debate taking place in the US about Muslim identity and about American identity.”

The Muslim community is feeling very much under siege, he says. “I understand why Muslims would be very reluctant or hesitant to make a mosque that looks like a traditional mosque, which they could have done comfortably in the USA a few decades ago,” he says. “That, in a sense reflects where America is today.”

Iraq’s most prominent Shiite cleric has urged politicians to make concessions to solve the country’s ongoing political crisis, an aide to the leader said on Friday.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – Ahmed al-Safi, who often speaks for Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, said that the cleric believed that Iraq’s leaders are taking the country “into the unknown.”

“Politicians must work fast and make concessions to solve the crisis,” al-Safi told worshippers during a Friday sermon in the holy city of Karbala.

Ayatollah Sistani normally exerts his considerable influence through sermons and statements made by his aides.

Iraq’s Shiite-led government has been paralyzed for the past two months by a political crisis that erupted after officials issued an arrest warrant for the Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi on terrorism charges.

Shia Muslims in Istanbul said they are ready to attend demonstration against US, Israel and NATO in support for Iran.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – Istanbul Shia Muslims website called Zaynabeyeh, in an article, titled “ We stand next to Iran against Imperialists”, expressed readiness to attend demonstration in Istanbul on Saturday.

Civil organizations and Islamic associations in Turkey have invited residents of Istanbul to attend a demonstration here against US, the Zionist regime and NATO in support for Iran.

Qods Cultural Center in a statement published in Istanbul said they support invitation of “ Anti war coalition” to hold a demonstration against world arrogant powers on Saturday February 4, 2012.

It said we are opposed to any kind of conflict or sanction of arrogant powers against Iran and we attend anti arrogance demonstration here on Saturday.

A group of Turkey’s intellectuals had already declared that they were preparing themselves to attend a demonstration in support of Iran.

Also, a group of NGOs active in human rights field supported the proposal by the aim of condemning imposed pressures of west against Iran and opposing with intensified sanctions and threats.

A resolution will be issued at the end of the demonstration on Saturday to condemn imposed pressures of world arrogance against Iran as well as intensified sanctions and threat to war.

The Muslim community in nepal has demanded that they be recognised as a separate minority group — not conflated under the rubric of the ethnic group Madhesis.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – The Muslim community in nepal has demanded that they be recognised as a separate minority group — not conflated under the rubric of the ethnic group Madhesis.

The Muslims threatened to take to the streets if they are not given separate status and the government continues to ignore problems faced by the community.

Muslim leaders, speaking at a programme organised by the Nepal Muslim Ittehad Organisation, said the government needs to take measures to boost participation of the community in all sectors of the country.

The National Muslim Ittehad Organistaion warned of protests if the government continues to classify followers of Islam as ethnic Madhesis.

The organisation said it has already submitted a memorandum to the government.

Also speaking at the programme, UML leader Mahamud Aalam said that the community would not remain silent until the governmental ensured propositional representation of Muslims in each and every sector of the state.

He accused the government of failing to recognise 4 million Muslims, saying there was no alternative to protests to air their grievances. “The government’s move to include Muslims in the Madhesi is a ploy to ignore the identity of Muslims,” said Aalam.

Thousands of Bahrainis have staged a protest rally near the capital, Manama, to condemn the regime’s suppression of anti-government demonstrations.

The mass rally in Bilad Al Qadeem came despite Manama’s brutal crackdown on protests. On Thursday, an elderly man and woman died in the capital after inhaling toxic tear gas fired by regime forces on protesters.

The demonstrators also called for an end to the rule of the Al Khalifa dynasty.

Meanwhile, opposition groups in Bahrain have called for international pressure on the Manama government to stop its deadly crackdown on protesters.

They have also accused authorities of ignoring findings and recommendations made by an independent commission, which investigated reports of rights abuse during the crackdown.

The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry issued a report on November 23, 2011, saying that the Manama regime had used ”excessive force, including the extraction of forced confessions against detainees.”

Bahrainis have repeatedly said that nothing has changed since the government-authorized international investigation publicized found numerous human rights abuses.

Bahrain has been hit by a wave of anti-regime protests since mid-February, which was immediately met with a brutal crackdown by the ruling Al Khalifa family.

Scores of demonstrators have been killed and hundreds wounded in the popular uprising in the Persian Gulf nation.

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya’alon has threatened Tehran with a military strike against its nuclear facilities in an attempt to force the country to abandon its peaceful nuclear energy program.

Speaking at the 2012 Herzliya Conference on Thursday, the Israeli official claimed that Iran’s nuclear facilities are “within striking distance” and added, “any facility defended by a human being can be penetrated.”

This comes as earlier this month the US confessed it lacked the ability to destroy fortified nuclear facilities in Iran.

The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program. Washington and Tel Aviv have repeatedly threatened Tehran with the “option” of a military strike against its atomic facilities.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council — under pressure from Washington and Tel Aviv — has imposed four rounds of sanctions against Iran. The United States and the European Union have also adopted unilateral measures against the Islamic Republic in an effort to deter Western investment in Iran’s energy sector.

Iran argues that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has every right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Ya’alon further stressed that Tel Aviv “must convince China, Russia and Turkey” to withdraw their support for Tehran over the US-engineered bans on Iran’s energy and banking sector.

On December 31, 2011, US President Barack Obama signed into law new sanctions which seek to punish countries importing Iran’s oil or doing transaction with the country’s central bank.

In their latest meeting in Brussels on January 23, EU foreign ministers also imposed new sanctions on Iran which include a ban on purchasing oil from the country, a freeze on the assets of Iran’s Central Bank within the EU, and a ban on the sale of diamonds, gold and other precious metals to Iran.

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, has accused Israel of violating international laws after two civilians were seriously wounded in Israeli airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip, Press TV reports.

“The Israeli war machines are still practicing crimes against Gaza civilians and violating all the world’s laws and conventions,” said Adham Abu Selmeya, a spokesman for the Health Ministry in Gaza, which is run by the Islamic movement, on Friday.

On Friday morning, Israeli jets attacked the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia, injuring a three-and-a-half-year-old girl and a thirty-year-old man. Five other targets were also bombed in central and southern Gaza Strip.

The injured girl is now in intensive-care unit due to severe head trauma and doctors doubt whether she will survive.

The Israeli military has confirmed the attacks.

The acts of aggression came only hours after United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited the coastal enclave apparently to push for the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli talks which stalled in September 2010 when Israel declined to renew a 10-month-long partial freeze on its illegal settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinians in the Strip are living in what is called the “world’s largest open-air prison” as Israel retains full control of the airspace, territorial waters, and border crossings of the territory.

Iranian authorities have banned land travel to Syria after several cases of abduction targeting Iranian nationals in the violence-stricken country.

Iran’s immigration and passport police chief said Friday that given recent attacks on Iranian pilgrims in Syria by terrorist groups, Iranian police have decided to ban land travel to Syria until further notice.

Mahmoud Sadeqi also urged Iranian pilgrims to travel to Syria only by plane.

The announcement followed abduction of about 30 Iranian nationals by unidentified armed men in Syria in the past two months.

In the first instance of kidnappings, five Iranian electrical engineers were abducted by unknown gunmen in the restive Syrian city of Homs on December 21, 2011.

The group of engineers was kidnapped en route to a 450-MW power plant they were involved in building in Homs. Two more Iranians, who were trying to obtain information about the missing men, were also kidnapped, and their location is still unknown.

On January 26, a group of unidentified gunmen attacked a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims on the road connecting Damascus to the northwestern city of Aleppo.

The assailants kidnapped 11 men and drove off to an unknown destination, leaving female passengers behind. Their fate still remains unknown.

Eleven more Iranian pilgrims were kidnapped on February 1 on a road from the Syrian city of Hama to Damascus.

Syria has been the scene of unrest since mid-March, 2011, with demonstrations being held both against and in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

The West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing protesters. But Damascus blames ”outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups” for the unrest, insisting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.

A senior Iranian lawmaker says US-backed terrorists have targeted Syria’s economy by kidnapping Iranian pilgrims in the country.

“The terrorists [in Syria] are trying to create fear among Iranian pilgrims and think such measures will cause Iran to withdraw its support for the Syrian nation and government,” Mehdi Mehdizadeh said Friday.

On Wednesday, gunmen attacked a bus carrying pilgrims on the way to Damascus, kidnapping 11 Iranian nationals.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday said the country’s embassy in Damascus has stepped up efforts to determine the fate of the abducted Iranians and to secure their release.

Mehdizadeh, who is a member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said by abducting Iranian pilgrims and engineers, terrorist groups want to damage Tehran-Damascus relations and push the Syrian economy to bankruptcy.

The lawmaker stressed that the Syrian government must step up efforts to secure the safety of Iranians in the country.

This is not the first time that Iranians have been abducted by unknown gunmen in Syria over the past months. On December 21, five Iranian electrical engineers were also kidnapped by unknown gunmen in the restive Syrian city of Homs.

Two other Iranians, who were trying to obtain information about the missing men, were also kidnapped, and their location is still unknown.

On January 26, unidentified gunmen attacked a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims en route to the northwestern city of Aleppo. The assailants kidnapped 11 men and drove off to an unknown destination, leaving behind female. Their fate still remains unknown.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March and many people have lost their lives in the violence.

The West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing protesters. But Damascus blames ”outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups” for the unrest, insisting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.