The US will engage in direct negotiations with the Taliban in Qatar next week, aimed at achieving peace in Afghanistan, senior White House officials have said.
 

Tuesday's announcement came as the Taliban opened a political office in the Qatari capital, Doha, to help start talks on ending the 12-year-old conflict, saying it wanted a political solution that would bring about a just government and end foreign occupation.

A US official said American and Taliban envoys would meet in Doha "in a couple of days", after which the Taliban would meet a "High Peace Council" set up by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to conduct the negotiations.

In opening its mission in Doha, the Taliban did not explicitly renounce al-Qaeda but it did pledge not to allow attacks to be launched from Afghan soil.

Prior to September 11, 2001, and the US intervention, al-Qaeda had bases in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

Later on Tuesday, Jen Psaki, the State Department spokesperson, said that an eventual disavowal of al-Qaeda ties by the Taliban was only an "end goal of the process".

She said James Dobbins, US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, would leave Washington later on Tuesday bound for Doha to lead the US teams.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mohammad Sohail Shaheen, Taliban spokesman and a member of the Doha political office, said the armed group will continue to attack US targets in Afghanistan, but will simultaneously seek to end the conflict by pursuing peace talks.

He said there was no ceasefire with the US and its allies and that the Taliban "simultaneously follows political and military options".
"There is no ceasefire [with the US] now. They are attacking us and we are attacking them," Shaheen said.

Late on Tuesday, fighters attacked the Bagram air base, west of Kabul, killing four American soldiers.

Obama's reaction

US President Barack Obama said the opening of the Taliban office was an important first step towards reconciliation between the Taliban and Afghanistan's government.

He cautioned, however, that the process would be lengthy and insisted that the Taliban “break ties with al-Qaeda and end violence”.

The divided Afghan fighting could complicate talks, amid US doubts as to whether the powerful "Haqqani network" of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a former CIA asset turned al-Qaeda ally, was ready to embrace negotiation.

US officials said the Taliban envoys in Doha had been authorized to talk by Mullah Omar, the main Taliban figurehead, and that Haqqani's group is "a fully subordinate part of the overall insurgency".

But General Joseph Dunford, the US commander in Afghanistan, said he was skeptical the Haqqanis would back a peace deal.
Separately, Karzai confirmed that he had ordered government envoys to travel to Qatar to try to open negotiations.

He pledged that Afghan forces were ready to take on opposition fighters, but the lingering threat was underlined when a bomb targeting a legislator killed three people just before a ceremony on Tuesday in Kabul to mark the beginning of the final phase of security transition from the US-led coalition.

Separately, a senior Afghan government representative said the progress was made after secret discussions with the Taliban.
"Peace talks will certainly take place between the Taliban and the High Peace Council," the official said.

The Taliban has until now said it would not countenance peace talks with the Karzai government, which it calls a "stooge" of the US and other Western nations.

But in what could anger the Afghan government, the white Taliban flag was visible at Shaheen's side during Tuesday's ceremony in Doha, and a large sign behind him proclaimed the office of the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan", the name the Taliban used during their brief national rule in the 1990s.

The events may have been timed to coincide with the security ceremony in Kabul, which was attended by Karzai.

Concern in Kabul

The turnover of the last districts from NATO to Afghan control included areas in the south and east where the Taliban are at their strongest.

Doubts remain over the ability of Afghan forces to maintain security, and the 98,000 foreign troops still in Afghanistan will retain an important function in training, logistics, air support and in combat emergencies.

US officials said the forthcoming meeting in Doha between US officials and Taliban representatives would amount to "an exchange of agendas", followed by another within about two weeks.

PHOTO CAPTION

Muhammad Naeem (R), a spokesman for the Office of the Taliban of Afghanistan speaks during the opening of the Taliban Afghanistan Political Office in Doha June 18, 2013.

Al-Jazeera

Benefits and wisdom of the individual and social Zakaah are as follows:

1- Perfecting and completing the Islam of a slave because it is one of the pillars of Islam. So, if one does it, his Islam will be complete and perfect. There is absolutely no doubt that this is a great aim for every Muslim individual. Actually, every Muslim individual seeks to complete his religion.

2- It is proof of the truthfulness of the faith of he who gives Zakaah. This is because money is loved by souls and what is loved cannot be sacrificed except in return for something similar to or more beloved than it. Therefore, it is called Sadaqah (i.e. charity) for it indicates the truthfulness of the request of its payer for the Pleasure of Allaah The Almighty.
3- It purifies the morals of the payer of Zakaah. It disassociates him from the group of misers and includes him in the group of the generous. This is because if one used to give, be it knowledge, money or honor, then giving will become natural for him to the extent that he may feel sad on a day in which he does not give anything.

Such as the hunter who used to hunt. If he delays his hunt on a specific day, he feels sad. The same thing applies to the one who gets himself accustomed to being generous. He feels sad when a day passes by without giving out money, honor or benefit.

4- It expands the breast with assurance and gladdens the heart. This is because if one gives something, especially money, he will feel an assurance in his breast. This is something that is tested and tried, providing that his giving should be done with complete generosity and pleasure. His sacrifice should not dwell in his heart (with regret and displeasure).

Ibn Al-Qayyim, may Allaah have mercy upon him, mentioned in Zaad Al-Mi‘aad that giving and generosity are included in the causes of expanding the heart with assurance. However, no one can achieve this benefit except one who gives with generosity and pleasure. The money leaves his heart before it leaves his hand. However, the one whose money leaves his hand while his heart is still attached to it will not benefit from giving.

5- It makes one reach the rank of the perfect believer. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.” [Muslim] So, as one loves to be given money to satisfy his needs, he should also love to give it to his brother. By doing so, one will have perfect faith.

6- It is one of the causes of entering Paradise. This is because Paradise is for “those who use soft speech, spread the greeting of Islam, feed people and spend the night in voluntary prayer while the people are asleep.” [Ahmad and At-Tirmithi] All of us earnestly seek to enter Paradise.

7- It makes the Islamic society a single family in which the strong helps the weak and the rich helps the poor. One will feel that he has brothers to whom he has to do good as Allaah The Almighty has done good to him. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {And do good as Allaah has done good to you.} [Quran 28: 77] Thus, the Islamic nation will be as one family. This is what the later scholars called social solidarity. Zakaah is the best thing that can achieve this because one fulfills with it an obligation and benefits his fellows.

8- It extinguishes the fire of the revolution of the poor. This is because the poor are vexed to find someone who rides in whatever he desires (of luxurious modes of transportation), lives in whatever palace he wishes and eats whatever he likes. All this, while (the poor bystander) can only use his (own) legs, does not sleep except on the ground and the like. There is no doubt that he will find something (of an ill feeling) in his heart. However, if the rich give to the poor, this will extinguish their feeling for revolution, calm down their anger and make them say: “We have brothers that take care of us in difficult times” and thus they will love the rich.”

9- It prevents financial crimes such as robbery and stealing. This is because the poor will receive what satisfies their needs and so they will excuse the rich for they give them from their wealth. They give them one quarter of one-tenth (i.e. 2.5 percent) on gold, silver and trade goods, one-tenth or one-half of one-tenth on grains and fruits and a great percentage on flocks. Thus, they will see that they are treating them well and will not transgress against them.

10- Salvation from the intense heat of the Day of Resurrection. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Every man will be in the shade of his charity on the Day of Resurrection.” [Ahmad]

Furthermore, he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said regarding the seven categories of people whom Allaah The Almighty Will Shade with the Shade He Creates on the day when there will be no shade but His: “A man who gives in charity so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand spends;” [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]

11- It makes one know the limits and rulings of Allaah The Almighty because one will not fulfill Zakaah unless he knows its rulings, properties, Nisaabs (i.e. the minimum amounts liable for Zakaah), its recipients and other such matters that the need calls for.

12- It purifies and increases wealth, meaning that, if one gives charity on his wealth, then this will protect it from blight and Allaah The Almighty may Increase his provision due to this charity. Therefore, it is mentioned in the Hadeeth: “Wealth does not decrease because of charity.” [Muslim]

It is clearly witnessed that the wealth of a miser may be afflicted with what may destroy it or the most of it due to fire, a great loss or diseases that force him to seek treatment that consume great amounts of his wealth.

13- It is one of the causes of the downfall of goodness. It is mentioned in the Hadeeth: “No people ever withhold the Zakaah of their wealth but rain is withheld from the sky.” [Ibn Maajah and Al-Haakim]

14- “Charity given in secret extinguishes the wrath of The Lord,” as was authentically narrated from the Messenger, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. [At-Tirmithi and Ibn Hibaan]

15 - “It wards off an unpleasant death.” [At-Tirmithi and Ahmad]

16 - “It wrestles with a calamity that comes down from the heavens and prevents it from reaching earth.” [At-Tabaraani]

17 – It expiates sins. The Messenger, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Charity extinguishes sins as water extinguishes fire.” [Ahmad, At-Tirmithi and An-Nasaa’i]
 

Divorce

The Quran says (what means): "Divorce is twice. Then [after that], either keep [her] in an acceptable manner or release [her] with good treatment. And it is not lawful for you to take anything of what you have given them unless both fear that they will not be able to keep [within] the limits of Allaah, and then there is no blame upon either of them concerning that by which she ransoms herself. These are the limits of Allaah, so do not transgress them. And whoever transgresses the limits of Allaah -- it is those who are the wrongdoers [i.e. the unjust]."  [Quran 2: 229]

In Islam, the woman is not neglected after the divorce. Indeed husbands are instructed to provide housing to the divorced wife until her waiting period is completed, as in the saying of Allaah (which means): "Lodge them (During their waiting period (referring to wives whose divorce has been pronounced) [in a section] of where you dwell out of your means and do not harm them in order to oppress them (so that they would be forced to leave or to ransom themselves). And if they should be pregnant, then spend on them until they give birth. And if they breastfeed for you, then give them their payment and confer among yourselves in the acceptable way; but if you are in discord, then there may breastfeed for him [i.e. the father] another woman." [Quran: 65:6]

Finally, although it is true that only men are allowed to pronounce divorce, yet a woman has the right to ask for a divorce, which is called ‘Khul’. In this case, she has to return the dowry given by the husband, so that he utters the divorce.

Attestations

In Islam, one male witness equals two females: The Quran says (what means): "And get two witnesses out of your men. If there are not two men, then a man and two women such as you choose [maybe in place of two men as the witnesses]; so that if one of the women errs, the other one will remind her..." [Quran 2:282]

Here again, many people tend to denounce Islamic principles as unjust to women. They tend to interpret this requirement as proof of men's superiority over women. Again, this assumption is not true. In fact, various psychological and biological studies conducted on the psyche and hormonal functions of women, have proved that men generally tend to react more rationally and less emotionally, than women.

In cases of crime, for example, torn bodies and pouring blood are more likely to spur an emotional reaction among women than among men. This reaction is alone capable of distorting the female's perception and/or memory.

On the other hand, men are also bound by rules concerning their testimony. For instance, they must not be parents, friends or enemies of the accused. Can we then conclude that, if it was the case for women, that male parents and friends of the accused must be considered inferior too? Of course, they are not.

Finally, one should note that there are matters where a woman is the only witness required. These are related to areas where women are the experts, for example, in issues of breast feeding, bringing up children and the question of kinship (who is her child's father).

The Veil

How many times have you seen an educated veiled woman, working and acting normally on television ? Very, very rarely. On the other hand, how many times have you seen a veiled woman being hit by her husband, in tears or fighting and rioting along with fundamentalists?

Just think: What does a black 'Hijaab' veil evoke in your mind? Certainly not the image it is meant to evoke -- religious commitment and peaceful, deep-rooted faith. How many times have you seen a veiled young girl and said: "Haraam! Poor thing! She has not seen the world yet..." Is all this just a coincidence?

Veiled women today are either associated with alienation or fundamentalism. They are either looked upon with pity or fear. Have people ever asked the question: Where is the woman's will to surrender to God in this? Where is her choice of protecting her dearest possession, her body?

When Islam ordered women to wear the veil, it did it to privilege her, not constrain her:

The Quran says (what means): "O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw upon them their over-garments. That is more appropriate so that they may be recognized and not molested." [Quran 33: 59]

The above verses show that Islam aims to protect women from being considered sexual objects. It instructs women to uncover their faces in front of their husband, close relatives whom she cannot marry (Mahaarim) and other women. In front of strangers, she must conceal everything but her face and hands.

Why does one need to show a semi-clad woman in a car's advertisement? Why do we not see a veiled woman? In the first case, because the advertisers are trying to sell the image of the woman with the car. Unconsciously, you buy the car wishing it will provide you with such a "babe." In the second case, the woman has refused to be treated as an object for trade and has worn the veil, a sign of dignity rather than humiliation.

Summarized from: What Does She Expect Better? By: IIPH

Islam considers marriage a basis for the Islamic family, since it develops bonds of love and caring and a secure atmosphere for the growth and progress of the human race. This, in turn, produces a sound society. This is why the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, (may Allaah exalt his mention) taught us in a narration, that although classified ‘weak’, has a valid and important meaning. He, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, said: "The most detestable of all lawful things in the sight of Allaah is divorce."However, this does not mean that divorce is prohibited. On the contrary, it can sometimes be the best alternative. Divorce is a right for both women and men if their problems cannot be solved. Two French legislators, Planoil and Ripert, have said: "Divorce is a mischief. However, it is a measure that cannot be avoided for the welfare of the community, because it is the only remedy for another harm which may be more dangerous, i.e. murder."

The above statement applies to cases where the husband and wife have lost their love for each other and where harmony in the marriage is over. Indeed, any other alternative will make them unhappy and will affect their children in the long run.

In these cases, Islam advises the couple to try to reconcile their differences in the presence of some immediate relatives belonging to both sides. If they are unable to do so, they are instructed to seek counseling through a third party, such as friends or other relatives. If there is still no solution, then they should seek a solution through a judge.

The judge will advise the couple to be patient and think of the children. However, if the problem remains unsolved, the family life becomes unbearable and the children are affected, then divorce becomes the only alternative, to enable them to have other spouses.

When it is inescapable, divorce is neither harmful to men nor to women. It is also definitely not unjust to women.
 First, the couple must seek divorce in an amicable way. They are instructed to separate without hard feelings towards each other. They should keep a minimum of understanding that will secure the children's situation after the divorce.

The Obama administration has publicly identified for the first time 46 prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base whom it wants to hold indefinitely without charge or trial because it says they are “too dangerous to release but cannot be prosecuted”.

The Defense Department released the names on Monday after the Miami Herald newspaper and a group of Yale Law School students sued for its release in a US District Court in Washington.

The list also names nearly two dozen prisoners who have been recommended for prosecution, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is already on trial for his alleged role in the September 11, 2011, attack, and Hambali, an alleged Indonesian "terrorist leader".

Those on the list are prisoners who have been held without charge under the Authorized Use of Military Force act passed by Congress and signed by President George Bush in 2001, according to a spokesman for the Pentagon, Army Lieutenant-Colonel Todd Breasseale.

The prisoners on the list were first reviewed by an administration task force of lawyers, military officers and intelligence agents.

Indefinite detainees

In a 2010 report, the task force declared 48 Guantanamo prisoners “too dangerous to release”. However, the report said they could not be tried, either because there was no evidence linking them to specific attacks or because evidence against them was tainted by coercion or abuse.

On the list were 26 Yemenis, 12 Afghans, three Saudis, two Kuwaitis, two Libyans, a Kenyan, a Moroccan and a Somali.

Two of the Afghans died after the list was compiled, one from suicide and the other from a heart attack.

That leaves 46 of the 166 Guantanamo prisoners designated as indefinite detainees.

The Guantanamo detention camp was set up in 2002 to hold prisoners captured in US “counterterrorism operations” overseas.

President Barack Obama recently called it a stain on America's reputation and reiterated his intent to close it.

He said his administration would appoint a pair of envoys from the State and Defense departments to work on that.

Following up on that promise, the State Department announced on Monday the appointment of Clifford Sloan, a veteran Washington lawyer, to work as its envoy to negotiate the repatriation or resettlement of 86 prisoners who have been cleared for transfer or release.

Pre-trial hearings

The announcement came as five prisoners charged with plotting the 9/11 attacks on the US appeared in the war crimes tribunal at the Guantanamo base for a week of pre-trial hearings.

Defendants in the death penalty case include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men accused of funding and training the hijackers.

All five defendants appeared adequately fed, suggesting they have not joined more than 100 other detainees who have waged a four-month hunger strike in protest at the failure to resolve their fate after more than a decade of detention at Guantanamo.

They sat quietly in the courtroom as their lawyers questioned a retired admiral who previously oversaw the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal.

The lengthy and at times tedious questioning was aimed at showing the admiral and other military officials meddled in attorney-client communications, which are supposed to be confidential.

Hidden microphones

The hearing was the first in the case since February, when camp officials revealed that what appeared to be smoke alarms in the huts where defense lawyers met the defendants were actually microphones.

Camp officials insisted that they never listened to or recorded attorney-client meetings at the detention camp and said the microphones have since been disabled.

In addition to the five defendants in the 9/11 case, the Obama administration had planned to try about 36 prisoners in the war crimes tribunal.

But the chief prosecutor in the tribunals, Army Brigadier-General Mark Martins, told Reuters news agency last week that number would be scaled back to about 20 - including the 9/11 defendants and seven cases that have already been completed.

He had planned to charge many of the others with “providing material support for terrorism” but a US appeals court ruled last year that was not internationally recognized as a war crime when the acts in question took place in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

PHOTO CAPTION

Relatives of Yemeni detainees in Guantanamo Bay prison and human rights activists demonstrate for the release of the detainees, outside the U.S. embassy in Sanaa June 17, 2013.

Al-Jazeera

An explosion has hit the Afghan capital Kabul near the parliament, on a day NATO forces formally hand over security to national forces.

Tuesday's blast occurred at around 9am local time in an area called Karta-e Seh, a Kabul police source said.

It came as hundreds of local and international officials gathered on the capital's outskirts ahead of a ceremony to mark the beginning of the final phase of security transition to Afghan forces across the nation.

Less than a week ago, a deadly suicide car bomb struck a buss carrying employees of the Supreme Court in Kabul and killed at least 17 people. The blast on June 12 also injured 40 others, according to officials.

PHOTO CAPTION

Smoke billows from the site of an explosion in Kabul June 10, 2013.

Al-Jazeera

Islam gave women rights and privileges at a time when only barbaric manners and values dominated.
Yet, some people argue that Islam has alienated women in some domains. In fact, this belief is a misconception. People who say so, may have read about it in a magazine or seen it on TV. A quick examination of the issues judged as unjust to women will certainly correct the misunderstanding.

Man as the head of the household:

Some people believe that a woman in Islam is regarded as inferior to man since the Quran says (what means):
"Men have one degree above women." [Quran 2: 228]

In fact, to understand this Quranic verse, you should see another one, related to the issue in question. It reveals the wisdom behind this concept.

·       Polygyny might be the solution for a couple if the wife is barren, the husband wants children of his own and the option of separation does not appeal to both parties.

·       If a woman is chronically ill and is unable to perform her marital duties. Polygyny may also be the solution when the couple does not want divorce.

·       Polygyny is the religion's answer to cases where some men have excessive sexual needs that cannot be fulfilled by one wife. This in no way means that men should abuse this right and use it whenever they fancy a woman. It is rather a chance Islam has provided to prevent men from committing adultery. Many people who condemn polygyny cheat on their wives, calling this phenomenon a 'swift affair.' Islam, at least, has offered the second woman the option of being called 'a wife' rather than 'a mistress', especially in some countries where women remarkably outnumber men.

·       Polygyny may settle the problem of an increased number of unmarried women, especially during wars.

However, polygyny has some limits and conditions to be met. Indeed, the Quran instructs the man to be fair with his wives on all levels, including treatment, money, house, etc. The only level where the man may have an uneven stance is the level of the feelings that he cannot control:

The Quran says (what means): "You will never be able to do perfect justice between wives even if it is your ardent desire, so do not incline too much to one of them [by giving her more of your time and provision] so as to leave the other hanging [i.e. neither divorced nor married]. And if you do justice, and do all that is right and fear Allaah by keeping away from all that is wrong, then Allaah is Ever-Forgiving and All-Merciful." [Quran 4:129]

Finally, it is worth knowing that Islam gives a woman the right to refuse polygyny for her husband by setting it as a condition during the marriage procedures. If this condition is set, then the woman is granted divorce if her husband marries another while he is still married to her.

You might ask, why could not there be polyandry (a woman having more than one husband)? The answer is simple. Islam did not allow it because Allaah is All-Aware that it will create a problem of kinship. This means that the child may not know who is actually his father (it could be anyone of the four husbands). In addition to the psychological damage it may cause, this problem also complicates the issue of inheritance. Even birds and animals do not allow polyandry. 

Some misconceptions about women in Islam – II

A huge explosion shook the Mezze military airport on the western edge of Damascus on Sunday, and ambulances were seen heading to the compound, a major base for President Bashar al-Assad's elite forces, activists said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in Britain with a network of observers in Syria, said it appeared that a booby-trapped car had exploded at a road block near the airport, killing or wounding about 20 members of Assad's forces.

Video footage taken by activists showed flames rising from the area.

Regime controlled al-Ikhbariya Television said the explosion "resulted from an attempt to target the Mezze military airport". Activists said Assad's forces had blocked roads leading to the airport.

The compound, which is used by Syria's elite Republican Guards, special forces and air force intelligence, also serves as a private airport for the Assad family.

Since the uprising, it has been used to fire rockets and artillery at Sunni Muslim neighborhoods on the edge of the capital.

PHOTO CAPTION

Forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad are seen in Tal El-Tineh village, during what they said was an operation to occupy it, in southern countryside of Aleppo, June 16, 2013.

The Guardian

Ahmad: Dad, I want money to buy some things.

Father: Where is your pocket money, Ahmad? This is still the middle of the week! 

Historical revolution

This expansion of the Islamic empire was not simply a political event. Its aim, in fact, was to set in motion a revolutionary process in history. This process had been initiated in Makkah itself, then it travelled from Makkah to Madeenah, to Damascus and Baghdad from where it entered Spain and thereafter it spread all over Europe and the entire world. We would probably be right in saying that the 20th century saw the culmination of this process.

The revolutionary role of Islam – I

As a result of ignorance the evil known as the worship of natural phenomena was born in human society. Man attributed divinity to mere creatures. He began to worship all the things in the world, holding them to be gods. Owing to this intellectual aberration, idolatry became a rooted feature of human civilization. Not even the coming of thousands of Prophets and reformers could bring about any change in this state of affairs, in the practical sense. The rejection of the Prophets brought down on the deniers the chastisement of God, but shirk (idolatry) could never be wiped out from society. Then God Almighty took it upon Himself to intervene. One major manifestation of this Divine intervention in human history was the emergence of the Prophet Muhammad, salallaahu alayhi wa sallam. An American encyclopedia has very appropriately described his coming as having “changed the course of human history.”

Syrian artillery and warplanes have hit areas of Damascus, as Russia has warned against any attempt to establish a no-fly zone over the country.

The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group, said jets and artillery had attacked Jobar, a battered district where opposition forces operate on the edge of central Damascus, on Saturday.

It said heavy artillery was also shelling the provinces of Homs, Aleppo and Deir Ezzor.

Fighting was also reported around dawn on the outskirts of the Palestinian Yarmuk camp in southern Damascus, which also came under regime fire along with southern Al-Hajar al-Aswad.

Outside the capital, loyalist troops fired mortar rounds at several areas including western Moadamiyet al-Sham, southern Sbeineh and the region of Wadi Barada, northwest of Damascus.

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, however, said on Saturday that any attempt to establish a no-fly zone using F-16 fighter jets and Patriot air defense missile systems from Jordan would "violate international law".

Western diplomats said on Friday the United States was considering a no-fly zone over Syria, but the White House said later that it would be far harder and costlier to set one up there than it was in Libya in 2011, stressing that the United States had no national interest in pursuing that option.

PHOTO CAPTION

People walk through a damaged street in Homs, June 8, 2013. A year has passed since the siege of Homs by forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad, activists say.

Al-Jazeera

Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's president, has announced that Egypt is cutting off diplomatic relations with Syria and has ordered that Damascus Embassy in Cairo to be closed.

Morsi told thousands of supporters in a rally held on Saturday that his government is also withdrawing the Egyptian charge d'affaires from Damascus.

Morsi also called on Lebanon's Hezbollah armed group to leave Syria, where the group has been fighting alongside troops loyal to Bashar al-Assad against the opposition forces.

"We stand against Hezbollah in its aggression against the Syrian people," Morsi said. "Hezbollah must leave Syria - these are serious words. There is no space or place for Hezbollah in Syria."

The Egyptian president also called on the international community to implement a no-fly zone over Syria, where the UN says that more than 93,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the revolution.

The rally that Morsi addressed on Saturday was called for by loyalists to the Egyptian president to show solidarity with the people of Syria. However, Morsi also used the occasion to warn his opponents at home against the use of violence in mass protests planned for June 30, the anniversary of his assumption to power.

Morsi repeated the allegation that Egyptians loyal to the now-ousted regime of autocrat Hosni Mubarak were behind the planned protests and that they were working against the January 2011 uprising that toppled Mubarak.

"Some who are delusionary want to pounce on the January revolution and think that they can undermine the stability that is growing daily or undermine the resolve that people have clearly forged with their will,'' he said.

PHOTO CAPTION

Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi delivers a speech at a Syria solidarity conference organized by the Muslim Brotherhood, in Cairo, in this handout picture taken June 15, 2013, and provided by the Egyptian Presidency.

Al-Jazeera