Rafiq A. Tschannen is a Swiss national. He converted to Islam and joined the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community at the age of 16 after reading the German translation of the Holy Qur'an. He worked in 15 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, first as Finance Director in the private industry and later as Chief Executive Officer of NGOs and International Governmental Organizations. He is now devoting his time to The Muslim Times as Editor for Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Palestine and Switzerland and as Associate Chief Editor.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of New Zealand’s Silver Jubilee celebration held at the Mt. Eden War Memorial Hall, Auckland on Sunday 24th March 2013 was a huge success, graced by community leaders, guests and politicians from all parties, including Mr Richard Prosser of New Zealand First. The community was applauded […]
(Bangkok) – The Burmese government is systematically restricting humanitarian aid and imposing discriminatory policies on Rohingya Muslims in Arakan State. The government should permit unfettered access to humanitarian agencies to provide assistance to Muslim populations, end segregated areas, and put forward a plan for those displaced to return to their […]
AFTER THE SHEIKHS: THE COMING COLLAPSE OF THE GULF MONARCHIES The UK/European/Middle East edition, published by Hurst & Co., is now available. The US and electronic editions, published by Oxford University Press, will be released in summer 2013. TWITTER: follow the author @dr_davidson / Book discussion #afterthesheikhs / Arabic discussion […]
God willing the inaugeration will take place on March 29 Baitur-Rahman Mosque. Source: http://www.islamahmadiyya.es. The opening ceremony of the Baitur-Rahman mosque, located at la Pobla de Vallbona, on the north of Valencia, […]
Tribune staff and wire reports 12:37 p.m. CDT, March 26, 2013 WASHINGTON — Supreme Court justices signaled on Tuesday that they are reluctant to embrace a broad ruling finding a fundamental right to marriage for gays and lesbians across the United States. As sign-waving demonstrators massed outside, the court completed […]
Mar 26, 2013 – 17:07 The Swiss Federal Office for Migration has extended fast-track decision-making to asylum seekers from Kosovo and Georgia. Cases not needing clarification will be considered within 48 hours and deportations will take effect soon afterwards. A similar procedure was instituted in August 2012 for asylum seekers […]
STORY SUMMARY Ten years ago this week, I was covering the U.S. military as it began its assault on Iraq. Invading Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein a decade ago was one of the biggest strategic errors in modern American history. One was from a prominent Lebanese Shiite publisher who supported […]
I have started a new Twitter page: The Muslim Times @TheMuslimtimes2 Please follow, so that we can continue to ‘spread out’ in ‘cyber world’. Thanks. Rafiq A. Tschannen, Associate Chief Editor, The Muslim Times
STORY SUMMARY Qatar’s emir called on Tuesday for the immediate establishment of a $1 billion fund to help Palestinians in Arab east Jerusalem, and offered to contribute $250 million towards […]
JEDDAH: ARAB NEWS Tuesday 26 March 2013 The Cabinet yesterday passed a law that would allow spouses accompanying King Abdullah Foreign Scholarship students to receive special monthly allowances. “If a scholarship student is accompanied by his Saudi wife at the place of his study he would be entitled to have […]
AFP | Mar 25, 2013 | 22:19 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel is to immediately unblock revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, frozen last year in retaliation for the Palestinians winning upgraded UN status, the premier’s office said on Monday. The decision came after a visit last week […]
ISTANBUL (AP) — Istanbul chose a ”Bridge Together” slogan for its 2020 Olympic bid on Monday, while an IOC poll indicated strong public support for the city’s fifth attempt to […]
“We are at a point today when the guns will fall silent and ideas will speak,” declared Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the Kurdish insurgency, in Turkey on March 21. “Turks and Kurds fought together (in the First World War), and launched the Turkish parliament together in 1922. The basis of […]
Source: Spiegel The drama over Cyprus has made clear that the euro-zone crisis is developing into a struggle over German hegemony in Europe. On the surface, Merkel and Schäuble seem to be working to stabilize the economy. In actuality, they’re binding other nations with the shackles of debt. More:
Source: A Times. By Pepe Escobar Reports on the premature death of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have been greatly exaggerated. Western corporate media is flooded with such nonsense, perpetrated in this particular case by the head of Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Reality spells otherwise. The […]
Source: TOI ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has left for Dubai after a tiff with his father, President Asif Ali Zardari, over the affairs of the PPP, leaving the party without its star campaigner for Pakistan’s general election. Bilawal, recently named patron-in-chief of the Pakistan People’s Party, developed differences with Zardari […]
RIYADH: ARAB NEWS .Saudis fighting in Syria will be arrested when they return home. The warning has been issued by the Interior Ministry. Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, the ministry’s spokesman, […]
Source: Indian Express Thirteen years ago, a Muslim housewife in Kerala had stopped an old and destitute Brahmin widow from jumping in front of a train and ending a life for which she saw no hope. The Muslim woman, then 34, took the 76-year-old high-caste Namboothiri woman home, gave her […]
Source: Asia Sentinel A troubling new movement spells disaster if left unchecked When Dr. Maung Zarni, an outspoken activist academic, labeled the ongoing anti-Rohingya and anti-Muslim movement in Burma as neo-Nazi, some Burmese said Zarni was exaggerating. Western commentators have also avoided the term. But Zarni has been proven right […]
Source: Asian Correspondent In November last year, a piece I wrote on the potential for the Arakan state violence to evolve into wider anti-Muslim conflict in other parts of Burma was met with accusations of sensationalism and a misreading of the root causes of the Arakan unrest. The piece had […]