World News – AU – King of Malaysia rejects PM Muhyiddin’s request for emergency rule

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian King Al-Sultan Abdullah on Sunday rejected a proposal by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin asking him to declare a state of emergency in response to the coronavirus crisis, saying he saw no need for it
Critics say Muhyiddin’s emergency rule request, which would include suspension of parliament, is prime minister’s attempt to stay in power amid leadership challenge
Malaysia is seeing resurgence in viral infections, and reported its biggest daily increase in cases on Saturday with 1,228 new cases
The palace said Muhyiddin had called for an emergency rule to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, but the government had handled the crisis well
« Al-Sultan Abdullah is of the opinion that it is not necessary for His Majesty at this time to declare an emergency in the country or in any part of the country of Malaysia, » the palace said in a press release
« Her Majesty is confident in the ability of the government under the leadership of the Prime Minister to continue to implement policies and enforcement efforts to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic »
The king’s decision came after a reunion with other members of the country’s royal family
The constitution gives the king the right to decide whether an emergency should be declared, based on threats to security, the economy or public order
Muhyiddin has been in dire straits since taking office in March with a two-seat majority Uncertainties deepened after opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said last month he had the parliamentary majority to form a new government

KABUL: Afghanistan claimed on Sunday that it killed a top Al Qaeda propagandist on an FBI’s most wanted list during an operation in the east of the country, showing the militant group’s continued presence in this country as US forces strive to withdraw from America’s longest war in continued bloodshed
The reported death of Husam Abd Al-Rauf, also known as the war Abu Muhsin Al-Masri, follows weeks of violence, including a suicide bombing claimed by Daesh on Saturday at an education center near Kabul that killed 24 people Meanwhile, the Afghan government continues to fight Taliban militants even as the Qatari peace talks between the two sides take place for the first time
Al-Rauf’s violence and murder threaten face-to-face peace talks and risk plunging decades of war into increased instability It also complicates America’s efforts to pull out, 19 years after leading an invasion targeting the Taliban for hosting al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the Seven 11 attacks.
Details of the raid that led to Al-Rauf’s alleged death remained unclear, hours after the Afghan National Directorate of Security Intelligence claimed on Twitter that it killed him in Ghazni al-Qaeda province did not immediately acknowledge Al-Rauf’s death FBI, US military and NATO did not immediately respond to requests for comment
The Afghan raid took place last week in Kunsaf, a village in Andar district of Ghazni province, some 150 kilometers southwest of Kabul, two government officials said.
Amanullah Kamrani, deputy head of Ghazni provincial council, told The Associated Press that Afghan special forces led by the intelligence agency attacked Kunsaf, which he described as being under Taliban control On the outskirts of the village, they stormed an isolated house and killed seven suspected militants in a shootout, including Al-Rauf, Kamrani said.
Neither Kamrani nor the intelligence agency gave details of how authorities identified Al-Rauf, nor how they suspected he was in the village.
Wahidullah Jumazada, a spokesman for the governor of Ghazni province, said Afghan forces killed six suspected militants in the raid, without acknowledging that Al-Rauf was killed
Kamrani alleged, without providing evidence, that the Taliban offered shelter and protection to Al-Rauf The Taliban said on Sunday they were investigating the incident, without giving details
If the Taliban had provided protection for Al-Rauf, it would violate the terms of its February 29 agreement with the United States which re-launched peace talks in Afghanistan This agreement saw the Taliban agree to « not cooperate with groups or individuals threatening the security of the United States and its allies ”, which includes Al-Qaeda
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York filed an arrest warrant for Al-Rauf in December 2018, accusing him of supporting a foreign terrorist organization and participating in a plot to kill US citizens The FBI put him on the bureau’s « most wanted terrorists » list, which now includes 27 others.
Red-haired Al-Rauf, believed to have been born in 1958, is an Egyptian national.A biography published by Al-Qaeda said he joined Mujahedin fighters who fought the Soviet Union in 1986
He served for years as Al Qaeda’s media chief, offering audio statements and written articles supporting the militant group After years of silence following recognition of the death of the founder of the Taliban, Mullah Omar, Al-Rauf reappeared in 2018 in an audio statement in which he mocked President Donald Trump and those who preceded him at the White House
« I call him ‘Donald T-Rambo’ who tries to copy the famous American fictional character ‘Rambo’, who with only a Kalashnikov was able to liberate all of Afghanistan from the Soviet Union, » Al-Rauf said. , according to the SITE Intelligence group
Meanwhile, on Sunday, authorities increased the death toll in Saturday’s suicide bombing attack on an education center near Kabul The suicide bomber, who was prevented by guards from entering the center, killed 24 people and injured 57 – many of them young students
The local Daesh subsidiary claimed responsibility for the attack in a heavily Shiite neighborhood in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood of western Kabul, claiming that one of its fighters used a suicide vest during the attack

Muhyiddin Yassin, Malaysia, Yang di-Pertuan Agong, emergency