ORLANDO: A day before the Orlando, Florida nightclub massacre, Luis Vielma, 22, updated his Facebook profile with a picture of himself standing with young people in front of a Disney castle and a caption that read: "True friends who become family." By Sunday night, his profile was altered to "Remember Luis Vielma” after police confirmed he was among 50 people killed in the deadliest mass shooting in US history.
An undated photo from the Facebook account of Luis Vielma, who police identified as one of the victims of the shooting massacre. —Reuters
As authorities frantically tried to notify all the relatives, the Orlando Police Department began publishing the names of victims on a city website on Sunday afternoon.
Among them was Vielma, who worked part-time as a rides attendant at the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey theme park ride, while studying physical therapy at Seminole State College, according to his Facebook profile.
Others included Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34, Stanley Almodovar III, 23, Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20, Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22, Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36, and Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22.
An undated photo from the Instagram account of Juan Ramon Guerrero, identified as one of the victims of the shooting. ─ Reuters
Police killed the gunman, who was identified as Omar Mateen, 29, a New York-born Florida resident and US citizen who was the son of immigrants from Afghanistan, and officials were probing evidence suggesting the attack may have been inspired by Islamic State militants.
The sheer number of deaths appeared to overwhelm officials in Orlando, a city of 270,000 people. Orlando Police asked mourners to hold off on vigils as they were understaffed to police them.
"We understand our community is grieving and that vigils are being planned but PLEASE hold off on vigils ─ they represent a serious strain on our limited resources, which we need to dedicate to law enforcement and victims," the city posted on its official Twitter handle.
An undated photo from the Facebook account of Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, who police identified as one of the victims.-Reuters
Neighbors of Stanley Almodovar III, a 23-year-old pharmacy technician, said his parents had recently moved back to Puerto Rico after his mother became ill with cancer. He was the youngest in the family.
The Facebook page for Almodovar III, of Clermont, Florida, was flooded with shocked tributes. "We'll miss you Stanley. You made an impact on everyone that you came around. A good person and friend," wrote Mark Nielsen of Deltona, Florida.
Images posted to Stanley's wall over the years showed him socializing with dozens of friends.
"I will always remember you," Jeannette Molina wrote. "Your beautiful personality and spirit."
An undated photo from the Facebook account of Edward Sotomayor Jr., identified by police as one of the victims of the shooting. ─ Reuters
Sotomayor Jr., a 34-year-old marketing manager at a Sarasota-based gay travel company, previously posted a photo of himself and former Florida Governor Charlie Christ on his Facebook page.
In an Instagram post published Sunday, RuPaul's Drag Race judge Michelle Visage called Sotomayor "a joy."
"I loved you on so many levels. You were SO SO special and will never be forgotten," she wrote. "I promise you that."
ایسی دہشت گردانہ کارروائیاں مسلمانوں کی اکثریت کی سوچ کے منافی ہیں، نواز شریف فوٹو: فائل
لندن: وزیراعظم نواز شریف نےامریکی ریاست فلوریڈا میں دہشت گردی کے لرزہ خیر واقعہ کی شدید مذمت کرتے ہوئے کہا ہے کہ بے گناہ انسانوں کاقتل انسانیت کے خلاف ہے جب کہ ایسی دہشت گردانہ کارروائیاں مسلمانوں کی اکثریت کی سوچ کے منافی ہیں۔
وزیراعظم نواز شریف نے امریکی ریاست فلوریڈا میں دہشت گردی کے لرزہ خیر واقعے کی شدید مذمت کرتے ہوئے واقعے میں ہلاک اورزخمی افراد کے لواحقین سے ہمدردی کا اظہار کیا۔ ان کا کہنا تھا کہ حکومتی سربراہ اورعوامی نمائندہ ہونے کی حیثیت سے آرلینڈو میں پیش آنے والے واقعے پر دکھ ہے،بے گناہ انسانوں کاقتل انسانیت کے خلاف ہے جب کہ ایسی دہشت گردانہ کارروائیاں مسلمانوں کی اکثریت کی سوچ کے منافی ہیں۔
وزیراعظم کا کہنا تھا کہ جمہوری معاشرے میں بے گناہ مرد،عورت اوربچے سوچ کی بنا پر قتل نہیں کیے جاسکتے لہذا انتہاپسندی کے ناسور کو اپنی زندگیوں سے ختم کرنے کاعزم کررکھا ہے۔
ORLANDO: A man armed with an assault rifle and pledging loyalty to the militant Islamic State (IS) killed 50 people during a gay pride celebration at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, early on Sunday in the deadliest mass shooting in United States history, a rampage President Barack Obama denounced as an act of terror and hate.
Police killed the gunman, who was identified as Omar Mateen, 29, a New York-born Florida resident and US citizen who was the son of immigrants from Afghanistan and had twice been questioned by FBI agents in recent years, authorities said.
Mourners observe a moment of silence during a vigil for victims of a fatal shooting at an Orlando nightclub, Sunday, June 12, 2016, in Atlanta. —AP
Mateen's former wife described him as emotionally and mentally disturbed with a violent temper, yet who aspired to be a police officer. He also worked as an armed guard for the security firm G4S, the world's largest, according to the company.
Law enforcement officials were probing evidence suggesting the attack was inspired by IS militants, although they said there was no proof that Mateen had worked directly with the group.
As the shooting rampage was unfolding, Mateen “made calls to 911 this morning in which he stated his allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State”, said Ronald Hopper, the FBI's assistant special agent in charge on the case.
Shots rang out at the crowded Pulse nightclub in the heart of Orlando, one of the most popular US tourist destinations, as some 350 patrons were attending a Latin music event in conjunction with gay pride week celebrations. Clubgoers described scenes of terror and pandemonium, with one man who escaped saying he hid under a car and bandaged a wounded stranger with his shirt.
Friends and family grieve after a list of hospitalised victims was released, implying the death of those who weren't on the list and hadn't been heard from in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, June 12, 2016. —AP
“Words cannot and will not describe the feeling of that,” Joshua McGill said in a posting on Facebook.
“Being covered in blood. Trying to save a guy's life.”
Fifty-three people were wounded in the rampage. It ranked as the deadliest single US mass shooting incident, eclipsing the massacre of 32 people at Virginia Tech University in 2007.
“We know enough to say this was an act of terror, an act of hate,” Obama said in a speech from the White House.
“As Americans, we are united in grief, in outrage and in resolve to defend our people.”
US officials cautioned, however, they had no conclusive evidence of any direct connection with any foreign extremist group.
“So far as we know at this time, his first direct contact was a pledge of bayat (loyalty) he made during the massacre,” said a US counterterrorism official.
“This guy appears to have been pretty screwed up without any help from anybody.”
The attacker was carrying an AR-15-style assault rifle and a handgun, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said. He also had an unidentified “device”, said Orlando Police Chief John Mina.
The shooting was nearly certain to reignite emotional debates over American gun laws and homeland security in what is shaping up to be a vitriolic US presidential campaign between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.
The attack came six months after a married couple in California — a US-born son of Pakistani immigrants and a Pakistani-born woman he married in Saudi Arabia, fatally shot 14 people in San Bernardino in an attack inspired by IS. That couple died in a shootout with police hours after their attack on a holiday party attended by the husband's co-workers.
'Unimaginable'
The Florida shooting evolved into a hostage situation, which a team of SWAT officers ended around dawn when they used armoured cars to storm the club before killing the gunman. It was unclear when the victims were killed.
Officials in Orlando, a city of 270,000 people and home to tourist attractions including the Disney World resort, were visibly shocked at the high death toll, which they had initially put at 20.
A woman holds up a placard during a vigil in front of the White House in Washington, US, June 12, 2016. —Reuters
“We're dealing with something that we never imagined and is unimaginable,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said. He said 39 people died inside the club, two outside, and nine others died after being rushed to hospital.
Orlando Regional Medical Center hospital said it had admitted 44 victims, including nine who died, and had carried out 26 operations on victims.
The city began releasing names of the victims on Sunday, with the first seven identified as Edward Sotomayor Jr., Stanley Almodovar, Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, Juan Ramon Guerrero, Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, Peter Gonzalez-Cruz and Luis Vielma.
Mateen had twice been interviewed by FBI agents, in 2013 and 2014, after making comments to co-workers indicating he supported militant groups, but neither interview led to evidence of criminal activity, the FBI's Hopper said.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, second from right, and Orlando Police Chief John Mina arrive to a news conference after a fatal shooting at Pulse Orlando nightclub in Orlando. -AP
Hopper said Mateen was questioned in 2014 about his contacts with Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, a US citizen who also had lived in Florida and became a suicide bomber in Syria that year.
Near Boulder, Colorado, Mateen's former wife, Sitora Yusufiy, told reporters he worked for a time as a correctional officer at a detention centre for juvenile delinquents in Fort Pierce, Florida, and had once sought admission to a police academy.
She said she had been beaten and otherwise physically abused by Mateen during outbursts of temper in which he would "express hatred towards everything".
Eventually, she was “rescued” from Mateen by family members who intervened in a stormy marriage that ultimately ended in divorce, she said.
“I know he had a history of steroids,” Yusufiy told reporters outside a home where she was staying with a man she identified as her current fiance. She also described Mateen as “emotionally unstable”, “mentally ill” and bipolar.
Deborah Sherman, an FBI spokeswoman in Denver, confirmed that federal agents had interviewed Yusufiy in Colorado.
The imam of the Florida mosque where Mateen attended prayers for nearly 10 years described him as a soft-spoken man who would visit regularly but rarely interact with others in the congregation.
Candidates weigh in
Within hours of the shooting, the presumptive presidential nominees of both major political parties weighed in with statements on the tragedy.
Trump, who has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the US, said he was “right on radical Islamic terrorism” and called on Obama to resign because he did not say the words “radical Islam” in his statement responding to the shooting.
Clinton echoed Obama's comments calling the attack both an act of terror and a hate crime, adding that the massacre “reminds us once more that weapons of war have no place on our streets".
If confirmed as an act of terrorism, it would be the deadliest such attack on US soil since Sept 11, 2001, when Al Qaeda-trained hijackers crashed jetliners into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, killing some 3,000 people.
The choice of target was especially heart-wrenching for members of the US lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, said LGBT advocacy group Equality Florida.
“Gay clubs hold a significant place in LGBTQ history. They were often the only safe gathering place and this horrific act strikes directly at our sense of safety,” the group said in a statement.
“We will await the details in tears of sadness and anger.”
In an apparently unrelated incident on Sunday, a heavily armed man from Indiana who said he was headed to a Los Angeles-area gay pride festival was arrested in nearby Santa Monica, California, where police found guns and chemicals to make explosives in his car.
تحقیقات کا آغاز کردیا ہے تاکہ پتہ چلایا جا سکے حملہ آور ممکنہ طور پر اسلامی شدت پسندی سے متاثر تو نہیں تھا،ایف بی آئی. فوٹو: نیویارک پوسٹ
فلوریڈا: آرلینڈو میں ہم جنس پرستوں کے لئے مخصوص نائٹ کلب میں مسلح شخص نے فائرنگ کردی جس کے نتیجے میں 50 افراد ہلاک اور 53 زخمی ہوگئے جب کہ پولیس کی جوابی کارروائی میں حملہ آور بھی مارا گیا جس کی شناخت افغان نژاد امریکی شہری عمر متین کے نام سے ہوئی۔
غیر ملکی خبر رساں ادارے کے مطابق امریکی ریاست فلوریڈا کے شہر آرلینڈو میں مسلح شخص جسم سے بم باندھ کر ہم جنس پرستوں کے لئے مخصوص نائٹ کلب میں داخل ہوا اور اندھا دھند فائرنگ کردی جس کے نتیجے میں 50 افراد ہلاک اور 53 زخمی ہو گئے۔
مسلح شخص نے نائٹ کلب کے اندر موجود متعدد افراد کو یرغمال بنائے رکھا تاہم پولیس کی جوابی کارروائی میں حملہ آور مارا گیا۔ ریسکیو ٹیموں نے زخمیوں کو آرلینڈو کے مختلف اسپتالوں میں منتقل کردیا جہاں طبی عملے کے مطابق ان میں سے بعض کی حالت انتہائی تشویشناک ہے جس کے باعث ہلاکتوں میں اضافے کا خدشہ ظاہر کیا جارہا ہے۔
ادھر امریکی حکام نے فائرنگ کے واقعے کو دہشت گردی قرار دیا جب کہ ایف بی آئی حکام کا کہنا ہے کہ واقعہ کی تحقیقات کا آغاز کردیا گیا ہے تاکہ پتہ چلایا جا سکے کہ آیا حملہ آور اکیلے ہی فائرنگ میں ملوث تھا یا پھر وہ ممکنہ طور پر اسلامی شدت پسندی سے متاثر ہوسکتا ہے تاہم اس بات کے شواہد نہیں ملے کہ فائرنگ کا واقعہ مقامی یا بین الاقوامی دہشت گردی ہے۔ وائٹ ہاؤس کے ترجمان کے مطابق حملے کے فوری بعد امریکی صدر براک اوباما کو اس حوالے سے بریفنگ دی گئی جس میں صدر کا کہنا تھا کہ انہیں تحقیقات کے ہر لمحے سے آگاہ رکھا جائے جب کہ نائب صدر جو بائیڈن کو بھی حملے کے حوالے سے بریف کیا گیا۔
امریکی میڈیا کے مطابق حملہ آور کی شناخت 29 سالہ عمر متین کے نام سے ہوئی جو افغان نژاد امریکی شہری اور فلوریڈا کے شہر پورٹ سینٹ لوسی کا رہائشی ہے، وہ نیویارک میں پیدا ہوا اور نیو جرسی کی رہائشی خاتون سے شادی کی۔
دوسری جانب آرلینڈو پولیس کے چیف کا کہنا تھا کہ حملہ آور ایک رائفل اور ایک پستول سے مسلح تھا اور اس نے اپنے ساتھ کسی قسم کا آلہ بھی باندھ رکھا تھا جب کہ حملے کے وقت کلب میں 300 سے زائد افراد موجود تھے۔
ادھر عمر متین کے والد صدیقی متین نے میڈیا سے بات کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ اس افسوس ناک واقعے پر معذرت خواہ ہوں لیکن اس کا مذہب سے کوئی تعلق نہیں جب کہ میں خود بھی نہیں جانتا تھا کہ عمر اس طرح کی کارروائی کرنے جارہا تھا تاہم اس وقت پوری امریکی قوم کی طرح وہ بھی صدمے سے دوچار ہیں۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ کچھ دن پہلے ان کا بیٹا عمر اس وقت شدید غصے میں آگیا تھا جب اس نے میامی ہم جنس پرستوں کو بوس و کنار کرتے ہوئے دیکھا اور اس کو یہ حرکت انتہائی ناگوار گزری تھی۔
امریکی میڈیا کے مطابق فائرنگ کرنے والے شخص عمر متین نے نائٹ کلب میں فائرنگ سے قبل پولیس ایمرجنسی سروس پر کال کرکے داعش سے وابستگی کا اعلان بھی کیا تھا جب کہ عمر متین کی سابقہ بیوی نے میڈیا سے بات کرتے ہوئےبتایا کہ عمر متین ایک پرتشدد شخصیت کا مالک تھا اوراس کی ذہنی صحت بھی درست نہیں تھی۔ عمر کی سابقہ بیوی کا کہنا تھا کہ وہ جب گھر آتا تو کبھی کپڑے دھونے اور دوسرے کاموں پرمجھے پیٹنا شروع کردیتا تھا۔
دوسری جانب امریکی صدر براک اوباما نے فلوریڈا واقعے پر قوم سے خطاب میں حملے میں نشانہ بننے والے افراد کے خاندانوں سے اظہار ہمدردی کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ ہمارے لیے آج برا دن ہے، واقعے پر امریکی گہرے دکھ میں ہیں جب کہ حملے کی وجوہات کا تاحال کچھ علم نہیں لیکن واقعے کی دہشت گردی کے حیثیت سے تحقیقات جاری ہیں اور حقائق کا جائزہ لیا جارہا ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ واقعے کا تمام پہلوؤں سے جائزہ لیا جائے گا اور تحفظ کے لیے تمام تر اقدامات کیے جائیں گے جب کہ امریکا اپنی اقدار نہیں بدلے گا، امریکی شہریوں کا تحفظ ہماری اولین ترجیح ہے۔ امریکی صدر کا کہنا تھا کہ مشترکہ کوششوں سے دہشتگردی کا خاتمہ ممکن ہےجب کہ اورلینڈو کے میئر سے اس سلسلے میں بات ہوئی ہے، اورلینڈو حکام کی ہرممکن معاونت کریں گے۔
واضح رہے کہ 2 روز قبل بھی آرلینڈو میں ایک مسلح شخص نے میوزک کنسٹرٹ کے دوران فائرنگ کر کے امریکن ٹی وی کے مشہور پروگرام ’دی وائس‘ کی گلوکارہ کرسٹینا گریمی کو ہلاک کردیا تھا۔
FORT PIERCE: The gunman who killed 50 people at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub in the deadliest mass shooting in US history was emotionally and mentally disturbed with a violent temper, yet aspired to be a police officer, his ex-wife said on Sunday.
Sitora Yusufiy, the former spouse of Omar Mateen, 29, identified as the shooter slain by police at the end of Sunday's massacre, also told reporters in a news conference aired on CNN that she was "rescued" by family members from her ex-husband after four months of a stormy marriage that ended in divorce.
He was a body builder and a security guard, a religious man who attended the local mosque and wanted to become a police officer.
Early Sunday, 29-year-old Omar Mateen opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, leaving 50 people dead and 53 wounded, police said. Mateen was the son of an Afghan immigrant who had a talk show in the United States, the nature of which was not entirely clear: A former Afghan official said the program was pro-Taliban and a former colleague said it was enthusiastically pro-American.
He attended evening prayer services at the city's Islamic Centre three to four times a week, most recently with his young son, said Imam Syed Shafeeq Rahman. Although he was not very social, he also showed no signs of violence, Rahman said. He said he last saw Mateen on Friday.
"When he finished prayer he would just leave," Rahman told The Associated Press. "He would not socialize with anybody. He would be quiet. He would be very peaceful."
He was also bipolar, Mateen's ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, told reporters in Boulder, Colorado.
"He was mentally unstable and mentally ill," Yusufiy said. Although records show the couple didn't divorce for two years after the marriage, Yusufiy said she was actually only with Mateen for four months because he was abusive. She said he would not let her speak to her family and that family members had to come and literally pull her out of his arms.
Authorities immediately began investigating whether Sunday's attack was an act of terrorism. A law enforcement official said the gunman made a 911 call from the nightclub professing allegiance to the leader of the militant Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The law enforcement official is familiar with the investigation but was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Yusufiy said she was "devastated, shocked, started shaking and crying" when she heard about the shooting, but she attributed the violence to Mateen's mental illness, not any alliance with terrorist groups.
Seddique Mir Mateen, the father of the alleged shooter, is a life insurance salesman who started a group in 2010 called Durand Jirga, Inc., according to Qasim Tarin, a businessman from California who was a Durand Jirga board member. The name refers to the Durand line, the long disputed border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Tarin said Seddique Mir Mateen had a television show on which they discussed issues facing Afghanistan. "It's shocking," he said about the shooting. "(Omar Mateen's) father loves this country."
Some of Seddique Mir Mateen's shows were taped and later posted on YouTube. During one episode, a sign in the background read: “Long live the USA! Long live Afghanistan. ... Afghans are the best friends to the USA."
But a former Afghan official said the "Durand Jirga Show" appears on Payam-e-Afghan, a California-based channel that supports ethnic solidarity with the Afghan Taliban, which are mostly Pashtun.
Viewers from Pashtun communities in the United States regularly call in to the channel to espouse support for Pashtun domination of Afghanistan over the nation's minorities, including Hazaras, Tajiks and Uzbeks, the official said.
The "Durand Jirga Show" expresses support for the Taliban, has an anti-Pakistan slant, complains about foreigners in Afghanistan and criticizes US actions there, the official said.
Seddique Mir Mateen lavished praise on current Afghan President Ashraf Ghani when he appeared on the show in January 2014, but he has since denounced the Ghani government, according to the official, who said that on Saturday, Seddique Mateen appeared on the show dressed in military fatigues and used his program to criticize the current Afghan government.
He also announced on that show that he would run in the next Afghan presidential election, said the official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because he did not want to be linked to coverage of the shooting. In 2013, Omar Mateen made inflammatory comments to co-workers, and he was interviewed twice, FBI agent Ronald Hopper said. He called those interviews inconclusive. In 2014, Hopper said, officials found that Mateen had ties to an American suicide bomber. He described the contact as minimal, saying it did not constitute a threat at the time.
Mateen purchased at least two firearms legally within the last week or so, according to Trevor Velinor of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Mateen had no criminal record. Yusufiy said he wanted to be a police officer and had applied to the police academy. Mateen was a security guard at the G4S company, which identifies itself on its website as "the leading global integrated security company."
er, yet aspired to be a police officer, his ex-wife said on Sunday.
Sitora Yusufiy, the former spouse of Omar Mateen, 29, identified as the shooter slain by police at the end of Sunday's massacre, also told reporters in a news conference aired on CNN that she was "rescued" by family members from her ex-husband after four months of a stormy marriage that ended in divorce.
He was a body builder and a security guard, a religious man who attended the local mosque and wanted to become a police officer.
Early Sunday, 29-year-old Omar Mateen opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, leaving 50 people dead and 53 wounded, police said. Mateen was the son of an Afghan immigrant who had a talk show in the United States, the nature of which was not entirely clear: A former Afghan official said the program was pro-Taliban and a former colleague said it was enthusiastically pro-American.
He attended evening prayer services at the city's Islamic Centre three to four times a week, most recently with his young son, said Imam Syed Shafeeq Rahman. Although he was not very social, he also showed no signs of violence, Rahman said. He said he last saw Mateen on Friday.
"When he finished prayer he would just leave," Rahman told The Associated Press. "He would not socialize with anybody. He would be quiet. He would be very peaceful."
He was also bipolar, Mateen's ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, told reporters in Boulder, Colorado.
"He was mentally unstable and mentally ill," Yusufiy said. Although records show the couple didn't divorce for two years after the marriage, Yusufiy said she was actually only with Mateen for four months because he was abusive. She said he would not let her speak to her family and that family members had to come and literally pull her out of his arms.
Authorities immediately began investigating whether Sunday's attack was an act of terrorism. A law enforcement official said the gunman made a 911 call from the nightclub professing allegiance to the leader of the militant Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The law enforcement official is familiar with the investigation but was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Yusufiy said she was "devastated, shocked, started shaking and crying" when she heard about the shooting, but she attributed the violence to Mateen's mental illness, not any alliance with terrorist groups.
Seddique Mir Mateen, the father of the alleged shooter, is a life insurance salesman who started a group in 2010 called Durand Jirga, Inc., according to Qasim Tarin, a businessman from California who was a Durand Jirga board member. The name refers to the Durand line, the long disputed border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Tarin said Seddique Mir Mateen had a television show on which they discussed issues facing Afghanistan. "It's shocking," he said about the shooting. "(Omar Mateen's) father loves this country."
Some of Seddique Mir Mateen's shows were taped and later posted on YouTube. During one episode, a sign in the background read: “Long live the USA! Long live Afghanistan. ... Afghans are the best friends to the USA."
But a former Afghan official said the "Durand Jirga Show" appears on Payam-e-Afghan, a California-based channel that supports ethnic solidarity with the Afghan Taliban, which are mostly Pashtun.
Viewers from Pashtun communities in the United States regularly call in to the channel to espouse support for Pashtun domination of Afghanistan over the nation's minorities, including Hazaras, Tajiks and Uzbeks, the official said.
The "Durand Jirga Show" expresses support for the Taliban, has an anti-Pakistan slant, complains about foreigners in Afghanistan and criticizes US actions there, the official said.
Seddique Mir Mateen lavished praise on current Afghan President Ashraf Ghani when he appeared on the show in January 2014, but he has since denounced the Ghani government, according to the official, who said that on Saturday, Seddique Mateen appeared on the show dressed in military fatigues and used his program to criticize the current Afghan government.
He also announced on that show that he would run in the next Afghan presidential election, said the official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because he did not want to be linked to coverage of the shooting. In 2013, Omar Mateen made inflammatory comments to co-workers, and he was interviewed twice, FBI agent Ronald Hopper said. He called those interviews inconclusive. In 2014, Hopper said, officials found that Mateen had ties to an American suicide bomber. He described the contact as minimal, saying it did not constitute a threat at the time.
Mateen purchased at least two firearms legally within the last week or so, according to Trevor Velinor of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Mateen had no criminal record. Yusufiy said he wanted to be a police officer and had applied to the police academy. Mateen was a security guard at the G4S company, which identifies itself on its website as "the leading global integrated security company."
LONDON: Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford called for all no-ball decisions to be taken by the third umpire as his side reacted to an incorrect call in the third Test against England with an extraordinary flag protest at Lord's on Sunday.
At stumps, Sri Lanka were 32 without loss in their second innings, needing a further 330 runs on Monday's fifth and final day to reach an imposing victory target of 362.
More realistically, their goal was to prevent England, already 2-0 up in the three-match series, taking the 10 wickets they needed to complete a whitewash.
But England captain Alastair Cook, 49 not out batting down the order after a knee injury suffered while fielding, may not have been able to declare his side's second innings on 233 for seven had a few close calls Sunday gone Sri Lanka's way instead.
Significantly, Sri Lanka thought they had Alex Hales — who went on to make 94 — out for 58 when he as bowled by Nuwan Pradeep.
But Australian umpire Rod Tucker had already called a no-ball.
Replays suggested Pradeep's front foot may have been behind the crease but fielding teams are unable to challenge a no-ball call by an umpire and Hales survived.
In February, a similar incident saw Australia's Adam Voges make 239 in a Test against New Zealand in Wellington after being reprieved on seven following an incorrectly called no-ball by English umpire Richard Illingworth.
Under International Cricket Council regulations, the third umpire is powerless to intervene in such situations.
There are proposals on the table to prevent a repeat of these types of incidents and Ford said: “The ICC have to look at it.
“It seems strange with the technology available that you can still get a line call wrong,” the South African added.
“The best solution is for the umpires to worry about what's happening down the other end and let technology look after the line call.
“The game has a funny way of kicking you when you are down. That was a kick we didn't need.”
An understanding Hales said: “Of course I sympathise with them and Rod. But think about how fast everything moves and how close he (Pradeep) was to the front line.
“Rod said he told him a few times that over he was getting close to the front. It's a split decision he's got to make at the time.”
Ford was especially disappointed for Pradeep, whose impressive return of three for 37 in 15 overs was still two wickets shy of the five the paceman needed for a place on the Lord's honours board.
“He bowled so damn well and had such bad luck, if ever a guy deserved five at Lord's, it was him,” said Ford.
The Sri Lanka management reacted to Hales's reprieve by draping the national over the tourists' dressing-room balcony for some 45 minutes.
Ford said this wasn't so much a protest as a gesture of solidarity with the players out on the middle.
“At that stage we felt the boys were fighting hard and we wanted to show our support from the dressing room to boost their morale — only for us to find out that's not the done thing and we had to take it down,” said Ford.
He added that Tucker had apologised to Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews for his mistake.
“He got the news from the third umpire and he apologised to Angelo. It was very good of him to have done that and we move on.”
Hales, for all his good fortune Sunday, was still left waiting for a maiden Test hundred.
The Nottinghamshire opener, out for 86 and 83 in the first two Tests, got closer still on Sunday before he was lbw to medium-pacer Mathews.
Somewhat ironically, in view of Sri Lanka's earlier protest, Hales sought a review of the decision only for DRS to find in the tourists' favour on this occasion.
“It's disappointing again to come so close,” said Hales, whose 126-ball innings included 10 fours and a six.
“But it was pretty decent delivery and I had my fair share of luck — bowled off a no-ball, umpires calls and edges — I guess the luck ran out.” No Image
