Mateen was a regular at gay nightclub he rampaged, say witnesses

FORT PIERCE: Like many other young American men, Omar Mateen worked a series of unremarkable jobs during and after high school ─ a Publix grocery store, Circuit City, Chick-Fil-A and Walgreens.
He graduated in 2003 and jumped through a series of jobs related to nutrition and health, working at Nutrition World, Gold's Gym and a GNC store.
He worked for six months at a state prison. And an early marriage faltered.
But eventually he found some form of stability with a job as a security guard in South Florida, where he was still working when he stormed a gay nightclub early Sunday in Orlando, resulting in the deaths of 49 people and the wounding of 53 more. He died in a gunfight with police.
It remained unclear exactly why Mateen targeted the club. However, one patron told The Orlando Sentinel he saw Mateen drinking at the bar several times before the shooting. Ty Smith said he saw Mateen inside at least a dozen times.
"Sometimes he would go over in the corner and sit and drink by himself, and other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent," Smith said.
"We didn't really talk to him a lot, but I remember him saying things about his dad at times," Smith said. "He told us he had a wife and child."
Kevin West, who also frequented the club, told the Los Angeles Times that Mateen messaged him occasionally using a gay chat and dating app, but the two never met or knew each other by name.
West saw Mateen enter the club an hour before the shooting began and turned over his cellphone and log-in information to the FBI after the shooting.
Mateen, 29, spent most of his childhood on Florida's Atlantic coast and lived there as an adult, not far from his parents.
Born in the New York City borough of Queens in 1986, he moved with his family to the Long Island town of Westbury two years later and then in 1991 to Port Saint Lucie, Florida, about 125 miles southeast of Orlando.
Imam Syed Shafeeq Rahman of the city's Islamic Center said he knew Mateen and his family since the shooter was a boy and never saw any signs of violence in him. The Orlando attack, he said, "was totally unexpected".
But one colleague at the security contractor G4S, his most recent employer, remembered the son of Afghan immigrants as an angry, profane co-worker who used slurs and threatened violence.
Daniel Gilroy said Mateen started badgering him and sending dozens of text messages to him daily, and that he reported Mateen's behavior to his bosses.
“I kind of feel a little guilty that I didn't fight harder,” Gilroy said. "If I didn't walk away and I fought, then maybe 50 people would still be alive today."
Gilroy told multiple news outlets that Mateen routinely used slurs for gay people, blacks, Jews and women. "He talked about killing people all the time," Gilroy told The New York Times.
Of the massacre, Gilroy said, "I saw it coming."
G4S denied Gilroy's claims, saying in a statement Monday that it had no record of Gilroy ever making such a complaint to his superiors.
Furthermore, the company said, Gilroy told officials shortly after leaving in June 2015: "The work and job assignments were respectful and co-workers were good men and women that put in an honest day's work and genuinely like to work as a team and contribute."
A woman who said she was once a neighbor of Mateen's said the security company assigned him to guard the back entrance of PGA Village, a golf resort in Port St. Lucie. Tricia Adorno said her children would sometimes play ball with Mateen's young son.
A spokesman for the St. Lucie County clerk of court said Mateen had once been assigned to the clerk's building and was issued a credential. Joseph Abreu said Mateen last used the credential to access the building in May 2013.
In a statement, G4S said Mateen had been subject to a detailed screening when he was recruited in 2007 and was re-screened in 2013 "with no adverse findings".
Mateen graduated with a degree in criminal-justice technology from Indian River Community College in 2006, the same year he changed his name from Omar Mir Seddique to Omar Mir Seddique Mateen, according to civil court records in St. Lucie County.
The papers listed no reason for the name change.
His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, said her former husband wanted to be a police officer and had applied to the police academy. Florida Department of Corrections spokesman Alberto Moscoso said Mateen had worked at the Martin Correctional Institution in Indiantown, Florida, from Oct 27, 2006, to April 27, 2007.
In September 2007, he was hired by G4S, a global security firm that has 610,000 employees in about 100 countries. Yusufiy told reporters in Boulder, Colorado, that she believed Mateen suffered from mental illness.
Although records show the couple didn't divorce for two years after their 2009 marriage, Yusiufiy said she was actually with Mateen for only four months because he was abusive. She said he would not let her speak to her family and that family members had to come literally pull her out of his arms.
Divorce papers reveal that Mateen made $1,600 a month working for G4S and that she earned $3,000 a month as a real estate agent. It's unclear when Mateen married his second wife, Noor Salman, but an Aug 30, 2013, property deed in Saint Lucie County identified them as a married couple.
Family members said the pair had a young son about 3 years old.
On Monday, the FBI said Mateen appeared to be a "homegrown extremist" who espoused support for a jumble of often-conflicting Islamic radical groups. During the attack, he called 911 to profess allegiance to the militant Islamic State group.
FBI Director James Comey said Mateen was clearly "radicalised," at least in part via the Internet.
The FBI became aware of him in 2013 when co-workers reported that he claimed to have family connections to Al Qaeda and to be a member of Hezbollah, too, Comey said.
The agency launched a 10-month preliminary investigation, following Mateen, reviewing his communications and questioning him, the FBI chief said.
Mateen claimed he made the remarks in anger because co-workers were teasing him and discriminating against him as a Muslim. The FBI eventually closed the case, Comey said.
His name surfaced again as part of another investigation into a suicide bomber from the Syrian rebel group Nusra Front. The FBI found Mateen and the man had attended the same mosque and knew each other casually, but the investigation turned up "no ties of any consequence," Comey said.
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.
He attended evening prayer services at Port St. Lucie's Islamic Center three to four times a week, most recently with his son, Rahman said. The imam said he last saw Mateen on Friday.
“When he finished prayer, he would just leave,” Rahman told The Associated Press. "He would not socialise with anybody. He would be quiet. He would be very peaceful."
On Monday, the shooter's father, Seddique Mir Mateen, said what his son did "was the act of a terrorist".
"I apologise for what my son did. I am as sad and mad as you guys are," he told reporters outside his home. He did not go into details about his son's religious or political views, insisting he did not know.
Asked whether he missed his son, the father said: "I don't miss anything about him. What he did was against humanity".

Threats posed by people with roots in Pakistan, S Arabia: Trump

MANCHESTER: Republican Donald Trump on Monday placed responsibility for a mass shooting in Florida squarely at the feet of radical Muslims, who he said were entering the country amidst a flood of refugees and "trying to take over our children."
He noted that the parents of the Florida gunman, Omar Mateen, 29, were born in Afghanistan. Pointing to specific incidents such as the Sep 11, 2001, attacks, Trump said threats were posed by people with roots in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Somalia.
"When I'm elected, I will suspend immigration from areas of the world where there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies until we fully understand how to end these threats," Trump said.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee drew on the country's deadliest mass shooting on Sunday to sharpen his vow to ban Muslim immigrants, proposing that the United States suspend immigration from areas of the world where there is "a proven history of terrorism."
Trump said that, if elected, he would use the executive authority of the presidency to impose stronger controls on immigration to protect Americans from attacks, fine-tuning his earlier campaign promise to temporarily ban the entry of foreign Muslims to shore up national security.
In his national security speech, Trump said it was time to "tell the truth about radical Islam," the day after 49 people were killed at a gay nightclub in Orlando by a gunman, likely self-radicalized, who had sworn allegiance to the militant Islamic State (IS) group.
"If we want to protect the quality of life for all Americans ─ women and children, gay and straight, Jews and Christians and all people ─ then we need to tell the truth about radical Islam and we need to do it now," Trump told the crowd in New Hampshire.
His comments contrasted sharply to those of Hillary Clinton, the wealthy businessman's likely Democratic rival in the Nov 8 election, who urged increased intelligence gathering and more airstrikes on IS territory, and cautioned against "demonizing" American Muslims.
He went on to lambaste Clinton's policies, saying they would allow "hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Middle East" to enter the United States without adequate security measures.
There would be "no system to vet them, or to prevent the radicalization of... their children," he said. "Not only their children, by the way. They're trying to take over our children and convince them how wonderful ISIS is and how wonderful Islam is, and we don't know what's happening."
The immigration ban, he said would last until "we are in a position to properly screen these people coming into our country. They're pouring in, and we don't know what we're doing."
Trump's hard-line proposals on immigration have helped fuel his surge in popularity among some conservative voters. But they have also triggered heavy condemnation from minority and human rights activists, and his political opponents ─ many of whom have called his rhetoric racist.
Trump has rejected the criticism, and has said he is often misunderstood by the media and his opponents.

'Anti-woman, anti-gay'

In her response to the Florida massacre, Clinton warned against demonizing Muslim Americans and called for increased efforts to remove IS propaganda from the internet, more air strikes in areas held by the group and better coordination with allies in the region.
"The Orlando terrorist may be dead, but the virus that poisoned his mind remains very strong, and we must attack it," she said in a speech in Cleveland.
She specifically criticized three US allies ─ Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait ─ for allowing its citizens to fund mosques and schools that train jihadists.
She also proposed stricter gun control laws, reiterating previous calls to prohibit people on terrorism watch lists from buying firearms. She pointed out that while the Federal Bureau of Investigation was aware of Mateen as a possible threat, he was still able to purchase a gun legally.
"It's important that we stop the terrorists from getting the tools they need to carry out the attacks, and that is especially true when it comes to assault weapons like those used in Orlando and San Bernardino," California, Clinton said, drawing a standing ovation from the crowd.
Trump challenged Clinton to explain why she favored letting Syrian civil war refugees into the United States. He said his policies would better protect American women, gays and lesbians, Jews and Christians. Trump's support among women and gay voters lags far behind that of Clinton.
"Radical Islam is anti-woman, anti-gay and anti-American," said Trump.
He accused her of having ties to Saudi Arabia.
"Saudi Arabia and many of the countries that gave vast amounts of money to the Clinton Foundation want women as slaves and to kill gays," he said in a Facebook post. "Hillary must return all money from such countries!"

4 گولیوں کے ذریعے اربوں روپے کمانے کا نیا ریکارڈ سامنے آگیا

ادارے خاموش تماشائی بنے رہے، قیمت 400 فیصد تک بڑھا دی گئیں، ٹرانسپیرنسی انٹرنیشنل فوٹو: فائل
 کراچی: ڈرگ ریگولیٹری اتھارٹی کی ملی بھگت سے 2 دوا سازکمپنیوں نے ایک سال میں 8 ارب روپے غیرقانونی طور پر سمیٹ لیے حکومتی ادارے خاموش تماشائی بنے رہے عام استعمال کی چار گولیوں کی قیمتیں بھی 400 فیصد تک بڑھائی گئیں اور مصنوعی قلت بھی پیدا کی گئی ٹرانسپیرنسی انٹرنیشنل پاکستان نے انسانی جانوں اور عوام کی صحت سے کھیلنے کے منظم اورمذموم منصوبے کیخلاف وفاقی سیکریٹری نیشنل ہیلتھ ریگولیشنز کو خط لکھ دیا ۔
تفصیلات کے مطابق ٹرانسپیرنسی انٹرنیشنل پاکستان کے چیئرمین سہیل مظفرکی جانب سے لکھے مکتوب میں کہا گیا ہے کہ دودوا ساز کمپنیوں نے روزمرہ اور عام استعمال کی چار گولیوں کی قیمتوں کو خلاف قانون بڑھا کر اور مارکیٹ میں مصنوعی قلت پیدا کرکے 8 ارب روپے بیمار عوام کی جیبوں سے نکال لیے ہیں، خط میں کہا گیاکہ فولک ایسڈ، تھائراکسن، موٹیوال اور پیناڈول نام کی گولیاں بنانے والی دوکمپنیوں نے اپنی ان چار گولیوں کی قیمتوں میں 400 فیصد تک اضافہ کردیاہے اضافی قیمت پرفروخت ہونے کے باوجود متعلقہ ادارے کارروائی کے لیے حرکت میں نہیں آئے اور ڈرگ ریگولیٹری اتھارٹی نے دوائوں کی بلیک مارکیٹنگ کو روکنے کے بجائے خاموشی اختیار کیے رکھی ہے بلکہ غیرقانونی طور پراضافی قیمت پر فروخت کرنے میں سہولت کار کاکردار بھی ادا کر رہی ہے۔
ٹرانسپیرنسی انٹرنیشنل پاکستان نے خط میں تفصیلات کے ساتھ دونوں دوا ساز کمپنیوں کی غیرقانونی طور پرقیمتوں میں اضافے کے دھندے کا ذکر کیا ہے خط میں کہا گیا ہے کہ یہ چاروں گولیاں جو عام استعمال میں ہیں ان کی قیمتیں بڑھا کر غریب اور بیمار عوام کو لوٹا جارہاہے۔ ٹرانسپیرنسی انٹرنیشنل پاکستان نے وزیراعظم کے سیکریٹری، چیئرمین نیب اور رجسٹرار سپریم کورٹ کو بھی خط کی نقل ارسال کی ہے جس میں بتایا گیا ہے کہ دوائوں کی قیمتوں پر کنٹرول کرنے کے لیے متعلقہ ادارے اور افسران اقدامات سے دانستہ گریزاں ہیں ٹرانسپیرنسی انٹرنیشنل نے معاملے کی سنگینی پر متعلقہ اعلی حکام سے نوٹس لینے کا مطالبہ کیا ہے اور کہا گیا ہے کہ ہرسال غریب عوام کی جیبوں سے اربوں روپے نکالے جارہے ہیں اور غریب عوام اضافی قیمت پر دوائیں خریدنے پر مجبور ہیں ٹرانسپیرنسی نٹرنیشنل پاکستان نے دوا سازی کے لیے خام مال کی درآمدکے معاملے کی تحقیقات کا بھی مطالبہ کیا ہے۔

Pak-Afghan skirmish at Torkham injures troops, civilians

TORKHAM: Pakistani and Afghan security forces continued intermittent clashes overnight at Torkham border crossing resulting in injuries to 16 Pakistani citizens, including six border security personnel, officials said on Monday.
The injured personnel were taken to Landi Kotal hospital for treatment. A curfew is also in effect between Torkham and Landi Kotal bazaar as the area falls within range of mortar shells, said security officials.
The injured security personnel include a major and a lieutenant. Meanwhile, 10 civilians were also injured in the cross border firing by Afghan forces.
The injured civilians were shifted to local hospitals for treatment.
While Afghan officials claimed that one Afghan soldier was killed and six were wounded.
The fighting broke out at roughly 9pm on Sunday night at Shamshad Mountain near the crossing point and continued into the night. Heavy exchange of fire continued for nearly 12 hours.


Sources said that most shells fired during the night landed in Bacha Khel and areas adjacent to Torkham border. Nearly 200 families were evacuated to Landi Kotal.
The clashes have halted for now, with armoured vehicles standing face-to-face at the border.
Senior security officials visited the Torkham border early morning, but no meeting took place between the officials of both countries.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Afghan security forces resorted to unprovoked firing on Pakistani side at Torkham gate.




'Current fight doesn't help anyone's interests'

“We currently have agreed on a ceasefire with Pakistan. We hope this problem will end through the work by diplomatic addresses,” the Afghan government's chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, said on Twitter.
“The current fight Pakistan started doesn't help anyone's interest.” Relations between the neighbours have been strained in recent months. Pakistan said it was constructing a border gate near Torkham, a Pakistani town close to the frontier, to prevent militants crossing from Afghanistan into Pakistan.
“In order to check movement of terrorists through Torkham, Pakistan is constructing a gate on its own side of the border as a necessity to check unwanted and illegal movement,” the army said in a statement.
“Pakistani security forces responded to Afghan firing effectively.”
Ayub Hussainkhil, border police commander in eastern Afghanistan, said the fighting at the Torkham Gate stopped at 5am on Monday.


“We have received reinforcement and are ready to defend our country until the last drop of blood in our bodies,” he said.

'Unprovoked attacks are unhelpful'

Pakistan expressed deep concern over the unprovoked firing by Afghanistan's security forces at Torkham border and said these unprovoked attacks are unhelpful in Pak-Afghan relations.
"We expect from the Afghan government to investigate this incident immediately," a spokesman for the Prime Minister's office said in an official statement.
"The government of Pakistan expresses its deep concerns about the security of Pakistani soldiers near the border, in relation to the reports of unprovoked firing by Afghanistan's security forces today," the spokesman said.
Earlier in May, the Torkham border crossing was reopened after Pakistan and Afghanistan reached an understanding to reopen it.
The decision to reopen the border crossing was made at a meeting between Army Chief General Raheel Sharif and Afghan Ambassador Omar Zakhilwal.
The previously unscheduled meeting was arranged as old irritants in the bilateral relationship — rows over border management and terrorism concerns — resurfaced ahead of the upcoming meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group, a four-nation initiative for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
Pakistan had closed the border crossing after Afghan authorities, who do not recognise the Durand Line as an international border, reacted to an attempt to fence the crossing for “controlling unauthorised cross-border movements”.
The move left thousands of people stranded on both sides of the border, be­sides halting the movement of cargo vehicles.


غیرت کے نام پرقتل کے قانون میں ترمیم کی ضرورت نہیں، اسلامی نظریاتی کونسل

غیراخلاقی حرکت پرقانون ہاتھ میں لینےکی اجازت نہیں،اسلام ماورائےعدالت ازخود کسی کوسزا دینےکی اجازت نہیں دیتا،اعلامیہ۔ فوٹو:فائل
 اسلام آباد: اسلامی نظریاتی کونسل نے کہا ہے کہ غیرت کے نام پر قتل کی سزا کا قانون شریعت کے عین مطابق ہے اور اس قانون میں ترمیم کی ضرورت نہیں۔
اسلامی نظریاتی کونسل نے لڑکیوں کو جلانے کے خلاف قانون سازی کے مطالبات پراعلامیہ جاری کیا ہے جس کے مطابق غیرت کے نام پر قتل کی سزا تعزیرات پاکستان میں درج ہے، غیرت کے نام پر قتل کی سزا کا قانون شریعت کے عین مطابق ہے اور اس قانون میں ترمیم کی ضرورت نہیں ہے جب کہ غیرت کے نام پر قتل سنگین جرم ہے۔
اسلامی نظریاتی کونسل نے اعلامیے میں کہا کہ غیر اخلاقی حرکت پررشتہ دار کو قانون ہاتھ میں لینے کی اجازت نہیں، اسلام ماورائے عدالت از خود کسی کو سزا دینے کی اجازت نہیں دیتا، بد اخلاقی کے مجرم کو بھی عدالت میں ہی پیش کیا جاسکتا ہے جب کہ بدکاری، فحاشی گناہ کبیرہ ہے جس کی شریعت میں سنگین سزا مقرر ہے۔
واضح رہے کہ اعداد و شمار کے مطابق گزشتہ سال ملک میں 1100 لڑکیوں کو غیرت کے نام پر قتل کردیا گیا تھا۔

ملائشیا کی پہلی اسلامک ایئرلائن کی پروازوں پر پابندی عائد

مسافروں کی جانب سے پروازوں میں تاخیراورعین وقت پر پرواز کی منسوخی جیسی شکایات سامنے آنے پرکارروائی کی گئی، ڈی سی اے. فوٹو:فائل
کوالالمپور: ملائیشیا کے حکام نے ملک میں پابند شریعت عملہ متعارف کرانے والی ’’رایانی ایئر‘‘ کی پروازوں پرپابندی عائد کردی ہے۔
ملائیشیا کی فضائی ایمرجنسی سروس ’’ ڈی سی اے‘‘ نے رایانی ایئرلائن کو آپریشنل پروازوں کے لیے دیا گیا پرمٹ واپس لے لیا جس کی وجہ بتاتے ہوئے ایک بیان میں کہا گیا ہے کہ کمپنی کی جانب سے فضائی سفر کے لیے ضروری قواعد کی پابندی نہیں کی گئی بلکہ فضائی سفری اصولوں کی خلاف ورزی بھی کی گئی ہے۔ ایمرجنسی سروسز کے ڈائریکٹر جنرل ازھر الدین عبدالرحمان کا کہنا تھا کہ فضائی مسافروں کی سلامتی ان کی اولین ترجیح ہے جب کہ مسافروں کی جانب سے کمپنی کی پروازوں میں تاخیر اور عین وقت پر پرواز کی منسوخی جیسی شکایات بھی سامنے آئی تھیں جس کی بنا پر رایانی ایئر کی پروازوں پر پابندی عائد کی گئی۔

واضح رہے کہ ملائیشیا میں پابند شرع عملے پر مشتمل فضائی کمپنی ’’رایانی ایئر‘‘ گزشتہ سال دسمبر میں متعارف کی گئی تھی جب کہ کمپنی کا دعویٰ تھا کہ اس کےعملے میں شامل خواتین اسلامی شرعی لباس زیب تن کریں گی اور حجاب بھی اوڑھیں گی۔

ملک میں گرمی کی شدت بدستور برقرار ،بیشتر اضلاع میں پارہ 42 ڈگری کو چھو گیا

ملک کے ذیادہ علاقوں میں دن کے اوقات میں موسم شدید گرم اور خشک رہے گا۔محکمہ موسمیات فوٹو:فائل
 اسلام آباد: ملک کے بیشتر اضلاع میں صبح سے ہی سورج نے آنکھیں دکھانا شروع کردیں اور کئی اضلاع میں پارہ 42 ڈگری سینٹی گریڈ کو چھو چکا ہے۔
ملک کے بیشتر اضلاع میں صبح سے ہی گرمی نے ڈیرے ڈال لئے ہیں اور عوام کو بے حال کردیا ہے۔ محکمہ موسمیات کا کہنا ہے کہ ملک کے ذیادہ علاقوں میں دن کے اوقات میں موسم شدید گرم اور خشک رہے گا۔ ملک میں اب تک سب سے ذیادہ درجہ حرارت بھکر اور نور پورتھل میں ریکارڈ کیا گیا جہاں پارہ 42 ڈگری کو چھو چکا ہے جبکہ ملک کے دیگر شہروں میں اوکاڑہ ، موہنجودڑو،  منڈی بہاؤالدین ، منگلا اور جہلم میں درجہ حرارت  39 ڈگری سینٹی گریڈ ریکارڈ کیا گیا۔
محکمہ موسمیات کے مطابق فیصل آباد ، گوجرانوالہ ، گجرات ، قصور ، سیالکوٹ ،  شہید بے نظیر آباد اور بہاولنگر میں پارہ 38  جبکہ پشاور ، ٹوبہ ٹیک سنگھ ،  رحیم یار خان ، ساہیوال ، اور لیہ میں اب تک درجہ حرارت 37 ڈگری سینٹی گریڈ ہے۔  سکھر، جھنگ اور کوٹ ادو اور پنجگور میں 36 ، ملتان،  ڈیرہ غازی خان ،کوئٹہ ، تربت،  بہاولپور اور خان پور 35، گوادر 34 ،کراچی اور  حیدر آباد 33  جبکہ لاہور میں درجہ حرارت  32 ڈگری ہے۔
محکمہ موسمیات نے آج رات ہزارہ ، اسلام آباد ،راولپنڈی لاہور ، اور کشمیر میں بعض مقامات پر تیز ہواؤں اور گرج چمک کے ساتھ بارش کی پیش گوئی کی ہے جبکہ جنوبی پنجاب ، اورسندھ میں کراچی ، سکھر ، حیدرآباد اور میرپور خاص میں تیز اور گرد آلود ہوائیں چلنے کا امکان ظاہر کیا ہے۔

Pakistan Election 2018 View political party candidates, results

https://www.geo.tv/election/candidates