Western Resistance

The test has been criticised inside Baden-Wurttemberg's parliament, by Brigitte Losch, a Green party MP, who said the test inferred that Muslims were "violent per se" and were unable to abide by German law. "This list of questions is only to be used for applicants from Islamic countries. It is an unbelievable form of discrimination," she said. "If Germans were asked some of the questions, they would find it difficult to answer them."

The test has also been panned by the European Assembly of Turkish Academics who called it "strongly discriminatory and racist" against Germany's Muslim population. There are currently 3 million Muslims in the country. The majority of these are Turkish.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:45 AM | Comments (0)

December 30, 2005

Filth And Smut! Austrian Porn Posters Of UK Queen Shock!

A series of posters have appeared in Austria which feature one (pictured above), designed by Carlos Aires, a 31-year-old Spanish artist. They were commissioned to commemorate the nation taking over the role of the European Union presidency, succeeding Britain.

Done on a grant of 1 million Euros ($844,000 US) provided by the Austrian government, the posters were commissioned from artists in different countries. The whole story can be found in the Times.

But the image by Carlos Aires of the UK Queen in a threesome with President Chirac of France, and a mammaried George Bush with legs akimbo, is not causing as much fuss as an image by a Balkan artist, Tanja Ostojic. It is a pastiche of the painting Origin of the World by Gustav Courbet (1819-1877). Ms Ostojic's picture shows the thighs of a woman wearing EU star-spangled knickers. Be warned though, for the Courbet original, should you click, is sans sous-vetements, so to speak. The knicker poster is below. Excuse the exposing of flesh, which is not our usual policy, but it is almost the New Year. Season's Greetings!

The latest news is that these posters have now been withdrawn. What a waste of $844,000.....

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:18 PM | Comments (1)

Indonesia: Christians Killed In Bomb Attack - Are Islamists To Blame?

The Jakarta Post and BBC report that a bomb has exploded outside a house which was selling pork meat to Christians on Saturday morning. The region was also busy with passers by, shopping.

A witness, speaking to Associated Press, said: "The explosion was so loud, I couldn't hear for a couple of seconds. I ran out of my house and saw bodies lying around."

Six people have been killed and 43 others injured in the blast which happened in Mahesa, in the southern part of the town of Palu, the regional capital of Central Sulawesi. A kiosk stood beside the house. Many victims had been lining up at this kiosk to buy pork, which is considered unclean and haram by Muslims.

There have been conflicts between Christians and Muslims in the region, which reached a peak between 2000 and 20001, in which 1,000 died. The sectarian conflict appears to be currently invoked by extremists, who are committing atrocities against Christians in Central Sulawesi.

Three Christian schoolgirls were decapitated in Poso on October 29, followed by two girls shot in the head and critically wounded on November 8, and on Friday November 18 three teenagers were shot at, with one girl killed. On the same day, a group of three young Christian women was attacked by machete wielding men in masks at Wirabuana near Palu. One woman was severely injured, another bled to death from a neck wound. On Saturday 19, a Christian married couple were shot at Palu, and wounded.

Police, government and media are reluctant to state that such attacks are carried out by Muslims. The nearest that they have come to saying this has been a suggestion that individuals or gangsters were trying to stir up sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims.

The bomb which has just taken place seems almost certainly to be either the actions of Islamists, or at least those who would stir up Christian/Muslim sectarian unrest. The police in this case conform to pattern; Brigadier General Oegroseno, Central Sulawesi's Police Chief, speaking at the scene of the blast, said: "This is a deliberate act to disrupt the New Year celebrations." He would not speculate on the identity of the perpetrators, while further investigations were underway.

The explosion happened even though security had been upgraded with massive deployment of police and others over the Christmas and New Year period. Banser, the youth branch of the Nahdlatul Ulama, a Muslim association, also promised to guard Christian churches over the Christmas period.

In the run-up to Christmas, the Jakarta Post reported that bomb sweeps were made in churches, and security guards dressed as Santa Claus had searched cars. at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Jakarta.

The Jakarta police chief, Maj. Gen. Firman Gani, said on Christmas Eve that Jemaah Islamiyah terrorists "could carry out" an attack on Christmas to retaliate for the death on November 9 of bomb-making expert Azahari bin Husin, who was gunned down in a police raid. Indonesia's intelligence chief Syamsir Siregar on Wednesday warned that Azahari's death could trigger revenge attacks and kidnappings for ransom.

In separate news, Azahari's colleague in Jemaah Islamiyah, financier and recruiter Noordin Mohamed Top, has been said to have been the instigator of a jewel heist which took place in Yogyakarta province earlier in the month, states Jakarta Post.

Bullet casings found at the gold shop robbery scene matched those from the shootout with Azahari bin Husin in Batu, Malang, on northern Java, claimed Makbul Padmanegara, the nations top detective. "Based on police investigations, there are indications that the gold store robbery in Yogyakarta was carried out by Noordin M. Top's group," he said.

The Jakarta Post state that documents found in Azahari's hideout on Java suggested that Jemaah Islamiyah was planning attacks over the holiday period.

UPDATE to story: AFP via Turkish Press state that many of the victims had severe leg injuries from flying shrapnel from the blast. Paulus Purwoko, the national police spokesman, said that three people had died at the scene and four in hospital. He said he did not think the bombers were from Noordin Top's group, "because they normally target foreigners."

The victim toll is 48. A second bomb was found nearby, which was defused. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesian president, has ordered an immediate inquiry, to ascertain if the bombing is connected to previous attacks in the region.

On May 28 this year, twin bomb blasts tore through a busy market in the Christian-dominated town of Tentena in the province, killing 19 people and injuring at least 40.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:53 PM | Comments (0)

Israel: Gaza Kidnap Britons Freed

The British aid worker, 23-year old Kate Burton, who was kidnapped with her visiting parents in the Gaza Strip, have been freed, states Reuters.

Kate Burton, who works for Al Mazen, a Palestinian human rights group which documents problems caused by Israel, had been snatched with parents Helen and Hugh by armed men, near the Rafah border crossing in the south Gaza Strip, on December 28.

A British Muslim group, the Muslim Association of Britain, had planned to send an envoy to negotiate with the kidnappers.

Ms Burton's job documenting human rights abuses claimed to be caused by Israelis brought a widespread reaction from Palestinians, who condemned her being held hostage.

The group who kidnapped the family are a previously unheard-of group, the Brigades of the Mujahideen-Jerusalem. It claimed it had seized the Britons to demand that Britain pressurise Israel for its treatment of Palestinians, and it had released the Burtons as a goodwill gesture.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:25 PM | Comments (0)

Bangladesh: Islamist Claims Terrorism Is Funded From Middle East

We reported earlier of the arrest of Ataur Rahman Sunny (left and below right), a leading member of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), on December 14. Rahman is the younger brother of Abdur Rahman, the leader of JMB, the main group responsible for a series of bombings that erupted across Bangladesh on August 17. Since that day, JMB has made more bomb attacks, on courthouses, and other targets in the judiciary.

After a brief hiatus during Ramadan (Oct 4 to Nov 4), JMB killed two judges in Jhalakathi district on November 14, then mounted a double suicide attack on courthouses in Chittagong and Gazipur on November 29, killing 10 people, followed by another suicide bombing at Gazipur courthouse on December 1, which killed two and injured twenty.

Today, the New Nation, the Daily Star and the Bangladesh Independent all report that Ataur Rahman Sunny has been given a 119 day remand on 17 cases connected with the August 17 nationwide bombing campaign. The instances for which he is charged under the Explosives Act took place in nine "thanas" of Dhaka, the capital.

Abdul Awal, the son-in-law of Abdur Rahman, who had been arrested at Thakurgaon on November 18, was also remanded in custody for five more days. This was his seventh remand. Awal was JMB's regional chief for Rajshahi district.

Mufti Mohammad Abdul Hannan, the leader of Harkatul Jihad-e-Islami, who was arrested on Saturday, 1 October, was also remanded for five days, on charges of laying bombs on August 17 near the National Press Club under Ramna police station. This is Hannan's thirteenth remand.

The aims of JMB and Harkatul Jihad are the same, as are the aims of Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB). All want to establish an Islamist state, governed by Sharia law, to replace the current democratic system. The goal of a sharia-based system is also shared by two political parties who have been accused of tacit involvement with extremists, Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Oikya Jote. Both are in the coalition government.

Hannan and Awal were both brought before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrates Court at 3.30 pm local time today, with claims from investigating officers that they had direct involvement with the August 17 blasts, and therefore needed further interrogation.

Fariduzzaman Swapan, a financier for JMB, who was arrested shortly before Ataur Rahman Sunny, his close associate, was not wanted for further questioning and was sent to Dhaka Central Jail.

Five magistrates granted the remand for Sunny. It is the longest ever remand granted in Bangladesh's 24 year history. He was taken away by officers of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) for further interrogation.

The Bangladesh Independent notes that following Sunny's arrest, his confessional statements led to the discovery of a large cache of explosives at South Manda in Dhaka on December 15.

He had claimed that the sources for JMB's finances came mainly from the Middle East:

In his confessional statement, Sunny disclosed that the huge amount of money required for carrying out militancy in Bangladesh usually comes from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Brunei, Sudan and some other Middle Eastern countries and some Islamic NGOs, and moneyed men of these countries donated the money for establishing the 'Rule of Allah'. His brother used to receive the money for the purpose, Sunny said.

Disclosing the names of some local Islamic NGOs, he has also added that these non-government organisations also supply money for the carrying out militant acts. But the names of these NGOs could not be ascertained. Sources, however, said the intelligence agencies have geared up their monitoring and watch on these NGOs.

RIHS has been on a US exclusion list since Jan 9, 2002, but in the corrupt environment of Bangladeshi governnment the group received a massive donation from the ruling coalition for the purposes of setting up madrassas and mosques, and training imams.

One of the suicide bombers from the Chittagong courthouse attack survived long enough to claim that there were 25 mosques in Shakhipur upazila, Tangail district, which were used by members of JMB to plan their activities, including bomb attacks. These mosques were built with money from RIHS. The group actively involves itself with the destabilising of countries in fragile political shape. Bangladesh is currently becoming extremely destabilised.

The New Nation notes today that a 38-year old madrassa leader, Hafez Shamsul Haque Munir was arrested on Thursday at noon in Faridhpur district. He is head of Bagdanga Hafezia Madrasah in Boalmari upazila. He was said to resemble Abdur Rahman, the head of JMB (pictured above, left). This prompted a rumour that Rahman had been captured.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:02 PM | Comments (0)

Japan: Muslim Extremist Tried To Establish Islamist Group

Reuters have a story that a member of a Sunni group banned in Pakistan had entered Japan two years ago, in an attempt to establish a branch in the nation.

The newspaper Sankei states that a member of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) had entered Japan with a visa for "religious activities" in 2003 and, while at worship, told others he intended to found a SSP unit.

The man had entered and left Japan in 2003, but the paper did not give details of his subsequent location. The individual, in this thirties, had been seen at Tokyo mosques. He made contact at train stations with a 27-year old Pakistani trader from Yokohama, and a 40 year old Pakistani, a former bookbinder, who has subsequently been arrested on immigration violations.

Police are still trying to detect other members of the network, the newspaper claimed. There are an estimated 90,000 Muslims in Japan.

Reuters states that with troops stationed in Iraq, Japanese police warned earlier in the month that Islamists may tempt Muslims to become militant and attack Japan.

In 2004, several foreign nationals were arrested after a Frenchman of Algerian descent, Lionel Dumont (pictured right) arrived on a false passport in 2002. He stayed for more than a year in Japan. He is said to be involved with al-Qaeda. Dumont, described in the French press as "the invisible Public Enemy No. 1" was eventually arrested in Germany in December 2003 and extradited to France in May 2004. Time stated that Dumont slipped undetected in and out of Japan four times on a fake French passport, while also being on an international wanted list. He had also used his fake passport to visit Malaysia six times in the period between July 2002 and September 2003. While in Japan, Dumont had resided at the home of a Bangladeshi named Himu, who was a member of Islamist group JMB, and had links with 13 foreign nationals, including Bangladeshis and Pakistanis in Niigata, Gunma, Saitama, Kanagawa and Tokyo.

Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) was originally formed in the Punjab region of Pakistan, as the Anjuman Sipah-e-Sahaba in September 1985. According to one paper, the SSP has a branch in Britain,in the Mufti Mustafa Mosque, 11-13, St George Road, Forest Hill, London.

SSP is one of the groups listed in October by the UK Government as proscribed. It is violently anti-Shia in its outlook, and conforms to the hardline Sunni doctrine of the Deobandi.

SSP calls for Shias to be declared "non-Muslims" and has attempted to assassinate Shia leaders. Shias comprise about 20% of the Muslim poplation, with Sunnis being in the majority.

Following the attacks of 9/11, the newly-installed president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, became an official partner in the "War on Terror" and outlawed SSP with six other extremist groups on January 12, 2002.

SSP's response was to reinvent itself - renaming itself Millat-i-Islami in August 2002. It has a "sister group" - Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, which was founded in 1995 and has been involved in attempts to assassinate Colonel Gaddafi of Libya. This group is apparently behind current threats against Christians at Sangla Hill in Pakistan, and was responsible for the kidnapping and beheading of US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.

Keywords: Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Lashkar-i Jhangvi, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 2:51 PM | Comments (0)

US: Department of Justice Launches Investigation in NSA Leak Scandal

Fox News reports the Department of Justice has launched an investigation to find the leaker or leakers who informed the New York Times about the "Domestic Spying" program run by the National Security Agency. The program, authorized by President Bush and reviewed by Congressional so-called leaders, allowed the NSA to intercept electronic communications initiated outside the United States by individual with known terrorist ties. Critics of the program claim it violates the U.S. Constitution's prohibition against "unreasonable searches". (My opinion on this: what's so friggin unreasonable about that. At any rate, if somebody wants to initiate a debate on this matter please do so in the comments.)

To conclude, I wish the Department of Justice the best of luck in finding the compulsive talkers who could not keep their mouth shut on a matter of crucial national security. The leaking culture should not stand; our citizens should not be slaughtered because some hyperventilating moralizers in Washington D.C. cannot understand what the U.S. constitution actually says.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 12:46 PM | Comments (0)

December 29, 2005

Indonesia: Trial of Suspected Jemaah Islamiyah Islamist

Italian news agency AKI reports that the trial began today of a man who is suspected of receiving funds from a Saudi national for the purposes of terror operations. He is also accused of supplying pistols to a leading terrorist, who is currently on the run, who had involvement with the bombing (pictured) of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. This took place on Thursday, September 9, 2004. The blast killed 11 people and was the handiwork of Jemaah Islamiyah.

A district court in South Jakarta was told that Abdullah Sonata, aged 27, gave a box of four handguns and ammunition to Noordin Mohammed Top a main financier and recruiter for Jemaah Islamiyah, the group responsible also for both sets of bombings in Bali from 2002 and October 1 this year.

Prosecutor Nana Mulyana also claims that Sonata received 11 million rupiah ($15,000 US) and 100,000 Saudi riyals ($36,500) last year, from a Saudi named Syeikh Abu Muhammad.

The money was to be used to finance militant operations and also to send to JI Islamists hiding in the southern Philippine islands. These include Dulmatin and Umar Patek, who respectively have bounties of $10 million and $1 million on their heads from the US State Department's Rewards for Justice scheme.

Sonata was accused of helping the Malaysian-born Jemaah Islamiyah bomb-maker Azahari bin Husin to find a rented house to hide in. Azahari was killed on November 9 at Batu village near Malang on the island of Java.

Sonata's arrest was initially in connection with inquiries into the Australian Embassy vehicle-bomb suicide attack. He could face the death penalty if convicted. He is only the latest to be placed on trial for complicity in the Embassy attack. Already 12 others have been convicted, and some have been sentenced to death. The most recent of these was Iwan Darmawan, who was sentenced to death on September 14. Darmawan said after his conviction: ""I am grateful to Allah for this punishment because it means I will die a martyr. Why should I be afraid?"

On November 23 three people were arrested on northern Java and held as suspects involved in the Embassy attack.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

Palestine: Hamas's Children Indoctrination

The Hamas searches for the next generation of mindless bombs: HAMAS APPEALS TO KIDS ONLINE

The upcoming Palestinian parliamentary elections, scheduled for January 25, will see the Hamas terror movement running for the first time. The election campaign is already in full swing. But in addition to wooing potential voters, Hamas is also working on building its popularity among the next generation – the children.

Hamas has become famous for its 'Da'awa' (proselytizing) activities, which include such areas as social welfare, medical care, education, kindergartens, and soup kitchens. Another method, also used by other terror organizations such as Al-Qa'ida, is the Internet. Hamas has several websites, including monthly (Filastin Al-Muslima), weekly (A-Risala), and daily (Palestine Info) updated sites. In September 2002 the movement began publishing an online children's magazine, Al-Fateh (The Conqueror). This website invariably portrays various methods of fighting the "Zionist enemy," using cute cartoons alongside graphic photos of bleeding corpses.

In its current issue, The Conqueror explains more ways - some old, some new - to fight the enemy. It also expresses the wish that Islam will once again rule over the region of Andalusia, better known today as Spain.[...]

Yes, you read that right. They want al-Andalus back. In Islamic Law, once a land has been ruled by Islam, it belongs to Islam forever. There is more in the link above, read it all.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 8:20 PM | Comments (0)

Australia: Muslim Leaders Claim "Race" Riots Won't Happen Again

Sure, and hogs dance ballet. At any rate, if this was a "race" riot, and not a religious confrontation, how come the Australian government in consulting Muslim leaders? Race riots will not recur: Islamic leaders

MUSLIM leaders believe Sydney has experienced the last of the race riots that erupted almost three weeks ago in Cronulla.

NSW Islamic Council spokesman Ali Roude told The Australian that consultation between community leaders, police and government meant there would not be a repeat of the ugly scenes at Cronulla beach on Sunday, December 11.

"We have been successful, at least for the time being," he said. "We are confident we have been successful that the riot that occurred on that day was the first and the last.

"We are comfortable that everyone is committed and we have proven to the international community in relation to the riots that we have been successful in repressing it, and repressing it for good."

While Muslim leaders have declared the violence over, the NSW Government is not as confident and considers New Year's Eve and Australia Day to be potential flashpoints.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 8:10 PM | Comments (1)

Singapore: Islamic Teachers To Be Registered

News from Japan Today, the Hindustan Times and DNA India states that in Singapore, compulsory for Islamic teachers to undergo registration, in an attempt to prevent some with extreme attitudes being disseminated.

Islamic teachers have been registered on a voluntary basis since 2002, after Ibrahim Maidin, a local religious teacher, was arrested, and authorities claimed that he belonged to Jemaah Islamiyah, the group responsible for the Bali bombings of 2002 and October 1 this year. Apparently Maidin tried to recruit terrorists for JI from his students.

It is hoped that by March, 800 religious teachers will have been registered. In a statement issued by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, it is said that religious teachers will have to pass a panel of Muslim leaders before they are given validation.

"This scheme serves to provide recognition to qualified, trained and experienced asatizah for their knowledge in Islamic matters and education," the statement read. The Islamic Religious Council (MUIS) is a government statutory body.

Those who do not have the proper qualifications will be allowed to call themselves asatizahs and conduct lessons from their homes.

The population of SIngapore is predominantly Chinese, who comprise 76% of the population of 3.4 million residents, while Muslims, who are ethnically Malay, comprise 13.7%.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:40 PM | Comments (0)

Pakistan: Muslims Threaten Christians With Death In Sangla Hill

We reported on December 23 of a tentative peace agreement which had been made between Muslim and Christian representatives in Sangla Hill. This area had been the scene of riots which happened on November 12 when a mob of 1,500 Muslims descended on the Christian community and destroyed three churches, including a Catholic and a Protestant house of worship, a school, a youth hostel, a nunnery and two homes belonging to Protestant priests.

The riots had followed unsubstantiated reports that a Christian, Yousaf Masseh, had burned pages from the Koran. He is now in custody, accused of blasphemy under Section 295 B of Pakistan's penal code, and could receive the death sentence. It is widely claimed that the accusations were created by two individuals who had lost at gambling, and found a way to avoid payment.

Unfortunately, the peace deal which we described before Christmas appears to be breaking down, and telephone death threats have been sent to three Christian community leaders, states Asia News.it.

The threats, which have been traced to a public phone box in Faisalabad, claim to come from a member of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an extremist Islamist group. The calls were received by Saqib Sohail Batti, a general councillor at Sangla Hill, by Fr Samson Dilawar, a Catholic priest, and the Rev Tajmal Perves.

"If you don't accept our deal in two days, then get ready to die," are the words said by the caller. The phone messages were made n December 27. But the terms of this "deal" appear to be vague.

"Making a deal with them might mean peace, but the culprits would then still be free. If we give in, they won't be punished for what they did. We are really scared and are held up in our homes," Saqib Sohail Batti said. He said the police had done nothing to prevent November 12's attacks. He claimed police had been warned before the event took place.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was formed in 1996 by a breakaway section of the Sipah-e-Sahaba, a Sunni extremist group, which was designated by the US government in January 2003 as a "Foreign Terrorist Organisation under US law". It is a Deoband movement, and aims to create an Islamic Sharia-based state in Pakistan, which will be established by violent means.

It was this group which kidnapped and decapitated US journalist Daniel Pearl in January 2002.

Keywords: Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Lashkar-i Jhangvi

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:15 PM | Comments (0)

Australia: NSW Islamic Council Leader Claims Beach Riots Will Not Recur

The Australian reports that the spokesperson for the New South Wales Islamic Council, Ali Roude (pictured) has confirmed that a meeting of key community leaders and municipal representatives should now mean no more repeats of the notorious riots and factional unrest, which took place after incidents on Cronulla Beach, Sydney.

"We are confident we have been successful that the riot that occurred on that day was the first and the last, he said. "We are comfortable that everyone is committed and we have proven to the international community in relation to the riots that we have been successful in repressing it, and repressing it for good."

Mr Roude is also the chairman of the NSW Islamic Council's executive committee. The NSWIC was founded in 1976. Ali Roude arrived in Australia with his family of eleven (!) in 1971. He is the father of five children. In 1988, he received the Order of Australia, (Queen's Medal) for outstanding services to the Muslim communities. He is also the principal of Rissalah College, a school for primary pupils aged from kindergarten to six.

Simon Kearney, author of the article in the Australian, states that the NSW government do not share Roude's enthusiasm. They have fears that New Year's Day and Australia Day are going to be dates when the violence, between mostly white Australians and Lebanese Muslim gangs, may flare up again.

Currently in Belmore, in the southwest of Sydney, there is a racist graffiti campaign going on, which has been dismissed by local police as probably the work of juveniles.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:30 PM | Comments (0)

UK: Muslim MP Condemns Fuss Over School Name Change

The UK Sun has reported that a school in Bordesley, Birmingham, is the centre of an outcry over its proposed change of name from its existing "Christian" one.

The bosses of the council have decided that the 150 year old school, St Andrews Junior and Infants, needs a new name. The council claims the name change should reflect the current use of the school as it now also being used by a nursery and children's centre.

The area in which the school is situated comprises a population which is 62 % from ethnic backgrounds, and there are fears that the name change is being connected to this. The school stands next to St Andrews, the Birmingham City FC soccer ground.

The Sun quotes MP for Sutton Coldfield (a nearby Birmingham constituency) Andrew Mitchell (Conservative) who said he felt an "element of political correctness about this."

Birmingham MP Khalid Mahmood (pictured) said: "This doesn't help the Muslim community at all."

The context of Mr Mahmood's statement is confusing. It appears that he is saying that the change of name is the source of probable no-goodness for Muslims, but J. Grant Swank Jnr in American Daily is in no doubt. In an impassioned piece, he states that Mr Mahmood almost certainly is referring to the fuss which is being kicked up about the name change from a Christian-sounding monicker, rather than the re-titling itself.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:01 PM | Comments (0)

Pakistan: No Sisters For Boys Whose Father Slaughtered for "Muslim Honor"

The two boys pictured above, Ghulam Hussain, aged 11 and his brother Ghulam Mohiuddin, aged 13, are having to live with the knowledge that their father killed their four sisters. The photograph was released by Pakistan's Human Rights Commission.

The boys were photographed on Tuesday, December 27 at their home in Gago Mandi, near Multan in Pakisan, where their father Nazir Ahmad slit the throats of their four sisters as they slept. Ahmad, a 40-year old labourer, had killed his 25 year old daughter Muqadas Bibi, because she had married someone not of his choice, several weeks earlier, a policeman said on Saturday 24, according to AP via Yahoo News.

Police officer Shahzad Ghul said that Ahmad (pictured below) had surrendered at Burewala, 70 miles east of Multan, and confessed to killing his four daughters. He had killed the younger three daughters, who were aged from 4 to 12, because he did not want them to follow in their (step-)sister's footprints. He had contacted Muqadas Bibi to say he was ready to forgive her, but killed her and her three step-sisters instead.

In the West, it is considered dishonourable to lie or to make false promises, yet Ahmad acted the way he did out of his perverse and evil notion of what "honour" means to a Muslim.

Dog Pundit draws attention to a later Associated Press post on Yahoo News which has statements from Rehmat Bibi, the wife of Ahmad. She had cradled her three month old son while her husband killed, last Friday night, the 23 December:

Bibi recounted how she was woken by a shriek as Ahmed put his hand to the mouth of his stepdaughter Muqadas and cut her throat with a machete. Bibi looked helplessly on from the corner of the room as he then killed the three girls - Bano, 8, Sumaira, 7, and Humaira, 4 - pausing between the slayings to brandish the bloodstained knife at his wife, warning her not to intervene or raise alarm.

"I was shivering with fear. I did not know how to save my daughters," Bibi, sobbing, told AP by phone from the village. "I begged my husband to spare my daughters but he said, 'If you make a noise, I will kill you.' The whole night the bodies of my daughters lay in front of me," she said

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 2:33 PM | Comments (0)

Tunisia: Minister Declares Muslim Headscarf Incompatible With National Traditions

In news from Associated Press, via Boston.com, the Tucson Citizen and Nasdaq News, the Tunisian religious affairs minister has criticised the custom of women wearing the hijab, or Muslim headscarf, claiming it does not form part of Tunisia's North African heritage.

In a newspaper interview, Aboubaker Akhzouri said his government rejects Muslim tunics like those worn in Persian Gulf states, and also the habit of growing excessively long beards, a trait associated with Islamic fundamentalists.

The hijab was officially banned from public offices and schools in Tunisia in 1981. This has led to some independent groups complaining that civil rights have been abused. The headscarf ruling is not strictly enforced, apparently.

He denied that more women were wearing the hijab, saying "the phenomenon is in decline...progressively fading away."

Tunisia has a population of 10 million people, the majority of whom are Muslim. It is considered an ally of the West and its government supports gender equality, with 54% of the country's university students being female.

Keywords: Burka, burqa, hijab, hidjab

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 1:08 PM | Comments (0)

Bahrain: Feminist Condemns Islamic Courts

Today, MEMRI TV, the Middle East Media Research Institute TV Monitor Project, has a transcript and a video clip of women's rights campaigner in the kingdom, Ghada Jamshir, who has been accused on some internet forums of being a heretic.

She is one feisty woman, and for some orthodox males, such forcefulness is itself a crime against "submission", so cherished in Islam. Her style is firm, aggressive, no-nonsense. She is a woman with balls, and the interviewer struggles at times to be heard. This amazing woman who refuses to wear a veil, condemns lack of family planning, Sharia courts, and accuses the categorisations of "Islamic" marriage as oppressive to women, appears in an interview broadcast first on al-Arabiya TV on December 21. This is just a clip from the transcript, while talking of Mut'ah marriages (for pleasure of the man) condoned by the Sharia courts, which she describes as indulging child abuse:

Ghada Jamshir: "This is a violation of children's rights! This constitutes sexual assault of the girl. What does 'pleasure from sexual contact with her thighs' mean? It means deriving sexual pleasure from an infant. How old is an infant? One year, a year and a half, a few months?

"Is it conceivable for a grown man to have sex with an infant girl? And you people tell me that the Islamic Shari'a authorizes this? Forget about the mut'ah. Let's talk about misyar. What do misyar marriages mean? You said that I'm a Sunni and that's why I'm attacking the Shiites. No!"

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)

Norway: Murdered Man Was Suspected Islamist

Norway's Aftenposten today states that a man who was stabbed to death in November had links to a radical Islamic mosque in Oslo and, at the time of his murder, he was under investigation by the country's Police Security Service (PST)).

The man had been living under an assumed identity for several years in Norway, and was a quay worker at the port in Oslo. According to newspaper VG, the man's death had occurred after a trivial dispute with a workmate got out of hand.

At Oslo's violent crimes division, Police captain Finn Abrahamsen noted that the problem of homicide victims living under false identities is becoming increasingly common, and causes problems. Bodies cannot be released for burial without identification papers. "When a person dies relatives come with ID documents that show that the person is someone other than they have claimed to be," he said.

The man who was killed in the dockside dispute is claimed by VG newspaper to have attempted to recruit others into terrorist activities. The name of the mosque in Oslo is not given.

On November 17 three Algerians, suspected members of the Islamist group Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) were arrested in Naples and Brescia. Two of these, Yamine Bouhrama and Khaled Serai had lived in Norway.

The Naples chief court investigator, Michele del Prete, confirmed that the pair had been on their way to Norway. "We believe that the three Algerians see Norway as a calm and safe place to stay," he said.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)

India: Did Islamist Shoot Delhi Scientists?

Today's Calcutta Telegraph reports that a professor has been killed and four other academic scientists wounded, in an attack by a masked gunman outside an auditorium of the Indian Institute of Science.

The killer fled in a white Ambassador car which waited nearby. The man who died, M.C. Puri, was mathematics professor emeritus at India's Institute of Technology in Delhi.

The gunman had opened fire with an AK 47 as soon as the delegates to a conference at the auditorium began to leave the building. He also shot at a car, smashing the windscreen.

Police so far are unwilling to speculate on who committed the attacks, but the Telegraph states: "On Monday, Delhi and Bengal police had arrested three suspected militants, with Bangladesh links, who were said to be planning strikes on information technology hubs in Bangalore and Hyderabad."

At least one of the three men arrested was a member of Harkatul Jihad-e-Islami, a Bangladeshi Islamic terror group, headed by the now-jailed Mufti Hannan.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:06 AM | Comments (0)

Israel: Islamic Jihad Claims Two Suicide Bombings In West Bank

XinhuaNet reports that at about 9.30 am local time, a Palestinian woman blew herself up at an Israeli army checkpoint near Faron village, which lies near two Jewish settlements, Shavi Shormon and Inav, south of Tulkarem in the West Bank.

Following her explosion, a Palestinian male then blew himself up as an Israeli army jeep approached. One of the soldiers on board was killed, and three other were injured.

Seven Palestinians were subsequently injured when Israeli troops opened fire at people queuing at the checkpoint. Among the injured was a woman and child.

In artillery attacks against northern Gaza last night and this morning, one Palestinian militant and a teenager had been killed.

Islamic Jihad has carried out two suicide bombings recently, killing five at Netanya on December 5 and killing six in a blast at the market in Hadera on October 26.

On November 8 two offices of a "charity" in Jenin called Daawa run by Islamic Jihad were closed down by Israeli authorities.

Islamist Iran's IRIB Broadcasting states: Gaza Strip, Dec 28 - The Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement on Tuesday rejected a call from PA head Mahmoud Abbas to halt rocket attacks on Zionist-settled towns.

Islamic Jihad's Spokesman Khaled Batch said "I think the continuation of resistance is what's better for the Palestinian people.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:34 AM | Comments (0)

Pakistan: Islamic Seminaries Approach Registration Deadline

There is some confusion here, as we reported on December 23 that the deadline for registering of Islamic seminaries, or madrassas, had been suggested by Pakistan's federal and religious affairs minister, Ijaz-ul Haq, to become redundant.

Initially, President Pervez Musharraf had suggested that there should be a deadline set on December 31 for the registering of all madrassas by December 31. Mr Haq had told the leaders of the five main branches of madrassas that the deadline would be scrapped in a proposal which he intended to submit before the Pakistan parliament.

Today, Reuters AlertNet states that the 12,000 madrassas in Pakistan still have to be registered by December 31, and also by this date they should have removed all foreign students. It appears Mr Haq's proposals have either been rejected or not accepted by parliament.

1 million boys, mostly from poor families, study at the seminaries, receiving free food and shelter as they study. Most madrassas teach the hardline, anti-women doctrine of the Deobandi, a Sunni school of thought, named after its main center in Deoband, northern India.

Musharraf announced the deadline for registration and removal of foreign students back in summer, in the wake of the revelation that suicide bombers from London's 7/7 attacks on London Transport had studied in Pakistani madrassas. In July, 1,400 foreign students were asked to leave, and in August, registration forms were distributted to seminaries, requesting information on numbers of students, teachers, and details on financing and spending.

We reported on one influential madrassa, the Haqqania madrassa, (pictured above), which lies in Northwest Frontier Province, near the border with Afghanistan. Many of the main luminaries of Afghanistan's Taliban, including Mullah Omar, had graduated from this seminary.

In another Reuters report, as well as in Khaleej Times, Ireland's RTE, AKI and Asia News.it, there appears to be a strong resistance in some quarters to comply with the December 31 deadline.

The Interior Minister, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, told Reuters that 65 per cent of foreign students had already left, and the deadline would not be extended. "The provinces will submit reports on the issue on December 31 and any further action will be based on those," he said.

Mohammad Hanif Jallandari, a cleric of the Ittehad-e-Tanzeemaul or Ittehad Tanzemul Madaris Deniya, one of the five alliances of madrassa schools, said that 700 foreign students had already left, and no new ones have been recruited. However he was adamant that the deadline would not be respected, and said the government had made the decision based upon a worng assumption, i.e. that the foreign students were involved in illicit activities.

Asia News.it states that the madrassas will be holding a meeting in Islamabad on January 1 to discuss the issue. Jallandri has threatened a nationwide mobilisation if the government will not withdraw the decree.

AKI had stated on 23 December that the agreement between federal and religious affairs minister, Ijaz-ul Haq and representatives of the five madrassa branches had included Jallandari.

The Pakistan government faced opposition from some Muslim leaders on Friday 23 December after the federal minister for education, Javed Qazi, announced proposed changes to the syllabus of standard schools, regarding teaching of Muslim prayers.

There were protests across Pakistan outside mosques, with calls to expel Qazi for his "secularist" ideas. Qazi had called for the Muslim prayer sessions in the curriculum to remain, but in deference to differing sects of Islam, he suggested the specific wording of prayers should not be part of the syllabus.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:05 AM | Comments (0)

Russia: Suicide Bombing Near Dagestan Mosque

Earlier today, a man in Dagestan wearing an explosive belt detonated it, killing himself and injuring one other person, states South Africa's IOL and Mosnews. Abdul Musayev, a spokesperson for the local Interior Ministry branch, claimed the explosion probably happened accidentally.

RIA-Novosti quotes witnesses who said the man appeared to be walking towards a house in Makhachkala, where a mourning ceremony was taking place, to commemorate the death of a top police official's son, who was shot dead on Tuesday evening.

The event on Tuesday had happened when gunmen fired on a car used by Deputy Interior Minister Magomed Gazimagomedov (who was not present). His son, a security officer, and a bodyguard were in the car, and were shot dead.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:23 AM | Comments (0)

December 28, 2005

Bangladesh: Islamist Party Tries to Allay Suspicions That It Supports Terrorism

Earlier today, a large rally was held in Paltan Maidan in Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital, by the party Jamaat-e-Islami. Jamaat is one of the four parties in the coalition government, and as we reported earlier and yesterday, it has been accused of links with the Islamic terrorists who have been subjecting the nation to fear of bomb attacks. The rally was ostensibly a protest against "bomb terrorism, violence and anarchy".

The Bangladesh Independent and the Daily Star both report on the rally and the speeches made.

The Star writes:

The Jamaat leaders also pointed fingers at a neighbouring country for its involvement in recent bomb blasts and other terrorist activities in the country.

The recent series of suicide bombings in the name of Islam is part of a conspiracy of the AL (the Awami League, the leading opposition party) to break the ruling coalition and tarnish the image of the Islamic parties including Jamaat, they alleged.

Denying any links with the banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), the Jamaat leaders said JMB is a creation of the AL as General Secretary of Awami Jubo League Mirza Azam is a close relation of the JMB chief.

When Nizami appeared on the podium (right) he described the members of JMB thus: "Most of them are half-educated or illiterate, and even an insane person will not believe that Islamic rule could be established by them."

On the issue of JMB's bombing campaign, Nizami said: "They are using the name of Islam to destroy the religion and Islamic movement and are misleading the people." He said that Islam never supported terrorism or bombing, and said that it took time to establish Islamic rule in a country.

The claims of Jamaat against the Awami League are as nothing, compared to those uttered by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, leader of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), who was speaking at a meeting held at Sonapatil Mohila College. The Bangladesh Independent says that while referring to "a party", but obviously meaning the Awami League:

As people did not respond to their movement, the BNP chairperson said, the party in the name of movement indulged in destructive action - unleashed terrorism and killed people burning alive by setting fire on passenger buses and trains.

"This is a terrorist party," the Prime Minister told her audience and urged people to remain alert about that party.

The threat becomes ominous when one learns that on Tuesday, a new anti-terror law has been finalised in its draft form, and will be sent to cabinet on 2 January. There is a new clause specifically for sedition in the bill, in which penalties for terrorist activities include the death sentence.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:25 PM | Comments (0)

Israel: Three Britons Kidnapped In Gaza Strip

News from Reuters, by the Independent, the Times, the Guardian and the Telegraph.

A 25-year old Briton, Kate Burton, has been kidnapped with her parents while on a tour of Rafah on the Gaza Strip.

Ms Burton works as an aid worker, employed by Al-Mezan, a Palestinian human rights organisation in Gaza, for the past three to four months. She is their co-ordinator for international affairs. It is thought her parents were visiting her for Christmas.

The three were driving in a car when their vehicle was stopped around 4pm local time, and they were forced into a white Mercedes and driven away in a northern direction. The incident had happened 200 yards from the Rafah border crossing.

On 21 December two teachers were kidnapped in Gaza City. Hendrik Taatgen, a Dutchman and headteacher at an American school, was taken with his Australian deputy, Brian Ambrosio. Their captors, who claimed to be affiliates of the PLO extremist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), released them after eight hours, unharmed.

That kidnapping caused the UK Foreign Office to issue a warning against Britons travelling to the Gaza Strip. A British diplomat has said he remains "optimistic" that the Burton family will soon be released.

The Independent claims that the British Consulate has been in contact with Palestinian police and security organisations and believes the kidnappers belong to a group called the "Black Panthers".

The reasons given for this group's motive is that they want salaried jobs from the Palestinian Authority and to protest against suspected militants to cross the border into Israel at Rafah.

Al-Mezan, the human rights organisation where Ms Burton worked, has previously criticised Israel for its military operations in Gaza, but has been forthright in its criticism of Palestinian lawlessness, including kidnappings. Kate Burton was on holiday leave at the time of the kidnapping.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:33 PM | Comments (0)

Vatican City: Italian Bishops Warn Women Against Marrying Muslims

A wise warning, but it will take far more than this to stop the Islamic demographic Jihad: Cardinals issue marriage warning

A number of Catholic cardinals have warned Italian women against mixed marriages with the rising number of Muslims in the country.

Church officials say that as Italy's Muslim population touches the one million mark, some 20,000 mixed marriages took place this year alone.

That is an increase of around 10% on last year.

The Catholic Church's official position is to encourage dialogue between Rome and other religions, including Islam.

The late Pope John Paul II was the first pope in history to pray in a mosque, when he visited Damascus. His successor, Benedict XVI, has insisted that he is also keen to promote religious and cultural dialogue with the Islamic world.

But two documents published in Rome have called for extreme caution by Catholic women contemplating marriage to a Muslim.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 7:49 PM | Comments (0)

Germany: Islamic Association Is Banned

Reuters and XinhuaNet and Deutsche Welle report that the German state of Bavaria has banned the Islamic group the Multi-Kultur-Haus (MKH), after investigations into its office in Neu-Ulm.

Bavaria's interior minister, Guenther Beckstein (pictured below right) released a statement, which said that the offices were raided today (Wednesday) and seized a number of items, including instructions for manufacturing explosives, and material uring Muslims to fight coalition forces in Iraq.

Previously, the statement affirmed, security officials had seized literature which showed the group's radical nature, such as a book from their library which urged Sunni muslims to "execute the Christians and the infidels".

Other examples of the group's extremism included an audiocassette exhorting: "Oh worthy ones, oh friends of love, send us bombs to kill the Jews with. No to the Jews, no to the Jews!" and also a CD glorifying the "jihad" rebellion in Chechnya.

The group's account in Stuttgart has been frozen. MKH had been raided initially in January on suspicion of forming a terrorist organisation, when 14 individuals had been arrested. The group were again raided in February for suspected business offences. Individuals were deported in February and June. As the group is based in Neu-Ulm, Bavaria, the state ban has effectively declared it closed down, for the present at least.

The International Herald Tribune states: "Khaled al-Masri, a Kuwait-born German citizen who is suing the CIA for allegedly spiriting him to Afghanistan, has said he visited the (MKH) center several times before he was snatched."

Reuters reports that in another state in Germany, Lower Saxony, the state interior minister has suggested electronically tagging the local Islamist extremists.

Speaking to Die Welt newspaper, Uwe Schuenemann said: "This would allow us to monitor the roughly 3,000 Islamists who are prone to violence, hate preachers and fighters trained in terrorist camps."

"It's practical for all Islamists who are prone to violence and who we can't expel to their home countries because they could be tortured," he suggested. "If they leave these areas, there would be a warning signal."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:00 PM | Comments (0)

Saudi Arabia: Islamist Killer Captured, Dies In Custody

From Ireland Online, the Chicago Tribune and AP via Forbes and CNN: - reports that a leading Islamist militant went on a killing spree which led to his being shot, catured, and then dying in Saudi police custody, as reported by Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry.

Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Mohammed al-Suwailmi yesterday shot at a police patrol while driving outside Buraydah city, 210 miles northwest of Riyadh. He killed two police officers.

He drove on southwest towards Al-Midnab, 12 miles away. He came to a security checkpoint near the town of Miznub, where he shot and killed three more police officers.

He was then shot and wounded in a police car chase, and he was captured. Three Kalzhnikovs, five pistols, ammunition, fake registration plates, and about $123,500 in Saudi rials. Al-Suwailmi died in custody.

23-year old Al-Suwailmi was number 7 on a list of 15 Islamist and al-Qaeda militants resident in the kingdom who are "wanted" by the Saudi authorities. He is the eighth on the list to be killed or captured. There are 21 others on the list who are believed to be currently abroad.

There were mistaken reports in September that al-Suwailmi had been killed with four others in a police shoot-out in Damman city in the east, but he released an internet audio denying the statements.

There has been an ongoing war against militancy, with numerous attacks against Saudi and western interests since May 2003.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:39 PM | Comments (0)

Australia: Letter from Jailed Islamist To Self-Styled "Mufti"

We reported yesterday of the trial in Kuwait City of 37 Islamists from the group Peninsula Lions. One of those was an Australian, Talal Adrey. Bruce Billson, Australia's Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs said that Adrey had arrived as a refugee to Australia 5 years ago, and he has lived in West Sydney.

30-year old Adrey was arrested in February, and yesterday he was sentenced to four years' imprisonment on charges of possession of weapons and ammunition, and also trading in such weaponry to finance the facilitation of murder. He will be deported following his release.

The Australian Advertiser states that Talal Adrey (spelled here Tallaal Adrey) was a used car salesman who lived in Auburn, West Sydney.

In May, while incarcerated and awaiting trial in Kuwait, Adrey had sent a letter to the self-appointed "Mufti" of Australia, the controversial Egyptian-born Lebanese Sheikh Taj al-Din al-Hilaly (pictured), whose spokesperson (and publicist) is Keysar Trad.

In this letter Adrey complained that (Kuwaiti) government agents "came to my home and took me away from my children and from my wife without mercy. They took me and imprisoned me, then they beat me and tortured me and detained me in segregation. I am in prison to this day and I do not know why I am imprisoned."

Adrey's plea for help was probably made to the sheikh because he had assisted in the negotiations in Baghdad to have Iraq hostage and Aussie citizen Douglas Wood released. Mr Wood was freed. The BBC notes on the "Mufti":

his opponents see him as a menace. They have accused him of praising suicide bombers and claiming the attacks in the United States on 11 September were "God's work against oppressors".

I'm telling you that there are no English Korans left in Australia or America or Europe. Everyone is converting to Islam: soldiers, pilots, engineers... those who are spending money to stop the ways of God will spend their money but will be defeated eventually. Trust me my dear friends.

Sometimes good lies in evil. Perhaps there will be an Islamic awakening that starts in the heart of America and restores the Islamic regime and the dignity of human beings. Islam is trying to find its way to people's hearts but it's being hidden by our attitudes, our mistakes, our behaviour and our divisions.

Islam is doing well in America, in Europe and in Australia. People are converting to the religion of God, and we feel proud when the banners of Islam are high and when our nation is united by Islam and we see that the nation follows God. In western countries, Islam is gaining ground every day.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 12:48 PM | Comments (2)

Russia: Politicians Told Beslan Massacre Could Have Been Prevented

The blame game will not get Russia anywhere. Muslim murderers, and only muslim murderers, were responsible for Beslan. Russia cannot afford the comforting belief its enemies are weak and powerless: Beslan massacre 'could have been prevented'

The Beslan school massacre which left hundreds dead, including 186 children, could have been averted if government warnings had been heeded, Russian politicians were told today.

Alexander Torshin, head of a Russian parliamentary commission investigating last year's Beslan school tragedy, in which 331 people died, said that if orders had been followed, the deaths could have been prevented.

The crisis erupted on September 1, 2004 when Chechen rebels seized a primary school in the southern Russian city of Beslan, taking more than 1,000 people including hundreds of students and their parents arriving for the first day of school hostage.

A tense stand-off ended three days later after an explosion in the school triggered a fierce firefight between security forces and dozens of hostage-takers, causing huge numbers of casualties. Thirty-one hostage takers also died in the violence.

Responsibility for the attack on the school was claimed by Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev, but families of the victims have said that authorities at all levels of government and law enforcement bear a large share of blame for the tragedy due to incompetence.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)

Afghanistan: Islamist Decapitation Video Hints At Handiwork Of Al-Zarqawi

Today's AKI states that a video of an Afghan man being decapitated bears the hallmarks of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group, Al Qaeda in Iraq.

Taken on September 12, the video has only recently appeared on internet sites. The video has a title - "Death Sentence" and it has a label "Labbaik", the logo of a video company which is used by militant groups in Afghanistan, which recently filmed the four individuals who escaped from a US military jail in Afghanistan.

The hostage (pictured), talking in Pashtu, says in the video: "My name is Sayd Allah Khan and I am from the Khost province. I work as a spy for the Americans along with four other people. My job is to blow up Islamic schools in Waziristan. The group receives 45,000 dollars and my share is 7,000 dollars."

Waziristan is in Pakistan on the porous border with Afghanistan, and as we reported earlier, it is a home for both Taliban and al-Qaeda militants. It is currently home to a large contingent of the Pakistani military.

The video follows all the conventions set in previous snuff films produced by al-Zarqawi. The victim is forced to confess, then after images of the US President and troops, and the narrated words "al-Zarqawi", the victim is shown being held down by seven individuals while his throat is slit and his head sawn off, while his murderers shout "Allahu Aqbar," urging in Pashtu tongue for jihad. Finally, Sayd Allah Khan's head is shown placed upon his prone back.

AKI notes that the al-Qaeda leadership had formerly resisted decapitations, but now the practice has reached Afghanistan, perhaps a sign of the elevation of al-Zarqawi within the al-Qaeda leadership.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:09 AM | Comments (0)

Malaysia: Muslim Death Ruling Causes Widow's Anguish

A report covered today by UPI in Washington Times, API in Japan's MSN - Mainichi and the BBC states that a paralysed ethnic Indian and Hindu mountaineer who died recently has been ruled by a court in Malaysia to have died a Muslim, against his wife's protestations.

M. Moorthy, who died on December 20 was buried today with full Islamic rites after the High Court ruled that he had converted to Islam in October 2004. He been involved in a Malaysian expedition to climb Everest in 1997, but had been paralysed in army training a year later. It was only after he went into a coma after falling out of his wheelchair in December that his former army colleagues told the authorities that he had been a "secret" Muslim for a year.

Moorthy's widow, Kaliammal (pictured) has claimed that after his so-called "conversion" her husband still ate pork, drank alcohol and took part in Hindu festivals. In the civil court it was argued that her husband had been interviewed on local television, talking about his preparations for the Hundu New Year festival of Diwali. Kaliammal had applied to the High Court for custody of her husband's body following a ruling last week by a Sharia court that 36-year old Moorthy was a Muslim and should be buried accordingly.

After the High Court's ruling against Kaliammal, Moorthy's body was taken by the Islamic Affairs Department, and washed, wrapped and buried with Muslim rites. His widow was not present at the funeral.

Haris Mohamad Ibrahim, from Malaysia's Bar Council, said: "So much for good interracial relations. The judge has told the widow and her family to go back and leave the body to strangers".

Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang of the Democratic Action Party promised to raise the issue in parliament, with a call for a mandatory ruling to force authorities to tell family members if religious conversions are legally recognised. "This case reflects poorly on the concept of Islam Hadhari (progressive Islam) advocated by the prime minister. If such matters are left unattended they can cause unhappiness and disharmony," he said.

At no stage in the proceedings of either the Sharia court or the High Court did the Islamic Affairs Department produce any documentary evidence to prove their case that Moorthy had converted.

Kaliammal was too distraught to speak after the case today, but her lawyer announced: "She says...anybody can take the body, but her husband's soul is still with us."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:49 AM | Comments (0)

December 27, 2005

Israel: Rockets Hit Northern Town

Kiryat Shmona, a town in the north of Israel, close to the Lebanese border, was hit today by rockets coming from southern Lebanon. No-one was injured, and the usual suspects, Hizbollah and Fatah, have both denied responsibility, claims Ynet News.

Reuters states that three rockets were fired. The Evening Echo states that Channel Two TV showed what appeared to be the remains of Katyusha rocket, with images of holes in the ground and in the side of a house. Reuters notes that in the past, Palestinian groups have fired Katyushas at Israel.

Arutz Sheva states that a total of six rockets were fired at Kiryat Shmona, with one making a direct hit upon a home.

IDF troops are currently on a state of high alert.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:11 PM | Comments (0)

Bangladesh: Links Between Government and Islamists

Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) is an Islamist organisation which has sometimes been viewed as the armed wing of the Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). The two groups operate in union with each other. These and Harkatul Jihad-e-Islami were responsible for the 459 bombs which went off almost simultaneously throughout Bangladesh on August 17.

The group JMJB was founded by Bangla Bhai (pictured right), who is a former madrassa teacher called Siddiqul Islam. He had studied at Tarafsartaj Senior Fazil Madrasa. The group was unheard of until April 2004, when it began slaying members of the illegal Purbo Banglar Communist Party, killing five individuals in one month, and torturing several others.

A press conference followed, in which Bangla Bhai sat with Abdur Rahman, leader of JMB in a local union chairman's office in Rajshahi district. Bangla Bhai announced that his group had been active for six years before coming out of its closet. "We did not want to declare our presence now. We did not want to take police help at the beginning. We wanted to establish the rights of the repressed people," he explained.

"As a college student, I joined Islami Chhatra Shibir (an Islamist student organisation allied with Jamaat-e-Islami). When I finished my study in 1995, I quit Shibir because Jamaat accepted female leadership although it said it considered female leadership sacrilege," he said.

JMJB forms itself ideologically on the Taliban, though the leader denies that they are connected to the Afghan group. Taskforce Against Torture, a Bangladeshi human rights group, states that Bangla Bhai's JMJB has carried out 500 cases of killing and torture of individuals, often with police turning a blind eye to their atrocities.

The leader of the Bagmara outfit, JMJB unit president Lutfar Rahman, formerly a professor at Atrai Mollah Azad Memorial College in Rajshahi district in the northwest of the country, was arrested on Monday 26 December, states the Daily Star for Wednesday 28th. He had gone into hiding after the August 17 terror blasts.

Lutfar Rahman (pictured left), an adviser and activist for JMJB, has claimed that some ministers in the government and people in the "state machinery", such as district administrators and also the police, have patronised the head of JMB, Abdur Rahman. Lutfar claims that the police supported the actions of Bangla Bhai in its purges of outlaws in Rajshahi.

The Star recently noted that in April 2004:

Though independent media portrayed the JMJB as the armed wing of the JMB, a section in the government through some state machinery actively supported Bangla Bhai who started to slaughter citizens across the northern and northeastern parts of the country. Noor Mohammad, divisional inspector general of police, told the Daily Star on 4 May 2004, that Bangla Bhai and his men were helping the police maintain law and order. "We have asked different police stations to support them whenever they (JMJB men) go to catch outlaws. You know that the Shorboharas (left-wing extremists) have been quite active for many years and it is not possible for the undermanned and ill-equipped police force to hunt them down..." he said.

"I did not find it wrong to be with the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh [JMJB] as I saw several government officials patronising them. I heard Bangla Bhai talking over the phone with some ministers and a police super," Lutfar Rahman states.

He also recalls the former superintendent of police Masud Mia being present nearby when Bangla Bhai had meetings. Since summer, Masud Mia has been under investigation by the judiciary and recently the government.

Rahman's investigators say that his main confessions have involved knowing Bangla Bhai at a close level and assisting JMJB on its raids against "Sarbahara" or outlaws.

Rahman claims that he has not seen Bangla Bhai since May 23, 2004. It was that time that Lutfar led a procession of JMJB in Rajshahi, at which Bangla Bhai was present, threatening journalists and individuals. He also claims that he is not happy with the current bombing campaigns which have been mounted by JMB.

Lutfar Rahman had also been a member of Jamaat-e-Islami, a party in the coalition government. We recently discussed the numerous claims being made that members of the government have been supporters of terrorist groups such as JMB and JMJB.

On December 15 we mentioned how arrested Chittagong leader of JMB, Aman Ullah, claimed that as well as having involvement with al-Qaeda, JMB also enjoyed the support of thousands of former cadres of Islami Chattra Shibir or ICS. ICS is the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, which Bangla Bhai had belonged to until 1995. Aman Ullah said that these ICS "graduates" would assist extremists to establish an Islamic state under Sharia law.

On 4 December this year, one member of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Moulana Washiqur Rahman, was found to be on a list of JMB operatives gathered by police. He had been mixing with militants in villages in Satkhira Sadar upazila, in Tangail district. After the August 17 serial blasts, the Jamaat man went on the run.

The current head of the Jamaat-e-Islami is 62-year old Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami (pictured), who bizarrely accused both the opposition Awami League of sponsoring the August 17 blasts assisted by the Indian government who were using Islamic fundamentalists to patronise subversive activities in Bangladesh.

Formerly Minister of Agriculture in the coalition government, Nizami is now Minister for Industries. In 1971, when Bangladesh was fighting to break free from Pakistan, he was head of Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), and also directed the activities of a paramilitary force called al-Badr. It is alleged that this group killed intellectuals. His personal involvement with killings of Hindus caused him to go underground until 1976, when General Zia brought out the razakar rehabilitation program, and Nizami emerged from the shadows to become second in command of Jamaat-e-Islami.

He has consistently argued for an Islamic educational system in the country, rather than a secular one. Some of his comments on the issue of extremism are strange. Yesterday, the Star wrote that in a television interview, Nizami had accused the newspaper of encouraging more Bangla Bhais, after it did an eight-column-width piece on the head of JMJB in its print edition. "If one can easily hit the headlines by committing wrongful acts, then hundreds of Bangla Bhai will be created in the country," he claimed.

Upon being asked about Bangla Bhai, whom he had earlier dismissed as a fabrication of the newspapers, Nizami said: "I don't have any comments on whether he exists or not. If a man really does exist, he won't disappear for my saying that he does not exist."

The issue of members of the government being involved with militants and extremists is a notion which is not going to disappear. We reported on the involvement of members of another coalition government party, the Islami Oikya Jote, or IOJ, with groups persecuting members of the Ahmadiyyah Muslim sect. Almost as soon as Bangla Bhai emerged into the light of publicity, they were suspected of being patronised by members of the ruling BNP party of Khaled Zia.

The confessions currently being made by Lutfar Rahman are no longer surprising. They only serve to add weight to the arguments being bandied around. What before seemed like wild speculation now seems to be confirmed from numerous individual confessions. On 12th December, Nizami said: "Those who are desperate to prove Jamaat attachment with militants by citing some one's past identity and student life, their lame excuse will be rejected by the people. I like to pronounce firmly that their crooked scheme will fail."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:35 PM | Comments (0)

Opinion: Why Does the Left Hate Israel?

Since I don't pretend to be a disinterested non-ideological blogger looking for the truth (I'm clearly right-winger on most issues because I think it is the right moral position) I feel rather dirty after criticizing the Bush administration in my last entry. Thus, I'm thankful to The American Thinker for re-publishing the following piece, which has help me get in touch with my inner right-winger once again: Why Does the Left Hate Israel?

For decades, most American Jews have believed there were far greater threats from the fringe right than the fringe left in this country. While this view may have been reasonable in the past, it is certainly not so today. The fringe right still exists- the neo-Nazis in Northwest Idaho, Matthew Hale, and David Duke, and the remnants of the KKK. But the views of the fringe right have been marginalized by their repudiation by virtually all mainstream elements on the political right.

The fringe left, on the other hand, has evolved into a broader left, and become more mainstream. The political perspective of this new left is vehemently anti-Israel, and the power and reach of this movement represent a real threat to Israel, and by extension to Jews who support Israel.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 1:37 PM | Comments (0)

Israel: Understanding Israel's Weakness

A paragraph from this column by Caroline Glick (which I recommend on its merits) caught my attention:

Since he took office, Sharon and his advisers have portrayed the status of Israel's relations with the US as one of unprecedented harmony. On a superficial level, this is in fact the case. But this surface tranquility masks its problematic cause. The appearance of smooth sailing in Israel's relations with Washington is the result of the unprecedented weakness of Israel's position in Washington.

My first reaction upon reading that comment was a somewhat surprised "by golly, she's right, Israel's position has weakened considerably these past years." But then I had to think carefully to understand why that was so. I cannot help but think that is a direct consequence of President Bush's "Democratization Project" for the Middle East.

Allow me to explain. Bush was staunchly pro-Israel when he came into office. In the 2000 campaign he was clear it was not the United States's job to be a "trusted partner to both sides" in the conflict, but to be a faithful ally to Israel, and for a while he kept his promise, earning scorn in the Press. All that began to change when the Democratization Project was launched: he began by recognizing in principle the need for a Palestinian State, and by pressuring Israel into making concession after concession.

The change in politics was dictated by a change in philosophy. If you accept that "the Arab World" (to say "the Arab World" instead of "the Muslim World" is a rhetorical trick intended to paint those who disagree with you as racist) can become a collection of Democracies and that doing so will end your most serious problems, reform Islam, and usher peace eternal--okay, I made that last one up--then by golly, you better start treating "The Arab" potentiality on equal grounds with the Israeli reality. Heck, perhaps you should start leaning a little towards the Arab side, to show them you care and move them ahead a little. After all, what you are doing is in Israel's long-term interest, isn't it?

This ideological shift was brought about by the worst kind of idealism mixed with the most disgusting pragmatism. (The first indictment of pragmatism is that it is not very pragmatic.) Until this next administration, or the next one, begins to see the error of its ways, we will do nothing but lose ground in the broad war.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 12:58 PM | Comments (0)

Kuwait: Six Islamists Sentenced to Death

In news from the Irish Sun and UPI via Science Daily, six men have been sentenced to death in Kuwait City, for involvement with clashes with police in January, which left several people dead.

There were battles on Tuesday 10 Jan (2 police dead), on Saturday 15th (1 Saudi militant dead), on Sunday 30th (1 policeman, 3 militants killed) and on Monday 31 January (5 militants killed).

They were among 37 people who were charged with plotting to attack both Kuwaiti and US security forces in Kuwait. They were said to be members of the group calling itself the Lions of the Peninsula, or Peninsula Lions Brigadewhich has ties to al-Qaeda.

The BBC states that seven of the accused were acquitted, and about 20 received jail terms which ranged between four months and 15 years. One person was given a life sentence.

Most of the group of 37 were Kuwaiti nationals, but there were several foreign nationals on trial.

Prosecutors called for the death penalty for more than the six who received the sentence. They claimed the group had planned to stage a coup and also suicide attacks.

None of the defendants were in court when the sentences were pronounced. Defence lawyers have said that confessions were forced out of their clients under torture.

The leader of the group, Amer al-Enezi, was captured in the fighting on the 31 January. He died in custody several weeks after his capture. The Irish Sun states that no verdict was announced for the wife of al-Enezi.

10 people who were given jail terms by the court, which was attended only by lawyers and reporters, are still at large, awaiting capture.

UPDATE: Jurist Paper Chase states that one of the individuals who received a custodial sentence is an Australian Arab. AFP at Yahoo News states that the man's name is Talal Qadri, and he was given a four year jail term by Judge Hani al-Hamdan.

AFP also records that Nouha, the wife of Amer Khleif al-Enezi, is suffering from cancer, and she was released on health grounds, on a bail bond of $1,700. AFP contradicts the Irish Sun by saying her husband died only eight days after being arrested.

28 December: Talal Qadri is called Talal Adrey on ABC Radio which says he is aged 30, he lived in West Sydney, and he was arrested in February. Australia's Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Bruce Billson, said that Adrey arrived in Australia five years ago as a refugee. "He's been found guilty of two charges: one relating to the possession of weapons and ammunition, and the second charge which relates to acquiring and trading in those weapons and ammunition for the purposes of facilitating intent to carry out murder," the minister said.

Talal Adrey has claimed that he has been tortured, with his fingernails ripped out, but Bruce Billson states that there was no evidence of that. The Kuwaiti court has ordered that when Adrey's four-year sentence is up, he will be deported.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)

Saudi Arabia: Islamic Decree Makes Phone Firms Censor Calls

The Scotsman covers this story, as does Reuters via Cnet News, the Australian, the UK Mirror and All Headline News, with 40 other renditions available on the internet.

In Lebanon on the LBC TV channel there is currently running a "reality" show called Star Academy, which features a group of young men and women staying in a house, and doing auditions, while voters phone in text votes to decide who stays and who goes.

Like Britain's execrable Fame Academy, the show is popular. It began its third series last week, with 19 hopefuls embarking on the challenge, which has an ultimate prize of a recording contract. Among the contestants are two 21-year old Saudi men.

After its second run earlier this year, the show was widely criticised by fundamentalist Muslims, and it received a fatwa in May in Saudi Arabia. A young Saudi, Hisham Abdulrahman, had won the prize in April and had received a hero's welcome upon his return from Lebanon, and widespread adulation, but clerics decided the show was "against Islam".

With two Saudis now in the running for the prize, there are plenty of Saudis willing to vote. But if their cellphones are part of the network owned by Saudi company Saudi Telecommunications Co, they will have a problem. STC has announced that in respect of the fatwa, they will block all customers from text-voting on the contestants in Star Academy.

STC is the largest phone-provider in Saudi with 10 million subscribers. It is also joined in its ban by the younger firm Mobily, which is owned by Etisalat in the UAE, and has about 2 million Saudi subscribers.

Humoud Alghodaini, a spokesperson for Mobily, said that the program was culturally inappropriate. "It shows men and women living in one house, sometimes semi-naked and in inappropriate situations," he said.

Alghodaini admitted the company would lose money, but said that if they did not obey the fatwa "it would backfire on us and affect our brand."

It seems the show is less strict and devout than the Iraqi talent show, "Iraq Star" which we described in August.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:20 AM | Comments (0)

December 26, 2005

Australia: Muslim Clerics Requested To Follow New Code

Muslim clerics will be placed on a register, and visiting imams will be offered a social education on Australia, in a new measure proposed by John Howard's Muslim Advisory Council, which aims to keep radical clergy under control.

Yasser Soliman (pictured), spokesman for the council, states in a report by ABC.net.au that the move came as a response to concerns from the Muslim community. Muslims and some imams are concerned about people who set themselves up as clerics.

"Some of them come from overseas not being able to speak English and they occupy thereafter a position of leadership, and we don't think that people who can't speak English will be able to lead effectively in Australia because they can't be part of the solution when a problem arises", he said on ABC Radio.

The story is also covered by AAP in The Age and NineMSN. The idea behind the proposal was first aired at a Muslim summit in August, and has the backing of many moderate clerics.

However, there are some imams who are not happy with the suggestions, angered that the proposals include monitoring of sermons.

Soliman suggested that there were five or six such clerics, and they were unlikely to respect or follow the guidelines. "They will be identified as not plugging into the mainstream and not representing the community very clearly. At this stage there is a big fog about where they fit in," he said.

"Clerics coming from overseas especially would benefit from understanding the politics of the country, the political system, the language if they are not very fluent in English. It is important that any gaps be identified. It is not something that should come across as being an insult to a cleric."

The guidelines, Soliman admitted, are only advisory, and he had no power to enforce them.

Soliman is also a former head of the Islamic Council of Victoria, and it was he who notoriously had Pastor Danny Nalliah and Mr Daniel Scot of the Catch the Fire Christian ministry prosecuted under Victoria's religious vilification laws. Rather patronisingly, when the two pastors were found guilty on December 18, 2004, Soliman hugged Pastor Danny.

Soliman said of the incident: "I said to Danny (Nalliah), it's time to move forward and I hope we can talk to each other directly and try to develop understanding. He smiled and said he had nothing against me personally. Daniel Scot said he had to be free to say what he needed to say. I've given them my card."

Soliman's case has so far cost the two Christians, who fled Islamist persecution in their native Pakistan, a total of $100,000 Australian, and it is still not over, as appeals are continuing. A rather biased account of Victoria's blasphemy laws and Steve Bracks the state premier who introduced them, can be found here on Brookes News.

Soliman is also on the government's Council for Multicultural Australia (CMA), which lists his CV as: Managing Director of Diversity Connect International; IT consultant; member, Executive Committee of the Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria; President Islamic Family and Childcare Agency; member, Police and Community Multicultural Advisory Committee; former President, Islamic Council of Victoria.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:52 PM | Comments (0)

India: Three Islamists Arrested - Plot To Kill Politicians "Foiled"

The Times of India states that three individuals belonging to Harkatul Jihad e-Islami have been arrested by police in Delhi. The ToI states that they have been arrested in separate cases of terrorist acts, with one coming from Andhra Pradesh, and another from West Bengal.

Harkatul Jihad was officially banned by the Bangladeshi government on October 18 this year. Established in 1984 by extreme Islamists, including Mufti Abdul Hannan, who is now in custody in Bangladesh, the group officially announced itself to the world in a press conference in 1992. Harkatul Jihad has committed many terrorist acts.

They have made repeated threats to kill the Opposition leader, Sheikh Hasina. Hannan wennt into hiding since July 2000, after a bomb was discovered at a rally to be held by Sheikh Hasina.

Harkatul Jihad were involved with the group Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) when they committed a nationwide bombing campaign on August 17, which killed two and injured more than a hundred in more than four hundred explosions. They share with JMB the desire to establish an Islamic state in Bangladesh.

Their activity ranges from killing a journalist on July 16, 2001 at Jessore, to various bombings, including a bomb attack on a Catholic church at Baniachang in Gopalganj on June 3, 2001, killing ten worshippers, and running terrorist training camps.

Harkatul JIhad tried to kill popular poet Shamshur Rahman (pictured), in an axe attack at his home on January 18, 1999. Three man with pick-axes broke into their apartment. The poet and his wife survived, though his wife was struck with an axe and received serious wounds.

The group has been linked with Osama bin Laden, and many of the group's leaders fought in Afghanistan when bin Laden was fighting Soviets.

Hannan's arrest on October 1 led to claims that his organisation had links with members of the coalition government led by Khaleda Zia.

The arrest of the three individuals in India is described in more detail by The Hindu, which only states that one of the three is a member of Harkatul Jihad. This man is called Hilaluddin, a Bangladeshi national, who is said to have been a co-conspirator in an attack on the city of Hyderabad Police Commission's Special Task Force office, which took place on October 12, 2005 (PDF link), killing two people, a guard and a civilian. Theories at the time suggested the civilian had either found the explosives and brought them in voluntarily, or was a suicide bomber. The reasoning stemmed from his body's trunk being blown apart, leaving only his head intact.

Hilaluddin was arrested in Murshidabad district in West Bengal state, with another individual. They had been caught while exchanging weapons which had been smuggled in from Bangladesh. A third person, Mohammad Ibrahim, had been arrested in Hyderabad and brought to Delhi for questioning at the start of December, stated Karnal Singh, Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell).

Hilaluddin had been snared in a joint exercise between Special Cell police from Delhi and officers in West Bengal. Karnal Singh told reporters that after questioning, the three men had said they had planned to target some leading politicians in Andhra Pradesh, and to attack software parks in Hyderabad and Bangalore. They also had intentions to attack markets and railway stations.

The three had undergone training in Pakistan, in the province of Baluchistan, and had gained knowledge of clock timers and remote control devices to create explosions.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:53 PM | Comments (0)

Site Maintenance

We have been continuously attacked by spammers, and as a result we have been forced to close our "trackbacks" and I have enabled comment registration, as well as disabling hiperlinks in the comments. I should use this moment to declare my undying hatred for these porn-peddling parasites, may they be eaten alive by flesh-eating bacteria. I'll figure out a way to make it easier to those who wish to comment in our blog to do so, while not allowing spammers a chance to make a cent off our property.

This has been your host "Ruy Diaz", over, and out.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 9:57 AM | Comments (0)

Denmark: EU Commissioner Joins Muslims In Attacking Mohammed Cartoons

As a citizen of Britain, I have watched the European Union grow from being a trading group to a vast bureaucracy, dictating on issues which were never imagined when Edward Heath signed the deal for Britain to join the "Common Market" as it was then known in the 1970s.

The EU has ruled on the optimum size and bend for bananas sold in European shops, and in 2003 it banned British shop-keepers from selling cheese and other goods by the pound or the ounce, forcing customers to adjust to metric. EU farming policies subsidise unworkable farms, and its fishing policies have officially destroyed the livelihoods of Cornish fishermen, who must stay on land while the Spanish enjoy the rights to deplete fish stocks in what used to be British waters. And all the while, corruption on a gargantuan scale is the order of the day in Brussels and Strasbourg.

So pardon my anger at the latest display of EUseless "diplomacy" and political correctness being puked up by the vice-chairman of the European Commission, Franco Frattini. He condemns the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten for commissioning and printing a series of 12 illustrations of the prophet Mohammed, as "thoughtless and inappropriate". The cartoons caused a group of Muslim ambassadors to demand a meeting with Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who sensibly refused to indulge them with an audience.

The newspaper staff and its editor, Carsten Juste, have also refused to apologise for the pictures. Franz Fuschel, one of the artists, said he did not intend to offend, "but I live in 2005, not 905 and I use my quill in the way that Danish law allows me"

Two of the illustrators, Fuschel included, have had to go into hiding. But Franco Frattini knows that they have only themselves to blame. Frattini's comments do not extend to condemning the "inappropriateness" of those who issue such death threats. Friday's edition of the Copenhagen Post reports that Frattini says that the inappropriateness of Jyllands-Posten's cartoons comes because currently there is growing animosity towards Islam.

He said to Jyllands-Posten on Thursday: "Honestly, these kinds of drawings can add to the growing Islamophobia in Europe. I fully respect the freedom of speech, but, excuse me, one should avoid making any statement like this, which only arouses and incites...growing ralicalisation."

"I am a Catholic myself, and if anyone had created a drawing of a holy Christian symbol with a bomb and a message about death, I would personally take it as an insult," he added.

Europe, land of free speech, is the place now where you run the risk of being blown up by Muslims who use the Koran, Sunna etc to justify killing our "infidel" citizens, but you do not dare to criticise the cause of such outcomes, the Prophet Mohammed himself. Mohammed, the sexual partner of a girl aged 9 (Aisha), Mohammed who ordered the decapitation of at least 700 Jews of the Banu Qurayza tribe in Medina, who were blamed to be plotting against him (their wives and children were made into slaves). Mohammed the figure who must be beyond reproach for Europeans, whose holy book in Sura 49 proclaims: "When you encounter the unbelievers on the battlefield, strike off their heads until you have crushed them completely; then bind the prisoners tightly."

Just to remind you of the outrage of the cartoons, here is one of them. It is just a picture. If Europeans are being condemned by jumped-up bureaucrats like Frattini for producing pictures, then there should be more. Most European nations struggled for centuries to achieve freedom of speech, yet Frattini is prepared to see it all destroyed in the name of appeasement to populations who live in Europe, claim to be European citizens, yet who would rather our land became ruled by Sharia rather than democracy and freedom of speech. As a European citizen, I was never given a chance to vote on Frattini, who is showing himself to be a "EUseful Idiot", to borrow from Lenin.

When Frattini was acting in his capacity as European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, we reported on his attempts to remove the words "Islamic" from any discussion of terrorism.

"You cannot use the term Islamic terrorism. Islam is being misused. People who commit suicide attacks or criminal activities on behalf of religion, Islamic religion or other religion, they abuse the name of this religion. I have suggested to avoid calling it Islamic terrorism It is very important, otherwise, we risk involuntarily of course other reaction which is also worrying and dangerous, a sentiment of Islamophobia. Diversity of religion and cultures is another value for the European Union. It is not a danger, it is not a threat."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:18 AM | Comments (0)

December 25, 2005

Australia: Firebrand Cleric Says PM Encourages Muslim Extremism

The Australian and news.com.au state that the radical cleric Sheikh Mohammed Omran (pictured) is blaming Prime Minister John Howard and his government for fuelling Islamic radicalism. "The Government is pushing the people to believe they (Muslims) can do all these major disaster things," he said.

Omran was giving his first major interview since the arrests of 18 suspected Islamists, which took place in Melbourne and Sydney on November 8.

Speaking to the Australian from his prayer centre in Melbourne's inner north, he said the government of Prime Minister John Howard was focusing on terrorism in such a way as to make the "naive" Australian public paranoid about Muslims and possible terrorist attacks.

He said he was no more radical than the other 13 imams in Melbourne, but said he was the only one brave enough to openly condemn Australia's role in Iraq and express his support with insurgents fighting coalition troops.

Omran repeated claims he had made earlier, that Osama bin Laden had not been responsible for the US plane attacks of September 11, 2001, and he also said that Muslims were not responsible for 9/11 or for the London bombings on July 7.

"When I say the Muslims didn't do it, then I am taking the terrorists out of the Muslims. I say we don't do that, and you say you do that. So which one makes us terrorist?"

He said his opinions on global terrorism, and especially bin Laden, were largely shaped by his research on the internet and in print. "I am a man of common sense - I am not an idiot who hears what people say and take it and go. I don't talk from nonsense ... I study and I put so much effort (in) before I talk."In a previous interview, from Australian TV news program Sixty Minutes, which was broadcast in July this year, Sheikh Omran went as far as to say this:

PETER OVERTON: Who is responsible for September 11?

SHEIKH MOHAMMAD OMRAN: I don't want to say USA Government, but I would say some of them, they are responsible for that.

PETER OVERTON: The Government is responsible?

SHEIKH MOHAMMAD OMRAN: Yes. Yes! I believe in that 100 percent. I believe there is - what they call it? A conspiracy against Islam and Muslims.

PETER OVERTON: I think the average person out there would be amazed that you don't think Osama bin Laden was responsible for September 11.

SHEIKH MOHAMMAD OMRAN: There is a mastermind behind these things and the mastermind 100 percent he is from the US Government.

Sheikh Omran is the head of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah Association of Australia, which describes itself thus: The Ahl Sunnah wal Jama'ah Association was established more than 20 years ago. We are a national body with affiliated organizations in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. We have always been a part of the Australian landscape - amongst the Muslim community we are known and respected for our relentless pursuit of moral truth in all aspects of life.

A number of the individuals arrested on November 8 had passed through the prayer halls of Sheikh Omran, but he claimed that they were not his students, according to a transcript from ABC Radio, using soundtrack from ABC TV's Lateline program the previous night, which was Thursday 10 November, shortly after the mass arrests.

Australia's intelligence service, ASIO, stated in a document from March this year that Sheikh Omran had been closely associated with Abdul Nacer Benbrika, the cleric arrested from Melbourne on November 8. The document stated that Benbrika, before he set up his own group, had been the deputy leader of Melbourne's Islamic support centre, or IISCA. That centre is directed by Sheikh Omran.

On the program, he denied that Benbrika had been so highly placed. "Absolutely not. No. It wasn't incorrect. As I said, this was in the beginning, he was the second man in the organisation in teaching wise, not in organising wise. But he has never been my deputy at all," he said. He claimed that he had disagreed with the views of Benbrika and the two had split.

The arrests on November 8, initially drew criticism from many Muslim leaders and representatives. Sheikh Mohammed Omran wrote that day on the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah Association of Australia website:

We would like to express our alarm and uneasiness over the recent arrests in Sydney and Melbourne.

We hope all those accused receive a fair trial and the presumption of innocence is preserved. We have concerns over the discrepancy between public allegations and actual charges laid in court.

In these uncertain and testing times, we urge all Muslims to remain patient and hopeful. We urge all Australians to hold onto our values, the all Australian "fair go for all" and remain tolerant.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:28 PM | Comments (2)

Malaysia: Islamic Family Law Bill Discriminates Against Women

On Friday 22 an amendment was passed after a heated debate in Malaysia's Senate. The amendment to the Islamic Family Law Bill is widely seen as being discriminatory against women.

The Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) (Amendment) Bill 2005 (IFL 2005) allows a man to apply for the matrimonial home to be sold and the proceeds divided.

Under the new Section 107A of the IFL 2005, a husband is allowed to obtain an injunction preventing the disposition of property by a wife or a former wife, states the New Straits Times.

The law is seen as making it easier for men to engage in polygamy and divorce.

Other contentious clauses are Section 23(9)(b), which allows a man to lay claim to a share of his wives' assets before he gains a new wife or has a divorce.

Zainah Anwar, executive director of Sisters in Islam (SIS) claimed that the law was unjust. "Section 23(9) forces the wife of a polygamous husband to choose between an order for maintenance or to apply for order of division of matrimonial property," she said. "This does not have any basis in Syariah, as it is the men's obligation to provide maintenance for his wife, as provided in the Quran...."

"The patchwork attempt at amending the IFL has further discriminated against Muslim women, this at a time when the Government is amending civil rights to promote equal rights between men and women," she said.

Other groups protesting against the Amendment Bill are Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (Jagge) and the All Women's Action Society (Awam).

Teresa Kok, MP for Seputeh, said "I deeply regret to learn that 16 women senators who opposed the IFL 2005 were directed by the Cabinet and the ministers to vote for the Bill."

In another article, the New Straits Times reports that woman Senator, Dayang Mahani Raffae (pictured) cried when she first saw the amendments, and apologised to her daughter and women in general.

There are nineteen women in the Upper House, the Dewan Negara, and according to the Star, all were opposed to the Bill, but had been pressured by the Prime Minister's department, who had had invoked the whip. Women senators from the Pas party did not appear for the debate and vote, so it was passed unanimously.

The Bill had been formulated at the Cabinet's behest by religious affairs minister Datuk Abdullah Mohd Zin, who was assisted by the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) and other Muslim groups.

Bernama.com states that Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who is the nation's Women, Family and Community Development Minister, will be leading a women's delegation to meet all the Malay Rulers, requesting that the Bill be reformulated so that it gives justice to all. She told the press that women in Malaysia were slighted by this law.

The NST quotes her as saying: "Many women have been cruelly treated by the system. Syariah [sharia] laws safeguard the rights of all women, men and children but sometimes, the implementation is unfair towards women."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:45 PM | Comments (0)

Thailand: More Killings Of Buddhists And Muslims In Troubled South

South Africa's Independent Online reports that the killings have begun again in the south of Thailand.

In the province of Yala, four people were shot down in separate incidents, police said today.

On Sunday, Christmas Day, two Buddhists were killed in the district of Raman while driving. 53-year old Term Srisuwan and 45-year old Nikhom Sae-ngao were shot by unidentified assailants.

In Bannag Sata district earlier in the day, a Buddhist man, 32-year old Paibool Upala was riding a motorcycle with a female Muslim companion, 30-year old Rahaya Yawo, when the couple was shot by suspected Islamists. Paibool died instantly, while his companion is in a critical condition.

According to the Bangkok Post the motorcycle incident happened at 7.30 am, while the Raman incident took place in Ban Salopatae in tambon Kototuera about 11am, the killings done by motorcycle gunmen

Yala is one of three provinces which lie in the south near the Malaysian border, which are predominantly Muslim, and were part of an independent sultanate of Pattani. The other two Thai provinces are Narathiwat and Pattani. The sultanate of Pattani was conquered by Bangkok in 1786, and was placed under central bureaucracy as part of Siam (Thailand) in 1902.

Currently there has been an insurgency raging since January 2004, in which more than a thousand people have died. Much of the unrest is caused by Muslims who wish the three provinces of former Pattani nation to become independent of Thailand, though their actions currently seem aimed at causing chaos, with many Muslims being attacked by the militants for being "collaborators".

In Narathiwat on Saturday night, the Bangkok Post reports that armed men attacked a school in Muang district, and killed Arong Tayeh, aged 46. Arong, a volunteer guard is said to have approached the armed men to ask for identification, and then was shot in the head. The incident happened at 7pm local time.

The Independent quotes police superintendent for Muang, Colonel Nukul Kraithong, who said: "Up to five militants came to school and called the victim's name. He came out of a prayer room and they sprayed him with an assault rifle." Colonel Nukul says the attackers stole Arong's handgun.

The chief investigator for the police in Raman, Yala province, Lt Col Sukhon Suchanthabut, said "It's clear that the gunmen want to incite unrest since there are many killings today."

These acts of violence follow a car-bombing outside a teashop frequented by police and official figures, which happened on Friday 22nd, in the town of Narathiwat, which injured seven people.

Currently, the south is undergoing a problem with its schools, caused by widespread flooding which took place between 17 and 20 December, with more than 350 schools now closed in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.

On Dec 17 and 18, flash floods particularly affected Yaha district in Yala, where 2,500 families, mainly in tambon Sa-ae, were hit, with houses damaged. Soldiers distributed relief items and clean water, and assisted in repairing damaged buildings.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 4:18 PM | Comments (0)

Aghanistan: Magazine Editor Jailed For Un-Islamic Articles Is Freed

We brought you earlier the case of Afgjan magazine editor Ali Mohaqiq Nasab (pictured), who was arrested on October 1 on charges of blasphemy, for publishing two articles which were deemed by clerics "offensive to Islam".

The articles appeared in his monthly magazine Haqooq-i-Zan (Women's Rights). One claimed that the action of leaving Islam (apostasy) should not be considered a crime to be punished by the death penalty. The other questioned if it was right to stone women to death.

On October 22, he was sentenced to two years' jail with hard labour in Kabul's Primary Court, by presiding judge Ansarullah Malawizada. The judge said "The Ulama Council sent us a letter saying that he should be punished so I sentenced him to two years' jail."

On October 18, Afghanistan's Media Commission held a meeting which decided that Ali Mohaqiq Nasab's articles did not insult Islam, stated the head of Afghanistan's Independent Association of Journalists, according to the Pak Tribune which added:

Robert Kluyver, the country representative for the Open Society Institute in Afghanistan, believes the case is politically motivated. He said Mohaqiq Nasab ran into trouble with conservative Shi'ite clerics when he was campaigning as a candidate for parliament.

"It is a case where conservative Shi'a clerics are fighting the more moderate Shi'a. In other words, it very much reminds one of the problem that exists in Iran. It was a general Shi'a issue. Meanwhile, Ali Mohaqeq Nasab was also a candidate for parliament [and was] attacked by more conservative Shi'a clergy for his more modernist views on religion," Kluyver said.

On Wednesday 21 December, the issue came to court again, as recorded by CPJ. An appeals court reduced his sentence from two years to six months, with the remaining three months suspended. Court spokesman Walik Omeri stated that Ali Mohaqiq Nasab would be freed within days.

In court today, state prosecutor Zmarai Amiri asked the court to impose the death penalty, according to Rahimullah Samander of the Afghan Independent Journalists' Association.

Two lawyers aided Nasab's defense. Nasab was also allowed to address the court and cited Afghanistan's constitutional protection of free speech and the country's media law, Samander told CPJ.

Under the revised media law, signed in March 2004, journalists can be detained only with the approval of a special commission of government officials and journalists established to review such cases. This approval was not obtained before Nasab's arrest.

Perhaps in a comparative sense, it is, but Afghan's media law is far from perfect. Nasab has still been found guilty, he has still spent time in prison, for merely questioning aspects of Islam. Though sentenced on blasphemy charges, he nonetheless would have fallen foul of its media law. Article 31 of Afghanistan's media law stipulates that journalists are not allowed to write about Islamic issues, or religion.

So much for freedom of the press in this country which is costing the West so much. With the state prosecutor Zmarai Amiri demanding that Nasab should receive the death penalty there is something sickening about the system in its current state. 50-year old Nasab is also an Islamic scholar, which makes the case more disturbing.

Today, India's Newswatchstates that President Hamid Karzai had signed the revised media law in March 2004 which kept in existence the stipulation against "insulting Islam". The criminal penalties for press "offenses" were vaguely worded, opening up the possibility of punishments under Sharia law.

"The local court in Kabul has freed Nasab following his apology," said Mawlavi Fazal Ahmad Manawi, deputy for the Supreme Court, Thursday adding that Nasab has promised that he would not repeat such acts in future. During an appeal hearing on Wednesday, Nasab said he was a Muslim and not an apostate.

Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) said "The Kabul High Court's decision is a defeat for those religious leaders and the prosecutor who were demanding an even harsher penalty against Nasab. The campaign for his release in Afghanistan and abroad was not in vain."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:53 AM | Comments (0)

US: FBI Monitors Muslim Sites For Radiation Content

My first question is, what kind of treasonous scum leaked this to the press? Feds sniffed for nukes at Muslim sites

WASHINGTON - Federal counterterrorism agents secretly have tested the air for radiation near hundreds of Muslim sites in New York, Washington and other major cities since 2002, officials confirmed yesterday.

The daily radiation testing near Islamic mosques and other sites was a response to intelligence that Al Qaeda sought to detonate a nuclear or radioactive "dirty" bomb, U.S. News & World Report said.

Two U.S. counterterrorism officials confirmed to the Daily News that the "sniffer" program is run by the FBI and the Department of Energy's Nuclear Emergency Support Team.

"It was all intelligence-driven," a U.S. counterterrorism official in Washington told The News. "And it is legal."

Of course it is legal, and moral, and sensible. But there are still strangely well-regarded folks, such as CAIR's Ibrahim Hooper, who oppose this measure. If there was any doubt about Mr. CAIR's status as an anti-American, anti-life organization, their stance on this matter should leave no doubt.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 8:57 AM | Comments (0)

Trinidad: Bomb Discovered At Home of Jamaat Muslims

The Trinidadian Islamic organisation Jamaat al Muslimeen is headed by 64-year old Yasin Abu Bakr (pictured), who is currently in jail awaiting full trial for charges of sedition, incitement and terrorism.

Bakr is also going to be retried in a separate case for making an order for two expelled members of the group to be killed. He is still undergoing the pre-trial hearings for the sedition/terrorism case.

In 1990, Bakr and Jamaat al Muslimeen led a coup against the Trinidad and Tobago government, hijacking the television station. 24 people were killed and, bizarrely, Bakr and a core group of 114 members never received punishment.

There have been four bomb attacks in Trinidad's capital since summer, Port of Spain, which have injured about 25 people. These attacks started on Tuesday July 12 with the last bomb hitting a nightclub at St James on the outskirts of the capital on the evening of Friday October 14. Bakr was arrested after the last bomb, but released a few days later.

The Associated Press, via the Jamaica Observer today states that a bomb was discovered on Friday at the residence of two Jamaat al Muslimeen male members, who have now been arrested.

Police made the announcement yesterday (24th Dec). The raid had involvedarmy and police, and a senior police source, speaking under condition of anonymity, said that the bomb, which had wires, antennae and timers, was being packaged by the two at the time of the swoop.

The Police Commissioner, Trevor Paul, confirmed the claims made in TV reports that Jamaat al Muslimeen was involved, but said he could not give out much information as investigations were continuing.

The two men were apparently planning to leave the island. Two plane tickets were found at the rented address in Arima, 10 miles east of Port of Spain. Police received a tip-off that the two men, aged 31 and 32, were planning to set off the device before fleeing. Police did not reveal the man's destination.

These are our articles on Trinidad. (Dates are of our articles, not necessarily of events described):

October 10: British-Bound Muslim Arrested at Airport
October 16: Islamist Leader (Bakr) Arrested
October 18: Bakr Released
October 22: Islamic TV To Commence Soon
November 02: ASJA Ladies - A 60 year old Women's Muslim Group (comment)
November 05: Trinidad (Express) Editor Dreams of A Peaceful Islam (comment)
November 10: Muslim Leader (Bakr) Charged for Incitement & Sedition
November 12: Muslim Leader's Office Bulldozed, Weapons Seized
November 23: Muslim Leader Charged With Terrorism
November 24: Man With Islamist Links Arrested For Bombings
December 01: Suspected Bomber Released
December 04: Bomb Suspect Proclaims Innocence
December 21: Muslim Scholar to Testify In Islamist Leader's Trial

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:58 AM | Comments (0)

December 24, 2005

US: Australian Muslim Scholar Denied Entry At Airport

Australia's News.com.au reports that an Islamic lecturer has been barred from entering the United States by customs agents in Detroit.

He was detained for five hours, denied an entry visa, and then put on a plane to Canada. He had been due to talk at an Islamic conference in Houston, Texas, before 4,000 people.

No reason was given by the US authorities for their actions.

Mr Ibrahim, who is deputy principal of the Australian Islamic College, frequently lectures in the US. According to Islamic World.net, he "currently lectures twice a year in New Zealand, USA, and Canada respectively. He has lectured in just about every US state, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. He remains a graduate of the University of Toronto (Geology and Geographic Information Systems) and a student of Education and Behaviour Management."

He has lectured at three Perth universities, states News.com.au.

Of Egyptian extraction, Yahya Ibrahim was born in Waterloo, Ontario, in Canada. He has translated numerous Arabic texts into English, and he writes books. He also does fairly good business with sales of DVDs and Audio CDs featuring his lectures (pictured).

To hear some of his lectures, click on the Islamic Invitation Center website, where RealPlayer audios of his talks can be heard.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 3:38 PM | Comments (1)

Philippines: Army's Concerns Over Moro Islamic Liberation Front

We mentioned on October 24 the signing of a peace deal between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philippines government. The MILF is based on the southern island of Mindanao, within the Liguasan Marsh region in the west of the island. Formed in 1977, it had about 3,000 "soldiers" three years ago. In 1987 MILF mounted a brief insurgency against the Philippines government.

The aim of the MILF and also the other group from the region, MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) is to have a homeland or autonomy for the ethnic Bangsaomoro people of Mindanao, who are almost exclusively Muslim.

The recent peace deal was soon denounced by the Catholic mayor of Zamboanga City, Celso Lobregat, who claimed on October 24 that the government had offered a secret deal with MILF for an Islamic nation of Moro to secede from the Philippines nation on the island of Mindanao. The island has a population of 3 million Muslims.

Lobregat's claims were refuted by various senior members of the MILF, a few days later.

Khaled Musa claimed in response to Lobregat's assertions that a secret deal had planned the establishment of an Islamic state: "The MILF has never brought up, or will ever bring up, the issue of (putting up an) Islamic state, or Islam, in the peace talks, because this is internal to the Moros. What we are (discussing) up in the talks is the political settlement of the conflict."

The story is also covered by Philippines Star, and the abs-cbn News.

"We have received a lot of reports from local officials, barangay captains, mayors and our ground commanders about the MILF's recruitment and training of 4,000 members," Adan said to the press last week.

The Star states that Adan asserted today (24 December) that many affidavits have been handed in to military personnel in Mindanao, from individuals claiming to being "trained" for an upcoming offensive. He said that MILF were trying to expand their territory

The government and MILF have both denied the military commander's claim. Government peace negotiators who are steering the peace talks with the MILF have requested the military not to make statements which can upset the situation.

"We did not start this. By conducting training, they are endangering the peace talks because the peace talks are premised on building trust and confidence," he [Adnan] said.

"But if you are preparing for war, for explosives and demolition and jihad, is that trust-building?"

The Mail and Standard states that on 22 December, Lt Gen Edilberto Adan said he had ordered preemptive action in all areas being covered by MILF: My instruction to my local commanders in the field is to conduct preemptive action against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (to prevent the) recruiting and conducting of training of its new recruits," he said.

The training was allegedly held in Maguindanao, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao provinces, western Mindanao and Sarangani, as well as others.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 2:48 PM | Comments (0)

Spain: Six Suspected Islamists Are Jailed Until Trial

We reported on Monday, 19 December of arrests which had taken place at Lerida, Malaga, Nerja, Seville and on the Balearic islands. Sixteen people were netted in all. Two more individuals had also surrendered to the police voluntarily, and today, Reuters AlertNet states that six of these have been jailed, awaiting trial.

The remaining twelve individuals were released, but must conditionally report at set times to courts near their homes.

A court official said today that the group recruited people to fight in Jihad roles in Iraq, Chechnya or Kashmir.

The Interior Ministry claimed the group had two members ready to be dispatched to Iraq at the time of the mass-arrests. Individuals from the group were born in Iraq, Belarus, Ghana, Spain, Morocco, Egypt, France, Algeria and Saudi Arabia.

Late on Friday night, High Court Judge, Fernando Andreu, administered a court order, accusing three of the suspects of belonging to a terrorist organisation, and three more of cooperating with an armed group.

The six remanded in custody included the alleged leader of the group, a 25-year-old Iraqi known as Abu Sufian, and a Belarus-born man who, according to the Interior Ministry, trained in Chechnya and is an expert in chemical weapons.

Andreu said Abu Sufian had met al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and recruited people for his organisation.

He said the investigation focused on a mosque in the southern Spanish city of Malaga frequented by people with radical Islamist beliefs.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 12:54 PM | Comments (0)

Turkey: Islamist Regime Announces Another Trial For "Insulting Turkey"

We described earlier the case of novelist Orhan Pamuk, who is currently waiting to return to court for his trial on February 7, 2006 on charges of "insulting Turkey's identity", breaching article 301 of the Turkish penal code.

Pamuk's crime was to mention a massacre of 1 million Armenians by Ottoman forces during an interview with a Swiss magazine in February. This event is claimed not have happened, and the trial seems to be partly encouraged by Erdogan's ruling Islamist Party, the AKP. Now, another individual is facing trial under the same law.

On 22 December, Turkish Press reported that Abdullah Yildiz, editor of Literatur publishers, is also going to be charged under article 301, for publishing a book by Greek author Mara Meimaridi, entitled "The Witches of Smyrna".

This book has undergone 25 printings since it fiirst appeared on Turkish bookshelves in October 2004, and it is a novel featuring a Greek heroine, who lives in Smyrna (Izmir) at the end of the Ottoman Caliphate, who uses magic spells to achieve her goals. The book has sold 50,000 copies in Turkey. In passages of the book, it states that Turkish districts are dirty, and Turks have poor oral hygeine.

The author claims she never had any intentions of insulting Turkish "identity", and the date for the trial of Yildiz is not known.

It would be remiss of me not to mention here the case of the Armenian proprietor and editor of Agos, a Turkish magazine, Hrant Dink (pictured), who was sentenced on 7 October 2005 to a six-months suspended sentence by the Sisli Court of Second Instance in Istanbul for breaking article 301 of the Turkish penal code, and "insulting Turkish identity". Dink's crime was to report in Agos of the effects the Armenian massacre from the time of World War 1 made upon members of the Armenian diaspora.

Dink is appealing that conviction, but he is not out of the woods, for another case is pending, which was initiated on 28 April 2005 at a court in the southeastern city of Sanliurfa. The trial which is still unfinished, concerns comments Dink had made at a conference in 2002. He faces a possible six years if convicted.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

France: Muslims Miss out on Meals For Homeless

With Christmas almost upon us, the news reports tell us how there are soup kitchens and charities making gestures to the homeless. There are also bad taste offerings, such as this "report" which claims to have a new US policy for the homeless. It is, of course, a spoof.

Some homeless men in New York, if lucky, are given the chance to play Santa Claus in New York, once they have convinced the Department of Homeless Services that they have tackled kicking bad habits they have accrued over the years.

In Britain, the homeless charity Crisis has opened "drop-in" centres across the capital, with the London Docklands centre expected to cater to 1,400 people over the next few days, according to the BBC.

Though the UK government has recently given 350 million pounds towards services for, and rehousing of the homeless, the figures for Britain's homeless are rising. The Scotsman states that five years ago, there were 65,170 homeless families in England, with 101,070 now, who will spend this Christmas in temporary accommodation.

In France, there are similar schemes, mostly inspired by Abbe Pierre, a charismatic Catholic priest, who set up the first soup kitchen for the homeless in the 1950s, spurred on by a news report from the winter of 1954, when a homeless woman froze to death on the streets of Paris.

In the south of France, soup kitchens operate in most major cities. In the Riviera city of Nice, the soup kitchen run by Father Patrick Brizore stands outside his church, near the harbour of the city, where vegetable soup is handed out. Near to where he distributes food to the homeless is another soup kitchen, run by members of a small nationalist group.

This soup kitchen has a line of police standing guard, as it has been the subject of protests from Muslims and leftist liberals alike. The reason for the acrimony is the "Patriot's Soup", the main fare on offer. This soup contains pork, which is neither allowed for Muslims nor Jews. There is quite a high percentage of the homeless population of southern France of North African origin, and Muslim.

The group running the soup kitchen is the small "Soulidarieta" party, whose name is the local dialect for "Solidarity", though it appears solidarity does not include solidarity with those of alien background. The founder of the group is Dominique Lescure, who says, according to Reuters:

I don't see why I should not be able to put pork, which has always played a major role in my country's cuisine, into a traditional soup that I want to distribute, admittedly, to my compatriots and European homeless people," he argued.

"I'm not excluding anyone," he shouted in a heated exchange with a handful of jeering protesters. "We're tired of being treated like little Nazis. If a Muslim comes, I'll serve him, but the real poor these days are our people."

Abbe Pierre, who is now 93, made headlines a couple of months ago, when it was revealed in his autobiography that he had not always followed the chastity he had vowed to uphold as a Catholic priest.

Life may be tough for the homeless in whatever country they live, but perhaps they should feel thankful that they have never encountered Ricard Pinilla and Oriol Plana, 18-year old immigrants from South America. They were caught on CCTV in the Spanish regional Catalan capital, Barcelona throwing a bottle and a traffic cone at Maria Rosario Endrinal Petite, a 50-year old Spanish homeless woman, who was sheltering in a doorway.

With a younger friend, they returned later and poured an accelerant over Ms Endrinal, a mother of five, and set fire to her. She died in hospital, a court in Barcelona was told, states today's Times.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:19 AM | Comments (0)

December 23, 2005

UK: Muslim Cleric Predicted 7/7 Bombing

News from Agence France Presse via Khaleej Times, Netscape news and abc.net.au states that radical exiled cleric, 47 year old Omar Bakri Mohammed made a prediction that Britain would be hit by terrorists. He made the prediction several months before the bombings against London Transport, which killed 52 people.

The videotape footage was shown on Channel 4's News program, and it was said according to AFP that the footage also featured on the website of a group "calling itself the 'Saved Sect'."

Someone did not listen hard enough. The group is actually the Saviour Sect, which is a residual group formed after the break-up of the terorist group al-Muhajiroun. Bakri was a former leader of al-Muhajiroun, and acted as mentor to members of the Saviour Sect and its companion group, Al Ghurabaa. The website of this group, http://al-ghurabaa.co.uk/ is currently removed from its server, with a message in German.

We reported on October 20 of the cleric's usage of the Al Ghurabaa website to broadcast his sermons and speeches, while he remained in exile in Lebanon. He had lived in the UK as an asylum seeker since 1986, but when he left to Lebanon this year, the Home Office announced an exclusion order against him.

Some former members of al-Muhajiroun, including Anjem Choudary, had joined him in Lebanon, and had claimed to be helping Bakri to set up a madrassa. Choudary was deported from Lebanon with four others. As well as the Saviour Sect and Al Ghurabaa, another group has recently been formed by ex-members of al-Muhajiroun, the Ahl ul-Sunnah Wa al-Jamma. Members of all three groups are essentially the same. The reason for the establishment of the new group may be a preventative measure, in case the government's current anti-terror bill becomes law.

This bill, which is currently being reviewed in the upper chamber, the House of Lords, for its second reading aims to proscribe Hizb ut-Tahrir and successors to the group Al-Muhajiroun in one of its clauses. Hizb ut-Tahrir is an international Islamist group, but the founder of its UK branch was Omar Bakri Mohammed.

Al-Muhajiroun caused the deaths of three people in Mike's Bar in Tel Aviv in a suicide attack on April 30, 2003. Sixty five people were injured. The attack had been carried out by two British Muslims from Derbyshire, Asif Hanif and Omar Sharif. Hanif's bomb belt detonated, but Sharif's failed, and he was found drowned on the shore at Tel Aviv a few days later, suspected of committing suicide.

The videotape of Bakri has him saying: "The mujahedin are everywhere. They are everywhere around, fighting. And don't worry, they are causing enough anarchy around the world to put everybody down on their knees. When it becomes anarchy, it becomes one....becomes 'nobody governs', becomes 'fight for your lives', and that is exactly what is going on around the world now.

It's going to happen, but don't worry. You see, if it happens or don't happen, nothing can happen that deceives Allah. If Allah destines then it is going to happen. But take your precautions. Be aware."

He denied that he had anything to do with the bombings, and to be fair, it is the sort of rhetoric which he usually comes up with. He recently claimed while the French riots were still continuing, that Muslim riots will soon be happening in Britain.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)

Italy: Three Algerian Suspected Islamists Arrested

A report from UPI and AKI, states that three Algerians have been arrested in the Naples area of Italy. The individuals are suspected of belonging to the Algerian Islamist group with links to al-Qaeda, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, or GSPC.

The investigation into their activities, code-named "Full Moon" began on November 20, when they were identified as associates of a known GSPC member.

Investigators have claimed that the widening of the inquiry to involve police in other nations has revealed much information concerning the current state of GSPC.

Last week there were dawn raids at homes and offices in Liguria, Lombardy and the southern region of Campania. These searches were carried out against homes and property of Algerian individuals suspected of links with GSPC.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:18 PM | Comments (0)

Pakistan: Muslim Seminaries To Be Less Controlled Under New Law

The Italian news agency AKI or ADN Kronos International reports that an agreement has been reached between the Pakistan government and leaders of the five main chains of madrassas, regarding the registering of madrassas, or Muslim seminaries.

The government had previously set a deadline of December 31, by which time all madrassas had to be registered. This has now been withdrawn in a government proposal, which requires the seminaries to submit performance reports on academic issues alone, while their financial audits can be made by any auditor, with copies of these submitted to the registrar.

This law will need to approved in the parliament, but it was announced after a two and a half hour meeting between five Muftis and Maulanas (one who has memorised the Koran faultlessly) the federal and religious affairs minister, Ijaz-ul Haq (pictured).

Whereas formerly madrassas were not allowed to study comparative religions, as a check against militancy and sectarianism, they are now permitted to do so. Formerly madrassas with more than one campus had to register each building separately, but that is now abandoned.

Ijaz-ul Haq stated that he would table the new proposals before parliament and the four national assemblies promptly.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:03 PM | Comments (0)

Pakistan: After Islamic Rampage, Christians and Muslims Make Tentative Peace

We reported on the attacks made by 1,500 Muslim rioters who attacked buildings belonging to the Christian community in Sangla Hill on November 12. The attack followed an alleged incident where a Christian man, Yousaf Maseh, was said to have burned Korans. This story is widely refuted, and so far no burned pages of Islam's holy book have been produced. Maseh remains in jail, as much for his own safety as for charges of blasphemy which can lead to a death sentence if convicted.

Three churches were burned, as well as a school, a youth hostel, and the home of a priest on November 12. Eyewitnesses claimed that mosque loudspeakers were used to incite crowds to attack the Christian community, and police did nothing to tackle the mob. 80 people were rounded up and arrested by the police, but the events of that day have created fears in the community and have invoked international condemnation.

Attention has been focused on Pakistan's blasphemy laws, with many Christians calling for these laws to be repealed. The Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Anglican Church, Dr Rowan Williams, said after a recent visit to the country that Pakistan is attempting to be seen as moderate. Williams argued that it would be difficult to repeal the blasphemy laws without incurring the wrath of the powerful Islamic conservative elements in the country.

The ARchbishop noted that Pakistan's Minister for Religious Affairs and Minorities publicly apologised for the affair at Sangla Hill, promising a judicial enquiry. Compensation has been promised for destroyed property.

Today, Pakistan's Daily Times carries a story that a meeting was held on Thursday between representatives of Christian and Muslim faith communities at Sangla Hill, which is 80 miles northeast of Lahore.

Local Christians told Daily Times that they had to opt for a compromise because "the government's role in resolving the issue is not encouraging". They also referred to a Lahore High Court judicial inquiry into a similar incident in Shanti Nagar in 1997, when a Christian village was burnt "but no action was taken".

The findings of a judicial inquiry have not been published so far. The accused are freely moving in the city and police have not taken any action against them.

As well as Chrisians, representatives of rights groups and charities were also present, including Asma Jehangir, chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. She condemned religious terrorism and called for the removal of laws which discriminate (i.e. blasphemy laws apply only to slurs against Islam, not Christianity or any other faith).

The archbishop of Lahore, the reverend Lawrence John Saldhana, went to Sangla Hill on Thursday, and reconsecrated the burned churches, which are now open for worship.

The meeting decided to aim for compromise, with those who are accused of fomenting the vandalism being made to apologise to the Christians.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:17 PM | Comments (0)

US: FBI Measures Mosque Becquerels

A report from Reuters states that since September 11, 2001, the FBI has been regularly measuring radiation levels at places frequented by Muslims. These include mosques and private homes. The reason for these searches is the hunt for potential nuclear weapons, states US News and World Report today.

The story is covered extensively on the web, with 126 stories currently listed at Google, though most of these are syndicated releases. Associated Press, via KTRE.com state that 100 Muslim sites in the vicinity of the capitol, Washington DC have been monitored, as well as five other cities, with searches carried out at mosques, homes and businesses.

Reuters lists the other cities as Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, New York and Seattle.

Cair, the Council on American-Islamic Relations have been quick to respond. A spokesman states that news of the program comes as a "complete shock" and he says, it "creates the appearance that Muslims are targeted simply for being Muslims." In a statement, CAIR wrote: "All Americans should be concerned about the apparent trend toward a two-tiered system of justice, with full rights for most citizens, and another diminished set of rights for Muslims." The statement affirms that the news, coupled with last week's disclosures that domestic eavesdropping had been authorised by the Bush administration, "could lead to the perception that we are no longer a nation ruled by law, but instead one in which fear trumps constitutional rights."

Reuters states that federal officials quoted in the US News and World Report have said that the program was legal, and the nature of the radiation searches did not require warrants.

The surveillance program began in the start of 2002 and has been administered by the FBI in conjunction with the Department of Energy group, the Nuclear Emergency Support Team. At the peak of the operation, as many as 120 sites were being monitored per day.

Dick Cheney, the vice president, was aware of the operation, and one source maintained that nearly all of the surveillance involved individual citizens.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:44 PM | Comments (0)

Canada: Suspected Islamist Refused Bail

We mentioned on Sunday 18th December that the son of an Islamist activist and financier for al-Qaeda was arrested in Toronto on Saturday night.

25 year old Abdullah Khadr (pictured) was arrested on account of "possession and use of a destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence that is conspiracy to murder a U.S. national outside of the U.S." according to Dennis Ednay, his lawyer.

Today, news is breaking from Reuters, Canada's CBC Toronto, and Canada's National Post that Khadr has been denied bail today.

After being released from a Pakistani prison, where he stated he had been incarcerated for fourteen months, Khadr returned to Canada on the 7th of this month. He is being held on an extradition request by the US government, who suspect he has links to al-Qaeda. His sister Zaynab was apparently also the subject of inquiries by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCPM).

His 66 year old grandmother had offered to use her house, valued at $300,000 as part of a bail bond, but this was rejected by the judge in the Toronto court hearing, Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy.

Khadr is wanted, according to court documents, in Massachusetts for possessing the "destructive device". He is accused of buying $20,000 (US) of mortar rounds, landmines, grenades and AK-47 ammunition, for use by al-Qaeda militants in eastern Afghanistan.

Despite the good intentions of Abdullah Khadr's grandmother, who broke down when asked if she knew of the crimes her grandson was accused of, his family background is certainly not that of a normal Torontonian.

His Egyptian-born father, Ahmed Siad Khadr (pictured above, right), moved to Canada in 1997, and is said to have been a founding father and financier of al-Qaeda. He was killed in Pakistan two years ago, when a house used by al-Qaeda was targeted by a helicopter gunship. Ahmed Siad Khadr had a son with him, Abdul Karim Khadr, and he was paralysed from the waist down in the same shoot-out in Pakistan. He remained in Pakistan until April 2004, when his mother brought him back to Canada.

Abdurahman Khadr (pictured left), a brother of Abdullah, was arrested in November 2001, suspected of being an al-Qaeda member, and in early 2003 he was taken to Guantanamo Bay. He was released and sent to Afghanistan in July thta year, whence he returned to Canada in October 2003.

Abdullah's younger brother, 17-year old Omar Khadr (pictured right) is still in Guantanamo. He was arrested in Khost, Afghanistan in July 2002, when he was only 15. He was accused of killing a US serviceman.

Sister Zaynab Khadr, who like their Palestinian-born mother Maha Khadr wears a hijab and a nikab, showing only her eyes, is alleged to have helped Abdullah Khadr run an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, though Abdullah maintains that he only visited the camp once, when he was 14.

CBC Toronto state that Khadr's bail hearing will now be reheard on Thursday, 29th December. CBC state that an affidavit was unsealed this week, which stated that Abdullah Khadr had admitted in July, while in jail in Pakistan, that he had bought weapons for al-Qaeda. The affidavit further alleges that he admitted to being involved with a plot to assassinate Pakistan's prime minister.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:20 PM | Comments (0)

Somalia: Islamists Shot Aid Couple Because They Were Thought To Be Christian Proselytisers

Today's Telegraph announces that an inquest into the deaths of Dick and Enid Eyeington has said that the pair were assumed by their killers to be "infidels" who wrongly assumed the pair were attempting to make Africans converts to Christianity.

Married in 1963, the couple who came originally from county Durham, Britain, have lived in Africa for more than thirty years, where they worked with underprivileged children in Tanzania, Swaziland and Somaliland.

They were in their home in Somaliland watching TV on the evening of October 20, 2003, when their killers entered and shot them. Dick Eyeington was holding the remote control of the TV as he was shot four times from an AK-47 assault rifle. His wife, who worked with HIV sufferers, was killed by a single shot to the head, an inquest in Westminster's coroner's court was told.

Somaliland is an enclave in the northern part of Somalia. Somalia has been in a state of total anarchy since the fall of President Said Barre in 1990. The nation is still run by warlords and Islamist militias, even though a UN-sponsorred government has recently been appointed.

Somaliland declared itself independent of Somalia in 1991, and though not officially recognised internationally, it is more peaceful and ordered than the regions around Mogadishu, the capital. There are active cells of al-Qaeda in Somalia, who have an ambition to destabilise and overthrow Somaliland.

In March last year, a German aid worker and his Kenyan girlfriend were attacked, and their assailant was later arrested. He confessed to killing Dick and Enid Eyeington.

Det Chief Insp Jill Bailey told the hearing that last month four men, including Mohammed Ali Essa, who fired the AK47, had been convicted of murder and sentenced to death by firing squad. The terrorists shouted "Allah Akbar" (God is Great) after being sentenced and are still awaiting execution.

Miss Bailey said the men were part of a terrorist cell called El Itihad which had killed an Italian nun a week earlier. She also said that Essa's brother-in-law, Adan Ayro, who owned the house in which Essa was captured, could have had links to al-Qa'eda. A plan to blow up an Ethiopian airliner and bomb-making manuals were uncovered during the investigations.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 4:18 PM | Comments (0)

Iraq: Worshippers Killed in Shia Mosque Suicide Attack

Reuters announces that a suicide bomber has blown himself up while being searched for explosives at a Shi'ite mosque in Balad Ruz, 24 miles east of Baquba.

1,000 Shia Muslims were inside the mosque performing Juma (Friday evening prayers) when the man detonated himself. As this is breaking news, figurres for casualties are only initial counts, and could go higher. At least four people have been killed, and eight injured.

According to a news brief from Ynet News, 10 Iraqis, including a policeman, have been killed, according to US military sources.

This story will be updated as details emerge.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 3:10 PM | Comments (0)

Bangladesh: Muslim Bigots Fight With Police - 50 Injured

Yesterday and on Tuesday, we brought you the background of an ongoing dispute created by Islamic groups connected to politicians from the coalition partner in Bangladesh's government, the Islami Oikya Jote, who have been threatening the Ahmadiyya sect of Muslims.

The aim of the groups who oppose the Ahmadiyya religion is to have the faith declared "non-Muslim" by the government of Bangladesh. To achieve this aim, the demonstrators use threats of intimidation and violence against mosques and followers of the sect.

The main organisation involved in the intimidation was the Hifazate Khatme Nabuwat Andolon, also known as the International Khatme Nubuwat Movement Bangladesh (IKNMB). Following a conflict of policy in September, when one faction within IKNMB led by Mufti Noor Hossain Noorani decided to suspend activities against the Ahmadiyyas, the current actions against the sect are being led by two groups.

Khatme Nabuwat Andolon Bangladesh (KNMB) is led by Noor Hossain Noorani, while the main group, IKNMB, is led by Mahmudul Hasan Mamatazi (or M. H. Muntajir), who in September had declared Mufti Noorani as "unwanted".

The current campaign, which we announced yesterday, follows a promise or threat made at the end of September by IKNMB. This threat was that if the government did not announce the Ahmadiyyas as non-Muslim by today, 23 December, then there would be problems of unity in electoral coalitions at the next general elections, and the group would occupy the Ahmadiyya complex at Bakshibazar in Dhaka, the capital, and then would occupy all the other Ahmadiyya compexes across the country.

The Daily Star announced that the Khatme Nabuwat Andolon Bangladesh (KNMB) would be staging a "peaceful and law-abiding rally outside the complex beginning after Friday evening prayers, while the International Khatme Nabuwat Movement Bangladesh (IKNMB) would stage a dawn till asr protest following by an evening march to Dhaka Central Jail for "voluntary imprisonment."

Following the split between IKNMB and KNMB it is hard to say which group is now the dominant of the two, but most of the planning seemed to be coming from the KNMB, who promised to bring supporters from 22 of the country's 62 districts to assist in their harassment of the Ahmadiyya sect.

As I write, it is past midnight in Bangladesh, and today's protests which the KNMB promised would be peaceful and would "not violate the law" have degenerated into a riot, according to South Africa's Globe and Mail.

Protesters broke through a police cordon and police fired year gas and used batons to disperse the Islamist protesters. At least six buses were smashed, and four police were injured by the protesters, who pelted them with stones.

At least 26 thugs were detained by police, and about 50 more were injured. When the Bangladeshi press post more details, this story will be updated.

UPDATE: The Bangladesh Daily Star states that 57 people have been injured, but police did prevent marchers from reaching the Ahmadiyya's complex. The picture above shows Muslim bigots, mainly from the IKNMB, who were held at bay at the north gate of the Baitul Mokarram National Mosque, where they pelted the police with bricks and stones.

Members of the Khatme Nabuwat Andolon Bangladesh had intended to hang a sign up at the Ahmadiyya complex, stating the building was a "place of worship" and not a true mosque, and when preventing from reaching their goal, they requested the police should put up the sign. The request was not granted.

Since 1987, such activities mounted against the sect have claimed the lives of eight people. Ahmadiyya Mosque in Nakhalpara was attacked in 2003, and the resultant publicity has fed the campaign. Since then four mosques, at Chittagong, Khulna, Bogra and Patuakhali have had signs erected declaring their mosques as mere "places of worship."

The IKNMB who also staged protests against the police, have claimed that 200 of their number have been injured, and 200 more have been arrested, though the police claim to have arrested no-one.

If the police really have arrested no-one, then they are a disgrace. The pictures below, from the Bangladesh Independent's coverage of the case show, left, an injured policeman being rescued b colleagues, and right, members of IKNMB crossing a barrier to confront police.

Mufti Noor Hossain Noorani's group, the Khatme Nabuwat Andolon Bangladesh, have added two new dates to pencil into one's diary - February 10, 2006, when they intend to intimidate Ahmaddiyyas at their places of worship at Dhanikhola in Trishal in Mymensingh, and also April 17, when they plan to intimidate the sect at their mosque at Shyamnagar in Satkhira District.

The Constitution of Bangladesh is quite clear about discrimination against religious minorities in Article 28:
Discrimination on grounds of religion, etc.
(1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race caste, sex or place of birth.
(2) Women shall have equal rights with men in all spheres of the State and of public life.
(3) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth be subjected to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to access to any place of public entertainment or resort, or admission to any educational institution.
(4) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making special provision in favour of women or children or for the advancement of any backward section of citizens.

We mentioned the involvement of leading members of the government coalition party Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ) in the anti-Ahmidiyya movement. That such people should be allied with the government is a sad testament of the moral bankruptcy of the governing elite.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 3:02 PM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2005

Thailand: Bomb Wounds Seven In Muslim South

Reuters reports that in the early hours of Friday, a bomb exploded in the southern Thai province of Narathiwat outside a tea shop. Police blame Islamists, and say the bomb was hidden in a car parked outside the tea shop which is visited by local officials. The tea shop is 100 yards from a police station in Narathiwat town.

Two of the seven wounded had severe injuries. Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya told reporters that the authorities were making progress against the insurgency, which has continued for two years in the south, and has killed 1,000.

The militancy is taking place in the three southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, which are predominantly Muslim. Formerly they comprised a separate Muslim nation, called Pattani, which was annexed by the King of Siam a century ago.

Last Friday, the 16 December, a Thai police officer was killed, shot twice in the head by suspected Islamists in Yala as he went to work. The 32-year old man was a Muslim intelligence officer attached to the Yala provincial police.

Last week was, until Friday, fairly peaceful. On Thursday 15th, a search on a suspect's house in the Sai Buri district of Pattani recovered a large cache of weapons and ammunition, and explosives. Hamdi Ayu, 20, a religious teacher, owned the house. Hamdi fled at the time of the raid, which was carried out by 100 paramilitary rangers and police, acting on a tip-off. Hamdi was arrested later, stated the Bangkok Post.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:47 PM | Comments (0)

UK: Muslim Who Hunted War Hero Guilty Of Terrorism

We reported on December 8 of the trial of Abu Baker Mansha, a British Muslim who was charged under the Terrorism Act. He had in his possession a blank-firing pistol which had been modified to fire live bullets.

The prosecution claimed that 21-year old market stall holder Mansha (pictured) had planned to use the gun to kill a decorated war hero, Corporal Mark Byles, who had received a bravery award, the Military Cross. It was claimed at the trial that Mansha had read that Byles had killed 20 insurgents in Iraq, which had been stated in a report by the Sun newspaper, a copy of which was found in his home and bore his fingerprints.

Mansha, who lived in Arnott Close, Thames Mead in south-east London, gained Corporal Byles' address from the Portsmouth electoral register (Byles had moved from this address). Mansha wrote the address on a piece of paper and this was discovered by the police.

The Times and the Telegraph announce that a jury of seven men and five women convicted Manhsa, by a majority verdict of ten to two, of one count under Section 58 (1b) of the Terrorism Act, i.e. that information he possessed was "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism".

During the trial, jurors were told that Mansha had also included a rich Jewish man and a Hindu businessman as his potential "targets".

The judge in the case at Southwark Crown Court, Nicholas Loraine-Smith, adjourned the case until January 26, when Mansha will be sentenced, saying he needed a pre-sentence report. Mansha has a previous conviction for affray after a racial confrontation with another trader at the market where he worked, from three years ago. He has been remanded in custody until his reappearance in court. He could face a possible sentence of 10 years' imprisonment.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)

Bangladesh: Islamists Again Threaten Muslim Ahmadiyya Sect

We mentioned on Tuesday the persecutions against the Muslim sect the Ahmadiyyah, which were encouraged by a minor member party of Bangladesh's coalition government, the Islami Oikya Jote.

At least since 2003, there has been a campaign by Islamist groups to have the Ahmadiyyah Muslims officially declared "Non-Muslims" by the government. Following a threat by extremists made in late December by militants to evict the 'kaffir Ahmadiyyas' from the Nakhalpara Ahmadiyya mosque by January 9, 2004, the government of Khaleda passed a law on January 8, 2004, banning all publications by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Bangladesh.

A government press release declared that "The ban was imposed in view of objectionable materials in such (Ahmadiyya) publications which hurt or might hurt the sentiments of the majority Muslim population of Bangladesh."

The anti-Ahmadiyyah campaign was being led by Islami Oikya Jote and members of the party also operated as members of Hifazate Khatme Nabuwat Andolon (HKNA), an organisation which spearheads the political campaign against the Ahmadiyyah. it is also called the International Khatme Nubuwat Movement Bangladesh (IKNMB).

Consistently they have demanded that the government declares the sect as non-Muslim, while threatening unrest and attacks against Ahmadiyyah (also called Ahmadi) mosques and congregants. There are 100,000 followers of the sect in Bangladesh.

In September this year, IKNMB declared that its latest target would be an Ahmadiyyah mosque in the Tejgaon area of Dhaka, the capital on September 30.

On Thursday 8th September, there was an internal rift at IKNMB, over whether or not to continue with the anti-Ahmadi program they had heralded, or to quieten their mood in the aftermath of the nationwide August 17 bombings by extremists from the Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh or JMB.

For the heresy of suggesting the IKNMB "tone down" their stance, Mufti Noor Hossain Noorani was declared "unwanted" across the country by Mahmudul Hasan Mamatazi (also called Mahmudul Hasan Muntajir), another of the group's leaders, who also alleged that Noorani had taken a bribe from the sect for suspending campaigns against them.

By the time of the deadline, September 30, there was a rally of 1,000 people, but police kept a strong presence to avoid violence taking place.

The Ameer of the group, Mahmudul Hasan Mamatazi/Muntajir, said that if the government did declare that Ahmadiyyahs are non-Muslims, then their mosques would not be demolished nor their members attacked.

The group set a deadline for December 23 for the Khaleda government to make its pronouncement on the status of Ahmadiyyahs as non-Muslims.

Well, we are getting close to that deadline, and so far the government has not fallen in with the demands of this petty and spiteful group. So once again, they make their presence known by more threats of intimidation.

The Daily Star states that Khatme Nabuwat Andolon Bangladesh (KNMB), a subgroup of IKNMB have now announced that they will be besieging the Ahmadiyyah's headquarters in Bakshibazar, Dhaka tomorrow (Friday 23).

On Friday August 27, 2004 the complex had been given a similar deadline by another extreme Islamist group, the Dhaka-based Aamra Dhakabashi, which led to the arrest of two of its leaders to defuse the situation.

The Star states that Khatme Nabuwat Andolon Bangladesh activists from 22 of the country's 64 districts will be taking part in Friday's siege of the Ahmadiyyah complex. They are planning to assemble outside the Baitul Mokarram National Mosque in Bakshibazar after Juma prayers, and then march on the base to begin the siege.

Mufti Noor Hossain Nurani, who is now president of KNMB, told the Star that his group will "do everything peacefully and will not violate the law."

The Ahmadi sect have appealed to the government for protection, and Dhaka Metropolitan Police have said that they have already sent forces to the Ahmadiyyah base.

While the KNMB will be besieging the Ahmadiyya complex after evening prayers, the IKNMB will be holding a dawn till dusk vigil which will start after morning prayers on Friday, in Muktangan in Dhaka.

The Ahmadiyyahs are widely persecuted in the Muslim world. We reported on the attacks made against them in Indonesia in September and also of the murder of eight members of the sect at a mosque in the village of Mong in Mandi Bahauddin, Pakistan on October 7.

Even though the Ahmadiyya sect preaches respect for all human life, with the doctrine "Love for all, hatred for none" it is widely vilified. It is viewed with suspicion by other Muslim groups because it venerates Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani (1835-1908) (pictured above), founder of the faith, as the promised Messiah, the Imam Mahdi.

Keywords: Ahmadiyyah, Ahmadiyya

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:38 PM | Comments (0)

Belgium: Parliament Approves Greater Police Anti-Terror Powers

In yesterday's Expatica, it was reported that the MPs in the government of Belgium have decided to increase powers given to the police to combat terrorism and organised crime.

The controversial measures include the ability to perform house raids at night, with raids carried out without a court warrant should the building be a private residence.

Police will be allowed to "assist" criminals whom they are investigating, which would allow them to commit minor crimes if they thus garner information on greater crimes.

The law will allow for faster freezes of suspicious bank accounts, and a greater range of powers for bugging and surveillance. There will still be a need to request from the public prosecutor the permission to "photograph or bug suspects, raid offices and garages and shadow escaped prisoners" but there would no longer be a need for a court order to conduct these activities.

The law, an amendment of a previous law, was passed by the members of parliament on Tuesday morning, but still needs to be voted into law by the Senate.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:48 PM | Comments (0)

Pakistan: Muslim Seminary Students in Clashes With Bandits

On Tuesday, the Pakistan Daily Times reported that on December 6th, thousands of armed seminary students took to the streets near the town of Miranshah, North Waziristan, after bandits had attacked and killed three of their number.

On Monday, the body of a gang member was found decapitated, and suspended from an electricity pylon, two kilometers west of Miranshah. The BBC states that his head was impaled on a bamboo pole. Another bandit/gang member was also strung up, but with his head still attached.

Now, the fighting between madrassa students and bandits/gang members has intensified. The BBC says today that at least seven people have been killed in a clash in the village of Shawal in North Waziristan, which lies along the Pakistan/Afghanistan border. Two of the dead are students, and five are bandits.

The BBC states that at least 15 people have been killed in similar confrontations earlier this month. The China Post says that 23 people were killed previously in December. The fighting, which went on for several days, is said by the China Post to have erupted after students refused to pay extortion "taxes" at a roadblock.

The current clash took place late on Wednesday evening in Shawal. In South Waziristan, in a separate incident, five gunmen at about the same time entered a barbershop in Wana, the regional centre, and shot the owner and two others.

Reuters AlertNet states that more than 30 people have died this month in clashes between the "students" and those they describe as "bandits". The students call themselves "Taliban" which means "students" but is also the title of the Afghan islamists, many of whom still operate in the rugged border terrain of the region, along with al-Qaeda cadres.

There are currently 70,000 troops from Pakistan in the region, who have been stationed in number for the past two years, and hundreds have been killed on both sides. The BBC states that more than 250 government soldiers have been killed since 2003.

Reuters Alertnet states that two bullet-ridden bodies were found in a stream on the perimeter of Miranshah today, though they were probably killed on Wednesday night.

We reported on Thursday December 1 of an explosion which took place that morning at the village of Haisori, outside Miranshah, and had killed five people. It was discovered via DNA analysis later that one of those killed had been Abu Hamza Rabia, the third in command of al-Qaeda.

There have been two contradictory accounts of that explosion. One report which derived from Haisori villagers claimed that a US Predator drone had created the blast, and the version given by the Pakistan government was that the individuals had accidentally blown themselves up.

Reuters AlertNet states that a Miranshah journalist, Hayatullah Khan, who had reported the villagers' account and photographed remains of shrapnel, was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen on December 5, and has not been heard from since.

As we noted on December 1, students at that time were angry at the death of a 17 year old who had died in the explosion which killed Rabia. Pravda reported:

About 500 students from a college rallied in Mir Ali, a market town near Isori, to protest the death of the teenager in the village and what an organizer called an "attack on innocent people."

"This is an illegal attack against us, against innocent people," said Munawar Shah, a student leader addressing the rally. "They want us to take up guns," he said to the chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Pakistan."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 4:54 PM | Comments (0)

UK: Muslim Offended By Alcohol Prizes Loses Claim

This story first emerged on November 24 when the Daily Telegraph reported that a Muslim insurance salesman had claimed he was suffering religious discrimination.

25 year old Imran Khan said that his employer's firm had target-incentives of bottles of wine, to encourage sales performance. As a Muslim, Khan claimed that he was at a disadvantage because he is prohibited from consuming alcohol by his religion.

He was attending an industrial tribunal in Bristol, southwest England. Khan worked for Direct Line Insurance as one of a fourteen person team, who sold pet and household insurance policies.

Tariq Sadiq, speaking on the company's behalf, stated that there had been another Muslim worker who had won an alcoholic prize in a sales-incentive scheme, and he had exchanged the prize for an alternative.

British-born Imran Khan, who lives in Bristol, was seeking damages for "hurt feelings" under the terms of the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations. The employment tribunal reserved its judgement.

Today, the Telegraph states that yesterday the tribunal rejected Mr Khan's claim.

Clive Toomer, the chairman of the panel at the tribunal, said that a teetotal non-Muslim would have been placed in the same position.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 3:46 PM | Comments (0)

Help! I'm Being Oppressed!

A Muslim attempted to seek damages from his employers for discrimination for offering him wine as an incentive for better sales. Sanity prevailed and his suit failed.

According the the BBC, the tribunal's reasoning for denying the claim for damages for "hurt feelings" and for discrimination is that a teatoatling non-Muslim would be in the exact same position as Mr. Imran Khan. Apparently, since there has been a long tradition of disregarding the feelings of teatotalers in Anglo-saxon culture, Muslims cannot claim to be solely targeted, therefore discriminated against. Be sure and thank your teatotaler friends for helping to fend off the Islamic attempt to dismantle Western culture.

Posted by Isabel de Castilla at 2:51 PM | Comments (0)

Holland: Islamist Hofstad Group Trial - One Man Freed

In a short report from Expatica today, one of the fourteen men in court charged with being Islamist terrorists belonging to the Hofstadgroep (Hofstad Group), has been set free on orders of the court.

Rachid B., aged 29, is a close friend of Mohammed Bouyeri, who murdered film-maker Theo van Gogh on November 2, 2004. Rachid B. has already spent 13 months in custody.

The panel of three judges ruled that if convicted, Rashid B. would not get a longer sentence than the time he has already spent in jail. His lawyer hopes to have his client fully acquitted.

Rachid B insists that he is not a Muslim extremist, and says he was unaware of Mohammed Bouyeri's plans.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)

How Much are You Worth?

Isaac Schrodinger points out the going rate for blood money restitution for killing a family member. According to the scale, as a proud infidel female, I'm only worth 25 camels. But surely they can bump me up to 30 camels for having a proven track record of being a gainfully employed, good citizen.

Posted by Isabel de Castilla at 12:24 PM | Comments (0)

Holland: MPs Approve Banning of Muslim Burkas

Though not on the website of the Telegraph, today's print edition (page 19) states that the move to ban the burqa (illustrated, below), which was first suggested by right wing MP Geert Wilders (pictured, left) and introduced by Rita Verdonk, Holland's Integration Minister, came a step closer to becoming law yesterday.

The report announces that yesterday Dutch MPs voted by a majority - 80 to 70 to approve a ban on the burka in public places.

The government will study the legality of the motion and report back to parliament in February. Geert Wilders, the MP who introduced the motion, described burqas as "medieval and unfriendly to women".

"This measure will serve to promote integration by preventing Muslim women from separating themselves from Dutch society, and by giving comfort and support to moderate Muslims," he said.

According to Radio Netherlands, Christian Democrats supported the move. MP Wim van der Camp, for the CDA, stated: "We voted in support of the motion because we want to clearly tell the government that people's faces should be visible in public, whether this concerns a burka, a crash helmet or a balaclava. Normal people do not walk around with covered faces."

The Bill was also supported by the conservative VVF party, which is in a coalition with the ruling party, as is CDA. Another supporter was the opposition LPF party, which was founded by the late Pim Fortuyn, who was killed by an animal rights campaigner in 2002, who claimed he was doing it "for the Muslims".

The reason the bill will have to wait until February for ratification is because Rita Verdonk is concerned that the law may infringe the constitution of the Netherlands, which guarantees freedom of religion. She is currently investigating the matter and will report on her findings in January.

There has been predictable opposition to the parliament's decision. Haci Karacaer, chairman of a Turkish conservative Muslim association, Milli Gorus, stated:

"I agree that women who walk around in the burka do not have a great future in this country but I think they should be allowed to dress as they want in a constitutional state. People should have the right to choose to exclude themselves from society."

Keywords: Burka, Burqa, Hidjab, hijab

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 12:04 PM | Comments (1)

Indonesia: Muslim Judge Blames Women's Wickedness For Tsunami

It will soon be the anniversary of the fateful tsunami that hit so many coastlines on December 26, 2004. One of the worse-hit regions, closest to the epicentre of the underground quake which caused the tsunami, was the province of Aceh, which lies on the northwest tip of Sumatra in Indonesia. 260,000 people lost their lives.

Today's Times reports on a disturbing phenomenon in the aftermath of the disaster - the blaming of women for causing the event, and forcing strict controls on women's lives to avoid the risk of another disaster.


Nick Meo decribes the actions of Sharia judge, Marluddin Jalil (pictured, below), who claims "The tsunami was because of the sins of the people of Aceh". At a meeting of housewives, he announces: "The Holy Koran says that if women are good, then a country is good."

A Sharia police force modelled on Saudi moral enforcers enthusiastically seeks out female wrong doers for public humiliation.

The Wilayatul Hisbah, which loosely translates as "Control Team", has arrested women, lopped off their hair, and paraded them in tears through the streets while broadcasting their sins over a megaphone.

More than 100 gamblers and drinkers - men and women - have been caned in public and some clerics are calling for thieves' hands to be amputated.

Dr Jalil is enthusiastic in his mission, and states that his next target will be a camp for displaced persons outside Lhokseumawe. Here, young men and women are said to be mixing freely. "Sin starts small and gets bigger," Jalil explains.

In the northwestern tip of Aceh is the region known as Banda Aceh, and this faced the full force of the killer wave. The Red Cross recently organised a talent show in Barak Lampaseh camp in Banda Aceh. The winner was a 12 year old girl, whose father had been killed. Her song, which she said her Dad would approve of, told of how Allah had sent the tsunami as a punishment for sin.

The politicisation and exploitation of the disaster-struck community by religious extremists began as soon as relief operations started. We mentioned earlier the actions of the Islamic Defenders Group, or Front Pembela Islamwho are pathologically opposed to Christians. Established in August 1998, they are now active in 22 provinces. Their leader, Habib Muhammad Riziek Syihab was educated in Saudi Arabia. Many of FPI's leaders are said to be Arabic. They have a paramilitary wing called Laskar Pembela Islam, who operate raids upon bars, cafes, pool halls, massage parlours and gaming halls.

There is widespread belief that FPI has government tolerance, a view backed up by their being allowed to establish a large relief camp in Banda Aceh following the tsunami of 24 December 2004. A report from Fox News from January 21 2005 decscribed how the FPI were intimidating Christian aid workers, accusing them of trying to convert Muslims:

Hasri Husan, a leader of the Islamic Defenders Front, a militant Muslim group that is operating a refugee camp in Banda Aceh, made his feelings clear.

"We will chase down any Christian group that does anything beyond offering aid," he said before making a slashing motion across his throat.

FPI had 5000 people in Aceh after the tsunami, along with Hizb ut-Tahrir and Laskar Mujahideen (Mujahideen Army), according to the Jamestown Foundation.

Before the tsunami brought Aceh into the world spotlight, a little known war for independence from Indonesia had been going on for thirty years, led by a group known as GAM, or Gerakan Aceh Merdeka. 15,000 people have died in the fighting.

On Tuesday, abc noted that the last weapons of the rebels had been handed over to the Indonesian government, following a peace deal signed in Finland in August. The BBC states that the agreement means that GAM may be allowed to form a political party, but before that can happen, there must be a change in law, approved by the Indonesian government. These are the terms of the agreement in brief:

Gam gives up all 840 of its weapons in four stages

Government matches that by withdrawing some 24,000 troops in four stages

Disarmament and withdrawal to be complete by 31 December

Government facilitates Aceh-based political parties

Amnesty granted to Gam members

Truth and reconciliation commission established

Aceh monitoring mission set up by EU and Asean.

October 15, 2005: Some 23,000 troops remain in Aceh, while 6,000 have left since the peace agreement with the rebels was signed in August. Rebels continue to hand in weapons, with a total of 840 to be surrendered by the end of the year. There have been several firefights with rebels lately, leaving at least one rebel dead and several wounded. Not all of the 3,000 or so active rebels agree with the peace deal, and local police are supposed to deal with these eventually.

To blame the easy target of women for their wicked ways is unjust, but the Wilayatul Hisbah appears to be taking advantage of the situation and government tolerance to enforce the strict Islamism favoured by the Front Pembela Islam and others.

After the earthquake in Pakistan, mullahs were quick to blame "sin" and "decadence" for a devastating "Act of God". The Wilayatul Hisbah are exploiting a belief held by many.

Meo in his article concludes with a quote from Marzuki Lidan, a survivor from Banda Aceh, who lost his wife and children to the raging sea: "The Sharia police are good Muslims doing an excellent job. We must listen to them and follow God's rules. Otherwise the tsunami will happen again."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:16 AM | Comments (1)

December 21, 2005

US: Ohio Mosque Bombing

Yesterday, Tuesday, a bomb exploded outside the main door of the Islamic Association of Cincinnati Mosque on Clifton Avenue. The building, also known as the Clifton Mosque, had closed when evening prayers had ended at 8 pm, and the attack at 10 m did not cause any injuries, stated the Enquirer. There were no witnesses.

The Islamic Association has a mosque and a two storey house, and the expplosion happened outside a door at the house, which had formerly been the place of worship before the new mosque was opened two years ago.

There was some confusion in reporting, so a news conference was held at 11 am today, stated wcpo. There were two bombs, not one.

"One of the explosions blasted a hole through the ceiling and the roof of the porch and then struck the soffit then blew out the glass," Cincinnati Police Chief Tom Streicher said.

The FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were involved in the case, joining Cincinnati and State Highway Patrol state investigators, stated USA Today earlier.

Another Cincinnati mosque, the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati in West Chester, has had security stepped up, state Channel Cincinnati and wcpo. Police in West Chester have said they are in constant communication with investigators at Clifton. Detectives also say that they have had a "close eye" on the West Chester facility since the 2001 9/11 attacks.

WCHSTV states that civic and religious leaders have all condemned the bomb attack, with the mayor of Cincinnati calling it a "despicable act". ONN news quoted mayor Mark Mallory as saying: "From a community standpoint, we need to make it clear that this type of criminal activity will not be tolerated."

Karen Dabdoub, spokeswoman for the Ohio office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said attacks like Tuesday's have plagued mosques since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"These types of incidents often are following a lot of negative and hateful rhetoric we hear, often about the Muslim community and Islam in general. This kind of crime is an act of hate that is intended to divide our community along religious lines," Dabdoub said.

Religious leaders from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities joined the mayor in what he described as "solidarity".

Ms Dabdoud of CAIR claims about 300 to 500 people worship at the Clifton mosque on a typical Friday.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:57 PM | Comments (0)

Trinidad: Muslim Scholar To Testify in Trial Hearing of Islamist Leader

We mentioned how 64-year old Yasin Abu Bakr, (pictured left), leader of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen Islamic group, had been charged for incitement and sedition on November 10, with an additional charge of terrorism added on November 22.

These charges derived from a Friday sermon he had given on November 4 at the Jamaat Mosque in Mucurapo Road, in St James district on the outskirts of Port of Spain. In this sermon, which was ostensibly to celebrate Eid ul-Fitr, the ending of the holy month of Ramadan, Bakr said that if he did not receive sufficient zakaat (tithes or donations), there would be "bloodshed and war".

Bakr's trial has already begun its preliminary inquiry. Today, the Jamaica Observer reports that an Islamic scholar is being brought to the hearing to testify and give comments.

The authorities cited security concerns for withholding the name of the expert in the Koran, but he will be flown into Trinidad and Tobago to give evidence.

According to the Trinidad Express on December 13th, senator Noble Khan, a former president of the Inter-Religious Organisation, gave evidence against Bakr. Yesterday, the Trinidadian Newsday reported that on Tuesday, Inspector Christopher Holder, who arrested Bakr on November 7th, gave evidence at the pre-trial hearing.

Trinidad Express reported that the final witness at the hearing will be the Islamic professor. Senior counsel, Douglas Mended stated that the professor should have been at the court on Tuesday, but was currently marking examination papers. He apologised, and said the professor would be arriving shortly. Defence attorney Pamela Elder, SC said she understood the position of the state, and did not object to the adjournment.

Bakr and his organisation, the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen have come under close scrutiny, since four bombs were detonated in the environs of Port of Spain, between July 12 and Friday 14 October. After the last attack, Bakr was taken into custody on suspicion of organising the attacks. He was released on October 16.

The reason why Bakr and his group drew suspicion was because of a coup which they mounted against the government in 1990, which left 24 people dead. Bakr and his followers attempted to depose the government of the then prime minister Arthur N.R. Robinson. Bakr and 114 followers had initially surrendered after they were offered amnesty. The government withdrew the offer, prosecuted Bakr and his followers, but upon appeal, the charges were dropped.

After Bakr's arrest on November 7, police and army moved into Bakr's Jamaat-al-Muslimeen compound on November 12. Up to 11 members of the group were arrested but later freed. Bakr's office was bulldozed. A search of the floor uncovered a rifle and ammunition, and a grenade.

Currently, Bakr is being held in prison, but his luck from 1990 may soon desert him. On Wednesday, December 14th, the Director of Prosecutions was awaiting a decision from the Criminal Registrar concerning a case from March this the year.

Bakr had been accused of conspiracy to murder two people who were expelled from Jamaat-al-Muslimeen, but the jury in the trial was hung in its decision.

On Thursday, the Express noted that the case of Bakr's retrial for this case will recommence in January, when a preliminary hearing will be held before a High Court judge.

A nine-member jury which heard evidence against the 64-year-old Imam returned with a verdict split 6-3, on March 16 and trial judge Mark Mohammed had ordered Bakr to face a retrial.

Bakr was charged with conspiring to murder two expelled members of his Mucurapo Road mosque, Salim "Small Salim" Rasheed and Zaki Aubaidah, his son-in-law on June 4, 2003, at Citrine Drive, Diego Martin.

Gunmen shot and wounded Rasheed and another man hours after the order to kill the men was allegedly made by Bakr. Jilla Bowen, was also killed in the attack at the crowded MovieTowne cineplex, at Invader's Bay, off Audrey Jeffers Highway, in Port of Spain.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 3:56 PM | Comments (0)

Philippines: Balik Islam - From Christianity to Islamism?

There are many Christians in the south Philippine island of Mindanao, who mainly live in the western Zamboanga province and the north of the island. Their neighbours on Mindanao are mainly Muslim, and most of these belong to the Moro or Bangsamoro people. Increasingly there is a new phenomenon among Filipino Christians - conversion to Islam. Many of these Christians turned Muslims live in the northern island of Luzon, and around Manila, the capital.

There are among these converts a minority who espouse Islamist terror, who belong to a group called the Rajah Solaiman group. This group was founded in January 2002 by Ahmed Islam Santos, a convert from Catholicism, who became Muslim in 1993.

We reported on October 26 that Santos had been arrested in San Jose town, Zamboanga city, with eight members of the Rajah Solaiman group.

Santos (pictured above) had formerly been Hilarion del Rosario Santos III before his adoption of Islam. His group has strong connections with the Islamist terror group Abu Sayyaf.

The most extreme act of Abu Sayyaf was to bomb a ferry (pictured) on February 27, 2004, which was carrying 900 people. In the ensuing fire and panic, 116 people lost their lives. Christian Science Monitor reports that police have said that a Catholic turned Muslim confessed to setting a bomb on the ferry.

These converts do not see themselves as converted as much as "reverted". They generally call themselves the Balik. The name means "return". There are two explanations. Those who"revert" are said to be reverting to the faith of Islam that would flourished, but for the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, a view put forward by Dan Mariano in abs-cbn.news.

The other notion of being a member of Balik Islam is based on the premise that all people are naturally born Muslim, but have been misled by false (Catholic) teachings. By accepting Islam, one is "returning" or "reverting" to that initial Muslim state. This is the view presented by ADN Kronos yesterday.

The subject of Balik Islam had come into the news again because security forces have recently announced that last week in Zamboanga on the island of Mindanao, they had captured the second in command of the Rajah Solaiman Group, Pio de Vera. The announcement came shortly after the publication of a report by the International Crisis Group on the danger posed to the nation by radicalised Muslim converts.

A summary and a pdf download of the full ICG report, entitled "Philippines Terrorism: The Role of Militant Islamic Converts" can be obtained here. In this and another summary it is said that Santos had originally been a member of Abu Sayyaf before he founded the Rajah Solaiman Group (RSG) in 2002. The need for the group, which is named after the Muslim ruler of Manila at the time of the Spanish conquest, came about to draw military attention away from the Abu Sayyaf group based in Basilan.

Most of the Rajah Solaiman group are based in Luzon and Manila. ICG state that most of the Catholics who convert become involved in Islam initially while working as migrant workers in Middle Eastern Muslim countries. Both RSG and Abu Sayyaf are ideologically guided by the Islamist group Jemaah Islamiyah who are based in Indonesia and set off the Bali bombs in 2002 and on Oct 1 this year.

Today, according to abs-cbn.news and News Inq7 and abc news, the Philippines military put on show two individuals - Pio Abogne de Vera, the No 2 of the Rajah Solaiman Group and Mohammad Guiman. It is alleged that the pair were planning to set off bomb attacks in Metro Manila.

Pio de Vero (left, in orange) was arrested on December 1, and Guiman (right, in orange) had been arrested on November 30. Guiman had been arrested in Makati City, and had apparently been plotting to bomb the recently completed 23rd Southeast Asian games.

We mentioned how three Islamists were given death sentences on October 28 for a bomb attack on a bus in Makati, Manila's financial district, which killed four and injured 60 on February 14 this year.

One of those sentenced was Angelo Trinidad, a member of Rajah Solaiman. Trinidad, aka Khalid Trinidad and Abu Khalil, had identified Guiman as the supplier of the explosives which were used in the bus bomb.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)

December 20, 2005

Bangladesh: Talks On Islamist Extremism Become Slurred

We reported on December 12 that the Prime Minister, Khaled Zia of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) initiated emergency discussions on Islamic extremism. She had urged all parties to come and give input, but a fourteen party alliance, which included the main opposition party, the Awami League, was boycotting the talks.

The Daily Star reports that these talks are getting rather stale after one week.

So far, the Prime Minister has had talks with seven organisations out of a total of 27 political parties and 15 professional bodies invited to the conference.

There was embarrassment when the sole parliamentary representative of the Krishak Sramik Janata League (Peasants' and Workers' People League), made an allegation at the start of the conference. Kader Siddiqui accused the Jamaat-e-Islami party of harbouring militants. He demanded that Jamaat be expelled from both the talks and the coalition government. Siddiqui is a minority MP in the government, being the only MP from his party who managed to be elected in 2001, but his comments have hit a raw nerve.

Zia is head of a coalition government which won the elections of October 1, 2001, comprising her party (the BNP) in union with three other parties, the Jamaat-i-Islami, Islami Oikya Jote, and Jatiya Party. The Jatiya is an independent party led by 75-year old Hussain Muhammad Ershad, a former army chief who was President from 1982 - 1990. The Islamic Oikya Jote was established in 1990 from a coalition of seven small Islamic parties, but does not have many members in the 300-seat parliament of Bangladesh. In the elections of 1996, it only raised one MP.

Islami Oikya Jote and Jamaat-e-Islami are both Islamist parties. As we discussed earlier, various accusations have already been made concerning possible involvements of these two parties in the bombing epidemic which has swept the country, mainly carried out by Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

Representatives of Islami Oikya Jote and Jamaat-e-Islami have both denied involvement with the extemists behind the bombings.

On December 15 we mentioned how arrested Chittagong leader of JMB, Aman Ullah, claimed that as well as having involvement with al-Qaeda, JMB also enjoyed the support of thousands of former cadres of Islami Chattra Shibir or ICS. ICS is the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami.

The leader of another Islamic terror group, Harkatul Jihad, had been arrested on October 1. At a court hearing, he was prevented from making "speeches" by the judge. He had stated shortly before his arrest that he had connections with leaders of the four-party alliance. His organisation was only made illegal on October 18, even though it had been carrying out bomb attacks for at least five years.

It is true that the Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Oikye Jote share one primary goal with JMB - the installation of an Islamic state.

Sources within India's Ministry of Home Affairs have claimed that much of the Islamic extremism in Bangladesh is being given support from Pakistan, in the form of its Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI). A report in Asia Times from March last year stated that:

The ISI has plans to appoint Pakistan nationals, trained as maulvis (religious instructors) in madrassas (religious schools) and mosques in Bangladesh, particularly the ones that are situated on the India-Bangladesh border. They will also be used for a variety of anti-India activities. Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh (JEI/BD), a constituent of the present government, reportedly issued in January 2002 instructions to its districts amirs [heads] to provided help and shelter to ISI operatives. Its plans include setting up jihadi training camps (including those of HUJAI [Bangladesh militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jehadi-al-Islami] ) in Moulvi Bazar and Chittagong with an ISI controller in Cox's Bazar.

The Revival of Islamic Heritage Society has been accused of spreading Islam by funding actions aimed at destabilising already destabilised countries. They were placed on a US State Department exclusion list on Jan 9 2002, and this move was then adpted within days by the UN and the Bank of England.

RIHS, aka Jamia Ihya ul Turath; a.k.a. Jamiat Ihia Al- Turath Al-Islamiya originated in Kuwait, and has been accused of funding the August 17 nationwide bomb attacks. Just before the suicide bombings at courthouses in Chittagong and Gazipur on November 29, this organisation was given a substantial grant from the Bangladesh government, to set up mosques, madrassas, and training of imams. The Daily Star noted that on the day of the bombings, the RIHS was handing out its grant money to its contractors.

The accusation made at the start of the current talks, that the Jamaat-e-Islami party are supporting terror, has now apparently caused a censorship among those invited to speak. The Daily Star states that the Prime Minister's Office had on Sunday requested delegates not to mention anything about Jamaat-e-Islami's reputation in their speeches.

Izharul Islam Chowdhury, the chairman of the Islami Oikya Jote, even though a coalition partner, said that they still had not received an invite to talk at the meeting, even though it has been in progress for a week.

Another group which has accused the Jamaat-e-Islami party of links to militants is the Islami Shashantantra Andolon, which is undecided if it will attend. Even though this group condemns Jamaat's association with "militancy", the ISA is hardly moderate.

MITP Terrorism Knowledgebase states that on Sept. 28, 2002, at Satkhira during a Hindu festival, a twin bomb attack took place, killing 2 and injuring 35. This bombing is alleged to have been done by Islami Shashantantra Andolon. This group wishes, like Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Oikya Jote and JMB, to establish an Islamic state in Bangladesh.

Islami Oikya Jote may be small, but they are venomous. Last year they spearheaded a hate campaign against the Ahmadiyyah (Ahmadi) sect of Muslims. Ahmadi Muslims are essentially Sunni, but they are classed by some as "heretics".

In late December 2003, anti-Ahmadiyyah militants had threatened to drive out members of the sect from the Nakhalpara Ahmadiyya mosque by January 9, and insisted the Islamic parties made a bill declaring the Ahmadiyyahs to be non-Muslims, threatening to invoke strikes.

Amazingly, the government actually complied with the demands. Falling short of an outright declaration of the Ahmadis as "non-Muslim", on January 8 2004, Zia's government banned all Ahamadiyyah publications as they contained "objectionable material which hurt or might hurt the sentiments of the majority Muslim population of Bangladesh".

On August 21 2004, there were battles between police and groups of extremists attacking an Ahmadiyyah complex at Bakshibazar. The militants threatened to destroy the complex on August 27, but the plan was foiled by police. The protesters were still demanding that the Ahmadis be classified as non-Muslims.

So the talks on how to tackle extremism seem doomed. The participants in the coalition governments have all, BNP included, been accused of aiding extremists.

These claims of government complicity in the actions of the country's Islamic terrorists, once sounded laughable. Now, they are becoming more credible. The BNP officially renounces Islamic terrorism, but it uses thugs in its youth wing, Jubo Dal, who use violence and intimidation. Some have been implicated in murders.

It is unlikely that the original convenor of the anti-extremism talks, Prime Minister Zia will be able to attend the discussions in person over the next few days, as her current schedule involves a heavy roster of travel engagements and appointments.

The government which is now declaring a crisis on account of JMB's terrorist attacks, was earlier in denial about the existence of JMB, with the Interior Minister Luftozzaman Babar denying the terror group's existence as recently as January this year. Zia has led her carnival of clowns for four years, and has turned a blind eye for too long. The Islam ticket got her into power, but it appears to be swallowing up any credibility that her government can have left.

The country is riddled with corruption, and the ecnomic situation is not improving. The country will go to the polls again at the end of next year. Unless Zia can pull a rabbit out of a hat by then, it seems that her rulership will be as doomed as her attempts to discuss an effective strategy against Islamic extremism.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)

UK: Belfast Court Sentences Algerian Islamist To Six Years

We reported on November 24 that a 32 year old Algerian, Abbas Boutrab, had been sentenced in a special court in Belfast, of possessing information "for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism."

Boutrab had been arrested in 2003 at Newtownabbey, near Belfast. Security officers found, in his home in the Whitehouse district of Whiteabbey, details which Boutrab had copied from the internet on bomb manufacture, reproduced on 25 CDs.He claimed he had only done this out of "curiosity".

He was also found guilty of possessing a passport, which had been stolen from one Fabio Parenti, an Italian tourist. The passport had been snatched in Dublin airport on September 1, 2001.

The trial took place in a revival of the so-called Diplock system, which began during the period of Northern Ireland's Troubles, when they were used routinely to deal with local terrorists. The Diplock court has a judge, but no jury.

Prosecutors had claimed Boutrab had tried to seek asylum in the Netherlands, Ireland and the UK, using various aliases. Italian, Dutch, French and Irish security forces assisted in bringing the case.

Police have said that Boutrab is "a very dangerous man". They claim that Abbas Boutrab is only an assumed identity.

Today, the BBC, which gives his age as 27, reports that Boutrab has been sentenced to six years' imprisonment.

As he has been in custody for two years and seven months he is thought to be due for release in four months' time, in April next year. The United Kingdom has a bizarre tradition of generally halving custodial sentences, as an inducement to "good behaviour".

Crown Court judge Mr Justice Weatherup recommended that Boutrab should be deported as soon as his sentence is completed.

"Now we find the terrorism threat is subsiding (in Northern Ireland) and a new threat is emerging," said the judge.

"This new threat has an added horror because the terrorist stands amongst the innocent men, women and children.

"That's a feature in the material that was recovered here. It provides instructions for improvised explosives with the objective of bringing down an aircraft and the lives of all those on board."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:10 PM | Comments (0)

Turkey: Lawyer Says Holy War Is Muslim "Obligation"

In reports from Turkish Press and Ireland's Breaking News, a defence lawyer in the trial of suspected Islamist bombers has made a bizarre claim in his clients' advocacy.

Osman Karahan said earlier today in an Istanbul court that his clients should not be facing trial. He is representing 14 of the 72 suspects involved with the attacks from November 2003, which killed 63 people and wounded more than 750. The attacks were made against two synagogues, the British consulate and the local headquarters of the British-based bank, HSBC.

Karahan spoke for three hours. "Is it possible to judge people who have nothing to do with the facts of the case just because they praise holy war?" he stated. "If we open this door, tomorrow we will be judging those who fast or those who pray".

"After Damascus, it will be Istanbul's turn, with the same massacres as in Bosnia," the lawyer said. He affirmed that holy war was an obligation for every Muslim.

Karahan also said "If non-Muslims go into Muslim lands, it is every Muslim's obligation to fight them".

29 of the suspects were brought into the court. Four of the accused are said to be ringleaders, and face the possibility of life sentences.

Thirty seven other defendants are charged with assisting terrorist acts and membership of a terrorist group, and face a potential of between seven and 22 and a half years in jail.

Of the 71 charged, Turkish Press states that only 29 people are currently in jail.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:46 PM | Comments (0)

Spain: Islamist Suspect Is Belarus Muslim Convert

We reported on the arrests on Monday of suspected Islamists in Spain, who were suspected of involvement with financing of terrorism. The arrests took place following earlier detentions on November 23, in which 11 were arrested, and four charged. On December 9 seven people were arrested on the Costa del Sol, of which three were charged. Today, MosNews reports that one of those arrested on Monday was a citizen of Belarus who converted to Islam.

The 30-year old man was formerly known as Sergei Malyshev, before he converted to Islam and changed his name to Amin al-Ansari, stated the Spanish Interior Minister, Jose Antonio Alonso. Al-Ansari is apparently a chemical weapons expert, who took part in Islamist operations in Chechnya, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The group in Spain had links to the Algerian Islamist group, the "Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat" (GSPC), which is connected to al-Qaeda. The leader of the cell is alleged to be a 25 year old Iraqi national who calls himself M. Hiyag. The Spanish ministry claims that this individual has close links to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of "Al Qaeda in Iraq".

Other individuals in the group are Lebanese, Egyptian, Ghanaian, Algerian, Iraqi, Saudi, French and Spanish nationals, with eight Moroccans.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 4:52 PM | Comments (0)

Serbia: Belgrade Trial of Srebrenica Massacre Video Killers

Today in Belgrade, five Serbian men, former members of the Scorpions paramilitary group, appeared in court in Belgrade, charged with the murders of six Muslim teenagers. The mother of one of the victims is pictured (left, below). The murders took place on July 17, 1995 near Trnovo in Bosnia. The event had been carried out by the five men, it is alleged in their indictment, while a sixth man videotaped their actions (two frames above).

The video was widely broadcast in June this year, being first shown at the UN War Crimes trial of Slobodan Milosevic in the Hague, the Netherlands. The video shows six youths being taken from a truck on a sunny day, with their hands tied behind their backs. They are lined up, and four are shot. The other two were subsequently made to carry the bodies to a barn, where they too were then shot.

Slobodan Medic (the commander of the group), Pero Petrasevic, Aleksandar Medic, Branislav Medic and Aleksandar Vukov were recognised from the video and arrested. They were charged in October. According to the Times one of the accused said that if he had known the videotape would later become public, he would have killed the camera-toting soldier "like a rabbit". BBC World Service Radio states that Medic made the announcement.

He claimed at the trial not to have been present at the time of the killings, but said he could not control the anger of Serbs who had had relatives killed by Muslims (see below).

Croatia has already begun the trial of one member of the Scorpions identified in the amateur video, who pleaded not guilty.

The trial is also covered by the BBC, Xinhua and Euronews, as well as Reuters AlertNet, and al Jazeera.

The event in which the six teenagers were killed was one episode in a larger picture. Srebrenica was a UN-protected enclave, but in 1995, when it became overrun on July 11 by Bosnian Serb forces under the leadership of Ratko Mladic and Radnan Karadic, more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys were massacred (see above, right). The male inhabitants of the town, 15,000 in number, had been marched out, by the conquering forces, but more than half were killed.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said that there were "scenes of unimaginable savagery:thousands of men executed and buried in mass graves, hundreds of men buried alive, men and women mutilated and slaughtered, children killed before their own mothers' eyes. . . truly scenes from hell, written on the darkest pages of human history".

The significance of the video is that it is the only documentation to have survived of any of the massacres taking place. Bodies were thrown into mass graves, and these, via forensic anthropologists and others, have so far been the sole source of reliable evidence of what happened.


Stuff related on Dec 16 that, in neighbouring Bosnia, a special war crimes court has charged 11 people in connection with the massacre of 8,000 people in Srebrenica. The indictments then brought to 36 the number of people charged. The addition of the five on trial in Serbia brings the total now to 41.

The UN War Crimes Court in the Hague has so far charged 19 people for complicity in the massacre. Six have been so far convicted.

I do not want to belittle the enormity of the June 1995 massacre, but to understand some of the reasons behind the ferocity of the attacks against these Bosnian Muslims, one must acknowledge also that between summer of 1992 and the start of 1993, there were horrific attacks against Serb civilians, made by Bosnian Muslim troops and also members of vigilante squads, the "Mosque Doves" or "Dzamijski Golubovi" and a group calling itself the "Black Swans".

Serbianna.com documents some disturbing instances, with graphic photographs. Many bodies are mutilated, with some having a heart, and also a brain, and eyeballs gouged out. Teenager Velo Majstorovic was tortured, mutilated, circumcised, and burned alive by Bosnian Muslim forces in Milici in eastern Bosnia, southwest of Srebrenica

The picture above shows the handiwork of Saudi Mujahideen, who were in the region, and decapitated Serbian prisoners of war in 1992. Excuse the graphic nature of the picture. Describing previous massacres from the region does not condone the mass killing which took place in 1995, but it does put it into some context.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 3:44 PM | Comments (1)

Opinion: Muhammad and Aisha

Hugh Fitzgerald writes excellent opinion pieces over at Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch. Today's piece on Mohammad's marriage to Aisha should not be missed: Fitzgerald: Muhammad and Aisha

Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 62, Number 64:

Narrated 'Aisha: that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death).

I quote Bukhari directly because one of the elements in Muslim apologetics is to deny Aisha's age -- to make references to "it isn't clear how old she was" or "some sources say she was 18 or 19." This is nonsense, and the speaker knows it is nonsense when he utters it to the credulous Infidels at Mosque Outreach gatherings and Muslim-Christian or Muslim-Jewish "Dialogues." All too often, of course, these "dialogues" become Muslim monologues, delivered so sweetly, with furrowed brows and expressions of sincerity.

Aisha was 6 when betrothed, nine when she had sexual intercourse with Muhammad. Muslims like to insist that he was not a "pedophile" because, you see, "pedophiles" do not marry older women, and most of Muhammad's 9 or 11 (but who's counting?) wives were not pre-adolescent. Robert Spencer and others have noted that his behavior was not unusual for the place and time in which he lived. But they have also noted that as uswa hasana, a model for all time, whatever Muhammad does is what Muslims must do, throughout time and space. There is no better pattern for life than the example of Muhammad, al-insan al-kamil, the Best of Men, to be emulated by all Muslims. Apologists for Islam today, Muslim and non-Muslim, try to explain away what he did as "of the period" and then, in the next breath, the same soothing spokesmen insist that his business with Aisha, or the way he treated prisoners, or had others treat them, is valid and worth emulating for all time. Which is it?[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 8:53 AM | Comments (1)

Iran: Islamist Pigmy President Bans Western Music

Somebody give this guy Prozac. (Nah, I don't really care about his sanity, I just hope Prozac's funniest side-effect kicks in with a vengeance, and he loses the will to reproduce): Iran bans Kenny G

Hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has banned Western music from Iran's radio and TV stations, reviving one of the harshest cultural decrees from the early days of 1979 Islamic revolution.

Songs such as George Michael's Careless Whisper, Eric Clapton's Rush and the Eagles' Hotel California have regularly accompanied Iranian broadcasts, as do tunes by saxophonist Kenny G.

Kenny G: Unequivocal symbol of Western Imperialism.

But the official Iran Persian daily reported today Ahmadinejad, as head of Iran's Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council, ordered the enactment of an October ruling by the council to ban Western music.

"Blocking indecent and Western music from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) is required," according to a statement on the council's official website.[...]

"This is terrible," said Iranian guitarist Babak Riahipour, whose music was played occasionally on state radio and TV. "The decision shows a lack of knowledge and experience."

Ya' think Babak? It also shows complete fanaticism on the Pigmy President's part, which, oddly enough, means we have to take more, not less seriously, even if we like to make fun of his tirades.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 8:32 AM | Comments (0)

Australia: Mark Steyn Blames Muslim Separatism For Beach Riots

In today's UK Telegraph, Mark Steyn (pictured) discusses some of the underlying factors beneath the skewed reporting of the Australian beach riots, which reached a peak last Sunday (11th December).

One of the problems with the reporting is that it is described as the fault of "white racists", even though some of those with members of the gang the Bra Boys appeared to be Tongan.

Though I am taking records on Australia's problems, it is hard to write objectively when the sources are so contradictory and politically correct. News.com.au reported that:

...Police officers also found car stickers promoting the white supremacist movement in the men's car.

Two other men, travelling by bus to Sydney's Bondi Beach, were arrested carrying petrol bombs..

Though he does not exonerate white supremacists for their part in the Cronulla Beach riots, Steyn places the blame on a rarely-mentioned background factor, the refusal of Muslims to integrate. He mentions a gang of Lebanese Muslim rapists.

In Sydney in 2002, the leader of a group of Lebanese-Australian Muslim gang-rapists was sentenced to 55 years (halved on appeal).

The lads liked to tell the lucky lady that she was about to be "fucked Leb-style" and that she deserved it because she was an "Australian pig". It was the sentence that was "controversial". As Monroe Reimers wrote to the Sydney Morning Herald: "As terrible as the crime was, we must not confuse justice with revenge. Where has this hatred come from? How have we contributed to it? Perhaps it's time to take a good hard look at the racism by exclusion practised with such a vengeance by our community and cultural institutions."

Most controversially, Steyn makes the following comment.

These days, whenever something goofy turns up on the news, chances are it involves a fellow called Mohammed. A plane flies into the World Trade Centre? Mohammed Atta. A gunman shoots up the El Al counter at Los Angeles airport? Hesham Mohamed Hedayet. A sniper starts killing petrol station customers around Washington, DC? John Allen Muhammed. A guy fatally stabs a Dutch movie director? Mohammed Bouyeri. A terrorist slaughters dozens in Bali? Noordin Mohamed. A gang-rapist in Sydney? Mohammed Skaf.

Maybe all these Mohammeds are victims of Australian white racists and American white racists and Dutch white racists and Balinese white racists and Beslan schoolgirl white racists....

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:48 AM | Comments (0)

December 19, 2005

UK: Islam Still Greatest Danger to Christian Church

The interview I'm about to link to is full of excellent points, of which I reproduce only one, don't miss it. Beyond that, though, it is good to see a Christian willing to defend his own, by not betraying them to the altars of "dialogue", "peace" and the like: ISLAM REMAINS NUMBER ONE DANGER TO THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

[...]VirtueOnline: In the interfaith dialogue of the Abrahamic faiths, it is often suggested that as there is One God for all these faiths, that we should be more understanding and accommodationist in our thinking and less exclusive in our demands as Christians. Do you agree with this?

Sookhdeo: Much of contemporary interfaith dialogue assumes that we all have the same understanding as to the nature of God. So when we speak of the Abrahamic covenant, we assume that the Jewish, the Christian and the Muslim understanding of God are the same. I would argue they are not. Whilst Jews and Christians have a common understanding of God, I would argue that Muslims do not. This naturally has repercussions in other areas - in the field of justice, in the understanding of our common humanity in the areas of human rights and religious tolerance. Much interfaith dialogue has to do with the lowest common denominator. Discussions often negate that which is essential to each religion. The result is it focuses on the lowest common denominator and what I call "cocktail dialogue" or "dialogical syncretism."

VirtueOnline: Can you give examples?

Sookhdeo: Some illustrations of this would be the understanding of how Jesus Christ is understood. This is deliberately underplayed because it is deemed offensive to speak of his deity and his uniqueness to followers of Islam. Furthermore, issues of the persecution of Christians by Muslims are deliberately left out. The discriminatory nature of Islamic law is not discussed and the death penalty for apostates which is still central to Islamic Shari'a is a 'no go' subject.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 5:27 PM | Comments (0)

Australia: Hospital "Muslim Menu" Outrages Patients

Shocking Dhimmitude in Australia. This amounts to nothing less than cultural surrender: No ham for Christmas: Muslim menu for WA hospital

A WA hospital has scrubbed baked ham from its Christmas menu, fearing Muslim patients could be offended.

It has also overhauled its entire menu so that all meals are now halal - containing only meat and other food prepared according to Muslim customs.

But Port Hedland Regional Hospital staff and many non-Muslim patients are outraged, saying it is a case of political correctness gone mad.

Kitchen staff are so angry that they have organised a petition demanding ham be put back on the Christmas menu.

Other WA hospitals are also introducing halal dining, though the Health Department says Port Hedland is the only one to convert its entire menu to suit Muslims.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 8:59 AM | Comments (0)

Iraq: Islamic Army in Iraq Shows "Execution" Video of US Hostage

We mentioned earlier the case of US electrician, who was kidnapped in Iraq. The BBC reported on Dec 6 that video of a blond-haired man was shown on Al Jazeera TV. The man's identity at that time was not known. A group calling itself Islamic Army in Iraq said it was holding him hostage with a threat to kill him within 48 hours if all prisoners in Iraq were not released.

The man's identity turned out to be Ronald Schulz, a 40-year old industrial electrician from Alaska. On 8 December, the Times reported that the Islamic Army in Iraq claimed that Mr Shulz had been killed. The reason given, posted on a website, blamed the US for not taking their demands seriously:

"The war criminal Bush continues his arrogance, giving no value to people's lives unless they serve his criminal, aggressive ways. Since his reply was irresponsible, he bears the consequences of his stance."

The Islamic Army of Iraq claimed Mr Schulz was a "security consultant" for the Iraq Housing Ministry. Neighbours and family from his home in Alaska claim he is merely an industrial electrician who works on contracts abroad.

Originally from North Dakota, Mr Schulz was in the Marine Corps from 1984 to 1991, and moved to Alaska six years ago. He was divorced.

There is still no news of the four members of the Christian peace delegation, Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden, US citizen Tom Fox and Norman Kember from Britain, who were kidnapped on Saturday, 26 November, and whose deadline for "execution" has already passed. And still no news of German archaeologist Suzanne Osthoff who was kidnapped with her Iraqi driver on 25 November.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:19 AM | Comments (0)

Spain: Fourteen More Suspected Islamists Arrested

We reported earlier on recent arrests of suspected Islamists in Spain: on November 23, 11 people were arrested in Alicante, Murcia and Alicante, and on December 9, 7 Algerians were arrested in the Costa del Sol, with another man linked to those charged after the November 23 arrests apprehended trying to leave the country last week.

Today, Xinhua News and Expatica report that 14 people have been arrested during the night of Sunday/today, in the cities of Lerida, Malaga, Nerja, Seville and on the Balearic islands.

100 police officers were involved in the operation, and properties are currently being searched.

The recent operations operations against suspected terrorists have been connected with activities of fundraising and supporting the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), an Algerian group with links to al-Qaeda, which has cells in other countries of Europe.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:05 AM | Comments (0)

December 18, 2005

Sudan: Mass-Murdering Islamic President Denounces US, "Zionists"

This coming from a man who has directed not one, but two genocidal campaigns against the peoples of his country. I still don't understand why we don't arm the Christian rebels in the South, and at the very least let them secede and form their own country: Sudanese president denounces US hostility to Arab, Islamic countries

Dec 17, 2005 (KHARTOUM) — In an interview led by the Iqra channel — an Islamic satellite TV -, the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir denounced American hostility to Arab and Islamic countries. He also said the international Zionist movement is using all means to eradicate Arabs and Islam and target all Muslim countries, including Sudan.

During the Iqra interview, al-Bashir pointed out that the confrontation will continue.

According to the Sudanese Alwan newspaper this interview had provoked widespread reactions in the country. Al-Bashir’s statements on Iqra have been the subject of a number of Friday sermons in mosques of different Islamic trends. Preachers have reiterated that the general Islamic movement was serious in its support for the defence against America and any international intervention in Islamic issues through the UN.

Speaking at the al-Sheikh Abdelkarim Mosque in Jirayf City near Khartoum, Jaafar Sheikh Idris, one of the leading leaders in the Islamic movement in the Sudan and a pro National Congress, called for the formation of an alliance of Sudanese political parties against the fierce campaign being waged against Islam and Muslims.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 1:41 PM | Comments (4)

Canada: Son Of Islamist Arrested On Terror Warrant

News from various sources, mostly emanating from a report in the Toronto Star, says that 25-year old Abdullah Khadr, the oldest of four sons of an al-Qaeda financier and activist, has been arrested in Toronto.

He is being held in a jail in Toronto, following a request from the US Department of Justice. Bloomberg states that in an interview earlier this month, Khadr claimed that he was not a terrorist. He had attended the Khaldan camp in Afghanistan when he was 13.

Dennis Edney, his lawyer, has said Khadr faces charges of "possession and use of a destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence that is conspiracy to murder a U.S. national outside of the U.S."

From CTV.Ca: "The cops said they were acting on a provisional warrant from the United States," Edney said. "I can't say he sounded worried. I think he is in a state of shock."

Khadr was arrested by officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) at a private residence in Toronto.

Abdullah Khadr is the son of Ahmed Said Khadr, who was an Egyptian-born Canadian. He acted as a financier for al-Qaeda. He was killed in Pakistan two years ago, when a Pakistani government helicopter shelled a house which contained al-Qaeda operatives, and Khadr senior.

According to 640 Toronto, each of the four siblings in the family have been jailed and accused of links to terrorism."

CTV states that Abdullah Khadr's mother created a fuss during the arrest, which happened on Saturday night at 7 pm, and she was detained temporarily without being charged. On the miscreant siblings:

Abdul Khadr, 15, lives in Scarborough after being paralyzed in the gun battle with Pakistani security forces that left his father dead.

Omar Khadr, 19, is being held in the American detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He has been charged with murder for the death of a U.S. medic in Afghanistan during a 2002 gun battle.

Abdurahman Khadr, 22, was captured in Afghanistan by the Northern Alliance and says he briefly worked for the CIA as an informant in Guantanamo Bay. He returned to Canada in December 2003 and is currently fighting a court case with the government to obtain a passport.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)

UK: Anti-Semitic Muslim Council May Accept Holocaust Day

For quite a while, the luminaries of the Muslim Council for Britain (MCB) have been encouraging anti-Israeli and anti-semitic positions. The secretary general, "Sir" Iqbal Sacanie, who has done pitiably little for Britain to have received his knighthood, has been directly opposed to any celebration of the Holocaust, which killed 6 million Jews.

In January, the Times reported that Sir Iqbal Sacranie wrote to the Home Secretary, saying that the MCB would not attend the 2005 Holocaust Memorial Day celebrations at Westminster unless they also included the "holocaust" of the Palestinian intifada.

Sacranie still found time this year to attend a memorial service in Regents Park Mosque for Sheikh Yassin, the "spiritual leader" of Hamas, the Palestinian terror organisation, which uses rocket attacks, kidnappings and murdering of hostages as part of its "strategy".

On a BBC Panorama documentary from August, entitled "A Question of Leadership", Sacranie defended his position on attending the sheikh's memorial: "Those who fight oppression, those who fight occupation, cannot be termed as terrorist. They are freedom fighters, in the same way as Nelson Mandela fought against apartheid, in the same way as Gandhi and many others fought British rule in India."

Salman Rushdie stated in an August article for the Washington Post that if Sir Iqbal Sacranie was the best example of a Muslim that Blair could find: "We have a problem".

Holocaust Memorial Day is on January 27. This is the anniversary of the liberation of the death-camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945. It will take place next month on 26th January, because the 27th falls on a Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. The Queen is patron of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

The UK government Home Office set up a Muslim-based task force in the wake of the London Transport bombings of 7/7 and a fortnight later, comprising the virulently anti-semitic and rather effeminate publicity manager of the MCB, Inayat Bunglawala Bunglawala has complained that the BBC is "pro-Israel", and has dismissed media directors as being "of the tribe of Judah" or "highly-placed friends of Israel".

It is hardly surprising that the findings of Home Office taskforce announced in September that "Holocaust Day" did not meet the needs of Muslims and should be scrapped, replaced with an all-inclusive "Genocide Day". Sacranie said: "Muslims feel hurt and excluded that their lives are not equally valuable to those lives lost in the Holocaust time".

On September 20, in the Guardian, Sacranie wrote:

There is no shortage of Jews - including Leslie Bunder, editor of SomethingJewish.co.uk and Rabbi Schochet - who recognise that the memorial day in its present format is morally problematic. Still, the MCB recognises that this is enormously sensitive territory and if widening the scope of the day - while ethically right - is not politically feasible currently, then we should consider establishing a separate and truly inclusive genocide memorial day.

Today, the Khaleej Times quotes the Observer in noting that finally, the Muslim Council for Britain is considering removing its boycott.

The 2006 Holocaust Memorial Day is going to be held on January 26 in Wales, at the Millennium Centre at Cardiff. Sir Iqbal has indicated that he is actively considering attending the event, saying:

"This is being discussed at the moment within the MCB,' he said. 'A meeting is taking place in the next 10 days and then we'll able to tell you our decision on this. We want to make sure how inclusive it can be. Once the inclusivity is there, we have no problem with it."

Maybe Sacranie is saying this to show that his group is not as insanely anti-semitic as Ahmadinejad, president of Iran, whose current comments denying and trivialising the Holocaust have brought international condemnation.

Sacranie says: "We do not see any reason why, if it cannot be changed into Genocide Memorial Day, we should not also have one that commemorates all other genocides as well. The message of "never again" will only come into reality if we recognise all human life. There has been more than one genocide in history."

Well yes, Iqbal, there certainly have, perhaps we could include the 1916 massacre of 1,000,000 Armenians by the Muslim armies of the Turkish Ottoman Caliphate, currently getting Turkey's Islamist leader, Erdogan, into political hot water? Or the massacres committed during and after the Prophet Mohammed's lifetime by his followers?

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:59 AM | Comments (0)

December 17, 2005

Afghanistan: Muslim Cleric Killed in Kandahar

Afgha.com reports that a Muslim cleric was shot by unidentified gunmen on motorcycles, in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.

Mullah Ahmad Shah was a member of the city's Ulema Shoura, a pro-government council of clerics. He was ambushed as he went to a mosque in the centre of Kandahar, where he was to give lessons to students. This mosque had been built by Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taleban.

Imams who have supported the government have recently been killed. In Tani district, near Khost, Mullah Maulvi Ahmed Khan was blown up in his mosque as he performed Friday prayers on October 14.

During the summer, attacks against clerics led to the deaths of four imams; two were killed in Kandahar, one in Helmand and one in Paktika. On June 1, 20 people were killed and 40 wounded when a suicide bomber detonated himself inside a mosque during a memorial service for Imam Mawlavi Abdullah Fayaz. Fayaz had been shot dead earlier that week.

Bangladesh's Daily Star states that riots have broken out in a village in the Charkh district of Logar province, south of Kabul, the capital, on Friday. The anger of the mob was aimed at the police. Windows were smashed and stones were thrown, and gunfire was heard among the rioters.

What had initiated the anger of the crowd was the arrest of four men by Afghan police on Thursday and two more on Friday. The police claim that those they arrested are Taliban fighters. The villagers claim that they are Muslim clerics.

There have also been attacks on schools. Earlier today, gunmen on motorbikes shot at students in Lashkargah, Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, killing a pupil and a janitor. On Thursday a schoolteacher was shot dead in Helmand, in an act condemned by President Hamid Karzai as an "act of terrorism".

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 4:21 PM | Comments (0)

Iran: Attempt on Ahmadinejad Thwarted

A bodyguard was killed but the midget crazed Iranian President escaped unharmed. Better luck next time guys, whoever you are: Iran President's bodyguard dies in ambush

Tehran, Iran, Dec. 17 - One of the bodyguards of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was killed and another wounded when an attempt to ambush the presidential motorcade was thwarted in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, according to a semi-official newspaper and local residents.

"At 6:50 pm on Thursday, the lead car in the presidential motorcade confronted armed bandits and trouble-makers on the Zabol-Saravan highway", the semi-official Jomhouri Islami reported on Saturday.

"In the ensuing armed clash, the driver of the vehicle, who was an indigenous member of the security services, and one of the president's bodyguards died, while another bodyguard was wounded", the newspaper, which was founded by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wrote.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 3:29 PM | Comments (0)

Czech Republic: Islamist is "Mentally Ill" Says Wife

We reported on December 13 that Oussama Kassir, a Lebanese-born Swede, had been arrested in Prague on Sunday 11 December. In Manhattan in a US District Court, an indictment against Kassir was unsealed. This claimed that Kasir had conspired to set up a training camp for jihadists in Bly, Oregon in 1999.

Today, Ceskenoviny relates that Oussama Kassir's wife, Zeinab< has claimed that her husband is suffering from mental illness. She has claimed that he had repeatedly sought psychiatric help from therapists.

Speaking to the Swedish newspaper Expressen, she said that her husband has been lying in bed without sleep, and he suffers from "recriminations". She claims the isolation in prison will make his condition worse.

39-year old Oussama Kassir is currently in Pankrac prison in Prague while the US works out an extradition order.

Oussama Kassir came to Sweden in 1984 and five years later he became its citizen. He was sentenced for violent crimes and drug dealing. In 1991, he was sentenced to six years in prison for drug smuggling and illicit arms possessions. Along with other people, he smuggled 63 kilograms of hashish to Sweden.

Expressen brought one of Kassir's former psychiatrists to speak of his former patient, under a condition of anonymity. The psychiatrist did not mention religion, but said that Kassir always felt persecuted.

Kassir has apparently told Czech prison authorities that he has problems. Kufa Mirek, a prison inspector, has said that Kassir did not feel good, that he slept all the time and suffered from a deep depression.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 3:15 PM | Comments (0)

India: 11 Hindus Jailed For Life For Slaughtering Muslims

Yesterday, Islam Online reported that eleven Hindus have been given life sentences for killing 11 Muslims, including children and women, in the 2002 massacre of Gujarat, in which more than 1,000 Muslims were killed.

The background to this situation is complex. Originally, centuries ago, Hindu belief maintained that there was a temple of the Hindu king/deity Rama (the seventh avatar of Vishnu), at Ayodhya, the town of his birth, which is in Uttar Pradesh. According to tradition, when Muslims arrived in India, they built the Babri Mosque over the site of the Hindu Temple.

Though the historical evidence for the existence of Rama's temple is scant, many Hindus, particularly fanatical nationalists, believed the myth. The three main domes of the Babri Mosque were erected in the 16th century, assumed to be in 1528. They lasted until 1992, when fanatical Hindus stormed the mosque, and destroyed it entirely, with the intention of rebuilding the temple of Lord Rama, the Ram Janmabhumi (Birthplace of Rama) on the site.


The fanatics, also called collectively karsevaks, came from the membership of the Hindu nationalist parties the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Shiv Sena party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BBC states that as a result of this outrage, rioting broke out, which led to the deaths of two thousand people. "The bloodshed was viewed as the most serious threat to India's secular identity since independence in 1947".

By the start of 2002, the situation had calmed down on the surface, even though deep-seated tensions between the Hindu and Muslim communities never disappeared.

On 27 February, a train carrying karsevaks from a visit to Ayodhya was mobbed in the state of Gujurat, apparently by Muslims, who were blamed for setting fire to the train. At least 57 Hindu pilgrims died.

By 4 March, 2002, 700 Muslims people were recognised as being slaughtered in the ensuing violence which erupted in Gujarat, though the total figure is at least a thousand.

The convictions of the 11 Muslims was announced two days ago by Agence France-Presse on Thursday, December 15. The accused were convicted of hacking and incinerating eleven Muslims from the village of Ajanwa in Panchmahal district.

A court in Ghodra on Wednesday said that their victims had included five children and four women, whose bodies were thrown into a well. Two elderly people were burned alive.

Three other people who had been accused were given 10-year prison sentences, while 18 more were set free for lack of evidence against them.

The Indian government at the time of the massacre in Gujurat has received criticism from Human Rights Watch and others for not acting to prevent the killing. Islam Online states that the initial fire on the train, which initiated the resurgence of violence, has been declared by an official investigation to have been "an accident", backed up by a BBC report. The fire started within the train, there had been no reports of smells of accelerants, and people were cooking with stoves on the train when it caught fire. Justice Umesh Chandra Banerjee, who led the inquiry, said: "The possibility of an inflammable liquid having been used is completely ruled out as there was first a smell of burning, followed by then smoke and flames thereafter."

The issue of the destruction of the Babri Mosque and the "Birthplace of Ram" is still a source of conflict between Hindus and Muslims in India. On 5 July, 2005, five Islamists attacked the site of the Babri Mosque/Ram Janmabhumi, firing guns and trying to break through the wall cordoning off the site. The Islamists, who are thought to have been from Lashkar-e-Toiba, were killed in gunfire from the Central Reserve Police Force in a clash which went on for an hour. The terrorists had set off a bomb to destroy the fence, and in this blast, a HIndu pilgrim, Ramesh Pandey, was killed.

Lashkar-e-Toiba/Lashkar-e-Tayba are believed to have been responsible for the three blasts which happened in Delhi on October 29, which killed 59 people.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 1:55 PM | Comments (0)

Indonesia: Ungrateful Muslims Still Hate America

Okay, now that what we should have known would happenned has happenned, will the faulty premises that led us to the false conclusion that aid would improve America's image will be re-examined? No? Do you mean to tell me that the premise "showering aid on ungrateful, self-righteous, America-hating Muslims will improve America's image" is so dear to our hearts it won't be abandoned despite being disproved by events, because, you know it would be so much nicer if it were true? Oh, well. Let's wait until the next disaster strikes so we can waste a few more billion dollars on a "let us feel good about ourselves" trip: US image problem persists among Muslims in Asia despite tsunami aid

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia : The image of the United States in tsunami-hit parts of Asia may have enjoyed a boost thanks to its massive aid donations, but one year on, residents say US policy speaks louder than dollars.

The US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, along with Washington's pro-Israeli stance, have incensed Muslims across the region, and no amount of aid -- even in tsunami-ravaged Indonesia -- has soothed their anger.

"I don't like the leader of the American people. I don't mind the people, I just don't like their leader," says Yan, a 35-year-old Acehnese dried fish trader who bears deep scars on each arm from injuries sustained in the tsunami.

"We saw how the US is an arrogant nation. They think they are a superpower and the international police, that they rule everything," says the merchant, who lost his parents, grandparents and three brothers in the catastrophe.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 1:17 PM | Comments (1)

Pakistan: Abducted Hindu Girls's "Conversion" Farce Continues

The true face of Islam: Three Hindu girls are abducted, raped, "converted" to Islam, and the Pakistani (in)Justice system pretends to do something about it when people from the rest of the World are disgusted by the behavior. Let us all notice that if the opposite had happenned--three Muslim girls had been abducted, raped, and converted to Hinduism--the girls would have been with their parents a few hours later, and the blood of Hindus--innocent and guilty alike--would have flowed in the streets: SC orders security for three girls

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered that three sisters, who recently converted to Islam from Hinduism, be shifted from the seminary they were staying at to the Edhi Centre. The court further ordered the police to protect the girls while it ascertained if they were forced to convert to Islam.

The court was hearing a case wherein it was alleged that three sisters were kidnapped and forced to become Muslims. An FIR was lodged regarding girls’ abduction and rape. The three sisters were later found in a religious seminary learning Islamic education.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 1:01 PM | Comments (0)

Commentary: Where Does the Ignorance Comes From?

There is something that bothered me about the following story about Albert Brooks's film "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World." But before commenting, here is the story: American comedy pokes fun at US ignorance of Islam

DUBAI (Reuters) - It may seem odd for an American to go to Asia, and not the Middle East, to learn about Islam after the September 11, 2001 attacks by al Qaeda.

But U.S. comedian Albert Brooks said this peculiarity underscores the basic premise of his satirical film "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World," which pokes fun at U.S. ignorance about Arabs and Muslims.

The 19 suicide hijackers who struck New York and Washington in 2001 all hailed from the Middle East, which is also the birthplace of Islam.

"One of the subtle things I think the movie was trying to say is that the U.S. government really makes no distinction ... between Arab Muslims and South Asian Muslims," Brooks told Reuters in an interview in the Gulf Arab emirate.

"To the United States -- and it's unfortunate -- all Muslims are the same. Once 9/11 happened, they're afraid of all of them."

Well, the first thing that bothered me about the story was Reuters's obvious bias: I'm used to it, but it still bothers me. But it goes beyond that. The first non-obvious bothersome thing is a hidden premise so common, people don't even notice it; namely, that it is up to Americans and Europeans to "understand" (that is, to excuse) the behavior of whichever culture we happen to clash with. That is why Brooks's character goes on a mission to India, but not equivalent Muslim Indian character goes on a similar mission to America. Sometimes, even worse, it is assumed "they" (muslims) have a "sense of history" and that their grievances (the Crusaders, etc.) are held because of their admirable sense of history. (Never mind that the Crusades were justified and that the Muslim outraged is not based on history, but myth.)

The second non-obvious thing that bothers me is that in this type story there is never an attempt to know where does that "ignorance" (when it is really ignorance) of Islam comes from. It is assummed away that Americans are ignorant bores who cannot help but be ignorant about everything. No comparisions are necessary; that slur in well-entrenched in the rest of the world. (Say, how much does the average snotty Reuters correspondent knows about Texas.)

At any rate, this is a truly disgusting piece of propaganda, fitting for a suicidal Western News Agency like Reuters. I hope the movie is not as groveling as the story makes it to be.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 12:43 PM | Comments (0)

US: Black Muslims In New Intimidation Tactics

The problems began on Wednesday evening, November 23, when two shops in Oakland, California, were attacked by a dozen well-dressed Black Muslims, who smashed liquor bottles and warned the shopkeepers not to sell alcohol to Muslims.

In the early hours of Monday morning, 28 November, a shop was gutted by fire, and the 19-year old store clerk had been kidnapped. He was discovered at 2pm that afternoon in a Safeway car park in El Cerrito, locked in the trunk of a car.

The police examined video surveillance of the store attacks, and issued warrants for the arrest of six members of the Black Muslims, an organisation founded by Yusuf Bey, who died in 2003 of colon caner, while fighting court charges of sexual abuse.

Two members of the Black Muslim organisation surrendered to police, 19 year old Yusuf Bey IV, son and heir of the founder of the Black Muslims, and Donald Cunningham, a 73-year old associate of Yusuf Bey senior. Both are involved with the bakery franchise Your Black Muslim Bakery. Cunningham and Bey managed to secure bail of $200,000 each, and on Dec 9 we reported that Yasir Hakeem Azzem, aged 19, and 24-year old Kahlil Raheem were arrested. These again worked for Your Black Muslim Bakery, which was founded by Yusuf Bey senior in 1968.

The tactic of smashing up shops which sell alcohol was used by Black Muslims, who in this case worked for a Bey-owned laundry, against a store in North Richmond as far back as 1993, according to the Mercury/Contra Costa Times.

It appears that the group is now employing a tactic of intimidation without smashing of liquor bottles and refrigeration units. According to Daily Review Online, the son of a shopkeeper in West Oakland has claimed that members of the Black Muslim organisation had physically intimidated by sheer numbers.

Abellh Ali claimed that around 6pm on Wednesday (14 December) he was in his father's store, the Happy Times.

"These guys drove up in three cars, came in here and stood in rows," Ali said. "One of them put this card down on the counter and told me to behave like a real Muslim (and not sell alcohol).

'They came in three abreast, carrying a flag, like it was the president of the United States,"said Ahmed Ali, a relative.

Abellh Ali said he called 9-1-1. The police got here in five minutes, but the men were gone by then, he said.

The Black Muslim organisation is intimately linked with local politics and gangster-like behaviour, with violence only a few steps away from the group's public activities. Following the 2003 death of Yusuf Bey, the founder of the lucrative businesses associated with the Black Muslims, there have been deaths and attacks as people appear to be trying to mount take-overs of the group.

In 2004, 51 year-old Waajid Aljawaad Bey, the chief executive officer of Your Black Muslim Bakery was found in a decomposed state in a shallow grave in the Oakland Hills, and in June this year John Bey, an adopted son of Yusuf Bey and manager of one of the Bey Black Muslim-owned companies, was ambushed by gunmen and wounded. On Tuesday, October 25, 24-year old Antar Bey, a son and heir of Yusuf Bey, was shot dead as he was filling his car at a gas station.
We have reported extensively on the Black Muslims. These are the articles:

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:36 AM | Comments (0)

Morocco: Islamist Deported From Italy Is Acquitted

We reported on November 28 on the case of Mohamed Daki (pictured), who was acquitted in a controversial court case. Daki was originally sentenced for recruiting people for fighting insurgencies in Iraq, but in January 2005, Judge Clementina Forleo had ruled that the insurgency which Daki assisted was a "guerrilla" operation, rather than a "terror" operation.

The ruling which had caused outrage in January, was again upheld by Forleo at an appeals court in Milan in November, causing the Italian Foreign Minister, Gianfranco Fini, to declare his "anger and incredulity" for the "distortion of reality before the entire world."

Daki, who had connections with Islamist terror group Ansar al-Islam, had shared apartments in Germany with members of the Hamburg Cell, who helped arrange the 9/11 US attacks. He was arrested in 2003 after crossing into Italy.

Daki said after his acquittal that he was planning to stay in Italy to study and find work. However, Italy acted swiftly after his acquittal on terror charges, and deported him to his home country of Morocco. Now, according to Findlaw, Daki has been acquitted again.

He was deported from Italy on Sunday, 11 December. According to a Moroccan news agency, MAP, on Thursday, a court in Morocco threw out terror charges against him. Another man, Younes Zaralil, was detained for further investigation of links with terror groups.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:46 AM | Comments (0)

Russia: Confirmation that Bombed Islamist Was Al-Qaeda Commander

Confirmation comes today from MosNews of an event first reported in weblogs, namely Evan Kohlmann in the Counterterrorism Blog and Rantburg.

At the start of the month, the blogs claimed that a man who had blown himself up in Dagestan, in the Caucasus, rather than be captured by Russian security forces, was a leading member of al-Qaeda.

The individual was Abu Omar Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Saif (aka Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Saif al-Jaber), who was a Saudi Al Qaeda commander and military adviser to Shamil Basayev (author of the Beslan massacre of schoolchildren).

Al-Saif (pictured) was named as a suspect in terror attacks in Chechnya and also for the planning of the Nord Ost theatre siege in Moscow. In January 2000 he gave an interview to Babar Ahmad's Azzam website (Ahmad is soon to be extradited to the US on terror charges, as we reported on November 16). In the interview, al-Saif said:

"Islamic issues can only be solved by Islamic means, namely through abiding by Sharia (Divine Law) and not Western proposals or United Nations conditions. Any resolution through non-Islamic means places the future of Muslims in the hands of tyrants who will never accept the rise of an Islamic state......

All of the Mujahideen's victories are attributed solely to Allah Most High... The jihad in Chechnya should serve as an example to all Muslims throughout the world that any Muslim rights that are forcibly usurped, including land, cannot be restored except through force. Negotiations only serve to lose one's rights and honour. Let us consider Palestine as an example. There are a small number of Jews occupying Palestine. The Arabs outnumber them and have larger military forces, however, instead of fighting for the sake of Allah like their brothers in Chechnya, the Arabs (nationalists and secularists) chose to negotiate with their enemy. This has resulted in the humiliation of the Arabs, and has failed to restore Arab rights and territories.

Mosnews states that Nikolai Patrushev, Director of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), has confirmed that al-Saif was killed in November in the south of Dagestan.

Al-Saif had been sent to the North Caucasus region by Osama bin Laden a decade ago. He ran underground terror cells in Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia, while operating under the cover of being a representative of the Al Haramain foundation.

Al Haramain was a Saudi-based international "charity" which funds (and still funds) terror. It was involved in the Oregon Jihad, and is still active in Bangladesh. The group was "designated" by the US Treasury in September 2004, with the Bosnia and Somalia branches designated in 2002.

Al-Saif was made al-Qaeda's leader of the North Caucasus in 2004, after its former leader Abu al-Walid was killed in April 2004, and this year he moved from Ingushetia to Dagestan.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:49 AM | Comments (0)

December 16, 2005

Spain: Another Algerian Islamist Arrested

A 31-year old Algerian, Hichem Kanit, has been arrested in Alicante in the southeast of Spain, police revealed earlier today. His arrest follows a spate of arrests in Spain, with 11 people detained on November 23 at Alicante, Murcia and Granada. On November 30, four of these were charged.

Seven Algerians were arrested on December 9 in the Costa del Sol, with three of these charged on Wednesday December 14 for collaborating with an armed group. The others, including a woman, were released later.

Those charged were accused of financing the Algerian terror group, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which has links to al-Qaeda.

Hichem Kanit is thought to have links with the eleven-person gang whose members were arrested on November 23.Ynet News states that he was apprehended as he tried to flee the country. He was trying to leave via a ferry going from Alicante to Algiers. He was concealed in a van.

Expatica states that Kanit was detained after information was obtained from those arrested in the raids of November 23.

The GSPC was founded in Algeria in 1992, and is currently still active in Algeria, having refused an offer of amnesty on October 1, though they are active in Spain, France and Italy.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)

Turkey: Islamist Regime Must Decide Author's Fate

The acclaimed Turkish novelist, 53-year old Orhan Pamuk, appeared in an Istanbul court (Sisli district criminal court) today to face accusations that he broke article 301 of the Turkish penal code, where disparaging the nation, in the form of the republic, parliament or any organs of state, is an offence. As he went into the courtroom today, he was hit on the head with a folder by an angry woman.

As we mentioned earlier, the case has caused widespread criticism, and has been held up by opponents of Turkey's accession into the EU as an example of how Turkish and European ideologies are incompatible.

Pamuk committed the crime of acknowledging Turkey's massacre of 1,000,000 Armenians in an incident during World War 1, and its killing of 30,000 Kurds (during the 1980s and 1990s). His comments were made in February this year in an interview with a Swiss magazine.

The Islamist leader of Turkey, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), has been careful to personally distance himself from the case. Turkey has a secular constitution, instituted by Kemal Attaturk, who abolished the Ottoman Caliphate in 1924. Previous governments who have tried to Islamify Turkey have been deposed by the fiercely secular military.

Erdogan has criticised those who oppose the trial and has said that such protests put pressure on the judiciary. On Pamuk's case, Erdogan said: "The result may very well be that he will be acquitted. It will be up to the judicial process to take its course."

Erdogan cannot stay neutral on the issue any longer. Almost as soon as proceedings started, the judge at Pamuk's trial, Metin Aydin, adjourned the case until February 7 2006. The court case could not proceed as the judge needed clarification from the government's Justice Ministry as to whether the case was being brought under the old Penal Code or a revised later edition of the code, states the BBC. Pamuk's comments were made before the new amendments were brought in, in summer.

The lawyers for Pamuk have argued for him to be tried under the old version of the penal code, which would require the justice minister to make a ruling.

The current justice minister is Cemil Cicek, who said in a newspaper on Thursday that he will need time before making rulings about the case. "It is not a simple matter of yes or no. The prosecution file will be studied in its entirety... once it comes," he said in the daily, Aksam.

Once again Erdogan is being forced to take responsibility for this case, with most of Europe viewing the case as a trial more about Turkey itself, rather than Pamuk or what he said. The court today was filled with supporters and denouncers of Pamuk. As he left the building there were angry scenes, and shouts of "Traitor!" and his car was pelted with eggs.

The novelist gave a statement to the press, which read: "It is not good for Turkey, for our democracy, for trials concerning freedom of thought - which should never happen in the first place - to be lengthy affairs."

Turkey in Istanbul may look fairly westernised, with many women wearing European styles and makeup, but in the rural heartland and to the east, the culture of Turkey is still infused with the spirit of the Ottomans. Voters from this heartland have placed Erdogan's Islamist party in power.

Pamuk has placed himself in direct conflict with the mentality of Islamism in a recent novel, published in 2002. Snow, set in the eastern city of Kars, features an Islamist worker who murders a school principal because he has obeyed the state instruction to refuse admission to girls who wear Muslim headscarves.

UPDATE: 17 December: Full accounts of the delayed trial can be found in the Guardian, the Telegraph and the Times.

UPDATE 2: It would be remiss of me not to mention here the case of the Armenian proprietor and editor of Agos, a Turkish magazine, Hrant Dink, who was sentenced on 7 October 2005 to a six-months suspended sentence by the Sisli Court of Second Instance in Istanbul for breaking article 301 of the Turkish penal code, and "insulting Turkish identity". Dink's crime was to report in Agos of the effects the Armenian massacre from the time of World War 1 made upon members of the Armenian diaspora.

Dink is appealing that conviction, but he is not out of the woods, for another case is pending, which was initiated in 28 April 2005 at a court in the southeastern city of Sanliurfa. The trial which is still unfinished, concerns comments Dink had made at a conference in 2002. He faces a possible six years if convicted.

UPDATE 3: 24 Dec, 2005. On 22 December, Turkish Press reported that Abdullah Yildiz, editor of Literatur publishers, is also going to be charged under article 301, for publishing a book by Greek author Mara Meimaridi, entitled "The Witches of Smyrna".

This book has undergone 25 printings since it fiirst appeared on Turkish bookshelves in October 2004, and it is a novel featuring a Greek heroine, who lives in Smyrna (Izmir) at the end of the Ottoman Caliphate, who uses magic spells to achieve her goals. The book has sold 50,000 copies in Turkey. In passages of the book, it states that Turkish districts are dirty, and Turks have poor oral hygeine.

The author claims she never had any intentions of insulting Turkish "identity", and the date for the trial of Yildiz is not known.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:16 PM | Comments (0)

Malaysia: Mahathir Launches "Peace" Jihad

Creepy anti-semitic "moderate" Muslim leader Mahathir Mohammad has proposed what amounts to a "Peace" Jihad: Mahathir proposes anti-war network

KUALA LUMPUR: A global network of pro-peace and anti-war movements has been proposed to bring together all non-governmental organisations with similar objectives to drive changes in countries that advocate war.

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in making the proposal, said it was necessary that a permanent secretariat be set up and located where it would be most effective.

"With all NGOs working together in ensuring that peace becomes the main issue in all democratic elections everywhere, it is quite possible that those who advocate warlike policies would not be elected," he said in his keynote address at the Perdana Global Peace Forum yesterday.

"It may take time. It is not easy. But all that is needed is just one major success for the peace campaign to gain momentum."

Dr Mahathir said it was important the movements against war be mutually reinforcing and co-ordinated worldwide so that they could strategise their campaigns properly while promoting peace as a creed for everyone.[...]

Why do I call this initiative "the Peace Jihad"? Because Mahathir is simply using the stupidity of the Peace-worshipers against the West. He is doing the same strategy the Soviet Union did: use the Peace movements to weaken the West, not to promote Peace itself. But don't take my word for it. Listen to Mahathir's speech to the Tenth Islamic Forum, where he called for an "strategic retreat" as well as for strenghtening Islam militarily in order to defeat "the Jews". (I'll bolden out the relevant passages): Speech by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad

It cannot be that there is no other way. 1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews. There must be a way. And we can only find a way if we stop to think, to assess our weaknesses and our strength, to plan, to strategise and then to counter attack. As Muslims we must seek guidance from the Al-Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet. Surely the 23 years' struggle of the Prophet can provide us with some guidance as to what we can and should do.

We know he and his early followers were oppressed by the Qhuraish. Did he launch retaliatory strikes? No. He was prepared to make strategic retreats. He sent his early followers to a Christian country and he himself later migrated to Madinah. There he gathered followers, built up his defence capability and ensured the security of his people. At Hudaibiyah he was prepared to accept an unfair treaty, against the wishes of his companions and followers. During the peace that followed he consolidated his strength and eventually he was able to enter Mecca and claim it for Islam. Even then he did not seek revenge. And the peoples of Mecca accepted Islam and many became his most powerful supporters, defending the Muslims against all their enemies.[...]

[...]Apart from the partial unity that we need, we must take stock of our assets. I have already mentioned our numbers and our oil wealth. In today's world we wield a lot of political, economic and financial clout, enough to make up for our weakness in military terms.

We also know that not all non-Muslims are against us. Some are welldisposed towards us. Some even see our enemies as their enemies. Even among the Jews there are many who do not approve of what the Israelis are doing.[...]

[...]We must build up our strength in every field, not just in armed might. Our countries must be stable and well administered, must be economically and financially strong, industrially competent and technologically advanced. This will take time, but it can be done and it will be time well spent. We are enjoined by our religion to be patient. Innallahamaasabirin. Obviously there is virtue in being patient.

But the defence of the ummah, the counter attack need not start only after we have put our houses in order. Even today we have sufficient assets to deploy against our detractors. It remains for us to identify them and to work out how to make use of them to stop the carnage caused by the enemy. This is entirely possible if we stop to think, to plan, to strategise and to take the first few critical steps. Even these few steps can yield positive results. ...[...]

That, dear readers, is our peace-loving Mahathir Mohammad.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 9:10 AM | Comments (3)

Australia: Muslim Cleric Discussed Jihad and Killing Prime Minister

At a bail hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court today, a prosecutor said that Muslim cleric Abdul Nacer Benbrika (pictured) had discussed jihad with Abdullah Merhi, in conversations intercepted and recorded by police, states Reuters.

Prosecutor Nick Robinson said that Mehri had asked "For example if John Howard [the prime minister] kills innocent Muslim families do we...do we have to kill him and his family...his people like at the football?"

The Algerian cleric had responded: "If they kill our kids we will kill little kids," and when Mehri said "innocent ones", Benbrika had said "innocent ones."

Australian radio said that the prosecutor said they had also discussed the killing of police, and families at football matches, in retaliation for deaths of Muslim families.

The men were arrested in the early hours of November 8, in raids which took place in Melbourne and Sydney and which netted 18 men, including Benbrika, the spiritual leader of the group, who are accused of plotting terrorist offences.

We reported at the time that the police had 240 hours of recorded conversations which they had intercepted since July 2004, including speech in which Abdullah Mehri asked permission to become a martyr.

Benbrika, who had been fighting deportation orders, had in August publicly stated that he advised jihad against troops and announced: "My religion doesn't tolerate other religion....Jihad is part of my religion."

On Friday November 11 the court was told that eight of the suspects seemed to be attempting to create an attack upon the Lucas Heights experimental nuclear reactor in the outskirts of Sydney. Six of the suspects went on "hunting and camping trips" to places described by police as jihadist training camps, between March and April 2005.

The bail hearing is still continuing.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:49 AM | Comments (0)

December 15, 2005

UK: Anger After Non-Halal Meat Is Served To Muslims

The Birmingham Post reports on a cock-up which took place at a dinner event for 750, organised by Birmingham's Chamber of Commerce which took place at the International Conference Centre. The event, an annual dinner of the Institute of Asian Businesses, had a confusion with its menus, which led to some 200 Muslims being served non-halal food even though they thought they were opting for halal. Halal meat must be prepared by slitting the throat of an animal and draining the blood before the creature dies, according to Islamic custom.

The Chamber of Commerce admitted the mistake and promised to be more careful in future. The vice-chair of the Institute of Asian Businesses, Mohammed Zulfiquar, said: "I am disgusted. I will be writing to the chief executive of the ICC for an explanation."

"I asked the chair of the dinner committee and he said it was halal. I also asked the waitress and she said everything was halal. But this week I was in a meeting at the Chamber and was told only the chicken was halal and not the lamb and beef," he said. "People ate it because they were told it was halal. The Muslim community is deeply, deeply offended."

The International Conference Centre is owned by the NEC Group, which said that it had provided both halal and non-halal food, as requested.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:45 PM | Comments (0)

Holland: Islamic College Will Ignore Headscarf Ruling

We reported on October 17 that Samira Haddad, a 32-year old teacher (and a Muslim) from Amsterdam, had been refused employment by the Islamic College of Amsterdam (ICA) because she refused to wear a Muslim headscarf. She was taking her case to the Netherlands Equality Commission (CGB), to challenge the school's decision.

On November 15 the Equality Commission ruled that the ICA had been wrong to refuse Tunisian-born Ms Haddad employment. The school had said that if she was not a Muslim, she would have faced no impediment to being employed without wearing a Muslim headscarf, or hijab.

The ICA was asked by the Equality Commission to report back with their response to their decision on December 13th. The decision made by the Equality Commission is not legally binding, but in 85% of cases, their rulings are met with compliance. When asked to submit a response last month, a spokesperson said the ICA was "not happy" with the ruling, but would make no comments until their submission to the Equality Commission.

Today, according to NIS News and Expatica, the Islamic College of Amsterdam has made its opinions known. It will ignore the ruling, and continue to disbar Muslim women job applicants who refuse to wear the headscarf, or hijab.

"The necessity for this is inherent in our philosophy of life and the rules that are part of this, as they were given to us by God. Certain clothing requirements simply go with the Islamic faith," the school maintained in a statement released today.

The statement was made in a response to an exhortation by Ahmed Aboutaleb, Amsterdam education alderman, for the school to implement the policy-change suggested by the CGB.

Keywords: Burka, Burqa, hidjab, hijab

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:45 PM | Comments (3)

Bangladesh: Leading Islamist Claims JMB Has Al-Qaeda Contacts

We mentioned earlier that the Chittagong district leader of the Islamist group Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Mohammad alias Aman Ullah, was arrested on Tuesday along with a weapons and explosives cache in the Kattali area of Chittagong city, in the south east of Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh Daily Star reports that Mohammad/Aman Ullah has made the claim that JMB has close links with al-Qaeda and the top leaders of the terror group have regular contacts with JMB, in the hideouts of the leader of JMB, Abdur Rahman (pictured, left).

At the headquarters of the paramilitary security service, the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in Patenga, Mohammad/Aman Ullah spoke to a press conference today (15th December). He said that following recent attacks on courthouses in Chittagong and Gazipur, the JMB's next targets were to be non-government organisations and intellectuals.

We mentioned earlier that there have been allegations that one of the minority partners in Bangladesh's coalition government, the Jamaat-e-Islami had been involved with JMB and had also been involved with the more than 400 bombs which went off in simultaneous attacks throughout the nation on August 17, which killed 2 people and injured more than 100.

Mohamad or Aman Ullah said at the press conference that as well as having 200 suicide bombers ready to be "activated", JMB also had the support of thousands of former cadres of Islami Chattra Shibir or ICS. ICS is the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami. These "few thousand" Shibir individuals would assist JMB in its aims to install an Islamist Sharia-based state in Bangladesh.

Ullah's statement on Jamaat involvement was interrupted by a senior attending officer from Rab, who urged the reporters to ask him other questions. "Why don't you ask him about Indian intelligence agency RAW and his visit to India instead of asking him about Saidee?" he said.

Delwar Hossain Saidee is a lawmaker for the Jamaat-e-Islami party, and audiocassettes of his speeches, and also books produced by Jamaat-supported publishing houses, were seized in Ullah's arrest.

Some of the cassettes in Ullah's possession had been made by the cultural wings of Islami Chattra Shibir, Simoom Shilpi Goshthi and Ronagan Shilpi Goshthi.

Perhaps the accusations of Sheikh Hasina (pictured right), the leader of the main opposition party, the Awami League, that elements from within the Jamaat-e-Islami had been involved with JMB, may soon be vindicated.

Ullah's mention of al-Qaeda involvement now also appears to vindicate another claim. We reported on October 23 that Islamist militants had been regrouping in Tangail district, which is hilly and lies in the center of the country.

At that time, India Daily surmised that perhaps the JMB militants were being influenced by al-Qaeda. " But sources and signal intelligence reaching India point towards a major Al-Qaeda figure in Tangail district leading the Jihadists", the article stated.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:32 PM | Comments (0)

France: Explosives Discovered Following Islamist Arrests

Earlier today, we reported that there had been 25 arrests on Monday 12th December, 25 suspected Islamists were arrested in Paris and Oise, with three more arrested today.

Yesterday, Niicolas Sarkozy, the French Interior Minister (pictured), said that the individuals arrested on Monday, who are thought to be involved with the Algerian group the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), were also indirectly linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Via Little Green Footballs, a report from Reuters states that Nicolas Sarkozy has announced the discovery of a cache of explosives and weaponry as a part of the inquiry.

The stash was discovered yesterday (Wednesday 14th) in a lock-up garage attached to an apartment block in Clichy-Sous-Bois, the Parisian suburb where the recent French riots started.

"Thanks to the arrests, an arms cache has just been discovered which reveals the seriousness of this matter. They are very determined people, with links between terrorist extremism and major crime," Sarkozy said on French television today. "We think they have indirect links, at a fairly high level, with al Qaeda".

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:22 PM | Comments (0)

Australia: Details in Muslim Cleric's Deportation Ruled "Secret"

With a hat tip to Robert Spencer's Jihad Watch, a report from News.com.au today describes the case of the Australian Shia Muslim cleric, Monsour Leghaei (pictured).

We reported on November 7 on the case of 43-year old Iranian-born Sheikh Leghaei, who emigrated to Australia in 1994. Leghaei has been listed by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) as a threat to national security who had further stated that he had been involved in "acts of foreign interference."

New.com.au states that Federal Court Justice Rodney Madgwick, who a month ago ruled that Leghaei's appeal against the ASIO assessment was void, today handed down his written explanation of the judgement.

His written submission states that Australia's concerns about national security came above Mr Leghaei's rights to know the details and reasons for his deportation.

"It appears that it was not possible to put even a summary of the case against the applicant to him without compromising the interests of national security," Justice Madgwick wrote, and he acknowledged Leghaei had performed "valuable community services" during his stay in Australia.

Imam Sheikh Mansour Leghaei was the founder and religious director of the Imam Husain Islamic Centre and the School of Islamic Theology in Earlwood, Sydney. He is currently on a bridging visa while he awaits deportation.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:01 PM | Comments (0)

Turkey: Erdogan's Islamists Ban Alcohol, Author On Trial

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Recep Tayyip Erdogan (pictured, right) has passed a law which permits town mayors to create "alcohol "dry zones", in a move which is seen by many as a step towards Islamisation. Erdogan has attempted to present his government as "moderate" enough to comply with the accession into the European Union.

Erdogan is an avowed Islamist, and treads a delicate path between imposing social changes to the constitution, and being deposed by the army, who defend Turkey's secular constitution, and have dissolved governments with Islamist agendas.

Most of Turkey's 67 million inhabitants are Sunni Muslims, though Kemal Attaturk (who liked to drink raki, a Turkish alcoholic drink made from aniseed) introduced a secular constitution in the 1920s, after he had deposed the Ottoman Caliphate.

When the Turkish universities' decision to impose secular dress upon students was challenged in the European Court's Grand Chamber in Strasbourg, and lost, Erdogan said he accepted the decision yet still criticised the ruling at a talk in Denmark.

The last Islamist party to gain power was dissolved by the army in 1996. Erdogan's comments on the headscarf ban were examined by a prosecutor, to see if his statements had breached the secular constitution.

The Scotsman reports on this law which is once again bringing questions about the Islamic intentions of the government. Tufan Turenc, a political analyst in Hurriyet newspaper wrote "Let's not be fooled. [Erdogan's AKP Party] is slowly wrapping the Islamic blanket around us."

On December 10, the LA Times stated that since Erdogan's government came to power in 2002, it has gradually increased taxes on alcohol, with beer taxes increased by 450%.

An opposition politician, Emin SIrin said of the law: "This government has not abandoned its Islamist reflexes."

Erdogan has blamed alcohol consumption for 80% of all road deaths, though the police statistics give the figure as 1%.

On Saturday, 16 November, 2002 Erdogan's party won the election. But Erdogan could not initially stand, as he was still under a period of political restriction following an incident which caused him to be removed from his previous elected post of mayor of Istanbul. He had recited a nationalist poem at a rally, which saw him imprisoned for four months, on charges of inciting religious hatred.

The UK Independent describes the anger felt at the ban in some tourist areas: "The resort of Antalya, run by the AKP, has given into pressure from businesses and designated the city a "wet area" in reaction to the plans [to ban alcohol from the city entirely]."

Lawyers from the Ankara Bar Association earlier in the week filed a lawsuit to stop some districts from forcing bars and alcohol-serving restaurants to be moved out of town centres. The authors of the suit claim that the law is unconstitutional and an "affront to freedoms."

Hurriyet states that the Ankara Bar Association have encouraged other cities to make similar legal challenges. It says there are many councils in the country currently managed by members of the ruling party.

NTV MSNBC states that the Ankara Bar Association has criticised, as well as the bans of alcohol sales in built-up areas, the compromising clause which permits municipalities to allow the selling of alcohol within designated "red street" zones:

The Association claimed that the "red streets" scheme was against the state of law, equality and the right to work covered under the constitution. In its application the Association claimed that drinking bans were being imposed by the municipality and such practises had shaken the faith in receiving justice in Turkey.

Pravda relates a bizarre incident when a man wrote to Erdogan, saying he had received a message from beyond the grave, from a deceased religious leader, with advice on how to reform the education system. Newspapers say that this letter was forwarded to the Education Ministry for review, who then passed it on to the board in charge of higher education. This led to an accusation that the Erdogan government was guided "by religious revelation".

And while the government's attempts to impose an Islamist alcohol-reduction create resentment, and may be viewed by the EU as a retreat from the reforms which Erdogan introduced, as conditional measures to begin talks on accession on October 3, another test of the liberal and democratic nature of Turkey begins tomorrow.

Turkey's best-selling and internationally acclaimed novelist and author, Orhan Pamuk (pictured), is going to be standing trial tomorrow, Friday 16th December. The EU's Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn last month denounced the trial. And Pamuk's crime?

In February he gave an interview to a Swiss newspaper, in which he said: "a million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in these lands, and nobody but me dares talk about it," referring to the recent Kurdish conflicts and the 1916 massacre of Armenians.

Being tried under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code, for insulting Turkish identity, Pamuk's case is drawing international attention to focus on Turkey. International PEN, which campaigns for writers' freedom of expression, said the trial contravened Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Pamuk faces a possible sentence of three years' jail if he is convicted.

The BBC notes that Olli Rehn stated that "trial of a novelist who expressed a non-violent opinion casts a shadow" over talks on Turkey's entry into the European Union.

Rehn said that the case gives a chance to "set a positive precedent for the numerous other cases of free speech that are awaiting trial. It is not Orhan Pamuk who will stand trial tomorrow, but Turkey."

Olli Rehn had visited the author in Istanbul days after October 3, when Turkey passed the first hurdle to begin negotiations on EU entry, and bought several of Pamuk's books. He declared that he is a fan of the writer.

According to Hurriyet, Prime Minister Erdogan, who is currently in Sydney (not kicking sand on Cronulla Beach), has criticised the campaigns which have been mounted against the Pamuk trial. He said they were putting pressure on Turkey's judiciary. "I find that a little controversial to the principle of respecting the rule of law," he said.

Erdogan noted on "international pressure groups": "I don't think the way they act is very proper in this case."

On possible outcomes of the trial, Erdogan said: "The result may very well be that he will be acquitted. It will be up to the judicial process to take its course."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 3:28 PM | Comments (1)

Iraq: Voting Completed in Parliamentary Election

The voting in Iraq has passed with only a few incidents of violence, and a high turn-out, states al Jazeera. The larger than expected number casting their ballot led to the election commission extending the opening of polling stations by one hour, causing them to end at 6 pm (3pm GMT).

Hussein Hendawi, the electoral commissioner has said that the total who have voted may have exceeded 10 million. In Tikrit, home town of Saddam Hussein, there was an estimated 83% turnout.

In Sunni-dominated Falluja, where in previous votes turnout was poor, the sheer number of voters caused polling stations to run out of ballot papers.

In Mosul and Tal Afar, bomb and mortar attacks on polling stations caused the loss of two lives and wounded three. There were mortars in Samarra and Tikrit, and an explosion in Ramadi.

All voters at polling stations were made to dip their index fingers into indelible purple ink, to prevent multiple votings. The ink will remain on the electorate's fingers for about a week.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 1:17 PM | Comments (0)

UK: Mosque Closures Dropped From Terror Bill

The government plans to temporarily close mosques where "extremist" Islam is preached, contained in a clause of the anti-terror bill currently receiving its second reading in the House of Lords.

As we reported earlier, these plans had been condemned by the Association of Chief Police Officers, and also religious groups. They had also criticised the clause on "glorification" of terrorism.

Now the government has dropped the controversial clause allowing mosques to be closed, as reported by the BBC. The civil rights group Liberty had also criticised the proposed clause as the "worst type of response to terrorism". The assumed reason for the Home Office's removal of the clause is given as a potential inability for it to have secured a majority approval.

The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) also reports on the issue, but attributes the cause of the decision change to the actions of Muslims, namely the Muslim Council for Britain. While the Iranian government does not follow international law, copyright issues are here ignored:

UK drops new powers to close mosques after Muslim opposition

Dec 15, IRNA

The British government announced Thursday that it was shelving controversial proposals to give police new powers to close mosques after widespread opposition from Muslims, other religions and groups.

"The Government has decided not to introduce a new power in the legislation currently going before Parliament," Home Secretary Charles Clarke said.

"However, we will keep the situation under close review," he added in a statement obtained by IRNA.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) issued a strong rebuttal against the proposals put forward in October to include the new powers in the government's latest terrorism bill.

"We do not in the circumstances accept the logic or basis of the suggestion that places of worship are sources of extremism because to do so we would need to accept that worship or faith in itself is a form of extremism," the MCB said.

The Muslim News warned that the proposal to allow powers for a mosque closure, irrespective of whether a person was successfully prosecuted for failure to comply with an order, was a "kind of collective punishment."

"Provoking an issue with mosques is totally unwarranted and would send out further signals that the war against terrorism is against Islam," the monthly said in its October editorial.

The Church of England described the plans as "disproportionate" and challenged the government over why it was it is trying to single out places of worship in its campaign to root out extremism following July's bombings in London.

Clarke's announcement of dropping the proposal was seen as only one concession among a whole raft of measures the government is adopting following July's London bombings, in which 56 people were killed and hundreds injured.

His concession was accompanied with the confirmation that he had ruled out holding an independent inquiry demanded by Muslims into the series of attacks on the capital's transport system.

"The Government does not believe that such an inquiry would add to our understanding of the causes of those atrocities," he said in his statement.

"Additionally, to establish one would be to divert the attention of our police and security services during an extended period of time when they are still actively engaged in both the murder investigation which continues and the detection and prevention of further atrocities," the Home Secretary argued.

The MCB, which has been leading calls for a judicial investigation, condemned the refusal and urged the government on Wednesday to reconsider its decision.

"It is vital that we try and fully understand what happened on July 7th and 21st and also why it happened so that we can learn appropriate lessons about how to reduce the possibility of similar events taking place in the future," MCB secretary general Sir Iqbal Sacranie said.

In his statement, the Home Secretary said that the government had made "very significant progress in tackling the scourge of terrorism and extremism, including strengthening the grounds for deporting and excluding extremists and bringing forward new laws to enhance our ability to deal with terrorism."

But Muslim leaders, including those selected by ministers to chair working groups to advise the government, have criticized many of the extreme measures being adopted.

In their report, the working groups blamed British foreign policy, especially in the Middle East as being a "key contributory factor" for the bombing."

"Most if not all the strands see that the solutions lie in the medium and longer term issues of tackling inequality, discrimination, deprivation and inconsistent government policy," they advised Clarke last month.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)

Kuwait: Dispute Over Construction of New Churches

I usually do not repeat stories found in Jihad Watch or Dhimmi Watch as our audience knows about those sites; we prefer to look for new stories instead. In this case, however, I'll make an exception: Kuwait MP slams govt for allowing new churches

KUWAIT CITY — A Kuwaiti lawmaker yesterday slammed the government for providing Christians with two plots of land to build churches, saying this was against Islamic law.

"The recent measure of allowing non-Muslims to build places of worship in Kuwait is illegal under Islamic law," Waleed Al Tabtabai said in a statement after the government provided the land.

The thing is, Mr. Tabtabai is absolutely correct on his assessment. It is illegal to build new places of worship that are not Islamic (or to repair old ones) under Islamic law. The biggest problem is not the "minority of extremists" that "distorts" Islam, but that Islam itself, as proclaimed by Mohammad, is imperialistic, intolerant and violent to the core. There is simply no way of dancing around this fact.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 9:30 AM | Comments (0)

US: Feminist Gloria Steinem Takes Shot at Islam

Well done I say. If feminists wish to remain faithful to their principles they should reject Islam: Steinem swings at Hef & hits Islam

Feminist icon Gloria Steinem didn't make any friends in the American Muslim community yesterday with her attack on aging swinger Hugh Hefner in The New York Observer.

"I think Gloria Steinem should know better," said Edina Lekovic of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, after Steinem claimed Hef's multi-girlfriend lifestyle is "Moslem."

"Her most glaring error is that having girlfriends outside of marriage is hardly encouraged by Islam, and secondly, polygamy is practiced by less than 2% of the global Muslim population."

Ibrahim Hooper, communications director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, agreed.

"Any time an opinion leader uses a reference to Islam as a pejorative, we would have concerns about that," Hooper told me. "Muslims are getting tired of references to their beliefs or practices - or alleged beliefs or practices - as a way of digging at other people."

Notice how Ibrahim "Islam should rule America" Hooper does not address the truth of Steinem's statements. He operates in the realm of political smears, not in the realm of truth.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 9:09 AM | Comments (0)

France: Suspected Islamists Arrested

News from SBS and AP via Forbes and New Kerala, states that three people have been arrested today in France, in the region of Paris.

The arrests follow on from a series of arrests made on Monday, in which more than twenty people were arrested by the DST (Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire, the domestic intelligence service) in Paris, and also around Oise, north of Paris.

Radio NZ stated on Monday's arrests that the raids had taken place on homes and internet cafes. Most of the detainees were young Moroccan or Tunisian originated men, some with French nationality status. The raids took place at dawn, following surveillance which had lasted several weeks.

Fox News states that there were Algerians among those arrested on Monday , one of whom was 30-year old Ouassini Cherifi. Cherifi, is an Algerian born French national and computer specialist, who was arrested in August 2000 and sentenced in 2002 to five yeas in prison for "association with criminals in relation to a terrorist enterprise". He had been accused of trafficking passports, using theft and fraud to finance terror activities. A random postal check of a parcel sent to a hotel in Aulnay-sous-Bois, where Cherifi had formerly worked, led to his 2000 arrest. It contained forged French passports, states Rick Cross.

Nouvel Observateur's Challenges states that 25 people were arrested on Monday in 5 departments (districts) of the Paris suburbs, and in Oise. Cherifi's forged passports had been intended for the use of a terror cell arrested in Frankfurt in December 2000 while they were preparing a terrorist attack at Strasburg. Fox News states that the passports came from Thailand, and were used by militant Islamists to travel to Pakistan/Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Nouvel Obs hinted at fears of a link between the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which has had several members and followers of convicted bomber Safe Bourada, recently arrested in France, and al-Zarqawi in Iraq.

New Kerala quotes an announcement that Nicolas Sarkozy, the French Interior Minister,said on Wednesday that those arrested on Monday have indirect contact with al-Zarqawi, leader of "al-Qaeda in Iraq". He did not elaborate on details.

Forbes states that the three arrested today have indirect links with al-Zarqawi, according to national police spokesperson, Catherine Casteran. The anti-terror investigators have until tomorrow to decide whether to release the detainees or charge them with terrorism offences.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:55 AM | Comments (0)

December 14, 2005

Bangladesh: Senior Islamist Commander Captured

In reports from Daily Star and from Reuters, a senior leader of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Ataur Rahman Sunny, has been captured on Tuesday afternoon at Tejgaon, a suburb in Dhaka, the capital (pictured).

Ataur Rahman is chief of the military wing of the JMB, and is also the brother of Abdur Rahman, the commander of JMB. He is said to given the go-ahead for the mass bombings which happened on Aug 17.

Ataur Rahman would visit training camps and JMB cells in Shakipur and forests in Tangail, and he is implicated in the recent suicide attacks on courthouse buildings in Chittagong and Gazipur. The bomber from Chittagong, Hossain Ali, who survived for nearly two days with no legs nor hands, said that Ataur Rahman Sunny was the mastermind of all three attacks.

Ataur Rahman would visit the militant training camps in the forests in Kalian under Sakhipur, in Tangail. On November 23, Ataur Rahman's passport was discovered in a raid on a property in Rangpur, in conjunction with bomb-making paraphernalia.

When he was arrested by members of the paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), his confession led to another raid, in the Sabujbagh area of the capital, which led to the discovery of one of the largest caches of explosives, arms and ammunition yet found, as well as bomb- and bullet-making items. 50 kg of explosives, 27 grenades, dozens of detonators, 24 revolvers and magazines were retrieved in the haul.

Earlier on Tuesday night, Fariduzzaman Swapan, a close associate of Ataur Rahman who channelled JMB finances via bank accounts, was arrested in the city.

The Bangladesh Independent reports that three joint bank accounts of 7 leaders of JMB had been identified. The leaders of JMB had withdrawn Tk 11 lakh in one year. This figure, 1,100, 000 Bangladesh Taka, is equivalent to $16,700. Abdul Awal, who married Ataur Rahman's niece (Abdur's daughter) had another JMB account. He said during questioning that he had once drawn out Tk 18 lakh ($27,200) from this account.

The accounts had been opened in the names of businessman and non-government organisations. Earlier, the Bangladeshi government had expelled three members of the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS) were deported from Bangladesh. They were expelled not because of involvement with RIHS, but because of links to the group Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation.

Al-Haramain is a Saudi-originated international group which was designated by the US Treasury on September 9, 2004 as a terrorist organisation, in its actions to fund and underwrite terrorist operations. In March 2002, the Somalia and Bosnia-Herzegovina branches had been designated for diverting money to finance terrorism. This group is involved with the Oregon Jihad.

RIHS is said to have put up the financing for the August 17 bomb attacks, as we reported earlier, and has been on a US exclusion list since Jan 9, 2002, yet RIHS group also received a grant from the coalition government last month to set up madrassas, mosques, and training of imams.

Sunny was arrested following a tip-off that he would be visiting someone at a dormitory in the Polytechnic Institute in Tejgaon, and security operatives set themselves in place to await his arrival. As he entered the hostel, RAB officers swooped on him. It appears he did not have weapons on him, but he had some money and eight SIM cards.

Sunny, a member of JMB Majlish-e-Sura, used to run and coordinate all militant and terrorist operations, including the bomb attacks, of the banned organisation.

After the arrest, Sunny identified himself as commander Masuq Hassan Ahmed, director of JMB's legal and media wing, Rab told the press. But, Rab members became certain of his true identity by comparing his appearance with his photographs and varying some other information. And Sunny also owned up his real identity.

Their arrests led to the discovery of a cache of equipment that is not modest, including:

a blender bomb, seven flask bombs, 28 containers each containing 750gram ammonium nitrate, 29kg white and 3kg black gun powder, 500gram aluminium powder, 700gram potash, 200gram lead azide, 3.50kg sulphur, 69 pieces of powder gel explosives, 8kg chemical explosives, 20 hand grenades, two light guns, two dummy AK-47 rifles, one revolver and 38 electronic detonators.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:22 PM | Comments (0)

Australia: Were Four Churches Attacked By Muslims?

The recent riots in Sydney, which exploded on Sunday on Cronulla beach after two female life guards had been attacked by a Lebanese Muslim gang in the previous week, have continued.

The riots are being called in most of the world's press "race riots", but on the Sydney Morning Herald, a blogger said that the riots had become a clash of cultures. Andrew West withdrew his posting after it provoked racist and anti-racist accusations, but the Australian reprinted it. He had written:

Which brings us to this extremely prickly issue of radical Islam . . . Some strains of Islam do, indeed, sanction attitudes and behaviour that are not simply patriarchal but repressive. When groups of young Muslim men stalk the beaches of Sydney making sexually threatening comments against women in bathing costumes, as they indisputably do; and when they believe they act with the license of a sheik who claims that such women are responsible for their own sexual violation, is their religion, at least in part, to blame?

At a Uniting church in Auburn, a suburb of Sydney, early on Wednesday 14th, a community hall was burned entirely. In another incident on Monday, carol singers had been spat on and cars were hit with gunfire at St Joseph the Worker Primary School, states News.com.au.

According to CathNews, the incident at the carol service led to Cardinal George Pell asking gangs of Middle Eastern descent not to target Christmas celebrations."I am deeply concerned about the targeting of Christmas celebrations at schools for students as young as five years old," he said.

On Tuesday night, in Macquarie fields in the far southwest of Sydney, molotov cocktails were thrown at an Anglican church.

Police have said that the attack on the hall happened in an attempt to torch the Harold Wood Auburn Uniting Church next door. The St Thomas' Anglican Church, whose congregation is mainly Chinese, which also lies in Auburn, had its front windows smashed.

The Age stated that Jim Mein, Synod Moderator of the Uniting Church, claims the mainly Tongan congregation are "bewildered" by the arson attack. Radio Australia reports that James Latu of the Tongan Conference of Uniting Churches in Australia, said the hall was next door to a Muslim school (the al-Faisal College). He affirms that the two groups had always had a good relationship.

The Sydney Morning Herald states that police will now be paying "special attention" to religious institutions in Sydney.

Amjad Ali Mehboob of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils said worshippers at Omar Mosque in Auburn would hold a solidarity meeting at the Uniting Church after Friday prayers.

Hundreds of police were touring the suburbs in the south and west last night. News.com.au states that hundreds of police will be watching houses of worship.The text messages which helped to coordinate the arrival of non-Muslims en masse to Cronulla Beach on Sunday, have now started to appear beyond the state of New South Wales. Text messages urging people to commit copycat unrest have appeared in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia. The Courier Mail states that similar text messages have been circulating in New Zealand, though police believe some of these may be hoaxes. The Age mentions that one author of such text had been traced and spoken to. Many of those circulating the text messages urging "cracking skulls" turned out to be teenagers aged 15 to 16, bored with nothing to do.

The attacks on churches have changed the dynamics of the current situation, and now it can be more hard to dismiss the current problems as merely "gang-fights" or "race-riots". It appears that there are people who are genuinely trying to invoke the "clash of civilisations". The age-old battle of faiths, believed to be laid to rest in the past of the West, is now being summoned into the present.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:54 PM | Comments (0)

Israel: Islamic Jihad Leader Wounded in Air Strike

Arutz Sheva reports that within the last hour (at 9.14 pm) the leader of Islamic Jihad, was injured in an air strike by Israel Defence Force.

There had been air attacks hours previously against Arab terrorists. Khader Habib was hit but not killed, state news agencies,

There was retaliatory rocket and mortar fire, with a mortar landing on the western Negev, between two kibbutzim.

The Qatar-based Peninsula states that the attack on Khader Habib's car left him with minor injuries. The attack took place in the Al Shejaiyeh district of Gaza city, where hours before, an Israeli drone had fired two missiles at a vehicle, killing four people.

Mohammed Al Hindi, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad vowed retribution. "The attempted assassination of one of Islamic Jihad's political leaders is a very dangerous move. It is our right to answer these crimes of the occupation," he said.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:34 PM | Comments (0)

Iran: Messianic Influences of Islamist Leader Who Attacks Israel - Again

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has already shocked the international community with his comments against Israel, which he made on October 26. He addressed a conference entitled "World Without Zionism" in which he said that Israel should be "wiped off the map", and at a meeting with Palestinians, he stated that "that a world without the US and Israel would be possible."

His comments against Israel brought outraged responses from various world governments, including Russia, an ally of Iran. Kofi Annan of the United Nations said he was "dismayed" by the statements. Even the leadership of the EU, which had consistently called for a diplomatic solution to the issue of illegal nuclear reprocessing at Isfahan, said in a joint statement "Calls for violence and for the destruction of any state are manifestly inconsistent with any claim to be a mature and responsible member of the international community".

On December 8, he made a comment that Europe should host the nation of Israel on its soil. He also said: "Some European countries insist on saying that Hitler killed millions of innocent Jews in furnaces. Although we don't accept this claim..."

These comments which were made at Mecca, at the meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit meeting, as reported by Malaysia's Star. He cast doubt upon the notion of the holocaust, but his views were generally overlooked by the 57 nation OIC leaders. They said Israel should withdraw to its 1967 borders, and no more. Their final resolution was to promote moderate interpretations of Islam, interpretations which are the polar opposite of Ahmadinejad's plans.

Analysts said Ahmadinejad was styling himself after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, spiritual father of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

"He views himself as a leader of the world's Muslims, but it is interesting how very few Friday prayer leaders across the Islamic world picked up on his remarks," said one Iranian political analyst who asked not to be named.

Ali Ansari, of Scotland's St Andrews University, agreed Ahmadinejad was looking like an anachronism.

"The world has moved on," he said

He has again belittled the holocaust as a "myth" manufactured by the West, and suggested that Europe Canada or the US should have Jewish nation on their soil. He said that the West "fabricated a myth under the name 'Massacre of the Jews,' and they hold it higher than God himself, religion itself and the prophets themselves".

He was speaking to supporters at Sistan-Baluchestan province in the south-east of the country, and the speech was broadcast live in state television.

"If you say and insist it's true that you killed 6 million Jews in crematoria during World War II, then why should the Palestinians pay for that? Our proposal is that you give a piece of your land in Europe, the U.S., Canada or Alaska. If you do that, the Iranian people will no longer protest against you," he said.

So what is going on? Once again he is in the world headlines, once again Western leaders are angered and critical, having reactions which would increase Ahmadinejad's approval rating among the extremists.

Today, in reference to his comments at the OIC, a Jewish writer, Jonathan Freedland, has an insightful article in today's Guardian. Freeland notes that in the Iranian fundamentalist newspaper Resalat, the holocaust denial comments are praised. "Many revisionist historians believe the story of the Holocaust is fake and have proved it by much evidence and documents", it states. The Siyasat-e Ruz commends Ahadinejad for "revealing the truth".

Freedland concluded:

Today's Muslims should want no part of such ignorance or bigotry. It demeans them. So Azzam Tamimi of the Muslim Association of Britain is to be applauded for his implicit condemnation of Ahmadinejad at the Stop the War conference at the weekend, telling his audience that, whatever their views, they could not deny the fact of the Holocaust. Now the Muslim Council of Britain should follow his lead, and that of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in the US, which also condemned this preacher of hate. And those non-Muslim progressives who have made alliances with Islamists should do the same. It may mean some uncomfortable conversations - but the days of denial must end.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was last exposed to the westernised US-approved world of the Shah while still a young man, and maybe that is why he is stuck in a timewarp from the period of the rise of the Islamic Revolution. He appears to be trying to muster support from the Islamic malcontents around the globe, aggrieved with the treatment of Palestinian comrades in the ummah. But Ahmadinejad is not an Ayatollah Khomeini. He is the first non-clerical president in Iran for 24 years. Ahmadinejad did not become president in a landslide vote. When Ayatollah Khomeini flew in to Iran from his exile in Paris to take charge of the country it was a mass national event.

Ahmadinejad was elected sixth president of the Islamic Republic of Iran on June 28, 2005, and assumed the role of president in August. He had been previously elected as mayor of Tehran in May 3, 2003, where he had gained a reputation as a counter-reformist.

He was born into a blacksmith's family in Garmsar, near Tehran, on 28 October, 1956. He is one of seven children, but he graduated from the University of Science and Technology in Tehran, where he gained a PhD in traffic and transport. He had been a civil engineer and also a lecturer at the same university he graduated from.

According to the BBC:

Several of the 52 Americans who were held hostage in the US embassy in the months after the revolution say they are certain Mr Ahmadinejad was among those who captured them.

Al Jazeera states:

As a young student, Ahmadinejad joined an ultraconservative faction of the Office for Strengthening Unity, the radical student group spawned by the 1979 Islamic Revolution and staged the capture of the US Embassy.

According to reports, Ahmadinejad attended planning meetings for the US Embassy takeover and at these meetings lobbied for a simultaneous takeover of the Soviet Embassy.

One person with a massive influence both spiritually and politically on the President is Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi. This man, according to a report from the Telegraph from 20 November, is known as "Professor Crocodile" by his students, on account of his harsh fundamentalism. He has said "If someone tells you he has a new interpretation of Islam, sock him in the mouth."

Mesbah-Yazdi, who is based in the Haqqani seminary at the holy city of Qom, north of Tehran, is firmly against America, and supports public floggings and hangings. When Ahmadinejad first stood as a candidate in this year's elections, he was virtually unknown outside of metropolitan Tehran. Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi issued a fatwa to support Ahmadinejad's bid for presidency, and this surely affected his profile, and the outcome of the election. According to Rooz Online, Ahmadinejad's sister personally went to Mesbah-Yazdi to thank him for his support.

Ahmadinejad's own supporters have copied the rhetoric associated with Mesbah-Yasbi. According to Global Security: "Ahmadinejad's supporters said he "will punch in the mouth" all those who advocate relations with the United States."

Mesbah-Yasbi is becoming a hugely influential figure, and the Iranian president is gaining his spiritual guidance from this man, whose website can be seen here.

In August two years ago, according to Iran Mania, Mesbah-Yazdi fiercely opposed an extremely mild concession to women's rights which were to be brought in only if they did not contradict the tenets of Islam. "Unfortunately, parliament has passed a bill that has at least 90 points against Islam," he grumbled.

It appears that Ahmadinejad has a worrying faith in Mesbah-Yasdi, and an unhealthy interest in supernatural issues. Reuters, via Iranian.ws stated on November 17th that in a speech to senior clerics, he had stated his belief in a prophecy. He said that there would be a second coming of Shi'ite Muslims' "hidden" 12th Imam.

According to Shi'ite Muslim teaching, Abul-Qassem Mohammad, the 12th leader whom Shi'ites consider descended from the Prophet Mohammed, disappeared in 941 but will return at the end of time to lead an era of Islamic justice.

"Our revolution's main mission is to pave the way for the reappearance of the 12th Imam, the Mahdi," Ahmadinejad said in the speech to Friday Prayers leaders from across the country.

"Therefore, Iran should become a powerful, developed and model Islamic society."

The belief of the Hojjatieh Society is that the way to hasten the return of the Mahdi, the 12th Imam, is to create chaos in the world. The Haqqani madrassa, the spiritual fiefdom of Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi, was founded by the Hojjatieh.

If his spiritual guru believes that chaos is the way to bring on a messianic transcendence, then President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is already adding to the sum total of the world's chaos, could be more dangerous than any other leader.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 4:09 PM | Comments (0)

Iran: Russia's Mufti Praises Regime For Reviving "Real Islam"

An article from Iran's IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency), reproduced in full:

Majlis speaker underlines integration of religion, politics

Iran's Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel on Tuesday ruled out the idea that religion is separated from politics, saying such an idea is spread by dictators and their protege regimes.

Imam Khomeini, founder of Islamic Republic, rejected the idea and introduced Islam as a universal religion to the world, he noted in a meeting with Chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin.

He maintained that the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran as well as the disintegration of the former Soviet Union are regarded as the major events taking place in the 20th century.

"We are pleased that Russian Muslims now enjoy more freedom after the collapse (of the former Soviet Union)," he said, adding that the geographical proximity of the two powerful countries (Iran and Russia) would serve to restore security and stability to the world.

The Iranian official appreciated the support Russian clerics have shown to the suppressed Palestinians and their efforts to observe the Qods Day initiated by the late Imam Khomeini.

The Islamic Revolution in Iran is considered as the most important event in the contemporary era which has revived the real Islam in the world, said the Russian Mufti Gainutdin.

He likened the message of Imam Khomeini to Gorbachev to a messenger's message, saying, "At that time, Gorbachev confessed that he was thrilled by the philosophical content of the message." Elsewhere, he said that promotion of relations between Iran and Russia will serve the interests of both nations and those of the region.

He also hailed Iran's support for Palestinians and said that Russian Muslims support Iran's stance towards Palestine.

He thanked Iran's cooperation with Russia within the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

Haddad Adel, heading a parliamentary delegation, arrived in Moscow for a three-day visit Monday at the invitation of his Russian counterpart.

COMMENTARY: Despite the implications within the article, Russian Mufti Gainutdin, is not THE Russian Mufti, Muhammedgali Khuzin.

We have mentioned Rival Gainutdin before, on December 2 where he was venting his outrage against a controversial book written by Roman Silantyev, executive secretary of the Inter-Religious Council. This book was made the subject of rancour because it claimed that there were 500,000 and 1,000,000 extremist Muslims in Russia. Gainutdin threatened to leave the Inter-Religious Council unless it condemned the book.

In September, Gainutdin demanded that Muslims should have their own vice-presidential post to have representation in the Russian government.

The OIC conference was attended by a delegation from Russia, which included another Mufti, the Chief Mufti of Tatarstan, Gusman-hazrat, who had argued that the Russian national flag is too "Christian".

Gainutdin, who is chairman of the Russian Council of Muftis, discussed in October the need for Russia to be included in the 57 states of the OIC.

"Russia's joining the OIC is the support by authorities of our country of the Muslim umma of Russia," said Mufti Gainutdin. "This is one more testimony to the fact that the followers of Islam in Russia can freely profess their religion, as well as continually be in touch with fellow believers both within and outside the country."

The "real Islam" of Iran, as practised by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is a reversion to the first days of the Ayatollah, and a deliberate retalliation against 7 years of reforming influences, most popularly represented by the last president, Ayatollah Khatami.

Ahmadinejad has once again unleashed his anti-Jewish invective, and is still talking about removing Israel entirely, and relocating its population to Europe or America. He dismisses the Holocaust as a "myth", according to Bloomberg today.

Russia is an ally with Iran, but has criticised the vicious anti-semitic remarks coming from Iran's dangerous and delusional hardline president. If Gainutdin really believes what he is saying about how great an exemplar of "real Islam" Iran is, when it is rapidly being turned into an authoritarian and totalitarian state, I fear for Russia's Muslims. If the best example of an Islamic country is Iran, then this Mufti may decide to try and see that same medievalist interpretation brought about in Russia.

When Russian civilians were held hostage in the Moscow Nord-Ost theatre siege by Chechen Islamists in October 2002, Gainutdin led prayers for the hostages. He held prayers on juma-namaz day at Moscow Cathedral Mosque, the main mosque of Russian Muslims, to ask for the hostages' safety. Gaunutdin seems to forget that one of the first actions of Iran's Islamist Revolution was to break all international law and allow the staff of the US embassy in Tehran to be held hostage.

Iran is ruled by a despot, who aims to have a nuclear weapon. One hopes Ahmadinejad never gets a chance to own nuclear weaponry. He is stupid enough to use it.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 12:46 PM | Comments (0)

Holland: Interpreter Who Leaked To Islamists Is Jailed

We reported earlier that a translator formerly employed by the Dutch intelligence group, AIVD, was accused of leaking critical information to members of the Hofstad Group.

Today, Expatica reports that the 34 year old man, known to the press only as Outman Ben A., has been jailed for four and a half years at a court in Rotterdam.

He had translated Arabic into Dutch for AIVD. Prosecutors had sought an eight year prison term. He has already been in custody for a year, so he will be free before May, 2009.

Ben A. is said to have passed on confidential information, including transcripts of phone taps, to people linked with terror investigations, including one member of the Hofstad Group, called A. H. on 5 August 2004. He also sent M. B. (Mohamed Bouyeri, the killer of Theo Van Gogh) a report on AIVD's examination of the group. 14 members of this group, including Mohamed Bouyeri, are currently on trial in the Hague, in a case which began on December 5.

Outman Ben A. had also been accused of emailing Dutch-Moroccan activist Said Bellari to tell him that his telephone was being bugged.

The presiding judge at the trial clarified that the assumption that Ben A. had deliberately joined AIVD with the intention to steal information could not be ruled out.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:36 AM | Comments (0)

Spain: Three Algerians Charged For Supporting Islamist Group

We reported on December 9 on the arrests of seven Algerians in the Costa del Sol in Spain.

Yesterday, court officials announced that three men from among those detained have been charged with collaborating with an armed group, states CBS11tv, and have been remanded in custody until their trial.

An Algerian woman was set free without charge. Three suspects - an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo a Spanish woman and an Algerian man, are still being questioned.

The individuals are believed to have given logistical and financial support to the Algerian Islamist group, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). This group has been at war with the Algerian government since 1992, when a military coup annulled the results of an election which would have allowed religious parties to win.

The group was offered a chance of an amnesty in Algeria. On Thursday September 29, the country went to the polls to decide by referendum if outlawed Islamist gangs, who have killed at least 150,000 people since 1992, should be given an amnesty.

The people decided to have an amnesty, but within hours of the referendum results being announced on Saturday October 1st that the GSPC announced that "The Jihad will go on ... we have promised God to continue the Jihad and the combat." Within two days, they had killed three civilians.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:44 AM | Comments (0)

US: Pentagon to Investigate Islam Itself

Well, about darn time. By not studying Mohammad's message, we are doing the equivalent of not studying Marx's writings during the cold war. I just wish the progress in this matter was faster. Paul Perry in Frontpage explains: The Pentagon Breaks the Islam Taboo

[...]So far the conclusions of intelligence analysts assigned to the project, who include both private contractors and career military officials, contradict the commonly held notion that Islam is a peaceful religion hijacked or distorted by terrorists. They've found that the terrorists for the most part are following a war-fighting doctrine articulated through Muhammad in the Quran, elaborated on in the hadiths, codified in Islamic or sharia law, and reinforced by recent interpretations or fatwahs.

"Islam is an ideological engine of war (Jihad)," concludes the sensitive Pentagon briefing paper. And "no one is looking for its off switch."

Why? One major reason, the briefing states, is government-wide "indecision [over] whether Islam is radical or being radicalized."

So, which is it? "Strategic themes suggest Islam is radical by nature," according to the briefing, which goes on to cite the 26 chapters of the Quran dealing with violent jihad and the examples of the Muslim prophet, who it says sponsored "terror and slaughter" against unbelievers.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 7:55 AM | Comments (0)

December 13, 2005

US: Islamist Camp in Oregon - Man Charged

Back in August, we wrote of Haroon Rashid Aswat, (pictured) who is currently in detention in Britain, suspected of planning the 7/7 bombings. He was arrested in Zambia shorly after 7/7 and was under an extradition order to the United States over a plan to set up a training camp in Bly, Oregon. While he awaits the possibility of a trial over 7/7 and al Qaeda membership in the UK, it may be a while before Aswat is extradited to the US.

Another man who is named in the extradition order is Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, a.k.a. Abu Hamza al-Masri. (pictured, right), who is currently in Belmarsh awaiting deportation to Egypt. Aswat and hook-handed Abu Hamza were both involved in the infamous Finsbury Park Mosque in North London, and are believed to have helped set up Britain's now-disbanded extremist/terror group, Al-Muhajiroun.

According to a July report by CNN, the US Justice Department charged James Ujaama from Seattle with giving material support for terrorism for proposing the Oregon terror camp. Ujaama (pictured below, left) pleaded guilty to conspiring to support the Taliban in April 2003.

In a plea agreement, his sentencing was dropped from the potential of ten years' imprisonment, as he promised to give evidence against Abu Hamza. The Justice Department suggested he should serve only two years in prison (including the time he has already spent in custody), and to have three years' of supervised release.

The Guardian wrote:

Ujaama had a reputation in Seattle for helping minority ethnic children avoid drugs, and published books on how to be an entrepreneur. The Washington state legislature recognised his efforts by declaring June 10, 1994, James Ujaama Day.

A fourth man was mentioned in the July CNN report - Oussama Kassir. He is the "conspirator number 2" in the Ujaama case. In Ujaama's indictment, it is alleged men identified as 1 and 2 came to New York on Nov 26, 1999, and then went to Oregon "for the purpose of evaluating the Bly property as a jihad training camp."

Apparently, the location at Bly, 50 miles east of Klamath Falls, was deemed by Kassir to be too small, even though it looked like Afghanistan, according to one of the conspirators. Kassir is reported to have turned down the idea of establishing a camp because there were not enough recruits.

In 1998, according to the Guardian, Kassir was in prison in Sweden, convicted for threatening a policeman. According to ABC News, Oussama Kassir, a Lebanese-born Swede, was convicted of weapons violations in Sweden in 2003. In September 2003, Kassir, who was then 37, was charged under new anti-terror laws of "planning a terrorist crime". However, only a few days later, according to Rantburg, on October 25, the terror charges were dropped for insufficient evidence. Agnetha Hilding Qvarnstroem, the prosecutor stated that a number of weapons were confiscated from Kassir's apartment.

In Ujaama's trial it was alleged that Kassir called himself a "hitman for Bin Laden", and an active supporter of al-Qaeda, from FBI sources.

Today, KATU.com states that Oussama Kassir has been charged with the plot to set up the training camp in Bly.

Oussama Kassir had been arrested in Prague, the Czech Republic, on Sunday, and is currently being detained in the Czech Republic while extradition orders are prepared in the US.

With Kassir in detention, the indictment against him was unsealed in a US District Court in Manhattan.

Prosecutors claim a witness saw Kassir in possession of a compact disc with information about improvising poisons.

In a press release, Alice S. Fisher, Assistant Attorney General, stated "Supporters of terrorism must know that they should not feel safe in trying to hide overseas. We will work to bring these individuals to justice, however long it takes."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:55 PM | Comments (0)

Opinion: A Tale of Two Moms

Lee Harris explains why our societies cannot be compared to the cult of death that exists in some Muslim societies. Sadly, we will have to become like them in many respects if we wish to survive: A Tale of Two Moms

Mariam Farhat, a 56 year old mother, will be running alongside her male colleagues in the upcoming January elections for the Palestinian parliament, and, by all accounts, she will easily win a seat, due to her enormous popularity among the Palestinians. At first glance, this might seem like good news: a Muslim female who has the will to play an active role in the future of her country, and who is supported in her ambitions by the male-dominated political party to which she belongs. But, unfortunately, the party that is backing her is the terrorist organization Hamas, and her popularity is based on her well-deserved reputation as "the mother of martyrs."

Mariam Farhat got her nickname because three of her sons died either during an attack on Israeli settlers in Gaza or else while preparing for such an attack. Yet a good bit of her immense popularity must be attributed to a video that Hamas is using as part of its electoral campaign -- a video in which Mrs. Farhat is shown advising her son Mohammed on how to kill Israelis, and in which she herself is seen toting a gun, like a Palestinian Ma Barker. Mohammed, by the way, was just seventeen -- not old enough to buy cigarettes in the USA.

Mother's tactical advice must have been first-rate, because Mohammed was able to kill five Israeli settlers before he was himself whisked away to join the ranks of the martyrs in paradise. No wonder she is seen as "a sure vote-winner," as the writer of a Reuters news story breathlessly reported. Who could resist a woman who has happily sacrificed three sons to the cause of wiping Israel off the map, and who still has three more sons left to give the same sacred cause?[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 8:33 PM | Comments (0)

US: Saudi Prince to Poison America's Muslim Studies

What passes for "Islamic Studies" in America's Universities is already a joke. Gifts like this one have helped paved the way to the current situation, where our centers of learning have become centers of propaganda for the enemy. (Yes, I absolutely mean that.) Although it is not as if our Universities needed any impulse to give aid and comfort to the enemy: Saudi prince donates millions to universities for study of Islam

WASHINGTON - A prominent Saudi businessman said Monday that he is donating $20 million each to Georgetown and Harvard universities for the study of Islam and the Muslim world as part of his philanthropic efforts to promote interfaith understanding.

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, a member of the Saudi royal family, said in a telephone interview from the Saudi capital of Riyadh that he also has donated $15 million to establish the Middle East's first two centers for American studies, at universities in Beirut and Cairo.

"As you know, since the 9/11 events, the image of Islam has been tarnished in the West," said Alwaleed, who is chairman of the Riyadh-based Kingdom Holding Co. and has extensive business holdings in Europe and the United States.

Gee, I wonder why "Prince". At any rate, do read the whole piece of propaganda in the link if you are feeling up to it.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 1:30 PM | Comments (0)

Lebanon: UN to "Debate" Findings of Hariri Investigation

It is now clear Syrian Dictator Bashar al-Assad ordered Hariri's murder. The real question becomes, does the UN has the will to do anything about it? UN to debate latest Hariri report

The United Nations Security Council is due to debate the latest report into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

A UN inquiry team says it has fresh evidence to reinforce earlier findings of Syrian involvement in the murder.

It also repeats accusations against Syria of obstructing the investigation.

Damascus strongly denies any involvement in the killing, and insists it is co-operating with the inquiry.

Mr Hariri, who had called for the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, was killed in a massive car bomb in Beirut in February.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 1:27 PM | Comments (0)

December 12, 2005

Pakistan: Islamic Group Reacts to US Ambassador's Comments

From IRNA, the Islamic Republic News Agency, mouthpiece of Iran's Islamist regime:

Pakistani Islamic group angrily reacts to US ambassador's remarks

An Islamic group in Pakistan has angrily reacted to remarks by American ambassador, who asked the government not to allow extremist Islamic groups to work in the earthquake-hit Kashmir.

U.S ambassador in Islamabad Ryan C. Crocker expressed concern over the relief activities of what he called Jehadi organizations in quake affected areas and pointed out that the banned group Lashkar Tayeba is using new name of Jamaat ud Dawaa.

"Jamaat ud Dawaa is busy only in relief work to help the earthquake survivors. We are not involved in militancy.
So no one should be concerned at our relief activities, Jamaat ud Dawaa central spokesman Yahya Mujahid's said over phone from Lahore when his reaction was sought.

We are only helping helpless people.

"The US ambassador reaction to our relief activities is not justified," Mujahid said.

Jamaat ud Dawaa spokesman said the group was among the first relief organizations to reach the quake-hit zone and took part in the rescue and relief operations.

We have set up tent villages for shelter and are providing food and medical facilities to thousands of survivors, who are in dire need of help, the spokesman said.

He also referred to the last month reported remarks of President General Pervez Musharraf, who praised relief activities of Jamaat ud Dawaa and al-Rashid trust.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)

Philippines: Two Soldiers Killed in Islamist Gunfight

We reported on the incident on the Philippines island of Jolo, Sulu province, from November 11, when a group of soldiers on patrol near the village of Buwansa were ambushed by a group of 300 Islamist rebels.

The incident led to a skirmish in which four soldiers were killed. The soldiers had encountered a group led by Radullan Sahiron of the Islamist terror group Abu Sayyaf. Sahiron is made distinctive by his having no left arm, and he rides a horse. He has a bounty on his head of 5 million pesos, or $90,000, and he has been involved with various atrocities against villagers he has deemed to be "collaborators". He is involved with 21 kidnapping incidents. Recently, the US, which is training Filipino soldiers on Jolo, has frozen Sahiron's assets.

Sahiron was fighting with breakaway members of the Moro National Liberation Front, or MNLP. We described earlier some of the background of the Abu Sayyaf group and its current links with rebels from MNLF who support its deposed and imprisoned former leader, Nir Misauri.

The fighting had claimed the lives of six soldiers by November 26, and had seen 25 wounded. On 25 November, 15 rebels were killed in a gun battle on the island.

Today, Channel News Asia reports that two soldiers have been killed and eleven wounded in an ambush near the town on Patikul on Monday.

The renewed combat involved a group of 50 Islamist gunmen. The total military dead since November 11, when the fighting began, is nine, with 38 wounded.

Keywords: Radullon Sahiron, Radullan Sahiron, Radilon Sahiron

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:26 PM | Comments (0)

UK: Man Jailed For Assaulting Disabled Mosque Leader

A report from the BBC states that Richard Wallace from Rotherhithe, London, aged 27 (pictured) attacked an imam in Maidstone.

The 53-year old imam, Arshed Mahmood, needs crutches to walk. As he was leaving his mosque on August 21 this year, Wallace attacked him.

Wallace, who had been drinking before the incident, punched the imam in the face, hit him with a beer glass, and threw his crutches away. He shouted racist and obscene language as he assaulted Mr Mahmood.

Wallace, formerly a ticket inspector on London Transport, pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to assault causing grievous bodily harm, and was sentenced to three years' jail for the attack. Because the offence was deemed "racially aggravated", Wallace received a further 18 months' imprisonment.

The judge, Andrew Patience, said: "Racism, in whatever form, is an evil that society will not tolerate."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:41 PM | Comments (0)

Bangladesh: Islamic Politicians Threaten Violence, Islamists Threaten Women

The situation in Bangladesh is becoming critical. Recently, the leader of the coalition government invited the opposition to talks on the situation, which were turned down. Despite the absence of the Awami League and 13 other parties, the talks begin today at the office of the Prime Minister, Khaleda Zia.

The suicide bomb attacks on courthouses in Chittagong and Gazipur on November 29 and again at Gazipur courthouse on Thursday December 8 have put the country into a state of panic.

Since a wave of bomb attacks by Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) on 17 August this year, the actions of these Islamist terrorists have become increasingly more violent and extreme.

On August 17, where about 450 bombs were set off in 63 of the country's 64 districts, killing two people and injuring more than 100, leaflets were left at the scenes of each blast, from JMB. These letters demanded that Sharia law be applied in Bangladesh.

Similar letters have been posted to various authorities since that time, warning that sharia law was to be imposed. These letters warned of threats against the judiciary, and the first wave of bombs hit courthouses in three towns on October 3, killing two and injuring 15, including a judge. Letters were present when they managed to kill their first two judges in a bomb attack on November 13 in Jhalakathi.

Letters have been sent by JMB to the Bar Association before the attack on the Gazipur Bar Association building on November 28th, they have threatened schools, jails and police stations. All letters have demanded an institution of sharia law.

On Friday, Reuters announced that a demand had been sent to a Dhaka newspaper, hours after the bomb attack in Netrakona on Thursday (Dec 8).

This letter threatened that any woman not wearing a veil will be killed. The date from which summary executions will be in the New Year. "Women will be killed if they are found to move around without wearing burqa (veil) from the first day of Jilhaj," it read. Jilhaj occurs early in January. "Women, including non-Muslims, are hereby advised not to go out of home without burqa. Seclusion has been made compulsory for you," the letter warned.

One of the main people involved with Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh is Bangla Bhai (real name Siddiqul Islam), who is also involved with Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), another Islamist group which aims to establish a sharia state. In the northern areas of Bagmara thana and Gabtoli in Bogra where Bangla Bhai has influence, women there are pressured to wear veils.

The somewhat ludicrous state of political affairs in Bangladesh, which was elected the most corrupt nation in one survey, for the fourth year running, by Transparency International, a Berlin-based monitoring organisation, is becoming a farce.

The Awami League have been critical of the government, whose minister for Home Affairs, Luftozzaman Babar stated on January this year: "We don't know officially about the existence of the JMB. Only some so-called newspapers are publishing reports on it. We don't have their constitution in our record." (Asian Times).

The government has been in power for four years, a coalition between the majority Bangladesh National Party (BNP) with the two Islamist parties, the Jamaat-e-Islami and the smaller Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ).

The IOJ and also the Jamaat-e-Islami have both been accused by the Awami League of having members who openly support the JMB. The Islami Oikya Jote have responded by claiming that the Awami League have been behind the bombings, even though they were subjected to bomb attacks in 2004.

The Jamaat-e-Islami claimed in the immediate aftermath of the August 17 Bombings that the Awami League must have been involved with the bombings, according to South Asia Analysis Group. The JeI stated that, at a rally in Dhaka, the Awami League conducted the unprecedented blasts as part of a blue print to make the country politically unstable.

At the same time, members of the BNP were also accusing the Awami League of involvement with the blasts:

Another ruling party MP, Deputy Minister for Land Ruhul Quddus Talukder said, "I don't think they (JMB) have such a strong network. Awami League must have done this using fake leaflets to destroy Bangladesh's image internationally."

The situation in the country has now reached a crisis of fear and uncertainty, and the tone of the rhetoric has become more serious. The Awami Leaque, has demanded that unless the government can stop the campaign of bombing, they will organise a protest movement to have them ousted, states New Nation.

Today, the Daily Star reports that the leader of one Mosque Association has threatened "dire consequences" for anyone in the media who cover "unfounded" reports against the Jamaat-e-Islami party.

Mufti Abul Kashem was addressing a rally in the southwestern city of Khulna on Sunday, in a protest against the bombings by the extremists.

He further threatened to demolish the newspaper offices that will publish any story implicating the Jamaat and other Islamist parties with the outlawed Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh and its destructive activities.

Hearing the threat, the journalists present at the rally moved to safer places.

Last week, the Daily Star reported that the RIHS, which is Kuwaiti based, and has been on a US State Department "exclusion list" since Jan 9 2002, is still operating with impunity in Bangladesh. And just days before the attacks on court buildings on November 29, the government approved a massive grant to the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society.

Among the contractors are some associates of the arrested militant leader Dr Asadullah Al Galib and his second-in-command Abdus Samad Salafi, said a reliable source.

The fund was released after RIHS' regional director general for Asia, Abu Khaled Falah Al Mutairee and its country director general, Abdul Aziz Khalaf Maalullah, both Kuwaiti citizens, lobbied the government till November 25 during their six-day visit to Bangladesh, said sources.

Today, the Daily Star reports that intelligence sources have claimed that five terrorist training camps have been found in Tangail, and there at still 30 members of suicide groups distributed throughout the district, waiting for their signal to become "operational".

JMB started its operations in Tangail in 2000 it seems, establishing bases at Ahle Hadith mosques, at Balla and Rampur under Kalihati upazila, and at Delduar upazila sadar and its adjacent areas. Ahle Hadith Andolon Bangladesh (AHAB) is an organisation founded by Dr Asadullah Al Ghalib.

JMB trained militants in the forests at Kalian under Sakhipur, and Ataur Rahman Sunny, younger brother of Shaikh Abdur Rahman also the chief of the military wing of the banned outfit, would visit, one source claimed.

Tangail police arrested at least 50 militants from different upazilas of the district since August 17. At least two of the arrested are members of suicide squads.

Intelligence sources said at least 200 JMB cadres still remain in the district. At least 30 of them were trained in suicide attacks. Twelve of the trained 30 are from Delduar upazila, six from Kalihati, six from Sakhipur, three from Basail, two from Nagarpur, and one is from Ghatail upazila.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 2:14 AM | Comments (0)

Australia: "Race Riot" Breaks Out

As always, not a word about religion in the article. Only at the very end there is a mysterious mention of "Islamic Leaders" blaming radio talk show hosts. I wonder if we'll ever know the truth on this one: Battle on beach as mob vows to defend 'Aussie way of life'

TENSIONS between young white gangs and youths of mainly Middle Eastern origin erupted on one of Australia's most popular beaches yesterday in what police condemned as a racially motivated rally driven by a mob mentality.

Thousands of people, many chanting racial slurs, were engaged in running battles on Cronulla Beach in Sydney’s southern suburbs.

At least 13 people were hurt, including five police, and 12 were arrested during the clashes, which followed a week of mounting anger over an attack on two lifeguards who were beaten up by a gang of Lebanese youths.

Furious locals, many wielding empty beer bottles and waving Australian flags, shouted anti-Middle Eastern slogans as they marched across the sand, on which was written "100 per cent Aussie pride".

One white teenager had the words "
We grew up here, you flew here" painted across his back. As the crowd moved along the beach and foreshore, one man on the back of a truck shouted: "No more Lebs [Lebanese]", a chant picked up by the group around him. Others carried Australian flags and dressed in Australian sports shirts.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 12:36 AM | Comments (2)

UK: Islamists of Hizb ut-Tahrir March in London

On Saturday, about 8,000 Muslims marched from Parliament Square to a rally in Hyde Park, according to the BBC.

The march was aimed at voicing protest against the government's plans to outlaw the group Hizb ut-Tahrir, listed in a clause of the new anti-terror bill currently receiving its second reading in the House of Lords.

The meeting was addressed by speakers including the spokesman for HIzb ut Tahrir in the UK, Dr Imran Waheed (pictured, right). He said: "We will continue to stand up for justice and call on all people of conscience to prevent the silencing of thought, the muzzling of criticism and the repression of dissent under the pretence of fighting terrorism."

As well as criticising the anti-terror laws, the rally addressed the issue of the extradition of Babar Ahmad to the US, to face charges of terrorism.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in Germany and Russia, and the Muslim states of central Asia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. What is it that makes it so threatening when it claims to be against violent conflict? The BBC gave a brief assessment of the group. More information can be found from World Press.org.

Hizb ut-Tahrir has been around for about 50 years. Its name means "party of liberation". It was founded in Jerusalem in 1953 by an Islamic jurist, Taqiuddin al-Nabhani. The basic aim of the group is to form an Islamic state which includes the entire Middle East, in what is called a Caliphate.

The last Caliphate was the Ottoman Caliphate, which was brought to an end by Kemal Ataturk in 1924. The new Caliphate would respect no current government, as they would have no meaning in a pan-Islamic superstate. Arab governments take them seriously for them to be banned in virtually all Arab states.

According to its own website, the desire to create a Caliphate is not the end product in their ambitions: "It also aims to bring back the Islamic guidance for mankind and to lead the Ummah into a struggle with Kufr, its systems and its thoughts so that Islam encapsulates the world."

Kufr or Kaffir means "the infidel", the non-Muslim. This "leading into a struggle" is the ominous subtext which alarms so many about the group. Though they profess to be against violence, they would enable or support those who would overthrow any government.

Perhaps one should remember that a previous leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain was Omar Bakri-Mohamed, who is now in exile in Lebanon. Bakri was involved with al-Muhajiroun, who were suspected of involvement with the bombing of Mike's Bar in Tel Aviv by Asif Hanif, which killed three people in April, 2003.

Bakri was also involved with the successors to al-Muhajiroun, the Saviour Sect and the al-Ghurabaa group. He notoriously called the four Muslims who killed 52 people on 7/7 "the fantastic four". Hizb ut-Tahrir may claim to be a non-violent group, but overthrowing of governments rarely happens without bloodshed. And they officially support in principle the actions of suicide bombers in Israel.

In March and April 2002, Hizb Ut Tahrir handed out leaflets in a square in Copenhagen, and at a mosque. The leaflet, which also appeared on the Danish groups internet site, makes threats against Jews, using a quote from the Koran urging Muslims to 'kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have been turned you out.' The leaflet also said, 'The Jews are a people of slander...a treacherous people... they fabricate lies and twist words from their right context.' And the leaflet describes suicide bombings in Israel as "legitimate" acts of "Martyrdom".

"Its aim is to resume the Islamic way of life and to convey the Islamic da'wah to the world. This objective means bringing the Muslims back to living an Islamic way of life in Dar al-Islam and in an Islamic society such that all of life's affairs in society are administered according to the Shari'ah rules, and the viewpoint in it is the halal and the haram under the shade of the Islamic State, which is the Khilafah State."

The report encountered many Muslims who were critical of Hizb ut-Tahrir and its methods, but were unwilling, or scared, to be seen publicly condemning the group. The report quoted a Muslim leader who only spoke on a condition of anonymity:

" I believe that if Hizb Ut Tahrir are not stopped at this stage, and we continue to let them politicise and pollute the youngsters minds and other gullible people minds, then what will happen in effect is that these terrorism acts and these suicide bombings that we hear going on around in foreign countries, we will actually start seeing these incidents happening outside our doorsteps."

Global Security describe Hizb ut-Tahrir's proposed three-step strategy for overthrowing governments:

The first involves educating Muslims about its philosophies and goals. In the second step, the Muslims would then spread these views among others in their countries, especially members of government, the military and other power centers. In the third and final step, Hizb ut-Tahrir believes its faithful will cause secular governments to crumble because loyalties will then lie solely with Islam - not nationalities, politics or ethnic identifications.

Until 7/7, some Islamic groups in Britain have felt a freedom to express views which in some senses could be termed seditious. In Russia, Hizb ut-Tahrir is treated with some contempt. Since events in Beslan and the Nord-Ost theatre siege, the goodwill for Islamic fundamentalist demands has worn thin.

The Muslim states of central Asia would, like Arab nations, be politically homogenised by Hizb ut Tahrir's all-enveloping Caliphate, so there is a tough stance taken against them there. In Tajikistan in 2004, 70 members of the group were arrested, and in September, nine received prison sentences ranging from 13 to 15 years for crimes which included "organising a criminal group, inciting national, racial, religious and ethnic strife."

One of the few countries where Hizb ut Tahrir appears to be doing well is Indonesia, where it is involved with groups whose aim is to close down Christian churches.

In Britain, where appeasement has followed in the wake of 7/7, feelings towards those who espouse revolutions and insurrections in the name of religion are beginning to harden.

They are already unwelcome on UK university campuses, and they even managed to annoy the Quakers of Euston, who are usually tolerant of other faiths. It remains to be seen what will happen in the House of Lords.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)

December 11, 2005

Saudi Arabia: Teachers Who Offended Islamic Scholars Pardoned

We brought you the bizarre story of Muhammad al-Harbi, the chemistry teacher who was sentenced to jail and flogging in November for "mocking Islam" and also studying witchcraft. He was also accused of favouring Jews and Christians.

The legal move against him was made by a students whom Mr al-Harbi had refused a chance to re-sit an exam they had failed. The students had been assisted in bringing the case by Islamic studies tutors at the Al-Fowalliq High school in Ein Al-Juwa in Al-Qassim.

According to the Scotsman, Mr al-Harbi, who had been sentenced to three years in jail and 750 lashes (50 lashes per week performed in a public market), was granted a royal pardon last week by King Abdullah. All charges against him have been dropped.

Mr al-Harbi, whose main crime seems to be that he told his students that Islam does not condone acts of terrorism, was the subject of human rights groups' protests.

Another teacher who was harshly punished and who was the subject of human rights protests is Mohammad al-Suhaimi. Mr al-Suhaimi had been sentenced to three years in jail with 300 lashes for encouraging homosexuality and adultery. He was set free, and charges dropped.

Mr al-Suhaimi claimed that he had upset fundamentalist colleagues by telling his students that love was noble, and that it was better to love than fear God. He had told Arab News: "I teach teenagers who need love and affection at a difficult period in their lives. I will not turn everything in their lives into fear and terror, especially their relationship with God."

The Scotsman reports that Human Rights Watch is currently lobbying King Abdullah about the case of Indian migrant worker Puthan Veettil Noushad. In April 2003, a court in Damman sentenced Noushad to have his right eye gouged out, as punishment for an incident where he had a brawl with a Saudi customer, in which the Saudi national lost the sight in one eye.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)

December 10, 2005

Norway: ElBaradei Calls for "Elimination of Poverty"

Must we really suffer these leftist "luminaries" who think poverty is the root of everything? For the record, countries don't want nuclear weapons because their people's are poor and "feelings of humiliation" has nothing to do with it; they want nuclear weapons because they love power: ElBaradei Calls for Nuclear Arms Cuts

OSLO, Dec. 10 - The world should stop treating the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea as isolated cases and instead deal with them in a common effort to eliminate poverty, organized crime and armed conflict, the director general of the United Nations' nuclear monitoring agency said Saturday in accepting the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize.

The director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, said a "good start" would be for the United States and other nuclear powers to cut nuclear weapon stockpiles sharply and redirect spending toward international development.

"More than 15 years after the end of the cold war, it is incomprehensible to many that the major nuclear weapon states operate with their arsenals on hair-trigger alert," Dr. ElBaradei, 63, said.

Despite some disarmament, he continued, the existence of 27,000 nuclear warheads in various hands around the world still hold the prospect of "the devastation of entire nations in a matter of minutes."

Feelings of insecurity and humiliation, exaggerated by today's nuclear imbalance, are behind the spread of bomb-development programs at the national level, said Dr. ElBaradei, who has headed the International Atomic Energy Agency since 1997. No less dangerous, he added, are the presumed efforts of extremist groups to acquire nuclear materials. With goods, ideas and people moving more freely than ever, the containment of nuclear technology must be part of a broad global effort, he said.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 12:46 PM | Comments (0)

December 9, 2005

Indonesia: Muslim Guards For Churches At Christmas

The largest Islamic organisation in Indonesia, the Nahdlatul Ulama has said it will provide a volunteer force to guard Christian churches over the Christmas period, states the Khaleej Times.

The Nahdlatul Ulama has 40 million members, 10 million more than its closest rival, the Muhammadiyah. Both organisations have already pledged allegiance to the campaign against extremist Islam currently being mounted by Jusuf Kalla, the Vice President, and the government.

The reason for the Nahdlatul Ulama making the announcement is that there are fears militants may take the opportunity to make attacks upon Christians during the festive season. The volunteers will come from a youth wing of the organisation, the Banser group, who say that they have also involved youths from other religions.

Tatang Hidayat, national coordinator of the Banser group, stated that the volunteers, who wear quasi-military uniforms, would be working closely with the existing police operations and the security officers from the churches.

As well as being a positive gesture, it is also a practical gesture. Christmas time has been a time previously for attacks against Christians. On Christmas Eve, 2000, a number of bombings took place throughout Indonesian cities, including Jakarta. In these, 19 people died, including one Banser member, who was guarding a church at the time. The police are said to be preparing for this year's Christmas operation against potential terrorist attack by deploying 17,000 officers in the city of Jakarta during the season.

The 2000 bomb attacks have been blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah, the group responsible for the bomb attacks on Bali in 2002 and also on October 1 this year.

We reported in October on the increase of attacks, particularly in Central Sulawesi, against Christians. We also described the policies of intimidation used to close schools by some Muslim groups, which include the Islamist vigilantes the Islamic Defenders Front and also Hizb ut-Tahrir. We returned to the issue of church closures and how these were condoned by law in November.

The recent outbreaks of violence against Christians are concentrated in Central Sulawesi, scene of previous Muslim/Christian conflict between 2000 and 2001 in which 1000 people were killed.

The recent violence began in earnest in Poso, when three Christian schoolgirls were decapitated on October 29, followed by two more Christians girls being shot in the head in Poso on November 8, and by November 20 more attacks were taking place. A group of three young Christian women were attacked with machetes in Palu, Central Sulawesi, with one girl bleeding to death from a neck-wound, and two Christians in Palu were shot while returning home from church, and three girls were shot at in Palu.

Poso in Central Sulawesi had Muslim/Christian violence at Christmas of 1998, when a row outside a mosque between some young Christians and Muslims got out of hand, with Churches burned and the entire town of Poso virtually devastated.
The girls who were decapitated on October 29 on their way to school were Ida Yarni Sambue (15), Theresia Morangke (15), and Alfita Poliwo (19). Alfita is above, on the left, and Theresia is on the right.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:39 AM | Comments (0)

Israel: War of Words with Iran Grows

This article, although it deals with a serious subject, contains some comic relief. I mean, what could be funnier than remembering Kofi Annan's "shock" at Iran's pigmy president's desire to destroy Israel? He might as well be "shocked" Hyenas eat rotting meat. Similarly, it is quite funny to remember Jack Straw declaring Ahmadinejad's comments "unacceptable" as if he were willing to do something about it. At any rate, here is today's story: Israel slams 'dangerous' Ahmadinejad

Israel has called Iran's president "very dangerous" after he expressed doubt that the holocaust occurred and suggested the Jewish state be moved to Europe.

"This was not a mis-statement or a passing remark," Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told Israel Radio on Friday. "It is a systematic way of thinking which is intended to bring about the annihilation of the state of Israel."

On Thursday Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that if Germany and Austria believed that Jews were massacred during the second world war, a state of Israel should be established on their soil.

Ahmadinejad, who said in October that Israel must be "wiped off the map", was being interviewed on Al-Alam, an Iranian state satellite channel while in Makka, Saudi Arabia, where he was attending a summit of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)

US: Mosque Leader Deported to Egypt

Mohamed Gourab has been deported from the United States, states WHP/CBS News. Ghorab was an Egyptian cleric who was the imam at a small mosque in East Frankford in Bridesburg, Philadelphia, the Ansaar Allah Islamic Society.

The mosque, which catered to a maximum of 100 followers at the time of Ghorab's second arrest, was housed inside a cinderblock garage.

Ghorab had previously been arrested in 2003, for having an expired visa, but on Thursday May 27th, 2004, Federal investigators with Immigration and Naturalization Service and the IRS conducted raids on the mosque and two homes, including that of Ghorab.

Ghorab's wife, Meriem Moumen (pictured with Ghorab), complained at the time that she was asked about weapons, though weapons were not mentioned on the warrant sheet, stated The Officer.

"All I can remember (is they said), 'Your hands up, your hands up.' We were asking questions, nobody was talking to us. My husband was taken right away," she said.

According to the Muslim Civil Rights Center, Ghorab was denied bail on Thursday 15th July 2004, but it appears this had been granted subsequently, as according to WHP/CBS News he had been free on bond while appealing his deportation decision.

He had entered the country in March, 2000 on a business visitor visa, which expired that July.

Many of the articles from the time of his initial arrest have been re-archived and are inaccessible, as in AP and Guardian sources, but reprinted versions can be found on Refuse and Resist (Philadelhia Inquirer) and Free Republic (AP and Guardian).

47-year old Ghorab was returned to Egypt in the deportation.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:46 AM | Comments (0)

US: Two More Black Muslims Held

We reported earlier on the violence against stores in Oakland which were told not to sell alcohol by a group of a dozen smartly dressed black men, who appeared to be Muslims.

Refrigeration display units containing alcohol were smashed, along with liquor and other produce. An arson attack and a kidnapping of a store-clerk followed. The clerk was found locked in the trunk of a car in a Safeway car park. Arrest warrants were made for six people, all Black Muslims associated with Your Black Muslim Bakery.


Two of these surrendered to the police. They were 19 year old Yusuf Bey IV, heir to the empire of the late Yusef Bey (pictured), founder of the Black Muslims and Your Black Muslim Bakery, and 73-year old Donald Cunningham, a clarinetist and longtime friend of the late Yusuf Bey.

Yusuf Bey IV raised bail of $200,000 and walked free on Saturday. SInce then, Cunningham too has managed to secure his bail.

The Oakland Tribune states that now two more individuals from Your Black Muslim Bakery have been arrested in connection with vandalism of two stores on November 23.

Yasir Hakeem Azzem, aged 19, and 24-year old Kahlil Raheem bring the total arrested so far to four, and they too are being held in custody against a $200,000 bail. Azzem and Raheem were identified in a surveillance video from the night of November 23 at San Pablo Market and Liquor. They have yet to be positively linked to the other attack that night, upon the New York Market.

Police say they have identified more individuals from the video and are looking to arrest them.

Yusuf Bey IV decided to have a press conference outside the main outlet of Your Black Muslim Bakery on San Pablo Avenue. His words sound like a justification of the vandalism. "I've lived in Oakland all my life, and I've noticed the growing violence...I've noticed the homicides, drug dealers and prostitution that goes on around these places," he stated. He argued that the Muslim owners of liquor stores who come from Arab countries are acting against Islam. "In their home countries they'd be killed for selling alcohol."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:43 AM | Comments (0)

Spain: Seven Algerian Islamists Detained

News from Reuters, Xinhua and China People's Daily state that at least seven people have been arrested in Spain on terrorism charges.

Reuters stated that seven men and one woman, all Algerians, have been arrested in the region of the Costa del Sol, accused of fundraising for the banned Algerian terror group, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). The individuals are currently being detained at Malaga.

Arrests began on Thursday night at coastal locations, including in the southern resorts of Torremolinos and Marbella.

Police released a few basics to a radio station, but are not giving more information at present.

On November 23, 10 people were arrested in Spain in connection with the GSPC. Four of these appeared in court on November 30, charged with fundraising and supplying logistical support to a terror organisation.

If any relevant news arrives on these arrests, we will provide updates. Reuters has already updated the story and revised the figure arrested down to seven. They quote from a press statement made by Jose Antonio Alonso, the Spanish Interior Minister: "There is nothing which might lead us to think they had plans for imminent attacks in Spain."

The earlier figure of eight detainees came from a radio report, and now the Interior Ministry is suggesting that there may be more arrests made, possibly making a total of ten, which would include two women.

Police state that the detainees are known to have links with others in European countries, and police from several EU nations have been contacted and informed.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:04 AM | Comments (0)

December 8, 2005

Syria: Eight Armed Islamists Killed

The Jerusalem Post reports that eight Islamists were killed in a gun battle with security forces in Syria earlier today.

The location was a farmhouse in Idlib, 200 miles north of Damascus. The shoot out ended when the remaining extremists who had hidden out at the farmhouse blew themselves up. This was the second battle with insurgents this week.

On Wednesday, Syrian authorities announced the discovery of a bomb-making factory in Aleppo, a city in the north. Accompanying the finds were manuals detailing how to attack security headquarters and public buildings.

The US has urged Damascus to keep insurgents from entering Iraq via Syria. There has been an intensive campaign of late, against Islamic extremists. The background to the current operation is unclear. The Syrians have implied the militants were linked to Iraq, but whether they were leaving to go to Iraq, or planning to stay and make attacks against Syrian targets is unknown.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:54 PM | Comments (0)

UK: Muslim Accused Of Plotting to Kill Iraqi War Hero

Abu Baker Mansha, a British Muslim, is on trial at Southwark Crown Court, charged under the Terrorism Act, states the Times today (8 Dec). He was caught in possession of a gun in his his London flat. The gun had been a blank-firing one to a modified lethal weapon, the jury was told.

Prosecutors state that Mansha had intended to use the weapon to hunt and kill one Corporal Mark Byles, whose address was also discovered in the flat. Corporal Byles had earlier featured in a UK newspaper article, in which mention was made of him killing nearly 20 insurgents in Iraq. Byles had been given a bravery award, the Military Cross. It is alleged Mansha gathered Byles' name from the electoral register.

The jury was also told of "stacks of DVDs" being found in his flat, including ones featuring Osama bin Laden, and video footage of Liverpudlian hostage, Ken Bigley, having his head sawn off. Mansha also had a poem he had written, in which he called George Bush and Tony Blair as "dirty pigs"

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:17 PM | Comments (0)

Pakistan: Archbishop of Canterbury On Islamic Persecutions of Christians

The 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has voiced some strange opinions lately. On 23 November, he argued whilst on a trip to Pakistan that the Crusades and other Christian religious wars had been a "betrayal of belief".

Following on from that visti to Pakistan, he is now writing on the situation in Sangla Hills in the Punjab, where recently a riot erupted and Muslims attacked Christians, destroying at least three churches, a school and a priest's house. He is strangely optimistic.

As we reported at the time and later, the events came about after (unproven) claims were made that a Christian, who is now in police detention, had burned pages of the Koran. Egged on by mullahs using loudspeakers, a mob of 1,500 Muslims ransacked the small Christian community of Sangla Hill, which has had a Christian presence for more than a century.

Rowan Williams, writing in the Times today, seems to want to be positive. He writes that the event at Sangla Hill has acquired "significance" at this time. He draws attention to the blasphemy laws in Pakistan, which he naturally disagrees with, as they can invoke the death penalty. A mere accusation made after two Muslims apparently lost to a gambling partner, a Christian named Yousaf Maseh had disastrous consequences. As well as the riot, he remains in custody awaiting trial, knowing he faces the threat of lynching if free.

Williams points out that though many in Pakistan disapprove of the way the blasphemy laws are enacted, thelaws themselves will be hard to change without incurring the ire of the powerful Islamic conservative elements in the country. He states that Musharraf is attempting to set Pakistan up as an example of a "moderate Islamic nation", a view which was expressed to him by the Pakistan PM, Shaukat Aziz. The Sangla Hill affair is a blemish in this picture.

Williams views examples of recent Christian earthquake donations and relief work, in collaborations with Muslim groups as signs of positive progress, and says the earthquake has donated developmental money into Pakistan, which Musharraf wishes to invest into the civil society. He speaks of there being a "sense of real possibility".

It adds up to a sense that Pakistan is slowly redefining some of its ideas about citizenship. If citizenship is, even for this Islamic state, more than just membership of the umma - the worldwide community of Muslims - there are some tough questions to be sorted out. So it was not quite as surprising as it might otherwise have been to hear the Minister for Religious Affairs and Minorities apologising last week in unambiguous terms for Sangla Hills and promising a judicial inquiry. Indeed, arrests have already been made and compensation promised for the property destroyed.

Even more significantly, he has promised to explore the setting up of local Christian-Muslim consultations. At several meetings of representatives from the different communities in the past few weeks, he and others have highlighted the need to take Christian-Muslim dialogue "to the villages". The dialogue has, remarkably, begun to develop among a small number of leaders, in several areas.

I would like to think he is right, and maybe Musharraf's intentions are positive and ultimately aimed at controlling extremism by creating a moderate Islamic society. But there are immutable elements away from cities in Pakistan which seem lost in time, with cruel punishments still meted out by feudal jirgas in remote villages in the Punjab region of Pakistan and elsewhere. In these communities girls and women can be treated as worse than chattels.

Christian women face problems of rape by Muslims, which can happen to girls as young as thirteen, and often it happens as an attempt at Muslim conversion, as was the case of Riqba Masih, and even to a 12 year old girl, Sara Tabasum, who was repeatedly raped by multiple groups of men, being threatened with death if she did not convert to Islam. In each of these cases above, the families of the rape victims were all pressured by Muslims in the community to drop the case against the perpetrators, sometimes with accompanying threats of violence.

In late September, we reported on the case of a 40-year old Christian, Younis Masih, who made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad at a gathering held by another Christian in Chungi Amer Sidhu.

Younis was beaten by Christians, such is the climate of oppression, to recant his statements, which he did not. The police had him imprisoned immediately, while a mob of 200 Muslims rampaged through the town. Younis's wife was severely assaulted, and 50 Chrisian families had to flee the neighbourhood.

The climate in Pakistan is such that even minority sects of Muslims are liable for attack. Eight members of an Ahmadi or Ahmaddiyah community mosque were killed in an attack on October 7.

Musharraf may be trying to uphold "moderate Islamic values", and the Archbishop of Canterbury listened eagerly to these ideas during his visit. But the Archbishop stated that the process of change would take a decade at least to achieve.

Governments come and go, or are overthrown, the way Musharraf came to power in 2001, but for people living in small villages and communities, away from the bright lights of Islamabad, there is an older more feudal society which clings tenaciously to values which are almost medieval.

For others in Pakistan there are still memories of partition, and inter faith-battles between Muslims and Hindus which happened in increasing number in the years leading up to 1947. The origins of these battles of faith have been festering through nearly five hundred years of the Indian sub-continent's history, since the arrival of the Mughal (Muslim) rulers.

Christians comprise only 3% of the predominantly Muslim population in Pakistan, yet they are suffering stigmatisation and physical attacks which are far more aggressive and violent than any currently endured by the Muslim 3% of the predominantly non-Muslim population in Britain.

Neither Musharraf nor his ideas of a new society will mean that much to the masses in the hinterland. So for Christians actually living in the real world of Pakistan, the situation is not improving. We reported yesterday on Christians being forced to give up their homes to house victims of the earthquake.

Monday's Asia News carried an article entitled "Muslim extremists want to eliminate Christians from Sangla Hill".

In a letter to the governor of Punjab, Mgr Lawrence Saldanha, archbishop of Lahore, deplored the fact that some Muslim religious circles continue feeding Muslim hatred of Christians in Sangla Hill. The note, which was sent last Saturday, called the situation in the village "worrisome", especially now that Christmas is fast approaching.

On December 2, the leaders of some Islamic religious groups gathered at the Jamia Masjid Rizvia (mosque) for Friday prayers reaffirmed their condemnation of Yousaf Masih, a Christian man they say is guilty of desecrating the Qu'ran, and called for him to be publicly hanged.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:16 PM | Comments (0)

Bangladesh: Another Islamist Suicide Bombing

Earlier today (Thursday), a man on a bicycle blew himself up beside a crowd of people outside the area office of a national arts and culture group in the district of Netrakona (red on map), killing himself and six other people, according to the Daily Star. At least 46 others were injured.

The crowd had gathered as a small bomb had previously been detonated. It had been left outside an administrative office of the Udichi cultural organisation. Firefighters had been pouring water onto the bomb to cool it and prevent it from going off. It exploded, injuring two policemen.

As people gathered, a man on a bicycle careered into the crowd, with explosives attached to his body, which he detonated, ripping off his his hand and killing two people, including the convenor of the Udichi, Khwaja Haider Hossain and another from the center. Three others died later from injuries.

10 police constables were injured in the blasts, and one of those injured appeared to be a second suicide bomber, a motor mechanic named Yadav, whose charred body was found lying on the ground, an unexploded bomb still attached to his leg. He died later from his injuries.

The Bangladesh Udichi Shilpigosthi is an arts-based organisation, which was founded in 1968, and has several institutes and schools promoting fine arts, music, dance and drama. They also specialise in performing street theatre.

The Udichi have been bombed before. On March 6 1999, a conference by the organisation in Jessore was hit by a bomb, killing 10 and wounding dozens of others. Their activities are obviously anathema to the "purist" ideology of the Islamic extremists.

A leaflet by the Islamist group Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) was found at the scene of the Netrakona blasts. As in previous message, the letter demanded the establishment of an Islamist state based on the rule of Sharia. The letter claimed that the JMB would crush all obstacles in its path.

Lutfozzaman Babar, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, who in January had denied the existence of JMB, visited Nektrona and paid his respect to victims in various hospitals.

"Such blasts are taking place not only in Netrakona but across the country. Bombers must be cut off from the ones supplying them with explosives and funds. Besides, the people will have to unite to resist them," he said while at the the scene of the bombings.

Today, the Daily Star announced that law enforcers had captured a supplier of explosives to JMB on Monday, but had not informed the media.

Lutfozzaman Babar announced on Monday that he had "good news" for the nation, and appeared to be waiting for an opportune moment to announce the success of the operation.

The supplier was apprehended in the district of Rajshahi (orange in map), and varying sources claimed that he had supplied the explosives in all of the recent bomb attacks by JMB. Some optimists assumed that the man captured was Abdur Rahman (head of JMB) or Bangla Bhai, a former schoolteacher turned terrorist, who is involved with JMB and also Muslim Janata Bangladesh. These surmisings have not been confirmed, and they are to be doubted.

The Bangladesh Independent today announced that a team of Interpol investigators had concluded that the recent spate of bombings show similarities to the strategies of the LTTE - the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, or Tamil Tigers.

The eight-member team arrived from Singapore on Monday and visited Gazipur, where a suicide bomber struck the offices of the Gazipur Bar Association on November 29, and also the main gate of the Deputy Commissioner's office near the same courthouse, where another suicide attack took place on December 1. They also gathered forensic evidence for analysis, with a hope that the location of the source of the explosives can be ascertained.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:29 PM | Comments (0)

OIC: Musharraf Calls for "Islamic Renaissance"

Two things:

1. To have a 're-birth' (for that's what 'Renaissance' means), you need to have had a birth in the first place. The era of Islamic dominance in science and philosophy is nothing but a modern myth inspired by political correctness.

2. To be more specific, the "great Islamic scholars" "Al Ghazali, Ibne Rushd and Ibne Seena," were not that great, and often were not that Islamic. I know this because I've read their works, an excercise that is not apparently required before praising them to no end.

With that said, here is the story: Musharraf calls for an Islamic 'Renaissance'

Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf believes an Islamic renaissance much on the lines of the Renaissance that brought Europe out from the dark ages, can salvage Islam from terrorism.

Musharraf in his speech at the Third Extraordinary Summit of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said that Islamic countries should shun preaching violence and pursue transparent and accountable governance, develop human resources and promote full respect of human rights, especially of women and children.

"From this holy city of peace and tolerance, I appeal to all extremists in our society to see reason, and shun the path of violence. Senseless acts of terrorism committed by a handful of misguided individuals while claiming to act in the name of Islam have maligned our noble faith of peace, tolerance and compassion," Musharraf said.

"We must condemn and reject all forces of terrorism and extremism, banning organisations, which preach hate and violence. We must promote the Islamic values of tolerance and moderation," he said.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)

Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah Laments Islamic Extremism at OIC Summit

The king of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah addressed a meeting in Mecca of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) on Wednesday, at the start of a two-day meeting addressing the problems facing Islam.

According to Lebanon's Daily Star, the monarch, who is Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, said that the world's 1 billion Muslims were weak and divided.

"It bleeds the heart of a believer to see how this glorious civilization has fallen from the height of glory to the ravine of frailty and how its thoughts were hijacked by devilish and criminal gangs that spread havoc on earth," he said.

He said that the Islamic jurisprudence arm of the OIC should "fulfill its historic role of combating extremism."

The chairman of the OIC, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, who is an Egyptian-born Turk, stated "We don't have the luxury of blaming others for our own problems.

"We should fight terrorism by dealing with its roots and causes, whether committed by individuals, groups or states," Ihsanoglu said. "Terrorism is a crime that every Muslim should fight. The future of humanity depends on this part of the world."

According to Gulf Daily, Abdullah Ahmad Badaawi, the Malaysian Prime minister, said Muslims across the globe were in "disunity and discord" which were worse than in any period in Islam's 1400 years of history.

A 10-year plan was presented at the summit, which called for better education, quicker economic development and trade. Also included was the promotion of religious moderation, and the strengthening of the rights of Muslim women.

According to the China People's Daily a Russian delegation will be present at the OIC summit today. Russia has 20 million Muslims. This group will include the Chief Mufti of Tatarstan, Gusman-hazrat, who was one of the individuals to approve the statement condemning "Christian iconography" in Russia's National Coat of Arms, which we described on Monday and yesterday.

UPDATE: The opinions voiced above by the Malaysian Prime Minister, about Islam being in a state of crisis, were picked up as the final conclusions of the summit. The BBC stated that the leaders of the 57 nations "have ended their summit with a warning that the Islamic world is in crisis because of the threat posed by terrorism."

They write that the OIC statement urges decisive action to fight "deviant ideas".

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 2:09 AM | Comments (0)

Germany: Three Islamists Indicted On Terror Charges

Three men were last week indicted on terrorism charges, states Expatica. The three men will be put on trial shortly, in Dusseldorf.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe stated that two of the men have been charged with being members of al-Qaeda, while the other is charged with supporting a terrorist group.

German laws prevent journalists disclosing surnames of defendants so they are identified as Ibrahim Mohamed K, who is believed to be a Syrian national, and two brothers of Palestinian origin, 32 year old Yasser Abu-S and 29 year old Ismail Abu-S. The Palestinians are technically "stateless".

Ibrahim Mohemed K lived in Mainz and is said to have recruited the tw