Western Resistance

« September 2006 | Main | November 2006 »

October 31, 2006

Morocco: Islamists Taking Refuge In Spain

On Tuesday, AKI reported that Moroccan militants from the banned group al-Adl al-Ihsan (also spelled Al Adl wa Al Ihsan, Al-Adl Wal-Ihsanne, Al-Adl was al-Ihsane, Jama'atu al-'Adl wal-Ihssan) or "Justice and Welfare" have been fleeing to Spain, where they are mingling with the Muslim community already in the south of the country. The news was reported in the Ababic newsaper "Al-Quds" on Monday. They are predominantly taking refuge in Murcia, where there is already a community of 50,000 Moroccans.

The group is said to be "moderate", in as much as it does not espouse violence. However, it wishes to see the monarchy toppled, and an Islamist state established in Morocco. The group is currently the subject of an ongoing crackdown by the authorities.

Some notes about the group. The spiritual leader of the group is Sheik Abdessalam Yacine (Sheik Abdessalam Yassine, pictured), who was born in Marrakesh in 1928. He was formerly a schools inspector, he has been seen as a threat to the system in Morocco. He has been placed in prison on numerous occasions. In the 1970s and 1980s he was imprisoned, and in 1990, he was placed under house arrest, and was only allowed some measure of freedom in 2000. This came as the new king, Mohammed VI, came to power following the death of his father on July 23, 1999. The new king released political prisoners as a gesture of goodwill.

As he himself gets older, he now has little part in the day-to-day running of the banned party. His daughter Nadia Yassine is active in promoting the Sheikh's views, and in 2000 she set up a website, http://www.yassine.net in Arabic, French and English. The English section of the site is innocuous, comprising mainly Koranic texts and spiritual advice.

Nadia Yassine was charged last year for "damaging the monarchy" after comments she made in an interview which was published in Al Usbuiyya Al Jadida, a Moroccan weekly, on June 2, 2005.

The active head of the party is now Mohamed Abdelli. This year, the group has been subjected to numerous arrests of its members. On Thursday May 25, Abdelli was arrested with 181 supporters in Oujda, a city 340 miles east of Rabat. 148 members of the group were arrested in Rabat, the capital. All of those detained were subsequently released.

The activity followed reports that the group was ready to mount an intifada of 'Qawma" later this year. Abdelli said the reports were biased.

Al-Adl wal al-Ihsane has 250,000 members, and has been using the power of the internet to recruit. It is very popular amongst youth in poor areas in the cities, and its appeal to youth is viewed as a threat by the Moroccan authorities.

In August, there were 44 arrests of another Islamist group, which appeared to be mounting a "Qawma" of its own. The previously unknown group, Jammaat Ansar El Mehdi, was planning to "commit criminal acts on national territory," stated the interior ministry.

The initial tolerance of the king towards Islamist opponents has hardened since the Casablanca bombings of May 16, 2003, which were carried out by 12 suicide bombers of the Sirrat al-Mustaqim Islamist group. 44 people died in those blasts, which hit at the heart of Morocco's financial capital.

The Al-Adl wal al-Ihsane is traditionalist, and in May objected to the notion of women Islamic guides, called morchidat. 50 women had then graduated from a centre attached to the Islamic Affairs Ministry. The introduction of women into the role of Muslim counseling was sneered at by the Al-Adl wal al-Ihsane. A spokesman said: "The power behind this initiative is the same as the one that commits acts contrary to Islam, notably degrading moral values. This initiative, then, will only have a limited impact on the population."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)

Russia: Attacks On Mosque - Muslims Told To "Stay Calm"

Vladimir is a historic Russian city, located 125 miles east of Moscow. It has two cathedrals which are marked as World Heritage sites. Yet its mosque has recently been subjected to attacks. On October 22, states the Union of Councils for Russian Jews, the mosque was attacked with a molotov cocktail thrown at one of its windows. The incident took place late in the evening, but the window was made of reinforced glass, which only partially broke. This sent the device bouncing back to the ground, where the flames were stamped out by worshippers.

The Muslim organization Mahallah, which runs the mosque, complained to police about the attempted firebombing stated Interfax-Religion on Monday. Police spokesman Oleg Kurochkin said that the incident was investigated as a case of "hooliganism" which can carry a maximum punishment of five years' jail.

The Russian Council of Muftis issued a statement on Monday, saying that it "hopes that the police will identify the attackers and bring them to justice."

The statement described Vladimir as "a city of traditions based on peaceful coexistence of various nationalities, and a quintessence of centuries-long culture of peoples who populate Russia."

The Council of Muftis told Muslims "to ignore provocative acts and stay calm" and urged the authorities "to prevent similar illegal actions in the future."

On Sunday night, a week after the firebomb attempt, the mosque was once again attacked with stones and bottles.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:10 PM | Comments (0)

Turkey: Archeologist Claims Islamic Headscarf Derives From Sex Rites

Turkey has a strange habit of enforcing Article 301 of its penal code, which insults "Turkishness". This has been used to prosecute numerous artists, cartoonists, editors, and most famously, the Nobel-prize winning author Orhan Pamuk. The law is often used by the Islamist prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to prosecute anyone who satirizes him.

The latest bizarre prosecution involves a 92-year old woman, female archeologist Muazzez Ilmiye Cig, who is being prosecuted for "inciting religious hatred" states the Jerusalem Post, the Australian, Web Islam and Middle East Times. Her alleged "crime" is that she has suggested that the "Islamic" headscarf originally derives from sexual rites from Sumer.

Cig's speciality is Sumer and Mesopotamian culture of the fourth and third millennia BC. Turkey is attempting to join the European Union, and this latest prosecution is another sign that in its current state, it is unable to allow freedom of expression.

Cig will stand trial in Istanbul on Wednesday (tomorrow). Her "crime" is that last year, she published a book in which she claimed that the headscarf was first worn by priestesses in Sumer who were initiating young people into sex, without being prostitutes.

A lawyer from Izmir, a city on the western coast of Turkey, filed a complaint. As a result, the eminent archeologist and publisher is charged with "inciting hatred based on religious differences." She could get three years' jail, if convicted.

Muazzez Ilmiye Cig is a staunch defender of the secularism which became enshrined in Turkey when Kemal Ataturk founded modern Turkey in the 1920s, when she was a child.

She caused controversy last year when she wrote to Emine Erdogan, the prime minister's wife, who habitually wears the headscarf, even though it is officially banned from public institutions in Turkey. Cig asked Emine Erdogan to scrap her headscarf to set an example to young people.

Emine's husband and his party, the AKP or Justice and development party, has vowed to end the ban upon the wearing of the headscarf in schools, universities and state buildings. As a result, the headscarf has become a political issue.

On Monday, in the newspaper Vatan, Cig said in an interview: "She can wear whatever she likes at home, but as the wife of the prime minister, she cannot wear a cross or the headscarf."

Sumer and Sacred Marriage

So what is the history of the headscarf in Sumer? Goddesses depicted from the Sassanian dynasty in 3rd century AD Iran certainly wore hijabs, and also shalwar kameez, much like Muslim women today in Pakistan. Greek goddesses are often depicted with headcoverings, though these depictions are 3,000 years from the dawn of Sumerian culture.

Cig makes mention that the priestesses who wore the veil were not engaged in prostitution, separating it from sacred prostitution, which was common in the ancient Near East and continued in Tralles in Lydia up until the 2nd century AD (according to James Frazer in the Golden Bough). The tradition of a woman prostituting herself once in her life was tied to marriage. The Phoenicians practiced the custom: "It was the law of the Amorites, that she who was about to marry should sit in fornication seven days by the gate." At Byblus, annually women shaved their heads to mourn the slain god Adonis, and those who did not remove their hair would have to be engaged as temple prostitutes. The money they earned would go to the goddess Tinnit.

The custom of sacred prostitution stems from the older cultures of the fertile crescent, and in Sumer, it ran parallel to the rites of the sacred marriage. This marriage involved the myth of the deity Inanna and her lover Dumuzi, a shepherd (though a fisherman in Sumerian king-lists). The sacred marriage persisted through to Babylonian times, when it took place between Ishtar and Tammuz.

In echoes of the later Greek myths of Persephone, and also Attis and Adonis, the myth behind the "sacred marriage" stems from a descent into the underworld, and the death of the goddess' lover. In the Greek myths, Attis the huntsman and Adonis were slain respectively by hounds or by a wild boar. Yet in the original Sumerian and Babylonian myth, the death of the lover was inflicted by Inanna herself.

The most complete version of the original text of the descent of Inanna can be found in the translation by Diane Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer, from 1983. It can be found here. In brief, Inanna daughter of the Sun and sister of the moon, decides to descend to the underworld to gain power over the world of the dead. She gives up seven of her temples in parts of Sumer, ritually dresses herself, and descends to the underworld.

She passes through seven gates to reach the inner sanctum and as she passes through each one, an item of clothing is removed, and she stands naked before Erishkigal, the goddess of the Underworld, and the Annuna, the judges of the underworld. They pass judgement upon her, and she is "turned into a corpse, a piece of rotting meat, and was hung from a hook on the wall.'

Two sexless creatures are formed and sent to the underworld to "enter the doors like flies". They follow instructions and Erishkagal offers them their desire. They request the body of Inanna, sprinkle food and water of life on the corpse, and Inanna is revived. She still cannot leave the underworld, and must provide a substitute. She rises from the underworld with demons, who mutilate Dumuzi and Inanna gives her lover the "eye of death".

In the Babylonian version, when Ishtar descends to the underworld, she too passes through seven gates, and here she "removes her veil" at the fifth gate.

There is no accessible material on Cig's work available in English, but the "sacred marriage", where coupling is ritualized with the male becoming "Dumuzi" and the female becoming "Inanna" was indeed a practice of the Sumerians and Babylonians. Kings engaged in a "sacred marriage" ceremony to ensure wealth and well-being for the land, a reflection of the original "vegetation myth" elements of the Innana/Dumuzi legend. The notion of priestesses wearing a veil while initiating couples into the "sacred marriage" (pictured from a Sumerian artefact) is entirely logical.

Hair is seen to be sexual in other Fertile Crescent cultures, and in Babylon and Assyria, brides would be veiled. According to the Codes of Hammurabi (1780 BC), if a wife was infertile, a husband could take another wife, who would only be allowed "equality" while accompanying the first wife. This is taken by many Islamic commentators to refer to wearing the matrimonial veil. In Assyria, women were obliged to wear the veil. Prostitutes were forbidden from wearing the veil.

The Codes of Hammurabi make mention of the sacred prostitutes, who are called "sister of a god". The veil in Assyria "was a fashion accessory of the royal harem and the upper class. Prostitutes and slaves were forbidden to wear it, on pain of mutilation," states Damian Thompson in a Telegraph article.

There is dispute concerning whether or not the veil referred to a face-veil or a head-covering in Assyria, according to "Some Observations concerning Ancient Mesopotamian Women" by Beatrice Allard Brooks, American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, Vol. 39, No. 3 (Apr., 1923), pp. 187-194.

FINALLY....There is ample reason to suggest that the "hijab" or Islamic headscarf has antecedents which hail from thousands of years before Mohammed. Muazzez Ilmiye Cig is a 92-year old woman who has spent more time exploring the history, culture and archeology of Sumer than anyone still working. If she states that the hijab derives from the role of a priestess initiating couples into the role of the "sacred marriage", then she is almost certainly writing from a position of authority.

For some jumped-up prosecutor in Turkey to decide that her comments are inciting "religious hatred", it is an affront both to a respected archeologist's expertise and her experience. It is also a sign that Islam will take offense at anything that does not fit with its worldview. For modern Muslims, the time before Mohammed is dismissed as "jahiliyah" or "ignorance". This is not going to be a trial about historical truth - it is just another excuse to punish a woman with secular ideals. The justice ministry has the power to stop spurious trials. The fact this case is going ahead demonstrates that it is encouraged by the current Islamic government of Turkey.

UPDATE - November 1. Today Ms Cig had her day in court, states Associated Press via CNN News. She told the court: "I am a woman of science....I never insulted anyone."

Within an hour, the case was over. The court ruled in her favour and she was acquitted of the charge against her. Ismet Ogutucu of the Kaynak publishing house was also acquitted. The statement about the origin of the hijab, or Muslim headscarf, was made in her book "My Reactions as a Citizen".

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:04 PM | Comments (0)

Indonesia: 15 Muslims Arrested For Sulawesi Unrest

There has been conflict between Muslims and Christians in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, stretching back to 1998. The violence began after the fall of the dictator Haji Mohamed Suharto, who had ruled with an iron fist from 1967 to 1998. During his rule, extreme Islamism had been suppressed. In Sulawesi and the Moluccas, a war was waged from 2000 to 2002, which led to the deaths of 9,000 people. 1,000 people died in Central Sulawesi during this period. Since the main conflict, attacks on Christians have continued, particularly on Poso, as described earlier.

Last week in Poso, a group of Muslims attacked police on Monday (October 23) who were searching homes for explosives and weaponry. In the ensuing conflict, one Muslim was killed. Two other Muslims and a police officer were also injured. A church which had survived a home-made bomb on September 30 was gutted by a fire on Tuesday. Since then, houses rented by police officers who had been drafted in to help with the unrest were set alight.

On Monday, October 30, Antara News reported that an extra 406 military personnel had been dispatched to conflict to assist with preventing a resurgence of inter-faith violence. The extra soldiers will be used to assist in the rebuilding and renovation of 1,009 houses in 69 villages in Poso regency. These had been damaged in earlier fighting. They are expected to complete this task within four months.

Syamsir Siregar, the head of the Indonesian National Intelligence Agency (BIN), said on Monday that there was a group of people, not connected with either the Christian or Muslim communities on Poso, who were agitating within the region, and "sowing terror".

Siregar said that the group was still in Poso, and that they had explosives, and also firearms. They had supplied the firearms used to kill the protestant priest, Rev. Irianto Kongkoli, who was shot in Palu, the provincial capital, on October 16.

Central Sulawesi's Governor Paliuju confirmed the existence of armed groups on Poso. He said that police on search operations there often heard shots which they themselves had not fired. Paliuju said the government would initiate an independent team to investigate the violence on Poso. This would include police, military and local residents, he said.

Today, police in Central Sulawesi announced that 15 Muslim suspects had been arrested, states the Jakarta Post. A further 29 suspects are still at large and are being pursued.

The police announced that those who had been arrested had been caught after a surveillance operation which had lasted 8 months. They are suspected of involvement in 13 cases of shootings, beheadings, bombings and robberies going back to 2001, said the national police spokesman, Brigadier General Anton Bachrul Alam.

In separate news, it is reported that yesterday (Monday, October 30), the youngest son of the former Indonesian dictator Suharto was released from Cipinang prison in West Java. Tommy Suharto, aka Hutomo Mandala Putra, had been given a sentence of 15 years' jail on July 26, 2002. He was convicted of ordering the killing of a Supreme Court Judge, Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, who was murdered in July 2001.

"Tommy" Suharto (pictured) had in 2000 been convicted of a land fraud deal, and Judge Kartasasmita had been on the panel which had convicted him. Suharto had been given an 18-month jail sentence for that offence, and had expected a presidential pardon. When this did not happen, he went on the run. He had taken revenge by ordering two men to kill the judge. Suharto was apprehended on October 28, 2001.

While in jail, he lived a life of luxury, stated Marianne Kearney in July 2003. His cell had a wall-to-wall blue carpet, a 21 inch TV with subscription to cable, and he was allowed to breed ornamental fish. He had recently been allowed to leave the prison to go on hospital visits for an unspecified medical condition.

Last week, it was announced that President Susilo Banbang Yudhoyono had once again reduced Tommy Suharto's sentence as a goodwill gesture at the end of Ramadan. As a result, the corrupt son of a dictator, who benefitted from nepotism and caused a judge to be murdered, has served only four years and three months of a 15-year sentence. By contrast, the two individuals who carried the judge's killing on his orders have received life sentences, and therefore have not been offered any reductions in their sentencing.

Suharto will remain under parole for a year, states Antara News. His sentence had been reduced to 10 years without explanation. Under Government Regulation No. 28/2006, the justice ministry does not have to request permission from the Attorney General's Office to authorize releases of prisoners. There is much anger that Suharto seems to have been granted semi-impunity for his murder and illicit accumulation of wealth. According to the Jakarta Post, after his release, Suharto told a throng of reporters that he was "well" and that he intended to make a Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

Meanwhile, Antara News states that the three men due to be shot for their part in the Bali bombings of October 12, 2002, will be receiving family visitors on November 14. The three individuals, Imran Samudra, Amrozi and his brother Mukhlas, (aka Ali Ghufron) are currently held on the island prison of Nusakambangan. They had been moved there from Denpasar, Bali, following the second Bali bombing on October 1, 2005. Locals were so enraged by the second attack that there were fears of civil unrest.

The three individuals had assisted in arranging the bombing in 2002, which killed 202 people, mostly tourists. 88 Australians and 27 Britons died in the multiple suicide blasts in Kuta on Bali. At his trial, Amrozi had shocked people by laughing and sniggering. Samudra went on to become a best-selling author while incarcerated, eulogizing his terror activities in two books.

The Muslim Legal Defence Team (TPF) coordinator, Achmad Michdan, said: "We are planning to visit Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Mukhlas on November 14 to have an informal gathering after the Idul Fitri festivity and discuss the follow-up to the legal review of their case. The visit is a routine post-Idul Fitri agenda. Besides us (legal counsels), their wives, children and other relatives will also visit them."

The unrest in Poso was stoked by the execution of three Christians, Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu who were shot by firing squad on September 20 for their alleged involvement with killings of Muslims on Poso. There is considerable doubt about their guilt. Now that the three Christians have been executed, there is pressure on the Indonesian authorities to carry out the death sentence of the three Bali bombers.

UPDATE: November 1 - AKI quotes a statement by Brig. Gen. Anton Bahrul Alam, who has said that the 15 people currently detained belong to the groups Tanah Runtuh and Kompak Kayamanya.

The Tanah Runtuh group, which does not feature in reports on terror activities seems to get its name from a location - a village in Poso district. In October 2003 an armed group were found to be in the forest near this village, who had fired shots at the community and set fire to a house. Three militants then had been killed and six had been captured. Recently, a bomb exploded in a field at Tanah Runtuh on August 3, states Paras Indonesia, which added: "The explosion is suspected to be a response by a particular group related to show its presence. Apparently, the police plan to raid the group - which they suspect as the mastermind of several disturbances in Poso (the Tentena market bombing; shootings of the police headquarters, and mutilation of three school girls). The police named the raid location "Tanah Runtuh" and the raid committee will include all the important members of the anti terror Debasement 88 squads in Central Sulawesi. The raid is scheduled for August 15, 2006."

The "Kompak Kayamanya" is an amalgamated name, and probably refers to the known militant group Mujahidin Kayamanya which is based in Poso, and is known to have links to KOMPAK (Komite Aksi Penanggulangan Akibat Krisis - Action Committee for Crisis Response - an Islamic "charity" which was founded by the Indonesian Islamic Propagation Council (Dewan Dakwah Islamiyah Indonesia or DDII), which funded militants in the Moluccas (Malaku) and Poso. This group has affiliations with the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah. For a background to the conflict in Poso and involvement of KOMPAK and others, see our Special Report.

For a more detailed review of the various Mujahideen groups and factions in the Poso and Malaku conflicts, see the document in pdf format HERE. Ms Sidney Jones PhD, of the International Crisis Group, has suggested that Mujahidin Kayamanya may have been involved in the Tentena bombings in Central Sulawesi last year. Tentena is a mostly Christian community. During the conflict on Poso, Christians from the city and district took refuge at Tentena.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:21 AM | Comments (0)

History: Diversity is Hard, but Islam is Impossible

I'm about to criticize a column by Thomas Sowell, but I feel ambivalent about my upcoming criticism, since I agree with Mr. Sowell's arguments on the whole. But the highlited paragraph below should be criticized: Diversity's Oppressions

[...]What is it that has made Iraq so hard to pacify, even after a swift and decisive military victory? In one word: diversity. That word has become a sacred mantra, endlessly repeated for years on end, without a speck of evidence being asked for or given to verify the wonderful benefits it is assumed to produce.

Worse yet, Iraq is only the latest in a long series of catastrophes growing out of diversity. These include "ethnic cleansing" in the Balkans, genocide in Rwanda and the Sudan, the million lives destroyed in intercommunal violence when India became independent in 1947 and the even larger number of Armenians slaughtered by Turks during World War I.

Despite much gushing about how we should "celebrate diversity," America's great achievement has not been in having diversity but in taming its dangers that have run amok in many other countries. Americans have by no means escaped diversity's oppressions and violence, but we have reined them in.[...]

Dr. Sowell mentions five instances of ethnic strife leading to genocidal or near-genocidal action: Rwanda, the Sudan, the Indian partition, the Balkans wars, and the Armenian genocide. Of those five, four involve Islam, the self-proclaimed religion of peace.

This is not to say that, at its root, multiculturalism is a fraud concocted by self-hating Westerners as a way to discredit their own cultures; it is. Most of us would agree that all cultures are not equal and that even those cultures we love could use a little improvement, or a lot. (I think "children-free" retirement communities are--what's the phrase--a moral abomination.) But it is important to realize that one specific "culture", or rather the cultures emanating from a single religion, stand above all others in the penchant for ethnic violence, and politically-motivated, large-scale murder.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 7:35 AM | Comments (4)

October 30, 2006

Australia: Radical Muslim Attacks Judges Over Rape

One of Australia's most extreme Salafist preachers, Sheikh Mohammed Jamal Omran, has openly said that he thinks Osama bin Laden is a "good man." He has also denied that Muslim fanatics created 9/11, preferring the insane conspiracy theory that the US government itself committed these attacks upon its own people. The Sheikh runs a prayer center on the second floor in Michael Street in Brunswick, Melbourne, in the inner north of the city. He has said that he is no more radical than the other 13 imams in Melbourne, but openly supports attacks against coalition troops by insurgents in Iraq.

He is head of the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama'ah Association of Australia, founded 20 years ago. It describes itself on its website as "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."

In August, the radical sheikh attacked a young contestant in a beauty contest. 16-year old Ayten Ahmed, a Melbourne girl of Turkish origin, was condemned for deciding to take part in the Miss Teen Australia pageant. Omran said: "The teachings of the Prophet and the Holy Koran do not encourage a girl to go out and uncover her modesty in public."

Omran's latest comments come on the heels of the Australian Mufti's suggestion that women who do not wear headscarfs are like meat left out for cats to eat, and that they "invite" rape. The Mufti, Sheikh Taj al-Din Al-Hilaly, had been widely condemned by Muslims and politicians alike for his comments.

The Australian reports that Mullah Omran told his flock on Friday that judges treated rapes by mom-Muslims far more leniently than those committed by Muslims.

Omran said: "I feel there is no justice here. Not 60 years and someone else three years and they did the same crime. Why? They make a big fuss about these kids because one of them, his name is Mohamed. Even if you kill someone you don't go for 60 years."

The reference to sixty years is an allusion to the original 55 year sentence, handed down to Lebanese Bilal Skaf on August 15, 2002, for his part masterminding violent gang-rapes in west Sydney. Because of a technicality, where jurors had done their own investigation of the crime scenes, Skaf was retried, and on July 28 this year, Skaf was given a minimum of eleven years' jail, additional to the 22 years' minimum jail for the other rapes he committed. The 2002 sentencing report was horrific in its detail. It can be found HERE.

"This is where I think everything has gone unbalanced. We don't support criminals or crimes, but at the same time we want justice for everyone," Omran said.

Omran has praised Hilaly, and on his website, he has posted an audio commentary of Hilaly's controversial speech. He said on Friday: "His name is a mufti and we should respect that name - we should respect the turban on his head. This is the sign of a scholar - you are not attacking Sheik Taj here, you are attacking the scholars, you are attacking...Islam."

Meanwhile, the Mufti has agreed to remove himself from his duties at the Lakemba mosque. The Australian, which originally revealed the translated contents of Hilaly's speech about "uncovered meat", notes that the Mufti is retiring, though whether or not this will be permanent is not known.

Hilaly collapsed during a meeting at which he was discussing his future with Tom Zreika, president of the Lebanese Muslim Association. He complained of chest pains, and was rushed to Canterbury Hospital, western Sydney.

Zreika said that the Mufti had suffered a "mild heart attack". Hilaly had been in his bed for most of the time since his comments were made public. He has asthma. He had obfuscated about his statements, and tried to claim that his comments were misunderstood. However, he has now issued a statement, in which he apologizes.

The statement included the comment: "I confess that this analogy is inappropriate and unacceptable for the Australian society and the Western society in general." The entire text of his statement, published by the Australian, can be found HERE.

The Sydney Morning Herald stated on Monday that the premier of New South Wales, Morris Iemma threatened to cut the funding of the Lebanese Muslim Association if it allowed the Mufti to continue teaching at the Lakemba mosque. He said it would have $100,000 of funding slashed.

ABC Broadcasting reported that federal Liberal backbencher Tony Smith had asked why, in 1986, the Labor government had over-ruled recommendations for Hilaly to be denied permanent residency in Australia. Chris Hurford, the immigration minister under the Hawke government had recommended the cleric not be given permission to stay indefinitely.

The Australian over the weekend had also revealed comments made by Hilaly that supported jihad against US and Australian forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In a speech on Arabic Radio, made a fortnight ago, Hilaly also praised Sayyid Qutb, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, executed in 1966, who advocated assassinations of Egyptian politicians and others. Qutb was virulently contemptuous of Western values.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:01 PM | Comments (2)

Somalia: Islamists Ban All Marriages Except Arranged Partnerships

News from Pravda and Associated Press via the International Herald Tribune reports that the Islamists of Somalia have added a ban on marriages of choice to their list of other banned activities. They have so far banned films, watching soccer matches, and enforced strict following of five-times-a-day prayer in the regions under their control. They have also banned the chewing and trading of Khat (qat) a leafy stimulant popular in the Horn of Africa.

A fatwa against marriages which were not arranged with parental consent has been made on Monday (today). The edict was announced by Sheikh Mahad Mohamed Sheikh Hassan, in the Islamic court of Wanlawien. Hassan said that marriages not arranged formally by parents are against Islam.

The standard Islamic marriage in Somalia involves dowry. Many young couples practice the custom of "masaafo", where they run off and get wed without parents' consent. Parents can object on grounds of dowries being too small, or other reasons. It is said that a marriage in Somalia can cost as much as a year's average earnings.

Pravda and AP quote a 21-year old man, who said: "They cannot ban what our forefathers practiced. All of us, including the mullahs were born from elopement marriage."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:36 PM | Comments (0)

Pakistan: Protests Over Islamic Seminary Bombing

The Pakistan authorities early on Monday bombed a madrassa in the borderland territory adjoining Afghanistan. The school was said to be full at the time of the attack, and it is believed that 80 people have been killed.

The news is covered by BBC, New York Times, Le Figaro, Le Monde, Washington Post, the Times, Telegraph, Guardian, AKI and the Washington Times.

The attack took place at 5 am local time, before dawn, by Pakistan military, accompanied by helicopter gunships. The madrassa is located in Bajaur agency, one of the seven tribal regions which comprise FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Region) in North-West Frontier Province. The school was located at Chenagai village near the town of Khar, the main town in the agency. The funerals of those who died took place before sundown, and locals protested that those at the madrassa were merely students.

Army spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said that the madrassa had been observed for some time and the madrassa was a refuge of Islamists. He said: "These militants were involved in actions inside Pakistan and probably in Afghanistan."

"We received confirmed intelligence reports that 70 to 80 militants were hiding in a madrassa used as a terrorist-training facility, which was destroyed by an army strike, led by helicopters."

He denied that any women or children were present at the madrassa.

"The information that we are receiving so far is that majority of the facility has been destroyed and most of the miscreants present there, they have been killed. There is no house within about a 100-meter radius of this madrassa. As per information that we had, there were no women or children present there."

Some reporters at the scene had claimed that they saw several children, one as young as seven, pulled from the rubble, states the Guardian.

There were reports that the deputy leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was in the area at the time of the attack. Sultan denied this, saying: "It is all wrong, speculative and we launched this operation on our own to target a training facility."

The madrassa was run by an extremist cleric, Maulvi Liaquat Hussain. He was killed in the assault on the madrassa. There have been suggestions made that the United States was behind the attack, but this has been denied by Taslima Hassan, the foreign ministry spokesperson.

The suggestions of American involvement and also the involvement of Zawahiri probably stem from the incident which happened on January 13, when US hellfire missiles hit a target in the village of Damadola in Bajaur agency. The US had information that Ayman al-Zawahri was due to visit that village, which lay six miles from the Afghan border.

18 people were killed in the raid, including four Islamists. It was later revealed that Al Qaeda's chemicals and explosives expert Mudhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, aka Abu Jhabab al-Masri, had been killed in the Damidola raid.

At the time of the January attack in Bajaur agency, members of the six-member Islamist opposition, the Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) protested against American involvement, and Qazi Hussain Ahmad, head of the MMA coalition, was arrested.

Once again, the MMA are protesting about the incident, and blaming the Americans for the attack on the madrassa. General Sultan also insisted there was no US involvement. "It was done purely by the Pakistan authorities. There was no American involvement."

The MMA has called for demonstrations on Tuesday. As a result, Britain's Prince Charles and his wife have announced that they have cancelled a planned trip to a madrassa in Peshawar, capital city of North-West Frontier Province. On Saturday, the Times had said the Prince and his partner were to view the inside of a "new model madrassa" which was under Pakistani government patronage. This madrassa was said to have smartly dressed students who learned the Koran and also took computer studies. The prince arrived in Pakistan late on Sunday night and on Monday spoke with President Musharraf.

The Telegraph reported that a royal spokesman stated: "The visit to Peshawar has been cancelled on the advice of the Pakistani government. An alternative programme for their Royal Highnesses for Tuesday is being considered. The Prince and the Duchess are disappointed not to be going."

The issue of the Bajaur agency and militancy has been a matter of international concern for some time. The Damidola bombing only highlighted the ease with which militants could pass from Afghanistan's Kunar province into Pakistan and back again. Another region of the North-West Frontier Province, Waziristan, has similarly been a source of concern.

In March, the so-called "Pakistan Taliban" took over this region. They established a sharia court in Wana, capital city of South Waziristan, and executed their first person on March 26. On Thursday December 1 last year in North Waziristan, a missile strike on the village of Haisori, near Miranshah killed Al Qaeda's third-in-command, Abu Hamza Rabia.

The Pakistan government has had about 70,000 to 80,000 military personnel posted in the border regions, as Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives have been hiding in the borderlands.

On September 5 the Pakistan government signed an "accord" with the Taliban in Waziristan. 45 Taliban members attended a jirga (tribal council) in Peshawar days after the deal was signed, where the governor of North-West Frontier Province, Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai, rewarded each member of the jirga with 100,000 rupees apiece ($1,658). This was for their work in brokering the accord.

The accord agreed that the Taliban leaders would act to prevent militants from crossing over the border into Pakistan, and would also end the practice of "targeted killings". While the leaders in Peshawar were pocketing their rewards, the first of several victims of such targeted killings began to be discovered.

The accord was further proved meaningless when on October 19 there was a battle between Islamists and Afghan troops in Barmal district of Paktika province, southern Afghanistan. Most of the Islamists were killed or blew themselves up. Captured fighters claimed that they had come from Waziristan, and had been urged to fight by Muslim clerics in the region. The Taliban in Pakistan had not kept to their side of the accord agreements, by allowing fighters to cross the border.

Despite the obvious failure and impotence of the accord, the Pakistani government had intended to initiate a similar accord in Bajaur agency. The accord would have been signed on Monday, but as a result of the attack upon the madrassa near Khar, this did not happen.

The Pakistan Daily Times reported that on Saturday, a jirga took place in Bajaur agency, where pro-Taliban militants and elders gathered. They called Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar "heroes of the Muslim world", and also vowed to have joint efforts to fight the "enemies of peace" in Bajaur. The Times said that 5,000 militants attended this jirga, whereas the Guardian gave the figure as 3,000.

Last week, nine suspected al-Qaeda militants were released by the political administration of Bajaur Agency. It was widely believed that this move was a preliminary step before agreeing on a peace accord.

The madrassa which was bombed had been repeatedly warned to close down, the military states, and said that militants could not hide behind peace deals. Major General Shakaur Sultan said that the militants at the madrassa had received "clear warnings" before the attack. "They were told to close the madrasa, but they refused." He suggested that peace talks would still continue. "The prospects for peace are there," he said.

The Jamaat-e-Islami, the Islamist party which is headed by Qazi Hussain Ahmad, leader of the MMA, condemned the attack on the Chenagai madrassa as "brutal and barbaric". The MMA parties hold the majority of the seats in the North-West Frontier Province National Assembly. One member of the Assembly's cabinet, Siraj Ul Haq, has said that he will resign in protest against the attack.

Ul Haq said: "This is against Islam and the traditions of the area. This was an unprovoked attack on a madrasa. They were innocent people."

In Islamabad, Qazi Hussain Ahmad said: "It was an American plane behind the attack and Pakistan is taking responsibility because they know there would be a civil war if the American responsibility was known."

Ahmad said that only three students survived at the Madarisa Zia-ul-Uloom Taleem-ul-Quran, as it was called, states IRNA. He also claimed that 25 of the students were under 15, and that they had been bombed as they were preparing for morning prayers.

In Chenagai there were protests on Monday, as well as in Khar, where 2,000 tribesman and shopkeepers shouted "Death to Musharraf! Death to Bush!" During the Chenagai protest, states the Washington Post, one protester held aloft a severed charred hand.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:03 PM | Comments (0)

India: Why Are So Many Muslims in Prison?

News from NewIndPress, Gulf Daily News and Associated Press via the Daily Times and the International Herald Tribune reports that a study of prison populations in India has shown that there are disproportionate numbers of Muslims behind bars.

The information comes in a document published today, extracted from a review of an Indian government study of Muslim welfare by the Justice Rajinder Sachar committee. India's population is 84% Hindu, and the remaining population is 13% Muslim and 2.4% Christian. Yet prison statistics show that this ratio is not preserved in India's jails.

There is no breakdown of the nature of the crimes for which Muslims are incarcerated. 102,652 Muslims are in jail, and the majority are not imprisoned for terrorism. 12 states with sizeable Muslim populations were asked to submit figures, but four states - West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh - have not responded. West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have the fewest Muslims in government employment.

The states with the most disproportionate amount of Muslims in jail are Maharashtra, Gujarat and Kerala.

In Maharashtra, Muslims account for 10.6% of the general population, yet they comprise 32.4% of the prison population. For those incarcerated on terms of less than a year, the figure rises - 42% of prisoners on short-term sentences in the state are Muslim.

In Gujarat, where Muslims account for 9.06% of the populace, they account for 25% of all prison inmates.

Assam has the second-highest number of Muslims in its population (Jammu & Kashmir state has the highest), at 30.9% of the general populace. Yet in this state, there are fewer Muslims in jail - 28.1%.

Karnataka state has a general population comprising 12.23% Muslims, yet its jail population is 17.5% Muslim.

There are debates about the causes of this discrepancy between the populations of Muslims in society and in prison. The Justice Rajinder Sachar committee notes that in urban areas, Muslims living at the poverty level account for 44% of the urban poor, compared to the national figure of 28%.

The argument that Muslims are poor, and also picked on, is put forward by former MP Syed Shahabuddin, of the Muslim organisation Majlis-e-Mushawarat. He compared their situation to African-Americans in the United States. He noted that Muslims are well-represented in lowly jobs, and have few openings in formal occupations.

He said: "What are they supposed to do? They, therefore, end up in police stations more frequently and get involved in things they should not be involved in. It's like the African-Americans in the US. Their proportionate share in jails is much more than their population share. With less opportunities, crime is a vocation." He also blamed the police for their bias.

It appears that the Indian government is doing its own hand-wringing, and yet its statistics do not demonstrate a disproportionate amount of imprisoned Muslims anywhere near as extreme as those from France.

France, frustratingly, is too politically correct to keep statistics based on ethnicity, race or religion. There fore the estimates of Muslims within the general population range from 6 to 9% of the total. Yet in jails, the amount of Muslims are estimated to be between 60 and 70% of the prison demographic. The majority of French Muslims in jail are said to be from North Africa.

According to the Jamestown Foundation, Farhad Khosrokhavar of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, estimated that between 50% and 80% of French inmates are Muslims. He also noted in 2004 that there were only 69 imams in French jails, compared to 500 Christian pastors and 84 rabbis.

In Britain, the population of Muslims is estimated at 3% of the total, but with illegal immigration, this figure could be higher. A report by the UK Prison Service noted that since 1993, the number of Muslims in British jails increased threefold over a ten-year period. In March 1993, there were 2,106 Muslim prisoners. In June 2003 there were 6,136.

In June 2002, the prison population of Muslims was 7% of all male prisoners (more than twice the national percentage) and 3% of all female prisoners (the same as the national average).

The latest figure for total prison population in Britain (27 October 2006) in Britain is 73,144 males and 4,605 females, though this figure is not broken down by religion. The system is close to breaking point.

In Scotland, the proportion of Muslims in the community is small. A government study (pdf format) from 2003 stated that out of a total population of 5,062,011 people, there were 42,557 Muslims. This figure included 31,793 Pakistanis and 1,981 Bangladeshis.

Therefore, 0.8% of the population of Scotland is Muslim. A UK government report from August this year states that 1.3% of the Scottish prison population (89 individuals) defined themselves as "Muslim".

In Italy, the percentage of the prison population that is Muslim is 14%, according to 2005 figures.

Poverty is no excuse for crime. And claiming police prejudice in a country like Britain, where the police seem fearful to hurt Muslim feelings, seems a weaker excuse. One suggestion has been made to account for the large Muslim prison population in Britain by Dr Basia Spalek and Salah El-Hassan of the Institute of Applied Social Studies, University of Birmingham. They argue that conversion to Islam while in prison accounts for the presence of some of the Muslims in prison. At Feltham Young Offenders' Institute, there have been incidents of forced conversion to Islam.

In France, Muslims are ripe for conversion. in 2004 it was said that prisoners in French jails can spend 21 hours locked in their cells. In June, the French General Intelligence Agency (Renseignements Generaux or RG) stated that 175 militant Muslims were preaching to others in French jails. They were mostly already from "Muslim backgrounds" already, but had adopted the extreme fundamentalism of the Tablighi Jamaat or Salafists.

In Belgium, the influence of radical Muslims proselytising in jail led in September to the director of the Belgian federal police force, Glenn Audenaert, suggesting that such prisoners should be contained in a segregated jail. In Australia, Aboriginal prisoners have been targeted for Islamic conversion.

In the United States, an estimated one third of all African-American prisoners are Muslim converts, following in the traditions of Malcolm X or Imam Jamil Al-Amin (the former H. Rap Brown). A study by the US Department of Justice from April 2004 revealed that 6% of the 150,000 federal inmates are Muslim. This is higher than the 1.5% of the general population who profess Islam. The whole US Department of Justice report, entitled "A Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Selection of Muslim Religious Services Providers", can be downloaded in pdf format HERE.

In California, the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirms that of 166,000 inmates in the state, about 10,000 of these are Muslim. The majority of these are Sunni Muslims. This too coincides with the 6% figure found in the rest of the general prison population.

In America, as in Europe, there is a problem with the spread of radical Islam within penitentiaries. A recent 38-page document, published in September by the Homeland Security Policy Institute of George Washington University, entitled "Out of the Shadows: Getting Ahead of Prisoner Radicalization", can be downloaded in pdf format HERE.

There is another possible reason for the spread of Islam in jail, which would also explain why so many Muslims end up in jail, compared to other citizens. Irrespective of the bleeding-heart liberal excuses of low achievement and poor opportunities, no researchers have stated the obvious and unifying factor - Islam, and its belief that "kaffirs" are inferior. If one dehumanizes non-Muslims, it is easy to see them as targets. As Mohammed himself (in Sura 8 - the "spoils of war") engaged in caravan raids and also acts of violence - what better example is there to legitimize one's progression through life by "raiding" from shops, automobiles and citizens?

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 12:39 AM | Comments (1)

October 29, 2006

India: Muslim Cleric Slammed For Rape Fatwa

A year ago, in June 2005, a young married woman from Charthawal village in western Uttar Pradesh state in northern India was raped. Her husband, a rickshaw-puller who also worked in a brick-kiln, was away from the home working when the rape occurred. The rapist was her husband's father, Ali Mohammed. There has been no doubt that Imrana's father-in-law raped her.

A local village council, or panchayat, issued a fatwa which was bizarre, to say the least. Imrana then went to the Darul Uloom seminary, which follows the strict orthodoxy of the Deobandi sect of Islam. The clerics were qualified to issue binding fatwas, and she hoped the clerics would over-rule the panchayat's condition. Instead, they upheld the fatwa. They ruled that, as Imrana had already had a "physical relationship" with the 65-year old rapist, her marriage to her husband, Noor Ilahi, was consequently annulled. This was despite the fact that the couple had five children.

The panchayat fatwa had ordered that thenceforward, she should declare her husband, Noor Ilahi, to be her "son". In this aspect, the Darul Uloom fatwa differed. For them, the father-in-law could not be Imrana's husband. Their fatwa was issued by Mufti Habibur Rehman at the Darul Uloom headquarters (pictured) in Deoband on June 24, 2005. This is the second-largest Islamic seminary in the world, after Cairo's Al-Azhar University.

According to Hard News from August 2005, the decision on the fatwa derived from the fiq'h (jurisprudence) of the Hanafi sub-sect of Sunnis. The relevant explanation of this is contained in the following extract of the fatwa:

"If someone has committed adultery with the wife of his son, and if this has been proved by the depositions of witnesses or if his son confirms it or if the woman herself admits and confirms it, the wife of the son becomes haram forever for the son. If the father copulates with a woman either legally after marriage, or illegally without marriage, in both cases it becomes haram for man (son) to keep her in his marriage."

"It is mentioned in the Quran 'wa la tankihoo ma nakaha aaba-o-kum' ('And marry not women whom your fathers married.' Quran, 4:22), i.e. the son should separate himself from his wife and never go to her. The contention of the panchayat people that the wife of the son has now become wife of the father and her wifehood has changed is not correct, or to say that the wife of the son is divorced is also not correct. Neither can she be married to her father-in-law."

Imrana was not prepared to accept this, and decided to make a stand against the Islamic clergy. At first her husband remained quiet, but eventually decided to support his wife in her attempt to get some justice, and to over-rule the fatwa.

The news is carried by One World South Asia, Short News and the Pakistan Christian Post and The Peninsula.

The decision to have Imrana abandon her husband was supported by other clerics. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) originally approved of the fatwa.

Hindu nationalists usually criticise religious rulings which contradict the values of the secular judiciary. The Hindu reported last year that members of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) condemned both the fatwa and the AIMPLB.

Finally on 19 October, more than a year after the attack, Imrana managed to see her father-in-law, Mohammed Ali, convicted of rape in a secular court. The rapist was sentenced to ten years' jail by a district court in Muzaffarnagar.

District Judge R. D. Nimesh ordered that the rapist should also be fined 10,000 rupees ($222). Imrana should be awarded 8,000 rupees ($178) from this money.

AIMPLB welcomed the verdict, but the issue has divided Muslim representatives. Maulana Imrana, who heads the local shariat court in Muzaffarnagar, has said that the court decision will have no bearing on the original fatwa. He said: "After being raped by her father-in-law, Imrana ceased to remain Noor Ilahi's wife. Instead she acquired the status of Ilahi's mother. So irrespective of the court order, the Shariah would not permit her to cohabit with Ilahi. The court verdict could not override the view of the Shariah and according to that Ilahi must leave Imrana."

A member of the AIMPLB, who heads the Firangi Mahal Islamic seminary in Lucknow, Maulana Khalid Rashid was ambiguous in his response. He said he welcomed the verdict of the court, as it sentenced the rapist to a lengthy jail term. Rashid said: "According to the AIMPLB and the Sharia, the victim cannot marry a person who has raped her. No one can accept such a fatwa."

But when asked about whether Imrana should stay with the father of her five children, Rashid was evasive. He said: "That is a question which I am not empowered to decide, it can be dealt with only by a Darul-Qaza, which is the highest Islamic court."

The Daul Uloom seminary which pronounced the original fatwa is Sunni. A Shia cleric condemned the fatwa. Maulana Mohammad Yasoob of the All India Shia Personal Law Board said the notion that Imrana should have married her rapist and abandoned her husband as "distorted". He said: "Imrana continues to remain the legally wedded wife of Noor Ilahi and under no Islamic tenet is she disentitled to enjoy that status after what has happened."

Women's groups have welcomed the verdict of the court, but the issue is still a source of dispute among Islamic theologians. The newly-created All India Muslim Women’s Law Board (AIMWLB) welcomed the court verdict, but condemned those who had issued the fatwa. Shaista Ambar, head of AIMWLB said: "The ruling of the Maulanas speaks volumes of their mindset for discrimination against women. This proves why we need an independent personal law board for Muslim women."

Last week, AIMWLB issued a damning criticism of Kamal Farouqee of the Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) who still holds the view that Imrana's marriage to Noor Ilahi is still invalid. Parveen Abdi said his notions were "devoid of the principal of natural justice".

Ms Abdi argued that as Imrana was raped, she is a victim, who should be compensated and treated with sympathy. Additionally, she said Kamal Farouqee's view on Imrana was based on a misconceived and sexist interpretation of Sharia law, where the woman victim of a crime is punished.

She also wondered why Kamal Farouqee had not suggested that Mohammed Ali should be stoned to death - the Islamic punishment for adultery and rape (zina).

Zee News reports that clerics have told Noor Ilahi that he should still leave his wife. Mufti Zulfiqar of the Shariat court of Muzzaffarnagar declared that the husband should abandon Imrana. Ahsan Kasmi, a mufti at the Darul Uloom seminary in Deoband, also agreed that Mr Ilahi should leave his wife.

Mufti Habibur Rehman, who heads the fatwa department at the Deoband headquarters and who issued the original "official" fatwa, refused to comment on the case. He said he would only respond to questions submitted in written form.

The Darul Uloom ("House of Knowledge") in Deoband was formed in May, 1866 by scholars Hazrat Maulana Mohammad Qasim Nanautavi and Hazrat Maulana Rasheed Ahmed Gangohi. Deoband teachings are strict. They advocate the veiling of women. The strict outlook of the Taliban and their brutal repression of women in Afghanistan stems from their being educated in Deobandi madrassas. Mullah Omar and several other Taliban leaders were graduates of the Deoband teaching institution, the Haqqania seminary, located in North-West Frontier Province in Pakistan.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:26 PM | Comments (0)

Philippines: Four Islamists Killed In Clash

The Philippine islands are predominantly Christian, yet in the south of the archipelago, on the large island of Mindanao, a large proportion of the population are Muslim, mostly of the Moro or Bangsamoro ethnic groups. Three million Muslims live on Mindanao. There were two sultanates in the south, one based at Sulu and the other at Miguandanao in the west of Mindanao, centered around the region which is now included within the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao or ARMM, near Cotabato. While the rest of the Philippines became Christian, these sultanates resisted and retained their Islamic identity.

The sultanate of Miguandanao still continues, but in name only. On January 11 this year, the 25th sultan of Miguandanao, Datu Amir Baraguir, was shot dead. He may have been killed by Islamists, as, prior to becoming the sultan in 2005, he ran a newspaper column, in which he encouraged Muslims and Christians to live together.

Historically, when the Spaniards under Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived in Manila Bay in the late 16th century, Muslim imperialism was already taking place in Maynilad (as the main center of Luzon island was then known), under the leadership of Rajah Soliman (Sulayman), who originally came from Borneo. Now, 84% of the population is Christian, and 7% is Muslim.

The term Bangsamoro means in Malay "Moro homeland", and is now used to define 11 ethnic groups. There have been two major movements to "liberate" the southern Moro peoples from Filipino rule. These are the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), traditionally based in the Liguasan marsh of Mindanao and formed in 1977, and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). The latter group are led by . When the ARMM was officially inaugurated on November 6, 1990, Nur Misauri (head of MNLF, pictured left) was made its first governor. This followed a peace deal, signed on August 30, 1996, brokered by Indonesia.

After being governor of ARMM for five years, Misauri went back to his roots as a rebel. In November 2001, he ordered an attack upon an army base in Jolo (Sulu province) and then became a fugitive in Malaysia, thence deported back to the Philippines, where he is currently in jail. Despite his history as a trouble-maker, the OIC countries see Misauri as the representative of the Moro peoples.

MILF had an estimated 2,900 "soldiers" at the end of last year, but in December it seems they began a recruitment campaign which has swollen their numbers. They led a brief insurgency against the Philippines government in 1987, but have recently been engaged in protracted peace talks with the Filipino government, which have been brokered by Malaysia. Last month, the peace talks stalled over disputes about the size of territory to be under their control. Murad Ibrahim leads the MILF.

To add to the mix of dissidents in the Philippines, there are the Islamist groups who use terrorism to achieve similar goals to the MNLF and MILF.

The group Abu Sayyaf, formed in the 1980s is more involved in banditry than political aims, and specializes in kidnappings and beheadings. It set bombs on a ferry carrying 900 passengers in the Bay of Manila on February 27, 2004. The ensuing fire on the ship saw 116 people killed. Abu Sayyaf's center of operations include Miguandanao and Mindanao, the island of Basilan, and also the island of Jolo. The leader of Abu Sayyaf is Khaddafy Janjalani, who has a $10 million bounty on his head from the US Rewards for Justice scheme.

A smaller group involved in insurgent activities is Abu Sofia. On January 2005 its leader Bebis Binago was killed but the group, which is allied to Abu Sayyaf, continues to exist. It has some links with MILF. In July, three Abu Sofia operatives were arrested in Sultan Kudarat in Miguandanao.

The other faction in Islamic radicalism is drawn from the tradition of "Balik Islam" - the converts from Catholicism who regard themselves as returning to their roots. They call themselves "reverts" and believe that if Miguel Lopez de Legazpi had not been successful, the Philippines would have been entirely Muslim by now.

The faction from these converts which is involved in terrorism is called Rajah Solaiman, after the 16th century Borneo-born ruler of Luzon. This group is small, but has allied itself with both Abu Sayyaf and the larger, al-Qaeda-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiyah. On February 14 2005, members of Rajah Solaiman, Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf joined forces to carry out a series of multiple bombings, known as the Valentine's Day bombings. A bus in Makati city, Manila's financial district was bombed, killing four, and other bombs took place in Davao. Eight people died and more than 150 people were killed in the Valentine's Day attacks. Rajah Solaiman are active on Luzon (Manila) and also around the region of Zamboanga province on Mindanao, where they act as "couriers" for Abu Sayyaf.

The groups listed above, sharing a common purpose of independence from the Philippines, have links with each other. From November 11, 2005 until a truce was made on January 20, members of MNLF joined with Abu Sayyaf on the island of Jolo, and mounted an insurgency against Filipino troops stationed on the island. Abu Sayyaf on Jolo is led by the one-armed horse-riding local leader Radullan Sahiron. The truce was brokered by MNLF leader Nur Misauri from his jail cell.

Some Abu Sayyaf members had been hiding on Mindanao, in the Liguasan Marsh on Mindanao, territory of the MILF. Last year, two Jemaah Islamiyah leaders, Dulmatin and Umar Patek had taken refuge there. It is believed they found refuge with a senior MILF leader who was in conflict with his group. Dulmatin (real name Amar bin Usman) and Patek are wanted for their role in the October 12, 2002, bombings on Bali which killed 202 people. the US is offering a bounty of $10 million for Sulmatin, and $1 million for Umar Patek.

As a result, the Liguasan Marsh region was bombed by Filipino forces in November and again in January. About 20 Abu Sayyaf members, including the leader Khadaffy Janjalani and also Dulmatin and Umar Patek fled to the island of Jolo. Two other JI members, Zulkifli bin Hir and Abdul Rahman Ayub who were hiding with the Abu Sayyaf also fled. They took refuge in the south of the island.

There is an American presence on Jolo, though these are involved in training Philippines military rather than any active involvement in conflict. After US satellite imaging located the mountainside base, it was bombed by Filipino forces on August 1. The operation to capture or remove the Abu Sayyaf leadership and the JI activists on Jolo has continued since.

On October 6 it was announced that Dulmatin's wife, Istiada Oemar Sovie, aka Amenah Toha, had been captured as she tried to enter Jolo with her two children, aged 6 and 8.

This action led to apparent reprisals. On October 10 and 11, three bombs in Mindanao killed eight people at Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat, Makilala City in North Cotabato province and at Cotabato City. The Governor of North Cotabato Province, Emmanuel Pinol, claimed the bombs were the work of MILF. The attacks appeared to signal a new offensive against mainly Christian civilians in Mindanao.

On October 17, a large cache of explosives was discovered on a boat at Zamboanga City port on the western coast of Mindanao. The explosive material was ammonium nitrate, which was on a boat which had arrived at the port from Jolo island. The chemical was stored inside a fish cooler, under layers of fish on the boat MV Nickel Princely. The material was made in France. Previous smuggled ammonium nitrate has come from Indonesia or Malaysia.

On October 15, a bomb had taken place at a police compound at Camp Asturias in downtown Jolo city, Sulu, injuring two people.

Reuters the Inquirer and Deutsche Presse Agentur via Monsters & Critics report today that four Islamists have been killed in a clash with government troops. The incident took place at the village of Buloy near Shariff Aguak town, in Miguandanao province, Mindanao. One soldier was injured in the gunfight.

Before the shootout, a homemade bomb was found on a road in Barera town, north of Shariff Aguak. The device, which had comprised a 60-millimeter mortar shell, had been safely defused.

Colonel Julieto Ando, spokesman for the army's 6th Infantry Division, blamed MILF for instigating the gun battle at Buloy. "The rebels harassed a detachment of government militiamen in the village, forcing the government forces to fight back," he said.

Eid Kabalu, the official spokesman of MILF, said that the conflict had been started by militiamen of Governor Andal Ampatuan. Kabalu claimed the militia had fired mortar shells at the MILF position at dawn. In June, dozens had been killed in Shariff Aguak, when forces allied to MILF fought with militia allied to local politicians.

Last week, the leader of MILF, Murad Ebrahim (pictured left) was officially charged by police with the October 10/11 attacks in Morth Cotabato province, states Deutsche Presse Agentur via Playfuls.com. General Hermogenes Esperon, armed forces chief of staff, has expressed doubts that Ebrahim would have been involved in attacks of this nature. He said: "I have not seen (intelligence) reports that would directly incriminate Al Haj Murad himself."

Eid Kabalu has strenuously denied that the MILF would mount such an assault.

The talks between the MILF and the government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stalled last month over issues of territory. The planned autonomous region would have included 600 villages, but MILF wanted 1,000 to be included in the territory.

This morning, states, the Inquirer, a police officer was shot dead in Zamboanga City. Rodrigo Deza was on a motorcycle when he was shot from behind by two gunmen who had tailed him on another bike. He was shot in the head. His pistol was taken. No group has been named yet as being responsible for the attack. The method of killing is similar to that commonly used in the south of Thailand by insurgents.

A report today from Angus Reid.com states that a poll, conducted between September 24 to October 2 found that Filipinos were viewing Islam more favorably. In August 2004, 41% of respondents to a similar poll viewed Islam "unfavorably", reducing to 32% in September 2005, and currently the figure is 29%.

In 2004, 52% of respondents viewed Islam "favorably", which rose to 63% in 2005, and now stands at 66%.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:44 AM | Comments (1)

US: "Accountant in Chief" Looks for Finance Debate

What does this has to do with resisting Islam? Simple; as the United States gets older and most of our people clamor for prescription drugs, affordable retirement homes, etc., the desire to just withdraw from the world will grow stronger. It doesn't help that so much money will be needed to keep the unaffordable levels of "benefits" that are now law. And Europe finds itself in an even worse position than America does: it is getting older, faster, and the immigrants it counts on to fund their even more unaffordable programs are members of the Religion of Peace and Tolerance (tm).

It should be noticed that President Bush and the Republican Party tried to do something about it last election cycle and they failed. The American people chose self-delusion instead of facing reality: GAO chief warns economic disaster looms

AUSTIN, Texas - David M. Walker sure talks like he's running for office. "This is about the future of our country, our kids and grandkids," the comptroller general of the United States warns a packed hall at Austin's historic Driskill Hotel. "We the people have to rise up to make sure things get changed."

But Walker doesn't want, or need, your vote this November. He already has a job as head of the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress that audits and evaluates the performance of the federal government.

Basically, that makes Walker the nation's accountant-in-chief. And the accountant-in-chief's professional opinion is that the American public needs to tell Washington it's time to steer the nation off the path to financial ruin.

From the hustings and the airwaves this campaign season, America's political class can be heard debating Capitol Hill sex scandals, the wisdom of the war in
Iraq and which party is tougher on terror. Democrats and Republicans talk of cutting taxes to make life easier for the American people.

What they don't talk about is a dirty little secret everyone in Washington knows, or at least should. The vast majority of economists and budget analysts agree: The ship of state is on a disastrous course, and will founder on the reefs of economic disaster if nothing is done to correct it.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 8:13 AM | Comments (0)

October 28, 2006

Malaysia: UK's Idiot Politician To Learn About "Islam & Multiculturalism"

Fortunately, John Prescott has said recently that he will not be remaining as deputy prime minister if Labour wins the next election. Recently, his name has been associated with sleaze of all sorts. He was linked with corruption, most notably when it was revealed that he was entertained at the house of US billionaire Philip Anschutz and received gifts. Prescott later championed Anschutz's request to turn the Millennium Dome into a giant casino. Prescott's corruption went unpunished, though Anschutz is now being investigated in the US.

Until he was demoted in May, Prescott was minister in charge of planning, which involved massive house-building in the countryside. It was claimed that his role in building projects was exploited by his son Jonathan, whose company Estate Partnerships sought out land which would increase in value.

As well as laziness, incompetence, and hitting people, which he did in 2001, when farmer Craig Evans threw an egg at him in North Wales, Prescott is also linked to extramarital sleaze. Although Prescott is a lookalike for Jabba the Hut, he had an affair with his secretary, Tracey Temple. She revealed in April that Prescott had a "two inch" penis, which did not always rise to attention. Prescott is pictured above as Craig Evans responded to the politician's punch.

Recently, he has jumped onto the Islamic appeasement bandwagon. While other politicians were condemning the blatant segregation of wearing a face-veil, Prescott broke ranks to say: "If a woman wants to wear a veil, why shouldn't she? It's her choice." His own wife often wears netting over her face, but this is one of her methods of disguising the ravages of age, rather than religious affiliations. (Another method she uses to hide the cracks are trowel-loads of makeup).

While other ministers have started to draw back from using the term "multiculturalism' as most of the electorate think this policy has been discredited, Prescott is still in love with the notion.

He is currently on tour in Asia. His most recent stop has been Malaysia, where he arrived on Friday night. His comments have exposed how, despite being a heavyweight when standing on his bathroom scales, he is a total lightweight politically. And he is either downright ignorant, stupid or plain dishonest.

Agence France Presse via the Peninsular reports that Prescott has said: "I'm keen to learn more about Malaysia's approach to being a successful, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural society in a rapidly changing world. In a world of increasing interdependence, where mass migration and urbanisation are bringing together more and more people from differing cultures and religions, we need more understanding, more dialogue and more cooperation."

There is nothing "multicultural" about Malaysia. Muslims comprise 60% of the population, but the "multi-religious, multi-cultural society' means that the remaining 40% of the population - Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and animists, are second class citizens. And even Muslims are oppressed under Malaysia's laws. Sharia courts rule on issues of divorce and family matters. A man can have up to four wives under Malaysian law, but women cannot divorce abusive husbands without permission from the Islamic courts.

Take the case of Aida Melly Tan Mutalib - who struggled to get a divorce from a violent husband. He had taken a second wife, but the issue was bounced around the Sharia courts like a squash ball for seven years until finally she was awarded rights to divorce her brutal partner. Then her husband challenged this appeal, and the case bounced around some more...

In June, 22-year old Nornashimah Mohammed Nor, a woman who was already married and was five months pregnant, had her marriage annulled by a sharia court against her wishes. The reason given for the annullment was that she had not obtained permission from her father before she got married. Even Marina, the daughter of the last prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, has campaigned against the poor treatment of women in the country. On December 22, a law was forced through parliament, the Islamic Family Law Bill, which made it easier for men to marry and divorce, and also enabled them to freeze the bank accounts of former spouses and their children.

Hindu temples are bulldozed with no warning. On April 18, a temple which had stood for 100 years in Kuala Lumpur was holding a service when bulldozers arrived. No prior warning had been given, and there was no right of appeal. The temple was torn down. Several temples have suffered the same fate. Churches too are targeted. Before Christmas, a nearly completed Christian church near Skudai in Johor state was completely demolished.

But Hindus and Christians feel oppressed for the way in which the Islamic courts interfere with their personal lives. In December, a Hindu mountaineering hero died after an illness which had paralyzed him. Before he died, someone told the Islamic courts that he had become a convert to Islam. Lieutenant Corporal M. Moorthy's body was then claimed by the Islamic courts, despite his widow's protestations. Kaliammal Moorthy took the case to the High Court, and was told by the judge that he had no power to intervene. Moorthy's body was given to the Islamic courts, who buried him in a Muslim graveyard.

Article 121 (1A) of Malaysia's constitution states that civil courts have no jurisdiction on "any matter" which falls within the jurisdiction of the Syariah (sharia) courts. The same judge who said he could not interfere in the Moorthy case, Justice Mohammad Raus Sharif, also ruled on December 28 that he could not allow members of the Sky Kingdom Sect to announce that they had left Islam.

Kamariah Ali and Daud Mamat had renounced Islam years before, but no Islamic court had allowed them to officially change their faith.

Article 3(1) of the constitution states that "other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation." Article 11 of the constitution states that a citizen can follow any religion of their choosing. But Article 121 (IA), introduced in 1988, makes issues of apostasy out of the realm of the civil and high courts.

As soon as a person reaches the age of 12, they are issued with an identity card, or MyKad. On this card are recorded one's details, including religion, which are registered with the National Registration Department (NRD). And all ethnic Malays are automatically designated as "Muslim". Once registered as a Muslim, only an appeal from Malaysia's Syariah (Sharia) courts can allow a person to claim to have another faith.

And so far, the Sharia courts, which exist in every state and have the powers to send people to prison or to "religious rehabilitation camps" have never granted such a privilege to any living person. The only person ever to allowed to apostasise freely was an 89 year old Buddhist woman, Nyonya Tahir (pictured) who had appealed to the NRD repeatedly to have her designation as "Muslim" removed from her MyKad. Mrs Tahir was only granted this privilege after she had died.

Nyonya Tahir died on Thursday, January 19 this year. She had married a Chinese man in 1936, and adopted Buddhism. Following her death, the Sharia courts prevented her from being buried, and held an inquisition. For the first time in recorded history, the inquisition heard evidence in court from two of Nyonya's children, who were Buddhist like their mother. Finally, on January 23, the Sharia court allowed Mrs Tahir to be buried as a Buddhist, allowing her to become the first person ever allowed the right of apostasy, even though Nyonya could not appreciate it by then.

Kamariah Ali, a native of Kelantan state, was formerly a scholar of Islam, who attended the Al-Azhar Muslim University in Cairo. She was sent to jail by the Sharia courts in Terengganu state in 2005 for "insulting Islam". Her husband, Mohammed Ya, had also been a follower of the Sky Kingdom Sect. He had been imprisoned for two years for "insulting Islam" by an Islamic court in Terengganu state, for his attempts to apostasize. Mohammed Ya died shortly after his release from jail. Upon his death, the Muslim courts who refused his right to leave Islam also refused his right to be buried in a Muslim graveyard. He was finally buried in the compound of the Sky Kingdom Sect.

Kamariah Ali publicly renounced Islam in 1999 in a Kota Baru Syariah (sharia) Court, seven years ago. Mustafar Hamzah, chief prosecutor for the Syariah High Court said on June 20that the onus was upon Kamariah herself to prove that she had left Islam. She is charged under Section 7 of the Syariah Criminal Offence Enactment (Takzir) Terengganu. It is alleged that she only declared that she is saying that she is no longer a Muslim because she is trying to evade punishment. Her case, which has seen her imprisoned for her beliefs, has still not been resolved.

The most famous case of apostasy being disallowed is that of Lina Joy, who took her case to the Federal Court, the highest legal body in the land, in July this year. In 1998, the National Registration Department granted her the right to change the name on her MyKad from her Muslim birth-name, Azlina Jailani, to her Christian name, Lina Joy. But the NRD refuses to allow her to change her status from "Muslim" to "Christian", as this must first be authorised by the Islamic courts. And despite almost a decade of petitioning the Syariah courts, Lina Joy has never been allowed to "apostasise". As Ms Joy has a boyfriend, who is a Christian, whom she wishes to marry, she has good reason to want to have the NRD's decision on her religious status revoked. Under Malaysia's fascistic Syariah laws, a Muslim woman is not allowed to marry a Christian.

On August 23, Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim of the Federal Court announced that the court needed more time to consider the submissions in the case, thereby stalling the ruling which has been expected for some time. He said: "Coming soon (the decision) we have to have some time. We cannot rush this thing. You must also remember that there were three judges who heard the appeal."

43-year old Lina Joy has been through countless court appearances. On April 23, 2001,the High Court had ruled that being a Muslim, Lina, could not renounce Islam and that the issue should be decided by the Syariah Court. On September 19 last year, her submission to the Court of Appeal was turned down by a 2-1 verdict. It was then ruled that her renunciation of Islam was not confirmed by the Syariah Court or any other Islamic religious authority.

The church of Our Lady of Fatima, in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, where Lina Joy had been baptised, had been the subject of a police report, claimed Asia News a day after the court's decision. A Muslim fascist called Taib Hisham had claimed that her baptism had contravened part of the controversial Article 11 of the constitution, which states: "The law may control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam."

Lina Joy's lawyer, Benjamin Dawson, has said that Lina has been subjected to death threats because of her desire to apostasise. Her fiance has also been threatened with death by Muslim fascists.

So now, Britain's bloated genitally challenged deputy prime minister has arrived in Malaysia. John Prescott has said he wants to learn from Malaysia about how a multi-cultural, multi-faith society operates.

Prescott is being attacked by Christian groups, states the Telegraph. The fool has written a 1,000 word article in the Malaysian Star. Copyright rules in the US and UK allow an entire article to be quoted in its entirety if it is for the purposes of review. As we have commenters writing in, we automatically open up all of our writings here for review. So here is Prescott's article in its entirety.

Prescott seeks Malaysian formula

By John Prescott, Britains Deputy Prime Minister

I'M DELIGHTED to be here in Malaysia. During the last week, I have travelled across Asia, exchanging views in Japan, South Korea, and China, on global issues such as climate change, technology, trade and security that affect all of us.

Now I am seeking Malaysia's perspective on these issues, to learn more about your approach to the peaceful co-existence of different faiths.

In a world of increasing interdependence, where mass migration and urbanisation are bringing together more and more people from differing cultures and religions, we need more understanding, more dialogue and more cooperation.

Last month, I represented Prime Minister Tony Blair at the international summit which brought together the heads of government of Asia and Europe in Helsinki.

During the Sixth Asia-Europe Meeting, your Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi gave a powerful speech about dialogue between people from different cultures.

He said: "Modern Europe has generally embraced secularism, and largely removed religion from the public domain into the confines of the home and family. For the Muslims, Islam is their way of life, both public and private."

It's clear that we need to be sensitive to the differences which arise from religious and cultural beliefs.

Malaysians may be aware of the recent controversy, both within and outside the Muslim communities in Britain, about the wearing of the veil. The answer is not to close down that discussion but to have an open debate, with open minds.

There must be no "no go areas" for discussion. We must have the confidence to talk to each other, with mutual respect, in order to achieve understanding.

This week, the Muslim festival of Eid (Hari Raya Aidilfitri), in which people open their homes to friends and neighbours, is a good example of that openness.

I'm keen to learn more about Malaysia's approach to being a successful, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural society in a rapidly changing world.

As Abdullah had said, Malaysia aims to be "a progressive society that is compatible with modernity yet firmly rooted in the noble values and injunctions of Islam."

Muslim communities in Britain are involved in every walk of life, and they make a significant contribution to the economic and social success of our country.

At the Islamic Art Museum here in Kuala Lumpur, where I will meet leaders and scholars, I will also be reminded of the astonishing creativity of Muslim art, architecture and science.

Islam enriches Britain's society in many ways. It teaches that we have a duty to look after each other – that we are all part of one moral universe, that humanity is intertwined and interlinked like different parts of a human body, reflecting each other's condition. This is a universal moral principle we can all learn from.

Indeed, whatever our beliefs, whether Christian, Sikh, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, or even agnostic, we share common values: respect for the law and each other, freedom of speech, equality of opportunity, and responsibility towards others.

Such values often require a legislative framework to protect them. That's why our government has brought in legislation to promote equality and make expressions of religious hatred illegal.

But in our desire to treat all as equals, we must also recognise the differences which define us. To be truly equal and fair, we must treat some people differently from others, and our law must be sensitive to, and reflect, these issues.

I remember participating many years ago as a Member of Parliament in debates about safety legislation to enforce the use of motorcycle helmets. This was a matter of indifference for most of the population. But for the Sikh community, this was in conflict with their religious beliefs. So the law was framed to allow them to wear turbans instead of helmets.

I'm proud that our government was the first in Britain, not just to have Muslim MPs, but also to allow syariah compliant lending, so that Muslims can invest and borrow in ways that are consistent with their beliefs.

Syariah compliant home financing arrangements now enjoy the same tax treatment as traditional forms of home finance.

These are practical examples of how we can and should be tolerant, flexible and aware of the needs of different religious beliefs in a modern British secular society.

We've achieved a lot in recent years to realise our goal of a Britain in which those of all backgrounds, races and religions overwhelmingly live side by side in tolerance and friendship.

For example, as you sit on the Tube, bus, train or walk about London today, or visit a school, the chances are you'll overhear many languages being spoken, by people of all races and creeds. London is both one of the most economically successful cities in the world and also one of the most cosmopolitan.

But we recognise that some of our poorest communities are also those with significant Muslim populations, and that's why policies like the minimum wage and the New Deal - aimed at helping everyone in disadvantage - will also help many thousands of British Muslims. Not because they are Muslim, but because they are in need.

In Britain, there has been a lot of discussion, quite rightly, about how we ensure "community cohesion." But what do we mean by that? Some take it to mean how our Muslim and other minority communities integrate into wider society. But it is something far more complex, challenging and comprehensive than that.

There needs to be a far wider debate than one between politicians or political parties. It needs to be within and between all our communities. And that debate can be radical. People should be free to express their thoughts within the law of the land.

I've come to Malaysia, not just to represent my government and to discuss common economic and political interests, but also to listen and to learn about your approach to achieving peaceful co-existence in your communities.

As Malaysia moves towards 2007, the 50th anniversary of your independence, I offer my congratulations and I look forward to our countries continuing to work together for a safe and secure future for all our people.

The fool....what posturing self-inflated naive nonsense. The sooner he is relegated to the dustbin of Britain's political history, the better.

The Telegraph states that Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, a human rights lawyer who founded a group which promoted religious freedom was this year ordered by the government to disband the organization. This group was called Article Eleven. When it tried to have a meeting on May 14, it was disrupted by members of the Anti-Interfaith Commission Body. This group is linked to the PAS party (Parti Islam Se-Malaysia) an extreme Islamist party, which seeks to have Malaysia entirely ruled by Sharia.

Article Eleven, named after the contentious clause in the Constitution, was formed of eleven member groups: All Women's Action Society (AWAM), Malaysian Bar Council, Catholic Lawyers Society, Interfaith Spiritual Fellowship, Malaysian Civil Liberties Society (MCLS), Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism (MCCBCHS), National Human Rights Society (HAKAM), Pure Life Society, Sisters in Islam (SIS), Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), Vivekananda Youth Movement, Seremban, Women's Aid Organization (WAO), and Women's Development Collective (WDC).

When Article Eleven tried to have a forum in June, no hotel would allow the group to use their premises for a conference. Finally, in July, they held a meeting in Johor Baru. It was the last conference they would ever have. Members of Article 11 maintain that the constitution is secular, and they have supported the rights of Lina Joy and Kamariah Ali to apostasise from Islam. They argue for the government to honour constitutional guarantees enabling all citizens to practise their faith as defined in Articles 11 and 3 (1).

A month later, as Malaysia prepared for the 49th anniversary of its independence from Britain, (August 31), the prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said on August 26: "My advice to everyone is to stop (raising such issues). Do not create a situation that can lead to difficulties. Difficulties will make everyone apprehensive. Adhering to the articles will not create any problem. Discussing these articles again.... this will cause a storm if left unchecked. I have stated that there is no necessity to amend Article 121 ... there is no necessity to amend Article 11. These cause problems between one side and the other. They relate to matters sensitive to religion. Even in the developed countries such as the United States, there is sensitivity in matters related to religion and race."

The porcine deputy prime minister of Britain will be staying in Malaysia for a total of four days. In that time, he will learn nothing other than the propaganda spewed out incontinently by the UMNO party, which is headed by Badawi. The Telegraph relates that Baroness Cox, a human rights campaigner, has said Prescott's praise of the so-called tolerance of Malaysia is "gratuitously misleading". She said: "There is a great deal of religious discrimination. Christians there are finding that human rights and religious rights are crumbling away."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:32 PM | Comments (2)

Thailand: Four-Year Old Child Shot In Head In Muslim Insurgency

The insurgency in the predominantly Muslim provinces of Yala, Narathiwat, Pattani and some districts of Songkhla province has continued unabated since January 4, 2004. On that date, a military base in Narathiwat was raided, with four soldiers killed and a large quantity of weaponry stolen. Coinciding with the raid, twenty schools were set on fire.

The insurgency has since claimed more than 1,700 lives. Some of the Muslims seek secession of the southern provinces from Thailand, while others, such as the Pattani United Liberation Organization (Pulo) and four other groups included in the coalition Barisan Bersatu Kemerdekaan Pattani (Bersatu) are now seeking only reform in the south.

Formerly, the regions where the insurgency now rages comprised an independent sultanate called Pattani. In 1786, this sultanate was invaded by Siam (Thailand) and thenceforward existed as a vassal state of Siam. In 1902, the sultanate of Pattani was annexed into Siam/Thailand, to act as a buffer against encroachment of the British who ruled Malaya. In 1909, the British officially recognized the annexation of Pattani.

Following the bloodless coup of September 19, led by the Muslim army general, Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, there have been hopes for a peaceful resolution of the dispute. Representatives of Pulo, Bersatu, and the Barisan Revolusi National (BRN) have been meeting with Thai officials on the Malaysian island of Langkawi. The talks about improving living conditions for Muslims in the south have been brokered by the former prime minister of Malaysia, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, his son Mukhriz Mahathir and their charity, the Perdana Global Peace Organisation.

Despite talks taking place with known insurgents, there are other militants who are not known to the authorities and who have recently escalated the violence. On Monday October 22, five Buddhists monks and also villagers were injured in a bomb explosion in Muang, Narathiwat province. A soldier, 22-year old Private Pramote Wannasuk, who was escorting the monks on their alms round was killed.

Three other soldiers who had been with the monks suffered injuries, and on Saturday morning (today), a second soldier died from his wounds. TNA English news reports that Private Vachiravuth (Wachirawut) Kerdsuwan, who had lain in a coma for six days, died in hospital without recovering consciousness.

On October 17, it was announced that the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre, or SBPAC, which had been disbanded by ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, would be re-established. This body served to act as a mediator, which listened to locals' grievances, and channelled ideas and suggestions between people in the south and the government. It has been announced by defense minister General Boonrawd Somtas that the new SBPAC will start its operations on Wednesday (November 1).

The body will be larger than before, and will include the Justice Ministry. Where the former SBPAC covered only Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani, the scope of the new body will extend to include Songkhla and Satun provinces.

The Bangkok Post quotes several commentaters on the insurgency who have said that the revived SBPAC will lessen tensions in the southern provinces, which are 80% Muslim. The chairman of the Pattani Provincial Muslim Commission, Waedueramae Mamingji, welcomed the reformation of the SBPAC. Worawit Baru, an academic and researcher from the Prince of Songkhla University in Pattani, similarly praised the move.

Additionally, the Bangkok Post and Agence France Presse via Gulf Times state that the state of emergency would be removed by January.

Though the coup leaders have established a cabinet and an interim government, the real power in Thailand lies with the leaders of the coup, who comprise the Council for National Security (CNS). On October 19, the CNS announced that it would extend the state of emergency, or the Executive Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations. This ruing, which allowed for searches without warrants and detentions without trial, had first been introduced by Thaksin Shinawatra on July 17, 2005. Every three months since then, the Emergency decree has been extended. Before the coup of September 19, it had last been extended in July this year.

Waedueramae Mamingji welcomed the decision to no longer extend the decree when it runs out in January, as did Somboon Amadbualuang, a former member of the disbanded National Reconciliation Commission. Somboon said the decision was a "bold move".

But, as reported in the Nation, on Friday night the violence continued. In Bannang Sata district in Yala province, a Buddhist married couple riding on a motorcycle were shot and killed. Their young old daughter who was with them was shot in the head and seriously injured. Agence France Presse in the Bangladesh Daily Star reports that the four year old girl died.

The coup leaders' puppet prime minister, Surayud Chulanot has been on a tour of neighbouring countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia the Philippines and Vietnam, where he met the leaders of these nations. On Friday he made a surprise visit to the south of Thailand, an hour after the Buddhist family were killed. He arrived in Songkhla, and visited the Prince of Songkhla hospital where the monks and marines who where injured on Monday were being treated. He said he personally knew the parents of Private Wachirawut Kerdsuwan, who died this morning. Surayud said: "I told his father to be proud of his son, as he did his best to carry out his duty."

On Saturday morning, before dawn, a 53-year old rubber plantation worker, Romkaew Kraikong, was followed by two assailants on another motorcycle in Kok Pho district in Pattani province. The plantation worker was riding with his wife to the rubber plantation where he worked. He was shot dead. His wife survived.

AFP reports that also on Saturday, a Muslim army ranger was shot dead in a drive-by shooting in Pattani province while he was off-duty. A 74-year old rubber plantation owner was also killed on Saturday. He was shot at point blank range, as he rested at his plantation in Narathiwat province.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:17 PM | Comments (2)

Australia: Muslim Wives Cannot Refuse Sex, Says Group

The Darulfatwa is a Muslim group which styles itself as the "Islamic High Council of Australia". It is funded and organized by the Lebanese group Al-Ahbash. In November last year, 36 Muslim organizations signed a petition stating that al-Abash (the Islamic Charitable Projects Association) held "deviant and perverse views". In Lebanon, two members of al-Ahbash were implicated in the truck-bomb which killed the Lebanese former Prime Minister, Rafiq al-Hariri, in February 2006.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that on the Darulfatwa website, a Muslim asked the resident Islamic scholars: "Is it haram [forbidden] for a lady to say no if her male partner wants to make love with her?"

The scholarly response to the question was: "In this case she should not refrain from such a legitimate right of marriage, but she could Islamically request for a place of living from her husband."

Mohammed Mehio, spokesman for Darulfatwa and head of Muslim Community Radio (MCR), said that Islamic teaching maintains that a wife had no rights to refuse sex unless she had a valid reason such as being ill, tired, or depressed.

The Sun-Herald asked Mehio about the answers on the website, and he said that that a clarification had been published. The answer to the question of refusing sex in marriage was amended to read: "In this case she has the right to refuse."

Darulfatwa (meaning "House of Law/Jurisprudence"), which is based in Bankstown, Sydney, was set up by Ghayath Al-Shelh (head of al-Ahbash in Australia and a sworn enemy of Sheikh Taj al-Din al-Hilaly) in 2004. Its offices are next to MCR Radio, and it was set up to dispense Islamic legal advice to the faithful.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:03 PM | Comments (0)

UK: Shot Muslim Has Child Pornography Charges Dropped

On June 2, 250 police raided a house in Lansdown Road, Forest Gate in east London. They were working on intelligence that a chemical weapon was being kept in the house. Two brothers of Bangladeshi origin were arrested and the house was searched. The elder of the two brothers, postal worker Mohammed Abdul Kahar (right) was shot in the shoulder. No bomb was found inside the house.

The case brought strong reactions from the Muslim community, with claims being made that the two brothers had been the subject of police discrimination. On June 9 radicals from the Islamist group Al Ghurabaa staged a noisy protest outside Forest Gate police station. Al Ghurabaa was banned shortly afterwards but glorifies acts of terrorism such as the 7/7 bombings.

The brothers, Kahar and Abul Koyair, were released within a week of their arrest, and no charges were brought. Representatives from the Muslim Council of Britain claimed that the release of the brothers confirmed their "innocence".

The brothers and their family were placed in a Holiday Inn Hotel while repairs were made to the house. The stay at the luxury hotel cost the Metropolitan Police £30,000 ($56,243) per month. On August 3 Mohammed Abdul Kahar was arrested on child pornography charges. Images of children of a sexual nature had been found to be uploaded onto a computer removed from the house in Lansdown Road.

On the previous day, the Times reported the findings of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which exonerated the officer who had shot Kahar. The marksman had safety-catch on his Heckler and Koch MP5 carbine released, complying with police guidelines for "high risk entry". The marksman, called B6 in the report, said he collided with two people "approaching from his right at high speed", which made him lose his balance and hit the wall. The report states: "B6 says that he was aware of person(s) pulling at his right arm. He states that he feared that the person(s) were trying to take his weapon, and that he feared for his life. The individual who had pulled his arm had been the Kahar's younger brother, Abul Koyair.

A few days after Kahar's arrest on child pornography charges, the Sun newspaper reported that the two brothers had taunted army personnel at Wellington Barracks, near Buckingham Palace, shouting "We hope you die in Iraq!"

Yesterday, the Daily Mail and the BBC reported that the Crown Prosecution Service announced that no charges would be pressed against Mohammed Abdul Kahar.

44 indecent pictures of children had been found on the hard drive of a Dell computer and on a Nokia 3G phone. The CPS said that 23 of these images had been "embedded' into the computer, and 21 had been deleted from the computer and mobile phone.

Scotland Yard confirmed on Thursday that no charge would be made against the brothers for the abuse hurled at Welsh Guardsmen at Wellington Barracks. A police source said: "We couldn't tell which brother was at fault."

While Kahar seems to have got off scot-free after having child pornography on his computer, there is still an investigation ongoing into an alleged benefits fraud. When police raided the house, a sum of £38,000 cash ($72,125) was discovered. It was claimed that this was rent money from tenants.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 4:05 PM | Comments (0)

North Caucasus: The Caliphate Cometh

Recently, Western Resistance set off to Russia's North Caucasus region to get a better understanding of what is happening in this tumultuous area. WR visited North Ossetia, Ingushetia, and Chechnya and met with a wide variety of people on both sides of the conflict, including federal forces and Islamists.

Before I go into my series of articles from this trip, I will say right away that Russia is still in great danger of losing the North Caucasus. The efforts by Moscow over the past decade to stop devout Muslims from establishing a totalitarian Caliphate in the region could well come to naught.

Even though the Chechen insurrection has been crushed, the republic is being islamicized by the brutal warlord, Ramzan Kadyrov. Other regions --- Ingushetia, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, Adygeya as well as the nominally Christian North Ossetia --- are also facing violent revivals of the Mohammedan cult of death.

Islam in Russia is focused in two areas --- Tatarstan and the North Caucasus. Since Islam was voluntarily accepted by the Tatars and Bashkirs, its version of the Mohammedan cult is not so violent. The peoples of the North Caucasus, however, were converted by the sword, as was the case in most Muslim countries in the world today. Some of these nations, such as the Ingush, were Christians until just a few centuries ago. An Ingush scholar, over hushed conversation, told me how he knew of 18th century Ingush structures in the mountains with Christian symbols engraved on them.

Given the violence and bloodshed that led to the conversion of the peoples of the North Caucasus, it's no surprise that feelings of violence and militancy remain strong among them.

Our trip began in Vladikavkaz, the capital of the North Ossetian republic. Breakfast at the central hotel is full of Russian men. Even if most aren't in uniform, it doesn't take a genius to realize that they are federal soldiers and FSB agents. Some are to be deployed in Chechnya and Ingushetia. Others are preparing for a possible conflict with Georgia over its break-away region of South Ossetia.

In the very heart of Vladikavkaz, the 19th century mosque on the river embankment (pictured above) has reopened. It was still closed a year ago when I visited last. The authorities have made a big mistake by allowing this mosque to reopen. While most Ossetians are nominally Christians, there are only two or three churches in this city of about 300,000. Most people don't believe in anything.

The mosque was built before the Bolshevik revolution, when Inghush lived in the city. Stalin deported all of them to Siberia in 1944, along with the Chechens for their support of Hitler's armies. Khrushchev let them return in the 1960s, but by that time many of their homes were being lived in by other people. In late 1992, the Ingush made a rash attempt to seize their ancestral lands, and launched ethnic cleansing against the Ossetians and other nationalities.

Witnesses of that fighting told WR that the conflict was not only ethnic. Some Ingush fighters wore green headbands and shouted Islamic slogans going into battle. This was just the beginning of the jihad in the North Caucasus.

The Ingush are slowly starting to return to certain parts of North Ossetia, and they are bringing the Mohammedan cult with them. The region seems fertile ground for them. The opening of the central mosque on the river bank is just one step. Islam's intolerance meets you at the door. One of the notices on the mosque's facade tells visitors that there is no god but Allah, and that Mohammed is his one and only prophet. The message is clear --- you are either with us or against us. I thought back to such a bulletin board that I've seen many times in many American churches, where you often see, ``God is love'' or something similar. Has anyone ever seen, ``Allah is love'' on a mosque's bulletin board? What will happen to this lovely mountainous republic if Muslims ever become a majority?

Well, I did got the chance to see what might happen. I set off for Beslan, a 50-minute drive, to see its school and cemetery. The work of devout Muslims was quite thorough here. As you all know, there was a body count of 361, and half were children. Since they were devout Muslims, the terrorists were careful to pray five times a day, so I was told by former hostages. No further comment needed.

The next day I set out for Ingushetia and Chechnya. Stay tuned for that story.

Beslan school (above)

Beslan Cemetery

Photographs: © Jean de la Valette/Western Resistance

Posted by at 2:31 PM | Comments (1)

Malaysia: Minister To Apologise To Couple Bothered By Islamic Officials

On October 14, a US couple who were holidaying on the Malaysian island of Langkawi, off the coast of the northern state of Kedah. Malaysia prides itself on a myth it promotes, that its version of Islam is "moderate" and tolerant, the so-called "Islam Hadhari", even though no Muslim in Malaysia has ever been allowed to convert to another faith. The details are carried by Singapore's Electric Paper, Associated Press via the International Herald Tribune and the China Post, and Agence France Presse via the Khaleej Times and the Gulf Times.

On October 14, when 62-year old Randall K Barnhart and his 61-year old wife Carole were in their vacation condominium, they discovered how intolerant and obsessive Malaysia's version of Islam can be. In the early hours of the morning, Islamic officials raided their hotel, looking for couples who were involved in "khalwat". This is defined as "close proximity between a man and a woman who are not married", and is forbidden. This is not about sexual intercourse itself, but about the "possibility" of sexual intercourse.

According to the New Straits Times, six men from the State Religious Department pounded on their door at 2 am. Randall Barnhart did not know who the six individuals in blue uniforms were, and refused to let them in. He said that they had been threatening and aggressive.

The religious officials demanded to see Barnhart's "woman", which was done. The religious police then demanded to see the couple's marriage certificate. Barnhart said: "I told them I did not have it on me... Next, they demanded to see our passports, so I showed them. They took down our passport numbers and noted that we were from the US. Then one said 'thank you' and shook my hand."

For a moderate Muslim nation, such activity seems more appropriate to a communist state, prying into the affairs of foreign visitors. Langkawi is a popular tourist destination, and is regarded as a major venue for those who enjoy sailing. The Barnhart's were on a six-week sailing holiday, and Randall had been thinking of Malaysia as a second home.

Mrs Barnhart, who had been married for 42 years to Randall, was terrified by the incident and felt she could no longer continue her stay on the island. She insisted on returning to the United States.

Mr Barnhart issued formal complaints to the police and to the US Embassy, and has demanded a letter of apology from the Kedah state religious department. He also wants the Kedah Islamic authorities to provide compensation of 4,315 ringgit (1,183 dollars). This sum is trivial. Most Malaysian states have adopted the controversial Control and Restriction of Propagation of non-Muslim Religion (Federal Territories) Bill l999., which allows fines of 10,000 ringgit or $2,653 and terms of imprisonment for up to one year for anyone guilty of "persuading, influencing a Muslim to leave Islam for another religion." The compensation should be at least higher than the fines that are meted out under state laws.

The crime of "khalwat" is a non-crime. It merely implies that close proximity to a person of the opposite sex is bound to lead to sexual relations. Unlike western law, where a person is innocent until proven guilty, Islamic law assumes that a person will naturally fall into sexual misconduct. Such a law exists in Saudi Arabia, and their religious police (Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice) arrested and jailed a 70-year old disabled woman in June for entering a shop where only the male shopkeeper was present.

In June, 2002, the religious authorities in Kedah state arrested 28 people in shopping malls and cinemas for the "crime" of khalwat. After being given "stern warnings" the 28 people were allowed to go home.

Malaysia celebrated its 49th anniversary of independence from British rule with fireworks on August 31. British rule may not have been fair, but its legislation never contained anything quite as ridiculous as the law against "possible" sin, the "khalwat" law.

Khalwat is a law which is often inflicted upon married couples, who are not able to produce marriage certificates. Kedah is not the only state to have such Kafkaesque enforcement of "khalwat". In 2000 in Perak state, Islamic department fanatics arrested a Malay couple who had been married for 21 years. The couple were handcuffed and kept in separate police stations. They only gained their freedom when a friend produced their marriage certificate.

For anyone to travel to Malaysia and not be aware of the suspension of normal legal norms over issues as petty as this, is the height of folly. Religious laws and their fanatical enforcers do not obey logic. The treatment of the Barnharts, a Christian couple, happily married for 42 years, is a prime example of the irrationality of Malaysian law.

From the age of 12, each Malaysian is issued with an identity card, or MyKad. This card notes one's religious and ethnic status. And all Malays are automatically listed as Muslim. No Muslim is allowed to apostasise, and attempts to appeal legally have been met with resistance. Article 11 of the constitution states that a citizen can follow any religion of their choosing, yet Article 121 (1A), which was introduced in 1988, states that civil courts have no jurisdiction over "any matter" which falls under the jurisdiction of the Islamic Courts. So Islam rules. The Islamic courts have never allowed a Muslim to change their faith. And for the Christian Lina Joy, who is still waiting to hear the results of her appeal to the highest courrt in the nation, as she is still listed as a "Muslim" she is legally prevented from marrying her Christian boyfriend.

Yet the Malaysian authorities, while keeping its population under strict control, still want Western tourists to come and spend their money in the nation. For this reason, the Barnhard case has caused embarrassment to the tourism minister, Adnan Mansor. He is worried that the case will damage the nation's image.

Mansor says he has "communicated with Barnhart through emails and plan to meet him soon". He has demanded reports from the Kedah chief minister and the state religious department. Last year, the government limited the powers of the religious departments, informing them that they needed police permission to conduct raids. Any raids conducted by these departments should be made in the presence of police officers.

And for anyone thinking of visiting Malaysia on tourist visits or business, you do so at your own risk. Article 18 of the Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance." Until Malaysia conforms to this principle, and removes Article 121 (1A) from its statute books, the not-so-moderate Muslim nation should be boycotted.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 12:55 PM | Comments (0)

October 27, 2006

Malaysia: Elderly American Couple Scared by Shari'a Enforcers

Malaysia, moderate Islamic State: Elderly US couple get khalwat scare

THE elderly American couple was shocked to be awakened by a pounding on the door at about 2am on 14 Oct.

When Mr Randall Barnhart, 62, and his wife Carole, 61, went to the door of their rented condominium unit in Langkawi, they heard men shouting in Malay, reported the New Straits Times.

Fearing an attack or a robbery, Mr Barnhart told the men he would call the police.

Then, one of the men spoke in English, saying that they were from the Islamic Affairs Department, and asking him to let them in.

The officers then reportedly accused the Barnharts, who have been married for 42 years, of khalwat or close proximity.[...]

But you know what really gets to me in this story, dear reader? Let's read the closing paragaphs:

[...]A ministry spokesman said the minister is upset and has ordered the tourism board to look into the incident.

'The minister does not like things like this happening to tourists as it spoils the country's image,' he said.

That is, the minister could care less about the reality of what happens in the country, but goodness, the image, and the tourist dollars it brings, must be protected at all costs.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 3:45 PM | Comments (1)

Thailand: Soldier Shot In Market In Muslim South

Early on Friday (7.30 am local time) a soldier was shot dead in a market in southern Thailand, states the Bangkok Post, TNA English News, the Nation and Xinhua via Malaysia's Bernama news agency.

The shooting took place in a morning market in tambon Ban Klang in Panare district, Pattani province. 38-year old Master Sergeant (second class) Wichai Khamhom was shot once in the head after four suspected Muslim insurgents arrived at the market on two motorcycles. They shot the soldier at close range, and then stole his M16 rifle.

A bullet wounded another soldier, Private Mongkol Sridee, and a stray bullet also hit one of the market vendors, who was slightly injured. As the gunmen fled, they scattered spikes on the road, to prevent them being followed.

The assailants fled on their motorcycles after taking the sergeant's rifle. The market was busy with people buying fresh goods, and the shooting caused chaos for some time.

Witnesses at the village market assisted police in providing information.

Pattani province is one of the provinces which formerly compromised an independent sultanate of the same name. The other regions which comprised the sultanate are Narathiwat and Yala provinces, and two districts of Songkhla province. In these regions, 80% of the population are Muslim, who speak Yawi, a dialect of Malay.

The sultanate of Pattani was invaded by Siam (Thailand) in 1786, and was formally annexed in 1902. The current insurgency has been raging since January 4, 2004, when an army base in Narathiwat was invaded and four soldiers were killed. 300 weapons were seized in the raid, and at least twenty schools in the south were set alight.

So far, 1,700 people have died in the violence. Since the bloodless coup of September 19 which was led by a Muslim army commander, General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, there were hopes that a peace process for the south could be brought about. Recently, the former prime minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, and his Perdana Global Peace Organisation have been involved in supervising peace talks between Thai representatives and leaders of separatist groups.

However, as peace talks appeared to progress smoothly, other insurgents have intensified their attacks. During the week from Sunday October 15 to October 22, at least 28 people were killed by suspected insurgents.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:15 AM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2006

Russia: Muslim Schools Proposed To Combat Terrorism

News from Interfax-Religion states that the first deputy minister of the interior in Russia, Alexander Chekalin, has made an unusual proposal. He has suggested that Islamic theological schools should be set up.

The reason for the setting up these schools would be to prevent young people travelling "to countries of Islamic persuasion for training". He also suggested that individuals who involve young people in extremist activities and have thitherto managed to avoid responsibility, should in future avoid their immunity. He wants to see the law regarding these individuals to be clarified.

Chekalin was speaking on Wednesday at a Federation Council hearing. He suggested that the Islamic schools should be set up in Moscow, Ufa, Kazan and "probably in the North Caucasus".

His proposals also included improved legislation "to prevent the export of extremist text-books, funds and emissaries, whose number has grown lately, to the Russian Federation."

He stated that legal articles on "mass disorders" and "destruction of and damage to cultural monuments" should be aligned to federal legislation aiming to oppose extremism. This would be achieved by adding qualifying evidence to the articles, that disorders or damage were committed "on the grounds of ideological, political, racial, ethnic or religious hatred."

Chekalin also wanted extremist offences to carry a greater penalty, in excess of five years' jail. He claimed that more than 10,000 citizens are registered by interior agencies as "participants one way or another in extremist organizations".

With the internet, Islamic extremism is not going to be prevented by theological colleges. As long as people have access to the web, they can find extremist preaching and texts. Geographic travel is not the only means by which people become associated with extremist ideologies. By setting up such colleges, there is a possibility that intense study of Islam of itself could engender extremism.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:51 PM | Comments (1)

Iran: Muslim Cleric Supports Wife-Battering

Despite the protestations of Muslim apologists like Yvonne Ridley who claims that women are equal and "liberated" under Islam, one verse in the Koran - Sura 4:34 - openly justifies the beating of a woman for disobedience.

"Men have authority over women because God has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because God has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them. Then if they obey you, take no further action against them. Surely God is high, supreme." (Dawood's translation)

In Iran, states AKI, Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi has issued a fataw, in which he says it is lawful for a man to hit his disobedient wife.

Shirazi is based at the holy city of Qom, and has written on his website that "the Koran first of all advises a man to try and convince his wife to obey to him in a polite way and through advice, then by refusing to have sexual relations with her and, finally, if all this will have failed to make her reason, with physical punishment."

The cleric said that punishment "must be light and considered an exceptional event, like surgery in case of a serious illness."

This is probably not what was originally intended. Translators such as Pickthall use the term "scourge". There is nothing "light" in such a choice of word. The Arabic word darab/darba, employed in the test of the Koran means primarily to beat. Not to tap, not to beat "lightly", but to strike with force. It does have another meaning - "to avoid" - which has very occasionally been used as an interpretation by some Muslim apologists. As the Sura already deals with "avoiding" a wife sexually, as a step towards getting her compliance, "avoiding" is highly unlikely to have been the meaning of the word in the original text.

Shirazi states that men must not use "physical punishment which leaves signs and wounds." He says that women are "masochistic and sometimes they have a crisis and need light physical punishment to get back to normal."

AKI quotes Azam Taleghani, daughter of the late late Ayatollah Mahmoud Taleghani, who is a supporter of women's rights in Iran. She believes that the fatwa was an "offence to women". She said: "It is not right to issue a fatwa based on texts written over one thousand years ago without taking into account today's reality. If we learn that someone hits their wife on the basis of these statements we will report them along with Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi to the judicial authority of the Islamic Republic."

Unfortunately, the whole edifice of fundamental Islam relies upon the literal interpretation of the Koran. Iran's sharia-based laws, including stoning to death of adulterers, would collapse without an unswerving adherence to the literal truth of the text of the Koran.

When in Iran, women are expected to wear the chador, an all-enveloping garment like a burka, her bruises will not be visible. Only if a woman has the audacity to scream while she is being Koranically "disciplined" or is disobedient enough to tell others, would anyone know if her husband had followed Shirazi's fatwa.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:04 PM | Comments (0)

UK: Muslim Family Arrested After Man's Killing

A story from the Daily Mail which appears to be about an honour killing. Sumon Miah, aged 21, was beaten to death with a table leg. The incident happened at the Walthamstow house where his girlfriend lived, on October 8. Miah later died at Whipps Cross hospital.

Miah, who came from Bow, was having a relationship with the girl, even though she was only 13. The entire family, Muslims who originally came from Bangladesh, were arrested. The 13 year old "girlfriend" and her 13 year-old brother and 41-year old mother were detained with allegations that they conspired to pervert the course of justice. The girl's father was also arrested.

What makes this issue sad is that it could have been avoided. Miah was trying to break the law by engaging in an affair with an underage child. The family had made several emergency phone calls to the police on the day Miah was killed, explaining his intentions to visit the house, and demanding police intervention. But no police bothered to arrive until it was too late.

Scotland Yard has now submitted details of the case, and the ineffective response of the Metropolitan Police Service, to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:36 PM | Comments (0)

Denmark: Muslim Cartoon Lawsuit Thrown Out

On September 30, 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 images which it had commissioned, depicting Mohammed, the founder of Islam. The images had been requested as a Danish author, Kare Blultgen, reported that he could find no-one to illustrate a children's book he had written, on the life of Mohammed. Three artists who had been approached by the author were too scared to risk offending Muslim sensibilities.

Jyllands-Posten invited Danish artists to submit their illustrations of Mohammed, and twelve pictures were published. the issue was made worse when Abu Laban, a Palestinian-born cleric from Copenhagen, along with Ahmed Akkari travelled to the Middle East to incite anger against Denmark. As a result, in February, a month of global protests took place, with from 40 to 50 people killed.

On March 29, a coalition of seven Islamic groups decided to sue two of the leading figures in Jyllands-Posten newspaper. Lawyer Michael Christiani Havemann was hired to demand 100,000 kroner ($16,100) from the editor, Carsten Juste, and the paper's culture editor, Flemming Rose. Havemann had claimed that the drawings were "gratuitously defamatory and injurious". He also said: "According to my information, the grossest of the cartoons, the one with the bomb, was drawn by the paper's employed cartoonist, apparently on the instructions of management because the cartoons drawn by the freelance artists were not gross enough."

The lawyer's comments were to see him being named in a countersuit in May. Carsten Juste said in a statement that Havemann's allegations were "simply so gross and insulting that he has crossed the line for what we will accept. The cartoonists were explicitly asked to freely depict the Prophet Muhammad".

There were always issues about how the Muslim lawsuit could have succeeded within Danish legislation. Juste and Flemming were accused of being "racist", though Islam is a religion which has nothing to do with race. They were finally charged with libel against Muslims. Today, a court in Aarhus threw out the case. Earlier attempts to have the two editors charged with blasphemy and hate speech were also thrown out.

The news is found in almost 200 sources, including Copenhagen Post, the BBC, AKI, Reuters, Bloomberg and Deutsche Presse Agentur via Monsters & Critics.

The court ruling claimed: "Of course it cannot be excluded that the drawings offended some Muslims. But there is no sufficient reason to assume that the cartoons are or were intended to be insulting...or put forward ideas that could hurt the standing of Muslims in society."

The organisations which brought the suit were ordered to pay the defendants' court costs. They have said they will appeal to a higher court.

Carsten Juste said on the Jyllands-Posten website: "Anything but a clear acquittal would have been a catastrophe for freedom of the press and the media's ability to fulfil its role in a democratic society. You can think what you want about the cartoons, but the newspaper's unassailable right to print them has been set by both the country's prosecutors and the court system."

Kasem Said Ahmad, spokesman for the Islamic Society in Denmark, one of the seven groups who launched the case, said he was "disappointed', and could not understand a ruling which allowed "the feelings of minorities in Denmark to be hurt."

In Pakistan, the Jamaat-e-Islami, which organized protests in February in which at least three people were killed, including a seven year old boy, was not happy. This Islamist party, which seeks to subjugate democratic law under sharia, said via its spokesman Ameer ul-Azeem: "This was expected because the values and culture of the West are different from Muslim countries."

Azeem said that Western courts "should listen to what Muslim scholars think. If they think these cartoons insult their religion and the prophet, the courts should respect these views. It is not up to the court to decide if Muslims will have hard feelings or not."

In the Arab world, attitudes to the court's verdict were similar. Mohammed Habash, head of the Islamic Studies Center in Damascus, Syria, said: "This will only widen the gap between the Western and Islamic world. The Western mentality still sees in such things a facet of freedom that should be defended. This reflects arrogance because they want to impose their way of thinking on all other nations."

Mahmoud al-Kharabsheh of the Jordanian parliament's legal committee said: "The Copenhagen court's ruling is not a judicial decision. It is a political decision that expresses the hatred of Islam and Muslims by the Danish government, its authorities and its judicial body. The dismissal of the lawsuit against the newspaper, which was expected, confirms the ongoing intention to harm our religion and our prophet."

In Lebanon, Radwan el-Sayyed, who teaches Islamic Studies, said the verdict was a "misinterpretation of freedom."

These individuals, like those who brought the defamation suit, show a total lack of understanding of Western judicial process and the cherished notions of freedom of expression.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:35 PM | Comments (1)

UK: Anti-Gay Cleric Was In Muslim Sex Doll Dispute

The news that Arshad Mishabi, a Muslim cleric at the Manchester Central Mosque, was recorded as saying to a local psycotherapist, Dr John Casson, that it was acceptable to kill homosexuals, is not particularly new news. It has been carried by the mainstream media and the international gay press for some days now. Information that a Muslim cleric is a homophobic bigot is so unsurprising that I did not consider it "important" news.

The news of the original conversation between mosque imam and psychotherapist can be found on Indy Media, UK Gay, the BBC, Gay.com, Yahoo News and several other sources. The Manchester Evening News reports that the imam will be clarifying his views this week.

Dr Casson reported that: "He (Mishabi) told me that in a true Islamic state, such punishments were part of Islam if the person had had a trial, at which four witnesses testified that they had seen the actual homosexual acts. I asked him what would be the British Muslim view and he repeated that in an Islamic state these punishments were justified. They might result in the deaths of thousands, but if this deterred millions from having sex and spreading disease, then it was worthwhile to protect the wider community."

The comments came after Casson had read of the case of Mahmoud Asgari (16) and Ayaz Marhoni (18) who were executed in Mashhad, Iran in July 2005. They were imprisoned for 14 months and given 228 lashes before they were hanged. An estimated 4,000 homosexuals have been executed in Iran since the revolution of 1979. In virtually none of these cases have, as Mishabi claims, "four witnesses testified that they had seen the actual homosexual acts". The cases against accused homosexuals in Iran are, like cases of adultery, pushed through as Islamic law even though four witnesses are never called who can validate that they saw the offending acts being committed.

Mishabi's comments have caused offense to the sizeable gay community in Manchester. An article by campaigner Peter Tatchell, originally published in the Guardian "Comment is Free" section stated:

According to an NOP poll for Channel Four's Dispatches special, What Muslims Want, which was broadcast in August, two-thirds of Muslims in Britain oppose free speech if it offends their religious beliefs. They want to make it a crime to cause them offence. People who insult Islam should, they say, be arrested and prosecuted. In other words, they want privileged legal protection against any criticism of their beliefs that they find offensive.

Their aim is to secure a legally-binding veto over what other people, including other Muslims, are allowed to say about them and their faith. Put simply: in the name of being spared offence, they want to censor other people's opinions. Moreover, they are not demanding protection from offence for everyone - only for Islam and other religions. In effect, they are seeking unique protection for believers and their beliefs.

And to illustrate this well-made point, Ayaz Mishabi has been at the forefront of imposing his own "offended sensibilities" onto the world at large. We wrote in February that the Manchester Central Mosque was working itself into a lather about a male sex doll produced by the Ann Summers chain, which can be viewed in its vinyl finery HERE.

The doll was called Mustafa Shag and was advertised as the "ideal escort for your hen-night adventures." A letter was sent from the Manchester Central Mosque, which stated: "You have no idea how much hurt, anguish and disgust this obnoxious phrase has caused to Muslim men, women and children. We are asking you to please relent on compassionate grounds."

No information was given on where children had seen the doll, and the emotive whining from the mosque caused Jacqueline Gold, CEO of the Ann Summers company, to write: "We don't want to offend, but this feels like political correctness gone mad. If anyone has a better name for a blow-up doll, please let us know."

The Manchester Mosque was upset because of the doll's name. 'Mustafa" was a title given to the so-called prophet Mohammed, whose own sexuality is a matter of outrage to any decent person - when he was aged 53, he had sexual relations with a nine year old child.

Ayaz Mishabi was behind the ridiculous complaining about the naming of the Muslim sex doll, and eventually the company succumbed to the emotional blackmail and withdrew the product. In March, Jacqueline Gold stated: "Considering the current climate we have decided to change the name. The new name will be revealed at the end of April. The use of the name Mustafa was simply a play on words. We did not mean any offence by it. It was not particularly aimed at Asian or Arabian women but all women."

She noted that: "When there was some publicity about the doll in London we were inundated by e-mails and calls from women wanting to buy it."

Mishabi responded: "Al-Mustafa means the Chosen One in Arabic. We were first aware of the doll when one of our members happened to have noticed it at one the stores in the Trafford Centre. This has caused many Muslim men and women hurt and disgust at such an obnoxious phrase."

"At first a spokesperson for the chain has said that this was political correctness gone mad. What a thing to say when they know they have hurt religious sensibilities."

Mishabi succeeded in making others aware of how his religion's sensibilities were not to be offended. It is a shame that his religion, which eulogizes a paedophile as the "messenger of God" seems to show no tolerance of anything that does not conform its own twisted ideology. No-one has a duty to like homosexuals. But similarly, no-one has a right to call for their deaths.

It was recently revealed by the Gay Police Association that 25% of all violent assaults on gay people in Britain are carried out by Muslims, who officially comprise only 3% of the population.

Hypocrites like Mishabi who revere a child-molester yet think that their religion is beyond reproach should think first before they speak. Careless comments can only encourage unnecessary violence.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 3:10 PM | Comments (2)

UK: What Passes for Reasoning at IkhwanWeb

IkhwanWeb bills itself as "the Muslim Brotherhood's only official English web site." The Muslim Brotherhood, of course, is the first modern Islamist group, although lately it has been trying to project a "moderate" image. Some peace-worshipping Westerners believe the Brotherhood is ready for dialogue and integration. But tell me, how could you possibly debate, let alone "conduct a constructive dialogue" with people whose standard of reasoning is this: What You Need To Know About Alyssa A. Lappen

In her response to Alexis Y. Debat's rebuttal to her article "Islam's useful idiots", posted on Ikhwanweb on 25 October, Ms Alyssa A. Lappen made numerous mendacious claims about Islam and Judaism....

...Besides, doesn't the Zionist movement already control the policies and politics of the only superpower in the wrold, the US, today? If this is not world domination, then how global domination should look like? Doesn't the Zionist movement, through AIPAC, control Congress? Doesn't Zionism control in one way or the other the media and show biz in the US?[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 2:32 PM | Comments (2)

Thailand: Muslim Cleric Killed In South

Today, a Muslim cleric was killed in the south of Thailand, the latest victim of the insurgency which has now claimed 1,700 lives since it began on January 4, 2004.

The imam was attacked by gunmen in Cho Airong (Cho-I-Rong or Joh-I-Rong) district in Narathiwat this morning, states TNA English News and Bangkok Post. Another man was also injured in the shooting.

The imam, 50-year old Latae Ar-wear, was shot twice in his upper body as he was walking to a mosque to perform morning prayers with a crowd of worshippers. 80-year old Yagoh Balor, was critically injured in the attack. The worshippers were ambushed by gunmen who were lying in wait, hidden beside the road. Police claimed after the incident that the villagers in the local community scattered spikes in the road to prevent them from reaching the scene. This was done, they said, as the community believed the attack had been staged by the government.

Around midday local time today, four policemen were injured in an explosion in Rangae district in Narathiwat province, states the Bangkok Post and the Nation.

The blast happened as police were on a routine patrol on a road leading to Baan Kadae. The Post reports that the police had been lured to the scene after being called to investigate two apparent "bombs". These turned out to be old television sets hidden inside boxes. When they arrived at the scene, a bomb hidden at the roadside was triggered by remote control. One of the officers was seriously injured.

There has been anxiety in Narathiwat over the past couple of days. Yesterday (October 25) was the second anniversary of the Tak Bai massacre. This incident had developed after farmers and villagers led a protest in Tak Bai district of the province. Police fired at the demonstrators, killing seven people. The demonstrators had been protesting about the arrest of six village defence volunteers from tambon Ban Pron, who had been accused of gun theft.

The protesters, after being kicked by members of the military, were stripped to their waists and forced to lie in the road as part of their collective humiliation. Arrested by local police and military, it was decided to transport the protesters in trucks to Ingkhayuthaboriharn camp in Pattani province. Loaded into military trucks, in some cases four layers deep, and still kept face down with hands tied behind their backs, at least 78 individuals died of suffocation.

A brief video of the initial attacks upon the protesters can be found HERE, and a 16 minute video can be found HERE. Thaksin Shinawatra had claimed that the men had died as a result of being weakened through their Ramadan fasting, and demanded that members of the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) conference, which was held shortly after, did not mention Tak Bai.

Within a month of the Tak Bai deaths, 30 Buddhists were killed in insurgent violence, apparently as revenge. On Thursday August 10 this year, families of some of the victims of the Tak Bai tragedy filed cases at Pattani provincial court.

Yesterday, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International urged the new post-coup government to prosecute those who were responsible for the Tak Bai deaths. Deutsche Presse Agentur in yesterday's Bangkok Post reported that no senior officials have been charged with the poor handling of the case, and 58 of the original protesters are still in prison for supposedly inciting the riot that developed from the demonstration.

The Asian Human Rights Commission said: "Justice has been played the fool in the Narathiwat courtroom where the public prosecutor has consistently failed to ensure that witnesses appear, and where the chief investigating officer - the former Tak Bai police chief - could not identify even one of the defendants.... or tell what evidence had been brought against them."

Surayud Chulanont the "puppet" prime minister appointed after the September 19 military coup, has suggested that he is considering dropping all charges against the 58 individuals languishing in jail. The military have also suggested yesterday that charges against the 58 Tak Bai protesters should be dropped. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has said that police are still searching for 32 more Tak Bai protesters.

Meanwhile, violence has continued unabated. Last week (Sunday to Sunday) there were at least 28 killings, and on Monday (October 23) five Buddhist monks were injured in a bomb attack in Muang in Narathiwat province. One of these is still in a serious condition.

On Sunday night in Panare district of Pattani province, a former Muslim teacher was killed. Ruyaning Sa-I was shot by an AK-47 assault rifle.

On Monday, a 24-year old man, a former employee of a government job-creation scheme was shot dead as returned home from a market. Boonya Nadae was attacked by a gunman on a motorcycle in Thung Yang Daeng district, in Pattani province.

On Tuesday, a hired labourer was shot four times by two attackers and killed in Raman district in Yala province. 36-year old Dison Mansu was on his way to attend morning prayers at a nearby mosque, to celebrate Muslim Hari Raya Day. Before they fled, his assailants scattered spikes in the road.

On Tuesday morning in Sungai Padi district, Narathiwat province, a roadside shelter was blown up. The 5 kilogram device was thought to have been aimed at security officials who usually had a break in the shelter. No-one was hurt.

In another part of Sungai Padi, three rounds from an M79 grenade launcher had been fired at a police station in tambon Sakor on Monday night. No-one had been hurt, but two adjacent houses had been damaged.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:20 AM | Comments (1)

October 25, 2006

Indonesia: Islamist Praises Government's Handling Of Unrest

Poso in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, has been the scene of Muslim and Christian sectarian conflict which was at its worst between the end of 1998 and May 2002. During that period, 1,000 people were killed. We presented an analysis of the background of the conflict, and also noted how sporadic incidents of violence have continued since. There have been peaks in violence, such as at the end of Ramadan in 2005, and again this year.

On Tuesday, Muslim vigilantes attacked police, resulting in a conflict in which a young Muslim was killed. The Eklesia church in Gebangrejo village in Poso had survived a bomb attack on September 30 but before 1 am on Tuesday, this church was subjected to an arson attack. The roof was demolished, and the interior gutted. The building had been attacked by twenty individuals on motorcycles, who had thrown molotov cocktails and improvised explosive devices to cause the blaze.

Associated Press via the International Herald Tribune reports that earlier today, two houses which were rented by police officers were set alight. Rudy Sufahriadi, the police officer in charge of Poso, reported that all national troops staying in private residences had been moved to barracks for their safety.

Muslim leaders have demanded that troops be withdrawn from Poso regency, or else they will paralyze the local administration and economy.

Today, Antara News reports, the head of the 7th or Wirabuana Military Command, Major General Arief Budi Sampurno, said that there would be no withdrawals of its personnel from Poso. He said that their number may even be increased.

Sampurno was speaking after a meeting with security officials and religious figures. These included the head of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), Syamsir Siregar, as well as several high-ranking officials from the military (TNI) and the Police Headquarters.

He claimed that the general situation in Poso remained peaceful. He said: "There are no obvious signs of unrest." He blamed any movements of dissent upon people who "are not satisfied because local security has been tightened." Sampurno added that next month, a platoon of army engineers would be arriving to assist in the rebuilding of 1,000 homes which were damaged in earlier violence.

Yesterday. AKI reported on an interview with Adnan Arsal, a Muslim leader, who claimed that police were biased towards Christians. Arsal's group Komite Perjuangan Muslim Poso ( KPMP or Committee for the Islamic Struggle in Poso) had been involved in the massacres of Christians on Poso in the 1998-2002 conflict. He had also supported the executions of three Christians, who were shot by firing squad on September 20 for their alleged role in the violence.

Today, AKI writes of an interview it held with the founder and leader of the now-disbanded militant group Laskar Jihad (army of holy battle). This individual, Jafar Umar Thalib (pictured), had sent his Laskar Jihad militias to Poso in August 2001, significantly increasing the conflict's casualties.

He had also been responsible for much of the violence of the Moluccan War, which took the lives of 9,000 people and will be described below.

45-year old Thalib said to AKI that "The government is on the right path and the situation is under control." He said there was no need to reinstate Laskar Jihad, which had voluntarily disbanded in October 2002. He said: "The decision to disband Laskar Jihad in 2002 came about not because of external pressure but through our belief that the government's good faith and efforts were helping to end the conflict."

Jafar Umar Thalib is an enigmatic character, but despite his history of helping to propagate was and conflict, he is widely respected in the Indonesian Muslim community. He has been arrested and imprisoned on several occasions, but not once has he received any conviction for his activities.

Thalib was born in Malang in East Java province in 1961. He is of Yemeni and Madurese parentage. For the most part, his early life had been spent as a teacher of Arabic and Islamic sciences in pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) which were funded by the Al-Irsyad Foundation. Al-Irsyad is made up mainly of Indonesians of Arabic origin, like Thalib. The religious outlook of the pesantren schools they sponsor is, like Thalib's, of the Wahhabist persuasion. Thalib had studied in Saudi Arabia, where Wahhabist fundamentalism began and still flourishes.

Already a supporter of extreme and fundamental Islamism, Jafar Umar Thalib had gone to Afghanistan in 1988 to become a Mujahideen against the Soviets. He went here after he had been studying at the Maududi Institute in Lahore, Pakistan, which had been funded by the extremist Sayyid Abul a'la Maududi (1903 - 1979). Maududi's Islamism gave rise to the Jamaat-e-Islami parties in Pakistan and Bangladesh, which wish to destroy democratic laws and establish sharia rule in both countries. Jafar Umar Thalib had been taking advanced Islamic studies at the Maududi Institute but dropped out, and moved to Afghanistan.

Like many "mujahideen" who fought in Afghanistan at this time, Thalib claims that he met Osama bin Laden during his stay in the country. Thalib returned to Indonesia in 1989, where he helped to run the Al-Irsyad network of pesantren.

Thalib, like the Wahhabists, bin Laden, the followers of Maududi and most of the Al-Irsyad, believes that nations should be under sharia rule. Certain figures in the Indonesian political establishment feel similarly. Thalib is said to have links to figures in the army. When he established Laskar Jihad, he is reputed to have done so with the backing of politicians. It appears that Thalib's "connections" have allowed him to never receive any punishments for the horrific atrocities carried out by his militias.

Unlike the Jemaah Islamiyah and other militant groups, Thalib believes in Indonesia as a political entity, and his aim to establish sharia is framed within national terms, rather than as a pan-southeast Asian Caliphate. One major obstacle to the establishment of Sharia is the fact that Indonesia, which has the highest number of Muslims of all nations, is still only 85% Muslim. In Sulawesi and the Moluccas (Malaku), a large portion of the Christian population live. In Central Sulawesi and many of the Moluccas, the populations are split almost evenly between Muslims and Christians.

The Moluccas were formerly the only regions where the valuable spices of nutmeg and cloves were to be found growing on a commercial scale, and from the 16th century onwards, Dutch, Portugese and English traders made inroads to these islands, and they bequeathed much of their own religious traditions to these islands. The Dutch, who controlled the Moluccas and neighboring West Papua until the 1940s, had trained and educated many Moluccan natives, particularly from one island, Ambon.

Indonesia came into being in 1949 under Sukharno, and as the Dutch had virtually abandoned their colonies the Moluccas became incorporated into the Indonesian archipelago. In 1969, the UN gave West Papua (Irian Jaya) to Indonesia.

On Ambon, there had long been hopes for independence from Indonesia. Under Suharto, who ruled for 21 years from 1967, discussion of religious and ethnic differences was firmly suppressed. When Suharto was forced to resign in 1998, the desires for independence resurfaced in places like Ambon. Under Suharto, the ethnic and religious divisions had been avoided on the island, via a process known as "Pela Gandung", which encouraged alliances between villages of different faiths. This system had been employed in the rest of Indonesia and incorporated within the political system under the title "Pancasila", encouraging pluralism.

The removal of Suharto from power in May 1998 unleashed the hopes of separatist movements, such as the OPM in Irian Jaya, and in the Moluccas, the FKM movement, led by Dr Alex Manuputty which aimed to establish South-Moluccas Independence (RMS). In Java, this period saw the birth of extremist Islamist groups, such as the Front Pembela Islam (Islamic Defender's Front), which was founded in August 1998 by an Arab-Indonesian, Habib Rizieq Shihab (aka Muhammad Rizieq).

Another Islamist group was founded in this year, the Forum Komunikasi Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah or FKAWJ. This Sunni hardline organization aimed to promote "true Islamic values" and rejects democracy. One its main members was Jafar Umar Thalib. The FKAWJ rejects popular Muslim groups (Muhammadiya and Nahdlatul Ulama), as their tolerance of democracy and other faiths makes them heretical. It also does not allow women positions of power. Thalib believes that its duties to women are "to educate them and then marry them to pious men who are capable of preventing them from falling into sin. Men's role is to supervise women and ensure that their behaviour is properly Islamic."

Thalib has three wives, all wearing black shrouds, hijabs (headscarfs) and niqabs (face-veils). He now has 14 children by his wives.

Ramadan came to an end in January 1999, and with it came the stability of Ambon in the Moluccas, under their system of "Pela Gandung". It has been argued that this outbreak of sectarian conflict had been instigated by the military, who hoped that the weak government of Halibi would collapse under such conflict, and could be used as an excuse to introduce martial law.

Laskar Jihad was officially founded on January 30 2000 in Yogyakarta (some say 1999) as the paramilitary division of the FKAWJ. Thalib claimed that the LJ was formed after it was learned that in Malaku province (the Moluccas), there were plans by Protestant Christians to form a Christian state, independent of Indonesia. This was, as Thalib perceived it, to include North Sulawesi, the Moluccas and Papua (Irian Jaya). Thalib claimed that the Christian separatists intended to wage war on the Muslims and drive them out in a process of "ethnic cleansing".

While Laskar Jihad was being formed, in January 2000, an Acehnese Islamist called Al-Chaidar organised a large Muslim rally in National Monument Park, Jakarta, where he called for a holy war against the Christians in Ambon. Al-Chadair has also been implicated in anti-Christian riots which took place on Lombok (adjoining Bali) on January 17, 2000.

FKAWJ announced that the Christians of Malaku were "kafir harbi" or "warlike infidels", and it was Islamically justifiable to kill them. It also said that 2000 would be the "Year of Jihad". Thalib set up Laskar Jihad and claimed that the government of Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid ("Gus Dur", who was president from 1999 to 2001 and head of the Nahdlatul Ulama from 1984 to 1999) was "unable or unwilling to protect the Islamic community. If the state can't protect us then we must do it ourselves." Wahid was the first ever elected president, but his moderate version of Islam was viewed by Thalib as heretical. Thalib said of his government: "It is positioned to oppress Muslim interests and protect those of the infidels."

On April 26, 2000, Thalib and his lieutenants bragged that they had a special relationship with the head of the TNI, Admiral Widodo. (Widodo was charged to carry out the investigation into the Poso conflict at the end of last year. This was challenged by Gus Dur).

Laskar Jihad, whose members wear distinctive white robes like those of karate practitioners, became involved in a mass campaign of attack against the Christians of the Moluccas, and are said to have forcibly converted 3,928 Christians on six islands. During their first year they attracted numerous new recruits, and were helped in this aim by their publication of a magazine called "Salafy".

They were particularly active on Ambon in the Moluccas, but they also had groups established in Papua. One trait of the Indonesian government under Suharto had been to enforce a policy called euphemistically "transmigration". Part of the reason for the first outbreak of sectarian violence in the Moluccas had happened as a result of Suharto's policies of "transmigration", where untold Muslim immgrants had been forced onto the Moluccan communities. Many Christians (and Muslims) had been "transmigrated" to West Papua from islands such as Flores in East Nusa Tenherra province. Laskar Jihad also went to Central Sulawesi. In August 2001, Thalib sent a large force of Laskar Jihad to Poso.

But the most intense operations of Laskar Jihad were focused on Ambon, and against the Christians who until then had lived in harmony with their Muslim neighbours.

By April 2002, things had reached the worst point in ethnic relations on Ambon. Dr Alex Manuputty, head of the FKM, one of the independence groups, lived on this island.

Manuputty and his followers threatened to hoist banned flags on Thursday, 25 April 2002, to commemorate a battle for independence which happened on that day, 52 years earlier. Such a trivial action was regarded by both the government and Laskar Jihad as a treasonous act. Before the innocuous raising of flags could be made, Manaputty was arrested on April 17, 2002, for "promoting separatism". He was later charged with treason, and on 28 January 2003, he and his deputy Semmy Waeleruny were given three-year jail sentences.

On Friday, April 26, after evening prayers, Jafar Umar Thalib addressed a gathering of 5,000 Muslims outside the Al-Fatah Mosque in Ambon, urging them to fight a holy war against the Christians. He said: "From today, we will no longer talk about reconciliation. Our... focus now must be preparing for war - ready your guns, spears and daggers."

On Sunday 28, militia of Laskar Jihad, also accompanied by what appeared to be members of the army, entered the small village of Soya on Ambon. I have seen a video of what ensued, produced by Islamists, and we even had it linked from Western Resistance. 21 people died, with small children and women hacked at with machetes and decapitated, and men beaten to death with staves, beheaded, and burned alive in their homes. The video showed men being beaten to death, and members of the Laskar Jihad and apparent military holding up severed heads. Children in hospital were shown with machete wounds to their faces and arms.

Following this atrocity, Thalib was arrested on May 4, 2002, at the town of Surabaya, the capital of East Java. He was then taken to Jakarta to remain in custody until Thursday July 25 2002on bail. Thalib had been charged with inciting the Soya massacre, and also insulting President Megawati Sukarnoputri. On 30 January, 2003, Jafar Umar Thalib was acquitted.

Early in October 2002, before his trial, Laskar Jihad was voluntarily disbanded. It is gone, but is still a presence which could be reactivated.

Thalib at one stage had been involved in the stoning to death of an alleged rapist in 2001. Magazine reports had said that he had cast the first stone. Though arrested for this act, he was never prosecuted. He fancies himself as an Islamic intellectual, but his main role is as an agitator and as a fighter. In 2002 in Jakarta, he was engaged in a public debate with Nurcholish Madjid, one of Indonesia's leading Islamic scholars. He was not able to match Madjid's intellectual strength.

In January this year, Thalib and hundreds of his former Laskar Jihad fighters were brought to the Al-Fatah mosque in Ambon. Here they were given a lecture by imam and author Luqman Ba'abduh. The imam told them over a period of two days about the Khawarij, also called the Kharjites, a Salafist group which emerged in 657 AD in the western part of North Africa. Members of this group slaughtered early associates of Mohammed, such as Umar bin Khattab, Usman bin Affan and Ali bin Abi Thalib. Their actions have been used by modern-day Salafists and others to justify acts of terrorism.

Ironically, after the events of 9/11, Jafar Umar Thalib had condemned his former mentor, Osama bin Laden, along with Al-Qaeda, as a "khawarij".

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:38 PM | Comments (1)

Australia: Muslim "Mufti" Says Women Encourage Rape

65-year old Sheikh Taj Din al-Hilaly, the Egyptian-born imam of the Lakemba Mosque in Sydney, is no stranger to controversy. In 1988 he notoriously addressed Muslim students in Sydney University with a speech about Jews in which he said, amongst other things: "The Jews try to control the world through sex, then sexual perversion, then the promotion of espionage, traitory, and economic hoarding."

As well as his anti-semitism, Hilaly has some strange views on terrorism. He is reputed to have been caught on camera, weeks prior to the 9/11 attacks, extolling Islamic suicide bombers in the Middle East, calling them "heroes', stated Australian Liberal Party MP, Christopher Pyne. The imam has, since 1989, been paid an annual salary of 40,000 Australian dollars ($29,668 US) from the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) to be Australia's "mufti".

The latest scandal which the "Mufti" has created involves his suggestions that "immodestly dressed" women who who do not wear Islamic headdresses are to be blamed for being preyed upon by men. The Australian reports that the "Mufti" has compared such women to abandoned "meat" attracting voracious animals.

The Mufti made the comments at a Ramadan speech which has not pleased Muslim women leaders. The speech was made last month to 500 worshippers in Sydney as a sermon. Hilaly said: "If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it...whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem."

"If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab, no problem would have occurred," he said, following the statement with the observation that women were "weapons" used by Satan to control men.

"It is said in the state of zina (adultery), the responsibility falls 90 per cent of the time on the woman. Why? Because she possesses the weapon of enticement (igraa)," he claimed.

Hilaly made the statement after making an indirect allusion to the 2000 gang-rapes in Sydney, carried out by Muslim young men. The ringleaders, Bilal and Mohammed Skaf were handed down lengthy prison sentences on July 28. Bilal Skaf smiled as he was sentenced. The original sentencing report shows how the Muslim rapists had deliberately set out to commit rape. There was never any evidence that their victims, some as young as 16, had even thought of provoking their brutal degradation. Only the perverse mind of a "Mufti" or a Muslim rapist could construe that the girls were "abandoned meat" to be devoured.

The Australian describes the outraged responses of Muslim women to the Mufti's speech. Iktimal Hage-Ali said his comments made her "disgusted and offended." A former member of the Muslim Reference group, prime minister John Howard's advisory group, she said: "The onus should not be on the female to not attract attention, it should be on males to learn how to control themselves."

Hage-Ali said: "I find it very offensive that a man who considers himself as a mufti, a leader of Australia's Muslims, can give comment that lacks intelligence and common sense."

Aziza Abdel-Halim said that such remarks, made at Ramadan were "below and beyond any comment (and) do not deserve any consideration."

The lawyer Waleed Ali, spokesman for the Islamic Council of Victoria, also condemned the Mufti's comments, saying that the notion that a hijab (Muslim headscarf) being an antidote to rape was "ignorant and naive", and said the Sheikh was "normalising immoral sexual behaviour".

Ali said: "Anyone who is foolish enough to believe that there is a relationship between rape or unwelcome sexual interference and the failure to wear a hijab, clearly has no understanding of the nature of sexual crime."

The sermon was made in Arabic, as are most of the Mufti's speeches, and usually he denies he has said controversial things when they are translated into English. The Australian translated a copy of the sermon, and confronted the Mufti with his words.

The Mufti tried to say that he had only meant to refer to prostitutes as "meat", even though he had never mentioned the word prostitute in seventeen minutes of talking.

Hilaly explained that is a woman is "covered and respectful" she "demands respect from a man....But when she is cheap, she throws herself at the man and cheapens herself."

He referred to the Sydney gang-rapes, he explained, to illustrate the point that Bilal Skaf was guilty and worthy of receiving his harsh sentence. On August 15 2002 Skaf was given a 55 year jail-term, but this July he was sentenced to a minimum of 11 years' jail to add to an existing sentence of 22 years' jail.

Many individuals and organisations, including the New South Wales Board of Jewish Deputies are aware that Hilaly lies, making offensive statements and then denying them. He is helped in his dishonesty by his "spokesman", Keysar Trad. Hilaly's justifications and his denial of blaming of women rape victims only add to the evidence that he is a liar, and not fit to be regarded as a spiritual leader of any faith.

UPDATE: The Sydney Morning Herald reports on the backlash to the Mufti's comments. His spokesperson and apologist, Keysar Trad, states: "From what I understand, he was talking about the context of encouraging people to abstinence before getting married. His references to exposed meat etc was a very poor example that was meant to be a reference to both men and women, he wasn't talking about Islamic dress, he wasn't talking about rape."

Others are not so convinced by Trad's interpretation. Pru Goward, the federal sex discrimination commissioner, said: "Young Muslim men who now rape women can cite this in court, can quote this man...their leader in court. It's time we stopped just saying he should apologise. It is time the Islamic community did more then say they were horrified. I think it is time he left."

Sophie Mirabella a backbencher from Victoria, said: "I have a message for Sheik Al-Hilali: This is Australia, not Iran, and violence and degradation of women is not acceptable."

Health minister Tony Abbott said: "Certainly I think if a religious leader in the Catholic Church or the Anglican Church or in Judaism was to make these sorts of statements, they would be getting a very severe rap over the knuckles, at the very least. He's wrong. He should be reprimanded and it's up to ordinary, decent Australians to make it clear that he is wrong."

Peter Costello, the Treasurer, said: "I hope that the moderate Muslim leaders will speak out today and condemn these comments."

Morris Iemma, head of the New South Wales state government, said: "He doesn't have a flash record as far as these sorts of statements and what's in the paper this morning is offensive and outrageous and ought to be condemned. To in some way suggest that you can justify sexual attacks on women on the basis of how they might walk or dress is outrageous."

The latest individual to condemn the cleric's comments is the national premier, John Howard, as reported in the Melbourne Age and the Herald Sun. Howard said of the Mufti's comments: "They are quite out of touch with contemporary values in Australia. "The idea that women are to blame for rapes is preposterous. I not only reject the comments, I condemn them unconditionally."

Members of the New South Wales Islamic Council were against the Mufti's remarks. Ali Roude, spokesman for the NSW Islamic Council, said: "While we respect the rights of any Australian citizen to freedom of speech, there is a further responsibility upon our civic leaders, be they religious, political or bureaucratic, to offer appropriate guidance to the people under their care. The comments widely reported today do no such thing."

"As a father, brother and son myself, I take offence at the portrayal of both men and women in the alleged published comments. Islam requires all people, men and women alike, to dress with modesty. This is not to reduce the risk of sexual assault and rape, but rather to show respect for the God who created us all as equals and to show respect for ourselves as people who rise above the world of mere things and animals to stand as conscious beings in the presence of that same loving God - Allah Ta'ala."

Sherene Hassan of the Islamic Council of Victoria has said the Mufti should resign. She told AAP: "Those comments are extremely offensive, and there is no basis for what he said in Islamic teachings. The ICV is issuing a statement calling for his resignation. We are calling on him to issue an apology to all Australian people, because his comments are offensive to males and females alike, and we are calling on him to retract those comments. There is no justification for rape."

The Mufti, faced with such widespread condemnation, has now decided that obfuscation and denial are inadequate responses, and has issued a statement of apology. "I unreservedly apologise to any woman who is offended by my comments. I had only intended to protect women's honour, something lost in The Australian presentation of my talk."

A spokesman for the Mufti (probably Keysar Trad) has said the backlash had affected Hilaly so badly that he was depressed and confined to bed, breathing through an oxygen mask."

Hilaly's choice of wording for his statement of apology is equally misplaced. To speak of a woman's "honour", when it is estimated that globally 5,000 women a year are killed to uphold Islamic "honour" is not a wise move.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:42 PM | Comments (5)

Glick: Prime-time Blood Libels

I agree with Caroline Glick's conclusion in this op-ed; it is irresponsible for Israel to remain silent while blood libels fly around. An innocent man is paying for Israel's silence, and the al-Dura libel has become stronger: Our World: Prime-time blood libels

Last Thursday a French court found Philippe Karsenty guilty of libeling France 2 television network and its Jerusalem bureau chief Charles Enderlin. Karsenty, who runs a media watchdog Web site called Media-Ratings, called for Enderlin and his boss Arlette Chabot to be sacked for their September 30, 2000 televised report alleging that IDF forces had killed 12-year-old Muhammad al-Dura at Netzarim junction in Gaza that day.

Their lawsuit against Karsenty was the first of three lawsuits that Enderlin and France 2 filed against French Jews who accused them in various ways of manufacturing a blood libel against Israel by purposely distorting the events at Netzarim junction that day. The second trial, against Pierre Lur at, is set to begin this week. Lur at organized a mass demonstration against France 2 on October 2, 2002 after the broadcast of a German television documentary film by Esther Schapira called Three Bullets and a Dead Child: Who Shot Muhammad al-Dura? Schapira's film concludes that IDF bullets could not have killed Dura.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 1:21 PM | Comments (0)

India: Indian Government Claims Evidence of Pakistani Involvement in Train Bombing

The saddest part is, evidence at this point is superflous; our friends and allies the Pakistanis are neck-deep in terrorism against India: Singh: India Has Credible Evidence of Pakistan's Involvement in Mumbai Bombings

India's prime minister said Tuesday his government had credible evidence of Pakistan's involvement in the July 11 train bomb blasts in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay.

Manmohan Singh's remark came after India's top security official said on Sunday New Delhi had good, but not conclusive evidence that Pakistan's spy agency was involved in the bombings.

National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan's statement prompted the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party to accuse the government of wavering on the issue.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 1:02 PM | Comments (0)

Spain: Blogger Summoned to Court for Supporting Israel

Via LGF comes this stunning news: Galician blogger charged for supporting Israel

Galician blogger Alejandro de Llano has told in his blog that he has been charged with the great crime of supporting Israel and being against the Palestinian people.

Two years ago, the Galician nationalist Major of Oleiros (in the photo) began a campaign whose slogan was "Stop the beast. Sharon murderer" and "Stop to new Nazis". The Major is known for his love for Castro (was watched over by CIA because of his friendship with Castro) and Palestinians. The campaign also included T-shirts with Anti0US and anti-Sharon for 6 (euros-RD) and it also pictured US flag in a higyenic paper with the legend "USAme", which in Spanish is "USE me". Very respectable.[...]

The blogger's orginal post (in Spanish) can be found here. My translation follows:

"Two years ago the Major of the Corunian municipality of Oleiros, who is also a friend of Fidel Castro, organized a campaign using public money against the democratic State of Israel. In response to those actions, I sent an email expressing my opinion on the matter. Today I've received a summons from the penal court where I'm summoned to depose as the accused for the crime of "being in favor of Israel and against the Palestinian People". What do you think?"

To repeat; this is stunning news. In Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Spain, it may now be a crime to support the State of Israel.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 12:37 AM | Comments (0)

October 24, 2006

Ethiopia: State of War With Somalia Recognized

Jihad advances in the horn of Africa: Ethiopia 'at war' with Somalia's Islamists

Ethiopia is 'technically at war' with Islamic forces in Somalia and has become a target for terrorism, the prime minister said yesterday.

Hard-line clerics of the Islamic Courts Union who now hold sway over Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, and several key towns in the south of the country have declared holy war against Ethiopia.

They accuse their majority Christian neighbour of sending thousands of soldiers over their shared border to prop up the weak transitional government, which stands as the only counterpoint to the fundamentalists' power.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 9:54 PM | Comments (0)

Indonesia: The Roots Of Muslim & Christian Conflict On Poso

Special Report

Today, an interview with a Muslim leader in Poso is related in AKI . The Muslim, Adnan Arsal, has blamed the police in the province of Central Sulawesi for a recent rise in sectarian violence. On October 16, a Protestant priest, Rev. Irianto Kongkoli, was shot in the nape of the neck as he bought ceramic tiles from a shop in Palu, the provincial capital.

In Poso city, on the coast, there has been violence since Monday night. The unrest apparently started when police were attacked by an armed group while they were on patrol. In the ensuing violence, a young Muslim was killed. According to Reuters India, the group who attacked the police patrol were armed with automatic weapons, home-made pipe bombs and stones. Apart from the Muslim youth who died, three people were injured in the clash, including one police officer.

Arsal's verion of events is different. He claims that 700 police officers had "invaded" the city with no reason given, and they were terrorizing the citizens. Arsal stated to AKI that: "The police continue to threaten Muslims but they never bother the Christians even if, sometimes, they are the ones responsible for burning cars. It seems like the police are protecting the Christians."

There are grave doubts about the credibility of Arsal's version of the current events. As well as being historically involved in sectarian conflict on Poso, he has been instrumental in creating the current climate of distrust between the two communities, which I will describe later.

Whatever the origins of the current conflict, it is serious enough for the president of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to request the home ministry to gather as much information as possible on the situation in Poso, to find out the root cause. Antara News reports that M. Ma'ruf, the home affairs minister, said: "The presidents wants us to solve the Poso problem peacefully. Of course, we have to reevaluate the real cause of the recent incidents."

Ma'ruf has said that he will be consulting with the police, as well as community and religious leaders. "The dialogs will be conducted to inventorize the real causes of the problem," he said.

The Eklesia Church on Pulau Seram street, Gebangrejo village in Poso, was set on fire early this morning, before 1 am. Though the blaze was brought under control within less than two hours, the interior of the church was gutted. The same church was recently the target of a home-made bomb, which was detonated outside the building on September 30, according to Antara News. Two other bombs occurred shortly after the attempt to bomb the church, with one happening in Poso's fish market, and another at a bus station in the city. Where explosives had then failed, arson has now succeeded.

One of the two largest Muslim groups in Indonesia is the Muhammadiya. It is relatively moderate. Antara reports that Din Syamsuddin, the chairman of this group, has claimed today that Muslim mass organizations were wanting the vice president, Jusuf Kalla, to intervene and initiate a peace process.

In December 2001, Kalla, who was then Indonesia's coordinating minister for people's welfare managed to get the main protagonists and sectarian leaders from Poso to gather at Malino in South Sulawesi, to sign a peace pact. This agreement is called the Malino Accord.

Din Syamsuddin met Jusuf Kalla last night, and said afterwards: "The other day in Malino he was successful. Now, we want the Vice President to do it again.... Vice President Jusuf Kalla on behalf of the government should take immediate action to deal with the conflict in Poso."

Syamsuddin said the government should act swiftly to quell the Poso violence, and claimed that Muhammadiya would give Kalla's peace proposals its fullest support.

Adnan Arsal (pictured below left) was one of those who signed the Malino Accord under Kalla's gaze. He had been the leader of the Komite Perjuangan Muslim Poso ( KPMP or Committee for the Islamic Struggle in Poso).

However, last year, four Christian girls were attacked as they walked to school in a rural district at Poso on October 29. Three of the girls - Ida Yarni Sambue (15), Theresia Morangke (15), and Alfita Poliwo (19) - were decapitated, and the other , 15-year old Noviana Malewa was hacked in the face, but survived.

A measure of far Adnan Arsal is not trusted, even by the authorities, comes from a claim which was made by Jusuf Kalla, shortly after the incident. According to Asia News, the vice president said that he believed that Arsal had been involved in the decapitations. In February, a 31-year old man who was suspected of taking part in the beheading of the three schoolgirls, Sahal Alamry, was arrested in Poso. He was a teacher at Arsal's Islamic boarding school, the Alamanah Pesantren in Poso.

Alamry had been arrested after a detained Bali bombing suspect and terror recruitment specialist, Subur Sugiarto, gave information. The police suspected that Alamry was an associate of Noordin Top of the Islamist terror group Jemaah Ismaiyah, responsible for the Bali bombings of October 12, 2002 (202 dead) and October 1, 2005 (20 dead).

Adnan Arsal was indignant when one of his religious teachers was arrested. He said that "police is orchestrating a plan to make one of my teachers look like a follower of Noordin Moh Top."

Arsal claimed in his AKI interview yesterday that police had invaded his pesantren. "It happened even in my pesantren", he asserted. "The police came, scared the children who ran away in panic. There were two deaths."

To get an understanding of the current situation in Poso, and also of Arsal's involvement and whether he is even credible as honest spokesperson on current events, one must first look at the historical background of the conflict.

The Moluccan Conflict

From 1999 to 2002, at least 1,000 people died in Muslim/Christian sectarian conflict on Sulawesi. This was part of a wider sectarian conflict, initiated by the vigilante group Lashkar Jihad, on the nearby Moluccan islands. This conflict is sometimes called the Moluccan War. It also lasted from 1999 to 2002, and saw 9,000 people killed. The leader of Lashkar Jihad, Yemeni-Indonesian Jafar Umar Thalib was charged with sowing hate in the Moluccas. He was acquitted on 30 January, 2003.

Lashkar Jihad, which is reputed to have been set up with assistance from politicians, was voluntarily disbanded in October 2002. It was responsible for not only for horrific massacres, such as that which took place in the village of Soya at Ambon in the Moluccas on April 28, 2002, but also forced conversions of Christians. These involved forcible circumcisions of males and females, some of whom were elderly. The operations were carried out with no anaesthetic by Muslim clerics, rather than by medically trained personnel. The Sydney Morning Herald of 27 January 2001 reported that on six islands affected by the conflict, 3,928 Christians were forced to convert to Islam.

Two days before Thalib was acquitted, a Christian leader, Dr Alex Manuputty was sentenced to three years' jail for "promoting separatism". He had been arrested at Ambon on April 17, 2002, eleven days before the Soya massacre. Released on November 2003, Manuputty fled to the United States.

Following his own acquittal, Thalib said of Manuputty's sentence: "I question why you would sentence him to only three years on charges of subversion while the charge itself carries a minimum sentence of 15 years. He should have been jailed for 15 years." Manuputty wanted to gain independence of the South Moluccan islands from Indonesia, which is 85% Muslim.

Conflicts on Poso

Most of the sectarian violence in Central Sulawesi, both during the Moluccan conflict and at the present time, has been concentrated on the coastal town of Poso and its surrounding district. What marks Central Sulawesi as special is that it is more or less divided equally between Muslims and Christians. On Poso, there is an imbalance weighted in favor of Muslims. Muslims number 44.99% of the total population in Poso regency, Christians are 39.10%, Catholics 2.5% while the rest are Hindu and Buddhist.

The protagonists of violence on Poso were not only members of Lashkar Jihad, according to The International Crisis Group's Asia Report No 43 of December 11, 2002 (full pdf document can be obtained from HERE, with registration required).

The terror group Jemaah Islamiyah was behind some of the Islamic militia groups active on Poso. These had names such as Laskar Jundullah (army of Allah). There were several groups of this name, but one was formed in September 2000 as the military wing of KPPSI, the Preparatory Committee for Upholding Islamic Law. This was headed by Agus Dwikarna, later imprisoned as a JI member in the Philippines. Though officially based in Makasar, it had its military headquarters at Poso. It recruited members of another Islamic 'army", Laskar Mujahidin, and also the group Darul Islam.

Darul Islam, founded in the 1940s with the aim of establishing a Caliphate in southeast Asia, had provided Jemaah Islamiyah with many of its core members. From 1953 to 1962, Darul Islam launched a rebellion on Aceh in northwestern Indonesia. It also had rebellions in West Java and South Sulawesi in the 1950s. It still exists, and a cell on West Java has links with Noordin Top, the JI financier and recruiter.

JI was founded in Malaysia around 1995 by Abdullah Sungkar. Sungkar in the 1970s also founded the Pondok Ngruki (also called Al Mukmin), the Islamic pesantren in Solo, about 250 miles east of Jakarta. He had co-founded this school with the "spiritual leader" of Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Bakar Bashir. About 30 known or suspected Islamic terrorists have attended this pesantren.

Bashir was arrested and jailed for "giving his consent" to the 2002 Bali bombings. Currently there are three conspirators involved in the 2003 bombings, who are awaiting imminent execution. One of these, Amrozi, had attended the Pondok Ngruki school, led by Bashir, and said that it was a "JI institution". Another of those awaiting death by firing squad is Imam Samudra. The Laskar Mujahidin was linked to the Ngruki school and the MMI, the Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia (MMI), which had been founded by Bashir and others in August 2000.

According to the International Crisis Group, Samudra was directly involved with recruiting for the "jihad" on Poso and the Moluccas.

From his base in a training camp in Cimalati, Pandeglang regency in Banten province (West Java), Samudra would send JI operatives who were to recruit people for jihadist operations in Poso and Ambon. These would approach students, and would invite them to meetings, where they would be shown video CDs of the wars in Ambon and Poso. These videos would be produced by Mujahideen KOMPAK, an affiliate of JI, and would document atrocities supposedly carried out by Christians. After this, there followed about four months of study and discussion about the impending darkness that would come unless they fought for jihad. When the recruits were considered ready, they would be sent to fight in Poso and Ambon.

Other groups involved in the fighting on Poso included Adnan Arsal's Komite Perjuangan Muslim Poso ( KPMP). By the time Lashkar Jihad disbanded in early October, 2002, it had chased out the fighters of the smaller group Laskar Mujahidin from Poso.

The initial trigger for the violence in Poso and the Moluccas began in 1998, when the dictator Haji Mohamed Suharto was finally forced to resign in 1998. During his rule of twenty-one years' duration, he had forcefully suppressed Islamist groups in Indonesia. Under his rule, the tradition on Poso was to have the regional governor or bupati alternate from a Muslim, then to a Christian and back, to keep some sense of impartiality and equilibrium. In 1998, the Muslim bupati, Arief Patanga, announced that his successor was to be a member of his family, rather than a Christian, breaking the tradition.

In the Christmas period of 1998, a minor fight broke out in Poso, outside a small mosque. As a result, Poso erupted into violence. The city was left a smoldering wreck as a result of the first conflict (below).

The fighting which took place led to churches being burned, such as the Oikumene Iradat Puri Church in Palu. The Reverend Irianto Kongkoli, who was shot dead on October 16, placed the blame for the Poso violence on the regent or bupati, Arief Patanga, who officially held his post from 1992 to 1997. As we noted earlier, he said: "The one who should be severely punished is Arief Patanga."

Christian homes and churches continued to be destroyed sporadically until April 2000 when the Muslim on Christian violence reached another peak. Then, there was mounted a retaliation. A group called the Black Bat was involved in the Christian attacks, as was another called the Red Group. As jihadists had either voluntarily come to Poso to engage in the violence or had been sent by JI and Lashkar Jihad, an influx of Christians had also come to take part in the reprisals.

Among the individuals who had come to Poso in April-May to join the counter-attack against Muslims were Christians from East Nusa Tenggara province, which lies south of Sulawesi island. Three individuals who came to Poso at this time were Catholics, Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu.

Their alleged involvement, and their subsequent fate, are instrumental in understanding some of the excesses of the Poso conflicts from the time of the Moluccan war, and also in understanding the violence which is currently engulfing Poso.

The three men are said to have gone into an area where violence was raging to evacuate children from a church-led school in the village of Moengko, Poso City. A Muslim mob came to the church on May 23, 2000 and burned the church down. The children and the three men escaped before the building was razed.

These three men were, however, accused of inciting murders of Muslims, and orchestrating the violence which happened in the phase of the conflict during May 2000.

The Christian on Muslim violence was as horrific as anything mounted by the Muslims. In one village, Sintuwulemba, an estimated 300 Muslims were massacred. Their bodies were thrown in the Poso river, where they floated out to sea.

A peace accord was signed in August 2000, and though the conflict did not cease, it subsided substantially. However, in April 2001, Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu were sentenced to death in a court case that was marked by crowds of Muslims calling for their death. It has been argued that the three men received an unfair trial, and that the judges ordered their deaths to appease the baying Muslim mob surrounding the Palu courthouse.

The death sentence caused a resurgence of the conflict, and in August 2001, Lashkar Jihad arrived in force to wage their war, burning Christian villages around Poso. Other Islamist groups had already been operating for some time by then. Many of the Christians took refuge in the highland lakeside town of Tentena, which is predominantly Christian.

The government intervened and the Malino Accord was brokered in December of that year. In January and February large stockpiles of weapons grew as fighters surrendered them to provincial authorities, but soon, the terms of the Accord were being breached by both sides. The Christians of the region were now without weapons, even though killings of Christians continued.

One individual who had signed the Malino Accord in December 2001 became a victim of its "justice" in August 2002. In mid August, two Muslim attacks took place upon villages near Poso. Three Christians were killed in Peleru, and Mayumba came under siege shortly after. Reverend Rinaldy Damanik, the head of the Protestant Church in the Central Sulawesi region, had helped to evacuate Christians from both villages. He was arrested on August 17 as his lorry was being besieged by jihadists. Police arrested him, and claimed that he was transporting 14 rifles and explosives. Under the terms of Malino, trafficking in weapons carried a sentence of either 12 years' jail or death by firing squad.

While in prison in Palu, awaiting trial, an attempt was made to poison Rev. Damanik on December 26, 2002, the fourth anniversary of the start of the Poso conflict. He was hospitalized as a result. He was placed on trial on February 3, 2003 and on 16 June, 2003, he was given a three year jail term. He was finally released in November 2004.

The main conflict only came to end in October 2002, when Lashkar Jihad announced that its main fighting wing in Poso, the Zabir, would leave the region of conflict. It was at this time that Laskar Jihad was voluntarily dissolving itself. It has been suggested that this had happened because Jafar Umar Thalib, who had been arrested in April 2002 for a speech made at Ambon mosque, in which he threatened not only Christians, but the government, was awaiting his trial. It was suggested that the group dissolved itself as a measure to stop Thalib becoming jailed. Whether the group is really inactive, or merely dormant, is not so clear.

Post-Conflict Conflict

Following the end of the conflict, violence has continued sporadically ever since. On May 29, 2003, two men from Marowo, a village east of Poso, were shot. One, a Muslim died from a neck wound, and his brother-in-law, a Christian, was injured.

On June 2, 2003, the village of Kapompa was attacked, with five houses riddled with automatic fire. A christian man was killed. On the same day, another man was shot dead in his home in Poso. On June 27, a Christian party held at Kawua village, Poso, had a bomb thrown at it, but no-one was injured.

On July 9, a 32-year old Christian was shot dead by a sniper in Saatu village, Poso, and the following day, a food stall was bombed, injuring four. One of these had a leg and arm amputated. Also on July 10, in Lembomawo village, Poso sub-district, a policeman and a woman teacher were shot as they rode a motorcycle.

On October 10, Beteleme village in Morowalu District, Central Sulawesi was atacked with bombs and gunshots fired by men shouting "Allahu akbar!" A man and a woman were shot dead. On October 11 to 12, several villages were attacked overnight, and nine Christians died. The body of a man who disappeared that night was found four days later. On October 27, 2003, another Christian was killed, in the Poso region after being shot at close range. The next day, the government acknowledged the role of Jemaah Islamiyah in the Poso conflict.

On November 11, 2003, a bus was hit with a low-explosive bomb in Tentena. Four days later, Reverend Tadjodja, synod treasurer of the Central Sulawesi Christian Church was shot dead along with his nephew.

On November 16, a Christian was dragged from his motorcycle and beaten to death by a Muslim mob. His body was dumped in the market, where another Christian's body lay. On November 24, a bomb was discovered at Palu Ekklesia Pentecostal Church. It was the third time a bomb had been placed there since 2001.

Attacks continued in 2004. On July 18 2004, a woman reverend was shot dead while she was conducting a service at the presbyterian Effata Church in Palu. 29-year old Susianti Tinulele was shot several times by a single attacker, who had an accomplice outside the church. Four of her parishioners were injured.

The same day, a bomb blew up outside a packed sports hall in Poso. No-one was injured. The previous day, Saturday July 17, Helmy Tombiling, the wife of army officer James Harimisa, was found dead outside her home in Sayo, Poso city. She had been stabbed nine times in the chest.

A bomb attack in May 2005 at a market in Tentena saw 22 people killed and 30 injured. On October 27, a bomb went off on a bus carrying 11 passengers from the Christian enclave of Tentena, injuring one person.

On October 29 2005, the four Christian schoolgirls were attacked with machetes, with three beheaded. Two of the girl's graves are shown above right. On November 28, two Christian girls, Ivone Natalia Moganthi, 18, and Siti Nuraini, 18, were shot in the head at point-blank range. They survived, and it was later revealed that their assailant was a Muslim police brigadier, somewhat weakening Arsal's claims that all police in Poso are "pro-Christian".

More attacks upon Christians continued in November in Poso and Palu in Central Sulawesi, with several killed. A machete attack on a group of three Christian girls in Palu saw one girl nearly losing her arm and another, called Afrianti, dying from a chop to the neck.

On December 30, a bomb was set off in a pork market frequented only by Christians, killing six people in Palu.

The situation had deteriorated so far that Gus Dur, moderate former head of the other main Muslim group, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), which has 40 million members, claimed in December that the government's investigation into the Poso conflict was "useless". Security minister, Admiral Widodo had been given the task of supervising a commission of inquiry. Gus Dur said that the issue was too important to be managed that way.

He said: "The violence in Poso was not of an inter-religious nature. It was orchestrated by someone who had specific interests in the area. The population loses its faith in a government which is incapable of reacting to something like this. There is a time when enough is enough. I do not believe in special squads anymore. My patience has its limits." He was not alone in the desire for an independent inquiry. Both Muslims and Christians wanted a investigation, suspicious that Widodo's efforts would probably conceal more than they would reveal. Attacks on Christians in Poso continued at the start of this year. No independent inquiry has been launched.

The Executions Of the Three Christians

Left to right - Fabianus Tibo, 60, Marinus Riwu, 48, Dominggus da Silva, 42

Recently, the killings and attacks have started again. On September 10 we wrote that on September 9, a 20-year old Christian woman died after a bomb was thrown at her house in Poso town, and on September 6, a 50-year old Christian man, John Tobeli, was killed by a bomb in Poso district.

Shortly after these attacks, four Muslims were arrested, and upon questioning, they said that they had carried out the bomb attacks because they "wanted to seek revenge for what Tibo and the others had done." This reference was to the three people who had been sentenced to death in April 2001 for their supposed involvement in Poso killings from May 2000.

Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu were due to have been executed by firing squad at midnight on the morning of August 12. European leaders, US Senators and Pope Benedict XVI had appealed for leniency. They were reprieved temporarily, only an hour before the sentence was due to be carried out.

Fabianus Tibo had revealed the names of several individuals whom he claimed had really been responsible for causing the Christian on Muslim violence.

The Jubilee Campaign had argued for clemency for the three Catholics, and in a pdf report on the case, mention is made of the names of these 16 individuals. Adnan Arsal, at a meeting in December 2004, demanded that the individuals named by Tibo be investigated. His interest was not like the Rev. Irianto Kongkoli, who sought to have the three men exonerated. Adnan Arsal just wanted to have more Christians to punish.

Sometimes, Arsal had made gestures of public citizenship. After the decapitation of the three schoolgirls on October 29, in December, he handed over to the authorities two Muslims, Andi Ipong and Muhammad Yusuf who were wanted for their involvement in Muslim on Christian violence. In hindsight, it is more likely that he made this gesture to deflect suspicions which had fallen on him, when vice-president Jusuf Kalla had suggested that he had involvement with the beheadings of the schoolgirls.

The delay in the executions of Tibo, Marinus and da Silva had taken place because of Indonesia's Independence Day, which fell on August 17. There was a widespread feeling of injustice about the case. Muslim violence had initiated the conflict, yet though Muslims had been sentenced for their part in the killings, not a single one had been sentenced to death. The maximum penalty for any Muslim perpetrator of inter-faith violence was 15 years' imprisonment.

On August 11, before the men had been due to die, thousands of people protested in their home province of East Nusa Tenggara.

What made matters more galling for Christians was the manner in which the government seemed to place the importance of the three Christian men in some equivalence with the three Jemaah Islamiyah activists, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim,his brother Ali Gufron and Imam Samudra, who had helped kill 202 people on Bali, and had shown no remorse. Some analysts said the government did not want to invoke public anger in the predominantly Muslim nation by executing the Christians before the 3 Islamist terrorists.

Mahendratta, lawyer for the three Muslims said: "People were asking, 'Why Amrozi first, and not Tibo?' For me, it is a simple matter: just follow the death row queue. Tibo and his friends got convicted first, and they should be executed first."

While Christians protested, and pleaded for clemency, Adnan Arsal was demanding that the three Christians should be killed. In September, he was reported as saying there was no doubt Tibo was involved in a series of killings of Muslims. He said: "The Muslim community generally thinks he was the actor in the field. It has been proven that he was involved in the killings."

On September 20, Asnan Arsal and many other Islamist activists had their wishes granted, when Tibo, Riwu and da Silva were taken from their jail cell in Palu and escorted to the Palu airfield. There they were then shot. All of their requests, such as to be allowed to be laid in state in Palu Cathedral, were denied by the authorities.

Robert Bala Keitimu, a lawyer for one of the three, said that the case should be reopened, as the names of 16 individuals, who are believed to have done the killings for which the men were executed, are now known. He suggested the government wanted to cover up the truth behind the Poso riots.

There immediately followed rioting from Christians, both at East Nusa Tenggara, the province where the executed men had lived, and at Poso. A prison was stormed open at Atuamba on East Timor, where Dominggus da Silva had lived, and on Flores island, where two of the men had been born, Christians carried machetes and ran through the streets.

In Poso, thousands of Christians took to the streets, looking for Muslim motorists. Police had to seal off the area. Tyres were burned on the street, and protesters threw rocks at policemen. One police officer was injured. By the end of the afternoon, the unrest in Poso had died down. A few days later, there were bomb attacks at Poso, including the unsuccessful September 30 attack upon the Ekklesia church. On October 1, a Christian was pulled off a bus in Poso, and stabbed. He survived the attack.

On October 9, the bodies of two Muslims were discovered near Poso. It appears that they had been killed in the orgy of aggression which had followed the execution of the three Catholics.

Between the time of the execution and October 10, there had been five explosions in Central Sulawesi, and tensions between Muslim and Christian communities were becoming strained.

There seem to be figures involved in the conflict as ringleaders. Adnan Arsal is at the cheap end - he merely wants to have Muslim power over other groups in the region, and will lie, betray and incite killings to achieve this. As a native of the region, he at least has a vested interest in the province. This year, a new Christian bupati was chosen as head of the Poso regency, and Adnan Arsal has led violent demonstrations against the Christian's tenure of the role.

But when one considers the manner in which Reverend Ridyanti had been "framed" by police, the long amount of time it took for the government to admit the involvement of Jemaah Islamiyah in the conflict, the bizarre manner in which Umar Jaffar Thalib, already rumored to have had political sponsors, managed to become acquitted, all point to the potential that people with power and influence had acted behind the scenes to orchestrate the violence in Poso.

******************

Today, two prisoners were released early from their detention. The move was made as a goodwill gesture to celebrate Eid ul-Fitr, the end of Ramadan. The details are carried by Deutsche Presse Agentur via Monsters & Critics and Antara News.

One of the individuals to be released is a cannibal. Sumanto walked out of Purwokerto Prison this morning. He had been given a five year sentence for digging up and eating an 81-year old woman in 2003. She had been recently buried. In addition, Hutomo 'Tommy' Mandala Putra, a son of the corrupt former dictator Suharto, who is serving a 10-year jail term for murder, had his sentence reduced. He already is allowed out on medical appointments.

The other individual to be released this morning was a terrorist who had played a part in the 2002 Bali bombings. He was due to have been freed at the end of December, but had 45 days of his jail term removed. Muhammad Rudi bin Salim alias Mujarot was released from Denpasar jail in Bali this morning. Eight other convicts received 45-day jail term reductions as an Eid gesture.

Indonesia: Islamist Praises Government's Handling Of Unrest

Originally published on October 25, 2006.

Poso in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, has been the scene of Muslim and Christian sectarian conflict which was at its worst between the end of 1998 and May 2002. During that period, 1,000 people were killed. We presented an analysis of the background of the conflict, and also noted how sporadic incidents of violence have continued since. There have been peaks in violence, such as at the end of Ramadan in 2005, and again this year.

On Tuesday, Muslim vigilantes attacked police, resulting in a conflict in which a young Muslim was killed. The Eklesia church in Gebangrejo village in Poso had survived a bomb attack on September 30 but before 1 am on Tuesday, this church was subjected to an arson attack. The roof was demolished, and the interior gutted. The building had been attacked by twenty individuals on motorcycles, who had thrown molotov cocktails and improvised explosive devices to cause the blaze.

Associated Press via the International Herald Tribune reports that earlier today, two houses which were rented by police officers were set alight. Rudy Sufahriadi, the police officer in charge of Poso, reported that all national troops staying in private residences had been moved to barracks for their safety.

Muslim leaders have demanded that troops be withdrawn from Poso regency, or else they will paralyze the local administration and economy.

Today, Antara News reports, the head of the 7th or Wirabuana Military Command, Major General Arief Budi Sampurno, said that there would be no withdrawals of its personnel from Poso. He said that their number may even be increased.

Sampurno was speaking after a meeting with security officials and religious figures. These included the head of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), Syamsir Siregar, as well as several high-ranking officials from the military (TNI) and the Police Headquarters.

He claimed that the general situation in Poso remained peaceful. He said: "There are no obvious signs of unrest." He blamed any movements of dissent upon people who "are not satisfied because local security has been tightened." Sampurno added that next month, a platoon of army engineers would be arriving to assist in the rebuilding of 1,000 homes which were damaged in earlier violence.

Yesterday. AKI reported on an interview with Adnan Arsal, a Muslim leader, who claimed that police were biased towards Christians. Arsal's group Komite Perjuangan Muslim Poso ( KPMP or Committee for the Islamic Struggle in Poso) had been involved in the massacres of Christians on Poso in the 1998-2002 conflict. He had also supported the executions of three Christians, who were shot by firing squad on September 20 for their alleged role in the violence.

Today, AKI writes of an interview it held with the founder and leader of the now-disbanded militant group Laskar Jihad (army of holy battle). This individual, Jafar Umar Thalib (pictured), had sent his Laskar Jihad militias to Poso in August 2001, significantly increasing the conflict's casualties.

He had also been responsible for much of the violence of the Moluccan War, which took the lives of 9,000 people and will be described below.

45-year old Thalib said to AKI that "The government is on the right path and the situation is under control." He said there was no need to reinstate Laskar Jihad, which had voluntarily disbanded in October 2002. He said: "The decision to disband Laskar Jihad in 2002 came about not because of external pressure but through our belief that the government's good faith and efforts were helping to end the conflict."

Jafar Umar Thalib is an enigmatic character, but despite his history of helping to propagate was and conflict, he is widely respected in the Indonesian Muslim community. He has been arrested and imprisoned on several occasions, but not once has he received any conviction for his activities.

Thalib was born in Malang in East Java province in 1961. He is of Yemeni and Madurese parentage. For the most part, his early life had been spent as a teacher of Arabic and Islamic sciences in pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) which were funded by the Al-Irsyad Foundation. Al-Irsyad is made up mainly of Indonesians of Arabic origin, like Thalib. The religious outlook of the pesantren schools they sponsor is, like Thalib's, of the Wahhabist persuasion. Thalib had studied in Saudi Arabia, where Wahhabist fundamentalism began and still flourishes.

Already a supporter of extreme and fundamental Islamism, Jafar Umar Thalib had gone to Afghanistan in 1988 to become a Mujahideen against the Soviets. He went here after he had been studying at the Maududi Institute in Lahore, Pakistan, which had been funded by the extremist Sayyid Abul a'la Maududi (1903 - 1979). Maududi's Islamism gave rise to the Jamaat-e-Islami parties in Pakistan and Bangladesh, which wish to destroy democratic laws and establish sharia rule in both countries. Jafar Umar Thalib had been taking advanced Islamic studies at the Maududi Institute but dropped out, and moved to Afghanistan.

Like many "mujahideen" who fought in Afghanistan at this time, Thalib claims that he met Osama bin Laden during his stay in the country. Thalib returned to Indonesia in 1989, where he helped to run the Al-Irsyad network of pesantren.

Thalib, like the Wahhabists, bin Laden, the followers of Maududi and most of the Al-Irsyad, believes that nations should be under sharia rule. Certain figures in the Indonesian political establishment feel similarly. Thalib is said to have links to figures in the army. When he established Laskar Jihad, he is reputed to have done so with the backing of politicians. It appears that Thalib's "connections" have allowed him to never receive any punishments for the horrific atrocities carried out by his militias.

Unlike the Jemaah Islamiyah and other militant groups, Thalib believes in Indonesia as a political entity, and his aim to establish sharia is framed within national terms, rather than as a pan-southeast Asian Caliphate. One major obstacle to the establishment of Sharia is the fact that Indonesia, which has the highest number of Muslims of all nations, is still only 85% Muslim. In Sulawesi and the Moluccas (Malaku), a large portion of the Christian population live. In Central Sulawesi and many of the Moluccas, the populations are split almost evenly between Muslims and Christians.

The Moluccas were formerly the only regions where the valuable spices of nutmeg and cloves were to be found growing on a commercial scale, and from the 16th century onwards, Dutch, Portugese and English traders made inroads to these islands, and they bequeathed much of their own religious traditions to these islands. The Dutch, who controlled the Moluccas and neighboring West Papua until the 1940s, had trained and educated many Moluccan natives, particularly from one island, Ambon.

Indonesia came into being in 1949 under Sukharno, and as the Dutch had virtually abandoned their colonies the Moluccas became incorporated into the Indonesian archipelago. In 1969, the UN gave West Papua (Irian Jaya) to Indonesia.

On Ambon, there had long been hopes for independence from Indonesia. Under Suharto, who ruled for 21 years from 1967, discussion of religious and ethnic differences was firmly suppressed. When Suharto was forced to resign in 1998, the desires for independence resurfaced in places like Ambon. Under Suharto, the ethnic and religious divisions had been avoided on the island, via a process known as "Pela Gandung", which encouraged alliances between villages of different faiths. This system had been employed in the rest of Indonesia and incorporated within the political system under the title "Pancasila", encouraging pluralism.

The removal of Suharto from power in May 1998 unleashed the hopes of separatist movements, such as the OPM in Irian Jaya, and in the Moluccas, the FKM movement, led by Dr Alex Manuputty which aimed to establish South-Moluccas Independence (RMS). In Java, this period saw the birth of extremist Islamist groups, such as the Front Pembela Islam (Islamic Defender's Front), which was founded in August 1998 by an Arab-Indonesian, Habib Rizieq Shihab (aka Muhammad Rizieq).

Another Islamist group was founded in this year, the Forum Komunikasi Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah or FKAWJ. This Sunni hardline organization aimed to promote "true Islamic values" and rejects democracy. One its main members was Jafar Umar Thalib. The FKAWJ rejects popular Muslim groups (Muhammadiya and Nahdlatul Ulama), as their tolerance of democracy and other faiths makes them heretical. It also does not allow women positions of power. Thalib believes that its duties to women are "to educate them and then marry them to pious men who are capable of preventing them from falling into sin. Men's role is to supervise women and ensure that their behaviour is properly Islamic."

Thalib has three wives, all wearing black shrouds, hijabs (headscarfs) and niqabs (face-veils). He now has 14 children by his wives.

Ramadan came to an end in January 1999, and with it came the stability of Ambon in the Moluccas, under their system of "Pela Gandung". It has been argued that this outbreak of sectarian conflict had been instigated by the military, who hoped that the weak government of Halibi would collapse under such conflict, and could be used as an excuse to introduce martial law.

Laskar Jihad was officially founded on January 30 2000 in Yogyakarta (some say 1999) as the paramilitary division of the FKAWJ. Thalib claimed that the LJ was formed after it was learned that in Malaku province (the Moluccas), there were plans by Protestant Christians to form a Christian state, independent of Indonesia. This was, as Thalib perceived it, to include North Sulawesi, the Moluccas and Papua (Irian Jaya). Thalib claimed that the Christian separatists intended to wage war on the Muslims and drive them out in a process of "ethnic cleansing".

While Laskar Jihad was being formed, in January 2000, an Acehnese Islamist called Al-Chaidar organised a large Muslim rally in National Monument Park, Jakarta, where he called for a holy war against the Christians in Ambon. Al-Chadair has also been implicated in anti-Christian riots which took place on Lombok (adjoining Bali) on January 17, 2000.

FKAWJ announced that the Christians of Malaku were "kafir harbi" or "warlike infidels", and it was Islamically justifiable to kill them. It also said that 2000 would be the "Year of Jihad". Thalib set up Laskar Jihad and claimed that the government of Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid ("Gus Dur", who was president from 1999 to 2001 and head of the Nahdlatul Ulama from 1984 to 1999) was "unable or unwilling to protect the Islamic community. If the state can't protect us then we must do it ourselves." Wahid was the first ever elected president, but his moderate version of Islam was viewed by Thalib as heretical. Thalib said of his government: "It is positioned to oppress Muslim interests and protect those of the infidels."

On April 26, 2000, Thalib and his lieutenants bragged that they had a special relationship with the head of the TNI, Admiral Widodo. (Widodo was charged to carry out the investigation into the Poso conflict at the end of last year. This was challenged by Gus Dur).

Laskar Jihad, whose members wear distinctive white robes like those of karate practitioners, became involved in a mass campaign of attack against the Christians of the Moluccas, and are said to have forcibly converted 3,928 Christians on six islands. During their first year they attracted numerous new recruits, and were helped in this aim by their publication of a magazine called "Salafy".

They were particularly active on Ambon in the Moluccas, but they also had groups established in Papua. One trait of the Indonesian government under Suharto had been to enforce a policy called euphemistically "transmigration". Part of the reason for the first outbreak of sectarian violence in the Moluccas had happened as a result of Suharto's policies of "transmigration", where untold Muslim immgrants had been forced onto the Moluccan communities. Many Christians (and Muslims) had been "transmigrated" to West Papua from islands such as Flores in East Nusa Tenherra province. Laskar Jihad also went to Central Sulawesi. In August 2001, Thalib sent a large force of Laskar Jihad to Poso.

But the most intense operations of Laskar Jihad were focused on Ambon, and against the Christians who until then had lived in harmony with their Muslim neighbours.

By April 2002, things had reached the worst point in ethnic relations on Ambon. Dr Alex Manuputty, head of the FKM, one of the independence groups, lived on this island.

Manuputty and his followers threatened to hoist banned flags on Thursday, 25 April 2002, to commemorate a battle for independence which happened on that day, 52 years earlier. Such a trivial action was regarded by both the government and Laskar Jihad as a treasonous act. Before the innocuous raising of flags could be made, Manaputty was arrested on April 17, 2002, for "promoting separatism". He was later charged with treason, and on 28 January 2003, he and his deputy Semmy Waeleruny were given three-year jail sentences.

On Friday, April 26, after evening prayers, Jafar Umar Thalib addressed a gathering of 5,000 Muslims outside the Al-Fatah Mosque in Ambon, urging them to fight a holy war against the Christians. He said: "From today, we will no longer talk about reconciliation. Our... focus now must be preparing for war - ready your guns, spears and daggers."

On Sunday 28, militia of Laskar Jihad, also accompanied by what appeared to be members of the army, entered the small village of Soya on Ambon. I have seen a video of what ensued, produced by Islamists, and we even had it linked from Western Resistance. 21 people died, with small children and women hacked at with machetes and decapitated, and men beaten to death with staves, beheaded, and burned alive in their homes. The video showed men being beaten to death, and members of the Laskar Jihad and apparent military holding up severed heads. Children in hospital were shown with machete wounds to their faces and arms.

Following this atrocity, Thalib was arrested on May 4, 2002, at the town of Surabaya, the capital of East Java. He was then taken to Jakarta to remain in custody until Thursday July 25 2002on bail. Thalib had been charged with inciting the Soya massacre, and also insulting President Megawati Sukarnoputri. On 30 January, 2003, Jafar Umar Thalib was acquitted.

Early in October 2002, before his trial, Laskar Jihad was voluntarily disbanded. It is gone, but is still a presence which could be reactivated.

Thalib at one stage had been involved in the stoning to death of an alleged rapist in 2001. Magazine reports had said that he had cast the first stone. Though arrested for this act, he was never prosecuted. He fancies himself as an Islamic intellectual, but his main role is as an agitator and as a fighter. In 2002 in Jakarta, he was engaged in a public debate with Nurcholish Madjid, one of Indonesia's leading Islamic scholars. He was not able to match Madjid's intellectual strength.

In January this year, Thalib and hundreds of his former Laskar Jihad fighters were brought to the Al-Fatah mosque in Ambon. Here they were given a lecture by imam and author Luqman Ba'abduh. The imam told them over a period of two days about the Khawarij, also called the Kharjites, a Salafist group which emerged in 657 AD in the western part of North Africa. Members of this group slaughtered early associates of Mohammed, such as Umar bin Khattab, Usman bin Affan and Ali bin Abi Thalib. Their actions have been used by modern-day Salafists and others to justify acts of terrorism.

Ironically, after the events of 9/11, Jafar Umar Thalib had condemned his former mentor, Osama bin Laden, along with Al-Qaeda, as a "khawarij".

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

US: Mohammed ElBaradei Rails Against Nuclear Sanctions

This, dear readers, is the man in charge of stopping nuclear proliferation at the U.N. With a cop like him, who needs criminals? Sanctions on North Korea, Iran could backfire: ElBaradei

WASHINGTON, OCT 24: New UN sanctions imposed on North Korea and under consideration for Iran could empower hardliners in both countries, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency warned on Monday.

Do you mean to tell me Kim Jon Il and the Ayatollahs are not hardliners as it is?

Mohammed ElBaradei, executive director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he remained unconvinced Iran was developing nuclear weapons and "absolutely" believed a nuclear deal with Pyongyang was still possible. "Once you start applying penalties, it brings hardliners in the driver's seat," he told an audience at Georgetown University, where he received an award.

He questioned whether sanctions in general could work, but said if they were applied they must be done in a "measured way to induce a change of behavior" and coupled simultaneously with efforts to engage the two states in dialogue. "In all these issues, dialogue is indispensable," he said.[...]

I agree that sanctions will not work; warfare against Iran and a nuclear Japan to bring pressure on China is the way to go.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 3:24 PM | Comments (2)

Norway: Muslims Want National Eid Holiday

Eid ul-Fitr is the festival day for Muslims, akin in some ways to Christmas, as it marks the end of the month of Ramadan, and the rituals of fasting during daylight hours come to an end. Presents are exchanged, cards sent, families get together and generally pig out on large quantities of food.

Now, according to Aftenposten Muslims in Norway are lobbying to have Eid celebrated as a national holiday. Yousef Gilani, a local politician from Drammen, told newspaper VG that: "The best would be to get Eid-al-Fitr on the calendar as a public free day for everyone."

As the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, which only coincides with the solar calendar once every cycle of its 19 years, the annual date of Eid varies. Last night many of Norway's Muslims, who for the most part come originally from Pakistan, indulged in their feasting and celebrations, but had to return to work this morning.

Gilani suggests that Muslims should be allowed time off from work at Eid ("id" as it is called in Norway), if the holiday cannot be instituted on a national level. Currently many individual organizations do allow their employees time off at Eid.

The state onbudsman for issues of discrimination and equality already allows this among state employees. Ombudswoman Beate Gangås says: "All groups will benefit when Muslims are free on their important holidays. It's a win-win situation. Some religious groups can work during the Christmas holidays, for example, and get another day off in return."

Gangås thinks all workers should be accorded the right to take an Eid holiday. Currently, 9 of Norway's 12 state holidays are based on the Christian calendar.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:29 AM | Comments (4)

October 23, 2006

UK: Scots Schoolboy "Was Still Alive" When Muslims Set Him Alight

We wrote of the horrendous ordeal suffered by Kriss Donald (pictured), a 15-year old schoolboy. He was killed by Muslims, stated a witness in his trial, because he was white. If he had been black or oriental, he would not have been selected for murder, the witness claimed. There have been new and disturbing revelations from the trial. Firstly, it is best to recap on what was reported earlier.

The Start Of The Trial

The trial of three Muslims began on Monday, October 2 in Edinburgh High Court. The three men, Imran Shahid, 29, Mohammed Mushtaq, 27, and Zeeshan Shahid, 29 are charged with "racially aggravated murder". Already, another man was convicted of assault in relation to the same charges. In 2004, Zahid Mohammed was jailed for 5 years. He had been released from jail on license on Wednesday October 4 and has given evidence in this trial.

The accused are said to have been involved in the horrific killing of a 15-year old schoolboy in 2004. Kriss Donald (pictured, above left) was abducted on 16 March, and then stabbed in the lungs, liver and kidney. He was then covered in gasoline and set on fire.

The accused, Imran "Baldy" Shahid, Mohammed "Beck" Mushtaq and Zeeshan "Crazy" Shahid had fled to Pakistan after Kriss' murder, and were arrested there in July last year. They were extradited to Britain on exceptional grounds (Britain and Pakistan have no extradition agreement) in October 2005.

The news was carried by BBC Regional News, the Times, the Glasgow Daily Record, and the Scotsman.

On October 6, according to IC Lanarkshire, another man who has already been convicted of the murder of Kriss Donald said in court that he could not give evidence. The reason given by 22-year old Daanish Zahid, a former shopkeeper, was that his life would be placed in danger if he gave details. When he had been on trial in November 2004, Daanish Zahid had named the three individuals now on trial as those responsible for Kriss' death.

On Monday, October 2 the first day of this trial, Kriss' mother Angela became too upset to remain in the court. Kriss' sister Samantha was also in court.

The scenes of crimes examiner, 44-year old Terrance Morgan, spoke of photographing the corpse of the schoolboy in Glasgow's mortuary. When he was asked who the dead body was, he said: "I was told it was Kriss Donald."

Hearing this, Angela Donald and two companions left the public benches at the High Court.

The jury were shown on the first day photographs and video of the charred mud-stained and mostly naked body of Kriss, in the state in which he had been discovered. Another scenes of crimes examiner, 58-year old William Galloway said that he was called to Clyde Walkway in the east end of Glasgow. There he photographed what resembled a "partially burned log". This was Kriss Donald.

Kriss had a few fragments of clothing around his waist but was otherwise naked when he was found near Celtic Football Club's training ground at Barrowfield. the body had one trainer shoe. Mr Galloway said that he had photographed what seemed to be blood stains on gravel nearby.

Galloway's photographs were not shown to the jury. They were shown the mortuary photographs, and photographs of a Mercedes car, which had been found in a burned out state in Hillhead in Glasgow's west end. Kirsty Denholm, the scenes of crime examiner who took these pictures, said there seemed to be spots of blood on the car. A trainer shoe had been found on the back seat.

On the first day, the court was told by the prosecution that the three accused, as well as Daanish Zahid and Zahid Mohammed, had abducted Kriss Donald on 15 March 2004 from Kenmure Street, in Pollockshields, punched him and kicked him, and placed him in a car. The victim was driven to Strathclyde Park in Motherwell in Dundee, and then taken to Clyde Walkway in Glasgow. It was here that he was stabbed, cut and set on fire.

Mohammed Mushtaq, Imran Shahid and Zeeshan Shahid deny all charges. Imran Shahid, aka "Baldy" is mounting a separate defense, in which he accuses other individuals - Daanish Zahid, Zahid Mohammed and "others", for carrying out the murder.

On October 5, Zahid Mohammed gave evidence to the court. He described how the events had started after Imran "Baldy" Shahid had been attacked with a glass bottle in a club, before Kriss' abduction. "Baldy" claimed that the attacker had been one of the "McCulloch Street boys", a white gang from Pollockshields.

When Zahid Mohammed has visited the house of Mohammed Mushtaq on Monday, 15 March, 2004, the two Shahids, who were brothers, were also there. Imran "Baldy" Shahid had said that he was going to exact his revenge for the incident, saying he would "chop them up, take their eyes out, things like that."

Zahid Mohammed (pictured right) said that it had been planned to take revenge by going in a car to find "them - anybody". Mushtaq took a hammer and a screwdriver and these were placed in a blue plastic bag. Zahir Mohammed gave Imran Shahid a knife and helped Shahid to dye his hair black (Imran Shahid had previously bleached his hair blond).

They got into a silver Mercedes and drove to McCulloch Street and saw Kriss Donald and his friend Jamie Wallace going into Kenmure Street. Imran shahid, whom Mojammed described as physically "massive" then got out of the car and began to fight with the two boys. He concentrated his attack upon Kriss who was "quite small" and who gave "very little" resistance.

Mohammed said that he had never seen Kriss before, and confirmed that if he had been Chinese, black or "Asian" he would have been left alone. He said that Kriss and his friend had been chosen because they were white.

When asked by advocate-depute Mark Stewart QC if Kriss had said anything, Mohammed said: "Yes - he said "I'm only 15. What did I do?" or something like that."

Kriss was dragged into the rear of the car where he was pushed onto the floor of the vehicle. Mohammed and Imran Shahid had punched him in the back, and Shahid had said: "I'm Baldy. Nobody fucks with me." Imran Shahid had pressed a knife into Kriss' back, and asked if the schoolboy could feel it. They went looking to find an apartment or a park to complete the attack. Mohammed said he was dropped off at Strathclyde Park as he needed to be at home. Because he had been convicted of motoring offenses and possessing a knife, Mohammed had an electronic tagging order.

The following day, Mohammed had gone to Mushtaq's apartment and spoke to Imran Shahid's brother Zeeshan, aka "Crazy". Mohammed said he had asked "Crazy" what had happened. He claimed that "Crazy" had said: "He took it quietly".

Imran Shahid's defense lawyer, David Burns, suggested that Zahid Mohammed had done a deal with the prosecution to only get a five-year jail sentence if he agreed to testify against others. Burns asked: "You knew you would get life imprisonment if convicted of murder, and much less if you pleaded to something less?" Mohammed agreed.

Mushtaq'a defense, Donald Findlay called Mohammed "a liar, pure and simple" and "cunning and conniving", which Mohammed denied. Findlay said: "Co-incidentally, you were released from prison the day before you give evidence and got a lift here [from England, where he had been in jail] from the police."

Mohammed said under questioning that he had been offered a police agreement and a new identity when the trial is completed.

The court heard on the day before that a 55-year old businessman, Kevin Low, had testified that his Mercedes car had been stolen from Airdrie in Lanarkshire in February, a month before Kriss was killed. This vehicle was the one used to abduct the schoolboy.

As well as being accused of "racially aggravated murder", Imran Shahid is further accused of trying to pervert the course of justice. This happened on October 5, 2005. He is accused of jumping on a blood sample in an effort to destroy it. He denies this.

All three individuals are further accused of acting in a "racially aggravated manner" in Glasgow Sheriff's Court on October 6, 2005. Zeeshan Shahid, Imran's brother, is accused of spitting in a woman's face, spitting at a man, and head-butting another man in the court.

Fury Of The Accused

On October 8, Kriss' companion who had been with him on March 15, 2004, the night of his abduction, testified. 22-year old Jamie Wallace said that they had been attacked by Asian men who shouted "white bastards". He said a Meercedes car was parked in Kenmure Road. "Two doors opened and they were trying to drag him into the car," Wallace said. "I was trying to fight back, and trying to watch myself. I was trying to distract them."

He saw Kriss trying to resist being pulled into the car using his hands and fists, but the schoolboy's jacket was pulled over his head and he was dragged inside the vehicle. Wallace said: "The two doors shut and they were sitting on him and punching him on the back. One of the attackers shouted at me - 'Do you know what pain is - you're next'. Kriss was shouting that he was only 15."

On October 9, a cyclist, 37-year old Gary Neil, told the court how he had discovered Kriss' body lying near the Clyde walkway. Neil, a car salesman, said that he had found a bloody, burned and dirt-covered body. He could see that it appeared to have stab wounds, and was wearing only one shoe, a sock and the remains of tracksuit bottoms. He said: "It was a young person I saw. He was quite dirty. He had some marks on his back. I couldn't really see his face because of his position."

On Wednesday October 11, a witness told the court that he saw one of the three accused burning clothes and boots. 34-year old Hafeez Anwar said that Zeeshan Shahid had placed a black bin bag on the ground, and split it open. Within were items of clothing and fawn boots. Shahid had doused these with petrol and set fire to them.

Norman Ritchie QC, Zeeshan "Crazy" Shahid's defense lawyer accused Anwar of getting revenge by testifying, as Shahid had got his sister pregnant. Ritchie said to the witness: "The truth is, you decided to tell stories about Zeeshan Shahid to get even with him for a number of reasons, isn't that right? Because of your sister's pregnancy?

Anwar, an admitted drug dealer, denied knowledge of this and maintained that he was telling the truth. He had been arrested in May 2004 with cannabis and £1,100 in cash. He denied claims that he only agreed to testify to help his own situation.

The following day, October 12 36-year old Kirsty Dorman, a neighbour of Angela Donald, Kriss' mother, told the court that she had seen a struggle in Kenmure Street. She heard a boy shouting that he was only 15, before being driven away in a speeding car. She had heard Jamie Wallace shouting "Krypto! Krypto!" She learned from a youth in the street that this was a nickname of Kriss. She went to Angela Donald's house and asked her what her son's nickname was. When Angela said "Krypto", Ms Dorman said: "I am sorry. I've just seen your son getting kidnapped."

Angela Donald was saying: "What do we do, what do we do?" They called the police. Upon questioning, Kirsty Dorman said that she had noticed the car initially as it had been raining, and the car had splashed through a puddle as it had passed. She said: "The Asian chap punched the boy. His arms gave way and he went in." She said the Asian man was muscular, with hair which was white on top, and he was wearing a white track suit.

Ms Dorman's son, who had been with his mother, gave evidence over a video link. Jordan Dorman, who is now 12, said: "He grabbed him and tried to push him into the car and he used his legs and hands to stop it and he punched him into the car."

On Friday October 13, 28-year old Scott Percy told the court that on the day of the abduction, Mohammed Faisal Mushtaq, also called "Beck", one of the accused, had rung him via his cellular phone, requesting if he knew of a house where he could take someone.

Police told the court that tyre marks found near the body of Kriss Donald belonged to a Mercedes Kompressor which had been stolen from the Motherwell area on 18 February, 2004.

Malcolm Dippie, from Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service said that the car had been intentionally set alight, as the flames had begun in two locations in the vehicle. The car was found alight, and had been extinguished in Granby Lane, and had a smell of petrol which had not come from a ruptured fuel tank.

On October 16 a 23-year old witness, Andrew Ingram testified that he had received a phone call from Mohammed Faisal Mushtaq, aka "Beck". Ingram said: "He asked me if he could come to my house. He just said he had somebody with him, can he bring him to my house to sort it out."

Ingram said that he had told "Beck" that he could not come to his house. Ingram, who gave his address to the court as London Road police station in Glasgow, stated: "I said to him to take him down the Clyde path."

When questioned, Ingram claimed he did not know who was with "Beck" and he was unaware of the problem that he had wanted to "sort out". Ingram said: "I just presumed that, asking for a house, they wanted somewhere quiet - and the Clyde path is quiet."

Donald Findlay, QC, defending Mushtaq, questioned Ingram, who admitted that he had only told police that he had received the call when he was in Barlinnie jail while awaiting trial on serious road traffic charges. Findlay claimed that Ingram had changed his number shortly before the alleged call, and "Beck" was unaware of the new number. The court was shown phone records which confirmed Ingram had received a call on his phone at 3.52 pm on March 15, the day Kriss was kidnapped.

According to the Scotsman, Ingram had claimed that he had given evidence to salve his conscience and for the sake of the Donald family. findlay said to him: "To say your aim was to help the family is as despicable as it is dishonest." Ingram denied the accusation. He said he knew all three accused, and admitted that he had failed to mention the phone call when first asked about the case by the police.

On October 17, Mohammed Faisal Mushtaq's cousin, 22-year old Nazia Ali, told the court that a fortnight after Kriss had been murdered, Mushtaq had called her on the phone. She said: "He just said he was in Pakistan because the police have got it in for him."

Glasgow Evening Times relates that Ms Ali had sworn her oath on the Koran before testifying. said Mushtaq had said he was "In Faisalabad staying in a village".

On Wednesday October 18 a man whom one of the three accused, Imran "Baldy" Shahid, claims had been one of the killers, testified. Imran Shahid has maintained a special defense that he did not take part in the killings, and has named 25-year old Mohammed Maqsood as one of those who murdered Kriss Donald. Maqsood told the court that he had been at a funeral at the time that the abduction had taken place. He denied being involved in the murder.

On Thursday, October 19, a security guard, Sandra Callaghan, gave evidence, states ic Renfrewshire, the Scotsman, the Daily Record and the Glasgow Evening Times.

Ms Callaghan told the court that on October 6 last year, Zeeshan Shahid and two other men were being held in separate cells at Glasgow Sheriff Court. On the previous day, the three men now accused had been brought back to the United Kingdom from Pakistan on an extraordinary extradition, and had been charged with Kriss' murder.

The court was told that on the night of October 5, Imran "Baldy" Shahid had tried to destroy a blood sample.53-year old Dr Philip McNaught, a police casualty surgeon, told the court that he had examined Imran "Baldy" Shahid upon his arrival from Pakistan. McNaught said that he had taken a blood sample for DNA examination. The surgeon then said that Shahid's mood changed. McNaught said: "He became extremely violent, grabbed the sample and tried to break the sample by stamping on it, on the floor, with his foot.' The packaging of the sample was damaged, but the contents remained intact.

Callaghan, the guard, said that on October 6 last year, as inmates from Polmont Young Offenders' institution were being led past the cells, Zeeshan began a tirade of abuse. She said: "He appeared to have lost it. He was screaming at the boys 'what fucking age are you wee bastards. 15? We will murder you an' all you wee bastards.' He was trying to spit at the boys but he spat in my face."

She went to wash her face, and when she came back, Zeeshan "Crazy" Shahid was being moved. She said that officers were trying to restrain Shahid, and she had assisted by lying across his legs.

On Friday, October 20, a witness was called to give evidence, but initially refused to speak and tried to walk out of the court. 21-year old David Beaton had been in the cells area of Glasgow Sheriff Court on October 6 last year, and then had agreed to testify. He had come from Polmont Young Offenders' institution when Zeeshan "Crazy" Shahid had "gone crazy".

When asked by Mark Stewart QC, the advocate-depute (a Scottish legal term for a prosecutor) what had happened in the cell area of the Glasgow Sheriff Court, Beaton said: "I never saw anything." He was warned about perjury, and tried to step down from the witness box. Lord Uist, the presiding judge, ordered Beaton back to the stand, but the young man refused. Lord Uist warned him that he could be charged with contempt of court, and allowed Beaton to leave. Later, Beaton returned and gave evidence of what he had seen in the cells.

Another of the individuals from Polmont Young Offenders' institution gave evidence on Friday, stated IC Renfrewshire. 18-year old David Bowman said that he had been in the cells when Zeeshan "Crazy" Shahid threatened to kill him. Bowman said: "I asked him why he had done it and he said he would kill me as well."

Burned Alive?

Today, according to the BBC, the Scotsman and the Glasgow Evening Times, a 43-year old forensic scientist, Ruth Ramage, told the High Court in Edinburgh that Kriss may have been alive when he was set on fire.

Ramage said that Kriss may have tried to extinguish the flames by rolling in mud on the Clyde walkway. She told the High Court that she had been called to the walkway. She said: "A smell of petrol was noted, particularly when the deceased was turned over onto his back."

"Large amounts of soil were adhering to the deceased, and the soil was on top of burned areas," she testified.

Ms Ramage also said that there stab wounds on the back and also that there were blood stains and scorch marks on some newly-felled logs, 50 yards away from where Kriss' body was discovered. There were bloodstains on the dirt track which lay between the logs and the grass slope above where Kriss was found. On this slope, she had found fragments of burned clothing.

Mark Stewart asked Ms Ramage about the significance of burned clothing debris which had found between the logs and the spot where Kriss' body had been found.

She replied: "In my opinion, the murder and the fire took place in the area of the logs. The deceased has then made his way from the logs across the grass to the position where the body was found... he was still alive when he was burning."

She explained that one reason for the mud lying on top of the burns on the body could be that Kriss had tried to put out the flames by lying on the moist ground.

"At that time, there had been a lot of rain, and there was water and mud at the side of the Clyde path. He may have tried to extinguish the flames by rolling in the mud," Ms Ramage stated.

She also spoke of how she had examined the burned out remains of the Mercedes car. The remains of a left Nike training shoe had been found in the car, and it had the same pattern on its sole as the shoe which Kriss had been wearing when his body was discovered.

For a large part of the afternoon's proceedings, legal discussions took place in camera, with the jury not present. When the jurors returned, Lord Uist told them that "the issue has not been resolved". The trial was adjourned until Tuesday (tomorrow).

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:31 PM | Comments (3)

Scotland: Muslim Charged For Terrorist Websites

We reported earlier that a 20-year old Muslim was arrested from a house in Alva, Clackmannanshire in Scotland. 60 police, some armed, had used a battering ram to enter the house, where they arrested Mohammed Atif Siddique. The incident took place on April 13 at around 7 am.

Siddique was a student of computing at Glasgow College of Nautical Studies, which lies close to Glasgow's Central Mosque. While at home, Siddique attended a mosque in nearby Alloa. Neighbours had described him as a "nice fellow".

The reasons for Siddique's arrest in April were not given, though it was revealed by the Scotsman that he had been under police surveillance for several weeks before he was taken to Govan police station in Glasgow. This is where terror suspects are processed under the terms of the UK's Terrorism Act 2000.

Siddique lived at home with his family in a four-bedroom house (pictured) in Myretoun Gates, opposite the home of the local MP, Gordon Banks. His family owned a shop in the neighborhood.

The Telegraph reported that on April 28, Mohammed Atif Siddique had been released without charge.

Since then, things appear to have changed dramatically. The Scotsman now reports that Mohammed Atif Siddique has had a court hearing today in which he was charged with terrorism offenses.

He is accused of five charges under the Terrorism Acts of 2000 and 2006. He is charged with setting up websites, where he showed how to make and use firearms and explosives. He is charged with using the websites to distribute publications which could encourage acts of terrorism.

It is also alleged that, between March 1, 2003 and April 13, 2006, he had possessed articles in circumstances which gave rise to a "reasonable suspicion they were connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism".

Two weeks after he had been arrested in April, Siddique had faced a special court which convened inside Falkirk police station. He had made no plea nor declaration.

Today, he was excused attending the pre-trial hearing in Glasgow, held at the High Court.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:42 PM | Comments (0)

Italy: Politician Under Police Protection After Muslim Veil Comments

The Italian politician Daniela Santanche (pictured) of the right-wing National Alliance recently said on Sky Italia television that the niqab or Muslim veil was "not a religious symbol and it is not required by the Koran" and that it was "not a symbol of freedom".

The news of what ensued is reported by AKI and Agence France Presse via Middle East Times. Santanche was appearing on a show on Friday evening with Ali Abu Shwaima, the imam of the mosque in Segrate, Milan. The imam reacted to Santanche's comments by calling her "ignorant, false, an instigator of hate and an infidel".

Shwaima had said: "It is not true. I will not allow the ignorant to talk about Islam. The veil is an obligation required by God. Those who do not believe that are not Muslims."

The confrontation was repeated on Sunday on national television in a popular show, Domenica In. As a result of the imam's outburst, the interior ministry decided that the threats were serious. Santanche has now been placed under police protection.

Santanche told Domenica In that Italian law does not allow "for terrorism reasons, to go around masked." Several Italian towns in the north reintroduced bans on face coverings in 2004. These laws, which had originally been introduced by Mussolini, were revived on grounds of security.

For his part, Imam Shwaima said today that: "I should be the one to be under police protection and not Santanche."

Ms Santanche is deputy of the NA in Lombardy, and has previously written a book entitled Woman Denied, which is critical of the treatment of women under Islam.

Barbara Pollastrini, the leftist equality minister in the Prodi government, defended Santanche. She said: "The deputy expressed her opinion on the veil and a verse of the Koran. We are in a democratic country. Mr. Shwaima must know that in our country, threats, intimidation, and condemnations are not acceptable."

The latest person to join the debate is the highly controversial head of the Italian Muslim Union, Adel Smith (pictured, below right). The son of an Italian father of Scottish origin and an Egyptian mother, 43-year old Smith, who converted to Islam in 1987, is an embarrassment even to diehard Salafists.

In early January, 2003 on a TV show, "Carlo Pelanda, editorialist for the right-wing newspaper Il Foglio, screamed "terrorist" at Smith and leapt from his seat, triggering an exchange of slaps, punches and kicks between the two men, though it didn't seem to do much damage."

According to AGI the confrontational Islamist turns his attention to Daniela Santanche. Smith claimed that Ms Santanche is "ignorant because she does not know something and deficient because she lacks something."

He claimed that Shwaima was right and Santanche was wrong. Smith said that there is a verse in the Koran that states Muslim women must wear the headscarf (hijab) with their face UNCOVERED. This obviously does not include the veil over the face, which was the original subject of discussion. For Santanche to mention "faces covered" she is obviously referring to the niqab, and not the hijab.

Adel Smith stated of the police protection which was offered to the NA Lombardy deputy: "We do not understand who and why read in the imam's speech a life sentence. Anybody among the Muslims could believe the imam issued a life sentence. The death sentence was presumed only by Mr. Magdi Allam (a Corriere della Sera journalist) who made a specialised course with some unreliable secret services. He must deny it if he can and he must stop to tell nonsense."

Smith said that the Italian Muslims' Union would probably sue all the newspapers which are "defaming" Imam Ali Abu Shwaima.

Adel Smith is no stranger to lawsuits. He was the nemesis of writer and journalist Oriana Fallaci, who died on September 15. It was Smith who sued Fallaci on 8 April, 2004, for the crime of "vilipendio" or defamation against Islam. Oriana Fallaci died before the trial could be completed.

Smith himself is currently being sued for "vilipendio" against religion for calling the Roman Catholic church a "criminal organisation" on Italian television. While campaigning to remove crosses from public schools in Abruzzo, which his sons attended, in 2003 he threw a crucifix out of the window of a hospital where his mother was being treated. Hospital officials claimed that Smith had said: "My mother will not die in a room where there is a crucifix".

The campaign against crucifixes in schools ignited public outrage. In October 2003, Smith succeeded in getting a court in L'Aquila (Avila) to rule that crucifixes should be removed from a state-funded kindergarten in the town of Ofena. Initially, Smith had demanded that a symbol from the Koran should be displayed next to the crucifix on the classroom walls.

After the ruling, he said: "I have no fight with the crucifix. I have simply been granted a constitutional right that religious symbols should not be on display in the classroom where my children study."

Crucifixes have hung in schools since the 1920s under an edict introduced when Catholicism was the state religion. Mario Scialoja, a World Muslim League representative and a former Italian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told Vatican Radio that the ruling was unfortunate and said that Adel Smith "represents himself and perhaps two or three other people only." Muslims argued that if the decision was upheld, all Muslims would suffer from the fallout.

Another of Adel Smith's notorious lawsuits involved his attempts to sue the previous Pope, John Paul II and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (who is now Pope Benedict XVI) in October, 2004, states Robert Spencer. In this spurious lawsuit, Smith attacked John Paul for writing in his 1994 book "Crossing the Threshold of Hope" that the "richness of God's self-revelation" as found in the Old and New Testament had been "set aside" in Islam.

Cardinal Ratzinger was accused by Smith of stating in a 2000 document that the devout of faiths other than Catholicism were in a "gravely deficient situation".

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:25 PM | Comments (4)

France: Police Preparing For Replay Of Paris Muslim Riots

Last year on Thursday, October 27, people took to the streets to protest at the deaths of two Muslim youths. Two days earlier, three youths in the northeastern Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois saw a group of police, and ran. The police, who were questioning a group of other youths who had broken into a building site, denied that they had given chase to the three Muslim youths. The three climbed an eight foot wall, to hide inside an electricity sub-station. They hid inside a turbine. As a result, all three became electrocuted. Two of the youths, 17-year old Ziad Benna and 15-year old Banou Traoré died, and the third, Metin, was hospitalized.

What followed was the worst rioting that Paris had seen since the 1960s. By the time the civil unrest had officially ended on November 21, more than 9,000 vehicles had been incinerated, along with countless garbage bins. Hundreds of police and firefighters had been injured. Some had been shot. Public buildings, including synagogues and Jewish schools had been burned by the predominantly Muslim rioters.

The riots had spread within the first fortnight to include several other towns, including Dijon, Amiens, Arras, Lille, Brest and Toulouse. Imitations of the rioting had taken place in Belgium, in Antwerp and Ghent. A church had been set on fire in Drome in the south of France, and at least two mosques had been attacked in retaliation. The worst incident occurred when a 56-year old disabled woman was set alight on a bus in Paris within the first week of the disturbances. She had petrol poured on her, and received 20% burns.

Since then, there have been threats of a resurgence of the civil unrest. On May 29, riots broke out in the suburb of Montfermeil, Paris. About 100 youths armed with sticks and baseball bats fought police and tried to attack the home of the mayor, Xavier Lemoine. In April, Lemoine had introduced anti-hoodlum measures, prohibiting gatherings of more than three youths at any one time in the town center of Montfermeil. The youths shook the gates of his home and smashed windows. The rioting continued for another night, and then died down.

On Tuesday, September 17 youths ambushed a riot police (Compagnies Republicaines de Securite, or CRS) vehicle in Corbeil-Essonnes in the southeast of Paris, as they patrolled the Les Tartarets housing project. The two people from the vehicle were beaten and one (pictured) was hospitalized.

On Sunday, October 1 seven police officers were injured in clashes with youths in Les Mureaux, in the western outskirts of Paris.

On October 5, the Telegraph reported that the head of a police union, "Action Police", stated that: "We are in a state of civil war, orchestrated by radical Islamists. This is not a question of urban violence any more, it is an intifada, with stones and Molotov cocktails. You no longer see two or three youths confronting police, you see whole tower blocks emptying into the streets to set their 'comrades' free when they are arrested."

"We need armoured vehicles and water cannon. They are the only things that can disperse crowds of hundreds of people who are trying to kill police and burn their vehicles."

On October 13 at Epinay-sur-Seine, another Parisian suburb, another police patrol was ambushed by youths wearing masks. three police were subjected to the attack. One needed 30 stitches to his facial injuries after being struck by a rock. In Aulnay-sous-Bois on October 20, two police vehicles were attacked with stones, iron bars and molotov cocktails. One police officer required stitches to a head wound.

The signs of violence are increasing. On Sunday at Grigny in Paris, a bus from the public transport group RATP was set on fire and destroyed (pictured, below left), along with three cars. 30 youths had surrounded the bus, ordered its passengers to dismount, and torched it. Fire-fighters who tried to put out the blaze were pelted with stones. Two people were arrested, including a 13 year old.

Yesterday, Associated Press stated that for the first six months of this year, there had been 2,458 incidents of violence against police nationally, compared to 4,246 in the whole of 2005.

Today, the French newspapers Le Figaro and Le Monde carry articles warning that police fear that riots on the scale of those which took place last year are ready to flare up again.

In one article from Le Figaro, voices the concerns of the French General Intelligence Agency (Renseignements Généraux or RP). These have compiled a 17 page document entitled: "Inventory of issues in the sensitive districts." The report states that the conditions which caused the riots last year are still in place and highlighted their concerns for the Île-de-France region. This is the area of greater Paris in the south, including districts such as Essonnes, which saw large amounts of arson and physical assault on officers last year.

For the past fortnight, the ministry of the interior has been on high alert, and warning that the slightest slip-up, even verbal, could ignite the powderkeg of unrest.

The RG warns that much responsibility for potential rioting lies in the hands of the media. It mentions a persistent rumour that journalists are scouring the estates in the suburbs, looking for incidents of unrest to report on, thus adding to the tensions.

They also point to the upcoming school holiday of All Saints' Day (All Hallows, on November 1), combined with the end of Ramadan, as days of potential unrest. On November 1, "many urban young people will be left to their own devices and will have greater freedom to cause unrest." RG states that the end of Ramadan, tomorrow, will invoke "a certain tension in the young people".

RG notes that the initial focus of last year's rioting soon became blurred, and observe that "there is no solidarity between districts". They state that there is no proof that the youths have an organized agenda, and claim that notions that the rioters kept each other informed via weblogs was a product of the imaginings of a few "idealists" of solidarity whose notions collide with the interests of those in the underground economy.

Le Monde questions the ways that reporting of the problems of the "Banlieues" has changed over the past year. Media treatment of incidents against police appear at first sight to be no different, states Jean-Marie Charon, a sociologist from a think-tank entitled "Discussions on Info". He states that the media is still lacking a sufficiently detailed and analytical approach to the long-term issues affecting the troubled suburbs.

Media which have dedicated teams or who report on the suburbs when there is no crisis still remain the exception, Charon states. Herve Guilbaud, French editor of Agence France Presse news agency says that the banlieues "are a world in their own right, which has its codes, its rules. We are possibly a bit more vigilant. We examine all the sparks. We try to take a low profile, so as not to be instrumental (in events), particularly in this pre-election period." AFP has "a network of reporters comprising 8 journalists stationed in the suburbs, with an additional reserve of advisors and freelance journalists. This set-up has not changed. But even with this set-up we are not necessarily ultra-powerful."

Le Monde also discusses the findings of the RG., as does Nouvel Observateur, both drawing on the information leaked in Le Figaro. The RG suggested to the prefectures of potential risk areas that there should be youth facilities available at night in the suburbs, so that young people have somewhere to go other than the streets. RG also recommended that garbage can collections should take place during the days when expected unrest may develop. These were frequently set on fire last year.

Additionally, the RG recommends that all unused cars should be removed from trouble spots. In the event of trouble, residents' associations must be used to relay calls for calm.

It also notes that the incidence of youth crime has increased this year, with 50,000 incidents carried out by young people in the first six months of 2006. In the region of Seine-Saint-Denis, which saw the first outbreaks of rioting last year, there have been marked increases of attacks against persons and property, and note that increasingly young delinquents are seeking to directly challenge the representatives of authority.

In another article, Nouvel Observateur discusses an incident which took place at Aulnay-sous-Bois in the Seine-Saint-Denis district.

Police heard reports of an explosion in the area on Saturday night around 11.30 pm, and when they arrived, flaming projectiles were thrown at them by about 15 youths. A 17 youth was questioned. As police went to question another youth, a second explosive device placed in a container caused flames to shoot 30 feet into the air, stated witnesses. Police reinforcements were called, and with the intervention of 50 CRS and police, calm was restored. No police were injured in what one officer described as an ambush. Aulnay-sous-Bois has about 20,000 people under the age of 25 living there. The suburb is generally regarded as peaceful.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:27 AM | Comments (1)

Russia: Nation Will Not Become Islamic For Centuries

At the end of last year, author and Islamic historian Roman Silanteyev caused controversy when he published a book entitled: "A Recent History of the Russian Islamic Community", in which he claimed that there were between 500,000 and 1,000,000 Islamic militants residing in Russia.

Silantayev is executive director of the Inter-Religious Council, a body which represents leaders of different faiths who are committed to dialogue. Now, according to Interfax-Religion, he has said that Russia will not become Islamic for the next 3 or 4 centuries.

He was speaking in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, published on Friday. He refuted claims that Orthodox Russians were converting to Islam in droves. Citing Muslim estimates that there were little more than 3,000 converts to Islam throughout Russia, he said: "Most of the new converts are women who changed their faith when they married Muslims. While those among them who have embraced Islam for ideological reasons are no more than 800 people in Russia today."

Silanteyev states that 2 million ethnic Muslims have converted to Christianity over the past 20 years. He claims that many people listed in statistics as "Muslim" are only nominal, and do not profess their faith: "Today the proportion of Muslims in Russia must be at least 9%. However, sociological polls have shown a much smaller number, namely, from 4% to 6%, that is, from 6 to 9 million Russians, for the last decade. This paradox can be accounted for only by the fact that a considerable part of ethnic Muslims do not profess Islam."

He made reference to statistics which assert that the ethnically Muslim population of Russia, which increased from 12 million in 1989 to 14.5 million in 2002 is now at around 15 million.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:59 AM | Comments (0)

UK: Was Mosque Attack Caused By Politicians?

On Friday night (October 20), as Muslims in the Eccles Mosque on Liverpool Road, Salford in Greater Manchester, were engaging in the last Juma prayers before the end of Ramadan, four individuals entered the building. The strangers then set about attacking individuals inside. The news is carried by the Telegraph, the Manchester Evening News, BBC, Ananova and the Press Association via 24 Dash.com.

Police were called to the mosque around 9.30 pm, Three members of the congregation had suffered minor injuries, and one was taken to Hope Hospital and was discharged shortly afterwards.

A 37-year old man from Eccles, and a 19 year old man from Davyhulme in Trafford were arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated assault, under sections 37 and section 49.

Geoff Wessell, a chief inspector at Salford Criminal Investigation Department, said: "Greater Manchester Police take crimes of this nature extremely seriously and a thorough investigation is currently under way. I would appeal to members of the local community in and around Eccles to remain calm, behave responsibly and let police deal with the incident and those responsible for it."

Members of the mosque were shocked when the attack began. A witness said: "One man's head was cut open and quite a few other people were injured. It was frightening. They were shouting racist abuse and fighting anyone they could find."

A mosque spokesman said that the trouble began after a drunken youth with muddy footwear entered the mosque and began "causing trouble". Members of the congregation then talked to him and escorted him to the door. The spokesman continued: "We thought that was the end of the matter. However, when the worshippers were leaving, the same person, along with two older men, approached the door of the mosque and started attacking the worshippers, including the imam."

"The police are treating this incident as racially motivated. They were very efficient and quick to respond," the spokesman claimed.

About two weeks ago, cars outside the mosque were attacked.

The politicians who have recently been criticizing the use of the face-veil (niqab) by Muslim women have been blamed by some in the Muslim community.

Mohammed Shafiq of the Manchester youth group the Ramadhan Foundation, said: "This is another example of Muslims being attacked and persecuted - and the responsiblity lies with the politicians who have been on a feeding frenzy attacking Muslims and giving ammunition to thugs' hatred towards us."

"The responsibility for this lies with the likes of Jack Straw, Phil Woolas and others who believe it's open season on Muslims. We used to see attacks on the street but now we're seeing them in the mosques - people even go into a holy place and attack us. People are extremely fearful now, especially the elderly people. People think they might be attacked on the way to the mosque or even inside while they're praying."

"The police are dealing with the situation and that should be enough for us. So far it does not look like an organised campaign. The police have told me that no pattern of attacks has emerged and I have told people that," Shafiq said.

Phil Woolas, who had condemned Aishah Azmi, the schoolteacher at a Church of England School who insisted on wearing a veil during classes, denied that politicians were to blame. He said: "Any such attacks are appalling. But I don't accept politicians' comments are to blame for this. That would imply there haven't been attacks before which, of course, there have been."

Yesterday, the head of the Commission for Racial Equality, Trevor Phillips, warned that the debate about the veil would lead to race riots.

Phillips' comments are reported in the Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail and BBC. He was quoted in the Sunday Times as saying that : "All the recent evidence shows that we are, as a society, becoming more socially polarised by race and faith....In many of our cities things cannot get any worse."

He had written an article:

"So I welcome the debate. The problem with it so far is that it has been conducted in the wrong place between the wrong people and about the wrong things. I had no concerns about Jack Straw's initial careful expression of concern about the wearing of the veil in his surgery. After all, this was as much a comment about him and his generation as it was about the niqab. It may be that people like Straw have greater difficulty coping with the social gap that not seeing someone's face undoubtedly creates; for the internet generation, who can conduct entire relationships through a computer screen, this may not be quite the same kind of barrier. Either way, it was entirely reasonable for him to express his discomfort."

Straw's comments could have liberated us to say that sometimes we don't like the way others behave, without turning it into an accusation about their faith or race. The so-called Muslim leaders who initially attacked Straw were wrong. They were overly defensive and need to accept that in a diverse society we should be free to make polite requests of this kind.

Then something went wrong. This important but fragile piece of ground that needed a gentle, nuanced discussion about how we talk to each other with respect in a diverse society turned into what the political folk call an air war, fought on TV studio couches and radio phone-ins across the land."

Phillips said that the debate had grown quite ugly, and warned of the possibility of race riots on Britain's streets. He later appeared on BBC TV, on its "AM" show, and again claimed that the debate about the veil had started courteously but had deteriorated. He said: "We need to have this conversation but there are rules by which we have the conversation which don't involve this kind of targeting and frankly bullying."

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis agreed with the thrust of Phillips' premise. He said: "Trevor Phillips is right. It is absolutely necessary that we have this debate but it is also absolutely necessary that it takes place in a civilised manner."

Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, claimed: "We are very disappointed but, given his poor track record on this issue, not entirely surprised that Trevor Phillips, as the chair of the Commission for Racial Equality, made no reference whatsoever to the attacks against Muslims and their institutions across the country that have accompanied this so-called debate. We have seen veils being forcefully pulled off Muslim women, a number of mosques subjected to arson attacks, and Muslim individuals, including an Imam in Glasgow, badly beaten up by thugs. This cannot be described as being merely a 'debate'."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:36 AM | Comments (4)

October 22, 2006

Thailand: Islamists Bomb Buddhist Monks

News from the Nation, Agence France Presse and the Bangkok Post reports that in Narathiwat province in the troubled south, a five kilogram bomb was detonated this morning.

The bomb was hidden in a garbage can in front of an electronics shop in downtown Muang. It was triggered at 6.30 am local time by mobile phone as five Buddhist monks were gathering alms, accompanied by thirteen soldiers who were acting as an escort. The bomb was triggered as they passed the shop, and all five monks and the soldiers were injured in the blast.

The monks came from Wat Promniwat. Three were seriously injured. Three civilians were also injured. After the wounded were transported to hospital, one of the soldiers died from his injuries. 22-year old Private Pramote Wannasuk, from a Chon-Buri-based taskforce, became the 28th person to have died in the violence since last Sunday. This week is said to have been the bloodiest week in recent memory.

The current insurgency began on January 4, 2004, and has claimed 1,700 lives. The governor of Narathiwat province, Pracha Therat said Allah punished people who committed violent act. Pracha is a Buddhist. He said that the bomb could have been placed in the garbage can during a power blackout. This had gone on for several hours, as a result of heavy rains which have been pounding the southern provinces.

Yesterday, premier Surayud Chulanot was in Indonesia, and said that he would use the example of Aceh as an example for containing the violence in the south of Thailand, which affects the provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala, as well as two districts of Songkhla.

The Thai academic Ahmed Somboon Bualeng poured scorn on the suggestion. He said that yje government of Indonesia knew who the rebels were - representatives of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). In Thailand, although groups of rebels are engaged in preliminary peace talks, it is unknown who is still perpetrating the violence.

There are other reasons to suggest any parallels with Aceh and Thailand's predominantly Muslim south are preposterous. Most importantly, Aceh's road to peace involved an agreement to introduce Sharia law. With 20% of Thailand's southern residents being Buddhists, such a measure will only increase inter-faith distrust and conflict, as it has done in the north of Nigeria between Muslims and Christians.

On July 31 this year, almost a year after peace was signed between GAM and Indonesia, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group reported on the problems that sharia has caused. As AKI described it, sharia "is creating a conflict between the civilian and religious authorities and is also penalising women and the poor."

In Aceh, the wilayatul hisbah enforces "vice and virtue" law. Effectively they are vigilantes. In April it was announced that in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam district of Aceh, non-Muslims would also have to be subjected to Islamic law.

There are already worrying signs that the leader of the coup which took place on September 19 is seeking more involvement from Muslim countries in solving the problems in the south. This individual, General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, is a Muslim. Boonyaratkalin appointed the current Thai prime minister who is now eulogizing the Aceh process. Should Islamic law be introduced to Thailand, the Buddhists in the south would become alienated and denied the normal rights of citizenship.

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

UK: Government Starts Website Against Islamism

The Sunday Telegraph reports today that the UK home secretary, John Reid, has said that the British government risks losing the "battle of ideas" to al-Qaeda.

He made the statement at an emergency meeting with ministers and security officials. He said that there was an urgent need to escalate the propaganda war, claiming that al-Qaeda's "single extremist narrative" was showing itself to be more attractive to young Muslims.

He claimed that there were thirty Islamist plots currently underway in Britain. In August that there were 24 major plots in progress. In addition, he said there were an estimated 1,500 terror plotters. This is an increase of the figure of 1,200 announced in July. These came from a larger pool of 400,000 extremist sympathisers and were being kept under surveillance by MI5. Peter Clarke, Deputy Assistant Commissioner at Scotland Yard, had claimed that there were seventy plots "at home and abroad" which were being examined by police.

One so-called "weapon" in the government's propaganda war is a website, entitled the "Radical Middle Way". The website can be found HERE. The site also uses podcasts available through the iTunes website, but the notion of a government-funded website advertising Islam is bound to be controversial. The bland messages of "moderation" and "piety" are bound to be a turn-off to Muslim youth, who can watch infidels having their heads sawn off or coalition vehicles blown to pieces on jihadist sites. The site, both in its design and content, is turgid.

In addition to the bland messages on the website, 100,000 CDs carrying similar vapid fare have been given out free to Muslims at universities. These are hoped to counteract the jihadist CDs which are already circulating.

A minister said after the meeting that the "approach is to bolster the moderate voices and isolate and attack the extremists."

In a commentary in the same paper, Patience Wheatcroft derides the propaganda attempts. She quotes from a message from Reid to security officials, which states "These podcasts made it to number 23 of the iTunes Religion and Spirituality section....The Radical Middle Way podcasts currently enjoy a five-star rating among the iTune listeners who have commented on them....this placing is a real success."

Wheatcroft states: "Really? If this high-ranking official is right to believe that all it takes to change views is a download of a podcast, then at this very moment there will be some frightening mind-bending going on, as all manner of weird ideas are offered for consumption on the internet."

If this is the best Britain can offer in the fight against radical Islam, which combines visceral appeals to violence with a message that giving into bloodlust is a divine ordinance, al-Qaeda will win the battle for "hearts and minds". All the religious sanctioning and direct invocations for violence are already within the Koran. Substitute "unbeliever" for "any member of Western civilization" and the formula for armed jihadist operations is already contained inside the "Holy Book".

A bunch of moderate Mullahs preaching is not inspiring. There is no violence, no sex (obviously), and no jokes. There is nothing to grab anyone's attention. The podcasts, website and CD are all funded by the Home Office and the Foreign Office.

It is money wasted. There is nothing "radical" about a "Middle Way", and the term "middle way" is Buddhist, anathema to Muslim purists. In the hands of New Labour politicians, this attempt to water down the violence at the heart of the Koran is no antidote to extremist Islam, which claims to be the panacea for all social ills, and providing plenty of violence and gore along the way.

Maybe if the website had video downloads of atrocities against civilians and children, carried out by jihadists, with a wise Mullah stating how wrong this is, then an effective antidote might be possible.

The terrorists of 7/7, and the would-be terrorists of Al Ghurabaa and the Saviour/Saved Sect fired themselves up with videos of atrocities - videos of civilians killed in warfare by Western or infidel military. Only a similar hardcore set of images would have a counterbalancing effect.

The Radical Middle Way is "Islam designed by committee". It is Islam promoted by people who do not accept the unpalatable truths of Islam - that it is an ideology founded through warfare, and its founder was, according to the Hadiths of Sahih Bukhari (Vol VII, Book 62, Number 65), a pedophile.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 4:09 PM | Comments (0)

France: Muslim Airport Workers Suspended Over Security Concerns

Notice the dueling false explanations; the Muslim workers insist they were targeted exclusively because of their religion, while the French authorities insist the risk they pose has nothing to do with their religion. The truth, of course, is that they pose a security risk because they have behaved similarly to men who have in the past murder people in the name of their religion, Islam: Muslim staff in Paris airport row

Four Muslim baggage handlers are appealing against a decision to bar them from working at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.

They say that the local government's decision to revoke their security passes is evidence of anti-Muslim discrimination.

A local government spokesman says the decision was based on an assessment of the terrorist risk.

He denied the move was linked to the men's religion.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 1:25 PM | Comments (0)

Sweden: Muslims Want Black Muslim Minister Deposed

The new government of the center-right in Sweden, led by Friedrik Reinfeldt, came to power on September 17 with a promise to make positive change in Sweden. Reinfeldt, at 41 years old, is the second youngest prime minister in Sweden's history. He headed the "Alliance for Sweden" at the elections, a coalition of his party, the Moderates, with the Christian Democrats, Liberals and Center Party. He placed an openly gay man (Andreas Carlgren of the Center party) as the environment minister, and a man with a pony tail (Anders Borg) as the finance minister. But his controversial placing of an African-born Muslim woman as the integration minister has brought resentment from Muslim groups.

12% of Sweden's population is immigrant, and half of these are Muslim. And already, many Muslims are trying to mount a petition to remove the integration minister, states the Sunday Times.

The minister (pictured) is 37-year old Nyamko Sabuni. She came to Sweden from Burundi when she was 12 years old. During her childhood in Africa her father was frequently jailed for his dissident activities, and in 1980 he sought asylum in Sweden. In 1981, Nyamko and her five siblings followed him with their mother.

Before becoming the integration minister, Nyamko Sabuni was well-known for her controversial views which gave little room for long-held Muslim traditions. In July, as an MP with the Liberal party, she urged that all schoolgirls should be checked to ensure they had not undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), euphemistically called "female circumcision". Though outlawed on Swedish soil since 1982, and subjected to a 1999 amendment which made it illegal to take a girl abroad for this practice, FGM is believed to be more common than is officially recognized. In June this year, a 41-year old man was given a four-month jail sentence for taking his daughter to Somalia in 2002, where she was mutilated. He was the first person to be convicted under the law.

Sabuni's suggestion for gynecological inspections, to be made as part of schools' routine medical checks, was based upon practicalities - the girls subjected to such an operation are usually too scared of their parents to report them to the authorities. Sabuni is well-aware of the climate of fear that attends what she calls "honor culture". She quoted from a study by Stockholm University which claims that 100,000 girls and young women are living under "honor oppression" in Sweden.

She said in July to Expressen newspaper that: "Such examinations not only function as checks, but also give an opportunity to discuss sexuality, women's private parts and typical female diseases."

She also said that state funding for religious schools should be withdrawn, as such institutions can not guarantee to respect children's rights to equality. And on the issue of the Muslim headscarf, or hijab, she announced that girls under 15 should not wear the items.

She claimed: "The Prophet himself is supposed to have said that girls should first hide themselves when they start puberty. Today girls are already wearing headscarves in nursery school. We need to tear down the foundations that honour culture lies on in Sweden."

She also suggested that child marriage and forced marriages should be made illegal, and said that limits should be introduced on dowries.

These notions did not endear her to the Muslim community. When she was made a minister, Kurdo Baksi, a Muslim writer and commentator said: "I am very disappointed that a person whom I consider to be an Islamaphobe has been appointed integration minister. It is a very poor start to a centre-right government's integration policy."

As a minister, she has shown that she does not allow family ties to interfere with her work. Last week, she stopped state funding for the Center Against Racism (CMR) which had annually received 5.5 million kronor ($752,168) since it was set up in 2003. The center is run by her uncle, Mkyabela Sabuni. In April last year, the CMR had claimed there was hidden racism behind a popular brand of ice cream.

The organization had, Nyamko claimed, failed in its mission to counteract racism and xenophobia. "The few times I have heard about their work it has been in connection with some sensation or other," she said.

Last summer, an investigation showed CMR spent more of its funding on attractive furniture for its offices than on combatting racism. And at the same time, three women employees had complained of sexual harassment, and the group's accountant, Saied Tagavi, a Social Democrat politician, had committed electoral fraud.

Nyamko Sabuni said of the CMR closure: "It didn't achieve its aims. It simply didn't do what it set out to do, so I had to pull the plug. My uncle is a good and a competent man, but a whole institute can't be run by one man. He understands that I have to do my job."

On October 21, The Local reported that Nyamko Sabuni wanted immigrants to get a second chance to learn Swedish. She said: "When you come as a refugee you're not ready to be sat in a classroom. Everyone who has finished their course must have a chance to come back."

The Swedish National Agency for Education stated this month that barely a third of students complete the highest level of the "Swedish for Immigrants" course, which is offered to immigrants when they first come to the country.

The Sunday Times reports that Nyamko Sabuni is ambitious. Three years ago, she told a TV show that she would be Sweden's first woman prime minister. She may yet get that chance. Two ministers have already been forced to resign from Friedrik Reinfeldt's cabinet over unpaid television licenses. These are the culture minister, Cecilia Stegö Chilò and the trade minister Maria Borelius. The migration minister Tobias Billström has also said he has not paid his TV license fee for 10 years, and there is pressure for him to resign.

If the government should fall, Sabuni would be willing to replace Friedrik Reinfeldt. She said of her former statement about becoming premier: "I stand by that. It's not something I think about on a daily basis but, if I'm in politics, the ultimate aim has to be to become prime minister."

On the issue of Muslims who are mounting a petition to have her removed from her government post, she is firm. She claims to be neither a "hardliner" nor an "Islamophobe". She says: "I am one of the few who dares to speak out. Sadly, some members of the Muslim community feel picked on. I regret that Muslims feel I am a threat to them. Everybody has a right to practise their religion, but I will never accept religious oppression. And I represent the whole of society, not just the Muslims."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:44 AM | Comments (2)

October 21, 2006

Somalia: Islamic Courts Ban Women from Swimming at Beach

The long night of Shari'a advances in Somalia: Islamic Court Bans Women From Mogadishu Beach

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- An Islamic court banned women from swimming at the main beach in the capital to keep women from mingling with men, an official said Friday.

The ban applies only to the northern Mogadishu Leedo beach, where families usually go on weekends.

"We stopped women from swimming because it is against the teaching of Islam for women to mingle with men, especially while they are swimming," said Sheikh Farah Ali Hussein, chair of a northern Mogadishu Islamic court.[...]

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

Thailand: More Killings In Muslim South

Following the explosion in a crowded teashop, which took place early on Friday morning in Thepha district in Songkhla province, a fourth victim died of injuries sustained in the blast, states the TNA English News and the Nation. The male victim, who had a serious neck injury, died in Hat Yai hospital at 3 am local time this morning.

The violence in the southern provinces of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani, as well as districts in Songkhla has continued unabated since January 4, 2004. At least 1,700 people have been killed. In the southern provinces, 80% of the population is comprised of Muslims who speak Yawi, a Malay dialect. The region where the insurgency is happening formerly comprised an independent Sultanate called Pattani. This was officially annexed into Thailand in 1902.

Since the teashop bombing yesterday morning, more violence and killings have taken place. The Bangkok Post reports that in Pattani province, a 44-year old labourer, Weerachai Thaninaranat, was riding his motorcycle, on his way to visit a relative in Yarang district. Two gunmen on a motorcycle shot him and he received chest wounds.

In Bannang Sata district, Yala province, three police officers were returning home from guard duty at a bank yesterday. Yala had 21 bomb attacks at bank branches on August 31, necessitating the need for police protection. The policemen were near the Bannang Sata Hospital when they were ambushed by gunmen and shot.

Yesterday evening in Pattani province, a 46-year old Muslim man was shot dead as he rode his motorcycle home.

Late last night, a 38-year old Muslim was shot dead in a drive-by incident in Narathiwat town, and a 54-year old Buddhist was injured in a shooting carried out by gunmen on a motorcycle.

This morning, a 32-year old Buddhist man who was riding a motorcycle in Narathiwat province was shot dead by suspected Islamists. A note was placed on the man's body, reading: "This is revenge after you killed our people."

Two soldiers were injured yesterday in Rangae district in Narathiwat province after being shot by militants. The soldiers were in a ten-man unit on patrol. This morning, a five kilogram bomb was found near the spot where they had been attacked. The bomb, hidden inside a fire extinguisher canister, was defused by police.

In Tambon Kalisa in Rangae district today, a gunman riding pillion on a motorcycle fired four times on a pick up truck. The driver, 29-year old Karim Bado, was hit by one round but survived.

In Yarang district in Pattani district today, states the Nation, a couple were riding on a motorcycle when they were ambushed in a drive-by shooting. 24-year old Anand Kadir was shot in the head. His female companion, 20-year old Yameeleh Chesoh was hit in the shoulder. They were found beside the road in Tambon Mohamawee. Jadir died of his wound as he was taken to hospital.

In Cho Airong district in Narathiwat province on Thursday, two soldiers stepped on a booby trap bomb and were injured. A 29-year old disc jockey, Nirusmeekee Niyoh, was killed at a somtam (papaya salad) stall in the same district, while in Bacho district, 10 hooded individuals raided three houses, stealing three shotguns and ammunition.

The Bangkok Post reports that security personnel have been urged to be on high alert in the southern provinces, as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan comes to a close. An intelligence source has said that members of the separatist group Runda Kampulan Kecil and also Permuda, the youth wing of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional, have infiltrated the Thepha district of Songkhla province, scene of yesterday's teashop bombing. It is feared that as Ramadan ends, the Islamists are intending to set off simultaneous attacks tomorrow.

The prime minister of the post-coup government, Surayud Chulanot, is currently in Indonesia, engaged in talks with president Susilo Bambang Yudhotono. Chulanot said that the martial law, imposed following the coup of September 19 can not yet be lifted, until there is greater stability in Thailand. He asked the Indonesian leader to assist the peace talks with the rebels in the south by talking to the members of the OIC (Organization of Islamic Conference), states TNA English News.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)

Pakistan: Peshawar Ramadan Blast Kills Seven

Yesterday, Friday 21, a bomb hidden in a fruit cart was detonated as shoppers thronged a market in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan, just before sundown. Many were buying provisions to cook for their iftar meal, the breaking of the sunrise to sundown fast which Muslims undergo during Ramadan. Others in the market were buying food in preparation for the end of Ramadan festival of Eid ul-Fitr which begins this coming week.

Peshawar is the capital city of North-West Frontier Province. The explosion in the crowded market sent body parts and debris flying. Six people died in the initial blast, with another victim later succumbing to injuries. About 39 people were wounded in the explosion. Several of these are in a critical condition.

The news is carried by the Pakistan Daily Times, Dawn, Times of India, Reuters, China's Peoples' Daily, Pakistan's International News, the Seattle Times and Associated Press via Canada.com and Independent Online.

The blast happened 10 minutes before iftar in a bazaar outside Peshawar's Jinnah Park. The device was triggered by a timer. Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Pakistan's interior minister, said it was too early to say who had created the atrocity. He said: "It seems like a locally made IED. It is an attempt to create chaos and harassment."

According to Malik Mohammad Saeed, a senior police official, this was the sixth explosion in Peshawar this month. He said: "The previous blasts were benign ones. Those were probably warning shots. Today's blast shows the perpetrators are in real business now."

Provincial police chief Riffat Pasha claimed that the device was similar to another blast which exploded in front of a Daewoo bus stand last week. He said sketches had been made of the suspected perpetrators of the bombing, made with the help of witnesses. Pasha claimed that those responsible would soon be arrested.

No group has claimed responsibility for yesterday's attack. The region of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) is home to Pakistan's Taliban, and also to al Qaeda refugees.

Akram Khan Durrani, chief minister in the NWFP Assembly, has ordered a full inquiry into the incident. The provincial assembly has said that it will donate 100,000 rupees ($1,650) to the relatives of each person who was killed in the blast, and 50,000 rupees ($825) to each person injured.

President Musharraf condemned the bombing, and vowed to continue the war against terrorism. He has directed Akram Khan Durrani and the governor of NWFP, Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai, to report to him the findings of the investigation.

Prime minister Shaukat Aziz said that terrorists were trying to sabotage the government's measures to implement development and progress in the province.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)

Netherlands: Decision Needed On Muslim Burka Ban

Last year, the Dutch MP Geert Wilders introduced questions to the Dutch parliament concerning the prospect of banning the burka, the all-enveloping worn by a minority of Muslim women in the West. Wilders argued that burkas were unfriendly to women and a security threat.

The Times of October 13 2005 reported that the immigration minister, Rita Verdonk, had told parliament that she was investigating the circumstances in which the wearing of this garment could be prohibited. According to Expatica of 10 October 2005, Verdonk did not believe that a complete ban would be possible.

Muslim groups condemned the moves to make the garment illegal, even though only 50 people in the Netherlands habitually wore it. Verdonk said that the garments should be prohibited in "specific situations" citing public safety as a reason. Police had warned that the burka could be used by terrorists to avoid detection.

A spokesman for the government then said: "We want to investigate when, how, in which places the burka should be banned. It is a safety measure - you don't see who is in it." In soccer stadiums, visitors are prohibited from covering their faces with scarves, as a response to hooligan activity.

In Utrecht last year, the City Council voted to reduce the benefits of women who habitually wore the burka. The move was made because two women at the unemployment benefit office in the city had claimed that they did not attend job interviews, as no-one would employ women wearing burkas. They each received 550 Euros a month in unemployment benefit.

As a result of the city's decision, the women would receive only 90% of their benefits, as they were not making efforts to become employed, a requirement of the Work and Social Security Act.

On the same day that the vote was made by Utrecht City Council, the education minister, Maria van der Hoeven, called for a ban of the burka in schools.

In December last year, the Dutch parliament voted by a majority to outlaw the wearing of the burka in public.

MP Wim van der Camp, for the Christian Democrats, said: "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 had also been supported by the VVF party and the opposition LPF party, which had been founded by Pim Fortuyn.

Though passed by the parliament, the bill did not become law, as Rita Verdonk wanted an investigation to be held, to see if the law contravened the Netherlands constitution. In principle, Dutch law can limit the freedom of religion which is guaranteed under the constitution, if this limitation is done "in order to protect public health, in the interest of traffic and to counter or prevent disorder". (art 6.2).

Already in Holland, institutions such as the Free University in Amsterdam ban the burka or the face-veil (nikab) on its grounds. The university also bans clothing which "does not show respect to fellow human beings" which included the British-made Lonsdale clothing brand. In the Netherlands, Lonsdale clothing is associated with young far-right activists.

Despite ordering an investigation into the legal and social ramifications of a ban of the burka, by March the results were still being awaited. Rita Verdonk is still waiting for the investigation's results. Yesterday, Expatica reported that on Thursday the issue of the ban on burkas was again raised in parliament.

The commission which is investigating the issue must issue its recommendations at the start of November (10 days away). The commission of seven individuals includes lawyers, an imam and an Arab specialist. Verdonk announced that when the commission gives its recommendations, the Cabinet will then make a decision on banning or retaining the burka. Expatica states:

One of the options being studied is whether a general ban on the burka is possible under current regulations. It will then also be assessed whether a ban wearing a burka can be justified based on issues of safety and public order.

The final option is whether a ban can be imposed via existing regulations such as a general local ordinance or compulsory identification laws.

The ministers had been recalled to Parliament to explain why the ban, approved last December, had not yet been imposed. It was revealed earlier that members of the Cabinet were divided over the issue.

No country in Europe has banned the Burka, but in Belgium, five Flemish towns have introduced bans on the garments. These are: Ghent, Antwerp, Sint-Truden, Lebbeke and Maaseik. The mayor of Maaseik, Jan Cleemers, said he acted after six women started wearing burqas, alarming local residents. On June 12, Khadija El Ouazzanik, a woman who had challenged the ruling in Maaseik magistrates' court lost her case. She launched the appeal after she had been fined 75 Euros ($95) in April 2005 for wearing the costume after the ban was enforced. She was told by the court that the town was legally within its rights to prevent the wearing of burkas.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:47 AM | Comments (2)

Somalia: Islamists Ban Women From Beach

News from multiple outlets, including the Guardian , Fox News and Seattle Times, all sourced from Associated Press, states that women have been banned from swimming on a Mogadishu beach, by the orders of an Islamic court.

The edict was made by Sheikh Farah Ali Hussein, chair of an Islamic court of northern Mogadishu, who said yesterday that the ban applies to the beach at Leedo, in the north of the capital. Traditionally families visit this beach at weekends for recreation.

He said: "We stopped women from swimming because it is against the teaching of Islam for women to mingle with men, especially while they are swimming."

Women are said to usually go swimming while fully clothed, while men wear trunks, sometimes with a vest.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:07 AM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2006

Somalia: Islamic Courts Government Promises to "Respect" Sufis

Traditional Islamic Law considers Sufis apostates and the penalty for apostasy in Islam is death. It is thus understandable that Somalia's Sufis have gone underground following the takeover of "the Islamic Courts", the Taliban of the Horn of Africa. Today's promises come from a desire to consolidate power. We will see whether the Islamic Courts government keeps its promises once it feels its power is secured: Somalia: Religious 'Sufieh' Or Mystics And Islamic Courts Leaders Meet for First Time in Mogadishu

Somalia's Union of Islamic Courts has had a meeting with Somalia's most respected "Sufieh" or mystics in Mogadishu's Peace Hotel, south of the city.

The conference was one of the most important meetings that took place between the powerful Islamic Courts and religious mystics in the capital Mogadishu.

The mystics had no good relations with the Islamic Courts.

Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, the Islamic Courts executive council leader, has spurred the attendants to unite and defend the country. "I think defending the country from the enemy is a general interest", Sheik Sharif said.

Ahmed said Islamic Courts had shown their readiness to unify all Somalia's religious groups to make sure the Islamic Courts victory in Somalia not to end up in failure.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 9:02 PM | Comments (0)

Spain: Catholic Church Produces Muslim Schoolbook

News from Expatica states that the government, the Catholic Church and leading Muslims will be publishing a book on Islam, to be used in schools.

The venture is reported in the newspaper El Mundo. The book, which is entitled Discovering Islam, is written by a Muslim, Riay Tatary, and is aimed at primary school children.

The book is along the lines of existing tomes which explain Catholicism. According to Juan Manuel Lopez, a Spanish justice ministry official, only 3,500 Muslim six-year olds were formally learning about Islam in Spain's state schools. Tatary claims that in the Madrid region, there were no classes on Islam in schools. This situation remains, despite thousands of requests, he states.

The director of religious affairs in the government, Mercedes Rico, claims the book "Discovering Islam" "responds to the aim of normalising the right of parents for their children to receive the religious education they want."

The first print run of 15,000 copies has been produced by SM, a Catholic publishing house.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 4:04 PM | Comments (0)

UK: The Muslim Veil Row Continues

The debate on the wearing of the face-covering Muslim veil (nikab or niqab) has raged in Britain since October 5, when Britain's former foreign secretary, Jack Straw, wrote a column in his local newspaper, the Lancashire Telegraph. Here, he described his discomfort when encountering women wearing the veil in his constituency at Blackburn. He said that he asked the women if they would remove the item, as it hindered communication. He wrote that the veil was becoming worn increasingly, and was a sign of "separation".

Since then, various politicians have commented on the veil, mostly favorably. On October 8, deputy prime minister John Prescott said on the BBC TV program "Sunday AM": "If a woman wants to wear a veil, why shouldn't she? It's her choice."

The chancellor, Gordon Brown, said on October 10 was asked whether he would "prefer it and think it better for Britain if fewer people wore veils". Brown replied by saying: "That is what Jack Straw has said and I support (it)....I would emphasise the importance of what we do to integrate people into our country, including the language and including history."

The following day, October 11, premier Tony Blair was pressed on the veil issue by the BBC as he stood outside Downing Street on a rain morning. Clutching an umbrella in one hand and a mug of tea in the other, he said: "I think in the end, it's a matter of them choosing what they want to do....But I think the reason why Jack raised this is because these are issues that people do feel quite strongly about and they are trying to say how do we make sense of a different type of society in which we live, how do we make sure people integrate more, how do we make sure that people aren't sort of wanting to separate themselves out from the mainstream of society....It's a difficult and tricky debate to enter into, as we can see over the past few days"

On the same day, Salman Rushdie, again speaking to the BBC, said that he supported Jack Straw. On the Today program on Radio 4, the 59-year old novelist (who had been subjected to a death sentence in a fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini in February, 1989) said: "He was expressing an important opinion which is that veils suck - which they do. Speaking as somebody with three sisters and a very largely female Muslim family, there is not a single woman I know in my family or in their friends who would have accepted the wearing of a veil."

"The battle against the veil has been a long and continuing battle against the limitation of women so, in that sense, I am completely on his side. I think the veil is a way of taking power away from women."

On October 13, it was revealed that a woman assistant teacher had been suspended from the Headfield Church of England Junior School in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. She had refused to remove her veil while teaching. She had been employed to assist children whose first language was not English, and children had complained that they could not understand her.

The teacher, 23-year old Aishah Azmi, a mother of two, had complained that she was being discriminated against on religious grounds. She was taking the issue of her suspension to an employment tribunal with Kirklees Council. The MP for Dewsbury, Shahid Malik, said that he supported the school's decision. He said: "In schools the top priority has got to be the education of our children. I fully support the decision of the education authority and the school in requesting the classroom assistant remove her veil when teaching primary school children."

"I believe the education authority has bent over backwards to be accommodating and has been extremely reasonable and sensible in the decision it has come to. There is no religious obligation whatsoever for Muslim women to cover themselves up in front of primary school children."

A Muslim member of the Dewsbury South local council, Imtiaz Ameen, agreed. He said: "It's not conducive to learning at that age to cover your face, when there is no requirement to do so. Her position is unreasonable."

The majority of the 529 children at the school are of Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin. Jim Dodds, a spokesman for Kirklees Council's children's services said that the suspension of Ms Azmi had "nothing to do with religion." He stated: "We are simply trying to ensure that our children get the best possible education. Both pupils and teachers raised concerns because they were finding it difficult to make out what she was saying during lessons. We have a lot of pupils who do not speak English as a first language and you have to be able to see people's lips move when you are being taught. We asked this young lady to remove her veil when she was teaching English language, but she refused."

The issue intensified when on October 15 it was reported that Phil Woolas, the government's race and faith minister, had said that Aishah Azmi should be sacked. In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, Woolas said: "She cannot teach a classroom of children wearing a veil. You cannot have a teacher who wears a veil simply because there are men in the room. She is denying the right of children to a full education by insisting that she wears the veil. If she is saying that she won't work with men, she is taking away the right of men to work in schools.'

"By insisting that she will wear the veil if men are there, she's saying: 'I'll work with women, but not men'. That's sexual discrimination. No head-teacher could agree to that. There are limits in a liberal democracy. There are boundaries in a democracy and this is one of them. It's a boundary we can't cross," he claimed.

On a BBC TV News interview, she was asked by Peter Sissons if she had worn the veil to the interview when she had applied for the job and if a man had been present. She tried to evade the question, and only reluctantly admitted that a man had been present at her interview, and she had not worn the veil. The discussion can be found on YouTube.

On October 16, the Times quoted the Muslim MP for Dewsbury, Shahid Malik, who said he gave his support to Phil Woolas' comments that Aishah Azmi should be sacked. He said: "The basic thrust of what Phil says is just common sense. If you are not able to fulfil your job requirements then obviously it will be difficult for you to continue in that particular role."

On October 17, even Tony Blair claimed that he supported the school's decision to suspend Aishah Azmi. He said: "They (the school authorities) should be allowed to take that decision. I do support the authority in the way that they have handled this."

Specifically asked about Aishah Azmi, Blair said: "I simply say that I back their handling of the case. I can see the reason why they came to the decision they did. Difficult though these issues are, they need to be raised and confronted."

He also said that the veil was a "mark of separation" which made some people 'outside the community feel uncomfortable."

Yesterday, Aishah Azmi received the results of the employment tribunal. The verdict is reported by the Telegraph, the Times, the Guardian, the Independent, the BBC and the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

Azmi has lost her claims that she was subjected to harassment on religious grounds and religious discrimination. These claims had been brought under the terms of the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2004. However, she was awarded damages. Kirklees Council was ordered to pay her £1,100 ($2,074) as the tribunal ruled that she had been victimized as a result of the environment surrounding the case.

The tribunal said that its decisions had been made on October 6, and therefore had not been influenced by the comments made by politicians. Azmi was not happy with the verdict.

She said: "It is clear that discrimination has taken place and I am disappointed the tribunal has not been able to uphold that part of my claim. I am pleased the tribunal recognised the victimising way in which the school and local education authority have handled this matter and the distress that has caused me."

When she was asked if she would ever remove the veil if males were present, she answered: "No. I teach perfectly well with my veil on. Just give it a chance - that's what I call integration."

Shahid Malik described the tribunal's decision as "quite clearly a victory for common sense."

Azmi is considering an appeal, and criticized the politicians who had spoken about her case. She does not seem to accept that she had flirted with the media, appearing on countless interviews with the BBC and others. If she was making comments about the case, then others can hardly be blamed for voicing their opinions.

She said after the tribunal's decision: "Muslim women who wear the veil are not aliens, and politicians need to recognise that what they say can have a very dangerous impact on the lives of the minorities they treat as outcasts. Integration requires people like me to be in the workplace so that people can see that we are not to be feared or mistrusted."

"I will continue to uphold my religious beliefs and urge Muslims to engage in dialogue with the wider community, despite the attacks that are being made upon them."

While the debate has raged in Britain about whether women who entirely cover their faces are really integrating or not, the leader of the opposition Conservative party, David Cameron, has called for "restraint". According to the Guardian and View London, Cameron has said that the debate about veils has led to the Muslim community in Britain feeling "slightly targeted."

He was speaking on ITV's Frost Tonight show yesterday evening. He said: " think there is a danger of politicians piling in to have their tenpenceworth and really they have to ask themselves whether this is having an overall good effect or not."

He said that local authorities should make their own decisions about the veil. He claimed: "I am not sure we can have some national veils policy. Looking at the case, I have great sympathy with the school, because it seems to me there isn't a teaching in Islam which says you have to wear the veil in front of children and in terms of teaching, communication is vitally important so that's where my sympathies lie."

Cameron is right. The only admonition against dress in the Koran comes in Sura 33 - Al-Ahzab (The Clans)- verse 59, which states: "O Prophet! Tell thy wives and thy daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them (when they grow abroad). That will be better, that so they may be recognized and not annoyed. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful."

It appears that only modesty is advised. Indeed, women going to Mecca on the Hajj pilgrimage are prevented from wearing the face veil.

The wearing of the veil, despite owners' protests that it is a religious "obligation" , is a political statement, and nothing more. This week, the religious affairs minister in Egypt, Mohammad Hamdi Zaqzouq, said to ADN Kronos International that the nikab is not a religious object.

He said: "Nor is the niqab a duty deriving from the Sharia. I know I will be criticised for my words but I think some Muslims are committing a fundamental error, focusing on external and superficial aspects, without exploring more relevant themes, and hence providing a distorted image of Islam."

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

Thailand: Bombing Kills Three In Teashop In Muslim South

Since the army coup in Thailand, which happened on September 19 while premier Thaksin Shinawatra was in New York attending the UN General Assembly, there has been talk of peace in the southern provinces.

The current insurgency began on January 4, 2004, and more than 1,700 people have been killed. The three southern provinces of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani, as well as two districts of Songkhla, formerly comprised an independent sultanate called Pattani. A vassal state of Siam (Thailand) since it became invaded in 1786, Pattani became annexed into Thailand in 1902. In these provinces, 80% of the demographic are Muslims, who speak Yawi, a Malay dialect.

The bloodless coup was led by General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, a Muslim, who was then head of the Fourth Army and commanded 28,000 troops in the south. His policy of dealing with the south was to encourage dialogue with the people of the south, which put him into conflict with the administration led by Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai party. Over the past two weeks, intensive talks between rebel leaders have taken place on the Malaysian island of Langkawi. The peace negotiations have been assisted by Malaysia's former prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and his Perdana Global Peace Organisation.

The Thai media has concentrated on the peace processes, and the violence of the insurgency has been played down since the coup took place. However, Agence France Press, over the past six days 21 people have been killed in the south as a result of insurgent violence.

The latest act of violence took place today in a tea shop in Thepha (Taepa) district in Songkhla province, states China People's Daily, Pakistan's International News, Reuters AlertNet, the Nation and Associated Press via the International Herald Tribune.

The incident took place at 7 am local time as people were having breakfast. The bomb, estimated to be 10 kilograms (22 pounds) in weight, had been hidden inside a cooking pot, placed beneath a stone table. It was detonated by mobile phone. Three people were killed. Two of these, 35-year old Imron Rem, and 60-year old Sommas Prathumthong, had their legs ripped off by the blast, and died in hospital. Another individual was killed outright in the blast. Imron Rem was Muslim, and the other two fatalities were Buddhist. At least nine other people were injured in the explosion.

The teashop was frequently patronized by soldiers and police.

In Narathiwat province this morning, a rubber tapper was killed in a drive-by shooting. He was riding a motorcycle to work with his wife riding pillion when they were shot at. His wife escaped unhurt.

Late last night in Sungai Padi district, Narathiwat, a Muslim was killed. Insurgents raided the house of the 41-year old village leader Ayisata Mahama, and shot him with an M-16 rifle. The Bangkok Post stated that his killing probably happened because he helped to gather intelligence for state authorities.

In another incident on Thursday night, a Muslim woman was shot dead. The 29-year old roadside vendor was killed by gunfire from a pistol. After she had been killed, insurgents placed a 5 kilogram (11 pound) bomb in her roadside stall. This was then detonated when military investigators arrived. Two soldiers were wounded in the blast.

On Wednesday, in Than To district in Yala province, three houses were destroyed by suspected insurgents in arson attacks.

In Tak Bai district of Narathiwat, three soldiers were seriously injured on Wednesday when the Humvee truck in which they were on patrol was hit by a bomb, buried in the road. The device had been detonated by mobile phone.

Even though a cabinet has been assembled to act as a functioning government, the real power in Thailand lies with the Council for National Security (CNS), comprised of the military coup leaders. Yesterday, the CNS decided to extend the "emergency decree" in the southern provinces. When Thaksin Shinawatra was in power, this emergency decree, or Executive Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations created resentment amongst Muslims in the south. First implemented on July 17 last year, this allows for searches and arrests without warrants. Thaksin had renewed this decree every three months. It was last renewed in July.

General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, who heads the CNS, announced that the extension of the decree, effective as of today, was a necessary measure to ensure that peace moves went ahead.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 4:58 AM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2006

Malaysia: Suspected Islamists Released From Detention

News from the China Post, the BBC, Reuters, the Malaysia Star, and Associated Press via NDTV and the International Herald Tribune reports that 11 suspected Islamists have been released after spending five years' detention without trial.

The eleven were held under the Internal Security Act (ISA), a piece of legislation which existed when the British governed Malaya, before Malaysia came into existence in 1949. They had been placed in detention because of suspected involvement with a militant Islamic group called Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM). This group, also called the Malaysian Mujahideen Group, was formed in 1998 as a satellite of Jemaah Islamiyah, the terrorist group which is based in Indonesia and wishes to establish a pan-southeast Asian Islamist state.

Originally, hundreds of suspected members of KMM had been arrested in 2001. Two years ago the eleven who were released were among 16 people who, according to Human Rights Watch in 2004, were demanding to be released or they would continue a hunger strike. 27 other detainees who were from Jemaah Islamiyah were supporting the 16 in their hunger strike as an act of "solidarity".

All 16 had links with the opposition party, Parti Islam Se Malaysia (Islamic Party of Malaysia, or PAS), which was founded in 1955 and aims to establish exclusively sharia rule in Malaysia. The party has lost many seats in the last elections, but it still remains powerful in Kelantan state, which adjoins Thailand.

One of those detained was the son of PAS' spiritual leader. Nik Adli is the son of Nik Aziz Nik Mat, chief minister of the state government of Kelantan. Nik Adli was arrested on August 4, 2001 under Section 73(1) of the ISA, along with five other individuals. He and the ten other individuals who were released by the prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who also acts as Malaysia's security minister, had been set free as a "Ramadan gesture".

38-year old Nik Adli had been held in Kamunting prison camp in the northern state of Perak. He had been a teacher in a Muslim school, the Sekolah Menengah Agama Darul Anwar, at Pulau Melaku, Kota Baharu. At the present time, there are still more than 100 individuals detained here, with 60 of these being suspected Islamic militants.

Those who had been released in recent years generally had officially "repented" and undergone rehabilitation programs. According to Bernama news agency yesterday, prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi admitted that he had signed the release forms for Nik Adli, but was still evasive about details. When asked the date of the release, he said: "Be patient. Go to Kota Baharu and wait to take pictures when he meets his father later."

When asked whether the release would happen before Eid ul-Fitr, Badawi said Adli would be released "as soon as the letter reaches him." When asked when that may be, Badawi said that it "depends on the postman." When asked if the other five people detained at the same time as Adli would be released, he responded: "Be patient."

In actuality, all eleven individuals were released yesterday. The treasurer of the PAS party, Hatta Ramli, said: "His release showed the government has no proof to implicate him in anything. The ISA has been used by the authorities as a tool to intimidate the people. It was a scare tactic, a threat. The ISA was used to tarnish the image of PAS and its leaders. It was an attempt to brand PAS as a terror group."

Ahmad Awang, information chief of PAS, said: "We demand that all ISA detainees be freed immediately without conditions or be charged before a court of law. PAS also demands that the ISA be abolished immediately."

Adli was reluctant to talk about his experiences in jail. He said: "Allow me some privacy to spend time with my family." He is subject to pre-release conditions which prevent him discussing aspects of his detention.

This morning he went to the school where he had taught, which had been founded by his family. He was pursued by reporters, prompting him to ask to be left alone.

Before the release, his father had said, with some irony: "They only send him home after taking good care of him. As long as my heart is bleeding, I will not say thank you."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:30 PM | Comments (0)

Kyrgyzstan: Three Islamists Sentenced To Death

Yesterday, Interfax reported that three of the six people who took part in a raid upon a border guard post on the Takikistan/Kyrgyzstan frontier have been sentenced to death. A spokesman for Osh City court said: "The court found all six members of a criminal group guilty and sentenced Muraly Rakhmanov, Madamin Shadiyev and Nurulo Khudzhoyev to death. Talantbek and Makhamatnur Zhoroyev received 10-year prison sentences each, while Dilnozakhon Nishanbayev was sentenced to three years in jail. But his sentence will come into force after his child turns eight years old."

All six individuals had been charged with forgery, attempting a coup and calling for a coup. They had also been charged with attempts on the lives of officers from the security services, murder, smuggling, and acting to incite racial and religious hatred.

Rakhmanov, Shadiyev and Khudzhoyev (an Uzbekistan citizen) were further convicted of membership of a criminal group led by Bakhtiev Akhunov, who was killed by the SNB, the Kyrgyz special services this summer. This individual appears to be the individual who was killed on September 2, who was named as Rasul Akhunov. He had been shot during a special operation in the town of Osh, which lies near the border with Uzbekistan. The SNB said that Akhunov had taken part in the gang raids that took place in May, which saw a number of customs officials and border guards killed.

The group led by Akhunov has links with extremist religious groups, such as the Islamic Movement of Turkestan (IMU). IMU is another front of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), which was founded in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 1998, with the intention of forming an Islamist state in Uzbekistan. It is led by Tahir Yuldosh, who gained permission in May 1999 from Afghanistan's Taliban to establish a base in the north of that country, where he is still thought to reside. A senior figure in the group, Juma Namangani, was made a "deputy" of Osama bin Laden in 2001. He trained militants in northern Afghanistan but has recently been killed, according to Yuldosh. In Tashkent, Uzbekistan's capital, the IMU (which has about 700 active members) carried out car bombings in February 1999, and has taken foreigners as hostages.

The Islamic Movement of Turkestan is a recently-activated group, according to the Regional Anti-terrorist Structure, Vyacheslav Kasymov. Where the IMU aimed originally to create an Islamic state in Uzbekistan, MIPT the group's later ambitions to have a pan-national state has led to some members to call themselves the Islamic Party of Turkestan. They aim to see a state comprising Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and the Xinxiang province of China.

The raid for which the three men, Muraly Rakhmanov, Madamin Shadiyev and Nurulo Khudzhoyev, were sentenced to death took place on May 12. Members of the Islamic Movement of Turkestan attacked the frontier post of Tajikistan and the customs post of Kyrgyzstan. An influential cleric from the city of Kara-Suu in southern Kyrgyzstan was detained later in the month, and questioned about his involvement in the May 12 raid. He was released after 12 hours.

However, on August 6, while traveling in a car with two other individuals through the nearby city of Osh, the imam was killed. A source said: "Special task forces of the National Security Service and the Interior Ministry assisted by Uzbek law enforcers detected a group of militants traveling through Osh in a Daewoo Nexia. They tracked the vehicle outside the city limits. The militants opened fire at the officers when they tried to stop the car."

The imam and the other two people in the vehicle were killed. SNB officials claimed that all three were suspected of attacking customs and border posts in South Kyrgyzstan, and also to have killed policemen in Tajikistan. The imam, Muhammadrafiq Kamalov, aka Rafiq Qori Kamoluddin (pictured, right), was leader of the Al-Sarahsiy Mosque in Kara-Suu. He was under suspicion from the authorities as he allowed members of HIzb ut-Tahrir to worship at his mosque.

Hizb ut-Tahrir, which seeks to establish a caliphate, is regarded as a terror group in Central Asia, and has links with the Islamic Movement of Turkestan. The raids on May 12 were thought to be tied to attempts to create terrorist atrocities to mark the anniversary of the massacres of civilian protesters in Andijan in Uzbekistan, which took place on May 13, 2005.

Vyacheslav Kasymov stated: "We are especially concerned about the fact that IMT has activated recently and is organizing specific terrorist actions. This, in particular, is illustrated by the events of 12 May of the current year, when a group of terrorists attacked the frontier post of Tajikistan and the customs post of Kyrgyzstan...In the course of investigative measures it was identified that IMT had planned to conduct a series of terrorist attacks timed to the one-year anniversary of Andijan events."

He added that "for this purpose, terrorist had prepared a large amount of aluminum powder and other substances used in the production of self-made explosive devices...Besides, 17 machine carbines, a machine gun, and a sniper rifle were seized." Kasymov explained that "this fact once again proves the arguments that Andijan events were the result of the activity of international terrorist organizations.....They steal cars, kill innocent owners, and factually openly move along the roads of Kyrgyzstan." Kasymov said that the "cynicism and impudence" of the Islamic Movement of Turkestan was a cause of mounting concern.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 3:30 PM | Comments (0)

Pakistan: Muslim Clerics Ordering Taliban Fighters Into Afghanistan

On September 5 an "accord" took place between the Pakistani government and the Taliban who control most of the borderlands of North and South Waziristan in North-West Frontier Province. The deal signed by Taliban leaders and Pakistan government representatives included the clause: "There shall be no cross-border movement for militant activity in neighbouring Afghanistan."

In exchange for signing the deal, 45 Taliban members who had helped to broker the deal were paid 100,000 rupees apiece ($1,658), and the government promised the Taliban 10 million rupees ($165,838) if it did not return to them vehicles and weaponry it had seized during military operations.

Within days of the deal being signed, it was being broken. The three-page agreement included the clause "There will be no target killing", but bodies of people executed by the Taliban as "US spies" began to turn up.

Pakistan wanted to reduce its troop deployment from the border region. Apparently 80,000 troops have been stationed on the border, and these were needed in Balochistan province, where a new insurgency was forming.

The politicians who had come up with the idea were the Islamists in the Regional Assembly of North-West Frontier Province. The provincial government is made up almost entirely of members of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal or MMA. This is an alliance of six Islamist parties, who constitute the opposition to the government.

The leader of the MMA is the cleric Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who is also leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, which wishes to see Pakistan entirely ruled by sharia law. He promised last year to mount a revolution, and organised many of the anti-cartoon riots in February, which became violent calls for the overthrow of the government.

It should have been obvious to anyone with any intelligence that a deal supported by the MMA and the Taliban would work only in the interests of Muslim extremism, and would not benefit either the government of Afghanistan, Pakistan nor its allies in the "war on terror". Analysts expressed their concerns when the "accord" was made and today, their fears appear to have been validated.

Agence France Presse in Yahoo News reports that captured Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan have confessed to coming from Pakistan, and they claim that they were sent to fight "Jihad" against British forces there on the orders of Muslim clerics.

Three young Taliban fighters were captured after their group's attempt to ambush a platoon of Afghanistan soldiers in Barmal district of Paktika province went awry. 32 Taliban attacked a patrol but were met with fierce gunfire. The Afghanistan troops called in reinforcements, and within five hours, all of the Taliban fighters, save three, were dead or had fled. The fire-fight took place close to the Afghan/Pakistani border.

The 24 dead were mostly Afghan Taliban, but also included an Arab, Chechens, Pakistanis, Turks, and a man from Yemen. The three survivors included an Afghan and two Pakistanis. Some of those not killed by Afghan forces blew themselves up with grenades rather than be captured.

One of the Pakistanis, a youth called Alahuddin, said: "Mullahs in Pakistan were preaching to us that we are obliged to fight jihad in Afghanistan because there are foreign troops -- there is an Angriz (British) invasion. A Pakistani Taliban commander, Saifullah, introduced us to a guide who escorted us to Barmal. Then he left and we joined a group already here and came to the ambush site."

He had only been in Afghanistan for two days before he became captured. he said: "We were sent to Afghanistan blindly. We call on our other friends in Pakistan and say, 'There is no jihad here, everybody is Muslim'."

Alahuddin had come from Miranshah, the regional capital of North Waziristan, as had Zahidullah, the other captured Pakistani. He claimed a mullah had brought him into the conflict and had introduced him to the Taliban.

Zahidullah said: "We came to Afghanistan to carry out jihad against British forces -- as Muslims we are obliged to do jihad against them, this is what we were told."

Striking deals with one's enemies and then allowing them the responsibility of policing the borderlands is an unwise action, yet this is exactly what the weak Pakistani government has done. The signs have been coming for years that an insurgency was brewing on the tribal regions of North-West Frontier Province. Waziristan has been the home of both al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban refugees since the fall of Mullah Omar's "administration". Pakistani troops have been placed in the region for at least three years.

In March, Pakistan's interior minister, Aftab Khan Sherpao, told the National Assembly in Islamabad that from the beginning of this year (a mere nine weeks), more than 120 pro-government tribal elders had been killed by Islamist (Taliban and Al-Qaeda) militants in Waziristan.

At the start of March, Miranshah was taken over by Islamists and was only retaken after a sustained battle which cost hundreds of lives. In Wana, regional capital of South Waziristan, the first sharia courts operated by the Pakistani Taliban came into existence. On March 26, they carried out their first execution.

On December 1 the third in commander of al Qaeda - Abu Hamza Rabia - was killed in a rocket attack in Haisori village near Miranshah. A US strike on Damidola, four miles within the Pakistan border, on January 13, killed Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, aka Abu Khabab al-Masri, a senior al-Qaeda explosives and poisons trainer.

The Pakistani Taliban are no different from the Afghanistan Taliban, and they have harbored al Qaeda members, including Ayman al-Zawahiri, the deputy leader of al Qaeda, as the Afghanistan Taliban did when they controlled Afghanistan. Zawahiri was the target of the Damidola strike, but had only cancelled an engagement in the village at the last moment.

The Pakistan government is more concerned about staying in power than really combatting terrorism. By allowing the MMA to be involved in "deals" with the Taliban it has only increased the likelihood of bloodshed continuing in Afghanistan.

Qazi Hussein Ahmed, head of MMA, is no friend of democracy. He was behind the sabotaging of attempts to amend the Hudood laws which discriminate against women and non-Muslims. According to Aftenposten from 2004: "Qazi Hussain Ahmed has earlier made flattering comments about Osama bin Laden, and his party, Jamaat-e-Islami, also has hailed al-Qaeda members as heroes. The party also has allegedly encouraged its members to shield al-Qaeda members who are fleeing US troops in Afghanistan. Because of this, both Belgium and the Netherlands blocked his entry as late as May of this year."

He runs a madrassa where thousands of fighters were sent to Afghanistan to join the Taliban when they came to power.

It seems that other Muslim clerics are now doing the same. The Afghan and coalition security forces have said that since the "accord" was brokered between the MMA and the Taliban, there has been a 300% increase in incidents inside the Afghanistan border. General Murad Ali, deputy commander of the southeastern military corps accused the Pakistan military.

He said: "The cooperation of Pakistan with Taliban and Al-Qaeda is visible. They cross into Afghanistan even in areas where Pakistani posts are installed, but they are not prevented. They carry out attacks and then return."

AFP reports that Samina Ahmed of the International Crisis Group has this week called the accord between Pakistan and its Taliban as "irresponsible to say the least".

Only a naive optimist like Kim Howells, Britain's Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs could view the Taliban accord as something positive. He said on September 9, four days after the deal was signed, that the peace deal could serve as a model for Afghanistan. "One wonders if it could be applied to the other side of the Afghan border," he mused.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:02 AM | Comments (1)

Pakistan: Islamist Freed - Vows To Continue Activities Unhindered

We wrote on August 10 that the Islamist leader Hafiz Mohammed Saeed (pictured) had been placed under house arrest in Lahore, Punjab province, by Pakistani authorities. No reasons were given for his detention other than "security reasons".

Saeed had been the founder and former leader of the Kashmiri terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which has carried out numerous bombings in India. He resigned from Let's leadership in 2002. Even though LeT had carried atrocities such as the Delhi bombings of October 29 last year, killing 60 people, the Pakistani authorities were reluctant to ban LeT. They finally outlawed the terrorist group in January this year.

After leaving LeT, Saeed went on to found Jamat-ud-Dawah (Jama'at-ud Da'awah), or Party of the Calling. This group was listed as a terrorist entity by the US on April 28 this year, along with its sister group Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq (IKK). The US argues that the two groups act as funders for LeT's terrorist operations.

Pakistan refused to outlaw Jamat-ud-Dawah, as we wrote on May 2. This decision was probably done for fear of invoking the wrath of Islamists such as those of the Jamaat-e-Islami party.

On May 21 we provided links to evidence that Islamists were using the headquarters of Jamat-ud-Dawah in Mudrike, near Lahore, to traffick young Christian boys who had been kidnapped. These boys were kidnapped to be sold as slaves to gangs, who used them to gain money by begging.

We wrote on October 7 that Jamat-ud-Dawah was indoctrinating orphans of the earthquake which happened on October 8 last year. We also noted that even though Hafiz Mohammed Saeed was still under house arrest, Jamat-ud-Dawah had issued a fatwa, a death sentence against Pope Benedict XVI, for his comments in his Regensburg speech.

Southeat Asia Analysis Group explained:

The Jamaat-ud-Dawa has declared death to Pope Benedict and said that in today's world blasphemy of the Holy Koran and the Prophet has become a fashion. The leaders of the Jamaat were speaking at a Martyrs' Islamic Conference in Karachi. Prominent Jamaat leader Hafiz Saifullah Khalid said that in the present circumstances, jihad has become obligatory for each Muslim. Muslims are being declared terrorists and our battle for survival has already started. The Muslim world has rejected the Pope's apology and decided to continue protests and demonstrations in big cities.

Hafiz Mohammed Saeed was not content to remain under detention in the guest house at Sehkhupura, near Lahore, and had taken his appeal to the high court in Lahore. His appeal was successful. News from Pakistan Daily Times and Agence France Presse via Khaleej Times state that late on Tuesday, Saeed walked free.

SPokesman for Jamat-ud-Dawah, Yahya Mujahid, said: "Authorities have released Hafez Saeed from a rest house which was declared a sub-jail. He is in good health and fasting (for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan) and told the people gathered to welcome him that he was well and in high spirits" Mujahid said that Saeed had returned to his home in Lahore. His supporters chanted "Allahu Ackbar" as the terrorist leader was released..

Yesterday, Mohammed Hanif Khatana, additional advocate general for Punjab's provincial government, said: "On the orders of court, the Punjab government last night released Hafez Mohammad Saeed."

At the Markaz Al Qadsia Chauburji in Lahore, Saeed addressed his followers, and vowed to continue "spreading the message of Allah." He said the allegations behind his detention - that Jamat-ud-Dawah was a negative influence on Pakistani-Indian relations - had been baseless.

He said that India's relations with Pakistan had never been good, and that they are unlikely to improve. He said that during his 71 days of detention, Indian-Pakistani relations had worsened.

He said: "Detention and arrest cannot stop me from spreading the message of Allah."

He claimed his release proved that the judiciary of Pakistan could not be influenced by pressure from foreign governments.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:34 AM | Comments (1)

UK: Newspaper Forced To Withdraw Muslim Parody Page

Yesterday, the Media Guardian (subscription) wrote that the British newspaper the Daily Star was forced to withdraw a "fatwa page" after union members objected.

The politically correct members of the paper's branch or "chapel" of the National Union of Journalists held a meeting, threatening to stop work, and condemned the page, which was a send-up of Muslim law.

The page was part of a feature on "How your favourite paper would look under Muslim law." In reference to UK tabloids' habit of portraying bare-breasted beauties on Page 3, it also had a "Page 3 burka babes special" featuring a woman in a nikab.

It had a spoof editorial, which was a blank space carrying the words "Censored" and "Allah is Great". The head of the page was emblazoned with the slogan "no news no goss no fun". (Goss = gossip).

There was a competition, entitled "Burn a flag and win a Corsa", a parody of the famous Sun newspaper headline during the Falklands War - "Kill an Argie and Win a Metro". A picture of George W. Bush bore underneath it the words "death to infidels".

The NUJ chapel issued a statement that the page was "deliberately offensive to Muslims."

But there was a serious note in their condemnation, and the chapel acknowledged that Muslims fanatics have neither a sense of humour nor an ability to tolerate freedom of speech for others.

The NUJ statement noted: "The chapel fears that this editorial content poses a very serious risk of violent and dangerous reprisals from religious fanatics who may take offence at these articles. This may place the staff in great jeopardy."

At least the NUJ seems to agree that Muslims in Britain include some intolerant and potentially dangerous individuals.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 4:08 AM | Comments (4)

October 18, 2006

Italy: Romano Prodi Enters Muslim Veil Debate

Yesterday, the center-left prime minister of Italy was drawn into the debate on the wearing of the Muslim face veil or niqab/nikab. The debate had started in Britain on October 5, when former foreign secretary Jack Straw had written an article in a newspaper in his constituency of Blackburn. Here he said that he asked women wearing face-veils to remove them when they came for consultation. The debate spread, with several British politicians, including the chancellor and the prime minister, expressing views that the veil prevented integration. Tony Blair said he saw the veil as a "mark of segregation".

Romano Prodi was giving an interview to Reuters TV, when he was asked about Jack Straw's observations about the veil. Prodi responded: "You can't cover your face. If you have a veil, fine, but you must be seen. This is common sense I think, it is important for our society. It is not how you dress but if you are hidden or not."

He continued: "The problem is to have clear rules, so that if they behave, if they respect the law, if they are good citizens, they can become Italian citizens."

Prodi said of immigration that it was "a problem not just for right-wing voters, it is a problem for everybody...because for the first time a country that was a country of emigration is a country receiving a wave of immigrants."

He has angered the right by trying to halve the time it takes for immigrants who have settled in Italy to become citizens. Currently he is asking the EU for help to stem the tide of immigrants trying to enter Italy via North Africa.

He said; "The right-wing policy was to close their eyes and let immigrants come in, (but) be very restrictive in theory. My policy is let us guide immigration, guarantee immigrants their rights and try to be realistic about this flow of people."

His comments about immigration have been virtually ignored, but his comments about the veil have been picked up by varying news sources, and Muslims have already voiced strong reactions. The news is carried by Arab News, Toronto Star, Zaman News, while Muslim reactions to the statement have been reported by AKI. The reactions are interesting.

One reaction to Prodi's comments has come from an Islamist website, states AKI. The pro-al Qaeda site, named Islammemo accuses Prodi of having "joined a Western campaign against the niqab. This makes Western-Muslim relations more difficult."

A leading cleric in Lebanon, states AKI, has confirmed that the Koran does not advocate such an item of clothing, but said Muslim women should be allowed to wear it if it does not contravene a country's regulations. Shaykh Hasan Abdallah is a Shi'ite cleric, and president of the Shi'ite Ulema. He said: "Islam does not force women to cover their bodies completely, but only some parts...I agree with Prodi when he speaks of the need to integrate, but this musn't be confused with a complete surrender of one's personal and religious convictions. If a Muslim woman who has emigrated to Italy wants to wear the niqab and thus cover her face in conflict with the local law, then she is free to do so but has to leave that host country for one where she can wear the niqab."

Overall, states AKI Muslim leaders in Italy have not reacted with indignation and agreed with the premier. Mohammed Nur Dachan, head of the Union of Islamic Communities in Italy (UCOII) said he agreed with Prodi's comments. He said: "The niqab is against Italian law. We perfectly agree with the premier."

Yahya Pallavicini, deputy leader of the Islamic Religious Community (COREIS) said: "Prodi did well in clearly stating his views. The niqab has nothing to do with our socio-cultural context and does not correspond with the doctrine of Islam.'

In Italy, the face cannot be completely covered in public, on grounds of security. The ruling includes balaclavas and motorcycle helmets.

Abd al-Hamid Shaari is president of the Institute of Islamic culture in Milan, which has been subject to investigations into fundamentalism. He said that "a woman should be allowed to wear whatever she wants if it poses no obstacle to her identification."

AKI spoke to religious leaders in Indonesia. Lanny Octavia of the Liberal Islam Network said the issue of the nikab is constantly a subject of debate in Islam, but said: "To wear the veil is not one of the five pillars of Islam, it is not compulsory. f in Europe wearing the veil causes problems to the woman, if it makes life difficult for her, creates suspicion or social division, then it is better not to wear it."

Lily Zakiyah Munir, a Muslim scholar and human rights activist (who wears a hijab, or Muslim headscarf) said: "It seems to me that there is an attempt by political power to legislate on religious issues. On this matter [wearing the veil] there should be total freedom. After all, it is a woman's rights and it is part of the universal human rights. The veil is fine but I believe it is a bit extreme to cover the whole face but the eyes. This should be avoided in non-Muslims countries."

When asked about Aishah Azmi the teaching assistant from Dewsbury, who was suspended for not removing her veil, Munir said: "She could even scare the children."

According to AGI, the leader of one communist party in Italy said Prodi's comments did not acknowledge the complexity of integration. Gennaro Migliore, president of the deputies of the Rifondazione Comunista party said: "I am against the veil if it is an obligation, but I am against a laic (secular) State banning the use of it. A laic State, in fact, must protect individual freedom."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:12 PM | Comments (0)

Netherlands: 1,400 Potential Extremist Muslims In Amsterdam

News from Expatica reports that in Amsterdam, there are 1,400 "potential extremists". This number comprises 2% of the city's Islamic population.

The figure comes from the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies (IMES) at the University of Amsterdam, and identifies the "potential extremists" as being 16 to 18 year olds of Moroccan or Tunisian background, with a high school education.

According to the newspaper "De Telegraaf" the university academics state that these individuals would be socially isolated and would bear a deep distrust of the political system.

The researchers make it plain that these individuals do not at present pose a threat to Dutch society, and may not go on to become extremists. They state that the youths were vulnerable to becoming radicalized due to their strict beliefs and dissatisfaction with the Islam debate in the Netherlands.

The study had been commissioned by the mayor of Amsterdam, Job Cohen. He said the number was "substantial", but said that the city had launched initiatives against extremism since the killing of Theo van Gogh on November 2, 2004. Such initiatives had included the "Wij Amsterdammers" project.

The researchers who compiled the study said that there was hope that such initiatives could counter radicalism.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:51 PM | Comments (1)

Islam: A Danish Blogger's Perspective

We wrote on October 6 that Denmark's Tv2 station aired footage of members of the youth wing of the Danish People's Party (DPP) making cartoons of Mohammed. The appearance on TV was brief, but it led to recriminations. Lars Bennike, editor-in-chief of Tv2 said: "Our decision to broadcast this sequence was only due to the fact that the president of the youth branch of the party had distanced himself from this gathering."

Elements in the Muslim world tried to raise the temperature to fever pitch, akin to that which happened globally in February as a reaction to Danish paper Jyllands-Posten's publication of cartoons of the so-called prophet, Mohammed. As a result of Muslim over-reaction, 50 people died in various locations.

The Muslim world tried its best to incite protest. According to Arab News on October 9, Jordan's religious affairs minister said: "Muslims must be rational in their reaction to these offenses. Muslims must react to the international political and diplomatic fronts to put an end to such offenses against Islam and Muslim symbols. The best answer to such offenses is to be more attached to our religion."

In Iran, the reactions were predictable. Foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said that Iran would "convey our protest to Denmark" via diplomatic channels. The Iranian Embassy in Copenhagen stated: "It is deplorable that the extremist elements in the Danish society have attempted to sabotage Denmark's relations with the Islamic countries once again."

Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen denounced the actions of the DPP youth, but did not denounce the TV reporting of the event. On the same day, according to CNN, the Washington Post and IOL, the Danish foreign ministry warned citizens against traveling to Muslim nations, or to Israel, stating that "we urge Danes to use caution as the matter could possibly lead to negative reactions. The atmosphere and reactions can vary dependent on time and place and Danes should be aware of the local mood."

According to Arutz Sheva the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt urged a boycott against Denmark and its products. The Kuwaiti News Agency reported that Egypt's foreign ministry said the DDP youths' actions were "insolent".

The top Shi'ite Muslim cleric in Lebanon, Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlalla said in a statement: "This nonchalance toward the continued insults against Islam could set the stage for negative responses due to inflamed emotions. We affirm that Muslims should respect Westerners and not insult them. We affirm that Westerners should respect Islam and refrain from insulting Muslim sanctities so this doesn't turn into a hot or bloody (issue) with reactions that harm the relationship between Muslims and Westerners in one way or another."

According to the Guardian, the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) announced: "Muslims have noted with concern that the values of tolerance are eroding and there is now shrinking space for others' religious, social and cultural values in the west." A strange statement, considering that in Saudi Arabia, a leading player in the OIC, no Christians can practice their faith, nor bring a crucifix or Bible into the country. Muslims always demand rights, but never deal in reciprocity.

The semi-insane leader of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said: "If someone enjoys an iota of humanity and wisdom then he will not insult and offend the shining holy presence of Mohammed." Let us not forget that this "shining holy presence" had sex with a nine-year old girl.

On October 12, protesters in Tehran pelted the Danish embassy with stones and petrol bombs. Riot police guarded the embassy. Such displays of anger are never spontaneous. Almost always they are organized by the government of Iran, and carried out by members of the student vigilante force, the Bassij.

According to the Copenhagen Post, starting on October 11, various Danish websites were hacked into. The University of Copenhagen website was the first to be attacked, followed by the site of the ministry of the interior and health, and the Central Office of Civil Registration. Other websites belonging to Danish private citizens were also hacked into and altered.

***************************

The above serves as the background to what we present below. It is a commentary from a Danish blogsite http://ullanoertoftthomsen.blogspot.com/, by Ulla Nørtoft Thomsen. The article has been translated by our occasional contributor, Wiking, and has been approved and edited by Ulla herself. She has granted us permission to reproduce the translation here, and we offer her our gratitude.

Ridiculing Mohammed

It is not a secret anymore. Mohammed is not highly regarded in the west. It is not only boozing kids from the Danish Peoples Party who ridicule Mohammed by drawing him. The youth members of the left liberal party have amused themselves with exactly the same party event, even though their party really keeps the flag flying for tolerance and sympathy towards Islam. One dares not think what the rest of us might come up with.

We do not make the ancient Greeks or the Vikings subjects of our ridicule, even when there is plenty to make fun of. Aristotle did write ridiculous things at times. The ferocious Vikings were not exactly intellectual high jumpers. We smile at the memory of them, shake our heads disapprovingly, but we do not ridicule them. We recognize them for what they were, and we let their place in history be an excuse for what they were not.

Why do we ridicule Mohammed then?

We laugh because we are expected to show reverence for Mohammed. A reverence we simply cannot honour. Newly globalized Muslims insist on dragging a historical person 1400 years forward in time, demanding in a voice of thunder that the rest of the world respect and honour him. We are given only one option: Mohammed is the best and wisest man in history. He is right in everything he says. Nobody has the right to criticize him.

Even mild and meek personalities like Jesus or Gandhi would appear ridiculous if an ignorant posteriority exalted them to tyrants. How ridiculous does not a conqueror from the 7th century look, when he is set up as an infallible leader of the entire modern world? A leader who morally, intellectually and theologically can not compare favourably, simply because the world has evolved since his time.

It is the Muslims who make Mohammed look ridiculous.

Ridiculousness can be described by a simple formula: A relative historic concept that claims to be absolute is ridiculous.

"If a dancer could jump really high, one would admire him. But if he, even when he could jump higher than any, claimed to be flying, then let the laughter pull him back down again."(Søren Kierkegaard in Afsluttende uvidenskabelig Efterskrift).

Irony is a acid bath that frees religion from ridiculousness. Irony is only a threat if ones religion is so ridiculous that irony can consume it completely.

But then it is the religion that is the problem, not the irony.

by Ulla Nørtoft Thomsen
(translation by Wiking)

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 3:00 PM | Comments (0)

Thailand: Foreign Muslims To Help Solve Crisis In South

Last week, it was announced that Thai Muslims wanted former Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, to be involved in the peace process talks, stated the Nation and TNA English News. There is a certain logic in this.

The three southern provinces of Thailand - Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala - as well as two districts of Songkhla province, formerly belonged to an independent sultanate called Pattani. Originally this sultanate was powerful, and had influence throughout southeast Asia, but by the mid 17th century had fallen into decline, and accepted its role as a vassal state of Siam (Thailand). Pattani was invaded by Siam in 1786. It was officially annexed by Siam in 1902, to act as a buffer against potential encroachments by the British, who then controlled Malaya. The British officially acknowledged Pattani as a part of Siam in 1909. Since that time there have been voices of dissent in the south. There have been separatist groups in the southern provinces of Thailand for 50 years.

Activity from insurgents peaked in the 1970s and 1980s, but eventually these lessened when the Thai government agreed to make concessions and to promote development programs. However, on January 4, 2004 the current insurgency, which has now claimed more than 1,700 lives, was initiated. An army base in Narathiwat was invaded and four soldiers were killed. 300 weapons were seized in the raid, and at least twenty schools in the south were set alight.

Some of the main insurgent groups are: Pattani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo), New Pattani United Liberation Organisation, Barisan Revolusi National (BRN), Gerakan Mujahideen Islam Pattani (GMIP), United Front for the Independence of Pattani (Bersatu or Barisan Bersatu Kemerdekaan Pattani), Mujahideen Pattani Movement (BNP), Barisan National Pember-Basab Pattani (BNPP), and Mujahideen Islam Pattani.

Other groups which have recently become prominent are the Runda Kampulan Kecil (RKK) which is an offshoot of BRN (the Barisan Revolusi Nasional), and also Permuda, which is the youth wing of BRN. Most of the leadership of Pulo, a group which appears to have little involvement with the current insurgency, are in exile in Sweden. They are nonetheless influential, and are involved in talks towards peace.

The logic of involving Malaysia in the peace dialogue stems from the cultural affinity of the Thai Muslim population with Malay traditions. The Thai Muslims speak Yawi, a dialect of Malay. Additionally, Malaysia has been shown to have made progress brokering a peace accord between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) of Mindanao in the southern Philippines with the Filipino government.

On October 13 Wan Kadir Che Wan, the president of Barisan Bersatu Kemerdekaan Pattani (Bersatu), a coalition of five separatist groups, said that Mahathir had helped create trust between Muslim leaders in the south and the Thai authorities. "Before this, the separatists and Thai authorities did not trust each other. Trust is the most important element in a peace process."

He stressed that the five groups in Bersatu's coalition (which had been formed in August 1989) were loyal to the Thai king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, and only sought a change in some government policies, rather than seeking independence from Thailand.

The day before Bersatu's statement, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said that Malaysia had not formally been invited to participate in the peace process. We wrote on October 10 that Malaysia had been involved in behind-the-scenes negotiations with representatives of Pulo (part of the Bersatu coalition) and a Thai intelligence agency on the Malaysian island of Langkawi. The talks had been convened by Mahathir Mohamad. At the start of October, Dr Mahathir had stated that he had initiated peace talks, following a meeting with the Thai king in 2005.

The Bangkok Post of October 13 reported that Mahathir's Perdana Global Peace Organisation had begun talks with rebel representatives from Pulo, Bersatu and BRN. Pulo leaders who are in prison also contributed to negotiations. Many commenters agree that the decision by ousted premier Thakisn Shinawatra to disband the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre, or SBPAC was a disastrous move, and had helped lead to the current violence. The SBPAC was a bod which listened to grievances, and channelled ideas and suggestions between people in the south and the government. Since the coup of September 19, a new cabinet has been formed. Most of the Muslims in the south trust the new interior minister Aree Wong-araya, a Muslim. He had formerly been a district chief and governor in the three southern provinces. His deputy in the interior ministry is , who used to be the head of SBPAC.

The leader of the coup, General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, supports the re-establishment of the SBPAC, and has charged Lt-Gen Viroj Buacharoon, leader of the Fourth Army, and relevant agencies to review this prospect.

The new prime minister in the post-coup government is Surayud Chulanont. Today he was in Malaysia, visiting Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, its deputy prime minister Najib Tun Razak, and its defense minister Najib Razak. The Thai prime minister is accompanied by interior minister Aree Wong-araya, foreign minister Nitya Pibulsonggram, and defense minister General Boonrawd Somtat.

Following his meeting with Malaysian representatives, he said: "Let me explain my personal strategy of trying to solve the problems in the south, by peaceful means. We will try to talk to a lot of people. Initially I told the Malaysian prime minister that I will talk to the Muslim leaders in the south. So that is the way I'm trying to present myself, by way of talking."

Surayud issued a press release which stated that relations between Thailand and Malaysia would be strengthened. Abdullah, the Malaysian premier, said his government would not interfere in Thailand's internal affairs, but would offer cooperation and assistance where possible. He said: "For Malaysia, we would like to see southern Thailand as an area that is peaceful, where the Thais--many of whom are Muslims--will be able to live in peace without fear."

Yesterday, Mahathir Mohamad met with Thai Muslim leaders on the Malaysian island of Langkawi (pictured). According to Al Jazeera, Mahathir's son Mukhriz Mahathir has also been a key participant in the peace talks. Mukhriz said: "We now have an open window to resolve this conclusively and I believe that the Malaysian government too is very committed to see this done because peace is not only good for southern Thailand, but also for Malaysia and for the region."

Also yesterday, it was officially announced that SBPAC would be re-established, with the same name, but with additional duties. It will replace the current Southern Border Provinces Peace-building Command (SBPPC) which will be disbanded.

The Bangkok Post reports that the coup leader, who is effectively the country's supreme leader, chief of the Council for National Security (CNS) will soon be traveling to the Middle East. General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin will be visiting Egypt, and would also go to Saudi Arabia, when he will take part in the Hajj pilgrimage for the first time in his life. He is scheduled to be away from December 26 to December 31.

Sources have said that he has requested meetings with leaders of Muslim governments. He is said to be informing them of the peace talks. There is a danger of a Muslim leader of Thailand, who broke democratic principle to make himself the de facto ruler, consorting with leaders of Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia. Thai Muslims comprise only 4% of the population. But within the three southern provinces, 10% of the Muslims adhere to Wahhabism, the strict and uncompromising version of Salafism which is practiced in Saudi Arabia.

In countries like Indonesia, the worst abuses of democracy and the implementation of Islamist Sharia rules upon local populations have been assisted by Middle Eastern immigrants, who came to Indonesia with an agenda - Arabization. The spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Bakar Bashir, is Yemeni. The leader of Lashkar Jihad, which mounted a crusade against non-Muslims which led to the deaths of 9,000 people in the Moluccas between 1999 and 2002 - Umar Jaffar Thalib - is Yemeni-Indonesian.

The leader of the Front Pembela Islam or Islamic Defenders' Front (FPI) is Habib Rizieq Shihab (aka Muhammad Rizieq). The FPI mounts violent attacks against Christians, including aid workers, it was behind the anti-cartoon violence in February, and has been behind the Sharia bylaws introduced into several Indonesian towns. Habib Rizieq Shihab is Middle Eastern-born and Saudi educated. Most of FPI's leaders come from the Middle East.

In our Special Report on the Islamization of Indonesia, we state that in South Sulawesi, all government employees must wear Islamic dress, and all employees must be able to read and write Arabic.

There is something very ominous about Boonyaratkalin's attempts to woo leaders of Islamic countries. The Thai southern problem can be resolved if it remains a Thai problem, assisted where necessary by its neighbor Malaysia. The involvement of Saudis and others from the OIC nations could lead to further problems in the future.

The violence in the south has been little reported since the coup took place. News sources have eclipsed the actualities of the insurgency with optimistic articles about potential peace processes. But violence continues.

Yesterday, according to the Bangkok Post, XInhua and Nation, four soldiers were injured and one killed in northeastern Yala province.

At 6.20 am local time in Jakwa village in Raman district, a pick-up truck carrying six Islamists pulled up in front of a military booth and began firing with AK-47 and M16 assault rifles and shotguns. After about five minutes of gunfire being exchanged, the militants drove off. Sergeant Sornkhom Ngamsifah died during the attack.

Elsewhere in Yala yesterday, a bomb was set off on the Yala city to Thasap highway, and injured four policemen.

Late last night, in Waeng district in Pattani province, insurgents burned down a police outpost with Molotov cockails. No police were on duty at the time, and consequently there were no injuries.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 12:31 PM | Comments (2)

Egypt: Muslim Women Shall Now Woo Tourists

Why are Muslims so uptight about "their" women marrying (or "wooing") infidels? Because Muhammad did not allow Muslim women to marry non-Muslims. Why did Muhammad banned the practice, but allowed Muslim men to marry "infidel" women? Because if group A is allowed to marry women of group B but group B is not allowed to marry women of group A, group A will end up absorbing group B: Egypt guides angered by seductive portrayal

CAIRO -- Tourist guides in Egypt called Sunday for a "licentious" Ramadan television series to be pulled because it shows one of their number, played by popular actress Leila Olwi, "wooing" a tourist.

"In this series, 'Nur Al Sabah' (Light of Day), we see licentious scenes such as when she woos this tourist by dancing," the head of the tourist guides' union, Mohammed Ghareeb, said.

He said that he had called on information minister Anas Al Fiqi and the government censor to ban the series being shown on state-run television since the Muslim fasting month started late September.

The character is "unrealistic" and "degrades the image of guides," said Ghareeb, saying that the character - "a frivolous divorcee" - was also seen driving a minibus that is strictly against union regulations.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 12:04 PM | Comments (0)

Afghanistan: 13-Year-Old Jailed for Escaping Arranged Marriage

In a "culture" (you know, religion) in which a woman is always the ward of a male, be it her relative or husband, in a religion whose founder consumated his marriage to a young girl when she was nine years old, this kind of thing is bound to happen: Jailed for escaping 'the old man'

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN - At 13, Shabano is as self-conscious and awkward as any teenaged girl. She laughs shyly when asked personal questions and nervously chips at the orange nail polish that can't hide her grimy nails.

But Shabano, like the other "women" prisoners in the Kandahar district jail, has adult-sized problems. Two months ago, she was jailed for running away from an arranged marriage with a 50-year-old man, a deal negotiated by her father before his death. Home for her now is a dark cell containing nothing but a filthy mattress folded up and stacked against the concrete wall.

Shabano has been locked up for breaking her father's deal, an exchange that horrified the girl who refers to her former fiance simply as "the old man."

"I don't want to spend my life with this old man," she said, scrunching her nose in disgust. And then in a burst of anger, she launched into a diatribe against her country's ancient custom of arranging marriages for young girls.

"We don't have democracy in this country if someone wants a love marriage," she said. "My father exchanged me for another girl." When her father gave her to the 50-year-old man, he returned the gift by offering his own teenager to Shabano's father.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)

UK: Tony Blair - Muslim Veils Are A "Mark Of Separation"

On October 5 Britain's former foreign secretary, Jack Straw, said that he found the Muslim face veil (nikab or niqab) hindered communications and was a sign of "separation".

On October 10, Tony Blair, appearing in the rain outside Downing Street, talking to BBC TV's Breakfast News, was asked about Straw's comments. He was uneasy, but said: "I think in the end, it's a matter of them choosing what they want to do....But I think the reason why Jack raised this is because these are issues that people do feel quite strongly about and they are trying to say how do we make sense of a different type of society in which we live, how do we make sure people integrate more, how do we make sure that people aren't sort of wanting to separate themselves out from the mainstream of society.... It's a difficult and tricky debate to enter into, as we can see over the past few days."

Since the debate has intensified. An assistant teacher was suspended from a Dewsbury school where she was meant to help children, for whom English was not a first language, to learn English. 23-year old Aishah Azmi wore a veil, and the children had complained that they could not understand her. Though she had not worn her veil when interviewed for the job, Azmi insisted she woul not remove the veil, which led to her suspension.

On Sunday, October 15, we wrote that the race and faith minister, Phil Woolas, agreed with the school decision to sack Azmi, and said she should be sacked. Woolas said: "She cannot teach a classroom of children wearing a veil. You cannot have a teacher who wears a veil simply because there are men in the room. She is denying the right of children to a full education by insisting that she wears the veil. If she is saying that she won't work with men, she is taking away the right of men to work in schools."

"By insisting that she will wear the veil if men are there, she's saying: 'I'll work with women, but not men'. That's sexual discrimination. No head-teacher could agree to that. There are limits in a liberal democracy. There are boundaries in a democracy and this is one of them. It's a boundary we can't cross."

The following day, the MP for Dewsbury, Shahid Malik, agreed that Aishah Azmi should be sacked, saying: "The basic thrust of what Phil says is just common sense. If you are not able to fulfil your job requirements then obviously it will be difficult for you to continue in that particular role."

And now, prime minister Tony Blair has come forward and openly said that he thinks that the Muslim face-veil is a "mark of separation". He made the comments yesterday at a Downing Street press conference. He also said that he supported the school's decision to suspend Aishah Azmi.

The news is carried by the Times, the Telegraph, the Guardian, the Independent and the Mirror.

Blair was asked if a woman who wore a veil could make a full contribution to society. He responded: "It is a mark of separation and that is why it makes other people from outside the community uncomfortable."

"No one wants to say that people don't have the right to do it. That is to take it too far. But I think we need to confront this issue about how we integrate people properly into our society."

Blair said that the decision of whether teachers were allowed to wear veils in schools was a matter for the education authority. He said: "They should be allowed to take that decision. I do support the authority in the way that they have handled this."

Asked specifically about the case of Aishah Azmi, he said: "I simply say that I back their handling of the case. I can see the reason why they came to the decision they did. Difficult though these issues are, they need to be raised and confronted."

He said there was a question about how Islam "comes to terms and is comfortable with" the modern world. He explained: "We have to deal with the debate. People want to know that the Muslim community in particular, but actually all minority communities, have got the balance right between integration and multiculturalism."

Muslims have claimed that Britain's foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan has fuelled Muslim extremism. Blair said of this: "It's absurd and you won't defeat this extremism until you take that argument head on. And the real problem we've got is that it has got to be taken head on in the Muslim community as well."

After the conference, a Downing Street official explained that the debate over the veil had not been engineered by ministers, but it could not be evaded. The representative said: "It isn't just a debate that affects Muslims, it's also a debate which affects non-Muslims. You can't just put your head in the sand and say these issues don't exist."

Mrs Azmi is currently awaiting an employment tribunal with Kirklees Council contesting the decision by Headfield Church of England Junior School to have her suspended. The Mirror reports that her lawyer has threatened to sue Tony Blair, claiming that his comments will interfere with the hearing.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 4:40 AM | Comments (4)

October 17, 2006

Indonesia: Muslim-Christian Tensions Rising

Yesterday, we wrote of the killing of a priest, Reverend Irianto Kongkoli in Palu, capital of Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. Rev. Irianto was buying ceramic tiles from a building store, accompanied by his wife, when an unidentified gunman wearing a mask shot him in the head. He fled on a motorcycle with an accomplice, states Reuters AlertNet. His wife was waiting outside the shop, in their car. She is a policewoman.

There seems some confusion as to whether the priest was Catholic or protestant. ReutersAlertNet, AKI and Catholic News suggests he was a protestant while Spero states he was a Catholic. He had been chairman of the Central Sulawesi Churches of Synod (GKST).

According to Spero, the governor of Sulawesi, Bandjela Paliudju, told the press that he believed that Irianto Kongkoli was killed because he had defended the three Catholics who were executed by firing squad on September 22. Paliudju said: "He was an outspoken priest who many times led Christian protests against the executions."

Fabianus Tibo, 60, Marinus Riwu, 48, and Dominggus da Silva, 42 had been executed for their alleged roles in sectarian violence against Muslims in Poso in May 2000. They had been sentenced in April 2001, in a trial of dubious justice, and their executions went ahead despite pleas from the EU, US senators and Pope Benedict XVI. At the men's trial, crowds of Muslim activists demanded their death, and it is believed they received their death sentences to pacify the mob.

The violence on Poso in Central Sulawesi was part of a sectarian Muslim-Christian conflict which lasted from 2000 to 2002 and killed 1,000 people, though Poso had been subject to inter-faith violence since December 1998. More Christians than Muslims died, but the maximum sentence given to any Muslim for the violence has been 15 years' imprisonment. The conflict on Sulawesi was part of the wider Moluccan War, initiated by Lashkar Jihad, which lasted from 1999 to 2002.

The deliberate assassination of a priest has heightened tensions in Central Sulawesi, where there is an equal number of Muslims and Chrisians. According to AKI, Joseph Suwatan, the Catholic bishop of a diocese which includes North and South Sulawesi, said: "We are not sure how to read this killing. We are very worried about the situation in the region."

Suwatan said he feared that Christians would organise themselves into groups to defend themselves. He warned: "We are very active in reminding them [Christians] not to fall in this trap and not to search for justice alone."

Speaking of the mass murders which happened in Sulawesi, Suwatan said: "I do not understand why in all these years, the government has not been able to find out who is behind to all this violence. It is their responsibility. We demand a serious and big effort."

He disagreed with governor Paliudju's suggestion that the priest had ben killed because he had defended the three Catholics who were executed. "The killing is linked to years of violence and not just to the execution of the three Christians. It seems to me too simple to limit it only to that," he said.

The national police chief of Indonesia, General Sutanto, said that he has ordered an investigation into Rev. Iranto Kongkoli's death. He said: "We need to make sure such killings do not happen again."

Asia Times quotes Fr Benny Susetyo, secretary of the Interfaith and Religious Dialogue Commission of the Bishops’ Conference of Indonesia, who said: "Let an independent taskforce or fact-finding team be established to disclose the facts. Without any strong commitment from local government and Jakarta, peace and order in Poso will not be achieved."

Muhammadiyah, the second largest Muslim group in Indonesia, condemned the priest's murder. Din Syamsudin, its chairman said that security forces "must keep the peace and bring to justice the murderers."

A local Muslim leader, Adnan Arsal, said: "We said it in the past and we repeat it now. Local Muslims are not involved in this violence. The provocateurs came from outside and the government must act." Arsal is currently involved in inter-faith reconciliation, but AKI states that he had taken part in the sectarian conflict.

We wrote yesterday of the escalation of conflict between groups on Sulawesi, where Muslim militants mounted fresh attacks against Christians last year, particularly at after the end of Ramadan. Schoolgirls have been beheaded and in one instance, it transpired that two Christian schoolgirls who had been shot in the head and critically injured had been attacked by a policeman.

Reverend Andreas Yewangoe, head of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia, the umbrella group for Protestants, said: "The lives of people in Central Sulawesi are shrouded with fear. The government's approach is too standard. Every time there is unrest, troops are sent. More should be done. The church institution urges the setting of an independent team to probe the recurring violence."

He added: "We call on Christians not to react to the provocation that these acts of terror represent; they are only meant to set one community against the other."

Much of the recent violence has centered on Poso. Recently 800 extra police have been sent to the city. On September 6, a 50-year old Christian man, John Tobeli, was killed by a bomb in a village in Poso district. On Saturday september 9, a 20-year old Christian woman, Nela Saliango, was killed when a bomb was thrown at her house in a suburb of Poso city.

On October 1, three homemade bombs went off in Poso, on the first anniversary of the last Bali bombings. The first bomb was set off outside a church which was under construction. Later in the day, a Muslim mob dragged a Christian man off a bus and stabbed him. He survived the attack.

But there have been more bombings, states Associated Press via International Herald Tribune. On Saturday (October 14), a small bomb was detonated outside a government building in Poso. It did not cause great damage. Sulfur, pipes and shrapnel were found at the scene. Poso police chief Lt. Col. Rudi Sufahriady did not suggest who may hae set of the device, but said the bombing seemed to be "part of a campaign to terrorize the people."

Today, International Herald Tribune states that another blast happened yesterday (Monday 16) in Poso city. It went off in an abandoned house. No-one was injured. Again, Lt. Col. Rudi Sufahriady would not proffer suggestions on the identity of the bombers and said: "This is a part of a campaign to create unrest."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:21 PM | Comments (0)

Nigeria: Christian Teacher on Trial for "Blasphemy"

Islam, it seems, cannot stand to have non-Muslims in a position of authority over Muslims, not even in a teacher-student relationship. (And it doesn't help that the Christian teacher is a former Muslim.) It is with act like this, which alone do not seem enough to go to war over, that Islam slowly breaks a people's will to resist: NIGERIA: TEACHER ON TRIAL AFTER PUNISHING MUSLIM STUDENT

October 16 (Compass Direct News) – A Christian high school teacher at Government College in Keffi, in the northern state of Nasarawa, is on trial for blasphemy after he disciplined a Muslim student.

Joshua Lai is standing trial at a Magistrate Court 2 in the state capital of Lafia on charges of blasphemy against the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, and for “public incitement, rioting, and mischief.” Following the June 12 incident, Muslim students attacked Christian students and teachers and burned four houses, including Lai’s home.

Alerted by Christian students of a plan by Muslim students to kill him that night, the teacher fled his home. After the ensuing rampage, authorities detained Lai at the Keffi police station before he was remanded to prison custody for eight days on orders of Gov. Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 9:44 AM | Comments (0)

Malaysia: Company Apoligizes for Muslim Religious Chief's Anti-Hindu Remark

Here's the difficult question; what would Muhammad Ibn Abdullah have adviced his followers to do with respect to a Hindu holiday? Even in a semi-not-so-bad Muslim state like Malaysia, things like this will happen. They are the result of the teachings of a long-dead mass-murdering chieftain with prophetical delusions: Takaful Malaysia apologises for official's stance on Hindu holiday

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian government-linked Islamic finance group has officially apologized after its religious chief advised Muslim staff not to give holiday greetings to Hindu colleagues for an upcoming celebration he described as blasphemous.

The apology was posted on publicly traded Takaful Malaysia's Web site Tuesday.

The company, which is majority-owned by Malaysia's Bank Islam, has already distanced itself from an e-mail memo sent by its religious department chief, Mohamed Fauzi Mustaffa, that advised Muslim employees against wishing Hindus "Happy Diwali.''

Mohamed Fauzi's e-mail described Hindu festivals as against Islamic tenets as they involve the worship of deities.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 9:12 AM | Comments (0)

Philippines: Islamist Bomb Explodes - Materials Seized

News from Reuters AlertNet, AKI, Zamboanga Sun Star, China Peoples' Daily, and Deutsche Presse Agentur via Raw Story, Khaleej Times and Telegu reports on the current situation in the Philippines.

On October 10 and 11 there were Islamist bomb attacks on the southern island of Mindanao, which killed twelve people. It was surmised that the bombings were connected to the arrest of the wife of Dulmatin, a Jemaah Islamiyah leader.

The woman had been arrested in Jolo island, southwest of Mindanao. Her husband has been taking refuge with Islamists from Filipino group Abu Sayyaf on Jolo. Currently the Filipino army is mounting a campaign against Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah activists who are on this island.

On Sunday (October 15), an explosion happened at a police compound on Jolo island. Two people were injured. The blast happened inside Camp Asturias in downtown Jolo city, where there is also a 10-bedroom inn.

On the west of Mindanao island at Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur province, troops had found and defused a homemade bomb earlier in the day.

This morning, following a tip-off, a large cache of explosives was discovered on a boat at Zamboanga City port. The explosive material was ammonium nitrate, which was on a boat which had arrived at the port from Jolo island. The chemical was stored inside a fish cooler, under layers of fish on the boat MV Nickel Princely.

The port police commander, Major Frank Clavecillas, said: "We have intelligence report about this shipment and security forces had been alerted about the arrival of the ship. We are still investigating whether this cargo is owned by the Abu Sayyaf or Jemaah Islamiya. We also have intelligence reports that a shipment of ammunition is also on its way to Zamboanga from Jolo."

When the boat arrived at Zamboanga at 6 am local time, a truck driver and two others claimed the cargo. These individuals and three men were placed under arrest. The ammonium nitrate which was marked "Made in France" was found in eight bags. In total, it weighed 200 kilograms or half a tonne.

Ammonium nitrate was used in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1995, killing 168 people. The discovery of French-made ammonium nitrate by police is the first time this has happened. Previous smuggled ammonium nitrate has come from Indonesia or Malaysia.

Col. Antonio Supnet, commander of the Anti-Terror Task Force at Zamboanga said that last month, a supply of 500 kilograms had been discovered on another boat which had come from Jolo.

Today, police units throughout the Philippines were placed on high alert, fearing more attacks by Islamists.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:40 AM | Comments (0)

Iraq: Radicals Declare Sunni Islamist "State"

News from the Telegraph, CCTV, PEJ News, News.com.au, MediaLine, and Associated Press via the Jerusalem Post reports that a coalition of Sunni Islamists in Iraq have declared that a large swathe of Iraq is now an "Islamic State".

The region described by the Mujahideen Shura Council includes six provinces. The Telgraph provides a graphic of the intended "Islamic State" HERE.

The statement announcing that the region covering central and western Iraq as a Sunni enclave was announced on a video by the Mujahideen Shura Council. This grouping includes fanatical Islamists, including the "Al Qaeda of the Two Rivers". It was made by a man in a light-colored top like that worn by Arctic explorers, with a white blob covering his head, making him look like one of the models from a children's toy set. He is seated in front of a banner emblazoned with the Arabic script, reading: "No God but Allah, and Mohammed is His Messenger".

The announcer said that all Sunni Muslims should support "the new government headed by Abdullah Rashid al-Baghdadi." This individual is said to be head of the Mujahideen Shura Council.

"Your brothers announce the establishment of the Islamic State in Baghdad, Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Salah al-Din, Ninawa, and in other parts of the governorate of Babel, in order to protect our religion and our people."

SITE Institute states that the video is eight and a half minutes long. The spokesperson states that the state has been created by the Pact of the Scented People (Khalf al-Mutayibeen), which was formed on Thursday, October 12 this year. It is formed from the Mujahideen Shura Council, the Conquering Army (Jeish al-Fatiheen), Army Squad of the Prophet Mohammed (Jund al-Sahaba), Brigades of al-Tawhid Wal Sunnah, and Sunni tribes.

SITE states that the strange garb of the presenter (pictured) is the official uniform of the Pact of the Scented People.

Last week, perhaps out of desperation induced by the continuous daily sectarian killings in the nation, the Iraqi parliament announced a federalism law, which allows provinces to unite into semi-autonomous regions. The video announcement seems to have been created in response to this ruling.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:21 AM | Comments (2)

October 16, 2006

US: Lawyer Gets Jail Sentence For Helping Islamist Sheikh's Propaganda

Lynne Stewart, (pictured left), is a 67-year old grandmother and lawyer, who has defended clients from the Black Panthers and members of the Weather Underground to a mob hit man. But her most notorious client was the blind Egyptian Sheikh, Omar Abdel-Rahman, whom she defended in his trial on charges of organizing the first World Trade Center bomb attack. And her unprofessional involvement with the sheikh, spiritual leader of Egyptian terror group Gamaa Islamiya has now landed her with a 28 month jail term. Today, when the sentence was handed down to her in Manhattan federal court, US district judge John G. Koetl allowed her to remain free while she mounts an appeal against the sentence.

The news is carried by Bloomberg the BBC, Jurist Paper Chase, Associated Press via Forbes, International Herald Tribune, Seattle PI, Find Law, Topix.net and the Baltimore Sun,and Reuters via ABC News.

On February 26, 1993, Ramzi Yousef drove a truck laden with 1,200 pounds of explosives, laced with cyanide into the underground car park beneath the World Trade Center. Six people died in the ensuing blast, and 1,000 people were injured.

When Omar Abdel-Rahman stood accused of organizing the bombing, Lynne Stewart defended him. He had been arrested in July, 1993, and was convicted in October 1995 of seditious conspiracy. He had planned attacks upon various New York landmarks, including the United Nations, the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, the George Washington Bridge.

Lynne Stewart continued to maintain a relationship with her Egyptian client, who had gone blind as a result of childhood diabetes. She assisted him in his attempts at appeal. Yet she herself was arrested and indicted in April 2002, accused of helping Rahman to communicate with the outside world, against the express prohibition of such an act. Also accused were Arabic translator Mohammed Yousry and US postal worker Ahmed Sattar.

In February 2005, Stewart was found guilty of assisting Rahman to contact radical followers in Egypt. Yousry and Sattar were also found guilty. At the time, the National Lawyers' Guild condemned the verdict, with Michael Avery, its president, writing: "The U.S. Department of Justice was resolute from day one in making a symbol out of Lynne Stewart in support of its campaign to deny people charged with crimes of effective legal representation. The government is bent on intimidating attorneys from providing zealous representation to unpopular clients. The National Lawyers Guild strongly urges its own members and other defense lawyers to continue to proudly represent clients who are openly critical of government policies."

The NFL stated that the indictment would have an impact upon the Sixth Amendment right to be represented by an attorney. But this was not about some poor martyr being falsely accused. Stewart has played on every available sympathy vote possible, from her having breast cancer surgery to making mention that she is a mother of six and that she has 14 grandchildren. The case was never about her life history or the right of a criminal to have a lawyer. It was about a lawyer breaking the law.

Before today's sentencing, Stewart wrote a nine page letter to Judge Koetl. In between the whining self-pity and emotive pleas, typical of her leftist stance, she does acknowledge that she broke the law.

In the letter, she wrote that she had concluded that she had committed a "careless' act of "over-devotion" to clients. She said before the sentencing: "I am not a traitor" and "I am softhearted to the point of self-abnegation."

She justified to the New York Times that as she watched Abdel-Rahman (pictured, right) deteriorate mentally and physically while he was in solitary confinement, she felt she had to help him speak out. She said: "I did what I did for the client because he was a human being. Did my heart run away with me? It always does...I let myself slide too much."

Her "human being" of a client was prepared to carry out murder on a grand scale. But being a left-wing lawyer, such niceties seemed to evade Stewart's reasoning. While she defended herself in court, she had argued that violence against institutions was occasionally necessary to "fight oppression."

In her letter to judge Koetl, she had written: "The government's characterisation of me and what occurred is inaccurate and untrue. It takes unfair advantage of the climate of urgency and hysteria that followed 9/11."

The prosecution had wanted her to be given the full possible sentence of 30 years' imprisonment. Court documents quote the prosecution as saying that her "egregious, flagrant abuse of her profession, abuse that amounted to material support to a terrorist group, deserves to be severely punished."

Today, between 150 to 200 left-wing supporters of the traitor tried to pack the courthouse in Manhattan. Outside the courthouse, an equivalent number waved their placards and chanted "Free Lynne".

Her 28 month sentence today came as a shock, and prosecutors have said that they will launch an appeal. Postal worker Ahmed Sattar was given a sentence of 24 years' jail for conspiracy to murder, and translator Yousry was given a 20 month jail sentence for supporting the conspiracy.

Judge Koetl said that there was "no evidence that any victim was in fact harmed" from Stewart's conspiracy, and mentioned her thirty year career as a "lawyer to the poor and the unpopular.....It is no exaggeration to say that Ms. Stewart performed a public service not only to the court but to the nation."

The prosecution has maintained that some of the murder-obsessed cleric's messages to the outside world included incitement to violence. They had also sought a 20 year sentence for Yousry.

Stewart still thinks her appeal will see her remain free. She told her supporters: "We will claim victory here. We are happy and humbled to be going home today. I hope the government realizes their error....I hope the appeal will vindicate me and make me back into the lawyer I was."

Hopefully, the appeal will see her getting a longer jail term. To defend unpopular clients is one thing. To collude with a known terrorist and help him send messages to his terrorist followers is not the behavior of an attorney. It is the behavior of a terror-supporter and a criminal.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:00 PM | Comments (3)

UK: Two Muslim Terror Suspects Are On The Run

News from the BBC, the Press Association of Britain via the Guardian and the Times' Breaking News reports that two terror suspects, who had been on control orders, have escaped.

The first suspect absconded months ago, and the most recent, a 25-year old individual who was held in a mental health unit, escaped two weeks ago. Both are still on the run. The first suspect, an Iraqi national, had appealed against his control order earlier this year. He had won the right to have the restrictions of the order reduced, and as soon as this was done, he promptly disappeared and has not been seen since.

The 25-year old, who is a British national, was subjected to the control order in March. The BBC states that he had been accused of wanting to go to Iraq to fight against coalition forces.

It appears that these individuals may have been those we reported on in June when six people were appealing against control orders. Five were Iraqi nationals, and one British.

The six individuals were not confined for a 24 hour period within their houses. They had six hours in which they could travel. The individuals were obliged to remain indoors only between the hours of 4 pm and 10 am. Their ability to use telephone and internet services were also curtailed.

Visitors to their homes had to provide beforehand name, address and photographic identification. The individuals under a Control Order can be searched at any time of day, or night. The five Iraqis were arguing that they could not be deported to Iraq, as they would be likely to receive torture back home, which would then be affected by Article 3 of the ECHR. At that time, Mr Justice Sullivan was saying that control orders were in breach of the European Convention of Human Rights.

The British national may be the person referred to only as "S", who on April 12 challenged his control order. Described as 22-year-old male student from Yorkshire, he had been stopped at Manchester airport in March 2005 after he had attempted to fly to Syria. Security officials claimed that the man had intended to fly from there to Iraq, to fight against coalition forces.

The available news is that the individual escaped through a window at a London psychiatric unit. he had ben placed there under Britain's mental health laws. A person can be detained under the Mental Health Act for four weeks for observation, or, under a "Section 3" order, can be detained indefinitely, if the person is thought to be a danger to himself or others.

His family are apparently concerned about his safety, and have appealed for him to return. The individual claims he had been arrested on a recent visit to Pakistan, interned for seven months, and tortured by ISI, the intelligence services.

The man's brother said to BBC News: "We don't know what to think. We don't know what sort of mind he might be in."

David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said of the man's escape from a mental health unit that it was "extraordinary". He said it was "hard to understand how this man was allowed to escape, especially while undergoing psychiatric assessment."

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

Ethiopia: Christians and Muslims Fight, Five Dead

Fresh from an overwhelming victory in Somalia, the Religion of Peace begins to bring its peace into adjacent Ethiopia: Five people die in Muslim-Christian clashes in western Ethiopia

The clash happened near Dembi, about 440 kilometers west of the capital, Addis Ababa, where at least eight people died when Muslims and Christians fought on Sept. 26 over an Ethiopian Orthodox Church festival.

Five people died in clashes over the weekend in a western Ethiopian region that has seen clashes between Muslims and Christians, a police spokesman said Monday.

The clash happened near Dembi, about 440 kilometers (273 miles) west of the capital, Addis Ababa, where at least eight people died when Muslims and Christians fought on Sept. 26 over an Ethiopian Orthodox Church festival.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 3:07 PM | Comments (0)

UK: University Teachers Asked to Monitor Muslim Students

Why would they need to do that? I thought Islam was a Religion of Peace? UK teachers asked to spy on Muslims

Senior university personnel throughout Britain have been asked to spy on Muslim or Asian students who are suspected of being involved in terrorist activities, the British newspaper The Guardian reported Monday morning.

According to the report, police are enlisting university professors to help locate potential suspects who might be supporting terror. From now on, professors and other senior staff will be asked to look out for suspicious activity on the part of their Muslim and Asian students.

"It sounds to me to be potentially the widest infringement of the rights of Muslim students that there ever has been in this country. It is clearly targeting Muslim students and treating them to a higher level of suspicion and scrutiny. It sounds like you're guilty until you're proven innocent," Wakkas Khan, president of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, told The Guardian.

The article also reported that the British government is convinced that a Muslim terrorist network is currently being established within univerity campuses.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 2:55 PM | Comments (0)

Somalia: Pirates Scared Off By Islamic Punishments

The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that the Merchant International Group has claimed that piracy has virtually ceased off the coast of Somalia.

A year ago, we reported that pirates had hijacked two UN ships loaded with food supplies, destined for the poor of Somalia. These ships, the Torgelow and the MV Semlow, contained provisions from the UN's World Food Program. At that time, piracy in Somalia was so bad that the International Maritime Bureau described it as the "most serious in the world". There were 21 incidents in the six months from March 2005 to October 2005.

The Merchant International Group, which gives advice on trading in trouble spots around the world, said in a recent report: "The spread of Islamist rule in Somalia under the Islamic Courts Union merits particular attention. Over 40 attacks on vessels were reported in and around Somali waters between March 2005 and July 2006, but not a single act of piracy in the area has been reported in the months since."

On November, 70 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia, a US cruise ship, the Seabourn Spirit was attacked by pirates armed with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns. The pirates were driven off by a high decibel "sonic gun" fired from the Miami-owned ship.

Pirates have continued to demand ransoms. In January, the Taiwanese owners of three fishing vessels paid $450,000 for their return.

The payment of ransoms continued even after the Islamists had taken charge of Mogadishu on June 5. We wrote earlier that on June 29, 25 hostages, who had been kidnapped by pirates in April, were going to be released, following the payment of $800,000. These included 8 South Koreans, 9 Indonesians, 5 Vietnamese and 3 Chinese.

Islamists took control of the port of Mogadishu on July 13, when warlord Mohamoud Jama Furuh handed it over to Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. On August 14, Islamists took control of two ports, Eldher and Harardheere, which had been used as pirate bases. As the Islamists moved in, pirates loyal to regional warlord Abdi Mohamed Afweyne moved out.

Sheikh Said Ali of the Islamic courts announced then: "The era of banditry and piracy is over. People can now live peacefully and get money by fishing and doing other businesses, but not piracy. The pirates have mistreated people in the territorial waters of Somalia and damaged our credibility. The actions of the pirates were unlawful, unacceptable and un-Islamic. Anybody suspected of aiding pirates or being among them will be punished according to sharia law. The pirates are enemies of Somalia as well as the Islamic courts."

We reported on September 25 that the southern port of Kismayo was taken over by Islamists, without a shot being fired. This port had been the fiefdom of warlord Colonel Bare Adam Shire Hiraale, who was also defense minister of the Baidoa-based interim government.

Some members of this government included warlords who were involved in piracy. Two of the Taiwanese vessels for which ransoms had been paid in January had been in the hands of militia, stationed in Kayoome Island near the port town of Kismayo, since last August.

The threats made by the Islamists to introduce sharia punishments - executions and amputations to those found engaging in piracy - is said by the Merchant International Group report to have caused the drop in incidents of piracy.

As a precaution, however, the report advises that shipping should still steer clear of the coast of Somalia, at a distance of 160 kilometers (100 miles).

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 2:29 PM | Comments (1)

Netherlands: Turkish Youth Turning To Radical Islam

Today, states Expatica, a report was released by the Netherlands' anti-terrorism coordination office, the NCTb.

The report claims that an increasing number of Turkish Youths were becoming involved in networks of radical Islam, that were prepared to carry out attacks against the West. The report said this new phenomenon was "remarkable".

The document claimed that previously, some Turkish youths had occasionally joined "jihad networks" which comprised in the main North Africans. Now, whole groups of youths are susceptible to jihad-oriented Islam.

The NTCTb quarterly report claimed: "Frustration over the position of Muslims in the Netherlands and anger over the events in conflict regions give food to the feeling that 'something' must be done."

The report claims that although the threat of a major terrorist attack in the Netherlands seems less than it had done earlier, there is still a real threat of such an attack taking place.

No actual threats had been issued by jihad groups, few radical Muslims were arriving in Europe from Iraq, and international terror networks did not seem overly interested in the Netherlands as a target, the report additionally stated.

It acknowledged that the Muslim community was increasing its attempts to defuse radicalism, but said that it still had concerns about polarization of the community. It blamed the extreme right and the reporting of inter-ethnic violence. Half of this violence involved so-called "Lonsdale Youth" (neo-Nazis who wear Lonsdale clothing as a uniform), skinheads and the National Alliance, a right-wing party founded in 2003.

A summary of the report was sent out to the Dutch parliament by the interior minister, Johan Remkes and the newly-appointed justice minister, Ernst Hirsch Ballin.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 12:17 PM | Comments (0)

India: Two Muslims Caught With Explosives At New Delhi

News from Reuters AlertNet, Nine MSN.com.au, Agence France Presse via Forbes, Associated Press via International Herald Tribune, and Deutsche Presse Agentur via Khaleej Times reports that two suspected Islamists from the group Laskar-e-Taiba have been arrested in Delhi as they stepped off a train. The two individuals were found to have 1.5 kilograms (3.3 lb) of RDX, a high explosive. The men, named as Mohammed Alamgir (Mohammed Aslam Gir) and Abdul Razzaq were arrested from the railway station in the old quarters of the city.

They are said to be Bangladeshi, from the Rajshahi district in the west of that nation. The arrests seem to demonstrate that there were plans again to bomb Delhi during its annual Diwali festival, which celebrates the Hindu New Year. Diwali commences on October 21.

Last year, sixty people died when three bombs went off in New Delhi on October 29. The first two bombs took place in two markets at Pahargani and Sarojini Naga as shoppers thronged to buy presents in the days before the Diwali celebrations. The third bomb happened in Govindpuri, where a bomb was thrown from a bus.

The news of todays arrests was given to NDTV by a senior police officer, Aloke Kumar. He said: "From the preliminary investigations, it looks like they were to carry out blasts in Delhi. The arrests come at a time when the security in the capital is at an all-time high in view of the festive season."

Kumar said: "These are Lashkar operatives. They are essentially Bangladeshis who had entered from the Bangladesh border." He said that the two men had boarded a train in Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu & Kashmir state in northern India. Currently, more than a dozen Muslim terror groups, including Lashkar-e-Taiba, are waging a war of attrition in this state.

Lashkar-e-Taiba (also called Lashkar-e-Toiba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba or LeT), whose name means "Army of the Pure" had carried out last year's Delhi attacks, even though they had initially denied responsibility, and had sickeningly offered their "condolences" to the victims.

LeT had been founded by Hafiz Mohammed Saeed (pictured) who is now the head of Jamaat-ud-Dawah, which recently gave a death sentence to pope Benedict XVI. Saeed is top of India's list of most wanted criminals. Now living in Pakistan, Saeed founded LeT in the late 1980s. It operates in Kashmir, and seeks to have Jammu & Kashmir state secede from India. It has used violent campaigns of terror since it began. It is also thought to have committed the Mumbai blasts of June 11 tis year, where seven train bombs killed 186 people and wounded more than 800 others.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)

UK: Muslim Extremism In British "Hot Spots"

Earlier, the Guardian and the Times stated from leaked reports that today, communities secretary Ruth Kelly (pictured), was to ask 20 "key" councils to consider if they have done enough to tackle extremists in their communities.

Kelly has spoken to representatives of local authorities, states the BBC, in news which is also discussed by Reuters, the Guardian, ITV.com, the Daily Mail, Christian Today, Life Style Extra and Epolitix.

The meeting took place behind closed doors this morning, and lasted an hour. She said: "The new extremism we're facing is the single biggest security issue for local communities. This is not just a problem for Muslim communities. The far right is still with us, still poisonous, still trying to create and exploit divisions. Extremism is an issue for all of us. We all must play our part in responding to it. The world has changed since September 11 and 7/7."

"The government has had to change and respond to that, and we appeal to local authorities to do the same."

After the meeting, she said: "We have been discussing the shared challenge that we face, the scale of the threat that we face from Islamist terrorism in this country."

We wrote on October 12 of Kelly's last statement concerning Muslims, when she said that no government funding would go to Muslim groups who were extremist. That speech was countered by Muslim groups, including the Islamic Human Rights Commission and Hizb ut-Tahrir who are, in their own right, extremist.

The Guardian and the Times stated that the Department of Education and Skills plans to urge universities to spy on potential Muslim extremists and those of an "Asian" appearance. The proposals are listed in an 18-page document, which will be published by the end of the year. The report acknowledged that universities would be wary of reporting details of students to Special Branch.

The report claims: "Special branch are aware that many HEIs [higher education institutions] will have a number of concerns about working closely with special branch. Some common concerns are that institutions will be seen to be collaborating with the 'secret police'."

"HEIs may also worry about what special branch will do with any information supplied by an HEI and what action the police may subsequently take....Special branch are not the 'secret police' and are accountable."

"While radicalisation may not be widespread, there is some evidence to suggest that students at further and higher educational establishments have been involved in terrorist- related activity, which could include actively radicalising fellow students on campus....Perhaps most importantly, universities and colleges provide a fertile recruiting ground for students."

"There are different categories of students who may be 'sucked in' to an Islamist extremist ideology....There are those who may be new to a university or college environment and vulnerable to 'grooming' by individuals with their own agenda as they search for friends and social groups; there are those who may be actively looking for extremist individuals with whom to associate. Campuses provide an opportunity for individuals who are already radicalised to form new networks, and extend existing ones."

"Islamic societies have tended to invite more radical speakers or preachers on to campuses....They can be forceful, persuasive and eloquent. They are able to fill a vacuum created by young Muslims' feelings of alienation from their parents' generation by providing greater 'clarity' from an Islamic point of view on a range of issues, and potentially a greater sense of purpose about how Muslim students can respond."

"The control of university or college Islamic societies by certain extremist individuals can play a significant role in the extent of Islamist extremism on campus."

Wakkas Khan, who is president of FoSIS, the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, said: "It sounds to me to be potentially the widest infringement of the rights of Muslim students that there ever has been in this country. It is clearly targeting Muslim students and treating them to a higher level of suspicion and scrutiny. It sounds like you're guilty until you're proven innocent."

The president of the NUS (National Union of Students), Gemma Tumelty, claimed: "They are going to treat everyone Muslim with suspicion on the basis of their faith. It's bearing on the side of McCarthyism."

When I was a student, it was common knowledge that details of student leaders in colleges and universities had Special Branch files made on them. Groups like Hizb ut-Tahrir are active on university campuses, even though they are officially banned.

One of the suspected terrorists who planned to blow up transatlantic airliners was active in his university's Islamic Society. On August 13, the Sunday Telegraph reported that Waheed Zaman, aged 22 and a biochemistry student, was head of the Islamic Society at London Metropolitan University. Material discovered at two portable buildings which were used by the Islamic Society include documents which advocate jihad and a pamphlet which describes how to deal with approaches from security services. Audi cassettes of sermons, made by Al Muhajiroun were also discovered in the buildings, which were used as a prayer room and a library.

Al Muhajiroun was founded by Omar Bakri Mohammed and gave rise to the extremist groups Al Ghurabaa and the Saved Sect, which were recently banned by the Home Secretary, John Reid.

A spokesman from the Department of Education and Skills admitted that guidelines on strategies to deal with radicalism in higher education establishments was being drawn up, but insisted final details had not been worked out. He said: "It is pure speculation to say what is going to be included."

The official spokesman for Tony Blair said: "The approach in universities is to teach the positive case for pluralism rather than to spy."

Muhammad Abdul Bari, head of the Muslim Council of Britain, has written to Ruth Kelly, complaining of the recent "drip feed" of ministers statements. Speaking on Radio 4, he said: "What is happening, especially in the last few months, has been a barrage of demonisation of the Muslim community to such an extent that the community is now scared and the whole community feels vulnerable."

"Ministers are not helping in this discourse within the Muslim community. What, simply, they are doing is trying to undermine and marginalise further Muslim community, especially those organisations which have been working so hard for community cohesion."

Lord Ahmed, the Muslim peer (in the House of Lords) said: "Unfortunately, it's so easy for everyone to jump on the bandwagon and attack the Muslim community which has become fashionable and probably a vote winner."

The latest government minister to join the debate about Muslims' inability or unwillingness to integrate into British society is Tessa Jowell. The Daily Mail reports that Ms Jowell, the culture secretary, has said that the Muslim veil was a symbol of women's oppression.

She was speaking on BBC Radio Five Live. She said: "We fought for generations for the equality of women, for women to take their equal place in society. Women who are heavily veiled, whose identity is obscured to the world apart from their husband, cannot take their full place in society."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)

Netherlands: Seven Muslims Stand Trial On Terror Charges

The character at left is 20-year old Samir Azzouz, the notorious Dutch Islamist, in the "farewell video" he recorded last year. It was broadcast on September 14 on Dutch TV station NOVA.

It was this broadcast which led to the arrest of Azzouz and three others on Friday, October 18 last year, from Amsterdam, the Hague and Almere.

Before his arrest in October, Azzouz had apparently been trying to obtain explosives and weapons. Azzouz had been under surveilance since 2003, when he returned from Chechnya. He and another individual had tried to join Islamists fighting the Russians in January of that year, but both had been turned back at the border.

In October 2003, Azzouz had been arrested with four other individuals, suspected of planning a terrorist attack on Dutch soil. He was set free. He was arrested again in July 2004. During the arrest, machine gun cartridges, a bullet-proof vest, two fake bombs, a silencer and maps were recovered from his home. He was sent to trial in Rotterdam in 2005, and convicted of possessing illegal arms. A further charge, that of plotting to attack public buildings, fell through. Having spent time in jail, his three month sentence was considered "used up". He was acquitted on April 6, 2006.

Azzouz, now aged 20, is of Moroccan descent. He was arrested as part of an operation called "Operation Piranha". Other suspects from this surveillance are linked to the Hofstad Group. This group, named after a slang name for the Hague, included Mohamed Bouyeri, the man who slaughtered filmmaker Theo van Gogh on November 2, 2004, for offending Muslim "sensibilities" in his film about Islam's abuse of women, called Submission.

On September 4 this year, a Czech-made CZ Scorpion 61 submachine pistol and a Smith & Wesson handgun, two ammunition clips and 300 conical tipped bullets for the submachine pistol were discovered in a basement in a housing complex in the Hague.

Today, Samir Azzouz and the six others who were arrested in October last year began their trial. The news is carried by Expatica and by Associated Press via CNN. Those on trial are six males and one woman.

When Azzouz was acquitted last year of serious charges, the Netherlands government introduced new laws. These included crimes of membership of a terrorist organization and "recruiting for a terrorist network". Azzouz is being charged under both of these counts.

His defense lawyer, Victor Koppe, says Azzouz is innocent and is being tried because the authorities are prejudiced against him.

Already, the prosecution has suffered a blow, states Expatica, because forensic examinations of the guns which were found in the basement in the Hague on September 4 have yielded no evidence of a physical link to Samir Azzouz, even though the gun pictured in his "farewell video" has a strong resemblance to the Scorpion 61 which was recovered. The defense said there was no forensic link, and this was confirmed by the prosecution on Friday (October 13).

The trial is being held in the high security Amsterdam-Osdorp court, and is expected to last for three weeks.

The prosecution believes that the guns belong to the terror cell which Azzouz is thought to belong to. A woman who lived in an apartment in the housing complex where they were found, Soumaya S., is the wife of Nourridine El Fatmi, aka Faoud. El Fatmi was sentenced on March 10 this year to five years' imprisonment for possessing a submachine gun in Amsterdam in June of last year.

Azzouz grew up on the same block in Amsterdam as Mohamed Bouyeri, the member of the Hofstad Group who murdered Theo van Gogh.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:20 AM | Comments (0)

Tajikistan: Ten Muslim Terror Attacks Averted This Year

Tajikistan in Central Asia is a former Soviet republic, and gained independence in 1991. 90% of its population is Muslim, and its constitution is secular. On October 19 last year, the Muslim headscarf or "hijab" was banned from its schools.

Today, according to Interfax-Religion and Ferghana.ru, Tajlkistan's deputy interior minister, Abdurahim Kakharov, made an announcement this morning. He said: "For some time we have seen an intensification of operations by Hizb ut-Tahrir and IMU in Tajikistan but we don't link that in any way with the coming presidential elections in November."

Hizb ut-Tahrir, a group founded in 1953 in Jerusalem by an Islamic jurist, aims to create a Caliphate, a pan-national Islamic body. The last Caliphate was that of the Ottomans in Turkey, which was dissolved by Kemal Ataturk in March, 1924. It despises democracy, and is banned in most Middle Eastern nations. It is banned in Germany and the Netherlands, and was banned in Russia as a terrorist organization in February 2003. At least 29 Hizb ut-Tahrir activists are in prison in Russia, serving lengthy sentences on terrorist charges. It was banned this year in Pakistan.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is also banned in nations where Soviet influence used to be held, such as Tajikistan, Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. In 2004, 70 members of Hizb ut-Tahrir were arrested in Tajikistan.

September 13, Yuldosh announced that his group would kill politicians in Central Asian states.

IMU has an estimated 700 members. It was founded in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 1998. In February 1999 it carried out a series of five car bombings in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. The group gained permission from the Taliban in May 1999 to have their base in Afghanistan. Juma Namangani, another leader of IMU, operated from the north Afghanistan base, training militants. He is also thought to have been made a "deputy" of Osama bin Laden in 2001. The two leaders were sentenced to death in absentia by a court in Uzbekistan for bombings caried out in Tashkent in February 1999. Namangani has recently been killed, according to Tahir Yuldosh.

On July 18 this year, 10 suspected members of IMU were arrested in Tajikistan, with three of them Uzbek nationals who were wanted for terrorist attacks carried out in Tashkent.

In August we reported that in Kyrgyzstan, Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan were operating together, and becoming involved in terrorist incidents in that country.

Today, the deputy interior minister of Tajikistan said: "Hizb ut-Tahrir is not giving up its objective - the formation of an Islamic Caliphate in Central Asia through overthrowing the constitutional regimes in these countries."

He continued: "We have detained several members of IMU who also belonged to Hizb ut-Tahrir," head of the Department for Resisting Organized Crime Mahmadsaid Jurakulov told the news conference. The movements have similar goals and the propaganda efforts of one [Hizb ut-Tahrir] are backed by the military support and arms of the other [IMU]."

In the first nine months of 2006, the Tajikistan interior ministry has detained 48 members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, and seized two computers, one printer, 404 books, 908 pamphlets and more than 1,500 extremist leaflets.

Last year in Britain, prime minister Tony Blair said that he wanted to outlaw Hizb ut-Tahrir. This has still not happened. As well as threatening women in universities to force them to wear the hijab, or headscarf, Hizb ut-Tahrir is also involved in using paintball sessions to train its recruits. It is banned in UK Universities, but has crept in to many campuses, using an alternative name, Stop Islamophobia.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:48 AM | Comments (0)

Indonesia: One In Ten Muslims Support Violent Jihad

News from Reuters, also described by Stuff, The Australian, Nine MSN.com.au, The China Post and Pakistan's Daily Times states that a survey in Indonesia has found that one in ten Muslims support violent acts of terrorism in the name of Islam.

Indonesia, with 220 million people, has the largest population of Muslims in any nation. It has 187 million Muslims, 85% of the total demographic. A survey was released yesterday, carried out by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI).

In a statement, the report's authors state: "Jihad that has been understood partially and practised with violence is justified by around one in 10 Indonesian Muslims. They approved the bombings conducted...in Bali with the excuse of defending Islam."

They write that this figure is "very significant". Extrapolated to the general populace, it would mean that 18.7 million Indonesians support Islamic terrorism.

1,092 Muslim men and women were surveyed. The report also found that one in 5 people supported the Islamist terror group Jemaah Islamiyah which carried out the bombings on Bali on October 12, 2002 (202 dead) and October 1, 2005 (20 dead).

This would mean that 37.4 million Indonesians support the terror group.

We wrote on March 16 this year of another report by the Indonesian Survey Institute, which had been carried out in all of Indonesia's 33 provinces. This report had surveyed 1,173 respondents in face to face interviews. The March report, which collected its data in January, produced similar results.

Then, one in ten people (11.2%) reported that they thought that suicide bombings were justifiable on occasion, and 0.5% said that suicide attacks were always justifiable while defending Islam against its enemies.

In March, only 8% of respondents said they supported Jemaah Islamiyah. The current study indicates that, with 20% of respondents supporting the terror group, there has been a sea change in national opinion.

Another study, which we described on July 28, examined the thoughts of 1,200 respondents. This study, carried out by the Center for Islamic and Social Studies (PPIM) reported that 40% of Muslims claimed they would be prepared to go war for their faith.

The PPIM report had been carried out over a longer period, from 2001 to March 2006, in 30 of the nation's 33 provinces. This revealed that 43.5 % of respondents said they would be prepared to wage war on threatening non-Muslim groups, while 40% said they would employ violence against anyone seen to be blaspheming against Islam. 14.7% said they would be prepared to tear down Chrisian churches which did not have official permits. 0.1% said that they had already been involved in arson attacks against Christian churches without permits, and 1.3% said that they had committed acts of "intimidation" against those they thought had blasphemed against Islam.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:02 AM | Comments (1)

Indonesia: Islamists Shoot Christian Priest On Sulawesi

The Indonesian province of Central Sulawesi has seen a resurgence of violence against Christians lately. From 1999 to 2002, at least 1,000 people died in Muslim/Christian sectarian conflict, which was part of the wider Moluccan War, which had been initiated by the Lashkar Jihad, an Islamist group led by Jaffar Umar Thalib.

Last year, a bomb attack in May at a market in Tentena, a Christian town in the province, saw 22 people killed and 30 injured. But on October 29 2005, four Christian girls were attacked as they went to school. Three of the girls - Ida Yarni Sambue (15), Theresia Morangke (15), and Alfita Poliwo (19) - were decapitated, and the other - Noviana Malewa - was left for dead. On November 28, two Christian girls were shot in the head at point-blank range. They survived, and it was later revealed that their assailant was a Muslim police officer.

More attacks upon Christians continued in November in Poso and Pau in Central Sulawesi, with several killed. Machete attack on a group of three Christian gir