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January 30, 2007
Russia: Chief Mufti Threatens ``Conflict'' If Russian Orthodox Culture Course Is Taught in Schools
Ravil Gainutdin, the head of Russia's Council of Muftis, lashed out today at plans by the Russian government to introduce a course on the culture of Christian Orthodoxy.
Gainutdin (pictured) claimed that plans to introduce the Orthodox culture course violate the Russian constitution's ban on having a state religion. The course, however, only introduces students to Orthodoxy as a cultural phenomenon, and does not propagate the religion.
About 80% of the Russian population espouses Christian Orthodoxy, according to the Russian census, while only about 6% of Russian citizens, or about 8 million people, claim to be Muslim. The Council of Muftis, however, says that figure is closer to 15 percent of the population, or about 20 million people.
Over the past 1,000 years, nearly all Russian culture, even secular, has been infused by Orthodoxy. One can easily make the argument that if the state fails to cover the importance of Orthodoxy in the country's history and culture, then it is neglecting its duty to properly educate children about their nation's heritage.
As a devout Muslim and follower of the 7th century Arabian warlord, Mohammed, Gainutdin issued threats in an attempt to intimidate and blackmail the Russian state.
``If this one-sided decision to teach the culture of one religion will be accepted, you [the Russian Education Ministry] will have laid a bomb for the decade ahead, and conflict is inevitable,'' said Gainutdin in a letter to the Education Ministry.
His threat of conflict was followed by his old demand that Russia create a special department for ``Muslim Affairs.''
BTW: during Western Resistance's fact-finding mission to Ingushetia and Chechnya in the autumn, we visited public schools, and Islam was being propagated there. For instance, all children were forced to obey Muslim dietary laws and other traditions.
Also, it's interesting that Gainutdin didn't come back with the idea to teach Muslim ``culture''. Well, there pretty much is no such thing. (If you don't believe me, just visit the ``Islamic Art'' section at any one of the world's major museums and see how small it is). Islam has made a minimal contribution to world culture. And any culture that arose on lands groaning under the Sword of Islam occured in spite of the Mohammedan cult, and not because of it.
Posted by at 12:04 PM | Comments (3)
Kazakhstan: Islamists Repent - Leave Hizb ut-Tahrir
News from Interfax-Religion reports that in Kazakhstan, 55 members of the anti-democratic Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, illegal in most nations in Central Asia, have publicly renounced their involvement in the group.
The individuals, who come from Almaty, Karaganda, Taraze, Chimkent, Pavlodar, Baikonur, Kentau, Saryagashe and Ekibastuze, were said to have abandoned membership after leaders of the group in Kazakhstan were detained by the authorities, according to the Kazakh National Security Council.
The Hizb former members handed over 9 booklets, 508 books and 134 magazines to the National Security Committee. They also gave up 309 Hizb ut-Tahrir leaflets. Their actions were said to be voluntary.
Hizb ut-Tahrir, founded in Jerusalem in 1952 is an international organization which seeks to overthrow national borders and democracies, to establish a Muslim Caliphate. The last Caliphate was that of the Ottomans, which was dissolved by Turkish nationalists, led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in March 1924.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)
UK: Why Michael Jackson Would Make An Ideal Muslim
Michael Jackson, who looks like Snow White on crack, has not made any decent records for some time. Beleaguered by (unproven) accusations of child molestation, his life appears to be on the skids.
It has been reported that Jermaine Jackson, elder brother of Michael Jackson, has been suggesting that Michael should become a Muslim. He told BBC's Asian Network that he hopes to convert his make-up wearing brother. Jermaine Jackson was in Britain, where he took part in the "Celebrity Big Brother" show, coming second to winner Shilpa Shetty, the Bollywood actress.
Jermaine said of his experiences in the "Big Brother House": "If I didn't have Allah and my prayer rug, I would not have survived, and the reason why is because it kept me focused, it kept me calm".
"Michael, I feel, needs to become a Muslim because I think it's a great protection for him from all the things that he's been attacked with, which are false. There's a strength and a protection there."
I always wondered, if Michael Jackson was innocent of child abuse allegations, why he paid off J.C., the son of a Hollywood dentist who had shared his bed, millions of dollars in 1993.
In November 2005 Michael Jackson caused a stir in Dubai when he was found in a ladies' lavatory, applying make-up. Michael Jackson had then bought a property in Manama, in the Anwaj islands in Bahrain. Jermaine has been living in Bahrain for some time. Jermaine said: "I was the reason why he had gone there because I wanted him to get out of America and just go somewhere peaceful and quiet, where people pray five times a day. It's a beautiful thing."
Well, the Prophet Mohammed certainly had a strange interest in young children (he had sex with a nine-year old girl), so Islam may appeal to Michael who has made much of his love of children.
One thing that seems to pervade the Muslim world at present is a rampant anti-semitism. And in that, Michael Jackson already seems to be quite at home, so Islam would be an ideal choice. The New Zealand Herald reported in November 2005 that Michael is a rabid anti-semite. The Anti-Defamation League were in uproar over a 2003 voice-mail message, which was aired on ABC's "Good Morning America".
In this message, Jackson was heard saying: "They suck... They're like leeches... I'm so tired of it... It is a conspiracy. The Jews do it on purpose."
Anti-semitism, and a belief that Jews are involved in a conspiracy, are ideal traits for a modern Muslim, traits found on every Muslim forum on the internet, and even preached at the Grand Mosque at Mecca.
In 1995, Jackson's lyrics for his song "They Don't Care About US" included the line: "Jew Me, sue me, everybody do me. Kick me, kike me." After complaints from the ADL, these lyrics were changed. The words were a far cry from "It don't matter if you're black of white".
In 2005, Jermaine Jackson had said his younger brother had a "great interest and study of Islamic books, the tolerance of Islam".
It seems, with his anti-semitism and his strange interest in young children, Michael Jackson would make an ideal Muslim.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)
Australia: Islamic College Raided By Police
The Islamic College of Australia has made the news before. In April 2006, when its deputy principal, Yahya Ibrahim, was refused entry to the United States. Canadian-born Ibrahim has worked as a translator for Abdulrahman al-Sudeis, senior imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, who has condemned Jews as "apes and pigs". Yahya himself has said in his sermons, widely available on CD and on the internet: "Allah tells us never, never will the Jews and the Christians be satisfied or content or pleased with you until you follow them and their religion."
Yahya teaches geography and math at Kewdale High School in Perth, which is one of the Islamic College of Australia's three campuses. There are other campuses in Dianella and Thornlie in the north of Perth.
The Australian reports that the three campuses have been raided by police fraud squad officers and government investigators early on Tuesday morning. Three truck-loads of computers and documents were taken from the campuses and the headquarters of the college at Booragoon in Perth.
The Islamic college, which has 2,000 students up to the age of 12 and 250 teachers, received $13.3 million Aus ($10,24 million US) in funding from the government last year. The school was founded in 1986 by Abdallah Magar.
The raid has happened because it is suspected that the college has been fraudulent with its use of subsidies. This may have happened by "double counting" students, "ghosting" students or inflating rent payments, the Australian suggests, quoting a detective inspector from the Commercial Crime Division who said: "You can do all sorts of things hypothetically."
The school appears to be the first educational establishment in Western Australia state to have been subjected to such a raid.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:43 AM | Comments (0)
UK: Tolerance Of Islamism Threatens US Security
This article appeared earlier today in Family Security Matters and is reproduced with their permission.
How The UK Threatens US Security (Part One)
Written and Illustrated by Adrian Morgan
On January 20, Dr Daniel Pipes participated in a public debate with Ken Livingstone, mayor of London. During this debate, Dr Pipes quoted former Home Secretary David Blunkett, who wrote in 2003 that "Britain remains a significant base for supporting terrorism."
Dr Pipes said: "British-based terrorists have carried out operations in at least 15 countries, going from East to West ... Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kenya, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Algeria, Morocco, Russia, France, Spain and the United States. I give you one example from the United States, this was Richard Reid, the British shoe bomber."
He quoted from American authors who wrote in 2006 that: "The biggest threat to US security emanates not from Iraq, not from Iran, not from Afghanistan, but rather from Great Britain", and concurred: "And I believe this is the tip of the iceberg."
That Britain should be the biggest threat to the US is, sadly, true. Britain has allowed radical Muslims to preach in the country for two decades, influencing successive generations of Muslim youth.
The agencies responsible for this situation are the judiciary, the political executive, the security agencies (MI5 and MI6) and the police. Recently, the signs that these bodies are becoming less prepared to practically deal with extremism suggest a future in which Britain will give more freedom to the radicals on its soil. These dangerous policies could eventually destroy what is left of the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States.
The problem began in the 1980s under the government of Margaret Thatcher, who had long been a staunch ally of America. Under the guise of "asylum seekers", Muslim individuals who were regarded as too extreme for their own countries began to arrive in Britain. One of the first of these was Omar Bakri Mohammed (pictured below), who arrived in 1985. Other radicals who claimed asylum included Yasser Al-Siri. In Egypt, his home country, this individual is a convicted terrorist. He was found guilty of setting off a bomb in Cairo, in which a six-year old girl was killed. This incident, which took place in 1993, was a failed attempt to assassinate Atef Sedki, who was then the prime minister of Egypt.
By the time Siri was convicted in absentia, he was in Britain, walking free on the streets of Maida Vale, West London, claiming benefits, and consorting with other radicals, including Omar Bakri Mohammed. While claiming asylum, he set up an Islamist website, the Islamic Observation Centre, which published messages from Al Qaeda members, as well as the blind Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman. He was arrested and charged in 2001 for complicity in the murder of the leader of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, Ahmed Shah Massoud. Massoud was killed two days before 9/11 by Belgian-based members of Al Qaeda who carried a bomb disguised as a camera. Siri was released without charge.
Siri has openly boasted that he can never be deported from Britain. He said in August 2005: "I don't think any British judge can accept any agreement between the UK and any Middle Eastern country like Egypt. Any judge here can take this agreement and throw it in the rubbish basket." Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's current prime minister, has said he does not understand how people "whose hands are drenched in blood" could gain political asylum in Britain.
Another individual arrived from Jordan. Abu Qatada (aka Omar Abu Omar, aka Omar Mohammed Othman) had similarly escaped to Britain to escape justice at home. He had arrived in September 1993, and in June 1994, he was granted asylum. Like Bakri, he was given a house for himself and is family of five children to live in. Qatada has been described as "Al Qaeda's ambassador to Europe". Videotapes of his sermons were found in the Hamburg apartment of Mohammed Atta, the 9/11 terrorist. Both Richard Reid, the failed "shoe-bomber", and Zacarias Moussaoui, a member of the 9/11 plot, had sought religious advice from Qatada.
In 1998, Qatada was convicted in absentia in Jordan for involvement in a series of explosions in that year. Abu Qatada was arrested in February 2001, when he was suspected of involvement in a plot to bomb the Christmas market in Strasbourg in 2000, the eve of the millennium. He had on him an envelope containing $14,000, upon which was written "for the muhajideen in Chechnya". After 2001, he was designated as a terrorist by the US Treasury, and was arrested again in October 2002.
He was kept in detention, being released in March. He was rearrested in August 2005, under the orders of Charles Clarke, who was then home secretary. The deaths of 52 people in London a month earlier had galvanized the usually apathetic authorities to finally do something about the promoters of terrorism who had been allowed to freely disseminate sermons of jihad and hatred. Qatada still remains in prison, awaiting deportation. He is still fighting moves to send him back.
In 1994, Mohammed al-Massari arrived in Britain as an asylum seeker. He had fled from Saudi Arabia, where he had been a member of Saudi Hizbollah. In 1996, Britain suggested it would deport Massari to Dominica, to avoid conflict with the Saudi authorities. This never happened, and Massari still remains in Britain as a free man.
Massari is a known associate of Omar Bakri Mohammed. Bakri founded the British wing of Hizb ut-Tahrir (Massari was a member of this group in Saudi Arabia, where it is banned). In 1996, Bakri also founded the radical group Al-Muhajiroun. Massari frequented meetings of this group. He has a website, called "Tajdeed.net." This website has extolled the virtues of Islamist murderers such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and has shown videos of beheadings and other Islamist atrocities.
After the bomb attacks in Amman on November 9, 2005, in which 60 people died, Tajdeed praised the attacks. In the same month, while the city of Paris was wracked with incidents of Muslim rioting which were spreading throughout France and into adjacent countries, Massari used the Tajdeed website to urge Muslim youths in Europe to riot.
There are several more similar Islamists who are living in Britain, claiming asylum. One famous British-based Islamist is Abu Hamza al-Masri (Mustafa Kamel Mustafa), who for years was the imam at the notorious Finsbury Park Mosque. Hamza was not an asylum seeker - he had married a British woman in 1980 while he was a student, and gained citizenship. Hamza too was an associate of Bakri.
Hamza's sermons were listened to by Zacarias Moussaoui, Richard Reid, and two members of the cell which carried out the 7/7 attacks on London Transport in 2005. Shehzad Tanweer and Mohammed Siddique Khan had gone to the Finsbury Park Mosque to hear Hamza. Hamza ran a group calling itself the "Supporters of Sharia".
Khan, the leader of the 7/7 cell, had been involved with Al-Muhajiroun members. He had stayed in Pakistan with Hassan Butt, who had been a senior figure in the group, who had organized British members of Al-Muhajiroun to fight coalition forces in Afghanistan. Khan also met with the New York Al-Muhajiroun member Junaid Babar in Pakistan, stated Richard Watson in a BBC Newsnight documentary from October 25, 2005.
The same documentary revealed for the first time that Mohammed Sidique Khan had been under surveillance by MI5 (the British homeland intelligence services) in 2004. The intelligence services had decided that Khan was not "important" enough to continue monitoring. Only after he and three others had killed 52 people was it revealed that Khan had had links to Al Qaeda going back five years previously - he had even gone to Malaysia, where he met Hambali, a senior figure in the terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, and also a known member of Al Qaeda. Hambali is now in Guantanamo. Khan had gone to the Philippines, where he attended the Hudaybiyah training camp, run by Jemaah Islamiyah and Al Qaeda. The information came from a reliable source - Nasir Abbas, former head of Jemaah Islamiyah, who is now assisting Indonesian authorities in trapping terrorists.
What is surprising is the incompetence of the UK intelligence authorities, to have failed to notice a suspect's history. Worse still, the authorities were in denial that Khan had anything to do with Al Qaeda until September 2005, when a video from Al Qaeda showed Khan condemning the West and warning of more terrorist attacks was broadcast on Al Jazeerah TV.
In April 2006, a parliamentary committee criticized MI5 for its failings regarding Khan. A month later, it was revealed that MI5 had surveillance tapes which had recorded Khan discussing the manufacture of a bomb, months before the 7/7 atrocity. The attitude of the police and the intelligence services in gathering information on terror seems to be both apathetic and blundering.
Khan, Shehzad Tanweer and another of the 7/7 bombers had grown up in Beeston, a district of south Leeds, Yorkshire. A computer expert, Martin Gilbertson, had been assisting the Iqra Bookshop in Leeds. He had assisted in compiling videos onto DVDs. Gilbertson claimed that he had sent DVDs to Holbeck police station in 2003, where he announced his worries about Khan and Tanweer's radicalism. He said: "I added a list of names, including Khan and Tanweer, plus the names of people from whom they were receiving emails. Some of those names were quite surprising, because they included people regarded as mainstream Muslim community leaders. I heard nothing back from the police. Not a word." The police denied having received such a package.
On the eve of the 7/7 attack, less than 24 hours before Khan and his three accomplices murdered 52 people, MI5 told members of parliament that there was "no imminent terror attack".
On July 21, 2005, exactly two weeks after 7/7, four individuals attempted to set off bombs on London Transport. Their bombs were not successful, causing only minor ignition and creating panic. These individuals were captured on CCTV cameras fleeing from the scene. On Monday, January 15, these four men and two others stood trial at Woolwich Crown Court. Once again, the details of the trial highlight shortfalls in the ability of Britain's authorities to adequately monitor suspects.
Three of the accused had been regular visitors to Abu Hamza's mosque at Finsbury Park. One of these, Mukhtar Said Ibrahim (illustrated), had tapes of Hamza's inflammatory sermons at his home.
28-year old Ibrahim from Stoke Newington, north London, had attended a terror training camp in Sudan, the court was told. He had also gone to Pakistan between December 2004 and March 2005.
The court was told that five of the individuals who are now on trial had been under police surveillance almost 15 months before they had tried to set off explosive devices. The five individuals, including Mukhtar Said Ibrahim, had been in Langdale in the Lake District, Cumbria, northern England, in May 2004 and had been photographed by police.
Even though five of these individuals had been under surveillance, in late April, 2005, they had begun to purchase the ingredients necessary for their "bomb material". The group had planned to use the same explosive as that which had caused death and carnage on 7/7 - triacetone triperoxide, or TATP. One of the main ingredients for this is hydrogen peroxide. The court was told that the ingredients were assembled in a one-bedroom apartment in New Southgate, north London, owned by Yasin Omar, the alleged "chemist".
What is becoming obvious from this trial is that even though five of the suspects had bought more than 440 liters of hydrogen peroxide, no alarm bells were sounded.
Mukhtar Ibrahim, who is said to be the leader of the group, had been stopped three times by police, but had been released without charge on each occasion. When he traveled to Pakistan, he was stopped at Heathrow airport. He had with him £3,000 ($5,875) in cash, a sleeping bag and a first aid kit. His companion had part of a manual, which showed how to deal with gunshot wounds. Ibrahim had claimed to going to a friend's wedding.
On July 21, 2005, while the other individuals had tried to detonate their rucksacks on tube trains, Mukhtar Ibrahim, the court heard had boarded a Number 26 bus, where he had tried to set off his explosives. Despite 440 liters of hydrogen peroxide being bought by the group, the liquid had not been concentrated, and fortunately the devices did not explode as desired.
The lack of real doggedness by the police and intelligence authorities was demonstrated in Richard Watson's 2005 documentary. A source told the BBC that in 2004, a known terror suspect had been arrested. Mohammed Sidique Khan contacted the source, to find out what had happened. On two occasions, Khan had met the source while in the company of three other men, who had not been the other 7/7 bombers. The source contacted the anti-terrorist police. The person who answered the terror hotline was not interested, and said "No disrespect, but these people could have been anybody."
Sir Paul Lever, former chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, when asked about the 7/7 bombings, responded: "I suppose you could characterize it as a failure of intelligence. I would put it more as perhaps a failure of imagination. It really didn't occur to people that young men, born... in Britain, would go down that path."
Britain is now fully aware that young men can "go down that path", but as I will show in Parts Two and Three, the authorities are not doing nearly enough to prevent similar atrocities. There is more than a "failure of imagination" in Britain's war against terrorism.
© 2003-2007 FamilySecurityMatters.org All Rights Reserved
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:55 AM | Comments (0)
January 29, 2007
Israel: Islamic Jihad Bomber Kills Three In Eilat
Eilat, situated in the south of Israel on the Red Sea Coast, was today hit by a suicide bomber. The killer, Mohammed Siksik, had managed to enter Eilat via Egypt, where the border at Gaza is a weak point in Israel's national defenses. He blew himself up inside a bakery.
The news is carried by YNET News, AKI, Associated Press, Reuters, DPA and Breaking News.
The murderer came from Gaza, and had told his parents about the attack before he went. His mother, wearing a white veil, said: "He told me: 'Meeting God is better for me than this whole world'." Siksik's mother gave her blessing to the operation. Rowayda Siksik told the press: "He said: 'Goodbye, I am going, mother. Forgive me.' I told him: 'God be with you'."
A party was held at the house in the afternoon, where about 20 people had gathered. There was talk that 21-year old Siksik, who had married a year previously, had been depressed after his seven-month old daughter had died of a nerve disease. His mother also tried to justify Siksik's action by saying that Nader Amrein, her son's best friend and a member of Fatah, had been killed in an Israeli operation six months ago.
Mohammed Siksik was the brother of a leading Islamic Jihad official. Fatah members and Hamas argued over who would be hosting the funeral. Siksik's attack was the first suicide bombing to have taken place in Israel in nine months. The last had been on April 17 in Tel Aviv near the bus station, and had killed six people. Palestinian news gave the killer's name as Faisal al-Saqsaq.
The attack happened in the bakery while shoppers were in abundance, early this morning. Two individuals were critically injured in the blast, which sent blood-stained bread trays and glass into the street outside.
Siksik had worn a long winter coat on a hot sunny morning, and had stood out. Instead of wearing an explosive belt, he carried the bomb in a bag.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (the military wing of Fatah) both claimed responsibility for the attack. Hamas officially condoned the bombing, calling it an act of legitimate "resistance" against Israel.
Bruno Stein, Eilat District police commander, said: "This is an extremely serious incident which requires us to think fast. We have boosted our forces' presence in the city and are working on finding out who stands behind the bombing. Our assumption is that it's not one bomber, and there might be more bombers in Eilat right now."
Eilat is a popular resort destination, and currently Israel is on a high security alert. Amir Peretz, the defense minister, said: "This is a grave incident, it's an escalation and we shall treat it as such." Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, vowed to continue the "ongoing and never-ending struggle against terrorists."
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 3:29 PM | Comments (0)
January 28, 2007
Book Review: The Enemy at Home
Bat Ye'or, the scholar of Dhimmitude, observes that the initial Islamic conquest was aided by some Christian religious leaders of the period. By getting rid of the Christian emperors, Islam allowed those Bishops who submitted to better control the lives of their flock. The result was the destruction of the once thriving Christian civilizations of the Near East and North Africa. Treason did not profit the traitors. It would not be the last time this happens.
The spirit of the treasonous Bishops is reborn in Dinesh D'Souza's The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11
D'Souza asks us to put our hopes in an intra-civilization alliance; traditional Westerners and traditional Muslims on one side, and Islamist radicals and Western cultural leftists on the other. He puts his hopes on a peace-loving, tolerant, and humane Islam, which is strong enough to rescue us from our sorrows.
It would be wonderful--if only it were true. The peaceful and tolerant Islam of D'Souza's book is a fantasy. It doesn't exist, it has never existed, and if it ever does I'll be pleasantly surprised. Islam is not peaceful and tolerant, but a violent, depraved ideology. Islam's founder was one of the worse human monsters our world has ever suffered.
As should be expected, an argument anchored in a fantasy is not kind to reality. Through D'Souza's eyes, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia becomes a peaceful, traditional society where women, free from work, reign supreme over their households. Mughal India becomes an Oasis of Muslim-Hindu coexistence--never mind the mysteriously disappearing Buddhists. According to Islam expert Dinesh D'Souza, the Shi'a-Sunni divide is a small matter and al-Qaeda exists in dangerous Islamic theological ground.
On and on it goes, every chapter a fresh lesson on the dangers of overconfidence. Even when D'Souza manages to stumble onto the truth--amazingly, sometimes he does--he proceeds to drown it the surrounding sea of error. So, it doesn't matter that prominent American leftists have allied themselves with Islamic "radicals"--D'Souza's plan boils down to the same thing. Even if the American cultural right were to emerge victorious over the American cultural left and the "Islamic radicals" by using his strategy, such victory would taste like defeat.
Not that there would be a victory. D'Souza's plan leads only to disaster. The only way to ally ourselves with "traditional Muslims" would be by ignoring what they truly believe--that the whole earth belongs to Islam, and Muslims ought to rule it. We would be helping our enemies, nothing more. And history has not been kind to those who help their enemies.
Posted by Ruy Diaz at 11:15 AM | Comments (4)
UK: Muslim Terror School Still Open
On the night of September 1 to 2 2006, fourteen people were arrested in locations in London. Several were taken from a "Chinese halal" restaurant in Borough, southeast London. Among those who were arrested was 42-year old Abu Abdallah, the Islamist who took over as preacher at the notorious Finsbury Park Mosque when Abu Hamza was removed. At least six of the arrested individuals were subsequently charged with being involved with terrorist training or promoting terrorism.
An Islamic school and its grounds in East Sussex were also also searched. This school, the Jemeah Islamiyah, was situated in Marks Cross, Crowborough. The school, formerly a dance school and a convent had only nine registered pupils. It was bought by Muslims in 1992, and began operations as a school in September 2003. The school has also hosted weekend "retreats", and one booking for such a retreat was taken by Abdullah's close associate, Abu Hamza, along with a number of Hamza's followers. The 100-room school, which cost £3 million ($5.7 million) is situated in 54 acres of land.
The imam at the school, Bilal Patel, confirmed that Hamza had been a visitor to the school. Patel states: "When [Hamza] arrived we were immediately concerned about his strange behaviour. He and his followers set up camp in the grounds and they kept themselves to themselves. We had no idea what they were doing, but we were not happy about it."
Individuals at Guantanamo, stated the Observer had claimed that groups of 30 or so followers of Abu Hamza were taught to use AK 47 assault rifles at the school "camp", and were also trained to use a dummy rocket launcher. The Guantanamo testimonies also state that Hamza ran training camps in the picturesque but rugged Brecon Beacons in South Wales, and also in Scotland. ABu Hamza is currently in prison, after being convicted of soliciting to murder on February 7, 2006. When he finishes his jail term, he is expected to be deported to the US to face charges of attempting to set up a >terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon in 1999.
The local MP, Charles Hendry, said that Hamza had been asked to leave adter staying one week at the school.
The school was set up in September 2003, to provide Islamic education for boys aged 11 to 16. An inspection was made by school auditing body Ofsted in December 2005, when only nine boys were found to be registered. Fees per annum for the school are £900 per pupil ($1,714). The Ofsted report found the Jameah Islameah had a "significant number of major weaknesses. The curriculum is not broad and balanced", and though its standard of education had somewhat improved from earlier visits, it was still "unsatisfactory and prevents pupils making the progress of which they are capable." "Jameah Islameah School does not provide a satisfactory education for its pupils. It has not made sufficient progress towards fulfilling its aims since it was established."
The Sun stated that neighbours in Mark's Cross, where the Jameah Islamiyah school is situated, could hear gunshots coming from the direction of the school.
Days after the arrests, while the school was being searched by police, t=it was reported that the school had been the subject of allegations of abuse. Abdul Jalil Sajid, a former adviser to Tony Blair, said: "There were many allegations of abuse - we found 103 specific problems with the school, including the abuse, so we called for immediate closure. Before the abuse allegations were taken further, the school was closed."
Associated Press via the International Herald Tribune noted that the charity which owned the school was under investigation by the Charities Commission. The spokesman for the Commission, Chris Kiggell, confirmed that there was an investigation underway following the 14 arrests.
The school was registered under the name of a charity called Jameatul-Uloun-al-Islameyah, number 1037827. The charity was registered on May 20, 1994, with its correspondent named as Mt Ahmed Muhammed Hakim , whose address was the Jamead Islamiyah school, and phone number as 0207 735 9635. The charity's aims were "Education/training and religious activities" and the target beneficiaries were the "general public/mankind". None of the charity's accounts for years subsequent to 2004 have been completed.
As seems usual for the Charities Commission, which said it would launch an investigation into Interpal, registered as a terrorist entity by the US Treasury but has not removed Interpal's status, Jameatul-Uloun-al-Islameyah is still on the Charities Commission's lists of active charities.
And today, the Sunday Telegraph reveals that the government of Tony Blair has failed to close down the Jemeah Islamiyah school, despite recommendations from Ofsted.
The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) had said after the 14 arrests that Ofsted was due to visit the school as a follow-up to the inspection of 2005 which found poor performance. The DfES said that if improvements had not been made, it would "delete the school from the Register of Independent Schools and shut it down."
The school was visited by Ofsted on November 21, 2006, and was found not to have implemented the recommended changes. The Telegraph states that Ofsted had sent a report to DfES recommending the school be de-registered, but the department has failed to act. None of the official "nine pupils" were present at the school, and the inspector from Ofsted was told that their parents were looking for other places of education. The inspector wrote in he report: "No. This is not a school at present."
David Willetts, shadow education secretary, said: "This is a school that has been raided in an anti-terror operation and that Ofsted has recommended should not be on the register and yet the Government does nothing. How much more serious do things have to get before ministers act?"
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:02 AM | Comments (4)
January 25, 2007
Islam Debate: Daniel Pipes Versus Ken Livingstone
This article appeared earlier today in Family Security Matters and is reproduced with their permission.
Daniel Pipes Versus Ken Livingstone
by Adrian Morgan
Daniel Pipes, columnist, scholar of Middle Eastern history, counter-terrorism expert, founder of both the Middle East Forum (publishing the Middle East Quarterly) and Campus Watch, an author of 14 books, is well known in the US and the blogosphere, where he maintains his own weblog. Though not against Muslims, Pipes has been critical of radical Islam and its incompatibility with democratic values.
On April 4, 2006, Dr Pipes was invited by Ken Livingstone, left-wing mayor of London, to attend a conference on the subject of the "Clash of Civilizations". Popularized by Samuel Huntington in 1993 and again in a book of the same name in 1996, the notion of a clash of civilizations has become a popular means of explaining and perceiving the modern world, particularly after 9/11.
The office of the Mayor of London advertised the conference, which was to be held on January 20, 2007. The event was to last from 10 am to 8 pm, with a host of speakers at various seminars. The event went ahead, with all tickets sold, and most of the planned speakers showed up.
Livingstone's debate with Dr Pipes was billed as the "main debate". Pipes had Douglas Murray of the Social Affairs Unit as is co-speaker, and Livingstone had Salma Yaqoob as his partner. This debate was chaired by Gavin Esler, a host of BBC's Newsnight current affairs show. Despite the advance publicity, the conference was not given one column inch of coverage in any of Britain's mainstream press outlets. The BBC has nothing on its website, and nothing was mentioned on national TV news.
The only sources of information on how the debate progressed comes from weblogs. The Muslim Council of Britain fielded their press spokesman Inayat Bunglawala to Seminar E (Enlightenment values and modern society) and their secetary general Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari to Seminar A (Is Britain becoming more segregated?), yet MCB could only place a brief mention of the event on their website. Martin Bright, political editor of the New Statesman, took part in Seminar G (Is there an Islamic threat?), but nothing is mentioned on the NS website or on his weblog. The Mayor of London's office made no mention of the conference after it had wound up, not even to blandly conclude that "a good time was had by all" or to thank those who participated.
The only sources available - mostly blogs - conclude that in the main debate between Pipes and Livingstone, entitled "A World Civilization or a Clash of Civilizations", Dr Pipes was the victor. Even a site with a left-wing bias, such as Harry's Place and Pickled Politics appeared favorable to Daniel Pipes' skills in presentation. The latter blog described Livingstone's argument as "a rambly sort of speech without structure". The same account described Pipes's performance thus: "...despite my distaste for his politics, was much more structured, well thought-out and argued.....his central point was this - there isn’t a Clash of Civilisations as much as a Clash of Civilisations v Barbarism."
The conference is reported upon by Oliver Kamm of the Times who took part in Seminar E (Enlightenment Values and modern society) and Seminar K (Democratic Solutions in the Middle East). Though Kamm makes wry observations of the two seminars in which he participated, and also the participants, such as Inayat Bunglawala and Linda Bellos, he does not deal with the Pipes and Murray v Livingstone and Yaqoob debate.
Daniel Pipes writes of the event having taken place, but perhaps through personal modesty he does not give away details of the progression of arguments. Instead, he defers to other blogsites where witnesses have submitted their own accounts.
Sharon Chadha discussed the main debate of the conference and noted that Livingstone, who opened the debate, bemoaned the Cold War, describing it as a "sinister plot designed by a small group of Americans who were intent on world domination." She wrote: "If Mayor Livingstone seemed intent on promoting London, and Britain in general as a multicultural success story, Dr. Pipes countered that because so many Britons have participated in terror plots around the world, citing some 15 instances, the reality was the opposite: One could even make the case that because of this history, Britain should be added to the list of state sponsors of terrorism."
As described by "Gandalf" at Up Pompeii, Pipes had compared the tensions between Islam and the West to a war. In the case of Vietnam, the war had been abandoned by Americans, not "lost". Gandalf states: "Dr Pipes went on to say how the UK was now the biggest terror threat to the US because of Muslims in the UK he cited Richard Reid and the UK connections in the 9/11 atrocity, this brought a standing ovation from the supporters of Dr Pipes because they recognised the damage that was being done to UK-US relations because of the presence of these people in the UK."
"Maybe I have taken a rather simplistic view and in interpretation of what Dr Pipes said, I do not think for one minute that Dr Pipes is suggesting that we all sit back and wait for Islam to give up, Islam has to be made to give up and that, in my opinion is the message that Dr Pipes was giving."
David Pryce-Jones in the National Review states: "Carefully he (Dr Pipes) distinguished the religion of Islam from Islamism, a totalitarian ideology with which there could be no compromise. He was looking for victory over it. He and his seconder, Douglas Murray, a brilliant young British intellectual, made the point that moderate Muslims had to be supported against extremist Islamists. And suddenly their arguments began to shift the audience away from Livingstone, and to attract a lot of applause. The war on terror has a long way still to go, but victorious battles like this one in a debating hall may mean fewer, or even no, future battles in the field or on the streets."
Livingstone's argument is the most hard to decipher. Jonathan Hoffman on Adloyada writes of the fact that Ken Livingstone admitted to meeting with leaders of the IRA when he was head of the Greater London Council, and spoke of his meeting with the Islamist Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the "spiritual leader" of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Hoffman writes: "He does not agree with the Caliphate but is prepared to speak to Qaradawi because he represents 'the future of Islam'. Here he quoted Max Hastings who apparently said that there was no point in studying any culture except that of Europe . The Chief Rabbi had spoken about a "tsunami of anti-Semitism in Europe" but here in London it had declined. Ken’s peroration followed. The US had been able to vanquish Communism because of its superior economic power. But now the US was increasingly having to share economic power with China and increasingly India . He linked this back to multiculturalism and the need to appreciate all cultures."
Whether or not Qaradawi represents the "future of Islam", he certainly represents a mentality present in contemporary Islam. His support for the murder of civilians in Israel seems to be a view held within many strands of the Muslim international community. Livingstone invited Qaradawi to London in 2004. He has even compared the Islamist leader to Pope John XXIII, who introduced the reforms of Vatican II, describing Qaradawi as "An absolutely sane Islamist". Livingstone said in 2005: "Of all the Muslim leaders in the world today, Sheikh Qaradawi is the most powerfully progressive force for change and for engaging Islam with western values. I think his is very similar to the position of Pope John XXIII."
In the debate, Douglas Murray took Livingstone to task for his support of Qaradawi, stating that the Islamist sheikh was not the sort of Muslim the West should be cultivating. Murray, aged only 27, received several ovations during his speech, which was said to be delivered with force.
Livingstone's choice of partner on the rostrum, Salma Yaqoob, was hardly likely to raise the level of intellectual debate. Yaqoob is a member of Birmingham City Council, and belongs to the "Respect" party, whose most famous (infamous?) representative is George Galloway, the apologist for Saddam Hussain. Her inability to construct an argument, even in writing, can be evidenced here.
Most comments on the debate note that Yaqoob, who supports the introduction of Sharia law, excused the attacks of 9/11 and 7/7 by claiming they were provoked by American (and British) actions in the Muslim world. She said of this: "Do you expect us not to fight back?" Gandalf stated that she compared the Coalition forces to Crusaders and claimed the US only invaded Iraq in the pursuit of oil. As Gandalf writes: "Dr Pipes corrected her on this point and she did not reply to his statement. This ladies (sic) attitude was venomous and hateful and I am certain that I was not the only one that picked up on that."
Salma Chadha notes that: "If Mayor Livingstone did not elect to call his invited guest Dr. Pipes a racist or an Islamophobe himself, his debate partner, Councillor Salma Yaqoob of Birmingham, had no trouble doing so, even if this meant distorting the American scholar's remarks and extensive written record. For example, Councillor Yaqoob identified Dr. Pipes as a presidential advisor and proponent of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, assertions that as Dr. Pipes pointed out, have no basis in fact."
Ms Chadha described Yaqoob's demeanor as "shrill, demagogic". Hoffman states: "Predictably she attacked Pipes for evading 'the history of Western colonialism in the Middle East' and 'the attempt of the US neocons to remold the Middle East in their own image'."
Ami, writing on Harry's Place notes that in the "question and answer" session, Ken Livingstone "got the biggest groan of the day, when he answered a question about supporting moderate Muslims by saying he supported the progressive Qaradawi, the strongest force for modernisation in Islam today. He said: I don't agree with him on homosexuality, but he is the future! Up till then, his main address had been very judicious and politic: you could agree with parts, disagree with much, but still entertain his arguments. Now he descended into the loony Ken persisting in defending the indefensible. This elicited forceful responses from Pipes and others about what Qaradawi stands for."
During questions, Inayat Bunglawala of the MCB, not known for judicious comments, "challenged Pipes for opposing Islamicism even if it used lawful means of non violent Islamification. What kind of democracy was that, he yelled." To which Pipes responded that "A totalitarian movement uses different means to reach power, vide Hitler. Hitler achieved office through the ballot box, not that he got the support of the majority of the electorate."
Beila Rabinowitz and William A. Mayer at Pipeline News state: "In stark contrast to Pipes and Murray, the London Mayor's speech was standard leftist boilerplate, alleging the Cold War was part and parcel of the United States' hegemonistic designs for dominion over all and in what must have represented a Stalinist flashback moment for many in the audience, actually blaming America for victimizing the Soviet Union. He then expanded his comments into a general attack on Western values, though he was careful to delimit his espoused multiculturalism, cutting short of endorsing the practice of cannibalism."
At the end of the debate, Ms Chadha states: "Gavin Esler, the BBC newsman who chaired the panel, ended the debate by quipping that he hoped press coverage of the event would go beyond the obvious headline that Mayor Livingstone had finally taken a stand against cannibalism."
The press coverage was non-existent. An event which, during an entire day, had brought together representatives from the British media and well-known Muslims, such as Tariq Ramadan (speaker at Seminar G - Is there an Islamic threat?) should surely have merited some comment, even if only a cursory mention. An estimated 5,000 people were in attendance, including 150 representatives from the media, but the press, including the Muslim press, ignored the event.
According to the blogsite Solomonia: "Pipes was magnificent at the Conference. Daniel went into the lion’s den and not only did he survive, he pulverised the lion."
The timing of the opening debate, the morning of a Saturday, has been noted by commenters, and also some of those attending the event at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Center, seemed designed to exclude Jewish people from attending the Livingstone/Pipes clash.
Perhaps the last word should be reserved for Daniel Pipes himself: "Despite the many journalists and video cameras, and despite the GLA having recorded and simultaneously transcribed the event, and despite two and a half days having passed since it took place, there has been – quite to my surprise – not a single media account of the debate, nor a video made available, nor a transcript..... it would seem that the mayor's supporters took a pass on reporting the event."
The claim by Dr. Pipes that the UK is now the biggest terror threat to the US because of (radical) Muslims in the UK is perhaps the most significant and far-reaching observation from the debate. Britain refuses to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir, and has allowed the activists of the now-disbanded group Al-Muhajiroun to continue openly campaigning against democracy and promoting terror. These individuals are the wet-nurses of terrorism. Pipes cited Richard Reid, the shoe-bomber, who was indoctrinated by Al-Muhajiroun.
As culpable as the Islamist radicals who thrive in Britain are the government officials and civil servants from MI6 and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. These are actively engaged in a policy of "Engaging With the Islamic World".
The FCO's "Engaging with the Islamic World Group (EIWG)" was founded in 2003, while Al-Muhajiroun was still active. With an annual budget of $15.8 million, this group, headed by 26-year old Mockbul Ali, a former student radical, actively promotes dialogue with radicals such as Qaradawi. Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, the godfather of Hizb ut-Tahrir's British chapter, and spiritual ideologue of Al-Muhajiroun, was allowed openly to preach radicalism and hate for 20 years in Britain. Not once was he taken to court. Radical Islamists thrive in Britain, and are threatening the British/American "special relationship". But they do this solely because the UK authorities allow them to.
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Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 1:57 PM | Comments (2)
January 24, 2007
Indonesia: Muslim Militants May Target Police
AKI and Associated Press via the Jakarta Post note that a report by the International Crisis Group was warned that recent police actions in Indonesia may bring reprisals.
The full report in pdf format, entitled "Jihadism in Indonesia: Poso On The Edge", can be accessed from here. Subscription, which is free, may be required. The report, Asia Report No 127, is authored by Dr Sidney Jones. She is the foremost expert on Indonesian terrorism and the Al Qaeda-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiyah.
Recently there have been police raids in the district of Poso in Central Sulawesi, which was an epicenter of Muslim/Christian violence which flourished from Christmas 1998 to 2002, in which 1,000 people were killed, the majority of whom were Christians.
Various groups were involved in the Muslim pogroms against Christians, particularly Laskar Jihad (Lashkar Jihad), Jemaah Islamiyah, Laskar Mujahidin, as well as Darul Islam, Laskar Jundallah (army of Allah) and the Komite Perjuangan Muslim Poso ( KPMP or Committee for the Islamic Struggle in Poso). Tis latter group was headed by Adnan Arsal, who still runs an Islamic boarding school in Poso. Arsal was in December 2001 a signatory to a peace deal, the Malino Accord, brokered by Jusuf Kalla, who is now the vice president of Indonesia.
Two smaller Islamist groups were involved in the Poso unrest, whose activities continue, are Tanah Runtuh and Kompak Kayamamya. The former group is named after a village in Poso district where raids took place this month. Kompak Kayamanya is a name given to a militant group called Mujahideen Kayamanya, based in Poso. This has links with the much larger group KOMPAK (Komite Aksi Penanggulangan Akibat Krisis - "Action committee for crisis response") which is a Muslim "charity" which has funded militants and is ultimately linked to Jemaah Islamiyah.
Despite the peace deal, the sectarian violence continued, though in a more sporadic frequency than during the earlier violence, which had been part of a wider war - the Moluccan war, which had been waged by Laskar Jihad against Christians in the Spice Islands, killing 9,000. In May 2005, 23 Christians were killed when a bomb went off in a market in Tentena in highland Central Sulawesi.
In late 2005, the violence against Christians escalated in Poso, following the decapitations of three schoolgirls on October 29, and continued with shootings and machete attacks upon Christians until the start of 2006. There was a slight lull until September 2006, when .explosions happened in Poso district, aimed at Christians, killing two. There followed more such atacks, and shootings.
At this time, three Catholics were facing execution. The three had been accused of involvement in fatal attacks upon Muslims in Poso in May 2000. The three, Fabianus Tibo, 60, Marinus Riwu, 48, and Dominggus da Silva, 42, were tried in a courtroom in April surrounded by Islamist activists who were calling for their death. They were executed by firing squad on September 20, 2006, despite international appeals for clemency.
They were the only people to be given death sentences for involvement in the sectarian conflict. Muslims who had committed crimes of a worse nature only received prison sentences. The highest jail terms for any Muslim for sectarian violence were 15 years in length. Jaffar Umar Thalib, the leader of Lashkar Thalib, who had supervised the murders of countless people, including starting the massacre at Soya in Ambon on April 28,2002, was taken to trial in 2003, accused of "sowing hatred". He was acquitted.
The apparent inequality of treatment of Christians under the law led to widespread demonstrations and acts of violence by Christians in the immediate aftermath of the executions. In October 2006, a priest, Reverend Irianto Kongkoli, who had previously campaigned for clemency for the three executed Christians, was shot in Palu, the regional capital of Central Sulawesi. Once again, the Muslim/Christian tensions in the region came to a head.
At the end of October, 15 Islamic militants from Tanah Runtuh and Kompak Kayamamya were arrested in the Poso district. Following these arrests, police said that there were 29 suspects whom they were seeking. These 29 individuals were Muslims accused of fomenting anti-Christian violence. According to Brigadier General Anton Bachrul Alam, national police spokesman, the individuals were wanted for their suspected involvement in 13 cases of shootings, beheadings, robberies and bombings going back as far as 2001.
One of the fugitives, named Rian, was killed in a police raid at Tanah Runtuh village, Poso district on January 11 this month. Rian had gone to Afghanistan to fight jihad, and had apparently been a member of Jemaah Islamiyah.
On Monday, January 22, at least nine Islamists were killed in another raid in Tanah Runtuh, and five people were arrested. Explosives, detonators and weaponry were seized in the raid. Muhammad Kilar, a spokesman for Poso police, said after the raid that 28 of the 29 people on the "wanted" list had now been accounted for.
Dr Sidney Jones says of the recent attempts by the Indonesian authorities to apprehend Islamist activists could have dire results: "A jihad that has been largely directed against local Christians could now be focused on the police ... and give a boost to Indonesia's weakened jihadi movement."
The "weakened jihadi movement" is a reference mainly to Jemaah Islamiyah. Their bomb-maker Asahari bin Husin, who planned both the Ocotober 12 2002 Bali bombings (killing 202) and the October 1 2005 Bali bombings (killing 20) was killed in a police shootout on November 9, 2005. His right-hand man Noordin Mohammed Top narrowly escaped arrest on April 29 2006, and since then his location is unknown. He is believed to be setting up his own terror network, independent of Jemaah Islamiyah. Two other main leaders of JI, Dulmatin and Umar Patek, fled to the Philippines, but are now close to being captured by Filipino military. These had taken refuge with Filipino Islamist group Abu Sayyaf. The leader of Aby Sayyaf, Khaddafy Janjalani, who was with them, was shot dead in September. On January 20 it was finally revealed that Khaddafy Janjalani was dead, after DNA tests on his brother Hector had been made upon a body killed in Jolo island.
The ICG report makes recommendations to the Indonesian authorities. It suggests that the government must make it plain to Muslim leaders to "explain in detail who the suspects (in recent raids) were and why force was used." It also advises that an inquiry should find out if "further measures could have been taken to prevent casualties." It urges that an independent commission of inquiry, including community leaders from Poso, should look at the January 11 and January 22 raids.
It also suggests a larger inquiry, to examine the grievances which remain from the conflict in Poso, which was at its worst between 2000 and 2001. Additionally it suggests that the finding of a report made after an incident on October 22, when police fought with militants, should be published. Additionally, a police force comprising local individuals should be established, to gain trust from the communities.
The report's suggestions are fairly predictable, but of itself it contains interesting details on the Poso conflict in the years since the Malino Accord was signed.
Makbul Padmanegara, deputy police chief, said today: "The human rights people, parliamentarians, please come and investigate. We have nothing to hide."
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:31 PM | Comments (0)
January 23, 2007
UK: Can The SAS Prevent A London Muslim Suicide Attack?
The SAS or Special Air Service Regiment is the British army's crack unit for strategic operations, whose motto is "Who Dares WIns". The unit, formed in 1941, was famously involved in rescuing hostages from London's Iranian Embassy in April 1980, when Islamists had captured 26 people. One person was killed in the operation, which involved grenades and climbing down from rooftops.
Dramatic operations are the hallmark of the SAS, and the Times has reported that a SAS team will now be placed on permanent duty in London.
The London-cased SAS team, which includes surveillance and bomb-disposal experts, is already stationed in the metropolitan area. Before the unit can be called into action, a decision must be made by a minister. The SAS are stationed in London following disastrous performance by the Metropolitan Police in combatting terrorist actions. Their incompetence resulted in the shooting seven times in the head and shoulders of an innocent Brazilian electrician, Jean Charles de Menezes, on a train in Stockwell in the aftermath of 7/7.
The SAS's main headquarters is in Hereford, near the border with Wales, and the London unit, 22 SAS, has been given extra funding to ensure that the unit is always manned. The Ministry of Defense has ordered that the exact location of the London SAS team is kept secret.
The move is being made as MI5 has announced an increase in funding. However, MI5 had members of the group that carried out the attempted bombings in London on 21 July 2005 under "surveillance". Under the noses of MI5, the group managed to purchase half of the entire nation's supply of hydrogen peroxide, to create triacetone triperoxide (TATP), the same explosive used in the 7/7 attacks.
The fact that MI5 surveillance in this case did not prevent four small explosions shows the incompetence of British intelligence. SAS are effective in situations where hostages need to be freed, or force is required.
But in the event of a potential terror attack, coupled with their reliance upon MI5's inefficient surveillance and the need to consult with a government minister before they can go into action does not really mean that London will be a safer place.
As has been shown before, when MI5 had the leader of the four man team which carried out the fatal 7/7 attacks, Mohammed Sidique Khan, under its sights and then stopped examining him, the chances of a Muslim suicide bomber attacking any location within London with impunity still exists as a real and possible threat. No matter how many SAS men are posted in London.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:38 AM | Comments (5)
Tony Blair And Bribes To Islamist Saudi Arabia
This article appeared earlier today in Family Security Matters, and is reproduced with their permission.
Tony Blair, Bribes. And Saudi Arabia
By Adrian Morgan
The Eurofighter, or Typhoon, is a twin-engine combat aircraft which has been designed "by committee". Its planning stems back to 1979, but it first went onto the drawing board in Germany in 1986. The company Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH was formed in this year, and designers from different European aerospace companies joined to design the plane.
Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and Italy were involved in the plane's design, and they are all involved in manufacturing specific parts, though each of the four component companies can assemble an entire fighter. The British company is BAE Systems based in Farnborough, Hampshire, which emerged after a merger of British Aerospace (BAe) and Marconi Electronic Systems in 1999. BAE is the fourth largest defense contractor in the world.
The most lucrative order for Eurofighters from BAE Systems came from the Saudis, which was signed on August 18 2006. The deal to manufacture and sell 72 Eurofighter jets to the Saudis stems back to the Al Yamamah ("the dove") contract first negotiated under the aegis of Margaret Thatcher two decades ago. The Al Yamamah contracts have been part of the biggest defense sales deal ever made, with weaponry sold to Saudi Arabia and paid for with 600,000 barrels of oil per day. The August contract would have added an extra £10,000,000,000 ($19.75 billion) to the Al Yamamah deals.
Everything was proceeding well until November 30, when the Telegraph newspaper revealed that the Saudis had suspended the deal for Eurofighters, on account of an investigation by Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) into the deal. This investigation was examining a "slush fund" of £20 million ($39.5 million) which was apparently set up by BAE to give perks to some members of the Saudi royal family. Eight people had been arrested during the investigation and subsequently released.
The investigation had been going on for three years, and it was felt that only Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General (who runs the SFO) could resolve the impasse. The Saudis were getting alarmed that SFO officers wanted to find details of the bank accounts of some Saudi royal family members in Switzerland.
Two days later, it was announced that the Saudis were openly blackmailing the British government. They gave an ultimatum - stop the SFO fraud investigation within 10 days, or the 72-plane contract would be cancelled. They were threatening to take their business to France, to buy 36 Rafale jets.
Lord Goldsmith said earlier on November 20: "I am not commenting on any investigations. But I would not stop a prosecution on political grounds." On November 29, his spokesman had repeated this claim.
By December 3, the French were brazenly seeking to exploit the situation for their own gain, with president Jacques Chirac bringing forward a planned visit to Riyadh. Members of parliament whose constituents included workers who could possibly lose their jobs were openly voicing their concerns in parliament. A lobbying campaign about these job losses had apparently been stage managed by Lord Bell.
On December 14 the Serious Fraud Office announced that it had dropped its inquiry. Since 2001's Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act, it has been illegal to engage a third party to provide "sweeteners" to a company. This law came into effect in 2002, and had been urged by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). However, it was claimed that some of the SFO's investigations had involved incidents going back to the 1990s, when such deals were legal.
Lord Goldsmith, as head of the SFO, spoke in the House of Lords on the issue. He said: "This afternoon, the Serious Fraud Office has announced that it is discontinuing this investigation. Its statement says:
"The Director of the Serious Fraud Office has decided to discontinue the investigation into the affairs of BAe Systems plc as far as they relate to the Al Yamamah defence contract. This decision has been taken following representations that have been made both to the Attorney General and the Director concerning the need to safeguard national and international security. It has been necessary to balance the need to maintain the rule of law against the wider public interest. No weight has been given to commercial interests or to the national economic interest"."
Goldsmith added: "In addition I have, as is normal practice in any sensitive case, obtained the views of the Prime Minister and the Foreign and Defence Secretaries as to the public interest considerations raised by this investigation. They have expressed the clear view that continuation of the investigation would cause serious damage to UK/Saudi security, intelligence and diplomatic co-operation, which is likely to have seriously negative consequences for the United Kingdom public interest in terms of both national security and our highest priority foreign policy objectives in the Middle East. The heads o four security and intelligence agencies and our ambassador to Saudi Arabia share this assessment."
Such a statement, implicating the involvement of Tony Blair in the SFO's decision, was bound to raise questions. The emphasis on the possible loss of 50,000 jobs immediately changed, and the focus became Tony Blair. Was he caving in to Saudi blackmail? Was there really no commercial reason for abandoning the inquiry into apparent corruption?
The Saudi deal was resumed, and for the workers at BAE Systems, there was a sense of relief, made better by news that shares in BAE systems had shot up by 7% immediately after the announcement that the inquiry had ended. Tony Blair, whose reputation was already tarnished by other suggestions of malpractice, was to be scrutinized further.
Within a few days of Goldsmith's report to the House of Lords, it was announced that two pressure groups had gone to solicitors Leigh Day & Co to legally challenge the government's decision to abandon the SFO inquiry.
On December 17 the Independent on Sunday revealed that Robert Wardle, the head of the SFO, had claimed that he held a "different view" from Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General. Detectives who had been involved with the SFO inquiry were said to be "furious", and claims were made that the police officers investigating the "slush fund" had been bugged. An individual assisting the SFO said: "I was told by detectives that the probe was being bugged. They had reached this conclusion because highly confidential information on the inquiry had been reaching outside parties.."
According to the terms of international law, it is forbidden for countries to use commercial considerations to prevent firms from facing anti-corruption prosecutions. The original figure claimed for the amount of money in the slush fund had shot up threefold, from £20 million to £60 million ($118.5 million).
With Tony Blair being placed under the spotlight, the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, dismissed reports of corruption in the Al Yamamah deals as "baseless". He said: "Old stories are repeated now and then in order to create some kind of suspicion not only about the deal but also bilateral relations".
The Saudi ambassador to Britain, Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf Al Saud, wrote on December 17: "Following weeks of speculation, and a three-year enquiry into events that happened 20 years ago, the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into BAE Systems came to an end last week. In those three years we have seen wars and natural disasters devastate many areas of our world: we have witnessed the bloody invasion of Iraq. We have watched in horror an illegal wall being built across Palestinian territories by Israel. And we have fought an international battle against the evil of terrorism: bombs have reaped a heavy toll on both our capital cities."
He claimed that in the time that the SFO had been digging into claims of corruption, Saudi Arabia had its first "transparent elections to local councils" and had made progress. He quoted Prince Saud Al Faisal who had claimed of the SFO inquiry: "This is no way to deal between two friendly countries."
On December 17, Robert Wardle of the SFO claimed that the investigations had been yielding results before being stymied.
On Tuesday, January 17, it was revealed that Goldsmith's claims were being contradicted by officials from MI5 (homeland security intelligence) and MI6 (offshore security intelligence). There had been no threat of the Saudis refusing to share intelligence about terrorism. The head of MI6, John Scarlett, refused to sign a government dossier which condoned Goldsmith's perspective on the issue. This dossier was to be presented to the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development's anti-corruption unit. The 36-nation OECD had a meeting in Paris that week, and had requested an explanation from the UK government.
Tony Blair, who had endorsed the abandonment of the SFO inquiry, once again came under the spotlight. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office released a statement on the night of January 17. A spokesman said: "The claim that there were no national security considerations behind the decision to halt the SFO inquiry was wrong."
When in need of an excuse to avoid telling the truth, claims of national security are convenient tools. And in this instance, the FCO spokesman dutifully obliged. He continued: "We are not prepared to go into any detail about intelligence issues but to confirm that SIS (Secret Intelligence Service), in common with other UK agencies and departments, were consulted in preparing the Government's response to the OECD and was content with the outcome. This drafting process reflects routine government practice and, contrary to the Guardian article, SIS shared the concerns with others within Government over the possible consequences for the public interest of the Serious Fraud Office investigation."
Blair made a speech, in which he stated: "I am not aware of any unhappiness and I really would not believe what you read in parts of the press about this where I suspect that they have a particular view... Had we proceeded with this investigation, it would have significantly materially damaged our relationship with Saudi Arabia. That relationship is of vital importance for us fighting terrorism, including here in this country." Blair said the decision to abandon the SFO inquiry had been made based upon "the judgment of the entire system", implicating all elements were in agreement, including the dissenting voices of MI6.
In an attempt to save the government's face, the Attorney General said that the SFO was still investigating the activities of BAE in Romania, Chile, the Czech Republic, South Africa and Tanzania, which legal sources had claimed in December had been making strong progress.
The head of the Liberal Democrat party, Sir Menzies Campbell, had written to Goldsmith, demanding answers. The Attorney General had written back, stating: "It would be quite wrong to suppose any particular company is beyond the law." Various other members of parliament have been adding to the pressure on Goldsmith and Blair to reveal information.
A South African newspaper, the Mail & Guardian, has claimed that a letter from June 2006 from the SFO has suggested that the CEO of BAE Systems, Mike Turner, and three other senior figures in the company were being investigated by for corruption.
On Friday, the OECD added its voice of disapproval, with its secretary, Angel Gurria, saying "appropriate action" would be taken. The OECD expressed "serious concerns" about the affair.
Since 1999, BAE Systems has been operating under the jurisdiction of the US Foreign and Corrupt Practices Act. In the latter half of 2001, the company paid for trips and hotels in America worth more than £1.1 million ($2.17 million), the Telegraph claimed. These trips and sojourns in hotels, including Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, the New York Plaza hotel, the Ritz Carlton Tysons Corner hotel in Washington, and the Beverly Hills Hilton, were for senior Saudi officials.
The Saudi embassy in London, confronted with these findings, was suitably evasive. A spokesman said that the Saudi government does not condone fraudulent actions, but said: "We cannot rewrite the past, but we must look together towards the future."
That future could involve hearings in the House of Representatives, and possible investigation by the US Department of Justice.
Within all of this intrigue, Tony Blair has not come out smelling of roses. He appears to have tried to whitewash the whole affair, in the hope that it will just go away. But Blair is already under scrutiny over another scandal, involving the alleged granting of positions in the House of Lords to those who supply Blair's party with enough cash.
On December 14, Tony Blair was questioned by police over the issue of granting peerages, the first time a serving prime minister has faced police inquiries. On Friday, one of Blair's closest advisers, Ruth Turner, was arrested. On Sunday it was revealed that police had to hack into the computers at No 10, Downing Street, as part of their inquiry into the "honors for cash" inquiry. But that's another story entirely....
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Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:02 AM | Comments (0)
US: Mosque Wall In Dearborn Defaced
News from the Detroit Free Press relates that the Islamic Center of America mosque in Dearborn, Michigan, has been attacked by vandals. Large capital letters have been painted onto the front wall of the building, saying "Go Home 911 Murderers".
The grafitti was placed either late on Sunday or early on Monday. Additionally, a spray-painted slogan was written, saying "You Idol Worship". The slogans were noticed by a 36-year old Muslim from Dearborn, who went straight to the terrorism-supporting Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
The Shi'ite mosque recently hosted a conference concerning the six "flying imams" whose bizarre behavior had led to them being ejected from a Northwest Airlines plane. Following the conference there was hate mail sent to the mosque and also to CAIR.
Dawud Walid, head of the Michigan outlet of CAIR said: "This is hurtful for the entire Muslim community, to see such enmity directed towards Muslims."
There is no mention in the Detroit Free Press that the police have been called. Once again, a minor incident gets reported to CAIR, and becomes "news".
Incidents of potential "hate crimes" should be reported to the police first, not to a publicity machine such as CAIR. With no mention of police involvement, I am deeply suspicious of this case.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:50 AM | Comments (3)
UK: Five Muslim Men Arrested In Terror Raids
News comes from various sources: BBC, Guardian, Manchester Evening News, the Mirror, Reuters, Bloomberg, the Australian, TVNZ, CNN, Press Association and Channel 4 News.
Three men were arrested this morning in the Manchester connurbation, northern England, and two were arrested in Halifax, West Yorkshire, 200 miles north of London. The Australian states that the BBC (in an early edition) has suggested that the two men arrested in Halifax were British Pakistanis, indicating that the raids involved Muslim terrorism.
The five individuals were apprehended in two series of raids which are said to be unconnected. However, the men are being detained under the terms of the Terrorism Act 2000. London's Metropolitan Police said the men in Halifax were held on suspicion of the "commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism".
The men from Halifax are aged 25 and 29. The raids were carried out in conjunction with the Metropitan Police, following an ongoing "intelligence-led operation". The dawn raids, at two separate houses in Halifax, were not carried out by armed officers. The two addresses, as well as an apartment in London, are currently being searched.
The raids in Manchester took place at four separate addresses, with two 24-year old men arrested at a location in Cheetham Hill in the north of the city, and a 32-year old man being arrested at Longsight in the southeast of Manchester.
A spokeswoman for the Greater Manchester Police said: "At this stage, there is no intelligence of any planned terrorist activity in the UK and the arrests are part of an ongoing investigation."
The police in Manchester have apparently liaised with "representatives of the local community" and have also produced leaflets. This indicates strongly that the raids have affected the Muslim community. No other community in Britain has its "representatives" consulted when a terrorism raid takes place.
Greater Manchester Police stressed that the raids in the city were not connected with those in Halifax. The raids in Manchester are said by the BBC to be made in connection with a terror suspect who was under a control order, but absconded earlier this month.
This Pakistani-origin individual from Manchester had taken refuge in a mosque, and while police tried to negotiate with the mosque representatives, rather than bursting in and arresting the suspect, other individuals assisted the man to escape through the mosque's back entrance.
The 26-year old man had expressed a desire to go to Afghanistan to fight coalition forces, and had been placed under a "control order" in January. He had breached this control order only four days after it had been imposed. The man is said to have visited Afghanistan in the past. The mosque from where the man escaped has not been named. The individual is now thought to be in Afghanistan.
Currently, the trial of six men who were said to be involved in a failed series of suicide bombings on 21 July, 2005, exactly two weeks after the 7/7 atrocity, which killed 52 people, is taking place in Woolwich Crown Court, London. Four of the men had strapped explosive backpacks onto themselves and had detonated the devices, but their explosives had not been powerful to cause loss of life. This trial commenced on Monday January 15. I will be reviewing the details of the trial later.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:08 AM | Comments (0)
January 22, 2007
Kenya: Somali Islamist Leader Surrenders
42-year old Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed had been the head of the Union of Islamic Courts when Islamist militia took over Mogadishu on June 5, 2006. Ahmed (pictured) has two children and one wife, and was formerly a teacher before he came to be head of the Islamic Courts Union. He remained in this position of power until the weekend of June 24-5, when a new body was formed, the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts (SCIC). This body was headed by the fiery former terrorist, Shekh Hassan Dir Aweys.
Aweys had been planning his expansion of his militia since September 2005, and has links with Al Qaeda. He formerly headed the group Al-Ittihad al-Islami, which is believed to have carried out the bombing of a Jewish-owned hotel in Kenya on November 28, 2002, killing three people.
Where Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed was a quiet and humble individual, Aweys was an aggressive egotist. News comes today from the Guardian, Evening Echo and Associated Press that Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has surrendered to Kenyan authorities near the border with Somalia.
Ahmed gave himself up on Sunday to a police station in Kenya and was flown to Nairobi. According to the US, Ahmed could be useful in building bridges between the supporters of the Islamists and the transitional government, which was set up by the UN in 2004. Ahmed, according to U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger, is a moderate who should be involved in any national reconciliation process. The ambassador has said: "We were not involved in his capture or surrender."
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:37 PM | Comments (0)
Indonesia: Islamist Insurgency On Poso Erupts Again
The situation in Poso, Central Sulawesi has grown critical again over the last two weeks. Poso was the scene of some of the worst Muslim/Christian sectarian violence in the Moluccan War, which lasted from 1998 to 2002. This conflict caused the deaths of 9,000 people, most of them Christians. In Central Sulawesi, the conflict killed 1,000.
Last year, there was renewed violence during September and October, which coincided with the death by firing squad of three Catholics, who were accused of being involved in the murder of Muslims in Poso in May 2000. The three, Fabianus Tibo, 60, Marinus Riwu, 48, and Dominggus da Silva, 42 had received scant justice, and though the crimes of Muslims accused of killing Christians were more extensive, no Muslim had received more than 15 year jail sentences. The Catholics were shot at Palu airport on September 22.
The conflict on Poso following the September/October civil unrest was kept under control by a strong military presence in the region. On December 6, two explosions took place at the gate of Sintuwu soccer field, while police were hunting 25 of 29 Islamic fugitives whose names had been placed on a list in October last year.
It appears that as the unrest of September/October was linked to the executions of the three Christians, there may be a connection with the current trial of three Islamists who decapitated three Christian schoolgirls and mutilated a fourth on October 29, 2005. This trial began in early November 2006.
Lilik Purnomo, Irwanto Irano and a man named Hasanuddin were accused of the murder of Ida Yarni Sambue (15), Theresia Morangke (15), and Alfita Poliwo (19). Noviana Malewa who received machete blows to the face, had survived the attack, which happened as the schoolgirls were walking to their school in Poso district.
On Wednesday January 17, one of the accused, Lilik Purnomo, confessed to taking part in the beheadings of the girls. He said; "It is true. I was the execution coordinator."
In a written statement, Purnomo also admitted to the murder of 29-year old Susianti Tinulele on July 18 2004. Ms Tinulele was a reverend at the presbyterian Effata Church in Palu, the capital city of Central SUlawesi province. She was shot several times by a gunman as she conducted a service. Four of her parishioners were also shot in the attack.
On January 11, police raided the home of one of 29 Islamist suspects who are accused of making violent attacks upon Christians. During this raid at Gebang Rejo sub-district, two civilians were shot dead. One of these was a suspect called Rian, but the other was an innocent teacher. Fie people were arrested. After the incident, a policeman was killed. There was a battle between police and Muslims who inhabited the Islamic boarding school in Tanah Runtuh.
This incident, combined with the revelations at the trial seem to have galvanized some of the Islamists in Poso, and the security forces have responded.
Police in Poso have announced a "shoot-on-sight" policy for anyone who is found carrying firearms without proper authorization. The order was given by the police chief for Central Sulawesi, Brigadier General Radrotin Haiti. In Jakarta, one politician, Dedy Jamaluddin condemned the shoot-on-sight order. He said: "A brutal action by the police will only prompt protracted hatred and animosity between them and the people."
With a rise in violent incidents in Poso, the military announced on Thursday, January 18, that it would be willing to assist police in containing the violence. The chief of the National Defense Force, Marshal Djoko Suyanto said: "We are ready anytime to assist upon request... There must be stern measures. The rule banning civilians from carrying firearms, either handguns or rifles, must be upheld."
On the morning of Friday January 19, a bomb went off at 9.30 am behind the PT Bank Sulteng in Gebang Rejo subdistrict of Poso. This location was 100 yards from the Poso subregional police station. Gebang Rejo is the subdistrict in which the Christian schoolgirls were decapitated in October 2005.
On Sunday night, three more explosions went off in Poso district, but no-one was injured. Anton Bachrul Alam, a police spokesman, said that 19 of the 29 suspects were still at large. A raid on Sunday (Jan 21) found seven working bombs and seven kilogras of calcium chlorate during a raid in Poso. The explosive material was said to belong to Muslim militants.
On Monday morning, starting at around 8 am Indonesian time, at least nine Islamic militants were killed in a police operation in Poso district, states Reuters, Antara News, Jakarta Post and Asia Times.
The raid took place in Tanah Runtuh, a mainly Muslim region of Poso. 18 Islamic militants were arrested, and explosives and weaponry were recovered. These included 170 detonators, tens of homemade bombs and guns and ammunition. One policeman was killed in the raid. Schools, offices and stores in the subdistrict closed down following the incident.
Adjunct Senior Commisioner Muhammad Kilar, a spokesman for Poso police said that following the arrests today, 28 of the 29 people on their "wanted" list have now been accounted for. Badrodin Haiti, the Central Sulawesi police chief, said that two innocent civilians had been injured in the raid. He said: "Most of the dead civilians are on the police's list of wanted persons."
The shooting happened apparently after the militants had fired on the police, leading to the gun battle. The entire operation took around three hours.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:07 PM | Comments (0)
Australia: Challenging Foreign Islamist Influences
The Australian reports that three universities - New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria - will be working together to form a new Islamic training institution. This institution, the National Center of Excellence for Islamic Studies, is costing $8 million Australian ($ million).
There has been much consternation in Australia over the past week, as yet another Australian Muslim leader, Sheikh Feiz Mohammed, was revealed as a fanatic, encouraging parents to raise their children in armed jihad. DVDs in which the Lebanese-origin and Sydney born imam had made these claims, called the "Death Series" have been found on sale in Australia. Feiz himself had fled Australia in November 2005, shortly after the arrests of suspected Muslim terrorists in Sydney and Melbourne. Feiz had known some of these accused individuals, and said that he had returned to Lebanon to look after his sick father.
Copies of Feiz' videos were seized by police. Other comments on the DVDs claimed that Jews were pigs. The premier of New South Wales state, Morris Iemma, claimed that Feiz' statements were "more than vilification". Iemma said: "The sort of incitement that the DVD encourages is incitement to acts of violence and acts of terror." Feiz said from his refuge in Lebanon that his words on the DVDs had been "misinterpreted".
Earlier this month, the controversial "Australian Mufti", Sheikh Taj al-Din al-Hilaly was in Egypt, where he once again made comments which created controversy. He had said in September that women who do not wear Muslim coverings were opening themselves up to rape. He claimed that uncovered women were like uncovered meat left out for cats. In Arabic, he had told a congregation in Australia "Who can blame the cats?"
In Egypt, Hilaly said on a TV station on Tuesday, January 17 that Muslims had more right to live in Australia than non-Muslims, whom he described as "convicts" and liars. He said: "Anglo-Saxons came to Australia in chains, while we paid our way and came in freedom. We are more Australian than them."
Australia's foreign minister, Alexander Downey, said: "I think these kinds of comments just continue to undermine his credibility and his status in the Australian Muslim community. I think it just reinforces a bit of a perception that he's not someone to be taken seriously."
The premier, John Howard, made light of the comments by the "Mufti". He said: "I think it will bring a wry smile to the face of Australians who don't actually feel the least bit offended that many of our ancestors came here as convicts. It's almost a badge of honour for many Australians."
Howard later claimed that Australian Muslim should denounce the Mufti's attitudes. He said: "I think the community has got to show a bit of generic leadership, he is an embarrassment to Islamic Australians. I worry about the damage his behaviour is doing to the image of Islamic Australians within our broader community, I don't want them to be hurt by him but they alone have it in their hands to stop that happening."
As well as describing white Australians as "the biggest liars", Hilaly claimed that the furore that had greeted his comments about rape victims and uncovered meat was "a calculated conspiracy" which was whipped up "in order to bring the Islamic community to its knees."
Even Keysar Trad, the main apologist and supporter for the Mufti, apologized for Hilali's comments. Peter Costello, the Australian treasurer was less forgiving, noting the Mufti's comments over the past decade. Hilali has praised the 9/11 bombers and blamed Jews for "all the wars and problems that threaten the peace and stability of all the world."
Costello said: "You go right through the decade, the sheik has been anti-Semitic, he has supported jihadists, he has made statements that are absolutely offensive to women, such as the 'uncovered meat' one - it wasn't just that he had a bad day last September."
65-year old Sheikh Hilaly is Egyptian born, but was for years a Lebanese. He is the imam at the Lakemba mosque in Sydney, where he has a mostly Lebanese congregation.
Hilali has made further controversy by offering to stand in the state election in NSW. He made the claims last week on Arabic Radio from Egypt. Morris Iemma, the Labour premier of New South Wales state has urged Hilali to stand against him in the upcoming elections, due to take place on March 24.
The Muslim feminist Shakira Hussein has commented that anyone standing on an Islamic ticket in the elections, where Muslims comprise only 16% of the NSW electorate will distract from the real issues of governance. She claims that Hilali has no relevance for Australian Muslims of Turkish, Indian or Bosnian extraction. She also suggests that a Muslim-issue-only candidate would actually create more distrust of Muslims.
The new National Center of Excellence for Islamic Studies is not without its own potential pitfalls. Its stated aim is to create home-grown Australian imams, rather than relying upon imported Muslims with imported ideologies. The issues of the Saudi-educated Feiz Mohammed and Hilali have touched nerves, but they are not the only Muslim clerics who have attracted attention.
Sheikh Mohammed Jamal Omran has a prayer center in Brunswick, Melbourne, Victoria. He has preached radicalism, and has supported Hilali's rape comments. He has condemned Muslim girls who enter beauty contests. He believes Osama bin Laden to be a "good man". Omran blamed John Howard's government for fueling radical Islam.
Other foreign preachers with alien outlooks include "Abu Hamza", aka Samir Mohtadi (pictured left), a Lebanese who also has a friendship with Sheikh Omran. Mohtadi has a congregation in Coburg, Melbourne. He has openly denounced the Bible as "If there's one book that should be banned, it is the Bible. So I would not allow my sons or my daughters or my friends or my enemies to read that Bible. I am too embarrassed to read some of the things in the Bible." A Salafist, Mohtadi has challenged George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney and Catholic Cardinal to a "debate" on the comparative merits of the Bible and Quran.
Mohtadi could be dismissed as a freak, but he has been an associate of another imported cleric, the Algerian Salafist Abu Nacer Benbrika, who was among the individuals arrested on terrorism charges on November 8, 2005. Disturbingly, Mohtadi knew that there were rumors that Benbrika was planning terror attacks, but after talking to the cleric, Mohtadi let the issue drop.
The new head of the National Center of Excellence for Islamic Studies will be a Muslim who was educated at the Islamic University of Medina, Saudi Arabia. This man, Abdullah Saeed (pictured top right) was announced today as the new head.
Saeed claims to be a moderate, in spite of the strict Salafism taught at his university. He claimed: "Many people say anyone who comes from the Islamic University must be a fairly conservative figure, but my writings wouldn't show that. My (later) training in Australia at Melbourne University, I guess, provided me with the necessary tools to move to the position I am in in Islamic studies."
Earlier, the parliamentary secretary for multicultural affairs, Andrew Robb, said the center should encourage moderate Islam in Australia. He said: "An advisory body with Muslims on it, probably with other denominations on it and with some Government representation will satisfy everyone in the community that this centre is making a constructive contribution to the sensible practise of Islam in Australia."
Laurie Ferguson, the multicultural affairs spokesman for Labor, said: "Let's try and find somebody who's got broad knowledge, who's respected by all mainstream aspects of Islam, let's find somebody who's got academic credentials, who is respected and can be a force for uniting people rather than a force for division."
Whether Saeed really will inspire Muslim youth in Australia to go to him for teaching and training remains to be seen. He claims to be a moderate, but the Islamic training in Saudi Arabia is not moderate, but Islamofascistic in nature.
What is clear is that Australia seems not to care about excluding from its shores Islamists who are known to promote dissent and who support jihad and terrorism. The extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir has been in existence in Australia for some time. The group is against democracy, and supports attacks against Israeli civilians. It is banned throughout the Middle East and in Central Asia, Russia, Pakistan, the Netherlands and Germany. In the fall of 2005, the Australian Attorney General decided not to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir in Australia, despite their divisive influences in Australia.
On January 11 it was announced that a meeting by Hizb ut-Tahrir, which was planned to take place on January 27 at Bankstown Town Hall in Sydney, had been cancelled. Tanya Mihailuk, the Bankstown mayor said: "The promotional material was shocking. It showed daggers with blood put through the state of Israel. It would have certainly breached our conditions of hire in that it would incite racial vilification and violence."
Now, according to the Australian Daily Telegraph, the Hizb ut-Tahrir have managed to book a small hall in Canterbury Road in Lakemba, where it will hold its conference. The guest speaker is Mohammed Ismail Yusanto (right).
Yusanto is the head of Indonesian Hizb ut-Tahrir, and his track record is one of fomenting trouble and reaching anti-Western hatred. In November last year, Yusanto led protests against the visit to Bogor, Indonesia by President George W. Bush.
Yusanto has said that in Indonesia Hizb ut-Tahrir has 100,000 members, with chapters in every province. After the fall of the dictator Suharto, who had kept Islamists under control, Hizb operated openly in Indonesia. He supports sharia law, and openly condemns moderate forms of Islam as preached in Indonesia. Like all Hizb Islamists, he wants sharia introduced.
If Australia really wants a "moderate" form of Islam to flourish in Australia, one of the first things it should do is to ban Islamists such as Mohammed Ismail Yusanto from being allowed to enter the country and preach dissent and revolution.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 4:37 PM | Comments (1)
Spencer: My Response to Dinesh D'Souza
Author Robert Spencer responds to one of the strangest books of our strange times: My Response to Dinesh D'Souza
When I saw the above screenshot at Hot Air of a new Fox News promo, I immediately thought of Dinesh D'Souza, who in his new book The Enemy At Home says that "the cultural left in this country is responsible for causing 9/11." I do not believe that either the left or the right in America is responsible for causing 9/11, which I believe took place because of the expansionist and totalitarian jihad ideology and the renewed strength of some in the Islamic world to further its ends -- with, to be sure, a healthy sense of grievance against the West used for recruitment purposes. But I have long stressed, and continue to believe on the basis of numerous historical precedents, that those grievances, if redressed, would not end the jihad, which would simply continue to recruit on the basis of different grievances.In any case, I just discovered, via referrals from Powerline, that D'Souza goes farther, and blames me also for Islamic terrorism. I have his book but haven't finished reading it yet -- when I wrote this and this about interviews he conducted, I didn't know this was in his book. But I just found this on page 278:[...]
(Note: I have recently finished reading The Enemy at Home. I'll review it this week.)
Posted by Ruy Diaz at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2007
UK: Bakri States Muslims Should Not Join Police Or Army
Omar Bakri Mohammed founded British Hizb ut-Tahrir shortly after he arrived in Britain as an "asylum-seeker" in 1985. He left Hizb ut-Tahrir (or was expelled) and founded Al-Muhajiroun (the "migrants") in 1996. This group has encouraged acts of terrorism, and possibly sent Asif Hanif and Omar Sharif to Israel, where they were involved in the suicide bombing of Mike's Bar in Tel Aviv, killing three and injuring 60 on April 30, 2003.
Bakri disbanded Al-Muhajiroun in October 2004, and its members set up new groups - the Saviour or Saved Sect, and Al Ghurabaa (the "strangers"), with Bakri as their "emir" or "spiritual leader". In August 2005, after he had fled to Lebanon, Bakri was barred from returning to Britain. In July last year, when Lebanon was bombed, he tried to seek sanctuary with British refugees, claiming
In today's Sunday Telegraph, Bakri is quoted as saying that "moderate Muslims" in the police or army will eventually revolt against the system and "crush it from from within".
"When you start to ask Muslims to join your Army and your police you are making a grave mistake. That British Muslim who joins the police today will one day read the Koran and will have an awakening," he said.
"Those moderates are one day going to be practising Muslims. Now what happens if they are British police or in the Army and they have weapons? How much information do they have about you that they will use to serve the global struggle?"
"They will revolt against the system if they have been failed by your foreign policy which is oppressive against Islam, or have been contacted by people who believe Britain is a domain of war."
While sipping strawberry juice in a Beirut cafe, Bakri also praised the 7/7 bombings of 2005, saying they had benefitted Muslims: "I believe it is a better place for Islam and Muslims… but not for non-Muslims. What's happening around the world is good and positive for Islam."
He also confirmed the stories that he had officiated at the marriage of a Muslim policeman, PC Amjad Farooq. This policeman caused controversy last year when he refused to perform any of his duties in the Diplomatic Protection Group (DPG or SO16) protecting the Israeli Embassy in London.
Bakri said: "If I'd have known [he was a policeman at the time of the wedding] I would never have married them. My advice to all Muslims in the police is to leave their jobs."
Muslims in British police forces have in some cases, such as Tariq Ghaffur, risen to higher ranks. But others, such as the woman police officer described in the Sunday Mail have caused embarrassment.
The unnamed woman refused to shake hands with Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Ian Blair at a passing out parade at Imber Court. The grounds given were that, as a Muslim woman, she is prevented from touching a man who is not a relative or spouse.
The passing out parade was the culmination of 18 weeks' training and featured 200 recruits. A source said: "Before Sir Ian arrived she told her training supervisor that she was not going to shake his hand because it was against her religion. She also said she did not want her picture taken with the commissioner because they would only use it for propaganda."
"Sir Ian was informed on his arrival of the officer's request. This has never happened before and he was bloody furious. But he agreed to go along with it so as not to cause a scene. He went out and shook the hand of every single new recruit apart from her. It was very obvious and very embarrassing."
The source said that the incident caused heated conversation afterwards, with officers wondering how she would deal with arresting men, if she was not allowed to touch them.
Since 2001, Scotland Yard has allowed Muslim women police officers to wear an adaptation of the hijab or Muslim headscarf.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 4:42 PM | Comments (2)
UK: Muslim Hate Preachers Escape Investigation
On Monday January 15, UK television broadcaster, Channel Four, aired a documentary entitled "Undercover Mosques". This show exposed the preaching of hatred, coming from Saudi Arabia, which was being voiced in British mosques.
A 106 mb version in Quicktime can be uploaded here with a larger (250 mb) version downloadable