Islamization Watch

Friends shocked as Brit convert to Islam is arrested on terror charges

2009-11-22T16:22:00.000-08:00

Happy Dayz.. Before Mathew Newton (l) converted to Islam.

Bearded... Newton after converting to Islam.

He probably tell us he really wasn't happy back then - in the first picture - that's why he joined the mujihadeen!

CELEBRITY Big Brother winner Bez was shocked last night after a family pal was arrested in a TERROR swoop.

Matthew Newton, 27, and four others were held over an alleged plot to recruit Brits for Taliban training camps in Afghanistan.

Newton - who converted to Islam two years ago - once ran trendy T-shirt firm Masti with Bez's son, Arlo.

Arlo, 18, told The Sun last night: "It's shocking for me and my dad. Matt's a top geezer.

"I've known him for two or three years. He got on with my dad and with everyone."

Newton is pictured with Happy Mondays legend Bez, 45, on his Facebook page clean-shaven and in Western clothes.

Four charged with terror offences BBC

But a later photo shows him in a beard and Muslim garb.

Newton of Stalybridge, Manchester, and four men aged 21 to 67 were arrested across the North West on Monday.

A spokesman for Bez - whose Happy Mondays smash hit Step On starts with the words "You're twistin' my melon, man" - said: "This is nothing to do with Bez."

The Sun

Murdered Russian priest faced threats from Muslims [Video]

2009-11-22T16:06:00.000-08:00

Moscow is in shock after an unknown masked gunman shot dead an Orthodox priest in his own church. Father Daniil Sysoev was known for his debates with people of different beliefs. Shortly before his death, Father Daniil claimed in his Internet Blog that he had received 14 threats from Muslims.

Russia Today

India's Ram Jethmalani triggers row with - Allah's a brothel keeper - remark

2009-11-22T13:57:00.000-08:00

Jethmalani is considered a maverick...

New Delhi: Former union law minister Ram Jethmalani on Saturday kicked up a row at an international conference on terrorism, asking if Islam's jehadi doctrine does not virtually render 'god a brothel keeper', prompting a Saudi Arabian envoy to walk out of the conference.

Addressing the seminar, Jethmalani wondered if the jehadi doctrine, propagating the belief allegedly held by Islam's Wahab sect that Muslims attaining martyrdom while fighting non-Muslims "get a place in heaven and the company of the opposite sex there", does not amount to saying that "god is a brothel keeper".

The self-confessed maverick legal hawk also went on to equate god as someone "suffering with Alzheimer's disease", while advising the Indian government and the international community against trusting god in fighting terrorism.

More: Ram ruffles, Moily soothes Saudi feathers

Jethmalani sends legal notice to Raj Thackeray

"He will not help as he is suffering with Alzheimer's disease," said Jethmalani, while advising the government to junk its obsession with "an irrelevant non-aligned movement" and "join the forces of good to fight forces of evil".

Jethmalani made "the non-mincing" remarks at an international conference of jurists on terrorism, inaugurated by President Pratibha Patil and attended among others by Singapore Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong and Justice Awn S Al-Khasawneh of the International Court of Justice and envoys of several countries.

Jethmalani's remarks caused Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to India Faisal-al-Trad to walk out, while an embarrassed union Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily swiftly sought to distance himself and the government from the controversial remarks.

Justice Khasawneh contradicted Jethmalani on some facts referred to by him on the jehadi doctrine.

Jethmalani made the remark while dwelling upon the need to fight terrorism also at its ideological level.

"I am a student of all religions, including Islam, and I have read the Koran several times. I find that the Prophet is a man of peace," said Jethmalani, adding that it nowhere preaches hate and violence.

"But the decline of Islam started in the 17th century when a person named Wahab propagated hate and violence against all non-Muslims by mis-interpreting one shora (verse) of the Koran," said Jethmalani.

"I have read that shora thousands of times, but I have not found anything wrong in it. But, according to Wahab, all other people, including Christians, Jews and Hindus, and even Shias, have forfeited their rights to live," said Jethmalani.

Following Jethmalani's speech, Saudi Arabia's Ambassador Faisal-al-Trad was seen walking out of the conference, apparently taking offence at the remarks.

Organiser of the event Adesh Aggarwala said the ambassador had walked out but returned after Moily's statement that the views expressed by Jethmalani were not that of the government.

Moily, in his address, said that terrorism cannot be attributed to any particular religion.

It was unfortunate that the entire Islam as a religion was being blamed for terrorism, Jethmalani said, adding that "there are also Hindu terrorists and Buddhist terrorists".

Terming the Non-Aligned Movement and Panchsheel as evil, Jethmalani said "India should align with forces of good to combat the forces of evil. India and its foreign ministers must learn to reassess the doctrines of past".

He said India's foreign policy establishment should be courageous to shun any relationship with the country's 'enemies'.

Referring to Jethmalani's comments, Justice Awn S Al-Khasawneh, a judge of the International Court of Justice, asked him not "to make sweeping statements". He also said that the Wahab movement had started in the 18th century and not in 17th century as Jethmalani had remarked.

Sify

Islamic group CAIR files complaint with US School Department over Islamic prayer in school

2009-11-22T10:04:00.000-08:00

My sympathies go out to this child - who has been so frightened into thinking that if she doesn't make all the required prayers in a day - her God will reject her.

There is a bit of he said she said here - though it could be that CAIR doesn't have all the facts - the school district says the child can pray quietly in the school - but coming from the child's uncle - it seems that the family are demanding a dedicated room for the child to pray in - and the school says that is not possible.

Further in a vindictive fashion - CAIR has asked that the school faculty undergo 'sensitivity training' - so that there will be no backlash against the child - from the staff. Previously CAIR's chairman has said - Islam is in the US to conquer - and not to be equal with other religions.

Here is the slightly sharper end of nasty.

CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper said Friday that if the Lewiston School Department did not address its four requests to allow prayer, modify school policy, institute training and protect Aden from retaliation, "we wouldn't really have much choice but to take the case further"

It is like Fort Hood no one wants to offend the Muslim - it appears CAIR is making full use of that power.

LEWISTON — A national Muslim civil rights organization has filed a formal request with the Lewiston School Department to allow a middle school student to pray on school property. The group also wants Lewiston to modify existing policy and provide "constitutionally protected religious accommodation," such as a designated prayer room.

The group has also requested the school department institute diversity training for school staff, and to ensure the middle-schooler won't face retaliation because of her request to pray at the Lewiston Middle School.

According to the Washington, D.C.,-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, seventh-grader Nasra Aden had been routinely "praying discreetly during her free time or lunch break in a corner of a school hallway." But, on Tuesday, CAIR asserts a teacher told Aden "never to pray on school property" after Aden was seen preparing to kneel in prayer in a corner of one of the hallways.

After Aden told her mother, Jamad Warsame, what happened, Warsame spoke with school Principal Maureen Lachappelle and asked the school to accommodate her daughter's desire to pray. According to CAIR, Warsame's request was rebuffed and she has been "forced to pick up her daughter every day and take her to a nearby park to pray."

Lachappelle said Aden is not being forced to leave school to pray, but that the district accommodated her mother's request for her to leave the campus this past week for prayer.

Lewiston Superintendent Leon Levesque, who learned of CAIR's written accusations hours after a press release had already been published on various Web sites, said, "Students are free to pray quietly during class if they choose as long as it's not disruptive," because "prayer is constitutionally protected in schools."

"They can pray audibly or silently," and are subjected to the same rules of order as apply to other students in the school. "We have never denied a student's right to pray," he said.

Aden's uncle, Ismail Warsame, who lives in Orono, said Lachappelle and another school official told the family that because the school department "could not provide a room for Muslims to pray, it was against the school policy for anyone to pray."

Lachappelle disputes that was the department's explanation.

Lachappelle said she told Jamad Warsame that the school department cannot provide special prayer rooms for students of any religion, but that "students certainly have a right to pray in school. We know that's their constitutional right."

A lot of kids pray silently in school," Lachappelle said, at their desks before a test or during study hall. "We don't promote prayer and we don't deny" students' right to pray, she said. "We're neutral."

Levesque said that staff is trained to protect the right of students to pray, and he's certain many students do pray unnoticed. The district also allows religious clubs to meet in school buildings before and after school, and that students are permitted to be excused from school for religious holidays.

In a written statement, Ismail Warsame called school officials' alleged actions in responding to Aden's effort to pray "a stunning scenario of lack of multicultural competency" and "clear violation of our constitutional rights to free religious expression."

Warsame also accused Lachappelle of hanging up on him as he was asking whether the school department would accommodate the family's request to accommodate the specific religious needs of certain students. Lachappelle acknowledged she did end a phone conversation with Warsame abruptly because "he wouldn't take no for an answer."

According to Lachappelle, after an involved conversation about the school's position on allowing silent prayer, she said she told Warsame that "this is what the ruling is. We're disagreeing, and I'm following district policy. I feel we need to end this conversation."

CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper said Friday that if the Lewiston School Department did not address its four requests to allow prayer, modify school policy, institute training and protect Aden from retaliation, "we wouldn't really have much choice but to take the case further" because "the student has the legal right and the constitutional right to pray in school in a manner that is not disruptive to the learning environment."

Hooper said no one from CAIR spoke to school officials before filing its four-prong request because it is their general practice to file requests and then follow up with schools and other organizations to institute changes.

Sun Journal

Indonesia seizes 75 tons of explosive material smuggled from Malaysia

2009-11-22T07:34:00.000-08:00

(The Jakarta Post) - Customs officials in Riau Islands have foiled an attempt to smuggle 75 tons of pure ammonium nitrate, which could be used for improvised explosive devices, on a ship from Malaysia bound for Selayar Island in South Sulawesi.

Riau Islands Customs and Excise Office head Nasar Salim said Friday that the wooden ship was intercepted by a customs patrol team off the coast of Mapor Island near Bintan on Wednesday.

The crew had intentionally taken a route to avoid patrol boats belonging to Indonesian or Singaporean authorities, he said.

"They had deliberately used a shipping lane with high waves to avoid security patrol boats, but we managed to intercept them near Bintan Island," Nasar told a press conference in Tanjung Balai Karimun.

The chemical material was shipped on board the Indonesian-flagged KM Fungka Sejahtera without required importation documents, he said.

After leaving Pasir Gadang in Malaysia, the wooden boat sailed headed to the South China Sea, Nasar said.

When approaching Natuna Island, the vessel turned toward Java Island, before it was later captured.

The local customs office were questioning the 16 crew members of the wooden boat which was being tightly guarded at the Tanjdung Balai Karimun port.

The office also barred passing ships and people from approaching the boat, to prevent any possible explosions from the chemical material.

Nasar said ammonium nitrate, which can also be used as fertilizer, was classified as an explosive and any imports of the substance must be approved by the Defense Ministry and the National Police.

The explosives were packed in 3,000 25-kilogram sacks, each containing a 34.5 percent concentration of ammonium nitrate.

A further investigation by the customs office, however, found the chemical material contained pure concentrations of the explosive.

"This *concealing of explosives* has lead to suspicion that the chemicals were intended for violent or other dangerous purposes - but it will be up to the police to investigate this further," Nasar said.

"Around 95 percent of the ammonium nitrate imported into Indonesia is used for basic explosive devices," he said.

Explosives smuggling is a punishable crime and carries a jail sentence of up to 10 years.

According to the captain of KM Fungka Sejahtera, identified only initials as HN, the ammonium nitrate was intended for agricultural purposes on Selayar Island, Nasar said.

However, the crew refused to reveal the identity of the "explosive" importers.

Separately, Riau Islands Police deputy chief of detectives Adj. Comr. Wiyarso said his office would investigate whether the case was linked to any terrorist networks in Indonesia.

"We will look into the importer and recipient of the ammonium nitrate.

"However, I can not say whether there is any terrorist link in the case. We will leave this matter to the National Police antiterror unit for further investigation," Wiyarso said.

Geneva: Residents woken up to spoof call to prayer, by anti-minaret group [Video]

2009-11-22T06:21:00.000-08:00

There seems to be some animosity between the locals and this particular mosque. Mosque members or leaders have called local school girls 'dirty little white' school girls because they were not considered sufficiently dressed coming from gym class - for mosque users. There also seems there have been parking problems - where the entire street is blocked for the mosque on Fridays. The call to prayer stunt was carried out on the country's mosque open day.

Bloc Identity's France call to prayer protest Jan, 2009 - Video below

As it turns out, the anti-minaret vote coincides with the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. For the second time in the past ten days, two weeks before the anti-minaret vote, the Petit-Saconnex mosque (Geneva), filed a complaint with the police.

On Saturday, Nov. 7th, the residents were woken up at 7am by a call to prayer organized by the right-wing group Jeunes identitaires genevois (JIG). The call was made through a megaphone mounted on a car (JIG video above).

Translated - Novo Press

JIG chose Saturday since the Muslims organized an open day in mosques across Switzerland that day.

JIG justified their action, saying they needed to inform the people. "We want to show that in case the initiative is rejected, we're de-facto accepting that in a few years such calls will echo in Switzerland," they told Swiss newspaper Le Matin.

This past Saturday night, the local mosque was pelted with stones. The windows, shutters, wooden door and granite dome of the entrance were broken, said the imam of the Islamic Cultural Center, Youssef Ibram. Ibram said that the police took away several kilos of stones in order to check for fingerprints and DNA.

This is the first time in 30 years that the mosque has been vandalized, the imam said. He linked it to both the fake muezzin call and to the minaret vote initiative.

The mosque hired a security guard to guard the mosque at night.

Islam in Europe

Wednesday, January 21, at 6 hours, the Bloc identity entered Aquitaine in Bordeaux, where he plans to settle permanently. For its first action, a dozen activists block identity were mobilized to distribute leaflets on the windshields of cars and in the mailboxes of residents while a sound system, installed at the rear of a vehicle , broadcast the muezzin's call.

The Bloc identity Aquitaine heard and warn the people of La Bastide on the project of building a "cathedral mosque" with the goodwill of the municipality of Bordeaux.

Contrary to what has been said and written, this action had nothing Islamophobic: respectful of all beliefs, the Bloc identity Aquitaine simply vigorously opposed to this construction violates our European and Christian identity, identity that can not tolerate the expansion of Islam on French soil.

The Bloc identity Aquitaine thank the people of La Bastide who have expressed their encouragement: they know they are not alone.

The Bloc identity Aquitaine stands available to the press on any issue relating to his struggle for identity Aquitaine, the French and European, summarized by the slogan: "0% Racism, 100% identity. "

NovoPress

Video in French - good pics.

Oslo: Muslim students want to use gym hall for prayer, deans object

2009-11-22T06:13:00.000-08:00

The Muslim Student Society asked to use a gym hall at Oslo university (Blindern) for half an hour every Friday for prayer, but the university administration is skeptic.

Deans Hans Petter Graver (Law) and Trygve Wyller (Theology) are critical of such use of common areas. They want a principle debate on how you can meet the demands for exercising one's religion and at the same time protect the common, secular space, reports Uniforum, the university's newspaper.

There's an especially big influx into the university's prayer room for Muslims on Friday afternoon, when 40-80 Muslims come in to pray.

"That we are so many means that we must stand in line to pray in several rounds," says Bushra Ishaq, head of the Muslim Student Society at Oslo University.

"We humbly asked to use an aerobics hall for prayer for half an hour every Friday, and it amazes me that the deans are making such a big issue out of it," she says.

Ishaq thinks the Muslims' Friday prayer can't be compared to Christian Sunday mass, as dean Trygve Wyller claims.

"Islam enjoins us to pray Friday prayer, but this lasts at most 20 minutes," says Ishaq.

Dean Hans Petter Graver emphasizes that allowing Muslim students to conduct such a ceremony in such a visible place as the gym hall will alter the secular space, and so before allowing such a major change, they should have a principle discussion.

Islam in Europe

Taliban suffocate Pakistan Buddhist heritage

2009-11-22T05:23:00.000-08:00

A testement to Islam's tolerance and embrace of diversity - only Buddhist statues survive the vibrant culture that once existed.

AFP - Archaeologists warn that the Taliban are destroying Pakistan's ancient Gandhara heritage and rich Buddhist legacy as pilgrimage and foreign research dries up in the country's northwest.

"Militants are the enemies of culture," said Abdul Nasir Khan, curator of Taxila Museum, one of the premier archaeological collections in Pakistan.

"It is very clear that if the situation carries on like this, it will destroy our culture and will destroy our cultural heritage," he told AFP.

Taxila, a small town around 20 kilometres (13 miles) south of Islamabad, is one of Pakistan's foremost archaeological attractions given its history as a centre of Buddhist learning from the 5th century BC to the 2nd century.

Violence is on the rise in Pakistan as Taliban bombers and gunmen strike with increasing frequency and intensity in the cities of North West Frontier Province and around the capital Islamabad.

"Even in Taxila we don't feel safe. The local administration has warned us about a possible attack on this museum. We have taken some extra security precautions but they aren't sufficient and we lack funds," said Khan.

"For weeks we don't get even a single foreign visitor. If visitors don't come, if sites are not preserved and protected, if research stops, what do you think will be the future of archaeology?" he said.

In March 2001, Taliban militants in neighbouring Afghanistan blew up two 1,500-year-old Bamiyan Buddha statues in defiance of international appeals.

The Islamist militia has since spread into Pakistan. Their opposition to music, art, dance, girls' education and idolatry makes archaeologists fear that Pakistani Buddhist relics are in the eye of the storm.

Italian archaeologists were active in Pakistan's northwest Swat valley from 1956 until they reluctantly discontinued work in 2007 after Taliban fighters led by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah rose up demanding sharia law.

"It is not planned to carry on any research activity," Luca Olivieri, co-director the Italian archaeological mission in Pakistan, told AFP by email.

After 17 years as curator in Swat, Khan took no risks. With the Taliban killing and bombing their way through the valley, the museum closed in 2008 and he evacuated the most priceless antiquities.

That September, the Taliban twice tried to blow up 7th century Buddhist relics -- damaging a rock engraved with images of Buddha that for centuries had been a pilgrimage site.

This year, the rebels marched to within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of Islamabad, precipitating a major military operation in the northwest district and followed up with a current offensive in South Waziristan.

"This is the worst time for archaeology. Militancy has affected it very badly. There were 15-20 foreign missions working in this field, now this research has completely stopped," Khan told AFP.

He says the army has requisitioned the museum building in Swat's main town of Mingora. Despite the summer offensive, which appears to have flushed out Taliban havens in Swat for now, he doubts life will soon return to normal.

"I don't see any chance in the near future of re-opening the Swat museum. The situation is still not suitable.

"The museum building was badly damaged in a bomb blast. The display cases are broken and the building needs complete renovation," he said.

"There is still fear in people's minds but I hope that the army will succeed in bringing back normalcy," he added.

The situation is not much better further south.

Peshawar, the troubled capital of northwest Pakistan known for its Buddhist heritage and archaeology, used to attract thousands of tourists but security fears and bomb attacks make it a no-go area for foreigners.

Its museum is open, but one gate has been sealed and cement barricades outside the second allow only pedestrians to enter.

"For a year and a half, foreign tourists have completely stopped visiting this part of Pakistan," Qazi Ijaz, an official at Peshawar museum, told AFP.

"The nucleus of the Gandhara civilization in Swat is closed and that was their main interest," he said.

"The tourist companies have closed. Foreign visitors have stopped coming and museums with monuments and other archaeological sites look deserted," he added.

There are about 10 museums in northwest Pakistan, including one under construction to protect Kalash culture in the Chitral valley, where a Greek volunteer was kidnapped in September and reportedly smuggled to Afghanistan.

The fair skin and light eyes of the Kalash inspire academic speculation that they descend from an ancient Middle Eastern population or soldiers of Alexander the Great's army which conquered the area in the fourth century BC.

France24

The 'Path of Life' to Muslims, Sharia Law - Walls Off Christians

2009-11-22T05:07:00.000-08:00

Ask many Muslims to describe how to fix the problems of society and they will say, "More sharia law." Ask many Christians living in those same societies, and they will answer, "Less sharia." From Iran to Gaza, from Indonesia to Pakistan, Islamists are working night and day to direct their nations according to what they see as the pure dictates of Islam and away from the corruptions of modern life.

For Christians living in Muslim-majority regions, sharia is always the wrong answer.

Sharia is Muslim law handed down after the death of Muhammad in the 7th century and solidified in its current form around the year 1000. "The root meaning of sharia is ‘way, path, road and highway,'" said Rev. Ane Mulder, former staff member with the Islam Open Doors International Study Center. "Its primary use was to designate the camel's path to the well, the path to life. It is from here that the specifically religious use emerged as the rule of law, the system of laws or even the totality of the prophet's message. This message guided the community of believers on the divine path towards the good life."

However, sharia, wherever it has been implemented, has displayed a dark side, both to Muslims and to religious minorities. Sharia allows for thieves to face the amputation of their hands, perceived adulterers to be stoned, apostates to be executed and the testimony of women to count far less than the testimony of men in court. In its extreme forms, such as in Saudi Arabia, women are covered from head to foot and are often forced to stay indoors, out of sight.

For Christians and other non-Muslim groups, sharia (or just a pro-sharia mindset) enshrines their permanent second-class status. In Pakistan, which began introducing various forms of sharia about 30 years ago, a law prohibiting blasphemy against Muhammad and Islam has been used by unscrupulous Muslims to harass, intimidate, attack, jail and even kill their Christian neighbors. According to the 2009 Open Doors World Watch List, seven of the 10 countries which are the worst persecutors of Christians are Muslim. They include Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, Maldives, Yemen and Uzbekistan.

Sharia's mindset is increasingly finding its way into the West. Five years ago in the Netherlands, a Muslim extremist shot and stabbed outspoken Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh on the street in Amsterdam for making films critical of Islam.

This fall, the United Nations General Assembly will vote on the Defamation of Religions Resolution, a measure backed by repressive Muslim governments as a tool to suppress religious minorities. "The protection of speech about religion is particularly important since persons of different faiths will inevitably hold divergent views on religious questions," said Hillary Clinton, the U.S. Secretary of State, about the resolution. "These differences should be met with tolerance, not with the suppression of discourse."

In Great Britain, the country's growing Muslim community now has government-sanctioned sharia courts. "The government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence," reports The Sunday Times. "Rulings issued by a network of five sharia courts are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system, through the county courts or High Court. Previously, the rulings of sharia courts in Britain could not be enforced, and depended on voluntary compliance among Muslims."

Meanwhile, the Islamist extremist group Islam4UK is holding rallies demanding that sharia be implemented across Great Britain.

Sharia has some prominent proponents in the West. Dalia Mogahed, executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, asserts that sharia is a positive force for female empowerment worldwide. "Muslim women don't regard sharia as impeding their rights," Mogahed told Christianity Today. "They may in fact see it as a road to progress." Mogahed, co-author of the book Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think, says sharia provides a check on male exploitation of women.

Yet some Muslims are beginning to express a contrary view.

When I spoke out against the Defamation of Religions Resolution in New York City last month, I met some unexpected allies. Baha'is, moderate Muslims and Jews stood with Christians to oppose restrictions on the freedoms of speech and religion—which, after all, are enshrined in the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In Pakistan, which is experiencing turmoil as the government tries to crack down on the Taliban, increasing numbers of citizens are publicly opposing the blasphemy laws. "The law is wrong and must be done away with," said Hilda Saeed of the Women's Action Forum. "Pakistan has one of the poorest records when it comes to protecting minorities."

It appears that two trends concerning sharia are on a collision course: one that seeks more religious liberty and another that seeks less. The good news is that we need not frame the debate in terms of Islam against the West, because in some respects the discussion is occurring among Muslims themselves.

But there can be no question about which side Christians are on. The Bible is the basis for our belief and should direct our paths in all areas of our lives.

The spread of sharia is disconcerting and a threat to all believers. So please join with me in praying for the tens of thousands who worship our Lord living under the oppression of sharia law, especially Muslim Background Believers. Pray that Christians will stand strong in their faith despite intense persecution.

Dr. Carl Moeller, president and CEO of Open Doors USA, is a former singles pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. He works as an advocate for religious freedom around the globe.

The 'Path of Life' to Muslims, Sharia Law Walls Off Christians, Page 0

Maldives President looks to Sharia sources over non-Muslim worship bill that could land visitors in jail for 3-5 yrs

2009-11-22T04:39:00.000-08:00

Maldives is already confiscating bibles from visitors luggage at its airport.

The sharia side of life!

President Mohamed Nasheed said yesterday he would seek advice from religious scholars on Islam’s position on allowing non-Muslims to worship in an Islamic community.

In his radio weekly address, the president said the constitution was "very clear" that laws contrary to Islam could not be made or enacted.

"It has become very important for me to find out what Islamic sharia says about not allowing foreigners who want to worship other religions in the Maldives," he said.

"When this bill comes from the People's Majlis for the president to ratify, the question before me will be what is the ruling in Islamic sharia on people of other religions living in an Islamic community to worship?"

The president said he needed an answer to the question before ratifying the bill. "When I know, it will be easier for me to make a decision on ratify the bill before it becomes law," he said.

Banned
Last week, a bill proposed by independent MP Ibrahim Muttalib Fares-Maathoda on outlawing places of worship for non-Muslims was sent to committee for further review with unanimous consent of all MPs who participated in the vote.

At the sitting, Muttalib said he learned that inquiries had been made with the government on establishing places of worship for expatriates and there was no law to forbid it.
“The other thing we have to think about today is that the government is considering establishing wedding tourism in the country and this will indirectly set up churches in the country,” he said.

While the bill states that foreigners or expatriates will be allowed to worship in the privacy of their homes, involving Maldivians or encouraging them to participate will be an offence.

The bill specifies a jail term of three to five years or a fine of between Rf36,000 (US$2,800) and Rf60,000 (US$4,669) for those in violation of the law.

Several MPs called for longer jail terms and higher fines, while others said foreigners in violation of the law should be deported.

But, some MPs argued the law was unnecessary as the constitution states that Islam shall be the basis of all laws and non-Muslims cannot be citizens.

Most MPs said laws were needed to seal off all avenues to freedom of religion being established in the Maldives.

Rights for Muslims
Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, state minister for Islamic affairs, told Minivan News today the president's office had not officially asked for the ministry’s advice.

"But the matter has been sent to the Fiqh academy and they will issue a decree on it," he said. Shaheem said he believed laws should be made to protect Islam and strengthen Maldivians' faith.

"Right now, Muslims aren't getting their rights," he said. "For example, there's no way for students to pray at schools, you can't get some jobs if you wear the burqa and there are some jobs where you can't grow beards."

He added the ministry had drafted regulations under the Religious Unity Act of 1994 together with the police and sent it to the president's office.

The regulations will be published in the government gazette next week, he continued, and would provide a legal framework to protect Islam.

Speaking to Minivan News today, Abdullah bin Mohamed Ibrahim, president of religious NGO Salaf Jamiyya, said he believed the bill was necessary to safeguard Islam.

"What the president said doesn't match what was in the bill," he said. "The bill is about making it illegal to build places of worship for non-Muslims. It doesn't make it illegal for foreigners to pray in their rooms or houses."

Abdullah said the association had information that Christian missionaries were trying to infiltrate the country and proselytize in the Maldives.

"I believe the bill is essential because the constitution does not forbid building places of worship," he said.

MiniVan News

Malaysia: Converted orphan should seek help from Syariah Court

2009-11-22T04:22:00.000-08:00

No compulsion in Islam - this big lie - is for western ears only!

This woman cannot register her marriage nor the births of her children - because she fell in love with and married a Hindu. Islamic restrictions have been applied because she was converted to Islam - at age 7 in a foster home.

PUTRAJAYA (Nov 22, 2009) : Siti Hasnah Vangarama Abdullah, who was converted at the age of seven under the care of an orphanage in Kepala Batas, Penang, can seek the help of the syariah court to solve her predicament.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim said she can take her case to the syariah court to determine her status of religion.

"Although she holds a Muslim conversion certificate following her conversion, she can argue her case as she was not born a Muslim and, as she claimed, she has not been practising Islam," Mashitah told theSun today.

"This is not a case of seeking permission to change religion but seeking a decision on her status. The judge would study her case and decide whether she is Muslim or not."

Mashitah cited the case of Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah as similar to that of Siti Hasnah, whose original name is S. Banggarma.

It was reported on Friday that Banggarma, 27, has been married for eight years but could not register her marriage because she was listed as a Muslim while her husband is a Hindu.

She claimed she has been practising Hinduism all this while although she was converted to Islam while at the Rumah Kanak-Kanak Taman Bakti in December 1989.

She said she ran away from the home when she was 16 but did not take along any documents with her.

When she wanted to get married at the age of 18, she went back to the home to collect her documents and was given the Muslim certificate.

In Siti Fatimah’s case, in May last year, she was declared no longer a Muslim by the Syariah High Court, which also ordered the Penang Islamic Religious Council to cancel her certificate of conversion to Islam.

Siti Fatimah, 39, whose Chinese name is Tan Ean Huang, converted to Islam in July 1998 to marry an Iranian in 1999 but did not practise its teachings.

She said he left her a few months after their marriage and she later maintained her Buddhist leanings.

Mashitah said while it was commendable for the orphanage to take the initiative to preach about Islam and convert Banggarma to Islam, it was also its responsibility to teach her about the religion.

"It should be followed with the efforts to bring her up according to true Islamic teachings and way of life," she said.

Daily Sun

'Mastermind' of Mumbai attack preaches at mosque in Lahore

2009-11-22T04:07:00.000-08:00

Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, chief of an Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, leaves after appearing before the judicial review board of High Court in Lahore, Pakistan on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. Saeed was detained under house arrest last year as part of Pakistan's investigation into the Mumbai attacks.

Come Friday prayers in Lahore, it is not hard to find the alleged mastermind of the Mumbai attacks.

Hafiz Mohammed Saeed is neither in hiding nor in jail. The founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba is instead delivering a sermon to thousands of devoteees at the Jamia al-Qadsia mosque — one of the biggest in the city.

“God has promised to make Muslims a superpower if we follow the right path,” Mr Saeed told his followers, who listened in rapt silence.

Outside, policemen with machineguns stood guard and bearded security men frisked all those entering. “Our rulers are the slave of America and have sold their conscience for a few dollars,” continued the diminutive former university teacher, his long beard dyed red with henna.

Timothy Roemer, the US Ambassador in Delhi, backed Indian calls this week for Pakistan to bring Mr Saeed and six other Mumbai suspects to justice. “We need to see actions and results from Pakistan,” he said after India handed Pakistan a seventh dossier of evidence on the Mumbai attacks.

Analysts say that the problem lies with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency, which backed Mr Saeed when he founded Lashkar-e-Taiba in 1990 to fight Indian rule in the disputed region of Kashmir. Under pressure from the US, Pakistan banned the group in 2002, but it continued to operate under the banner of Jamaat-ud Dawa, which Mr Saeed also founded and calls a charity organisation.

A UN Security Council resolution last December declared Jamaat-ud Dawa a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, forcing Pakistan to freeze its assets and jail many of its activists. Mr Saeed was put under house detention, but released after a few months when a court ruled that action against him and his group was illegal.

This week a Lahore court threw out two anti-terrorism cases against him. The court also found no evidence that Jamaat-ud Dawa was involved in terrorism, and it should be allowed to operate freely. Pakistani officials say that they are serious about cracking down on militant groups, but there is not enough evidence to put Mr Saeed back on trial.

'Mastermind' of Mumbai attack preaches at mosque in Lahore - Times Online

Political correctness and Ft. Hood killings

2009-11-22T02:56:00.000-08:00

New York (CNN) -- Just hours after the first reports of the tragedy at Fort Hood surfaced, a divisive dialogue was developing on the talk shows and in the Internet blogosphere.

On one side were those arguing that shooting suspect Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's apparent bloodlust was an unfortunate byproduct of an overtaxed military forced to fight a multifront war against an uncertain enemy.

Television doctors expounded on the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans, often without indicating that Hasan had not been to war or suffered any obvious trauma that could explain the gruesome manifestation of his "stress."

Then there were those who said that the lack of any apparent motive other than mayhem -- the early reports that there may have been a second shooter, that Hasan had been linked to suspicious Internet postings and yes, the fact that he had a Muslim name -- at least warranted an investigation into whether he had acted out of adherence to a radical form of Islam. Those who took this position were called everything from irresponsible to racist.

The reluctance of some in the media to confront what so many viewed as obvious questions concerning the gunman's real motives has caused many to question whether we have, as a culture, become too politically correct.

The real question is whether we have abandoned the true definition of political correctness in favor of willful mendacity and issue avoidance.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack on Fort Hood, we knew that an act of immense violence was committed on one of America's largest military installations. The targets were unarmed soldiers and civilians. It involved considerable planning, as the perpetrator had multiple weapons and ample ammunition and chose a location where large crowds would be gathered. Moreover, there was no discernible motive other than death and destruction.

In a post-9/11 world, one would expect these facts alone to provoke concerns of terrorism. The preliminary reports indicating that Hasan had espoused radical Islamic views and that he was a Muslim did not form the basis for the suspicions of terrorism but rather added to them.

Read about the claims against Hasan

Over the past two decades, this nation has suffered multiple attacks at the hands of Islamic extremists, including the Army sergeant who killed two officers and injured 14 others in a premeditated grenade attack in 2003.

Given the first reports after the Fort Hood massacre, and the historical context in which the attack occurred, it would have been both disingenuous and dangerous not to consider whether Hasan allegedly was motivated by religious fanaticism.

Disingenuous because thoughtful people who claim not to have considered religion as a motivation are being dishonest with themselves. Dangerous because to ignore religious fanaticism as the potential motivation for such a senseless act only leaves us more exposed to future attacks.

The Army has been criticized for allowing Hasan to rise in the officer ranks, despite his having made little effort to hide his incendiary beliefs. The tragedy has also provoked some uncomfortable questions as to whether our cultural attitudes have allowed political correctness to stifle discussion of sensitive issues like religion and ethnicity.

Watch more on possible Fort Hood red flags

This is unfortunate because it implies that political correctness is, in and of itself, a bad thing. It is not. It was a politically correct military that allowed African-Americans to serve with valor in the Civil War. It was a politically correct military, and a heavily Southern one at that, that desegregated well before the rest of American society. And it is a politically correct military that is benefiting by the presence of so many brave young women on the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Today's military is brilliantly diverse and includes thousands of Muslim soldiers who serve with honor. We do them and ourselves an injustice when we ignore the obvious warning signs of a madman because we are not comfortable enough with our own diversity to speak openly and honestly with each other.

We do those heroic service members who are suffering PTSD an even greater disservice when we use this very serious illness to explain the actions of a killer without a scintilla of evidence to suggest that he was in fact suffering from it.

What political correctness should stand for is an atmosphere of tolerance, as well as openness. Our desire to be inclusive should never cause us to abandon our common sense or lead us to shy away from raising legitimate questions out of fear of offending.

Our refusal to deal openly with the sensitive issues that confront us as we wage the fight against global terrorism only fosters an atmosphere of cultural suspicion and mistrust, the very ill that political correctness seeks to redress.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Tom Kenniff.

Editor's note: Tom Kenniff is a legal analyst and a founding partner of Raiser & Kenniff P.C. in New York, where he defends those accused of committing criminal offenses. He is a veteran of the war in Iraq, where he served as a commissioned officer in the Army Judge Advocate General Corps.

Muslim Violence Ongoing in Egypt -- Christians Plead For Help

2009-11-22T02:24:00.000-08:00

Here one Egypt man has been accused of rape - or sexually assaulting a Muslim girl. In response the Muslim mob is burning out Christian shops and pharmacies, throwing them out of their homes and attacking the Coptic clergy. Anyone can form a mob to go after individuals - but the frequency with which it happens in Egypt indicates that the level of protection and individual rights for members of the Coptic community is wanting. It is clear Muslims have more rights - in practise there is little or no tolerance in the Muslim world. And that is because Sharia law explicitly gives more individual rights to the Muslim.

Farshoot, Egypt (AINA) -- Since early morning on Saturday, November 21, the Upper Egyptian town of Farshoot, as well as the neighboring villages of Kom Ahmar, Shakiki and Ezbet Waziri, has been the scene of ongoing Muslim mob violence against Coptic Christian inhabitants. The mob looted, vandalized and burnt Coptic property, while Copts hid indoors fearing to venture out. Reuters Cairo reported that a witness said "chaos is overwhelming (in the city)."

The Violence is still going on. There are reports that seven Coptic women have been abducted.

Witnesses said that nearly 3000 angry Muslims have congregated since the early morning in front of the Police Headquarters in Farshoot, in an effort to kidnap Girgis Baroumi while being transported to court to renew his detainment, in order to kill him. Bishop Kirollos said it was agreed with the family of the Muslim girl Yousra to await the Court decision "but they did not wait for that."

Coptic priest Rev. Benjamin Noshi was driving his car when the mob stopped and assaulted him, fracturing his skull. He is currently in hospital.

By the evening most Coptic businesses were looted and burnt. "They are destroying the Coptic economy in these areas," says Wagih Yacoub of Middle Eadt Christian Association.

A witness said that some Coptic families were thrown out of their homes, which were occupied by Muslims.

Although security forces were deployed, they are not taking any action to stop the violence, they are stationed to protect the Farshoot police headquarters after the angry mob pelted it with stones before going in and attacking the officers. Chief Investigating Officer Essam Hany was injured along with others.

Witnesses said that the Police watched the mob but made no arrests and were just dispersing the mob from one street, only for them to appear in the next.

The violence was prompted by reports of sexual abuse of a girl by 21 year-old Copt Guirgis Baroumi, from Kom Ahmar, on Wednesday November 18, 2009. The 12-year-old Muslim girl has been identified as "Yousra." Girgis is detained by the police pending investigations and awaiting results of forensics. Many Copts believe that the rape incident is by Muslims to use it as a pretext to start violence against them.

In an interview with Free Copts, Bishop Kirollos said that the attacks were definitely preplanned and made use of the students from Al-Azhar Institute in Farshoot. He also pointed out to the failing role of the security forces, which disappeared without giving proper justifications, despite several demands by the church to put an end to these grave violations against Christians and their property.

He also added that even if the story of the indecent assault on the Muslim teenager was true, this was purely an individual incident and does not call for an attack on masses of peaceful Christians, who denounced this individual act which does not comply with Christian teachings. "So why the barbaric attacks by the mobs? and why have the security forces not stopped them?"

Talking to Coptic News Bulletin, the Bishop said that after being informed of the accusations of the rape on Wednesday, he has taken the frightened Copts of the villages of Kom Ahmar and Shedid out of the village to safety. "However, Coptic-owned businesses, pharmacies and cars in Farshoot and Ezbet Waziri are completely destroyed," he said.

Rev. Elisha, Pastor of St. Michaels Church in Farshoot described Saturday's violence as "similar to the Tartar Wars, they burnt down shops, pharmacies, broke down doors of homes and terrorized the inhabitants." Commenting on the alleged rape incident, he said that it is doubtful, besides prosecution did not allow anyone to meet with the accused Copt. "The Farshoot investigating officer told me that the Muslim girl was only sure that her attacker wore a black jacket -- nothing more."

"We have never been so frightened and humiliated as Christians in all our lives. The mob made wooden crosses and burnt them in the street," according to one witness. "Our religion, and our Lord were openly insulted."

As no one is venturing into the streets, none of the Coptic inhabitants contacted were able to confirm if there were any losses in human lives, or the number of injured.

Bishop Kirollos held an urgent meeting with all Coptic priests in the region, in view of the gravity of the situation. He gave instructions that no Sunday church services would be held on 11/22/09 fearing for the safety of the Christian congregations.

"If the International Human Rights Organizations around the world keep quiet about what is happening to the Copts in Egypt, then they are of no use, they just use slogans, nothing more," one witness lamented.

Egyptian Security Arrest Several Christians for Praying At Home for Sick Man 'Without a License'

2009-11-22T01:59:00.000-08:00

Hello!

Egypt (AINA) -- On October 24, 2009 Egyptian State Security arrested a Christian Copt in the village of Deir Samalout, Samalout, Minia province, for praying "without a license." He was held in prison for two days before being released on "compassionate grounds." Maurice Salama Sharkawy, 37 years old, had invited Pastor Elia Shafik, to conduct the sacrament of the 'Anointing of the Sick' for his sick father, who had suffered a stroke. State Security broke into his house while the prayers were ongoing, handcuffed Maurice, put him into a police car and took him to a police station for interrogation.

Authorities accused him of carrying out "religious rites without a license" and "causing sectarian sedation" by calling a priest into the village. A number of his cousins living in the same family house and who attended the prayers were also detained with him.

State Security has placed Maurice under observation by three policemen.

In an audio interview with Wagih Yacoub of Middle East Christian Association (MECA), Maurice said that State Security told him he should have gone to them first to obtain permission before carrying out any religious rites. He was also advised by Security that there are twelve Muslim houses in the village and that would create sectarian clashes.

The son of the village mayor filed a complaint that the Copt Maurice has converted his home into a place of worship without obtaining a governmental license to host performances of religious rites.

The police record of the investigation states the defendant called for this prayer meeting, which raised the anger of a number of Muslim neighbors who complained to the mayor of the village. The village of Deir Samalut has no church, and the nearest one is in the village of el Tayeba, over five miles away.

Mohammed Khalaf Allah, mayor of the village Deir Samalout, told al-Sherouk newspaper that Maurice used to invite Copts in his home, and that he asked him more than once to go to church (in the next village) and "pray there but he claimed that he could not go to church and that the priest visits him at home for ordinary matters, which is common among Christians." The mayor also said: "The villagers confirmed to me more than once that the sound of prayer comes out of Maurice's house, and that he refuses to go to church and decides to pray in his own home together with a number of the village Copts."

Commenting on the latest incident, Rev. Moses Raphael of the Samalout Coptic Orthodox Diocese said the arrest of the village Copts for praying at home is not uncommon. "Such a matter comes as no surprise; it has become common in Minya to prevent Christians from praying."

Given the recent security clampdown on Christians praying in places outside their licensed churches, Youssef Sidhom, editor-in-chief of the Coptic Watani newspaper, blames the State as the main party standing in the way of promulgating the unified law for building places of worship which, would put an end to these human rights transgressions. "Authorities turn a blind eye to Constitutional provisions of equality and freedom of belief." He said. "They terrorize worshippers who dare conduct services outside a licensed church, treating them as law violators, despite the fact that the root problem lies in the authorities' reluctance to permit the erection of new churches or restore existing ones."

15 Year Old Egyptian Convert to Christianity Sends Plea to Obama to Gain Freedom From Sharia Laws

2009-11-22T01:51:00.000-08:00

Cairo (AINA) -- 15-year-old Egyptian girl Dina el-Gowhary, who converted from Islam to Christianity, has sent a plea to President Obama, complaining of mistreatment by the Egyptian Government and asking for his mediation. "Mr President Obama," she writes, "we are a minority in Egypt. We are treated very badly. You said that the Muslim minority in America are treated very well, so why are we not treated here likewise? We are imprisoned in our own home because Muslim clerics called for the murder of my father, and now the Government has set for us a new prison, we are imprisoned in our own country."

The handwritten Arabic letter, posted on Coptic websites, also says "I am 15 years old but I still have hope that my message will reach President Obama."

The el-Gowhary family was barred from leaving Egypt on September 17, 2009 without any legal reason. They were told, however, that the order came from a higher authority (AINA 9-26-200).

Dina, is the daughter of 57-year-old Maher el-Gowhary, also known by his Christian name Peter Athanasius, who embraced Christianity secretly 35 years ago. In August, 2008 he filed the second ever lawsuit of a Muslim-born Egyptian against the Egyptian Government to officially alter his identification documents to reflect his new Christian identity. He lost the case in June 2009. According to the Court ruling, the religious conversion of a Muslim is against Islamic Sharia law and poses a threat to the "Public Order" in Egypt. (AINA 6-16-2009). He appealed the ruling.

Maher and Dina have been living in hiding ever since he filed his lawsuit because Muslim clerics have called him an apostate and several Fatwas (religious edicts), for 'spilling his blood' have been issued. He frequently changes where he lives to evade being killed, and friends supply him with food. "We cannot sleep, eat or go out in the street," he said. He believes that the authorities are putting pressure on them (he and Dina) to re-convert back to Islam, "but this will never happen, even if we have to live on the streets. We love our Lord Jesus, and we have left Islam for good."

The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), in conjunction with Copts United, presented el-Gowhary's case to the UN Human Rights Council in its 12th session in September 2009.

Maher lashed out today at the Egyptian Government, asking for his Egyptian nationality to be taken away if it is the reason why the Government is adamant on depriving him of his basic rights as an Egyptian citizen. He told Copts United "if the Egyptian nationality is the cause of my imprisonment within my home and being unable to move, then I do not want it." He added that it would be more honorable for him to hold the nationality of any other country rather than the Egyptian one "Where I live together with my daughter suffering imprisonment within the walls of my apartment and without any freedom."

Quiet American Muslim with alleged links to Mumbai massacre

2009-11-21T07:04:00.000-08:00

In almost every way, David Headley was the perfect neighbour. When the 49-year-old American citizen began renting an apartment in Mumbai last year he charmed his landlord, treated his laundry boy with respect, and befriended Bollywood figures at a local gym.

He told them that he was Jewish, and running an immigration agency from a respectable part of town. “Sweet and charming,” said his landlady. “Down to earth,” said his personal trainer.

Not until the past few days did they learn of his alleged other identity — and of quite how close security figures claim India may have come to a repeat of the militant attacks on Mumbai a year ago next week.

Apparently, Mr Headley’s original name was Daood Gilani. He was born in Pakistan, and is suspected of helping the terrorists who carried out last year’s Mumbai attack, and of planning another atrocity this year.

The details emerged when the FBI arrested Mr Headley in his home city of Chicago on October 3, and filed an affidavit in a US court, which has since been made public.

It alleges that he worked with Harkat ul-Jihad al-Islami (Huji), a Pakistan militant group, and Lashkar e-Taiba (LeT), the Pakistan group blamed for last year’s Mumbai attacks. The document also outlines claims that he was involved in the “Mickey Mouse Project” — a plan to attack Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper whose cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in 2005 infuriated Muslims across the world.

It also allegedly shows that he and an apparent accomplice visited India several times between 2006 and 2009, and appear to have discussed attacking Indian targets as recently as September this year.

Indian investigators are now examining whether Mr Headley may be the “missing link” in the Mumbai attacks, which killed more than 170 people between November 26 and 29 last year. They are also investigating claims that he may have planned attacks this year on targets including the National Defence College in Delhi, the private Doon School in Dehradun, northern India, or even a nuclear facility.

In the process, they are shedding light on the evolving threat from LeT and its allies, and on India’s haphazard — but so far successful — efforts to respond. “This is yet another wake-up call for India,” said B. Raman, a former counter-terrorism chief in the Indian external intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing.

“This shows LeT is as determined as ever to attack India, and they are now using Western territory and foreign Muslims to do it.”

The most striking aspect of the Headley case is his profile: unlike other militant suspects, he is middle-aged, speaks fluent English, and lives in Chicago.

The son of a Pakistani diplomat and an American woman, he went to cadet college in Pakistan before moving to the US when he was 16.

In 1997, he was jailed for 15 months for trying to smuggle heroin into the US, according to court documents.

Yet by simply changing his name in 2006, he stayed under the radar on at least nine visits to India over the past three years.

The FBI says that in the alleged activities he was helped by Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin who studied at the same cadet college, and was also arrested in the US last month.

Mr Rana’s immigration agency, which has offices in Chicago, helped to arrange Mr Headley’s trips and provided his cover story, according to the FBI.

To burnish his fake Jewish credentials, Mr Headley even carried a book called How to Pray like a Jew, the FBI says. The FBI appears to have placed him under surveillance after noticing his frequent movements between India, Pakistan, the Gulf and Europe.

It alerted Indian authorities after intercepting an e-mail in which Mr Headley’s alleged handler appears to give him a coded message suggesting an attack on India.

“I need to see you for some new investment plans,” the affidavit quotes the handler as saying.

When Mr Headley asks where, the handler suggests that he should “say hi to Rahul” in what the FBI says is a reference to a prominent Indian actor.

The actor has since been identified as Rahul Bhatt, a minor Bollywood star, who has admitted befriending Mr Headley in Mumbai.

In a telephone intercept in September, Mr Headley and Mr Rana are heard discussing five alleged targets and mentioning “Defence College”, according to the affidavit.

Mr Headley and Mr Rana have yet to respond to the affidavit.

But Indian and Western officials and analysts agree that the evidence presented so far appears to underline the global reach and ambitions of Huji and LeT. It also confirms India’s long-held fears that such groups might use foreigners of Pakistani or Indian origin, forcing it to tighten visa procedures.

Western governments had already adapted to that threat, but are worried that Mr Headley and Mr Rana may have used their immigration agency to move militants around the globe.

They are also increasingly aware of the threat to their own citizens in India — particularly during next year’s Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

“Prior to Mumbai, LeT was largely seen as a regional threat,” said one Western diplomat.

“Mumbai brought home that attacking India could directly impact Western interests, by killing their nationals, and also their indirect interests by destabilising the region.”

There is less agreement, however, on what the case says about India’s domestic security.

Some say that LeT and its allies are becoming more desperate as the Pakistan Army — which once sponsored them — has become distracted by its own campaign against the Taleban.

India has also taken a number of steps to improve its security apparatus. It has, for example, now established the National Investigation Agency, and it is amending legislation to give increased powers to the security services.

P. Chidambaram, the new Home Minister, has now started chairing a meeting of the heads of all the country’s important security agencies every morning.

The National Security Guard — whose commandos took eight hours to get to Mumbai from their Delhi headquarters last year during the attacks — has expanded its numbers and set up hubs in four more cities, including Mumbai.

“What about the past, almost 365, days?” said J. K. Dutt, the former NSG chief who led last year’s Mumbai operation. “There haven’t been any terrorist attacks since Mumbai. Doesn’t that also speak of the fact that there are steps the country has taken?”

Critics, however, say that India had a lucky escape thanks only to the FBI. Others question whether the US should have informed India earlier that it was watching Mr Headley.

Yet the biggest concern of all is still the underfunded and short-staffed police, a force which under India’s Constitution is the responsibility of state governments.

“When are we going to improve the training, consciousness and capability of local police?” asked Arun Bhagat, a former head of the Indian Intelligence Bureau. “Central agencies can only do so much.”

David Headley: quiet American with alleged links to Mumbai massacre - Times Online

British Hostages Chandler's Ransom Demand Video - Somalia [Video]

2009-11-21T05:51:00.000-08:00

Paul and Rachel Chandler were kidnapped by Somalian pirates whilst sailing close to the Seychelles 29 days ago. We bring you a worldwide exclusive interview with the couple, held captive by armed pirates.

The pirates have demanded a £4.2 million ransom for the couple, a figure confirmed by the Foreign Office. This harrowing report shows the Chandlers pleading with the British Government for help. An ominous scene, reminiscent of Iraqi hostages, outlining a situation that could easily turn at any moment. With threats from other parties claiming to be searching for the couple in attempt of a second kidnap - the Chandlers are running out of time.

God and Government: Islam and West Are Incompatible

2009-11-21T03:36:00.000-08:00

Western policymakers and elites in government, academia, and the media suffer from an extraordinary ignorance about the true nature of Islam. This ignorance was on display following the murder of thirteen American troops at Fort Hood, Texas by Nidal Hasan, a devout Muslim who held the rank of Major in the U.S. Army. Hasan is said to have shouted "God is Great" in Arabic as he gunned down his unarmed fellow troops.

Gen. George Casey opined that if Hasan's actions caused "diversity" in the Army to suffer, it would be a greater tragedy than the murders of his troops. President Obama stated that "no faith" justifies such actions. And Bob Schieffer of CBS News wondered if Hasan was merely a "nut," just like many of the "nuts" within Christianity.

These comments reflect a belief that Islam should be treated no differently from the various sects within Christianity. Some people go to Baptist churches, some attend Lutheran services, some attend Catholic mass, some play golf -- and some attend their local mosque. After all, we have "freedom of religion" guaranteed by the Constitution, don't we? Doesn't that extend to Islam as well?

The truth is that the Constitution's treatment of religion is premised upon concepts originating from within Christianity that are irreconcilable with the Islamic worldview. The Constitution prevents the "establishment" of a state religion. But the very idea that the state cannot or should not establish a religion is unique to Christianity. There is no parallel for this idea in Islam. The Constitution also prevents Congress from impeding the "free exercise" of religion. But the "free exercise" clause also assumes compatibility with Christian styles of worship -- for instance, one cannot engage in ritualistic human sacrifice to appease the gods and successfully claim immunity under the free-exercise clause.

Any honest evaluation of the history of Islam will indicate that it cannot be pigeonholed as if it were merely a different sect that utilizes a crescent rather than a cross as a symbol. Islam is fundamentally incompatible with Western attitudes toward religion and society.

Jesus, the founder of Christianity, explicitly rejected political and military methods to spread his religion. Mohammed, the founder of Islam, was not only a prophet, but a warrior and political leader as well. Christianity was formulated as a condition of conscience outside the realm of the state and of politics, while Islam is inherently political and spiritual.

Jesus was born a Jew in Roman-occupied Judea. The Jews understood Israel to be the Promised Land, according to the terms of the Mosaic Covenant in Exodus. They interpreted Jewish history as follows: when in violation of the Covenant, God punished the nation of Israel by sending its enemies to conquer it; conversely, when Israel complied with the terms of the Covenant, God allowed Israel to defeat its enemies and reclaim political control of the Promised Land. During the life of Jesus, the Jews were waiting for God to send a leader to militarily defeat the Roman conquerors.

Jesus rejected this interpretation. He promoted the idea of a New Covenant that included the possibility of salvation for the Roman occupiers. This was a blasphemy of the Jewish religion, so Jesus was executed as a heretic.

Jesus rejected political and military methods because he knew they would be ineffective against the Romans. His tactic was to preach and proselytize, not to seek political power. Rather than choose either religion or politics, Jesus instructed the Jews to "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto to God what is God's." When the Romans came to arrest him, he instructed his disciples to put away their swords.

From a tactical perspective, history proved Jesus correct. The Jews revolted against the Romans twice, and were crushed both times. After the second revolt, the Jews were exiled by the Romans, and many remained in exile until the founding of modern Israel in 1948.

Meanwhile, Christianity, utilizing Jesus's tactic of proselytizing, developed as a social system parallel to but independent of political authority. In the fourth century, Augustine theorized that politics was the "City of Man" and religion was the "City of God" -- two entirely independent realms with different goals and purposes. Augustine argued that Rome was merely a "great robbery." Christians should reject the goals of the "earthly city" -- power, money, and political overlordship. In Augustine's view, the only permissible reason for Christians to go to war or to kill was self-defense against an aggressive enemy.

It is from Augustine's distinction between the City of God and the City of Man that the West came to uphold "freedom of religion" apart from the control of the state.

The origins of Islam could not be more different. Its history is filled with political bloodletting and violence. Islam was founded in the seventh century when Mohammed believed that he was instructed by the angel Gabriel to convert the pagan Arabs and remedy the "errors" of Christianity and Judaism. Mohammed's preaching failed to make converts, and he was exiled from Mecca. He fled to Medina, raised an army, and returned to Mecca to convert the Meccans by force. Quite unlike Jesus, Mohammed then established himself as a political ruler. Indeed, the term "Islam" is Arabic for "submission."

Upon Mohammed's death, fitna, or civil war for control of Islam, erupted between his son-in-law Ali and Ali's rival Uthman. Both factions formed armies and engaged in open warfare and political assassination. Both Uthman and Ali were assassinated, Ali's son Hasan was poisoned, and Hasan's brother Hussein died in battle. The feud created the split between the Sunni and the Shiite factions that exists to this day.

From its origins until the early twentieth century, Islam was an imperial political force, spreading its faith by military conquest. The Abbasid Empire lasted from the eighth to the thirteenth century, spreading Islam from Spain to India. The Ottoman Empire, lasting from the thirteenth century until World War I, conquered parts of southern Europe including Greece and the Balkans; and as late as 1683, only a hundred years before the founding of the United States, the Ottomans laid siege to Vienna, Austria.

The Islamic worldview divides the world into two spheres: the non-Islamic world is the dar al-harb, or the "house of war," and the Islamic world is the dar al-Islam, the "house of peace." From the Muslim perspective, "peace" is achieved only once the enemy has been conquered and subordinated to Islam.

Throughout Islam's imperial reign, no difference has existed between civil law and religious law, or sharia. The distinction between civil and religious law is a Christian, not an Islamic, idea. "Secular society" simply does not exist with Islam properly understood. Apostasy is punishable by death within the Islamic code. Secular rulers in Muslim countries during the twentieth century were a historic aberration, a result of British colonialism. Many, like the Shah of Iran and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, met unhappy ends at the hands of the devout.

A special condition called dhimmitude exists within the Islamic legal code for groups of non-Muslims conquered by Islamic forces who refuse to convert. Some contemporary observers view dhimmitude as an example of Muslim "tolerance," but the truth is quite the opposite; dhimmitude is a subordinate condition. The dhimmi was not allowed to attempt to convert Muslims to his religion, his house of worship was not allowed to be more conspicuous than a mosque, he was not allowed to hold political office, and he was required to pay a special tax.

(It is for these reasons that the existence of Israel is particularly grating to Muslims. Israel exists within what has historically been the dar al-Islam, but modern Israel is not in a condition of dhimmitude subservient to Muslim political authority).

Today's Western elites who think that Islamic militants do not represent "true Islam" are dangerously wrong. From the very beginning of the Islamic faith, the good Muslim, following the example of Mohammed, has been called to do battle against unbelievers, reject secularism, and reject any notion of the equality of faiths. In his 1998 manifesto "Jihad against Jews and Crusaders," Osama bin Laden quoted the Qur'anic injunction to "fight and slay the pagans wherever ye find them" and also cited Mohammed's belief that "I have been sent with the sword between my hands to ensure that no one but Allah is worshiped." Osama then concluded that "The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies -- civilians and military -- is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it." (Even if only 10% of the world's 1.4 billion Muslims heed this call, enemy strength still amounts to 140 million).

The idea that individuals like Maj. Hasan can serve the United States and Islam simultaneously is analogous to believing that one could have been a good communist and still loyally serve the United States during the Cold War -- or patently untrue. In fact, Hasan's business card did not reveal his rank in the U.S. Army, but did bear the inscription SoA -- "Soldier of Allah."

Like Maj. Hasan, an uncomfortably large number of Islamic terrorist suspects in the West are citizens of the very Western nations they seek to subvert. Examples include "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, "dirty bomber" Jose Padilla, "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh, and Hasan's radical imam, Anwar al-Awlaki. This fact betrays the radicalizing influence of Islam itself. It is time to subject Muslims residing in the West to the same level of scrutiny that was applied to communists fifty years ago.

As these individuals have ably demonstrated, Westerners who make the mistake of treating orthodox Muslims no differently from Lutherans or Quakers do so at the West's peril. Western policymakers need to start thinking very, very seriously about what will happen when devout Muslims who are inspired by Islam's heritage of conquest have nuclear weapons at their disposal.

God and Government: Islam and West Are Incompatible

German-Turkish apostate from Islam tells her story [Video]

2009-11-20T15:35:00.000-08:00

U.S. Rep. Hoekstra on understanding Islamic radicalization and what can be learned from Europe - with CNN's Anderson Cooper [Video]

2009-11-20T13:07:00.000-08:00

U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra of the House Intelligence Committee discusses the threat of homegrown terrorism on CNN with Anderson Cooper, 11-19-09.

The gist:

What you need to do is to understand the phenomena [of Islamic radicalisation] - the political correctness - is a reluctance to acknowledge that the problem exists - to confront it and ultimately defeat it.

Russian priest who criticised Islam assassinated in his church

2009-11-20T12:44:00.000-08:00

Russian Orthodox believer grieves in memory of slain Orthodox priest Daniil Sysoyev at the murder site in the church where he served in Moscow on November 20, 2009.

A Russian Orthodox priest known for his outspoken criticism of Islam and his attempts to convert Muslims to Christianity was assassinated in his Moscow church by a masked gunman.

The gunman approached Father Daniil Sysoyev, 34, in his small wooden church in Moscow on Thursday night, checked his name and then shot the priest in the head and chest, police said.

The priest died on the way to hospital, Interfax news agency quoted investigators as saying. A choirmaster was injured in the attack, and is in hospital under armed guard.

Father Daniil, who claimed to have christened 80 Muslims, had repeatedly received death threats.

"I have received 10 threats via e-mail that I shall have my head cut off (if I do not stop preaching to Muslims)", Father Daniil stated on a television programme in February 2008, according to Interfax. "As I see it, it is a sin not to preach to Muslims".

The killing could increase tensions between the powerful majority Russian Orthodox Church, which has close ties to the Kremlin, and the country's growing Muslim minority of about 20 million.

"The main theory is that religious motives are behind the crime," a spokesman for the prosecutor-general's office said.

Father Daniil had written books including "An Orthodox Response to Islam" and "Marrying a Muslim", in which he advised Russian women against taking a Muslim partner.

Russia has seen a religious revival after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the dominant Orthodox Church has become an important political force. Its leader, Patriarch Kirill, is frequently seen in public with Russian and foreign leaders.

Russia's Chief Mufti Ravil Gainuddin expressed his condolences to the Orthodox Church and to Father Daniil's family. He cautioned against assigning blame prematurely or speculating about the motives for the killing.

"We want to say that we oppose any expressions of terrorism and extremism," he told reporters. "Islam denounces terror and the murder of an imam, an orthodox priest, is an awful sin..."

Telegraph

Obama in the Mideast: Innocents Abroad. Worse, Arrogant Innocents Abroad

2009-11-20T12:15:00.000-08:00

Palestinian labourer prays at a construction site in Gilo, a Jewish settlement on land Israel captured in 1967 and annexed to its Jerusalem municipality, November 17, 2009.

So Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs has said “We are dismayed at the Jerusalem planning committee’s decision to move forward on the approval process for the expansion of Gilo in Jerusalem.”

The Obama administration could have been a lot less dismayed and actually showed some success on the world stage vis a vis Israel/Palestine if they had started by trying for something realistic. Instead this crowd of amateurs blundered into the area, acting as if they knew nothing about the past fifteen years and about the brutal civil war splitting the Palestinian territories.

The Obama folks roared in imperiously, made an excruciating difficult demand of the Israelis, no corresponding demand of Fatah party president Mahmoud Abbas, all at a time when Israel has even less room to manoeuvre than usual. It is like asking a man on a tiny life raft to throw his paltry food stores overboard to feed circling sharks.

Bewitched by what seems to be a “If We Build it They Will Come” philosophy they continue to pretend that Mahmoud Abbas, the man they demand Netanyahu negotiate with, is actually able to make binding agreements, even though he exists day to day on the sufferance of the the radical Islamists next door — allowed to stick around because he is skillful at appearing moderate and extracting foreign aid from the West.

The key problem is this: Obama and company continue to demand a “complete settlement freeze.” But now that Israel has withdrawn over 9,000 residents from Gaza and largely frozen new settlement in the deeper reaches of the West Bank, the area to be “frozen” was not on the table for the last two terms of George Bush. Bush the Second understood that East Jerusalem and the large, long-established “seam line” towns would be part of a “final status agreement.” In a 2004 letter to Ariel Sharon, the president wrote: “In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli population centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949…” The Palestinians understood this too. There was no “full settlement freeze” in effect throughout the last eight years, yet the Israel and the Palestinian Authority government sat down together many times.

Even the most Left-wing Israelis do not consider the town of Gilo (the town Robert Gibbs is dismayed about) “a settlement.” This community of 40,000, on Jerusalem’s southern border is hardly a clump of wild-eyed Orthodox Jews living in caravans. It is hardly an colonial thrust into the West Bank. It has existed since 1967, when the land, which was being used as a staging ground for the Jordanian army, was seized by the Israeli army as it defended the nascent state from attack. Its proximity to Jerusalem means that it is part of the seam line building that occurred after 1967 when Israel was attacked by Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq and it became increasingly clear that the borders deeded by the UN would have to be bolstered if they were to be remotely defensible militarily.

Israel has made slashing cuts before and it could again under the right conditions. But consider the conditions now extant: Its last big gamble for peace was a complete failure. Hard-liners like Netanyahu who predicted that the withdrawal from Gaza would embolden Hamas turned out to be right. As gratitude for this “land for peace” concession Hamas began launching rockets at southern Israel virtually the day after the last Israeli troop left. Hamas then executed a bloody coup on the Fatah party, driving their representatives out of the Strip, and began building a Taliban-like Islamic state, a state which throws women in jail for crimes like laughing in public. Iranian weapons continue to flow in to Gaza and to Hezbollah camps on Israel’s northern border. Only a few weeks ago the Israeli navy intercepted a ship crammed with 500 tons of weapons with Iranian markings headed for Hezbollah camps. Mahmoud Abbas is barely in control. Meanwhile, Iran is this close to developing a nuclear weapon which it will then use in an attempt to shape the entire region to its will. And Israel is expected to make another risky gesture under these conditions?

Abbas has no power to broker a settlement with the Israelis anyway (if he would like to stay alive), so by raising the notion of a “full settlement freeze” Obama handed the Fatah party leader a way to stand on the sidelines acting coy virtually forever. Standing on the sidelines, while complaining about mistreatment by the Israelis is the safest possible posture for Abbas. He doesn’t risk offending his Hamas overlords. He can continue to rake in EU dollars. The only losers are the Palestinian rank and file who will go another year without serious leadership sincerely concerned with their welfare.

Obama in the Mideast: Innocents Abroad. Worse, Arrogant Innocents Abroad

Stephanie Gutmann was a journalist in Manhattan for about 16 years. She is the author of The Kinder, Gentler Military: Can America's Gender-Neutral Fighting Force Still Win Wars? and The Other War: Israelis, Palestinians and the Struggle for Media Supremacy.

Czech Senate bans appearance by controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders

2009-11-20T11:23:00.000-08:00

You win some you lose some!

The estimated number of Muslims [mostly Sunni] today in the Czech Republic is over 10,000. The number rose sharply during the 1990s and has remained stable since.

Wiki

There was some controversy over the expansion of the first ever Mosque in the Czech Rep. the Brno Mosque - around which the same questions about Islamisation are being asked. Listen here

The Czech Senate on Thursday banned an appearance by the controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders on its premises. Mr Wilders was going to screen his anti-Islamic film, Fitna, and address a conference held by Czech anti-Islamists and Euro-sceptics.

Listen here

The controversial anti-Islamic movie Fitna by Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom, was due to be shown in the Czech Senate on November 30. Mr Wilders, who will be coming to Prague at the invitation of a Czech anti-Islamist website, eurabia.cz, and Civic Democrat Senator Jiří Oberfalzer, was also going to deliver an address entitled “Free Speech and the Islamization of Europe”. The news immediately sparked a huge controversy, and Senate leaders eventually banned Mr Wilders from appearing on the premises of the upper chamber. Civic Democrat Přemysl Sobotka is the Senate’s chair.

Přemysl Sobotka
“When I found out about the details, and when I learned about what he was going to talk about here in the Senate, I said clearly it was a problem that such a controversial politician should appear in one of the chambers of the Czech Parliament.”

The Senate’s media commission, which originally approved the event, revoked its decision. Meanwhile, the Civic Democratic Party distanced itself from the invite, and so did the heads of both chambers’ foreign committees. I asked one of the organizers, Daniel Kotula, whether he was surprised by the reaction.

“I expected that there would be some voices that would not welcome Wilder’s visit but I did not expect that they would be from the Civic Democrats because they and Mr Wilders have very similar opinions. So I don’t understand. I expected this from some Social Democrats or the Greens for instance, but not from Civic Democrats.”

Senator Jiří Oberfalzer, who is well-known for his opposition to the EU’s Lisbon treaty, and the editors of eurabia.cz are now looking for another venue. They want to draw attention to how the Lisbon treaty will change the immigration policies within the EU. Daniel Kotula again.

Geert Wilders
“It’s also related to the Lisbon treaty because it has some paragraphs related to immigration. Now that the Lisbon treaty is ratified, the EU can change immigration flows within the European Union, from example from Italy to central Europe.”

The country’s several-dozen-thousand-strong Muslim community is unfazed by the event, regardless of where Geert Wilders will screen his anti-Islamic movie. Mohammad Abbas is the head of the Muslim Union of the Czech Republic.

“Traditionally, the Muslim community here ignore such provocations. This man is coming to provoke, and I think that if we react to this, it will be exactly what he wants. He wants to show Muslims as people who are not rational. I think the best thing is to ignore him, just like that.”

Czech Radio

Pentagon chief orders Fort Hood review [Video]

2009-11-20T10:26:00.000-08:00

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