Jihad from jail: Islamic terrorists using network website MuslimPrisoner.com to preach hatred from behind bars
February 19 2012 Daily Mail - Islamic terrorists are using the internet to spread their hatred from behind bars.
Dozens of letters written by some of the world's most dangerous extremists - including those locked up for murderous plots in Britain - have been published on MuslimPrisoners.com The hate-filled messages celebrate murder of innocent people and urge fresh atrocities against the West. The website is being used as a networking tool for the jihadist militants - many with links to al-Qaeda - and encourages the public to send emails, with the promise that their letters will be passed onto the inmates. Its users include notorious hate preachers Abu Hamza and Abu Qatada. who was released under strict bail conditions, which include a ban on him using the internet, this month.Leaders of terrorist plots targeting passenger planes and London landmarks are also said to have used the website, including Hussain Osman, jailed for his botched attempt to blow up Shepherd's Bush Tube station in 2005. It is claimed the website was set up by Abdul Muhid, a member of the banned Al-Muhajiroun group, who has served time in jail for inciting murder and hatred during protests over Prophet Mohammed cartoons. The Sunday Times reported that among messages posted on the website, are some from Abdulla Ahmed Ali, caged for at least 40 years as leader of a suicide plot to blow up trans-Atlantic passenger jets. Ahmed hails the 'humiliating defeat' inflicted on NATO forces in Afghanistan by the Taliban. His message - posted last month - read: 'If the mushriks [non believers] can leave their families and sacrifice their lives and limbs to occupy, enslave and oppress the ummah [global Muslim community] then we too can sacrifice 100 times that to defend it.' There are also jihadist messages from Bilal Zaheer Ahmad, jailed last year after calling on Muslims to copy Roshonara Choudhry and murder MPs who voted for the Iraq war. More Here
Shabaab suicide bombers to launch series of attacks in time with David Cameron conference
February 19 2012 The warning, from senior al-Shabaab leaders and repeated on the militants' Twitter page, came after seven Somali officers were injured when a car-bomb exploded at a police station in Mogadishu, the capital. "The explosion was the beginning of a series of suicide and bombing attacks that mujahedeen fighters plan to carry out in Mogadishu in the coming days," Sheikh Abdulaziz Abu Musab, an al-Shabaab spokesman, said. On its Twitter feed, al-Shabaab added that it "hereby warns all Muslims of Somalia to stay away from the enemy bases in order to avoid being unintentional victims of this new campaign". The intensified bombing campaign appears timed to show that the Islamists are not a spent force, as heads of state and senior Somali officials gather at Lancaster House in London for the largest international conference on Somalia, on Thursday. The meeting, called by the Prime Minister, aims to "galvanise efforts to find solutions to long-standing Somali challenges", in the words of British officials. Ahead of the meeting, Somalia's transitional government and MPs agreed on Sunday/yesterday to new governing structures once their interim mandate expires in August. The current bloated 550-seat parliament, until recently funded by international aid, will be trimmed to a lower house of 225 MPs and an upper chamber of just 54. At least 30 percent of both houses will be women, the deal signed in the town of Garowe said.
The Telegraph - Somalia's al-Qaeda-partnered Islamist insurgents vowed to launch a "series of suicide bombings" to coincide with David Cameron's London conference on the war-torn country this week.
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Muslim students outraged at 'violation of civil rights' after it emerges NYPD monitored groups throughout Northeast
February 19 2012 Detectives trawled Muslim student websites every day and, although professors and students had not been accused of any wrongdoing, their names were recorded in reports prepared for Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. Asked about the monitoring, police spokesman Paul Browne provided a list of 12 people arrested or convicted on terrorism charges in the United States and abroad who had once been members of Muslim student associations, which the NYPD referred to as MSAs. Jesse Morton, who this month pleaded guilty to posting online threats against the creators of South Park, had once tried to recruit followers at Stony Brook University on Long Island, Browne said. 'As a result, the NYPD deemed it prudent to get a better handle on what was occurring at MSAs,' Browne said in an email. He said police monitored student websites and collected publicly available information, but did so only between 2006 and 2007. 'I see a violation of civil rights here,' said Tanweer Haq, chaplain of the Muslim Student Association at Syracuse. 'Nobody wants to be on the list of the FBI or the NYPD or whatever. Muslim students want to have their own lives, their own privacy and enjoy the same freedoms and opportunities that everybody else has.'
Daily Mail - The New York Police Department monitored Muslim college students throughout the whole Northeast, it has emerged. They kept tabs on universities up to 300 miles away from New York, and even sent an undercover agent on a whitewater rafting trip to gather information on the Muslim group which had organised it, according to the Associated Press.
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Tunisian publisher of 'nude photo' starts hunger strike
February 19 2012 Ben Saida and the newspaper’s Editor Habib Guizani and one of their journalists Mohamed Hedi Hidri were arrested on February 15, but Guizani and Hidri were released last Thursday after hours of questioning by police. Still, a judge ordered Ben Saida to stay in pre-trial detention on serious “public indecency” charges that could put him behind bars for years. The photos were of German-Tunisian football player Sami Khedira with a semi-naked model, but that day’s issue was confiscated shortly before the men were arrested. “By bringing criminal charges, the prosecutor’s office is showing that journalists can still go to prison for a newspaper article and is sending an extremely disturbing signal to all those who defend freedom of expression,” said Reporter Without Borders in a plea Friday for Ben Saida’s release. “This is a hypocritical reaction because photos of this kind often appear on the cover of foreign magazines sold in Tunisia,” RWB said. If found guilty, Ben Saida could face a sentence anywhere from few months in prison to five years.
Bikya Masr - CAIRO: Imprisoned Tunisian publisher Nasreddine Ben Saida began a hunger strike from jail demanding his release after he was detained four days ago for publishing “indecent pictures” on the front page of his daily newspaper Attounissia. According to the newspaper’s website, Ben Saida started the hunger strike on Saturday morning in opposition to his confinement.
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Suicide bomb kills 15 at Baghdad police academy
February 19 2012 Emirates 24/7 - A suicide bomber blew himself up in front of a Baghdad police academy Sunday, killing 15 people and wounding more than 20 others in the deadliest attack for weeks in the Iraqi capital, security officials said. At least seven other people were killed in attacks elsewhere in Iraq.
"A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt blew himself up at the entrance of the police academy on Palestine Street," an interior ministry official said, putting the toll at 15 killed and 21 wounded. A police colonel confirmed the toll. It was the deadliest attack in Iraq since January 27, when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed car outside a hospital in the Iraqi capital, killing 31 people. Also on Sunday, gun and bomb attacks in other parts of the country killed seven people, among them four police informants, a policeman and two anti-Qaeda militiamen, and wounded four others, security officials said. "A group of suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen attacked a house in the centre of Baquba around 7:30 am (0430 GMT)," a police major in Baquba, 60 kilometres (37.5 miles) north of Baghdad, told AFP. "The attackers killed three women and one man from one family inside the house," the major said, adding they were all police informants. Gunmen in a civilian car also attacked a checkpoint manned by police and anti-Qaeda Sahwa (Awakening) militia members in Abu Khamis, north of Baquba, killing a policeman and two Sahwa members, a police lieutenant colonel said.More Here
Syrian troops fire on protesters at Damascus funeral
February 19 2012 The Telegraph - Eyewitness dispatch: Syrian security forces opened fire on 15,000 people in a funeral procession that became one of the largest Damascus protests since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began.
The funeral possession had been joined by thousands of Syrians, filling the central Damascus street. Women, some clutching the hands of their infants, followed the three green box coffins, sending their martyrs to heaven with high-pitched, ululating cries. Protectively encircled by rings of men, spurred by the exuberant crush of thousands clapping in unison, they unfurled Syria's revolutionary flag. The flashes of green, white and black silk were 30 ft across, covering the women protesters as they held it to the sky. The first gun shot that was a Syrian army officer's signal to his troops went almost unheard among the songs and uproarious chants. Seconds later, though, the air was filled with deafening and relentless gunfire and the terrified screams of the crowds. "They are shooting. Oh my God, they are shooting!" screamed a woman, grabbing her five-year-old girl from the ground. Live rounds hissed overhead or smacked into shop walls. The stampede of as many as 15,000 people pushed and scrambled over each other in a merciless dash for self preservation, gripped by a blind panic to get off the street.More Here
Kuwait centre calls for ban on national celebrations
February 19 2012 Gulf News - Manama: A Kuwaiti Salafi centre has called for a ban on the country's national celebrations, claiming they violated religious ethics. Kuwait this week celebrates its National Day and Liberation Day and employees have been given four days off, including the weekend, to mark the occasion.
"The so-called festivities and the accompanying concerts, dances and waste of thousands of dinars are against our religion," Fuad Al Rifai, the head of Wathakker centre, said. "Muslims celebrate only two feasts, at the end of Ramadan and the Sacrifice during the pilgrimage season. Any other festivity is totally alien and should not be upheld by Muslims," he said. Muslims do not have to mark national occasion to show they love their country or have a high sense of patriotism, he said. "There is no doubt about the love citizens have for their country, but the focus should be on complying with the values and ethics of the religion," Al Rifai said. The call is likely to wade into controversy as Kuwaitis are getting ready for a long weekend of celebrations.
For Punishment of Elder’s Misdeeds, Afghan Girl Pays the Price
February 18 2012 NY Times - ASADABAD, Afghanistan — Shakila, 8 at the time, was drifting off to sleep when a group of men carrying AK-47s barged in through the door. She recalls that they complained, as they dragged her off into the darkness, about how their family had been dishonored and about how they had not been paid.
It turns out that Shakila, who was abducted along with her cousin as part of a traditional Afghan form of justice known as “baad,” was the payment. Although baad (also known as baadi) is illegal under Afghan and, most religious scholars say, Islamic law, the taking of girls as payment for misdeeds committed by their elders still appears to be flourishing. Shakila, because one of her uncles had run away with the wife of a district strongman, was taken and held for about a year. It was the district leader, furious at the dishonor that had been done to him, who sent his men to abduct her.Shakila’s case is unusual both because she managed to escape and because she and her family agreed to share their plight with an outsider. The reaction of the girl’s father to the abduction also illustrates the difficulty in trying to change such a deeply rooted cultural practice: he expressed fury that she was abducted because, he said, he had already promised her in marriage to someone else. “We did not know what was happening,” said Shakila, now about 10, who spoke softly as she repeated over and over her memory of being dragged from her family home. “They put us in a dark room with stone walls; it was dirty and they kept beating us with sticks and saying, ‘Your uncle ran away with our wife and dishonored us, and we will beat you in retaliation.’ ” More Here
Would-be 'bomber' in fake suicide vest given to him in FBI sting operation arrested as he tried 'to blow up U.S. Capitol'
February 18 2012 Authorities said the suspect was closely monitored by law enforcement, and the would-be explosives had been deactivated, so the public was never in danger. Officials say he has recently arrived at a federal court in Alexandria, where he is scheduled to appear later this evening. Two people briefed on the matter told The Associated Press he was not arrested on the Capitol grounds, and the FBI has had El Khalifi under surveillance around the clock for several weeks. A U.S. law enforcement official said the El Khalifi was canvassing the U.S. Capitol with violent intentions, Fox News first reported. He was not believed to have any known connections to al-Qaeda, the AP reported, though NBC News said that the man had overstayed his visa and was in the country illegally. Police are currently canvassing El Khalifi's hometown of Alexandria as the investigation continues. Officials say they believe he was acting alone. They say he was targeting the Capitol Hill Visitor Centre, though he changed his mind about the intended target a few times. 'He wanted to set off the explosives where people would be around,' an official said to NBC News. El Khalifi expressed interest in killing at least 30 people and considered targeting a building in Alexandria and a restaurant, synagogue and a place where military personnel gather in Washington.
Daily Mail - A 29-year-old Moroccan man was arrested on Friday in an FBI sting operation near the U.S. Capitol while planning to detonate what police said he thought were live explosives Amine El Khalifi of Alexandria, Virginia, was taken into custody with the fake gun and explosives given to him by undercover FBI agents he believed were al-Qaeda members.
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US drones reportedly flying over Syria
February 18 2012 Bikya Masr - CAIRO: According to a United States defense official on Saturday, the US is flying unmanned reconnaissance planes over Syria in an effort to monitor the ongoing violence perpetrated against civilians in the country by President Bashar al-Assad.
The drones are being used to gather evidence on the Syrian security forces’ violence against pro-democracy protesters that can be used to “make a case for a widespread international response,” the US-based NBC News quoted unnamed officials as saying. There was no official comment from Syria on the report. The West has ruled out a Libya-style military intervention in Syria to stop 11 months of bloodshed. Since the uprising against Assad began last March, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported more than 7,200 people have been killed, including hundreds of children as Assad and his military forces continue to bombard cities, towns and opposition across the country.
Iran trains female ninjas as potential assassins
February 18 2012 The Telegraph - Three thousand Iranian women being trained as ninja warriors say they will use their martial arts skills to defend the country if necessary.
Scores of black-clad female "ninja" fighters whose ages range from 5 to 56 are just a handful of 3,000 women in Iran who are being trained as lethal warriors at a school in Tehran. "We train women to have strength and ability. We have to do everything in our power to protect our homeland," said Akbar Faraji, who runs the school. One of the fighters who has been training for over 13 years said, "Our aim is for Iranian women to be strengthened and if a problem arises, we will definitely declare our readiness to defend our Islamic homeland." Iran has proclaimed advances in nuclear technology, including new centrifuges able to enrich uranium, a move that has heightened its confrontation with the West over suspicions it is planning to make nuclear weapons.
Iran's nuclear programme could tip the world into 'a new Cold War', warns William Hague as U.S. says strike on Tehran is inevitable
February 18 2012 In an interview with The Telegraph, he insisted Britain did not back military action against the Islamic republic - as Israel is thought to be planning. He told the newspaper: "If [the Iranians] obtain nuclear weapons capability, then I think other nations across the Middle East will want to develop nuclear weapons. 'And so the most serious round of nuclear proliferation since nuclear weapons were invented would have begun, with all the destabilising effects in the Middle East - and the threat of a new Cold War in the Middle East without necessarily all the safety mechansims. That would be a disaster in world affairs.' He said that Britain could be in range of Iranian nuclear weapons and that nuclear materials could fall into the hands of terrorists. However he said all options must remain on the table when dealing with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's regime. There is growing speculation among Western officials that Israel may be planning to launch military attacks against Iranian missile facilities this summer, ahead of the US presidential elections this autumn. Several Israeli diplomats have been unsuccessfully targeted by Iranian hit squads around the world in the last few days. The US has told Israel it does not want Israel to attack Iran. However, earlier this month US defence secretary Leon Panetta told the Washington Post that he thought the window for an attack on Iran by Israel is between April and June.
Daily Mail - Iran's nuclear ambitions could plunge the world into 'a new Cold War' with the Middle East, Foreign Secretary William Hague warned today. He predicted a nuclear arms race among rival Middle Eastern states that would carry the dangers without the safety mechanisms of the old rivalry between the West and the former USSR.
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Yemen Noble Peace Prize winner Tawakkul Karman targeted by al Qaeda
February 18 2012 The group, which calls for Yemen to operate under strict Islamic rules allegedly sent Karman several threatening text messages, accusing her of apostasy and informing her that she had been condemned to death for her crimes. Karman, who is a member of the al-Islah party, Yemen’s Islamist political faction, has been criticized for advocating for women in the country to take charge of their lives and become active participants of public life. The move was understood by many conservatives as a critique of Islamic traditions and an attack against Yemeni family values. “Women are the pillars of society and their duties are first to their children and husband. I don’t see how running for public office and meddling with men is helping anyone. Karman is leading women on the wrong path, she wants to westernize our wives and daughters and this is wrong,“ said one Salafist, an ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim. Despite her popularity amongst revolutionaries, many politicians are tiring of Karman’s taste for controversy and her outspokenness, but most importantly it is perhaps her recent admission that she was considering running for the presidency that hit a nerve. The government refused to comment on incident.
Bikya Masr - SANA’A: Yemeni activist and 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkul Karman told the press that she was being targeted by Ansar al Shariah, a group linked to al-Qaeda, which operates in the southern provinces of Yemen.
Free-will marriage: Protection sought from police
February 18 2012 The Express Tribune - RAHIM YAR KHAN: A man and his wife on Friday requested police protection against death threats they said they were receiving from woman’s family who were opposed to their marriage.
Sajid Taj and Shamim Mai said they had sent an application in this regard to Rahim Yar Khan District Police Officer Sohail Zafar. They were addressing a press conference in Jajja Abbasia in Jampur. Taj, a resident of Khanpur, said the couple had on Thursday night escaped an attack at their house by men from Shamin’s family. “We have been moving home since getting married two months ago to protect ourselves from them,” he said. Thursday night’s incident was the second attempt by Shamim’s family to hurt them, he added. Sajid complained that the police were contacted after the first attack and requested to provide protection to them but no action was taken.More Here
Saudi Arabia says no to women olympians
February 17 2012 The move will also threaten the country’s overall participation in the Olympics, with the International Olympic Committee saying that all countries must field female athletes as part of their teams. The decision has been roundly criticized by human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch (HRW), which said in a press release that the move is counter to the Olympic Charter, which says, “The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit.” HRW said it shouldn’t be too surprising, however, as state-run schools offer no physical education for girls and only men belong to sports clubs in the country. “In fact, government restrictions on women essentially bar them from sports,” a new report says, HRW reported. The IOC Women’s Chair Anita DeFrantz warned the country in 2010 that if female athletes are not allowed to participate, the country could face being banned from the global competition. Dalma Rushdi Malhas, an 18-year-old Saudi woman, was the likely choice for the competition. She won a bronze medal at the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympics and has the ability to compete at the highest level.
Bikya Masr - CAIRO: Less than three months after Saudi Arabia said it would permit women to participate in the London 2012 Olympic Games, it has reportedly reneged on their agreement, barring women from entering the Games.
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Violence against women : Two women's noses chopped off
February 17 2012 The Express Tribune - BAHAWALPUR: Two women had their noses chopped in Bahawalpur district this week.
Police said Wazeeran Bibi’s nose was slashed by one of her neighbours over a fight between their children on Wednesday. Doctors treating her said an operation to reattach the nose had been successful. They said she would be discharged from the hospital in about two weeks. Wazeera Bibi, a resident of Faiz Waha near Hasilpur, told the police that on Wednesday morning her children were playing with some children from the neighbourhood in the fields, where she worked. She said the children started quarrelling so she ordered her children to go to their home. She said Zahoor, father of one of the children, came and stopped them. She said when she tried to drag her kids, he pushed one of them. “I shouted at him and told him not to make an issue of a children’s quarrel. At this he started beating me,” she told the police. She said he snatched a knife from one of the workers in the field and cut her nose before he fled. She was taken to the District Headquarters Hospital, Vehari. Zareena, a witness to the incident, told The Express Tribune that Zahoor had misbehaved with Wazeera Bibi. “He was acting as if he had gone mad,” she said. A man cut his wife’s nose in Alipur area on Tuesday on suspicion of an illicit relationship. Fatehpur Road resident Yousaf reportedly confessed to the police. He accused his wife of loose morals. “I did this to save the honour of my family. I am not at all ashamed,” he told the police.More Here
Bahrain police, protesters clash, Western activists held
February 17 2012 The two women activists - one American, one British, according to protesters - were detained by riot police who broke up the protest with teargas and stun grenades, after an announcement on a police loudspeaker that the demonstration was illegal. Riot police have maintained a heavier presence than usual in areas populated by majority Shi'ites this week to prevent mass protests on the anniversary of the Feb. 14 pro-democracy uprising last year which was put down by force. "These women are protesting peacefully," shouted a woman identified by protesters as U.S. activist Medea Benjamin, wearing a T-shirt that read "Unarmed civilian", as she was dragged away by women police. A Bahraini woman choking from teargas was also dragged away. Protesters identified the second detained foreign activist as Briton Elaine Martha. Bahrain has already arrested and deported around eight foreign activists in the past few days.
Alert - MANAMA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Bahraini police detained two Western activists who had joined a women's protest on Friday, after clashing overnight with protesters in Shi'ite districts of the Gulf Arab state.
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Jury convicts man of killing 2 men in Phoenix
February 17 2012 Maricopa County prosecutors say 41-year-old Haider Abdullah faces life in prison on each count when he's sentenced next month. Prosecutors say Abdullah shot Mohammad Mzeal to death in April 2009 because he was enraged Mzeal had called his sister and told her he had been at a strip club. The sister had confronted Abdullah about his behavior, telling him it was inappropriate and contrary to their Muslim faith. After shooting Mzeal behind a Safeway store at 35th and Northern, Abdullah drove to his sister's house and yelled for her husband to come outside. He then shot the husband, Ayad Mizel. Abdullah was captured in Salinas two days later.
CBS 5 - PHOENIX (AP) - A man who killed his sister's husband and another man in north Phoenix has been convicted of two counts of first-degree murder.
Pakistan suicide attack kills 25
February 17 2012 News 24 - Peshawar - A suicide motorbike bomber attacked a market in a largely Shi’ite Muslim area of northwest Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 25 people in the deadliest attack for a month.
The bomb exploded near a mosque as the main Friday prayers took place in Parachinar, a flashpoint for sectarian violence between majority Sunni and minority Shi’ite Muslims in Pakistan's tribal badlands on the Afghan border. Parachinar is the main town in Kurram district, part of the semi-autonomous tribal belt where US drone strikes target Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants in what Washington considers the world's largest international terror hub. It was the deadliest attack in Pakistan since a remote-controlled bomb blast killed at least 35 people in the Khyber tribal district on January 10. "At least 25 people have been killed in the suicide bombing," Kurram administrator Shahab Ali Shah told AFP. Crowded market "About 54 people were wounded in the bombing and 38 were still in hospital, some in critical condition," he said. The casualties occurred after "a suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up in a crowded market", top regional administrator Sahibzada Mohammad Anees told AFP, also confirming the latest death toll.More Here
Bungling Iranian bombers WERE planning to attack Israeli diplomats in Bangkok, Thai police chief reveals
February 16 2012 It is the first time Thai officials have confirmed the group, including one man who blew his leg off when a bomb bounced back at his feet after he threw it at police, was plotting attacks in the country. The allegation came after days of accusations by Israel that Iran was behind the botched plot as well as two others in India and the former Soviet republic of Georgia this week. Iran has denied the charges. But citing the similarity of bombs used in New Delhi and Tbilisi, national police chief General Prewpan Dhamapong said Thai authorities now 'know for certain that (the target) was Israeli diplomats'. He said: 'This issue was about individuals and the targets were specific. This was something personal.' Israel has accused Iran of waging a covert campaign of state terror and has threatened military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran has blamed the Jewish state for the recent killings of Iranian atomic scientists and has denied responsibility for all three bomb plots, including an explosion on Monday in New Delhi that tore through an Israeli diplomatic vehicle, wounding the driver and a diplomat's wife, and a foiled attempt the same day in Georgia. Israel's Foreign Ministry said today it has stepped up security for diplomats posted overseas. The plot in Bangkok was discovered on Tuesday only by accident, when explosives stored in a house occupied by several Iranian men blew up by mistake.
Daily Mail - The three bungling Iranian bombers detained in Bangkok after they accidentally set off their explosives were planning to attack Israeli diplomats, Thailand's top policeman has revealed.
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Couple to be lashed for meeting in ‘dark place’
February 16 2012 Emirates 24/7 - A Saudi court sentenced a local man and his girl friend to 50 lashes each and ordered him to wash 10 dead people after they were caught in a car parked in a deserted place under the cover of night.
The judge also sentenced the man to 15 days in prison and ordered him to memorize 10 Koran verses and 100 sayings by the Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him), according to Sabq newspaper. “The man will be lashed in pubic in front of a mosque while the girl will also be flogged in front of a crowd of women.” The paper said the two were involved in an “indecent act” in the car in a dark place when they were seized by members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
Syria 'arrests iconic blogger Razan Ghazzawi and leading activists'
February 16 2012 Human rights lawyer Anwar Bunni said Ghazzawi was arrested in an early afternoon raid on the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, which is located in central Damascus and is headed by Darwish. "We at the Syrian Centre for Legal Studies condemn these arrests and call on Syrian authorities to immediately release them," Bunni said in a statement. Opposition figure Louai Hussein earlier told AFP that Darwish's wife was also among those arrested. The crackdown came as UN chief Ban Ki-moon called for an end to the violence in Syria, both from the government and the opposition, while urging the international community to find a common response to the unrest. "What is important at this time is that first the Syrian authorities must stop killing their own people," Ban told journalists on a visit to Vienna, when asked about Syria's intention to hold a referendum on a new constitution. And this violence should stop from all sides whether by national security forces or by opposition forces," he went on. Ahead of a vote in the UN General Assembly expected later on Thursday on a draft resolution calling on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stop deadly attacks on civilians, Ban also called for unity. "I urge the international community to speak in one voice: stop the violence. Stop the bloodshed," he said. "The longer we debate, the more people will die."
The Telegraph - Security forces on Thursday arrested blogger Razan Ghazzawi, icon of the 11-month uprising in Syria, along with rights activist Mazen Darwish and 12 others, opposition figures said.
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Teenage lovers leap to their deaths in suicide pact after girl was forced into arranged marriage
February 16 2012 Daily Mail - Two teenage lovers tied their wrists together with a scarf and jumped to their deaths on St Valentine's Day because the girl had been forced to marry a stranger twice her age.
The tragic pair were found at the base of a tall mobile phone tower in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka in what police described as a heartbreaking end to a romance that was against the wishes of the girl's parents. Mitu Molla, aged 16, had been secretly meeting her 17-year-old lover, Soud Sheikh, for months. But when her parents learned of their relationship they decided to take matters into their own hands and marry her off to another man. 'The young couple were heartbroken,' said police inspector Sarojit Biswas. 'It appears that the teenagers, who are from two neighbouring villages, had a love affair and they chose Valentine's Day to kill themselves.' When Mitu's parents learned of the teenagers' secret meetings they took her by force from her village two months ago and married her off to a man who was not only twice as old as her but who she had no feelings for. It is believed she had not even met her new husband before the wedding. After the marriage, said police, Mitu and her boyfriend Soud kept in touch with each other by mobile phone but the pain of being separated was too much for either of them to bear. Police believe they made a pact to commit suicide together. After speaking to his distressed teenage lover by mobile phone, Soud secretly made his way to Mitu's village. She had already returned there on the pretext of paying a visit to her family and to tell them the lie that she was settling down with her new husband. The teenagers then met at a pre-arranged place at night, made their way to the mobile phone tower, climbed to the top, tied their wrists together with a scarf and jumped. They were not killed immediately, but died on the way to a nearby clinic, said police.
Boko Haram storms Nigeria prison to free members
February 16 2012 Bikya Masr - Abuja (dpa)- Members of the Islamist militia Boko Haram have stormed a prison in central Nigeria, killing a guard and setting inmates free, witnesses told dpa Thursday. The incident, which took place late Wednesday in Koton Karfe, in central Kogi State, lasted about 30 minutes. The 20 militiamen were armed with bombs and guns.
“They opened fire on one of the security men at the entrance of the prison and killed him on the spot. The main gate of the prison was bombed by the Boko Haram members,” said Mariamu Bello, a witness. Inuwa Baba, another witness, said they shot randomly into the air to scare away guards, as they freed fellow Boko Haram members who were being held. Other inmates also managed to escape during the chaos. Boko Haram has attacked prisons on several occasions to free its members, and also managed to help Kabiru Sokoto – the main suspect in a Christmas Day church bombing – escape police custody, although he has since been rearrested. In a related development, state security services declared an ex-soldier to be wanted in connection to the church attack. He is said to be an accomplice of Sokoto, who was caught for a second time near the Nigeria-Chad border last week.
Christian student quits school choir in protest at song 'praising Allah'
February 16 2012 James Harper, a senior at Grand Junction High School in Colorado, protested when the after-school men's choir chose to sing 'Zikr', by Indian composer A.R. Rahman. He said he thought it was inappropriate for the choir to sing 'an Islamic worship song' which includes the line 'There is no truth except Allah'. But when he complained to the local school district, they defended the choir director, Marcia Wieland - so Mr Harper left the group. The student, a devout Christian, told KREX he thought that religious people should not be forced to sing the songs of other faiths. 'I don’t want to come across as a bigot or a racist, but I really don’t feel it is appropriate for students in a public high school to be singing an Islamic worship song,' he said. 'This is worshipping another God, and even worshipping another prophet. I think there would be a lot of outrage if we made a Muslim choir say Jesus Christ is the only truth.' This is the latest in a series of controversies about the inclusion of faith in public schools - last month, a Rhode Island school was forced to remove a prayer banner after an atheist student complained.
Daily Mail - A student has left his high-school choir after the group sang an Islamic song which contained lyrics in praise of Allah.
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US drone strike 'kills at least five in northwest Pakistan'
February 16 2012 The Telegraph - "Two missiles were fired by a US drone on a compound used by militants in Spalga town near Miranshah and five militants have been killed," a Pakistani security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The United States says Pakistan's tribal belt provides sanctuary to Taliban fighting in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda groups plotting attacks on the West, and Pakistani Taliban who routinely bomb Pakistan and other foreign fighters. Thursday's attack was confirmed by two other Pakistani security officials in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan region, known as Pakistan's chief bastion of Taliban and al-Qaeda linked militants. Security officials said several other militants were wounded, but the exact number was not immediately known. The latest attack came exactly a week after Pakistani officials said Badar Mansoor, described as the "de facto leader of al-Qaeda in Pakistan" was killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan. Mansoor was considered one of America's main targets in the country, wanted for bomb attacks on the minority Ahmadi sect that killed nearly 100 people in May 2010 and the chief link between al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban. Thursday's attack came just hours before Pakistan was to host the leaders of Afghanistan and Iran at a tripartite summit in Islamabad designed to discuss counter-terrorism co-operation and strengthening regional stability.More Here
Pictured: Bungling Iranian bomber BEFORE he blew off his own legs... as Thai police link Bangkok blasts with other attacks on Israeli diplomats
February 15 2012 Daily Mail - Explosives experts today linked yesterday’s botched terror attack in Thailand with two earlier blasts amid mounting evidence that Iran is running a covert campaign against Israel.
The homemade ‘sticky’ bombs, which feature distinctive magnetic sheets, were similar to those used against Israeli targets in New Delhi, India, and Tbilisi, Georgia, earlier this week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today warned that Tehran’s actions were destabilising the world and its aggression must be stopped. ‘Iran’s terror operations are now exposed for all to see,’ he told the Israeli parliament. ‘World countries must condemn Iran’s terror acts and draw a red line.’ Iran today announced it had stopped oil exports to six European countries - the Netherlands, Greece, France, Portugal and Spain, in retaliation for European Union sanctions.Meanwhile, CCTV footage has emerged of the three Iranian men believed to have been plotting a terror campaign on Bangkok - including the bungling bomber who blew his own legs off by accident. The three men are pictured separately, dressed casually in jeans and t-shirts, walking down the road in the run-up to yesterday's blasts. Release of the image comes as it was revealed one of the trio has fled to Malaysia. The fugitive, who has not yet been named, went on the run after a bizarre sequence of blasts in the Thai capital. It started when a stash of explosives accidentally blew off the roof of a house occupied by three Iranians. Two ran away while wounded Saeid Moradi staggered out and tried to wave down a taxi. Covered in blood, the driver refused to take him, and so he hurled a grenade at the vehicle. And when police arrived he then tried to throw another at officers - but it bounced off a tree, landed at his feet, and blew off his legs. Moradi has been charged with illegal possession of explosives, causing explosions, attempted murder and assaulting a police officer. Four people were injured in the events. More Here
Man beheads 'witch' mum
February 15 2012 Emirates 24/7 - A 28-year-old Saudi man thinking his mother is a witch who is controlling him waited for her to go into her room away from her other sons, went after her and stabbed her many times before cutting off her head.
The unnamed man had always accused his mother of being a sorcerer trying to cast a magic spell on him and wanted to kill her but was restrained by his brothers. Just a few days before the murder, he threw a sharp object at her but missed the target before he was grabbed by his brothers grabbed. “On that day, he waited until he was alone with his mother in her room, then stabbed her and mutilated her hands before cutting her head off,” the Saudi Arabic language daily Kabar said in an unsourced report. “He then went straight to the police and told them he had killed his mother because he was under her magic spell and that he did not know what exactly he had done…his brothers said he was suffering from psychological problems tried many times to take him to hospital but was refused for lack of a bed.”
Afghan female TV presenters asked to wear headscarves and remove make-up
February 15 2012 Afghan and US officials have been seeking peace negotiations with the Islamist group ousted over a decade ago as a means to ensure stability after foreign combat troops leave, though the talks are in a very fragile state. In a letter distributed to media, the Ministry of Culture and Information said it had received complaints from members of parliament and families that female news presenters were not observing Islamic and cultural ethics. "All female news presenters must avoid heavy make-up and wear a headscarf," Minister Sayed Makhdoom Rahin told Reuters by telephone, adding this applied to state and private TV stations. The ministry's plea came as a surprise to some Afghan media. All female anchors appear with their heads covered, sparking suggestions the directive was designed to impress the Taliban by pandering to their ultraconservative views. "Since we are at the beginning of serious peace and reconciliation talks, the government wants to show they are like the Taliban," said Zarghoona Roshan, a radio journalist for 10 years before she joined media development group Nai.
The Telegraph - An Afghan government request that female television presenters don headscarves and avoid heavy make-up has angered journalists, who said the move was proof authorities expected the Taliban to regain a share of power.
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Cradle of misery: 5 little girls thrown out like garbage
February 15 2012 The Express Tribune - KARACHI: Five foetuses were found from a garbage dump in Akhtar Colony on Tuesday.
Two of them were found in plastic jars while the remaining three were wrapped in plastic shopping bags. The police was informed about the bodies after scavengers in the area found them, said SHO Rao Muqeem. Edhi volunteers were contacted to help as well. According to the scavengers who go through the garbage every day, the bodies were disposed off on Monday. “There was nothing in the dump yesterday,” said one of the scavengers, Dawood. “Initially we thought the jars had food in them, but when we looked closely we realised they were dead babies.” The foetuses have been sent to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities. Sources at the hospital said that all five foetuses were girls and weighed between 300 grams to 390 grams. The medical board of doctors, including Dr Jalil Qadir, Dr Kaleem and Dr Manzoor, are trying to ascertain their proper ages but it is estimated that they were between three and six months. According to the police surgeon, Dr Mohammed Padhiar, the foetuses found from Akhtar Colony are not from the same pregnancy as they have different weights and ages. Four babies were premature while one was close to the delivery date. He said that the jars found are similar to those used by medical students and doctors in labs.More Here
Norwegian based Islamic cleric on trial over threats
February 15 2012 The trial centers on remarks Mullah Krekar, who uses the name of Najmuddin Faraj Ahmand, made during a news conference in June 2010 where he said that Erna Solberg, leader of the Conservative Party, would “pay a price” if he was deported from Norway. In her opening statement, prosecutor Marit Bakkevig said the remarks constituted terrorism as they could be considered a death threat. Other charges included remarks Krekar made in a television interview 2009 urging people to fight US soldiers in Iraq and threatening three Kurds. Krekar said he denied guilt but admitted to making the remarks when asked how he pleaded, public broadcaster NRK reported from the Oslo district court house. Krekar, who uses the name of Najmuddin Faraj Ahmand, has for several years been a controversial figure. He was granted asylum in Norway in 1991, but ordered to leave the country in February 2003 over violating his refugee terms and his alleged links to the Islamist organization Ansar al-Islam. The deportation has never been effectuated, partly over concerns that he risked the death penalty in Iraq. Solberg, leader of the opposition Conservatives, handled refugee issues during 2001 to 2005 under a previous government.
Bikya Masr - Oslo (dpa) – A Kurdish Islamic cleric went on trial in Norway on Wednesday charged with making threatening statements against the leader of the opposition Conservatives, among others.
Syria: seven–year–old girl shot as she called messages of support from bedroom window
February 15 2012 As Syrian troops unleashed the first wave of the week – long barrage against Homs last week, mosques across restive districts of Damascus called citizens to prayers of protest. At 2.30 in the morning, calls of "God is Great" washed across the districts from the minarets and residents took to the streets in angry protest. "Julnar heard the mosque's call, so she started to wake me up. She wanted to join in," said her mother. "I put a chair at her bedroom window for her to stand on and I started chanting 'Allah Akhbar' with my daughter." Suddenly the little girl fell to the ground. Blood was oozing from two bullet wounds in her stomach. Panicked, her mother rushed her to a neighbour's ground – floor apartment. Outside came the constant rattle of gunfire as government troops sought to silence the protest. "I knelt quietly next to my dying daughter on the floor. I held her hand, I whispered with her verses that Muslims must say before they die," said her mother. "Around me everyone was weeping and screaming. Somebody massaged her chest". They rushed the little girl to hospital where doctors tried to save her during three hours of surgery. She died just before dawn prayers as she came out of the operating theatre. Frightened of the incendiary reaction that might come from the child's death, the funeral was a rushed and controlled affair.
The Telegraph - Seven – year – old Julnar is dead, shot by a government sniper as she called out messages of solidarity for civilians in Homs from her bedroom window, according to her mother.
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Outrage as Libya tells United Nations: 'Gays threaten the future of the human race'
February 15 2012 Daily Mail - A Libyan delegate sparked outrage after telling a United Nations human rights panel that gay people threaten the future of the human race.
The unnamed official made the remarks as violence based on sexual orientation was being discussed. His outburst came despite the new Libyan leaders promising to respect human rights following the downfall of Colonel Gaddafi. Libya were only recently restored to the 47-nations UN Human Rights Council. The delegate said that the topics being discussed 'affect religion and the continuation and reproduction of the human race', the non-governmental organisation UN Watch reported. He also claimed that Libya would have opposed a resolution that denounced violence on the grounds of sexual orientation last June, if they had not been suspended. The homophobic remarks sparked an angry backlash and an immediate rebuke from the UN Human Rights council president Laura Dupuy Lasserre. She said: 'The Human Rights Council is here to defend human rights and prevent discrimination.' Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch who led a campaign to have Gaddafi's Libya thrown off the council said following the remarks: 'This is not the Arab Spring we hoped for.' Mr Neuer added: 'The homophobic outburst by the new Libyan government, together with its routine abuse of prisoners and other ongoing violations, underscores the serious questions many have about the new regime's commitment to improving on the dark record of its predecessor.' Libya were thrown off the Human Rights Council in March last year but allowed back on in November after the death of Gaddafi. While the dictator was in power, gays were routinely flogged and imprisoned, human rights experts have claimed. The Human Rights Council is separate from the UN General Assembly - and with 47 members it is a lot smaller. As they were re-instated, Ibrahim Dabbashi, deputy UN envoy, said: 'the new Libya deserves to return to the Human Rights Council to contribute with other members to the promotion of values of human rights.'
'We've been maimed for life': Victims of Syrian security crackdown show horrific injuries inflicted by Assad's forces
February 13 2012 The horrific images of their injuries were taken today and show the human cost of President Bashar Assad's ongoing brutal military crackdown against opposition. Doctors said they are treating dozens of young Syrians injured during the violence at a hospital run by Paris-based Medecins Sans Frontieres in Amman. The mutilated men posed for photos as Syrian forces spent another day continuing to rain bombs on the city of Homs - the day after another 23 civilians were killed. Tanks fired rockets on two large Sunni Muslim neighbourhoods this morning, as attacks carried on into a second week. The continued bloodshed led Arab League foreign ministers to pledge for the first time to aid the opposition 'with all forms of political and material support' to overthrow Assad. And British Foreign Secretary William Hague said plans to send a joint UN and League peacekeeping force in to Syria, once Assad stops his crackdown, must be discussed 'urgently'.
Daily Mail - Covering their faces to conceal their identity, these Syrian men show appalling injuries they claim were inflicted on them by the country's security forces. All five men have undergone reconstructive surgeries at Red Crescent Hospital in Amman.
At yesterday's meeting in Cairo, Arab League foreign ministers vowed to aid the opposition battling to overthrow Assad and called on the UN Security Council to authorise a peacekeeping force. They approved a resolution calling for 'opening communication channels with the Syrian opposition and providing all forms of political and material support to it'. It is seen as a remarkable statement from a body, which has turned against Assad because of its resentment of his ties to Iran, which was once known for keeping out of the internal affairs of its members. More Here
Pardoned Afghan child bomber caught preparing suicide attack
February 13 2012 “The government is assessing this issue very seriously and why they were forced to carry out a suicide mission,” presidential spokesman Seyamak Herawi said. “We are investigating it seriously. At this moment, we can only confirm that only one of the two suicide bombers was pardoned by President Karzai last year.” The two boys were arrested in the southern city of Kandahar as they were preparing to blow themselves up, officials said. “Kandahar’s intelligence agents arrested two child suicide bombers and three other insurgents during an operation late last week,” an intelligence official said. “The suicide bombers went to Quetta city of Pakistan and received training to carry out suicide bombings,” the official said. “One of the children is a resident of Pakistan’s Balochistan city and the second one is a resident of Paktia’s Gardiz city.” On Sunday, they were brought in front of local media in Kandahar city where they confessed to being trained in a religious school in Pakistan. A boy named Azizullah said mullahs at a Quetta madrasa had told him to go to Afghanistan and carry out the suicide mission. The other, named Nasibullah, said he was deceived by insurgents and asked the Afghan government to pardon him once again.
Bikya Masr - Kabul (dpa) – Afghan intelligence agents foiled a suicide bombing attack by two 10-year-old boys, one of whom was pardoned by President Hamid Karzai last year, officials said Monday.
Moment car of Israeli diplomat's wife explodes into a fireball in suspected revenge attack for Iranian nuclear scientist's assassination
February 13 2012 Daily Mail - A car carrying an Israeli diplomat's wife and her driver exploded into a ball of flames in a New Delhi street today.
Miraculously target Tal Yehoshua-Koren survived the blast with only shrapnel injuries to her lower body and was initially taken to the Israeli Embassy, before receiving medical treatment at hospital. The attack, which wounded four people, threatened to ratchet up already high tensions between Iran, which has been accused of developing a nuclear weapons program, and Israel, which says such a program would be an existential threat to the Jewish state.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately blamed Iran for the attacks, 'Iran is behind these attacks. It is the biggest exporter of terror in the world,' he declared to a meeting of lawmakers from his Likud Party today. Car bombs were planted in Israeli diplomatic cars in both India and Georgia simultaneously, although the device in Georgia was discovered before it went off. Authorities in the former Soviet republic of Georgia said an explosive device was also planted on the car of a driver for the Israeli Embassy. Shota Utiashvili, spokesman for the Georgian Interior Ministry, said the driver noticed a package attached to his car's undercarriage on Monday and called police. More Here
U.S. Navy: Iran prepares suicide bomb boats in Gulf
February 13 2012 Reuters - Iran has built up its naval forces in the Gulf and prepared boats that could be used in suicide attacks, but the U.S. Navy can prevent it from blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the commander of U.S. naval forces in the region said on Sunday.
Iran has made a series of threats in recent weeks to disrupt shipping in the Gulf or strike U.S. forces in retaliation if its oil trade is shut down by sanctions, or if its disputed nuclear programme comes under attack. "They have increased the number of submarines ... they increased the number of fast attack craft," Vice Admiral Mark Fox told reporters. "Some of the small boats have been outfitted with a large warhead that could be used as a suicide explosive device. The Iranians have a large mine inventory." "We have watched with interest their development of long range rockets and short, medium and long range ballistic missiles and of course ... the development of their nuclear programme," Fox, who heads the U.S. Fifth Fleet, said at a briefing on the fleet's base in the Gulf state of Bahrain.More Here
The horrifying proof that Libya's freedom fighters have turned into brutal torturers
February 12 2012 Daily Mail - A terrified Libyan man is beaten and tortured with electric shocks by youths who appear to be former revolutionary fighters. The images, taken from a video handed to The Mail on Sunday in a Tripoli refugee camp, will be seen as fresh evidence that those who deposed Colonel Gaddafi with the help of the West are adopting methods as brutal as the dead tyrant’s.
The film shows three men tying up the blood-spattered man before whipping him repeatedly with cables, touching him on his skin with electric wires and taunting him as he pleads for mercy. The men, one of whom is wearing combat trousers and is armed with a knife, tell the man that ‘blood will come from your eyes and nose until you admit what you have done’. The new video images follow growing protests about abuse and torture in parts of the country. Doctors from the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) have pulled out after refusing to deal with the results of such brutality in their clinics.According to sources, the youths in the video were former rebels who refused to surrender their weapons at the end of the civil war in October – and are intent on revenge on those they suspect of having supported Gaddafi. They are said to have driven in armed trucks into the al-Fellah ‘internally displaced persons’ (IDP) camp in a suburb of Tripoli, firing at crowds and searching homes until they found men on their list of ‘suspects’. Their victim, seen on the video, was Saleh Barhoun Gersh, who had run a general store in Towerga – which was loyal to Gaddafi during the conflict until the town was ransacked by fighters from nearby Misrata city. More Here
Yemen's Ansar al Shariah executes 3 for ties to US
February 12 2012 The group, which has been openly operating in Yemen since the beginning last year of the popular uprising, used to its advantage the lapse in security and the central government’s inability to keep the group’s activities in check to expand its control over the southern province of Abyan and neighboring districts. Although the White House and the Yemeni government are now claiming that through the collaboration of the two countries, al-Qaeda’s core has been severely weakened, groups such as Ansar al-Shariah appear undisturbed. In view of so much unrest in Yemen, the Pentagon chose to resume its drones campaign in the area, striking al-Qaeda operatives throughout several Yemeni provinces. Several residents in Abyan reported that the Islamists had grown so confident of their hold over the region that they had started to organize social programs, distributing free food and water to locals.
Bikya Masr - SANA’A: Yemen’s Ansar al-Sharia, a group of Islamic militants linked to al-Qaeda, the well-known terror group, announced on Sunday that they had executed three men they accused of working for the United States.
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Islamic Extremists Behead Another Convert in Somalia
February 12 2012 Christian News Today - NAIROBI, Kenya – Islamic extremists from the rebel al Shabaab militia in Somalia beheaded a Christian on the outskirts of Mogadishu last month, sources said.
The militants fighting the transitional government in Mogadishu murdered Zakaria Hussein Omar, 26, on Jan. 2 in Cee-carfiid village, about 15 kilometers (nine miles) outside of the Somali capital, they said. Omar had worked for a Christian humanitarian organization that al Shabaab banned last year. His body was left lying for 20 hours before nomads found it and carried it into Mogadishu, a close friend said. “We have been communicating with Omar, and he was sharing with me his life as a Christian,” the friend said. “Last year he mentioned to me that his life was in danger when the NGO [Non-Governmental Organization] he worked for was banned by the al Shabaab.” The friend said he identified the body. “One of the persons who saw him said, ‘This is the young man who stayed in Ethiopia, and people have been saying that he left Islam and joined Christianity.’” Omar converted to Christianity seven years ago while in Ethiopia, where he lived with relatives. He returned to Somalia in 2008 and completed his university education in 2009 with a degree in accounting.More Here
Jailed for kiteflying: 12 year old released after judge intervenes
February 12 2012 Arsalan, a resident of College Road in Gujranwala, was sent to the Central Jail by the Model Town police under Kite Flying Act. After Gujranwala Sessions Judge Rashid Qamar learnt about the incident, he went to the Central Jail himself in order to free the boy. Qamar said that the Kite Flying Act was not applicable on twelve year olds and handed the boy to his family members. He also summoned Magistrate Shahzad Ahmad and SHO Model Town, seeking an explanation. Currently, the Punjab Prohibition of Kite Flying (Amendment) Bill, 2009 forbids committing or abetting the act of kite flying and/or manufacture and sale of kites.
The Express Tribune - GUJRANWALA: Sunday morning witnessed the end of the detention of a twelve-year-old boy who was jailed for fulfilling his hobby – kite flying.
Bangladesh: JeI activists vandalise Hindu temples
February 12 2012 Zee News - New Delhi: Fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami activists vandalised several Hindu temples in the Hathazari area of Chittagong in Bangladesh on Thursday and Friday, forcing the law enforcement authorities to impose Section 144 of the Bangladesh Penal Code that bans public gatherings in the affected area.
According to the website bdnews.com, Muslims, allegedly instigated by the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami, first damaged a temple in the compound of the Loknath Sebasram at Nandirhat on Thursday evening and blocked the Chittagong-Rangamati Road on Friday morning in retaliation to a mosque being damaged by people coming out of the Loknath Sebasram. The website report further said that at least three other Hindu temples were attacked by the Islamic activists. It said that damage was inflicted on the Sri Sri Jagadeshwari Ma Temple, the Jagannath Bigroho Temple at Nandirhat and the Kalibari Temple in Sadar Upazila. The Sri Sri Jagadeshwari Ma Temple was also burnt, it added. The Primary and Mass Education Minister of Bangladesh, Afsar-ul-Ameen, has visited the area and instructed local authorities to take steps to normalise the situation. Local administration officials blamed the Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, the Islami Chhatra Shibir, for the incidents.More Here
Malaysia deports Saudi over Twitter posts
February 12 2012 Hamza Kashgari, who was detained in Malaysia during the week after fleeing Saudi Arabia, left the country in the custody of Saudi officials, according to a Malaysian government official who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity. Malaysia's government would not immediately confirm Hamza's deportation, but a Home Ministry statement Sunday said Kashgari would be sent back to Saudi Arabia. "Malaysia has a long-standing arrangement by which individuals wanted by one country are extradited when detained by the other, and (Kashgari) will be repatriated under this arrangement," the statement said. "The nature of the charges against the individual in this case are a matter for the Saudi Arabian authorities." Mother appeals for mercy The mother of a 23-year-old Saudi columnist accused of insulting Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) has made an impassionate appeal for authorities in the conservative Muslim Gulf Kingdom to pardon her son. The appeal by Umm Hamza followed reports of her son’s arrest in Malaysia just after he fled the country and coincided with calls by Saudi Islamic fundamentalists to punish Hamza Kashgari in accordance with Islamic law, which involves death penalty for apostasy, newspapers in the Kingdom said.
Emirates 24/7 - Malaysia on Sunday deported the young Saudi journalist who is wanted in his home country over a Twitter post about the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) that sparked calls for his execution, an official said.
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Free Syrian Army is all that stands between civilians and tanks
February 12 2012 The Telegraph - As Syria's rebellious cities are bombarded and the regime's tank crews prepare to move, only a rag-tag and poorly armed but determined army stands in their way.
The last straw for Captain Abu Mahmoud came when 13 of his fellow officers were lined up and shot by a Syrian firing squad. They had been identified as potential deserters - all officers have their own team of watchers from military intelligence to monitor their behaviour - and were executed just in case, he said. He was headed at the time with his Third Division for Idlib in the north, scene already of many battles and massacres in this encroaching civil war. He turned tail, shook off his spies and went home. In a fine example of how the paranoias of dictators eventually make themselves come true, he is now with the Free Syrian Army on the front line of the battle for Homs. He is a helpless spectator as the Syrian tanks and artillery, which his Free Syrian Army cannot match, drop round after round of shell fire on to the defenceless citizens of the Homs neighbourhoods Bab al-Amr and Khalidiya, enclaves now to match the names of Sarajevo and Misurata.Calls from inside Homs said that only Bab al-Amr remained as a pocket of FSA resistance, but that army tanks were approaching. Other formerly free areas such as Inshaíat were under regime control, another Free Syrian Army soldier said. In these places, there is no longer any visible life. People who were among the last to leave the city as the army moved in to follow up on days of artillery assault say that no-one can go out for fear of the shelling and the snipers who take aim at men, women, and children in the street. One hospital contacted by telephone in the city said it had only three patients and five nurses. Most of the population is sheltering in the lower floors and basements of houses, crammed 30 to a room. But despite the obvious threat of retribution when the regime turns to face him, Capt. Abu Mahmoud is now marshalling defences of the liberated area the other side of the government line, between Homs and the Lebanese border, and even driving the army back. His men have pushed government troops four miles from positions they held recently, and now occupy a line roughly between the old military airport and the military training school, he said. More Here
Pakistan: TV bomb kills seven near peshawar
February 12 2012 The Express Tribune - PESHAWAR: Seven members of a family were killed and three other members sustained injuries when a TV bomb went off in a house in Sra Dargai, Frontier region Peshawar on Saturday night, sources said.
Sources revealed that the explosion took place in a room where Syed Wazir’s family members were gathered together for a movie. The dead members of the family include Syed Bilal, Syed Anwar, Syed Ghaffur, Syed Moen, Syed Khalid, Syed Adnan and Syed Hikmat Shah. According to the sources, Wazir had developed a dispute with one of his relatives. However, the relatives have denied any involvement. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sahibzada stated that the blast at Wazir’s house occurred due to a remote controlled device fixed inside a television set. “Kamran, an opponent of Syed Wazir took the television set from one of the family members and returned it after three days", said DSP Sahibzada. “The bomb disposal squad suspects the television set, however our investigations are underway,” he added. According to the DSP, around one kilogram of explosives was used in the explosion.More Here
Muslim mother 'beat daughter, 19, and locked her to a bed after she was seen speaking to a boy'
February 11 2012 After Yusra Farhan was arrested in the Arizona hospital where her daughter was being treated for her injuries, she told police she wanted to punish the girl for violating her 'culture'. Farhan, 50, faces charges of aggravated assault, unlawful imprisonment and resisting arrest. She was being held in a Maricopa County jail. Police did not identify her daughter by name. The incident started on Tuesday, when the daughter was spotted by her father talking to a 19-year-old man at a high school parking lot in Phoenix. Police said her father became angry and took her home, striking her several times. The mother arrived home later and admitted to hitting her daughter with her hands and a shoe, and tying her to the bed with a rope around her waist that was secured with a padlock, court records showed. Farhan told police she hit her daughter because she 'was speaking to a male subject and her Iraq culture states a female is not allowed to be having contact with males because females are not allowed to have boyfriends,' court records said. The daughter was allowed to leave for school the next morning and was taken to St Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix after telling school officials about the incident.
Daily Mail - An Iraqi woman has been accused of beating her teenage daughter and padlocking her to a bed after she was seen speaking to a young man.
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Hamas 'will never recognise Israel': Gaza premier
February 11 2012 AFP - TEHRAN — Hamas "will never recognise Israel," Gaza prime minister, Ismail Haniya, said Saturday in a speech in Iran that is likely to complicate Palestinian efforts to form a unity government in the teeth of opposition from the Jewish state.
"They want us to recognise the Israeli occupation and cease resistance but, as the representative of the Palestinan people and in the name of all the world's freedom seekers, I am announcing from Azadi Square in Tehran that we will never recognise Israel," Haniya said. "The resistance will continue until all Palestinian land, including Al-Quds (Jerusalem), has been liberated and all the refugees have returned," he said. Haniya's reiteration of Hamas's long-held stance was made on the occasion of Iran's commemoration of its 1979 Islamic revolution. The Gaza leader spoke to an estimated crowd of 30,000 from a stage alongside Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "The Iranian people are a partner in this victory," Haniya said. "God willing, we will met you along with other Palestinians in a free Palestine, in its capital Al-Quds," he said. Israel rejects efforts by Hamas to link up with Fatah, the secular faction of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas that runs the West Bank, to form a unity government. It views Hamas as a terrorist organisation and Iran as its sponsor and weapon supplier. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told UN envoys on Thursday that a Hamas-Fatah accord signed this week to partner in the new government "does not contribute to the advancement of peace negotiations or the well-being of the Palestinian people." The so-called Quartet of diplomatic players in the Middle East peace process -- the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States -- has long demanded that any Palestinian government including Hamas must meet certain conditions to join negotiations. Those are the renunciation of violence and the recognition of Israel and of past agreements with the Jewish state. Direct peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have been frozen since September 2010. The Palestinians have demanded that Israel halt settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. Israel rejects any conditions for talks to settle the Middle East conflict.
Assad regime official assassinated in Damascus
February 11 2012 Brigadier-General Issa al-Khouli, described as a doctor and hospital director, was the highest-level official to be killed in the capital Damascus since the start of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad nearly a year ago. He was killed in the northern Rukneddine district of the Syrian capital as he left his home. High-ranking figures have been assassinated elsewhere in the country, but until now Damascus has been relatively safe for regime supporters. The Assad regime says terrorists are behind the uprising, and claims more than 2,000 soldiers and police officers have been killed by terrorists since March. Another apparent sign of the regime's slipping control in the capital was a four-hour gun battle in the al-Qaboun suburb on Friday night. Meanwhile, Syrian troops continued shelling the Baba Amr district in the central city of Homs on Saturday, killing as many as15 people, according to human rights groups. Syrian troops have been trying to regain control of areas in Homs since last Saturday when they started a major offensive against rebel-held areas. About 400 people have been killed in Homs since then. The violence came a day after two suicide car bombers struck security compounds in the northern city of Aleppo, killing 28 people. The blasts were the first significant violence in the city, Syria's second-biggest, an industrial centre that has remained loyal to President Assad during the uprising.
The Telegraph - A senior Syrian military doctor was shot dead outside his home in Damascus on Saturday, the state news agency SANA reported.
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Five arrested over honour related killings
February 11 2012 The Express Tribune - FAISALABAD/RAHIM YAR KHAN: Five men have been arrested in two incidents of so-called honour crime in Faisalabad and Rahim Yar Khan.
In Faisalabad, Aamir Asghar and Mubassher were arrested by Sargodha Road police on Friday for killing their two sisters and a man their mother had adopted as a son at their house in Mohalla Naseerabad. The suspects were produced before the media at a press conference after a court remanded them into police custody for a week. Aamir Asghar, an employee of an intelligence agency, and Mubasher , a rickshaw driver, said they had killed Rehmana, 22, and Umme Kalsoom, 20 and Shaukat Ali, 24, on Wednesday night. The parents of the suspects, Asghar Ali and Jameela Bibi, were away at work at the time. “I had warned my sisters several times to stay away from Shaukat but they refused to mend their ways,” Aamir said, “We had become a laughing stock in the neighbourhood.” SSP (Operations) Sadiq Dogar said police had recovered the murder weapon. He also announced cash rewards for the team that arrested the suspects. Killed for marrying without permission. In Rahim Yar Khan, Maqbool Ahmed, a resident of Chak 46 NP, admitted to killing his 21-year-old daughter, Farzana, for marrying a neighbour without his permission. Ahmed and his two accomplices were arrested by Abadpur police on Wednesday night from a friend’s house. The police had earlier recovered the body of the deceased in a raid at Ahmed’s house after Saeed Ahmed, husband of the deceased, approached them with a kidnapping complaint against his father-in-law. The complaint told The Tribune that Farzana was missing when he returned from work. “I suspected my father-in-law of kidnapping her,” he said. Saeed said he and Farzana had left their houses over a month ago and married in a court. They had recently returned to the village on his father’s advice. “My father called me and said he was not opposed to our marriage. He also assured me that he would go to Maqbool and request him to bless the marriage,” he said. He said he had requested the police to provide protection to him and his wife but no action was taken in this regard. The body of the deceased has been handed over to her mother after an autopsy at Shaikh Zayed Hospital.
Uzbek man pleads guilty to plotting to shoot dead President Obama 'for Islamic terror group'
February 11 2012 Defense attorney Lance Bell said the 22-year-old avoided a potential life sentence by pleading guilty in Birmingham, Alabama. He faces up to 30 years in prison, though Bell expected Kodirov to receive about half that. The judge also told Kodirov that he will face deportation once he's released from prison. Kodirov pleaded guilty to three counts: Threatening to kill the president, possessing an automatic weapon, and providing material support to terrorists. Four other charges were dropped as part of the deal. Area Muslims who knew Kodirov were stunned to learn of his plans. 'I really didn't want to believe it,' said Ashfaq Taufique, president of the Birmingham Islamic Society. 'I knew him. He attended mosque. He never demonstrated any radicalization in his behavior, his words.' U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance said members of the Islamic community assisted in the case against Kodirov. The plea agreement said in July 2011, Kodirov claimed he had been communicating with a person known as 'the Emir'. Kodirov said the person was a member of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department. Authorities did not reveal the identity of the Emir. The Emir 'asked Kodirov if there was anything Kodirov could do about President Obama since Kodirov was closer geographically to the president than the Emir', according to his plea agreement.
Daily Mail - A man from Uzbekistan who pleaded guilty to plotting to kill President Obama with an automatic rifle claimed he was acting at the direction of an Islamic terror group in his home country. Ulugbek Kodirov allegedly discussed trying to kill the president as he campaigned for re-election because he would be out in public more often.
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Assad's propaganda machine goes into overdrive: State TV claims children died in 'terrorist' blasts... but rebels say president's troops planted bomb
February 10 2012 Daily Mail - Bomb blasts hit security compounds in the Syrian city of Aleppo today - sparking a propaganda war between the regime and rebels.
State media blamed the 'terrorist' opposition for killing 25 people, including several children, and wounding 175 in the explosions. But rebels claim the blasts, in a city which has so far remained largely loyal to President Bashar Assad, were planted by government forces in a bid to disrupt their movement. The rebels' conspiracy theories have been given some weight with analysis of the graphic footage broadcast on the Syrian government network. A weeping reporter showed at least five corpses, collected in sacks and under blankets, by the side of the debris-hit road outside the Military Intelligence Directorate.But the area was not closed off, local residents were milling around the site and uniformed police and ambulances were not present. There was no sign of wounded, as earth-moving equipment was seen clearing the rubble, nor any evidence that children had perished. A second blast went off outside the headquarters of a police force in another part of the city. Two earlier bombings in Damascus in December and January that killed dozens prompted similar exchanges of accusations. No-one has yet claimed responsibility for today's attacks. Mohammed Abu-Nasr, an Aleppo-based activist, blamed Assad's regime for the explosions, insisting the opposition would not carry out bombings in residential areas. He said: 'Had the opposition wanted to detonate bombs they would not do that in a residential area. The opposition and the Free Syrian Army don't kill civilians.' He added that the blasts came on a day when activists were planning wide protests in the city after the Friday prayers. More Here
Islamists in Egypt halt filming of TV series
February 10 2012 Misr International films had obtained permission from the university's management to film on site, the head of the company, Gaby Khoury, told AFP. But "when the shooting started, the director of the engineering faculty, Sherif Hammad, came to tell us that some students and teachers were against it, because of the clothing worn by the actresses," he said. The series, adapted from the novel "Dhat" by Egyptian author Sonallah Ibrahim, takes place in the 1970s, "when women wore short clothing." Hammad "insisted that the filming should stop and that we would be reimbursed ... explaining that he was not able to guarantee the protection of the materials or the artists," Khoury added. In a statement on Wednesday evening, the production company said "the student members of the Muslim Brotherhood at Ain Shams University had prevented the film crew from the 'Dhat' TV series from shooting the scenes set at the university." The students had objected to the "indecent" clothing, it said, and "categorically refused" to let the filming continue unless the costumes were changed. Islamists have become a potent force in Egypt's already conservative society in recent years, and won more than two-thirds of the seats in the recent parliamentary elections. Earlier this month, the Arab world's most famous actor, Adel Imam, was sentenced to three months in jail for "defaming Islam" in several roles on stage and Imam said he would appeal the sentence.
Egypt Independent - Islamist students halted the filming of an Egyptian television series at Cairo's Ain Shams University protesting against the "indecent" clothing of the actresses, the production company said Thursday.
Al Qaeda's 'morale boost' as it formally joins with Somalia's al Shabaab
February 10 2012 The Telegraph - The Somali militant group al Shabaab has formally joined al Qaeda, the terror network's leader Ayman al Zawahiri has announced in a new video. The move is an apparent bid to boost morale after months of setbacks to al Qaeda - including the loss of founder Osama bin laden.
One analyst said the connection could signal that the insurgents, known as resourceful, determined and increasingly web-savvy, had al Qaeda's approval for attacks against the West. In a video posted on Islamist forums on Thursday, al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahri said: "Today, I have glad tidings for the Muslim ummah (nation) that will please the believers and disturb the disbelievers, which is the joining of the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement in Somalia to Qaedat al-Jihad to support the jihadi unity against the Zionist-Crusader campaign and their assistants amongst the treacherous agent rulers. "I appeal to our people in Somalia not to follow those who teach ill, and the weak leaders who brought the crusader rabble to the land of pure Islam." The clip included an audio recording by al Shabaab's leader Sheikh Abu Zubeyr, in which he pledged allegiance to Zawahiri, who took over the reins of al Qaeda last year following the killing of bin Laden in a US attack in Pakistan. Al Shabaab, which controls large areas of Somalia, voiced support for Zawahri soon after he took over al Qaeda and has had openly declared links to the network for more than two years.More Here
Muslim fanatics who called for execution of gays and wanted to set up a 'medieval state' under Sharia law in Derby are jailed
February 10 2012 The group handed out the material in the street as well as posting it through letterboxes in a hate-filled campaign calling for the execution of gay people who they claimed were at the root of society’s problems. Ihjaz Ali, Kabir Ahmed and Razwan Javed are the first to be prosecuted under new laws against inciting hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation. Ali was jailed for two years and Ahmed and Javed for 15 months each. He went on: 'Much has been said during the course of this trial about freedom of expression, and the freedom to preach strongly held beliefs; beliefs, which may have some foundation in scripture. 'Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of democracy and a basic ingredient of any free society. Parliament clearly had this very much in mind when this legislation was passed.' Last month the trio were found guilty at Derby Crown Court. Residents had told of how the three fundamentalists wanted to transform their small area of Derby into a 'medieval state' under Sharia law. Anyone who dared to question their extreme agenda was branded an 'M15 agent' or a 'sell-out,' they said.
Daily Mail - Three Muslim extremists who handed out leaflets calling for homosexuals to be hanged, stoned and burned to death have been jailed.
It emerged that:During the trial, the court heard how the group's activities intimidated residents and left gay people frightened to walk on the streets. The first, entitled 'Death penalty?' proclaimed that 'Allah permits the destruction' of gay people and that 'the only question is how it should be carried out'. The second, entitled ‘Turn or Burn’, featured a burning figure in a blazing lake of fire and warned that the decriminalisation of homosexuality was 'the root of all problems'.Muslim fanatic and hate preacher Anjem Choudary was secretly invited by the group's ringleader, Ihjaz Ali, for a series of meetings in Derby; The group had links with the extremist organisation Al-Muhajiroun, which is banned under UK anti-terror laws; Moderate Muslim leaders who spoke out against the group's activities were targeted in a hate campaign in which their faces were printed on 'wanted' posters; Police had to be called during local elections because the group's supporters were standing guard at polling stations, ordering Muslims not to vote. More Here
Germany jails Kosovan for life for killing U.S. airmen
February 10 2012 Alert - FRANKFURT, Feb 10 (Reuters) - A Kosovo-Albanian man who killed two U.S. airmen and wounded two others in a gun attack at Frankfurt airport last March was sentenced to life in prison by German court on Friday.
Arid Uka, a 22-year-old who was raised in Germany, had confessed to the attack and said he acted after seeing a video apparently showing U.S. soldiers raping Muslim women. Wearing a black hooded top, he smiled when police removed the handcuffs after bringing him into the Frankfurt courtroom, then sat with eyes downcast as Judge Thomas Sagebiel read out a detailed chronology of the attack. "Yes, this is indeed the first Islamic-motivated terror strike to have happened in Germany," the judge said. The court in Germany's financial capital heard how the gunman walked up to airmen boarding a U.S. Army bus and asked one of them for a cigarette. After establishing that they were heading to Afghanistan, Uka shot a 25-year-old man in the back of the head, killing him, according to prosecutors. He then boarded the bus, shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) and shot dead a 21-year-old airman sitting in the driver's seat. He wounded two others and pulled the trigger on a fifth target when his gun jammed. Uka's defence counsel Jens Joerg Hoffmann said after he was found guilty that he would appeal against the sentence within a week. "We have to appeal," Hoffmann told Reuters. "We think it was not a jihadist attack, it was rage. He ran amok." The judge had cited aggravating circumstances, meaning he will spend more than 15 years in jail. In Germany those sentenced to life are released after 15 years. The aggravating circumstances mean he will be in jail for a least 18 years.More Here
Senior al-Qaeda leader killed in drone strike in Pakistan
February 9 2012 Badar Mansoor had been a link man between militant groups, running a training camp and sending volunteers to fight across the border in Afghanistan. Intelligence officials said two missiles were fired at a house in Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan, killing as many as five militants. Identifying figures killed in drone strikes is notoriously difficult and can take several weeks. However, a senior Pakistani official told the AFP news agency that Mansoor was among the dead. "He died in the missile attacks overnight in Miranshah. His death is a major blow to al-Qaeda's abilities to strike in Pakistan," he said. Thursday's attack was the second since Barack Obama confirmed the existence of a covert drones programme directed against extremists in Pakistan's border region. Mansoor came from Pakistan's largest province, Punjab, and moved to North Waziristan in 2008 where he rose to become a senior figure in the Pakistan Taliban, leading a band of about 200 fighters.
The Telegraph - A senior militant, believed to be the head of al-Qaeda in Pakistan, was killed in a US drone strike early on Thursday morning, according to security officials.
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Sacrilegious Saudi writer arrested in Malaysia
February 9 2012 Hamza Kashgari was seized as he arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday following his escape from Saudi Arabia on news that King Abdullah has ordered him arrested and prosecuted for religious insults in his articles on Twitter. “The Malaysian authorities are coordinating with Saudi Arabia to hand Kashgari over,” the Saudi Arabic language daily 'Al Youm' said. In a separate report, newspapers quoted a statement by the kingdom’s Islamic Fatwa Committee calling for punishing Kashgari in line with Islamic law, which means he could be executed. King Abdullah’s order to arrest the writer, a columnist in the Saudi Arabic language daily 'Al Bilad', followed public furor inside the kingdom over some of his articles, considered as abusive of Islam and the Prophet. “The order came after many scholars, dignitaries and citizens in the kingdom sent messages to the Monarch expressing indignation at Kashgari offences,” 'Ajel' Arabic language daily said on Wednesday.
Emirates 24/7 - Malaysian authorities arrested a Saudi newspaper writer wanted by the Gulf kingdom for offending Islam and Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) and local reports said he could face death.
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