Afghanistan: Abducted Canadian journalist dead

A woman journalist from Canada, who was abducted by militants in November 2008, has died following prolonged illness in the custody of the Taliban somewhere in northwest Pakistan or Afghanistan, sources said on Tuesday.

Khadija Abdul Qahar, 55, who was known as Beverly Giesbrecht before she converted to Islam, was abducted along with her translator Salman Khan and cook-cum-driver Zar Muhammad while travelling to Miranshah in the restive North Waziristan tribal region.

The three were abducted in the Bannu region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province on November 11, 2008. Salman Khan and Zar Muhammad were released after eight months of captivity due to efforts made by the head of a religious party.

Khan disclosed after his release that Qahar was suffering from hepatitis and was mentally prepared for death.

She was not very optimistic about her release, he had then said.

via Abducted Canadian journalist dead: sources.

The Jawa Report adds:

Geisbrecht once published a website called “Jihad Unspun” under the name “Khadija Abdul Qahaar“. The website was pro-Taliban. I don’t mean this in the sense that many on the Left are pro-Taliban — they support any opponents of the US — I mean this in the literal sense: she and the website supported the Taliban.

(Found).

Yemen: U.S. drones operating in our country, FM says

In a rare public admission, Yemen’s Foreign Minister told CNN that his country is using U.S. drones in its campaign against al Qaeda.

“The [drone] attacks are undertaken by the Yemeni Air Force but there is intelligence information that is exchanged about the location of the terrorists by the Americans,” said Abu Bakr Abdullah Al Qirbi.

Although the U.S. isn’t known to let other nations operate its drones, Al Qirbi declined to confirm that Americans were operating the drones in his country. If the Yemeni Air Force is operating the drones as he says, it would be a rare concession by the U.S.

Al Qirbi said that the Yemeni government halted air strikes last December because of the possibility of “collateral damage,” but said he could not confirm there had been no strikes in the last month.

A report in Sunday’s Washington Post quotes a senior U.S. official as saying the United States has deployed Predator drones in Yemen, but has not yet fired on suspected targets because of unreliable intelligence on “insurgents’ whereabouts.”

via U.S. drones operating in Yemen, foreign minister says – CNN.com.

Let’s see what results this has.

Belgium: 5,000 circumcised women, thousands more at risk

Some 8,000 women have been circumcised in Belgium or are in danger of becoming a victim of this practice. The figure is an estimate by researchers at the Tropical Medicine Institute in Antwerp.

The largest number of victims live in Brussels and Antwerp.

(…)

Researchers have identified 1,190 girls under five years of age who are at risk as well as 1,690 girls in the 15 to 20 age category who are in danger of undergoing the practice during a holiday in their mother’s country of origin.

An estimated 5,000 women are believed to have actually undergone female circumcision in Belgium. [ed: Two years ago, the estimate was around 2700]

via Islam in Europe: Belgium: 5,000 circumcised women, thousands more at risk.

Terrible…

Zahar: “Jews will soon be expelled from Palestine”

Hamas’ chaps, always making friends with the Jews (note he doesn’t refer to “Israelis“)…

The Jews will soon be expelled from Palestine that same way they were kicked out by France, Britain, Belgium, Russia and Germany, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said over the weekend.“The only nation that received the Jews after they were expelled was the Islamic nation, which protected them and looked after them,” Zahar said in a speech in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip over the weekend.

But they have no place here amongst us because of their crimes. They will soon be expelled from here and we will pray at the Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem].”

Zahar claimed that Jews were expelled in the past “because they betrayed, stole and corrupted these countries.”

Zahar called for unity with Fatah as representatives of the two parties prepare to hold another round of reconciliation talks in the Syrian capital of Damascus this week.

“Let’s join ranks and speak in one voice,” Zahar said in his appeal to Fatah. “Together, with blood, we could liberate our lands and holy sites. You have tasted the bitterness of arbitrary negotiations.” He said that Hamas was making “big efforts” to ensure the success of reconciliation talks with Fatah.

via Zahar: Jews will soon be expelled from Palestine.

Afghanistan: Taliban use 2-year-old girl as bomb trigger

Taliban flag

TWISTED Taliban killers used a TWO-YEAR-OLD girl as the trigger for a bomb which killed her and five Afghan police, The Sun can reveal.

The terrorists stood the frightened toddler on the device and ordered her not to move.

Worried Afghan National Police raced to help the screaming child and when they picked her up to comfort her the bomb detonated. As well as claiming six lives the blast also injured a bystander.

Officer Rafiulah Qandahar – who is being trained by British troops and civilian cops at the Helmand Police Training Centre in Lashkar Gah – watched the chilling event unfold six months ago.

Rafiulah, 27, said: “She was just a little girl. It happened in Kandahar and was very sad. Bad people did this. They are enemies of humanity, enemies of Islam and enemies of the Koran.”

via Soldiers scupper bid to blow up British troops | The Sun |Features.

Related:

AL-QAEDA operatives in Iraq tried to unleash deadly terror in the skies by deploying a pair of dogs on a US-bound plane, it has emerged.

The plot failed because the bombs were so badly stitched inside the dogs that they died, according to a report in the respected French daily newspaper Le Figaro.

“This case illustrates the determination of al Qaeda militants, who are trying to circumvent terrorism controls by any means,” French criminologist Christophe Naudin, an aviation security expert, told the newspaper.

More about this here.

UK: Schoolboys punished with detention for refusing to kneel down and pray to Allah

Two schoolboys were given detention after refusing to kneel down and ‘pray to Allah’ during a religious education lesson.Parents were outraged that the two boys from year seven (11 to 12-year-olds) were punished for not wanting to take part in the practical demonstration of how Allah is worshipped.They said forcing their children to take part in the exercise at Alsager High School, near Stoke-on-Trent – which included wearing Muslim headgear – was a breach of their human rights.

…
A statement from Cheshire County Council on behalf of the school read: “The headteacher David Black contacted this authority immediately complaints were received.

“Enquiries are being made into the circumstances as a matter of urgency and all parents will be informed accordingly.

“Educating children in the beliefs of different faith is part of the diversity curriculum on the basis that knowledge is essential to understanding.

“We accept that such teaching is to be conducted with some sense of sensitivity.”

via Schoolboys punished with detention for refusing to kneel down and pray to Allah | Mail Online.

Saudi Arabia: 14-year-old wife freed from 80-year-old husband

This is un update of this story:

Rahim married the teenage Nura last month with her father’s consent and refused to divorce her unless she pays him back his dowry, the money offered by a bridegroom to the bride under Islamic law.“The curtain on Nura’s marriage to the old man has been drawn down and Nura is now free after Rahim divorced her at Sabya court,” the paper said.

“Okaz visited Nura at her house in Mabrooq village and conveyed the good news to her. She was very happy at hearing the news. Nura said she had been deceived by her father who had asked her to go and collect a cheque as a reward from the Quran memorisation centre…she said she later discovered that the cheque was dowry money for her marriage to that old man.”

The paper quoted the girl’s grandfather Mohammed Ateen, who had objected to the marriage, as saying his grand daughter had been through “a real ordeal and very sad days because of her marriage to a man who is her grandfather’s age“.

“Besides the SR17,000, the dowry also included 100 heads of sheep. But I remained adamant and opposed this marriage,” he said.

Okaz quoted Rahim as saying he had not cheated the girl on the grounds he had come to her house and asked her father to marry her. “I don’t see my age a problem to this marriage. I found that this girl is the right wife for me but this did not happen because of the circumstances.”

Asked if he would marry again, he told the paper:”I will not give up and will continue my search for my life’s partner who will break my loneliness…I am tired of living alone and I believe the dowry money I have recovered from that girl’s family will support my quest to find another wife.”

via 14-year-old wife freed from 80-year-old husband – Emirates24|7.

Remember the father said that she had been forced to marry but didn’t say who had forced her? Well, it has turned out that the father had forced her to marry this old man to pay some debts.

France: two arrested for suspected terrorist links

French police have arrested two people on suspicion of links to terrorist groups, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said Thursday.

“These are serious counts. They are being questioned at this moment,” Hortefeux told France 2 television, adding:

“They were arrested for (suspicion of) links to a criminal enterprise with a view to preparing a terrorist act.”

He said 85 arrests of a similar kind had been made since the start of the year and that 27 of those were still behind bars.

Governments, airlines and aviation authorities around the world have been reviewing security since U.S.-bound parcel bombs sent by air from Yemen were intercepted in Dubai and Britain at the end of last week.

France is on high alert after seven people, including five French citizens, were kidnapped by the North African wing of al Qaeda in September.

via France arrests two for suspected militant links | Reuters.

Pope in Spain: one can not live without truth, freedom

Pope Benedict XVI

Man can not live without freedom, and without truth and ” Honestly seeking and aspiring to truth is the condition of authentic freedom.” This the first message addressed by Benedict XVI to Spain, where he arrived this morning (saturday) at 11.30. The first leg of the two day visit is Santiago de Compostela, the culmination of the “Way” that down through the centuries has seen pilgrims from around the world come to pay homage to the Apostle James.

On arrival, a foggy day, the Pope was greeted by the Prince of Asturias, Felipe and Letizia of Spain, with whom, after the welcoming ceremony, he also had a private meeting.

Benedict XVI, from his arrival, called himself a pilgrim. “I wish to join the great host of men and women who down the centuries have come to Compostela from every corner of this peninsula, from throughout Europe and indeed the whole world, in order to kneel at the feet of Saint James and be transformed by the witness of his faith“. “In his deepest being, – he continued – man is always on a journey, ever in search of truth. The Church shares this profound human desire and herself sets out, accompanying humanity in its yearning for complete fulfilment. At the same time, the Church pursues her own interior journey which, through faith, hope and love, leads her to become a transparent sign of Christ for the world. This is her mission and her path“.

via VATICAN- SPAIN Pope in Spain: one can not live without truth, freedom – Asia News.

Zaatero went yesterday to say goodbye to the Pope as he went back to Rome. The joke here is that Zapatero was really making sure the Pope went back to Rome.

This is the best part of his message in Spain. His words about aggressive laicism, weren’t well received by the Government. Anyway, the worst thing of these two days has been the huge hypocrisy shown by Spanish polititians. They are always telling everyone that the Catholic Church is an antique and that the priests are a bunch of conservative guys who support Franco in disguise and protect pedophiles or something of the sort. Well, these days they have exhibited a “devotion” so marked (even crossing themselves and going to church) that it’s really moving.. if you don’t think that there is a crisis and they need the votes.

BY the way, Spanish MSM (with very few exceptions) have insisted on the “cold reception” that Barcelona, in particular, has given the Pope. So, I’m copying from Australian News.au.com (found) and you can judge:

Among an estimated 250,000 people gathered for the Pope, thousands watched on giant screens outside and broke into applause as his blessing transformed the edifice into a Basilica.

MK protests about the bias of AP. Spanish MSM are even worse. Just a comparison: last Saturday in Madrid there was a demonstration against Govt-ETA negotiation (again…) that gathered several thousand people in protest. Nearly no MSM have reported on it, but the gay kissing at Barcelona, has been widely reported.

Anyway, the worst weren’t the kisses: you can kiss wherever you want and I don’t think that anyone gets shocked at an homosexual couple kissing these days. The worst were the “slogans” they chanted and above all the one that says “the church that lights is the one on the flames“. Of course, none of them do this when Iranian or Saudi representatives come to Spain on official visit. So, it’s true what the Pope said about anti-clericalism and laicism, and that’s why some people have not taken it really well.