I’m going on a holiday trip for a fortnight, and I don’t think that I will be able to use Internet. So, I hope you’re there when I get back!
Monthly Archives: June 2011
Terror: Kenyans Recruited for Al-Shabaab
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Somali al-Qaida affiliate al-Shabaab is recruiting scores of militants from Kenya, reports Nairobi TV (NTV). The media organization’s recent undercover investigation also indicates the terrorist group has infiltrated the Kenyan military.
Al-Shabaab has waged war against Sheikh Sherif Ahmed’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia since 2006, conducting suicide bombings and guerrilla assaults against the government and its foreign allies in Somalia. Recent offensives by the Somali government have carved out a new territory from the terrorist organization’s holdings.
The undercover investigation also indicated some Kenyan military personnel were supporting al-Shabaab. Corporal Hussein Abdullahi Athan, a member of the Kenyan military, actively recruits for the terrorist group in Isiolo, a city deep within the heart of Kenya, hundreds of miles from the Somali border.
via Kenyans Recruited for Al-Shabaab :: The Investigative Project on Terrorism.
Related:
- Kenya: Somali radical Islamists slipping easily into the country (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
- Al-Shabab, the American connection (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
- Somalia: Minister killed by Al-Shebab (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
UK: Christian peer questions the government’s role in Pakistan
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A Christian peer\’s speaking out about the persecution of minorites in Pakistan. Lord Alton has asked a question in the House of Lords inquiring what the government is doing to support the religious in the country.
via Christian peer questions the government\’s role in Pakistan | Premier.org.uk, Current News.
Very interesting link: it has lots of information about the persecution that Pakistani Christians are suffering.
Related articles
- Pakistan: Muslim think-tank denounces persecution against Christians (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
- Pakistan: Christians demonstrate to call for the release of kidnapped Anglican pastor (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
- Pakistan: Court Acquits 70 Muslim Radicals of Burning 8 Christians Alive during 2009 Gojra Massacre (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
- Pakistan: Christians are forbidden to eat in restaurants (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
Pakistan: Seized phone offers clues to Osama bin Laden’s Pakistani links
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Double-side game from Pakistan revealed… something which was cleared for a long time…
The cellphone of Osama bin Laden\’s trusted courier, which was recovered in the raid that killed both men in Pakistan last month, contained contacts to a militant group that is a longtime asset of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, senior American officials who have been briefed on the findings say.
The discovery indicates that Bin Laden used the group, Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen, as part of his support network inside the country, the officials and others said. But it also raised tantalizing questions about whether the group and others like it helped shelter and support Bin Laden on behalf of Pakistan’s spy agency, given that it had mentored Harakat and allowed it to operate in Pakistan for at least 20 years, the officials and analysts said.
In tracing the calls on the cellphone, American analysts have determined that Harakat commanders had called Pakistani intelligence officials, the senior American officials said. One said they had met.
via Seized phone offers clues to Osama bin Laden\’s Pakistani links.
More in Long War Journal: Continue reading
Egypt: Christian Girls Kidnapped and ‘Sold’
Two teenage Coptic girls, cousins, were recently kidnapped and then “sold” in Minya, Egypt—the same region where a Coptic church was recently attacked and desecrated. I tried to find this story in English-language media and, as expected, found nothing, except for one report in Al-Masry Al-Youm titled “Clashes between police and Coptic protesters in Minya”—as if that’s the important story (as usual, the media prefers headlines portraying harried Christian minorities as equally culpable as their Muslim persecutors, thereby justifying use of the preferred phrase, “sectarian strife“).
At the end of the Al-Masry Al-Youm report, we get a trailing sentence alluding to “claims” that two Christian girls “were abducted by Muslims and forced to convert to Islam” as the reason why Copts were demonstrating and clashing with the police in the first place.
… The two girls, Christine Azat (aged 16) and Nancy Magdi (aged 14) were on their way to church Sunday, June 12, when they were seized. Their abductors demanded $200,000 Egyptian pounds for their release. The people of the region quickly put their savings together and came up with the ransom money; but when they tried to give it to the kidnappers, they rejected it, saying they had already “sold” the girls off to another group which requires $12 million Egyptian pounds to return them.
via Egypt: Christian Girls Kidnapped and ‘Sold’ | FrontPage Magazine.
Should I expect a worldwide condemnation of this? 
Found here.
Related articles
- Egypt: Muslims attack Coptic church, Copts are sentenced to 5-yrs imprisonmnet for poseesion of firearms and pocket knives (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
- Egypt: Christians begin to flee the country (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
Libya: ‘Only’ 15 Percent of Rebels Are Islamic Extremists
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Expert John Rosenthal writes:
In an interview published today in the French daily Le Figaro, a spokesman for Libya’s National Transitional Council acknowledged that Islamic extremists figure among the rebels fighting to overthrow the rule of Muammar al-Gaddafi. But the spokesman, Mahmoud Shamman, insisted that the “radical elements” represent only a “tiny portion” of the rebels: namely, “no more than 15 percent.” Shammam also acknowledged that members of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Libyan Islamic Fighting Group form part of the opposition.
I had already written something about this here and here.
Related articles
- Al Qaeda at work in Libyan city of Derna? (cbsnews.com)
Iran: U.S. hikers to be tried on July 31, says their lawyer
Evin Prison
Iran will hear the case against three Americans detained for nearly two years on spying charges on July 31, their lawyer told Reuters on Tuesday, and he said he hoped a final decision on their case will be made then. Josh Fattal, Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd were arrested by Iranian forces on July 31, 2009, on suspicion of spying after crossing into Iran from neighboring Iraq.
via Iran says U.S. hikers to be tried on July 31: lawyer – Yahoo! News.
Related articles
- U.S. hikers ‘abused’ in Iranian prison (edition.cnn.com)
- Iran: US hikers tortured (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
Afghanistan: Video released shows Taliban beheading Christian convert
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A video released in recent weeks, and made available to WORLD this week by two separate Afghan sources, shows four Afghan militants beheading a man believed to be a Christian in Herat Province.The militants, who claim to be Taliban, captured the victim, a man in his 40s named Abdul Latif (according to Obaid Christ, who provided translation of the video), earlier this year from his village outside Enjeel, a town south of Herat.
In the two-minute video, the men, wearing explosive belts (or suicide vests) and kaffiya head scarves to cover their faces, recite verses from the Quran while forcing Latif to the ground and pinning him with their feet. “You who are joined with pagans . . . your sentence [is] to be beheaded,” read one of the militants in Farsi from what looked like a paper decree. “Whoever changes his religion should be executed.” The passages refer to Sura 8:12 (“I will instill terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite ye above their necks . . .”) and the hadiths, or sayings of Mohammed.
As Latif fought his captors from the ground, one of the militants thrust a medium-sized blade into the side of his neck. With blood flowing onto the ground the militants shouted “Allahu Akhbar” or “God is great” over and over until Latif was fully beheaded and his head was placed on top of his chest.
via WORLD Magazine | Brutal beheading | Mindy Belz | Jun 22, 11.
Whoever considers that this is equivalent to a soldier, is either an idiot or a scoundrel.
Found at Markedmanner Blog.
Related articles
- UN delinks Al-Qaeda and the Taliban (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
- Why Read About the Beheading of Christians? John Piper (rodiagnusdei.wordpress.com)
The War Against Girls
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Mara Hvistendahl is worried about girls. Not in any political, moral or cultural sense but as an existential matter. She is right to be. In China, India and numerous other countries (both developing and developed), there are many more men than women, the result of systematic campaigns against baby girls. In “Unnatural Selection,” Ms. Hvistendahl reports on this gender imbalance: what it is, how it came to be and what it means for the future.
In nature, 105 boys are born for every 100 girls. This ratio is biologically ironclad. Between 104 and 106 is the normal range, and that’s as far as the natural window goes. Any other number is the result of unnatural events.
Yet today in India there are 112 boys born for every 100 girls. In China, the number is 121—though plenty of Chinese towns are over the 150 mark. China’s and India’s populations are mammoth enough that their outlying sex ratios have skewed the global average to a biologically impossible 107. But the imbalance is not only in Asia. Azerbaijan stands at 115, Georgia at 118 and Armenia at 120.
What is causing the skewed ratio: abortion. If the male number in the sex ratio is above 106, it means that couples are having abortions when they find out the mother is carrying a girl. By Ms. Hvistendahl’s counting, there have been so many sex-selective abortions in the past three decades that 163 million girls, who by biological averages should have been born, are missing from the world. Moral horror aside, this is likely to be of very large consequence.
via Book Review: Unnatural Selection – WSJ.com.
Related articles
- The war on girls (powerlineblog.com)
- Asia’s 163 Million Missing Girls (thedailybeast.com)
- The women shortage (macleans.ca)
Saudi Arabia: Catholic Human Rights group wants full probe in Rizana Nafeek case
“Rights groups in Sri Lanka have joined hands with Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to call on the government of Sri Lanka to conduct a full probe,” said Catholic priest Priest Father Nandana Manatunga, head of the House of Torture Victims in the diocese of Kandy.
Hong Kong-based AHRC said last week the housemaid signed a statement two years after the incident, saying she was forced to admit to the killing after being beaten up by local police, and that she signed a confession under duress.
Meanwhile, Indonesia has stopped sending maids to Saudi Arabia in protest for this execution.
Related:
- Save Rizana Nafeek (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com).
US: Muslim arrested near Pentagon videotaped himself shouting “Allahu Akbar”
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A Marine Corps reservist arrested for suspicious activity near the Pentagon last week has been charged in connection with a spate of shootings at military sites in the Washington, D.C., area last fall, federal officials said Thursday.
Yonathan Melaku videotaped himself shouting “allahu Akbar” after firing shots at the US Marine Corps museum and documents concerning bomb-making were found in his home…
via Always On Watch: Semper Vigilans: Yonathan Melaku: \.
More here:
Add ABC’s World News and the NBC Nightly News to James Taranto’s list of news outlets (“Losing His Religion: A Pentagon terror scare and a media taboo”) which refuse to identify Yonathan Melaku, who was caught in Arlington Cemetery with suspicious material and a notebook praising the Taliban, as a Muslim.
Related articles
- US: Muslim carrying explosive device, arrested near the Pentagon (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
- Pentagon scare suspect charged in D.C. shootings (cbsnews.com)
- Officials: Man linked to D.C.-area shootings in 2010 (ctv.ca)
- Suspect in Pentagon Scare Linked to Military Building Shootings (creepingsharia.wordpress.com)
Indonesia: Activists criticize ‘hate speech’ during Friday prayers
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Rights activists have criticized what they characterize as hate speeches delivered by Muslim leaders during Friday prayers.Chairul Anam, deputy head of the Human Rights Working Group, said the offending speech in mosques was part of a larger problem.
“There are three trends nowadays; namely, intolerance, violence and hate speech. These have made us worried,” he said during a seminar yesterday organized by the Indonesian Human Rights Monitor and attended by about 50 people.
Hate speech was particularly dangerous, he said, because it is used to declare other religious groups as heretical and fueled intolerance and violence.“We need a regulation to control it.”
Anam added that police have been particularly negligent because they allow such speech during Friday prayers and have made no attempt to intervene.“I hope that police will not be trapped in any religious sentiments.”
via Activists criticize ‘hate speech’. Author – Konradus Epa, Jakarta | Indonesia | ucanews.com.
Netherlands: Geert Wilders acquitted but the plaintiffs won’t stop
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A Dutch court on Thursday acquitted populist politician Geert Wilders of charges of inciting hatred against Muslims, in a case that tested freedom of speech in the traditionally liberal country.
The court case has attracted attention, not just because of Geert Wilders’ controversial comments about Islam — which he compared to Nazism — but also because of the increasing influence of his political party, which supports the minority Dutch government on economic and other issues.
Found here.
Wilders had stressed that his statement was a criticism of the Islamic faith, not of any individuals. He greeted the court verdict with satisfaction, telling supporters that he was relieved to know that public criticism of Islam remains legal in the Netherlands. The court’s decision, he said, was “a victory for freedom of expression.”
But the plaintiffs won’t stop here:
While even the public defender’s office has previously requested he be cleared of all charges, the plaintiffs in the case are now considering bringing the issue to the UN and European courts.
Related articles
- -Geert Wilders Acquitted of ‘Hate’ Crime (answersforthefaith.com)
Pakistan: Christians demonstrate to call for the release of kidnapped Anglican pastor
Persecution against Christians continue:
Christians took to the streets of Attock–a city of 260,000 in Punjab province in northern Pakistan–to call for a more serious police investigation into the May 14 kidnapping of Robin Javed, an Anglican pastor.“We do not know the reason why he was kidnapped, nor have we been asked for a ransom,” a local Christian told the Fides news agency. “This silence worries us greatly.”
Members of the Taliban are suspected of carrying out the kidnapping.
Austria: Convert to Islam and would-be bomber was dissilussioned or on a jihadi mission?
He is either an idiot or a Jihadi killer. We just have to wait and see…
…it is unclear when, and, most importantly, why, Yusuf O. left Afghanistan for Austria. Apparently he planned to travel to Germany but it remains uncertain whether he had become disillusioned with the combat operation or whether he was part of a DTM operation targeting Germany.
Both scenarios are plausible. Yusuf O. was born in Germany in 1985 but had a Turkish passport. He is thought to be a key member of the DTM. His friend Fatih T. was the boss, and he appeared in videos warning about planned attacks on Germany. Investigators know from other cases that, for a while at least, Yusuf O. maintained regular online contact with German-based supporters of the terrorist group. The DTM urgently needed “ammunition and money,” he wrote in one message. Whoever couldn’t help in person, should send money, he urged.
On the other hand, it is possible that Yusuf O. became disillusioned with the battle in Hindu Kush. There have been several recent cases of Jihadists hailing from Germany who have gone this route, including a married couple from Berlin who were associated with the DTM as well as a young man from Hamburg who had been part of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
Evidence shows that life on the frontline is grueling and that new German recruits arrive largely unprepared for what awaits them. Statements from those arrested and other sources create a depressing impression of day-to-day life. Lack of food, poor hygiene and mistrust among co-fighters on the frontline were all routine problems, in addition to the ever-present fear of death.
Just one question: if you’re disilussioned, do you write letters asking for “ammunition”? Because I’m sure I don’t.
Related articles
- Austria: convert to Islam arrested for attempting to blow the Bundestag (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
- Germany: State Interior Ministers warn about rise in Salafist Islam (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
Malaysia: Islam’s Persecution of Christians
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An interview with IBA co-blogger The Anti-Jihadist:
Deciding that Islam as an ideology (and not Muslims per se) was my enemy was a personal Rubicon for me, a step that, once taken, could never be retracted. I understood how serious this was, from my own studies of Islam, from my knowledge of what’s happened to other critics of Islam, and from the repeated warnings here in Malaysia regarding ‘insults’ to Islam — i.e. being too truthful about it. And the pointed Malaysian warnings about being ‘respectful’ of all religions (‘respect’ for Islam is all the government here really cares about) make it very clear that criticism of Islam is a big, big red line that should never be crossed. Furthermore, in Malaysia it’s quite legal for anyone to be arrested and held indefinitely without charge, trial or access to legal council. It’s a law called the ‘Internal Security Act’ or ‘ISA’ for short and it’s positively medieval. ISA is one of the reasons that you rarely hear criticism of Islam from anyone in this country, in public and even in private, no matter how outrageous things get.
…On a more personal level, Muslims in Malaysia have on numerous occasions destroyed churches, sometimes with official backing on the flimsiest of pretexts (like for supposed ‘code violations’). The same has also happened to Hindu and Buddhist temples. Bibles are sometimes seized in carload lots by the (Muslim) authorities on one technicality or another. New church construction is heavily discouraged, and it takes years if not decades for new churches to be approved and built. And they must be built in a ‘low profile’ manner if they are allowed to be built at all.
All of these restrictions and the drip-drip-drip of discrimination, or worse, creates a tense and foreboding atmosphere for Christians. It’s pointless for Christians — who are mostly Indians and Chinese — to petition the Malay (Muslim) government for any sort of redress of grievances, because the police, courts and judges here are all owned and operated by Muslims. So increasingly, the ‘infidels’ are leaving — permanently. The same sort of Islamic repression of Christians that has played out in Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Pakistan and virtually every other Muslim-ruled country is also playing out here.
via Islam’s Persecution of Christians in Malaysia | FrontPage Magazine.
Related articles
- “We do not have to fear for our lives as long as we do not infringe Islam” (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
- Pakistan: Muslim think-tank denounces persecution against Christians (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
- “Muslims are integrating better than many Christians in UK” (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
- Nigerian Archbishop: “No Muslim can continue to assert that terrorism has nothing to do with Islam” (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
Tunisia: Ben Ali sentenced to 35 yrs in absentia
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A Tunisian court sentenced former president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in absentia on Monday to 35 years in jail, six months after his overthrow in a revolution helped to inspire the “Arab Spring.“
Ben Ali, who has been in Saudi Arabia since he was forced from power, was found guilty after just one day of deliberation of theft and of illegally possessing jewelry and large sums of cash.
The same sentence was handed down to his wife Leila Trabelsi, a former hairdresser whose lavish lifestyle and clique of wealthy relatives were symbols of the corruption of the Ben Ali era for many Tunisians.
Ben Ali and his wife flew to Saudi Arabia on January 14 after mass protests against his 23-year rule. The Tunisian government said in February it had asked Saudi Arabia to extradite Ben Ali.
On one hand, this guy has been in Saudi Arabia since he was forced from power, something that says a lot from the theocratic monarchy. On the other hand, the Islamist leader Ghanoucci had returned from London, where he was exiled, and his followers had begun to shout anti-Jewish slogans, worrying the country’s security. My view is that Ben Ali should be punished for what he did to the country, though I don’t think that a hardly “moderate” guy is the solution of the future in Tunisia:
“Zionism is both alien and illegitimate in origin: it is a hegemonist and nationalist project rooted and nourished on the traditional European impulse towards expansion and domination. The founding fathers of the Zionist adventure were not in any way believers in Judaism, not even in its distorted, rabbinical form: they were in essence pragmatists who exploited the Jewish heritage as a means to achieve their nationalistic goals. All this, moreover, was done within the broader context of Western strategic hopes for the destabilizing and enfeebling of the Islamic world.”
And though he doesn’t like Israel and the Jooos at all, he is far from being a fan of Western countries (although he has been living for more than 20 years in UK):
Ghannouchi has long been a supporter of anti-American causes. He supported Saddam Hussein during the tyrant’s invasion and occupation of Kuwait in 1990. In private, he has been quoted sermonizing about “driving out the American invaders and their allies” to save “the Holy Kaaba and the Tomb of the Noble Prophet from the plots of the enemies of the Arabs and Islam”. While he condemned the September 11th terrorist attacks as a crime, he conditioned his denunciation by asking for Western understanding in “our anger towards America as the greatest supporter of dictatorships in the Arab and Muslims world and elsewhere.” He has gone on to accuse the United States of exploiting the attacks in order to arouse anti-Muslim forces in India, Russia, China, and Israel. And he has even gone so far as to describe Bush Administration Pentagon officials as “a mixture of Zionists and Zionized evangelists, weapon traders, oil companies, and others.” He charges the West as those who “destroyed the Islamic caliphate, colonized our countries, and imposed secularism and partition on us.” It was the West “who implanted in the heart of our Ummah an alien and hostile entity, Israel, so as to sustain division and fragmentation. They are the ones who provide unconditional support to this entity and watch in acquiescence the daily crimes committed by its troops.” Ghannouchi’s hatred for Western civilization is neither new nor satiable.
So, was Ben Ali better or worse than Ghannouci? I can only say that I don’t like any of them, but that the latter is much more dangerous and hates much more.
Pakistan: Govt announces the arrest of a high-ranking officer for alleged connections with terrorism
The arrest comes amid rising concern that Pakistan’s military is penetrated by Islamists who are sympathetic to insurgent groups that have declared war on the state. Last month, a naval base in Karachi was stormed by heavily armed fighters in an attack that was widely believed to have required inside help.
Related articles
- Pakistani army officer arrested for links with militant group (birminghamurbannews.wordpress.com)
- Terror leader lives freely near Pakistani capital (independent.co.uk)
- Call for inquiry into Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad’s murder (independent.co.uk) :The reporter had gone missing two days earlier after failing to arrive at a television studio in Islamabad where he was due to take part in a discussion about his latest article, which highlighted alleged links between al-Qa’ida and members of the Pakistani Navy. Human Rights Watch has said it has credible evidence that he was picked up by the InterServices Intelligence (ISI) agency. His family had been told he would be returned by Monday evening.
Mr Shahzad, who was married with three children, had been badly beaten and his body bore 15 injury marks. His lungs and liver had also been damaged. “The cause of death is torture and there are several signs of torture on his body and face,” Ashok Kumar, one of the doctors who carried out a post-mortem examination at Islamabad’s Pakistan Institute of Medical
- U.S. Condemns Killing of Pakistan Reporter on Army-Militant Ties (businessweek.com)
Yemen: 63 Al-Qaeda members escape from prison
The escape is one part of the state’s plan of generating al Qaeda chaos. There is a high likelihood that the escape was arranged by the head of the security forces like Ahmed, Saleh’s son or one of the nephews. These officials are also the US’s important partners in counter-terror efforts and have been the recipients of millions in counter-terror funding. The Saleh regime has repeatedly released al Qaeda prisoners over the years often in exchange for support as mercenaries. Individual jihaddis were released to go fight in Saada, but larger scale escapes and releases (like the 109 released in 2009 or the escape in 2006) are a habitual characteristic of the Saleh regime and generally part of a much larger deal.
via Saleh cronies allow 62 al Qaeda prisoners to “escape” in Hadramout | Armies of Liberation.
Related articles
- Officials: 40 al Qaeda militants escape Yemen jail (ctv.ca)
- 40 al-Qaeda militants escape Yemeni prison (theglobeandmail.com)
Iran: a rise in the number of gang rapes worries society
Not only Western women are subjected to gang rapes. Of course, “Iranian officials” say that this is because they don’t wear hijabs…, just as Australian imam El-Hilali.
Recent reports of gang rapes in Iran are worrying women and raising questions about social values, reports Mohammad Manzarpour of the BBC Persian Service.
In a religiously conservative town near the city of Isfahan, women at a private party were abducted last month and gang raped at knife point.
One week later, a female university student was attacked and raped by unknown assailants on the heavily-guarded campus in Masshad, a holy city.
In both cases, officials accused the victims of not wearing the hijab or headscarf in the proper fashion and general un-Islamic conduct.
These high-profile cases and the derogatory comments made by Iranian authorities have outraged women’s rights groups who have long complained of the increasingly high rate of sexual harassment.
As the stories dominate newspaper headlines, a political and public debate is raging about the reasons for the apparent rise in sexual crimes in the Islamic state and how to prevent and punish them.
