Daily Archives: 07/15/2011

Afghanistan: Suicide bomber attacks Karzai memorial service

by Claudia
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (June 13, 2010) — The Af...

Ahmed Wali Kazai. Image via Wikipedia

A suicide bomber exploded himself at a service for Ahmed Wali Karzai, killing four people, including Kandahar’s chief cleric. All Afghan senior government officials that were present survived the attack.

Karzai, the half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, was killed on Tuesday by one of his security officials. President Karzai was not present at the service – he had flown into Kandahar for his brother’s funeral on Wednesday, but departed before the Thursday service.

Afghan police said the bomber hid the explosives in his turban. He detonated them near the door of the Red Mosque, the central mosque of Kandahar city where the service was held.

via Suicide bomber attacks Karzai memorial service | FP Passport.

More here and here: “Ahmed Wali served as the head of the provincial council in Kandahar, and was widely recognized as the government’s most powerful man in the key southern province, home to the birthplace of the Taliban. He was a lightning rod for criticism due to his role in the drug trade, his domination of local security companies, and accusations that he provided explosives and other support to the Taliban. Ahmed Wali was also on the CIA’s payroll“.

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Philippines: Government to fund Muslim education

by Claudia
President-elect Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquin...

Image via Wikipedia

The government has announced the release of 251.6 million pesos (US$5.9 million) in funding to implement the madrasah education program.

The funds, released through the Department of Education, were in line with President Benigno Aquino’s commitment to improve the standard of education in the country as a tool for peace and development, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said in a statement this week.

“Education is the central strategy of the Aquino administration for investing in the people and enhancing their opportunity to gain meaningful employment,” Abad said.

He added that the government also needed to “mainstream and institutionalize madrasah education” as part of the national system of basic education.

The program has three components: Arabic Language and Islamic Values Education (ALIVE) in public schools, ALIVE for out-of-school Muslim youths and adults, and assistance to private madaris (schools for higher religious education).

Of the funds released, 173.25 million pesos will go to the office of the education secretary while 78.35 million pesos will be released directly to school division offices to cover the allowances of  Muslim teachers.

via Government to fund Muslim education – ucanews.com.

Egypt: What Kind of Revolution?

by Claudia
The Coptic Cross

Image via Wikipedia

Equally disturbing, noted the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, “violence targeting Coptic Orthodox Christians remained high.” But the Mubarak government rarely punished the attackers. Indeed, International Christian Concern noted that it was common for the government to arrest “Coptic victims alongside the perpetrators of the violence.”

Even when the Copts did not end up behind bars, they did not receive justice. State explained that the Mubarak government sponsored “informal reconciliation sessions” which “generally prevented the criminal prosecution of perpetrators of crimes against Copts, precluded their recourse to the judicial system for restitution, and contributed to a climate of impunity that encouraged further assaults.”

No surprise, failing to exact a penalty for murder and mayhem has led to more murder and mayhem — or what the Hudson Institute‘s Nina Shea called “pogroms and acts of terror.” The failure to punish the perpetrators, complained the Commission, “continued to foster a climate of impunity, making further violence likely.” Even more emphatic was Dina Guiguis of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who told a recent congressional hearing that “the Egyptian regime is fully responsible for creating the fertile ground on which pernicious and egregious sectarian violence has become routine.”

Unfortunately, those who hoped the Egyptian revolution would better protect Christians and other religious minorities have been disappointed. To the contrary, violent attacks on Copts have been increasing.

As of last month 24 Christians had been killed, more than 200 had been injured, and three churches had been destroyed. Muslim mobs have beset Coptic churches, businesses, and homes. Well-armed thugs also attacked Christians who were protesting against the forgoing attacks.

No surprise, then, that few perpetrators have been arrested, let alone imprisoned. Noted Paul Marshall of the Hudson Institute: “as under Mubarak, the authorities’ refusal to punish attacks on Christians has led to more attacks.” The army even assaulted two Coptic monasteries, supposedly to enforce discriminatory zoning laws (which prohibited walls erected for protection from attacks).

via The American Spectator : What Kind of Revolution?. via Catholic Culture.org.

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Spain: 1,000 mosques according to the Justice Ministry

by Claudia
Francisco Caamaño, ministro de Xustiza

Image by xornalcerto via Flickr

The Ministry of Justice led by Francisco Caamaño published a few days ago the map of places of worship recorded at the so-called Observatory of Religious Pluralism. The census of mosques opened in Spain counted up to 1,000 mosques where Muslims can pray. There is nothing wrong … except for one detail. We do not have news about the observatory living up to its name by contacting the Islamic countries to demand that “pluralism” it defends. There is no reciprocity. Opening a Catholic church remains a challenge. And having a Bible, foolhardy. It can’t be understood.

via Religión Confidencial.

Philippines: tourists kidnapped by “group of armed men”

by Claudia
Map of Zamboanga Penninsula showing the locati...

Image via Wikipedia

(Translation: T&P)

A group of gunmen have kidnapped three tourists, including an American woman and her son aged 14, in Zamboanga City, located on the Philippine island of Tictabón (south), as reported by the local police chief, Edwin Ocampo.

Around 3.00 am on Tuesday (21.00 pm on Monday in Spain) 14 gunmen arrived in the city in two boats, disarmed the guards and abducted Gerfa Lunsmann Yeatts, 50 years old, his son Kevin Eric, and his nephew Romnick Jackaria, 19.

Ocampo has indicated that Lunsmanns and her family were vacationing on the island to visit relatives. Apparently, they planned to return to the U.S. this week. Her husband, a German citizen, has been informed of the kidnapping.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, however, several Muslim separatist Islamist cells and are present on the island. “We’re still trying to track down the gunmen,” Ocampo acknowledged.

The Islamist group Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are two of the usual actors in the area. The first, linked to Al Qaeda has dozens of people captive in Basilan and Jolo islands.

via Informativos Telecinco.com – Un grupo de hombres armados secuestra a tres turistas en Filipinas.

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France: Senegal contributes to the funding of Marseille’s mega-mosque

by Claudia

Senegal mezquita de MarsellaPresident Abdoulaye Wade has provided more than 32 million CFA francs (€ 50,000) as a contribution to the construction of the Great Mosque of Marseilles whose project is 75 years old.

The check’s presentation took place in the framework of the France-Africa summit, that was held recently in Nice on the Riviera and several Senegalese authorities attended the ceremony.

In handing the envelope to the Vice President in charge of the mosque construction, Makhète Cisse, who had with him the elected municipal Elizabeth Said, the head of state has “urged Muslims to preserve this place of worship” , noting that his action is to”support efforts towards Islam. “

The recipients thanked the Senegalese President and said that his actions were “very important to honor the Senegalese community in Marseille.”

via Marseille : Le Sénégal contribue au financement de la méga-mosquée.

Wilders’ case: OIC critics “repeated attacks against Islam”

by Claudia
Portrait of Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, Secretary-Ge...

Image via Wikipedia

In a statement released las June 30, 2011 in Astana, Khazakhstan, when holding the 38th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of OIC Member States, the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation strongly condemned the repeated attacks against Islam and the acts of defamation and insults perpetrated against the Prophet Muhammad and his many wives by the right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders. For the Secretary General of the OIC, Mr Wilders has taken a dangerous path which is to derail the peace and harmony among civilizations by fanning and spreading hatred against Islam and Muslims, both in his own country and in other European countries.

Turkish Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said that the denigration of Islam and the sacred image of the Prophet Muhammad by Wilders has reached a stage that it can no longer be tolerated under any circumstances, including the right to freedom of expression. He urged the Government of the Netherlands to take the appropriate measures needed to contain the hate campaign and incitement orchestrated by Wilders, who is a coalition partner of the Dutch government. He expressed deep concern over the silence observed in this regard by the Dutch government, something that could affect the good bilateral relations now existing between the Member States of the OIC and the Netherlands.

Via ExtremeCentre.org. Translated by T&P.

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