January 2004 Archives

Yes, people really do believe these things. This comment was just posted (five times, but I deleted four) on an old thread here:

peace.

bin laden did not cause 911. bush Sr. and former cia subjects fired by Carter did. with help from Jewish Massad. The planes were remote controlled: check www.whatreallyhappened.com. That is why Bush Sr. was in the pentagon staring down Tenet right after 911.

10% of egypt are christians. they have been protected by the muslims for 1400 years: no persecution, no discrimination, and no inquisition even during the damn crusades when a yellow horde journeyed tousands of kilometers into someone else's land to kill their women and children.

Spain was 80% muslim at its yet unmatched golden age. when the neighboring christians raided, they murdered hundreds of thousands of men women and babies.

Save yourself, cut the chain of generational ignorance and bigotry. Become a muslim.

Posted by: Najib at January 31, 2004 01:17 PM

Najib's assertions about Egypt and Spain are as fanciful as what he says about 9/11 -- and they show how radical Muslims try to make use of historical and theological whitewashes and myths. Click here for the truth about the persecution and the discrimination that Egyptian Christians face today. Consult Onward Muslim Soldiers for the truth about the intolerance and persecution Christians and Jews suffered in Muslim Spain.

Seven more flights have just been grounded. Could this be connected with threats made by terrorists some time ago to mount a major attack around the time of the Hajj? This from Fox News:

Just one day after U.S. officials expressed renewed security concerns over flights from London and Paris bound for the U.S., British Airways has canceled five flights headed for Washington, D.C., and Miami, and two Air France flights from Paris to Washington were also canceled. Three flights leaving Heathrow Airport were grounded for security reasons and two return flights to London have also been canceled because the aircraft will not be needed there, the airline said Saturday.

A U.S. official said an Al Qaeda threat was behind the decision to cancel flights, according to a Reuters report.

Flight 223 to Washington's Dulles airport will not fly on Sunday or Monday, but is to depart on schedule at 3:05 p.m. Saturday, said an airline spokeswoman.

Flight 207 to Miami will not fly on Sunday, she said, but had departed Saturday morning.

The spokeswoman, who declined to be identified, said BA had canceled the flights on the advice of the British government. She cited security fears but gave no further details.

"The safety and security of our operations is our absolute priority and will not be compromised," the airline said.

In Washington, a Homeland Security Department spokesperson confirmed the decision to cancel the flights was made by British Airways. This official could not immediately provide more information about why the flights were canceled, or the source of the intelligence that led to the cancellations.

Since Pakistan's blasphemy law was drafted by and is enforced by Muslims, virtually every blasphemy charge is dubious: a Christian can be accused of blasphemy simply by affirming his faith, since the Qur'an states that "they do blaspheme who say: 'Allah is Christ the son of Mary'" (Sura 5:72). Note that this is a tendentious translation: the Arabic word (kafara) that Abdullah Yusuf Ali here renders as "blaspheme" is more precisely "disbelieve." However, Ali expresses a belief that is widely held particularly among radical Muslims: that the very expression of Christian faith is in itself blasphemy.

But this story is a particularly egregious example of the abuse of this widely abused law. The report is from Compass Direct:

In an apparent attempt to settle an old grudge, a Pakistani man who converted to Islam several months ago has implicated a Christian acquaintance for alleged blasphemy.

Anwer Masih, 30, was arrested on November 30 by police officials in Shadhra, an industrial town on the northern outskirts of Lahore.

Two days before his arrest, Masih met a former neighbor in Paracha Colony whom he knew as Naseer Masih. Unaware that the man had become a Muslim about three months earlier and changed his name to Naseer Ahmad, Masih asked where he had been lately.

"I only asked him where he was living, as I hadn't seen him for a long time," Masih told investigators who visited him in prison several weeks later. "I further asked him about his beard, but Naseer gradually got infuriated, and started telling me that the beard was Sunnah (Islamic custom) and that every prophet had a beard."

According to Masih, Ahmad scolded him for questioning his new beard, but the matter was settled after a few minutes and they parted.

But the next morning, Ahmad arrived at Masih's house with about 100 Muslim militants from Muridke, 70 miles north of Shadhra. Although Masih was not at home, the mob of armed clerics surrounded the house, shouting death threats, throwing stones and trying to set the home on fire.

When neighbors and the district's elected councilor, a Christian named Salamat Masih, intervened, the police were summoned to record Ahmad's accusations against Anwer Masih. Although Ahmad's initial statement objected to Masih's alleged comments about his beard, it made no reference to any derogatory remarks against the prophets.

A few hours later, the police returned and arrested Masih's mother, Ceema Bibi. But councilor Masih again intervened, winning her release after promising to bring her son to the police station.

The next day Masih was handed over to police sub-inspector Zulfiqar Cheema, who registered formal blasphemy charges against Masih and sent him to jail. Although the police official recorded statements by three Muslims who were not present at the disputed incident, he refused to accept statements from two Christian eyewitnesses.

This is in line with some Islamic legal theories that allow testimony only from Muslims: see 'Umdat al-Salik o24.2(e).

"Anwer's family handed him to the police because they were afraid the crowd would kill him," councilor Masih told the Daily Times.

In the written First Information Report, Masih was charged under Pakistan penal code 295 (disturbing anyone's religious feelings) and 295-A (slandering a religious prophet). This time, Ahmad's statement claimed Masih had slandered the prophets and Islamic beliefs.

According to Paracha Colony residents, Ahmad carried a grudge against Masih from an incident two years ago, when Ahmad was indicted for severely beating one of his Christian neighbors. Shahzad "Gora" Masih, 23, went into a coma and still remains paralyzed from Ahmad's beating. Anwer Masih had angered Ahmad by encouraging the victim's family to register a case against their son's attacker, his neighbors said.

Since becoming a Muslim, Ahmad has lived in Muridke at the Markaz-e-Tayyabba madrassah, an Islamic school linked with the banned Lashkar-e-Tayyabba militant group.

According to an in-depth Daily Times article on Masih's case on December 11, the newly converted Ahmad "collaborated" with a local factory owner to falsely accuse Masih of blasphemy.

Maulvi Ilyas, owner of the Al-Firdaus Textile Mills, had reportedly been pressuring local Christians to change their religion. Ahmad's own father, Payara Masih, had been employed at Ilyas' factory for a long time, but "quit his job when Ilyas asked him to convert," the Daily Times reported.

"Ahmad took my son Dilawar to the factory, where Ilyas offered him money and property to change his faith," councilor Salamat Masih said. Another young Christian in the neighborhood, Sunil Masih, reportedly ran away from Ilyas without collecting his salary when the factory owner tried to convince him to become a Muslim.

Married with four children, Anwer Masih was a day laborer without work at the time of his arrest. He has been confined for the past eight weeks in the Lahore District Jail, where he shares a cell with two Muslim prisoners also accused under Pakistan's notorious blasphemy laws.

Lower court hearings on Masih's case were held on December 15 and January 12. Meanwhile, his defense lawyers representing the Lahore-based Center for Legal Assistance Aid and Settlement (CLAAS) plan to file a bail application on his behalf before the Lahore High Court on January 31.

The allegations against Masih "need to be investigated thoroughly, before it is too late and Anwer ends up spending a few years in jail," a Daily Times editorial noted on December 13. "So far not a single conviction under the blasphemy law has been upheld in the higher courts."

The editorial stated that the blasphemy law has been "thoroughly abused and yielded nothing but false cases and suffering for the people. If (the government) cannot reform this law, at least it should seriously consider making procedural changes in it to reduce the chances of its abuse."

It is time for the great Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, the Hajj, which every California public school student well knows is one of the five pillars of Islam.

I wrote last year about how the Hajj has frequently been marred by violence, and this year again, pilgrims have some company. This from Straits Times, :

Snipers, bomb squads and border guards have marched to the clatter of helicopters in this holy city as the authorities staged a show of force meant to deter violence with two million Muslims arriving for the haj.

In a tough warning, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz said security forces would 'firmly and forcefully' crush any attempt to undermine security during the annual pilgrimage.

'We are ready for anything that could happen,' he said after a tour of Mecca to check the facilities for the pilgrims. . . .

Diplomats say the Saudi government is deeply worried the haj could become a target for attack or be used as a cover for militants to infiltrate the kingdom.

'We always say there is no guarantee that nothing could happen, but we trust the security forces to be able to do their job,' Prince Nayef told reporters.

'All efforts are being made to secure the house of God. We give confidence to the pilgrims so they can safely carry out their rituals,' he added.

Around 5,000 troops including anti-terrorist forces in black balaclavas, elite special forces and crowd control personnel on Tuesday performed a march past Prince Nayef on the plain of Arafat, one of the main pilgrimage sites near Mecca.

While Mecca is crawling with troops, an Al-Qaeda communique complains about the arrest of one of its operatives as "a flagrant violatation of the inviolable sanctity of the holy month." Hmmm.

However, while the troops in balaclavas secured the peace, the imam who preached the sermon yesterday was feeling less than peaceful. This from AP:

The cleric who delivered the sermon Friday at the annual hajj pilgrimage had a simple request: God grant victory to Muslims fighting around the world.

The prayer by Sheik Saleh al-Taleb to 500,000 people in Mecca's Grand Mosque and nearby streets came as the hajj neared its climax.

"Oh God, give victory to the mujahedeen (holy warriors) everywhere," al-Taleb said. "Give them victory in Palestine. Oh God, make the Muslims triumphant and destroy their enemies, and make this country and other Muslim countries safe. Oh God, inflict your wrath on the criminal Zionists." . . .

Rajab al-Arabi, a Belgian pilgrim of Tunisian origin, said hearing a Grand Mosque sermon is "something one wishes all one's life. It's a dream come true."

But he added that he had expected a stronger message.

"In Belgium, we have Egyptian and Moroccan clerics who freely criticize the hardships of Muslims, which includes the injustice that has befallen Iraq and the occupation it is under," he said.

So says Tom Kean, chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. It seems that not only did the 9/11 highjackers get past immigration. They also made it easily through airport security, despite arousing suspicion. This from AP:

It's long been known that U.S. authorities had opportunities to stop at least some of the Sept. 11 hijackers. Now the extent of the government's failures is coming to light.

At a two-day hearing this week, the federal commission investigating the attacks revealed U.S. authorities had numerous opportunities to stop the hijackers, including many face-to-face encounters.

The missteps included miscommunications about al-Qaida operatives dating back to the mid-1990s, hijackers who were allowed to repeatedly enter the United States even with false or the wrong visa papers, and missed chances to stop suspects at airport security checkpoints despite warning signs.

"We were asleep. Opportunities were lost," said former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, a Republican who chairs the bipartisan National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. "The hijackers analyzed our system and developed a plan they felt sure would beat it in every case, and 19 out of 19 succeeded." . . .

The commission said if military intelligence were shared about al-Qaida and their tendency to travel on Saudi passports, authorities would have known to stop them. . . .

"The question is, can you take an institution like the FBI and change its culture so it is focused on prevention of acts of terrorism rather than prosecution of criminal acts," said former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., the panel's vice chairman. "That's a major question in homeland security."

Yes it is. Another is: are we going to sleep again? I know I risk sounding like a broken record, but we still have not dealt adequately with Saudi Arabia. Likewise, we have allowed American Muslim advocacy groups of highly dubious pedigree to use political correct and multiculturalist cant to hinder anti-terror efforts. Until the causes are dealt with, the effects will continue.

"Retired Gen. Wesley Clark sought the political support of a Muslim group that is under FBI investigation for terror ties, sources told the Daily News."

The Democratic presidential candidate's videotaped message was played Dec. 27 in Chicago for the annual conference of the Muslim American Society and the Islamic Circle of North America - a Queens group being probed by the FBI counterterrorism agents, said two federal law enforcement officials.

Both groups have held conferences featuring speakers accused of terror ties and have published material supporting suicide bombings against Israel.

Clark campaign spokesman Matt Bennett said yesterday they were unaware of the allegations or the FBI probe.

"I wish I could be there with you in person," Clark said in his four-minute video. "I hope I will have your support in the months and years ahead." An audiotape of the Clark speech was provided by terrorism investigator Steven Emerson and first aired on MSNBC.

Two past conference speakers face terror-related indictments and a third is identified in FBI reports as a Hamas terror leader. In March 2002, American Muslim magazine - described as "the voice of [the Muslim American Society]" - interviewed assassinated Hamas leader Abu Bakr's wife, who said she was "willing to give my life and the lives of my children" and advocated "standing beside the families of the martyrs."

Another article explained that "martyr operations are not suicide."

Islamic Circle President Talat Sultan and Muslim American Society spokesman Raeed Tayeh denied their groups have terror ties.

At last it has been said:

Even with the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the bigger challenge in the global war on terrorism is the threat posed by extremists in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, the commander of U.S. forces in that region said Thursday.

Gen. John Abizaid, commander of U.S. Central Command, told a group of reporters that Pakistan has been a vital ally in the war on terror and should continue to receive as much U.S. assistance as it needs to defeat extremism.

He added, however, that it was not a matter that could be resolved by U.S. military power.

“It is a battle of ideas as much as it is a military battle,” he said, “and we’ve got to help him fight that battle,” referring to Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who has survived two recent assassination attempts.

“In Saudi Arabia the same thing is taking place, and you see day after day an increase in military operations and terrorist operations in Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi Arabian government is working very hard to defeat the terrorist threat,” Abizaid said.

CAIR's Hussam Ayloush

Hussam Ayloush of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) spoke at UCLA Wednesday night about jihad. Last year I debated Ayloush on a similar topic. At UCLA he declared that his intention was to dispel misconceptions. (Thanks to Jean-Luc.)

The Muslim Student Association hosted an informational forum – "Operation Jihad: Misconceptions of a Peaceful Intention" – in honor of Islamic Awareness Week on Wednesday night. . . .

Speaker Husam Ayloush – a member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations – discussed the meaning of Islamic Jihad and addressed common misconceptions of the term.

"The word 'jihad' makes most people think of Islamic extremists and events like Sept. 11," Ayloush said.

"But they do not remember that the image of long-bearded men carrying machine guns is media-produced," he added.

This is a strange statement. It seems doubtful that Ayloush means that such men don't exist. Perhaps he means that they don't exist in the numbers suggested by the media coverage they receive. In any case, bearded or no (Atta, after all, was clean-shaven), Islamic radicals are unfortunately not a small group. Just this past week I have posted news stories about jihadist activities not only in the U.S., Israel, and Iraq, but also in Australia, Mali, Pakistan, France, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Thailand, Iran, Chechnya, Germany, and elsewhere. And that's just in the last week! I suppose all this is media-created?

In Arabic, "jihad" means the exertion of effort for the sake of God, and has no implications of war or violence, Ayloush said. . . .

Ayloush mentioned that many individuals incorrectly associate jihad with the idea of a holy war.

This term "holy war" does not exist in Islamic terminology and was only written to describe the Crusades in the 1400s, he said.

Jihad ultimately promotes peace and justice in everyday activities, such as loving Allah above everything else and resisting worldly temptations, he added.

It's true: jihad doesn't mean "holy war" in Arabic. But there are centuries of Islamic tradition, as well as an elaborate Islamic theological and legal structure, behind the concept of jihad as warfare. I explore this in depth in Onward Muslim Soldiers.

In that book I recount instances where other Islamic spokesmen have denied that jihad means "holy war" and then proceeded on the assumption that that in itself meant that Islam and jihad were inherently peaceful. But in fact, while the term "holy war" may not exist as such in Islamic tradition, the concept certainly does. One classic manual of Islamic sacred law is quite specific and detailed about the meaning of jihad. It defines the "greater jihad" as "spiritual warfare against the lower self" and then devotes eleven pages to various aspects of the "lesser jihad" and its aftermath. It defines this jihad as "war against non-Muslims," noting that the word itself "is etymologically derived from the word mujahada, signifying warfare to establish the religion."

This manual stipulates that "the caliph makes war upon Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians . . . until they become Muslim or pay the non-Muslim poll tax." ('Umdat as-Salik, o9.8). The caliph was the successor of Muhammad as the leader of the Muslim community; the caliphate was abolished by the secular Turkish government in 1924. But the manual also states that in the absence of a caliph, Muslims must still wage jihad.

The requirement that non-Muslims first be “invited” to enter Islam and then warred against until they either convert or pay the jizya, the special tax on non-Muslims, is founded upon the Qur’an: "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued" (Sura 9:29).

This verse has been used in Islamic history and jurisprudence to establish three choices for non-Muslims that Muslims are facing in jihad: conversion to Islam, submission under Islamic rule (which involves a carefully delineated second-class citizen status centered around but by no means limited to the jizya, the tax on non-Muslims), or death.

Muhammad himself expands upon the three choices of Sura 9:29 in a tradition found in one of the collections considered most reliable by Muslims: Sahih Muslim. It depicts the Prophet of Islam appointing generals and exhorting his troops:

Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war . . . When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these you also accept it and withhold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them. . . . If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah’s help and fight them. (Sahih Muslim, book 19, no. 4294.)

Out of all this material Muslim jurists have constructed an elaborate legal edifice that is without parallel in any other major religion: a codified, detailed mass of laws for the conduct of warfare in the name of God. Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406), the pioneering historian and philosopher, puts it this way: "In the Muslim community, the holy war is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the Muslim mission and (the obligation to) convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force." Islam is "under obligation to gain power over other nations."

This is the traditional understanding of jihad that radical Muslims worldwide are operating upon. Ayloush would have done a much better service if he had acknowledged the existence of these traditions and mapped out a proposal for how they could be reformed in order to neutralize the threat from radical Islam and to bring Islamic theology and law in line with the principles of freedom and tolerance enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and elsewhere.

Ayloush did say some intriguing things, however, if this report is accurate.

Jihad can also implicate defending one's community from oppression, but it does not automatically call for war, Ayloush said.

"Islam is not about fighting until you teach someone a lesson. It is about fighting until persecution is no more," he said.

So it seems that Islamic jihad does involve fighting under certain circumstances: evidently, when there is "persecution." Of course, this is just the justification Osama bin Laden adduced for September 11: "Why are we fighting and opposing you? The answer is very simple: Because you attacked us and continue to attack us." This is not to say that Ayloush endorses bin Laden's statement, but it does show that Ayloush's explanation of jihad, at least as it has been reported here, is not adequate to rule out Islamic radical interpretations.

One student protester showed his disagreement with Ayloush.

First-year biology student David Lazar stood outside the forum to protest.

"Alyoush says Islam is oppression and promotes peace, but he ignores the presence of numerous Islamic suicide bombers in Palestine," he said.

"If Islam is not a violent religion, then why did Islamic extremists attack and kill hundreds of women and noncombatants on Sept. 11?" he added.

Ayloush responded by encouraging his audience to remember no religion is immune to extremist sects.

"No one judges Christianity by the acts of Hitler; no one judges Judaism by the acts of Sharon; So if you want to judge Islam, do not judge it by the acts of Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein," he said.

"Remember that the mainstream believers, not the extreme few, represent Islam," he added.

This is a familiar and particularly nasty dodge. Hitler was a baptized Christian but was never observant. Nazi ideology was explicitly pagan and anti-Christian; Hitler persecuted the Church whenever it wasn't supine in the face of his tyranny. This is a far cry from the self-conscious, explicit, and sustained justification from Islamic sources that radical Muslims use to further the aims of worldwide terrorism. Hitlerism was never part of Christianity and so never needed to be reformed out of it; but Islamic radicalism must be reformed out of Islam, or it will continue to spread. Blithely dismissing it as "extremism" will do nothing to stop it.

America isn't the only place with porous visa controls.

An accused terror financier arrested in the US last week had only just returned from a trip to Australia where he is believed to have a child. In an embarrassing security blunder, the arrest took Australia's intelligence agencies - who were unaware the suspect was in Australia - by surprise.

This from News.com.au, with thanks to Jean-Luc.

Omar Abdi Mohamed, 41, is under investigation after allegedly receiving $454,866 from a group accused by US authorities of direct links to al-Qaeda.

But Australian authorities were not told of any terrorist concerns surrounding Mr Mohamed before his most recent trip to Australia, which ended only last month.

"Obviously this person would not have been given a visa to visit Australia if the Government had been aware at the time of any links to terrorist organisations or activity," Attorney-General Philip Ruddock's spokesman Steve Ingram said.

"French secret agents foiled a bid by Islamic militants to kidnap contestants in the Paris-Dakar rally earlier this month as they raced across the Sahara desert state of Mali, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday." This from Reuters, with thanks to Nicolei.

A spokesman said the DGSE foreign intelligence service had played a key role in preventing what the Le Point weekly news magazine said on Thursday was a plot by a 100-strong gang to attack participants in the rally.

The 10th and 11th stages of the 11,000 km race were scrapped due to the security alert.

"French intelligence had information which led us, with our colleagues in Mali...to take decisions which you have been able to read about in the press," a Defense Ministry spokesman said.

Le Point, whose details the ministry declined to confirm or deny, said Defense Minister Michele Marie-Alliot discussed the threat during a trip to Mali's capital Bamako in December.

It said the French-backed operation had prevented leading French driver Stephane Peterhansel and Spanish motorcyclist Nani Roma from falling into the Islamists' hands.

Le Point said the group, heavily armed with machineguns mounted on their all-terrain vehicles, had intended to kidnap the pair in Mali's southern Sokolo region on Jan. 10.

The magazine said the group had fled north once they realized the ambush scheme had been discovered.

Terence Jeffrey has been courageous and virtually alone in pointing out that Islamic radicals are entering the United States through Mexico. Now, he shows that a Hezballah operative entered the country this same way. (Thanks to LGF.)

Politicians serious about preventing another Sept. 11 should listen to the leader of Hizballah, and then read an indictment unsealed this month in Detroit.

"Let the entire world hear me," said Sheik Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27, 2002. "Our hostility to the Great Satan is absolute." . . .

Now, turn to May 3, 2003. That's when FBI agents searched the Dearborn, Mich., residence of Mahmoud Kourani, a 32-year-old illegal alien from Lebanon.

In a statement submitted last week in federal court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Chadwell revealed words the FBI found on audiotapes there: "You alone are the sun of my lands, Nasrallah! Nasrallah!/. . . your voice is nothing less than my jihad."

"We offer to you Hizballah, a pledge of loyalty," said a tape. ". . . Rise for Jihad! . . . I offer you, Hizballah, my blood in my hand."

Kourani pleaded guilty to harboring an illegal alien. A judge sentenced him to six months. On Jan. 15, a second indictment was unsealed, charging Kourani with conspiracy to provide material support to Hizballah.

"Kourani was a member, fighter, recruiter and fundraiser for Hizballah," said the indictment. "Operating at first from Lebanon and later in the United States, Kourani was a dedicated member of Hizballah who received specialized training in radical Shiite fundamentalism, weaponry, spy craft, and counterintelligence in Lebanon and Iran."

"Kourani," Chadwell added in his statement, "is charged with conspiring with individuals at the highest levels of the terrorist organization, including one of his brothers who is the Hizballah chief of military security for southern Lebanon."

Kourani got to America, the prosecutors allege, with the help of a Mexican official.

"On approximately Feb. 4, 2001, Kourani surreptitiously entered the United States by sneaking across the U.S./Mexico border in the trunk of a car," wrote Chadwell. "He reached Mexico by paying $3,000 used to bribe an official in the Mexican Consulate in Beirut, Lebanon, to give him a Mexican visa." . . .

In a sentencing memorandum in Kourani's alien-harboring case, Chadwell told the court Kourani's "offense of conviction was part of a continuing scheme to bring illegal aliens to the United States from Lebanon through Mexico." . . .

Whatever the eventual outcome in this case, simple prudence demands that a question be asked of our political leaders: If they don't secure our borders against illegal immigration, how can they secure our country against Hizballah?

And Hizballah, as Sheik Nasrallah says, seeks "Death to America!"

The seventh member of the terrorist cell in Lackawanna, New York has been caught. And from the lawyers from the other six comes more confirmation that jihadis are motivated by religion. Why, then, do so many analysts continue to discount what the Islamic religion can reveal about the motives and goals of terrorists? This from AP:

The last member of a group of Yemeni-Americans from New York state sought by U.S. authorities for attending an al-Qaeda training camp is in custody in Yemen, a senior security official said Thursday.

Jaber Elbaneh was arrested several months ago as part of Yemen's fight against terrorism, the official said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity. . . .

In a U.S. court last year, six Yemeni-Americans from Lackawanna pleaded guilty to aiding a terrorist organization by undergoing training in 2001 in a camp in Afghanistan run by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida organization. Al-Qaida is blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

In their pleas, all six described weapons and explosives training and a speech by bin Laden to trainees about men on a mission to attack America.

Unlike the others, Elbaneh never returned to Lackawanna after his training in the al-Qaida camp, investigators said.

U.S. authorities said there was no evidence that the Lackawanna group was involved in planning or participated in any terrorist act.

Defense lawyers for the Lackawanna Six have said the men were victims of high-pressure recruiters who appealed to their sense of religious duty in persuading them to seek military-style training.

This has to be faced because it is still going on. Last week at CPAC I listened while a moderate Muslim spokesmen told the crowd about the peaceful and tolerant aspects of Islam. He cut off the discussion before I had a chance to reply, so I will reply here by way of a few questions: what are moderate Muslims doing to head off another Lackawanna Six? How are they countering the religious arguments that radicals use to recruit? Until they start doing this, their claims that Islam is peaceful are hollow: they aren't even believed by those among their fellow Muslims who are busy waging jihad for the sake of Allah in what they believe is fidelity to the Qur'an.

Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook explain in the Jerusalem Post what I have long contended: that suicide bombings are not the result of poverty and desperation, but of deeply held religious motivations.

"I always wanted to be the first woman who sacrifices her life for Allah. My joy will be complete when my body parts fly in all directions."

These are the words of female suicide terrorist Reem Reyashi, videotaped just before she killed four Israelis and herself two weeks ago in Gaza.

What is surprising about this horrific statement is that she put a positive value on her dismemberment and death, distinct from her goal to kill others.

She was driven by her aspiration to achieve what the Palestinians call "shahada," [martyrdom] death for Allah. She had two distinct goals: To kill and to be killed. These independent objectives, both positive in her mind, were goals greater than her obligations and emotional ties to her two children.

This aspiration to die, which contradicts the basic human instinct for survival, is at the core of the suicide terrorism fervor. Only when this death worship component is recognized as a basic tenet of Palestinian belief will it be possible to understand the challenges Israel and the world face from suicide terror.

Palestinian society actively promotes the religious belief that their deity craves their deaths. Note the words of a popular music video directed at children, broadcast hundreds of times on PA TV, which depicts the earth thirsting for the blood of children: "How sweet is the fragrance of the shahids, how sweet is the scent of the earth, its thirst quenched by the gush of blood, flowing from the youthful body."

This conviction that the deity thirsts for or craves human death as tribute and sacrifice has its roots in ancient beliefs.

The Bible cites ancient cultures of the Land of Israel: "Their sons and their daughters they sacrifice to their Gods" [Deut: 12]. Even the Israelites were drawn to it: "And they built altars to give their sons and daughters to Molech which God did not command nor consider this abomination [Jeremiah: 32]."
As recently as 500 years ago, South American tribes used to leave children to die on mountain tops as presents to their gods. The common denominator driving human sacrifice cults was the belief that the deity craved the death of innocents.

This is precisely the belief that the leaders of Palestinian society are inculcating in their people. Moreover, Palestinians have been taught on PA TV by their religious leaders that they are born for the very purpose of dying for Allah: "The believer was created to know his Lord and to uphold Islam to be a shahid, or intend to be a shahid. If the Muslim does not aspire to shahada, he will die as in the jahiliya [pre-Islam faith]. If we truthfully request it of Allah, He will grant us its rewards even if we die in bed."

To further encourage this self-annihilation, Palestinians are taught that dying for the deity is rewarded: "All his sins are forgiven from the first gush of blood; he is exempted from the torments of the grave (Judgment)... he marries 72 Dark-Eyed [Virgins or Maidens of Paradise]... on his head is placed a crown of honor, one stone of which is worth more than all there is in this world."

"There is a continuing terrorist threat against U.S. subways and railways, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security said in a bulletin sent to law enforcement agencies Wednesday." This from FoxNews.

"Recent intelligence indicates a continued terrorist interest in conducting attacks on U.S. subways and railways," the bulletin said. "Although the FBI possesses no information indicating a specific threat to subways and rail systems in the United States, the potential for an attack cannot be ruled out."

The FBI and DHS mention in the bulletin that Usama bin Laden's Al Qaeda terror network has had a long-standing fascination with the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.

"An attack on a subway or rail system could cause substantial loss of life, and would have an adverse impact on public confidence, resulting in massive economic loss," the bulletin said. . . .

The FBI and DHS said that timetable and operating schedules are publicly available and therefore accessible by terrorists.

"Internet sites provide information regarding the location of critical rail assets for train command and control," the agencies said.

"U.S. rail and subway systems play a vital role in urban public transportation and freight movement, carrying considerable economic resources. Attacks on rail systems require less planning, training and materials than attacks against large passenger aircraft or cruise ships, potentially increasing their attractiveness to a diminished Al Qaeda."

The FBI warned law enforcement and security personnel to remain vigilant to potential pre-operational planning and for any attempts by individuals to bring explosives or chemical devices on a rail or subway system.

"The State Department recently revoked the diplomatic visas of 16 people affiliated with an Islamic institute in Virginia, the latest step in a joint U.S.-Saudi crackdown that has led to an exodus of Riyadh's diplomats from the United States in recent months, a senior Saudi official said yesterday." This from the Washington Post, :

The 16 staffers at the Fairfax-based Institute for Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America are among two dozen Saudi personnel whose diplomatic credentials were revoked in recent weeks, a senior U.S. law enforcement official said. The revocations, the official said, were part of "an ongoing effort to protect the homeland." He said the Saudis have been told that they must leave within two weeks.

In all, about 70 people with Saudi diplomatic credentials about have left the United States in the past four months, the Saudi official said.

The most recent revocations are part of the attempt by both countries to curb the spread of extremist Islamic rhetoric in this country and ensure that all Saudi Embassy employees are engaged in legitimate diplomatic activity, U.S. and Saudi officials said.

The joint effort is part of Riyadh's increased cooperation with Washington in the war on terrorism, which began when Saudi Arabia was hit last May by the first of two deadly suicide bombings. The attacks are believed to be the work of terrorists linked to al Qaeda.

The State Department's move to revoke the diplomatic status of institute staffers came after Riyadh decided that the institute and its staff would no longer be attached to the embassy. That decision followed accusations that the institute, a satellite campus of al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, was promoting a brand of Islam that critics say is intolerant of other strains of the religion as well as Christianity and Judaism.

Orange County Weekly reports that "Bill Baker has resurfaced as a frequent guest speaker at Muslim functions across North America despite articles in OC Weekly in 2002 that outed the Laguna Hills resident as the former head of the neo-Nazi Populist Party and led to his ouster as a close associate to the Reverend Robert Schuller of Garden Grove's Crystal Cathedral." (Thanks to Ruth King.)

He just won't go away.

Bill Baker has resurfaced as a frequent guest speaker at Muslim functions across North America despite articles in OC Weekly in 2002 that outed the Laguna Hills resident as the former head of the neo-Nazi Populist Party and led to his ouster as a close associate to the Reverend Robert Schuller of Garden Grove's Crystal Cathedral.

Baker's appearances are causing consternation, public recrimination and bad feelings wherever he goes. He spoke amid protests on Jan. 3 at "Reviving the Islamic Spirit," a conference attended by more than 7,000 people in Toronto, Ontario. The Toronto Star reported that Canadian Jewish Congress-led protesters cited the OC Weekly series as the basis for their descriptions of Baker as a professional anti-Semite, self-promoter and huckster. . . .

In 1984, Baker was national chairman of Costa Mesa-based Holocaust denier Willis Carto's Populist Party, whose platform called for the repeal of U.S. civil rights laws. Baker now states that, although he planned his party's national convention, he had no knowledge of its platform or ideology.

His topic in Toronto was "More in Common Than You Think," an attempt to gloss over deep historical and theological differences between Muslims and Christians. A similar talk at the Crystal Cathedral in 2002 left a group of moderate Christian pastors shaking their heads.

According to Toronto conference spokesman Jeewan Chanicka, Baker was recommended "as an individual working towards building bridges between the Muslim and Christian communities. His lectures . . . reflected nothing that could be considered racist or anti-Semitic. Because interfaith dialogue was a component of the conference, once we knew that he was nominated for the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, we thought that he would be a good candidate at such a forum." . . .

A similar appearance by Baker at a Muslim conference in Florida last year produced an angry exchange between the Jewish human rights organization the Anti-Defamation League and the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). The latter organization published a letter from Baker claiming that "The so-called 'quotes' attributed to me [in OC Weekly] are pure, insulting, and outrageous lies."

Baker also spoke last October at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia as a guest of the Muslim Students Association (MSA). His appearance drew protests from both students and the Philadelphia Jewish community. In the wake of that speech, embarrassed Muslim students exchanged visits and lectures with Jewish students, and their presidents, Muhammed Mekki and Jason Auerbach, signed the following joint statement published in the Daily Pennsylvanian:

"Hillel and the MSA reaffirm our commitment to unity and friendship. As we rediscover our common roots and our shared history, we urge all Penn students to follow our example in rising above perceived differences. Let us be proactive in building interpersonal relationships that, God willing, will further strengthen our unique Penn community and inspire peace in our world."

Contacted by the Weekly, Shaheen Kazi, MSA's national manager, denied she'd ever heard of Baker, claimed her group would never knowingly invite a neo-Nazi and maintained that an independent chapter had booked his appearance. "We have so many MSAs that we can't track every one," she said. "We would definitely take [Baker's background] into consideration, and we would be inclined not to invite him in the future."

Baker's influence extends to other pro-Arab outlets. The website for the pro-Palestinian magazine Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, widely regarded as representing the views of Saudi Arabia, offers a favorable review of Baker's incoherent, anti-Semitic book, Theft of a Nation, which it sells for the discounted price of $12.

Hussam Ayloush, director of the California CAIR branch in Anaheim, says he's heard Baker speak at many Islamic events--and Ayloush was loath to rebuke Baker. "His focus is that we all hold stereotypes--and that we shouldn't feel threatened by knowledge or interaction," Ayloush said. "As a Muslim, I have been accused of so many things that I would be very hesitant and careful before condemning anyone."

You can read my own exchange with Hussam Ayloush here.

Charles at LGF hits the nail on the head about a New York Times op-ed, "My God is Your God" by John Kearney.

Says Kearney:

Last August the Washington Post Web site posed this question to readers: "Do you think that Muslims, Christians and Jews all pray to the same God?" One Muslim respondent wrote yes, each of the three major monotheistic faiths "pray to the God of Abraham."

Christian respondents, however, were equivocal or hostile to the notion. "Jews pray to Yahweh," one Virginia woman wrote. "As a Christian, I pray to the same God." But she insisted that "Muslims pray to Allah. Allah is not the God of Abraham." This woman might be surprised that Christian Arabs use "Allah" for God, as do Arabic-speaking Jews. In Aramaic, the language of Jesus, God is "Allaha," just a syllable away from Allah.

It is certainly true that Christian Arabs use "Allah" for God. But Kearney ignores the substantial point that even though they may share a name, any examination of the particulars of Christian and Islamic theology reveals that the deities in question are quite different in character. This is acknowledged by Muslims as well as Christians. The Qur'an says of a central tenet of Christianity: "The Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!" (Sura 9:30). The same God?

Kearney continues:

Still, who can blame her? Earlier that month, NPR reported Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza City intoning, "there is no God but Allah." Last week, The Los Angeles Times mentioned mourners for a slain Baghdad professor reciting, "there is no God but Allah" at the university campus. In September, The New York Times reported an assassinated Palestinian uttering, "there is no God but Allah" before he died.

"There is no god but God" is the first of Islam's five pillars. It is Muhammad's refutation of polytheism. Yet to today's non-Muslims, the locution "there is no God but Allah" reads as an affront, a declaration that inflammatory Allah trumps the Biblical God. This journalistic rendition distorts the meaning of the Muslim confession of faith.

Charles remarks:

But Kearney gives no evidence that the phrase "there is no God but Allah" is a distortion, just his own word. This is argument by assertion; politically correct wisdom received from on high. Hasn't Kearney ever read a transcript of the Islamic supremacist sermons preached in Gaza City mosques? A real case could be made that the phrase as currently used by journalists conveys its precise meaning--that all other gods and all other religions are inferior to Islam.

You can find many of those sermons documented in Onward Muslim Soldiers.

This is what life is like in our secular ally Pakistan for one member of that nation's Christian minority. This report is from Compass Direct:

A Pakistani Christian teenager kidnapped for more than two weeks in November has been forced to flee his home and stay in hiding to avoid recapture by his Muslim extremist captors.

Leaders of a fanatic Islamic school have vowed to send Zeeshan Gill, who just turned 16 last week, to fight in Kashmir as a newly-converted Muslim jihadi (holy warrior).

Zeeshan Gill was abducted November 7 on his way home from his classes at Garrison Cadet School in Sargodha, in Pakistan's Punjab province. The boy was duped into accompanying a Muslim acquaintance, an electrician named Amjad Warriach who had done occasional work in his family's home.

Warriach took Gill to the Jamia al Qasim al Aloom "madressa," an Islamic school attached to a local mosque. Kept there under guard, the boy was forced to recite the "Kalima" (Islamic creed), perform Muslim ablutions and prayers five times a day, and observe daily fasting for the month of Ramadan then in progress.

The boy was beaten and threatened by his captors, who declared that since he had become a Muslim, they would kill him if he tried to run away or convert back to Christianity. Under the tenets of Islam, simply reciting the faith's creed makes one a Muslim, and anyone who renounces Islam must be killed.

Gill was also given weapons training in the use of guns, pistols and grenades, and told that soon he would be sent to fight in the Muslim "holy war" in Kashmir. Hundreds of Pakistan's militant Islamist groups -- now banned by the government -- have been embroiled in the violent dispute over India-administered Kashmir, a flashpoint between India and Pakistan for 15 years.

After three days of searching, Gill's widowed mother finally learned that her missing son was being held at the Jamia Mosque, where mosque leaders claimed he had "embraced Islam." A medical technician at Sargodha's Civil Hospital, Razia Gill has been supporting her two sons and their elderly grandmother since her husband's death nearly 12 years ago.

After Mrs. Gill contacted a lawyer, a bailiff from the Sargodha District and Sessions Court went together with a local police officer to meet Zeeshan at the madressa. In the presence of his captors, the boy simply said that he had become a Muslim, and that he did not want to go back to his mother.

The bailiff demanded a subsequent court summons on November 14, when madressa leader Maulvi Sohail was ordered to appear with the boy. Before Judge Khawaja Imtiaz Ahmad, the boy reiterated that he had converted to Islam of his own free will, stating that he would return to his mother only if she also became a Muslim.

Although Mrs. Gill asked the judge to allow her to meet with Zeeshan privately, the judge refused, declaring that her son was a "sensible boy," and even though he was a minor, he "had the right" to convert to another religion.

The laws of Pakistan do not include any provisions regarding religious conversion, although under the Minors Act, children remain minors under their parents' legal authority until age 18.

On November 20, the madressa leaders sent Zeeshan with a Muslim bodyguard back to his house, where he was told to collect his clothes. Four days later, he was told he was to report for final training at Raiwand's large Islamic center and then be sent to Kashmir, where he would be expected to "spread Islam at the speed of 120 kilometers [70 miles] per hour." Before his departure for Kashmir, he was allowed to return home once again -- alone this time -- to say goodbye to his family.

The unaccompanied visit enabled Zeeshan to finally tell his mother exactly what had happened to him, and the plans to send him to Kashmir. She immediately gathered up both her sons and fled the city, taking shelter with relatives miles away. A church leader there heard of the family's plight and put Mrs. Gill in touch with the Lahore-based Center for Legal Aid and Assistance Settlement (CLAAS) to get legal counsel and a secure hiding place for Zeeshan.

According to CLAAS coordinator Joseph Francis, the Gill family's dilemma is not unusual among Pakistan's tiny Christian minority. But the Gills are particularly vulnerable, he noted, since they have no male elder in the family, making it easier for extremists to intimidate the boy and his mother.

CLAAS lawyers have represented a similar case in which the provincial High Court intervened. In this case, the captors who insisted a minor boy had "converted to Islam" were ordered by the court to release him back to his Christian family.

"Afterwards his abductors again kidnapped him and had him sent to Kashmir," Francis told Compass, "and now no one knows about that child's whereabouts."

"There is nothing we can do legally," CLAAS Coordinator Joseph Francis told Compass this week. "Zeeshan's mother and little brother Numan have returned to Sargodha, but he must stay apart from them in hiding."

B. Raman in OutlookIndia points out that "till now, strategic analysts have been focusing only on the dangers of a possible Talibanisation or Al Qaedisation of the Pakistan Army. It is time now to pay more attention to Pakistan's scientific community as well." (Thanks to Jean-Luc.)

Pakistan is not the original birth place of the Islamic fundamentalist and jihadi organizations. Islamic fundamentalism and jihadi terrorism were born elsewhere in the Islamic Ummah and thereafter spread to Pakistan after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.

But, Pakistan is the original birth place of the concept of the nuclear jihad, which highlighted the need for an Islamic atomic bomb and advocated the right and the religious obligation of the Muslims to acquire weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and use them, if necessary, to protect their religion. The jihadi terrorists and their ideologues in Pakistan perceived the nuclear weapon as the ultimate weapon of retribution against States which they viewed as enemies of Islam, particularly the USA and Israel. . . .

It was only subsequently that Pakistani jihadi organizations such as the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM) and fundamentalist organizations such as the Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI) and the Jamiat-ul-Ulema Islam (JUI) adopted Z.A.Bhutto's depiction of the Islamic bomb and projected it as rightfully belonging to the Islamic Ummah as a whole.

They described Pakistan's nuclear and missile capability as held by it on trust on behalf of the Ummah. In 2000, when Abdul Sattar, Gen.Pervez Musharraf's then Foreign Minister, advocated Pakistan's signing of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), the Islamic fundamentalist and jihadi organizations started a public campaign against him and projected him as a traitor and as anti-Islam. Thereafter, he gave up his advocacy.

After he shifted to Afghanistan from the Sudan in 1996, Osama bin Laden of Al Qaeda not only started speaking of the right and the religious obligation of the Muslims to acquire WMD and use them, if necessary, to protect Islam, but also initiated a project for the acquisition/ development of WMD under the leadership of Abu Khabab in his training complex in Afghanistan.

After 1998, Al Qaeda and the International Islamic Front (IIF) for Jihad against the Crusaders and the Jewish People launched a campaign for the recruitment of students of science and scientists already working in the scientific establishments of the Islamic countries for helping them in their quest for the acquisition/development of WMD.

Of particular interest is this, in light of the prevailing view that jihad ideology spreads only among the ignorant, who are manipulated through religious language used by cunning leaders as a cover for their political aims. In fact, international jihad is born of Islamic traditionalism, and appeals to thinking people on Islamic grounds:

Many analysts of what has come to be known as catastrophic or new terrorism have remarked on the presence of a large number of educated persons in the ranks of the jihadi terrorist organizations. Even the pre-1991 ideological terrorist organizations of the world, influenced by leftist ideologies, had attracted a large number of educated youth. Thus, the attraction of educated youth to terrorism is not a new phenomenon. Most of them were students or graduates or teachers of humanities. There were hardly any students of science or scientists in their ranks.

One thing not emphasized in our earlier report on the latest issue of Al-Qaeda's "Voice of Jihad" is that the organization is still threatening a major attack on American soil. Many such threats have proved baseless quite recently. Here's hoping they continue to do so. This from UPI, with thanks to Jean-Luc:

The current strategy of al-Qaida is to pursue a major attack on the United States to provoke retaliation against Saudi Arabia, says a radical Muslim Web site.

An online magazine thought to be affiliated with al-Qaida describes a statement issued by Osama bin Laden indicating the next major attack will be on targets in the United States.

"We continue on our path and in our Jihad against America," wrote Sheikh Abdallah al-Rashoud in the Jan. 20 issue of the online "Voice of Jihad."

"We continue to strike at America and we expect that our next blow will cause the collapse of the situation (in Saudi Arabia) due to vengeful response, the first result of which will be the direct occupation of the oil sources and America's entrance (into Saudi Arabia) with the aim of changing the situation from its foundations."

A new article by Jihad Watch director Robert Spencer, "Islamic France and Human Rights," is available today at WorldNet Daily.

The horror continues.

This from AP:

A suicide bomber blew up a bus near the prime minister's residence Thursday, killing 10 bystanders and wounding at least 50 in the deadliest attack in four months.

No one claimed responsibility for the bombing, which dealt a further setback to stalled peace efforts and coincided with a German-brokered prisoner swap between Israel and the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah. Israel said the exchange was going ahead as planned.

The bombing occurred just before 9 a.m. in the Rehavia district of downtown Jerusalem, some 15 yards from Sharon's official residence. Sharon was not home at the time.

The green bus was charred, with wires dangling everywhere. One side of the bus had been blown out and the back half of the roof was blown off. Police said the explosion went off in the middle or back of the crowded bus and was so powerful that body parts flew into nearby houses.

Agent of the Muslim Brotherhood? (Photo: Time)

France's Nouvel Observateur (thanks to Joyce) is reporting that controversial European Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan's move to the United States may be related to talks between Washington and the Muslim Brotherhood. Here is my rough-and-ready translation of the French article:

Surprise: Tariq Ramadan, part-time lecturer at the University of Freiburg in Switzerland, is on his way to the United States. Next September, he will be named a professor at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. This arrangement comes after multiple offers made to him by many American universities for several months, in particular the University of Chicago. In April, he will also give several lectures in California, and according to him, will be invited to the U.S. State Department, which seems interested in him more and more.

This information was also confirmed Wednesday by the Genevan daily newspaper Le Temps, which confirms, quoting a spokesman of Tariq Ramadan, that "he will give courses beginning next fall on the relationship between religion, conflict and the promotion of peace." However, according to the paper, the visa application filed by the intellectual is likely to take time, "because there are people who have questions about it."

His departure from Europe is even more surprising since the Genevan theologian (of Egyptian origin) is actively involved in France in the debate over the veil and secularism. Tariq Ramadan is considered, by many European intelligence services, to be one of the clandestine leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization that supports the Palestinian kamikazes of Hamas. Is his departure for the United States a sign, as DST [Territorial Surveillance Directorate, France's domestic intelligence service] officials believe, of an accord between Washington and the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood?

Translation corrections welcome. In any case, the connection that this article makes between Ramadan and the Muslim Brotherhood is significant. In Onward Muslim Soldiers I explain how careful he has been to present himself as a moderate Muslim, although there are numerous questions about his real connection to radicals. The Muslim Brotherhood, of course, is the father of virtually all modern-day Islamic terror groups.

AP reports that "Four members of what the government calls the 'Virginia jihad network' have waived their right to a jury trial on charges they conspired to aid Taliban forces fighting the United States."

The unusual move by the defendants, set to go on trial Feb. 9, puts the verdict solely in the hands of U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, the same judge who has presided over the case against alleged Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.

Brinkema approved the defendants' waiver on Friday.

The four defendants are all U.S. citizens who live in northern Virginia and the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

The government alleges they used paintball games on a field near Fredericksburg for military-style training.

The government says the training started before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as preparation for joining Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant Pakistani group that wants to force India out of the disputed Kashmir region.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, prosecutors allege, the group's aims changed to joining Taliban forces in their fight against U.S. forces.

Only one of the four, Masoud Khan of Gaithersburg, Md., traveled to Pakistan after the Sept. 11 attacks and trained at a Lashkar camp, according to court documents. There is no evidence that any of the defendants actually joined the Taliban.

Khan faces more serious charges of conspiracy to levy war against the United States and conspiracy to support Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.

Khan's lawyer, Bernie Grimm, said he thought it would be difficult to empanel an unbiased jury in northern Virginia, where the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon affected so many people.

The other three defendants are Caliph Basha Ibn Abdur-Raheem of Arlington, Hammad Abdur-Raheem of Falls Church, and Seifullah Chapman of Alexandria.

A fifth defendant is scheduled for trial in March.

Six others charged in the case have pleaded guilty to assorted charges, and some have been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. Most of them are expected to testify for the prosecution.

Few hard facts have come out about the mysterious incident in Freeport, Texas: where a security guard at the BASF chemical plant was shot in the shoulder by a man he describes as Middle Eastern or Pakistani. The man was taking pictures of the lights at the chemical plant, and sped away after the shooting in a truck on which the license plates were concealed.

On the one hand, the FBI is saying that the incident is not terror-related:

The shooting of an unarmed security guard at a chemical plant here drew the attention of national security officials because the gunman, who was described as having a heavy accent, told the guard he was taking photographs of the area.

But after repeated interviews with the shooting victim, federal authorities Saturday said they have little reason to believe the incident was the work of terrorists.

"As we have looked at this, we don't believe we have any kind of a terrorist threat or that there was any kind of terrorist planning or organization going on," FBI spokesman Bob Doguim said Saturday. . . .

Doguim would not say if House had changed his story, and he declined to give specifics about why law enforcement officials were leaning against the incident being terrorist-related. But he noted that there had been no intelligence suggesting such an event might occur.

"This is isolated," Doguim said, "and we have no other information out there to suggest we should look at this in any other way."

That's curious in light of the fact that in an unrelated story, the FBI acknowledges that Islamic terrorists may be targeting ports -- like Freeport, which calls itself "one of the fastest growing ports on the entire Gulf Coast" and is "currently ranked as the 16th largest port in the United States in terms of tonnage"? This from AP:

America's seaports are vulnerable targets that have attracted interest from terrorists, an FBI counterterrorism official told senators Tuesday.

``The intelligence we have certainly points to ports as a key vulnerability,'' said Gary M. Bald, inspector-deputy assistant director of the FBI's counterterrorism division. ``I can't be more specific as to the threats of attacks. We have received information that indicates there is an interest.'' . . .

Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who convened the hearing of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on terrorism, technology and homeland security, said more must be done. Measures to protect seaports and waterways have lagged behind efforts aimed at airports and airplanes since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

``The ports are the soft underbelly of our nation's security,'' Feinstein said.

The Coast Guard still is assessing how many ships, ports, ferry terminals and fuel-chemical tank farms failed to meet a Dec. 31 deadline for submitting security plans, said the agency's director of port security, Rear Admiral Larry Hereth.

The latest estimates are that 60 percent of 5,000 facility plans and 75 percent of 10,000 vessel plans have been received, Hereth said.

All right. Maybe terrorists are targeting ports but this Middle Eastern man who was photographing a chemical plant and shot a security guard has nothing to do with that targeting. Maybe. But I hope that this is not a case of the left hand at the FBI not knowing what the right hand is doing: the fact that one official says that "there had been no intelligence suggesting such an event might occur" while another says that "the intelligence we have certainly points to ports as a key vulnerability" is at very least puzzling.

UPDATE: Allegations are flying thick and fast in this case. Maybe the guard is unstable and shot himself to get attention. Maybe he was involved in a bad drug deal. This whole thing could turn out to be nothing at all. On the other hand, I have been sent other reports of strange incidents involving photography of sensitive sites -- all of which have been dismissed by authorities. I hope the full truth will come out.

UPI reports that 35,000 Turks became Christians last year -- a major social movement in that country. There is a certain poetic justice to this, as the report suggests that many are the descendants of Christians who were forced to become Muslims during the time of the Armenian genocide and the persecution and expulsion of the Greeks. However, these Christians still have to be quiet and "not make waves," even in that enlightened, secular, moderate Muslim nation. Now why is that? (Thanks to Susan.)

Some 35,000 Turks converted from Islam to Christianity last year,with most joining evangelical congregations the newspaper, "Milliet," reports. If true, this would amount to a mass movement, considering Christians make up only 0.2 percent of Turkey's 68 million population. "This is news to me," said the Rev. Holger Nollmann, the German Protestant pastor in Istanbul.

However, Ihsan Ozbek, president of the Council of Independent Protestant congregations, said more and more Turks were turning toward Christianity. "However, given the Islamic environment in which we live, most Turks coming to our congregations do not wish to make waves."

The German protestant news service Idea reported most converts are descendants of Orthodox Christians who ostensibly became Muslims to avoid being killed in Turkey's 1914-22 genocide of its Armenian minority.

The President of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Yigal Carmon, presented this paper to the 2004 Stockholm International Forum on Preventing Genocide. It is an illuminating exploration of the murderous ideology that fuels Islamic radicalism. (Thanks to TwoStellas and Joyce.)

The text and a few comments:

Jews, Christians, and Sabians [2] are, according to Islam, 'Ahl Al-Kitab,' or 'People of the Book,' and thus have special status. Their lives are protected, although their status is inferior to that of Muslims. However, non-Muslims who are neither Jews nor Christians are defined as infidels belonging to 'Dar Al-Harb,' the camp which Muslims must fight until Islam dominates.

Although these definitions are clearly set out by Islamic law, they are disregarded by extremist Islamist circles, which brand both Jews and Christians - that is, all the West - as infidels, whether because of their religion, because of their actions or policies, or simply because they believe in democracy, which some Islamists define as a religion. Muslims whom they consider supportive of the West, either individuals or entire regimes, also fall into this category. By declaring Jews, Christians, and these Muslims to be infidels and enemies, they permit their murder, and include them among those who, according to divine directive, must be fought.

Extremist Islamist circles believe that these infidels must be fought by means of Jihad - and some feel that, in the context of Jihad, weapons of mass destruction may be used to annihilate them. They find support for their ideology in Islamic sources, such as Qur'anic verses, Hadiths from the Prophet Muhammad, and Shari'a.

With all respect to Carmon, in calling for jihad against Jews and Christians, radical Muslims are not departing as sharply as he suggests from traditional Islamic theology. After all, Sura 9:29 of the Qur'an commands Muslims to fight against the People of the Book until they convert to Islam or submit as inferiors under Islamic rule: "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued." Nor is this an isolated verse. As I show in Onward Muslim Soldiers, it is just one foundation of an elaborate theological and legal system that gives Jews and Christians the protected but inferior status that Carmon mentions only after they have been fought and subdued. This status does not, as he seems to assume, give them an exemption from being fought.

One major ideological source who is very influential in fundamentalist Islamist thought is Sayyid Qutb. Qutb, an Egyptian, was active in the Muslim Brotherhood movement, convicted of treason for plotting to assassinate Egyptian President Gamal Abd Al-Nasser, and executed in 1966. He wrote extensively on a wide range of Islamic issues. According to Qutb, "There are two parties in all the world: the Party of Allah and the Party of Satan - the Party of Allah which stands under the banner of Allah and bears his insignia, and the Party of Satan, which includes every community, group, race, and individual that does not stand under the banner of Allah." [3]

This article will examine contemporary Arab Islamist sources advocating this approach to non-Muslims. It should be stressed that these views are held only by extremist groups, and that the majority of Muslims adhere to mainstream Islamic thought.

Again, the clarifications I outlined above are from traditional Islamic theology and law. The "mainstream Islamic thought" that keeps most Muslims from considering that they must fight Jews and Christians is actually a rather inchoate mixture of secularism and unwillingness to abandon an ordinary life. It is weak on justifications from the Qur'an and Sunna, since most traditional theologians believe that the relatively peaceful and tolerant verses that moderates like to cite have been abrogated. This is a key point, because the moderate Muslims' lack of a convincing Islamic theological construct leaves their communities and particularly their young people continually vulnerable to recruitment by radicals, who raise the consciousness of their targets by appealing to core Islamic doctrines.

Nonetheless, Carmon's explication of the radical understanding of the Islamic attitude toward Jews and Christians is valuable. Click here to continue:

Jihad Watch has received this press release from Americans Against Hate:

For Immediate Release: January 27, 2004

Contact: Joe Kaufman, joe@joe4rep.com

BOCA ISLAMIC CENTER FEATURES MATERIAL TAKEN FROM TERRORIST CHARITY -- AAH CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION

(Coral Springs, FL) Americans Against Hate is urging law enforcement to investigate the Islamic Center of Boca Raton's usage of material published by the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, a Saudi-backed "charity" that has been found to have raised millions of dollars for the terrorist group Al-Qaeda. The material is found on the Islamic Center's website, www.icbr.org, within the section 'Embrace Islam.'

The origin of the material is a web-based book published by the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, entitled 'This Is The Truth,' which is currently located on Al-Haramain's website, www.it-is-truth.org.

This is the second instance of the Islamic Center of Boca Raton (ICBR) being cited for having information concerning Al-Haramain on its website. Less than a year ago, the ICBR was reported as having had a link on its site to the terrorist charity's homepage, www.alharamain.org. The graphic link was seven inches in width, and was located on the ICBR's website for well over three years - including during the September 11, 2001 attacks - and was only taken down in 2003 after negative press coverage.

Ibrahim Dremali, the Imam of the Islamic Center of Boca Raton, is an advisor to the American Muslim Association of North America (AMANA), located in North Miami Beach. AMANA's website, www.al-amana.org also contains a link to the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, under the heading 'Good Islamic Organizations and Websites,' on the same page as a picture of the World Trade Center in flames on 9/11.

Just this past week, the United States Department of Treasury added four branches of Al-Haramain to the "U.S. list of groups and individuals suspected of bankrolling terrorism, effectively freezing any assets they hold in the U.S." (CNN, January 23, 2004)

Joe Kaufman, the Chairman of Americans Against Hate, stated, "The fact that the Islamic Center of Boca Raton is using material from an organization that the U.S. has deemed a supporter of those that attacked us on 9/11 is serious. This is especially vital given the ICBR's previous involvement with another 'charity' that America has taken action against for its terrorist fundraising, the Global Relief Foundation. I urge law enforcement to look into this matter immediately."

Daniel Pipes and Asaf Romirowsky continue the appalling story of Mustafa Abu Sway, the Hamas activist who is now a visiting professor at Florida Atlantic University:

We broke the news in October 2003 that Mustafa Abu Sway, a visiting Palestinian professor at Florida Atlantic University, is "known as an activist" in Hamas, a group on the U.S. government's terrorism list. We also revealed that his salary is being paid by the U.S. taxpayer (via the Fulbright exchange program).

Our little scoop met with yawns or with disbelief. Abu Sway himself denounced our article as a "witch hunt." FAU ignored the revelation ("we have no reason to take any action"). The hometown Palm Beach Post published four skeptical responses, including an editorial insisting that "there is no known evidence" against Abu Sway.

Actually, being named as "a known activist" in Hamas by the Israeli government - who knows terrorism better? - qualifies in itself as "evidence," but we since October have learned that Abu Sway also:

· Was a board member and raised funds for two Jerusalem-based Hamas-related organizations, the Heritage Committee and the Foundation for the Development of Society, both of which were shut down in February 2003.

· Has worked with the Palestinian "Charity Coalition" that includes such organizations as Al-Aqsa Foundation (South Africa) and Comité de Bienfaisance et de Secours aux Palestiniens (France), both known as Hamas fundraisers.

· Is connected to Sheikh Ra'ed Salah's Islamic Movement in Um al-Fahm, Israel, 14 members of which were arrested in May 2003 for Hamas fundraising.

If this does not count as evidence of ties to Hamas, we are not sure what does.

In a written response to us, Abu Sway denies each of these points, other than board membership on the Foundation for the Development of Society and meeting Ra'ed Salah one time.

How does one assess his denial? As one usually does in such matters, by checking a person's general credibility.

Abu Sway these days says, "I cherish the Jewish presence [in Israel] and advocate non-violence." But in the past, before he was under scrutiny, he spoke very differently:

· At a 2002 interfaith meeting in Israel, reports Christianity Today, he remarked, "to audible gasps from Jews in the audience, that he wished the state of Israel 'would disappear'."

· The Jerusalem Jewish Voice, reporting on the same meeting, recorded Abu Sway saying that he wished for "the end of the state of Israel."

· In a 2003 study published by the U.S. Institute of Peace, Abu Sway is quoted stating "To imagine shared sovereignty or dual sovereignty is not being faithful to Islamic tradition" and specifically calling for an Islamic state of Palestine to replace Israel.

The contradiction here points to a clever switching of messages as suits his needs of the moment.

Another example: speaking to an American audience via ABC News in 2002, Abu Sway deemed the Arabic term jihad "a very beautiful concept which is deep in the area of spirituality." But in his role as co-author of a Palestinian Authority textbook (available at www.edume.org), he explained to seventh graders that jihad is a military obligation that "becomes the individual religious duty of every Muslim man and woman ... if the enemy has conquered part of its land."

Should the American taxpayer honor someone credibly accused of supporting a terrorist organization with a Fulbright fellowship? Should Florida Atlantic University continue to have him teach its students?

Those students have their doubts, judging by a December 2003 memo sent by FAU Associate Dean Lynn M. Appleton in which she lamented the lack of interest in Abu Sway's course on "Islam and Politics" this semester and exhorted the faculty to recruit more bodies.

"Enrollment is small and stagnant," she wrote. "Could you put up some posters - very rapidly! ... Is there an email list of majors to which information could be sent? Let me know what you are able to do." She ends on a plaintive note, "I would hate to see the course cancelled." Her efforts succeeded; the once-endangered course now boasts 21 registered students.

The Fulbright program and Florida Atlantic University can thus congratulate themselves on promoting militant Islamic indoctrination by a man connected to terrorism.

For those less than thrilled with this class, FAU's President Frank T. Brogan can be reached at skane@fau.edu. The Fulbright program's Chair Steven J. Uhlfelder (who is a former member of the board of governors that oversees FAU) is at steve@sulaw.net.

Writes Donna Hughes in FrontPage magazine: "A measure of Islamic fundamentalists' success in controlling society is the depth and totality with which they suppress the freedom and rights of women." And since they find their justifications for suppressing the freedom and rights of women in the Sharia, this bodes ill for non-Muslims also: the freedom and rights of dhimmis are severely restricted in the Sharia as well.

A measure of Islamic fundamentalists' success in controlling society is the depth and totality with which they suppress the freedom and rights of women. In Iran for 25 years, the ruling mullahs have enforced humiliating and sadistic rules and punishments on women and girls, enslaving them in a gender apartheid system of segregation, forced veiling, second-class status, lashing, and stoning to death.

Joining a global trend, the fundamentalists have added another way to dehumanize women and girls: buying and selling them for prostitution. Exact numbers of victims are impossible to obtain, but according to an official source in Tehran, there has been a 635 percent increase in the number of teenage girls in prostitution. The magnitude of this statistic conveys how rapidly this form of abuse has grown. In Tehran, there are an estimated 84,000 women and girls in prostitution, many of them are on the streets, others are in the 250 brothels that reportedly operate in the city. The trade is also international: thousands of Iranian women and girls have been sold into sexual slavery abroad.

The head of Iran's Interpol bureau believes that the sex slave trade is one of the most profitable activities in Iran today. This criminal trade is not conducted outside the knowledge and participation of the ruling fundamentalists. Government officials themselves are involved in buying, selling, and sexually abusing women and girls.

Many of the girls come from impoverished rural areas. Drug addiction is epidemic throughout Iran, and some addicted parents sell their children to support their habits. High unemployment 28 percent for youth 15-29 years of age and 43 percent for women 15-20 years of age is a serious factor in driving restless youth to accept risky offers for work. Slave traders take advantage of any opportunity in which women and children are vulnerable. For example, following the recent earthquake in Bam, orphaned girls have been kidnapped and taken to a known slave market in Tehran where Iranian and foreign traders meet.

Popular destinations for victims of the slave trade are the Arab countries in the Persian Gulf. According to the head of the Tehran province judiciary, traffickers target girls between 13 and 17, although there are reports of some girls as young as 8 and 10, to send to Arab countries. One ring was discovered after an 18 year-old girl escaped from a basement where a group of girls were held before being sent to Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. The number of Iranian women and girls who are deported from Persian Gulf countries indicates the magnitude of the trade. Upon their return to Iran, the Islamic fundamentalists blame the victims, and often physically punish and imprison them. The women are examined to determine if they have engaged in "immoral activity." Based on the findings, officials can ban them from leaving the country again.

Police have uncovered a number of prostitution and slavery rings operating from Tehran that have sold girls to France, Britain, Turkey as well. One network based in Turkey bought smuggled Iranian women and girls, gave them fake passports, and transported them to European and Persian Gulf countries. In one case, a 16-year-old girl was smuggled to Turkey, and then sold to a 58-year-old European national for $20,000.

In the northeastern Iranian province of Khorasan, local police report that girls are being sold to Pakistani men as sex-slaves. The Pakistani men marry the girls, ranging in age from 12 to 20, and then sell them to brothels called "Kharabat" in Pakistan. One network was caught contacting poor families around Mashad and offering to marry girls. The girls were then taken through Afghanistan to Pakistan where they were sold to brothels.
In the southeastern border province of Sistan Baluchestan, thousands of Iranian girls reportedly have been sold to Afghani men. Their final destinations are unknown.

One factor contributing to the increase in prostitution and the sex slave trade is the number of teen girls who are running away from home. The girls are rebelling against fundamentalist imposed restrictions on their freedom, domestic abuse, and parental drug addictions. Unfortunately, in their flight to freedom, the girls find more abuse and exploitation. Ninety percent of girls who run away from home will end up in prostitution. As a result of runaways, in Tehran alone there are an estimated 25,000 street children, most of them girls. Pimps prey upon street children, runaways, and vulnerable high school girls in city parks. In one case, a woman was discovered selling Iranian girls to men in Persian Gulf countries; for four years, she had hunted down runaway girls and sold them. She even sold her own daughter for US$11,000.

Given the totalitarian rule in Iran, most organized activities are known to the authorities. The exposure of sex slave networks in Iran has shown that many mullahs and officials are involved in the sexual exploitation and trade of women and girls. Women report that in order to have a judge approve a divorce they have to have sex with him. Women who are arrested for prostitution say they must have sex with the arresting officer. There are reports of police locating young women for sex for the wealthy and powerful mullahs.

In cities, shelters have been set-up to provide assistance for runaways. Officials who run these shelters are often corrupt; they run prostitution rings using the girls from the shelter. For example in Karaj, the former head of a Revolutionary Tribunal and seven other senior officials were arrested in connection with a prostitution ring that used 12 to 18 year old girls from a shelter called the Center of Islamic Orientation.

Other instances of corruption abound. There was a judge in Karaj who was involved in a network that identified young girls to be sold abroad. And in Qom, the center for religious training in Iran, when a prostitution ring was broken up, some of the people arrested were from government agencies, including the Department of Justice.

The ruling fundamentalists have differing opinions on their official position on the sex trade: deny and hide it or recognize and accommodate it. In 2002, a BBC journalist was deported for taking photographs of prostitutes. Officials told her: "We are deporting you ... because you have taken pictures of prostitutes. This is not a true reflection of life in our Islamic Republic. We don't have prostitutes." Yet, earlier the same year, officials of the Social Department of the Interior Ministry suggested legalizing prostitution as a way to manage it and control the spread of HIV. They proposed setting-up brothels, called "morality houses," and using the traditional religious custom of temporary marriage, in which a couple can marry for a short period of time, even an hour, to facilitate prostitution. Islamic fundamentalists' ideology and practices are adaptable when it comes to controlling and using women.

Some may think a thriving sex trade in a theocracy with clerics acting as pimps is a contradiction in a country founded and ruled by Islamic fundamentalists. In fact, this is not a contradiction. First, exploitation and repression of women are closely associated. Both exist where women, individually or collectively, are denied freedom and rights. Second, the Islamic fundamentalists in Iran are not simply conservative Muslims. Islamic fundamentalism is a political movement with a political ideology that considers women inherently inferior in intellectual and moral capacity. Fundamentalists hate women's minds and bodies. Selling women and girls for prostitution is just the dehumanizing complement to forcing women and girls to cover their bodies and hair with the veil.

In a religious dictatorship like Iran, one cannot appeal to the rule of law for justice for women and girls. Women and girls have no guarantees of freedom and rights, and no expectation of respect or dignity from the Islamic fundamentalists. Only the end of the Iranian regime will free women and girls from all the forms of slavery they suffer.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed: a terror indictment and a visa

According to the Los Angeles Times, the mastermind of 9/11 obtained a visa just weeks before the attacks -- even though he had already been indicted by the feds for terrorist activities!

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, plot, obtained a visa to come to the United States just weeks before the attacks despite being under a federal terrorism indictment, a report by the federal commission investigating the attacks revealed Monday.

And as many as eight of the hijackers entered the country with doctored passports that contained "clues to their association with Al Qaeda" that should have been caught by immigration authorities, commission investigators said.

The newly disclosed findings challenge previous claims by top CIA and FBI officials that the hijackers' records and paperwork were so clean that they could not have aroused suspicion.

The commission also heard testimony from a U.S. customs agent who blocked the entry of a Saudi citizen investigators now believe may have been the intended 20th hijacker.

Authorities later learned that Mohamed Atta, the leader of the Al Qaeda cells that executed the Sept. 11 attacks, was at an Orlando, Fla., airport that same day -- possibly waiting to meet up with the Saudi man, Mohammed Al-Qahtani, who is now in U.S.custody.

The disclosures were included in the first set of staff reports to be issued by the commission since it opened its inquiry last year, and came during a daylong hearing devoted to immigration and intelligence-related failures by government agencies.

Government witnesses described on Monday reforms that they said have shored up serious shortcomings in border security systems, visa screenings and information-sharing among agencies responsible for generating watch lists of suspected terrorists.

But commissioners and investigators on the panel voiced concern that certain agencies have not come to grips with the magnitude of the problems that allowed Al Qaeda operatives to slip past security systems and checks.

"We are not sure that these problems have been addressed," said Philip Zelikow, executive director of the commission, referring to failures to put Al Qaeda operatives on federal watch lists. "We are not sure they are even adequately acknowledged as a problem."

In Onward Muslim Soldiers I make the modest call for sanity in the processing of visa applications. This story and others show just how important that is.

The New York Daily News recounts Customs inspector Jose Melendez-Perez's encounter with Al-Qahtani, a man officials suspect was planning to be the 20th hijacker.

A U.S. customs inspector praised for keeping the 20th hijacker in the 9/11 plot from getting into the country told Congress yesterday that the "hostile" Saudi gave him the creeps and vowed, "I'll be back." Jose Melendez-Perez told the 9/11 Commission, the panel probing the attacks on America, that he was spooked enough by the man identified only as "Al-Qahtani" to put him on a plane out of Orlando after he arrived in the U.S. from London and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with a one-way ticket and $2,800 in cash.

Al-Qahtani was dressed head-to-toe in black when he arrived on Aug. 4, 2001, a month before the Sept. 11 hijackings, Melendez-Perez said. As an interpreter grilled him about his travel plans, the "arrogant" Saudi grew visibly angry, he recalled.

"When the subject looked at me, I felt a bone-chilling, cold effect," he added.

He wondered if the Saudi was "possibly a hit man - but my wife said I've been watching too many movies."

When Al-Qahtani was ordered deported, he "turned and said in English something to the effect of, 'I'll be back.'"

Arriving the same day in the same Orlando airport, officials said, was lead hijacker Mohamed Atta. While Melendez-Perez did the right thing, commission officials said, "at least two and as many as eight" of the 19 other hijackers' papers, including Atta's, "showed evidence of fraudulent manipulation" that went undetected.

"This is an example of how a well-trained and alert inspector performed admirably in refusing admission to the United States of an individual who should not have gained entry," said Richard Ben-Veniste, a Democratic commission member and former Watergate prosecutor.

"If everyone was as professional as you were, the Sept. 11 attacks would not have taken place," former chief Navy John Lehman, a commission member, told Melendez-Perez.

Incredibly, FBI agents investigating the 9/11 attacks never interviewed Melendez-Perez. An FBI source told the Daily News that Melendez-Perez escaped the bureau's attention because agents instead interviewed Al-Qahtani at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he has been held since his capture in Afghanistan in late 2001.

The FBI concluded in July 2002 he was probably supposed to be the fifth hijacker aboard United Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania. The FBI source added that Melendez-Perez may soon be debriefed.

The commission, whose chairman is former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, a Republican, also revealed yesterday that 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed used a fake identity to obtain a visa on July 23, 2001, but did not use it. The congressional 9/11 inquiry previously reported that Mohammed, busted a year ago in Pakistan, visited the U.S. as late as May 2001.

The panel is looking at government agency failures across the spectrum relating to 9/11. Today, it is set to look at airline safety.

Muslims in Great Britain are asking for greater representation in the House of Lords, based on the apparent fact that there are more practicing Muslims in Britain today than practicing Anglicans. This from the Hindustan Times, with thanks to the many who sent this to me:

More people in Britain attend mosques than the Church of England. It is for the first time that Muslims have overtaken Anglicans. According to figures 930,000 Muslims attend a place of worship at least once a week, whereas only 916,000 Anglicans do the same. Muslim leaders are now claiming that, given such a rise of Islam in Britain, Muslims should receive a share of the privileged status of the Church of England.

A spokesman for David Hope, the Archbishop of York, second in the church hierarchy, said the archbishop had conceded defeat, but added: "He believes that many more people have an affinity to the church than the number recorded as having attended once on a Sunday." The figures were compiled from government and academic resources.

According to the 2001 census, three-quarters of the British population regards itself as Christian. Although there are no registers kept at mosques regarding attendance, but the census had included a question about religious adherence. Those figures have been further supported by surveys to give the first assessment of worshipping Muslims.

Although the census recorded 1.59 million Muslims but Ceri Peach, professor of social geography at Oxford University said the census could not record the correct balance because the question was voluntary. Academics believe the figure to be at least 1.8 million.

Tariq Modood, a professor of sociology at Bristol University has found that 62 per cent of Muslims pray in places of worship. The figure, after excluding young children, most of whom do not worship in mosques, is about 930,000. The figure is said to underestimate the number of practising Muslims. Many, it is said, pray at home.

Immigration from Eastern Europe and conversions are believed to be adding to the number of Muslims. Lord Ahmad Patel, a Labour peer said 10 extra seats should be allocated to other religions. The Church of England has 26 seats in the House of Lords. However, the recent figures do not include Catholics. The Catholic church has 1.5 million British worshippers.

MEMRI reports that "the online magazine 'The Voice of Jihad,' which is published by Al-Qa'ida members in Saudi Arabia and describes itself as a 'biweekly dealing with Jihad and the Mujahideen in the Arabian Peninsula,' devoted its ninth issue to two main subjects: Osama bin Laden's most recent speech, excerpts of which were broadcast on Al-Jazeera television, and the ongoing debate in Al-Qa'ida over attacks in Saudi Arabia."

This issue illuminates the plans and thinking of these terrorists -- as well as their continued use of Islamic theology and law to explain and justify their actions. By this method they gain recruits among young Muslims who are impressed by the implication that only they are the true, loyal Muslims who are fulfilling all of the Qur'an's commands.

A few highlights:

A New Communiqué: 'Young Mujahideen Seek Martyrdom As You Seek Life'

This issue of The Voice of Jihad features a communiqué dated January 20, 2004, written by Sheikh Abdallah Al-Rashoud. In it, Sheikh Al-Rashoud presents arguments opposing Islamist Sheikhs who have expressed disapproval of Al-Qa'ida attacks in Saudi Arabia, saying: "... Today the House of Saud is doing everything it can to fulfill the Crusaders' demands and disarm the people of the Arabian Peninsula.

"This is another chapter in the deceitful series by the triple axis of corruption - the Jews, the Crusaders, and the House of Saud - whose aim is to bring the people of the Arabian Peninsula into a vicious cycle of weakness in a way that will affect their struggle with the occupying invaders, so that when they want to defend their religion and their honor, they will find nothing but stones and curses...

"Know you, House of Saud and your soldiers: Among the young Mujahideen of the Arabian Peninsula are those who seek martyrdom as you seek life. Many of them are awaiting today to carry out martyrdom operations, with the aim of fulfilling their obligation and dying... The throne of the House of Saud is on the rim of the volcano under which the pot is boiling..."

Commentary on Bin Laden's Speech: 'Anticipate a Large-Scale Attack In U.S.'

Excerpts from Osama bin Laden's most recent speech are posted, followed by commentary by one of the leading ideologues of Al-Qa'ida in Saudi Arabia, "Louis Attiya Allah" (an alias) . . .

"... I sense that the Sheikh wishes to make us understand that what he is warning us of are actually events that he sees in his mind's eye which will take place in the near future. Therefore, the Sheikh presented, for the first time in all his speeches, two issues: the issue of a Majlis Al-Hal wa Al-Aqd [Authoritative Council] and the issue of the Imam. I can almost swear that the Sheikh presented these two issues only because he anticipates the total collapse of the situation and the fall of regimes in the region as a result of some future events in which he and Al-Qa'ida will play a role...

"The issue of a Majlis Al-Hal wa Al-Aqd and the issue of the Imam" relate to the restoration of the caliphate. Osama and Co. want to unify the Islamic world under a single military/religious leader, who will wage offensive jihad against the West. This is just a pipe dream, but it is relevant because these groups are willing to commit violence to make it a reality.

"In this speech, Sheikh Osama looked like someone appealing directly to the clerics and the preachers who signed the communiqué [against] changing the school curriculum [in Saudi Arabia]... It is as if the Sheikh is saying to them: I am with you. I agree that America wants to eradicate our identity and remove our religion from us. But I criticize the thinking of some of you that any vestige of good remains in these rulers, or that they seek good and aspire to obtain it. . . .

"The Sheikh expects that the U.S. will directly attack the oil sources and will declare their occupation. This situation will lead to a total collapse of the regimes in the region... Anyone interested in correcting the situation of the [Muslim] nation must be prepared for this situation by establishing a council of clerics and preachers that will deal with the anticipated total collapse.

"In order to avoid anyone claiming that the Mujahideen are acting without taking into account the situation of the [Muslim] nation and without warning it, the Sheikh conveyed a hidden message, in which he told these preachers and clerics: You need to realize that these rulers are too contemptible to defend land, honor, and religion.

"We continue on our path and in our Jihad against America. We continue to strike at America and we expect that our next blow will cause the collapse of the situation [in Saudi Arabia] due to the vengeful response, the first result of which will be the direct occupation of the oil sources and America's entrance [into Saudi Arabia] with the aim of changing the situation from its foundations.

"Therefore, you must prepare and anticipate this scenario. The responsibility and the mighty obligation expressed by establishing the Authoritative Council that will crown an Imam from among the Muslims who will manage the affairs of the direct confrontation with the Crusaders is incumbent upon you . . .

Reem Raiyshi and her son (AP, via LGF)

Reem Raiyshi, the young Palestinian mother who murdered four people in a suicide attack last week, is being viewed as less than heroic by many Palestinians. This from the Philadelphia Inquirer, with thanks to Jean-Luc:

Wind whipped a chilly Gaza street, kicking up dust around Um Zayad, a Palestinian mother of four, as she shivered red-cheeked beneath a billowing black robe and wrinkled her nose in disapproval.

A few days earlier, another Gaza mother had feigned a limp as she approached an Israeli army checkpoint and was escorted inside a building for a security inspection. She blew herself up, also killing three soldiers and a security guard in yet another act of self-proclaimed martyrdom.

"It's true, we should defend our country," Zayad said, reacting to the Jan. 14 attack. "But I prefer to raise my kids. Women can also be fighters, but not women who have children to raise."

The latest bombing - the seventh by a Palestinian woman since September 2000 - touched a nerve inside a society that normally celebrates the bombers as heroes. This time, as pride gave way to bitterness, many Palestinians expressed shock that Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, which took joint responsibility for the attack, would send a mother to her death, leaving two toddlers behind.

"Did she think about her children before she did this?" asked Um Wasim, another Gaza mother, rushing home last week from a secretarial job. "People are criticizing her because there really is no excuse for this."

In a farewell videotape replete with Hamas banners and weapons, Reem Salah al-Raiyshi, 22, said she chose jihad - holy struggle - over motherhood, because she always wanted to turn her body into shrapnel that would kill Israelis.

"God gave me two children, and I loved them so much," she said. "But my wish to meet God in paradise is greater, so I decided to be a martyr for the sake of my people."

Dressed in a green Hamas bandana and cradling an assault rifle, Raiyshi told the camera she was confident God would provide for her 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son.

Hamas staged a high-profile funeral. Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the group's spiritual leader, praised Raiyshi as the first Hamas woman in a coming onslaught.

But in a departure from tradition, Raiyshi's brother Ayman spoke out immediately against his sister's mission and the militants who dispatched her. "This destroys our life, our work and our future," he told a Chicago Tribune interviewer. "It never occurred to us that she would do such a thing. If she had mentioned it, I would have prevented her, because of the children."

Raiyshi's relative Yusef Awad also condemned her act, saying her suicide detracted from the Palestinian national movement.

"The greatest jihad is raising your children," he told the Tribune.

Surveys show a majority of Palestinians, especially those in the Gaza Strip, where the Islamic resistance group Hamas holds sway, support suicide bombings as a response to Israel's occupation of Gaza and West Bank lands. In the last three years, there have been dozens of such bombings that have killed hundreds of Israelis.

In recent weeks, however, more Palestinians have publicly questioned the bombings.

In the West Bank, criticism was voiced this month after Islamic Jihad operatives sent Iyad al-Masri, 17, on a suicide mission to avenge the killing of his brother Amjad, 15, who collapsed in his arms Jan. 3 after being shot by Israeli troops in a Nablus raid.

Detonating his explosives in an attempted attack on an Israeli patrol, Iyad Masri killed only himself on Jan. 11.

"It was wrong to send him to his death at a time when we were still mourning his brother. They must reconsider their tactics," Masri's father, Bilal, told Reuters.

Even among Palestinian media not known for publishing such criticisms, the issue has come to the fore.

Citing the possibility "of a strategic change in peoples' perception of such attacks," daily al-Ayyam columnist Hassan al-Batal praised the courage of the Raiyshi and Masri families for speaking out.

The Israeli daily Haaretz last week cited unnamed Hamas sources as saying the use of a female suicide bomber, even though the group had previously said a woman had no place in such attacks, was part of a larger power struggle within the organization over the next leader of Hamas' political bureau, based in Damascus, Syria.

Yassin, Hamas' spiritual leader, wants to play a pivotal role in selecting the bureau's next chief. But in talks brokered by Egypt recently, he entertained the idea of a tactical lull in attacks on Israelis. For that reason, a Hamas source told Haaretz, Yassin was perceived by "external Hamas," those not in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, as too moderate.

"Now Yassin has to prove to the external Hamas that he's just as tough as they are," the source said. Using a mother to mount the next wave of attacks was a chilling way to send that message.

Last week Aissa Dermouche's car was blown up. This week a school he used to head was bombed. Why? Reports on the car bombing suggested that it is all because Dermouche, a Muslim, supports France's headscarf ban. Now evidently that explanation has gone down the memory hole. In any case, welcome to the new France. This from AP:

An explosion early Sunday damaged a business school formerly headed by a Muslim who was recently appointed a top administrator in France. The man's car was bombed a week ago.

Police immediately cordoned off the area around the Audencia school and opened an investigation. The explosion damaged a door and some windows of the school.

Prosecutor Jean-Marie Huet said on LCI television that authorities were looking into whether the two blasts were linked. Lab experts were sent to this western city from Paris to determine whether material used in the 6:15 a.m. blast was the same as that used to destroy the car of Aissa Dermouche.

Dermouche, 57, born in Algeria, was named to the prestigious post of prefect, the state's highest representative of a region, on Jan. 14 by President Jacques Chirac. He is the first person of Muslim origin to be appointed to the post.

Four days later, his car, parked on a street near his home, was blown up.

Dermouche's appointment was a major event in France, which is struggling to integrate its Muslim citizens, a population estimated at some 5 million — the largest in Western Europe.

Investigators have not discovered yet who blew up Dermouche's car. They explored the possibility of personal revenge, detaining three people connected to Dermouche's ex-wife. However, the three were released on Thursday.

Ziad Khoury, a deputy prefect of the Loire Atlantique, the western France region where Nantes is located, said that there apparently were no witnesses to the explosion at Audencia, a well known business school headed by Dermouche until he was named a prefect.

I have long maintained that a great deal can be discovered about the motives and goals of radical Islamic terrorists by studying Islamic religious sources — an idea which most people, particularly those in positions of influence, continue to disregard. But here is more evidence of its truth: Hamas is proposing a 10-year truce in exchange for Israel's withdrawal to its 1967 borders. What is the thinking behind this offer? Is it a generous-minded attempt to restore peace and stability to the region? After all, after ten years of giving peace a chance it will be hard to resume hostilities, won't it?

Maybe it will, but Hamas's offer is actually in full accord with Islamic tradition and law. The Shafi'i school of Muslim jurisprudence, which is influential among Hamas members, teaches that "if Muslims are weak, a truce may be made for ten years if necessary, for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) made a truce with the Quraysh for that long, as is related by Abu Dawud" ('Umdat as-Salik, o9.16).

Note that this can only be done if "Muslims are weak." The same legal manual also quotes this verse of the Qur'an: "So do not be fainthearted and call for peace, when it is you who are the uppermost" (Sura 47:35). So it isn't likely that Hamas would be calling for a truce at all if it felt that it was in a position of strength. "Interests that justify making a truce are such things as Muslim weakness because of lack of numbers or materiel, or the hope of an enemy becoming Muslim . . ." ('Umdat as-Salik, o9.16).

The bottom line: Hamas is feeling the heat and wants a truce in order to regroup and emerge in a stronger position. The story is from Al-Bawaba, with thanks to the many who sent it to me:

A senior Hamas official has said the movement could declare a 10-year truce with Israel if the Jewish state pulled out from territory occupied since 1967.

Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi told Reuters late Sunday that Hamas had reached the conclusion that it was "difficult to liberate all our land at this stage, so we accept a phased liberation."

"We accept a state in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. We propose a 10-year truce in return for [Israeli] withdrawal and the establishment of a state," he told the agency in a telephone interview from the Gaza Strip.

At least he's honest. The acceptance of a state on these terms is just part of a "phased liberation" which he still hopes will encompass "all our land" -- i.e., all of Israel. This is no two-state solution.

Rantissi said that any such new proposal would not mean that Hamas recognized Israel or indicate the end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Rantissi conveyed the truce could last 10 years, though "not more than 10 years."

Why not more than ten years? "It is not permissible to stipulate longer than that . . ." ('Umdat as-Salik, o9.16).

Furthermore, Rantissi said discussion within Hamas on accepting a state in just the West Bank and Gaza was not new, but that "the movement has taken a decision on this."

Moreover, Rantissi said he did not expect Israel to respond favorably to the new suggestion, "when it has rejected the Palestinian Authority's offer for less land than what we are proposing."

Last week I posted a piece about jihadis spreading their message through pop songs in Iraq. Now the terrorist top 40's jihad jingles have spread to the U.S. and Canada:

Pro-jihadi activists in North America, including U.S. and Canadian citizens, use Arab pop stars as a tool to disseminate their propaganda, reports the premium online intelligence newsletter Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

At the top of the list of pop stars and artists recommended by the militants is the Egyptian song writer Sha'ban Abed al-Rahim. The songs imported into the U.S. include praise of attacks against the U.S. and even justification of the Sept. 11 massacre claiming, "listen people, it was only a tower. I swear by Allah that they, the U.S., are the ones who pulled it down."

Other songs by the same artist and some by other performers ridicule the U.S. war against terrorism, the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Jews in general.

One of those highly successful lyrics in Egypt describes the U.S. road map to peace as a road map to destruction. The song called "Kharittat al-Tariq" means "The road map," uses idioms portraying President George Bush as a liar, claiming that with Israeli help the U.S. is turning the whole world into a jungle.

Audio cassettes and CDs with such hate songs are imported into Canada and the U.S. as cultural items. They can be found in corner stores in predominantly Muslim neighborhoods in major U.S. cities, in mosques and on Internet radio networks.

Customs officials say there is no ruling whether to search for such material and other propaganda tools, suggesting it is impossible for customs officers to read and understand labels of hate material printed in Arabic.

Not only that but experts on homeland security and on the Patriot Act caution the issue could be dragged for years through U.S. and Canadian legal systems because promoters of terrorism will claim freedom of speech.

Abd Al-Rahim's new album recently was reviewed in the Cairo Times.

The song describes how "America is the spitting image of Israel and it carries out its desires, making the world into a 'jungle.' But it does not stop at that point. Abd Al-Rahim goes on to boldly sing that the USA is the perpetrator of the September 11th attacks," reports the Cairo paper.

"Al-Rahim further sings that they purposely did it to make people think that Arabs and Muslims are terrorists and were behind that disaster. Now the U.S. can do what it pleases to the Arab world since everyone thinks they are to blame."

The song also mentions President Bush, quoting from some of his speeches. One line states, "Sometimes [Bush] says Iran and sometimes he says Syria," and "He shortens his speech if someone says Korea."

Al-Rahim's chief songwriter, who previously wrote hits entitled, "I Hate Israel" and "Striking Iraq," penned the road map song.

"The album includes another nine songs that reflect the mood of the Egyptian street... Despite the fact that the album has not been released yet, the road map song has been a success on the music scene. Abd Al-Rahim has been doing publicity for his new song by singing it at wedding parties and in TV interviews," the Cairo Times reported.

One fan named Muhammad, who has memorized the lyrics of "Road Map," said, "To me, this is the first public and daring accusation made against America concerning the September 11th attacks, and the song will soon be the No. 1 hit in the Arab world."

The President is saying that a senior member of Al-Qaeda has been caught. This just in from AP:

The minister in charge of Iraqi police said Monday that al-Qaida was probably behind some suicide bombings in Iraq, and President Bush praised the capture of a senior member of Osama bin Laden's network.

"There is a presence of al-Qaida in this country. We've announced that directly and indirectly," Interior Minister Nouri Badran said.

"A lot of the suicide attacks have the fingerprints of the crimes committed by al-Qaida," he added. Asked if al-Qaida is operating in Iraq, he said: "Yes, it is."

But he provided no evidence to back his claim. There was no immediate comment from U.S. military commanders.

During a visit to Little Rock, Ark., on Monday, Bush said Hassan Ghul was captured in Iraq last week.

"He was a killer. He was moving money and messages around South Asia and the Middle East to other al-Qaida leaders. He was a part of this network of haters that we're dismantling," Bush said.

Iraq has witnessed a number of devastating suicide vehicle attacks since the ouster of Saddam Hussein's regime in April — attacks aimed at both coalition forces and their Iraqi allies.

A few non-Iraqi Arab and foreign fighters have been detained or killed in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad, but coalition forces have been reluctant to clearly say if they were part of or directly linked to al-Qaida.

Muhammad Atta shouldn't have gotten into the United States at all. This from AP:

A border agent said Monday that the suspected ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks raised enough red flags at customs — including having the wrong student visa — that he should been prevented from entering the United States.

Customs agent Jose E. Melendez-Perez, testifying at a public hearing on border and aviation security, said lead hijacker Mohamed Atta's age and impeccable clothes also appeared to contradict his story about being a student.

"I would have recommended refusal," Melendez-Perez said.

Atta's improper entry is one of a series of errors by government officials prior to Sept. 11 that could have prevented the attacks, an independent commission investigating the terrorist attacks said Monday in releasing new details about the attack.

Some of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were allowed into the country despite carrying fraudulent visas and being questioned by customs agents, the commission said.

For example, hijacker Saeed al Ghamdi was referred to immigration inspection officials in June 2001 after he provided no address on his customs form and only had a one-way plane ticket and about $500. But al Ghamdi was able to persuade the inspector that he was a tourist.

"Our government did not fully exploit al-Qaida's travel vulnerabilities," the commission said at the start of a two-day public hearing on border and aviation security.

Investigators say at least two and as many as eight of the hijackers had fraudulent visas. They also found that at least six of the hijackers violated immigration laws by overstaying their visas or failing to attend the English language school for which their visas were issued.

The commission said part of the problem was a lack of coordination among immigration officials and a focus on keeping out illegal immigrants rather than keeping out potential terrorists.

Melendez-Perez, who spoke at Monday's hearing, stopped a man identified by federal officials only as al-Qahtani at Florida's Orlando International Airport in late August 2001. The agent said he became suspicious when al-Qahtani provided only vague answers about what he was doing in the United States.

U.S. officials then put al-Qahtani on a plane back to Saudi Arabia. He wound up in Afghanistan, where he was captured by U.S. forces. He now is being held with other captives at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"This is an example of how a well-trained and alert INS inspector performed admirably in refusing admission to the United States of an individual who should not have gained entry," said Richard Ben-Veniste, a Democratic commission member and former Watergate prosecutor.

Islamic law forbids Muslims to kill fellow Muslims intentionally. This is based on a Qur'anic verse: "If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein forever" (Sura 4:93). But unbelievers have no such protection. This from Reuters:

A young Islamic militant accused of involvement in last year's bombing of a U.S.-run hotel in Indonesia told a court Monday he had targeted Americans and regretted that all but one of those killed were his countrymen. Prosecutors charged Mohamad Rais, 28, with helping to organize the Aug. 5 bombing of the JW Marriott hotel that killed 12 people, including a Dutch man, and wounded 150. He faces the death penalty if convicted.

"I'm remorseful because Muslims became victims. The ones who I targeted were Americans. Now I have to be accountable because I was indeed involved in the Marriott bombing," he told the court.

Rais, whose hearing began Monday, is only the second suspect to go on trial over the Jakarta attack in which militants detonated a bomb-laden car in front of the hotel lobby.

The prosecution also said Rais had been a messenger of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

After a two-year training stint in Afghanistan, Rais returned home in 2001 with a message from bin Laden for the Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, who authorities say was leader of the Jemaah Islamiah group they blame for the Marriot blast.

"Bin Laden offered Abu Bakar Bashir to go to Afghanistan if it is believed the conditions in Indonesia are no longer feasible for Abu Bakar Bashir to stay," state prosecutor Andi Herman said.

The prosecutor said Rais delivered the message to Bashir on September 13, 2001.

The 65-year-old Bashir was arrested after bomb attacks on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali in October 2002 and sentenced to four years in prison last September for taking parts in acts of treason.

An appeals court later acquitted him of the treason charges and reduced his sentence to three years.

The judge adjourned the proceedings against Rais until February 4.

The trial of the first defendant in the Marriot bombing case began in November in Bengkulu on the island of Sumatra. The man, Sardono Siliwangi, is accused of storing the explosives used in the blast.

A strange episode in Texas: a Middle Eastern man was photographing a chemical site. When confronted by a guard, he pulled a gun and fired.

While FBI, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs, the U.S. Coast Guard, state police and local law enforcement sources are publicly downplaying terrorism fears in the shooting of a guard at a BASF Corp. ammonia terminal in Freeport, Texas, some of those same sources are telling Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, off the record, they strongly suspect the guard stumbled into a terrorism reconnaissance operation.

The FBI, state and local law enforcement are all involved in investigating the incident Friday night on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The gunman, described as a dark-complexioned, mustachioed man with dark hair and a thick Middle Eastern accent and a 5 o'clock shadow, was driving a white, club cab, half-ton Chevrolet pickup with black trim at the bottom and dark-tinted windows. The truck had no front license plate.

Robbie House, the guard, questioned the driver of the truck about why he was in the vicinity of a large, multi-story ammonia tank. He told police the truck driver explained that he was taking pictures of it. When the guard turned to radio for help, the driver pulled out a handgun and shot House in the shoulder. . . .

G2B sources say a mysterious armada of al-Qaida ships has been purchased to target, among other things, civilian ports, cruise ships and oil rigs.

House was listed in good condition today at an area hospital where he was recovering from the gunshot wound to the shoulder.

Chemical plants and refineries have tightened security since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks for fear they may be targets in a future attack. Ammonia can be explosive when mixed with air. In addition, it should be noted that BASF is the second largest producer in the world of ammonium sulfate, a fertilizer with explosive tendencies.

The Ludwigshafen, Germany-based BASF is one of the world's largest chemical manufacturers. The Freeport complex includes 16 plants, including an ammonia plant next to the deepwater cargo port. The facility produces adhesives, super absorbers, paints, nylons and plastics.

"We don't believe we have any kind of a terrorist threat or that there was any way any kind of a terrorist planning or organization was going on with what occurred last night," said Bob Doguim of the FBI's Houston office immediately following the attack.

But other law-enforcement sources say common sense dictates that, in this case, with this extraordinary set of circumstances, "terrorism is everyone's first guess."

One law enforcement source said the signs point to this incident being a "terrorist reconnaissance operation."

"There are no signs of any explosives," he said. "There are no signs of any renegade ships in the area. But there is a strong likelihood this shooter and any companions that may have been with him were scoping out a possible target for terrorism."

More in the International Herald Tribune about how Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan has failed to stop Islamic radicalism in the Muslim schools. (Thanks to "Allah.")

Addressing a joint session of the Pakistan Parliament this month, President Pervez Musharraf appealed to the Pakistani people to “wage a jihad against extremism" and said his government “would ensure that those individuals or groups involved in sectarianism and terrorism are completely eradicated from Pakistan."

A few days earlier, Musharraf had promised Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India that he would tackle extremism and indicated that he would negotiate flexibly on Kashmir. These are encouraging promises, but a look at the record of the past two years gives reason to wonder whether Musharraf will keep them.

In January 2002, Musharraf gave a televised speech promising to combat extremism. One aim was to bring all of Pakistan's madrasas, or Islamic schools, into the mainstream. Many now cultivate radical thinking and act as recruiting and indoctrination centers for jihadi terrorists.

Declaring that no institutions in Pakistan would be above the law, Musharraf's government promised that it would register all madrasas to obtain a clear idea of which groups were running which schools, insist that all madrasas adopt a government curriculum by the end of 2002, and stop madrasas and mosques from being used as centers for the spread of politically and religiously inflammatory statements and publications.

Two years later, no presidential ordinance to regulate madrasas has been promulgated, and the government openly assures the clergy that it will not interfere in madrasas' internal affairs. Most madrasas in Pakistan remain unregistered.

The Pakistan Madrasa Education Board, established in August 2001 to oversee the schools, has so far only distributed questionnaires to obtain voluntary information. It lacks the authority to enforce registration. With such a limited mandate, it is more a cosmetic measure to address international concern about Pakistan's religious schools than a mechanism to regulate their functioning.

No national curriculum has been developed for the madrasas. The board has set up three “model madrasas” teaching government-approved versions of the standard madrasa course along with subjects like mathematics, general science, computers and English. But together these three schools have only about 300 students, while as many as 1.5 million students attend unregulated madrasas.

Most important, Musharraf has yet to curb the abuse of madrasas and mosques by religious extremists. During the 2002 national elections, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, or MMA, an umbrella group of six religious parties, used these institutions for its anti-American and pro-Taliban campaign. Some mullahs, including leaders of political parties that Musharraf has banned, continue to use them to propagate an extremist Islamic agenda.

Musharraf's failure to rein in the madrasas is just one part of his failure to scale back jihadi culture generally. The government has done very little to implement tougher controls on financing of madrasas and extremist groups despite obligations under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373. It even removed the issue of terrorism funding from draft regulations on money laundering.

There is also no evidence of any focused and systematic campaign against homegrown extremists. The government has, it is true, apprehended foreigners with links to Al Qaeda and turned them over to U.S. authorities, but Al Qaeda was only officially banned in Pakistan in March 2003. In his time in power, Musharraf has concentrated hardest on legitimizing and consolidating his military-backed rule. The government has been hesitant to take any step against the religious right because it has needed the MMA's support in Parliament for measures supporting its rule.

But the price Pakistan pays for this dependence on the religious extreme is rising extremist power and sectarian violence at home, including the assassination attempts against the president himself in December. Should Musharraf fail, once again, to do what must be done to eliminate hatred, sectarianism and terrorism in Pakistan, his policies will make his country and the world more dangerous.

The writer is South Asia project director for the International Crisis Group, an organization that works to prevent and resolve conflicts.

International jihad news: a Canadian citizen who went to Afghanistan to wage jihad has been confirmed dead. This from AP, with thanks to Jean-Luc:

Pakistani authorities have confirmed that Egyptian-born Canadian citizen Ahmed Said Khadr was killed during a raid last year against suspected terrorists in the country's tense border region, officials said today.

Khadr died in the October raids where eight Al Qaeda suspects were killed and 18 others captured after fierce fighting, said army spokesman Maj.-Gen. Shaukat Sultan. Two Pakistani soldiers also died in the operation.

Genetic testing confirming Khadr's identity was only completed in the last few days, said Sultan, noting that Khadr had been named on a list of alleged terrorists wanted by U.S. authorities.

Khadr had been arrested in Pakistan in 1995 after the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad was bombed, but he was later released. His son Abdurahman -- a Canadian held prisoner at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and freed in October -- has said Khadr helped raise money for charitable causes in Afghanistan and wasn't connected to terrorism.

Abdurahman Khadr had said in Canada last month that his brother Omar also was being held at Guantanamo, and he called for his release.

Another brother, 14-year-old Abdullah Khadr, was badly wounded last fall in a gunfight with Pakistani forces. Pakistani authorities told Ottawa this week that he is being held in the town of Rawalpind.

Officials from the Canadian Embassy in Islamabad met with Abdullah Khadr early this week, and a Foreign Affairs spokesman said Canadian authorities have been in contact with his family in Pakistan.

Abdullah Khadr, the youngest son of Ahmed Said Khadr, is the third of his children to be taken into custody by forces fighting terrorism. He was injured last fall during a raid by Pakistani forces hunting for Al Qaeda and Taliban suspects along the Afghanistan border.

Earlier this month, Pakistan launched another major operation in the border region against suspected foreign terrorists seeking shelter in the rugged area neighbouring Afghanistan. Remnants of the ousted Taliban regime and Al Qaeda have launched repeated assaults in Afghanistan since a U.S.-led coalition forced the Taliban from power in late 2001.

Sarwat Husain of the San Antonio chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) insists that "Islam is compatible with tolerance, democracy, personal rights and equality before the law." Characteristically for CAIR, she intolerantly tars courageous and decent men such as Daniel Pipes and Steven Emerson as bigots -- but she never acknowledges that numerous Muslim voices in Iraq and around the world are loudly saying that Islam is not compatible with tolerance and democracy. Nor, of course, does she have anything to say about the numerous ways that traditional Islamic law denies personal rights and equality before the law to non-Muslims and women.

It would be refreshing for a Muslim commentator to deal with genuine questions about Islam's compatibility with Western notions of human rights head-on instead of denying that they exist and charging those who raise them with bigotry. After all, it was a Muslim, the Iranian Sufi Sheikh Tabandeh, who wrote a book-length critique of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Islamic grounds. I suppose he was a bigot also? This from MySa, with thanks to Nicolei:

As the Hajj season draws millions of Muslim pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, it is instructive to look in that direction and see what has come from there.

Islam influenced the Enlightenment in Europe, just as the Protestant Reformation did. Science, math, international finance, even the English language itself have been shaped by the world of Islam.

The region also yielded Abraham, the patriarch of Islam and two other monotheistic faiths, Christianity and Judaism.

With all of this in common, there can be no clash of civilizations, but you couldn't tell that from listening to some in the American media, including those who claim to be scholars.

Nor could you tell it listening to innumerable radical imams around the world. It is they who are making this into an explicit clash of civilizations, between Islamic Sharia and Western secular republicanism.

As James I. Smith, author of "Islam in America" says, "The growth of Islam during the early centuries of its existence was a difficult phenomenon for Western Christianity to comprehend, and misunderstanding, prejudice, fear and in some cases hatred have characterized much of the history of encounters between the two faiths."

One can understand this misunderstanding, prejudice, fear and hatred among uneducated groups of the West. But what about the educated?

Extremists such as Middle East commentator and author Daniel Pipes, terrorism expert Steve Emerson and preachers Pat Robinson and Jerry Vines should know better. As leaders and scholars in their own respective fields, instead of promoting hatred and misunderstanding, it is their obligation to teach their audiences the truth.

Shame on Ms. Husain for promoting hatred and misunderstanding instead of thoughtfully engaging what Pipes and Emerson (as well as Robertson and Vines) have really said.

The truth is that Islam is compatible with tolerance, democracy, personal rights and equality before the law.

When I look at the 1400-year history of the institutionalized oppression of the dhimmis under Islamic law, I have some trouble with this. I have even more trouble when I see that dhimmitude is a live concept that radical Muslims will happily institute wherever and whenever they can. What is Ms. Husain doing about that?

It is their responsibility to say that there is no clash among Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Until they do, it is up to their fellow citizens to stand against the prejudice, hatred and intolerance these extremists promote.

When moderate Americans remain silent, the extremists carry on.

Indeed. That's why I started Jihad Watch.

Moderate Americans must ask themselves: How can the second-largest religion, followed by one fifth of the population of the world, be terroristic, uncivilized, ignorant and a threat to the West and world peace?

Islam's 1.3 billion people live in all corners of the world, so there must be something inherently profound for it to reach that far and last more than 1,400 years.

The very meaning of Islam is peace and submission to God.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy understood this call to moderate America. In December 1999, he said, "I hope that in the next century we will come to terms with our abysmal ignorance of the Muslim world.

"Muslims aren't a bunch of wackos and nuts. They are decent, brilliant, talented people with a great civilization and traditions of their own, including legal traditions.

"America knows nothing about them. There are people in that part of the world with whom we are simply out of touch. That is a great challenge for the next century."

That next century is here. Let each one of us get actively engaged in learning about and cherishing the best in each other.

I'm ready when you are, Ms. Husain. But let us have an honest exchange, free of personal smears and distortions of Islamic theology, history, and present-day radicalism.

Barbara Amiel in the Telegraph frames the hijab debate in France in the same way that I framed it here last week: "The question is not whether French and Muslims can co-exist with each other so long as Muslim schoolgirls are bareheaded. Rather, it is the fundamental question of whether Muslim groups will become part of the French nation." (Thanks to Filtrat.)

France, wrote Luigi Barzini, wouldn't be the great and endearing country that it is, la lumière du monde, if its quarrelsome people had not been "moulded down the centuries by antagonisms and tensions between tribes, clans, cliques, classes, coteries, guilds, camarillas, sects, parties, factions, regions..." The French are ever at the barricades.

Last week the barricades were at the prime minister's office, the Matignon, where the government was discussing the awkward business of France's proposed new law designed to ban the Muslim headscarf from schools. The Bill, portentously named "Application of the Principle of Secularity", will go to the National Assembly on Wednesday, with a peppy addition to ban beards from schools as well.

Dominique de Villepin, the foreign minister, gravely explained that the law is not aimed at any particular minority, community or religion, though there is, he said, some difficulty in making the essential tolerance of it clear to Arab countries.

Domenica Perben, the justice minister, felt the whole thrust of the issue revolved around the equality of men and women - which clears up why the French may be forcibly shaving prematurely mature Sikh schoolboys: they are a gender offset for de-scarfed female Muslims.

France is facing the problem that dare not speak its name. Though French law prohibits the census from any reference to ethnic background or religion, many demographers estimate that as much as 20-30 per cent of the population under 25 is now Muslim. The streets, the traditional haunt of younger people, now belong to Muslim youths. In France, the phrase "les jeunes" is a politically correct way of referring to young Muslims.

Given current birth rates, it is not impossible that in 25 years France will have a Muslim majority. The consequences are dynamic: is it possible that secular France might become an Islamic state?

The situation is not dissimilar elsewhere in the EU. Europeans may at some young point in the 21st century have to decide whether they wish to retain the diluted but traditional Judaeo-Christian culture of their minority or have it replaced by the Islamic culture of the majority.

In theory, the cultural and legal assimilation of Europe's Muslims would be the ideal. This was supposed to be the notion behind the vision of the French interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, of a "French church of Islam" with homegrown imams.

But knowledgeable observers say his "moderate" Council of Muslims has made radical Islam the government-sanctioned norm for all Muslims.

For Islamists, assimilation is contamination since, in Professor Bernard Lewis's words, "Muslims must not sojourn in the land of the infidel". Intermarriage should be another route to assimilation, though in France this usually involves an Islamic male and often the wife converts to Islam.

Meanwhile, the state of Christendom in France is perilous. Catholics may not have reached the secular nirvana of the Church of England's working party that declared the Sunday Sabbath redundant, but French Catholicism, except for little pools of the faithful, is taken with the notion that their Church will be borne forward only if the next Pope is ready to "dialogue" with Islam - a code word that augurs dilution of the faith.

Currently, Islamists are only a fraction of France's Muslim population. In last week's demonstrations against the headscarf law, only 20,000 people turned out. But as in all radical movements, the young are the driving force. As their numbers increase, the militancy of Islam is likely to increase as well.

Europe's chickens are coming home to roost. The Great Powers used the Commonwealth or La Francophonie to continue the fiction of Empire. Large numbers of people were admitted mainly from North Africa.

The borders of mainland France seemed extended to include Algeria. Guest workers arrived to satisfy needs for cheap labour. Unloved by their host country, they were marginalised in shabby living conditions, with no attempt made to assimilate them. Political refugees and asylum seekers moved in.

Early arrivals, such as the White Russians or the Ayatollah Khomeini and his supporters, never intended to assimilate. They were sitting out bad weather before returning home. More recent ones, who arrived because of Nato policies in the Balkans, have been greeted with hostility and distrust.

European countries are not organically immigrant societies. The groups that went to America in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries did so specifically to become Americans. They wanted to shed their past and, within a generation, they did. America's emphasis today on faith and God is just an echo of the founding Pilgrims for whom Christianity was central.

Their beliefs were reinforced by many Christian groups, from Baptists to Mennonites, all in search of religious freedom. These founding fathers decreed separation of church and state, not to make sure the nation was secular, as in France, but to make sure no state religion could interfere with religious freedom.

European countries have none of this melting-pot principle. You cannot become German or Italian with the same ease with which you become American. Also, into this very different European environment came a very different sort of immigrant - people who had no interest in assimilation at all.

They came as settlers, wanting to establish their own communities; at best they favoured a merger - at worst, a takeover. Their approach was nurtured by notions of multiculturalism, a creed appealing to intellectuals, administrators and enforcers, but having almost zero appeal to the home population.

The cultural abrasions that developed, especially between the rapidly growing Muslim community and the French, became the problem that could not be talked about. All respectable political parties, journalists and academics felt it too volatile and far too politically incorrect. The field was abandoned to extreme Right-wingers and nativists who, by default, established the unpleasant tone of the debate and became exclusive owners of a subject affecting the whole nation.

In the absence of openness, the government's response was a cover-up - or, rather, an uncovering: to outlaw Muslim headscarves, shave beards worn for reasons of faith, or ban crucifixes if too large. In Britain, some school Nativity plays were forbidden.

There seemed to be a genuine belief among governments that they could solve this problem by violating Western traditions of religious freedom and by outlawing their own cultural traditions. Far from alleviating the situation, this only aggravated it. Worse, it gave fodder to the extreme Right.

Tribal friction has only two solutions: groups will either unite in the manner of Normans and Saxons, melding into a society that may have different religious practices but subscribes to the same laws and values - in which case headscarves, beards and demographics don't matter a fig. Or they will follow the pattern of warring tribes throughout history.

The question is not whether French and Muslims can co-exist with each other so long as Muslim schoolgirls are bareheaded. Rather, it is the fundamental question of whether Muslim groups will become part of the French nation. This is not one of those old "querelles gauloises" that Barzini so loved. It is the fundamental dilemma of the new century.

A World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis from WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal. Thanks to FreedomNow News:

QUID PRO QUO

On 6 June 2003, the WEA RLC produced a News & Analysis posting entitled "Pakistan: Islamisation or dictatorship or both?" That posting examined the relationship between Pakistan's President Musharraf and the Majlis Muttahida-e-Amal (MMA) - an alliance of six anti-West, pro-Taliban, pro-sharia, Islamic parties that hold the balance of power in Pakistan.

In August 2002, Musharraf amended the Constitution by decree (the Legal Framework Order) to give himself vastly increased powers. The October 2002 elections however, resulted in a hung parliament. Musharraf's military-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Qaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) won the most seats, but all opposition parties opposed Musharraf's constitutional amendments. During 2003 the MMA managed to strike a deal with Musharraf; to support the LFO in exchange for his acceptance of their Islamisation package. That package contains 17 points - seven are modifications of the LFO, ten relate to the Islamisation of society.

THE DEAL IS DONE

In late December 2003 the Pakistan Parliament passed the Seventeenth Amendment Bill, which asserts the validity of the Legal Framework Order (LFO), modified in accordance with the demands of the MMA. The amendments made by the Seventeenth Amendment Act and the modified Legal Framework Order, have now been incorporated into the text of the Constitution.

On 1 January 2004, General Musharraf secured a vote of confidence in both houses of parliament and four provincial assemblies, meaning he will remain in power until late 2007, and as military chief until the end of 2004.

Musharraf's success on both counts was due to the support of the MMA. So what has this cost in terms of quid pro quo with the MMA? Details of any deal are proving extremely difficult to find. However, some things are self-evident. President Musharraf's dependence upon the MMA severely limits his ability to deal with Islamist extremism and terrorism, and this puts Musharraf in a hard place. He must appease the U.S. for military aid, and he must appease the mullahs and the MMA for regime survival. This seriously compromises security for Christians in Pakistan. Ultimately it also compromises Musharraf's own security.

RESURGENT EXTREMISM

Reuters reported on 16 January 2004 that the car bomb that exploded outside the Holy Trinity Cathedral/Bible Society complex in Karachi on 15 January "was a fertiliser bomb very much similar to what was used in the U.S consulate". The U.S. Consulate in Karachi (1 km from the Holy Trinity Cathedral) was bombed in June 2002. That attack was attributed to Al-Almi, a splinter faction of Harkat-ul Mujahideen, a group fighting in Kashmir.

TIME magazine reported in the 26 January issue that the militant Islamist group Jaish-e-Muhammad (also fighting in Kashmir) was behind the 25 December 2003 assassination attempt on Musharraf, and that this group is also linked to the June 2002 bombing of the U.S. consulate in Karachi.

Regarding the assassination attempt, TIME magazine comments (and we can apply this to the Bible Society bombing as well), "That Jaish-e-Muhammad has the capacity to launch sophisticated attacks on the President, possibly with insider help, is a situation partly of Musharraf's making. The government in Islamabad has long coddled militant Islamic groups, encouraging them first to help drive the Soviets out of neighboring Afghanistan and later to torment Indian troops in the part of the disputed state of Kashmir that is under Indian control.

"Under pressure from Washington, he (Musharraf) banned various militant organizations in January 2002, but he left their leaders largely unfettered and allowed the organizations to reconstitute under new names. Pakistan's intelligence services, which had helped build up the ground and infiltrate its fighters into Indian-controlled Kashmir, were hesitant to crack down, even after Jaish-e-Muhammad began unleashing religious terrorism within Pakistan."

Compass Direct reported on 23 January that Pakistani Christian teenager, Zeeshan Gill (16), was kidnapped for more than two weeks in November 2003 by Islamist militants training fighters for jihad in Kashmir. Zeeshan was taken to Jamia al Qasim al Aloom Islamic school (madrasa), beaten, forced to recite the Islamic creed, and threatened with death. He escaped home to his mother and they have fled into hiding.

Compass Direct reports, "According to Joseph Francis of the Lahore-based Center for Legal Aid and Assistance Settlement (CLAAS), the Gill family's dilemma is not unusual among Pakistan's tiny Christian minority." Joseph Francis told Compass Direct that CLAAS lawyers represented another boy who had been kidnapped as a minor. It was ordered that he be released from the madrasa. Shortly after his return to his mother, he was re-kidnapped and sent straight to Kashmir. No one knows his whereabouts.

Until the Pakistan government stops supporting the Kashmir jihad, dismantles the terror networks and cuts off their lifelines - madrasas and funds - the Christian community will remain at great risk.

Robin Shepherd in the Washington Post contributes a useful summation of the Kilroy-Silk affair in Britain, which he sees as heralding "tectonic shifts" that are underway in Europe. (Thanks to Ruth King.)

It's the biggest political correctness flap Britain has seen in years. It has pitted one man against the BBC -- Britain's highbrow, purportedly impartial state television network -- and unleashed a national fracas over what may or may not be said about the hottest topic of the moment: Islam and the West. Earlier this month, Robert Kilroy-Silk, a one time Labour MP and for 17 years the host of one of British television's most successful daily talk shows, let loose with a few thoughts about the Arab world. In a column for the mass circulation Sunday Express newspaper, under the deliberately provocative headline "We owe Arabs nothing," he opined, in part, as follows:

"Apart from oil -- which was discovered, is produced and is paid for by the West -- what do [Arab countries] contribute? . . . They should go down on their knees and thank God for the munificence of the United States. What do they think we feel about them? . . . That we admire them for the cold-blooded killings in Mombasa, Yemen and elsewhere? That we admire them for being suicide bombers, limb-amputators, women repressors?"

The comments exploded in the British media. The Guardian newspaper, the house journal of both the British left and the BBC, lambasted them as "boorish, ignorant and offensive." Kilroy, as both he and his show are known, was promptly suspended by the BBC. Muslim affairs commentator Faisal Bodi, writing in the Guardian, thereupon declared: "Finally, it's safe to turn on your TV. Britain's minority communities can rise this morning in the knowledge that they will no longer be assailed by a vainglorious hatemonger affecting social concern on their screens." Ten days ago, after an extended media furor, Kilroy was forced to step down. He may even face prosecution under race relations legislation that carries a maximum sentence of seven years in jail.

As crude as Kilroy's comments were, the virulent reaction to them was far out of proportion to his actual sin. The full text of his remarks reveals that his quarrel was with Arab governments and those religious leaders who use their positions to whip up a frenzy of anti-Western sentiment among their peoples. His phrasing is careless and smacks of generalization. But surely this is small justification for hounding a man out of his job, let alone threatening to jail him. The swiftness of Kilroy's demise points to something more than a simple scrap over political correctness. It's a symptom of a new European reality: surging growth among Muslim populations and establishment nervousness over how to deal with them -- a nervousness that threatens to stifle much-needed debate over events in the Middle East and Muslim integration at home.

Western Europe's 15 million-strong Muslim community is growing in both power and size. The birth rate among Muslims in Europe is three times that of non-Muslims. While the Muslim population could double by 2015, the non-Muslim population is expected to shrink by 3.5 percent. And this is not a community that lives in the shadows. As it grows, it is also flexing its political muscle. As the columnist Mark Steyn, writing in defense of Kilroy in the right-leaning Daily Telegraph, put it: "[W]hen free speech, artistic expression, feminism and other totems of western pluralism clash directly with the Islamic lobby, Islam more often than not wins."

Bodi himself may have been acknowledging more than he wished to in his revealing observation that the BBC was "left with little choice" in ditching Kilroy because of the "increasing organization of the Muslim community," which put out flyers detailing "names and contacts of editors at the BBC and the Sunday Express, and instructions on how to make complaints."

This would not be a problem if it weren't for the distressing but unavoidable reality that small but significant sections of that growing Muslim community are either outright hostile to or at least ambivalent toward Western values. Skeptical? Consider the following: A survey conducted by the ICM polling agency and published in December 2002 showed that more than 10 percent of Britain's 1.5 million Muslims believed that further attacks by al Qaeda on the United States would be legitimate, and 8 percent supported such attacks against Britain. More than half of those polled refused to accept al Qaeda's guilt in the 9/11 attacks and more than two-thirds believed the war on terror to be a war on Islam.

That's just Britain. France's Muslim population, which is if anything more disaffected and less well-integrated, numbers upwards of 6 million, or 10 percent of the population. Within 20 years, according to some estimates, half of all people under 18 in the Netherlands will be Muslim.

Like America, Britain and Europe have come a long way since the days when racism was a fact of daily life for ethnic minorities and recent immigrants. This is not to say that racism has been wiped out: In recent years, openly racist political groups have made small but significant inroads in local elections in the north of England, while France's Jean Marie Le Pen, who appears to hate Arabs and Jews with equal fervor, came in second in presidential elections in 2002. But by and large, bigotry against immigrants and minorities is now frowned upon in mainstream society.

Much of the credit for this is due to a remarkably effective partnership formed in the 1960s and '70s between leftist activists -- who in most cases were much more welcoming to immigrants than their counterparts on the right, and therefore mopped up most of the Muslim vote -- and post-Holocaust political establishments determined to stamp out racism in all its forms.

Now, however, that partnership has mutated along with wider changes in politics and society. Muslim groups have combined with and helped reenergize a European left that is to a significant degree defined these days by a complementary hostility to the United States and to Israel -- both of which the left sees as representative of the worst excesses of capitalism and imperialism. That hostility is shared by substantial sections of the Muslim community, more than 80 percent of which voted for Labour in Britain's 1997 general elections. Both elements of this new partnership are highly sensitive to any criticism of Islam, seeing in it de facto justification for the policies of governments they implacably oppose. For the equal and opposite reason, criticism of Israel and the United States is welcomed and encouraged, however unbalanced and fanatical it may be.

Alongside this political alliance stands a powerful center-left establishment -- epitomized by the BBC itself -- that is also unremitting in its hostility to Israel and broadly sympathetic to the Arab and Muslim cause, for reasons that some attribute to rising anti-Semitism, others to post-imperial guilt, and many more to an anti-Americanism that appears to grow stronger by the day.

Thus it is that Tom Paulin, a left-wing Oxford academic and poet and a regular contributor to the BBC's "Newsnight Review" program, could, in 2002, say to an Egyptian newspaper about Brooklyn-born Jews living on the West Bank: "I think they should be shot dead. I think they are Nazis, racists. I feel nothing but hatred for them," and get away with it, suffering no sanctions of any kind from the same BBC that silenced Kilroy.

Paulin's outburst reveals how smoothly anti-Israeli prejudices slip into anti-American clothing -- it is "Brooklyn-born" Jews who are marked for death. Anti-Americanism is the acceptable face of European bigotry in a way that anti-Semitism is not.

On a continent whose face is rapidly changing, and where memories of the Holocaust are fading fast, new rules of engagement are emerging: You upset the Muslim community at your peril, but the social and political consequences of alienating the much smaller and much more assimilated Jewish communities are negligible.

Seen in this light, the brouhaha over Kilroy's comments offers a perfect illustration of the ruthless attitude being encountered by Islam's critics in Europe. Had he directed his polemic against Israelis or Americans, it hardly seems likely that the BBC, which allows free rein to many of its contributors to do both, would have kicked up such a fuss.

The BBC and its supporters have fallen all over themselves to say that the Kilroy affair is not about free speech, a plainly ludicrous argument. But this case is no ordinary recycling of the familiar pros and cons which that discussion from time to time produces. Tectonic shifts are underway in Europe, reconfiguring the political and social landscape. Kilroy's crime, if he committed one, is that he failed to see that coming.

A report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on the upsurge of Islamic radicalism in Nigeria.

When a student-led Islamic sect launched an armed uprising last month with the aim of setting up a Taliban-style Muslim state in northern Nigeria, the authorities were swift to quell the insurrection.

However, political analysts and security officials fear the emergence of the Al Sunna Wal Jamma (Followers of the Prophet) group may be an indication that extremist Islamic groups have found enough foothold in Nigeria to make Africa's most populous country a theatre for worse sectarian violence than it has seen in recent years and acts of terrorism.

"What I find striking is that the group had operated in Nigeria for some time, had a cell network of members that included highly educated people and could use weapons," said Ike Onyekwere, a political analyst.

"Though they appear to have been put to flight, there is a chance they might still regroup and emerge in another, perhaps more deadly form," he added.

Strangers with no respect for traditions

Residents in Kanamma, a small town in Yobe State in northeast Nigeria, recall that the "strangers" first set up camp in the outskirts of the small town near the Niger border a year ago. They would come into town to preach to the people about how to attain Islamic purity.

However, the incomers showed a lack of respect for local traditions, especially property rights, and this led to growing friction with the local population.

The young militants farmed anywhere and fished in fishponds on the bank of the Yobe River owned by particular families. They dismissed the complaints of local people by saying that "everything belongs to Allah", Rabiu Usman, a Kanama resident, told IRIN.

Reports of these problems finally reached the authorities and Yobe governor Abba Ibrahim decided to intervene. The governor told reporters he had already initiated moves to peacefully disband the group when it unexpectedly resorted to violence in late December.

Attacks leave 18 dead

The Al Sunna Wal Jama group attacked the police stations in Kanamma and nearby Geidam, killing two policemen. They stripped the buildings of guns and ammunition and burned them to the ground. The group then retreated to a primary school in Kanamma where they hoisted the flag of Afghanistan, spoiling for more violence.

Nigerian army spokesman Colonel Chukwuemeka Onwuamaegbu, said troops were sent to tackle the militants in when it became clear they were "getting a bit too much for the police to handle".

A chilling story from the Washington Post on how Christians in Iraq who work with American forces there are being targeted for murder. The article says nothing about the larger-scale targeting of Iraqi Christians whether they are working for Americans or not, but it is refreshing to see the major media take any notice of this at all:

There was only one window left in the blue Besta minivan parked in Khajik Serkis's front yard Friday: the windshield, riddled with bullet holes at eye level and spattered with blood. Inside were more holes in the upholstered seats, a carpet of glass shards and a woman's patterned shawl, crumpled and stained red. About 6:30 Wednesday morning, Serkis was driving nine women from Baghdad to their jobs washing soldiers' laundry at a U.S. military base about 30 miles west. It was still dark, and the women were half-asleep, dozing with the rhythm of the road. Some were related; all were friends from the capital's close-knit minority Christian community.

"I heard shouting and woke up. The woman next to me said her finger was gone," said Maggie Aziz, 49, whose left ankle was shattered by a bullet. "The driver was praying to God, and bullets were coming at us like rain. I reached to help the woman in the front seat, but she was shot in the mouth and died."

According to the survivors, the van was attacked by several gunmen in an Opel sedan as they passed through Fallujah, a center of violent Sunni Muslim resistance to the U.S. occupation. They said the gunmen chased the van, shooting continuously as Serkis sped up and tried to evade them. Four women were killed; Serkis and four other women were wounded. In recent weeks, Iraqi insurgents have increasingly shifted the focus of their attacks from American troops to Iraqis cooperating with the occupying force. On Sunday, a car bomb exploded outside the main gate of a U.S. compound in Baghdad as many Iraqis were reporting for work, killing 31 and wounding 120.

In another assault on Iraqi civilians, a bomb exploded Thursday night in an Iraqi Communist Party office here, killing two people, just after a large meeting had ended. Also Thursday, a Muslim woman, Samirah Khalif, 38, a lawyer who worked at another U.S. military base north of the capital, was assaulted and killed by unknown assailants in her home near the base. Relatives at the mourning ceremony in Baghdad on Friday said her house was robbed and burned and that they believed the attackers were retaliating because of her work with the U.S. military.

A U.S. military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, said late Thursday that anti-American forces in Iraq were trying to "send a message of terror to these people: that if you work for the coalition, if you worked alongside and tried to support the coalition, we can reach out and touch you."

In the quiet, largely Christian neighborhood where Serkis and most of his passengers lived, there was no doubt Friday among survivors and community leaders that the van was targeted by extremist groups that want to drive a wedge between U.S. forces and the Iraqi populace.

Serkis said the attackers wore scarves over their faces and that he and two other van drivers took the same route through Fallujah every day to the base, located in the nearby town of Habbaniya. He said he was on a deserted stretch of road when he saw the Opel parked by the side.

"They started chasing me when I sped up, and when I slowed down to try and get away, they pulled in front and started shooting back," he said. "They were definitely trying to kill us, and they were aiming at people's heads."

Aziz, who lay on a couch in her apartment Friday with her injured leg wrapped in bandages, said that as the men were shooting from the sedan, the attackers and victims could see each other clearly. "We shouted that we were women and pleaded with them to stop, but they didn't," she said.

Residents said they were stunned that the attackers would deliberately kill women in a society where women are traditionally respected and sheltered, and the brutal scare tactic already seemed to be working. Relatives said the rest of the 25 women employed in the laundry at the U.S. military base in Habbaniya had quit their jobs Thursday.

"My wife was so happy when she got this job, because we needed the money badly," said Briesh Kivov Stepan, 59, a disabled veteran of the Iran-Iraq war who is married to Aziz. "The Americans were very good to her, to all of us, but now none of the women want to go back to that base. They'll have to find men to work in the laundry. It's too dangerous."

After the attack, survivors and their relatives encountered hostility in Fallujah, first when they tried to seek medical treatment and later when they went to retrieve the damaged minivan, according to Serkis and other witnesses.

Serkis said that when he reached the hospital there, he lied and said his passengers were teachers he was taking to a school. But when some medical staff learned the truth, he said, "they refused to continue treating us and told us to go to the Jordanian hospital," located in the capital.

On Thursday, when Serkis's brother, Shant, drove back to Fallujah to pick up the van at a police station, he said a crowd of people in the streets were "very happy about what had happened. They said it was jihad, and they knew that only Christian people worked in the American bases."

Residents said that although some Muslims are employed at U.S. bases, most low-wage workers hired by several European contractors in Baghdad are Christian. Several of the dead and injured women, including Aziz, had worked at other U.S. bases before shifting to the Habbaniya location last month.

At gatherings Friday in homes of survivors of the minivan attack, residents from the small Armenian and Assyrian Christian communities said they strongly supported the American mission in Iraq but that they had good long-term relations with Sunni Muslims and other groups.

"We were born and raised here, and our community gets along well with everyone," Stepan said. "Now my wife is injured and cannot work. Women trying to support their children have been killed. Why would anyone do such a thing? They only want to frighten people and create chaos."

Rosie DiManno of the Toronto Star here profiles Walid Shoebat, a Muslim convert to Christianity whose days as a terrorist in the PLO have given way to a fervent Christian Zionism. The article is interesting on a number of levels, including DiManno's own strange take on Shoebat -- beginning with the contradiction in her labeling him a "secular terrorist" even though he grew up a "Jew-hating Muslim." (Thanks to Nonie Darwish.)

Perhaps it's not so long or strange a trip from political terrorist to religious fundamentalist.

The secular terrorist, it might even be said, has become something of an endangered species these days, when so many of the world's violent struggles have been infused with religious justification. Piety serves as both motivating tool (recruiting foot soldiers from among the exploited believers) and deflective shield (interpreting scripture to rationalize murder and suppress opposition).

Walid Shoebat grew up a zealous, Jew-hating Muslim in the West Bank, progressing from a boy who threw stones to a young man who lobbed bombs.

He is now a born-again California Christian Zionist, having renounced both violence and Islam, which he persists in viewing as fatally intertwined -- a position that will justifiably appall hundreds of millions of Muslims who neither practise nor condone violent tactics, while causing a great many Jews to just as understandably recoil from his ardent friendship, given that the fundamental Christian literalists love Jews only insofar as they can serve their End of Days purpose, as prophesied in Revelation.

How silly of Shoebat to persist in seeing violence and Islam as fatally intertwined! Has DiManno ever heard of Osama bin Laden, or Abdullah Azzam, or Omar Bakri, or Abu Hamza Al-Masri, or Abu Bakr Bashir, or Sayyid Qutb, or Syed Abul Ala Maududi, or Hasan Al-Banna, or any of the multitudinous others who have insisted, through their teachings on jihad, that violence and Islam are indeed intertwined?

Sure, there are millions of non-terrorist, non-violent Muslims, but where are their theorists? Where are they standing up and combating radical Islamic theology among Muslims? In the New York Sun today, Diane Ravitch says this of Irshad Manji: "In the aftermath of September 11, many people wondered out loud 'Where are the moderate Muslims?' When would we hear from thoughtful Muslims who were as offended by the poisonous hatred of fundamentalist Islam as the rest of us? Judging from Irshad Manji's 'The Trouble With Islam,' that near-deafening silence now may have ended." That's great, but where are all the other Manjis? You mean to tell me that we can only muster one courageous moderate Muslim spokesperson in two and a half years?

DiManno is faulting Shoebat for making an equation that Muslims are laboring strenuously to make around the world today.

Israel has pitifully few friends these days, assailed on all sides by a new version of anti-Zionism that's no more than the old version of anti-Semitism -- denial of Israel's right to exist, but couched in a different language: the argot of occupation and Israel's perceived abuse of power, coupled with an alarming resurgence of pure anti-Semitism in Europe, a robust bigotry that doesn't even pretend to be what it's not, though hardly more virtuous for its transparency. This isolation might account for Israel forging an unholy alliance with the Christian right, though I'm prepared to accept that many righteous Christians have a genuine affection for Israel, a commitment to its political survival, and do not merely support the state as a Biblical prerequisite for apocalyptic annihilation and the dawning of the New Jerusalem.

In that context, maybe it doesn't matter much that Shoebat is a Christian fundamentalist, widely condemned as a traitor to Palestine, excoriated for betraying his family, his original Muslim faith and his troubled people. For which Shoebat does not apologize.

Why should he apologize? He has to live out the rest of his life under the death sentence given to apostates. If his family is made up of decent people, they should love him regardless of his religious faith. And why is acknowledging Israel's right to exist a betrayal of his people? Why cannot one support both Israel and Palestine? What about a two-state solution? It has been lost in jihadist intransigence: the biggest enemy to a negotiated peace is Hamas and its allies.

He's had his epiphany, and he speaks with the moral certitude of the enthusiastically converted. "The more you accept the teachings of the Bible, the more peaceful you become. The more you accept the teachings of the Qur'an, the more violent you will become."

This is patently absurd. It is also offensive. But there is truth in the far more qualified observation that Qur'anic teachings (like Biblical teachings, actually) have been disgracefully distorted in some quarters to promote jihad and to demonize the West, Christians and Jews and moderate Muslims alike.

What's that? Biblical teachings have been disgracefully distorted to promote jihad? DiManno's anxiety to repeat PC slogans is making her careless. In any case, why is it absurd and offensive to assert that the Bible contains more peaceful teachings than does the Qur'an? Has DiManno read either? This is not the same thing as saying that Christians have always been peaceful and Muslims violent. That really would be absurd. But evidently PC sensibilities also require that we assume that all religious texts are absolutely equal in their ability to inspire both peace and violence. I don't know why that must be the case. It is as absurd as insisting that all cars are equal in their gas mileage or that all schools provide exactly the same quality of education.

Although, it must be noted, even moderate Muslim states have little tolerance for Israel. Hating Israel is a common denominator and not exclusive to Muslim nations.

Hence the mythologizing of Palestinians, transformed these past 20 years into the most darling and blessed of the oppressed. It lends Palestinian terrorism a certain qualified éclat, distinguishing it from the garden-variety version of killers.

Shoebat was once a terrorist. To that extent, he knows whereof he speaks. Though I doubt whether his terrorist CV will gain him much street cred among Palestinians, or Canadians blindly supportive of the Palestinian cause.

The 43-year-old computer programmer was brought to Toronto yesterday by the local chapter of Betar Tagar, an international Zionist organization, to participate in a radio program, entitled Let's Talk Peace, emanating from the University of Toronto. The format had Shoebat interviewed in front of a student audience for a two-hour live taping of a radio show hosted by New York-based Rabia Tovia Singer. It's the first time the show, heard in Israel, has been taken to any university campus. Canada was picked, says Singer, because the case for Israel is not being made, or properly heard, in this country, where pro-Israeli voices have sometimes been silenced by Palestinian activism on campuses.

"The world does not see the truth about what's happening in the West Bank," Shoebat told the Star in an interview yesterday afternoon. "My purpose is to tell the West that they aren't getting the real picture, that what they're seeing is propaganda. I know the truth because I was there, I was part of it. And the truth is, we wanted to kill Jews long before the occupation. I wanted to kill Jews."

Shoebat's mother is a blonde, blue-eyed American Christian who converted to Islam upon marriage, his father a Palestinian Arab and professor of Islamic studies. Born in a village near Bethlehem, Shoebat grew up immersed in Islam but also steeped in hatred for Jews, even though he never met one until his teens. Even during the two years when he attended a Lutheran school in Jericho, says Shoebat, he was taught to vilify Jews. "I remember going to a zoo in Israel where they had a monkey that smoked cigarettes. We believed that monkey's ancestors were Jews."

Hmm. Why might that be? Might it be because the Qur'an says that Allah turned Jews into pigs and monkeys (suras 2:62-65, 5:59-60, and 7:166)? I am sure that DiManno doesn't know that those passages exist. I am waiting for the courageous moderate Muslim multitudes to fashion an exegesis of them that rules out race hatred.

In Islam Unveiled I discuss how the Taliban's involvement in drug trafficking was consistent with the group's theology: in line with the sharp distinction in the Qur'an and Islamic tradition between believers and unbelievers, since the buyers were non-Muslims they had no problem selling the product. Now, because of the success of American efforts to stop terrorists militarily and to cut off their funding, Osama bin Laden is playing the same game. This from the Washington Times, :

The al Qaeda terror group has embraced heroin trafficking to such an extent that its leader, Osama bin Laden, is now a "narco-terrorist," says a U.S. congressman just back from a fact-finding mission in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"It seems clear to me heroin is the No. 1 financial asset of Osama bin Laden," Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, Illinois Republican, told The Washington Times. "There is a need to update our view of how terrorism is financed.

"And the view of Osama bin Laden relying on Wahhabi donations from abroad is outdated. And the view of him as one of the world's largest heroin dealers is the more accurate, up-to-date view."

Mr. Kirk wants a pronounced shift in how the Bush administration tries to stop al Qaeda funding. Up to now, Washington has focused on bin Laden's traditional sources: Islamic charities and his family fortune.

But the Bush team has choked off much of that flow, forcing bin Laden to adjust. In Afghanistan, bin Laden has the benefit of the world's largest poppy crop, as he evades capture in Pakistan's notorious border areas. He is reaping $24 million alone from one narcotics network in Kandahar, Afghanistan, according to Mr. Kirk's investigation.

The congressman said it is no longer sufficient to go after only the charities and bank accounts. Washington now must fuse counterterrorism and counternarcotics into an inseparable mission.

"The most important thing here is to change the language to not describe Osama bin Laden anymore as a terrorist, but to more accurately describe him as a narco-terrorist," said Mr. Kirk, who sits on the Appropriations subcommittee on commerce, justice, state and judiciary.

Mr. Kirk and his team of House staff investigators spent five days in Pakistan and Afghanistan, whose farm areas once again are sprouting thousands of acres of poppies from which opium and heroin are produced. Hundreds of illicit drug labs have sprung up to process the heroin for shipment to Pakistan.

The al Qaeda-heroin connection is becoming more clear to Washington. The first big break came last month, when Navy ships seized boats concealing large stashes of heroin and operated by crew members linked to al Qaeda.

In Afghanistan, Mr. Kirk talked to a variety of sources, including U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents, U.S. troops and Afghan counternarcotics officials.

A kilogram of heroin that can fetch $2,000 in Pakistan can get $10,000 in Turkey. That is why al Qaeda has begun sending drug-laden boats into the Arabian Sea: to find more lucrative markets outside Pakistan.

"If he can expand his operation closer and closer to the retail market, he will dramatically increase his profit," Mr. Kirk said.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is reluctant to get his troops too deeply involved in the drug wars, aides say. Some Pentagon officials view counternarcotics as predominately a law enforcement duty. In Afghanistan, where the United Nations reports 264,000 poppy-growing families, the U.S. military does not want to alienate citizens whose support it needs for the U.S.-backed government of Hamid Karzai.

Mende Nazer, former slave

Slavery is taken for granted in the Qur'an, and is still practiced in the Islamic world -- most notoriously in Sudan, from which this report comes. It is of interest to those who are concerned about the equality of rights of all people in Islamic societies as an example of the fact that Muslim radicals will enforce Sharia in its fullness, including its institutionalized discrimination against non-Muslim dhimmis and women. This report comes from BBC News, with thanks to FreedomNowNews:

On the surface, Mende Nazer is a bright, bubbly, confident young woman, quick to break into a beautiful infectious smile, which lights up her whole face.

Nothing to suggest that she spent eight years of her life as a slave after being captured from her village in Sudan's Nuba Mountains.

But the smile soon disappears when she talks about her past and her eyes start to well up with tears.

"I still have nightmares," she told BBC News Online in London three years after she managed to escape to freedom.

'Unclean'

She was just 12 when one night her village was targeted by Arab slave raiders, who snatched her away from her loving family to be a slave in far away Khartoum.

The story of her capture and life in servitude, published in her book Slave, reads like something from the Middle Ages but it happened in the early 1990s and she says this is still the lot of many young girls from southern Sudan.

She worked from first thing in the morning until late at night, washing, cleaning and ironing, without any pay or days off, sleeping in a locked shed in the garden.

At first, her mistress thought she was unclean and diseased, so she wouldn't let Mende touch the children.

But after a while, looking after the children and cooking for the family were added to her list of duties.

She only ate the scraps left by her mistress' family - "like an animal," she said.

Eating these leftovers on her own in the kitchen was particularly demeaning for her, as sharing food is a central part of her Nuba culture, where no-one eats alone.

She was often beaten and on one occasion, after preparing fried eggs instead of poached eggs, her mistress "seized the ladle out of the frying pan, and thrust the burning hot metal against my forearm.

"I cried out in agony, as she ground it, sizzling, into my skin," she wrote.

Her left arm is still badly scarred.

'Terrified'

This is the life she was leading at the start of the 21st century.

Then, a train of events began which would eventually lead to her freedom.

Her mistress's sister, married to a Sudanese diplomat in London, had twins, so she was "given" to her to help her out.

"Well, it's easy for us to get you another abda [slave]... whereas I understand it's impossible for people to find one in London," the wife of a slave-dealer told her mistress.

Her new "owners" returned on holiday to Sudan, leaving her in the custody of some colleagues and she realised this was her chance to escape.

But she spoke no English and had no concept of claiming asylum or how to survive in a bustling city of eight million people.

She went up to anyone she saw on London's streets who looked like they could be from southern Sudan and greeted them in Arabic.

After receiving endless quizzical looks and dismissals, she found someone working in a garage from Sudan and who knew someone from the Nuba Mountains.

A few days later, they waited for her outside her owner's house and told her to run away.

What was that first taste of freedom like?

"I was terrified that they would come and capture me again," she says.

After eight years of being beaten and threatened into submission, physical freedom was one thing, mental emancipation would take far longer.

Family reunion

When she first escaped, her family was taken to Khartoum and told to try and persuade her to return home.

They were told she had been kidnapped and forced to renounce Islam and convert to Christianity.

But once the family spoke to her, she was able to tell them her true story and is now in regular contact with them.

But she can't go to Sudan and so once every three months or so, her mother makes a day-long trip by lorry from her village to a town where there is a telephone, so they can talk.

She hopes one day to meet them again - if she can get them to another country.

Although Slave has already been published in Germany, she says she is worried that the publicity surrounding its release in the UK might cause more trouble for her family.

"I could keep quiet because I've had my freedom but while others are still in slavery in Sudan, a part of me is, too," she says.

Launching the book and traipsing from one media interview to another, stoking up all the painful memories, is hugely stressful but she says this is the one thing she can do to help those she left behind.

Last year, a study estimated that more than 11,000 southern Sudanese had been abducted in 20 years, many of whom probably remain in bondage.

Al-Qarni

More Wahhabi follies: a Saudi cleric is under fire for giving people the impression that he was in favor of allowing women to drive cars. This rarified silliness is only worthy of note because Saudi Wahhabism has been spread all over the world via Saudi oil billions. It is a significant presence among Muslims in America. It is clear that just as the Wahhabis insist on enforcing the Sharia's rulings on women down to the last detail, so also will they enforce the dhimmi oppression of non-Muslims wherever and whenever they can. This from Arab News:

MAKKAH, 25 January 2004 -- Sheikh Ayed Al-Qarni, the well-known Islamic scholar, has denied telling the press that it was permissible for women to drive cars in Saudi Arabia. Al-Qarni was responding to reports in Arab News and other papers published two weeks ago.

"I have recently stated that the issue of women not driving cars is not considered to be one of the basics of our religion. What I meant by that was that it is a subsidiary issue. The statement was used against me. It was then portrayed as if I had said it was permissible for women to drive cars in our country and this is something that is totally wrong," he told Al-Madinah newspaper.

The sheikh said he did not understand how his statement to the press could have been misused when he made it clear that he would not allow his own daughters or sisters to drive.

Al-Qarni also said he mentioned clearly that such an issue should be brought up with the relevant religious institution. What he meant, he said, was that the senior Islamic scholars in the Kingdom had already issued fatwas (religious edicts) saying that women driving cars was sinful and not permissible in Islam. "My statements were misused. This is not the right way for those who search for the truth," he said. He set out four statements as clarification:

"One: I do not see women driving cars in our country because of the consequences that would spring from it such as the spread of corruption, women uncovering their hair and faces, mingling between the sexes, men being alone with women and the destruction of the family and society in whole.

"Two: Sadd Al-Dharaie principle (the closing of doors which could lead to corruption or sinful actions) is one of the values in our religion. Women driving cars is a sinful thing. It is used by those who want to wage a war against purity and hijab.

"Three: One of the principles of our religion is protecting honor and moral values. Women driving cars would threaten these principles because of the dire consequences resulting from it.

"Four: Such public issues must be brought up with the certified religious institution who have the say in such matters as I have said many times before."

A few days ago I posted a story from Thailand about the murder of a Buddhist monk. Now two more have been killed, evidently as part of a larger jihadist effort. Note that these "tensions between Buddhists and Muslims" seem to be coming from just one side. Killing policemen would be somewhat expected from a separatist group, but the targeting of monks as well sheds light on what the separatists hope to establish themselves, given the opportunity: a radical Muslim Sharia state would be most likely. This from AP, with thanks to Nancy Block and Susan:

Five people were killed in southern Thailand, including two Buddhist clergymen who were slashed as they collected food offerings, as tension between Buddhists and Muslims mounts in the region, police and news reports said yesterday.

Sectarian violence is rare anywhere in Thailand, and the murders of monks in recent days are the first such attacks in the Muslim-dominated south in several years. About 90 percent of Thailand's 63 million people are Buddhists.

Four young men fatally slashed the head of a novice -- 13-year-old Jedsak Nhusang -- with knives in front of a temple in Yala province, while a monk accompanying him on the traditional morning alms rounds escaped unharmed, police captain Ranon Surawit said.

Ten minutes later, also in the provincial capital, four men fatally knifed Vichai Boonpan, a 65-year-old monk, in the neck. The men involved in the killings all approached the monks on motorcycles.

Shortly afterward, in the nearby community of Lamai, one monk was stabbed in the back and another punched twice, police lieutenant-colonel Mut Thopah said.

Thailand's southernmost provinces have been tense since Jan. 4, when suspected Muslim separatists torched 21 government-run schools and raided an army camp in Narathiwat province, killing four soldiers and stealing hundreds of rifles.

Also yesterday morning, in Narathiwat province, two men on a motorcycle shot police sergeant-major Prasart Lahtheh, 57, as he was riding on his motorbike with his wife near their home. Prasart, an investigator, was hospitalized in stable condition, captain Sunan Sangsawat said.

In a third southern province, Pattani, three killings were reported Friday night.

Police sergeant Mayaki Waesamah, 33, also an investigator, was fatally shot in the head while at work, said a police officer who requested anonymity. Local television iTV reported that two villagers were slashed to death in their homes.

Mut said no suspects had been arrested in the attacks on the monks.

Amir Taheri writes in the Jerusalem Post (thanks to Joel) about a forthcoming meeting in Tehran that he says is drawing Islamic radicals from 40 countries, including members of top Shi'ite and Sunni jihad groups. Taheri adds some important considerations about the nature of the Iranian regime today:

Militants from some 40 countries across the globe are trekking to Teheran for a 10-day "revolutionary jamboree" in which "a new strategy to confront the American Great Satan" will be hammered out.

The event is scheduled to start on February 1 to mark the 25th anniversary of the return to Iran from exile of the late Ayatollah Ruhallah Khomeini, father of the Islamic Revolution. It is not clear how many foreign militants will attend, but the official media promise a massive turnout to underline the Islamic Republic's position as the "throbbing heart of world resistance to American arrogance."

The guest list reads like a who's who of global terrorism.

In fact, most of the organizations attending the event, labeled "Ten-Days of Dawn," are branded by the United States and some European Union members as terrorist outfits. These include 17 branches of the Hizbullah, a worldwide militant Shi'ite movement created by Teheran in 1983.

Today, Teheran is a magnet for militant groups from many different national and ideological backgrounds. The Islamic Republic's hospitality cuts across even religious divides. Thus militant Sunni organizations, including two linked to al-Qaida - Ansar al-Islam (Companions of Islam) and Hizb Islami (The Islamic Party) - enjoy Iranian hospitality. They are joined by Latin American guerrilla outfits, clandestine Irish organizations, Basque and Corsican separatists, and a variety of leftist groups from Trotskyites to Guevarists. Teheran today is also the only capital where all the Palestinian militant movements have offices and, in some cases, training and financial facilities.

Iranian officials claim that the presence of these terror organizations in Iran is limited to "cultural and information activities." The militants' offices are known as daftar ertebat, which means "contact bureau," while the training offered by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards is presented as "courses in self-defense."

The war in Iraq and the capture of Saddam Hussein, however, have shaken the traditional Khomeinist assumption that the US will never risk a direct confrontation with the Iranian regime.

THAT VIEW is expressed in a celebrated dictum of Khomeini that is painted on the walls of the conference center where the militants will meet. It reads: "America Cannot Do A Damn Thing!"

Now, however, many in Teheran believe that unless the Iranian regime modifies aspects of its behavior, notably in its relations with terrorist organizations, it might find itself in military conflict with the US.

"Anyone who ignores the presence of the American war machine all around us suffers from deadly illusions," says Imadeddin Baqi, a member of the outgoing Islamic Majlis (parliament).

Until at least last December, one idea was to either cancel the event or curtail it to a one-day prayer session in Khomeini's mausoleum in Teheran. That idea was vetoed by the "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenei, who believes that any show of weakness by the regime could encourage its numerous opponents inside and outside the country.

Thus Khamenei plans to use the global jamboree to show that Iran is still a revolutionary force and that he alone, and not the ineffective President Muhammad Khatami, calls the shots in Teheran.

Khamenei also hopes that the next elections, to be held 10 days after the revolutionary jamboree ends, will produce a new parliamentary majority that shares his strategy. His game plan is to unify the regime by cutting the so-called "reformists" down to size and adopting a wait-and-see tactic until after the American presidential election.

The militants who are going to Teheran this week are likely to be told that they must lie as low as possible for the next few months without abandoning any of their radical goals. The Teheran gathering is also expected to deepen the recent informal alliances made between Islamist militant groups and a variety of communist, anarchist and environmentalist militant groups against the "American common enemy."

The Khomeinist regime is prepared to change aspects of its behavior and even concede some tactical retreats to weather what many in Teheran call "the Bush storm." But the regime's strategy, which is aimed at driving the US out of the Middle East, destroying Israel, and replacing all Arab regimes with "truly Islamic" ones, remains unchanged.

It is no accident that two words are popular in Teheran these days. One is "detente," often used by Khatami and the so-called "reformists." The other is "hudhabiah," which is the name of a truce signed by the Prophet Muhammad with a Jewish tribe in Medina at a time Muslims found themselves in a weak position. At the end of the truce period, the prophet's army, having rebuilt its strength, attacked the Jews and massacred all the adult males, seizing women and children as war booty.

It is against that background that the question "What to do with Iran?" must be debated. Today, Iran is ready to offer all the behavioral changes required of it by Washington and the EU. But it cannot change its nature. And there is no guarantee that this particular beast will not bite again - and hard - as soon as it feels that it is no longer threatened. A scorpion does not sting because it is naughty; that is dictated by its nature.

Female genital mutilation is not strictly speaking an Islamic practice. It is not found in the Qur'an or in generally accepted ahadith. However, it is widespread in some Muslim countries (most notably Egypt), and is often justified on Islamic grounds -- as I demonstrate in Islam Unveiled. Now it has come, in a supposedly modified and humane from, to Italy. The larger concern, even beyond the human rights of the girls involved, is the question of how far will multiculturalism go? Can it be resisted on human rights grounds? If not -- and if every custom from around the world must be accepted and officially sanctioned in the West in the name of tolerance -- how will Europe prevent the Sharia and dhimmitude from coming in as well? On what basis can a multiculturalist society stop them, after it has relativized all moral standards? This report is from the The Star, with thanks to Twostellas:

Health authorities in Florence have sparked an outcry after they officially welcomed a version of female circumcision.

A gynaecologist in Florence is proposing to perform a "light" version of infibulation, the mutilation of the genitalia of young girls which is practised in many African countries.

Dr Omar Abdul Kadir, a gynaecologist who has been working in Florence for several years, claims that his operation satisfies the traditional demands for the operation of many African mothers, yet causes neither pain nor damage.

But the proposal, and its acceptance by the local health authority, has outraged Italians campaigning against female genital mutilation (FGM).

Cristiana Scoppa, who works for Aidos, a Rome-based non-governmental organisation working in Third World countries on women's development, says the operation will break Italian law.

"You can be prosecuted for cutting an organ that is healthy," she said. "If the damage is so big as to eliminate the organ, you can get 12 years in prison."

Kadir's procedure involves making a small hole in the girl's clitoris and drawing a drop of blood.

He said: "We have proposed to make a small, pinhole-sized puncture in the clitoris of the child after applying a local anaesthetic, making a drop of blood appear. The little girl will then go home to celebrate this type of 'baptism'."

Kadir said he had received support from immigrants from 10 African countries, who wrote in a joint statement: "It is not enough merely to say one is opposed to infibulation.

"While some of us have realised that this practice is useless, cruel and not prescribed by religion, others among us are too attached to their culture and do not accept that the mutilation has negative consequences for their daughters."

The proposal for the operation to be performed in Florence's hospitals will go to the regional health authority's bio-ethics committee in March. It would have to be agreed at regional level before hospitals could carry out the procedure.

A councillor on Florence's health authority, Enrico Rossi, said: "The opinion of the regional committee is fundamental, but we must also involve women immigrants in the decision-making process.

"We are dealing with a delicate question which must be confronted without prejudice, and we must listen to all opinions."

But Aidos, which is working to combat the practice in many African countries, is incensed that it might be about to take root in Italy.

Scoppa said: "The reason for the operation is to control women's sexuality.

"But they don't say that is the reason, they say it is tradition. It's like the many Italian families who do not go to church but who send their children to be baptised because it has always been like that and the parents want to do that. It's the power of custom.

"But the custom can be changed. You will not get people to give up FGM unless you work on the demand for FGM.

Working on the demand means working within the culture.

But if you legitimise this in a hospital in Italy, it legitimises the whole cultural belief system that is behind it."

Scoppa is also sceptical that Kadir's proposed light mutilation will prevent girls being mutilated in traditional fashion later on, with the removal of most of the genitals and the stitching up of what is left to form a cover over the vagina.

Several Islamic charities in the U.S. have already been closed for terrorist links. Charities collect obligatory zakat donations from Muslims, which are then distributed to radical groups -- apparently unbeknownst to many of the donors. Now the Saudis, anxious to improve their anti-terror credentials, have joined the U.S. to go after another. This from the Hindustan Times, with thanks to Jean-Luc.

The United States and Saudi Arabia have jointly appealed the United Nations to declare a major charity group, Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation's branches in Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania and Indonesia as terrorist organisations.

US Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, top State Deprtment officials including Counterterrorism Coordinator Cofer Black, and Adel Jubeir, Chief Foreign Policy Adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah held a joint press conference yesterday at the US Treasury to make the appeal to UN.

US Officials said these four countries have resisted action, though it has been tarred as terrorist in both in the US and Saudi Arabia for some time, "in part out of fear of appearing to do the bidding of the United States."'

"We are working closely with our Saudi friends. I have personally seen great improvement in the cooperation," Black said.

Al-Haramain figured prominently in the indictment earlier this month of Sami Omar Hussayen, a University of Idaho doctoral student in computer science, on charges of conspiracy to promote material support to terrorists. It raises millions of dollars for its charities every year. The charge is that though it has genuine charities, Al-Haaramain also funds terrorism.

Saudi Ambassador to the US Prince Bandar bin Sultan said in a statement that terrorist financiers are now targets of a US-Saudi task force that is pursuing money laundering through charities and other front groups.

British MP Jenny Tonge was also the Liberal Democrats' spokeswoman for children, until she was removed for suggesting that if she lived in the PA, she'd become a suicide bomber too. It is refreshing that this astounding example of moral confusion was not met with supine dhimmitude from Liberal Democratic officials. The report is from the Guardian, with thanks to nevermindlv:

Charles Kennedy has asked Jenny Tonge to step down as the Liberal Democrats' spokeswoman for children following her claim that she might consider becoming a suicide bomber if she lived in the Palestinian territories. The MP made her remarks at a meeting of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign [PSC] on Wednesday, and has subsequently insisted she did not mean to condone suicide bombings.

Yesterday the party distanced itself from the MP, with a spokesman saying: "Jenny Tonge was expressing her personal views. The Liberal Democrats do not condone terrorism."

But Dr Tonge and the Lib Dems have continued to suffer a barrage of criticism, including a demand from the shadow foreign secretary, Michael Ancram, that Mr Kennedy condemn his colleague.

Mr Ancram claimed the party's response to Dr Tonge's remarks was "fainthearted" and asked the Lib Dem leader whether he believed it would "satisfy those who have suffered at the hands of suicide bombers".

"I urge you to personally intervene by distancing both yourself and your party from Dr Tonge's comments as a matter of urgency," he demanded.

Dr Tonge has also been condemned by a spokesman for the Israeli embassy, who said: "We would not expect any human being - and surely not a British MP - to express an understanding of such atrocities."

The Labour MP Louise Ellman, a member of the Holocaust educational trust, also demanded that she apologise for "giving the green light to terrorism".

Dr Tonge told the PSC: "This particular brand of terrorism, the suicide bomber, is truly born out of desperation.

"Many, many people criticise, many, many people say it is just another form of terrorism, but I can understand and I am a fairly emotional person and I am a mother and a grandmother. I think if I had to live in that situation, and I say this advisedly, I might just consider becoming one myself.

"And that is a terrible thing to say."

This morning she sought to clarify her remark, telling BBC Breakfast: "That doesn't mean to say I condone suicide bombers, I don't. "I think it's appalling and loathsome. But we have to try and understand where they are coming from and understand the situation in which they live."

This is now utterly garbled. If it's appalling and loathsome, what exactly does understanding the situation add? Does it make it less appalling and loathsome?

Traditional Islam teaches that Muslims must call people to accept the faith or at least submit to the Islamic social order -- that is dawah. If they refuse, Muslims must fight them -- jihad. This is based on numerous passages of the Qur'an and Islamic tradition, including this one. Says the Prophet Muhammad:

Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war . . . When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them. . . . If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah's help and fight them. (Sahih Muslim, book 19, no. 4294).

The Telegraph has a story today about a modern manifestation of this in Chechnya. (Thanks to Fanabba.) A young Russian soldier, Yevgeny Rodionov, an Orthodox Christian, was asked to convert to Islam by Chechen jihadis. When he refused, they killed him. Now he is being venerated as a saint and martyr:

On his 19th birthday Chechen rebels took Yevgeny Rodionov out of the cell where they had held him prisoner and invited him to convert to Islam. When he refused, they beheaded him. To growing numbers of Russian Orthodox believers the young soldier is already a saint and a martyr for the faith. They offer prayers to him and credit icons of his image with miraculous works.

"I'm proud of my son, that he met death eye to eye, that he kept his faith to the end," says his mother Lyubov, turning a bloodstained silver crucifix slowly in her hands. "But as for whether he's a saint or not - that's for God to decide."

Mrs Rodionova found the cross in Chechnya, the region devastated by war where Yevgeny was posted at the age of 18, never to return to the small flat outside Moscow now dominated by his image.

Yevgeny the blond boy peers out from a black-and-white photo, next to Yevgeny the conscript, solemn in his uniform. Another photograph shows the brick room where he was held captive for 100 days. A final one shows the sunny glade where they killed him, and where his mother helped unearth his bones with her bare hands.

The silver crucifix, which Yevgeny made as a boy, glinted in the shallow grave, and made sure he would not join the forgotten war dead of the past decade.

His is a timely story in a nation hungry for heroes after the demise of Soviet superpower, where millions look to nationalism and the Church for relief from a relentless slide into poverty.

"People seem to need Yevgeny where things are tough," says Mrs Rodionova. "They look to him in the prisons, in the army, where a believer's life is hard."

His icons bring solace and sometimes salvation, according to his mother. She says that one icon, in a small chapel in Siberia's remote Altai mountains, began to weep myrrh just before a major earthquake hit the region last year. It was a warning to locals, she says, and the chapel survived.

Church elders have frowned upon Yevgeny's grassroots canonisation. Their disapproval means little to his mother, whose lone search for her missing son left her with a loathing for officialdom.

Ten months spent with Chechnya's most notorious guerrillas, more than $10,000 buying information about her son, the death of Yevgeny's father five days after her son's burial: these things have left their mark, she says.

But they are as nothing compared to the betrayal she says her son suffered at the hands of Russia's military and political leaders.

"They just send our boys away to an undeclared war and then forget about them. This is Russia's disgrace."

While France focuses on the hijab, Germany has found bigger fish to fry. This article reveals that the Muslim Brotherhood is alive and well and still inextricably bound to Islamic radicalism, despite widespread assumptions that it is either moribund or a straitlaced shadow of its former self. This from Expatica, with thanks to Nicolei:

Federal investigators in Germany have linked backers of a proposed mosque in Berlin to Islamic radicals with links to terrorist organizations in the Mideast, officials confirmed Friday.

The enormous mosque, which would accommodate 5,000 worshippers, has financial backing from Ibrahim el-Zayat, head of the Moslem Brotherhood in Germany, according to documents leaked to Berlin news media.

"El Zayat bought two adjoining parcels of land in the German capital for EUR 370,000 in March 2002 on behalf of a company called the European Trust," said city administrator Heinz Buschkowsky in confirming the reports.

Buschkowsky said city building authorities have given approval for construction to go ahead despite protests from local residents in the Neukoelln district that the huge structure would overwhelm the neighbourhood.

Federal investigators have been looking into links between extremist groups and the Inssan Islamic Community which is nominally in charge of building the mosque.

"We are now able to state categorically that there are links between the community and the Moslem Brotherhood," one federal investigator, Claus Guggenberger, told Berliner Morgenpost newspaper.

The Moslem Brotherhood, originally founded in Egypt, is believed to have some 1,300 members in Germany. According to investigators, it maintains close links to the Palestinian Hamas along with the Gama Al Islamiah and the Algerian Salvation Front (FIS).

German investigators say they are concerned that the Moslem Brotherhood is attempting to broaden its influence through religious centres in major cities. The Berlin mosque project is said to be one example of that.

The Pflueger Strasse project is one of four large new mosques proposed for the Neukoelln-Kreuzberg district, just south of the government centre of the German capital. Long a neighbourhood in transition, the district has a large mixed-ethnic population with a large number of second- and third-generation Turkish immigrants.

Berlin, a city of more than 3 million, has an estimated 220,000 Moslems. The city's 70 or so mosques are largely located in renovated shops and warehouses.

The four new mosques mark a radical change in this city with its centuries-old Protestant tradition.

In Onward Muslim Soldiers I detail how Muslim leaders worldwide declared the Iraq war a jihad -- whereupon Muslims streamed into Iraq to fight the Americans there. But a report in WND today suggests that now they may be streaming out again. Why? Too many Muslims are getting killed. No one, apparently, is concerned about non-Muslims getting killed.

Al-Qaida's campaign in Iraq has backfired politically due to large numbers of Muslim deaths, prompting the terrorist network to take its holy war elsewhere, according to counter-terror experts.

An Internet magazine published by al-Qaida, Sawt al-Jihad, or "Voice of Jihad," urges Osama bin Laden's supporters to stay away from Baghdad and instead hit U.S. military targets in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, terrorist expert Rita Katz told the New York Post.

Katz' SITE Institute monitors al-Qaida propaganda on the Internet.

An article titled "Do Not Go To Iraq," by Muhammad bin al-Salim, says: "My instructions to the people of the peninsula [Saudi Arabia], young as old, men as women, is to fight Americans in their homes and the people of Yemen should fight the Americans in their bases, battleships and their consulates."

The Post notes this is a change in strategy by bin Laden, who reportedly in October shifted some resources from Taliban renegades in Afghanistan to Iraq in order to battle coalition forces.

Katz sees growing evidence bin Laden's foreign fighters no longer are welcome in Iraq, the Post reported.

"It's clear that the killing of a lot of Muslims in Iraq is something al-Qaida now wants to avoid," she told the New York paper.

I am in Washington today; later this afternoon I'll be speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on terrorism and Islamic fascism.

I believe that jihad terrorism is a human rights issue which should interest both liberals and conservatives. And I have been in touch with people from the far left end of the political spectrum who support the work of Jihad Watch -- more on that later. But I applaud CPAC for leading the way, and am grateful for their invitation. Updates when possible. -- Robert Spencer

Could Iran have had something to do with 9/11? Would the Shi'ite mullahs have cooperated and collaborated with the Sunni Wahhabis who perpetrated the attacks? No serious problem on that score: an old saying in Arabic translates roughly as "My brother against my brother; both of us against our cousin." Anyway, the evidence for this connection is slight, and there may be nothing to it at all, but it is intriguing. Stephen Brown has an excellent report at FrontPage:

A surprise witness testified Thursday in the Hamburg trial of an alleged 9/11 conspirator that Iran was involved in the devastating terrorist attack.

The accused, Abdelghani Mzoudi, a Moroccan, was an associate of 9/11 suicide pilots Mohammed Atta; Marwan Alshehhi; Ziad Jarrah; and other Islamist radicals in the northern German city. He is believed to have belonged to al-Qaeda's infamous 'Hamburg cell', which harbored the 9/11 death pilots. Mzoudi is charged with being an accessory to 3,066 murders and with membership in a terrorist organization. His trial is the second one to take place in Germany involving a 9/11 co-conspirator. Last February, Mounir el Motassadeq, another Moroccan, was convicted on the same charges and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The Iranian witness, who fled Iran last July and whose identity remained concealed, said he is a former agent in the Iranian intelligence service, from which experience he makes his claim that Iran was the author of 9/11. He didn't appear in the courtroom, but instead a German intelligence official read statements from his interrogation out to the court, which heavily implicates Mzoudi in the attack. In it, the Iranian national claims the accused, who spent three months in Iran as well as time in Afghanistan before 9/11, was employed in the logistics side of the September 11 tragedy, collecting information and sending it on to associates.

In reference to the trial, another German intelligence official confirmed in court last Monday that Iran's intelligence service worked closely with al-Qaeda. According to the official, Iranian intelligence contains a "Section 43", which plans and executes strikes. A German federal prosecutor also said that federal attorneys have had information since last October about a possible involvement of Iran in the 9/11 attacks. Several al-Qaeda leaders, wanted by the United States, are also known to currently reside in Iran, which refuses to extradite them.

The Mzoudi trial has taken some interesting twists since it began last year. Last December, the Moroccan was, in a surprise development, freed from custody after statements from Ramzi Binalshibh, a 9/11 planner imprisoned in America, were entered into the court; they denied that Mzoudi was ever a member of the Hamburg cell and didn't have any part in the attack. As a result, the trial's presiding judge ruled that there now existed a grave possibility that, despite the Moroccan's connection to the Hamburg cell and despite his stay in Afghanistan, he was excluded from the planning of the 9/11 strike and didn't knowingly support it, and therefore ordered his release.

German prosecutors, on the other hand, saw no reason to lift the custody order. They say American officials denied them the opportunity to interrogate Binalshibh to verify the credibility of his statements and believe the terrorist in American custody is simply trying to protect the remaining members of the Hamburg cell. The Germans also claim Binalshibh has made "diverging and partly contradictory statements" in the past. Al-Qaeda terrorists, they say, were taught such "tricks" in Afghanistan regarding what to say and how to behave in interrogations to cover up the true background of their deeds.

The two efforts German prosecutors have made since last month to have Mzoudi's custody order reinstated have both failed. They have also been ordered to produce their Iranian witness before the court next Thursday. German intelligence officials were evasive in court regarding questions concerning their witness's credibility. His sources of information are also uncertain. This has caused Mzoudi's defense attorney to remark that the Moroccan's acquittal is not in jeopardy, saying the new witness's testimony cannot be taken seriously, adding that any incriminating evidence from him also has to be proven first. The trial's prosecutor says however it should only take one or two weeks to verify the witness's credibility.

Last Thursday was also the day when judgment was expected on the charges against Mzoudi, but the prosecution's surprise witness has caused the trial's extension. However, even if acquitted, the Iranian says Mzoudi now still faces justice, only this time Islamist-style. According to his statement, the Iranian witness believes German authorities released Mzoudi from custody last month in the hope he would lead them to other Islamists connected to the Hamburg cell. And it is for this same reason, he told German intelligence officials, that al-Qaeda now wants to liquidate him.

If true, acquittal may be the worst thing that could happen to Mzoudi. Sharing a jail cell with Motassadeq in Germany for the next 15 years definitely seems a more inviting option than a bullet from a former comrade. Nevertheless, it is the one terrorist attack where 9/11 survivors and victims' relatives would probably wish al-Qaeda all the best.

It seems that the terrorist Hambali wanted to start the jihad in Australia, but wasn't able to get it off the ground. This from The Australian, with thanks to Jean-Luc:

HAMBALI, Southeast Asia's most dangerous terrorist, wanted to attack Australia but had failed to establish a local network capable of staging bombings, US interrogators have learned.

The CIA, acting as interrogator for the Australian Federal Police and ASIO, asked Hambali in late November more than 200 questions about terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah's intentions in Australia.

The responses have reaffirmed a belief by both agencies that the JI cell covering Australia, known as Mantiqi 4, was the least developed and operationally capable of JI's four regions.

The answers reveal Hambali had almost no success in establishing a local Anglo-Saxon network and instead relied on two Indonesian brothers, Abdul Rahim Ayub and Abdul Rochman Ayub.

There was one alleged exception, a local man who legally cannot be named and who has been under the sustained scrutiny of authorities.

The Ayubs' duties extended no further than fundraising for their cohorts abroad and instilling the fervour of JI teachings, including those of firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.

Abdul Rochman Ayub was deported from Australia on immigration irregularities. His brother, who fled to Indonesia in the days after the Bali bombings, remains on the run.

Hambali is being held at a US military base on the Indian Ocean outpost of Diego Garcia. Nearby are two more of the world's most dangerous men, al-Qa'ida's chief of operations Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and confessed September 11 organiser Ramzi bin-al-Shibh.

The CIA would not allow Australian officials direct access to Hambali and have so far not permitted officials from his homeland of Indonesia to visit him.

However, the US ambassador to Indonesia, Ralph Boyce, this week indicated the US was "seriously considering" reversing the latter decision.

Hambali was captured in Thailand in August last year. Until then he had been JI's director of operations and the most wanted man in the region. He allegedly gave the go-ahead for the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people.

Evidently the jihadis in Thailand are not targeting just the government. That they would target a solitary Buddhist monk can likely be explained by the traditional ideology of jihad and dhimmitude, which holds the lives of "idolaters" forfeit. This from Reuters, with thanks to Susan:

A Buddhist monk was killed with a sword in southern Thailand on Thursday and police detained three Muslims suspected of involvement in a surge of violence in the largely Muslim region, officials said.

The murder followed a series of searches and interrogations of Muslims and their clerics by police looking for assault rifles stolen from an army base and those responsible for burning schools and for bomb attacks this month.

Police said the slaying could have been caused by a "third party" which wanted to cause a rift between people of the two religions in Bajor, 1,150 km (720 miles) south of Bangkok.

What third party could that be? Or is this just more dhimmitude from Thai authorities, wanting to minimize the possibility that the killing was done by mujahedin?

"This is the first time they killed a monk," Police Colonel Nukul Kraithong of Bajor police station told Reuters.

"Although most people in this town are Muslims, they live in harmony. There has never been a religious conflict here."

The monk, 64-year-old Jad Madmunee, was killed with a sword wielded by one of two men on a motorcycle while walking back to a temple in Narathiwat after his morning rounds to collect food as alms, police said. He died on the way to hospital.

The government imposed martial law on Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces near the Malaysian border following a series of deadly attacks early this month which rocked the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Four soldiers were killed and more than 100 guns, most of them M-16s, stolen in a January 4 raid on an army base in Narathiwat. More than 20 schools were torched in what officials believe was a diversionary tactic.

A day later, two policemen were killed trying to defuse a bomb in Pattani and a police station in Yala was raided by a dozen gunmen on January 7. No one was killed.

Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh told reporters in Pattani on Thursday one suspect was arrested in connection with the Yala raid and his information led to the detention of two others.

"We know that seven or eight people were involved in the incident, but we could issue arrest warrants for only three. Only one has been caught so far," Chavalit said after meeting Muslim clerics and academics in Pattani.

Apart from sending hundreds of soldiers and police to hunt for suspects and weapons in deep jungle along the Malaysian border, the government is also launching a public relations campaign to win over the region where most of Thailand's six million Muslims live.

A Muslim in France who threw stones and shouted slurs at his Jewish neighbors has been given a six-month sentence. This from Expatica, with thanks to Susan:

A 24 year-old French Muslim was sent to jail for six months Thursday after being convicted of an anti-Semitic assault on a neighbouring Jewish family.

Rabah Zehani threw a stone at members of the Alimi family as they left their home in October and shouted, "Dirty Jew, Hitler didn't finish the job," lawyer David Metaxas said.

"The Alimi have been through hell. For three years the four of them have been targetted with insults and swastikas on their door," said Metaxas.

The French government has called on judges to hand down exemplary punishments on those convicted of anti-Semitic attacks.

Secretary of State Colin Powell has asked Islamic governments to clean up their schools: "if they are just going to take their young people and put them in these madrases, these schools that do nothing but indoctrinate them in the worst aspects of a religion, then they are shorting themselves, they are leaving themselves back as well as teaching hatred that will not help us bring peace to the region, and will not help their societies." True enough. There is abundant evidence that the madrassas in many Islamic countries are breeding grounds for terrorists. As long as this continues, so will terrorism. This from AP:

Unfortunately, many will reject Powell's words on the grounds that he is trying to get them to renounce their Islamic identity.

The Bush administration advises Arab and other Muslim governments to educate their children in schools that teach more than Islamic doctrine, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday.

In some of these schools children are being taught to hate, thereby hurting peace efforts in the region and also not helping their own societies, Powell said.

"We have been talking not only to the Saudis but to other Middle Eastern leaders and Muslim leaders around the world, and made it clear to them that Islam is a great religion," Powell said in an interview with WPHT Radio in Philadelphia.

"But they also have to be educating their youngsters not just in the tenets of Islam and the Islamic religion, but they have to educate their youngsters for the demands of the 21st century," Powell said.

"They have got to give them skills. They have got to teach them to read and write," Powell said. "They have got to teach them science and math and all the other things that are necessary for societies to be successful in the 21st century."

Drawing a bead on some of the Islamic schools, Powell said "if they are just going to take their young people and put them in these madrases, these schools that do nothing but indoctrinate them in the worst aspects of a religion, then they are shorting themselves, they are leaving themselves back as well as teaching hatred that will not help us bring peace to the region, and will not help their societies."

Powell said the Bush administration had made it clear to Saudi Arabia that the 21st century is going to require changes in their society.

"But we do it as friends, and we don't do it to beat them up or lecture them," Powell said.

The United States needs Saudi Arabia, but "there are certain policies they have that we are not happy with," he said.

"They have a different culture, a different society than ours - things they do that would not be acceptable to us," Powell said, without elaboration.

WND reports on what is unfortunately a common story: a Christian girl in Pakistan has been abducted by Muslims who are likely to force her to convert to Islam and marry a Muslim. This happens all too frequently in Egypt and other Muslim countries as well.

Christians in Pakistan fear a 14-year-old girl kidnapped by several men will be forced to convert to Islam and marry a Muslim.

Shamim Kausor, of the district of Toba Tek Singh in Punjab province, was abducted from her home Dec. 31 by men who pulled up in a jeep and took her away by gunpoint, according to the Washington, D.C.-based persecution monitor International Christian Concern.

ICC said young Christian girls in Pakistan often are abducted and raped and forced to marry Muslim men but generally have no rights or recourse for the crimes committed against them.

This was the second abduction of Kausor, and several neighbors recognized a man who kidnapped her several months ago.

At that time, Kausor's father, Afzal Masih, employed the help of police to rescue his daughter. He tried to initiate legal proceedings against the man but was strongly dissuaded by Muslim village leaders.

The kidnapper taunted and threatened the girl after the first abduction, ICC reported.

At one point he said, "A beautiful girl like you should not remain Christian. I will make you Muslim and you will bear a Muslim child."

The police are not interested in helping Masih this time, however, ICC said.

In November, 15-year-old Pakistani Christian boy was kidnapped and taken to a strict Islamic religious school where he was beaten to submission and forced to declare he is a Muslim, according to an international aid group.

Time Asia contains an interesting report on the radical Islamic group Jaish-e-Muhammad, which is now waging jihad on their former patron Pervez Musharraf.

In the half-hour before Mohammed Jamil ended his life, he was a busy man. As he sat in a pickup truck loaded with C4 plastic explosives, he made and received no fewer than 109 calls on his cell phone, talking, at least in some cases, to accomplices in his effort to incinerate the President of Pakistan. Jamil, 23, might have assumed that the evidence he was creating would disintegrate in the blast he planned for Pervez Musharraf. If he did, he was wrong. Not only did he and a second car bomber fail to kill Musharraf in their Dec. 25 attempt, but the memory card of Jamil's cell phone, which investigators found intact amid the detritus of the blasts, has led authorities to dozens of suspected collaborators. Many belong to a violent Pakistani extremist group, Jaish-e-Muhammad. Once allied with Musharraf's government, the group is now linked to al-Qaeda, whose leader, Osama bin Laden, called for Musharraf's overthrow in a recent audiotape. . . .

That Jaish-e-Muhammad has the capacity to launch sophisticated attacks on the President, possibly with insider help, is a situation partly of Musharraf's making. The government in Islamabad has long coddled militant Islamic groups, encouraging them first to help drive the Soviets out of neighboring Afghanistan and later to torment Indian troops in the part of the disputed state of Kashmir that is under Indian control. It was to this latter cause that Jaish-e-Muhammad was devoted. Official tolerance of these groups, and in some cases assistance to them, continued after Musharraf took power in a 1999 coup. The President was especially supportive of Jaish-e-Muhammad's leader, warrior-cleric Maulana Masood Azhar. When Azhar was released from an Indian jail in a prisoner exchange in December 2000, he was permitted to stage a huge rally in Karachi attended by gun-toting followers. In 2001 Musharraf even tried unsuccessfully to persuade the various Kashmiri guerrilla groups to unite under Azhar.

The government's partnership with extremists was tested after 9/11, however, when Musharraf sided with the Bush Administration in its battle against Islamic militancy. Even so, Musharraf treated homegrown radicals gingerly at first. Under pressure from Washington, he banned various militant organizations in January 2002, but he left their leaders largely unfettered and allowed the organizations to reconstitute under new names. When it came to Jaish-e-Muhammad, Musharraf acted like a parent in denial after his favorite son has turned delinquent. Pakistan's intelligence services, which had helped build up the group and infiltrate its fighters into Indian-controlled Kashmir, were hesitant to crack down, even after Jaish-e-Muhammad began unleashing religious terrorism within Pakistan. Officials hold the outfit and its offshoots responsible for a May 2002 bombing in Karachi that killed 11 French naval technicians and another explosion outside the U.S. consulate in the same city in June 2002 that killed 12 Pakistanis. Diplomats in Islamabad say that one reason Musharraf was reluctant to get tough on Muslim extremists was that most were allied with religious parties he needed to prop up his regime.

After the two attempts on his life, Musharraf seems to have a new attitude. Acting on information gleaned from Jamil's cell phone, police in the central region of Punjab last week arrested more than 35 suspects from mosques and seminaries, most thought to be connected to Jaish-e-Muhammad. An unspecified number were released. Still, U.S. officials are encouraged that Musharraf finally seems committed to going after Jaish-e-Muhammad, a request Washington has made to Islamabad for years, to little effect. "He's serious," says a U.S. State Department official. "He was born again on Dec. 25."

One of those arrested last week was wanted as an accessory in the January 2002 abduction and murder of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl. The Pakistanis have already convicted Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh, a militant close to Jaish-e-Muhammad, of abducting Pearl and sentenced him to death. A witness says it was al-Qaeda commander Khalid Shaikh Mohammed who actually killed the journalist. Arrested by the U.S. on March 1, 2003, Mohammed remains in U.S. custody. According to a senior Pakistani antiterrorism official, he is being held at a military base on Diego Garcia. Pakistan's Interior Minister, Faisal Saleh Hayat, told TIME "there's a strong possibility" that the Dec. 25 plotters were also "involved with al-Qaeda."

The two groups certainly know each other. Throughout the 1990s, before marching off to fight the Indians in Kashmir, Jaish-e-Muhammad militants crossed into Afghanistan to attend al-Qaeda training camps. Pakistan's intelligence services looked the other way. Officials in Pakistan say that these days Jaish-e-Muhammad activists give shelter to al-Qaeda militants and that al-Qaeda provides funding and guidance to Jaish-e-Muhammad, perhaps contracting the group out for killings. Says retired General Talat Masood, a consultant on security affairs in Islamabad: "The military had an alliance with these jihadi groups, but they got totally out of control."

Suicide bomber Jamil was known to Pakistani intelligence. A reedy young man from the village of Rawalakot in the Himalayan foothills near the Indian border, he fought alongside the Taliban against the Americans in Afghanistan. Wounded in the fall of Kabul, he was allowed to return home to Pakistan. On arrival in Peshawar, he was interrogated by Pakistani intelligence services and dismissed as harmless in April 2002. Like many Muslim extremists, Jamil, according to his relatives in Rawalakot, viewed Musharraf as too pro-Western. Militants complain that Musharraf betrayed the Taliban and, given his peace overtures to India in early January, they now accuse him of selling out Kashmiri Muslims too. Jamil's rants against the U.S. and Musharraf were so incessant that his family kicked him out, neighbors say. But was Jamil the ringleader of the Dec. 25 plot? "Of course not," scoffs Interior Minister Hayat. "The ringleaders never blow themselves up. They get minions to do that."

However dedicated Musharraf may now be to weeding out Pakistan's extremists, the task will be long and dangerous. On Thursday, terrorists in Karachi bombed a Christian study center, injuring 14 people. Says Hayat: "Their tentacles are spread far and wide." On the run now, these groups may be more dangerous than ever. Says an ex-commander of one of them in Lahore: "The boys aren't listening to anyone. They're desperate. They don't accept that the days of jihad are over."

Cleveland Muslim leader Fawaz Damra, who has been arrested on suspicion of concealing ties to terrorist groups, has been forced to take a paid leave of absence by the Islamic Center of Cleveland — although the Cleveland Plain Dealer quotes one local man there as saying that Damra enjoys the support of eighty to ninety percent of area Muslims.

More importantly, in a variation of the race card that Muslim leaders often deploy against critics, Damra and his supporters are charging that his arrest is part of an ongoing campaign targeting Muslims:

Damra declined to comment Tuesday, but at a rally last Friday at the mosque, attended by about 250 supporters including Christian clergy and leaders of other Islamic groups, Damra criticized what he called the "blatant targetting" of Islamic leaders by the government.

"In these difficult times, we must not allow fear and hate to deprive us of our collective civil rights," he said. . . .

"He has the support of, I'd say, 90 percent of the Arab and Muslims in this community," said Aziz, a trustee of the club, which represents Palestinian families from the West Bank village of Beit Hanina. "The few that think they have the power to influence the future of Fawaz, they are mistaken."

On Jan. 13, FBI agents arrested Damra at his Strongsville home and charged him with lying on his citizenship application by not disclosing previous ties to terrorist groups. He pleaded not guilty and was released on $160,000 bond.

It was another blow for a cleric who had been embroiled in criticism over videotaped anti-Semitic slurs he made more than a decade ago.

In a videotape from April 7, 1991, that was made public in the fall of 2001, Damra is shown calling for attacks on Jewish people and referring to them as animals. Damra apologized, expressing his "overwhelming regret and sadness" for the remarks. The cleric said he made the remarks at a time when he had no interaction with the Jewish and Christian communities.

Damra didn't refer to Jews as just any animals, and this is an important distinction. He actually referred to them as "pigs and monkeys," which is just what the Qur'an calls them in Suras 2:62-65, 5:59-60, and 7:166. As I explain in Onward Muslim Soldiers, this is how radical Muslims around the world refer to Jews routinely. Thus in 1991 Damra accepted their equation of the Qur'an's Sabbath-breaking Jews who were cursed by Allah and turned into pigs and monkeys with the Jews of today. It was a matter of theology, not personal experience. Of course, he says that since then his personal experience led him to modify his theology, and I hope that is true.

Meanwhile CAIR, of course, jumped aboard the scapegoating bandwagon:

At the rally Friday, the Cleveland chapter of the Muslim American Society issued a statement calling on area Muslims to unite behind Damra. Jad Humeidan, executive director of the Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, also urged support, declaring the Damra case "is part of a pattern of attacking the Muslim community, its leaders and its institutions."

Mr. Humeidan, was the arrest of CAIR's Randall Todd Ismail Royer part of this pattern? Was his guilty plea part of it? Since you evidently assume that Damra is not guilty, please explain also these facts, reported in the Plain Dealer last week (via FrontPage):

Imam Fawaz Damra helped lay the groundwork for an organization that ultimately merged into al-Qaida in the late 1980s.

He was an unindicted co-conspirator of the terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993. And he passionately raised money for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which killed dozens of Jews in Israel during the 1990s. . . .

How much Damra knows is unclear, but he is directly linked to two of the largest terror-funding probes in the United States, and implicated by association in a third sprawling investigation. . . .

In the mid-1980s, he co- founded the Alkifah Refugee Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., part of a network that recruited and trained Muslims to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan, a venture that dovetailed with U.S. government efforts in the region.

When the Soviets withdrew, however, there was an international fight over what to do with the leftover money and power.

Like many Alkifah centers around the world, the Brooklyn chapter was drawn into the al- Qaida network created by Osama bin Laden. The mosque itself fell under the sway of Omar Abdul Rahman, known as the "blind sheik," who was later blamed for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

Damra, meanwhile, settled in Cleveland, where he reinvented himself as a peacemaker and spent more than a decade building tentative, then increasingly sturdy, bridges between local Muslims and Jews.

Nearly all of his efforts collapsed following the terror attacks of 2001, when a grainy videotape surfaced revealing another side of the charismatic cleric.

The 1991 video shows Damra at a Muslim gathering in Cleveland, disparaging Jews in Arabic as "pigs and monkeys" and raising money for the killing of Jews by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Maybe he isn't guilty. But it would be helpful to get a full explanation and clarification. Does he now reject Islamic radicalism? Does he want to see the U.S. someday become an Islamic state? These are the kinds of questions that must be answered.

A few observations from Jihad Watch director Robert Spencer on how Muslim advocacy groups use charges of racism against any and all critics — including John Rhys-Davies, who plays Gimli the Dwarf in Lord of the Rings — can be found in "Gimli Battles the Race Card" at FrontPage magazine today.

A Canadian Muslim who lives in Minnesota has been charged with aiding Al Qaeda. This from AP:

A federal indictment unsealed Wednesday charged a Minnesota man with conspiracy to provide material support to the Al Qaeda terrorist network.

Mohammed Abdullah Warsame, 30, a Canadian citizen of Somali descent, was arrested in Minneapolis last month as a material witness in an unspecified terrorism investigation. On Tuesday, a grand jury in Minneapolis indicted him.

The indictment was unsealed Wednesday following Warsame's appearance in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, where he had been transported in December. Warsame was held without bond there, pending his return to Minneapolis.

The indictment alleges that from March 2000 through the date of his arrest, Dec. 8, Warsame conspired to provide material support and resources for Al Qaeda. No further details of the alleged conspiracy were contained in the information released Wednesday.

"The indictment of Warsame demonstrates this nation's iron resolve to detect, disrupt and dismantle the networks of terror," said Attorney General John Ashcroft in a prepared statement. "The charge against Warsame is a grim reminder that Al Qaeda, aided by agents and cells in this country, continues its shadowy efforts to destroy the lives and freedoms of the people in the United States."

New York attorney Sam Tokin represented Warsame at his court hearing Wednesday. He said Warsame did not enter a plea at the brief hearing, and will be arraigned later in Minneapolis. Tokin declined to detail the allegations against Warsame.

News reports have linked Warsame to terror suspect Zacarias Moussaoui, who was also arrested in Minnesota and now awaits trial in Virginia on federal conspiracy charges. Federal officials have refused to address those reports, and their statement to the news media Wednesday did not mention Moussaoui.

Moussaoui was arrested while learning to fly a Boeing 747 jet at an Eagan flight simulator school two years ago and is the subject of the only U.S. prosecution related to the Sept. 11 attacks. Warsame's wife, Fartun Farah, has said she doesn't know whether her husband knows Moussaoui.

Warsame was a student at Minneapolis Community and Technical College. His arrest and the secrecy have been a subject of concern in the local Somali community, which numbers an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 and is believed to be the largest in the United States.

Tom Heffelfinger, U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, said in a statement that the indictment shows that everyone in the United States even in "Minnesota and the rest of the nation's great heartland are subject to the threat of terrorist activity."

An Iranian emigre who converted to Christianity has received asylum in Germany by convincing Germany courts that he would be persecuted in his homeland. After all, it is against Islamic law to convert to another religion from Islam. This from Expatica, with thanks to Susan:

A court in Germany has upheld the right to political asylum granted to a Muslim who converted to Christianity after coming to this country.

The federal administrative court in Leipzig said Tuesday the defendant, a political refugee from Iran, could conceivably face persecution in his native country as a result of having renounced Islam.

The case was seen as setting a precedent for other refugees seeking political asylum in Germany.

The judge noted that a Moslem man's decision to join and regularly attend a Christian church was tangible proof of religious convictions potentially at variance with policies of a conservative Islamic republic.

Stephen Brown in FrontPage has an excellent summation of recent jihad activity in Thailand:

It is the “weak underbelly” in Southeast Asia’s War on Terror.

That is how one observer has described Thailand’s five Muslim provinces, located in the country’s southern panhandle next to Malaysia, where a bloody outburst of Islamist terrorism has already occurred this year.

Earlier this month, 50 Islamist militants raided a Thai army base in Narathiwat, one of the five provinces, where they rounded up the camp’s soldiers, separating the Muslims from the Buddhists. With the captive soldiers looking on, the raiders proceeded to brutally butcher four of their Buddhist comrades, shooting two and cutting the throats of the other two. The murderers then fled with 330 M-16 rifles, two M-60 grenade launchers and seven rocket propelled grenades from the camp’s armory. Their trail led directly to Malaysia, a Muslim-majority state whose northern provinces bordering Thailand contain strongholds of Malaysia’s opposition fundamentalist party, the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS).

Concurrent with the attack, twenty government schools in Narathiwat were also set on fire to serve as a distraction for the raid. Moreover, two Thai police officers were killed the next day while attempting to defuse a terrorist’s bomb in Pattani, another southern Muslim province.

The success of the raid has caused Thai authorities to believe the Islamists had received inside help. As a result, 64 of the camp’s soldiers, 20 of them Muslim, have been flown to Bangkok for investigation. Officials have also ordered 50 recently discharged soldiers who had served at the base, 49 of them Muslim, to appear for questioning.

A resurgence of local separatist groups, combined with outside Islamist help, is believed to be responsible for the recent violence. Thai authorities were taken aback at the bloodiness and military precision with which the army camp raid and school burnings were carried out. As a result, the government has declared marshal law in three of the Muslim provinces and is launching an investigation into the independent Muslim schools (called “ponohs”) in the area. Thanks to Saudi funding, many ponohs now teach the extremist Wahabi brand of Islam and, like their Pakistani counterparts, are suspected of serving as Islamist recruitment centers. The Bangkok Post reported that as many as 700 Thai Muslim youths have trained in secret military camps in southern Thailand; others have visited Taliban camps in Afghanistan.

With its 63 million population, Thailand is 90 percent Buddhist. Thailand’s five southern provinces (Satun, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat), however, are 85 percent Muslim and home to most of the country’s four million Muslims. The southern provinces were annexed a hundred years ago after centuries of Thai government control. A militant Muslim separatist movement started there in the early 1970s, but died out in the 1990s.

The goal of today’s Southeast Asian Islamists is to set up a super-Islamic state, comprising Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Cambodia, the southern Philippines and southern Thailand. Thailand’s defense minister even told a cabinet meeting after the attack that Muslim extremists planned to capture one of the five southern provinces within a thousand days. Experts believe that terrorists from different Southeast Asian Islamist groups are using the region to regroup after security crackdowns in their own countries forced them to flee.

What makes southern Thailand so attractive to Islamist terrorists and other criminal organizations is the loose security environment. Corrupt officials, the area’s remoteness and a very porous border with neighboring Malaysia provide a natural haven for such lawless groups. It is here where the horrific Bali bombing was planned. It is also in Thailand where its mastermind, Hambali, was arrested, albeit in the country’s northern area. The region’s lax security environment has even allowed about 300 illegal ponoh schools to continue operation, although the government banned them five years ago.

For its part, the government of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra says it intends to build better relations with its Muslim citizens as an anti-terrorist measure by investing more money, especially in education, in southern Thailand, a traditionally poor area. Previously, the Thai government has refused to fully recognize the terrorist danger in order to protect its important tourism industry. But it now realizes it must counter the Islamist threat to prevent the southern provinces from turning into a violent, Kashmir-like area.

Fortunately, most Thai Muslims are peaceful, but have long felt the central government has neglected them. Corrupt and sometimes culturally overbearing, Buddhist government officials have also added to their disgruntlement by supporting the latest Iraqi war. Thai Muslims opposed America’s war in Iraq, but did so, for the most part, in a lawful manner. Three Thai Muslims were, however, arrested last June for plotting to blow up Western embassies in Bangkok.

The Thaksin government’s support for America in the War on Terror has now made Thailand a much more attractive target for Islamist depredations. Thai troops are currently serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. President Bush, showing his appreciation, has raised the Southeast Asian nation’s status to that of “major non-NATO ally” of the United States. As a result, more terrorist onslaughts like the army base attack are expected. And since tourism is a major pillar of the Thai economy, a Bali-like bombing of one of Thailand’s famous tourist resorts cannot be ruled out.

An unpleasant byproduct of the anti-hijab demonstrations in France. This from News.com.au, with thanks to Nicolei:

A MINIBUS used to transport children to a Jewish school in the eastern French city of Strasbourg was set alight Sunday night, police said today.

A few hours earlier assailants hurled stones at the door of a synagogue in the same city.

"Several factors make me think these are anti-Semitic acts," said Pierre Levy, regional delegate of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF).

"What is worrying is that the incidents tend to happen after demonstrations," he said.

On Saturday around 20,000 Muslims demonstrated around France against a proposed ban on the Islamic headscarf in schools. The marches were organised by the Strasbourg-based Party of French Muslims, whose opponents accuse it of being anti-Semitic.

French Education Minister Luc Ferry is now suggesting that beards could be banned in France along with headscarves if they're found to be religious symbols. I doubt he'll make any serious headway on this one, but France has surprised me before. In any case, this just shows the flaws in their entire approach: instead of going after the root of the problem, they're targeting minutiae. They can't or won't get Muslims to renounce the Sharia and accept Western principles of tolerance and equality: instead, European Muslim groups are loudly denouncing assimilation. So the French instead go against the outward manifestations of the Islamic rejection of those things. But does Luc Ferry or Nicolas Sarkozy really think that beardless, bareheaded Muslims will not try to institute an Islamic state in France?

The report is from Reuters:

France's plan to bar religious symbols from state schools slid into confusion Tuesday after the education minister said a proposed ban on Muslim veils could also outlaw beards if they were judged to be a sign of faith.

Opposition politicians derided the government plan as misguided and some of President Jacques Chirac's conservative allies said they would abstain or vote against the law meant to stem growing Islamist influence among some of France's five million Muslims.

In another sign of the political tangle the veil debate has caused, a senior French official issued a rare public rebuke to Pope John Paul II for saying some politicians' efforts to ban faith from the public sphere endangered religious freedom in Europe.

Education Minister Luc Ferry made the surprising statement about disciplining bearded students in a National Assembly legal committee hearing about the draft law on the ban due to be debated next month.

Discussing the plan to remove Islamic headscarves from state schools, he told a communist deputy who asked about a pupil with a beard: "As soon as it becomes a religious sign and the code is apparent, it would fall under this law."

Pious Muslim men wear beards in obedience to the Prophet Mohammad, who is said to have instructed them to do so.

Sikhs -- of whom there are over 5,000 in the Paris area -- also wear beards because they do not cut their hair. Ferry said they might still be able to wear discreet turbans to school but did not mention their facial hair.

Claude Goasguen, deputy leader for Chirac's UMP party in parliament, said he was considering abstaining from the vote. Centrist Francois Bayrou denounced the planned ban as "a whiff of oxygen for fundamentalists" who would exploit it to whip up protests.

Socialist deputy Julien Dray declared: "This is putting a comic face on a very serious issue." Socialist parliamentary leader Jean-Marc Ayrault said the government's position "is not clear at all."

BAN BROADER THAN FIRST THOUGHT

Explaining the draft law to deputies, Ferry said the text would bar "signs and clothes which conspicuously manifest the religious affiliation of the pupils." Officials have said this means it would outlaw Muslim veils, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses.

But drafters chose to use this broad wording rather than draw up a list of banned symbols so pupils could not bypass the law by wearing other items that clearly have a religious significance but were not expressly forbidden, Ferry said.

France has reaped widespread criticism for the ban, which it says will keep religion out of state schools and thus promote respect for all religions. Many commentators abroad cannot fathom this logic and accuse Paris of violating religious freedom.

France's Muslim community, the largest in Europe, has said it feels targeted by the ban and launched demonstrations against it. Local Christian and Jewish religious leaders have also criticized it.

Pope John Paul II weighed into the debate last week with a warning about what he considered excessive secularism in some European countries, a clear jibe at France.

Bernard Stasi, who led a commission that first proposed the ban on religious symbols in state schools, wrote in the daily Le Monde that the Polish-born pontiff was misinformed about France and should not give fundamentalists ammunition against Paris.

The unthinkable has happened in Saudi Arabia: women have appeared in public without their headscarves — and mingled freely with men! The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia is outraged, for — note well — the hijab was "ordered by God." Western commentators have misled many people lately into thinking that the hijab was an invention of the Khomeini regime in Iran, or that it was ordained only for the Prophet Muhammad's wives, or as the relentless Karen Armstrong continues to insist, a borrowing from Byzantine Christianity. Well, I know plenty of Byzantine Christian women, and they don't wear it — because nothing in Christianity suggests that it was "ordered by God." But that is not the case in Islam. The Grand Mufti can point to ahadith like this one:

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin [Mother of the Believers]: Asma, daughter of AbuBakr, entered upon the Apostle of Allah [Muhammad] (peace_be_upon_him) wearing thin clothes. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) turned his attention from her. He said: O Asma', when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays her parts of body except this and this, and he pointed to her face and hands. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 32, Number 4092).

It is difficult for reformers in the Islamic world to try to counter the command of the Prophet. That is no doubt behind the thinking of the Grand Mufti in this story from Arab News (thanks to "Allah"):

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh yesterday issued a scathing condemnation of Saudi women who showed up unveiled at the Jeddah Economic Forum and mixed with men.

“We followed up what happened at the forum and which should be denounced... namely, the mixing of men and women and the latter’s appearance without wearing the hijab ordered by God,” the mufti said.

“This is prohibited. (Moreover), newspapers published their pictures in this state which violates Shariah,” he said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Not only did newspapers splash the pictures of these women, but some portrayed their conduct as “the beginning of the liberation of Saudi women — as if they were being constrained by Islamic law,” said the mufti, who also heads the Kingdom’s Council of Senior Islamic Scholars.

“I warn against the dire consequences that such practices will have,” he said.

“What is even more painful is that such outrageous behavior should have happened in Saudi Arabia, the land of the Two Holy Mosques, whose rulers consistently abided by Shariah without fear of criticism... and remain on this right path, thanks be to God,” the mufti said.

"As if they were being constrained by Islamic law"! The very idea! How could a woman possibly feel constrained by a law that forbids her to go out of the house without permission from a male guardian, or to speak to a man unless spoken to, or to testify in court if she is a victim of rape, or myriad other similar statutes! It's also useful to remember that people like the Grand Mufti would enforce the laws of dhimmitude while likewise maintaining that they cannot possibly be unjust, because they are ordered by God.

Photos from AMECA's protest at CAIR's Anaheim, California office yesterday. Thanks to Steve Klein of AMECA for sending them:

Another possible 20th 9/11 hijacker has been identified: another Saudi. Unlike many of the actual hijackers, this one was actually stopped by an immigration official as he was trying to enter the country. Later, however, he turned up in Afghanistan, which most likely confirms that his intention was indeed jihad. This from AP:

A Saudi man who was prevented from entering the United States a few weeks before the Sept. 11 terror attacks may have been the plot's intended 20th hijacker, federal officials say.

The man, identified only as al-Qahtani, was turned away by a U.S. immigration agent at Orlando International Airport in late August 2001, according to two senior law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday.

The agent became suspicious when al-Qahtani provided only vague answers to questions about what he was doing in the United States and could not provide names of people meeting him at the airport or describe where he was staying, one official said.

Al-Qahtani was stopped and questioned at about the same time that Mohamed Atta, a ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks, was using a pay phone at the Orlando airport, according to surveillance camera tapes. Atta had called a number in the Middle East, the officials said.

So far, investigators have not proven a link between Atta and al-Qahtani. But the FBI has long suspected that one of the planes — Flight 93, which crashed in a Pennsylvania field after a passenger uprising — was supposed to have a team of five instead of only four hijackers. The other three planes taken over that day had five hijackers.

The FBI has been investigating whether up to a dozen other al-Qaida operatives attempted to enter the United States prior to the attacks. What remains unclear, the officials said, is whether any of these people were supposed to take part in the hijackings or mount other attacks.

After his apprehension, U.S. agents put al-Qahtani on a plane back to Saudi Arabia, the officials said. He later wound up in Afghanistan, where he was captured by U.S. forces and is now being held along with other captives at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The agent who stopped al-Qahtani, Jose Melendez-Perez, is to testify about the matter at a hearing next week before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon The United States, better known as the 9/11 commission.

Give that man a medal.

From Norway's Forum 18, a refreshingly honest appraisal of dhimmitude: Henrik Ertner Rasmussen, General Secretary of the Danish European Mission, "draws on his experience of living and studying in the Muslim world to examine how Islam understands religious freedom. He believes Muslims' attitudes to religious freedom have been shaped by the concept of Dhimmitude, under which proselytism by non-Muslims was banned, and Jews and Christians have become second-class citizens with only limited rights. He notes that a 'religious supermarket' with a free choice of different products and brands has not been introduced in the Muslim world, but sees signs of hope that intellectuals and religious officials in the Muslim world are discussing new ideas openly and are suggesting reforms which could lead to greater religious liberty."

At a conference on Christian-Muslim dialogue, the question of religious freedom came up. "In our country, the Christians have more religious freedom than the Muslims," one Muslim leader declared, "because they have the right to convert, while Muslims haven't." At another conference, where the topic was aired, the Muslims in one working group agreed with the Christians that of course, there should be religious freedom. When challenged by the Christian representatives, who said that it would mean that Muslims should have as much right to convert to another religion as Christians, the response was: "Of course not!"

The question of religious freedom under Islam has historically been connected with the concept of Dhimmitude. In regions conquered by Muslims after the death of the prophet Muhammad, Christians and Jews as so-called "People of the Book" were allowed to keep at least most of their church buildings and synagogues, conduct their worship and other religious activities, including burials, according to their own rites, and they enjoyed a certain autonomy concerning matters under canonical law. They would enjoy the protection of the Muslim government provided they paid the Jizya, a poll-tax levied on every member of the Dhimmi community (a Dhimmi being a member of a group under the Dhimma, or pact of conditional protection).

However, as soon as Muslims were involved in any legal dispute with the Dhimmi community, Sharia, or Islamic law, would be applied. Non-Muslims were allowed freedom of worship, but not of missionary activity. Proselytism among Muslims was forbidden.

The concept of Dhimmitude has had an overwhelming and pervasive influence on societies which have for centuries been part of the Muslim world. This influence is still felt today, even though the express outward rules that made discrimination against Dhimmis mandatory have long disappeared. Under these rules Christians and Jews were obliged to wear special clothing that made them easily distinguishable from Muslims. They were not allowed to ride horses, only donkeys, and had to adopt a humble and abject demeanour.

Concerning conversion from Islam to another religion, Islamic law usually forbids this, calling it ridda, or apostasy. A Hadith, a record of a saying or action of the Prophet or his followers, records that he once said: "If a man changes his religion, kill him." Later traditions have added some conditions, and a widely accepted understanding is that an apostate male should be persuaded three times to return to Islam and, failing this, be put to death. An apostate female should also be persuaded three times, failing which she should be locked up for the rest of her life. The more modernistic view, shared by senior Muslim scholars in Egypt, is that an apostate is granted the rest of his life to repent and return to Islam. Meanwhile, the government seems intent on making life as difficult as possible for the convert.

The Universal Islamic Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the International Islamic Council in 1981, includes sections on freedom of religion, but the Arabic text, which differs on several points from the English one, includes the traditional prohibition against leaving the umma, the fellowship of Islam. This section is omitted in the English text.

The topic of religious freedom has been widely discussed in many parts of the Islamic world, and some scholars have, at least in theory, supported an understanding derived more directly from the text of the Qur'an itself, understood to be the very word of God, where it says: "There is no compulsion in religion" (2:256). This is understood to mean that an individual cannot be forced to accept Islam as his or her religion. By wider implication, some argue, it can be taken to mean that someone who decides to leave Islam cannot be forced to return. This understanding contrasts with the hard-line Islamist understanding, derived from other Qur'anic verses (9:12; 29; 36; 123): "Fight the unbelievers" is the message of all these verses. The term "unbelievers" is popularly and among hardliners understood to mean all non-Muslims. Moderate and modernist scholars, however, will say that these verses apply only to certain specific cases where non-Muslims have taken the initiative in aggression towards Muslims. According to this view, none of these verses can be understood as a general order to fight non-Muslims. Likewise, according to the moderates and the modernists, the term ridda, or apostasy, should not be understood in terms of inner religious conviction, but rather in terms of political and military treason.

Indeed, during the last fifty years or so, few examples of death sentences for apostasy from Islam have been documented. The applications of the old laws concerning Dhimmis have likewise lapsed. Only in Yemen did these laws continue to be in force until the departure of practically all the Yemeni Jews in 1950. Christian missionary work in the Islamic world including attempts at proselytism among Muslims has been conducted on a considerable scale since the 19th century and through the height of colonial rule, but has met increasing restrictions since such rule ended during the 1940s and 1950s.

Legislation on the issue of apostasy has, in general, been unclear. In Egypt, for instance, there is no law saying that it is forbidden to change one's religion, but a convert from Islam to Christianity risks being arrested and imprisoned when his or her conversion becomes known. By law, a person who wishes to convert to another religion (only Islam, Christianity and Judaism are considered legal religions) must meet with a person of religious authority in the community, a priest, a rabbi or an imam, who must make sure that the conversion is not forced and should even try to persuade the person who wants to convert to give up the conversion and stay in his or her own original community. However, this law is not always applied, and Christians are encouraged in various ways to adopt Islam. A Christian can change his or her name officially to a Muslim name and easily obtain a new identity card, whereas it is legally impossible for a Muslim who has become a Christian to change his or her name officially. In some other countries in the Islamic world there are clear laws against apostasy, which carries the death penalty.

Wherever Sharia is adopted as the basis of national or regional law, or even where adherence to Sharia is the expected norm in a sub-culture, the whole idea of religious freedom as described in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is problematic, to say the least. Sharia as traditionally understood runs counter to the ideas expressed in Article 18. There are countries traditionally belonging to the Muslim world, however, where a long history of religious tolerance has made it easier to accept the ideas of Article 18, even among Muslims. The best example is Indonesia, but even in Indonesia the legislative process is at present strongly influenced by a conservative Islamist agenda.

In the post-Soviet societies which were historically part of the Muslim world, the very idea that a Muslim could be free to choose his or her religion is often viewed with suspicion, if not outright condemnation. Apostasy from Islam is tantamount to treason, even from the point of view of Muslims who are Muslims by culture rather than by faith and spiritual conviction.

Here as in the Middle East Muslim opinion is, of course, informed not only by religious texts, but also by a long history of perceived victimisation at the hands of crusaders, be they Franks or Russians. Conversion to Christianity is seen as joining the enemy.

All this being said, there is reason for concern because we are all living in a world characterised by massive change, including a shift from old community-based concepts of rights and duties to more individualistic ones. This change comes as a result of the influences of globalisation made possible by the advances of the means of mass-communication. Even in conservative, tribally oriented societies like those of the Arabian Peninsula, young adults will be influenced by what they hear and see from East and West, North and South, by satellite TV and on the Internet, and a civilisational clash seems inevitable. The reason for this clash is that, in general, Islamic law is still being applied in ways that do not take deeper layers of societal change into consideration, and by people who see no way of changing the "letter of the law" to suit those changes.

Dr Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid, an Egyptian history professor, was condemned as an apostate by an Egyptian court in 1995 for having proposed changes to Islamic inheritance laws clearly defined in the Qur'an. Dr Abu Zaid's argument was based on the fact that the Qur'anic text as such was a great step forward for women's rights, whereby instead of having no right to inherit from their deceased fathers, they were given the right of half of what their brothers inherited. By consequence, women - whose place in society has changed in such a way that they are, in actual fact, breadwinners on equal terms with their husbands - should now be given the right to inheritance on equal terms with men, who were formerly supposed to be the breadwinners and therefore would inherit a double portion of what each of their sisters would inherit.

When a professing Muslim can be condemned thus as an apostate, one wonders how the attitude to a Muslim who apostatises in favour of Christianity – not to speak of other religions - can change. Seeing groups of Egyptian youths in the streets of Cairo chanting Hare Krishna ritual chants is still unthinkable. Jehovah's Witnesses are outlawed in all Arab countries and most of the Muslim world. Only the three traditional monotheistic religions are allowed to exist officially. Foreign non-affiliated churches or churches which have not previously existed in Egypt can only set up missions there if they are accepted by one of the country's existing denominations. For instance, a mission of a Pentecostal denomination at odds with Assemblies of God in the United States must register with the Assemblies of God counterpart in Egypt in order to exist.

In my examples, I have focused almost exclusively on Egypt, but similar conditions obtain elsewhere in the Middle East. In the Arabian Peninsula, conditions are generally worse, especially in Saudi Arabia, where government representatives have repeatedly stated that Christian churches or buildings of any other faith community except Islam will never be built anywhere in the country. Christian worship in private houses is said by one government minister to be admissible, but the fanatic religious police "Muttawa'" seem to interpret this differently. They have interrupted Christian prayer meetings in private homes and arrested the participants. This practice is "justified" by a saying by the Prophet that Islam cannot co-exist in the Arabian Peninsula with any other religion.

As most of the countries in the Muslim world in theory claim to defend human rights, including religious freedom, even claiming that Islam was the first religion to codify human rights, it is obvious that their understanding of religious freedom differs greatly from the general western understanding. The "religious supermarket" with a free choice of different products and brands has not been introduced in that part of the world yet, and governments are not interested in introducing it, probably partly because of a fear of anything that threatens stability and predictability.

Governments also feel a great need to paternalistically protect their citizens, especially the illiterate or those with little education, from new ideas that do not belong in the religion that they have "inherited" from their parents. The main reason, however, is that Islam is seen as the ultimate truth, and its prophet Muhammad is "the seal of the prophets", meaning the last one who brought the final and perfect revelation for all mankind. Governments in the Islamic world see themselves as defenders of the true faith, and the Islamists who accuse them of not doing enough to fulfil that role stand ready to take that role upon themselves.

Regrettably, much remains to be done in the realm of religious liberty in the Muslim world. If governments and their agencies could be persuaded to pay international conventions more than mere lip service, much could be gained, especially if their educational systems would instil respect for human rights into their students. Especially respect for the individual's personal convictions needs to be promoted, together with respect for those religious traditions which belong to the cultural and national heritage of the countries of the Muslim world.

At the same time, it must be underscored that there are signs of hope, especially since intellectuals and religious officials in the Muslim world are discussing these subjects openly and are suggesting reforms which could lead to greater religious liberty.

Mary Beth Roderick of the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights has forwarded me some information about the plight of the Mandaeans, an ancient Gnostic sect, in Iraq. It comes from John Clugston, a human rights lawyer, and the Sabian Mandaean Association of Australia:

The Sabian Mandæan Association in Australia has now been advised that in Falluja alone thirty-five (35) Mandæan families have been forcibly converted to Islam. This, of course, also involves forced circumcision. The Mandæan women and girls of these families have been forcibly married to Muslim men chosen by the Muslims. The suffering that has been inflicted is incalculable. I cannot imagine the depth of the misery, humiliation and degradation that the Muslims are inflicting upon these Mandæan women and girls.

The American Government is now de jure the Government of Iraq. There ought to be loud calls for the American Government (and the United Kingdom and Australian Governments and all other Governments with troops in Iraq) to rescue from Iraq all the Mandæans and Christians who have been forcibly converted to Islam.

It has also been reported to us that a group of Muslim men seized a seven (7) year old Mandæan boy, doused him in petrol and set him alight. As the child was being burnt to death the Muslims were running around shouting, "Burn the dirty infidel!"

It has also been reported to us that a young Mandæan man went into a restaurant and drank a glass of water. Some Muslims realised that he was Mandæan so they beat him severely, breaking many of his bones so that he needed to be hospitalised. The Muslims then broke the glass he had drank from because, according to Islam, it had been rendered ritually "unclean."

We have been informed that there have been many incidents of this kind. Recently a Muslim magazine published a picture of Christ and His Mother next to an article claiming that all Christian homes were brothels making money from the American troops. We have been informed that on this occasion the American authorities intervened to stop the circulation of the magazine.

Sandro Magister turns in an illuminating report on new Notre Dame professor Tariq Ramadan, whose carefully ambiguous statements about Islam and the Sharia I examine in Onward Muslim Soldiers. This from Chiesa:

A Muslim intellectual has achieved star status in French-speaking Europe. He draws crowds of young immigrants and speaks to them with charismatic fervor. He enchants the anti-globalization left and the readers of “Le Monde Diplomatique.” He cites with equal mastery the Koran and Nietzsche, Heidegger and the sayings of the Prophet. He is admired by Fr. Michel Lelong, the leading Islam’s scholar of the Church in France. He sells thousands of cassette recordings of his sermons. His name is Tariq Ramadan. . . .

In recent months he has been accused of anti-Semitism. He has had harsh confrontations with influential Jewish intellectuals such as Bernard-Henri Levy, André Glucksmann, and Bernard Kouchner. “Le Monde” and other important newspapers have published critical reviews about him. But for Ramadan, this is all proof of the rightness of his position and of the West’s innate hostility toward Islam.

The phenomenon of Tariq Ramadan wasn’t born in a vacuum. His maternal grandfather, an Egyptian, is Hassan Al-Banna, who in 1929 founded the Muslim Brotherhood, the most important Islamist movement of the twentieth century. His father, an exile in Geneva, was one of its most active promoters. And his brother Hani – with whom Tariq denies having connections – directs, also in Geneva, an Islamic center accused of contact with the terrorist network of Al-Qaeda.

But his ideological allegiances are more important than his ancestry. Tariq Ramadan – working within the very heart of the West – weaves together Islamic politics and the radical criticisms of Western rationalism made by Nietzsche, Heidegger, Cioran, Guénon, and neo-Marxist and anti-global currents. . . .

Tariq Ramadan also sees the West in decline. And into the spiritual void left by Judaism and Christianity, Islam can enter and overcome, no longer enduring modernity, but islamicizing it. The Western public likes Ramadan because his vision includes elements of democracy, equal citizenship, and free expression. He debates both secularized Muslims and those who separate themselves in closed communities. He announces the birth of a fully European Islam. And he ventures on this long journey armed with the doctrine of the taqiyya, or the art of dissimulation, a typical Islamic practice on enemy soil.

In Italy, the most acute analysis of this anti-Western soul from a Muslim point of view is found in the book “Global Islam” by Khaled Fouad Allam, an Algerian, professor of Islamic studies at the universities of Trieste and Urbino.

Then there is an article by the Orthodox theologian Olivier Clément:

There have certainly always been in France, and there still are, fundamentalist currents of complete hatred and refusal toward Western culture. But these instances from other times have never been able to demolish or even exploit the juridical and mental structures of our society.

The new ideology is now well defined. Its spokesman, at least in France and all of Western Europe, is Tariq Ramadan. Ramadan does not hide himself or devise conspiracies. While affirming his Muslim faith, he presents himself as a great Western intellectual. Young and handsome, he speaks with mastery and clarity the language of the intelligentsia of Western Europe. He teaches philosophy, French literature, and Islamic studies at the University of Geneva. At the same time, he works for Muslim groups like “Young Muslims of France,” and has assured himself of a role as an expert among the commissions that revolve around the European parliament. His media presence does not cease growing. He is author of more than a dozen works, including “Les musulmans dans la laïcité,” “Aux sources du renouveau musulman,” and “Les musulmans d’occident et l’avenir de l’islam.” He is a frequent guest on television and radio, and he circulates pamphlets in French or Arabic among young Muslims.

He proposes a “reformist” and “all-encompassing” Islam. His aim would seem to be that of bringing forth a body of values beginning from Islamic sources, an embodiment of the universal vocation that would take the place of the values of Western civilization. What matters to him is affirming Muslim identity and presenting it as the source of true universality.

Beginning from the statement that the fulcrum of historical movement is now constituted by the Europe-North America combination, with the Muslim countries relegated to the periphery, Ramadan notes how there are nonetheless many Muslims, especially intellectuals, who have succeeded in becoming part of the nucleus. He thus invites them to refashion it and, little by little, islamicize it: “References to Judaism and Christianity are being diluted, if not disappearing altogether” (“Les musulmans d’occident e l’avenir de l’islam,” Actes Sud-Sinbad, 2003). “Only Islam can achieve the synthesis between Christianity and humanism, and fill the spiritual void that afflicts the West” (“Islam, le face à face des civilisations,” Tawhid, 2001).

And again: “The Koran confirms, completes, and corrects the messages that preceded it” (“Les messages musulmans d’occident”). Some Christian personalities whose charitable works cannot be misconstrued – Mother Teresa, Sister Emanuelle, Abbé Pierre, Fr. Helder Camara – are exceptions who show only that all good people are implicitly Muslims, because true humanism is founded in Koranic revelation. Thus, both directly and through this humanism, the “Muslim City” can be founded upon the earth. “Today the Muslims who live in the West must unite themselves to the revolution of the antiestablishment groups from the moment when the neoliberal capitalist system becomes, for Islam, a theater of war […] The revelation of the Koran is explicit: whoever engages in speculation or cultivates financial interests eneters into war against the transcendent” (“Pouvoirs,” 2003, n. 164).

Tariq Ramadan then insists – justly – on the long-neglected intellectual riches of the great Muslim thinkers like Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes, but he forgets to situate them in their relation to Greek, Jewish, and Christian thought, and presents them as the true originators of humanism.

Jacques Jomier has efficiently summed up the goal that drives Tariq Ramadan: “His problem is not the modernization of Islam, but the islamification of modernity” (“Esprit et Vie,” February 17, 2000). We must not forget that Ramadan is the nephew of Hassan Al-Banna, the founder of the Islamic movement of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, a man Ramadan considers an eminent representative of “reformist” Islam, capable of bringing about an endogenous alternative culture from within modernity (“Peut-on vivre avec l’islam?”, Favre, 1990). . . .

There is much more. Read it all. And then read about Al-Banna in Onward Muslim Soldiers, and you will get a clearer picture of the kind of "reformist Islam" he had in mind.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's "jihad against extremism" hasn't started out well. The International Crisis Group has found that despite his reform efforts, Islamic schools in Pakistan are still breeding grounds for Islamic radicalism. This from the ICG website, with thanks to Nicolei:

President Pervez Musharraf’s promise to drive extremism from Pakistan’s madrasas, or Islamic schools, remains unfulfilled. Today, two years after he promised his sweeping reforms, the jihadi madrasa remains the key breeding ground for radical Islamist ideology and the recruitment centre for terrorist jihadi networks.

The International Crisis Group’s latest report, Unfulfilled Promises: Pakistan’s Failure to Tackle Extremism, examines Pakistan’s unreformed madrasa system and the expanding power of Islamist extremists. The report states that the failure to curb rising extremism in Pakistan stems directly from the military government’s own unwillingness to act against its political allies among the Islamist groups.

“Having co-opted the religious parties to gain constitutional cover for his military rule, Musharraf is highly reliant on the religious right for his regime’s survival”, says Samina Ahmed, ICG’s South Asia Project Director. “It’s no surprise, then, that he hasn’t intruded on the mullahs’ turf by reforming the madrasa system in any significant way”.

"Religious right." Nice phrase. Unfortunately for the analogy, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson et al aren't calling for anyone to be murdered. The same cannot be said of the "right-wing" imams in Pakistan.

In January 2002, Musharraf publicly promised a list of measures to tackle extremism, including bringing the madrasas into the mainstream. The government pledged to register all madrasas, to have them adopt a government-approved curriculum by the end of 2002, and to stop their misuse for preaching political and religious intolerance.

The international community welcomed Musharraf’s promise to stem jihadi ideology, but two years on, the lack of results is clear. To date, no presidential ordinance to regulate madrasas has been promulgated; in fact, the government openly assures the clergy that it will not interfere in the madrasas’ affairs. Most madrasas in Pakistan remain unregistered and their sources of funding remain unregulated.

The pledge to have government-prescribed curricula at all madrasas similarly remains unfulfilled: no national curriculum has been developed. Three “model madrasas” teaching government-approved coursework have been established, but together these three schools have only about 300 students, while 1.5 million students attend unregulated madrasas.

Most critically, religious extremists continue to use madrasas and mosques to propagate their extremist Islamic agenda, including their anti-American and pro-Taliban campaign.

Pakistan’s failure to close jihadi madrasas and to crack down on jihadi networks has resulted in a resurgence of domestic extremism and sectarian violence, including two assassination attempts against Musharraf himself in December 2003. Government inaction continues to pose a threat to domestic, regional and international security.

“Musharraf’s priority has never been eradicating Islamic extremism but rather the legitimisation and consolidation of his military rule”, says Robert Templer, Director of Asia Program at ICG. “For that, he depends on the religious right. If the U.S. and others continue to restrict their pressure on Musharraf to verbal demarches, the rise of extremism in Pakistan will continue unchecked”.

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard says that multiculturalism has failed in Holland. Instead of a tolerant, open society, the Netherlands has become a nation of ghettos with no societal unity. And unless things change, what Holland is now, the rest of the West will be tomorrow. This from the Daily Telegraph via the National Post, with thanks to Nicolei:

Holland's 30-year experiment in trying to create a tolerant, multicultural society has failed and led to ethnic ghettos and sink schools, according to an official parliamentary report.

Between 70% and 80% of Dutch-born members of immigrant families import their spouse from their "home" country, mostly Turkey or Morocco, perpetuating a fast-growing Muslim subculture in large cities.

The 2,500-page, all-party report by the Dutch parliament was the establishment's tentative answer to the critique of Pim Fortuyn, the shaven-headed firebrand who warned that Holland's easy-going way of life was threatened by militant Islam and over-crowding.

He was assassinated by an environmental activist two years ago.

While the report praised most immigrants for assimilating and for doing well at school, it attacked successive governments for stoking ethnic separatism.

The worst mistake was to encourage children to speak Turkish, Arabic or Berber in primary schools rather than Dutch.

The report concluded that Holland's 850,000 Muslims must become Dutch if the country was to hold together. It proposes cheap housing in the leafy suburbs to help ethnic groups assimilate with the rest of the 16 million population.

The major parties in the centre-right government dismissed such solutions as insufficient.

Maxime Verhagen, the Christian Democrat leader in parliament, said one had to be "either naive or ignorant" not to understand that the policy had led the country into a cul-de-sac.

He said: "Immigrants in the Netherlands top the wrong lists -- disability benefit, unemployment assistance, domestic violence, criminality statistics and school and learning difficulties."

For years Holland was seen as a glowing example of multi-ethnic tolerance, making huge efforts to make immigrants feel at home. Funding was provided for ethnic diversity projects, including 700 Islamic clubs that are often run by hard-line clerics.

The simmering resentments erupted two years ago when Mr Fortuyn gave voice to an increasingly fearful majority.

The European Union's Racism and Xenophobia Monitoring Centre has catalogued a rash of anti-Muslim attacks, leaving girls too frightened to go out wearing head scarves.

The violence has taken a more ominous turn since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Dutch intelligence service, AIVD, has warned that the al-Qaeda network is "stealthily taking root in Dutch society" by preying on disaffected Muslim youth with jihad videocassettes circulating in mosques, cafes and prisons.

Rotterdam has announced measures to deter more poor immigrants and is closing its gates to new asylum-seekers for four years.

Traditional Islamic law forbids Christians to "display wine or pork" (cf. 'Umdat as-Salik, o11.4(6)). Modern Shi'ite Muslims in Iraq are applying this to Christians who sell liquor in that country — as part of larger initiatives to institute Islamic law there. This report is from AP, with thanks to Mary Beth Roderick and FreedomNowNews:

By most accounts, Sameer got off easy. The 42-year-old Christian liquor merchant received only a warning from the masked men who waved Kalashnikov rifles in his face and trashed his house in search of booze.

Others weren't as lucky. Abid Slewa was shot in the head as he unlocked the front door of his liquor store. Bashir Elias, caught selling alcohol from the back of his car, was shot to death Christmas Eve on a street crowded with cheering onlookers.

Selling and drinking alcohol are legal in secular Iraq, even if many Iraqis avoid it for religious reasons. But as many as nine liquor-store owners, most of them Christians, have been killed in Basra since the fall of Saddam Hussein in April, according to merchants.

The U.S.-led coalition is concerned about the prospects for a tolerant and democratic society in a region dominated by increasingly powerful, and conservative, Shiite Muslim clerics.

British officials and Iraqi police say they have no firm figures on the numbers of people killed for selling alcohol, although they acknowledge that such killings have occurred. The officials and those who have been threatened say they believe that extremists from Basra's resurgent Shiite majority are responsible.

"There is an element emerging in the Shiite community that does bear arms, that may be violent," coalition spokesman Dominic D'Angelo said. "People are feeling threatened, and not without reason."

Basra's leading Shiite clerics deny involvement in the killings. But they acknowledge that their supporters have been warning people not to buy, drink or sell alcohol, which is banned under Islam.

"These liquor-shop owners, we talk to them and tell them that by selling alcohol they are injuring the whole community, bringing shame on all of us," said Sheik Abu Salaam, the Basra representative of hard-line cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

The influence of the top clerics is clear throughout the south, where posters bearing their images have replaced the once-omnipresent face of Saddam Hussein. With the new faces have come new fears. Besides the murders, dozens of liquor stores owned by Christians have been torched in recent months.

Nor is the terrorizing of liquor salesmen the only manifestation of resurgent Islamic law. Women are targeted for not wearing hijab (in light of the controversy in France, I wonder what became of their human right not to wear it), and even music has fallen into disfavor. After all, as I explained in Islam Unveiled, Islamic law still forbids music except in certain sharply defined circumstances.

Women in Basra, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, say they have been admonished by angry men for leaving home without a head scarf.

"If I leave my house with my head bare, people shout at me -- they yell, 'whore,' " said Aida Wahid, a 41-year-old Christian who owns a beauty salon.

Men tell of being stopped at intersections by gangs of Islamic activists and ordered to shut off music.

With Islamization comes Arabization. Since Arabic is the language of Allah and of his Qur'an, and the last and greatest Prophet was an Arab, Arab culture tends to spread with the spread of Islam. Islam then teaches that the pre-Islamic culture of any Islamic people is worthless: jahiliya, the pre-Islamic period of ignorance. This has led Muslims in Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and elsewhere to denigrate and ignore what the rest of the world regards as immense cultural treasures. But among the North African Berbers today, there is a counter-movement. This from Reuters, with thanks to Fanabba:

"We're not Arabs, bring out the real history," chanted hundreds of Moroccan Berbers during Labor Day marches this year.

In the capital Rabat, passers-by showed mixed reactions to the unusual sight of Berbers shouting slogans in their Tamazight language and carrying banners written in Tifinagh, the Berber script.

Some expressed sympathy while others wondered why the Berbers were denying what has been their country's official identity for more than 14 centuries.

"Why did police allow them to march? And here in Rabat?" one asked.

Berbers are the original inhabitants of North Africa, before the Arabs who invaded the fertile area in the seventh century in what is known as the Islamic Conquests.

The Moroccan constitution says the country is Arab and Islam is its religion. The proportion of Berbers in the population of 30 million is not officially known but independent sources say they represent the majority.

The number of Berbers in the world is estimated at 25 million. Apart from Morocco, most of them live in Algeria, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Tunisia, and in the Canary Islands.

Berber activists say all Moroccans are Berbers but that Berber influence in political and economic life remains limited.

"History books say only 200,000 Arabs invaded the whole of North Africa, so the impact on the local population was like a drop in the ocean," said Lahcen Oulhaj, a Berber activist and university economics lecturer.

History textbooks hail the Arab roots of dynasties, which have ruled Morocco for the past 1,400 years.

The contribution of Berbers to the country and its cultural heritage is either not mentioned or limited to traditional dances and folk festivals, activists say.

They doubt the accuracy of the official line in the absence of Berber history books, which they say have been destroyed.

"They say Arabs found little resistance from the peaceful indigenous people to impose the new religion (Islam). This is nonsense," said one Berber activist.

When the Romans arrived in North Africa, they met tough resistance and named the inhabitants of the region Barbarians, hence the word Berber.

However, Berbers prefer to be identified as Imazighen, or the Free Men in Tamazight.

Berber activists argue that the Arabic education system, the lack of programs in Tamazight on state radio and television and the absence of an entity in charge of preserving the Berber cultural heritage is threatening what is left of it.

But in a speech marking the second anniversary of his enthronement on July 30, King Muhammad promised the creation of a Royal Institute for Berber Culture.

Describing the Berber culture as a "national treasure," he said the institute would preserve the Berber cultural heritage and coordinate with education bodies for the teaching of Tamazight.

Berber activists welcomed the announcement, saying they hoped the promise would be fulfilled.

"In 1978, parliament approved the creation of the national institute for Berber culture and studies which was never set up," said Berber activist Mounir Kejji.

He noted that the king did not mention in his speech the issue of "recognizing Tamazight as the official language."

"Why must a Berber woman, appearing in court in a Berber area in front of a Berber judge, speak Arabic?" asked human rights and Berber activist Ilyass Omari.

"If a European appears in court, they'll get a translator."

"Nobody in Morocco speaks Arabic... There is Darija (the Moroccan dialect) which is a mixture of Arabic, Berber, French and Spanish, and there is Berber," he added.

Omari said the recognition of Tamazight was a priority.

"It is a sacred right. We want to recover our rights and feel proud to be what we are. This is our goal. If authorities refuse, well, to every action there's a reaction," he said.

The Labor Day marches coincided with the start of a popular revolt in neighboring Algeria, in the Berber area of Kabylie.

Algerian Kabyles, who say they have long been ignored by the central government, are pressing for the recognition of Tamazight but more broadly demand economic and social reforms.

Moroccan Berbers refuse any analogy with Algeria.

"What's happening in Algeria is one thing and what's happening here is another, but we sympathize a lot with our brothers there," Kejji said.

"Morocco is home to the largest Berber community in the world. Unlike Algeria, Berbers here are the majority not the minority," Oulhaj said.

Ali Lamrabet, the outspoken editor of the Moroccan weekly Demain, told the French newspaper Le Figaro recently that "whatever the differences between the two countries, we are sitting on the same powder keg, except that ours has not exploded yet."

Berber activists disagree

"Those who say things like that are against Berbers' rights. They demonize our movement and brandish the threat of unrest in Algeria to deter authorities from recognizing the Berber culture," said historian Ali Sidqi Azaykou.

In Algeria, he argued, "Berbers are not the instigators of the unrest, the whole nation is fed up with the regime."

The Moroccan authorities in June stopped Berber activists from holding a meeting to decide on the creation of a united group to press for the rights of the Berber ethnic group.

The meeting was to mark the first anniversary of the signing by Berber groups of the Amazigh Manifesto. The 2000 meeting announcing the signature of the manifesto was not banned.

A Western diplomat said the authorities "probably felt the context of the meeting was not right," a reference to Algeria.

For Azaykou, however, any ill-conceived move by the authorities "might push the Berbers down unknown paths."

"Still, this is not a separatist movement, we just want the Berber feature of our identity to be recognized," he said.

UPDATE: This article came over the newsfeed with other new articles, but it is undated and I have since discovered that it dates from 2001. My apologies.

One of the groups that planned the 9/11 attacks operated in Spain, hiding in plain sight by working at ordinary jobs by day and planning terror and mayhem by night. This from AP, :

One ran a photocopy shop in a drab Madrid suburb, quietly churning out literature preaching holy war. Another directed real estate companies and is now accused of laundering money that went to al-Qaida.

Their purported boss was a used-car salesman who spoke to them in code, recruited in mosques, drove like a spy under surveillance and allegedly helped prepare the Sept. 11 attacks.

This personality-driven portrait of how a suspected radical cell of Muslims took shape in the 1990s in Spain - which became a staging ground along with Germany for the 2001 suicide airliner attacks in the United States - is contained in a 700-page indictment by a Spanish judge.

Other Middle Eastern or North African-born members of the alleged cell of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network also ran businesses - a carpentry shop, a ceramics factory, an audio equipment store - as fronts while working for al-Qaida, according to the court document.

Many recruits ended up in Bosnia or Chechnya for terrorist training or combat. They also went to Afghanistan, and on Dec. 26, Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon asked the United States to extradite four alleged al-Qaida members arrested in Afghanistan after the Taliban was toppled in 2002.

The four - now held at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo, Cuba - were accused of links to the Spanish cell leader and charged with belonging to a terrorist organization.

That was the latest twist in an investigation that began in the mid-1990s and culminated in Garzon's Sept. 17 indictment of bin Laden and 34 alleged terrorists, including 19 suspected members of the Spanish cell.

No trial has been set. Still, the indictment means that Garzon has enough evidence to go to trial, although there is no deadline and he can keep gathering evidence as long as he wants.

Spanish authorities say the cell turned the country into an important staging ground for the attacks on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000 people. Lead suicide pilot Mohammed Atta visited Spain twice in 2001, including a trip in July that Garzon says was called to discuss last-minute details with other senior plotters.

The Spanish cell's alleged mastermind was 40-year-old Imad Yarkas, a Syrian-born used car salesman with a Spanish wife and five children. He was jailed in Madrid in November 2001, one of about 40 alleged Islamic extremists arrested in Spain since the attacks.

The cell's financier, Garzon says, was another native Syrian, Muhammed Galeb Kalaje Zouaydi. He ran construction and real estate companies in Madrid as fronts to receive and funnel money to pay for al-Qaida operations, Garzon charged.

Some $3.1 million entrusted to Zouaydi by "Islamic investors" inside and outside Spain is unaccounted for, the indictment charged.

Garzon describes how Zouaydi allegedly laundered money, or tried to, including a transaction in the summer of 2000 in which Yarkas told him of a building materials supplier willing to sell bogus invoices.

Zouaydi said he wanted $240,000 worth. "All the kinds of stuff we work with: paint, flooring, wood," Zouaydi said, according to the indictment, which cited wiretapped telephone conversations. The deal fell through because Zouaydi felt the supplier wanted too much money, Garzon said.

Through their attorneys, both Yarkas and Zouaydi have denied any wrongdoing. "His conscience is clear," said Yarkas' attorney, Jacobo Teijelo.

But Garzon charged the two men and nine others with specifically taking part in Sept. 11 planning, accusing them of "direct involvement in preparation of [the attacks] by providing infrastructure and cover, coordinating movements in Europe" of al-Qaida members.

He called them "key persons who catalyze national and international relations of all the members of the group, assuming the obligation of not only meeting their needs but directing and indoctrinating them."

Yarkas was in charge of recruiting fighters, the indictment said. At the Abu Baker mosque in Madrid, Garzon said, Yarkas would hand out copies of pro-jihad magazines from Algeria and Egypt or statements attributed to bin Laden.

One day in February 1995, Garzon says, Yarkas spent three hours in the shop, emerging with Dalati lugging what appeared to be photocopied magazines. The materials were loaded into the trunk of Yarkas' Peugeot, and he proceeded to the mosque.

"They kept a constant lookout around them, adopting security measures," Garzon wrote. Elsewhere, Garzon says, Yarkas altered his routes for arriving at the same destination and changed speed constantly.

A senior Spanish law enforcement official said that because police could not enter mosques, the houses of worship were havens for al-Qaida planning and fund-raising. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

By telephone, cell members spoke in code, the indictment charges. Merchandise meant weapons. Pills were bullets, trade offices were recruitment centers and salesmen were mujahedeen sent off to train as terrorists or fighters.

National Police spokesman Jose Maria Seara said other cell members worked harvesting vegetables in northern Spain or as waiters. And one good way to go unnoticed, he said, was to stay in plain view. "Police cannot spend all day tracking a waiter," Seara said.

The same people who killed Danny Pearl seem now to be trying to kill Pervez Musharraf. Hmmm. Why would that be? Might jihad ideology be at all revelatory of their motives and goals? This from ABC Radio Australia News, with thanks to Jean-Luc:

Authorities in Pakistan hope to question an Islamic militant over his group's possible involvement in an assassination attempt on President Pervez Musharraf.

The AFP newsagency says the British-born militant, Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh, convicted in the murder plot of American journalist Daniel Pearl, is soon to be shifted to Rawalpindi.

Investigators probing the Christmas Day attempt on President Musharraf's life, believe one of the suicide bombers belonged to Harkat Jihad-e-Islami, which is blamed for Pearl's murder.

General Musharraf narrowly survived two suicide car bomb attacks on his motorcade in which 15 people, including four police officials were killed.

The attack came 11-days after a bomb blew up a bridge in the same area shortly after his motorcade passed over it.

Sheikh Omar and three other Islamic militants were convicted in July of plotting the abduction and murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter in Karachi.

"Unsettling Alliance," a new article by Jihad Watch director Robert Spencer on the true dimensions of the threat from jihadist groups, appears in today's Washington Times.

Philippe Sulmont, an octogenarian French priest, has been fined just under $1,000 for remarks that French authorities have deemed anti-Muslim. The report comes from AFP via Al-Jazeera, with thanks to Susan:

A French priest has been fined 800 euros ($990) for describing the Quran as a handbook for the devil.

Philippe Sulmont, 82, was found guilty of "provoking discrimination, hatred or violence" for comments he made in a letter to his parishioners in the northern town of Domqueur at the end of 2002.

"The Asiatics proliferate and invade our land, bringing with them an ideology that threatens the whole world," he wrote.

"Indeed I would add there is no such thing as 'moderate' Islam. All the populations infected by the Muslim religion are indoctrinated by the Quran - a holy book which is the manual for the extension of the kingdom of the devil at the expense of the kingdom of Christ," he said.

Sulmont was also ordered to give a symbolic one euro in damages to the League of Human Rights, which brought the case, and to pay for the judgement to be published in two local newspapers.

The remarks about the kingdom of the devil and the kingdom of Christ are, obviously, religious. Muslim imams have on many occasions preached that Christianity represents the kingdom of the devil as opposed to the House of Islam, in line with verses like this one from the Qur'an: "The Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them. . ." (Sura 9:30). The Saudi Sheikh Marzouq Salem Al-Ghamdi recently preached in a mosque in Mecca that "Christians are infidels, enemies of Allah, his Messenger, and the believers. They deny and curse Allah and his Messenger . . . How can we draw near to these infidels?" I document many similar statements in Onward Muslim Soldiers.

If the French want to fine the priest, very well, but I trust they understand that in doing so they have effectively made traditional Christianity illegal. I trust also that they will be closely monitoring their local imams for similar speech (although if they do, they will be rendering traditional Islam illegal as well). If not, that will be more evidence that they are now well along the road to dhimmitude, despite the hijab hoo-ha.

Also, the leap from the priest's words to incitement to violence is larger than it may seem at first. I don't have the full text of his remarks, but I would doubt that he called upon his hearers to victimize any Muslims — in contrast to the open incitements to violence that come routinely from Muslim religious leaders. Just today there is news that Mullah Krekar ordered bombings in Iraq from his Norwegian redoubt. And I could provide thousands of other examples.

Finally, while the priest's term "Asiatics" is unfortunate, as Muslims are of all races, his observation that they are "bringing with them an ideology that threatens the whole world" is hardly unfounded. After all, a Hamas official recently proclaimed that "the march of resistance will continue until the Islamic flag is raised, not only on the minarets of Jerusalem, but over the whole universe." See Onward Muslim Soldiers for numerous other examples of the universalism of jihad ideology. A place that labels those who point this out guilty of "hate speech" will soon see how serious those proclamations of a universal mission really are.

Gimli the dwarf is in hot water with Muslim advocacy groups in Wales for refusing to play Dhimmi the dwarf. Predictably, they are trying to label him a "racist," as radical Muslims and their apologists always do to anyone who speaks out about the jihadist agenda. None, however, have ever explained what race all Muslims belong to. It's clear from the substance of Rhys-Davies' remarks that his concern is not for race but for republican government, equality of dignity for all people, and Western civilization — all of which are threatened by Muslims who want to institute Islamic law in their new Western homes. And the use of his words by the neo-fascist BNP doesn't make him wrong, or neo-fascist.

This report comes from icWales, with thanks to Susan:

ONE of the biggest Welsh movie stars in Hollywood kicked off a race storm last night after making anti-Muslim remarks.

Outraged Islamic leaders in Wales demanded an immediate apology from Lord Of The Rings actor John Rhys-Davies, who claimed an increase in Europe's Muslim population was a "demographic catastrophe" threatening "Western civilisation".

The 59-year-old Ammanford actor's comments were originally made in an interview with American journalists from World magazine, but this week they were used by the far right British National Party in a leaflet to campaign for support among cinema-goers.

Last night Rhys-Davies stood by his views which follow Robert Kilroy-Silk's inflammatory anti-Arab column. But he criticised the BNP for hijacking his words for their own ends.

In the interview, Rhys-Davies, who plays heroic dwarf Gimli and recorded the voice of computer-animated character Treebeard in the Hollywood blockbuster, interprets Tolkien's story of good versus evil as a metaphor for modern race relations.

He said: "There is a demographic catastrophe happening in Europe that nobody wants to talk about, that we daren't bring up because we are so cagey about not offending people racially. And rightly we should be. But there is a cultural thing as well.

"By 2020, 50 per cent of the children in Holland under the age of 18 will be of Muslim descent.

"I think that Tolkien says that some generations will be challenged. And if they do not rise to meet that challenge, they will lose their civilisation. That does have a real resonance with me."

The 6ft tall actor, who wore facial prosthetics and performed on his knees to portray the 4ft 2in dwarf in Lord Of The Rings, even says he is aware that his beliefs could end his career, which has seen him star in the Indiana Jones films and James Bond movie The Living Daylights.

"I am for dead, (traditional) white male culture," said Rhys-Davies, who divides his time between his homes in Los Angeles and the Isle of Man.

"Many do not understand how precarious Western civilisation is and what a joy it is.

"From it, we get real democracy. From it, we get the sort of intellectual tolerance that allows me to propound something that may be completely alien to you.

"I'm burying my career so substantially in these interviews that it's painful. But I think there are some questions that demand honest answers." . . .

Rhys-Davies' local MP parroted dhimmi cliches:

The views were greeted with contempt by the MP for Rhys-Davies' former home town, Ammanford.

"I condemn these comments as being racist and ill-informed," said Adam Price, Plaid Cymru MP for Carmarthen East & Dinefwr.

"It is obvious that this man who now lives in the lap of luxury in Hollywood is out of touch with realities of the nature of present day European society.

"His attack on Muslims and comments about the threat that they pose to Western society shows his ignorance of world events and the true teachings of Islam."

Really? How so, Price? From what authority does one find these true teachings of Islam? How does their existence mitigate the undeniable existence of radical Muslim elements that want to conquer the West and subjugate non-Muslims?

The local Muslim leader added:

Last night Mohammed Javed, chairman of the Muslim Society for Wales, said: "We want an apology. This could stir up racial hatred in society. It's ignorance, he should learn more about Islam and the religions before he makes these comments.

"They are based on his ignorance and nothing else."

Chief executive of the All Wales Ethnic Minority Association (Awema) Naz Malik agreed.

He said: "I do not know why he has said these things. If 50 per cent of people in Holland under 18 are Muslims in 16 years time, so what? In Britain the fastest growing race is mixed race, people of dual heritage. It is a cause for great celebration that our cultures are mixed.

"We live in a global society - we celebrate what is good in cultures and challenge what is bad in civilisations.

"Does he ever listen to any music other than European? Does he eat Indian food? Does he ever appreciate art other than that from Europe?

"I feel sorry for this actor because he must feel very insecure about his future. I feel sorry for his close mindedness."

Well, I don't know how much Rhys-Davies knows about Islam. But I would be glad to discuss with Javed and Malik the reasons why non-Muslim Westerners are concerned about growing Muslim populations. In reality, it has nothing to do with race or racism. These questions about food and music are silly, misleading, and patronizing. I myself love Moroccan music and Afghan food, but I also love the equality of human dignity. Many Jews and Christians in the West may love Islamic culture but are not willing to live with the second-class status mandated by the Sharia.

Question for Mohammed Javed and Naz Malik: Are you and your colleagues willing to renounce the Sharia and work to educate Muslims about how it is incompatible with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and must therefore be drastically reformed?

Meanwhile, here is Rhys-Davies' latest statement:

I BELIEVE in racial equality not racial discrimination. All I was commenting on was that there are cultural changes taking place in Europe that I consider to be unacceptable.

The fact that a minister of the French government has to fly to Cairo to talk with one of the religious heads in one of the mosques to get his approval for a ban on headscarves can be seen in two ways.

One, is how wonderfully culturally sensitive. The other, it seems to give an authority to a wholly unelected figure well outside Europe's jurisdiction.

I am really proud to be living in a society that accepts women as our equals, that accepts civilised discourse that allows people to hold different opinions without coming to any act of violence.

Here in America when that earthquake happened in Iran the reaction of everyone I knew was horror and dismay, the reaction of everyone when they heard that the old woman had been brought out alive long after they thought there was anyone there was absolute awe at the extraordinary capacity of the human spirit to survive. Contrast that with people jumping up and down and clapping at the 9/11 disaster in certain countries.

I don't think that Western society is opposed to Islamic society at all. I think a very important part of Islamic society is opposed to Western society.

It is time that ordinary Muslims stood up to be counted.

Most societies can benefit from a good stirring of genes, but most cultures are tolerant of each other. I do not see Buddhists throwing bombs into Christian churches, I do not see Christians blowing up Hindu temples, I do not see those sorts of challenges.

When we are prepared to overlook certain things because we don't want to rock the boat, this is wrong.

The greatest act of racism is to expect that other people will not behave according to your values and standards.

Yes, I am for dead, (traditional) white male culture. It's pretty damn good, pretty damn marvellous, pretty wonderful. That's not to exclude other cultures, but it's not to diminish mine.

I'm sorry that might be perceived as infringing some sort of racial taboo, it's certainly not intended to be a racial remark.

We are losing the ability to sit down and be able to have a tolerable argument.

I do not want to see a society where, should I ever have any, my granddaughters have their fingernails pulled out because they are wearing nail varnish.

I hope that my friends and relatives in Wales are not going to be shocked by what they are going to read about.

Do not brand me a racist because I am most certainly not.

But I will stand by this: Western Christianised Europe has values and experience that is worth defending.

In Iraq, music praising jihad has become a hot item. This from Newsday, with thanks to Jean-Luc:

The rhythm, you can almost dance to. The lyrics call for guerrilla war.

"America has come and occupied Baghdad," singer Sabah al-Jenabi croons. "The army and people have weapons and ammunition. Let's go fight and call out the name of God."

On the musical front of the guerrilla war in Iraq, Americans hold the heights. They control the country's radio stations, which fill the airwaves with apolitical Western and Arab pop tunes. But at least some Iraqi musicians, like al-Jenabi, are taking the battle for Iraqis' hearts and minds to the country's cassette and CD players.

The U.S.-led occupation authority has outlawed mass media appeals for violence against coalition troops or other Iraqis. Its spokesman, Dan Senor, told reporters recently that "any sort of public expression used in an institutionalized sense that would incite violence against the coalition or Iraqis" is banned.

But al-Jenabi's cassette tapes, and others calling for violent insurrection against the Americans, are hot items on the streets of Baghdad, Fallujah and Ramadi. Al-Jenabi's tunes ring out in the bazaars of central Iraq, where rebels have been shooting down U.S. helicopters weekly.

"The men of Fallujah are men of hard tasks," he sings in an Arabic argot spoken only in Fallujah and nearby Ramadi. "They paralyzed America with rocket-propelled grenades. May God protect them from airplanes." . . .

Even Iraqis generally supportive of the U.S. occupation admit they're attracted to the music. Driver Ahmad Hossein plays al-Jenabi's cassettes in his car. "I like the music and the lyrics," said Hossein, a member of the Shia sect, which was oppressed under Hussein's regime. "I don't know why. I don't agree with what it's saying. It just makes me feel good."

Some interesting information about the relatively peaceful Sufis:

But Iraq's musicians are divided about supporting the guerrilla war. The tunes al-Jenabi sings are based on a centuries-old form of religious music -- praise-singing -- that evolved among Islam's mystical Sufi brotherhoods. And Sufi praisers, traditional leaders in the writing of songs to fight by, seem unconvinced that war is needed now.

Seyyed Abdullah Hassani sings and plays the daf, a big hand-held drum. His family has been praising for 30 generations, and he ticks off the names of his forefathers from memory. Followers come to his book-filled office and ask him to sing a few words about Allah, a dead relative or a newborn child in return for a small donation.

Iraq's last rebellion against a Western army was in 1920, when the British Empire had seized this land after World War I in search of oil to fuel the navy upon which the empire depended. Then, eminent religious leaders issued the call for jihad and Sufi praisers -- including Hassani's grandfather -- turned out songs in support.

"Within a couple years, the British fled," Hassani said. In fact, while the British were thrown back by the revolt, they ultimately used heavy bombing by their new air force to regain control.

Now, Hassani says, the anti-American revolt among Sunnis lacks the legitimate sanction of religious leaders. Sufi praisers have not joined the fight.

But it should be noted that, contrary to the wishful thinking of many American analysts, these Sufis do not have a theoretical objection to violent jihad, whether or not they think the time is right for it now.

Mullah Krekar, the Kurdish Islamic leader who now lives in Norway, has both confirmed and denied that he is the leader of the terror group Ansar Al-Islam. But now the CIA seems to have caught him in the act. This from the Telegraph, with thanks to Filtrat and Nicolei:

Internet messages sent by an exiled Islamic radical allegedly ordering suicide bomb attacks against coalition troops in Iraq have been intercepted by American intelligence officials.

Mullah Krekar, founder of Ansar Al-Islam, the fanatical terror group linked to al-Qa'eda and blamed by America for a number of attacks on its troops, is being held in an Oslo prison while police investigate if he has any role in the Iraqi resistance.

Last week, CIA officials passed the messages from Krekar, a Kurd who was granted political asylum from Saddam Hussein in Norway in 1991, to Norwegian prosecutors. The investigation into Krekar - arrested earlier this month on charges of conspiracy to murder a Kurdish politician in 2002 - has widened to take in his alleged role in plotting recent attacks, in Europe as well as Iraq.

The CIA material details Krekar's alleged role in the terrorist campaign against coalition troops in Iraq. These allegedly include coded messages sent via the internet authorising suicide bomb attacks and exhorting holy war. Krekar's lawyer, Byrnar Meling, confirmed the role played by the Americans in investigating his client.

"The charges in Norway relate to orders on the internet to carry out suicide bomb attacks in the last months of 2003," he said. "They have been on the internet listening to his messages and the prosecutor has now confirmed that they are interested in starting an investigation into a lot of information that can be tracked to the Americans."

You got him all wrong, says Krekar's lawyer. He was just discussing theology. (This defense, of course, relies on the prosecution making the absurd assumption that a theological discussion can have nothing to do with practical violence.)

Mr Meling admitted that his client had taken part in internet discussion groups used by Islamic groups while in Norway, but said that his postings were merely his thoughts about the justification of suicide in the context of holy war. "There is no encouragement in his comments," he said. "It is simply a theological, political analysis about Jihad."

The Kurdish radical leader has also been interviewed by Italian police investigating attempts to recruit suicide bombers and Islamic resistance fighters in Milan. No charges have been brought.

Ansar Al-Islam has itself been accused by the German authorities of planning a suicide attack on a US military hospital in Hamburg in December. The plot was thwarted after the authorities closed the hospital after a CIA tip-off.

"This is a case with massive and overlapping international interests," said a senior Western diplomat in Oslo. "The Norwegians have been bombarded with information from a variety of nations, all of which have gathered evidence about this man."

A Kurdish official in Baghdad claimed that the alleged evidence of attacks in Iraq included e-mails and two mobile telephone calls made weeks before the truck bombing of the Baghdad Hotel last October.

"We have been told that Krekar found out on the internet that the CIA was using the hotel as a Baghdad base and had sent a mobilisation order to a cell here in Iraq to plan an attack," he said. In the bombing, six Iraqi guards were killed.

Krekar, who has previously admitted meeting Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman Zawhiri, claims to have severed links with Ansar Al-Islam in May 2002. Last week, however, the judge who ordered him to be held in prison said that Krekar, "has had, and still has, a central position in Ansar Al-Islam."

Shortly before the war was launched in March, Krekar was in northern Iraq. The appeal court heard that according to prisoners interviewed by the Norwegian police, Krekar trained his followers in the techniques of suicide bombers.

"Several witnesses leave the impression that suicide and bombing actions would not have been carried out without [Krekar's] knowledge," the court said, explaining why Krekar was being held in detention while the investigation continues. "According to the suspect's statement to police, no one could be punished without his approval."

Islamic law forbids dhimmis to proselytize. It also forbids Muslims to convert to another religion. Christian evangelization organizations are thus frequently targets of Islamic radicals. This from AP, :

Pakistani police seized a huge cache of explosives and arrested one man in connection with the car bombing of a Christian organization that wounded 15 people.

The suspect, Shamim Ahmed, was arrested Saturday. He then provided information leading police to a bomb-making factory in an abandoned house in this southern port city Sunday night, authorities said.

On Thursday, a grenade and a powerful car bomb exploded at the Pakistan Bible Society, a Christian reading room that also distributes Bibles.

Police say Ahmed is affiliated with the Islamic militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which has been blamed for attacks that have killed hundreds of people. A senior police official said on condition of anonymity that Ahmed was believed to be linked to the attack on the Christian organization.

Police raiding the unoccupied house in the poor Mehmoodabad district of southeastern Karachi seized a cache that included grenades, remote-control devices, parcel bombs and two ready-to-use bombs weighing about 22 pounds each, said Tariq Jamil, deputy inspector-general of the Karachi police.

Why did Reem Raiyshi become a suicide bomber? She may have had no choice. It seems that her husband caught her en flagrante with a Hamas member — whereupon he encouraged her to atone for this family dishonor by blowing herself up and taking some Israelis with her. This is atonement a la Hamas, based firmly on traditional Islamic ideas. One who is killed in jihad atones for all his sins. This is also why Muhammad Atta and Co. could go to a strip club the night before 9/11: they knew that what they were going to do the next day would wash away all their transgressions.

The report is from Haaretz, with thanks to Joyce and others:

Last week, Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin praised the woman who killed herself and four Israeli security men at the Erez checkpoint. But it turns out Yassin's militant Islamist organization does not unequivocally support the use of women in terror attacks - it is especially hesitant about the deployment of married mothers.

Senior Hamas figures who have consulted about the subject recently are inclined to support only the use of women who have desecrated rules of "family honor."

Hamas' view on women and terror strikes has taken shape in past months, top Israeli intelligence officers explained to Haaretz on Sunday. In the past, Hamas leaders avoided taking a clear stand on the use of women in terror strikes. In some cases, Hamas leaders rejected requests of women to take part in such attacks; Hamas referred a few such women to other organizations, particularly Islamic Jihad and Tanzim.

Hamas has now revised this position, and some of the organization's leaders condone the use of women in terror strikes, particularly in situations where a woman can carry out the assignment more easily (since she is likely to cause less suspicion at crossing points), and when the woman has transgressed moral norms. In such cases, a woman's "sacrifice" atones for the "stain" she has caused to her family for violating moral codes.

Reem Raiyshi, the woman who blew herself up last week at the Erez crossing, was the married mother of two. Yedioth Ahronoth reported Sunday that Raiyshi was compelled to perpetrate the terror strike to atone for having betrayed her husband. Relying on IDF sources, this report claimed that Raiyshi's husband, a Hamas operative, knew about his wife's plan in advance, and even encouraged her to carry it out.

Is flogging a 16-year-old girl cruel and unusual punishment, or just obedience to the law of God? This is the choice that the Western world increasingly will have to make. In Sudan, the choice has already been made -- unless enough unwelcome international attention can be focused upon this case, so that this poor girl can be spared. This report comes from The Scotsman, with thanks to John Eibner and Twostellas:

SHE is a shy and naïve 16-year-old who, like many girls, was duped into a relationship with a married man by his promises of a brighter future.

But unlike her counterparts in most countries, Intisar Bakri Abdulgader will pay for her mistake in a most horrifying manner unless her story's impact on the West can save her life.

Abdulgader, from Sudan, is due to face 100 lashes next Friday for having sex outside marriage under the uncompromising Sharia law with which the Islamic Sudanese government rule.

It is more than likely that this public flogging will kill the teenager, a prospect which has left her terrified and unable to eat properly since being sentenced last July.

But as worldwide appeals for a pardon rain down on Sudan, Abdulgader's plight now presents a dilemma for President Omar al-Bashir, who is keen to rehabilitate his country in the eyes of the world and transform it from a rogue state which once harboured Osama bin Laden to one able to trade with the West, particularly the US.

The country's powerful religious leaders are insisting on the full implementation of strict Islamic law which stipulates that adultery is punishable with execution by stoning if the offender is married, or by 100 lashes if the offender is not married.

A court in Khartoum imposed the sentence last July, but it was postponed first because Abdulgader was pregnant, and again in December on the grounds of her poor health.

It is worth noting that such postponements are in direct imitation of the example of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad himself. Here is a Hadith on this matter: "There came to him (the Holy Prophet) a woman from Ghamid and said: Allah's Messenger, I have committed adultery, so purify me. He (the Holy Prophet) turned her away. On the following day she said: Allah's Messenger, Why do you turn me away? . . . By Allah, I have become pregnant. He said: Well, if you insist upon it, then go away until you give birth to (the child). When she was delivered she came with the child (wrapped) in a rag and said: Here is the child whom I have given birth to. He said: Go away and suckle him until you wean him. When she had weaned him, she came to him (the Holy Prophet) with the child who was holding a piece of bread in his hand. She said: Allah's Apostle, here is he as I have weaned him and he eats food. He (the Holy Prophet) entrusted the child to one of the Muslims and then pronounced punishment. And she was put in a ditch up to her chest and he commanded people and they stoned her" (Sahih Muslim, vol. 3, book 17, no. 4206).

Anyway, this case comes at a most inconvenient time for the Sudanese government:

Washington says that it will consider removing Sudan from its list of "state sponsors of terrorism" if a peace deal is reached between the government and the southern rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), who have been waging a civil war for two decades. But Washington also says Khartoum must curb extreme Islamic fundamentalist activities.

Khartoum desperately wants to be taken off the US list of terrorist states so that revenues can flow into its coffers from its oil fields. Under international pressure it reached an agreement with the rebels on January 6 to split the country's oil wealth, which is mainly in the south. An oil deal with the US is now a distinct possibility. . . .

Success in Sudan would benefit Bush's election ratings because it would demonstrate that he can deal with an Islamic government, while also pleasing Christian groups who are campaigning against the treatment of the Christian southern Sudanese. . . .

Since seizing power in a coup in 1989, al-Bashir has been edging away from the extreme fundamentalist policies that led Sudan to harbour Osama bin Laden. But the National Islamic Front government has close ties with the country's powerful Islamic establishment.

Under Sudanese law, all who live in northern Sudan, whether Muslim or Christian, fall under the Sudanese Penal Code's religious law.

Scores of people were sentenced to amputation or flogging last year. Only in the cases of pregnant women is flogging delayed, allowing the opportunity for an appeal. Those accused of offences such as selling without a licence or brewing alcohol are frequently given summary trials and flogged immediately.

Last week Sudan's Advisory Council on Human Rights discussed with justice minister Ali Mohammed Osman Yassin appeals by international human rights organisations over Abdulgader's case, and over that of a boy of the same age who has been sentenced to amputation. But the council did not make any recommendation.

Meanwhile, Sudanese scholars have found time between stonings and amputations to condemn that terrible violation of human rights, France's headscarf ban:

At the same time, a leading committee of Sudanese scholars came out against French President Jacques Chirac's decision to ban girls' veils in schools, and described those Islamic leaders who had supported Chirac's decision as a "disgrace".

Nor does the prospect of American money make the Sudanese eager to denounce terrorist groups:

Sudan's interior minister, Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein, also bridled at Washington's demands that the Khartoum offices of Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad should be shut down. "We think they are a group of freedom fighters," he said.

More on the girl:

Last September Abdulgader gave birth to a son, Dori, for whom she is now caring. In a recent interview the girl, from a shanty town outside Khartoum, said her mother had tried in vain to get a rickshaw driver called Isam, whom she named as the father, to marry her and sign a statement that he was the father of her child.

"Isam told the court that he did not know me and therefore has never slept with me," Abdulgader said.

Under Islamic law, the man's word is accepted without question in such cases. But the woman's testimony is inadmissable.

Finally, this case is also a test of whether Islamic law will apply to dhimmi Sudanese Christians:

One possible loophole in the law is that Abdulgader is the product of a mixed marriage. She was raised a Christian like her mother, even though her father was a Muslim.

Her lawyer, Ismail Abusugrah, said he had appealed to a higher court to reject the verdict on grounds that Abdulgader was a Christian, a fact the judge "seems to have failed to consider during the trial".

Amnesty International is asking for people all over the world to appeal to the Sudanese government for the sentence to be commuted and for cruel punishments to be abolished.

Amnesty's British media director, Lesley Warner, said: "The Sudanese authorities must not carry out this vicious sentence on a young girl. It is a cruel punishment which completely contravenes basic international human rights law, to which Sudan is a party."

Aissa Dermouche was last week appointed prefect of France's Jura region. Dermouche is an Algerian Muslim whom many Muslims in France despise as a sellout -- he supports the headscarf ban. In what seems to be a signal to him -- as well as a strong hint of what is likely to be in France's future -- his car has been blown up. The report is from The Guardian, with thanks to Agent Azure and LGF:

Hours after up to 40,000 Muslims marched against a planned ban on Islamic headscarves in state schools, a carbomb attack on a newly appointed prefect of Algerian origin dramatically underlined the scale of France's problem in assimilating its immigrant Muslim community.

The 4.30am explosion in the western city of Nantes destroyed the car of Aissa Dermouche, 57, an academic and educationalist who was appointed the prefect - or top state representative - of the Jura region last Wednesday.

"There is no doubt that this was a criminal act," said Jean-Marie Huet, the Nantes state prosecutor. Although the car was empty at the time and no one was hurt, Mr Huet said the plainly well-prepared attack "targeted the new prefect personally, and the symbol that he represents".

Mr Dermouche will be responsible for law and order in the region. His was not the first high-profile post to be awarded to a member of an immigrant minority, but it came amid a debate about how France can better assimilate its 5 million-strong Muslim community.

President Jacques Chirac, defending the values of a republic that supposedly treats everyone equally regardless of their background, has knocked the notion of positive discrimination and spoke last week only of the "deserved promotion" of a "talented individual of immigrant origin".

Police said the explosive, whose nature has yet to be determined, could have been planted by Islamic radicals upset at Mr Dermouche's "selling out", or by far-right militants.

France has good reason to be concerned about the hijab: it is a visible symbol of a complex system of laws that stand in direct opposition to the ideas of equality of rights and dignity for all. That there are Muslims in France who are already working for the downfall of the French Republic and others like it is made clear again in this story about the French town of Venissieux, once known for its flowers but now rapidly gaining a reputation as a center of Islamic radicalism. This from AP, :

Clean and green, this well-kept Lyon suburb has for three years running won the national competition for "Flowered Cities of France."

But Venissieux also has a macabre claim to fame. Long plagued by urban violence, it is emerging as a breeding ground for Islamic radicals, some implicated in an alleged terrorist network that authorities say was preparing a chemical attack against Russian targets.

Six residents of Venissieux were arrested Jan. 6 in connection with the planned 2002-2003 New Year's celebrations attack, including a local imam, or prayer leader, Chellali Benchellali, his wife and son. Another son was arrested in 2002.

Two other men from this city of 56,000 are detainees at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including Benchellali's third son.

Venissieux, on the edge of the southeastern city of Lyon, epitomizes France's troubled big city suburbs, teeming with high-rises, cursed with soaring unemployment and peopled mostly by Muslim immigrants from France's former North African colonies. Generation after generation, they are unable to break out.

"It shouldn't be hidden by the trees and parks. There is misery here," said Zohra Hammia, 35, who runs a tutoring program for children.

Investigators contend that Menad Benchellali, 29, was preparing toxic potions in face cream containers at the family home with plans to attack Russian interests in France, including the embassy in Paris. The aim was to avenge deaths of Muslim rebels in the breakaway Russian province of Chechnya. The recipe involved deadly ricin poison and botulism bacteria.

Menad Benchellali, who allegedly trained in Georgia's lawless Pankisi Gorge on the Chechen border, was arrested in December 2002 with eight others in two Paris suburbs. Lists of chemicals and equipment, including a protective suit, were found.

Menad's brother, Mourad, is one of two residents held at Guantanamo. His neighborhood friend, Nizar Sassi, also is detained there. Menad, the alleged "chemist" in the Chechnya network, sent the two men off to Afghanistan in 2001, investigators have said.

Where did Chellali Benchellali go to collect funds for these jihadis? To the mosque, of course:

Their father, a 59-year-old imam born in Algeria, reportedly made at least three trips to Bosnia to deliver humanitarian aid to Muslims. According to police, Chellali Benchellali then became involved in the cause of Chechen Muslims, showing films of Russians soldiers fighting Chechens at his mosque to collect funds for them.

A person familiar with the case, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed the network moved in and out of France using passports from the faithful, who declared them lost.

Venissieux first gained national attention two decades ago when its residents headed a march of 100,000 mostly French Muslims to Paris in 1983 to demand equal rights and integration.

The youth of Veinissieux, says the article, have turned to "religion" in their despair. But alas, the religion they turned to led them to violence:

Today, despairing Muslims are increasingly turning to religion. A more radical brand of Islam took hold about five years ago, said deputy mayor Bayrem Braiki.

Muslim activists "have been stuffing the brains of our youth ... explaining that the only way out is religion," said Braiki, 28, a practicing Muslim who grew up in Les Minguettes, this town's toughest neighborhood.

Les Minguettes has an unemployment rate of some 30 percent, and in the section known as Darnaise, where the Benchellalis live, it's more than 50 percent.

Some residents seek comfort in the green-carpeted prayer room presided over by Chellali Benchellali -- one of at least a dozen such makeshift mosques in the area.

"We were shocked by the imam's arrest," said a friend, Ounsi Hassine, adding that Benchellali was outspoken but not an extremist.

French intelligence started tracking Islamic activism in the suburbs in 1990. Lucienne Bui Trong, a retired intelligence officer and specialist in suburban violence, said private Muslim groups that receive public money for community work sometimes promote radicalism behind the scenes.

In a display of the typical short-sightedness of Western secularists in general, the town's Communist mayor ascribes the problem to economics. If only the French funded mosques, those mosques wouldn't be radical. If you can imagine Osama bin Laden or Sayyid Qutb or Abdullah Azzam or any other mujahid laying down his arms at the promise of state funding, you will get along famously with Mayor Andre Gerin:

Venissieux Mayor Andre Gerin, a communist lawmaker, blames the state for refusing to fund mosques, allowing prayer rooms that encourage radicalism to flourish. Others blame the mayor.

"He opened the way to groups who have imposed their moral power on an entire section of the town," Christian Delorme, who for years was the parish priest of the Minguettes neighborhood, told the weekly Lyoncapitale.

Others blame poverty and prejudice.

"A kid who looks for work and gets the door slammed in his face for a year sees religion as the only solution," said Braiki, the deputy mayor. "If someone proposes paradise, who won't accept paradise?"

This is true as far as it goes. It ignores the possibility, amply documented, that many who are wealthy also choose paradise. The problem is not economic but ideological and religious.

There were demonstrations all over the world yesterday against the French headscarf ban. I myself am not sure the ban is wise, but I understand the reasons behind it: the headscarf is just a symbol of a constellation of Islamic laws that are at direct odds with those of a truly tolerant, secular society. The sign up above sums it up.

I am not for a coercive secularism at all, but what will happen when these marchers who are protesting the headscarf ban in the name of religious freedom begin to protest the ban on stoning adulterers and amputating thieves' hands in the name of religious freedom? If only Sarkozy had the courage to say, "All right, you can have your hijab. (And you dhimmis over there can have your kippas and crucifixes.) But to be a citizen of France you must explicitly and definitively renounce for all time the elements of Islamic law that are at variance with the idea of the equality of rights and dignity of all people: the permission for a husband to beat his wife, the subjugation of non-Muslims as inferiors, etc. Anyone attempting to spread those ideas in France will be prosecuted." I won't be holding my breath.

French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has criticised worldwide protests against plans to ban Islamic headscarves from state schools. Mr Sarkozy said the protests at the government proposals would only promote tension, misunderstandings and anger.

This from BBC News, with thanks to Nicolei.

Around 5,000 mainly Muslim marchers took part in a demonstration in Paris, which was fewer than expected.

There were also rallies elsewhere in France and Europe, the Middle East and in Indian-administered Kashmir.

President Jacques Chirac announced a ban on overtly religious symbols in schools last month after an official report into state secularism.

Many of France's five million Muslims see it as an attack on their religious and human rights.

"When I came here, they told me France was the land of human rights. I found out it's the opposite," said 30-year-old Algerian-born Kawtar Fawzy at the Paris protest.

Very well, Kawtar. You want human rights? I hope then that you will join a protest soon against wife-beating in Islamic societies. Or against discrimination and harassment of Christians and Jews in Islamic societies. After all, those things are justified by the same Islamic law that mandates the headscarf. Kawtar, why don't you take up the cause of human rights in Nigeria and protest the forcing of non-Muslim women to wear the headscarf? Don't they have any human rights?

The demonstrations in Paris and other French cities were organised by a small group, the Party of French Muslims (PMF), which is regarded by many in France as a radical Islamist organisation, the BBC's Alan Little reports from Paris.

An estimated 2,400 opponents of the ban rallied in London, where there was also a small counter-demonstration.

Outside the capital cities, including Brussels where about 1,000 protesters appeared, the largest demonstrations were held in the French regions. There were small rallies, too, in the Middle East.

An estimated 3,500 marched in Lille, 1,800 in Marseille, 1,500 in Mulhouse and hundreds in other French cities, police and organisers said.

If dhimmis don't remember their subservience, they will be made to remember it. A Coptic question has been killed in Egypt in yet another episode of the ongoing campaign of harassment of the indigenous Christians there. The report comes from Compass Direct:

An Egyptian Christian was killed and two others seriously injured Monday when another confrontation erupted between an armed military contingent and the staff of a Coptic Christian center for handicapped children near Cairo.

Local sources confirmed to Compass that shortly after 10 a.m. on January 5, about 300 soldiers from the Second Unit Army Camp located along the Cairo-Suez highway approached the adjoining farm site of the Patmos Center.

Using a bulldozer and other construction equipment, the military blocked the Patmos Center's main entrance, "piling heaps of stones in front of the existing gate," one source reported. With armed soldiers blockading the road leading to the center, several meters of wall on either side of the gate were knocked down.

The center's staff workers rushed out to try to stop the demolition, exchanging a hail of stones and bottles with the soldiers. Some of the Patmos workers then moved onto the Suez highway, stopping traffic in a sit-in protest against the military action.

Some minutes later, a fast-moving bus came off the highway to the adjacent service road, careening directly into the crowd of staff surrounding Bishop Botros, the Coptic Orthodox cleric directing the center.

Although Bishop Botros managed to escape from the bus' path, 13 of his staff were struck down. Staff member Kirilos Daoud Lam'iy died at the scene. Two other Coptic Christian men, Shehata Nakhla and Hany Sa'ad, were seriously wounded and hospitalized. Another 10 were injured.

During the incident, a Coptic nun identified as Sister Ra'ous was also beaten and injured by soldiers, who broke out the windshield and back window of her car.

Although security police are reportedly searching for the bus driver, Coptic sources claimed that the army had spirited him away. Military officials contend that the driver had simply lost control of the vehicle, but church sources accused army officers of ordering the driver to run over the bishop and his staff.

Patmos staff workers contend that the army deliberately provoked violence by forcibly closing the center's front gate, claiming that another entrance would be opened through a side wall.

But army officials declared they are simply implementing a new law introduced last January by the Defense Ministry, ordering that all constructions along the Suez highway be at least 100 meters from the road. In contrast to most similar regulations, the decree was made retroactive.

Built 10 years ago, the Patmos Center's front wall stands 50 meters from the highway. Ironically, the army barracks' own walls are also 50 meters from the road, and scores of other buildings along the road are even closer.

"If this law is applied to everyone, we have no problem with it," a Patmos Center administrator told Compass last May. "But if it's not, then we have to ask, 'Why just apply it to us?'"

According to one Cairo journalist, security police blamed Bishop Botros yesterday for the escalating tensions.

"Bishop Botros keeps continuously provoking his military neighbors, and he doesn't want to get on good terms with them," security officials told the journalist. "The Egyptian military is unaccountable, as everyone knows, and they can do whatever they want. Bishop Botros knows this, so he should not be so provocative."

The seven-year conflict over the Coptic-owned Patmos Center has been described by local church sources as a personal feud between Bishop Botros and Maj. Gen. Hussein Tantawi, the Egyptian defense minister.

A long-standing member of President Hosni Mubarak's cabinet, Tantawi suffered international embarrassment for his direct role in the army raids against Patmos in 1996 and 1997. The attacks inflicted more than $200,000 in damages to buildings and walls, as well as causing orchards to be uprooted and livestock to be slaughtered. Although Patmos staff members have been beaten, injured and even arrested for resisting military orders many times since then, yesterday's death was the first fatality.

The Patmos Center filed and won a lawsuit proving that the army was responsible for the major damages inflicted in 1996 and 1997. But a follow-up indemnity case to recover compensation remains stalled in the courts.

Reportedly Pope Shenoudah III of the Coptic Orthodox Church met with Bishop Botros on Monday night, although so far no comment has been issued by any church spokesman regarding their meeting or the latest Patmos Center incident.

Three Coptic Christian brothers began the Patmos Center as a land reclamation project, initially renting the site from the Egyptian ministry of agriculture.

Formally purchased in 1995, the center houses mentally handicapped children in a thriving farm environment where they help raise animals, fruit and vegetables and share in other agricultural work projects. The staff includes Coptic Orthodox priests and nuns, together with trained lay personnel.

Why would a suicide bomber in Iraq or anywhere else target non-combatants -- in this case Defense Department workers? Because Islamic law allows for the killing of civilians, even women and children, if they are viewed as aiding the war effort. This is the justification behind the suicide attacks in buses and restaurants in Israel: not a few imams have declared that there are no civilians in Israel. And now in Iraq, a suicide bomber has killed both Iraqi and American civilians, probably with much the same justification in mind:

A suicide bomber detonated 1,000 pounds of explosives in a pickup truck outside the headquarters compound of the U.S.-led coalition Sunday, killing at least 18 bystanders, including two U.S. Defense Department workers, American officials said.

This from AP.

An Iraqi Governing Council spokesman, Hamid al-Kafai, said at least 20 people were killed and more than 60 were wounded.

U.S. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said there were "indications" that some those killed were American citizens. "We believe the current number to be at two," he said. "We are awaiting confirmation." . . .

The U.S. military press office initially said the 18 dead included 16 Iraqi civilians and two American civilians. The wounded included 22 Iraqi civilians, four civilians working for the Defense Department and two U.S. soldiers, the press office said.

But a military spokesman later said it was unclear whether the Defense Department casualties involved staff or contract workers.

UPDATE: A CNN story raises the death toll to 23.

Embattled Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has called for a jihad against terror. Doesn't he know that jihad is just a spiritual struggle to bring the soul into conformity with God's will? How can he wipe out terror by calling on Pakistanis to try to become more spiritual and avoid temptation? The report comes from Sify News:

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf took his campaign against extremism and terrorism to a new level at the weekend, calling for a jihad against the menace in his first address to a stormy session of the parliament that was marred by opposition heckling. . . .

Musharraf said Pakistan was blamed for terrorist attacks from its tribal areas in neighbouring Afghanistan, for terrorism across the disputed border in Kashmir and for nuclear proliferation and was considered an intolerant, extremist society.

"We have to tackle with full force such foreign elements who can cause terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan," he said. . . .

"I appeal to you and the people of Pakistan to wage a jihad (holy war) against extremism," Musharraf said.

Musharraf has to be aware that jihadis don't think of themselves as terrorists or extremists in the first place. They consider themselves to be just that -- jihadis. As I show in Onward Muslim Soldiers, they use an abundance of traditional Islamic theology and law to justify their actions. Does Musharraf mean that he is going to confront and repudiate that, initiating a large-scale reform of Islam? I doubt it.

Evidently the tiny minority of extremists have a few good friends in international banking. Now banks in the United Arab Emirates are being investigated:

Banks in this financial hub of the Arab world remain a key focus in the investigation into terror funding despite moves to tighten reporting rules, freeze accounts and control informal money transfers, U.S. and Arab officials told The Associated Press.

The reason: Dubai's history of shady transactions and the difficulty of tracking a matrix of legal and illegal free trade.

About half the $250,000 spent on the Sept. 11 attacks was wired to al-Qaida terrorists in the United States from Dubai banks, U.S. Treasury and Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates officials said.

Al-Qaida money in Dubai banks also has been linked to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania blamed on Osama bin Laden.

In addition, before Saddam Hussein's ouster, this Persian Gulf emirate was a favorite transit point for smugglers sneaking past U.S.-led naval patrols enforcing United Nations trade sanctions. And it was through Dubai that Russian arms dealers supplied bin Laden's Taliban backers in Afghanistan before the U.S.-led war ousted their Islamic government.

Sultan bin Nasser al-Suweidi, head of the Central Bank, told AP that financial officials are working closely with the U.S. government to block terror funding avenues. Central Bank officials have trained with U.S. investigators and other international experts to help them identify money launderers and suspicious transactions, he said.

"We don't want wrongdoers. We totally don't need them," said the U.S.-educated al-Suweidi, who arrives at his office before 8 a.m. and is often seen working until 10 at night in the fortress-like Central Bank headquarters in the Emirates' capital, Abu Dhabi.

"We totally don't need them"? Where did al-Suweidi, like, learn his English?

Another Al-Qaeda training manual has surfaced online. (You can read about another here.) In it, Al-Qaeda gives further evidence that it has been severely damaged -- but that it has by no means given up. This from The Observer, :

Al-Qaeda has issued a chilling new call to arms to recruits who remain undetected by security agencies. In a terrorist manual published on the internet, Osama bin Laden says: 'After Iraq and Afghanistan will come the Crusader invasion of Saudi Arabia. All fighters all over the world must be ready.' . . .

It is directed at new volunteers who are 'below the radar' of counter-terrorist authorities and who cannot break cover to undergo formal training in terrorist techniques. . . .

'Though it shows that we have taken down a lot of the training infrastructure and made it hard for [al-Qaeda] to operate, it is very worrying in that it implies that there are a lot of recruits around who we have yet to pick up,' one British senior police counter-terrorist officer said.

In the manual, bin Laden calls on the recruits to be cautious in their operations, given the counter-terrorist surveillance efforts against them. He says that all those Muslims living in the lands occupied by the unbelievers should study the manual and be prepared to act.

The appearance of the manual - the January issue of what promises to be a monthly publication - is a major boost to al-Qaeda's propaganda effort. Articles include the testimony of a 'martyred' suicide bomber and pages of technical advice on physical training, security counter-measures for operational terrorist cells and the use of light weapons. 'All that is needed to open the ideas of the zealous youthful Muslims to the techniques of our fighters,' a preface explains.

[Saif] Al-Adel, 39, [Al-Qaeda's 3rd highest authority, after Osama and Zawahiri] even warns operatives not to believe official media. 'They will try and wear down your morale by publishing false reports about the arrest of other cells,' he writes.

Another author is Abdul Aziz al-Mukran, who is also known as Abu Hajjer and is one of the most wanted al-Qaeda suspects in Saudi Arabia.

In his contribution, entitled 'The war of nerves', he lists the use of weapons of mass destruction, specifically biological and nuclear arms, as a potential tactic in the 'ongoing war'.

In my book Onward Muslim Soldiers, a study of global jihad, I spend a chapter debunking the myth of Muslim Spain -- the idea that Al-Andalus was in the Middle Ages a beacon of tolerance where Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together in harmony. I thought this was important to do because the myth of tolerant Al-Andalus is used as a weapon today for political ends. Most ominously it is used to deflect anti-terror efforts and to encourage non-Muslims to let their guard down in the face of restive and growing Muslim populations in Western countries, even though no effort has been made or will be made to determine what percentage of those Muslim populations is still attached to the Sharia.

The political significance of this kind of whitewashing of history is summed up by this Telegraph headline. It refers to a new film about the Crusades being filmed by Ridley Scott: "Ridley Scott's new Crusades film 'panders to Osama bin Laden'." (Thanks to LGF. Ridley Scott is the guy who made Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise, and Black Hawk Down. When Black Hawk Down was shown in the Muslim world, some crowds cheered when the Americans were in trouble. Now Scott is planning to give them something else to cheer about:

Sir Ridley Scott, the Oscar-nominated director, was savaged by senior British academics last night over his forthcoming film which they say "distorts" the history of the Crusades to portray Arabs in a favourable light.

The £75 million film, which stars Orlando Bloom, Jeremy Irons and Liam Neeson, is described by the makers as being "historically accurate" and designed to be "a fascinating history lesson".

Academics, however - including Professor Jonathan Riley-Smith, Britain's leading authority on the Crusades - attacked the plot of Kingdom of Heaven, describing it as "rubbish", "ridiculous", "complete fiction" and "dangerous to Arab relations".

The film, which began shooting last week in Spain, is set in the time of King Baldwin IV (1161-1185), leading up to the Battle of Hattin in 1187 when Saladin conquered Jerusalem for the Muslims.

In a particularly silly example of dhimmi wishful thinking (at best), the film invents a multiculturalist cooperative, the "Brotherhood of Muslims, Jews and Christians." In reality, of course, such a thing did not exist and would not have existed. If Ridley Scott and the others making this film had bothered to pierce through the deceptive half-truths about Islamic tolerance that no doubt led them to invent this, they would have known that dhimmis were (and are) forbidden by Islamic law to fight alongside Muslims in jihad. Nowadays, doubtless inspired by their allies in the peace movement, radical Muslim spokesmen often spin this as "Dhimmis were excused from military service!" But in a culture that valued strength and honor above all things, this was just another sign of the humiliation of the subject peoples.

Predictably, the Christians are the villains in this script:

The script depicts Baldwin's brother-in-law, Guy de Lusignan, who succeeds him as King of Jerusalem, as "the arch-villain". A further group, "the Brotherhood of Muslims, Jews and Christians", is introduced, promoting an image of cross-faith kinship.

"They were working together," the film's spokesman said. "It was a strong bond until the Knights Templar cause friction between them."

The Knights Templar, the warrior monks, are portrayed as "the baddies" while Saladin, the Muslim leader, is a "a hero of the piece", Sir Ridley's spokesman said. "At the end of our picture, our heroes defend the Muslims, which was historically correct."

Prof Riley-Smith, who is Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge University, said the plot was "complete and utter nonsense". He said that it relied on the romanticised view of the Crusades propagated by Sir Walter Scott in his book The Talisman, published in 1825 and now discredited by academics.

"It sounds absolute balls. It's rubbish. It's not historically accurate at all. They refer to The Talisman, which depicts the Muslims as sophisticated and civilised, and the Crusaders are all brutes and barbarians. It has nothing to do with reality."

Prof Riley-Smith added: "Guy of Lusignan lost the Battle of Hattin against Saladin, yes, but he wasn't any badder or better than anyone else. There was never a confraternity of Muslims, Jews and Christians. That is utter nonsense."

Dr Jonathan Philips, a lecturer in history at London University and author of The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople, agreed that the film relied on an outdated portrayal of the Crusades and could not be described as "a history lesson".

He said: "The Templars as 'baddies' is only sustainable from the Muslim perspective, and 'baddies' is the wrong way to show it anyway. They are the biggest threat to the Muslims and many end up being killed because their sworn vocation is to defend the Holy Land."

Dr Philips said that by venerating Saladin, who was largely ignored by Arab history until he was reinvented by romantic historians in the 19th century, Sir Ridley was following both Saddam Hussein and Hafez Assad, the former Syrian dictator. Both leaders commissioned huge portraits and statues of Saladin, who was actually a Kurd, to bolster Arab Muslim pride.

Prof Riley-Smith added that Sir Ridley's efforts were misguided and pandered to Islamic fundamentalism. "It's Osama bin Laden's version of history. It will fuel the Islamic fundamentalists."

Amin Maalouf, the French historian and author of The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, said: "It does not do any good to distort history, even if you believe you are distorting it in a good way. Cruelty was not on one side but on all."

Sir Ridley's spokesman said that the film portrays the Arabs in a positive light. "It's trying to be fair and we hope that the Muslim world sees the rectification of history."

Sure. You make a complete whitewash and rewriting of history, and then present it as a redressing of grievances. What may be more unfortunate than the film itself is that untold numbers will believe it. After all, Riley-Smith won't be in theaters to tell them the truth. And the march of dhimmitude will continue.

Hanadi Jaradat was a murderer. She blew herself up in a restaurant in Haifa last October, killing 21 people. For that she has been lionized in an exhibit in the Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm -- at least until Zvi Mazel, the Israeli ambassador to Sweden, got there. In a blow for decency and common sense, Mazel wrecked the exhibit. This report is from the Jerusalem Post, with thanks to all the many people who sent this to me: (Update: the Post has now replaced at this link the story quoted here with an updated one, but the points made below are unchanged.)

In what the avant garde might call a transgressive work of performance art, Israel's ambassador to Sweden, Zvi Mazel, wrecked Friday an exhibit in Stockholm's Museum of National Antiquities depicting a Palestinian suicide bomber.

Located in the museum's courtyard, "Snow White and the Madness of Truth" depicted a smiling Hanadi Jaradat, the Maxim restaurant suicide bomber who killed 21 patrons and staff as well as herself on October 4. Her photograph was placed on a little boat floating in a basin filled with water dyed red.

The ambassador was a guest at the opening of the museum's exhibition, which is linked to an international conference on genocide, "Stockholm International Forum: Preventing Genocide - Threats and Responsibilities," to be held January 26-28.

Israel has threatened to boycott the conference if the museum's "Making Differences" exhibit on the Middle East conflict is not dismantled, Army Radio reported, saying that the exhibition breaks understandings Israel reached with Sweden.

"This was not a piece of art," the ambassador told Sweden's SR radio news station. "It was a monstrosity."

"For me it was intolerable and an insult to the families of the victims," he said. "As ambassador [of] Israel I could not remain indifferent to such an obscene misrepresentation of reality."

Swedish authorities offered predictable dhimmitude in response: accusations of Mazel, denial that the exhibit was a provocation, invocations of freedom of speech, insinuations that somehow the murder of civilians is justified in Israel:

Museum director Kristian Berg suggested that Mazel endangered those in the museum. "He pulled out the plugs and threw one of the spotlights into the fountain, which caused the entire installation to short-circuit and made it totally life-threatening," Berg told Swedish news agency TT, AFP reported.

The museum director said he did not consider the artwork to be a provocation. "It is rather an invitation to think about why such things happen in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," he said.

Swedish Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anna Larsson said the ambassador will be asked to explain his attack. "We will ask him to explain and from our side we will maintain that it is unacceptable to destroy works of art in this way," Larsson said.

The artists behind the installation are musician Dror Feiler - himself an Israeli Swede - and his Swedish wife Gunilla Skold Feiler. Feiler, who described the ambassador's actions as "vandalism," announced that he would not perform as long as Mazel was present. The museum director requested that the ambassador leave, then escorted him out.

Feiler told the Associated Press that his installation aimed to call attention to how weak people left alone can be capable of horrible things. "[Mazel] tried to stop free speech and free artistic expression from being carried out in Sweden," Feiler said.

As a political activist, Feiler is president of Jews for Israeli Palestinian Peace, which initiated a campaign entitled "Jewish Manifesto: Sharon is Israel's Worst Enemy."

Feiler describes himself as the "eye-bleeding ultimate composer of intifadic and eruptive lung-outs."

In my line of work, I hear it all the time -- from Muslims and non-Muslims alike: "jihad doesn't mean 'holy war.' The Arabic word means 'struggle.' In Islam jihad primarily means the struggle within the soul of the believer to conform his life to the will of Allah." In Onward Muslim Soldiers I discuss all of this at length. From Islamic sources I show that there are indeed many meanings of jihad in Islam, but that radical Muslim theorists like Hasan Al-Banna (founder of the Muslim Brotherhood) and Abdullah Azzam (Osama bin Laden's intellectual mentor) reject the idea that jihad is a spiritual struggle on the grounds that its attestation in the Islamic sources is weak. Their arguments for jihad as holy war are firmly traditionalist: rooted in the Qur'an, the Hadith, the example of Muhammad, and Islamic history.

It does no good simply to pretend that this is not so and hope that it will go away; it must be understood because it is a fundamental cause of innumerable conflicts around the world today. If we don't understand the goals and motives of our opponents, how will we possibly prevail against them in the "war of ideas" that is so central to the war on terror?

In light of all this also, attempts by Muslims to explain that jihad is actually peaceful must be viewed as either well-intentioned but ignorant or outright deceptive. Until Muslim spokesmen acknowledge that violent jihad is a broad tradition within Islam and renounce the doctrines that give rise to it, there will be Muslims somewhere in the world who continue to consider it part of their religious responsibility to wage war on non-Muslims. They will not be swayed by efforts like this one, which only go so far as to show that jihad doesn't mean ONLY holy war, but deceive only those who aren't paying attention into thinking that jihad doesn't amount to holy war at all:

THE word 'jihad' has become so commonly used - and abused - that Muslim religious authorities in the region want everyone to get it right once and for all.

This from the Straits Times.

The official organisations that oversee Islamic practices in Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia are producing a book on the true meaning of jihad.

They want to put right misconceptions of the term by Muslims and non-Muslims alike, said the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) yesterday. . . .

Jihad is a term commonly used by the international media to mean a holy war. But most Muslims understand it to mean struggle or perseverance. It could mean struggle or striving in one's daily life, or in one's efforts to become more spiritual, or to avoid temptation.

At the Mabims meeting, the Singapore delegation described the efforts by Muslims here to build a community of excellence as their own brand of jihad, said its leader, Muis president Alami Musa. . . .

'We want to reach out to the non-Muslims, because the word jihad has been misused by many irresponsible groups for their own narrow objectives,' he told The Straits Times. . . .

Yesterday, Muslim leaders contacted lauded the moves, saying the book, especially, was timely. The word jihad has been in the news here this week after it was reported that members of the terror group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) had been put under Restriction Orders and must go for religious counselling.

Community leaders had said that the counselling must focus on correcting the JI members' misconceptions about jihad, including that it means violence is justifiable.

The good thing about the book is that it will go beyond the community and such efforts, noted those interviewed yesterday.

Ustaz Azmi Abdul Samad of Kampung Siglap Mosque said: 'When non-Muslims visit our mosque, many talk about jihad as if it means just 'holy war' when, in fact, it's a broad term with many meanings.'

Indeed. And I can produce a mountain of evidence to show that one of the most important of those meanings throughout Islamic history and today has been warfare -- that is, with guns, not rhetorical warfare -- against non-Muslims. Let the Muis forthrightly acknowledge that that is true and renounce that understanding of jihad, and we'll be getting somewhere.

In Indonesia, radical Muslims are strong and getting stronger. This from Straits Times, with thanks to Nicolei:

LAST month, Indonesia's Defenders of Islam Front (FPI) set up an 'immorality watch' squad to bring to book perpetrators of vice.

Over a hundred supporters of Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir rallied in Jakarta and picketed the Supreme Court, urging judges to overturn the immigration violation ruling that keeps him behind bars for three years.

Bashir, meanwhile, was mobilising support among prisoners, telling them that the Bali bombers were 'God's fighters', not terrorists.

Note well: this is how radical Muslims recruit all over the world: by appealing to the Islamic religious sensibilities of young Muslims. Meanwhile, this distinction between jihad and terrorism gives them an easy way to denounce terrorism when under pressure from the media or law enforcement officials.

Together with FPI leader Habib Mohamad Rizieq Syihab, he also issued a statement urging hardliners to push for syariah [that is, Sharia]implementation this year.

The 'noise' from radical Islamists has shot up in recent months. They are mobilising supporters, issuing decrees, preaching acrimony and lambasting the West for its war on terrorism.

This increased activity, however, is being ascribed by Indonesian observers to a loss of mainstream support:

Analysts say this is happening partly because their mainstream supporters - the pro-syariah parties - are distancing themselves.

Jakarta Post deputy editor Endy Bayuni said mainstream parties see their ties to the radicals - especially those connected to the bombings that have killed Muslims too - as a political liability.

This was further confirmed by the independent Indonesian Survey Institute's latest poll results, released in November, which showed that only 14 per cent of 2,240 respondents supported the pro-syariah parties.

These being Vice-President Hamzah Haz's United Development Party, the Crescent and Star party and the new Prosperous and Justice Party.

Mr Endy said mainstream parties want to renounce their links to the hardliners to regain legitimacy.

However, he told The Straits Times that these and other Islamist parties will continue to push for political Islam.

'The Islamist parties have to be seen as trying to make good their promise to their constituents to fight for an Islamic state and the syariah,' he said.

They had a victory in the national education Bill this year. The Bill, now law, requires that all schools provide Islamic teachers if they have Muslim students.

And now they are pushing for a Bill on religious tolerance, which critics say is really an attempt to thwart the spread of Christianity.

A draft of the Bill suggests that inter-religious marriage and inter-religious adoptions will be outlawed.

Political science expert Rizal Mallarangang told The Straits Times he expects the 'noise' from radicals to increase.

While this may not translate into political gains, it could work to 'create an atmosphere of disturbance and hatred', he said.

Australian Islamic leader Sheikh Mohammed Omran is now claiming that Australian authorities have known since 1991 that Australians were going to Afghanistan to get training in terrorism -- but did nothing to stop it. This from the Herald Sun, with thanks to Jean-Luc:

Melbourne Islamic leader Sheikh Mohammed Omran told the Herald Sun he was repeatedly visited by federal agents who asked him to discourage members of his group from attending the camps.

Up to 12 Australians, including three Victorians, attended the camps, which included training with AK-47 rifles, marching and endurance drills.

Sheikh Mohammed said the camps were regarded as "normal" and "good" for teaching Muslim youth discipline.

But federal agents "didn't like it and they used to tell me they didn't like it", he said.

Despite their concern, the trips continued.

"The Australian Government allowed it," Sheikh Mohammed said. "It was something the Australian Government condoned by inaction."

He said the Government now treated those who attended the camps as potential terrorists.

"Post-September 11 the Australian Government changed policy when the war on terror was born . . . (they) suddenly said these camps are terrorist training," he said.

A security source familiar with the case said the camps were considered dangerous.

But the source said there was a belief within federal agencies before 2001 that the Foreign Incursions and Recruitment Act, the only law then in place to prosecute such cases, was essentially weak.

"It was extremely difficult to get the evidence to prosecute under the Foreign Incursions Act," the source said.

"The prevailing view (by those attending the camps) was the legislation was weak and could be avoided, but they were covert about doing it so we understood they knew it was wrong."

"We understood they knew it was wrong" -- but still did nothing until after 9/11:

New laws explicitly banning such training came into place in July 2002, but are not retrospective, which means those known to have trained in the camps are unlikely to be prosecuted.

The source said shortly after September 11, ASIO director-general Dennis Richardson and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty met with key government figures and asked for an urgent strengthening of laws to stop the training.

Bassam Madany's review of Jihad Watch director Robert Spencer's book Onward Muslim Soldiers can be found at Middle East Resources:

The title of this book could conceivably be a headline for a news item in a Western newspaper. Throughout the closing days of 2003, and early in 2004, we have lived with a heightened sense of danger as the terror alerts kept rising, and several air flights to the U.S. were canceled . Thanks to Robert Spencer's "Onward Muslim Soldiers," we have on hand a non-varnished description of this new era in global history.

Soon after the 11th of September 2001, the contents of Muhammad Ata's suitcase were discovered. In it were found the Arabic text of the instructions he gave his fellow-conspirators on the eve of their horrific attack on New York and Washington, DC. After exhorting them to remain calm, and rejoice in anticipation of their attack on the symbols of the hated West, he quoted an Arabic poem: "Smile in the face of death, O young man/ For you are on your way to immortality in paradise." Then, he went on quoting several Qur'anic texts to bolster their resolve to become the vanguard of a new type of shuhada (martyrs) in the path of Allah. What Ata's hastily composed hand-written notes revealed, Robert Spencer documents in his new book on Islamic Jihad.

What we had observed in Spencer's Islam Unveiled (2002), we find strengthened and well-documented in Onward Muslim Soldiers. The book has ample references to jihad in the authoritative texts of Islam: the Qur'an, Hadith (plural: Ahadith), as well as in the recognized commentaries of both Sunni and Shi'ite Islam. Based on these texts and the history of the Islamic conquests in Asia, Africa, and Europe, one cannot avoid the conclusion that Jihad is part and parcel of the Islamic tradition.

The reason why many of our contemporaries find it difficult to accept this fact is that they regard Islam as simply a religious faith, like Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shinto. But Islam is, and has always been, far more than a religion in the accepted sense of the word. It began as a religious faith in Mecca (610), and then it progressed into an expansionist religio-political system from Medina (622). Eventually Islam produced a distinctively Islamic culture and worldview in Baghdad and Cordoba (after 800.)

Most Americans have an added difficulty as they seek to understand Islam. The birth of the United States in 1776 occurred at a time when the last major Islamic power, the Ottoman Empire, was in a state of rapid decline. It finally disintegrated at the end of World War I when most of its territories were taken over by European colonialists. Up to the mid-forties of the 20th century, the United States had very little to do with Islamic countries. The meeting of President Roosevelt with King Saud on a U.S. destroyer in the Suez Canal during World War II, marked the beginning of America's practical "encounter" with Islam.

Now "Onward Muslim Soldiers" provides us with this much-needed guide to understanding the true nature of Islam, and its attitude to the Rest of the world. This book is organized around three parts. Part One deals with "Jihad Now." Part Two covers the history of jihad under the rubric of "Jihad Then." The title of Part Three is very disturbing, "The Great Jihad Cover-Up."

This "Cover-Up" is evident, for example, in "The Carolina Qur'an Controversy" related on page 145. In 2002, the University of North Carolina assigned "a translation of a part of the Qur'an to all incoming freshmen," that became "a cause for genuine concern. The assigned book was Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations, translated by Michael Sells. The "early revelations" of the subtitle are the Meccan suras... which preach tolerance and mutual coexistence without a hint of the doctrines of jihad and dhimmitude that unfold in the later Qur'anic revelations."

Robert Spencer asks: "what was such a misleading misrepresentation designed to accomplish, especially in light of continuing threats from terrorists? Sells has defended his decision to translate only early Meccan Suras on the grounds that they are the most accessible introduction to the Qur'an and Islamic study as a whole. That may be true, but taken in isolation as the only book a young non-Muslim would read about Islam, Approaching the Qur'an could be severely misleading about the nature of the religion as a whole and about the intentions and motives of Islamic terrorists, the very people who have made Islam such a "hot topic" for students."

This literary product of Professor Michael Sells, in keeping out the Medinan chapters of the Qur'an, does not surprise me. In May 2001, and later on in January 2002, PBS telecast a documentary, "Islam: Empire of Faith." This expert on Islam was one of several Western commentators who contributed to this program, whose very title was historically questionable. How could the Islamic Empires of the Umayyads, Abbasids, Ottomans, and the Mughals, be described as "Empires of Faith" when they were all built on the "futuhat" i.e., on conquests? Neither Michael Sells nor any of his fellow-commentators every referred to the impact of jihad on the native populations of the conquered territories, nor to such infamous institutions as "dhimmitude." The apex of disinformation in "Empire of Faith" was reached when reference was made to the "devshirme" system of the Ottomans in Eastern Europe. The Western scholar described this barbaric institution of taking young Christian boys from their families, forcibly Islamizing them, and enrolling them in the elite Ottoman corps of the Janissaries as "recruitment." Is this genuine scholarship, or a white-wash, as Robert Spencer would describe "The Great Jihad Cover-Up?"

The author concludes his book with these sober words. To ignore them is irresponsible, and tantamount to wishing away a real danger that will be with us for decades to come. "The theology and history of Islam bear out that this is how all too many Muslims have always understood their law. Until Islam undergoes a definitive and universal reform, this is how the warriors of jihad understand it today and will continue to understand it. This is the version of Islam that radical Muslims are pressing forward with bombs and guns and threats around the world. That is why the struggle against jihad is the struggle of every true lover of freedom." P. 304

"Onward Muslim Soldiers: How Jihad Still Threatens America and the West" is a much-needed book. To read it and digest its contents is of utmost importance as we daily face the by-products of Jihadism all over our world. We thank Robert Spencer for his excellent work on a topic that remains as current as the daily newspaper, radio and the television news.

I have stated for quite some time that any democracy movement in Iraq or anywhere in the Muslim world would always be under pressure from Muslims who considered that no government was legitimate unless it obeyed the Sharia. The Sharia for significant numbers of Muslims is the law of God. That being the case, they are not lightly going to set it aside for the manmade laws of a republic.

This is not a startling or original point, but it is one that few seem willing to make. More confirmation of it comes now from Iraq, where rights that women have enjoyed for years under the relatively secular rule of Saddam Hussein are now being threatened by Sharia advocates.

These events also threaten Iraqi non-Muslims (who are already quite threatened in other ways): with the Sharia comes dhimmi laws that institutionalize discrimination and inferiority for religious minorities.

This report comes from the Washington Post:

For the past four decades, Iraqi women have enjoyed some of the most modern legal protections in the Muslim world, under a civil code that prohibits marriage below the age of 18, arbitrary divorce and male favoritism in child custody and property inheritance disputes. Saddam Hussein's dictatorship did not touch those rights. But the U.S.-backed Iraqi Governing Council has voted to wipe them out, ordering in late December that family laws shall be "canceled" and such issues placed under the jurisdiction of strict Islamic legal doctrine known as sharia.

This week, outraged Iraqi women -- from judges to cabinet ministers -- denounced the decision in street protests and at conferences, saying it would set back their legal status by centuries and could unleash emotional clashes among various Islamic strains that have differing rules for marriage, divorce and other family issues.

This point about clashes between Islamic "strains" -- more precisely madhhabs or schools -- is most likely being used by these women to try to score rhetorical points against Sharia hardliners. For in fact, there is little difference among the Islamic schools, or between Sunnis and Shi'ites, on one fundamental point: all deny women equality of rights and dignity with men.

"This will send us home and shut the door, just like what happened to women in Afghanistan," said Amira Hassan Abdullah, a Kurdish lawyer who spoke at a protest meeting Thursday. Some Islamic laws, she noted, allow men to divorce their wives on the spot.

"The old law wasn't perfect, but this one would make Iraq a jungle," she said. "Iraqi women will accept it over their dead bodies."

The order, narrowly approved by the 25-member council in a closed-door session Dec. 29, was reportedly sponsored by conservative Shiite members. The order is now being opposed by several liberal members as well as by senior women in the Iraqi government.

Charles at LGF points out trenchantly: "An annoying trend in mainstream media is to refer to theocratic troglodytes like these Shi'ite council members as 'conservative.' But Western political categorizations are meaningless in terms of Islamic politics; when Western media uses them, they inform us more about their own bias than about the politics involved, by associating 'conservatives' with the worst elements of Islam."

Ultimately, all this is up to the United States:

The council's decisions must be approved by L. Paul Bremer, the chief U.S. administrator in Iraq, and aides said unofficially that his imprimatur for this change was unlikely. But experts here said that once U.S. officials turn over political power to Iraqis at the end of June, conservative forces could press ahead with their agenda to make sharia the supreme law. Spokesmen for Bremer did not respond to requests for comment Thursday. . . .

In interviews at several meetings and protests, women noted that even during the politically repressive Hussein era, women had been allowed to assume a far more modern role than in many other Muslim countries and had been shielded from some of the more egregiously unfair interpretations of Islam advocated by conservative, male-run Muslim groups.

The problem is that these "egregiously unfair interpretations of Islam" are deeply rooted in the traditional sources -- so deeply rooted that any attempt to remove them from consideration in Iraq today will run up against those who insist that they must remain because they are integral to the nation's Islamic character.

"This new law will send Iraqi families back to the Middle Ages," Hakki said. "It will allow men to have four or five or six wives. It will take away children from their mothers. It will allow anyone who calls himself a cleric to open an Islamic court in his house and decide about who can marry and divorce and have rights. We have to stop it."

This chronological argument -- this will send Iraq back to the Middle Ages -- may look impressive to Western non-Muslims, but it lacks force in the current debate. Sharia advocates will never accept arguments that the law is outmoded or non-modern. It is the law of Allah, applicable for all times and places. So too, Hakki's points illustrating that the Sharia violates clear norms of human rights are likely to fall on deaf ears for the same reason.

A Tunisian man who was trained by Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan has been charged in Germany with trying to form a group there that would attack American and Jewish targets. Where did he go to find recruits for this endeavor? You guessed it -- to a mosque:

The prosecutors' office said the 33-year-old man, named only as Ihsan G., had tried to recruit fellow-militants at a Berlin mosque to set off a series of bombs around the time of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq last March.

This from Reuters, with thanks to LGF.

And why did Ihsan want to attack Americans and Jews? Right again:

"Through the killing or wounding of a large number of people, the Western world was to be humiliated and the Muslim world and its values defended," the office said in a statement.

It said the planned locations were unknown, but the aim was to strike U.S. and Israeli targets "in pursuit of Islamic fundamentalist ideas."

Why did he go to a mosque to do this? Didn't he realize that the vast majority of the people in the mosque would reject his equation of Islam and violence, and throw shoes at him in indignation?

Evidently no one did:

According to the prosecutors' statement, Ihsan G. attended an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan in 2001 and received ideological and military training, including in how to produce explosives.

It said he re-entered Germany in January 2003 on false papers, traveling via South Africa and Belgium, and set about recruiting like-minded radicals at a Berlin mosque.

"Four of those approached showed themselves inclined to form a group with the accused and commit future bomb attacks; others promised their support," the statement said. . . .

According to the charges, the Tunisian began training the recruits, initially on the premises of the mosque. He allegedly sought chemicals to make bombs and bought mobile phones and watches with alarms to serve as timers.

The statement said he had planned several explosions to coincide with a demonstration against the Iraq war, but was arrested on March 20 last year -- the day U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq.

The two events are not connected, I'm sure: just as the BBC has prevailed upon controversial TV host Robert Kilroy-Silk to give up his show, it has hired the editor-in-chief of the network famous for airing tapes of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, along with jihadist propaganda of all kinds: Al-Jazeera.

The Guardian is bland about Kilroy-Silk. He just happens to be choosing this time to move to a different position in the corporation, after a simple eight-hour meeting:

Robert Kilroy-Silk has agreed to quit as presenter of the BBC's morning talkshow after 17 years just a week after the row blew up over his anti-Arab diatribe in the Sunday Express.

In a carefully worded statement agreed by both sides, Kilroy-Silk said he believed it was the right time to leave the programme and concentrate on other projects but it is clear that he was given no choice by BBC bosses.

After a marathon eight hour meeting with BBC bosses today, the corporation announced that Kilroy-Silk would leave the show but that his TV production company will continue to make the programme with a different host.

But the former MP is set to take on new roles at the BBC after the corporation paid warm tribute to his "authority and style" and called him "a substantial force in the media industry."

Kilroy-Silk said: "I believe this is the right moment to leave the programme and concentrate my energies in other directions. I will continue to lead the Kilroy Television Company Ltd and in addition to our existing commitments to the BBC, we will be bringing new ideas and programmes to the BBC and other broadcasters." . . .

The BBC's director of television, Jana Bennett, said presenters of news and current affairs shows could not express "uncomfortable" views without their impartiality being compromised but was at pains to stress that the decision was not about freedom of speech.

"Presenters of this kind of programme have a responsibility to uphold the BBC's impartiality. This does not mean that people who express highly controversial views are not welcome on the BBC but they cannot be presenters of a news, current affairs or topical discussion programme," said Ms Bennett.

Indeed, presenters of highly controversial views are quite welcome on the BBC.
After all, there is Tom Paulin, whom the Telegraph has described as "the poet and Oxford don, has continued to be a regular contributor to BBC2's Newsnight Review arts programme, despite being quoted in an Egyptian newspaper as saying that Jews living in the Israeli-occupied territories were 'Nazis' who should be 'shot dead'."

And now joining Paulin at the Beeb is Al-Jazeera editor-in-chief Ibrahim Hilal. The BBC itself reports:

The Arabic satellite TV channel al-Jazeera says its editor-in-chief has submitted his resignation.

According to an al-Jazeera spokesman, Ibrahim Helal said he had had "a tempting offer" from the BBC.

The charity BBC World Service Trust confirmed that Mr Helal was joining to work on a variety of media training projects over the next two years.

Al-Jazeera has been criticised by the US for airing recorded messages from Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden.

And in a consummate understatement:

Some officials in Washington have described it as being anti-American and encouraging Islamic militancy, especially since the US-led war in Iraq.

Well, I think Hilal should take over as host of Kilroy-Silk's program. That would be the clearest possible reflection of the prevailing tendencies at the BBC. (Thanks to LGF for both news links.)

Randall Todd "Ismail" Royer, formerly of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), has pleaded guilty to charges connected to his attempt to join the global jihad. This from the Washington Post, with thanks to LGF:

A key member of an alleged Virginia jihad network pleaded guilty to federal weapons and explosives charges today, denying that he intended to harm Americans but acknowledging that he and his co-defendants had sought to fight on behalf of Muslim causes abroad.

Well, that's reassuring for about a millisecond. Against whom are "Muslim causes" around the world fighting? If they're not fighting Americans now, they still consider America the Great Satan and primary ultimate target.

Randall Todd Royer, 30, of Falls Church, entered his surprise plea in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. He faces at least 20 years in prison when he is sentenced April 9. Another of the 11 men originally charged in the case, Ibrahim Ahmed al-Hamdi, 26, of Alexandria, pleaded guilty to similar charges and faces at least 15 years in prison.

A St. Louis native who became an activist for Muslim causes, Royer was at the center of the government's case against a group of men who played paintball in the Virginia countryside to prepare for jihad training that could have targeted the United States, prosecutors say. By his own admission, he played a key role in organizing the men.

Today's court action brings to six the number of men who have pleaded guilty in the high-profile case that the Justice Department had publicized as an important milestone in the war on terrorism. A federal grand jury originally charged the 11 men in June with weapons counts and with training with Lashkar-i-Taiba, a group that is trying to drive India from Kashmir and has been labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.

Nor was just Kashmir involved:

In September, the charges were upgraded against the seven remaining defendants. Two, including Royer, were charged in the new indictment with conspiring to provide material support to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization and to his Taliban protectors in Afghanistan. A third is accused of supplying services to the Taliban.

However, that's why he pled guilty:

Those charges against Royer were dropped in exchange for today's plea.

What will Royer's old colleague, Ibrahim Hooper, say? That Royer is being railroaded? That the evidence against him has no substance? The guilty plea will be hard to finesse. Unfortunately, however, Hooper will most likely never have to finesse it at all, or to answer any uncomfortable questions about how a jihadist like Royer managed to get a job in such a sterling moderate Muslim organization as CAIR. Hooper will not have to answer them because any journalist whom he doesn't hang up on will not ask them.

Remember the British prison official who was fired for insulting Osama bin Laden in the presence of a group of Muslims who may have heard him? It was an astonishing story in that it demonstrated the craven dhimmitude of the British officials involved, as well as a strange amnesia regarding the universal Bin-Laden-is-a-heretic stories that blanketed the media after 9/11. But today comes some good news:

"A British prison officer, fired for cracking a joke about Osama bin Laden, has won a claim for unfair dismissal after a tribunal ruled the jail governor's decision was 'reprehensible,' British newspapers said on Friday."

This from Reuters.

"Colin Rose, who had 21 years experience within the prison service, was fired after being reported making an 'insensitive' comment two months after the September 11, 2001 attacks on Washington and New York blamed on bin Laden's al Qaeda group.

"When a colleague had asked him why he had used so much force to throw some keys down a metal chute at the jail in Lowestoft, eastern England, Rose had quipped: 'There's a photo of Osama bin Laden there.'

"He said the remark was 'barrack-room humor' but his superiors said a group of Asians visiting the jail might have been offended, newspapers reported.

"However the tribunal ruled that Rose, a former soldier with Britain's Coldstream Guards, had effectively been accused of a 'thought crime' as the visitors did not hear what he had said.

"Ruling in Rose's favor, the tribunal criticized governor Jerry Knight's decision to sack him saying: 'Conduct by the governor was reprehensible, totally unjustified. We wondered whether the governor lived in the real world.'"

Unfortunately, he does.

Christian missionary activity in Muslim countries has always been dangerous. Islamic law forbids any Muslim to convert to another religion, on pain of death. And dhimmi laws for Christians forbid proselytizing. This just in from Tajikistan, via the Barnabas Fund: "A pastor who was also an active missionary has been shot dead while he was praying in a chapel."

"At 9.00pm on Monday 12 January gunmen burst into a churchyard in Isfara in the north of Tajikistan and fired several rounds through a window at Sergei Bessarab as he was kneeling in prayer. Forum 18 news agency reported that on hearing the gunfire, his wife, Tamara, rushed to her husband's side but he was already dead. Reuters also carried the story and confirmed he was shot 13 times with a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

"A local newspaper had only a week before attacked Bessarab for his missionary work in this staunchly Muslim region. Women are often seen wearing the veil in villages and alcohol is taboo, indeed shops stocking it have sometimes been burnt down. The hard-line Islamic Revival Party garnered a large majority of the local vote in recent elections, despite central government attempts to curb the growth of Islamic extremism. Bessarab's handing out of Christian literature aroused considerable local anger. Nevertheless police have not yet confirmed that the suspected motive for the murder was his missionary activity.

"Local opposition to the missionary work of this pastor is typical throughout the Muslim world. The reason lies in Islamic law, shari'a, which states that any male who converts from Islam should be put to death. Barnabas Fund is currently engaged in a major international campaign on behalf of converts from Islam focusing on the Islamic law of apostasy and the treatment of converts in Islamic societies. The Fund is calling upon Muslim religious leaders to condemn the harsh treatment of converts and to make public statements calling for a reform of shari'a teaching on apostasy to clearly affirm that Muslims who choose to convert to another faith are free to follow their personal convictions without fear of punishment or harassment. Further details of the campaign can be obtained by contacting Barnabas Fund or visiting the Apostasy Campaign pages on our website http://www.barnabasfund.org/apostasy.htm."

Steve Emerson, the courageous and indefatigable pioneer of anti-jihadist investigations in the United States, reveals some disturbing but unfortunately unsurprising facts about the California Democratic Party's pandering to radical Muslims -- by attacking those who are exposing them -- in a piece in today's FrontPage magazine: "Jihad in California". Read the whole thing, but here are some substantial excerpts:

"For years, the Democratic Party, in California and across America, stood for justice and decency and fairness and equality and peace. For years, the Democratic Party embodied principles and beliefs that define America, and led our nation to a better, stronger, freer day. Thus, it is deeply troubling to find that the leader of the Democratic Party in California, Art Torres, has chosen to engage in the most vicious form of demagoguery in his recent appearance before the annual convention of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) held in Long Beach, California on December 20-21, 2003.

"This is not a charge I choose to make casually. But don't take my word -- judge for yourself. So, here are Mr. Torres' own words, quoted verbatim:

"'... there has been a steady stream of attacks in the Qu'ran including specific verses taken out of context and on the Prophet. These attacks are vicious. They're mean spirited and politically motivated.'

"Sounds familiar, the notion of twisting the Qu'ran and attacking the Prophet Mohammed for evil purposes? This is exactly what Salman Rushdie was accused of; and as a result, a fatwa calling for Mr. Rushdie's death was issued by Iran and supported by militant Islamic groups around the world. Bookstores were bombed. Translators of Mr. Rushdie's book were stabbed and assassinated. Mr. Rushdie was consigned to live under the permanent threat of being executed.

"But here we have the head of the Democratic Party issuing the exact same language issued by radical Islamic groups against Salman Rushdie.

"And, according to Mr. Torres, who are those carrying out the attacks on the Qu'ran and the Prophet Mohammed? Well, to my unpleasant surprise, he named me and Daniel Pipes. Mr. Torres' comments were rather chilling:

"'And a second stream of attacks have been against American Muslims in particular - and this type of attack is focused on tarring the community with the label Islamist, and these attacks have been led by Daniel Pipes and Steve Emerson. We need to remember these names because they're getting away with it, because we don't confront them with their vitriolic hatred as implemented in our media waves...in America.'

"So here we have the head of the Democratic Party in California using the same exact tactics as Islamic militants used in claiming that Salman Rushdie defamed Islam. In the typically inverted and conspiratorial logic of Islamic extremists in which they are self-portrayed as the 'victims' of hate crimes, Rushdie was deemed the proponent of 'hatred' against Muslims. Mr. Torres invokes the exact same murderous conspiratorial logic in claiming that Daniel Pipes, a noted scholar and expert on Islamic fundamentalism, and I have been engaged in a campaign of hatred against Islam. . . .

". . . whenever Islamic militants were exposed, as they were in my film ["Jihad in America"], radical groups claimed that it was Islam that was under attack. It represented a deliberate deceit to have the public believe that criticism of militant Islam was the equivalent of criticizing mainstream Islam.

"And so, after my documentary aired in 1994, I found myself the subject of constant attacks by militant Islamic groups that I had tarred all Muslims, that I defamed Islam, etc. Within a year after the documentary was broadcast, I was forced to go in hiding because I was informed by federal law enforcement officials of an assassination plot against me.

"The incendiary language and the fabricated allegations used against me since 1994 by various radical Islamic groups were chillingly reminiscent of the language used by Art Torres. In fact, the incitement by Torres was lifted directly from the attacks against me by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), a group created by Hamas front groups in the United States, the American Muslim Council (a Saudi created group whose leader was just indicted on secretly working for Libya in the US and who had been secretly affiliated with Hamas and Al-Qaeda leaders) and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC).

"MPAC? The very group that Mr. Torres addressed. And if anyone has even the smallest doubt as to what MPAC stands for, well then, just as Mr. Torres' words speak volumes, so do the words by MPAC and its officials.

"On September 11, 2001--the day of the devastating terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center--Salam al-Marayati, Executive Director and one of the Founders of MPAC, stated during an appearance on KCRW-FM's 'Which Way, LA?' program that 'we should put the State of Israel on the suspect list':

"'If we're going to look at suspects, we should look to the groups that benefit the most from these kinds of incidents, and I think we should put the state of Israel on the suspect list because I think this diverts attention from what's happening in the Palestinian territories so that they can go on with their aggression and occupation and apartheid policies.'

"Al-Marayati has also maintained that al-Qaeda has no American supporters. In reality, numerous American citizens have been found working with al-Qaeda, including Ali Mohammed, who worked for the American army, and Wadih El-Hage, who was Osama bin Laden's personal secretary and was convicted for the U.S. Embassies bombing plot in Africa:

"'The only known American supporter of al-Qaeda and bin Laden is John Walker Lindh...If the attorney general has any evidence that there are other supporters of al-Qaeda in our community, then that should be disclosed immediately and due process should be followed in order to preserve the civil liberties we all cherish and aim to protect. This fishing expedition will not help the war against terrorism. It will only hurt America's image abroad.' . . .

"The MPAC 2002 Annual Banquet featured Ali Mazrui, a SUNY-Binghampton professor who said:

"'There is also suspicion that some members of the Bush administration in collusion with Israel are more than ready to plunge the Middle East into turmoil in the hope that the final outcome would be to the territorial advantage of Israel and the strategic advantage of the United States. All this is part of the emerging external sadism of the United States, a readiness to hurt others abroad.'

"In a 2001 press release, MPAC justified a Palestinian suicide bombing in Jerusalem that killed 16, including 6 children:

"'[The Jerusalem bombing] is the expected bitter result of the reckless policy of Israeli assassination that did not spare children and political figures.... MPAC holds Israel responsible for this pattern of violence.' . . .

"In a November 1997 speech at the University of Pennsylvania, MPAC Co-Founder and Executive Director Salam Al-Marayati, refused to call Hizbollah a terrorist organization:

"Question: 'You mentioned Hizbollah, do you consider it to be more of a, I guess a national liberation movement or a terrorist group?'

"Al-Marayati: '... I don't think any group should be judged 100% this or that, I think every group is going to have, um, its claim of liberation and resistance ...there's the part that deals with the military confrontation with Israel and if you look at the numbers though, Hizbollah attacks against Israeli civilians are like a fraction of Israeli attacks against the Muslims.'

"During the same speech at the University of Pennsylvania in 1997, Al-Marayati justified Hamas' existence as a political entity, and equated Hamas with the PLO in terms of social programs and 'educational operations':

"'Yesterday's terrorists in the Middle East are today's leaders. The PLO is the number one example of this [unclear word]. The PLO 35 years ago was considered a terrorist organization, nobody should deal with them, no terrorists can hide, so on and so forth. But they became the people in authority, in Palestine, today. So Hamas today, the way it's being viewed, is exactly how the PLO was viewed 30 years ago. And in fact, even Hamas in terms of its social and educational operations is doing exactly what the PLO was doing 35 years ago, as well as its quote unquote military operations.'

"Finally, at the University of Pennsylvania speech in 1997, Al-Marayati equated 'jihad' to the statements of Patrick Henry:

"'And, the person who we think in America would epitomize jihad would be Patrick Henry, who said, "Give me liberty or give me death." That is a way of looking at the term jihad from an American perspective.' . . .

"While that is but a very, very small sample, you get the idea, even if, perhaps, Mr. Torres does not. Those few quotations tell us all we need to know about MPAC - and also about Mr. Torres.

"What is left to be said? What can be said? That Mr. Torres chose to legitimize a group that supports Islamic terrorism and that he himself parroted the same incendiary rhetoric issued by MPAC and other extremist organizations shows that the murderous deceit that led to 9/11 is still alive and well, at least in California."

The Straits Times reports that jihad warriors have somehow gotten all kinds of misconceptions about Islam:

"They think that the notion of jihad strictly means they should wage war on those who they believe are suppressing the community."

But now Muslim leaders in Singapore are going to address this problem:

"Such misunderstanding of Islamic practices among the few in the Muslim community here who join terrorist groups needs to be put right, Muslim leaders said yesterday. And they hope this can be done for the 12 men served with Restriction Orders (ROs) under the Internal Security Act for their involvement with the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front terror groups.

These men must go for religious counselling conducted by volunteer counsellors as one new condition imposed under the ROs."

Well, this could be just what we need: a comprehensive program to convince radical Muslims that what they are doing is wrong on Islamic grounds. But for such a program to be effective, it must deal forthrightly with the justifications for terrorism that radicals draw out of traditional Islamic sources -- as I detail in Onward Muslim Soldiers. If it doesn't do this, it will never succeed, because the radicals will figure that they were on stronger Islamic grounds in the first place, before the deprogrammers got hold of them.

I am not very confident that the program at hand will do this. The report continues:

"Explaining why religious counselling was a necessary first step, Ustaz Ali Haji Mohamed of Khadijah Mosque said it was crucial to understand why they had accepted the deviant teachings of JI leader Ibrahim Maidin, who was arrested in December 2001. 'We must tackle first the reasons for them turning to extremism... They interpret jihad to be a holy war when in fact jihad has a vast meaning, encompassing education, economics and many other aspects of a Muslim's life. Ustaz Fatris Bakaram, director of the office of the Mufti, said that the term really means 'struggle' and could relate to 'the struggle we go through in our daily lives'."

Doubtless all that is true. But to say that jihad doesn't mean ONLY holy war is not to say that jihad doesn't mean holy war at all. Warfare against non-Muslims has been a significant element of the Muslim understanding of jihad since the time of Muhammad. Do these two men think they will eradicate it by pointing out that jihad also means trying to get a good education? I doubt even they believe that.

Especially in light of this:

"Using Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim's vision of a community of excellence, to be a true Muslim here is to be able to contribute to the larger society, and... ensure that all of us progress and prosper. That's our true jihad."

All right. But how does that definitively rule out taking up arms if one sees it as the best way to improve society? This superficial approach will never solve the deeper problem.

"Consummated in Cairo," a new article by Jihad Watch director Robert Spencer about December's Cairo Conference sponsored by The International Campaign Against U.S. & Zionist Occupations, is available today at FrontPage magazine.com. It explores the strange new alliance cemented there between the radical Left and radical Islam. Che meets Osama, and they hit it off wonderfully.

"George Galloway, the maverick British parliamentarian who was expelled from the Labour Party after his outspoken opposition to the war in Iraq led to charges that he incited Iraqis to fight against British troops, was there. Tony Benn, another former Labour MP and prominent defender of Socialism, also made the trip. So did Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General (for Lyndon Johnson) and a high-profile advocate for the impeachment of George W. Bush, the freeing of Leonard Peltier, and a host of other fashionable Leftist causes. At the 2003 Cairo Conference held in mid-December by The International Campaign Against U.S. & Zionist Occupations, these high-profile antiwar advocates had a chance to rub elbows with their newest ideological bedfellows: radical Muslims who openly advocate the restoration of the caliphate, the politico-religious ruler of a unified Muslim world, and the establishment of an Islamic world order under the rule of Islamic law, the Sharia."

"A Lebanese man living in Dearborn was charged in an indictment unsealed Thursday with fighting, recruiting and raising money for the Islamic militant group Hezbollah, listed by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization." This from AP.

"The indictment accuses Mahmoud Youssef Kourani of working in Lebanon and later within the United States for Hezbollah, which led a guerrilla war against Israel's 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon.

"Federal prosecutors said Kourani conspired with his brother, who they said is Hezbollah's chief of military security for southern Lebanon. Kourani, 32, pleaded innocent Thursday, and a bail hearing was set for Tuesday. He could get 15 years in prison.

"'The charges are outrageous, absurd and I believe they are malicious,' said his attorney, Nabih Ayad.

"According to the indictment, Kourani entered the United States illegally through Mexico in 2001, took up residence in the Detroit area and hid his Muslim identity by not shaving his beard and not attending a mosque."

I expect they mean that he hid his Muslim identity by shaving his beard, not by not shaving it.

"U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Collins said Kourani raised 'a substantial sum' and offered other support to Hezbollah. He has been in custody since his conviction last year in a separate case for harboring an illegal alien, authorities said. He completed a six-month sentence last week and had been awaiting deportation."

How far will Saudi reforms go? Evidently not far enough for open debate on Islamic principles that radical Muslims in the Kingdom are using to incite terrorism. Crown Prince Abdullah gives us a hint: "Saudi Arabia will not allow anybody to attack the Islamic faith in the name of freedom of expression, Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, declared yesterday." This from Arab News, with thanks to "Allah."

"'This country will never accept anybody, whoever he may be, to hurt the Islamic faith, in the name of freedom of opinion or any other name,' the crown prince said in an address to the nation aired live on state television.

"Prince Abdullah was giving guidelines for the national dialogue forum, which has so far held two sessions in Riyadh and Makkah with the participation of prominent intellectuals and religious experts, including women.

"He said the Kingdom would go ahead with its political and economic reforms. 'We will not allow anybody to stand in the way of reforms, be it by calling for stagnation or recession or any other reckless adventure,' he said.

"Prince Abdullah urged all citizens to work jointly with the government to achieve reforms. 'But the state will not allow anybody to destroy national unity or disturb the peace of its people under the pretext of reforms.' . . .

"Prince Abdullah reiterated the Kingdom’s opposition to extremism, which is disparaged and hated. 'Moderateness is the right path,' he said and called upon Saudis to follow the wise, moderate Islamic line. 'It’s the method of the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet (peace be upon him).'"

"He said the Kingdom would remain a free Muslim and Arab nation, with its citizens enjoying honor, security and equality."

Including equality for non-Muslims? Sorry. That's unlikely, as Abdullah probably doesn't see it as the moderate Islamic method of the Qur'an and the Prophet. After all, as I show in Onward Muslim Soldiers, radicals look to those traditional sources to justify jihad and dhimmitude.

According to Islamic law, when dhimmis get out of line, they forfeit their contract of protection with their Muslim masters. Evidently some Muslims in Pakistan think that that is just what Pakistani Christians have done, mainly by virtue of being Christians, who have become kafir harbi (unbelievers at war with Islam) because of the actions of the United States. This is the result:

"A car bomb near a church in the Pakistani city of Karachi has injured at least 11 people, police say. The powerful blast happened shortly after police received an anonymous telephone warning that a bible society near the church would be targeted. The explosion is the first attack on Pakistan's small Christian community for more than a year." This from the BBC, with thanks to Irene.

"The BBC's Paul Anderson in Islamabad says it will re-awaken fears among them that they are once again targets.

"Television footage of Thursday's blast near the Trinity Church in Karachi showed extensive damage to cars in the area, with twisted metal and shattered glass scattered over the street. A local Christian leader said one of the church's walls was badly damaged.

"Police said they had received a warning that the Pakistan Bible Society would be attacked. When officers went to investigate, attackers drove by and threw a small explosive device, believed to be a firecracker, at them. Several minutes later a bomb in a nearby parked car exploded. At least two police officers were among the injured.

"No one has claimed responsibility for Thursday's blast and the assailants are believed to have escaped.

"In mainly Muslim Pakistan there are about 3.8 million Christians, about 2.5% of the national population. They have been targets of violence before, although the last incident was more than a year ago. In 2002, six attacks on Christian targets left more than 40 people dead. The most vicious was at a Christian society in Karachi, when gunmen tied up seven people and shot them execution-style. The killings prompted calls for better security and protection at Christian buildings.

"Most of the attacks were blamed on Islamic militants angry at Pakistan's support for the United States-led war against international terrorism."

The latest statement of Islam's expansionist designs, articulated by modern theorists such as Sayyid Qutb and Syed Abul Ala Maududi (as I explain in Onward Muslim Soldiers), comes in a story about another dire warning: "The female suicide bomber who blew up Wednesday at the Erez Checkpoint in the Gaza Strip will not be the last woman to carry out a suicide attack, senior Hamas member Mahmoud Azhar said Thursday." This from the Jerusalem Post.

"Reem Salah al-Rayashi, 21, the mother of two small children from Gaza, blew herself up Wednesday morning at the Erez crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, killing two soldiers, a border policeman, and a security guard for a private manpower company."

And just in case anyone doesn't believe that jihadis have global designs: "'She is not going to be the last (attacker) because the march of resistance will continue until the Islamic flag is raised, not only on the minarets of Jerusalem, but over the whole universe,'" promised Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar.

Do I think Muslims will take over the world? I do not. But I do think that mujahedin worldwide are willing to commit violence for just that cause. And that's why statements like this are worthy of attention.

Suicide bomber Reem Raiyshi holding a rifle and a Qur'an (AP)

"Additional details of yesterday's murderous terrorist bombing in northern Gaza that claimed the lives of four Israelis paint a frightful picture of a woman [Reem Raiyshi] who cried for mercy - and seconds later coldly murdered those who bestowed it upon her." This from Arutz Sheva, with thanks to Bruce Gordon.

The suicide attack was perpetrated by a young woman, the mother of two children aged 3 and 1 - the first time that Hamas has employed such a weapon, and the seventh female suicide bomber of the Oslo War. It is now known that she made her way to the checkpoint without arousing suspicion, but when she passed through the electronic door, the alarm sounded, and the guard on duty turned her away. She began to cry that she had a metal implant in her leg, and the same guard then apparently took pity on her, and allowed her in for a body check - and then she killed him.

Brig.-Gen. (res.) Tzvi Poleg, who served in the past as IDF Commander in Gaza, said this morning that the attack might have been prevented: "Wherever you have easing of restrictions, you have attacks. If we were just a little less humanitarian, this attack would not have happened - or at least it would have been less costly. It is unacceptable that a terrorist should arrive at the checkpoint and not be checked. Even when a woman comes in crying that her leg hurts, we must not be too humanitarian. We always want to be nice, and good, and sensitive - but not at the expense of our sons. Wherever this happens, the terrorist organizations will see it as a weakness, and will take advantage to carry out attacks."

The results of Arab/PA incitement and hatred for Israel were manifest not only in yesterday's attack, but in the videotape the terrorist mother made before her death. Smiling and cradling a rifle, she said that she had dreamed since she was 13 years old of "becoming a martyr" and dying for her people. "It was always my wish to turn my body into deadly shrapnel against the Zionists and to knock on the doors of heaven with the skulls of Zionists," she said.

Who told her she could get to heaven that way? What are Muslim authorities in the PA doing about it? Never mind: they're the ones who told her:

Hamas terrorist leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said yesterday that Hamas will continue to use women terrorists for suicide attacks. He said that "jihad [holy war] is an imperative for Muslim men and women," and that "resistance will escalate against this enemy until they leave our land and homeland."

The Malaysian Muslim state government that had attempted to impose a dress code on non-Muslims has backed off: "Menteri Besar Abdul Hadi Awang has reversed his stand on the ban which stops non-Muslim women in Terengganu from wearing short skirts or tight jeans to work. He said on Tuesday that the Terengganu state government run by Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) could not dictate how non-Muslims should be dressed." This from Straits Times, with thanks to Nicolei.

"'They are free to choose their dressing and we cannot force them to dress like Muslims,' he said before presenting Chinese New Year gifts to non-Muslims in Kampong Tiong."

Indeed, in classic Sharia law non-Muslim dhimmis are actually forbidden to dress like Muslims.

"The statement by the PAS chief contradicted one he made earlier in which he said that the dress code set on Jan 4 by the Kuala Terengganu Municipal Council was acceptable to non-Muslim state religious leaders. Several of these leaders and other groups in Malaysia criticised the code as infringing on the rights of women who are not followers of Islam. They included Muslims urging the Terengganu government to pay more attention to the state's poor economy than the way women dress.

"Responding to these criticisms over the weekend, PAS Youth Chief Salahuddin Ayub argued that provocative dressing by women was 'closely linked' to murders, rapes and social abuses. He also blamed Jews for pioneering 'a provocative, seductive and branded culture' pandering to the dresser's ego.

"He said Kelantan Umno deputy chairman Zaid Ibrahim's protest over the code showed that he was anti-Islam and that Umno was a proxy of the Jews. 'The question of violating basic human rights does not arise when enforcing the compulsory rule of covering the aurat,' he said. Aurat refers to parts of the body that should not be exposed according to Islamic belief. He also stressed that adhering to the rules of Islam was a responsibility and not a matter of rights.

"Datuk Zaid had argued that it was illegal for the state government to impose the code. The federal Constitution does not allow the local authorities to check the freedom of Malaysians. It does not require Malaysian women to wear only one type of attire in workplaces. No one has the right to decide how Muslims or non-Muslims should lead their lives, he said."

"The leader of an Islamic group preparing to build a mosque in Boston reportedly has previously undisclosed ties to terroristic groups." This from UPI, with thanks to Nicolei.

"Records obtained by the newspaper reveal the chairman of the local Islamic Society of Boston, Osama M. Kandil, is one of three directors of Taibah International Aid Association, a Muslim charity long suspected by investigators in the United States and Europe of funding international terrorism.

"In addition, records show during the past 15 years Kandil has surrounded himself with an array of individuals investigators say are working within the United States to support militant Islam's worldwide agenda, the Boston Herald reported Wednesday.

"Kandil's ties to suspect organizations and individuals raise new questions about the city of Boston's decision to grant the Islamic Society of Boston approvals to build a $22 million mosque and cultural center in Roxbury which would be the largest of its kind in the Northeast.

"So far, Mayor Thomas M. Menino has shrugged off the connections some of the leaders of the mosque have to Islamic extremism."

In a refreshing instance of Europeans declining to bow down to the idol of multiculturalism, "an imam was sentenced to prison in Spain on Wednesday for inciting violence against women in a 1997 book that gave detailed instructions to Muslim men on how to beat their wives, judicial officials said." This from AFP, with thanks to Nicolei.

I wrote about this book in Islam Unveiled. What this article doesn't tell you is that this imam was simply explicating the Qur'an's Sura 4:34: "Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them."

Says the article: "Mohammed Kamal Mustafa, 44, who has been the imam of Fuengirola in the southern Costa del Sol region for the past 12 years, was convicted of 'inciting violence on the basis of gender' by a court in Barcelona.

"In a book entitled 'Women in Islam', Mustafa discussed the 'restraints imposed' by Islam 'concerning the physical punishment' of women. 'The beatings must be administered to specific parts of the body, such as the feet and hands, using a stick that is not too big so as not to leave scars and bruises,' he wrote."

As I explain in Islam Unveiled, this kind of exegesis of Sura 4:34 is quite common in the Islamic world. If Mustafa had published his book in Egypt or Syria, it wouldn't have gotten any notice at all.

"'The beatings must not be too harsh because the goal is to cause psychological suffering and not to humiliate or physically abuse,' he added. Mustafa was sentenced to one year and three months in prison and fined nine euros (seven dollars) a day for eight days. His lawyer Jose Luis Bravo said he planned to appeal the conviction, saying it was 'unfair' and the result of 'media pressure'.

"During his trial, Mustafa said he was against wife-beating and that his book was merely a compilation of sacred Muslim texts on women. But the judge ruled that the cleric had sought to portray his opinions as those of a theological expert on Islam, presenting 'his own views on the husband's rights to punish his rebel wife'."

Mustafa was right. But the judge seems to have been swayed by some Muslim advocates in the courtroom into believing that Mustafa was just passing off his opinions as Islamic doctrine. There is abundant evidence, as I show once again in Islam Unveiled, that this is far from being just Mustafa's opinion, but represents a common Islamic teaching.

"'The whole work has an obsolete male chauvinist tone, in some instances very pronounced which violates the constitutional principle of equality," he said. And the comments attacked the right to "physical and moral integrity" enshrined in the Spanish constitution, the judge added.

"Two groups representing Spanish Muslims, the Federation of Muslim Entities and the Islamic Commission, had come forward ahead of the trial to state that the Koran and other sacred texts condemned violence against women."

I'd like to see their explanation of Sura 4:34.

"The trial was the result of a complaint presented in 2000 by about 100 women's groups which welcomed the outcome of the trial.

"Women's rights' groups said Wednesday they were 'very satisfied' because the case 'is progress in the fight against violence against women', their spokeswoman and lawyer Maria Jose Varela said. 'It is now clear that you cannot use religion like a shield...,' she added.

"'All religions have historical pasts that are strongly discriminatory against women but to use texts of historical bygone eras is not fighting for religious freedom but trying to avoid application of the law,' she added."

Yes, but unfortunately most Muslims do not regard the Qur'an as a text "of historical bygone eras." They consider it to be just as relevant to today's situation as to that of the times in which it was written.

A report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on jihadist activity in Central Asia. This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations.

"Although recent reports suggest that the outlawed Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) has been regrouping and could threaten stability in Central Asia, experts and regional observers remain unconvinced. The IMU is a coalition of Islamic militants from Uzbekistan and other Central Asian states opposed to Uzbek President Islam Karimov's secular regime.

"The armed IMU and non-violent Hizb-ut Tahrir movement are the most well-known radical Islamists in Central Asia. The IMU is on the US State Department's formalised list of 33 Foreign Terrorist Groups, while Hizb-ut Tahrir is operating freely from its London headquarters, but is legally banned in all Central Asian states. Hizb-ut Tahrir's ideology envisages a strict Islamic state and the re-establishment of the medieval Arab caliphate in the region.

"The IMU is believed to have been responsible for five car bombs in Tashkent in February 1999. Militants also took foreigners hostage in 1999 and 2000, including four US citizens who were mountain climbing in August 2000, and four Japanese geologists and eight Kyrgyz soldiers in August 1999. In Operation Enduring Freedom launched in late 2001, the US-led counter terrorism coalition had been captured, killed, and dispersed many of the IMU's militants who were fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan and severely degraded the movement's ability to attack Uzbek or Coalition interests in the near term.

"A QUESTIONABLE THREAT

"But Stephen Young, the US Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, said last month that there had been efforts by militants in Central Asia to target US interests. 'The clearest threat seems to be coming from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which despite being dealt a heavy blow in Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, has re-emerged as an active organisation here in Central Asia,' Young said.

"David Lewis, the head of the Central Asia Project of the International Crisis Group (ICG), a Brussels-based conflict-resolution group, told IRIN from the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh that there had been some regrouping of the IMU. 'But I think in most cases their activities have been somewhat exaggerated. They do still pose a potential threat in small numbers to the region, but they are probably not quite as effective as perhaps some people in security forces think they are,' he said.

"The ICG said in a recent report on radical Islamic groups in Central Asia, that reports of IMU members returning to central Tajikistan or the southern regions of Uzbekistan were frequent but very difficult to substantiate. The report added that while there was some evidence that the IMU was trying to regroup, there was also evidence that many of its members had merged into the wider Taliban movement, busy trying to foment Jihad against US-led forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

"But individuals and groups sympathetic to, or inspired by, the IMU remain active in Central Asia. An alleged member of the IMU was arrested in Uzbekistan in 2003 and charged with blowing up an exchange booth in Osh in May 2003, and a market in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek in December 2002. 'Explosions in the Oberon market of Bishkek last year and in Osh this year have been carried out by the members of the organisation that names itself as IMU,' Bolot Januzakov, deputy head of the Kyrgyz Presidential administration told IRIN from Bishkek.

"The family of a Palestinian teenager who was killed earlier this week when an explosive belt he was wearing exploded prematurely is demanding the Palestinian Authority find out who recruited their son to carry out a suicide attack." This from the Jerusalem Post, with thanks to Nicolei, who observes: "It is tragic that this Palestinian family lost another family member. It is also tragic that they seem to angry at the planners and recruiters for not planning it well rather than the agenda and philosophy of suicide bombings."

Says the Post: "Iyad al-Masri, 17, of Nablus, was killed and no one else hurt on Sunday in the northern West Bank as he was on his way to carry out a suicide bombing inside Israel. Iyad's brother, 15-year-old Amjad, was killed by the IDF two weeks ago during clashes with stone-throwers in Nablus. Hours later, during the funerals for Amjad and two others killed in clashes that day, the IDF opened fire on the procession, killing Iyad's cousin, Muhammad al-Masri. . . .

"The paper quoted the family as saying that Iyad was dispatched on a suicide mission 'that had no chances of succeeding. Those who sent him did not care about the prospects of him succeeding or failing, and they knew that death would be his fate.'"

So if Iyad had succeeded in blowing up some Israeli civilians, that would have made it all right?

"Islamic Jihad's armed wing, Al-Quds Brigades, initially claimed responsibility for recruiting Iyad in an anonymous phone call to Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV station. However, members of the group in Nablus later backtracked, saying they had nothing to do with the case.

"Bilal al-Masri, the father, accused those who sent his son of exploiting his grief over the death of his brother and cousin to recruit him for a suicide attack. 'My son was sent on the mission under extremely dangerous conditions when the whole area was under curfew and strict military closure,' he complained. 'Iyad had never left Nablus before and he couldn't move around on his own,' the father said. 'It would have been impossible for him to reach his destination alone.'

"The father said his son was killed when the explosive device he was carrying blew up near the village of Jainsafut in the northern West Bank. Residents of the village told the family they had spotted Iyad shortly before the explosion and that he appeared to be confused and unaware of where he was. One of the villagers said Iyad asked him for directions to get to the Kalandiya checkpoint on the Jerusalem-Ramallah highway.

"The family has deduced from this that Iyad was headed for Jerusalem, where he was planning to blow himself up in a crowded area.

"'Those who sent him are heartless and have no fear of Allah,' said Yasser al-Masri, a cousin. 'His brother and cousin were just killed. How can we have three dead in the family in one week?' The family said that Iyad's mother, Abir, has been in a state of shock since the death of her two children, unable to talk or cry.

"'We want a full investigation into this matter,' said Bilal, who works in a local pharmacy. 'Even if my son had volunteered to carry out an attack, they shouldn't have allowed him to do so, because he had just lost his brother and cousin. We are very angry.' He said that while his son did not belong to any Palestinian faction, he used to participate in stone-throwing attacks on IDF soldiers whenever they entered Nablus. Iyad was injured at least seven times by rubber bullets fired by the IDF in recent weeks, the father added.

"'Many people in Nablus – and not only the family – are angry with those who recruited Iyad,' said Ahmed al-Masri, another cousin. 'We have written to President Yasser Arafat asking him to order an immediate investigation into the case. We hope that those responsible for this tragedy would be caught and punished.'"

Mullah Krekar (left) shakes hands with Carl Hagen

Radical Muslims and radical Muslim front groups in Western countries (including the U.S.) have quickly learned to make canny use of the legal system to intimidate critics into silence. They know that in some cases even the threat of a lawsuit will strike their opponents dumb, even though what they are saying is true. In Norway, Mullah Krekar has shown himself to be a master of intimidation and a prince of gall: despite appearing on Al-Jazeera television as the head of the Iraqi terrorist group Ansar Al-Islam, which he acknowledges has carried out suicide bombings against American troops in Iraq, he actually filed suit against Norwegian politician Carl I. Hagen for calling him a terrorist and a guerrilla!

But it appears that all is not quite lost yet in Europe: Krekar has lost his case. This from Norway's Aftenposten, with thanks to Filtrat: "Norway's controversial refugee mullah Krekar has lost his lawsuit against Progress Party leader Carl I. Hagen. Hagen's characterization of Krekar as a terrorist was ruled protected by free speech and the Oslo court instructed the former Ansar al-Islam leader to pay court costs totaling NOK 199,600 (USD 29,500).

"Hagen called Krekar a terrorist and a guerrilla leader in a TV2 interview in October 2003, and said that he should be arrested and charged in either Norway or the USA.

"'A victory for freedom of speech. It is clear that this verdict maintains the lines laid down by the human rights tribunal, that freedom of speech shall be important,' Hagen told Norwegian news agency NTB after the ruling."

I wonder if the BBC is taking notice.

"Krekar has two weeks to pay Hagen's court costs of nearly NOK 200,000. The controversial mullah, who has come under criticism from Islamic leaders for his constant media tussles, sued Hagen for damages and to have the remarks declared null and void.

"The Oslo court concluded that mullah Krekar's claim would represent an infringement of freedom of speech in conflict with article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights."

Ahmad traveled from Australia to Afghanistan to train with Al-Qaeda — a fact which in itself gives the lie to the common assumption that all this terrorism has to do with Israel, or American policy. Then he went to Egypt to escape arrest, but it didn't work, although at least maybe he picked up a few frequent flyer miles: "A Melbourne Muslim fled Australia in 2002 fearing he would be arrested for allegedly training at an al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan. But Ahmad, 23, was arrested and jailed in Cairo eight months ago and faces indefinite detention by Egyptian authorities under suspicion of links to terrorism." This from news.com.au, with thanks to Nicolei.

"It was unlikely Ahmad would have faced charges in Australia because his alleged training pre-dated July 2002 laws specifically outlawing the practice.
The former painter and Australian-Egyptian national was a member of Sheikh Mohammed Omran's Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaa'ah group, based in Brunswick. Ahmad left Australia in October 2002 because he thought he was at risk of arrest, Sheikh Mohammed said.

Obligatory "He was a quiet man who kept to himself" passage: "Islamic Information and Services Network of Australasia president Abu Hamza, who knew Ahmad for several years, described him as a hard-working and dedicated Muslim concerned about the plight of Muslims overseas but someone without a connection to terrorism. Ahmad was known to several members who attended the IISNA centre and gym in Sydney Rd, Coburg. 'He's a very quiet person, dedicated in regard to Islamic beliefs and very active in Islamic activities,' Abu Hamza said."

In a masterpiece of understatement, "he said Ahmad, like some other Muslim youths, could sometimes appear overzealous. 'Some of the youngsters, sometimes they rush in to absorb as much as they can,' he said."

Question to Abu Hamza: why don't these zealous youngsters absorb the peaceful, tolerant passages of the Qur'an that we hear so much about in America? Question for American Muslim advocacy groups: why is it that the zealous ones seem to turn to terrorism? And what are you doing about it?

Jihad Watch has just received this press release:

American Middle East Christian-Jewish Association
P.O. Box 8152, Hemet, CA 92545
Tel: 909-766-8820 Fax: 909-766-8827

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 19, 2004

For more information contact Steve Klein

AMECA TAKES ISSUE WITH CAIR, Council on American-Islamic Relations & ISLAMIC SLAVERY.

We strongly protest the ongoing lawsuit of CAIR against Congressman Cass Ballenger, R-NC and the intimidation of Paul Harvey and Dr. Laura Schlessinger, as well as the Sudanese Government’s insistence of enslaving Christians and Animists in Sudan.

American Middle East Christian-Jewish Association (AMECA) has learned of the ongoing tactics by CAIR, frightening American Citizens from enjoying their cherished First Amendment.

It has been determined that criticizing or suing our Judeo-Christian leaders is fair game for CAIR, but turnabout is not. While CAIR can criticize well-known Americans, those who criticize CAIR had better not even utter a word against CAIR or Islam that they don’t like, or the lawsuits and demands of sponsors to cut shows will be served.

AMECA will conduct a peaceful educational seminar in accordance with our First Amendment rights on the public sidewalk in front of the Anaheim CAIR office at 2180 West Crescent Avenue, Suite F, Anaheim, CA 92801, from 10:30 AM - NOON.

As it is Martin Luther King, Jr. day, we will also have a number of Sudanese who fled Islamic-dominated Sudan to avoid becoming slaves of these Islamists. We will have a number of experts in Islam to share quotes from the Koran in both Arabic and English. We will provide an American civics lesson for both CAIR and those who wish to see our FIRST AMENDMENT exercised peacefully and profoundly: A RIGHT FOUND IN NO ISLAMIC CONTROLLED NATION ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

The leader of the people known almost universally in the Western press as Chechen "independence fighters," Abdallah Shamil Abu-Idris (Shamil Basayev), has issued an appraisal of the last year of jihad in Chechnya. His statement, "Nothing Can Stop This Jihad," can be found at the Muslim Kavkaz Center site (with thanks to Nicolei).

Here are some excerpts that offer an insight into the motives and goals of jihadists around the world — motives and goals identical to those I explicated in Onward Muslim Soldiers:

In the name of God, Most Benevolent, Most Merciful! (Bismillah Rahman Rahim!)

Praise Allah, the Lord of the worlds, Who created us Muslims and Who blessed us with Jihad on His Straight Way. Peace and blessing of Almighty Allah be on Prophet Muhammad, his family, his disciples and all of those who follow the Straight Way until the Day of Judgment!

By the Mercy of Allah the past year of 2003 was very successful and very good year for us because for the past year our Mujahideen (fighters) managed to inflict great damages on Kafirs (infidels) and Munafiqs (hypocrites – national traitors) and to deal crushing blows on the enemy.

According to my information, for the year 2003 all Mujahideen in Chechnya and on the enemy soil have conducted over three thousand blasts, destroyed and disabled over 1,000 units of military vehicles including armored vehicles, shot down 31 helicopters, eliminated over 8,000 Kafirs and over 700 Munafiks (national traitors) who cooperated with the invaders’ regime.

Praise Allah, this year was also marked by the expansion of the zone of combat operations and of the territories where the Jihad against aggressors is being conducted, as well as by the creation of new military sectors. For instance, the newly-created sectors are: the Ingush Sector, the Ossetian Sector, the Aukh Sector, the Stavropol Sector, and the Dagestani trend was activated as well. The Kafirs themselves had to admit that over the year 2003 they have suffered much greater casualties than they did in the previous two years.

Even though the Russian leadership is trying to make it look like there is no war, and that only one Brigade of Shaheeds Riyadus Salihiin is actually fighting the war, I am quoting these details in order to report that today there are several thousand of active Mujahideen fighting in Ichkeria and outside of the country. The Jihad is continuing and the attempts that Russia is making to hush it up look like the acts of a child who closed his eyes and thinks he is hiding. . . .

Some are using the terms like 'the first war', 'the second war', 'the 400-year war', but for us it is the everlasting war for our Freedom and Independence. And the main thing – this is the war for our Faith, which came from our fathers and our forefathers, and which we will be waging until we become masters of our own lives and our own destinies.

I am hereby stating that whichever attempts the Kafirs would be making, nothing will stop this Jihad, which is becoming more and more active each day, because the dead and the wounded are being replaced by the new generation. Insha Allah (God Willing!), we have no problems with replenishing our forces. If Russia is degrading and dying out, the Chechen population is increasing in spite of the war, - and this is also a contribution of ordinary Chechens into the cause of Jihad. So, praise God (Alhamdulillah), we have no problems with our fighters.

Besides, many representatives of oppressed nations of Russia are rising to the Jihad. The past year was a graphic example, when many nations of not just Northern Caucasus, but nations of many regions inside Russia took part in Jihad as well.

Today the leadership of Russia is making miserable attempts to discredit the just cause of the fight of the Chechen people by trying to present the Chechen national liberation war as 'international terrorism' and by trying to tie all events in the world to us. In this regard I would like to remind that our people have been conducting their historical fight for Freedom ever since the times when there was no Russia as a state, let alone other fighters against 'international terrorism'. Throughout its entire history the Chechen nation has been fighting for the Faith, Freedom and Independence. Insha Allah (God Willing!), we will keep fighting this war as long as Allah wants us to, until final victory. . . .

Today by the Mercy of Almighty Allah our Resistance is not only continuing, but it is getting even stronger. I would like to remind the words of the Most High, Who says in the Holy Koran that He is with those who are patient. Today the main thing for us is patience and unity. I am calling for even stronger unity, for increasing the discipline and for asking Allah for help by prayer and perseverance.

Almighty Allah says in the Holy Koran that He will not leave the believers without help. I swear by Allah, we can feel His help each day and each hour. . . .

We are all walking under God. And sooner or later we will all die. A death of one of us will change nothing. Because we are seeking a death of a martyr on the way of Allah, while Kafirs (infidels) and Munafiks (national traitors) are trying to extend their good-for-nothing lives. The Jihad will be continuing. Our entire history is the evidence.

There was a time when the Kafirs were hoping that by killing the first President of CRI J. Dudayev they would be able to have something changed. But after President Dudayev became a Shaheed (a martyr), the Jihad only increased and the Mujahideen (fighters) got even stronger. Nothing will change if President Maskhadov, myself or any other leader becomes a Shaheed.

Thank God (Alhamdulillah!), we are not afraid of death and we are not trying to escape it. But if Kafirs want me to die so bad, I can make them an offer: let them give me some more money, about 10-20 million more, and I will give that money to Maskhadov to continue the Jihad, and I myself will buy me a good KAMAZ truck and will drive right up to them.

The term for each one of us has been prescribed by Almighty Allah and no one will ever avoid this term. Almighty Allah says: «Death will befall ye, even if ye hide in the towers that ye have erected». For Muslims it is the Truth.

Praise God (Alhamdulillah!), we are dreaming of dying in Jihad, we are dreaming of dying on the way of Allah, so that we could earn Paradise and Mercy of Allah. Our dead are in Paradise, and your dead are in Hell. And our victors will also be in Paradise, and your losers will be humiliated and aggrieved.

By Mercy of Allah we have gone through another year of the war. I am calling on the Mujahideen to get even more consolidated and unite around our leadership even firmer, to strengthen the discipline, to strengthen the Nizam, to be steadfast and patient.

The victory is near! And may Allah help us on His Straight Way!

Allah Akbar! (God is Great!)

Abdallah Shamil Abu-Idris,
Amir of Brigade of Shaheeds Riyadus Salihiin

"A large number of Iraqi intellectuals and politicians have called upon Islamic religious leaders, the Iraqi Governing Council, other party leaders and the Coalition Authorities to prevent Shi’a Muslim groups attacking Christians." This from the Barnabas Fund, with thanks to Bruce Gordon.

"A call by more than 200 mainly Muslim intellectuals and political leaders from Iraq to stop attacks on Christians and cease forcing women to wear the veil was published on Sunday 4 January on the Arabic website Elaph [now viewable at
http://www.ankawa.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard/topic.cgi?forum=55&topic=6]. The call was directed at Muslim clerics, the Iraqi Governing Council and the Coalition Authorities. They specifically called upon Islamic religious leaders to issue fatwas forbidding such 'atrocious crimes against humanity and the Islamic [sic] religion'.

"The declaration said 'horrific' crimes had been committed against women in forcing them to wear the veil, but worst of all was the 'terrorising of our Christian brothers', intimidating them to become Muslims. It drew attention to the fact that Christians had lived in Iraq for two thousand years and had contributed greatly to the region’s civilisation, both before and after the coming of Islam.

"Shi’a militant groups which bear names such as God’s Vengeance and Hezbollah have been subjecting the Christian community in Iraq to a relentless series of attacks as reported by Barnabas Fund over the last half year:

http://www.barnabasfund.org/News/Archive/Iraq/Iraq-20040106.htm

http://www.barnabasfund.org/News/Archive/Iraq/Iraq-20031120.htm

http://www.barnabasfund.org/News/Archive/Iraq/Iraq-20030530.htm

http://www.barnabasfund.org/News/Archive/Iraq/Iraq-20030514.htm.

"These bold calls by over 200 key Iraqi intellectual and political figures are a welcome move for the country’s Christians, acknowledging the problems they are facing and calling for change.

"Iraqi church leaders have also been speaking out against the increasing persecution Christians are now suffering. Bishop Al-Qas said that missiles were launched against a convent in October of last year, and that Christians have received death threats, with many fleeing from Basra. He attributed this to the greater freedom that 'Muslim fundamentalist' groups now have. The new head of the Chaldean Church, Patriarch Emmanuel III, has also been outspoken in his fears. He said that Muslims and Christians had lived side by side for 'countless years in love and charity', but that they were now subject to attacks from extremists coming in from Saudi Arabia and Iran."

That "love and charity" evidently stemmed from the relaxation of Islamic laws for dhimmis, since the patriarch "added that if legislation is enacted according to Islamic law, Christians will suffer. He stressed that they would have no prospects if the new Iraqi constitution was Islamic and that American intervention would be the only way to avert such an outcome.

"The Iraqi Governing Council have nearly finalised a transitional constitution that would have Islam as one of its sources of law, but not the sole one. Freedom of religious practice for non-Muslims and equal rights for women would be guaranteed. This is another welcome sign. It remains to be seen whether Iraq’s conservative Shi’a community would accept such a constitution."

Reem Raiyshi

"A female Palestinian suicide bomber blew herself up Wednesday at the major crossing point between Israel and the Gaza Strip, killing at least four Israelis and wounding seven other people, Israeli rescue services and media said." This from AP.

"The bomber set off the explosion in the area where thousands of Palestinian laborers and foreigners pass between Israel and the coastal strip, Israeli officials said. Four of the wounded were Palestinians, the army said.

"Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, issued a joint claim of responsibility.

"They identified the bomber as Reem Raiyshi, a 21-year-old Hamas militant. She apparently is the first female suicide bomber from the militant Islamic fundamentalist group.

"Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin said the use of a woman bomber was unique, but added that holy war 'is an obligation of all Muslims, men and women.'

Arutz Sheva reports that Reem Raiyshi was the mother of two children. (Thanks to Bruce Gordon.)

Ro'i Arbel, 28, father of five, including two-month-old triplets, was laid to rest this afternoon in Dolev, northwest of Jerusalem. He was murdered on his way home last night by Palestinian terrorists." This from Arutz Sheva, with thanks to Bruce Gordon.

"Ro'i Arbel, 28, father of five - including two-month-old triplets - was laid to rest this afternoon in Dolev, northwest of Jerusalem. At about 7:15 PM Tuesday night, Palestinian terrorists waiting on the side of the road fired at an Israeli car with four passengers not far from the community of Talmon. Arbel was killed on the spot, the driver and another passenger suffered 'moderate' injuries, and the fourth passenger went into a state of shock. The driver managed to continue on until Talmon, from where the wounded were evacuated to a Jerusalem hospital.

"The terrorists are believed to be of the Fatah Al-Aqsa Brigades, under the command of Yasser Arafat.

"Ro'i leaves behind five children: two daughters Ohr (meaning Light, age 5) and Hodaya (Thanks, 3) and the triplets - two girls and a boy. The boy remains in a neonatal unit, and has not yet been circumcised and is therefore not named."

"The Senate Finance Committee has asked the Internal Revenue Service to turn over confidential tax and financial records, including donor lists, on dozens of Muslim charities and foundations as part of a widening congressional investigation into alleged ties between tax-exempt organizations and terrorist groups, according to documents and officials." This from the Washington Post.

". . . The Senate-led probe follows more than two years of investigations by the FBI, the Treasury Department and other federal agencies into the activities of Islamic charities suspected of having ties to al Qaeda; the Islamic Resistance Movement, also known as Hamas; and other groups designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. government. The United States has frozen more than $136 million in assets allegedly linked to al Qaeda or other terrorist groups and has effectively shut down the operations of the largest U.S.-based Islamic charities. . . .

Predictably, "many Muslim leaders and attorneys for the charities complain that the government's tactics have unfairly smeared law-abiding Muslims and have dried up financial support for groups that try to provide medicine, food and other goods to the Middle East and elsewhere. Several representatives of the groups said the Senate Finance Committee's probe is needlessly intrusive and will scare away more contributors.

"'The Muslim community would view this as another fishing expedition solely targeting Muslims in America,' said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Washington. 'Are they now going to start a witch hunt of all the donors of these now closed relief organizations, so that Muslims feel they're going to be targeted once more based on their charitable giving?'"

Ibrahim, you could allay a great deal of the suspicion that leads to these "fishing expeditions" by making CAIR the leading anti-terror group in the U.S., throwing its considerable wealth into efforts to eradicate terrorism from the American Muslim community. I won't be holding my breath.

"Committee staffers said the investigation is based not on ethnicity or religious affiliation but rather on concerns that the groups may have ties to terrorists or their supporters. 'This is not a fishing expedition targeting Muslims,' one Senate aide said. 'All the groups we're looking at are suspected of having some connections to terrorism or of doing propaganda for terrorists. We're not presuming anybody's guilty.' . . .

"The foundations and charities named by the committee in its request include many that remain targets of ongoing investigations by U.S. authorities. Among them are the SAAR Foundation and its affiliated entities, a defunct network of organizations based in Northern Virginia; Global Relief, whose founder was deported to Lebanon; and the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, the largest Muslim charity in the United States, which was singled out by President Bush for allegedly supporting Hamas. Its assets have been frozen. Other groups on the list include the Muslim World League, the World Assembly of Muslim Youth and the Islamic Society of North America."

Despite mountains of evidence that Muslim schools are turning out terrorists, Beirut's Dar Al-Hayat editorializes against any Western-influenced revision of Islamic textbooks.

"Several Arab countries have declared that they are in the process of changing or improving their educational curricula in order to remove all material, which incites fundamentalism, violence and hatred. We do not know if Arab governments are truly convinced that their curricula encourage terrorism or their position comes in response to the American hurricane, which is howling that there is no room anymore for hatred and radicalism. Donald Rumsfeld has already declared the defeat of terrorism which is accomplished not only through military might but also through the 'war of ideas,' hinting to the danger that the Islamic religious schools represent. . . ."

Of course, no piece of this kind would be complete without the obligatory accusation of the Jews: "In fact, if the Americans read the material that Jewish students read in Israel, they would be shocked because of the incitement to kill those who are different."

Why not change the books? "The problem is that the Americans will not be satisfied with changing some texts in the curricula but they will demand rigorous work in terminating the sources of religiosity in society."

Why? Are the sources of religiosity then synonymous with the sources of terrorism?

"This will lead to a negative counter-reaction as far as internal and external violence are concerned; especially that the American understanding of Islamic text will surely be frivolous. Will it be required to change the texts regarding the concepts of atheism, faith, and Jihad (holy war) because they might be interpreted as hostile to others?"

I hope so! Certainly in regard to the texts about jihad.

"What about the political issues like the Crusades or the historic battles between Muslims and Jews or the Israeli occupation?

"Therefore, the media publicity, the changing of curricula as well as the American 'war of ideas' will only succeed in promoting hatred and instability in Arab countries, if their leaders are receptive to the Americans."

So we are to believe, evidently, that teaching that Qur'anic verses such as "slay the unbelievers wherever you find them" (Sura 9:5) must not be applied to today's political situation will foment more hatred, not less? (Thanks to Nicolei.)

The young Muslims who post at the Islamic bulletin board www.clearguidance.com have been caught by their intrepid monitor, clearguidance.blogspot.com, dreaming of what laws the U.S. as an Islamic state will institute. The republican form of government, of course, will be over. And one wants to make the lives of the kuffar -- the unbelieving dhimmis -- "as hard as possible." A few samples:

Post #1:

"as-salamu`alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh

"Islaam is the solution to everything, alhamdulillah 'ala ni'matihi.

"As such, I've always wondered what practical alternatives can be implemented in a new Islamic state, when the believers are victorious and establish Shari'ah in a certain land.

"For example, showbiz is a huge industry in many parts of the world, therefore the question will be what can Islaam provide in place of that to keep the 'ummah going and remaining productive?

"So hopefully we can contribute some ideas insha Allah ta'ala.

"What you can do is either name an existing industry (or major activity, etc.) and state the Islamic alternative OR simply give Islamic alternatives.

"Jazakum Allahu khayr.

"was-salamu`alaykum"

Post #2:

"i always thought it would be beneficial if the shurah [consultative council] that aided the Imam was elected by the ppl...the Imam would still havea uthority and share no power whatsoever with the shura, however the shura would simply be elected so that the ppl had some voice or say"

Post #4:

"'i always thought it would be beneficial if the shurah that aided the Imam was elected by the ppl...the Imam would still havea uthority and share no power whatsoever with the shura, however the shura would simply be elected so that the ppl had some voice or say'
"Looking for democracy? What I read said that this group is elected by the people."

Post #6:

"even the mujahideen held small elections in afghanistan...if u ask me for proof i wont be able to bring it b/c i heard it on tv...a mujahid who fought in afghanistan along sided the mujahideen said it...he was kuwaiti i believe...but no i am not looking for democracy..."

Post #7:

"There should be separate schools for girls...they shouldnt go to the same school as guys, it just makes everything hard"

Post #8:

"Ibn Saif [Son of the Sword], I agree akhi.
"Men and women should have seperate ways of learning. Two different schools attatched would be nice. But I don't think its enough to stop there... I would BAN women working in the same jobs as the men... Women should have seperate everything. But I mean that the men should establish this for us. Seperate hospitals too... I'm for a very seperate yet equal society...
LOL, I see the rage in the feminist muslims already... lol...

"Asalaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu,
"Khadijah"

Post #9:

"NoHonourWithoutJihad
"The Exquisite Pearl . . .

"AsalamuAlaykum Wa Rahmatulahi Wa Barakatuh......

"If we still have TV's by then, I would advise the stoning to death.........be shown on TV. I just watched a shia get stoned to death in Iran (Video). And Allahu Akbar, they might be kaafirs and deviants.......but seeing that punishment is a massive deterrent........Allahu'Allam what awaits in hell!."

Post #10:

"assalaamu aleykum wa rahmatullaah

"- all muslims can enter the country. Not visa stuffs like in Saudia, for example.

"-Trying to make the life of muslims as easy as possible, and for kuffaar as hard as possible.

"- Making as much goods as possible in the country; food , hygienig things, medicine, cars etc so that the country could sell out things and do well without being dependant of other countries.

"i can't think anything else right now...
__________________
"'What can my enemies do to me?
"I have in my breast both my Heaven and my Garden.
"If I travel they are with me, and they never leave me.
"Imprisonment for me is a religious retreat [khalwa].
"To be slain for me is martyrdom [shahada]
"And to be exiled from my land is a spiritual journey [siyaha].' -Ibn Taymiyah"

Post #11:

"Insha a Allaah nothing awaits in Hell after being stoning to death.

"That's good use of tv, masha a Allaah. And the rest Quraan,learning Quraan and lectures and maybe some educational programms like medicine or biology. Same thing with the radio."

Post #12:

"as-salamu`alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh

"Jazakum Allahu khayr. I can't really comment on the posts, but alhamdulillah.

"Some additional thoughts:

"- The fashion industry. Some of us may think that it can be 'islamicised' but I don't think so. The Islamic alternative? Scrap it.

"- The film industry. While the stars may be few, the whole crew behind the scenes make up a great number. Therefore instead of letting their talent go to waste, we can make up theme parks (using their expertise as well as those of them who run theme parks), of battlegrounds and such. Providing realistic training fields for the Muslims.

"(I'm thinking along the lines of the X-men's training room whatever they call it)

"And there are plenty other ways to make use of the industry's technology.

"Allahu a'lam."

(Thanks to Nancy Block.)

The good news is that Jemaah Islamiyah, the Indonesian terrorist group, has been badly damaged -- as have other similar groups around the world. But if you think that the global jihad movement is a spent force, think again: according to this piece in the Straits Times, "the second generation of Muslim terrorist leaders in South-east Asia is even more hardcore than its forbear. Regional intelligence sources said that the new and younger elite of Jemaah Islamiah (JI) is imbued with the strongest commitment to the terrorist group's cause of jihad or holy war.

"Many of them are the children of JI members and have been indoctrinated from young in the organisation's schools. 'They know no other reality than JI doctrines,' one source said.

"Of the two Singaporean second-generation JI members arrested in October, one of them was the son of a JI member while the other's father belonged to the 12,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest rebel group in the Philippines.

"Among other trends which the regional intelligence sources disclosed are:
• JI is still actively recruiting like-minded people in Muslim circles, more in some countries than others.
• It wants to strengthen and augment the group with new blood at the top.
• Indonesia is JI's breeding ground.
• Its members had hands-on training during religious clashes in Ambon and Poso in Indonesia.
• The major JI training grounds are in Mindanao in the Philippines and in Kashmir.

"The major task of the second-generation leaders of JI is to spawn new terrorist cells, the sources told The Sunday Times. This is because the group, whose goal is to establish a fundamentalist Muslim state in South-east Asia, has been crippled with the arrests of several of its first-generation leaders and members.

"A significant setback was the arrest of its operations commander Hambali, the mastermind of a series of bombings in South-east Asia, including the Bali blasts in 2002 that killed over 200 people. He is the JI leader most closely linked to Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, an Al-Qaeda leader based in Karachi who once operated from the Philippines. Khalid is now in US custody.

"In a further blow to JI, 13 Malaysians and six Indonesians who were being groomed as future leaders were recently arrested in Karachi by Pakistani security forces. They belonged to the JI's Al-Ghuraba, or foreigner, cell.

"Two young Singaporeans training for leadership in the same cell were arrested when they returned to the Republic. Muhammad Arif Naharudin, 20, and Muhammad Amin Mohamed Yunos, 21, were schooled in handling weapons and explosives, urban warfare and espionage in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"Although down, JI is not out. It is actively recruiting like-minded people in Muslim circles who they think are radicals. 'It is not just cannon fodder they are seeking,' said an intelligence source. 'They want to strengthen and augment the group with new blood at the top. JI has been disrupted but it is still very much alive,' he added.

"JI leaders and members have been keeping a low profile. Its members are careful to communicate by telephone through pre-paid cards or through the Internet, including chatrooms. The JI has been neutralised in Singapore, disrupted in Malaysia and lying low in Australia. However, it is active in Indonesia and the Philippines. Indonesia is JI's breeding ground. There, it is enmeshed with the country's political mood.

"JI members earned their combat stripes in hands-on training in religiously-divided Ambon and Poso, where they took part in bloody clashes between Muslims and Christians. Thousands have died in these clashes. The major JI training grounds are in Mindanao in the Philippines and in Kashmir. In Mindanao, the JI runs training camps in collaboration with the MILF. Observers say Manila downplays the MILF-JI connection due to vested interests. It does not want to affect ongoing peace talks with the MILF. The challenge for the Philippines and other parties, like the United States, is to wean the MILF from the terrorists." A large challenge indeed. (Thanks to Jean-Luc.)

From The Independent of Banjul, Gambia comes this assessment of Al-Qaeda current condition: "Today, al-Qaeda is in a period of transition, having temporarily lost its operating base, Afghanistan, and its sponsor, the Taliban. More significantly, its organizational effectiveness has been dented by the deaths or captures of so many of its operational leaders, members and key supporters. Yet despite the dismantling of its training and operational infrastructure in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda is adapting by seeking to establish bases elsewhere and therefore remains a serious, immediate and direct threat."

What's more, "that threat is not aimed just at Western 'infidel' governments. The latest attacks in Riyadh and Istanbul are proof that Muslim governments are also under attack." Or at least governments that are not Muslim enough for Al-Qaeda's liking.

"The hardening of United States and other Western targets following the attacks of September 11, 2001, has changed al-Qaeda's tactics. Although it has suffered as an organization, it still maintains its vanguard status among extremist Islamist movements. It is still able to set the ideological and operational agenda for at least three dozen foreign Islamist groups it trained and financed during the last decade. It now relies heavily on these associated groups to sustain its fight.

"A real international Islamist movement is emerging, according to Diha Rashwan, an Egyptian expert on Islamist groups. 'Without having the same organizational structure, multiple Islamist movements, if not individuals, who share the same ideology and objectives with al-Qaeda are acting in the style of Usama bin Laden's network without being linked to it, and even less, receiving orders to carry out a specific attack,' he said recently.

"Much of the international terrorist movement's trail of destruction has been wrought by men who returned to their homelands from Afghan camps. Their fingerprints can be found on nearly every major attack since September 11. They are Arabs, Germans, Indonesians, Malaysians, Pakistanis, Chechens and Middle Easterners - Some 15,000 to 20,000 men in all, counter terrorism experts believe - who fled Afghanistan for points unknown, popping up every few months to show the world what they have learned.

"That trail of destruction is now concentrated on Muslim countries. One reason is the hardening of Western targets. Another, possible more important, reason has been that bin Ladin and Ayman Zawahiri, his second-in-command, have spread the word to shift the fight to 'the heart of the Islamic world, which represents the true arena of the battle and the theatre of the major battles in defense of Islam.' Tunisia, Morocco, Indonesia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are among the Muslim countries that have suffered attacks.

"Authorities believe the truck bombing of an ancient synagogue on the Tunisian resort island of Djerba in April 2002 was planned directly by al-Qaeda's former number three man, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was arrested in Pakistan in March.

"After five nearly simultaneous suicide attacks on Jewish and Spanish targets in Casablanca on May 16, 900 people were arrested. At least 100 of them told interrogators they had received training in Afghanistan and at trial 20 confessed openly to having received 'combat training against the enemies of Islam and apostates.'

"Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian terror network believed to be behind the October 2002 Bali bombing, which killed 202 people, and the August 5 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, which killed a dozen, has direct links to al-Qaeda that go back years. Hambali, the group's alleged operations chief who was arrested in August in Thailand, trained in al-Qaeda's Camp Saddah in Afghanistan in the 1980s." (Thanks to Jean-Luc.)

Despite Pakistan's official moves against a host of jihadi groups, there are a host of others that are still at work: "Keen to stymie the negative impact of the two assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistan government is likely to ban more jihadi groups." This from The Times of India, with thanks to Jean-Luc.

"Informed intelligence sources told the Daily Times that for a start a ban could be imposed on the Harkatul Jihad-e-Islami (HJI) and the Jamiatul Mujahideen (JM) on the basis of evidence that they were involved in the suicide attacks of December 14 and 25.

"According to the interior ministry sources, 60 suspects have been picked up in Punjab province so far for their involvement in the attacks or for having links with the attackers. Of them, 15 have been released after preliminary investigations.

"According to a law enforcement agency report, the suspects are from defunct groups like the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ), Tehrik-e-Khuddamul Islam (TKI), Jamiatul Ansar (JA), Jamiatul Furqan (JF), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Harkatul Mujahideen Alalmi (HMA), the HJI and JM.

"'Law enforcement agencies were initially confused about how so many groups could be involved in the suicide attacks, but some of the suspects revealed that several Jihadi organisations, including some Kashmiri militant groups, have formed a joint working group to target American and Western interests,' the sources said.

"In one instance, a Lashkar-e-Taiba jihadi was arrested in Gujranwala district's Maneecher Chattha village after a telephone conversation was recorded in which he got instructions about a new plan to kill the president. In another instance, an Arab national, identified as Ghazanfar Ghazal, is also suspected of involvement in the suicide attack.

"Sources said 25 men had been arrested in Lahore since December 26. 'Some arrested suspects have confessed to their relations with al-Qaeda,' they added.

"One of the important arrests was of a former head of the HJI office in Chauburji. He reportedly had links with Arab militants and was under constant surveillance by the intelligence agencies after he was first arrested and released in June last year. Intelligence sources claim that this suspect remained in touch with the foreign militants. He was arrested on Saturday night."

Kilroy-Silk

Mark Steyn gets to the heart of the BBC's dhimmi inconsistency in his take on the Kilroy-Silk affair in today's Telegraph:

"Let me see if I understand the BBC Rules of Engagement correctly: if you're Robert Kilroy-Silk and you make some robust statements about the Arab penchant for suicide bombing, amputations, repression of women and a generally celebratory attitude to September 11 - none of which is factually in dispute - the BBC will yank you off the air and the Commission for Racial Equality will file a complaint to the police which could result in your serving seven years in gaol. Message: this behaviour is unacceptable in multicultural Britain.

"But, if you're Tom Paulin and you incite murder, in a part of the world where folks need little incitement to murder, as part of a non-factual emotive rant about how 'Brooklyn-born' Jewish settlers on the West Bank 'should be shot dead' because 'they are Nazis' and 'I feel nothing but hatred for them', the BBC will keep you on the air, kibitzing (as the Zionists would say) with the crème de la crème of London's cultural arbiters each week. Message: this behaviour is completely acceptable.

"So, while the BBC is 'investigating' Kilroy, its only statement on Mr Paulin was an oblique but curiously worded allusion to the non-controversy on the Corporation website: 'His polemical, knockabout style has ruffled feathers in the US, where the Jewish question is notoriously sensitive.' 'The Jewish question'? 'Notoriously sensitive'? Is this really how they talk at the BBC?

"Mr Paulin's style is only metaphorically knockabout. But, a few days after his remarks were published in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, some doughty Palestinian 'activists' rose to his challenge and knocked about some settlers more literally, murdering among others five-year-old Danielle Shefi. In a touch of symbolism the critic in Mr Paulin might have found a wee bit obvious, they left her Mickey Mouse sheets soaked in blood.

"Evidently Kilroy's 'polemical, knockabout style' is far more problematic. For what it's worth, I accept the BBC's right to axe his show. I haven't seen it in a decade and I thought they should have axed it then. I myself got fired by the BBC a while back and, although I had a couple of rough years sleeping in a rotting boxcar at the back of the freight yards, I crawled my way back to semi-insolvency. There's no doubt in my mind that, when the CRE, the BBC, the Metropolitan Police and the Muslim Council of Britain are through making an example of him, he'll still be able to find gainful employment, if not in TV then certainly in casual construction work or seasonal fruit-picking.

"But it's not really about Kilroy or Paulin or Jews, or the Saudis beheading men for (alleged) homosexuality, or the inability of the 'moderate' Jordanian parliament to ban honour killing, or the fact that (as Jonathan Kay of Canada's National Post memorably put it) if Robert Mugabe walked into an Arab League summit he'd be the most democratically legitimate leader in the room. It's not about any of that: it's about the future of your 'multicultural' society.

"One reason why the Arab world is in the state it's in is because one cannot raise certain subjects without it impacting severely on one's wellbeing. And if you can't discuss issues, they don't exist. According to Ibrahim Nawar of Arab Press Freedom Watch, in the last two years seven Saudi editors have been fired for criticising government policies. To fire a British talk-show host for criticising Saudi policies is surely over-reaching even for the notoriously super-sensitive Muslim lobby.

"But apparently not. 'What Robert could do,' suggested the CRE's Trevor Phillips helpfully, 'is issue a proper apology, not for the fact that people were offended, but for saying this stuff in the first place. Secondly he could learn something about Muslims and Arabs - they gave us maths and medicine - and thirdly he could use some of his vast earnings to support a Muslim charity. Then I would say he has been properly contrite.'

"Extravagant public contrition. Re-education camp. 'Voluntary' surrender of assets. It's not unknown for officials at government agencies to lean on troublemaking citizens in this way, but not usually in functioning democracies.

"When Catholic groups complain about things like Terrence McNally's Broadway play Corpus Christi (in which a gay Jesus enjoys anal sex with Judas), the arts crowd says a healthy society has to have 'artists' with the 'courage' to 'explore' 'transgressive' 'ideas', etc. But, when Cincinnati Muslims complained about the local theatre's new play about a Palestinian suicide bomber, the production was immediately cancelled: the courageous transgressive arts guys folded like a Bedouin tent. The play was almost laughably pro-Palestinian, but that wasn't the point: the Muslim community leaders didn't care whether the play was pro- or anti-Islam: for them, Islam was beyond discussion. End of subject. And so it was.

"Fifteen years ago, when the fatwa against Salman Rushdie was declared and both his defenders and detractors managed to miss what the business was really about, the Times's Clifford Longley nailed it very well. Surveying the threats from British Muslim groups, he wrote that certain Muslim beliefs 'are not compatible with a plural society: Islam does not know how to exist as a minority culture. For it is not just a set of private individual principles and beliefs. Islam is a social creed above all, a radically different way of organising society as a whole.'

"Since then, societal organisation-wise, things seem to be going Islam's way swimmingly - literally in the case of the French municipal pool which bowed to Muslim requests to institute single-sex bathing, but also in more important ways. Thus, I see the French interior minister flew to Egypt to seek the blessing for his new religious legislation of the big-time imam at the al-Azhar theological institute. Rather odd, don't you think? After all, Egypt isn't in the French interior. But, if Egypt doesn't fall within the interior minister's jurisdiction, France apparently falls within the imam's.

"And so, when free speech, artistic expression, feminism and other totems of western pluralism clash directly with the Islamic lobby, Islam more often than not wins - and all the noisy types who run around crying 'Censorship!' if a Texas radio station refuses to play the Bush-bashing Dixie Chicks suddenly fall silent. I don't know about you, but this 'multicultural Britain' business is beginning to feel like an interim phase." (Thanks to Paul Marshall.)

UPDATE: The BBC, clearly stung by all the criticism they've been receiving, has issued a clarification: "In view of some newspaper coverage, we would like to make it clear that the BBC defends and supports freedom of speech. This has never been about freedom of speech. It is about how the job of a BBC presenter carries with it responsibilities about what is written and said publicly and how this may impact on their on-air role." All right. Now about Mr. Paulin . . .

"A prominent Islamic clergyman was arrested Tuesday on an indictment alleging he concealed links to groups that committed terrorist attacks against Jews when he applied for U.S. citizenship a decade ago, officials said." This from AP.

"Imam Fawaz Mohammed Damrah, who leads the Islamic Center of Cleveland, Ohio's largest mosque, is accused of withholding information on his membership or affiliation with several groups, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, U.S. Attorney Gregory White said.

"White said the indictment did not allege that Damrah, a Palestinian, committed any terrorist activities. The indictment did not specify what type of support Damrah may have provided to any of the groups.

"Damrah, 41, who also uses the name Fawaz Damra, was charged with unlawfully obtaining U.S. citizenship by providing false or fraudulent information, White said. He gained citizenship in 1994. If convicted, he could face loss of his citizenship, up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

"Palestinian Islamic Jihad has been identified by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization, White said. Other groups for which Damrah is accused of concealing an affiliation or membership were Afghan Refugees Services Inc., also known as Al-Kifah Refugee Center, and the Islamic Committee for Palestine, also known as Islamic Concern Project.

"Damrah has been a permanent resident in the United States since 1988, White said. Damrah's past has been public knowledge for several years. White would not say why the indictment has been filed now. 'We are strictly dealing with issues, activities and incidents prior to his becoming a naturalized citizen and what he was required to disclose' to gain citizenship, White said.

"Damrah represented the Islamic community at interfaith gatherings in Cleveland after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Then, local TV stations broadcast a videotape from a Chicago gathering 10 years earlier showing him making anti-Jewish comments in a speech. He called for rifles to be directed at Jewish people, and referring to them as 'the sons of monkeys and pigs.'

"He apologized for the remarks, saying they were made before he had any interaction with Jews and Christians. But a local community college replaced him in late 2001 as the teacher of a course on Islam."

So once he met Jews and Christians, he realized they were nice folks and not the sons of monkeys and pigs after all? Forgive me if I doubt this. The Qur'an says that Jews are under Allah's curse and were changed by him into monkeys and pigs in Suras 2:62-65, 5:59-60, and 7:166. Christians are thrown in in 5:59-60. Radical Muslims around the world commonly refer to Jews, and sometimes also to Christians, by these epithets. If Damrah was also used to making the connection between these Qur'an passages and today's Jews and Christians, it's unlikely that any experience he had with the sons of monkeys and pigs themselves would have changed his view; it's much more likely that the pressure made him realize it was prudent to shut up about it.

The trench-coated KGB types have cleared out of Bulgaria, and the jihadists have rushed in to fill the vacuum. But the Bulgarian government is on top of the situation, and has not hesitated to close Islamic centers that have been found to be fomenting terrorism and sedition: "Bulgaria has dismantled Islamic centres with possible links to Saudi-funded extremist movements, the head of military intelligence, Plamen Stoudenkov, said on Monday." This from AFP.

"'There are religious centres in Bulgaria that belong to Islamic groups financed mostly by Saudi Arabian groups, that possibly have links to radical organisations like the Muslim Brothers in Egypt,' General Stoudenkov said in an interview with the daily newspaper Dvevnik.

"He said the centres were in southern and southeastern Bulgaria, where the country's Muslims, mainly of Turkish origin, are concentrated, and 'had links with similar organisations in Kosovo, Bosnia and Macedonia. For them Bulgaria seems to be a transit point to Western Europe.'

"Stoudenkov said the centres were dismantled by the authorities in September and November 2003. He said the steps were taken to prevent terrorist groups gaining a foothold in Bulgaria, which shares a border with Turkey.

"Senior interior ministry official Boiko Borissov on Thursday played down the events, saying the police had 'launched two or three operations against Muslim missionaries at Velingrad and Pazardik' in the south. In an interview with foreign media, he stressed, 'there are no problems concerning Islam or terrorism in Bulgaria.'

"Bulgaria's Turkish minority accounts for 10 percent of the country's eight million people. Younal Loufti, one of the leaders of the Turkish minority Movement for Rights and Freedom, the junior partner in Bulgaria's governing coalition, said in late November that the party was guarding against extremism taking root in Bulgaria.

"He said five years ago that 'sects' from Arab countries that tried to recruit followers in Bulgaria were 'chased away by the population,' adding: 'We are very careful.'

"Members of the Turkish population near the southern town of Kardjali confirmed that foreign groups had tried to recruit members there."

The tiny minority of Islamic extremists seems to be extraordinarily busy these days in Bangladesh: "With pressure mounting on Dhaka to act against North Eastern insurgent camps there, media reports say that there were at least 48 camps across Bangladesh to impart arms training to Islamic militants, some of whom are known to be close to al-Qaeda and Taliban." This from ExpressIndia.

"'So far, security agencies have reportedly identified 48 training centres across the country. The names of 13 militant organisations are known, but only a few of them have created news,' an article in the Saturday Tribune of Bangladesh said.

"The known outfits include Shahadat-e-al-Hikma, Jamaat-ul-mujahid-ul-Bangladesh, Jamaat-e-Yahia trust, Hizbut Tawhid, al-Harakat-ul-Islamia, al-Markaj-ul-Islami, Jamaatul Falaiya, Tawhidi Janata, world Islamic front, Jumaat-as-Sadat, Shahadat -E-Nabuat, Harkat-ul-Jehad Islami and al-Khidmat, it said."

Among these names include the Jihad Party of Bangladesh, Confession and Wisdom, Party of Allah's Unity, etc.

"'Whatever their actual number or present capabilities, as well as the limited influence they have on the general population, these Jihadis have started causing alarm in democratic circles, and unless they are effectively contained, may become a real and extraordinary danger in the imminent future,' senior Bangladeshi journalist Haroon Habib said in the article 'Islamic Militancy: Is Bangladesh following the Pakistani example'.

"It said that there were also frequent allegations about 'a mysteriously soft attitude' adopted by the Bangladesh government towards these outfits 'as none of the arrested militants have, so far, received any punishment, nor have there been any meaningful investigation into their funding and support structures'." Hmmm. And why is that?

Here is an encouraging sign that a large segment of the British population, at least, is no longer willing to allow itself to be bullied and intimidated into silence about radical Islam while radical Muslims operate with relative impunity: "Fifty thousand people have voiced opposition to the BBC's suspension of a popular television show after its host Robert Kilroy-Silk made inflammatory remarks against Arabs, a British tabloid newspaper said." This from Yahoo News, with thanks to LGF.

"As a row over the comments simmered on, the Daily Express said 50,000 had responded in a phone poll to back Kilroy-Silk's reinstatement.

"'Thousands' more had protested to the BBC, added the Express, which accused the public broadcaster of 'gagging' Kilroy-Silk, a former Labour party lawmaker.

"The BBC suspended the veteran host's morning show 'Kilroy', on which guests discuss topical and personal issues, pending an investigation after the presenter lambasted Arabs as 'suicide bombers, limb amputators, women repressors' in an article published in the Sunday Express on January 4.

"'We're sick and tired of being gagged' was the front-page response of the Daily Express Tuesday, which said there was 'growing anger over what is being seen as a test case for the very principle of freedom of speech in this country.' The rightwing paper claimed the support of Michael Howard, leader of Britain's main opposition Conservative Party. Howard told the Express: 'While it is absolutely wrong to talk about people in categories, I also think that our tradition of free speech is precious and that is something we should never lose sight of.'

"In an editorial, the paper accused the BBC of political correctness. 'The corporation, once synonymous with truth around the world, is guilty of censorship,' it blasted.

"Kilroy-Silk told the paper: 'People are getting sick of debate being stifled while at the same time you have (Islamic) militants on the streets of London shouting "Kill the infidel!"'"

"On Monday, the presenter insisted that he had intended to criticise certain Arab regimes, not Arabs in general. 'If that is the way it was read, that I was smearing all Arabs, then clearly I apologise for that because I didn't intend that,' he said.

But that was not enough to satisfy Iqbal Sacranie, head of the British Muslim Council, which groups 350 Muslim associations. Sacranie said: 'The "regret" that Kilroy is now expressing ... about his breathtakingly racist anti-Arab rant is plainly disingenuous and an obvious attempt to save his well-paid career.'" It is noteworthy that Iqbal Sacranie was able to state this dark opinion of Kilroy-Silk's true feelings and beliefs in the public forum.

They're scratching their heads in Houston over this one: "A Saudi Arabian national who slashed a Jewish friend's throat after apparently undergoing a religious reawakening has pleaded guilty to murder rather than face trial." This from the Houston Chronicle, with thanks to Mrs. Obelix and Nicolei.

Mohammed Ali Alayed, 23, faces up to 60 years in prison for the Aug. 6 attack in which Ariel Sellouk was almost decapitated with a knife.

He got 60 years because of a deal made involving his guilty plea. The case was not tried as a hate crime; another story about the case explains that

although there was no direct evidence the killing was a hate crime, attorneys said jurors might have been particularly unsympathetic to Alayed because the slaying raised the specter of Islamic extremism and stereotypes surrounding terrorists. "Now is not a good time to be trying a case with these facts," said Alayed's attorney, George Parnham. "I believe a jury well could have given him a life sentence."

That has been known to happen in murder cases. Meanwhile, the prosecution agreed:

Prosecutor Stephen St. Martin said there was no clear motive in the killing, which Alayed's roommate witnessed. There was no strategic advantage to prosecuting the slaying as a hate crime, because that and murder by itself carry a maximum sentence of life in prison, St. Martin said.

The connection to his "religious reawakening" apparently was made by the Chronicle, not by authorities in Houston. Police can't find a motive -- they're just sure that the murder didn't have anything to do with religion:

Although Alayed went to a local mosque after the slaying and no clear motive was established, Houston police said they could not find any evidence that Sellouk, also 23, was killed because of his race or religion.

Nevertheless, these are the facts of the case:

Alayed, of the 2500 block of Winrock, was arrested Aug. 14 in a friend's empty Galleria-area apartment.

According to the victim's father, Michel Sellouk, the victim

became friends with Alayed a few years ago. He said Alayed underwent 'a religious experience' about two years ago, became a devout Muslim and broke off contact with Ariel. On the day of the slaying, Sellouk said, Alayed called his son and suggested they get together. The two had drinks at a bar before going to Alayed's apartment about midnight. Alayed's roommate told police the two were not arguing before Sellouk was killed.

No clear motive? Not a hate crime? This is a craven example of the astounding state of denial that dominates the public discourse today about radical Islam. Did prosecutors investigate the possibility that in the course of his religious reawakening Alayed may have come across the hadith collection Mishkat Al-Messabih? It states:

When judgment day arrives, Allah will give every Muslim, a Jew or Christian to kill so that the Muslim will not enter into hell fire" (vol. 2, no. 5552).

Did they take note of the fact that a recent Muslim murderer of a Jew in France cried after the deed, "I have killed my Jew. I will go to heaven"?

I am quite sure that they did not. I am quite sure that they thought that ignoring the possibility that Alayed's murder was an exercise of jihadist hatred would be better in the long run. Better not to stir up trouble. But they are only buying for us more trouble down the road.

Yet more evidence of the hollowness of the still-prevailing view that Islamic radicals are a tiny minority that has "hijacked" the religion: another Islamic teacher has been arrested -- this time in Indonesia -- on suspicion of terrorist activity: "Indonesian police said Monday an Islamic teacher arrested in East Java province last week planned to bomb police headquarters and has long been on their wanted list." This from AFP, with thanks to Nicolei.

"Adi Suryana, 40, was arrested in the East Java capital of Surabaya on January 9. Police said at the time that he might have information on fugitive Malaysian explosives experts Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohammad Top, wanted for attacks including the 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people.

"'We have long been looking for him,' said the head of the national police detective department, Commissioner General Erwin Mappaseng. 'He is the planner of terror, including the plan to bomb the headquarters of the national police and the Jakarta police headquarters.'

"Suryana had met seven times with a group in several Indonesian cities to prepare acts of terror, the officer said. 'He is sort of their manager,' Mappaseng said, adding that some of Suryana's friends in the group had already been captured and tried in court."

Now how could an Islamic teacher end up being the "manager" of a terrorist group? One would think, from listening to some Muslim spokesmen in America, that all his immersion in the Qur'an would calm his soul and make him a tolerant, peaceful individual. The fact that just the opposite is happening -- on a global scale -- is still a taboo subject in most of the American media, and certainly unspeakable in Western Europe. Conservative and liberal media outlets alike would prefer on the whole to pretend that this is all just an accident, that given the right circumstances there could be Christian terrorist groups around the world waging war in the name of their religion, and that to scrutinize the role of Islam in all this is somehow racist.

In fact, however, such a view, as common as it is, does a grave disservice to Muslims as well as non-Muslims, and leaves analysts with a huge blind spot in evaluating the true dimensions of the threat from jihadist groups. It is no more bigoted to say that there are elements of Islam in need of reform than it would be bigoted to point out that American Catholicism needs to undergo a period of introspection and change in the wake of the priest scandals. That elements of Islam are being used by terrorists as recruitment tools should by now be obvious to any person of good will. In light of this it should be the highest priority of self-proclaimed moderate Muslim groups to formulate a comprehensive internal response to this phenomenon: to root out these elements of Islam and to teach Muslims, not non-Muslims, that this form of Islam must be relegated to the history books once and for all.

This is not happening, and those in authority who should be calling for it are instead pretending that it need not be done, and that it is safe to assume that the overwhelming majority of Muslims abhor terror and have no attachment to the doctrines of violent jihad invoked by the radicals. Analysts who dare to point out evidence to the contrary have been driven out of the academy as well as out of government, and are generally ignored by the major media. This is why America could find that, despite her overwhelming technical and military advantage, she could end up losing this war after all.

The new Professor of Peace (Photo: Time)

Tariq Ramadan, the European Muslim leader whose slickly ambiguous books and policy statements have been hailed by many as a new manifestation of moderate Islam and criticized by others as a deceptive stalking horse for radicalism, is coming to America -- South Bend, Indiana, to be exact. He will be the Henry Luce Professor at the Joan B. Kroc Center for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. (Thanks to Charles Johnson for alerting me to this.)

In Onward Muslim Soldiers I discuss Ramadan's studiedly ambiguous positions, and the concerns that have been raised about them in Europe (which up to now has been his base). This morning Eli Lake in the New York Sun (via FrontPage) explains just why this appointment is troubling: Ramadan, as has been noted here before, "has been accused in France of sowing anti-Semitism and is considered by some analysts to be an apologist for radical Islam."

Lake explains: "Mr. Ramadan in October published an article on an Islamic Web site, Oumma.com, singling out some of France's Jewish intellectuals for supporting the war in Iraq and thus, he said, placing the allegiances of their religion ahead of their obligation as scholars.

"In it he wrote that the analysis of French Jewish intellectuals was 'increasingly oriented toward a community-based concern that tends to relativize the defense of universal principles like equality and justice.'

"That essay earned him the swift rebuke of his targets including Bernard-Henri Levy, author of 'Who Killed Daniel Pearl,' and Bernard Kouchner, the former chief U.N. administrator for Kosovo, both of whom said the manner of his attack was racist and recommended his censure.

"Mr. Ramadan has also been praised in some circles in the West as a moderating voice in Islam. Time magazine, founded by Luce, called him one of their 'innovators of the year' in 2000.

"In his last book, Mr. Ramadan said that the traditional distinction that un-Islamic lands should be taken by force was outmoded. And despite his recent critique of Jewish intellectuals, he has also preached against anti-Semitism in some of his speeches in Europe. 'We find him invaluable because he takes the risk of talking to both worlds,' the director of the Kroc Center, Scott Appleby, told The New York Sun yesterday. 'If we are going to avoid a violent conflict with radical Muslims, we will do so by taking the risk of understanding their point of view, their criticisms of the West, and also having the authority to talk with them.'

"Mr. Ramadan's credentials with the more radical strains of Islam have often led his critics to regard him as their apologist. 'Basically he is a Muslim brotherhood preacher,' Michel Gurfinkiel, the editor of Valeurs Actuelles, a French newsweekly, told the Sun yesterday. 'He is using two parallel rhetorics. One is for the global European opinion and looking very European -- and then there is his proper radical Muslim teachings.'

"The grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al-Banna, Mr. Ramadan has been accused in the French press of maintaining ties to Al Qaeda, a charge he has denied. On November 14, 2003, the French newspaper Le Parisien published an article quoting a former French intelligence officer and investigator for the families of the victims of the September 11 World Trade Center bombing, Jean Charles-Brisard, that Mr. Ramadan was suspected by European intelligence agencies of meeting Al Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri in 1991.

"Mr. Appleby said the French and Swiss governments have exonerated Mr. Ramadan of these charges, and he added that the vetting process at Notre Dame for the position was a vigorous one. Mr. Ramadan has also denied these charges in the French press.

"But others in the American academy disagree. The director of the Middle East Forum, Daniel Pipes, who gave Mr. Ramadan's book 'To be a European Muslim' a favorable review, said yesterday, 'Once again we see that the leftward leaning academy and in particular the Kroc Institute has a soft spot for militant Islamic figures. Given what we are now learning about him, it would appear like others, he is playing a double game of hiding an Islamist agenda.'

"The president of the Washington-based Ethics and Public Policy Center, Hillel Fradkin, said, 'He has an undeserved reputation for being a moderate. It is clear from his recent remarks in France he is not looking for domestic comity, but domestic quarrels.'

"Mr. Appleby said in response, 'We are not surprised that he is accused of double talk because what he is trying to do is to bring two ways of knowing and two ways of talking into conversation with one another.'" Nice example of it there yourself, Mr. Appleby.

This just in from MEMRI: "The Arabic-language daily Al-Hayat published an interview with Nabil Sahrawi, also known as Abu Ibrahim Mustafa, a leader of the Salafi Group for Da'wa and Fighting in Algeria. This group has been linked with Al-Qa'ida. Prior to publication, the interview, which is Sahrawi's first, was posted on Islamist websites.

"At the beginning of the interview, Sahrawi tells about his organization, which was founded in early 1999, and states that it supplanted the Armed Islamic Group. According to Sahrawi, his group was formed after the Armed Islamic Group was taken over by Antar Zawabiri, who diverted it from its previous path. The following are excerpts from the interview: . . .

"Question: 'Several times, the Algerian press has revealed contacts between your group and the regime. What is the extent of the truth of these reports? Does the Salafi Group for Da'wa and Fighting believe in a solution by means of negotiation and dialogue with the regime?'

"Sahrawi: 'The rulers of the Muslim lands today are a gang of apostates [and] criminals, the most evil creatures created on the face of the earth, whose crimes are known to all, and they are a paradigm of treachery, deceit, misleading, and repression. How many commitments have they given their people, only to then fill their graveyards and prisons with them? They have replaced Shari'a law, and they rule Muslims with the laws of Europe and America. They have shed blood and violated the religious prohibitions. They have wasted the property of the Muslims on forbidden things. All that interested them was their bellies and their enslavement to the West. They are not [protected] by any pact. Anyone who wants a lesson [on the results] of dialogue with the apostates, let them learn the lesson of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the lesson of the Islamic Front of Salvation in Algeria ... and so on.

"The Salafi Group for Da'wa and Fighting is fighting the regime in Algiers because of its unbelief and apostasy... Fighting the apostates takes precedence over fighting others from among the original infidels, and the punishment of the apostates is harsher than that [of the original infidels], both in this world and in the hereafter. Pacts must not be formed with these rulers; they must not be given security; there must be no reconciliation with them, and there must be no truce with them. We will accept from them either repentance or the sword..."

"Question: 'Some see your most recent communiqué as an announcement of allegiance to the Al-Qa'ida organization. What do you think about Sheikh Osama bin Laden? What is the truth about your connection to Al-Qa'ida and the other Jihad organizations in the world?

"Sahrawi: '... Our connection to Al-Qa'ida and the other Jihad organizations in the world is based on two things:'

"First, the operation of the Salafi Group for Da'wa and Fighting in the realm of preaching and Jihad is an operation integrated with that of the other groups, because as noted in the [organization's] charter ... the Salafi Group for Da'wa and Fighting is a phased means aimed ultimately at establishing a group of Muslims - the Caliphate - and it sees this as a sacred goal that all Muslims must strive to attain...

"Second, one of our goals is also to educate the Muslims about the principle that loyalty to Islam and to the Sunna must take precedence over loyalty to all the other frameworks... The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim, even if their countries are distant from each other. Every Muslim is entitled to the support [of other Muslims]... We support those who support Allah, His Prophet, and the believers, and we act with hostility towards those who act with hostility towards Allah and His Prophet, even if he is from among the closest of the close."

"Question: 'After the September 11 raid, America put you on the list of organizations it is fighting. What is your response to this?'

"Sahrawi: 'We classified ourselves even before America classified us. The world is divided into two parts: the part of belief, and the part of unbelief and falsehood. There is no third part. Anyone who desires Islam and a regime in accordance with the Qur'an is classified by the infidels on their list of enemies and opponents... Anyone who says 'There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,' is on this list, and his turn will come, whether he is armed or not...

"Question: 'Is there a final message you want to send to the Algerian Muslim people in these difficult times...?'

"Sahrawi: 'The conflict in the world today is a conflict between belief and unbelief. The war in Palestine, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Algeria, in Chechnya, and in the Philippines is one war. This is a war between the camp of Islam and the camp of the Cross, to which the Americans, Zionists, Jews, their apostate allies, and others belong.'

"The goal of this war, which they falsely called a war on terror, is to prevent the Muslims from establishing an Islamic state whose regime will be in accordance with the Qur'an and the Sunna of the Prophet, and which will constitute a source of pride and strength for the Muslims. America and its allies the Jews, the Christians, and the apostates will not cease their war on Islam before they remove the last Muslim from his religion and bring him into apostasy. We must be wary of this terrible plot that the enemies of Islam aspire to realize.

"During this time, Jihad is one of the greatest personal commandments. Every Muslim must know that defending Islam and the Muslims in this war is an obligation incumbent upon him, with his soul, his money, and his tongue. Support for Muslims is an obligation. The Islamic State will not arise through means of slogans, demonstrations, parties, and elections, but through blood, body parts, and [sacrifice of] lives..."

Lorenzo Vidino and Erick Stakelbeck at FrontPage magazine explain why the Department of Homeland Security's new policy of fingerprinting foreigners from selected countries as they enter the U.S. endangers us all and makes it more likely that a terrorist will be able to enter the country. Why? Because it leaves out several important states where terrorists are known to operate:

"On January 5, following months of deliberation, the Department of Homeland Security instituted a new security procedure requiring foreigners entering the U.S. to be fingerprinted and photographed. While the program, called US-VISIT (U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology), is chiefly intended to monitor potential terrorists who attempt to enter the U.S., it is not applied to citizens from several countries where Islamic terrorists and their supporters operate. For example, while citizens from notorious terrorist-sponsoring states like Iran and Syria are included, visitors from France and England--both growing hotbeds of Islamic militancy--are not subject to US-VISIT.

"The program, which has been implemented at 115 airports and 14 seaports nationwide, was successfully tested at Atlanta International Airport prior to its nationwide launch. The Atlanta test run produced interesting results: most notably, 21 individuals found on the FBI criminal watch list were prevented from entering the U.S. In addition, the program caused only minimum inconvenience, adding, on average, just 15 seconds to the entry process.

"Not surprisingly, the usual cast of self-appointed civil rights experts and Bush-bashing Leftists immediately criticized US-VISIT as intrusive and a violation of privacy. Charlie Mitchell, the ACLU's Washington, DC-based legal counsel, expressed concern about 'who will have access and how people would be able to contest being included once they are on the list.' Omar Najib, treasurer of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, complained that the program would single out Arabs and Muslims. But the most ridiculous reaction came from Brazil, where Judge Julier Sebastiao Da Silva called the program 'xenophobic' and, in a fit of childish retaliation, ordered all U.S. citizens entering Brazil to be fingerprinted.

"If there is indeed a problem with US-VISIT, it will not be found in the baseless ranting of those who oppose any measure enacted by the Bush administration a priori. Rather, the program's main flaw is that it does not apply to citizens from 27 mostly European countries, many of which have become virtual breeding grounds for Islamic militants. Citizens of countries like Holland, Germany and Italy, who are already able to enter the U.S. without a visa for up to 90 days, are also exempt from US-VISIT. Considering that European intelligence agencies have repeatedly warned about the radicalization of a significant part of Europe's approximately 15 million Muslims, this decision leaves the U.S. dangerously exposed.

"Over the last few years, Islamic radicals carrying European passports have played a major role in international terrorism. But under US-VISIT's present guidelines, would-be 9/11 hijacker and French national Zacarias Moussaoui, for example, would not have been fingerprinted or photographed. More Al-Qaeda sympathizers carrying European passports would potentially be able to enter the U.S. undetected as well.

"Europe is presently faced with thousands of second and third-generation European Muslims who feel detached from mainstream Western society and have turned to radical Islam as an alternative. For example, Asif Mohammed Hanif, a British-born Muslim of Pakistani origin, carried out a suicide bombing in a popular Tel Aviv pub last May, killing three people and injuring more than 50. Other European Muslims, like German citizen Christian Ganczarski, are native Europeans who have converted to Islam. Prior to his 2003 arrest in France, Ganczarski managed to reach a leadership position in Al-Qaeda and arrange terrorist attacks with the likes of the organization's former third-in-command, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Several European countries have acknowledged that white converts like Ganczarski are a growing threat.

"While Hanif, Ganzcarski and others have acquired a European citizenship through birth, many terrorists have gained this privilege via Europe's generous political asylum laws. For example, during the 1990s, Rabah Kebir, one of the leaders of the Algerian terrorist group FIS (Islamic Salvation Front) and several of his followers managed to obtain political asylum in Germany. Some radicals have even been known to use marriage to native European women in order to gain citizenship.

"It is common knowledge in the intelligence community that Al-Qaeda has a particular interest in recruiting operatives who carry European passports, since they draw less scrutiny from authorities. A recent phone conversation between two high-ranking Al-Qaeda members in Europe that was intercepted by Italian intelligence revealed that there are currently British, German, Austrian and Swiss citizens working for the organization. With the way US-VISIT is presently construed, all of these individuals could possibly enter the U.S. untouched.

"Despite potential problems that may arise with European countries and other allies as a result of a broadening of US-VISIT, the U.S. cannot afford to compromise in matters of national security. It is a harsh fact that our enemies have managed to infiltrate countries that are friendly to the United States. The U.S. must adjust to this new reality--expanding the guidelines of US-VISIT would be a step in the right direction."

Although polygamy is illegal in Norway, the Norway Post reports that the Oslo-based Islamic Cultural Centre Norway (ICCN) has recommended the practice.

According to the Post, the ICCN (which is supported financially by the Norwegian government) said on its website that polygamy "is advantageous, and ought to be practiced where conditions lend themselves to such a practice. . . .

"Norwegian politicians have reacted strongly to the article, which was removed later on Sunday, following Aftenposten's report. Labour Party MP Karita Bekkemellem Orheim says to the newspaper that she expects that the Government will now stop the state grants. 'I expect the Minister of Culture to take action,' she says.

However, all the Minister of Culture was interested in contributing to this debate was dhimmi subservience: "Culture Minister Valgerd Svarstad Haugland, however, says she does not want to use such a strong reaction. In her opinion, the article discussing [polygamy] comes under the scope of freedom of speech. 'We cannot forbid an Islamic congregation to discuss Islamic doctrine,' Svarstad Haugland says to Aftenposten." Indeed. But this sidesteps entirely the question of how to reconcile conflicts between Islamic law, which many Muslims consider to be the law of God himself, and the law of the land.

Conspiracy theories are rampant in the Muslim world, as I have written about recently. Here's a new one in Nigeria: "The [polio] virus thrived here in part because of the usual obstacles to better health care: internal political struggles, misspent money, alleged corruption. But an unusual additional factor came into play in the hamlets along the fault line between Christians and Muslims in West Africa: Local Muslim clerics told villagers to reject the polio vaccine because it was part of an American plot." This from the Boston Globe, with thanks to Nicolei.

"Muslim leaders in hundreds of northern Nigerian communities such as Batakaye limited or halted door-to-door polio immunization last year. They told millions of faithful in this Muslim-dominated region that the American government had tainted the vaccine with either infertility drugs or HIV, the virus that causes AIDS -- statements later proved false by independent laboratory tests.

"Some leaders admitted in interviews late last year that they never believed such a thing. But they remained silent, they said, in order to stop anything associated with the United States. The US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, several said, had led them to believe that America wants to control the Islamic world, and the polio vaccination effort gave them an opportunity to resist a US-funded initiative.

"They vowed to preach against polio vaccinations as long as the United States pays for them, even though it puts their own children at risk. 'People believe that America hates Muslims, and so whatever comes from the United States, no matter how good it is, people will reject it,' said Sheik Muhammed Nasir Muhammed, the chief imam at the second largest mosque in Kano, the Muslim political center in northern Nigeria."

"An Islamic terrorist suspect linked to al-Qa'ida has been arrested after apparently preparing himself for a suicide bombing in Britain." This from The Australian, with thanks to Nicolei.

"The man, an Algerian asylum-seeker, had left suicide notes to his mother and sister warning them that he planned to 'martyr' himself. When he was strip-searched, police discovered he had shaved off all his body hair - a religious obligation often observed by would-be suicide bombers so that they are 'clean' before entering heaven. Documents found in the suitcase of Mohammed Atta, the ringleader of the September 11 attacks, appeared to instruct all 19 of his hijackers to shave their body hair.

"The man, in his late 20s, was arrested during a series of raids by police who were investigating a network of terrorists loosely connected to Osama bin Laden's al-Qa'ida movement. It is understood that he has been charged with unrelated terrorist offences.

"In notes to his sister and mother, the man wrote: 'I hope you treat me as a hero and a martyr.' The documents were recovered during a raid on his home, said to be in the north of England. The documents triggered a nationwide hunt for explosives that the man was believed to be planning to use. A target has not been identified but there are growing fears of a suicide bomb attack at an airport, shopping centre or railway station in and around the capital.

"Police passed the man's details to MI5, which says there is insufficient evidence of a specific plot. One official said: 'There are rituals that different ethnic groups have used in connection with martyrdom operations. Shaving your body hair is an indication, but it is not the only indication.'

"The discovery of the suicide notes before Christmas helps explain the growing concern of authorities over a suicide attack somewhere in Britain. . . . But MI5 director-general Eliza Manningham-Buller has told ministers of 'chilling' new evidence that al-Qa'ida may be planning a suicide attack at Heathrow airport. One intelligence source said: 'Al-Qa'ida is very definitely air-oriented. An attack at Heathrow is considered to be a real threat.'

"Senior British law enforcement officials said last week they wanted to obtain bulk passenger lists so they could start checking names well before possible suspects check in at airports."

"The BBC was accused last night of operating double standards over its suspension of Robert Kilroy-Silk for his comments about Arabs while it continues to use a contributor who has called for Israelis to be killed." This from the Telegraph, with thanks to filtrat.

"Tom Paulin, the poet and Oxford don, has continued to be a regular contributor to BBC2's Newsnight Review arts programme, despite being quoted in an Egyptian newspaper as saying that Jews living in the Israeli-occupied territories were 'Nazis' who should be 'shot dead'. Andrew Dismore, the Labour MP, said he found it hard to understand why the BBC had moved against Mr Kilroy-Silk but had not taken any action against Mr Paulin.

"'I am not defending anything Mr Kilroy-Silk has said, but I was greatly upset by what Mr Paulin said, and I think the rules should apply to people equally,' said Mr Dismore. 'Mr Paulin said awful things about Israel and Jewish people. He should have been kept off BBC screens while his own comments were investigated. I was surprised that that did not happen. It smacks of double standards on the part of the BBC.'

"Mr Paulin made his comments in the Egyptian weekly newspaper Al-Ahram almost two years ago, saying that US-born settlers in the occupied territories should be shot dead. 'I think they are Nazis, racists. I feel nothing but hatred for them,' he said, adding: 'I never believed that Israel had the right to exist at all.'

"Within days of the article appearing, a number of academic institutions, including Harvard, cancelled planned readings by the poet. The BBC, however, did not seek to remove him from Newsnight Review. Mr Paulin subsequently denied accusations of anti-Semitism.

"By contrast, Mr Kilroy-Silk, a former Labour MP, was suspended by the BBC on Friday, five days after he wrote an article in the Sunday Express. He described Arabs as 'suicide bombers, limb amputators and women repressors', and said they contributed nothing useful to the world -- comments that outraged race campaigners and some Muslims and for which he later apologised.

"The corporation said it was suspending his BBC1 weekday morning chat show, Kilroy, until it had 'investigated the matter fully'.

"A number of MPs criticised the decisions yesterday, accusing the BBC of censorship. Richard Shepherd, a Tory MP who has been a friend of Mr Kilroy-Silk since their student days at the London School of Economics, urged the BBC to draw a line under the affair now that broadcaster had publicly apologised. 'Robert is a decent and honourable person with a passionate belief in the values of free speech,' said Mr Shepherd. 'He's also a polemicist and he raises issues that matter to him and are well within our national concept of freedom of expression. It is important to remember that we are a free society because we have free speech. What is happening to Britain? There was a time when things like this would be shrugged off. I think the reaction to the column brings into disrepute some major organisations: the BBC, the Commission for Racial Equality, which all felt the need to complain, and the Metropolitan Police, which feels the need to investigate.'

"Ann Widdecombe, the former Conservative home office minister, said Mr Kilroy-Silk had been unfortunate in his use of language, but she insisted that the BBC had no right to censor free speech. 'There is no doubt that some of his phraseology is over the top. You cannot say we owe the Arabs nothing. We owe them a great deal in terms of our prosperity,' she said. 'But I do agree with some of the other points he made. It's quite reasonable for him to voice his opinions on the treatment of women and practices such as the severing of limbs. It is quite proper to speak out against such practices. I think that the BBC has crossed the line and engaged in active censorship. The key point to remember is that he did not make these comments on a BBC programme and that we have a law in this country that can deal with comments likely to stir up racial hatred. This is not an issue for the BBC.'

"Gerald Kaufman, the Labour chairman of the Commons culture, media and sport committee, said that while he could not support the comments made by Mr Kilroy-Silk, he felt that the ex-MP was being made a scapegoat by a BBC desperate to prove its piety. He said: 'The BBC has been found lacking again in the way it approaches its responsibilities as a public service broadcaster. The action taken has less to do with the column itself and more to do with the fallout from the Hutton inquiry. They are in a rush to demonstrate their own piety. They should have made it clear to people long ago that they can be BBC personalities or journalists - but not both.'

"Others, however, refused to support the ex-MP. Robert Marshall-Andrews, the Labour MP, said: 'I think it is the most loathsome and illiterate article I have ever read in a British newspaper. The only conceivable purpose is to create ignorance and prejudice. I, and people in my section of the Labour Party, hope that Tony Blair will realise that we must not accept any more support from Richard Desmond, the proprietor of the Express. It may well be bordering on criminality.'

"A BBC official said the corporation was examining Mr Kilroy-Silk's case on its own merits and did not want to be drawn into making comparisons with Mr Paulin. She admitted that it was unclear whether the broadcaster's column in the Sunday Express had been subjected to regular BBC vetting. 'That is why we are having an investigation,' she said."

Meanwhile, Kilroy-Silk himself has a few words for the BBC. According to CNN, "British talkshow host Robert Kilroy-Silk has hit out at the BBC for not supporting him in a row over an article in which he called Arabs 'suicide bombers, limb-amputators, women repressors.'

"The BBC has axed his morning half-hour show pending an inquiry but Kilroy-Silk accused his bosses of 'giving way' to a lobby demanding his resignation. He said he had hoped the corporation would have 'kept the programme going and dealt with the criticisms.' . . .

"The head of the Commission for Racial Equality Monday accused Kilroy-Silk of posing as a '24-carat martyr' and called for him to issue an apology for his article. CRE chairman Trevor Phillips told the UK's Press Association he did not believe the BBC presenter was a racist, but that he was risking his reputation by trying to 'defend the indefensible.' He said Kilroy-Silk should 'learn something about Muslims and Arabs' and use some of his 'vast earnings' to support a Muslim charity as recompense for his remarks. Britain is home to about 1.8 million Muslims, many of them second and third generation descendants of immigrants from Britain's former colonies.

"Kilroy-Silk, whose daytime chat show has 1.2 million viewers, has expressed 'very deep regret' over the 'great distress and offence' the column had clearly caused. . . . Amid a welter of mainly hostile media comment, Kilroy-Silk defended himself in an interview with this week's Sunday Telegraph newspaper, asserting his right to speak his mind.

"'If I am not allowed to say that there are Arab states that are evil, despotic and treat women abominably, if I am not allowed to say that, which I know to be a fact, then what can I say?'

"The decision by the publicly funded BBC, which is trying to protect its reputation for impartiality by stopping staff from writing controversial freelance articles, to suspend Kilroy-Silk's show has itself drawn criticism. 'Our tradition of free speech is precious and we shouldn't lose sight of that,' said Tory opposition leader Michael Howard."

Non-Muslim populations are always at risk in Islamic countries such as Pakistan, where dhimmitude is still very much alive in the cultural patterns (and, increasingly, laws) of the people. If the dhimmis are perceived to be stepping out of line, their very lives can be forfeit.

"A Protestant pastor in Pakistan's Punjab province was murdered in the early hours of January 5, just minutes after he left his home to catch a train to Lahore." This from Compass Direct.

"Pastor Mukhtar Masih, 50, was shot once in the chest at close range with a 32 caliber pistol sometime after 3 a.m. in Khanewal, 180 miles southwest of Lahore.

"Just 45 minutes after Masih left his home, two policemen arrived at the door to inform his family that the pastor's body had been found on the road about 100 yards from the train station. Officials said his body was lying face down, his hat just a few feet away, and there were no signs of a struggle.

"Because of dirt and grass stains found on the back of the pastor's suit jacket, it appeared that his body had been dragged some distance from the actual murder site. The odd angle of the bullet wound also indicated that Masih, who was a tall man, could have been either kneeling or sitting when he was shot.

"Local police authorities in Khanewal announced that three police committees had been formed to investigate the murder and apprehend the unknown killer(s).

"According to a Daily Times newspaper report on January 6, local police superintendent Jamil Ahmed discounted robbery as a likely murder motive. 'It was not a case of robbery, because cash and necessary documents were found untouched in his pockets,' Ahmed said. Some 3,500 rupees ($58) were recovered from the slain pastor's body.

"Police officials indicated yesterday that they suspected it was a grudge killing. 'It is so cold in Pakistan in January at 3 a.m. that no sane person would be out unless they had a clear purpose, as did Pastor Mukhtar,' one source who had spoken with the police told Compass today from Lahore. 'So (the police) speculate that someone must have learned his intention to catch the train and laid in wait for him.'

"For the past 14 years, Masih had pastored in Khan Pur, a district within the city of Khanewal. At least half the population of the colony, consisting of some 2,000 homes, are Christian.

"As pastor of the local Church of God, Masih had regularly conducted 10 minutes of prayer and Bible reading over the church loudspeaker at 6 a.m. each morning. Such a practice is common across Pakistan in areas with large Christian populations, just as mosque loudspeakers are used to call Muslim communities to pray.

"According to the findings of an investigative team from the Lahore-based Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), some local Muslims in Khan Pur had launched an ongoing dispute with Masih over his use of the loudspeaker during the past few years.

"Parishioners from Masih's congregation of 50-100 members confirmed that Muslims had threatened their pastor 'on many occasions,' and several times the speakers were torn down. On at least one occasion, police took away the church loudspeaker and arrested Masih, finally releasing him unharmed after he had spent four days in jail.

"Nonetheless, local Christians could not identify any recent provocation that might have sparked Monday's murder of the pastor. 'It appears that someone knew his schedule and was waiting for him,' the CLAAS fact-finding team observed after their visit to Khanewal yesterday. 'After examining all of the facts, we assume that this is a case of terrorism,' they concluded. . . .

"The late pastor is survived by his wife Parveen and seven children, including two married daughters.

"In a similar homicide six months ago, a Roman Catholic priest was murdered in his home near Okara. The accused Muslim perpetrators have yet to be apprehended, although police have filed formal charges against four Christian men, claiming they killed the priest during an attempted armed robbery with two Muslim accomplices."

"Saudi Arabia, the source of most of al-Qaida's funding prior to Sept. 11, 2001, has frozen only a tiny percentage of the money flowing to Osama bin Laden's terror network since the biggest terror attack in history, according to a new report in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium, online intelligence newsletter."

"According to the report, since Sept. 11, 2001, Saudi Arabia has frozen only 41 bank accounts belonging to seven individuals for a total of $5,697,400, or 4 percent of the total amount of terrorist-related funds frozen around the world - this despite the fact that intelligence and law-enforcement authorities around the world agree that most of al-Qaida's money originates in the kingdom.

"Despite Saudi Arabia's rhetoric about the kingdom being the No. 1 target of al-Qaida, officials there don't really believe their own words, say G2 Bulletin sources.

"'We have never worried about the effect of these organizations on our country,' said Prince Bandar Bin Sultan just after the attacks on New York and Washington.

"Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency has addressed circulars to Saudi banks to investigate the extent to which they may have assets belonging to the individuals and entities that appear in the lists of those suspected of having links to terrorism, and it has asked banks to scrutinize accounts and audit all financial operations that affect them.

"Furthermore, SAMA instructed commercial banks to establish a 'Self- Supervisory Committee' to closely monitor and fight terrorism funding and to coordinate all efforts to freeze the assets of the identified individuals and entities.

"But, according to G2 Bulletin sources, most of these bureaucratic measures, while creating the impression that the Saudi government is taking appropriate actions to counter terrorist funding, have proved ineffective in countering networks that can easily evade the controls.

"Targeting money laundering, for instance, turned out to be ineffective because the practice refers to the cleaning of illegal gains from drug trafficking and other criminal activities. Most of the funding of terrorism actually involves using legitimate income to finance illegal activity.

"Similar doubts can also be raised as to the extent of the SAMA willingness to effectively control these institutions, especially when illegal practices involve the use of Zakat, or charity, funds.

"For example, it was only in 1999, after several months of fierce international pressure, that SAMA directed an audit on the National Commercial Bank, chaired at the time by Osama bin Laden's brother in law, and one of his major financial supporters in the kingdom. After the audit revealed several millions of dollars were diverted to terrorist organizations, its chairman was replaced, but remained until last year, along with his family, a major shareholder of the bank with a controlling vote at its board of directors.

"Furthermore, documents made available to the Sept. 11 victims' families clearly established that the NCB was still facilitating banking transactions for terrorists after that date. The same applies to other major banks of the kingdom including A1-Rajhi Bank, A1-Baraka Bank, Arab Bank and the Saudi American Bank, which funneled money to or from a Spanish al-Qaida cell from 1996 until 2001.

"'Al-Qaida is probably the most successful example of a terrorist organization acting under the umbrella of business entities,' says Jean-Charles Brisard, international expert on terrorism financing and lead investigator for the Sept. 11 victims' families.

"Operational cells of al-Qaida are involved, he says, in construction, in real estate and in public building sectors. Some 241 Saudi charity organizations are currently operating in Saudi Arabia and abroad. These organizations receive annually between $3 billion to $4 billion, of which between 10 percent and 20 percent is sent abroad. Saudi charities, international intelligence agencies say, are present at every stage of terrorism.

"The Saudi Red Crescent, for instance, a parallel to the Red Cross in the U.S., maintained passports for al-Qaida operatives to avoid searches and is referred to as an 'umbrella' organization by al-Qaida operatives. A message on the letterhead of the Saudi Red Crescent bureau in Peshawar requests that 'weapons' be inventoried. The letter contains a note from Osama bin Laden to its then-director stating 'we have an extreme need for weapons'.

"In the past, Saudi charities even provided military bases for al-Qaida - even military training for al-Qaida terrorists. From several intelligence sources and documents collected around the world, the investigation of the 9/11 families has been able to establish that several Saudi charities have funded at least 10 terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. The International Islamic Relief Organization funded at least six training camps referred as terrorist training camps by the U.S. government, including the Darunta camp, a facility used for chemical and biological weapons testing.

"Saudi Arabia still harbors essential elements of al-Qaida, say G2 Bulletin sources. These include the ideological and spiritual leadership, the human resources and, most importantly, the financial tools.

"'Today, all of our leads and much of the evidence collected by the 9/11 families put Saudi Arabia on the central axis of terror,' says Brisard. 'Despite clear warnings, Saudi Arabia's support to charities has been continuous and extensive over the time, even after 9/11. Furthermore, most of the financial infrastructure is still in place, from banks to charities, including front companies and wealthy donors.'"

"Brisard says the Saudis have been misleading the world since Sept. 11, 2001. 'Saudi Arabia still maintains freely on its soil thousands of individuals or entities who provide financial support to the Bin Laden network, and the 9/11 families are still waiting for them to be investigated, sought and prosecuted with the same determination as the one applied to those who were carrying the guns and bombs they've paid for,' he adds.

"Law enforcement and intelligence operatives tell G2 Bulletin the money trail has allowed al-Qaida to step up its operational attacks since Sept. 11, 2001 - making this time period the busiest in its history. Even though al-Qaida has not been successful at launching a major attack agains the U.S. since 9/11, it has conducted more than 40 bombings causing more than 1,000 deaths.

"According to these sources, al-Qaida has maintained, despite the international crackdown on its funding since Sept. 11, an operational annual budget of $50 million. Most of those funds originate from wealthy donors in the Middle East.

"In 2002, Bosnian police seized a document listing wealthy Saudi sponsors. They include 20 Saudis - six bankers and 12 businessmen and two former ministers. They include former leading Saudi banker Khalid Bin Mahfouz, businessman Saleh Abdullah Kamel, the bin Laden family, and several bankers representing the three largest Saudi banks - National Commercial Bank, Riyadh Bank and Al Rajhi Bank.

"'According to our estimates, their cumulative corporate net worth totals more than $85 billion dollars, or 42 percent of the Saudi annual GNP and equivalent to the annual GNP of Venezuela,' says Brisard.

"Some $10 billion in Zakat, or charitable funding, is raised by Saudi Arabia alone annually. Zakat remains the most important source of financial support for the al-Qaida network, essentially because it is the most common and unregulated way to raise donations in Saudi Arabia."

Tim Priest observes in The Australian that significant criminal elements working out of Middle Eastern communities in Australia are able to operate with relative impunity, as the authorities turn a blind eye to the origin and racial nature of their attacks. Why? "To highlight the problems with Middle Eastern communities in Sydney is to tear down the multicultural facade."

"The emergence of Middle Eastern crime groups was first observed in NSW in the mid 1990s. Before then, they had been known largely for individual acts of antisocial behaviour and for loose family structures involved in heroin importation and supply as well as motor vehicle theft and conversion.

"The one crime that did appear organised before this period was insurance fraud, usually motor vehicle accidents and arson. Because these crimes were largely victimless, they were dealt with by insurance companies and police involvement was limited.

"But from these insurance scams, a generation of young criminals emerged to engage in more sophisticated crimes - among them extortion, armed robbery, organised narcotics importation and supply, gun running, organised factory and warehouse break-ins, and car theft and conversion on a vast scale, including the exporting of stolen luxury vehicles to Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries. . . .

"With no organised-crime experience, no gang unit other than the South-East Asian Strike Force, the NSW Police turned against every convention known to Western policing in dealing with organised crime groups. In effect, the Lebanese crime gangs were handed the keys to the city of Sydney.

"The most influential of the Middle Eastern crime groups are the Muslim males of Telopea Street, Bankstown, in southwest Sydney. The Telopea Street Boys and their associates have been involved in numerous murders over the past five years - many of them unprovoked attacks on young Australian men for no other reason than the ethnicity of the victims.

"They have been involved in all manner of crime on a scale we have never before seen or even contemplated. Ram raids on expensive brand stores in the city are endemic. The theft of expensive motor vehicles known as car-jacking is increasing at an alarming rate. This crime involves gangs of Lebanese or Pacific Islander males finding a luxury motor vehicle parked outside a restaurant or hotel and watching until the occupants return to drive home. The car is followed, the victims assaulted at gunpoint and the vehicle stolen. The vehicles are always worth about $100,000 or more, and it is believed they are taken to warehouses before being shipped interstate or overseas to the Middle East.

"The extent to which Middle Eastern crime gangs have moved into the drug market is breathtaking. They are now the main suppliers of cocaine in Sydney and are developing markets in southeastern Queensland and Victoria. They are leading suppliers of heroin in and around the inner city, southwest Sydney and western Sydney.

"But what sets the Middle Eastern gangs apart from all other gangs is their propensity to use violence at any time and for any reason. Unlike their Vietnamese counterparts, Middle Eastern crime gangs roam the city and are not confined to Cabramatta or Chinatown. And even more alarming is that the violence is directed mainly against young Australian men and women. It is plain that violent attacks on our young men and women are racial as well as criminal.

"Quite often when taking statements from young men attacked by groups of Lebanese males around Darling Harbour, a common theme that emerges is that the violence is racially motivated: the victims are attacked simply because they are Australian.

"I wonder whether the inventors of the racial hatred laws introduced during the golden years of multiculturalism ever contemplated the possibility that we, the silent majority, would be the target of racial violence and hatred. I don't remember any race-based charges being laid in conjunction with the gang rapes of southwestern Sydney in 2001, where race was clearly an issue and racial slurs were used to humiliate the victims.

"Unbelievably, a publicly funded document produced by the Anti-Discrimination Board, titled The Race for Headlines, was then circulated. It sought to not only cover up race as a motive for the rapes but to criticise any accurate reporting on this matter in the media as racially biased. It worries many operational police that organisations such as the ADB, the Privacy Commission and the Council for Civil Liberties have become unaccountable and push agendas that don't represent the values that this great country was built on.

"Many have heard of the horrific problems in France with an unprecedented outbreak of crimes among an estimated 5 million Muslim immigrants. Middle Eastern males now make up 45,000 of the 90,000 inmates in French prisons. There are no-go areas in Paris for police and citizens alike. The rule of law has broken down so badly that when police went to one of these areas recently to round up three Islamic terrorists, they went in armoured vehicles, with heavy weaponry and more than 1,000 armed officers - just to arrest a few suspects.

"Why did they need such numbers? Because the threat of terrorist reprisal was minimal compared to the anticipated revolt by thousands of Middle Eastern and North African residents, who have no respect for the rule of law in France and consider intrusions by police and other authorities a declaration of war.

"The problems in Paris's Muslim communities are being replicated in Sydney at an alarming rate. Paris has seen an explosion of rapes committed by Middle Eastern males against French women in the past 15 years. The rapes are almost identical to those in Sydney. The rapes are committed not only for sexual gratification: there are also deep racial undertones, along with threats of violence and retribution.

"What is more alarming is the identical reaction among some sections of the media and criminologists in France: they downplay the race factor and even gang up on those who try to draw attention to the widening gulf between Middle Eastern youths and the rest of French society.

"That is what we are seeing in Australia. The usual suspects come out of their institutions and libraries to downplay and even cover up the growing problem of Middle Eastern crime. Why? Because these same social engineers have attempted to redefine our society. They have experimented with all manner of institutions - from prisons to mental institutions and, recently, policing.

"Some of the problems we now see with policing are the result of former NSW police commissioner Peter Ryan's dream of restructuring and retraining the force. The police academy was changed from a training college into a university teaching social sciences and very little else. Constantly, I'd see young police officers emerge from the academy with a view that as police officers they were counsellors, psychologists, marriage guidance experts, social workers and advocates for social change, but with almost no skills in street policing. Their training endangered not only them but also their workmates and the community.

"Never mind that policing is about enforcing the rule of law. It's never been about analysing each offender for the root causes of crime. The police enforce the law and protect the community regardless of race, colour or religion. What we have seen in southwest Sydney is ethnic communities being policed selectively. The implications for this are frightening when you look at Paris. The French practised selective policing of a particular community, which is subsequently now out of control.

"In February 2001, when I appeared before an inquiry into Cabramatta's crime problem, I gave evidence which at the time attracted the usual claque of ratbags from the ABC and their associates at The Sydney Morning Herald, as well as Sydney's Radio 2UE broadcaster Mike Carlton. I said that Sydney is going to be torn apart by gang warfare the likes of which we have never seen. Last year I was finally proved right, but I take no comfort from that. However, the criticism I received was unprecedented. I was a nutter, a liar, a racist, a disgruntled detective.

"Of course, the critics still refuse to concede that we have a problem. They are still clinging to the multicultural theme. To highlight the problems with Middle Eastern communities in Sydney is to tear down the multicultural facade.

"The amount of money spent on the multicultural industry beggars belief. It is a lucrative position for many. Governments pour huge money into anything that includes the word multicultural. Indeed, the police department, like other government departments, spends vast amounts on multicultural issues, jobs, education packages, legal advice, public relations and the rest. Having expended large amounts of money on multiculturalism, they are hardly likely to criticise it. Those that feed off multiculturalism are almost certainly not likely to question it.

"That groups of Middle Eastern males can roam a city and assault, rob and intimidate at will can no longer be denied or excused. You need only to look at Paris and other European countries that have had mass immigration from Middle Eastern countries to see the sort of problems we can look forward to in years to come. My prediction is that within 10 years Middle Eastern crime groups will have spread and their influence will extend across Australia as they seek to expand their enterprises. There will be no-go areas in southwest Sydney just like there are in Paris.

"Only recently I have seen quotes from senior police and retired police who claim that race is not the issue in organised crime. Those statements are stupid and dangerous. Organised crime groups, with the exception of the bikies, are almost always ethnically based - any experienced detective will tell you that. Barring one or two local beach gangs, the days of Anglo-Saxon gangs are all but over.

"I also predict that there will be a dramatic rise in gang shootings as rival gangs compete for turf and business. This will be done with almost complete disregard for police attention, as they are aware that the NSW Police Service has to be rebuilt from the ground floor. In the past three years we have seen the phenomenon of drive-by shootings, Los Angeles style. Not only are the increasing incidents a serious cause of concern, but even more so is the use of automatic weapons that spray hundreds of rounds at their targets. This is virtually unprecedented in Australia.

"Indeed, the issue has become so serious that some of these Middle Eastern youth who are engaged in organised crime, and who have no regard for our values and way of life, may go a step further and engage in terrorist acts against Australia. The ingredients are there already. It is but a small step from urban terrorism to religious and political terrorism, as we have seen with groups such as the Irish Republican Army, with organised crime often being confused with terrorism.

"I don't want to paint a story of doom and gloom. But, as a former policeman, I've seen the destruction that gangs can wreak on innocent citizens who want nothing more than to live in peace. I just hope we can trust the people in government and the police to ensure that we don't lose the values and the rights we have received from past generations." (Thanks to Kevin.)

From The Observer, a look inside the radical Islamic network in Europe (with thanks to Mohamed Ibn Guadi):

"They had been watching him for months, aware that his pop star good looks concealed a secret life as one of Europe's new terrorist kingpins. Finally, on a cold winter dawn, the police moved in. Abderrazak Mahdjoub did not resist as armed German officers surrounded his Hamburg home and led him away. For at least a year, investigators claim, the 30-year-old Algerian had been a key part of a network of Islamic militants dedicated to recruiting and dispatching suicide bombers to the Middle East. Several volunteers had got through, wreaking havoc in a series of attacks in Iraq. Many more were on their way, along with bombers focused on targets in Europe.

"Even worse, his associates were planning bombs in Western Europe. At least two European intelligence services had made previous attempts to take Mahdjoub out. Now, finally, it was the Germans' turn. This weekend, just over a month after his arrest, Mahdjoub remains in prison at an undisclosed location. He is likely to remain incarcerated for some time.

"Mahdjoub's arrest was a minor victory in a major war being fought, bitterly and secretly, in cities from London to Warsaw, from Madrid to Oslo. It pits the best investigative officers in Europe against a fanatical network of men dedicated to the prosecution of jihad both in Europe and overseas. It is a war security officials know they cannot afford to lose - and that they know they will be fighting for the foreseeable future.

"Previously seen as a relative backwater in the war on terror, Europe is now in the frontline. 'It's trench warfare,' said one security expert. 'We keep taking them out. They keep coming at us. And every time they are coming at us harder.'

"An investigation by The Observer has revealed the extent of the new networks that Islamic militants have been able to build in Europe since 11 September - despite the massive effort against them. The militants' operations go far beyond the few individuals' activities that sparked massive security alerts over Christmas and the new year. Interviews with senior counter-intelligence officials, secret recordings of conversations between militants and classified intelligence briefings have shown that militants have been able to reconstitute, and even enlarge, their operations in Europe in the past two years. The intelligence seen by The Observer reveals that:

"· Britain is still playing a central logistical role for the militants, with extremists, including the alleged mastermind of last year's bombings in Morocco, and a leader of an al-Qaeda cell, regularly using the UK as a place to hide. Other radical activists are using Britain for fundraising, massive credit card fraud, the manufacture of false documents and planning. Recruitment is also continuing. In one bugged conversation, a senior militant describes London as 'the nerve centre' and says that his group has 'Albanians, Swiss [and] British' recruits. He needs people who are 'intelligent and highly educated', he says and implies that the UK can, and does, supply them.

"· Islamic terror cells are spreading eastwards into Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and the Czech Republic for the first time, prompting fears of a new battleground in countries with weak authorities, powerful criminal gangs and endemic corruption in the years to come.

"· Austria has become a central communications hub for Muslim extremists; France has become a key recruiting ground for fighters in Chechnya; and German groups, who often have extensive international links, are developing contacts with Balkan mafia gangs to acquire weapons.

"The investigation has also revealed that, despite moves by the government there to crack down, Saudi Arabia remains the key source of funds for al-Qaeda and related militant groups.

"Investigators stress that most of the European cells are autonomous, coming together on an ad hoc basis to complete specific tasks. To describe them as 'al-Qaeda' is simplistic. Instead, sources say, the man most of these new Islamic terror networks look to for direction is Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian Islamic militant who some analysts believe was behind the recent Istanbul suicide bombings against British targets and synagogues. Though he follows a similar agenda to Osama bin Laden, the 37-year-old Zarqawi has always maintained his independence from the Saudi-born fugitive. Last week, his developing stature in global Islamic militancy was reinforced when he issued his first-ever public statement, an audiotape calling on God to 'kill the Arab and the foreign tyrants, one after another'.

In a crazed example of The-Jews-are-responsible-for-all-evil paranoia, according to Palestinian Media Watch (via IMRA), the Palestinian Authority is now blaming Jews for the attack on a Paris synagogue last summer:

"One of the common tactics of Palestinian Authority (PA) propaganda is to blame Israel for Palestinian and Arab terrorism. Now a prominent PA newspaper editor has come up with a new twist on this tactic.

"On June 13, 2003, a Belgian citizen tried to blow up a synagogue in Belgium, using two gas balloons hidden in his car. Two months ago (November 15, 2003), two cars exploded in front of a synagogue in Istanbul, causing the deaths of 23 people.

"Last week a new libel was invented by the editor of the PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, in an interview on PA TV. The editor explained that because Israel suffers from low immigration, it was Israel who started last month's fire in the Parisian Synagogue -- to convince French Jews to immigrate to Israel.

"The following are the words of Hafez Barghouty on PA TV: 'The Secret Zionists gangs have been trying, and are acting in France in the same way they used to act in Arab countries- Iraq, Egypt and Morocco, blowing up... Jewish synagogues in order to force them [the Jews] to immigrate [to Israel]. So after the attack on a synagogue, the Israeli ambassador in France called for all the Jews in France to immigrate [to Israel]...

"'...There are Israeli or Zionist gangs that carry out terror attacks against Jews and force them to immigrate [to Israel], because Israel suffers from emigration.'"

This article about Al-Qaeda activities in East Africa assumes that the group only gets members by bribing poor Muslims, deceiving people, or playing on resentment and anger. While noting that radical Muslims preached to the locals, it doesn't explore in any depth the possibility that the group's carefully structured Islamic theological and legal arguments might have struck a chord with pious Muslims. When the radical Nabhan is portrayed below as preaching that America and Israel must be destroyed, the article makes no attempt to explain why preaching that anyone should be destroyed might resonate with Muslims well-versed in Qur'an passages such as "slay the unbelievers wherever you find them" (Sura 9:5), and a host of others.

Of course, the possibility that core elements of Islam might have something to do with all this trouble is so distasteful as to be beyond consideration by nearly everyone across the political spectrum -- conservatives and liberals alike -- in the U.S., despite the importance of recognizing this if it is indeed happening. If moderate Muslims really want to stamp out terrorism, let them formulate a convincing non-violent reading of the Qur'an and relevant ahadith -- not convincing to Western non-Muslims (that's easy), but to Muslims themselves who may be tempted to radicalism.

Anyway, the article is still useful as a glimpse into the Al-Qaeda modus operandi, as well as providing more evidence of the fact noted below: that radical Muslims operate globally, considering themselves around the world to be fighting the same struggle. It's from SA, with thanks to Mrs. Obelix:

"When Fazul Abdullah Mohammed showed up in this little fishing village, there was already a local soccer club - and its name was al-Qaeda. Not content to join a team others had started, the alleged mastermind of two terrorist bombings in East Africa organised his own. Its name - Kabul, like the capital of Afghanistan, where he allegedly trained with Osama bin Laden's real al-Qaeda organisation.

"All along Kenya's Indian Ocean coast, al-Qaeda members have woven themselves into the fabric of the region's Islamic society. Using money to buy the allegiance of poor Muslims or passing themselves off as simple men looking for a quiet place to lead a devout life, the operatives have managed to build a formidable network throughout eastern Africa, US officials say.

"Foreigners like Fazul, who is wanted by the United States for the car bombings of the US Embassy in Nairobi in August 1998 and a coastal hotel in November 2002, settled in small towns and married local women. Kenyans like Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, who is suspected of building the bomb used in the hotel attack, sought out like-minded compatriots in the thousands of mosques that dot the coast.

"Hundreds of new al-Qaeda members have been recruited, and most remain at large - including Fazul and Nabhan - despite stepped-up anti-terrorism efforts, said US Marine Brigadier General Martin Robeson, commander of the regional US-led anti-terror task force based in nearby Djibouti. 'We know for a fact of young al-Qaeda operatives who've moved into areas, put large sums of money on the table to marry local girls, purely and simply to establish a bloodline and a financial obligation they seek to turn into a guarantee of a safe place to live,' he said.

"In general, the Islamic terror network has not found legions of Muslims in Kenya who share its religious views. For centuries, a relatively liberal and mystical brand of Islam has dominated on the coast, not the rigid interpretation promoted by al-Qaeda. But al-Qaeda operatives have found Muslims resentful in the East African country, not just over calamities across the larger Islamic world, but also over discrimination - real and perceived - at home.

"In its drive to recruit, al-Qaeda has exploited the resentment Kenyan Muslims feel toward their government, which since independence in 1963 has been dominated by Christians from inland tribes and has had strong ties to the United States and Israel. Al-Qaida 'has corrupted some of our young people,' said Sheikh Ali Shee, a prominent religious leader in the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa. 'We were not always like this ... we have a history of openness.'

"The coast's distinctive Arab flavour - the region has absorbed waves of immigrants from Yemen and Oman over the centuries - has also made fitting in easy for Arabs operatives, like Mustafa Mohamed Fadhil, an Egyptian who married a Kenyan teenager and is wanted by the United States for his alleged role in the embassy bombing.

"Kenya's notoriously weak security forces, coupled with the historically poor relations between the police and coastal Muslims, has allowed al-Qaeda operatives to work undetected, said one US official, speaking from Washington.

"In Siyu, Fazul had been hiding in plain sight. He was relatively unknown to US and Kenyan officials before the 1998 car bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, attacks that killed 231 people, including 12 Americans. But within months of that attack, Fazul was indicted by a US court that later convicted four other suspects. Since the indictment, Fazul's face has been plastered on the walls of Kenyan police stations; he also has a $25m bounty on his head.

"Yet in January 2001, using the alias 'Abdul Karim,' he showed up with a group of itinerant preachers at Siyu, a village of mud and stone houses on Pate Island, about 275km) north of Mombasa. Fazul settled down with the family of a village elder, Mohammed Kubwa Seif, eventually marrying the man's daughter, Amina. A native of the Comoros, an archipelago off the coast of Mozambique, Fazul spoke the local language, Kiswahili, and knew the coast's Islamic culture.

"Yet even in Siyu, his religious fundamentalism stood out. Fazul 'didn't want us praying near graves or celebrating the Prophet's birthday' - two common Muslim practices on the coast, said Mohammed Ali, a fisherman. 'Most people ignored him.'

"The police did, too. 'I met him once,' said Majid Hussein, a police officer in the nearby town of Lamu. 'He was walking around reading from a little Quran ... I thought he was just another one of these wandering preachers.'

"Fazul wasn't. And Kenyan officials say some people in town may have been paying attention to what he was saying: Seif has been charged by a Kenyan court with conspiracy to commit murder for his alleged role in four al-Qaeda plots, including the embassy bombing and the 2002 hotel bombing north of Mombasa, an attack that killed 15 people, including three Israeli tourists. Seif's son, Kubwa Mohammed, has been charged with murder in connection with the hotel attack.

"It's not clear whether Fazul put down any money to establish a safe haven in Siyu, but he apparently felt the village was a safe place to hide. Following the hotel attack, he spent another two months in Siyu, disappearing only last January. However, he reportedly slipped back into Mombasa in May, prompting a round of terror alerts from the United States and Britain. US and Kenyan officials believe he's still in the region, probably in Kenya or Somalia. Nabhan, who has not been charged with any crimes, also figured into the May terror warnings.

"The Kenyan is believed to have joined al-Qaeda after the 1998 embassy bombing and was the alleged ringleader of a plot to destroy the new US Embassy in Nairobi this past June. Raised in a relatively well-off Mombasa family, Nabhan regularly frequented the central Noor Mosque, which attracts poorer Muslims, in the two years before the 2002 hotel attack, said Abdullah, an elderly man at the mosque.

"Nabhan 'was well-dressed, clean-shaven, very polite,' said Abdullah, who gave only a first name. 'Very quiet, very simple - he just prayed.'

"But Ibrahim, a 19-year-old Somali immigrant who also worships at the mosque, said Nabhan often preached to the younger Muslims. An illegal immigrant, Ibrahim spoke on the condition that only his first name be used. Nabhan, he said, 'explained America, Israel are what? They are enemies. He said we must do what? We must destroy them.'

"It's not clear whether Nabhan, who in the fall of 2002 rented a house in Mombasa where police say the car bomb used in the hotel attack was made, first met another Kenyan al-Qaeda suspect - Salmin Mohammed Khamis - at the Noor mosque. But when Khamis was arrested on June 17, he reportedly told police that Nabhan invited him to a secret al-Qaeda meeting a month earlier in Malindi, a town north of Mombasa, where the plot to destroy the new US Embassy was hatched.

"Like Fazul, Nabhan is also thought to be hiding in either Kenya or Somalia."

This BBC article profiles two women two women married to members of Jemaah Islamiyah, which is fascinating in itself. But it underscores two points I have often made (at length in Onward Muslim Soldiers) but which bear repeating nevertheless:

1) Jihadists around the world consider themselves to be all fighting the same struggle -- that of Islam against unbelievers -- and so there is a great deal of travel between nations by committed jihadis. If these were nationalistic or social movements clad in religious garb, why would an Indonesian travel to Afghanistan to fight, or vice versa;

2) These men consider themselves to be waging jihad, not committing terrorism. This may seem to be a basic point, or a distinction without a difference, but it is actually of key importance: it places their struggle within a recognized Islamic theological and legal context, making it easier for them to gain recruits, and it allows them to condemn terrorism before gullible Westerners without moving a single finger to stop activities that Americans would classify as terrorism.

"Mira Augustina married her husband the same day she met him. It was the first time he had proposed, by way of the 21-year-old's father. 'We met at nine o'clock in the morning. We talked a little, and then he asked if I wanted to be his wife. And by 6pm we were married. Oh yes, it was a very happy day for me,' Augustina said.

"Augustina was told her husband was an Indonesian named Mohammed Asseqof. In fact, authorities say he was an Iraqi man with a Kuwaiti passport named Omar al-Faruq, and he was reportedly a key link between al-Qaeda and the regional militant network, Jemaah Islamiah (JI), which has been blamed for the Bali bombing.

"Augustina's father, an alleged arms runner, introduced al-Faruq to JI activists, as well as to his daughter. Al-Faruq was captured last year, and the CIA removed him from Indonesia. His wife and their two daughters haven't seen him since. Augustina said she was only now coming to terms with who her husband really was, and what her marriage did to help Jemaah Islamiah.

"'The marriage alliances are the glue that holds the organisation together,' said Sydney Jones of the International Crisis Group in Jakarta. 'Oftentimes senior members of the organisation will offer their sisters or sisters-in-law to new and promising recruits, so that not only is someone drawn into the organisation, but they're drawn into the family at the same time. They've been in control of finances in some cases. They play a role as couriers, in ensuring that, particularly after imprisonment, communication among different members of the organisation is maintained,' Ms Jones said.

"She said the women of Jemaah Islamiah for the most part remain behind the scenes. 'It's not a role in actively taking part in bombing activities, the way some of the women in Chechnya or in Sri Lanka have done. It's more ensuring that the organization stays solid.'

"One Malaysian family illustrates this more than any other.

"The father trained in Afghanistan in the late 1980s, where he probably met the men who would later marry two of his daughters. One daughter, Paridah Binti Abas, is married to Ali Gufron, also known as Mukhlas, who was recently convicted of masterminding the 2002 Bali bombing.

"Paridah was pregnant with her sixth child when Ali Gufron was arrested in 2002. When their son was born, the couple decided to name him after one of their heroes, Osama.

"To meet Paridah now is to meet only a pair of eyes. the rest of her face is covered. She wears a black veil, a black tunic, black pants, black socks, and black sports sandals. Paridah comes from a middle class Malaysian family. She attended high school, and is fluent in Arabic and English. 'I love books. Sometimes I read the books four or five times,' she said.

"Paridah admits that her husband wanted to teach Bali tourists a lesson about their evil ways. But she says he didn't mean to kill so many people.

"Unlike Mira Augustina, Paridah seems to have known what her husband was doing all along. She says even her young children support him. 'They are convinced that their father is a mujahid, not a terrorist. They said actually Indonesia must say thank you to my father, they said, because he showed us that Bali is full of influence of "ma'sia"... "bad things".'

"Paridah had a comfortable childhood, but her husband Ali Gufron grew up in a poor village. He became a preacher and fled to Afghanistan to fight for a better life. Paridah now lives in that village, far from Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. There, her ailing father-in-law and mother-in-law occupy a humble shack.

"They are parents to three men who have been found guilty of carrying out the Bali bombing - Ali Gufron and his younger two brothers, Amrozi and Ali Imron. 'When people knocked on the door to ask me questions I didn't answer. I just kept quiet and hoped that they would leave. But the people are still coming. And I keep telling them that I don't know anything, I don't know anything,' said Ali Gufron's mother.

"But Sydney Jones said such women often are aware of their male relative's activities. 'The women have to know everything that's going on because their husbands are meeting with people on a regular basis. And oftentimes, given the way that the family structure works, the women would be actively involved in helping serve the guests,' she said.

"The fate of Mira Augustina's husband Omar al-Faruq is uncertain. All that is known is he is still being detained by the CIA. Paridah Binti, Abas' husband Ali Gufron, has been sentenced to death for his role in the Bali bombing. He has two more chances to appeal. Paridah said she could dream that she will have her husband home again, but she could no longer hope." (Thanks to Nicolei.)

A few days ago we posted an article here about creeping Sharia in Malaysia: in Terengganu, non-Muslim women were to be forced to comply with dress standards set by Muslim authorities. Now a PAS (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, Islamic Party of Malaysia) official has explained it all for us: the Jews, you see, have made this necessary by introducing corruption into Malay moral standards:

"PAS has defended the Terengganu government's imposition of a dress code for women workers, saying that provocative dressing by women has 'a very close link' to murders, rapes, molest and sexual abuses. PAS Youth chief Salahuddin Ayub also blamed Jews for pioneering a 'provocative, seductive and branded dressing culture' which prioritised the ego of the dresser." This from The Star, with thanks to Nicolei.

I don't know how they think the Jews can find the time to turn their attention from ruling the world to Malaysian fashions, but it gets worse: Salahuddin charged that opposition to the dress code was evidence that one was an enemy of Islam and a tool of the Zionists: "In a statement, Salahuddin said that Kelantan Umno deputy chairman Datuk Zaid Ibrahim's protest over the ruling showed that he was anti-Islam and that Umno was a proxy of the Jews."

What about human rights? Let Salahuddin explain: "'The question of violating basic human rights does not arise when enforcing the compulsory rule of covering the aurat (parts of the body that should not be exposed according to Islamic belief),' he said. Salahuddin added that it was not a matter of rights but of responsibility to adhere to rules set by Allah."

Logged and noted, Salahuddin. I hope they are paying attention in Europe.

There's a new report on religious freedom in Kyrgyzstan. It is instructive because there is a substantial Muslim population in the country formerly a part of the Soviet Union.

"As in other Central Asian republics, authorities in Kyrgyzstan have banned Hizb ut-Tahrir, an international Islamic organization advocating the creation of a region-wide Islamic caliphate and a return to Islam in its pure, original form.

"Ambassador Markus Muller, head of the Bishkek mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), agrees with Rotar's assessment. 'The religious groups in general are working and functioning here very freely,' Muller said. 'And I did not hear [of] any major problems.' But he added that there may be one exception -- Hizb ut-Tahrir, which he said 'is considered by some people as a militant Islamic group. The group [has] faced some problems.'

"According to Rotar, the most serious problem is the authorities' temptation to launch a campaign against Christian proselytism. The correspondent says Protestant missionaries are actively working in southern Kyrgyzstan, which arouses great displeasure among the local population.

"'The policy of freedom followed [by the] Kyrgyz authorities [allows] proselytism. Now, maybe for authorities proselytism will become a big problem [because it] may provoke conflicts in the south of Kyrgyzstan, [where] 30 percent of the population is Uzbek. And these people are very [devout Muslims] and are very unhappy that Protestant priests can preach freely,' Rotar said."

Horrors. Non-Muslims can preach freely? What will come of that?

"Occasionally, rural communities shun Christian converts and try to exile them or refuse to let them be buried in the local cemetery.

"But according to Markus Miller of the OSCE, there is no negative opinion in general against new religions. He stressed that all religions, including Islam, are developing -- much as they are elsewhere in the former Soviet Union.

"'[New religions] are observed. People are very much attentive to their work. But for the time being they have not had any major problem. Religion itself is becoming a topic again. And people discuss religion, they are becoming religious again. Now the [Protestants], the Catholics, the Orthodox but also the Muslims [are] developing again. They are filling a vacuum which was created during the Soviet times,' Miller said.

"Nevertheless, Bishkek resident Stalbek Nurmambet-uulu says there are risks of conflict, even in the capital's surroundings. 'Religious diversity creates different opinions in the society and could lead to divisions between the people. Some religious sects are using this moment when people are experiencing hardship and poverty. They are attracting Kyrgyz youth from outside Bishkek. They convert them by using tricky methods. In these areas, there are risks of clashes. I think we have to work more to explain Islamic rules,' Nurmambet-uulu said."

Exactly so, Nurmambet-uulu. In the developing religious freedom of Kyrgyzstan, Christians and Muslims are free to battle it out in the marketplace of ideas. That is the exact opposite of dhimmitude. Let us hope that the Muslim rage against this will not overwhelm religious freedom in this nation.

"Close to a year after his arrest, a university computer science student from Saudi Arabia studying in Idaho was charged on Friday with supporting terrorism." This from Reuters, with thanks to LGF.

"Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, a Saudi citizen who has been in custody since his arrest on Feb. 26, will be arraigned on Monday in U.S. District Court in Boise. If convicted, he could receive 15 years in federal prison.

"A grand jury, a group of citizens which hears arguments from prosecutors, issued the charge. The indictment said Al-Hussayen, 34, set up Web sites for Islamic organizations that espoused violence against the United States and that he tried to raise funds and recruit new members for a violent holy war, or jihad, in Israel, Chechnya, and elsewhere.

"The indictment contends Al-Hussayen maintained bank accounts which he used to funnel at least $300,000 to the Islamic Assembly of North America. The government claims the group has raised and sent money to support terrorist-related activities starting in February 2000.

"In previous hearings, defense attorneys said there was no evidence Al-Hussayen did anything other than give money to legitimate charities and do some basic Web site maintenance for Islamic organizations.

"Friends, supporters, colleagues, and university officials have testified Al-Hussayen is a peaceful person who condemned the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and led a blood drive for victims. They said he has a strong desire to clear his name and finish his studies.

"Al-Hussayen, 34, got his undergraduate degree before coming to the United States. He had been a student at various universities in the United States for more than nine years. Most recently, he has been seeking a PhD in computer security at the University of Idaho.

"Al-Hussayen's wife and children have agreed to leave the United States by mid-March, after the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement started deportation proceedings against them."

The ever-insightful Walid Phares explains the significance of the headscarf controversy in the Washington Times:

"When President Jacques Chirac delivered his televised speech about the hijab (female Muslim scarf) in France, I believed there would be an immediate Jihad against France. I anticipated a wide array of jihadist offensives against Paris. My primary analytical reason was the strategic importance of the scarf to Islamic fundamentalists worldwide.

"According to religious radicals, the long scarf -- which is supposed to cover the hair, and in some cases, the faces of Muslim women -- is not just a tradition, but a religious duty called fard dinee. Per fundamentalist clerics, women have to cover. And by way of extension, those who do are complying with the will of Allah.

"When women wear the scarf, Islamic fundamentalists consider it a pillar of their influence. They can deploy their statistical power and project it as a maker or breaker of their growth. If the hijab were used increasingly, the Islamists would feel on the ascent. If its use decreases, particularly by orders of a secular government, like France, the jihadists have no choice but to wage war.

"Mr. Chirac projected a political trade. He would oppose the United States on Iraq, shield Saddam's regime until the last day, stand firmly by the Palestinian Authority against Israel and continue to endorse Syria's control of Lebanon. In return, he expected an 'Arab understanding' of France's domestic needs regarding secularism. He failed.

"Although Paris refused to cooperate with Washington, and with others on uprooting the al Qaeda's networks, the Sunni radicals did not grant Mr. Chirac a hijab removal license either. To the contrary, they punished the French 'infidels' for their scarf sin. On the other side of the fundamentalist aisle, the French government tried hard to court the Shi'ite Jihadists, but in vain. The master of the Elysee attended a Beirut-Francophone summit, shook the hand of Hezbollah's commander, and constantly identified the pro-Iranian organization as a freedom-fightingforce. He would have expected a respite from Tehran, when the 'hijab affair' was settled by his speech. Not at all: The spokespersons for the Iranian President Mohammad Khatami blasted the French president for his 'anti-Islamic' war.

"The anti-French holy campaign started one minute after Mr. Chirac finished his speech, carried live and instantly translated into Arabic on al-Jazeera TV. The anchors, analysts and obviously the resident-clerics had no mercy on the man who opposed America. On fundamental issues related to infidel-politics, there is no such thing as 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend.' Sheikh Youssef al Qardawi, the senior cleric in the Qatar-based station, was clear: 'This is not an issue of adapting to domestic or international politics or circumstances, this is a matter related to the essence of our existence.'

"But Mr. Qardawi takes the issue beyond the debate: 'By all means and in all that we can do, we must resist and fight. The Arab world, the Muslim world and all Mujahedin around the world must help their brothers and sisters in France.

"So far, this incitement can be transcribed under 'freedom of speech.' But in jihadist language, it is more. It is a license for 'freedom of action.' It will be absorbed by the several shades of militants in as much as they understand the 'urgencies' of the call for holy duty. Some will hire lawyers, while others will threaten with vote sanctions. Some will take it to the streets, while others will boycott French goods in the region. A myriad of jihads can and will take place. But there are some who will take it to the Osama level (i.e., mass killing) when needed.

"But the worse may be happening now. A press release issued this week by an al Qaeda affiliate out of Yemen claimed responsibility for the 'downing of the airplane' with hundreds of French passengers and lost over Egypt. The claiming party, a man with an Egyptian accent, said he represents Ansar al Haq, an off-shoot of bin Laden's organization. But worse is that the man threatened more strikes if 'Paris continues with its anti-hijab policy.'

"Regardless of the veracity of the claim, one thing is sure. Those who would take the scarf crisis to mass destruction exist. And France will have to make the mother of all choices."

Slavery, a state of life closely akin to and intertwined with dhimmitude, is alive and well in the Islamic world. This report comes from Sandro Magister in Chiesa:

"Sudan's first saint, Iosephina Bakhita, was canonized by John Paul II in the year 2000. From an early age she was made a slave, sold and resold at the El Obeid and Khartoum markets. She was fortunate to have ended up in Italy. It was in 1890 that she was finally freed and baptized.

"Yet today, more than a century later, there are still slaves found between the Sahara and the Nile. What's more, it is slavery having its basis in Islam, inheritor of the trade which for centuries has forcibly sent 11-14 million Africans from the sub-Sahara region to Arab and Muslim countries.

"Little is studied or said about the trade, the opposite being true of slave trade directed toward the Americas. The last general assembly of the African Catholic bishops conferences took place in Dakar in October 2003, where a session was dedicated to the issue, being introduced by statements such as the following:

"'Analyses of this issue have been prohibited at length. One cause of the paralysis of this historical conscience has been the attitude of many intellectuals and Muslim rulers regarding the trans-Saharan trade. For reasons of religious sensitivity they don't want to properly admit to Arab and Islamic responsibility in this drama, whose evil effects still continue. Today in the Arab world the word 'black' simply means 'slave.' The tracks of the trans-Saharan trade have formed geographic roads leading to Maghreb and the Middle East.'

"The past is like the present. On one of these roads - currently used by numerous Africans from Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, Togo, Nigeria, and Camerun - black emigrants converge to Niger and from there, from Agadez, they face the hard desert until reaching the Libyan coastline. From there they set off for Italy and Europe. In Italy's largest daily, 'Corriere della Sera', one of its correspondents, Fabrizio Gatti, recounted cases of 21st century slavery which he ran across as part of a five-part special report published this past Dec. 24-Jan. 2.

"Along the emigrants' current trans-Saharan route is the Dirkou oasis in Niger, the epicenter of slavery found upon crossing the Téneré desert. Illegal emigrants arrive there broke, having been robbed of everything by soldiers placed at numerous road blocks. Thus, Fabrizio Gatti writes:

"'In order not to die of hunger they work for free in the homes of merchants or in palm groves. They wash pans, do gardening and yard work, gather dates and make bricks. All in exchange for a bowl of millet, noodles, coffee and some cigarettes. Their desire was to reach Italy, but became slaves instead. It is only after months of hard work that the owner lets them go, paying them finally a ticket to Libya: 25,000 African francs or 38.50 euro. Their fear is ending up like those who have been held prisoners for more than a year, who have gone mad and live in the bush.'

"And what is the thinking behind this new slave trade? An infantry corporal with 'Arab looks and surname' explained to the 'Corriere' correspondent, pointing to blacks kneeling in the sand:

"'We already prayed to Allah that they continue playing their drums and eat among themselves like animals. Those over there are not like us. If they can pay their passage to Italy, it means they are rich. They are right in leaving something behind in Niger, something for us who haven't the money to leave.'

"The reporter commented:

"'It's an old story. Arabs and black living along the Niger consider inhabitants of Africa's coasts to be simply inferior. Once they used to cross the Ténéré and Sahara along the same route to buy and resell them as slaves. Today, worse than animals, they pile them into trucks. In comparison, goats and camels ride first class, having room to lay down, hay to eat and water to drink.'

"'East of Niger lays Chad. And after crossing the Nile, one comes to Sudan, a country with a long history of civil war between the Arab and Muslim north (the power holders) and the black, non-Islamicized south. In Sudan slavery continues to be not only practiced by dominant Arabs, but also theorized on the basis of the Koran.'

"A book published in London in June 2003 by the British institute, Civitas, reports that in black populated areas of Sudan, like Bahr El-Ghazal, the Nuba mountains, South Kordofan and Darfur, there are reoccurring raids conducted by armed Arab groups 'to kill most of the men and to abduct women and children into slavery.'

"The book contains testimony by women and children who escaped from slavery and evidences that in the 1990s the practice was encouraged by the National Islamic Front, the leading party in Khartoum headed by Hassan Al-Turabi, an important leader in the Islamic world:

"'Leading NIF figures mobilized the local Arab tribesmen; encouraged them to participate in the jihad; promised them the right to keep slaves as the bounty of war, assuring them that it is justified in the Koran, as a means of conversion to Islam; and provided logistical back-up on 'slave raids' with provisions of horses, weapons and troops.'

"One of the book's authors, Baroness Caroline Cox, is a member and former vice president of the House of Lords - Great Britain's high political assembly. In her first trip to Sudan, Baroness Cox went to a village called Nyamlell in the Bahr El-Ghazal region, where just before her arrival 80 men and 2 women were killed and 283 women and children were abducted as slaves. Afterward, she made another twenty or so trips to Sudan, often in forbidden areas while gathering ever more detailed documentation.

"The book also contains interviews with Arab slave traders, who sustain that the shari'a (Islamic law) authorizes them to enslave children and relatives of men with whom they are at war. They state that they sell slaves to Arabs in other countries.

"A former slave from Karko in the Nuba mountains, Mende Nazer, told her story in a book published last year in German (now in English). Captured in 1992, she was first a slave to a rich family from Khartoum and, then in 2000, to a Sudanese diplomat in London, from whom she escaped seeking political asylum."

Thailand's "predominantly Muslim south" is under attack, and "dozens of people have been rounded up for questioning, including two Islamic teachers and two members of a Muslim separatist group, since the violence erupted in three southern provinces five days ago."

Nonetheless, "Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra insisted that Islamic militants are not responsible, contradicting top security aides." This from Reuters, with thanks to Nicolei.

In apparent reference to the Muslim separatist movement, Thaksin said: "That ideology is over."

Dhimmitude is the condition of non-Muslims under Islamic law. It mandates allmanner of discrimination in exchange for "protection." But if the dhimmis get out of line, they forfeit protection, and one way they get out of line is to speak ill of their masters. Unfortunately, Thaksin seems to have caught the same affliction that many Western heads of state, as well as many liberal and conservative media outlets, already suffer from: they all seem to think that if one denies what is in front of his face, and never talks plainly about what Muslim radicals are doing and trying to do, then those same radicals will give them protection as their forefathers did to the dhimmis.

Maybe Thaksin is right. But his own officials don't think so: "Senior government officials continued to suggest that the Buddhist majority nation is facing an Islamic militancy far bigger than previously believed. Interior Minister Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said the co-ordinated arson attacks on 21 schools on Sunday, which authorities said was a diversion to loot an army depot of more than 100 weapons after killing four soldiers, was the work of separatists. 'We believe that all the attackers are involved with the Bersatu group, who earlier mobilised youths to cause unrest,' he told reporters.

"Police say Bersatu is an umbrella name for a number of separatist groups, including the Gerakan Mujahideen Islam Pattani, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional and Pattani United Liberation Organisation."

"'We will bring in more people for questioning. The Bersatu group has an ideology to mobilise and expand their co-operation with terrorist groups,' Wan Muhamad Noor said. Local support for Muslim separatists dried up in the 1990s as the government ploughed money into the region where most of Thailand's six million Muslims live and offered amnesty to the fighters.

"On Thursday, Gen Kitti Rattanachaya, a former army commander in the south and now a government security adviser, said links between militants in the region went back to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan when many foreign Muslims joined the mujahideen (holy warriors).

"There has been speculation since the August capture in Thailand of Hambali, the Indonesian-born suspected JI operations chief thought to have masterminded the Bali bombings in 2002, that the country was being used as a haven to plan attacks."

"The sister of a Guantanamo Bay prisoner was held for questioning today, joining her father and other members of her family in French police custody in an investigation into suspected terror networks, judicial officials said." This from AP, with thanks to Nicolei.

"The woman's detention follows the arrests on Tuesday of seven people, including her father, Chellali Benchellali, his wife, and another of their sons, Hafed."

This is not the Brady Bunch: "Investigators believe the family and their friends supplied explosives, false papers, money and lodgings to suspected members of a terror cell that planned to attack Russian targets in Paris, probably with chemical weapons, judicial officials said. . . .

"The detentions are part of a probe into suspected links between Islamic militants in France and rebels in Russia's breakaway largely Muslim republic of Chechnya.

"Menad Benchellali, a brother of the woman detained today, was picked up in a sweep a year ago in the Paris region that authorities said thwarted planned bomb or chemical attacks in France and Russia by a terror cell with ties to Chechen rebels and the al-Qaeda terror network.

"Another brother, Mourad Benchellali, is among six French detainees suspected of ties to al-Qaeda who are being held at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"One of the seven arrested on Tuesday, the wife of an Islamic cleric, is expected to be released. But the others are expected to be presented before an investigating magistrate on Monday in Paris."

"Eight foreigners have been arrested in Switzerland in connection with suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia. The detained are being held on suspicion 'of providing logistical support to a criminal organisation,' federal police said in a statement. 'The police action was in the context of terrorism investigations,' the statement added. Twenty-six people - including one Swiss citizen - and nine attackers were killed in the Riyadh bombings last May." This from the BBC, with thanks to Nicolei.

Interesting that these men thought they could hide out successfully in a quiet Western European country, although it is good news that they were wrong.

"'In the course of our inquiries related to terrorism - and in particular the attacks in Riyadh - an operation by the federal police took place simultaneously on Thursday in five cantons [regions],' Switzerland's public prosecutor said.

"Over 100 police officers took part in what is being described as Switzerland's biggest-ever nationwide operation against alleged terror suspects, the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Bern says."

"But because of the continuing investigation, the police is declining to provide any further details. 'We are at the beginning of the investigation,' Andrea Sadecky, a spokeswoman from the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office, said. And 'it would not be right to say all of these people had the same religious or ethnic background,' she said."

Well, I'm sure they don't all have the same ethnic background, but it will be very interesting if Sadecky is telling the truth about their having different religions. We shall see.

Mullah Krekar on Al-Jazeera

Mullah Krekar, the Muslim leader now living in Norway, has gotten tangled up. He now says he is not the leader of Ansar al-Islam, a jihadist group in Iraq, but he sang a different tune to Al-Jazeera recently: "Mullah Krekar, under arrest in Norway for suspected terror links, represented himself in an Al-Jazeera TV program as leader of the suspected terrorist group Ansar al-Islam just last month. He also confirmed the group was behind a suicide bombing in Northern Iraq last year." This from Aftenposten, with thanks to roboetal.

"Krekar's appearance on the TV program left his Norwegian defense attorney with some explaining to do on Friday. Lawyer Brynjar Meling has been trying to get Krekar released from custody in Oslo, vigorously repeating Krekar's earlier claims that he has nothing to do with Ansar al-Islam.

"Newspaper Aftenposten reported Friday that in the Al-Jazeera program, broadcast December 2, Krekar appeared as a guerrilla leader. Wearing a head covering and military fatigues, he offered no protest or correction when he was identified several times as zaim, or leader, of Ansar al-Islam.

"Moreover, Krekar confirmed in the debate program called Al-Ittijah-al-Muakis that Ansar al-Islam was behind a suicide bombing in Northern Iraq on March 22. Three people were killed in the bombing, and that incident plays a key role in Norwegian prosecutors' charges against him.

"Krekar also displayed detailed knowledge of the incident, saying that after 'the Americans bombed us in our areas... one of our brothers, one of the martyr candidates, fastened explosives to himself and his car and drove into an American position.' Before he left, Krekar added, the suicide bomber 'gave USD 5,000 that he had to his brothers and exchanged his new shoes with old ones.'"