April 2004 Archives

Mourners for the victims of the Srebrenica massacre

From Radio Free Europe.
Highlights of this 1995 UN debacle include an airstrike delayed because it was requested on the wrong form, a trade of 5,000 unarmed Muslims for 14 Dutch UN Peacekeepers, and UN commander Morillon's 1993 quotation, "I will never abandon you."

This will not win Muslim hearts and minds.

The Bosnian Serb government has disclosed the locations of six new mass graves containing the remains of victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.

The head of a government-appointed commission, Milan Bogdanic, said the locations are presented in a preliminary report based on information obtained from the Defense and Interior ministries.

The disclosure of the new graves came after Bosnia's international administrator, Paddy Ashdown, recently ordered Serb authorities to cooperate with the commission or lose their jobs.

The commission has until mid-June to submit its final report on the events in Srebrenica, which, in a historic decision earlier this month, a UN court ruled was genocide.

During the massacre, an estimated 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed by Serbian paramilitary forces. So far, more than 6,000 bodies have been exhumed.

This American is not impressed. Luring innocent people to their deaths is an unspeakably evil act. From the London Telegraph

Seven alleged terrorists from Pakistan shot dead by Macedonian police two years ago were innocent people lured to their deaths in an attempt to win favour with the United States, the authorities said yesterday.

Police investigators said seven men, including a former interior minister and three former police commanders, had been charged with murder.

Mirjana Konteska, a police spokesman, said the Pakistanis had been smuggled into Macedonia from Bulgaria in March 2002 with the promise of help to reach western Europe before being killed. At the time, the security forces claimed to have eliminated a terrorist group plotting to attack embassies and diplomats in the capital, Skopje.

"That was an act of a sick mind," Miss Konteska said. "They lost their lives in a staged murder."

Fidel Castro has this funny feeling that someone is watching him (Photo AFP)

I don't like Fidel Castro or his beard, but this is a ridculous way to allocate resources.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Treasury Department agency entrusted with blocking the financial resources of terrorists has assigned five times as many agents to investigate Cuban embargo violations as it has to track Osama bin Laden's and Saddam Hussein's money, documents show.

Fortunately legislators on both sides of the aisle agree.

Sen. Max Baucus, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, requested the figures, which showed that at the end of 2003, OFAC had 21 full-time agents working Cuba violations and just four full-time workers hunting bin Laden's and Saddam's riches.

"Rather than spending precious resources to prevent Americans from exercising their right to travel, OFAC must realign its priorities and instead work harder to keep very real terrorist threats out of our country," said Baucus, D-Mont.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the tax-writing Senate panel, agreed.

"OFAC obviously needs to enforce the law with regard to U.S. policy on Cuba, but the United States is at war against terrorism, and al-Qaida is the biggest threat to our national security," Grassley said. "Cutting off the blood money that has financed Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden must be a priority when it comes to resources."

A US soldier stands guard at a checkpoint at the entrance of the restive town of Fallujah. (AFP)

This news from Fallujah via Scotsman.com. The U.S. Marines, one of world's most feared fighting forces and part of history's most impressively equipped military , could have easily leveled this mosque and this city, but did not.

America hopes restraint will win the battle of hearts and minds. I only hope that Sadr does not mistake our kindness for weakness. U.S. Marines were not meant for dhimmitude.

Radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr told worshippers at Friday prayers that he will not accept calls to tone down his anti-American rhetoric.

He accused the US of being "the enemy of Islam and Muslims and jihad is the path of my ancestors."

Al-Sadr made the speech at a mosque in Kufa, a stronghold of his Al-Mahdi army.

American forces are surrounding Najaf, where al-Sadr is based. Tribal leaders and police are holding intensive talks in the city aimed at reducing tensions and preventing an American assault on the city, which is home to one of the shrines holiest to Shiite Muslims.

Lieutenant Colonel Pat White said US forces were holding back to give talks a chance and out of respect for Friday, the Islamic day of prayer.

"We want to show that we respect what that day means to the Islamic world," White said, adding that forces were closely monitoring speeches that clerics were giving at prayer services.

Boston Harbor (AP)
Memo to all law enforcement agencies operating in the U.S. (including state, federal, and local):
We are all on the same team. Can we please work together?

BOSTON -- Local officials are again reacting to news Thursday that stowaways on LNG tankers that docked in Boston several years ago may have had terrorist connections.

NewsCenter 5's Lynn Jolicouer reported that federal documents recently released by the Department of Homeland Security show the illegal Algerian immigrants, who were involved with drug smuggling, may have had ties to terrorists indicted in a 1999 plot to blow up Los Angeles International Airport.

Wednesday Massachusetts Congressman Ed Markey publicized the memo, which said, "In early 2001 there was some suspicion of possible associations between stowaways on Algerian flagged LNG tankers arriving in Boston and persons connected with the so-called 'Millennium Plot.'

"Oh, the farmer and the cowman should be friends"

Reuters is quick to deny that religious and ethnic fighting in rural Nigeria has anything to do with religious and ethnic ties.

LAGOS (Reuters) - More than 100 people were believed killed and 1,000 wounded in fresh ethnic and religious fighting in central Nigeria, the Nigerian Red Cross said on Friday.

The death toll from Tuesday's fighting between Muslims and Christians in six remote farming villages on the border between Plateau and Taraba states has been slow to emerge, partly because the telephone lines are not working in Taraba.

Reuters, showing that it has forgotten the Miss World riot, the Kaduna massacres, and the implementation of sharia in Northern Nigeria says:

The Muslim Fulani, who live principally from cattle herding, and the Christian Tarok, who are subsistence farmers, are fighting mainly over land and cattle. Most of the killing is done with large cutlasses and in arson attacks.

If I thought that the hearings would help us formulate a more coherent defense against vioent jihad terrorism, I would be all for it. Instead, it seems more like a brawl on the deck of the Titanic. "What did you know and when did you know-- glub, glub, glub...."

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney spent more than three hours behind closed doors Thursday with the Sept. 11 commission that is charged with finding ways to prevent a repeat of the worst terrorist attack in American history. "I answered every question they asked," Bush said.

He declined to disclose details of the Oval Office discussion, saying the commissioners would incorporate his and Cheney's comments in their final report, set for release about three months before the November election.

The president did say the meeting as "very cordial" and the commissioners were "very interested in the recommendations that they're going to lay out, and I'm interested in those as well."

A U.S. Marine begins dismantling a ring of concertina wire around a forward Marine base in Fallujah, Iraq Thursday, April 29, 2004. (AP)

A newsflash from AP

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) - U.S. Marines announced Thursday an agreement to end a bloody, nearly monthlong siege of Fallujah, saying American forces will pull back and allow an all-Iraqi force commanded by one of Saddam Hussein's generals to take over security.

Elsewhere, 10 U.S. soldiers were killed Thursday - eight of them in a car bombing south of Baghdad. Two were killed in a convoy attack in Baghdad and roadside bomb in Baqoubah, north of the capital.

The Fallujah deal came after intense international pressure on the United States to find a peaceful solution to the standoff that killed hundreds of Iraqis and became a symbol of anti-U.S. resistance in Iraq, fueling violence that made April the deadliest month for American forces.

Only last week, U.S. commanders threatened to launch an all-out attack on the city to root out an estimated 1,500 Sunni insurgents inside. Even after Washington decided to push ahead with political efforts instead, Marines and guerrillas continued to clash, with the heavy U.S. bombardment of the city the past two nights televised around the world.

Nihad Awad of CAIR

Joe Kaufman on CAIR and terror at FrontPage:

"Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."

This was the line from President George W. Bush's September 20, 2001 Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People that set the 'Bush Doctrine' in motion. In the speech, this line made reference to foreign nations that harbored and/or supported terrorists. However, within the 'war on terrorism,' the line actually had a much broader meaning -- specifically towards those individuals and groups that supported the enemy right from our own shores.

According to Justice Department U.S. Code Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 113B, Section 2339A:

"Whoever provides material support or resources or conceals or disguises the nature, location, source, or ownership of material support or resources, knowing or intending that they are to be used in preparation for, or in carrying out [terrorist acts], or in preparation for, or in carrying out, the concealment or an escape from the commission of any such violation, or attempts or conspires to do such an act, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both, and, if the death of any person results, shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life."

One group in particular, CAIR or the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an entity masquerading as a 'civil rights' organization, has called into question its own support for nefarious causes. The following will prove that, in late 2001, CAIR appeared to be in violation of United States law, as in regards to the providing of material support to terrorists.

In September of 2001, just following the worst terrorist attack ever suffered in modern history, CAIR placed on its website, under a picture of the World Trade Center in flames, a plea for donations. It read, "Donate to the NY/DC Emergency Relief Fund."

Yet, when people clicked on the link, it did not take them to any NY/DC Emergency Relief Fund. No, it took them straight to the website of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, an Islamic 'charity' that was soon to be shut down by the United States for "raising millions of dollars annually for HAMAS."

The fact that CAIR was toying with the emotions of persons wanting to give money to a fund that CAIR disguised as one related to the 9/11 attacks is despicable... The fact that CAIR was asking people to donate to an organization that was raising millions for a terrorist organization that regularly sends suicide squads to murder innocent people is criminal.

Later that month, on September 25, 2001, CAIR changed the link to explicitly ask persons to "Donate through the Holy Land Foundation." And in addition, CAIR added a new link to its site, soliciting persons to "Donate through the Global Relief Foundation."

The Global Relief Foundation, like the Holy Land Foundation, was soon to be shut down by the U.S. government on terrorism related charges. As stated by the Treasury Department, "The Global Relief Foundation has connections to, has provided support for, and has provided assistance to Usama Bin Ladin, the al-Qaeda Network, and other known terrorist groups."

At the time of the Holy Land Foundation's closure, on December 4, 2001, CAIR immediately took the Holy Land Foundation link off of its site. And less than a week after the Global Relief Foundation's December 14, 2001 closure, CAIR removed that group's link as well.

The question we now have to ask is, "Did CAIR know that these organizations existed as terrorist related entities, prior to CAIR removing the links?" Or, considering CAIR's connection to both offending organizations, the more appropriate question would be, "How did they not know?"

Mousa Abu Marzook - Grandfather of CAIR

The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development was founded by HAMAS leader Mousa Abu Marzook, a man who was deported by the United States to Jordan in 1997. Marzook, who may very well be, today, second in command of HAMAS, also founded, in 1981, CAIR's parent organization, the Islamic Association for Palestine.

This is important, when considering the previous questions asked, but - but - there is a much bigger connection to CAIR, with respect to the Holy Land Foundation.

Ghassan Elashi - CAIR Board Member

The Chairman of the Holy Land Foundation, before the group's closure, was Ghassan Elashi. Elashi, in December of 2002, was charged with "selling computers and computer parts to Libya and Syria, both designated state sponsors of terrorism."

Besides the Holy Land Foundation, Ghassan Elashi was also involved with CAIR. In fact, Elashi was one of the founding board members of CAIR's Texas chapter. What this means is that CAIR didn't just stick a link to the Holy Land Foundation on its website, but instead, CAIR was directly linked to the Holy Land Foundation itself!

Rabih Haddad - CAIR Fundraiser

Rabih Haddad was a co-founder of the Global Relief Foundation. Before being deported by the United States to Lebanon in July of 2003, Haddad had held various positions with Global Relief, including that of Executive Director and Public Relations Director.

And like Ghassan Elashi, Haddad was also active in CAIR. According to the Quaker organization, the group that runs the large charitable foundation, the American Friends Service Committee, Haddad had served as a fundraiser for CAIR.

Just as in the previous case, this shows that the Global Relief Foundation was not only a link on the CAIR website, but that CAIR was directly involved in the organization.

Considering this evidence, it would be somewhat difficult for CAIR to deny any knowledge of the two pseudo-charities' nefarious involvements -- involvements that directly led to the murders of innocents abroad. This includes the December 2, 2001 suicide bombing of a bus in Haifa, Israel, murdering 15 and wounding 40 others... and the suicide bombing in an entertainment area in Jerusalem, which took the lives of 11 young people, just a day earlier.

Both incidents occurred, while CAIR was soliciting funds for the terrorist charities on its site. If CAIR was indeed involved, under the Justice Department code stated earlier, it could result in life imprisonment for all implicated.

But while it's hard for CAIR to run away from its connections to the Holy Land Foundation and the Global Relief Foundation, because of the connections, it's easy to understand why CAIR tried vigorously to defend and protect the groups.

CAIR called the closure of the Holy Land Foundation "unjust" and "disturbing." And CAIR described the closure of the Global Relief Foundation as the racial profiling of an organization that "had established a track record of effective relief work."

If CAIR wasn't involved in the conspiracy, why would it go out of its way to defend terror related organizations? Any group that claims to value human rights would run as far away from these organizations as possible. But CAIR did not.

The reason seems clear. Now, it's time for the United States government to investigate this matter.

Shoe bomber Richard Reid

Charles Colson writes about evidence that Western converts are playing an increasingly important role in Islamic terrorist efforts. (Thanks to EPG for the link.)

Anyone who has flown since September 11 has experienced the heightened security put into place as a result of the attacks. Most of us have adjusted to the new realities. And we're not the only ones adjusting. The people responsible for the heightened security--al Qaeda--have also adjusted.

After September 11 officials stepped up their scrutiny of people seeking to enter the United States bearing passports from Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries. While civil libertarians and Muslim-American groups protested, al Qaeda adapted.

As Robert Leiken of the Nixon Center wrote in the New Republic, Osama bin Laden is replacing Muslim immigrants in his operations with Western converts to Islam. It's easy to see why: "European nationals with European passports and faces" are less likely to arouse suspicions among American officials. What's more, most Western Europeans aren't required to obtain visas before traveling to the United States.

We saw a glimpse of this tactic in the case of British convert Richard Reid, the "shoe bomber." More recently, a French Muslim convert is alleged to have ties to a suspect in the Madrid bombings. And, as Leiken tells us, there's potentially a lot more where these two came from--that is, Europe.

That's because Europe has seen the rise of what are called "protest converts" to Islam. As the French scholar Olivier Roy put it, these young people convert for the same reason that American kids get multiple tattoos and body piercings: "to stick it to their parents [or] to their principal." Just as Europeans in the 1970s "went to Bolivia or Vietnam," these kids convert. It's a way "of identifying with a Third World cause."

Al Qaeda targets these people. "They are full of rage, and they want to prove themselves." They're eager to "show other Muslims their worth." And al Qaeda is only too happy to oblige them with radical imams publicly preaching violence and martyrdom, as articles in the New York Times this weekend underscored.

Remember, too, that this tactic isn't limited to Europe. In prisons across America, thousands of inmates have converted to Islam. And, as I've said on previous broadcasts, the extremist form of Islam has found its way into our prisons as well. While the vast majority of converts have no interest in joining al Qaeda, September 11 teaches us that it takes only a few to pose a horrendous threat. Just take a look at the case of Jose Padilla, the American, who was converted in prison and accused of plotting to detonate a "dirty bomb."

So, even if authorities find a way to cope with European converts, there's still the problem of the home-grown variety.

These developments remind us that, whether we admit it or not, we are in a clash of civilizations with the Islamic world. That doesn't mean that we are at war with every Muslim. What it means is that there's something about Islam that poses a potential threat to our security and our way of life. If you doubt that, ask yourself whether you can imagine a graduate of Prison Fellowship's full-time prison program setting off a dirty bomb.

We need to pray that our leaders can adapt to this frightening new reality. And we need to remind them that a religion where proving "your worth" consists of killing civilians shouldn't be called a "religion of peace."

Colson supplies some interesting links for further reading and information at the source site.

The LAPD is looking into it

From AP, with thanks to shoeshine:

LOS ANGELES - Federal officials have warned the LAPD about an unspecified potential threat to a Los Angeles area mall and said an attack may have been planned for Thursday.

"As of now, the information is uncorroborated and the credibility of the source is unknown," the police department said in a statement.

No specific shopping mall was named, but the warning indicated a mall near the Federal Building in West Los Angeles could be targeted.

The LAPD will increase patrols at shopping malls in the city and asked mall operators to beef up their security while a joint terrorism task force investigates. The department said it would have no further comment beyond the statement issued late Wednesday.

UPDATE: It was a hoax. From the Copley News Service, :

LOS ANGELES - A Tanzanian citizen has been arrested and charged with making up a terrorist threat about a Los Angeles-area shopping mall that led to increased police patrols last week, the FBI said yesterday.

Zameer Mohamed, 23, was arrested Thursday by the U.S. Border Patrol in Montana after crossing into the United States illegally from Canada, said Richard Garcia, assistant director of the FBI's Los Angeles office. Mohamed is being held in Montana and is expected to be transferred to Los Angeles.

Garcia said Mohamed has admitted he lied when he called the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on April 23 and told officials four people were headed to Los Angeles to carry out "an explosive attack" April 29 on a shopping mall near UCLA.

The hoax was an elaborate scheme to get back at Mohamed's girlfriend in Toronto and three of her co-workers, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.

"It doesn't appear he was involved in any type of terrorist activity," Garcia said, adding that the investigation is continuing.

Mohamed believed his girlfriend owed him money, and he was angry at the other three people - two men and a woman - because they refused to talk to her about the issue, the complaint stated. Mohamed passed the names of the four to the Homeland Security Department "because he wanted to cause them problems and go to jail," according to the FBI.

In happier days

No sooner does he walk that he goes back into the slammer. "Spiritual leader" and terrorist Abu Bakar Bashir is set to be rearrested. From AP:

JAKARTA, Indonesia - The suspected spiritual leader of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terror group will be re-arrested after he is released from jail on Friday, a police spokesman announced. The cleric's supporters have vowed to resist the move.

Indonesian authorities earlier said Abu Bakar Bashir would walk free when his 18-month term for minor immigration offenses ends Friday, despite protests from the United States and Australia, which insist he's a terrorist.

National police spokesman Maj. Gen. Bashir Ahmad Barmawi said Thursday that there is new evidence against Bashir, including witness testimony about him attending a ceremony at a militant training center in the southern Philippines in April 2000.

"Investigators will detain Bashir after he is released from the Salemba Detention Center on April 30 because police already have strong evidence about his activities," Barmawi told reporters.

In March, the Supreme Court overturned a harsher treason conviction that would have kept the 66-year-old cleric behind bars for three years.

Any move to detain him could likely lead to protests by his supporters, who have vowed to resist any attempt keep him behind bars.

Dozens of Bashir's supporters have kept an around-the-clock vigil outside Jakarta's Salemba prison. They claim the United States wants him to remain in jail because of his vehement criticism of U.S. policy in the Middle East. ...

Indonesians go the polls to select a new president in July, and many politicians are loath to speak out strongly against Islamic radicals during the campaign.

Many of Indonesia's top Muslim groups and politicians have spoken in Bashir's defense and demanded that Washington stop meddling in the country's domestic affairs.

Last month, U.S. Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge claimed Bashir had "intense and deep involvement in the planning and execution of terrorist activities" and should be put on trial again. Australia's foreign minister, Alexander Downer, called Bashir a "loathsome creature" and urged Jakarta not to release him.

Bashir founded a religious school, Al-Mukmin, in Solo during the 1970s. Several of the militants involved in the Bali bombings and other attacks have either taught at or had other links to the school.

Now Indonesian Christians are charging that the church burnt down in jihad violence was actually torched by Indonesian soldiers. From the Sydney Morning Herald, with thanks to Jean-Luc:

Christians have claimed that Indonesian soldiers razed a church to the ground and looted houses in the fourth day of bitter religious fighting in Ambon.

More than 100 Ambonese Christians demonstrated outside police headquarters to demand action against at least five soldiers who they said had burnt the Nazaret Church early yesterday.

Several witnesses at the smouldering remains of the church insisted soldiers from the army's 111th Airborne Battalion had been involved in the attack.

Piet Hatu, whose lives 50 metres from the church, said he was one of about 30 people guarding the church when soldiers arrived around 7.30pm on Tuesday and said they would help protect it.

The soldiers stayed with them until around 2am when small bombs began exploding next to the church and the soldiers ordered everyone to leave. "They said it's too dangerous, we have to go. We went to the road about 50 metres away and waited and after about half an hour they burnt the church," he said.

He was adamant the soldiers had burnt it and eight houses, but said he did not see them doing so and had no proof.

He said it was possible the army had attacked wrongly believing that Christians like him supported the tiny separatist group, Republic of South Maluku, whose supporters staged a march on Sunday which sparked the violence.

The spokesman for the army's Maluku command, Major Paiman, denied the military had burnt the church. He agreed his men were there.

He did not know how many soldiers had been assigned to guard the church and by late yesterday he had heard no reports from them of what had happened.

For some reason I don't feel so welcome

Nigeria's Zamfara state has just announced a new set of laws, racheting up implementation of Islamic law, the Sharia.

Officials say blandly that in "phase two" of this implementation, "unauthorised" houses of worship will be closed. What constitutes an "unauthorised" place of worship? Any dhimmi house of prayer? Or those that aren't covered by dhimmi laws -- i.e., African animists? Either one is an outrage to the freedoms of conscience and religion, but even the BBC isn't sure of the answer. That suggests that they weren't able to get any clarity about this from Muslim spokesmen. From the BBC, with thanks to "Allah":

All businesses in the state will have to shut down during the five daily Muslim prayers.

The state government also says that all "unauthorised" places of worship will be shut down under "Sharia phase two".

Zamfara was the first Nigerian state to introduce strict Sharia laws in 2000 and thousands turned out to welcome the new measures on Wednesday.

Death sentences

The BBC's Yusuf Sarki Muhammad in the state capital, Gusau, says it is not clear whether churches will be targeted for closure under the new measures.

He says there are many unauthorised places of worship in Zamfara, as elsewhere in Nigeria.

Most other states in the predominantly Muslim northern Nigeria followed Zamfara by introducing Sharia laws.

Thieves have had their hands amputated and several women have been sentenced to death by stoning for having extra-marital sex.

But no death sentences have yet been carried out.

The new laws led to clashes between Christians and Muslims, in which thousands of people died.

Another honor killing, this time in Turkey. From Reuters, with thanks to Cathy J. Palmer:

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police have arrested a man and a dozen of his relatives on suspicion of murdering his 14-year-old daughter, a rape victim, to salvage the family's "honour", according to newspaper reports.

Turkey, a candidate for European Union membership, is under pressure from Brussels and from human rights groups, to crack down harder on "honour killings", which involve the murder of women by male relatives for bringing shame on the family name.

Nuran Halitogullari was taken captive and raped late last month by a man while she was going to a market in Istanbul. He kept her prisoner in his home for four days, the papers said.

Police then arrested him and returned Nuran to her parents, but the family decided she must die for "soiling" their name. Her father and 17-year-old brother strangled her with a wire.

They buried her body in a forest and also tried to kill her rapist but he was already in police custody. ...

Experts estimate up to 70 women are murdered annually in honour killings in Turkey, mostly in the conservative [i.e., firmly Islamic], mainly ethnic Kurdish southeast region. Scores of other women take their own lives under pressure or fear of attack.

Turkey's parliament is preparing to strike from the penal code clauses used to reduce sentences for murders committed in the name of honour. It is part of a wider drive to clean up Turkey's human rights record and promote its EU bid.

In another recent case which drew strong Turkish media interest, a 22-year-old woman was shot dead by her two brothers as she lay in a hospital bed in Istanbul recovering from an earlier assassination bid.

Guldunya Toren was killed for having a child outside wedlock after being raped by a cousin in southeastern Turkey.

In a sign of the changing times, Turkey's Muslim preachers recently condemned honour killings and said all forms of murder were a sin in Islam and were forbidden.

That's great. I hope they convince everyone in Turkey. But there is much evidence that this practice is justified on Islamic grounds. Last year Jordan's Parliament rejected a law stiffening penalties for honor killings because Islamic hardliners, according to Al-Jazeera, "said the laws violated religious traditions and would destroy families and values."

Amer Azizi

A connection between 9/11 and 3/11.

MADRID, Spain (AP) -- A Moroccan fugitive sought in connection with last month's Madrid train bombings has been indicted on charges of helping plan the September 11 attacks in the United States.

Amer Azizi helped organize a meeting in northeast Spain in July 2001 that key plotters in the U.S. attacks, including suspect suicide pilot Mohamed Atta, used to finalize details, Judge Baltasar Garzon said.

Azizi was initially included in an indictment Garzon handed down in September against Osama bin Laden and 34 other terror suspects. Azizi was charged then with belonging to a terrorist organization.

The new indictment charges Azizi with actually helping plan the September 11 attacks. Garzon accused Azizi of multiple counts of murder -- "as many deaths and injuries as were committed" on September 11.

The indictment was based on information provided by authorities in Britain, Turkey and the United States, Garzon said.

Azizi provided lodging for people who attended the July 2001 meeting in the Tarragona region of Spain and acted as a courier, passing on messages between plotters, Garzon said in the indictment.

The judge described Azizi as the right-hand man of Imad Yarkas, jailed in November 2001 on charges of leading a Spain-based al Qaeda cell that allegedly provided financing and logistics for planners of the September 11 attacks.

Azizi fled Spain in November 2001, shortly after a wave of arrests that netted Yarkas and more than a dozen other al Qaeda suspects.

The Interior Ministry released a photo of Azizi this month, calling him a suspect in the March 11 train bombings in Madrid, in which 191 people died and more than 2,000 were injured.

So what were they doing with the mildly poisonous chemical compound and maps of the U.S. Embassy? I guess we'll never know.

ROME, Italy (AP) -- An Italian court has acquitted nine Moroccans accused of plotting an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Rome. ...

The nine were arrested in February, 2002 on suspicions they were planning to poison the embassy's water supply.

A mildly poisonous chemical compound found at the Rome apartment where four of the suspects were living. Maps indicating the U.S. Embassy were found outside the same apartment.

They were charged with association aimed at international terrorism -- a charge introduced after the September 11 attacks as part of Italy's efforts to crack down on suspected Islamic terrorists.

Prosecutor Franco Ionta asked the court to convict four of the defendants, seeking a prison term of up to seven years and six months.

The remaining five should be acquitted for lack of evidence, Ionta said.

The defendants denied any wrongdoing.

An Indonesian anti-riot policeman (EPA)

Of course, this AP story portrays this as miscellaneous "sectarian violence," but it is nothing else but jihad and an attempt to treat Christians as dhimmis.

Christian provocation: they held a rally. Muslim response: one church and seven Christian homes torched. Now, of course, the Christians are fighting back, but the whole thing wouldn't have started if not for the Islamic assumption of superiority which brooks no displays from the dhimmis. Dhimmi Christians, according to Sharia, must not make public display of their feast days, display the cross, ring church bells, have processions, etc. (See 'Umdat al-Salik, o11.5.) So much for tolerance.

AP, AMBON, INDONESIA: Gunfire and explosions rocked the provincial capital of Ambon yesterday, leaving one dead, 13 wounded and a church in ruins as Christians and Muslims clashed for a fourth day in Indonesia's Maluku islands.

In Jakarta, national police spokesman Colonel Zainuri Lubis said the death toll from the violence had risen to 36 since Sunday. A total of 159 people were injured in that period, he said.

Shortly after dawn, unidentified assailants launched attacks in several districts of Ambon, with the heaviest fighting in areas that straddle the avenues between the Muslim and Christian communities.

Plumes of smoke could be seen rising from at least two places, and gunfire from snipers positioned atop buildings rang out across the divided city for several hours.

Police and the military were patrolling the streets, and most shops and banks were shut.

Ambon police chief Brigadier General Bambang Sutrisno insisted security was improving in the province, where Muslim-Christian violence three years ago killed 9,000 people.

"We believe things are getting better," he said.

A 22-year-old man was shot dead yesterday. Nine others were taken to a hospital in the Muslim part of town with gunshot wounds or blast injuries, medical orderlies said.

The Nazaret Protestant Church and seven nearby houses in a Christian neighborhood were torched by unidentified assailants just after dawn.

Witnesses said at least four people were injured.

Witnesses also claimed the military stood by as the church and nearby homes were burned down.

"We wanted to get our things from the house but the soldiers shouted `you cannot' and pointed their guns at us," said Jan Lukukay, a 53-year-old school teacher. "Why aren't they protecting us?"

The latest round of violence erupted on Sunday after several members of the region's small, largely Christian, separatist movement rallied in the city center. Muslims, who view such public displays as a provocation, assaulted the demonstrators, touching off the sectarian clashes.

The earlier conflict here galvanized militant Muslims across Indonesia -- and attracted Islamic fighters from around Southeast Asia and from the Middle East.

Many members of Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaeda-linked extremist group blamed for a series of deadly bombings in Indonesia, have told authorities that they fought in the conflict.

Unlike most of mainly Muslim Indonesia, the province's 2 million people are evenly divided between Muslims and Christians.

Christians complain that Muslim settlers from other parts of Indonesia have come to dominate government work and the retail sector, siphoning off jobs and business from Christians.

More threats and bravado. Note the avowedly religious positioning of the conflict. Contrary to what most Westerners would probably assume, it isn't just empty boilerplate or window dressing. In fact, it is a key element of the recruitment techniques used by Al-Qaeda and other groups. From the SITE Institute, :

SITE Institute,4/28/2004 - On April 27, 2004, the number one wanted man chased by the security forces in Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz Bin Issa Al Mukarran known as Abu Hajer, broadcast an internet video message on al-Qaeda’s online mouthpiece, “The Center for Islamic Studies and Research,” in which Abu Hajer called upon the mujahideen to fight the Americans wherever they are.

He said, “The Mujahideen’s first target is the Crusaders. As for their agents, the apostate Governors, their time will come soon, after we have finished with their masters. The martyrs convoys are continuing.”

The Crusaders, of course, are the Americans and their allies. The apostate Governers are those who rule in the Islamic world either not according to the fullness of Sharia (Syria, Egypt, etc.), or not in a manner to the jihadists' liking (Saudi Arabia, with its alliance with the U.S.).

He also stated, “Let the world know, and let America and its allies know that, with the help of God, we are on our way. When we strike, it is God who is striking. We are here to complete the mission started by our Prophet Mohammad (Peace be on him and his company) when they conquered the world and freed it from adoring slaves to adoring their Master. Let them know that our Jihad shall continue until they run out of strength, and God is stronger…”

“Let America know that those who forced it out of Somalia, struck it in Kenya and Tanzania, drowned its battleship in Eden, and made an example to the world out of it in Manhattan, those are thankfully still strong and are getting stronger in their determination and Jihad for the way of God and victory. Let America know that those who are fighting it in Afghanistan and are rubbing its nose in the mud in Iraq, will not accept the occupation of the Al Haramain territory. They will not accept establishing Crusaders’ military bases in it. Americans, since you dared Islam and Muslims, and planted your bases in the Arab Peninsula, the peninsula of Mohammad (Peace be on him). You ate its wealth and graces, and planted your agents in its. You went further in daring the Muslims by striking them in Afghanistan and Iraq using Al Haramain country for your operations. Because of all the above, we are everywhere watching you, planning our strikes. What you have seen so far, was nothing but small challenges. You have not had yet the real battle. It just started today.”

He continued in his address to the Mujahideen saying: “Mujahideen for the sake of God, your day has come. This is your enemy occupying your land, controlling its agents the apostates, using it as a base to fight Islam and Muslims. Fight them until you see their blood and their pieces as they did to your brothers in Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq. Now they are fighting their battles in the Arab Peninsula. Mujahideen, fight the Americans everywhere, with all of your power. Fight them as they fought you. Scare them as they scared your brothers. Make them cry as they made the widows and orphans cry. Fight whoever comes between you and the Americans, and agreed to fight the Mujahideen in defense of the assaulting Crusaders. Purify your path from them.”

Shabana Rehman (Aftenposten)

Shabana Rehman picked up Mullah Krekar. By the legs. She was trying to make a satiric point. He called it a "gruesome humiliation." Krekar, the jihadist leader who now resides in Norway, should know: he has done a few grueome things himself.

But what does this strange incident have to do with dhimmitude and jihad? Why, everything. For besides gruesomely humiliating this terrorist, Rehman has violated a fundamental tenet of the jihadists, most memorably expressed by Ayatollah Khomeini: "Allah did not create man so that he could have fun. The aim of creation was for mankind to be put to the test through hardship and prayer. An Islamic regime must be serious in every field. There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humor in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious."

From Norway's Aftenposten, with thanks to Jarle Synnevåg and Filtrat:

Norwegian-Pakistani humorist Shabana Rehman pulled a stunt during a public debate with Mullah Krekar, the controversial former leader of the militant group Ansar al-Islam that left the religious man fuming and threatening a lawsuit. Rehman, a popular stand-up comic who specializes in material based on culture collision, picked the mullah up off the ground, an act he called a gruesome humiliation.

The bizarre incident took place during a debate about Krekar's new book, a largely autobiographical work that tries to put his life and beliefs into perspective and give an alternative look at a man constantly embroiled in accusations of terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism.

Rehman, who was born in Karachi but raised in Norway since infancy, is controversial in her own right, constantly creating a stir with comedy material touching on immigration, integration, Muslim conflicts and traditions, feminism and sexual repression. ...

On Tuesday night as the debate was winding to a close, Rehman came on stage and said she wanted to carry out a "satiric test" to find out if Mullah Krekar was as strongly fundamentalist as some of his critics believe. When he approached her, she grabbed him and lifted him up in the air.

Krekar, who said that Rehman picked him up by reaching under his buttocks, became furious, grabbed the microphone and began speaking in Norwegian for the first time that evening.

"I do not have the right to carry her like that, she has no right to carry or touch me. She displays contempt for me. I cannot accept this," Krekar said, and promised to lodge a complaint via his lawyer. He demanded that all photographs of the incident be destroyed.

Rehman, who insists she lifted him by gripping him around the legs ("the only way for a woman 163 centimeters (5'4") to pick up a man that high"), told newspaper VG she also wanted to show that if she could lift him, he could hardly be a danger to national security.

The woman gathered in the audience laughed at the stunt but panel member Lar Gule, secretary general of Norway's Humanist Ethic League protested.

"The audience does not understand what an insult Krekar has been exposed to. This is very, very serious for Krekar, and Rehman especially should understand this," Gule said.

Rehman said she wanted to see if Krekar was as tolerant and relaxed as he claims to be, and admitted that she found his reaction confusing.

The terrorists have been busier than ever. From AP, :

TOKYO (AP)--A total of 3,213 terrorist incidents and guerrilla attacks last year claimed 7,476 lives worldwide, according to a Japanese government study published in newspapers Thursday.

The number of attacks rose 17.5% from the previous year and marked a record high since the Public Security Investigation Agency started compiling data in 1991, according to the Yomiuri, Japan's largest newspaper.

The report blamed chaos in Iraq and the spread of terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists for the increase, the Yomiuri said. ...

By region, Asia and Oceania topped the list with 1,478 incidents, followed by the Middle East with 801 and the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe with 295, Kyodo News reported.

Many have pointed out that this is not really that big a deal, and that Sharia courts for private arbitration are no different from courts that judge according to Jewish law, as goes the comparison in this article , or any other private, voluntary association.

It is the nature of Sharia that raises questions. The Jewish court, the article tells us, "deals with monetary, business and family disputes, but no criminal matters." But Sharia does deal with criminal matters. Who will decide, then, what elements of Sharia will come under the purview of these courts, and which won't? How will this decision be made? And once made, will it not be subject to revision in the name of multiculturalism, tolerance, and freedom of religion — resulting in an ever wider sphere of influence for Sharia?

Maybe that won't happen. But it would be reassuring to see from Canadian authorities some clear and satisfactory answers to such questions.

Toronto, ON, Apr. 28 (UPI) -- Muslims in the Canadian province of Ontario can soon turn to settling disputes in their own courts, known as sharia, the Washington post reported.

Muslim promoters of sharia arbitration said no cases have yet been decided but the process is set. Islamic leaders created an Islamic Court of Civil Justice last fall and it has chosen arbitrators who have undergone training in sharia and Canadian civil law.

"People can agree to resolve disputes any way acceptable," said Brendan Crawley, a spokesman for the Ontario Attorney General's office said in an interview. He said the arbitration act has a number of safeguards, including the requirement that parties enter into arbitration only on a voluntary basis, and any decisions by arbitrators are subject to court ratification.

Jewish courts, using similar methods, have long been operating in Ontario. Such a court, called a Beit Din, deals with monetary, business and family disputes, but no criminal matters.

Cecilia Holland (Compass Direct)

Proving once again that to jihadists, tolerance and pluralism only go one way, Muslim officials in Sudan have whipped a Christian girl for not wearing a headscarf. Where now are the Muslim voices that cried out for human rights and religious freedom in France? Why aren't they protesting this kind of thing?

April 28 (Compass) — Sudan’s Islamic regime in Khartoum lashed and fined a young Christian Sudanese woman in mid April for not wearing a headscarf in public in the capital city.

Cecilia John Holland, 27, was given 40 lashes on her back and fined 10,000 Sudanese dinars ($40) by the Sizana Islamic Court in Khartoum on April 14, sources in the capital confirmed to Compass.

A Christian born in southern Sudan, Holland was traveling by minibus to her home in the Khartoum suburb of Haj Yousif on the night of April 13 when she was arrested by a group of 10 public-order policemen, some in uniform and others in plainclothes.

She was just boarding the bus near Badr gardens in Khartoum Two at 9 p.m. when the police apparently spotted her. A police van pulled ahead of the bus, ordering the driver to stop, and Holland was dragged off the bus into the van.

When Holland tried to pull free, protesting that she was a Christian and a southerner, she was struck with a hard blow on the neck and forced into the van. Four other women were already detained there, all wearing scarves, although their attire was tight and revealing.

With temperatures in Khartoum ranging between 100 and 105 degrees F., Holland was wearing modest long sleeves and an ankle-length skirt, but her hair was uncovered.

The police told Holland she was being arrested for not wearing a scarf. No one in Khartoum, “even a non-Muslim,” she was told, was exempt from Islamic bans against wearing improper dress. ...

On the morning of April 14, the accused women were taken to the Sizana Islamic Court. There a policeman swore an oath on the Koran and then read out the charges against Holland and the other women. None of the accused women were allowed to say a word to the court.

According to the police version of Holland’s case, she was accused of “standing near a garden at night” and “not wearing a scarf on her head at 11 p.m.” The police refused to register that she was employed, writing instead that she was “jobless.”

Holland, who holds a diploma in catering from Khartoum Applied Sciences College, is employed as a catering officer for a local non-governmental organization.

Declaring Holland guilty, the Sizana court sentenced her to be lashed 40 times on her back and pay a fine of 10,000 Sudanese dinars. That afternoon, after being whipped and paying the cash penalty, she was released. The fine represented a third of Holland’s monthly salary. ...

Holland’s forced subjection to the restrictions and harsh punishments of Islamic law dramatizes one key issue now deadlocking a year of ongoing peace talks between the National Islamic Front government in Khartoum and the southern leadership of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).

Earlier this month, the Khartoum government refused to compromise on its insistence that Islamic law govern all Sudanese citizens residing in Khartoum. More than two million non-Muslim southerners live in and around the capital, displaced by the last 20 years of civil war between the African Christian-animist south and the Arab Muslim north.

So far the SPLM’s alternative proposals have been outright rejected, to either establish a separate enclave within the capital for southerners, or subject its non-Muslim Sudanese to the same secular laws to be followed in the south during a six-year period of self-rule.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir claimed on April 13 that southern negotiators had abandoned their demands and agreed to have “only one legislation” in Khartoum. According to an Agence France Press report, Bashir said the compromise came “after we gave them convincing guarantees regarding the cultural and religious diversities among the citizens.”

But a SPLM spokesman denied any such agreement, which would in effect make the south’s non-Muslims “second-class citizens” in the country’s political capital.

"Second-class citizens": i.e., dhimmis.

Bouziane (AFP)

It appears that the attempt to deport wife-beating advocate Imam Abdelkader Bouziane from France has collapsed utterly. But he still may face prosecution.

PARIS, April 28 (AFP) - The French government said Wednesday it would allow an Islamic imam it deported last week back into the country, but warned he faced legal action after making comments endorsing wife-beating.

The decision to permit the return of Abdelkader Bouziane, a 52-year-old Algerian who preached at a mosque in the western city of Lyon, followed a ruling by an administrative tribunal that the deportation was illegal.

Government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope said France would not oppose Bouziane's return, but added the imam "will have to answer to French justice for his acts and statements" if he does come back from Algeria, where he was sent to a week ago.

Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said Tuesday that intelligence surveillance of Bouziane, who had lived in France for 24 years, showed he "belonged to a movement whose extremist elements justified terrorism."

He said comments Bouziane made to the April issue of Lyon Mag, a local magazine, in which he endorsed wife-beating and declared he was polygamous confirmed the government's decision to go ahead with a February deportation order based on the concern that the imam was a threat to public order.

Bouziane, who adheres to a version of Islam preaching a literal interpretation of the Koran, has already applied for a visa in Algiers, where he was held by Algerian police after arriving, the newspaper Le Parisien reported.

The case has proved an embarrassment to the government, which has deported several other imams in the past months but mainly because they urged a jihad, or holy war, against the West.

An administrative tribunal that reviewed the case after Bouziane's forced departure ruled that the government had acted illegally by not formally charging the imam with any crime and not giving him an opportunity to defend himself.

A second review upheld that verdict, despite the interior ministry supplying newly unclassified intelligence reports purporting to depict Bouziane as a dangerous radical.

Jihadist target?

Another air attack thwarted? Or was this "Egyptian national" with a "disguised" lighter simply disappointed that he couldn't place a phone call? From AP, :

SALT LAKE CITY — A Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to New York was diverted to Salt Lake City on Tuesday after a man with a butane lighter alarmed the flight crew, officials said.

The man, an Egyptian national heading to Cairo, was carrying a lighter that resembled a cell phone and allegedly refused to move a bag stowed beneath his seat.

Flight 1986 landed at Salt Lake City International Airport about 11 a.m., two hours after leaving Los Angeles International Airport.

The man, who was not identified, became "quite agitated" when told he could not use the phone," said Michael Fierberg, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration.

Because the lighter appeared to be disguised and the man resisted putting it away, a flight attendant notified the pilot, Fierberg said.

The plane's 139 passengers were taken off the craft to be re-screened while the man was questioned by FBI agents. He was later released, but Delta Air Lines refused to transport him to New York, Fierberg said.

An IDF soldier being brought into hospital in Be'er Sheva after being injured in a suicide car bombing in Gaza on Wednesday (Haaretz)

The jihad in Israel continues, of course. From Haaretz, :

Four IDF soldiers were injured, two moderately and two lightly, when they foiled a major suicide car bomb attack Wednesday on Gaza Strip settlers. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, in which a jeep flying an Israeli flag and packed with as much as 300 kilograms of explosives drew the suspicion of Givati Brigade infantrymen on patrol near the Mor Bridge between the Kissufim crossing and the Gush Katif bloc of settlements.

Hamas identified the man driving the jeep as Tariq Khamayed, 24, of the Nuseirat refugee camp.

The IDF believes Khamayed planned to blow himself up against a bus or a convoy on the Kissufim-Gush Katif highway. The military had received general intelligence warnings of the possibility of such an attack.

The soldiers in a Givati company commander's patrol vehicle spotted the jeep as it headed through an off-road area toward a road connecting Kfar Darom and the large Gush Katif settlement bloc.

Syrian police survey the damage to the former UN building

Jihad attacks in Damascus. From The Telegraph, :

Suspected al-Qa'eda gunmen launched co-ordinated attacks on a diplomatic district of Damascus last night, sparking a fierce battle with security forces on the streets of the Syrian capital.

Explosions and gunfire were heard close to the British ambassador's residence in the Mazzeh district that houses several embassies, while a building formerly housing United Nations offices was set alight.

Unconfirmed reports from witnesses said that masked men fired two rocket-propelled grenades at the former mission, setting it on fire. They are then said to have sprayed gunfire in all directions with assault rifles.

The random shooting hit a passing minibus which had no passengers and whose driver managed to escape, and five parked cars, which caught fire, witnesses said.

Late into the evening, smoke was seen billowing from Mazzeh and ambulances and police cars packed the area, which had been sealed by security forces. Witnesses said the violence started about 7.20pm and lasted more than an hour.

One local resident said that after the terrorists opened fire, a police car rushed to the scene and itself came under attack. The police returned fire and reinforcements, including plainclothes security forces, soon arrived. In the ensuing shoot-out, one of the two cars used by the assailants blew up, the witnesses said.

Syrian security forces are then said to have killed three gunmen and taken a fourth into custody. A member of the security forces was said to have been seriously wounded.

Police explosives specialists were brought in to examine the bodies of the dead gunmen to make sure they were not booby-trapped.

Amid conflicting reports of the number of explosions - perhaps as many as 15 - the state news agency, Sana, said that "a terrorist and sabotage group" had opened fire indiscriminately in Mazzeh. "The security services confronted them and are in full control of the situation," Sana added.

Syria's ambassador to the United States, Imad Mustafa, appeared to blame al-Qa'eda for the attack last night.

"We have been doing our best against al-Qa'eda," he said. "We share the same enemy [as America]. We aid the US in its fight against al-Qa'eda and terrorism."

Sana gave no details of the attackers, or of their intended targets. But the incident will seriously rattle the Syrian regime which has maintained an iron grip on security in the capital since putting down an attempted coup in the 1980s.

The Natanz facility in a satellite image (CNN)

Big surprise here. From CNN, :

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An Iranian opposition group with sources inside Iran's military is making public a list of the senior military personnel and military units it says are involved in Iran's secret nuclear weapons programs.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) says in a summary of its findings that Iran is rushing to complete a first nuclear bomb in "between one and two years."

The opposition group says the nuclear weapons effort by a special military unit functioning secretly outside the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization is under the personal supervision of the Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran's supreme ruler.

In a recent report, the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency said parts of Iran's nuclear program are under military control.

The Iranian government denies ever having a nuclear weapons program and says its facilities and programs are used only for the generation of electricity.

The Iranian opposition group's summary says the view of Iran's government is that "because of its problems in Iraq, the United States has no choice but to go soft on Iran."

The NCRI was the first to make public Iran's secret nuclear weapons research activities at sites in Natanz and Arak. The IAEA subsequently confirmed them.

While in London there is preferential housing for "Asians," in the Welsh Assembly posters warning people to be watchful for terrorist activity have been removed for fears that they'll offend Muslim sensitivities. From icWales, :

A STORM erupted last night after the National Assembly decided to remove police anti-terrorism posters from its headquarters because they were considered insulting to Muslim women.

Two Plaid Cymru AMs said the posters were unacceptable because they depicted two eyes between a black background that looked like a Muslim head scarf.

But last night Assembly authorities who agreed to remove the posters were accused of 'political correctness gone mad' as it was pointed out that the eyes were not those of a terrorist, but of someone being alert to danger.

The bilingual posters appeared at the Assembly offices in Cardiff Bay over the Easter recess. They carry the South Wales Police logo above a message headed 'Life Savers' that urges people to be vigilant and gives details of a telephone anti-terrorist hotline. AMs saw them when they returned from their break this week.

The poster image also appears on South Wales Police's website.

Plaid Cymru AM Jocelyn Davies complained about the posters at a closed meeting of the business committee yesterday and Deputy Presiding Officer Dr John Marek agreed to put the matter to the house committee. By the end of the afternoon, all the posters which had been put on noticeboards by officers from the police unit stationed at the Assembly had been removed.

Detective Chief Superintendent Geoff Cooper, head of South Wales CID, said, "This is a national poster campaign which has been distributed across the UK by the Metropolitan Police, and South Wales Police has produced a bilingual version which is currently being circulated throughout the force area.

"The posters have been designed to reassure the public and to request their help in reporting anything suspicious to us."

A police source said, "The objection to this poster is very bizarre. So far as we are aware this is the only complaint there has been across the UK.

"The eyes are not supposed to represent a terrorist - they are meant to depict someone who is being alert to the danger of terrorism. That's the whole point of it"

Monmouth Tory AM David Davies said, "It's political correctness gone mad. This poster has been displayed across the UK and nobody else has taken any offence. I think it's absolutely ridiculous and just goes to show that it is often not members of ethnic minority communities who make a fuss, but middle-class white liberals who should know better."

Ms Davies, the Plaid AM for South Wales East, said, "A member of our support staff first saw the poster and decided to take it down. Later my colleague Leanne Wood decided to take down all those she could see. I raised the matter at the end of the business committee because the eyes on the poster clearly look like those of a Muslim woman.

"I appreciate that the message is supposed to be about making people vigilant and that they eyes are meant to depict someone being alert. Nevertheless, at first glance they do look like a Muslim woman wearing a headscarf and the subconscious implication is that she could be a terrorist.

And that, of course, is utterly inconceivable, eh?

Heavily armed Thai soldiers guard the Krue Se mosque in Pattani province, southern Thailand (AP)

The jihad in Thailand has reached a new level of ferocity. The major media, of course, have no interest in telling you that the Muslim insurgents in Thailand are working from the same motivations as the jihadis in Iraq, and Afghanistan, and Israel, and Kashmir, and Chechnya, and Nigeria, and Indonesia, and the Philippines, etc. etc. From AP, with thanks to nevermindlv:

(AP) Police gunned down scores of machete-wielding militants who stormed more than a dozen security outposts Wednesday, the bloodiest day of fighting yet in Thailand's troubled Muslim-dominated south. The death toll stood at least 112.

Only five security force personnel were among the dead. The rest were insurgents, mostly teenagers.

The eight hours of mayhem ended when police fired tear gas and rocket-propelled grenades into a mosque, killing 32 militants who, witnesses said, had been sheltering inside after running away from an earlier battle.

Television news reports showed the bodies of suspected Islamic fighters lying in pools of blood, some of them in front of police stations clasping machetes and wearing colored shirts and camouflage pants.

Gunfire echoed as armored personnel carriers cruised deserted village streets and commandos moved through forest. Policemen and soldiers, carrying automatic rifles, crouched as they ran across roads and ditches.

No group claimed responsibility for the highly coordinated assault by possibly hundreds of young militants, although past violence has been blamed on separatists seeking to carve a homeland in the Muslim-majority south of this predominantly Buddhist country.

The death count was dramatically lopsided.

Army chief Gen. Chaiyasith Shinawatra told reporters that 107 insurgent were killed and 17 were arrested. He said, three policemen and two soldiers were also killed while 15 policemen were wounded.

Soldiers and police -- tipped off in advance -- were waiting for the poorly armed assailants. Some had guns but most carried only machetes, said Lt. Gen. Proong Bunphandung, the chief of police for the south.

"The security officers have been patiently working with local people and gathering intelligence. We waited for the right time to achieve this success," he said.

Many parts of the region have been under martial law for months. Security was tightened Wednesday along the border with neighboring Malaysia, which has in the past denied allegations of harboring militants.

The violence erupted at 5 a.m. when the insurgents attacked more than 15 police bases, village defense posts and district offices in Yala, Pattani and Songkhla provinces in a bid to steal weapons. ...

However, Thaksin denied the attackers had connections to international terrorists.

"Most of the insurgents are youths from the southern provinces," he said. "Their acts are not linked with international terrorists."

It is likely that they didn't have ties to international terrorists -- but they shared the same goals, motivations, and ideology. This is another indication that the problem of jihad terrorism is not simply a problem of Saudi Wahhabism.

For "Asians," read "Muslims": forty Muslim "elders" are slated to move into this "state-of-the-art London housing block." White pensioners will be excluded. The article makes it clear that this is going to be subsidized housing for Muslims, but the racial angle raises questions. Would a "non-Asian," "white" Muslim be allowed to retire there? Would an "Asian" non-Muslim be admitted?

From the Evening Standard, with thanks to Peter Rockas and Susan:

Race watchdogs have been called in to investigate a state-of-the-art London housing block that is being reserved for Asians only.

The development, which will provide sheltered housing for 40 Muslim "elders" when it opens in the East End this summer, has triggered controversy because white pensioners will be excluded.

The Commission for Racial Equality has now been asked to check whether the Sonali Gardens project breaks the Race Relations Act.

Criticism of the project comes from both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. Tories warned today that the block was a form of "segregation" that could be seized on by the British National Party in its bid for votes in the capital, particularly in the East End.

The 40 new homes, together with a day centre, have been built in a joint project by Tower Hamlets council and Circle 33 housing association on the site of an old people's home that catered for all communities.

Three other new sheltered housing blocks in the borough are not earmarked just for Asians.

Critics point out that its specialist services, such as halal meals, Bengali-speaking carers and Islamic praying facilities, could be offered within a mixedrace development. Lib-Dem councillor Janet Ludlow said: "The most important thing is to make sure we are acting legally."

The 1976 Race Relations Act and its 2000 amendment state that a discriminatory service can only be offered if an authority can prove that a specific need is not currently being met.

But a recent council report admitted that the level of need among elderly Bangladeshis was "a hidden need".

David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "There would rightly be outrage if a council offered a whites-only housing block.

"I firmly believe that we should look to achieve integration rather than segregation in our society. This is the sort of thoughtless policy that feeds extremism."

Sirajul Islam, lead councillor for social services at Tower Hamlets, said: "We certainly do not advocate segregation in Tower Hamlets.

"But the 'one size fits all' approach to public services is no longer acceptable in 21st century Britain.

"Tower Hamlets is fortunate to have a diverse mix of communities and the council strives to ensure that its services are responsive to the differing and changing needs of its residents."

Arindam Banerji has a lengthy piece at Rediff.com entitled "The threat in the North East." What is most striking is what he reports about the openness of jihadi groups in India, Pakistan, and Kashmir. Most Westerners, including American Muslim advocacy groups, still refuse to acknowledge that there are avowedly religious Muslim organizations that teach these things. And of course moderate Muslims worldwide have yet to mount a response that is convincing on Islamic grounds.

One of the facts that has been reported by multiple sources is that the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, better known as the Lashkar-e-Tayiba raised Rs 780 million from donations from ordinary people, during last month's Eid celebrations -- far more, than previous years, according to The Friday Times.

This comes as somewhat of a shock, since the Lashkar, in its brochures, periodicals and posters, is not particularly shy about announcing its intentions or even depicting trophy pictures of dead Indians. While the Jaish-e-Mohammad has openly declared that 'jihad means killing,' the Lashkar has made its motto 'Killing Hindus is the way forward.' So ordinary Pakistanis openly and knowingly raised millions of rupees in a few weeks to support terror in India. Sort of clashes with the outward appearances of mehman-nawazi [hospitality] -- does it not?

Hemant Lakhani

From CNN, :

A British man accused of trying to smuggle shoulder-held missiles into the United States and offering to obtain a radioactive "dirty bomb" for terrorists will stand trial November 3.

Hemant Lakhani, who appeared in U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., has been in custody since his arrest last August. ...

Lakhani, 68, of the Hendon area of London, was arrested in a sting operation involving an 18-month collaboration among officials in the United States, Russia and Britain.

The indictment against Lakhani claims the Indian-born Briton told an investigator that shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles he attempted to import into the United States "could be used most effectively in terrorist attacks against commercial aircraft in the United States if 10 to 15 commercial aircraft were shot down simultaneously at different locations throughout the country."

According to federal prosecutors, he boasted of sales to terrorist groups and thought he had struck a deal to sell a missile to a Somali group seeking to launch a "jihad" against a U.S. commercial airline.

He tried to sell the group 200 missiles, and later insisted they buy 50 after they received the first one, priced at $85,000.

The man claiming to represent the Somali group was instead a cooperating witness for the United States, the missile Lakhani brought into the country was a dud, and the undercover Russian authorities who sold him the missile were collaborating with U.S. officials in the sting.

Prosecutors brought further charges against Lakhani in December, claiming he offered to procure a variety of anti-aircraft weapons, tanks and radar systems, as well as a radioactive explosive device known as a "dirty bomb."

Parveen Sharif

From The Telegraph, :

The sister of the first British suicide bomber recruited by Hamas actively encouraged her brother, sending him an e-mail in case his resolve faltered at the last minute, an Old Bailey jury was told yesterday.

Omar Sharif, 27, and his 21-year-old friend, Asil Hanif, both British Muslims, slipped into Israel posing as tourists in April last year and checked into a hostel in Tel Aviv.

In their room they shaved their bodies "because martyrs want to be clean when they enter paradise", assembled the bombs, strapped them to their torsos and hid them under their clothes.

But before Sharif set out for a busy waterfront area he received an e-mail from his sister Parveen, 36.

It urged him: "We all have to be firm and focused with reality as time is slipping away, and there is really no time to be weak and emotional.

"Stay focused and determined."

Sharif and Hanif set out with their bombs and waited until the area got busier and there were more potential victims to kill and maim. Hanif detonated his bomb outside Mike's Place, a popular bar, killing himself, three others and injuring 65.

Sharif's bomb failed to go off and he fled, dumping it nearby. Twelve days later his body was found in the sea off the Israeli coast. "The circumstances of his death are not clear, although the post mortem findings are consistent with drowning," said Jonathan Laidlaw, prosecuting.

Parveen Sharif, a supply teacher, pleaded not guilty to inciting Omar Sharif to commit an act of terrorism and failing to disclose information about terrorism.

Incarnate Word University's doomed Crusader

The University of the Incarnate Word, a Christian school in San Antonio, Texas, has scrapped its nickname, "Crusaders," and the accompanying mascot. The University's website (thanks to urthshu for the link) has a long and involved explanation for the change, encompassing the history of the Crusades and more. This history, rather predictably, doesn't mention the 450 years of jihads that had overwhelmed Christian lands in the Middle East and North Africa before any Crusade was contemplated.

But ultimately the Crusader name goes down the memory hole at Incarnate Word in an effort to be "culturally and spiritually sensitive" and to avoid litigation:

One of the main reasons for the change, besides the desire to be more culturally and spiritually sensitive, is to avert the potential for future litigation for discrimination and/or harassment. The U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division has repeatedly ruled that harassment is itself discrimination. Numerous federal and state rulings have cited the "Hostile Public Accommodations Environment" Harassment Law relative to American Indian mascots and nicknames. The Public Accommodations Law is a civil rights law requiring officials to refrain from offending anyone based on race, religion gender or sexual orientation.

Certainly IWU has every reason to avoid litigation, but it's ironic that they are scrapping the "Crusader" name in an effort to be culturally and spiritually sensitive at a time when the historical enemies of the Crusaders, the mujahedin, are pressing forward aggressively all over the world -- with little concern about being culturally or spiritually sensitive to the concerns of their historical and present-day non-Muslim victims. Given today's global climate, one might even have expected (despite the historic sins of the Crusaders, which I do not mean to mitigate) "Crusaders" to start popping up in various places, committed to defending their homes and families from jihad aggression. But instead, even Crusader mascots are rapidly disappearing.

I am not advocating formation of Crusader groups. But I do think that the rush of schools like IWU to disavow any connection to Crusaders is part of a larger tendency to remain in denial about the jihad aggression that threatens so many in the world today, and manifests an acceptance of the Islamic view of history (which has been aggressively thrust upon the West in recent decades) that blames (contrary to the facts of the case) the origin of conflict between Muslims and Christians upon the evil Crusaders.

From The Telegraph, with thanks to Filtrat, a harrowing first-person account of an attempted honor killing:

As a teenager in the West Bank, Soauad became pregnant by a local boy. He 'shamed' Palestinian family condemned her to death and she was set on fire by her brother-in-law. Every year, thousands of women in the Middle East die in 'honour killings'. Souad survived. This is her harrowing story

He came towards me and said, with a smile: "Hi. How goes it?" He was chewing a blade of grass. "I'm going to take care of you."

I hadn't been expecting that. I smiled a little, to thank him, not daring to speak.

Suddenly I felt a cold liquid running over my head; I was on fire. I slapped at my hair. I screamed. My dress billowed out behind me. Was it on fire, too? I smelt the petrol and ran, the hem of my dress getting in the way. Did he run after me? Was he waiting for me to fall so he could watch me go up in flames?

I'm going to die, I thought. That's good. Maybe I'm already dead. It's over, finally.

My name is Souad. My story began almost 25 years ago in my native village in the West Bank, a tiny place, in a region then occupied by the Israelis. If I named my village, I could be in danger, even though I am now thousands of miles away. In my village I am officially dead; if I were to go back today they would try to kill me a second time for the honour of my family. It's the law of the land. It's because I am a woman.

A woman must walk fast, head down, as if counting the number of steps she's taking. She may never stray from her path or look up, for if a man catches her eye, the whole village labels her a charmuta, prostitute. A girl must be married before she can raise her eyes and look straight ahead, or go into a shop, or pluck her eyebrows and wear jewellery. My mother was married at 14. If a girl is still unmarried by that age, the village begins to make fun of her. But a girl must wait her turn in the family to be married. The eldest daughter first, then the others.

Read the whole thing.

I hope that interest-free loans, if they are introduced, will be available to non-Muslim students. Otherwise they will be in the position of subsidizing the education of Muslim students out of their own loan payments. From The Guardian, with thanks to Nicolei:

Pressure is mounting on the Department of Education and Skills to provide a Muslim-friendly student loan.

Representatives of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies met with the education secretary, Charles Clarke, last week to discuss the problem, which affects students and their families who believe that taking out a student loan contravenes Islamic sharia law.

The law dictates that Muslims should not pay or receive interest on loans.

However, the Muslim community is split over whether student loans, which incur inflation-only levels of interest, are against sharia law. Student activists say that some Muslims are being asked to break their faith or forgo the opportunity for financial assistance during their studies.

The meeting follows new moves towards providing alternatives to suit Muslim families in the commercial sector. The HSBC bank has set up a Muslim-friendly mortgage and pension scheme which satisfies the demands of sharia law.

Hasan Salim Patel, of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, said representatives were given a clear message from the education secretary that the DFES would consider any alternatives to the traditional student loan which were put before it. ...

A spokesperson for the Department for Education and Skills said: "We appreciate the Muslim position on borrowing. But, it is important to remember that student loans do not incur a real rate of interest and the government does not make any profit out of these loans. The uptake of student loans amongst Muslim students compares favourably with other groups.

"We have no plans to introduce different loans for different groups but we are working closely with the Federation of Student Islamic Societies on other ways forward on this."

Zarqawi: among the plotters

From the New York Post, :

April 27, 2004 -- Diabolical al Qaeda terrorists confessed yesterday to plotting to attack the U.S. Embassy and other targets in Jordan with sophisticated chemical bombs that could have wiped out 80,000 people.

Azmi al-Jayousi, leader of the terror cell, said the fiendish plan also targeted the headquarters of Jordanian intelligence and the prime minister's office.

The plot aimed to use trucks loaded with explosives and chemicals to unleash massive poison clouds, Jordanian officials said.

The authorities said a group of 10 suspects planned to pack the truck bombs with deadly cocktails of 71 lethal chemicals - including blistering agents, nerve gas and choking agents - and then simultaneously crash them into their targets.

A Jordanian government scientist said the well-trained terrorists - who had acquired 20 tons of chemicals - had planned to combine just the right amount of explosives to spread the lethal clouds without destroying the poisonous chemicals.

In a confession aired on Jordanian state TV, al-Jayousi, the head of the Jordanian cell of al Qaeda, admitted he was schooled in explosives and poisons in Afghanistan, then plotted in Iraq with Jordanian militant Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, a close associate of Osama bin Laden.

"I took explosives courses, high level, poisons, then I pledged allegiance to [al-Zarqawi], to obey him without any questioning," said al-Jayousi, who had marks on his face and neck.

Another suspect, car mechanic Hussein Sharif Hussein, said al-Jayousi recruited him and asked him to buy and modify trucks so they could crash through gates and walls.

Upon exploding, the truck bombs would have released a toxic cloud that would have extended for three miles over Amman, the capital.

Al-Jayousi said he received $170,000 from al-Zarqawi via messengers from Syria to finance the truck-bomb plot and used part of it to buy tons of chemicals.

"According to my experience as an explosives expert, the whole of the intelligence department will be destroyed," al-Jayousi said.

The headquarters are within a mile of a large medical center, a shopping mall and a residential area.

In raids last Tuesday, Jordanian officials said they seized 20 tons of chemicals and explosives as well as three trucks with specially modified plows designed to crash through security barricades.

The chemicals included sulfuric acid, a powerful blistering agent that can also be used to increase the strength of explosions.

Bakri will be preaching there

Abu Hamza still can't preach there, but the Finsbury Park Mosque, where shoe bomber Richard Reid and other radical Muslims once worshipped, will soon be back in business. From The Sun, with thanks to Twostellas:

THE notorious North London powerbase of hook-handed preacher Abu Hamza is to reopen in three months.

The Finsbury Park mosque was closed in January 2003 when CS gas and a stun gun were found there. ...

Sheikh Omar Bakri, whose followers recently burnt the Union Flag, said: "I regularly gave sermons and I will do so again."

This piece at the jihadist Kavkaz Center site is interesting for its denial that the Tajik Civil War of 1992-1997 was an "interethnic conflict," as most analysts assume. It also predicts that Tajikistan will become the base for jihad in Central Asia. Note the characterization of proponents of a secular state as kafirs (unbelievers).

Modern history of Tajikistan is interesting by the fact that here you can observe the first example of Jihad in the post-Soviet space after the collapse of the USSR (1991). Historians from among the unbelievers know about this Jihad as the Tajik Civil War of 1992-1997. They were assuming that the opposing forces in this war were 'Communists' and 'Islamists'. Others were claiming that the war was an 'interethnic conflict' between regional clans. ...

Opposing sides

The first side can be called the Kafirs (infidels). They have been represented by three regional groups, which founded the bloc: tycoons from Hojent, Kulyabians and Gissarians.

Hojent oligarchs represent the regional Communist elite and the corps of directors of the most Russified industrialized and densely-populated city, which used to be called Leninabad during the Soviet times (now the city of Hojent). During the Civil War they were the main sponsors of the army of Kafirs.

Kulyabians are natives of cotton-growing regions in the South. They were the main strike force of the Kafirs. Positions of criminal elements are too strong in Kulyab. They were the ones who provoked the Anti-Islamic Mutiny in June 1992. Many prominent field commanders of the army of Kafirs were Kulyabians, and so is the current president of the Republic, Emomali Rakhmonov.

Gissarians are natives of Gissar Valley near the Uzbek border, ethnic Uzbeks and intermediaries between Tajik Kafirs and Uzbek neo-communist regime of Karimov.

There is a reason why they are called Kafirs (infidels, unbelievers), for they all were supporters of a secular state. And Kulyabians were demanding that the calls to prayer over the radio are banned. They were also practicing burning the mosques of their opponents.

The second side can be called an army of Mujahideen (fighters). They were based exclusively in eastern regions: in Karategin (Garm) and Pamirs. Active participation of Pamirians showed that the Civil War was no 'interethnic conflict', for the Pamirians are no ethnic Tajiks at all. They are descendants of the ancient natives of Central Asia and are cognate more to the Afghan Pashto. Besides, Islamic units of Uzbek armed opposition were spotted in Karategin after the Civil War, when they showed themselves in 1999 while trying to cross into Uzbekistan through the territories of Kyrgyzstan (Kirgizia).

The only thing that Tajiks, Uzbeks and Pamirians had in common was Islam, which they were trying to revive in Tajikistan. Islamic revival started since 1979, when the Islamic Revolution started in Iran, and when units of Mujahideen (fighters) started to be formed in Afghanistan in response to the invasion by the 'limited contingent' of the Soviet Army. Moreover, the units of Tajik Mujahideen were not the least in the Afghan Resistance. For obvious reasons back then the youth of Tajikistan started joining Islam not only in the eastern parts of the country, but in the capital Dushanbe as well. Not all of the youth of course. Some young men depraved by the atheistic propaganda kept joining the ranks of criminal groups and they only saw a threat that reviving Islam was posing to their criminal activities. ...

It may seem that the Mujahideen in Tajikistan had lost. The Rakhmonov regime is still in power. The Tajik people are still separated by Russian customs. But it's not all as easy as it seems to be. There are two facts that allow claiming that the Tajik Jihad was successful, even though not all of its consequences seem to be obvious.

Fact number one: mutiny by Colonel Hudoiberdyev in Hojent, November 3-10, 1998, which was openly backed by the Uzbek regime of Karimov. The mutiny was suppressed by the government, which in turn was backed by Tajik Mujahideen.

Fact number two: 1999, the attempt of units of Uzbek Mujahideen under the command of Emir Namangani to enter Uzbekistan from the Tajik territories (Karategin) through Kyrgyzstan.

All of it points at the power of Islamic democratic opposition in Tajikistan, at its ability to put up resistance to the influence of the Karimov regime and to have its own influence on the situation in Uzbekistan. So Tajikistan may quite possibly become the outpost of the Islamic Revolution in Central Asia.

Where are the worldwide denunciations from Muslims, outraged that mosques are being used this way? From the Gulf Daily News, with thanks to Twostellas:

The US-led coalition's civil administrator for Iraq yesterday charged that weapons were being stockpiled in mosques, shrines and schools in the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf, where wanted radical leader Moqtada Al Sadr is holed up. ...

"A dangerous situation is developing in Najaf where weapons are being stockpiled in mosques and shrines and schools," said Bremer. "This explosive situation threatens the general population there," he said.

But they deny responsibility for the Riyadh bombing

More threats from Al-Qaeda, from The Evening Standard:

One of the most senior figures in the al Qa'eda terror group has pledged that 2004 will be a year of attacks on America.

The comments appeared on an Islamist website and are believed to have come from Abdulaziz Issa Abdul-Mohsin al-Moqrin.

The website also carries a warning that Saudi Arabian rulers will be unable to prevent further attacks.

However, he also claims that al Qa'eda was not behind last week's suicide car bombing of a security building in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Security officials believe that al-Moqrin is al-Qa'eda's leader in Saudi Arabia, with a major police operation currently attempting to capture him.

The Al Haramain Brigades, a Saudi militant group, have claimed responsibility for last week's Riyadh attack and said they were filling in for al Qaeda, which was preoccupied fighting "crusaders".

While jihadists in Afghanistan are threatening to kill those who vote, and those in Kashmir are cutting off ears, their compatriots in the Philippines are much more moderate. They are merely issuing guidelines for voters, trying to ensure that no female candidate gets elected. From Qatar's Peninsula Online, with thanks to Twostellas:

MANILA: About 125 Moro religious leaders calling themselves the Bangsamoro Supreme Council of Ulama (BSCU) have issued a "fatwah" (ruling), laying down guidelines for Muslim voters for the May 10 national and local elections.

BSCU head Sheikh Jamil Yahya, 59, spelled out the six-point religious diktat during the Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque in Marawi City.

Since Shariah is not applied in the Bangsamoro homeland, Yahya said, Muslims' religious obligation is "to choose the lesser of two evils," one who stands less as hurdle in the practice of Islam, dignity and freedom.

Parts of the fatwah are the prohibition in electing any woman candidate for any position ...

Yahya, known as staunch human rights advocate, graduated at the Madina Islamic University in Saudi Arabia.

Yahya also condemned the alleged persecution being suffered by the Moro people.

Abu Hamza

A few choice quotes from Abu Hamza al-Masri, the British radical Muslim leader. He seems to be calling for suicide attacks in Britain. From the Evening Standard:

Suicide bombings

Hamza says it is his followers' destiny to become "shaheed" (martyrs) and bring jihad (holy war) to "your own door".

"We ask Allah to make us mujahideen (holy warriors). We ask Allah to make us shaheed. Our immediate duty now is to correct our own homeland. So let us open our eyes, let us not go for jihad which is far away from our countries.

"Although it is good it is not as good as you do in your own door. You don't have to travel thousands and thousands of miles to become a shaheed - you can be shaheed right on your own doorstep. May Allah open our eyes for what's good for us - so we don't waste our Muslim blood far away."

Forging passports "I don't have papers ... you're all clever, you can make papers for yourself. This is also a part of jihad, this is part of the preparation."

On world domination

"The real weapons of mass destruction are the desire for martyrdom. Millions of you are ready to be shaheed. Half a million martyrdom shaheed is enough for Muslims to control the whole of earth forever. In the end of the day, Islam must control earth, whether we like it or not."

"All the Israelis are fighters. That's why anybody over 15 is a warrior and he should be killed

... It's about exposing these Zionist Jews who are now

On Israel doing the work of Hitler against ourselves and the nation."

On September 11

"Wherever you are, death will catch up with you - even if you are in high elevated safe towers.

"Where is their Superman? Who is to blame? The American government and their pressure cooker policy which exploded in their faces."

He adds later: "These scenes are going to repeat."

The Italian hostages (Reuters)

Now that they control Spain's foreign policy, the jihadists are attempting to gain control of Italy's as well. Their attempt to exact tribute from Berlusconi seems to have fallen through, and now they say that the freedom of the Italian hostages rests on the size of antiwar protests in Italy. From Reuters, with thanks to Diana Applebaum:

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's government and opposition leaders refused on Tuesday to bow to demands by kidnappers in Iraq who have threatened to kill three hostages unless Italians protest against their country's military presence there.

But relatives of the hostages pleaded with Italians to help set the men free and participate in rallies on Wednesday and Thursday, not to denounce the government but to call for the release of the three Italian security workers. ...

Leaders from across the political spectrum rallied around Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right coalition, vowing Italy would not give in to blackmail.

"We, who were against the war, are completely opposed to any negotiation with kidnappers and terrorists. The government is continuing to work with seriousness and discretion for the release of the hostages," said Francesco Rutelli, leader of the center-left Daisy party.

Berlusconi's office said in a statement the government was doing all it could to secure their release.

But families and friends of the private security workers abducted two weeks ago said there was no time to lose.

"I'm asking that all the mothers and fathers in Italy do everything they can so that our boys can come home," said Angelo Stefio, the father of one of the hostages. "We need everyone."

Marches are being organized in the captives' hometowns for Wednesday and in Rome on Thursday, but it was not clear how much support they would get.

"We the Mujahideen and Pakistan Army are brothers." Nek Mohammed, a mujahid pardoned by the Pakistani government, is going back to jihad. But he promises not to work from Pakistani soil. From HiPakistan:

"Any Muslim can go to any country to wage jihad but Waziristan's soil will not be used to fire at Afghanistan," he told Dawn when asked whether he would continue his jihad in Afghanistan.

Asked whether he would cooperate with the government to get foreign militants registered by the stipulated April 30 deadline, the 27-year-old militant said: "There will be no operation and catching foreigners is not part of the agreement."

Nek Mohammad's assertions run counter to the impression given by the government official that the tribal militants who had been accused of sheltering and facilitating foreign militants would account for their foreign guests and get them registered with the authorities.

Also, Nek insisted that there were no foreigners in South Waziristan. "There is no Al Qaeda here. There are people from all races of Afghanistan. There are Afghan Uzbeks and Tajiks.

"Over three million refugees had come to take shelter in Pakistan and they are everywhere. Had there been a single Al Qaeda fighter here, the government would have caught one by now," he said. ...

Nek Mohammad is one of the five tribal militants pardoned by the government during a ceremony at a Madrassah on Saturday. The Corps Commander, Peshawar, Lt-Gen Safdar Hussain had flown into Shakai, a village about 17km to the north of regional headquarters Wana, to announce the clemency.

The tribal militant said there could be no guarantees between brothers. "We the Mujahideen and Pakistan Army are brothers," he said.

From Rediff.com, with thanks to Fanabba:

In a gruesome incident, militants beheaded the wife and daughter of a Special Police Officer in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said in Srinagar on Sunday.

The militants barged into Ghulam Hassan Qureshi's house in Bazipora village late on Saturday night and beheaded his 30-year-old wife Shaha and 8-year old daughter Misra. ...

Before fleeing, the militants planted an Improvised Explosive Device in the SPO's house, which was later defused by the Bomb Disposal Squad.

Quiz time! Is this a Muslim in America after 9/11 or an American in Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution?

The Guardian reports that Imam Ramee Muhammed, a Chicago native, is afraid to come home. (Thanks to Nicolei).

A US-born Muslim cleric who sought asylum in the UK four months ago has been detained and told he may be deported within days.

Imam Ramee Muhammed, 40, a preacher originally from Chicago, applied for asylum in January this year because he says he fears persecution if he returns to the US. But on Friday, days after an article on his case appeared in a Sunday newspaper, he was detained and his claim fast-tracked.

The heart of the matter is this:

An article published on the front page of last week's Sunday Express, headlined "Maddest asylum plea yet", claimed Mr Muhammed taught Richard Reid - the so-called "shoe bomber"- and had links with the radical preacher Abu Hamza..

Imam Muhammed claims the article is untrue and has complained to the Press Complaints Commission. He admits Richard Reid attended a lecture of his at the Finsbury Park mosque, but says that was six years ago and that he was lecturing on brotherhood.

"Brotherhood"? Hmmm. That's equivocal. Could it be the Muslim Brotherhood, the early twentieth century group that inspired and inspires today's top terrorist groups.

He says he knows Omar Bakri Muhammed, leader of the fringe group al-Muhajiroun, but has no links with him.

Ramee Muhammed is clearly trying to position himself as a moderate. But how moderate is he? Say! I have an idea! Suppose Imam Muhammed came back to the U.S. and started vociferously denouncing jihad ideology and radicals like Omar Bakri. He could be a spokesman for moderate Muslims everywhere. He could preach the universal brotherhood of man and the need for equality, dignity and freedom for all. I wonder what Ramee Muhammed would think of that idea -- and if he rejected it, as he probably would, what would that make of his moderate claims?

After all, I told one Muslim on this board that I was in favor of "a flowering, a renaissance, in the Muslim world, including full equality of rights for women and non-Muslims in Islamic societies: freedom of conscience, equality in laws regarding legal testimony, equal employment opportunities, etc." He replied: "So, you would like to see us ditch much of our religion and, thereby, become non-Muslims." Hmmmm. You can read that exchange here.

Zarqawi

Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the jihad at sea. Note the religious characterization of the American forces: they "came to raise the Christian banner in Muslim countries."

DUBAI (Reuters) - A statement apparently from top al Qaeda operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility on Monday for a suicide boat attack on Iraq's Basra oil terminal at the weekend and vowed more attacks on coalition targets.

"We give you good tidings... your brothers with their boats targeted oil tankers in Mina al-Amiq and Mina al-Bakr," said the statement signed by Zarqawi and published on Muntada al-Ansar Islamist Web site.

Basra terminal, previously known as Mina al-Bakr, accounts for 85 percent of Iraq's crude exports.

Three U.S. navy sailors died from the attack in which bombers in three boats blew themselves up in and around the Basra terminal zone, one of the most heavily guarded facilities of its kind in the world. ...

"As what your brothers, the al Qaeda lions, did to the destroyer Cole in Aden port, they have repeated this attack in a new garb and with stubborn determination by striking vital economic links of the infidel and atheist states which came to raise the Christian banner in Muslim countries," it said.

"We tell you enemies of God, robbers of oil and riches and drug traders...O snakes of evil, we will exterminate and debilitate you by land, sea and air until God makes us victorious or until we die," the statement added.

Constantine Menges of the Hudson Institute on how the conflict between the mullahocracy and the democracy movement in Iran is playing out in Iraq. From the Washington Times:

On April 4, 2004, Sheik Muqtada al-Sadr, a pro-Iranian Iraqi cleric, called on his followers to "terrorize your enemy," meaning the Americans and all those Iraqis cooperating to bring about a constitutional government.

This led tens of thousands of the cleric's armed and unarmed followers to attack U.S. and Coalition forces in four Iraqi cities. This was a preview of the violence and turmoil Iranian covert action could inflict in the coming months.

This threat is the current September 11, because the administration has not yet "connected the dots" revealing Iran's secret but discernible activities.

Following removal of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, the Iranian clerical dictatorship began a covert effort to set up an allied Shi'ite Islamist extremist regime in 60 percent Shi'ite Iraq. Iran has prepared this for many years and recruited political, military and covert agent assets among the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shi'ites who fled Iraq to live in Iran.

The Iranian dictatorship is acting to bring about a "second Iran" in Iraq in five ways:

(1) Those Iraqi Shi'ite clerics who agree with the heretical Khomeini view that the clergy should rule society in all aspects are used by Iran to build a power base from their mosques and associated social services. Iran views as the future religious leader of Iraq Ayatollah Al Haeri, an Iraqi cleric who has lived in Iran for the last 30 years and who, when Baghdad was liberated last year, issued an edict telling Iraqi clergy not to cooperate with the United States.

(2) Iran established the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq as a political movement that could win elections or take power town by town with the help of covert Iranian funds and propaganda. This organization also has an Iranian-trained and -armed paramilitary group of about 30,000. Both the political and the armed wings began moving from Iran into Iraq in March 2003. Iran also funds the Dawa Party. Leaders of both these Iran-linked parties are on the Iraqi Governing Council.

(3) Iran is working covertly with Iraqi extremist Sheik al-Sadr to use political and coercive means, including murder, to intimidate and take over Iraq's Shi'ite leadership. The murders of several prominent Shi'ite clerical leaders who favored democracy and cooperation with the coalition repeats Iran's covert actions since December 2001 in post-Taliban Afghanistan. There, a number of moderate Muslim clerics and political leaders were killed. It was Sheik al Sadr who issued the call to violence in Iraq on April 4, 2004. The next day, the coalition announced an Iraqi judge had issued an arrest warrant for Sheik al Sadr for the April 2003 murder of the respected moderate cleric, Ayatollah Al Kohei.

(4) Hezbollah, the Iranian-supported and often -directed terrorist organization has moved hundreds of cadres into Iraq as reported since last November. They along with Hamas, another Iranian-supported terrorist organization, have opened offices in Iraq and are recruiting Iraqis to be the foot soldiers and suicide killers in the massive terrorist attacks planned against U.S. and coalition forces. Iran is most likely to order these to begin fully after the planned July 1, 2004, turnover of civil authority to the Iraqis. It also is quite likely Iran will use its links with Hezbollah and al Qaeda to facilitate major terrorist attacks inside the United States this summer and fall to try to force the U.S. out of Iraq and increase the odds of an electoral defeat of President Bush.

(5) Iran has spent heavily seeking to dominate radio and television broadcasting in Iraq. A survey by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty found Iran is the source of 33 of 59 AM broadcasts and of 41 of 63 AM/FM/TV broadcasts heard in Iraq. In comparison, the U.S.-supported Iraq Media Network has one television station, two radio stations and one newspaper.

The Bush administration must immediately counter Iran's covert assets and planned actions or risk major setbacks to its goals in Iraq. Indeed, if Iran brings about an anti-U.S., pro-Iranian Shi'ite extremist regime in Iraq, the risks to the United States and its allies from terrorism and weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) would dramatically increase. And it would defeat the Bush "forward strategy for freedom" in the entire Middle East.

A first step is recognizing, analyzing and understanding the intent of Iran and its Iraqi allies and what they have done to date. Next, there is an urgent need to work with moderate Shi'ite leaders to build pro-democratic political parties and a broad pro-democratic political coalition that can withstand and overcome the pressures, coercion and terrorism of the pro-Iranian Shi'ite groups. This means revising the currently self-defeating and much-too-limited efforts to aid genuinely democratic Shi'ite and other political parties and groups.

The pro-democracy Iraqi media also needs to be enlarged, and, as a corollary, the pro-extremist, Iranian-funded media needs to be restricted. This is an inescapable element of the early stages of a post-dictatorship transition where anti-democratic groups and media have sources of support far greater than those now available to moderates.

It also is necessary to quickly arrest all extremist leaders advocating violence and disarm their thousands of armed followers. It is may be necessary to detain many of these armed extremists for some time, to assure they are cannot join anti-U.S. terrorist operations.

Such detention should be humane. Efforts should be made to educate these misguided people about the values of political democracy and tolerance and to counter lies they have been told by extremist leaders for the last year.

The best defense against Iranian destabilization of Iraq is helping Iran's people to politically liberate themselves from their dictatorship. While the Iranian regime has a 25-year record of effective and brutal terrorism and secret action abroad, it is weak, fragile and vulnerable at home. ...

President Bush has spoken eloquently and often about the Iranian people's right to freedom. Now he needs to instruct his State Department to cease all its open and secret "dialogue and engagement" activities with the clerical regime. These legitimatize the dictatorship and discourage those in Iran who might otherwise act to bring about a democratic future.

Taking these actions now in Iraq and encouraging the Iranian people to liberate themselves this summer could result in two democracies. Otherwise, there is grave risk the removal of Iraq's Saddam Hussein will ultimately result in two Irans -- two Shi'ite extremist regimes in the region.

A bracing blast of anti-dhimmitude from Phil Lucas, Executive Editor of the Panama City News Herald. (Thanks to David Zohar.)

If straight talk of savagery offends you, if you believe in ethnic and gender diversity but not diversity of thought or if you think there is an acceptable gray area between good and evil, then turn to the funny pages, and take the children, too.

This piece is not for you.

We published pictures Thursday of burnt American corpses hanging from an Iraqi bridge behind a mob of grinning Muslims.

Some readers didn't like it.

Mothers said it frightened their children. A woman who works with Muslim physicians thought it might offend or endanger them.

Well, we sure don't want to frighten, offend or endanger anybody, do we? That's just too much diversity to handle. I mean, somebody might get hurt.

We could fill the newspaper every morning with mobs of fanatical Muslims. They can't get along with their neighbors on much of the planet: France, Chechnya, Bosnia, Indonesia, Spain, Morocco, India, Tunisia, Somalia, etc. etc. etc. Can anybody name three ongoing world conflicts in which Muslims are not involved? Today, where there is war, there are fanatical Muslims. We might quibble about who started what conflicts, but look at the sheer number of them.

One thing is sure. Muslim killers started the one we are in now when they slaughtered more than 3,000 people, including fellow Muslims, in New York City.

Madeline Albright, the former secretary of state and feckless appeaser who helped get us into this mess, said last week Muslims still resented the Crusades. Well, Madame Albright, if Westerners were not such a forgiving people, we might resent them too.

Let's recap the Crusades. Muslims invaded Europe and when they reached sufficient numbers they imposed their intolerant religion upon Westerners by force. Christian monarchs drove them back and took the battle to their homeland. The fight lasted a couple of centuries, and we bottled them up for 1,000 years.

Now, a millennium later, Muslims have expanded forth again. Ask France. Ask England. Ask Manhattan. Two-and-a-half years ago fanatical Muslims laid siege to us. We woke up to the obvious. Our president announced it would be a very long war, then took the battle to the Islamic homeland. Sound familiar?

Let's consider the concept of a "long war." Last time it was 200 years, give or take.

Anybody catch Lord of the Rings? You know, the good part, the part that wasn't fiction, the part that drew us to the books and movies because it was the truest part: the titanic struggle between good and evil, between freedom and enslavement, between the individual and the state, between the celebration of life and the worshipping of death.

That's the fight we are in, and it never ends. It just has peaks and valleys.

There may be a silent majority of peaceful Muslims - some live here - but that did not save 3,000 people in the World Trade Centers, the millions gassed and butchered in the Middle East, the tens of thousands slain in Eastern Europe and Asia, the hundreds blown to bits in the West Bank and Spain, or the four Americans shot, burned and hung like sausage over the Euphrates as a fanatical minority of Muslims did the joyful dance of death.

Maybe we are so tolerant, we are so bent on "diversity," we are so nonjudgmental, we are so wrapped up in our six-packs and ballgames that our brains have drained to our bulbous behinds. Maybe we're so addled on Ritalin we wouldn't know which end of a gun to hold. Maybe we need a new drug advertised on TV every three minutes, one that would help us grow a backbone.

It doesn't take a Darwin to figure out that in this world the smartest, the fastest, the strongest, and the most committed always win. No exceptions.

Look at your spouse and children. Look at yourself in the mirror. Then look at the pictures from the paper last Thursday. You better look at them. Those are the people out to kill you.

Who do you think will win? You? Or them? Think you can take your ball and go home and they will leave you alone? Read a little history. Start with last week, last month, last year, and every other year back for half a century. Then go back a thousand years. Nobody hides from this fight.

Like it or not, that's the way it was and that's the way it is.

But many Americans don't get it.

That's why we published those pictures.

If they jarred you off the sofa, if they offended you, if they scared your children and sent you into a rage at mass murderers or heartless editors, then I say, it's a start.

At least three buildings were set ablaze

This BBC story characterizes Islamic jihad violence as "Muslim-Christian clashes," but at least it gives an idea of what's going on in Indonesia. (Thanks to Susan and Filtrat.)

At least 10 people have died in renewed fighting between Christians and Muslims in Indonesia's Moluccan islands, police and witnesses say.

People fought with knives and stones, buildings were set alight and an Associated Press reporter says he saw two men hacked to death in the street.

It came as separatist Christians paraded in the capital, Ambon, to mark a failed independence bid 50 years ago.

More than 5,000 people have died since a sectarian conflict broke out in 1999.

The two groups signed a government-sponsored peace pact in 2002, which had appeared to be holding. ...

Witnesses said gangs of Muslim and Christian youths hurled stones at each other in the centre of the provincial capital on Sunday.

Gunfire was heard, as well as several small explosions.

Elias Khoury (Channel 2)

Elias Khoury, the father of George Khoury, the Christian Arab who was murdered last month by Islamic radicals who mistook him for a Jew, has courageously stated the truth: that the Palestinians' jihadist leadership is the worst enemy of the Palestinian people. Of course, the radical Muslims he is addressing would disagree that what they are doing contracts Islam and the Qur'an, but that doesn't diminish the courage and moral clarity of Khoury's remarks.

From the Jerusalem Post:

Elias Khoury, a prominent lawyer from the Galilee who has been living in Jerusalem for 30 years, made his appeal in reaction to the arrest of three young Palestinians who have confessed to the killing of his son. ...

In response to the suspects' argument that they committed the murder in order to appease God, Khoury said: "Religious leaders need first and foremost ... to see how these young people are influenced to take religious issues and distort them in the ugliest manner. This contradicts the will of God, the Koran, and Islam because they are taking matters into their own hands."

The father said he was extremely worried by the disrespect for human life, warning that the killings were destroying the interests of the Palestinians. "There is a complete loss of human values," he stressed.

"My message first of all to the religious leaders, the Palestinian leadership, Palestinian society, and to all the enlightened who still value human life in Palestinian society is that they must all rise, gather their courage and say 'Enough is enough.'"

Khoury called for an end to incitement by the Palestinian Authority. "We must begin educating our children and these young people about the right path which has respect for human life. We must teach them how a political culture should exist and how law and order should be observed and maintained," he said.

"These people are committing crimes and damaging Palestinian interests and the religion which they claim to represent or to serve. We need Islamic leaders who will rise and say these things in a loud and clear voice. By staying silent, they only damage Islam and Palestinian society."

Abu Hamza preaching on the street

A profile of the British radical Muslim group Al-Muhajiroun, whose activities I discuss in Onward Muslim Soldiers and have covered extensively here, and similar groups in Europe. This article is written from the perspective that American involvement in Iraq has dramatically increased these groups' size and influence. While that may be true, Al-Muhajiroun and others existed long before the Iraq war, as well as before 9/11 (as the article notes), and they recruit by presenting themselves as the exponents of pure Islam — an appeal that does not change in force with events in Iraq. From the New York Times, with thanks to Bruce Carradine:

LUTON, England, April 24 — The call to jihad is rising in the streets of Europe, and is being answered, counterterrorism officials say.

In this former industrial town north of London, a small group of young Britons whose parents emigrated from Pakistan after World War II have turned against their families' new home. They say they would like to see Prime Minister Tony Blair dead or deposed and an Islamic flag hanging outside No. 10 Downing Street.

They swear allegiance to Osama bin Laden and his goal of toppling Western democracies to establish an Islamic superstate under Shariah law, like Afghanistan under the Taliban. They call the Sept. 11 hijackers the "Magnificent 19" and regard the Madrid train bombings as a clever way to drive a wedge into Europe.

On Thursday evening, at a tennis center community hall in Slough, west of London, their leader, Sheik Omar Bakri Mohammad, spoke of his adherence to Osama bin Laden. If Europe fails to heed Mr. bin Laden's offer of a truce — provided that all foreign troops are withdrawn from Iraq in three months — Muslims will no longer be restrained from attacking the Western countries that play host to them, the sheik said.

"All Muslims of the West will be obliged," he said, to "become his sword" in a new battle. Europeans take heed, he added, saying, "It is foolish to fight people who want death — that is what they are looking for."

On working-class streets of old industrial towns like Crawley, Luton, Birmingham and Manchester, and in the Arab enclaves of Germany, France, Switzerland and other parts of Europe, intelligence officials say a fervor for militancy is intensifying and becoming more open.

In Hamburg, Dr. Mustafa Yoldas, the director of the Council of Islamic Communities, saw a correlation to the discord in Iraq. "This is a very dangerous situation at the moment," Dr. Yoldas said. "My impression is that Muslims have become more and more angry against the United States."

Hundreds of young Muslim men are answering the call of militant groups affiliated or aligned with Al Qaeda, intelligence and counterterrorism officials in the region say.

Even more worrying, said a senior counterterrorism official, is that the level of "chatter" — communications among people suspected of terrorism and their supporters — has markedly increased since Mr. bin Laden's warning to Europe this month. The spike in chatter has given rise to acute worries that planning for another strike in Europe is advanced.

"Iraq dramatically strengthened their recruitment efforts," one counterterrorism official said. He added that some mosques now display photos of American soldiers fighting in Iraq alongside bloody scenes of bombed out Iraqi neighborhoods. Detecting actual recruitments is almost impossible, he said, because it is typically done face to face.

And recruitment is paired with a compelling new strategy to bring the fight to Europe.

Members of Al Qaeda have "proven themselves to be extremely opportunistic, and they have decided to try to split the Western alliance," the official continued. "They are focusing their energies on attacking the big countries" — the United States, Britain and Spain — so as to "scare" the smaller states.

Some Muslim recruits are going to Iraq, counterterrorism officials in Europe say, but more are remaining home, possibly joining cells that could help with terror logistics or begin operations like the one that came to notice when the British police seized 1,200 pounds of ammonium nitrate, a key bomb ingredient, in late March, and arrested nine Pakistani-Britons, five of whom have been charged with trying to build a terrorist bomb.

Stoking that anger are some of the same fiery Islamic clerics who preached violence and martyrdom before the Sept. 11 attacks.

On Friday, Abu Hamza, the cleric accused of tutoring Richard Reid before he tried to blow up a Paris-to-Miami jetliner with explosives hidden in his shoe, urged a crowd of 200 outside his former Finsbury Park mosque to embrace death and the "culture of martyrdom."

Though the British home secretary, David Blunkett, has sought to strip Abu Hamza of his British citizenship and deport him, the legal battle has dragged on for years while Abu Hamza keeps calling down the wrath of God. ...

Despite tougher antiterrorism laws, the police, prosecutors and intelligence chiefs across Europe say they are struggling to contain the openly seditious speech of Islamic extremists, some of whom, they say, have been inciting young men to suicidal violence since the 1990's.

One chapter in Sheik Omar's lectures these days is "The Psyche of Muslims for Suicide Bombing."

The authorities say that laws to protect religious expression and civil liberties have the result of limiting what they can do to stop hateful speech. In the case of foreigners, they say they are often left to seek deportation, a lengthy and uncertain process subject to legal appeals, when the suspect can keep inciting attacks.

That leaves the authorities to resort to less effective means, such as mouse-trapping Islamic radicals with immigration violations in hopes of making a deportation case stick. "In many countries, the laws are liberal and it's not easy," an official said.

At a mosque in Geneva, an imam recently exhorted his followers to "impose the will of Islam on the godless society of the West."

"It was quite virulent," said a senior official with knowledge of the sermon. "The imam was encouraging his followers to take over the godless society."

While such a sermon may be incitement, recruitment takes a more shadowy course, and is hard to detect, a senior antiterrorism official said. "Believers are appealed to in the mosques, but the real conversations take place in restaurants or cafes or private apartments," the official said.

While some clerics, like Abu Qatada — said to be the spiritual counselor of Mohamed Atta, who led the Sept. 11 hijacking team — remain in prison in Britain without charge, others like Sheik Omar, leader of a movement called Al Muhajiroun, carry on a robust ideological campaign.

"There is no case against me," Sheik Omar said in an interview. Referring to calls by members of Parliament that he be deported, he added, "but they are Jewish" and "they have been calling for that for years."

Among his ardent followers is Ishtiaq Alamgir, 24, who heads Al Muhajiroun in Luton and calls himself Sayful Islam, the sword of Islam. He says there are about 50 members here but exact numbers are secret. ...

Mainstream Muslims are outraged by the situation, saying the actions of a few are causing their communities to be singled out for surveillance and making the larger population distrustful of them.

Muhammad Sulaiman, a stalwart of the mainstream Central Mosque here, was penniless when he arrived from the Kashmiri frontier of Pakistan in 1956. He raised money to build the Central Mosque here and now leads a campaign to ban Al Muhajiroun radicals from the city's 10 mosques. ...

Other community leaders look to the government to do something, if only to help prevent the demonization of British Muslims, or "Islamophobia," as some here call it. ...

In Slough, Sheik Omar spent much of his time Thursday night regaling his young followers with the erotic delights of paradise — sweet kisses and the pleasures of bathing with scores of women — while he also preached the virtues of death in Islamic struggle as a ticket to paradise.

He spoke of terrorism as the new norm of cultural conflict, "the fashion of the 21st century," practiced as much by Tony Blair as by Al Qaeda. ...

And he warned Western leaders, "You may kill bin Laden, but the phenomenon, you cannot kill it — you cannot destroy it."

"Our Muslim brothers from abroad will come one day and conquer here and then we will live under Islam in dignity," he said.

This is a parody. In Britain, they'll be real.

An outrageous example of British dhimmitude comes from The Guardian, with thanks to Allon Friedman. Quite aside from the question of whether such cards are justified or desirable, doesn't exempting an entire group from the requirement defeat their whole purpose -- as well as create a special privileged class within British society?

Thousands of Muslim women will be exempted from having to show their faces on identity cards as the Government moves to allay fears among British Muslims that the new cards will be used to target them in the 'war on terror'.

As David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, faced attack for not allowing enough debate over the introduction of the first ID cards in Britain since the Second World War, officials made it clear that if Muslim women do not want to reveal their faces in public, that would be respected.

Instead of a photograph, there would be an exemption for certain people, who would only have to give fingerprint and iris-recognition data.

Although the exact type of information held on the card has still to be finalised in negotiation with other industrialised nations, Home Office sources made it clear that they backed the idea.

'We have had constructive discussions with the Muslim community and want to assure them we are sensitive to their points of view,' said a source close to Blunkett.

The Home Secretary moved after representations from the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). Officials on the council told The Observer that although they support the idea of identity cards they are concerned that they could be used to persecute ethnic minorities.

'As we have seen with the anti-terror laws and with stop and search, if powers are used in the wrong way they can have the effect of singling out a community for no good reason,' said a legal advisor to the MCB.

'We are not against ID cards as such, but we want to ensure that they are used properly.'

Blunkett will announce tomorrow a £3 billion scheme to introduce identity cards to Britain. Although at first the scheme will be voluntary, the Home Office will argue that the country should move to a compulsory scheme by 2012.

Mohamed Subeh (WHEC)

The FBI says he has terrorist ties, but this man's lawyer is charging anti-Arab racism. From Rochester, New York's 10NBC/WHEC-TV, :

The FBI says that there may be a possible terrorist link to Rochester. Law enforcement officials have arrested a local man whose being accused of lying to the government about a suspected terrorist who lived in Rochester.

Mohamed Subeh is free on $20,000 bond. He told News 10 NBC that he came to the US 15 years ago to start a new life. He has 5 American born daughters and says he has “no reason” to lie. But, the government isn’t buying it.

Subeh is a business owner and lives in a quiet Rochester neighborhood, but Friday the US Attorneys Office indicted him on 3 counts of giving false statements to the FBI.

The indictment claims Subeh knew a man interested in becoming a suicide bomber in Israel with the al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade. The terrorist group has claimed responsibility for numerous suicide bombings in Israel.

Subeh told News 10 NBC that that man is his 20-year-old brother Ismaeel. Subeh says the FBI has been questioning him about Ismaeel since he left the country for Israel last may. He says Ismaeel left to marry a woman in the West Bank, not to help a terrorist group.

Subeh’s attorney, Miguel Reyes says ... “we as a nation need to decide and to be honest that if we have changed our minds and we don't want Arabs in the US, we should be honest and tell them.”

Armstrong

The egregious Karen Armstrong, whose ahistorical, apologetic whitewashes of militant Islam I discuss in Islam Unveiled, sets up straw man after straw man and knocks them all down in this Chicago Tribune puff piece (thanks to Susan):

Among the biggest misconceptions Westerners have about Islam, she added, is that most Muslims are Arabs, that Muslims are inherently violent and that Muslims have long hated and feared the West.

"Arabs comprise only about 20 percent of the Muslim world," Armstrong said. "It isn't this 'impulsive religion' that is compelling people to do it (violence). This is the result of a troubled region where things have been allowed to fester on and on and on. The Middle East has been in turmoil for (at least) the last 50 years, and Islam, as well as Judaism, has gotten dragged into this unholy mess, sucked into this whirlwind."

Most Muslims aren't Arabs? Duly noted. Anyone with any knowledge of the subject knows that. Muslims are inherently violent? Of course not. But note that Armstrong doesn't deal here or in other writings (at least the ones I've seen) with the texts that radical Muslims use to justify violence against unbelievers. In Islam: A Short History she says the theology of violent jihad was set aside "in practice" — i.e., not in theory. It still remained part of Islamic thought, and has obviously been taken up again by a great many Muslims in the modern age.

The notion that Islam "imposes itself by force and violence and has always been against Christianity -- that is not true at all," she declared.

Right. It's true: forced conversions are forbidden in Islam, although this law has often been broken. But theorists of jihad throughout Islamic history and today have taught that jihad must be fought to establish the hegemony of Sharia — under which Jews, Christians, and other non-Muslims will have second-class status as dhimmis. But no mention of any of this from Ms. Armstrong.

On one point, however, Armstrong might not be so tractable: Her disappointment at the language employed by President Bush in the wake of the attacks against the World Trade Center and his chronic use of the words "good" and "evil."

Such labeling "is buying into the same ideology as Osama bin Laden," Armstrong cautioned. "He also divides the world into two camps, into good and evil. You don't want to encourage this kind of polarized thinking. To say that anyone we don't like is 'evil' means we never have to examine our own behavior.

I'm all for being self-critical where self-criticism is called for. But objectively, wasn't 9/11 evil? And wasn't it evil apart from anything the American government, which was not in the WTC that day, may have done or not done? Evidently, Karen Armstrong doesn't think so, but I am unwilling to play these relativist games: the fact is that the mujahedin believe in good and evil too, and they are only going to be emboldened by the sympathy of people like Ms. Armstrong.

The LA Times this morning has an interesting piece about the outrage among Saudi Muslims that the recent bombings killed ... Muslims.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Abdelaziz Raikhan was fuming Saturday, standing alongside his pickup and surveying the abandoned shops and blasted apartment buildings of downtown, a zone still littered with twisted cars and chunks of rubble from the suicide bombing of a police headquarters.

"They're mentally ill, this crowd," he said of the Islamic militants who killed at least five people and wounded 148 on Wednesday. Raikhan, 30, works as a maintenance man for the Saudi security forces; luckily, he was on the other side of town when his office was blown up.

"There's not one American in this entire area," he said, sweeping an arm to take in a neighborhood eerily still, its streets laced with police tape. "Not one! What kind of jihad is this?"

Throughout the Saudi mainstream, the call has risen: This insurgency is not a jihad, because a jihad, or sacred struggle, does not kill fellow Muslims, let alone Saudis. Wednesday's attack, plainly meant to kill Saudi police and civilians milling through the tightly wound streets of downtown at rush hour, has infuriated Saudis.

This ascetic, oil-rich kingdom is stuck between the religious ideal of jihad, still widely embraced, and the bloody, nerve-wracked reality of a nation targeted by militants. Saudis curse the U.S. troops in Fallouja, Iraq, and praise Hamas suicide bombings in Israel even as they pass through metal detectors and steer their cars through the checkpoints that choke Riyadh's traffic to a standstill.

Many people here who have praised and supported jihad around the world are shocked to find themselves on the receiving end of a violence fueled by religious extremism.

"This is not against invading armies like Afghanistan or Iraq. This is against a legitimate system, against civilians and traffic officers," said Khaled Batarfi, an analyst at Saudi Arabia's Arab News and a childhood friend of Osama bin Laden. "We don't see this as jihad. We have the ability to differentiate between what's jihad and what's not."

Popular culture here is rife with the lore of holy warriors, and the last two decades have been punctuated by holy war: There was the fight against the Russians in Afghanistan. There was Chechnya, and now Iraq. Thousands of eager Saudi men streamed out of their homeland to fight in those distant battles. All of those causes, and especially the Palestinian intifada, are seen by many Saudis as righteous and, more important, tied to Islamic duty.

The Riyadh attack, they say, doesn't fit the bill, and many people bristle at the comparison. Jihad is waged against an invading army or an occupying force, they point out. It does not apply to Muslim-on-Muslim terrorism, they say.

The Taliban's Mullah Omar

A similar threat has been made — and carried out — by jihadists in Kashmir. In Afghanistan, the Taliban is particularly upset that women may vote. From AFP, with thanks to Jean-Luc:

Taliban insurgents have threatened to kill Afghans if they vote in September elections, an intelligence official said yesterday.

The threats were carried in pamphlets distributed in Logar province close to the capital Kabul, the official said on condition of anonymity.

"We advise all Afghans not to risk their lives for attending the elections," the pamphlets warned, according to the official.

"Women especially will face the death penalty if they try to take part in the elections. Husbands are responsible for the blood of their wives if they fail to stop them voting in elections."

Is every investigation of every crime against any Muslim ipso facto anti-Muslim persecution? From the Sydney Morning Herald, with thanks to Jean-Luc:

It was an act of "great heinousness" - the betrayal of trust in which four brothers and another man brutally gang raped two teenage girls they had befriended a week earlier.

As sexual assault crimes go, this was the worst in its category, Justice Brian Sully told the NSW Supreme Court yesterday.

Even more disturbing was that the brothers maintained their innocence throughout the trial, despite overwhelming evidence, insisting that they were victims of an anti-Muslim conspiracy and a police set-up.

Rehabilitation would be problematic: they were in "total denial" of the offences, according to a psychologist's report quoted by the judge, and had no remorse.

But in what became a test case - they were the first to be convicted and sentenced under new gang rape laws which carry a life sentence - Justice Sully did not impose the maximum penalty. He handed down sentences ranging from 22 years to 10.

The brothers - who can only be identified as MSK, MAK, MRK and MMK - were each convicted of nine counts of aggravated sexual assault in company. Another man, known as RS, was also convicted. He was found hanged in his prison cell last week.

The five lured two girls, known as LS, 17, and HG, 16, back to the brothers' Ashfield family home in the early hours of July 28, 2002. ...

After their sentences were handed down, one said in court: "We did not commit this crime, the crime was committed against us. The police set us up because we are Muslims, your honour."

A man in the public gallery yelled out: "F---in' dickhead."

Outside court, the brothers' father, a doctor, said: "What can I say? I think they are innocent but I don't know, maybe the jury is right, I don't know. I'm so stressed. I have four sons . . . who are like dead people for me now because they will be jailed. What will happen? They will not get an education, nothing. That will be their luck. Everything is decided by God."

Lodhi allegedly observed satellite images on a NSW Government planning website, detailing infrastructure and transport links

From the Sydney Morning Herald, with thanks to Jean-Luc:

The alleged mastermind of a planned terrorist attack in Australia used a NSW Government website to get maps, data and satellite images of potential targets, including Sydney's Centrepoint, the Parramatta CBD and transport systems.

"He was using it during office hours to look at things like the numbers of floors in a building," a former colleague of Faheem Lodhi told the Herald. "He was interested in areas dead smack in the middle of the city."

Lodhi, 34, also bought a map of the country's energy supply system, which gave details of the routes of gas pipelines and the location of power stations and high-voltage substations. The ready availability of information, including on city infrastructure, revealed by the case is expected to fuel the continuing debate about the terrorist threat and the application of new laws to investigations.

It has also emerged that when the deported Frenchman Willie Brigitte arrived at Sydney Airport on May 16 last year, Lodhi was waiting for him. Brigitte is said to have told French interrogators that he had regular meetings with Lodhi "to prepare a terrorist act of great size in Australia".

More antics from the irrepressible Abu Bakar Bashir, one of Indonesia's leading jihadists. From the Herald Sun, with thanks to Jean-Luc:

DUBAI: Jailed Indonesian militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has rejected accusations of terrorism, while expressing admiration for al-Qa'ida leader Osama bin Laden, according to the Saudi weekly Al-Majallah.

"The American accusations are pure allegations," Bashir, 65, said from prison in an interview for today's edition of the magazine, which is published in London.
Bashir denied engaging in "terrorist activities" or being the head of the al-Qa'ida-linked Jemaah Islamiah terror group.

Police say they have enough to charge him for a string of terror attacks, including the October 12, 2002, bombings in Bali that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. ...

"The United States wants to keep me in prison because they consider I am dangerous for their interests because I call for the implementation of Islamic Sharia law in Indonesia," Bashir told the Al-Majallah.

He also described bin Laden as "a hero of Islam" and US President George W. Bush and the American army as "henchmen of the devil".

Outside the apartment complex where the Pelteks lived (WHEC)

An honor killing in Scottsville, New York. What was the dishonor? Well, part of it was that his four-year-old daughter had been "sullied" by a gynecological exam. For this she had to be killed. From the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, with thanks to LGF:

April 24, 2004) -- Ismail Peltek, who was indicted Friday on charges of second-degree murder in the April 15 slaying of his wife, Hatice Peltek, claimed he attacked his wife and daughters after learning that his brother had molested his wife and his 22-year-old daughter, according to court documents.

Peltek, 41, said he attacked his 4-year-old daughter because she had been "sullied" by a gynecological exam.

"I was concerned that my family's honor was taken," he allegedly told investigators. ...

His 39-year-old wife died after being stabbed repeatedly and bludgeoned on the head with a hammer.

His daughters suffered fractured skulls from hammer blows.

"If you had the opportunity to kill the family again, would you?" he was asked by Rochester police Officer Emre Arican, who was brought in to help investigators because he speaks Turkish.

"My female family, yes. My male family, no," Peltek allegedly replied. ...

So-called "honor killings" of females are common in Turkey and countries of the Middle East, according to UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund. UNICEF defines the practice as one "in which men kill female relatives in the name of family 'honor' for forced or suspected sexual activity outside marriage, even when they have been victims of rape."

After the shootings (AP)

Remember that strange story out of Kosovo, in which a Jordanian UN policeman started firing at Americans? It may have been just another part of the global jihad: Sgt. Maj. Ahmed Mustafa Ibrahim Ali may have been tied to the jihadist group Hamas.

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) -- Authorities are investigating whether a Jordanian U.N. policeman who killed three American corrections officers in a gunbattle at a Kosovo prison had links to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, a senior NATO official said. As investigators tried to pin down Sgt. Maj. Ahmed Mustafa Ibrahim Ali's motive, a clearer picture of the April 17 attack emerged this week. Witnesses, U.N. officials, medical personnel and NATO officers, in interviews with The Associated Press, described a scene in which the officers were trapped between a locked gate and Ali's assault rifle.

Eleven officers were wounded before the officers shot and killed Ali, a Palestinian from Jordan. No one is certain what prompted him to open fire, but a survivor said Ali was smiling during his shooting spree, a U.N. source familiar with the investigation said. ...

A senior NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that besides the investigation into any links with Hamas, authorities were examining a trip Ali took to Saudi Arabia only a month before he joined the mission in March to see if it might be connected to the attack.

Jordan's government said Ali, 30, was a distinguished member of his homeland's special police unit and had been decorated for helping to ward off an attack on the Israeli Embassy in the Jordanian capital, Amman. The United Nations has refused to discuss details of the investigation.

Much is at stake for the United Nations in the outcome of the investigation because the police mission in Kosovo, and others like it, rely on throwing together officers from member countries regardless of political philosophy.

"The incident is so grave and appalling that it really calls into question the mission's integrity and unity," said Alex Anderson of the International Crisis Group, a Brussels, Belgium-based think tank.

Indeed.

Al-Bakra oil terminal (Reuters)

It's a busy day for the mujahedin in Iraq.

BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Suicide bombers launched two boat attacks on Iraq's vital Basra offshore oil terminal on Saturday, Iraqi officials said, but the British military said there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

One boat exploded alongside a ship tied up at the terminal, said British military spokesman Major Ian Clooey.

A second boat was intercepted by a U.S.-led coalition ship as it approached an exclusion zone around the terminal and there was an explosion soon after it was boarded, he said.

Iraq is almost completely dependent on the terminal -- which is in Britain's sector of responsibility in the country -- to export around 1.9 million barrels per day, providing badly needed state funding.

Bush and Bandar (AP)

Maybe this is why Washington has been willing not to notice so much sponsorship of jihad terrorism coming out of Saudi Arabia. From AP:

WASHINGTON - During the Iraq war, Saudi Arabia secretly helped the United States far more than has been acknowledged, allowing operations from at least three air bases, permitting special forces to stage attacks from Saudi soil and providing cheap fuel, U.S. and Saudi officials say.

The American air campaign against Iraq was essentially managed from inside Saudi borders, where military commanders operated an air command center and launched refueling tankers, F-16 fighter jets, and sophisticated intelligence gathering flights, according to the officials.

Much of the assistance has been kept quiet for more than a year by both countries for fear it would add to instability inside the kingdom. Many Saudis oppose the war and U.S. presence on Saudi soil has been used by Osama bin Laden to build his terror movement.

But senior political and military officials from both countries told The Associated Press the Saudi royal family permitted widespread military operations to be staged from inside the kingdom during the coalition force's invasion of Iraq.

These officials would only talk on condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity and the fact that some operational details remain classified.

From AP:

BAGHDAD - Volleys of rockets struck the capital's crowded Shiite Muslim neighborhood of Sadr City on Saturday, hitting a busy market, smashing into a home and killing at least seven Iraqis. Outside Baghdad, insurgents rocketed a U.S. military base, killing five soldiers.

Besides the deaths in the Sadr City rocket strikes, at least 26 Iraqis were reported killed in a bombing at Tikrit, clashes between Polish troops and Shiite militiamen in Karbala, U.S. raids overnight in Sadr City, and a roadside bombing south of Baghdad.

Five American solders were killed around dawn when two rockets fired from a truck hit the U.S. base at Taji, 12 miles north of Baghdad, Air Force Lt. Col. Sam Hudspath said. U.S. helicopter gunships then destroyed the truck, the military said.

Six soldiers were wounded in the attack, three of them critically, the military said. ...

U.S. commanders have blamed Sunni Muslim insurgents for military-style rocket attacks on U.S. bases in the past. But people in the neighborhood blamed the Americans for Saturday's rocket barrages, which came after the overnight clash.

After the rocket strike, residents chanted: "Long live al-Sadr! America and the Governing Council are infidels!"

Here's an insightful piece by Walid Phares on this mess in Iraq: "Al-Qaeda's War on Iraq." Phares asks who is waging the war on Iraq, and then offers an answer:

Tuesday's deadly bombings in Basra provide us with the answer. In several mortar and car bomb explosions, directed against police stations and civilians, terrorist attacks killed more than 70 men, women and children and injured nearly 250. The slaughter was a vivid reminder of similar attacks in several cities around the world including Istanbul, Riyadh, Madrid, Bali and Moscow. Mass killing of civilians has all the al-Qaeda hallmarks. But the Basra massacre has even more to tell us.

In targeting police stations, the attacks were meant not only to kill security officers, but also to disrupt the present and future security of Iraq. The aim goes beyond the British troops deployed in this major Shiite city; the real targets are the Iraqis who must become the backbone of stability and normal civil society in Iraq. What the attackers want to achieve is the preemptive assassination of normality for a society in search of peace and progress.

In place of these security forces, which will be serving future democratically elected governments, the terrorists want to see fundamentalist militia at the service of some emir or other. Thus the forces of reaction desperately try to block the march toward the future. If the new Iraq rises, radical forces will be reduced to gangs, or at best, marginal radical factions, which could hope to get at best only a few seats in the representative assemblies. That future is what these killers are trying to forestall.

Al-Qaeda may be emboldened by its bloodshed around the world and particularly in Iraq, but the Iraqis are not the Spanish voters, totally blinded by their own media. The people of Iraq have lived under terror longer than al-Qaeda has been in existence. Ordinary Iraqis, who have no links to the Fallujah Fedayeen or supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, have deep instincts. They have been gassed in Halabja, tortured in Baghdad and piled up in mass graves. They understand the terror message; they know who their real enemy is. Yesterday morning in Basra, they saw the monster devouring the lives of their children. Unlike the Spanish voters, they will not submit to al-Qaeda, for one simple reason: They know that there is a war against their freedom, and that war on Iraq is al-Qaeda's war.

In Washington, they discussed what to do if 100 or more members of Congress were killed. In London, there was a "specific threat" to the House of Commons. From The Telegraph, :

MI5 discovered a "specific threat" that terrorists were planning to use anthrax or ricin to launch a deadly attack in the Commons chamber, MPs were told yesterday. This helped to persuade them to vote in favour of spending £1.3 million on a permanent glass security barrier between the public gallery and rest of the chamber.

But the move was approved by a majority of only seven votes and many MPs complained about the initiative before it was put to a free vote.

Some argued that the screen would not work. Others claimed it would undermine the principle that, in a democracy, elected MPs should be accessible to their voters.

A temporary glass screen was erected during the Easter recess and yesterday Peter Hain, the Leader of the Commons, explained that it had been put up "in the light of clear security advice at the highest level".

He said he needed to explain to MPs "in plainest terms" what the consequences of ignoring the advice would be.

"If an al-Qa'eda group managed to throw a phial of anthrax or ricin into the chamber - or maybe even worse, a suicide agent released it, without anybody noticing, which we have been advised is quite feasible - the particles would immediately begin spreading.

"Because of the way air flows work, within minutes total contamination could occur.

"Decontamination procedures would then be activated. Everyone - not just members - would be locked in and decontaminated before being allowed to leave."

Mr Hain disclosed that the warning had come from Eliza Manningham-Buller, the head of MI5. She briefed the Commons Commission, the body in charge of administration, earlier this year.

Although Mr Hain did not disclose further details, Sir Patrick Cormack, a Tory member of the commission, told MPs that a "specific threat" had been identified.

He said the security services had called for a screen to be erected 15 months ago, but on that occasion the commission vetoed the idea.

The temporary screen, which cost £600,000, means people in the public gallery can see what is happening in the chamber and hear debates via loudspeakers. But they are separated by an airtight screen running from floor to ceiling, and the chamber and the gallery no longer share a ventilation system.

Yesterday MPs voted to replace the temporary screen with a permanent one next summer. It will be more effective and more aesthetic.

Mr Hain also said a comprehensive review of security at Westminster, including the issuing of passes to the 12,900 people who work in the building, had begun.

Sion Simon, a Labour MP, said he did not think the screen would be effective because it did not cover the front three rows of the public gallery. Some of these seats will be allocated to members of the public personally invited by an MP.

"If I was a fully-fledged infiltrator dedicated to annihilating our democracy and who had the wherewithall to get his hands on a phial of poison, I think I would probably have got enough initiative to write to my MP and ask him for a ticket in front of the screen."

From Treasury Secretary John Snow in Opinion Journal, :

One of the most critical things the 9/11 Commission hearings have brought to light is the important role the Patriot Act plays in helping to win the war on terror. We have heard a lot about "the wall"--a conceptual barrier that prohibited agencies such as the FBI and CIA from communicating freely with each other. That wall was knocked down when President Bush signed the Patriot Act in October 2001.

Sept. 11 compelled our nation to identify the areas we needed to bolster in order to secure our homeland. We have learned a number of very important lessons about the vulnerabilities in our financial system. First, that our ability to combat terrorist financing is linked with our ability to combat money laundering. Second, that we must remain vigilant in our continuing efforts to identify new ways in which terrorists and criminals will attempt to use our own financial system to fuel their agendas. And third, that our ability to obtain and share financial information is critical to our success in identifying and bringing down terrorist networks. ...

Under the Patriot Act, banks and other financial institutions are directed to bolster defenses in potentially vulnerable areas. As we strengthen our defenses against financial crimes in traditional financial institutions, such as banks, criminals and terrorists will look to other types of financial institutions or methods through which to move or launder their money. With that in mind, we continue to bring additional types of businesses under the umbrella of anti-money-laundering and anti-terrorist-financing regulation, thereby raising awareness of the issues and equipping these businesses with the tools to protect themselves. ...

Nonie Darwish has some excellent observations on the recent decision in Michigan to amend noise ordinances to allow the Muslim call to prayer over loudspeakers:

The Islamist movement in the United States has no intention of expressing sensitivity to the majority Judeo-Christian culture of America. Even 9/11 has not slowed them down, but might even have given more fuel to their cherished dream of seeing America and its government Moslem.

The City Council of Hamtramck, Michigan, gave its preliminary approval to the Bangladeshi al-Islah mosque to carry the Arabic call to prayer five times a day through a loudspeaker. The Moslem call for prayer, in Arabic, says: "Allah is great. I confess that there is no God but Allah. I confess that Mohamed is his messenger. Call for prayer, call for prayer." This is repeated for two minutes.

Devout Moslems already know when it is time to pray and in this day and age there are certainly other ways to call people for prayers that conforms to noise regulation and respects the wish of the general public not to hear loudspeakers 5 times a day praising a God that is different from theirs and in whose name the terrorists of 9/11 committed their atrocity. How far are we Arab/Moslem Americans going to keep pushing the envelope to test America's patience? To whose benefit these loudspeakers are being installed? Could the loudspeakers be another sign of an audacious, in-your-face conquest of America to please those who finance these mosques?

Americans are the most tolerant people in the world and it seems that the more tolerant they become, the more they are taken advantage of. How far will our tolerant Judeo-Christian culture be pushed around? And how many times will Christians give the other cheek to prove they love those who despise them?

Arab/Moslem Americans should reciprocate the tolerance and sensitivity to the rest of America. They should not demand from America to tolerate unwelcome loudspeakers even if the politicians in the city council want to please the Arab population for their vote. Mosques in the US should know better because in most Moslem countries, Jewish synagogues and Christian churches are not even permitted to be built, much less promoted via public-address loudspeakers.

At a time when American youth are dying to stabilize Iraq and bring democracy to a Moslem country, the last thing I want to see as an Arab American is my fellow Americans upset at us for forcing Koran read to them through amplifiers.

Mosques all over the Middle East have used and abused loudspeakers to spread not only the call for prayers, but also Friday sermons. In many Arab capitals you can often hear a prayer to destroy the infidels (non-Moslems) and the Jews, the enemies of God, over loudspeakers that are often used as tools of incitement and indoctrination. People in congested and noisy Arab cities such as Cairo often hear 3 or 4 mosque loudspeakers simultaneously since there could be 4 or more mosques in one square mile. The dawn prayer can come as early as 5 am and many Moslems in the Middle East hate it, but are too afraid to say anything about it.

Why is America importing fear, oppression and insensitivity to the American general public? There is a fine line between tolerance and self destruction.

Mullah Krekar on Al-Jazeera

Norway-based terrorist Mullah Krekar has a new book out. From Aftenposten, with thanks to Filtrat and Nicolei:

Mullah Krekar, former leader of the militant Kurdish group Ansar al-Islam, presented his book "Med egne ord" - In My Own Words - at a press conference on Thursday. The autobiography includes a series of shocking revelations, including the admission that Krekar tried to get funding from Osama bin Laden, newspaper VG reports. This 2004 Al Jazeera TV appearance by Mullah Krekar caused even more confusion when he was referred to as the head of the militant Ansar al-Islam, a connection he allegedly severed years before.

Other riveting tales from the spiritual leader, born Najmuddin Farah Ahmad, include how the teenaged Krekar took a pilot's head as a trophy in his early years as a liberationist guerrilla and memories of how Kurds endured vicious bombing from Iraqi Baathists and others.

Krekar hoped that bin Laden would help fund the Kurdish jihad-movement and met with the al-Qaida leader in Peshawar in Pakistan around 1990.

Krekar describes bin Laden as a silent man who was only known as a wealthy, potential benefactor. Krekar relates that he did not receive any financial assistance from bin Laden, and two later attempts by an emissary to raise funds for the Kurdistan resistance also met with failure.

Krekar claims that bin Laden preferred to back rebels in Afghanistan.

The controversial mullah, who is currently fighting an deportation order in Norway, writes effusively about his new homeland, telling immigrant readers living here that it is a Muslim duty to maintain the laws of their new home.

Krekar thanks Norway for its protection and patience and says that Muslims gaining residency in Norway and other western nations have a holy duty to observe the laws and rules that apply there.

The mullah also defends the ongoing resistance effort in Iraq against the American-led occupation forces, VG reports.

Meanwhile, more from the book: Mulla Krekar: Iraq in the clutches of 'new Nazis'. (Thanks to Nicolei.)

Arafat and Moratinos (AP)

Now that Spain has knuckled under to Islamic terror, thus announcing to the world its intention to reassume dhimmi status, to whom do US officials turn for help in mediating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Why, Spain, of course. And not just any negotiator the Spanish government may see fit to provide, but none other than Zapatero's Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos.

Moratinos is the one who announced in March that he would "urge EU allies and Washington to seek a 'new strategy' to counter terrorism."

His comments came a day after US President George W. Bush had warned allies that "there is no neutral ground between good and evil," adding that the war on terror "is an inescapable calling of our generation."

For Moratinos, however, "our positions are a little different.

"We think we have to use very complex and different instruments" to counter terrorism, rather than simply force, he added in welcoming the "nuanced positions" of EU foreign policy head Javier Solana and Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission.

In Berlin on Saturday, Solana warned against a hysterical reaction to the threat of attacks in the wake of the Madrid bombings.

"We have to energetically oppose terrorism, but we mustn't change the way we live," Solana has told the German weekly Bild am Sonntag in an interview to appear on Sunday, adding "Europe is not at war."

Prodi for his part said that "conflict with the terrorists will not be resolved by force."

Evidently, then, they want to negotiate with the terrorists.

The primary example of how negotiating with a terrorist gives him legitimacy that only leads to more terror is Arafat, with whom Moratinos has met on many occasions.

From Reuters, with thanks to nabrahambi:

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's new foreign minister said on Thursday the United States had asked him for help in promoting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice asked Miguel Angel Moratinos to mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during a meeting in Washington on Wednesday, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

But Moratinos, who spent seven years as the European Union's special envoy to the Middle East, was cautious about the word "mediation" when questioned at a news conference later.

"The word 'mediation' is a word with a lot of diplomatic content. Mediations are when you have the mandate of the parties (or) a clear mandate of the international community," he said after talks with visiting French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier.

"What our American friends have asked me -- given my experience -- is that I should help them, that Spain should contribute within the European Union to create this new dynamic that has begun with the (Israeli) initiative to withdraw from Gaza. No more and no less," he said.

Similar efforts were being made by Barnier and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, said Moratinos, a member of Spain's new Socialist government which took office last weekend.

"I agreed to contribute my grain of sand to get out of this dilemma, (something) which is fundamental for the stability of the whole region," he said.

In Washington, a state department official said there was no question of a mediating role.

"In the meeting it was agreed they would help on the subject of the withdrawal from Gaza and reform in the Greater Middle East Initiative. They agreed to help us present these things as moments of opportunity," the official, who asked not to be named, said.

Barnier stressed Moratinos' knowledge of the people and the sensitivities of the Middle East.

"We need that experience (in the EU) to help the road map progress," he said, referring to a peace plan endorsed by the United States, the EU, the United Nations and Russia.

The EU tried to defuse tension with Washington over the Middle East last Saturday, saying Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip could be a "significant step" on the road to peace.

Victor Davis Hanson in the City Journal (thanks to David Zohar) makes some excellent points about the results of appeasement -- and of standing firm:

Imagine a different November 4, 1979, in Teheran. Shortly after Iranian terrorists storm the American embassy and take some 90 American hostages, President Jimmy Carter announces that Islamic fundamentalism is not a legitimate response to the excess of the Shah but a new and dangerous fascism that threatens all that liberal society holds dear. And then he issues an ultimatum to Teheran's leaders: Release the captives or face a devastating military response.

When that demand is not met, instead of freezing Iran's assets, stopping the importation of its oil, or seeking support at the UN, Carter orders an immediate blockade of the country, followed by promises to bomb, first, all of its major military assets, and then its main government buildings and residences of its ruling mullocracy. The Ayatollah Khomeini may well have called his bluff; we may well have tragically lost the hostages (151 fewer American lives than the Iranian-backed Hezbollah would take four years later in a single day in Lebanon). And there may well have been the sort of chaos in Teheran that we now witness in Baghdad. But we would have seen it all in 1979--and not in 2001, after almost a quarter-century of continuous Middle East terrorism, culminating in the mass murder of 3,000 Americans and the leveling of the World Trade Center.

The twentieth century should have taught the citizens of liberal democracies the catastrophic consequences of placating tyrants. British and French restraint over the occupation of the Rhineland, the Anschluss, the absorption of the Czech Sudetenland, and the incorporation of Bohemia and Moravia did not win gratitude but rather Hitler's contempt for their weakness. Fifty million dead, the Holocaust, and the near destruction of European civilization were the wages of "appeasement"--a term that early-1930s liberals proudly embraced as far more enlightened than the old idea of "deterrence" and "military readiness."

So too did Western excuses for the Russians' violation of guarantees of free elections in postwar Eastern Europe, China, and Southeast Asia only embolden the Soviet Union. What eventually contained Stalinism was the Truman Doctrine, NATO, and nuclear deterrence--not the United Nations--and what destroyed its legacy was Ronald Reagan's assertiveness, not Jimmy Carter's accommodation or Richard Nixon's détente.

As long ago as the fourth century b.c., Demosthenes warned how complacency and self-delusion among an affluent and free Athenian people allowed a Macedonian thug like Philip II to end some four centuries of Greek liberty--and in a mere 20 years of creeping aggrandizement down the Greek peninsula. Thereafter, these historical lessons should have been clear to citizens of any liberal society: we must neither presume that comfort and security are our birthrights and are guaranteed without constant sacrifice and vigilance, nor expect that peoples outside the purview of bourgeois liberalism share our commitment to reason, tolerance, and enlightened self-interest.

Most important, military deterrence and the willingness to use force against evil in its infancy usually end up, in the terrible arithmetic of war, saving more lives than they cost. All this can be a hard lesson to relearn each generation, especially now that we contend with the sirens of the mall, Oprah, and latte. Our affluence and leisure are as antithetical to the use of force as rural life and relative poverty once were catalysts for muscular action. The age-old lure of appeasement--perhaps they will cease with this latest concession, perhaps we provoked our enemies, perhaps demonstrations of our future good intentions will win their approval--was never more evident than in the recent Spanish elections, when an affluent European electorate, reeling from the horrific terrorist attack of 3/11, swept from power the pro-U.S. center-right government on the grounds that the mass murders were more the fault of the United States for dragging Spain into the effort to remove fascists and implant democracy in Iraq than of the primordial al-Qaidist culprits, who long ago promised the Western and Christian Iberians ruin for the Crusades and the Reconquista.

What went wrong with the West--and with the United States in particular--when not just the classical but especially the recent antecedents to September 11, from the Iranian hostage-taking to the attack on the USS Cole, were so clear? Though Americans in an election year, legitimately concerned about our war dead, may now be divided over the Iraqi occupation, polls nevertheless show a surprising consensus that the many precursors to the World Trade Center and Pentagon bombings were acts of war, not police matters. Roll the tape backward from the USS Cole in 2000, through the bombing of the Khobar Towers and the U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998, the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, the destruction of the American embassy and annex in Beirut in 1983, the mass murder of 241 U.S. Marine peacekeepers asleep in their Lebanese barracks that same year, and assorted kidnappings and gruesome murders of American citizens and diplomats (including TWA Flight 800, Pan Am 103, William R. Higgins, Leon Klinghoffer, Robert Dean Stethem, and CIA operative William Francis Buckley), until we arrive at the Iranian hostage-taking of November 1979: that debacle is where we first saw the strange brew of Islamic fascism, autocracy, and Middle East state terrorism--and failed to grasp its menace, condemn it, and go to war against it.

That lapse, worth meditating upon in this 25th anniversary year of Khomeinism, then set the precedent that such aggression against the United States was better adjudicated as a matter of law than settled by war. Criminals were to be understood, not punished; and we, not our enemies, were at fault for our past behavior. Whether Carter's impotence sprang from his deep-seated moral distrust of using American power unilaterally or from real remorse over past American actions in the cold war or even from his innate pessimism about the military capability of the United States mattered little to the hostage takers in Teheran, who for some 444 days humiliated the United States through a variety of public demands for changes in U.S. foreign policy, the return of the exiled Shah, and reparations.

But if we know how we failed to respond in the last three decades, do we yet grasp why we were so afraid to act decisively at these earlier junctures, which might have stopped the chain of events that would lead to the al-Qaida terrorist acts of September 11? Our failure was never due to a lack of the necessary wealth or military resources, but rather to a deeply ingrained assumption that we should not retaliate--a hesitancy al-Qaida perceives and plays upon.

Read the whole thing; it's well worth the time.

Wife-beating advocate Bouziane doesn't have to leave France -- yet, anyway. From AP, with thanks to Susan:

LYON, France (AP) - A French court on Friday temporarily suspended a deportation order that has already led to the expulsion of a Muslim cleric who advocated wife-beating and stoning women.

The suspension was to remain in effect until a hearing on case, expected in a few weeks. The cleric, Abdelkader Bouziane, was deported to Algeria on Wednesday, and it was unclear what effect the ruling of the administrative court in Lyon might have.

Bouziane, 52, preaches at a mosque in the Lyon suburb of Venissieux. He was quoted in the April edition of Lyon Mag as saying a man could beat his wife ``under certain conditions, notably if the woman cheats on her husband.''

He was quoted as saying the Quran, the Muslim holy book, authorizes such punishment - an interpretation rejected by many Muslims.

He also said he was in favor of stoning women for offenses.

The comments drew condemnation from French officials and Muslim leaders and prompted Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin to order Bouziane's immediate expulsion.

The imam was first put on an expulsion list Feb. 26 for disturbing public order, but official said they decided to speed up his case after the remarks were published.

Villepin on Friday said he would give the Lyon court additional information to justify Bouziane's expulsion.

The Jews did it all! 9/11, 3/11, you name it. MEMRI gives us an example of fantastic and paranoid Jew-hatred from an Egyptian government daily:

In an article in the Egyptian government daily Al-Gumhouriyya titled 'The Secret Israeli Weapon,' deputy editor Abd Al-Wahhab 'Adas accused the Jews of perpetrating all terrorism throughout the world, including the Madrid bombings. The following are excerpts from the article:(1)

'The Zionist Jews are Behind All the Violent and Terror Operations that have Occurred Everywhere In the World'

"If you want to know the real perpetrator of every disaster or every act of terrorism, look for the Zionist Jews. They are behind all the violent and terror operations that have occurred everywhere in the world. [They do this] first of all in order to slap [the label of the attacks] on the Arabs and Muslims, and second to harm them, distort their image, and represent them to the world as terrorists who endanger innocents. What is even more dangerous is that after every terror operation they perpetrate, they leave a sign, clue, or traces meant to show that the perpetrators are Arab Muslims.

"Their most recent operation was the bombings in Spain. Spanish Interior Minister Angel Acebes said a videocassette in Arabic was found near one of the Madrid mosques, and in it the military spokesman of the Al-Qa'ida organization took responsibility for these attacks. But [Acebes] repeatedly contradicted [himself] by saying that the credibility of the cassette had not yet been proven... In addition, a van was found next to the Atocha train station in Madrid with traces of explosives and a cassette of the Koran.

"It is obvious that the Jews are the ones who placed these things, in order to prove to the entire world that the Arabs and Muslims are behind the bombings. But because Allah wanted to expose them and their games, the Spanish prime minister declared immediately after the incident that the explosives that were used in these [attacks] were of the same type used by the ETA organization in previous explosions!! This in addition to the U.S. statement that the cassette that was found was not genuine and did not belong to the Al-Qa'ida organization, but had been planted [to implicate] them."

'It Is the Jews, with their Hidden Filthy Hands, Who Play their Part with Expertise In Order to Harm the Arabs and Muslims'

"It is the Jews, with their hidden filthy hands, who play their part with expertise in order to harm the Arabs and Muslims and to intensify hatred towards them. They have experience in this area. All precedents attest to this. Their black history is the best possible proof that hatred toward the Arabs and the Muslims fills their hearts and blinds their eyes. They are behind all troubles, disasters and catastrophes in the world."

The Jews are Behind 9/11

"Actually, it is they who are behind the events of September 11. Proof of this is what was broadcast by the Canadian news agency on September 17 ... that prior to the events the CIA had received a report that the Mossad would carry out an attack operation on American territory, in a new attempt to divert attention from the barbaric Israeli operations against the Palestinian people.

"Further [proof] of this is the news in the American papers at that time, that 4,000 Jews of American origin who worked at the World Trade Center received instructions from the Mossad not to go to work that day.

Jordanians protest parliament's rejection of honor killings law

Remember, the Jordanian Parliament voted down a bill stiffening penalties for honor-killing. From WND, :

A Muslim Jordanian man stabbed to death his pregnant sister because she married an Egyptian man against the family's wishes.

Investigators arriving at the scene Tuesday said the suspect told them "he killed his sibling to cleanse the family's honor using a kitchen knife," the Jordan Times reported.

The unidentified woman was eight months pregnant when she was killed with 25 stab wounds to different parts of her body, the paper said.

Her death is the fifth "honor killing" in Jordan this year tallied by the Times, which counted 17 last year.

An initial investigation into Tuesday's killing revealed the victim married an Egyptian man one year ago and left for Egypt, but she returned home last week to give birth.

After killing his sister in the family home, the brother called the police and waited for them to come and arrest him.

As WorldNetDaily reported, last September two sisters were hacked to death by their Muslim brothers in Jordan in an "honor killing" that came one day after the country's parliament rejected a bill imposing tougher sentences for the crime.

That same month, a Muslim Kurdish refugee living in the UK was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his 16-year-old daughter because she had started a relationship with a Lebanese Christian boy and had become too "westernized."

An anthropologist's study last year said dozens and probably hundreds of brutal "honor killings" of Palestinian women and girls - most of whom are virtually blameless - annually go unreported.

James Emery says the women "are murdered in their homes, in open fields, and occasionally in public, sometimes before crowds of cheering onlookers."

From AP: Al-Sadr flexes his Islamic muscles.

KUFA, Iraq - A Shiite Muslim cleric threatened on Friday to launch suicide attacks if U.S. troops attack him and his forces in the holy city of Najaf.

Muqtada al-Sadr, was speaking during the Friday prayers sermon in Kufa, another Shiite Muslim holy city few miles from Najaf. The area is mostly controlled by his Al-Mahdi Army militia, whose members have clashed with U.S. troops several times since their uprising began on April 4.

"Some of the Mujahideen brothers have told me they want to carry out martyrdom attacks but I am postponing this," al-Sadr said in front of thousands of worshippers. "When we are forced to do so and when our city and holy sites are attacked, we will all be timebombs in the face of the enemy."

He condemned suicide bombings Wednesday in the southern city of Basra that killed 73 people because they targeted Iraqi police and civilians.

U.S. forces are deployed outside Najaf, but their mission to capture or kill al-Sadr has effectively been put on hold while negotiators try to resolve the standoff. U.S. commanders say they have no intention for the time being of entering Najaf, the holiest Shiite city.

Al-Sadr is wanted in the April 2003 killing of a rival cleric.

Dr. Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari

From MEMRI, with thanks to Steve Z, comes the assertion by Dr. Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari, former dean of the Faculty of Islamic Law at the University of Qatar, that the term jihad is being misused by radical Muslims. He says that "Jihad, in its true sense as defined in the Koran and as implemented by the Prophet [Muhammad] and his noble companions, is a means of defending differences, pluralism, and diversity."

Hmm. Sounds as if the Prophet Muhammad was sort of a Proto-John Kerry. But if Al-Ansari is right, of course, then the defeat of radical Islamic theology, which is used every day to recruit terrorists, is at hand. All that moderate Muslims have to do is go to the radicals with a Qur'an and a sira (biography of the Prophet) and show them how he defended differences, pluralism, and diversity.

Unfortunately, however, the assessment of Ibn Warraq is correct: "For every text the liberal Muslims produce, the mullahs will use dozens of counter-examples [that are] exegetically, philosophically, historically far more legitimate." I have written an entire book about the meaning of jihad and radical Islam's use of the term; suffice it here to quote just one tradition of 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 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 [the special tax for non-Muslims]. 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 4294)

Doesn't seem quite like encouraging pluralism to me. It would have been interesting if al-Ansari had attempted to answer objections of that kind, rather than just blandly asserting that the Prophet teaches diversity. Anyway, here is the report on what he did say:

In an article in the London Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Dr. Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari, former dean of the Faculty of Islamic Law at the University of Qatar, stated that modern Islamic Fatwas (religious legal opinions) distort the meaning of Jihad to justify an aggressive ideology. The following are excerpts of his article:(1)

Jihad's True Definition: 'A Means of Defending Differences, Pluralism and Diversity'

"Following a kind invitation from the Kuwaiti Ministry of Religious Endowments and Islamic Affairs, I participated last month in the seventh annual meeting on innovation in modern and future Islamic ideology.

"The meeting was attended by leading ulama [religious Muslim scholars] from across the Islamic world. The meeting was called to discuss 'Islam and Regional and Global Cooperation.' I was asked to prepare a paper on 'Trends in Understanding the Concept of Jihad and the Confusion Regarding this Term in Fatwas In Light of the Interests of the Muslim people.' This is a lengthy title, and what it meant was to clarify the true meaning of Jihad and how the Fatwas are confused about what [should be] considered Jihad and what should not, in light of contemporary applications.

"My paper dealt with basic elements of the contemporary applications [of Jihad]. Cooperation is not a matter of choice, but rather a vital necessity in an age in which interests dovetail, and no one country, no matter how powerful, can be self-sufficient, and the guardians of backwardness, who scare us off from opening up, on the pretext of safeguarding [our] unique identity, are actually going against the Koranic text...

"Jihad, in its true sense as defined in the Koran and as implemented by the Prophet [Muhammad] and his noble companions, is a means of defending differences, pluralism, and diversity. That is, it is [a means] of defending freedom of choice [as is written in the Koran] 'There is no coercion in Islam'...[2:256] From the beginning, Jihad has been defined by two goals: The first was a response to aggression and oppression [as told in the Koran 22:39]: 'To those against whom war is made, permission is given (to fight), because they are wronged; and verily, Allah is most powerful in assisting.' The second [goal] is the liberation of the persecuted peoples from tyrannical regimes, as happened to the Persian and Byzantine peoples."

From Expatica:

AMSTERDAM -- A majority of MPs believe that the disputed El Tawheed mosque in Amsterdam, which sells a book urging Jihad, the killing of gays and the beating of women, should be closed if it is proven to have committed prosecutable offences.

Amid growing objections to the mosque, a parliamentary majority made up of the Liberal VVD, Christian Democrat CDA and populist LPF are now gunning for its closure. The Democrat D66 is not excluding the possibility of the mosque's closure either.

But the public prosecution must first determine if the mosque should be investigated. The Amsterdam Council is demanding that such an investigation be carried out, newspaper De Telegraaf reported on Friday.

Liberal VVD MP Geert Wilders said if the prosecution decides against investigating the mosque, Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner should instruct the prosecution to do so. If Donner refuses, Wilders will submit a motion demanding an investigation.

It was revealed earlier this week that the mosque is selling a book by Sheik Aboe Baker Djaber El Djezeïri, which advocates the right of a husband to beat his wife if she is disobedient.

Furthermore, the book "The Way of the Muslim" asserts that gay people should be thrown from the roof and stoned.

The Dutch Parliament is to hold an emergency debate about the El Tawheed mosque next week.

Earlier this month the mosque was at the centre of a storm about another book available at its open day organised to help combat its negative public image.

That book, "Fatwas of Muslim Women", says that women who lie deserve 100 blows and that the husband's duty of care for his wife is negated if she refuses him sex or leaves the home without his permission. One of its most controversial aspects is the call for Muslim girls to be circumcised

"My God, bin Laden is so handsome"

From the New York Times: glorification of jihad and Osama among Saudis.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, April 22 -- On Wednesday morning, just hours before a suicide bomber demolished a Saudi police building in downtown Riyadh, the family of a young man was accepting congratulations for his death in the jihad over the border in Iraq, the one that enjoys no small support here.

"He went to Iraq seeking martyrdom because of the recent events there," Abdullah al-Enezi said of his younger brother Majid, who was training to be a computer technician.

"America's unjust policy toward the Muslims is the main reason," Mr. Enezi said by telephone from the family home in Al Kharj, a town just south of Riyadh. "Everyone feels this humiliation; he's not alone, there are so many young men who wish they could cross over into Iraq to join the jihad, but they can't. Thank God he was blessed with the ability to go."

In Saudi Arabia, a strategic ally of the United States, violence against the occupation in Iraq is seen by many as jihad, or a holy struggle, but virtually no one accepts violence as jihad when it unrolls here at home, in the heart of what is supposed to be the most Muslim of countries.

In Iraq, attacks by American troops serve as evidence to some that the United States occupation of a Muslim land must be reversed. Requests for God to avenge American actions pour down from mosque minarets, and some women university students sport Osama bin Laden T-shirts under their enveloping abayas to show their approval for his calls to resist the United States.

But many Saudis consider the attack here on Wednesday a shocking and unsettling crime, especially since the attackers chose for their first major government target an office building that virtually every adult male must visit to collect a license or car plates.

A group calling itself the Brigade of the Two Holy Mosques posted an unverifiable claim of responsibility on two Web sites on Thursday, bragging -- in language that closely echoed Al Qaeda's -- that the attack rained devastation on the "criminal, apostate" Saudi government and warning of further strikes. Some viewed the claim as dubious because it did not name the suicide bomber.

The toll rose to five overnight, apart from the bomber, after a police captain died, the Interior Ministry announced. Saudi television also showed a pitched gunfight between security forces and militants in a residential neighborhood in the coastal city of Jidda in which three militants were reported killed.

"May God curse you, you vermin, you people of filth and not jihad," said a posting on one of the same Web sites where the responsibility claim was posted, adding, in case anyone missed the point, a picture of coffins draped in American flags over the caption, "This is jihad."

Experts on the topic believe that most Saudis do not view the two battles as even remotely related.

"When people see Israeli operations in Palestine and the American cruelty in Iraq, they feel angry and frustrated," said Abdullah Bejad al-Oteibi, a former fundamentalist now working as a legal researcher. "They cannot control their anger and they admire bin Laden, so that is why many people volunteer for jihad. But when there are operations here, people feel angry and betrayed."

No officials or analysts have a firm command of how many operate in either sphere. Although it is likely they rely on similar theological underpinnings to justify their actions, anyone acting within Saudi Arabia would have to be far more radical to overcome the heavy sanctions against killing fellow Muslims.

"They might be the same group of people, from the same pool of jihadis," said Jamal Khashoggi, an expert on Islamic groups and an adviser to Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to London.

"But to recruit somebody to fight in Saudi Arabia is way more difficult than to fight in Iraq," he noted. "You have to be really militant to believe that a country where religion is practiced day and night is apostate."

The difficulty, some experts believe, refers back to a slightly different interpretation of the concept of jihad espoused by the Wahhabi teachings that hold sway in the kingdom. Whereas most sects in Islam view jihad as necessary only when attacked, the Wahhabis view it as a means to spread their religion.

"You should never initiate fighting without a reason; you undertake jihad when you are `defending' an Islamic nation, like the situation in Iraq or Palestine," said Abdel Rahem al-Lahem, a lawyer and specialist in militant groups.

The Wahhabi school, on the other hand, believes in smiting one's enemy first, Mr. Lahem said, although senior clerics preached against that idea last year after attacks here killed Muslims.

Saudi Arabia has a troubled history with preaching jihad, which was officially sanctioned against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980's. The ruling Saud family thought it could rid itself of the radical fringe, but instead their sponsorship now haunts them. Afghanistan became the training camp for elements now trying to overthrow them.

Hence there is no similar mobilization for going to Iraq.

"We do not believe in the American invasion of Iraq, it is illegal and illegitimate," said Soliman al-Oadah, a cleric once known for expressing hard-line views but whose pronouncements have grown more moderate in recent years. "We see that allowing people to go to Iraq has many negative points. For example, when the war is over, they will be trained and shaped in a way that could go out of control. They might go back to their home countries and act in bad way."

Fearing such an outcome, Saudi officials say they are ensuring that the long border with Iraq is sealed. They have installed heat sensors to detect movement, one official said, noting that events in Iraq are likely to inspire more problems at home.

"They can't do anything over there, and they think Arab governments are not doing anything," said Sayid A. al-Harthi, a senior adviser to Prince Nayif bin Abdel Aziz al-Saud, the interior minister. "They are consumed with anger which they transfer to their own government. If we let them, thousands would go, not just from Saudi Arabia, but from every Arab country."

Instead, the government has been trying to let off steam by, for example, allowing otherwise tightly controlled mosque sermons to inveigh heavily against the Americans.

"Oh God, avenge America, oh God, avenge its allies," the prayer leader at Prince Sultan bin Abdel Aziz mosque in a northern Riyadh neighborhood said last Friday. "Oh God, order your soldiers to show them torture, oh God divide them, oh God avenge them for what they are corrupting in Iraq."

Mr. Enezi, whose brother, 25, was killed fighting the Americans last Saturday, said he was unaware of any cleric swaying his brother's mind. He simply left one day about a month ago, entering Iraq from Syria.

"It was very normal, just like any other tourist crossing to Iraq," said Mr. Enezi. He called periodically to check in, and then his friends called to say he had died in a firefight with American marines near Qaim on the Syrian border. He was buried there.

"People are calling all the time to congratulate us -- crying from happiness and envy," Mr. Enezi said.

Even among prosperous, upper-middle-class Saudis it is possible to hear support for such actions, especially after the string of events in the past month with the killing of two Hamas leaders in Gaza and President Bush's endorsement of Israeli plans to keep West Bank settlements and to prevent the long-cherished return of Palestinian refugees to Israel. Often the anger takes the form of endorsing Mr. bin Laden's calls for fighting the Americans.

"Young people are wearing T-shirts with bin Laden's picture on them just the way people used to wear pictures of Che Guevara," said Tufful al-Oqbi, a student at King Saud University. "It's simply because he is the only one resisting. Even if we reject his methods, it's because there is no other way, because this is the only way."

Fowziyah Abukhalid, a sociology professor at the university, has noticed a parallel phenomenon among her students. "Many young women are saying `My God, bin Laden is so charming,' or `My God, bin Laden is so handsome,' " she said. "He is politically appealing, that is why they view him as handsome."

Such feelings are volatile though, depending on whether the attacks are inside or outside the kingdom. "People literally change their minds and feelings every day about bin Laden," Mr. Oteibi said.

Shaukat Umer

Instead of being upset about the substance of the report, they seem to be only upset about the leak. From AP, with thanks to Twostellas:

GENEVA (AP)--Muslim countries Thursday protested the leaking of a U.N. report that accused Sudanese forces of raping non-Arab women and girls, bombing civilians and committing other atrocities in what may amount to "crimes against humanity."

"This is a matter of concern to all of us," said Pakistani Ambassador Shaukat Umer in demanding an investigation into who passed the report to reporters.

Umer, who was joined by delegates from Bahrain and Sudan in his protest, noted that Bertrand Ramcharan, the acting U.N. high commissioner for human rights, had denied that the report had been given to the news media by his office.

"The fact remains that this report has been leaked. It has been leaked from somewhere," Umer said. "Since member states apparently do not have this report, it would be reasonable to assume that it has been leaked from the office."

The 13-page report was the latest expression of U.N. alarm about indications that thousands of civilians had been killed and hundreds of thousands driven from their homes following a rebellion in the province.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, which has been trying to care for refugees who have reached neighboring Chad, noted as early as last September reports of alleged atrocities in the province.

Ramcharan said he received the report Monday from a team of U.N. experts just back from visiting the refugees and had intended to make it public.

But he said held off because of a last-minute invitation from the Sudanese government for the team to be able to try to verify the allegations by visiting Darfur province.

The team was dispatched Tuesday, less than 24 hours after the invitation was received, and they are already in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, Ramcharan said.

"I have held to the belief that I will not release the document since my team is on the ground and I am sensitive to the security implications of this," he said.

He said, however, he would issue the report immediately if the team encounters "any difficulties on the ground."

Ramcharan said he also held back on the release to give the team an opportunity to look at the situation first hand and to review the document before it became public.

The report, based on interviews with some of the estimated 110,000 Sudanese refugees in Chad earlier this month, was obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.

"The mission was able to identify disturbing patterns of massive human rights violations in Darfur, many of which may constitute war crimes and/or crimes against humanity," it said.

The government has denied that it is responsible for any atrocities.

The report said the atrocities against Africans were being committed by government forces and by Arab militias.

The team originally was supposed to visit to Darfur in connection with the visit to Chad, but the Sudanese government delayed granting permission.

Human rights groups said they were suspicious that the last-minute invitation from the government was part of an attempt to keep the report from coming before the commission before it adjourns its annual six-week session Friday.

"Denying the United Nations access is one of the delaying tactics the Sudanese government is using to pull the wool over the eyes of the international community," said Joanna Weschler of Human Rights Watch.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the commission earlier this month that he had "a deep sense of foreboding" about reports that Arab militia groups, with government backing, were engaged in "ethnic cleansing" against Africans in the province.

The report from the team that went to Chad said the government's campaign to put down a rebellion in a conflict that has intensified since early last year. The rebels have been demanding the government do more for the large, poverty-stricken area.

"There was a remarkable consistency in the witness testimony received by the mission in all places visited and in discussions with refugees who had entered Chad both many months ago and also very recently," the report said.

It said many witnesses said the government was using aircraft to attack villages and towns and that government forces or militias followed up with land attacks.

It said the attacks were often to destroy crops and property, but that there were also frequent reports of killings.

It also said, "a policy of using rape and other serious forms of sexual violence as a weapon of war seems to exist."

"There are consistent reports amongst refugee women from various locations that 'men in uniform' raped and abused women and young girls."

Rape was often committed by more than one man, sometimes in front of the victim's family, it said.

The effect was to cause hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes, it said. It said that, besides the refugees already in Chad, 700,000 people were believed to be homeless in Darfur as a result of the campaign.

The report was obtained as officials from the Sudanese government and two rebel groups met in Chad to discuss a peaceful end to a rebellion.

And like the good dhimmis they are, the Canadian government is distancing itself from the legislators who recognized the genocide. From the Globe and Mail, with thanks to Mentat:

Ankara -- Turkey on Thursday condemned a decision by Canadian legislators to recognize as genocide the mass killing of Armenians during the First World War, accusing Canadian politicians of being "narrow minded."

Canada's Parliament on Wednesday backed a resolution condemning the actions of Ottoman Turkish forces eight decades ago.

Government members were discouraged from voting for the motion, which was adopted 153-68 in the House of Commons. Prime Minister Paul Martin was absent during the vote.

The motion read: "... this House acknowledges the Armenian genocide of 1915 and condemns this act as a crime against humanity."

In a written statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Turkey strongly condemned the Canadian Parliament's decision and accused Canadian legislators of blindly "following those with marginal views."

"Some narrow minded Canadian politicians were not able to understand that such decisions based on ... prejudiced information, will awaken feelings of hatred among people of different [ethnic] roots and disturb social harmony," the statement said.

It said it was not up to parliaments to "reach conclusions over controversial periods in history" and insisted that the vote would not benefit Armenians in Canada or Armenia.

Canada is the 16th country to label the killings as genocide, a step already taken by Switzerland, France, Argentina and Russia, as well as 11 U.S. state governments.

Armenians say a 1915-1923 campaign to force them out of eastern Turkey amounted to a genocide and some 1.5 million people were killed. The Turkish government rejects the charge of genocide as unfounded and says that while 600,000 Armenians died, 2.5 million Muslims perished in a period of civil unrest.

In 2001, Turkey cancelled millions of dollars worth of defence deals with French companies after legislators in France recognized the genocide.

The statement did not say if Turkey planned similar sanctions but said Canadian politicians would "bear the responsibility for any negative developments the decision will bring."

The Canadian vote split the ruling Liberal party between backbenchers and cabinet ministers. Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said the Turkish government had warned that recognizing the genocide could have economic consequences and that he wanted to maintain good relations with Turkey.

On Thursday, the Canadian Embassy released a statement in an attempt to distance the government from Wednesday's vote.

"Private member's motions are not binding on the government of Canada," the statement read.

Melanie Phillips on the hard choices before us. (Thanks to Nicolei.)

The killing by Israel of the Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantissi has been widely condemned in Britain and Europe. The Palestinians are screaming for revenge. Only America has stopped short of condemnation, confining itself to vague concern about consequences.

The Rantissi killing happened days after President Bush publicly endorsed Israel's policy of retaining some West Bank territory and refusing automatic right of settlement in Israel to the Palestinians. As a result, many in Britain may be inclined to the following conclusions: that Israel killed Rantissi because America has now given it carte blanche to do whatever it likes; that the killing will once again ratchet up the violence; and that instead of building upon America's support by keeping its head down, Israel has displayed its usual arrogance and aggression which has now killed off the chances of a political settlement.

This widespread reaction rests upon some profoundly dangerous misunderstandings, not just about Israel and the Middle East but about the wider phenomenon of global terror and what encourages it.

The first major error is the idea that Israel is torpedoing a political settlement. There is in fact no political settlement on the horizon. For all Tony Blair's insistence otherwise, the road map is dead in the water because the Palestinian Authority refuses even to attempt the map's first and most basic requirement, that it dismantle the infrastructure of terror.

Not only has it refused on the grounds that to confront Hamas would mean civil war, but Yasser Arafat's own militias -- and even the PA's own policemen-- are repeatedly involved in the human bomb attacks which are being regularly attempted (and mainly thwarted). You can't negotiate a settlement if there is no-one committed to peace with whom to negotiate.

Next, the idea of a connection between President Bush's statement and the Rantissi killing is demonstrably absurd. Israel decided some time ago that the only way to prevent yet more of its citizens being murdered by Hamas was to kill its entire leadership. Indeed, it tried unsuccessfully to kill Rantissi, the operational commander of Hamas's terrorism, last June, and killed its founder, Sheikh Yassin, a month ago.

Since its rules of military engagement forbid it from attacking if there is a risk of large scale civilian casualties, it could only strike when opportunities arose -- and these have been rare.

In Britain, many see this as aggression. Undoubtedly, targeted killings are troubling. But since the alternative is to wait for more innocents to be blown apart by Hamas, how can that possibly be right? No legal authority in the world requires a state to sit on its hands while its citizens are systematically murdered.

When US forces killed Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay last year, there were plaudits from Tony Blair. Britain and the US are now hunting Osama bin Laden and his principal lieutenants in order to kill them. Earlier this month, at least 600 Iraqis were killed by the Americans in Fallujah with no outcry. Why, then, is Israel judged by a double standard?

The problem is that many in Britain simply don't grasp the reality of what is happening in Israel -- from where, incidentally, I have just returned after a ten-day stay. Endless TV images of Israelis in tanks demolishing Palestinian houses, with an often hostile commentary, have created an impression of unbridled aggression.

In reality, Israel is fighting a war for its own survival that has now gone on for more than fifty years. The Palestinians have repeatedly stated that their aim remains the eradication of Israel altogether. Why is Israel alone deemed not entitled to defend itself?

But, people say, killing terrorists surely makes violence more likely. Well, history tells us that the opposite is true. It is the west's weakness and appeasement of terrorism over several decades which have encouraged the terror-masters to turn the screw ever tighter.

After all, Palestinian terror escalated during the years of the Oslo 'peace process', when a political settlement seemed more likely than at any time.

And here lies perhaps the biggest -- and most bitterly ironic -- error by Israel's critics. For to its Arab enemies, far from representing strength Israel actually embodies a terrible weakness.

Sure, Israel is armed to the teeth. And since Israel well understands that, for the Arabs, weakness rather than strength is the trigger for violence, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's decision to withdraw from Gaza has given targeted killings another strategic purpose -- to show that Israel is not departing with its tail between its legs.

But the Arabs know that Israel is weak in their own terms. This is obvious in the way Israel and the Arabs respectively respond to attack. In 1982, Syria put down a revolt in Hama by wiping out at least 20,000 inhabitants. The Palestinians have been massacred in, or kicked out of, virtually every Arab state in which they have settled.

Israel, by contrast, goes in for pin-point targeted killings, or house-to-house terrorist hunts with a relatively severe attrition rate among its own forces. The weakness is embodied in the Palestinian taunt to the Israelis that 'we will win because you love life and we love death'.

And here, the warning for Britain and Europe too could not be starker. For like Israel, we are facing the same 'asymmetric warfare', in which conventional military might becomes worthless if countries are not prepared to use it against those who are willing to turn even children into human bombs.

The danger lies in not recognising that terrorism is encouraged by weakness, not strength. Al Qaeda attacked America because it perceived the west was decadent and so assumed it was not prepared to fight. It made a big mistake over America, but it got Europe (with the exception of Tony Blair over Afghanistan and Iraq) dead right.

The history of modern terrorism is a history of appeasement. From the first Palestinian plane hijacking in 1968, the response of the west was to assume there were legitimate grievances that had to be addressed. From that point, terrorists had every incentive to continue.

The Israelis themselves, in deep denial after half a century of annihilatory attacks, have also attempted appeasement -- negotiating with the terrorists who have killed them, slapping them down for continuing to kill them and then making overtures again while still being killed by them. Now for the first time, they have said the charade has to stop.

But both they and we still face the same hideous dilemma. Terrorism can only be defeated by superior strength. This was shown in Falluja where (whatever other horrors Iraq still harbours) the huge American show of force produced a truce.

But in general, are we really prepared to use massive firepower? Are we in the west prepared to compromise our values by creating the carnage that may be necessary to defeat this new kind of terror warfare, which routinely uses human beings as both bombs and shields?

If it's a choice between our values and our lives, which course will we take? For in a war between those for whom life is everything and those for whom life is nothing, there's no contest.

Our values require us to distinguish between terrorism and self-defence. Moral courage means facing reality and making hard choices. Our survival depends on it.

Illustration courtesy of al-Muhajiroun

I wonder what brought that on?

WASHINGTON (AP) - Fearing that terrorists might target Congress, the House on Thursday approved a bill to set up speedy special elections if 100 or more of its members are killed.

The House, in a 306-97 vote, put aside for now the larger issue of whether the Constitution should be amended to allow for temporary appointments in the event that an attack caused mass fatalities among lawmakers.

The House, said Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., sponsor of the elections bill and a foe of appointments, "is rooted in democratic principles and those principles must be preserved at all costs."

Thursday's vote came two and a half years after the Sept. 11 attacks and the crash in Pennsylvania of United Flight 93, a plane that many believe was destined for the U.S. Capitol.

"Those passengers gave their lives to give us a second chance," said Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., a supporter of the broader constitutional approach. "Eternal shame on us if we do not take action" to protect Congress' survival after a possible attack.

The measure would require special elections within 45 days of the House speaker confirming that a catastrophic event had left at last 100 of the 435 seats vacant. Language was added to ensure that military personnel stationed overseas would have their voting rights protected.

Hellfire awaits the bombers, says Saudi Arabia's top Muslim cleric. Why? Because they killed Muslims. When he can say the same thing about the murder of non-Muslims, we'll be getting somewhere. From AP:

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Those responsible for Saudi Arabia's latest suicide attack will be "burned in hell," the kingdom's top cleric said Thursday, as investigators searched for clues to the deadly bombing.

Five people, including two senior police officers and an 11-year-old girl, were killed along with the suicide bomber in Wednesday's attack on the administrative building of the General Security, the Interior Ministry said. It said 148 people were injured.

A shadowy Islamic extremist group, the purportedly al-Qaida inspired al-Haramin Brigades, released a statement on at least two Islamic Web sites claiming responsibility for the attack. The authenticity of the statement could not be verified.

Grand Mufti Abdul-Aziz al-Sheik, the kingdom's highest religious authority, condemned the attack "as one of the greatest sins."

"God revealed the criminality of this wayward group, which harms Islam and the nation," he said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

"Whoever kills an (Islamic) believer on purpose will be punished by being burned in hell, punished by God's anger and will be cursed and suffer great pain."

He was probably quoting the Qur'an, Sura 4:93: "If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell." The Qur'an contains no explicit statement to the effect that the same punishment awaits unbelievers, and in fact Islamic law mandates a less severe punishment for the killing of an unbeliever than for the killing of a believer.

Villepin

Tough talk from Dominique de Villepin. From Reuters, :

PARIS, France (Reuters) -- France must tackle the issue of training Muslim prayer leaders in a moderate "French Islam" that respects human rights and rejects terrorism, Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin says.

Speaking a day after he deported an Algerian imam for saying Islam let husbands beat adulterous wives, Villepin urged the country's prefects Thursday to expel any foreign preacher who advocated violence, hate, racism or abuses of human rights.

Only about 10 percent of imams in France are citizens and about half of all imams in the country speak French, experts say.

Most are imported from Arab countries, where some have been trained in radical Islamist views that clash with France's secular laws.

But mainstream Muslim leaders' calls for help require funds, scarce at a time when France is struggling to cut its huge budget deficit. Their appeals for subsidies also conflict with the country's strict separation of church and state.

"We must face the issue of training imams," Villepin told a meeting of prefects, who oversee the application of government policy in departments across France.

"I ask you to help the Muslim faith get organized better and more quickly so a real French Islam can emerge," he said, adding that training programs would help the official French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) to supervise imams.

Abdelkader Bouziane, 52, who preached in a mosque near Lyon, was packed off to Algiers Wednesday after he told a magazine that Islam allowed the stoning and beating of unfaithful wives.

France expelled another imam last week for preaching radical Islam and defending the Madrid train bombs that killed 191 people.

Zero tolerance

"We will not tolerate any preacher, of any philosophy or religion, who advocates violence, abuse of human rights, hate and racism or who has links to organizations that condone terrorism," Villepin said.

CFCM chairman Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the moderate Grand Mosque of Paris, requested state aid Tuesday to launch a seminary to train imams in a tolerant "French Islam."

The Grand Mosque and a rival group offer some imam training courses, but these are not officially recognized and teach differing versions of Islamic theology.

"The CFCM must tackle the problem of training imams, but the state must also help us with a minimum of financing to create a training institute," Boubakeur said.

Bordeaux imam Mahmoud Doua said prayer leaders in France -- some of whom have no training at all -- needed a modern education. "The ideal would be a university education in both the social sciences and Koranic studies," he said.

Mohammad Kouba, an administrator of the An-Nour mosque near Caen in Normandy, told Reuters his congregation never hired foreign imams because they did not understand life in France.

"We tell our girls to respect French laws on secularism, even if that means they have to take off their headscarves in state schools," he said. "An imam from Saudi Arabia would not tell you to obey a French law."

Qaradawi

Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi has affirmed that the struggle in Chechnya is indeed a jihad, and he doesn't mean that Chechen Muslims should struggle to better themselves. Qaradawi, you may recall, is the radical cleric who has praised suicide bombing and whose endorsement was touted in an Arabic brochure by a Boston Muslim group raising funds for a new mosque — but not in the English material.

Here's Qaradawi's fatwa, from the jihadist site Kavkaz Center:

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

It is the duty of every Muslim to back oppressed Muslims in all parts of the world. No doubt that Chechens fight in defense of their lands, honor and religion, and hence they are doing one of the best kinds of Jihad in the Cause of Allah.

Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi - «I think – Allah knows best– that the marvelous fighting carried out by our brothers in Chechnya is considered one of the best kinds of Jihad in the Cause of Allah. They fight – in defense of their lands, honor and religion – a tyrannical oppressive force, which does not fear Allah nor have mercy on any creature. There is a scholarly consensus (Ijma’) that whoever fights in defense of his religion, land and household, and is killed in that fighting, is considered a Martyr (Shahid).

We all know that the people of Chechnya did not launch an attack against anyone; however they have been attacked and killed in their homes. But we are sure that Allah the Almighty will help them put their enemy to rout, grant them victory and help them gain supremacy in their lands. Allah, Exalted be He, says: «Permission to fight (against disbelievers) is given to those (believers) who are fought against them (believers) victory». (Al-Hajj: 39)

The recent days augurs victory for Chechnya, and the Promise of Allah will for sure come true soon. Allah, Exalted and Glorified be He, says, «If Allah is your helper none can overcome you...» (Al ‘Imran: 160)»

Allah Almighty knows best.

From the Times Online: more radical attempts to strong-arm the House of Saud. Note the fact that the self-proclaimed bombers position themselves as the defenders of Islam.

An extremist group linked to al-Qaeda has purportedly claimed responsibility for yesterday's deadly suicide bomb in Riyadh.

At least four people were killed and 148 injured when a car driven by a suspected suicide bomber exploded, destroying the Saudi security services headquarters in the capital.

A statement published on an Islamic web site today read: "The Brigade of the Two Holy Mosques in the Arabian Peninsula has succeeded in blowing up the headquarters of the special security and anti-terrorism forces related to the interior ministry.

"The explosion totally destroyed the targeted building and killed and wounded tens of soldiers, officers and commanders of the criminal and apostate organisation."

The radical group has made several such claims in the past.

It was the worst terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia since suicide bombings that killed 50, including nine Americans, at residential compounds for Westerners last year. It was also believed to be the first terrorist bombing of a Saudi Government target rather than a Western one.

The statement said that the attack was launched against those who "are aggressive against Muslims, kill the Mujahidin, imprison the ulemas (religious scholars), the reformists and the young"

It went on to insist that the group "will not forget the blood of the martyrs" in the anti-terror hunt by Saudi security forces in the kingdom, and added: "Our wounds can only be healed by jihad (holy war)."

Addressing the "tyrants" in Saudi Arabia, the group warned that yesterday's attack "is only one punishment technique that we are going to inflict on you. These techniques will not stop, (and will materialise) through explosions, assassinations and other forms of vengeance," the statement said.

"If the brave Mujahidin of the al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, for whom God has assured victory ... stops attacking you ... (in favour of) the occupier war by the crusaders ... we will devote ourselves to inflicting on you the price for apostasy, crime and corruption," the statement claimed.

The attack was mounted yesterday by a suicide bomber who drove up to a protective barrier outside the six-storey building in the capital and exploded his bomb after he was challenged by guards, one witness said.

The explosion was heard at least three miles away. It tore off the building's façade, ignited fires and gutted dozens of vehicles. A huge cloud of black smoke and dust covered the immediate area.

The city had been on high alert after five other large car bombs were intercepted in recent days and after the deaths of several Saudi policemen killed in gun battles with militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades.

"We succeeded in preventing five like this and one got through," an Interior Ministry source said.

The building was believed to be the headquarters of the Saudi domestic security service, whose officers have been in the front line in the kingdom's crackdown on Islamic militants. It was an establishment target that suggested that the terrorists were now seeking a direct confrontation with the Saudi state.

Last month an internet message purportedly from al-Qaeda threatened Saudi police, intelligence service workers and other security agents, saying that to target them "in their homes or workplace is a very easy matter".

The attack yesterday seemed to send the signal that if the terrorists could hit such an obvious target, despite increased security in the city and numerous roadblocks, they could strike anywhere in the world's biggest oil-producing country.

The Brigade has previously claimed responsibility for blowing up a Saudi security officer's car outside his home in Riyadh in December, and gave warning that it would "liquidate" anyone who passes on information to the Saudi authorities to help the kingdom capture armed extremists.

The internet statement today will be analysed for authenticity by local and foreign intelligence agencies, who must determine whether the attack was the work of desperate and outmanoeuvred militants, or if it signals a greater threat to the country than was realised.

"Every time the security forces seem to be making a difference, either a new cell is uncovered or there's a shoot-out or there's a bombing," one analyst said.

The Saudi authorities have been involved in a determined crackdown on al-Qaeda-linked militants inside the kingdom since the first devastating attack on a residential compound last May, which killed more than 30 people, including two Britons. Scores of militants have been killed in raids and gunfights, hundreds of others have been arrested and weapons caches seized.

American officials have praised recent Saudi efforts against the militants. Earlier they had expressed disquiet at the country's perceived tolerance for radical Islam - 15 of the 19 September 11 suicide hijackers were Saudi nationals. Last week, one of Saudi Arabia's most-wanted al-Qaeda militants, in a video carried on an Islamist website, called on Muslims to kill Americans everywhere and vowed attacks against Arab leaders allied to Washington.

The latest carnage will worry the 25,000 Britons in the kingdom, but they have become resilient to the terrorist threat and are used to taking measures for their personal security. Many live in fortress-like compounds, vary their routes to work and check under their cars for bombs before they get in.

The latest "wardens' notice" posted on the British Embassy web site earlier this month, said that "terrorists remain determined to carry out further attacks in Saudi Arabia. These may be in the final stages of preparation."

Last week the United States ordered the departure of non-essential government employees and their relatives from Saudi Arabia. It also urged private citizens to leave.

Persson

Four Swedish Muslims have been arrested, and a spokesman is complaining that the arrests are simply examples of discrimination. From the BBC, with thanks to Filtrat:

Swedish police say they have arrested four suspected Muslim militants.

They were detained in operations in the capital, Stockholm, and the southern city of Malmo on Monday, police said.

Officials say the four have links with "Islamic extremism" outside Europe, but gave no details. Prime Minister Goran Persson welcomed the arrests.

According to Swedish media reports, the suspects are of foreign origin and were detained in connection with attacks on US-led forces in Iraq.

One newspaper said the arrests were made "based on information that US authorities sent to Sweden".

Mr Persson declared the arrests justified "in a law-and-order society".

An outspoken critic of the US-led invasion of Iraq, the prime minister said he was not surprised that suspected militants had been caught in his country - which is neutral.

"The fight against terrorism must take place also in Sweden," he said.

'Discrimination'

Mr Persson said: "We have long received many people [from abroad] in Sweden.

"Among them there are of course people who sympathise strongly with groups today connected to terror activities."

More than 400,000 Muslims live in the country.

However a spokesman for the community implicitly condemned the arrests.

Mahmoud Aldebe, chairman of Sweden's Association of Muslims, said there was not "a single Muslim in Sweden who deserves to be called terrorist".

"Since 11 September discrimination against Muslims and Arabs has burst into the open," he added.

Muslims in mosque near Geneva

The Swiss government has announced that several Islamic radical groups are operating in Switzerland, including Hamas. Swiss Muslims had an opportunity to say, "We will gladly cooperate with government anti-terror initiatives, as we are just as anxious as non-Muslim Swiss to root terror out of our midst." Instead they are complaining about the prospect of a "witch hunt." From Swissinfo via NZZ Online, with thanks to Nicolei and Alex:

Muslim leaders have expressed fears of a “witch-hunt” against the 300,000-strong community in Switzerland. Their alarm follows government revelations that members of half a dozen militant Islamic groups are operating secretly on Swiss soil.

The Federal Refugee Office on Tuesday confirmed a report in “Le Temps” newspaper that these groups include the Tunisian Islamic Front; Hamas, the Palestinian militant Islamic group; and Algeria’s Islamic Salvation Front.

Spokesman Dominique Boillat told swissinfo his department was working closely with the Federal Police Office to monitor the situation.

“We are responsible for asylum seekers and if we suspect that people could be dangerous to the safety of this country then we have to signal this and they will then be placed under surveillance by the police,” he said.

“Sometimes these people have contacts with terrorist groups or they could be contacted here in Switzerland by terrorist groups and later used for arms trafficking.”

Police surveillance

News of a militant presence and police surveillance operations have prompted alarm among Switzerland’s Muslims that the community will now be hounded.

These fears were stoked in January this year when Swiss police arrested eight foreign nationals suspected of links to last May’s terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia.

Hafid Ouardiri, spokesman for Geneva’s Islamic Cultural Foundation, said he was “terrified” that people would mistakenly link Islam with extremism.

“This is beginning to become unbearable,” he said. “People are going to confuse a tiny minority with the great majority of Muslims.”

Similar concerns have been raised by British Muslims following a series of high-profile arrests related to alleged terrorism offences.

Nadia Karmous, the head of the cultural association of Muslim women in Switzerland, said she was astonished to hear that radical groups were active in the country.

“As far as we’re concerned, there is no rise in Islamism, but rather an increase in Islamophobia,” she said.

Witch-hunt

Boillat categorically denied that the authorities themselves were involved in any systematic targeting of Switzerland’s Muslims.

But he admitted that the government had become more sensitive to potential threats in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the United States.

“We would like to reassure the Muslim community that there is no witch-hunt by the authorities,” said Boillat.

“The impression the public is getting is that there is a real problem - which there isn’t. We are concerned about a very, very small number of people, and we have the means to control [them].”

Wrong message

Professor Reinhard Schulze, director of the Institute for Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Bern, said he believed the situation was being blown out of all proportion.

Schulze maintains that out of a Muslim population of around 300,000, there are only one or two extremists or “Jihadis” likely to be actively in contact with terrorist groups.

He says the majority of those being monitored by the Swiss authorities do not pose a threat.

“These people do not represent a danger to Switzerland, because Switzerland is not a target for these groups,” he explained. “They consider Switzerland a place of refuge and not a place to carry out operations.”

Demonisation

And he sympathised with Muslim leaders who fear a whole community is in danger of being demonised.

“It’s understandable. Even if there are one or two people in contact with terrorist organisations, they are not representative of the Muslim community as a whole. You cannot blame the whole community,” he said.

“My impression is that the officials are exaggerating the situation a bit and maybe contributing to the impression that there is a witch-hunt going on. I can understand why the Muslim community is worried about this.”

Jürg Schertenleib, spokesman for the non-governmental Swiss Refugee Council, takes a similar view. He says the authorities are right to take action where there is a clearly identifiable threat.

But he warned against giving the impression that Switzerland was a hotbed for Islamic fundamentalism.

“We shouldn’t forget that in many other countries the authorities are using the pretext that someone is a terrorist to justify repression,” he said.

More on the terror threat at sea, from The Daily Star (with thanks to Nicolei):

There are growing concerns that the global energy industry, particularly in the Middle East, could become the focus of terrorist attacks. Osama bin Laden has identified energy facilities as targets in his war against the West. In the second and concluding article on this issue, The Daily Star examines the dangers at sea.

BEIRUT: Admiral Thomas Fargo, the top US military commander in the Asia-Pacific region, said last month that the Americans were considering deploying Marines and Special Forces troops on high-speed vessels to protect the strategic Straits of Malacca, which links the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. The fastest route around the southernmost tip of continental Asia, it is a vital energy artery from the Middle East to Asia.

The narrow, 900-kilometer waterway is one of the world's busiest shipping routes. More than 25 percent of the world's trade and oil, and 80 percent of Japan's oil imports, go through it. It is already plagued by pirates, but security chiefs fear it is also a potential magnet for terrorists. The maritime chokepoints in the Middle East - the Suez Canal and the Bab el-Mandeb Straits at either end of the Red Sea, the Strait of Hormuz (the only way in and out of the Gulf), and the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles in Turkey - are also high-risk zones.

The suicide bombing of the French supertanker Limburg in the Gulf of Aden by Al-Qaeda on Oct. 6, 2002 as it headed for Asia with a cargo of 400,000 barrels of Saudi crude was a wake-up call. A small boat loaded with explosives was rammed into the tanker by an Al-Qaeda team. It was the same tactic, first employed by Tamil Tiger rebels against the Sri Lankan Navy in the 1980s, that Al-Qaeda used to strike the US destroyer Cole in Aden Harbor on Oct. 12, 2000.

Although there have been no known attacks on tankers since the Limburg, a group of Islamic extremists in Morocco were planning attacks on ships traversing the Straits of Gibraltar, the western gateway to the Mediterranean, before they were arrested in 2002.

Geography dictates that the mammoth supertankers of today have to use such waterways, which are often narrow and studded with islands in which pirates and terrorists can hide. One of these lumbering behemoths, set afire and spewing crude, could block these vital maritime arteries and cause widespread economic disruption.

"Tankers are sitting ducks. They don't have any security, any protection," says Harry Banga of the Hong Kong-based Noble Group, a shipping company.

Dozens of tankers were sunk or damaged by Iranian Revolutionary Guards using speedboats armed with rocket-propelled grenades during the so-called "tanker war" of the 1980-88 conflict with Iraq, but the economic impact was minimal. The disruption in oil supplies was not sufficient to cause major problems. But a sustained assault on the energy industry on a global scale could have serious repercussions.

While attacking moving ships, even in confined waters, is much more difficult than striking static targets on land, the arrest of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri in November 2002, identified as Al-Qaeda's operational commander in the Gulf region and an alleged specialist in maritime operations, pointed to plans to attack shipping targets. The US Navy's maritime liaison office in the Gulf had warned several weeks earlier that Al-Qaeda was looking to hit shipping in the region.

US authorities said that Nashiri had been engaged in flight training in the tiny emirate of Umm al-Quwain, the first indication that Al-Qaeda may have been preparing for new aerial attacks, possibly against a tanker.

Born in Saudi Arabia to Yemeni parents, Nashiri played a key role in planning the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, in which 17 American sailors were killed, as well as an abortive attack against another US destroyer, the Sullivans, nine months earlier, and the bombing of the Limburg, in which one seaman was killed and the tanker set ablaze.

According to one Western counterterrorism official, Nashiri's interrogation after his arrest produced a lot of information on Al-Qaeda's operational planning for attacks on supertankers, "particularly their vulnerability to suicide attacks and the economic impact of such operations."

He told The Daily Star: "They actually have a naval manual on this. It tells them the best places on the vessels to hit, how to employ limpet mines, fire rockets or rocket-propelled grenades from high-speed craft and turn liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers into floating bombs. They are also shown how to use fast craft packed with explosives and the use of trawlers, or ships like that, that can be turned into bombs and detonated beside bigger ships or in ports where there are often petroleum or gas storage areas that could go up as well. They even talk of using underwater scooters for suicide attacks."

Last year the London-based International Maritime Bureau (IMB), which monitors security on the world's oceans, reported a suspiciously high number of tugboats were being hijacked in the Malacca Strait. The agency warned shipping authorities that these could be packed with explosives and rammed into tankers carrying gas or petroleum products, or into port facilities close to large cities.

The burgeoning trade in LNG, much of which goes through the Straits of Malacca, heightens both the threat of such maritime terrorism and the devastation it could produce.

The IMB's Piracy Reporting Center also noted another disturbing change in the pattern of pirate attacks. In the past marauders tended to board ships to steal money or valuable cargo. Now they often try to steal specific types of ship to order, pointing to an emerging collaboration between criminal gangs and invisible paymasters who may well be transnational terrorists.

Largely Muslim Southeast Asia has become a hornet's nest of expanding activity by Islamic extremists in the last couple of years. Some militant groups like the Tamil Tigers have successfully waged anti-shipping campaigns, developing dedicated maritime commandos with underwater capabilities, including demolition. Those kind of operations put coastal refineries and oil loading terminals at risk, and the Gulf states are seeking to develop underwater surveillance systems to protect their facilities.

Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world, the Philippines, Malaysia and more recently Thailand are all plagued by Islamic violence - and all are considered high-risk piracy zones as well. That could be a deadly combination. Indeed, militants of the avowedly Islamic Abu Sayyaf group in the Philippines have a history of launching maritime attacks and claim to have blown up at least two ferries with considerable loss of life.

Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest oil and gas producer, pumps around 1.1 million barrels of crude daily and exports 23 million tons of LNG a year. Malaysia, which has large oil fields in Borneo, is the second largest producer in the region. Singapore is Asia's oil trading hub and has four refineries with a total capacity to process 1.26 million barrels of oil daily. Government figures show that the island state has around 25 million barrels of refined products in commercial storage at any given time - making it a fat target for terrorists.

Cal Thomas examines the Gaza pullout agreement in light of jihad.

By deciding to give up areas populated by Jews in Gaza (known as "settlements" by those who regard it as "occupied territory") and effectively annexing disputed territory in Judea and Samaria (known as the West Bank by those who also consider this area "occupied"), Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has decided to risk his country's future on promises he received from President Bush.

On paper, those promises sounded pretty good for Israel, which will continue to control land, sea and air passages throughout Gaza to prevent a terrorist base from being established.

Sharon also took from his meeting with the president a green light to continue building the "security fence" to keep terrorists from entering some of the main population centers in the heart of Israel and to go after terrorists, such as Hamas' new leader, who was killed by Israel on Saturday.

Perhaps most important for his country's stability is that Sharon got his wish for no "right of return" by Palestinians, an infusion that would overwhelm the Jewish population. In the president's letter of understanding to Sharon, he says that any return should be to an eventual Palestinian state, not Israel.

As with previous agreements, including the "road map," this "understanding" requires a response from the Palestinian side. Israel and the United States reasonably expect that in exchange for this unilateral action ceding Gaza to the Palestinians, the Palestinians will stop trying to tear down the Jewish state and start building one of their own.

Based on past performance, there is little likelihood that the Palestinian side will do this and end the jihad rhetoric that offers nothing but blood and misery instead of hope and a meaningful future.

Sharon believes that the offering up of Gaza as Palestinian territory will disabuse the world of the notion that terror "is the result of us sitting on their land," according to a senior member of the Israel delegation. But certain people always find ways to blame Israel for everything.

What should be troubling is the number of promises made by previous American presidents that were not fulfilled, either because the United States failed to uphold them or an Israeli prime minister did not press the matter.

In 1956, President Eisenhower made commitments to get Israel to withdraw from the Sinai. In 1967, President Johnson failed to implement those commitments, and the Six-Day War followed.

In 1970, President Nixon made promises to end the war of attrition between Israel and Egypt. Egypt violated the agreement, and the United States failed to live up to its commitments. The 1973 Yom Kippur War followed, which killed 2,800 Israelis.

In 1996 and again in 1998, President Clinton promised to refrain from pressuring Israel into making further concessions until the Palestinian Authority altered its charter, which calls for the elimination of Israel. The charter was not altered, but Israel was expected to honor its promises.

In 2000, Clinton committed $800 million in special assistance to induce Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon. Israel withdrew, and Hezbollah quickly filled the geographic and military vacuum, increasing terrorist attacks. The promised assistance never arrived.

Now President Bush has made a new commitment to Israel.

The depth of the problem is revealed in a new study by the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace, which has been examining what the next generation of Egyptian children are learning about Israel.

In Egypt's regular and religious educational system, the books celebrate jihad, or Islamic war, and exalt those who die in the fight against "nonbelievers." The center says jihad is described in military terms, not as a spiritual endeavor, as so many Muslim leaders claim.

"Jihad is encouraged and those who refrain from taking part in it are denounced," says the report.

Sharon's pronouncements sound good, and the strategy might work. But the Palestinian track record should warn Sharon not to bet his ranch on it.

Willie Brigitte

From AP, :

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Police on Thursday arrested an Australian man accused of planning a terrorist act and having links to a French terror suspect implicated in a plot to attack a nuclear reactor on Sydney's outskirts, a top police official said.

Lodhi Faheem, 34, was charged in Sydney's Central Local Court with seven offenses, including preparing for a terrorist act and recruiting for a terrorist organization, Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said. He did not elaborate on the charges.

The case stemmed from a terrorism investigation of Willie Virgile Brigitte, a 35-year-old French man who was extradited from Australia to France in October, Keelty said.

Faheem, of Pakistani origin, was denied bail.

He is the second person to face charges under tough new federal terrorist laws in Australia and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted.

Brigitte has been implicated in an Australian-based terror cell that reportedly was considering attacks on a nuclear reactor on Sydney's outskirts and other targets. Australian and French intelligence officials have been working together to try uncovering the reported cell.

He also is being questioned about the Sept. 9, 2001, killing of anti-Taliban military commander Ahmed Shah Massood in Afghanistan.

Last week, 21-year-old medical student Izhar ul-Haque was arrested and charged for allegedly training with Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba in January and February last year.

Ul-Haque remains in custody until his next court appearance in May. If convicted, he faces 25 years in jail.

This is a strange story. Didn't the gunman know that the Spanish are leaving Iraq? Did he care? From Reuters, :

BAGHDAD, April 22 (Reuters) - A lone gunman in traditional Arab dress killed a Spanish civilian and seriously wounded his Iraqi translator in Baghdad on Thursday, police sources said.

They said the man was shot in the head while in the Iraqi capital's Adhamiyah neighbourhood, a Sunni Muslim stronghold. The translator was also hit by bullets and rushed to a nearby hospital.

Risks to foreigners in Iraq have spiralled this month with the abduction of about 50 foreign civilians and the killing of at least five others. Most of the hostages have been freed unharmed.

Spain, key member in the U.S.-led coalition that invaded Iraq and toppled leader Saddam Hussein a year ago, plans to withdraw its troops from Iraq by the end of May to the dismay of Washington.

Crown Prince Abdullah at the international conference on Islam and terrorism in Riyadh on Tuesday. (SPA)

LGF has an intriguing juxtaposition of news items: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah has declared Islam a religion of peace. However, some recent sermons suggest that not everyone has gotten the idea. First, Abdullah, from Arab News:

RIYADH, 21 April 2004 — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, yesterday reaffirmed that Islam is a religion of peace and moderation.

The crown prince was delivering the inaugural address at an international conference on Islam and terrorism, organized by Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University.

“Islam condemns all forms of terrorism and we must strive to correct wrong perceptions about our religion,” he said. “This is my vision.”

More than 200 experts on terrorism and academics from European, American and Asian universities and think-tanks attended the event, titled “The Stand of Islam on Terrorism, Violence and Extremism.”

Higher Education Minister Dr. Khaled Al-Angary, in a keynote address for the conference, reiterated Saudi Arabia’s resolve to combat terror.

Constant clashes between the West and the Islamic world were a bad omen for the future of the world, the education minister said, adding that the three-day conference was intended to clarify these misconceptions.

Dr. Al-Angary also underlined the importance of unearthing the roots of terrorism and extremism.

He said Islamic teachings called for dialogue, and asked the faithful to expose lies and accusations about the religion.

Later, the crown prince laid the foundation stone of Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University’s SR350-million women’s campus and of an SR100 million project for a college of languages, translation and computing.

The university has been trying to shed its extremist image after it emerged that a number of terror suspects on the government’s most-wanted list were IMSIU graduates.

On the sidelines of the conference, it screened a documentary highlighting the growth of the university and its contribution to curbing extremism and violence.

Gee, that's swell. Yet meanwhile, on Saudi TV, Shaykh Salih Bin-Abdallah Bin-Humayd denounces extremism in language obviously meant to refer to Al-Qaeda, but his overall message is not quite peaceful. From IMRA:

Riyadh Kingdom of Saudi Arabia TV1 in Arabic, official television station of the Saudi Government, at 0929 GMT on 16 April 2004 carries a 25-minute live sermon from the holy mosque in Mecca.

Shaykh Salih Bin-Abdallah Bin-Humayd delivers the sermon. ... The imam then recalls how the Al-Khawarij [dissident group in early Islam, which rebelled against caliphs whom it regarded as corrupt] killed two caliphs, fought the messengers' companions, and alleged that theirs was the only right path. The imam also warns Muslims against "religious extremism," which he describes as "the reason behind destruction." The imam says that "acts of violence, such as bombings, destruction, and bloodshed cannot defeat great values, destroy great achievements, liberate a nation, or impose a religious school," stressing that "extremism, violence, and terrorism result only in destruction." ...

In the second sermon, the imam says "the recent sinful aggressions, reckless actions, and criminal behavior will not discourage our brothers, the security men, from carrying out their duties," urging everybody to be alert to "what is being concocted against this nation, its religion, its people, its security, and its leaders."

In conclusion, the imam asks God to strengthen Islam, protect our homeland and our leaders, support the "mujahidin" in Palestine and elsewhere, "destroy the Zionist Jews," and lift the suffering of the Iraqi people.

Meanwhile, in Gaza, the same message:

Gaza Palestine Satellite Channel Television in Arabic, official television station of the Palestinian Authority, and Gaza Voice of Palestine in Arabic -- Second Program -- official radio station of the Palestinian Authority broadcasting from Gaza -- at 0950 GMT on 16 April 2004 carry a 25-minute live sermon from Shaykh Zayid Mosque in Gaza.

Shaykh Ibrahim al-Mudayris delivers the sermon. After praising God and His messenger, he says suffering leads to victory, citing relevant Koranic verses. ... He says: "Our battle with our enemy is bigger than some politicians and media men think. Our battle is not with a Zionist prime minister, a government, or a jailer. The battle is between Islam and unbelief in this land. It is a battle in which crusaders and World Zionism have united. Zionism and crusaders are two sides of one coin. We are waging a big battle against Zionism, which rules the world and influences international decisions and economies. This alleged state will soon vanish, God willing. We are waging a big battle with crusaders and World Zionism, which dominates US decision-making."

The imam then denounces the US President for urging Palestinians to relinquish their repatriation right in order to "please his Zionist masters and to keep his post." Addressing President Bush, the imam says: "You are mistaken, Bush. Your decisions and statements will dump you into the dustbin of history. We stand firm on this land, and we defy all these decisions and statements though our belief in our rights."

In conclusion, the imam asks God to support Palestinian prisoners, destroy Jews, "take revenge against the United States and Israel," and help our kinfolk in Iraq and Palestine.

As well as in Syria:

Damascus Syrian Arab Republic Radio in Arabic, official station of the Syrian Government, at 0954 GMT on 16 April 2004 carries a 29-minute live sermon from Al-Rawdah Mosque in Damascus.

Shaykh Muhammad Abd-al-Rahman Barakat delivers the sermon. ... The imam urges the Arab nation to close ranks in the face of "the arrogant Zionist enemy," to put minor differences aside, "to deter the Zionist enemy," and to help the fraternal Iraqi people "restore their security, stability, and prosperity." He says President Bashar al-Asad's tour of a number of Arab countries "has cleared the Arab atmosphere and reactivated Arab and Islamic solidarity in order to regain the land and rights from the Zionist enemy and to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the resolutions of international legitimacy."

In conclusion, the imam asks God to unite Arabs and Muslims, to help them defeat their enemy, "to destroy the Zionist Jews and their supporters," and to give success to the Syrian president.

Destroy the Zionist Jews. Revenge upon the U.S. Remember, these are not political rallies, but sermons inside mosques (in each case carried on government television). What about the peaceful picture Abdullah painted? Is there room in it for this kind of sermon? Imagine the uproar if a Christian preacher prayed that God destroy -- any group. If Abdullah's bland assertion that Islam condemns terrorism doesn't encompass sermons like these, it's meaningless.

The destroyed Saudi national police headquarters building in Riyadh, after the car bomb explosion (AP)

The House of Saud continues to reap what it has sown, and the mujahedin they have supported for so long continue to try to compel them to end their alliance with the U.S., or be forced from power so that someone else can end it. From AP:

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - A suicide attacker bombed a security police building in the Saudi capital Wednesday, killing at least four people and wounding 148. The attack had the hallmark of an al-Qaida operation, officials said.

The explosion, heard three miles away, shattered the glass facades of nearby buildings and ignited several fires. Smoke billowed from the seven-story General Security building, where workers issue drivers license renewals and do other administrative tasks.

The deathtoll was expected to rise after hospital officials reported early Thursday that body parts have been recovered possibly indicating four more deaths, in addition to the four already confirmed by the Interior Ministry.

The bombing came about 2 p.m., a time when staff would have been leaving their offices. The headquarters of the Saudi Security Forces used to be in the building. Some security forces still work in part of the building, a Saudi official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A woman who lives nearby, Hanan Batteesha, said that after the explosion, "We heard wails and cries, then saw our neighbors running down the stairs." She rushed out with her two children.

"The fronts of the buildings around us were damaged. The air conditioners were mangled, and there was smoke everywhere," she said.

The Interior Ministry said the assailant tried to drive his vehicle into the General Security building.

When stopped by guards, the driver exploded the car about 100 feet from the gate, the government said.

Five other vehicles were apprehended with explosives, the Saudi official said.

No Americans were hurt in the bombing, said U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Carol Kalin. Half an hour after the attack, Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Richard Armitage met with Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal at the Foreign Ministry.

Crown Prince Abdullah and Interior Minister Prince Nayef visited the wounded in the hospital.

"I am sorry that those criminals are Muslims," Nayef told reporters. He said Saudis should not cooperate or sympathize with militants "because those who do will be considered criminals."

"The terrorists are not targeting foreigners; they are targeting the nation," Nayef said.

The General Security service has been heavily involved in the campaign against Islamic militants that followed the suicide attacks in May and November 2003 in Riyadh.

Those attacks, also vehicle bombs, killed 51 people including the assailants. They were blamed on al-Qaida, which carried out the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

A U.S. counterterrorism official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attack has the hallmark of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network and appears to be related to the terrorist group. Al-Qaida, the official noted, has previously used car bombs in Riyadh.

The Saudi official agreed that Wednesday's attack fit al-Qaida's pattern.

Saudi U.S. ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan said in Washington that the attack was aimed at "the Saudi people and the royal family and officials of the government ... are all Saudi citizens," said Bandar.

Bandar, who spoke after meeting with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, pledged his nation would "fight them (terrorists) hard, there will be no compromise."

The attack came days after the United States ordered the departure of nonessential U.S. government employees and family members from Saudi Arabia. The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh issued an advisory warning of "credible indications of terrorist threats aimed at American and Western interests in Saudi Arabia."

Last month, an Internet message purportedly from al-Qaida threatened Saudi security officers, saying that to attack them "in their homes, or workplace, is a very easy matter."

Saudi police said last weekend that they seized three booby-trapped Sport Utility Vehicles loaded with more than four tons of explosives. The vehicles had apparently been abandoned by militants involved in a shootout with security forces.

There were conflicting accounts on the death toll throughout the day.

The Interior Ministry said four were killed: two police officers, an adult and an 11-year-old Syrian girl. But the ministry's statement did not include the suicide bomber, whose death was reported to The Associated Press by a security official speaking on condition of anonymity.

Officials from the three hospitals that admitted casualties said at least nine people were killed.

The Interior Ministry said 148 people were wounded, three critically, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. Forty-five remained hospitalized.

The casualty tolls could rise as rescue workers were still going through the rubble late Wednesday. Most of the casualties at King Faisal Specialist Hospital were police, but there were also four children, said hospital spokesman Fahd al-Shaar.

Sayful Islam: "When I watched those planes go into the Twin Towers, I felt elated"

The Evening Standard profiles a group of British Muslims from the notorious Al-Muhajiroun, who admire Osama and talk openly about bombing London and the glories of violent jihad — all the while collecting British welfare money. Note that Sayful Islam explains his turn to radicalism by saying, ""I made a decision that I wanted to follow what Islam really said." (Thanks to LGF.)

Four young British Muslims in their twenties - a social worker, an IT specialist, a security guard and a financial adviser - occupy a table at a fast-food chicken restaurant in Luton. Perched on their plastic chairs, wolfing down their dinner, they seem just ordinary young men. Yet out of their mouths pour heated words of revolution.

"As far as I'm concerned, when they bomb London, the bigger the better," says Abdul Haq, the social worker. "I know it's going to happen because Sheikh bin Laden said so. Like Bali, like Turkey, like Madrid - I pray for it, I look forward to the day."

"Pass the brown sauce, brother," says Abu Malaahim, the IT specialist, devouring his chicken and chips.

"I agree with you, brother," says Abu Yusuf, the earnest-looking financial adviser sitting opposite. "I would like to see the Mujahideen coming into London and killing thousands, whether with nuclear weapons or germ warfare. And if they need a safehouse, they can stay in mine - and if they need some fertiliser [for a bomb], I'll tell them where to get it."

His friend, Abu Musa, the security guard, smiles radiantly. "It will be a day of joy for me," he adds, speaking with a slight lisp.

As they talk, a man with a bushy beard, dressed in a jacket emblazoned with the word "Jihad", stands and watches over them, handing around cups of steaming hot coffee. His real name is Ishtiaq Alamgir, but he goes by his adopted name, Sayful Islam, meaning "Sword of Islam". He is the 24-year-old leader of the Luton branch of al-Muhajiroun, an extremist Muslim group with about 800 members countrywide, who regard Osama bin Laden as their hero.

Until recently, nobody took the fanatical beliefs of al-Muhajiroun too seriously, believing that a British-based group so brazenly "out there" could not be involved in something as "underground" as terrorism. The group is led by the exiled Saudi, Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammad, from his base in north London. Yesterday, in a magazine article, Bakri warned that several radical groups are poised to strike in London.

For all its inflammatory rhetoric, al-Muhajiroun has never been linked to actual violence. Yet, with the discovery last month of half-a-tonne of ammonium nitrate fertiliser - the same explosive ingredient used in the Bali and Turkey terror attacks - and with the arrest of eight young British Muslims in London and the South-East, including six in Luton, extremist groups such as al-Muhajiroun are under the spotlight like never before.

Detectives fear that the "enemy within", the homegrown extremists leading apparently normal lives in suburbia, now pose the greatest threat to security in Britain. Sayful and his friends fit this "homegrown" profile: three were born here, two came as young children from Pakistan; all were educated in local Luton schools; and they grew up in families of full employment - one of their fathers is a retired local businessman, two are engineers, and two worked in the local Vauxhall car plant.

The question is: how worried should we be? Is al-Muhajiroun nothing more than a repository for disaffected Muslim youths who have adopted an extreme interpretation of Islam - perhaps to cock a snook at the white establishment - but who are essentially posturing? Or does the group also perform a more sinister function, sucking in alienated young men and brainwashing the more impressionable into becoming future suicide bombers?

Although none of the arrested Muslims - aged 17 to 32 - appear to be current al-Muhajiroun members, rumours have circulated of informal links to the group. Moreover, parents of the arrested men have spoken anxiously of the "radicalising influence" of al-Muhajiroun militants who " corrupt" their children at mosques.

Nowhere has this public confrontation between radicals and moderates been more apparent than in Luton, which has the highest density of Muslims in the South-East - 28,000 out of a total population of 140,000 - and has long been regarded as a hotbed of extremism.

Sayful Islam, for one, is particularly proud of his contribution to Luton's hardline reputation. His exploits include covering the town with " Magnificent 19" posters glorifying the 11 September suicide bombers. "When I joined al-Muhajiroun four years ago, there were five local members," he says. "Now there are more than 50 and hundreds more support us."

The strange thing is that four years ago, Sayful Islam was a jeans-clad student completing his degree in business economics at Middlesex University in Hendon, north London.

The son of a British Rail engineer who came to this country from Pakistan, Sayful grew up in a moderate, middle-class Muslim family in Luton. At the local Denbigh High School, he is remembered as one of the smartest kids, and was selected to attend a science masterclass at Cambridge University. He would go on to marry, have two children and find work as an accountant for the Inland Revenue in Luton. He was thoroughly uninterested in politics.

THEN he met Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammad at a local event. Within two years, he had swapped his decently paid job as an accountant for an unpaid one as a political agitator. What turned him into an extremist? And how far is he prepared to go to achieve his aims?

Prior to seeing the group at the fastfood restaurant, Sayful meets me at his semi-detached rented home in Bury Park, Luton's Muslim neighbourhood. He no longer works, even though he is able-bodied, he admits, preferring instead to claim housing benefit and jobseeker's allowance. He smiles sheepishly and says the irony is not lost on him that the British state is supporting him financially, even as he plots to "overthrow it".

"I made a decision that I wanted to follow what Islam really said," Sayful begins, sitting on his sofa in his thowb (a traditional robe) and bare feet. "I went to listen to all the local imams, but I found their portrayal of Islam was too secularised. When I heard Sheikh Omar [the leader] of al-Muhajiroun speak, it was pure Islam, with no compromise. I found that appealing.

"At the same time," continues Sayful, "wars were happening in Bosnia, Kosovo, Chechnya, Afghanistan. People were being oppressed simply because they were Muslim. Although I had never experienced racism in the UK, it opened the eyes of a lot of Muslims, including mine."

But it was the events of 11 September that crystallised Sayful's worldview. "When I watched those planes go into the Twin Towers, I felt elated," he says. "That magnificent action split the world into two camps: you were either with Islam and al Qaeda, or with the enemy. I decided to quit my job and commit myself full-time to al-Muhajiroun." Now he does not consider himself British. "I am a Muslim living in Britain, and I give my allegiance only to Allah."

Help wanted: Bouziane's Islamic center in Venissieux

Just this morning I posted a story saying that a French imam, Abdelkader Bouziane, faced legal action for advocating wife-beating. Well, he has been expelled from France. Note that he based his arguments on the Qur'an. From the BBC, with thanks to Filtrat:

A Muslim cleric who advocated the beating of women has been expelled from France, officials have announced.

Algerian-born Abdelkader Bouziane was detained on Tuesday after telling a magazine the Koran backed the beating and stoning of adulterous wives.

Mr Bouziane also expressed hopes that "the entire world becomes Muslim".

The remarks caused an immediate outcry in France, which hosts Western Europe's largest Muslim community - about five million people, mainly of north African origin.

Muslim leaders in France also condemned the imam's remarks, saying Islam did not condone domestic violence.

However, the leader of France's National Council of Muslims warned the French media not to seek to portray all Muslims in the West as fundamentalists, or to stir up anti-Islamic sentiment by seeking out extremist opinion.

Mr Bouziane was prayer leader in Venissieux, near Lyon, and had lived in France for the last 25 years.

He was expelled on Wednesday to his native Algeria, officials said.

The French interior ministry said remarks against human rights, particularly women's rights, could not be tolerated.

The imam told the April issue of Lyon Mag he favoured wife-beating "under certain conditions, especially if the woman cheats on her husband".

He then went on national television to clarify his comments.

He said he had not advocated hitting women on the face, but insisted that the Koran did authorise husbands to beat their wives if they had been unfaithful.

He was also quoted as saying he favoured an Islamic republic in France.

"But not just for France. I want the whole world to become Muslim."

An expulsion order had already been issued in February after the interior ministry deemed his views to be a threat to public order, AFP reported.

The interview confirmed that the decision was correct, the French interior ministry said.

A critique of a Malaysian child custody ruling that demonstrates the influence of the Sharia (Syariah) there. From Malaysiakini, with thanks to Susan:

The Malaysian Federal Constitution 3(1) states that, ‘Islam is the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation.

In Shamala Sathyaseelan vs. Muhammad Ridzwan Mogarajah; Mogarajah had converted his two children aged two and three to Islam after his own personal conversion.

Justice Faiza Thamby Chik had referred the case to the Syariah Court and eventually delivers a verdict in favor of the Muslim father. Justice Faiza also claimed that the father had the capacity to convert the children to Islam because:

a) The wife did not challenge his own conversion nor seek a divorce when he converted; and

b) He is the natural father of the said children and a Muslim.

Justice Faiza concluded by claiming that only the Syariah Court has the capacity and expertise to hear this case and therefore, the mother should take her application to the Federal Territory Religious Council.

This is an unwise judgment due to the following points:

a) It is a violation of the basic religious rights of the non-Muslim minority in Malaysia.

b) It contradicts Section 5 of the Guardianship of Infants Act.

c) Malaysia’s ratification of the Convention against All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child is not being observed and practiced by the Malaysian judiciary.

d) It enables a disgruntled father an easy way to gain custody of his children by only converting to Islam.

e) The lack of protection to the non-Muslim female citizen to fight for the legal custody of her children as the non-Muslim mother has no legal locus standi to seek relief under Syariah law.

Islam is a social justice system, but the Malaysian judiciary system, has conveniently denied justice to this non-Muslim mother in her struggle for custody rights. This has created the circumstance of forcing the non-Muslims to accept the judgment of the Syariah Court.

This is not what the Malaysian constitution meant.

In Shamala Sathyaseelan vs. Muhammad Ridzwan Mogarajah case, Justice Faiza failed to recognise:

a) The motives of Mogarajah’s conversion to Islam. If Mogarajah converted purely for child custody, then judgment should take this into consideration.

b)That the custody case of the children should be heard by the court after the parent’s divorce proceedings or before the conversion of Mogarajah to Islam.

c) That the Syariah Court should not be involved in cases that involves inter-faith family law.

d) That although there is no law governing non-Muslim parental and religious rights in Malaysia, the courts need to exercise wisdom and analyse such cases rather than conveniently passing their responsibilities to the Syariah Court.

Thaksin Shinawatra: "We do not go there to fight. If we get killed, why should we stay?"

Thailand, which has suffered increasingly from jihad attacks, is toying with the idea of joining the appeasers. From the Telegraph, .

A threat by Thailand's prime minister to withdraw his country's troops from Iraq if they are attacked again by anti-coalition forces was criticised yesterday as offering a victory to terrorists. "I would prefer the Thai soldiers to stay here to challenge these terrorists because, if they do have to leave, this will be a triumph for the killers," said Lt Ammar Atia, commander of the Iraqi police post outside Camp Lima base in the southern city of Karbala.

Thaksin Shinawatra, the Thai premier, said the 451 Thai medical and engineering troops at Camp Lima could soon be ordered home. "If we get hurt or killed, I will not keep them there. We do not go there to fight. If we get killed, why should we stay?"

Coalition officials fear that such sentiments could encourage further attacks on Thai troops. Two were killed in December when a car loaded with explosives was crashed into their base. Thailand's warning came a day after Spain announced it would pull out its 1,432 troops from Iraq, and Honduras said its 368 soldiers would be leaving as soon as possible.

At Camp Lima yesterday, Thai soldiers were inside the heavily fortified base, surrounded by concrete barriers topped with coils of barbed wire. An officer at the gate declined to comment on whether troops would prefer to remain.

"Sorry, regulations do not allow me to speak," he said. "I'm not permitted to say anything about our mission or what we think."

Lt Atia said the Thai troops had distinguished themselves in Karbala. "These soldiers are very well educated. Many of them are Muslims. They have been rebuilding our roads and giving food to the people. They are very popular."

Colin Powell, the American secretary of state, said it was possible more members of President George W Bush's 32-country "coalition of the willing" would evacuate its troops but broke off from a marathon round of telephone calls to gauge the level of commitment to insist he remained optimistic.

"I am getting solid support for our efforts, commitments to remain and finish the job that they came to do."

But Mr Powell's task was made more difficult by the continuing chaos in much of Iraq despite the uneasy truces still holding in the flashpoint centres of Fallujah and Najaf. At least 22 were killed and about 100 injured in a mortar attack by insurgents on a prison near Baghdad.

The dangerous security situation was further underlined by confirmation from the American company Halliburton that three bodies found in shallow grave near Baghdad were employees of one of its subsidiaries.

Lt Atia said he had sympathy for the predicament of coalition countries. "Every leader is responsible for the wellbeing of his men. They have the right to withdraw their soldiers because they came as liberation troops but now there is chaos here. It is very sad."

Mueller

In China, the head of the FBI has declared that jihad terrorism is a threat there. From AP, :

BEIJING (AP)--The head of the U.S.' FBI Wednesday said China was home to Islamic fundamentalists who may want to further their ideological agenda by staging terror attacks.

Speaking in Beijing, Robert Mueller didn't elaborate on whether new terrorist groups had been identified or whether there was any sign of al-Qaida activity in China.

While China isn't known to have been targeted by international terrorist groups, Mueller cautioned against complacency.

"Just because you have not seen substantial terrorist attacks in China does not mean that there could not be one in the future or in other countries in Asia," he said.

Beijing has long contended that its predominantly Muslim Xinjiang region in the northwest has been a breeding ground for terrorists and violent separatists, although officials have provided little evidence.

However, the Federal Bureau of Investigations director said terrorists included a "wide variety of individuals who may, to a greater or lesser degree, subscribe to extremist Islamic fundamentalism.

"There certainly are individuals in China who could be described as having that same mindset as well as that desire to utilize terrorist acts to further their agenda," Mueller told reporters at a news conference.

In 2002, the U.S. identified the Xinjiang-based East Turkestan Islamic Movement as a terrorist organization - a classification some believed was a diplomatic bone thrown to China in exchange for its tacit support of the American-led war on terror.

Washington has been mostly reluctant to back Beijing's claims of Muslim extremism in Xinjiang and has told Beijing that anti-terror efforts shouldn't be abused to target those with legitimate grievances against China's heavy-handed rule in the province.

Diplomats and foreign experts say most violence in Xinjiang blamed on separatists isn't politically motivated and appears to stem from personal disputes.

Mueller said he discussed issues ranging from intellectual property rights to extradition of prisoners during his three-day visit that began Monday.

He called also for increased international cooperation against terrorism, saying: "With these threats against our countries, it's only by working together cooperatively, that...we will be able to overcome those threats and protect the safety of our people."

Mueller said he had met with officials from the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of State Security and the prosecutor's office to strengthen future cooperation.

"The most important thing for us is the exchange of intelligence, the exchange of information quickly and swiftly to address threats, particularly the threat of terrorism," he said.

They warned them: a few days ago I posted a story in which Kashmir jihadis said that "those taking part in the farcical process would be taken as blatant traitors of the oppressed Kashmiri nation." Now they have taken action. From Press Trust of India, :

In a gruesome incident, terrorists chopped off ears of two persons for participating in election process in Mahore area of Udhampur district in Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said on Wednesday.

Unidentified terrorists kidnapped Misruddi and Haji Amkala from Kalwa village in Mahore Tehsil of Udhampur district on Tuesday and later chopped off the left ear of Misruddin and right ear of Amkala before freeing them, they said.

The terrorists snatched a bag containing posters of a political party from them, the sources said adding, both the villagers had been threatened by ultras not to participate in the election process.

Meanwhile, two terrorists surrendered and a youth escaped from the captivity of Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit from the same district since Tuesday, the sources said.

Inventing the past, and denying the present. A Jihad Watch EXCLUSIVE essay by Bat Ye'or and Andrew G. Bostom:

On Sunday, April 18, 2004, this revealing exchange took place between outgoing Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, and interviewer Chris Wallace of FoxNews:

Chris Wallace: "In the apartment that was blown up, police found a videotape in which the bombers referred to Spain as Andalusia, what it was called by the Muslim Moors before they were driven out in 1492."

Jose Maria Aznar (through the translator): "So this means that Iraq, for them, was just a pretext. In the eyes of Islamic terrorism, it looks at the West, and Spain is a very special part of this parcel, because they feel that to recover Spain is to get back some of their territory."

Islamic scholar Mordechai Nisan recently discussed the contention by the founder of the Institute of Islamic Education, M. Amir Ali, that Medieval Spain had actually been "liberated" by Muslim forces, who "deposed its tyrants". Nisan extrapolated this ahistorical narrative line, and pondered:

"Reflecting on March 11, as Muslim terrorism killed 200 and wounded 1,400 in Madrid, one wonders whether one day this event will also not be commemorated as a liberating moment. "

Events surrounding the completion of the new Granada Mosque, which was marked by celebratory announcements July 10, 2003 of a "...return of Islam to Spain", were also consistent with Nisan's dark musings. At a conference entitled "Islam in Europe" that accompanied the opening of the mosque, disconcerting statements were made by European Muslim leaders. Specifically, the keynote speaker at this conference, Umar Ibrahim Vadillo, a Spanish Muslim leader, encouraged Muslims to cause an economic collapse of Western economies (by ceasing to use Western currencies, and switching to gold dinars), while the German Muslim leader Abu Bakr Rieger told Muslim attendees to avoid adapting their Islamic religious practices to accommodate European (i.e., Western Enlightenment?) values.

Shortly after this event, a Wall Street Journal editorialist in a grossly distorted encomium to Muslim Spain, mentioned the "pan-confessional humanism" of Andalusian Islam, and even asserted: "one could argue that the oft-bewailed missing 'reformation' of Islam was under way there until it was aborted by the Inquisition."

María Rosa Menocal, Yale Professor of Spanish and Portuguese, in her 2002 hagiography of Muslim Spain, The Ornament of the World, has further maintained that "the new Islamic polity not only allowed Jews and Christians to survive, but following Qur'anic mandate, by and large protected them."

We believe that reiterating these ahistorical, roseate claims about Muslim Spain abets the contemporary Islamist agenda, and retards the evolution of a liberal, reformed "Euro-Islam" fully compatible with post-Enlightenment Western values.

Iberia (Spain) was conquered in 710-716 AD by Arab tribes originating from northern, central and southern Arabia. Massive Berber and Arab immigration, and the colonization of the Iberian peninsula, followed the conquest. Most churches were converted into mosques. Although the conquest had been planned and conducted jointly with a strong faction of royal Iberian Christian dissidents, including a bishop, it proceeded as a classical jihad with massive pillages, enslavement, deportations and killings.

Toledo, which had first submitted to the Arabs in 711 or 712, revolted in 713. The town was punished by pillage and all the notables had their throats cut. In 730, the Cerdagne (in Septimania, near Barcelona) was ravaged and a bishop burned alive. In the regions under stable Islamic control, Jews and Christians were tolerated as dhimmis - like elsewhere in other Islamic lands - and could not build new churches or synagogues nor restore the old ones. Segregated in special quarters, they had to wear discriminatory clothing. Subjected to heavy taxes, the Christian peasantry formed a servile class attached to the Arab domains; many abandoned their land and fled to the towns. Harsh reprisals with mutilations and crucifixions* would sanction the Mozarab (Christian dhimmis) calls for help from the Christian kings. Moreover, if one dhimmi harmed a Muslim, the whole community would lose its status of protection, leaving it open to pillage, enslavement and arbitrary killing.

By the end of the eighth century, the rulers of North Africa and of Andalusia had introduced Malikism, one of the most rigorous schools of Islamic jurisprudence, and subsequently repressed the other Muslim schools of law. Three quarters of a century ago, at a time when political correctness was not dominating historical publication and discourse, Evariste Lévi-Provençal, the pre-eminent scholar of Andalusia, wrote: "The Muslim Andalusian state thus appears from its earliest origins as the defender and champion of a jealous orthodoxy, more and more ossified in a blind respect for a rigid doctrine, suspecting and condemning in advance the least effort of rational speculation."

The humiliating status imposed on the dhimmis and the confiscation of their land provoked many revolts, punished by massacres, as in Toledo (761, 784-86, 797). After another Toledan revolt in 806, seven hundred inhabitants were executed. Insurrections erupted in Saragossa from 781 to 881, Cordova (805), Merida (805-813, 828 and the following year, and later in 868), and yet again in Toledo (811-819); the insurgents were crucified, as prescribed in Qur'an 5:33*.

The revolt in Cordova of 818 was crushed by three days of massacres and pillage, with 300 notables crucified and 20 000 families expelled. Feuding was endemic in the Andalusian cities between the different sectors of the population: Arab and Berber colonizers, Iberian Muslim converts (Muwalladun) and Christian dhimmis (Mozarabs). There were rarely periods of peace in the Amirate of Cordova (756-912), nor later.

Al-Andalus represented the land of jihad par excellence. Every year, sometimes twice a year, raiding expeditions were sent to ravage the Christian Spanish kingdoms to the north, the Basque regions, or France and the Rhone valley, bringing back booty and slaves. Andalusian corsairs attacked and invaded along the Sicilian and Italian coasts, even as far as the Aegean Islands, looting and burning as they went. Thousands of people were deported to slavery in Andalusia, where the caliph kept a militia of tens of thousand of Christian slaves brought from all parts of Christian Europe (the Saqaliba), and a harem filled with captured Christian women. Society was sharply divided along ethnic and religious lines, with the Arab tribes at the top of the hierarchy, followed by the Berbers who were never recognized as equals, despite their Islamization; lower in the scale came the mullawadun converts and, at the very bottom, the dhimmi Christians and Jews.

The Andalusian Maliki jurist Ibn Abdun (d. 1134) offered these telling legal opinions regarding Jews and Christians in Seville around 1100 C.E.: "No...Jew or Christian may be allowed to wear the dress of an aristocrat, nor of a jurist, nor of a wealthy individual; on the contrary they must be detested and avoided. It is forbidden to [greet] them with the [expression], 'Peace be upon you'. In effect, 'Satan has gained possession of them, and caused them to forget God's warning. They are the confederates of Satan's party; Satan's confederates will surely be the losers!' (Qur'an 58:19 [modern Dawood translation]). A distinctive sign must be imposed upon them in order that they may be recognized and this will be for them a form of disgrace."

Ibn Abdun also forbade the selling of scientific books to dhimmis, under the pretext that they translated them and attributed them to their co-religionists and bishops. In fact, plagiarism is difficult to prove since whole Jewish and Christian libraries were looted and destroyed. Another prominent Andalusian jurist, Ibn Hazm of Cordoba (d. 1064), wrote that Allah has established the infidels' ownership of their property merely to provide booty for Muslims.

In Granada, the Jewish viziers Samuel Ibn Naghrela and his son Joseph, who protected the Jewish community, were both assassinated between 1056 to 1066, followed by the annihilation of the Jewish population by the local Muslims. It is estimated that up to five thousand Jews perished in the pogrom by Muslims that accompanied the 1066 assassination. This figure equals or exceeds the number of Jews reportedly killed by the Crusaders during their pillage of the Rhineland, some thirty years later, at the outset of the First Crusade.

The Granada pogrom was likely to have been incited, in part, by the bitter anti-Jewish ode of Abu Ishaq, a well known Muslim jurist and poet of the times, who wrote: "Put them back where they belong and reduce them to the lowest of the low..turn your eyes to other [Muslim] countries and you will find the Jews there are outcast dogs...Do not consider it a breach of faith to kill them...They have violated our covenant with them so how can you be held guilty against the violators?"

The Muslim Berber Almohads in Spain and North Africa (1130-1232) wreaked enormous destruction on both the Jewish and Christian populations. This devastation- massacre, captivity, and forced conversion- was described by the Jewish chronicler Abraham Ibn Daud, and the poet Abraham Ibn Ezra. Suspicious of the sincerity of the Jewish converts to Islam, Muslim "inquisitors" (i.e., antedating their Christian Spanish counterparts by three centuries) removed the children from such families, placing them in the care of Muslim educators. Maimonides, the renowned philosopher and physician, experienced the Almohad persecutions, and had to flee Cordoba with his entire family in 1148, temporarily residing in Fez -- disguised as a Muslim -- before finding asylum in Fatimid Egypt.

Indeed, although Maimonides is frequently referred to as a paragon of Jewish achievement facilitated by the enlightened rule of Andalusia, his own words debunk this utopian view of the Islamic treatment of Jews: "..the Arabs have persecuted us severely, and passed baneful and discriminatory legislation against us...Never did a nation molest, degrade, debase, and hate us as much as they.."

A valid summary assessment of interfaith relationships in Muslim Spain, and the contemporary currents responsible for obfuscating that history, can be found in Richard Fletcher's engaging Moorish Spain. Mr. Fletcher offers these sobering, unassailable observations:

"The witness of those who lived through the horrors of the Berber conquest, of the Andalusian fitnah in the early eleventh century, of the Almoravid invasion- to mention only a few disruptive episodes- must give it [i.e., the roseate view of Muslim Spain] the lie. The simple and verifiable historical truth is that Moorish Spain was more often a land of turmoil than it was of tranquility...Tolerance? Ask the Jews of Granada who were massacred in 1066, or the Christians who were deported by the Almoravids to Morocco in 1126 (like the Moriscos five centuries later)...In the second half of the twentieth century a new agent of obfuscation makes its appearance: the guilt of the liberal conscience, which sees the evils of colonialism- assumed rather than demonstrated-foreshadowed in the Christian conquest of al-Andalus and the persecution of the Moriscos (but not, oddly, in the Moorish conquest and colonization). Stir the mix well together and issue it free to credulous academics and media persons throughout the western world. Then pour it generously over the truth...in the cultural conditions that prevail in the west today the past has to be marketed, and to be successfully marketed it has to be attractively packaged. Medieval Spain in a state of nature lacks wide appeal. Self-indulgent fantasies of glamour...do wonders for sharpening up its image. But Moorish Spain was not a tolerant and enlightened society even in its most cultivated epoch."

The socio-political history of Andalusia was characterized by a particularly oppressive dhimmitude that is completely incompatible with modern notions of equality between individuals, regardless of religious faith. At the dawn of the 21st century, we must insist that Muslims in the West adopt post-Enlightenment societal standards of equality, not "tolerance," abandoning forever their hagiography of the brutal, discriminatory standards practiced by the classical Maliki jurists of "enlightened" Andalusia.

*The Noble Qur'an- Three esteemed translations, online:
Sura 005, Verse 033
YUSUF ALI: "The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;"
PICKTHAL: "The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom;"
SHAKIR: "The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement"

Bat Ye'or, www.dhimmitude.org, www.dhimmi.org , is the author most recently of Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilizations Collide, and the forthcoming Eurabia.

Kubaissi on Danish TV (TV2)

Note Kubaissi's blaming of the Americans for this man's death.

UPDATE: Change that to "Note Kubaissi's sly suggestion that the Americans may have been responsible for this man's death." This is a distinction without a difference, as Kubaissi is clearly trying to hang responsibility for his death on the Americans, but for the record, no: he did not directly blame the Americans. He has, as they say in Washington, "plausible deniability." And it is worth about as much coming from him as it is coming from the pols.

COPENHAGEN (AFP) - A Danish businessman kidnapped in Iraq last week has been found dead, the Danish foreign ministry said.

The man was captured by unidentified attackers while travelling with an Iraqi driver and a Dane of Iraqi origin on a road near the village of Al Taji outside Baghdad. The two others were not taken hostage.

"The ministry was informed overnight by coalition authorities that the Danish national was found dead by Iraqi police on April 12, 2004," a foreign ministry statement said.

It said the Danish government had no further details about the man's death nor information about his killers.

"The Iraqi police investigation has been rendered difficult by the situation in Iraq," it said.

Danish daily Politiken identified the man as 35-year-old Henrik Frandsen, who was in Iraq to start a water purification and electrical appliance store in the southern city of Basra.

The Confederation of Danish Industries has issued a warning discouraging Danish businessmen from travelling to Iraq.

Denmark was a loyal ally of the United States in the war on Iraq, and currently has 500 troops stationed in Basra under British command.

It was initially reported that the man was captured on April 13, but the foreign ministry now said that he was captured on April 10 and it was informed on April 11.

The ministry said that it had "worked intensely on the case since being informed of his capture, and had followed several leads."

It said it had been in close contact with the US military and Iraqi Governing Council to secure the Dane's release, and confirmed media reports that it had also been in contact with Sheikh Abdul Salam Kubaissi.

Kubaissi, a senior official of the Committee of Muslim Scholars, has emerged as a key player in efforts to release foreign hostages in Iraq, including two Japanese hostages who were freed on Saturday.

Interviewed in Politiken on Wednesday prior to the announcement of the Dane's death, Kubaissi said he did not believe the businessman was taken for political reasons "because then we would have heard about it".

He suggested that the man may have been killed by US troops.

"Maybe he's been killed by the Americans because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. And when the Americans have their backs against the wall, they shoot and make no distinction between rebels, civilians and foreigners," Kubaissi said.

Berlusconi caves

Italy to pay tribute. "Everyone pays. It has been done for centuries and centuries." Sure. There have always been appeasers, all the way back to Aethelred the Unready. From The Guardian, :

Three Italians held hostage in Iraq were poised for release last night amid growing indications that Silvio Berlusconi's government has been negotiating a controversial ransom deal.

Top Italian government officials anticipated "positive news" within hours, while UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi predicted an imminent release.

"We confidently expect something to happen which should become clear in the coming hours," Mr Berlusconi said. His foreign minister, Franco Frattini, said: "We are waiting for positive news."

Asked if the way to get the hostages freed was to pay up, the Italian interim governor of Iraq's Dhi Qar province, Barbara Contini, said: "Everyone pays. It has been done for centuries and centuries."

Mr Brahimi, who was in Rome yesterday for talks with officials, said: "I think there is every reason to hope for a positive solution quickly."

Payment of a ransom would meet with an angry response in London and Washington where it would be seen as encouraging further kidnappings. But the release of the hostages, by whatever means, would take the political heat off Mr Berlusconi who, following the defection of Spain, is the coalition's most important ally in continental Europe.

With expectation of a resolution growing by the hour, Italy's defence minister, Antonio Martino, went to the headquarters of the military intelligence service, Sismi, to follow developments.

Four Italians were seized last week near Falluja by a previously unknown group calling itself the Green Brigade of Mohammed. On Wednesday, a video was delivered to the Arab-language satellite channel, al-Jazeera, showing one of the men being shot in the head.

Sources in Iraq and Italy have said talks for the release of the hostages have been unusually difficult because they work for a US firm and were carrying weapons when they were seized.

But in an interview with the newspaper Corriere della Sera, Ms Contini said she was "optimistic, very optimistic". She added: "The hostages will probably not be released straight away. But they will not be killed."

Ms Contini, a Middle Eastern expert, said she believed the four Italians had been seized by "local gangs" in a country where hostage-taking formed part of the tribal culture. The governor made her comments on her return to Baghdad from Rome, where she spent part of her time with the crisis unit set up to coordinate the government's response to the hostage-taking.

In an article citing "authoritative and confidential sources", the daily newspaper QN yesterday reported that a ransom had already been handed over. A foreign ministry official said: "We have no comment to make on this report."

There was also speculation of a link to the delivery of humanitarian aid to Falluja. It was reported that, on Sunday, the Red Cross's special commissioner, Maurizio Scelli, had telephoned Mr Berlusconi's office to ask for his help in persuading Washington to allow a convoy to take in water, food and medicine.

The convoy, two Iraqi Red Crescent lorries and one Italian Red Cross vehicle, reached Falluja yesterday.

According to Italy's foreign minister, Franco Frattini, the dead man and two of the other hostages - Maurizio Agliana, 35, from Prato in Tuscany and Umberto Cupertino, 35, from Bari in Puglia - were employees of a Nevada-based security firm called DTS Llc. The third man, Salvatore Stefio, 34, was said to be president of a company called Presidium.

Their kidnapping has revived controversy in Italy over the country's role in Iraq. Mr Berlusconi did not commit troops to the invasion but last summer he dispatched a peacekeeping force, which now numbers almost 3,000. There has been recurrent public concern over whether the force forms part of an occupying army or, as the prime minister has insisted, a humanitarian mission.

Despite deep-seated doubts, the main opposition in Italy has held back from demanding a withdrawal. But Romano Prodi, the European commission president and de facto leader-in-exile of the opposition, has expressed sympathy for the tough line taken by Spain's prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

Bravo, Azmi

A refreshing dose of realism comes from Razi Azmi in Pakistan's Daily Times (thanks to Mentat_99). In contrast to the fulsome dhimmitude served up by CNN and other Western media outlets, Azmi acknowledges that any negative feelings people may have toward Muslims have been provoked by ... Muslims. May many Muslims in Pakistan and elsewhere heed Azmi's words, and start to clean up their act.

A good object will always sell itself, while a bad product will flop even with the best packaging and the finest advertising. Image is always a reflection of substance, however distorted or imperfect

Muslims of all hues and lands protest their so-called image problem, blaming it not on themselves, but on their detractors and perceived enemies, specifically the much-maligned Western media. It does not occur to them that their negative image could, by and large, be a reflection of reality. They should know from daily experience that a good object will always sell itself, while a bad product will flop even with the best packaging and the finest advertising. Image is always a reflection of substance, however distorted or imperfect. Why blame CNN, BBC, New York Times or Le Monde? One only needs to read a Pakistani newspaper on any given day, or the editorials on March 23 or August 14, to get Pakistani perspectives on the state of the nation. I mention Pakistan because it is one of the few Muslim countries with a relatively free press.

Take the most recent example of the image problem, although I doubt that Muslims would have seen it in this light: armed Iraqis holding daggers and knives to the throats of three abducted Japanese civilians, including a woman who went there to help Baghdad's homeless children, and threatening to slit their throats amid cries of "Allah-o-Akbar." It was no figment of the "infidel" West's imagination, the film having been made by the abductors themselves and proudly passed on by its producers to the Arab Al-Jazeera television to be shown to the world. Ten thousand speeches about peace and tolerance in Islam will not be able to undo the damage done by this odious sight projected worldwide as wished by its Muslim producers.

Witness the images from Gaza, Chechnya and Kashmir, where, more often than not, violent acts are packaged in Islamic garb and slogans, portraying them less as liberation struggles than as elements of a universal effort to establish Islamic hegemony. Or the successive Osama bin Laden and Al Zawahiri tapes taking credit for 9/11 and swearing to wreak havoc and destruction on the "infidel West" unless it cowers before their threats.

Take the suicide-bombers in Palestine. Their last, pre-mission recorded statements are couched in religious language, representing their supreme self-sacrifice not so much as a struggle for liberation from Israeli occupation but as an Islamic mission in a war against Jews, with the expected reward of martyrdom and houris-in-waiting. One recalls that the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka were the "pioneers" of suicide bombing to achieve a political goal. But these suicide-bombers, called Black Tigers, were not paraded before cameras extolling the virtues of Hinduism or chanting the Tamil equivalent of "Jai Ram". The world did not approve of their method but saw it for what it was -- an instrument in the struggle to liberate what they called their land, not a holy war.

Even the names of the organisations that represent the struggle of Muslim people in various parts of the world necessarily carry religious connotations: Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e Taiba, Jaish-e Mohammad, Hezb-ul Mujahideen, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, Al Aqsa Brigade, Hamas (acronym for Islamic Resistance Movement). In Pakistan, the slogan "Pakistan ka matlab kiya, La Ilaha Illallah" is chanted even during games in stadiums. There exists a "Muslim Parliament" in UK and an Imam in London has demanded the implementation of Sharia law for British Muslims. The Pope may rule millions of hearts, but he controls less than half of one square kilometre (exactly 0.44 sq km or 0.17 sq miles) of territory, and even in this so-called Holy See there is no religious police to enforce a dress code or commandeer Christians to prayers.

A much-travelled email on the image issue emanating from a Muslim source recently landed in my mailbox. It juxtaposed a series of actual photos of Muslims and Westerners, while their captions attempted to highlight the "double-standards". One of them showed two nuns in full garb next to three Muslim women in burqa, chador and scarf and then posed the question: "Why a nun could be covered from head to toe and she is respected for devoting herself to God. But when a Muslim woman does that she is considered oppressed and reactionary?" Now, any Muslim living in the West would tell you that he would have to travel some distance to see a nun, if he is lucky.

The reality is that while nuns are becoming something of an anachronism in the Western world, Muslim women, including those living in the West, are increasingly covering themselves in burqa or hijab. As if that is not enough, some of the more educated ones go around giving speeches and interviews claiming that it has a liberating influence on them. That might be true in Muslim countries, where perhaps the only way for a woman to avoid the lustful looks and sexual advances from men is to make herself invisible as best as she can. From any other perspective, the claim that the burqa is something of a liberator sounds a bit amusing. Ask any Muslim woman living in the West, hijab or not, and she will tell you that she feels more liberated and protected in London, New York, Sydney and Paris than in Lahore, Karachi, Tehran and Cairo, not to mention Riyadh or Kabul.

No, the negative image of Muslims is not the result of malicious Western propaganda against Islam. On the country, all the documentaries concerning Islam and Muslim lands shown on the mainstream western television channels -- and there have been many in the last two years -- present a very sympathetic picture of Islam as a religion and of Muslims as people. The image Muslims find unflattering reflects the larger reality of the Muslim world, steeped in dictatorship, corruption, ignorance and illiteracy, and characterised by the repression of women, honour killings, child abuse, sectarian and religious violence, persecution of minorities and a general and pervasive denial of basic freedoms and human rights.

The next step, of course, must be for Muslims to confront the sources within Islam of these behaviors, and repudiate them once and for all. I do not expect this to happen within my lifetime, if ever, but that doesn't make the need for it any less urgent.

Muhammad Bakar Yunus Al-Fallatta

From Arab News, with thanks to Jay Stevens, an update on the Rania Al-Baz wife-beating case:

JEDDAH, 21 April 2004 -- Muhammad Bakar Yunus Al-Fallatta, who almost beat his wife Rania Al-Baz to death two weeks ago, has surrendered to police, according to the prominent TV presenter.

Rania told Arab News that her husband who is facing charges of attempted murder, surrendered to police on Monday night. Al-Fallatta, who was carrying a prayer rug, told police he had acted in a jealous rage, she said.

This could mean the charges would be reduced from attempted murder to wife battery, which carries a lighter sentence.

He will remain in custody until he is seen by a judge in four weeks' time.

The judge will decide in one sitting what happens to Al-Fallatta and also whether to grant Rania a divorce and, if he does, who gets custody of the children.

"They only questioned him for 15 minutes but did not take my statement. Nobody called me yet," Rania said.

On April 4, Al-Fallatta attacked his wife by pinning her to the floor and repeatedly smashing her face into the marble tiles and the walls while choking her.

According to Rania, he stopped only to give her time to recite the shahada, "because," he said, "I am going to kill you."

The shahada is the Islamic profession of faith: "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet."

When she regained consciousness, she found herself in the back of the couple's van. Her moans apparently frightened Al-Fallatta, who dumped her at the gate of Jeddah's Bugshan Hospital.

Doctors said she sustained 13 fractures to her face and stood a 70 percent chance of a full recovery but needed numerous operations.

Rania yesterday said she was afraid for her and her children's lives. She said there are hospital records that show that he had smashed her in the forehead last year, requiring her to be stitched. Al-Fallatta has also hit his five-year old son in the past. "He hit him so hard that he almost ruptured his ear drum. His face was swollen for a few days," she told Arab News.

He has also abducted the children and prevented her from seeing them for two months, she said. When she complained to police they told her since the children were with their father there was nothing they could do.

Under Sharia law, women have no rights in such matters.

She said there were no security guards outside her house despite the fact that Princess Sara Al-Angari, the wife of Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed, had ordered 24-hour security for her.

Rania said she stayed with Al-Fallatta through all these years because she was afraid she would not be given custody of her children if she obtained a divorce, fearing the Kingdom's judiciary were not sympathetic to working women, especially those working in television.

The National Human Rights Commission, one of whose members visited Rania in hospital last week, had told her they could do nothing for her until a judge had ruled on the case.

When Rania's story hit the headlines last week, it shocked Saudis into openly talking about one of the Kingdom's long-hidden problems: Violence against women.

The case was widely discussed both in the Kingdom and in the international press.

Rania was hailed for letting newspaper photographers snap pictures of her face and for frankly discussing her case.

Rania, well known for her chatty, magazine style show "The Kingdom This Morning," at the time said she wants to use her experience to publicize the plight of battered women in the Kingdom.

But she told Arab News she was not entirely happy with the turn the debate took. Some commentators had suggested there must be a reason why Al-Fallatta beat her.

Still learning jihad

Despite calls from Colin Powell and many others to reform textbooks that teach jihad and breed terrorists, there has been no change. From the Daily Times:

ISLAMABAD: The National Committee on Curriculum (NCC) has agreed that there was no deletion of verses and chapters regarding jihad or holy war from Islamiyat textbooks.

A NCC meeting was held on Tuesday presided over by Federal Minister for Education Zubaida Jalal. Qari Abdul Rashid, a co-author of the Islamiyat textbooks, told the NCC that no Arabic verses or chapters on Jihad have been totally deleted from Islamiyat textbooks that are part of the syllabi for the Secondary School and Higher School certificates.

Mr Rashid said that longer verses like Sura-e-Saff [Sura 61 of the Qur'an] and Sura-e-Mumthehena [Sura 60] that also urge for jihad were, added to the revised curricula in 2002. In April 2003, a committee of four authors, was put together to write an Islamiyat textbook for the whole country, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The committee was constituted by the curriculum wing of the federal ministry for education, a press release said on Tuesday.

Mr Rashid said that after the book was completed, it was presented to another review committee that was made up of representatives from all five wafaks (religious sects) and other stakeholders. The committee approved the entire contents of the book, which included verses and chapters on jihad.

In view of this, Mr Rashid said he was surprised that the Muttahida-Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and a section of the press had blamed the federal minister for education for deleting verses on jihad from the textbooks. Mr Rashid told the committee that eminent Islamic scholars, including Qari Hanif Jallundhri, Dr Mohammad Sarfraz Naeemi of Tanzeem-ul-Madaris and Mohammad Younas of the Wafak-ul-Madaris of Faisalabad and many other Islamic scholars had approved the book and signed a draft of it.

Ms Jalal told the committee that since the issue at hand is of extreme national importance, she has also summoned the authors of the Islamiayat textbook, so that the MMA's assumptions could be cleared. Ms Jalal said that according to the curriculum guidelines provided to the provincial textbook boards, there were no directives from the federal ministry of education to include or exclude specific material.

Dr Fareeda Ahmad, who represented the MMA at the meeting, also agreed that no verses and chapters on jihad had been deleted from the Islamiyat textbooks. While talking to Daily Times, Dr Ahmad said that she had only agreed on the issue of jihad-related verses that the government had told the MMA that despite Surrah Tooba, the government has also included other Quranic verses related to jihad in the curricula.

At least he faces legal action.

PARIS (Reuters) - An Algerian-born Muslim prayer leader in France faces legal action after he defended the stoning and beating of adulterous wives in a magazine interview, French Justice Minister Dominique Perben said Tuesday.

Abdelkader Bouziane, 52, imam of a mosque in the Lyon suburb of Venissieux in eastern France, told the monthly Lyon Mag that the Koran allowed husbands to beat unfaithful spouses as long as they did not strike them on the face.

Expressing disgust at "this archaic approach toward women," Venissieux mayor Andre Gerin urged France's justice and interior ministers Sunday to launch a probe into Bouziane's preaching, which he said "pollutes our neighborhoods and our kids' heads."

"This man will have to explain his statements to a court," Perben told France 2 television. France's five million Muslims, the largest Islamic minority in Europe, are mostly of North African origin.

"Domestic violence is an abomination," he said. "As soon as this article was published, I asked the criminal affairs office of the Justice Ministry to see how we can take legal action."

Perben did not say what could happen to Bouziane, who has lived in France since 1979. France last week expelled an Algerian-born imam for preaching radical Islam and expressing support for the March 11 train bombings in Madrid.

Many mosques in France import imams from Arab states, a policy French authorities and moderate French Muslims oppose as a potential open door to radical Islam. But there are too few imams educated in France to staff all mosques.

Meanwhile, in a story about Rania al-Baz, the Saudi TV hostess who was savagely beaten by her husband, the dhimmis at CNN blandly tell us that "Islam prohibits violence against women." (Thanks to LGF.) Tell it to Rania al-Baz or Abdelkader Bouziane -- or Hani Ramadan.

Get that man a loudspeaker

Despite objections, the Muslim prayer call will soon resound over loudspeakers all over Hamtramck, Michigan. From AP, with thanks to EPG and Cathy J. Palmer:

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. -- Over some residents' objections, the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to allow a mosque to send out a call to prayer to Muslims on a loudspeaker.

The Bangladeshi al-Islah mosque asked for permission to air the Arabic call to prayer via loudspeakers five times a day, though it compromised by agreeing not to air the call before 6 a.m. or after 10 p.m.

Some Muslims say the call is the equivalent of church bells. Opponents argued that church bells have no religious significance and that allowing the Arabic call, which lasts less than two minutes, unfairly elevates Islam above other religions.

From AP:

BASRA, Iraq - A series of car bombs ripped through police stations and an academy during rush hour Wednesday morning, killing at least 60 people, including schoolchildren, and wounding scores in the bloodiest attacks to hit this mainly Shiite city since the U.S.-led occupation began a year ago.

Iraqis pulled charred and torn bodies from mangled vehicles in front of the Saudia police station, located by Basra's crowded main street market. Two vans carrying schoolchildren were destroyed, one carrying kindergardeners, the other carrying middle-school girls. Dead children, burned beyond recognition, were taken to hospital morgues.

Iraqi Interior Minister Samir Shaker Mahmoud al-Sumeidi blamed "terrorists." He said the Basra attacks resembled suicide bombings earlier this year against Shiites and Kurds that killed hundreds and were blamed on foreign Islamic militants.

"The information we have indicate that the attacks were carried out with car bombs," al-Sumeidi said. "As for who is behind Basra attacks, it is clear that that the fingerprints of the parties that were behind the massacres in Iraq as in Irbil and Karbala can be seen in today's attacks."

There was no immediate word who was behind the attack and al-Sumeidi said it was not yet clear whether the car bombs were set off by suicide bombers. U.S. officials have accused foreign Islamic militants in deadly suicide bombings in February against Shiite holy sites in Najaf and Baghdad aimed at sparking a Sunni-Shiite civil war in the country.

Basra Police Commander Mohammed Kadhim al-Ali said the cars were packed with missiles and TNT.

Casualty figures were hard to determine amid the chaos. Al-Sumeidi said more than 60 people were killed and 100 wounded, but Basra Gov. Wael Abdul-Latif said the death toll was at least 68, including 16 children and nine policemen, with 200 injured.

The bombings brought yet another front of violence as U.S. forces are locked in a standoff with a radical Shiite cleric in the holy city of Najaf and Sunni insurgents in the central city of Fallujah.

Anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia was active in Basra, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, during the early days of its uprising across the south this month. But its gunmen targeted coalition troops and the fighting died down in Basra after only a few days.

Meanwhile, an agreement aimed at bringing peace to Fallujah, 35 miles west of Baghdad, met troubles only a day after its implementation began. A heavy battle broke out Wednesday morning on the city's north side, where up to 40 insurgents attacked Marine positions, commanders said. Nine insurgents were killed, and three Marines were wounded, a spokesman said.

As of noon, no guerrillas had turned in any heavy weapons, the most crucial tenet of the agreement in U.S. eyes, said Marine Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne. The U.S. military has warned it may resume its assault on Fallujah if the agreement falls through.

For now, the Marines were responding by halting a part of the agreement of great concern to the Fallujans, the return of families that fled during the fighting since April 5, Byrne said.

Wednesday's explosions tore into three police stations in Basra and the academy in the suburb of Zubair nearly simultanously after 7 a.m., as many residents were headed to markets, jobs or school. An hour later, another blast targeted the same police academy.

A large crater, 6-feet deep and 9-feet wide, was blown in the pavement outside the Saudia station, the facade of which was heavily damaged.

The wounded included two British soldiers at the police academy, Maj. Hisham al-Halawi, spokesman for British forces in Basra, told Al-Arabiya television.

British troops who tried to come to the Saudia station to help were met by angry Iraqis, blaming British for failing to keep security in the city.

"We don't know yet who committed these bombings," al-Halawi said.

Wednesday's battle on Fallujah's north side lasted for four hours, with Cobra helicopter gunships blasting with Gatling guns from the air. Witnesses reported tanks moving into the Jolan neighborhood where Marines said the attack was launched.

During the fighting, a few mosques blared messages calling gunmen to battle.

Joseph D'Hippolito provides an excellent summation of how the Catholic Church, at least at the official level, has thus far failed to come up with even a remotely adequate response to the challenge of modern-day Islamic jihad. In the article, also, he quotes a perceptive, sad but true remark made here at Jihad Watch by poster "IHSoter." From the Jerusalem Post:

In the face of Islam's infatuation with terror and religious imperialism - perhaps the biggest threat to Western civilization since World War II - Catholic prelates seem afflicted with a severe case of moral confusion, as recent statements demonstrate.

On April 10, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, told Britain's GMTV that he agreed with Lord Carey, the former archbishop of Canterbury, who criticized moderate Muslims for failing to condemn terrorism in Allah's name.

At the same time O'Connor said the West must confront what he believes to be terrorism's root causes: poverty and inequality.

Apparently, O'Connor forgot that Yasser Arafat, Ayman Al-Zawahiri and Muhammad Atta came from the professional classes - and that Osama bin Laden is a multimillionaire.

On April 8, Vatican Cardinal Renato Martino - who expressed sympathy for Saddam Hussein upon his capture - told Italy's La Stampa that a United Nations peacekeeping force should replace the current coalition force in Iraq led by the United States.

Martino, the Vatican's observer at the UN for 12 years before becoming president of the Pontifical Council for Peace and Justice, believes the UN can repeat its master stroke in resolving Kosovo, as well as its stunning success in the Middle East.

On April 5, Bishop Javier Echevarria, the prelate of Opus Dei - an organization fervently loyal to the papacy - told the Zenit news service that Christians should love terrorists by praying for their conversion and redemption.

Echevarria follows the example of Pope John Paul II, who commemorated the anniversary of the September 11 attacks two years ago by asking God to show mercy to the perpetrators as well as to the victims.

In his enthusiasm the pope apparently forgot that repentance comes before forgiveness, that the dead cannot repent, and that Atta and his fellow shahids would likely view repentance for their barbarism as apostasy.

ON THE same day Echevarria spoke to Zenit, Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci released her latest book The Strength of Reason, which bluntly describes the threat of Islamic influence in Europe.

Fallaci not only calls Europe "a province of Islam" and "Eurabia;" she condemns the Catholic Church for its silence "even when its symbols are offended by Muslims and before such practices as polygamy and torture," an Associated Press report stated.

Civilita Cattolica, the official magazine of the Vatican's secretariat of state, perfectly reflects the intellectual schizophrenia among Rome's elite.

For most of 2003 Civilita Cattolica condemned the war in Iraq. Then, in October, it published equally scathing criticisms of jihad and of Islam's historical behavior from the senior editor, Fr. Giuseppe De Rosa.

"In all of its history, Islam has shown a warlike face and a conquering spirit for the glory of Allah," De Rosa wrote. "In all the places where Islam imposed itself by military force, which has few parallels for its rapidity and breath, Christianity practically disappeared or was reduced to tiny islands in an endless Islamic sea.

"For almost 1,000 years, Europe was under constant threat from Islam, which twice put its survival in serious danger."

Christians and Jews living in Muslim societies "belong to an inferior social order," De Rosa wrote. They must pay special taxes and cannot build new houses of worship, marry the daughters of Muslims, testify in trials between Muslims or inherit from Muslims.

Yet in February, Civilita Cattolica's vice-director and political commentator, Fr. Michele Simone, condemned efforts to teach Muslims democracy as "particularly offensive to the Muslim community."

For Simone, invading Iraq "lent support to the impression that the West... intends a new colonization of Islamic countries, aimed at taking control of their oil, on the pretext of wanting to bring 'democracy'... without realizing that, at least for Islamic fundamentalism, 'democracy' takes the sovereignty away from Allah and transfers it to the 'people,' which for a Muslim believer is an act of 'impiety.' "

Some may defend this balancing act as nuance dictated by diplomatic and ecumenical considerations. But John Paul II did not display such nuance during his courageous struggle against communism. His forthright intensity endeared him to many in the West - many who are now disappointed with him.

"It was the Holy Father's heroic leadership in the fight against Communism that inspired me," said a correspondent named "IHSoter" to Robert Spencer's Jihad Watch Web log. "So it is extremely painful to have to criticize him. It is as if the Church, after spending a century of trying to make the faith palatable to the effete and nihilistic people of Europe, has lost the ability to confront a truly evil adversary.

"The Church has lost a profound opportunity to be an inspiration for the people in this present crisis. No Solidarity will rise up this time to show the world what a boon the Church is in regards to human liberty. The Vatican has made itself into a stumbling stone."

Bravo, Armitage

One of the main things that makes the global jihad network morally reprehensible is that it targets civilians -- chiefly in Israel but also all over the world. It justifies the attacks by a provision of Islamic law that prohibits the killing of women and children "unless they are fighting against the Muslims" ('Umdat al-Salik o9.10, cf. al-Mawardi, al-Akham as-Sultaniyyah, 4.2). This has been interpreted as allowing civilians to be killed if they are somehow aiding the war effort -- hence the common assertion that "there are no civilians in Israel."

Aware of this and media-savvy as ever, the jihadis and their allies have tried to make much of the U.S. forces supposedly targeting civilians in Iraq. And the mujahedin themselves have used women and children as shields to try to make sure the U.S. would target civilians -- the easier to discredit American claims of the moral high ground. And of course the Kerryite Left, following their leader's example of hysterical claims of American soldiers running amok in Vietnam, piles on happily.

But in an interview with Iraq Coalition and Pan-Arab print reporters, Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage was having none of it, and spoke with rare and refreshing candor. From the State Department website, with thanks to Ruth King:

QUESTION: One follow-up, sir, very quickly --

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Sure.

QUESTION: -- about human rights in Iraq. There have been civilian casualties, women and children, in Fallujah. How can you promote democracy in the Middle East when you're sending out a message that it's okay to shoot at children and --

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Oh, stop. Stop. Shame on you. I hope you were screaming about human rights during the time of Saddam Hussein. I didn't hear many in the region.

We are the most humane military in the world. We punish our people when they exceed bounds, and we do it transparently. We regret every single civilian life which is lost, and we do our utmost, even putting our soldiers at risk, to prevent those.

It is true that there are civilian casualties and it is true that these scenes are shown over and over, particularly on our Arab friends' television networks. Now we spend enormous amounts of time and put our soldiers and Marines at risk in order to try to prevent it.

War is dangerous and it is difficult times, but when you ask that question, I would hope that you'd reflect on your own writing over the past, say, 30 years and see what you've said about human rights in Iraq.

Thank you all very much.

From William Webb:

It is time to shut down the political carnival that is the 9/11 commission and return to focusing on the next big strikes aimed at the United States. Al-Qaida communiqués and warnings from intelligence heads around the world that you don't need a top-secret security clearance to understand have been in the public domain for nearly two years now. As before 9/11, the "chatter" is starting up again--and the noise is not a pleasant one. This is the chosen year. From bus and train bombings, to setting wildfires, to a mass casualty situation that an al-Qaida spokesman predicted would kill at least 100,000--the global jihad continues while the 9/11 political carnival attempts to place blame for the past.

Sunday, Condoleezza Rice warned of possible terror attacks on Fox news. The opportunity for terrorists to try to influence the election, as was the case last month in Spain, appears to be an opportunity that would "be too good to pass up for them," she said.

"I think that we do have to take very seriously the thought that the terrorists might have learned, we hope, the wrong lesson from Spain. I think we also have to take seriously that they might try during the cycle leading up to the election to do something," she said.

ABS news reported yesterday that an intelligence source suggests an imminent attack may be planned. "The intelligence, received a week ago but secret until now, is from known Muslim extremists who suggested an attack -- possibly in the U.S. -- was imminent, and that operatives were already "in place."
To savvy readers of Jihad Watch, Front Page, debka files, Worldnet Daily, The Foundation For The Defense of Democracies, Williamwebb.org and a host of other fine websites and blogs, Ms. Rice's words and the ABC News report come as no surprise.

The Islamist's stated purpose is to kill as many non-Muslims as possible and Americans are at the top of the target list. Bin-Laden in particular has been quite specific in outlining his plans.

We have been lulled into a false sense of security because we haven't been hit within the United States since 9/11. The fact is, there have been a long list of potential events that have been thwarted--from publicized events like shoe-bomber Richard Reed, to the Semtex found in the bus station in Philadelphia--to the reasons behind the much-maligned terror warnings issued by the Department of Homeland security.

The 9/11 commission seems unable or unwilling to consider that we are fighting a global religious insurgency, a jihad from radical and not-so-radical Islamists that is gaining momentum throughout the Muslim world. To the Islamists, it is a RELIGIOUS WAR, an obligation commanded by their God. It is a sad and potentially lethal practice of cynical politics preventing our elected officials to continue to speak otherwise.

When you mix a religious war that one side fails to acknowledge due to a cancer called political correctness, a war on terrorism that is fought with politicians on both sides of the aisle continuing to oppose common-sense domestic intelligence and counter-terrorism policies, and then throw in weapons of mass destruction--you have a prescription for a horror much greater than 9/11.

Just in case you've missed it, al-Qaida has possessed chemical and biological capabilities for sometime now and have not been shy about expressing their plans for using them on American and other western cities.

There have also been reports that al-Qaida has managed to acquire at least one nuclear weapon--the latest coming from Ayman Al-Zawahiri last month in an interview of Zawahiri biographer, Haymid Mir, for an Australian television station.

In conducting research for my upcoming book, I have asked several world intelligence and political leaders whether they could unequivocally state that al-Qaida has NOT acquired WMDs. Not one has been able to reassure me that militant Islamists haven't been able to acquire one.

Instead, the directors of MI-5, CIA, FBI and other top intelligence agencies have issued continued warnings during the past three years concerning militant Islamists attempting to acquire and use WMDs.

MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute, has chronicled the disturbing warnings for some time now. A particularly telling article appeared in January.
In Special Dispatch 650 published on January 27, 2004 Louis Attiya Allah, an alias for one of the leading al-Qaida ideologues in Saudi Arabia, analyzes bin-Laden's most recent speech. One of bin-Ladens statements was, "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."

Mr. Allah goes on to help explain the significance and writes, "It will be a surprising blow, that is, one that is completely unexpected. They cannot conceive or imagine the way in which it will be carried out... It is a great blow. That is, the losses that will be caused to America and the Western world in its wake will be very great. Due to its magnitude, the blow will change the international balances of powers..."

Now I am the first to admit there is a tendency in some middle eastern cultures for verbal hyperbole and wildly outlandish conspiracy theories, but you must ask yourself: Why would bin-Laden try to reach out to government leaders who banished him from Saudi Arabia and warn them of a coming "blow?"
What destruction would have to occur that would elicit a response that Mr. Allah predicts, "America will take a mighty blow, will go berserk, and will decide to punish the extremists deep in the Arabian Peninsula, by means of direct occupation."

It may not be a WMD, but I would contend that the next attack, or series of attacks are not going to be tactical strikes. And as many have warned, may people are going to have to die this time to get the politicians and the rest of the American public to finally wake up.

In July 2003, radical Saudi Sheik Nasser bin Hamd al-Fahad issued a fatwa, or religious edict, granting legal religious authority to the use of weapons of mass destruction against both the United States and Great Britain and their civilian populations. The article and analysis by Yoni Fighel and Moshe Marzouk can be found at International Policy Institute for Counterterrorism.

Again, you can view this as rabid exaggeration, or a pious Muslim leader taking care to get religious blessing before using WMDs. Why did bin-Laden seek out the fatwa?

For anyone familiar with the operations of Al-Qaida, this fatwa should serve as a grim, horrific warning to read, listen to, and most importantly, understand. Osama bin Laden has cloaked his next planned major mass murder in religious legitimacy by obtaining these rulings prior to the strikes

There are literally hundreds of other articles and reports in which bin-Laden, al-Zawahiri or others promise mortal blows against the United States with casualties ranging from 100,000 to 10 million. Do you think it is prudent to ignore them as the 9/11 commission's findings have proven were the case pre 9/11?

What can you do? Write your elected officials now and demand they pay attention and take necessary action today. Demand the end to the politicization of homeland defense. Write media outlets and demand they drop their biases and start asking the questions and demanding REAL solutions to homeland security, intelligence and defense.

Prepare yourself for the worst--and start thinking of the protections you will demand from the politicians if the big blow happens.

It's lovely, but really, you shouldn't have

Jermaine Jackson says that Muslims are "the new Negroes in America."

"Negroes"? I suppose Mr. Jackson means to evoke the bad old days of segregation and discrimination. But in the absence of "NO MUSLIMS SERVED" signs at lunch counters, or Muslims having to go to the back of the bus, or Muslims-only water fountains, or Muslim children being escorted to school by federal marshals, pardon me if I think his assertion is a bit, well, hysterical.

And what is behind this statement? "I do not agree with the U.S. government. What they are saying about Muslims and Arabs is all propaganda and brainwashing." What has the U.S. government been saying about Muslims and Arabs except that Islam is a religion of peace? This just shows that that kind of pandering is useless, because the people to whom the pandering is supposed to appeal aren't going to be satisfied anyway.

MANAMA, Bahrain (Reuters) - Pop star Michael Jackson's brother, Jermaine, in the Gulf to promote understanding between Muslims and his fellow Americans, said Tuesday that Muslims are "the new Negroes in America."

Jermaine, a convert to Islam and dressed in white Arab garb, has been speaking about Islam and U.S. "adventures" in Iraq to enthusiastic audiences at Koranic centers and universities in the Gulf Arab state of Bahrain.

"I think Muslims have become the new Negroes in America. They are being mistreated at airports, by the Immigration -- everywhere," he said.

Jermaine, also a singer, told Reuters in an interview: "I do not agree with the U.S. government. What they are saying about Muslims and Arabs is all propaganda and brainwashing."

"I don't think it is right for us to go to someone else's country and tell them what to do and how to do it," said Jermaine, who is a guest of the royal court in the pro-Western kingdom, which hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.

He disapproved of Muslim extremism, which has been on the rise in the wake of the U.S. occupation of Iraq last year.

"I understand their feelings but do not approve of their methods. Islam is a religion of peace. They are wrong," he said.

Who was getting these guns? What were they going to do? Where would we be if Berlusconi were out and a dhimmi government in power in Italy? From Reuters, with thanks to Susan:

ROME (Reuters) - Italian customs has seized more than 8,000 Kalashnikovs and other weapons on a ship headed to the United States, officials said Tuesday.

The arms, worth about six million euros, were discovered aboard a ship arriving from Romania that pulled into the southern Italian port of Gioia Tauro on its way to the United States, Italy's customs said in a statement.

According to travel documents, the arms are the property of a large U.S. company headquartered in the U.S. state of Georgia.

"We know that the destination was North America, but we don't effectively know if that's where the arms were going," a customs official told RAI state television.

The arms were found inside three different containers during a routine customs check earlier this week. They were confiscated due to discrepancies in the customs forms but the news was only made public Tuesday.

The customs office said the weapons had been described as "common guns" instead of assault rifles and longer-range combat arms in the travel documentation.

Romania's National Agency for Export Control (ANCEX) said in a statement: "There have been transfers of weapons of small caliber and of light weapons from Romania to the United States.

"Their export was done according to Romanian law, on the basis of individual export authorizations and on confirmation from the American authorities prior to the transfer," the ANCEX statement said.

Why the UN is worse than useless, from Arnold Beichman in the Washington Times:

I simply cannot understand why President Bush keeps appealing to United Nations for its help and cooperation when that institution has proven itself to be incapable of doing anything significant in the field of human rights let alone international terrorism. Nor can I understand why Secretary of State Colin Powell has called the U.N. a "Coalition partner" when it is at best a sneering onlooker.

I base this judgment on a long dead-letter U.N. resolution dated Dec. 9, 1994, passed by the General Assembly almost a decade ago, about which little is heard. In fact, few people even know it exists. And why should they, since the resolution died the day it passed?

To discuss this resolution is to prove beyond a shadow of doubt the U.N. is a fraud, a betrayer of our hopes to establish a rule of law among nations. This 10-year-old resolution, titled "Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism," passed with no opposition. And a fat lot of good it did.

The 1994 resolution text begins with this laudable preamble:

"Having considered in depth the question of measures to eliminate international terrorism, [and] convinced that the adoption of the Declaration on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism should contribute to the enhancement of the struggle against international terrorism. ... "

Were such a resolution presented once again to the U.N. Sixth Committee, I doubt it would ever be considered. The rot is deep in the U.N. General Assembly. How deep? Mark these words of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan as late as Feb. 24, 1998: "Can I trust Saddam Hussein? I think I can do business with him." Mr. Annan was bestowing his confidence on a dictator whose genocidal practices were well-known, a dictator who poison-gassed 5,000 Iraqis in Halabja in 1991.

The 1994 U.N. resolution demands that member states "take all appropriate measures at the national and international levels to eliminate terrorism." Appended to the resolution is the "Declaration on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism."

Congress ought to appoint a special committee to find out why the U.N. has ignored its own resolution and why it has failed to fulfill what its own General Assembly demanded of the Secretariat.

The U.N. resolution said the General Assembly was "deeply disturbed by the worldwide persistence of acts of international terrorism in all its forms and manifestations ... which endanger or take innocent lives." The GA, it said, was "firmly determined to eliminate international terrorism in all its forms and manifestations [and] that those responsible for acts of international terrorism must be brought to justice."

Mark those words: There is no justification, said the U.N., for international terrorism -- that is taking the lives of innocent people as at the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, or in Madrid on March 11, 2004. Terrorism is terrorism regardless of political slogans or issues, said yesterday's United Nations.

If Kofi Annan and the U.N. Security Council are serious about combating terrorism, they should immediately call a special General Assembly session to renew the General Assembly Declaration of 1994. Were this resolution in effect today, the Coalition forces in Iraq would have the legitimating support of the U.N. just as the United States had in 1950 when it almost single-handed rescued South Korea from being swallowed up by the military dictatorship of North Korea's Kim Il-sung.

An offer they couldn't refuse?

Drugs-for-weapons trades between radical Muslims and the Mafia. From Reuters, with thanks to Nicolei:

ROME (Reuters) - Italian investigators have found a link between Islamic militant groups and the Camorra, one of Italy's main organized crime groups, a top anti-Mafia investigator said on Monday.

"We have evidence that groups of the Camorra are implicated in an exchange of weapons for drugs with terrorist groups," Pierluigi Vigna, Italy's national anti-mafia prosecutor, told reporters at the foreign press club.

Asked what kind of groups, he said: "Islamic terrorist groups."

Vigna, whose Rome-based office coordinates the work of magistrates investigating organized crime in Italy, said he could not give more details.

Pressed further, he suggested the cooperation came about after a member of the Camorra, the Naples-area version of the Sicilian Mafia, converted to Islam and met in prison with Muslims who had been arrested in Italy.

Security has been increased throughout Italy in recent weeks for fear of a possible attack by Islamic militants.

Precautions for this past Easter week were on a new scale after the March 11 train blasts that killed 191 people in Madrid and with the continued unrest in Iraq, where Italy has nearly 3,000 troops.

Former Spanish Interior Minister Angel Acebes said earlier this month suspects in the Madrid attacks had swapped drugs for around 440 lb of dynamite used in the attacks.

Two weeks ago, a top anti-terrorism investigator in Milan said militant Islamic cells scattered across Italy, many of them used to support attacks abroad, could turn their sights on targets inside the country.

Vigna said links between organized crime and militant groups were becoming common in many countries and warned they may intensify when the European Union enlarges to 25 countries next month.

He said European investigators and police had to be better coordinated and called for a European arrest warrant that would make it easier to apprehend people wanted in another country. Vigna also said an enlarged EU should have more joint investigations and more representatives of national police forces in other countries.

He also called for legislation to make it easier for a magistrate from one country to interrogate someone arrested in another or to seek trans-border confiscation of property and freezing of bank accounts.

Vigna said the four main organized crime groups in Italy -- the Mafia, the Camorra, the 'Ndrangheta and the Sacra Corona Unita -- take in some 100 billion euros ($120 billion) a year from illegal activities.

The most lucrative was drug trafficking, which netted the groups some 59 billion euros, followed by illegal business activities, extortion and loan sharking, prostitution and arms trafficking.

Shamil Basayev

From Reuters, with thanks to Nicolei, an update on the jihad in Chechnya:

MOSCOW -- Russian troops capped a weeklong crackdown on Chechen separatists by killing four rebels linked to guerrilla leader Shamil Basayev on the weekend, including the leader of Arab fighters in Muslim Chechnya.

Moscow refused to comment on the report, but Saudi-born militant Abu al-Waleed al-Ghamdi's death was confirmed by his brother, who said the man had close links to Mr. Basayev.

More than 10 rebels, including Wahhabi militants, were killed in planned "special operations" by Russian troops in the mountainous region last week, news agencies reported.

Wahhabism is a strict Islamic sect dominant in Saudi Arabia.

Heavy gunfire in the village of Ordzhonikidzevskaya -- just over the border from Chechnya in mainly Muslim Ingushetia -- started Saturday and ended early yesterday after troops sealed off a house where they said important rebels were holed up.

"These people, acting on Basayev's orders . . . were involved in recruiting and training young women from various regions in the North Caucasus with an aim to turn them into suicide bombers," Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for the Russian military in the Caucasus, told Itar-Tass news agency.

The Kremlin says Abu al-Waleed is among those behind February's bombing of the Moscow subway.

It also said he wasone of the perpetrators of the 1999 apartment bombings that prompted President Vladimir Putin to send troops back into Chechnya.

Islamist websites prominently featured news of Abu al-Waleed's death yesterday.

Some said he had been betrayed by companions while he was preparing to pray.

"My brother has been martyred," Abdullah al-Saeed al-Ghamdi said by telephone from the Saudi capital Riyadh. "We don't have any details but we know he was killed recently," he added.

"We received the news yesterday and now people are coming to congratulate us on his martyrdom."

Another person reported to have been killed was 27-year-old Magomed Khazhiyev, a religious leader of an ultra-radical Islamic Wahhabi community in Ingushetia's Sunzhensky region.

Russia says it is bringing control to Chechnya, where it has fought separatist guerrillas for nine years, and that it is reducing its troop levels and heavy weaponry. But service officers and police are killed daily.

The Kremlin blames Chechen rebels for a spate of attacks across Russia, including those by so-called "black widow" female suicide bombers.

Bashir

A foremost exponent of the tiny minority of extremists is appealing to the vast majority of moderate, peaceful Muslims for support. From Straits Times, with thanks to Nicolei:

JAKARTA - Lawyers for jailed cleric Abu Bakar Bashir plan to lobby Indonesia's largest Islamic groups to support a battle against fresh terror charges, attorneys said yesterday. Bashir's supporters insist police are acting against him because of the US. Bashir's attorney will meet the Indonesian Ulamas Council - the country's most influential Islamic body - today, said lawyer Wirawan Adnan.

Meetings with leaders of the large Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah Islamic organisations will take place next week, he added.

'We hope these people will support our efforts,' he said.

The United States has reiterated its allegations that Bashir is a terror leader.

The militant cleric's supporters maintain that police are acting against him because of US pressure.

Last week, police officially named Bashir a terror suspect and said he was likely to be charged over alleged links with the Jemaah Islamiah terror group and 2002 nightclub bombings on Bali.

Bashir, 65, is now in jail for minor immigration offences after the Supreme Court cleared him of earlier treason and terror charges. He is due to be freed on April 30, but the fresh accusations against him make this unlikely.

'We have long believed there is extensive evidence of Abu Bakar Bashir's leadership role and personal involvement in terror activities,' said a US Embassy spokesman.

Bashir's lawyers said they hoped to generate public support and sympathy for their client, forcing the government to drop any new charges against him for fear of being seen as anti-Muslim.

Mr Adnan said the US wanted Bashir imprisoned because of his vocal support for Islamic causes worldwide.

The developments come at a politically sensitive time in the world's most populous Muslim nation, as candidates seek Muslim support ahead of presidential polls on July 5.

Asked about the evidence US officials said existed to back its claims, Mr Adnan pointed to accusations made about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction.

'They lied once, they are lying again,' he said.

Bashir has denied involvement in terror activities, but has sharply criticised US policies in the Muslim world.

Yesterday, he endorsed the bombing of US interests in Iraq and called the Bali bombers misguided but praiseworthy fighters. He also indicated that attacking the US government on American soil was acceptable.

'If you want to oppose American interests with a bomb in Iraq, it can be done, in Afghanistan, it can be done, because they are conflict areas. Or, let's say, in America itself,' Bashir told reporters at a Jakarta jail.

How to keep hatred and fanaticism levels high in a population? Never give it a rest -- even on light entertainment. From the New York Times, with thanks to Teri:

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Quick. What is the name of the Palestinian village near what is now the Israeli city of Ramla that was destroyed in 1949 and replaced by a town called Yavne?

Too difficult? It's Yibna. Try another.

What structure built of gray sandstone in 1792 became the source of all oppressive decisions the world over?

This one should be easy: the White House.

If you answered both questions correctly, you might be prime fodder to compete on "The Mission," a game show running on Al Manar, the satellite television channel of Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese group.

Contestants from around the Arab world compete each Saturday night for cash and the chance to win a virtual trip to Jerusalem. To heighten the drama, points won by the finalists translate directly into steps toward the holy city that are flashed onto a map of the region.

The show is a novel way for Hezbollah to promote its theme - that all Arab efforts should be concentrated on reconquering land lost to Israel, especially Jerusalem.

"Any program at this television station must present the idea that the occupation of Palestine must end," said Ihab Abi Nassif, a 28-year-old high school physics teacher who is the show's host. "That is the core issue, which is why we work day and night to keep it vivid in people's minds."

The game show, begun last fall, is a tad more subtle than the channel's other offerings outside its fairly straightforward news shows. The program "Terrorists," for example, plays endless loops of film from Israeli attacks that killed civilians. "Sincere Men," drawing its name from a Koranic verse about the strength of the faithful when facing battle, profiles either Hezbollah fighters who undertook suicide missions or those in waiting.

"The Mission" follows a standard game show format, with contestants quizzed about history, literature, geography, science and the arts. But at least half the questions revolve around Palestinian or Islamic history, and at least one contestant is usually Palestinian.

"We wanted to put it into a form that would appeal to a wider segment of the population," said Ibrahim Musawi, a spokesman for Manar and the director of its English news. "It is not in an ideological or a direct way, but in an entertaining way."

Some critics label Manar pure propaganda. They suspect that Hezbollah's backers, Iran and Syria, use the relatively free speech of Lebanon to promote hatreds they would not dare pronounce at home.

"Its television programs show that the Jews are bad, the Europeans are bad, the Americans are bad," said Waddah Sharara, a sociology professor at Lebanese University. "I don't think that it is effective propaganda."

Hezbollah gained a certain credibility across the Arab world after its repeated fatal attacks against Israeli soldiers occupying southern Lebanon, helped speed an Israeli withdrawal. They increased their television ratings by broadcasting film of the operations, although the audience is believed to watch less now that such missions have tapered off.

Programs like "The Mission" repackage the theme. "They have an extraordinary sense of theater," said Mr. Sharara, noting that even their important street pageants are choreographed by professional directors.

There is no doubt that Manar is popular among Shiite Muslims, especially in Lebanon, but it is hard to gauge the show's overall popularity. About 7,000 people from throughout the region called in one 35-day period earlier this year to ask to compete, the producers said.

The American Embassy in Beirut said that it monitors Manar, but Washington rarely singles out the station for criticism, lumping all its disapproval together by labeling Hezbollah a terrorist organization. One senior United States official in the region did grumble about "The Mission" as encouraging violence, calling it "Name Your Favorite Terrorist."

Some questions do focus on the men who carried out suicide operations. "The martyr Amar Hamoud was nicknamed 'The Sword of All Martyrs?' - true or false?" was one recent question. True. Mr. Abi Nassif, who never fails to address the subject of recapturing Jerusalem in his patter, went on to describe the man's exploits.

The questions range from the easy, "The French Revolution was in 1789, true or false?" (True) to the more esoteric, "What Abbasid era calligrapher introduced a new Arabic script, copied the Koran 64 times and maintained a flourishing school until Baghdad fell to the Mongols in 1258?" (Abu Hassan Ali Bin Hillal, of course.)

The prizes are not huge. Players who reach five million Lebanese pounds, or something over $3,000, earn the chance to double their winnings with one "golden question" worth the same amount. When the winner gains the 60 points necessary to reach Jerusalem, the song that is a staple of Hezbollah parades booms out. "Jerusalem is ours and we are coming to it," the chorus says in part.

Dr. Muhammad Abu Ghararah, a 56-year-old Libyan surgeon who lives in Germany, decided to appear on the program during a weeklong vacation last December, He did the full Hezbollah Lebanon tour, visiting a former Israeli prison in the south and stopping at Fatima Gate to hurl stones at the Israeli soldiers over the border fence. He donated the $3,000 he won on "The Mission" to a Palestinian charity, he said.

"These kinds of programs are very important, repeating the issue of the Palestinians, keeping it vivid in our minds, keeping it alive," Dr. Ghararah said. "It is like commercials. When there are so many commercials about a toothpaste, for example, when you go to the supermarket you spontaneously think about it and buy it. The same with Palestinians. We always have to remember the Palestinian cause, and that is what Manar does."

Iraqi mujahedin are using women and children as human shields against American soldiers. They do this, of course, because they know that the Americans are scrupulous about civillian casualties. And if one of their human shields does get hit, of course, then the Left can claim that the U.S. is ruthlessly and callously targeting civilians. From the New York Post, with thanks to Ted Robertson:

April 19, 2004 -- Bloody fighting in Iraq over the weekend killed at least 10 U.S. soldiers, including five Marines slain in the first 90 minutes of a brutal battle with guerrillas on the Syrian border.

The most fierce fight erupted in the northern Iraqi town of Husaybah next to Syria, where several hundred rebels launched deadly assaults on Marines throughout Saturday with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, U.S. Army officials and witnesses said.

The guerrillas first lured Marines from their nearby base to the former Ba'ath Party headquarters in town by detonating a roadside bomb there, said one witness, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Ron Harris. The rebels then opened fire on the Marines.

For hours, the guerrillas then played cat-and-mouse with the soldiers by ducking in and out of empty buildings and strafing those Marines who followed them with gunfire.

The five fallen Marines all died when they were ambushed by Iraqis hiding inside what the soldiers had thought was an abandoned house, Harris said.

The U.S. forces eventually quashed the rebel insurrection hours later after calling in reinforcements.

Marine officials said the rebels were so desperate at one point during the fighting that they grabbed women and children to use as human shields around their gunners.

"We're trying to get the snipers in position for a shot . . . [But] some are using children to shield themselves!" one commander could be heard warning other officers via radio, according to Harris.

"We will not take shots in which we could possibly hit children," the commander said.

In addition to the dead Marines, at least nine more soldiers were wounded in the battle. Up to 30 guerrillas also were killed.

The artists who gave us the immortal "What are we fighting for? Don't ask me, I don't give a damn"

Country Joe and the Fish may not want to know, but for others this is the key question. David Warren has a few important observations. (Thanks to Bassam Madany.)

It seems time to revisit some columns I wrote the summer before last, while the expedition to Iraq was still being assembled, militarily, politically, and diplomatically. Some readers may recall my attempt to describe what I thought President Bush was trying to achieve; what his "vision" was, in response to events which had been clarified by the terror strikes on New York and Washington.

I wrote then that he was trying to achieve something like the cleaning of the Augean stables, in the Greek myth of Hercules. His mind was working in a Lincolnesque way, towards a grand strategy. He would attack the root cause of terrorism, in effect by diverting the powerful stream of democracy, which had recently swept through central and eastern Europe, so that it would now wash through the Islamic world.

I did not say whether I thought this strategy would work, only that I believed it to be what he was trying. I cannot, of course, read anyone's mind, yet still think Mr. Bush is dug into such a grand strategy. He sincerely believes that democracy in the Middle East is possible; and that American efforts there can tap deep, universal human desires for liberty and justice, that will, like great waters, finally succeed in cleaning out centuries of backwardness and tyranny.

After a couple of years of additional thought, I now have an opinion on this strategy. The problem with it is, that it requires the water to flow uphill.

"Democracy", and Islam, are utterly incompatible. I have become convinced, in wrestling and wrestling with Islamic history and teachings, that while extremely inconvenient, this is a bald fact.

Mr. Bush thinks he is pushing universal human values, when in fact such ideas as separation of church and state, constitutional government, freedom of association, nay human liberty itself, are Western, and more specifically, Christian ideas. From beginning to end, Islam has offered a radically different view of the relationship between man and God, and between man and man. Human liberty, as we understand it, and the civic virtues we have come to associate with "democracy", are, truly, anathema to it.

The mullahs know this. The imams know it. They ought to know, they're on the front line of Islam's clash with a very Western modernity. Osama bin Laden understands it perfectly. The ayatollahs all know it, too. And Mr. Bush, who gets too much of his information about Islam from writers like Karen Armstrong, doesn't know it.

And so, under the politically-correct impression that he is not fighting a "crusade" against Islam, he finds himself indeed fighting one.

Hooper has lost a political leader

CAIR has issued a press release tut-tutting Bush for not condemning the killing of Rantisi. In it, Rantisi is identified as a "political leader." (Thanks to DC Watson.)

A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group said today's assassination of Palestinian political leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi will create the impression throughout the Muslim world that President Bush gave a "green light" for the killing.

Rantisi died following an Israeli missile strike on his car Saturday, just days after President Bush met with Ariel Sharon in the White House. At that meeting, President Bush overturned decades of American diplomacy to side with Israel on issues, such as the removal of settlements and the Palestinian right of return, that had been viewed by past Republican and Democratic administrations as subject to bilateral negotiations.

In its statement, the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said:

"Once again we see Ariel Sharon thumbing his nose at America's image and interests. Sharon surely knew that this assassination, which has been universally condemned by the international community, would create the impression that President Bush gave him a 'green light' at their recent meeting in Washington. The State Department's meek response to yet another act of state terrorism by Israel merely serves to confirm that impression.

"Until our leaders act in America's interests, and not just those of a foreign state or its domestic lobby, we will continue to be viewed worldwide as a party to oppression, not as a force for freedom or justice."

World leaders have been uniform in their condemnation of Rantisi's assassination. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called it "unlawful, unjustified and counterproductive." European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana said "actions of this type are not only unlawful, they are not conducive to lowering tension." A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: "(Annan) reiterates that extrajudicial killings are violations of international law and calls on the government of Israel to immediately end this practice."

America's allies in the Muslim world are also expressing outrage at the attack and linking it to Sharon's meeting with President Bush. Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr Al-Qirbi said: "The United States bears the responsibility for what happens, since after every visit by Sharon to Washington he commits more terrorism and assassinations."

CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has consistently condemned all terrorist acts, whether carried out by individuals, groups or states.

CAIR has consistently condemned all terrorist acts, eh? Well, what about these, carried out by the very group of which Rantisi was a "political leader"? From IMRA (with thanks to Nicolei), A Chronology of Terrorist Attacks Carried out by Hamas Since September 2000. Mind you, Hamas doesn't deny that they did all this. On the contrary, they glory in it:

Since the beginning of the current conflict, the Hamas terrorist organization is responsible for carrying out 425 various terrorist attacks which resulted in the killing of 377 and wounding of 2,076 Israeli citizens and soldiers.

The Hamas organization has carried out 53 suicide attacks, killing 289
Israelis and injuring 1,649.

A Chronology of Terrorist Attacks Carried out by the Hamas Since September
2000:

April 17,2004 - A border policeman killed, an Israeli civilian injured,
and two border policemen injured, when a suicide bomber exploded himself at
the workers terminal crossing at the Erez industrial area.

March 14, 2004 - Two suicide bombers detonated an explosive belt and an
explosive bag at the Ashdod port. Ten Israelis were killed and 12 injured.

March 6, 2004 - Suicide bombers traveling in three vehicles drove into the
Erez crossing, and detonated two car bombs at Palestinian checkpoints, while
firing at the Israeli checkpoint. Two Palestinian policemen were killed.

Jan. 29, 2004 - A suicide bomber detonated a bag laden with explosives on a
No. 19 bus line on Aza Street in Jerusalem. Ten Israelis and one foreigner
were killed and 44 were injured.

Jan. 14, 2004 - A female suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt detonated
herself at the workers terminal in the Erez crossing, resulting in the death
of four Israelis and the injury of five.

Sept. 9, 2003 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the
entrance of the "Hillel Café" in Jerusalem. Seven Israelis were killed and
70 injured.

Sept. 9 , 2003 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at a bus
stop near the IDF "Tzrifin" Base. Nine IDF soldiers were killed and 10 were
injured.

Aug. 19, 2003 - A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt blew himself up
on a No. 2 bus line in Jerusalem, resulting in the death of 23 Israelis and
the injury of 115.

Aug. 12, 2003 - A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt blew himself up
near a bus stop at the entrance to Ariel. Two Israelis were killed and two
others injured.

June 11, 2003 - A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt blew himself up
on the No. 14 bus line in Jerusalem. Seventeen Israelis were killed and 104
were injured.

May 19, 2003 - A Hamas terrorist on a bicycle blew himself up next to a
military jeep in Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip. Three IDF soldiers were
wounded.

May 18, 2003 - A suicide bomber, with a bag filled with explosives blew
himself up near the A-Ram Junction in Jerusalem.

May 18, 2003 - A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt, detonated himself
on a bus at the French Hill Junction in Jerusalem. Seven Israelis were
killed and 20 were wounded.

May 17, 2003 - A suicide bomber dressed as a religious Jew, and wearing an
explosive belt, blew himself up in Hebron's Gross Square, killing two
Israeli civilians.

April 30, 2003 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt at the
entrance to the "Mike's Place" pub on the Tel Aviv boardwalk. An additional
suicide bomber hurled an explosive device nearby. Three Israeli civilians
were killed and 62 were wounded.

April 15, 2003 - Two Israeli civilians were killed and three were injured
when a terrorist armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifles, grenades and an
explosive belt penetrated the Karni crossing in the Gaza Strip fired and
hurled grenades. The terrorist was shot and killed.

March 5, 2003 - A suicide bomber blew himself up on the No. 37 bus line in
Haifa. Seventeen Israeli civilians were killed, and 42 were wounded.

Jan. 17, 2003 - A raft laden with explosives and guided by a suicide bomber,
exploded after Israeli Navy ships fired at the craft, four kilometers from
Dugit, in the northern Gaza Strip.

Nov. 21, 2002 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt on the No. 20
bus line in Jerusalem. Eleven Israelis were killed, and 50 were wounded.

Oct. 27, 2002 - A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt detonated
himself, despite being shot, at the gas station near the entrance to the
city of Ariel. Three Israeli civilians were killed, and 17 were wounded.

Oct. 11, 2002 - A suicide bomber is arrested at the entrance to a café
before he could detonate his explosive belt.

Oct. 10, 2002 - A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt detonated himself
near a bus stop at the Bar Ilan Bridge in Ramat Gan. An Israeli civilian was
killed, and 20 were wounded.

Sept. 19, 2002 - A suicide bomber detonated a bag laden with explosives on
the No. 4 bus line on Allenby Street in Tel Aviv, in which six Israelis were
killed and 66 were injured.

Aug. 4, 2002 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device strapped to
his body on a bus traveling near Mt. Meron in northern Israel. Nine Israeli
civilians were killed, and 48 wounded.

June 18, 2002 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden bag on a bus
traveling along Dov-Yosef Street in Jerusalem. Nineteen civilians were
killed, and 50 wounded.

May 7, 2002 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt and an additional
explosive device in a bag, at a club in Rishon Letzion. Sixteen Israeli
civilians were killed, and 51 were wounded.

March 31, 2002 - A suicide bomber detonated himself at the "Matzah"
restaurant in Haifa. Fifteen Israeli civilians were killed and 31 were
wounded.

March 27, 2002 - A suicide bomber blew himself up with an explosive belt in
the Park Hotel in Netanya. Thirty Israeli civilians were killed and 144 were
wounded.

March 9, 2002 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device strapped to
his body at the entrance of the "Moment Café" in Jerusalem. Eleven Israeli
civilians were killed and 58 were wounded.

March 7, 2002 - A suicide bomber attempted to detonate an explosive device
strapped to his back in the "Kafit Café" in Jerusalem. Nobody was injured.

Feb. 6, 2002 - A suicide bomber boarded a bus traveling between the city of
Maale Adumim and Jerusalem, and attempted to detonate an explosive belt.

Dec. 12, 2001 - Two suicide bombers detonate explosive devices next to
Israeli vehicles in the area of Ganei Tal in the Gaza Strip, while an
additional explosive device is detonated near another Israeli vehicle. Three
Israeli civilians were injured.

Dec. 2, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device concealed
under a coat on a bus near Yad L'banim in Haifa. Fifteen civilians were
killed and 35 wounded.

Dec. 1, 2001 - Two suicide bombers detonated explosive devices concealed in
bags on Ben Yehudah Street in Jerusalem. Immediately following, a car bomb
exploded nearby. Eleven civilians were killed and 170 wounded.

Nov. 26, 2001 - A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt detonated himself
at the Erez checkpoint in the Gaza Strip. Two policemen were wounded.

Nov. 8, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated himself in the area of Bakah Al
Sharkiah, during an attempt to arrest him while on his way to enter Israel.
Two IDF soldiers were wounded.

Sept. 9, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device strapped to
his body at the Nahariya train station. An Israeli civilian and two soldiers
were killed and 46 were wounded.

Sept. 4, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device strapped to
his body on Nevi'im Street in Jerusalem. Thirteen Israeli civilians were
wounded.

Aug. 9, 2001 - A suicide bomber blew himself up at the Sbarro restaurant in
Jerusalem. Fifteen Israelis were killed and 110 wounded.

Aug. 8, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb next to the Bekaot
checkpoint in the West Bank. An IDF soldier was injured.

July 9, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb near an IDF vehicle in
the area of Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip, resulting in the injury of an IDF
soldier.

June 22, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb near IDF forces in
Alei Sinai in the Gaza Strip. Two IDF soldiers were killed, and another
soldier was wounded.

June 1, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated himself at the entrance to the
"Dolphinarium" club in Tel Aviv. Twenty-two Israeli civilians were killed,
and 83 were wounded.

May 29, 2001 - Two terrorists approached an IDF position at the "Tofah"
Junction in the Gaza Strip. One terrorist detonated an explosive device
strapped to his body, and the other hurled grenades and opened fire. Two IDF
soldiers were wounded.

May 25, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated a container filled with 48 kg. of
explosives and three gas balloons at the Netzarim Junction in the Gaza
Strip.

May 18, 2003 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device strapped to
his body at the entrance to a mall in Netanya. Five Israeli civilians were
killed, and 86 were wounded.

April 29, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb near a bus carrying
children at the Dir Sharif Junction.

April 22, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated himself near a bus stop in the
city of Kfar Saba. An Israeli was killed and 45 were wounded.

March 28, 2001 - A suicide bomber blew himself up near a gas station at the
Neveh Yamin/Kfar Saba Junction. Two Israeli civilians were killed, and four
were wounded.

March 27, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive strapped to his
body, near an Israeli bus at the French Hill Junction in Jerusalem.
Twenty-one Israeli civilians were wounded.

March 4, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated a case laden with explosives on
the main street of Netanya. Three Israelis were killed and 53 injured.

March 1, 2001 - A suicide bomber blew himself up while in a taxi, near the
Me Ami Junction. An Israeli civilian was killed, and 10 were wounded.

Jan. 1, 2003 - A car bomb exploded in Netanya. Thirty-five Israeli civilians
were wounded.

Dec. 22, 2000 - A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt detonated himself
at the entrance to a restaurant in the Jordan Valley, resulting in the
injury of three IDF soldiers.

Dec. 15, 2000 - A suicide bomber attempted to detonate an explosive belt
near Israeli security forces close to the Erez crossing. The suicide bomber
also attempted to stab Israeli security personnel.

Nov. 6, 2000 - A booby-trapped raft exploded close to an Israeli Navy
"Dabur," near the Israel-Egypt border in Rafah. Hamas publicly claimed
responsibility for it.

The Center for Security Policy blows the whistle on the peace jihad.

Borrowing a page from North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap, Osama bin Laden is making the US and European "peace" movement an instrument of his strategy.

The al Qaeda leader's most recent tape, aired on Al Jazeera April 15, "appeared to mark a new strategy of trying to manipulate antiwar sentiment in Europe to bring pressure on governments that support the United States," according to the Washington Post.

Spanish voters' election of an anti-American socialist in the days following the March train bombings in Madrid encouraged al Qaeda. In his tape, the Post reports, "Bin Laden refers to demonstrations in Europe as 'positive interaction' and mentions 'opinion polls, which indicate that most European peoples want peace.'"

Bin Laden is openly trying to exploit politicial divisions in Europe and the US in the way that General Giap counted on the American "peace" movement to weaken the American people's resolve even though they were winning the war. Former North Vietnamese General Staff officer Bui Tin once said that the "peace" movement was "essential to our strategy."

The open support of Hanoi by Jane Fonda, former Attorney General Ramsey Clark (now head of International ANSWER, which coordinates the largest protests) and others "gave us confidence that we should hold on in the face of battlefield reverses," Bui Tin said. "Through dissent and protest," the US "lost the ability to mobilize a will to win."

Dennis Prager looks with a sane eye at the insanity that has overtaken so many in this WND column (thanks to Nicolei).

If you love goodness and hate evil, this is a tough time to stay sane.

Israel has killed Abdel Aziz Rantisi, the Hamas terror leader, and almost every nation in the world – and the nations' theoretical embodiment, the United Nations – have condemned Israel for doing so.

World leaders and the world organization have said almost nothing about Communist China's ongoing destruction of one of the world's oldest civilizations, Tibet. World leaders have said almost nothing about the Arab enslavement and genocide of non-Arab blacks in Sudan. But they convene world conferences to label Israel, one of the most humane and decent democracies on earth, a pariah.

In order to retain my sanity, I ask the reader's indulgence as I use this column to express personal thoughts.

I have contempt for "the world." I cherish and admire countless individuals, but I have contempt for "the world" and "world opinion." "The world" has never cared about evils inflicted on human beings. The communist genocides meant nothing to humanity. The Holocaust meant nothing. With almost no exception, the mass atrocities since World War II have likewise absorbed humanity less than the Olympics or the Miss World Contest.

I have contempt for the United Nations. It is one of the great obstacles to goodness and decency on this planet. Its moral record – outside of a few specialized agencies such as the World Health Organization – is almost entirely supportive of evil and condemnatory of good. It is dominated by the most morally backward governments in the world – those from the Arab and Muslim worlds, the communists during their heyday and African despots. It appointed Libya, a despotic, primitive state, to head its Human Rights Commission, whose members include China, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. Neither the United States nor Israel sits on the Commission.

I regard the European Union with similar revulsion. With little opposition, Europe murdered nearly every Jewish man, woman and child in its midst, and a half-century later provides cover for those in the Middle East who seek to do to the Middle East's Jews exactly what the Nazis did to the European Jews. For the European Union to condemn Israel's killing of a Hamas leader – when Hamas' avowed aim is another Jewish genocide – is so loathsome as to board the incredible. For Germany and France (who, unlike America, have almost never shed blood for the liberty of others) to do everything they can to undermine America's attempt to liberate Iraq is similarly repugnant.

As for the international news media and journalists, I regard most of them as aides to evil. This is not new. The 1932 Pulitzer Prize – American journalism's highest award – was given to Walter Duranty of the New York Times for reporting from the Soviet Union. In his reports, Duranty repeatedly denied Stalin's forced starvation of Ukrainians that led to the murder of more than 6 million of them. The same "newspaper of record" deliberately toned down reporting on the Nazi annihilation of Jews 10 years later so as not to appear "too Jewish."

The Soviet decimation of Afghanistan was so little reported in the international media – especially radio and television – that when I talked about its scope and horror on my radio show in the 1980s, listeners kept wondering if I was telling the truth – they had never heard anything about it.

In the last years of the Saddam Hussein regime, according to John Burns of the New York Times, major news reporters refused to write stories about Iraqi mass murder and atrocities lest the Saddam regime remove their press credentials. For most journalists, and their newspapers and television stations, it was better to lie for Saddam and have a bureau in Baghdad than to tell the truth but have no Baghdad bureau.

And not one international news organization calls Hamas or any of the other Palestinian terror organizations "terrorists."

I love learning and revere the title of "professor," but with few exceptions, universities, too, merit contempt. The vast majority of professors who take positions on social issues are moral fools. They teach millions of students that America and Israel are villains and that the enemies of those decent societies are merely misunderstood victims who are often justified in their hatred. And they loathe the American Judeo-Christian value system that has made the United States the world's land of opportunity and beacon of liberty.

In sum, I feel that I am living in a world that is morally sick. Good is called bad, and bad is called "militant," "victimized," "misunderstood" and "the product of hopelessness," but rarely bad. Only those who fight the bad are called bad.

I am kept sane by the knowledge that there are hundreds of millions of individuals who can still tell the difference between good and evil; by the knowledge that there was never a time that humanity was particularly decent; and by a strong belief that a good God governs the universe even though He allows evil many triumphs. And I believe this God will judge Osama bin Laden and Jacques Chirac appropriately.

The new leader, wounded in a September 10, 2003 Israeli strike (IslamOnline)

Hamas has revealed the identity of this week's leader of the terrorist group. From the WorldTribune:

GAZA CITY – Hamas has quietly appointed Mahmoud A-Zahar to head the movement in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas sources said Mahmoud A-Zahar, 53, was selected as the organization's new head in the Gaza Strip. A-Zahar succeeds Abdul Aziz Rantisi, who was assassinated in an Israeli missile strike on Saturday.

The appointment was decided by Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Masha'al, the sources said. Masha'al, based in Damascus, became the undisputed leader of Hamas over the past month in wake of the Israeli assassination of Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin.

Hamas, on orders from Masha'al, did not announce the appointment of A-Zahar. The sources said the appointment was kept secret to avoid another Israeli assassination attempt.

Like Rantisi, A-Zahar has been a physician and served as the personal doctor of Yassin. For the last month, A-Zaharin served as Rantisi's deputy.

A-Zahar, who survived an Israeli assassination attempt in September 2003, was described as being different from Rantisi. A-Zahar was termed a moderate in Hamas who has raised the prospect of a 10-year ceasefire with Israel.

Hamas sources said A-Zahar was one of the few political leaders left in the movement. Most of the political leadership, with access to funding abroad, was killed by Israel over the last two years. They said military leader Mohammed Deif has been recruited into the political leadership to groom him to take over the organization.

Hamas has pledged to avenge the Israeli assassination of Rantisi.

Overnight Monday, Hamas gunners fired eight Kassam-class short-range missiles and Al Bana anti-tank missiles toward Israeli targets in the Gaza Strip and inside Israel. At least one Israeli was injured.

"Hamas might have a crisis on its hands after losing its leaders," Hamas spokesman Ismail Haniyeh, expected to become A-Zahar's deputy, said. "But it will not be defeated."

According to CAMERA, Al-Zahar has been quoted in the New York Times praising the March 2002 Passover attacks against Israel:

“Forty were killed and 200 injured — in just two operations,”al-Zahar said with a smile.” (April 4, 2002.)

Al-Zahar once explained to the BBC that “all Israelis are militants ... [there are] no civilian Israelis.” (Oct 3, 2001)

Khaled Meshaal

"God will ask Arabs and Muslims what are they doing while the sons of Palestine are doing their duties," said Meshaal. This is essentially the same religious appeal that mujahedin make around the world.

AL-YARMOUK CAMP, Syria (Reuters) - Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal on Monday called for an Arab and Muslim alliance to defeat the United States and Israel.

"Our battle is with two sides, one of them is the strongest power in the world, the United States, and the second is the strongest power in the region (Israel)," he told hundreds of people at the al-Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus.

"That is the caliber of the battle. We will not be victorious unless the other side of the battle is Arab and Muslim. All of the Arabs and Muslims," he said at a memorial ceremony for Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, the group's Gaza leader assassinated by Israel on Saturday.

Meshaal, who survived a 1997 Israeli assassination attempt in Jordan, vowed Hamas would avenge the killing of Rantissi and the group's spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin on March 22.

The Hamas politburo chief vowed Palestinians would "turn Earth on their heads, God willing."

The Israelis live "in horror...ahead of our response, during it and after it," he said. "Do not worry, there will be a response and resistance will continue, God willing."

He urged the leaders of 22 Arab states and more than 30 non-Arab Muslim countries to "make an alliance, even a temporary one...to combine capabilities against the enemy."

"The problem is in us and not in the balance of power...if the (Islamic) nation would fight the same way (Palestinians and Iraqis) are fighting in Rafah, Jenin and Falluja then by God we will defeat both the United States and Israel," he said.

Arab and Muslim people "have a great duty and I do not want to tell them what to do... God will ask Arabs and Muslims what are they doing while the sons of Palestine are doing their duties," he said.

Hamas, which has vowed to destroy the Jewish state, envisages having Israel and the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip as part of a Palestinian state. It rejects the U.S.-sponsored "road map" peace plan which calls for establishing a Palestinian state next to Israel by 2005.

Meshaal told Reuters last Wednesday President Bush "fired a fatal bullet at the road map and at any other settlement plan" when he approved Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan for unilateral moves.

While endorsing Sharon's unilateral Gaza pullout plan, Bush also offered backing for Israel to retain parts of the occupied West Bank and a negation of any right of return of Palestinian refugees displaced in 1948 to their homes in what is now Israel.

Meshaal urged Arab leaders, who are expected to hold a summit meeting in Tunisia in May, "to declare the death of the so-called peace process."

Honduran and American soldiers

The dhimmi appeaser ranks are growing fast. Also, there is information below about how the sudden Spanish withdrawal endangers all Coalition troops in Iraq. From CNN, :

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Honduras has confirmed that it will join Spain in withdrawing its troops from Iraq "in the shortest possible time."

"I have told the coalition countries that the troops are going to return from Iraq," President Ricardo Maduro said in a speech on national television and radio Monday, Reuters reports.

"I have ordered ... the carrying out of the decision taken in the shortest possible time and under safe conditions for our troops."

Around 370 soldiers from Honduras, a strong U.S. ally in Central America, have been clearing mines and providing medical care in central Iraq. ...

In a phone call to Spain's new Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Bush "stressed the importance of carefully considering future actions to avoid giving false comfort to terrorists."

Bush also "urged that the Spanish withdrawal take place in a coordinated manner that does not put at risk other coalition forces," White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said.

One day after being sworn in as Prime Minister, Zapatero announced Sunday he will withdraw Spain's 1,300 troops from Iraq as soon as possible.

Jose Bono, the new Spanish defense minister, said Monday it would take less than six weeks to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq, but did not say when the withdrawal would begin.

He told reporters a planeload of Spanish troops who are specialists in the logistics of moving troops was headed for the region, and would bring some of the "tactical troops" back to Spain.

"It would be imprudent to talk of six to eight weeks because it's going to be less," The Associated Press reports Bono telling a news conference after the newly-elected government's first Cabinet meeting.

Normally, Spain has 1,300 troops in Iraq, but there are currently 1,430, because fresh troops had been brought in during recent weeks as part of a routine rotation.

Spain's sudden announcement has left other members of the multinational force scrambling to come up with a plan for keeping the peace in what has become one of the most tumultuous regions of the country.

Poland, which commands the 23-nation force of 9,500 troops in south-central Iraq, said it was taken by surprise by the announcement.

The Polish Defense Ministry said in a statement that commanders are now working on transferring "tasks from the Spaniards while maintaining the operational capability of the division and ensuring the safety of the soldiers."

The news also triggered criticism from some coalition members, such as Australia.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer worried that if other countries followed Madrid's example, "then Iraq would be left without security and Iraq would become a haven for terrorists."

Before Zapatero's Socialist Party upset victory following terrorist bombings in Madrid in March, Spain had been one of the staunchest U.S. allies in Iraq.

Despite the Spanish announcement, McClellan said: "The coalition in Iraq remains strong."

Earlier, coalition military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told reporters the withdrawal of Spanish troops from the holy city of Najaf in southern Iraq would not create a "security vacuum" in the region.

"They are a significant portion of what happens down in Multinational Division Central South, but numerically those are numbers that should be able to be replaced in a fairly short order."

The general said coalition military officials began considering their options when Zapatero ousted Aznar from his post as Spain's prime minister.

"Obviously, there are a number of courses of action that we'll take," Kimmitt said, "but there will not be a security vacuum in that area at any time."

Zapatero, meanwhile, can enjoy the fruits of appeasement: his new masters are pleased — for the moment:

But the news pleased Muqtada al-Sadr, the influential Shiite cleric who is hiding in the holy city of Najaf, where the Spanish troops are deployed,

"We have noticed that the coalition has pulled back," al-Sadr spokesman Sheikh Qais al-Khazaali said Monday.

"Muqtada al-Sadr has ordered the Mehdi Army to stop all attacks on the Spanish troops after they decided to pull out of Iraq."

That is, football jihad, for those of you in the rest of the world. It seems that those ten suspected Islamic terrorists who were just arrested in Britain had more in mind than blowing up a shopping center. They may have been planning to blow themselves up at the Manchester United-Liverpool match last weekend. From The Sun:

A SUICIDE bomb plot to kill thousands of soccer fans at Saturday’s Manchester United-Liverpool match was dramatically foiled yesterday.

Armed cops seized ten terror suspects in dawn raids.

Intelligence chiefs believe al-Qaeda fanatics planned to blow themselves up amid 67,000 unsuspecting supporters. A source said: “The target was Old Trafford.”

The Islamic fanatics planned to sit all around the ground to cause maximum carnage.

They had already bought the tickets for various positions in the stadium, cops revealed last night.

But armed cops foiled the horrific plot - which could have killed thousands watching Manchester United’s home game against Liverpool on Saturday - in a series of dawn raids yesterday.

Ten people were arrested after a massive surveillance operation involving British anti-terror units and American authorities.

A police source said: “The plot involved several individual bombers in separate parts of the stadium.

“If successful, any such attack would have caused absolute carnage. Thousands of people could have been killed.”

The planned attack would have had an instant global impact as the game is being televised worldwide.

More than 400 police swooped yesterday after a “major terrorist figure” under surveillance moved to Manchester. Police and intelligence organisations believe he came to direct the massacre, which would have been the first al-Qaeda-style outrage in Britain.

Nine men and one woman were arrested — all Iraqi Kurds or from North Africa.

Special Branch and the security services had been monitoring their movements and eavesdropping on mobile phone calls for months.

The operation also involved the US National Security Agency and GCHQ, the Government’s intelligence listening post.

Seven of the suspects were held in Manchester and one each in South Yorkshire, Staffordshire and the West Midlands.

It is believed all have links to extremist Islamic organisations. They were being quizzed at separate police stations around North West England last night.

But it was unclear whether any explosives or weapons had been recovered.

Bombers planning the Old Trafford massacre would have run the risk of being searched going into the ground before the 3pm kick-off.

Manchester United said away fans and those sitting in the higher tiers were frisked.

The identities and details of the suspects remained top secret last night — even to many of those involved in the operation.

One of the raids was at a flat above Dolphins takeaway in Upper Brook Street, near Manchester University. The area has a large ethnic community with many properties converted into bedsits.

Irfaan Arif, who lives in a nearby flat, said: “I was woken at 4am, looked out of the window and saw a lot of armed police. There was loads of banging and shouting.”

The three-storey Dolphins building was cordoned off along with next-door properties housing AK Computers and Funky Fones.

Forensic experts in protective clothing moved in after the initial search teams.

A police spokesman confirmed: “A number of search warrants were executed under the Terrorism Act 2000. Ten people have been arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism.

“We appreciate the public interest in this but are unable to provide more specific details at this stage.”

Greater Manchester’s Assistant Chief Constable Dave Whatton said: “It was an anti-terrorism operation that has been going on for some time and it will continue in the future.

“This is the first action that the public have become aware of as it is overt. It is set against the background of an increased threat level across the country.

“The addresses raided will continue to be searched for some time. It is a complex inquiry.”

And he appealed: “Because of the national heightened threat levels we would still ask people to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to police.”

Sheikh Mohammed bal Qadri, deputy director of a mosque in Upper Brook Street, said he did not believe any of his members were among those being held.

He added: “Since September 11 we have been very vigilant, as mosques should be.

“If I see a person who is new, I ask him why he is here and what he is doing and ask these kind of questions.

“We are against these evil acts. In the religion of Islam we have tolerance.” The raids follow revelations last week that police in Manchester had raised their terror alert level.

More than 50 officers were moved from regular duties to work on a task force committed to combating terrorism.

Police have also conducted detailed surveys of land around Manchester Airport to identify sites which could be used to launch missiles attacks on aircraft.

Manchester Central MP Tony Lloyd said yesterday: “Clearly this is one of the most difficult levels of policing. But when police get the information to act successfully the whole of the British public will applaud their actions.”

Cordoba Cathedral: to be a mosque again?

An interesting contrast to the desecration of the cathedral in Kosovo comes from the Guardian, with thanks to Elisot, who points out what this article doesn't mention: that the Cordoba mosque was built on top of a destroyed Christian church. What is also noteworthy about this initiative is the absolute lack of reciprocity from the Islamic world, where numerous churches have been converted to mosques — or even of any apparent sense that any reciprocity is even called for.

Muslims across Spain are lobbying the Roman Catholic church in the southern city of Córdoba to make a symbolic gesture of reconciliation between faiths by allowing them to pray in the city's cathedral.

Córdoba's renaissance cathedral sits in the centre of an ancient mosque complex, and local Muslims want to be allowed to pray there again. They have appealed to the Vatican to intercede on their behalf.

Zakarias Maza, the director of the Taqwa mosque in neighbouring Granada, said yesterday: "We hope the Vatican will give a signal that it has a vision of openness and dialogue.

"It would be good if there were a gesture of tolerance on their part.

"Córdoba has been a symbol of the union of three cultures for centuries. Even now, Jews and Muslims live together with Christians in the neighbourhood around the mosque."

But he added: "The church council doesn't seem to be open to dialogue."

The Muslim community in the south of Spain is growing as a result of immigration from north Africa, and due to Spaniards converting. Córdoba now has some 500 Muslims, too manyfor the city's existing mosque.

There was widespread rejoicing among Muslims last year when a new and prominent mosque was opened in Granada after many years of negotiations, but church leaders in Córdoba appear reluctant to acknowledge the way Spanish society is evolving.

A spokesman for the local bishop told El Mundo that the proposal faced a lot of obstacles and it would be many years before it came to anything.

The proposals have also provoked anger in some parts of Spain's Catholic community.

"Will Christians be able to pray in the mosques of Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Iran or Kuwait?" demanded one contributor to a Catholic website. "Muslims should practise what they preach!"

The Muslim community is going out of its way to portray the proposals as a union, and not a clash of faiths. "In no way is this request about reclaiming our rights - far less any kind of reconquest," Isabel Romero, a member of the Islamic Council of Spain, told a local newspaper.

"Instead, we want to give our support to the universal character of this building."

Nowadays, Córdoba is a small provincial capital in one of the poorer regions in the Spanish interior, but 1,000 years ago it was one of the great cities of the world.

As the capital of Moorish Spain, Córdoba became one of Islam's holiest places, and a centre of Islamic art and scholarship to rival Baghdad.

The original mosque was built in the eighth century, following the conquest.

It was expanded by successive generations of rulers until the city was taken by the Christians again in the 13th century.

With its hundreds of marble columns and distinctive red-and-white brickwork, the mosque is considered one of Moorish Spain's greatest legacies, despite the 16th-century addition of the cathedral in its centre.

It stands at the heart of a Unesco world heritage site.

The addition of the cathedral was only the most recent change of use for a site that has seen the ebb and flow of the world's great religions.

The Visigoths had their own cathedral on the site before they were defeated by the Moors. Before that, a temple to the Roman god Janus had stood there.

For Muslims, the most important part of the mosque is the mihrab, the recess in the south-eastern wall which indicates the direction of Mecca for prayer.

In the Córdoba mosque, the mihrab is outside the cathedral itself, so in theory it would be possible for Muslims to pray without affecting ceremonies in the cathedral.

The Islamic Council has lodged a formal request with the Vatican for Muslims to be allowed to pray in the mosque. "The request was very well received," Mansur Escudero, secretary of the Islamic council, told El Mundo.

The plan also has support from local politicians. Antonio Hurtado, a spokesman for the local Socialists, told El Mundo: "We hope to see Córdoba become a place for the meeting of faiths."

The city's United Left (IU) mayor, Rosa Aguilar, is also believed to be in favour of the move, although she has said that now is not the time for the council to debate the issue.

"There has been a series of meetings between the IU and the Islamic Council to open up a dialogue between religions," her deputy, Andrès Ocaòa, told Europa Press. "In today's world, we have to make every effort to maximise our knowledge of different cultures to help us live together better."

Church of Christ the Savior surrounded by Roma settlement and garbage dump in the very center of Pristina

Like innumerable churches before it that fell prey to the mujahedin, Christ the Savior Cathedral has been desecrated. It is being used as a latrine. From ERP KIM Info-Service, the official Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska and Prizren, with thanks to Susan. There are more photographs at the link.

The Information Service of the Diocese of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija has managed to obtain photographs recording the unprecedented scene in the very center of Pristina. The still uncompleted Orthodox cathedral of Christ the Savior with its consecrated foundations and cross, where Holy Liturgy was periodically served before the war while it was still under construction, has been turned into a public toilet, while the property around the church has become the squatting ground of Roma emigrants from the Republic of Albania who are, strangely enough, tolerated by the Kosovo Albanians, unlike Kosovo Roma who are persecuted and expelled.

After last month's pogrom during which 35 Orthodox churches were destroyed and whose ashes in several cases stink of human feces and urine, this yet another example of barbaric behavior in the very center of Kosovo's capital. To make matters even worse, this horrific spectacle of the humiliation of a single church and Christianity in general is located in immediate proximity and can be seen from the University Library and Pristina University. Both these institutions were usurped in 199 by the Albanians who summarily expelled all Serb professors and students. What is more, university representatives have been complaining for years to Pristna municipality authorities about the existence of the sole remaining Serbian Orthodox church in the area and asking that it be torn down. The advocates of an ethnically pure, Muslim Kosovo are especially infuriated by the presence of the golden overlay cross which can still be seen from some parts of the city and serves as a sad reminder that Orthodox Christians were once part of the city's population.

The church of Christ the Savior was to have been completed in 1999; however, the eruption of war interrupted further works. The church remains as the unfulfilled wish of the pre-war population of 40,000 Serbs in Pristina to build a new church besides the already existing church of St. Nicholas, which was destroyed during last month's pogrom. Today there are no remaining Serbs in Pristina.

At the end of December 2003 the municipality of Pristina passed a decision to appropriate the land on which the church was built but this decision was overridden by UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri. In his letter to the UNMIK chief at that time, Bishop Artemije strongly urged the protection of church property and that the church itself be placed under KFOR protection. Nothing of the kind was done; instead, Albanian municipal officials have tolerated a Roma settlement of squatters and a garbage dump immediately next to the church and the transformation of the church into a public toilet.

KFOR has not only failed to close the church of Christ the Savior and surround it with barbed wire but it has been left completely open; consequently, there is a great danger it will be dynamited one day as well, which is the ultimate aim of the Albanians who wish to wipe out the last traces of the presence of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Serb people in this city, originally founded by the Serbian Holy King Milutin in the 14th century.

"These horrific scenes of extreme lack of culture and savagery in the center of Pristina where, in addition to the Albanians, several thousand foreigners are living who can see the humiliated church for themselves, are a stain not only on the Pristina municipal administration and Pristna University but also on the UN mission which five years ago undertook to preserve a multiethnic society in Kosovo and Metohija," said Bishop Artemije. In a statement for the ERP KIM Info Service, the Bishop added: "In addition to all the horrors and the destruction and desecration of over 140 churches since the arrival of the UN mission in this region, the shocking spectacles from the church of Christ the Savior, which has been turned into a public toilet, confirm that the eradication of Christianity and all Christian civilizational values in this region is being carried out with the silent, and frequently the active, acquiescence and participation of Albanian provisional institutions and their sponsors in the UN mission."

This is yet another indicator of the complete collapse of the UN Mission in Kosovo and Metohija which has lost control of the situation. The Diocese of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija appeals for the implementation of urgent measures of stabilization to moderate the situation in the Province, which is rapidly being transformed into a haven for terrorists and a jamahyria in which there is no future or survival for anything bearing the sign of the Cross or any other sign of European civilization.

A very strange incident to greet Spain's new Prime Minister. From the BBC, with thanks to Susan:

Vandals have desecrated the grave of a Spanish policeman who was killed when a group of Madrid bomb suspects blew themselves up. A Spanish radio station said his coffin was dragged from its tomb, doused with fuel and set on fire.

Special agent Francisco Javier Torronteras died when seven suspected Islamic militants set off explosives as police moved in on their apartment.

Police said no motive for the desecration was immediately apparent.

Cadena SER radio station said the coffin was pulled from the tomb late on Sunday night, and dragged about 500 metres before being burned.

Tests on body

National Police spokesman Antonio Nevado confirmed the tomb had been desecrated, but gave no further details.

Security was stepped up around the cemetery at Carabanchel in southern Madrid following the attack.

Cadena SER said officers took the body to Madrid's Forensic Institute for tests.

Mr Torronteras, 41, was part of a special operations unit which was closing in on a flat in the Leganes district of Madrid on 3 April when those inside apparently deliberately set off explosives.

Police found the bodies of seven people they suspect may have been linked to the Madrid train bombings, which killed 192 people on 11 March.

One of the dead was the suspected ringleader of the bombing plot, Serhane ben Abdelmajid Fakhet.

Eighteen people have been provisionally charged over their alleged role in the attacks.

The Spanish government has said the cell behind the bombs has been "neutralised", but admits that other suspects may still be at large.

Palestinians rallying in Damascus (AP)

American officials want Syria to stop the mujahedin from entering Iraq.

WASHINGTON (AP) - After new violence that flared near the Iraqi border with Syria left five Marines dead, the U.S. military's top general urged Damascus to do more to cut the flow of foreign fighters entering Iraq.

The warning Sunday from Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, came as the U.S. effort in Iraq suffered a setback when the new Spanish prime minister, fulfilling a campaign pledge, said he would withdraw the 1,300-member Spanish military contingent as soon as possible. ...

The battle Saturday on the Syrian-Iraqi border, in an area that had seen little fighting previously, left at least 25 Iraqis dead. Myers said the stability not only of Syria and Iraq, but also of the entire region is at stake.

"We know that the pathway into Iraq for many foreign fighters is through Syria. It's a fact. We know it. The Syrians know it," Myers told CNN's "Late Edition."

"The Syrians need to take this situation very seriously. They need to help us stop that infiltration of foreign fighters. It doesn't do their government any good."

Syria has rejected claims it is allowing militants into Iraq. It says it is responsible for official crossing points between it and Iraq but acknowledges it does not have full control over the long, porous border.

Police on guard outside the house (Reuters)

More terror arrests in Britain.

LONDON (Reuters) - British police arrested 10 people suspected of terrorism in raids in the northern English city of Manchester Monday. A police spokeswoman could not confirm reports that those arrested were linked to Islamic groups who may have been targeting a shopping center in the city.

"Ten people in total have been arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism," a police statement said.

"We appreciate the public interest in this but are unable to provide more details at this stage."

Local media said the arrests were made during a raid on a property above a kebab restaurant near the city center.

The Manchester raids came just three weeks after police arrested eight men in London and southeastern England and seized a cache of explosives on March 30 in Britain's biggest anti-terror operation since the September 11 attacks of 2001.

Britain, Washington's closest ally in the "war on terror" and in toppling Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, has long feared it could be a prime target for Islamic extremists.

With Europe already on a high state of alert after the Madrid train bombings in March, London's police chief has repeatedly said he believes an attack is inevitable.

A radical Muslim cleric said in a weekend interview with a Portuguese magazine that several Islamic militant groups in London were preparing attacks in Britain.

"It's inevitable. Because several (attacks) are being prepared by several groups," Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad told Lisbon's Publica magazine from London, where he is based.

One "very well organized" group in London calling itself al Qaeda Europe "has a great appeal for young Muslims," he said. "I know that they are ready to launch a big operation."

From WND:

A plot by terrorists to use dirty bombs laced with the deadly chemical osmium tetroxide to attack U.S. targets including the Sears Tower in Chicago was uncovered by British intelligence and law enforcement authorities, according to a report in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

British police and military bomb experts passed on information to their U.S. counterparts.

Traces of the chemical, as well as manuals for its use, were discovered by the British intelligence community during raids following the March Madrid attack.

A number of intelligence and security agencies include osmium tetroxide in their list of dangerous materials. It can be purchased in a gel-like form in small quantities. It is mainly used for laboratory experiments. The gel is highly toxic and can be developed into a coating element for bomb parts, or into an aerosol.

Though it is not clear from the sources that al-Qaida was behind the plot, Osama bin Laden's network had previously eyed the Sears Tower as a target, following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The terrorist group's operations chief, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, told interrogators that al-Qaida's follow-up attacks in the Midwest and West Coast were thwarted by the intensity of the U.S. response to the strikes on the World Trade Center in New York City and on the Pentagon.

Mohammed said he and his nephew, Ramzi Yousuf, who was behind the first World Trade Center bombing a decade ago, had identified the targets through almanacs of American buildings.

"We were looking for symbols of economic might," he told interrogators.

Following 9-11, about $6.5 million was invested to improve the building's security, including more digital cameras, tightly controlled access requiring a security-approved card to get through turnstiles, additional security officers and improved communications with government and outside agencies.

Osmium tetroxide can attack soft human tissue and can cause blindness for anyone who breathes its fumes. It can also cause an agonizing death.

A plan to launch a chemical attack in Britain had also been prevented.

Trying again?

From ABCNews, with thanks to "Allah":

W A S H I N G T O N, April 18-- U.S. intelligence officials have uncovered evidence of a potential terrorist attack, ABCNEWS has learned.

Like many such tips, it is vague, but the government is disturbed enough that it held a rare conference call with local police to warn them.

The intelligence, received a week ago but secret until now, is from known Muslim extremists who suggested an attack -- possibly in the U.S. -- was imminent, and that operatives were already "in place," sources tell ABCNEWS.

"I think it's very clear from what we're seeing right now is that the bad guys, the al Qaeda, is getting very creative, that they are active and that they are going to continue to try and hit us," said Jerry Hauer, a former emergency management official and now an ABCNEWS consultant.

On the Lookout

The primary area of concern is so-called soft targets. Police were told to be on the lookout for surveillance of landmarks, and for suspicious items left in malls, subway stations or other large gatherings.

On Friday, April 9, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security held a rare secure conference call with police in dozens of major cities.

By Saturday, April 10, a classified bulletin was sent out warning that groups affiliated with al Qaeda might be planning attacks in the U.S. on the scale seen in Madrid last month.

"I think what they're doing here is acting what they feel is responsibly," said Jack Cloonan, a former FBI agent and now and ABCNEWS consultant. They want to "get the information out, [saying] 'We don't want to be criticized for holding onto stuff, even if it's non-specific.' You have to get it out."

Chasing Down Leads

Intelligence agencies from around the world are chasing down leads to verify the threat.

Sources tell ABCNEWS the information is not specific enough to raise the national threat level from yellow to orange. In addition, officials have not seen a huge surge in intelligence information.

However, officials were concerned enough by who was giving the information that they passed it to local police.

Sami Omar Al-Hussayen in court with his lawyer

From AP (with thanks to Nicolei), an intriguing look at the Sami Omar Al-Hussayen case:

"Even if the jury finds him not guilty," said Rand Lewis of the Martin School of International Affairs at the University of Idaho, "the Feds are going to deport him. And so they have achieved their goal, which is to show that they've strenuously fought terrorism within the United States. It's a face-saving case."

Al-Hussayen's wife and three young sons have already returned to Riyadh rather than fight federal attempts to deport him.

His lawyers and allies claim the government has it all wrong. The 34-year-old doctoral student is a leader of the Muslim community on the University of Idaho campus, a devoted husband and father and an opponent of terrorism, they say. He may be deeply concerned about the oppression of Muslims around the world, but only as any other deeply religious Muslim man would be.

The government, however, claims that its 2 1/2 year investigation shows that Al-Hussayen is the money man and computer brains behind an Internet network that is financing and recruiting terrorists worldwide. Prosecutors claim he has gone beyond mainstream Islam and its struggle against evil to radical Islam and extreme jihad, or terrorism.

Still, Al-Hussayen appears upbeat during the long hours of testimony each day.

"I think he's real confident in his innocence and glad to get the trial going after 14 months," said defense attorney Scott McKay, as the first week of the anticipated six-week trial drew to a close last Thursday. Testimony resumes Monday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Lindquist called Al-Hussayen a money conduit for terrorism who used his computer expertise to develop or manage a score of Web sites that included information about financing and participating in terrorist activity.

"The evidence will show his dual persona -- a face to the public and his private face, his private face of extreme jihad," she said.

Lead defense attorney David Nevin maintains the public face is all Al-Hussayen has.

"He's not an angry fundamentalist bent on murder, maiming and kidnapping," Nevin said. "He's respected in the community. He raised his kids as Americans. His youngest son is a U.S. citizen by virtue of being born here."

As president of the Muslim Student Association on the Moscow campus, Al-Hussayen issued a public letter to the community in September 2001 condemning the terrorist attacks on the East Coast. He marched in a peace rally, donated blood and worked to educate locals about Islam.

Al-Hussayen's father is the retired education minister for the Saudi government. Three of his brothers are medical doctors, with one in Canada. His two sisters are college educated, one in computer science like himself. His younger brother is attending the University.

Born and raised in Riyadh, Al-Hussayen had the opportunity to travel the world as a boy with his father, who oversees Saudi students studying in other countries.

Al-Hussayen received his undergraduate degree from King Saud University in Riyadh in the early 1990s and worked at the College of Science and Technology of King Abdul Aziz University before beginning his studies in the United States.

He got his masters degree at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., where he studied from 1994 to 1996, then began his doctoral work at Southern Methodist University in Dallas in 1997. He transferred to the University of Idaho for its computer science program that is rapidly building an international reputation.

Throughout his academic career, Al-Hussayen maintained near-perfect, if not perfect, grades, Nevin said.

Yet at the same time, Nevin said, Al-Hussayen was a fervent Muslim who did what he could to foster religious outreach programs and support Muslims fighting oppression, especially those in Chechnya and in the Middle East.

"Sami cares deeply about what's going on in Chechnya and Palestine," Nevin said.

Lindquist maintains that Al-Hussayen was so concerned that he ran Web sites that supported the militant Palestinian organization Hamas and funneled money to the Islamic Assembly of North America.

"With his expertise and expert advice, he created for them the vehicle for the recruiting and funding of terrorists," Lindquist said.

But Nevin maintained that what Al-Hussayen wanted was not more terrorism but "our prayers and our attention.

"He's not a pacifist," Nevin admitted. "He thinks the Chechens and Palestinians should continue to fight. But he did not want terrorism."

Given the nature of the leadership in both places, that, Mr. Nevin, is an exceedingly fine distinction.

Syed Salahuddin

No peace in Kashmir. From HiPakistan:

MUZAFFARABAD, April 18: The Muttahida Jihad Council on Sunday has ruled out a ceasefire with Indian troops in the occupied Kashmir and threatened to continue "effective actions until achieving freedom'. The council in a statement issued here, reiterated its resolve in this regard at a meeting held here with Syed Salahuddin in the chair.

The meeting expressed satisfaction over the "progress of liberation movement on military, political and diplomatic fronts" and paid tribute to the freedom fighters and Kashmiri people for their "bravery, patience, perseverance and will for emancipation".

It noted that some people were "pointlessly circumambulating the Delhi Darbar by ignoring sacrifices rendered by 500,000 people, of molestation of thousands of ... women and arson and loot of hundreds of towns."

"We call upon them to ... re-join the liberation movement and we make it clear that we will never allow anyone to betray the martyrs' blood," it declared. Though the statement did no mention any names, but the MJC statement seemed to be referring to Maulana Abbas Ansari-led faction of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference, which entered into dialogue with India earlier this year.

Though the moderate faction said earlier this month that it would ask people to stay away from the parliamentary polls yet mujahideen outfits appeared to be skeptical about their announcement.

"We also appeal the freedom loving people, government servants and transporters in the (Indian) occupied Kashmir not to participate in or extend any sort of cooperation to the so-called polls," the MJC said, reiterating its earlier appeal to the people as well as the freedom fighters' commitment to lend unconditional support to the anti poll campaigners.

"Those taking part in the farcical process would be taken as blatant traitors of the oppressed Kashmiri nation...," the MJC said. The statement urged mujahideen released from various prisons in the occupied Kashmir and India not to "spoil their sacrifices by joining the groups which operate under the dictates of Indian agencies and get support from them," alluding to an outfit headed by a former Hizbul Mujahideen commander, which had been expelled for activities that were termed "against the policies and the interest of the freedom movement."

"Instead, they should affiliate themselves with the movement under the patronage of the sincere leadership if they want to play any role in the freedom struggle."

(CNN)

Dershowitz on the dhimmitude that the Palestinians desire to impose on the Jews, and related matters. From Israel Insider, with thanks to Nicolei:

Recently, a young student at the Hebrew University was gunned down while jogging through a mixed neighborhood of Jews and Arabs in north Jerusalem. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, joyously claimed credit for the killing yet another innocent Jew.

When it was later learned that the jogger was a Jerusalem Arab and not a Jew, al-Aqsa quickly apologized to the family, calling it an accident.

But the killing of the innocent young jogger was not an accident; the murderer had deliberately taken aim at his head and midsection, intending to end his life. The only thing accidental about the murder was the religion of the victim. Al-Aqsa had sent the assassin to murder a Jew - any Jew, so long as he was a Jew.

This is racism, pure and simple. And despite efforts by supporters of Palestinian terrorism to justify the murder of innocent civilians as national liberation or by any other euphemism, this case proves that the Palestinian terrorists' targeting of Jews and only Jews - as many as possible - is little different in intent from other forms of lethal or exterminatory anti-Jewish murders. (I don't use the term anti-Semitic only because some Arabs claim that because they too are Semites, they can't be anti-Semitic.)

Obviously the numbers are different, because Israel is capable of defending its Jewish citizens, but if it were not, the goal of Palestinian terrorist groups would not be very different from that of previous groups intent on murdering as many Jews as possible.

The Web sites of various Palestinian terrorist groups proclaim - usually only in English and almost never in Arabic - that they have no quarrel with the Jews, only with the Zionists. Yet they target every Jew, regardless of his or her individual political views, and they apologize when they accidentally kill a non-Jew, regardless of his political views. The racist acts of these terrorist groups speak louder than their sanitized English-only anti-Zionist Web sites.

Yet the international community - including the UN, the Vatican, and the European Union - claims to see no difference between Palestinian terrorists who target random Jewish civilians and the Israel Defense Forces that target specific mass murderers, such as Ahmed Yassin. It's all part of a "cycle of violence" in which both sides are morally equivalent, according to the double standard consistently applied against Israel by people who should know better.

The preventive killing of the mass murderer Sheikh Yassin received much more negative attention from the moral leaders of these organizations than did the racist attack that accidentally killed the young Arab. This failure - or refusal - to distinguish murder based on religious affiliation from preventive self-defense based on past and future murderous acts is the height of immorality. It would be as if the soldiers who killed Auschwitz guards in the process of liberating the inmates were deemed morally equivalent to the Auschwitz murderers.

It should not be surprising that Palestinian terrorists employ racist criteria in selecting their civilian targets, since the entire goal of Palestinian terrorism is racist to its core. It seeks to deny the Jewish people the right to self-determination. Under their version of Islamic law, it is impermissible for Jews to govern any land that was once under Muslim control, and it is equally impermissible for a Jewish majority to govern a Muslim minority, namely Israeli Arabs.

The time has come for the international community to listen to what Palestinian terrorists say to their own people: that this is a racist struggle to ethnically cleanse all of Palestine, which includes Israel, of all Jews (except, they say, those Jews who lived there before 1917 and are willing to remain as a minority in a Muslim land).

The civilian targets are selected on a racist basis - all Jews are fair game, and if a non-Jew is killed, that is an unfortunate accident.

The terrorist killing of the young Jerusalem Arab student, coupled with the apology when it was learned he was not Jewish, was not only a tragedy for his family (which lost another member to a terrorist attack years earlier), but it is also a revealing episode in the history of Palestinian terrorism. All who hate racism should condemn the selective morality under which a deliberate Jewish civilian death is applauded and a deliberate Arab civilian death is regretted.

All deliberate targeting of non-combatants must be equally condemned. And the deliberate targeting of civilians based on their religion is to be especially condemned.

An "increase in piracy in S-E Asian waters may be sign of militant groups practising to hijack ships to be used as weapons." And "the US Department of Energy has calculated that if the Malacca and Singapore Strait were closed, nearly half the world's fleet would have to sail further, generating a substantial rise in the requirement for vessel capacity." From Straits Times, with thanks to Nicolei:

ARMED with M-16 rifles and grenade launchers, uniformed pirates attacked a tugboat towing a barge in the Sulu sea off the southern Philippines last Sunday.

The group of about 10 armed pirates boarded and ransacked the tug, destroying radio equipment.

They then fled in a speedboat with stolen gear and the captain, an engineer and a crane operator as hostages.

Their whereabouts are not known, and the Philippine and Malaysian authorities have not received any ransom demands.

Closer to Singapore, a tanker came under attack in the Malacca Strait on April 8. Pirates armed with guns and knives boarded and robbed the vessel. They fled after damaging some equipment.

A sharp rise in such incidents in South-east Asian waters is leading maritime security watchers to believe that militant groups may be rehearsing for a terrorist strike at sea.

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reports that the number of such incidents in the Malacca Strait alone shot up from 16 in 2002 to 28 in 2003.

Almost all were in Indonesian waters and the number of coordinated attacks, involving several boats, have also increased, it said.

'It's possible these could be rehearsals,' Singapore-based terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna told The Straits Times.

'The maritime domain is the least policed environment and terrorist groups here have shown an interest,' he said.

London-based maritime observer James Copinger-Symes, who was in Singapore last month, was less circumspect.

The attacks are getting more violent, more frequent and more organised, he said.

Oil and chemical tankers are increasingly being targeted and these incidents suggest 'terrorist targeting and build-up', he said.

London-based Aegis Defence Services highlighted this in its study last year. In one incident last March, it said that about 10 pirates boarded the oil tanker Dewi Madrim off the coast of Sumatra.

Pirates took the helm and steered the vessel, altering speed for an hour before fleeing with the captain and first officer, in what seemed a training exercise to learn to steer a ship.

Maritime observers are concerned that vessels passing through the busy Malacca Strait could be targeted.

That groups have the capability to strike is known. Most recently, an arrested Abu Sayyaf member told the Philippine authorities that he had played a role in the bomb that exploded on a ferry in Manila Bay in late February.

The Abu Sayyaf is a kidnap gang based in the Mindanao islands.

Before that, Singapore foiled at least one maritime attack with the arrest of Jemaah Islamiah members in December 2001.

The arrest revealed that the JI's plans to attack US warships with explosive-laden small boats manned by foreign suicide bombers were fairly well advanced - though not activated.

The Al-Qaeda threat is not remote, experts say. Investigations have shown that the attack on the USS Cole by Al-Qaeda in 2000 was possibly planned in Malaysia, they point out.

Inadequate regulation, corruption and the secretive nature of operations - with the names of real owners of vessels being often concealed - makes it easy for terrorist groups to infiltrate and mount attacks, maritime specialist Michael Richardson said.

There is considerable scope for terrorists to pose as crew, take over a ship and use it as a weapon of attack, he said in his recent 107-page study - Terrorism: The Maritime Dimension.

Yet many believe 'flushing' is not an option. At best a short-term, costly affair, it could instigate several hundred more jihadis, they point out.

According to Mr Dominic Armstrong, the head of research and intelligence at Aegis, a better option would be 'hardening of targets'.

More naval patrols, more convoy services to escort vessels to shore, more pressure on owners to hold basic anti-piracy drills and more bilateral pacts for monitoring the seas are options, he said.

Abu Hamza

The British Sun tabloid (thanks to Robin) has run a series of pictures from inside the radical Muslim imam's Finsbury Park Mosque -- from which he has been expelled. A few highlights from the accompanying story:

We found details of Hamza's preaching that clearly prove his support for terrorism, al-Qaeda and its leader Osama Bin Laden.

Amid the mess, walls were scrawled with Arabic graffiti, doors ripped off their hinges and sinks and lavatories smashed. ...

Evidence that Hamza and his followers were making thousands of pounds from daily collections was also unearthed by The Sun.

Hundreds of empty plastic bank cash bags were strewn over the building -- to deal with money from tins used to raise funds for militant groups in Afghanistan.

The source added: "Hamza and his cronies collected a fortune. None of the money went back into the mosque."

The sermons scattered around revealed the one-eyed fanatic's hatred for the country that has given him sanctuary.

In one, called Massacres Until We Change, he calls for more terrorist atrocities like September 11.

Other titles include Blessed Hijacking, Hijacking Indian Planes and America Begs For Condemnation: World Trade Series.

The insider said: "He used to talk like he ran the world. It was obvious he hated the West and gave his full support to terrorism."

Work has begun on renovating the mosque in a bid to re-open it -- and estimates are as high as £200,000.

Hamza -- whose family receives £1,000 a week in state handouts -- now preaches his hate in the street outside.

He split from mosque trustees following the police raid, which unearthed a stun gun and a blank-firing replica.

But he faces deportation to the Yemen, where he is wanted on terrorist charges.

From Reuters, with thanks to Nicolei:

BANGKOK: An unidentified gunman shot dead a railway worker in troubled southern Thailand yesterday, forcing a halt in rail service and stranding hundreds of passengers near the Malaysian border, a railway official said.

The 50-year-old track controller was killed by a gunman riding on the back of a motorcycle with an accomplice in the Sungai Padee district near the border with Malaysia, said the official.

It was the third attack on state rail employees in a month after two workers were wounded in earlier incidents.

The largely Muslim region has seen a spate of violence since January with government employees and police the prime targets of suspected separatists. More than 60 people have been killed.

"Security has deteriorated. We don't know who will try to attack us. This is really bad," the railway official at Haadyai Station, the biggest rail terminal in southern Thailand, said by telephone.

About 11 trains scheduled to leave Haadyai for Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces were halted until further notice, said the official.

Hundreds of stranded passengers have been offered bus transport to their destinations, he said.

Unionised railway workers are seeking assurances from the authorities that they would be given adequate security.

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

From The Star, with thanks to Nicolei, who notes that "the total destruction of the state of Israel" and the imposition of dhimmitude upon Israelis "are Hamas's objectives, as stated clearly in their charter." He adds that when Malaysia's Muslim leaders condemn the killing of Hamas leaders but say nothing about the Hamas suicide bombings that have killed innocent civilians, they show the true nature of the supposedly "moderate" Islam of Malaysia.

ALOR STAR: The assassination of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantissi will worsen the deteriorating situation in the Middle East, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.

He said violence and enmity in the region were escalating and the latest incident would only make the situation worse.

He said he voiced his concerns over the situation in Palestine in letters to leaders of the US, Britain, France, Russia and China as well as United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan.

"I do not intend to write another letter. The letter which I had sent is enough as I had clearly stated my views on the bad situation in Palestine, which might become worse," Abdullah said after meeting Kedah Barisan leaders here.

He was commenting on the assassination of Rantissi by Israel on Saturday.

Rantissi was killed when an Israeli helicopter fired rockets at his car in Gaza City.

The incident took place less than a month after the killing of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in a similar attack.

Abdullah said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar would prepare for discussions on the situation in Iraq and the overall situation in the Middle East at the next OIC meeting.

Are terrorist groups sending young men to med school so that they can serve as medics for the mujahedin? From the Sydney Morning Herald, with thanks to Nicolei:

Izhar ul-Haque, the medical student arrested in Sydney last week, may have been studying to become part of a medical unit to support terrorist fighters in the field, according to a terrorism expert in Pakistan.

Amir Rana, an author and journalist, told the Herald that al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) had long held ambitions to establish their own medical field units to care for injured fighters and had been sending students abroad.

Ul-Haque allegedly underwent a training course in Pakistan last year but decided to return to Sydney to continue his medical studies after being told he would better serve his cause as a doctor, not a martyr, Central Local Court was told last week.

LET began with the goal of liberating Kashmir but it has strong links with al-Qaeda and many of its followers fought in Afghanistan. The detained Australian David Hicks allegedly trained in one of these camps, as did the Frenchman Willie Brigitte.

Ul-Haque's arrest on Thursday stemmed from the investigation into an alleged terrorist plot involving Brigitte.

Ul-Haque knew one of Brigitte's associates, a man known as Abu Hamza, who was, according to Brigitte, the Australian "representative" of LET.

Yesterday, Mr Hamza's lawyer, Stephen Hopper, said his client had no significant link to ul-Haque. He described their relationship as "non-significant" and "non-relevant".

Mr Hopper would not say where the pair met. "It was an association that was no more than a hi-bye relationship. There was no close relationship at all.

"My guy [Hamza] basically knew who [ul-Haque] was. It's not like they'd come around to his place and have food. He has never been to this guy's place."

According to a Western intelligence source in Islamabad, LET-trained fighters are now turning up in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Philippines and Chechnya. A number of individuals and small groups have also been arrested in western countries, including Australia.

The source said highly trained LET terrorists had now turned their attention to Islamic causes around the world.

The Aqsa camp, where police allege ul-Haque trained, was used to introduce young men to the world of terrorism.

Students attended three-week courses where they would be drilled on their faith, their knowledge of the Koran and their commitment to the holy war.

The training was conducted in modern buildings, with an Islamic library and computers, and the students would study from early in the morning and relax by playing sport in the afternoon. They also received some light weapons training.

Those deemed suitable would graduate to another camp, where they would be given advanced military and explosives training. Others would be singled out to work in specialist fields, such as medicine.

The journalist Mr Rana said the leaders of al-Qaeda and LET had sought out bright students to run their medical units because their fighters often died from relatively minor injuries due to do a lack of basic care.

"I have been told by LET sources that some students were sent to London and Europe, and even Australia, to get the best education in medicine," he said.

"Russian and US experts meet this month to assess terror tactics, from hacking into systems to seizing a weapon." From The Christian Science Monitor, with thanks to EPG:

MOSCOW - Imagine this scenario: Computer hackers working for Al Qaeda break into Russia's nuclear weapons network, and "spoof" the system into believing it is under attack, setting off a chain reaction, and a real nuclear counterattack.

Another doomsday possibility made headlines when Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's No. 2, was quoted last month boasting that Al Qaeda had already acquired "some suitcase bombs" - radioactive material packed with conventional explosives. Mr. Zawahiri said that anything was available for $30 million on the Central Asian black market or from disgruntled Soviet scientists. Russia immediately rejected the claim.

But such what-ifs are among the nuclear terrorism threats that analysts are reexamining, as the learning curve of terror groups today comes closer to intersecting the vulnerabilities of atomic arsenals.

A handful of Russian and American nuclear experts, both military and civilian, are quietly convening a first meeting in Moscow later this month, to launch a year-long modeling exercise to specify the new dangers.

"These are future threats, but we must be ready for them today," says Pavel Zolotarev, a former major general in Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces, which inherited the vast Soviet nuclear arsenal. "There should be no chance that wrong signals get into the system, to provoke a presidential decision [to launch]."

In the past, top priority in Russia has been protecting its stocks of bomb-grade nuclear material. The US has been spending roughly $1 billion per year to upgrade Russia's nuclear security and dismantle warheads.

But experts are now looking at new terror tactics, from hacking to seizing a complete weapon.

"The threats are changing in the most radical way," says Vladimir Dvorkin, a former rocket forces major general, who was head of development for the Russian Defense Ministry's strategic forces, missile defense, and space systems until 2001.

Cyberwarfare meets 50s tech

Ironically, Russia's older systems may be less vulnerable than US weaponry to the most cutting-edge threats, particularly cyberwarfare.

Russia's strict centralized control system - a holdover from the Soviet era - makes it "harder, at some level, for terrorists to do something to break the safeguards and launch," says Bruce Blair, a nuclear security expert and former Minuteman launch officer who heads the Center for Defense Information in Washington (CDI).

In contrast, the US Department of Defense infrastructure consists of over 2.1 million computers, with 10,000 local area networks, and 1,000 long-distance networks.

Danger from hackers

Hackers have been active against government networks, if targeted US systems are any gauge. Mi2g, a digital security analyst company based in London, found that 2003 yielded a "meteoric rise in electronic crime," and that along with criminal scams, "extremist group activity" had risen by several hundred percent.

The sobering results of the still- classified work by a Pentagon "Commission on Nuclear Fail-Safe" - to which Mr. Blair testified about Soviet nuclear safeguards, inside a vault at the Pentagon around 1992 - point to US vulnerabilities that could also apply to Russian systems today. Investigators found an "electronic back door" into the US Navy's system for broadcasting nuclear launch orders to Trident submarines.

"This deficiency allowed unauthorized hackers, which could be terrorists or high school mischief makers, to potentially insert a launch order and transmit it to the Trident," Blair says. The gap was so serious that Navy launch order verifications had to be revised.

Indeed, few systems are safe. The US National Security Agency hired 35 hackers in 1997 to simulate a cyberterrorist attack. They were able to break into defense networks and shut down parts of the power grid and emergency services.

Such risks prompted the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to hold a first meeting on the issue of vulnerable electronic systems in October 2002.

"We are aware of the problem and addressing it as part of our broader nuclear security," says an IAEA official in Vienna. "It goes hand in hand with the ability of hackers to get into supposedly secure systems."

Russia's early warning and launch system is self-contained, however, and not connected in any way to the Internet or other outside portals, so it is widely deemed here to be secure. Like US nuclear command and control - some elements of which were built in the 1950s and 1960s - Russia relies on an antiquated system.

"It's like having a first generation Mercedes Benz that no modern repair center can fix," says Maxim Shingarkin, a former major in the 12th Main Directorate of Russia's Defense Ministry, which protects the nuclear arsenal.

Even when military cables are laid alongside nonmilitary ones, exposing the system to outside access, terrorists could "take the signal, but could not generate it" without being detected, Maj. Shingarkin says.

It's a minor matter: can't Muslim girls in German schools be exempted from coed swimming classes? Well, yes, it's a minor matter, but once again, like the headscarf controversy in France, it has major implications. For one thing, these classes are mandated by German law -- a law, of course, which was adopted for people of a different culture.

Also, where will the dividing line of assimilation ultimately be drawn? Or if it will be drawn nowhere, and Muslims will not give up even one element of their traditions or customs in order to fit into European society (as Dyab Abou Jahjah of the Arab European League insists), then Sharia must come also. And that is where this little tempest in a swimming pool begins to have some troubling implications for non-Muslim Europeans.

From Deutsche Welle, with thanks to Cathy J. Palmer:

German schools are increasingly grappling with cases of Muslim girls pushing for exemption from co-ed swimming and sports on religious grounds, sorely testing the country's ability to integrate its Muslim population.

With her flawless German, good grades and ambition to study towards a career, Ayse Yilmaz seems a model of Muslim integration at her Berlin high school.

She considers herself part of a growing group of young, educated Muslims who have "a modern understanding of Islam," as the 18-year-old student of Turkish-Kurdish origin puts it. But Yilmaz (Her name has been changed), has angered school authorities by refusing to take off her head scarf during sports class and going on school trips with her classmates.

"I felt uncomfortable about the alcohol, partying and fooling around that takes place there," said Yilmaz of the trips, adding that school officials told her that they considered the pins keeping her headscarf in place as a danger to her health.

Yilmaz's dilemma is becoming an all-too familiar one across Germany, as Muslim students and their parents clash with authorities over whether the tenants of their faith are allowed to bend the rules of Germany's secular school system. Though no reliable statistics are available, school authorities across the country say that an increasing number of Muslim parents are demanding exempt their daughters on religious grounds from co-ed swimming, sports and biology classes.

Issue thwarting integration efforts?

The issue has turned into a potent flashpoint in German schools struggling with Muslim integration.

"It's a difficult situation," said Marion Berning, director of the Rixdorfer primary school, one of the largest in Berlin's Neukölln district, where girls with headscarves are a common sight. "We have Muslim girls who say they don't want to swim with the boys. It's obvious the parents exert pressure on them, but they (the parents) have to accept that coeducation is part of German schools."

At another school in Berlin's Turkish-dominated Kreuzberg district, principal Annette Spieler worries Muslim girls exempted from biology class are missing out on lessons vital to teenagers.

"When it comes to sex education, it's shocking how little the Muslim students know about the topic. It's absolutely taboo in their homes," she said.

A resurgent Muslim identity

In the absence of a common law governing the issue, some schools have attempted to appease Muslim parents by offering gender-segregated biology and swimming classes, discussing the issue with them in parent-teacher meetings or allowing Muslim girls to wear loose-fitting clothing during sports.

But that hasn't stopped some Muslim parents from appealing to the courts to enforce their religious rights.

The mother of nineteen-year-old Zahara holds her hand while she lies in her hospital bed in Herat in Afghanistan on April 7, 2004. Zahara, trapped in an unhappy marriage, attempted to commit suicide by burning herself with gasoline. (Reuters)

More on the plight of women under the Sharia law that radical Muslims want to impose on the rest of us. From Reuters, with thanks to Twostellas.

HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Nineteen-year-old Zahara says the day of her wedding was one of the happiest of her life.

But the marriage quickly became a nightmare of quarrels and beatings. Just three month later, she lies in hospital, her pretty face and much of her body scarred by horrific burns, after she poured petrol over her head and lit a match.

In post-Taliban Afghanistan, despite a new constitution enshrining women's rights that the Western-backed government passed in January, this remains a depressingly familiar story.

Zahara is one of many women to attempt a fiery suicide rather than be trapped in an unhappy marriage or denied the opportunity to make something of their lives.

In the past year, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission has recorded at least 110 cases of self-immolation by women in just five parts of the country.

There have been no fewer than 56 cases in Herat, a Western province ruled by a hardline Islamist accused of continuing "Taliban-like" restrictions on women.

Rights workers say the phenomenon reflects a culture of violence, discrimination and broken post-Taliban dreams. They also say the problem could be far worse than the statistics show.

Lying on a filthy hospital bed in the city of Herat, Zahara clearly found it painful to speak, but once she began, her story gushed out in a torrent of hurt.

"My body was black from beatings," she said. "I was happy to kill myself because life was unbearable."

Zahara said her husband taunted her when she said she wanted to return to her family and threatened her with a gun. Eventually he said she should kill herself if she was so unhappy.

"He thought I was joking, but I took the matches and set myself on fire," she said. "At first I was happy to get married, but things turned really bad."

Other women tending relatives nearby shook their heads and tutted in understanding as she spoke. Zahara's mother, Sharifa, sobbed quietly at the foot of the bed.

Herat Hospital director Dr Arif Shaharn said some women chose suicide rather than being sold into marriages to men as old as 75. The youngest to burn herself in Herat was just 14.

"WAY TO ESCAPE"

"They think it's the only way to escape. It's a very important issue and we are investigating why there should be such a high incidence here in Herat," said Shaharn.

He said the women used whatever flammable substance was available. "Sometimes it's gasoline, other times cooking oil."

"The burns in these cases are usually 80-90 percent, which is generally fatal," he said.

The Rights Commission's Ahmad Nedar Nadery blamed Herat's high number of suicides on both domestic violence and what he said were stultifying restrictions on women's rights imposed by Governor Ismail Khan, a rival of President Hamid Karzai.

While Khan, unlike the Taliban, supports female education -- albeit strictly segregated -- women's job opportunities are sharply curtailed in Herat and all are still expected to wear cover-all burqas or Iranian-style chador veils whenever they venture outdoors.

Marjo Stroud, of the German NGO Medica Mondiale in Herat -- a city with one of the best-educated female populations in Afghanistan -- said depression rates among women were very high.

"Many young women are afraid to believe their dreams," she said. "Even if their families support them, they don't know if their job opportunities might suddenly end."

Khan has, for instance, discouraged women from joining non-governmental organisations, saying that Afghans who allowed their wives to work with foreign men could not be real men.

Women have also been banned from working in tailors' shops because of "the potential for un-Islamic activity" and the only driving school for women has been shut down.

Dr Sohillah Arab works in the women's burns section in Herat Hospital, where patients are crammed together in a bleak, grubby annexe at the end of a corridor.

She said Zahara had been lucky as she had suffered only 60 percent burns and had received treatment relatively quickly.

Many women die of secondary infections. The hospital has no sterile burns unit and patients are expected to recuperate on rusting beds in poorly swept wards buzzing with flies.

Dr Shaharn said a foreign NGO had promised to help fund a burns unit, but nothing had yet materialised.

Zahara is again fortunate to come from a closely knit family which plans to take her soon to Iran for treatment.

"I kept telling her she should never do anything like this and she should divorce if she was unhappy," her mother said. "But she told me they tried to kill her and that he had pulled a gun out on her several times, so she had to do it.

"I have passports for us both and we will go to Iran," she said. "My husband is happy to spend money on his daughter."

A consequence of Islam's strong Arab character is the Arabization of the cultures to which it spreads. Thus in a non-Arab Islamic state, not only are non-Muslims relegated to dhimmi status, but the cultural heritage of the land itself is denigrated. The most egregious recent example of this, of course, is the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan by the Taliban.

Here is a piece taking issue with a milder form of the same thing, in Malaysia. From The Star, with thanks to Nicolei:

KUALA LUMPUR: Malays should put a stop to the "Arabisation" of their own culture and challenge those who condemn as unIslamic deep-rooted practices and traditions of the community.

"The Malays are not Arabs. Therefore, it is important that we do not "Arabise" the Malay culture to the extent that everything that the Arabs do, we must do," said Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim.

"The Malay culture arose from time immemorial, even before 1409 when Islam came to Malacca, and we cannot simply ignore that period from which we came," he added in an interview here with The Star early this week.

Dr Rais stressed that he was not anti-Arab culture.

"That's not to say I hold contra-views against the Arab culture. In fact, the Arab world has many aspects that have benefited and enriched the world in terms of medicine, art, poetry and so on.

"Even Bahasa Malaysia is imbued with salient influences from Arabia.

"But the community should not be influenced to the extent that they are blinded into thinking that all that is Arabic is good for them."

Asked whether the Government was concerned by the situation, Dr Rais replied: "It is and (this concern) has not been publicly or adequately expressed."

He pointed out that traditions like wayang kulit which had been condemned as unIslamic by some people, had gone unchallenged.

"We just, in chorus, say 'Aha, perhaps so' but we never fight back to say that this is a deep-rooted tradition of the Malays since time immemorial. (We should ask:) 'Put to us which (Islamic) tenet is being violated.' Nobody says that.

"Therefore, the ministry is concerned with such a development and we are not going to accept it just because somebody says it (is so)," he said.

Dr Rais added that the fervour that began in 1983 in accepting as gospel anything with the world "Islam" in it was dying down.

"That seems to be changing now with Islam Hadhari that the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) is talking about lately. That is the practical, progressive sort of Islam that we should accept," he said.

During the nearly two-hour long interview, Dr Rais, who was appointed Minister of the redesignated Arts, Culture and Heritage Ministry (formerly known as the Culture, Arts and Tourism Ministry) after last month's general election, promised to also "put on the map again what was lost" in reference to Malay performing arts such as the mak yong and manora which had been banned by PAS in Kelantan and Terengganu.

"This is where I would say politics and culture don't seem to mix in the hands of those responsible in the past decade," he said.

He added that he was also interested in the "buried past of the Baba and Nyonya in Penang and Malacca, and the Sanskritised elements of the culture."

"They are all very rich. I think studies must be encouraged and we would like authoritative, serious people to go into these fields and produce research for us," he said.

On the heritage element in the national language, Dr Rais felt that the most glaring aspect was how it was being spoken in the country.

"This can also be a question for the Education Ministry but in the heritage department, we would like to say: Do not make the language so rojak (mixed) so as to make it unintelligible in the future. The French don't mix their language with other words. But in Malaysia, half our sentences is in English while the other half is in Malay. In the end, we don't pick up the good parts in either language.

"I've already told my officers: "When you give briefings, either you give it in Malay or you give it in English. Don't make a rojak out of it," he added.

This is a slightly earlier article than others I have posted recently about Nigeria, but it gives some information that isn't in the others about the jihad violence that has killed 1,500 Christians and destroyed 173 churches.

From Compass via Worthy News, with thanks to Fiery Celt:

JOS, Nigeria, April 2 (Compass) -- Religious violence that erupted in the central Nigerian state of Plateau a few weeks ago has spilled into more towns and villages in that state and beyond, resulting in the deaths of eight pastors and 1,500 Christian believers, and the destruction of 173 churches.

The Plateau state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) released the names of seven of the martyred pastors to Compass in Jos city. They are Pius Kurnap, Simon Nimbon, Aminu Lachak, Musa Fannap, Salbol Dashe, Musa Vongkur and Emmanuel Nimmak. An eighth victim, a pastor of the Deeper Life Church whose name was unavailable, was killed with his wife and four children.

The ministers served Baptist, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Assemblies of God and Evangelical Reformed congregations, as well as the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) and the Evangelical Church of West Africa.

COCIN spokesmen Dinfa Mamshal and Sunday Lakong said that Muslim extremists in the state have recruited over 10,000 Muslim mercenaries from the republics of Niger and Chad to invade Christian towns and villages. Fundamentalist Muslim bands have gone on a rampage of killing and maiming Christians and burning down their churches, they said.

At a press conference in Jos on March 16, Christian community leader Ambrose Gapsuk said, "The invasion of Christian towns and villages by Muslim fanatics clearly demonstrates that the attack is a war against Christians." Gapsuk is from Shendam town in one of the areas affected by violence.

Gapsuk reported that 1,500 Christians were killed and their churches and properties were destroyed.

Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) reported that religious violence in Plateau and Nasarawa has affected 10 local government areas in the two states, resulting in the displacement of 25,000 people.

Alhaji Musa Lima, special adviser to the governor of neighboring Bauchi state, told Compass, "About 50,000 displaced persons who managed to escape the hostility have temporarily relocated to some parts of this state." Bauchi officials report that the influx of refugees has placed enormous pressure on local resources.

NEMA spokesman Biodun Oladunjoye said that among the displaced people are many women and children whose numbers are daily decimated by diseases and hunger. He also said that unless something is done urgently, refugee camps in the three states will see more deaths.

"Government is doing all it can to curtail the violence against Christians in the state," Plateau state governor Joshua Dariye said in an address during Sunday worship at the Church of Christ in Jos. "We sympathize with the church over the death of its pastors and church members and will do all we can to check the spread of the violence against Christians in this state."

On March 28, Muslim-Christian violence broke out in the state of Nasarawa, reportedly claiming the lives of 15 Christians in Keana, Doma, Jenkwe, Ekye and Giza local government areas.

"Security men have been drafted to the affected areas to restore law and order," Nasarawa police commissioner Alhaji Muhammed Zarewa told Compass in the state capital of Lafia.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's president, Olusegun Obasanjo, reacted to the continued violence by admitting that "the authorities in these states seem to be powerless or lack the inspiration to do something about it."

Muslim leaders reportedly visited Obasanjo in his office in Abuja, the nation's capital, on March 16 to discuss solutions to the conflict. "People will want to give excuses, but I don't think we have any excuse to allow violence to engulf us and our land," Obasanjo told them.

The always provocative Spengler in Asia Times (thanks to Paul Nelson) expands upon a point I have made often: that most Western analysts, even (or perhaps especially) those in positions of great power and authority, misunderstand the nature of jihad terrorism because they don't understand religious motivations.

Victory in the religious wars of the 17th century went to the author of learned theological texts, Cardinal Richelieu, and a self-immolating mystic, Joseph du Tremblay, the de facto chief of the French state and his principal diplomat and spy. By contrast, American strategists are children of the Enlightenment, for whom religion at best is a convenient civic myth (Leo Strauss), or an outmoded ideology to be manipulated.

One pores through American government studies on Islam without finding as much as a sentence on the question: what is the spiritual experience of believing Muslims? Muslims fly airplanes into skyscrapers, or walk into supermarkets with bomb belts, or pull Kalashnikovs from under their wares in the Sadr City bazaar because the West confronts them with an existential threat. Of what does this existential threat consist? The Islamic specialists at American think-tanks stand baffled before such fervor. They are ideologues trained in analyzing structures of belief. But the vast majority of Muslims have no interest in ideology in the sense that the modern West understands the term. Religion for them is an existential matter, of one substance with the smallest details of their daily lives. Secular Americans press their noses against the window-glass, gazing at Islam from the outside in.

A horrible example is Cheryl Bernard's 2003 Rand Corporation study, entitled "Civil Democratic Islam: Partners, Resources, Strategies". (1). Professor Bernard provides cheerful advice on how to manage the different strains of Islam, which she chops up into "Traditionalists", "Fundamentalists", "Modernists", and "Secularists".

According to Bernard, "Fundamentalists reject democratic values and contemporary Western culture. They want an authoritarian, puritanical state that will implement their extreme view of Islamic law and morality. They are willing to use innovation and modern technology to achieve that goal. Traditionalists want a conservative society. They are suspicious of modernity, innovation, and change. Modernists want the Islamic world to become part of global modernity. They want to modernize and reform Islam to bring it into line with the age. Secularists want the Islamic world to accept a division of church and state in the manner of Western industrial democracies, with religion relegated to the private sphere."

Her formula is:
1) "Support the Modernists first." 2) "Support the Traditionalists against the Fundamentalists." 3) "Confront and oppose the Fundamentalists." 4) "Selectively support Secularists."

Saddam Hussein (unmentioned in Bernard's document) was a Modernist, but never mind that. Bernard assumes that the Traditionalists, who maintain their own websites, are sufficiently unfamiliar with Google so as not to notice that America supports their enemies the Modernists, let alone the Secularists.

With Bernard's game plan in mind, consider the case of "Traditionalist" Shi'ite leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Washington's hope for a peaceful transition to a democratic Iraqi state. Sistani's theological writing can be found categorized by subject on the Internet. (2).

The ayatollah's concerns hardly overlap with those of the American occupation officials whom he refuses to address directly. On the contrary, what preoccupies him are the minutest issues of daily existence, most of all the question of ritual purity within traditional society.

Osama chuckles over 9/11

Some days I am amazed that the jihad goes faster than my ability to report it. Readers have asked for on ongoing death count and I have to throw up my hands at the impossibility of the task.

Now a Dutch group has completed a body count and Charles at LGF alerted me to their final report.

Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad reports that in the period between September 11, 2001 and April 15, 2004, Islamic terrorists have killed at least 7,085 people and wounded 10,132 in 393 attacks around the world.

The surprising thing is that the study appeared in a Dutch paper not known for a hawkish stance; to see them use the word moslimterreur with no scare quotes is a sign that Europe is beginning to worry.

And they even include attacks in Israel. Be aware, however, that in some cases the terrorists themselves are included in the death count.

It doesn't bother me to include the terrorists. Not when we have Osama bin Laden on tape having a giggle at the expense of those Sept 11th hijackers who didn't know they were on a suicide mission. Not when the terrorists are 16 year old girls. Not when the terrorists are women who will be killed by their familes if they do not atone for adultery by becoming a martyr.

I guess I am just an Islamaphobe and a hatemonger to point this out but radical violent jihad ideology destroys Muslim lives.

No, Howard, throw the ball, not the hat

Some days I think about wearing a hat. Roger Simon, sadly, has already cornered the blogger-with-a-hat market, but the nice thing about hats is that when a person finally runs across the bit of mind numbing stupidity that makes his head explode it is easy to collect all the shattered pieces, put them back together again, and get back to work.

Radio Host Neal Boortz has a quick take on how Iraq fits into the war on terror.

HOWARD DEAN'S RAPID FIRE LIES
During the final moments of my show preparation this morning I happened to catch Howard Dean on CNN promoting the candidacy of John Kerry. Dean went into this rant about George Bush that was, to say the least, incredible. Incredible because I haven't heard a politician cram so many lies into so little time in quite a while.

Dean said the president was not telling the truth when he said:

"There was a connection between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, which was not true."
In fact, it was true. Those connections have now been proven.

"That Saddam Hussein had something to do with terrorism, which was not true."
Come on, Howard. Saddam was making a big deal of writing checks to the families of suicide bombers. He was harboring terrorists in Baghdad. Ever heard of Abu Nidal?
"When he said in the State of the Union that Iraq was purchasing uranium from Africa, which was not true."
George Bush never made that statement. Dean is lying, and he knows he's lying. Why didn't the CNN interviewer call him on this?
"When the Vice President said that in Iraq they are accumulating nuclear weapons, which was not true."
I can find no instance where Cheney said that Iraq was accumulating nuclear weapons, only that Saddam was attempting to do so.
What a shame it is that Dean imploded. What fun he would be as a candidate!

As the mainstream press slowly notices the problems with the UN's oil for food program, we will soon see once again that the American "allies" who dragged their feet on the U.S. led war to oust Saddam were trading blood for oil all along. They, of course, were rather cleverly trading the blood of Saddam's own citizens for gasoline, an arrangement that kept the blood and corruption out of sight.

Meanwhile, if the United States invaded both Iraq and Afghanistan for oil, how come gas prices hit a new record price of $1.783 a gallon according to AAA?

Rashid Khalidi holds the Edward Said Chair at Columbia

Columbia is examining its Mideast Studies Program. It seems they got a hot tip that the department might just be a teensy bit biased against Israel.

Martin Kramer has documented the collapse of Mideast studies in general and of Columbia in particular. Middle East Studies departments around the country which can and should be top resources for State and Defense department officials trying to understand the issues in the War on Terror are instead sinkholes of cringing dhimmitude bought out by Saudi and other Middle Eastern oil money.

Daniel Pipes refers to Columbia as the 1927 Yankees of Mideast studies. I believe that paricular lineup was known as, um, "murderer's row"?

A committee appointed by the president of Columbia University for months has been quietly probing allegations of bias and intimidation by faculty, particularly in Middle East studies, The Jewish Week has learned.

The panel convened by President Lee Bollinger comes at a time when Jewish students at the Ivy League university have complained that some Middle East classes are unbalanced and that faculty members have used their authority to promote anti-Israel activism.

"We want to preserve a healthy atmosphere on campus," said Vincent Blasi, a Columbia Law School professor who chairs the committee. "We want to make sure that classroom time is not devoted to politics or preaching by professors."

Rabbi Charles Sheer, the campus Hillel director, testified before the committee in February.

"They wanted to know my perceptions and what I have heard from students, about how the Middle East was being presented on campus," he said.

Rabbi Sheer said about a half-dozen members of the committee were present, including the campus chaplain, Jewelnel Davis.

Blasi declined to provide a full list of the committee members or to discuss who else had testified.

Blasi said the committee, which he estimated had met seven or eight times in the past year, had resulted from "a series of events," including a controversial teach-in on the Middle East in 2002 and a protest against the war in Iraq one year ago. Some professors reportedly canceled their classes in order to attend the teach-in, and they urged their students to attend as well.

That prompted debate in the campus newspaper, The Spectator, about "what kind of institutional representation is appropriate, and about professors using their authority" to promote events not directly related to their coursework, said Blasi.

At last year's rally against the war in Iraq, the call for "a million Mogadishus" by a Latino studies professor, Nicholas DeGenova, "quickly made Columbia the latest target of nearly every conservative commentator in the country," according to an article in the Spectator.

"It's very important that professors not claim to be speaking for the university when they are speaking their own position on a broad range of issues," said Blasi.

Columbia Provost Alan Brinkley mentioned the existence of the committee in an e-mail response to a Jewish Week inquiry about allegations of bias in the university's Middle East and Asian Language and Culture (MEALAC) Department.

Rabbi Sheer and several students interviewed by The Jewish Week said they felt a "slant" against Israel both in the classroom and in extracurricular activities.

In his comment, Brinkley said: "I am aware that there have been complaints from students about some aspects of teaching in this field, but I certainly do not agree that the general atmosphere on campus makes it difficult to support Israel.

"We are, of course, concerned about charges of bias and intimidation in the classroom, and the president has appointed a committee to consider, among other things, how we might respond to such problems within the framework of our strong commitment to free speech."

Blasi is a recognized authority on the First Amendment who has written extensively on free-speech issues.

Columbia has recently hired an array of teachers who have come under fire by pro-Israel activists. They include Rashid Khalidi, a former aide to Yasir Arafat who was appointed to the university's Edward Said Chair of Middle East Studies, named for the professor who drew notoriety after posing for a photo at the Lebanese border throwing stones at an Israeli guard booth. Said died last year.

A more recent hire is Mary Robinson, formerly president of Ireland and a human rights commissioner with the United Nations now teaching in the Department of International and Public Affairs, and as a senior research scholar at the university's Human Rights Institute.

Robinson has been criticized for remarks seen as supporting Palestinian violence and for her participation in a human rights conference in Durban, South Africa, perceived to be slanted against Israel.

"Columbia is the 1927 Yankees of radical work on the Middle East," said Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum. "You have a substantial body of extremism in the Middle East studies at Columbia, and almost nothing else to balance it."

The MEALAC department has an Israeli professor, Dan Meron, who teaches "Zionism," but Olivia Harris, a Columbia junior, said Meron's class is purely literary and non-ideological.

"He refuses to engage in political discussion, with good reason," said Harris, 21, of Michigan. "Others should follow his example."

Harris is a member of Lionpac, a pro-Israel student activist group that is producing a video detailing the campus Mideast wars.

"Often students are afraid to criticize faculty because of the hierarchical position," she said. "For a while, students were unsure what they could do, and they don't know a lot of other people feel this way. The video is a first step in this direction."

On the Web site Columbia Underground Listing of Professor Ability, several anonymous postings give poor reviews to Joseph Massad, whose courses include Palestinian-Israeli Politics and Societies.

"A perfect example of brainwashing," wrote one student in a posting from September 2003. "... He lets you know on the first day that he isn't going to give you both sides of the conflict."

Another wrote in May 2002 of the same class: "This was possibly the most offended I have ever been. Massad does not even pretend to give the entire picture ... [It] should be renamed Why Palestinians Hate Israel ... It sucks to take a class and walk away not feeling like you can form an educated opinion."

Massad did not return a call for comment.

But a student of the same course in May 2003 called it "one of the best, most worthwhile courses I have ever taken. I came into this class knowing next to nothing about the situation in the Mid East and now I feel like I have an intimate grasp of the history and origins."

In a recent bulletin to students and alumni, Rabbi Sheer warned that "the principal anti-Israel voices are not pro-Palestinian leaders and groups, but Columbia faculty and academic departments."

Rabbi Sheer told The Jewish Week he has often heard complaints about Massad. But while many other academics on campus have firmly held beliefs on the Middle East, he said he saw no evidence that they brought their opinions into the classroom.

Tensions on the Middle East, however, are apparent on campus. When the MEALAC department sponsored a Palestinian film festival last year, Jewish students complained that posters promoting the event featured a map in which land now controlled by Israel was draped in Palestinian national colors, which they saw as emblematic of the hope of eradicating Israel.

A few months later, when Jewish students organized an Israeli film festival, including works from various political perspectives, the fliers were decorated with swastikas and the words "Israel is a racist state."

"They were very tame, peaceful fliers," said Ariel Dauber, 21, a junior.

Rabbi Sheer said he believed the university has been hearing complaints from alumni on these matters.

"I know many alumni are disturbed about the Said chair," said the rabbi. "His expertise was in English, but the chair is in Middle East studies. This is seen as a political way of remembering him that is far from his principal area of scholarship."

For months Columbia, under pressure from watchdog groups, refused to release the sources of funding for the chair, but did so this month. Among the donors was the United Arab Emirates.

Noting that the institute received about $1 million in federal subsidies, Pipes said "it's disturbing that someone overseeing U.S. taxpayer money is indirectly on the payroll of another government."
Because Middle East passions take on new dimensions in the age of the war on terrorism, some members of Congress -- strongly encouraged by Jewish organizations -- have called for federal monitoring of anti-Israel activity on campus, which they hope will lead to greater diversity of opinions.

But some, including former Moment magazine editor Leonard Fine, have denounced this approach.

"It's an unprecedented intrusion of a government agency into the academy," said Fine. "It raises thereby many more problems in and of itself than it proposes to resolve."

Blasi said his committee at Columbia had yet to decide how and when to present its findings.

But Rabbi Sheer said its formation showed that the university "takes this issue seriously. A Columbia education must by definition be unbiased."

An insightful piece by Canadian Michael Coren. (Thanks to Fanabba) Coren is a deeply religious man. As such he understands the power of religion far better than the shallow thinkers who think that leaders cloak the "root causes of terror" in religious lingo to hornswoggle the unenlightened masses.

HOW DOES one discuss the state of the Islamic faith, the Middle East, terrorism and the world without upsetting people? Frankly, it's almost impossible.

I'm not talking here of a fear of abuse and attack or of being accused of political incorrectness. I couldn't give a fig about that. No, I mean the need to hold on to common courtesy and avoiding making generalizations that could hurt good people.

Here are some recent examples, in that I have so little room to discuss this issue in full.

We used to be told by pop stars and other philosophers that "the Russians love their children too." It was self-evident then that all people loved their young. Now I'm not so sure. Do the Palestinians, for example, love their children too?

I should think most of them do.

But I have to be candid: many of them don't. We can't just rely on tired old relativism when we look at all this. Nobody who loves his or her child will send that little being out as a suicide bomber. Nobody who loves their children will line them up in front of tanks.

The natural instinct of a loving parent is to hide the children. Armed struggle and resistance I can understand, even if I do not approve. This, though, is something different. I've seen it myself. Mothers screaming for their tiny offspring to come out of the house, stand in front of Israeli patrols and throw stones at soldiers.

I take here no position on the causes of Israelis or Palestinians, but I do on the moral substance of a parent who would send children to fight the battles of adults.

Do not, please, tell me they have no option. There are legions of young Palestinian men willing to kill Israelis. It's just that children can sometimes be undetected. And are easily convinced of the delights of paradise in the world to come when, I quote, "Zionist skulls, blood and limbs fly against the walls."

British Muslim fundamentalists planned terror attacks and arrests were made in Ilford, England, my hometown. Boring Ilford may be, but nobody is oppressed there! Muslims who grew up with British democracy, free British health care, free British education and British tolerance have no reason to kill anyone, let alone those who gave them such privilege.

Remember, these people came to Britain, as they did to Canada, the United States and the rest of the free, Christian-based world to escape Islamic states and their harshness.

It is the pluralistic openness and decency of Europe and North America that has allowed so many Muslim immigrants. How ironic that a minority of those people hate that very pluralism and decency and want to slaughter women and children in the name of their god and their cause.

I opposed the war in Iraq, but I cannot remain silent when people kill contract workers, then disembowel and hang them from wires in the street. While children dance.

And, no, these murderers are not refugees from pain but the favoured sons of Saddam. Their fight is to restore fascism, not liberate their nation. Even if it was, nothing justifies such sadism.

German bomber pilots, their planes shot down, would parachute into London after destroying entire towns and killing thousands of people. Almost without exception they were treated properly, as prisoners of war.

It's not about colonization, globalization, Zionism, American dominance or any other cliches. The Muslims themselves are colonizers, having pushed most Christians out of the Middle and near East, once the cradle of the Christian world.

The Ottoman Turks, Muslims all, colonized the region for centuries. Arabs colonized Persians, Assyrians, Kurds and others. The Saudis, sponsors of so much terror, are nobody's victims. They are wealthy beyond belief, and deprive women and minorities of most basic civil rights.

This is something deeper, darker, than an imagined fight against a foreign foe. There is a virus at work. For the sake of the good, law-abiding Muslims of the world -- the majority -- we cannot pretend any longer it's about anything other than what it is: a religion gone mad and gone bad.

Stop the lies, they only make it worse.

The holy man

It worked in Madrid, why not London? From Reuters, with thanks to Ted Robertson, a look at the latest threats from Omar Bakri, whom I profile in Onward Muslim Soldiers. In the book I discuss how he openly boasts of exploiting the contradictions of the Western system, preaching terror, sedition and hatred and then claiming the protections of free speech. Here he goes again:

LISBON (Reuters) - Several Islamic militant groups are preparing attacks on London, making such a strike unavoidable, a radical Muslim cleric said in an interview with a Portuguese magazine.

"It's inevitable. Because several (attacks) are being prepared by several groups," Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad told Lisbon's Publica magazine from London, where he is based.

One "very well organised" group in London calling itself al Qaeda Europe "has a great appeal for young Muslims", he said. "I know that they are ready to launch a big operation."

London police said they were not prepared to discuss the claims, but the country's most senior police officer, Sir John Stevens, has previously said that an attack on the capital was inevitable.

The firebrand cleric, who has outraged moderate Muslims and non-Muslims alike with his uncompromising views, gave no further details.

Asked if a British Muslim was allowed to carry out a "terrorist attempt" in a foreign country, Muhammad said "That is another story."

He added: "We don't make a distinction between civilians and non-civilians, innocents and non-innocents. Only between Muslims and unbelievers. And the life of an unbeliever has no value. It has no sanctity."

Bakri is, sad to say, on firm ground in Islamic theology and law on that one.

It was important to see accusations of terrorism in their proper context, he said.

"If we give money to needy women and children, they say they are the families of terrorists. But where do the terrorists come from? Zimbabwe? No. They are people from here. And they are our brothers, the terrorists."

"The British also are terrorists, in Iraq...Terrorism is the law of the 21st century. It's legitimate."

Sheikh Bakri Muhammad said he had mixed feelings about the possible effect of his comments. "In a certain way I regret that, because the first thing the government will do is deport me, myself and my family," he said.

GROUP PRAISED SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACKS

The Syrian-born cleric heads the al Muhajiroun group, which has praised the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and the al Qaeda militant network blamed for them.

He told Publica in the interview published on Sunday. there were several "freelance" militant groups in Europe, such as al Qaeda London, prepared to launch attacks similar to those carried out by the al Qaeda network.

Four British men and a teenager appeared in court in Britain last week charged with plotting a bombing after being arrested in the country's biggest anti-terror raids since the September 11 attacks.

The men, all of Pakistani origin, were arrested on March 30 in raids which uncovered 600 kg (1,300 lb) of ammonium nitrate, a fertiliser that can be used in bomb making.

Asked about his comments that he wanted to have the banner of Islam at 10 Downing Street, the prime minister's residence, Muhammad said, "Yes, it's my dream. I believe one day that is going to happen. Because this is my country, I like living here."

"I've been arrested 16 times. And 16 times freed, because they have nothing against me. These are the contradictions of laws made by man. If they believe in democracy, who are they afraid of? Let Omar Bakri benefit from democracy!"

L-R: Zapatero, King Juan Carlos, and outgoing PM Aznar. This time, Chamberlain succeeds Churchill (AP)

It's official: the Spanish are leaving Iraq. Of course, Zapatero denies that this has anything to do with the Madrid bombings: "Zapatero's warning of a possible Spanish withdrawal had prompted some U.S. lawmakers to charge such a move would appear to be appeasing terrorists. Zapatero rejected this saying his idea of removing them came long before the March 11 bombing."

Who's he trying to kid? Of course his idea of removing them came long before 3/11. That's why the Spanish, terrified by the bombings, elected him. All the attempts to explain the Spanish elections as anything other than appeasement founder on the facts: the Al-Qaeda connection to the bombings was known before the election, and there is ample evidence that the Spanish thought they were buying peace in Spain in exchange for withdrawal from Iraq.

But they haven't bought peace, of course. All they have bought is more terror, now that the terrorists know that they can be manipulated in this way. And the mujahedin have made it clear repeatedly that their grievance with Spain goes far beyond the presence of troops in Iraq. They consider Spain to be Muslim land, and they aim to reclaim it. A few years ago those intentions sounded like preposterous fantasy. Things have changed.

Spain has chosen the dhimmi path. Unless the Spanish change direction again, the mujahedin will press on toward the restoration of Al-Andalus.

MADRID, Spain (AP)- The prime minister ordered Spanish troops pulled out of Iraq as soon as possible Sunday, fulfilling a campaign pledge to a nation still recovering from terrorist bombings that al-Qaida militants said were reprisal for Spain's support of the war.

The new Socialist prime minister issued the abrupt recall just hours after his government was sworn in, saying there was no sign the United States would meet his demands for staying in Iraq -- United Nations control of the postwar occupation.

Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's party won the March 14 general election amid allegations that outgoing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar had provoked commuter-train terrorist bombing, which killed 191 people three days earlier, by backing the war in Iraq.

Zapatero pledged to remove Spanish troops in his winning campaign. But his announcement -- a setback for the United States -- was a bombshell, coming just hours after his government was sworn in, and as his foreign minister planned to travel to Washington to discuss the dispute.

In a five-minute address at the Moncloa Palace, Zapatero said he had ordered Defense Minister Jose Bono to "do what is necessary for the Spanish troops stationed in Iraq to return home in the shortest time possible."

Zapatero cited his campaign pledge to bring the 1,300 troops in Iraq home by June 30, when their mandate expires, if the United Nations failed to take political and military control of the situation.

"With the information we have, and which we have gathered over the past few weeks, it is not foreseeable that the United Nations will adopt a resolution" that satisfies Spain's terms, Zapatero said.

Also, the latest poll showed 72 percent of Spaniards wanted the troops withdrawn.

Public remarks by key officials in the dispute and contacts that Bono held over the past month show no signs that the political and military situation will change sufficiently to satisfy Spain by the June 30 deadline, Zapatero said.

The Bush administration said the move was not a surprise.

"We knew from the recent Spanish election that it was the new prime minister's intention to withdraw Spanish troops from the coalition in Iraq," said White House spokesman Ken Lisaius. "We will work with our coalition partners in Iraq and the Spanish government and expect they will implement their decision in a coordinated, responsible and orderly manner."

Mariano Rajoy, Aznar's hand-picked candidate to face Zapatero in the election, said Zapatero's decision made Spain "much more vulnerable and weak in the face of terrorism." Zapatero has "thrown in the towel" rather than try to exhaust all possibilities of getting a new U.N. resolution to meet his demands, Rajoy said. ...

In a videotape found the night before the election, an Arabic-speaking man claiming to speak for al-Qaida said the bombings were punishment for Aznar's support of the war. Aznar's party had been expected to win the election handily.

Zapatero's warning of a possible Spanish withdrawal had prompted some U.S. lawmakers to charge such a move would appear to be appeasing terrorists. Zapatero rejected this saying his idea of removing them came long before the March 11 bombing.

As early as Sunday morning it had seemed Spain was not yet poised to bring the troops home.

And Aznar, who deployed the troops, said Sunday this would only lead to more violence and chaos in Iraq.

"That will not be good for Spain, not a good day for the coalition, and a very good day for those who don't want stability and democracy in Iraq," Aznar said on "Fox News Sunday."

Aznar is a wise man.

This is the sort of thing that makes Jack Straw wring his hands, but remember: before this, Hamas was retaliating for Yassin. Before that, they were retaliating for something else. And ever since their founding, they have been waging open jihad. They are on record as trying to destroy Israel utterly. Thus it is just silly to believe that if Israel didn't target this one or that one, Hamas would suddenly stop the suicide bombings and work for peace. From Reuters, :

GAZA, Apr 18 (Reuters) The Hamas militant group today vowed ''100 retaliations'' to avenge Israel's killing of top leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi in a missile strike.

''We declare the status of alert and public readiness within all our fighting cells...until the 100 retaliations, which will shake the criminal entity, are done,'' its military wing Izz al-Deen al-Qassam said in a statement.

OK, let me get this straight: federal, state and local officials are searching for rocket launchers, and it has nothing to do with terrorism? Maybe the postman or garbage man picked up a few crates of stray rocket launchers by mistake while on his daily rounds?

From AP, :

SAN LEANDRO, California (AP) -- Dozens of federal, state and local law enforcement agents searched a warehouse near Oakland International Airport Saturday for weapons including rocket launchers, officials said.

Federal officials would not reveal the exact nature of the investigation, but they said the search was not related to terrorism.

"We seized a few documents. Other than that, it's an ongoing investigation," said Marti McKee, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. "We will continue to look until all investigative leads are exhausted."

Five men who were detained for questioning Friday have all been released, McKee said.

About 200 agents from a dozen different agencies took part in the raid, which began around 6 a.m. Friday and continued Saturday. On Friday, authorities barred aircraft from flying over the site for three and a half hours while they took over the 12-acre, five-building warehouse complex in San Leandro.

The search warrant for the investigation was under seal, but U.S. Magistrate Edward Chen told The San Francisco Chronicle: "The warrant was for a bunch of devices for rockets that could be launched from military vehicles and [for] some M-16s," semiautomatic assault rifles used by the U.S. military.

Federal officials confirmed Saturday that rocket launchers and other military weaponry were among the items sought by authorities.

"One reason we had so many personnel was because of the types of items we were looking for," McKee said Saturday. "Because it's military weaponry, there is significant concern."

Not really all that popular?

If this story is true, it suggests that Al-Sadr could be in a position like Lenin's in 1917 Russia, when he was supported only by a small minority, but was ruthless and persistent enough to carry the day anyway. If these people complaining about him are too frightened even to give their full names, it's unlikely they'll be rising up and throwing him out anytime soon. From the Washington Times, :

NAJAF, Iraq -- With a massive U.S. military force blocking the main roads, the residents of this holy Shi'ite city have begun to voice strong criticism of Sheik Muqtada al-Sadr, the young cleric whose uprising has brought the threat of an attack. "Najaf people want peace and quiet," said Haidar, 39, who owns a small deli near the Imam Ali Mosque in the city. "Al-Sadr must get out of the city. This is not the time now to be against Americans even though I don't agree with the U.S. policy."

All the people interviewed during a visit insisted their full names not be used, for fear of repercussions.

The firebrand cleric, who controls a large militia force, meanwhile struck a defiant note during a sermon yesterday at the main mosque in neighboring Kufa yesterday.

"We will not allow the forces of occupation to enter Najaf and the holy sites because they are forbidden places for them," he thundered and called on the faithful to support his tough stance and fight.

The Kufa mosque has been ringed with machine-gun emplacements, razor wire and young militiamen digging trenches. Gun-toting militiamen also peer down from the high surrounding walls and turrets.

"It is martyrdom that I am yearning for, so support me and know that this is a war on Shi'ites," he said.

But three days spent inside Najaf -- within a stone's throw of the golden-domed Imam Ali Mosque and Sheik al-Sadr's well-guarded headquarters -- revealed almost no backing from residents for the 30-year-old cleric's armed confrontation with coalition forces.

Off a narrow alley diagonally opposite one of the main exits to the great mosque, Sheik al-Sadr is holding out behind a green door bearing his portrait.

Inside, men pray five times a day on carpets, while in the next room Sheik al-Sadr sits on cushions on the floor, receiving a steady stream of supporters -- and occasional would-be or actual mediators.

But in the rest of the city, many expressed fears that Sheik al-Sadr was leading them not only into bloody and inevitably losing clashes with the U.S. forces, but also toward a Sunni-Shi'ite civil war or clashes between different armed Shi'ite factions.

A man who gave his name as Suid, said he had been one of Sheik al-Sadr's spokesmen and keen supporters until recently. "Al-Sadr has no brains, he's not mature enough to lead the Shi'ites," he said this week. "I witnessed many criminal acts. He gave people arms and money."

Suid said funding for Sheik al-Sadr came partly from Iran and partly from money and gold that he had taken from the charity collections of pilgrims to the holy mosques. He said he would be willing to testify in court against the cleric.

Ahmed, in his 40s, runs a spare-parts shop for cars, and runs two families with one wife supervising nine children and the other wife looking after four.

He claimed to have been a witness when Sheik al-Sadr's supporters killed a local imam.

"Al-Sadr is a criminal. ... I want him out. We want peace and quiet. We don't deserve another Saddam," he said.

A man identified as a close relative of the slain imam vowed to take revenge against the cleric one day. "I respected his father -- but I despise him," said the man who did not want to be identified.

Sheik al-Sadr's father, Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, and two brothers were killed in 1999 -- apparently on orders from Saddam after the ayatollah's sermons became increasingly critical of the regime's excesses.

All over the poorer areas of the city, and in many shops of the bazaar, portraits of the slain ayatollah are shown, often alongside those of the son. Sermons and speeches of both men are available everywhere in the city on CDs with both men's faces on the covers.

Most shops in the city remain open and there are no obvious food shortages. Hotels, however, have taken advantage of the situation by charging exorbitant prices. Najaf Land, the hotel nearest to Sheik al-Sadr's headquarters, raised its prices overnight from a few dollars to $450 per room. "Take it or leave it," the receptionist told a prospective guest.

At the Najaf Girls Primary School, only nine of the 28 students in one class turned up -- the rest were too afraid to come. The class teacher said she does not care about politics, but only wants food and a normal life.

"Even during the Saddam time we had freedom to teach," she said, "but now I don't know what kind of schooling there will be if al-Sadr were to take control."

Rumors abound in the city, and many of them appeared aimed at discrediting Sheik al-Sadr. It was suggested that after his offices were closed in the teeming Shi'ite slums of Sadr City in Baghdad some weeks ago, the cleric headed for Iran and returned with orders to launch his anticoalition violence -- and presumably with extra funds.

Najaf residents said most of the cleric's closest militia leaders and advisers are from Sadr City and not from either of the Shi'ite holy cities, Najaf and Karbala.

Many houses in Najaf, especially close to the central mosque area, have been inhabited by Iranians. While busloads of Iranian pilgrims visit the holy cities frequently, there also has been a large flow of illegal entrants who gravitate to the holy Shi'ite cities.

After his father's death, Sheik al-Sadr was educated in the Iranian holy city of Qom by Ayatollah Kazem al-Husseini al-Hairi. But in recent days, the ayatollah distanced himself from his former protege, issuing a statement declaring that the national Iraqi police should retake control of all public buildings. Last Monday, the Mahdi's Army of the cleric pulled out of police stations and other public buildings they had occupied.

Reports from Qom quoting Ayatollah al-Hairi's spokesman say the Iranian disowned Sheik al-Sadr several months ago.

Rania al-Baz (Arab News)

What's to prevent this when the Qur'an tells men to beat their wives? "Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them" (Sura 4:34). At least this guy is in danger of prosecution (we'll see about that), but how many other cases like this have gone unreported and unnoticed?

From the BBC, :

A TV presenter who says she was beaten by her husband has allowed newspapers to show pictures of her swollen face to highlight domestic abuse.

Rania al-Baz said her husband, Mohammed al-Fallatta, beat her so hard earlier this week that he broke her nose and fractured her face in 13 places.

She is recovering in hospital. Police are looking for Mr Fallatta, an unemployed singer.

Reuters news agency says he faces charges of attempted murder.

Ms Baz's mother told Saudi media that Mr Fallatta beat her daughter regularly.

This time, the mother is quoted as saying, he became infuriated when Ms Baz answered the telephone.

After beating her, Mr Fallatta took her to hospital and fled, her mother reportedly added.

"I want to use what happened to me to draw attention to the plight of women in Saudi Arabia," Ms Baz said.

Every morning for the past six years, Ms Baz has been the smiling face of a family programme on Saudi television. She is well-known and loved in the kingdom.

The BBC's correspondent Kim Ghattas says this is probably the first time ever that a case of domestic violence has received media coverage in Saudi Arabia.

It is a deeply conservative society, where Islamic Sharia law is strictly enforced and where honour and appearances are hugely important.

The presence of problems such as domestic violence, rape, paedophilia or Aids is often simply not acknowledged our correspondent adds.

'Husband's right'

"It is considered a husband's rights that his wife should obey him," Abeer Mishkhas, of the Saudi English-language newspaper Arab News, told BBC News Online.

"This can involve coercion or violence, and we know that the majority of cases of this kind go unreported and unnoticed."

More and more Saudi women go to civil courts to request divorces on grounds of violence, Ms Mishkhas says.

But they are still not allowed to vote, drive, own a business or travel without permission from a male guardian.

In case anyone didn't know that both Syria and Iran are big players in what is going on in Iraq. From WND, :

Recent intelligence reports indicate that Syria is funding operations against U.S. and coalition targets in Iraq, U.S. officials said.

The reports indicate several Iraqis tied to opposition groups have been linked to Syrians in Damascus who supply cash, says Geostrategy-Direct, the global intelligence news service.

The officials did not elaborate on whether the money is provided by Syrian officials or possibly from exiles associated with the regime of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Syria has become a key opponent of the new government in Iraq. Scores of former Iraqi officials are believed to be in Syria, despite appeals from the U.S. government to turn them over.

Officials said it is not clear how the funding affects the operations against coalition forces in Iraq.

"Iraq is awash in weapons," one official said.

U.S. Marines in Ramadi last week encountered an unusual assault by armed Iraqis who were well trained and well organized – something that has not been seen since the end of major combat operations a year ago.

The attackers were equipped with AK-47 assault rifles and attacked in groups of 10 to 15.

The attackers disappeared after the assaults, which left 13 Marines dead and 20 others wounded.

There are still so many unanswered questions about Saudi involvement in the global jihad, it is hard not to view items like this with suspicion. From AP, :

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi police on Saturday seized a car packed with explosives that they have been searching for since February, an Interior Ministry official said. In a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, the unidentified official said the wanted GMC Suburban was found "packed with an amount of explosives."

The vehicle was secured, the statement added.

No further details were released, including where the car was found or if anyone was arrested. Officials were not immediately available for comment.

In February, the Interior Ministry used TV broadcasts to warn Saudis, particularly residents in the capital, Riyadh, that there was an imminent threat of a car bomb attack involving a GMC Suburban.

The car found Saturday was the same vehicle mentioned in the TV warning.

Saudi Arabia has launched a high profile crackdown on terrorists following several attacks inside this oil-rich Gulf state, including a May bombing in Riyadh that killed 26 people.

From FoxNews, , who asks: "Are these a test by terrorists to see law enforcement reactions and processes? This appears to be the second one in less than a month; the last was at Atlanta Hartfield Airport. Perhaps law enforcement needs to compare films of the crowds."

LOS ANGELES — A suspicious item was found at Los Angeles International Airport late Friday and authorities evacuated a terminal, police said. The item was "a cell phone with wires protruding from it," police spokesman Eduardo Funes said. He said no threats had been received.

Police were notified around 11 p.m., he said.

The terminal that was evacuated serves Delta Air Lines, Aeromexico, Air Jamaica, Air Tahiti Nui, China Southern, Legend Airlines and Swissair, according to the airport's Web site.

No other details were immediately available.

They just want the donors' money to go for what it was intended. The New York Times reports:

The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, one of three charities whose assets have been frozen because they are suspected of funneling donations to terrorist organizations, has asked the Treasury Department for permission to transfer some of its charitable assets to another nonprofit organization.

If the department approves, the foundation will give $50,000 to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, which works to bring medical services to needy children in the Mideast.

"This is the donors' money and it should go where donors wanted it to go, to good, charitable causes," said Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, which has been lobbying for the release of the frozen money to other charities.

The Times paints a pretty picture of the group to whom the money would go:

Steve Sosebee, president and chief executive of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, said that if the charity received the money, it would use it to provide immediate relief services like the program it is running in Hebron to deliver powdered milk to malnourished mothers and children.

This year, the fund underwrote 15 medical missions in which doctors from Italy, New Zealand, the United States and elsewhere have performed plastic surgery on burn victims and repaired cleft lips and palates.

It works to match children to medical services around the globe, covering travel expenses, arranging lodging and handling paperwork, among other logistical services.

Mr. Sosebee said the money would be particularly helpful now. The fund-raising environment for charities over all has been difficult over the last three years, and the relief fund has been hit by several other negative trends as well.

The Palestine Children's Relief Fund is an interfaith organization. Mr. Sosebee, its founder, was raised as a Roman Catholic but says he is now agnostic. The fund's name has hurt it somewhat since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he said. Revenues had steadily climbed to a peak of $895,000 in 2001 but dropped 33 percent to $598,000 in 2002, according to the organization's tax returns.

Muslims, whose religious tenets oblige them to donate 2.5 percent of their annual income to charity, have been wary of making donations that might attract the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other authorities.

Mr. Sosebee said the fund had been hard hit by a steep drop in contributions in the Persian Gulf states and other Middle Eastern countries and to a lesser extent among its patrons in the United States.

The organization is also concerned that the NBC movie "Homeland Security," which made its debut last Sunday, is going to have a negative effect on its revenues. In one scene, an investigator asks a professor who is suspected of having links to Al Qaeda about his support for "the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund."

He responds that "P.C.R.F. is a front for Islamic Jihad," a terrorist organization, and vehemently insists that he does not support that organization's policies or tactics.

Mr. Sosebee said he had received many phone calls and e-mail messages after the program was broadcast, asking how the Palestine Children's Relief Fund spent its money.

"This is starting to build up into a big deal because all the organizations working in the Middle East are feeling like we're being attacked," he said. "I don't have any politics or any political agenda, so I shouldn't have to feel guilty about anything."

An NBC spokeswoman said, "We're looking into the situation."

But Joe Kaufman in FrontPage painted a different picture of Sosebee and PCRF last summer:

In 1991, the PCRF considered two entities “ASSISTING ORGANIZATIONS”-- The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development and Global Relief Foundation -- that were closed down by the U.S. government for funding terrorist groups. Another assisting organization, the International [Islamic] Relief Organization, was raided by the FBI, accused of filtering money to al-Qaeda, Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Hamas. The New York Post records that the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) has been named in a lawsuit put forward by the families of the 9/11 victims for having “played key roles in laundering of funds to the terrorists in the 1998 African embassy bombings” and having been involved in the “financing and ‘aiding and abetting’ of terrorists in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.” On its website, the PCRF says it “works with these organizations” and acknowledges their “support and cooperation.”

In addition, the PCRF received thousands of dollars from the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). “Throughout the 1980s, the [ADC] lent its name to political-support campaigns for Soviet-backed guerrilla organizations around the world from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the PFLP to Marxist revolutionaries in Latin America,” according to the December 17, 2001, edition of Insight Magazine.

On March 17, 2001, Steve Sosebee spoke on behalf of the PCRF, at a ‘Conference on Palestine,’ held at the University of Michigan. The event was co-sponsored by the Global Relief Foundation (described above), the International Action Center (the parent of ANSWER), the Islamic Association for Palestine (a front for Hamas), CAIR (an off-shoot of the Islamic Association for Palestine), and others. Also speaking at the event was Ibrahim Hooper, the National Communications Director for CAIR and a man that claimed the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in Africa was the result of a “misunderstanding.” The event kicked off with the showing of a video entitled ‘The New Uprising,’ code words for the second intifada against Israel.

In addition, Sosebee represented the PCRF at an antiwar rally held at Kent State University, on May 4, 2002, although he claims he does not have “any political designs.” The event included a “solidarity speech” made by the All-African People's Revolutionary Party, the group founded by Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael), who has stated, “Zionism is the enemy of humanity.” There was also a speech given by the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade, the youth wing of the Revolutionary Communist Party. This group that was included in New Black Panther Khalid Muhammad’s heavily anti-Semitic “Million Youth March” in 1998.

Besides his attendance at conferences and rallies, Steve Sosebee is also a thrill seeker. In October of 2000, Sosebee, along with his wife, a team of doctors and his four-year-old daughter Deema trekked all the way to some of the most terrorist-laden areas located within the Palestinian territories. Sosebee’s personal highlights of the trip included: sightseeing at a police station, where just one day earlier, two Israelis were brutally beaten to death by an angry mob; sitting and waiting for another car to come, “so they could go first and be hit by stones”; keeping Deema busy in the playground, as ambulances sped passed with sirens blaring; putting on a Cuban Che Guevarra t-shirt to ensure his “acceptance among the youths”; driving across a dangerous rocky road, as his wife presses Deema to the floor of the car for protection; and applauding as Palestinian children hurled stones at Israeli soldiers, noting “every decent toss.”

Shimon Peres has one up on Jack Straw when it comes to clear insight and common sense. From Maariv International:

Opposition and Labor Chairman Shimon Peres, who is currently in Poland, reacted positively to the assassination of Hamas leader Rantisi. “Whoever deals with murder pays the price”, he said.

Straw man

"Targeted assassinations of this kind are unlawful, unjustified and counterproductive"? So they're not justified by the hundreds of Israeli civilians murdered on order Rantissi gave or approved of? If the British military had been able to kill Hitler and Göring in 1940, would that have been unlawful, unjustified, and counterproductive?

LONDON (AFP) - British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw condemned Israel's killing of Hamas chief Abdelaziz Rantissi, saying that such tactics were both wrong and unhelpful to peace.

"The British government has made it repeatedly clear that so-called targeted assassinations of this kind are unlawful, unjustified and counterproductive," Straw said in a brief statement.

Rantissi was assassinated in an air strike in Gaza City on Saturday night, less than a month after Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was killed in an Israeli helicopter strike.

At the time, British Prime Minister Tony Blair had condemned the killing of Yassin, saying that Israel had a right to defend itself but calling the assassination a "setback" for peace in the Middle East.

Rantissi was recently named among Hamas leaders whose assets in Britain were being frozen.

Rantisi

Another leader of the global jihad has been killed. This just in from AP.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - An Israeli missile strike killed Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi on Saturday in a strike on his car, hospital officials said. Rantisi's son Mohammed and a bodyguard also were killed in the attack, the officials said.

The militant Hamas leader was one of Israel's top targets after it had assassinated Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin in an airstrike last month.

Rantisi's car was hit with missiles Saturday evening on the road outside his home, leaving only the burned, destroyed vehicle.

Rantisi was taken to the hospital in critical condition, his body pocked with bloody wounds, and rushed into emergency surgery, but he died five minutes after arriving at the hospital.

This wave of kidnappings is designed, of course, to compel concessions. Judging from recent events in Spain and the mixed reaction to the killing of the Italian hostage, this is not an unreasonable hope. From AP:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An American soldier missing for a week was shown unhurt but clearly frightened in an Arab television broadcast in which the 20-year-old was surrounded by masked gunmen who offered to exchange him for imprisoned Iraqi fighters and claimed they had more hostages.

There was no sign of what happened to a soldier who disappeared with Pfc. Keith Maupin after their convoy was attacked April 9 outside Baghdad during a wave of kidnappings blamed on anti-U.S. insurgents.

In Fallujah, west of the capital, Iraqis and U.S. officials held their second day of direct negotiations Saturday aimed at stemming violence in the besieged city. About a dozen representatives of the city met with top U.S. and civilian leaders.

"Things were very quiet in Fallujah last night, which means we are succeeding," said Hashem al-Hasani, a representative of the Iraqi Governing Council who has been mediating between the United States and city representatives.

U.S. commanders moved forces from a key bridge across the Euphrates River that also controls access to the city's hospital.

"There are a lot of risks that we accept by pulling away from the bridge so it will be a gradual process," said Col. Tom Toolan, commander of the 1st Marine Regiment.

The footage of Maupin, aired Friday, showed him in a floppy desert hat, sitting on the floor and nervously looking around. Men whose head were covered with keffiyeh scarves stood nearby.

"My name is Keith Matthew Maupin. I am a soldier from the 1st Division," he said, looking into the camera. "I am married with a 10-month-old son. I came to liberate Iraq, but I did not come willingly because I wanted to stay with my child." ...

In the video of Maupin, one of the gunmen was heard saying: "We are keeping him to be exchanged for some of the prisoners captured by the occupation forces."

"Some of our groups managed to capture one of the American soldiers, and he is one of many others. He is being treated according to the treatment of prisoners in the Islamic religion and he is in good health," the gunman said on the tape, a copy of which was dropped off at the U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar.

"He is being treated according to the treatment of prisoners in the Islamic religion." Islamic directives for prisoners include this:

When an adult male is taken captive, the caliph considers the interests (...of Islam and the Muslims) and decides between the prisoner's death, slavery, release without paying anything, or ransoming himself in exchange for money or for a Muslim captive held by the enemy. ('Umdat as-Salik, o9.14)

Maupin seems to be held in hopes of exchange for a captive, but if that is rejected, the kidnappers will most likely fall back on one of the other options listed here — which do include release.

The Italian hostages

This Telegraph story shows that after the Italian hostage was killed, in Italy there is both defiance and signs of quavering dhimmitude and caving in to terrorism a la Madrid: "if only we had negotiated with the kidnappers" etc. Few seem to remember that if you pay the Danegeld, you never get rid of the Dane.

The Italian hostage executed in Iraq tried to tear off his hood seconds before he was shot dead and screamed: "Now I'll show you how an Italian dies."

Details of the final moments of Fabrizio Quattrocchi deepened Italy's shock and outrage at the hostage crisis as it awaited further news of the three other men seized with him on Monday.

The Italian foreign minister, Franco Frattini, yesterday hailed as a hero Mr Quattrocchi, 36, a former baker. The killers filmed the murder and Mr Frattini revealed details after Italy's ambassador to Qatar was shown the footage by the Arab television station Al-Jazeera, which has not broadcast the video.

"I have been authorised by the [victim's] family . . . to reveal the final words of this boy who died what I would call a courageous death, I would say like a hero," Mr Frattini said.

"When his assassins were pointing a gun at him, this boy tried to remove the hood and shouted: 'Now I'll show you how an Italian dies.' And they killed him."

Mr Quattrocchi's abductors shot him in the neck at close range. Al-Jazeera said that he had been forced to dig his own grave.

Foreign minister Franco Frattini confirmed the news during a TV awards show
Millions of Italians, including the victim's family in Genoa, learned of his death while watching a chat show on Wednesday night.

Relatives of the other hostages were in the audience. They had an agonising wait to discover which man had died after hearing that a hostage had been killed before the programme was aired. Although Mr Frattini was among the programme's guests, it was the show's host, Bruno Vespa, who made the announcement at midnight. Then Mr Frattini confirmed the grim news of Mr Quattrocchi's death.

Francesco Cupertino, the brother of one of the other hostages, asked the foreign minister: "What will happen now?" Mr Frattini replied: "We have to work hard to bring them out." He said Italy would do "what is possible and impossible". But he underlined that it would not negotiate with the kidnappers, who call themselves the Green Brigade of the Prophet.

Mr Quattrocchi was born in Sicily and moved to Genoa with his family. He had become a bodyguard after doing a stint as a nightclub bouncer then signed up to work in Iraq.

He was said to have accepted a job as a security guard working in Iraq for an American company, to earn enough for a home in Italy and to get married.

"Fabrizio was a wonderful man, a man of iron but who had never hurt a fly," his fiancee, Alice, told Italian television yesterday. "He was supposed to come back to me and we were to be married.

"The only consolation is that he died with honour."

But relatives of one of the other hostages, Salvatore Stefio, 34, reacted with despondency and despair. "He may have died a hero but he is still dead," said Mr Stefio's younger brother Christian. Mr Stefio's wife Emanuala, said: "With the murder of Fabrizio Quattrocchi, part of us has also died."

Mr Stefio's father Angelo called on Italians to "take to the streets in order to stop all this". He appealed for the peacekeeping coalition to try to broker an exchange to secure the remaining hostages' release.

Al-Jazeera said a statement sent with the video had given a warning that three other Italians who were working for an American company and were kidnapped with Mr Quattrocchi near Fallujah would be killed "one by one".

Most Italian politicians closed ranks around Silvio Berlusconi, the centre-Right prime minister, who has said he will not be bullied into withdrawing 3,000 Italian troops from Iraq. "They have cut short a life," Mr Berlusconi said. "They have not damaged our values and commitment to peace."

However, Mr Quattrocchi's family said he might have lived if Mr Berlusconi had not made "rash" comments after the kidnappings.

"Before making declarations of force, the government would have done better to have opened talks with the kidnappers," the family said.

"There is the feeling that the government wanted to make a show of strength by playing with the lives of those [Italians] in Iraq."

Colleagues of Mr Quattrocchi said he had been captured while accompanying a group of clients on the road to Amman in Jordan.

Tehran's man

"Tehran is now spending some $70 million a month on its Iraq operations." And Iran is not at war with the US? From Ilan Berman of the American Foreign Policy Council in the New York Post, with thanks to Ted Robertson:

AN Iranian delegation is now in Baghdad, supposedly to help talk down the firebrand Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his radical "al-Mahdi Army." The strange thing is, Iran is the chief culprit among the outside players behind much of Iraq's current instability.

U.S. officials have long expressed concerns about the Islamic Republic's corrosive activities in Iraq, ranging from drug trafficking to the funding of radical clerics. But recent revelations have exposed an Iranian strategic offensive of unprecedented magnitude - one aimed at preventing the establishment of a secular, pro-Western government in its eastern neighbor.

In a recent interview with the influential Arab-language daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat, a former Iranian official revealed that Tehran has successfully infiltrated hundreds of operatives from its clerical army, the Pasdaran, into Iraq via Kurdish areas not yet firmly under the control of the Iraqi Governing Council.

Since then, the official said, Iranian agents - including members of the Pasdaran's feared paramilitary "Qods Corps" - have established a major presence throughout the country, where they have begun active recruitment, propaganda and insurgency operations.

These activities include the formation of a cadre of radicalized Iraqi youth who will be mobilized during the country's upcoming parliamentary elections, as well as the targeting and elimination of prominent opposition leaders. Most notably, he credits the "Qods Corps" with the assassination of the Ayatollah Mohammad Bakr al-Hakim, head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, who was killed in Najaf last August in an attack previously believed to have been carried out by Ba'athist loyalists.

An insurgency of this magnitude does not come cheap: According to that same interview, Tehran is now spending some $70 million a month on its Iraq operations. The money pays off friendly Iraqi clerics, who provide indoctrination and religious legitimacy for a ready cadre of radical young Shi'a, and maintains an extensive network of safe-houses and bases for Iranian agents throughout the country.

The Al-Sharq al-Awsat interview was a blockbuster, but its claims - with the exception of the $70 million figure and the Hakim killing - are confirmed by other sources.

Iraq's political vacuum has also drawn other undesirable characters. Iraqis say both Hezbollah (the Iranian-backed, Lebanon-based Shi'ite militia) and Hamas (the Palestinian terrorist group) have begun to put down roots in post-Saddam Iraq through the establishment of recruitment bases and offices in urban centers like Nasariah, Basra and Safwan.

Syria, meanwhile, has played an important supporting role, expanding the capabilities of both groups through ongoing financial and political assistance. U.S. officials also suspect that, despite its public denials (and mounting pressure from Washington), Damascus is still permitting foreign fighters to enter Iraq via the Syrian-Iraqi border. Even militants from groups as distant as Pakistan's Lashkar e-Taiba have recently been captured within the country.

The reasons for this foreign meddling are not hard to fathom. Iran, already grappling with a restive, disenfranchised domestic population, is eager to avoid having a "bad" example - a secular, pro-Western regime - emerge next door.

As for Syria, the world's only remaining Ba'athist state has good reason to want to preserve the vitality of its sister regime's nationalist opposition, both as a hedge against mounting international attention and to prevent a spillover of the political empowerment of Iraq's minorities on its own Kurdish population.

More broadly, both countries - and the groups working with them - fear that American efforts in the war on terrorism might decisively alter the region's turbulent status quo, and not in their favor.

With the deadline for a U.S. transfer of sovereignty to the emerging Iraqi government drawing closer, and with election-year mudslinging well underway in Washington, quelling Iraq's instability is rapidly emerging as an overriding priority for the Bush administration.

But so too should be the realization that the recipe for long-term stability in Iraq rests in taking up the thorny issue of external influence - and in unequivocally demonstrating to regional rogues that their troublemaking carries real consequences.

Sistani: An ex-moderate?

We used to hear all the time that Sistani was a moderate. But it should be clear to everyone now that he wants Sharia in Iraq, and, in accordance with Sharia principles, will not side with infidels against a fellow Muslim. From The Guardian:

Iraq's most powerful Shia spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, warned the United States against entering the holy city of Najaf in pursuit of his militant rival, Moqtada al-Sadr, it was reported yesterday.

A senior Shia source told Reuters that Ayatollah Sistani had declared Najaf a "red line".

The warning came as 2,500 US troops gathered around the central Iraqi city in pursuit of Mr Sadr and his Mahdi militia. It is significant because that US incursions into the holy city would unite Shia factions, and possibly spark a broader uprising among Iraq's majority population.

The sensitivity of the situation appeared to have been taken on board by the US military and General Richard Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said talks were under way to try to avoid a bloodbath in Najaf.

General Myers, on a visit to Baghdad, said the US admin istrator Paul Bremer was using "multiple channels" in the negotiations to resolve the situation both there and in Falluja, where more than 700 Iraqis have died.

The stand-off around Najaf came during a day of violence in Iraq, alleviated only by the release of three Japanese hostages who had been threatened with being burned alive by their captors.

Only hours earlier, Italian security guard Fabrizio Quattrocchi was shown to have been executed by hostage takers. Film of the execution was sent to the Qatar-based television station al-Jazeera.

In Baghdad, an Iranian diplomat was assassinated only a day after Tehran revealed the US had asked for its help in defusing violence in Shia areas. Khalil Naimi, first deputy at the embassy in Baghdad, was shot dead near the Iranian embassy in the Salhiya neighbourhood.

In the face of a rapidly deteriorating situation, the defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced that over 20,000 US troops would have to stay in Iraq three months longer than expected, breaking an earlier pledge that combat tours would not last over a year. The decision kept the US troop level in Iraq at 135,000. It had been due to drop to 115,000.

Hagia Sophia

The Telegraph has run a sympathetic piece on the Muslims of Spain that is riddled with historical distortions and inaccuracies. In the middle of it is a section on how this embattled community is being denied its rights to an element of its glorious history:

For those such as Isabel Romero, the head of an Islamic community group and one of Spain's 20,000 converts to Islam, the answer is to be open. She has asked for permission from the Vatican to pray in Cordoba Cathedral, which is built on the site of what was once one of Islam's greatest mosques.

"Although the council cannot make the decision it will hopefully be a step for the mosque's universal character to be recognised," she said. "This is not about claiming anything and much less about re-conquering. It does not make sense that when a Muslim goes to pray there they are told to get up."

The petition is supported by the ruling Socialist Party, but a Church spokesman flatly rejected the proposition. "The cathedral is Christian and has been for some time", he said.

All this gives the impression of a despised minority being denied basic rights, but there is, of course, much more involved than The Telegraph suggests. For one thing, how about a little reciprocity? If Spain must recognize the "universal character" of the Cordoba Cathedral, why don't these Spanish Muslims contact the government of Turkey and request that, as a gesture of good will, the "universal character" of the Aya Sofya mosque in Istanbul be recognized as well?

The Aya Sofya mosque was until May 29, 1453 the Hagia Sophia cathedral, which until the building of St. Peter's in Rome was the most magnificent church in Christendom and the seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople. It was made into a mosque by the Muslim conquerers of the Byzantine Empire. Now it is a museum, although Muslims still pray there — since according to Islamic law, a building that has once been a mosque cannot legitimately stop being a mosque.

That means, of course, that if Muslim prayers are allowed again in the Cordoba Cathedral, eventually there will be calls to eliminate the Christian presence there — for they will be an affront to the dignity of the mosque. But in any case, I will support Muslim prayers in the Cordoba Cathedral as soon as the iconostasis and altar of the Hagia Sophia are restored, and the Patriarch of Constantinople is allowed once again to celebrate the Divine Liturgy there. That would be an excellent way for Muslims worldwide to demonstrate that they are really what they claim to be: tolerant and interested in peaceful coexistence with non-Muslims as equals.

Pearl (WSJ)

From AP:

LAHORE, Pakistan -- Pakistani police arrested two suspected Islamic militants in separate raids Friday, including a man wanted in connection with the abduction and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, an official said.

Pearl was kidnapped Jan. 23, 2002, in the southern Pakistan city of Karachi while working on a story on Islamic militancy, and was later killed in captivity.

Malik Tasaddaq, 28, was arrested in the eastern province of Punjab on suspicion of involvement in Pearl's killing, the province's police chief Saadatullah Khan said in a statement that didn't elaborate.

Tasaddaq and Nadir Khan, who was detained in a separate raid in Punjab, allegedly belong to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an outlawed Sunni Muslim group blamed for attacks on minority Shiites, Westerners and the government, the statement said.

Khan, 30, was wanted for his alleged role in the killing of a police official and a Shiite Muslim leader.

Four Islamic militants have been convicted of kidnapping Pearl, but seven other suspects -- including those who allegedly slit his throat in front of a video camera -- remain at large.

In August 2001, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which was linked to the Taliban militia in Afghanistan, in a crackdown aimed at eliminating religious extremism in the country.

Abdelkader Yahia Cherif

Is France going to crack down on radical Islam?

BREST, France, April 16 (AFP) - France has deported an Algerian Muslim cleric seeking asylum in the country who was accused of trying to convert young people to a radical form of Islam, police said.

A police statement late Thursday said Abdelkader Yahia Cherif "has just left on a regular ferry for Algiers," under a deportation order issued April 5.

The cleric, imam in the northwestwestern city of Brest, was arrested as he left a police station in nearby Quimper after renewing his request for asylum in France. He was transferred this week to a detention center in the southern city of Marseille, from where he was deported.

The ministry said Cherif's message to young people contained "strong anti-Semitic connotations and the maintenance of active relations with the national or international Islamic movement linked with organisations advocating terrorist acts."

It also accused him of "a call to violence and hatred against people simply because of their origin or their religion."

His lawyer David Rajjou has said Cherif denies all the accusations and said "his life would be in danger" if he were sent back to Algeria.

A Rennes court on Thursday turned down his lawyer's bid to have the deportation ordered withdrawn.

A similar picture adorns this article at the Al-Muhajiroun site

This article from the jihadist website Al-Muhajiroun sets forth Islamic theological justifications for terrorism, including the use of weapons of mass destruction against the infidels. Note the Qur'anic verse about "striking terror" into infidel hearts, and the mixture of theological points with political ones. For example, the author lists as examples of unbelief both "saying that Allaah has a son," i.e., like Christianity, and "arbitrating to the United Nations."

Thanks to William Webb, who comments: "Here's an article for all those supposedly non-partisan members of the 9/11 commission and all the brain-dead politicians in Washington who can't seem to comprehend that we are facing a religious war."

Allaah (swt) says in the Qur'aan: "We shall strike terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve (kuffaar - Jews, Christians, Mushriks, apostates etc.), because they joined others in worship with Allaah." (EMQ Aali-'Imraan, 3: 151)

In this verse, Allaah (swt) clearly informs us that he will terrorise and strike terror into the hearts of the disbelievers i.e. the non-Muslims, due to the shirk they commit - associating partners with him. A form of shirk (associating rivals with Allaah) is to vote for man-made law, legislate kufr (non-Islamic) constitutions, saying that Allaah has a son, arbitrating to the United Nations etc. Therefore, it is inevitable for the non-Muslims to live in fear and tremor, as they associate with Allaah false gods that cannot benefit them or prevent harm from reaching them. They worship their desires, the law of the land, idols, priests, rabbis etc. And due to this great crime, Allaah (swt) vows to terrorise them.

Furthermore, Allaah (swt) says in the Qur'aan: "Prepare against them (disbelievers) all you can of power, including steeds of war (tanks, planes, missiles, artillery, weapons of mass destruction etc.) to terrorise the enemy of Allaah and your enemy." (EMQ Al-Anfaal, 8: 60)

Here is a marvelous example of updating the Qur'an's message for a new age! "Steeds of war" is glossed as "tanks, planes, missiles, artillery, weapons of mass destruction"!

In this verse, Allaah orders the believers to terrorise (turhiboun) the enemies of Allaah and our enemies, by preparing as much artillery, power and weapons as possible. In this verse, Allaah is directly ordering us to use terrorism against the aggressors and enemies of Allaah, all praises are for him.

The acts of violence by the Mujaahideen against the enemies of Allaah in places such as New York, Washington, Bali, Turkey, Riyaad and Madrid are indeed acts of Terrorism (Al-Irhaab), and those who carry out such violence are definitely terrorists. Likewise, the acts of violence committed by the US, UK and coalition forces in areas such as Afghanistan, Filisteen (Palestine), Sheeshan (Chechnya), 'Iraaq, Kashmir etc... are indeed acts of terrorism against women, children and the elderly. On both sides acts of terrorism are being used to propagate and inject their ideology across the world; so who are the criminals?

There are two types of terrorism, one that is praised by almighty Allaah (swt) and one that is dispraised and worthy of severe punishment in this life and the hereafter. Violence is also of two, one that is pro-life and one that is against life. Violence against aggressors, oppressors and tyrants is pro-life, whereas violence initiated (such as that by the US & UK in Afghanistan and in Iraq) against young women, children and the elderly is against life.

The form of terrorism used by the US, UK and its alliance is indeed aggression, crime, corruption and tyranny - worthy of severe punishment and disgrace by almighty Allaah, due to it being directed at people who have sanctity for their lives, wealth and property (i.e. Muslims). Whereas the terrorism used by the Mujaahideen is the praised, exalted and blessed form of terrorism due to it being against people who have no sanctity for their lives, who support aggressors and tyrants and spread corruption and evil on the earth. Furthermore, it is in response to the command of Allaah, who orders the believers to terrorise His (swt)'s enemies.

However, these acts of violence by the Mujaahideen are carried out against people who support, worship and obey Taaghout [anything other than Allah]. It is also against people who they have no covenant of security with. Islaam condemns betrayal i.e. to live among people with whom you have a covenant of security and then to kill them and take their wealth. For those who have a covenant of security, such as those who have citizenship or an agreement with the regime they live under in countries such as the US, UK, Spain, Italy etc...(as opposed to living under the apostate rulers in Muslim countries) it is completely prohibited to carry out any acts of violence against those whom they have a covenant with, and is in fact a great sin and considered to be betrayal in Islaam.

The definition of terrorism according to the kuffaar is irrelevant and insignificant for Muslims. This is because we only refer to Islaam as a marji' i.e. a reference point and furqaan (criteria). In any case their definition of terrorism is also applicable to themselves as they systematically use acts of violence against 'innocent' people to further their own selfish political aims.

Muslims should not be afraid of being called terrorists, fundamentalists or extremists. Firstly, because it is just part of the disbeliever's propaganda against Islaam and Muslims, which was also used against the messenger Muhammad (saw) and his companions; who were labelled as terrorists, extremists, magicians, liars and sorcerers! Secondly, because it is true; we are terrorists as Allaah commands us to use terrorism. We are also fundamentalists, as we refer to the very fundamentals of Islaam, such as Tawheed and extremists, since we are extremely against pornography, alcohol, night-clubs, oppression, tyranny, corruption and crime etc...i.e. man made law.

The Muslims should be aware that the disbelievers will always play a war of terminology in order to silence the believers and make us appear to be the aggressors. However, this will never effect the Muwahhideen (those who love Allaah more than anyone else and associate none with him) as they are aware that we are in a war between Islaam and kufr and the truth will always be among the minority. Allaah (swt) says: "And if you obey most of those on earth, they will mislead you far away from Allaah's Path. They follow nothing but conjecture, and they do nothing but lie." (EMQ Al-An'aam, 6: 116)

Their love and fear of Allaah prohibits them from fearing the kuffaar and their propaganda. They become firm in the time of crisis and difficulties, always asking Allaah for support and victory (not the UN or local MP's). They know the Lord they worship (his names and attributes) and understand the true meaning of Laa ilaha illallah - to give up ones desires, false gods, customs, traditions etc. and then to believe in Allaah exclusively.

The messenger Muhammad (saw) said: "Islaam came as something strange, and it will return as something strange. Paradise is for the strangers. He (saw) was asked: 'Oh Rasoulullaah! Who are the Ghurabaa' (strangers)? He replied: Those who withdraw themselves from their people (tribes, customs, traditions etc.)"

Therefore, in this time of crisis, it is vital to be with the minority and those who are looked at as strangers. May Allaah return to us the Khilaafah (Islamic state) sooner then later and give us the correct understanding of Tawheed, his names and attributes.

The Followers of Ahl us-Sunnati wal-Jamaa'ah
Website: www.muhajiroun.com, Email: almuhajiroun_uk@yahoo.co.uk, Phone: 07956 600 569 or 07956 920 006

Ibn Warraq

Here is the full text of an enormously important paper that was presented by Ibn Warraq at a panel discussion on "Apostasy, Human Rights, Religion and Belief" held at the the 60th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva on April 7, 2004. Ibn Warraq, of course, is the outstandingly courageous author of Why I am not a Muslim and the editor of The Origins of the Koran; The Quest for the Historical Muhammad; What the Koran Really Says; and Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out.

The very notion of apostasy has vanished from the West where one would talk of being a lapsed Catholic or non-practicing Christian rather than an apostate. There are certainly no penal sanctions for converting from Christianity to any other religion. In Islamic countries, on the other hand, the issue is far from dead.

The Arabic word for apostate is murtadd, the one who turns back from Islam, and apostasy is denoted by irtidad and ridda. Ridda seems to have been used for apostasy from Islam into unbelief ( in Arabic, kufr ), and irtidad from Islam to some other religion. A person born of Muslim parents who later rejects Islam is called a Murtadd Fitri - fitri meaning natural, it can also mean instinctive, native, inborn, innate. One who converts to Islam and subsequently leaves it is a Murtadd Milli, from milla meaning religious community .The Murtadd Fitri can be seen as someone unnatural, subverting the natural course of things whose apostasy is a willful and obstinate act of treason against God and the one and only true creed, and a betrayal and desertion of the community. The Murtadd Milli is a traitor to the Muslim community, and equally disruptive.

Any verbal denial of any principle of Muslim belief is considered apostasy. If one declares, for example, that the universe has always existed from eternity or that God has a material substance, then one is an apostate. If one denies the unity of God or confesses to a belief in reincarnation, one is guilty of apostasy. Certain acts are also deemed acts of apostasy, for example treating a copy of the Koran disrespectfully, by burning it or even soiling it in some way. Some doctors of Islamic law claim that a Muslim becomes an apostate if he or she enters a church, worships an idol, or learns and practises magic. A Muslim becomes an apostate if he defames the Prophet's character, morals or virtues, and denies Muhammad's prophethood and that he was the seal of the prophets.

KORAN

It is clear quite clear that under Islamic Law an apostate must be put to death. There is no dispute on this ruling among classical Muslim or modern scholars, and we shall return to the textual evidence for it. Some modern scholars have argued that in the Koran the apostate is threatened with punishment only in the next world, as for example at XVI.106, "Whoso disbelieveth in Allah after his belief -save him who is forced thereto and whose heart is still content with the Faith but whoso findeth ease in disbelief: On them is wrath from Allah. Theirs will be an awful doom." Similarly in III.90-91, "Lo! those who disbelieve after their (profession of) belief, and afterward grow violent in disbelief, their repentance will not be accepted. And such are those who are astray. Lo! those who disbelieve, and die in disbelief, the (whole) earth full of gold would not be accepted from such an one if it were offered as a ransom (for his soul).Theirs will be a painful doom and they will have no helpers."

However, Sura II.217 is interpreted by no less an authority than al-Shafi'i(died 820 C.E.), the founder of one of the four orthodox schools of law of Sunni Islam to mean that the death penalty should be prescribed for apostates. Sura II.217 reads: "... But whoever of you recants and dies an unbeliever , his works shall come to nothing in this world and the next, and they are the companions of the fire for ever." Al-Thalabi and al -Khazan concur. Al-Razi in his commentary on II:217 says the apostate should be killed.

Similarly, IV. 89: "They would have you disbelieve as they themselves have disbelieved, so that you may be all like alike. Do not befriend them until they have fled their homes for the cause of God. If they desert you seize them and put them to death wherever you find them. Look for neither friends nor helpers among them..." Baydawi (died c. 1315-16), in his celebrated commentary on the Koran, interprets this passage to mean: "Whosover turns back from his belief ( irtada ), openly or secretly, take him and kill him wheresoever ye find him, like any other infidel. Separate yourself from him altogether. Do not accept intercession in his regard". Ibn Kathir in his commentary on this passage quoting Al Suddi (died 745) says that since the unbelievers had manifested their unbelief they should be killed.

Abul Ala Mawdudi [1903-1979], the founder of the Jamat-i Islami, is perhaps the most influential Muslim thinker of the 20th century, being responsible for the Islamic resurgence in modern times. He called for a return to the Koran and a purified sunna as a way to revive and revitalise Islam. In his book on apostasy in Islam, Mawdudi argued that even the Koran prescribes the death penalty for all apostates. He points to sura IX for evidence:
"But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then are they your brethren in religion. We detail our revelations for a people who have knowledge. And if they break their pledges after their treaty (hath been made with you) and assail your religion, then fight the heads of disbelief Lo! they have no binding oaths in order that they may desist."(IX: 11,12)

Hadith

Here we find many traditions demanding the death penalty for apostasy. According to Ibn Abbas the Prophet said, "Kill him who changes his religion," or "behead him." The only argument was as to the nature of the death penalty. Bukhari recounts this gruesome tradition:
"Narrated Anas:Some people from the tribe of Ukl came to the Prophet and embraced Islam .The climate of Medina did not suit them, so the Prophet ordered them to go to the (herd of milch ) camels of charity to drink their milk and urine (as a medicine).They did so, and after they had recovered from their ailment they turned renegades (reverted from Islam, irtada ) and killed the shepherd of the camels and took the camels away. The Prophet sent (some people) in their pursuit and so they were caught and brought, and the Prophet ordered that their hands and legs should be cut off and that their eyes should be branded with heated pieces of iron , and that their cut hands and legs should not be cauterised, till they die."

Abu Dawud has collected the following saying of the Prophet:
" 'Ikrimah said: Ali burned some people who retreated from Islam. When Ibn Abbas was informed of it he said, 'If it had been I, I would not have them burned, for the apostle of Allah said: 'Do not inflict Allah's punishment on anyone.' But would have killed them on account of the statement of the Apostle of Allah, 'Kill those who change their religion.' "

In other words, kill the apostates (with the sword) but certainly not by burning them, that is Allah's way of punishing transgressors in the next world. According to a tradition of Aisha's, apostates are to be slain, crucified or banished.

Should the apostate be given a chance to repent? Traditions differ enormously. In one tradition, Muadh Jabal refused to sit down until an apostate brought before him had been killed "in accordance with the decision of God and of His Apostle."

Under Muslim law, the male apostate must be put to death, as long as he is an adult, and in full possession of his faculties. If a pubescent boy apostatises, he is imprisoned until he comes of age, when if he persists in rejecting Islam he must be put to death. Drunkards and the mentally disturbed are not held responsible for their apostasy. If a person has acted under compulsion he is not considered an apostate, his wife is not divorced and his lands are not forfeited. According to Hanafis and Shia, a woman is imprisoned until she repents and adopts Islam once more, but according to the influential Ibn Hanbal, and the Malikis and Shafiites , she is also put to death. In general, execution must be by the sword, though there are examples of apostates tortured to death, or strangled, burnt, drowned, impaled or flayed. The caliph Umar used to tie them to a post and had lances thrust into their hearts, and the Sultan Baybars II (1308-09) made torture legal.

From Eric Reeves:

The National Islamic Front regime in Khartoum has, over fifteen years of tyrannical rule, assembled an unsurpassed record of bad faith, unspeakable cruelty, and massive human destruction. This unelected and ruthlessly self-perpetuating regime has energetically supported international terrorism; it has violated and abrogated every one of the countless agreements into which it has expediently entered; it is directly responsible for massive human destruction, especially through the denial of humanitarian aid to millions of innocent human beings; it has conducted brutal scorched-earth warfare throughout the oil regions of southern Sudan, the ghastly consequences of which have been definitively established by numerous human rights reports; it has imposed on all of Sudan under its control the most vicious form of Islamic law (shari'a), with a penal code (hudud) that includes cross-amputation (amputation of the right hand and left foot), lashing or stoning to death young women for the "crime" of adultery, and execution for apostasy from Islam as well as for other "crimes."

Presently this regime is denying two essential UN investigative teams access to the Darfur region, where vast racially/ethnically-driven human destruction continues to accelerate. Jan Egeland, UN Under-secretary for Humanitarian Affairs, was to have led a critical humanitarian assessment mission to Darfur, departing yesterday (April 15, 2004). At the last minute, the Khartoum regime informed Egeland that it "needed more time." This ominous delay can only be for the purposes of better obscuring evidence for what Egeland himself has described as "ethnic cleansing" and "scorched-earth warfare" directed against the African civilian population---countenanced, indeed orchestrated by Khartoum.

The Khartoum regime also continues to deny access to a four-person UN human rights investigating team that has been languishing on the Chad/Darfur border for ten days. It seems virtually certain that the investigating team will soon be recalled to Geneva, even as massive crimes against humanity continue inside Darfur. Khartoum has also clearly and consequentially violated the terms of the cease-fire agreement signed with the Darfur insurgency groups in N'Djamena, Chad on April 8, 2004 (most definitively, but far from uniquely, the US State
Department reported that Khartoum launched aerial attacks on the first day of the cease-fire [April 12, 2004], most notably on Anka, northwest of al-Fashir). Given today's (April 16, 2004) joint statement by the two Darfur insurgency groups, highlighting Khartoum's violations, the cease-fire would seem to be within hours of collapsing.

And Khartoum's massively destructive denial and manipulation of humanitarian aid access continues throughout Darfur, bringing closer to reality the horrific statistical projections of the US Agency for International Development "Projected Mortality Rates in Darfur, 2004-2005" (see data at
http://www.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/sudan/cmr_darfur.pdf).

The is the nature of the regime that is presently negotiating with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in Naivasha, Kenya under the auspices of the East African IGAD consortium. Khartoum's negotiating record to date, predictably, is one of stalling, contrived suspensions of the talks, refusal to produce position papers in timely fashion, abuse of the lead IGAD negotiator Lazaro Sumbeiywo, reneging on agreements committed to, and open contempt for southern negotiators.

Despite these difficult obstacles, international diplomatic persistence has brought the talks to the point of culmination. This diplomatic focus has, unconscionably, entailed muting criticism of Khartoum for its genocidal war in Darfur. It has also entailed acquiescing before countless moments of diplomatic bad faith. But despite all, an agreement is within reach---an agreement that will provide the international community a small, tenuous, but enormously significant
window of opportunity in which to send a meaningful UN peace support operation to southern Sudan and provide the critical emergency transitional aid that post-war south will desperately need. Peace, even with a "peace agreement," will remain a distinct longshot, and only these long odds have persuaded Khartoum to come this far along the negotiating path. But the international community must seize the opportunity.

And yet at the last moment, the regime has thrown up yet another obstacle to a final agreement: it is insisting that the notoriously brutal shari'a law described above govern all Sudanese in the capital city. No matter that these Sudanese be southerners and non-Muslims; no matter that the Machakos Protocol of July 2002 (the breakthrough agreement that launched these negotiations) specifically exempts those in southern Sudan from shari'a. The National Islamic Front regime insists that when in Khartoum, non-Muslim southerners will be fully
subject to shari'a law and the brutal penal code (hudud) that attends it.

This contentious issue has been in evidence for some time, and the SPLM has made significant offers to reach some reasonable compromise. The Movement first proposed that an enclave within Khartoum, if national political capital, be designated as not governed by shari'a. The National Islamic Front rejected this proposal out of hand. The SPLM then proposed that southern Sudanese in the capital be exempt from shari'a, i.e., southern Sudanese would preserve the exemption from shari'a that they were to enjoy in southern Sudan by virtue of the Machakos Protocol.

Khartoum has contemptuously rejected both these good faith efforts to resolve the issue of shari'a in Khartoum. The regime is insisting, and with growing evidence of US diplomatic support, that shari'a be absolute in Khartoum for all---southern Sudanese and non-southern Sudanese, Muslims and non-Muslims.

Khaled Kishtainy

At last: a Muslim writer has admitted that leading Muslim ideologues have positive attitudes toward the use of violence, and that their talk of "peaceful Islam" is just intended to deceive non-Muslims -- not to try to make Muslims peaceful. As the Prophet Muhammad said, "War is deceit."

For pointing out these rather obvious truths I have been called every name in the book by American Muslim spokesmen. What will they say about Khaled Kishtainy? How his theories and book were greeted by fellow Muslims is all too consistent with the treatment that would-be Muslim reformers receive virtually everywhere these days. From MEMRI:

In an article titled 'Who's Responsible for the Islamic Terrorists?' that appeared in the London Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, columnist Khaled Kishtainy,(1) of Iraqi origin, discussed the leading Muslim ideologues' positive attitudes towards the use of violence. The following is the article:(2) Islamist Talk of 'Love and Peace in Islam' is Just a Cover for Violence

"[The phenomenon] called Islamic terrorism has many roots and causes, and much has already been written about this. But I have personal input on this matter.

"I place on the Islamic intellectuals and leaders of Islamic organizations part of the responsibility for [this phenomenon] of Islamic terrorism, as nearly all of them advocate violence, and repress anyone who casts doubts upon this. Naturally, every so often they have written about the love and peace of Islam - but they did so, at best, for purposes of propaganda and defense of Islam. Their basic position is that this religion was established by the sword, acts by the sword, and will triumph by the sword, and that any doubt regarding this constitutes a conspiracy against the Muslims.

"The best proof of what I am saying is the 1984 world congress on 'The Nonviolent Political Arab Struggle' in Amman, that was nothing but hypocrisy and propaganda. In the congress documents in the English [version], they published my speech, but they removed it from the edition in Arabic!!! All this was in an attempt to deceive the Westerners, and not in order to educate the Arabs to peace.

"In my opinion, the sword played a minor role in Islam's triumph over polytheism. Moreover, the Muslims will [only] lose by their adherence to the perception [advocating] violence. This is due first of all to the military supremacy of others, and second because in this generation the alternative of nonviolent struggle is a more effective weapon. I have adopted this perception and called it by the Islamic name 'Civil Jihad.'"

My Attempts to Promote 'Civil Jihad' were Rejected

"I tried to establish in London an organization to disseminate this perception among the Muslims. I contacted some Arab ambassadors and activists in Islamic organizations, and all I got from them was their turning their backs, and even threats. Only three Muslims shared my belief - one from Ethiopia and two from Iraq. Over the course of two years, we struggled [for the sake of this goal]; then we lost hope and gave up.

"Most of the people we contacted were of the opinion that the Westerners are sons of dogs who understand only force, and that the Muslims have no choice but to strap on their weapon and fight. Some cooperated with us in private meetings [but] after the meeting was over asked us not to mention anything of it to others - as if nonviolence and peace were a kind of adultery that must be hidden. This was the atmosphere that helped the emergence of the terrorists, the suicide bombers, and all those who use weapons and explosives."

Some Publishers Wouldn't Allow The Draft Of My Book Into Their Office

"In the framework of this personal effort, I devoted a great deal of time to writing a book about nonviolence. It is the only book that presents in depth, in Arabic, the perceptions and methods of Civil Jihad. A large section of it is devoted to peace and nonviolence in Islam.

"In vain did my friend Anis Sayegh try to find a publisher for the book. Some [publishers] refused to even permit the draft of the book to enter their office. Finally, the Dar Al-Karmel [publishers] in Amman put it out (after omitting many paragraphs), and even that was in an abbreviated edition, replete with mistakes.

"The publisher did not manage to distribute it in a courageous way, perhaps because some Arab governments prevented him from doing so. Even the Institute of Arab Unity refrained from publishing my research on this subject in its journal.

"I reiterate that the Arab and Islamic ideologues and media leaders bear much of the responsibility for the involvement in terrorism and violence of the Muslims of the world. Of course, they will reject my statement arrogantly. But my statement can be tested: The draft of my book is still in my office in two languages, Arabic and English, waiting for someone to come along and publish it. I offer it for free, without asking a fee for my work."

Endnotes:
(1) For more on Khalid Kishtainy, please see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 545, July 31, 2003, 'An Iraqi Intellectual in London: Arab Nationalists' Interference in Iraqi Affairs Will Pound the Final Nail into Iraq's Coffin', http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=reform&ID=SP54503.
(2) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), April 11, 2004.