Opposition party MP Ali Sabry Raheem was arrested on the morning of May 23, 2023, for smuggling 3.5 kg of undeclared gold through the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, with an estimated value of 65 lakh rupees (about $215,000 USD). Authorities say that the total value of the gold, jewels and 91 cell phones smuggled […]
Pakistan’s Political Crisis Exposes A Wider Regional Security Threat
The instability of Pakistan amid the recent Imran Khan political crisis highlights a wider regional geopolitical security threat. The arrest of the former prime minister demonstrates a growing divide over Islamic jihad activity in the country, particularly in the Kashmir regions and other territories where sectarian violence is commonplace. Jihad activity has been growing in […]
Sri Lanka: Buddhist Monk Names ‘Allah’ as the Mastermind of the Easter Jihad Bombings
There is a widespread conspiracy theory in Sri Lanka now about the identity of the true mastermind of the deadly Easter jihad attacks that targeted Christians on the island on April 21, 2019. Zahran Hashim, an Islamic cleric who was known to the government as a violent jihadist leading up to the massive terror attack, […]
Zakir Naik: A Growing Global Menace
On March 25, 2023, the jihad preacher Zakir Naik posted a video on his Facebook account about the mass conversion to Islam of 14 women (plus one boy from India and one man from Uganda) during his Oman Convention in the port capital of Muscat. Four of these women were maids, or paid wage slaves, […]
Seven Days in Rakhine: Day Five — A Tour of No-Go Zones In Sittwe
While Rick Heizman was busy all day with translations, a journalist friend arrived to give me a tour of Sittwe. An obvious feature in downtown Sittwe is a No-Go Zone guarded by security forces. There are several No-Go Zones in Sittwe since the 2012 Islamic insurgency, but the one in downtown Sittwe is different, because […]
Seven Days in Rakhine: Day Four — Victims of Jihad Tell Their Stories
When we arrived in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine, Rick Heizman had a delegation of people waiting for him to discuss his victim testimonies for the Independent Commission Of Enquiry (ICOE). This independent commission was set up to collect a database of victims from the 2017 insurgency by the ARSA Rohingya terrorists. The body of […]
Seven Days in Rakhine: Day Three — Some Truth About the Murder of Ma Thida Htwe (Part 3)
From the interviews we learned the truth: in life, Ma Thida Htwe was a pious, peaceful, kind and loving person who came from a loving family that did nothing to deserve this evil. From these hours we spent with the victim’s family, we gathered much information about this important crime in a very remote place. […]
Seven Days in Rakhine: Day Three — Some Truth About the Murder of Ma Thida Htwe (Part 2)
The family friend started by explaining some background to the situation. He was the person who found her mutilated body after the intensive search, but was sentenced to a year in jail for posting the infamous pictures of the body from the crime scene on social media. There is a large population of Bengalis in […]
Seven Days in Rakhine: Day Three — Some Truth About the Murder of Ma Thida Htwe (Part 1)
Few murder cases have had the impact on a country that the horrific case of Ma Thida Htwe had. On May 28, 2012, Ma Thida Htwe was gang raped, robbed and murdered by three Bengali Muslims in the district south of Kyauk Phyu at the edge of Ramree Island. The murder of Ma Thida Htwe […]
Seven Days in Rakhine: Day Two — The Bengali Siege of Kyauk Phyu
The 2012 siege of Kyauk Phyu began at the mosque near the edge of the Muslim quarter situated between two ethnic Rakhine areas, which is now an empty field. In order to reach the town center, ethnic Rakhines needed to cross the Bengali village. Adjacent to the now overgrown field remains a derelict house, which […]