| Islamic World News | |
| 09 Jan 2010, NewAgeIslam.Com | |
| ‘You Have Put New Life In The Dead Horse Of Terrorism In Kashmir’ | |
 20 more plane bombers prepared by al-Qaida: CBS
Lal Chowk incident shows J&K still vulnerable to attacks: PC
23 killed in Karachi house blast, firings
Rukhsana Kauser to receive medal
Concern over persecution of Baha’is in Iran
Muslims Stand Up Against Islamic Terrorism
Yemen and the Resurgent Al-Qaeda Threat
Central Java: Islamic radicalism on the rise in Solo mosques
Judge rules against CAIR
Fourth church firebombed
Indonesia Loses Its Blind Seer
Muslims, Christians set homes ablaze in Egypt
'Afghanistan CIA bomber' shown vowing revenge
Is Osama Bin Laden dead or alive?
Palestinians downplay Hillary Clinton push for peace
UK 'paid Afghan warlord $2m to find Osama Bin Laden'
Pakistani rockets fired into Punjab border villages
US-Pakistan bickering gets ugly as ISI fingers American diplomats
CIA bomber's wife: War against US must go on
Frame-up? 4 'LeT men' let off for want of proof
NIA may file charge sheet against Headley, Rana soon
In 2009, more Muslim kids joined school
Pre-paid SIMs popular among terrorists: Centre
US at war against Al Qaeda: Obama
Karachi turns against Taliban terror
Al Qaeda in Yemen is extension of its core from Pak: US
3 held over bomb threat on Dubai-bound plane
NYC terror suspect pleads not guilty
Iran strike can destabilize Middle East: Pentagon
World support must for peaceful Pakistan: Qureshi
Six terrorists killed in Karachi blast
Police arrests 2 Pakistani US Consulate officials
Church-state relations a live issue in EU
Russia, China, Iran Redraw Energy Map
No intention to hurt Muslim sentiments: Chidambaram
U.S. envoy meeting city Muslims Local centre building relationship
CIA bomber calls for attacks on US in video
Mushahid flays scanning of Muslims in US
Is it bigotry profiling Muslim fliers?
Compiled By: Akshay kumar ojha
Photo: Lal Chowk, Srinagar, Kashmir
---------
‘You Have Put New Life In The Dead Horse Of Terrorism In Kashmir’
‘Aapne ek murde ghodey mein dobara jaan daali hai’
Pranab Dhal Samanta
Jan 09, 2010
New Delhi: Transcripts of telephone conversations between militants holed up in a hotel near Lal Chowk in Srinagar and their Pakistan-based handlers have revealed that the attack was intended to bring Kashmir back into focus following a relatively peaceful phase last year.
Hours before the 22-hour encounter ended on January 7, Junaid, a Pakistani handler of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, told one of the militants that they had put life into a “dead horse” and that the siege had made a “good impact” on the Kashmir movement. Excerpts from the conversation:
January 7: 7.41 am to 7.45 pm
Pak Caller (Junaid): Theek Ho? (Are you okay?)
Militant: Bas lad rahe hain, lad rahe hain dushman ke saath. (We are fighting the enemy.)
Junaid: Bas is-se hua hai ki aapne ek murde ghodey mein dobara jaan daali hai. Inshallah aapki is qurbani se aapki is himmat se, tehreek-e-Kashmir mein inshallah achcha assar padega. Aur Kashmir ki tehreek jo hai na, dobara usi nehej pe aayegi. Bada achcha assar pad raha hai iska. (You have breathed life into a dead horse. Your sacrifice and courage will have a good impact on the movement in Kashmir. And the Kashmir movement will once again get direction and importance. It has really had a good impact.)
Militant: Inshallah, kyon nahi... hum to mehnat kar rahein hain is kaam ke upar... har ek bhai ko karni chahiye iske upar mehnat... ghar mein sab theek hai? (Why not? We are working hard. Other brothers should also work hard. All well at home?)
Junaid: Aapki dua kar rahe hain... (They are all praying for you) Baaki jitni der chala sakein inko to utna chalaein. (Just try to keep this going for as long as you can.)
Miltant: Asla jab tak hamare paas hai to ladenge inke saath. (We will fight them till we have ammunition.)
Junaid: Haan, bas etihaat ke saath... jo bas ek-ek, do-do... inhe masroof rakhein... isse inka zyada se zyada kharcha hoga. (Yes but with caution. One-one, two-two... keep them engaged... ensure they incur maximum loss)
Militant: Bilkul, bilkul. Inko lakhon ke hisaab se kharcha hua hai. Kal ek baje se shuru hai na fight... raat bhar chalti rahi hai aur abhi bhi chal rahi hai. (Absolutely, they have already incurred losses in lakhs. This fight started at 1 pm yesterday and continued through the night and is still going on.)
The conversations suggest that
Continued on page 2
‘Aapne ek murde ghodey mein dobara jaan daali hai’
the militants got several calls, some possibly from other militants in the Valley. In fact, the handlers did not even seem to know that one of the militants, Manzoor Ahmed Bhatt, who went by the code name Usman, was Kashmiri. They seemed to be more familiar with Abu Qari, the Pakistani militant. As this conversation shows.
January 6: 8.55 pm to 8.57 pm
Junaid: Achchi karawahi ho rahi hai¿total kitney saathi hain? (Nice work, how many of you?)
Usman: Hum do saathi hain - ek Pakistani aur main Kashmiri hoon... hum lad rahein hain na bhai bhai. Dushman ne hamein gher liya hai, makaan se lad rahe hain. (There are two of us. One Pakistani, and I am a Kashmiri. The enemy has surrounded us and we are fighting from a house.)
The calls from Pakistan handlers were intended to both motivate and instruct. Besides Junaid, one Saifullah — who seems to be the leader — was giving directions. Intelligence sources said these could be all code names.
January 6: 9.05 pm to 9.14 pm
Pakistani Militant Abu Qari: Kya haal hai buzurgon? Mehnat zaaya nahi hoga, rang laayega... bas abhi chhupey huey hain... log bahar nahin nikal rahein hain taki ham inki khopdi mein marey ek do. (So how are you? Hard work is paying off... these people are now hiding. If only they come out, we can shoot them in the head...)
Pak handler Saifullah: Inshallah, niklenge aur zaroor maar khayenge... koshish karein ki kafi time nikle, aaj raat bhi nikle aur kal din bhi nikalni chahiye. (They will come out, don’t worry. You must make every effort to stretch this through the night and the whole day tomorrow.)
Qari: Inshallah.
Saifullah: Aur mobile bhi on rakhein ki hum aapse thodi thodi der mein baat karte rahenge... (And keep your mobile on so that we can get in touch with you after every little while.)
Qari: Ek van sa hai, kuchch peeche se fire karte hain aur fauji beech se phenkta hai (They have a van... from behind which there is firing, and the Armymen then throw something from within.)
Saifullah: Maro unke khopdi mein maro, roshni ka intezaar karo, abhi woh andhere mein nazar nahi aayenge. Koshish karo ki asla bacha ke rakho aur subah ka intezaar karo. Roshni hogi to dobara fight shuru karo (Shoot them in the head. Wait for daylight, then start your fight again.)
These instructions went on through the night, with calls coming every few hours. At one stage, Saifullah inquired about hotel residents and seemed a bit disappointed to learn that they had all been evacuated.
January 6: 11.02 pm to 11.05 pm
Saifullah: Kya position hai, fire ho rahi hai ki khamoshi? (What is the position? Is there firing or silence?)
Qari: Bas firing ho rahi hai (There is firing.)
Saifullah: Yeh jo hotel hai... kitney manzil hai? (This hotel has how many floors?)
Qari: Restaurant hai. (There is a restaurant.)
Saifullah: Manzil? (Floors?)
Qari: Teen manzil (Three floors)
Saifullah: To isme log wagera they... kidhar gaye? (So, there would have been people in there... where are they?)
Qari: Woh hum jo Lal Chowk mein firing kar rahe they¿ 8-10 logon ko litaya, to tab tak woh logon ko kidhar se nikal gaye. (We were in Lal Chowk firing, where we killed 8-10 people... by that time these people were taken out from somewhere)
Saifullah: Achcha... chalo theek hai... (Ok then, fine...)
The last call happened just before 11 am, by when the Pakistani militant was killed and the Kashmiri militant Usman was holding fort. He informed his handlers about his partner’s death and hoped he would also get martyrdom. No one called after that to check on him.
January 7: 10.51 am to 10.52 am
Pak caller: Salaam Walekum Rehmatullah, bhai kya haal hai (Greetings, how are things brother?)
Usman: Bas shukar hai Allah ka. Qari sahib ko shahadat mil gayi. Bas unka saans nikalne waala hai. (By the grace of Allah, Qari sahib has attained martyrdom. He will soon breath his last.)
Caller: Allahtala unki shahadat qubul karein (May Allah accept his martyrdom.)
Usman: Mere liye bhi dua karein. Inshallah, meri shahadat bhi lag jaaye. (Pray for me too that I also attain martyrdom.)
Caller: Agar Qari sahib hosh mein ho to unhe mera salaam de dein. (If Qari sahib is still in his senses, give him my salaam.)
In some of the conversations, the phone would be placed next to a speaker and Qari would speak with great pride about how he was feeling as he undertook this mission. But clearly the spirit of the first day dissipated soon and as the voices in the conversation suggest, the militants had given up by the next day. At one point, their Pakistan handlers wanted them to examine escape routes, but the militants told them they had no chance.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/565328/
------
20 more plane bombers prepared by al-Qaida: CBS
9 January 2010
WASHINGTON: Twenty other young Muslim radicals have been trained to blow up planes by al-Qaida in Yemen, a young Nigerian charged with trying to
blow up a US airliner has told FBI.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, has told FBI that close to 20 other young Muslim men were being prepared in Yemen to use the same technique to blow up airliners, CBS said in an exclusive investigative report.
The Nigerian terror suspect was arraigned on Friday in a Detroit court on charges of blowing up a North West Airlines plane on December 25.
Abdulmutallab earlier pleaded not guilty to six charges arising out of the botched Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit.
The Nigerian allegedly stitched two highly explosive substances into his clothes, and tried to detonate them as the plane carrying 290 people approached Detroit. But the device failed to detonate.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/20-more-plane-bombers-prepared-by-al-Qaida-CBS/articleshow/5427919.cms
------
Lal Chowk incident shows J&K still vulnerable to attacks: PC
9 January 2010
NEW DELHI: A day after the end of the Lal Chowk siege in the heart of Srinagar, Union home minister P Chidambaram said: "The incident highlights
the fact that the country, especially Jammu and Kashmir, remains vulnerable to militant attacks sponsored by forces from across the border."
In fact, what the home minister stated on Friday had its imprint in the incident which saw the two terrorists -- who were killed during the operation -- getting constant instructions over mobile phone from their handlers sitting somewhere in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
The transcript of the intercepted conversations between the terrorists and their Pakistani masters clearly shows that the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has already activated its modules to carry out more attacks using nearly 700 militants hiding in different parts of J&K.
According to the transcript shared by intelligence agencies with the home ministry, the Pakistani handlers kept on asking the jihadis -- holed up inside Punjab hotel -- to kill as many policemen as possible without any fear saying, "Aur bande tayaar hai hamla karne ke liye (More volunteers are ready to attack)."
When one of the terrorists said, "Hum phans chuke hai (We are now trapped)...kuch jaldi karo (do something quickly)", the handlers replied: "Shahadat se pehle zada se zada policewalon ko maro, hotel mein aag laga do (Kill as many policemen as possible, set the hotel on fire before you attain martyrdom); zada se zada nuksaan pahunchao (inflict as much damage as possible)."
After one terrorist was killed, the other one said: "Khel khatm hone wala hai (The game is about to be over)." His master in PoK said: "Daro nahin, tumhe jaldi rab mil jayega...Khuda mil jayega (Don't be afraid, you are going to heaven, you are going to meet Khuda)."
Referring to the transcript, a home ministry official said: "It also shows that the terrorists originally planned to target the nearby CRPF camp with the intention of killing as many security personnel as possible."
Besides giving commands, one of the terrorists, identified as Abu Qari, was even told by his handlers about the presence of the number of security personnel outside the hotel and where they had taken position. An official said: "The Lashkar seniors in Pakistan were perhaps watching TV channels which were showing the operation live."
Sources said Qari had a pre-paid mobile connection, which he might have got without proper verification by an Indian service provide. Qari, believed to be in his mid-20s, had kept the mobile connection with him for a long time. He had probably kept it for use only during such "operations", they added.
Qari, who had a small balance left in his mobile phone, was more dependent on his handlers in Pakistan for the telephonic instructions, the sources said. Once he became aware that he was cornered, he had a long chat with his handlers and asked them to take care of his family including his seven brothers and sisters. Qari originally belonged to Balochistan in Pakistan.
Complimenting the state police and CRPF for successfully eliminating the terrorists, Chidambaram, in a statement, noted the swift action by J&K Police and CRPF personnel in neutralising the two terrorists.
He said: "They also evacuated nearly 600 civilians to safety. It is noteworthy that the J&K Police and CRPF conducted the operation without calling NSG or Special Forces of the Army."
Stating that the country's capacity to neutralise a militant attack has increased considerably, Chidambaram, however, said: "I would emphasise once again that the country, especially the security forces, must maintain a high level of vigilance but there is no cause for panic. We must remain calm and confident that our security forces can face any challenge."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Lal-Chowk-incident-shows-JK-still-vulnerable-to-attacks-PC/articleshow/5425216.cms
------
23 people killed in Karachi blast, firing: authorities
IST
Karachi, Jan 8 (PTI) Pakistan's commercial hub of Karachi was in the grip of violence as at least 23 people were killed in a blast in a militant safe house and several incidents of firing by unidentified gunmen following the killing of an MQM activist, authorities said today.
The blast occurred in the suburban Baldia Town area after a cache of explosives stored by militants in the house accidentally blew up today, killing eight people, police said.
Two Kalashnikov assault rifles, 22 grenades and two suicide jackets were found in the one-room house, which collapsed after the explosion.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters the home had been rented by a man from the militancy-affected Swat.
Some persons from Swat came to visit this man last night.
Two bodies were dismembered by the blast and all the dead appeared to be aged between 20 and 25.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/459151_23-people-killed-in-Karachi-blast--firing--authorities
-----
Rukhsana Kosser to receive medal
Aarti Dhar
Narender Kaushik to be honoured posthumously
NEW DELHI: President Pratibha Patil has approved the Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak for Jammu girl Rukhsana Kosser, who braved the bullets of militants and killed one of them to save her family.
Delhi boy Narender Kaushik will be honoured with the medal posthumously for showing “conspicuous courage in saving life under circumstances of very great danger to the life of the rescuer.”
Rukhsana (20), along with her sibling, overpowered a Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist, snatched his rifle and fired at him, killing him on the spot and injuring another in Kalsian village, about 217 km from Jammu, on the night of September 27 last year.
The name of Ms. Rukhsana, who is now a Jammu and Kashmir police officer, was recommended by Governor N.N. Vohra.
The seven whose names were approved for the Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak are: Syed Areef Sujauddin (Andhra Pradesh), Umman Antony (Kerala), Rajan Kamble (Maharashtra) — all posthumous —Mushtaq Ahmed and Ajaz Ahmed (Jammu and Kashmir), Karambir Singh Kang (Maharashtra) and Prachi Santosh Sen (Madhya Pradesh).
The President also approved the names of 44 persons for the Jeevan Raksha Padak.
The medal, a certificate signed by the Home Minister, and a demand draft for a lump sum monetary allowance are presented to an awardee by the respective State government.
The monetary allowance is given at the rate of Rs.75,000, Rs.45,000 and Rs.30,000 to the Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak and Jeevan Raksha Padak respectively, a Home Ministry statement said on Friday.
http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/09/stories/2010010962252400.htm
------
Concern over persecution of Baha’is in Iran
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: Prominent Indians have expressed deep concern over the continued persecution of the Baha’is in Iran and called upon the government to take up the issue with Tehran.
The plea for their protection comes days before the trial of the seven former leaders of the Iranian Baha’i community. “Our country has a long record of pluralism and tolerance and must speak out,” observed Maju Daruwala, Director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
The seven Baha’is – two women and five men – were arrested in the spring of 2008 and official Iranian news accounts have said that they are to be accused of “espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities, and propaganda against the Islamic republic.” Some of these charges carry the death penalty.
Deepening concern
The Baha’i International Community is concerned that the Iranian government, or ultraconservative elements within it, may use the present turmoil as a cover for extreme measures against the Baha’i leaders.
This concern deepened on Sunday when authorities rounded up 13 Baha’is from their homes in Tehran, took them to a detention centre, and tried to get them to sign a document saying that they would not engage in any future demonstrations, although none of them had taken part in any demonstration.
The Iranian Baha’i community represents the largest religious minority in Iran. Yet, they are not recognisedby the Iranian Constitution and are considered as “unprotected infidels.”
UN agencies, governments, parliaments, NGOs and prominent individuals across the globe – including an increasing number of Iranians – have raised their voice against the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran.
In February 2009, more than 30 prominent Indians, including Justice Krishna Iyer, actor Aamir Khan and religious leaders Maulana Khalid Rasheed and Swami Agnivesh, as well as leading lights from the judiciary, civil society, the corporate sector, and faith communities issued an open letter appealing to the Iranian government to release the innocent prisoners unconditionally or, at the very least, to grant them an open and fair trial.
http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/09/stories/2010010956821800.htm
------
Muslims Stand Up Against Islamic Terrorism
By Nancy Morgan
2010 January 9
Ibrahim Al Jahim and Majed Moughni hold a sign that says, “Not In The Name Of Islam” outside Federal Courthouse
Totally absent from the nations headlines, with the exception of Fox News, is a startling and unprecedented development in the war on terror. As the panty bomber got his day in court yesterday, the real story was outside the federal courthouse, where over 100 Muslims actually rallied against Islamic terrorism.
Fox News’ Shepard Smith, covering the panty bomber story for Fox News, panned the crowd and recorded this astonishing comment made by a Muslim American:
“We’re gonna let the terrorists know that, you want us, we’re here, we’re on camera, you want to kill us? Here’s the bulls eye right here (points to forehead) come kill us because we’re Americans and we’re Muslims and we’re against you!“
Also present and accounted for was Victor Begg, chairman of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan, who stated:
“Muslim Americans want to make it clear that Islam stands for life, not death”
Whoa, baby.
Also ignored by the media was another unprecedented but un-reported story that has profound implications for the war on terror. Yesterday, twenty North American Muslim imams actually issued a fatwa – against terrorists.
20 imams affiliated with the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada issued a Fatwa declaring the attacks on Canada and the U.S. by any extremist will be the attack on 10 million Muslims living in North America.
Yes, you read that right. The statement condemning Islamic terrorism is unequivocal in its language. Full document here. Muslims are now more vociferous in their condemnation of these fanatics than our own president is.
The fact that the civilized segment of Islam is starting to speak up against the fanatical faction is almost as astonishing as the fact that our own president hasn’t had the courage to take a similar stand.
Another astonishing fact is that most Americans must now access excellent blogs like NewsReal in order to be made aware of headline news.
Kudos to our fellow Muslim citizens who are finally starting to speak out. Color me happy.
http://www.newsrealblog.com/2010/01/09/finally-muslims-stand-up-against-islamic-terrorism/
------
Yemen and the Resurgent Al-Qaeda Threat
by James Phillips
The failed attempt to bomb an American airliner bound for Detroit on Christmas Day has focused attention on the rising threat posed by the al-Qaeda franchise based in Yemen, long a stronghold for radical Islamist forces.
Yemen offers al-Qaeda many advantages: the protection of friendly tribal leaders opposed to a weak central government, the support of radical Muslim religious leaders, porous borders that facilitate covert movements and offer a back door to Saudi Arabia, and a sympathetic population that has been spoon-fed anti-Western propaganda for decades by militant Islamists and pro-Soviet Marxists. To combat the growing threat of terrorists based in Yemen, the U.S. should work with the beleaguered Yemeni government, Britain, Saudi Arabia, and other threatened countries to attack al-Qaeda's regional leadership, disrupt its operations, and diminish its ability to launch terrorist attacks.
Hotbed of Islamist Radicalism
Yemen, Osama bin Laden's ancestral homeland, long has been a bastion of support for militant Islamism and al-Qaeda. Many Yemenis who migrated to Saudi Arabia to find work during the oil boom of the 1970s were exposed to the combative doctrines of Saudi Wahhabi Islam.
Yemenis made up a disproportionate number of the estimated 25,000 foreign Muslims who flocked to Afghanistan to join the jihad against the Soviet occupation in the 1980s. They also make up a large segment of al-Qaeda, which was founded by veterans of that jihad, to expand the struggle into a global revolutionary campaign.
Al-Qaeda's first terrorist attack against Americans occurred in Yemen in December 1992, when a bomb was detonated in a hotel used by U.S. military personnel involved in supporting the humanitarian food relief flights to Somalia. Al-Qaeda launched a much more successful attack in Yemen in October 2000 when it bombed the USS Cole in the port of Aden, killing 17 American sailors.[1]
Yemen also factored into the radicalization of American Muslims such as John Walker Lindh, who traveled to Yemen to study Islam before being recruited to fight in Afghanistan, and seven Yemeni-Americans from Lackawanna, New York, who were recruited by al-Qaeda before 9/11. While six were convicted of supporting terrorism and sent to prison, the seventh became a fugitive and later surfaced in Yemen.
In 2002, al-Qaeda bombed the French oil tanker Limbourg off the coast of Yemen. Later that year, a senior al-Qaeda leader was killed in Yemen in one of the first publicly revealed Predator drone attacks. Al-Qaeda grew much stronger in Yemen following the February 2006 escape of 23 al-Qaeda suspects--including some of the terrorists responsible for the bombing of the Cole--from a Yemeni prison. U.S. intelligence officials assessed that the well-organized jailbreak was assisted by members of Yemen's intelligence services sympathetic to al-Qaeda.[2]
Al-Qaeda's Growing Threat
Full report at: http://www.heritage.org/Research/MiddleEast/wm2750.cfm
------
Central Java: Islamic radicalism on the rise in Solo mosques
by Mathias Hariyadi
The city is a hub of Islamic extremism. It was also the birthplace of radical Islamist leader Abu Bakar Bashir as well as the refuge of Malaysian terrorism Noordin Top. A radical version of Islam and self-imposed exclusivism favours spread of radicalism.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Extremism and religious fanaticism are blossoming in a number of mosques of Surakarta, a city popularly known as Solo, located in Central Java, this according to the Centre for the Study of Religion and Culture (CSRC), a research study centre associated with South Jakarta-based Islamic State University (UIN) Syarief Hidayatullah. Its findings further confirm that Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, with a reputation of moderation, appears to be drifting towards radicalism.
Irfan Abubakar, researcher at the CSRC, said out of ten mosques the most radical are the Al Islam Mosque in the village of Gumuk (Banjarsari) and the Al-Kahfi Mosque in Mojosongo (Jebres).
Radical Islamist leader Abu Bakar Bashir was born and lived in Solo. Malaysian terrorist Noordin Moh Top, who masterminded the Jakarta and Bali bombings, found refuge in the village of Mojosongo where he died in shootout with police in September 2009.
“Both mosques, the Al Kahfi and Al Islam, are affiliated with two different radical hard-line Muslim organisations, the Islamic Youth Front (LPIS) and Hidayatullah,” Irfan Abubakar said.
Members of the two mosques tend to be socially exclusive in terms of clothing as well as behaviour. Neither accepts Muslims from other groups or mingle with them.
The other eight mosques are more open, and tend to follow the teachings of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and the Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's two largest moderate Muslim organisations.
Titled "Mapping Islamic ideologies in Solo’s mosques," the CSRC research was carried out between September and December 2009. It focused on faith propagation at the congregation and mosque levels, government control, the concept of jihad or holy war, religious pluralism and the implementation of Sharia (Islamic Law).
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=17299
------
Judge rules against CAIR
D.C.-based Islamic group trying to quash book exposing terror ties
January 09, 2010
By Art Moore
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly
A federal judge ruled against the Council on American-Islamic Relations today in its lawsuit against a father and son who carried out a six-month undercover investigation of the D.C.-based Muslim group, denying a request to conduct discovery – an examination of its opponent's witnesses, facts and documents – prior to hearing a motion to dismiss the case.
CAIR is suing P. David Gaubatz and his son, Chris Gaubatz, for allegedly stealing sensitive internal documents and making recordings of officials without consent. Chris Gaubatz, who posed as a Muslim in an internship with CAIR's national office in Washington, took some 12,000 pages of documents destined for a shredder in an attempt, he said, to expose the group's ties to Islamic jihad and terrorism. His father is a former Air Force special agent with extensive Middle East experience who researches the spread of radical Islam in the U.S. and its threat to national security.
Get blockbuster of the year, "Muslim Mafia," for just $4.95 – today only – from WND's Superstore!
In her ruling today, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., canceled a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday and gave CAIR until Jan. 15 to reply to the Gaubatz's motion to dismiss the case.
The motion filed last month by Gaubatz lawyer Daniel Horowitz asserts CAIR has no claim because it does not legally exist.
Horowitz explains that just two weeks after CAIR was named by the Justice Department in May 2007 as an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorist finance case in U.S. history, the organization changed its name to the Council on American-Islamic Relations Action Network.
"CAIR is not a valid entity and even if it were, the exposure of its inner workings is part of the price it pays for being a controversial group in a hotly contested arena," Horowitz declares in his reply to CAIR's lawsuit.
The FBI produced evidence at the trial of the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation in 2008 that CAIR was established as a front for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
The material obtained by the Gaubatzes is featured in the book "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America," published by WND Books, an affiliate of WorldNetDaily.com. The book asserts CAIR is acting as a front for a conspiracy of the Muslim Brotherhood – the parent of al-Qaida and Hamas – to infiltrate the U.S. and help pave the way for Saudi-style Islamic law to rule the nation.
Horowitz said CAIR had hoped to draw WND Books into the legal battle so it could pull the book off the shelves. But the federal judge's ruling today prevents the group from any legal investigation of the Gabautzes or WND Books under the court's authority before the motion to dismiss the case is heard.
In its lawsuit, CAIR sought to stop the Gaubatzes and their associates from "posting, publishing, disclosing, or in any way using any documents, recordings, or other information obtained from CAIR, either directly or indirectly."
Full report at: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=121440
------
Fourth church firebombed
Is Jesus Really God?
January 10, 2010
Scholars examine the factsabout Jesus' claims to be God
A MALAYSIAN church was firebombed yesterday, the fourth such attack in two days as a row escalated over the use of the word ''Allah'' by non-Muslims.
The Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in south-west Kuala Lumpur was the latest target. There were no reports of injuries.
Church authorities found that petrol bombs had been thrown at the windows of the first and second floors of the three-storey building, the church's Bishop Philip Loke said.
''They narrowly missed it, but part of the walls are burnt,'' he said, adding: ''We suspect this attack is linked to the other attacks.''
Three other churches in the Kuala Lumpur area were hit on Friday, prompting Prime Minister Najib Razak to vow to crack down on race crime.
One of the churches attacked on Friday was badly burned while firebombs thrown at two others failed to cause damage.
Religious tensions were heightened in Muslim-majority Malaysia last week when a court ruled in favour of the Herald Catholic newspaper in its dispute with the Government over the publication's use of the word ''Allah''.
Enraged by the ruling, Muslim groups held protests outside 10 mosques across the nation Friday.
About 10 per cent of Malaysians are Christians, including about 850,000 Catholics.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/fourth-church-firebombed-20100109-m06k.html
------
Indonesia Loses Its Blind Seer
On 30 December last year Abdurrahman Wahid died in Jakarta at the age of sixty-nine. The first democratically elected president following the Suharto dictatorship, he had campaigned for interreligious dialogue and a peaceful Islam. An obituary by Armin Wertz
Bild vergrössern A great loss to moves towards a tolerant, democratic Indonesian society: the republic's seer, guru and "cleric of pluralism" Abdurrahman Wahid | When Abdurrahman Wahid died at the end of December in Jakarta, thousands of people gathered spontaneously to pray together throughout the country. Current president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared seven days of official state mourning.
Known as Gus Dur ("brother Dur") from October 1999 to July 2001 Wahid, a former Muslim leader, was Indonesia's fourth president – the first for decades to be democratically elected.
Shadowed by interreligious conflicts
For Wahid, however, his term of office more closely resembled the low point of his life. He became entangled in corruption scandals and most of his reform ideas were unsuccessful. He was unable to end the fighting between Muslims and Christians on the Maluku Islands and in central Sulawesi, the civil war in Aceh or the conflict in West Papua.
Bild vergrössern Gus Dur escorted on his last journey: along with high-ranking Indonesian Muslims, current president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took part in Wahid's state funeral at his birthplace Jombang | Although he fired defence minister Wiranto, responsible for the atrocities associated with the independence referendum in East Timor in 1999, and exposed the co-operation between Islamists and generals, he was never able to reduce the influence of the military.
In July 2001 an alliance of Muslims and the military forced him out of office. The Australian historian Adrian Vickers wrote that Indonesia was not ready for Gus Dur's offensive for democracy.
A "cleric of pluralism"
Wahid's significance to the country extended way beyond his time as president however. A diabetes sufferer left blind following three strokes, famous for his courage, his unorthodox behaviour and his black humour, he was Indonesia's seer, guru and its "cleric of pluralism", as the Jakarta Post named him.
Full report at: http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-1281/i.html
-------
Muslims, Christians set homes ablaze in Egypt
Reuters, January 9, 2010
CAIRO (Reuters) - Muslims and Christians set fire to each others' homes and shops near the southern Egyptian town of Nagaa Hamady on Saturday, three days after a gunman killed six Coptic Christians in a drive-by shooting, security sources said.
"Four houses and a shop belonging to Christians in the village of Tiraks were set on fire by Muslims, while four shops owned by Muslims in the village of al-Bahgorah were set on fire by Christians," a security source said. The villages are near Nagaa Hamady.
Six people, Christian and Muslim, were injured in the fires, they added.
Police have taken 46 statements from Muslims and Christians in the area accusing members of the other faith of attacking their houses and damaging their properties, the sources said.
The drive-by shootings in Nagaa Hamady took place around midnight on Coptic Christmas Eve on Wednesday night. Muslim and Christian groups held separate protests on Thursday and Friday.
The source said police had detained about 25 of the 2,000 protesters.
Security sources named three Muslims, who have since surrendered to police, as the suspected gunmen. They first fired on a crowd in a shopping area near a church in Nagaa Hamady, killing two Christians.
They then went to the nearby church and shot five more, including the church's Muslim guard. Another nine Christians were wounded.
Police investigators in the city 60 km (40 miles) north of the tourist and archaeological center of Luxor, said two of the three assailants were distantly related to a Muslim girl allegedly raped by a Christian more than a month earlier.
Egypt's government said the violence was not sectarian and was an isolated incident.
Christians account for about 10 percent of Egypt's predominantly Muslim population of about 78 million. Sectarian violence is rare, but disputes over issues including land or women occasionally erupt.
(Reporting by Ahmed Shalaby; writing by Yasmine Saleh; editing by Michael Roddy)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/09/AR2010010900709.html
------
'Afghanistan CIA bomber' shown vowing revenge
The clip purportedly shows al-Balawi with Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud
Video purportedly of a Jordanian who blew up CIA agents in Afghanistan has shown him vowing revenge for Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud's death.
In a clip broadcast on al-Jazeera TV, a man said to be bomber Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi says Mehsud must be avenged "inside and outside America".
The footage appears to show him next to Mehsud's successor, Hakimullah Mehsud, although he is not named in the video.
The clip's authenticity is unconfirmed. Eight people died in the bomb attack.
Seven were US CIA agents and one was a Jordanian intelligence officer.
The attack at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Afghanistan's Khost province was the deadliest against US intelligence officials since the US embassy in Beirut was bombed in 1983.
Humam Balawi is said to have been a Jordanian doctor turned double agent, having originally been recruited by the Jordanians to spy on al-Qaeda.
His father, Khalil Balawi, said that the man who appeared on the video was definitely his son.
Speaking in Jordan, he blamed "American oppression against the Muslim world" for his son's act.
'Blood of our leader'
In the video clip shown on al-Jazeera, the man purported to be al-Balawi says he is sending a message to the "enemies of Islam", who he names as Jordan's intelligence services and the CIA.
ndated ID picture of Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi
l-Balawi blew himself up at a CIA base in Khost province, Afghanistan
"We say that we will never forget the blood of our leader, Baitullah Mehsud," he says.
"What remains is to avenge him inside and outside America."
The man in the clip, speaking in Arabic, says the Pakistani Taliban leader paid with his life for offering to shelter al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
The man appears to dismiss the idea he himself was in the service of the Jordanians or US, saying that a Muslim jihadist "will not sell his religion".
The IntelCenter, a US-based group monitoring extremist sites, said the video had been released by the Pakistani branch of the Taliban.
The bombing of the American base was an audacious attack which sent shockwaves through Western intelligence services, the BBC's Orla Guerin in Islamabad reports.
Full report at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8449789.stm
------
Is Osama Bin Laden dead or alive?
By Mike Rudin
The Conspiracy Files
Screen showing the face of Osama Bin Laden
The face of Bin Laden has become instantly recognisable around the world
Osama Bin Laden died eight years ago during the battle for Tora Bora in Afghanistan, either from a US bomb or from a serious kidney disease.
Or so the conspiracy theory goes.
The theory that has developed on the web since 9/11 is that US intelligence services are manufacturing the Bin Laden statements to create an evil bogeyman, to justify the so-called war on terror in Afghanistan, Iraq and back at home.
So is the world's most wanted man still alive?
For a decade, Osama bin Laden has managed to evade the world's superpower and the biggest manhunt in history.
Bruce Riedel, who chaired President Barack Obama's Afghanistan/Pakistan policy review, and who has seen the intelligence on Bin Laden, says the trail has not so much gone cold as "frozen over".
"We don't have a clue where he is," he says.
In the absence of any concrete intelligence, Bin Laden has become shrouded in myth and rumor.
'Certainly fake'
Numerous audio and video statements purporting to be from Bin Laden have been released, but their authenticity has been continually questioned.
The veracity of all of the videos is questioned by David Ray Griffin, a former theology professor and member of the 9/11 Truth Movement, which also questions mainstream accounts of the attack on the World Trade Centre.
"None of them can be proven to be authentic," he says. "At least three of them can be shown to be almost certainly fake.
"And if somebody is faking Bin Laden videos, then that leads to the suspicion that all the videos and audio tapes have been faked."
Osama Bin Laden
Experts have examined many different images of Osama Bin Laden
His first example is a video released by the US Department of Defense in December 2001. In it, Bin Laden confesses to 9/11, yet Mr Griffin points out that al-Qaeda has only rarely admitted responsibility for terrorist attacks.
He also maintains that the Bin Laden figure looks very different to previous footage - fatter, with shorter fingers, and that he is even writing with the wrong hand.
Most of Bin Laden's statements are audio only. Only two that show Bin Laden speaking have been issued since 2001.
Full report at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8444069.stm
------
Palestinians downplay Hillary Clinton push for peace
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has played down hopes of a resumption of peace talks with Israel.
He said negotiations could not continue while Israeli settlement building continued in occupied territories.
He was speaking after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged both sides to resume peace talks as soon as possible and without preconditions.
She said other questions should be dealt with before the settlement issue. Israel has yet to respond to her move.
The Israeli government has refused Palestinian demands for a complete halt to settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which it occupied during the 1967 Israeli-Arab war.
Challenge of Israeli settlements
But it has limited building work for 10 months in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem.
Mr Erekat told the Associated Press news agency: "You cannot have discussions on borders while the territory you want to set up your state on is being eaten up by the settlements."
He said the Palestinians were waiting for the arrival in the region later this month of US special envoy George Mitchell.
Mrs Clinton said on Friday that first agreeing the borders of a future Palestinian state would deal with Palestinian concerns about settlement building.
"Resolving borders resolves settlements; resolving Jerusalem resolves settlements," she said.
Her comments came after talks with Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.
Mrs Clinton also met Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmad Abulgheith in Washington.
Meanwhile, the Israeli prime minister held talks in Egypt, and the Saudi foreign minister was in Syria.
With her remarks, Mrs Clinton launched round two of the Obama's administration's push for peace in the Middle East, says BBC state department correspondent Kim Ghattas.
Last year, all the parties got bogged down in the details of an Israeli settlement freeze and the US was unable to break the deadlock, our correspondent says.
This time the end game remains the same, she says, but the starting point seems to have changed - Washington is now pushing the parties to go straight to talks about borders.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8449947.stm
------
UK 'paid Afghan warlord $2m to find Osama Bin Laden'
By Mike Rudin
Successive operations have failed to find Bin Laden's location
The UK paid $2m (£1.3m) for the services of an Afghan warlord in an operation against Osama Bin Laden in 2001, it has been alleged.
BBC Two's Conspiracy Files heard claims from a US special forces commander that both the Americans and British paid substantial sums to Afghan warlords.
Dalton Fury added that the UK-backed warlord, Haji Zaman Gamsurek, went on to agree a ceasefire with al-Qaeda.
The Foreign Office has said it does not comment on intelligence matters.
Mr Fury told the BBC significant amounts of money were spent on procuring the services of Afghan warlords.
"General Hazrat Ali was paid $4 million to rent his leadership and his men. Haji Zaman Gamsurek supported by the United Kingdom was paid $2 million," said Mr Fury.
When the Taliban regime collapsed, Osama Bin Laden was cornered in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, but Mr Fury said that only a tenth of the promised Afghan troops arrived.
There's really not a day that goes by that I don't think about the missed opportunity at Tora Bora, but it really bothers me and I really think about that hard, about what it could have been
Dalton Fury
US special forces commander
Is Osama Bin Laden dead or alive?
Mike Rudin blog on Bin Laden
The Afghan warlord the UK backed went on to organise a ceasefire with al-Qaeda, he said.
The CIA's head of operations in Afghanistan at the time, Ambassador Hank Crumpton, alleged some Afghan warlords were later paid off by al-Qaeda to let Bin Laden escape from Tora Bora and into Pakistan.
"Sadly, with only a handful of American forces, we relied on some of our Afghan forces.
"Some of those in retrospect we know were influenced by al-Qaeda, some were paid off and Bin Laden was allowed to escape," Mr Crumpton said.
The CIA advised against trusting the two warlords because of possible links to Bin Laden.
Backup support 'denied'
Full report at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8448825.stm
------
Pakistani rockets fired into Punjab border villages
IANS, 9 January 2010
AMRITSAR: Border Security Force (BSF) troopers fired from machine-guns and automatic weapons after suspected terrorists fired seven rockets into
Punjab's Amritsar district but there were no casualties, officials said on Saturday.
The rockets were found in an agricultural field near Kangarh chowki (post) in Attari sector early Saturday.
BSF troopers retaliated with machine-gun and automatic weapons into Pakistan from the area where the rocket blasts were heard between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. Saturday.
Punjab frontier Inspector General of Police (IGP) Himmat Singh said there were no casualties reported in the border area even though five rockets landed near a village and two rockets landed near the BSF post.
BSF officials held talks with the Pakistani Rangers and lodged a strong protest over the incident.
"Our troopers fired back. Senior officers have already reached the spot and investigations are on. We had a meeting with our Pakistani counterparts and have lodged a strong official protest," Singh said.
A thick fog was hampering efforts by the Border Security Force to find out if more rockets had been fired, BSF officials said.
This is the third incident of rockets, suspected to be fired by Pakistan-based terrorists into India. The last two incidents happened in Pul Kanjari area of the international border between both countries in July and September last year.
The BSF had protested then also but the Pakistani side denied that any rockets were fired from their territory.
Terrorists linked to Taliban and al-Qaida in Pakistan had attacked a police training centre, located between Lahore city and Wagah border, just 12 km from Attari, March last year, killing 20 personnel and injuring 150 others.
The incident had raised concern in India that Pakistan-based terrorists had been able to reach so close to the Indian border. The following incidents of rocket firing into India from Pakistan have made those fears come true, despite the Pakistani denial.
The para-military BSF mans the international border on the Indian side with the Pakistan Army's Pakistan Sutlej Rangers man the Pakistani side.
India has erected electrified barbed-wire fencing on its side of the international border all the 553-km Indo-Pak border in Punjab.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pakistani-rockets-fired-into-Punjab-border-villages/articleshow/5426821.cms
------==
US-Pakistan bickering gets ugly as ISI fingers American diplomats
Chidanand Rajghatta,
9 January 2010
WASHINGTON: The wheels seem to be coming off US-Pakistan relations with the once close allies squabbling publicly even as Islamabad is whipping
up hysteria over the so-called Indian threats and American machinations to weasel out of its obligation to combat home-grown terrorism.
The simmering discord between Washington and Islamabad came to a boil this week when the US ambassador to Pakistan publicly complained about harassment of American diplomatic personnel by Pakistani authorities and obliquely hinted that Islamabad risked losing US aid and projects if they continued to deny visas to US officials and space for the US mission to fulfill its multi-billion assistance program.
Ambassador Anne Patterson’s warning at a business meeting in Karachi was followed up by a rare public admonition of Pakistan from the US mission in Islamabad in which it expressed concern about the ''continued provocative actions and false allegations against US personnel working to implement the new partnership between the leaders of Pakistan and the United States.''
The wording of the statement suggested that the US believes there is a growing militaristic constituency in Pakistan that is now operating independently of the civilian government. The blog Politico put it rather more
bluntly under the headline, "Pakistan’s ISI steps up harassment of US Embassy," reporting that the ISI had even been putting pictures (with addresses) of US diplomatic personnel in Urdu newspapers" putting their lives in danger.
"Several times recently the RSO (Regional Security officer) at the Embassy has had to contact folks in their offices during the day, and tell them that they can’t go home to their house tonight because of the unwanted attention caused by the ISI/Journalist provocations. Station and Embassy have complained to ISI - but no acknowlegement (not surprising) and no abatement of the activity (worrisome)," it quoted an Af-Pak hand as saying.
Egged on by a hysterical section of the media promoting wild conspiracy theories, hard-line elements in the police and military have been detaining US vehicles and personnel, often accusing them of not carry proper
diplomatic papers and registration and carrying weapons. US vehicles and personnel typically do not display diplomatic registration or identity so they cannot be identified by terrorist hit squads. One Pakistani newspaper called "Nation," which specializes in rabid conspiracy theories, ran a Wall Street Journal
correspondent out of the country recently by alleging he was a CIA agent, recalling the horrible tragedy which befell his predecessor Daniel Pearl. The same paper has carried many stories about the alleged suspicious activity of US diplomats.
In a stern warning to Pakistan, the US Embassy called for ''immediate action'' by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which it said ''has responsibility to facilitate proper arrangements under which a foreign mission
Full report at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/US-Pakistan-bickering-gets-ugly-as-ISI-fingers-American-diplomats/articleshow/5425688
------
CIA bomber's wife: War against US must go on
9 January 2010
ISTANBUL: The Turkish wife of a Jordanian doctor who killed seven CIA employees in a suicide attack in Afghanistan says her husband was outraged
over the treatment of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison and the United States-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Defne Bayrak, the wife of bomber Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, said in an interview with the Associated Press that his hatred of the United States had motivated her husband to sacrifice his life on December 30 in what he regarded as a holy war against the United States.
Bayrak also said on Friday, "I think the war against the United States must go on."
Turkish police questioned and released Bayrak on Thursday. But she says police confiscated a book that
she had written called "Osama bin Laden the Che Guevera of the East."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/CIA-bombers-wife-War-against-US-must-go-on/articleshow/5425840.cms
------
Frame-up? 4 'LeT men' let off for want of proof
9 January 2010
NEW DELHI: In another instance of charges made against suspected terror operatives not sticking in court, four out of six "LeT terrorists"
arrested by the Delhi Police four years ago for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to attack the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun were acquitted by a sessions court on Friday for want of evidence. The court held the other two men guilty of the relatively lighter charge of possessing explosives.
Additional sessions judge Dharmesh Sharma absolved Haroon Rashid, Mohammad Iftikhar, Masood Ahmed and Maulana Dilawar Khan of charges relating to waging war against the country, related offences under IPC and other offences under the Explosives Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
In fact, the charge of waging war against the state didn't stick even against the two convicted men, Hameed Hussain and Mohd Shariq, who were arrested on March 5, 2005 with 10.5kg RDX in the capital.
Rashid, one of the four acquitted, is an engineer who also received training in marine engineering in Singapore between March and May, 2005.
While acquitting the four accused, the court said that the prosecution had failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt. The court fixed January 12 as the date for pronouncement of the sentence against the two convicts.
According to the prosecution, Haroon, Iftikhar, Masood and Dilawar had prepared a plan to attack IMA. The Delhi Police's special cell had unearthed the alleged conspiracy following the arrest of Hameed and Shariq from north Delhi. Subsequently, an encounter had taken place at Uttam Nagar in west Delhi on March 5, 2005 in which two Pakistanis -- Bilawal and Shahnawaz -- and their Indian associate, Shams, were killed.
The police had also claimed to have recovered huge quantity of arms and ammunition, including 100kg of dynamite, three AK-56 rifles, six magazines, 450 detonators, four hand-grenades and one satellite phone from the encounter site. Delhi Police's Special Cell sleuths, including late ACP Rajbir Singh, were involved in the operation.
Full report at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Frame-up-4-LeT-men-let-off-for-want-of-proof/articleshow/5425613.cms
------
NIA may file chargesheet against Headley, Rana soon
9 January 2010
NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA), probing the role of US-based terror duo of Pakistani origin David Coleman Headley and
Tahawwur Hussain Rana in the Mumbai terror attack as well as in planning more attacks on Indian soil, may file a chargesheet against them by the end of this month.
A senior home ministry official said: "The investigation against the duo is still going on. Hopefully, NIA will complete the probe and file the chargsheet by this month-end."
The agency had registered a case against the two, arrested by FBI in October last year on the charge of plotting terror attacks in India and Denmark, underthe Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in November 2009.
"Once the chargesheet is filed against the duo, Indian security agencies will press for the access of both for interrogation and subsequent extradition," said the official, adding a Letter Rogatory (LR) seeking US help in the case would be obtained from the court once the probe is over.
During the investigations, NIA traced Headley's stay at various places in India and recorded statements of several people including Rahul Bhatt, son of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, the staff of hotels in Mumbai, Ajmer, Pune and Delhi and a US national whom he befriended though his then wife -- a Moroccan national -- in Goa.
While Headley's role in the 26/11 terror attack is quite clear for which the FBI has even collected enough evidence, Rana's exact role in the carnage is still being probed. FBI, however, told a Chicago court that Rana -- a Pakistan Army deserter -- had prior knowledge of the 26/11 attack and he had even complimented the Pakistani terrorists for the act.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/NIA-may-file-chargesheet-against-Headley-Rana-soon/articleshow/5425251.cms
------
In 2009, more Muslim kids joined school
Akshaya Mukul
9 January 2010
NEW DELHI: Government's various initiatives for minorities seem to be paying dividend, with Muslim enrolment in schools -- for long a source of
deep concern -- beginning to grow slowly but steadily.
The latest figures, part of National University of Educational Planning and Education's statistics, to be released shortly, shows that both in primary and upper primary level, Muslim enrolment has improved. Though it is early, a definite improvement can be seen in north Indian states.
Data collected from 1.29 million recognised elementary schools in 633 districts revealed a total enrolment of 14.83 million Muslim children in primary classes in 2008-09, which is 11.03% of the total 134.38 million enrolment in primary (I to V) classes. During the pervious year, the same was 10.49% and in 2006-07, it was 9.39%. Of the total Muslim enrolment in primary classes, the percentage of Muslim girls was 48.93%, similar to the share of girls in overall primary enrolment (48.38%).
Bihar continued to be among the performing states while Karnataka showed slow decline in Muslim enrolment, both at primary and upper primary level. Kerala remained the undisputed leader as it showed big improvement in enrolment both at primary and upper primary level.
Remarkably, the percentage of Muslim girls to total Muslim enrolment in upper primary classes is 50.03%, which is above the national average of 47.58%.
The highest percentage of Muslim enrolment was observed in Lakshadweep (99.73%) mainly due to the fact that the percentage of Muslim population to total population in the Union Territory in 2001 was as high as 95.47%. In Bihar, Muslim enrolment at primary level improved from 11.27% in 2007-08 to 12.96% in 2008-09. Even Assam showed a big improvement: from 31.94% in 2007-08 to 35.08% in 2008-09. Decline was most evident in Karnataka: from 15.06% to 14.67%. In Kerala, enrolment went up to 26.22% from 21.49% in 2007-08.
Enrolment in upper primary classes also improved to 9.13% in 2008-09 from 8.54% in 2007-08 and 7.52% in 2006-07. Of the total 53.35 million enrolment in upper primary classes in the country in 2008-09, Muslim enrolment was 4.87 million. In Bihar, upper primary enrolement of Muslims improved from 8.22% in 2007-08 to 10.35% in 2008-09. Decline in Karnataka was more perceptible: from 16.73% to 13.81%.
The data also revealed a share of 10.49% Muslim enrolment in elementary classes (I to VIII) of which 49.20% were Muslim girls (to total Muslim enrolment).
Full report at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/In-2009-more-Muslim-kids-joined-school/articleshow/5425125.cms
------
Pre-paid SIMs popular among terrorists: Centre
9 January 2010
NEW DELHI: The Centre on Friday expressed its firmness in continuing with its decision to ban pre-paid mobile services in Jammu and Kashmir
saying these type of connections were popular among terrorists and have been used to detonate landmines targeting Army convoys in the sensitive state.
Responding to a writ petition by J&K Panthers Party chief Bhim Singh, the Centre filed an affidavit before a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice B S Chauhan that "there is a wider prevalence of use of pre-paid mobile connections by terrorist elements vis-a-vis post-paid mobile connections, which were found to be rarely used".
Stressing that it exercised its legitimate powers under the Telecom Service Licence in the face of the grave situation arising from the gross misuse of pre-paid mobile phones, the Union government said it had a significant impact on the communication networks of terrorists and anti-national elements, who had fradulently obtained pre-paid connections.
The affidavit handed over by Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam to the court cited an instance of use of a pre-paid mobile SIM card to detonate a landmine targeting an Army convoy in 2007 and stated that the J&K police on inquiry found that the subscriber had a fake address.
"Situation of widespread misuse of pre-paid mobile connections had given rise to serious security concerns. There were instances where pre-paid mobile connections of Indian service providers were being taken to territories outside India and used by elements inimical to national interest," the Centre said.
It also cited a general laxity among the service providers in the militancy affected state to verify the credentials of the subscribers. "Department of Telecom has imposed a fine of Rs 7 crore on the six service providers in the state in three months from April to July last year," it said highlighting the extent of the problem.
If there was a change in the ground situation, the ban on pre-paid connections would be considered, it said, adding that no one could claim a fundamental right to pre-paid connections and force the Centre to ignore the demands of national security.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pre-paid-SIMs-popular-among-terrorists-Centre/articleshow/5425049.cms
------
US at war against Al Qaeda: Obama
Lalit K Jha
US President Barack Obama on Friday said America is ‘at war’ against Al Qaeda and do whatever it takes to defeat them. At the same time, he asserted that his policy of dialogue with the Muslim community across the globe would continue.
“Over the past two weeks, we have been reminded again of the challenge we face in protecting our country against a foe that is bent on our destruction...Let’s be clear about what this moment demands. We are at war,” Obama said in his speech at White House.
“We are at war against Al Qaeda, a far-reaching network of violence and hatred that attacked us on 9/11, killed nearly 3,000 innocent people, and is plotting to strike us again. We will do whatever it takes to defeat them,” Obama said.
Obama said, at the same time US has made progress against terrorism and Al Qaeda leadership has been hunkered down. “We have worked closely with partners, including Yemen, to inflict major blows against Al Qaeda leaders, and we have disrupted plots at home and abroad, and saved American lives,” the US President asserted.
Noting that majority of Muslims were rejecting Al Qaeda, Obama said, Al Qaeda increasingly seeks to recruit individuals without known terrorist affiliations not just in the Middle East but in Africa and other places to do their bidding.
He said, he has directed his national security team to develop a strategy that addresses the unique challenges posed by lone recruits.
“We have sought new beginnings with Muslim communities around the world, one in which we engage on the basis of mutual interests and respect and work together to fulfill the aspirations that all people share — to get an education, to work with dignity, to live in peace and security,” Obama said.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/227962/US-at-war-against-Al-Qaeda-Obama.html
------
Karachi turns against Taliban terror
Washington Post
January 09, 2010
The bearded clerics who run Jamia Binoria, a large seminary in a shabby industrial zone, might seem to have much in common with the Taliban.
They come from the same Deobandi strain of Islam, which rejects Western values and seeks to create a pure Islamic state. They require students to memorise the Quran and live an austere, regimented life steeped in religion.
But the leaders of Jamia Binoria insist that they want nothing to do with the Taliban and regard its members as barbaric extremists. They say the recent surge in Taliban suicide bombings across the country have only complicated their lives, leading Pakistani and Western officials to brand seminaries such as theirs as potential terrorist schools and making it harder for them to chart a course between modern education and traditional faith.
“They say we all teach Kalashnikov culture, but that is a wrong image,” said Mufti Muhammad Naeem, the seminary director, who expressed pride in its new computer lab and its large number of female students. “The hard-liners accuse me of being a front for American interests, and the Americans harass me at the airport,” he said. “We reject Talibanisation and we want to be a model for the future, but we get pressure from all sides.”
Karachi, a cosmopolitan port city in far southern Pakistan, seems a far cry from the rugged Taliban sanctuaries of the northwestern tribal belt, but officials say it has often served in recent years as a financial conduit, immigration safety valve and religious pipeline for extremists.
Now, however, the city of 18 million is finding new motives and means to turn against the Taliban, especially after a bombing late last month killed 44 people during a Shia religious procession. The strong secular party in city hall has made it a priority to rid the area of Taliban influence.
And Pashtuns, a large ethnic minority, are facing social and political ostracism because they share linguistic and tribal roots with the Taliban.
“Karachi has been on a fast track to Talibanisation,” said Farooq Sattar, a former mayor from the ruling Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM). “They already had a base here from the Afghan war. There were a lot of sleeper cells, and they used the city for rest, refuge and raising money.”
More recently, he said, Taliban gangs have carried out dozens of robberies and kidnappings for ransom and have begun seeking new urban recruits.
Sattar and others said local officials have employed a variety of methods to track and curb Taliban support.
They have rewarded moderate seminaries such as Jamia Binoria, to which they donated the computer lab, and have registered more than 2,000 seminaries in the area, many of which had never been catalogued or monitored by the government.
Police investigators have moved aggressively to uncover and crack down on underground networks that commit crimes for extremist groups, and experts have worked with local banks to better scrutinise informal, large or frequent money transfers, especially to small businesses, individuals or organisations in the tribal northwest.
Full report at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Karachi-turns-against-Taliban-terror/H1-Article1-495437.aspx
------
Al Qaeda in Yemen is extension of its core from Pak: US
Washington, January 08, 2010
Al Qaeda in Yemen is an extension of the terror outfit's core coming out of Pakistan, a top Obama Administration official has said.
"Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is an extension of al Qaeda core coming out of Pakistan. And, in my view, it is one of the most lethal and one of the most concerning of it," Assistant to the US President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security, John Brennan told reporters at a White House briefing.
He said that they have moved forward to try to execute this attack against the homeland.
"I think (they) demonstrated to us that we had a strategic sense of sort of where they were going, but we did not know they had progressed to the point of actually launching individuals here. We have taken that lesson, and so now we are full on top of it," Brennan said.
The US official termed the Nigerian terror suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab as a terrorist, who unsuccessfully tried to blow up a NorthWest Airlines plane on December 25 over Detroit with some 300 people on board.
"He is a terrorist now," said Brennan.
Abdulmutallab has been charged with blowing up a US plane on December 25.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Al-Qaeda-in-Yemen-is-extension-of-its-core-from-Pak/H1-Article1-495071.aspx
------
3 held over bomb threat on Dubai-bound plane
January 8th, 2010
Jan. 9: Armed police stormed a packed passenger jet at Heathrow airport here on Saturday as it was about to take off to Dubai and arrested three men on suspicion of making a bomb threat.
The officers boarded the Dubai-bound Emirates EK004 flight, which had 331 people inside, after air crew alerted police, Sky News reported.
Police entered the plane when it was about to take off at 8 pm local time on Friday night. The flight was grounded for over three hours.
Emirates said the incident occurred after "remarks" were made as the plane prepared for take-off.
Three men, aged 58, 48 and 36, have been arrested on suspicion of making a bomb threat, the report quoted the Metropolitan Police as saying.
The three men were handcuffed and dragged off the flight by officers wearing full body armour. One allegedly made a 'verbal threat' as the plane taxied towards the Terminal 3 runway, Mail Online reported.
Witnesses described the main suspect as a white man. The passengers remained on board while officers emptied overhead lockers and sniffer dogs were brought on to the Boeing 777 to search for potential explosives.
Up to eight police vehicles surrounded the plane, although no ambulances were present.
The incident comes amid heightened security at airports across the world in the wake of the botched Christmas Day bombing of a US plane by 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouq Abdulmutallab.
Heathrow Airport remained open, despite the security alert.
Officers are not believed to have found any suspicious substances on the Emirates aircraft.
"The police just swarmed the guy (one of the three men) and rushed him out. I think he was a white male. There was another one but I didn't see him," passenger Cameron McLean told Sky News.
A Scotland Yard source was quoted as saying by Mail Online that "we are aware of a security incident at Heathrow. The airport and terminal remains open. We have not found anything."
Full report at: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/international/3-held-over-bomb-threat-dubai-bound-plane-708
------
NYC terror suspect pleads not guilty
January 9th, 2010
Jan. 9: One of the two suspects arrested on charges of plotting explosions in New York City has pleaded not guilty after a city judge charged him with making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The suspect Zarein Ahmedzay, an Afghan immigrant was arrested on Friday along with Adis Medunjanin, is linked with a terror plot that was allegedly planned by Najibullah Zazi, a Colorado shuttle driver.
Notably, Zazi, also an Afghan immigrant, was arrested and indicted last year on charges of plotting to blow up key areas in New York City.
Ahmedzay, who is alleged to have gone to Pakistan for training, appeared before a federal judge in US District Court in Brooklyn yesterday where he pleaded not guilty to the false statement.
He is accused of having lied about whether he knew whether some John Doe went to Pakistan for military training.
'John Doe' appears to be a reference to Zazi. The other suspect Bosnian-born Adis Medunjanin is still in custody and yet to appear before a court.
Special Agent Richard Kolko said these two men were part of an ongoing terror investigation.
The arrests were made at a time when the Obama administration is reeling from its failure to prevent an attempt by a Nigerian to blow up a US plane on Christmas Day.
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/international/nyc-terror-suspect-pleads-not-guilty-709
------
Iran strike can destabilize Middle East: Pentagon
January 9th, 2010
WASHINGTON—A strike on Iran could be “very, very destabilizing” and have unintended consequences for the Middle East, the top U.S. military officer said on Thursday, stressing that diplomacy was crucial.
Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the U.S. military was prepared for any eventuality in Iran, despite being stretched by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He pointed to potential resources in the Navy and Air Force.
“We have certainly focused on Iran for a long time and recognize ... what the potential could be,” Mullen said, adding he was “very comfortable” with U.S. capabilities.
Mullen said authorities in Tehran were “on a path that has strategic intent to develop nuclear weapons and have been for some time” — a charge Iran denies.
“I think that outcome (of a nuclear Iran) is potentially a very, very destabilizing outcome ... on the other hand, when asked about striking Iran, specifically, that also has a very, very destabilizing outcome,” Mullen told a gathering at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think-tank.
Mullen said he worried about “unintended consequences” of either scenario, adding “that part of the world could become much more unstable, which is a dangerous global outcome.”
Tehran already has been hit with three rounds of U.N. sanctions for refusing to comply with demands that it halt sensitive nuclear activities. The United States and its allies have said it is time for a fourth round of sanctions, but diplomats say Russia and China are resisting.
MORE UNREST
Mullen said he was closely following recent events in Iran and added that he was sure incidents of unrest will continue.
In the bloodiest unrest since the aftermath of a disputed June presidential poll, eight people were killed on December 27 and over 40 reformists, including advisers to opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi, have been arrested since.
“I think we just need to be mindful obviously of those events, of what’s going on there, and clearly the need to continue to, I think, aggressively address the potential nuclear weapons issue,” he said.
Full report at: http://dailymailnews.com/0110/09/FrontPage/FrontPage9.php
------
World support must for peaceful Pakistan: Qureshi
* FM says Pakistan has come a long way in strengthening democracy
* Indian Army chief’s statements have strained friendly atmosphere
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The international community should continue supporting Pakistan’s efforts to build itself into a peaceful, modern state, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Friday.
Briefing the heads and representatives of missions from European countries, Canada and the US, Qureshi said the government was committed to making Pakistan a peaceful country and required developed countries’ continuous support for the purpose.
Qureshi said democracy had helped build a national consensus against terrorism and violent extremism, and the people of Pakistan had demonstrated exceptional resilience in combating militancy.
Democracy: He said Pakistan had come a long way in strengthening democracy and reviving democratic traditions, adding that the country had “a free media, truly independent judiciary, a strong parliament and a robust civil society. The government is encouraging the norms of pluralism, tolerance and accommodation and is determined to continue promoting democracy in the country.” He added that the 7th National Finance Commission Award and the Balochistan development plan were other significant achievements of the government.
The foreign minister said that Pakistan’s relations with other countries are very positive. He said peace and stability in Afghanistan is necessary for a stable Pakistan, and as the situations in the two countries are interlinked, Pakistan would continue playing a positive role in improving its relations with the neighbouring country.
The briefing was followed by a question-answer session, in which the foreign minister removed the apprehensions of foreign envoys and delegates regarding the upcoming London Conference on Afghanistan, the Friends of Democratic Pakistan’s Public-Private Partnership Conference in Dubai and Pakistan’s relations with India in the context of recent statements emanating from New Delhi.
Full report at: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\01\09\story_9-1-2010_pg7_1
------
Six terrorists killed in Karachi blast
January 09, 2010
By Salis bin Perwaiz
Police round up six suspects
KARACHI: Six terrorists were killed in a huge explosion here on Friday in a two-storeyed house in Baldia Town. Several neighbours were also injured in the blast. Police said the terrorists present in the house had planned to kidnap Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik but luckily the minister remained safe. Other officers claimed that the terrorists had a plan to attack the Police Training Centre at Saeedebad and make the recruits and the staff hostage.
The massive blast, which shook the huge area, occurred around at 8 am in Sector-8B, Saeedabad, Baldia Town. A police mobile van and senior officers immediately reached the spot and found that the house (No-805) had completely collapsed.
Soon after, Rangers, fire brigade, rescuers from Edhi and Cheepa started the rescue work. In the meantime, the LEA personnel caught six suspects, including two women, from the spot and shifted them to an undisclosed location.
The police recovered six bodies of men and the torso of a man. They later found his legs and hands from other places, which indicated that the torso belonged to a bomber. The police recovered 22 hand grenades, seven Kalashnikovs, two complete suicide jackets and explosive material besides 5,000 bullets.
Capital City Police Officer Karachi Waseem Ahmed told media persons that during the initial investigation, they had found some clues that the dead terrorists had plans to kidnap Interior Minister Rehman Malik from the Sindh High Court premises. Malik was in the town for hearing of his case in the SHC. He added that the police had found some arms and tin food from the rubble of the house.
The six suspects arrested from the spot were identified as Atif, Asif, Aqib, Kashif, Yousuf and Abdullah. One of them is the head of the group. The suspects belong to Swat and had links with banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
An investigator said on condition of anonymity that the torso found from the collapsed building could be of a bomber, who was killed when the jacket he was wearing exploded prematurely. The house belonged to Nawab, a resident of Swat, who had rented it to Riaz. Nawabís wife Nasreen was also injured in the blast. The investigator added that the police had arrested Riaz, Nawab and his wife.
Full report at: http://thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=26567
-------
Police arrests 2 Pakistani US Consulate officials
January 9th, 2010
LAHORE: Gwadar Police again arrested on Friday the two Pakistani employees of the US Consulate in Karachi who were first held on Wednesday for driving vehicles bearing fake licence plates, a private TV channel reported.
Ghulam Jilani and Mazhar Ali were arrested as they arrived in the city on a visit, the purpose of which has yet to be ascertained. A case has been registered against the accused.
Meanwhile, three Pakistani employees of the US Consulate were arrested and released on Wednesday when they entered the city on their way from Turbat.
Earlier, on Thursday, the US took strong exception to the “continued provocative actions and false allegations against its personnel” by Pakistani law enforcement authorities.
The US embassy expressed “concern” over ‘harassment’ of diplomats working in the country to implement the new partnership between the leaders of Pakistan and the US.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\01\09\story_9-1-2010_pg7_12
------
Church-state relations a live issue in EU
WORLD VIEW: The role of religion in society is in a fascinating state of flux throughout Europe, writes PAUL GILLESPIE
ARTICLE 17 of the Lisbon Treaty, which respects the status under national law of churches, religious associations and non-confessional groups, attracted little comment during the recent referendum here. But it assumes new significance because of rapid changes in church-state relations throughout the EU. This is now an urgent issue in Ireland following the child abuse scandals and the growing debate on religious control of education.
The article commits the EU to “maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with these churches and organisations”. Already that has happened here when the Government met a whole range of them, although it has yet to issue any conclusions. Many churches have boosted their representation in Brussels and are co-ordinating activity throughout the EU about how to respond to demands for change.
The picture is complicated by the sheer range of experience, as states like France with a strict separation of church and state are now more open to religion while those with (mainly Anglican or Lutheran) established or state religions like Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland or Britain are introducing more separation. Similar changes are happening in the third category, mainly Catholic states like Spain, Portugal or Austria, which have recently renegotiated existing concordats with that church.
Existing and prospective EU enlargement brings yet more diversity, including more Orthodox churches like Serbia’s along with Greece and the possibility that Turkey could become the first member state with a Muslim majority in its population. That would certainly bolster one of the principal religious trends in contemporary Europe: the steady growth and demand for a voice from Islamic minorities who do not assume religion must be confined to the private sphere.
The growing misfit between comfortable assumptions of a strong relationship between secularisation, modernity and democracy, and these changing realities on the ground is another complicating factor. Many analysts speak of a religious revival, despite continuing low church attendance figures – so much so that the term “post-secular” is widely used.
These figures often co-exist with much higher ones for religious affiliation. Such discrepancies are especially marked in Denmark, for example, which has a mere 2 per cent attendance but an 88 per cent expressed affiliation to the Lutheran church; but they are also found in Italy and Spain. Many Europeans still believe but don’t belong to churches – and vice versa.
Full report at: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2010/0109/1224261978083.html
-------
Russia, China, Iran redraw energy map
By M K Bhadrakumar
The inauguration of the Dauletabad-Sarakhs-Khangiran pipeline on Wednesday connecting Iran's northern Caspian region with Turkmenistan's vast gas field may go unnoticed amid the Western media cacophony that it is "apocalypse now" for the Islamic regime in Tehran.
The event sends strong messages for regional security. Within the space of three weeks, Turkmenistan has committed its entire gas exports to China, Russia and Iran. It has no urgent need of the pipelines that the United States and the European Union have been advancing. Are we hearing the faint notes of a Russia-China-Iran symphony?
The 182-kilometer Turkmen-Iranian pipeline starts modestly with
the pumping of 8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Turkmen gas. But its annual capacity is 20bcm, and that would meet the energy requirements of Iran's Caspian region and enable Tehran to free its own gas production in the southern fields for export. The mutual interest is perfect: Ashgabat gets an assured market next door; northern Iran can consume without fear of winter shortages; Tehran can generate more surplus for exports; Turkmenistan can seek transportation routes to the world market via Iran; and Iran can aspire to take advantage of its excellent geographical location as a hub for the Turkmen exports.
We are witnessing a new pattern of energy cooperation at the regional level that dispenses with Big Oil. Russia traditionally takes the lead. China and Iran follow the example. Russia, Iran and Turkmenistan hold respectively the world's largest, second-largest and fourth-largest gas reserves. And China will be consumer par excellence in this century. The matter is of profound consequence to the US global strategy.
The Turkmen-Iranian pipeline mocks the US's Iran policy. The US is threatening Iran with new sanctions and claims Tehran is "increasingly isolated". But Mahmud Ahmadinejad's presidential jet winds its way through a Central Asian tour and lands in Ashgabat for a red-carpet welcome by his Turkmen counterpart, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, and a new economic axis emerges. Washington's coercive diplomacy hasn't worked. Turkmenistan, with a gross domestic product of US$18.3 billion, defied the sole superpower (GDP of $14.2 trillion) - and, worse still, made it look routine.
There are subplots, too. Tehran claims to have a deal with Ankara to transport Turkmen gas to Turkey via the existing 2,577km pipeline connecting Tabriz in northwestern Iran with Ankara. Indeed, Turkish diplomacy has an independent foreign-policy orientation. Turkey also aspires to be a hub for Europe's energy supplies. Europe may be losing the battle for establishing direct access to the Caspian.
Second, Russia does not seem perturbed by China tapping into Central Asian energy. Europe's need for Russian energy imports has dropped and Central Asian energy-producing countries are tapping China's market. From the Russian point of view, China's imports should not deprive it of energy (for its domestic consumption or exports). Russia has established deep enough presence in the Central Asian and Caspian energy sector to ensure it faces no energy shortage.
Full report at: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/LA08Ag01.html
-------
No intention to hurt Muslim sentiments: Chidambaram
Jan 09, 2010
Chennai : Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said he had no intention to hurt the sentiments of Muslims by his recent remarks equating 'jihad' to terrorism and said he was "happy to stand corrected."
"I may assure you that there was no intention to hurt the sentiments of anyone in the Muslim community," Chidambaram said in a letter to M H Jawahirullah, president of Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK), who had objected to his remarks on jihad.
He said as a "devout Muslim," Jawahirullah was more informed about the teachings of Islam and the true meaning of the word 'jihad.'
Pointing out that the words 'jihad' and 'jihadi' are in common parlance used to describe militant activities and militants in different parts of the world, including India, Chidambaram said he had used the word as it is used in common parlance.
"Like others,I used the word as it is used in common parlance, and I am happy to stand corrected," he said in his letter.
He said leaders of terror outfits like Al-Qaeda and Lashkar-E-Taiba used the word "jihad" on more than one occasion.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/no-intention-to-hurt-muslim-sentiments-chidambaram/565364/
------
U.S. envoy meeting city Muslims Local centre building relationship
By KATIE SCHNEIDER, CALGARY SUN
9th January 2010,
Getting to know diverse ethnic groups, including Calgary's Muslim community, is among a list of items on the to-do list Alberta's new U.S. consul general.
On Wednesday, Laura Lochman will meet with members of the Muslim Council of Calgary at the Akram Jomaa Islamic Centre to learn more about the community and their faith.
The council represents the city's 60,000 Muslims
At a Sun editorial board meeting yesterday, Lochman said she hopes to meet with other groups and organizations in the city during her three-year term.
"The volume of people and organizations to visit is incredible, so this is really part of my priority," she said.
"One of my priorities is outreach to the Muslim community and to other ethnic groups in Calgary.
"Certainly, I'm very interested in getting to know the leaders of that community and engage them in dialogue."
In June, then acting U.S. Consul General for Alberta Daniel Fennell met with local Muslims, who offered praise to President Barack Obama for his speech in Cairo endorsing tolerance as the basis of Islam and denouncing extremists who use violence.
"The relationship ... is something that will be ongoing," said Lochman, who was appointed about six months ago.
The Muslim Council of Calgary invited Lochman to the Akram Jomaa Islamic Centre to continue to build that relationship with the U.S., said spokesman Kashif Ahmed.
KATIE.SCHNEIDER@SUNMEDIA.CA
http://www.calgarysun.com/news/alberta/2010/01/09/12403431-sun.html
------
CIA bomber calls for attacks on US in video
By NAHAL TOOSI and MAAMOUN YOUSSEF
01.09.10
ISLAMABAD -- The Jordanian doctor who killed seven CIA employees in a suicide attack in Afghanistan said in video clips broadcast posthumously Saturday that all jihadists must attack U.S. targets to avenge the death of Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud.
The footage showed Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi - whom the CIA had cultivated as an asset against al-Qaida - sitting with Mehsud's successor in an undisclosed location. It essentially confirmed the Pakistani Taliban's claim of responsibility for one of the worst attacks in CIA history, though a senior militant told The Associated Press that al-Qaida and Afghan insurgents played roles, too.
The development may lead the U.S. to further aid and push Pakistan to crack down on Taliban militants on its soil. The success of the attack on the CIA also raises doubts about the effectiveness of the Pakistani military's ongoing ground operation against the Pakistani Taliban in its stronghold in the South Waziristan tribal region.
Speaking in Arabic in the video shown on the al-Jazeera network, al-Balawi noted the Pakistani Taliban had given shelter to "emigrants" - Muslim fighters from abroad. Mehsud, the group's longtime leader, was killed in August by a CIA missile strike.
"We will never forget the blood of our emir Baitullah Mehsud," said al-Balawi, who wore an Afghan hat and a camouflage jacket on a 1 1/2 minute video clip. "We will always demand revenge for him inside America and outside. It is an obligation of the emigrants who were welcomed by the emir."
A similar clip appeared on the Pakistani channel Aaj, though in it al-Balawi read haltingly from a piece of paper in English, a language Pakistanis are more familiar with than Arabic.
The 32-year-old al-Balawi was apparently a double agent - perhaps even a triple-agent - with links to al-Qaida, the CIA and Jordanian intelligence. He was invited inside the CIA facility in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province bearing a promise of information about Ayman al-Zawahri, al-Qaida's second-in-command. Instead, he blew himself up in a Dec. 30 meeting, killing seven including the CIA's base chief.
In the Arabic clip, al-Balawi appeared to mock assertions that U.S. or Jordanian intelligence had employed him. In the English version, he said he had given up millions of dollars offered by the agencies to join the militants.
Full report at: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/01/09/general-cia-afghan-attack_7262032.html
------
Mushahid flays scanning of Muslims in US
January 09, 2010
F.P. Report Islamabad: Senator and Secretary General PML (Q) Mushahid Hussain Syed on Friday termed the scanning of Muslims in USA was a great insult of Muslim community and demanded President Asif Ali Zardari to meet with US President Obama along with others Muslim rulers including Saudi Arabia and Indonesia to discuss this issue. While talking to media persons in National Press Club (NPC), he strongly condemned the Aushara blast in Karachi and termed it conspiracy to divide the Karachi on lingual and sectarian bases which have been foiled. "PML (Q) Karachi chapter's delegation called on traders and media persons and initiated the reconstruction process for the revival of affectees of this incident adding that they also take part in the burial process of martyrs of Aushara blast, he added. He demanded the Chief Justice of Pakistan to hold an inquiry of this tragedy through Supreme Court and be telecast directly on media and also make party of the affectees of Boltan Market while compensating their loss. Responding to a question, he said that Muhammad Khalil Urduni was a US informer and suicide attacker, who admitted to assassinate the seven staff members of American CIA. He strongly condemned the drone attacks and said that it were the root cause of promoting hatred, which should be end. Commenting on the current political scenario of the country, he said that both the ruling parties PPP and PML (N) were playing with the public sentiments and they have no interest with the problems and worries of masses. He said that PML (Q) was second largest political party in Gilgit-Baltistan after the ruling PPP adding that PML (Q) has its roots in all the four provinces of the country. The government should play its vital role in resolving the public issues rather than increasing pressure on Supreme Court and media in this regard, he suggested. He said that media in Pakistan was more independent as compare to the western countries and the government should provide the facilities of life and medical insurance and scholarship to journalist for education in abroad.
http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=hn&nid=4075
------
Is it bigotry profiling Muslim fliers?
By BEN BOYCHUK and JOEL MATHIS
January 9, 2010
The Obama administration has announced that all travelers flying to the United States from 14 terrorism-prone countries will be patted down and have their carry-ons searched. The new policy is part of the White House response to the failed Christmas Day bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.
The 14 countries are Cuba, Sudan, Nigeria, Algeria, Somalia, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Except for Cuba, all of those countries have predominantly Muslim populations.
Does it make sense to scrutinize travelers who share a certain profile with terrorists? Or is the United States giving in to religious bigotry and fear? Ben Boychuk and Joel Mathis, the RedBlueAmerica columnists, weigh in.
Ben Boychuk
Scrutinizing all travelers from 14 troublemaking countries is a marginal improvement over treating a 55-year-old Catholic housewife from Pittsburgh the same as a 21-year-old Muslim student from Peshawar. Officials are finally acknowledging, if indirectly and tentatively, the real dangers. But it still isn't good enough.
The airline security policies under Barack Obama's watch are not much better than they were during the Bush administration. With new rules barring passengers from carrying books or having blankets in their laps, the policies may be worse. In any event, the rules and regulations that prevail today offer only the illusion of security, not the real thing.
American travelers continue to endure some of the most insipid and degrading procedures imaginable. It's not just removing shoes anymore. Transportation Security Administration agents actually pat down toddlers. Now officials are talking about requiring full-body scans, which Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., rightly calls "virtual strip searches." Such mindless measures inspire contempt and disgust rather than confidence.
Real security requires laser-like focus on the small demographic that fits a certain terrorist profile. As it happens, the vast majority of terrorists that concern us are young Muslim men from those 14 countries on the government's new list. Is every Yemeni, Afghan, Saudi, Pakistani, Iraqi or Nigerian a terrorist? Obviously not. Will terrorists attempt to evade our profilers? Of course. But the exceptions hardly disprove the rule. Over time, Homeland Security officials will need to adjust their attention as circumstances change and as new intelligence dictates.
Full report at: http://www.newschief.com/article/20100109/NEWS/1095033/1013
|
1:33 AM
Sultan Shahin
0 comments:
Post a Comment