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Showing posts from June 6, 2010

June 11, 2010 7:30 AM Mosque Plans Ignite Terror Fears, Inflame Tensions in NYC Borough

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Source: CBS NEWS Staten Island meeting turns ugly. (WCBS) NEW YORK (CBS/WCBS) Tempers flared and fears were ignited at a community meeting in Staten Island, N.Y. Wednesday night, where many residents questioned why a Muslim group is being allowed to build a mosque on the site of a former convent. Was it religious intolerance or legitimate fear about the Muslim American Society's (MAS) alleged support for Hamas? Whatever the reason for the chaos, chaos it was. An overflow crowd grew until the gates around the meeting hall had to be secured by police. Questions were shouted in almost equal measure at community leaders, representatives of St. Margaret Mary R.C. Church, who agreed to sell the land to MAS, and the three members of group who attended the meeting, including the president of the local chapter of MAS, who expressed his exasperation at the way the meeting was handled. Robert Spencer, founder of "Jihad Watch," asked the members "will you here and now d

Amnesty blasts Pakistan's human rights record

Source: Indian Express Millions of Pakistanis in the country's northwest tribal areas live in a 'human rights-free zone' where they have no legal protection from the government and are subjected to abuses by the Taliban, the Amnesty International has said. In a report titled 'As if Hell Fell on Me: The Human Rights Crisis in Northwest Pakistan', the London-based rights organisation urged the Pakistan government and Taliban to comply with international humanitarian law. "Nearly four million people are currently living under the Taliban in Pakistan in northwest Pakistan without rule of law and effectively abandoned by the Pakistani government," Amnesty International's interim Secretary General Claudio Cordone said. "There are still more than one million people who were displaced from their homes in Pakistan's northwest tribal belt by the conflict with the Taliban (and) whose plight is largely ignored and who are in desperate need of aid."

Islamic clerics in Swat ban Taliban's entry

Source: Indian express  Islamic clerics and prayer leaders in the restive Swat district of northwest Pakistan have announced a ban on the entry of Taliban militants in the area and backed efforts by security forces to maintain law and order. Around 250 'Ulema-e-Karam' and 'Pesh Imams' from Swat said they would extend total support to security forces for maintaining peace and harmony that was vitiated by the Taliban during the past two years. The clerics, prayer leaders and members of a peace jirga from Kabal sub-division, a former hub of militants, announced their decision to ban Taliban's entry to their area when a delegation led by Maulana Hakeemullah and Mufti Asmatullah met Brig Salman Akbar, the army officer leading operations against the Taliban in the area. There is no room for terrorism in Islam and some vested elements are trying to misguide innocent people in the name of religion for their ulterior motives, the religious leaders said. Taliban militants

Taliban execute seven-year-old Afghan boy accused of spying

Source: yahoo news Kabul, June 9 (DPA) Suspected Taliban militants executed a seven-year-old boy in southern Afghanistan after accusing him of spying for the government, a provincial official said Wednesday. The child was captured by the militants in Sangin district of southern province of Helmand Tuesday, Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said. 'The militants killed the seven-year-old boy in Heratiyan village of the district, on charges of espionage for Afghan government,' Ahmadi said, citing information provided to police by relatives. Most areas of the district are controlled by Taliban militants, while Afghan and foreign troops are only present in the centre, he said. The Taliban had not yet comment on the reported incident. After being driven from power in late 2001, Taliban militants have killed dozens of people accused of spying. But Tuesday's incident was the first time a child was reportedly executed. The Taliban insurgents are most active

Iran & Turkey are the actual threat to the Arabs


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Source: canadian free press   By Elias Bejjani    Friday, June 11, 2010 In his recent rhetorical salvo with the State of Israel in the aftermath of the maritime Flotilla confrontation, Turkish Prime Minister, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has proved par excellence his supremacy over Iranian and Arab leaders and their intelligence and media linguistic experts in the venomous usage of fabricated, misleading, camouflaged, deceptive and demagogical slogans. In his theatrical, emotional, religious speeches and statements, he appealed to the Islamic world, Arabs and Palestinians, and evilly resorted to all tactics and strategies of bragging, hatred, stirring of instincts, fundamentalism and hostilities. Mr. Erdogan cunningly and with malice endeavored to portray himself and his country as guardians for the Palestinian liberation cause and as holy angels whom heaven has sent to work on lifting the sea blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza strip . In his hysterical anti-Israel rampage he did

ANALYSIS-Iran spy ring reports set off Gulf Arab alarm bells

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Source: iranfocus By Cynthia Johnston DUBAI, June 11 (Reuters) - Gulf Arab states, hosts to U.S. and Western military bases, fear the discovery of a purported Iranian spy ring in Kuwait will make it harder to stay out of the fray of any conflict over Iran's nuclear programme. The ensuing tensions following the Kuwaiti arrests, details of which remain scant, may further polarise Gulf states against non-Arab rival Tehran as a global row over Iran's nuclear ambitions heats up. News of the round-up, if proven, could also prompt security clampdowns by Gulf states aimed at ferreting out any more potential spies governments fear may be scouring their land for retaliatory targets in the event of a U.S. strike on Iran. "What they are searching for is not being caught in the crossfire of a potential military strike on Iran," said Theodore Karasik of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis. "When you have the presence of spy rings and this drifting more

Gaza Depends Upon Tunnel Economy

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Source: VOA Lisa Schlein | Geneva 10 June 2010 Photo: AP A Palestinian tunnel-digger works inside a smuggling tunnel near Rafah, where four Palestinian workers were killed, 29 Apr 2010 A new report finds the ongoing Israeli blockade is increasing the Gaza Strip's dependence on the so-called tunnel economy for basic supplies and income.  But, the report by the International Labor Organization says the informal tunnel economy brings with it many hazards.  The report is under discussion at the ILO's annual assembly. The ILO report says there has been some improvement in the economic situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  But, it notes economic growth is unevenly distributed between Gaza and the West Bank. Last year, it says Gaza's economy grew by only one percent compared to more than eight percent growth in the West Bank.  The report says the situation is somewhat improving in the West Bank because institutions governing law and order are still

US Envoy's Killers Escape from Sudan Death Row

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Source: VOA 11 June 2010 Photo: AFP Three of four Islamists (excluding man in center) accused in 2008 killing of US diplomat and his Sudanese driver, raise their hands and shout slogans as they walk out of a Sudanese court in Khartoum (24 Jun 2009 file photo) Sudanese police say four men sentenced to death for killing a USAID official and his driver have escaped from prison. The police sources said Friday the men escaped from Khartoum's Kober prison the night before. Reuters newswire cites a police spokesman saying the men left using the prison's drainage system. The U.S. Embassy in Khartoum said it was looking into reports of the escape. The four men, described during the trial as Islamist extremists, were convicted of shooting to death USAID official John Granville and his driver Abdel Rahman Abbas in Khartoum on New Year's Day 2008. The men said they were tortured into confessing to the murders. All four were sentenced to hanging. A fi

23 Killed, 300 Wounded in Kyrgyz Riots

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Source: VOA 11 June 2010 Photo: AFP A man looks at a vandalized Kyrgyz building in the streets of Osh, 11 Jun 2010 Kyrgyzstan's health ministry says 23 people have been killed and more than 300 others wounded in riots in the southern city of Osh. Fighting erupted between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek groups early Friday and grew larger during the day. Rioters smashed windows, looted businesses and burned cars, prompting the Kyrgyz government to declare a state of emergency in Osh and three neighboring districts.  A Kyrgyz government spokesman says authorities sent armored vehicles to the site of the riots and imposed a nighttime curfew. Southern Kyrgyzstan was the power base of former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was overthrown in an April uprising in which 85 people were killed. A researcher for Human Rights Watch in Osh told VOA the city was calm late Friday morning, after she heard gunshots through the night. Andrea Berg says international organiza

Rhetoric and reality

Source: By M K Bhadrakumar The US wish list includes the nuclear liability bill, the education bill and the easing of caps on investment in critical sectors. The United States-India relationship seems set to fly high into a clear blue sky where the sun eternally shines. The rhetoric emanating from Washington would have us all but imagine the US believes it has no future in the 21st century without India’s partnership. The rhetoric was meant to calm Delhi’s nerves regarding President Barack Obama’s perceived lack of commitment to the US-India partnership. Instead it resuscitates moribund Bush-era doctrines. But we live in a real world. And external affairs minister S M Krishna kept his dignified poise with feet firmly on the ground while co-chairing the inaugural US–India Strategic Dialogue in Washington. The dialogue did not produce ‘deliverables’ for New Delhi. Nor was it expected. True, access to David Headley happened, but onl

Odd bedfellows: Islam and Left

Source; Trentorian By DIANA WEST At some future date, when what Andrew C. McCarthy calls “the freedom culture” is again secure (we hope), the jihad-opposition will see itself divided into two camps in histories written about our current time. 1. Those who ineffectually supported efforts to stop “terrorism” and other supposedly generic outbreaks of violence in such lands as Iraq and Afghanistan. 2. Those, currently far fewer in number, who recognized terrorism as but one aspect of the civilizational assault emanating from expansionist Islam. If No. 2 (the freedom culture) wins, it will be because it grew in influence. And if that happens, it will be due to such books as McCarthy’s ground-breaking “The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America.” McCarthy was the federal prosecutor who won convictions against “the blind sheik” and his accomplices in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Islam and the Left? The notion will raise some eyebrows. I asked McCarthy to

Not Such Strange Bedfellows: A Review Of Andy McCarthy’s ‘The Grand Jihad’

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Source: Big journalism President Obama called the murder of a soldier in Little Rock by a self-proclaimed jihadist “ a senseless tragedy .” The Christmas bomber, “ an isolated extremist .” The Ft. Hood shooting , a “horrific outburst of violence.” Daniel Pearl’s beheading, an act which “ captured the world’s imagination ” (truly the most repugnant euphemism possible for such barbarism), he magically transformed from an act of Koran-mandated Jew-hatred to a “free press” issue. At every turn, the Obama administration feeds us maddening and relentless disinformation, parroted by a credulous and/or complicit press, that terrorism carried out in the name of Islam has nothing to do with Islam. Andrew C. McCarthy begs to differ. A contributing editor at the National Review Online , McCarthy is a former New York prosecutor and author of Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad . He knows a thing or two about Muslim fundamentalism, having put away the Blind Sheikh and fellow conspirators inv

'Islamic terrorism' and the Obama administration Critics on the right say the administration is deliberately denying the existence of 'radical Islam' and 'Islamic terrorism.'

Source: LA TIMES It's a drumbeat on the right: The Obama administration is in deliberate denial about the existence of "Islamic terrorism." A conservative columnist recently complained that two federal reports described terrorism and violent extremism but didn't mention "radical Islam as a motivator." Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democrat-turned-independent senator from Connecticut, has chided the administration for failing to identify "violent Islamist extremism" as the enemy. There is some truth in this criticism. The administration has assiduously avoided terms that recognize the distinct threat posed by those who cite Islam as a rationalization for terror. For example, a recent report by the Homeland Security Department's Countering Violent Extremism Working Group refers vaguely to "ideologically motivated violent crime." (The word "Muslim" does appear in descriptions of members of the working group.) We understand the

FREEDOM HAWK: Israel rightfully defended against terrorism

Source: Dailyaztecstar By Patrick Walsh, Senior Staff Columnist  Published: Monday, June 7, 2010  Updated: Monday, June 7, 2010 Israel has been unjustly accused of “state sponsored terrorism” for defending itself against terrorism from Islamic extremists. Now, the Jewish state is facing international criticism and protest for simply enforcing its laws. Many don’t remember the sequence of events leading up to the recent controversy. Israel returned the Gaza Strip to Palestine in the summer of 2005, a bold and self-repressing move for peace. Hamas, the terrorist organization bent on wiping Jews off the face of the earth, responded by firing rockets into Israel, targeting civilians. So Israel created a legal blockade for the Gaza Strip to stop the flow of weapons into the region. Since then, Israel has permitted the international community to send humanitarian aid into Gaza with good faith. The pro-Palestinian Free Gaza Movement organized six ships to “break” the blockade last Sund

Engaging Pakistan: Shift in the Post-Mumbai Posture

Source; IDSA Smruti S. Pattanaik June 7, 2010 In his May 24 press conference, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, “It is my firm belief that India cannot realise its full potential unless we have the best possible relations with our neighbours and Pakistan happens to be the largest neighbour of ours.” The Prime Minister’s statement raises certain important questions. Did India achieve its objectives by not talking to Pakistan post-Mumbai? Is a no talk policy sustainable given the international environment? What would India achieve by resuming talks with Pakistan? After 26/11 there was a popular opinion against continuing a dialogue with Pakistan. The international community, while empathising with India’s viewpoint, urged Pakistan to take action against the master-minds of the Mumbai attack, while at the same time emphasising the need for dialogue between the two countries. India’s posture of no-dialogue partially achieved its objective

Afghan troops fear life after foreign pullout

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Source: Reuters Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers take part in an improvised explosive device (IED) detection training course at Camp Hero in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan in this June 3, 2010 file photo. Credit: Reuters/Denis Sinyakov NAKHONAY Afghanistan (Reuters) - Standing beside a machinegun in a sand-bagged watch tower, an Afghan soldier contemplates a future once Western forces leave the country. "The Taliban will capture us in five minutes," said Mohammad Azim at a Kandahar base shared by NATO and Afghan army troops, close to villages where militants easily blend in with the population. Afghanistan's stability hinges to a great extent on the performance of the army, especially after U.S. troops start pulling out in 2011. Failure to pacify the Taliban could seriously damage Barack Obama's presidency. He hopes deployment of an extra 30,000 U.S. troops and the training of A