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Starving Afghans sell girls of eight as brides

Villagers whose crops have failed after a second devastating drought are giving their young daughters in marriage to raise money for food

Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor
Sunday January 7, 2007
The Observer

Azizgul is 10 years old, from the village of Houscha in western Afghanistan. This year the wheat crop failed again following a devastating drought. Her family was hungry. So, a little before Christmas, Azizgul's mother 'sold' her to be married to a 13-year-old boy.

'I need to sell my daughters because of the drought,' said her mother Sahatgul, 30. 'We don't have enough food and the bride price will enable us to buy food. Three months ago my 15-year-old daughter married.

'We were not so desperate before. Now I have to marry them younger. And all five of them will have to get married if the drought becomes worse. The bride price is 200,000 afghanis [£2,000]. His father came to our house to arrange it. The boy pays in instalments. First he paid us 5,000 afghanis, which I used to buy food.'

Azizgul is not unique. Hers is one of a number of interviews and case studies collected by the charity Christian Aid - all of them young girls sold by their families to cope with the second ruinous drought to hit Afghanistan within three years.

While the world has focused on the war against the Taliban, the suffering of the drought-stricken villagers, almost 2.5 million of them, has largely gone unnoticed. And where once droughts would afflict Afganistan once every couple of decades, this drought has come hard on the heels of the last one, from which the villagers were barely able to recover.

While prohibited by both Afghan civil and Islamic law, arranged marriages have long been a feature of Afghan life, particularly in rural areas. What is unusual is the age of some of the girls. And the reason: to buy food to survive.

'Many families are doing this because of the drought,' Sahatgul said. 'Our daughters are our only economic asset. We will have the marriage ceremony at puberty. The groom, Rahim, has gone to Iran with his brothers to earn the money. He is working on a building site. He will come back with the rest of the money that he has earned or borrowed. He calls us every month to make sure that Azizgul is still his.'

Najibullah, 39, is a farmer. He sold his eight-year-old daughter Somaya for $3,000 (£1,560). She is engaged to a 22-year-old man from the village, Mohammed, who has also gone to Iran to earn the money to pay the bride price.

'He has already paid a deposit of $600, which we used to buy warm clothes and food,' said Najibullah. For her part, Somaya knows she is getting married but does not know what that means.

The consequences of the first drought last year - which saw the wheat crop, on which more than 80 per cent of Afghans depend, cut by half - have gone beyond child brides. In some areas, according to the charity's survey, farmers lost between 80 and 100 per cent of their crops. According to Christian Aid, the children of the affected areas have been hit in other ways: by malnutrition, increased infant mortality, and by being sent on three-hour journeys to collect water and firewood to survive.

Now many of those villagers worst affected are caught in a double bind. Without their own food to survive, aid supplies have been hampered by the winter snows, which have cut off many of the villages, while the World Food Programme's aid pipeline to areas like the Herat province (where Houscha lies) has been hampered by attacks on food convoys coming from Quetta in Pakistan by the Taliban.

'We have advisers in Afghanistan monitoring the situation,' said a spokesman for Britain's Department for International Development, 'and we have already given £1m in aid. Our view is that it is not quite a humanitarian crisis yet, but it is very, very difficult. The biggest problem facing the aid effort is not security in the country but the fact that large areas have been cut off by snow and that food aid can only be delivered to regional centres.'

The grim picture is echoed by the UN and other international organisations working in Afghanistan. According to the World Food Programme's most recent food security monitoring bulletin, food consumption in the worst affected areas has markedly deteriorated as wheat prices, where wheat is available, have increased by up to 37 per cent. But the picture is most graphically painted by the suffering of the people on the ground, in particular the children.

Zarigul is 40 and also from Houscha. 'Our children are very weak from lack of food and we are worried that they will die. We feed them boiled water and sugar. We have no vegetables for them, just potatoes. Last year we had vegetables. We need help - food for ourselves and our animals.'

Children are already dying. In a graveyard on a hill overlooking the village of Sya Kamarak in western Afghanistan, villagers gathered for the funerals of three young children who died on the same day, from malnutrition caused by the drought in western, northern and southern Afghanistan. There were no doctors' reports to confirm the cause of death - the parents were too poor to take them to the clinic, one day's walk away.

Jan Bibi, 40, said she had been feeding her three-month-old daughter Nazia with just boiled water and sugar because she had nothing else. 'My baby died because of inadequate food. I wanted to breastfeed her, but I was not producing enough milk.'

Back in Houscha, Abdul Zahir, 58, head of the men's council, summed up the desperate situation confronting families. 'There is widespread poverty. We have to sell off our children to survive. We are not proud of it, but we have to do it.'

Starving Afghans sell girls of eight as brides (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1984396,00.html)

Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese Uses the Christian Fish Symbol for Homosexual Solidarity :o

BUDAPEST, Hungary, Jan. 8 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Christian fish symbol is an ancient and sacred symbol for the persecuted Christians in the 1st century, as well as contemporary believers in Christ. But that symbol which showed that Christians identified with each other in their obedience to follow Christ is taking on a whole new meaning. The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, as one of their ministries, ‘Ministry with Lesbians and Gay Catholics’ decided to make the sacred fish symbol into a rainbow fish symbol pin.

As most people know, the homosexual community has long used the rainbow as a symbol of their solidarity with the movement to legitimize homosexuality in their communities. From the Diocese’ own website, it states “See in the fish pin a sign of recognition of our lesbian and gay sisters and brothers. The pin signals solidarity with all people of faith who promote justice and inclusivity for every person in their faith communities.”

Phil Magnan, the Director of Biblical Family Advocates, a Christian ministry to promote biblical morality had this to say in response, “I was somewhat stunned that such a large Catholic Diocese which represents millions of Catholics would ignore the mandates of their own faith, which says “The Catholic Church thus teaches: "Basing itself on sacred Scripture, “homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.”

“To actually put the rainbow colors on such a sacred symbol for the Christian is an affront to the faith of not only the early church believers, but those of us who know that homosexuality and its colors have no place representing historical Christianity that upholds holiness and morality, very highly.”

“What if I was to start a group to accept adulterers, would I have them put some kind of symbol to show our acceptance of adultery? All sexual relationships outside of a heterosexual marriage are acting outside of God’s natural order for the family. There are so many reasons why same sex relationships hurt both the participant as well as society. And even worse, it is a grave sin before God.”

Magnan continued, “The Holy Scriptures clearly teach against homosexual relationships and that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. When you look at this Catholic ministry to gays it seems more of a call for people to accept their immoral orientation rather than a ministry to rescue them out of their depravity. Christ’ love for our neighbor is calling them out of the darkness of sin, calling them to repentance. Acceptance or tolerance of homosexuality or any other sin puts us at enmity with God Himself. The Catholic Archdiocese in Los Angeles should be clearly reaching out in compassion to the homosexual community, but it should also clearly denounce that such lifestyles are sinful and destructive. The gospel of Jesus Christ was not only meant to offer forgiveness of sin, but freedom from it.”

Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese Uses the Christian Fish Symbol for Homosexual Solidarity (http://www.earnedmedia.org/BFA0108.htm)

Disgraced Author Aims to Defend Judas

By David Stringer
Associated Press Writer
Sun, Jan. 07 2007 11:46 AM ET

LONDON (AP) - Author Jeffrey Archer, who was cast out of Britain's Conservative Party after being jailed on perjury charges, is coming to the defense of another noted black sheep — Judas Iscariot.

Archer announced Sunday that his new novel chronicling the life of the man who betrayed Jesus, "The Gospel According to Judas, by Benjamin Iscariot," will be published in March.

"This is the most important book I have ever worked on. It means an awful lot to me," said a statement from the author, whose novels include "Kane & Abel" and "Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less."

He said he wrote the book in collaboration with religious scholar Frank Moloney, formerly of the Catholic University of America.

Archer's publisher, Macmillan, said the book imagines Judas as a politician who betrays Jesus not for money, but because of the belief he is an ineffective leader unable to challenge the authority of the Romans. Unlike the Gospels, Judas does not kill himself but instead survives and recounts his story to a son — the narrator of Archer's book.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa recorded an audio version of the novel last week, the statement said.

"It's so authentic. It sounds just like the kind of thing someone's son would do to try to rehabilitate their father's name," the publisher quoted Tutu as saying.

Last April, an Egyptian Coptic text was made public in Switzerland that portrayed Judas not as a sinister betrayer but as Jesus' confidant, chosen to be told spiritual secrets that the other apostles were not.

The ''gospel'' was found sometime in the 1970s in a remote burial cave in middle Egypt, said Mario Roberty, Switzerland-based Maecenas Foundation for Ancient Art.

Archer left prison in 2003 after serving two years for perjury and obstructing justice. He was convicted of lying during his successful 1987 libel action against the Daily Star newspaper, which claimed he had hired a prostitute.

The ex-lawmaker had been honored with a life peerage in 1992 for his tireless fundraising for the Conservative Party, but he was kicked out of the party over his perjury conviction.

Disgraced Author Aims to Defend Judas (http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070107/24833.htm)

European Cathedrals Become Entertainment Centers

By Heather Sells
CBN News

CWNews.com – Are the ancient cathedrals of Europe an endangered species?

That's a valid concern as spiritual darkness drives worshippers away and replaces them with things like, in one case, indoor climbers.

At the Glasgow Climbing Center, fitness types can scale walls up to 40 feet high in the former Ibrox Anglican Church. Fifteen years ago, people stopped attending so the congregation sold the church.

Now, the place that calls itself "Scotland's premiere leisure facility" features state-of-the art recreation, in a place once intended to point people to God.

And it's not the only Scottish church that has put Christianity on the back-burner. Cottiers is a pub and dinner theatre that was also once a church. And just a few blocks away, an old parish church built in 1865 is now a restaurant.

Crossing the ocean to London, you'll find houses of God converted to entertainment centers – like this old Welsh church-turned-night club.

The former West Kensington Catholic Church now hosts Indian dancers. It promotes the Hindu faith and Indian culture.

Air Studios is a top production facility formerly known as Lyndhurst Church.

One group of developers displayed their creativity in converting a church into a condominium complex called – The Spire House.

American evangelists like Ron Luce worry that the U.S. is just one generation away from the bleak spiritual landscape that dominates Western Europe.

“We're on the onslaught or threshold of a moral Katrina where everyone does their own thing because they have no moral compass on the inside,” said Luce, who is with Teen Mania Ministries. “Imagine the whole country like that for the next 50 years. That's a lot of what Europe looks like right now.”

Indeed, some U.S. churches already resemble the European trend. LL Cool J recently performed in an Atlanta concert venue – the former Baptist Tabernacle Church. It's got a trendy bar, hip artwork – and the unabashed support of its patrons.

But evangelical sociologists in the U.S. say they're not panicking. Their research shows Christianity is alive and well here.

But that doesn't mean church leaders won't be watching – and learning – from what's happening in Western Europe.

European Cathedrals Become Entertainment Centers (http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/cwn/010507Cathedrals.aspx)

3 Treated, Dozens Decontaminated After Chemical Release

POSTED: 1:59 pm CST January 8, 2007
UPDATED: 6:05 pm CST January 8, 2007

SUGAR LAND, Texas -- A leaking tanker-truck sent a large plume of white smoke into the air Monday afternoon, forcing officials to issue a shelter-in-place for more than an hour, KPRC Local 2 reported. More than two-dozen workers were also treated.

The chemical release came from a ruptured line at the Nalco Energy Services plant at 7705 Highway 90 near Highway 59 in Sugar Land at about 1:45 p.m.

Officials said the tanker leaked ethylenediamine, which is a solvent used in adhesives that is considered an irritant.

Three Nalco employees were sent to the hospital for treatment of respiratory problems, according to authorities.

"We've also decontaminated approximately 27 Nalco employees. We are asking that any residents within the community that experience any kind of respiratory problems report to the nearest emergency room," Sugar Land Fire Chief Dannie Smith said.

The conditions were not released, but officials said the three employees were responsive and alert.

"We believe a pressure-relief valve on the truck may have dislodged causing a release into the atmosphere," said John Wantuch, Nalco's plant manager.

The truck was being prepared to be unloaded into a storage tank when the release happened.

A plant spokesman said the tanker contained about 4,000 gallons of ethylenediamine, which is mixed with water to manufacture corrosion inhibitors for energy equipment.

An investigation is under way to determine the cause.

Missouri City issued a shelter-in-place for approximately one mile around the area of Highway 6 and Murphy Road, which affected about 5,800 homes, according to authorities. It was lifted at 3:30 p.m.

Several Sugar Land subdivisions asked to shelter-in-place, including Venetian Estates, Brookside Belknap, The Hill and Mayfield Park, were given the all-clear by 3 p.m.

Fort Bend Independent School District officials also lifted the shelters-in-place that were issued for the following schools.

    *
    * Kempner High School
    * Sugar Land Middle School
    * Sugar Mill Elementary School
    * Lakeview Elementary School
      M.R. Wood Alternative Campus

When a shelter-in-place is issued, residents should:

    *
    * Go inside.
    * Shut all doors and windows.
    * Turn off air conditioners and heaters to prevent outside air from getting inside.
    * Stay off the phone.
    * Do not use fireplaces. Put out fires and close all dampers.
    * Move to the room with the fewest windows and doors. Tape around doors, windows, exhaust fans and vents using plastic sheeting or garbage bags, if directed.
      Turn on the radio or television to listen for further instructions.

3 Treated, Dozens Decontaminated After Chemical Release (http://www.click2houston.com/news/10697121/detail.html#)

Persecution Growing Fastest in Islamic World

By Jeremy Reynalds
Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

WEST SUSSEX UK (ANS) -- As many as 250 million Christians worldwide will face persecution and repression in 2007, just for following Jesus Christ, according to the latest roundup of the world’s persecution hot spots by Release International.

Inspire Magazine (www.inspiremagazine.org.uk/news.aspx?action=view&id=716) reported that Release, a voice for the persecuted hurch, has found that most persecution takes place in four distinct "zones;" those of Islam, Communism, Hinduism and Buddhism. But persecution is growing fastest of all in the Islamic world.

Governments in even moderate Muslim countries often fail to safeguard the rights of their Christian minorities. According to Release, abuses suffered by Christians include kidnapping, forced conversion, imprisonment, church destruction, torture, rape and execution.

One of the world’s worst abusers of religious freedom is Saudi Arabia, guardian of Islam’s holiest sites Mecca and Medina. A Muslim found "guilty" of converting to Christianity could face the death sentence for apostasy. And anyone who leads a Muslim to Christ faces jail, expulsion or execution.

"There’s a conspiracy of silence around Saudi," said Release International’s CEO Andy Dipper, "probably because the West wants their oil and their money. But this is a government that hands out the death sentence for its own citizens who want nothing more than the freedom to choose their own faith. And while Saudi bans all Christian literature, it spends billions of dollars each year propagating Islam around the world."

But some of the most violent persecution in the Islamic world is beyond government control, Inspire reported Release commented. Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 2001, the world has been made dramatically aware of Islamist global networks. Although the best known is Al Qaeda, there are others who exploit religious tensions for their own political ends.

A rising number of extremists interpret the call to jihad as a call to violence, Release commented. The organization added that extremists apparently regard it as their religious duty to force Christians and non-Muslims to convert to Islam. Those who refuse must be driven out or killed.

There is a growing movement to impose Islamic (Sharia) law, Inspire reported Release stated, which results in increased pressure on Christians. In Nigeria, militants have driven Christians from their homes to remove political opposition and pave the way for Sharia law.

Despite the collapse of Communism in Europe, persecution of Christians continues in China, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam and North Korea.

Communist governments remain ideologically opposed to Christianity and have pursued systematic programs to weaken and destroy the Church, Release commented. Some persecution also continues under the "old guard" in the former Soviet Union, and China - which Release commented for all its economic openness - continues to drive Christians underground.

"As China prepares for the Olympic Games western governments would do well to remember that China detains more Christians than any other country," Inspire reported Dipper commented. "Believers and leaders who want nothing more than to worship freely face imprisonment, torture and even death."

In the Hindu world Christians face persecution in India and Nepal, Release stated. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), one of India’s largest political parties, is associated with militant Hindu nationalist groups. Extremists have been involved in a growing number of attacks against both Christians and Muslims.

Several Indian states have introduced laws against forced conversion, but these are wide open to abuse, Inspire reported Release commented. Christians face most pressure in rural areas, where militants have destroyed churches and threatened, attacked and killed church leaders.

In the Buddhist world, Christians face persecution in Bhutan, Burma and Sri Lanka. Release reported that Buddhist militants regard Christianity as a threat to their national identity and unity. They have stirred up harassment and violence against Christians in Bhutan and Sri Lanka.

Back in 1966 Burma expelled most of its Christian missions. Today the repressive military regime still maintains controls over religious activity. There have been many cases of forced conversion to Buddhism as well as violence against Christians, Inspire reported Release stated.

Through its partners in 30 countries, Release International supports Christians imprisoned for their faith and their families. Release supplies Bibles and Christian literature, gives medical aid and welfare, provides legal aid and sanctuary, and supports church workers.

Persecution Growing Fastest in Islamic World (http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2007/s07010031.htm)

So tell me............. Where in the Christian world are muslims persecuted?


Answer;  They aren't persecuted at all.

Montserrat Volcano Shoots 5-Mile-High Ash Cloud

Monday , January 08, 2007

OLVESTON, Montserrat  — The Soufriere Hills volcano, which has been erupting for the past 11 years, shot a cloud of ash more than 5 miles into the sky on Monday, and authorities warned that more significant activity is possible in coming days.

The blast, accompanied by increased seismic rumbling, released gases and steam from inside a lava dome that has grown rapidly over the last week, said Dr. Vicky Hards, director of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory.

"I think it was a warning call ... of what it can do," Hards said.

The explosion near sunrise also sent a flow of volcanic material cascading down the volcano's northwest flank for 2 miles but did not immediately threaten any of the British Caribbean island's 5,000 inhabitants, Hards said. Sirens alerted people to listen to the radio for updates.

Wind blowing from the east pushed the dark gray ash over the "exclusion zone," a barren, uninhabited area extending from the 3,000-foot high volcano across the southwest to the coast. Southwest of the island is open water.

Scientists say the dome could collapse and send blistering gas and debris down the slopes of the volcano, potentially destroying homes in the low-lying Belham Valley. The volcano coughs up ash and bursts its lava cap every few months.

The Soufriere Hills volcano sprang to life in 1995, and more than half the territory's 12,000 inhabitants moved away. An eruption in 1997 buried much of the south, including the capital of Plymouth, and killed 19 people.

Montserrat Volcano Shoots 5-Mile-High Ash Cloud (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,242352,00.html)

One world religion radio talk show
http://www.israelnationalradio.com/?

You have to listen to this one and click on the link WOW!!

Tamar Yonah

Global Attempts to Form a One-World Religion?
The AOC (Alliance of Civilizations (http://www.unaoc.org/aoc.php?page=2)), an initiative of the UN, attempts to blur the differences between religions and cultures in order to help unite the world under a one-world international body. Is this good for religious people, and is it good for Israel? Constance Cumbey (http://www.cumbey.blogspot.com/) is a lawyer and author who has done much research on the attempts

China irate at Chen's US stopover

President Chen has been allowed US stopovers in the past
China has protested to the US at plans to allow Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian to stop over in California on his way to Central America.

President Chen will spend the night in San Francisco before travelling on to Nicaragua for the inauguration of President-elect Daniel Ortega.

China sees Taiwan as part of its territory and discourages any diplomatic recognition for Taipei.

The US said Mr Chen's visit was private and simply for transit purposes.

Washington has allowed the Taiwanese president to stop over on US soil in the past, but refused permission last May as he headed for a presidential inauguration in Costa Rica.

Analysts at the time speculated that the refusal was a warning to Mr Chen not to challenge the delicate balance of relations between China and Taiwan.

'Real goal'

China's foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Beijing had made "serious representations" to the US about Mr Chen's stopover this time.

"We are firmly opposed to any official exchange between Taiwan authorities and the United States," he said in a statement on the ministry website.

He said Mr Chen's "real goal" was to "undertake activities aimed at splitting China and ruining Sino-US relations", without going into details.

Larry Walker of the American Institute in Taiwan - the de facto US embassy on the island - said they understood Mr Chen's visit to be "private and unofficial, consistent with the purposes of transit".

Mr Chen is expected to spend 17 hours in San Francisco - home to a large and politically active Chinese-American community - before travelling on to the Nicaraguan capital Managua.

Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, are among 24 nations which have diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

The US switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, but is committed to supplying the island with defensive weapons.

China irate at Chen's US stopover (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6240201.stm)

Russia oil row hits Europe supply

A gas price row triggered the dispute between the two countries
Russia has cut oil supplies to Poland, Germany and Ukraine amid a trade row with its neighbour Belarus.

The Russian state pipeline operator, Transneft, said it cut supplies on the Druzhba pipeline to prevent Belarus illegally siphoning off oil.

The European Commission said the cuts posed no immediate risk to European supplies but it was seeking an urgent explanation from Belarus and Russia.

Belarus has been in dispute with Russia over the price of Russian oil and gas.

Minsk says Russia has not been paying a transit tax for moving oil through Belarus, imposed after Russia doubled the price it charges Belarus for gas supplies.

Exports were halted after Belarus began legal action against Russia for failure to pay the new oil shipment tax.

Transneft later said it had been forced to cut off supplies through the Druzhba pipeline after Belarus began siphoning off oil as payment in kind for the duties.

The Russian firm has so far refused to pay the oil export taxes as it claims the charges are illegal.

Separately, Azerbaijan has suspended oil exports to Russia following a pricing dispute with Russian state-backed oil giant Gazprom.

Supply issues

Neither Germany nor Poland is in any immediate danger of experiencing oil shortages, as both maintain substantial reserves.

But BBC economics correspondent Andrew Walker says the suspension is an uncomfortable reminder to Europe of the large and growing role that Russia has in meeting its energy needs.

Transneft's headquarters in Moscow
Transneft said it had been forced to cut of supplies through Belarus
Poland's Deputy Economy Minister, Piotr Nalmski, said his country had enough oil reserves for 80 days, but he attacked the decision to halt exports.

"This shows us once again that arguments among various countries of the former Soviet Union, between suppliers and transit countries, mean that these deliveries are unreliable," he told the BBC.

Last year deliveries of Russian natural gas to much of Western Europe were disrupted during a dispute over pricing between Russia and Ukraine.

The European Union is set to discuss energy supply issues as part of a meeting on climate change and energy policy scheduled for Wednesday.

European concern

The European Commission said it was investigating whether the Russian move would have an impact on another branch of the pipeline, which runs to Slovakia and south-east Europe.

Gazprom oil pipeline
The disruption is a factor driving oil prices towards $57-a-barrel
"I have also contacted our Russian and Belarusian authorities calling on them to provide an urgent and detailed explanation of the causes of this disruption," said European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.

Commission officials plan to look at whether European Union members will have to draw on strategic stockpiles to ensure their supplies, he added.

German Economy Minister Michael Glos said he viewed the pipeline closure with concern and called on Russia and Belarus to meet their energy transit and delivery responsibilities "as soon as possible".

Officials in Minsk have declined to comment.

Row intensifies

The decision to shut down the Druzhba pipeline is the latest twist in an energy row between Belarus and Moscow that began when Russian energy giant Gazprom forced Belarus to accept a huge increase in the price of Russian gas.

Last week Belarus said it would charge Russia $45 (£23) per tonne of oil that passed through its country.

News of the disruption to supplies was a key factor helping to drive oil prices through the $57-a-barrel barrier after falling to around the $55 level last week.

US light sweet crude rose 89 cents to $57.20 in New York trade, while in the UK Brent crude stood at $56.71 - up $1.08.

News that Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, planned to cut output by 158,000 barrels a day also helped to drive crude prices higher.

Russia oil row hits Europe supply (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6240473.stm)

Local push for Islamic state

Barney Zwartz
January 9, 2007

AN ULTRA-radical Muslim group banned in many countries will promote support for an Islamic superstate in a seminar in Australia this month.

Christian critics claim that the seminar, to be conducted by the group Hizb ut-Tahrir, will be a recruiting ground for extremists.

Hizb ut-Tahrir believes that the caliphate — a part of the world under Muslim rule that, at its peak, ran from Spain to Iran and beyond — is about to be re-established.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia and most Muslim countries in the Middle East because of alleged links to terrorism, including the bombers behind the 2005 London attacks.

It is not banned in Australia but is controversial because it opposes democracy and Muslim integration, has tried to recruit young Muslims and ran a lecture last year titled "Israel is an illegal state that Muslims will never accept".

A promotional video for the January 27 Sydney conference on the internet site YouTube.com claims the world was "plunged into darkness" on March 3, 1924, the date when Turkish leader Kemal Ataturk ended the Ottoman caliphate.

"The consequences were unimaginable: death, destruction, chaos, exploitation. After 80 years of the absence of the khilafate (caliphate) the Muslim world has awakened from its slumber, and the umma (the community of all the world's Muslims) is ready to resume its political destiny," the video says.

"From the darkness will emerge a new light."

Some observers have expressed fears that the conference will be used to radicalise Muslims in Australia and recruit extremists.

A spokesman for federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said group members would have to be careful about what they said at the conference and remember that Australia was a harmonious society.

Melbourne Anglican minister Mark Durie, author of a book comparing Islam and Christianity, said in a widely distributed email: "If we wake up in 10 years' time and wonder what went wrong, historians who are able to look back and analyse the rise of radical Islam in Australia will identify events such as this conference as part of the answer."

Dr Durie said yesterday Hizb ut-Tahrir was a major world force for radical political Islam, with links to terrorist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, and had strategies for Australia. He said the purpose of the conference was to "inspire and mobilise Muslims to establish Islamic government in the medieval model of sharia law with no concession to other principles such as democracy or human rights".

"They want to legitimise the caliphate as a political aspiration."

Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Wassim Doureihi said the purpose was to highlight the reality of political struggle in the Muslim world and the obligations of Muslims in Australia to raise these issues, and to raise awareness of the caliphate.

"The caliphate is a political reality. It's imminent. There is a burgeoning Islamic revival, and it's only a matter of time before the caliphate is a state," he said.

Asked if he wanted sharia in Australia, Mr Doureihi said yes, by peaceful means.

"Islam is universal. The caliphate would be a role model for the rest of the world."

Mr Doureihi said Hizb ut-Tahrir sought to win hearts and minds but denied that the group in Australia was shadowy or extremist, saying non-Muslims were welcome at the conference.

He said the conference was a forum to discuss concerns and misconceptions and there was nothing extremist about noting the Muslim world's plight or advocating peaceful change.

Local push for Islamic state (http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/local-push-for-islamic-state/2007/01/08/1168104922239.html)

Iran Threatens to Shut Off Oil Flow via the Strait of Hormuz
16:43 Jan 08, '07 / 18 Tevet 5767

(IsraelNN.com) A senior Iranian officer warned Monday that if the West continues to threaten Iran's economy over its nuclear program, Tehran will discontinue the flow of oil via the Strait of Hormuz.

According to the officer, 40 percent of the world's oil is transferred through the strait - which separates Iran from the Persian Gulf sheikdoms, and the world is dependent on Iran for a source of energy and a stable economy.

Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, added that Iran cannot allow itself to give up the right to develop its nuclear technology program.

Iran Threatens to Shut Off Oil Flow via the Strait of Hormuz  (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=118999)

Hmmm I am watching and seeing a huge connection Russia is cutting oil off from Europe and Iran the rest of the world?  Hmm Pieces coming together............

Chavez bid for more state control

Main offices of CA Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela The country's telecoms giant CANTV is an expected target. President Hugo Chavez has pledged to nationalise key Venezuelan companies, as part of plans to transform the country into a full socialist state.

Mr Chavez said he wanted to see major Venezuelan power and telecoms companies come under state control.

He also called for an end to foreign ownership of lucrative crude oil refineries in the Orinoco region.

Mr Chavez's comments came in an address to the nation following the swearing in of his new cabinet.

"All of that which was privatized, let it be nationalised," he said during the speech.

"The nation should recover its ownership of strategic sectors."

Mr Chavez will be sworn in for a third term of office on Wednesday after winning presidential elections in December with almost 63% of the vote.

Recovering ownership

Relations between Caracas and Washington have come under increasing strain in the past few years, with the US accusing Mr Chavez of trying to destabilise Latin America.

Mr Chavez said Venezuela was moving towards "a socialist republic" that required "deep reform of our national constitution".

"We are in an existential moment of Venezuelan life," he said. "We're heading toward socialism, and nothing and no-one can prevent it."

Mr Chavez demanded an end to the current autonomy of the country's central bank and said he would ask Venezuela's parliament to grant him additional powers to legislate by presidential decree.

He has argued in the past with bank directors who have opposed his lavish spending of Venezuela's vast oil wealth.

His calls for nationalisation appeared in particular to affect Electricidad de Caracas, which is currently owned by US firm AES, and CA Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela (CANTV), the country's largest publicly traded company.

Mr Chavez had threatened to nationalise the company earlier this year unless they lifted their pension payment to meet those of the minimum wage.

The BBC's Daniel Schweimler says that these bold moves by Mr Chavez, who now has allies across Latin America, will shock some and be welcomed by others.

He says they are certain to deepen the rift in an already divided country.

Chavez bid for more state control (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6243299.stm)

Poll: Americans See Gloom, Doom in 2007
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Dec 31, 7:12 AM (ET)

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE

WASHINGTON (AP) - Another terrorist attack, a warmer planet, death and destruction from a natural disaster. These are among Americans' grim predictions for the United States in 2007.

But on a brighter note, only a minority of people think the U.S. will go to war with Iran or North Korea over the countries' nuclear ambitions. An overwhelming majority thinks Congress will raise the federal minimum wage. A third sees hope for a cure to cancer.

These are among the findings of an Associated Press-AOL News poll that asked Americans to gaze into their crystal balls and contemplate what 2007 holds for the country.

Six in 10 people think the U.S. will be the victim of another terrorist attack next year, more than five years after the Sept. 11 assault on New York and Washington. An identical percentage think it is likely that bad guys will unleash a biological or nuclear weapon elsewhere in the world.

There is plenty of gloom to accompany all of that doom.

Seventy percent of Americans predict another major natural disaster within the United States and an equal percentage expect worsening global warming. Fewer than one-third of people, or 29 percent, think it is likely that the U.S. will withdraw its troops from Iraq.

Among other predictions for the U.S. in 2007:

_Slightly more than one-third, or 35 percent, of Americans predict the military draft will be reinstated.

_One in four, 25 percent, anticipates the second coming of Jesus Christ.

The telephone poll of 1,000 adults was conducted Dec. 12-14 by Ipsos, an international polling firm. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus three percentage points.

Poll: Americans See Gloom, Doom in 2007 (http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2007/01/04/25-percent-of-polled-americans-believe-jesus-will-return-in-07/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapnews.myway.com%2Farticle%2F20061231%2FD8MBQIFO0.html&frame=true)

Palestinian terror cells seek to acquire Katyusha technology
Yaakov Katz, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jan. 8, 2007

A number Palestinian terror cell members have recently left the Gaza Strip and traveled abroad to learn how to manufacture and effectively launch short-range Katyusha rockets, high-ranking defense officials told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.

According to the officials, the new rockets, with an estimated range of over 35 kilometers, could reach the southern cities of Kiryat Gat, Netivot and Ofakim.

A senior IDF officer said the terrorists who traveled abroad were those responsible for the development and firing of Kassam rockets at the western Negev. The terrorists have decided, the officer said, to begin using Katyusha rockets against Israel, since the Kassam has exhausted itself technologically.

"The Kassam cannot be further upgraded, and the Palestinians need a new weapon," the officer said. "The cells have traveled abroad to learn about the Katyusha rocket and how to manufacture it back in the Gaza Strip."

While the officer refrained from revealing the cell members' destination, Hamas terrorists have been known to travel to Lebanon and Iran for training with Hizbullah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

While the Kassam has been the IDF's current and immediate focus, a high-ranking defense official said Monday that it was necessary to begin preparing for the possibility that the Palestinian terror organizations in the Gaza Strip would also soon obtain rockets with even longer ranges than that of the Katyusha.

Palestinian terrorists in Gaza are also known to have a small quantity of old Soviet-era Grad-type Katyusha rockets, some of which have been fired at Israel - although without reaching their maximum range of close to 30 kilometers. During the war in Lebanon, close to 4,000 rockets - mostly short-range Katyushas - landed in northern Israel.

As a result of the new intelligence, the Home Front Command has stopped formulating protection and defense plans based on the Kassam threat, and has updated all of its databases and now runs simulations and tests protective measures against the larger Katyusha rocket.

In May, the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for a Katyusha rocket attack on the Gaza-belt community of Netiv Ha'asara.

Unlike the homemade, short-range Kassam rockets frequently launched at Israel, Islamic Jihad said the Grad version of the Katyusha was 2.8 meters long, weighed 66 kilograms and had a caliber of 122 mm. It carried a 17-kilogram warhead, the group said, and had a range of 18 to 30 kilometers.

Palestinian terror cells seek to acquire Katyusha technology (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467688097&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Khamenei: Iran will never abandon nuke works

In his first public appearance since rumors spread that he had died, Islamic Republic’s supreme leader says Tehran would never yield to international pressure to deprive it of its right to nuclear technology

Reuters
Published: 01.08.07, 13:44

Iran’s highest authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Monday Tehran would never yield to international pressure to deprive it of its right to nuclear technology, state radio said.

“The Iranian nation surely will not abandon its right and Iranian officials have no right to deprive the nation of its right,” Khamenei was quoted as saying on the occasion of the Shiite Muslim feast of Eid al-Ghadir.

Khamenei, who was shown on television, was making his first public appearance since rumors appeared on Web sites on Thursday that he had died. Iran last week denied the reports.

Khamenei has final say on all state matters in the Islamic Republic, including Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West.

The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Dec. 23 to impose sanctions on Iran’s trade in sensitive nuclear materials and technology in an attempt to stop uranium enrichment work that could produce material that could be used in bombs.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called the resolution a “Piece of torn paper” and has vowed to press ahead with Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.

The West fears Iran may be pursuing nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian program.

Khamenei: Iran will never abandon nuke works (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3349769,00.html)

Israel rejects report it may attack Iran

Sun Jan 7, 3:22 PM ET

LONDON - A British newspaper reported Sunday that Israeli pilots were training to strike targets in Iran with low-yield nuclear weapons, but Israel swiftly denied the report and analysts expressed doubts about its reliability.

Citing unidentified Israeli military sources, The Sunday Times said the proposals drawn up in Israel involved using so-called "bunker-buster" nuclear weapons to attack nuclear facilities at three sites south of the Iranian capital.

Israel has never confirmed it has nuclear weapons, although the Jewish state is widely believed to possess a significant stockpile.

Iran says its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes like generating electricity.

The Sunday Times reported that Israeli military officials believed Iran could produce enough enriched uranium to build nuclear weapons within two years, and the newspaper said Israeli pilots had made flights to the British colony of Gibraltar to train for the 2,000-mile round trip to the Iranian targets.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office declined to comment on the report. "We don't respond to publications in The Sunday Times," said spokeswoman Miri Eisin.

However Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev denied the report, saying: "if diplomacy succeeds, the problem can be solved peaceably."

The United States and its allies suspect Tehran of secretly trying to produce atomic weapons there.

Some view Israeli officials' occasional implied threats as a means of pressuring the world community to take action, building on the recent United Nations Security Council decision to impose some economic sanctions on Tehran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.

Some analysts viewed Sunday's report as another element of delicate diplomacy.

"I refuse to believe that anyone here would consider using nuclear weapons against Iran," Reuven Pedatzur, a prominent defense analyst and columnist for the Israeli daily Haaretz, told the AP. "It is possible that this was a leak done on purpose, as deterrence, to say: 'Someone better hold us back, before we do something crazy.'"

Ephraim Kam — a former senior intelligence official now at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Strategic Studies — also suggested the report should not be taken literally. "No reliable source would ever speak about this, certainly not to the Sunday Times," he said.

Israel rejects report it may attack Iran (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070107/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_iran_nuclear)