In the news - muslims......

[Shammu]

Taliban kill 'US spy' as 'gift to Obama'

1 day ago

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) — Taliban militants beheaded an Afghan in Pakistan's lawless tribal region after accusing him of spying for the United States, local police said Thursday.

The 35-year-old man was kidnapped one week ago and his body found Thursday in Razmak some 65 kilometers (43 miles) south of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, an official said.

"He was slaughtered overnight. His headless body was put on the roadside, police official Munir Khan told AFP.

A note found on the body of the man, identified as Shafiq Gul, said he was "spying for the US".

"Whoever spies for the US will face the same fate. This is a gift to (US President Barack) Obama," the note said.

Islamist militants frequently kidnap and kill local tribesmen and Afghans, on alleged charges of spying for the Pakistani government or for US forces, who are battling a Taliban-led insurgency across the border in Afghanistan.

Pakistan's rugged tribal regions have been wracked by violence since becoming a stronghold for hundreds of Taliban and Al-Qaeda rebels who fled across the border to escape the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.

The new Obama administration is conducting a comprehensive strategy review in its war against Islamist extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Taliban kill 'US spy' as 'gift to Obama'

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Muslim Preacher Mocks Fallen British Soldiers After Homecoming Parade Protest

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Muslim war protesters disrupted a homecoming parade for British troops Tuesday, with one preacher praising the disruption and branding the homecoming a "vile parade" of "brutal murderers" whom he likened to Nazis, the Daily Mail reported.

Anjem Choudary mocked the parade for the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment in Luton, England, by posting a message on an Islamic extremist Web site joking about British soldiers killed by friendly fire in Iraq.

Choudary called the troops cowards who have an "uncanny knack for death by friendly fire," the Mail reported.

He leads the group Islam for the U.K., an organization trying to make Britain an Islamic state ruled by Shariah law.

British officials condemned Tuesday's protests, where 200 troops were met with hate-filled cheers and signs reading, "Anglian soldiers: Butchers of Basra," and "Anglian soldiers: cowards, killers, extremists."

It was revealed Wednesday that the protests were organized by an extremist group directly linked to banned Muslim cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed.

Bakri, 51, said he was proud of the protesters but denied organizing the demonstration, the Mail reported.

Muslim Preacher Mocks Fallen British Soldiers After Homecoming Parade Protest

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I am so sick of muslims who complain about those who protect their freedoms to say such stupid things. Someone should remind them that they are free to leave the Great Britain, anytime they want. Plenty of planes, and boats to take them to the barbaric, brutal dictatorships the middle east has to offer.

P.S................. I hope the door hits these muslims in the butt on the way out.

[Shammu]

Egypt urges Palestinian unity agreement
Mar. 11, 2009
khaled abu Toameh and jpost.com staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

Egyptian moderators want a power-sharing agreement between the various Palestinian factions by Saturday, a participant in the talks in Cairo said on Thursday.

Negotiator Samir Ghosheh, a member of one of the smaller factions, said that he and his colleagues were told by Egypt that they need to produce an agreement by the weekend. An accord is seen as essential for financing reconstruction in Gaza.

However, efforts to achieve reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas faced difficulties on Wednesday as the Islamic movement accused the Palestinian Authority security forces of pursuing their crackdown on its supporters in the West Bank.

In yet another blow to the reconciliation talks between the two parties that began in Cairo this week, Hamas rejected an Egyptian proposal to form a government of independent figures who are not affiliated with any political faction.

A Hamas official revealed that the PA security forces have arrested 38 Palestinians in the West Bank over the past few days on charges of membership in Hamas. He told The Jerusalem Post that the recent arrests were a "severe blow" to Egypt's attempts to end the differences between Hamas and Fatah.

The official pointed out that the PA security forces were holding more than 400 Palestinians in West Bank prisons without trial.

"Most of them are suspected of being supporters or members of Hamas," he said. "How can we talk about reconciliation when [PA President Mahmoud] Abbas's policemen are chasing our men in the West Bank and continuing to carry out security coordination with Israel?"

A Hamas source said some of those arrested in the past few days were Palestinians who had just been released from Israeli prisons. They include Ismail Abdel Karim, Bashar Halaweh, Fadel Baitawi, Saleh Shinar from the Nablus area and Raed Burkan, Hilmi al-Zaru, Sharif Abu Turki and Ibrahim al-Masri from the Hebron area.

Hamas legislator and negotiator Salah Bardaweel said the reconciliation talks in Cairo would fail unless the PA stopped pursuing Hamas supporters and released all the detainees. He also accused Fatah of continuing to wage a "propaganda war" against Hamas and its leaders by publishing "lies and fabrications."

Bardaweel said his movement was opposed to the idea of establishing a government of technocrats rather than a joint Hamas-Fatah coalition. He said that although the proposal did not sound bad, Hamas saw no reason why politicians should not be allowed to be part of a new "unity government."

Fathi Hammad, a member of the Hamas political leadership in the Gaza Strip, predicted that the Cairo talks would fail unless Fatah "liberated itself from American-Israeli hegemony."

If Fatah decides to go with its people and not with the American-Zionist agenda, then there will be an agreement, he said. "But if they choose to remain hostage to the American-Zionist agenda and continue to carry out security coordination with the Israelis, the talks won't be successful."

Hammad said that the ongoing clampdown on Hamas supporters in the West Bank was threatening to ruin the Cairo talks, which are aimed primarily at reaching agreement over the formation of a new Palestinian "unity government."

"One of the conditions for the success of these talks is the release of all political prisoners from Abbas's jails," he stressed. "If they don't release the prisoners, the talks in Cairo will be a waste of time."

Hamas representatives said on Wednesday that they were surprised to hear that Egypt was now proposing that the Palestinians establish a government of independent figures who don't belong to any political faction.

They pointed out the proposal was made on Tuesday by Egyptian General Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman in his opening speech before representatives of the Palestinian factions gathered in Cairo.

Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas legislator and spokesman, said that Hamas, which won a majority of votes in the January 2006 parliamentary election, should have the right to name its candidate for prime minister in the proposed unity government. He reiterated Hamas's strong opposition to the appointment of outgoing PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad as head of the new government, saying Fayad was totally unacceptable to a majority of Palestinians.

A Fatah official said that the two sides agreed during the talks in Cairo to "put an end to the case of political prisoners." He also dismissed reports according to which the two parties had begun discussing the distribution of cabinet portfolios in the proposed "unity government."

The official rejected Hamas's demand that it have a say in naming the prime minister and ministers. He said that Abbas was the only person authorized to appoint a prime minister and his ministers in line with the PA constitution.

Egypt urges Palestinian unity agreement

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Arab leaders 'clear the air' in Riyadh
Mar. 11, 2009
Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST

Saudi Arabia hosted the leaders of Egypt and Syria on Wednesday, in an effort to persuade Damascus to move away from Iran and instead work with US-allied Arab countries to blunt Teheran's influence.

Riyadh had hoped the one-day mini-Arab summit would help improve the frayed relations with Syria ahead of a larger Arab summit in Qatar later this month.

The leaders discussed a number of issues in the Arab arena in addition to "clearing the air" and achieving reconciliation to unite Arab ranks, according to Saudi sources quoted in Arab press reports on Wednesday.

The leader of another US ally, Kuwait, also attended the Saudi gathering, Kuwait's news agency reported.

Saudi King Abdullah also held a bilateral meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Riyadh on Wednesday, according to the Saudi News Agency.

The leaders discussed a number of topics of mutual interest, including "the prospects of cooperation between the two countries and ways of strengthening them in various fields," a Saudi source told the agency.

Assad's visit to Riyadh, which was prompted by an invitation from Abdullah, was the first official visit in more than three years.

Syria has been bitterly feuding with Egypt and Saudi Arabia over several political issues - especially its close alliance with Iran and with Palestinian and Lebanese terrorist groups.

Relations between Saudi Arabia and Syria deteriorated following the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, a Saudi citizen, in February 2005.

Relations soured even more after Assad, following the Second Lebanon War, described leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan as "half-men" for their failure to act to stop the IDF.

Arab divisions were also brought to the fore during Israel's recent three-week military operation in Gaza against Hamas, which directly pitted those who sided with the Islamist movement, such as Syria, Iran and Qatar, against Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Ahead of Wednesday's mini-summit, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak cast doubt whether the leaders would come to any agreement. Egypt has repeatedly accused Iran, which along with Syria backs Hamas, of trying to thwart Cairo's mediation efforts between rival Palestinian factions.

Egypt's foreign minister also accused Teheran of trying to impose its control in the region. Ahmed Aboul Gheit told Egyptian state television on Tuesday that "Iran is manipulating Arab states and entities to increase its influence."

After Wednesday's summit ended, the official Saudi SPA news agency said the participants agreed it "was a start of a new phase in relations in which the four nations will endeavor to serve Arab interests through cooperation" and strive for a "unified approach to Arab policies when confronting issues, especially the Palestinian question."

The statement also said the meeting reflected the four leaders' efforts to "clear the air" and follow Abdullah's call to "leave past difference behind." It did not mention Iran.

Wednesday's meeting in Riyadh is seen as the continuation of reconciliation efforts launched by Abdullah at the Kuwaiti economic summit in January following the Gaza conflict.

The Saudi king has made limiting Iranian influence a top priority, recently urging Arab leaders to unite to curb Teheran's ambitions. Last week, Morocco severed ties with Iran, charging "intolerable interference" and trying to spread Shi'ite Islam in the Sunni Arab country.

Al-Jazeera cited anonymous sources on Wednesday that said Qatar was not invited to the four-way summit in Riyadh due to Egyptian reservations over its attendance.

Arab leaders 'clear the air' in Riyadh

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World needs Iran to settle woes: Lebanon leader

Beirut, March 12, IRNA

Top Shia Muslim leader Ayatollah Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah said that Iran has reached a high international position and that the world needs the Iranian intermediary efforts to resolve regional crisis. Fadlallah made the remark in a meeting with the visiting Iranian Minister of Housing and Urban Development Mohammad Saeedi-Kia.

He said that the West and the US know that Iran’s nuclear program does not follow military purposes and added that Western powers are concerned about Iran’s technological and scientific progress and not its nuclear activities.

The Lebanese spiritual leader said that Iran made great achievements despite sanctions and pressure imposed on the country.

He recommended Arab countries to take lessons from Iran and not to follow the US lead and said that obedience of Arabs to Washington brought trouble for them.

World needs Iran to settle woes: Lebanon leader

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Jordanians demonstrate to urge breaking ties with Israel
Middle East News

Jun 12, 2009, 22:08 GMT

Amman - Thousands of Jordanians demonstrated Friday to protest a recent proposal in the Israeli Knesset depicting Jordan as an 'alternative homeland' for Palestinians.

Participants in the licensed rally, which was sponsored by the influential Muslim Brotherhood movement, chanted slogans and raised placards urging the government to sever ties with Israel and abrogate the peace treaty that Amman concluded with the Jewish state in 1994.

A proposal, titled Two States for Two Peoples on the Two Banks of River Jordan, was put on the Knesset's agenda last month by deputy Arieh Elad of the far-right National Union/National Religious Party. According to the Israeli media, the parliament voted to refer the suggestion to one of its committees for further review.

'The Zionist entity is going ahead with its expansionist scheme as demonstrated by the latest racial draft laws which are designed to force Palestinians to emigrate,' the Brotherhood's leader Hammam Saeed said in a speech to the audience.

He called on the government to respond to the latest Israeli moves by 'breaking ties and stopping all forms of normalization with the Zionist enemy.'

The move sparked a series of protests in Jordan, including a proposal by 16 pro-government and Islamic lawmakers that a bill be introduced to the lower house of parliament to abrogate the peace pact with Israel.

Saeed and other speakers also urged the Jordanian government to stop the training of security forces belonging to the Palestinian Authority, saying they were used for 'protecting Israel and targeting militants of Hamas,' the Palestinian hard-line faction which is in control of the Gaza Strip.

Jordanians demonstrate to urge breaking ties with Israel

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U.S. envoy talks Middle East peace with Syria's Assad
Sat Jun 13, 7:46 am ET

DAMASCUS (Reuters) – U.S. envoy George Mitchell discussed on Saturday Washington's Middle East peace efforts with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, marking a further thaw of relations between the two countries.

"We are well aware of the many difficulties ... yet we share an obligation to create conditions for negotiations to begin promptly and end successfully," Mitchell, President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, said after the meeting.

His visit to Syria was preceded by talks between U.S. and Syrian security officials in Damascus on Friday that included discussions on Iraq, sources in the Syrian capital said.

A U.S. embassy official said the meeting was between a "military-led" U.S. team and a Syrian delegation. The official declined to give further details.

Relations between Syria and the United States improved after Obama took office in January and U.S. officials said he was committed to seeking a peace deal between Syria and Israel as part of an overall Middle East peace deal.

"Syria has an integral role to play in reaching comprehensive peace," Mitchell said.

The Syrian government, however, remains under U.S. sanctions, partly because of what the United States describes as a Syrian role in helping insurgents infiltrate Iraq. Obama renewed the sanctions last month and said Syria still posed a threat to U.S. interests.

U.S. envoy talks Middle East peace with Syria's Assad

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Slaughter of Foreigners in Yemen Bears Mark of Former Gitmo Detainee, Say Experts

Saturday , June 20, 2009
By Jana Winter

The fate of three of nine foreigners abducted in Yemen last week is known — their bodies were found, shot execution style. The whereabouts of the other six — including three children under the age of 6 — remain a mystery.

But terrorism experts say their abductors and killers are almost certainly not a mystery. They say the crimes bear the mark of Al Qaeda, and they fear they are the handiwork of the international terror organization's No. 2 man in the Arabian Peninsula: Said Ali al-Shihri, an Islamic extremist who once was in American custody — but who was released from the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

And if al-Shihri is behind the gruesome murders and abductions, they say, it raises grave concerns that the scheduled January 2010 closing of the Guantanamo prison and the release of most of its prisoners to foreign countries will galvanize Al Qaeda and compromise American national security.

The nine foreigners — four German adults, three small German children, a British man and a South Korean woman — were abducted on June 12 after they ventured outside the city of Saada without their required police escorts, according to a spokesman from the Yemeni Embassy in Washington. Days later the bodies of Rita Stumpp and Anita Gruenwald, German nurses in training, and Eom Young-sun of South Korea were found shot execution style in the Noshour Valley in the province of Saada, an area known to be a hotbed of Al Qaeda activity.

Stumpp and Gruenwald attended a Bible school, and Young attended a Christian missionary school in South Korea. Other members of the group had ties to missionary organizations, and all six adults worked for World Wide Services Foundation, a Dutch international medical relief group.

No one has claimed responsibility for the abductions and murders, but experts say killing women and children is considered off-limits among many jihadist groups — though not to al-Shihri, a Saudi national who was released from Guantanamo in November 2007 and sent to a Saudi Arabian "rehabilitation" program for jihadists. It wasn't long before a "cured" al-Shihri was released from the program, crossed into Yemen and rejoined Al Qaeda, with whom he quickly rose to deputy commander.

In addition to last week's kidnappings, he is believed to have been behind the September attacks that left 16 dead at the U.S. Embassy in the Yemeni capital of San'a.

“This bears the marks of al-Shihri’s activity and bears the signs of his beliefs and assumptions of his behavior that are not viewed by other jihadists,” said Robert Spencer, terror expert and director of Jihad Watch, referring to the killing of women and presumed killing of the three small children.

Defense officials said that "while there is suspicion that Said Ali al-Shihri is involved in these latest attacks, we can't confirm it."

“There is great presumption of his involvement, but it’s not open and shut,” Spencer said.

“If he believed that these people picnicking in Yemen were aiding in the war against Islam, then he can justify these killings as legitimate — it’s this kind of perspective that this guy holds to, that it’s right to kill people who would normally be considered off-limits,” Spencer said.

“Christians aren’t allowed to proselytize in the Muslim world, and if that’s what was going on here ... well then, there you go.”

Gregory Johnsen, the editor of a forthcoming book, "Islam and Insurgency in Yemen," agreed. “The most likely scenario is that Al Qaeda’s responsible," he said. "And if it does turn out that Al Qaeda is responsible, then it would be that al-Shihri had a hand in the operation whether behind the scenes or up front.”

And that involvement is an ominous sign for critics, who say the release of detainees from Guantanamo, under President Obama's plan to close the detention center by January 2010, could lead to future and more severe terrorist attacks.

The United States is negotiating with Yemen, according to Mohammed Albasha, spokesman for Embassy of the Republic of Yemen in Washington, over the possible transfer of the more than 100 Yemeni nationals currently behind bars in Gitmo.

Rep. Peter King (R-NY), Ranking Member on the House Homeland Security Committee, opposes closing Gitmo and says Obama is rushing "helter skelter" to find homes for the remaining detainees to meet his "arbitrary deadline," which he says may come at the cost of national security.

“The president’s policies are very very disturbing. He appears to have decided to close Guantanamo without any idea of where these detainees are going to go and is now trying desperately to find countries and places for these people to go,” King told FOXNews.com.

“By far largest number of detainees comes from Yemen, and they are hardcore dangerous people. Sending them back to Yemen, where prisoners who have been held there before somewhere magically escaped from prison, and is in many ways the centerpiece of the Al Qaeda movement — returning them to Yemen is just inviting disaster.

"Sending them to Saudi Arabia to the rehabilitation center is just putting off the inevitable threat to the United States,” King said. “I am very concerned that these prisoners will soon be back in the battlefield hurting Americans.”

Slaughter of Foreigners in Yemen Bears Mark of Former Gitmo Detainee, Say Experts

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‘Abdullah unified Arab ranks’
Arab News
 23 June 2009

JEDDAH: The Council of Ministers yesterday highlighted Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s pioneering role in unifying Arab ranks and supporting Arab and Islamic causes in international forums.

“King Abdullah has also worked to strengthen the unity of humanity by fostering international dialogue between followers of different faiths and cultures,” the Saudi Press Agency said quoting the Cabinet.

In a statement on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of King Abdullah’s accession to the throne, the Cabinet underscored the king’s efforts to make use of modern science and technology in order to boost the country’s overall development.

“We are proud of the great achievements made by the Kingdom during the last four years under the leadership of King Abdullah,” the Cabinet said. Proper planning had been made for the development of various sectors with a clear strategy, it added.

King Abdullah, who chaired the Cabinet meeting at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah, briefed the ministers on the outcome of his talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, adding that the talks focused on the efforts to revive the Middle East peace process.

The Cabinet referred to the establishment of two chairs in the name of King Abdullah and Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif at King Saud University and Madinah Islamic University respectively to conduct research on strengthening the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

The Cabinet approved the transformation of 44 rural centers into municipalities. It also classified municipalities into five categories.

The meeting agreed to change the date for the beginning of the next academic year for all educational institutions to Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009.

The Cabinet approved the publication of important decisions taken by legal committees of various government departments. The department of information technology at the Finance Ministry and other ministries will set up websites of the committees in order to publish their decisions electronically. The department can either contract with a printing firm or assign a private party to print a limited number of copies of the decisions. Revenues from the sales of such documents could be used to meet printing expenses.

Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja said the Cabinet authorized the minister of water and electricity to sign a memorandum of understanding with South Korea for cooperation in water and sewage management.

The meeting approved alteration to Article 17 of the Military Service Law, allowing the combination of two increments. It appointed Jedaie bin Nahar Al-Qahtani adviser for technical affairs at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs; Abdussalam bin Suleiman Mushat deputy mayor of Makkah for services; Shuja bin Yahya Al-Musleh deputy mayor of Dammam for municipal affairs; Khaled bin Othman Al-Saghir legal department director at the Education Ministry; Abdullah bin Fahd Al-Musaed director of educational information at the Ministry of Education; and Abdul Rahman bin Hamad Al-Humaidhi director of the foreign scholarship program at the Ministry of Higher Education.

‘Abdullah unified Arab ranks’

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Muslim gangs imposing sharia law in British prisons
Radical Muslim gangs are imposing a form of sharia law inside some of Britain's prisons, a BBC investigation has found.

By Andrew Gilligan
Published: 9:00AM GMT 15 Mar 2010

Non-Muslim inmates at the high-security Long Lartin jail have been forced by the gangs to stop playing "Western" music and take down pictures of women from their cells, according to one former prison officer there. Prisoners at the jail, although allowed to cook their own food, are not allowed to prepare pork for fear of offending the Muslim inmates, the officer said.

The officer, speaking to Radio Five Live's Donal Macintyre show, told how younger prisoners were targeted for forced conversion to Islam by the gangs. "They went along because they were intimidated. They genuinely weren't of the Muslim faith," she said. "I knew one lad quite well, who was approached by the radical Muslims and he changed. He was being controlled and bossed around and he wasn't even allowed to look at me or speak to me.

"He just seemed very frightened all the time. He used to be forced to pray at certain times and he was even forced to grow a long beard even though he didn't want to."

One Catholic prisoner who refused to convert was seriously assaulted after being repeatedly threatened by the gang, the officer said. "He said every so often they would come to his cell and hold the Koran up through the small window in the cell door and start running their fingers along their throats," she said.

The officer's testimony is consistent with findings by the official prison watchdog, the chief inspector of prisons. In a report last year, the inspector, Anne Owers, quoted a number of prisoners at Long Lartin about the increasing dominance of Muslim gangs in the jail.

Long Lartin was, said one, "turning into an American-style jail, [where] if you are not in a gang, you're in trouble. People are converting to Islam for protection."

Another said: "There is a gang culture here, which is an issue. There are issues with Muslim gangs wanting to overpower others. A lot of people are becoming Muslim just because it is a bigger gang."

Ms Owers says there is a similar gang culture in at least three other high-security prisons, Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire, Belmarsh in south-east London and Full Sutton in North Yorkshire. Some of the gang leaders are terrorist prisoners but most are in for ordinary offences.

Two Muslim former prisoners claimed in the BBC programme that Muslims "run" some London jails and describe how they watched al-Qaeda videos in their cells, brought in by corrupt prison officers. They also detail further bullying and abuse of prisoners who refused to convert to Islam and said that in one London jail, prisoners who wanted to play music had their stereos smashed. They said that the official prison imams appointed by the Home Office were largely ineffective and not respected by Muslim prisoners.

Malcolm Moss, national chair of the Prison Officers' Association, said: "We are seeing more and more Muslim gangs in our prisons. Often Muslims who go to prison are forced into gangs for their own protection. And that culture takes over a wing, takes over an area of the prison. We see it as a real danger, now and for the future of prisons."

Mr Moss called for more Muslim prison officers to be recruited as part of an urgent effort to "face up" to the gangs.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: "It is ridiculous to suggest that any gang 'controls' a prison. The Prison Service has a wealth of experience in dealing with gang activity and managing prisoners who form gangs. Expert staff identify, challenge and disrupt those prisoners attempting to bully, influence or intimidate others. We have long established strategies to address gang behaviour, and to counter bullying, combat illicit mobile phones and tackle drugs."

The spokesman said there was "no evidence" that al-Qaeda videos had been watched and insisted that bacon was not banned.

Muslim gangs imposing sharia law in British prisons