News, Prophecy and other

[Shammu]

U.S. Rejects Any 'Truce' With Bin Laden

By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer Fri Jan 20, 10:35 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Rejecting a suggestion by Osama bin Laden of a negotiated truce in the war on terror, Vice President Dick Cheney said there was only one way to deal with terrorists. "I think you have to destroy them," Cheney said.
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The vague offer of a truce — coupled with a threat of another attack on the U.S. — was made in an audiotape released by the Arab television network Al-Jazeera. It brought new attention to the al-Qaida leader after a yearlong lull in his public statements.

U.S. security officials said Thursday there were currently no plans to raise the nation's security threat level because of the new tape.

Counterterror officials said they have seen no specific or credible intelligence to indicate an upcoming al-Qaida attack. Nor have they noticed an uptick in terrorist communications "chatter" — although that can dramatically increase or decrease immediately before an attack.

On the tape, bin Laden warned that his fighters are preparing new attacks in the United States but offered the American people a "long-term truce" without specifying the conditions.

But Cheney, in a television interview, rejected that suggestion, saying "We don't negotiate with terrorists."

"I think you have to destroy them," he told Fox News Channel. "It's the only way to deal with them."

The tape prompted increased security at Los Angeles International Airport and other precautions at the city's port and water and power facilities.

The FBI has asked the 103 joint terrorism task forces and intelligence units at its 56 field offices to re-examine its cases and investigative leads in light of the bin Laden tape.

The national terror threat level currently stands at yellow, the middle of five grades, signifying an elevated risk of attack. The government has raised the alert level to orange, signaling a high threat risk, seven times since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"At this time, we lack corroborating information suggesting that al-Qaida is prepared to attack the United States in the near term," said Homeland Security spokeswoman Michelle Petrovich. "But we recognize that al-Qaida remains committed to striking the homeland."

The tape, which Al-Jazeera said was recorded this month, represents bin Laden's first public communication since December 2004. Since then, al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, has served as the terror network's public face.

The recording was released only days after U.S. missile attacks in Pakistan that Pakistani officials said killed four senior al-Qaida operatives.

CIA analysts verified the recording as bin Laden's voice. They offered no details about how they reached that conclusion, but in the past the agency has verified authenticity in part by comparing new recordings to earlier messages.

In the tape, bin Laden spoke in a soft voice, as he has in previous recordings, but his tone was flatter than in the past and had an echo, as if recorded indoors. He presented his message with a combination of threats, vows his followers can fight forever and a tone of reconciliation, insisting he wants to offer a way to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He even recommended a book for Americans to read — "The Rogue State," apparently a book of the same title by American author William Blum. He said it offers the path to peace — that America must apologize to victims of the wars and promise never to "interfere" in other nations — though it was not clear if these were conditions for the truce.

Cheney said the tape showed that al-Qaida has been hobbled, because "they didn't have the ability to do anything on video" and because it had been so long since bin Laden had been heard from.

Still, "I think we have to assume that the threat is going to continue for a considerable period of time." the vice president said. "Even if bin Laden were no longer to be a factor, I still think we'd have problems with al-Qaida."

Homeland Security officials alerted states about bin Laden's comments in a routine call Thursday morning, Petrovich said.

In Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said city police deployed additional resources at their airport and "posted signage indicating that bomb sniffing dogs and searches will occur frequently." He described the measures as precautionary.

Sharon Gang, a spokeswoman for District of Columbia Mayor Anthony A. Williams, said the capital was not raising its terror alert level.

U.S. Rejects Any 'Truce' With Bin Laden

[Shammu]

Man Who Shot Pope Headed Back to Prison

By SELCAN HACAOGLU, Associated Press Writer Fri Jan 20, 4:40 PM ET

ANKARA, Turkey - Police took the man who shot Pope John Paul II back into custody Friday after an appeals court ordered him to return to prison to serve more time for killing a journalist and for other crimes in Turkey.

Mehmet Ali Agca did not resist arrest after eight days of freedom, and he was taken to police headquarters in Istanbul, where TV cameras showed him handcuffed and yelling in English, Turkish and Italian.

"I declare myself Messiah! I am not the son of God, I am Messiah!" shouted Agca, who has made similar outbursts in the past.

When police knocked on the door of his apartment earlier Friday, Agca told them: "I was waiting for you," according to private NTV television.

Agca served 19 years in prison in Italy for shooting the pope on May 13, 1981, and 5 1/2 years of a 10-year sentence in Turkey for the murder of journalist Abdi Ipekci in 1979.

In a decision that outraged many Turks, a local court had ordered his release from an Istanbul prison on Jan. 12, counting his time served in Italy as part of his sentence. Friday's ruling overturned that decision, saying there "is no legal basis" for deducting Agca's time served in Italy from his Turkish sentence.

It was up to the local court to decide how many more years Agca, 48, would have to serve. Reports suggested he could be imprisoned until 2014.

"We're respectful of all decisions by Turkish courts," Agca's lawyer, Mustafa Demirbag, told private NTV television earlier Friday.

The anger over Agca's release came at a delicate time for Turkey, which aspires to membership in the European Union. Next week, the EU is to begin screening the country's justice system.

"There was certainly quite a lot of public outcry in Turkey itself, and a state of unhappiness in general about the legal system," said political analyst Ilter Turan. "There was a general expectation that he (Agca) would be called back to jail."

Responding to the criticism, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek earlier this week had asked the appeals court to annul Agca's release, arguing he should serve a full 10-year sentence from June 14, 2000, when he was extradited to Turkey for killing Ipekci.

Agca also had been convicted of robbing a factory and commandeering a vehicle in 1979 — and could also separately serve four years for those crimes.

He already had served five months for the killing Ipekci before escaping a military prison in 1979.

Although a military court had ordered Agca's execution for killing Ipekci, a 1991 amnesty commuted that sentence to 10 years. He later benefited from a second amnesty in 2000, which deducted 10 years from his time.

Its ruling Friday, the appeals court said Agca could benefit only from the 1991 amnesty.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Justice Ministry has "fulfilled its responsibility."

Agca shot John Paul as the pope rode in an open car in St. Peter's Square and was captured immediately. The pontiff was hit in the abdomen, left hand and right arm, but recovered because the bullets missed his vital organs.

John Paul later visited Agca in prison in 1983 and forgave him.

Agca's release from prison had prompted little Vatican comment.

"The case is fully in the hands of the Turkish justice system," the Rev. Robert Necek told The Associated Press on Friday after the latest legal development. Necek is spokesman for Krakow Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was John Paul's personal secretary for more than 40 years until the pontiff's death last year.

Before he shot the pope, Agca was affiliated with the Gray Wolves, a Turkish right-wing militant group.

Man Who Shot Pope Headed Back to Prison

[Shammu]

This was on the Local news tonight for me.

Feds say Arizona doctor had terrorist ties

PHOENIX A Phoenix doctor with connections to what federal authorities allege is an Islamic terrorist organization may never be allowed to return to the United States.
Nadeem Hassan and his wife were detained at New York's Kennedy Airport by Customs officials Wednesday.

The couple's attorney says they were given an option of either being detained in the state without a hearing or returning to Saudi Arabia, where they traveled for the ubgone86 (hahj).

The U-S Citizen and Immigration Services revoked privileges for the Hassans to work and travel inside the United States based on Nadeem Hassan's ties to an orthodox Islamic missionary group.

Homeland Security describes it as a terrorist organization (that) provides material support to members of al Qaida (al-KY'-ee-duh).

Feds say Arizona doctor had terrorist ties

[Shammu]

Bin Laden sends message to UN

By ROLAND FLAMINI
UPI Chief International Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- A copy of Osama bin Laden's latest audiotape was delivered to a U.N. office in Quetta, Pakistan, and is being studied by the world organization's officials, a well placed source told United Press International Friday. He said the U.N. High Commission for Refugees in Baluchistan province, which borders Afghanistan, received the tape on Monday and sent it on to the U.N. headquarters in New York.

U.N. officials familiar with the tape say the message appears to be identical to the one broadcast by Al-Jazeera television Thursday, according to the source who asked not to be identified firstly because he is not a media spokesperson, and also because the United Nations has not confirmed that it was on Osama bin-Laden's distribution list. In fact, Stephan Dujarric, the Secretary-General's spokesman, denied that the United Nations had received a tape, but the source said, "Actually, there are a couple more copies of the tape going around besides the ones sent to the U.N. and Al-Jazeera." However, he did not have details.

Another U.N. office in Quetta subsequently received a telephone threat supposed to have come from al-Qaida, and all U.N. staffers were immediately withdrawn from Baluchistan province for their protection.

As far as is known this is the first time that a tape from bin Laden or any other al-Qaida figure has been sent directly to the United Nations, and the speculation is that the terrorist leader is trying to draw the world organization into a discussion on his vague carrot-and-stick offer of a truce to the American people. According to the Al-Jazeera version of the tape, Bin Laden's message -- his first public utterance in just over a year -- proposes "a long-term truce based on fair conditions, which we will abide by," if U.S. troops are withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The conditions are not specified, and he also threatens more attacks on the United States, which he says are "under preparation." He adds: "You will see them in your homes the minute they are ready, God willing."

U.S. intelligence analysts have pronounced the tape authentic and that Al-Jazeera's estimate that it was made some time in December is probably right. The Bush administration promptly rejected the truce offer. White House spokesman Scott McClennan said Thursday, "We don't negotiate with terrorists. We put them out of business." Vice-President Dick Cheney, speaking on the Fox News Channel, called it "some kind of a ploy. This is not an organization that's ever going to sit down and sign a truce."

Bin Laden may be counting on his offer being viewed differently in the United Nations, where the U.S. presence in Iraq is widely unpopular. The architect of 9/11 himself may be beyond the pale, but the idea of a truce with his organization could garner some support. Moreover, if bin Laden is trying to appear statesmanlike it makes sense to establish contact with the United Nations. Bin Laden has tried the carrot and stick technique once before. In April 2004, in a videotape released after the March 11 bombing of commuter trains in Madrid, he said, "Al-Qaida will stop operations against any (European) state which vows to stop attacking Muslims or interfere in their affairs."

This time, however, the offer is more specific, relating to a situation that is widely debated both within the United States and outside it.

Bin Laden sends message to UN

[Shammu]

Republicans Are Barbarians, Communist Is "True Patriot"
 Mithridate Ombud on January 15, 2006 - 19:12.

Robyn Blumner, former ACLU Director turned St. Petersburg Times columnist argues for giving a communist the Presidential Medal of Freedom in an article titled "America loses a true patriot."

    Frank Wilkinson is not a man to whom President Bush would ever have considered awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom, yet he was more deserving than most who receive it. Wilkinson died earlier this month, just when the nation needs him most. He was 91. He had lived long enough to see all the work he did in fighting against warrantless domestic surveillance start to unravel. Maybe he died of a broken heart.

    I knew Wilkinson through his work with the National Committee Against Repressive Legislation, an organization he directed and helped found. In 1952, Wilkinson was summoned before California's version of [House Un-American Activities Committee]. When he refused to tell the committee the extent of his associations, he was branded a Communist (which he was) and drummed out of his job.

In 1942, when Nazi's were goose-stepping all over the world, this man decided to join with the communists and stuck with it for 33 years. Ms. Blumner thinks he is more deserving than "most" Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients? I'd like to see which 51% she is talking about.

    All Wilkinson did was stand for the freedoms that this nation promises in its founding documents.

All of them except the right to own property, the right to vote (and impeach), and that little squib about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Ms. Blumner should have the honesty to differentiate between exploiting our cherished rights in an effort to subvert the country and actually desiring those rights for all. Now we know where the ACLU was schooled.

Had Wilkinson's "free speech" been successful, what would the United States be today? As a communist country, would we still enjoy free speech? Or would many of us have been culled like the 20 million communist Stalin killed? Where was the free speech when communist China killed millions more in the cultural revolution? Was Pol Pot for free speech?

Where is the great honor Ms. Blumner sees in a man trying to spearhead a push towards mass oppression?

    He must have been equally distressed by the dismantling of those protections by President Bush and his attorneys general. With Wilkinson's passing, a true patriot has left us. Now what do we do about the barbarians at the gate?

I see. Republicans are barbarians and communists are the true patriots. Congratulations to this St. Petersburg, Florida newspaper for holding a love of the ideals of communism far longer than St. Petersburg, Russia ever did. Does the rhetoric and ideology of this ACLU activist represent the voice of the citizens who read her paper? I hope not.

Ms. Blumner should know by the time Wilkinson was called to testify in 1952, the "NSA spying" she mentions was a program already five years old.

[Soldier4Christ]

Republicans Are Barbarians, Communist Is "True Patriot"

Some people have very twisted, sick minds.

[Shammu]

Some people have very twisted, sick minds.

Thats what I though, when I was posting.

[Shammu]

No reputation remake planned for Judas: Vatican

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor Fri Jan 20, 12:38 PM ET

PARIS (Reuters) - Despite reports to the contrary, the Roman Catholic Church is not planning to rehabilitate Judas Iscariot, the Biblical figure who betrayed Jesus and gave his name to generations of traitors, a Vatican official has said.

The name Judas, his reward of 30 pieces of silver and the kiss he gave Jesus to identify him to Roman soldiers have been symbols of treachery in Western culture for two millennia. In Dante's Inferno, he languishes in the lowest circle of Hell.

But the disgraced apostle raises a difficult question for theologians -- if Jesus was supposed to die on the cross as part of a larger divine plan, did Judas not simply play his part in the drama by turning him over to the Roman occupiers?

And is Christianity not supposed to be about forgiveness?

The Times of London reported last week that Vatican historian Walter Brandmueller wanted to rehabilitate Judas and present his act as "fulfilling his part in God's plan."

The story sparked lively chatter on the Internet. The Toronto Star daily asked: "Ready to rethink the fink (villain)?"

"This news has no foundation," Brandmueller, head of the Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences, said.

"I can't imagine where this idea came from," he told the Rome-based Catholic news agency Zenit this week.

Judas was one of Jesus's 12 apostles. In the Bible's New Testament, the Gospel of St. Matthew says he quickly regretted his treachery, returned the silver to the Jewish chief priests who gave it to him and hanged himself.

LONG-LOST MANUSCRIPT

One reason why interest in Judas has suddenly arisen is that a long-lost "Gospel of Judas," an apocryphal or inauthentic account of Jesus's life, is due to be published this spring.

The New Testament contains four Gospels -- by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John -- but many more were written in the century or two after Christ's death and attributed to apostles such as Thomas and Philip or to his female follower Mary Magdelene.

Many were written by Gnostics, early Christian heretics who believed that secret knowledge was the key to eternal salvation.

The original second century Greek manuscript of the Gospel of Judas was lost long ago but an ancient Coptic translation found in Egypt is now being translated by a Swiss foundation.

There has been speculation that any text purporting to be written by Judas would show him in a better light and prompt a rethink of his reputation, but New Testament experts are wary.

"Until we see the text, we won't know exactly what it says, but it seems to be a Gnostic writing and unlikely to change our view of what happened back then," said Richard Dillon, theology professor at Fordham University in New York.

Some experts argue that rehabilitating Judas could help Vatican relations with Judaism, since anti-Semites sometimes use his story to condemn all Jews, but Brandmueller did not agree.

"The dialogue between the Holy See and the Jews continues profitably on other bases," he told Zenit.

No reputation remake planned for Judas: Vatican

[Shammu]

Al-Qaeda Supporters Threaten To Kill Pastor in Turkey, report     Print     E-mail     Add to Favorites
Friday, 20 January 2006
By BosNewsLife News Center 

ISTANBUL, TURKEY (BosNewsLife)-- Five young men with possible ties to the Al-Qaeda network have attacked and threatened to kill a Protestant church leader in Turkey’s fourth largest city, a Christian news agency reported late Friday, January 20.

29-year-old Pastor Kamil Kiroglu was beaten unconscious twice along the street after leaving his church in Adana following Sunday worship services January 8, Compass Direct said.

Wielding a long butcher knife, one of the unidentified attackers allegedly threatened to kill him if he refused "to deny his Christian faith and return to Islam."

The four Turks involved in the attack appeared to be in their late teens but were led by a foreigner probably 10 years older who claimed to be from Turkmenistan, Compass Direct said. At one point, the group’s leader said he was acting on behalf of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network, the news agency added.

The information could not be independently verified, but BosNewsLife has learned that evangelical Christians in Turkey have become increasingly worried about threats and attacks.   

<SNIP>

To finish reading this story, click on the link below.

Al-Qaeda Supporters Threaten To Kill Pastor in Turkey, report

[Shammu]

Talk of Military Action in Iran Standoff

By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 17 minutes ago

JERUSALEM - Israel's defense minister hinted Saturday that the Jewish state is preparing for military action to stop Iran's nuclear program, but said international diplomacy must be the first course of action.

"Israel will not be able to accept an Iranian nuclear capability and it must have the capability to defend itself, with all that that implies, and this we are preparing," Shaul Mofaz said.

His comments at an academic conference stopped short of overtly threatening a military strike but were likely to add to growing tensions with Iran.

Germany's defense minister said in an interview published Saturday that he is hopeful of a diplomatic solution to the impasse over Iran's nuclear program, but argued that "all options" should remain open.

Asked by the Bild am Sonntag weekly whether the threat of a military solution should remain in place, Franz Josef Jung was quoted as responding: "Yes, we need all options."

French President Jacques Chirac said Thursday that France could respond with nuclear weapons against any state-sponsored terrorist attack.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Saturday that Chirac's threats reflect the true intentions of nuclear nations, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

"The French president uncovered the covert intentions of nuclear powers in using this lever (nuclear weapons) to determine political games," IRNA quoted Asefi as saying.

Israel long has identified Iran as its biggest threat and accuses Tehran of pursuing nuclear weapons. Iran says its atomic program is peaceful.

Iran broke U.N. seals at a uranium enrichment plant Jan. 10 and said it was resuming nuclear research after a 2 1/2-year freeze. Germany, France and Britain said two days later that talks aimed at halting Iran's nuclear progress were at a dead end and called for Iran's referral to the U.N. Security Council.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, will meet Feb. 2 to discuss possible referral.

Israel's Mofaz said sanctions and international oversight of Iran's nuclear program stood as the "correct policy at this time."

In Germany, Jung called himself "confident that there will be a diplomatic solution in the case of Iran."

Israeli leaders have also repeatedly said they hope the crisis can be resolved through diplomacy, and they said any military action would have to be part of an international effort. They have denied having plans for a unilateral preventive strike.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Tehran might still agree to Moscow's offer to move its uranium enrichment program to Russia, a step backed by the United States and Europeans as a way to resolve the deadlock.

Israel's concerns about Iran have grown since the election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said last year that Israel should be "wiped off the map."

On Friday, Iran's Students News Agency reported Friday that Central Bank governor Ebrahim Sheibani said Iran had begun moving its foreign currency reserves from European banks and transferring them to an undisclosed location as protection against possible U.N. sanctions.

Sheibani backed away Saturday from his statement that the transfers were already underway, and Iran's Central Bank said there had been no change in its currency policy.

Estimates put Iranian funds in Europe at as much as $50 billion.

Talk of Military Action in Iran Standoff

[Shammu]

Morales to Seek Blessing From Andean Gods

By FIONA SMITH, Associated Press Writer Sat Jan 21, 1:57 AM ET

TIAWANACU, Bolivia - In the ancient temple of a lost civilization far from the capital, Evo Morales will ask Andean gods for help and guidance Saturday on the eve of his inauguration as Bolivia's first Indian president.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to converge on the archaeological remains of the Tiawanacu civilization that flourished around 5,000 B.C. near the shores of Lake Titicaca, 40 miles outside of La Paz.

There, Morales, a U.S. critic who won by a landslide on a leftist platform, will be blessed by Indian priests who consider themselves inheritors of this pre-Incan culture, which had no written language and disappeared mysteriously.

Morales will walk onto the Akapana pyramid, put on a red tunic with gold and black detail, and accept a baton from the priests that symbolizes his Indian leadership. Morales will then walk alone and barefoot into the Kalasasaya temple before emerging to greet the crowd.

Then it will be party time in the city of Tiawanacu, which prepared a cake, made from the local grain quinoa, large enough to feed 40,000 people. The decoration features Morales' face and the sacred Andean peak Illimani.

Back in La Paz, where dozens of presidents and dignitaries are expected to witness Sunday's inauguration, the highway leading from the airport has swarmed with workers hanging Bolivian flags, filling potholes, covering graffiti and repainting lanes. Some 10,000 volunteers joined a downtown cleanup.

During the official inauguration, Morales will follow a more modern tradition. He will be saluted with full military honors outside the Congress, and draped with the bejeweled medals worn by all presidents.

But the former coca growers' union leader arranged his own touch: Along with 8,000 police guarding the streets will be crowds of miners volunteering additional protection to Morales in a gesture of solidarity.

In another proletarian touch, Morales — who will be surrounded by dignitaries and heads of state dressed in suits and ties — plans to wear something more casual, although details have not been revealed.

"Most Bolivians don't wear a tie and I'm part of this majority," said Morales, who wore the same striped sweater to meet presidents and royalty on his preinaugural world tour. "It would bother me, it's so tight around your neck I would feel like I was being hung."

Many Bolivians also wonder if their new leader — who once promised to be "Washington's nightmare" — will make the traditional sign of the cross while being sworn in, or take the oath more rebelliously, with a raised fist, as his ally Edmundo Novillo, the new president of the house of deputies, did just days ago. The raised fist here can symbolize atheist beliefs or the leftist struggle.

A critic of U.S. foreign policy and close ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, Morales has promised to fight corruption, and improve the lives of the poor Indian majority by securing more profits from Bolivia's natural resources, including its vast natural gas reserves.

But he has also softened his rhetoric since his election victory, and said he even had a positive meeting with the U.S. Ambassador David Greenlee. "He told us it's time to flip the page to have good relations," Morales told the Associated Press on Friday. "He said we have to keep fighting drug trafficking and we'll keep supporting that work."

The U.S.-led war on drugs inadvertently helped bring Morales to power. The battle against coca eradication that he led helped mobilize Indian organizations already angered by poverty and political domination by a rich elite, feeding a broader movement.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack expressed hope Friday that cooperation on fighting narcotics trafficking and other issues will continue.

Based on what direction Morales takes, "we'll make an assessment of what kind of relationship the United States and Bolivia will have," he said.

Morales to Seek Blessing From Andean Gods

My note; His Andean Gods aren't going to do no good. There are just a spawn, of satan.

Exodus 20:5 You shall not bow down yourself to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me,
Bob

[2nd Timothy]

replying to post #117

We are headed straight for home plate guys!   It would appear that our remaining time is very short indeed.   

[Shammu]

replying to post #117

We are headed straight for home plate guys!   It would appear that our remaining time is very short indeed.   

We still have to wait for Russia, to finally aline with Iran. But yes, I do think our time is getting shorter brother.

[Shammu]

Italian Lawyers Asked to Prove Jesus Existed

Saturday, January 21, 2006

ROME — Lawyers for a small-town parish priest have been ordered to appear in court next week after the Roman Catholic cleric was accused of unlawfully asserting what many people take for granted: that Jesus Christ existed.

The Rev. Enrico Righi was named in a 2002 complaint filed by Luigi Cascioli after Righi wrote in a parish bulletin that Jesus did indeed exist, and that he was born of a couple named Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem and lived in Nazareth.

Cascioli, a lifelong atheist, claims that Righi violated two Italian laws by making the assertion: so-called "abuse of popular belief" in which someone fraudulently deceives people; and "impersonation" in which someone gains by attributing a false name to someone.

Cascioli says that for 2,000 years the Roman Catholic Church has been deceiving people by furthering the fable that Christ existed, and says the church has been gaining financially by impersonating as Christ someone by the name of John of Gamala, the son of Judas from Gamala.

He also asserts that the Gospels — the most frequently cited testimony of Jesus' existence — are inconsistent, full of errors and biased, and that other written evidence from the time is scant and doesn't hold up to scholarly analysis.

Prosecutors, who in Italy are obliged to investigate such complaints, initially tried to have the case dismissed, saying no crime could be verified.

But Cascioli challenged them, and Judge Gaetano Mautone set a hearing for next Friday in Viterbo, north of Rome, to discuss preliminary motions in Cascioli's bid to have the court appoint technical experts to review the historical data and determine if Jesus really did exist.

Cascioli, 72, said in a recent interview that he decided to pursue the case against Righi, a priest in the village of Bagnoregio, near Viterbo, because the cleric had written in the parish bulletin that Jesus existed.

Asked why he went after Righi — a schoolmate when he and Cascioli were boys — and not any number of bishops, cardinals or even the pope who have asserted the very same thing, Cascioli said it didn't really matter who he named in his complaint.

"When one demonstrates that Christ didn't exist, attacking a simple priest is the same thing as attacking a bishop or cardinal," Cascioli said.

Cascioli is quick to stress that he has no problem with Christians freely professing their faith. Rather, he says in his complaint, he wants to "denounce the abuse that the Catholic Church commits by availing itself of its prestige in order to inculcate — as if being real and historical — facts that are really just inventions."

Righi, who has been a priest for 50 years, declined to be interviewed on the advice of his lawyers before the pending court date. But he set out his rebuke of Cascioli in a recent issue of his parish bulletin "Risveglio," or "Awaken," and said by telephone that the article encapsulated his position.

Righi argues that the existence of Christ is "unmistakable" because of the substantial historical evidence — both pagan and religious — testifying that he indeed lived.

"Cascioli maintains that Christ never existed. If he doesn't see the sun at midday, he can't denounce me just because I do. He should denounce all believers!" Righi wrote.

He cited many known observers, including non-Christian ones, who have written about the existence of Jesus, including the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, considered by scholars to be the most important non-Christian source on Christ's existence.

A passage of Josephus' "Jewish Antiquities," completed in A.D. 93, cites the execution in A.D. 62 of "the brother of Jesus the so-called Christ, James by name."

Righi also cited Pliny the Younger, who in the early second century described a policy of executing Christians who refused to curse Christ, and Tacitus, another writer of the same time who wrote that Jesus was executed by the sentence of Pontius Pilate.

"You would have to give lie to each, one by one, to cancel the Christ man that they speak of," Righi wrote.

R. Scott Appleby, a professor of church history at the University of Notre Dame, concurs. There's "no real doubt" that Jesus existed, he said.

"But what Jesus of Nazareth did and what he means is a different question," Appleby said. "But on the question of the existence, there is more evidence of the existence of Jesus of Nazareth than there would be for many other historical people who actually existed. Not only did Jesus actually exist, but he actually had some kind of prominence to be mentioned in two or three chronicles."

Cascioli says he fully recognizes that his case has a slim chance of succeeding in overwhelmingly Catholic Italy, but not because his argument is lacking.

"We aren't optimistic — unless the Madonna makes a miracle, but I don't think that will happen," he joked.

Cascioli says he is merely going through the necessary legal steps in Italy so he can ultimately take the matter to the European Court of Human Rights, where he intends to pursue the case against the church for "religious racism."

"I was born against Christ and God," he said. "I'm doing it (the complaint) now because I should do it before I die."

Italian Lawyers Asked to Prove Jesus Existed

[Shammu]

Full Text of bin Laden Tape

By The Associated Press Thu Jan 19, 9:23 PM ET

The following is the full text of a new audiotape from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Parts of the tape were aired on Al-Jazeera television, which published the entire version on its Web site. The text was translated from the Arabic by The Associated Press.

Bin Laden appears to be addressing the American people:

My message to you is about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and how to end them. I did not intend to speak to you about this because this issue has already been decided. Only metal breaks metal, and our situation, thank God, is only getting better and better, while your situation is the opposite of that.

But I plan to speak about the repeated errors your President Bush has committed in comments on the results of your polls that show an overwhelming majority of you want the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. But he (Bush) has opposed this wish and said that withdrawing troops sends the wrong message to opponents, that it is better to fight them (bin Laden's followers) on their land than their fighting us (Americans) on our land.

I can reply to these errors by saying that war in Iraq is raging with no let-up, and operations in Afghanistan are escalating in our favor, thank God, and Pentagon figures show the number of your dead and wounded is increasing not to mention the massive material losses, the destruction of the soldiers' morale there and the rise in cases of suicide among them. So you can imagine the state of psychological breakdown that afflicts a soldier as he gathers the remains of his colleagues after they stepped on land mines that tore them apart. After this situation the soldier is caught between two hard options. He either refuses to leave his military camp on patrols and is therefore dogged by ruthless punishments enacted by the Vietnam Butcher (U.S. army) or he gets destroyed by the mines. This puts him under psychological pressure, fear and humiliation while his nation is ignorant of that (what is going on). The soldier has no solution except to commit suicide. That is a strong message to you, written by his soul, blood and pain, to save what can be saved from this hell. The solution is in your hands if you care about them (the soldiers).

The news of our brother mujahideen (holy warriors) is different from what the Pentagon publishes. They (the news of mujahideen) and what the media report is the truth of what is happening on the ground. And what deepens the doubt over the White House's information is the fact that it targets the media reporting the truth from the ground. And it has appeared lately, supported by documents, that the butcher of freedom in the world (Bush) had decided to bomb the headquarters of the Al-Jazeera in Qatar after bombing its offices in Kabul and Baghdad.

On another issue, jihad (holy war) is ongoing, thank God, despite all the oppressive measures adopted by the U.S Army and its agents (which is) to a point where there is no difference between this criminality and Saddam's criminality, as it has reached the degree of raping women and taking them as hostages instead of their husbands.

As for torturing men, they have used burning chemical acids and drills on their joints. And when they give up on (interrogating) them, they sometimes use the drills on their heads until they die. Read, if you will, the reports of the horrors in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prisons.

And I say that, despite all the barbaric methods, they have not broken the fierceness of the resistance. The mujahideen, thank God, are increasing in number and strength — so much so that reports point to the ultimate failure and defeat of the unlucky quartet of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz. Declaring this defeat is just a matter of time, depending partly on how much the American people know of the size of this tragedy. The sensible people realize that Bush does not have a plan to make his alleged victory in Iraq come true.

And if you compare the small number of dead on the day that Bush announced the end of major operations in that fake, ridiculous show aboard the aircraft carrier with the tenfold number of dead and wounded who were killed in the smaller operations, you would know the truth of what I say. This is that Bush and his administration do not have the will or the ability to get out of Iraq for their own private, suspect reasons.

And so to return to the issue, I say that results of polls please those who are sensible, and Bush's opposition to them is a mistake. The reality shows that the war against America and its allies has not been limited to Iraq as he (Bush) claims. Iraq has become a point of attraction and restorer of (our) energies. At the same time, the mujahideen (holy warriors), with God's grace, have managed repeatedly to penetrate all security measures adopted by the unjust allied countries. The proof of that is the explosions you have seen in the capitals of the European nations who are in this aggressive coalition. The delay in similar operations happening in America has not been because of failure to break through your security measures. The operations are under preparation and you will see them in your homes the minute they are through (with preparations), with God's permission.

Based on what has been said, this shows the errors of Bush's statement — the one that slipped from him — which is at the heart of polls calling for withdrawing the troops. It is better that we (Americans) don't fight Muslims on their lands and that they don't fight us on ours.

We don't mind offering you a long-term truce on fair conditions that we adhere to. We are a nation that God has forbidden to lie and cheat. So both sides can enjoy security and stability under this truce so we can build Iraq and Afghanistan, which have been destroyed in this war. There is no shame in this solution, which prevents the wasting of billions of dollars that have gone to those with influence and merchants of war in America who have supported Bush's election campaign with billions of dollars — which lets us understand the insistence by Bush and his gang to carry on with war.

If you (Americans) are sincere in your desire for peace and security, we have answered you. And if Bush decides to carry on with his lies and oppression, then it would be useful for you to read the book "Rogue State," which states in its introduction: "If I were president, I would stop the attacks on the United States: First I would give an apology to all the widows and orphans and those who were tortured. Then I would announce that American interference in the nations of the world has ended once and for all."

Finally, I say that war will go either in our favor or yours. If it is the former, it means your loss and your shame forever, and it is headed in this course. If it is the latter, read history! We are people who do not stand for injustice and we will seek revenge all our lives. The nights and days will not pass without us taking vengeance like on Sept. 11, God permitting. Your minds will be troubled and your lives embittered. As for us, we have nothing to lose. A swimmer in the ocean does not fear the rain. You have occupied our lands, offended our honor and dignity and let out our blood and stolen our money and destroyed our houses and played with our security and we will give you the same treatment.

You have tried to prevent us from leading a dignified life, but you will not be able to prevent us from a dignified death. Failing to carry out jihad, which is called for in our religion, is a sin. The best death to us is under the shadows of swords. Don't let your strength and modern arms fool you. They win a few battles but lose the war. Patience and steadfastness are much better. We were patient in fighting the Soviet Union with simple weapons for 10 years and we bled their economy and now they are nothing.

In that there is a lesson for you.

Full Text of bin Laden Tape

My opinion, Benny boy can stick it in his ear. he has lied, and will continued to lie. Such is the make up, in the islamic world.