News, Prophecy and other

[Soldier4Christ]

they may not think it's important now, but their address is about to change, they'll be moving south, waaaaaayy south.

And not the equatorial south. 

[airIam2worship]

PR, I'm only 132 away from brother John, I wonder how he's doing.

[Soldier4Christ]

PR, I'm only 132 away from brother John, I wonder how he's doing.

Not to well. He was on for just a few seconds yesterday. He has more surgery to go through. He wasn't explicit.

[airIam2worship]

Not to well. He was on for just a few seconds yesterday. He has more surgery to go through. He wasn't explicit.

I am still praying for him

[Soldier4Christ]

I am still praying for him

So am I sister. He has gone through a lot.

[Soldier4Christ]

Bush warns Iran on Israel

 US President George W. Bush said he hoped to resolve the nuclear dispute with Iran with diplomacy, but warned Tehran he would "use military might" if necessary to defend Israel.

"The threat from Iran is, of course, their stated objective to destroy our strong ally Israel. That's a threat, a serious threat. It's a threat to world peace," the US president said after a speech defending the war in Iraq.

 "I made it clear, and I'll make it clear again, that we will use military might to protect our ally Israel," said Bush, who was apparently referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call for the destruction of Israel.

On the atomic dispute, Bush said he hoped "to solve this issue diplomatically" with a "united message" to Tehran from Washington, London, Paris, Berlin as well as Russia "hopefully" and China.

The message would be that "your desire to having a nuclear weapon is unacceptable," he said.

Bush also touched on Iran's agreement to discuss Iraq with the United States, saying that "it's very important, however, for the Iranians to understand that the discussion is limited to Iraq.

"We're using this as an opportunity to make it clear about our concerns of interference within a democratic process that is evolving," he said, saying that the talks will not decide Iran's relations with a sovereign Iraq.

"Ultimately, Iraq-Iranian relations will be negotiated between the Iraqi government and the Iranian government," he said.

[Soldier4Christ]

Olmert corruption report delayed for elections?
Official says investigation could 'easily' have been released weeks ago

JERUSALEM – Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is being investigated by state officials on multiple charges of corruption and illegal appointments, but a report on the matter is being delayed until after next week's elections in which Olmert is running for top office.

A source close to the report told WorldNetDaily today the investigation into Olmert could "easily" have been released weeks ago "if the state wanted." If eventually indicted, Olmert would need to vacate his government position.

Opposition parties charge the delay in releasing the report is political.

"The issue here is regarding a candidate for prime minister. The public needs to know who he is before the elections," said a spokesman for the Likud party, headed by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss is investigating political appointments made by Olmert while he served as minister of Industry and Trade under Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's administration. Olmert was minister from 2003 until 2005. He served as mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003, and now leads the Kadima party following Sharon's stroke in January.

Charges were filed with Lindenstrauss's office following complaints by ministry employees in 2004 alleging Olmert appointed outsiders to top level positions in exchange for support and political favors. Employees also claimed at the time Olmert directed funds and ministry tenders at new appointees at the expense of loyal long-time workers.

A source close to Lindenstrauss's office told WND the report is near completion and could have been ready weeks ago.

"It's essentially done, but suddenly the final touches are being slowed. It could be released within days if they wanted. Actually, there is more than enough information. It could have already been released if the motivation was there," said a source close to the comptroller.

The source said a current draft of the report slams Olmert for allegedly abusing office powers and using the ministry's director general – an Olmert appointee – to make unwarranted appointments. It questions the utility of several appointments.

Once the comptrollers report is released, Israel's attorney general would be asked whether to formally bring charges against Olmert.

The comptroller's office claims they need several more weeks to complete the report. National elections are next Tuesday.

Olmert is not the only official tied to Kadima to be investigated for corruption and questionable appointments. Several Kadima members have come under repeated fire for alleged misconduct.

One investigation ties Olmert to other instances of corruption and possible bribery. The state was asked to investigate Sharon's son and former Knesset member Omri Sharon following a recent television report airing excerpts from his diary concerning a large number of political appointments allegedly aimed at shoring up support for his father while he was prime minister.

The diary allegedly listed a series of politicians whose support Ariel Sharon needed for various votes and legislation. The diary excerpts detailed the methods used by Omri Sharon to arrange appointments and in some cases revealed close ties between the appointments and Olmert.

One section of the diary dates from August 2004, when Sharon's party, then-Likud, was due to vote on the prime minister's move to bring the opposition Labor party into the government. Omri Sharon listed in his journal several committee members whose support was crucial for the vote and reportedly made notes on the steps needed to win their votes.

He allegedly wrote he needed to find "a directorship for [Likud member] Shlomo Ben Amra" and determine whether a similar appointment for Likud member Rahamim Eden "has already been signed."

According to the television report, Eden was indeed appointed to the board of a government agency shortly after Omri Sharon's diary entry.

Omri Sharon in the diary also reminded himself to "meet with Ehud [Olmert] about Yigal Yosef," as well as with a top Olmert advisor on the same subject.

Yosef eventually was given a top job in Olmert's Industry Ministry.

[Soldier4Christ]

Palestinian Gunmen Clash With Police

Palestinian gunmen from the ousted Fatah Party stormed government buildings, briefly took over a power plant and blocked a vital road in the Gaza Strip on Monday, injecting more chaos into the volatile area as Hamas militants readied to take power.

Nine people were wounded in five separate firefights with Palestinian police. The violence was a foretaste of what might happen if Hamas tried to impose its will on Fatah gunmen.

Bad blood runs deep between Hamas and Fatah, and many Fatah activists - including nearly 60,000 members of the security forces - fear for their government jobs once the militants take power. The handover drew nearer on Sunday, when Hamas, which won January parliamentary elections, presented its new Cabinet to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas for approval.

The bloodiest of the five confrontations Monday took place at Gaza's government compound. Three dozen gunmen demanding jobs charged toward the complex, firing in the air. Some burst into the Finance Ministry, while others began firing at random, wounding a doorman outside the adjacent Foreign Ministry before Palestinian police pulled up in jeeps and began exchanging fire with the attackers.

An Associated Press reporter was in the Foreign Ministry at the time of the attack. Just yards away from him, two stray bullets hit a security guard in the legs. Other ministry employees ran for cover, pressing close to walls or hiding under tables as bullets smashed windows.

Police eventually stormed the ministry, arresting three gunmen from the Fatah-affiliated Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. In total, two gunmen and two security officials were wounded in the firefight.

Dozens of gunmen also exchanged fire with members of the security forces at Palestinian police headquarters.

Earlier in the day, gunmen blocked a road leading to the main Israel-Gaza crossing point, briefly took over Gaza's power plant and entered a military hospital.

About 35 gunmen traded fire with policemen who tried to remove them from the road leading to the Erez crossing point, which Abbas had been scheduled to use Monday morning to leave Gaza for the West Bank. Two gunmen and a policeman were wounded.

Two dozen gunmen also briefly infiltrated Gaza's power plant elsewhere in Gaza, exchanging fire with police and wounding two, officials said.

No one was hurt at the military hospital near the town of Khan Younis.

Hamas' designated foreign minister, Mahmoud Zahar, blamed the violence on Fatah mismanagement.

"We are going to deal with it by the proper means in order to solve these problems," Zahar said.

The gunbattles on Monday were the most intense in months, and came a day after Hamas' designated prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, handed Abbas a proposed 24-member Cabinet dominated by Hamas activists.

Hamas' failure to bring Fatah or other more moderate Palestinian lawmakers into the government was likely to set off painful Western aid cutbacks. The main bone of contention was Hamas' refusal to compromise on its right to violent resistance against Israel and its rejection of the Jewish state's legitimacy.

Abbas is not expected to submit the list to parliament for approval before Israel's March 28 elections.

Abbas, who favors negotiating a final peace settlement with Israel, has urged Hamas to moderate its violent ideology but likely will approve the Cabinet, his aides say. He will, however, warn Hamas that its refusal to soften positions that could hurt the Palestinians' international standing.

Hamas' refusal to moderate its anti-Israel stance has led acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to formulate a sweeping plan of West Bank territorial pullbacks that he plans to carry out with or without negotiations.

On Monday, Olmert reiterated that he would change Israel's borders significantly after next week's voting, which his Kadima Party is expected to win.

The borders with the West Bank "will be appreciably different from today's borders," Olmert told Israel Army Radio.

Olmert said he had not mapped out specific lines. But restating a position he articulated earlier in the month, he said Israel would hold on to its three major settlement blocs, where most of the 253,000 Jewish settlers live.

He also reiterated his plans to maintain the Jordan River Valley as a security border, and to build a controversial West Bank project between Jerusalem and the biggest settlement, Maaleh Adumim, that both the Palestinians and the U.S. have deplored.

[Shammu]

Five Deaths Blamed on Storm in Midwest

By DIRK LAMMERS, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 42 minutes ago

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - A powerful storm dumped more than a foot of snow in the Plains, closing schools and roads and forcing residents to man shovels Monday during the first day of spring.

Hundreds of schools were closed in Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and South Dakota, and at least five deaths were blamed on the storm. Spring officially began at 1:26 p.m. EST.

Myron Williams, who raises livestock near Wall, was busy shoveling a foot of snow from gates and feedlots on his property. The rancher said the work was hard but the precipitation was welcome.

"We're glad to have the moisture," Williams said. "Nothing's free, so you've got to pay for everything."

Twenty-five inches of snow was reported in central Nebraska, parts of South Dakota had up to 18 inches, northeast Colorado had at least a foot, northwest Kansas had up to 10 inches and parts of the Oklahoma Panhandle got half a foot.

Several stretches of Interstate 80 were closed in Nebraska, the State Patrol said. Parts of Interstate 70 were closed in western Kansas, and in Colorado more than 150 miles of the highway were shut down.

In South Dakota, a stretch of about 200 miles of I-90 was reopened Monday. The highway had been closed from Rapid City to Chamberlain because of the heavy snow and tractor-trailers that had gotten stuck.

The storm postponed the final day of the South Dakota Legislature's 2006 session, and forced Nebraska's Legislature to cancel its Tuesday meeting.

Also Monday, at least two tornadoes touched down in rural Oklahoma as a wave of thunderstorms moved across the state.

Heavy rain soaked parts of the South over the weekend. Up to 8 inches of rain was reported in northern Texas, causing flooding around the Dallas area. Waters subsided Monday, and the storms may have eased chronic drought.

"It is definitely going to help with the drought, but it is not going to reverse it," said weather service meteorologist Stacie Hanes.

In Dallas, the body of a woman was recovered from a creek. Officials believe high water swept her car off a road Sunday night.

In Colorado, one person was killed Sunday in a traffic accident on a slush-covered road, the State Patrol said. And authorities said a woman reportedly suffering from Alzheimer's disease was found dead Monday after she wandered away from her home.

Two motorists died on an icy highway in southwest Nebraska on Sunday, authorities said.

Five Deaths Blamed on Storm in Midwest

[Shammu]

20/03/2006            
EU gives $78M to Palestinians, but warns Hamas to commit to peace
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent, and Agencies

The European Union handed the United Nations a check Monday for $78 million in urgent aid for destitute Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, but warned future aid is at risk unless the new Hamas-led government commits to peace.

Meeting in Brussels, the EU foreign ministers discussed the future of the bloc's foreign aid program - worth more than $600 million a year.

"Hamas is at a crossroads," said Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, whose country holds the EU presidency.

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She said the organization, which the EU considers a terrorist group because it is sworn to destroy Israel, "will have to decide which road to take" for the sake of the well-being of the 4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Hamas must meet international demands.

"We don't want to punish the Palestinian people for their votes at all," Straw told reporters.

"On the other hand the Palestinian people need to say to any Hamas government that democracy involves responsibilities and above all a responsibility not to get involved in violence."

Future European aid hinges on "commitments the [Hamas] government enters into, and its deeds," said EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

She said it was "crucial how the new Palestinian Authority positions itself on the questions of violence, of recognition of Israel and standing by previous agreements."

The aid - half of a one-off, emergency deal agreed last month - is meant to help prevent the collapse of the destitute Palestinian Authority after Israel cut off about $50 million a month in tax money it collects for the Palestinians.

Ferrero-Waldner said that the EU would leave the door open for the new government to change its stance on Israel.

Giving the 25-nation bloc's first reaction to the presentation of the new Hamas-led Palestinian government to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, she told reporters: "We are leaving the door open for positive change but we have to make clear we cannot go soft on our principles."

The Quartet of peace mediators - the United States, the EU, Russia and the United Nations - has said Hamas must recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept past peace agreements or risk losing aid. The EU is the Palestinian's biggest donor with 500 million euros ($609 million) of annual transfers.

"They [the proposed Palestinian ministers] seem to be drawn from a narrow Hamas base but we will have to judge them on what they do and say in the end," Ferrero-Waldner said.

Meanwhile, French President Jacques Chirac on Monday urged the international community to avoid sanctions on the Palestinians even if Hamas offers no clear, quick responses to demands that it renounce violence and recognize Israel.

Chirac was speaking after meetings in Paris with Jordan's King Abdullah II, who suggested in an interview released Monday that the region could plunge into chaos if the Palestinians don't have their own state within two years.

Mofaz: Hamas turning PA into terrorist entity
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Sunday night that Abbas (also know as Abu Mazen) was facing his moment of truth in authorizing the makeup of the Hamas government, which would turn the Palestinian Authority into a terror entity.

According to Mofaz, the cabinet presented Sunday "was clearly a Hamas government that does not hide its intentions. If Abu Mazen fails to act now and brings the cabinet to the parliament's approval, he will officially turn the Palestinian Authority into a terror entity."

An EU official has admitted that the Hamas choice of ministers made it difficult for the EU to finance a government refusing to recognize Israel's right to exist.

Palestinian prime minister-designate Ismail Haniyeh submitted Hamas' list of cabinet ministers to Abbas in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, after failing to persuade any rival factions to join the government.

Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat was quoted by Israel Radio on Monday as saying that Abbas will approve Haniyeh's cabinet, but if the PA faces financial crisis as a result of a freeze on international aid, Abbas would be able to fire the new prime minister.

As expected, Hamas placed key portfolios in the hands of its leaders. It plans to appoint Mahmoud Zahar foreign minister and Said Sayam interior minister. The cabinet has 24 ministers, 14 from the West Bank and 10 from Gaza, including one Christian and one woman.

Abbas announced that he would transfer the list to the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee within 48 hours, after which the proposed cabinet is to be brought before the Palestinian parliament for approval.

Fatah officials said Abbas would not try to block parliamentary approval of the government, but would issue a letter detailing his reservations about its policies.

PA spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said Sunday that Abbas expects a Hamas government to recognize PLO and UN decisions.

"The problem is not with us but with Israel, the United States and the international community. We don't want the Palestinian people to be isolated again," Abu Rudeineh told Palestinian television Sunday. "We need a common denominator. The common denominator is PLO policy."

Apparently in response to demands that Hamas recognize agreements with Israel signed by previous Palestinian governments, the basic principles of a Hamas-led government state, "The government will act with great responsibility in regard to the signed agreements so as to protect the higher interests of our people."

Abbas has been pushing Hamas to accept PLO decisions, which include recognition of Israel, but Hamas has refused to recognize the PLO's status as unique.

A leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which became the last faction to refuse to join the Hamas-led coalition following talks with Hamas on Sunday, said it was deterred by Hamas' position on the PLO.

PFLP leader Jamil al-Majdalawi said Hamas' political platform did not include "a fundamental point for us that the PLO is the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian people."

After meeting with Abbas, Haniyeh hinted Sunday that he thinks Abbas will not oppose the Hamas cabinet, saying, "I can say that the trend is positive, toward constitutional stability in the Palestinian arena."

"The matter is not simple," said Abbas. "We and the new government are facing difficulties and obstacles, but with determination and will, God willing we will move forward."

The basic principles call for action geared toward the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and a full right of return, and say that "opposition in its various forms is a legitimate right of the Palestinian people for the purpose of ending the occupation."

For the most part, the basic principles are quite broad, giving the ministers a lot of flexibility. Regarding the PA's foreign policy, the principles state that the government will cooperate with the international community to effect a full Israeli withdrawal from the territories.

Meanwhile, at U.S.-hosted talks near Tel Aviv on Sunday, Israel and the Palestinians decided on arrangements to enable basic foodstuffs to enter Gaza to ward off a humanitarian crisis in the area. Richard Jones, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, said after the session at his residence that food and other essential goods would be sent from Egypt to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing beginning Monday.

EU gives $78M to Palestinians, but warns Hamas to commit to peace

[Shammu]

King Abdullah: Time running out for peace in the Middle East
By Reuters

Jordan's King Abdullah said on Monday he believed the Israeli-Palestinian peace process had only two years left before changes on the ground would make it redundant and condemn the region to more years of strife.

The international community was tired of the failure to make a breakthrough and risked washing its hands of the peace process with potentially disastrous results, Abdullah told the European-American Press Club.

"We are physically running out of time," he said. "I don't think that we have more than two years if we're all talking about a viable, independent Palestinian state.

"If it doesn't look like we're actually going to get the formation of a future peace process and a future for Israelis and Palestinians (by 2007-2008), then I think we're all in for a rough ride."

King Abdullah said failure to reach a lasting settlement soon could delay a solution by 10 or 15 years. If the international community grew tired of the impasse and washed its hands of the peace process, this could herald another decade or more of violence, he said.

"I just think that would be the crime of the century if that's about to happen. So let's keep focused. And I think that if we go beyond the two-year mark, we're in serious trouble."

King Abdullah: Time running out for peace in the Middle East

[Shammu]

Putin to Discuss Oil Pipeline With Chinese

By MIKE ECKEL, Associated Press Writer Mon Mar 20, 9:27 PM ET

BEIJING - Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived Tuesday for a visit to China that is to include talks on building a pipeline to deliver Siberian oil to fuel China's booming economy — and his fifth meeting in under a year with the Chinese president.

With China's wealth and might on the ascendancy, Putin's meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao and other officials are expected to be spectacles of symbolism and overtures to Russia's gigantic neighbor.

Officials in both Moscow and Beijing are looking to spur new investment between the former Cold War adversaries and double last year's $29 billion in trade by 2010.

Both Tokyo and Beijing — a leading buyer of Russian oil and gas — have maneuvered hard for the best routing of the 2,550-mile East Siberian-Pacific pipeline. For now, China imports all Russian oil by rail.

China is also Russia's top customer for military weaponry and equipment.

The two countries have also moved to deepen political ties following years of Cold War suspicion. Both have pledged commitment to a "multipolar world" and last year warned other nations against attempts to dominate global affairs and interfere in sovereign nations' domestic matters.

In an interview with China's official Xinhua News Agency, Putin gave a veiled warning over U.S. policies to encourage democracy in the former Soviet republics, saying that attempts to "forcibly export democracy and impose cultural standards and values" result in conflicts.

"We do not impose our viewpoints by force, we never 'flex our muscles', but instead we consistently advocate political and diplomatic approaches to the settlement of conflicts," Putin was quoted as saying.

Last week, the Bush administration released a foreign policy review that expressed dismay at rollbacks in democratic reform in Russia and warned China against denying personal and political freedoms.

In August, the two countries held unprecedented military exercises, underscoring how far the two former adversaries had come since the 1960s, when they fought border skirmishes.

Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Li Hui said last week that the two sides will also develop five military projects to highlight "friendly cooperation." He gave no details.

Putin and Hu are also expected to discuss disputes over the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs.

Russia and China, both veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council and longtime supporters of Tehran, want a more cautious approach to reining in Iran's nuclear ambitions. Russia has offered to process uranium for Iran in an attempt to break a stalemate in negotiations.

Russia and China are also participants of six-nation disarmament talks on North Korea's nuclear programs, along with the United States, Japan and South Korea. Negotiations have stalled due mainly to a dispute over U.S. sanctions against North Korea's alleged currency counterfeiting and money laundering.

Putin to Discuss Oil Pipeline With Chinese

[Shammu]

Aid Delivered to Australia Cyclone Area

By MERAIAH FOLEY, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 44 minutes ago

INNISFAIL, Australia - Soldiers carried aid to the cyclone-shattered town of Innisfail Tuesday as residents picked through streets littered with rubble and mangled roofs destroyed by one of Australia's most powerful cyclones in decades.

Troop trucks rumbled through the streets of Innisfail, the town of 8,500 that bore the brunt of Category-5 Cyclone Larry when it slammed into the coast of northeast Australia just before dawn Monday. By Tuesday, it had been downgraded to a tropical storm.

"One of the most immediate needs is to get shelter over roofless homes, and there are many," said Charlie McKillop, a spokesman for Attorney General Philip Ruddock, whose department was helping coordinate aid.

Bob Katter, a local lawmaker, said about 7,000 people were left without homes.

"There most certainly would be around 7,000 people ... that are effectively homeless," he told The Associated Press. "They're sitting in four walls but no roof."

Amazingly, the storm caused no reported fatalities, and only 30 people suffered minor injuries.

Reporters who flew into Innisfail on Tuesday saw scenes of devastation — rain forest shredded by the winds, acres of sugar and banana plantations flattened, the trees and cane on the ground next to their stumps, pointing in the direction that the cyclone tore past.

"It looks like it's just been napalmed," said helicopter pilot Ian Harris. "That's normally pristine rain forest."

An apartment block with its roof torn off looked from the air like a doll's house. A resident was inside picking through the wreckage.

"I never expected anything like this," said Rosarie Cullinane, a 24-year-old Irish backpacker who had been working at a local hostel. "I did hear about cyclones but I didn't think it was going to be that bad."

She said backpackers huddled in their hostel wrapped in mattresses as the storm raged outside.

The town's main street was littered with rubble from badly damaged buildings and the corrugated metal used for roofing in the region. In some parts of the street people waded through knee-deep water.

Stephen Young, deputy executive director of Queensland's Counter Disaster and Emergency Services, said relief was flowing to Innisfail from all over Australia.

About 120 troops were helping deliver aid, while clean up and specialist urban search and rescue crews were heading to the town.

Among supplies flowing into the town were nearly 10,500 gallons of water, 6,000 in-flight meals provided by national flag carrier Qantas, as well as gas and gasoline.

"We've hit this as hard as we possibly could with every possible ounce of effort from the Queensland government and the commonwealth government," Young said.

Prime Minister John Howard on Tuesday pledged that his administration would help shattered communities rebuild.

"The federal government will give what is needed to get these communities back on their feet," Howard said in a radio interview.

Queensland state political leader Premier Peter Beattie said it could take days to restore power and water supplies to Innisfail, a farming town about 60 miles south of the major tourist town of Cairns.

"In the southern part, there's blockages, both in terms of water and the sewerage blockages as well," Beattie later told the Nine Network. He said generators were being sent to provide power until electricity cables are repaired.

The casualty toll was so low because people left town or went to shelters after authorities posted warnings. Residents and officials were mindful of the damage Hurricane Katrina did to New Orleans and Mississippi last August, said Ben Creagh, a spokesman for Queensland state Department of Emergency Services.

"There was absolutely no complacency at the planning level at all, and I think that shows. ... Good planning, a bit of luck — we've dodged a bullet," he said.

Farmers were among the hardest hit. The region is a major growing region for bananas and sugar cane, and vast tracts of the crops were flattened.

President of the Australian Banana Growers' Council, Patrick Leahy, said he faced at least six months without an income after Cyclone Larry destroyed his banana crop.

The storm was the most powerful to hit Australia since Christmas Eve 1974, when Cyclone Tracy destroyed the northern city of Darwin, killing 65 people.

Aid Delivered to Australia Cyclone Area

[Shammu]

Separation of Mosque, State Wanes in Indonesia
By Richard C. Paddock, Times Staff Writer
March 20, 2006

MALANG, Indonesia — Yusman Roy, a former boxer and a convert to Islam, is serving two years in prison because he believes that Muslims should pray in a language they can understand.

Roy, who led bilingual prayer sessions at his small East Java boarding school, is seen as a heretic by conservative Muslims here. They believe true prayer can be conducted only in Arabic.

Roy's desire to pray in Indonesian has sparked such an outrage that he was convicted last year in criminal court of "spreading hatred." Animosity toward Roy ran so high that police posted guards to keep an angry mob from torching his house and school.

Now, he is kept in a cell by himself at overcrowded Lowokwaru prison, and the warden has warned him not to preach to his fellow inmates in any language.

Roy is one of at least 10 Muslims incarcerated in recent months for what the Indonesian Council of Ulemas, the country's most influential Muslim body in setting religious policy, has deemed deviant thinking.

"The government and the council have been working together to suppress my ideas," Roy said during an interview in prison. "But this will not stop me from doing what I believe."

Indonesia is a democratic, secular country, and there is no constitutional basis for using Islamic law in court in most regions. But insulting a religion is a crime, and a fatwa, or religious edict, issued by the Council of Ulemas can carry great weight as evidence of an alleged offense to Islam.

Indonesia, which has more than 190 million Muslims, the world's largest Islamic population, has become increasingly conservative since the 1998 collapse of President Suharto's military regime. In recent years, the government has grown more active in enforcing religious law.

In recent months, fatwas issued by the Indonesian Council of Ulemas and its regional councils denouncing clerics and cults as deviant have been followed by arrests, prosecution and sometimes mob violence against the accused.

Sumardi Tappaya, 60, a high school religious teacher on the island of Sulawesi, was locked up in January after a relative told police he had heard Sumardi whistling while he prayed. The whistling was declared deviant by the local ulemas, and Sumardi is now in jail awaiting trial on charges of religious blasphemy. He faces five years in prison.

Ardhi Husain, 50, who ran an Islamic center in East Java that treated drug addiction and cancer with traditional medicine and prayer, was sentenced in September to five years in prison for writing a book that the ulemas said contained 70 "errors," such as claiming that Muhammad was not the last prophet and that non-Muslims could go to heaven. Five editors of the book also received five-year terms. An employee who sold a copy to a neighbor received three years.

After Husain's arrest, a mob burned down his facility. No one has been arrested in the attack.

Lia Aminuddin, 58, who claims to be the Virgin Mary and leads the quasi-Islamic God's Kingdom of Eden cult, was arrested in December on blasphemy charges after thousands of angry protesters surrounded her headquarters in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital. The ulemas and demonstrators accused her of insulting Islam by claiming that she was married to the archangel Gabriel and that God spoke to her through him. (In Islam, Gabriel, or Jibril, is revered as the archangel who communicated God's word to Muhammad.)

Prominent human rights lawyer gotcha98 Buyung Nasution, whose Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation represents several of the accused, says the government is ignoring zealots who commit religious violence and instead prosecuting the targets of religious hatred.

"The intolerance is becoming worse," Nasution said. "Why are the victims being punished?"

Fighting between Muslims and Christians has claimed thousands of lives in Indonesia in recent years, and Islamic suicide bombers have staged high-profile attacks in Bali and Jakarta that have killed hundreds. Less visible has been the effort by conservative Muslims to compel other members of their faith to hew to a more traditional line.

The Indonesian Council of Ulemas, which is made up of 43 Muslim scholars and leaders of major Islamic organizations, was formed in 1975 to guide Muslims on how to live in accordance with Islamic principles. Muslims make up more than 85% of the nation's population.

The council has recently issued fatwas banning women from leading prayers if a man is present and prohibiting Muslims from praying alongside members of other religions. Provincial and local branches of the council also have issued numerous fatwas regulating Islamic practices.

Ma'ruf Amin, a vice chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas and the chairman of its fatwa committee, says the ulemas' role is to define proper behavior for Muslims and to set boundaries that protect the purity of Islam.

He denies that the ulemas are promoting hatred, and says Muslims who engage in deviant practices are bringing violence upon themselves.

[Shammu]

 Iraqi president backs US-Iran talks on Iraq
Baghdad, March 19, IRNA

Iran-Iraq-US
President Jalal Talabani supports a call by Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) Abd al-Aziz Hakim for Iran and the United States to hold talks on Iraq.


The Iraqi president said the issue of talks was raised during a visit he made to Tehran a few months ago, a statement from his office said, summarizing talks he held on Saturday with British Defense Secretary John Reid.

"We received primary approval from Iran when I visited a few months ago," the statement quoted Talabani as saying.

"We confirmed at that time the necessity of opening such a dialogue and the Iranian side accepted on two conditions. The first was the talks would be secret and the second was that all disputes between Iran and the United States would be discussed."

Iraqi president backs US-Iran talks on Iraq