Author Archives: taffy

Woman in suspected ‘honor killing’ dies

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Noor-Faleh-Almaleki The Arizona Republic… A 20-year-old Peoria woman has died of injuries sustained in what prosecutors are calling an “honor killing.”

Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 48, of Glendale, is accused of running over his daughter, Noor Almaleki, and another woman in his Jeep Cherokee because he was infuriated with his daughter for becoming “too Westernized.”

Noor Almaleki died Monday of injuries she received during the Oct. 20 attack.

Peoria police said charges against Almaleki, who is in a Maricopa County jail on two counts of aggravated assault, will be upgraded, though a spokesman wasn’t sure what the exact charges would be.

Social experts say honor killings are an accepted practice in Iraqi tribal society, where family members feel they must kill a woman who shames them by not adhering to traditional Muslim or Iraqi values.

Family members said Almaleki was outraged after his daughter married a man in Iraq but returned to the Valley to live with a boyfriend and his mother in Surprise. The other victim, 43-year-old Amal Edan Khalaf, is apparently the boyfriend’s mother.

Police said Almaleki fled the country after the attack, driving to Mexico and later taking a plane to London. He was detained by British authorities and extradited to Atlanta last week.

Speaking before a Maricopa County judge over the weekend, state prosecutor Stephanie Low said Almaleki has admitted purposefully running down his daughter.

“By his own admission, this was an intentional act and the reason was that his daughter had brought shame on him and his family,” Low said. “This was an attempt at an honor killing.”

Almaleki did not address the accusations and spoke only to ask the judge about getting a court-appointed attorney.

Low said additional family members are suspected of assisting Almaleki in his escape.

“We can’t be naive and ignore that there’s a cultural aspect to this and there may be people who would support him, including his family, but also others who share his beliefs,” she said.

Citing Almaleki’s flight, Low asked the judge to take special precautions to prevent him from running again. Bail was set at $5 million.

Calls to Almaleki’s family members were not returned Monday.

Woman admits owning terror files. U.K.

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Houria Chahed Chentouf BBCNEWS… A woman who was caught with a computer memory stick containing documents about how to make explosives has pleaded guilty to terror charges.

Houria Chahed Chentouf, 41, admitted two counts of possessing documents likely to be useful for a terrorist purpose at Manchester Crown Court.

The stick fell from her burka when she was being interviewed at Liverpool John Lennon Airport on 16 October 2008.

The Moroccan national was arrested at her home in Manchester the next day.

Chentouf had been stopped at the airport and was being interviewed by officers when the USB pen drive was found.

It had been tied to the inner sleeve of her burka, but fell out as she reached down to scratch her leg, prosecutor Simon Denison told the court.

Martyrdom support

She was released but arrested at a house she was renting in Reynell Road, Longsight by officers from Greater Manchester Police (GMP).

The mother-of-six was charged under the Terrorism Act 2000 with possessing an article which gave rise to suspicions that “the possession was for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism”.

The computer memory stick contained more than 7,000 files, including an explosives manual for the “Brothers of the Mujahadeen”.

It was described by police as “a mini encyclopaedia of weapons-making”, the court heard.

Evidence was also uncovered from internet chat rooms which indicated her support for those seeking martyrdom.

Chentouf lived in The Hague for more than 20 years and the Dutch authorities were also involved in the inquiry.

She will be sentenced later.

Accused wife killer gets more time to pay for psychiatric expert

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Muzzammil S. "Mo" Hassan

Muzzammil S. "Mo" Hassan

 The Buffalo News… Over the objections of the prosecutor, Muzzammil S. “Mo” Hassan today was given additional time to secure the money needed to pay for the mental health experts he hopes will help him prove he was emotionally out of control when he decapitated his estranged wife last February.

Erie County Judge Thomas P. Franczyk decried the “glacial pace” of the defense effort, but gave defense attorney James P. Harrington until Dec. 7 to report on the progress of the defense tactics.

The judge warned Harrington that he can still preclude this line of defense if further delays are unacceptable.

Prosecutor Colleen Curtin Gable complained of deliberate foot-dragging by the defense.

But Harrington insisted that, until an Oct. 13 settlement was reached in the Hassan family estate case, there was a problem with ensuring enough money to pay for the criminal defense.

Though the estate case is several weeks away from a formal settlement, Harrington told the judge that Hassan is now assured he will have enough money to finance his defense, including pay for his psychiatric experts.

The the bulk of the estate will go to his four children. Hassan, 44, did not speak during the brief court session that ended about 10:15 a.m. Hassan, who has been jailed since he surrendered to police about an hour after the Feb. 12 killing, did not speak at court. Harrington declined comment as he left court.

Son of Radical Islam Leader Killed in FBI Shootout Caught in Canada

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Luqman Ameen Abdullah FOXNEWS… One of three people sought by the FBI was captured in Canada Thursday and two were still on the loose after a federal raid and deadly shooting of a radical Islam leader whose goal authorities say was to take down the U.S. government.
Federal authorities in Detroit said the son of 53-year-old Luqman Ameen Abdullah, who was killed in Wednesday night’s shootout with FBI agents, was arrested across the border in Windsor, Ontario.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police took 30-year-old Mujahid Carswell, who was considered armed and dangerous, into custody Thursday. No other details were released.

Carswell was among 11 people charged Wednesday in a criminal complaint in federal court in Detroit.

Andrew Arena, the head of the FBI office in Detroit, says the men follow “a very hybrid radical ideology” that mainstream Muslims “would not recognize.”

 Abdullah was killed in a gunbattle in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn as federal agents tried to arrest him on a number of charges including conspiracy to sell stolen goods and the illegal possession and sale of firearms.

Abdullah repeatedly told followers that the U.S. government was their enemy and they should be willing to fight the FBI, even if it meant death, according to the criminal complaint against him.

“You cannot have a nonviolent revolution,” Luqman Ameen Abdullah said, according to a 2008 conversation secretly recorded by a confidential FBI source.

Abdullah was killed Wednesday at a warehouse in Dearborn, where agents were attempting to arrest him. FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold said Abdullah refused to surrender, fired a weapon and was killed by gunfire from agents.

He was one of 11 people named in a criminal complaint after a two-year investigation.

Among the others charged with Abdullah and in custody were a state prison inmate, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Another man not named in the complaint also was arrested.

The 43-page complaint described Abdullah as an extremist who believed the FBI bombed New York’s World Trade Center in 1993 and the Oklahoma City federal building two years later.

Abdullah beat children with sticks at his Detroit mosque, the complaint claimed, and was trained with his followers in the use of firearms, martial arts and swords. Continue Reading →

Synagogues in L.A. on alert after shooting that police are investigating as a hate crime [Updated]

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Adet Yeshurun Valley SephardicL.A. TIMES…Two worshipers at a North Hollywood synagogue were shot this this morning in an attack LAPD detectives are investigating as a hate crime. 

The shooting occurred at 6:20 a.m. at the Adat Yeshurun Valley Sephardic synagogue, at 12405 Sylvan St.

LAPD Deputy Chief Michel Moore said the shootings occurred in the underground garage of the temple. A man coming to the temple for worship parked his car in the lot and was approached by suspect who Moore said was wearing a black hoodie.

“Without any words,” Moore said, the suspect shot the man in the leg. Then the gunman fired on a second man who had arrived for prayers. That second victim was also wounded in the leg.

The gunman then fled from the garage. Witnesses called 911.

Moore described the victims as being in their 40s. He said both were in good condition.

Detectives are “working with [the victims] to understand more information,” Moore said.

Detectives don’t believe the motive was robbery, according to LAPD sources, who spoke to The Times on the condition that they not be named because the investigation is ongoing.

At about 7:40 a.m., Los Angeles police arrested a man near the synagogue but the sources say they don’t believe he was the gunman.

LAPD officials have alerted other synagogues around Los Angeles about the shooting, and police have stepped up patrols at Jewish religious institutions.

[Updated at 9:25 a.m.: The synagogue where the shooting occurred is in the heart of the San Fernando Valley’s Orthodox Jewish community and within walking distance of kosher markets and other synagogues. Many people have moved to the area so they can walk to temple.]

The sources said detectives are trying to determine the motive, and whether the gunman acted alone or as part of a larger group.

[Updated at 9:03 a.m.: LAPD detectives were reviewing security videotapes from the temple in hopes of better understanding the chain of events. They were also searching a nearby park to see if the suspect is hiding there.]

–Richard Winton, Anna Gorman, Duke Helfand, Baxter Holmes and Andrew Blankstein

Photo: LAPD officers continue their investigation into the shooting at the Adat Yeshurun Valley Sephardic synagogue this morning. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

Leader Of Islamic Group Killed In Raid

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DETROIT — The Detroit leader of a nationwide fundamentalist Islamic group was fatally shot during a series of FBI raids Wednesday afternoon.

 The FBI arrested 10 people who have ties to the group called the Ummah, which translates to “the brotherhood.”

 The group’s primary mission is to establish a separate sovereign Islamic state governed by Sunni law, according to FBI charging documents. Luqman Ameen Abdullah, 53, called his followers to an offensive jihad, rather than a defensive jihad.

 During the raid, Abdullah, aka Christopher Thomas, fired his weapon, said the FBI in a release. An FBI police dog was shot during the gunfire.

 The dog was transported via helicopter to an animal hospital in Madison Heights, but despite the rescue efforts, the dog died.

The rest of the suspects were arrested at the Detroit raid on Tireman and Firwood roads and the Dearborn raid on Michigan Avenue and Miller Road without incident.

Seven of the suspects appeared Wednesday afternoon in a detention hearing. The rest will appear before a judge Thursday.

 Before the raid, Abdullah and the 10 others were charged in a complaint with conspiracy to commit several federal crimes, including illegal possession and sale of firearms, arson, body armor and theft from interstate shipments.
 
Named in the complaint are Mohammad Abdul Bassir, Muhammad Abdul Salaam, Abdul Saboor, Mujahid Carswell, Abdullah Beard, Mohammad Philistine, Yassir Ali Khan, Adam Hussain Ibraheem, Garry Laverne Porter and Ali Abdul Raqib.

The group consists primarily of those who converted to Islam while serving sentences in various prisons around the county.

The nationwide leader is believed to be Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rapp Brown. He is currently serving a life sentence in prison for the murder of two police officers in Georgia.

Abdullah Al-Amin preaches violence against law enforcement officials and has trained members of the Ummah inside of a mosque located on Joy Road how to use firearms, martial arts, sword fighting and other types of self-defense in anticipation of government violence, according to the FBI.

Undercover agents in the organization have told the FBI that Luqman Abdullah used to discipline its members starting at an early age by beating them with sticks on their hands, knees and legs and once he beat a little boy so badly that the child was unable to walk for several days.

 In October of 2008, a source the FBI called “credible” recorded statements by Abdullah at a mosque during prayer where he said that Muslims need to cut ties with Christians, Jews, and Kuffars, which the FBI said means all non-Muslims.

 “Obama is a Kafir. McCain is a Kafir, all the rest of them Kuffars, are Kuffars…. The worst Muslim is better than the best Kafir,” said FBI documents.

 At this time, the FBI continues to seek Mujahid Carswell, Mohammad Alsahi and Yassir Ali Khan. Seven of the suspects appeared Wednesday afternoon in a detention hearing. The rest will appear before a judge Thursday.

 Before the raid, Abdullah and the 10 others were charged in a complaint with conspiracy to commit several federal crimes, including illegal possession and sale of firearms, arson, body armor and theft from interstate shipments.

 Named in the complaint are Mohammad Abdul Bassir, Muhammad Abdul Salaam, Abdul Saboor, Mujahid Carswell, Abdullah Beard, Mohammad Philistine, Yassir Ali Khan, Adam Hussain Ibraheem, Garry Laverne Porter and Ali Abdul Raqib.

 The group consists primarily of those who converted to Islam while serving sentences in various prisons around the county.

 The nationwide leader is believed to be Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rapp Brown. He is currently serving a life sentence in prison for the murder of two police officers in Georgia.

 Abdullah Al-Amin preaches violence against law enforcement officials and has trained members of the Ummah inside of a mosque located on Joy Road how to use firearms, martial arts, sword fighting and other types of self-defense in anticipation of government violence, according to the FBI.

Undercover agents in the organization have told the FBI that Luqman Abdullah used to discipline its members starting at an early age by beating them with sticks on their hands, knees and legs and once he beat a little boy so badly that the child was unable to walk for several days.

In October of 2008, a source the FBI called “credible” recorded statements by Abdullah at a mosque during prayer where he said that Muslims need to cut ties with Christians, Jews, and Kuffars, which the FBI said means all non-Muslims.

“Obama is a Kafir. McCain is a Kafir, all the rest of them Kuffars, are Kuffars…. The worst Muslim is better than the best Kafir,” said FBI documents.

At this time, the FBI continues to seek Mujahid Carswell, Mohammad Alsahi and Yassir Ali Khan.

Canadian arrested in Danish newspaper plot

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TORONTO — The FBI has arrested a Canadian for his role in an alleged terrorist plot against the Danish newspaper that published the controversial Muhamad cartoons.

Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 48, owner of First World Immigration Services, was charged with aiding a conspiracy to attack the Jyllands-Posten in Copenhagen.

In an indictment unsealed this morning, the U.S. Justice Department said Mr. Rana had worked with David Coleman Headley and three Pakistani terrorists to organize the attack.

Mr. Rana, a Canadian citizen born in Pakistan, has been living in Chicago, where he operates an immigration firm and grocery store. He also owns a halal meat business in Kinsman, Ill., that was raided by FBI agents last week.

“The criminal complaints unsealed today have exposed a serious plot against overseas targets by two Chicago-based men working with Pakistani-based terrorist organizations,” said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.

Muslim extremists rioted around the world after the newspaper published a dozen editorial cartoons of Muhamad in 2005 that some considered blasphemous.

National Post

Muslim woman ‘blackmailed by couple who threatened to show family photos of her wearing Western clothes’

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An asylum seeker and his wife blackmailed a Muslim friend by threatening to show photographs of her wearing jeans and a T-shirt to her devout family, a court heard yesterday.

Emal Ismaeli, 34, and Joanna Richards, 22, demanded more than £7,000 in a two-month terror campaign against the woman, identified only as Miss X.

They threatened to confront her traditional Islamic family – including her husband-to-be – with photographs of her in Western clothing with her arms around a man, and with a videotape of her dancing.

Ismaeli and mother-of-one Richards, both of Lye, West Midlands, admitted blackmail at Wolverhampton Crown Court and were jailed for 15 months and 12 months respectively.

Miss X’s potential shame was ‘the powerful weapon being used against her’, the court was told.

The photographs were taken during a day out to a seaside resort two years before with Ismaeli and Richards, who are now divorced.

Prosecutor Bernard Linnemann said: ‘Miss X received a letter on the doorstep of her father’s home with her name on the envelope.

‘Inside was a picture of her in Blackpool wearing western clothing. On the back, Miss Richards had written “If you don’t sort out the money you owe, more will come out”.’

The court heard how Richards formed the belief that Miss X was having an affair with her husband, while Ismaeli attacked her car, ripping off its wing mirror, and tried to unlock the door as she drove.

Gurdeep Garcha, defending Ismaeli, said the blackmail attempt was a short-lived and ‘amateurish’ operation, adding that his client deeply regretted what he had done.

Sam Powis, representing Richards, said the mother-of-one’s crime had been committed out of stupidity and anger but the photographs had not been taken with the intention of using them for blackmail.

Sentencing them, Judge Michael Challinor said: ‘The harm that has been done is very significant.’

‘Routine’ armed police units for London streets

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 The increase is being driven by a Turkish gang war, which has resulted in three firearms murders since March as two groups, the Tottenham Boys and the Bombacilar, fight for suprem-acy. In South London there has been a rise in teenage gang shootings.

Police_632864a TIMESONLINE… The prospect of an armed police service moved a step closer yesterday when Scotland Yard announced the formation of a new firearms unit that will routinely patrol gun crime hotspots in London.

The team is drawn from the CO19, the Metropolitan Police specialist firearms unit, members of which shot dead Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station after mistaking him for a suicide bomber in 2005.

The armed patrols are being deployed after a dramatic rise in gun crime. They will target key areas in North London, where Turkish gangs are engaged in a bloody turf war, and south of the Thames, where gangland shooting incidents have soared.

The C019 Proactive Unit will walk estates while some officers will use motorbikes to provide the capability for high-speed pursuit.

But the announcement has created a political row, with demands for Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, to convene an emergency meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA).

It is understood that Mr Johnson, who is also the MPA chairman, was not consulted by senior police commanders. The Times understands that Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, was also not fully briefed on the move, which was taken at assistant commissioner level.

Neither Sir Paul nor Tim Godwin, the deputy commissioner, were at Scotland Yard to respond to the news, which was revealed in Police Review magazine.

Joanne McCartney, Labour’s policing spokeswoman on the London Assembly, said: “We want fewer guns on the streets, not more, and people to feel safe in their community — not scared of those who are supposed to protect them. There has been no debate, no consultation and apparently no consideration to the strong opposition that exists to arming the police.” Joanne McCarty thinks the police tactic of yelling “STOP. Or I shall yell stop again” should continue.

Yasmin Khan, of the Justice4Jean campaign, said: “This is very disconcerting and worrying and it makes me feel more threatened because we know what the consequences can be of having armed police on the streets.” Continue Reading →

Muslim gang collects 2.5 million in insurance fraud scam. U.K.

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Civil servant jailed for £1.6m car crash fraud

Mohammed Patel TIMESONLINE…A civil servant at the heart of a “cash for crash” scam which is costing motorists an extra £50 annually on their insurance policies was jailed in Manchester yesterday for four and a half years.

Mohammed Patel, who worked at the Department of Work and Pensions, would stage bogus road traffic accidents by braking suddenly at junctions or roundabouts to force drivers to crash into him.

The 25-year-old was involved in at least 93 forced collisions, earning £500 a time, and allowing a wider network of accomplices, mostly Asian men in Bolton, Rochdale, Oldham and Manchester, to mount inflated insurance claims worth an average £17,000.

Patel, of Bolton, Greater Manchester, made around £46,000 for his role in the fraud which netted £1.6 million. Altogether this type of fraud is costing the motor insurance industry £350 million each year — the equivalent of £49 on every motor insurance premium.

After the hearing Richard Davies, AXA UK risk manager, speaking on behalf of the Insurance Fraud Bureau, said that they have made 28 separate investigations across Britain into alleged “cash for crash” frauds. They involve thousands of bogus accidents.

He said: “From the driving public’s point of view we have started 28 separate operations right the way across the UK looking into this type of scam. It is the reason why we spent £10 million setting up the bureau.

“We view it as a threat not only in terms of premiums but as a threat to public safety. There is a significant impact on individual motorists involved in these collisions. That is not a position that should be allowed to continue.”

There were extraordinary scenes in the small court where there were so many defendants awaiting sentence that they had to use the public gallery as an overspill dock.

Judge Bernard Lever was sentencing 24 other people for their roles in the scam.

William Baker, for the prosecution, said that staff in offices overlooking the Eden roundabout on the A34 near Cheadle noticed that the same driver was involved in a similar sort of accident on a number of occasions. They became suspicious and alerted police. Continue Reading →

Cargo ship passenger wanted in Sri Lanka for terrorism

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76 illegals detained
76 illegals detained

National Post… One of the 76 migrants who arrived off the British Columbia coast in a cargo ship last weekend is wanted in Sri Lanka for terrorism, according to two sources familiar with the investigation.

The sources said the man was Kartheepan Manickavasagar, a 26-year-old who is the subject of an Interpol notice issued by Sri Lankan authorities. He is wanted for an unspecified terrorism offence.

Meanwhile, the mysterious migrant ship that arrived in Canadian waters early on Saturday under the name Ocean Lady has been identified as the Cambodian-flagged Princess Easwary, a government official said.

The ship is owned by Ray Ocean Transport Corp., a company registered in the Seychelles, although its mailing address is in the Philippines, according to shipping records kept by Lloyd’s Register.

The vessel’s operator is listed as Sunship Maritime Services, which uses the same mailing address in Cebu, Philippines. Sunship’s phone appeared to be out of service yesterday and an email to the company was returned as undeliverable.

The arrival of the ship in B.C. waters has sparked an intensive investigation into the origins of the vessel and the identities of the passengers, who arrived with either fraudulent documentation or none at all.

The screening has so far detected one match with the Interpol database of fugitives. The man is suspected of involvement with the Tamil Tigers, separatist guerrillas outlawed by Canada for terrorism and notorious for their suicide bombings. Continue Reading →

Mothers grief a lie, a sham and an insult her murdered daughter.

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 For ten years Hanim Goren lived with, ate with, slept with and lied with the man who she knew was responsible for her daughters murder. Even though she witnessed her daughter hog tied, she offered no protection. Even though her husband threatened to implicate Hanim in the murder of 17 year old Tulay she said nothing when any sane person would have been in touch with police way before this crime was committed.

 At the end of the day this will be another case of one cold blooded killer escaping justice for turning in other cold blooded killers. And the only reason this scum of a mum is cooperating is because she was threatened with prison.

Hanim Goren

Hanim Goren

  Here is the timesonline story as it unfolds in a British  court.

 A mother shouted across a courtroom yesterday to demand that her husband reveal what happened to the schoolgirl daughter he is alleged to have murdered in an “honour killing”.

Hanim Goren was giving evidence for the prosecution at the Old Bailey about how their 15-year-old daughter, Tulay, disappeared ten years ago.

The housewife turned to her husband, Mehmet Goren, who was sitting in the dock ten metres away, and shouted: “Look at my face. What did you do to Tulay? Say it so that I can . . .”

She added later: “It was Mehmet who disappeared Tulay. I am sure of that.”

Mr Goren, 45, is accused of murdering his daughter to protect his family honour after she ran away to live with a boyfriend twice her age. He is alleged to have buried her in the garden of the family home in Woodford Green, North London, before removing the body several days later.

Mrs Goren, 45, said that when she questioned her husband about Tulay’s disappearance he would reply: “I don’t know anything. Those who have done it are ‘over there’.”

“I don’t know who he meant,” she told the court.

Mrs Goren said she found that Tulay had disappeared when she returned home after being ordered to spend the night with the family of her brother-in-law, Cuma Goren, 42. She told the court that her husband said he had disowned their eldest daughter, that she had gone and that in future they would have only three children, not four.

“When Mehmet was in the house Tulay’s name was not mentioned,” Mrs Goren told the jury. “Everything that belonged to Tulay was torn — photos, even her Turkish identity card, her birth certificate. He said there will not be anything left inside belonging to Tulay.”

Mrs Goren said that she kept asking her husband what had happened to their daughter.

“I was saying to him, ‘You swallowed Tulay’. I was saying, ‘She is alive in your tummy’,” Mrs Goren said. “During the last few years I started saying it more.”

Mrs Goren said that a letter that appeared to have been written by Tulay was delivered to the family home the morning after her husband attacked her daughter’s boyfriend, Hilal Unal, with an axe. In the letter the girl claimed to be held captive by her lover’s boss.

Mrs Goren said that she did not initially tell the truth to the police about Tulay because her husband threatened to tell them that she was responsible for her daughter’s disappearance. “He used to say to me if I went to the police, ‘I would go and tell them you did it with your relatives, your brothers, that we did it together’,” she told the court.

Mrs Goren said that she admitted lying to police in her initial accounts of Tulay’s disappearance but told the truth after she was arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice and murder. She was released without charge. She told the court that Tulay had run away to live with Mr Unal after her husband and his brother Cuma had beaten her when they discovered the relationship.

Mrs Goren, who has broken a ten-year silence to give evidence at the Old Bailey, has described finding her teenage daughter tied up by her husband on a bedroom floor the day before the schoolgirl was allegedly murdered.

She said that Tulay’s hands and feet had turned purple because they were bound so tightly with parts of a torn shawl.

Mehmet Goren and his brothers Ali, 55, and Cuma, both of Walthamstow, East London, deny murdering Tulay. They also deny conspiracy to murder Mr Unal.

The trial continues.

Racism, hate and bigotry alive in Canada

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From Jihad Watch

Now why is it that this imam, who has dedicated his life to understanding the Koran, misses its teachings of peace and tolerance? “Toronto imam preaching hate instead of harmony,” by Charles Lewis for the National Post, October 21 (thanks to Kim):

A Toronto-area imam is under fire for using derogatory language against Jews and Christians, calling for Allah to “destroy” the enemies of Islam from within and calling on God to “damn” the “infidels.”The address, given last Friday by Imam Saed Rageah at the Abu Huraira Centre and then posted on YouTube (watch it above), is an attack on those who have been calling for a ban on the niqab and burka, both of which cover the faces of women.

“Allah protect us from the fitna [sedition] of these people; Allah protect us from the evil agenda of these people; Allah destroy them from within themselves, and do not allow them to raise their heads in destroying Islam.” […]

The Abu Huraira Centre attracts about 800 to 1,000 people to a typical Friday service. A man who worked at the centre said that many women who attend only wear the hijab, which covers the head, and do not wear any covering on their faces. […]

Throughout the 35-minute speech he uses the word “kuffar” to describe non-Muslims.

In referring to those Muslims who would seek allies outside the Muslim community to bring about legislation that would ban face coverings, the imam said: “You will see a lot of them going to the kuffar, taking them as friends and allies. The wrath of Allah is upon them. If they were true believers they would never take them as allies.”…

 

That accords with Koran 3:28 and 5:51, both of which tell Muslims not to take unbelievers as allies.

Bosnia: Constitutional talks end in deadlock

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Sarajevo, 21 October (AKI) – The talks on constitutional changes of leaders of Bosnia’s main political parties with the United States and European Union representatives ended in another deadlock on Wednesday, but might resume in November, participants said.

Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, whose country currently presides over the EU, said that progress was made, because all participants stated their nation’s main aim of obtaining EU and NATO membership.

But he said politicians haven’t fulfilled the preconditions set by the EU, including constitutional changes which would make Bosnia a functional state. “Bosnia-Herzegovina cannot get a free ticket to Europe,” he said.

The leaders of Bosnia’s seven parties which participated in the meting, however, described the talks as a failure. Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik said the constitutional package was unacceptable, because it would erode the Dayton peace accord that ended the 1992-1995 civil war.

According to the Dayton agreement, Bosnia was divided into two entities, with most state powers, a Muslim-Croat federation and a Serb entity Republika Srpska (RS). The international community has gradually stripped the entities of some powers and the US-EU proposal would further weaken their powers.

Dodik said he spoke with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in Belgrade Tuesday and got assurances that the Dayton accord cannot be changed without consent of all three ethnic groups in Bosnia.

Bosnia’s Croat leaders have said the proposed package didn’t meet the expectations and needs of Croats in Bosnia, while the Muslim majority was only partly satisfied. They demanded that even more power be taken from the entities and handed over to central government.

All participants agreed that the Sarajevo talks were “just a beginning” and decided to meet again on 18 November.