Author Archives: taffy

Muslim group calls for burka ban in Canada

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2079018National Post… A Canadian Muslim group is calling on Ottawa to ban the wearing of the burka in public, saying the argument that the right to wear it is protected by the Charter’s guarantee of freedom of religion is false.

“The burka has absolutely no place in Canada,” said Farzana Hassan, of the Muslim Canadian Congress. “In Canada we recognize the equality of men and women. We want to recognize gender equality as an absolute. The burka marginalizes women.”

She said many women who cover their face in public are being forced to by their husbands and family. As a result, she argued, these women are denied opportunities and cannot live freely as other women in this society.

“The Koran exhorts Muslims toward modesty, which can be expressed in a number of different ways and it doesn’t have to be that you have to cover your face or you have to wear a virtual tent wherever you go. This is not a requirement of Islam or the Koran. We are saying this practice has become a political issue promoted by extremists and to counter this trend we are asking for a ban on the burka.”

The proposal calls for the banning of “masks, niqabs and burkas.” A niqab covers the face but allows the eyes to be seen; a burka covers the entire body and the eyes are obscured by a mesh covering.

“For me that is a huge embarrassment,” said Ms. Hassan. “It brings the kind of criticism Muslims [unfairly] face.”

Ms. Hassan said her group is bringing this up now because of an edict released this week in Egypt, by a top Muslim authority, calling for a ban on the burka.

Ms. Hassan said she is not asking for the banning of the hijab, which just covers the hair, but she would also like to see that custom vanish. Continue Reading →

Man appears in court charged with the honour killing of Banaz Mahmod. U.K.

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Wimbledon Guardian.. Tuesday 6th October 2009

A man accused of the murder of 20-year-old Mitcham woman Banaz Mahmod appeared in court today, following his extradition from Iraq.

Mohammed Saleh Ali, 27, was extradited this year to face charges of murder, conspiracy to murder and perverting the course of justice.

He appeared at the Old Bailey via videolink today, and was remanded in custody.

He is due before court again on December 21.

Mitcham resident Banaz Mahmod, 20, was killed in January 2006 after beginning a relationship with a man members of her family did not approve of.

Her dad and uncle were convicted of her murder the following year.

Thanks to R.E.A.L. for this story and more

Supplying heroin, murder and suicide brings them closer to Allah.

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Thursday, October 08, 2009
17 killed in fresh Afghan violence

KABUL: US and Afghan forces killed 17 Taliban and seized 50 tonnes of opium and 1.8 tonnes of heroin in a joint operation in Afghanistan Wednesday, the defence ministry said. In a five-hour operation that began at 11 a.m. the soldiers dropped from helicopters into Kajaki district of Helmand province, he said. “Seventeen Taliban were killed, three were arrested alive,” he said.

Would-be suicide bomber, two accomplices held

PESHAWAR: The police claimed to have arrested a suspected suicide bomber along with two accomplices from Kohat Road here Wednesday. Official sources said the police had received a tip-off that a teenage bomber from tribal area would take possession of his suicide vest somewhere in Badaber and later try to hit a target in Peshawar. The cops intercepted the suspected vehicle and arrested the would-be suicide bomber, Burhan, who is a teenager, and his two accomplices.

Police arrests man whipping Swat girl publicly

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I’m sure, even after this arrest, Muslims will continue to claim the video is Indian, anti Pakistan propaganda. 

10-3-2009_50219_lDI KHAN: The man whipping a girl publicly in Swat, as shown in a video footage on media some months ago, has been arrested.

Nine suspects were nabbed from Dera Ismail Khan a few days ago including Amin alias Chhota Aftab, source said. Police said during investigation it was found that he is the same man whipping the Swat girl, as shown in the footage.

He is said to hail from Swat and is not even the relative of the girl he whipped.

Chhota Aftab was shifted from DI Khan eight days ago

Hamas bans women from motorcycles

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No room here for women

No room here for women

The Jerusalem Post…The Hamas government has banned women from riding motorcycles in the Gaza Strip, saying the move was in keeping with “Arab traditions.” 

The decision to ban women from riding motorcycles was published by the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the movement’s security forces in the Gaza Strip.

The decision is seen in the context of Hamas’s efforts to enforce strict Islamic teachings in the area.

Two months ago, a Hamas judge issued an order requiring all women who appear in court to wear the hijab.

Men and women who are seen together are regularly stopped by Hamas policemen or militiamen who question them about the nature of their relationship.

Explaining its latest decision, Hamas said it was made to “safeguard the safety of residents and to maintain the stability of traditions and customs in Palestinian society.”

The Hamas statement said that men would not be allowed from now on to carry women behind them as they drive their motorcycles.

Al-Qaeda inspired groups still active in Canada: report

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0603pic7The National Post… A secret government list of the country’s top terrorist threats says al-Qaeda-inspired extremists remain active in Canada and are willing and able to carry out attacks.

“AQ’s Islamist extremist ideology continues to inspire individuals in Canada,” says the classified Intelligence Assessment. “AQ-inspired groups and individuals present a threat of terrorist attack in Canada.”

The report indicates that, long after police arrested 18 suspects around Toronto for allegedly plotting “al-Qaeda-inspired” shootings and bombings, such extremists remain a central security concern.

Three terrorist groups are named in the report, titled “Canada: Bi-Annual Update on the Threat from Terrorists and Extremists.” Dated last November, the Integrated Threat Assessment Centre report was only recently released under the Access to Information Act.

Aside from al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda inspired groups, the document names Hezbollah and notes its leader Hassan Nasrallah has threatened to avenge last year’s assassination of its military chief Imad Mugniyah. But the report says Hezbollah “has never attacked a target in Canada” and that “Hezbollah in Canada is primarily structured for fundraising.” Continue Reading →

Taliban Claims Pakistan U.N. Agency Attack

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Militants Say Suicide Bomber Hit World Food Program Because Relief Work Not in “the Interest of Muslims”

In other words if Muslims see the kuffar, the infidel, doing good works it makes them question their hatred for all things Western or American.

CBS NEWS…Taliban militants claimed responsibility Tuesday for the deadly suicide bombing at the U.N. food agency’s heavily fortified compound in Islamabad, saying international relief work in Pakistan was not in “the interest of Muslims.”

The attack, which killed five workers for the World Food Program on Monday, pushed the U.N. to temporarily close its offices in the country and exposed the vulnerability of many international relief agencies working to provide aid to millions of civilians affected by the fight between the government and Islamic militant groups.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik accused the Taliban of carrying out the attack to avenge the Aug. 5 slaying of their leader Baitullah Mehsud in a U.S. drone attack.

Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq confirmed his group was behind the bombing in a phone conversation with The Associated Press and lashed out at foreign aid workers here.

“We proudly claim the responsibility for the suicide attack at the U.N. office in Islamabad. We will send more bombers for such attacks,” he said. “The U.N. and other foreign (aid groups) are not working for the interest of Muslims. We are watching their activities. They are infidels.”

He added that the Taliban would not target Muslim relief groups. Continue Reading →

‘A grenade launcher in every house’

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Khadr says “basic weapons training, rocket launchers, grenade launchers and how to detonate explosives, were part of the “Muslim culture”

A 2005 file photo of Abdullah Khadr and his mother Maha Elsamnah Khadr

A 2005 file photo of Abdullah Khadr and his mother Maha Elsamnah Khadr

Toronto Star… An Ontario court heard this morning about how Abdullah Khadr, who is fighting extradition to the United States on terrorism charges, attended a training camp as a teenager where he learned to use a rocket launcher and detonate explosive material.

The 28-year-old member of the infamous Khadr family took the stand for the first time to testify in his own defence, recounting his years spent living in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Crown Howard Piafsky tried to link Khadr to his father, Ahmed Said Khadr, a reputed Canadian Al Qaeda financier and friend of Osama bin Laden. The patriarch moved his family overseas to Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he was involved in charitable projects.

Khadr, who admitted having a close relationship with his father before he was killed by Pakistani forces in 2003, denied any knowledge of his father’s ideologies. He also told Superior Court Justice Christopher Speyer that he had no knowledge about allegations that his father diverted funds from charitable projects toward Al Qaeda.

When testifying about a three-month camp he attended when he was about 13 or 14, Khadr explained that learning about basic weapons training, rocket launchers, grenade launchers and how to detonate explosives, were part of the “Muslim culture” and part of growing up in Afghanistan.

“Afghanistan is not Canada, it’s a country that’s been going through war,” said the Canadian-born Khadr, who grew up moving between Canada, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“When you go fishing, you fish with a bomb, you don’t fish with a fishing rod.”

Learning how to use a grenade or rocket launcher is part of growing up there, he said, adding, “if you live in Afghanistan or Pakistan, a grenade launcher is in every house… It’s something everyone has.” Continue Reading →

Saudi Arabia: Islamic Supremacist “Police” to “Set Up Human Rights Unit” — Woman Rights Activist Calls It “Biggest Joke in History”

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beating-backslidersR.E.A.L… – “Jerusalem/Riyadh, Oct 5 : A plan by Saudi Arabia’s vice police to set up a human-rights division within its ranks to improve its image has been described as the biggest joke in history by human rights
activists.”
– “‘This is the best joke in history. The commission and human rights? How can two opposites sit together! Get real. The commission and its activities go completely against human rights and freedom,’ wrote A-Salihi.”
– “The Jerusalem Post quoted Wajiha Al-Huweidar, a Saudi human-rights activist, as saying the move was nothing short of hypocritical.”
– “‘Since when is interfering in people’s private lives part of the human-rights agenda?’ she asked The Media Line rhetorically. ‘It reflects what they do. They harass people all year long and during holidays they give away candy to people,’ Al-Huweidar said.”
– “‘The religious police know very well that most Saudis want to see them disappear from streets and public places, because they only represent aggressiveness and oppression,’ Al-Huweidar said.”
– “‘I think the Saudi government has realized that its reputation is damaged worldwide and its image is ruined among Saudis, so now they are trying to beautify this repressive institution by using a new slogan… The religious police have to understand their time is over and they have to go,’ he added.”
– “Other human-rights activists welcomed the idea. ‘We think this is a good thing and an appropriate step,’ Muflih Al-Qahtani, president of the Saudi National Society for Human Rights, told The Media Line. ‘We hope this unit will play an active role in spreading the culture of human rights and work on protecting people from any violations they are exposed to,’ Al-Qahtani said. ‘It should be noted that the recent changes in the way the members of the commission have dealt with issues, and their efforts to become closer to the different social levels, indicates a desire to protect rights,’ he added.”
– “The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, the kingdom’s religious police, has come under fire over the past few years for their strict and sometimes brutal clamp-downs on what is perceived as un-Islamic behavior, fueling international criticism of Saudi Arabia’s human-rights record.”
– “The organization enforces religious rules such as a ban on men and women mixing, Islamic dress code, prayer attendance and the prohibition on the possession and consumption of alcohol.”
– “The features of the restructured commission would include restructuring the legal administration and creating new units, among them one that will deal with human rights.”
– “This new unit will begin operating shortly under the direct supervision of the commission’’s director and it will deal with human rights ‘in accord with just Islamic principles and international rights treaties.’”
– “The decision to set up the human-rights unit coincides with several cases for which Saudi religious authorities are coming under scrutiny from human-rights organizations.”
– “Saudi Arabia is governed by a strict interpretation of Islamic law known as Wahhabism. Earlier this year Saudi King Abdallah Bin Abd Al-Aziz initiated sweeping reforms which included firing the head of the religious police. It is thought that the reforms were an effort to moderate the country’s leadership and present to the West a more toned-down image of the Saudi kingdom.”

Yemen the “New Big Magnet” for al Qaeda

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Saeed Sankar and others inside a court cage react as a state security court in San’a, Yemen handed down death sentences to six al Qaeda militants convicted for a number of deadly attacks on Western targets last year, on Monday, July 13, 2009

Saeed Sankar and others inside a court cage react as a state security court in San’a, Yemen handed down death sentences to six al Qaeda militants convicted for a number of deadly attacks on Western targets last year, on Monday, July 13, 2009

CBS News… Hundreds of hardcore Arab fighters loyal to al Qaeda have fled the Afghanistan-Pakistan region this year, heading mainly to Yemen to bolster an Islamist insurgency targeting oil-rich Saudi Arabia, according to Arab, Pakistani and Western officials who spoke to CBS News.

The implications of such a buildup in Yemen are profound not only for the stability of Saudi Arabia — the birthplace of Islam and home to the holiest of Islamic shrines — but for the world’s dependence upon a continued flow of petroleum from the largest known oil reserves.

For years, Western intelligence officials have believed that Osama bin Laden would eventually aim to destabilize Saudi Arabia, his own birth place. Bin Laden traveled to Afghanistan in the 1980s to join the U.S.-led and Saudi-supported “jihad” (or holy war) against the Soviet occupation. While Soviet troops withdrew in 1989, large numbers of Arab volunteer fighters remained in Afghanistan.

“The trend is very, very clear,” one Western diplomat based in Islamabad told CBS News on condition of anonymity. “There is no question about Arab members of al Qaeda increasingly seeking ways to travel to Yemen.

“Some have been arrested along this route,” said the official, who refused to name the countries in which arrests have taken place, or the number of people arrested.

A senior Pakistani official who spoke to CBS News confirmed that Arab militants linked to al Qaeda were heading to Yemen in growing numbers. The Pakistani official claimed the militants had traveled to Yemen via Iran, using remote locations along the southern Iranian coast to discretely board fishing vessels. Continue Reading →

Egypt cleric ‘to ban full veils’

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The niqab has become increasingly popular among Egypt's Muslim radicals
The niqab has become increasingly popular among Egypt’s Muslim radicals

BBC NEWS… Egypt’s highest Muslim authority has said he will issue a religious edict against the growing trend for full women’s veils, known as the niqab.

Sheikh Mohamed Tantawi, dean of al-Azhar university, called full-face veiling a custom that has nothing to do with the Islamic faith.

Although most Muslim women in Egypt wear the Islamic headscarf, increasing numbers are adopting the niqab as well.

The practice is widely associated with more radical trends of Islam.

The niqab question reportedly arose when Sheikh Tantawi was visiting a girls’ school in Cairo at the weekend and asked one of the students to remove her niqab.

The Egyptian newspaper al-Masri al-Yom quoted him expressing surprise at the girl’s attire and telling her it was merely a tradition, with no connection to religion or the Koran.

Calais migrants to get flight home and £1,900

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PD*28827568 Telegraph… As well as a guaranteed place on the plane worth around £500, many of those on board will receive the sum and a guarantee of retraining back in their homeland.

However, there will be nothing to prevent any of them travelling all the way back to France the moment they get to Afghanistan.

It is intended to be the first of many flights which will cost millions of pounds, split between France and Britain.

The aim is to reduce the number of migrants who are massing in Calais, which they use as a springboard to try and get to Britain, where they will claim asylum or disappear into the black economy.

The dramatic development followed last month’s clearing of “The Jungle”, a notorious Calais squatter camp which was filled with mainly young men from Afghanistan.

The French immigration minister hailed the raid as an important step in the battle to make the northern port ‘watertight’ to migrants, but was widely criticised after almost all those arrested were later released.

It now appears that a compromise has been reached with many of them who have agreed to accept the huge cash incentive to go home, even if only briefly. The sums involved are worth hundreds of times more in central Asia than in Britain or France.

The French pulled out of a similar deportation scheme a year ago, with First Lady Carla Bruni among those insisting that it was immoral to send Afghans back to their war-torn country.

But now such arguments appear to have been forgotten, with the first plane – believed to be being supplied by a British firm – taking off from London in the early hours, before stopping to pick up some 250 migrants in Paris. Continue Reading →

Billions in U.S. Aid Never Reached Pakistan Army

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FOX NEWS… ISLAMABAD, Pakistan —  The United States has long suspected that much of the billions of dollars it has sent Pakistan to battle militants has been diverted to the domestic economy and other causes, such as fighting India.

Now the scope and longevity of the misuse is becoming clear: Between 2002 and 2008, while Al Qaeda regrouped, only $500 million of the $6.6 billion in American aid actually made it to the Pakistani military, two army generals tell The Associated Press.

The account of the generals, who asked to remain anonymous because military rules forbid them from speaking publicly, was backed up by other retired and active generals, former bureaucrats and government ministers.

At the time of the siphoning, Pervez Musharraf, a Washington ally, served as both chief of staff and president, making it easier to divert money intended for the military to bolster his sagging image at home through economic subsidies.

“The army itself got very little,” said retired Gen. Mahmud Durrani, who was Pakistan’s ambassador to the U.S. under Musharraf. “It went to things like subsidies, which is why everything looked hunky-dory. The military was financing the war on terror out of its own budget.” 

Generals and ministers say the diversion of the money hurt the military in very real ways:

—Helicopters critical to the battle in rugged border regions were not available. At one point in 2007, more than 200 soldiers were trapped by insurgents in the tribal regions without a helicopter lift to rescue them.

—The limited night vision equipment given to the army was taken away every three months for inventory and returned three weeks later.

—Equipment was broken, and training was lacking. It was not until 2007 that money was given to the Frontier Corps, the front-line force, for training.

The details on misuse of American aid come as Washington again promises Pakistan money. Legislation to triple general aid to Pakistan cleared Congress last week. The legislation also authorizes “such sums as are necessary” for military assistance to Pakistan, upon several conditions. The conditions include certification that Pakistan is cooperating in stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons, that Pakistan is making a sustained commitment to combating terrorist groups and that Pakistan security forces are not subverting the country’s political or judicial processes. Continue Reading →

Jack Straw ‘too close’ to pro-Hamas faction

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Justice secretary Jack Straw
Justice secretary Jack Straw

TIMESONLINE… A SECRET MI5 report on Islamic extremism in Blackburn has raised “potential concerns” about some radical Muslim factions known to Jack Straw, the local MP and justice secretary.

A senior security figure who has seen the report said it underlined concern among cabinet colleagues that Straw could be “too close” to the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), a prominent Muslim umbrella group. The government formally severed links with the group after a blazing row over extremism earlier this year.

“Jack’s a bit too close to the MCB — he sometimes appears to suggest they are the only game in town. There is a concern that proximity to them may colour [his] judgment,” the insider said.

The secret report on Islamist extremists in Blackburn was produced in August last year by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC), based at MI5’s London headquarters.

The security figure emphasised that Straw was not mentioned in the report. “That is not the protocol of these reports. But the JTAC document does raise some potential concerns over some individuals who are key figures in the town. It’s a small pond and by definition they are figures Jack would know or know of,” he said.

It is not the first time that fears have been raised over the influence of Islamists in Blackburn, where the majority of the electorate is Muslim.

When Tony Blair sacked Straw as foreign secretary three years ago, it was suggested that the move was prompted by White House concerns about his views on the Middle East. Condoleezza Rice, then US secretary of state, was said to have been shocked to discover the influence of Muslims in Straw’s constituency when she visited him there in 2006. Continue Reading →

Thirty ‘high-risk’ terrorists to be released early

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British court thinks punishing Muslim terrorists might make them more dangerous.

TIMESONLINE… UP to 30 “high-risk” terrorists — including some of the most dangerous men in Britain — are due to be released from jail in the next year.

More are being freed in the wake of a ruling by Britain’s most senior judges that long sentences for terrorist crimes could “inflame” rather than deter extremism.

An analysis of appeal court cases shows that of the 26 terrorism cases it has heard, 25 have led to men with terrorism convictions having their sentences reduced.

Others are being released because they serve only part of their term. In response, Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary, said the Tories were considering longer sentences for terrorists.

The leniency of the British appeal court to some convicted terrorists contrasts with America where they can be locked up for their whole lives.One man designated “high risk” and due to be freed soon is Andrew Rowe, a Muslim convert who was found guilty of having notes on how to fire mortar bombs.

Rowe was sentenced to 15 years in 2005. He is due to be freed next April after his sentence was reduced to 10 years. Others who have had their sentences cut include some of those who helped the failed suicide bombers of July 21, 2005 and two of those convicted of soliciting murder during the Danish cartoons protest.

The sentences were reduced after a key ruling in July 2008 by Lord Phillips, then the lord chief justice, and two other senior judges, who reduced Abdul Rahman’s sentence from six to 5½ years following his guilty plea for disseminating a terrorist publication.

Rahman, a key Al-Qaeda player, recruited disaffected Muslims from northern England to fight British troops in Afghanistan.

The judges stated: “Care has to be taken to ensure that the sentence was not disproportionate to the facts of the particular offences. If sentences were imposed which were more severe than the circumstances of the particular case warranted, that would be likely to inflame rather than deter extremism.” This was the green light for further sentence reductions in subsequent terrorist appeals.

Harry Fletcher, of the probation service union Napo, said: “Due to the extraordinary number of successful appeals, scores more terrorists will be released. Every single one that comes out will have to be supervised until their full sentence expires.”