Author Archives: taffy

Clowns bad. 80 year old paedophile good. A typical Saudi day under Sharia.

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6a00e54eeb143188340115722d9c5a970b-120wi  JEDDAH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s religious police is cracking down on summer festivals that the government hopes will promote domestic tourism, in the latest battle between liberals and conservatives in the world’s biggest oil exporter.

The Saudi government is trying to promote internal tourism but restrictions on singing, dancing and mixing of unrelated men and women by the powerful religious establishment has complicated the effort.

Conservative clerics backed by some powerful members of the Saudi royal family oppose efforts to liberalize the country of 25 million, where women are also forbidden from driving.

“These acts contradict the faith and must not be done, taught, spread or encouraged,” religious police spokesman Abdullah al-Mashiti told al-Watan daily this week, referring to circus acts such as fire-eating and lying on beds of glass that he believes is a form of magic outlawed by Islamic Sharia law.

“They must be fought and those performing them must be reported and punished so as to be deterred and their evil restricted,” he said.

The religious police is one of the key instruments of clerical control in society, with powers to enforce gender segregation in most government and commercial buildings and search for drugs, alcohol or other items seen as immoral.

Jeddah’s summer film festival was canceled this year despite the support of local governor Prince Khaled al-Faisal. King Abdullah, who ascended the throne in 2005, is seen as backing the reformers but he must balance the opposing forces.

“Unfortunately such actions carried on by religious police do not adhere to the official political will and they sabotage the government efforts to improve and maintain the internal tourism industry,” said Mahmoud Sabbagh, a newspaper columnist.

This month music concerts were also banned from the Abha tourism festival, in the mountainous southwest of the kingdom.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s entertainment firm Rotana managed to stage screenings of a Saudi comedy movie last December, but religious police disrupted shows in Riyadh.

“There are no activities here, and when they do have activities they are not accessible to women,” said Samar Edrees, who travels abroad regularly to escape the restrictions.

“Here they have festivals that only target children and men, there is nothing for us to do and there are no cinemas.”

 

FOX NEWS… A Saudi Arabian father forced his 10-year-old daughter to return to her 80-year-old husband Sunday, after she was found hiding at the home of her aunt for 10 days, Arab News reported.

The young girl’s husband, who denies he is 80 despite family claims, accused the aunt of violating the terms of his marriage, allowed by Sharia Law.

“My marriage is not against Sharia. It included the elements of acceptance and response by the father of the bride,” he told a local newspaper.

A member of the National Society for Human Rights said there are no regulations in place to stop the marriage of young girls, which is seen as harmful to their wellbeing.

“Such marriages are considered a gross violation of charters on the rights of children, which the Kingdom has signed and which set the age of adulthood at 18,” Maatouq Al-Abdullah told Arab News.

Iran ‘minister’ on Interpol list

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Vahidi nom. Iran def. min.BBC NEWS…Iran’s defence minister-designate is on an Interpol “wanted” list over the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Argentina, the agency has confirmed.

It says it has had a “red notice” for Ahmad Vahidi since 2007 over the Buenos Aires attack that killed 85 people.

Interpol uses red notices to inform its 187 member countries that an arrest warrant has been issued for an individual by a judicial authority.

Israel and Argentina have expressed concern over Mr Vahidi’s nomination.

“This is yet another of [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad’s actions that prove he is a person you cannot deal with,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Andy David told Bloomberg.

“It’s significant, this nomination, but no surprising,” Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman told the Associated Press.

“Iran has always protected terrorists, giving them government posts, but I think never one as high as this one,” he said.

Tehran rejected the criticism as a “Zionist plot”.

Iranian lawmakers still have to confirm the 21-member cabinet proposed on Wednesday by Mr Ahmadinejad – the declared winner of June’s disputed presidential elections.

But the nomination of Mr Vahidi is another sign of Mr Ahmadinejad’s defiance of the West, the BBC’s Caroline Hawley says.

‘Key participant’

Interpol says that Mr Vahidi has been on its “red notice” list since November 2007.

The move to publish the notice for Mr Vahidi – along with five other people – followed a request by the Argentine authorities.

Mr Vahidi – who was deputy defence minister during Mr Ahmadinejad’s first term in office – is accused of involvement in the bombing of the Israeli-Argentine Mutual Association (AMIA) building in Buenos Aires.

It was the worst attack on a Jewish target outside Israel since World War II.

Mr Nisman said that Mr Vahidi, who led a unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard known as the Quds Force at the time of the attack, was accused of “being a key participant in the planning and of having made the decision to go ahead with the attack” against the AMIA.

“It has been demonstrated that Vahidi participated in and approved of the decision to attack AMIA during the meeting in Iraq on 14 August 1993”, the prosecutor said.

Iran on Friday rejected Argentina’s allegations.

“How come they didn’t bring it up in the past?” President Ahmadinejad’s press adviser, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, told the AFP.

“Mr Vahidi was a deputy defence minister and this is very senior political position. Therefore it seems that this is a new trick being planned and is basically a Zionist plot,” he added.

Interpol says it uses “red notices” – or international-wanted persons alerts – to inform its members that an arrest warrant has been issued for an individual by a judicial authorities.

Interpol says that the individuals concerned are wanted by national jurisdictions and Interpol’s role is to assist national police.

It stresses that its notices are not international warrants.

Somalia violence kills 24

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Mogadishu. Fri 21.08.09CBC NEWS… At least 24 people are dead after Islamist insurgents battled government forces and African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu Friday.

The bloodshed comes a day after fighting killed at least 40 people in central Somalia as both sides tried to gain control of strategic towns.

Rebels launched a pre-dawn attack Friday on an African Union base, sparking the firefight. Residents hid in their homes as mortars slammed into the city.

Government troops and African Union peacekeepers control only a few blocks of Mogadishu, but that includes key government buildings as well as the port and airport. The insurgents control the most of rest of Somalia.

The country has been thrown into anarchy since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, then turned on each other. President Sheik Sharif Ahmed, elected in January, has been unable to unite the country’s feuding factions.

The al-Shabab insurgent group operates openly in the capital, seeking to overthrow the government and impose a strict form of Islam in Somalia.

Terminally ill Lockerbie bomber ‘going home to die’

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[kaltura-widget wid=”n56cs5nzog” width=”410″ height=”364″ addpermission=”3″ editpermission=”3″ /]

red carpet arrival reGREENOCK, Scotland (CNN) — The man convicted of murdering 270 people by blowing up Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, two decades ago headed for his homeland of Libya on Thursday after the Scottish justice secretary set him free.

Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, 57, is suffering from terminal prostate cancer and has three months to live, according to Scottish authorities. Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill ordered al Megrahi’s release on compassionate grounds, saying he will be “going home to die.”

“Our justice system demands that judgment be imposed but compassion available,” MacAskill said. “Our beliefs dictate that justice be served but mercy be shown.”

Al Megrahi issued a statement that his attorney Tony Kelly read to reporters. In it, al Megrahi said the families of the Lockerbie victims “have my sincere sympathy for their unimaginable loss.”

“Many people … I know are upset that my appeal has come to the end, but nothing more can be done about the circumstances of the Lockerbie bombing,” al Megrahi said in the statement.

“I share their frustration. I had most to gain and nothing to lose about the whole truth coming out, until my diagnosis of cancer.”

Al Megrahi continued to maintain his innocence, complaining that he had to spend years in prison for something he did not do.

“The remaining days of my life will have to be spent under the shadow of the wrongness of my conviction,” he said.

Al Megrahi said he never will return to Scotland, and he offered his gratitude and best wishes to the Scottish people.

“To those victims’ relatives who can bear to hear me say this, they continue to have my sincere sympathy for the unimaginable loss that they have suffered,” he said.

“To those who bear me ill will, the only thing I can say is that I do not return that to you.”

According to Kelly, his client “was in good spirits” this morning and was looking forward to seeing his mother, wife and children in Libya. Kelly said, “His disease is not only terminal but is in its final stages.”

MacAskill said he agreed with the 2001 conviction of al Megrahi for the Lockerbie bombing — the worst terrorist atrocity ever committed on U.K. soil. He also said he supported a severe sentence. But he said al Megrahi’s lack of compassion for his 270 victims should not be a reason for Scotland to deny compassion to him. Al Megrahi left prison Thursday, shortly after MacAskill’s announcement. He later boarded a plane to make his trip home.

Pan Am flight 103 exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie four days before Christmas in 1988, killing all 259 of those aboard the plane and 11 Scots on the ground.

Of those on board, 189 were Americans. The U.S. government responded immediately to word of al Megrahi’s release, saying it “deeply regrets” the decision. Continue Reading →

Saudi Arabia Arrests 44 Suspected Militants

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[kaltura-widget wid=”r9yebntkdc” width=”410″ height=”364″ addpermission=”3″ editpermission=”3″ /] Like Pakistan, the Saudis are only concerned with Islamic terrorists when it effects them personally.

 FOX NEWS…RIYADH, Saudi Arabia  —  The Saudi Interior Ministry says authorities have arrested 44 suspected militants who sought to recruit youths and finance their “deviant activities” through charitable donations.

In a statement carried Wednesday by the official Saudi Press Agency, the ministry says the 44 were arrested in a campaign that began July 9 and ended Aug. 2.

It says some of those arrested have received training on the use of light and heavy weapons in the kingdom and abroad. It says all but one are Saudi.

Saudi Arabia has pursued an aggressive campaign against militants since May 2003, when they first began attacks in the kingdom. The country is the birthplace of Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden and home to 15 of the 19th Sept. 11 hijackers.

Kirkuk: a businessman killed, a doctor kidnapped. Fear returns to haunt Christians

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Yesterday in northern Iraq two violent episodes took place against the Christian community. A man was murdered because he tried to prevent the abduction of a Muslim child. A doctor kidnapped for money; a passer-by killed during the abduction. Local sources confirm a climate of “concern” that could cause “another mass exodus.” 

War on ChristiansKirkuk (AsiaNews) – More murders and kidnappings targeting the Christian community in Kirkuk, northern Iraq. Yesterday evening Sabah Daowd Askar, 55 years old, married and father of three children, was killed in front of his home in the district of Almas. Also yesterday, in another episode, a 50 year old doctor was abducted on his way home. AsiaNews sources in the city speak of a “climate of fear” and are afraid of a “new mass exodus” of Christians.

Sabah Daowd Askar was killed because “he tried to prevent a kidnapping.” The man, Christian, saw four people “kidnap a Muslim child.” He tried to save him, but the “criminals opened fire”. “He was a businessman – said the source, who knew the victim well – very kind and generous”.  Because of his generosity he had tried to prevent the abduction of the child, “irrespective of his faith or the community he belonged to”.

Samir Gorgia, 50, married with two children, a boy and a girl, was abducted around 9 last night, on his way home. During the course of the abduction a passer-by was killed, also of the Christian faith. “Even in this case – the source tells AsiaNews – this is a well known person. He is a medical specialist, known and appreciated by all” for his dedication to his work.

Once again “a climate of concern and fear” reigns upon the Christian community in Kirkuk, a victim of fundamentalist and criminal violence in the past.  The source says that “for some time the city has been living in a situation of instability” and a new mass exodus is feared. “Despite some attacks – the source concludes – few faithful have left the city, on the contrary, many families have recently returned. These latest episodes of violence, however, have generated a real concern for the future”.

95 killed on Iraq’s deadliest day since U.S. handover

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These terror attacks are nothing to do with trying to grab power in Iraq. They are only to punish those who do not hold the same views as the attackers. To think that al-Qaeda members can justify and celebrate the mass slaughter of  fellow Muslims shows their evil knows no limit.

baghdad_giBAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — A series of bombings rocked Iraq’s capital within one hour Wednesday, killing at least 95 people and wounding 563 others, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.

The six explosions marked the country’s deadliest day since the United States pulled its combat troops from Iraqi cities and towns nearly two months ago and left security in the hands of the Iraqis.

In one attack, a truck bomb exploded outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs — a blast that blew through the front of the building, sending some vehicles flying and leaving others in mangled twists of metal.

Nearby, Iraqi security forces stood with shocked expressions as ambulances screamed past.

Another truck bomb went off outside the Ministry of Finance building.

In central Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded on Kifa Street, and another bomb exploded in the Salhiya neighborhood, where on Tuesday security forces had avoided injuries by successfully defusing a truck bomb. Wednesday’s other two bombs exploded in eastern Baghdad’s Beirut Square, officials said.

“The terrorism attacks that took place today require, without a doubt, the re-evaluation of our plans and our security mechanisms to face the challenges of terrorism,” Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in a written statement.

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Chris Hill and Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, issued a joint statement condemning the bombings.

“The horrific injuries and loss of life witnessed in Baghdad today are terrorist attacks that serve no legitimate purpose,” they said.

The attacks “will not deter Iraqis from continuing their efforts to build a peaceful and prosperous society and engage the international community, nor will they weaken our resolve to help them in their efforts,” they added.

Two people believed to be connected to the bombings have been arrested, an official with the Iraqi army told CNN. Continue Reading →

Muslim woman to be caned for drinking

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Islamic brutalityCNEWS…KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – A Muslim part-time model will be caned next week, becoming the first woman in Malaysia to be given the punishment under Islamic law, after she pleaded guilty to drinking beer, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

An Islamic court in July ordered that Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, be lashed six times with a rattan cane after she was caught drinking alcohol in a raid on a hotel night club in eastern Pahang state last year.

Prosecutor Saiful Idham Sahimi said Kartika will be the first woman to be caned under Islamic law after she chose not to appeal the sentence.

“This is the first case in Malaysia. … It is a good punishment because under Islamic law a person who drinks commits a serious offence,” he said.

On Tuesday, the court set a one-week period starting next Monday for the sentence to be carried out in a woman’s prison, Saiful said. It is up to prison authorities to decide when to cane her during that period.

He said Kartika will remain in prison during that time and will be released “as soon as possible” after the caning is carried out.

Saiful said the rattan cane to be used on Kartika would be lighter than the one used on men, and its purpose was to “educate” rather than punish.

Muslims, who make up about two-thirds of Malaysia’s 28 million people, are governed by Islamic courts in all civilian and Islamic matters. Most alcohol offenders are fined, but the law also provides for a three-year prison term and caning.

Non-Muslims are governed by civil courts, which also impose caning for offences such as rape and corruption. Women, children and men above 50 are exempt under civil law. Caning, administered on the buttocks, breaks the skin and leaves permanent scars.

Kartika said earlier that she wanted authorities to cane her soon so that she can resume her life with her husband and children. Some politicians and women’s rights activists have criticized the penalty as too harsh.

A woman and a man, both Muslims, were also arrested during a series of raids in Cherating, a beach town in Pahang state, on the night when Kartika was detained. Both were also sentenced to caning, but they have appealed.

Malaysian clubs and lounges typically serve alcohol and are not legally required to check if customers are Muslims before serving them.

Al-Qaida plotting ‘spectacular attacks’ in UK: Report

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Times of India

Abdullah al-FaisalLONDON: Extremists linked to the al-Qaida have claimed that home-grown terrorists are plotting “spectacular attacks” in Britain, a news report said on Monday.

According to reports, the al-Qaida militants have labeled Britain and Europe as a bigger enemy than the United States in an internet magazine favoured by the extremists.

The website, promoted by supporters of extremist cleric Abdullah al-Faisal [another convert to the religion of death] who was deported from Britain after serving a jail sentence for inciting violence, warns of “spectacular attacks”, The Sun reported today.

The British tabloid said the strikes are being planned by terrorists living in Britain in coordination with others overseas.

Security experts in the UK have warned repeatedly that al-Qaida inspired home-grown terrorism is the number one challenge for Britain. Gordon Brown continues to ignore the warnings

A recent report has called for reform of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) to allow an expert on ‘home-grown’ terrorism to sit on the top security panel and to be consulted when assessing potential security risks.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown had earlier underlined that most of the terrorist plots that took place in Britain had their links Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the al-Qaida and Taliban militants have been fighting the US-led Nato forces.

“Three-quarters of the terrorist plots that hit Britain derive from Pakistan and Afghanistan and it is to make Britain safe and the rest of the world safe that we must make sure we honour our commitment to maintain a stable Afghanistan,” Brown said.

Iraq says Iran-made rockets found from attacked US base

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Times of India

BAGHDAD: Police say Iraqi forces seized a launcher loaded with 13 Iranian-made rockets after an attack against the US base outside the southern city of Basra.

Col. Karim al-Zaidi says the missiles were found Tuesday in an eastern section of the mainly Shiite city.

He says Iraqi forces raided the area after five rockets were fired at the US base late Monday.

The oil-rich area of Basra has been a Shiite militia stronghold but violence has declined sharply following a US-backed government offensive that led to a ceasefire last year.

Still, attacks continue. Three American soldiers were killed in a rocket attack against the base in mid-July.

The US military says Iran is continuing to support violence in Iraq. Tehran denies the allegation.

Dutch university fires Islamic scholar Ramadan

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In the spirit of Taqyyia. [Lying to non Muslims for the advancement of Islam.]

The Jerusalem Post… A Dutch university fired Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan on Tuesday for hosting a show on Iran’s state television, which the school said could be seen as endorsing the regime.

Ramadan – known as a reformist who condemns terrorism, seeks to modernize sharia law and urges Muslims living in Europe to integrate – has recently been criticized in the Dutch press for allegedly voicing more conservative views for Muslim audiences than he does in the West.

Both the City of Rotterdam and Erasmus University dismissed Ramadan from his positions as “integration adviser” and professor, saying his program “Islam & Life” airing on Iran’s Press TV is “irreconcilable” with his duties in Rotterdam.

Ramadan “continued to participate in this program even after the elections in Iran, when authorities there hard-handedly stifled the freedom of expression,” Rotterdam and the university said in a joint statement.

Saudi diplomat flees Ottawa assault charge

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CBC NEWS… A diplomat facing criminal charges following a head-on collision between an SUV and an Ottawa police cruiser in June has fled the country.

Marwan Al Harbi, 30, who worked for Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Ottawa, was scheduled to appear in court Monday afternoon on charges of criminal negligence causing bodily harm, flight while pursued causing bodily harm, and assault with a weapon causing bodily harm.

However, he boarded a plane and left Canada, Ottawa police Const. J.P. Vincelette confirmed Monday. Police aren’t sure exactly when he fled. They have issued a warrant for his arrest.

Vincelette said Foreign Affairs Canada has revoked Al Harbi’s diplomatic status, so he could be arrested if he ever enters Canada again.

Al Harbi was charged after he allegedly led police on a chase down Bank Street around 12:45 a.m. on June 2, after police received a call about an SUV being driven erratically.

The SUV collided head-on with a police cruiser at Heron Road. A police officer received minor injuries in the collision.

Face of Christian Angel Uncovered in Famous Mosque

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 FOX NEWS… July 24/09 ANKARA, Turkey  —  A Turkish official says restoration workers have uncovered the never-before-seen mosaic face of an angel at Istanbul’s Haghia Sophia — a former Byzantine cathedral.

The cathedral’s Christian mosaics were covered up in line with Muslim custom of destroying any reference to religions other than Islam shortly after Constantinople — the former name for Istanbul — fell to the Ottomans in 1453 and the cathedral was turned into a mosque.

Some of the mosaics were revealed after it was turned into a museum in 1935, but the angel image remained covered.

Ahmet Emre Bilgili, the head of culture and tourism affairs for Istanbul, told the Associated Press on Friday that restoration workers will now work to uncover a second mosaic angel image.

 

British non-Muslim swimmers are told to wear burkinis

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More from the “you have got to be fucking kidding me” files.

Telegraph.co.uk

dhimmi BritainBritish swimming pools are imposing Muslim dress codes in a move described as divisive by Labour MPs.

Under the rules, swimmers – including non-Muslims – are barred from entering the pool in normal swimming attire.

Instead they are told that they must comply with the “modest” code of dress required by Islamic custom, with women covered from the neck to the ankles and men, who swim separately, covered from the navel to the knees.

The phenomenon runs counter to developments in France, where last week a woman was evicted from a public pool for wearing a burkini – the headscarf, tunic and trouser outfit which allows Muslim women to preserve their modesty in the water.

The 35-year-old, named only as Carole, is threatening legal action after she was told by pool officials in Emerainville, east of Paris, that she could not wear the outfit on hygiene grounds.

But across the UK municipal pools are holding swimming sessions specifically aimed at Muslims, in some case imposing strict dress codes.

Croydon council in south London runs separate one-and-a half-hour swimming sessions for Muslim men and women every Saturday and Sunday at Thornton Heath Leisure Centre.

Swimmers were told last week on the centre’s website that “during special Muslim sessions male costumes must cover the body from the navel to the knee and females must be covered from the neck to the ankles and wrists”.

There are similar rules at Scunthorpe Leisure Centre, in North Lincolnshire, where “users must follow the required dress code for this session (T-shirts and shorts/leggings that cover below the knee)”.

In Glasgow, a men-only swimming session is organised by a local mosque group at North Woodside Leisure Centre, at which swimmers must be covered from navel to knee.

At a women-only class organised by a Muslim teacher at Blackbird Leys Swimming Pool, Oxford, to encourage Muslim women to learn to swim, most participants wear “modest” outfits although normal costumes are permitted.

The dress codes have provoked an angry reaction among critics who say they encourage division and resentment between Muslims and non-Muslims, putting strain on social cohesion. Continue Reading →