I just got home. This is actually Dymphna’s October 22 news feed material, being posted early on October 24. So truth in advertising is not exactly operative right now…I’ll collect all the additional material — there’s a lot of it — and try to get it ready for Friday’s edition.
Thanks to BEP, C. Cantoni, E.R.R., Insubria, JD, Steen, TB, Yorkshire Miner, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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WORLD MILITARY OFFICIALS MEET IN THE ADIRONDACKS
no such thing as a secret meeting anymore, is there?
Generals and admirals from five of the most powerful nations on Earth met this weekend at the Whiteface Lodge in Lake Placid [New York] after flying into the Adirondack Regional Airport in Lake Clear on Friday.
Among the passengers of a large Boeing 757 airplane with “United States of America” printed on its fuselage were top members of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and their counterparts from France, Germany and another country, possibly Great Britain, according to Barry DeFuria, a town of Harrietstown councilman and Airport Committee member who was there when the plane landed.
A top military delegation from Italy flew in on a separate Falcon airplane, DeFuria said.
Security was tight Saturday night at the Whiteface Lodge, where the military officials were staying, according to three separate sources who asked to remain anonymous to protect their jobs.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff is the leadership council of the U.S. military, comprised of the top general or admiral of each branch of the armed services. Its current chairman is Admiral Michael Mullen.
Harrietstown Supervisor Larry Miller, who is on the town’s Airport Committee with DeFuria and was also there when the U.S. plane landed, confirmed which nations’ officials were on which planes, but he said he did not know what kind of officials they were or where they were going from the airport. He said he and DeFuria had to get security clearances to be present and that soldiers were guarding the 757 around the clock at the airport, which is owned and run by the town of Harrietstown.
| — Hat tip: Yorkshire Miner | [Return to headlines] |
CARDINAL JEAN PIERRE RICARD AT THE CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM CONFERENCE
Hint: there was no water turned into wine at this conference
“Christians and Muslims can build a Europe for the future together, allying themselves against every attack on religious freedom in the name of secularism and intolerance against all racism:”
This was said [editor: if you can actually figure out WHAT he was saying] in Brussels during the European Christian-Muslim Conference promoted by European bishops (Ccee) and the Conference of Churches (Cec).
“European states”,- said French Cardinal Jean Pierre Ricard, archbishop of Bordeaux, and vice-president of the Ccee, “ always tend to assume a neutral attitude towards religion, without distinguishing among them, but benevolent neutrality and hostility exist”, he observed , “ which tend to close religion into a private sphere.”
[This is]”A situation with which Christian churches have had to deal with for some time, revisiting their theological system like they did in Second Vatican Council.”
“I do not believe”, he said, “ that believers of other religions can insert themselves into Europe without undertaking an analogous work, without revisiting their tradition. It is through this work of adapting that Christian and Muslims can become active partners in European society — mainly in three fields:
1.the defence of the freedom of religion and conscience (which implicates also liberty to build mosques and for families to choose their children’s education),
2. the refusal of exclusion and the promotion of the transcendent.
3. Human values and the aspiration for peace can constitute immediately a common ground for the two religions…
… but Ricard reminds that on other continents and in eastern Europe, religious tolerance is not a given: he cites Algeria, The Philippines, Saudi Arabia to recall European Muslims to a necessary reciprocal attitude, for a “profitable collaboration” which extends its benefits outside of the confines of Europe.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU FUNDS FIVE SCHOOLS IN EAST JERUSALEM
The European Commission together with Save the Children Sweden and the Faisal Husseini Foundation celebrated today the renovation of five schools in East Jerusalem, through funding provided by the European Union (EU).
The renovation of all five schools under the Comprehensive School Upgrading project included the upgrading of electricity networks, sanitation facilities, sewage systems, carpentry and mechanical works and general classroom conditions (paint, floors, and ceilings). The project also provided the schools with new school equipment that included computers, fax, and copy machines, in addition to school management software.
Furthermore, the schools are benefiting through educational support that includes extracurricular classes and training for teachers, support to headmasters in school vision development, and training for teachers and school counselors with a focus on learning disabilities and other special needs.
The schools, Al Nahda, St. Dimitri school, St. Tarkmanchatz Secondary School, Dar Al Awlad, and Al Doha, are located in the Old City of Jerusalem and its surrounding area. The project is part of an ongoing 2 million euro programme, financed by the European Union, to help improve the infrastructure and provision of services to the people of East Jerusalem.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
MAURITANIA: JUNTA REFUSES TO BOW TO EU ULTIMATUM
General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, head of the military junta which seized power in Mauritania on August 6, has responded to the EU ultimatum to return to constitutional order within a month, saying that “Mauritania cannot go backwards, the democratic process continues, the people support us”.
The current French presidency of the EU has threatened the junta with sanctions from Brussels in a meeting between the EU and a Mauritanian delegation led by their nominated prime minister, Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf. “If there is no change in the situation within the month — reads a note that was released by the EU at the end of the meeting — the talks will be closed and appropriate measures will be proposed to the decision making elements of the Union”.
The Cotonou Accord, which ties the EU to the countries of the Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, states that sanctions can include a freeze on cooperation, stopping short of affecting humanitarian aid. The EU has accused the junta of continuing to ignore calls for the immediate and unconditional freedom of the legitimate president, Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, elected in March 2007 in the country’s first democratic elections.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
MUSLIM CARTOON CASE FAILS IN DANISH HIGH COURT
Muslims Get an ‘A’ for Persistence, Though
Denmark’s justice ministry rejected Tuesday a bid by seven Muslim lobby groups to take the Jyllands-Posten to the Supreme Court for publishing controversial cartoons of Prophet Muhammed.
The Danish newspaper caused a furore in September 2005 when it published the cartoons, triggering anti-Danish protests in several Muslim countries.
One of the 12 cartoons portrayed Muhammed as a terrorist wearing a bomb-shaped turban.
The judicial commission, which decides if cases can be heard by the Supreme Court, rejected the groups’ claim without giving reasons. It was the third attempt by the group to take the case to the Supreme Court.
The case had already been defeated in Denmark’s Court of Appeal in June this year, which upheld a lower court ruling from October 2006.
In its ruling, the Court of Appeal said the caricatures did not aim to insult followers of Islam, as the claimants alleged.
The court emphasized that “terrorist acts have been committed in the name of Islam, and it is not illegal for these acts to be made the object of satirical representation.”
The seven groups say they will continue their legal action by pursuing the case at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Editor:
[Who’s making book on Strasbourg vs. Copenhagen?]
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
PROTECTION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY VIOLATED BY SPAIN’S LAWS
You own your house until we decide you don’t
The Spanish government’s hard line approach in the application of the coastal protection law risks causing a diplomatic incident.
The British and German embassies, El Pais reports today, have requested an explanation from the Environment Ministry for the expropriations, which they consider illegal, of the property of their co-nationals along the coast.
The law, passed in 1998, started to be enforced in 2004 by the former minister in charge, Cristina Narbona. It provides for the demarcation of state property in the protective strip of the first one hundred metres of coast, with the institution of mandatory protection. Houses built before 1998 on state-owned land become state property, which in turn gives the property back to the original owners in the form of concessions for a period of 30 years, with a possible extension to 60.
The former owners are not permitted to sell the house, they need a special license to carry out modifications and are, in any case, subject to state decisions which at any given moment can expropriate the lodgings at below-market prices.
Thousands of Spaniards and British and German tourists, in particular pensioners who took advantage of the real estate boom by choosing the Spanish coast for its investment value, are now subject to dispossession and have asked their diplomatic representatives for help…
The problem involves citizens from different countries, whose representatives are now considering a diplomatic lobby, on the national and regional scale, to try to give the highest level of judiciary security to the property rights of their co-nationals. But, sources underline, ‘‘No one can interfere with the laws of a sovereign state’’.
The owners who consider themselves damaged have organised nationwide association, whose president, Carmen del Amo, calculates about 45,000 houses which could be expropriated, 15% of which were bought by foreigners.
For their part, sources from the Environment Ministry say that they don’t understand the chaos created by the application of a normative ‘‘that is 20 years old’’ and that was ignored by the People’s Party during its eight years in power, until 2004. The same sources remind that the Ministry has won 97% of the cases put forward in court by the owners of expatriated property and that the majority of the sentences declared by the Audiencia Nacional are in favour of the government.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
THE ECONOMIC WEATHER FORECAST FOR EUROPE
click link for the forecast map
Stormy conditions prevail across Europe’s economies, blackening the outlook after the arrival of a full-blown banking sector crisis this month sent confidence plummeting and threatened widespread-economic damage.
Jean-Claude Trichet, European Central Bank president, warned late on Sunday on French television of a “strong slowdown”.
The recent turmoil has hardened expectations that 2009 will see little, if any, growth across much of the Continent.
…
| — Hat tip: BEP | [Return to headlines] |
JORDAN: POET ARRESTED FOR “INSULTING ISLAM”
…just in case you thought Jordan was relatively sane…
A Jordanian court has ordered the arrest of a Jordanian poet on charges of blasphemy after he allegedly depicted verses of the holy Quran in one of his poet, according to a judicial source.
In his poems, Grace like a Shadow, Islam Samhan likened his suffering to that of prophet Youssef when incarcerated in Egypt, as mentioned in the Quran. The poem has been in the market since six months, said the source who requested anonymity.
The case was brought to public attention after the grand mufti of the kingdom said his action represents “mutiny” against Islam, prompting officials from the government run press and publication department to file charges against him. The court sentenced him for two weeks and ordered his immediate arrest as prosecutor general prepares other charges against him, said the source.
A recent amendment to press and publication law in 2007 has banned the arrest of journalists in press related cases, but the court used provisions in the penal code that allows arrest of individuals who insult religious sentiments, said the source.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
PERES AND BARAK AIM FOR REGIONAL PEACE DEAL
Ah, Hope Springs Eternal. And the older you get, the higher it springs
In the calm of his residence the tireless president of Israel, Shimon Peres (85 years old) has spun out a new peace plan. His objective is a general agreement between Israel and the Arab world. Peres has discussed it discreetly with Premier Tzipi Livni and Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who encouraged him.In the past weeks, during the General Assembly of the United Nations, he tested the ground with members of the Arab countries, some of which not on speaking terms with Israel.The Israelis were informed for the first time on the opinions of the president by a leak to the daily Maariv. Shortly after Barak, in an interview to the military radio, confirmed that the moment has come for Israel to “work out its own general plan for peace in the region, through multilateral negotiations”.Maariv found out that Peres thinks the negotiations of Israel with the PA and Syria (through Turkish mediation) are pointless. According to the president, a different approach is needed, starting with the Saudi peace initiative of 2002.Israel, according to Peres, should relaunch this peace plan and develop a package deal which is confirmed and guaranteed by the Arab League. “I have been talking about these ideas with Shimon for months” Barak confirmed. “We agree on most points”. Barak is convinced it is possible to involve the Western countries and the moderate Arab countries in order to stop “Iran’s race to nuclear weapons” and contain the activities of the Lebanese Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza. In his opinion, in the region exist “profound interests” in peace agreements.According to Maariv, also Livni essentially agrees with this approach though she sees a dangerous element in the Saudi peace initiative: the question of Palestinian refugees. A month after winning the primaries of Kadima, Livni is in contact with several parties to give life to a new government coalition which guarantees stability, reaching a broad agreement with Barak’s Labor Party. She is also talking with Meretz (leftwing Labor Party), the pensioners party GIL and a small orthodox Ashkenazi party (Torah Front). Her real hope is to convince the orthodox Shas Sephardic Jews to stay in the government. But she needs more time to tone down their economic demands. Livni will visit Peres to ask for a two-week extension, which she needs to form the new government.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
3,700 POTENTIAL TERRORISTS LIVE IN LEBANON
hey, but we know where they all live, right??
Some 3,700 potential ‘terrorists’ live in Lebanon and belong to “operational cells and sleeper ones”, the Beirut daily an-Nahar reported today quoting “authoritative sources” in the Lebanese army. According to the sources, “they are Lebanese nationals and of other Arab nationalities but very few of them are non-Arab foreigners”.
The alleged terrorists are organized into “operational cells and sleeper ones” and “are to be found in the main cities, in the countryside and in the various Palestinian refugee camps in the Country”, the military sources were quoted as saying. They also said that “most of these elements are skilled with explosives” but security agencies “have a reliable map of how these people are distributed in the territory”.
“Authorities — the newspaper said — also know about some of the channels through which the various groups get weapons and funds, and also know the links between the various groups”. The sources said “competent authorities keep constantly in contact with Syrian and American security agencies”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
NOW SAUDI ARABIA HAS ALMOST 1,000 ON TRIAL FOR TERRORISM
The Saudi minister of the interior, Prince Nayef ben Abdel Aziz, announced that 991 people have been arrested and will be brought to trial for crimes of terrorism.
‘‘We began bringing to justice 991 people involved in terrorism cases, after the accusations were formalised’’, the Minister said yesterday in a quote from the Saudi agency SPA. All of these suspects have been accused of crimes of terrorism dating back as far as May 12, 2003, when attacks began in the kingdom.
‘‘The cases will be examined in stages’’, the Prince said, without specifying the date that the trials will begin, the first of its kind since the country was victim to bloody attacks, all attributed to al Qaeda in 2003 and 2004.
These attacks — Nayef said giving the most complete balance ever by a Saudi official — killed 74 and left 657 wounded among security forces and 90 killed and 439 wounded among civilians, both Saudi and foreign. More than 160 terrorist attacks were thwarted.
[Editor’s Note: This is quite an increase since yesterdays’ report of 70 people in the docket]
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
OPEC IS READY FOR “THE BIG CUT”
The “important” thing will be how oil producing Countries will react to the fall of oil prices, which plunged from a high of 147 dollars a barrel in July to about 72 dollats at the end of trading last Friday.
Algeriàs Chakib Khelil, the Chairman of OPEC, said it in a very straight way: in the extra-ordinary meeting summoned in Vienna on October 24 the Organization will decide “a production cut”. And it “will have to be a major reduction to balance demand and supply”. There will be no hesitation. “If the reduction is to be of 1.5 million barrels a day, it will be 1.5 million barrels. If it is to be two millions it will be two millions”.
The oil price dropped below 70 dollars a barrel last Thursday, the lowest since June 2007, and then recovered ground the next day on strong buying on expectations of a production cut.
Opec now confirms. Pressures by several producer Countries will bear fruit, worries concerning wildly swinging prices (down some 50 pc in four months with a reversal of trend after a strong surge upward) will lead to a production cut to balance demand and supply. Prices have been falling on fears demand may shrink owing to the slowing down of economy triggered by the financial market crisis.
Iran might lose more than 50 billion dollars in the wake of falling oil prices, the country’s Central Bank head Mahmud Bahmani has said. “Iran’s proposal to the extraordinary Opec meeting is for oil supply to be reduced by the same size as shrinking demand. Global oil demand has fallen, so supply should be reduced to safeguard balance and stability in the market”, said Iran’s delegate to OPEC in Vienna Mohammad Ali Khatibi, who described the oil price fall as “disquieting”.
Iran is the second largest crude producer among OPEC members, behind Saudi Arabia.
The oil cartel whose members account for 40% of global oil output, moved ahead to October 24 the extra-ordinary meeting previously scheduled on November 18 to debate the effects of the world financial crisis and its imapct on oil demand…
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON ABUSED WOMEN HELD IN JORDAN
The elephant in the room at this conference was the Koran
Jordanian and regional specialists on family protection and violence against women in the Middle East and Europe are meeting in Amman to find ways of protecting victims of domestic violence.
The conference, which started yesterday and continues today brings activists from Iran, Egypt, Italy, Syria, Libya, Algeria, Sudan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco, Mauritania, Iraq, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Jordan, with each side sharing his country’s experience in abuse.
“While Arab society prides itself on its values and the strength of the family unit, unfortunately violent and abusive behaviour against women and children exists,” head of the Family Protection Department (FPD), Colonel Mohammad Zùbi, told participants. “These negative practices target the weak and vulnerable members of the household and not only destroy the family’s sense of security, but also violate their human rights,” he added.
The FPD official urged representatives of police authorities and specialists from 28 Participants to agree to create greater networking among child protection agencies in the region, enhancing partnerships with international specialists and NGOs, and a follow-up conference.
A recent report on domestic violence in Jordan showed that husbands who hit their wives often manage to get away with no legal ramifications. The report, titled, “Evaluation of National Policy, Measures and Actual Facts on Violence Against women”, noted that wives are “fearful of filing complaints of domestic abuse (under the general law of assault and battery) as society would end up rejecting [their] behaviour rather than condemning [their husbands’]”.During today’s meetings, participants will discuss vital issues on women abuse such as activating joint Arab action towards domestic abuse.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
AND NOW FOR THE MANCHURIAN MICROCHIP
Better start learning Chinese, fellah
The geniuses at Homeland Security who brought you hare-brained procedures at airports (which inconvenience travelers without snagging terrorists) have decreed that October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. This means The Investigator — at the risk of compromising national insecurities — would be remiss not to make you aware of the hottest topic in U.S. counterintelligence circles: rogue microchips. This threat emanates from China (PRC) — and it is hugely significant.
The myth: Chinese intelligence services have concealed a microchip in every computer everywhere, programmed to “call home” if and when activated.
The reality: It may actually be true.
All computers on the market today — be they Dell, Toshiba, Sony, Apple or especially IBM — are assembled with components manufactured inside the PRC. Each component produced by the Chinese, according to a reliable source within the intelligence community, is secretly equipped with a hidden microchip that can be activated any time by China’s military intelligence services, the PLA.
“It is there, deep inside your computer, if they decide to call it up,” the security chief of a multinational corporation told The Investigator. “It is capable of providing Chinese intelligence with everything stored on your system — on everyone’s system — from e-mail to documents. I call it Call Home Technology. It doesn’t mean to say they’re sucking data from everyone’s computer today, it means the Chinese think ahead — and they now have the potential to do it when it suits their purposes.”
Discussed theoretically in high-tech security circles as “Trojan Horse on a Chip” or “The Manchurian Chip,” Call Home Technology came to light after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) launched a security program in December 2007 called Trust in Integrated Circuits. DARPA awarded almost $25 million in contracts to six companies and university research labs to test foreign-made microchips for hardware Trojans, back doors and kill switches — techie-speak for bugs and gremlins — with a view toward microchip verification.
Raytheon, a defense contractor, was granted almost half of these funds for hardware and software testing.
Its findings, which are classified, have apparently sent shockwaves through the counterintelligence community.
“It is the hottest topic concerning the FBI and the Pentagon,” a retired intelligence official told The Investigator. “They don’t know quite what to do about it. The Chinese have even been able to hack into the computer system that handles our Intercontinental Ballistic Missile system.”
Another senior intelligence source told The Investigator, “Our military is aware of this and has had to take some protective measures. The problem includes defective chips that don’t reach military specs — as well as probable Trojans.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
WILL A RECESSION SOLVE THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM? Not Bloody Likely
Briefing paper 1.20 from Migration Watch UK
Summary
1 No. The record shows that the effect is only temporary.
Introduction
2 It has recently been suggested that the problem of large scale immigration will resolve itself if, as expected, a recession occurs. This note examines the facts.
Recession
3 There have been three recessions in the past 38 years — 1975/6, 1981/2 and 1993. These show up clearly on the bar chart… which plots the annual growth in GDP from 1970 to 2007.
Immigration
4 Net immigration (in thousands) is shown as a graph over the same period. It is clear that it has fluctuated about a strong upward trend for nearly three decades.
Conclusion
5 We conclude that the current downturn in the economy may also lead to a reduction in net international migration into the UK but, assuming the economy recovers, the reduction is likely to be short-lived unless action is taken to limit the number of migrants who are allowed to settle in the UK. A long term recession would be a very expensive way to control immigration.
Editor’s Note: Click Link for the bar chart
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
BEATLES SONGS EXPLAIN CHRISTIANITY BETTER THAN THAT BANAL BIBLE
Gimme that old time rock ‘n roll to save my soul
The Rt Rev Nick Baines, Bishop of Croydon, has urged churches to use hits by bands such as U2 and the Beatles in their services.
In a book backed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, he argues that pop music writers can convey deep theological concepts in a way that is more accessible to the younger generation.
Hundreds of evangelical churches have already turned to guitar-based songs instead of traditional hymns, but the bishop suggests that clergy still need to be more creative in appealing to non-churchgoers.
Artists highlighted for exploring Christian themes in their music include Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and John Lennon, who famously claimed the Beatles were bigger than Jesus.
“For many people the language of the Bible has become inaccessible and yet pop song writers can make a connection with people because their language is fresh,” he said.
“They are able to open our imagination to a way of thinking about God that we’ve become deaf to in church language.
“The Bible is an amazing collection of books that we’ve allowed to become banal. For many people it is a closed book and asking them to read it is a lost cause, which is a tragedy.
Bishop Baines said that music is influential in challenging people to think of some of life’s big questions.
“Songs get more into the soul than simply reading an ancient book,” he added. “I hope that they would be awoken to God and it would lead them to want to read some of the stories in the Bible.”
Editor’s. Note: Right you are, guv. I want some of whatever it is you’re smoking.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
DUBAI RADIO HOST FIRED FOR IMPERSONATING GOD IN A SKIT
“South African was unaware of local sensibilities” He was maybe living under a rock?
A Dubai radio station fired the host of its morning show for insulting religion after he impersonated “god” in on on-air skit, local press reported Wednesday.
Arabian Radio Network sacked Revin John, host of the Breakfast Xpress on Virgin 104.4, because of an offensive segment on Monday where he played the role of ‘god’ in a skit he acted out with his co-host, al-Emarat al-Youm reported Wednesday.
The skit was about a story published in the Western and Arab press in which an American court had rejected a lawsuit against God.
Listeners were not amused, and said John’s dialogue derided religion and insulted god. The seven-minute act aroused the resentment of listeners, including Westerners, the station’s general manager Mahmoud Rashid told the paper.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
SWISS COURTS CONVICT ON DENIAL OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
A Swiss district court has found three Turkish defendants guilty of denying the Armenian holocaust during the Ottoman Empire 90 years ago.
They were ordered to pay up to SFr6,500 ($5,630) each for violating Swiss anti-racism legislation, but part of the fine was suspended over three years according to a statement by the Winterthur court on Tuesday.
The defence lawyer said he would appeal the verdict, although it is milder than the sentence demanded by the prosecutor.
Last year the leader of Turkish Workers’ Party, Dogu Perinçek, was ordered to pay a fine of SFr13,000 for a similar offence. During a visit to western Switzerland he publicly denied that the killing of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians amounted to genocide.
The case caused diplomatic tensions between Switzerland and Turkey. However, both countries recently decided to forge closer ties following a visit by the Turkish foreign minister to Switzerland.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
WESTERN WOMAN ASSASSINATED BY TALIBAN IN KABUL
Taliban fighters killed a South African female aid worker on Monday as she was going to her office in the western part of Kabul, officials said.
The attackers, who were riding on a motorbike, fled the area after the shooting, Interior Ministry spokesperson Zemarai Bashary said.
“She was a South African national and was working with an aid organisation that was helping disabled people in Afghanistan,” Bashary said, adding that she worked with Serving Emergency Relief and Vocational Enterprises.[SERVE — ed]
Officials from the organisation were not immediately available for comment.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack through its spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid, who said the Islamic fundamentalist former rulers of Afghanistan killed the woman because she was preaching Christianity.
“She was under pursuit for a long time and finally was punished today,” Mujahid said in a statement posted on a rebel website, adding that the perpetrators were able to escape.
| — Hat tip: E.R.R. | [Return to headlines] |
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