Check out the South Asia section for the latest fallout from the Mumbai atrocities. Also, Pakistan is having its own entirely separate problems.Thanks to ACT for America, C. Cantoni, Conservative Swede, DK, Insubria, JD, KGS, Nilk, Steen, TB, VH, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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Communist Party Chief: U.S. on Road to Socialism
Calls Obama ‘friend’ who will redefine government to favor ‘working people’
Sen. Barack Obama is a “friend” of the left who will make important changes to the U.S., including a hoped-for trillion-dollar stimulus package focused on low-income families as well as a reconfiguring of the role and function of the American government and corporations to favor working people, according to the leader of the Communist Party USA.
In a major speech focused on Obama, titled “A Springtime of Possibility,” CPUSA leader Sam Webb declared the U.S. is now “on the road to socialism.”
Webb defined socialism as a “society that is egalitarian in the rough sense, eliminates exploitation of working people, brings an end to all forms of oppression, and is notable for the many-layered participation of working people and their allies in the management of the economy and state.”
[…]
He continued: “The left can and should advance its own views and disagree with the Obama administration without being disagreeable. Its tone should be respectful. We are speaking to a friend. When the administration and Congress take positive initiatives, they should be wholeheartedly welcomed. Nor should anyone think that everything will be done in 100 days. After all, main elements of the New Deal were codified into law in 1935, 1936 and 1937.”
During the speech, Webb repeatedly referred to the U.S. as “imperialist.” He called on Obama to shrink the military and the country’s nuclear weapons arsenal while redefining the role of the U.S. in the global community.
“I mean a reconfiguring of the role and functions of government and corporations so that they favor working people, the racially and nationally oppressed, women, youth, seniors, small business people and other social groupings,” Webb clarified.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Imaging Guru: [Obama’s] ‘Certification’ of Birth Time, Location is Fake
‘It would be hard to perform as president from behind jail cell door at Leavenworth’
A computer imaging expert, who examined the “Certification of Live Birth” Barack Obama’s campaign posted online to rebut charges he is ineligible to be president due to the Constitution’s “natural born citizen” requirement, says it’s a fake, and further, that such fraud is criminal.
The Obama campaign has told WND such allegations are “garbage,” but Dr. Ron Polarik, who holds a Ph.D. in instructional media and is a “guru” on computer technology such as printers, scanners and digital imaging, disagrees. His analyses have been posted online in a YouTube video… (video link at above URL)
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Nominees Signal Radical Pro-U.N. Agenda
Two nominees in particular — Senator Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice — were close associates of Brookings Institution president Strobe Talbott, an advocate of world government who was named as a trusted contact of the Russian Intelligence service while he was in the Clinton Administration. The charge, which was denied by Talbott, was featured in the blockbuster book, Comrade J, based on interviews with a prominent Russian defector from the U.N.
Talbott wrote a book this year, The Great Experiment, describing his own background in the pro-world government World Federalist Movement and naming a network of friends and close associates that includes former President Bill Clinton and billionaire leftist George Soros. The purpose of Talbott’s book is to promote “global governance,” a euphemism for world government. It is defined in the subtitle as “The Quest for a Global Nation.”
With the nominations of Clinton as Secretary of State and Rice as United Nations Ambassador, Obama;s global agenda is becoming clear. He wants to dramatically expand the power of the U.N., a corrupt global institution that is infested with spies for foreign and hostile interests. Obama’s record in the Senate included sponsorship of the pro-U.N. Global Poverty Act and co-sponsorship of the Jubilee Act. These two foreign aid spending measures alone would cost $920 billion to implement.
Obama also wants to pass several controversial U.N. treaties and says that he would consider joining the International Criminal Court, a U.N. institution that could prosecute American soldiers for “war crimes.”
[…]
Mrs. Clinton, as First Lady, was a cheerleader for the U.N. and made a video appearance at a 1999 conference sponsored by the World Federalist Association (WFA), a group openly dedicated to world government financed by global taxes. President Bill Clinton had previously sent a message to the group on the occasion of the WFA’s awarding of a “global governance” award to Talbott, who had been his Deputy Secretary of State in charge of Russian affairs.
A former Time magazine journalist, Talbott wrote favorably about world government in a notorious column entitled “The Birth of the Global Nation.”
In his message to the WFA, dated June 22, 1993, Bill Clinton noted that Norman Cousins, the WFA founder, had “worked for world peace and world government.” Clinton didn’t disagree with those goals, adding, “Best wishes…for future success.”
Hence, when Hillary Clinton gave her video-taped address in 1999, which was in honor of former “CBS Evening News” anchorman Walter Cronkite receiving the organization’s “global governance” award, there can be no doubt that she was aware of its pro-world government orientation.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Associated Press Calls Georgia for Chambliss
The Associated Press has called the Georgia Senate run-off for Republican Saxby Chambliss. Much to Barack Obama’s relief*, I’m sure, the Republicans will retain enough seats in the Senate to sustain filibusters.
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*Because, duh, the Republicans will save President Obama from having to choose between signing and vetoing the stupidest stuff that the Democrats in Congress, flush with victory and turgid with hubris, would otherwise enact.
| [Return to headlines] |
Ezra Levant: Dion’s Hidden Agenda May Include a Senate Seat for Elizabeth May
I was just watching Mike Duffy Live on CTV, and learned that Pauline Marois, the leader of the provincial Parti Quebecois — the sister party to the separatist Bloc Quebecois — claims that part of Gilles Duceppe’s prizes for supporting the coalition is an extra $1 billion transfer to Quebec. There is no specific mention in the coalition documents, but Marois said the immediate consequence of the agreement is the new Conservative formula for equalization payments is dead in the water; so instead of a $75-million increase in transfer payments, Quebec would get $1 billion in 2009-2010 because the old formula will apply.
No doubt that news wasn’t supposed to spill out until after the dirty deal was done — Marois needed a boost in her provincial election and so she stole Duceppe’s thunder. But surely the only surprising thing about this is that the dollar amount is so low. Surely the Bloc wouldn’t agree, in advance, to support two budgets they haven’t even seen yet, and to support the coalition in any non-confidence vote.
But on the same show, we learned of other coming pay-offs: There are 18 vacancies in the Senate, including four in Quebec. Not only are the Bloc in line for patronage pay-offs, but Elizabeth May, the Green Party leader, was on Parliament Hill today, and she wouldn’t deny that she, too, was offered a Senate seat.
It’s a fire sale in Ottawa! Senate seats, billions of dollars, whatever you want — just make Stephane Dion the prime minister!
Fire sale — or looting, I’m not sure.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Group Accused of Mumbai Attacks Has Toronto Link
The Pakistani group that India blames for training the gunmen behind last week’s Mumbai massacre has been linked to recent terrorist plots in several Western countries including Canada.
Lashkar-e-Taiba runs training camps in Kashmir near the India-Pakistan border and its followers have been accused of planning attacks in Britain, Australia, the United States and Ontario.
[…]
At least five suspects associated with the Toronto 18 — described by police as a homegrown extremist group accused of plotting to attack Parliament and detonate truck bombs near the CN Tower — allegedly travelled to Pakistan to train at Lashkar camps.
Aabid Khan, a British man convicted of terrorism-related charges in London last summer, had hoped to use Toronto as a staging area for sending recruits to Pakistan for “commando training” with Lashkar and another militant group called Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Canada placed the LeT on its list of outlawed terrorist groups in 2003. The government renewed the listing last week following a review.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Question Period Ignites Over ‘Betrayal’ and ‘No-Confidence’ Charges
[Video and transcript at URL above]
Harper: “This deal that the leader of the Liberal party has made with the separatists is a betrayal of the voters of this country, a betrayal of the best interests of our economy, a betrayal of the best interests of our country and we will fight it with every means we have.”
Dion: Says something about how his party will deliver a government that will face the economic crisis. “The PM does not have the support of this house anymore.”
Harper: “Mr. Speaker I have just said, if one wants to be the PM one has to get a mandate from the people, and not just from the separatist from Quebec…”
“The leader of the opposition is betraying the best interests of the country if he thinks he can make a deal with the separatists.”
Layton: “The majority of people voted against a mandate for this gov’t. They voted for the opposition parties. The parties on this side of the house have put aside their differences to work together (to find a solution to the crisis). We have done that. How can canadians have confidence in that gov’t?”
Harper: “Mr. Speaker, the voters have said that it is not up to the opposition to form a government.” We now know that from the beginning of this parliament he has looked to create a coalition with separatists, and that is not what federalists (Names parties) stand for.”
Layton: “What I said during the election..is that I am ready to work with other parties in this house. It’s clear this PM does not understand that. He has been unwilling to work with other parties. “He used to say the PM had the moral obligation to respect the will of this house. He has lost confidence. When will he recognize that fact and turn over power?”
Harper: “Here we have these three parties signing a document, and they wouldn’t even have a the Canadian flag behind them! They had to be photographed without it, because a member of the coalition doesn’t even believe in the country.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Steve Janke: Only an Election Now Can Legitimize the Coalition
Stephen Harper has to prorogue the House. Not for his own survival, but as a final test of this coalition’s viability by exposing the true reason for this coup.
He owes it to Canadians who are facing having an unelected government take power.
The Liberal-NDP-Bloc coalition is illegitimate. It’s not illegal, which is a different concept. It has no legitimacy for several reasons:
- The formal coalition is between the Liberals and the NDP, which combined have fewer seats than the government it seeks to replace.
- It depends on the support of the Bloc Quebecois, a regional party dedicated to Canada’s destruction. The so-called stability for the next two-and-a-half years is a fiction, since the Bloc will withdraw at the drop of a hat if the chaos that ensues helps the cause of separatists (that it hurts Canadians, both inside and outside of Quebec, is not a consideration).
- The NDP and the Bloc Quebecois have been plotting this for some time, and Canadians ought to have a chance to consider that backroom dealing at the polls.
- The “leader” of this coalition was soundly rejected by Canadians as their choice for prime minister, and rejected by his own party. He is the process of being replaced. In other words, this true leader of this coalition is unknown, even today, and will simply be installed as prime minister. Prime ministers have been replaced mid-term, of course, but at least the party doing the replacement was elected at the prior election, which isn’t the case here.
There are other reasons too, but for now, we can move on.
If this coalition is allowed to seize power and avoid testing their still unknown platform in an election, then Canadians will have no idea what to expect for the next two years (I doubt it will last that long, but that’s their plan).
Indeed, whatever direction is set for the first six months won’t survive the change in leadership in May. On the positive side, the coalition is not likely to survive that change in leadership either, but there is a lot riding on that bit of optimistic thinking.
The prime minister can prorogue the House. He should. Will he take a political hit for this? Yes. In fact, given the mess that has to be cleaned up, Stephen Harper could consider proroguing the House and then setting up a leadership review for the near future — essentially promising that an accounting will happen.
[…]
They would also have to admit that the reason behind this coup has nothing to do with budgets and stimulus packages, and that they are simply committed to ignoring the results of an election that they lost.
If they have the stomach to be openly honest about their true motivations, then at least there is a hint that the plotters could keep this thing running for more than a few weeks. If they can admit that this is just about power and nothing else, then having power might be enough to keep the coalition tied together. Then the Governor General can decide if that is a government Canadians deserve to have.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Al Qaeda Terror Suspects Nabbed
Morrocans were planning attacks on Italian towns, police say
(ANSA) — Milan, December 2 — Milan anti-terrorist police on Tuesday arrested two Moroccans suspected of belonging to al Qaeda who were planning attacks on targets in northern Italy.
Police said Rachid Ilhami, 31, and Gafir Abdelkader, 42, had planned attacks on a supermarket and a night club carpark in Seregno and two police stations in Giussano, both towns in the northern province of Monza.
Wiretaps revealed the men had initially planned to use a van packed with explosives but then decided on oxygen cylinders after Internet research.
Police said the men had revealed their links to al Qaeda during their conversations.
A total of ten people are under investigation as a result of the operation.
Police also seized the Peace Cultural Centre in the village of Macherio, where Ilhami worked as a preacher.
According to investigators, small groups of fundamentalists met at the centre in the evenings after the day’s official sermons were finished.
Both Ilhami and Abdelkader are thought to have lived in Italy for several years.
Last year police chiefs warned of the risk of attacks in Italy by North African terror groups linked to al Qaeda after a number of arrests in Lombardy.
In November last year police arrested 20 people in a crackdown against a suspected Islamic terrorist cell in Milan accused of recruiting would-be suicide bombers and sending them off to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The cell was believed to be linked to North African terrorist groups including Algeria’s Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, known by its French initials GSPC, which recently renamed itself al-Qaida of the Islamic Maghreb.
In June 2007 nine arrest warrants were issued for members of the same organisation believed to have offered financial and logistic support to terrorists operating in Tunisia and Algeria.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Brit Hate Preacher Glorifies Mumbai Terrorists
British hate preacher Anjem Choudary last night praised the slaughter of 127 people by terrorists in Mumbai.
In a vile rant, the Daily Star quoted Choudhary as saying that any Brits killed had only themselves to blame for being on the battlefield in the war Muslims nuts are waging against the world.
Extremist Choudary, 41, said the attacks were revenge for the Wests crusades against Islam. The attacks bear all the hallmarks of a carefully planned al-Qaida operation as part of the global jihad against the crusades. I would not be surprised if they release a video very soon, he added. (ANI)
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Britain Has Become a ‘Lonelier’ Place Over the Past 30 Years
Where Even Your Neighbour’s a Stranger
The breakdown of family ties and more people moving around the country for jobs have contributed to a society without roots or ties. Researchers say that the fragmentation of the UK started in the late 1960s, but has accelerated over the past decade.
They believe that even the least cohesive communities of the early 1970s had stronger ties than any community now. Divorce, immigration and large transitory student populations have also played a role in weakening neighbourhood bonds, the report found. There is also greater movement for retirement, or for better schools and lifestyles. […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Car: Market Crashes in France, Spain and Italy
(ANSAmed) — ROME, DECEMBER 1 — There has been a decline in the car market in Europe, as figures published today for France, Spain and Italy show. In France, sales in November fell by 14% to 145,918 units, the association of French manufacturers announced that in 11 months 1,896,622 vehicles were sold, an increase of 0.8% compared to the year before. Fiat is the only make amongst foreign makes to get a positive result, with sales up by 9% both at group level and by make. Among the French make, which suffered a fall of 9.7%, only Renault showed progress at both a group level (+2.3% to 38,900) and a make level (+1.2% a 35,055). Among foreign makes, which together lost 18.5%, the worst is Hyundai with -47.8% 1,128 units. Spain is in free-fall for the seventh consecutive month. Tens of thousands of jobs are at risk, according to the Association for car manufacturing (Anfac), who say “it is the worst fall in the history of car manufacturing on a monthly basis”. Last month, registrations fell by 49.6% on the annual basis, with a fall higher than 20% for the seventh consecutive month. Newly registered cars fell by 26% from January, compared to the same period in 2007. The car market fell in November in Italy as well: sales of vehicles, said the Transport Ministry, crashed by 29.46% to 138,352 units, compared with 196,125 one year ago. This is the biggest monthly fall since 1993. In the first 11 months of the year 2,018,587 units were registered in Italy, marking a fall of 13.40% compared to 2,330,883 in the same period of 2007. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Halevy: Europe Heading to Major Cultural Clash
Europe is heading towards a major cultural clash with an ever-growing Muslim population that does not want to adopt European culture, former Mossad chief Ephraim Halevy said Monday. “We can expect a major inter-cultural clash in Europe,” Halevy said in an address at the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies on the changing face of the world on the eve of 2009.
He added that prominent European countries, as well as Russia, could be nearly 50 percent Muslim by 2050, noting that England was currently debating whether Islamic law can be applicable to British Muslims instead of British law in certain matters such as marital disputes.
The former spymaster, who immigrated to Israel from the UK as a teenager in 1948, opined that how European countries reacted to such a challenge would determine their very future. “More and more we see that Muslims are not interested in adapting to the local European culture but seek to live by their own way of life within the European framework,” he said. “The demographics have significant political and cultural implications.”
In a wide-ranging address, the former Mossad chief said that the greatest danger facing the world at large was the merging of global Islamic terrorism and the proliferation by either state or non-state entities of non-conventional weapons. “We do not know of any such successes, but we do know that a will for such a merger exists,” he said. “This is a threat which, if it materializes, will put us in a whole new world, one which is unknown and uncontrollable.”
Halevy said that 2009 would be a critical year in determining whether the world was headed into an era where rogue states and non-state entities — such as Hizbullah and Hamas — were able to acquire non-conventional arsenals in light of Iran’s nuclear program. “There are a large number of countries, including in the Middle East, who are waiting to see what will happen [with Iran] and who will go in their footsteps,” he said. “There are enough signs that we are headed in that direction.”
Halevy, who in the past has broken with the mainstream Israeli establishment by playing down the threat that a nuclear Iranian posed to the State of Israel (as well as his calls for Israel to enter negotiations with Hamas) cited former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger as calling such a situation “uncontrollable,” but then added without elaborating that some uncontrollable situations could be controlled.
He suggested that 2009 offered Israel a chance for “wise and creative” diplomacy, calling it “an opportunity we have not had for years,” and a year which would be a “supreme test” of Israeli diplomacy. Halevy added that any future negotiations between US and the Islamic Republic would necessarily include Israel’s interests. “At the end of the day, it will emerge that the path from Teheran to Washington runs through Jerusalem,” he said.
In the past, he has predicted that ultimately the US will talk to Iran, and said that Israel needed to be part of such a dialogue. Halevy also rebuffed recent international studies predicting a decline in American power in the world. “In the foreseeable future, Washington DC will remain the most central capital in the world, and the president of the United States will continue to be the most influential leader in the world.”
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Israel’s Right to Exist Basic Tenet of New Italian Party
Magdi Allam, an Egyptian-born Italian journalist and writer of Muslim origin who was baptized by Pope Benedict XVI last Easter, said Sunday that he has founded a political party that will run in next summer’s European Parliament elections. Allam said his “Protagonists for Christian Europe” party would work to defend Europe’s Christian values, which he sees as being threatened by secularism and moral relativism.
While the name of the new party conveys an impression of a rightist, traditionalist front, beneath the surfaces lies the authentic Magdi Allam — the Magdi Allam who was honored two years ago by Israel, and in the US by the American Jewish Committee, for his book, Viva Israele! (“Long live Israel”). “Israel’s right to exist” is a basic tenet of Allam’s political ideology that derives from his belief in the religious principle of “the sacredness of life.”
The 56-year-old says that even the current violence in India is the result of total disregard for these principles. Another pillar of Allam’s program is “the historic truth of the Judeo-Christian roots of Europe” which assimilated “all that is positive and constructive” in Greek, Roman, secular and Liberal thought.
According to Allam, two destructive forces now threaten European civilization.
One is an absence of ethical values in a “savage capitalism that ignores human rights, paradoxically emulating today’s Communist China.” The other is, quite straightforwardly, Islam — which he defines as a “religion of violence.”
Alongside Islam he places Europeans’ “Islamically correct” behavior, nihilism, and multiculturalism, as expressed by the cultural relativism of values that should, instead, be absolute. “I am against Islam, but not against Muslims” he is quick to add. “I want no war of civilizations, but rather to build a society where all human rights, including the freedom of religion, are respected.”
Allam criticized a Vatican document issued jointly by Catholic and Muslim participants in an interreligious summit in Rome last November 9. The document recognizes Muhammad as “an illuminated prophet.” “How can we call Muhammad illuminated when his hands were soaked in the blood of 700 Jewish males slain in the year 627,” Allam asks. “And since Islam considers the Koran, which incites to violence, the Word of God, how can we place hopes in a reformed, moderate Islam?”
Allam’s stance is close to that of Benedict XVI, who recently stated that there should be “dialogue between cultures” but “there can be no dialogue between religions.”
Above all, Allam warns that Europe’s well-intentioned overtures to Islam (citing as an example, the UK’s legitimizing of Shariah courts) are turning Europe into an ideological vacuum that can be filled by whichever group bargains most loudly. Wherever he moves, Allam is surrounded by security guards because of repeated death threats against him by radical Islamist groups. But this is something he takes in his stride. “Fear for my life has never conditioned my moral choices,” he says.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Launch of One Law for All — Campaign Against Sharia Law in Britain
The One Law for All campaign against Sharia law in Britain is to be launched at the House of Lords on International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2008 from 4:00 to 5:00pm.
According to campaign organiser, Maryam Namazie, ‘Even in civil matters, Sharia law is discriminatory, unfair and unjust, particularly against women and children. Moreover, its voluntary nature is a sham; many women will be pressured into going to these courts and abiding by their decisions. These courts are a quick and cheap route to injustice and do nothing to promote minority rights and social cohesion. Public interest, particularly with regard to women and children, requires an end to Sharia and all other faith-based courts and tribunals.’
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim Prayer Rooms Should be Opened in Catholic Schools, Say Church Leaders
Muslim prayer rooms should be opened in every Roman Catholic school, Church leaders have said. The Catholic bishops of England and Wales also want special toilet facilities in schools to be adapted for Islamic cleaning rituals.
Their demands will shock both Catholic parents and the Government because they go way beyond the legal requirements on catering for the rights and needs of religious minorities. But the bishops are keen to answer critics who say religious schools sow division — and to show that they are leading the way in building bridges between people of different faiths.
The bishops acknowledge in a new document proposing the measures that 30 per cent of pupils attending Catholic schools hold a non-Christian faith. “If practicable, a room (or rooms) might be made available for the use of pupils and staff from other faiths for prayer,” the bishops said in the document, Catholic Schools, Children of Other Faiths and Community Cohesion
“Existing toilet facilities might be adapted to accommodate individual ritual cleansing which is sometimes part of religious lifestyle and worship,” they said. “If such space is not available on a permanent or regular basis, extra efforts might be made to address such need for major religious festivals.”
The document has been published by the Catholic Education Service, an agency of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. But it has been personally approved by Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Birmingham and the favourite to succeed Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor next year as the leader of the country’s 4.3 million Catholics.
It will inevitably lead to accusations that the Catholic Church is ready to cave in to the Government’s agenda and some Catholics have questioned the wisdom of the policies as well as the cost.
Daphne McLeod, a former Catholic head teacher from south London, said it would be “terribly expensive” for the country’s 2,300 Catholic primary and secondary schools to provide ritual cleansing facilities. She said: “If Muslim parents choose a Catholic school then they accept that it is going to be a Catholic school and there will not be facilities for ritual cleansing and prayer rooms.
“They do their ritual cleansing before they go to a mosque, but they are not going to a mosque. “I don’t think the bishops should go looking for problems. Where will it stop?”
But Majid Khatme, a Muslim who sent his children to a London Catholic school, said he was delighted by the gesture. “It is very kind of the bishops if they give this facility for Muslims to pray,” he said. “I would love to send a letter of thanks to the bishops, really. If they do this all Muslims in Britain will be thankful to the Catholic Church to have facilities to pray. It is very, very encouraging.”
Archbishop Nichols, the chairman of the bishops’ Department for Education and Formation, said in his foreword to the document that inter-faith dialogue has become increasingly important to the Church “as the presence of other faith communities grows and becomes more evident in our society”. He said that the publication was being “offered to our schools in the hope that the good work already being done in them for children and young people of other faiths can be further strengthened and so that the lives of all our pupils, students and staff can be enriched”.
The document also urges head teachers to “keep under review” all policies which touched on other religions, including school uniform, dietary needs and the time-tabling of events. Laura McCann, spokeswoman for the Catholic Education Service, said it would be a matter for the governing body of each school to decide whether to adopt the recommendations. “It would depend on the resources that they have and also other factors such as the numbers of non-Catholic pupils attending the school,” she said.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Q&A: ‘Divinely Ordained Law Makes Abolition More Difficult’
Abderrahim El Ouali interviews MARYAM NAMAZIE of Equal Rights Now
CASABLANCA, Dec 2 (IPS) — Political Islam is the main barrier to abolishing the death penalty in most countries where it is still practised, says Maryam Namazie.
Weaken this, and the struggle for abolition will be won as it has been in many countries.
Maryam Namazie, of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and Equal Rights Now — Organisation against Women’s Discrimination in Iran, adds that the majority in countries under Islamic rule already oppose political Islam and only need to be supported…
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Schengen Information System Proves Its Worth
The European system aimed at closing the net on crime has had a positive effect in Switzerland since the country introduced it three months ago.
Although not a member of the European Union, Switzerland is set to join the Schengen Area in December.
Federal Police Office spokesman Guido Balmer told swissinfo that although success was difficult to measure, the system, known simply as SIS, was working well.
“It functions and we’ve found a solution which is friendly to the users — police and border guards.
“There’s no real extra work involved, that was quite important… and if we can have a hit, that means we can stop people who are being sought in other countries. That’s good news,” he said.
The information system is a secure governmental database used by countries to maintain and distribute information relating to border security and law enforcement…
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Council to Revoke Honours Given to Franco and Family
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, NOVEMBER 28 — With a motion voted for by the PSOE, the IU and the Gallego Nationalist Block (BNG), the council of Ferrol (Galicia) has decided to withdraw the honorary titles bestowed on Francisco Franco during his dictatorship, including the titles of “honorary mayor”, “favourite son” and the gold medal from the naval city. The motion, from which the PP and the Ferrol independents group abstained, also withdraws the honorary titles which Franco extended to family members, to his wife Carmen Polo, to his daughter Carmen Franco Polo, to his seven grandchildren and to members of the Bordiù-Franco family. According to the BNG, the sponsor of the initiative, “keeping these distinctions would be tantamount to praising a tyrannical regime”. The motion also proposes changing the names of numerous state schools that are named after ministers of the Francoist regime or after Francòs wife. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Politician Quits Over Refugee Threats
A politician in southern Sweden is leaving his post on a local council after receiving numerous threats for suggesting that the municipality accept three unaccompanied child refugees.
“Of course you can criticize Swedish integration policy, as I myself have done. But to be threatened for wanting the municipality to accept three unaccompanied refugee children is totally absurd,” Anders Alkewall told the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper.
Last spring Alkewall, who represents the Christian Democratic party on Vellinge’s local council, proposed that the municipality accept three refugee children who had arrived alone in Sweden.
But instead of being praised for his gesture, Alkewall instead began receiving hate mail.
“It started with a few emails. Then I got a letter with pictures from fires in Rosengård, with the insinuation that I wanted to transform Vellinge into a new Rosengård,” he said, referring to the largely immigrant-populated district in Malmö which has been a flashpoint for heightened racial tensions in recent years.
In April 2007, Rosengård was the scene of a string of violent incidents, including several acts of arson and altercations with police.
Another letter Alkewall received read, “In states with law and order they get rid of people like you.”
Alkewall calls Vellinge a pleasant place to live, but said there is “something strange” about the community’s attitudes toward refugee issues.
“It more or less can’t be discussed. The Moderates have a majority on the local council and I think that depends to a great deal on them flatly saying no to accepting refugees,” he said.
According to Alkewall, local attitudes toward refugee policy are so strong that in the 2006 elections 2,000 people voted for Moderates in local races, only to then turn around and vote for the opposition Social Democrats for spots in the Riksdag.
In addition to threatening letters, Alkewall has also had his cars vandalized and been forced to get unlisted telephone numbers.
According to DN, the Moderates have more support in Vellinge than in any other municipality in Sweden, which prompted the paper to ask party leader and prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt for his thoughts on the matter during a visit to nearby Malmö on Monday.
“I’m not involved in this case. But everyone who at any level wants to have a discussion about immigration gets email and phone calls from people who have extreme anti-immigrant views. There is a lot of that in Sweden,” Reinfeldt told DN.
“[Some] people don’t see the advantages of expanding the workforce in Sweden. There’s a fear of that which is different.”
Nevertheless, Reinfeldt denied that Moderate Party sympathizers in Vellinge were responsible for harassing Alkewall.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Universities’: Spain, Rectors Fear Consequences Occupations
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, NOVEMBER 27 — The protest of university students against the Bologna agreement is no isolated event and has “unforeseeable consequences” in store. The rectors of five Spanish universities wrote this in a letter to the government in which they ask for help in a serious situation “of State proportions”. In the letter, printed today by daily El Pais, sent to the State Secretary for Universities, the rectors ask the government for “an urgent intervention” and a meeting with the Ministry of Science and Innovation”. The rectors of the five universities — the University of Barcelona, the Autonoma of Barcelona, the Complutense of Madrid and the universities of Valencia and Seville — with a total of 250,000 students, a fifth of the total, warn that the protests against the agreement, aimed at bringing academic titles in line with Europe by 2010, “are no temporary phenomenon” but seem destined “to break out again”. The anti-Bologna movement, the rectors say, “has spread to the universities, worrying not only university students, but also teachers and families”. The rectors ask the students to stop occupations as a condition to start a dialogue, but the students who are occupying the Faculties don’t seem willing to stop their protest and ask for a debate on the Bologna agreement which, in their words, “submits the universities to a diktat and the interests of corporations”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Health: Belgrade Hospital and Palermo Burns Unit Agreement
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, DECEMBER 1 — Representatives from the military hospital in Belgrade and the major burns centre in Palermo have signed a cooperation agreement today. “The first step in cooperation will be an exchange of experience by medics and nursing staff from the two hospitals” said Francesco Conti from the Palermo central hospital, after the signing. The first contacts between the two began a year ago when a Serb boy who had burns over two-thirds of his body was treated in the hospital in Palermo, with gratifying results. “Doctors in the military hospital in Belgrade are ready to learn new skin transplant methods which the Centre in Palermo is using. Once they have been trained they will go back to their country to share their new knowledge with their colleagues in Belgrade and throughout Serbia. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
No Santa Claus in Sarajevo Schools [Translated From the Dutch by VH]
Santa Claus is not welcome in many nursery schools in Sarajevo in December. There will be no Christmas celebrations.
The basis for the ban is the introduction of compulsory religious Islamic education in state schools.
In Sarajevo [Bosnia and Herzegovina], besides Muslims there are also Oriental Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats [though Serajevo is primarily Bosnian Muslim] living among them.
Many parents of non-Muslim children totally disagree with the policies on public schools, and send their children to private institutions.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia-Croatia: Accord Between Trade Chambers Signed
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, DECEMBER 1 — The Serbian-Croatian trade between 2002 and 2008 increased six times, Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Milos Bugarin said today during the signing of cooperation agreements between the two countries’ trade chambers, reports Tanjug news agency. Stressing that the two countries’ economies are not competitive, but compatible, Bugarin said that the Serbian-Croatian trade in the first nine months of this year had amounted to nearly USD 800 million and that it was realistic to expect it to reach one billion dollars by the end of the year. Bugarin said that Croatia had invested USD 400 million in Serbia in the past six years and that 200 Croatian companies operated in Serbia, while in Croatia there were nearly no investments of Serbian companies. Bugarin added that the agreement would improve the Serbian companies’ possibility to invest in Croatia and enable the two countries’ companies to cooperate even better.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Cooperation: Attempts of Dialogue Between Sicily and Tunisia
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, DECEMBER 1 — “Let the process of getting closer in the various economic activities be accomplished as soon as possible so that the Mediterranean sea may no longer be a sea that separates but a great lake that unites”, said Mohamed Medhi Mlika, Tunisian Minister for the Quality of Life and Chairman of the AREMEDD association, addressing the “Sea Review” seminar which ended in Tunis Sunday. The councillor in charge of Fishery for the Sicily Region, Roberto Di Mauro, in his address to the Forum, stressed the urgent need for a “productive and sustainable” policy. “If fisheries disappear from this sea — he said — whole social-economic systems are bound to disappear as well”. “The closest example — he went on — was provided by Mazara del Vallo, where a very large number of Tunisian fishermen are employed in the fishing sector. This, obviously, brings us increasingly closer to partnership actions in this area”. Turning to the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation process and Sicily’s role in it, Di Mauro said: “We have set up relationships of joint work with Tunisia which allowed us to overcome many years of misunderstanding. We are now aware that the Island can stand as a support for growth throughout the Mediterranean, also by setting up Fishing Districts and other measures in various sectors, including health. Sicily, then, offers itself as the gateway for the goods that from Asia, sailing through Suez, reach Europe. The Mediterranean needs be the place where peoples of different cultures and religions are willing to stay together and cooperate for common development and prosperity. That is, a sea of peace”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Cyprus: Minorities, Protection for Maronite Language
(ANSAmed) — NICOSIA, NOVEMBER 14 — Cyprus has submitted a Declaration on the Recognition of the Cypriot Maronite Arabic Language following a recommendation from the Council of Europe. The Declaration, as the Cyprus Mail reports today, was made in recognition of the concept of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages that Cyprus has ratified. The Cypriot Maronite Arabic Language is the second language the Republic has earmarked for protection under the Charter. In 2002, Cyprus deposited on a declaration on the recognition of the Armenian Language. A Committee of experts has already been set up to recommend specific actions aimed at protecting and promoting the Cypriot Maronite Arabic language. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Remove Religion From Id Cards, Al Khamassi Says
(ANSAmed) — ROME, DECEMBER 1 — Remove the words ‘Muslim’, ‘Jew’ or ‘Christian’ from identity cards, because “knowing what religion a person belongs to should have no importance”. This is the aim of a campaign in Egypt by several intellectuals including spokesman Khaled Al Khamissi, the author of ‘Taxi’, a real publishing case in his country, and recently published in Italian by Il Sirente. The campaign is currently only being waged in the press and in public meetings, and not yet in Parliament, said Al Khamissi, but it shows that in Egyptian society religious affiliation counts less than it seems. The declaration of faith on identity cards reveals another problem: the fact that the software used for the electronic documents does not allow religions other than the three great monotheistic ones to be added, thus keeping out the small Bahai minority. This is an issue which the Egyptian Government “refuses to solve”. But the religious element as an element of identity is connected to the ‘Islamisation of the country’’ said Al Kharmissi, which “began with Sadat in 1977 and was followed by his successor Mubarak and his Information Minister Safwat El Sharif, in power for 23 years” and supported by “financing by Saudi Arabia and the USA”. But the divisions between religions, says Al Khamissi, does not belong to the “true spirit of the Egyptian people, where the spirit of tolerance prevails. The true Egyptian does not have a great interest in this subject, for him the daily problems of life and death are what count. Seeing that out of a population of 75 million, 55% live below the poverty line, 20% is poor and 20% is just keeping afloat. The remaining 5% are so rich that they don’t care about anything.” Religious tensions “are nothing but a reaction to an economic and social crisis which the Government, in the absence of a programme for the country, does not know how to solve”. The secondary importance of religion for the people is demonstrated by the fact that it is only in periods of economic and social crisis that parents choose religious names for their children, said the writer, quoting Lewis Amad. “When I was at school, I couldn’t tell my schoolmates’ religion from their names, now my daughter can”, says the 46 year-old writer. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
McDonalds Morocco Sorry for ‘Offensive’ Meal
A Moroccan subsidiary of the fast food restaurant chain McDonalds apologized for cutting Western Sahara off a map of the country included on its “Happy Meal” children’s toys, MAP agency reported Monday.
“The toys included a small map on which the borders were incorrectly drawn. We profoundly regret making this mistake and we apologize to our loyal customers and our fellow citizens,” said McDonald’s Morocco in a statement.
MAP said bosses from the local food chain, who apologized after a joint Moroccan-Sahara association complained to the company about the error, plan to replace the offending toys that come free with a children’s “Happy Meal.”
The Western Sahara dispute is a very sensitive issue in Morocco, which is at loggerheads with Algeria, since Rabat annexed the area in 1975 following the withdrawal of former colonial power Spain.
Both countries claim the piece of land that lies between the two nations and Rabat was at war with the Tripoli-backed separatists, Polisario Front, before both sides agreed to a U.N.-brokered ceasefire in 1991.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Morocco: After Protests, McDonald’s Corrects Map
(ANSAmed) — RABAT, DECEMBER 1 — The Moroccan branch of the McDonald’s chain had given their youngest customers a toy and a map of Morocco, for the ‘happy meal’ promotion. But the marketing heads did not realise that the map was cut off, and did not show the southern provinces of the country, annexed to Morocco after 1916 but for which the Polisario Front has called for its independence. The exclusion made the Association Le Sahara Marocain (Asm) leaders furious, leading to loud protests and the request to remove the incriminated maps as well as make a public apology, which arrived punctually with the added promise to exchange the toys with new ones, free of charge, made in a message not only to clients but to the entire Moroccan population. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Business: Lombardy Firms Start Mission to Egypt and Israel
(ANSAmed) — MILAN, NOVEMBER 28 — An entrepreneurial mission to Egypt and Israel has departed today and will go on until 2 December. Taking part will be six Lombardy companies from the mechanical and wood-furnishings sector and representatives from the chamber of commerce and association world. The agenda of the initiative, which is organised by Promos, a special agency for internationalization of the Milan Chamber of Commerce, includes a series of personalized business meetings with local companies and associations. The mission is part of the ‘Medart’ project, whose objective is to promote commercial penetration and economic cooperation between craft companies in Lombardy and a number of countries in the Mediterranean area. Beginning in 2005, as well as specific activities aimed at artistic crafts, a number of bilateral and multilateral cooperation agreements within this context have been signed with associations of small and medium-sized companies in various countries, specifically with the Egyptian Young Business Association (Egypt), with the Federation Marocaine des Pme, with the SME section of the UTICA (the Tunisian confederation of industry) and with the Turkish organisations TESKOMB and TOSIEV. These results have led to the creation of an initial associative network of Mediterranean small and medium-sized businesses.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israelis Desecrate Mosques and Muslim Graves
Jewish settlers desecrated mosques with anti-Muslim graffiti iinsulting the Prophet Mohammed in Israeli-occupied West Bank villages, Palestinian officials and witnesses said on Tuesday, in an escalation of anti-Palestinian violence that left 13 wounded.
“Mohammed is a pig” and “Death to Arabs,” written in Hebrew were spray-painted on the walls of a mosque in Al Sawyeh village in the northern West Bank, local councilor Mohammed Abdelrahim said.
The perpetrators sprayed stars of David on the doors of several stores and slashed the tires of eight cars in a pre-dawn attack, Abdelrahim said.
Settlers also painted stars of David and the word “Hebron” on two mosques in the villages of Sinjel et Turmusayya, witnesses said.
Israeli police show restraint while dealing with Jewish settlers who hurled rocks at Palestinians
The rioting broke out late Monday night as rumors spread that security forces were set to evict 100 Jewish settlers from a house the Israeli high court had ordered evacuated but which Israeli extremists have refused to leave.
At least 13 Palestinians were wounded and significant damage was caused to homes in Hebron as about 1,000 Israelis threw rocks, medics and witnesses said. The settlers also defaced a Muslim cemetery.
Young settlers, backed by right-wing, supporters hurled rocks for several hours at Palestinian homes and police, who showed uncharacteristic restraint when dealing with the settlers. Palestinians who throw rocks are regularly met with Israeli bullets during protests…
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Offers Quran Texting Service
Users can dowload verses and chapters on-demand
An Israeli mobile phone company has begun offering a mobile phone version of the Quran just in time for the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, known as the hajj, in a move it hopes will help it gain access to an untapped market, Arab Muslims.
The Quran text service offered by Pelephone lets subscribers download Quranic suras, or verses, and scroll through the onscreen book for just $1.50 per month, according to a report by the U.S.-based Fox News.
“We are providing something to subscribers who want to be connected to these texts any time and any place,” Pelephone’s Product Content Director Moti Cohen was quoted as saying. “So naturally we are targeting a population that would use this type of service. Our Arab sector customers are very enthusiastic.”
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Olmert’s Obsession
The world is reeling from the Islamist terror attacks that struck India last week. But Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will not let that interfere with his plans to beef up the ranks of Palestinian terrorists with another of his prisoner releases.
Trying to fathom Olmert’s conduct “ in particular, his preference for freeing jailed Palestinian terrorists with a track record of returning to their bloody business “ has become a favorite pastime of pundits. Some say he is drafting his page in future history books. Others suggest that, having lost favor on the Right, he is simply wooing the Left. Still others swear that he aims to be the next Israeli come-back kid and is preparing for a future term as prime minister.
Whatever the merit of such conjecture, no theory fully explicates his irrational obsession with Palestinian prisoner releases. Consider that in August, Olmert granted a prisoner release just in time for Ramadan as a gift to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Now he will hand Abbas 250 more prisoners ahead of the Eid al-Adha festival on December 8.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Abu Dhabi: 24,000 Workers at Ferrari Theme Park
(ANSAmed) — ABU DHABI, NOVEMBER 24 — A year ago, on November 3, the first stone of the Ferrari theme park in Abu Dhabi was laid on Yas Island, which lies a few kilometres from the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Now, after a little more than one year, 24,000 workers (on average) are working on the theme park every day divided into three shifts that run round the clock. At peak production time, there can be as many as 35,000 workers employed. The huge work force has put together most of the colossal structures which will turn this strip of desert into a unique amusement park both in terms of technology and atmosphere. Ferrari World has unimaginable dimensions. It is a sort of bird with two wings which will be visible from the sky for its red roof and will contain 24 attractions from the Maranello stable. The project is the fruit of a collaboration in which Aldar, a real estate company 17% owned by Mubadala (the Abu Dhabi government’s investment fund), provides the cash (to the tune of thousands of million) and Ferrari provides the brand, the image, the ideas and the supervision of the construction. Overall, the Maranello-based company hopes that this will add up to a unique experience for every one of the 600,000 visitors expected every year. High ceilings (more than 30m) by several hundred metres in length and width give little idea of the striking view provided by the immense metal structures that will form their skeleton and which have been built and part covered in cement in the last 12 months. The racing track is going ahead in unison and will be ready for November 1 2009: “It will be a track that is fit for F1”, said Montezemolo, “it won’t be single file like on many new, disappointing tracks like Valencia and Singapore. There will be space for overtaking…finally!”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Abu Dhabi’s Industrial Investments Over USD 8 Mln, Official
(ANSAmed) — ABU DHABI, NOVEMBER 27 — Total industrial investments in Abu Dhabìs industrial zones is well over 30 billion dirhams (USD 8.167 billion), an official said. As Kuna news agency reports, CEO of the high institute of special economic zones, Jaber Al-Kheili, said there were 500 factories run by the institute in the five industrial zones in the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Speaking to the press on sidelines of the opening of the Middle East Manufacturing Exhibition 2008 (MEMEX 2008), Al-Kheili also said demands for industrial lots exceeded availability, adding that MEMEX 2008 was an important opportunity for industrialists and importers of heavy machinery to exchange views over various industry-related issues. “Investing in industrial domains is safe amidst the global financial meltdown, underlined Al-Kheili, because industrial sectors were based on long-term investments”. Exhibition Manager of MEMEX 2008, Tim Wilson, said the UAE was projecting GDP growth of 3.2%. “The collective industrial investments for all non-oil ventures, he added, valued USD 20 billion and provide 290,000 jobs”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Islam: Iranian Philosopher, Muslim Gandhi Not Utopia
(ANSAmed) — ROME, NOVEMBER 11 — A Muslim Mahatma is not a Utopia, even during times when Islam was “utilised as a message for spreading violence”. Iranian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo is convinced of this, presenting his book “Reading Gandhi in Tehran” (Marsilio) at a public meeting organised by Reset Doc at the Foreign Press Office in Rome. The Tehran of the title, he explained, is simply a “symbolic place. It could have been any Middle Eastern capital or a developing country. There is a bond which exists between Gandhi and the Islamic culture which passes through episodes in the life of the Mahatma, contacts with Islam and Islamic activists during his activities in South Africa and during the struggle for Indiàs independence”. Contacts which produced reciprocal influences according to the author. Is a Muslim Gandhi possible then? “Of course, it’s possible — it has already happened, for example with the mystics of the Middle Ages, because non-violence, like democracy, is a political institution based on the daily exercise of respect for the individual”. “Contrary to current thought on the road of non-violence, Muslims are at the same point as Christians and Jews- he added -. Yesterday’s event, the brawl between monks at Santo Sepolcro, is proof of that, is the example of how there are traces of sectarianism amongst Christians too, and a monopolistic sense of religion which leads to acts of violence. Of course, Muslim intellectuals today are conscious of the fact that in the last decade Islam has been used as a vehicle for violence. That is why intercultural work like the work I am carrying out is necessary, to focus attention on other cultures, and create bridges between Muslim countries and with the outside world.” Acting according to non-violent principles for the author means reducing tensions within society, something which is possible only if it opens up to the world. And in Iran? “I believe that Iran, contrary to appearances, can do it, because it is a young country. And Iranian youth today appears right for it, open to welcoming the meaning of the words of peace and non-violence”. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Appeal Launched to Free Iranian Doctors
Rome, 1 Dec. (AKI) — A Moroccan women’s association in Italy on Monday launched an appeal to free two doctors Arash and Kamiar Alaei imprisoned in Iran. The appeal was launched by Italy’s Association of Moroccan Women (Acmid-Donna) to coincide with International AIDS Day.
“We are very worried about the situation of Arash and Kamiar Alaei, two physicians who were arbitrarily arrested last 21 June, and we call for their immediate release,” said the Acmid-Donna organisation in a statement.
“From what we have learned, Iranian authorities accuse the brothers with unfounded claims of trying to destabilise the Islamic Republic. Instead, both medics are internationally regarded for their work to prevent and cure AIDS in Iran.”
Kamiar and Arash Alaei are two respected Iranian AIDS doctors who were arrested in Tehran four months ago and jailed without charge.
On Monday, an official from Iran’s Health Ministry said there were 18,320 Iranians infected with the HIV virus.
Abbas Sedaqat, said almost 70 percent of those infected were drug addicts who used contaminated needles, while the remaining 30 percent contracted the virus through what he called ‘illegal’ sexual relations.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Adnkronos Backs Release of Jailed Iranian Doctors
Rome, 1 Dec. (AKI) — The Italian health news agency Adnkronos Salute on Monday launched an appeal for the release of two doctors imprisoned in Iran since June. The appeal was announced in conjunction with International AIDS Day because the two doctors, Arash and Kamiar Alaei, are renowned for their work in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.
“Free Arash and Kamiar Alaei” is the slogan used by the news agency in its appeal on behalf of the jailed doctors.
The brothers are credited with raising awareness in Iran about HIV and AIDS and encouraging the Iranian authorities to tackle the stigma of HIV infection and AIDS, in a country where sex, drug abuse and the disease are taboo subjects.
According to various p reports, in 2004, both medics appeared in a documentary in a foreign TV station bringing to light the issue of HIV/AIDS in Iran, as well as the living conditions of patients.
The documentary showed the severe problem of Iran’s heroin addicts, the use of heavy drugs brought from neighbouring Afghanistan, prostitution and homosexuality.
In July, the rights group, Human Rights Watch called for the doctors’ immediate release saying the brothers had had no legal representation and their detention was damaging Iran’s reputation for tackling the AIDS epidemic.
Their important work has been recognised by the World Health Organization and UNAids among other institutions.
The doctors are experts on HIV-AIDS and have worked for many years on HIV-AIDS prevention and treatment activities in Iran and internationally.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Made in Italy: UAE; Sales of P. Frau Top 100 Mln in 3 Years
(ANSAmed) — ABU DHABI, NOVEMBER 25 — “We are expecting sales over the next three years to top 100 million euro. Already in 2008 we have obtained targets expected for 2010”. This was said by Matteo Montezemolo, Vice-President of Frau and managing director of Charme, in Abu Dhabi for the opening of Poltrona Frau Design Center. Made in Italy products which move forward from Abu Dhabi in an area that is floating on oil and gas reserves, strategic for richness and capacity for development, has a precise origin: a 5% acquisition of Mubadala, in 2005, from Mediobanca by Ferrari. From this agreement, unimaginable consequences at the time were put in motion: the Ferrari Theme Park on Yas Island, near Abu Dhabi, where the F1 track is emerging where it will close next season, and now the birth of a Poltrona Frau Store. “It is a fantastic partnership with Luca di Montezemolo. It is nice to do business like this, aiming at elegance, sophistication, quality”, said the Ceo of Mubadala, Khladoon Khalifa Alo Mubarak, head of this Abu Dhabi state fund that is investing enormous sums and is contributing to the transformation of what was an archipelago in the desert 30 years ago into a garden that surrounds a modern skyline and the idea of one of the most innovative countries in the world. They are investing enormous revenue from oil to make this into a modern country: to make museums, they made deals with the Louvre and with the Guggenheim to open two prestigious branches at the end of 2008. There is the Cultural District of Zaha hadid. Poltrona Frau, Holding Charm company which associates Italian luxury brands, has furnished and carried out the design work of the skyscraper that hosts Mubadala, and will do the same for the Foreign Ministry and for other large constructions. “We reached an accord at the Ratan Tata — said Luca di Montezemolo — to make a store like the one in Abu Dhabi, in Mombay by 2009. We also reached another agreement, we will make the leather interior for Jaguar. We have the premise to make the Uae the top foreign market for Poltrona Frau in the next five years”. In a sector in which, said Al Mubarak, 100 billion dollars in investments in real estate were laid out. But isn’t it the wrong time to invest in luxury, in view of the crisis? “The concept is not luxury — replied Montezemolo — it is beauty. This is such a difficult situation in the internal market that it is even more important to look for countries that have good rhythms of development. I believed it as the president of the Confindutria (Italian Confederation of Industries), but I see that all the large Italian entrepreneurs are moving toward foreign markets to look for alternatives to the crisis. In times of recession, we invest. It is a bet for the future”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Middle East: Queen Rania of Jordan to Fight Corporal Punishment in Schools
Amman, 2 Dec. (AKI) — Queen Rania of Jordan will spearhead a campaign to end corporal punishment in schools throughout the Middle East, where the practice is considered by many to be a legitimate part of children’s education. “Beating children must become something we consider unacceptable,” Rania told pan-Arab daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat.
“It is going beyond the pale and is something we can never accept,” said Rania (photo). She told the paper has asked Jordan’s Education Ministry to “take immediate action against this phenomenon.”
“Education is a responsibility that affects everyone. Children don’t just go to school to study, but to receive a general education.
“Adults as well as children must learn to respect other people and to uphold the law,” Rania concluded.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Msgr. Sako: Encouraging the Exodus of Christians Damages Iraq
The European Union has announced a plan to welcome over 10 thousand Iraqi refugees, exiled in Syria and Jordan. The archbishop of Kirkuk is against a mass exodus of Christians from the land of their birth and denounces a political leadership that fails to promote unity. Leaving implies “betraying the meaning of the Christian message”.
Kirkuk (AsiaNews) — While it is our duty to welcome refugees it is far more important to “eliminate the root cause of their forced exile” and to make it possible for them to “live in peace and harmony in the land of their birth”. That is the message at the heart of a statement released to AsiaNews by Louis Sako, Archbishop of Kirkuk, regarding the issue of Iraqi refugees.
On November 27th the European Union announced that it will welcome up to 10 thousand Iraqi refugees, most of who live in exile in Syria and Jordan, in conditions of misery and suffering. “Passing an indemnity of this nature — continues Msgr. Sako — is like telling Christians to flee, to leave Iraq. Today 10 thousand, tomorrow another 10 thousand until the day arrives when the nation will be emptied of its Christian presence”. The prelate reiterates that aid cannot be limited to “welcoming refugees”, rather “every step must be taken to favour their permanence”.
Germany says it is ready to take at least 2500 refugees and that priority will be given to those who need medical care, victims of torture and abuse, single mothers and religious minorities. The United Nations High Commissionaire for Refugees has applauded the move as “a positive step”, after 18 months of pressure on Brussels. The Archbishop of Kirkuk does not “entirely” rule out the positive aspects of the decision, he clarifies that “there are extreme cases of people who cannot return to Iraq, such as former members of Saddam’s regime”, however not for this reason should a mass exodus be encouraged, this would only serve to worsen the situation”. “It is right to come to the aid of those in difficulty — he continues — but it is necessary to deal with specific cases and above all to work to rebuild civil coexistence in the country”.
Msgr. Sako denounces the lack of a common vision within the Christian community and the absence of a strong political leadership: “Christians are divided among themselves — he comments — some want to stay, others prefer to leave. The desire to flee is spurred on by the lack of a political leader capable of guiding people towards a concrete project that would convince them to stay, even in the midst of suffering and difficulties”. A large part of the Muslim community is also against the exodus, who seek “faithfulness, openness and morality” from their Christian brothers and sisters, but also cooperation in “rebuilding the future together” because they consider Christians “an integral part of our nation”.
The Archbishop of Kirkuk concludes with an appeal for the Christian community: “To flee before difficulties — he says — means loosing the true meaning of the Christian message which invites us to mission, not to retreat. Even in the face of persecution, we must be an example of the deepest sense of the Gospel, which asks us to be witnesses to Christ’s sacrifice. Leaving means betraying our duty to announce Christ, as many Muslims hope and expect us to do. All of this is held within the meaning of one expression, which according to tradition Peter asked of Christ; ‘Quo vadis?’. In his answer he invited Peter to return to Rome to face martyrdom”. (DS)
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Shiite Iranian Cleric: ‘Wahabis Are Planning to Carry Out Crimes Against Shiites’
An Iranian Shiite cleric held the ‘Wahabis’ responsible for violence and crimes in the world.
The ‘Wahabis’ are a Sunni Salafist movement established in the 18th century in the Arab Peninsula who are followers of Sheikh Mohammed Abdel Wahab. They call for getting rid of all habits and rituals that contradict with the core teachings of Islam.
The Qum-based Shiite cleric, Lutfallah Safi Kalbaikani, said yesterday, in a meeting with university undergraduates, that “the main reason behind the insecurity and violence in the world is due to the misleading ‘Wahabi’ sect and its organizations, including al-Qaeda.”
He described the ‘Wahabis’ as being the “most misled of the sects.”
The cleric added that “through their inhuman acts they pushed the world to attach violence to Islam and called upon Muslim governments to confront them.”
“The Shiite sects and its followers are the most tyrannized throughout history, and they were repressed and tyrannized by the rulers,” he said.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Kurdish Teens Risk Heavy Sentence for Demonstration
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, NOVEMBER 13 — Six Kurdish teenagers between 13 and 14 years old are facing a sentence of up to 23 years each in prison. They are accused of terrorism for participation in violent street demonstrations last month in support of Kurdish separatists, during which they threw stones at police. This was reported by the Turkish agency Anadolu which quoted judiciary sources in Diyarbakir, the city in the south-east of Turkey where the protests took place, according to whom the six boys are accused of committing “crimes on behalf of a terrorist organisation” (the Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK), of making propaganda for the same group and of destroying public property. The six accused, still according to the sources quoted by Anadolu, will be tried at a juvenile court but they could be given sentences that the criminal code reserves for adults. The matter came to light just a few days after the European Union, which Ankara aspires to join, criticised Turkey for its inadequate protection of the rights of babies and children. The six boys took part in the protests that flared up in various cities in the mostly Kurdish region for several days, after rumours spread regarding alleged mistreatment of the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving life in the Imrali prison. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Children Face Up to 58 Years in Prison for Protest
Istanbul, 1 Dec. (AKI) — A prosecutor in southern Turkey on Monday charged six children for attacking police with stones in a recent street protest in support of Kurdish separatists. According to the news site of Hurriyet, the stone-throwing youths face up to 58 years in prison if they are convicted.
Six youths, aged from 13 to 16, are alleged to have participated in street demonstrations in the southern province of Adana in which nearly 100 protesters clashed with Turkish security forces in November.
The protesters claimed that Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), was being mistreated in Imrali prison where he is serving a life sentence.
All six are charged with committing a crime on behalf of the terror organisation PKK.
In a similar incident earlier this month, a prosecutor in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir charged six children with attacking police with stones and Molotov cocktails, after they participated in street protests during Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s recent visit.
They are facing 23 years in prison if they are convicted.
The PKK’s goal is to create an independent, socialist Kurdish state in Kurdistan, a region that comprises parts of Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran. The organisation is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the US, and the European Union.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Wants NATO- Russia Thaw
Frattini urges pause on membership for Georgia and Ukraine
(ANSA) — Brussels, December 2 — The time is right for NATO to renew negotiations with Russia, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Tuesday going into a meeting of his Atlantic Alliance colleagues dedicated to relations with Moscow.
‘‘I think the moment has arrived to renew negotiations with Russia, first on an informal level and later on a formal one,’’ Frattini said.
The minister added that informal talks should begin as quickly as possible on an ambassadorial level or within joint workshops, while formal contacts should resume next spring on a ministerial level.
This would entail reconvening the NATO-Russia Council.
NATO froze its relations with Moscow following Russia’s invasion of neighboring Georgia in August.
In order to create a proper climate for a thaw in relations, the Italian diplomatic chief suggested putting on hold efforts to bring Georgia and Ukraine into NATO’s Membership Action Plan (MAP), an initial step towards joining the Alliance.
‘‘For Georgia and Ukraine we should only confirm what was said at the NATO summit in Bucharest and not insist on them joining MAP,’’ Frattini said.
During NATO’s summit in April, Georgia and Ukraine were not invited to join MAP but it was suggested they move ahead with reforms necessary to qualify for future membership.
The issue has divided NATO with the United States pushing for Georgia and Ukraine joining MAP, while Italy, together with Germany and France, is concerned this could compromise relations with Russia.
‘‘If there is disagreement it is best to avoid arguments and divisions between us (NATO) otherwise we may send the wrong message,’’ the Italian foreign minister observed.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Erosi Kitsmarishvili: “Saakashvili Wanted the War and He Strove for This for Four Years”
Erosi Kitsmarishvili, Georgia’s ex-Ambassador to Russia who held this position for just two months, has continued making the allegations he voiced on 25 November at the sitting of the Temporary Parliamentary Commission on the Study of August Events. At the office of international news agency Ria-Novosti’s Tbilisi office on 26 November the ex-Ambassador explained his decision to continue commenting: “The Commission did not allow me to say what I wanted to say, they did not let me finish my sentences. Be it on their consciences.”
The ex-Ambassador spoke im Medvedev and Putin’s mother tongue at the Ria-Novosti office. He explained this by saying that the best journalists worked for that agency and that they would tell everybody the truth if he spoke in their language to avoid misrepresentation.
It remained unclear however exactly what “truth” Erosi Kitsmarishvili wanted to tell the people, as it had the day before, at the Commission sitting. The ex-Ambassador repeated several times that Georgia as well as Russia was preparing for war. “Georgia actually started the war and Russia responded,” he alleged, continuing, “Saakashvili wanted the war and he strove for this for four years.”
The Georgian Times interviewed Erosi Kitsmarishvili.
Georgian Times: Would you have been saying the same things you are now if the Government had not taken away your business and released you from your position as Ambassador?
Erosi Kitsmarishvili: You are not right to suggest this. I said yesterday that they offered me a nice, cozy and valuable position where I could be comfortable. I refused their honours. As for business etc., I was silent for four years.
I left the country and did not do anything against this Government for one reason: I decided that when I felt that Saakashvili planned to do something bad that may turn into a disaster for the country I would go to him and help. Then I would have the possibility to call and see him. That is why I was silent until 7 August 2008. So, excuse me, but I cannot accept your remark.
G.T.: When were you sincere, when you brought Saakashvili into the leadership or now, when you have moved to the opposition?
E.K.: Once again, I did not bring Saakashvili, but liberal-democratic forces to the Government.
G.T.: But you brought Saakashvili…
E.K.: Once again, he came as President and then all the remaining elements that came with him disappeared for various reasons. This is something I was unable to change. It might or might not have happened, we could not know. I was sincere then and am today. I still have a lot more to say and it will be in the book I have not finished yet. I hope to finish it and see it published in around 1.5-2 months. I will say everything there.
G.T.: What are your relations with Mikheil Khubutia and Mikheil Leontiev?
E.K.: Many years ago I had very friendly relations with Mikheil Leontiev. My attitude to him now is exactly the same as that of the rest of Georgia. I had very good relations with Mikheil Khubutia as well.
G.T.: Will you stay in Tbilisi or will you leave?
E.K.: For the coming week I will stay here. Next I will go to Athens to attend a big conference.
G.T.: Do you expect to be arrested?
E.K.: I do not think they (the Government — author) are ready for this.
G.T.: Are you ready to give the Prosecutor’s Office the names of the people who informed for you?
E.K.: No. There is no way I can tell them.
G.T.: They will arrest you then
E.K.: Ok, but I will never give their names.
| — Hat tip: Conservative Swede | [Return to headlines] |
Iron Lady Nino Burjanadze Finds the Steel to Threaten Her Struggling Ally
She styles her hair like Margaret Thatcher and counts the Iron Lady among her political idols. Now the female face of Georgia’s pro-Western Rose Revolution is challenging her former ally Mikhail Saakashvili.
Nino Burjanadze is emerging as the key threat to President Saakashvili over the disastrous handling of the war for South Ossetia. Protest was muted while the Russian Army occupied Georgia but its withdrawal is stirring opposition demands for him to go.
Mrs Burjanadze, 44, poses a particularly potent threat because she was the revolution’s second-most powerful figure. She marked the fifth anniversary of the Rose Revolution this week by founding her own opposition party and demanding early elections, saying her former allies had no moral right to remain in power.
Mrs Burjanadze was acting president while Mr Saakashvili campaigned in a snap election in January that was called after he ordered riot police to break up opposition protests last November.
She was chairman of parliament for seven years until she resigned from his ruling National Movement a month before elections in May.
She began her campaign against Mr Saakashvili by publishing a list of 43 questions in Georgian newspapers demanding explanations for the political and military conduct of the war in August. “These are quite objective and reasonable questions and, of course, I and a lot of people in Georgia want direct and adequate answers . . . It’s absolutely necessary to understand what happened,” she told The Times. “Unfortunately, the country is in very serious trouble after these events.”
She lists the costs: the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, now recognised as independent by Russia, are farther from rejoining Georgia than before the war; Nato scepticism about membership for Georgia has been reinforced, and foreign investment has been scared away.
Mr Saakashvili admitted yesterday that Georgia began military operations in South Ossestia but insisted that it was in response to Russian provocation.
Georgia’s former Ambassador to Moscow blamed Mr Saakashvili on Tuesday, saying: “Russia was ready for this war but the Georgian leadership started the military action.”
Mrs Burjanadze says that she remains true to the revolution’s liberal values and left parliament because she believed that Mr Saakashvili and his team had lost their way.
| — Hat tip: Conservative Swede | [Return to headlines] |
Saakashvili Warns EU Against ‘Betrayal’
The Georgian President warns the European Union against offering Russia too many concessions in negotiations on a new partnership pact.
Mikhail Saakashvili stated that the former Soviet republics would be watching closely when the EU resumes talks on a strategic partnership Tuesday, three months after they were frozen in the wake of the Georgian war.
“Russia’s smaller neighbors would view a decision by larger European countries to accept Russian aggression as treachery,” Saakashvili told the German daily Der Tagesspiegel in an interview published on Monday.
Saakashvili demanded that any new agreement between the EU and Russia should contain a clause binding Moscow “to respect international rules.”
He also urged the 27-nation bloc to do more to “steer Russia away from creeping nationalism and militarism,” which he said threaten its neighbors, Europe and even its own population.
Saakashvili, meanwhile, once again denied sharing responsibility for triggering a major offensive against South Ossetia in early August in a bid to retake control of the republic.
“It is absurd to claim that Georgia wanted this war,” he said. “We had no alternative but to establish a line of defense in South Ossetia.”
He also accused Moscow of playing politics with its energy interests in Europe to pressure different nations into abiding its rules.
European and Russia negotiators are to meet in Brussels on Tuesday to tackle an overarching framework to manage their diplomatic and trade ties and ensure constant supplies of Russian oil and gas, replacing an outdated accord from 1997.
| — Hat tip: Conservative Swede | [Return to headlines] |
India Asks Pakistan to Handover Dawood, Azhar
India has asked Pakistan to hand over Dawood Ibrahim and Maulana Masood Azhar for their ‘suspected involvement’ in the Mumbai attack. Dawood is an underworld gangster, who India says is hiding in Pakistan. Pakistan denies his presence in the county. India accuses him of helping the gunmen who attacked Mumbai on November 27. Azhar, founder of Jaish-e-Muhammad, is on India’s most wanted list of people it accuses of terrorism. India freed Azhar from prison in exchange for passengers on a hijacked Indian Airlines flight in 1999.
Shahid Malik, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India, was summoned to the External Affairs Ministry on Monday and told that ties with his country’s wood suffer if India’s demands are not met. India has shared initial findings of the investigation into the Mumbai attack with Pakistani authorities and threatened to hold up peace talks and confidence building measures.
After the December 2001 attack on Parliament, India had scaled down its relationship with Pakistan. India then broke off sporting and cultural links, downgraded diplomatic relations, and launched Operation Parakaram to deploy the military all along the Pakistan border.
India has also communicated to the United States “to put heat on Pakistan.” […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
India is Pointing in the Right Direction
Mumbai a terror zone, and India bitterly points its finger at Pakistan. The unloved neighbor needs all the help the West can offer. Pakistan is nearly a failed state — and a US invasion under President Obama can’t be ruled out.
It is still not clear who exactly carried out the terror attacks in Mumbai this week. But the actions speak for themselves. The murderers expressly went after Britons, Americans and Jews. In the world’s largest democracy, attacks were carried out by a determined minority against the will of an overwhelming majority. The crimes bear the clear and bloody fingerprints of militant, political Islamism.
| — Hat tip: KGS | [Return to headlines] |
India: Arrested Terrorist Says He Agreed to Mumbai Attacks for Money
Mumbai, 2 Dec. (AKI/Asian Age) — The lone arrested Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Aamir Qasab, has stunned Indian police interrogators by saying that he agreed to carry out terror attacks in Mumbai in exchange for money.
However, he had second thoughts after agreeing to become a suicide terror raider. He added that he hijacked a police vehicle to escape into anonymity.
“We were told that our big brother India is so rich and we are dying of poverty and hunger. My father sells dahi-vada (a fast food) at a stall in Lahore (Pakistan) and we did not even get enough food to eat from his earnings,” Qasab reportedly said, in a videotaped statement obtained by Indian daily The Asian Age.
“I was promised that once they knew that I was successful in my operation, they would give lakhs and lakhs to my family.”
One lakh in India is equivalent to 100,000 rupees or 1,550 euros.
Qasab added that he could not pursue his education because of the meagre income of his father.
“Please do not tell anybody that I am caught alive otherwise they will kill me. They (Pakistani handlers) had told us that they would shoot us even if we returned to Pakistan.”
Qasab said that they were ‘fedayeens’ or freedom fighters and were sent to die. He was arrested after a firefight at Girgaum Chowpatty public beach, on Wednesday night.
Qasab, son of an impoverished street vendor, told chilling details of the operation to the police, the worst of which was that he and his accomplice had been asked to sleep the night at Mumbai’s train station if they reached at a time when it wasn’t crowded enough to kill too many.
At least 201 people were killed — including 22 foreigners — after the attackers opened fire in several locations, including two hotels, the train station a restaurant and a Jewish centre.
The attacks on the two hotels — the luxurious Taj Mahal Palace and Oberoi — and the Jewish centre resulted in three days of conflict between government security forces and militants.
While the world might have thought of Qasab and his accomplices as hardened jihadis, Qasab shocked the cops saying that if the cops paid him enough and fed him, he (Qasab) would create the same bloody mayhem for the police that he just did for his handlers in Pakistan.
Qasab admitted to the police that though he was a militant, the blood and gore had frightened him.
This prompted Qasab to reportedly hijack a police jeep to escape and sneak into a quiet corner of the city, hoping that he could lead a life of anonymity without his Pakistani handlers knowing anything about him.
Qasab, in his statement, said that he and his accomplice Abu Ismail, who was killed at Girgaum Chowpatty, were briefed to carry out their operation at Mumbai’s train station only if they reached Mumbai before 11 pm.
“They were told to open fire at the railway station only between 7 pm and 11 pm either in the day or the evening which are the peak hours,” said an officer present at the time Qasab’s statement was being recorded, but requested anonymity.
“They were told by their handlers that in case they reach Mumbai after 11 pm on Wednesday they should take rest and carry out their operation the following morning.”
According to various Indian media reports, Qasab is linked to the Pakistan-based Kashmiri militant group, Lashkar-i-Toiba. The group denies involvement.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Jewish Victims Killed in Mumbai Tortured Before Death
Autopsies show that the nine victims at the Jewish Center in Mumbai “were tied up and tortured before they were killed.” The citizens of India’s financial capital are paying homage to the victims, and the eyewitnesses of the attacks are recounting how their friends and coworkers died.
Mumbai (AsiaNews) — A candlelight vigil in memory of those who lost their lives in the terrorist attack on November 26. Around the monument of the Gateway of India and at the Taj Mahal hotel, symbols of the attacks, there is a constant procession. Citizens of the country’s financial capital are also leaving placards in these locations with words like “long life to our martyrs” or “down with corrupt politicians.”
Meanwhile, new details are emerging on the attacks and killings. The doctors who conducted the autopsies on the victims say that many of the bodies showed signs of torture. One doctor explains that “of all the bodies, the Israeli victims bore the maximum torture marks. It was clear that they were killed on the 26th itself. It was obvious that they were tied up and tortured before they were killed. It was so bad that I do not want to go over the details even in my head again.”
The statements from the doctors confirm the initial information released by the Intelligence Bureau after early interrogations with the captured terrorist. As the intelligence services and Indian newspapers have reported, Ajmal Kamal, the terrorist arrested at the Jewish Nariman House, “said they were specifically asked to target the foreigners, especially the Israelis.”
While protests are mounting against the political class and the government, held responsible for failing to guarantee security, India is burying its dead. On November 29, at the church of the Mother of God in Naigaon, in the suburbs north of Mumbai, the funeral was held for Jordon Fernandes, a 22-year-old young man shot to death during the attack on the Oberoi hotel. Other sources tell AsiaNews about the last moments of the young man employed in the Kandahar restaurant.
According to the reconstruction, after hearing the first shots the diners fled the room. A foreign customer then went to Jordon, begging him to get the documents that he had left in the restaurant. Jordon went back into the restaurant with his coworker Pradeep, and was caught by the terrorists. They told him to set the tablecloths on fire, but he refused, and one of them shot him at point blank range, killing him. The terrorists then set the tablecloths on fire. After asking Pradeep to show them where the elevators were, they went to the upper level, leaving the terrified Pradeep in an elevator that was out of order. He escaped through a service door in the back of the hotel.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Mumbai: Nitesh, 15, a Life Cut Short by the Folly of the Terrorists
Among the 195 victims of the massacre in India was a young man killed in the crossfire between the police and terrorists. Security forces have killed the last three extremists barricaded inside the Taj Mahal hotel, putting an end to a battle that lasted for more than 62 hours. About 300 people have been injured, but the number could rise over the next few hours.
Mumbai (AsiaNews) — Among the 195 victims confirmed so far in the terrorist attack in Mumbai, there is also the young Nitesh, just 15 years old, killed in the crossfire between the attackers and the security forces, right in front of his father.
On the evening of November 26, during the first phase of the attack, Nitesh and his father Vijay Sharma arrived by taxi at the railway station Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, to catch a train back home to Mankhurd, a suburb about twenty kilometers from the place where the tragedy took place. He got out of the car and was shot in the back. His father recounts that he “held him in [his] arms” and accompanied him on the drive to the hospital. But there was nothing to be done for the young man, who died about ten minutes after he was admitted to the hospital.
“This is a human tragedy of gigantic proportions,” Fr. Jerome Lobo, principal of the Padua School where Nitesh attended, tells AsiaNews. “By snuffing out the life of our young Nitesh, these terrorists have impaled the hearts of the emerging generation, our future, our tomorrow of India has been wounded.” Fr. Jerome recalls Nitesh’s efforts together with more than 3,000 students of the school to promote trust in humanity, the hope for civil coexistence. “Our student was tragically killed by forces whose ideology is based on hate. Do not give into despair, I told the young students, we must never lose hope, you are the future.” He recalls the shock and dismay among the young people, and tells them that “as long as there is hate and a certain ideology, these acts will go on. It is up to you, the emerging generation, to change the mindset of the people with love, dialogue, mutual understanding and a determination to destroy the forces of division and suspicion.”
Fr. Jerome has expressed to Nitesh’s family the condolences and solidarity of the archdiocese of Mumbai: a tragedy within a tragedy, for the family of the young man, who have already suffered another loss. “In 1987, his elder son, five-year-old Vikram, was kidnapped and was never found. The Sharma family now have just two daughters.”
This morning, Indian security forces killed the last three terrorists still barricaded in the Taj Mahal hotel, putting an end to a battle that lasted more than 62 hours. The updated numbers from the terrorist attack — although these could still increase — are 195 dead (22 of them foreigners) and about 300 injured. Confirmation comes from the head of Indian emergency services, but the fire department says that dozens of bodies are still to be recovered from inside the hotel.
The victims also include the chief rabbi of Mumbai and his wife: Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg were killed together with four other people during a blitz by the police at Nariman House, the Jewish center. But the couple’s son, two-year-old Moshe, was saved, sheltered by the cook of the center and entrusted to the care of his grandparents.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Mumbai Fears 5 Terrorists ‘Missing’
Could make secondary strike on India’s financial capital
At least five terrorist gunmen might have escaped the carnage in Mumbai and could strike again, it emerged yesterday as a video surfaced showing the capture of the gang’s sole known surviving member.
The prospect of more killers added to public anger at the Indian Government’s lax handling of the worst terror strike to hit the country in 15 years.
The security forces claimed that only ten militants “ nine of whom were killed and one caught alive “ were behind the coordinated attacks that claimed nearly 200 lives. Rakesh Maria, a joint commissioner of police, said: “Their plan was just to cause maximum damage and return with hostages protecting themselves.”
However, a hijacked Indian fishing boat used by the gunmen had equipment for 15 men on board when it was discovered adrift — suggesting that several gunmen could still be at large.
“Fifteen winter jackets were found, fifteen toothbrushes,” a police source said. “That more terrorists are loose is possible.”
Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only gunman to be caught alive, said during police questioning that 24 men were trained in camps in Pakistan for the mission, according to a leaked account of his police interrogation.
He has since claimed, apparently, that only ten made the final trip to Mumbai, including him. Police are continuing to question the 21-year-old, who has said that he and his accomplices planned to kill 5,000 people.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mumbai: US Warned India ‘Twice’ About Sea Attack: Report
Washington United States intelligence agencies had warned India “twice” about a potential maritime attack on Mumbai at least a month before audacious terror strikes that has left about 200 people dead and scores injured, media reports said. “The United States warned the Indian government about a potential maritime attack against Mumbai at least a month before last week’s massacre in the country’s financial capital,” the CNN quoted a US counter-terrorism official as saying.
The American network quoted the official as saying that the warning was issued not once but “twice”. A second government source told ABCnews.com that specific locations, including the Taj Hotel, were listed in the US warning. “US intelligence indicated that a group might enter the country by water and launch an attack on Mumbai, said the official, who refused to be identified due to the ongoing investigation into the attacks and the sensitivity of the information,” the CNN added.
“Indian security forces have confirmed to CNN that not only did US officials warn them of a water-borne attack in Mumbai — they were told twice. The area entered a higher state of alert for a week, including tightened security measures at hotels, but those efforts were eventually reduced, Indian officials said,” the network, which repeatedly broadcast the story last evening, maintained.
On November 18, Indian intelligence also intercepted a satellite phone call to a number in Pakistan known to be used by a leader of the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, believed to be responsible for the weekend attack, Indian intelligence officials were quoted as saying by ‘ABCnews.com’.
The Indian intercept also revealed a possible “sea-borne attack”, it said, citing officials. […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Mumbai: Religious Head Incited Killers
THE al-Qa’ida-linked Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists suspected over the Mumbai massacre were trained in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, and were incited by speeches from their leader in Lahore.
As the sole surviving terrorist was interrogated in Mumbai, security sources told The Australian that 10 terrorists were picked by LET for the suicide mission.
They were ordered to “kill until your last breath” and murder up to 5000 people.
They did so after provocative speeches by Hafiz Mohammed Saeed last month in Lahore, capital of the Punjab.
Saeed, described as LET’s supreme religious and political head, declared in one speech: “The only language India understands is that of force, and that is the language it must be talked to in.”
The email claiming responsibility for the Mumbai attack minutes after it started last Wednesday was generated on a computer based in Pakistan.
And a satellite telephone captured from the terrorists revealed calls made to numbers in Pakistan during the attacks, reports said.
Officials said the terrorists’ route to Mumbai had been recorded on GPS co-ordinates contained in the satellite phones.
| — Hat tip: ACT for America | [Return to headlines] |
Nepal: Muslim Women in the Streets Against ‘Talak’ or Islamic Divorce
Hundreds of divorced Muslim women demand the same rights as men during two days of protest against ‘talak’. Islamic divorce allows husbands to repudiate their wives, throw them out of the house without any support. In Nepalagunj 236 women have been through this experience. Destitute, they are forced to go back to their original family; some are even forced into prostitution.
Kathmandu (AsiaNews) — Hundreds of Muslim women along with their supporters took to the streets of Nepalgunj, a town in western Nepal, to protest against ‘Talak’ or Islamic divorce. The demonstrators, including 465 divorced Muslim women, human rights activists and about 100 Muslim men, marched on 26 and 27 November to demand immediate compensation from the women’s former husbands as well as equal division of assets after divorce.
Many Muslim women said that after divorce they were left with no support. Some said that they had to go back to their original families or find shelter at human rights organisations.
“Muslim men release (talak) their wives from the marriage, i.e. divorce them, but then no one thinks about them,” said Sima Khan, president of the Muslim Awareness Federation, one of the protest groups that organised the demonstration. “Women don’t get any of their husbands’ assets, or any support. This has increased the incidence of divorce in the Muslim community. We must achieve equal rights for these women,” she added.
“My husband divorced me five years ago. Now all my children are with him and I live with my parents,” said Roni Ansari, 39, who marched in the front of the demonstration. “I don’t have anything except a small job for my basic needs. Where will I be if my parents did not allow me to stay with them in my old age?”
Homelessness is in fact a problem for many Muslim women. Some are driven out of their parents’ home once the latter pass away.
“I escaped when my husband and mother-in-law tried to burn me with kerosene,” said Shano Khan, 17, who divorced three months ago. “Now I am staying with my parents who are not that happy for me to live with them. I don’t have a job. What can I do?”
“Many women go hungry or get into prostitution to make ends meet after divorce,” explains Nitu Haluwai, a Muslim human rights activist.
The situation is due to the fact that Nepali Muslims do not adhere to the country’s divorce law which requires both parties’ consent. Instead, under talak if a woman wants to divorce she must ask for her husband’s permission, and then pay him a certain sum.
“The existing divorce law does not respect our religious precepts,” said Nazrul Hassen, president of Nepal’s Muslim National Federation. “We have a different system and therefore do not consider it [the national law] as binding on us.”
As reported by the Nepali Times the situation is dramatic in Nepalganj where 236, mostly rural Muslim women have been divorced by their husbands on the basis of talak.
However, Muslim leader Maulana Abdul Jabbar said that talak, which is based on the Qur’an, has been badly interpreted over the years.
“Divorce proceedings ought to take place in accordance with the law but without transgressing religious values,” he said.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Pak TV Channel Says 26/11 Hatched by Hindu Zionists
[Video]
NEW DELHI: Mumbai’s 26/11 was actually a plan hatched by “Hindu Zionists” and “Western Zionists”, including the Mossad, said a self-styled Pakistan
security expert on a Pakistan news television show, uploaded on www.hotklix.com.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Death Toll Rises After Three Days of Violence in Karachi
Karachi, 1 Dec. (AKI) — At least 11 people were killed and several others were wounded on Monday on the third day of violence to strike the Pakistani city of Karachi. The death toll climbed to 40 while over 180 people sustained injuries across the city, the country’s commercial capital.
According to reports on the Pakistani site, Geo News, unidentified attackers torched dozens of vehicles and various buildings in separate incidents.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani and Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah expressed concern about the situation and sought a full report within 24 hours.
Karachi is Pakistan’s commercial capital and home to its main port. It has a long history of political and religious violence and the clashes have raised fears of a return to the bloodshed that plagued the city in the 1990s.
The violence, which broke out on Saturday is between the city’s Urdu-speaking majority and ethnic Pashtuns from northwest Pakistan.
Rivals fought gun battles and burned shops and cars in several parts of the city of 15 million people at the weekend. Clashes continued on Monday.
Provincial interior minister Zulfiqar Mirza told the provincial assembly police and paramilitary forces had been deployed in sensitive areas.
So far, 100 people have been arrested by police in connection with the violence.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Prime Minister of Maharashtra Resigns, as Tension With Pakistan Increases
The BJP maintains that the government “cannot remain in office.” Relations with Islamabad are being made more critical by the statements of the captured terrorist, who is explaining how he was trained in the nearby country. On Wednesday, Rice goes to New Delhi.
Mumbai (AsiaNews/Agencies) — The prime minister of the state of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh, has offered his resignation following the bloody terrorist attack in Mumbai. Deshmukh, a member of the Congress Party, has stated that “if the responsibility of the attacks is on the chief minister, then I will go. The final decision is with the high command.”
The massacre in Mumbai has already led to the resignation of the interior minister, Shivraj Patil. Deshmukh’s offer is a new signal of the negative effect that the attack is having on the party currently in power. The rage among the people appears to favor the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while next year’s elections approach. “It’s too little, too late,” BJP spokesman Prataap Rudy said immediately in commenting on the resignations. “The responsibility should also be collective, and no government has the right to survive after this.”
But there are also some who maintain that, as always happens in times of crisis, the people could consolidate around the government.
But at the moment, the greatest concerns are connected to relations between India and Pakistan. In an attempt to soften these, U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice has announced that she will be in New Delhi on Wednesday. According to the announcement, the visit will be dedicated to the question of security, but it seems certain that Rice will try to lower the tension with Islamabad.
The tension is being increased between the two countries — both armed with nuclear weapons — in part because of the statements attributed to the captured terrorist, according to which he was trained in an Islamist camp in Pakistan, and, during the operation, took his orders from leaders who are also in Pakistan. According to information provided by Indian police officials, who have asked to remain anonymous, the preparation of the attackers was carried out by the group Lashkar-e-Taiba, and guided by a former member of the Pakistani army. The group Lashkar-e-Taiba is believed to operate among Islamic groups in Kashmir, and is considered responsible for the attack in 2001 on the Indian parliament. Security experts maintain that in reality, the group is connected to the military secret service of Islamabad.
On the Pakistani side, from the first moment political representatives have condemned the attack. President Asif Ali Zardari has offered collaboration, and has sent the head of his military secret service. Now, in the face of the increasing rumors about the nationality of the attackers — all believed to be Pakistani — and about connections to his country, Zardari himself has stated that there is no connection between the terrorists and state authorities, and asks that any responsibility not be attributed to his citizens.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The Rabbi and the Terrorists
Why would a terrorist group of Islamists from Pakistan whose primary goal is to have Pakistan gain control of the third of Kashmir that belongs to India and therefore aimed to destabilize India’s major city devote so much of its efforts — 20 percent of its force of 10 gunmen whose stated goal was to kill 5,000 — to killing a rabbi and any Jews with him?
The question echoes one from World War II: Why did Hitler devote so much time, money and manpower in order to murder every Jewish man, woman and child in every country the Nazis occupied? Why did Hitler — as documented by the late historian Lucy Dawidowicz in her aptly named book “The War against the Jews” — weaken the Nazi war effort by diverting money, troops and military vehicles from fighting the Allies to rounding up Jews and shipping them to death camps?
From the perspective of political scientists, historians and contemporary journalists, the answer to these questions is not rational. But the non-rationality of an answer is not synonymous with its non-validity.
For the Islamists, as for the Nazis, the destruction of the Jews — and since 1948, the Jewish state — is central to their worldview.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Muslims Say Protests Over Planned School Are UN-Australian
PROTESTERS fighting to stop an Islamic school opening at Carrara on the Gold Coast have been accused of linking young students to terrorism.
A board member of the planned school slammed the protesters as “un-Australian”.
“It’s not only upsetting, it’s deeply hurtful,” school board trustee Keyser Trad said.
“To make associations between primary school-aged children and terrorists is just hard to even comprehend.
“I’ve never seen this kind of thing in Australia. It’s causing a deep wound in our hearts.”
Almost 200 protesters gathered outside the Gold Coast City Council chambers on Monday to demonstrate their objection to the planned Carrara school, with placards, Australian flags, chants and a sound system booming out Aussie rock anthems.
Some of the protesters claim the school would foster segregation, or even potential terrorists, comments that angered Mr Trad and disappointed some local councillors.
Mr Trad, who also serves on the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, said religion should not be a reason for protesting against the school.
“The kids who would go to this school and their parents are normal, everyday people who just happen to be Muslim,” he said…
| — Hat tip: DK | [Return to headlines] |
Protesters Rally Against Islamic School
PROTESTERS have swarmed the Gold Coast City Council headquarters, and with blaring rock anthems vented anger over a planned Muslim school.
Almost 200 residents turned out for the demonstration, draped in Australian flags and shouting pro-Aussie slogans while Australian rock classics such as Down Under and Great Southern Land boomed across the parkland, The Courier-Mail reports.
Australian International Islamic College, planned for Carrara, has raised the ire of residents who fear it will lead to the local Muslim population withdrawing from the rest of the community.
A rally last week attracted about 400 people, while people turned out yesterday carrying placards bearing slogans such as “no Muslim school, hell no” and “integration, not segregation”.
Resident’s spokesman Tony Doherty said Muslim schools did not encourage multiculturalism.
“It’s segregation, not integration,” he said.
“They’re not trying to integrate into the rest of society.
“Since we have started protesting against this our churches have been covered in hate-filled graffiti.”
He denied it was hypocritical to oppose Muslim and not Christian schools.
“Catholics aren’t a different culture,” he said.
“They are the same as us.”
Some residents say they are opposed to the school more because of parking issues rather than religious grounds.
Mayor Ron Clarke has publicly said he would support the school as long as it satisfies the council’s planning criteria.
The council will not make any decision on the future of the school until next year. If approved, the school is unlikely to open until at least the middle of next year.
| — Hat tip: Nilk | [Return to headlines] |
Homosexuality Editorial Puts 1st Amendment on Trial
Woman sues after she was fired for saying being ‘gay’ is not same as being black
A woman is suing the university where she worked for firing her over a privately written newspaper commentary expressing her Christian views on homosexuality.
Crystal Dixon, the former associate vice president of human resources at the University of Toledo, was fired in May after she objected to an opinion article in the Toledo Free Press that compared striving for “gay rights” with the civil rights struggles of black Americans.
Dixon responded with a Free Press editorial of her own, written not in her capacity as a university employee but as a private citizen.
“As a Black woman,” Dixon wrote, “I take great I take great umbrage at the notion that those choosing the homosexual lifestyle are ‘civil rights victims.’ Here’s why. I cannot wake up tomorrow and not be a black woman. I am genetically and biologically a black woman and very pleased to be so as my Creator intended.”
University of Toledo President Lloyd Jacobs immediately suspended Dixon and condemned her statements. Within days, Dixon was fired.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hamas Leader Khaled Mash’al: Within Several Years, the World Will Submit to Arab and Islamic Will
[MEMRI Video]
Following are excerpts from a public address delivered by Hamas Leader Khaled Mash’al, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on October 12, 2008:
Khaled Mash’al: All the peoples say “no” to American hegemony. Therefore, our nation is doing well, and is capable of achievements, even in difficult times. Great nations always face many challenges.
[…]
The world today is turning to an international policy that is based on multipolarity. Look how Allah made a laughingstock of America. I tell you, brothers and sisters, the Arabs and the Muslims are second only to Allah in transforming international policy from unipolarity to multipolarity. This is taking place thanks to Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and to all the steadfast resistance forces of our nation. Today, Chavez defies the U.S, even though he lives in its backyard, while we, tens of thousands of miles away, fear America?
[…]
It has been proven that this oppressive world, which is based on usury and tyranny… Within moments, Allah makes all these systems collapse. What is important is that when Allah observes his slaves, He sees that they are taking action on the ground. Then, He mobilizes the entire universe to help them. Otherwise, how are we to believe the hadith that tells us that the trees and the stones will fight on our side? The day will come, within several years, when this world will change, submitting to the Arab Islamic will, Allah willing.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
MB Goes Rural
Hossam Tammam
Rather than merely taking advantage of rural popularity, it is rural ways that are influencing the Muslim Brotherhood, writes Hossam Tammam*
The May 2008 elections of the Muslim Brotherhood Guidance Bureau show that the group has undergone a major transformation. The Muslim Brotherhood used to be an urban group in its membership and style of management. Now its cultural patterns and loyalties are taking on a rural garb. As a result, the Muslim Brotherhood is losing the clarity of direction and method it once had.
Over the past few years, the Muslim Brotherhood has been infused with rural elements. Its tone is becoming more and more patriarchal, and its members are showing their superiors the kind of deference associated with countryside traditions. You hear them referring to their top officials as the “uncle hajj “, “the big hajj “, “our blessed one”, “the blessed man of our circle”, “the crown on our heads”, etc. Occasionally, they even kiss the hands and heads of the top leaders. Not long ago, a Muslim Brotherhood parliamentarian kissed the hand of the supreme guide in public.
These patterns of behaviour are new to the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that emerged and operated mostly in an urban context…
* The writer is an expert in Islamic movements.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
‘We Thought We Were Safe… Then CNN Stepped in!’
Nov 29 2008 South Wales Echo
A SOUTH Wales couple caught in the Mumbai terror attacks claimed last night that CNN put their lives at risk by broadcasting where they were.
Lynne and Kenneth Shaw, of Penarth, warned that terrorists were listening in to the media to pinpoint Western victims.
Mrs Shaw claimed the American cable TV channel had broadcast details of where they were at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.
| [Return to headlines] |
4 comments:
Israelis Desecrate Mosques and Muslim Graves
Wow! You have to wonder what sort of incredible outrage would ensue if those Jewish settlers had - for instance - fired some rockets towards those Palestinian municipalities. Perish the effing thought.
To say that American main stream media has failed to report what is "the story of the century" is an UNDERSTATEMENT. Their cover-up is treasonous. In the event the Supreme Court ultimately determines that Obama cannot be President -- not qualifying as an Article II "natural born citizen" -- the msm will be the blame for any civil unrest by failing to prepare the American public.
Watch this -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQnL2IwyUAs
Ted, why is it not in the news? No one, not even Fox News is bringing anything up about Obama's possible ineligibility for President. Why the hush hush? Are they trying to avoid some sort of firestorm set off if Obama is not eligible? Will his supporters still insist Obama be President even though he may be ineligible? When I tell people about the controversy happening behind the scenes, no one can understand why it is not in the news.
Joanne, the MSM dragged their guy across the finish line into the presidency, no, carried him on their shoulders while running alongside mopping his face and all the horse manure from his ugly associations.
Do you really think they're going to expose the illegitimacy of THEIR candidate? They're hoping (and probably with some justification) that leftist rot has made enough inroads in the judiciary that his disqualification from even candidacy and therefore their own treasonous complicity will never become widely known.
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