Pakistani Terrorist Responsible for Mumbai Massacre Vows More Jihad

From the Zopag News Network:

Ajmal Kasab, the terrorist caught in the Mumbai terror attacks of September 26 has confessed to the court of his offence.

He showed no remorse in his confession statement. The Pakistan based terrorist said that future Jihadis will get inspired from his actions.

Magistrate told that his confession was voluntary and not done under any kind of stress.

Kasab had bared the role of Lashkar-e-Taiba in his confession saying that LeT chief Hafeez Saeed, the outfit's chief of operations Zaki-Ur-Rehman Lakhvi and its member Abu Hamza had trained the accused persons in various parts of Pakistan in military exercises and intelligence training.

Kasab had said that the LeT chief had told them that time had come for Jihad and their ultimate goal of capturing Jammu and Kashmir could be achieved by attacking India. They were told to go to Mumbai and indiscriminately fire at people, killing as many as they could. Mumbai was the target because it is a financial hub and attracts foreign tourists.

The attack, in which over 160 people including some foreigners were killed, was a proxy war on India and aimed at destabilising the country.

Kasab is involved in seven cases - murder of crew of marine vessel `Kuber' including its navigator, CST firing, Cama Hospital firing, gunning down three police officers, a taxi bomb explosion in Vile Parle, theft of a Skoda car and a policeman's murder at Chowpatty.

The other militants along with Kasab, killed by security armed forces, were involved in firing at Taj Mahal Hotel, Oberoi Hotel, Leopold Cafe, Nariman House and taxi bomb blast at Mazgaon.

Islamic extremists in Somalia hunting Christians

From MNN Online:

Somalia (MNN) ― Somalia's Muslim militants are hunting down converts to Christianity. According to Voice of the Martyrs Canada, Al-Shabaab members have murdered 14 believers since July 15.

Compass Direct News reports the September 15 shooting death of 69-year-old Omar Khalafe, an underground Christian who had Bibles in his possession.

On the day of his death, Khalafe was carrying 25 Somali Bibles he hoped to deliver to an underground fellowship in Somalia. At a checkpoint controlled by al Shabaab--a rebel group linked with al Qaeda which has taken over large parts of the war-torn country--bus passengers were ordered to disembark for inspection.

Voice of the Martyrs Canada and Compass Direct reports agree on the events following the discovery of the Bibles.

The assailants used photos they found to determine if they could match the faces to any passengers. When they noticed a resemblance to Khalafe, they asked if the Bibles were his. The radicals shot and killed him when he did not respond.

Militants then displayed his body in Merca along with the Bibles as a warning to others. Later that day, a militant reported Khalafe's death on a radio program.

Khalafe, who had been a Christian for 45 years, was active in sharing the Good News and baptizing converts from Islam.

Khalafe's family is in mourning, but due to the risk of exposure, his wife and seven children were unable to participate in his burial because of the risk of being killed by militants, reports Compass Direct....

Divorce by SMS Rife Among Tajik Muslim Migrants

From MED India:

Divorce actually means more than an end of marriage - it causes untold mental anguish, especially if the spouse never saw it coming.

Nodira knew that life would be difficult when her husband left their home in Tajikistan for a job packing lorries in distant Russia, but they had two children and needed the money to survive.

What she never imagined was that their marriage would end, not with a bang or even a whimper, but with the tinny beep of a message on the inbox of her mobile phone.

"Talaq, talaq, talaq" -- three short Arabic words flashed across the tiny screen and 29-year-old Nodira was divorced.

"I was shocked after reading that SMS. I instantly thought it was a mistake or someone's evil joke. I had bad thoughts in my mind, I wanted to hang or drown myself, or drink vinegar from such shame," she said.

Stuck working abroad for years at a stretch to escape Tajikistan's crushing poverty, some men have begun divorcing their wives using short mobile text messages (SMS), sowing confusion, heartbreak and destitution back home.

"What did I do wrong?" Nodira wonders. "This question is still torturing me. I was looking after my husband's parents, was cleaning the yard, washing, cooking for a big family. Everything was on me all these years."

Tajikistan, a deeply conservative majority-Sunni Muslim country whose rugged mountain peaks form the soaring borders of Afghanistan and western China, has the dubious distinction of being Central Asia's poorest state.

Taliban roadway attacks spread fear in Afghanistan

From the AP, via Yahoo News:

KABUL – Taliban militants are sowing fear along Afghanistan's highways with stepped-up checkpoints, hijackings and bombs — including one Tuesday that killed at least 30 bus passengers in the south. Afghan authorities say the attacks, often carried out by only a handful of militants, are part of a psychological campaign to convince civilians that Taliban control is spreading.

"It is quite possible for a group of three to five insurgents to come out on the highway and attack a convoy," said the Interior Ministry spokesman, Zemarai Bashary. "Maybe thousands of people will travel that day and they are watching that convoy burning."

Militants are planting more roadside bombs than ever, killing far more Afghan civilians than Afghan or coalition soldiers. The bombings — and ambushes with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades — are increasingly taking place on main roads against trucks and buses.

Some attacks are in areas where Taliban have long held sway, such as Kandahar, the group's spiritual birthplace, but others are in regions where militant activity has risen only recently, such as in the north.

Earlier this week, militants at a checkpoint in eastern Afghanistan ambushed a convoy loaded with construction materials, killed six drivers, kidnapped one and left their trucks burning by the roadside. The same day, a crowded van hit a roadside bomb in northern Faryab province, killing six people.

The bomb on Tuesday struck the crowded bus as it was traveling from the western province of Nimroz to Kandahar city, a trip that winds through some of the country's most dangerous districts in Helmand and Kandahar provinces.

The attack, on the outskirts of Kandahar city, killed 30 people and wounded 39 others, said Sardar Mohammad Zazai, Kandahar's provincial police chief. Officials said the bus driver came upon a NATO team clearing mines and pulled off onto a parallel unpaved road where the bomb was hidden.

"An explosion hit the bus. I don't know what happened. When I came to, I got out of the bus and saw that the bus was totally wrecked," Lal Jan, a survivor, said at Kandahar's hospital.

An elderly woman named Zulaikha Bibi wept over the death of her daughter-in-law. Two of her nephews were wounded....

New United Nations General Assembly President calls homosexuality 'unnacceptable'

Nothing quite like the bunch in the United Nations.

From Pink News:

The newly-installed president of the United Nations General Assembly, Ali Abdussalam Treki, has said that homosexuality is "not really acceptable".

Treki, who is the Libyan secretary of African Union Affairs, opened the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly Friday with a press conference.

One question concerned the UN resolution which calls for the universal decriminalisation of homosexuality.

In reply, Treki said: "That matter is very sensitive, very touchy. As a Muslim, I am not in favour of it . . . it is not accepted by the majority of countries. My opinion is not in favour of this matter at all. I think it's not really acceptable by our religion, our tradition.

“It is not acceptable in the majority of the world. And there are some countries that allow that, thinking it is a kind of democracy . . . I think it is not,” he added.

The ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs committee, Florida's Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, told On Top Magazine: "The anti-gay bigotry spewed by this Qaddafi shill demonstrates once again that the UN has been hijacked by advocates of hate and intolerance."

Israel to Swap 20 Terrorists for Hamas Video of Abducted Soldier

It's rather clear here that Israel values life a whole lot more than Palestinian terrorists. Still, swapping 20 Hamas terrorists for a video of a soldier doesn't seem all that logical. While Gilad Shalit's mother is making overtures of peace to the entire world, 20 mothers from hell who are also Palestinian terrorists have been released from prison with the likelihood of attempting terror attacks again.

From Adnkronos:

(AKI) - Israel is set to receive fresh video footage of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit proving he is alive in exchange for the release of 20 female Palestinian prisoners.

Shalit has been held in the Gaza Strip since his abduction in 2006 by Palestinian militants.

The video will be handed over after a decision by Israel's security cabinet to release 20 Palestinian women held in Israeli jails, Israeli daily Haaretz said on Wednesday.

The video will be viewed as definite proof that Shalit is still alive.

A statement by the office of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it expects the deal to be carried out on Friday.

"According to the proposal by mediators, Israel will receive updated and unequivocal proof of Shalit's condition," the statement by the prime minister's office said. It did not specify a date for the release of the female prisoners.

Sources quoted by Israeli media say German mediators have already viewed the video which appears to have been filmed in recent weeks.

According to Arab sources, the armed wing of the militant Hamas movement, the Izzedin al-Qassam Brigades has confirmed the deal.

Shalit has been held captive by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip for almost three years. He was seized by militants in a cross-border raid on 25 June 2006.

Police investigators need training to remove common flaws in honor killing cases

From Pakistan's The News:

Defective investigation is one of the reasons behind acquittal of the perpetrators of killings in the name of honour. Police investigators need to be trained to remove common flaws in the investigation of honour killing cases and to improve overall capacity building of the officers in the field of crime investigation. These views were expressed by Abdul Khalique Shaikh, DIG East, on Monday, following the inaugural of a five-day training workshop by the IG Sindh Police.

The event is part of the ‘Prevention of Karo-Kari Project’ initiated by the Sindh Police Department, under the auspices of the Gender Justice Unit of the United Nations Development Project (UNDP). DIG Shaikh, who is also the focal person of the project, observed that most of the murder cases do not end up in conviction in the courts leaving a conviction rate not more than two per cent.

The province of Sindh has the highest incident rate of Honour Killings that is more prevalent in rural areas of the province, though an increasing trend of incidence of this crime is being reported in urban and sub-urban areas too. The rate is higher in upper Sindh.

“Karo-Kari is not only a gross human rights violation but it also contributes to accentuate personal and tribal feuds, leading to serious policing problems in the province,” observed DIG Shaikh. He opined that police officers have been treating honour killings as any other murder case and therefore they need to be sensitised about the complicated aspects of investigation in such cases.

Some 26 police officers are participating in the workshop from various districts of Sindh that include Sukkur, Ghotki, Khairpur, Naushero Feroze, Larkana, Shahdadpur, Nawabshah, Sanghar and Tando Allah Yar.

The core objective of the workshop is to achieve a paradigm shift in the way the police officers perceive and deal with the cases of karo-kari while creating a team of capable, motivated and professional master trainers who would train other police officers in various districts.

Moreover, it aims to sensitise the trainees on the issue of violence against women thereby providing them an in-depth knowledge of the human rights’ concept while making them familiar with the international Human Rights standards for law enforcement officers.

It would also explore possibilities of better victim handling and victim protection mechanisms while making the under-training officers aware about preventive policing and preventive strategies pertaining to honour killing cases.

Earlier, Dr Ishaque Sarhandi spoke on the psychological perspective of violence against women and linked it to the responsibilities of the police. MPA Humera Alwani also shared her views on the matter.

The observers included women parliamentarians, city councillors and representative of different NGOs. They were of the view that the event would be a good opportunity for police officers of various ranks to improve their skills related to investigation of honour killing cases and get an insight into various aspects of violence against women and police responsibilities in preventing such incidents and, professional and just handling of the cases.

It may be worth mentioning here that this workshop is Phase-I of the training for police officers dealing with the Honour Killing cases. The officers who have been trained in this phase would be titled as ‘Master Trainers’ who will further train (as Phase-II of the training) police officers in their respective districts.

Polygamy club woos Malaysia

From the Associated Press:

RAWANG, Malaysia — When she was practicing law, Kartini Maarof once went beyond the call of duty for her divorce client.

She arranged for Rohaya Mohamad, a mother of seven, to be married again — to Kartini's own husband.

The spouse they have shared for a decade is 43-year-old Ikramullah Ashaari, who has four wives and 17 children. His 72-year-old father has 38 offspring from five marriages, without ever having flouted Islam's prescribed limit of four wives at a time.

Polygamy is legal for Muslims in Malaysia, though not widespread. The Ashaari clan believes it should be. Last month it launched a "Polygamy Club" that claims the noble aim of helping single mothers, reformed prostitutes and women who feel they are past the marrying age.

"We want to change the way people perceive polygamy, so that it will be seen as something beautiful instead of something disgusting," said Hatijah Aam, the founder of the club. She is the fourth wife of Ikramullah's father, Ashaari Muhammad.

Polygamy may seem out of place in an Asian democracy proud of its skyscrapers, high-tech skills and go-getter economy. But it retains a foothold in this Muslim-majority country of 27 million where piety is deeply embedded and Muslims can be arrested for drinking alcohol or consorting with the opposite sex unless a couple is married.

The government also polices religious practice. Ashaari, the family patriarch, used to head an Islamic sect that was banned in 1994 as heretical because it projected Ashaari as an absolver of sinners.

Most of the Polygamy Club members belonged to the sect, and there's nothing illegal about how they live now, so long as they're Muslims. For the one-third of the population that isn't Muslim, polygamy is unlawful.

The practice used to be more common but has dwindled to an estimated 2 percent of all Muslim marriages as women have become freer and careers have opened up for them.

The polygamists point out that the Prophet Muhammad is thought to have married about a dozen women in his lifetime, including widows in need of protection.

"Some people treat polygamy as a laughing matter because they do not fully comprehend it," says Ikramullah, a jovial businessman and son of his father's first wife. "But a community that practices it would know that it is not bizarre. In fact, you would be teased if you were a man with only one wife."

The club claims to number 300 husbands and 700 wives. It hopes to cultivate examples of happy households to counter women's rights activists who say some spouses and children suffer in polygamous marriages. Club members say polygamy deters adultery and would improve the marriage prospects of ex-prostitutes if more men were available to marry them.

But Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, the Muslim female minister in charge of family policy, says polygamy "is not a culture that is encouraged in our society."

Sisters in Islam, an advocacy group campaigning against polygamy, says it isn't good for women.

"If people choose to be monogamous, there are enough men for every woman," it said in a statement to The Associated Press.

One opponent of polygamy is a 42-year-old business executive who asked to be identified only as Sharifah. She said she threatened to divorce her husband of nearly 15 years after he told her last year that he had fallen in love with a divorced mother of three, felt she needed help, and wanted to marry her.

"I felt like my fairy tale had ended," Sharifah said. "He was my soul mate. ... I couldn't believe it was happening. Then I started to scream at him."

She said some people told her that agreeing to a second wife would secure her place in heaven. But Sharifah, the breadwinner for her two children and jobless husband, refused to give in. The couple underwent marriage counseling and Sharifah's husband has promised not to marry the other woman....

Read it all here.

Brave Jammu girl takes on six terrorists, kills one

From IBN News:

A girl in Jammu's Rajouri district has given women the strength to stand up against attacks by terrorists.

Young Ruksana Kausar proudly shows off the AK-47 which saved her from six terrorists who attacked her.

The brave girl snatched the assault rifle from one of the terrorists, shot one to death, injured another and send the others running for their lives.

It helped that Ruksana was trained by the village defence committee how to fire a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

"I pushed a terrorist into the wall. I hit him with the butt of the gun and then fired several times," says Ruksana.

The six suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists had barged into her home on Sunday evening asking her family to hand her over.

When her parents refused they were beaten up. Then her brother attacked the terrorists with an axe and Ruksana went for a terrorist's gun.

The police got to know of it only after the fight was over.

"These people handed us the weapons and informed us about the encounter," says Shabbir Choudhary, SP, Rajouri.

Ruksana's family now fear retaliatory attacks from the terrorists and has asked the local police and the Army to protect them.

Egypt anger over virginity faking

From BBC:

A leading Egyptian scholar has demanded that people caught importing a female virginity-faking device into the country should face the death penalty.

Abdul Mouti Bayoumi said supplying the item was akin to spreading vice in society, a crime punishable by death in Islamic Sharia law.

The device is said to release liquid imitating blood, allowing a female to feign virginity on her wedding night.

There is a stigma about pre-marital sex in conservative Arab societies.

The contraption is seen as a cheap and simple alternative to hymen repair surgery, which is carried out in secret by some clinics in the Middle East.

It is produced in China and has already become available in other parts of the Arab world.

The device is reported to be on sale in Syria for $15.

Professor Bayoumi, a scholar at the prestigious al-Azhar University, said it undermined the moral deterrent of fornication, which he described as a crime and one of the cardinal sins in Islam.

Members of parliament in Egypt have also called for banning import of the item.

Muslim World League Uses Widely Distributed English Language "Journal" to Peddle Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theory

From the ADL:

The Muslim World League (MWL), which has been trying to position itself as the leading entity representing Muslims in international interfaith efforts, is tainted by the anti-Semitic themes it promotes through its English-language Journal.

The May 2009 issue of The Muslim World League Journal, which is distributed worldwide, features a shocking cover story propagating conspiracy theories about Jewish control of media. The phrase 'Control of World Media' appears on the cover next to a large blue and white baseball cap - adorned with the Star of David - sitting atop a globe.

The cover story, titled "Six Companies Control the World's Media," appears to be an updated version of an article widely circulated on anti-Semitic Web sites for several years. Based on an original piece written by William Pierce, the former head of the neo-Nazi national Alliance, the article names individuals heading media companies with the epithet 'Jew' or 'Jewess,' reads:

One might conclude that the sheer number of different newspapers across America would provide a safeguard against Jewish control and distortion. However, this is not the case…it also illustrates the insatiable appetite Jews have shown for all the organs of opinion control on which they could fasten their grip.

The article claims that American newspapers "are so thoroughly dependent upon Jewish adverting revenue that their editorial and news reporting policies and largely constrained by Jewish likes and dislikes."

The editorial in the May issue of the Journal, written by Hassan Al-Ahdal, Chief Editor of the Journal, further endorses the anti-Semitic conspiracy theory. "In this issue," Ahdal writes, "we carry an article that exposes the myth of neutral journalism. Through deception and deceit the world media is controlled by the few and what gets print is what they want."

Although the Journal includes a disclaimer saying that the views expressed in its pages do not necessarily represent those of the MWL, it consistently reports on the activities of the MWL and its secretary general, Abdullah Al-Turki, who is listed on masthead of each issue and is a contributing writer.

The Journal, first published in 1974, claims to be a "useful and authentic source of information on issues of concern to our worldwide community, providing Muslim viewpoints to its readers on the various developments taking place in today's world."

Despite paying lip service to themes of 'tolerance' and 'peace,' the Journal has a long record of demonizing Jews, Christians and Hindus by a number of regularly contributing writers for many years.

For example, in a September 2004 article, "Muslim World's Foremost Challenge," Journal contributor, Sidheeque M. Asainar, wrote:
The arrogance of the Jews has transgressed all limits; they have become obsessed with murder and bloodshed of innocent people; they have no conscience, and no sense of humanity in them. They are committing massacres in cities and refugee camps very frequently; they are deliberately mutilating bodies, thinking that this will end the determination and will of the Muslim national to struggle.

Another frequent contributor to the Journal, Nora Ahmed, alleged in a July 2004 article that the Israeli societal structure has its foundation in Nazism: "The Zionists managed to develop a racist society on the basis of the Nazi system, which believed in a superior race and people. In this case the Zionists saw non-Jews as lower races of people and that anything is justified to remove them from their newly established state."

The MWL is a Saudi-based international organization that promulgates a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam around the world through a large network of charities and affiliated organizations. Its ideological backbone, however, is based on an extremist interpretation of Islam and several of its affiliated groups and individuals have been linked to terror-related activity.

Christians are ‘crucified’ in guerrilla raids

By Simon Caldwell of the UK Catholic Herald:

Marauding bands of guerrillas have crucified seven Christians during a series of raids on villages in Sudan.

One of the men was tied to a tree and mutilated while six other victims were nailed to pieces of wood fastened to the ground and killed.

Villagers who found their bodies near the town of Nzara said it was like a "grotesque crucifixion scene".

Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio has now appealed for international help to stop the attacks by members of the Lord's Resistance Army.

He said his government appeared powerless to prevent attacks by members of the guerrilla force based in northern Uganda. He spoke out after a spate of killings and abductions in two towns near the borders of the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In one instance guerrillas stormed into Our Lady Queen of Peace church in Ezo during a novena prayer and desecrated the Host, the altar and the building before abducting 17 people mostly in their teens and 20s. One of the captives was later tied to a tree and killed while 13 others in the group are still missing, according to Aid to the Church in Need, a charity helping persecuted Christians.

The bishop said the attack, which happened on the feast of the Assumption, was "a huge shock to us".

"It was hard to take in the fact that we were so exposed to such a risk," he said. "The attackers clearly wanted to harm the people because they knew they were at prayer.

"Afterwards people kept coming to me with such suffering in their eyes, begging me to do something about the situation - to get back their children and grandchildren who have disappeared."

Bishop Hiiboro said that the attack in Ezo was part of a cycle of violence that could only be broken with international cooperation "The government here cannot make a real difference to the Lord's Resistance Army problem," he said. "They kept promising that they had the issue under control but now we see the reality. Nobody is coming to our aid. We are asking those who are responsible in the international community to do something about it."

A week after the first attack six people were ambushed in a forest near to the town of Nzara and killed after they were nailed to pieces of wood fastened to the ground. At about the same time a further 12 people were abducted from a village close to Nzara.

Bishop Hiiboro responded by ordering three days of prayer, culminating in some 20,000 people walking more than two miles barefoot in sackcloth and ashes in silent protest at the alleged government inaction to increase security in the region. Government ministers from the state capital, Yambio, and Juba, the provincial capital of south Sudan, took part in the event and said they would try to increase the police presence in the region.

Bishop Hiiboro has also written to the government in Khartoum, the capital, to remind officials that under the civil war peace settlement the regime has a duty to protect the south of Sudan as well as the north.

Sudan is predominantly Muslim in the Arab north of the country but the black tribal people of the south are mostly either Christians or animists.

The Lord's Resistance Army has waged war against the Ugandan government since 1987 but often forays into other neighbouring African countries. It has a reputation for extreme violence including random murder, abduction, mutilation, sexual enslavement of women and children, and forcing children to participate in hostilities. The group is considered a terrorist organisation by the United States.

It was founded and is led by Joseph Kony. He has formed the guerrillas into a religious cult based on a blend of Christianity, traditional African religion and witchcraft. He claims to be a spokesman of God and a "medium" of the Holy Spirit.

Suicide bombs kill 16, wound about 150 in Pakistan

From the Associated Press:

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Two suicide car bombs killed 16 people and wounded about 150 others in separate attacks in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, just days after the Taliban warned suicide strikes were coming if the military pressed forward with an offensive. A third bomb injured four in the restive region.

Pakistan's mountainous, lawless northwest region along the Afghan border — where the government holds little control — is a favored area for insurgents to plan attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, as well as on Pakistani security forces and government workers.

A suicide bomb was detonated outside a bank affiliated with the army in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, police said. Ten people were killed and 79 wounded, said Sahibzada Mohammed Anis, a senior government official.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw vehicles overturned by the blast, buildings gutted and glass scattered everywhere. Most of the casualties were customers in the bank or people loitering outside.

"We saw body parts in the car and our investigation confirms it was a suicide attack," said Malik Shafqat, a police official in Peshawar. He said the attacker also threw a hand grenade before detonating the bomb but it didn't explode.

A suicide blast also hit a police station in the province's Bannu district earlier Saturday, killing at least six people and wounding nearly 70 others, police said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.

A third bomb exploded in the northern town of Gilgit, wounding four people, Pakistan's SAMA news channel quoted local police Chief Ali Sher as saying. He described it as a "low-intensity bomb" but provided no further details.

The latest strikes came two days after the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan said it was ready to stage more suicide attacks in the region after it was ousted from the Swat Valley in July by an army offensive....

Read it all here.

Muslim Convert to Christianity Prevented From Leaving Egypt

From the Assyrian International News Agency:

Egyptian authorities have prevented Maher El-Gowhary, a Muslim-born Christian convert, from leaving the country. He was detained at Cairo Airport. His passport confiscated and he was advised that he is barred from traveling on orders from a 'higher authority'.

Maher and his 15-year-old daughter, Dina, who also embraced Christianity, were traveling to China on 17th September 2009, on a two-week holiday.

Ibrahim Habib, chairman of United Copts GB, who spoke with El-Gowhary during his detainment at the airport, said that Maher was treated very badly by airport security, and was told of his travel ban "less than an hour before departure."

Human rights lawyer Nabil Ghobrial joined Maher at the airport. He filed an incident report at the airport police station. According to Ghobrial it is against the law to prevent a citizen from traveling unless there is a legal reason. He says the so-called 'higher authority' should have been named and that his client will file a lawsuit against the Prime Minister and the Interior Minister, besides a compensation lawsuit for damages.

In an aired interview with Coptic News Bulletin on September 17, Maher El Gowhary said "The authorities are trying to pressure us [he and his daughter] to convert back to Islam, but this will never happen, even if we have to live on the streets. We love our Lord Jesus, and we have left Islam for good."

On August 4, 2008, after 34 years of practicing Christianity, 57-year-old Maher El-Gohary, whose Christian name is Peter Athanasius, filed the second ever lawsuit of a Muslim-born Egyptian against the Egyptian Government to officially alter his identification documents to reflect his new Christian identity. He lost the case on June 13, 2009 (6-16-2009). Although the verdict is on appeal, he said this usually takes years before being brought to the courts. However, he insists that if he does not win his case in Egypt, he will take it to international courts.

Maher and Dina have been living in hiding ever since he filed his lawsuit, Muslim radicals have called him an apostate and several calls for 'spilling his blood' have been issued. He has to change frequently where he lives, to evade being killed, and friends supply him with food. "We cannot sleep, eat or go out in the street. What have my daughter and I done? we have just filed a lawsuit to get out rights, so why are they holding us against our will?"

He went on to say, "I filed a lawsuit to get my Christian details recorded on my ID, I asked for the same treatment as the Baha'is who could be issued ID cards that didn't identify them by religion. I was refused because I am a Christian." He said that Baha'is are protected by the government, unlike converts to Christianity, who are left on purpose by the government to fend for themselves, in order to be killed. "The State Security incites drug dealers to kill us, as they give them the impression that we are working for police investigations as spies on them. They tried to kill us on several occasions."

"If they give Muslim-born Christians the right to change, I can assure you, that all of Egypt will convert to Christianity." He went on to relate in the Coptic News interview that during the hearings of his lawsuit, Muslim lawyers warned the presiding judge, Hamdi Yassin, that if he allows a change in Maher's case, this would "open the gates of Hell on them," meaning a torrent of Muslims converting to Christianity.

The number of Muslim-born converts to Christianity in Egypt, who are keeping their faith secret, has reached several million. Due to the State Security's persecution, torture and rape, they have established outside Egypt an organization called "Freed by Christ" as well as "Way TV" to speak on their behalf to the West, and expose their sufferings at the hands of State Security. It is headed by the Christian convert Dr. Mohamad Rahouna, ex-dean of the Faculty of Arabic Studies, Minya University, who fled to the United States.

"We, the Christian converts are treated worst than animals. I was able to travel freely before filing the lawsuit," El-Gowhary said "I filed the case for the sake of other converts, who have become tremendous in number, all living underground, among whom there are young girls who will never be able to get married unless a change happens. Personally, I would not benefit out of the lawsuit, but I wanted to get some development in this problem."

Portraying their dire situation he said: "If we forge our documents we are imprisoned, if we file a lawsuit we lose the case and they persecute us. What should we do?" El-Gowhary said.

On September 22, El-Gowhary and his daughter made another attempt to travel to China, but he was again stopped from leaving the country. "I had to make sure that I was really barred from traveling, because I was told nothing officially," he said.

"I really don't know where to go now, our location has now been revealed. I feel so sorry for my daughter, such a young girl staying at home all the time," he said "They will never let us leave and they will never have mercy on us. Our only chance of getting out of the country, is by obtaining a foreign passport."

El-Gowhary believes that external pressure on Egypt would be the best means to achieve any rights for Muslim-born converts to Christianity.

The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) in co-ordination with The United Copts GB, submitted to the UN Human Right Council in its 12th session (September 14 to October 2, 2009) a paper titled "Religious discrimination against converts to Christianity in Egypt," criticizing Egypt and specifically citing the case of El-Gowhary as an example. IHEU calls for all states to eliminate laws which require citizens to specify their religion on official documents and to permit all citizens to freely change their religion or belief without discrimination. It also calls on OIC member states in particular to end discrimination against non Muslims.

Young Girl Protects Herself from Islamic Terrorist

From Thaindian:

In what may be the first ever such act of resistance against militants in Jammu and Kashmir, a young woman in Rajouri district killed one militant and injured and drove away two others who had barged into her house and tried to abduct her, police said Monday.
Rukhsana, who gave up her studies two years ago after failing class tenth, was in her house in Shadhara village in Thana Mandi area of the district, about 190 km north-east of Jammu, when three militants barged in late Sunday night, police in Rajouri said.

The militants demanded Rukhsana be handed over to them, which her father Noor Hussain, mother Rashida and brother Ejaz tried to resist. At this, the militants started hitting the family members with rifle butts. This angered Rukhsana and she picked up an axe and hit one of the militants, killing him. He was later identified as Abu Osama of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

A violent scuffle ensued, in which another militant was injured and he and the third soon fled.

Police officials have commended Rukhsana’s courage, while state Director General of Police Kuldeep Khoda has sent a special message for Rukhsana and said she would soon be rewarded.

“We have also provided police protection to the family,” Deputy Inspector General of Police Rajouri-Poonch range S.D.S. Jamwal told reporters.

Turkey: Women turning to surgery to combat virginity taboos

From Today's Zaman:

Though no figures are kept on the number of hymenoplasty operations conducted each year in Turkey, the medical community agrees that demand is increasing for the “virginity restoration” procedure.

The issue of women's virginity is still an important factor in many relationships in Turkey, affecting women from all social and economic backgrounds and involving complex intersections of cultural and religious values. The failure to maintain virginity until marriage can for a woman mean social alienation, forced marriage with an inappropriate match, physical abuse and even death in some cases. While there is no true way to ascertain whether or not a woman has had intercourse, modern medicine offers the ability for women to ensure cultural validation of her supposed virginity: hymenoplasty, an increasingly popular elective surgery, the morality of which the medical community is divided on.

“The rise in hymenoplasty doesn't mean that the hymen and virginity have gained importance, but indicates that women are increasingly possessed of more spending power and medical knowledge and that physicians are less conservative with regard to these operations,” psychologist Dilek Akıcı Tayanç explained in an interview with Sunday's Zaman. “Women have gained economic strength and knowledge over the years, but this development hasn't enabled them to break the taboos regarding virginity, but to more effectively be able to protect themselves from the results of these taboos.”

A popular İstanbul OB/GYN, agreeing to speak with Sunday's Zaman on the condition that she be identified only as Dr. Ö., performs an average of 10 hymenoplasty operations a month. In addition, she says 20-30 women make their way to her office each month for consultations related to the procedure. The women who eventually elect to undergo the surgery pay Dr. Ö. anywhere from TL 800-3,000 for one of a range of hymenoplasty procedures, which usually lasts 30-40 minutes.

“Most of the women who come here are serious about the procedure, and these stories you hear in the public about women undergoing the option many times -- these mostly aren't true. It does cost a bit of money to have this procedure done, so it's not taken frivolously. I don't ask questions about why women make these choices, I just take their medical histories and present the options to them,” Dr. Ö. says....

Read it all here.

Muslims Riot, Attack Jews in Israel During Holiest Jewish Holiday

From Arutz 7 News:

Gaza terrorists fired three rockets at southern Israel over the course of the Yom Kippur holiday. One rocket landed within Gaza, while two others hit open areas in Israel.

No injuries or damage were reported in the attacks.

On Monday night, the IAF hit a rocket launcher in Gaza. Pilots reported a direct strike on the device, which was loaded and prepared to fire. It is not yet clear if there were casualties in the strike.

In central Gaza, terrorists fired an anti-tank missile at an IDF patrol near the Gaza security barrier. The patrol returned fire. Gaza Arabs reported that two people were lightly wounded by IDF fire. The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a separate incident in central Gaza, terrorists attacked IDF troops with gunfire. No injuries were reported among the soldiers.

In Jerusalem: Firebombings, Arson
Security forces faced attack in Jerusalem as well. In the Isawiya neighborhood in the northern part of the city, Arab rioters attacked Border Police officers. A total of 20 firebombings were reported in the area, as were dozens of rock attacks.

Six officers were lightly wounded; one required hospitalization.

Isawiya rioters also set fire to trees in the neighborhood. Firefighters managed to extinguish the flames.

Police deployed in the nearby Jewish neighborhood of Giva Tzarfatit (French Hill) to ensure that the riots did not spread. Residents of the area reported hearing explosions and yelling from the direction of Isawiya.

In the neighborhood of Mei Shiloach (Silwan), outside Jerusalem's Old City, Arabs threw two firebombs at Jewish homes. One firebomb failed to ignite, while the second caused a fire. No injuries were reported in the attack.

Tensions were high in Jerusalem going into the Yom Kippur holiday due to Arab riots on the Temple Mount the day before. On Sunday, approximately 150 Muslims attacked a group of non-Muslim tourists who entered the Temple Mount as part of a routine tour.

Eighteen police officers and 17 of the attackers were wounded in the subsequent clash. Eleven suspects were arrested. The incident caused rage in much of the Muslim community, and police were on high alert on Sunday and Monday.

Palestinian Arab Children Incited to Kill Jews in Name of Islam

From ANSAmed:

The guests of a television programme for children, broadcast in Gaza by the TV channel controlled by the Islamic movement Hamas, repeatedly said that the "liberation" of Palestine would happen through the "killing" of Jews in Israel.

According to reports on the Israeli internet site Palestinian Media Watch, which monitors Palestinian media, in the children's programme called "Tomorrow's Pioneers", broadcast September 22 on TV Al Aqsa Nassur, a teddy bear-like stuffed animal said to a young guest on the programme named Saraa that all Jews "must be eliminated from our land".

"They will be killed," Saraa said in turn. Nassur then called a child and asked him "what would you like to do to the Jews who killed your father?". "I want to kill them," was the child's answer. Saraa then said "We don't want to do anything to them, only kick them off of our land."


Nassur: "We want to kill them (Nidbah-hom, in Arabic), and so then they would be kicked off of our land, right?".

Saraa: "Yes. It's true. We will kick them off in any way possible." Nassur: "And if they won't leave peacefully, with persuasion and dialogue, them we will have to exterminate them (Shaht, in Arabic)".

It is not the first time that Hamas-controlled TV has broadcast children's programmes with grisly contents using toys, such as Mickey Mouse.

Kuwait: Several held for disco parties, possessing alcohol

From the Arab Times:

KUWAIT CITY, Sept 25: In an operation carried out under the directions of the Assistant Undersecr-etary for Public Security Mj. Gen. Thabet Al-Muhanna, 142 men and women were arrested and some local liquor manufacturing plants were shut down by officials from the Ahmadi governorate during the Eid festivities.

Brigadier Abdul-Fatah Al-Ali took charge of the officials under the supervision of Al-Muhanna. The team first raided three apartments in Abu Halifa, Mangaf and Mahboula where they arrested 51 citizens, Arab and Asian men and women for organising overnight disco parties....

Turkish Actress Investigated for 'Hate Crime'

From ANSAmed:

Famous Turkish entertainer Hulya Avsar is being investigated by an Istanbul prosecutor's office for "inciting hate" with her comments about the government's Kurdish initiative, as daily Hurriet reports. If charged and found guilty by court, Avsar will face up to four and a half years in jail. Avsar, in an interview with daily Milliyet in August, was cautious about the government's efforts to address the grievances of Kurds through more democracy. She had said once the process started, there would be no turning back and that this fact scared her. Avsar, whose father is Kurdish and mother Turkish, said she saw herself as a Turk and noted that Turks naturally did not want their country divided. "However, this shouldn't mean ethnic pressure on Kurds," she had said. She also said that members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, would not return by choice once the Kurdish initiative began. When asked if she supported the government's plans, she said: "I have no idea what it is." When asked by Hurriyet to comment on the investigation, Avsar said she had never felt so insulted. "I thought we lived in a democratic country when I made those remarks," she said as she showed the invitation by the prosecutor's office for questioning. If the reaction to her comments was an investigation, how could the Kurdish initiative make any headway, she asked.

Egyptian Antisemite Loses Bid for UNESCO

From ANSAmed:

Israel is celebrating the appointment of Irina Bokova, Bulgarian ambassador to France, as the new secretary general of UNESCO, beating her competitor Egyptian Faruk Hosni. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said that Israel congratulated Bukova and was "convinced that a fruitful cooperation with UNESCO will continue and deepen." Israel, according to local press, had promised Egyptian Hosni Mubarak that it would not block the candidature of Hosni, Minister for Culture, who has in the past often expressed opinions that are extremely hostile to the Jewish State, even declaring himself prepared to burn works by Israeli writers. Statements, which after his UNESCO candidature, Hosni tried to soften and correct. However, a number of intellectuals from the West, many of whom Jewish, and other countries had openly taken a stand against Hosnìs candidature.

Terror Suspect Targeted 9/11 For New Attack: Feds

From NBC Connecticut:

An Afghan immigrant with ties to Queens and Denver wanted to carry out a massive attack in New York City on the eighth anniversary of 9/11, but the feds foiled the plot, a U.S prosecutor said Friday.

Najibullah Zazi, a 24-year-old airport shuttle driver, was ordered to be transferred from Denver to New York, where he faces charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, after a Denver federal prosecutor made the chilling accusation in court.

"The defendant was in the throes of making a bomb and attempting to perfect his formulation," U.S. Attorney Tim Neff said. He said the suspect "was intent on being in New York on 9/11" for a possible terror attack.

Zazi, who was arrested Saturday, was being held without bail pending his transfer to New York. The federal indictment says Zazi received explosives training from al-Qaeda in Pakistan and bought large quantities of hydrogen peroxide and nail-polish remover at beauty supply stores to make bombs, possibly to detonate on New York City commuter trains.

Zazi has denied any involvement with terror.

Multiple terror plots have been uncovered in cities across the nation, leaving Americans jittery over the prospect that al-Qaeda or like-minded groups may be planning a new campaign on U.S. soil.

Authorities have not said whether the cases are related, but they come during the same week in which the federal Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin to police around the country warning that terrorists could be seeking to blow up sports stadiums, entertainment complexes and hotels. Authorities said no particular plot prompted the bulletin, citing only al-Qaeda's longstanding desire to kill Americans in mass attacks.

In the meantime, seemingly unrelated cases around the nation have grabbed headlines:

* In Dallas, the FBI arrested a Jordanian Thursday who they say tried to blow up a downtown office tower after vowing to wage violent jihad against the U.S. The bomb was a fake, supplied by undercover agents who had been tracking Hosam Maher Husein Smadi.
* In Chicago, a 29-year-old man calling himself "Talib Islam" parked a van full of what he thought were bombs in front of a federal building and tried to detonate it. As with the Dallas case, the bombs were fake, supplied by undercover agents as part of a sting operation.
* Two men charged in North Carolina last month with plotting terrorist attacks overseas also planned to attack the U.S. Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia.
* In Philadephia, transit officials say two unidentified men seen taking photographs of a subway line fled after being questioned by workers. Police don't know if the separate incidents have anything to do with terrorism, but are looking for the men to interview them.

The New York plot seems to have been the farthest along, according to authorities. Federal agents had been monitoring Zazi for months, and say he began plotting as early as August 2008 to "use one or more weapons of mass destruction,'' when he "and others'' traveled from Newark, N.J., to receive explosives training in Pakistan.

"Today's home-grown terrorists are not limiting their violent plans to locations overseas, but instead are willing to set their sights on American citizens and American targets, right here at home," North Carolina U.S. Attorney George E.B. Holding said.

29 Year Old Michael Finton aka Talib Islam Arrested In Chicago Car Bomb Plot

From PipeLine News:

A 29 year old Decatur, Illinois man, Michael Finton, [aka "Talib Islam"] has been arrested in a plot to detonate a car bomb in front of the state capitol.

The apparent Muslim convert, began working with an FBI special agent last year, believing he was a representative of al-Qaeda.

On Wednesday Islam drove a van which he believed contained 1 ton of high explosives and parked it in front of the target. He was immediately arrested.

Read more at the Chicago Tribune.

Judge jails Jihad book editor

From 7 News:

The editor of a do-it-yourself terrorism book that advocated "widespread and indiscriminate loss of life" has been handed a hefty sentence by a Sydney court.

Former Qantas cabin cleaner Belal Saadallah Khazaal has been jailed for a maximum of 12 years, with a non-parole period of nine years, for making a document connected with assistance in a terrorist act and knowing about that connection.

The 110-page book compiled between September 20 and 23, 2003, entitled Provisions Of The Rules of Jihad and published online in Arabic, was a "practical guide to achieving martyrdom".

It contained advice about terrorist acts such as exploding bombs, shooting down planes and assassinating people such as former US president George W Bush.

"It advocated widespread and indiscriminate loss of life, serious injury and serious property damage within the countries identified as enemies of Islam," Justice Megan Latham said in sentencing the man in the NSW Supreme Court.

Dual Australian and Lebanese national Khazaal, 39, has never denied compiling the book from online material but said it was never intended to incite terrorist acts.

He told prison officers that the material was "strictly religious journalism".

On Friday, Justice Latham said she found it "unsurprising" a jury had rejected his defence.

"It beggars belief that a person of average intelligence who had devoted themselves to the study of Islam over a period of some years would fail to register the nature of the material," she said.

Khazaal's lawyers had argued that because he was not involved in planning any specific terrorist act, he should not be charged under the federal government's tough new Terrorism Act.

But Justice Latham disagreed.

"The dissemination of extremist activity, connected or unconnected with a terrorist plot, is caught by the legislative scheme, no doubt because literature of the type sourced by the prisoner is capable of, and has been shown to, foment terrorist activity," she said....

Read it all here.

Afghan women hiding for their lives

Nearly 90 percent of Afghan women suffer from domestic abuse, according to the U.N. From CNN:

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Shameen's brown eyes seem lost as she thinks about the one day she wants to forget, but it is all she can think about.

Still traumatized, she recounts the events that led her to a safe house in Kabul.

She was raped and nearly stabbed to death by her husband just seven days before we met her.

Her lips are quivering and her eyes full of fear.

"He forced himself on me," she said. "All I could do was scream."

She was married off 15 years ago when she was a teenager.

Throughout those years she was tortured and abused, suffering daily beatings with an electrical wire or the metal end of a hammer.

This was her normal life.

"He chased after me with a hammer. He said if I made any noise he would put holes through me," Shameen said.

Shameen and her husband could not conceive a child. And in Afghan society, it seems, the blame always falls on the woman.

After one severe beating, she ran from her home and to the police station. Her husband promised the police he would not attack her anymore, so she gave in and agreed to go back home with him.

Days later, Shameen's husband took her on a trip to visit her sister's grave -- a 15-year-old sister who was burned to death for displeasing her husband.

Shameen says her younger sister was 11 years old when she was forced to marry an older man. He would beat and abuse her until one day he killed her.

As Shameen walked along the graveyard with her husband he took her near a shrine where he forced her to the ground, lifted her burqa and raped her. He then threatened her with a knife and asked her who was going to help her now. She was screaming as he slashed her throat and body.

A passerby saved her.

Now, she has no one to turn to -- not even her own parents. In their eyes, she has brought them shame, an offense punishable by death.

In Afghanistan, a woman is blamed for the injustices she must live through. Shameen says when her sister was killed, her parents turned a blind eye.

She misses her parents and siblings but knows she can never see them again.

"They'll kill me," she said without flinching.

She now hides in a safe house, isolated and alone. Like most Afghan women, she has lost all hope.

Afghanistan is a country where for centuries women have been considered property -- not equals, like the constitution states. They are often beaten, raped and even sold to the highest bidder. There are very few places women can turn to.

Authorities brought Shameen to a shelter run by Women for Afghan Women (WAW). The organization started in New York to provide humanitarian assistance to women who do not know they have rights. Video Watch Abawi's report from the shelter »

In this safe house, WAW is currently providing care, security and an education for 54 women and children.

Nearly 90 percent of Afghan women suffer from domestic abuse, according to the United Nations Development Fund for Women.

Despite that, there are less than a dozen shelters like this one in Afghanistan, usually run by non-governmental organizations.

Abusers are rarely prosecuted or convicted, and most women are afraid to say anything.

"Their mothers are beaten by their fathers. They're beaten by their fathers, by their brothers. It's a way of life," said Manizha Naderi, director of WAW.

Naderi is an Afghan-American who grew up in New York and has returned to Afghanistan to work with other women in hopes of bringing a change, although she said it will take generations.

"They see their mothers being beaten, they see their sisters their aunts, everybody," Naderi said. "So that's what they expect."

It is not just women who suffer.

Hosnia is a smiling eight year old who likes to play with her toys and other young girls at the shelter. She rocks her body on the mat where she sits, the rocking swaying her green plastic earrings as she talks with a muffled sweet voice.

"I have a difficulty," she said, when asked what she is doing at the shelter.

Her smile fades as she remembers the circumstances that brought her here.

Just three years ago when Hosnia was five, she was raped and left for dead outside her home in northern Afghanistan.

Her father found her bloody body floating in a creek. She spent a month in the hospital as her little body recovered from that brutal assault.

Out of love and fear for his daughter's life, Hosnia's dad brought her to this safe house.

According to WAW, her rapist was a young man from an affluent family and quickly released from jail because of bribes and family connections. The organization forced the authorities back on the case and he was then sentenced to six years in a Kabul juvenile prison.

He has three years left in his sentence, and Hosnia's parents fear for their daughter's life.

So the shelter is her home now and the women and children here, her family.

"We will take care of her through adulthood," Naderi said.
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Hosnia's father, a poor farmer, knows the only chance for his girl to have a future in a country where rape victims are punished, is if she grows up here.

This shelter has dozens of heart-wrenching stories; it also houses dozens of women and girls who have the courage to live in a country where one of the biggest dangers is to be a woman.

N.C. family charged with planning to attack Marine base

From the Washington Times:

A homegrown terror plot centering on a North Carolina family planned to target the Marine Corps base at Quantico, Va., according to a superseding indictment unsealed Thursday.

Already charged with plotting to wage jihad overseas, Daniel Patrick Boyd, a Muslim convert, is now accused of obtaining a map of the base at Quantico and with conducting surveillance there to help plan an attack.

Authorities say Mr. Boyd also had armor-piercing bullets that he said were "to attack Americans."

"[Naval Criminal Investigative Service] investigative efforts in support of the FBI's investigation centered on protecting Marine Corps personnel assigned to MCB Quantico during Mr. Boyd's alleged activities," said Owen D. Harris, special agent in charge of the Charlotte Division of the FBI. "These efforts were closely coordinated and supported by MCB Quantico Command to ensure the safety of military and civilian personnel aboard the base."

With the new charges -- conspiracy to murder U.S. military personnel, possession of weapons in furtherance of a crime of violence and providing weapons to a convicted felon -- Mr. Boyd could get life in prison.

Mr. Boyd already faced life in prison as he and six others, including two of his sons, were charged in July with providing material support to terrorists. Authorities say they bought weapons and conducted military-training exercises in North Carolina, all with an eye toward heading overseas to wage holy war for Islam.

Charged along with Mr. Boyd were his two sons, Zakariya, 20, and Dylan, 22. The others charged are Anes Subasic, 33; Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22; Ziyad Yaghi, 21; and Hysen Sherifi, 24.

Zakariya Boyd and Mr. Sherifi also face additional charges along with Daniel Patrick Boyd in the new indictment.

Sabrina Boyd has said her husband and sons are innocent.

"We are ordinary family," she said in a statement released through the Muslim American Society in Raleigh, N.C., shortly after her family members' arrests. "We have the right to justice, and we believe that justice will prevail."

The elder Mr. Boyd was described by investigators as the group's ringleader, who grew frustrated with moderate mosques in North Carolina and began holding services at his home and recruiting others to join his campaign to fight overseas.

It would have been a return trip for Mr. Boyd, according to authorities who said he traveled to Afghanistan where he trained and fought against the Soviet Union between 1989 and 1992. But authorities said Mr. Boyd was also convicted in 1991 of robbing a bank in Pakistan and was sentenced to having a hand and a foot cut off before the verdict was overturned.

"These additional charges hammer home the grim reality that today's homegrown terrorists are not limiting their violent plans to locations overseas," U.S. Attorney George E.B. Holding said Thursday, "but instead are willing to set their sights on American citizens and American targets, right here at home."

Man arrested in alleged attempt to bomb Dallas skyscraper

From WFAA.com:

Police arrested a man Thursday after he allegedly placed an inactive car bomb near Fountain Place at 1445 Ross Avenue in downtown Dallas.

Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, a 19-year-old Jordanian citizen, who has been living and working in Italy, Texas, illegally, was charged with "attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction," authorities said.

Smadi made his first court appearance Friday morning. Smadi mostly looked down as he was led into the courtroom in handcuffs.

Asked whether he understood his rights, Smadi softly answered, "Yes." Smadi waived his right to an immigration hearing and will remain in jail. He is charged with trying to detonate a weapon of mass destruction and face up to life in prison if convicted.

He was appointed a public attorney and an Arabic translator, and a probable cause hearing was set for Oct. 5.

Smadi allegedly drove a truck down into the parking garage below Fountain Plaza Thursday, believing it was packed with ammonium nitrate fertilizer, which was the same material used to blow up the federal building in Oklahoma City.

He left the site in a vehicle driven by an undercover FBI agent. They then drove several blocks away, which was where Smadi used a cell phone that he thought would remotely activate the bomb, authorities said. However, that call went directly to the FBI.

Authorities said Smadi had been under FBI surveillance for some time, after expressing "his desire to commit violent jihad" numerous times, while talking with a group of extremists online. Authorities said he stood out because he said he wanted to serve Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda.

After learning of Smadi, undercover FBI agents were introduced to him as "sleeper cells," read a statement released by James T. Jacks, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas. The three agents swapped messages with Smadi.

"By God who created me, there will not be a retreat at all, even if they take me go to Guantanamo for the rest of my life," a report alleged Smadi wrote under the name "19 Smadi" in March. "I will never forget Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, or any land where the call of 'There is no God but God, Muhammad is God's Messenger is raised.'"

By May 12, agents said Smadi wanted to take action, writing "I want to destroy targets, everything that helps America on its war on Arabs will be targeted."

During several months with the 19-year-old, authorities said they learned he had no connection to other terrorist organizations but was intent on a "self jihad," despite efforts of agents to "reevaluate his interpretation of jihad."

In June, Smadi allegedly listed a group of potential targets in the Dallas area. He considered a Dallas-area airport, although the warrant didn't say whether he meant Love Field Airport or Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Regardless, Smadi found security too tight and settled on a bank, the report stated.

Agents said in July he began to set his focus on a Wells Fargo Bank located inside Fountain Place.

"Smadi stated the credit card is what drives America and he desired to attack one of the main locations," the report read.

"God willing, the strike will be certain and strong," Smadi allegedly wrote on July 16.

Five days later, an undercover agent took Smadi to Fountain Place to look over the area. Believing the agents were terrorists who would give him the truck bomb, Smadi met them to plan the attack that he wanted to take place on September 11th. But, the reports said, Smadi decided to postpone the bombing until after September 24.

Smadi planned on using a vehicle improvised explosive device (VBIED) to bomb Fountain Place at the end of Ramadan. Authorities said agents worked to ensure "the VBIED contained only an inert/inactive explosive device, which contained no explosive materials." The FBI said the public was never in danger....

Read more here.

India protests as US Senate votes to triple aid to Pakistan

From the Times of India:

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: The US Senate on Thursday voted unanimously to triple non-military aid to Pakistan to $1.5 billion per annum till 2014,
triggering fresh concerns for India, which warned that such funds have been diverted to support hostile operations against states and needs to be monitored.

The announcement to the tripling of annual aid from $50 million to $1.5 billion was made by President Barack Obama during his address to a meeting of the 'Friends of Democratic Pakistan' at the UN headquarters in New York, attended by a grouping of 26 countries and international organisations.

Obama's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, called the unanimous vote on Kerry-Luger Bill "a very important step forward" for US-Pakistan ties.

"For the first time in modern era the US congress has made a multi-year commitment to Pakistan," he said.

The Senate's unanimous approval set the stage for action in the House of Representatives, where the measure was introduced hours later for a final vote. It will then be sent to Obama to sign it into law.

Reacting to the Senate's passage of the bill, foreign minister S M Krishna said in New York that India was concerned about it as Islamabad had in the past diverted American aid to bolster its defences against India.

"Consider the statement that has been issued by the former president of Pakistan Musharraf himself where he has said that the aid provided to Pakistan by the US has been used for directing its hostile operations against India," Krishna, who is participating in the opening session of United Nation General Assembly, said.

"It is that statement of President Musharraf that really bothers us," he said, ahead of his meeting with his counterpart Hillary Clinton.

"With respect to the aid that was given to Pakistan we have brought the attention of the government of the United States that India's concern is only that aid has to be appropriated for the purpose for which it is provided by the United States," Krishna said, urging the US to monitor the use of the aid by Pakistan.

In its early drafts, the bill had a condition that Pakistan would not be a base for terrorist attacks against India, but now it has been replaced with a clause on cooperation with Pakistan's neighbours on war against terror.

Somalia suicide bomber may be from Seattle

From The Seattle Times:

Federal investigators are looking into reports that one of the men who detonated a truck bomb in Mogadishu last week that killed 21 peacekeepers was a Somali refugee who had lived in Seattle as recently as 2007.

Two federal law enforcement sources, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said the FBI in Seattle received information last week that indicated that one of the suicide bombers was from Seattle. "We've been looking into it ever since," said one of the sources.

One of the sources, a senior federal law enforcement official, said the FBI is actively investigating whether terrorist groups are recruiting in Seattle's Somali community, one of the largest in the country.

On Tuesday, the radical Islamic Web site www.Dayniile.com reported that at least one of the bombers was a Somali-American who left the United States two years ago, according to a CNN report.

The FBI has already acknowledged that as many as 20 young men have disappeared from the Somali community in Minneapolis over the past two years, many believed to be recruited by people affiliated with the Islamic terrorist group, Al-Shabaab.

At least three Minneapolis men have turned up dead in Somalia, including 27-year-old Shirwa Ahmed, who blew up himself and 29 others in a suicide bombing last fall. It is believed to be the first suicide bombing carried out by a naturalized U.S. citizen.

In July, a 25-year-old graduate of Seattle's Roosevelt High School, AbdifatahYusuf Isse, pleaded guilty in Minnesota to terrorism-related charges in connection with the recruitment efforts in Minnesota. His attorney said in court filings that Isse was being recruited to be a suicide bomber.

Last week, suicide bombers drove vehicles with United Nations markings into the headquarters of an African Union peacekeeping mission in Mogadishu, Somalia. The vehicles blew up inside the compound, killing at least 21 people, the mission said. News reports state that the bombers spoke English.

U.S. al Qaeda Cell Suspected

From the Wall Street Journal:

WASHINGTON -- The terror probe that burst into the spotlight in New York last week may have led authorities to the first active al Qaeda cell uncovered inside the U.S. since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to officials familiar with the matter.

Current and former U.S. officials say the allegations in the case embody their worst fears -- that a legal U.S. resident could quietly leave the country, receive explosives training from al Qaeda in a lawless region of Pakistan, then return to U.S. soil.

Thus far, a 24-year-old Afghan immigrant and two others have been charged only with lying to federal agents in a terrorism investigation. Assessing the conclusions reached by federal authorities, who say they don't know what the group was planning, is difficult. A fuller accounting won't be possible until the men go to trial and possibly not even then.

Hundreds of terrorism-related prosecutions, many for far more serious charges than lying to investigators, have been filed by U.S. authorities since the 9/11 attacks. On numerous occasions, U.S. officials have made startling allegations about terrorism suspects, only to later significantly dial back their rhetoric.

Najibullah Zazi, of Aurora, Colo., is scheduled to appear in federal court in Denver Thursday. His lawyer has rejected allegations that the 24-year-old airport-shuttle driver, a former longtime resident of Flushing, N.Y., was involved with al Qaeda.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation alleges that Mr. Zazi last week admitted receiving explosives training during 2008 from al Qaeda in the tribal areas of Pakistan before returning to the U.S. The FBI said it found an image on Mr. Zazi's laptop computer containing nine pages of handwritten notes on bomb-making and handling, and that the case is connected to a plot to detonate bombs inside the U.S. The scope of the plot and potential targets are unclear.

Prosecutors are expected to ask a judge to hold Mr. Zazi without bond. His father, 53-year-old Mohammed Zazi, also of Aurora, is expected to be released on several conditions, including electronic monitoring. A third man charged with lying to authorities, onetime New York Police Department informant Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, of Flushing, is scheduled to appear before a federal judge in Brooklyn.

U.S. officials caution that there is much they don't know about Mr. Zazi and the other suspects. They also say the current case contains allegations that are highly unusual since 9/11. It appears to be only the second time a U.S. citizen or permanent resident is alleged to have traveled overseas after 9/11 to train with al Qaeda, then come back to live in the U.S. Also, many previous cases were built around paid government informants, which wasn't the case here, officials said.

In connection with the Zazi case, federal investigators are combing records on the purchases of chemicals, particularly hydrogen peroxide, that could be used to make bombs. Peroxide-based explosives were used in a deadly attack on London's subway and bus system in July 2005, and al Qaeda's interest in such explosives has been a top concern for the FBI, according to intelligence assessments made public.

Two U.S. officials said key allegations in the case are more reminiscent of the London and other European plots than any other case seen to date in the U.S. "This appears to be different than any of the previous cases because it looks very similar to what we've seen recently in Europe," one of the officials said.

Current and former officials say Mr. Zazi's profile is also a factor leading them toward their conclusion of an al Qaeda link.

"The best chance for success [al Qaeda leaders] have is to get somebody who is not a visitor, so they come in as a permanent resident or citizen, who knows the culture and how to move around, who doesn't have a record, so as not to get picked up in a database," said a former senior U.S. official. Mr. Zazi is a legal permanent resident of the U.S.

That is similar to a profile FBI Director Robert Mueller called his top-tier concern when he testified before the Senate in September 2007 following the release of a special National Intelligence Estimate on the threat of terrorism inside the U.S.

Mr. Mueller said his greatest concern was the desire by al Qaeda to train operatives in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area, where Mr. Zazi allegedly received his training in explosives, and "insert such individuals in the United States."

Netanyahu Condemns U.N. for Allowing Ahmadinejad to Deliver Address

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the UN for allowing Iran's Ahmadinejad to deliver a hateful address at the United Nations. It's also important not to forget the brutalization of Iranian Jews and that over three-quarters of them have fled from Iran in the last thirty years along with other religious minorities. This is also true for the wider Middle East as most of the native Middle Eastern Jews reside in Israel today. These former Mid-Eastern refugees make up more than half of Israel's population. Smaller numbers of Mid Eastern Jews, Baha'i, Zoroastrians and Christians have fled to Europe, Canada and America.

From Fox News:

Holding aloft evidence of Hitler's Final Solution, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday railed against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his denial of the Holocaust and scolded the United Nations for allowing Ahmadinejad to speak during its opening session of the 64th U.N. General Assembly.

With detailed reminders in hand of the war that sent 6 million Jews to their deaths in concentration camps, including construction blueprints for Auschwitz, Netanyahu took his turn at the dais to recall the agreement within the world body to create the Jewish state and express astonishment at what he witnessed a day earlier in that organization's great hall.

He commended those who boycotted Ahmadinejad's speech, but condemned those who allowed it.

"To those who gave this Holocaust denier a hearing, I say on behalf of my people. ... Have you no shame? Have you no decency?" Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu also scolded the United Nations for giving the Iranian president "legitimacy" just six decades after the Holocaust. Ahmadinejad addressed the body Wednesday, and in the run-up to the session repeated his belief that the Holocaust is a myth.

"What a disgrace," Netanyahu said. "What a mockery of the charter of the United Nations."

Netanyahu challenged the international community to step up and prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, but expressed broad disappointment with the United Nations.

He accused the United Nations of remaining silent on attacks on Israelis from Hamas, and blasted the U.N. Human Rights Council for its "twisted standards."

The Human Rights Council issued a recent report that condemned Israel for its offensive in the Gaza Strip last January. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice last week called the report, conducted by South African Judge Richard Goldstone, "unbalanced, one sided and basically unacceptable," but the White House on Wednesday corrected a report that it would not allow the findings to reach the International Criminal Court.

"What a travesty," Netanyahu said. "Israel justly defended itself against terror."

He said the latest report presents a test to the international community: "Will you stand with Israel or will you stand with the terrorists?"

Netanyahu drew applause only when he talked about the need for a Palestinian state and when he finished his speech.

The day before, President Obama also drew heavy applause when he declared that "America does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements." Obama called for Palestinians to end their "incitement of Israel" as well, but that line did not trigger a response from the audience.

Obama earlier met with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a bid to re-start peace talks. It's unclear how Israel will respond to the U.S. president's firm declaration on the settlements. Netanyahu, while suggesting Israel is open to a temporary freeze on West Bank settlements, told FOX News Tuesday that the settlers must be allowed to extend the "possibility of normal life."

He said the settlers need schools, health clinics and other buildings, and that he believes the issue should come at the end of negotiations -- not the beginning.

Gaddafi Delivers Rambling Speech to the UN

These are the kinds of nutcases and tyrants who are given the floor at the UN. From World News Australia:

....Delivering a rambling, one-and-a-half hour rant to the United Nations general assembly today, Gaddafi chastised the world body for failing to intervene or prevent some 65 wars around the world since the world body was founded in 1945.

Gaddafi called for reform of the Security Council - abolishing the veto power of the five permanent members - or expanding the body with additional member states to make it more representative.

"It should not be called the Security Council, it should be called the "terror council", he said.

The veto-wielding Security Council powers -- the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia -- treat smaller countries as "second class, despised" nations, Gaddafi said.

"Now, brothers, there is no respect for the United Nations, no regard for the General Assembly," Gaddafi said.

'There's nothing wrong with the Taliban'

The Libyan leader also launched a spirited defense of Afghanistan's hardline Taliban in his speech.

"Why are we against the Taliban? Why are we against Afghanistan?" he asked leaders of more than 120 nations attending the annual General Assembly debate.

"If the Taliban wants to make a religious state, okay, like the Vatican. Does the Vatican constitute a danger against us? No," said the Libyan leader, addressing the 192-member body for the first time in his 40 years in power.

"If the Taliban wants to create an Islamic emirate, who said they are the enemy?" he added.

Swine flu 'created by US military'

Gaddafi even 'revealed' what the world's best micro-biologists and scientists had failed to discover - the source of swine flu.

The infectious virus, claimed Gaddafi, was a creation of the American military-industrial complex.

At one point, he also blamed India and Japan for robbing Somalia of its fishing wealth, forcing Somalis to take up piracy.

And the leader even called for $US 7.77 trillion in compensation to Africa from its past colonial masters.

His speech followed US President Barack Obama's first General Assembly address, but not before a recess of some 15 minutes was called by the Libyan president of the General Assembly so diplomats could be take new seats.

The US Mission was represented by two low- to mid-ranking diplomats. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and US Ambassador Susan Rice departed before Gaddafi ascended the podium.

Read it all here.

Terrorist Rehab Not Successful

These de-radicalization processes for Islamists have little impact whatsoever. From Reuters:

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Jibril, a former Indonesian militant, describes his years of military training in Afghanistan from 1985 to 1987 as "the best holiday in my whole life."

He was one of the first batch of Indonesians to train in Afghanistan, where he met other mujahidin, from the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, India and Saudi Arabia, and learned guerrilla tactics and how to make and defuse bombs.

On his return to Indonesia, Jibril, who like many Indonesians uses one name, joined the Muslim-Christian ethnic clashes in Ambon, Eastern Indonesia.

He spent three years on the run from police who began rounding up Muslim activists linked to militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) after the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 foreigners and Indonesians.

Eventually, in 2006, he turned himself in and joined Indonesia's de-radicalisation programme, a voluntary scheme which tries to get militants to accept a more moderate form of Islam.

The de-radicalisation programme has proved controversial.

Many Australians were shocked in 2007 when they learned that Indonesia's counter-terrorism unit had hosted a fast-breaking meal during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan for those convicted of the 2002 Bali bomb attacks.

Jibril, now 46, is among the first to admit that the programme has its shortcomings.

He still firmly believes in "jihad." He was taught by radical clerics when he was young, and was strongly opposed to raids by the Indonesian military on Muslim activists in the early 1980s, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the more recent "War on Terror" by the United States and its allies.

The bonds between him and fellow militants, whose agenda is to create an Islamic state, means they will always extend support to each other, he said, including shelter from the police.

"Generally, if he is a brother, we would help because we have a strong bond of friendship," Jibril said. Despite the risk they could be captured by police and jailed for up to seven years, it is hard to change the mindset of a militant, he said.

"We are like water that has been dipped with a teabag, we will never become plain water again," he said.

DOES DE-RADICALISATION WORK?

Some analysts also question whether such programmes can be effective in the long run or are, in fact, counter-productive. Some argue that in southern Thailand, the peace programmes actually played into the hands of the insurgents.

Rehabilitation programmes by the Thai military have been disjointed, serving more as a public relations tool for the authorities. Analysts say it is highly unlikely any real militants have gone through the peace-building camps, which are held at army bases and teach "correct" Islam, government policy and the positive aspects of the Thai state.

Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command told Reuters a total of 1,363 people have been put through the programmes.

Many sent to the camps as rebel sympathizers are innocent villagers from so-called "red zones" where insurgent groups thrive.

Many "rehabilitated" Malay Muslims were never involved in the rebellion and not opposed to the Thai state. The camps only turned some of them against the authorities, radicalizing them and steering them toward the militant groups out of anger.

Upon returning to their villages, they could be in danger, viewed with suspicion by both the rebels and the authorities.

"The government sent them to camps to reprogramme, retrain and indoctrinate them, and announced publicly that those released would become the eyes and ears of the security forces," said academic Duncan McCargo, who spent a year in the region doing research for his book on the conflict.

"Militant groups were suspicious that they were informants and state officials suspected them of being rebels. It had a destabilizing impact on local communities."

Across the border, Malaysia has released 13 people so far this year detained under its draconian Internal Security Act, of which six are suspected JI militants. One of them, Mat Sah Mohd Satray was released around the same time Noordin was killed in Indonesia, before Eid al-Fitr celebrations.

Mat Sah says he was detained for seven years after police officers discovered he attended religious sermons in 1990s given by JI's spiritual head, Indonesia's Abu Bakar Bashir.

"I was put in a single cell for three years and after that moved to a dorm for good behavior. I didn't see the sky and stars for seven years," Mat Sah, 46, told Reuters

"We had to attend religious classes once a week. Most of the time we were left alone to ourselves. There was no rehabilitation, so to speak, and my sentence was unfair."

BENEFITS FOR TIP-OFFS

In Indonesia, over 400 suspected militants have been captured. About half have subsequently been released, and 238 have either completed or are currently in the de-radicalisation programme, according to a book published recently by Petrus Golose, a senior member of the Special Anti-Terror unit.

Golose said 103 people agreed to accept money from the government as financial assistance, admit their mistakes, and provide tip-offs or help in the de-radicalisation programme.

Indonesian police claim it is possible to win back some hearts and minds with the de-radicalisation programme. One of their best known successes at home was Nasir Abas, the brother-in-law of Mukhlas, one of the three Bali bombers.

Abas trained in Afghanistan and was a JI regional commander. But now, following his capture, he works with the police, lecturing to government officials and targeted militants on the inner workings of JI, and is frequently quoted in the media.

However, for every Abas, there are plenty of others who return to the fray. Some militants have refused to participate in the re-education programme, others join in order to qualify for the money. Few are willing to co-operate and give tip-offs in exchange for education and medical care for their families.

Militant groups tend to be wary of anyone who has been captured, imprisoned and then released, because of the risk they could have turned informant or be tracked by police and betray the movement.

Yet in many cases, once released, they re-join the group, get involved in the flourishing militant publishing business, teach in Islamic boarding schools, or help in other ways.

Urwah, alias Bagus Budi Pranoto, was arrested in 2004 and sentenced to three-and-a-half years for harbouring Azahari and Noordin Top, two of the most wanted militants.

When he was released, he launched a radical DVD business, then disappeared from view until he was found dead, along with Top, in a police raid in Central Java last week.

Air Setiawan, a bomb expert, was briefly detained in 2004 for possible involvement in the Australian embassy bombing in Jakarta that year. He was freed because police didn't have enough evidence to bring him to court.

Air was killed last month in Bekasi, on the outskirts of Jakarta, when police raided a house looking for Top. Instead of Top, they found explosives which were intended for an assassination attempt on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

(Additional reporting by Martin Petty and Kittipong Soonprasert in BANGKOK; Writing by Sara Webb; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Megan Goldin)