6 Afghans Beheaded for Talking to Police

From CBS News (US):

(AP) Police say militants have beheaded six Afghans for cooperating with government authorities.

Juma Gul Hamit, police chief of Uruzgan province in south-central Afghanistan, says the men were beheaded Thursday near the provincial capital of Tarin Kot.

Hamit defended the victims, saying they were not involved in any anti-government activities.

He says a seventh Afghan man is being treated for serious neck injuries.

Christmas Day Bomber Invited 'Jihad' Cleric to Address British Students

From the Daily Mail (UK):

The Christmas Day airline bomber invited a radical cleric who has advocated dying while 'fighting jihad' to address British students.

While president of the Islamic Society at University College London, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab helped arrange for Abdur Raheem Green to speak.

The cleric, who converted to Islam from Roman Catholicism, has written that conflict between Islam and the West is 'ordered in the Koran', and that Muslims and Westerners ' cannot live peaceably together'.

He has also claimed: 'Dying while fighting jihad is one of the surest ways to paradise and Allah's good pleasure'.

In 2005, shortly before Abdulmutallab arranged for him to address UCL, Green was barred from entering Australia after opposition leader Kim Beazley accused him of 'spreading hate'.


The revelation adds weight to the belief that Abdulmutallab was radicalised during his time studying in London, where he read mechanical engineering and business at UCL between 2005 and 2008.

The 23-year-old spent most of his spare time with the university's Islamic Society, for which he served as president between 2006 and 2007.

He organised a week-long conference under the banner War on Terror Week in January 2007 with advertised speakers including former Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Security sources are concerned that the picture emerging of his undergraduate years suggests that he was recruited by Al Qaeda in London. They added that Islamic radicalisation was rife on university campuses, especially in London.

But Qasim Rafiq, a close friend who was president of the UCL Islamic Society the year before Abdulmutallab, insists his radicalisation did not happen until after he left university.

'There was nothing to suggest he would do what he has done when I knew him,' said Mr Rafiq. 'He was not quick to anger and didn't discuss politics. It came as a complete shock to me when I heard what he had done.'

He added: 'He was very religious. He prayed regularly, usually five times a day, and didn't have a girlfriend, drink or go to nightclubs.'

Mr Rafiq, who is now studying for a PhD, said Abdulmutallab, the son of a millionaire Nigerian banker, never spoke about his family background while at university. After university Abdulmutallab' 'vanished'.

Green, 44, was born Anthony Green, the son of a colonial administrator in Tanzania. He was brought up a Roman Catholic but converted to Islam in 1987.

He works at the London Central Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre as the Visits and English Dawa Co-ordinator.

In 2005, Green was prevented from boarding a flight with a stopover in Brisbane because he appeared on an Australian government ' movement alert list' due to his inflammatory comments.

In an interview with Australian radio afterwards, Green said he had long renounced the extremist views, adding that he has consistently condemned terrorist acts and the killing of women and children.

Op-Ed: Iran Deadline Just Plain Dead

Here's an editorial by Ralph Peters of the New York Post. The article notes the threat Iran poses and the failure of American leaders to stop Iran's nuclear enrichment:

It's showtime, folks! Today's the deadline President Obama imposed on Iran's leaders to give up their nuclear ambitions and be nice.

Not sure if the deadline expires at midnight in Tehran or on Washington time, but the mullahs and President Mahmoud "Mighty Mouse" Ahmadinejad aren't scrambling to give Obama a New Year's Eve smooch.

Rather than cave in to our president's mighty rhetoric, the Tehran tyrants took a break from killing protesters in the streets to attempt to import more than 1,300 tons of make-a-nuke uranium ore from Kazakhstan.

They've also increased their nuke-cooker centrifuge count, tested new long-range missiles and lied like Persian rugs about hidden nuke sites. In response, our president threatened to huff and puff and blow their house down.

Ian's retort? "Love the cool breeze, Barack."

This is another debacle of Obama's own making. It's a fundamental rule of playgrounds and security policy that you shouldn't make threats you can't or won't back up. But Obama's in love with the sound of his own voice. The fanatics in Tehran are more interested in the sound of a nuclear blast.

Desperate leftists in our country still compare Obama to Bush, insisting that, well, Obama's not doing so badly, not really, not if you really think about it.

Bush, for all his faults, worried our enemies. Obama amuses them.

Obama's primary threat against the Tehran thugs has been sanctions. OK, let's see if he can get internationally recognized sanctions that actually bite. I'm offering 100-to-1 odds in Tehran's favor.

China won't play. Beijing wants Iran's oil and values Tehran as a regional cat's paw.

Dubai won't halt its massive illicit trade with Iran. Local ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's desert playground is $80 billion in the hole. And smuggling's Dubai's only growth industry these days.

And Russia will cheat on any paper agreements. As will the 'stans of Central Asia. And Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait. Iraq, too. And Pakistan.

Obama's threatened sanctions get even more laughable, since they'd target only Iran's power elite. Insiders in any dictatorship are those best able to duck the pain of sanctions. So Ahmadinejad can't get a visa for a Vegas vacation. That'll teach him a lesson.

Only comprehensive sanctions backed by a military blockade have any chance of working. Otherwise, as we've seen in North Korea, the well-connected continue to feast while the commoners faint from hunger. And there won't be a blockade, folks.

If sanctions weren't enough of a joke, we also have Obama's all-too-obvious reluctance to back the millions of Iranians struggling for freedom and democracy. Our president's empty remarks this week checked the block for nervous American leftists, but provided no useful support to Iranians risking their lives for basic rights....

Read the full editorial here.

Islington (UK) Police Determined to Stop Honor Crimes

From the Islington Gazette (UK):

AN honour killing must never be allowed to happen in Islington - say detectives who discovered that a couple were threatened with death for having a forbidden relationship.

The 25-year-old Egyptian Muslim woman and her 21-year-old Greek Orthodox boyfriend were allegedly assaulted by her family for their secret love affair.

Police believe the woman was first beaten up by her father and brother until she revealed her boyfriend's identity.

The boyfriend was allegedly then bundled into a car, beaten up and taken to his girlfriend's family home in Holloway.

There they were threatened with death if they had any further contact.

But charges have never been brought over the incident in June last year because no-one was willing to give evidence.

While a murder has never happened in Islington, police have revealed the borough has experienced four cases of "honour-based violence" in the last year.

Detective Inspector Trevor Borley, of Islington police's community safety unit, said: "I don't consider honour-based violence to be a major problem - but there have been four incidents too many this year.

"A few years ago, honour-based violence probably wasn't being reported at all. It was happening but it's only now that police know about it.

"We want people to come forward. There is a lot of support out there.

"We know honour-based violence is under-reported. But these are serious offences and there is a huge risk to people.

Jordan: 10 Arrested for Planning Attacks on Tankers

From ANSAmed:

AMMAN, DECEMBER 30 - Jordanian security forces have arrested ten men on charges of planning to blow up several oil tankers headed from Jordan to Iraq. Those arrested have been interrogated by the police and within the next week may stand trial, according to their lawyer Abdul Karim Shreideh. It is not yet clear whether the men had been working autonomously or whether they had links with Al Qaeda. After the crackdown by Jordanian authorities against Islamic extremists following attacks in Amman in 2005 - in which 60 were killed and 100 injured - Al Qaedàs presence in the Hashemite Kingdom has been reduced to an insignificant size. The source reporting the news said that if the young men arrested are found guilty, they may be sentenced to life in prison.

Americans and Canadians Among the Murdered in Latest Taliban Terrorist Attacks

From the Daily Mail:

A suicide bomber killed seven CIA employees after being invited onto a U.S. base without being searched.

Among the victims was the female head of the CIA operation in the Khost province of Afghanistan.

A former senior intelligence official said the bomber was being courted as an informant and that it was the first time he had been brought inside the camp.

Meanwhile four Canadian troops and a recently-engaged journalist on her first war assignment died in a separate attack.

U.S. officials said the dead Americans were CIA employees but declined to comment on the attacker's nationality or status.

The explosion casts a long shadow over Western plans to bolster the Afghan army and police, in order to eventually hand over security and bring their own troops home.

If an Afghan army official turned on the foreign troops and officials who are meant to be mentoring and partnering them, after a series of similar incidents this year, it will raise tough questions about trust and loyalty.

If he was not an Afghan soldier visiting or stationed on Forward Operating Base Chapman, then U.S. concerns about security controls will be even more grave, after a year that has been the deadliest of the eight-year war for foreign troops.

The CIA has also been expanding its presence in the country, stepping up strikes against Taliban and al Qaeda militants along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, although its role has been criticised by rights groups and Afghans.
The site of the suicide attack is near the Pakistan border, in one of the areas where the Taliban insurgency is strongest. Security in the region was stepped up on Thursday.

Asked how the attacker launched the assault in a foreign military base, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid replied: 'Since the man was an officer, he had not much difficulties.'

The four Canadian soldiers and Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang were killed when their armoured vehicle was hit by a bomb near the southern city of Kandahar.

The recently-engaged Miss Lang was on her first assignment in Afghanistan.

Eight CIA agents were killed in a separate attack, during a suicide bombing at a military base in south-eastern Afghanistan.

The explosion was at a military base in Khost province, near the border with Pakistan.

'We can confirm that there was an explosion in Khost province and eight Americans have been killed,' said a U.S. official in Kabul.

Several others, none of them U.S. or Nato troops, were wounded in the explosion at Forward Operating Base Chapman, defence officials said.

The CIA has been expanding its presence in Afghanistan in a bid to stem Taliban gains.

U.S. officials said they could not provide details pending notification of the agents' families.

Miss Lang, 34, had only arrived on December 11 for her first assignment in Afghanistan.

'The soldiers were conducting a community security patrol in order to gather information on the pattern of life and maintain security in the area,' Brig. Gen. Daniel Menard, commander of coalition forces in Kandahar, said.

Miss Lang's colleagues were devastated by the news of the award-winning reporter's death. She was recently engaged to be married.

'She was one of those journalists who always wanted to get to the bottom of every story so this was an important trip for her,' said colleague Colette Derworiz.

The attack was the second in Kandahar in a week. On December 24, eight people including a child were killed when a man detonated a horse-drawn cart laden with explosives outside a guest house frequented by foreigners.

Attacks in Afghanistan this year have spiralled to their highest levels since the Taliban was overthrown by U.S. and British-led forces in late 2001.

In October the Taliban demonstrated its reach by targeting United Nations employees at a guest house in Kabul, killing five and wounding several others....

Year in Review: FBI Notes Biggest Terror Cases of 2009

From the Federal Bureau of Investigation (United States):

Terrorists bent on murder and destruction. Elected officials on the take. Cyber crooks hacking networks and emptying bank accounts. Fraudsters using scams old and new to pilfer billions of dollars from unsuspecting Americans.

The FBI worked thousands of investigations during 2009—from art crime to weapons of mass destruction violations, often in close concert with our partners. As the year comes to a close, here is a rundown of some of the Bureau's most significant cases.

In this first segment, we'll focus on our top investigative priority: protecting the nation from terrorist attack. The threat posed by extremists is real—and it continues to morph and evolve in new and dangerous ways, like most recently, the Christmas Day incident. Working with a range of local, state, federal, and international partners, we headed off a number of potential plots on U.S. soil.

Here are some of the top terror cases of 2009, in chronogical order:

Georgia jihadists: With little more than an Internet connection and the radicalizing influences of overseas terrorists, two middle-class young men in Atlanta went from rhetoric to plotting jihad and were sentenced earlier this month. Details

David Coleman Headley: The U.S. citizen was arrested in October for planning terrorist attacks against a Danish newspaper and two of its employees. New charges this month in this ongoing case allege he took part in the conspiracy surrounding the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Details

Somalia: In February, the FBI reported that young men from Minneapolis were traveling to Somalia to join extremists fighting for control of the country. One of those men became who was believed to be the first U.S. citizen to carry out a terrorist suicide bombing after launching an attack in Somalia. By November, 14 defendants were charged with recruiting people from the U.S. to train or fight on behalf of extremist groups in Somalia. Details

Najibullah Zazi: The 24-year-old Colorado resident was arrested in September, along with his father and another man, for conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against U.S. citizens. Zazi traveled to New York City on September 10, 2009 “in furtherance of his criminal plans,” according to the Department of Justice. Details

Attempted bombing of federal building: In September, a U.S. citizen was arrested in connection with a plot to detonate a vehicle bomb at the federal building in Springfield, Illinois. Details

Attempted skyscraper bombing: Also in September, a 19-year-old Jordanian citizen who espoused violent jihad was arrested for attempting to blow up a 60-story glass office tower in Dallas, Texas. Details

North Carolina takedown: In July, seven men, including a father and two sons, were charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and to wage jihad overseas. The heavily armed group trained in the U.S., raised money to support their training, and recruited and radicalized others. Details

Synagogue plot: In May, four people were arrested outside a New York synagogue and charged with planning to blow up Jewish targets and shoot down military planes. Details

Liberty City Six: In May, a Miami jury convicted five men of providing material support to al Qaeda and planning attacks on U.S. targets, including the Sears Tower in Chicago. Details

Ali al-Marri: In May, the al Qaeda “sleeper” operative working in the U.S. pled guilty to charges relating to his role in the 9/11 attacks. Details

Church Screening of 'Jesus' Film Attacked in Pakistan

From the Christian Messenger:

AS many as 50 Muslim villagers armed with clubs and axes recently attacked a showing of the 'Jesus' film near Sargodha, Pakistan, injuring three part-time evangelists and four Christians in attendance.

Two of the evangelists were said to be seriously injured. The Muslim hardliners also damaged a movie projector, burned reels of the film and absconded with the public address system and donations from Christian viewers in Chak village, about 10 kilometers northeast of Sargodha.

Officers at the Saddr police station refused to register a case against the Muslim assailants, sources said.

Three part-time evangelists, identified as Ishtiaq Bhatti, Imtiaz Ghauri and Kaleem Ghulam, had screened the film within the premises of the Catholic Church of Chak. Bhatti said the church compound was crammed with Christian villagers clapping as the film showed Jesus Christ performing miracles, raising the dead, casting out evil spirits and healing ailments.

Injured Christians were taken to the Basic Health Unit (BHU) of Chak village. Bhatti was treated for minor injuries, while Ghauri and Ghulam sustained serious injuries for which they received treatment at another hospital.

The evangelists said a Muslim cleric instigated the Muslim villagers, who were armed with clubs, spades and axes.

"They attacked us and broke all our appliances and took away funds collected by people to help us," Bhatti said. "Muslim men also injured those Christian villagers who tried to intervene and stop them."

The intervention of Chaudhary Nassar-Ullah Cheema, headman of the village, resulted in the rescue of the Christian evangelists and the surrender of the Muslim mob. The Muslim hardliners were forced to evacuate the church grounds, but only after a stand-off of nearly two hours.

Eyewitnesses said that as soon as the Muslim attackers watched the resurrection and ascension of Christ, they became enraged because their version of Islam forbids portraying an image of a living thing and especially that of a prophet. Muslims hold Christ as a prophet, they believe he was never crucified, having been replaced by a man identical to him.

German Court Gives Father Life Jail For Honour Killing of Daughter

From Earth Times:

Kleve, Germany - A German court imprisoned a Kurdish man, 50, for life on Tuesday for ordering the "honour killing" of his own daughter after being told she had lost her virginity. A son and an Azeri friend lured the 20-year-old woman, Gulsum, to a lonely country road near the Dutch border, throttled her with a rope and clubbed her to death, inflicting horrific injuries to her face.

German authorities have vowed to stamp out the archaic custom among some Kurds, Turks and other ethnic groups of families murdering their own members who offend "family honour" through sexual relationships. Social workers had earlier tried to protect Gulsum.

The state court at Kleve sentenced Gulsum's brother, 20, to nine and a half years in youth prison, just short of the maximum youth sentence of 10 years. He and the victim were two out of three triplets. He had confessed to the killing after he was arrested.

His helper, 37, was jailed for seven and a half years.

Judges said they were convinced the only motive to murder Gulsum had been that she was no longer a virgin and had secretly undergone an abortion.

They said they were also convinced the father of 10, who denied the murder, had ordered his son to kill the sister.

The trio were accused of jointly murdering her in March.

Gulsum had rebelled against the family's Muslim-oriented rules and after suffering several beatings at home, requested help from German social workers. They arranged for her to live in an apartment, but she later moved home to her family again.

The family, who moved to Germany from Turkey, had lived for 15 years in the small town of Rees on the Rhine plain in the west of Germany.

German federal police say there have been 55 honour killings in Germany over the last nine years. An anthropologist, Anna Caroline Coester, said last month that count was too high, with only 40 per cent of the cases cold-blooded honour killings in the strict sense.

Ft. Hood Shooter's Imam 'Blessed' Bomb Plot

From Newser:

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has told investigators that the radical imam who mentored Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan gave his blessing to the attempted Christmas Day attack, according to a law enforcement source. Anwar al-Awlaki indoctrinated Abdulmutallab and offered him encouragement during his al-Qaeda training in Yemen, the sources tell the Washington Times.

Abulmutallab says he was brought to a room full of other men "all covered in white martyrs' garments" and told, "You are going to be the tip of the spear of the Muslim nation," according to the official. The American-born imam was believed to have been killed in an air strike in Yemen last week, but officials there have been unable to confirm his death.

Al Qaeda Plotting Attacks in Lebanon

From Xinhua News Agency via iStockAnalyst:

BEIRUT, Dec. 29, 2009 (Xinhua News Agency) -- Al-Qaida militants are plotting terrorist attacks against state institutions and foreign missions in Lebanon, local An Nahar daily reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper quoted a well-informed security source as saying that Lebanese security agencies have received information about the infiltration of al-Qaida militants into the country from Pakistan via Turkey, Greece and the Lebanese-Syrian border.

The militants are seeking refuge in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, the source said.

The al-Qaida militants are masterminding the attacks in coordination with Fatah al-Islam and wanted Palestinian fighter Abdel Rahman Awad, according to the report.

The al-Qaida members are also training other militants in the refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh, near southwest Lebanese city of Saida, to carry out attacks against UN Interim Forces in Lebanon stationed in south Lebanon, the source added.

As an al-Qaida-inspired militia, Fatah al-Islam fought fierce battles with the Lebanese army at Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon in 2007.

Two Al Qaeda Leaders Behind Northwest Flight 253 Terror Plot Were Released By U.S.

By Brian Ross, Joseph Rhee and Rehab El-Buri of ABC News:

Two of the four leaders allegedly behind the al Qaeda plot to blow up a Northwest Airlines passenger jet over Detroit were released by the U.S. from the Guantanamo prison in November 2007, according to American officials and Department of Defense documents. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the Northwest bombing in a Monday statement that vowed more attacks on Americans.

American officials agreed to send the two terrorists from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia, where they entered into an "art therapy rehabilitation program" and were set free, according to U.S. and Saudi officials. ABC News described their enrollment in the art therapy program in a January report. (See video to the left.)

Guantanamo prisoner #333, Muhamad Attik al-Harbi, and prisoner #372, Said Ali Shari, were sent to Saudi Arabia on Nov. 9, 2007, according to the Defense Department log of detainees who were released from American custody. Al-Harbi has since changed his name to Muhamad al-Awfi.

Detroit Terrorist: Who Is Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab?

At Women Against Shariah we find it laughable that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is considered a lonely boy. He hasn't got much to feel sorry about considering how wealthy and privileged his family is. The one thing this article points out that is critical is how internet jihad is a growing concern.

By Emily Andrews of the Daily Mail (UK):

The disturbed mind of the Christmas Day airline bomber is evident in a series of tormented postings he wrote on the internet.

As a lonely 18-year-old, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab turned to an Islamic web forum as he struggled with his shame over his sexuality and growing alienation from his family.

His innermost thoughts reveal a shy and awkward teenager who loved football – but also contain chilling hints of the terrorist he would become.

They show an increasingly religious and intolerant young man who fantasised about becoming a Muslim holy warrior in the ‘great jihad’ that would take place across the world.

In 310 internet posts written between 2005 and 2007, ‘Farouk1986’ – Abdulmutallab’s middle name and year of birth – desperately searches for guidance and help in hastily written messages filled with spelling and grammatical errors.

While at a prestigious British boarding school in Togo, he wrote: ‘First of all, I have no friends.

‘Not because I do not socialise, etc but because either people do not want to get too close to me as they go partying and stuff while I don’t, or they are bad people who befriend me and influence me to do bad things.

‘Hence I am in a situation where I do not have a friend, I have no one to speak too, no one to consult, no one to support me and I feel depressed and lonely. I do not know what to do.’

The posts were made on an Islamic bulletin board called Gawaher, which literally translates from Arabic as ‘gems’ or ‘jewels,’ but can also be read as ‘essence’ or ‘spirit’.

They started in 2005 when Abdulmutallab was 18 and preparing to apply to British universities. He wrote about his privileged upbringing in Nigeria and his family’s wealth.

Abdulmutallab’s father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, a frequent visitor to the U.S., retired this year as chairman of First Bank of Nigeria and still sits on the boards of several prominent Nigerian firms....

Read the full report at the Daily Mail site.

Christian Family Flees 'Horrific' Abuse in Pakistan

By Tom Godfrey of the Toronto Sun (Canada):

A seven-year-old Pakistani girl and her family have been given asylum in Canada after reports the child was raped and left to die when her Christian father refused to convert to Islam.

The identities of Baby Neeha and her family are being protected by immigration officials, said human rights lawyer Chantal Desloges and One Free World International, a church that was instrumental in getting the family here.

The family arrived in Canada on Dec. 12 after a three-year battle by organizers to spirit them out of danger in Pakistan.

They are living in the Mississauga area and will be visited next month by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, who was so touched by the family's plight that he doled out a ministerial permit, of which he has only issued two.

Church founder Rev. Majed El Shafie said the family of seven have been hiding from extremists in Pakistan for about three years.

Baby Neeha, at the age of 21/2, was raped by the son of her father's employer and left to die by the roadside, he said. No one was arrested for the crime.

"These horrific events took place because her father, who was Christian, refused to give in to pressure from his Muslim employer to convert to Islam," El Shafie said.

The family went underground in Pakistan to hide from Muslim extremists who were seeking revenge for their non-conversion, he said.

"The family has lived for years in hiding and in constant fear of being discovered by the employer's family or Islamic extremists," El Shafie said. "We are thrilled that she's finally in Canada."

Organizers said the case touched Kenney who decided to help the family.

"This case truly broke his heart and he (Kenney) considers himself lucky to have it within his powers to intervene," Kenney's spokesman Alykhan Velshi said yesterday. "Fortunately, they are now safely in Canada."

Kenney found out about the family's plight six months ago, Velshi said.

"He personally issued a special ministerial permit," he said. "There were significant difficulties in getting them out of Pakistan."

The family can now apply for permanent residency on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, Velshi said.

Calls for Full-Body Screening Devices Grow After Terror Attempt

By Angela Greiling Keane of Bloomberg:

Dec. 29 (Bloomberg) -- A suspected terrorist’s attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner may override privacy concerns and intensify a push for full-body scanning equipment at airports.

U.S. officials charged a 23-year-old Nigerian man with trying to blow up Northwest Flight 253 as it prepared to land in Detroit on Christmas Day. President Barack Obama said yesterday he ordered a thorough review of the episode and called for new scrutiny of screening policies and technologies.

Metal detectors currently used to screen passengers wouldn’t have found the explosive allegedly carried aboard by the suspect, said former Federal Aviation Administration security chief Billie Vincent. Only more sophisticated devices such as low-level X-rays and millimeter-wave technology would work, Vincent said.

Senator Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, called for more widespread use of the full-body scanners after the aborted attack. “We were very lucky this time but we may not be so lucky next time, which is why our defenses must be strengthened,” Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in a statement yesterday.

The committee said it would hold a hearing next month on airline security and how the alleged terrorist got onto the plane.

Advanced Equipment

Companies such as OSI Systems Inc., Smiths Group Plc, Safran SA and L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. may benefit from any requirement that airports get more security equipment. London-based Smiths is the world’s biggest maker of airport scanners. Safran, based in Paris, is the world leader in biometric technologies, such as fingerprint scanners. New York- based L-3 also makes scanners for airport use.

L-3 has “developed a more sophisticated system that could prevent smuggling of almost anything on the body,” said Howard Rubel, an analyst at Jefferies & Co., who has a “hold” rating on the stock. “Speed and privacy issues have slowed its introduction.”

Jennifer Barton, a spokeswoman for New York-based L-3, didn’t respond to a phone call seeking comment.

L-3 rose $1.17, or 1.4 percent, to $86.80 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday. That was the highest closing price since October 2008. OSI jumped $2.45, or 11 percent, to $24.47 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The percentage gain was the biggest since Jan. 29.

OSI’s Rapiscan unit makes machines that can detect liquids and other potential explosives beneath passengers’ clothing. In October, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration placed an order valued at $25 million for Rapiscan’s imaging equipment, the Hawthorne, California-based company said.

Expediting Delivery

“We are starting to implement and put them in at TSA’s direction at U.S. airports,” Peter Kant, an executive vice president for Rapiscan, said yesterday in an interview. “We’ve been on the phone a lot with TSA about how to expedite delivery.”

The company has delivered about 40 machines so far to the agency, he said.

The Transportation Security Administration has been adding low-level X-rays and millimeter-wave technology machines to find explosives. There are millimeter-wave machines at 19 airports, the agency said on its Web site.

TSA recently announced the purchase of 150 Rapiscan units with some of its $1 billion in airport-security funds from the $787 billion economic stimulus package, said Greg Soule, a security administration spokesman.

The agency intends to purchase an additional 300 advanced imaging-technology units in 2010, Soule said.

Using the technology is voluntary for passengers, the security administration said. Those who do not wish to receive millimeter wave screening will undergo metal detector screening and a pat-down, according to the agency.

Privacy Issues

Full-body imaging has been criticized by some advocacy groups as an invasion of privacy. Kant said his company has mitigated that concern by blurring body images and having technicians viewing the images in a different location from the screening equipment.

“There have been privacy concerns expressed about the use of these whole body-imaging devices, but I think those privacy concerns, which are, frankly, mild, have to fall in the face of the ability of these machines to detect material like this,” Lieberman said on “Fox News Sunday” on Dec. 27.

Using technology for every threat may cost more and reduce risk less than measures such as increasing visa reviews in “high-risk” countries, said David Schanzer, director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security at Duke University and the University of North Carolina.

“Every time we have an episode, we should not rush to judgment and spend billions of dollars deploying the newfangled technology that will meet a very narrow sliver of the threat,” said Schanzer. “That’s not a satisfying response that politicians can make. Politicians feel an urgent need to respond to the threats today.”

Five Murdered, Dozens Wounded Among Iranian Protesters in Sirjan

From NCR-Iran:

NCRI - The Iranian Resistance strongly condemns bloody suppression of defenseless people in Sirjan, central Iran, which has left dozens killed or wounded and calls for an international probe.

On Tuesday, December 22, the scene of a public hanging of two prisoners, Esmail Fathi-Zadeh and Mohammad Esfandiarpoor, in Sirjan turned into a confrontation between protesting people and the suppressive forces. Local residents and families of the two prisoners confronted the suppressive forces by hurling stones and chanting slogans.

During the clashes yesterday morning, people took advantage of the chaos and removed the prisoners from the scene set up for their hangings. According to earlier reports on Tuesday, one of the prisoners was thought to have been killed.

Having lost the control of the situation, the suppressive forces mobilized more of their agents across the city and re-captured the two prisoners and brought them back to the hanging ropes.

Local residents were angered by the regime’s henchmen and became more fierce in their protest against the hangings. In fear of the escalation of unrest, the suppressive forces opened fire on defenseless people killing at least five and dozens more were wounded. A number of the wounded were taken to hospitals in Kerman, the provincial capital. Some of the wounded are in critical state. A group of local residents and families of the two have been arrested. During the clashes, a number of vehicles belonging to the suppressive forces were set on fire.

The intelligence agents were deployed at the entry points to the city to control the traffic and helicopters were hovering over the city and the main roads to monitor the situation.

The Iranian Resistance calls on all international human rights organizations, in particular the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, to condemn deteriorating human rights situation in Iran and dispatch an international fact finding mission to probe the bloody suppression in Sirjan.

Iranians Protest Against Government Despite Attacks By Government Officials

From the Times Online:

Iran’s beleaguered regime struck back at the resurgent opposition yesterday, arresting several leading activists and confiscating the corpse of Mir Hossein Mousavi’s nephew to prevent his funeral becoming another massive anti-government demonstration.

The regime moved to shore up its position the day after its security forces killed at least eight protestors and wounded scores more in the most violent clashes since the immediate aftermath of June’s disputed presidential election. The opposition claimed that 550 of its supporters were arrested, though the official figure was 300.

The brutality of the security forces on the Shia religious holiday of Ashura was condemned around the world. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, praised the courage of the protesters and called on Iran to respect the rights of its citizens. Even Russia, one of Iran’s main trading partners, called for restraint.

Those killed on Sunday included Seyed Ali Mousavi, nephew of the opposition leader, who was shot in the chest. Tehran was rife with speculation that he had been assassinated in order to send a message to his uncle, and the Government moved rapidly to prevent his death becoming another rallying point for the opposition.

On Sunday security forces ringed the hospital where his body was taken. Yesterday they used tear gas to disperse protesters who had gathered outside. Later it emerged that they had removed his body and taken it to an undisclosed location.

Iran’s state-controlled media said that the body, and those of four other people killed during Sunday’s protests, had been taken away for forensic tests. In addition it implied he may have been shot by foreign agents to embarrass the regime. A senior opposition activist told The Times: “We believe that they took the body and will bury it secretly in order to prevent a funeral and public mourning.”

At least seven opposition activists were arrested, including three of Mr Mousavi’s top aides, two advisers to the reformist former president Mohammad Khatami, and two of its most outspoken critics: Ebrahim Yazdi, who served as foreign minister in the early months of the 1979 Islamic revolution, and the human rights campaigner Emadeddin Baghi.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said that eight people were killed on Sunday in anti-government protests across Iran that erupted during the religious festival of Ashura. Iran’s Health Ministry said that more than 60 people had been injured in Tehran, with about 300 people reportedly arrested.

A report on the website of state television put the number of dead as high as 15 and quoted the Ministry of Intelligence that more than 10 were members of "anti-revolutionary terrorist" groups.

The five others who reportedly died during the bitter clashes in the Iranian capital were killed by "terrorist groups", Iranian TV claimed.

Analysts have heralded the start of what could be a bloody endgame after hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters poured on to the streets of Tehran and other cities on Sunday and fought running battles with the security forces. Opposition websites claimed that some policemen had refused to fire on demonstrators.

The United States condemned Iran’s “unjust suppression” of civilians and said it was on the side of protesters.

Gangs of pro-government vigilantes increasingly appear to be taking the law into their own hands. On Saturday night a group broke up a meeting addressed by Mohammad Khatami, the reformist former president, and attacked nearby offices used by the family of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic. Leading members of the Khomeini family now support the opposition.

The opposition claims that the unrest is spreading across Iran, and to every social class. It senses victory, but activists fear a bloodbath first. “The security forces, especially the Revolutionary Guards, are prepared to fight until the end as they have nowhere to go,” one member said.

Nigerian 'Bomber' Devout Muslim

From the Agence France Presse:

KANO, Nigeria — A Nigerian charged with trying to blow up a US airliner was a devout Muslim who had broken contact with his family several weeks ago, relatives stunned by his attempted attack told AFP on Sunday.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (pictured, left), 23, was charged Saturday at the US hospital where he was being treated for burns sustained while trying to detonate a powerful explosive on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit with 290 people on board.

"He was such a brilliant boy and nobody in the family had the slightest thought he could do something as insane as this," a relative told AFP from Nigeria's northern city of Kaduna.

"Farouk was a devoted Muslim who took his religion seriously and was committed to his studies," he said on condition of anonymity.

Most of the family only met up with him on his return to Nigeria on holidays from his studies abroad but found him to be easy-going and passionate about Islam, a cousin said.

"He was of course a very religious, polite and studious fellow but it was unthinkable that he would do anything close to attempting to bomb a plane. I still can?t believe this is for real," the cousin said, also asking anonymity.

US security officials told the media on Saturday that Abdulmutallab had confessed to training with an Al-Qaeda bombmaker in Yemen.

Abdulmutallab had announced he wanted to pursue a summer course in Arabic in Yemen in July and his banker father had consented given his flair for the language, said the cousin, who also did not want to be named.

But the family had become concerned when the young man announced that he wanted to stay on in Yemen and drop his post-graduate programme in business administration at Dubai University.

"We became worried when in August Farouk called and said he was no longer interested in his post-graduate studies anymore, saying he would be staying in Yemen to pursue another course he did not disclose," said another relative who gave his name only as Sani.

Their alarm was heightened when he sent a text message a few days later informing his family that he was severing all contact with them, he said. Since then they had not been able to get in touch with him, he said.

His father Umaru Mutallab (pictured, left), a former chief of the United Bank for Africa and First Bank of Nigeria, later decided to tell the US embassy in Nigeria and Nigeria Intelligence Agency about his concerns about his son.

The family was stunned by the young man's attempt to blow up the Northwest Airlines as it descended into Detroit. He had caught the plane in Amsterdam after flying in from Lagos.

"We could not believe it when we learnt that Farouk had boarded a flight from Lagos to Amsterdam while all along we had the impression that he was in Yemen," Sani said.

Yemeni Cleric Declares Jews To Be Apes and Pigs, Calls Muslims Only Humans

This clip is courtesy of MEMRI TV. It presents the way by which Islamic clerics dehumanize others and thereby indoctrinate the minds of young people in their societies. These kinds of Muslims who preach hate have no tolerance for others. It is not possible to coexist with people like this cleric, Abd Al-Majid Al-Zindani.



Click here to view the video at MEMRI's website.

Christian Convert's Funeral Taken Over By Muslims

From Tundra Tabloids:

28-year-old Christian man's funeral took a surprising twist at the Helsinki Malmi cemetery when the deceased's Muslim relatives arrived at the grave and took the lead in the funeral. - Upon reaching the gravesite all of a sudden Muslim men jumped out from the thicket and replaced the Finnish pallbearers and the Imam began to lead the service, "the pastor, Jukka Simoila said.

The 28-year-old deceased became a Christian in December 2008 and got married last summer in a Christian ceremony. His father was a Muslim. The deceased died of serious illness in September and had hoped for a Christian funeral. The Christian man's wife and mother-in-law had handled the funeral arrangements because the Muslim relatives did not want to be involved with it. The Muslims' only wish was that the deceased would be buried, not cremated.

The Muslims' actions at the funeral came as complete surprise to the Christians relatives. They stood shocked at the unexpected turn. An Imam came along with the Muslim men and began to read a prayer in Arabic. The Imam also swept the cross formulated out of sand by the chapel pastor, off the coffin. - People were just overcome with grief and wondering what was happening there. Their emotions were such, they were not able to react to the situation, but let it go, pastor Simoila said.

Pastor Simoila (pictured, left) said about the surprise guests: - The worst thing was that they did not respect the content of the Christian funeral. - The Imam wiped off the sand crafted into the cross from the coffin. This was a Christian's funeral, and he shouldn't have touched it in any way. I take it as a provocation that this is how to act.

Read more from Tundra Tabloids here. Read the original Finnish article, from Ilta Sanomat (28.12.2009, s. 8), here.

Iran Beats Mourners

From the Wall Street Journal:

DUBAI -- Iranian security forces clashed with mourners in the city of Isfahan on Wednesday, according to opposition Web sites, signaling a possible hardening by Tehran in its response to protests following the death of a dissident cleric.

Security forces beat back crowds with batons in Isfahan, about 200 miles southeast of Tehran, after mourners gathered at a central mosque for a memorial service for Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, opposition sites and news agencies reported. Mr. Montazeri, an architect of the Islamic Republic, fell out with the conservative clerical establishment in the late 1980s and had been a critic of the government ever since.

During the six months of protests that followed contested presidential elections in June, he became a spiritual guide for the opposition movement. News of his death over the weekend sent mourners to the holy city of Qom, where he had lived. Protesters turned the memorial into antigovernment demonstrations.

Protesters also were expected to try to use this week's Ashura commemorations of one of Shiite Islam's most revered figures, as an excuse to demonstrate. The commemoration culminates on Sunday.

Since Mr. Montazeri's death, there have been isolated reports of skirmishes, but not the sort of bloody clashes between police and demonstrators that marked earlier protests. Early Wednesday, however, Iranian police chief Esmail Ahmadi-Moqadam warned opposition supporters of confrontation if they continued "illegal" activities, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported.

According to several opposition Web sites, mourners gathered at the Seyyed mosque in Isfahan, where a memorial service had been scheduled. Basij plainclothes militia forces, police and other security forces surrounded the area near the mosque and main streets. When security forces tried to disperse the crowd, clashes erupted.

According to the Web site of one opposition leader, former presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, prominent religious scholar Hojat Al-Islam Masoud Adib was arrested while giving a speech near the mosque. Other opposition sites reported that around 50 other people were arrested in Isfahan.

Because of restrictions against reporting unauthorized gatherings, it was impossible to verify those accounts.

The Associated Press, citing an eyewitness in Isfahan, reported the crowd was attacked by baton-wielding riot police, who clubbed people on the head and shoulders, injuring dozens.

"I saw at least two people with blood pouring down their face after being beaten by the Basijis," the eyewitness told the AP.

Separately, a daughter of Osama bin Laden has taken refuge in the Saudi Embassy in Tehran after eluding guards who have held her and five siblings under house arrest for eight years, Saudi-owned pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Wednesday, according to the AP. It has long been believed that Iran has held a number of Mr. bin Laden's children since they fled Afghanistan following the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

Report: Iranian Police Shoot Dead 2 Relatives in Public Square

From the Hartford Courant:

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Police have shot dead two relatives of convicts during a melee that erupted at a public execution in southern Iran.

The state-owned Iran daily says the relatives, who came to watch the hanging of two convicts, started a scuffle, prompting the police to open fire.

The paper's report on Thursday says 27 other people were injured in the melee.

It says the incident took place on Tuesday afternoon in the town of Sirjan, some 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) south of Tehran, where the two convicts were hanged for armed robbery.

The men were initially to be hanged on Tuesday morning, but a similar scuffle disrupted that execution.

Murder, rape, armed robbery, kidnapping and drug trafficking are crimes punishable with the death penalty in Iran.

Runaway Teen Christian Convert Is Getting Her Christmas Cards

From Fox 55:

Try as they might, Rifqa Bary's parents can't keep her from reading her first Christmas cards.

The Ohio girl, who ran away to Florida because she said she feared her father would kill her for converting from Islam to Christianity — only to be sent back to Ohio by a Florida judge — remains in the care of a county children's services agency where she has been receiving "quite a lot" of Christmas cards from well-wishers across the country, according to one of her attorneys.

John Stemberger said an attorney for Bary's parents filed a motion earlier this month seeking to ban the 17-year-old from receiving outside messages, including Christmas cards. But Rifqa is receiving the cards nonetheless, he said.

"In the end, she's getting the Christmas cards," Sternberger told FoxNews.com. "They're just making sure there's no white powder or anything in them."

Bary, who will turn 18 in August, is scheduled to appear Tuesday morning in Ohio's Franklin County Juvenile Court. She may take the stand and could learn if she'll be declared an independent, paving the way for her to live as she chooses.

"If she's declared an independent, that'd be a victory," Stemberger said. "The essence of this case is a girl who converted and is getting increased hostility from the people who should be loving her the most. It's the reason she ran."

Bary, of New Albany, Ohio, has said she feared her father would harm or kill her for converting away from Islam, a claim her father, Mohamed Bary, vigorously denies. A Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation found no credible threats to the girl.

Bary, who fled to Florida in July, was sent back to her home state last month. Police used phone and Internet records to track her to the Rev. Blake Lorenze, pastor of the Orlando, Fla.-based Global Revolution Church and whom Bary met in a prayer group on Facebook, according to authorities. Bary's phone and Internet usage are now being closely monitored, per a judge's ruling.

Attempts to reach Omar Tarazi, an attorney for Bary's parents, were unsuccessful early Tuesday. Speaking earlier to FoxNews.com, he said a court-issued gag order prevented him from discussing the hearing.

Earlier this month, Franklin County Juvenile Magistrate Mary Goodrich ordered the state to supervise Bary's telephone and Internet use at the request of the county children's services agency.

The girl's parents supported the restrictions, saying through their attorney they were concerned about her interacting with adults over the Internet.

"As you know, there's a lot of danger and concern about that with children," Tarazi said.

Kort Gatterdam, an attorney representing the girl, opposed the request, saying problems were caused by a conflict between the girl and her parents, not the Internet.

"We're making some assumptions, without evidence in the record, that she has done something improper talking to people on Facebook. There's no evidence of that," Gatterdam told the judge. "If the goal here is normalcy and reunification or whatever, this is not the way to go."

Pakistani Christians Fearful this Christmas

From the Associated Press via Yahoo News:

GOJRA, Pakistan – Christmas in Gojra, where a tent camp houses Christians who lost their homes to a rampaging Muslim mob, will be celebrated not with decorations and cheer but with fear of another attack.

Those living in the canvas shelters after the worst violence against minorities in Pakistan this year left them homeless say they are still regularly harassed: Rocks are thrown at their camp at night, and they've been threatened by cell phone text messages promising a "special Christmas present."

"Last year I celebrated Christmas full of joy," said Irfan Masih, cradling his young son near one of the open ditches of the tent camp that has been his home for nearly five months. But now "the fear that we may again be attacked is in our hearts.

"They are threatening us, (saying) 'We will again attack you and will not let you out of homes, we will burn you inside this time,'" he said.

It was the fires that most traumatized Gojra's Christian Colony, a neighborhood in the heart of this Punjabi city about 220 miles (350 kilometers) southwest of Islamabad. In early August, hundreds of Muslims tore through the dirt streets, looting and torching homes as panicked residents tried to flee and thick black smoke rose into the air.

Eight Christians died — seven of them from one family trapped in a burning home.

"We are going to celebrate Christmas in sorrow because the whole family is hurt by this," said Almas Hameed, whose father was shot dead during the riots. His wife, two of his children and members of his brother's family all burned to death.

The attack, which officials said was incited by a banned radical Islamist group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, followed rumors that Christians had torn pages of a Quran, a sacrilegious act for Muslims. The ensuing violence drew condemnation from the Pope and Pakistan's prime minister, and highlighted how religious extremism has left the country's minority groups increasingly vulnerable.

Christians — Protestants and Catholics among them — make up less than 5 percent of Muslim-majority Pakistan's 175 million people.

Christians say more than 100 homes were burned and looted in Gojra and the nearby village of Korian. While many homes have been rebuilt using state money, dozens of families are still living in tents, waiting for construction on their houses to finish.

Both those who have moved back into their homes and the ones still in the camp say they are still regularly threatened — phone calls telling them to stop pressing for those responsible to be convicted, or else; armed men turning up at their homes; text messages on their cell phones promising a "special Christmas present;" rocks thrown at the tents in the night.

"When we sleep at night the fear never leaves our heart," said Safia Riaz, a 30-year-old whose father died of a heart attack during the riots. The violence "has stuck in our minds. Tension remains — God forbid that it will happen again."

Strict security was being put into place during Christmas, said police officer Mohammed Tahir of the Faisalabad regional police headquarters, who rejected claims that authorities were unable to protect the minority.

On Thursday, a suicide bomber struck near government buildings and a church in the northwestern city of Peshawar, though the attack appeared unrelated to Christmas Eve. Five people died. Authorities said the target was unclear. Although a Catholic church was nearby, the bomber had been walking away from it. Another bombing outside a Shiite shrine on the outskirts of Islamabad killed a young girl.

Security has been ramped up across the country anyway, as this year Christmas falls during the Islamic month of Muharram, which is often marred by bombings and fighting between Pakistan's Sunni Muslims and its Shiite minority.

But Gojra's Christians have little faith in the police, who were accused of standing by during the worst of August's violence.

"The police already didn't save us before," said Ashar Faras, a 33-year-old who works as a chef in an Islamabad guesthouse.

Pastor Safraz Sagar, a local clergyman who also lost his home in the riots, believes there is little authorities can do. "They are trying to protect us, but I think that when the terrorists want to harm us, they will."

Many complain they see no justice, noting that there have been no convictions of anyone involved in the rioting. They say those who led the mob are well-known in the town, but are left untouched.

Extremists have increasingly targeted minority religious groups in Pakistan. Minority Rights Group International, a watchdog organization, lists Pakistan as seventh on the list of 10 most dangerous countries for minorities, after Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Myanmar and Congo.

The government stressed Thursday that it is committed to minority rights.

"Today, more than ever, we need to rediscover the path of peaceful coexistence," Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said in a Christmas message, adding that the government is "committed to working for the progress and prosperity of the minorities."

But in Gojra, few feel festive.

Bishop John Samuel, the region's senior clergyman, said Christmas services would still be held.

However, "people are afraid because of this incident also because of this tussle, this tension," he said.

"And also people are afraid from terrorism."

Pakistan Court Rejects Asylum Petition on Basis of Jihad for 5 American Muslims

From Times of India:

LAHORE: A Pakistani court today dismissed a petition seeking asylum in the name of 'holy war' for five American Muslim youths recently arrested in the country for allegedly planning terror attacks, saying that it was not the duty of the judiciary to define 'jihad'.

The Lahore High Court dismissed the petition filed by Khalid Khwaja, a former Inter-Services Intelligence official now associated with a rights organisation.

In his petition, Khwaja had contended that the youths came to Pakistan for 'jihad' (holy war) and since this was not a crime, their detention is illegal.

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khwaja Mohammad Sharif, who heard the petition, observed that it was not the duty of the court to define 'jihad'. The judge did not comment further and dismissed the petition.

Khwaja also asked the court to direct authorities to grant the youths asylum in Pakistan as the US administration might "not spare them".

He claimed the accused are innocent of any wrongdoing, either through their actions or intentions.

"They are being suspected of a crime they never committed nor ever intended to commit. In such a case, the US constitution protects all its citizens of wrongful accusations and wrongful imprisonment.

We must have faith in our system of laws that they will seek out truth and deliver justice," Khwaja said in his petition.

Iranian Speaker Downplays Differences Among Islamic Leaderships, Declares that Israelis (Jews) Are Ultimate Enemies

Thanks to Jihad Watch for initially posting this.

So much for peace.

From Washington TV:

Washington, 23 December (WashingtonTV)--Iran's parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, on Wednesday played down any differences between the Islamic Republic and Egypt and reiterated Tehran's opposition to arch-enemy Israel.

Speaking in Tehran at the end of a three-day visit to Egypt, Larijani accused Israel of opposing cooperation between Tehran and Cairo.

"Although there are differences of opinions in some areas among Islamic countries, the point is that the main enemy is the Zionist regime," he said, according to the official ISNA news agency.

Relations between Iran and Egypt have soured over disputes on a number of regional and international issues, including Israel's three-week offensive in the Gaza Strip last January.

Cairo has accused Tehran of trying to dominate the region through its alliances with the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab states to have a peace treaty with Israel.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran's strategy is to use all the forces of the world of Islam and to generate general participation in combating the Zionist regime," Larijani told reporters in Tehran....

Iran to try 3 Americans who crossed Iraqi border

Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch correctly points out that U.S. President Barack Obama's overtures in this case have been very strange. Obama seems to believe he needs to flatter to mullah-backed regime when in reality scorn is appropriate.

From Yahoo News:

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran said Monday a court will try three Americans who wandered across the border from Iraq last July and became ensnared in an increasingly bitter standoff with the West over Tehran's nuclear program.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki did not say when the trial would begin or even what the Americans were charged with, other than that they had "suspicious aims." Last month, Iran's chief prosecutor said they were accused of spying.

"They will be tried by Iran's judiciary system and verdicts will be issued," Mottaki told a news conference. He said the three were still being interrogated.

In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the Iranian move was "totally unfounded" and appealed anew to authorities to release the Americans.

"We consider this a totally unfounded charge," she told reporters. "There is no basis for it. The three young people who were detained by the Iranians have absolutely no connection with any kind of action against the Iranian state or government."

"In fact, they were out hiking and unfortunately, apparently, allegedly, walked across an unmarked boundary," she said. "We appeal to the Iranian leadership to release these three young people and free them as soon as possible."

The three, Shane Bauer, 27, Sarah Shourd, 31, and Josh Fattal, 27, — all graduates of the University of California at Berkeley — had been trekking in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region when they accidentally crossed into Iran, according to their relatives. The trio were arrested on July 31.

All three families declined to comment on Monday's announcement.

The case recalls that of American-Iranian journalist Roxanna Saberi, who was arrested in Iran in January and convicted of espionage and sentenced to eight years in prison. She was freed on appeal in May after heavy pressure from the U.S. — and several months later, the U.S. military released five Iranians it had held for more than two years.

The accusations against the three Americans could be a first step in a similar move by Iran to put them on trial and convict them, then arrange their release, aiming to get concessions.

There is precedent, however, for the release of foreigners without any apparent conditions. Canadian-Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari of Newsweek was released on bail and allowed to leave the country in October after being detained in Iran's post-election crackdown and tried in televised court proceedings.

Iran also swiftly released five British sailors on Dec. 2 after their yacht strayed into Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf.

In an interview with The Associated Press in September, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad noted that while the Americans had broken the law by crossing into Iran, he would ask the judiciary to expedite the process and to "look at the case with maximum leniency."

The three Americans have been held in Iran's Evin prison, where Swiss diplomats have visited them twice and said they are healthy. Because the U.S. and Iran do not have direct diplomatic relations, the Swiss Embassy maintains an American interests section.

Bauer and Shourd had been living in Damascus, Syria, where he was studying Arabic and she was teaching English, and both did freelance journalism or writing online. Friends have described them as passionate adventurers interested in the Middle East and human rights.

Fattal, who spent three years with a group dedicated to sustainable farming near Cottage Grove, Ore., had been overseas since January as a teaching assistant with the International Honors Program.

Hoping to prove that they were simply vacationing, the families released videos taken just two days before their detention, showing the three backpackers dancing and joking in an unfinished cinder block building they came across in Kurdistan's mountains. In one video, Fattal performed an impromptu rap about Iraq.

The case came at a time of rising tension between Iran and the West over Iran's nuclear capabilities and whether it was developing an atomic weapon.

The U.S. and its allies have given Tehran until the end of the year to accept a U.N.-drafted plan under which Iran would send most of its low-enriched uranium abroad. Iran, which denies it intends to build a weapon, has countered with an alternate proposal to keep the material inside its territory — a scenario deemed unacceptable to the U.S.

Ahmadinejad noted last month that the United States was holding several Iranian citizens, raising concern that his government might be seeking to use the Americans in a deal.

In particular, he drew a link to the trial in the U.S. of Amir Hossein Ardebili, an Iranian who was sentenced to five years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to plotting to ship sensitive U.S. military technology to Iran.

According to court papers, Ardebili worked as a procurement agent for the Iranian government and acquired thousands of components, including military aircraft parts, night vision devices, communications equipment and Kevlar body armor. U.S. authorities targeted him in 2004 after he contacted an undercover storefront set up in Philadelphia to investigate illegal arms trafficking.

Iran is also concerned about Shahram Amiri, a nuclear scientist who disappeared on a pilgrimage to Mecca and Ali Reza Asghari, a former Defense Ministry official who vanished while in Turkey.

Iran has accused U.S. and Western intelligence agencies of being involved in the disappearance of both men. There was speculation, however, that the two had defected and gave the West information on Iran's nuclear program.

Pakistan Nixes Going After Taliban

From UPI:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama's administration has spared no effort to publicly laud the vital role of Pakistan for the success of its Afghanistan strategy, but what is happening behind the scene tells a different story.

Pakistan, going by recent reports, is making no secret of its resentment of U.S. policy, which in essence wants its military to do more to crack down on the Taliban and other militants using its territory as sanctuaries to launch attacks against U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

That was in evidence last week when the Pakistani military refused to go along with a U.S. demand it go after Taliban commander Siraj Haqqani, who uses his North Waziristan hideout in Pakistan to plan attacks by his warriors across the border.

The Pakistani military argued it is already heavily involved in a counterinsurgency campaign in South Waziristan and that its resources cannot be further extended into North Waziristan. But the criticism against Pakistan is that its two-month old South Waziristan campaign has only targeted domestic militants who threaten the country's security and not against the Afghan Taliban using its territory as sanctuaries. The offensive also has only helped many of the militant leaders to escape to North Waziristan and other areas.

A senior Pakistani security official told The Times of London any confrontation with Haqqani could create more problems for the army and that "we cannot fight on so many fronts."

The Obama administration wants Pakistan, set to receive $1.5 billion of U.S. civilian aid a year for five years, to dismantle the Taliban sanctuaries in return for a long-term strategic bilateral partnership.

U.S. officials also say that besides Haqqani, top Taliban leaders including Mullah Mohammed Omar are using Quetta, capital of Pakistan's Baluchistan province, as their base, and that the United States may decide to go after these militants on its own through expanded Predator drone strikes if Pakistan doesn't cooperate.

As for Haqqani, The Times of London reported, American intelligence officials suspect Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence military spy agency uses him for its interests in Afghanistan.

A New York Times report, quoting officials, said Pakistanis feel the U.S. demand would go against the need to position their country in Afghanistan in any regional rearrangement that might involve its main rival India as well as Russia, China and Iran once America begins to draw down its troops starting in July 2011 under the Obama strategy. In that scenario, the support of Haqqani and his fighters who control substantial regions of Afghanistan would be vital.

"If America walks away, Pakistan is very worried that it will have India on its eastern border and India on its western border in Afghanistan," Tariq Fatemi, former Pakistani ambassador to the United States, told The New York Times.

The need to dismantle the Taliban and al-Qaida sanctuaries in Pakistan was stressed by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, during his recent visit to Afghanistan.

Noting the insurgency in Afghanistan has grown "more violent, more pervasive and more sophisticated," Mullen told reporters in Kabul: "I remain deeply concerned by the growing level of collusion between the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida and other extremist groups taking refuge across the border in Pakistan.

"Getting at this network, which is now more entrenched, will be a far more difficult task than it was just one year ago."

Pakistan's resentment of U.S. AFPAK policy is also manifesting in other unlikely areas.

In what is seen as harassment, U.S. officials told The New York Times the Pakistani military and intelligence services are yet to clear visas for more than 100 Americans and that they are subjecting U.S. diplomatic vehicles to constant searches in major Pakistani cities. These problems have impacted personnel including development experts, junior-level diplomats and others, thereby affecting aid and other programs.

Pakistani officials did not deny the problems but blamed them on Americans taking photographs in sensitive areas or showing a lack of understanding of divisions within Pakistan about the United States. A U.S. Embassy official said the report on the photography incident was false.

"Unfortunately, the Americans are arrogant," a Pakistani security official said. "They think of themselves as omnipotent. That's how they come across."

CNN quoted U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood as saying that the delay in granting visas has raised enough official concern and been taken up at "very senior levels" in the Pakistani government.

These developments come on top of other issues currently affecting U.S.-Pakistan relations. Among them are the recent arrests in Pakistan of five young Muslim Americans on suspicion of seeking to pursue jihadist training in that country and the cases of David C. Headley and Tahawwur Hussein Rana.

Headley, a Pakistan-raised U.S. national, was arrested in Chicago in October and is accused of conspiring with an extremist Islamic group in Pakistan to plot attacks in Denmark and India. Rana, identified by U.S. authorities as a Pakistani native and a Canadian citizen, is now in jail in Chicago as a terrorism suspect.

Egypt Builds Wall Along Gaza Border, 700 People Protest

This is an update on this story.

From ANSAmed:

GAZA, DECEMBER 21 - Today in Rafah (south of Gaza) some 700 people joined a demonstration staged in this portion of Palestinian territory controlled by Hamas Islamic radicals to protest against the underground steel barrier planned by Egypt along the only section of the Gaza Strip border that is foreign to Israel. The protesters gathered in front of the so-called Saladins Door, near the Egyptian border, but not in front of the main Rafah pass. The crowd included local residents, local Hamas activists and even one of the movements spokespersons who arrived from Gaza City, Sami Abu Zahri, who requested a halt to work in progress and the dismantling of the section of the barrier that has already been built. During the gathering people chanted slogans inviting Egypt not to choke the people of Gaza and to help the Palestinian people, while others carried signs saying Stop the siege or Enough walls and invoked Arab solidarity. Hamas security, present in force, however avoided any excessive approach to the border and incidents of any kind. The barrier, which was created with the help of American technicians, represents Cairòs reply to the problem of underground tunnels which allow the passage of vital goods to the Gaza Strip (which has been under an almost total Israeli blockade since Hamas rose to power in 2007) in addition to weapons, militiamen and illegal aliens. According to reports referred in recent days by the BBC and by Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the project estimates a total final length of 10 kilometres for 30 metres of depth. Initially denied, the start of work was later confirmed by Cairo sources, which claimed Egypt's right to control its borders. And they blamed Hamas intransigence for the failed agreement (where Egypt acted as middleman) over inter-Palestinian reconciliation, which is considered as one of the reasons behind the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Attacks on Christian Churches in Mosul, Three Dead and Several Injured

From Asia News:

Mosul (AsiaNews) - Two separate bombs struck this morning in Mosul, the Chaldean church of St. George and Syriac Orthodox Church of St. Thomas. The death toll so far is of three dead - a Chaldean Christian and two Muslims - and several wounded. Louis Sako, archbishop of Kirkuk, speaks to AsiaNews of a "disturbing message" ahead of Christmas, keeping tensions high as well as fear of further violence in northern Iraq.

Sources for AsiaNews in Mosul confirm that "the situation for Christians continues to worsen, given that the Christians buildings are again being targeted by terrorists. The two churches hit are two old buildings, of great historical and cultural value”.

In the attack on the church of Saint George three people were killed: a Chaldean Christian and two Muslims, others were injured. Local witnesses report that the explosion was caused by "a cart of vegetables, filled with bombs." From the initial reconstruction, it seems that the target of the attack was a police barracks in the district of Khazraj. In the last six weeks in Mosul four churches and a convent of Dominican nuns have been attacked. The explosions were caused by car bombs producing serious damage to buildings and adjacent homes, Christian and Muslim. Five Christians have been murdered and others have become victims of kidnapping for ransom. These targeted attacks testify to the "ethnic cleansing" in act against the Christian community throughout Iraq.

Louis Sako, archbishop of Kirkuk, believes today attacks are yet another "disturbing message" to two days before Christmas. These threats, stresses the prelate, "continue to influence the Christian community" that hopes "for peace" but is the victim of violence. "The message of peace and hope - reaffirms the archbishop of Kirkuk - announced by angels, remains our best wishes for Christmas for the entire country: we want to work together to build peace and hope in the hearts of all men and women of Iraq. "

Christian Man Languishing In Pakistan Jail

From BosNewsLife:

LAHORE, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- A Christian man has been languishing for over three years in a Pakistan jail on charges of "blasphemy against Islam" and his family has expressed concerns over his health, BosNewsLife has established.

Qamar David, a 50-year-old married father with four children, was arrested in 2006 for allegedly sending blasphemous messages against Islam, charges he strongly denies, his defense team told BosNewsLife.

Khalid Gill, a regional leader of rights group All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), said David was taken into police custody in May 2006 and eventually moved to Karachi Prison in Pakistan's Punjab province. He said his family was not allowed to see him for two years.

Gill linked the controversial case to a business dispute with Muslims. Rights groups say David is among several innocent Christians who have been detained across Pakistan, where blasphemy legislation has often been misused to settle personal grievances.

"Qamar David had gone to Karachi to run his business with his Muslim friends," Gill said. However, "Muslim friends harbored hostility against him in business matters and eventually expressed their anger by implicating the innocent David in two fabricated cases of blasphemy," he claimed.

"BLASPHEMY AGAINST ISLAM"

He said David was accused of "blasphemy against Islam and Prophet Muhammad" under Article 295-C and 295-A of Pakistan's Penal Code. Gill explained that both cases were registered in two different police stations by two Muslim complainants, identified as Khursheed Ahmed and Hafiz Ahmed Hamid, whose father is an influential Muslim cleric.

As the legal wrangling continues, David has faced "appalling" prison circumstances, according to rights investigators and family members.

Gill said a defense team is now trying to get David released on bail in time for Christmas to meet his wife and four sons.

Yet, coming home will not be without difficulties: David is from Youhanabad, one of the largest Christian slums of provincial metropolis Lahore, in Punjab province. Christians often live in impoverished circumstances in Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim nation....

Read it all here.

Man Charged With Murder in 'Honor Killing'

This is an update on this story.

From the Arizona Republic:

An Iraqi immigrant accused of slaying his daughter in an "honor killing" has been charged with first-degree murder and could face the death penalty, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said Monday.

Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 48, of Glendale, is accused of using his Jeep Cherokee to run over his daughter, 20-year-old Noor Almaleki, and another woman in a Peoria parking lot on Oct. 20. His daughter died of her injuries.

Almaleki was reportedly furious with his daughter for becoming "too Westernized," police said.

Prosecutors have labeled Noor Almaleki's death an "honor killing," saying the elder Almaleki killed his daughter because she dishonored the family by not following traditional Iraqi or Muslim values.

She reportedly married a man in Iraq and returned to Arizona to live with a boyfriend and his mother in Surprise.

Thomas announced Almaleki was also being charged with attempted first-degree murder in the attack on his daughter's friend, Amal Khalaf, 43. Khalaf is the boyfriend's mother and is expected to recover from her injuries, police said.

Almaleki was charged with two additional felony counts for leaving the scene of a serious injury accident.

Thomas said his office is still determining whether to seek the death penalty for Almaleki. He called the case "tragic," saying the county will prosecute Almaleki to the full extent.

At Almaleki's initial court appearance on Oct. 31, county prosecutor Stephanie Low said he admitted deliberately running down his daughter.

"By his own admission, this was an intentional act, and the reason was that his daughter had brought shame on him and his family," Low said. "This was an attempt at an honor killing."

Almaleki was a fugitive for about a week, fleeing for Mexico and later taking a plane to London, investigators said.

He was detained by British authorities and extradited.