Muslim Leaders ‘Failing to Tackle Extremists’

From the Times Online (UK):

Muslim leaders have been criticised by a University of Oxford academic for not doing enough to tackle extremists.

At the same time a parliamentary committee has attacked a central plank of the Government’s counter-extremism programme by arguing that its “Prevent” strategy has “stigmatised and alienated” Muslims.

Nick Chatrath, a researcher at Oxford’s Faculty of Oriental Studies, claims in a paper to be published this week that in the face of growing radicalisation in Britain, Muslim leaders are ignoring extremists’ points of view and glossing over some of the more unsavoury parts of Islam’s ancient texts.

In an essay in next month’s Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Mr Chatrath called for a more open engagement by moderate Muslims with the arguments of extremists.

Based on interviews with Anjem Choudary, of the banned extremist group Islam4UK, and Dr Musharraf Hussain, an adviser to the Muslim Council of Britain, Mr Chatrath said: “Moderate Muslim leaders are doing a poor job of tackling extremism in Britain.” He said that extremists such as Mr Choudary, who has argued that democracy should be replaced with obedience to Allah, were using the Koran and other ancient texts to justify their actions. He called on moderate community leaders to do more to counter this.

“This attitude must change, as the best way to extinguish extremist arguments is to deal with them out in the open, not just sweep them under the carpet and hope for the best,” he said.

“Some recent polls suggest ordinary British Muslims are becoming more sympathetic to extremists, and this could be related to the way moderate Muslims are ignoring the extremist threat.”

His paper came as a committee of MPs said that the programme set up by the Government to stop radicalisation and reduce support for terrorism had undermined community relations. But the Communities and Local Government Committee said that many Muslims feared that it was an attempt to spy on them and called for ministers to investigate claims that Prevent was being used by police and MI5 to gather intelligence on alleged radicals.

The committee’s report, Preventing Violent Extremism, also accused ministers of trying to “engineer” a moderate form of Islam and sidelining those who did not fit in.

Phyllis Starkey, the committee’s chairwoman, said: “Many witnesses made plain they believe Prevent has been used to ‘spy’ on Muslim communities. The misuse of terms such as ‘intelligence gathering’ amongst Prevent partners has clearly discredited the programme and fed distrust.

“Information required to manage Prevent has been confused with intelligence gathering undertaken by the police to combat crime and surveillance used by the security services to actively pursue terrorism suspects.”

The Muslim Council said: “The committee’s findings reflect the deep anxiety felt by Britain’s Muslims as it has become the central policy tool for Government to engage with Muslim communities. In effect, Britain’s Muslims are only seen through the prism of security.”

The council said that the Government’s policy had become inadvertently sectarian. “Britain’s Muslim community is one of the most diverse communities on Earth. It is the responsibility of government to facilitate that diversity, not to promote discord. We are glad this instructive lesson has been taken up by the current Communities Secretary, and we hope it is not lost on all those who are engaged with public policy and the Muslim community.”

Fanatic Muslims Pushing Jews Out of Sweden

From Jihad Watch:

This story, similar to one that was published in February, describes more cases of violence by Muslims against Jews in Malmo. The logical question, then, is: what are they doing in Malmo to stop this behavior, which is so utterly antithetical to Swedish values? Well, they've appointed an "anti-hate-crimes coordinator." Yeah, that oughtta fix it.

"Hate crimes force Jews out of Malmo," by Karl Ritter for the Associated Press, March 29:

Marcus Eilenberg is a Swedish Jew whose family roots in Malmo run deep. His paternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors who found shelter in this southern Swedish city in 1945. His wife's parents fled to Sweden from communist Poland in the 1960s.

Now the 32-year-old law firm associate feels the welcome for Jews is running out, and he is moving to Israel with his wife and two children in May. He says he knows at least 15 other Jews who are leaving for a similar reason.

That reason, he says, is a rise in hate crimes against Jews in Malmo, and a sense that local authorities have little desire to deal with a problem that has exposed a crack in Sweden's image as a bastion of tolerance and a haven for distressed ethnic groups.

Anti-Semitic crimes in Europe have usually been associated with the far right, but Shneur Kesselman, an Orthodox rabbi, says the threat now comes from Muslims.

"In the past five years I've been here, I think you can count on your hand how many incidents there have been from the extreme right," he said. "In my personal experience, it's 99 percent Muslims."

Sweden prides itself on having taken in tens of thousands of the world's war refugees. About 7 percent of Malmo's 285,000 people were born in the Middle East, according to city statistics, and the city has large numbers from the Balkans, including the Macedonian who heads the city's largest mosque. After the Holocaust, it took in many Jews who survived the World War II Nazi genocide.

Malmo police say that of 115 hate crimes reported in 2009, 52 were anti-Semitic. Bejzat Becirov, the mosque head, estimated there are about 60,000 Muslims in Malmo. But the number of Jews is about 700 and shrinking - it was twice as big two decades ago, according to Fredrik Sieradzki, a spokesman for the Jewish community. [...]

The city recently appointed an anti-hate-crimes coordinator, Bjorn Lagerback, who said Mr. Reepalu has sent a letter to the city's 20,000 employees denouncing all attacks against minorities in Malmo, though without specifically mentioning Jews.

The coordinator's priority seems to be downplaying the severity of the situation and drawing false equivalences with hate crimes and violent intimidation:

Asked whether Jews were particularly targeted by hate crimes in Malmo, Mr. Lagerback said anti-Semitism had become "more explicit." He added that "we also have discrimination against women who wear a hijab. They are also exposed to various kinds of insults."

And no time is ever a bad time to sidestep the issue by playing the victim card:

Mosque leader Mr. Becirov spoke similarly, saying he feels "great sympathy for the Jewish community" and knows what it's going through because "the Muslim community, too, is exposed to Islamophobia."...

Fatwa Declares Underage Girls Can Marry to "Build Family Values"

More Islamic clerics are encouraging pedophilia and child rape.

From The Jakarta Globe:

Taking Islamic law as its guide, leading Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama on Friday issued a fatwa declaring underage marriage acceptable as long as the purpose of the union was to build a happy family.

Cholil Nafis, secretary of the committee for religious issues for this past week’s 32nd NU congress, said the gathering had agreed that there should be no age restrictions on marriage because sacred Islamic verses or regulations had not stipulated a minimum age.

“They can get married at any age, even girls who haven’t started menstruating,” he said. “And they can have intimate relationships and intercourse, as long as they are able.”

Cholil said Islamic law only suggested that marriages would be better after a woman had her first period.

“As long as the objectives of the marriage are positive, it is allowed,” Cholil said. “Mind you, we don’t encourage people just to get married to fulfill their desires, no,” he added.

NU was aware that some groups might disagree, he said. While NU looked at the issue from a religious point of view, others might focus on different aspects, such as human rights.

“If people disagree with our fatwa, so be it. We never force people to follow what we say.”

Cholil said an NU report mentioned underage marriages in some regions, but added that they were mostly traditional engagements between families who wanted their offspring to marry.

Under such a marriage, the minors are wed under Islamic law as if they were adults, but live separately with their families until they are judged mature enough to assume adult responsibilities.

Friday’s edict drew immediate criticism from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), as well as the nation’s second-largest Islamic group, Muhammadiyah, and the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan).

“Girls need mental maturity to be responsible for their husband and children,” MUI chairman Amidhan told the Jakarta Globe. “Based on the 1974 Law on Marriage, girls can only get married after they are 16.”

Yunahar Ilyas, Muhammadiyah’s fatwa committee chairman, said NU should not issue edicts and recommendations based solely on an Islamic perspective.

“They are supposed to see this matter comprehensively. Menstruation is not a measurement of a girl’s maturity,” Yunahar said.

“She needs to be mentally and intellectually mature to be able to be a good mother and wife.”

Komnas Perempuan vice chairwoman Masruchah told the Globe that the edict violated the Law on Child Protection, which defines children as being younger than 18 years old.

Girls can begin to have their periods as early as the age of 9, but their reproductive system is still fragile and they are “not ready to be a sexually active person,” she said.

Somali "Pirates" Abduct 120 Indian Sailors

From Hindustan Times:

In one of their biggest strikes yet Somali pirates hijacked eight Indians boats carrying 120 Indian sailors off the Kismayo coast, media reports said on Tuesday. The sailors were sailing in 8-10 dhows. They were sailing from Somalia and were on their way to UAE. The abducted sailors hail from Saurashtra and Kutch region of Gujarat. No contact with the hijackers have been established till reports last came in neither have the pirates asked for any ransom.

Sources in the Indian Navy have confirmed the news of the hijack, media reports said and added that efforts are on in full swing to contact the pirates and get the Indians back safely.

Hijacking of ships have been rampant around the coast of Somalia. In the past an Indian ship, MT Agrasen, was attacked off the coast of Maharashtra. But the crew fought off the attack.

Colorado Christian Couple Deported From Morocco, Worried About Adopted Children

Moroccan authorities prefer Moroccan children to remain parent-less and without love than to have a decent Christian couple raise them?

This is an update on this story.

From 9News.com (NBC):

ENGLEWOOD - They knew it was a possibility, but never really believed it would happen to them. Eddie and Lynn Padilla say their family was torn apart when the Moroccan government deported them and other Christian workers at an orphanage in the Islamic country.

Now they worry about the future for little Samir and Mouhcine, the two Moroccan boys they were raising.

"If I think about it too much I just start crying. I look at their pictures and I just can't believe that I'm not with them," Lynn Padilla said.

She and her husband Eddie Padilla moved to Morocco 4 years ago to work at the Village of Hope in a rural area about 5 hours northeast of Casablanca. The orphanage in the village of Ain Leuh took in children who were usually abandoned because they were born out of wedlock. They are children who might have otherwise died or been left to fend for themselves living on the streets.

"We knew that God was calling us to that. It was just a feeling in our hearts. We saw the need," Eddie Padilla said.

The Padillas and 14 other overseas volunteers from Europe and South Africa were taking care of 33 orphaned children. Some of the couples had been there 10 years with valid visas. They say the government had approved the plan for the Village of Hope when it opened. Then on March 8th police showed up and informed the foreign workers they would have to leave within hours. Eddie Padilla said it was heart wrenching to leave his Moroccan children. Samir, only 2-years-old, didn't understand what was happening but knew it wasn't good.

"He jumped back into my arms and said I want to go with you daddy. I just held him, and I had to put him back," Eddie Padilla said.

The Village of Hope workers are accused of breaking the Moroccan law against converting Muslims. Christian organizations and some U.S. Embassy staff there have told reporters they are seeing a crackdown on Christian workers. Morocco's Communications Minister Khalid Naciri told reporters that the government would be "severe with all those who play with religious values." He also called Morocco a land of tolerance and said Christians can live and worship there as long as they don't proselytize.

A professor of religion and international politics at the University of Denver says this is an example of religious intolerance that has plagued the planet for thousands of years.

"There's a long history of this. We are going through a particularly ferocious Islamic version of it which is very distressing, but we should not forget that we are not clean either in terms of what has happened in history," Professor Arthur Gilbert said.

"This is precisely how countries were built in western Europe," Gilbert explained. "In France, the Catholics drive out the Protestants after religious wars, in something called the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. In England, the Protestants take over and suppress the Catholics. In Spain, they go after everybody who is not a member of the Roman Catholic church. That's the Inquisition."

"Because Islam found itself in a position of defensiveness against a vibrant and technologically superior West, you get, in effect, areas where people are going to protest and they're going to fight back," Gilbert said.

"Is it going to get better? Countries become tolerant after they are, in effect, thriving and they don't feel threatened," Gilbert said.

That may be a long time away in a place like Morocco. Still, the Padillas hold onto hope that maybe they could be reunited with their sons.

"We really hope that the king of Morocco would open up a dialogue with us at least," Eddie Padilla said.

He and the other workers at the Village of Hope deny breaking Morocco's law against proselytizing. They say even though they are Christians, their Moroccan children still went to a government-approved school and learned Islam.

For more about the Village of Hope and its official reaction to the deportations, visit http://www.voh-ainleuh.org/.

Moscow Metro: 19 Black Widows Could Launch Fresh Attacks

From the Telegraph (UK):

Nineteen "black widow" female suicide bombers trained by an Islamist terrorist known as "the Russian Bin Laden" remain at large and may launch fresh attacks on Moscow, Russian investigators have warned.

The warning will heighten fears that Monday's rush-hour suicide attack on the Moscow metro by two women may just be the start of a large-scale terror campaign.

Investigators have said they were trying to confirm whether the two women were part of what was originally a 30-strong female "martyrs' brigade".

The terrorist who trained the brigade, an Islamist convert calling himself Said Buryatsky, was killed in a special forces operation earlier this month in Ingushetia, a strife-torn region bordering Chechnya. He was known as the Islamist rebel movement's ideologue-in-chief in southern Russia and the media had dubbed him "the Russian Bin Laden."

Investigators said the late terrorist, whose real name was Alexander Tikhomirov, had recruited 30 potential female suicide bombers in Chechnya and Ingushetia and dispatched them to Turkey to be taught the precepts of radical Islam in an unnamed Madrasah.

On their return to Russia, he had personally continued their "education." The women are known as "black widows" because they have usually lost husbands or close relatives in clashes with Russian forces and are motivated by a desire for revenge.

Nine of the original thirty brigade members are known to have already blown themselves up in the lawless North Caucasus region along Russia's southern flank where suicide attacks started up again last year after a long pause, and two more are thought to have blown themselves up in the Moscow metro on Monday.

But that, say investigators, leaves 19 "black widows" at large.

The Moscow metro attack may have been vengeance for his death, they added.

"If people trained by Buryatsky himself were involved in these attacks then the explosions are only the beginning," said a source from Russia's FSB security service.

"Especially since Doku Umarov, the leader of the militants gave Buryatsky his orders and has long promised to spread war across Russia."

No group have claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The worrying disclosure came as Russia marked a day of mourning for the 39 people who lost their lives in Monday's attacks and as unconfirmed reports claimed the security services may have had advance warning of the bombing. Flags fluttered at half mast across the country and mourners lay flowers in the two metro stations targeted. At least five people who were badly wounded in the blasts remain in a critical condition.

There was strong criticism of Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, as well as President Dmitry Medvedev, for not doing more to prevent the atrocity. Questions were also being asked of the country's state-controlled television stations who were slow to interrupt normal programming and report news of the bombings.

Mr Putin responded in typically tough fashion. Speaking on state television, he said he was confident the perpetrators would be "scraped from the bottom of the sewers" where they were hiding. Other officials called for the death penalty to be introduced for terrorism offences.

Gaza's Male Hairdressers: Time to Cut and Run?

From BBC:

"Maybe I will emigrate to Somalia or Afghanistan," says hairdresser Adnan Barakat with a wry smile. "There's no life for me in Gaza."

Mr Barakat is one of only five or six male hairdressers in the Gaza Strip who cut women's hair.

He has been serving female clients at his small salon in Gaza City for more than 25 years.

But he worries Hamas's new policy banning men from cutting women's hair could put an end to that.

"If they come and shut me down, I will just be left to sit at home and watch TV like all the other unemployed people with no life," he says.

Unemployment is about 40% in the blockaded Gaza Strip, according to the United Nations.

Tinted windows

Mr Barakat's shop has tinted windows and curtains so you can not see in, giving it a slightly seedy feel. Apart from him, men are not allowed in when women are there.

We wait outside until all the women customers have left. Inside, it is not seedy at all - just an ordinary hair salon complete with mirrors, dryers and dated glossy photos of 1980s Western women with big hair.

Mr Barakat says a lot of his customers are foreigners, or from Gaza's Christian minority of about 3,000. Some of his clients are liberal Muslims.

But it is not a big market, with only three or four female customers a day.

Gaza's population is almost entirely Muslim and is generally regarded as more socially conservative than the West Bank.

Most women in the streets wear a headscarf, for reasons of religion and tradition - though the scarves come in a wide array of colours and styles.

In the main park in the city centre, I cannot find any women who would want a man to cut their hair.

Tradition

Naveen, in her 20s, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt with a brightly-coloured, sparkly head scarf, says it is "not about what Hamas says".

"It's about Islam and our traditions. Men don't cut women's hair. It's normal here."

In that respect, the new Hamas policy seems to be in line with many people's views.

Ehab al-Hussein, a spokesman for the Hamas interior ministry, is reluctant to even talk about the issue.

"The Western media is obsessed with stories like this," he says. "This is not a big deal here. It's a social thing. It's tradition."

So why bother at all - given that there are so few hairdressers in question?

"We have had a lot of problems with families who don't want their female relatives having their hair cut by men," Mr Hussein says.

Attacks

Some such hairdressers have actually been attacked.

"They came twice in the middle of the night and blew up my salon with small bombs, once in 2007 and once in 2008," says Hatem al-Ghoul.

Mr Ghoul, also Muslim, does not know who was behind the attacks, though some in Gaza suspect extremist Islamic groups who consider Hamas to be too liberal.

Mr Hussein admitted there had been attacks on hairdressers by "extremist individuals", but, he added, not just on salons where men cut women's hair.

There have been suggestions Hamas may have introduced the new hairdresser law to try to stem criticism from more hard-line Islamist groups.

"This is not true at all," says Ehab al-Hussein. "This has nothing to do with extremist groups."

Uncertain future

Hamas has already tried to introduce new rules to oblige female lawyers to cover their hair in court and to make high-school girls wear long dresses.

But they have been enforced patchily.

Another young woman, Nagham Mohanna, 24, from Gaza City, doubted the hairdressing restrictions would be enforced.

"I don't think the decision will actually go ahead. Hamas are always making laws like this," she said.

So far none of the hairdressers who cut women's hair have actually been shut down.

But the future of hairdressers like Mr Barakat and Mr Ghoul seems uncertain given the low level of demand.

Nevertheless, says Mr Ghoul, "women should have the right to choose - it shouldn't be up to Hamas".

I ask his assistant Mohammed whether he would want another man to cut his wife's hair.

He smiles. There's a long pause.

"Yes… if he was a good hairdresser and a good man. But why would she need to when she has me?" Mohammed asks.

World Charity Embarassed By Palestinian Plan to Name Sport Complex After Terrorist

Surprise!

From the Australian:

CHARITY group World Vision Australia has been embarrassed by a plan by Palestinian authorities to name a sporting complex containing an Australian-funded soccer field in the West Bank after a former militant PLO leader.

World Vision Australia funded the recently completed field in Jenin as a community project to help young Palestinians.

However, this month the authorities in Jenin announced plans to build additional sports facilities on the site and to call the planned sporting complex the Abu Jihad Youth City.

Abu Jihad, or Khalil al-Wazir, was the former commander of Fatah's armed wing. He was considered a high-profile terrorist by Israelis for plotting numerous attacks inside that country during the 1970s and 1980s.

A World Vision Australia spokeswoman said yesterday it had played no part in the naming of the proposed new complex.

"Subsequent to our work establishing the soccer field, the governor of Jenin and the ministry of youth and sport have embraced it and determined they will build additional sports facilities on the site," she said.

"This blueprint for the future they have named Abu Jihad Youth City -- a name they came up with after consulting with the local communities.

"The Abu Jihad Youth City is a separate initiative by the ministry, Governor and community. It was initiated after our funding of the soccer field had been completed."

The spokeswoman denied reports by Palestinian Media Watch that World Vision had financed the youth centre itself.

"World Vision Australia has just completed a two-year construction project to build a soccer field in Jenin, which has been named the Palestinian Youth Vision Soccer Field," the spokeswoman said.

"The aim of the soccer field is to involve young people in this region of the West Bank, who are frequently dealing with psychological trauma and stress, in soccer training and competition, and in sport generally, as a positive community activity . . . There is no other facility like it."

Iraqi Christians Targeted by Bomb Blast; Child Dies

From Spero News:

A 3-year-old Christian child died after a bomb attack on a Christian home in Mosul. This is what Fides sources in Mosul said, noting that "there is still fear amongst the Christian community." The attack was made against the house of Ramzy Balbole, a painter with a wife and three children. A bomb was placed near his house and exploded on the morning of Saturday, March 27, injuring his wife and three children and causing severe damage to housing. The injured were taken to the hospital, but the little child died as a result of injury. "Yet another event to mourn in this Holy Week in the Christian community of Mosul. Christians are under attack and, like Simon of Cyrene, are helping Christ to carry the Cross, sharing in his Passion," note sources.

"We are waiting for better times. The faithful are terrified. But the word of the day is 'hope,' always and in every circumstance," Fides was told in an interview with Archbishop George Casmoussa, Syrian Catholic Archbishop of the city. "We will celebrate Easter in this situation of suffering and fear. Our churches will not be crowded, as they would usually be, as many Christian families have fled the city and many faithful will remain at home for fear of attacks. But, they continue to hope in God, in Jesus Christ, in His Resurrection, as He leads us as Iraqi Christians to rise with Him. We continue to pray for the future of peace in our country," Archbishop Casmoussa told Fides.

"Given the recent political developments, we are hoping now in a strong government whose only plan is to bring peace and justice to Iraq. We want a government that defends the interests of religious, ethnic or political factions, seeking the common good of the country, because Iraq belongs to everyone," said the Archbishop.

Muslim Students Call for Removal of "Year of Our Lord" From Diplomas at Private Christian School

Had this been a public school, they would have had a case. But it is a private school. Certainly Muslim establishments wouldn't remove references to Muhammad to please others.

From Jihad Watch:

It's a private school that retains a "covenant" relationship with the Presbyterian Church. But nonetheless, "the year of Our Lord" is an affront to "diversity." While these enterprising students are at it, how about "Trinity" University? They probably didn't name it after the river that traverses eastern Texas. And just for grins, what of "San Antonio," where the school is located?

If one doesn't want to be offended by a private university's religious heritage, it's not as if Texas is exactly lacking in public institutions. If there were ever a case of barking up the wrong tree, this is it, and it should be addressed as such.

"Students want 'Our Lord' phrase off diplomas," by Melissa Ludwig for the Express-News, March 29 (thanks to José):

A group of students at Trinity University is lobbying trustees to drop a reference to "Our Lord" on their diplomas, arguing it does not respect the diversity of religions on campus.

"A diploma is a very personal item, and people want to proudly display it in their offices and homes," said Sidra Qureshi, president of Trinity Diversity Connection. "By having the phrase 'In the Year of Our Lord,' it is directly referencing Jesus Christ, and not everyone believes in Jesus Christ."

Qureshi, who is Muslim, has led the charge to tweak the wording, winning support from student government and a campus commencement committee. Trustees are expected to consider the students' request at a May board meeting.

Other students and President Dennis Ahlburg have defended the wording, arguing that references to the school's Presbyterian roots are appropriate and unobtrusive.

Founded by Presbyterians in 1869, Trinity has been governed by an independent board of trustees since 1969 but maintains a "covenant relationship" with the church.

"Any cultural reference, even if it is religious, our first instinct should not be to remove it, but to accept it and tolerate it," said Brendan McNamara, president of the College Republicans.

McNamara pointed out that Trinity displays other signs of its Christian heritage, including a chapel on campus, a chaplain, Christmas vespers and a Bible etching on the Trinity seal.

"Once you remove that phrase, where do you draw the line?" McNamara asked.

The debate started last year when Isaac Medina, a Muslim convert from Guadalajara, Mexico, noticed the wording while looking at pre-made diploma frames in the Trinity bookstore. When Medina applied to Trinity, university staff told him it wasn't a religious institution and that it maintained only a historical bond to the Presbyterian Church.

So the godly reference "came as a big surprise," said Medina, who graduated in December. "I felt I was a victim of a bait and switch."

At first, Qureshi and Medina sought a change only for students who desired it. But university staff told them the school would not print custom diplomas, so they requested dropping the words "Our Lord" from all diplomas issued.

In January, the student government and the Muslim Student Association co-sponsored a forum to debate the issue. And in February, the Association of Student Representatives and the university's commencement and convocation committee both voted to support the change, Qureshi said.

"I honestly feel like nobody actually noticed it before," Medina said. "Now that it has been brought up, the institution is trying to find its own identity. Are we or are we not a religious institution?"

Though Trinity has historically enrolled mostly Anglo Christians, the university has taken pains to increase diversity in recent years. Since 1999, the share of international students has increased from 1 percent to 9 percent.

Medina, a former international student, said he always has felt welcome at Trinity. The chaplain on campus caters to students of all religions, and the university recently dedicated a Muslim prayer space in Parker Chapel.

"I never had the experience that Trinity was a closeted Christian institution," Medina said.

Ahlburg, who took the helm in January, said Trinity should continue to foster a diverse environment but should not ignore its cultural and religious roots.

"The fundamental issue is not so much what is on the diploma. The fundamental question is, 'Is Trinity a place that is accepting and supportive of all faiths?'" Ahlburg said.

Current students are not Trinity's only stakeholders, Ahlburg said. The university also has thousands of alumni and donors to appease, many of whom have called Ahlburg to tell him they oppose the change.

"Democracy is not letting a small number of people have their way," Ahlburg said. "Democracy is listening to the different voices and making an informed decision."

Radical Islamic Elder Preaching Jihad in Perth's Suburbs

From Perth Now (Australia):

A RADICAL Islamic elder who praises the Taliban and preaches violent jihad to a band of keen followers is being investigated in Perth by WA and Federal police.

Sources confirmed the joint-agency investigation after The Sunday Times revealed to police that the newspaper had infiltrated a group in which the sheik described armed jihad as the "top" ideal for Muslims and likened the Taliban to "angels".

Muslim community members said they warned police weeks ago that the Middle Eastern man was recruiting disaffected young Muslim men at a Perth mosque and spreading dangerous messages - about armed jihad, or holy war, against those fighting Islam; and that he claimed to know, and have trained with, Osama bin Laden.

They stressed that mainstream WA Muslims did not share the views and were concerned police had not acted on their tip-offs.

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They alerted The Sunday Times as a last resort "before something really bad happens . . . before this poison spreads".

In an undercover investigation, The Sunday Times obtained information from meetings at the sheik's northern suburbs home where, before a group of young men, he promoted armed jihad as the highest ideal for Muslims, praised the Taliban and said he had fought in Afghanistan against Soviet forces.

In other meetings, he praised bin Laden - and even Hitler, justified the actions of suicide bombers, claimed that US presidents were priests and said that Allah would "get" the US and Jews for their actions.

The man, an Australian citizen whom The Sunday Times has not named under police advice, also said that though Islam forbade killing, people who had tried to stop those bringing the religion to others in the past were killed so that people could receive the word of God.

Muslim community members said they feared police were waiting for the man and his followers to do something "terrible", so they could make a dramatic arrest and then point to "home-grown terrorists" as justification for repressive police measures and surveillance of all Muslims.

But sources confirmed an investigation was under way because of earlier information received. It involved both the WA Police State Security Investigation Group and the Australian Federal Police.

Last Saturday, in front of five men and youths, the man said that jihad, at its "top" end, was to fight those who fought against Islam, and that going into battle and "putting your life on the line" for Islam was the highest ideal.

"I'm not afraid to say that if angels walk this earth, they are the Taliban," he said.

In the same meeting he told one youth that he had fought in Afghanistan during the Soviet conflict.

On another occasion he said that people could say Osama bin Laden "is no good . . . but he helped a lot of people when they are needing help, he built hospitals, he built schools, he give food when people was hungry".

He said Allah would punish Jews for their wrongdoings and of Hitler he said: "He enjoyed art, and he enjoyed music, that means he had some softnesses (sic) in him. He looked after his people".

The man also said that suicide bombers were the result of bombing by the US and its allies.

"In Iraq, (a man) come home, he find his wife leg there, head there, his children (in) three pieces and his father (in) five pieces and the home is gone," he said. "What do you expect from this person?

"I make myself pieces to at least kill (those) who killed my father, who killed my wife."

When The Sunday Times contacted the elder yesterday, he denied encouraging jihad anywhere, or any wrongdoing, and said he was a loyal Australian, but that the Koran said "jihad is top of the worshipping because this is (a believer) risking his life".

Asked about his views that Allah would punish the US and Jews, he said: "Allah (is) not punishing anyone doing the right thing."

He said he had met bin Laden when working for a relief agency in Afghanistan in 1980-81 and had "asked him for some donation for some people" as part of that relief work. He denied claiming he had trained and fought alongside him.

Yesterday he agreed he had said the Taliban were like angels.

"Compared to what we are seeing from the other side when the killing coming (sic) or the bombarding happening, I said we can consider Taliban like angels for that, because they are not attempting to hurt the people, but the war is happening there," he said.

WA Police would not reveal any details of its investigation, but a spokesman said officers worked collaboratively with Federal Police and the Australian intelligence community on such issues.

A Federal Police spokeswoman said the AFP did not "comment on who it may or may not be investigating".

Saudis Fund Balkan Muslims Spreading Hate of the West

From Times Online (UK):

SAUDI ARABIA is pouring hundreds of millions of pounds into Islamist groups in the Balkans, some of which spread hatred of the West and recruit fighters for jihad in Afghanistan.

According to officials in Macedonia, Islamic fundamentalism threatens to destabilise the Balkans. Strict Wahhabi and Salafi factions funded by Saudi organisations are clashing with traditionally moderate local Muslim communities.


Fundamentalists have financed the construction of scores of mosques and community centres as well as handing some followers up to £225 a month. They are expected not only to grow beards but also to persuade their wives to wear the niqab, or face veil, a custom virtually unknown in the liberal Islamic tradition of the Balkans.

Government sources in traditionally secular Macedonia (official title the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), said they were monitoring up to 50 Al-Qaeda volunteers recruited to fight in Afghanistan.

Classified documents seen by The Sunday Times reveal that Macedonian officials are also investigating a number of Islamic charities, some in Saudi Arabia, which are active throughout the Balkans and are suspected of spreading extremism and laundering money for terrorist organisations.

One of the groups under scrutiny is the International Islamic Relief Organisation from Saudi Arabia, which is on a United Nations blacklist of organisations backing terrorism. It did not respond to inquiries, but has previously denied involvement in terrorist activities, calling such claims “totally unfounded”.

According to its website, it works in 32 countries to provide relief to the victims of natural disasters and to carry out humanitarian, health and educational projects.

“Hundreds of millions have been poured into Macedonia alone in the past decade and most of it comes from Saudi Arabia,” said a government source. “The Saudis’ main export seems to be ideology, not oil.”

Sulejman Rexhepi, leader of the Islamic community in Macedonia, said a number of mosques had been forcibly taken over by radical groups. Four in central Skopje are no longer under the control of the official Islamic authorities. New imams claim they have been “spontaneously” installed by the “people”.

“Their so-called Wahhabi teachings are completely alien to our traditions and to the essence of Islam, which is a tolerant and inclusive religion,” said Rexhepi.

In some mosques believers are being told that Macedonia, which sent 200 soldiers to Iraq and Afghanistan, has been tricked into supporting a crusade against Islam spearheaded by Britain and America. Radical clerics have shown footage from Afghanistan, Iraq and the Palestinian territories to illustrate their claims that the West is waging war on Islam.

Rahman, a 35-year-old cab driver from Skopje, Macedonia’s capital, said he had stopped going to his local mosque since it was taken over by extremists. “Following the Haiti earthquake the new imam said God would punish the West for their wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with natural disasters,” he said.

Bekir Halimi, an imam trained in Syria, runs Bamiresia, an Islamic charity that has been investigated for alleged terrorist links and money laundering. Police raided its offices but failed to find any evidence of terrorist links.

“We are fully entitled to receive funding from both governmental and non-governmental organisations from Saudi Arabia,” said Halimi, who refuses to name the sources of his funding but rejects any suggestion of criminal activity.

Macedonia’s law enforcement agencies warn that the European Union and America have failed to recognise the growing problem of Islamic extremism in the Balkans.

Baroness Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, has declared stability in the region to be her top priority, but local politicians complain that the EU and Nato are reducing their presence in troublespots such as Bosnia and Kosovo.

Last month, Bosnian security forces raided a village strongly influenced by Salafi extremists and found a weapons cache.

In raids elsewhere rifles, bombs and rocket-propelled grenades have been uncovered.

The West has put considerable political and financial efforts into helping build democracy in Bosnia following its civil war in the 1990s. Saudi organisations have also asserted considerable influence, giving more than £450m to build more than 150 mosques and Islamic centres.

In Macedonia, Fatmir, a former disc jockey, explained how he became an adherent of Salafism. The father of two has grown a beard and instructed his wife to wear a niqab. He now makes his living by selling Islamist literature. “Ours is the Islam of the 21st century,” he said.

38 Killed in Suicide Bombing Attacks in Moscow

From the Daily Mail (UK):

Two 'black widow' suicide bombers were yesterday being blamed by Russian authorities for the deaths of at least 38 commuters in terror blasts on the Moscow underground.

There was carnage after the women detonated their explosive vests 40 minutes apart during morning rush hour.

Last night Russia was on full alert with a massive manhunt under way for the bombers' accomplices amid fears of further attacks.

Vladimir Putin, the country's Prime Minister and former President, vowed vengeance on the terrorists who also wounded 65 commuters.

Although no group immediately claimed responsibility, speculation centred on them being so-called 'black widow' killers avenging the deaths of fathers, brothers and husbands by Russian troops in Chechnya.

The first blast was at 7.56am local time (4.56am UK) at Lubyanka station, immediately underneath the headquarters of the KGB, now the Federal Security Bureau (FSB).

The other was at 8.36am (5.36am UK) at Park Kultury station, near Gorky Park but also close to the Interior Ministry.

In both cases, the bombs were detonated as the trains pulled into the stations and the doors were opening.

State television showed dazed, bloody passengers in the ornate metro stations as dust and smoke swirled through the tunnel.

The suspected suicide bomber killed in the Park Kultury blast was last night said to aged between 18 and 20. The other bomber was said to be 'older'.

Police said they had been accompanied to the metro by two other women aged 25 to 30 and a male 'ringleader' in his 30s and with the surname Mataev.

'They are simply beasts,' said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev after visiting the platform of the Lubyanka metro station. 'We will find and destroy them all.'

There were unconfirmed reports that they had set off the bombs using their mobile phones.

Reports said the young girl's facial features were sufficiently intact to assist police investigating the bombings.

One official said: 'Only her head and legs are left - and the middle part of her body is completely destroyed. This is a definite sign that she had a shahid suicide belt on. She was a very young woman with beautiful brown hair, long and in a thick plait.'

Rescuers revealed the bombs had been filled with small fragments of metal to maximise damage.

But the carnage could have been far worse if the trains were in tunnels-rather than stations when the blasts occurred.

Analysts are warning of a potential spillover from an insurgency in neighbouring Russia's mainly Muslim southern republics.

Azerbaijan said last night it had detained eight people including a Chechen man on suspicion of planning 'terrorist acts' against a school in the capital of the state.

Bin Laden Threatens Americans With Execution

From Reuters:

Osama bin Laden threatened al Qaeda would kill any Americans it takes prisoner if accused September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is put to death, according to an audiotape aired on al Jazeera on Thursday.

Senior U.S. officials may recommend that Mohammed, who was being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, be prosecuted in a military trial, officials said in March.

Such a decision, after intense political pressure, would reverse plans to hold criminal trials for Mohammed and four accused co-conspirators in a lower Manhattan court.

"This message is about our prisoners who you are holding," bin Laden said in the tape, complaining that U.S. President Barack Obama was still following "his predecessor's steps" on many issues including on al Qaeda detainees such as Mohammed.

"The White House has expressed its desire to execute him. When America makes this decision, it will have made a decision to execute whoever of you is held prisoner by us," bin Laden said in the tape recording, whose authenticity could not be immediately confirmed.

The White House had no immediate comment. A U.S. counter terrorism official dismissed as absurd al Qaeda leader bin Laden's threat to execute any Americans in captivity.

"It's the height of absurdity for anyone associated with al Qaeda to even suggest that now, at long last, they're going to start treating captives badly," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"They may have forgotten Danny Pearl and all the others they've slaughtered, but we haven't."

KIDNAP RISK

The threat could signal an increased kidnapping risk targeting U.S. citizens that could last throughout the trial in the United States, the U.S.-based IntelCenter, which monitors jihadist propaganda, said in a note.

"The threat of kidnappings will increase further as the trial begins. Attempts to kidnap Americans would not be limited to core al Qaeda," the note said.

"The group's regional arms such as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and al Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb, which has been aggressively targeting Westerners for kidnapping in North Africa, may follow through on bin Laden's threat," it added.

Mohammed has claimed responsibility for organizing the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and bombs in Indonesia, Kenya and elsewhere, and if convicted of murder, conspiracy, terrorism and other charges, could face the death penalty.

"It is fair to treat each other the same. War is a back-and-forth," bin Laden said.

"The White House politicians were and still are oppressing us, particularly in providing support to the Israelis and occupying our land in Palestine. They were thinking that America was safe behind oceans from the anger of the oppressed until the reaction was strong in your house on the 11th."

When Obama took office in January 2009, he set a one-year deadline to close the Guantanamo facility but political and diplomatic complications have forced a delay.

The administration plans to prosecute almost three dozen terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay but has not announced where all the trials will be held and whether they will be criminal or military.

Taliban Commander Promoted After Release From Guantánamo Bay Into Afghan Custody

From the Telegraph (UK):

Mullah Abdul Qayum Zakir has been appointed to replace Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was seized by Pakistan's intelligence officials in Karachi last month.

Mullah Zakir was held in Guantánamo Bay in Cuba for years under his real name Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul before being handed over to a prison outside Kabul in December 2007.

The following year he was released from Pul-e-Charki prison and rejoined his former comrades where he rapidly rose through the ranks.

He is believed to have assumed caretaker responsibility for military operations since Mullah Baradar was arrested.

His position had been formally confirmed in the past week a source familiar with the announcement told The Daily Telegraph.

He will share the deputy position with Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansur, the minister for civil aviation during the Taliban regime.

The reasons for his release from Afghan custody remain secret but it is likely the US government would have received reassurances before he was handed over from Guantánamo.

Hamid Karzai's palace refused to comment on the release.

While Mullah Baradar was considered a political pragmatist open to possible negotiation, Mullah Zakir was opposed to talks the source said.

Since his release he has been instrumental in orchestrating attacks on British troops in his home province of Helmand.

Mullah Zakir, was captured in December 2001 when he handed himself over to anti-Taliban commander General Abdul Rashid Dostum as the Taliban regime fell with US assistance.

Documents from his time in custody show he tried to convince his captors he was conscripted into the Taliban against his will and bore the Americans no malice.

When a military tribunal asked what he would do if returned to Afghanistan, he replied: "I want to go back home and join my family and work my land and help my family."

He praised the United States for wanting to help his country. However the documents show he also argued with guards he accused of disrespecting the Koran.

The Pentagon has previously said up to 60 former Guantánamo inmates have returned to join the Taliban or al Qaeda after their release.

Loan Caters to Minneapolis Muslim Business Owners

Muslims in Minneapolis to get special treatment while the majority of taxpayers have to finance such a program through taxes and are not eligible for the same loans. And that is fair because...?

From mndaily.com:

An Islamic law enacted centuries ago was an obstacle for modern Minneapolis businesses until Minneapolis partnered with an African business resource group to allow Muslim business owners a way to both comply with their beliefs and invest in their businesses.

Since April 2007, the city of Minneapolis, in partnership with the African Development Center, has given out 38 loans in a way that is compliant to Islamic law by using a fixed rate in place of a variable interest rate.

Through the system, called the Alternative Finance Program, businesses pay a set rate of return, which corresponds with Islamic practices. The program is a slightly altered version of the common “Two-Percent” loans also offered by the city’s Department of Community Planning and Economic Development.

“It really amounts to the same thing,” Bob Lind, CPED director of business finance, said. “But it’s … just a different way of looking at it.”

Recipients of the loan operate businesses that lie mainly in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood and along Lake Street, “typical strongholds for the Somali community,” Lind said.

Five of the loans went to businesses that are part of a Somali marketplace in the Cedar-Riverside area.

Said Karie, who works at Hijaz Clothing in the marketplace, explained that “everything that has [an] interest rate is actually a sin” for Muslims.

“It’s been that way for years and years,” Karie said.

The rule extends beyond just loans, as Muslims who follow the religion strictly will go as far as returning interest gained on savings to the bank or a charity, said Abdirahman Omar, general manager of Mustaqbal Computer Center.

“Personally, I wouldn’t take it [interest] even if I needed it,” Omar said.

The rule also preserves reliability in rates, Karie said. Instead of using an interest rate that will vary according to the market, the fixed rate used for the Alternative Finance loans is consistent, he said.

Many loans have gone to businesses that reflect the Muslim culture, such as Middle-Eastern restaurants and Halal meat stores, where food, like the loans, abides by Islamic law.

However, loans have also gone to other various retailers, such as computer, clothing and book stores.

The Mustaqbal Computer Center used a $75,000 loan to invest in wholesale computers, Omar said.

The loan program is a response to the wave of Middle Eastern and East African immigrants in recent years, Lind said.

“We’re just trying to work with those new immigrant populations to try to provide assistance and financing just like we would for anybody with the last name ‘Smith’ or ‘Johnson,’ ” he said.

Partnering with the Minneapolis-based African Development Center, CPED has distributed almost $1.5 million to the businesses, with loans ranging from $10,000 to $150,000. Most fall between $10,000 and $20,000, Lind said.

He added that loan recipients have been good clients of the city; “[they] tend to borrow as short a term as possible [and] pay it back as quick as possible,” Lind said.

Before the program, businesses were unable to get loans because of these religious beliefs, and they would turn to raising money internally, Lind said.

The program is a pathway for business owners to “achieve the American dream of creating wealth,” Lind said.

He added that Minneapolis is the first city, to his knowledge, to adopt a Shariah-friendly loan program. He sees the city’s version as becoming a model for others in the future.

Indonesian Police Ban Regional Gay Conference

From Fox News:

Indonesian police ordered the cancellation Wednesday of a conference of Asian gay activists, saying it could prompt violent protests by conservative Muslim groups.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian police ordered the cancellation Wednesday of a conference of Asian gay activists, saying it could prompt violent protests by conservative Muslim groups.

The conference, organized by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, or ILGA, was due to take place this weekend with participants from 16 countries.

The ban was issued by police in Surabaya, East Java's capital, where the three-day event was to be held, national police spokesman Brig. Gen. Sulistyo Ishak said.

The decision was made after considering public objections by Muslim groups and the Indonesian Ulema Council, an influential board of Muslim clerics, he said.

"There are indications that the event could trigger a social crisis and cause public unrest," Ishak said. "This ban was issued for the sake of public order."

Poedjiati Tan, head of the organizing committee, said more than 150 activists representing 100 organizations in 16 Asian countries planned to attend the conference.

Tan said the committee is trying to appeal the decision with police and religious leaders, arguing that the conference was meant to raise awareness of social issues faced by gays.

"We want to convince Indonesian authorities and religious leaders that we only want to talk about social problems related to this minority group," she said. "We are seeking direction and a way out of our problems in health, education and issues of discrimination."

However, Abdussomad Bukhori, a prominent member of the cleric council, said the board would oppose any kind of gay event.

"The event will hurt Indonesian Muslims because lesbians and gays are contrary to Islamic teaching," he said. "We will continue to reject any kind of homosexual event."

Homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, but remains a sensitive issue in the socially conservative, Muslim-majority nation. At the same time, most of its society, which follows a moderate form of Islam, is tolerant, with gay and transsexual entertainers often appearing on television shows.

The ILGA is a worldwide federation of more than 560 local, national and international organizations. Regional ILGA conferences have been held in India, the Philippines and Thailand in the past.

Malaysians Protest Over Muhammad Cartoon... Again

From the Jerusalem Post:

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — More than 200 Malaysian Muslim protesters called on Sweden on Friday to take action against several newspapers that reprinted a caricature depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog.

The protesters burned a Swedish flag outside the Swedish embassy, chanting "Long live Islam" and "Down with Sweden" and carrying posters that read "Take some lessons from 9/11!!!" and "We fight for our prophet."

They also burned a picture of Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who made the drawing of Muhammad's head on a dog's body in 2007 that was reprinted in papers recently.

"We demand that the Swedish government take strong action against the newspapers and against the artist," said Sabki Yusof, one of the protest leaders from the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party. "It's unacceptable what they did to our prophet."

Swedish ambassador Helena Sangeland called for more dialogue with Muslims for better mutual understanding but said no action would be taken against the papers. She said she was "very disappointed" that the Swedish flag was burned.

"The Swedish government will not comment nor take any action against media. Freedom of expression is enshrined in our constitution. It is not negotiable," she told The Associated Press. "I don't think Malaysia-Sweden bilateral relations will be affected in any way."

Vilks has said he made the caricature to show that artistic freedom allows mockery of all religions. Several newspapers reprinted the caricature earlier this month when an alleged plot to murder the cartoonist was disclosed.

In 2006, a dozen Danish newspaper cartoons of the prophet sparked furious protests in Muslim countries. Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.

Islamic Extremists in Somalia Kill Church Leader, Torch Home

From Compass Direct News:

Al Shabaab militants execute pastor; government-aligned Islamists burn house containing Bible.

NAIROBI, Kenya, March 24 (CDN) — Islamic militants in Somalia tracked down an underground church leader who had previously escaped a kidnapping attempt and killed him last week, Christian sources said.

Islamic extremist al Shabaab rebels shot Madobe Abdi to death on March 15 at 9:30 a.m. in Mahaday village, 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Johwar. He had escaped an al Shabaab attempt to kidnap him on March 2.

Abdi’s death adds to a growing number of Christians murdered by Islamic militants, but his was distinctive in that he was not a convert from Islam. An orphan, Abdi was raised as a Christian.

Sources said the militants prohibited his body from being buried, ordering that it be left to dogs as an example to other Christians. Al shabaab, which is fighting the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of President Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed, has embarked on a campaign to rid the country of all non-Muslims.

“The al Shabaab say, ‘Leaving Abdi’s body outside is a warning to all that a murtid [infidel] is a disgrace to Muslims,’ hence creating fear to whoever would like to choose Christianity,” said a source.

In 2009 Islamic militants in Somalia sought out and killed at least 15 Christians, including women and children. This year, on Jan. 1 Islamic extremists shot an underground church leader to death. Having learned that he had left Islam to become a Christian, al Shabaab members murdered 41-year-old Mohammed Ahmed Ali after he had left his home in Hodan, on the outskirts of Mogadishu.

House Burning

The transitional government in Mogadishu fighting to retain control of the country treats Christians little better than the al Shabaab extremists do. While proclaiming himself a moderate, President Ahmed has embraced a version of sharia (Islamic law) that mandates the death penalty for those who leave Islam.

Ahmed was formerly the leader of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), an Islamist array of sharia judges and militants that vied for power after losing control of much of southern Somalia at the end of 2006. A contingent of the ICU reached a power-sharing agreement with the TFG in January 2009 that resulted in the election of Ahmed as president.

The ICU still exists under the auspices of Ahmed’s TFG, and alleged members of the ICU last month set fire to the house of an underground church member they suspected of having left Islam. The gutted house is located on the outskirts of Mogadishu.

Having learned that there was a Bible and Christian pamphlets inside, the angry militants stormed the house in Hamarwien district of Mogadishu on Feb. 17 at 1:15 p.m. as a warning to those who dare possess any Christian literature, sources said.

“Since there is no law and order in this country, there is no one we can turn to for protection,” said the owner of the house, who requested anonymity and has relocated to another city. “But we know that we’re covered with the blood of Jesus Christ.”

The assailants looted the home before setting it afire. Area residents tried to extinguish the blaze, which left the house uninhabitable.

“I saw smoke coming out of the house, then I ran outside and I saw two men coming out of the house with a bucket of gasoline,” said a neighbor who sought anonymity. “One of the men was shouting, ‘Allah Akbar! Allah Akbar [God is Greater],’ then they entered a waiting car and drove off.”

An eyewitness told Compass that after the looting, the ICU extremists belonging to the TFG locked the doors before setting it on fire. At the time of the attack, there was one New King James Version of the Bible, along with some copies of Christian pamphlets that had been printed off of the Internet, according to sources.

They said they did not know who leaked information about the existence of Christian literature in the house.

“There were Christian books in the house at the time of the looting and arson attack,” said one church leader.

Islamic militants have displayed an unusual brutality in hunting down suspected converts to Christianity, with leaders of the underground church movement being executed as a means of discouraging others from joining the growing church.

Police Turn Blind Eye to Rampant Kidnapping and Rape of Hindu Girls in Pak's Sindh Province

From One India:

A 12-year-old Hindu girl, Nandini, is still missing as police officials have failed to recover her even after four months of her being allegedly picked up by an influential individual of the city.

Officials have no information regarding Nandini's whereabouts, who was kidnapped in December last year, and the accused named Younis has not been arrested despite the fact that there is a first information report (FIR) registered against him.


It is not an isolated case where Hindu families have been left with little choice than to lament over their fate, with no help in sight from the authorities.

Several Hindu families, which are at the receiving end of the government's apathy, are awaiting justice for years but there's no one to listen to their plight.

According to Roshni Research and Development Welfare Organisation (RRDWO), a non-government organisation (NGO), a research has shown in majority of cases involving the minority community, police only provide lip service and do not seriously hunt down the criminals.

The NGO's President, Muhammad Ali, cited another case of a 17-year-old Hindu girl, who was kidnapped and raped by four men, in January this year. All the four accused were granted pre-arrest bail by a session court.

"Rape is a non-bail able offence in Pakistan and this is against criminal procedure and the law," The Daily Times quoted Ali, as saying.

Ali said the Asian Human Rights Commission has also expressed its serious concern over the case.

"Instead of giving justice to the victim's family, the police later arrested the victim's father on a false offence, and have obstructed attempts by the family to file an FIR and obtain a medical report," he added.

Ali also disclosed that an 'illegal' tribal court had asked the victim girl to marry her rapist and convert to Islam following which the girl had threatened public self-immolation.

"Not arresting the rapists and rather forcing a Hindu girl, who is a rape victim, to convert to Islam and be the wife of the culprit could be double trauma for the victim. It is another form of further victimising a woman," he said.

Ali also appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to take suo moto notice of the gross human rights violations of the poor and the marginalized minorities in the Sindh province at the hands of police and lower judiciary, who are influenced by the feudal and local elite.

Streatham Muslim Who Whipped Girl For Not Praying Spared Jail

From Your Local Guardian (UK):

A Streatham Vale muslim who whipped a schoolgirl with a belt buckle because she had not prayed has been spared jail.

Somalian Abdikarim Abdirahman’s violent attack on March 5 last year left the 12-year-old girl with a bad cut to her head.

The 46-year-old, of Abercairn Road, delayed taking the girl to hospital after the attack and then asked her to lie to doctors about how she received her injuries.

He told police he felt justified in punishing the girl but later admitted it had been wrong.

At Inner London Crown Court on Friday he was handed a 24-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and 80 hours community service for the violent attack.

He will also be subject to a supervision order for 12 months.

Judge Mark Bishop told him: “You must understand that to hit a child with a belt, particularly with a buckle, is not only very dangerous but a completely unacceptable way for someone to behave.

“Courts in this country will protect children from this kind of abuse.”

The court heard how Abdirahman had gone into a rage in the girl's Brixton home after she told him she did not want to pray.

He hit her with a sandal before the girl fled to her bedroom. He followed her, took off his belt and brought the buckle crashing down on to her head.

He then dragged her by the leg out of the room before the girl’s mother ordered him to stop.

He pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm at a hearing in February.

He admitted the assault but said he had intended to whip the belt down on to the bed to scare the girl.

He claimed she had moved her head at the last minute, which is why the belt buckle struck her.

Judge Bishop told him if he committed another offence in the next 12 months he would go straight to prison.

Gay-Hate Imam to Speak at Swedish Conference

A Muslim imam who advocates death for gays... and this is a surprise because...? He is adhering to what Islamic law prescribes for gays (which is death). Swedish Muslims prove that they are not interested in western values and human rights by inviting such a bigot.

From The Local (Sweden):

An organisation for young Muslims in Sweden has outraged the country's largest gay rights group by inviting an imam in favour of executing homosexuals to speak at its April conference.

US-born preacher Sheikh Abdullah Hakim Quick, who has described Jews as "filthy" and advocates the execution of homosexuals, is scheduled to speak at the Sveriges Unga Muslimer ('Sweden's Young Muslims') conference this Easter weekend.

The Muslim group has claimed it was unaware of Hakim Quick's extreme views when the booking was made but said it would not remove him from the roster as this would disrupt the conference schedule.

"That's no excuse, it just shows a complete lack of responsibility," said Sören Juvas, chairperson of Swedish gay rights group RFSL.

Juvas expressed fury that the hateful preacher was to receive a platform in Sweden on which to air his extreme views.

"I was previously under the impression that this organisation respected principles of equal rights for everybody but now it seems they couldn't care less about the values they claim to stand for," he told The Local.

"If the roles were reversed and we had found out that one of our speakers was Islamophobic then we would have immediately retracted the invitation."

Mohammed Kharraki, vice chairperson of Sveriges Unga Muslimer, did not return The Local's calls on Wednesday.

In a statement released on its website on Wednesday afternoon, however, the organisation defended its decision to allow Hakim Quick to speak and claimed it was the victim of a smear campaign launched by Liberal Party politician Philip Wendahl.

Wendahl called last week, in an article published by opinion website Newsmill, for the Swedish National Board for Youth Affairs (Ungdomsstyrelsen) to withhold 1.5 million kronor ($200,000) in funding earmarked for Sweden's largest Muslim youth group in 2010.

Dismissing Wendahl as a politician with an alleged anti-Muslim agenda, the group said its guest speaker had been widely misrepresented.

"When we made contact with the speaker himself he claimed not to possess these opinions and said he was the victim of hate propaganda from anti-Muslim forces," said Sveriges Unga Muslimer.

But a 2004 decision by the Broadcasting Standards Authority of New Zealand tells a different story. Responding to a complaint from a viewer, the authority issued a reprimand to an Auckland television station for broadcasting hateful comments made by Hakim Quick in a lecture shown on the Voice of Islam programme.

The Broadcasting Standards Authority noted that Hakim Quick blamed the spread of AIDS on the “filthy practices” of homosexuals, whom he described as "sick" and "not natural". He added that homosexuals were dropping dead from AIDS and “they want to take us all down with them”. He further stated that the Islamic position on homosexuality was "death".

"Muslims are going to have to take a stand [against homosexuals] and it's not enough to call names," said the imam.

Girl, 12, Flees From 60-Year-Old Husband to Attend School

From the Jakarta Globe:

Other 12-year-old girls complain about homework and exams, but a fifth-grader in Medan had to run away and sneak into school just to attend classes after her father forced her to marry a 60-year-old man.

The girl, identified as AG, reported her plight to the Medan office of the Indonesia Child Protection Commission (KPAID) on Tuesday. Accompanied by her 28-year-old sister, AG said her parents forced her to marry the man, identified as MIG, in October. Rismawati, AG’s sister, told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday that her little sister had escaped from her husband’s house and was staying with her.

“She ran away from her husband’s house because she really wants to keep going to school,” Rismawati said.

She said AG was married by a cleric in front of their parents with a Rp 100,000 ($11) dowry. She said AG refused the marriage at first but their father beat her severely with a leather belt and punched her in the head.

Rismawati said they decided to go to KPAID after a police report they filed four months ago had no effect.

Every day, Rismawati took AG to her school and waited for her until her classes finished. She said she was worried that MIG’s employees would kidnap her sister and take her back to his house and AG would not be able to return to school.

Rismawati condemned MIG for marrying her younger sister against her will. She said MIG was only thinking about his own needs while ignoring the fact that AG was underage.

She said MIG promised her family that he would buy AG a house and a motorcycle. She said she did not know if he had fulfilled his promise.

The chairman of Pusaka Indonesia Foundation, of which KPAID is a member, promised to pursue the complaint. “We will sit with the police and discuss what has been keeping them from investigating the case thoroughly. We will find solutions together. We are good friends with the police,” Eddy Iksan said.

Hasan Basri, of Medan’s education agency, said that while he regretted that a child who was supposed to be in school was married to a much older man against her will, it was difficult to interfere because it was a private matter.

Magdalena Sitorus, a KPAID commissioner in Jakarta, said some parents felt children were their possessions.

“I think parents who do this should be punished. However, we do not have any law regarding this,” she said.

Italy: Diplomat Summoned Over Attacks on Christians in Pakistan

From Adnkronos:

Rome, 24 March (AKI) - Pakistan's charge d'affaires in Italy was on Wednesday called to the Italian foreign ministry in Rome to discuss recent attacks reported against minority Christians in Pakistan.

As recently as Tuesday, a Christian man in the northern Pakistani city of Rawalpindi died after he was set alight by a Muslim mob and his wife was allegedly gang raped in front of their three children.

Muslim hardliners set 38-year-old Pakistani Christian Arshed Masih on fire after he refused to convert to Islam. He received burns to 80 percent of body.

His Christian wife Martha Masih, 33, was believed to have been raped, possibly by three police officers, in the police station where the couple was held for questioning last Friday.

Protests broke out on news of Masih's death. Several Christian advocacy groups held a demonstration on Tuesday against police in Rawalpindi, which is in Punjab province.

Asih and his family had reportedly been evicted from their service accommodation at the home of an influential local businessman Sheikh Mohammad Sultan.

Sultan, who had since 2005 employed Asih as a driver and his wife as a domestic servant, had pressured the couple to convert to Islam, as had local religious leaders.

Asif's murder and his wife's alleged rape followed several reports of attacks against Christians in Pakistan by Islamic militants, including fighters linked to the Al-Qaida and Taliban groups.

Earlier this month, militants stormed the offices of a US Christian aid group in the remote northwestern town of Oghi, killing six Pakistanis including two women and injuring five, police said.

Christians make up less than five percent of the country's mainly Muslim population of 175 million people.

New Terror Tactic: Al Qaeda Explosives in Breast Implants

From The Sun:

FEMALE suicide bombers are being fitted with exploding breast implants which are almost impossible to detect, British spies have reportedly discovered.

The shocking new al-Qaeda tactic involves radical doctors inserting the explosives in women's breasts during plastic surgery — making them "virtually impossible to detect by the usual airport scanning machines".

It is believed the doctors have been trained at some of Britain's leading teaching hospitals before returning to their own countries to perform the surgical procedures.

MI5 has also discovered that extremists are inserting the explosives into the buttocks of some male suicide bombers.

Lethal

Terrorist expert Joseph Farah claims: "Women suicide bombers recruited by al-Qaeda are known to have had the explosives inserted in their breasts under techniques similar to breast enhancing surgery."

The lethal explosives called PETN are inserted inside plastic shapes during the operation, before the breast is then sewn up.

The discovery of these methods was made after London-educated Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab came close to blowing up an airliner in the US on Christmas Day.

He had stuffed explosives inside his underpants.

Hours after he had failed, Britain's intelligence services began to pick up "chatter" emanating from Pakistan and Yemen that alerted MI5 to the creation of the lethal implants.

A hand-picked team investigated the threat which was described as "one that can circumvent our defence".

Top surgeons have confirmed the feasibility of the explosive implants.

One claimed: "Properly inserted the implant would be virtually impossible to detect by the usual airport scanning machines.

"You would need to subject a suspect to a sophisticated X-ray.

"Given that the explosive would be inserted in a sealed plastic sachet, and would be a small amount, would make it all the more impossible to spot it with the usual body scanner."

Explosive experts allegedly told MI5 that a sachet containing as little as five ounces of PETN could blow "a considerable hole" in an airline's skin, causing it to crash.

New Zealand: 14-Year-Old Muslim Girl Forced to Marry Her Rapist and Live as His Sex Slave

From Bare Naked Islam:

And she’s not the only one. Although underage marriage is illegal in New Zealand, Islamic (Shari’a) Law permits it and Muslims practice it.

Many Muslims refuse to follow the “man-made” laws of their adopted Western countries. Young girls (some as young as eight) are forced to marry older men because of social obligation, family pride, or as payment of the family’s debt and often are beaten and abused by their ‘husbands.

Nigeria to Prosecute Hundreds of Suspects in Christian Slaughter

From Christian Today:

Hundreds of suspects arrested over the recent slaughter of Christians in Nigeria are scheduled to be prosecuted as early as this week.

Plateau State police spokesman Mohammed Lerama said they hope to go to court this week and begin the prosecution of about 200 suspects, according to Agence France-Presse.

The suspects were detained after a number of predominantly Christian villages in the Jos area were attacked by machete-wielding Muslim extremists on March 7. While police estimate that more than 100 people were killed, persecution watchdogs say the death toll was up to 500.

A second attack last week left some 13 people dead.

Lerama told AFP that 49 Fulani herdsmen will be charged with homicide and terrorism in connection with the March 7 violence. Another seven will face similar charges over the second wave of killings.

Others face charges of unlawful possession of firearms, rioting, arson and causing grievous hurt.

Persecution watchdogs have called for security for Christians in the West African country. Open Doors, which is based in the US, says the atmosphere in the Christian villages remains tense....

Read it all here.

Women Oppose Child Marriage Ban in Yemen

The title is indeed correct and you have not misread. Yemeni women, thousands of them, demonstrated against proposed legislation which would protect young girls from pedophiles and child abuse.

From the Straits Times:

SANAA (Yemen) - THOUSANDS of Yemeni women, their faces covered in religious veils, demonstrated outside the parliament on Sunday to oppose proposed legislation banning the marriage of girls under 17.

The protesters held up banners proclaiming 'don't ban what Allah made permissible,' or 'stop violating Islamic sharia law in the name of rights and freedoms,' an AFP correspondent said. Answering calls by Muslim clerics who oppose the proposal on grounds it goes against Islamic sharia law, the protesters arrived in organised buses.

Proposed amendments to the civil status law stalled in parliament last August after severe opposition to a government proposal that would ban girls females 17 and males under 18 from marrying.

Child marriages are common in impoverished Yemen, especially in rural areas, where girls as young as eight are known to have been married off by desperately poor parents. Last year a child marriage case in Yemen made international headlines after a 12-year-old girl died in childbirth, together with the baby.

'Where will this... new law take us?' asked Umm Abdulaziz, a protester clad in black from head-to-toe. 'Most rights groups have women who are over 40 and still not married,' she added in an apparent taunt at unmarried activists in Yemen, whose largely traditional tribal society looks down on single women past a certain age. 'There is a significant spinstership among female students in Yemen universities,' she added.

A handful of women's rights activists outside the parliament were seen leaving after being outnumbered by the demonstrators. 'It is unreasonable to marry our daughters at the age of eight or nine. This is a serious problem,' said Houriya Mashhour, deputy director of Yemen's Women National Committee.

Somali Islamists Exhume Grave of Revered Cleric

From the Associated Press:

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Witnesses say Somalia's al-Qaida-linked militant group is exhuming the remains of a revered moderate cleric in the capital to stop people from worshipping him.

Al-Shabab official Ali Mohamed Hussein says Tuesday his group dug up Sheik Mohyadin Eli's grave in Mogadishu because people seeking blessings visit the tomb for spiritual purposes.

Witness Hassan Da'ud says the cleric's 30-year-old remains were stuffed into sacks.

Al-Shabab has prohibited adoring tombs and destroyed idolized tombs in areas under its control over the last couple of years.

The group espouses a strict interpretation of Islam. Many Somalis observe a relatively moderate form of Islam that allows the veneration of respected saints.

Shia Islam and Iran

From Anti-Mullah:

FOR REFERENCE AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES COMPLETE TEXTS OF BOTH BOOKS ARE PROVIDED AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE FOR YOUR OWN STUDY.

Here are some excerpts from “Tahrirolvasyleh” which Muslims probably don’t want you to know about Shia Islam:

"A man can have sexual pleasure from a child as young as a baby. However, he should not penetrate vaginally, but sodomising the child is acceptable. If a man does penetrate and damage the child then, he should be responsible for her subsistence all her life. This girl will not count as one of his four permanent wives and the man will not be eligible to marry the girl’s sister… It is better for a girl to marry at such a time when she would begin menstruation at her husband’s house, rather than her father’s home. Any father marrying his daughter so young will have a permanent place in heaven. ["Tahrirolvasyleh", fourth edition*, Qom, Iran, 1990]

*This version is a very cleaned up, very edited version of the original Arabic text, a much more explicit (crude) book that was siphoned off the face of the planet after the 1979 revolution by the Mullah regime and banned.

Possession of it will incurr the death penalty. Even the edited version can bring prison and execution.

A man can have sex with animals such as sheep, cows, camels and so on. However, he should kill the animal after he has his orgasm. He should not sell the meat to the people in his own village, but selling the meat to a neighbouring village is reasonable.

If one commits the act of sodomy with a cow, a ewe, or a camel, their urine and their excrement become impure and even their milk may no longer be consumed. The animal must then be killed as quickly as possible and burned.

Wine and all intoxicating beverages are impure, but opium and hashish are not.

If a man sodomises the son, brother, or father of his wife after their marriage, the marriage remains valid.

During sexual intercourse, if the penis enters a woman’s vagina or a man’s anus, fully or only as far as the circumcision ring, both partners become impure, even if they have not reached puberty; they must consequently perform ablutions.

A woman who has contracted a continuing marriage does not have the right to go out of the house without her husband’s permission; she must remain at his disposal for the fulfilment of any one of his desires, and may not refuse herself to him except for a religiously valid reason.

If she is totally submissive to him, the husband must provide her with her food, clothing, and lodging, whether or not he has the means to do so. A woman who refuses herself to her husband is guilty, and may not demand from him food, clothing, lodging, or any later sexual relations; however, she retains the right to be paid damages if she is repudiated.

If a father (or paternal grandfather) marries off his daughter (or granddaughter) in her absence without knowing for a certainty that she is alive, the marriage becomes null and void as soon as it is established that she was dead at the time of the marriage.

It is not illegal for an adult male to ‘thigh’ or enjoy a young girl who is still in the age of weaning; meaning to place his penis between her thighs, and to kiss her. ["The Little Green Book"]

If a man commits adultery with an unmarried woman, and subsequently marries her, the child born of that marriage will be a bastard unless the parents can be sure it was conceived after they were married. A child born of an adulterous father is legitimate. Ali [son in law of Mohammed], having cut off the hands of two thieves, treated their wounds and offered them his hospitality, and this affected them so much that they became utterly devoted to him; or again when he heard that the marauding army of Muawiyah had abused a woman of one of the tribes, he was so upset and moved to pity he declared: “If a man died after such an occurrence, no one could blame him.” And yet, despite a nature as sensitive as that, Ali bared his sword and hacked the perpetrators to pieces. This is the meaning of justice.- “The Sayings of Ayatollah Khomeini, Political, Philosophical, Social and Religious” (The Little Green Book), ISBN number 0-553-14032-9.

Paedophilia legal in Iran?

In June, 2002 Iranian authorities approved a law raising the age at which girls can marry without parental consent from 9 to 13. The elected legislature actually passed the bill in 2000, but the “Guardian Council”, a 12-man body of conservative clerics, vetoed it as contradicting Islamic Sharia law. Iran’s clerical establishment insists that the marriage of young girls is a means to combat immorality.

The Expediency Council, which arbitrates between the elected parliament and the theocratic Guardian Council, timidly passed the measure. The law however does not change the age at which children can get married (nine for girls and 14 for boys), but says that girls below the age of 13 and boys younger than 15 need their parents’ permission and the approval of a “Righteous Court.” Reformists state that the new law does not protect children, since most of those who marry at such a young age do so by force.

A religious decree by Khomeini ordered that girl prisoners who are virgins must be raped before execution, to prevent them from entering heaven. A Guard conducts the rape the night before execution. The next day, a marriage certificate is issued by a mullah, who sends it to the girl’s family, along with a box of chocolates (sweets) as a wedding gift.

It is quite common in Iran for older men to marry children, as long as they pay the appropriate bride-price to the girl’s family. This basically means that a father can sell his daughter to whomever he wants, whilst the mad mullahs see this as a means of maintaining purity.

We prefer to call this child prostitution and rape, especially given that Iran’s clerics approve of the ‘tradition’ of ‘temporary marriage’ (Mut’a), which can last less than 24 hours and may be repeated as many times as desired. This form of exploitation is widespread and legitimises sex with young children. The man may even visit his temporary wife every weekend at her father’s house, for about $10 per visit.

Khomeini on prostitution and Mut’a (temporary marriage)

“It is permissible to do Mut’a with an adulteress, but with aversion, particularly if she is a well-known prostitute. If Mut’a is done with her, she should be told to give-up her profession.”

FULL TEXT OF BOOK 1 http://prophetofdoom.net/The_Little_Green_Book_1_01.Islam

FULL TEXT OF BOOK 2
http://www.al-shia.org/html/eng/books/fiqh&usool/islamic-laws/tahrir/index.html

hat tip http://uncoverage.net