WikiLeaks: Montreal Mosque 'Is A Top Al Qaeda Recruiting Zone'

From Daily Mail:

A mosque in Montreal has been ranked in the world’s top nine Al Qaeda recruiting zones and linked to a terror cell planning attacks on Los Angeles airport, new released documents claim.

The WikiLeaks files, written by U.S. military chiefs, list the Al Sunnah Al Nabawiah mosque among nine houses of prayer worldwide considered as a place ‘Al Qaeda members were recruited, facilitated or trained’.

The leaked ‘Matrix of Threat’ documents, designed in the early days of the Guantanamo detention centre to assist intelligence officials, rank the Canadian mosque alongside sites in Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

he mosque, which was also linked to the September 11 attacks, is the only Islamic prayer house in North America listed as a threat in the leaked report.

The classified documents claim the mosque’s former Imam and current Guantanamo inmate, Mohamedou Ould Salahi, was the leader of the Canadian-based Al Qaeda cell.

The Mauritanian man arrived in Montreal from Germany in November 1999 but left Canada after police began to question him about ties to Ahmed Ressam, the so-called ‘Millennium Bomber’ who planned to attack Los Angeles airport and other U.S. targets.

Ressam, an Algerian who lived in Montreal, was arrested at the U.S.-Canada border carrying explosives before he could execute the ‘Millennium plot’.

According to the documents, Salahi met with Ressam four days after arriving in Montreal and had prior knowledge of the plot as well as contact with the extremists planning the attack.

The documents also claim that the 39-year-old electrical engineer recruited three of the September 11, 2001, terrorist hijackers and facilitated their training.

Salahi has acknowledged joining the mujahedeen in its fight against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. But he says he had no role in the millennium bomb plot and denies any connection with Al Qaeda, the Taliban or their associates since 1992.

The leaked documents claim Salahi and a number of his contacts met frequently at a Montreal safehouse operated by a friend and former classmate Salahi met in Germany who was later arrested in Israel.

Salahi has tried unsuccessfully to obtain Canadian intelligence documents from interviews the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) conducted with him in 2000, which he claims could corroborate his claim of abuse at the hands of his American captors.

The Supreme Court has refused to hear his case while the Federal Court of Canada ruled last year that he is not entitled to the information because he is neither a Canadian citizen nor subject to legal proceedings in Canada.

He has been held at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for more than seven years.

An attempted prosecution was called off when questions arose about whether key evidence had been obtained by torture.

The documents, prepared by the U.S. defence department in 2008 and titled ‘JTF-GTMO Detainee Assessment’, consider Salahi one of the most valuable sources at Guantanamo.

‘Detainee still has useful information regarding extremist activity in North Africa, Europe and Canada, as well as information concerning the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks,’ the documents say.

The memo concluded he should continue to be detained at Guantanamo because he swore bayat (allegiance) to Osama bin Laden and was prepared to be a martyr.

The classified documents released by WikiLeaks are assessments of almost 800 past and present Guantanamo detainees. On a scale of low, medium or high, they rate the detainees for their intelligence value and the risks they could pose if released.

Salahi was assessed by the U.S. military to be ‘high’ risk, an assessment given to most of the 172 remaining Guantanamo detainees.

About one-third of the 600 prisoners already transferred to the custody of other nations were also declared ‘high risk’ before their transfers, the New York Times reported.

Also among the documents dumped online by WikiLeaks is a detainee assessment that suggests another Guantanamo inmate acted as an informer for Canadian intelligence but continued to maintain his militant ties.

The 2008 assessment file says Adil Hadi al Jazairi Bin Hamlili acted as an intelligence source for both the British and Canadians because of his connections to members of various Al Qaeda-linked terrorist groups.

But the document says after repeated interrogations, the Central Intelligence Agency concluded Hamlili ‘withheld important information’ from the British and Canadians and was found to be a threat.

The document says Hamlili, an Algerian, was involved in a plot to attack a U.S. consulate in Pakistan and was possibly the leader of an extremist cell that carried out a string of bombing attacks against civilian targets in 2002.

Interrogators at Guantanamo Bay also uncovered serious plots to unleash chemical and nuclear weapons on the West, the WikiLeaks documents show.

According to detainees’ confessions, Al Qaeda mastermind Kalid Sheikh Mohammed claimed they had hidden a nuclear bomb in Britain, which would be detonated if Osama Bin Laden was captured or killed.

Detainees admitted that Mohammed, currently facing trial over the 9/11 terrorist attacks, was involved in a plot to blow up U.S. atomic plants and unleash a ‘nuclear hellstorm’.

According to the files, a Libyan detainee and close friend of Bin Laden, Abu Al-Libi, ‘has knowledge of Al Qaeda possibly possessing a nuclear bomb’.

Another told his interrogators the bombers would be ‘Europeans of Arab or Asian descent’.

Germany Arrests Three Misunderstanders Of Islam Who Posed A "Concrete And Imminent Danger"

From Jihad Watch:

Profiling! Hate! Islamophobia! "Germany Arrests 3 Al Qaeda Suspects," from the Associated Press, April 29 (thanks to PRCS):

BERLIN – German police on Friday arrested three suspected members of the Al Qaeda terrorist organization who officials say posed a "concrete and imminent danger" to the nation.

Authorities did not say whether the three had planned specific targets and offered few details, but security officials said that all three suspects were of Moroccan origin. They also said that two were arrested were in the western German city of Duesseldorf and one in nearby Bochum. The arrests were based on suspicion they were planning a terror attack, they said.

The arrests "succeeded in averting a concrete and imminent danger, presented by international terrorism," German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said in a statement. They showed "Germany remains a target of international terrorists."...

[A U.S. official said:] "There have been five disrupted plots in Europe during the past four years -- including a credible plot in Germany in 2007 -- all of which demonstrate Pakistan-based Al Qaeda's steadfast intent to attack the US and our allies."...

Germany raised its security posture in November after receiving information from its own and foreign intelligence services that led authorities to believe a sleeper cell of some 20 to 25 people may have been planning an attack inside the country or in another European nation.

Around the same time Germany also received information from U.S. sources that an attack similar to that in Mumbai in Nov. 2008 that killed 166 may be planned for Germany, the official said. Later, Germany received information on possible attacks at Christmas or New Year's....

Anti-Christian Violence In Punjab, Young Woman Raped, Protestant Pastor Attacked

From Asia News:

Two members of an extremist group open fire at the car of Rev Ashraf Paul in Lahore. His 24-year-old son is critically wounded but is now out of danger. In Faisalabad, a police officer rapes a 24-year-old woman over four days.

Anti-Christian violence continues in Pakistan, after Easter was celebrated in memory of Shahbaz Bhatti, the country’s Minority Affairs minister assassinated in March. Yesterday, an extremist group ambushed a Protestant clergyman travelling with his family, seriously wounding his 24-year-old son. A few days ago, a young Christian woman was abducted and raped over several days by a man claiming to be a police officer. After she was let go, he fled without leaving a trace.

Two members of Tehreek-e-Ghazi Bin Shaheed (TGBS), an extremist Muslim group, attacked a Protestant clergyman and his family. The incident occurred near the town of Hamza, near Lahore (Punjab). The pastor’s 24-year-old son sustained serious injuries. The clergyman himself had received threats and demands for money a few weeks earlier.

Rev Ashraf Paul, 55, and his family were driving down Ferozepur Road. At one point, two men on motorbikes intercepted the vehicle, firing at the clergyman’s car, which was hit at least five times. His 24-year-old son, Sarfaz, was critically wounded.

The two suspects, aged 19 to 21, fled the scene right after the attack. Their identity is unknown, but in addition to police, activists from the Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) are on the case.

Sarfaz Paul was rushed to the Mayo Hospital, in central Lahore, where he underwent emergency surgery. Doctors removed three bullets, from the young man’s jaw, waist and public area. The latest medical bulletin said that he was “out of danger” but still under close observation.

In Faisalabad, 24-year-old Sehar Naz, was abducted and repeatedly rape by a man claiming to be a police officer.

After sexually assaulting her several times, in Lahore and Faisalabad, the man, who claimed to be a Major Rana Atif, left the woman at the Faisalabad Railway Station.

The sexual assault, which occurred in mid-April, was confirmed by doctors at Faisalabad’s Civil Hospital.

Police opened a file against the accused rapist, who has since disappeared without leaving a trace.

Fuelled 'By Viagra', Gaddafi's Troops Use Rape As A Weapon Of War With Children As Young As EIGHT Among The Victims

From the Daily Mail:

Therapy: Libyan children draw pictures to express their feelings about the war in the rebel city of Benghazi

Children as young as eight are being raped in front of their families by Gaddafi's forces in Libya, according to a leading charity.

Aid workers described horrific stories of widespread sexual abuse, including one incident in which a group of girls was abducted and held hostage for four days.

When they were finally released, they were too traumatised to speak.

Other children have described being forced to watch as their fathers were murdered and their mothers raped.

They told Save The Children that they themselves were then brually beaten before being released.

Harrowing stories of sexual assaults against women and children have emerged from those who have fled the besieged cities of Misrata, Ajdabia and Rus-Lanuf.

Many families are now in temporary refugee camps in Benghazi, where they talked to Save The Children staff.

Michael Mahrt, the charity's child protection adviser, said: 'The reports of sexual violence against children are unconfirmed but they are consistent and were repeated across the four camps we visited.
'Children told us they have witnessed horrendous scenes. Some said they saw their fathers murdered and mothers raped.

'They described things happening to other children but they may have actually happened to them and they are just too upset to talk about it - it's a typical coping mechanism used by children who have suffered such abuse.

'What is most worrying is that we have only been able to speak to a limited number of children - what else is happening to those who are trapped in Misrata and other parts of the country who do not have a voice?'.

Mr Mahrt said that some children are showing signs of physical and emotional distress; they are withdrawn, refuse to play and wake up crying in the night.

He added: 'Whenever some children hear a gun being fired they re-live the terrible ordeal they have been through. It is clear that for many of them, their suffering is far from over.'

There have been numerous reports of Gaddafi's troops - some fuelled by Viagra - using rape as a weapon of war.

In the most notorious example, 28-year-old Iman al-Obeidi claimed she was assaulted for two days by 15 men after being abducted at a checkpoint.

She was arrested after trying to tell her story to foreign journalists and has subsequently been charged with slander.

Doctors in Misrata have also treated patients who have been sexually assaulted.

But in a conservative society where rape is heavily stigmatised, many women will not tell even their close family what has happened to them.

Rebel spokesman Abdelbaset Abumzirig, who is based in Misrata, said that there has been a string of horrific assaults in Benghazi Street - parrallel to Tripoli Street where a maor battle for the city was fought.

'The Gaddafi forces took control of Benghazi Street before we managed to push them out,' he told Al Jazeera.

'They have been ordered to rape because this means they are insulting Misrata itself.'

He said that some families had spoken to human rights organisations about the assaults

'Some have spoken, some others, you know the old traditions, they didn't speak, but it's not a shame,' he added.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Dr Khalifa al-Sharkassi described how two sisters, aged 16 and 20, had been assaulted by African mercenaries after their brothers had joined the rebels.

The girls' mother was locked in another room while they were raped.

'Four or five Africans took turns raping both girls,' he said. '(Now) one of them just sits and cries and looks lost.'

He said another victim had tried to clean herself with bleach after being attacked.

One of his patients had given herself an injection of chlorine in the belief that this would stop herself becoming pregnant.

Divorce Via Text Message Becomes Popular In Tajikistan

From the Global Post:

A growing number of Muslim men in Tajikistan are using a simple, three-worded text message to divorce their wives, the Associated Press reports.

Decades of shared families, responsibilities and commitments can be ended with a message reciting the words, "Talaq talaq talaq."

The "triple talaq" is an Islamic ritual whereby a man can recite the Arabic phrase, "I will divorce you," three times and thereby end a marriage. In countries where it is permitted, the man does not need to go to court to file for divorce.

A 33-year-old mother of two told the AP that she received such a message from her husband of 14 years while sweeping her yard in October. The woman, Marina Dodobayeva, immediately called her husband, who had been working in Russia.

"He told me not to call him any more," she said, "because now he has a new family."

The growing number of Tajik men who have used their mobile phones to divorce has prompted religious authorities to condemn the practice, and there are plans to issue a fatwa against it, AP states. Tajikistan is a predominantly Muslim Central Asian country.

Other countries have faced similar social predicaments as technology has influenced how people behave. The practice of Muslim men divorcing by text message has been debated in many Muslim countries and banned by some communities, AFP reports.

Singapore's religious authorities banned such divorce by text message in 2001, whereas Malaysia ruled it legal in 2003 and Saudi Arabia saw its first text-message divorce in 2009.

Lara Logan: "They raped me with their hands"

From the Daily Mail (UK):

* Correspondent reveals 200-strong mob 'tore her clothes to pieces'
* 'I thought, not only am I going to die here, but it's going to be a torturous death'

Lara Logan has spoken out for the first time since her terrifying sexual assault in Egypt, describing how attackers 'raped her with their hands'.

The 39-year-old CBS foreign correspondent said she was convinced she was going to die when the frenzied mob tore her away from her film crew and bodyguard in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

A group of at least 200 men beat her, pinched her and tore at her clothes in a 40-minute attack that only ended when a group of women came to her aid.

She told the New York Times: 'For an extended period of time, they raped me with their hands...What really struck me was how merciless they were.

'They really enjoyed my pain and suffering. It incited them to more violence.'

She revealed the terrifying details in an interview with the newspaper today, and is expected to speak about her attack at greater length in an appearance on 60 Minutes on Sunday.

Ms Logan, who returned to work this month, has not previously spoken about the assault, which reverberated around the world and highlighted the dangers women face while reporting.

But she said these will be her first and last interviews about the vicious assault. She said: 'I don’t want this to define me.'

She was attacked on February 11, on her first day back in the city - and the day Hosni Mubarak's government finally fell.

She had been forced to leave a week before after she was detained and interrogated by Egyptian forces.

Ms Logan and her film crew made their way to Tahrir Square, where a jubilant crowd begged her for autographs.

But suddenly, as she was preparing a report for 60 Minutes, the mood turned violent.

The camera battery went down, forcing the crew to stop.

As they worked to replace it her Egyptian cameraman heard one of the men in the crowd say he wanted to pull her pants down in Arabic.

She told CBS: 'Suddenly, Bahar [the Egyptian cameraman] looks at me and says, "we've got to get out of here".

'I thought, not only am I going to die here, but it's going to be just a torturous death that's going to go on forever and ever and ever.'

She told the Times: 'That was literally the moment the mob set on me.'

Jeff Fager, the chairman of CBS News, told the Times her producer, Max McClellan, and her two drivers were 'helpless because the mob was just so powerful'.

He said her bodyguard managed to hold on to her for a while, but the mob proved too strong and carried her away.

Mr Fager said: 'For Max, to see the bodyguard come out of the pile without her, that was one of the worst parts.'

Ms Logan described how her hand was sore for days afterwards, and she only later realised it was because she had been holding on so tightly to her bodyguard's hand.

She told the Times: 'My clothes were torn to pieces.'

The attack lasted 40 minutes. She was only rescued when a group of local women brought 20 Egyptian soldiers to her aid.

Mr Fager said he hoped Sunday's interview would help raise awareness of the sexual violence women journalists face when reporting from conflict zones.

He said: 'There’s a code of silence about it that I think it is in Lara’s interest and in our interest to break.'

CBS immediately flew her back to the U.S. The channel posted guards outside her Washington home, where she hid herself away to recuperate along with her husband Joseph Burkett and their two young children.

Mr Fager said: 'She was quite traumatised, as you can imagine, for a period of time.'

Four days after the attack, he and Ms Logan drafted a statement released by CBS, until now the only official comment.

It said she had 'suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers'.

Ms Logan said she made the decision to speak out soon after the assault, on behalf of 'millions of voiceless women who are subjected to attacks like this and worse'.

She said the statement 'didn’t leave me to carry the burden alone, like my dirty little secret, something that I had to be ashamed of'.

While physical violence against men is often discussed by the media, sexual threats against female journalists are rarely mentioned.

Ms Logan said, with sexual violence 'you only have your word. The physical wounds heal. You don’t carry around the evidence the way you would if you had lost your leg or your arm in Afghanistan.'

Just two months after the attack, Ms Logan has already vowed to return to Afghanistan and other conflict zones, but said she has decided she will not return to Middle Eastern countries while widespread protests are ongoing.

She told the Times: 'The very nature of what we do - communicating information - is what’s undoing these regimes. It makes us the enemy, whether we like it or not.'

More than a dozen foreign journalists have been kidnapped in Libya since the uprising began there.

Times journalist Lynsey Addario said she was groped and harassed by her Libyan captors, a story which Ms Logan said was a 'setback' to her own recovery.

Al-Qaeda Among Moroccan Blast Suspects

From Telegraph:

Al-Qaeda is among the suspects in connection with a bomb attack that killed 16 in Marrakesh, according to the government.

Khalid Naciri, communications minister, said that investigators would pursue all leads including possible links to al-Qaeda which operates a North African offshoot which is active in the region.

"All leads will be investigated, including al-Qaeda," he said.

"The investigation continues to find the perpetrators, but for the moment I am not prepared to point the finger."

Fourteen people, most of them foreigners, died Thursday when a suspected suicide bomb exploded at a crowded tourist cafe in Djemaa el-Fna, the main square of Marrakesh.

A total of 23 others were badly injured, two of whom died overnight, bring the toll to 16 Friday.

Authorities in France said at lest six of the dead were French.

Al-Qaeda's regional offshoot, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, is active in countries in the region, notably carrying out a serious of kidnappings for ransom in recent years.

The Marrakesh attack was the deadliest attack in eight years.

William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, said he was "shocked and saddened" by the attack.

“British officials are in contact with the Moroccan authorities to establish the facts and to provide consular support to any British nationals who may have been caught up in the blast."

The explosion went off just before midday and tore the facade off the two-storey Argana café in Jema el Fna square, a UNESCO World Heritage site at the heart of Marrakesh's old town.

Witnesses at the scene described seeing a man enter the café and order an orange juice before "blowing himself up". Another said the bomber entered the café, dropped a suitcase and walked straight out.

Government officials initially suggested the explosion was an accident caused by gas canisters, but later said it was most likely a terrorist attack by a suicide bomber. Medics treating those injured said they found nails in one of the bodies recovered.

Khalid Naciri, the communications minister, compared the attack to one on Casablanca in May 2003 that left 45 people including 12 suicide bombers dead.

"This is a terrorist act, a deliberate criminal act," he said. "Morocco is facing the same threats as in May 2003 and it will deal with them diligently and determinedly."

"According to the information I have, it could have been perpetrated by a suicide bomber," an official in the regional governor's office added.

Although no one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, last week, men claiming to be Moroccan members of al-Qaida's north African wing appeared in a video posted on YouTube threatening to attack Moroccan interests.

Despite the 2003 attack, and the arrest last January of 27 suspected terrorists with ties to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the country was deemed safe enough for a three-day visit to Rabat and Fez earlier this month by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.

The Foreign Office estimates that more than 300,000 British tourists visit Morocco each year, and many head straight for Marrakesh, which has developed a reputation as a chic location offering boutique hotels, bountiful markets and architecture steeped in history.

Andy Birnie, from north London, who is honeymooning in Marrakesh, said he and his fiancée had just walked into the square when the blast happened but were shielded from it by some stalls.

"It was lunchtime so the square was very busy," he said. "There was a huge bang, and lots of smoke went up, there was debris raining down from the sky.

"Hundreds of people were running in panic, some towards the café, some away from the square. The whole front of the café is blown away."

Colin Kilkelly, one of an estimated 400 Britons who live in Marrakesh who writes an online magazine about local issues, said the square which is a major draw for Morrocans and tourists alike.

"The Argana café is a place where everyone gathers, it's beside a mosque and close to the entrance to the souk," he said. "It's a prime target. "

He added that those living in Marrakesh had previously felt sheltered from the tumultuous events elsewhere in North Africa.

Morocco's King Mohamed VI offered his condolences, while France, the former colonial ruler, condemned the attack as "cruel and cowardly".

Israeli Woman, Husband Killed In Morocco Bombing

From YNet:

China-based couple travelling in Morocco among 16 people killed in suicide attack in Marrakech café on Thursday. Woman was in late stages of pregnancy. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemns terrorist attack

An Israeli woman and her Jewish husband, who have been residing in China for the past few years, were killed in a suicide bombing in Morocco on Thursday. A total of 16 people were killed in the attack.

Michal Weizman Zikri, 30, and her husband Massoud, 32, were visiting Massoud's father in the country to celebrate Passover.

They were in a café in Marrakech when a suicide bomber detonated a bomb in the site on Thursday.

Israel's Consul General in Shanghai Jackie Eldan said the two were parents to a 3-year-old boy, David Yosef. Michal was was six months pregnant. Massoud worked in export and import.

The two were visiting his parents in Casablanca and had taken a day trip to Marrakech, leaving their 3-year-old son with his grandparents.

"They took a day off to go to Marrakech and left the child with the family. To their misfortune, they were in the cafe on the second floor" when the bombing hit, Eldan told Israeli station Army Radio on Friday.

"They're a wonderful couple, among the pillars of the Jewish community in Shanghai," Eldan said. "This is a terrible blow to the community, a very painful loss. They were socially active and maintained close ties with Israel."

A Moroccan minister said all signs point to al-Qaeda as being responsible for the attack.

A massive terrorist bombing tore through a tourist cafe in the bustling heart of Marrakech's old quarter on Thursday in the country's deadliest attack in eight years.

At least 20 people were wounded in the blast a few minutes before noon in Djemma el-Fna square, one of the top attractions in a country that depends heavily on tourism, Moroccan Interior Minister Taib Chergaoui said.

At least eight French citizens were being treated at Marrakech's main Tofail Hospital, along with one Canadian, a British citizen and three Moroccans, emergency room chief Hicham Nejmi said. Others were being treated at a military hospital and a handful in private clinics.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that "the United States condemns in the strongest terms today's terrorist attack that killed and injured innocent people at a cafe in Marrakech, Morocco. We extend our deepest sympathies to the victims of this cowardly attack and stand with the people of Morocco at this difficult time."

The UN Security Council condemned the attack "in the strongest terms" and expressed condolences, while UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was "appalled by today's bombing" and extended his "deepest sympathies," according to statements.

62 Said Killed In Bloody 'Day Of Rage' Clashes In Syria

From Haaretz:

At least 62 protesters were killed in in pro-democracy demonstrations throughout Syria on Friday, including 15 in the south Syrian town of Daraa, according to opposition members.

Casualties have been reported throughout the country in Homs, Latakia and Rastan, in Syria's latest 'day of rage'.

Earlier Friday, a hospital source reported that Syrian security forces killed 15 villagers at the entrance to the south-Syrian city of Daraa on Friday, saying they received the bodies of the villagers that were riddled with bullets.

A source at the hospital in Tafas, 12 km (8 miles) north west of the city, told Reuters that in addition to those killed, 38 villagers were injured and in hospital.

The official state news agency SANA said an "armed terrorist group" killed four soldiers and kidnapped two others in Daraa where Assad sent tanks and troops to crush resistance on Monday.

Syrian forces fired at thousands on protesters heading for the south Syria city that has become the epicenter of the six-week long protests that are shaking the rule of authoritarian President Bashar Assad, wounding dozens, witnesses said.

Protests erupted throughout Syria on Friday's 'day of rage', defying violent repression which a Syrian rights group says has killed 500 people. The Muslim Brotherhood took an unprecedented step, officially endorsing and participating in demonstrations.

The latest violence broke out after Friday prayers as thousands of people hit the streets across the country demanding Assad's removal and pledging support for the residents of Daraa, a city of 120,000 where the unrest originated on March 18.

"The people want the overthrow of the regime!" demonstrators chanted in many protests, witnesses said.

About 10,000 Syrians marched in support of Daraa from the old Midan district of Damascus on Friday in the biggest protest in the capital since the mass democracy movement began six weeks ago, rights campaigners said.

The protest, which started from Midan and surrounding districts and grew, was dispersed by security forces firing tear gas at protesters around Mujtahed hospital near the main Umayyad Square, they said.

More demonstrations flared in the central cities of Homs and Hama, Banias and Latakia on the Mediterranean coast, Qamishly in eastern Syria and Harasta, a Damascus suburb.

Al Jazeera television aired footage from the village of Mahala near Daraa and from Banias and Homs. Protesters waved Syrian flags and banners saying: "No to the siege of Daraa," "A powerful country is the one whose people are free" and "We are preachers of freedom and peace, not saboteurs".

A witness in Daraa said Syrian forces fired live rounds at thousands of villagers who descended on the besieged city.

"They shot at people at the western gate of Daraa in the Yadoda area, almost three km (two miles) from the center of the city," he said. Another contacted by phone said he saw dozens who were injured being taken away by protesters in their cars.

A resident of Banias, Abdel Karim, said the demonstrations started from two mosques and were joined by nearby villagers.

A witness in Latakia said about 1,000 people turned out for an anti-government rally when plainclothes security agents with automatic rifles opened fire. He said he saw at least five people wounded. Like many witnesses contacted by The Associated Press, he asked that his name not be used for fear of reprisal.

Syrian state-run TV said one of its cameramen was injured in Latakia during an attack by an armed gang. The government has blamed the unrest on armed gangs - not true reform-seekers.

The government had warned against holding any demonstrations Friday and placed large banners around the capital that read: "We urge the brother citizens to avoid going out of your homes on Friday for your own safety."

Assad has said the protests - the gravest challenge to his family's 40-year ruling dynasty - are a foreign conspiracy carried out by extremist forces and armed thugs.

But he has acknowledged the need for reforms, offering overtures of change in recent weeks while brutally cracking down on demonstrations.

Last week, Syria's Cabinet abolished the state of emergency, in place for decades, and approved a new law allowing the right to stage peaceful protests with the permission of the Interior Ministry.

Separately, the United States and the European Union urged the UN Human Rights Council to investigate possible abuses in Syria and insist that Assad allow in foreign journalists and ease Internet restrictions. Diplomats from Nigeria and China, however, warned that any council action could be interpreted as meddling.

The U.S. and Western diplomats also plan to rally opposition to Syria's unopposed candidacy to join the 47-nation council.

Islamists Protest Outside Coptic Church In Cairo

From The Straits Times:

CAIRO - ABOUT 2,000 hardline Islamists protested on Friday outside the Coptic Church's headquarters in Cairo to demand the release of two women they allege are being held after converting to Islam.

The protesters, who belonged to the puritanical Salafi sect, marched on St Mark's Cathedral from a mosque after Friday prayers to demand the release of Wafa Constantine and Camellia Shehata, the wives of two priests. The church denies the women converted to Islam.

The Salafis have held regular protests over the case in the past year, but they have usually been smaller in number.

Their cause was eventually picked up by an Al-Qaeda-linked group in Iraq that massacred dozens of Christians in a Baghdad church in November 2010 and vowed more attacks until the two women are freed.

Two months later, a suicide bomber killed more than 20 Copts after a New Year's Eve mass in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria.

The Coptic Church has reportedly convened a synod in response to the growing assertiveness of Salafis, who have increased their political presence in Egypt since a popular revolt toppled president Hosni Mubarak in February. Copts, who account for about 10 percent of the country's 80 million people, complain of discrimination. They have been the targets of fairly regular sectarian attacks.

North Carolina Considering Bill To Ban Sharia

From Jihad Watch:

It is good to see that there are a growing number of such bills all over the country. They will always be challenged by claims that they infringe upon Muslims' religious liberties. But they wouldn't exist at all, of course, were it not for the political and authoritarian aspects of Sharia. Backers of such bills need to familiarize themselves with those aspects and be ready to answer those challenges. "Bill would ban courts from using 'foreign law,'" by Michael Biesecker for the News & Observer, April 29:

RALEIGH -- A group of Republican legislators is backing a measure that would make it illegal for judges to consider "foreign law" when making rulings in North Carolina's courts.

Though the federal and state constitutions already guarantee the supremacy of U.S. law in domestic cases, primary sponsor Rep. George Cleveland said he is concerned that Shariah law could gain a foothold in American communities with sizable Muslim populations.

House Bill 640 makes no mention of the Islamic legal code. But Cleveland said Shariah would be defined as a "foreign law" under his bill, and therefore banned from North Carolina's courtrooms if the legislation he proposes is approved.

"It's to ensure that any individual in this state does not have to worry about being taken advantage of by foreign laws," said Cleveland, a retired Marine who lives in Jacksonville. "It's barring any international law. If Shariah law tries to be enforced in the state, yeah, it would do it."

Uncertain of effect

Critics of the bill said that the broadly worded legislation could have unintended consequences, such as impeding international businesses or invalidating overseas marriages or adoptions.

Rooted in the teachings of the Quran, Shariah governs the conduct of an observant Muslim's life, from when to pray to how animals should be slaughtered for meat. It is also the basis for the legal codes in some Middle Eastern and south Asian countries.

Asked to provide real-world examples of the scenario his bill seeks to remedy -- cases where foreign laws infringed on the constitutional rights of American citizens in U.S. courts -- Cleveland said he did not know of any....

Rep. Joe Hackney, the House Democratic leader, said Republicans are wasting time attacking an issue that doesn't exist.

"I think it's a solution in search of a problem," said Hackney, a lawyer from Chapel Hill [Chapel Hill: that figures -- RS]....

Oh, no worries, Hackney. The problem will present itself to you soon enough.

Jordan Begins Court Proceedings Against Danish Cartoon Artist

From the AFP:

AMMAN — A Jordanian court on Monday put on trial in absentia Danish artist Kurt Westergaard who is being sued in the kingdom for blasphemy over a controversial cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed.

"A court in Amman began today the trial in absentia of those who insulted the Prophet, including Westergaard and Danish newspapers which published his offensive cartoon," said Tareq Hawamdeh, lawyer for local journalists and activists who brought the suit.

"Judge Nathir Shehadeh adjourned the trial until May 8 to hear the witnesses," Hawamdeh said in a statement.

The court subpoenaed Westergaard on April 14 after accusing him of committing "the crime of blasphemy" for depicting the Prophet Mohammed with a bomb in his turban.

A Jordanian prosecutor summoned Westergaard for questioning that year after 30 independent newspapers, websites and radio stations in Jordan sued him in 2008 over the cartoon.

Three years ago, 17 Danish newspapers reprinted the controversial caricature, which was first published in 2005, sparking violent protests across the Muslim world, including Jordan.

Westergaard, 75, who has faced numerous death threats and assassination attempts, told AFP after the subpoena that "I have not heard about this trial and have not been informed."

"In any case, I have no intention of going even if I am asked to," he said on Friday, pointing out that "I do not want to risk becoming familiar with the Jordanian prisons, which would be hell."

Jordanian MPs have demanded that the government sever ties with Denmark, and Amman has condemned the caricature, warning that it could spark further extremism and harm relations between Denmark and Muslim countries.

Holder Confirms: DOJ Scuttled Prosecution Of Hamas-Linked CAIR Leader Omar Ahmad

From Jihad Watch:

Patrick Poole reported here a couple of weeks ago that this had happened. Now Holder has confirmed it, although he is still blaming Bush. But didn't the Obama administration come in promising change, not slavish adherence to Bush-era policies?

Here is the case against Ahmad.

"Holder: DOJ nixed CAIR leader's prosecution," by Josh Gerstein in Politico, April 26 (thanks to Patrick Poole):

Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed Tuesday that on his watch the Justice Department decided not to prosecute a key leader of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. However, confirming a report last week on this blog--Holder noted that Bush-era officials also made an earlier decision not to proceed with the case.

"The decision that was reached in this administration was the same that was reached in the Bush administration--a determination made that for a variety of reasons, looking at the facts and the law, a prosecution would not be appropriate. A review was done of that decision in this administration and the conclusion was reached that that earlier decision was an appropriate one," Holder said in response to a question at a wide-ranging briefing for reporters.

Holder said the "decision wasn’t necessarily about CAIR as it was about a guy, an individual." The attorney general did not name the person in question. However, in a letter to Holder earlier this month, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.) said the decision pertained to CAIR co-founder Omar Ahmad and came over the objection of Dallas-based federal prosecutors handling the investigation....

Holder told reporters Tuesday that the recent decision to decline prosecution was made by "career folks looking at the evidence." However, a Justice Department spokesman clarified moments later that the decision was made by senior officials who are not career, but political appointees. Pajamas Media has reported the decision was made by the former head of the National Security Division, David Kris....

WikiLeaks: Whitehall Ignored Warnings About 'Londonistan’ Danger

From The Telegraph (UK):

Foreign diplomats warned authorities that the 2005 London Tube and bus bombings were a “natural consequence” of Britain's policy of sheltering terrorists, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

A bus destroyed by a terrorist bomb on July 7. Envoys said Britain should have expected such blasts Photo: EPA
A leaked US diplomatic cable, sent five days after the July 7 bombings, said Britain ignored repeated warnings to stop granting asylum to Islamic extremists wanted in other countries for terrorism offences.

After bombers killed 52 people on London’s transport system in 2005, the cable said Britain “should have expected such blasts”.
The minister in charge of counter-terrorism under Labour admitted that the last Government had failed to get a grip on the problem.

Washington was told politicians had allowed “Londonistan” to develop.

In the cable, obtained by the WikiLeaks website and passed to The Daily Telegraph, a former military attaché to the Algerian Embassy in Washington told US diplomats that Britain had been warned years ago to stop granting asylum to members of two “very dangerous” terrorist groups.

An Algerian politician said Britain invited the attacks by “aligning itself with the devil”, according to the cable sent five days after the attacks on 12 July, 2005.

He asked: “Did the English consider the risks of allowing Londonistan to develop? The British thought that sheltering terrorists was a good solution, but they did not realise that one can never align oneself with the devil, and they did precisely that for years and years.”

The extremists used Hyde Park and other open spaces to raise money for terrorist causes, the cable said.

The Daily Telegraph disclosed yesterday how terrorist recruits from across Africa and the Middle East flocked to London to claim asylum.

Seven of the terrorists held at Guantánamo were given refuge in Britain before travelling to Afghanistan for terrorist training.
The files show at least 35 detainees were sent to fight against the West after being indoctrinated in Britain.

Lord West of Spithead, a former security minister in the Labour government, admitted that ministers had failed to get a grip on the problem.

He blamed some of the failings on the Home Office’s counter-terrorism strategy.

“The counter-terrorist strategy was not working as well as it should have been,” he said. “I hope that this Government is looking at it very closely, I am sure they are. We need to keep this pressure on.”

Lord West said Britain in the 1990s was “very slow in realising the danger of the radicalisation that was going on”.

He said: “Some of these ghastly people said loathsome things about our nation and our way of life and yet when you tried to get them to return to their own country they stuck here like bloody limpets.”

Keith Vaz MP, the Labour chairman of the home affairs select committee, said he remained concerned about the possibility of terrorism in north London.

It was essential that politicians worked with communities to reach a solution, he said. “This is not something you can do from the outside. It’s got to be done with the consent of the communities, with the imams and lay members of the committee that are involved.

“If we try to take this on from outside then there is a problem.”

15 Bus Passengers Burned Alive In Southwest Pakistan

From CNN:

Fifteen passengers were burned alive when a passenger bus was set on fire by unknown men in Pakistan's volatile southwestern Balochistan province, an official said.

Naseer Ahmed Nasir, deputy commissioner in the city of Sibi, said four men on motorcycles initially opened fire on a parked passenger bus at a hotel. "The armed men then came close to the bus and sprinkled petrol, setting it on fire," he said.

He said most of the dead were either children or women.

Balochistan, near the Afghan border, is rich in natural resources. But it is also battling an insurgency.

Militants there have for years complained that the central government has paid little attention to them and their economic needs. They have been fighting Pakistani military forces for self-rule.

Pakistan has said the militants in Balochistan do not have links to the Islamic hard-liners who have launched assaults in other parts of the country.

Muslim Group Claims Royal Wedding Is Legitimate Terror Target

From Telegraph:

The royal wedding is a “legitimate target” for a terrorist attack because of Britain’s foreign policy and the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, a radical Islamic group has claimed.

Muslims Against Crusades, which had its application to protest on Friday turned down by police, yesterday urged Muslims to stay away from central London when Prince William marries Kate Middleton and to avoid all means of public transport due to the heightened risk of an attack.

Assad Ullah, leader of the extremist campaign group, insisted that it had no “inside knowledge” but was simply repeating security fears that have already been widely reported.

“There is a legitimate Islam opinion that those who have been attacked have the right to retaliate,” he said.

“British foreign policy is causing this kind of feeling and increasing the instability in this country. We do not advocate violence but can see how they made themselves a legitimate target for others.”

Announcing that the group had abandoned its plans to protest against the wedding, group spokesman Abu Abbas said: “We urge all Muslims to stay away from the royal wedding, not only because of the drinking, drug taking and sexual promiscuity but because of the likelihood of an attack by the Mujahideen.

"We urge all Muslims to stay away from public places and all public transport, trains, buses and tubes around central London.”

The group, which was founded last year after the radical group Islam4UK was banned, was heckled and police forced to intervene as Abbas criticised British policy outside Parliament in Westminster against a backdrop of banners, one reading: "Wanted: Prince William... Modern Day Nazi.".

Abbas said: "The killing of Muslims, the raping of Muslim women and the imprisonment of Muslims are increasing the instability in this country.

"We will not be participating and demonstrating, we are withdrawing our souls due to the risk of an attack. We believe it is highly likely, it is a prime target.

“Many people feel that they have been oppressed and have a score to settle with the Royal Family. We can see why they see them as a legitimate target.”

As the group accused the Royal Family of being responsible for war crimes, onlookers shouted: “You're all on benefits anyway” and “Long live the Queen”.

One of the Muslims retorted: "You paid for this camera, you pay for my benefits, you're basically my slave."

The hardline group, which earned notoriety last year when protesters gathered in London to burn poppies on Armistice Day, said that it had decided to issue the warning after advice from its teacher Sheikh Omar Bakri who has issued a Fatwa against the wedding

Earlier this month firebrand cleric Anjem Choudary also told Muslims to avoid Westminster Abbey. He said: "If my brothers decide to use the opportunity when the world is looking at the Royal Family to pass a message so that we can avoid more deaths of innocent men, women and children in Afghanistan, that should be applauded.”

Around 5,000 police officers will be joined by many more undercover and hundreds of soldiers in uniform in Westminster on the wedding day.

Assistant Commissioner Lynne Owens said: "Any criminals attempting to disrupt the day, in protest or otherwise will be met by a robust, decisive, flexible and proportionate police response.

"We want the public to be our eyes and ears and report anything suspicious or unusual."

Christians Face Charges In Algeria For "Blasphemy"

From Energy Publisher:

According to a press release, International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that two Algerian Christians are scheduled to appear in court in the Muslim-majority country on charges of proselytizing and blasphemy, and may face a five year prison sentence. The two men were arrested and briefly imprisoned in Oran on April 14 after sharing their Christian faith with their neighbors. Concern runs high since in February, during the disturbances that led to regime change in neighboring Tunisia, a Catholic priest was stabbed to death in Tunis at his residence following Islamist death threats. It was in Algeria in 1996 that Catholic monks were murdered under still unresolved circumstances.

One of the men, Sofiane, was released a day after their arrest, while Krimo was imprisoned for three days. After the arrest, Algerian police searched Krimo’s home for Bibles and other Christian material. Krimo was known to hold weekly prayer services at his home, which Algerian Christians suspect were being closely monitored by the police.

A court hearing, initially scheduled for April 27, was postponed to a later date. Algerian Christians are fearful that a law introduced in 2006 – requiring religious services to obtain a government permit to worship – will be applied, which may result in a five year imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 Algerian dinars (equivalent to 1,390.00 USD). Church leadership has expressed frustration over the government’s negligence to lay out a set procedure to register a church or to approve a permit quickly.

“The Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA) engaged a lawyer to defend Krimo and Sofiane. We are hopeful that they will be acquitted,” a pastor in Tizi Ouzou told ICC. “Although our constitution says to respect other faiths other than Islam, the government is Islamic, and article two says ‘Islam is the religion of State.’ There is no respect for human rights or religious freedom and the protestant church is suffering.”

The arrests came a day before Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika pledged to his country that he would reform the constitution to allow freedom of press and free elections. Since the current constitution was applied in 1996 to strengthen emergency laws and ban religious-based parties following a war between the military and Islamic militants, the Algerian government has been unable to contain Islamists who have been largely responsible for attacks on Christians.

Aidan Clay, ICC Regional Manager for the Middle East, said, “We urge the Algerian government to expand its pledge to reform the constitution by also offering greater freedoms to Christians and other religious minorities. The first step is to remove the legislation introduced in 2006 that makes it nearly impossible for Christians to worship openly. It is time for the Algerian government to prove that they stand behind article 36 of the constitution, which states that freedom of creed is inviolable, by acquitting Krimo and Sofiane of the charges of blasphemy and proselytizing, and demonstrating to the world that Algeria is steadily making progress to become a country that respects the right to worship freely.”

ICC provided contact information for Algerian embassies in several countries:

United States: + 1 202 265 2800
Canada: + 1 613 789 8505 or + 1 613 789 0282
United Kingdom: + 44 207 221 7800
Germany: + 49 30 43 73 70
France: + 33 1 53 93 20 20
Australia: + 61 2 6286 7355

Nato Troops Killed By Afghan Pilot

From The Telegraph:

Eight American troops plus a contractor were killed in a shooting by an Afghan pilot at a training centre, according to Nato.

Afghan Army soldiers secure the military base after a shooting incident, in Kabul Photo: EPA
It was the seventh incident so far this year in which members of the Afghan security forces, or insurgents impersonating them, have killed coalition soldiers or members of the Afghan security forces.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, but a spokesman for the defence ministry said the gunman was an Afghan military pilot who "opened fire on foreigners after an argument."

The pilot was killed in the morning shooting, which occurred at a facility used by the Afghan Air Force in Kabul.

The shooter was a military pilot of 20 years.

"An argument happened between him and the foreigners and we have to investigate that," the spoeksman said.

An Afghan pilot who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the gunman was Ahmad Gul, a 50-year-old pilot from Tarakhail district of Kabul province.

In a statement, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said, however, that the gunman was impersonating an army officer and that others at the facility helped him gain access. The gunman killed nine foreigners and five Afghan soldiers, he said. The

Taliban often exaggerate the number of casualties caused by their attacks.

Taliban insurgents have stepped up their attacks on government and military installations across Afghanistan.

Four Ethiopian Muslims Beat Evangelist To Death, Assault His Pregnant Wife

From The Assyrian International News Agency:

Washington -- International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on April 21 four Muslims beat an evangelist to death and assaulted his pregnant wife in Worabe, Ethiopia, an area that is 97% Muslim.

The Muslims lured Evangelist Abraham Abera from Kale Hiwot Church, his home and place of ministry, at 9:30 p.m. They told him that his friend was sick and needed his immediate attention. Abraham left with the men; they turned on him and began to beat him with rods. The minister's wife, Birtukan, saw the men attack her husband and ran to intervene, but the Muslims beat her as well.

Abraham died on the spot and his wife, who sustained a severe head injury, was left unconscious in the street. She was found and taken to a hospital in Butajira, where she regained consciousness on April 22nd and was able to recount the details of the attack. Birtukan spoke with an ICC source and said that she knew two of the attackers. She said that as the Muslims were beating her and her husband, they told them, "You (Christians) are growing in number in our area. You are spreading your message (the gospel). We will destroy you."

Though Birtukan did suffer injuries to her mid-section, her unborn baby did fortunately survive the attack.

The attackers still remain at large. A Christian leader in the area told ICC that the men may not be arrested because the local officials are also Muslims. "Christians in Worabe and its surrounding areas are persecuted at the hands of Muslim radicals, and the local government officials, who are Muslims, don't protect Christians. We urge the higher government authorities [state and federal officials] to intervene and protect us," said the Christian leader.

"The brutal killing of Evangelist Abraham and the beating of his wife, Birtukan, is deeply troubling. We urge the federal government authorities to investigate this latest attack as well as reports of persecution against Christians in the Silte zone," said Jonathan Racho, ICC's Regional Manager for Africa."

Memo To German Intelligence: Jihad Watch Is Not An "Islamic Internet Site"

From Jihad Watch:

It's enough to Instill confidence in intelligence services everywhere: the BND, the German intelligence agency, is apparently monitoring Jihad Watch as an "Islamic internet site." Or perhaps it is the UK tabloid The Sun that is getting this all wrong; one of the purported Jihad Watch comments The Sun quotes, "She needs to be very careful...," is indeed in this thread about Sila Sahin, but the other, "She must pay," is not. In any case, either The Sun or the BND or both missed the obvious thrust of this site, and the fact that the commenters were sympathetic to Sila Sahin.

"Fanatics' fury at Muslim Playgirl," by Allan Hall in The Sun, April 27 (thanks to Robert):

A MUSLIM actress has caused a storm by posing naked for Playboy.

Sila Sahin has been branded a "whore" and a "western slut" after appearing topless on the cover of the German edition of the men's magazine.

And Islamic fanatics have posted threatening internet messages.

Sila, raised in Germany by conservative Turkish parents, says she fears being "spat at" and "shamed".

Her parents are said to have reacted with "horror" at the 12-page coverage, and her mother has apparently cut off all contact. [...]

But Islamic internet sites are being monitored by the BND - the German intelligence agency - after threats were posted about her "shaming Muslim womanhood" and "prostituting herself for money".

One poster on the Jihad Watch website wrote: "She needs to be very careful..." Another simply said: "She must pay."

A kebab shop owner, asked on German TV what he would do if Sila were his daughter, replied: "I would kill her. I really mean that. That doesn't fit with my culture."...

Hamas: National Unity Gov't Won't Take Part In Peace Talks

This breaking story appears to have fallen under the radar. The Palestinian Authority and Hamas joining forces will mean that the unlikely chance of stability between Israel and its neighbors just might have become an impossibility altogether. Israel has no legitimate negotiating partner for peace.

From the Jerusalem Post:

Mahmoud Zahar says new Hamas-Fatah agreement doesn't mean terror group will recognize Israel or that it will participate in peace negotiations; Netanyahu says PA must choose between peace with Israel, peace with Hamas.

The establishment of a Palestinian national unity government does not mean that Hamas will recognize Israel or will participate in peace negotiations, senior Hamas official and a member of the Hamas delegation to the Cairo discussions Mahmoud Zahar said overnight Wednesday in Cairo.

"Our plan does not involve negotiations with Israel or recognizing it," Zahar said. "It will be impossible for an interim government to take part in the peace process with Israel."

Earlier, following a series of secret meetings in Cairo and Damascus over the past few weeks, Hamas and Fatah announced that they struck a deal to form a “national unity” government, and hold elections within a year.

The agreement, which has been hailed by both sides as “historic,” was reached under the auspices of Egypt’s Foreign Ministry and General Intelligence Force.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Elaraby said the agreement was aimed at paving the way for the Palestinians to seek UN recognition in September of an independent state on the 1967 lines.

“Palestinian divisions can’t continue while efforts are being made to ensure recognition of a Palestinian state,” Elaraby said, adding that he planned to visit Ramallah soon for talks with Palestinian Authority officials on this and other matters.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the PA needed to choose between a peace deal with Israel and one with Hamas.

“Peace with both is impossible, because Hamas aims to destroy the State of Israel and says that openly,” Netanyahu said, in a filmed statement uploaded onto YouTube. “It fires missiles at our cities and at our children.”

Netanyahu said the whole idea of reconciliation showed the PA’s weakness and raised questions of “whether Hamas will gain control over Judea and Samaria, the way it did over the Gaza Strip.

“I hope that the Palestinian Authority will make the right choice – that it will choose peace with Israel. The choice is in its hands.”

Representatives of the rival parties signed initial letters of an Egyptian-sponsored reconciliation agreement, said Izat Risheq, a member of the Hamas delegation that held talks in Cairo with Fatah officials.

He said Egypt would invite leaders of all Palestinian factions to attend the ceremony for the signing of the formal reconciliation agreement between PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal.

The Hamas delegation to the reconciliation talks was headed by Mashaal’s deputy, Moussa Abu Marzouk, while the Fatah team was headed by Azzam al-Ahmed.

Zahar said the accord called for the formation of an interim unity government that would consist of “professional” figures, and reviving the work of the Palestinian parliament, the Palestinian Legislative Council, which has been paralyzed because of the Hamas-Fatah dispute.

The two parties have also agreed to release Hamas and Fatah prisoners held in each others' jails and to the establishment of a joint security committee, Zahar said.

Ahmed said the two sides had reached agreement on all points of contention, including the make-up of the unity government, fixing a date for presidential and parliamentary elections, and restructuring the PLO.

He said that next week, the Egyptians would summon representatives of all Palestinian factions to Cairo to hear their responses to the Hamas-Fatah deal.

Ahmed said the Egyptian authorities had been holding secret contacts with Hamas and Fatah in the past few weeks in a bid to end the dispute between them.

Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudaineh, dismissed Netanyahu’s warning to the PA that it must choose between peace with Israel and peace with Hamas.

Abu Rudaineh said Netanyahu must choose between a just and comprehensive peace with a unified Palestinian people, and settlements.

“The agreement between Fatah and Hamas is an internal issue, and Israel has nothing to do with it and it’s not a party to it,” the spokesman said. “The agreement enhances the unity of the Palestinian people and their just struggle to establish a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

This was not the first time that the Egyptians have announced an agreement between Hamas and Fatah.

In late 2009, the two parties were close to signing a deal in Cairo, but the ceremony was canceled at the last minute after Hamas backtracked in protest against Abbas’s failure to support a motion at the UN Human Rights Council that would have endorsed the Goldstone Report on the IDF’s Operation Cast Lead offense in the Gaza Strip.

In February 2007, Hamas and Fatah signed their first unity government agreement in Mecca. The agreement collapsed four months later when Hamas seized full control of the Gaza Strip.

While Wednesday’s announcement caught most people by surprise, Netanyahu has been warning against a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation for weeks. In mid-March he asked, in a CNN interview, how the PA could be “for peace with Israel and peace with Hamas that calls for our destruction.”

Senior diplomatic sources in Jerusalem, meanwhile, downplayed the announcement, saying there have been similar ones in the past that went nowhere because agreement could not be reached on cardinal questions such as whether Hamas would allow the PA a foothold back in Gaza, and whether Fatah would let Hamas return to the West Bank.

In light of experience with such announcements, one source said, it was important to “wait and see what will happen this time.”

Vice Premier Silvan Shalom said the deal between Fatah and Hamas revealed the true face of the Palestinian leaders who have refused to negotiate with Israel over the past two years.

“Now it is clear to everyone that they are not seeking peace,” Shalom said. “We must ask the world whether there is a way to make peace with people who openly declare that their goal is to destroy the State of Israel. A Palestinian state would be a Hamas- Iranian outpost in the Middle East.”

National Union MK Arye Eldad said the unity agreement should enable the prime minister to free Israel from international pressure that he said had made Netanyahu panic in recent months.

Eldad called on Netanyahu to announce that as long as the PA was cooperating with Hamas there would be no negotiations or concessions.

The Meretz faction released a statement expressing cautious optimism regarding the deal. The statement said Meretz hoped the deal will bring about moderation and flexibility that would enable the diplomatic process to advance and bring about the release of St.- Sgt. Gilad Schalit.

“In the event that the deal is officially signed, we hope that Gaza will go in the way of Ramallah and not the opposite,” faction chairman Ilan Gilon said.

Over Half Of Egyptians Want To End Peace Treaty With Israel

From The Telegraph:

More than half of Egyptians want to end the peace treaty with Israel, according to an opinion poll, which will worsen the West's fears about a shift towards conservative Islamic politics in the country.

Egyptian riot police stand guard outside a courthouse in Cairo during the trial of Egyptian ex-interior minister Habib al-Adli Photo: AFP

The survey, the fullest to be conducted on any of the Middle East countries that have undergone uprisings in the "Arab Spring", found 54 per cent of Egyptians wanted to end the treaty, signed in 1979, compared to 36 per cent who wanted to keep it.

The survey also found a high degree of support for Islamic law and for a prominent role for the Muslim Brotherhood, which was banned before the February revolution.

But at the same time most would vote for secular parties if an election were held today, with a Brotherhood-led government winning the support of only 17 per cent of the vote, lower than most recent estimates.

Two liberal parties, the New Wafd, which has roots in the colonial era, and al-Ghad, whose leader was jailed by the former president, Hosni Mubarak, each won similar or higher support.

The Muslim Brotherhood was seen as one of the big winners from the democratic uprising which toppled Mr Mubarak. Islamists were appointed to a constitutional committee to plan the next steps for Egypt's fledgling democracy.

Meanwhile, the military council temporarily in charge has moved to improve relations with Iran, broken off altogether after the Islamic revolution there in 1979.

Thirty per cent of those asked said they agreed with the views of Islamic fundamentalists, with a similar number opposing them. Most people – 62 per cent – thought Egyptian laws should "strictly follow the Koran" and 27 per cent that it should follow Islamic principles and values.

In contrast to the popular image in the West, support for fundamentalist Islam was greatest in upper income groups and lowest among the poor.

The survey also demonstrated the contradictory attitudes of a country emerging suddenly from decades of dictatorship. The most unpopular figure in the country was Mr Mubarak, for example, but the most popular was the head of the military and acting president, Field Marshal Mohammed Tantawi.

Yet for years Field Marshal Tantawi was so close to his former boss that he was popularly known as "Mubarak's poodle".
That may reflect the success with which the military council has deflected blame for years of corruption and repression on to the police and civilian political figures.

The hated former interior minister, Habib al-Adli, went on trial on Tuesday accused over his role in ordering police to open fire on demonstrators in the uprising. According to official figures, 846 people were killed in the unrest.

Libya Ripe For Jihad's Rallying Cries

From The Australian:

Libyan rebels drive to the eastern town of Ajdabiya after winning the area back from Muammar Gaddafi's forces. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

As the military and humanitarian quagmire in Libya deepens, a clarion call has gone out to followers of the global jihadist movement in the West.

"Who wants to join the mujahidin? The gates of jihad are open in Libya!" declares a message posted on a pro al-Qa'ida internet forum monitored by Western analysts.

The message - and countless others like it - has set off alarms in counter-terrorism circles in the West, as al-Qa'ida and its allies move to exploit the foment in the Arab world, seizing on the conflict in Libya as a new cause celebre for Islamic militants. And as yesterday's WikiLeaks release shows, al-Qa'ida suspects freed from Guantanamo Bay are at work in Libya.

A report from the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation says internet jihadists are portraying Libya as the newest front in the global jihad against the West, in a policy dictated by al-Qa'ida's top leaders.

"Senior leadership figures, including Ayman al-Zawahiri, have given a number of sermons concentrating almost solely on Libya and portraying it as the most fertile ground for their global movement," says the report's author, Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, a research fellow at ICSR. He says Zawahiri's call has been echoed on English-language jihadist forums.

"The Western Salafi-jihadi movement is attempting to take ownership of the rebellion on behalf of the global jihad, and is portraying anti-Gaddafi forces as mujahidin, while also encouraging Western Muslims to do all they can to reach the country and take part in a supposed jihad."

The ICSR has monitored a stream of communications on al-Qa'ida run and backed websites and forums since the Arab spring began. A typical post says: "My brothers and sisters, we are facing a global change, Alhamdulillah [praise God]! We will see this uprising continuing in all Muslim countries and soon we will see the banner of Allah everywhere!"

The forums are full of news of the exploits of jihadist fighters who have joined "Islamic battalions" in Libya under names such as the Thunderbolt Battalion and the Islamic Army of Benghazi, and so-called exclusive pictures of fighters purporting to be mujahidin on the front lines, accompanied by messages urging new recruits to join them. They provide directions on how best to travel to Libya, along with this incentive: "The market of paradise has opened and the hoor al ayn [virgins promised to martyrs] are waiting."

The forums are used to disseminate stories such as one that recounted how a band of mujahidin overran a Libyan army base in al-Bayda in the northeast of the country.

Western analysts believe the claims are exaggerated and some are simply echoes of Gaddafi regime propaganda aimed at discrediting the rebellion by portraying it as an Islamist uprising.

However, among al-Qa'ida's online followers it seems they are having the desired effect. Another post says: "The only thing we can do at this moment is pray for the brothers and await the official declaration of an Islamic emirate in Libya."

The ICSR's assessment is that it is essentially a propaganda push by al-Qa'ida and its allies to promote Libya as a "new Afghanistan", that is a new rallying point to revitalise their movement.

Al-Qa'ida has been cultivating its contacts in Libya for decades. Its key ally there is the old Libyan Islamic Fighting Group which was formed in 1995 to overthrow President Muammar Gaddafi and contribute to the international jihadist campaign. Despite Gaddafi's long-term support for international terrorism, he is regarded by Islamic militants as an apostate ruler who has betrayed his promise to make Libya an Islamic republic.

US terrorism analyst Bill Roggio from the Long War Journal says north and eastern Africa have proven fertile ground for al-Qa'ida with their restive Muslim populations, oppressive governments and lawless regions that make ideal sites for terrorist training camps.

The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group was set up by Libyans who had fought against the Soviet army in Afghanistan in the 1980s, several of whom went on to take up key positions in the al-Qa'ida command structure. Many of the group's founding members trained in al-Qa'ida camps in Afghanistan, according to a report by the US Council on Foreign Relations.

Al-Qa'ida's leader in Afghanistan until his death in 2008, Abu Laith al-Libi, was a Libyan, as is the senior field commander regarded by some US intelligence analysts as Osama bin Laden's heir apparent, Abu Yahya al-Libi.

Yesterday' s WikiLeaks documents show that at least one former detainee who was set free, Abu Sufian Ibrahim Ahmed Hamuda bin Qumu, is training with rebel forces in Libya and has close ties to al-Qa'ida.

In 2006 the LIFG merged with militant groups from neighbouring Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco to form a new al-Qa'ida franchise, which called itself al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Mahgreb.

The merger was heralded by Abu Laith al-Libi, who said: "We announce we are joining al-Qa'ida's loyal soldiers. The tyrant of Libya is pushing the country into a new quagmire. He suddenly discovered that America, the guardian of the cross, is not an enemy."

The merger and AQIM's vow to topple Gaddafi were apparently prompted by the dictator's rapprochement with the US in 2003, when Gaddafi announced that Libya would end its biological, chemical and nuclear weapons program, which had long been used to support international terrorism, and the US dropped sanctions and restored diplomatic relations in return.

The Libyans were officially welcomed into the fold by al-Qa'ida deputy head Zawahiri, who condemned Gaddafi for surrendering his "weapons and equipment to Crusader masters", and called for the overthrow of the governments of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.

AQIM's leader Abdelmalek Droukdal told The New York Times in a 2008 interview: "Our general goals are the same goals of al-Qa'ida the mother."

AQIM has been most active in Algeria where its forerunner, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, led a bloody insurrection that began in 1992 after the military regime cancelled parliamentary elections when it seemed a coalition of Islamic parties was on the verge of winning.

Since the name change, AQIM has carried out guerilla-style ambushes against military personnel and truck bombs against government targets, kidnapped tourists for ransom, bombed buses and embraced suicide attacks.

Experts believe these actions suggest widening ambitions within the group's leadership, which is now pursuing a more global, sophisticated and better-financed direction, says a recent report by the US Council on Foreign Relations. It notes that AQIM used the Iraq War and other unpopular Western policies to recruit new members.

A worldwide caution issued by the US State Department in January says AQIM has declared its intention to attack Western targets and has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings and murder of several Westerners.

Among the posts detected recently on the jihadist forums is one from a regular participant who claims to have contacts with al-Qa'ida, asserting that AQIM is "preparing to begin operations in Libya".

The commentator claims that between 4000 and 7000 Islamic militants have assembled in the city of Benghazi.

"The Salafi brothers in Benghazi have declared the Islamic emirate of Libya. The brothers have captured military tanks, Hummers, heavy-medium-light machine guns," the commentator reports.

Jihadist ideologues whose posts have been monitored praise the purity of the uprising in Libya compared with other manifestations of the Arab spring, such as in Egypt, which they deride for being secular and pro-democracy.

One post notes "the great thing about this revolution is that the people are only raising the banner of truth and shouting takbeer

[God is great], and nobody shouts the name of a secular-democratic party".

There is intense debate on the forums over the provision of Western military assistance to the Libyan rebel movement, which has prompted consternation about an alliance with the so-called enemies of Islam.

A participant on one forum commented: "I really need some clarification on the current situation in Libya. We see images from kufr [non-Muslim] news sources that the Libyans are requesting help from the kufr against Gaddafi. Could someone please confirm that the mujahidin in Libya are on the straight path."

Forum leaders have reassured participants on this score, essentially arguing the end - achieving an Islamic state - will justify the means. They liken the situation in Libya to that in Afghanistan in the 1990s, when a range of alliances was forged between rival factions in order to oust the Soviet army, before the Taliban eventually took power. "[In Afghanistan] we had Sunnis, nationalists, Ikhwanis [Muslim Brotherhood], Sufi, Shi'ites and other groups fighting shoulder to shoulder against the Russians.

"What happened after the war? We witnessed a civil war between the groups. The Taliban succeeded in taking 90 per cent of Afghanistan. They declared the Islamic emirate and implemented the Sharia. I think that the same thing will happen in Libya."

The mainstream Libyan rebel movement has been eager to distance itself from the Islamists who are trying to muscle in on their rebellion. On March 30, the Libyan Interim Transitional National Council issued a statement intended to allay Western fears about an Islamist takeover, stressing its "commitment to the implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions on counter-terrorism [and] sanctions concerning al-Qa'ida and the Taliban".

The ICSR believes the jihadists' propaganda is more wishful thinking than reality. "Their claims are unconvincing and there are notable discrepancies between their interpretation of events and the facts on the ground," Meleagrou-Hitchens reports.

He says despite the rallying cries, there is little concrete evidence of a strong al-Qa'ida presence or serious Islamist activity among the rebels, and their Transitional National Council is "clearly not an al-Qa'ida aligned movement".

However, Western analysts are keeping a close eye on the evolution of the Libyan rebellion, noting that senior online militants are urging a cautious, patient, long-term approach rather than a quick revolution.

The conventional wisdom on the Islamist forums, according to ICSR, is that "there is enough of a Salafi-jihadi presence to ensure that once Gaddafi is overthrown, Libya will begin to move toward transforming into an Islamic state governed by Sharia".

One forum leader warns that declaring an Islamic emirate in Libya would prompt a Western invasion, and stresses instead that they should build up their military forces, "educate the people" on the need for an Islamic state, "and then declare the emirate, with weapons, economy and a people ready to fight for Allah."

The Case Against Omar Ahmad

From the Investigative Project on Terror:

Reports that the Department of Justice declined a request to prosecute a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) official last year have left many, including U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., wondering what factors DOJ officials considered. A new IPT memo addresses a different question. Why did Texas prosecutors make the request to prosecute Ahmad in the first place?

CAIR co-founder Omar Ahmad served as a senior executive in the Palestine Committee, an umbrella organization of U.S.-based Hamas support groups, FBI recordings and internal documents show. Ahmad worked closely with Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) officials and served as president of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) for two years. Both HLF, convicted in 2008 of funneling millions of dollars to Hamas, and IAP, a U.S. Hamas propaganda arm, were identified in court documents as the Palestine Committee's primary components.

A diagram of Palestine Committee leadership put together by U.S. Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Akram in 1991 shows Ahmad (a.k.a. Omar Yehya) listed in the No. 2 slot in a list of members of the committee's executives. Ahmad's California phone number also appeared in a Palestine Committee phonebook.

During the 2008 trial, FBI Agent Lara Burns pointed to phone calls made between Ahmad and HLF officials, discussed above, as evidence that he was a "leader within the Palestine Committee."

Other CAIR officials also popped up in the HLF trial exhibits, such as CAIR's current Executive Director Nihad Awad and former CAIR Vice President Nabil Sadoun. Sadoun was ordered deported last year. An immigration judge referenced Sadoun's relationship with Hamas and HLF during a deportation hearing.

Ghassan Elashi, listed as an official on CAIR-Texas' 1998 incorporation documents, was convicted in the HLF case and sentenced to 65 years in prison. According to a superseding indictment in the case, Elashi's illicit activity began in October 1997, before he signed off on the CAIR documents, and continued until charges were brought by the U.S. in 2004.

Ahmad and the CAIR organization itself were named as an unindicted co-conspirators (UCC) in the HLF prosecution.

One of CAIR's main talking points regarding the UCC list has been that being named a UCC "is not a pronouncement of any guilt or even guilt by association." Perhaps. But those most familiar with the evidence have reached different conclusions. The FBI decided it no longer considered CAIR to be an "appropriate liaison partner," and would not "until we can resolve whether there continues to be a connection between CAIR or its executives and HAMAS."

And the presiding judge, after seeing all the evidence, ruled that there was "ample evidence to establish the associations of CAIR …with HLF, the Islamic Association for Palestine ("IAP"), and with Hamas."

Soon after the FBI's announcement on contact with CAIR, Ahmad announced that he was retiring as CAIR's chairman emeritus. That doesn't seem to have mended CAIR's relations with the FBI. Last month, FBI Director Robert Mueller confirmed the FBI's policy towards CAIR still stands, noting that the problem is the group's "national leadership."

Read our full report on the HLF evidence connected to Omar Ahmad here.

Read more at: http://www.investigativeproject.org/2790/the-case-against-omar-ahmad

Prosecutors say the groups worked to support Hamas both politically and financially. Exhibits introduced during the 2008 HLF trial supported that conclusion. Yet, Ahmad continued to work with HLF even after Hamas' 1995 designation.

Among the findings in the IPT report showing Ahmad's Palestine Committee leadership:

• Almost five years after CAIR's formation, in a 1999 phone call with HLF executive Shukri Abu Baker, Ahmad advocated on behalf of an HLF official named Mohammed El-Mezain. Though Ahmad was not an HLF official, he negotiated the amount HLF would pay El-Mezain for fundraising trips he had made over several years. Ahmad was serving as CAIR's national chairman at this time.

• Also in 1999, Ahmad was recorded speaking with HLF official Haitham Maghawri regarding tens of thousands of dollars Shukri Abu Baker had promised Ahmad for a project. Maghawri, one of the HLF defendants, never stood trial because he fled the country before the government could file the 2004 indictment.

• In February 1994, Ahmad called for a teleconference during which he attempted to resolve a fundraising dispute between Hamas activist Abdelhaleem Al Ashqar and the Holy Land Foundation. Hamas operatives Jamil Hamami and Mohamed Siam later discussed Ahmad's suggestions during a meeting with Ashqar in Mississippi. The dispute was only fully resolved once Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzook intervened on HLF's behalf.

• Ahmad planned, convened and moderated an October 1993 meeting of the Palestine Committee in Philadelphia where members discussed ways to "derail" a U.S.-led peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians. The group knew that their Hamas support was problematic. They agreed to reference the group as sister "Samah" [Hamas spelled backward] and warned each other that the U.S. had proposed legislation that would designate Hamas as a terror organization.

• Under Ahmad's watch, CAIR received $10,000 from HLF and solicited donations on HLF's behalf several times after Hamas' designation.

These examples illustrate Ahmad's authority over the committee and leverage in making HLF decisions. Internal Palestine Committee documents also affirm that Ahmad served as a committee executive.

Read more at: http://www.investigativeproject.org/2790/the-case-against-omar-ahmad