Al Qaeda's Anwar Al-Awlaki Killed In Yemen

From CBS:

Al Qaeda's Anwar al-Awlaki killed in Yemen
WASHINGTON - In a devastating double-blow to al Qaeda's most dangerous franchise, U.S. counterterrorism forces killed two American citizens who played key roles in inspiring attacks against the U.S., U.S. and Yemeni officials said Friday.

U.S-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, who edited the slick Jihadi Internet magazine, were killed in an air strike on their convoy in Yemen by a joint CIA-U.S. military operation, according to counterterrorism officials. Al-Awlaki was targeted in the killing, but Khan apparently was not targeted directly.

Seeking to justify the targeted killing of a U.S. citizen, Mr. Obama outlined al-Awlaki's involvement in planning and directing attempts to murder Americans.

"He directed the failed attempt to blow up an airplane on Christmas Day in 2009. He directed the failed attempt to blow up U.S. cargo planes in 2010," Mr. Obama said. "And he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda."

Yemeni intelligence pinpointed al-Awlaki's hideout in the town of Al Khasaf, a Yemeni official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence. "He was closely monitored ever since," by Yemeni intelligence on the ground, backed by U.S. satellite and drones from the sky, the official said.

His death will deal al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula a serious blow, says CBS News terrorism analyst Juan Zarate, particularly his work to draw young Muslims into the jihadi mindset.

"His role as a propagandist actually will be very difficult to fill," says Zarate.

After three weeks of tracking the targets, U.S. armed drones and fighter jets shadowed the al Qaeda convoy before armed drones launched their lethal strike early Friday. The strike killed four operatives in all, officials said. All U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.

Al-Awlaki played a "significant operational role" in plotting and inspiring attacks on the United States, U.S. officials said Friday, as they disclosed detailed intelligence to justify the killing of a U.S. citizen. Khan, who was from North Carolina, wasn't considered operational but had published seven issues of Inspire Magazine, offering advice on how to make bombs and the use of weapons. The magazine was widely read.

Following the strike, a U.S. official outlined new details of al-Awlaki's involvement in anti-U.S. operations, including the attempted 2009 Christmas Day bombing of a U.S.-bound aircraft. The official said that al-Awlaki specifically directed the men accused of trying to bomb the Detroit-bound plane to detonate an explosive device over U.S. airspace to maximize casualties.

The official also said al-Awlaki had a direct role in supervising and directing a failed attempt to bring down two U.S. cargo aircraft by detonating explosives concealed inside two packages mailed to the U.S. The U.S. also believes Awlaki had sought to use poisons, including cyanide and ricin, to attack Westerners.

The U.S. and counterterrorism officials all spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss intelligence matters.

Al-Awlaki was killed by the same U.S. military unit that got Osama bin Laden. Al-Awlaki is the most prominent al Qaeda figure to be killed since bin Laden's death in May.

U.S. word of al-Awlaki's death came after the government of Yemen reported that he had been killed Friday about five miles from the town of Khashef, some 87 miles from the capital Sanaa.

The air strike was carried out more openly than the covert operation that sent Navy SEALs into bin Laden's Pakistani compound, U.S. officials said.

Counterterrorism cooperation between the United States and Yemen has improved in recent weeks, allowing better intelligence-gathering on al-Awlaki's movements, U.S. officials said. The ability to better track him was a key factor in the success of the strike, U.S. officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

More here.

Philippines: Christians Dispossessed And Silenced In Mindanao

From Asia News:

In Jolo, Marawi and Basilan, Christians are afraid to express their faith. Because of constant attacks and kidnappings, the churches can only be entered through a side door, guarded 24hrs. The experience of Muslim-Christian dialogue proposed by Silsilah.

In Jolo, Marawi, Basilan and other areas of Mindanao, the Christian minority is suffering harassment and pressure from the Muslim population, AsiaNews' sources in Mindanao say. Government officials are forcing Christians to sell their land to make room for Chinese industries.

According to sources, the climate of impunity, the abductions, the continuing clashes between the army and extremist Islamic groups and the economic crisis have created an unbearable atmosphere for the Christian population, who are afraid to express their faith in public.

"Jolo Cathedral", they explain, "is located at the center of the city, and has always been a symbol of unity and friendship between Muslims and Christians. Until a few years ago, the main door was open at all hours, but due to the continuous episodes of vandalism, the Cathedral can now be accessed only through the side entrance. The churchyard is guarded day and night by military and police."

Sources say that the situation is the same in Basilan and Cotabato. Here in recent weeks both churches were hit with paper bombs that damaged the part of the walls and windows. These acts provide publicity for the young extremists, who learn intolerance against Christians from unscrupulous preachers, often funded by foreign countries, who aim to spread a restrictive and fundamentalist vision of Islam. "The situation is very difficult", AsiaNews sources explain, "Christians are not permitted to react. The only alternative to escape is to suffer these abuses in silence."

For Fr. Sebastiano D'Ambra, PIME missionary in Zamboanga and founder of Silsilah ("chain"), a movement for interreligious dialogue, there are nevertheless some signs of hope that could change the future situation of these provinces, considered the most dangerous on the entire archipelago. "In Basilan", he says, "we have organized a series of meetings with Muslim and Christian leaders where we recounted our experience of interreligious dialogue made in other cities and listened to the problems experienced by the local population. This has sparked a relationship among the various local religious leaders, including the bishop and high Islamic authorities, who for several months have been collaborating to address the problems of the two communities."

From this experience of dialogue was born the Interfaith Council of Leaders, which aims to get Christians and Muslims to meet to discuss concrete facts and not theoretical problems. For example, the priest explains that Basilan's population has no access to electricity. To solicit the government, representatives of the Christian and Muslim communities wrote a manifesto of protest, with some concrete proposals useful in addressing the problem.

"What we propose", said Fr. D'Ambra, "is a spirit of dialogue that touches on all aspects, not only matters of religion. Our task is not simply to speak of dialogue, but to respond in a concrete way to the reality that surrounds us."

Birmingham Terror Arrests: Seventh Man Faces Charges

From BBC:

Police forensic officers have been carrying out searches at addresses in Birmingham
A seventh man is to face charges relating to a recent counter-terrorism operation in Birmingham, the Crown Prosecution Service says.

Mujahid Hussain, 20, is charged with entering into a funding arrangement for the purposes of terrorism.

Six other men have already been charged with terrorism offences.

Four of the men were charged with preparing for an act of terrorism in the UK, and two with failing to disclose information.

Mr Hussain will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday accused of both helping fund a terror plan and of providing information of "material assistance".

The six others, all from Birmingham and aged between 25 and 32, have been remanded in custody until October.

Irfan Nasser, 30, of Sparkhill, and Irfan Khalid, 26, of Balsall Heath, are accused of preparing for an act of terrorism, including travelling to Pakistan for training in terrorism, making a martyrdom video and planning a bombing campaign.

They are accused of "being concerned in constructing" a home-made explosive device for terrorist acts and stating an intention to be a suicide bomber.
Unarmed arrests

Ashik Ali, 26, of Balsall Heath, is accused of preparing for an act of terrorism, which involved planning a bombing campaign, providing premises for the planning of terrorist attack and stating an intention to be a suicide bomber.

Rahin Ahmed, 25, of Moseley, is accused of helping fund terrorist acts.

Mohammed Rizwan, 32, of Ward End, and Bahader Ali, 28, of Sparkbrook, are both charged with failing to disclose information about potential acts of terrorism.

It is alleged that between 29 July and 19 September this year, both had information which they knew might help prevent the commission of an act of terrorism but did not disclose the information.

Mr Ali is also charged with providing money for the purposes of terrorism.

The offences are alleged to have taken place between Christmas Day 2010 and 19 September this year.

The men were arrested as part of an operation carried out by the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit. The arrests were unarmed, pre-planned and intelligence-led.

Iranian Pastor Sentenced To Death: Nadarkhani Refuses To Convert

An update on this story.

From the International Business Times:

Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who is facing the death penalty, again refused to convert to Islam to save his life.

Nadarkhani was arrested in 2009 for the crime of apostasy because he allegedly abandoned Islam for Christianity. As a pastor, Iranian clerics believe that Nadarkhani was preaching in order to convert Muslims.

Before his last hearing Wednesday, Nadarkhani had been given three previous chances to repent, and all three times he has refused. After his final refusal Wednesday, no verdict has been announced, but many expect that he could be put to death as soon as Friday.

The case has slowly garnered international attention, and there are a number of Christian rights groups advocating for his release.

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner also has spoken out against Iran. "While Iran's government claims to promote tolerance, it continues to imprison many of its people because of their faith. This goes beyond the law to an issue of fundamental respect for human dignity. I urge Iran's leaders to abandon this dark path, spare [Nadarkhani's] life, and grant him a full and unconditional release," said Boehner.

There were rumors on Wednesday night that Nadarkhani's execution sentence was to be waived after the final trial, but contradicting reports indicate that the news was incorrect.

"We've had some reports that there has been a verbal announcement from the court in Iran that the sentence is annulled but we urge caution," said Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a religious group campaigning for Nadarkhani's release.

"It's been known that verbal announcements have been directly contradicted by later written statements. We are still calling for international pressure to be kept up."

The American Center for Law and Justice said in a message titled "Troubling News" that the rumors were spread by the Iranian secret service in an attempt to get the media to stop reporting the story. ACLJ said Nadarkhani's lawyer Mohammad Ali Dadkhah called the center Wednesday to say the death sentence hasn't been overturned.

Even if the sentence were commuted, Nadarkhani could still face life in prison. And even if he were released, there would still be danger.

"In Iran about 18 years ago, they had released a pastor, but then came and assassinated him and his bishop later. We cannot stop the pressure," Pastor Firouz Sadegh-Khandjani, a Member of the Council of Elders for the Church of Iran, told the ACLJ.

Between June 2010 and January 2011, more than 200 people in Iran were arrested for their religious beliefs, according to Elam Ministries, a United Kingdom-based church with ties to Iran.

In August, a pastor named Haghnejad was arrested for the third time, according to Christian Solidarity. Police also confiscated 6,500 bibles, which Iran's social issues committee deemed were being used to deceive youths.

While no one has been hanged for the crime of apostasy in Iran for more than 20 years, the country has the second highest execution rate of any nation in the world. So far in 2011, there have been about 400 executions, a quarter of which occurred in September.

Syria: Fearing Shariah Rule, Christians Back Assad

From Jihad Watch:

For all his many faults, Assad doesn't rule strictly by Sharia. Thus Christians, although they do not have equal rights, live better than they do in Sharia regimes. "Fearing Change, Many Christians in Syria Back Assad," from the New York Times, September 27 (thanks to Roland Shirk):

SAYDNAYA, Syria — Abu Elias sat beneath the towering stairs leading from the Convent of Our Lady of Saydnaya, a church high up in the mountains outside Damascus, where Christians have worshiped for 1,400 years. “We are all scared of what will come next,” he said, turning to a man seated beside him, Robert, an Iraqi refugee who escaped the sectarian strife in his homeland.

“He fled Iraq and came here,” said Abu Elias, looking at his friend, who arrived just a year earlier. “Soon, we might find ourselves doing the same.”

Syria plunges deeper into unrest by the day. On Tuesday, government troops attacked the rebellious town of Rastan with tanks and machine guns, wounding at least 20 people. With the chaos growing, Christians visiting Saydnaya on a recent Sunday said they feared that a change of power could usher in a tyranny of the Sunni Muslim majority, depriving them of the semblance of protection the Assad family has provided for four decades....

They fear that in the event the president falls, they may be subjected to reprisals at the hands of a conservative Sunni leadership for what it sees as Christian support of the Assad family. They worry that the struggle to dislodge Mr. Assad could turn into a civil war, unleashing sectarian bloodshed in a country where minorities, ethnic and religious, have found a way to coexist for the most part.

The anxiety is so deep that many ignore the opposition’s counterpoint: The government has actually made those divisions worse as part of a strategy to ensure the rule of the Assad family, which itself springs from a Muslim minority, the Alawites.

“I am intrigued by your calls for freedom and for overthrowing the regime,” wrote a Syrian Christian woman on her Facebook page, addressing Christian female protesters. “What does freedom mean? Every one of you does what she wants and is free to say what she wants. Do you think if the regime falls (God forbid) you will gain freedom? Then, each one of you will be locked in her house, lamenting those days.”

The fate of minorities in a region more diverse than many recognize is among the most pressing questions facing an Arab world in turmoil. With its mosaic of Christians and Muslim sects, Syria has posed the question in its starkest terms: Does it take a strongman to protect the community from the more dangerous, more intolerant currents in society?

The plight of Christians in Syria has resonated among religious minorities across the Middle East, many of whom see themselves as facing a shared destiny. In Iraq, the number of Christians has dwindled to insignificance since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, driven away by bloodshed and chauvinism. Christians in Egypt worry about the ascent of Islamists. Christians in Lebanon, representing the largest minority by proportion in the Arab world, worry about their own future, in a country where they emerged as the distinct losers of a 15-year civil war.

This month, Lebanon’s Maronite Catholic patriarch urged Maronites, the largest community of Christians in the country, to offer Mr. Assad another chance and to give him enough time to carry out a long list of reforms that he has promised but never enacted.

The comments by the patriarch, Bishara Boutros al-Rai, prompted a heated debate in Lebanon, which lived under Syrian hegemony for 29 years. A prominent Syrian (and Christian) opposition figure offered a rebuttal from Damascus. But Patriarch Rai, who described Mr. Assad as “a poor man who cannot work miracles,” defended his remarks, warning that the fall of the government in Syria threatened Christians across the Middle East.

“We endured the rule of the Syrian regime. I have not forgotten that,” Patriarch Rai said. “We do not stand by the regime, but we fear the transition that could follow. We must defend the Christian community. We, too, must resist.”...

But while the promise of the Arab revolts is a new order, shorn of repression and inequality, worries linger that Islamists, the single most organized force in the region, will gain greater influence and that societies will become more conservative and perhaps intolerant.

Note how the New York Times calls pro-Sharia Islamic supremacists "conservatives," and those who oppose them "conservatives."

“Fear is spreading among us and anyone who is different,” said Abu Elias, as he greeted worshipers walking the hundreds of stone steps worn smooth over the centuries. “Today, we are here. Tomorrow, who knows where we will be?”

Police In Spain Arrest 5 Suspected Of Financing Terrorists

From CNN:

Spanish police have arrested more than 400 suspected al Qaeda militants or collaborators since the Madrid train bombs.
Civil Guards arrested five Algerian men early Tuesday in northern Spain on suspicion of providing logistical and financial support for Islamic terrorist activities, Spain's interior ministry said.

The suspects, aged 36 to 49, allegedly supported "terrorist groups that operate in the Algerian area of the Maghreb, specifically for al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb," a ministry statement said.

They also had suspected links to Islamic militants in Italy, France and Switzerland.

Some 150 Civil Guards took part in the operation, making nearly simultaneous arrests and conducting searches of homes and premises linked to the suspects in two towns of northern Guipuzcoa province and two others in neighboring Navarra province, the statement said.

Computer hardware and software was seized and will be analyzed. Spain's National Court, which handles cases of terrorism, is supervising the operation, the statement said.

Spanish authorities have said repeatedly in the past few years that the group known as al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is of key concern, because of its operational base in northern Africa, just across the Mediterranean Sea from Spain and southern Europe.

Last week, Civil Guards arrested a Cuban man on Spain's Mallorca Island in the Mediterranean for allegedly recruiting and indoctrinating others for Islamic terrorist activities.

A judge released the suspect from custody Friday, but he must report daily to police while authorities investigate computer documentation seized when he was detained.

Since the Madrid train bombings of 2004 that killed 191 people and wounded 1,800 others, Spanish police have arrested more than 400 suspected al Qaeda militants or collaborators, the Interior Ministry website says. Most have been of North African or Middle Eastern origin, with a few from Latin America.

Norway Charges Three In Terror Plot Over Cartoons

From BBC:

Prosecutors in Norway have charged three men with conspiracy to commit terrorism in connection with the 2005 Prophet Muhammad cartoon controversy.

Kurt Westergaard draws cartoons for the Jyllands-Posten newspaper
The three are accused of planning to attack Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard and the newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which published his cartoons.

The men - of Iraqi Kurdish, Chinese Uighur and Uzbek origin - were arrested in Norway and Germany in 2010.

They had allegedly acquired bomb components and tried to buy a gun.

The three are expected to be tried next month.

They were named as Mikael Davud, a Norwegian of Uighur origin, Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak, an Iraqi Kurd residing in Norway, and David Jakobsen, an Uzbek also living in Norway.

Islamic Charity Leader And "An Outspoken Proponent Of The Peaceful Aspects Of Islam" Gets Almost 3 Years In Jail For Funneling Money Believed To Fund

From Jihad Watch:

Prosecutors had said Pete Seda was "well aware" the money was helping to fund Chechen jihadists, and the judge agreed. "Islamic charity leader sentenced to nearly 3 years," by Jeff Barnard for the Associated Press, September 28 (thanks to all who sent this in):

EUGENE, Ore. -- The leader of the U.S. branch of a defunct Islamic charity was sentenced Tuesday to nearly three years in prison after being convicted of helping smuggle $150,000 to Saudi Arabia.

U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan said that while he has no doubt the money went to Islamic fighters battling the Russian army in Chechnya, as the prosecution maintained, there's no proof directly linking Pete Seda to terrorism.

For that reason, Hogan said he wouldn't apply the so-called "terrorism enhancement" that could have sent Seda to prison for eight years. Instead, Hogan sentenced Seda to 33 months in prison, ordered him to pay the Internal Revenue Service $80,980 in restitution, and allowed him to remain free for 60 days before reporting.

Seda, also known as Pirouz Sedaghaty, is an Iranian-born U.S. citizen who ran the U.S. chapter of the al-Haramain Islamic Foundation based in Ashland. He worked in Ashland as a tree surgeon and was an outspoken proponent of the peaceful aspects of Islam. He was known for marching in the local July 4 parade with his camel.

Seda was convicted last year of tax fraud and conspiracy to defraud the government for helping Saudi Arabian national Soliman Al-Buthe convert a contribution from a doctor in England into traveler's checks, which Al-Buthe took with him on a flight to Saudi Arabia without declaring it to authorities. Prosecutors have been unable to force Al-Buthe to return to the U.S. to face the same charges as Seda.

Acting U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton said federal prosecutors felt they had proven Seda's connection to terrorism, but respected the court's ruling and were satisfied with the sentence.

"Money is the lifeblood of terrorist organizations," Holton said. "We are working very hard to cut off that lifeline. Shutting down al-Haramain internationally and here was an essential part of that."

Last week the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the U.S. Treasury Department rightly designated the Oregon branch of the Saudi Arabia-based charity a terrorist organization in 2004 for financing terrorist activities in Chechnya and Albania. But the appeals court found the department improperly seized the group's assets.

The unanimous three-judge panel found the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control violated the charity's Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizure by improperly using a "blocking order" to freeze the charity's assets without a warrant.

The foundation disbanded after the department froze its assets.

Seda declined to comment, citing the advice of his lawyers. Defense attorney Steve Wax said they planned to appeal both the convictions and the sentence....

Al-Qaeda Calls On Ahmadinejad To End 9/11 Conspiracy Theories

From The Guardian:

Al-Qaida has sent a message to the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, asking him to stop spreading conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks.

Iranian media on Wednesday reported quotes from what appears to be an article published in the latest issue of the al-Qaida English language magazine, Inspire, which described Ahmadinejad's remarks over the 11 September attacks as "ridiculous".

In his UN general assembly speech last week, Ahmadinejad cast doubt over the official version of the 2001 attacks.

"The Iranian government has professed on the tongue of its president Ahmadinejad that it does not believe that al-Qaida was behind 9/11 but rather, the US government," the article said, according to Iranian media. "So we may ask the question: why would Iran ascribe to such a ridiculous belief that stands in the face of all logic and evidence?"

Ahmadinejad said in New York that the "mysterious September 11 incident" had been used as a pretext to attack Afghanistan and Iraq. He had also previously expressed scepticism at the US version of events.

"By using their imperialistic media network which is under the influence of colonialism, they threaten anyone who questions the Holocaust and the September 11 event with sanctions and military actions," said Ahmadinejad.

The al-Qaida article insisted it had been behind the attacks and criticised the Iranian president for discrediting the terrorist group.

"For them, al-Qaida was a competitor for the hearts and minds of the disenfranchised Muslims around the world," said the article published in the Inspire magazine. "Al-Qaida … succeeded in what Iran couldn't. Therefore it was necessary for the Iranians to discredit 9/11 and what better way to do so? Conspiracy theories."

Al-Qaida also accused Iran of hypocrisy over its "anti-Americanism".

The article said: "For Iran, anti-Americanism is merely a game of politics. It is anti-America when it suits it and it is a collaborator with the US when it suits it, as we have seen in the shameful assistance Iran gave to the US in its invasion of Afghanistan and in the Shia of Iraq, backed by Iran, bringing the American forces into the country and welcoming them with open arms."

During his visit to New York, Ahmadinejad also changed his position on gay people in Iran. He had previously famously said: "We don't have homosexuals [in Iran] like you do in your country. This does not exist in our country."

But according to the American news website the Daily Beast, in a meeting with a number of journalists last week, he said: "In Iran, homosexuality is seen as an ugly act … There may be some people who are homosexuals who are in touch with you. But in Iranian society they're ashamed to announce it so they're not known. This is an act against God and his prophets. But we as the government can't go out and stop people."

Man With Terror Links Held After Raid

From The Age:

A SYDNEY man with ''demonstrated connections'' to one of the world's most dangerous terrorist preachers has been arrested by Sydney police over allegations he broke into a cash machine.

Milad bin Ahmad-Shah al-Ahmadzai was arrested after three other men were prevented from robbing a cash van at gunpoint in far western Sydney yesterday morning.

Ahmadzai, 21, is alleged by Australia's domestic intelligence agency, ASIO, to have had contact with the Yemen-based al-Qaeda preacher, Anwar al-Awlaki.

Awlaki [pictured] is of great concern to Western intelligence agencies due to his repeatedly demonstrated ability to radicalise via the internet young Muslim men in Western countries.

Awlaki is seen as such a threat that last year he was placed on a CIA ''catch or kill'' list.

Last year, Ahmadzai was one of 23 Australian residents whom ASIO judged of such concern that it alerted US authorities to them. The US State Department subsequently added them to a domestic no-fly database, according to a leaked cable from the US embassy in Canberra.

But yesterday morning, Ahmadzai was in a different type of trouble, arrested by detectives from the New South Wales Police robbery squad at his home in Ermington in Sydney's west.

He was arrested shortly after three other men, aged between 24 and 29, were found by detectives in a car park in Cecil Hills in Sydney's outer suburbs.

The three men were in two stolen cars and police allege they found a rifle, two handguns and several balaclavas with them. An armoured cash van was also in the car park when the arrests occurred.

The three were taken to western Sydney police stations and charged with robbery and firearms offences.

After the arrests, police executed search warrants at Ahmadzai's home and five other locations, seizing a Subaru WRX, a pistol, ammunition, Australian and US currency, a pill press, anabolic steroids, two-way radios, laptop computers, mobile phones and passports.

All four are due to face Sydney courts today.

The Islamization Of The Australian Passport

From Jihad Watch:

On the Australian passport, only Muslims are allowed to cover facial features.

Only religious reasons are acceptable excuses for covering hair, ears and facial contours. And only Islam has such religious reasons. From the Australian Govermnent's general photograph guidelines:

The photograph must show you without any hat or other head covering. However, if you wear a head covering for religious reasons we will accept a photograph of you wearing it, but your facial features from bottom of chin to top of forehead and both edges of your face must be clearly shown.

Iranian Pastor Faces Execution For Refusing To Recant Christian Faith

From Fox News:

An Iranian pastor who has refused to renounce his Christian faith faces execution as early as Wednesday after his sentence was upheld by an Iranian court.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who maintains he has never been a Muslim as an adult, has Islamic ancestry and therefore must recant his faith in Jesus Christ, the 11th branch of Iran's Gilan Provincial Court ruled. Iran's Supreme Court had ordered the trial court to determine whether Nadarkhani had been a Muslim prior to converting to Christianity.

The judges, according to the American Center for Law & Justice, demanded that Nadarkhani, 34, recant his Christian faith before submission of evidence. Though the judgment runs against current Iranian and international laws and is not codified in Iranian penal code, the judge stated that the court must uphold the decision of the 27th Branch of the Supreme Court in Qom.

When asked to repent, Nadarkhani stated: "Repent means to return. What should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?"

"To the religion of your ancestors, Islam," the judge replied, according to the American Center for Law & Justice.

"I cannot," Nadarkhani said.

Nadarkhani is the latest Christian cleric to be imprisoned in Iran for his religious beliefs. According to Elam Ministries, a United

Kingdom-based organization that serves Christian churches in Iran, there was a significant increase in the number of Christians arrested solely for practicing their faith between June 2010 and January 2011. A total of 202 arrests occurred during that six-month period, including 33 people who remained in prison as of January, Elam reported.

An Assyrian evangelical pastor, Rev. Wilson Issavi, was imprisoned for 54 days for allegedly converting Muslims prior to his release in March 2010, Elam officials told FoxNews.com.

Nadarkhani, a pastor in the 400-member Church of Iran, has been held in that country's Gilan Province since October 2009, after he protested to local education authorities that his son was forced to read from the Koran at school. His wife, Fatemeh

Pasandideh, was also arrested in June 2010 in an apparent attempt to pressure him to renounce his faith. She was released in October 2010, according to Amnesty International.

Nadarkhani was sentenced to death for apostasy last September based on religious writings by Iranian clerics, including

Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite the fact that there is no offense of "apostasy" in the
nation's penal code, Amnesty International reports.

In June, the Supreme Court of Iran ruled that a lower court should re-examine procedural flaws in the case, giving local judges the power to decide whether to release, execute or retry Nadarkhani. The verdict, according to Amnesty International, includes a provision for the sentence to be overturned should Nadarkhani renounce his faith.

Elise Auerbach, an Iranian analyst for Amnesty International USA, told FoxNews.com that an execution for apostasy has not been carried out in Iran since 1990. Nadarkhani's sentence is a "clear violation of international law," she said.

"The key is to keep up the pressure and to publicize the story because it obviously outrages most people," Auerbach said. "It's part of the pattern of persecution based on religion in Iran."

Kiri Kankhwende, a spokeswoman for Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a human rights organization that specializes in religious freedom, told FoxNews.com that Nadarkhani was asked for the fourth time to renounce his faith during a hearing early Wednesday and he denied that request.

"We're waiting to hear the final outcome," she told FoxNews.com. "We're still waiting to hear what they've decided."

Kankhwende said Nadarkhani could be executed Wednesday or Thursday.

"Iran is unpredictable," she said. "We can't say when it might happen. It's a very real threat, but we can't say when exactly."

Officials at the U.S. State Department declined to comment when reached on Wednesday.Attempts to reach his attorney, Mohammed Ali Dadkhah, were not successful.

House Speaker John Boehner said Nadarkhani's case is "distressing for people of every country and creed," according to a statement released on Wednesday.

"While Iran's government claims to promote tolerance, it continues to imprison many of its people because of their faith," the statement read. "This goes beyond the law to an issue of fundamental respect for human dignity. I urge Iran's leaders to abandon this dark path, spare [Nadarkhani's] life, and grant him a full and unconditional release."

Father Jonathan Morris, a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of New York and an analyst for Fox News Channel, said

Nadarkhani's case is "unmistakable evidence" that Iran is executing Christians simply because they refuse to become Muslims.
Morris continued: "Will President Obama, and the free world, allow the United Nations to continue in its cowardly silence on this matter?"

Iran 'Steals Surface-To-Air Missiles From Libya'

From The Telegraph:

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have stolen dozens of sophisticated Russian-made surface-to-air missiles from Libya and smuggled them across the border to neighbouring Sudan, according to Western intelligence reports.

The weapons were seized by units attached to the Guards' elite Quds Force, which travelled to Libya from their base in southern Sudan.

Acting on orders received from Revolutionary Guards commanders in Iran, they took advantage of the chaos that engulfed Libya following the collapse of the regime of former dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to seize "significant quantities" of advanced weaponry, according to military intelligence officers in Libya.

They say the weapons stolen by Iran include sophisticated Russian-made SA-24 missiles that were sold to Libya in 2004. The missile can shoot down aircraft flying at 11,000 feet, and is regarded as the Russian equivalent of the American "stinger" missiles that were used by the US-backed mujahideen to defeat Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s. It is similar to the weapon used by al-Qaeda in the failed attempt to shoot down an Israeli passenger jet taking off from Kenya's Mombasa airport in 2002.

Intelligence officials believe the missiles and other weapons seized from Gaddafi's abandoned arsenals were smuggled across the Libyan border to southern Sudan earlier this month where they are now believed to be held at a secret storage facility run by the Revolutionary Guards at al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur. Some of the missiles are also reported to have been smuggled into Egypt.

The governments of Iran and Sudan recently signed a defence cooperation pact, and hundreds of Revolutionary Guards are based in Sudan where they help to train the Sudanese military and help to support the Sudanese government's campaign against rebel groups. The Guards also have a number of training camps that are used to train Islamist terror groups.

Intelligence officials now fear that the missiles and other weapons will fall into the hands of extremists and will be used to carry out terror attacks.

In the past Iran has been accused of smuggling weapons from Sudan to the Gaza Strip, where they have been used to launch attacks against Israel. In 2009 Israeli warplanes bombed an Iranian arms convoy in Sudan that was carrying weapons to Hamas militants based in Gaza.

Tons of weaponry, including thousands of shoulder-held surface-to-air missiles, has been stolen from Gaddafi's abandoned depots since his regime was overthrown by rebel forces in August. Much of the weaponry, which includes mortars and anti-tank weapons, has been smuggled across the border to Algeria, where there are growing fears within Western intelligence circles that they may fall into the hands of al-Qaeda and other Islamist terror groups.

Some military experts have sought to play down the important of the surface-to-air missiles, arguing that militant groups lack the knowhow and the equipment to fire them. But this would not be an issue for the Revolutionary Guards, who have specialist training in firing such weapons. The fear now is that Iran will use the Libyan weapons to equip terror groups in the region.

"Iran is actively supporting a number of militant Islamist groups in Egypt, Gaza and southern Lebanon, so there is concern that these sophisticated weapons will fall into the hands of terror groups," said a senior intelligence officer. "If the SA-24 missiles fall into the wrong hands then no civilian aircraft in the region will be safe from attack."

American and European intelligence agencies have now launched a coordinated effort to track down the missing weapons in North Africa to make sure they cannot be used for a fresh wave of terrorist attacks against Western targets.

U.S. Demands Action On Pakistani Terrorist Network

From The Washington Post:

The United States on Tuesday demanded that Pakistan dismantle a terrorist network blamed for attacking a U.S. embassy as Pakistanis defended efforts to fight militants and demonstrated against the increasing U.S. pressure.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Pakistan “needs to take action to deal with the links” that U.S. officials say exist between the Pakistani intelligence agency and the Haqqani Network, based along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.

He repeated claims by other U.S. officials that the Haqqani terrorists are “responsible for attacks on the U.S. Embassy” in Afghanistan and on other Western targets.

The United States has been publicly increasing pressure on Pakistan since Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress last week that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency helped plan the attacks on the embassy and NATO headquarters in the Afghan capital, Kabul, two weeks ago.

Pakistan defended its efforts to fight terrorism Tuesday, when Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told the U.N. General Assembly that her country has lost more than 30,000 people to terrorist attacks over the past decade.

She also appealed for “greater trust” in Pakistan’s war against terrorism.

“We must demonstrate complete unity in ranks, avoid recrimination, build greater trust and more importantly bring about the requisite operational coordination in combating this menace,” she said.

The foreign minister highlighted the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister who was killed in 2007.

“Numerous politicians have lost sons and brothers and fathers at the hand of terrorists,” she said.

In Pakistan, thousands of protesters denounced the United States in marches throughout the South Asian nation. Hundreds of demonstrators shouted, “Death to America,” in a protest outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rehman Malik met with a visiting Chinese official in what some analysts interpreted as an attempt to bolster relations with China. He promised to attack Chinese militants hiding along Pakistan’s border with China.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani praised Pakistani-Chinese relations, calling them “higher than mountains, deeper than oceans, stronger than steel and sweeter than honey,” the Associated Press reported.

U.S. concerns about the relationship between the ISI and the Haqqani Network have dominated recent diplomatic meetings, including a 3½-hour session between Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Pakistan’s foreign minister in New York last week.

Pakistan’s relationship with the Haqqani Network is “complicated,” said a U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to freely discuss intelligence matters.

“Pakistan’s national security apparatus has supported the Haqqani fighters for decades. But we’ve seen in the past what happens when terrorists are given a de facto safe haven, as the Haqqanis have in parts of Pakistan. It doesn’t turn out well for either Pakistan or the United States,” the official said.

Read it all here.

Massachusetts: Misunderstander Of Islam Arrested For Jihad Plot To Destroy Pentagon, Capitol Building

From Jihad Watch:

What is it that "radicalizes" a "26-year-old Massachusetts man" like Rezwan Ferdaus? Reading about the exploits of Sam Adams and the Sons of Liberty? A rough game of touch football with Jack, Bobby and Ted? And what, oh what, could be the inciting literature to which this poor fellow was exposed? Common Sense? Democracy In America? The mind boggles. "Massachusetts Man Arrested in Alleged Plot to Destroy Pentagon, U.S. Capitol," from the Associated Press, September 28 (thanks to Philip):

BOSTON – A 26-year-old Massachusetts man has been arrested and accused of plotting to destroy the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol with large remote-controlled aircraft filled with explosives.

Rezwan Ferdaus of Ashland was arrested Wednesday in Framingham when undercover federal agents delivered materials he'd requested for his alleged plan, including grenades, six machine guns and what Ferdaus believed was C-4 explosive.

Ferdaus, a U.S. citizen and Northeastern University graduate, was scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court in Worcester on Wednesday afternoon....

What? A Northeastern University graduate? Doesn't Ferdaus know that poverty and ignorance cause jihad?

According to the federal affidavit, Ferdaus began planning "jihad" against the U.S. in early 2010. He allegedly believed he would have a large psychological impact by killing Americans, who he described as "enemies of Allah."

Osama Bin Laden's Bodyguard Freed By Pakistan

From The Telegraph:

Pakistan has freed a senior al-Qaeda commander, who served as a bodyguard to Osama bin Laden, according to a senior security source, raising fresh questions about the country's commitment to tackling terrorism.

Amin al-Haq, who escaped from Afghanistan with the al-Qaeda leader in 2001 and went on to become a key financial aide, was detained in Lahore three years ago by Pakistan's intelligence agency.

A senior security source in the north-western Pakistani town of Peshawar, where he had been held, said the Inter-Services Intelligence agency had passed al-Haq on to the police before he was released earlier this month.

"Amin al-Haq had been arrested mistakenly, therefore, the police failed to prove any charge of his association with Osama bin Laden and the court set him free," he told The Daily Telegraph.

Pakistan has a poor track record of convicting terrorists, blamed in part on an ill-equipped police force and an overstretched judicial service.

However, critics accuse elements of the security services of turning a blind eye to extremist groups.

Last week, Adml Mike Mullen, America's most senior military officer, accused the country of "exporting violence" and using the Haqqani insurgent network to wage a proxy war on US troops in Afghanistan.

His words were echoed by the Indian prime minister, who said his country had been warning the world about links between Pakistan's ISI intelligence service and terrorist groups for several years but had been ignored.

Manmohan Singh said Adml Mullen's allegations were "something which is nothing new to us. In fact when we were the first to flag this issue earlier, the world didn't believe us." The release of al-Haq will be a further embarrassment to Pakistan at a time it faces huge pressure to act against militant groups.

Rahimullah Yusufzai, an analyst who has interviewed senior al-Qaeda figures including bin Laden, said his release was a puzzle.

"They could only have released him with the say so of America or if maybe there really was no evidence or he was not that important," he said.

As the security coordinator of the Black Guard, the elite unit charged with protecting bin Laden, he would once have been in close contact with the al-Qaeda leader, according to The Long War Journal which has profiled the Afghan-born doctor.

Al-Haq, who is thought to be 51, has a long history with armed groups.

He fought Soviet forces during the 1980s and was part of the Afghan delegation which travelled to Sudan in the 1996 to bring bin Laden to Afghanistan The US froze al-Haq's assets after the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

In the weeks that followed, he fought at the Tora Bora cave complex, where the senior al-Qaeda leadership was holed up and helped them escape into Pakistan.

In 2007, The Daily Telegraph picked up his trail close to Tora Bora, where international forces were once again battling al-Qaeda. Local tribal leaders said he was injured in a bombing raid and smuggled back across the border to Pakistan, where he was arrested little more than four months later.

Iran Says Could Deploy Navy Near U.S. Coast

From Reuters:

A handout picture release by the official Iranian press agency IRNA shows the Iranian warship "Kharg" docked at the Syrian port of Latakia, February 2011. Iran has dispatched a submarine and a warship to the Red Sea on a patrol mission, navy commander Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said in a report by state media on Tuesday/AFP
Iran raised the prospect on Tuesday of sending military ships close to the United States' Atlantic coast, in what would be a major escalation of tensions between the long-standing adversaries.

"Like the arrogant powers that are present near our marine borders, we will also have a powerful presence close to American marine borders," the head of the Navy, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said, according to the official IRNA news agency.
Speaking at a ceremony marking the 31st anniversary of the start of the 1980-1988 war with Iraq, Sayyari gave no details of when such a deployment could happen or the number or type of vessels to be used.

The declaration comes just weeks after Turkey said it would host a NATO early warning radar system which will help spot missile threats from outside Europe, including potentially from Iran. The decision has angered Tehran which had enjoyed close relations with Ankara.

And it comes a few months after Iran sent warships through the Suez canal, after the fall of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the first time the Islamic Republic had deployed navy vessels in the Mediterranean.

The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action against Iran if diplomacy fails to stop it getting nuclear weapons. Tehran denies it is developing nuclear arms saying its atomic program is for purely peaceful purposes.

Iran has dismissed the threats, warning that it will respond by hitting U.S. interests in the Gulf and Israel if any such attack happened.

Analysts say Tehran could retaliate by launching hit-and-run strikes in the Gulf and by closing the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway where about 40 percent of all traded oil passes.

The Islamic state often launches military drills in the country to display its military capabilities amid persistent speculation about a possible U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Al Jazeera Journalist Admits To Being Hamas Operative

From the Jerusalem Post:

Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Afghanistan, Samer Allawi, was released from an Israeli prison Sunday night after reaching a plea bargain under which he confessed to serving as a Hamas operative.

Allawi reached a deal with the Israel State Prosecutor’s Office under which he will receive a suspended sentence of three years, after he confessed to serving as a Hamas operative and working on behalf of the terrorist organization, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) released in a statement.

Allawi, a Palestinian, was arrested in August at the Allenby Bridge border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan.

He said he was recruited into Hamas in 1993 and served until 2004 on a senior committee that oversees Hamas operations abroad and is responsible for fundraising.

In 2001 and 2003 Allawi traveled to Syria where he met with Mousa Abu Marzook, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal’s deputy and reported on his activities, the Shin Bet said. Abu Marzook offered Allawi to serve as Hamas’s official representative in Iran, but he rejected the offer.

The Shin Bet said that Allawi met with a senior Hamas operative in Dubai in 2000 and expressed his readiness to participate in military operations if asked by Hamas. He also offered to use his job as a reporter for Al Jazeera to promote Hamas interests.

In 2006, Allawi traveled to Qatar and met with additional Al Jazeera reporters, who the Shin Bet said were also Hamas operatives and discussed the possibility of using their positions to advance Hamas by criticizing the US military in Afghanistan.

During his interrogation, the Shin Bet said he also discussed his activities as a member of the mujahideen in Afghanistan from 1988 to 1992, during which he confessed to participating in a rebel raid on an Afghan military base as well as guerrilla operations against Soviet forces.

Allawi rejected the charges against him. “There was no evidence against me," Allawi told Reuters upon returning to the West Bank. "The whole arrest episode was a charade aimed at extorting Al Jazeera. I was not the target."

He met with Hamas, Allawi said, because "I meet people everywhere from whom I can get the news."

U.K.: Six Muslims Accused Of Plotting Jihadist Suicide Attack; Two Trained In Pakistan And Made "Martyrdom Videos"

From Jihad Watch:

More about the seriousness of this case continues to emerge, in an update on this story. "Six remanded over 'suicide bomb plot'," from BBC News, September 26:

Six men have appeared in court charged with terrorism offences including a suspected suicide bombing campaign.
The six, all from Birmingham, appeared at West London Magistrates' Court.

Irfan Nasser, 30, of Sparkhill, Irfan Khalid, 26, and Ashik Ali, 26 both of Balsall Heath, and Rahin Ahmed, 25, of Moseley, have been remanded in custody until 21 October.

Bahader Ali, 28, of Sparkbrook, and Mohammed Rizwan, 32, of Ward End, have been remanded until 24 October.

Mr Nasser, Mr Khalid, Mr Ashik Ali and Mr Ahmed are due to appear at the Old Bailey, while Mr Rizwan and Mr Bahader Ali - who is the brother of Ashik Ali - are to appear before Westminster magistrates.

Mr Nasser and Mr Khalid are accused of preparing for an act of terrorism, including travelling to Pakistan for training in terrorism, making a martyrdom video and planning a bombing campaign.

They are accused of "being concerned in constructing" a home-made explosive device for terrorist acts and stating an intention to be a suicide bomber.

Ashik Ali is accused of preparing for an act of terrorism, which involved planning a bombing campaign, providing premises for the planning of terrorist attack and stating an intention to be a suicide bomber.

Mr Ahmed is accused of helping fund terrorist acts, collecting money for terrorism and helping others travel to Pakistan for training in terrorism.

Seventh man

Mohammed Rizwan and Bahader Ali are charged with failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism
Mr Rizwan and Bahader Ali are both charged with failing to disclose information about potential acts of terrorism.

It is alleged that between 29 July and 19 September both men had information which they knew may help prevent the commission of an act of terrorism.

Mr Ali is also charged with "arranging the availability of property for terrorist purposes".

Mr Rizwan made no application for bail, while Mr Ali was refused bail.

The offences are alleged to have taken place between Christmas Day 2010 and 19 September this year.

The men were arrested after a police operation in Birmingham last week.

A seventh man from the city, aged 20, who was arrested on Thursday, continues to be questioned. Officers have until 29 September to charge, release or apply for further time....

Spencer: Useful Idiots’ Stockholm Syndrome

From Jihad Watch:

These particular useful idiots are the hikers that Iran just freed from captivity. My column in FrontPage this morning:

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, the leftist American hikers who unwittingly ventured across the Iran/Iraq border and were convicted of espionage and imprisoned for two years in Iran, have been freed – and at a press conference Sunday, revealed that they were none the wiser for their ordeal.

They indulged in some moral equivalence: “Two years in prison is too long, and we sincerely hope for the freedom of other political prisoners and other unjustly imprisoned people in America and Iran.” They assured the right-thinking world that their hearts (obviously not their minds) were in the right place: said Bauer, “The irony is Sarah [another hiker who was freed earlier], Josh and I oppose U.S. policies towards Iran which perpetuate this hostility.”

They thanked some of the world’s leading enemies of freedom and Useful Idiots for fighting for their freedom, including Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, limousine leftist Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Code Pink’s manipulative propagandist Cindy Sheehan, hard-Left America-hating pseudo-scholar Noam Chomsky, and the addle-brained actor/activist Sean Penn.

Bauer appeared to be on the verge of an independent thought when he said: “We were convicted of espionage, because we are American. It’s that simple. No evidence was ever presented against us. That is because there is no evidence and because we are completely innocent.” But any hope that he might realize that the Iranian hostility toward the United States is similarly irrational and unjustified proved unfounded. For above all, Bauer said: “The only explanation for our prolonged detention is the 32 years of mutual hostility between America and Iran.”

The “only explanation”? Really? Well, actually in other remarks Bauer made it clear that he thought that America was more culpable than Iran: “In prison, every time we complained about our conditions, the guards would immediately remind us of comparable conditions at Guantanamo Bay. They would remind us in other parts of the world and the conditions that Iranians and others experience in prisons in the U.S. We do not believe such human rights violations on the part of our government justify what has been done to us. Not for a moment. However, we do believe these actions on the part of the U.S. provide an excuse for other governments, including the government of Iran to act in kind.”

It is clear from this that Shane Bauer, like Barack Obama, Ron Paul and so many others on all points along the political spectrum, believes that the actions of the United States provoke Muslims to behave badly, and that if the U.S. would only behave decently, then the Muslims would calm down, and a new era of peace would dawn. While this view is common among followers of Paul on the Right, it is much more prevalent on the Left, and indeed forms the underlying assumption of all of Obama’s foreign policy.

The bitterly ironic aspect of this assumption is its underlying paternalism. Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, as well as Barack Obama, no doubt regard the nineteenth century British colonialist notion of the “White Man’s Burden” to civilize nonwhite peoples as racist, arrogant, and ethnocentric; nonetheless, they hold to a modern-day form of the same racist, arrogant and ethnocentric notion....

There is more.

Malaysian Spiritual Adviser: Non-Muslims Should Stop Making A Fuss

From The Star:

PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat has hit out at DAP for making a fuss about the hudud issue “when the party has nothing to do with Islam”.

“I really do not know why everyone who has nothing to do with hudud is so scared as if they have seen a ghost.

“DAP has nothing to do with Islam and I want to know its reasons why it wants to leave Pakatan Rakyat,” he told reporters at his residence at Pulau Melaka here yesterday.

He was asked to comment on press reports quoting DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng as threatening the mass resignation of the DAP leadership from the Pakatan council if the Islamic state agenda is included in the group's election manifesto.

Nik Aziz, who is the Kelantan Mentri Besar, reiterated that hudud law had nothing to do with non-Muslims and they should not be unduly worried.

When asked to comment on the move to include hudud in the lists of Syariah punishments, Nik Aziz said this would be at the pleasure of the Sultan of Kelantan.

Officials: No Action Against Haqqani Network By Pakistan Military

From CNN:

The Pakistani Army has decided not to take action against the Haqqani network for the time being despite a fresh wave of intense pressure from Washington for a military offensive against the Pakistani-based militant group, two military officials told CNN on Monday.

The decision was made by senior Pakistani generals on Sunday in an impromptu meeting called by Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, the officials said.

The military has decided not to target the Haqqani network because the army is stretched too thin with several other operations against militants in northwest Pakistan, one of the officials said. "We are not in a position to undertake an operation at this point," he said.

The meeting of Pakistan's top generals comes days after the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, accused Pakistan's top intelligence agency of supporting the Haqqani network and its attacks against U.S. targets in Afghanistan, including the attack two weeks ago on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.

Mullen's statement has further ratcheted up tensions between Islamabad and Washington and sparked a bitter war of words.

"The allegation of Pakistan's involvement in the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul is just a conspiracy against us," one of the officials said.

The official accused Washington of using Pakistan as a "scapegoat" for its failed policy in Afghanistan.

Kayani, meanwhile, has canceled a scheduled trip to the United Kingdom this week, a Pakistani military official said. The official would not say why Kayani canceled, but the cancellation comes a day after Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani called for a meeting on Thursday between the heads of Pakistan's political parties and top military and intelligence officials.

The meeting will focus on the recent U.S. allegations against Pakistan, an official from the prime minister's office said.

"The proposed meeting will send a strong message that the nation stands united when the defense and security of the country is at stake," the official said. "Political differences in domestic politics do not come in the way of national and foreign policy issues, which are above party politics."

The officials asked not to be named because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Cameron Munter, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, met with Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on Monday, according to the U.S. Embassy. The two discussed a broad range of regional issues and the current challenges in the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, said embassy spokesman Mark Stroh.

Stroh did not say whether Munter and Bashir discussed the pressure from Washington regarding the Haqqani network.
The meeting followed a weekend visit to Pakistan by U.S. Gen. James Mattis, the commander of U.S. Central Command. Mattis met with Kayani as well as Gen. Khalid Wynne, the chief of staff of the Pakistan armed forces.

"Gen. Mattis meets and talks routinely with both generals to discuss U.S.-Pakistan military activities, the coalition campaign in Afghanistan and broader regional issues," said a statement from the U.S. embassy.

"The generals had candid discussions about the current challenges in the U.S.-Pakistan relationship," the statement said. "However, Gen. Mattis also emphasized the vital role the Pakistan military plays in international security efforts to protect the Pakistani and Afghan people and the need for persistent engagement among the militaries of the U.S., Pakistan and other states in the region."

The Pakistani military said in a statement that Wynne, during the meeting, "expressed his concern about the negative statements emanating from the United States. He stressed addressing the irritants in the relationship, which are a result of an extremely complex situation."

In a statement Friday, the White House demanded that Pakistan break its links with the Haqqani network despite Pakistan's insistence that it does not support the group.

Gilani has instructed Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar to forcefully project Pakistan's point of view when she addresses the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, according to a statement from Gilani's office.

Georgia Public School Material: "When the prophet Muhammad spoke in favor of polygamy, he intended to raise the position of women"

From Jihad Watch:

Georgia Public School Material: "When the prophet Muhammad spoke in favor of polygamy, he intended to raise the position of women"Regarding the Georgia public school exercise that praises Islam and polygamy, about which we have written here and here, Pamela Geller has a great deal more here -- including pages from the classroom material itself (one of which I have posted above; see more in larger versions at Atlas).

Free citizens must stand up against this. Please contact Ethan Hildreth, the superintendent of the Henry County School District, where this material is being used, and explain to him politely that a curriculum that promotes polygamy and veiling of women is demeaning to women and contradicts American notions of the equality of rights of all people, as well as Judeo-Christian notions of the equality of dignity of all people. Tell him that this flagrant advertising for Islam also effectively amounts to proselytizing, of a kind that would never be tolerated in public school material if the religion were Christianity.

UPDATE: Pamela Geller has much more new information here.

Suicide Bomber Attacks Packed Indonesian Church

From Fox News:

A suicide bomber attacked a packed Indonesian church Sunday wounding at least 27 people, some critically, and sending terrified worshippers rushing out into the streets in panic.

The morning bombing in the city of Solo, in Central Java, was the latest in a spate of attacks on minority religious groups in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation.

Solo, a city of 500,000, is the home of militant Islamist spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir, who was jailed in June for 15 years for funding a terrorist group that was planning attacks against Westerners and political leaders.

Kristanto, a worshipper, said he and his wife were getting ready to leave at the end of the service at the Bethel Injil Church when the bomb rocked the building.

"I was about to head home when a very loud explosion shocked me. A crowd of people from inside the church rushed to the streets," he told AFP.

"They were screaming and very hysterical. The peaceful Sunday has quickly become a chaotic situation."

"I helped several people who were injured and lying weak on the ground," said the badly shaken 53-year-old, who goes by one name.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the bomber was part of a network based in Cirebon, 185 miles (300km) east of Jakarta, where in April a suicide bomber attacked a police mosque, killing only himself and wounding 30 with a bomb of nails, nuts and bolts.

"This suicide bomber was a member of the terrorist network in Cirebon we mentioned a few months ago. I have called for a thorough investigation to find out more on this group, including who funds and leads them," Yudhoyono said in a televised statement.

"On behalf of the country and my government, I strongly condemn terrorist acts as an extraordinary evil."

A doctor at Minulyo Hospital in Solo, who requested anonymity, said nails and bolts had caused injuries to the three victims he was treating.

The bomber was inside the church with worshippers when he got up and detonated the bomb on his way out.

"He let off the bomb and his guts spilled all over the floor. We are still trying to identify him," said national police spokesman Anton Bachrul Alam. He confirmed that only the attacker had died.

An AFP correspondent saw the bomber's body on the ground at the church's main entrance. He was wearing a white shirt and black trousers.

Most of Indonesia's 200 million Muslims are moderates, but the country has struggled to deal with numerous attacks by radical extremists, like the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) which carried out the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

Terrorist We Can't Kick Out: Released After Half His Sentence But Still 'A Risk To The Public'

From the Daily Mail (UK):

- Eritrean-born Ali will not face deportation because judges rule he could face 'inhumane treatment'

- The Home Office is appealing the decision and pledges to try to have him removed from the UK

A fanatical terrorist has escaped being thrown out of the UK because it would breach his human rights.
Hate-filled Siraj Yassin Abdullah Ali, graded the highest possible risk to the public, was released after serving just half of his nine-year sentence for helping the July 21 bombers.

He now mingles freely among the Londoners his co-plotters tried to kill six years ago.

Government officials are desperate to deport the Islamic fundamentalist back to his native Eritrea but have been told they cannot because he could face ‘inhumane treatment or punishment’.

Ali was convicted of helping a gang of five Al Qaeda suicide bombers in their bid to repeat the carnage of the attacks of July 7, 2005, two weeks later.

Graham Foulkes, whose 22-year-old son David was killed on July 7, said he was ‘filled with despair’.

He said: ‘These people were plotting to commit mass murder - what about the human rights of victims and families?

‘These people had no consideration for the women and children they were trying to kill. How can they claim we should look after and support them?’

The case is the latest to highlight how human rights laws have left the authorities powerless to remove some terrorists and convicted criminals.

Read it all here.

Hamas-Linked CAIR Claims FBI Harassing Tampa-Area Muslims

From Jihad Watch:

Hamas-linked CAIR distributed this poster in California
The FBI is in full surrender mode, apologizing to Islamic supremacists and Leftist pseudo-journalists for teaching agents the truth about Islam, but it isn't good enough for Hamas-linked CAIR. Certainly all laws regarding the rights of those under investigation should be strictly observed. But behind all of Hamas-linked CAIR's talk of civil rights below are the assumptions that gave rise to the poster above, and the fact that Hamas-linked CAIR has opposed essentially every anti-terror measure ever proposed or enacted.

The idea that the hyper-PC FBI of today is full of rogue agents trampling on Muslims' civil rights is a level of paranoid victimhood-mongering that boggles the mind. The real FBI is blushing furiously and apologizing over the handful of its agents who let some of the truth about jihad and Islamic supremacism get through. It is teaching agents that Islam is a Religion of Peace™ that is only occasionally and unaccountably Hijacked by a Tiny Minority of Extremists, and conducting outreach to Islamic supremacist and Muslim Brotherhood groups that smile benignly and guffaw behind closed doors at the naivete and pliability of these bumbling Useful Idiots.

And yet for all the FBI's pains to appease the enemy, the Islamic supremacists still portray the feds as angry rednecks with ties, banging down doors, trampling mud on the mosque floor, and casting Qur'ans to the ground with arrogant disdain as they haul away terrified, pious hijabbed Muslimas with American flags on their walls for relentless, hammering hours of questioning based on nothing but the agency's ingrained Islamophobia. The contrast between that picture and the real FBI of earnest young every-political-opinion-acceptable milquetoasts with heads filled with nonsense from Karen Armstrong and John Esposito, spending their days reassuring the local Muslim Brotherhood-linked imam that they're on the watch for any sign of "right-wing extremism" or "Islamophobia," couldn't be more stark. The FBI can't win for losing.

From CAIR-Tampa's September mailing (thanks to L):

Alert! FBI Harassing Tampa Area Muslims

CAIR-Tampa has recently received several reports from professional, law abiding American Muslims who are complaining of being singled out for harassment by FBI agents. These are individuals who would never have expected to be targeted by the FBI. CAIR-Tampa would like to take this as an opportunity to remind the community what to do when contacted by law enforcement.

CONTACT CAIR-TAMPA IF YOU ARE BEING HARASSED OR FEEL THAT YOU HAVE BEEN MISTREATED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT

10/2/11 Community Forum: Know Your Rights

CAIR-Tampa will host its first monthly community forum on Sunday, October 2nd at 6:00pm. The topic of the first forum will be regarding what rights we have as Americans and on how to protect yourself and family against harassment and discrimination.from private individuals, businesses, and the government.. Forum will be at the CAIR office at 8056 N 56th Street.. Refreshments will be served.

CAIR-Tampa will hold monthly community forums at the office, free to empower the community. Suggestions for future topics of discussion are welcomed. Please join us.

What to do when contacted by law enforcement

American Muslims strongly support law enforcement and the protection of our national security. As Americans, we also value the civil rights of all Americans. All Americans have the constitutional right of due process and to be politically active.

If you know of any criminal activity taking place in your community, it is both your religious and civic duty to immediately report such activity to local and federal law enforcement agencies.

If you are visited by federal law enforcement agencies, remember:
You should have a lawyer present when speaking with federal law enforcement agencies. Under the law, you have the legal right to have a lawyer present when speaking with federal law enforcement agencies. This is true even if you are not a citizen. This is your legal right. Refusing to answer questions cannot be held against you and does not imply that you have something to hide.
You do not have to permit them to enter your home or office if they do not have a warrant. Under U.S. law, law enforcement agents must possess a search warrant in order to enter your house. If they say they have a warrant, kindly demand to see it before allowing them to enter. The warrant will specify exactly what can be searched and if they have a warrant, be courteous and polite and remember that you are under no obligation to answer questions without a lawyer present.
You should never lie or provide false information to any law enforcement agencies. Lying to law enforcement agents is a federal crime and should never be done under any circumstance.

Mosque & State: Islamist Party A Favorite In Tunisia

From Worldcrunch:

At a meeting last week, Tunisia's moderate Islamist party Nahda (Renaissance) outlined its policy proposals for next month's parliamentary elections. Simultaneous translation headphones, staff hired specifically to answer every foreign journalists’ whim: everything was aimed at improving the party’s image, as Tunisians voters prepare to vote next month. Indeed, Nahda is leading in the polls.

Rashid Al-Ghannushi, leader of Islamist Nahda party, on the right (Magharebia)
The party’s program, a mix of Turkey’s market-oriented Islamism and more traditional values, included such measures as economic reform, a new union of Arab countries and the reduction of women’s weekly working hours, so that they can "devote more time to their families."

The gathering opened with the assembly chanting verses from the Koran and every speech began with "In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.” This probably won’t improve the party’s image in Tunis, a city that is increasingly Europeanized.

But Nahda knows that it’s in villages that it will win seats for the Constituent Assembly. Therefore, the program underlines the importance of fishing and farming, but also stresses the need to raise low salaries and give more to poor families.

Besides outlining the party’s program, Nadha also wanted to emphasize its modernity: "Islamists have always been misunderstood. We only want to keep the most objective principles, like peace and science. Religion is between you and God," confessed Mondher Ounissi, a doctor. Supporters have mastered a well-oiled speech. It is impossible to find out where the campaign funds come from or what kind of society the party has in mind.

Nahda’s president, Rashid Al-Ghannushi, learned the lessons of the revolution and now advocates "a participative society, a market-oriented economy supported by a new social contract." He says he wants to build "a democratic regime based on the values of Islam." Tunisians may be in for the long haul as there have been repeated talks of “extending the planned two presidential terms.”

In the streets of Tunis, these ideas aren’t welcome - especially among the youth: "If I wanted to invite a female friend to a flat I share with friends, she wouldn’t be able to stay overnight. The whole neighborhood would start gossiping. She’d be in trouble," a very young supporter confessed, even though he said he couldn’t see himself anywhere but among Islamists in the future. "It’s a fairer society. Some complain about order and restrictions, but what we’re looking for is dignity."

Not a word about headscarves

Riding the wave of fashionable themes – an independent judiciary system, a strong cooperation between the people and the state and above all, creating about 600,000 jobs – Nahda wants to create an Arab Maghreb Union to challenge the Union for the Mediterranean when it comes to dealing with Europe. The same goes for the economy: a "common North African market with our Libyan and Egyptian brothers," coupled with investments that would contribute to "GDP growth."

There was, however, no word on the Islamic headscarf or on polygamy (Tunisia is the region’s only country where men are allowed to marry only one woman). Rashid Al-Ghannushi only mentioned the decline in the number of divorces as a result of the decision to reduce women’s weekly working hours.

And finally, when asked about what kind of relationship he would want between Tunisia and Europe, the Islamist leader avoids any commitment and speaks of "respecting treaties" and "getting involved in the long-term.” Nothing new, then, except an impressive U-turn in terms of communication, one month before the elections.

Read the original story in French

The Truth About Polygamy: A Special Investigation Into How Muslim Men Can Exploit The Benefits System

From the Daily Mail:

Ghulam is a taxi driver who lives in Blackburn, a once-booming textile town in Lancashire. He has a terrace house near his local mosque (one of 53 in the area), a silver Nissan car and a very complex private life.

For he has so many children that he struggles to remember their names, and five wives from various countries, including Yemen, Egypt, Turkey and his own birthplace, Pakistan.

Ghulam’s latest bride is a shy 20-year-old called Hafeza. He brought her to Britain from Morocco, soon after his 45th birthday earlier this year. They married in an Islamic wedding ceremony called ‘the Nikah’ in her village, with Hafeza’s pleased parents among the guests.

Thirty miles across the Pennines in Yorkshire, pizza delivery driver Wasim, 27, has an equally complicated domestic life.
He lives in a part of Dewsbury called Savile Town, a network of 11 terrace streets dominated by one of the biggest mosques in Europe, where most residents are Asian with origins in Pakistan or India.

Wasim has three wives, the first of whom lives with him and their three teenage sons. His other two wives have separate houses in Savile Town, one down the road and another round the corner. He visits each two nights a week.

The women have had several of Wasim’s children and he hopes the youngest bride (aged 19) will soon present him with another baby.

I learned of Ghulam and Wasim this week while investigating a subject that is taboo in politically correct Britain. It is the huge rise of bigamy (having two wives) and polygamy (more than two) in our Muslim communities.
The issue was recently bravely highlighted by Baroness Flather, a crossbench life peer who was herself born in Lahore, now part of Pakistan.
She warned the Lords (and also wrote an article for the Mail on the subject) about how our shambolic benefits system is being exploited by men hailing from Pakistan and other Muslim nations who indulge in multiple marriages — with taxpayers forced to foot the bill.
As Baroness Flather explained: ‘The wives are regarded by the welfare system as single mothers, and are therefore entitled to a full range of lone parent payments.
'As a result, several “families” fathered by the same man can all claim benefits, as they are provided for by the welfare state, which treats them as if they were not related,’

Lady Flather also lamented the reluctance of politicians to address the issue: ‘It is certainly difficult to discuss this phenomenon of serial marriage and exploitation of the benefits system, with few people in Britain seeming to want to confront the disturbing truth.’
Two years ago, another peer, Baroness Warsi, born in Dewsbury to Pakistani parents, and now a Coalition Cabinet Minister, also voiced her concerns. She said cultural sensitivity was stopping politicians addressing the problem.

Yet this week I found those — from within the heart of the Asian communities — who were prepared to speak out.

Although the Government says there are only 1,000 such bigamous or polygamous unions in the UK, two experienced Lancashire social workers — one of Indian-English heritage and the other with Pakistani origins — told me that, although it’s difficult to be precise, in their estimation the figure is closer to 20,000.

The social workers said the multiple marriages are encouraged by a welfare system which allows a second, third or fourth wife to be treated as a single mother who gets a house and an array of other state payments for herself and her children.

Controversially, it means that a man can take a new spouse (from anywhere in the world), sire any number of children with her, and yet have no responsibility for this family’s upkeep or care.

To avoid breaking Britain’s matrimony laws, the men marry their extra ‘wives’ in an Islamic Nikah ceremony, either in their own homes or a mosque.

These marriages are not recognised officially, so they do not appear in government statistics or have any status under the law.

They also do not count when assessing welfare payments.

Another technique is for a couple to marry legally under British law but then divorce, leaving them then to have a Nikah ceremony and continue living together. The woman will then be entitled to welfare payments as a single mother and the man can then bring another woman from abroad and legally marry her in Britain.

Men also cheat the system by bringing brides from abroad as nannies for their children, or as carers for a sick relative. The bride gets a year’s visitors’ visa, disappears into a tight-knit local community, and is entitled to receive welfare hand-outs.

While it has long been a cliche for men to complain that their wives and children take up most of their income, the reality for polygamous husbands is that the more babies he sires, the more money pours in for him and his wives.

As Tariq Ali, the 45-year-old co-founder of Project BME (Black Minority Ethnics), a charity based in Darwen, Lancashire, admits: ‘There are thousands of bigamous and polygamous marriages in the UK’s Pakistani community — the same community into which I was born.

'Every single man of my age who I bump into seems to have a third, fourth or fifth wife.

‘The issue is going unreported but in the Asian communities this is becoming a way of life. I think the number of polygamous relationships must be 20,000.

‘The men find second wives in the UK as well as any Muslim country abroad. The new favourite places to find women are Turkey and Morocco, because the men can drive there by car to meet them and bring them back.’

His colleague, Zed Ali, the manager of Project BME, added: ‘These arrangements satisfy a man’s sexual desires when he is trapped in an unhappy or sexless arranged marriage with a first wife and their families don’t countenance a divorce.

‘The first wives often accept the situation as a compromise. There is a limitless number of girls living in Muslim countries wanting to come to the UK for what they, and their parents, think is a better life even as a second, third or fourth wife.

‘What’s more, they are virgins — which the men like. But it means British laws are being abused, and something should be done by the Government. A first step would be the registration of Nikah weddings in this country at least.’ This would prevent many bigamous marriages.

Read it all here.