This from Times Online:

THE ringleader of the July 7 suicide bombers converted to violent jihadism at least six years before he blew himself up on the London Underground, his brother has revealed in his first interview.

Gultasab Khan, a taxi driver from Beeston, Leeds, disclosed that Mohammad Sidique Khan had visited the family’s spiritual adviser in 1999 and told him he wanted to travel to Afghanistan to train for jihad (holy war).

Gultasab Khan’s revelation of his younger brother’s long process of radicalisation, published in next month’s Prospect magazine, goes far beyond the sketchy information that has previously emerged.

He describes how in the mid 1990s Sidique Khan converted to wahhabism, the fundamentalist strain of Islam espoused by the September 11 hijackers. From there he moved into the ranks of violent jihadists – before the 2001 attacks on America or the Iraq invasion two years later.

“It was around 1999,” said Gultasab Khan, 38. “Before that it wasn’t about whether he was going down the route of being a jihadi, it was about him becoming a wahhabi.”

The account has been confirmed by others who knew Sidique Khan in Yorkshire. The picture that has emerged shows that not only Sidique Khan’s family, but also dozens of people in the area knew he was a potentially violent fundamentalist years before July 7, 2005, when he blew himself up on board a Tube train at Edgware Road. Khan killed six people and his three fellow bombers killed a further 46.

This shows how neglecting the Muslim community is to rooting out radicals in their midst.

Read the whole thing from Times Online

technorati tags: jihad, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, britian

WASHINGTON -- An American Muslim returned home Saturday after an odyssey through jails in three East African countries that began with his arrest on fleeing war-ravaged Somalia and included three months of imprisonment without charges in Ethiopia.

Amir Mohamed Meshal, 24, of Tinton Falls, N.J., flew into New York's Kennedy International Airport, where he was detained and questioned before being reunited with his parents, said Jonathan Hafetz, a family attorney.

FBI officials, who interviewed Meshal while he was in Kenyan and Ethiopian custody, believe he went to Somalia to fight for a radical Islamic movement, but they declined to charge him with any crime.

Human rights groups and the Meshal family attorney questioned whether he was held as part of a policy by the Bush administration to have other countries hold terrorism suspects.

Hafetz, a lawyer with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, has demanded a congressional inquiry into the case.

"I think serious questions certainly remain, but for the moment, the family is just happy to have their son back," said Hafetz.

"The family is thrilled that their son is free after four months of prolonged detention without due process and are happy this ordeal is behind them."

SOURCE

DUBAI (Reuters) - A purported leader of the militant Fatah al-Islam group, which has been battling the Lebanese army in a Palestinian refugee camp, vowed on Saturday to fight "the Americans and the Jews."

Al Jazeera television, which broadcast the videotaped message, identified the man as Shaker al-Abssi and said it was the Palestinian's first public appearance.

"We say to you, the guardians of the American project, the Sunni people will be leaders in fighting the Jews, the Americans and their loyalists," Abssi said, referring to Lebanese leaders.

The channel also aired footage of what it described as training camps for the Islamist group.

Abssi's threat came shortly after the United States delivered ammunition and other equipment to Lebanon to help the army defeat the Islamist group, which is holed up in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp.

Abssi, bearded and wearing camouflage fatigues, was shown wrapping a black and white checkered scarf around his head. A young militant stood beside him, holding a machine gun.

Fatah al-Islam says it is defending Sunni Muslims and Palestinians in Lebanon. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has described it as a "terrorist organization that claims to be Islamic and to defend Palestine."

SOURCE

technorati tags: islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad, lebanon

VADODARA: While communal riots and demonstrations over issues that hurt religious sentiments are not out of place in the Gujarat, it was probably for the first time that posters of Osama bin Laden — the Al Qaida chief, who is the most wanted terrorist around the world — were used for the purpose.

The development has left the city police concerned. It is now believed that mischief mongers had deliberately prepared the posters in an attempt to instigate people.

The city police is probing a conspiracy angle to the demonstrations using the Bin Laden's posters that were followed by rioting in the Mandvi area on Friday afternoon.

Police sources said it was probably for the first time in the state that a public display of Laden's posters was made for a protest.

"There were stray incidents where posters of former Iraq president Saddam Hussain were displayed in communally sensitive areas such as Dariapur and Kalupur in Ahmedabad. I do not remember any incident of Laden's posters being displayed in the state,"said state IB chief, additional DGP Sudhir Sinha.

SOURCE

technorati tags: india, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad, osma

We have jihadist training camps in upper New York and now you have jihadist in Texas being put on trail for terrorist training and terrorism finance. For all the details go to http://realterror.wordpress.com/ As I am writing this 3 men have already been convicted.

4 Whyislam and ICNA workers (coined by the media as the “Houston Taliban”) held jihad training camps on Islamic Society of Greater Houston property in Willis Texas north of Houston.

Semi-automatic weapons were used in paramilitary training conducted by an undercover FBI agent.

The group was photographed and recorded during the paramilitary training exercises.

The plot (at least by 2 of them but known by all of them) was to travel to the middle east to join Taliban forces in their fight against US and coalition forces.

At least 2 Houston Taliban members sent funds to the Taliban.

The lead member, Kobie Diallo Williams felt remorse, came forward when questioned by the FBI and cooperated. Subequently, the remaining 3 members were arrested and charged. Unlike the others who are facing 10 years per charge, Mr. Williams will receive up to 5 years.

Kobie Diallo Williams plead guilty. Shiraz Syed Qazi plead not guilty but was found guilty by a federal judge. Syed Maaz Shah was found guilty by a 12 member jury. Adnan Babar Mirza plead not guilty and is awaiting trial.

After the reports of the arrests of Kobie Diallo Williams and Adnan Babar Mirza, reports of two others (Shiraz Syed Qazi and Syed Maaz Shah) were arrested in connection to the plot. All of the Houston Taliban group are members of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and two of them (possibly three) are members of ICNA’s Whyislam which is the organization they used to collaborate with each other according to news reports. Shah was also President of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at UTD. Both the Islamic Circle of North America and Whyislam are volunteer organizations and they performed volunteer work with these organizations as well as held key positions within the organizations themselves.

SOURCE

technorati tags: texas, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad, terrorism, terrorist

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has uncovered spy networks on its territory organised by occupying forces in Iraq and Iraqi groups, the Intelligence Ministry said in a statement published on Saturday.

The statement gave few details, saying more would be published in the next few days.

Iran has often accused the United States and Britain, which led the invasion of Iraq, of trying to undermine the security of the Islamic Republic. The ministry's statement did not refer to either country by name.

"The Intelligence Ministry succeeded in finding, recognising and confronting some spy networks of infiltrating elements from the Iraqi occupiers in west, southwest and central Iran," said the statement, carried by the official IRNA news agency.

"These spy networks were guided by the intelligence services of the occupiers and were supported by some influential Iraqi groups. The detailed news will be announced in the next few days."

It was not clear whether the "spy networks" were linked to the recent detentions by Iran of Iranian-Americans including U.S-based scholar Haleh Esfandiari, whom the ministry has accused of being linked to efforts to undermine Iran's government.

The United States has dismissed the accusations and called for Esfandiari's release.

SOURCE

technorati tags: iran, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad

A few days ago I ran a story about how the International Muslim Brotherhood is suing a radical imam. They wanted him removed from a mosque in New Jesrey. The only problem is the International Muslim Brotherhood is also radical a Radical Islamic group. I outlined this before. Robert Spencer did as well at Jihad Watch. Apparently this made no difference to the author of this article at Times Daily:

But an example might illustrate attitudes about extremism better than statistics. Last week, Religion News Service reported a dispute broke out between the founding members of a mosque in Trenton, N.J., and its current imam, or spiritual leader. The founders wanted to get rid of the imam, Sabur Abdul Hakim, because they said he was taking the congregation in a fundamentalist direction.

According to the story, the mosque had been open to all Muslim sects since its founding in 1981, but Hakim and a small group of followers decided they wanted to follow Salafi Islam, which teaches there is only one true way of practicing the faith. It is a form of the Wahhabi movement that dominates Islam in Saudi Arabia.

Instead of sounding an alarm that this movement is trying to get a foothold here, notice that the founders of the mosque and apparently a majority of its members weren't going to put up with it, and they took action against Hakim in typically American fashion: They filed a lawsuit against him.

Notice how the article doesnt mention who the group is that is suing. Probably wouldnt have went to well with their story. This lawsuit simply boils down to inner fighting between two different groups of radical Islamist.

technorati tags: jihad, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, new, jeserey, pew, brotherhood

Islamabad - Suspected militants have abducted two government officials in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), authorities said on Saturday.

'Unknown gunmen stopped the car of two health officials in Tagori area of Lucky Marwat district as they were on their way to the office and kidnapped them,' a police officer Asmatullah Khan told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on telephone.

No one has accepted responsibility of the kidnapping of Dr Mohammed Ishaq and Dr Abdul Rehman, but Khan believed that the captors were Islamic militants from the nearby tribal agency of North Waziristan bordering Afghanistan.

Militants last week held nine government officials including three women in the same tribal region, which were released five days later.

Pakistani government signed a controversial peace deal with tribesmen in North Waziristan in September 2006 in a hope that the locals will contain the Islamic insurgents on their own.

But Afghan and NATO officials say deal has resulted into increased militant attacks into Afghanistan from the area.

SOURCE

technorati tags: pakistan, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad

The list of people from America that Iran detains just keeps growing.

An Iranian-American businessman from Orange County, Calif., who was visiting his dying mother in Iran probably was taken from the Tehran airport and might be under interrogation by the Iranian government, a human rights group said Friday.

Ali Shakeri, who runs a mortgage company and advises the University of California at Irvine's Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, was scheduled to leave Iran and fly to Europe May 13. He never arrived, according to Human Rights Watch. Instead, his ticket had been canceled and his luggage taken from the airline's possession, the group said.

Two days later, Shakeri called family members and said, "There was some misunderstanding, it wasn't a big deal, and he will be OK," said Hadi Ghaemi, an Iran analyst for Human Rights Watch, a New York-based nongovernmental organization.

Iranian officials have not commented publicly on Shakeri's whereabouts. But in recent weeks, two Iran American scholars have been imprisoned while visiting Iran and a reporter, also a dual national, has had her passport confiscated.

Iran's Ministry of Intelligence recently issued a statement alleging that American and Iranian intellectuals were forming "informal communication networks" to back the "soft toppling" of Iran.

Shakeri, who has lived in the United States for much of the last three decades, sits on an advisory board for the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, which studies how citizens can promote peace in divided societies. His biography on its Web site describes him as "an Iranian-American activist who advocates Democracy in Iran and peace in the world."

The businessman had traveled to Tehran to see his mother. She died this month, and after attending her funeral, Shakeri planned to meet friends in Europe.

SOURCE

technorati tags: iran, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad

Interesting article from MSNBC detailing how a Muslim is recruited for jihad in mosques.

May 25, 2007 - Ed Husain used to be an Islamic fundamentalist. When his father—a devout Muslim opposed to fanaticism—told him to leave the radical groups he had joined in London, Husain left home instead. But by the mid-1990s, Husain had become disillusioned with British Islamic organizations. A stint working in Saudi Arabia disenchanted him still further, when he discovered that women on the street face routine harassment and that black Muslims are discriminated against by local Arabs. "Racism was an integral part of Saudi society," says Husain. "Even dark-skinned Arabs were considered inferior to their lighter-skinned cousins. I was living in the world's most avowedly Muslim country, yet I found it anything but."

Read it all.

technorati tags: britian, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad, mosque

LONDON (Reuters) - The government deported a Jamaican Muslim cleric on Friday after he served a sentence for inciting the murder of Americans, Hindus and Jews in his sermons.

Abdullah el-Faisal, a Muslim convert, was jailed in 2003 and finished his sentence last month.

He lost an appeal against deportation and was put on a plane home to Jamaica on Friday, the Home Office said.

"We are committed to protecting the public and have made it clear that foreign nationals who abuse our hospitality and break our laws can expect to be deported after they have served a prison sentence," Home Secretary John Reid said in a statement.

Faisal's conviction was the first test case to use a rare, 140-year-old law against soliciting murder as a way to prosecute Islamic extremist preachers after the September 11 2001 attacks on the United States.

The British authorities have said Faisal's sermons inspired at least one of the suicide bombers that attacked London transport in 2005.

SOURCE

Yesterday I posted an article in the San Antonio Express News about the problem of Illegals coming from Islamic countries through Mexico. What I posted as part 1 of a 4 part series. It is a long read but very informative. I have posted all 4 parts below. Read them all.

Breaching America: The potential danger of illegal immigration from Islamic countries

Breaching America: The Latin connection

Breaching America: Stuck in the middle

'I've made it to America'

WASHINGTON: Canadian Islamists who have been trying to bring in Sharia into Canada, so far without success, have now chosen another route - Islamic banking.

According to Tarek Fatah, founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, “In 2003, we saw Islamists trying to sneak Sharia into Canada through the backdoor of Family Law and under the cover of Multiculturalism. Now, they seem to be taking a different route. They claim they are introducing the seemingly innocuous ‘Islamic banking’ by claiming such banking to be ‘interest-free’ and ‘Sharia-compliant’. This is one more ploy to prey on the fears and insecurities of Muslim Canadians. Invoking Islam to make a fortune is only one part of the agenda. The other is to try one more time to make ‘Sharia’ part of the Canadian lexicon. Only this time, it has the backing of corporate lawyers and senior bankers who see big money at the end of the line. The whole concept is a fraud that will further marginalise an already marginalised community.”

Because they don’t charge interest, financial services, like mortgages, offered by Islamic institutions tend to be higher priced than those from secular. Fatah said ideally, Islamic financial institutions should operate in places with a Muslim majority. “If it hasn’t picked up, this is because the Muslim community is not foolish,” he said. Islamic financial services in Canada are being pushed by banking executives from the Muslim community who feel that by creating a niche they will be able to tap into an area non-Muslims can’t access. “It’s a complete fraud because what you are doing is you are adding interest upfront and building it into your investments and dishonestly calling it interest-free,” he added.

SOURCE

technorati tags: canada, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad

This past week The Pew Research Center conducted a poll among Muslims in America. You can download the entire survey here in a pdf file. I know some people may have been surprised by these results but I was not. A while ago I wrote and article entitled "In Search Of Muslims Against Terrorism". I tried to find Muslims that would be willing to label Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations. The results were very troubling.

Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch has done a wonderful job of breaking down this poll to exactly what it means.

The Pew Research Center poll of American Muslims also shows significant support among Muslims in America for suicide bombing and loony conspiracy theories about 9/11. 40% of those who consider themselves Muslims first, which as we have seen is about one million people, don't believe that groups of Arabs carried out the 9/11 attacks. So that's about 400,000 conspiracy theorists, plus another 250,000 from among those who consider themselves Americans first. And 130,000 avow support for suicide attacks in some circumstances, while about 50,000 of those who consider themselves Americans first agree, and others refuse to answer.

SOURCE

Robert also has several other posts about this poll:
One million American Muslims are Muslims first, Americans second

Muslims in America less concerned than non-Muslims about rise of Islamic extremism

Younger Muslims support suicide bombing in greater numbers

Of course The Council On American Islamic Relations tells us this is all no big deal.

technorati tags: islam, CAIR, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad, islamic, suicide, pew

Amman - The Islamic Action Front, Jordan's main political party, on Thursday conceded that its secretary general, Zaki Bani Ershaid, had met with personnel from a US-based democracy expert group as part of a 'civilization dialogue' with Western research institutions.

But the IAF denied a report carried by the pro-government daily newspaper al-Rai that Bani Ershaid had asked the US National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) for help in the field of 'training' Islamic candidates ahead of the municipal and parliamentary elections set for this year.

'The report included fallacies which are part of the government's deliberate campaign designed to distort the image of the Islamic movement ahead of the elections,' the IAF said in a statement.

Quoting no sources earlier Thursday, al-Rai said in a front-page story that Bani Ershaid met on May 15 NDI officials at the party's headquarters in Amman and discussed with them 'how they can help train IAF cadres in the field of elections.'

'The IAF secretary general also asked the NDI officials to keep the meeting confidential out of fears that it may affect the image of the party,' the paper added.

The IAF said that while it was observing a boycott of the Israeli government, the US administration and their embassies in Amman, it continued to have tens of meetings with representatives of US and other Western civic institutions.

'IAF officials wanted to keep them informed about the justifications for the party's rejection of the unjust US policy and to ask them to relay the party's viewpoint to the American people so as to press their administration to stop their crimes against the Islamic world,' the statement said.

The NDI conducts democracy training around the world, with a focus on newly emerging democracies, and receives some US taxpayer money. In Washington, the NDI said it has had programmes in Jordan since 1995 and has had contact with the IAF along with 'every other party or group' represented in Jordan's Parliament.

SOURCE

technorati tags: islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad, terrorism, jordan

Funny considering Hamas is a terrorist organization determined to kill every Jew. Apparently that isnt enough for this radical sheik.

(IsraelNN.com) A Muslim cleric, apparently from the Palestinian Authority, has released a fatwa (religious ruling) permitting the killing of members of the Hamas terrorist organization. In support of his position, the heretofore unknown sheikh declared Hamas to have "Jewish characteristics;" yet, he said that "the Jews have more mercy" on the Arabs than Hamas.

The fatwa and accompanying argumentation appeared in two articles, one in the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan and the other published on the website of the Fatah terrorist organization, headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

According to a report and translation of the articles provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the Islamic cleric, identified as Sheikh Shaker Al-Hiran, labeled Hamas "Khawarij." This term is a reference to a group of Muslims that rebelled against the leadership of seventh-century Islam.

SOURCE

technorati tags: islam, muslim, muslims, jihad, islamic, hamas, israel

View the Al-Qaeda torture manual via The Smoking Gun:

MAY 24--In a recent raid on an al-Qaeda safe house in Iraq, U.S. military officials recovered an assortment of crude drawings depicting torture methods like "blowtorch to the skin" and "eye removal." Along with the images, which you'll find on the following pages, soldiers seized various torture implements, like meat cleavers, whips, and wire cutters. Photos of those items can be seen here. The images, which were just declassified by the Department of Defense, also include a picture of a ramshackle Baghdad safe house described as an "al-Qaeda torture chamber." It was there, during an April 24 raid, that soldiers found a man suspended from the ceiling by a chain. According to the military, he had been abducted from his job and was being beaten daily by his captors. In a raid earlier this week, Coalition Forces freed five Iraqis who were found in a padlocked room in Karmah. The group, which included a boy, were reportedly beaten with chains, cables, and hoses. Photos showing injuries sustained by those captives can be found here.

technorati tags: islam, muslim, muslims, jihad, torture, islamic, iraq

NEW YORK (AP) - Democrat John Edwards Wednesday repudiated the notion that there is a "global war on terror," calling it an ideological doctrine advanced by the Bush administration that has strained American military resources and emboldened terrorists.

In a defense policy speech he planned to deliver at the Council on Foreign Relations, Edwards called the war on terror a "bumper sticker" slogan Bush had used to justify everything from abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison to the invasion of Iraq.

"We need a post-Bush, post-9/11, post-Iraq military that is mission focused on protecting Americans from 21st century threats, not misused for discredited ideological purposes," Edwards said in remarks prepared for delivery. "By framing this as a war, we have walked right into the trap the terrorists have set—that we are engaged in some kind of clash of civilizations and a war on Islam."

SOURCE

All while we have Al Qaeda releasing video calling for an attack on Washington DC. We have Islamic Terrorist sneaking in through our borders illegally. And we even have terrorist training compounds right here in our country. Yet Edwards seems to think that we should just move past all this.

Read Robert Spencers thoughts on this at Jihad Watch.

technorati tags: john, edwards, islam, muslim, muslims, jihad, islamic, terrorism, terrorist

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Islamic insurgents in Somalia have created a video showing a man reciting prayers from the Quran before apparently blowing himself up in a suicide blast, the latest sign the extremists are adopting tactics used in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East.

The Associated Press obtained the video Thursday from a person associated with the Shabab, the militant wing of an Islamic group that ruled much of southern Somalia for six months last year. The Council of Islamic Courts was driven from power in December, but has vowed to launch an Iraq-style insurgency until their brand of Islamic rule is imposed in Somalia.

So-called ''martyr'' videos are a common propaganda tactic used by al-Qaida in Iraq and Afghanistan and by groups in the Middle East, but are not known to have been used before in Somalia. In recent months, the insurgents also have started using suicide bombs and posting battle reports on the Internet, tactics not previously seen in Somalia.

''We know the enemy of Islam, the unbelievers have supporters everywhere and their aim is to prevent us from praying to the holy Quran,'' said the man in the video, identified as ''Martyr Adam Salad Adam.'' He appeared to be in his 20s.

''But we have the support of God and they will lose in the end,'' the man said.

Adam urged Somalis to defend their country against ''invaders'' in the video, and said ''I will be the first to devote my life ... I expect God to forgive my sins.''

He was shown praying and driving a sport utility vehicle along the main road in the northern part of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, an area that is a stronghold for the Islamists. Arabic music extolling holy war played, urging Muslims to ''blow it up, don't waste a day'' and ''move forward to paradise, ignite a revolution.''

Then an explosion was seen from a distance, sending a column of white smoke into the sky. Adam said he was targeting a base manned by Ethiopian troops, who provided vital military assistance to the Somalis in ousting the Islamic courts. It was not clear when the tape was produced, but a suicide bomb struck an Ethiopian base earlier this year.

SOURCE

technorati tags: islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad, somalia

Saudi officials have arrested a man in Mecca for being a Christian, saying that the city, which Muslims consider to be holy, is off-limits to non-Muslims.

Nirosh Kamanda, a Sri Lankan Christian, was detained by the Saudi Expatriates Monitoring Committee last week after he started to sell goods outside Mecca's Great Mosque.

After running his fingerprints through a new security system, Saudi police discovered that he was a Christian who had arrived in the country six months earlier to take a job as a truck driver in the city of Dammam. Kamanda had subsequently left his place of work and moved to Mecca.

"The Grand Mosque and the holy city are forbidden to non-Muslims," Col. Suhail Matrafi, head of the department of Expatriates Affairs in Mecca, told the Saudi daily Arab News. "The new fingerprints system is very helpful and will help us a lot to discover the identity of a lot of criminals," he said.

Similar restrictions apply to the Saudi city of Medina. In a section entitled, "Traveler's Information," the Web site of the Saudi Embassy in Washington states that, "Mecca and Medina hold special religious significance and only persons of the Islamic faith are allowed entry."

Highway signs at the entrance to Mecca also direct non-Muslims away from the city's environs.

SOURCE

technorati tags: islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad, christian, christians, mecca, saudi, arabia

Borjourd, Khorassan Prov, May 24, Taliya News – A talented youth from this northeaster Iranian township has designed a computer game on Khorramshar Liberation War from occupation of Saddam’s army
Sadeq Jebeli, 17, said here Tuesday in an interview with IRNA, “This computer game has four stages and the braveries of combatants of Islam during a phase of the Iraqi imposed war are reflected in it.”
Jalili who is a member of the Bojnourd Talented Youth NGO, says his main objective in designing this computer game has been promoting the martyrdom seeking mentality among the teenagers and the youth, and to remind them of the braveries displayed during the glorious liberation of Khorramshar.
Jebeli added, “This game is a three dimensional one, observed from the viewpoint of the 1st person, in which a Basiji Mobilization volunteer in four phases goes through the military training, logistical preparation, entering into the occupied city, and fighting the liberation war.
The innovative youth reiterating that the language used in designing the game is the Persian language, he added, “Unfortunately the number of Iranian computer games is less than the number of one person’s fingers and producing such games in the country is in need of concerned officials’ serious support.
He reiterated, “A work group of youth elites needs to be established for the purpose in order to see into the presentation of broader, higher quality proposals in the field.”
The talented Bojnourdi youngster’s plan has been approved by the country’s standards organization.

SOURCE

TEHRAN: An Iranian court has sentenced a woman activist to six years in jail for attending two banned rallies and for “propaganda activity against the system”, her lawyer was quoted as saying yesterday.
Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh said her client Roya Toloui took part in two peaceful rallies in 2005 in front of the governor’s office in the north-western town of Sanandaj in Iran’s Kurdistan province, the Isna news agency reported.
Toloui was found guilty by a court in the town even though Iranian law allowed peaceful protests, the lawyer said. Isna did not give details on what the protesters were demanding.
“Roya Toloui was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment on the charge of attending the mentioned gatherings and one year’s imprisonment on the charge of propaganda activity against the system,” Sotoudeh told Isna.
It was not clear whether Toloui was in the court when the sentence was announced or whether she was tried in absentia.
Last month, a Tehran court handed down partly suspended prison sentences of up to four years against two female activists who attended a banned rally in the capital to demand greater women’s rights, according to Iranian media. - Reuters

SOURCE

technorati tags: iran, islam, islamic, jihad, muslim, muslims

Al Qaeda has a new opening graphic for its propaganda tapes: the U.S. Capitol under "attack."

"The Islamic State of Iraq...March Toward Washington" reads the headline in English superimposed over a digitally created scene of the U.S. Capitol under attack in the introductory sequence of one tape released on the Internet this week.

Another from al Qaeda's "as Sahab" production arm announces "Holocaust of the Americans in the Land of Khorasan" and shows an image of the U.S. Capitol to introduce a short clip of al Qaeda fighters.

SOURCE

technorati tags: Al, Qaeda, islam, muslim, muslims, jihad, islamic

This is a good read. Read the whole thing from the San Antonio Express News

DAMASCUS, Syria--The secret deals cut at places like the Al Nawateer restaurant could affect you.

Americans from San Antonio to Detroit might find themselves living among illegal immigrants from Islamic countries who have come to America with darker pursuits than escaping war or starting a new life.

U.S.-bound illicit travel from Islamic countries, which started long before 9-11 and includes some reputed terrorists, has gained momentum and worried counterterrorism officials as smugglers exploit 2 million Iraq war refugees. The irony is that the war America started to make itself safer has forced more people regarded as security threats toward its borders.

A stark reminder of U.S. vulnerability at home came this month when six foreign-born Muslims, three of whom had entered the country illegally, were arrested and accused of plotting to attack the Army's Fort Dix.

What might have happened there is sure to stoke the debate in Congress, which next week will take up border security and immigration reform. But the Iraqi refugee problem provides a twist on the question of what assurances America owes itself in uncertain times: What do we owe Iraqis thrown into chaos by the war?

Politically immigration can be a faceless issue. But beyond the rhetoric, the lives of real people hang in the balance. A relatively small but politically significant number are from Islamic countries, raising the specter, some officials say, of terrorists at the gate.

Read it all

technorati tags: texas, islam, islamic, jihad, muslim, muslims, immigration

This story is a few days old but I found it very important. In an article from Canada Free Press Paul Williams writes about a terrorist camp right here in America. I really dont know why this story is being ignored by mainstream media.

Islamberg is not as benign as a Buddhist monastery or a Carmelite convent. Nearly every weekend, neighbors hear sounds of gunfire. Some, including a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, have heard the bang of small explosives. None of the neighbors wished to be identified for fear of "retaliation." "We don't even dare to slow down when we drive by," one resident said. "They own the mountain and they know it and there is nothing we can do about it but move, and we can't even do that. Who wants to buy a property near that?"

The complex serves to scare the bejeesus out of the local residents. "If you go there, you better wear body armor," a customer at the Circle E Diner in Hancock said. "They have armed guards and if they shoot you, nobody will find your body."

At Cousins, a watering hole in nearby Deposit, a barfly, who didn't wish to be identified, said: "The place is dangerous. You can hear gunfire up there. I can't understand why the FBI won't shut it down."

Islamberg is a branch of Muslims of the Americas Inc., a tax-exempt organization formed in 1980 by Pakistani cleric Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani, who refers to himself as "the sixth Sultan Ul Faqr," Gilani, has been directly linked by court documents to Jamaat ul-Fuqra or "community of the impoverished," an organization that seeks to "purify" Islam through violence.

Though primarily based in Lahore, Pakistan, Jamaat ul-Fuqra has operational headquarters in New York and openly recruits through various social service organizations in the U.S., including the prison system. Members live in hamaats or compounds, such as Islamberg, where they agree to abide by the laws of Jamaat ul-Fuqra, which are considered to be above local, state and federal authority. Additional hamaats have been established in Hyattsville, Maryland; Red House, Virginia; Falls Church, Virginia; Macon, Georgia; York, South Carolina; Dover, Tennessee; Buena Vista, Colorado; Talihina, Oklahoma; Tulane Country, California; Commerce, California; and Onalaska, Washington. Others are being built, including an expansive facility in Sherman, Pennsylvania.

Come to find out this camp at Islamberg is not the only terrorist camp in America. Canada Free Press has an update on this story

Islamberg is just one of what is thought to be a half dozen radical Muslim paramilitary compounds flourishing across the United States, this one nestled in dense forest at the foothills of the Catskill Mountains on the outskirts of Hancock, New York.

Canada, home to at least one such compound, is no safe ground....

Hundreds of letters have deluged (CFP) since it published a story with pictures of Springtime in Islamberg, written by The Day of Islam author Dr. Paul Williams with the able assistance of Doug Hagmann, Bill Krayer and Michael Travis.

Many letter writers complain that local authorities are telling them they have never heard of the compound.

Islamberg is an al Fuqra house. "Fuqra has had a disturbing U.S. presence for more than 20 years." (The weekly Standard, March 18, 2002). "Today, half a dozen Fuqra residential compounds in rural hamlets across the country shelter hundreds of members, some of whom, according to intelligence sources, have been trained in the use of weapons and explosives in Pakistan."

In a world where authorities make like terrorism doesn't exist, Fuqra's founder and bossman, Sheikh Mubarik Ali Hasmi Shah Gilani, is not only alive and well -- he has a road "Sheikh Gilani Lane" named after him. This road is not in faraway Pakistan, but right in Charlotte County, Virginia.

Charlotte County is a rural farming community in Central Virginia near the North Carolina border.

One of the people that was doing the reporting on this story recieved threatening phone calls. He was told he better stop his investigation. The Canada Free Press outlines this. Jawa Report has more on these threatening phone calls as well.

Apparently the leader of the Islamberg compound is pretty upset about this whole thing being exposed. Update from The Canada Free Press

Sheikh Mubarik Ali Hasmi Shah Gilani, founder of the terrorist organization Jamaat ul Fuqra and lead terrorist of "Islamberg" in Hancock, New York, is angry at infidel Doug Hagmann, director of the Northeast Intelligence Report.

Gilani is lead terrorist in a handful of radical Muslim paramilitary compounds flourishing on North American soil, including the infamous Islamberg.

Even though it was author/reporter Paul Williams, who outlined the details of Islamberg nestled in dense forest at the foothills of the Catskill Mountains on the outskirts of Hancock, N.Y., in a Canada Free Press (CFP) cover story, it is Hagmann upon whom Gilani is declaring Jihad.

"It is you who is responsible for the war declared against the Muslims in the United States and worldwide," a male identifying himself as the assistant to the chancellor of the International Quaranic Open University, Muslims of The Americas barked at Hagmann in a mostly one-sided telephone call today. "You are an agent provocateur of the imperialist regime of George W. Bush."

OTHERS COVERING THIS STORY:

Jihad Watch

American Thinker

Gates Of Vienna

Little Green Footballs

Free Republic

An Earlier report said that Iran is working with al-Qaida to try to force America out of Iraq. Now there is evidence the Taliban is using Iranian rockets. How much more is it going to take before we take action against Iran?

British troops in Afghanistan are being targeted by surface-to-air missiles supplied by Iran, a senior Army source said yesterday.

Officers in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard are supplying hundreds of weapons, including the missiles, to Taliban insurgents, it is believed.

Most worrying is the news that SA7 Strella anti-aircraft missiles have been supplied to the Taliban. The weapons are a serious threat to helicopters supplying more than 6,000 troops.

It is not thought the Taliban are well trained in how to use the weapons most effectively. In southern Helmand yesterday they fired an anti-aircraft weapon at an American F18 fighter without hitting it.

Other weapons being smuggled in include plastic explosives, anti-tank mines, AK47s, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns.

SOURCE

technorati tags: iran, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad

First you have the female tourism minister in pakistan forced to resign over hug. Now a woman in Afghanistan has to resign because she compared fellow members of government to farm animals. What wonderful freedoms you have in Islamic countries. Its so much better than our "oppressive" western way of life.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghanistan's lower house of parliament voted Monday to oust an outspoken female lawmaker who has enraged former mujahedeen fighters now in President Hamid Karzai's U.S.-backed government.

The lawmaker, Malalai Joya, compared parliament to a stable full of animals in a recent TV interview.

The video clip was shown in parliament on Monday, and angry lawmakers voted to suspend her from the body, said Haseb Noori, spokesman for the parliament. No formal vote count was held, but a clear majority of lawmakers voted for her suspension by raising colored cards, Noori said.

A parliament rule known as Article 70 forbids lawmakers from criticizing one another, Noori said.

Joya, 29, said the vote was a ``political conspiracy'' against her. She said she had been told Article 70 was written specifically for her, though she didn't say who told her that.

``Since I've started my struggle for human rights in Afghanistan, for women's rights, these criminals, these drug smugglers, they've stood against me from the first time I raised my voice at the Loya Jirga,'' she said, referring to the constitution-drafting convention.

SOURCE

technorati tags: afghanistan, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- A powerful bomb explosion in the Turkish capital Tuesday killed five people and injured 60, the prime minister said.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan said four Turks and one Pakistani were killed in the blast. He said authorities were investigating the type of bomb used. "Is it a suicide bomber or a parcel bomb? Technical teams are working on this," Erdogan told reporters after inspecting the scene.

The blast outside one of the oldest shopping malls in Ankara hurled glass and other debris over a wide area. A body, covered in a white sheet, lay outside the building.

Private NTV television, quoting police sources, said the bomb was made of plastic explosives, the type favored by separatist Kurdish rebels. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Television video shortly after the blast showed medics tending to the wounded and carrying them to ambulances on stretchers.

"The scene here is horrific," Mayor Melih Gokcek said.

"There was a sudden explosion, everything turned to dust," said Cenk Yedier, a witness. "I could hear people screaming."

SOURCE


Not sure if this was a jihad attack yet or not yet. But will be watching it closely...

MORE TO COME....

technorati tags: turkey, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad

LONDON — Iran is attempting to draw up plans to strike targets in Europe and has conducted reconnaissance of European nuclear power stations, a security analyst told a meeting at Britain's parliament Tuesday.

Claude Moniquet, president of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center, a private think-tank in Brussels, said his organization also had evidence Tehran has increased numbers of intelligence agents across Europe.

"We have serious signals that something is under preparation in Europe," Moniquet said. "Iranian intelligence is working extremely hard to prepare its people and to prepare actions."

The center, which he said deals directly with European intelligence agencies, believes Iranian operatives have carried out "reconnaissance of targets in European cities, including nuclear power stations," Moniquet said. He mentioned no other specific targets.

Preparations to target Europe's nuclear energy plants could be tied to the diplomatic standoff over Tehran's contested nuclear program, he told a meeting of lawmakers and analysts in London's House of Commons.

SOURCE

technorati tags: iran, islam, islamic, jihad, muslim, muslims

Pakistan's President Musharraf has ruled out military action against a rebellious radical mosque in the heart of the capital, Islamabad.

Gen Musharraf told the BBC that the authorities could not send forces in for fear of reprisal suicide attacks.

The Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) has been openly defying the government for months, resulting in a tense stand-off.

In recent days, thousands of armed police have been surrounding it after students kidnapped a number of police.

The kidnappings were the latest in a series of bold challenges to the authority of President Musharraf by the mosque and male and female students in seminaries attached to it.

Officials have tried to appease the mosque and its students with talks and concessions, saying they do not want to use force against the women and in a holy place.

[...]

Asked what the government planned to do about the mosque, he said: "How can we take any action? They have weapons and are also prepared to carry out suicide attacks."

[..]

"Everything will be resolved peacefully through dialogue, and we will use force only as an absolute last resort," Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema told a news conference.

The mosque and its seminaries hit the news when its students launched a morality drive in Islamabad.

Tensions escalated sharply after a number of policemen were kidnapped in recent days.

Three policemen were taken hostage on Monday, but released shortly afterwards. Two others are still being held after being kidnapped last week.

The mosque's cleric says the policemen will be freed when the government releases students detained in recent weeks.

SOURCE

This mosque continuely defies the government. It takes police hostage. Yet Mursharraf says nothing can be done because they have weapons? Am I living in the twilight zone? Once again this shows how Pakistan is letting Islamist walk all over them.

technorati tags: pakistan, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad

A Disused Swansea church looks set to be converted into a mosque and community centre.The former St Andrew's United Reform Church in St Helen's Road will be modified for its new role.

The plans are due to go before city planners tomorrow. Swansea Council officers are recommending approval of the plans.

SOURCE


This is the second report from Britian of a church being converted to a mosque. 2 months ago I reported that St Matthews church was being converted to a mosque as well. I believe this is just further evidence of the Islamification of Europe.

technorati tags: britian, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad

Radical Muslim has written about a demonstration that will take place June 15. Here are the details:

O Muslims! do your duty and rise up against oppression.

Demonstrate on 15th of June and end the slience! Come out and speak out, condemn the oppression we face. Respond to the call of Allah and the Messenger.

Britain has always claimed that she is a free state; the real story is that there is no freedom and no justice for the Muslims. The British Empire was built on the oppression of Muslims and indeed non-Muslims, destroying the Islamic State, kicking the Muslims out of Palestine and forming the Pirate State of Israel are just some of its crimes against the Muslims. This humiliation continues today not only at home but wherever the Muslims are.

Occupation of Muslim Land: They call it liberation and freedom, we call it occupation and domination! Britain is the key ally for America and together they have invaded Iraq and Afghanistan and murdered hundreds of thousands of innocent Muslims. They have raped our women, murdered our fathers and orphaned our children. First they starve us then they bomb our towns and cities. They arrest and torture our men and boys not even the elderly are spared.

Police Raids: Since September 11th more and more Muslim homes have been raided. It’s not ‘if’ but ‘when’ the Muslim will get raided. Our houses are broken into, doors smashed in, our wives and mothers are manhandled and our children terrorised, screaming with fear as daddy is arrested. The police can do as they please, they can humiliate, beat the Muslim and even shoot them, all safe in the knowledge that Tony Blair will support them, no matter what they do.

Attack on the Veil: You can walk down the street in this land with next to no clothes on, they will call that freedom, but if a Muslim sister wants to wear the veil she is seen as ‘threatening’. Jack Straw removed his veil and showed his true hatred towards Islam and the Muslims when he demanded Muslim sisters remove their veils.

Terror Laws: The government invents a law every other week aimed at putting fear in the hearts of the Muslims, some are even tailor made for particular sheikhs or activists. With these laws the government hopes the Muslims will abandon their support for the Muslims, they hope to stop us standing against Western Terrorism and they hope we will give up our religion. So who are the terrorists? Are they the Muslims who defend their lands and protect their women and children or are they the British who occupy the lands of others?

Media Crusade: Radio, TV, Newspapers and the Internet are all guilty of depicting the Muslims as barbaric blood thirsty terrorists. The truth is that the Muslims are a peaceful community who have lived in this country and had a massive positive impact on it. Whenever a Muslims is arrested or put on trial the media cook a new even more exaggerated story and create a witch hunt and frenzy in which the only verdict for the Muslim is guilty! Today whenever the word Islam or Muslim is mentioned the people think terrorist!

Insulting the Messenger Muhammad (saw): If a celebrity is insulted because of her race the whole world is in uproar, sponsors withdraw their support, there’s a police enquiry, the behaviour is seen to be unacceptable. But if one fifth of the world’s population is offended by the cartoon caricatures of the Messenger Muhammad (saw), this is seen to be quite alright! Rather than punish the perpetrators of this sick joke, the Muslims who peacefully demonstrated against the cartoon were arrested and punished, what was their crime? Answer. Incitement to racial hatred (i.e. insulting the Danes)!

Spying on Muslims: It is not enough that Muslims are spied upon by every government, now John Reid (the Home Secretary) wants us to spy on our children, he wants us to make sure they are not showing any strange behaviour, like coming home late at night (after Ishaa prayer) or leaving early in the morning (at Fajr prayer) or growing a beard or practising Islam or having friends that practise Islam…. . What if John Reid visited the temples of the Hindus and Sikhs or the churches, would he be offering the same advice to their parents?

Torture and Killing: When Britain demanded the release of 15 Navy hostages held by Iran they forgot to mention the hostages held by America in Guantanamo bay. It is about time the Muslims demanded the release of the thousands of innocent Muslim hostages held in countries all over the world.

The Messenger Muhammad (saw) faced oppression and suffering at the hands of the Quraish, his companions faced persecution and constant onslaught but they were never silenced, indeed throughout Muslim history the Muslims have been persecuted but they were never silenced, hence even today, against continuous attack, we will not be silenced!

“The believers, men and women, are Awliyah (helpers, supporters, protectors) of one another; they command good (justice) and forbid evil (oppression)…” (Tawbah 9:71)

They have setup a website with information about the protest at: http://www.britishoppression.com/
You can also download a pdf of the poster promoting the event here.

Captives Uk is also promoting this event.

technorati tags: britian, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad

Yala, Thailand - Suspected Thai separatists on Tuesday killed a man and burned his body and then let off a bomb when police inspected the scene, injuring four, including one foreign photographer, police said.

Police in Yala, 760 kilometres south of Bangkok, were alerted to the slaying of an unknown Thai man, whose body was burned beyond recognition, at about 6:30 am.

When they arrived at the scene a bomb exploded on the roadside, slightly injuring three police men and Australian photographer Philip Blenkinsop.

'We were lucky that there were no scraps of metal in the bomb,' said Yala Police Lieutenant Colonel Salawudh Wongderm.

Blenkinsop, a World Press Photo winner, was only slightly injured by the explosion.

It was the latest terrorist act in Thailand's violence-plagued deep South, a majority Muslim region that comprises Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces, all of which border Malaysia.

SOURCE

technorati tags: thailand, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad

WASHINGTON: One in four younger U.S. Muslims say suicide bombings to defend their religion are acceptable at least in some circumstances, though most Muslim Americans overwhelmingly reject the tactic and are critical of Islamic extremism and al-Qaida, a poll says.

The survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, one of the most exhaustive ever of the country's Muslims, revealed a community that in many ways blends comfortably into society. Its largely mainstream members express nearly as much happiness with their lives and communities as the general public does, show a broad willingness to adopt American customs, and have income and education levels similar to others in the U.S.

Even so, the survey revealed noteworthy pockets of discontent.

While nearly 80 percent of U.S. Muslims say suicide bombings of civilians to defend Islam cannot be justified, 13 percent say they can be, at least rarely.

That sentiment is strongest among those younger than 30. Two percent of them say it can often be justified, 13 percent say sometimes and 11 percent say rarely.

[...]

In other findings:

_Only 5 percent of U.S. Muslims expressed favorable views of the terrorist group al-Qaida, though about a fourth did not express an opinion.

_Six in 10 said they are concerned about a rise in Islamic extremism in the U.S., while three in four expressed similar worries about extremism around the world.

_One in four consider the U.S. fight against terrorism a sincere attempt to curtail international terror. Only 40 percent said they believe Arab men carried out the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

_By six to one, they say the U.S. was wrong to invade Iraq, while a third say the same about Afghanistan — far deeper than the opposition expressed by the general U.S. public.

_Just over half said it has been harder being a U.S. Muslim since the 9/11 attacks, especially the better educated, better paid, more religious and young. Nearly a third of those who flew in the past year say they underwent extra screening because they are Muslim.

The survey estimates there are roughly 2.35 million Muslim Americans. It found that among adults, two-thirds are from abroad while a fifth are U.S.-born blacks.

SOURCE

I find it funny that this article says ONLY 5 percent of American Muslims express a favorable view of al-Qaida. Well 5 percent of 2 million people is over 100000 people! Is that really a small problem?

Not to mention the fact that 60 percent of Muslims believe that it was not Arab men that were responsible for 9/11.

technorati tags: islam, muslim, muslims, jihad, islamic,

In a report released last month, the United Nations said so-called honor killings of women were on the rise in Iraq. In January and February alone, according to the report, at least 40 women had been killed for alleged "immoral conduct," which can range from sitting in a car with a man who is not a relative to adultery.

Unlike Aswad's death, none was known to have caused revenge attacks.

Two weeks after the April 7 stoning, gunmen dragged more than 20 Yazidi men off a bus in the northern city of Mosul, about 20 miles south of Bashiqa, lined them up against a wall and gunned them down. The next day, a Sunni insurgent group linked to Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for a car bombing that targeted the offices of a Kurdish political party in northern Iraq, saying it was to avenge the death of Aswad.

"We are expecting more violence, but we already have paid the price," said Mahama Shangali, a Yazidi member of parliament.

Shangali said three of his cousins had been killed recently in Mosul, home to a large Yazidi community. Edan Ashaik, a Yazidi living in Mosul, said that in the past month followers of the sect had been warned by Arabs to leave the city. Yazidi college students have fled the university there for fear of being attacked.

"I have to repeat my courses next year or go in disguise to take the exams," said Amal Jibor, a 23-year-old would-be university graduate who said she and her family had left Mosul and were living with relatives in a cramped house in Bashiqa. Jibor said most Yazidis opposed the stoning death, but she echoed the politicians' view that the case is being exploited.

"It was an ordinary problem, but it was made use of and was fabricated into a political cause," Jibor said.

SOURCE

technorati tags: islam, muslim, muslims, jihad, islamic, iraq

ISLAMABAD, 22 May 2007 (IRIN) - Christians living in the town of Charsadda, in Pakistan's conservative North West Frontier Province (NWFP) along the border with Afghanistan, have renewed calls for greater security after a second ultimatum for them to convert to Islam or be killed.

"We as members of the Christian community are very much concerned about our safety and security," Shambaz Bhatti, president of the All-Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), a local advocacy group for religious freedom and other human rights in Pakistan, told IRIN in the capital, Islamabad, on Monday.

"Islamic extremism is on the rise in Pakistan," Bhatti said.

His comments come five days after a second warning issued in Charsadda - this time on a wall opposite one of the two churches in the town - demanding that the community's 500 Christian residents convert to Islam within 10 days or face death.

[...]

Meanwhile, Islamic radicals in NWFP are continuing a sustained campaign to prevent "anti-Islamic" activities in the area. They want a ban on western music and films, as well as the trimming of men's beards.

Christianity was mainly brought to what today is Pakistan by the British rulers of India in the 18th and 19th centuries. Many Christians living in Pakistan migrated from India before partition. Christians in Punjab and Sindh after 1945 were active supporters of the Muslim League of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, according to historians.

Pakistan's two million plus Christian community has long complained of discrimination, including in terms of employment opportunities, and has often found itself on the receiving end of threats, particularly after 9/11, when the Musharraf government aligned itself with Washington in its war against "terror".

SOURCE

technorati tags: pakistan, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad

A festival due to be held in Paris this weekend to celebrate American music and culture has been called off after death threats from an anti-US group claiming links to al-Qaida.

Organisers of the Three Days in America festival said the decision to postpone the event — also aimed at demonstrating "Franco-American friendship" — was taken to safeguard the public.

The death threats, along with warnings suggesting that the event itself might be attacked, were made in anonymous telephone calls and an apparently badly written letter containing numerous spelling mistakes.

SOURCE

technorati tags: islam, muslim, muslims, jihad, islamic, france

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Suspected Islamic militants blew up a music shop in a grenade attack on the interior minister's village in northwestern Pakistan, police said Tuesday.

The shop, which sold local and foreign music, was destroyed in the attack late Monday in Sherpao village, 25 kilometers (16 miles) outside Peshawar, senior police officer Feroz Shah said.

The village is named after the clan of interior minister Aftab Sherpao, who frequently returns to his ancestral home.

Shah said that two militants on a bicycle lobbed a hand grenade into the Wahab Music Center and fled. A police squad on motorcycles chased and arrested one man, while the other escaped.

A dental clinic and a computer business were also damaged in the blast, he added.

Sherpao survived a major suicide attack in a nearby village in April in which 29 people were killed. He suffered injuries to his ear, leg, and hands in the bombing.

Traders in the local town of Charsada earlier said that they had been warned to stop selling music and video compact discs because pro-Taliban Islamists considered them to be repugnant to the teachings of Islam.

Islamic militancy is spreading in the deeply-conservative North West Frontier Province, which borders Afghanistan.

SOURCE

As I have pointed out before this is not an isolated event. This has been happening continuely in Pakistan as well as other countries.

Previous Stories on bombings of music shops and internet cafes:

Pakistan: CD Shops Continue To Be Threatened By Islamic Radicals

Pakistan:Taliban blows up video shops

Morocco: Suicide bomber strikes internet cafe

Israel: Islamist Target Music Shops And Internet Cafes

Pakistan: Islamist Blow Up 20 Music Shops

Male and female police officers clashed with women who were not dressed according to the Islamic dress code.

The clashes, which took place at Haft Tir Square in Tehran, came during the current Iranian security forces campaign to enforce the dress code.

One girl who refused to get into the police car was beaten by police, and removed from the area by civilians who were called to the scene.

SOURCE

(Hat Tip LGF)

Gateway Pundit has more on this as well as reaction from the Iranian blogosphere. How sad it is that this story will probably hardly get any attention from the main stream media.

technorati tags: iran, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad

Iran's intelligence ministry has charged a prominent Iranian-American academic with trying to overthrow the country's Islamic system of government.

Haleh Esfandiari, who works for a research institute in Washington, was detained in Tehran earlier this month.

Mrs Esfandiari had gone to Iran in December, but was not able to leave after her passport was stolen.

Her husband has told the BBC that she was only involved in innocent academic activities such as conferences.

The US government described the charges as "silly" and "outrageous" and called for her immediate release.

SOURCE

technorati tags: islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad, iran

Iran is secretly forging ties with al-Qaida elements and Sunni Arab militias in Iraq in preparation for a summer showdown with coalition forces intended to tip a wavering US Congress into voting for full military withdrawal, US officials say.

"Iran is fighting a proxy war in Iraq and it's a very dangerous course for them to be following. They are already committing daily acts of war against US and British forces," a senior US official in Baghdad warned. "They [Iran] are behind a lot of high-profile attacks meant to undermine US will and British will, such as the rocket attacks on Basra palace and the Green Zone [in Baghdad]. The attacks are directed by the Revolutionary Guard who are connected right to the top [of the Iranian government]."

The official said US commanders were bracing for a nationwide, Iranian-orchestrated summer offensive, linking al-Qaida and Sunni insurgents to Tehran's Shia militia allies, that Iran hoped would trigger a political mutiny in Washington and a US retreat. "We expect that al-Qaida and Iran will both attempt to increase the propaganda and increase the violence prior to Petraeus's report in September [when the US commander General David Petraeus will report to Congress on President George Bush's controversial, six-month security "surge" of 30,000 troop reinforcements]," the official said.

"Certainly it [the violence] is going to pick up from their side. There is significant latent capability in Iraq, especially Iranian-sponsored capability. They can turn it up whenever they want. You can see that from the pre-positioning that's been going on and the huge stockpiles of Iranian weapons that we've turned up in the last couple of months. The relationships between Iran and groups like al-Qaida are very fluid," the official said.

SOURCE

How long is it going to take before we do something about Iran?

technorati tags: islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad, iran

CAIRO'S al-Azhar Islamic University has suspended a lecturer who suggested men and women work colleagues could use symbolic breastfeeding to get around a religious ban on being alone together.

The lecturer, Ezzat Atiya, had drawn on Islamic traditions that forbid sexual relations between a man and a woman who has breastfed him to suggest that symbolic breastfeeding could be a way around strict segregation of males and females.

But after controversy in the Egyptian and Middle East media, university president Ahmed el-Tayeb suspended Mr Atiya overnight pending an urgent investigation into his opinions, the Egyptian state news agency MENA reported.

Mr Atiya is the head of the department that deals with sayings of the Prophet Muhammad and the university is part of the al-Azhar institute, one of the most prestigious in Sunni Islam.

Mr Atiya's unusual opinion was widely publicised by Arabic-language satellite television channels and featured in a discussion in the Egyptian parliament.

The Dubai-based channel Al Arabiya quoted him as saying after five breastfeedings the man and woman could be alone together without violating Islamic law and the woman could remove her headscarf to reveal her hair.

But a committee from al-Azhar said his proposal contradicted the principles of Islam and of morality.

Mr Atiya had said he had drawn on medieval scholarship to justify his position. The opposition party newspaper al-Ahrar overnight quoted him as saying he retracted his views because they were based on the opinions of a minority of scholars.

SOURCE

Its pretty bad when you gotta turn to breast feeding just for it to be "moral" to be alone with a woman.

I also found where Muslims where debating this issue on Belief Net and on Yahoo Answers

Many of them give Hadith to back up this claim. Though this is not a widespread belief to my knowledge this is a new one on me. Some Muslims actually believe that if a woman breast feeds a man that it makes it ok for them to be alone. My question is if they aren't supposed to be alone until after the breast feeding does she have to do this in front of other people? This is very bizarre.

UPDATE: Apparently the lecturer has taken back his statement now. This from The Middle East Times:

In his retraction, Attia said the fatwa had been a result of his personal analysis of Islamic texts and was in fact "a bad interpretation of a particular case" during the time of Prophet Mohammed.

According to Mabruk Attia, a professor of theology at Al Azhar, the Prophet had advised a woman to nurse her adult adopted son, to become his wet nurse, following an Islamic ban on adoption.

technorati tags: egypt, islam, islamic, muslim, muslims, jihad