Report: Karzai in favor of official Taliban presence in Turkey

You may want to read this one sitting down. "Report: Karzai open to Taliban setting up office in Turkey," from CNN, December 25:

(CNN) -- Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said Friday that he'd welcome a Taliban office opening in Turkey, that country's state-run news agency reported, adding that such a development could help peace talks in his war-torn nation.

Karzai made his remarks during a joint press conference with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, following a meeting of the three leaders at Istanbul's Ciragan Palace.

The Afghan president acknowledged that there have been discussions about Taliban officials setting up somewhere in Turkey "in order to facilitate reconciliation and integration," according to the Turkish news agency Anadolu.

"If Turkey can be kind to provide such a venue we, the government of Afghanistan will be pleased and happy to see that facilitation (in) Turkey," said Karzai.

The president referenced an article published earlier this week in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, in which former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan Mullah Zaeef said that having the Taliban set up an office in a neutral country may help bring about peace.

Zaeef -- who served time in the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and is now living openly in Kabul -- suggested that a country like the United Arab Emirates, "which is not interested in interfering in Afghanistan like Pakistan or China," would be a good option.

While not an official representative of the Taliban, the former ambassador did attend a meeting in October involving political figures from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Farouq Wardak, Afghanistan's education minister, then said that Kabul was ready to enter a "new phase" in building bridges and making peace with the Taliban.

Posted by Marisol on December 25, 2010 8:41 AM

Saudi King floats idea of moving Ground Zero mega-mosque to "less controversial Manhattan location"

Pamela Geller, who is quoted in this article, explains here why this is an offer free people should view with skepticism: "The Saudi offer rings hollow -- particularly after the Wikileak bombshell -- the Saudis are the 'chief funders of al-Qaeda.' And the Saudis are funding over 80% of the mosque building in America. And the Saudis have been spreading 'pure Islam' for decades. And the Saudis fund Hamas groups like CAIR."

"King mulls hospital site for mosque: Ground zero spurs protests," by David Eldridge for The Washington Times, December 19 (thanks to all who sent this in):

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, in an effort to quiet criticism of Muslims in the U.S., is quietly looking into moving the ground zero mosque to a less controversial Manhattan location, according to news reports Sunday.

New York City attorney Dudley Gaffin has contacted officials about the Saudi royal family's interest in moving the mosque from its site, two blocks from the former World Trade Center and within the damage zone on Sept. 11, 2001, to the shuttered St. Vincent's hospital campus in the West Village, the New York Post and other news organizations reported Sunday. [...]

The 87-year-old Abdullah has said previously he would not get involved with the ground zero mosque, but the project's biggest proponents, developer Sharif El-Gamal and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, are actively seeking funding for the project.

The Post reported that the Saudis see funding and moving the mosque project as a way to address concerns and highlight Muslim philanthropy.

The developers of Park51, the proposed Muslim community center and mosque, this month applied for $5 million in grants from a federal fund set up to aid redevelopment of the Sept. 11 attack area.

Mr. El-Gamal has said fundraising for the project is in the initial phases and is on schedule and expects construction to begin within three years, but the developer has been fighting off lawsuits for nonpayment of debt.

Pamela Geller, a blogger who has emerged as one of the leaders of the groups protesting the proposed Muslim mosque and community center, told The Washington Times that opposition to the project has not died down.

"The very idea that they would apply for $5 million from 9/11 funds is really outrageous," she said.

If the project is completed at the Lower Manhattan site, two blocks from ground zero, the mosque will represent a victory for the terrorists, she said.

"They will have stolen something sacred from the American people. Whenever someone mentions 'ground zero,' it will mean the mosque, not the site where thousands of innocent people lost their lives," she said.

"If the mosque is about healing, if that is true, we implore the imam to move it," she said. "This issue is not going to go away."

Mr. Rauf, who has been the target of some of the harshest criticism, announced last week a nationwide speaking tour on behalf of the project.

"We must retake the discourse among religions and cultures from the hands of the extremists around the world who benefit from hatred and violence," the imam said.

The imam feels that "he is in a position where his voice is being heard," said spokesman Gene Grabowski, adding that Mr. Rauf has been invited to speak on several college campuses, including Harvard and Yale universities....

Of course. What would you expect? 

Posted by Robert on December 19, 2010 7:19 PM

UK: Muslim group launches "Christmas is evil" poster campaign

Christmas: does it make you think of STD's, rape, teenage pregnancy, abortion? Me either. Islamic Tolerance Alert from Absurd Britannia: "'Christmas is evil': Muslim group launches poster campaign against festive period," from the Daily Mail, December 22 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

Fanatics from a banned Islamic hate group have launched a nationwide poster campaign denouncing Christmas as evil. Organisers plan to put up thousands of placards around the UK claiming the season of goodwill is responsible for rape, teenage pregnancies, abortion, promiscuity, crime and paedophilia.
They hope the campaign will help 'destroy Christmas' in this country and lead to Britons converting to Islam instead....
The placards, which have already appeared in parts of London, feature an apparently festive scene with an image of the Star of Bethlehem over a Christmas tree.
But under a banner announcing 'the evils of Christmas' it features a message mocking the song the 12 Days of Christmas.
It reads: 'On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me an STD (sexually transmitted disease).
'On the second day debt, on the third rape, the fourth teenage pregnancies and then there was abortion.'
According to the posters, Christmas is also to responsible for paganism, domestic violence, homelessness, vandalism, alcohol and drugs.
Another offence of Christmas, it proclaims, is 'claiming God has a son'.
The bottom of the poster declares: 'In Islam we are protected from all of these evils. We have marriage, family, honour, dignity, security, rights for man, woman and child.'...

Yes, dignity for women and non-Muslims, as long as they know their place.

Posted by Robert on December 22, 2010 9:59 AM

"We are afraid for our sons and our children. There is no life in Baghdad for the Christians."

The jihad persecution of Christians in Iraq continues to go largely unnoticed by human rights organizations and international bodies that are supposed to be trying to protect people who are threatened. "Iraqi Christians get set for a grim Christmas," by Rebecca Santana for the Associated Press, December 19 (thanks to all who sent this in):

IRBIL, Iraq-- They saw their brethren murdered during Mass and then were bombed in their homes as they mourned. Al-Qaida vowed to hunt them down. Now the Christian community of Iraq, almost as old as the religion itself, is sensing a clear message: It is time to leave.

And why? Because the international community has abandoned them. No one cares. To care about their predicament in Iraq would be "Islamophobic."

Since the Oct. 31 bloodbath in their Baghdad church, Iraqi Christians have been fleeing Sunni Muslim extremists who view them as nonbelievers and agents of the West. At a time when Christians in various parts of the Muslim world are feeling pressured, Iraqi Christians are approaching their grimmest Christmas since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 and wondering if they have any future in their native land. They have suffered repeated violence and harassment since 2003, when the interreligious peace rigidly enforced by Saddam Hussein fell apart. But the attack on Our Lady of Salvation in which 68 people died appears to have been a tipping point that has driven many to flee northward to the Kurdish enclave while seeking asylum in the U.S. and elsewhere.
'We are afraid'
What seemed different this time was the way the gunmen brazenly barged onto sacred ground, the subsequent targeting of homes by bombers who clearly knew every Christian address, and the Internet posting in which al-Qaida-linked militants took responsibility for the church attack and vowed a campaign of violence against Christians wherever they are.
Ban Daub, 51, narrowly survived the onslaught. She and her nephew were at prayer when they heard explosions. They escaped before five attackers stormed in, but many of their friends did not. A neighbor died clutching his son and daughter in his arms.
Days later a string of bombs went off outside Christian homes across Baghdad. Daub and her family packed a few belongings and headed to a Christian district called Ainkawa in this Kurdish city of Irbil.
"We are afraid for our sons and our children. There is no life in Baghdad for the Christians," she says....
In the Middle East and in Muslim countries beyond, Christians are finding themselves subject to violence and harassment. The Vatican is so worried that it hosted a two-week meeting of Mideast bishops this fall, dedicated to supporting Christian minorities....

Posted by Robert on December 20, 2010 6:49 AM

Protester killed as Egypt Christians clash with police

 Protester killed as Egypt Christians clash with police

By Samer al-Atrush (AFP) – Nov 24, 2010

CAIRO — One demonstrator was killed and dozens injured on Wednesday as Christian protesters clashed with Egyptian police over the refusal of permission for a new church, a security official said.

The clashes came amid mounting sectarian tensions in the Arab world's most populous nation after Muslims set fire to homes owned by the family of a Christian man rumoured to have flirted with a Muslim girl in the south.

A security official told AFP that a young male demonstrator was killed during the protests over the church and that a senior police officer was among the injured.

A crowd of around 150 people had clashed sporadically with police through the morning in the Talibiya district of the capital Cairo, with demonstrators throwing stones and Molotov cocktails, and the police responding with tear gas.

Several police and 12 soldiers were injured in the clashes as well as around 15 demonstrators.

Some of the protesters were led away with blood on their faces, after police hurled rocks at them from a bridge, the security official said, adding that more than 20 people were arrested.

He identified the dead man as Makarios Jad Shukr, 19. Witnesses said he was shot at around 6:30 am (0430 GMT) as demonstrators tried to approach the proposed site of the new church.

"People here feel very discriminated against. We can't build the church -- why are they stopping us?" asked Samih Rashid.

"Every street has a mosque, every church has a mosque next to it," he complained.

More than 20 young Muslim men shouting anti-Coptic slogans threw rocks at the demonstrators under a bridge on the ringroad where some of the police fired tear gas at the Copts.

"This is the way the government starts sectarian strife," said one of the demonstrators, who were heard chanting: "With our blood and with our souls we will sacrifice our lives for you, oh Cross."

They were protesting against the government's decision not to allow the Copts to turn a community centre that they were building into a church, with witnesses saying construction workers had been arrested on their way to the site.

Copts account for between six and 10 percent of Egypt's 80 million population and complain of systematic discrimination and marginalisation.

Non-Muslims are required to obtain a presidential decree to construct new religious buildings and must satisfy numerous conditions before permission is granted, in contrast to the ease with which mosques can be built.

The clashes took place just days before Egypt is to go to the polls for a parliamentary election, which is expected to return the ruling National Democratic Party to power.

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

 http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i8m4SrBZZ_k5oymqygfqDypiWaaQ?docId=CNG.38e1dc44f823cc3b1c8604ec5f26e3b0.2f1

Two Christian Brothers Gunned Down...

 

Police: 2 Christian brothers shot, killed in Iraq

By HAMID AHMED

The Associated Press
Monday, November 22, 2010; 8:41 AM 



BAGHDAD -- Gunmen shot and killed two Christian brothers Monday in a northern Iraqi city in the latest in a spate of attacks targeting the religious minority, Iraqi police said.
Christians have been fleeing Iraq amid a series of attacks against them by militants who have vowed a campaign of violence against the country's Christian minority.

In the most serious attack, 68 people died after a group of militants with explosives strapped to their bodies held about 120 people hostage in a Baghdad church last month before Iraqi authorities stormed the building.

Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) north of Baghdad is home to a sizable Christian population that has repeatedly come under attack from Sunni militants who view Christians as nonbelievers.

Brothers Saad and Raad Hannah were working in their auto mechanic shop in Mosul when gunmen burst in and shot them dead before fleeing, police said. A local hospital worker confirmed the deaths. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. 

Last week, two Christians in Mosul were sitting in their living room when gunmen burst into the house and shot them. That same night a house belonging to a Christian family in a different neighborhood of the city was also bombed, although no one was killed in that incident.

Earlier this month, five people were killed during a series of coordinated bombings targeting Christian homes and neighborhoods in Baghdad. Those attacks came after Iraqi authorities beefed up security at churches across Baghdad in response to the hostage crisis.

The attacks against Christians have drawn international condemnation, and some countries in Europe have flown Christians wounded in the church attack out of Iraq for medical treatment. But Iraqi church officials have also pleaded with the Christian minority to not be driven out of their homeland.

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/22/AR2010112201948.html?nav=ft_world

Christian Faces Death Penalty for Leaving Islam...

Afghan Christian faces trial for alleged conversion from Islam

 

From Matiullah Mati for CNN:
An Afghan Christian, detained for months for allegedly converting to Christianity from Islam, could face trial as early as next week - and could face a potential death penalty, officials said Sunday.
Said Musa was arrested by Afghan Interior Ministry intelligence authorities near the German Embassy in Kabul because of the allegations, said Qamaruddin Shenwari, director of the Kabul courts' north zone. The exact date of his arrest is not known.
The case against Musa has not yet been finalized, said Mohammad Najim Hamidi, director of public security at Zone 3 of the Kabul courts. He could face trial next week if the case is prepared by then, Hamidi said. It was earlier thought Musa's trial would begin on Sunday.
The Afghan Constitution does not mention converting from one religion to another, so the judge will take Islamic law into account, officials said.
"According to Afghanistan's constitution, if there is no clear verdict as to whether an act is criminal or not in the penal code of the Afghan Constitution, then it would be referred to sharia law where the judge has an open hand in reaching a verdict," Shenwari said.
Under sharia law, converting from Islam to Christianity is punishable by death.
It was not immediately clear where Musa was being held and whether he has access to his attorney or relatives.
The U.S. State Department said last week in its annual International Religious Freedom Report that "respect for religious freedom" decreased in Afghanistan in the last year, "particularly toward Christian groups and individuals."
Christians, Hindus and Sikhs - as well as Muslims whose practices don't satisfy the government or society - suffer "intolerance in the form of harassment, occasional violence, discrimination and inflammatory public statements," the report said. It estimated the Afghan Christian community ranges from 500 to 8,000 people.

Posted by: The Editors - CNN Belief Blog
Filed under: Afghanistan • Christianity • Islam

Dutch Muslims Slaughter 100,000 Animals for Eid...Dutch Muslims Slaughter 100,000 Animals for Eid...

Netherland Muslims slaughtered 100,000 animals for Eid ul-Adha

Around 95,000 sheep and about 4,000 cows were slaughtered this year in the Netherlands (NL) in honor of Eid ul-Adha.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Around 95,000 sheep and about 4,000 cows were slaughtered this year in the Netherlands (NL) in honor of Eid ul-Adha. In general the rules for slaughtering and transporting the animals were observed, reports the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority.

Slaughterhouses had a veterinarian present during the Muslim holiday, to check for any violations of the law. In some slaughterhouses, people who nicked the neck before slaughter were sent away since they didn't seem to be skilled enough.

In some cattle slaughterhouses there were problems with the timing mechanism which ensures that the animals were fully dead. Those animals had been stunned. In some cases the animals weren't transported by the rules and the drivers were fined.

--------------

The Alderman for Diversity in Antwerp (Belgium), Monica De Coninck, reported that fewer sheep were slaughtered (NL) in the city this year. Muslims in the city could slaughter their sheep in three slaughterhouses, one which was set up for the occasion. Altogether, 3,670 were slaughtered, 334 fewer than last year. Abdellatif Akhandaf of the municipality says that it's possible that people slaughtered their sheep elsewhere, and that there are now more alternatives for slaughtering one's sheep. One such alternative is a gift. The city encourages this option in its contacts with the Muslim community.

Ghent also offered a regular slaughterhouse (150 sheep slaughtered) or a "do-it-yourself" area (1200 sheep slaughtered). Slightly more sheep were slaughtered in the city this year.

In Brussels, Perrine Marchal of the municipality, reports they see an increasing demand every year. Four years ago 300 sheep were slaughtered and this year there were 548. They think that it's because people don't slaughter at home as much.

End item/ 129

 http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=214020

Swedish Muslim Carries out Suicide Bombing in Iraq…

Posted by ZIP on Saturday, November 20, 2010, at 3:28 PM

Exploding with love for the “prophet”…

(Stockholm News)- The Swedish 36-year-old went to Iraq – to die as a martyr for the terrorist group The Islamic State of Iraq. In the city of Mosul, he blew himself up and killed several people. Back home in Sweden he left his wife and four children.

Information about the man was published on a Internet forum used by the terrorist network Al Qaeda, writes the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten. Also on other forums there are details on the 36-year-old, a Swedish citizen written on an address in a Stockholm suburb.

The man was born in 1974 in Tunisia and came to Sweden in 2000. The year before he married his Swedish wife abroad. In 2003 he became a Swedish citizen and started up a cleaning business which he ran until 2005.

According to newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, in 2008, he enlisted for The Islamic State of Iraq, a terrorist group supported by Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

In 2010, in the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, the father of four blew himself up in a suicide bomb attack which killed and injured several Iraqi policemen. The exact date is unclear.

He is now hailed as a martyr and hero for this deed on Islamic websites.

Back home in Sweden lives his wife and young children. His wife knew that her husband was in Iraq to fight in the war, she tells newspaper Expressen.

She was told that her man had died over the telephone.

“There was a man who called me. He said very short: ‘Your husband is dead. He has become a martyr.’ And hung up,” she told the newspaper.

“What he has done is right. I’m proud of him.”

http://weaselzippers.us/2010/11/20/swedish-muslim-carries-out-suicide-bombing-in-iraq/

Wife of jihadist who threatened South Park creators pleads guilty to lying to investigators

War Is Deceit, after all. "Wife of terrorism convict pleads guilty; will have to leave U.S.," by Carol Cratty for CNN, November 8:

Alexandria, Virginia (CNN) -- The Ugandan wife of an American-born man who pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists entered her own guilty plea on Monday. Proscovia Kampire Nzabanita, dressed head-to-toe in conservative Muslim dress with her face covered, pleaded guilty to making a false statement when questioned by a federal investigator about her husband, Zachary Chesser.
Chesser, 20, was accused of posting an online attack against the creators of the animated TV series "South Park" due to the program's depiction of the Prophet Mohammed.
On October 20, Chesser agreed to plead guilty to the terrorist support charge, as well as charges of communicating threats and soliciting crimes of violence. He will be sentenced in January, and is expected to receive a sentence of at least 20 years in prison....
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's office for the Eastern District of Virginia, Nzabanita will serve no prison time but must leave the United States within 120 days and give up her legal status.
Federal Judge Gerald Bruce Lee allowed Nzabanita to remain free on bail of $250,000 and ordered that she reside with her mother as her guardian until the sentencing....

Good thing the judge is so security-minded.

In her plea agreement, Nzabanita admitted she lied in that interview by saying Chesser had attempted to fly to Uganda on July 10 to retriever her birth certificate, according to the news release. In reality, Chesser planned to ultimately make his way to Somalia to help the terrorist group al-Shabaab, the news release said.... Prosecutors also said Chesser, of Fairfax County, Virginia, had exchanged e-mails with Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, whose name has been linked to an attack and an attempted attack on the United States.

Posted by Robert on November 9, 2010 4:46 AM

Here's a new one: "Obama is a Jew"

Because, you see, he "leads a country that is an enemy to Muslims," so what else could he be? The Jews are the Muslims' worst enemies, according to Qur'an 5:82.
Also, the Islamic supremacist Ground Zero mosque Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is in Jakarta, talking about how Obama's visit to Indonesia would help, the Globe's words, "change negative perceptions of Islam." How? And why not work on changing negative perceptions of Islam by working to reform the texts and teachings of Islam that jihadists use to justify violence and supremacism?
"Hardline Group Plans Widespread Indonesian Protests Over Obama Visit," by Ulma Haryanto, Fitri and Rahmat in the Jakarta Globe, November 7 (thanks to Her Royal Whyness):

Jakarta. One of the country's most conservative hard-line Islamic groups has lashed out against the upcoming visit by the "cruel" US President Barack Obama, despite most commentators viewing it as an embrace of the Muslim world. On Saturday and Sunday, there were rallies organized by Hizbut Tahrir in Jakarta, Mataram in East Nusa Tenggara, and Makassar in South Sulawesi.
A spokesman for the group estimated that across the three cities 20,000 took part, while independent estimates put the Jakarta protest at about 2,000.
Ismail Yusanto, a spokesman for the group, called Obama "a cruel president, no different from [George W.] Bush, with blood on his hands, and without [showing] the slightest compassion."
He lashed out against the role he said the US played in the "destruction of Muslim countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan and the killing of the people there."
"Obama may be a guest, but there are two kinds of guests: the good kind and the problematic kind," Ismail said, adding that Obama fell in the latter category.
The hostile reaction in the run-up to the landmark visit comes amid reconciliatory moves by the White House toward Muslims following Obama's 2009 Cairo speech.
Then, he said he was seeking "a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world."
Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser for strategic communication, previously said a planned visit to Istiqlal Mosque, Indonesia's largest, would "underscore the themes that he's made in terms of outreach to [Muslims] around the world."
He said the president would also "be able to speak to Indonesia's rise as a democracy, Indonesia's rise as an emerging economy, and the pluralism that its story represents."
Similarly, Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's largest Islamic organization, said Obama's visit would strengthen ties between the United States and the Islamic world, and condemned the small groups of extremists opposed to it.
On Friday, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, founder and chief executive of the American Society for Muslim Advancement and leader of the Al-Farah Mosque in New York, said at the State Palace in Central Jakarta that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's meeting with Obama presented an opportunity to promote cooperation and change negative perceptions of Islam.
"You will have the opportunity to discuss with my president in the next few days ... how we can work together and cooperate together to create this kind of momentum -- global momentum," he said.
However, Hizbut Tahrir's Ismail said the group was determined to greet Obama with protests.
Meanwhile, in Mataram on Saturday, around 1,000 Hizbut Tahrir demonstrators protested against "US imperialism in Indonesia."
Protesters were seen holding banners that said "Obama is a Jew" -- a far cry from accusations he faces at home of being a Muslim -- and said Obama's visit will be an attempt to soften up the Indonesian authorities and boost US economic and political interests in the country and the region.
"We must remember that Obama leads a country that is an enemy to Muslims," Ismail said in Mataram.

Posted by Robert on November 8, 2010 6:53 AM

 

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/11/hardline-group-plans-widespread-indonesian.html

Al-Awlaki: Americans "party of devils," no special Islamic permission needed to kill them

Either them or us. "Radical Yemeni cleric Awlaki calls for killing of Americans," from NewsCore, November 9:

US-born radical Yemeni cleric Anwar al Awlaki has called for the killing of Americans in a new video message posted yesterday on Islamist websites. Awlaki said Americans are from the "party of devils" and that no special religious permissions are needed to kill them, the Associated Press reported.
In the 23-minute, Arabic-language message, Awlaki said it was "either them or us." [...]

Yep.

"M. [sic] Awlaki is a problem," US Homeland Security and Counterrorism Adviser John Brennan said in January. "He's clearly a part of al-Qaeda in [the] Arabian Peninsula. He's not just a cleric. He is in fact trying to instigate terrorism."...

"He's not just a cleric." In Brennan's world, if he were just a Muslim cleric, he would pose no threat, because Islam is a Religion of Peace. The policy errors to which that false assumption leads are detailed here.

Posted by Robert on November 8, 2010 6:04 AM

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/11/al-awlaki-americans-party-of-devils-no-special-islamic-permission-needed-to-kill-them.html

Nazareth imam misunderstands Islam, incites violence against Pope

You'd think an imam, a man who has dedicated his life to understanding Islam, would know what Western Islamic apologists always tell us about how it is a Religion of Peace, but that message seems to have eluded Nazim Mahmoud Salim. "Israel charges imam with incitement against Pope," from Reuters, November 7 (thanks to Anders):

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli authorities have charged the imam of a mosque in Nazareth with inciting violence against Pope Benedict and supporting al Qaeda and "global jihad," the justice ministry said Sunday. The indictment said Nazim Mahmoud Salim, who was arrested by police a month ago, led a group of about 2,000 worshippers, and had also preached at the flashpoint al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, Islam's third holiest shrine.
Salim is charged with inciting violence against Pope Benedict during his visit last year to Nazareth, the town of Jesus' boyhood in the heartland of Israel's minority Arab population.
In his sermons and on his website over the past decade, the indictment said, Salim preached "an ideological world view identical to that of global jihad" and wrote "publications that supported and identified with the terror organisation al Qaeda."
It said Salim's teachings inspired attacks against Jews and Christians, including the murder of one Jew.
At the time of Pope Benedict's visit to the Holy Land in May 2009, the indictment quotes Salim as saying in a sermon at al Aqsa: "The pope prepares himself at the gate of the Vatican and at the head of a crusade against the Islamic world ... we will expel the pope from Nazareth."...

Posted by Robert on November 7, 2010 11:05 AM

 

 

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/11/nazareth-imam-misunderstands-islam-incites-violence-against-pope.html

Religion of Peace Bloodbath as Holy Warriors Storm Church...Baghdad church hostage drama ends in bloodbath

Continue reading the main story

The gunmen had reportedly demanded the release of jailed al-Qaeda militants

Struggle for Iraq

• End to Iraq's epic journey in sight?
• US troops in Iraq combat dilemma
• Deadly attacks on Iraqi reporters
• Bittersweet memories for Iraqis

At least 52 people were killed as security forces stormed a Catholic church in Baghdad to free dozens of hostages, said Deputy Interior Minister Maj Gen Hussein Kamal.

He suggested six attackers had also died in the fighting, though other sources have said the overall death toll was lower.

Continue reading the main story

ATTACKS ON IRAQI CHRISTIANS SINCE 2003

• Aug 2004 - series of bombings targets five churches, killing 11
• October 2006 - Orthodox priest, Boulos Iskander, snatched in Mosul by group demanding ransom. Despite payment of the ransom, priest found beheaded, his arms and legs also cut off
• June 2007 - Ragheed Ganni - a priest and secretary to Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahh, killed in 2008 - shot dead in his church along with three companions
• January 2008 - Bombs go off outside three Chaldean and Assyrian churches in Mosul, two churches in Kirkuk and four in Baghdad
• February 2008 - Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahh kidnapped; body found in shallow grave two weeks later
• April 2008 - Fr Adel Youssef, an Assyrian Orthodox priest, shot dead by unknown assailants
• February 2010 - At least eight Christians die in a two-week spate of attacks in northern city of Mosul

• Eyewitness: 'Gunshots everywhere'
• In pictures: Baghdad church siege
• Iraqi Christians' long history

Pope Benedict XVI has condemned the "absurd... ferocious violence".

The gunmen had reportedly demanded the release of jailed al-Qaeda militants.

A statement was posted on a militant website allegedly run by the Islamic State of Iraq, a Sunni militant umbrella group to which al-Qaeda in Iraq belongs, claiming responsibility for the attack.

The statement reportedly said Iraqi Christians would be "exterminated" if Muslim women in Egypt were not freed. It specifically mentioned two women in Egypt who radicals believe are being held against their will after converting to Islam.

Negotiations abandoned

Residents of Baghdad's affluent Karada district, where the attack took place, first heard a loud explosion at about 1700 (1400 GMT) on Sunday, believed to have been a car bomb going off at the scene.

About 100 people were inside Our Lady of Salvation for an evening Mass at the time.

The blast was followed by gunfire as a group of armed men began by attacking the Iraq Stock Exchange building, police said, and then took over the Catholic church just across the road, clashing with guards and killing some of them.

Continue reading the main story

ANALYSIS

Jim MuirBBC News, Baghdad

There have been many attacks on Christians in Iraq since the US-led invasion of 2003, but nothing like this.

At that time there were estimated to be around one million Christians from several ancient denominations - mainly Assyrian Nestorians, Chaldaeans and Syriacs.

Their numbers are believed to have dwindled now to 600,000 or less.

Many churches have been damaged by bombs in various parts of the country where Christians live - around Mosul in the north, Baghdad, and even Basra in the south.

Christians have also been the victims of targeted killings, while priests and others have been abducted and murdered or ransomed.

The exodus of Christian emigrants has continued despite the general improvement in Iraq's security in the past three years.

The fear is that the carnage on Sunday night at the church of Our Lady of Salvation may speed up the flow of Christians seeking a better life elsewhere.

It seems the church was the attackers' real target, says the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad.

One eyewitness, who was inside the church, said the gunmen "came into the prayer hall and immediately killed the priest". The witness, who declined to give his name, said worshippers were beaten and herded into an inne hall.

There was an hours-long stand-off as security forces surrounded the building with helicopters hovering overhead.

The militants made contact with the authorities by mobile phone, demanding the release of al-Qaeda prisoners and also of a number of Muslim women they insisted were being held prisoner by the Coptic Church in Egypt.

But the discussions got nowhere, our correspondent says, and the security forces stormed the church.

Witnesses nearby said they then heard two explosions from inside the church and more shooting. The gunmen reportedly threw grenades and detonated their suicide vests.

Maj Gen Hussein Kamal said 52 "martyrs" had died in the fighting, along with six attackers, though a police source earlier said 37 people - worshippers, security forces and attackers - had been killed.

The number of wounded are put at between 56 and 62 - many of them women.

Pope Benedict XVI denounced the attack as he gave a holiday blessing on Monday. He said two priests had died in the siege, though it was unclear whether both were killed in the initial attempt to take hostages or during the raid by security services.

He said he was praying for the victims "of this absurd violence, made more ferocious because it was directed against unarmed people gathered in the house of God".

He called for a new effort to end the violence.

'Impossible to wait'

Iraqi Defence Minister Abdul-Qadr al-Obeidi said security forces approached the building at ground level and from the air.

"We took a decision to launch a land offensive, and in addition an airdrop, because it was impossible to wait - the terrorists were planning to kill a large number of our brothers, the Christians who were at Mass," said Mr Obeidi.

"So the operation was successfully done. All terrorists were killed. And we now have other suspects in detention."

Witnesses say they saw US troops on the ground and US military helicopters hovering above the scene, but the extent of their involvement is not yet clear.

Many churches have been bombed in recent years - including Our Lady of Salvation in August 2004 - and priests kidnapped and killed, but there has never been a prolonged hostage situation like this before, our correspondent says.

Christians - many from from ancient denominations - have been leaving Iraq in droves since the US-led invasion in 2003, and about 600,000 remain.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11463544

Islamic Charity to Haiti? More Mosques...Haiti: Islamic ‘Charity’ Means More Mosques

by SHEIKYERMAMI on OCTOBER 30, 2010

Nothing for nothing. The greatest  gift is Islam.

What could be more important than spreading Islam? Was there ever a better opportunity to gain new recruits before the earthquake?

Islam is a mercy to all mankind, and those who oppose it cause wars for which they are responsible.

Sharia Finance Watch via Creeping Sharia

One of the largest Islamic charities in the United States, LIFE for Relief and Development, has used the ongoing crisis in Haiti to fund mosque expansion in Haiti.

Al Fatiha Mosque in Haiti

Haiti has almost no Muslims. Even Islamic sources, which are notorious for wildly overestimating Muslim population levels, put the figure at 3,000 Muslims in the Caribbean nation out of nearly 9.9 million people. Reports indicate that as much as $3 million will be used to “renovate” 5 mosques.

“Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, La ilaha ila Allah,” — “God is greater, God is greater, there is no god but God.”

You can rest assured that “renovate” in this case does not mean fix the roof, replace the broken windows and slap a coat of paint on the walls. Renovate almost always means enlarge and it was just this type of activity that some observers warned about when Islamic charities began to move in to Haiti following the disastrous earthquake. Islamic charities have historically used such disasters to conduct missionary work and the long-term mess in Haiti seems ripe for Saudi Wahhabi money…and everything that accompanies that money…

LIFE for Relief and Development’s past is not comforting at all.

The organization was founded in 1992 to send relief to Iraq, which was then under international sanctions for its illegal invasion of Kuwait and support for terrorism, among other things.

The organization operated in Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and its operations there were raided by U.S. forces. Two years later the organization’s offices in the U.S. were raided by the FBI. Complete details and more are available at the excellent Investigative Project web site:

http://www.investigativeproject.org/626/another-ex-cair-official-in-legal-trouble

And here is the news story announcing LIFE’s mosque expansion operations in Haiti…

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/VDUX-89WSLT?OpenDocument

25 Iraqis Blown Apart at a Cafe...

Baquba, October 30, 2010




At least 25 people were killed and 75 injured when a suicide bomber targeted a crowded coffee shop late Friday in Iraq's Diyala province, police sources said. The suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden belt inside the popular coffee shop in Baquba city, some 57 km north of Baghdad.

The cafe was located in Baladruz district, where the majority of residents are Shia Kurds.

A curfew was imposed in Baladruz, police said.

Baquba, once a stronghold of Al Qaeda, is the ethnically mixed capital of Diyala, which remains one of the country's most unstable provinces.

The blast was the first major attack in Iraq in several weeks, as a seven-month political stalemate surrounding the formation of a new government has dragged on.

Both Iraqi civilians and security forces have increasingly come under attack from insurgents in recent months, with less than 50,000 US troops now stationed in the country -- their lowest level since the 2003 invasion.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/25-killed-in-Iraq-suicide-bombing/Article1-619730.aspx