Shari'a 101: Egypt impunity fuels persecution of Christians

Pope Shenouda III, the Pope of The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, waits for President Obama at Cairo University.

The terrible consequence of forced ’reconciliation’ in the absence of truth or justice

(ANS) -- Since early 2007 the Egyptian government has been appeasing Muslim fundamentalists by settling matters of sectarian conflict out of court in line with Islamic Sharia law. That prohibits Christians from bringing evidence against Muslims. The government brokers 'reconciliation' sessions where the Christians are forced to drop all the charges they are making (arson, looting, assault, kidnap, robbery, criminal damage, rioting, torture, rape, murder) in exchange for Muslim guarantees of 'peace'. This 'reconciliation' Egyptian-style emboldens belligerent Islamists by rewarding their violence with impunity. It creates a climate of terror for Christians and is fuelling escalating persecution. Over recent years Muslim pogroms have become more violent; they have attracted more participants; and they have spread from the desert villages to the suburbs of Cairo. Along with this, the Muslims are becoming more demanding. Innocent Christians are losing basic rights and even going to jail just so Muslims can be appeased.


Coptic Christian burnt alive on Egyptian streets - it was thought he may have had a liking for a Muslim girl.


A small explosive placed outside of one of Egypt's most sacred churches.


The most recent clash occurred in the village of Ezbet Boshra-East, El-Fashn -- a three-hour drive south of Cairo. Whilst there is no church building in Ezbet Boshra-East the Coptic Church does own a three-storey building there housing the priest and his family, which functions as a place of meeting. Muslims attacked the property in July 2008 in protest that Christian prayers were being conducted there without 'permission'. After that, local authorities ruled that only two visitors could enter the church property at a time. On Sunday 21 June 2009, violence erupted again after a group of 25 Christians from Cairo unknowingly violated the local decree. While six of the visitors entered the property, a Muslim crowd gathering outside harassed the other visitors, suspecting that they were meeting local Christians for prayer. A Muslim woman in the mob slapped the face of a female Christian visitor. As news spread, crowds of Muslim youths swarmed in and began throwing stones and hurling abuse. Then Coptic youths arrived and a violent altercation between the communities ensued.


A convert to Christianity - Shari'a law overrides the Egyptian constitution which ensures freedom of religion - this man and his family is forced to remain a legally a Muslim.

Police charged Coptic priest Reverend Isaac Castor with sectarian sedition and detained 19 Christians while they searched and ransacked their homes. Eventually a compromise was reached between Bishop Estephanos and State Security forces: the detained Copts were released (some with broken bones) in exchange for an agreement that the Copts would stop praying in the property. According to Mary Abdelmassih, a correspondent with the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA), local Muslims were ecstatic that the Copts would be prohibited from praying in the premises. She quotes Lawyer Makkar Watany who lives in the village: 'Muslims went out in the streets, dancing and chanting "Come to Jihad" and the "Cross is the enemy of God", with the security forces chanting along with them!' The Christians have all retreated to their homes in fear and are surviving on stockpiled food. Their crops have been razed and telecommunications have been cut.

Not only is violence against Christian individuals, churches and communities escalating dangerously, but the courts are increasingly subordinating the Constitution to Sharia law. Notably, the courts are refusing to allow Muslims the right to convert. The consequences of this are huge. A woman who is officially registered as a Muslim must by law marry a Muslim and the children of a man officially registered as a Muslim are automatically deemed Muslim by the State. The few who have courageously challenged this have been forced into hiding to preserve their lives.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT:

• the suffering of the besieged Christians of Ezbet Boshra-East will bring them closer to God as they look to him and trust in him alone; may the Spirit of God give them grace to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them (Luke 6:27-36) -- a grace beautiful to behold, that points others to Christ and is rewarded in heaven.

• the Egyptian government will realise their present policy of 'reconciliation' in the absence of justice is taking the State headlong towards destabilising and destructive conflict; may God give the government courage to stand up against the Islamists.

• the Holy Spirit will awaken Egyptians to the repressive and destructive nature of Islam and its dictators; may they 'cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors' (Isaiah 19:20 NIV), and in that day may the 'Lord make himself known to the Egyptians' (v 21).

ASSIST News Service


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Three killed as Ethiopian police stop church construction

The fact that Ethiopia refused to convert to Islam - must continue to confound its neighbours. Ethiopians having had a sound foundation in Christianity and Judaism before this - largely rejected the Islamic or Kaaba story - although European troops were once called in to help put down Islamic jihadist attacks intent on taking that country too.

Future: Islamic nations - hamstrung by religious restrictions - Ethiopia is well placed to excel in that region - if they could put an end to widespread persecution of their own people - the once famine stricken country might attract needed investment.

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Ethiopian police shot dead two people and injured six others as they blocked an attempt by Christians to build a church at a site also claimed by Muslims, a government spokesman said Wednesday.

Orthodox Christians attacked police Tuesday in Dessie area some 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of Addis Ababa when the forces tried to stop the construction.

"They stormed the place and then they started bringing materials to continue building the church unlawfully," spokesman Bereket Simon told reporters.

"Unfortunately three lives have been claimed. Two of them were killed by bullets, one of them fell off a cliff."

In 2007, around 12 people were killed in religious riots in western Ethiopia. Bereket said there has been an "upsurge of attempts" to instigate further conflict in recent months.

More attacks on Ethiopian churches
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Happy 4th July !!

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Khamenei aide: Mousavi is a 'US agent' 'must face treason trial'

Political tension in Iran following a tumultuous election ratcheted up a notch when a top aide of Iran's supreme leader called the country's main opposition figure a US agent and accused him of committing crimes against the nation in an editorial published Saturday.

The editorial represents the first time that Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was the main challenger to incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran's presidential elections on June 12, has been publicly called a US agent.

Weeks of demonstrations erupted in Iran after Mousavi lost to Ahmadinejad, claiming the election was rigged; authorities maintain that the protests were instigated by foreign elements.

Kayhan accused Mr Mousavi of "killing innocent people, inciting riots, hiring thugs to assault people, evident co-operation with foreigners and playing the part of US fifth column".

The newspaper, whose editor is appointed by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said there were "undeniable documents" proving that Mr Mousavi had links with foreign countries.

"Mousavi and Khatami should account for these horrendous crimes and evident treason in an open tribunal".

BBC

"It has to be asked whether the actions of [Mousavi and his supporters] are in response to instructions by American authorities," said Hossein Shariatmadari in an editorial appearing in the conservative daily Kayhan.

Shariatmadari, who holds no official position but is a close adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, added that Mousavi was trying to "escape punishment for murdering innocent people, holding riots, cooperating with foreigners and acting as America's fifth column inside the country."

He called for Mousavi and former reformist president Mohammad Khatami to be tried in court for "horrible crimes and treason."

The editorial added that there were "undeniable documents" proving Mousavi's foreign links.

When Iran's incumbent president was re-elected by a landslide, Mousavi and other opposition candidates cried foul sparking weeks of giant protests across the country that were eventually crushed.

Police said 20 "rioters" were killed during the violence as well as seven or eight members of the paramilitary Basij militia tasked with putting down the protests.

But the crackdown included severe limitations on press freedom, significantly against international news agencies and foreign reporters in the country. The number of dissidents killed or jailed cited by Iranian officials can therefore not be corroborated independently.

There have been no street protests since Sunday, but Mousavi has maintained his opposition to the results, issuing a defiant statement on Wednesday that he considered the government "illegitimate" in a posting on his Website, and demanded political prisoners, which he called "children of the revolution," be released.

He has been maintaining a low profile, however, and made no public appearances for days amid calls by many hard-liners [Basiji] for him to be prosecuted.

JERUSALEM POST


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Basij militiaman: 'I hoped it would never come to shooting them'

A member of pro-government militia, left, stands guard on rooftop of their base demonstrators approach near rally supporting opposition candidate Mousavi Tehran Iran Monday June 15 2009

The Basij militia has been blamed for extreme brutality in the violent aftermath of the contested June 12 election in Iran. A Basij commander, who volunteers for one of the Tehran branch of the militia, describes his account of one the bloodiest clashes, on June 20.

Iran's Basij militia is a pro-government volunteer force which comes to the aid of the regime when unrest hits the streets. It was established by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 during the Iran-Iraq war. During the last three weeks the Basij has been called upon by the government to quell the post-election protests, in which at least 20 people were reported to have been killed. The opposition says the figure is much higher.

Mehdi (not his real name) is a 39-year-old Basij commander and a former classmate of one of our Observers from Tehran (who prefers not to be mentioned). Mehdi led a mission in the city centre, close to the Tehran military base, on June 20, one of the most violent days of the clashes.

I did shoot at people myself. I am a military man I have to obey my orders. The crowd was attacking us like crazy people; throwing stones and Molotov cocktails. We had to protect ourselves; to show we were serious, and we did warn them, shouting several times, before opening fire. But they continued to attack. I don't remember who I shot, I just tried to shoot at the people's feet.
Later, we moved back and went behind the vans in middle of the street and I ordered my unit to shoot into the ground in the hope of scaring the crowds from coming closer.

I hoped it would never come to shooting them. That night, I had a nightmare in which the protestors threw me on a fire. It's come back several times, and I can see the faces of the people I was ordered to shoot. I've asked a very spiritual mullah to pray for me.

I did it for Islam but it wasn't easy to kill people. We have to remember who they are though - they're deceitful people who are against the Islamic Revolution. You can't expect us to stay calm when they want to overthrow our regime."

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'Jewish Ahmadinejad' blogger arrested

For some reason the Ahmadinejad family felt so uncomfortable with their name - that when they moved to Tehran it was switched from Saburjian [Saborjhian] ~ to Ahmadinejad - the family reportedly saying it was done for 'religious and economic reasons.'

Possible connection :: Saborjhian ~ Sabbath

The name does resemble an old Jewish name of traders from the Turkish region. Reports are also say the name or similar is used by a prominent Jewish business family in Iran.

The Iranian blogger who claimed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has Jewish roots is being detained by the authorities after he was arrested along with 150 university students earlier this week, according to sources in Teheran.

Dr. Mehdi Khazali, who reportedly participated in several recent opposition demonstrations, was reportedly summoned to a special court convened for religious figures, detained and transferred to an unknown location.

The son of a prominent, conservative pro-Ahmadinejad ayatollah, Khazali wrote on his Web site earlier this year that the president - a Holocaust denier and relentless critic of Israel - was of partially Jewish origin, asserting that Ahmadinejad had changed his family name from Saburjian, and calling for the origins of the Saburjian family in the town of Aradan to be investigated.

The assertion featured in the bitter presidential election campaign, when rival reformist candidate Mehdi Karroubi challenged Ahmadinejad in a live TV debate, reportedly stating: "My full name is Mehdi Karroubi. What is your full name?"

Ahmadinejad gave his full name, according to an Al-Arabiya TV report, but left out one surname which is said to indicate Jewish ancestry.

The "Jewish Ahmadinejad" dispute even spread beyond Iran, when Bahrain's oldest newspaper, Akhbar al-Khaleej, was briefly shut down by the governing authorities two weeks ago after it published an article recycling the claim.

Khazali, director of the Hayyan Cultural Institute in Teheran, has argued that while religion occupies an essential place in political life, too much intervention of religion in political matters is potentially dangerous for modern societies.

He recently posted a blog addressed to defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi quoting a verse from the Koran: "I am ready to give my blood, but I warn you, if you breach the trust of the nation by keeping silent, you will be held responsible..."

JERUSALEM POST


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Islamic Group OIC Silent on Tehran's Brutal Tactics, Slams Foreign ‘Interference’

The OIC's parliamentary union executive committee has rallied around Iran after its disputed presidential election. In this file picture, OIC secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu (Turkish) meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki

The (OIC) Organization of Islamic Conference - also supports Sudan's leadership - despite the genocide in Darfur. At least 300,000 Muslims have been killed there.

(CNSNews.com) – Less than a month after President Obama -- in a speech to the world’s Muslims -- urged governments to maintain power “through consent, not coercion,” a body representing parliaments in Islamic nations has congratulated Iran for its recent presidential election while condemning foreign countries for “interference.”

The support for Tehran over its disputed June 12 election came from the executive committee of the Parliamentary Union of OIC member states, meeting in Algiers. The OIC is the Organization of the Islamic Conference, a 57-member bloc of Muslim-majority nations.

“The Organization of Islamic Conference welcomes the results of the recent election in Iran and condemns the interference of foreigners in the country’s internal affairs,” the committee said in a final statement after its two-day meeting, broadcast by Algerian state TV and reported by Iranian media.

Sideline Israel - the pacifier to Muslims nations - which allows them to direct their people's attention away from internal pressing issues.

The committee also expressed support for Iran’s right to nuclear technology, saying Tehran was being put under pressure for “peaceful” uranium enrichment activities while Israel’s nuclear arsenal was being ignored.

Other issues discussed by the committee and cited in the statement included a call for Israel to be prosecuted for “crimes” against Palestinians, and condemnation of the International Criminal Court’s attempt to indict Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes in Darfur.

Division among Islamic countries should be avoided, it said.

Despite longstanding rivalry between Shi’ite Iran and some Sunni Arab states, led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the response from most Arab governments to the post-election turmoil in Iran has been low-key, although coverage in Saudi-linked media has been critical of the regime.

Analysts have attributed the reticence to speak out against the Islamic Republic to a reluctance – in a region where democracy is largely absent – to support street demonstrations against a sitting government.

Both Egypt and Saudi Arabia are represented in the OIC parliamentary union’s executive committee which came out this week in support of Tehran, as is Iran itself. The remainder of the nine-member committee are representatives of legislatures in Turkey, Algeria, Niger, Azerbaijan, Benin and Chad.

The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ali Larijani, took part in the Algiers meeting, telling the body that if Washington abandoned its “interfering” policies “this change will be beneficial both to the region and to the U.S. itself.”

In what may have been a reference to Obama’s June 4 speech in Cairo, Larijani said international powers were offering “beautiful remarks” that bear no fruit, adding, “apparently, we are living in the era of words.”

“The gesture of change will give hope to Muslims should it actively recognize the rights of the Palestinian people,” he said. “Otherwise, it should not be expected that Muslims will be deceived by words.”

Backed by a portrait of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks during a visit to Assalouyeh on the Persian Gulf on Thursday, June, 25, 2009. (AP Photo/ISNA)

In his Cairo address, Obama said that no system of government could or should be imposed by one country upon another.

“That does not lessen my commitment, however, to governments that reflect the will of the people,” he said.

“America does not presume to know what is best for everyone, just as we would not presume to pick the outcome of a peaceful election. But I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn't steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose.

“These are not just American ideas; they are human rights,” Obama said. “And that is why we will support them everywhere.”

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose contested re-election was confirmed Monday by Iran’s state organs, was to have had the opportunity to gather more international support on Wednesday, when he had been scheduled to attend an African Union summit hosted by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. It was reported from Tehran early Wednesday, however, that the trip had been canceled.


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Turkey: Gas pipeline deal moves a step closer ... Is it time for energy change

We always look at the Muslim world and we can clearly see that they are being controlled - and very much treated like infants when it comes to information from the outside world - as well as inside of their countries - their press is not free, their internet is heavily restricted and also books and movies are censored - by their so called higher religious authorities :-)

But what is not talked about is how similar we are to the Muslim world when it comes to areas of advanced technology - in the energy field. Here there is good evidence to show that we are also being restricted and treated like children. With the advances in computing - it is strange that energy technology - such as locomotion - and other forms of power generation have virtually stood still.

The result is that we are in conflicts with people in the Middle East - largely societies with little in the way of advanced technologies. It is like the thirteen year old fighting with the five year old - in this case it is in order that a few in the advanced societies (ours) can continue to make profits.

Let's just go to what is known - a few years ago the major car companies rounded up and destroyed (crushed despite protests) all of the electric cars in production - brand new cars or virtually ones. But while the oil lobby that would have been behind this move - made record profits - these car makers found that they were almost sent to the wall - having to beg their respective governments for money just to remain operational.

I am personally shocked at where we are with energy - even nuclear is a glorified steam engine.

The conflict with the Islamic world is partly through the fact that we have met up with a people who are more interested in spreading their religion - than developing new technology - I would hardly think that if Japan had the oil - we would be having these problems. And we so admire Japan's efforts in areas of technology.

This Turkish pipeline is part of this geo-political game - that the EU is being asked to take Turkey as a member partly because of the pipeline - a 1000 year decision - accession already looks like a forced marriage - when shortly after someone could say - its now 'okay' to release this water burning or magnetic technology or some other helpful invention and what would it have all been for?

Like Muslims need freedom from this religious tyranny - we need freedom - to do with energy like we have done with computing. Likewise - we don't want to live under Muslim tyranny and neither should we be forced to live in a backward state - where we are reduced to slaves under this archaic and costly energy system.

The project is backed by several European Union states and the United States.

Ankara, 3 July (AKI) - A key international agreement to approve Turkey's Nabucco natural gas pipeline is expected to be signed in the country's capital, Ankara, in two weeks, European Union officials said on Friday. The 3,300-kilometre pipeline, designed to relieve European dependence on Russian gas, is expected to bring Caspian and Middle East (such as Iran's) gas to Europe as early as 2014.

But the project has been delayed due to a lack of supplies and conflict among stakeholders.

A firm transit agreement due to be signed on 13 July could increase competition between Nabucco and a rival Russian pipeline, allowing the EU-backed project to start work on new accords to enable firms to buy up portions of the pipeline's 31 billion cubic metre capacity.

"On July 13, the intergovernmental accord on Nabucco will be signed in Turkey," Romanian economy minister Adriean Videanu told reporters from Azerbaijan where he is on a two-day visit.

The European Union confirmed it had received an invitation to the 13 July signing ceremony.

"I can confirm that the commission has received an invitation to the signing ceremony of the intergovernmental agreement on the Nabucco pipeline in Ankara," a European Commission spokesman told the media.

The signing of the transit agreement was delayed by demands from Turkey, which has few hydrocarbon resources of its own, that it use 15 percent of Nabucco's 31 billion cubic metre capacity for its domestic usage or for export.

Videanu said Turkey's "15 percent issue" was now solved, but gave no details.

The EU executive did not comment on whether the issue had been resolved and the commission spokesman declined to provide details about the agreement, saying only that they would be made public once the agreement between the EU nations involved and Turkey was signed.

The reports came after Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told reporters in Ankara after a recent trip to Russia that the country was technically close to completing negotiations in the Nabucco project.

The gas pipeline project is in direct competition with Russia’s rival South Stream project, developed by Russia’s gas giant Gazprom and Italy’s energy giant Eni, designed to channel Russian gas through Bulgaria to Western Europe under the Black Sea.

The Nabucco pipeline will transport natural gas from Turkey to Austria, via Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary.

It will run from Erzurum in Turkey to Baumgarten an der March, a major natural gas hub in Austria.

The project is backed by several European Union states and the United States.


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Honour Crimes: Too Many Women Killed by Husbands In 'Moderate' Syria

After an increase of "wife-killings... on the pretext of adultery," Syria allows for [slightly] tougher penalties for honor killings -- two years in prison!

Syria has scrapped a law limiting the length of sentences for honor killings, but "the new law says a man can still benefit from extenuating circumstances in crimes of passion or honour 'provided he serves a prison term of no less than two years in the case of killing.'"

Wow -- two years for murder! You can serve more time than that for serial double parking.

Why is the penalty so light for honor killings in majority-Muslim Syria? After all, we are constantly told in the West that honor killing has nothing to do with Islam. So why can't Islamic clerics agitate for stiffer penalties for honor killings? Well, because they are on the other side: a manual of Islamic law certified by Al-Azhar as a reliable guide to Sunni orthodoxy says that "retaliation is obligatory against anyone who kills a human being purely intentionally and without right." However, "not subject to retaliation" is "a father or mother (or their fathers or mothers) for killing their offspring, or offspring's offspring." ('Umdat al-Salik o1.1-2).

In other words, someone who kills his child incurs no legal penalty under Islamic law. In accord with this, in 2003 the Jordanian Parliament voted down on Islamic grounds a provision designed to stiffen penalties for honor killings. Al-Jazeera reported that "Islamists and conservatives said the laws violated religious traditions and would destroy families and values."

"Syria amends honour killing law," from the BBC,

Syria has scrapped a law limiting the length of sentences handed down to men convicted of killing female relatives they suspect of having illicit sex.

Women's groups had long demanded that Article 548 be scrapped, arguing it decriminalised "honour" killings.

Activists say some 200 women are killed each year in honour cases by men who expect lenient treatment under the law.

The new law replaces the existing maximum sentence of one year in jail with a minimum jail term of two years.

Justice Minister Ahmad Hamoud Younis said the change was made by the decree of President Bashar al-Assad, following a recent increase in "wife-killings... on the pretext of adultery".

The new law says a man can still benefit from extenuating circumstances in crimes of passion or honour "provided he serves a prison term of no less than two years in the case of killing".

The legislation covers any man who "unintentionally" kills his wife, sister, daughter or mother after catching her committing adultery or having unlawful sex. It also covers cases where the woman's lover is killed.

Reports say women's rights activists have given a cautious welcome to the change, with one group calling it a "small contribution to solving the problem"....

Right Side News

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Muslim NHS dentist 'tried to force patients to wear traditional Islamic dress'

A Muslim NHS [National Health Service] dentist faces being struck off after a tribunal ruled he tried to force patients to wear traditional Islamic dress before treating them.

Omer Butt, 32, whose brother Hassan used to be spokesman for the banned radical Muslim group Al Muhajiroun, ordered female patients to wear headscarves and forced men to take off gold jewellery before allowing them into the dentists' chair.

He even kept a box full of hijabs at his practice so he could lend them to women before checking their teeth.

Butt enforced his religious dress code despite previously being warned by the General Dental Council for the same offence.

The GDC has ruled Butt imposed a general dress code at his practice, the Unsworth Smile Clinic in Bury, Lancashire, for more than two years from April 2005.

Butt was also found to have confrontations with two patients known as Ms B and Mr C and their families during that period.

The panel will now decide what action to take.

"Your evidence was that you regard yourself as a Muslim first and a dentist second and it is clear you were using your position as a dentist to seek to influence patients as to non-clinical issues," committee chairwoman Gill Brown told the dentist.

"You have explained you had a moral and religious obligation to persuade other Muslims to comply with Islamic requirements.

"The committee is satisfied from all the evidence that your attitude went beyond merely seeking to persuade, request or advise Muslim patients and that you sought to impose the dress code upon them."

Butt posted a sign on his waiting room wall telling Muslim patients to adhere to his strict code.

NHS managers visited the surgery in April 2005 following complaints from patients and ordered him to abandon the policy or face a formal misconduct hearing.

He removed the sign but persisted with the dress code – getting staff to take Muslim patients into a consultation room and tell them they had to wear the right clothes.

Butg phoned the police when Ms B refused to leave his clinic without a complaint form following a treatment session.

The dentist, from Manchester, told her he did not want to see her again after she brought in her son for emergency work.

During treatment Butt asked the mother if her son prayed and when she said "yes" he gave the boy composite fillings rather than silver ones. Using the precious metal for fillings is frowned upon in Islam.

Mr C made a complaint about Butt after bringing his family to register for NHS treatment at the clinic in June 2007.

The dentist asked the man to tell his wife to wear a headscarf or he would not offer the family any treatment.

Mr C then asked for a copy of the surgery admissions policy to be sent to him – which never happened – then made an official complaint.

The case continues.

Telegraph


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'Iran trial' for UK embassy staff

Some UK embassy staff detained in Tehran and accused of inciting protests will face trial, says the head of Iran's top legislative body.

The British foreign office said it was urgently seeking confirmation from Iran on the matter.

Nine embassy staff were held in Tehran last weekend. The UK government says all except two have now been released.

EU governments are considering temporarily withdrawing ambassadors to Iran in protest at the detentions.

"In these incidents, their embassy had a presence, some people were arrested. Naturally they will be put on trial, they have made confessions," Ahmad Jannati, the head of Iran's powerful Guardians Council, said at Friday prayers, according to news agencies.

Protests gripped Tehran and other Iranian cities after June's presidential election, amid claims the vote had been rigged in favour of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Tehran has repeatedly accused foreign powers - especially Britain and the US - of meddling after the election and stoking the unrest

BBC

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Catholic school bars Muslim teacher who refused to remove face veil so staff could identify her

Controversy: A niqab leaves only eyes visible

No one should be allowed to walk into a school with their face covered. Most of these women are originally from Pakistan or Bangladesh and up until 5 years ago or so - no one really dressed this way.

A Muslim teacher was barred from a Roman Catholic college after refusing to remove her full-face veil so staff could identify her.

The woman, who works at an Islamic school, opted to leave instead and now the college could face a claim of religious discrimination.

The teacher was at an open day at the sixth-form college with two female pupils, all of them wearing niqabs showing only their eyes.

After they were asked to remove them to comply with college policy, the girls, thought to be aged 15, agreed but their teacher refused and left.

The incident in Justice Secretary Jack Straw's Blackburn constituency comes the week after French president Nicolas Sarkozy called for the all-enveloping burkha to be banned.

He called it a sign of 'subservience and debasement' rather than of religion. Yesterday, David Cameron joined the debate.

The Conservative leader said that while women should be free to wear burkhas and niqabs, schools were a different matter.

'You can't wear the full garb and be an effective teacher,' he said. In 2006, Mr Straw said that veils could make community relations harder as they were a 'visible statement of separation and difference'.

Earlier this year, another Catholic college in his constituency, Our Lady and St John, turned away a Muslim mother from a parents' evening as she was wearing a full-face veil.

The latest incident, at St Mary's College, is said to have left the visiting teacher 'shocked and upset'.

At both colleges, any items which obscure the face, including crash helmets, are barred as the wearers cannot be identified. The rule also applies to Muslim staff and pupils as wearing veils would hamper their ability to communicate.

Governors at the 250-pupil Islamiya Girls High School, where the teacher works, are considering lodging a formal complaint. A source said: 'We have a very good relationship with St Mary's and the parents respect the education it provides.

'But this is the first we've heard of this policy – surely the onus was on them to inform us?' Yesterday, local Muslims criticised the extension of the ban to visitors.

Abdul Hamid Qureshi, the chairman of Lancashire Council of Mosques, said: 'We understand when they say it isn't conducive to learning for pupils and teachers to wear the niqab.

'But she was only visiting as part of an open day, she wasn’t teaching
a class.

‘Women who wear the niqab think that to remove it in front of men is being disobedient to God’s will, so they won’t.

‘To ask mothers and other visitors to take off their veils means they will stay away.’

But David Green, director of the think-tank Civitas, said: ‘The college is absolutely right.

‘Most Muslims would say it isn’t a religious obligation to cover the face, so if you do so in this country, you’re making a political stance.’

Schools have been allowed to restrict the wearing of veils after two key judgments in 2006 and 2007.

Classroom assistant Aishah Azmi and a 12-year-old girl lost their legal battles to wear veils in class.

Ministers opted against an outright ban, saying it was for individual schools and councils to decide.

Daily Mail

Muslim pupils and teacher ordered to remove veils


The party were from an Islamic school in Great Harwood, Lancs and were visiting St Mary's College in nearby Blackburn, which was staging its annual open day.

The two schoolgirls agreed to take off their niqab veils, which leave only slits for their eyes.

However, their teacher refused and was taken into an office at the sixth form college and told she would not be allowed on the premises.

St Mary's College yesterday defended the move, claiming that staff had requested that the trio remove the traditional Islamic veils because they are against the school's dress policy.

Its principal Kevin McMahon said: "At the start of one of our 'taster days' for prospective students last week, some visitors did arrive wearing the veil.

"When the policy was explained to them, all except one were willing to remove it. This lady – a member of staff at the school – refused, and opted to leave the premises."

Muslim leaders condemned the college's reaction, saying it threatened to reignite the debate over religious clothing.

Abdul Quereshi, chairman of the Lancashire Council of Mosques said: "I am very disappointed. "The information I have is that this was the action of one individual and now this will once again become a big issue."

[..]
The Muslim Council of Britain condemned the remarks, while Shahid Malik, the Communities Minister, said it was "not the job of government to dictate what people should or should not wear".

St Mary's is a beacon status sixth form college for 1,450 pupils aged 16 to 18.

Telgraph

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The Path to Darkness: Arab Funding of Western Learning [Video]

We know that Arabs have invested billions in western universities - yet there is a 40% illiteracy rate across the board - for women in the Middle East - and in North Africa that figure can rise to 60%. It is clear that these Arabs are not interested in education. But they know how the west gets its information - it relies on the universities.

THE PATH TO DARKNESS" Is Now In Post Production. Billions have been invested by Saoudi Arabia in US universities in the last years. At the same time, our western values have been erroded by moral relativism. This leads an entire generation to believe in new mythologies such as: a genocide is perpetrated against Palestinians, Suicide Killers are kamikazes, or freedom fighters, Cho, Eric and Dylan, the murderers of Virginia Tech and Columbine are a typical product of our repressive society, the US army is an occupation force in Iraq, and many other relativist revisions of history, leading to the path to darkness.

Pierre Rehovs latest film The Path To Darkness is currently in post-production. This endeavor has led him to investigate those mythologies, and takes us to Japan, to meet with WW2 former kamikazes, to Iraq, where he was embedded in the US Armys 4th Cavalry, into Gaza and the West Bank. And for the first time, he documents the step by step religious brain washing of a candidate to suicide-terrorism, including the rituals preceding his criminal act, and much more. Pierre also has a close encounters with families of suicide killers, and local Imams. Following the acclaimed "Suicide Killers", The Path to Darkness will take us for a journey deeper into the mind of terrorists, while debuquing the dangerous mythologies propaged among our new generations.


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Ibn Warraq: Leaving Islam - Apostates Speak Out [Video]

There are certainly no penal sanctions for converting from Christianity to any other religion. In Islamic countries, on the other hand, the issue is far from dead. Any verbal denial of any principle of Muslim belief is considered apostasy. If one declares, for example, that the universe has always existed from eternity or that God has a material substance, then one is an apostate. If one denies the unity of God or confesses to a belief in reincarnation, one is guilty of apostasy. Certain acts are also deemed acts of apostasy, for example treating a copy of the Koran disrespectfully, by burning it or even soiling it in some way. Some doctors of Islamic law claim that a Muslim becomes an apostate if he or she enters a church, worships an idol, or learns and practises magic. A Muslim becomes an apostate if he defames the Prophets character, morals or virtues, and denies Muhammads prophethood and that he was the seal of the prophets. It is clear quite clear that under Islamic Law an apostate must be put to death. There is no dispute on this ruling among classical Muslim or modern scholars.

For textual evidence: http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/001590.php

In other words, kill the apostates...According to a tradition of Aishas, apostates are to be slain, crucified or banished. Should the apostate be given a chance to repent? Traditions differ enormously. In one tradition, Muadh Jabal refused to sit down until an apostate brought before him had been killed in accordance with the decision of God and of His Apostle. Under Muslim law, the male apostate must be put to death, as long as he is an adult, and in full possession of his faculties. If a pubescent boy apostatises, he is imprisoned until he comes of age, when if he persists in rejecting Islam he must be put to death. Drunkards and the mentally disturbed are not held responsible for their apostasy. If a person has acted under compulsion he is not considered an apostate, his wife is not divorced and his lands are not forfeited. According to Hanafis and Shia, a woman is imprisoned until she repents and adopts Islam once more, but according to the influential Ibn Hanbal, and the Malikis and Shafiites , she is also put to death. In general, execution must be by the sword, though there are examples of apostates tortured to death, or strangled, burnt, drowned, impaled or flayed. The caliph Umar used to tie them to a post and had lances thrust into their hearts, and the Sultan Baybars II (1308-09) made torture legal. The murtadd of course would be denied a Muslim burial, but he suffers other civil disabilities as well. His property is taken over by the believers, if he returns penitent he is given back what remains. Others argue that the apostates rights of ownership are merely suspended, only if he dies outside the territory under Islam does he forfeit his property to the Muslim community. If either the husband or wife apostasizes, a divorce takes place ipso facto; the wife is entitled to her whole dower but no pronouncement of divorce is necessary. According to some jurists, if husband and wife apostasize together their marriage is still valid. However if either the wife or husband were singly to return to Islam then their marriage would be dissolved. According to Abu Hanifa, legal activities such as manumission, endowment, testament and sale are suspended. But not all jurists agree. Some Shii jurists would ask the Islamic Law towards apostates to be applied even outside the Dar al -Islam, in non-Muslim countries. Finally, according to the Shafites it is not only apostasy from Islam that is to be punished with death, but also apostasy from other religions when this is not accompanied by conversion to Islam. For example, a Jew who becomes a Christian will thus have to be put to death since the Prophet has ordered in general that everyone who adopts any other religion shall be put to death. There is some evidence that many Muslim women in Islamic countries would convert from Islam to escape their lowly position in Muslim societies, or to avoid the application of an unfavorable law, especially Sharia law governing divorce. Muslim theologians are well aware of the temptation of Muslim women to evade the Sharia laws by converting from Islam, and take appropriate measures. For example, in Kuwait in an explanatory memorandum to the text of a law reform says: Complaints have shown that the Devil makes the route of apostasy attractive to the Muslim woman so that she can break a conjugal tie that does not please her. For this reason, it was decided that apostasy would not lead to the dissolution of the marriage in order to close this dangerous door. Source and further information: http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/001590.php For additional information, please visit: http://www.apostatesofislam.com/


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Iran says arrested Newsweek journalist has "confessed"

Tehran - A correspondent for the US weekly magazine Newsweek who was arrested by Iran for allegedly writing articles slanted against the Tehran government has confessed to the allegation, the CNN network reported Thursday, citing Iranian media.

CNN cited the semi-official agency Fars as saying that the journalist, Maziar Bahari, had admitted at a press conference to having written articles slanted against Tehran prior to the June 12 presidential election with the aim of toppling the government.

Bahari, 42, of Canadian-Iranian background, was arrested by Iranian authorities on June 21.

According to the Fars report, Bahara is said to have publicly descriped how prior to the elections Western journalists were working toward toppling the government in Iran.

Among others, the Western media allegedly played down public shows of support for the leadership and described the elections as already having been manipulated ahead of time.

Newsweek called the allegations 'absurd' and defended Bahari as a a good employee who was beyond any suspicion.

The magazine also noted that since his arrest, he had not been allowed to speak either with a lawyer or with his family.

Monsters and Critics


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'This Iranian Form of Theocracy Has Failed'

The Fatima mosque: "Among the grand ayatollahs in Qum, the resentment towards Ahmadinejad's arrogance is growing."


IRANIAN REGIME CRITIC MOHSEN KADIVAR

In a SPIEGEL interview, Iranian theologian and philosopher Mohsen Kadivar discusses Tehran's path towards a military dictatorship, how the country's religious leaders abuse Islam and opportunities for reform.

SPIEGEL: Ayatollah Kadivar, we are meeting you here at Duke University in the US State of North Carolina, 7,500 miles away from your home. Are you not needed more urgently in Iran now?

Kadivar: Believe me, in these dramatic hours I would much rather be in my homeland. Within the next two weeks, the future of Iran will be decided. Almost all my friends, 95 percent of them, are now in prison; and I am barely able to contact my family, the phones are almost dead.

SPIEGEL: You are said to be the co-author of the most recent declarations of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Kadivar: That is not right. Although I enjoyed his statements, they are not mine. I published my declarations separately, although I support Mousavi strongly. We have found means to communicate with each other. Via the Internet and via third parties, I am in constant contact with my homeland. Every day I receive about 100 messages.

SPIEGEL: Tehran appears quiet at the moment, at least compared with the mass protests of the week before last. Are we currently seeing the beginning of the end of the resistance -- or the end of the Iranian regime?

Kadivar: This Iranian form of theocracy has failed. The rights of the Iranian peoples are trampled upon and my homeland is heading towards a military dictatorship. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad behaves like an Iranian Taliban. The supreme leader, Mr. Ali Khamenei, has tied his fate to that of Ahmadinejad, a great moral, but also political mistake.

SPIEGEL: What has your counsel been for opposition leader Mousavi in recent days? Is he truly the undisputed head of the movement?

Kadivar: Yes, he is the leader. All reformists now support Mousavi, my friend from our days at Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran. He was a professor of political science and I was professor of philosophy and theology. I believe he should insist on new elections and continue calling for non-violent protests ...

SPIEGEL: ... which would then be violently squashed by the security forces of the regime, the Basij and the Pasdaran.

Kadivar: In the long term, a regime can hardly oppose millions of peaceful protesters -- unless it opts for a massacre and, in doing so, completely loses its legitimacy. We should again and again point to the rights granted by the Iranian constitution. In Article 27, it is clearly pointed out that every citizen has the right to protest. Our protest is non-violent, legal and "green" -- thoroughly Islamic.

SPIEGEL: That's what you say.

Kadivar: Article 56 of our constitution includes the right of God that is give to all Iranian citizens. The citizens then elect their leader, president and parliament. The constitution is very clear on that: The leader must be elected and not selected by those claiming to know God's will.

Mohsen Kadivar: The protesters "want fair elections," and "he who refuses those demands risks a civil war."

SPIEGEL: The state doctrine of Welayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists) and its highest representative, Ali Khamenei, see it quite differently. They claim the protest movement is directed against the law and against religion.

Kadivar: The people call "Allahu Akbar" from the rooftops. They carry signs asking "Where has my vote gone?" The protesters don't want to rebel against everything, but they do want justice and they do want fair elections. He who refuses those demands risks a civil war.

SPIEGEL: It is true that the protesters are using the color of Islam and chanting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great"). But have they not reached the point where they want more? They were also shouting, "Down with the Dictator!" Maybe the young people who are behind the movement want a democratic republic based on the Western model with separation of religion and state.

Kadivar: I admit that some young people are oriented towards the West. But one should not give too much weight to that. The majority of my compatriots would not want a complete separation of state and religion. Neither would I. Iran is a country with Islamic traditions and values. More than 90 percent of our citizens are Muslims.

SPIEGEL: Which values specifically are you referring to?

Kadivar: Above all, stands justice and the fulfillment of the will of the people. Under the rule of Ali, our first Shiite imam, there were no political prisoners, non-violent protests were permitted and critical comment even invited. One must not betray those values.

SPIEGEL: And Khamenei and Ahmadinejad did?

Kadivar: Yes. I plead for a truly Islamic and democratic state, a state that respects human dignity and does not refuse the rights of women, a state where people can freely elect their religious and secular leaders.

SPIEGEL: But now you are talking about a revolution -- a completely new, different Iran.

Kadivar: I am speaking of a country where religious leaders do not have the right to determine how the country is led in opposition to the majority of the community, ostensibly according to the will of God. Such a right does not exist, neither in the Shiite tradition nor in other imperatives. I do not believe in any divine rights for clergy or believers.

SPIEGEL: In 1978, Ayatollah Khomeini said in a SPIEGEL interview: "Our future society will be a free society, and all the elements of oppression, cruelty and force will be destroyed."

Kadivar: Revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini was a charismatic personage. At the beginning of his rule he had 95 percent and towards the end still over 75 percent of Iranians on his side. Mr. Khamenei is not that charismatic and he is currently in the process of destroying the tie of justice between the religious leaders and the people. When he, together with Ahmadinejad, speaks about foreign countries being behind the protests in Iran, he very much reminds me of the king (the Shah). He used the same arguments and could not recognize that he was witnessing a national and democratic protest movement of his own people. Towards the end, the shah only thought of holding up his regime. Today, Mr. Khamenei does not think any differently.

SPIEGEL: But while the shah was expelled from office by the revolution, Khamenei and Ahmadinejad seem to be firmly entrenched. Many important positions are filled with their people.

Kadivar: It seems that way. But Iran is no longer the country it was prior to the election protests. I can even imagine that Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani as head of the Assembly of Experts might actually invite the religious leader to the assembly for a frank discussion. Theoretically, he could even dismiss Khamenei. Then Ahmadinejad would fall too.

SPIEGEL: But for that to happen, the majority of the grand ayatollahs would have to oppose the two.

Kadivar: Among the grand ayatollahs in Qum, the resentment towards Ahmadinejad's arrogance is growing. Only one of the 12 has congratulated him so far. Several, including my most revered teacher Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who is greatly venerated in the whole country, spoke out sharply against the election fraud.

'This Is a Battle the Iranian People Have to Win'

Iranian Revolutionary leader Khamanei on June 24: "He very much reminds me of the king (the shah)."

SPIEGEL: Can other countries do anything to aid the opposition?

Kadivar: No. This is a battle the Iranian people have to win by themselves. I think that so far, President Obama has acted very prudently and not given those looking for any reason to attack ammunition. Ahmadinejad's insistence that Washington has fueled the unrest has no effect.

SPIEGEL: Obama compared Ahmadinejad and Mousavi and commented that the difference between the candidates is only minor. Is he correct?

Kadivar: This is correct, but then again, it is not correct. The differences regarding the nuclear question and the evaluation of Israeli politics are indeed minor. As for the right to uranium enrichment, you won't find an Iranian politician who thinks differently. But on the question of democracy, the differences are formidable. Ahmadinejad takes an aggressive position, while Mousavi emphazises the adherence to laws and the constitution. I believe that the issue of democratization is presently the central problem. Everything else, including the nuclear question, is secondary.

SPIEGEL: Western politicians see it quite differently.

Kadivar: Whoever at this point in time moves the nuclear question to the forefront will not find an open ear in Iran. Blood is flowing in our streets and you keep asking me about nuclear energy.

SPIEGEL: Some in the West fear that things could get far worse -- and they mean for the world -- if Iran obtains nuclear weapons.

Kadivar: We are particularly concerned about Israel. This country has handed its nuclear energy to the military. Every Muslim -- well, everyone -- is afraid of Israel. Israel's nuclear arsenal should be placed under the control of the United Nations and the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

SPIEGEL: Do we understand you right, that there will be no change on the nuclear question regardless of who wins the power struggle in Tehran?

Kadivar: Every Iranian government will claim the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy ...

SPIEGEL: ... but that is not the issue. We are talking about the nuclear bomb.

Kadivar: America has it, Israel has it. What is said about my country is only potentiality not reality. If the nuclear bomb is evil, then it is evil everywhere -- not only in those countries that oppose US policy. It is a double standard policy.

SPIEGEL: What would happen if Israel or the United States attacked nuclear plants in Iran?

Kadivar: That would be in contempt of all moral values. The Iranians would take up resistance, and they would do it together, regardless of political disposition and religion.

SPIEGEL: What will Iran look like five years from now?

Kadivar: I hope there will be a democratic Iran. My country has the inherent potential to become an exemplary democratic society.

SPIEGEL: And how do you see your role in this process?

Kadivar: I will go back to Iran, but not in the coming days. If I returned to Tehran now, I too would be imprisoned. The conditions there are miserable. My friend Dr. Saeed Hajarian urgently requires medication and health care -- he should be in the hospital, not in jail. I have heard that my friends Mostafa Tajzadeh and Abdallah Ramezanzadeh have been tortured. Ramezanzadeh was the spokesman of President Mohammad Khatami and Tajzadeh his deputy interior minister.

SPIEGEL: You spent eighteen months in the infamous Evin prison in Tehran.

Kadivar: I will return to Iran and I am also prepared to go back to prison, but only after legal court proceedings.

SPIEGEL: Would you take a political office in a democratic Iran?

Kadivar: As a scholar, author and professor I have an important role to fulfull. And we have excellent political leaders in Iran -- for example Mir Hossein Mousavi, whom I support.

SPIEGEL: Ayatollah Kadivar, we thank you for this interview.


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Illegal migration a risk to Greek democracy - EU

[+]

The EU justice commissioner called illegal immigration via Turkey a risk to Greek democracy and called again on Ankara to do more to combat people-traffickers.

Jacques Barrot told a Brussels news briefing after a visit to Athens that he had promised the Greek government financial help to deal with the problem and more active EU talks with Turkey to ensure better supervision of illegal migration.

Greece said this month that it had arrested about 47,000 illegal immigrants coming from Turkey, an EU candidate country, last year. Greece says Ankara must take back illegal migrants who have crossed Turkey.

Ankara says the migrants come from countries such as Iraq and Pakistan and it should not have to handle those crossing Turkey to reach the wealthy EU.

"Because we can indeed imagine a major risk of destabilising Greek democracy through migrations that are absolutely uncontrolled and uncontrollable," he said.

Barrot said the EU's executive European Commission would work more actively towards an agreement on readmission to Turkey of illegal migrants and on better monitoring of illegal departures from the Turkish coast.

"Turkey has to help us to fight against facilitators and traffickers," he said.

"We cannot do nothing and we need to obtain, with Turkey, much firmer and stricter negotiations ... we will, for our part, help Turkey through readmission agreements we hope to sign with Pakistan and maybe other Asian countries," he added.

In Athens on Tuesday, Barrot had accused Turkey of turning a blind eye to trafficking of illegal migrants to Greece.

Greece said this month that it had arrested about 47,000 illegal immigrants coming from Turkey, an EU candidate country, last year. Greece says Ankara must take back illegal migrants who have crossed Turkey.

Ankara says the migrants come from countries such as Iraq and Pakistan and it should not have to handle those crossing Turkey to reach the wealthy EU.

The conservative Greek government, stung by far-right gains in an EU Parliament election, said this month it would get tougher on illegal migration including by detaining illegal migrants for up to 12 months, instead of three currently.

Times of Malta

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Burqa in France - Debate [Video]

Its amazing how easy it is for ME Muslims to advocate for the Islamic clothing within western society - yet far fewer would advocate for example - the right to freely change one's religion in the Islamic world - why don't go on Egyptian TV and say - why don't you allow this man who changed his religion - to have their new religion recognized by the state. Why can't he have Christian written on his and his daughters ID cards. That is because the only thing they seem to advocate for is more Islamization - of western society.

Can a western woman walk around 'freely' in Saudi Arabia without a burqa on? I think we need to start taking into consideration - western sentiment - western feeling.

Since the oil price has been on the steady rise up - EU women from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Somalia and even some from Turkey, and North Africans - in France - have abandoned their regional dress - to "freely" choose the Arabian burqa ~ in black!!

We know that the Arab NGO's have been putting enormous pressure - on the indigenous Bulgarian Muslim women and girls to wear the Arab burqa /black dress and headscarf and to move away from their traditional dress (which is perfectly modest). They are told that God's punishment awaits them if the don't wear these black clothes.

The headscarf was also banned in Bulgaria's schools - not surprisingly it was the Arabian NGO who defended the girl in the case against the state - and the NGO who wanted to pursue the case further when the girl did not!



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Italy sends more migrants back to Libya | Sharp drop in migrant landings in Malta and Lampedusa

Yussuf, a 24-year-old asylum seeker from Mogadishu in Somalia, poses with his Maltese ID card 21 November 2007, at the Hal Far open centre in Malta. The Hal Far open centre, called the "tents village" by locals, is situated in an open field and was set up in May 2006 to provide shelter to the droves of illegal immigrants that reached Malta. Malta, the smallest EU state and one of its newest members, has become a major gateway for thousands of Africans entering Europe, largely from eastern and sub-Saharan Africa.


A group of 89 migrants located on a dinghy in the Sicily Channel has been ferried back to Libya by an Italian warship.

The migrants were spotted late yesterday some 30 miles off the Italian island of Lampedusa. They were intercepted by the Orione which immediately took them back to Libya waters, where they were transferred to a Libyan launch.

The migrants included nine women.

Times of Malta

Some 36,000 would-be immigrants reached Italy by sea in 2008, with 70 per cent applying for asylum and almost half then receiving refugee status, according to UNHCR figures.

Nearly 2,800 immigrants landed in Malta in 2008, a 60 per cent increase over the previous year.

Between April and May, just two vessels carrying a total of 99 migrants arrived on the tiny Mediterranean island-state. No landings occurred in June.

In contrast, over the same period in 2008, some 872 African migrants landed on Malta, many of them in June when human traffickers often exploit clement weather to organize the clandestine journeys.

It is not clear how Libya has managed to reduce the number of departures from its shores. Maltese officials.. suspect that many traffickers have been arrested, and that an alleged factory manufacturing boats used to make the crossings has been shut down.

Human rights groups often don't have a plan for how states should pay for all their elaborate human rights plans. Here they complain about the conditions 900 new illegals a month are kept in Malta - and on the other side they insist Malta should take in even more - as its their 'human right'.

The reduction has eased off pressure on Malta's packed detention centres, which have often drawn heavy criticism from humanitarian organisations for the unsanitary conditions under which migrants are kept.

Sharp drop in migrant landings in Malta and Lampedusa

This handout picture released on June 8, 2008 by the Armed Forces of Malta shows illegal immigrants holding on a tuna pen while being rescued by officers of a Maltese patrol boat following the capsizing of their vessels off Malta coast. Two vessels carrying 56 illegal migrants capsized off the coast of Malta but all the passengers were rescued, military officials said the same day.


Valletta, Malta - A pact with Italy has led Libya to curb the use of its shores as a springboard for migrants trying to reach Europe illegally but humanitarian groups have expressed concerned for those still wanting to make the sea crossing.

Malta, which in recent years has been at the forefront of would-be immigrant arrivals, is now reporting a dramatic fall in the number of such landings.

Between April and May, just two vessels carrying a total of 99 migrants arrived on the tiny Mediterranean island-state. No landings occurred in June.

In contrast, over the same period in 2008, some 872 African migrants landed on Malta, many of them in June when human traffickers often exploit clement weather to organize the clandestine journeys.

The reduction has eased off pressure on Malta's packed detention centres, which have often drawn heavy criticism from humanitarian organisations for the unsanitary conditions under which migrants are kept.

Similarly, at another arrival point for stranded or intercepted migrants, the Italian islet of Lampedusa, arrivals have declined 33 per cent and 95 per cent in April and May respectively, compared to the same period in 2008, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The current situation is 'so calm it's almost unnatural,' UNHCR spokeswoman Laura Boldrini told the German Press Agency dpa.

'For the last four or five summers we were continuously dealing with distress calls. Last summer we were having around 12 to 13 arrivals a day in Lampedusa,' she said.
In 2008, Malta was receiving an average of one boat of immigrants every two days.

Libya ordered a crackdown on human trafficking following the recent coming into effect of a deal struck in August 2008 by its leader, Moamer Gaddafi, and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Through the agreement, Italy has committed investments of some 5 billion dollars in Libya as compensation for three decades of Italian colonial rule over the North African nation.

In return, Libya has agreed to monitor its shores through joint naval patrols with Italy and to accept would-be immigrants intercepted by Italian authorities in international waters.

Rights activists, United Nations officials and the Vatican have all condemned what they say are deportations by Italy done without determining whether the migrants qualify for political asylum.

It is not clear how Libya has managed to reduce the number of departures from its shores.

Several Maltese officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, suspect that many traffickers have been arrested, and that an alleged factory manufacturing boats used to make the crossings has been shut down.

Though the decline in crossings has been welcomed in Italy and Malta, Boldrini says it should be a matter of concern.

'It would be okay if I knew that everything was okay with Libya. And not everything is okay with Libya,' she said, pointing out that Tripoli does not have any legislation covering the granting of asylum.

Tripoli has not signed Geneva Convention for Refugees which means the UNHCR is not allowed access to many immigrant detention camps and holding centres situated in the North African country.

Rights groups and agencies say they fear the crackdown poses an added danger to genuine asylum seekers who might now be forced to choose even more treacherous routes to reach Europe from Africa.

This comes at a time when the number of people fleeing political and religious persecution appears to be on the rise.

Some 36,000 would-be immigrants reached Italy by sea in 2008, with 70 per cent applying for asylum and almost half then receiving refugee status, according to UNHCR figures.

Nearly 2,800 immigrants landed in Malta in 2008, a 60 per cent increase over the previous year. The vast majority applied for asylum and 52 per cent were given protection, almost twice as many as the EU average.

'Sadly, Europe is becoming more inaccessible and there are governments that are increasingly considering externalising the right of asylum,' Boldrini said.

monstersandcritics

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Italy: Illegal immigration becomes a crime

Rome, 2 July (AKI) - Italy's upper house of parliament on Thursday voted into law a controversial security bill making illegal immigration a punishable offence. The law also allows citizen anti-crime patrols in towns and cities and triples the amount of time illegal immigrants can be detained in holding centres from two to six months.

Senators backed the bill by 157 to 124 votes with three abstentions and relied on confidence votes in both houses of parliament to pass the law. The lower house Chamber of Deputies had already approved the security bill in May.

The measures, especially the criminalisation of would-be immigrants, have drawn criticism from rights groups including Amnesty international, as well as Italy's centre-left opposition and the Catholic Church.

Under the provisions, people entering Italy without permission face fines of up to 10,000 euros and immediate expulsion. Anyone renting housing to an illegal immigrant faces up to three years in prison. Critics also allege the citizen-patrols would amount to vigilante groups who are likely to harass foreigners.

"The law won't help defend Italian citizens from crime and "seriously violates the civil rights of immigrants whose work is indispensable to keep thousands of businesses going," said leading centre-left Democratic Party senator, Anna Finocchiaro.

But the ruling conservative People of Freedom party's chief whip in the Senate, Maurizio Gasparri said the government "is proud" of achieving an objective which helps fulfil promises to "combat crime".

"This legislation introduces harsher punishments to ensure more security - this is what Italian citizens want," he said.

Italy's interior minister Roberto Maroni, from the government's junior coalition party the anti-immigrant Northern League, said he was "very satisfied" by the new security law.

"The security legislation completes completes more than a year's work on security issues with the introduction of crucial norms on in key areas including the fight against illegal immigration and the mafia and security in our cities," he said.

Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi won elections in April 2008 on an anti-crime platform, vowing to curb illegal immigration which, according to surveys, many Italian associate with a growing security problem in their towns and cities.

Italy in May began returning to Libya migrants rescued or intercepted at sea in international waters, triggering criticism from the Vatican and the United Nations Refugee Agency or UNHCR. The repatriations followed a deal Italy struck with Libya last year to combat people trafficking in the Mediterranean.

The Italian government rejected UNHCR's request to readmit to the country some of the African migrants who have been sent back to Libya, arguing that they are likely to be fleeing persecution, and are in need of international protection. But the request was turned down.

Under the deal with Libya, those migrants who manage to reach Italian shores are held in detention centres to establish their identity and evaluate possible asylum claims.

The Italian government argued it was necessary to increase the length of time migrants can be detained in holding centres to allow for their proper identification. Some 36,000 migrants arrived in Italy by sea in 2008, with around 30,000 landing on the islet of Lampedusa which lies between Sicily and North Africa.



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'Suspicious' Iranian ballot papers show name Ahmadinejad scrawled in same handwriting [Video]

This video shows ballots seemingly being created - in a back room.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called off a trip to Libya today as his regime continued to face heavy criticism over the disputed Iranian elections.

In the latest development, images have emerged of suspicious ballot papers which appear to show the re-elected president's name written in the same handwriting on many sheets.

Some have also claimed that the papers were suspiciously crisp and unfolded.

The images were shown as part of footage of a recount, broadcast on Iranian state television to supposedly assuage concern over the results

Copcycat: The text highlighted in red appears to show Ahmadinejad's name written in the same handwriting on a number of sheets

Attack: Critics also said the sheets displayed on television during the recount were remarkably unmarked and unfolded

' These are images from the recent TV broadcast session where they 'recounted' some ballot boxes and found out that indeed Ahmadinejad's votes were higher than previously counted,' one commenter wrote on website The Huffington Post.

'These pictures show two things very clearly: 1) that a whole lot of the ballots that are being recounted are fresh, crisp, unfolded sheets - which makes no sense, given that people typically had to fold these sheets before they can slip them into the ballot boxes, and 2) that the handwriting on so many of the sheets which are votes for 'Ahmadinejad' are the same handwriting (and very clearly so).'

The Iranian president had been due to appear at an African summit today but cancelled at the last minute.

His spokesman gave no reason for Ahmadinejad's decision not to attend.

It would have been the president's second foray abroad since the June 12 poll set off Iran's most dramatic internal unrest since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Iran's hardline rulers have refused to accept claims that the election was rigged, despite mass street protests in support of losing candidates Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi

Unrepentant: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims his election win was legitimate

The Guardian Council, a supervisory body, on Monday endorsed the election result and dismissed complaints of irregularities, saying a partial recount had shown these were baseless.

But Karoubi, a reformist cleric who came fourth in the poll, remained defiant, saying in a statement posted on his party's website that he viewed Ahmadinejad's government as illegitimate.

Karoubi and Mousavi, a moderate former prime minister, have both called for the election to be annulled and held again.

'I don't consider this government legitimate,' Karoubi said. 'I will continue my fight under any condition by every means, and I'm ready to cooperate with pro-reform people and groups.'

Security forces have crushed street protests and hardliners have regained the upper hand in the world's fifth biggest oil exporter, whose nuclear programme has alarmed the West.

But Mousavi and Karoubi continue to reject the election result in what amounts to an unprecedented challenge to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has upheld the outcome.

Karoubi, a white-bearded cleric who was close to Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, demanded the release of 'thousands' of people arrested during the unrest.

'What is most important now is to preserve our revolutionary and political attitude and confront those who want to sideline us. We should all preserve our revolutionary unity,' he added.

Iran has accused foreign powers, notably Britain and the United States, of fomenting the post-election demonstrations.

The semi-official Fars news agency said one of the local staff of the British embassy still detained in Tehran had helped organise the protests, in which at least 20 people were killed.

All of the other nine Iranian employees who were arrested on Sunday have now been released.

Fars agency had said: 'Among the three detained British embassy staff there was one who ... had a remarkable role during the recent unrest in managing it behind the scenes.'

On Monday the Iranian Foreign Ministry said five had been freed and another three were reported released today.

Daily Mail


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Al Qaeda vows 'dreadful revenge' on France over plans to ban the burkha

Burkha: President Sarkozy's call to ban the garment led to the terror threat

That decisions about life in France should be made in accordance to outside threats - is a direct challenge to French sovereignty.

Though Al Qaeda made similar noises when France banned headscarves and other outward religious symbols in schools.

Al Qaeda terrorists have vowed to 'wreak dreadful revenge' on France over its plans to ban the burkha.

The chilling warning comes after President Nicolas Sarkozy said the Islamic garment which covers the head and body 'debases women' and is not welcome in his country.

French MPs have set up a commission to decide if it should be made illegal for women to hide their faces in public.

Now leaders of Al Qaeda's North African network have called on French Muslims to react 'with the utmost hostility'.

One Islamic extremist website carried the message: 'We will seek dreadful revenge on France by all means at our disposal, for the honour of our daughters and sisters.

'Our Mujahadin followers must not remain silent in the face of such provocation and such injustice.'

The call for an inquiry into burkhas was made two weeks ago by Left-wing deputy Andre Gerin, who described them as 'mobile prisons'.

He said: 'We find it intolerable to see images of these imprisoned women when they come from Iran, Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia.

'Today in many cities, we see several Muslim women wearing the burkha, which covers and fully envelops the body and the head, or the niqab which allows only the eyes to be shown. They are totally unacceptable on the territory of the French republic.'

President Sarkozy supported a ban, saying: 'These head and body covers make women prisoners and deprive them of their identity.

'The burkha is not a religious sign, it's a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement.

'I say solemnly that it will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic.'

'Not welcome in France': Mr Sarkozy, pictured in Paris yesterday, said last week that the burkha is a sign of 'subserviance' and the 'debasement' of women

Paris Mosque leader Dalil Boubakeur supported the proposal for a commission, adding: 'There is a growing number of women wearing the burkha in France, which could be taken as a sign that some fundamentalist trends are gaining ground.

'But any official debate on this issue should be on the condition that they listen to what the experts on Islam have to say on the issue.'

In 2004, France - which is home to Europe's largest Muslim population of five million - banned school pupils from wearing veils and other religious symbols as part of the government's drive to defend secularism.

Last year, the country's highest court refused to grant French citizenship to a Moroccan woman who wears a burkha on the grounds that her Muslim practices were incompatible with French gender equality and secularism laws.

Reacting to the Al Qaeda terror threat, a French government spokesman said: 'Our security services will remain on their continuously high level of vigilance against any threat to security in France.'

The commission of 58 MPs is expected to announce its decision later this year on whether a law should be passed to ban the burkha.

Daily Mail

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Iran: Anti riot police destroy private property in Tehran | July 1, 2009 [Video]

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UK: Man faces honour killing charge

A man wanted by police for the honour killing of a 20-year-old London woman is flying back to Britain after being extradited by Iraq.

Mohammed Saleh Ali will be charged with the murder of Banaz Mahmod, from Mitcham, south London, who was strangled, [raped] and buried in a suitcase in a back garden.

Her father Mahmod Mahmod and her uncle Ari Mahmod are currently serving life sentences for the parts they played in her death. Ali will appear before Greenwich magistrates, facing charges of murdering Ms Mahmod, perverting the course of justice and threatening to kill her boyfriend, Rahmat Sulemani.

PA


A man who was extradited to the UK from Iraq over the death of a 20-year-old woman has appeared in court charged with her murder.

Mohammed Saleh Ali, 27, is accused of killing Banaz Mahmod, an Iraqi Kurd from Mitcham in south London.

Mr Ali was remanded in custody at Greenwich Magistrates' Court. He will appear at the Old Bailey on 6 October.

Ms Mahmod was raped, strangled and buried in a suitcase in a garden in Birmingham in April 2006.

Mr Ali, of no fixed address, is also charged with perverting the course of justice and threatening to kill Ms Mahmod's boyfriend, Rahmat Sulemani.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was not able to give an age for Mr Ali.

Ms Mahmod's father Mahmod Mahmod, from Mitcham, her uncle Ari Mahmod, and Mohammed Hama were all convicted of murder and jailed for life in July 2007.

BBC


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Pakistan: Muslim Mob Burns Down 100 Christian Homes | Acid Attacks

(Pakistan) ICC Report: “Muslim Mob Burns Down 100 Christian Homes in Pakistan”

– ICC reports: “This morning 100 Christian houses and churches were set on fire by local Muslims in the city of Kasur South, east of Lahore, Pakistan”

– “The riots were incited by broadcasts from local mosques”

– “This incident is similar to a February 1997 attack when thousands of Christian houses and churches were burned and hundreds of Christians were injured”

– “So far 9 burned women and 4 children have been transferred to Lahore for further medical treatment”

– “All of them have been injured by throwing acid on them”



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Iran: Doctor who tried to save Neda Soltan on the run - accused plotting against government

Iran’s police chief, Brig. Gen. Esmail Ahmadi Moghadam, called the death of Neda Agha-Soltan a “premeditated act of murder.”

It was the first statement on the case since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for an investigation into the death of Ms. Agha-Soltan, who became an icon of Iran’s opposition movement when a video of her shooting death on a Tehran street was circulated on the Web.

Iran's state controlled Press TV reports:

Esmaeil Ahmadi-Moqadam, commander of the Iranian Police, said Wednesday that the unfortunate incident [Neda shooting] --which has been hyped and dramatized by Western media outlets--, was in fact a 'premeditated act of murder'.

The Iranian police chief said Arash Hejazi, a doctor who claims he tried to save Neda's life in her final moments, has fanned the flames of the western media hype.

Ahmadi-Moqadam said the Iranian Intelligence Ministry is making every effort to discover the whereabouts of Hejazi. "He has fled the country and is working against the Iranian government abroad."

Media outlets in the West have blamed Neda's death on Iranian security forces, but new revelations have found that she was murdered by a small caliber pistol--a weapon that is not used by Iranian security forces.

The man who drove Neda to hospital said in an interview that her death looked 'highly suspicious', as there were no security forces or Basij members nearby.

The Iranian government is making every effort to identify the culprit behind Neda's death with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad demanding a through investigation into the incident.

Mr. Ahmadi Moghadam also said that Iranian intelligence authorities are trying to find Arash Hejazi, a doctor who was shown on the videotape tending to Ms. Agha-Soltan as she bled to death. Dr. Hejazi had fled to London because of concerns for his safety following the crackdown. The police chief accused the doctor of “working against the Iranian government abroad.”

NY Times


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Iran hangs six for murder

TEHRAN (AFP) — Six people convicted of murder were hanged in Tehran's Evin prison on Wednesday, ISNA news agency reported.

"Six people sentenced to Qisas (retribution) were hanged this morning," judiciary official Esmatollah Jaberi told the agency.

He did not identify the convicts but said that some of them had murdered their spouses.

The latest hangings bring to at least 133 the number of people executed in Iran so far this year, according to an AFP count based on news reports.

In 2008, Iran executed 246 people.

Human rights group Amnesty International has said that in 2007 Iran applied the death penalty more than any other country apart from China, executing 335 people.

In Iran hangings for anything from being gay, alcoholism, any sex outside marriage - including even victims of statutory rape - to the rapist, murders and other hardened criminals. No country puts to death more people than the Islamic Republic of Iran - Saudi Arabia is next.

Tehran says the death penalty is a necessary tool for maintaining public security and is only applied after exhaustive judicial proceedings. Iran recently acknowledged that many were put to death unneccessarily and that it planned a review.

Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are punishable by death in Iran.


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Pak Hindus told to embrace Islam or pay jizya tax

Hindu devotees in Kashmir May 31, 2009.

MANSEHRA: Chief of the Hindu community in Battagram said on Sunday that the Taliban had threatened them to pay Jazia (tax) or accept Islam.

‘It depends on you to choose between Jazia and Islam otherwise you would face abduction and suicide attacks,’ Dr Oam Parkash quoted the Taliban as saying.

While talking to Dawn after receiving the threats on telephone, he said that so far he had received two calls during the last two days: first by a Taliban commander and then by a militant. ‘They demanded Rs6 million from me,’ the Hindu leader added.

The Taliban threatened that ‘if you or any other member of your community were kidnapped then we will not release the kidnapped person even after payment of Rs10 million as ransom’.

Dr Parkash said that he had made clear to both callers that the Hindus in the region were not in a position to pay such a huge amount. The Hindus had been living in Battagram for centuries. ‘My father and grandfather served the people of Battagram as hakeems and now I am also serving the people,’ he said.

In response to a question, Dr Parkash said that 15 Hindu families were living in Battagram but none of them had enmity with anyone in the district.

‘The government should take precautionary measures to protect the Hindu community as the Taliban have threatened even to target our place of worship in Battagram,’ he said.

He said that a delegation of the Hindu community had apprised the district police officer (DPO) Battagram who has beefed up security. The leader of the Hindu minority community thanked the local ulema (Muslim religious leaders) and common people of Battagram who had extended their full support to the Hindus.

Dr Parkash, a renowned homeopathic doctor, said that Pakistan was their motherland and they were as patriotic as anyone could be, saying that the Hindu community always respected the sentiments of their Muslim brothers and sisters.

Following the threat, security agencies have launched an inquiry to confirm the callers’ identity, sources said.

However, DPO Sohail Khalid told this correspondent that such calls and threatening letters, apparently by the Taliban, were also received by some NGOs and other people.

Dawn


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Beheaded Polish engineer's refusal to convert to Islam costs him his life

I think he just told them you wont win ~ not this one.

Piotr Stanczak did not exhibit the slightest hint of hesitation when the Pakistani Taliban asked him to choose between execution and conversion to Islam.

Whether the Polish geologist acted out of pride or religious conviction, he decided to pay through his blood to save his faith, a choice that bewildered his killers and keep them talking about him with respect after his murder.

Refused to convert - Piotr Stanczak

Stanczak, 42, was kidnapped Sep 28 on his way to survey for oil exploration in Attock district, of Pakistan's eastern province of Punjab. The kidnappers also killed his driver and two guards. Militants released a gruesome seven-minute video in early February showing his beheading. One of the murderers blamed the Pakistani government which failed to accept their demands for the release of detained militants.

Warsaw reacted angrily, slammed Islamabad's "apathy" in tackling terrorism and offering a 1 million zloty ($300,000) reward for information leading to the capture of the Taliban militants who beheaded Stanczak.

Among the militants whose release was sought by the Taliban was Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British-Pakistani who was sentenced to death for the 2002 abduction and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl.

When negotiations between the representatives of the Pakistani government and the hostage-takers failed, the Taliban leadership gave the Polish man a last chance to save himself, Stanczak's captors revealed to another hostage, a Pakistani man Mohammad Amir.

Amir - a pseudonym as he asked for anonymity to avoid possible repercussions - was released recently after his family paid 1 million rupees ($25,000) to agents of Taliban commander Tariq Afridi.

Afridi heads a small group of Taliban in the Orakzai tribal district and is loyal to Baitullah Mehsud, the chief of local Taliban who has a $5 million bounty on his head for being an Al Qaeda facilitator. Pakistani troops have recently been ordered to take decisive action against Mehsud.

In an interview with DPA in Attock, Amir said he was kept in the same cell where Stanczak was held for a month before the Polish man was decapitated. Amir said Taliban soldiers guarding the two-storey prison building in South Waziristan, a lawless tribal district bordering Afghanistan, frequently chatted with him and one day they mentioned the abduction and killing of Stanczak.

"Our people were keeping an eye on his (Stanczak) movements for several months. We were expecting that we could exchange some of our mujahideen in the government's custody for him," Amir quoted a guard as saying.

Because Stanczak was a high-profile target, the Taliban made extensive preparations to kidnap and shift him to a safe place from Attock, some 100 km from Islamabad.

"You know the Indus river lies between Attock and North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) and our people could not use the bridge to cross it because it is heavily guarded. So we bought a boat to transport Piotr across the border," the guard, who identified himself as Abdullah, told Amir.

From NWFP, Stanczak was moved to the Tirah Valley of the adjoining Khyber tribal district, and a month later to the Taliban's stronghold of South Waziristan, a 14-hour drive through muddy mountain tracks.

"Piotr never showed any sign of nervousness or fear. He would finish the food we gave him and sleep well. We all admired his courage. It was not an easy decision even for our commander to kill Piotr," Abdullah said. "That's why he gave him a last chance."

"But he was very stubborn and refused our goodwill gesture to save his life," Abdullah was cited as saying by Amir. Piotr said first we should release him. He will go back to his country, consult his family and read about Islam and only then decide about converting to Islam.

"This surprised everyone but we had to kill him because principles are principles - we gave him a chance and he lost it," the guard told Amir. "But undoubtedly he was a brave man."

Hindustan Times

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Inside the Mumbai attack [Video]

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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warns of revenge on pro-democracy states

Anyone who could take aim at his own people should be believed if he vows revenge on western nations who oppose his oppressive tactics.

Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned the regime would seek revenge against states it has accused of fanning pro-democracy demonstrations in the wake of its disputed election.

Mr Ahmadinejad used the attack on Western powers send a defiant message in his first public comments since his controversial re-election was upheld by the electoral authorities on Monday. He said: "We must use all the capacities to break the monopoly of the global powers."

Iranian-Americans protest outside the White House.

Despite the ominous tone from Tehran, David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, raised hopes that the two sides could bring a crisis over the arrest of Iranian employees of the British Embassy. After two conversations with Manouchehr Mottaki, his Iranian counterpart, Mr Miliband said he was hopeful of a swift resolution. He said: "I have discussed this issue with Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki and we both agreed in our second telephone conversation yesterday that a swift resolution was in both of our interests."

The Iranian leader's principal rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi used a message on his website to renew his call for the cancellation of the election which gave incumbent hardliner a landslide victory.

"We emphasise the position of Mir Hossein Mousavi which is mentioned in the June 27 letter," Mr Mousavi's Ghalamnews said. The Guardian Council, the body that ran the election, over-rode the former prime minister's call for an election and declared a partial recount shown there were no major irregularities.

The candidate's supporters were urged to continue confronting the regime without provoking bloodshed. Among the recommended tactics was to continue the call of Allahu Akbar from rooftops at night, writing Mr Mousavi's name on cash bills and hijacking official holidays to make protests.

The deaths of 20 people in clashes with police and the round-up of 2000 dissidents has quelled the public protests. The authorities were reported to be using football stadiums in Karaj and Ghas to hold detainees.

Iran's hardliners hailed on Tuesday the confirmation of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election win despite massive opposition protests over what many branded a rigged poll.

The country's powerful electoral watchdog confirmed on Monday the initial result of the disputed June 12 vote which gave Ahmadinejad a landslide victory over his nearest rival Mr Mousavi, after conducting a recount of 10 per cent of ballot boxes.

"Those who asked for the annulment of 10th presidential election are anti-revolutionary and against the regime," hardline cleric Ahmad Khatami told the official news agency IRNA. "If anyone said there was fraud in the election, he has lied and committed a sin,"

Telegraph


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Iran Says Partial Recount Shows Election Valid [Video]

Iran's election oversight body on Monday declared the hotly disputed presidential vote to be valid after a partial recount, rejecting opposition allegations of fraud and further silencing calls for a new vote. (June 29) AP.


Didn't the Iranian officials just count all 40 million votes in two hours - when they concluded Ahmadinejad won by 2-1. One wonders why they are having so much trouble doing it again.

By this estimate they should be able to recount 4 million or 10% of the votes in just 12 minutes.

That must be that advanced magic carpet vote counting technology - the Iranians have developed over there!



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Al-Qaeda warns France of revenge for burka stance

The full burqa!!

Watch video

DUBAI (AFP) — Al-Qaeda's North Africa wing threatened on Tuesday to take revenge on France for its opposition to the burka, calling on Muslims to retaliate against the country, the US monitoring service SITE Intelligence reported.

Earlier this month, President Nicolas Sarkozy said the burka, which covers the whole face, was not welcome in the strictly secular country.

"Yesterday was the hijab (the Islamic headscarf long banned in French schools) and today, it is the niqab (the full veil)," Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, head of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb was quoted as saying.

"We will take revenge for the honour of our daughters and sisters against France and against its interests by every means at our disposal."

The group also called on Muslims to retaliate for what it called French "hostility" against the community and its attempt to obstruct Islam's practice on its territory.

"For us, the mujahedeen ... we will not remain silent to such provocations and injustices," Abdul Wadud said without elaborating, according to SITE.

"We call upon all Muslims to confront this hostility with greater hostility, and to counter France's efforts to divide male and female believers from their faith with a greater effort ... (by) adherence to the teachings of their Islamic sharia."

He said Muslims in France, who are estimated at around five million, are "increasingly concerned about the practices of French politicians and leaders and their harassment".

On June 22, Sarkozy said the burka was not a symbol of religious faith but a sign of women's "subservience," adding that the head-to-toe veil was "not welcome" in staunchly secular France.

The French National Assembly set up an inquiry into the rising number of Muslim women who wear the burka.

France is home to Europe's largest Muslim community and faces a dilemma between accommodating Islam and maintaining secularism. In 2004, it passed a law banning headscarves or any other "conspicuous" religious symbols in schools to uphold a separation between church and state.

Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri criticized the law, saying the decision showed "the grudge the Western crusaders have against Islam."

France is the only state in Europe to have such a ban.

It is not known how many women wear the burka in France.

The majority of Muslim clerics around the world do not regard wearing the burka, unlike the head cover, as a religious obligation under Islam.

AFP


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Iran: Orwellian propaganda film inciting Iranians to turn in family members [Video]

Iranian government propaganda, inciting Iranians to spy on family members, inform on them, get them arrested... Just like the Gestapo, Stasi, KGB, McCarthy...

This is Islamic rule - I can't determine whether its communism or Islamic theocracy - the whole propaganda thing - is pure Stalin.

Clearly a mark of desperation ~ but also full of the paranoia you see from Ahmadinejad [foreign visits are usually followed by claims of uncovered plots to kill him] - and further the Ayatollah. An election is about regime change - but here regime change - and more the people choice is put down to outside influence - a cocktail of CIA and Zionists have to have swayed the people to vote for the opposition - and then demand their votes be respected.

Question is how long can an Orwellian paranoid regime stand that aims to keeps its people in a constant state of war and suspicion of all others. Not long!! If you have to lie to keep your people in the dark about reality - your success will depend on how well you can keep your people isolated - like the Iranian internet savvy found - its bullshit - the outside world looks nothing like the Iranian gov. describe. Its a problem for all Islamic governments - but Iran - although Shi'a was one of the worst - a place the Muslim world looks to as an example of the success of the Islamic state - if it falls a psychological barrier will be broken. It wont be long before others in the Islamic world follow suit and being to openly demand their freedoms and rights be respected.

The people will overcome!

People are like water - water can wear away even the hardest rock - if religion holds itself like a rock - then .....


Title: IRAN: Spy on your family (dictatorship propaganda film)


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Iran's dead and detained: Spreadsheet of the victims of Iran's crackdown

Hundreds, probably thousands, have been arrested in Iran since the presidential election on 12 June. Human rights and campaign groups such as Human Rights Watch, the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran and Reporters Without Borders have been collecting and publishing the names of those dead or detained.

Go to the interactive

We have brought those lists, and reports from trusted media sources, into a database that we are asking readers and those elsewhere on the internet to contribute too.

All information is assessed before publication and we will be both visualising as an interactive graphic and making it available as a spreadsheet. Click on the link below to get the spreadsheet.

DATA: download the full spreadsheet of the dead and detained

Guardian Data Blog
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Iran: Police rule the streets, attack anything in sight Jun 30 '09 [Video]

Basiji, riot police smash up property as they enforce Iranian law!


Basij (paramilitaries) & Riot Police Attack Tehran University at night - The Aftermath June 18, 09 >>





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Thousands demonstrate silently in Tehran | June 28 '09 | Video

Doubtful they believe the foreign influence line!

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Watched closely by police, several thousand protesters moved slowly down a major Tehran thoroughfare Sunday in the first demonstration over the country's disputed presidential election that authorities have allowed in days.

About 5,000 people shuffled in silence down Tehran's Shariati Street to the Ghoba mosque, where two of the opposition candidates in the June 12 election were to appear to honor a slain hero of the 1979 Islamic revolution. Authorities rode motorcycles alongside the marchers, who tried to walk slowly. Police beat their batons on their shields to keep them moving, but some demonstrators told officers that they had the legal right to protest in peace.


Watch Moussavi at march »

Former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Moussavi, the leading opposition candidate in the race, attempted to address the crowd at one point via a mobile phone patched through a public-address system. The resulting sound was largely unintelligible, however.

Another opposition candidate, former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi, arrived at the mosque on foot Sunday evening after the crowd had rendered the streets surrounding the mosque impassible.

There was a heavy police presence outside the mosque, and as evening set in members of the government-backed paramilitary Basij force watched the crowd and videotaped protesters from a nearby rooftop. At least one man was arrested during the protest by green-uniformed police in riot gear, who beat him with batons before taking him into custody, but people were still pouring off side streets to join the march well into the evening. Watch amateur video of crowds at mosque »

Sunday's gathering officially was in honor of Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti and 69 others, including several prominent Islamic revolutionaries, who died in a 1981 bombing. Beheshti was chief justice of the 2-year-old Islamic Republic at the time he was killed.

The protest follows two weeks of protests against the official results of the presidential elections, which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for an end to street demonstrations Sunday.

"I advise both sides not to provoke the emotions of the youth, not to stage people against one another," he said in a speech on government-funded Press TV. "This integrated nation must not be split and a group must not be incited against one another."

Ahmadinejad won the disputed election by a margin of two-to-one over Moussavi, his nearest rival, according to official results. Moussavi and Karroubi said the results were rigged and have called for the vote to be annulled.

Esmaeil Gherami Moghaddam, a spokesman for Karrubi's party, said Sunday the candidate would pursue a re-vote "through legal channels, until the end."

And another member of the country's Shiite Muslim clerical leadership, Grand Ayatollah Abdol Karim Mousavi Ardebili, told an Iranian newspaper Sunday that the Guardian Council -- the body of judges and religious scholars that oversees elections -- should respond to complaints "within a logical framework."

"Rest assured that words of logic will be accepted by the people, and those who speak illogically will not find acceptance," Ardebili told the Iranian newspaper Tahlil Rooz.

Although authorities allowed Sunday's demonstration -- intended for "the pious" -- they intensified their crackdown over the weekend, reportedly seizing wounded protesters from their hospital beds and arresting local British Embassy staff in Tehran. And Amnesty International said Saturday that government-backed paramilitary forces are preventing doctors from getting names from wounded demonstrators or asking how they were hurt.

"The Basijis are waiting for them," said Banafsheh Akhlaghi, western regional director of the human rights group.

The clampdown comes ahead of the Guardian Council's Sunday's deadline to file complaints against the results of the disputed election, which has prompted weeks of demonstrations. At least 17 protesters have been killed, according to official statistics, and the actual number may be higher.

Iran has restricted international news agencies -- including CNN -- from reporting inside the Islamic republic. Its intelligence minister, Gholam-Hosein Mohseni Ejei, blamed Western powers for stirring up protests Sunday, saying the British Embassy in Tehran "played a heavy role in the recent disturbances," but describing the effort as one led by the United States.

"The fact that Iran is stable, calm and secure, they're upset with this," Ejei told Iran's Press TV.


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Iran forced confessions | BBC & VOA Persia accused | Video

Posted 25 June, 2009

BBC and VOA Persia accused of causing Iranian to pour out into the street to protest over what they saw as an unfair election.





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Iran 'has arrested 2,000’ in violent crackdown on dissent

President Ahmadinejad hit back at President Obama’s increasingly blunt criticism of the regime: “If you continue your meddlesome stance, the response of the Iranian nation will be crushing. The response will cause remorse.”

The reluctance to do a full recount seems amazing - as it only took the regime two hours to count 40 million votes the last time - certainly they can do that again !! What's two hours !!


More than 2,000 Iranians have been arrested and hundreds more have disappeared since the regime decided to crush dissent after the disputed presidential election, a leading human rights organisation said yesterday.

“A climate of terror and of fear reigns in Iran today,” the International Federation for Human Rights , an umbrella body for 155 human rights organisations, said as it released the startling figures.

Last night 3,000 protesters tried to gather outside a mosque in Tehran where they believed that Mir Hossein Mousavi, the defeated presidential candidate, was going to speak. The police rapidly dispersed them and Mr Mousavi never appeared.


An Iranian resident in Japan holds a placard denouncing President Ahmadinejad. Iran has clamped down heavily on protest at home

Having largely suppressed such protests, the security forces are engaged in a purge of dissidents in an apparent effort to decapitate Mr Mousavi’s so-called green movement.

Prominent Iranian actors, actresses, writers and singers are believed to have been seized at the weekend for supporting the demonstrators. Several opposition bloggers have fallen silent, probably because they have been detained. Almost anyone who dares to challenge President Ahmadinejad’s re-election is now considered an enemy of the state.

At least one senior Mousavi aide and other unidentified Iranians have appeared on state television to “confess” that the demonstrations were part of a foreign conspiracy against the Islamic Republic.

Human Rights Watch says that the Basiji — volunteer Islamic militiamen — are raiding houses, beating civilians and destroying their cars and other property in an effort to silence the nightly rooftop chanting that has become the opposition’s last means of peaceful protest. “The Basiji entered our neighbourhood and started firing live rounds into the air, in the direction of the buildings from which they believe the shouting of ‘Allahu akbar’ [God is greatest] is coming from,” a middle-aged Tehran resident said.

“Shortly thereafter my cousin arrived at our apartment. He was very shaken. The Basiji had entered their house and they had destroyed the doors and they had destroyed cars in the street. In every neighbourhood of Tehran people are talking about how the Basiji and other security services are coming into their houses and terrorising people.”

A senior Western diplomat said that the regime had achieved a short-term victory and was determined to press home its advantage. “It is a system which has been challenged and which now strikes back.”

The Obama Administration and the European Union said that they would have to engage with the regime to try to halt its nuclear programme, despite the charges of election-rigging and brutality.

David Axelrod, President Obama’s senior adviser, said: “Nuclear weapons in Iran and the nuclearisation of that whole region is a threat to that country, all countries in the region, and the world, and we have to address that. We cannot let that lie.”

Javier Solana, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said: “We would like very much that soon we will have the possibility to restart multilateral talks with Iran on the important nuclear issues.”

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, appeared on state television to mock what he described as the absurd and interfering criticism of Iran by Western leaders, and to call for national unity in the face of foreign threats. “If the nation and political elite are united in heart and mind, the incitement of international traitors and oppressive politicians will be ineffective,” he declared.

President Ahmadinejad hit back at President Obama’s increasingly blunt criticism of the regime by asking what had happened to his talk of change, and added: “If you continue your meddlesome stance, the response of the Iranian nation will be crushing. The response will cause remorse.”

Despite the regime’s intense pressure on Mr Mousavi to accept the election result, he issued another defiant website message yesterday in which he rejected the regime’s offers of a partial recount and renewed his demand for a new ballot. One Iranian analyst called it a “hell no, I won’t go” statement.

Mr Mousavi said that Mr Ahmadinejad and his cronies did not steal the election merely by stuffing ballot boxes, but that they broke electoral laws before, during and after the voting. “Limiting the probe into complaints about electoral irregularities to recounting 10 per cent of the ballot boxes cannot attract people’s trust and convince public opinion about the results,” he said.

Mehdi Karoubi, another defeated candidate, also rejected the regime’s offer. “How is it possible to answer controversies through counting some ballots?” he wrote in a letter to the Guardian Council, which oversees elections.

The opposition’s options look increasingly limited. With street demonstrations no longer possible, the battle is turning into a behind-the-scenes political struggle that could last many weeks or months.

Mr Ahmadinejad has the support of Mr Khamenei, the security forces, the judiciary and most government institutions. Mr Mousavi has the backing of two former Presidents, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami. The Parliament and the clerics, two powerful constituencies, appear split.

Meanwhile the millions of Mousavi supporters who took to the streets after the election now lack a plan, direction and clear leadership. “Everybody is depressed, everybody is afraid,” said a young man from north Tehran. Another man, from Isfahan, lamented: “We have no one to lead us.”

Times Online


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British fury as Iran arrests nine embassy workers | EU nations may pull out | Video

How long ~ Not long

Britain reacted angrily today to the arrest of nine Iranians working for the British Embassy in Tehran, calling the move unacceptable “harassment and intimidation”.

The nine senior political advisers at the embassy are accused of playing a “significant role” in opposition protests. Their detention has shocked Western governments. EU foreign ministers demanded the release of the nine and said intimidation of diplomatic staff in Tehran would provoke a “strong and collective response”.



Sources told The Times that if Britain was forced to close its embassy, the 26 other EU states would probably follow suit.

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, called the arrests “harassment and intimidation of a kind that is quite unacceptable”. He said: “These are hard-working diplomatic staff and the idea that the British Embassy is somehow behind the demonstrations and protests that have been taking place in Tehran in recent weeks is wholly without foundation.”

About 2,000 supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the challenger to President Ahmadinejad in the recent election, have been arrested and hundreds more are believed missing as the regime continues to quash those who claim that the vote was rigged.

Iranian sources said that the nine arrested worked for the embassy’s political section, although the Foreign and Commonwealth Office would not confirm that. It was unclear whether they were seized at their homes or near the embassy. They do not have diplomatic immunity. Four were later released, but one Iranian analyst feared that the others could be forced “to confess” that they had conspired against the government in Tehran.

The British Embassy employs about 100 Iranians in roles ranging from political advisers, consular officials and translators to security guards and gardeners. Like every other European embassy it depends heavily on locally employed staff and could not operate without them. In February the British Council had to suspend its operations in Tehran after the regime intimidated its 16 Iranian staff and forced them to resign.

The arrests are the latest move in Iran’s concerted campaign to paint those challenging President Ahmadinejad’s re-election as pawns of Britain and other Western powers determined to destroy the Islamic Republic.

In recent days Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, had labelled Britain the “most evil” of those powers; two unnamed British diplomats and the BBC’s Tehran correspondent have been expelled; officials have accused British intelligence and its Iranian “stooges” of fomenting the unrest; and a British-Greek journalist has been arrested.

Last week 150 pro-government “students” staged a demonstration outside the high-walled embassy, and one of their leaders invoked the student invasion of the US Embassy in 1979 when 52 American diplomats were held hostage for 444 days. In response the Foreign Office evacuated the families of the 22 British diplomats.

The embassy closed its commercial section, which promoted trade with Iran, last August. The British Ambassador no longer holds a reception to mark the Queen’s Birthday after Iranian guests were harassed and photographed by government supporters at the compound in 2007.

Times Online


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Iran 'arrests UK embassy staff'

Tehran has blamed the US and UK for post-election unrest

Iran has detained eight local staff at the British embassy in Tehran on accusations of having a role in post-election riots, local reports said.

The embassy has not yet confirmed the report from the semi-official Fars news agency, which did not name its source.

Relations between the countries are strained after Tehran accused the UK of inflaming unrest, which London denies.

Some 17 people are thought to have died in street protests after the disputed 12 June presidential poll.

Tehran has expelled two British diplomats in the past week, and the UK has responded with a similar measure.

There is no independent confirmation of the latest arrests.

"Eight local employees at the British embassy who had a considerable role in recent unrest were taken into custody," Fars said, without giving a source.

The UK Foreign Office said in London: "We have in the last few days received a number of, sometimes confused, reports that British nationals or others with British connections have been detained. We continue to raise them with the Iranian authorities."

BBC

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Iran's crackdown | Erasing the opposition [Video]

As Iran's government continues to restrict reporting, Al Jazeera has been using new media to get information from inside the country.





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Iran's president lashes out at Obama - again

Ahmadinejad, the voice of an overconfident bully.

It is an illusion to think that because of a religion - you have rights over human life.

Iran's hardline president lashed out anew at the United States and President Barack Obama on Saturday, accusing him of interference and suggesting that Washington's stance on Iran's postelection turmoil could imperil Obama's aim of improving relations.

"We are surprised at Mr. Obama," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in remarks to judiciary officials broadcast on state television. "Didn't he say that he was after change? Why did he interfere?"

"They keep saying that they want to hold talks with Iran ... but is this the correct way? Definitely, they have made a mistake," Ahmadinejad said.

Obama was strongly criticized at home and by many abroad, for his initial measured response to opposition allegations that Ahmadinejad was re-elected by fraud in the June 12 balloting and to the harsh crackdown on protesters. The Obama administration wants to improve contacts with Tehran, especially because of concern that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, and Obama appeared unwilling to jeopardize that goal with strong statements against Iran's authorities.

But on Friday, he hailed the demonstrators in Iran and condemned the violence against them.

"Their bravery in the face of brutality is a testament to their enduring pursuit of justice," Obama said. "The violence perpetrated against them is outrageous. In spite of the government's efforts to keep the world from bearing witness to that violence, we see it and we condemn it."

In a separate show of defiance of international opionion, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hasan Qashqavi was quoted by the official news agency IRNA as accusing the Group of Eight countries — which include the United States — of "intervening and hasty remarks." G-8 foreign ministers on Friday called for an end to the violence in Iran and urged the authorities to find a peaceful solution.

The Foreign Ministry also summoned Sweden's ambassador to protest a break-in by demonstrators at Iran's embassy on Friiday, IRNA reported

Meanwhile, opposition supporters, faced with a senior cleric's demand that protest leaders be severely punished or even executed, enter the third week of their campaign against the election results in increasingly tight straits.

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims Ahmadinejad stole the election, says he will seek official permission for any future rallies, effectively ending his role in street protests.

The opposition may have little opportunity to keep momentum going within the limits of the law, and the international attention that appeared to bolster their morale could be waning. Also, Mousavi's Web site, his primary means for communicating with supporters, remained down on Saturday; an aide told the Associated Press Friday that the site had been hacked.

In one of the harshest statements from authorities since protests broke out after the June 12 election, Ayatollah Ahmed Khatami, a ranking cleric, said "Anyone who takes up arms to fight with the people, they are worthy of execution."

Those who disturbed the peace and destroyed public property were "at war with God" and should be "dealt with without mercy," he said Friday in a nationally televised sermon.

His call for merciless retribution for those who stirred up Iran's largest wave of dissent since the 1979 Islamic Revolution came as Mousavi slipped further from view.

Mousavi said he would seek official permission for any future rallies, effectively ending his role in street protests organized by supporters who insist he won the election.

Mousavi alleges he was robbed of victory through widespread and systematic fraud. The regime rejects the claim, refusing to consider new balloting, and on Friday, the Guardian Council — Iran's top electoral body — proclaimed the vote the "healthiest" held since the revolution.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has ruled out a revote.

Since the election, opposition protesters repeatedly have clashed with security forces who arrested hundreds of people, including journalists, academics and university students. At least 17 people have been killed, in addition to eight members of the pro-government Basij militia, officials have said.

The demonstrations petered out this week under an ever-intensifying crackdown.

Mousavi, meanwhile, has sent mixed signals to supporters, asking them not to break the law while pledging not to drop his challenge.

Amnesty International called the prospect of quick trials and capital punishment for some detainees "a very worrying development." It said Iran was the world's No. 2 executioner after China last year, with at least 346 known instances of people put to death. The group also called on the regime to release dozens of detained journalists it said faced possible torture.

As the protests dwindle amid intensifying official pressure, the opposition may suffer from a decline in international attention. The protests and violence dominated Western news broadcasts for nearly two weeks, with the reports substantially bolstered by videos gleaned from Internet sites and by commentary from social networking sites.

Such sites were a key pipeline for the opposition amid the tight restrictions on foreign media in the country.

But along with the diminished action on the streets in Iran, other stories have arisen to siphon away attention — especially the death of pop star Michael Jackson.

Television coverage of Iran's turmoil has fallen since Jackson's death Thursday; on the Twitter micro-blogging site, Iran remained among the most discussed topics, but fell below Jackson and comments about the movie "Transformers 2."

AP

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Obama’s Remarks On Iran Translated in Persian | Video

The White House didn’t want the words of the President to be “lost in translation,” and distorted by the Iranian regime for propaganda purpose. For this reason, they provided their own translation of the President’s remarks in Persian.

News Junkie

On Tuesday, in addition of speaking about health care and his own struggle with quitting smoking, President Obama made a statement on the situation in Iran.

His tone was firmer and he used stronger language, saying that he was “appalled and outraged by the threats and the beatings.” He strongly condemned these unjust actions. He referred to the government methods as an” iron fist” to suppress the protests.

Yet, the President made it very clear that the US respect the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic, and had no intention to interfere with Iran’s affairs.

Some prominent Republicans, notably Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator John McCain, are critical of the President approach. Senator Graham went as far as calling the President “timid and passive” on the matter, and added that “He wasn’t acting as the leader of the free world.”

Obviously the White House didn’t want the words of the President to be “lost in translation,” and distorted by the Iranian regime for propaganda purpose. For this reason, they provided their own translation of the President’s remarks in Persian.

Full transcript English & Persian


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Obama: Violence in Iran 'outrageous' | Video

President Barack Obama called the situation in Iran 'tragic' and the violence against the people, 'outrageous.'






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More police or basij shootings at protesters in Iran [Video]

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Hardliner says Iran protesters should be punished 'ruthlessly and savagely' 'without mercy'

Ayatollah Khatami delivering Friday prayers in Tehran

Iran loves ruthless and savage punishment - two young men were once sentenced to being thrown off a cliff - while public hangings off mobile execution cranes - is an almost daily event in Iran - for everything from alcoholism, drug dealing, unmarried sex to murder - and of course there are the stonings.

A hardline cleric seen as a mouthpiece of the Iranian regime today demanded that opposition demonstrators be punished “without mercy”.

Even as Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami delivered his uncompromising message at Tehran’s Friday prayers, foreign ministers of the world’s leading industrialised nations issued a statement deploring the regime’s violent crackdown on the protestors and demanded it “stop immediately”.

Mr Khatami’s televised sermon came at the end of a week in which the regime has brutally suppressed all streets protests and rounded up hundreds of opponents for daring to question President Ahmadinejad’s re-election. It conveyed the unmistakable message that no dissent would be tolerated, and that the crackdown would, if anything, intensify.

“I want the judiciary to ... punish leading rioters firmly and without showing any mercy to teach everyone a lesson,” Mr Khatami told worshippers at Tehran university.

Iran's execution cranes are driven from town to town - where people - often juveniles - are hung in open view in town squares. What is so crazy about the system is that it hasn't stopped crime - or prevented Islamic offences from being committed - they simple hang more and more people - in their efforts to cleanse society for an Islamic utopia.

Iran is only second to Saudi Arabia in the amount of people per million it puts to death each year.

He said the judiciary should treat the leading “rioters” as “mohareb” - people who wage war against God. “Based on Islamic law, whoever confronts the Islamic state ... should be convicted as mohareb,” he said. “They should be punished ruthlessly and savagely" to deter others.

The Guardian Council, a body of senior clerics who oversee elections, said it had found no major irregularities in the June 12 ballot, and described it as the “healthiest” since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

The rest of the world is less sanguine. Foreign ministers of the Group of Eight nations meeting in Italy called on Tehran to resolve the crisis over the disputed election through democratic dialogue.

“We deplore post-electoral violence which led to the loss of lives of Iranian civilians and urge Iran to respect fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression,” they said in a joint statement.

Franco Frattini, the Italian Foreign Minister and host, told a news conference: “We have underlined the importance that the violence ends immediately and we’ve expressed our solidarity with the victims of this violence.”

David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary, said: “The violence we have seen over the last 10 days and the killings and the beatings are deplorable and they show a failure to protect their own people.”

He added: “There is a crisis of credibility not between Iran and the West, but between the Iranian counting of the votes and the Iranian people.”

Even Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, a country that is helping Iran’s develop nuclear power and has congratulated President Ahmadinejad on his re-election, said he was seriously concerned by the regime’s use of force, and and urged Tehran to settle all issues in a democratic way.

Times Online


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Police and basijis vs people of Iran, Baharestan Square June 24, '09 | Video

The View from the balcony.



Some of the infamous attack at Baharestan Square, Tehran June 24 - unarmed protesters gathered to mourn the deaths of those killed in the violence - were ambushed by Basij militia - who according to one eye witness - came flooding out from a mosque - beat and attacked people of all ages and sexes - with utter brutality - at times trapping protesters - down streets - herding them - in order to better carry out their attack.


Iran: Iranian snipers is taking out protesters June 24 2009



Iranian army stepped up it's attacks on unarmed people.



Open Police brutality in Iran



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France ponders a burqa ban | No cover up

French government takes on a “walking prison”

"Mayors of cities with big Muslim populations report a steady increase in numbers, due not to immigration but to its adoption by French-born women—often from North African countries where the burqa is not traditionally worn."

In many parts of the Islamic world women are awarded one-third to one-half of the rights of men - to then have to cover up their faces is the final indignity. In a sand storm the burqa would no doubt be appropriate - but to present it as the only choice in modest dress - is questionable - as Eskimos' traditional clothing is also all concealing.


WHEN the French government decided in 2004 to ban the Muslim headscarf in state schools and other public buildings, it set off a heated debate over religious expression and women’s rights in a secular state. Now Nicolas Sarkozy has sparked another by calling the burqa, a head-to-toe Islamic garment, “a sign of subjugation…of debasement” that is “not welcome on French territory”.

Mr Sarkozy’s comments came after a group of deputies, led by André Gerin, a Communist, had called for a parliamentary inquiry into the wearing of the burqa, with a view to a possible ban. This would mean in all public places, since it is already banned in state institutions under the 2004 law. The deputies called burqas “veritable walking prisons”.

France’s strict secularism, entrenched by law since 1905, keeps religion firmly out of the state sphere. There are no religious studies (let alone nativity plays) in state schools, nor may public workers sport the headscarf. The government denies that such policies constrain religious freedom or are especially aimed at Islam. France welcomes private Muslim schools. Mosque-building is widespread. The 2004 headscarf ban outlawed “conspicuous” religious symbols of all faiths. Yet there are growing worries about the spread of hard-line Islamism in the heavily Muslim banlieues.

Now that Mr Sarkozy has publicly condemned the burqa, the chances of a ban have risen sharply. Parliament has launched a cross-party mission to report back in six months. In fact, few women wear the full garment in France. But mayors of cities with big Muslim populations report a steady increase in numbers, due not to immigration but to its adoption by French-born women—often from North African countries where the burqa is not traditionally worn.

Mohammed Moussaoui, head of the official French Council of the Muslim Faith, has suggested that the inquiry would itself stigmatise Islam. A ban might be misunderstood abroad, and not only in the Muslim world. In his recent speech in Cairo, Barack Obama said that “it is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim citizens from practising religion as they see fit—for instance, by dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear.”

Not so, say many French politicians—including such prominent Muslims as Fadela Amara, the cities minister. The founder of a women’s-rights group, Ms Amara has called the burqa “a coffin that kills individual liberties”, and a sign of the “political exploitation of Islam”.

The Economist


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Ahmadinejad slams Obama | The pressurized president lashes out | Video

Iran's President has attacked the US leader's approach to the election crisis.




Ahmadinejad wants Obama to apologise for contradicting Iran's state TV's version of events.

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Survey: UK Muslims split on Taliban fight

The Taliban are now active in both Afghanistan and Pakistan

A survey of British Muslim opinion for the BBC has revealed significant divisions over the conflict with the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Three-quarters of those surveyed said it was wrong for the West to intervene militarily in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

At the same time, a similar number (78%) said they opposed Taliban attacks against Nato soldiers in Afghanistan.

Nine out of 10 of those surveyed said that they opposed Taliban fighters capturing territory in Pakistan.

ICM surveyed 500 Muslims in the UK over 16 years old between 15 and 20 June.

In the survey, 66% of respondents said they supported the authorities in their fight against al-Qaeda. Some 16% said they did not support the fight while 18% said they either did not know or had no opinion.

The survey found that 76% said it was wrong for the US and UK to militarily intervene in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Some 15% said it would be right while almost one in 10 said they did not know.

When asked what they thought about British-born Muslim soldiers serving in the two countries, just over half said it would be wrong but almost a third said it would be right.

Some 11% said it was legitimate for guerrilla fighters to target British or Nato forces in Afghanistan while 78% were opposed to such attacks.

However, some 95% said it was wrong for the Taliban to use suicide bombers in Pakistan and just 2% said it was right. A similar number opposed the Taliban seeking to capture territory in Pakistan or attacking state targets.

However, when asked what the Pakistani authorities should do, the respondents were more divided. Only 67% said the Pakistani army should take action against the Taliban - and almost a quarter said it would be wrong.

Asked if they understood the reasons why the UK and US would be militarily involved in Afghanistan or Pakistan, the respondents were again split.

A quarter said they fully understood the reasons, but 29% said they did not understand at all; 43% said they only partially understood.

Almost seven out of 10 of those questioned said they did not think the British government was doing enough to help ordinary people in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Turning to attitudes towards security within the UK, eight out of 10 respondents said they would alert the police if they suspected a Muslim was involved in al-Qaeda-inspired terrorism. One in 10 said they would not contact the police.

Almost a third of respondents said they thought the police, government and British society were anti-Muslim. A majority of respondents said they did not think that was the case.

BBC

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EU: MPs condemn 'repression' in Iran

Iranian security forces brought into to the city to deal harshly with demonstrators

The Iranian ambassador called on the EU and its parliament "not to interfere in the internal affairs of Iran and to avoid taking hasty positions and measures which could have inappropriate consequences". AFP

Brussels, 25 June (AKI) - The president of the European parliament, Hans-Gert Pottering, on Thursday met the Iranian ambassador to the European Union to condemn the repression of peaceful protests in Iran and arrest of activists and journalists. Pottering met the ambassador, Ali Asghar Khaji, in Brussels on behalf of the European Parliament to protest strongly and demand an end to the violence.

"We are demanding from the regime in Tehran to stop violence, to allow the demonstrators to demonstrate, to free imprisoned journalists and to allow foreign media to report freely in the country," Pottering said.

"The European parliament reaffirms its support unwavering for the peaceful protests by citizens in Iran."

During the talks, ambassador Ali Asgha Khaji reportedly criticised the EU for its "biased and partial attitude" toward the protests in Iran, an embassy statement said.

The envoy called on the EU and its parliament "not to interfere in the internal affairs of Iran and to avoid taking hasty positions and measures".

Pottering also formally conveyed to Khaji a request from the European parliament to send a delegation to Iran as soon as possible.

Pottering would lead the proposed delegation which would also include representatives of different political groups to observe the situation in Iran on the ground.

"I request the full cooperation of the Iranian authorities on this", he said.

Pottering on Wednesday met Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Shirin Ebadi, to discuss the events in Iran.

During the meeting, Ebadi called for more tangible signals from the international community in the current crisis and asked the European parliament to send a delegation to Iran.

While Iran's official results showed incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected by a landslide, they have been disputed by defeated opposition candidates and their supporters.

Iran has been racked by days of street protests and state media has blamed the violence on "terrorists" while accusing foreign countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom of fomenting the violence.


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Mauritania: Al Qaida Says It Killed American Aid Worker For 'Proselytizing'

Chris Leggett, a 39-year-old humanitarian aid worker from Cleveland, Tenn., was murdered by gunmen in West Africa on Tuesday. A message from al Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility.


NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania — Al-Jazeera TV said Al-Qaida's North Africa branch claimed responsibility Thursday for the killing of an American aid worker who was shot dead this week in Mauritania's capital.

Christopher Leggett, a professor and aid worker taught at a centre specialising in computer science and languages and was shot several times by unidentified gunmen on Tuesday in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott. AKI

The Arab satellite TV station said it had received an audio statement from al-Qaida of the Islamic Maghreb in which the group said 39-year-old Christopher Ervin Leggett was killed Tuesday for allegedly trying to convert Muslims to Christianity.

"Two knights of the Islamic Maghreb succeeded Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. to kill the infidel American Christopher Leggett for his Christianizing activities," the group said.

The statement's authenticity could not be independently verified.

Mauritania's Interior Ministry said Thursday it was investigating the death and security forces were doing "all they can to catch the criminals."

Extremist violence in Mauritania, a moderate Muslim nation, has increased in recent years. In 2007, a group of French picnickers was killed. The gunmen were believed to be linked to al-Qaida's north Africa branch and the incident prompted organizers of the famous Dakar Rally to cancel the trans-Sahara car race.

Leggett was shot several times by at least two unidentified gunmen who rushed up to him on a Nouakchott street, witnesses said. An AP correspondent at the scene saw officials from the U.S. Embassy arrive as the body lay on the pavement. U.S. officials have so far declined to comment.

Legget grew up in Cleveland, Tennessee, and taught at a center specializing in computer science and languages in El Kasr, a lower-class neighborhood in Nouakchott, according to his neighbors in the United States.

The Rev. Jim Gibson, co-pastor of First Baptist Church of Cleveland, said Leggett was a church member and attended on return trips, but worked independently in the African nation. Gibson said Leggett had lived for six years in Africa with his wife and four children.

Huffington Post


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Iran: Ahmadinejad warns Obama not to "interfere" in his efforts to crush resistance to disputed election

More than 100 MPs appear to have snubbed an invitation to celebrate Ahmadinejad's election victory.

"Britain, America and the Zionist regime (Israel) were behind the recent unrest in Tehran," said Mahsouli, Iran's interior minister.

Perhaps Ahmadinejad also thinks Obama will appear on Iranian TV - in confessionary mode - to endorse his presidency and agree with the brutal tactics he has used to put down the legitimate dissent expressed on Iran's streets.

Tehran, 25 June (AKI) - Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has told United States president Barack Obama to stop "interfering" in his country's affairs. "I hope you (Obama) will avoid interfering in Iran's affairs and express regret so that the Iranian people are informed of it," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the semi-official news agency Fars on Thursday.

President Obama on Tuesday strongly condemned the "unjust actions" of Iranian authorities and the clampdown on election protests.

He said he respected Iran's sovereignty and rejected suggestions by Iranian leaders as "patently false" that the US and other countries were fomenting the unrest.

Meanwhile, more than 100 MPs appear to have snubbed an invitation to celebrate Ahmadinejad's election win, according to media reports.

All 290 MPs were invited to a victory party on Wednesday night but more than 100 did not attend the function.

As protests continue on the streets of Tehran, about 70 university professors have reportedly been detained by Iranian authorities after meeting defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Hundreds of protesters, activists and journalists are believed to have been arrested since protests broke out over the disputed re-election of incumbent Ahmadinejad in the 12 June poll.

Hundreds of riot police prevented demonstrators from gathering outside parliament as the authorities continued their crackdown on Mousavi's supporters on Wednesday.

Police with shields and batons surrounded the area and stopped the several hundreds protesters from getting into the adjoining square.

Mehdi Karroubi, another defeated presidential candidate, has called for a day of mourning for the 17 victims killed in the protests on Thursday but it was uncertain whether protesters would defy a government ban and proceed.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said on Wednesday he would "not yield" over the election result.

The Guardian Council, the country's electoral body, will give its final verdict on the election on Sunday but it has already indicated it will not annul the election result.

Iran's interior minister Seyed Sadeq Mahsouli on Wednesday accused the United States spy agency, CIA, of being among organisations that were helping to fund "rioters" in the country following its disputed 12 June presidential election.

"Britain, America and the Zionist regime (Israel) were behind the recent unrest in Tehran," said Mahsouli, quoted by the the semi-official Fars News Agency.


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Iran protests: Human rights lawyer Shiran Ebadi offers to take legal action over Neda's death

Click to enlarge

Ms Soltan's death was captured on amateur video and has gone around the world.

A human rights lawyer in Iran is proposing to sue authorities on behalf of the family of a 26-year-old Neda Soltan, who was shot dead by security forces on a Tehran street.

Ms Soltan's death was captured on amateur video and has gone around the world.

Now, Iranian lawyer Shiran Ebadi who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, has offered to take legal action on her family's behalf.

"Neda didn't take part in a rally, and even if she did they did not have the right to shoot her, that's against the law," he said.

"And I'm personally prepared to represent her family legally against the people who ordered the firing.

"This act of an innocent girl being killed in a horrendous way is against the law."

ABC.net.au
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Neda's Family Evicted From Their Home, Denied Her Body, as Iran Turns Bloodier

Today [June 24, 2009] Iranian forces evicted the family of Neda Agha-Soltan from their home. They also canceled Neda's scheduled funeral and refused to turn her body over to her family. Further, she was buried in an undisclosed location without the family's knowledge and the government instituted a ban on all mourning on her behalf. It's been also rumored that the Iranian government told Neda's family that she was murdered by a hitman hired by a journalist from the BBC so that he could make a documentary about her. Some of her family's neighbors spoke to the press.

"We are trembling," one neighbour said. "We are still afraid. We haven't had a peaceful time in the last days, let alone her family. Nobody was allowed to console her family, they were alone, they were under arrest and their daughter was just killed. I can't imagine how painful it was for them. Her friends came to console her family but the police didn't let them in and forced them to disperse and arrested some of them. Neda's family were not even given a quite moment to grieve."

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The Iranian government stepped up their efforts to crack down on protesters, using guns, tear gas, clubs and, according to some reports on Twitter, axes, to snuff the opposition. The nation's leadership went so far as to cast anyone in disagreement with the results of the recent election as an enemy of the state.

Reports the New York Times:

Witnesses reported scenes of chaos and fear where riot police officers outnumbered demonstrators by about four to one. Many wore masks to conceal their identities. The Basijis stopped people to check their cellphones for video or pictures of the unrest.

"I saw one group of about 100 people who began chanting ‘Death to the dictator' on one of the side streets," said another witness who insisted on not being identified for fear of arrest. "The Basijis attacked them and beat them really bad." Unconfirmed reports of bloodshed and at least one death flooded the Internet.

Instead of heeding calls for moderation, the government has conducted one of the harshest crackdowns in its history. Dozens of former high-ranking officials have been jailed. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported Wednesday that about 240 people, including 102 political figures, were in jail. The government has said that it arrested 627 more people since the protests broke out.

Also under close guard are the foreign media in Iran. Arrested today was a freelance reporter for the Washington Times, and all remaining foreign press credentials were revoked by the government. Meanwhile, many other journalists were still being held captive, while others have been forced to leave the country.

It appears as though the momentum for the protests has been curbed greatly by the iron fist of the Iranian government, while any pretense that Iran is a democracy has all but evaporated.

Gawker

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Cartoon: Iran's Ayatollah with Neda's blood on his face

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Iran's Supreme leader takes aim at his own people to hold onto absolute power.





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Arrestopia: 70 professors detained in Iran

In this image issued by the semi-official Iranian Mehr News Agency, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sits under a photo of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a meeting with Belarus Parliament speaker Semyon Sharetsky, unseen, in Tehran, Iran on Wednesday June, 24, 2009.

Iran seems to be sparing no expense to bring the majority - under the control of the minority hardliners. There is very clearly something the hardliners want - that the majority of the voting public does not.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Iranian authorities have barred journalists for international news organizations from reporting on the streets and ordered them to stay in their offices. This report is based on the accounts of witnesses reached in Iran and official statements carried on Iranian media.
___
Seventy university professors were detained in Iran in a widening government crackdown on protesters, according to a Web site affiliated with Iran's key opposition figure, Mir Hossein Mousavi, who says he was robbed of victory in a rigged presidential election.

Hundreds of protesters and activists are believed to have been taken into custody since the June 12 vote, in which Iran's ruling clerics declared hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner by a landslide.

Ahmadinejad dismissed growing Western criticism of the post-election clampdown, singling out President Barack Obama. "Why has Mr. Obama, who advocates change, been trapped and follows the same path as Bush," state TV quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

In recent days, demonstrators challenging the election results found themselves increasingly struggling under a blanket crackdown. A march of mourning for the at least 17 people killed in the protests — initially set for Thursday — has been put off for at least a week, according to a Web site linked with the organizer, reformist presidential candidate Mahdi Karroubi, saying organizers had not been given permission to hold the gathering.

Iranian security forces on motorcycles are seen amongst traffic near the parliament building Wednesday, June 24, 2009 in Tehran, Iran. Riot police in Iran's capital fired tear gas and bullets in the air Wednesday in clashes with protesters who converged on a square near the parliament building in defiance of government orders to halt demonstrations demanding a new presidential election, witnesses said.

Still, the most senior dissident cleric in Iran, Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, warned the authorities in a statement that trying to snuff out dissent would prove to be futile.

If people are not allowed to voice their demands in peaceful gatherings, it "could destroy the foundation of any government," regardless of its power, wrote Montazeri, who was the heir apparent to the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini until falling out of favor with the ruling clerics by questioning their almost limitless powers. Montazeri spent five years under house arrest in the city of Qom, a center of clerical power and Shiite Islamic learning.

Montazeri also called for a neutral body to investigate the claims of election fraud, though Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei repeated Wednesday previous statements that the election will not be reversed.

The final tally was 62.6 percent of the vote for Ahmadinejad and 33.75 percent for Mousavi, a lopsided victory in a race that was perceived to be much closer.

The disputed election has caused a rift among former Ahmadinejad supporters. Several Tehran newspapers reported Thursday that only 105 out of 290 members of parliament attended a victory celebration held by Ahmadinejad on Tuesday. Among the no-shows was Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani.

Still, the opposition campaign seems to have lost some momentum. Mousavi has not led rallies in a week, and on his Web site, he's refrained from urging supporters to attend protests.

On Wednesday, he met with 70 university professors, said the Web site, Kalemeh. The professors, among a group pushing for a more liberal form of government, were detained after the meeting, the site said. It was not clear where they were taken, the report said.

The detentions, if confirmed, would signal that the authorities are increasingly targeting members of Iran's elite.

AP

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Iran plans to make examples out of protesters ~ while it still holds power

Yes - while watching the BBC Persia - this once law abiding lady - got up from her chair - and walked outside of her house in a drone like state - to join the opposition protests. The elderly lady was - then arrested - and showed up 5 days later - on Iranian TV confessing that she had indeed made a mistake - not voting for Ahmadinejad. Her family was unharmed - but a few windows to their home were smashed.

Iran flexes its state's muscle - for God and (nuclear) power!!

TEHRAN - IRANIAN authorities said they would teach an exemplary lesson to 'rioters' held in the worst unrest since the birth of the Islamic Republic.

Riot police and Basij militia on Tehran's main squares warded off the mass protests that have marked the week since disputed elections. Iran's hardline leadership appeared to have gained the ascendancy, at least for the moment.

The official IRNA news agency quoted senior judiciary official Ebrahim Raisi as saying on state television late on Monday: 'Those arrested in recent events will be dealt with in a way that will teach them a lesson.'

He said a special court was studying the cases.

'The rioters should be dealt with in an exemplary way and the judiciary will do that,' Mr Raisi said.

Iran's top legislative body, the Guardian Council, rejected demands for a rerun from former prime minister Mirhossein Mousavi, who says he is the rightful victor in elections that were rigged, and pro-reform cleric Mehdi Karoubi.

Mr Mousavi, himself a scion of the religious establishment, says he does not seek to undermine the Islamic Republic but to purge it of what he calls lies and deceit.

Iranian state television, in a broadcasts clearly intended to discredit opponents defying a ban on protests, paraded people it said had been arrested during weekend violence.

'I think we were provoked by networks like the BBC and the VOA (Voice of America) to take such immoral actions,' one young man said. His face was shown but his name not given.

At least 10 protesters were killed in the worst violence on Saturday, and about seven more early last week. -- REUTERS


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Tehran 'like a war zone' as ayatollah refuses to back down on election

Zahra Rahnavard, Mir Hossein Mousavi's wife, has called for the immediate release of detained opposition politicians.

"I had insisted and will insist on implementing the law on the election issue. Neither the establishment nor the nation will yield to pressure at any cost," Ayatollah

Bloody clashes broke out in Tehran today as Iran's supreme leader said he would not yield to pressure over the disputed election. The renewed confrontation took place in Baharestan Square, near parliament, where hundreds of protesters faced off against several thousand riot police and other security personnel.

Witnesses likened the scene to a war zone, with helicopters hovering overhead, many arrests and the police beating demonstrators.

One woman told CNN that hundreds of unidentified men armed with clubs had emerged from a mosque to confront the protesters.

"They beat a woman so savagely that she was drenched in blood and her husband fainted. They were beating people like hell. It was a massacre," she said.

The opposition website Rooz Online carried what it said was an interview with a man the government had shipped in to Tehran to quell the demonstrations. He said he was being paid 2m rial (£122) to assault protesters with a heavy wooden stave, and that other volunteers, most of them from far-flung provinces, were being kept in hostel accommodation, reportedly in east Tehran.

With the independent media banned from covering street protests, the reports could not be verified.




There were also unconfirmed reports tonight that Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, had been arrested. Earlier in the day she had called on the authorities to release Iranians who had been detained.

In remarks posted on her husband's website, Rahnavard said: "I regret the arrest of many politicians and people and want their immediate release. It is my duty to continue legal protests to preserve Iranian rights."

Rahnavard, who galvanised women voters by campaigning at Mousavi's side before the election, said the government should not treat his supporters "as if martial law has been imposed in the streets".

The latest confrontations came as the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose authority has been challenged by massive grassroots protests, said on state television: "I had insisted and will insist on implementing the law on the election issue. Neither the establishment nor the nation will yield to pressure at any cost."

But one of the defeated presidential candidates, Mehdi Karroubi, stepped up his challenge to the regime, describing the government as illegitimate. Rejecting the outcome of the 12 June vote, Karroubi – a reformist cleric and the most liberal of the presidential candidates – said on his website: "I do not accept the result and therefore consider as illegitimate the new government. Because of the irregularities, the vote should be annulled."

Iran's guardian council has ruled out an annulment of the election, saying there were no major irregularities, although it admitted that more people had voted than were registered in 50 areas. It was announced yesterday that Ahmadinejad would be sworn in by mid-August.

Iran has accused the US and Britain of stirring up trouble in post-election violence that has seen at least 17 people killed, although the toll is suspected to be higher. Britain yesterday expelled two Iranian diplomats in a tit-for-tat response to the expulsion of two British diplomats accused by Tehran of being spies.

Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, said his government was considering downgrading diplomatic relations with the UK. Mottaki was asked about calls from members of Iran's parliament to scale down Iranian representation in the UK, possibly withdrawing its ambassador. "We are studying it," he said, according to state television.

"There has been an absence of any hostile activity. There hasn't been another escalation, and there haven't been any more demos [outside the Iranian embassy in London] that we're aware of," he said.

However, Iran's intelligence minister, Gholamhossein Mohsen-Ezhei, said that "a number people holding British passports had been arrested during the recent arrests," according to Iranian state radio.

Mottaki had earlier claimed that there had been an increase in the number of visas issued to visitors from Britain in the immediate run-up to the election, although did not make clear if the visas were issued to journalists.

The US withdrew invitations to Iranian diplomats to attend the US independence day celebrations on 4 July, to protest at the crackdown.

On , after a week of reticence, US president Barack Obama condemned for the first time the violence in Iran, saying: "The United States and the international community have been appalled and outraged by the threats, beatings, and imprisonments of the last few days. I strongly condemn these unjust actions, and I join with the American people in mourning each and every innocent life that is lost."


Guardian


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Iran: Reports of Baharestan Square massacre :: CNN caller :: Video

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Iranian blogosphere broken down :: Video

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George Galloway Praises Iran's "Democracy" [Video]

From the George Galloway fan club ~



George Galloway works for Iran's state controlled Press TV ~ a British MP who was on the far-left and then converted to Islam (we believe), he started his own political party called the Respect party - which he opened with an Islamic prayer (yeah! he's Muslim). He had a spot of trouble back there - when he first started his party - as some radical Muslim brothers - sealed off the auditorium where he was speaking - apparently telling him that he was a 'false prophet??' - but no doubt since then he has worked to earn their respect and the respect of every dictator alive. Recently drove a convoy from England to Palestine via North Africa - where he met Hamas leaders which - pissed the Canadians off - enough to bar him from entering their country - like, whatever you're about - not here!!





George Galloway: "Iran should have nuclear weapons"





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More police / basij violence against the people in the streets of Iran June 24 '09 [Video]

June 22, 09





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Iran descends in to paranoid delusion ~ fingers West for it own failed policies

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (right) and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki (left) pictured on June 16

Forced confessions made on Iranian TV - "it was the VOA and the BBC that made us riot!!" These Iranians would make the communists blush!!





TEHRA (AFP) — Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Wednesday Iran is reviewing whether to downgrade ties with Britain, accusing London of meddling in the post-election tumult gripping the Islamic republic.

"We are examining it," he was quoted by the ISNA news agency as saying, after repeated charges by Tehran that Britain and the United States are trying to destabilise the Islamic republic.

His announcment came a day after Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the expulsion of two Iranian diplomats in a tit-for-tat move after Tehran ordered two British diplomats to leave.

Downing Street said Britain wants "constructive" ties with Iran but renewing criticism of Tehran's response to the hotly disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"We have always been clear that we seek a constructive bilateral relationship with Iran based on mutual respect," a spokesman said after Mottaki's comments.

"Iran's decision to try to turn what are clearly internal matters for Iran into a conflict with the UK and others is deeply regrettable and without foundation."

Iran has repeatedly accused Britain of stoking the unrest that has engulfed the country since the June 12 election, with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei describing it as the "most evil" of enemies.

Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said on Wednesday that some people with British passports "had a role in the riots"

Mohseni-Ejei was quoted by the Fars news agency as saying members of "known counter-revolutionary groups" who entered the country in the run-up to the vote had been arrested.

"One of the detainees collected information needed by the enemies under the guise of a reporter," he said. "Britain was one of the countries which fuelled the situation by strong propaganda and some undiplomatic measures."

The Foreign Office has criticised Tehran for trying to "blame the UK and other outsiders for what is an Iranian reaction to an Iranian issue."

Earlier this week, Iran ordered the BBC's permanent correspondent in Tehran to leave the country, accusing him of supporting the rioters.

It accused the British broadcaster as well as Voice of America of being Israeli agents whose aim was to to "weaken the national solidarity, threaten territoral integrity and disintegrate Iran."

Authorities also announced the arrest of Iason Athanasiadis, a British-Greek freelance reporter for US newspaper the Washington Times.


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Somalia on proud path to Islamotopia :: Islamists order teenagers' hands, legs cut off

These Islamic laws effectively turn a young man into an invalid rather than reformed into a productive citizen. At least the Saudis will be happy!

These pictures show that these are not the first amputations under Shari'a carried out in Somalia - contrary to this report.

Warning :: pictures below graphic!!

MOGADISHU, June 22 (Reuters) - Somalia's al Shabaab insurgents in a Mogadishu stronghold sentenced four teenagers on Monday to each have a hand and a leg amputated as punishment for robbery.

It would be the first such amputation carried out by the Islamist rebels, who follow strict sharia law in the parts of south Somalia they control.

Al Shabaab -- whose ranks are swelled by foreign jihadists and is seen by Western security services as a proxy for al Qaeda in Somalia -- has carried out executions, floggings and single-limb amputations before, mainly in south Kismayu port.







It is battling the government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed for control of Mogadishu and is fighting a government-allied moderate Islamist militia in the provinces.

"Today, the Islamic court sentences these four men who carried out robberies to have their opposite hand and leg amputated," said Sheikh Abdul Haq, judge of the sharia court in the al Shabaab-held Suqa Holaha area of the Somali capital.

"They robbed mobile phones and people's belongings."

The judge did not say when the sentence would be carried out at the hearing, attended by hundreds of residents. Shackled and silent, the teenagers were led away into custody.

Al Shabaab's strict practices have shocked many Somalis, who are traditionally moderate Muslims, though residents give the insurgents credit for restoring order to regions they control.

International rights group Amnesty International condemned the sentence, saying the men had no lawyer and were not allowed to appeal.

"We are appealing to al Shabaab not to carry out these cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments," said Tawanda Hondora, Africa deputy director of the group. "These sentences were ordered by a sham al Shabaab court with no due process."


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Iran elections: Beatings shootings 'It's all for God !!'

Islamic fundamentalists, doing the God's work in Iran.

Religion of Peace

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UK: British Muslim woman, wants the burkha banned from streets

East meets West: A pair of women walk down the high street in Birmingham in full Muslim dress


Shopping in Harrods last week, I came across a group of women wearing black burkhas, browsing the latest designs in the fashion department.

The irony of the situation was almost laughable. Here was a group of affluent women window shopping for designs that they would never once be able to wear in public.

Yet it's a sight that's becoming more and more commonplace. In hardline Muslim communities right across Britain, the burkha and hijab - the Muslim headscarf - are becoming the norm.

Saira Khan, runner up in the first series of The Apprentice [UK], believes the burkha is an oppressive tool and says it is time to ban it from the streets of Britain

In the predominantly Muslim enclaves of Derby near my childhood home, you now see women hidden behind the full-length robe, their faces completely shielded from view. In London, I see an increasing number of young girls, aged four and five, being made to wear the hijab to school.

Shockingly, the Dickensian bone disease rickets has reemerged in the British Muslim community because women are not getting enough vital vitamin D from sunlight because they are being consigned to life under a shroud.

Thanks to fundamentalist Muslims and 'hate' preachers working in Britain, the veiling of women is suddenly all-pervasive and promoted as a basic religious right. We are led to believe that we must live with this in the name of 'tolerance'.

'The veil is a tool of oppression used to alienate and control women under the guise of religious freedom'

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And yet, as a British Muslim woman, I abhor the practice and am calling on the Government to follow the lead of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and ban the burkha in our country.

The veil is simply a tool of oppression which is being used to alienate and control women under the guise of religious freedom.

My parents moved here from Kashmir in the 1960s. They brought with them their faith and their traditions - but they also understood that they were starting a new life in a country where Islam was not the main religion.

My mother has always worn traditional Kashmiri clothes - the salwar kameez, a long tunic worn over trousers, and the chador, which is like a pashmina worn around the neck or over the hair.

When she found work in England, she adapted her dress without making a fuss. She is still very much a traditional Muslim woman, but she swims in a normal swimming costume and jogs in a tracksuit.

I was born in this country, and my parents' greatest desire for me was that I would integrate and take advantage of the British education system.

They wanted me to make friends at school, and be able to take part in PE lessons - not feel alienated and cut off from my peers. So at home, I wore the salwar kameez, while at school I wore a wore a typical English school uniform.

Now, to some fundamentalists, that made us not proper Muslims. Really?

I have read the Koran. Nowhere in the Koran does it state that a woman's face and body must be covered in a layer of heavy black cloth. Instead, Muslim women should dress modestly, covering their arms and legs.

Many of my adult British Muslim friends cover their heads with a headscarf - and I have no problem with that.

The burkha is an entirely different matter. It is an imported Saudi Arabian tradition, and the growing number of women veiling their faces in Britain is a sign of creeping radicalisation, which is not just regressive, it is oppressive and downright dangerous.

The burkha is an extreme practice. It is never right for a woman to hide behind a veil and shut herself off from people in the community. But it is particularly wrong in Britain, where it is alien to the mainstream culture for someone to walk around wearing a mask.

'Nowhere in the Koran does it state that a woman's face and body must be covered in a layer of heavy black cloth'

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The veil restricts women. It stops them achieving their full potential in all areas of their life, and it stops them communicating. It sends out a clear message: 'I do not want to be part of your society.'

Every time the burkha is debated, Muslim fundamentalists bring out all these women who say: 'It's my choice to wear this.'

Perhaps so - but what pressures have been brought to bear on them? The reality, surely, is that a lot of women are not free to choose.

Girls as young as four are wearing the hijab to school: that is not a freely made choice. It stops them taking part in education and reaching their potential, and the idea that tiny children need to protect their modesty is abhorrent.

And behind the closed doors of some Muslim houses, countless young women are told to wear the hijab and the veil. These are the girls who are hidden away, they are not allowed to go to university or choose who they marry. In many cases, they are kept down by the threat of violence.

The burkha is the ultimate visual symbol of female oppression. It is the weapon of radical Muslim men who want to see Sharia law on Britain's streets, and would love women to be hidden, unseen and unheard. It is totally out of place in a civilised country.

Precisely because it is impossible to distinguish between the woman who is choosing to wear a burkha and the girl who has been forced to cover herself and live behind a veil, I believe it should be banned.

French President Sarkozy has backed moves to outlaw burkhas in France

President Sarkozy is absolutely right to say: 'If you want to live here, live like us.'

He went on to say that the burkha is not a religious sign, 'it's a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement... In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity.'

So what should we do in Britain? For decades, Muslim fundamentalists, using the human rights laws, have been allowed to get their own way.

It is time for ministers and ordinary British Muslims to say, 'Enough is enough'. For the sake of women and children, the Government must ban the wearing of the hijab in school and the burkha in public places.

To do so is not racist, as extremists would have us believe. After all, when I go to Pakistan or Middle Eastern countries, I respect the way they live.

Two years ago, I wore a burkha for the first time for a television programme. It was the most horrid experience. It restricted the way I walked, what I saw, and how I interacted with the world.

It took away my personality. I felt alienated and like a freak. It was hot and uncomfortable, and I was unable to see behind me, exchange a smile with people, or shake hands.

If I had been forced to wear a veil, I would certainly not be free to write this article. Nor would I have run a marathon, become an aerobics teacher or set up a business.

We must unite against the radical Muslim men who love to control women.

My message to those Muslims who want to live in a Talibanised society, and turn their face against Britain, is this: 'If you don't like living here and don't want to integrate, then what the hell are you doing here? Why don't you just go and live in an Islamic country?'

Daily Mail


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Women 'really messed up' over forced marriages under Shari'a laws

Shouldn't the UK stop these marriages coming from Pakistan all together - never mind these poor women - no doubt some of these incoming partners could represent a security threat.

These forced marriages are also passport marriages or fetching marriages - often to (first) cousins back in the old country. We can forget about integration so long as this continues. As with every generation we have at least one parent from Pakistan - and likely next Somalia - so that even third generation children may never fully adjust to European culture. And the taxpayer ultimately ends up footing the bill.

Other countries such as Denmark have had great success with their laws that seriously discourage these fetching marriages - and the UK should look at doing the same.

NEW legislation has failed to stop forced marriages taking place, according to an Enfield support group.

Ila Bel, from Enfield Saheli, in Fore Street, Edmonton, said her charity was seeing an increasing number of women who were "really messed up” after being forced to marry under Sharia law.

In September, the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act came into effect making forced marriages unlawful, following a campaign by MP Ann Cryer.

At a conference in Westminster organised by Enfield's South Asian Forum, Mrs Cryer said she had been prompted to take action to prevent forced marriages when she realised fathers were asking her for help with visas for new husbands to be brought to Britain, against the will of their daughters.

She said: “I'm pleased I did what I did. We've gone from seeing cases every week or two to every six months. There have been 20 successful prosecutions in the courts.”

One problem highlighted at the conference was that of foreign domestic violence victims having “no recourse to public funds” because they had been married in Britain for less than two years.

Kate Wareing, director of Oxfam's UK Poverty Programme, said: “There are many women who are forced to flee within those two years and therefore are not able to access the services they need and the money they need.

“The situation is so extreme that the police turn to the Home Office to detain the women so they have somewhere else to go.”

She also said equal opportunities legislation had led to some councils withdrawing funding from specialist charities.

On average, a domestic violence victim from an ethnic minority will try to access six more services than white women before they will find one that can help.

Middlesex University professor of Law, Dr Joshua Castallino pointed out that human rights legislation should ensure forced marriages and domestic violence were not tolerated.

He said: “If we don't address this particular issue we are fooling ourselves into believing we take human rights seriously.”

Chairwoman Baroness Uddin who sat on the first working group to look at forced marriages, criticised “self-appointed” community leaders and said white politicians should speak on behalf of the whole community.

She offered to table a question in the House of Lords about women having no recourse to public funds.

Enfield Independent


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Protests in Iran capital 'halted'

Iranian riot police and militiamen appear to have halted protests in the capital, Tehran, after days of clashes over the country's disputed election.

Residents say the city is quiet, but opposition supporters have called for a day of mourning on Thursday for those killed during the protests.

One defeated presidential candidate, Mohsen Rezai, a conservative, has now withdrawn his complaint about the poll.

Barack Obama has condemned the "unjust" violence used against protesters.

Meanwhile, reports say four Iranian footballers who appeared to show solidarity with them have been banned.

The pro-government Iran Daily newspaper said four of the six players who wore green wristbands during a World Cup qualifier against South Korea in Seoul had been retired from the national team.






BBC


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Iranian state TV control snatched :: labels protesters "terrorists" under foreign influence [Video]

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Obama: Iran 'I condemn these unjust actions' [Video]

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Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi Talks About Protests :: June 22 2009 [Video]

Slain Neda is 'one of my daughters', shah's son says

WASHINGTON (AFP) The son of the late shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, was Monday carrying in his breastpocket a photograph of the slain protester known as Neda said to have been killed in the Tehran protests.

"I have added her (Neda) to the list of my daughters. She is now forever in my pocket," Pahlavi told AFP fighting back tears, after calling at a press conference for Western media and governments to stand strongly alongside the protest movement in Iran.

The former crown prince of Iran took from his left breastpocket photographs of his wife, Yasmine, and three daughters, Noor, Iman and Farah, and, in the same clutch of images, one of a veiled Neda.

He held them up silently, and stammered an apology for having tears in his eyes.

A video of a blood-drenched young woman, purportedly killed in protests in Tehran, has been flashed around the world via the Internet since it was posted Saturday.

The woman, known only as Neda, has become a symbol of Iranian defiance of the country's Islamic rulers and their insistence that hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won this month's presidential election.

In a speech at the packed National Press Club in Washington, Pahlavi slammed the "brutal violence of the regime's plain-clothes thugs against unarmed people" and urged global media to continue to be "the international artery" of the Iranian protest movement.

"No one will benefit from closing his or her eyes to knives and cables cutting into faces and mouths of our young and old, or from bullets piercing our beloved 'Neda' whose only sin was the quest for freedom -- no one but tyrants and their thugs," Pahlavi said, breaking off his speech as he was overcome by emotion.

According to Iranian state radio, at least 457 people were detained in street clashes in Tehran on Saturday that left 10 people dead, bringing the overall toll from a week of violence to at least 17.

Pahlavi said the toll was probably higher than reported, but added it was hard to come up with an exact number because, sources inside Iran have told him, victims "are often dragged to places where even their own families can't recover them."

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Iranian woman flouts strict clothing laws on streets of Tehran [Video]

Starts about a couple of minutes in >>
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Iran: Filmmaker claims 'many' killed in protests

Rome, 23 June (AKI) - An internationally acclaimed Iranian filmmaker has claimed many people have been killed and hundreds of others injured in the protests against the presidential elections in Iran. Speaking at a media conference in Rome on Tuesday, Mohsen Makhmalbaf also said that many of the injured had been "abducted" by police after they had been taken to hospital.

"Many people have been killed, hundreds of others have been injured, many of them have been abducted (by police) in the hospital," said Makhmalbaf.

"Others have lost limbs after being beaten with batons," he claimed. "The parents of those killed have also been prevented from holding funerals for their children."

Makhmalbaf said the what was taking place in Iran was an attempt to overthrow the government and criticised the crackdown by authorities which had killed at least 19 people.

"What happened is not an electoral fraud, but a coup d'etat," said Makhmalbaf.


Extended video here

Makhmalbaf reiterated what he said when he appeared with Iranian filmmaker and author Marjane Satrapi in Brussels last week.

The pair presented a document to Green Party MPs in the European parliament claiming to show that defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi had received over 19 million votes in the election on 12 June.

The document said liberal cleric and former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi came second in the election with a total of 13.3 million votes, while president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came third with only 5.49 million votes.

However, there is no certainty about the legitimacy of the document.

Makhmalbaf, who calls himself "ambassador abroad of Mousavi's political movement," drew a parallel between the current situation and that of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

He also called the declaration of victory by incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's a "coup d'etat" and appealed to the international community not to recognise it and to hold a new election with the monitoring of the United Nations.

"The images that we have seen in Iran are very similar to those that we saw 30 years ago during the Islamic revolution," said Makhmalbaf. "The generation of the (1979) revolution hides in silence, however, those that are now protesting in the squares represent the post-revolution generation."

The filmmaker also criticised recent comparisons between Mousavi and Ahmadinejad, saying comparing both would be like comparing United States president Barack Obama and George W. Bush.

Makhmalbaf said his movement would continue to resist the Iranian authorities in a peaceful way modelled on former Indian prime minister Mahatma Gandhi and former South African leader Nelson Mandela.

According to official Iranian media, Ahmadinejad received 62.3 percent of the vote, or 24.5 million votes, compared to Mousavi's 33.7 percent or 13.2 million votes.


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UK expels Iranian diplomats in tit-for-tat move

According to Iran - its everyone else's fault.

In the latest escalation of tensions between Iran and the West, the United Kingdom has expelled two Iranian diplomats after Tehran ordered two British diplomats to leave Iranian territory, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Tuesday.

AFP - Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Tuesday that Britain has expelled two Iranian diplomats in a tit-for-tat action after Tehran ordered two British diplomats to leave.

In the latest escalation of tensions between Iran and the West following disputed presidential elections, Brown denounced the "unjustified" step by the Islamic republic.

"It is... with regret that I should inform the House (of Commons) that Iran yesterday took the unjustified step of expelling two British diplomats over allegations that are absolutely without foundation," he told lawmakers.

"In response to that action we informed the Iranian ambassador earlier today that we would expel two Iranian diplomats from their embassy in London," he added.

And he said: "I am disappointed that Iran has placed us in this position but we will continue to seek good relations with Iran and to call for the regime to respect the human rights and democratic freedoms of the Iranian people."

The surprise announcement came after an Iranian foreign ministry source on Tuesday denied that the country's ambassador to London had been recalled, amid mounting tensions between Tehran and London.

Iran has accused Britain, and other Western governments, of meddling over the election that returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power and manipulating the subsequent unrest.

Iranian student unions called off a planned demonstration outside the British embassy in Tehran on Tuesday to protest at London's "interference" after it was banned by the Iranian authorities.

Centuries-old mistrust of British interest in Iran welled up once more as Iranian leaders alleged that London played a key role in fomenting the unrest that has swept the Islamic republic since the June 12 presidential polls.

Iranian authorities have fired off a number of accusations against the British government, prompting London to warn its nationals against travel to Iran and to pull out the families of embassy staff.

Amid the heightened tension, Britain's Foreign Office warned its nationals Monday against "all but essential travel to Iran" following "large scale demonstrations" and "violent clashes."

It also said it is withdrawing the families of embassy staff "until the situation improves."

"We do not believe that it is necessary to reduce the number of (embassy) staff at this time, however, we are monitoring the situation with the utmost vigilance," it said.


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Iran: Family, of son shot by Iranian security forces, asked to pay $3,000 “bullet fee” in exchange for his body from morgue

Police breaking the windows of a parked car.

Update | 9:13 a.m. An article by Farnaz Fassihi in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday reminds us that while Neda Agha-Soltan’s last moments were recorded on video and seen around the world, there are other families mourning the other Iranians who have been killed during the post-election protests. Here is how Ms. Fassihi’s report from Tehran begins:

The family, clad in black, stood at the curb of the road sobbing. A middle-aged mother slapped her cheeks, letting out piercing wails. The father, a frail man who worked as a doorman at a clinic in central Tehran, wept quietly with his head bowed. Minutes before, an ambulance had arrived from Tehran’s morgue carrying the body of their only son, 19-year-old Kaveh Alipour.

On Saturday, amid the most violent clashes between security forces and protesters, Mr. Alipour was shot in the head as he stood at an intersection in downtown Tehran. He was returning from acting class and a week shy of becoming a groom, his family said. [...]

Upon learning of his son’s death, the elder Mr. Alipour was told the family had to pay an equivalent of $3,000 as a “bullet fee”—a fee for the bullet used by security forces—before taking the body back, relatives said. Mr. Alipour told officials that his entire possessions wouldn’t amount to $3,000, arguing they should waive the fee because he is a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war. According to relatives, morgue officials finally agreed, but demanded that the family do no funeral or burial in Tehran

NYTimes Blog
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Sarkozy: Burkha is not welcome in France, 'it's a sign of subservience' for women

A woman wearing the niqab, a veil that exposes only a woman's eyes, walks in central Marseille, France

President Sarkozy has risked the wrath of Muslims by backing demands for the burkha to be banned.

He declared that the full-body religious gown is a sign of the 'debasement' of women.

'In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity,' he said to extended applause in Versailles, at a joint session of France's two houses of parliament.

'The burkha is not a religious sign, it's a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement. It will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic.'

The president was supporting a weekend call by dozens of French politicians for a parliamentary commission to study whether the burkha, which is growing in popularity in France, should be banned.

He laid out his support for a ban even before the panel has been approved - braving critics who fear the issue could stigmatise Muslims in France.

Remarkably, his comments came only hours before he was to host a state dinner with Sheik Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani of Qatar.

Many women in the Gulf state wear Islamic head coverings in public - whether while shopping or driving cars.

France enacted a law in 2004 banning the Islamic headscarf and other conspicuous religious symbols from public schools, sparking fierce debate at home and abroad. France has Western Europe's largest Muslim population, an estimated 5million.

Last year, the country's highest court refused to grant French citizenship to a Moroccan woman who wears a burkha, on the grounds that her Muslim practices were incompatible with French gender equality and secularism laws.

Sarkozy's comments put him at odds with President Barack Obama who, in a speech in Cairo this month, said that the U.S. prized freedom of religion and declared: 'We are not going to tell people what to wear.'

The French leader told Mr Obama in Normandy on June 6 that French principles of equality meant people should not display religious affiliation in state institutions.

He added: 'It is not a problem that young girls may choose to wear a veil or a headscarf as long as they have actually chosen to do so, as opposed to this being imposed upon them, be it by their families or by their environment.'

If Sarkozy succeeds France will become the first and only country to ban the wearing of the burkha. It is already banned in schools.

In Holland, controversial Dutch MP Geert Wilders, who was banned from entering Britain, tried to introduce a ban, calling the head-dress 'a medieval symbol, a symbol against women'.

But despite Parliament voting in favour, the government was challenged in the courts and it is yet to become law - a sign of the opposition Sarkozy could expect.

The issue is highly divisive even within the French government.

The junior minister for human rights, Rama Yade, said she was open to a ban if it is aimed at protecting women forced to wear the burkha.

But Immigration Minister Eric Besson said a ban would only 'create tensions'.

Daily Mail


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Iran Election: A Tribute to Neda [Video]

Lyrics below

This song is a tribute to Neda, a protester who was murdered during a protest for democracy in Iran, as well as to all the others who have died during the protests. I (author) put a slide show in with it using various pictures collected on the internet. (Mostly from the flickr feeds.) Please pass this along as it conveys an important message to Iran and to the world: Down with Tyrants. Long Live Freedom.

Cyberwar Guide:
http://cli.gs/QqtWGs
Support Iranians:
http://www.twitter.com/#iranelection

Lyrics:

Over broken pavement, over flames and screaming shouts
There's a voice that calls the same to every house
Of a girl that stood by watching flags unfurl
No one knew that you would shake the entire world

Neda, Neda

Even here there's talk of men who stole away your life
From your father, from the city wracked with strife
Even in my heart, I find that I have grown
From the beauty that the world will never know

Neda, Neda

And there's victory in the stars, Neda
They can't take away your heart, Neda
Your eyes have lost their light
They stole away your life

It's the cost of freedom, it's the price of liberty
But no one knew that you'd become the one they'd see
On every newscast, every poster, every wall
One by one, all of the world begins to call

Neda, Neda

You were the face the world had never seen
You were swept away by seas of green
You didn't have a choice
But you've become our voice

The world will not forget you Neda,
We will not forget you...

And there's victory in the stars, Neda
Once this world was torn apart, Neda
But you've united all our hearts, Neda

You died with open eyes
So why are we so blind?
* * *
I hope this inspires you, and I hope that the world will always remember those who have lost their lives pursuing liberty. God bless.


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Iranian girl tells of bravery and her beliefs in face of violent government assaults [Video]

CNN's Ivan Watson talks to a 19 year old woman in Iran about the clashes with government forces.
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Iranian Basij militia disperses demonstrators [Video]

Pro-government Basij militia disperse a crown at the Shrioudi Sports Compoud in Tehran.
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Students Killed by Basiji Iran's Police [Video]

WARNING - Videos are as stated.



Severely Injured Demonstrator in Tehran June 20



It will be us who learn how to be free from these Iranian students.

More from Bloody Sunday in Iran




Here's a woman driving along taking pictures - it is beginning to look like a war zone




>> Music pictures Iranians protest




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Night time: Car horns - Iranian Riots & Protests - June 22 [Video]

Well if you are beaten and shot at in the streets - get in your car and lay on your horn! Iran protests continue!
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Sweden: Muslim girls - honor crimes victims [Video]

The United Nations says that over five thousand women and children die every year in so-called "honor killings", often where family members kill women who refuse to enter forced marriages. RT
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Italy: MP in court to defend herself against 'fatwa' death threat

Bologna, 18 June (AKI) - An Italian MP and Muslim women's rights activist was due to give evidence to a court on Thursday over death threats allegedly made against her in a 'fatwa' or religious edict. Souad Sbai, MP for the ruling conservative People of Freedom party, was due to attend the court in the northern Italian city of Bologna as witness.

"I am today in Bologna to defend myself against a death 'fatwa' issued against me, for which I had to live in fear for quite some time," said Sbai in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI).

Akrane H., is accused of having issued the death threat in 2007 and accused Sbai of taking advantage of immigrants for personal gain.

"I call on God to act against you, in a way that he will expose you. You are a very bad woman, begin to pray to God, leave work for men.

"I have heard very bad things about you and you have thus been exposed as a 'massihia' (Christian)," Akrane wrote in a letter to Sbai.

The claim by Akrane is an accusation of apostasy, which under Islamic law calls for the death penalty, which can be carried out by any Muslim at any time.

"You are an opportunist. You use immigrants for profit-making. You Souad, are nothing and you have nothing to do with Islam and have no knowledge of fikh (religious jurisprudence),"

the letter stated.

"You have your hair uncovered in the sight of God, and a woman who does not cover her head must be hanged by the hair. God will punish you for the evil you do to people,"

the letter continued.

Sbai, who is also president of the Moroccan Women's Association in Italy, said she hopes the judge will understand the severity of the death threat.

"Today's hearing could be the last hearing of the trial and I hope the judge understands the danger of this 'fatwa' and the seriousness of this issue," she told AKI.

Sbai said she was worried that Bologna's DIGOS or anti-terrorism police had no information about who she was, or her work in favour of abused Muslim women.

DIGOS also considered Akrane H. nothing more than an anarchist or an extreme-left political activist.

"This is not correct, because they are underestimating the 'Islamic value' of his words," she concluded.



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Bahrain: Paper reopens after report on Ahmadinejad's 'Jewishness'

The small problem of Ahmadinejad family's name - originally Saborjhian, known in Iran to be a Jewish family name.

Possible connection :: Saborjhian ~ Sabbath

He was born with the name Saborjhian - but the family name was changed 'for religious and economic reasons' when the family moved to Tehran.


Manama, 22 June (AKI) - A publishing ban on Bahrain's oldest newspaper was overturned on Monday, after it had been shut down after it published an article claiming that Iran's hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be Jewish. The newspaper, Akhbar al-Khaleej was shut down as it was about to go to press late on Sunday, said a note on the newspaper's website. It did not state the reasons behind the closure.

However, on Monday, the country's state news agency BNA said the daily would resume publication on Tuesday.

"Bahrain News Agency was informed by responsible sources that Bahraini newspaper Akhbar al-Khaleej would start publishing again tomorrow, Tuesday," said the statement.

According to Dubai-based network Al-Arabiya, an opinion piece by Samira Rajab, a female member of Bahrain's Consultative Council, suggested Ahmadinejad could have Jewish ancestry

The piece, entitled "Islamic Republic -- Popular Fury", discussed a debate held between Ahmadinejad and reformist candidate in Iran's 12 June presidential election, Mehdi Karroubi.

In the article, Rajab wrote:

"In a televised live debate between Mehdi Karroubi and Ahmadinejad, Karroubi took a jab at Ahmadinejad's origins and said 'my full name is Mehdi - so and so - Karroubi' so what is your full name?'", reported al-Arabiya.

Afterwards, Rajab said Ahmadinejad said his name, but left out one surname, which according to Rajab, all Iranians know indicates Jewish ancestry.

Local sources, however, say the disclosure was linked to a piece about the Iranian election crisis.

The piece said Ahmadinejad had won the presidential elections of 12 June thanks to "millions of fraudulent votes".

"After 30 years, the cover has been pulled away... and Islamic democracy has been shown in its most repugnant dictatorial forms," said the article.

Ahmadinejad has said on several occasions that Israel must be "wiped-off the map".

He has also received widespread international condemnation over his comments denying the Holocaust - Germany's World War II Nazi extermination of millions of Jews.


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Iran: MPs eye legislation to ban stoning

Possibly taking note of how unpopular Islamic religious laws are at home and abroad - could the Iranian parliament be 'eyeing' change. There are a few other things we could add to the list of things to be 'eyed' like those medieval hangings of gays, adulterers [more relations outside marriage] and alcoholics - and imprisonment and persecution of apostates from Islam and religious minorities. Oh and they could release those women's rights campaigners from prison.

Tehran, June 22 (AKI) - Iranian lawmakers are mooting legislation that would outlaw harsh punishment methods such as stoning and amputations, Iran's official news agency IRNA said on Monday. Ali Sharokhi, who is the president of the Iranian judiciary commission said MPs are eyeing legal amendments to make illegal stoning, cutting off the hands of thieves, amongst other 'Islamic' punishments.

Currently, stoning, or lapidation is a legal punishment for crimes such as adultery, prostitution, and incest.

The last reported stoning in Iran was in December 2008 of two Iranian men and one Afghan man who dug himself out and escaped the stoning in the northeastern area of Iran. These stonings were confirmed by Judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi in January 2009.

In stonings in Iran, men are buried to the waist and women are buried to the shoulders. Then stones are hurled until the prisoner dies or escapes.
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Islamic burka 'not welcome' in France: Sarkozy

French lawmakers have argued that that burqa undermines secularism and women's rights

PARIS (AFP) — The Islamic burka is "not welcome" in France because it is not a symbol of religion but a sign of subservience for women, President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday.

"The burka is not a sign of religion, it is a sign of subservience," he told lawmakers. "It will not be welcome on the territory of the French republic."

A group of French lawmakers has been calling for a special inquiry into whether Muslim women who cover themselves fully in public undermine French secularism and women's rights.

Two women, one wearing the niqab, a veil worn by the most conservative Muslims that exposes only a woman's eyes, right, walk side by side, in the Belsunce district of downtown Marseille, central France, Friday June 19, 2009. The French government's spokesman says he favors the creation of a parliamentary commission to study the small but growing trend of burqa wear in France. Luc Chatel says the commission could possibly propose legislation aimed at banning the burqa and other fully covering garments worn by some Muslim women

"In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity," Sarkozy said to extended applause in a speech at the Chateau of Versailles southwest of Paris.

"The burqa is not a religious sign, it's a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement — I want to say it solemnly," he said. "It will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic."

In France, the terms "burqa" and "niqab" often are used interchangeably. The former refers to a full-body covering worn largely in Afghanistan with only a mesh screen over the eyes, whereas the latter is a full-body veil, often in black, with slits for the eyes.

Later Monday, Sarkozy was expected to host a state dinner with Sheik Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani of Qatar. Many women in the Persian Gulf state wear Islamic head coverings in public — whether while shopping or driving cars.

France enacted a law in 2004 banning the Islamic headscarf and other conspicuous religious symbols from public schools, sparking fierce debate at home and abroad. France has Western Europe's largest Muslim population, an estimated 5 million people.

A government spokesman said Friday that it would seek to set up a parliamentary commission that could propose legislation aimed at barring Muslim women from wearing the head-to-toe gowns outside the home.

AP

Sarkozy says burqas have no place in France

PARIS (Reuters) - President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday that burqas, garments that cover women from head to toe and hide their faces, had no place in France as they were a sign of the subjugation of women.

During a solemn speech to parliament on a wide range of issues, Sarkozy backed an initiative launched by legislators last week who expressed concern over an increase in the use of burqas in France.

"The issue of the burqa is not a religious issue, it is a question of freedom and of women's dignity," Sarkozy told a joint session of both houses of parliament, held at the Palace of Versailles.

"The burqa is not a religious sign, it is a sign of the subjugation, of the submission of women. I want to say solemnly that it will not be welcome on our territory," he said to strong applause.

Referring to a cross-party initiative by close to 60 legislators last week, who proposed a parliamentary commission to look into the spread of the burqa and find ways to combat the trend, Sarkozy said it was the right way to proceed.

"A debate has to take place and all views must be expressed. What better place than parliament for this? I tell you, we must not be ashamed of our values, we must not be afraid of defending them," he said.

The debate about the burqa is reminiscent of a controversy that raged for a decade in France about Muslim girls wearing headscarves in class. Eventually, a law was passed in 2004 banning pupils from wearing conspicuous signs of their religion at state schools.

Critics say the law stigmatized Muslims at a time when the country should be fighting discrimination in the job and housing markets that has caused a rift between mainstream society and many youths from an immigrant background.


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Iran Tense After Police, Protesters Clash [Video]

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Tehran: Chemical Attack from the Skies [Video]

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Al Jazeera - al-Qaeda interview: hopes Pak nukes fall in Taliban hands - Americans to convert or pay Jizya tax - 22, Jun '09 [Video]

In a rare and exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Mustafa Abul-Yazeed, al-Qaeda's third in command, said it would use Pakistan's nuclear weapons agains the United States.

Al Jazeera's Shiulie Ghosh spoke with Michael Griffin, an al-Qaeda expert about Abul-Yazeed's comments and their implications.
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Some Iranian results 'highly implausible': Ballot factory [Video]

When I first spotted this video a few days ago I did not understand it - until I realised these guys are possibly manufacturing ballots.

LONDON (AFP) — Figures from Iran's disputed presidential election show "irregularities" in the turnout and "highly implausible" swings to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to a analysis published on Sunday.

There would have to have been a radical shift in rural voting patterns and a "highly unlikely" change in heart among former reformist voters for Ahmadinejad to win as he did, said independent British think tank Chatham House.

Their analysis of interior ministry figures found that overall, there was a 50.9 percent swing to the president.

The results also suggested he had won the support of 47.5 percent of those who had backed reformist candidates in the 2005 election.

"This, more than any other result, is highly implausible and has been the subject of much debate in Iran," the study said.

It also revealed that in two conservative provinces, Mazandaran and Yazd, the turnout was more than 100 percent -- a trend it said was "problematic", although admittedly not unprecedented in Iranian elections.

Ahmadinejad was re-elected in the June 12 poll but his main challenger, former premier Mir Hossein Mousavi has complained of irregularities.

Tens of thousands of his supporters have taken to the streets demanding a recount, sparking a crackdown by the authorities.

This new analysis of the results was edited by Professor Ali Ansari, director of the Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews.

It challenges the suggestion that Ahmadinejad's victory was due to the massive participation of a previously silent conservative majority.

Chatham House says that in 1997, 2001 and 2005, "conservative candidates and Ahmadinejad in particular were markedly unpopular in rural areas".

But the results this year showed the president had done remarkably well in the countryside.

"This increase in support for Ahmadinejad amongst ru