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


Read more...

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
Read more...

Happy 4th July !!

Read more...

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


Read more...

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."

Read more...

'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


Read more...

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.


Read more...

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.


Read more...

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

Read more...

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


Read more...

'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

Read more...

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

Read more...

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.


Read more...

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/


Read more...

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


Read more...

'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.


Read more...

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

Read more...

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!



Read more...

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

Read more...

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.



Read more...

'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


Read more...

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

Read more...

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

Read more...

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


Read more...

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”



Read more...

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


Read more...

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.


Read more...

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


Read more...

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

Read more...

Inside the Mumbai attack [Video]

Read more...

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


Read more...

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!



Read more...

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


Read more...

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)


Read more...

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
Read more...

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 >>





Read more...

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.


Read more...

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.





Read more...

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


Read more...

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


Read more...

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

Read more...