Free Republic

Two Taliban ‘commanders’ among 20 killed SNIPPET: "MINGORA/KOHAT: Two Taliban ‘commanders’ were among 20 militants killed in clashes and air strikes in Swat and Orakzai Agency on Thursday. In Swat, 13 insurgents were killed in clashes with security forces on Thursday. According to Swat media centre, security personnel came under fire when they raided a Taliban hideout in Sigram area of Koza Bandai. During an exchange of fire, 10 militants and one soldier were killed. Detained militant commander Mohammad Naseem alias Abu Faraj was with the troops and he was also killed in the clash. Abu Faraj, a close aide...

Layton Ehmke/MEDILL Al Gore signs a copy of his new book at the Borders book store in the Loop on Tuesday. Hundreds of fans showed up but protesters took advantage of the event to tell the former vice president that his science was “bunk.” Protester from the We Are Change group shout after chasing Al Gore’s SUV down State Street in the Chicago Loop on Tuesday.

Note: The following text is a quote: Terror Charges Unsealed in Minnesota Against Eight Defendants, Justice Department Announces The Justice Department announced that terrorism charges have been unsealed today in the District of Minnesota against eight defendants. According to the charging documents, the offenses include providing financial support to those who traveled to Somalia to fight on behalf of al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization; attending terrorist training camps operated by al-Shabaab; and fighting on behalf of al-Shabaab. Thus far, 14 defendants have been charged in the District of Minnesota in indictments or criminal complaints that have been unsealed and...

Source: 9/11 Terror Detainees Face Trial in N.Y. Friday, November 13, 2009 WASHINGTON — Self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees will be sent to New York to face trial in a civilian federal court, an Obama administration official said Friday. The official said Attorney General Eric Holder plans to announce the decision later in the morning. The official is not authorized to discuss the decision before the announcement, so spoke on condition of anonymity.

SNIPPET: ""Moreover, freedom in America is indivisible from the freedom to practice one's religion. That is why there is a mosque in every state in our union, and over 1,200 mosques within our borders. That's why the United States government has gone to court to protect the right of women and girls to wear the hijab and to punish those who would deny it." -- Barack Obama, Cairo, June 4, 2009 But what about the rights of women like this one -- the right not to wear the hijab? Who is standing up for them? "BREAKING NEWS: Somalia Militants Kill...

The reminder that yet another anniversary is here had George Foreman thinking that maybe it's time to visit an old friend. They once had their differences, once came to blows. Time, though, is a great healer. "Maybe I should go and see him," Foreman said. "He's like a brother. We're that close." They weren't 35 years ago, on an early morning in Africa when all Foreman had in mind was dealing some serious hurt to Muhammad Ali. He had been in Zaire way too long as it was, and the big, brooding heavyweight champion was in no mood to take...

"Muslim in Washington, DC: "I'm not scared to die! I will kill you! I will blow people up and the Metro!"" SNIPPET: ""Three blocks of Wisconsin Avenue Northwest were cleared of cars and pedestrians. Adjacent buildings and restaurants were evacuated..." "DC Security Scare Becomes Federal Case," by Bob Barnard for MyFoxDC, October 8 (thanks to Heidi): WASHINGTON, D.C. - A man who was arrested in a security scare in Northwest D.C. on Tuesday night threatened to blow up the Friendship Heights Metro station, according to a criminal complaint in the case. It was a chaotic scene Tuesday night in Friendship...

September 7, 2009 Mass murder at 30,000 feet: Islamic extremists guilty of airline bomb plot Philippe Naughton Three British Muslims were found guilty today of conspiracy to murder thousands of passengers and crew in an unprecedented airline bomb plot that could have proved as deadly as the 9/11 attacks. After a retrial at Woolwich Crown Court, jurors found the ringleader, Abdulla Ahmed, and two other men, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain, guilty of plotting to use liquid bombs to blow up airliners en route from Heathrow to the United States. Another defendant, Umar Islam, was found guilty of a more...

DUBLIN -- Muhammad Ali made a sentimental journey Tuesday to discover his Irish roots, and met distant relatives during celebrations at the local town hall and a nearby castle. Thousands lined the streets of Ennis, western Ireland, to cheer his motorcade as the three-time heavyweight champion visited the home of his great-grandfather Abe Grady. Fans adorned streets with red, white and blue bunting and flags, while shop windows competed to display the most impressive posters honoring Ali -- including one tongue-in-cheek portrait of him appearing ready to knock out an unpopular Irish politician. Ali, who is 67 and battling Parkinson's...

Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, a Falls Church man and a member of al Qaeda who admitted he was planning to assassinate then-President George W. Bush, was sentenced to life in prison Monday at federal court in Alexandria. Abu Ali was originally sentenced in 2005 to 30 years in prison. U.S. Judge Gerald Bruce Lee of the U.S. District Court for eastern Virginia ruled Monday that Abu Ali should spend life in prison partially because he never renounced his al Qaeda ties. After the initial sentencing, both sides filed appeals. Abu Ali completed some of his sentence in solitary confinement at...

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court on Tuesday reversed the 2001 murder conviction of a man serving a life prison term for killing the daughter of former Oakland Raiders Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff. In a 43-page ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that San Mateo County prosecutors improperly excluded two African-American jurors for racially motivated reasons, tainting the trial of Mohammed Ali. Ali was convicted of first-degree murder in the February 1999 slaying of his girlfriend, Tracey Biletnikoff, in the office of a San Mateo drug treatment center. Ali always admitted killing Biletnikoff at the...

At least 13 militants were killed in a clash with security forces following arrest of five burqa-clad Arabs, one Afghan national and a local man in Mohmand Agency on Tuesday. Four of the five Arabs are Saudi nationals — Ahmed, Ali, Mohammad and Obaidullah — and one Libyan national, Abdullah. The Afghan national has been identified as Habibullah and the local man as Shad Ali. They were detained at the Khapakh checkpost. The Afghan was living in Chakdara area of Lower Dir. When troops were taking the detained men to Ghalanai, about 60 militants attacked them in an area between...

Note: Photo included. Trio not guilty of helping 7/7 London bombers Jury clears men of conspiring with four bombers over London 2005 explosions that killed 52 Rachel Williams guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 28 April 2009 17.01 BST Three British Muslims were today cleared of helping the 7 July bombers choose their targets by carrying out a reconnaissance mission in London seven months before the attacks that killed 52 people and injured almost 1,000. A jury at Kingston crown court unanimously found Waheed Ali, 25, Sadeer Saleem, 28, and Mohammed Shakil, 32, all from Beeston, Leeds, not guilty of conspiring with the four...

NEW YORK — Muhammad Ali described his third and final fight with Joe Frazier as "death, closest thing to dyin' that I know of." Frazier recalls their brutal matchup outside Manila as something much less grandiose. "We just did our job," he said. The two great heavyweights always have been the ying and yang of boxing. Why should things change nearly 35 years later?

Exclusive Book Excerpt: How an Al-Qaeda Cell Planned a Poison-gas Attack on the N.Y. Subway The plot was called off by Bin Laden's No. 2 only 45 days from zero hour, according to a new book by Ron Suskind SUBSCRIBE TO TIMEPRINTE-MAILMORE BY AUTHORRelated Blogs: Click here for blog postings from around the web that are related to the topic of this article. Posted Saturday, Jun. 17, 2006 Al-Qaeda terrorists came within 45 days of attacking the New York subway system with a lethal gas similar to that used in Nazi death camps. They were stopped not by any intelligence...

A former FBI special agent told law enforcement and Homeland Security personnel that a network of Islamic organizations are working to incrementally implement Islamic law in the United States. During a presentation at the Bedford County Emergency Management Agency, former FBI agent John Guandolo briefed members about groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, which he claims is working with other Islamic groups to slowly implement Shariah, also known as Islamic law, which encompasses all areas of life. Guandolo worked in the FBI since 1996, including nine years as a member of its SWAT team. After 9/11, he worked in the...

FBI Warns of Potential Terror Attacks The FBI and Department of Homeland Security today issued an analytical "note" to U.S. law-enforcement officials cautioning that al-Qaida terrorists have in the past expressed interest in attacking public buildings using a dozen suicide bombers each carrying 20 kilograms of explosives. Authors with the U.S. Office of Intelligence and Analysis added that they have "no credible or specific information that terrorists are planning operations against public buildings in the United States." The FBI and DHS analysts said they were releasing the note because "it is important for local authorities and building owners and...

Terrorist sympathiser Waris Ali is said to have angered teachers and fellow pupils with his radical views. And he even allegedly asked librarians and a policeman how much potentially lethal fertiliser he could keep at home before it was illegal under anti-terror laws. Ali, now 18, denies three charges of possessing articles for terrorist purposes, namely a copy of the Anarchists' Cookbook, 3.5kg of potassium nitrate and a quantity of calcium chloride. His co-accused Dabeer Hussain, also 18, denies one count of possessing the cookbook, which lists how to make lethal bombs. The schoolboys attended Westborough High School, in Dewsbury,...

No doubt about it, racism still exists in America. The question is how big of a factor it will be when deciding the outcome of this election. The interesting occurrence that is happening is that the party who is making the biggest deal about race is the one with the minority candidate. Today on the local Hallerin Hilton Hill show, Fatima Ali was interviewed after saying in an article she wrote that a John McCain victory would inspire an all out "race war." I'll admit it has entered my mind. After watching the looting in the wake of the Rodney...

How The West Was Won The rapid and unexpected decline of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq was officially recognized this week, when Maj. Gen. John Kelly, commanding the Marine Expeditionary Force, turned operational control of Anbar Province over to the Iraqi army and police. Anbar, a vast expanse of desert the size of North Carolina, had been the stronghold of the Sunni insurgency. For years, foreign fighters loyal to al-Qaida had sneaked across Iraq's northwestern border with Syria, into Anbar and down a "rat line" of safe houses in Haditha, Ramadi and Hit. From Fallujah, the arch terrorist Zarqawi...

Fatimah Ali: We need Obama, not 4 more years of George Bush By Fatimah Ali Philadelphia Daily News AMERICA is on the brink of a long, harsh and bitterly cold winter, with a looming recession that the GOP won't even admit to. The policies of the current White House have brutalized our economy, yet the wealthiest think that everything is fine. Rich Republicans just don't understand that millions are suffering. But many of their working class do, and they're beginning to abandon their own party. When lifelong Republican Barney Smith told the Democratic convention that he'd vote for Barack Obama...

WASHINGTON, Aug 3: Five years after her mysterious disappearance in Karachi, the FBI has finally conceded that an MIT-trained Pakistani neuroscientist is alive and is in US custody in Afghanistan. Aafia Siddiqui, 36, disappeared with her three children while visiting her parents’ home in Karachi in March 2003, around the same time the FBI announced that it wanted to question her over her alleged links to Al Qaeda. Her family’s lawyer Elaine Whitfield Sharp said she believed recent media reports about Mrs Siddiqui’s incarceration increased pressure on the US and Pakistani authorities to divulge more information. “I don’t believe that...

“Just as Muslims have the right to exercise Da’wa - an invitation to Islam - so Christians must have the freedom to invite people to follow Jesus Christ,” explained the bishop at a press conference in Jerusalem on June 24. “Dialogue proceeds on the understanding that each is a missionary faith.

A Northwest Side man was charged with a hate crime and his three adult sons were charged with felony aggravated battery in an alleged attack on a motorist in which racial epithets were shouted, prosecutors said. Mahmoud Alkhazaleh, 53, of the 5500 block of North Mango Avenue also was charged with aggravated battery and vehicle invasion in a June 9 attack on a man who allegedly had honked his horn to prod Alkhazaleh to step out of the path of his truck, according to court documents. Alkhazaleh called the victim a "blue-eyed devil" and an " 'American [expletive]' during a...

Attacks on nuclear power stations, oil and gas terminals, Canary Wharf and Heathrow’s control tower were being considered by leaders of the plot to blow up seven transatlantic airliners in mid-flight, a court was told yesterday. Documents found on computer memory sticks at the home of an alleged terrorist ringleader contained a list of targets across Britain – including the gas pipeline between Britain and Belgium. The man, Assad Sarwar, was said to be in contact with terrorist leaders overseas and visited Pakistan a month before his arrest as preparations for the airline attacks were being finalised. Peter Wright, QC,...

Iraq PM wants two other Saddam-era officials executed with Chemical AliBy SAMEER N. YACOUB and ANNA JOHNSON/Associated Press Thursday, March 6, 2008 12:06 AM CST Saddam Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as 'Chemical Ali,' for his alleged use of chemical weapons against Iraqi Kurds, listens to prosecution evidence during the Operation Anfal trial, in Baghdad, Iraq, in this, Jan. 8, 2007, file photo. The Iraqi government is refusing to execute the Saddam Hussein henchman and cousin known as 'Chemical Ali' unless the executions of two other Saddam associates also are approved. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, Pool) BAGHDAD - The Iraqi...

Harems pay off for Muslims (Toronto, Ontario Canada) Mumtaz Ali: "Very liberal-minded country". Hundreds of GTA Muslim men in polygamous marriages -- some with a harem of wives -- are receiving welfare and social benefits for each of their spouses, thanks to the city and province, Muslim leaders say. Mumtaz Ali, president of the Canadian Society of Muslims, said wives in polygamous marriages are recognized as spouses under the Ontario Family Law Act, providing they were legally married under Muslim laws abroad. "Polygamy is a regular part of life for many Muslims," Ali said yesterday. "Ontario recognizes religious marriages for...

Mustafa Ali, 36, was charged with two counts of murder, robbery and other related offenses in the shooting deaths of two Loomis armored car guards and theft of cash at a bank ATM.

<p>Old Miami-Dade Metro cop sources confirmed to me tonight that accused cop killer Shawn labeet has "ties to" Miami Islamic community. The depth of the connection is not known at this time.</p> <p>He said it is under VERY active investigation. It is somehow linked to his brother Ishmael Labeet who killed 8 Americans "because they were White" in US Virgin Islands years ago, then fled to Cuba.</p>

It appears that the Imam that called for the death of Ayaan Hirsi Ali for daring to speak out against the "religion of peace" STILL has a standing invitation from the University of Pittsburgh to speak: (h/t Weasel Zippers) The Johnstown campus of the University of Pittsburgh is courting controversy after having promised a local imam - who advocates killing those who forsake their faith in Islam - an opportunity to address its student body. Responding to a lecture at the campus given by an ex-Muslim promoting a book critical of Islam, the imam of the Islamic Center of Johnstown....

NAIROBI: The Kenyan police have arrested a man they believe to be a key Al Qaeda suspect who tried to shoot down an Israeli airliner and helped plan the simultaneous bombing of a hotel in 2002 that killed 15 people, officials said. The man's identity was not immediately confirmed, but investigators said they believe he is Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a senior official in Kenya's security services told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the matter was classified. Nabhan is wanted for questioning by the FBI and the Kenyan police for the 2002 attacks and the 1998 bombings...

PORTSMOUTH -— The head of the Portsmouth police department’s Special Operations team was arrested this morning on a charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Lt. Brian Keith Mohammad Abdul Ali, a 21-year veteran of the police department, and Gregory Mondell Elliott Sr. were both arrested on the charges this morning at about 8:30 a.m., according to a statement released by Ann Hope, a spokeswoman for the department. Ali was suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation. The case is being investigated by the Portsmouth police department and Virginia State Police.

TAIPING: Malaysia’s snake king Ali Khan Samsudin, 48, died as he had lived – handling the reptiles that he loved. His eldest son Amjad Khan, 21, said his father had been performing at a show in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday when he was bitten by a King Cobra. Ali Khan, who regularly performs with his beloved snakes for charity and for a living, died at 1am yesterday at Kuala Lumpur Hospital where he had been recuperating. Amjad Khan related that when his father contacted him on Tuesday to tell him he had been bitten, the family had not been too...

A Fatwa on the Truth http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=10481 It is one of those uniquely modern Western paradoxes, to wit, that the most courageous Europeans are those forced into hiding. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Salman Rushdie, the Danish editorial cartoonists -- all are paying the price for freely expressing their opinions and beliefs -- or lack thereof. Add to that exalted list one Robert Redeker. M. Redeker, a high school philosophy professor in suburban Toulouse, is in the bouillabaisse for a commentary he wrote last month for Le Figaro in which he accused Islam of "exalting violence," and christened the Muslim prophet Muhammad a...

Hizballah terrorist Mohammed Ali Hamadi, convicted in Germany of murdering US Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem aboard a hijacked airplane but freed last December in a probable ransom exchange for German hostage Susanne Osthoff (Germany denies this, of course), has rejoined Hizballah. Imagine my surprise.

May 21, 2003, 8:45 a.m. Trails Lead to SaudisA Virginia terror probe continues. By Matthew Epstein In March 2002, Federal terrorism investigators descended upon a group of Saudi-backed executives operating out of northern Virginia. The government hauled away truckloads of files and computer hard drives from the "SAAR Network," a web of dozens of related companies with interlocking officers, directors, and corporate headquarters. The Treasury Department suspected the group was laundering money for al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. Now over a year after the raids, many are asking whether the Justice Department will hand down indictments or clear the...

Six of the 11 Egyptian students, gone AWOL are now in custody, according to Fox News. One was reportedly "lost" in Minnesota, two surrendered to authorities in New Jersey and another two were thought to have been apprehended in New York. 1. IBRAHIM, EL SAYED AHMED ELSAYED; DOB OF 4/29/1986, PASSPORT 954757 2. EL DESSOUKI, ESLAM IBRAHIM MOHAMED; DOB OF 02/21/1985, PASSPORT 1002756 3. EL BAHNASAWI, ALAA ABD EL FATTAH ALI; DOB OF 04/02/1986, PASSPORT 934679 4. ABD ALLA, MOHAMED RAGAB MOHAMED; DOB OF 02/15/1984, PASSPORT 860972 5. EL LAKET, AHMED REFAAT SAAD EL MOGHAZI; DOB OF 09/01/1986, PASSPORT 943306...

Eleven Egyptian students who were supposed to travel to a Montana university after flying to JFK airport late last month disappeared in New York, spurring federal authorities to issue a nationwide alert, officials said yesterday. The students - who were traveling with six classmates from Mansoura University in Egypt - had their student visas revoked for failing to show up at Montana State University in Bozeman, the officials said. The other six students made it to the college. "The FBI and ICE [Immigration and Custom Enforcement] would like to locate these 11 students in order to speak with them," said...

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said his country would not bow to international pressure over its controversial nuclear program, Iran's state television reported. "The Islamic Republic of Iran will not bend to these pressures, and the continuation of this scientific progress is its fundamental and basic right," Khamenei said, talking to the staff of the Iranian Nuclear Energy Organization, according to AFP. It was his first reaction to a package of proposals drawn up by Britain, France and Germany, and backed by the United States, Russia and China, in a bid to defuse the crisis over Iran's nuclear plans....

Iran's defense minister on Thursday vowed that his country would "use nuclear defense as a potential" if "threatened by any power." Speaking following a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Hassan Ali Turkmani in Teheran on Thursday, Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar emphasized that Iran "should be ready for confronting all kinds of threats." Teheran has denied accusations by the US and its allies that Iran was seeking uranium enrichment technologies in order to develop nuclear weapons, saying its program was only meant to generate electricity. Meanwhile, Turkmani told reporters that Syria and Iran's "policy is the policy of strengthening...

Man with links to 9/11 pilot deported 10 June 2006 A man the Government says had a direct link with a September 11 terrorist has been deported from New Zealand because he was a threat to national security. Immigration Minister David Cunliffe confirmed today Yemeni national, Rayed Mohammed Abdullah Ali, was deported because his continued presence in New Zealand posed a threat. "He was directly associated with persons responsible for the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001," Mr Cunliffe said in a statement. He was deported under the rarely used Section 72 of the Immigration Act...

Even in the moment of his greatest triumph, Floyd Patterson was afraid. Afraid he had killed a man. On the night of June 20, 1960, at New York's ancient Polo Grounds, this most sensitive of prizefighters set out to avenge the stunning loss of his heavyweight championship to Sweden's Ingemar Johansson nearly a year earlier. He succeeded with two monstrous left hooks in the fifth round. The first put the Swede down for a nine-count. The second, a leaping and terrifying swat, made Patterson the first ex-heavyweight champ to regain his title. If Patterson did not hate Johansson -- and...

...I was formerly known as Iraqi Fedayeen Major General, Ali Ibrahim Al-Tikriti. I was one of Saddam's chief Generals dealing with his secret nuclear, chemical, and biological programs... After the Gulf War our weapons programs were driven deep underground to avoid international inspections. We composed an idea of using salvaged parts from Tamuz in the early 90's as well as research we still had filed to begin construction of a simulation reactor. One of the most critical components was the gas centrifuges. After numerous attempts to acquire specially designed high strength aluminum tubes for these centrifuges we were finally successfully...

NEW YORK (AP) - Muhammad Ali, one of the world's most recognized people, has sold 80 percent of the marketing rights to his name and likeness to a firm for $50 million. The 64-year-old former heavyweight champion, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, will retain a 20 percent interest in the business. The new venture will be operated by a company called G.O.A.T. LLC, an acronym for "The Greatest of All Time."

The latest in a stream of eye-opening Iraqi documents shows Saddam Hussein's regime was planning suicide attacks on U.S. interests six months before 9-11. Why won't Washington get the word out?Last month the Pentagon began releasing records captured during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Among the documents is a letter dated March 11, 2001, written by Abdel Magid Hammod Ali, one of Saddam's air force generals.According to an unofficial translation, Page 6 of the letter asks for "the names of those who desire to volunteer for suicide mission to liberate Palestine and to strike American interests." Assuming the document's accuracy, this shows...

A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a U.S. man convicted of plotting to assassinate President George W. Bush and conspiring with al Qaeda to 30 years in prison. In November, Abu Ali was found guilty of all charges in a nine-count indictment, including conspiracy to assassinate Bush, conspiring to support al Qaeda and conspiracy to hijack aircraft.

NEW YORK For the second time in less than a week, The New York Times today admitted to a serious error in a story. On Saturday it said it had misidentified a man featured in the iconic "hooded inmate" photograph from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Today it discloses that a woman it profiled on March 8 is not, in fact, a victim of Hurricane Katrina--and was arrested for fraud and grand larceny yesterday. As it did in the Abu Ghraib mistake, the Times ran an editors' note on page 2 of its front section, along with a lengthy news...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A lead FBI agent on Tuesday linked two local Muslim clerics to the Taliban and Osama bin Laden, contending the two were planning to set up a school near Lodi that would breed anti-American terrorism. The agent testified that Lodi clerics Shabbir Ahmed and Mohammed Adil Khan were prepared to relay information on terrorist plots from sources close to bin Laden. The allegations were dismissed by Ahmed's lawyer, who said the FBI and federal prosecutors have "made the whole thing up." The striking allegations came during an immigration hearing for Ahmed at which Immigration Judge Anthony Murry...

"Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay in Louisville, Ky., on Jan. 17, 1942, grandson of a slave, began boxing at the age of 12, and, by 18, had fought 108 amateur bouts." In the very first sentence on Ali's life in her essay, "The Cruelest Sport," noted author Joyce Carol Oates shares with the reader one observation beyond the superficial: Ali was born the "grandson of a slave." Oates apparently sees this as the defining fact of Ali's existence. More influential than Oates or anyone else in interpreting Ali to the world was sportscaster Howard Cosell. In his 1973 book,...

Philly Cleric Sentenced for Corruption By JOANN LOVIGLIO, Associated Press Writer Mon Sep 19, 2:12 PM ET A prominent Muslim cleric on Monday was sentenced to more than seven years in prison on racketeering and other charges, the latest in a string of convictions stemming from the FBI's sweeping probe of municipal corruption. Prosecutors said that Shamsud-din Ali, 67, used his political connections to obtain dubious loans, donations and city contracts. In addition to his 87-month sentence, Ali was ordered to pay restitution. He was released pending an appeal. The investigation of the so-called "pay to play" culture in Philadelphia's...