Free Republic

A senior Egyptian general admits that "virginity checks" were performed on women arrested at a demonstration this spring, the first such admission after previous denials by military authorities. The allegations arose in an Amnesty International report, published weeks after the March 9 protest. It claimed female demonstrators were beaten, given electric shocks, strip-searched, threatened with prostitution charges and forced to submit to virginity checks. At that time, Maj. Amr Imam said 17 women had been arrested but denied allegations of torture or "virginity tests."

Yet it looks as if that is what is happening. I tried to tell you. "Christians worry Egypt being hijacked by Islamists," by Sami Aboudi for Reuters, May 26 (thanks to Kamala): CAIRO (Reuters) - Last January, Nazih Moussa Gerges locked up his downtown Cairo law office and joined hundreds of thousands of fellow Egyptians to demand that President Hosni Mubarak step down. The 33-year-old Christian lawyer was back on the streets this month to press military rulers who took over after Mubarak stepped down to end a spate of sectarian attacks that have killed at least 28 people and...

Cairo - Clashes between Christians and Muslims escalated on Tuesday with thousands of people burning tires, smashing parked cars and cutting off a main road despite military moves to control a day of violent protests in Egypt's capital. Tensions have been simmering between Egypt's minority Christian community and its Muslim majority after a Muslim mob burned a church in a Cairo suburb. Egypt's military rulers have since pledged to rebuild the church and Prime Minister Essam Sharaf met Monday with the protesters outside the state-television building.

A key U.S. official landed in Cairo on Monday to meet with military leaders and discuss the extra aid promised by Washington to help Egypt with its democratic transition. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns arrived days after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced Egypt would be receiving an extra $150 million to help with the political transition. The $1.5 billion in foreign aid the U.S. gives annually to Egypt, which is unchanged in the State Department's budget.

25 injured when taxi plows into crowd leaving Gaslamp club By Susan Shroder Originally published February 12, 2011 at 5:22 a.m., updated February 12, 2011 at 6:27 a.m. An injured woman on the street. An injured woman on the street. If you witnessed this incident, give our breaking news team a call at 619-293-1010. An injured woman on the street. Photos courtesy Maurice Luque, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department The taxi outside Stingaree nightclub. SAN DIEGO — Twenty-five people were injured early Saturday, six critically, when a taxi driver veered off a busy street onto a sidewalk and plowed into patrons...

Cairo's envoy to US: Treaty is a main element of Egypt’s foreign policy; Supreme Council dissolves parliament, suspends constitution. An influential Egyptian opposition figure and likely presidential candidate called Sunday for Cairo’s peace treaty with Israel to be reassessed, the first sign since former president Hosni Mubarak’s ouster Friday that the 32-year-old agreement may be in jeopardy. Ayman Nour, a former lawmaker and chairman of the Ghad (Tomorrow) party, told an Egyptian radio station that the 1978 Camp David Accords were no longer relevant, and said the country’s leadership should at least rethink the terms of the framework agreements that...

National Journal has the transcript. I was expecting praise for the protesters tempered by warnings about “gradual” change, the importance of “stability,” and so on. Nope. This was a love letter to democracy, little different from what Bush would have said at his most glowing moment of neoconservative idealism. The strategy over the past few weeks, I thought, was to hedge between support for liberal reform and support for Mubarak as a U.S. ally in order to reassure Jordan, Yemen, and the Saudis that we won’t dump them too the minute they run into trouble. Are we now telling them...

WASHINGTON – Bristling with impatience, President Barack Obama on Thursday openly and sharply questioned whether Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's pledge to shift power to his vice president is an "immediate, meaningful or sufficient" sign of reform for a country in upheaval. Without naming Mubarak, Obama issued a written statement that criticized the leader for not offering clarity to his people or a concrete path to democracy. He called on Egyptian government leaders to do so, declaring: "They have not yet seized that opportunity."

Originally posted Sept. 29, 2003; reposted June 18, 2004 Senior investigators and analysts in the U.S. government have concluded that Iraq acted as a state sponsor of terrorism against Americans and logistically supported the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States - confirming news reports that until now have emerged only in bits and pieces. A senior government official responsible for investigating terrorism tells Insight that while Saddam Hussein may not have had details of the Sept. 11 attacks in advance, he "gave assistance for whatever al-Qaeda came up with." That assistance, confirmed independently, came in a variety of...

Authorities Conclude Switzerland Likely Used as Base for Financing, Logistical Support for 9/11 Attacks by Al-Qaida By Daniela Sigrist Associated Press Writer Published: Jun 24, 2004 BERN, Switzerland (AP) - Investigators have concluded that Switzerland was likely used as a base for financing and logistical support for the Sept. 11 attacks by al-Qaida, the country's attorney general said Thursday. Federal Prosecutor Valentin Roschacher said authorities plan to begin court proceedings in the coming weeks in three terror cases, capping investigations started four days after the 2001 suicide hijackings in New York and Washington. A special task force initially was charged...

<p>Is this the "pale rider" from Revelation? A mysterious, pale green figure seen in televised news coverage of the Egyptian riots has prompted some viewers to ask, "Could this be the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse?"</p>

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has resigned as the head of the country's ruling party, according to state TV. It also reports that the party's secretary-general Safwat el-Sharif and Gamal Mubarak, the son of Mr Mubarak, quit as a gesture to anti-government protesters. For 12 days they have been taking part in demonstrations in Cairo and other cities demanding that the embattled president steps down. The 82-year-old, who has been in power for 30 years, has ignored calls to give up the presidency and has previously insisted he intends to serve out the remaining seven months of his term. Protests turned...

The George Soros funded Media Matters has been waging a months-long attack on Glenn Beck trying to brand the commentator as a card carrying anti-Semite. Perhaps before making false charges against Beck, Media Matters should examine its own house of cards. In a column published today on Media Matters political correction site, MJ Rosenberg claimed that the current Egyptian crisis was the fault of AIPAC and the “Israel Lobby.” For those of you who have lived on a different planet till today, “Israel Lobby” is a polite way of saying “Jews.”

Citing -- wait for it -- actual data, I explained this AM (Monday 1/31/11) on America's Morning News radio Show with John McCaslin and Amy Holmes why the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's traditional Islam resonates with the Muslim mainstream in Egypt. A cogent rebuttal of some alarming non-sequiturs put recently forth by Ralph Peters concludes the interview.

In case anyone needed convincing that the crisis in Egypt puts the United States in an extremely complex and difficult position, one need only watch Egyptian Opposition Leader ElBaradei describe the brutal, freedom-depriving dictatorship of President Mubarak and then compare that to this video where some protesters reveal exactly what they would do if they were granted freedom. It seems like for the United States not to choose sides, at least for now, may in fact be the wisest decision. CNN reporter Nic Robertson hit the streets and interviewed Egyptian protesters who did not hold anything back with their revelations...

Very concerned about violence in Egypt - government must respect the rights of the Egyptian people & turn on social networking and internet

First exploded a car at the busy shopping street Drottninggatan in central Stockholm. Then came another explosion some distance away and one man died. According to news agency TT, the man had blown himself to death. There was a bag on the ground filled with nails, according to newspaper Expressen. Alarm calls poured in to the Emergency Services from concerned residents about the explosions in central Stockholm on Saturday afternoon. But the initial info from the police was extremely unclear. First there was talk of two cars that exploded, later it proved to be just one... At Bryggargatan a man...

The CIA has come closer to capturing or killing Osama bin Laden’s top deputy than was previously known, during a nine-year hunt at the root of a devastating 2009 suicide bombing at an agency base in Afghanistan, The Associated Press has learned. The CIA missed a chance to nab Ayman al-Zawahiri in 2003 in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar, where he met with another senior al-Qaeda leader who was apprehended the next day, several current and former U.S. intelligence officials said. The fugitive Egyptian doctor may also have narrowly survived a bombing by Pakistani military planes in 2004, the...

Saudi Officials Try To Shut Down Oregon Charity Group Owns Property In Ashland ASHLAND, Ore. -- The Saudi Arabian government is trying to shut down an Islamic charity with ties to Oregon and to terrorism. Al-Haramain runs a branch in Ashland and owns a house and acreage (pictured) in the Southern Oregon town. The FBI shut down the Ashland branch and seized evidence several months ago. The Oregon foundation is accused of laundering money from overseas and channeling it to terrorist groups. Al-Haramain still owns the Ashland property but cannot use it until the investigation is complete. The organization's president...

18 July 2010 "TOP TEN JIHADI FORUMS, 19 JULY 2010"