Free Republic

Special ReportSaffuri's Ties to Terror Suspects Posted Feb. 23, 2004 By Kenneth R. Timmerman Saffuri (above) has formed relationships with several questionable allies, including Sami al-Arian, who was arrested last year. The rise of Khaled Saffuri to political prominence within the U.S. Muslim community has all the ingredients of a Horatio Alger success story. Brought up as a stateless exile in Kuwait, Saffuri came to America as a student in 1982, went to college in San Diego, and soon gravitated into the world of Muslim activism. A talented fund-raiser and behind-the-scenes power broker, Saffuri built bridges to politicians in both...

MOSCOW --- The Moroccan Armed Services may receive the export version of the Sukhoi Su-34 (NATO reporting name: Fullback) tactical bomber and Amur-1650 diesel-electric submarine, according to the Izvestia daily citing a source in Russia’s shipbuilding industry. According to experts, Morocco has good reasons for acquiring Russian combat gear, but the export of Amur-1650 submarines is unlikely to commence before 2020. Rabat and Moscow are discussing the feasibility of the Moroccan Navy’s Amur-1650 submarine acquisition in the format of consultations so far. The ship Morocco has taken interest in is an export version of the Russian-built Project 677 Lada-class (Petersburg-class)...

Casablanca: A four-storey building collapsed on Friday afternoon in the Sebata neighborhood in Casablanca, killing four people and injuring 19 others. Six people have been reported to be in critical condition. Research operations are underway to find survivors under the rubble of the building that collapsed at around 16:30, reported Arabic daily Al-Jazirah. Moroccan media said that the building included business outlets. Eyewitnesses posted video recordings showing the ongoing rescue operations and the extent of the damage.

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian police on Friday arrested Moroccan Olympic boxer Hassan Saada on allegations he sexually assaulted two Brazilian women. Police said in a statement they detained Saada after possible assaults on two Brazilian women who worked as waitresses in the Olympic Village on Wednesday. No other details were given.

Looking at the world through the sunset in your eyes Traveling the train through clear Moroccan skies Ducks and pigs and chickens call Animal carpet wall to wall American ladies five-foot tall in blue I feel pretty!Oh, so pretty!I feel pretty and witty and bright!  Wouldn't you know we're riding on the Marrakesh Express Wouldn't you know we're riding on the Marrakesh Express They're taking me to Marrakesh All aboard the train, all aboard the train All the boys think she's a spy She's got Bette Davis eyes! She got Marilyn Monroe thighs! Wouldn't you know we're riding on the Marrakesh...

Actress Meryl Streep and First Lady Michelle Obama joined Princess Lalla Salma in Morocco on Tuesday night for a traditional dinner to break the fast of Ramadan, after the three spent the afternoon speaking with local high school girls about the importance of female education and empowerment. Streep, Princess Salma and members of the Moroccan royal family gathered at the King’s Palace in Marrakesh Tuesday night for a traditional Moroccan iftar, the dinner eaten to break the fast after sundown during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, according to the Daily Mail. Streep, Obama and Princess Salma were joined by...

Michelle Obama and her daughters indulged in a traditional Moroccan iftar with Princess Lalla Salma, the wife of King Mohammed VI, on Tuesday evening. The Obamas were joined by actress Meryl Streep and other members of the Moroccan Royal family at the sumptuous dinner to break the fast during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan at King's Palace in Marrakesh. The first lady travels to Spain on Wednesday. Michelle wore a conservative $2,995 dress by Altuzarra while Malia opted for an even more expensive outfit by Burberry Prorsum worth $4,295. Earlier on Tuesday, Mrs Obama told Moroccan teenage girls that...

First lady Michelle Obama is relying heavily on social media to tout an overseas trip tied to the Let Girls Learn campaign, which is aiming to get an estimated 62 million uneducated girls into school. Obama started a Snapchat account with help from celebrities including James Corden of "The Late Late Show," with whom she recently taped a "Carpool Karaoke" that will run at a future date. She's posting reports on her stops in Liberia, Morocco and Spain on hellogiggles.com, an online community for women. She referred in one report to the heartbreak of an 11- or 12-year-old girl told...

Green cards, or Lawful Permanent Residency, puts immigrants on the path to citizenship and allows for lifetime residency, federal benefits, and work authorization. Included in the totals are refugees, who are required to apply for a green card after one year of residency in the U.S. Unlike other types of immigrants, refugees are immediately eligible for welfare benefits including Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), food stamps, and Medicaid Green Card Totals, FY09-FY14: Pakistan (102K), Iraq (102K), Bangladesh (90K), Iran (85K), Egypt (56K), Somalia (37K), Uzbekistan (30K), Turkey (26K), Morocco (25K), Jordan (25K), Albania (24K), Afghanistan (21K), Lebanon (20K), Yemen...

"Thus saith the LORD: I return unto Tzion and will dwell in the midst of Yerushalayim; and Yerushalayim shall be called the city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain." Zechariah 8:3 (The Israel BibleTM) On Friday, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Executive Board in Paris adopted a resolution erasing Israel's ties to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall. The UNESCO resolution referred to the Temple Mount area solely as the Al-Aqsa Mosque or Al-Haram Al Sharif, ignoring the Jewish claim to the site. The resolution called Israel "the...

By Staff Published Saturday, March 12, 2016 A Moroccan man who believed he had buried his wife who was killed in a road accident two years ago is shocked to learn that she has appeared on a television programme, according to media reports. He had buried his wife in 2014 after doctors in Casablanca informed she had succumbed to her injuries. But recently his friends spotted her on a TV programme, which helps reunite ‘lost’ families, where she was allegedly appealing to help find her husband, reported a news website. She reportedly gave his name and address and claimed that...

South Africa’s reputation as top gun when it comes to air power in the southern African region could be shot down by Angola and its powerful new Russian fighters. The west African country is set to take delivery of the first tranche of Sukhoi Su-30K fighters in the next six months and will have 12 in service by the end of next year. Gauteng Afrikaans daily Beeld approached military analyst Helmoed Heitman, retired SAAF and Indian Air Force pilot colonel Rama Iyer and a former officer commanding 2 Squadron for their views on how the SA Air Force’s (SAAF) Gripens...

Anti-Semitism is a troubling phenomenon in many Dutch schools and especially among Muslim students, a new government-commissioned report has found, JTA reports. The 55-page report, entitled "Two Worlds, Two Realities - How Do You Deal with It as a Teacher" was published last week by Dutch-Jewish journalist Margalith Kleijwegt at the Dutch Ministry of Education's request. [...] One female high-school teacher in Amsterdam recounted to Kleijwegt an incident in which a female student of Moroccan descent stood up and pronounced: "If I had a Kalashnikov [assault rifle], I'd gun down all the Jews." ...

Swedish police warns that Stockholm's main train station has become unsafe after being ‘taken over’ by dozens of Moroccan street children. The all-male migrant teen gangs are spreading terror in the centre of the Swedish capital, stealing, groping girls and assaulting security guards, according to Stockholm police. Members of the gangs, some as young as nine, roam central Stockholm day and night, refusing help provided by the Swedish authorities. Sweden has seen a dramatic increase in the number of Moroccan under-18s who apply for asylum without a parent or guardian in the past four years, with many later running away...

King Mohammed VI's Message to Conference on 'Rights of Religious Minorities in Muslim Countries'Rabat – King Mohammed VI addressed a message to the participants in the conference on "The rights of religious minorities in Islamic lands", which kicked off Monday morning in Marrakech. Here follows the full text of the Royal message, read by Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Toufiq. Praise be to God May peace and blessings be upon all Prophets and Messengers Ladies and Gentlemen, It gives me great pleasure to send this message to your Conference and to welcome you to Marrakesh, the city...

... Germany's Maghreb community has come under a harsh spotlight after hundreds of women were groped and robbed by mainly North African suspects on New Year's Eve outside Cologne's main train station. Only one suspect -- an Algerian asylum seeker -- has been arrested so far over the sex crimes and 25 Moroccans and Algerians count among the 30 suspects under investigation, police said. [...] Even before the full scale of the Cologne rampage emerged, Berlin had already been watching with concern at a sudden jump in the number of Moroccan and Algerian asylum seekers in December. ...

Germany wants Algeria and Morocco to take back their nationals with no residence permits in Germany after a sharp rise in asylum seekers from the two North African countries, officials said Friday. Alarmed by the spike in North African arrivals, German authorities want their countries of origin to help in their swift repatriations, in order to free up resources to deal with asylum seekers fleeing war and violence. But the German authorities have in recent weeks flagged problems in expelling Algerians and Moroccans, saying their countries of origin were often unwilling to take them back because of missing identity documents....

Attacks on women in Cologne and other German cities on New Year’s Eve have prompted more than 600 criminal complaints, with police suspicion resting on asylum seekers, putting pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel and her open door migrant policy. The attacks, mostly targeting women and ranging from theft to sexual molestation, have prompted a highly-charged debate in Germany about its welcoming stance for refugees and migrants, more than one million of whom arrived last year. The sudden nature of the violent attacks and the fact that they stretched from Hamburg to Frankfurt prompted Germany’s justice minister Heiko Maas to speculate...

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump's new television ad shows footage of dozens of people crossing a fence as the narrator mentions the U.S.'s "southern border" with Mexico. The footage, however, is actually of Moroccans crossing the border into Melilla, one of two enclaves on the Moroccan coast held by Spain, according to Politifact The narrator says the billionaire will "stop illegal immigration by building a wall on our southern border that Mexico will pay for," as the footage plays. Politifact traced the images to an Italian television network, Repubblica TV, which posted the video on May 3, 2014. About 800...

Research has revealed details of the catastrophic Zanclean flood that refilled the Mediterranean Sea more than five million years ago. The flood occurred when Atlantic waters found their way into the cut-off and desiccated Mediterranean basin. The researchers say that a 200km channel across the Gibraltar strait was carved out by the floodwaters... show that the resulting flood could have filled the basin within two years. The team was led by Daniel Garcia-Castellanos from the Research Council of Spain (CSIC)... Using existing borehole and seismic data, his team showed how the flood would have begun with water spilling over a...