Free Republic

More than three years after the regime was condemned by the international community for condoning sexual violence following the publication of License to Rape by the Shan Women's Action Network, the Burma Army has yet to stop using sexual abuse as a weapon of war, reports border-based Lahu National Development Organization.Light Infantry Battalion 329, based in Monghpyak, roughly halfway between Kengtung and Tachilek in eastern Shan State, is a case in point. On 26 June, the column headed by the battalion commander (who was identified by Thai-based Network for Democracy and Development as Lt-Col Toe Myat) surrounded the twin villages...

According to the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S) many celebrations of Israeli retreat are being organized by the Palestinian Authority, but numerous terror organizations are holding their own, separate celebrations. According to the report, the terror groups are awarding themselves and their terrorist activities the prize for having brought about the evacuation of the Israeli settlements. The report says that while PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas is speaking about further withdrawals through negotiations, both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad are reiterating that they have no intention of disarming, that their weapons are legal and...

Imam Mohamed Lunat helps debunk common myths about his religion The image of Imam Mohamed Lunat as he walks in the doors of the Islamic Center of Elizabethtown looks like one from the evening news. He is medium height and thin, with dark, intense eyes and a fist-length beard with no mustache. He has a prayer cap on his head, an ankle-length robe and sheds his shoes as he enters. Based solely on appearance he could, to biased eyes, be mistaken as the cliché of any of the Middle-Eastern terrorists who scream into shoddy video cameras around the world about...