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"Words mean things," Rush Limbaugh likes to say. Well, if the word manslaughter means anything at all, why would a court in the state of New York – where English presumably is still spoken and understood – accept a plea of manslaughter from Muzzammil "Mo" Hassan? Hassan, if you remember, is the Bridges TV founder charged with the decapitation death of his wife, Aasiya Zabair Hassan, in his upscale suburban Buffalo office last February, where she was found with three dozen stab wounds to her body and her head sawed off with a steak knife.

Federal agents from Denver and New York to Pakistan are still racing to solve an Al Qaeda bomb plot, unsure whether the arrest of three suspects has put the terror gang out of business. "They're still looking," a senior counterterror official told the Daily News. As to whether they have identified all the conspirators, "nobody knows the answer for sure," ... Also nabbed for lying to feds was Flushing mosque Imam Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, an NYPD snitch who the FBI says alerted Zazi and his father, Mohammed, 53, after cops quizzed him about the son. The senior official said...

A New York City Muslim imam, who acted as a police informant, betrayed his handlers by tipping off a terrorism suspect... Ahmad Wais Afzali, of the New York borough of Queens, was among three men arrested during the weekend in connection with an alleged bombing plot... The documents show that Zazi, 24, of Denver, abruptly left New York and returned to Colorado after having wiretapped phone conversations with the imam, which the FBI alleges contained talk of how police were interested in Zazi... Zazi attended an al-Qaida terrorism training camp in Pakistan and was arrested in possession of notes detailing...

Second-generation Americans have found a new way to show their faith, through noisy rock music that reflects their beliefs and considers their questions of identity The notion of Muslims playing punk rock may seem like incongruous cultures -- profanity-laden lyrics following the religion's traditional greeting ("Salaam aleikum"), melodic Middle Eastern strumming punctuates noisy guitar feedback, purple and red mohawks and Arabic-scripted tattoos. But for the second-generation Americans leading this contemporary cultural movement, Muslim punk isn't just an irreverent juxtaposition. "It makes sense," said 23-year-old Marwan Kamel, a Syrian-American and the lead guitarist for Al-Thawra, an experimental punk band whose name...

An alleged al-Qaeda terror operative told investigators he received training in "weapons and explosives" from Osama Bin Laden's goons last year, according to documents released Sunday. Najibullah Zazi admitted he visited Pakistan's wartorn tribal areas for the training, documents said. Zazi, 25, was collared by the FBI late Saturday night in Aurora, Colo., along with his father, Mohammed Wali Zazi. Also arrested was Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, the imam of a mosque in Flushing, Queens.

The FBI arrested three men overnight on charges they lied to federal agents during an investigation of a terror plot against New York City that authorities say was "the real deal." Agents in Denver arrested Najibullah Zazi, a 24-year old airport shuttle driver, who authorities say appears to be the ringleader of the alleged plot. Also charged with lying to the FBI was Zazi's father, Mohammed Zazi. In New York, the FBI arrested the leader of a Queens mosque, Ahmad Afzali, who authorities allege had been a New York police department informant but "went bad" and tipped off Zazi, his...

Federal authorities were preparing to file criminal charges on Saturday night against a 24-year-old Denver shuttle bus driver, and two others as part of an ongoing federal terrorism investigation stretching from New York to Colorado to overseas, government officials said.

A man accused of beheading his wife at the television station they founded to counter stereotypes of Muslims is likely to claim emotional distress was behind the killing in hopes of avoiding a murder conviction. Muzzammil Hassan, 45, is scheduled to be tried in January on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of 37-year-old Aasiya Hassan. A psychiatric defense would allow jurors to find him guilty of a lesser charge of manslaughter, according to Hassan's attorney, who made his plans known during a pretrial conference Friday. Muzzammil Hassan had been served with divorce papers a week before his...

In a second stunning terror sweep this week, seven associates of a suspected al Qaeda bomb-maker were taken into custody yesterday -- as their cohort reportedly admitted to taking bomb training from al Qaeda and playing a key role in planning an attack here. The FBI detained the seven confederates of Najibullah Zazi, 24 -- whose recent, pre-Sept. 11 appearance in New York sparked raids Monday at every Queens home he visited -- over the associates' alleged role in a suspected bomb plot, law-enforcement sources told The Post. The seven Queens residents had been under 24-hour surveillance since the earlier...

"Feds probe alleged terrorists who tried to rent giant truck in suspected Al Qaeda bomb plot" BY JAMES GORDON MEEK IN WASHINGTON, JUDITH CROSSON IN DENVER, KATE NOCERA, ROCCO PARASCANDOLA AND LARRY MCSHANE DAILY NEWS WRITERS Saturday, September 19th 2009, 4:00 AM Investigators probed a failed Queens truck rental for ties to a possible Al Qaeda bomb plot yesterday as a chief terror suspect tried making a deal to save his skin. The New York end of the expanding federal probe centered on seven Afghan men who tried to rent the biggest truck at a Queens U-Haul on Sept. 9,...

SOLO, Indonesia — Police hunting for suspects in Jakarta hotel bombings raided a hide-out in central Indonesia, sparking gunfire and an explosion Thursday that left four suspected militants dead, officials said. Three alleged terrorists also were captured. A counterterrorism official said the dead included alleged bomb-maker Bagus Budi Pranato. The captured militants included a pregnant woman who was being treated at a hospital, national police spokesman Nanan Sukarna said. Police tracked the seven suspects to the town of Solo in Central Java and besieged a village house on the outskirts overnight. The raid ended near daybreak when an explosion was...

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A Virginia circuit court judge has set a Nov. 10 execution date for John Allen Muhammad, mastermind of the 2002 sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C., area.

CALGARY - A mother accused of strangling her teenage daughter with a scarf was acting in selfdefence, her lawyer said Monday. Mark Tyndale, who represents Aset Magomadova, pointed to a statement of agreed facts entered in the second-degree murder trial. He said 14-year-old Aminat Magomadova, who died Feb. 26, 2007, had been "habitually running away from home, boasting that she was using drugs, being sexually active and stealing" --behaviour that caused stress for the rest of the Muslim family. Tyndale said his client, a 38-year-old Chechnyan refugee and ... Vomberg introduced numerous exhibits, including the accused's head scarf. After her...

Nairobi (dpa) -- The Gaza Strip's underground water supply is in danger of collapse due to overuse and contamination, exacerbated by Israel's December offensive, the United Nations said Monday. A report released at the Nairobi headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warned that it could take centuries for damage to Gaza's aquifer to be reversed unless action was taken now. "Many of the impacts of the recent hostilities have exacerbated environmental degradation that has been years in the making," UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said. Alternative water sources need to be found in order to rest the aquifer,...

Hanover, Germany (dpa) -- A German state is to begin training its own Muslim clergy next year, offering a course at the University of Osnabrueck, an official said Monday. The course will be the first ever for German-language imams and will be similar to theology-degree courses for Catholic priests, Lutheran ministers and Jewish rabbis at public universities. Uwe Schuenemann, interior minister of Lower Saxony state, said the locally trained men would replace Turkish prayer leaders who usually only served three-year assignments at mosques in Germany and did not integrate. Lower Saxony is funding the courses because local training for imams...

Child-bride, 12, dies in Yemen after struggling to give birth for THREE days DAILY MAIL REPORTER 13th September 2009 A 12-year-old Yemeni child-bride died after struggling for three days in labour to give birth, a local human rights organisation said. Fawziya Abdullah Youssef died of severe bleeding on Friday while giving birth to a stillborn in the al-Zahra district hospital of Hodeida province, 140 miles west of the capital San'a. Child marriages are widespread in Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, where tribal customs dominate society. More than a quarter of the country's females marry before age 15, according to...

A 12-year-old child bride has died after struggling to give birth to a baby for three days, a human rights organisation in Yemen has said. Fawziya Abdullah Youssef suffered severe bleeding while giving birth to a stillborn infant in Hodeida province, 140 miles (223km) west of the capital San'a, on Friday. She was only 11 when her father married her to a 24-year-old man who works as a farmer in Saudi Arabia, according to Ahmed al Quraishi from the Siyaj organisation, which promotes the rights of children in Yemen. He said he stumbled upon Fawziya in the al Zahra district...

Seven people have been arrested by police at an an anti-Islam demonstration in London. Protestors had gathered on Friday afternoon to oppose the opening of the new Harrow Central Mosque on Station Road. The Stop Islamification of Europe group had pledged to hold a peaceful protest. The mood soured when a gang of at least 100 pro-Islamic demonstrators broke away from a main body to chase away a small number of the anti-Mosque marchers.

Recently on the morning drive to school my 8-year-old son asked me a question I’ve been dreading since he was a baby, “Mom, what happened on 9/11?” Mass murder is impossible to explain to yourself, let alone a child. But how do I, as a parent, explain the slaughter of innocent people in the name of a religion that I am trying to pass on to my boy?

(IsraelNN.com) Jihadists close to al-Qaeda explicitly warned in new communications that Germany will be the target of the next 9/11-scale terrorist attack. The timing of the strike, they say, will be within the next few weeks. According to analysts with the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response (ITRR), a recently intercepted jihadist communication declares that "everyone knows" that the "next strike is very near, a strike that will surprise everyone in its effect, which will be much more shocking than that of 9/11/2001." The writer of the chilling message notes that this is the Muslim month of Ramadan and that...

Ninety people have been arrested after fighting erupted at a right-wing protest in a busy shopping street. A planned demonstration in Birmingham against Islamic fundamentalism, by The English Defence League, resulted in angry clashes with anti-fascist campaigners. Gangs of men and youths hurled bottles at one another and pelted riot police with bricks as trouble erupted in the New Street area of the city, close to the main train station. The disorder, which involved around 250 people, spilled onto the adjoining Bennetts Hill - a street lined with a number of pubs popular with shoppers.

A highly influential Shi'a religious leader, with whom Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regularly consults, apparently told followers last month that coercion by means of rape, torture and drugs is acceptable against all opponents of the Islamic regime. ... Warning: The imam's question-and-answer session, partially reproduced here, contains disturbing descriptions of the sanctioned brutality. According to Iranian pro-democracy sources, the gathered crowd heard from Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi and Ahmadinejad himself regarding the issue... Mesbah-Yazdi is considered Ahmadinejad's personal spiritual guide. ...The ayatollah gave the identical answer when asked about confessions obtained through drugging the prisoner with opiates or addictive substances....

Berlin, Germany (AHN) - A German court has ruled that a suspected terrorist can name his son Djehad, the German word for jihad or holy war. The upper regional court in Berlin upheld Tuesday the rulings of two lower courts allowing Egyptian-German Reda Seyam, 49, to name his four-year-old son Djehad on grounds that it is a common Arabic name for males. Germany's birth registration agency, which implements the country's strict naming law, contested the name in court arguing that the father intended it to be interpreted literally and could harmful to the child, who would be associated with terrorism....

Asked if a confession obtained "by applying psychological, emotional and physical pressure" was "valid and considered credible according to Islam," Mesbah-Yazdi replied: "Getting a confession from any person who is against the Velayat-e Faqih ("Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists", or the regime of Iran's mullahs) is permissible under any condition." The ayatollah gave the identical answer when asked about confessions obtained through drugging the prisoner with opiates or addictive substances. "Can an interrogator rape the prisoner in order to obtain a confession?" was the follow-up question posed to the Islamic cleric. Mesbah-Yazdi answered: "The necessary precaution is for the interrogator...

[this is an AP-sourced story which begins by comparing the well-known UN Heritage site Petra, which is in Jordan and a huge tourist attraction, with Madain Saleh, another lost city of the Nabateans, but basically unknown because it's in Saudi Arabia. It continues by discussing the hostility and vandalism directed at pre-Islamic artifacts and sites in the Kingdom, and a virtual ban on publications regarding them.]

A Saudi Arabian father forced his 10-year-old daughter to return to her 80-year-old husband Sunday, after she was found hiding at the home of her aunt for 10 days, Arab News reported.

SNIPPET: "From the days of Prophet Muhammad, sexual terror has been an integral part of Islamic Jihad. The siege of the Beslan School by Islamic Jihadis in 2004 was no exception as reveals Dr. Schurman-Kauflin. -- Editor, MA Khan Excerpt from Chapter 1, “Disturbed: Terrorist Behavioral Profiles” (2008) On September 1, 2004, terrorists stormed a school in Beslan, Russia, and perpetrated one of the most heinous terror attacks in history. Though many people may have heard of this attack, it is very likely that most do not know what really happened there. The reality is so dark that few dare...

CAIRO, Aug. 24 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Twenty people were killed and 10 wounded as bombs planted on two buses exploded in the southern Iraqi town of Kut on Monday, news media reported.

The Colorado Center for Public Humanities has announced its fall series, “Islam in American Culture.” It is a 4-part series, celebrating Islamic contributions to American music, urban design, community life, and literature. The series will explore how Islam has influenced classic American art forms, such as the blues, how it has impacted the built environments of American cities, how it has merged with the nation’s foundational ideals, and how it is being represented by Islamic American writers. The series will also shed light on how the core beliefs and values of Islam have been adapted to the American cultural context.

"Angry youths have clashed with riot police in the eastern Paris suburb of Bagnolet after a young motorcyclist died fleeing police on Sunday. Police said the 18-year-old died after crashing into a metal barrier, but locals said he was hit by a police car. Demonstrators hurled stones at police and torched several vehicles. The violence came despite an appeal for calm by French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux, who ordered an internal police investigation into the death."

Abdi Sheikh MOGADISHU, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Somali Islamist group al Shabaab is forcibly removing gold and silver teeth from residents in southern Somalia because it says they contravene strict religious law, locals from a coastal town said on Monday. Residents in Marka say al Shabaab has been rounding up anyone seen with a silver or gold tooth and taking them to a masked man who then rips them out using basic tools. "I never thought al Shabaab would see my denture as a sin. They took me to their station and removed my silver tooth," resident Bashir told Reuters....

A 41-YEAR-OLD Jordanian man was charged with premeditated murder after his raped teenage niece was shot dead on Tuesday to "cleanse" the family's honour... "The man was arrested and charged after he shot the 16-year-old girl eight times in different parts of her body,'' ... "The suspect, who was arrested while carrying his gun, confessed to the crime, saying that he wanted to cleanse his family's honour after his niece was raped last year. She gave birth to a baby boy two months ago and her family kept the child.'' "honour killings'', a court usually commutes or reduces sentences... Between...

Somali Islamists pull out gold teeth of 'sinners' REUTERS 11 August 2009, 12:32am IST MOGADISHU: Residents of a coastal town in southern Somalia are living by the skin of their teeth, quite literally. Somali Islamist group al Shabaab is forcibly removing gold and silver teeth from residents in southern Somalia because it says they contravene the strict law of Islam, residents said on Monday. Residents in Marka say al Shabaab has been rounding up anyone seen with a silver or gold tooth and taking them to a masked man who then rips them out using basic tools. "I never thought...

Police arrested 33 people during a clash between anti-fascists and a right-wing group as the centre of Birmingham turned into a war zone yesterday. Terrified shoppers cowered in fear as a group came into violent contact with Unite Against Fascism marchers in a violent brawl that dominated the streets. The so-called English and Welsh Defence League and Casuals United formed after British soldiers were abused by Islamic radicals at a homecoming parade in Luton earlier this year. But Unite Against Fascism claim that the Casuals are made up of members of far-right groups and had planned to cause racial unrest...

Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud may have been killed in a U.S. drone attack, a U.S. official said Friday. "There's reason to believe Mehsud may be dead, but there's no confirmation at this time," the official said. Mehsud's second wife was killed early Wednesday in a suspected U.S. drone attack, according to intelligence sources and relatives. The unmanned aerial vehicle targeted the home of Mehsud's father-in-law, Mulvi Ikram ud Din, and dropped two missiles on the residence in northwestern Pakistan, an intelligence official said. Mehsud's second wife was one of two people killed in the strike, according to the sources....

Nigeria: Thirteen-year-old forced to watch Pastor hacked to death in Boko Haram deadly violence 05/08/2009 A thirteen-year-old Nigerian Christian has told Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) sources how she was forced to watch her pastor’s murder, and has also spoken of her four-day ordeal as a prisoner in the besieged compound of Islamist group, Boko Haram.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Does Islam frown on nose jobs? Chemical peels? How about breast implants? One of the clerics with the answers is Sheik Mohammed al-Nujaimi, and Saudi women flock to him for guidance about going under the knife. The results may not see much light of day in a kingdom where women cover up from head to toe, yet cosmetic surgery is booming. Religion covers every facet of life in Saudi Arabia, including plastic surgery. Al-Nujaimi draws his guidelines from the consensus that was reached three years ago when clergymen and plastic surgeons met in Riyadh to determine...

A MAN facing terror charges after this morning's dawn raids across Melbourne has refused to stand while in court. Glenroy man Nayef El Sayed appeared in Melbourne Magistrates' Court for a filing hearing charged with conspiring with others to do acts in preparation for a terrorist act. Mr El Sayed refused to stand when asked by Magistrate Peter Reardon, saying through his lawyer that he stood for no man and only to his God. As Mr El Sayed sat behind bullet-proof glass in the dock, his lawyer Anthony Brand told Mr Reardon his client had not eaten since his arrest....

Paramilitary troops patrolled the streets of a town in eastern Pakistan yesterday after Muslim radicals burned to death eight members of a Christian family, raising fears of violence spreading to other areas. Hundreds of armed supporters of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an outlawed Islamic militant group, burned dozens of Christian homes in Gojra over the weekend after allegations that a copy of the Koran had been defiled. The mob opened fire indiscriminately, threw gas bombs and looted houses as thousands of frightened Christians ran for safety. “They were shouting anti-Christian slogans and attacked our houses,” Rafiq Masih, a resident of the predominantly Christian...

August 3, 2009 Eight Christians burnt to death in Pakistan after Koran is ‘defiled’ Militants attacked dozens of Christian homes in Gojra Zahid Hussain in Islamabad Paramilitary troops patrolled the streets of a town in eastern Pakistan yesterday after Muslim radicals burnt to death eight members of a Christian family, raising fears of violence spreading to other areas. Hundreds of armed supporters of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an outlawed Islamic militant group, set alight dozens of Christian homes in Gojra town at the weekend after allegations that a copy of the Koran had been defiled. The mob opened fire indiscriminately, threw petrol bombs...

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – Troops shelled the compound of an Islamist sect blamed for days of violence in northern Nigeria then attacked its mosque, killing at least 100 militants in a fierce battle.

Worldwide Caution July 29, 2009 The Department of State has issued this Worldwide Caution to update information on the continuing threat of terrorist actions and violence against American citizens and interests throughout the world. In some countries, the worldwide recession has contributed to political and economic instability and social unrest. American citizens are reminded to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness. This replaces the Worldwide Caution dated February 2, 2009 to provide updated information on security threats and terrorist activities worldwide. The Department of State remains concerned about the continued...

U.S. DOJ confirms 7 people in North Carolina charged with conspiring to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad.

Gaza City/Cairo (dpa) -- Emergency response crews on Monday found the burnt bodies of six Palestinians missing in the aftermath of an explosion in a tunnel used for smuggling between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, medics said. "Paramedics and civil defence officers have pulled out six additional bodies today, and one was pulled out yesterday," Mo'aweya Hassanein, the chief of the Gaza Strip's emergency services team told reporters. The discovery of the bodies at the scene in the divided border town of Rafah brought to seven the number of people killed in the blast. Emergency workers found nine survivors, Hassanein...

KINGSTON -- A Montreal businessman charged with killing four members of his family conspired with his second wife and his oldest son to commit mass murder in a bid to restore his honour, relatives of one of the victims have told Sun Media. The family members allege Mohammed Shafi had beaten his 19-year-old daughter Zainab and threatened recently to kill her and the woman he had passed off as his cousin. She was his first wife, though he had concealed that fact since the family of three adults, all natives of Afghanistan, and seven children moved to Canada two years...

Family shuns girl, 8, after rape sparks outcry PHOENIX - Lured by promises of chewing gum then allegedly raped in a shed by four boys barely older than her, an 8-year-old Liberian girl is now in foster care and living with strangers after being shunned by her family. The alleged sexual assault in Phoenix and reaction by her family have sparked an international outcry, reaching all the way to the president of Liberia, the home country of the girl's family and the four young suspects. "I think that family is wrong. They should help that child who has been traumatized...

All of Canada was in shock last Thursday when police in Kingston, Ontario, announced they were charging the mother, father and 18-year-old son of an Afghan family with killing four people. While horrifying enough, the news that stunned Canadians the most was the identity of their innocent victims: their own three daughters and the Muslim husband’s first wife. “The victims’ lives were cut short by their own family,” said Kingston police chief, Stephen Tanner, who described his police force as “greatly saddened” at the “needless and senseless loss of human life.” Charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder are...

Prosecutors filed sexual assault charges against four boys ages 9 to 14, officials said Thursday, alleging they brutally attacked an 8-year-old girl after luring her to a shed with chewing gum. Police said the girl's parents criticized her after the violence, blaming her for bringing shame on the family. All five children are refugees from the West African nation of Liberia......"The father told the case worker and an officer in her presence that he didn't want her back. He said 'Take her, I don't want her,"' Hill said. Hill cited the family's background as the reason the family shunned the...

A married Muslim woman has been warned by police that she could be murdered in an honour killing after her lover was attacked with sulphuric acid. Her 24-year-old Muslim lover is not expected to live after suffering 90 per cent burns in the attack, which blinded him and left his tongue destroyed. He was also stabbed twice in the back by four men, and hit with bricks The Danish victim, who is of Asian origin, is said to have ‘insulted’ her strictly religious relatives, some of whom wear the hijab, and detectives believe the family feared being shamed in the...

Kingston Police have arrested at least three people in connection with the mysterious deaths of four Montreal women found in a submerged car in Kingston Mills June 30. Three teenage sisters were found dead in the car, Zainab Shafi, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, along with a 50-year-old woman, Rona Amir Mohammed. La Presse newspaper in Montreal said three people who were heading to Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport were arrested yesterday morning. Initially, police said the case was suspicious but that they had not found evidence of foul play. It's not clear what charges are being laid, but...