[FairOpinion]

Well, maybe some Muslims will finally realize that terrorists don't really care whom they kill.

[FairOpinion]

There is a new Bin Laden tape expected.

Just checked homelandsecurityus.com:

Another al Qaeda - Osama bin Laden Tape Expected


9 December 2003-- A message posted on a monitored Islamic jihad forum suggests the release of yet another videotape prepared by al Qaeda and featuring Osama bin Laden. The taped message will purportedly contain a message from Osama bin Laden about a "great event that will shake the world" (terrorist attack) that will take place before the Bairam (feast 70 days from Ramadan). The taped message will reportedly be broadcast after this large scale attack.

--Patriot, Independent Analyst

(Arab text is posted also)


9 December 2003: As reported on WBEN AM 930 The Tom Bauerle Show, the FBI is currently studying a photograph that has circulated on at least two now defunct Islamic websites known to be used for terrorist communications. The above image is the focus of an FBI investigation to determine the purpose behind the posting and threat level, if any, to the area.
Also reported by WGRZ TV 2 Buffalo

http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/

[denydenydeny]

The chilling thing, which seems lost on the author of this piece, is that the "moderates" are the ones for whom genocide against non-Muslims is fine as long as no Muslims get killed.

[John Valentine]

"We saw who the victims were ... almost 90 per cent Muslim," said attorney Mahendradatta, the group's leader, who uses only one name.

"We don't want to defend people who are doing their struggle like a loose cannon. They have no vision, no mission."

Whereas, for some Indonesian lawyers the identity of the victim is crucial, for after all, one must keep ones "mission" in mind, lest you kill Muslims and be deemed unwothy of defense.

This "lawyer" Mahendradatta is no Muslim moderate, he is just a bit better focused on his "mission". He is still a POS.

[JudgemAll]

This is a split between GRU/KGB oriented "muslims" and radical nationalist muslims.

[highlander_UW]

Some militants inside the al-Qaeda-linked Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiah want their jihad, or holy war, to focus on fighting Christians in certain regions of Indonesia rather than bombing Western targets where Muslims die, too, according to government officials, defence attorneys and an intelligence adviser to Indonesia.

They've already had the Christians targeted. Where was the religion of peace (tm) warning?

[LayoutGuru2]

Bairam

Bai`ram´

n.

1.

Either of two Mohammedan festivals, of which one (the Lesser Bairam) is held at the close of the fast called Ramadan, and the other (the Greater Bairam) seventy days after the fast.

Bairam or Beiram. The name of two Mohammedan feasts. The lesser Bairam, being celebrated at the termination of the great fast of Ramadan (q. v.), is to that extent the analogue of the Christian Easter. Then the Moslem world puts on its new clothes and comes out and rejoices over the return of sumptuary liberty. Visits and presents are exchanged. In Constantinople bands of music parade the streets, and the boats in the Bosporus are decorated with flags. ln the palace of Dolma-baktche the Sultan receives his friends after worshipping at the mosque. He takes his seat on the throne in the centre of the vast audience-room. The grand vizier is received first. He presses to his forehead a broad scarf or veil which is attached to the throne, and then bows low and withdraws. The Sheik-ul-Islam makes a feint at doing the same. But, being almost as high as the Sultan in religious rank, that sublime gentleman interrupts him and bows to him instead. The festivities are generally protracted over three days.

The second or greater Bairam, known also as the Feast of the Sacrifices, is celebrated seventy days later. This is the culminating ceremony of the pilgrimage to Mecca but it has an individual significance as a commemoration of the willingness of Abraham to offer up his son Ishmael (not Isaac, as stated in the Bible). The Moslem story runs thus: After the foundation of Mecca by Abraham, God commanded him to prepare a feast. The patriarch asked what the Lord would have served for the occasion, and the answer was, "Offer up thy son Ishmael." So Abraham placed Ishmael on his back with his head towards the black stone. But the patriarch's hand trembled, and the knife dropped out of it. Thereupon Ishmael told him to cover his eyes with the end of his turban and strike blindfolded. Abraham obeyed, and striking felt the blood gush forth from the victim. "God is great!" he cried. But, lo! when he unbound his eyes, a dying ram lay at his feet, which the archangel Gabriel had substituted for Ishmael. In memory of this deliverance of the patriarch's son, from whom Mohammed and his followers claimed descent, sacrifices of goats and sheep are offered by all who can afford them. These animals it is believed will reappear after death to help the souls of the offerers across the bridge that leads to paradise. Hence the richer Moslems, in a spirit of altruistic charity, frequently supply their more indigent brethren with victims to sacrifice.

Curiosities of Popular Customs
And of Rites, Ceremonies, Observances, and Miscellaneous Antiquities
By William S. Walsh
J.B. Lippincott Company
Copyright 1897

[LayoutGuru2]

Very odd, most of the searching regarding Greater Bairam ended up leading to Turkish university web sites.

SECOND SEMESTER AND SUMMER SCHOOL
February 1-4,2004	Religious Holiday (Holy Feast of Sacrifice) (Eve of the Greater Bairam, January 31 - Saturday) (The Feast lasts for 4 days)

[GOPJ]

Insightful:

Increased Muslim deaths are a byproduct of successful blows against al-Qaeda's command structure, communications and finances as terrorists resort to local targets, said a US counterterrorism official, speaking on condition of anonymity from Washington.

He predicted that these killings may create a backlash in the Islamic world.