Pryaer for new thread please?
Amen.
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s04080006.htm
ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126 USA
E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com, Web Site: www.assistnews.net
Monday, August 2, 2004
ASSYRIAN CHRISTIAN LEADER CALLS ON CHRISTIANS AROUND THE WORLD TO DEMAND PROTECTION FOR THE CHURCH IN IRAQ
Another says, “We have warned and warned that this was going to happen”
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
BAGHDAD / MOSUL, IRAQ (ANS) -- An Assyrian Christian leader has called on Christians worldwide to demand protection for the Church in Iraq.
Ken Joseph Jr., of www.AssyrianChristians.com has told ANS, “For whatever their disagreements over the war, I do not think any American agreed to fight a war to create the Islamic Republic of Iraq and to cause the Christians to have to leave their historic country. We must provide this minimum protection accorded to the community under the law." (Pictured: Ken Joseph Jr.).
His statement follows a long predicted series of attacks on five Christian Churches - two in the Karada section of Baghdad, one in the Dora Section, one in the New Baghdad Area and the other in Mosul -- on Sunday evening (August 1) just as worshipers were leaving.
The attacks killed 11 people and wounded more than 50 in the first big assault on Iraq's Christian minority since the 15-month-old insurgency began.
"We have warned and warned that this was going to happen" screamed one Assyrian Christian who asked that his name be protected. "We have begged for help, from the International Community, we have begged for protection but nobody would listen. Maybe finally they will realize that what we have been saying is true." he continued.
“The bombings follow a long string of bombings of Assyrian Christian owned businesses, homes - a particularly gruesome killing involved two Children aged 6 and 16 gunned down in cold blood in their home,” said Joseph.
“Further difficulty happened days ago when the Assyrian Christians were completely shut out of election preparations for their two most populous areas in Northern Iraq.
“Entitled to a minimum of four seats out of 28 for the upcoming National Congress to prepare for Iraq Elections, the Assyrian Christians received no seats.”
Another individual at the scene, who also asked not to be named, related what happened immediately after the bombing. "American troops immediately circled the area and visibly angry soldiers nearly lost control as they watched and attempted to do all they could to help the worshipers as they struggled out of the Church" he said.
"They were screaming they were so angry at the people who would bomb a Church as people were leaving the service. Frankly, I can't repeat some of what they were saying but it was very clear they were deeply affected by this brutal act." (Pictured: Church bombing).
Another individual involved in the efforts, who to asked that his name not be used for fear of reprisal, put it more succinctly. "Maybe this will finally alert the public to what the situation is. We call specifically on the US Congress to attach a rider to the appropriations bill for Iraq. The Assyrian Community is demanding protection and needs specifically four things - resettlement to their original villages, repair of the villages destroyed by Saddam Hussein, autonomy in Assyria as provided by Article 53 of the Iraqi Constitution and voting rights."
"The only way we can remain in Iraq is if we can have a protected area in our original homeland. Without this we must tell our people to leave. With all due respect we do not believe the American people fought a war and liberated Iraq to have it become a radical Moslem state.
“It is we - the Assyrian Christians who love the Americans and will be eternally grateful for what they have done. This the true feeling of the majority of the Iraqis. Now is the time for the Americans to help their friends and insist that the Assyrian Christians have an autonomous area in their homeland so they can live in peace."
Experts predict a continuation of the violence against the Assyrian Christians until either they leave the country en masse or the Assyrian Regional Government is set up as provided for in the Iraqi Constitution next to the similar Kurdish Regional Government, seen by many as the only long term solution for the estimated 2.5 million Assyrian Christians in Iraq.
Predicting much of what is happening, EU Parliament Member Albert Jaan Maat had weeks earlier issued a report to the European Union saying, "Is the Commission aware that the Assyrian Christians are systematically excluded from the distribution of aid by local leaders?"
Maat went on to speak of clear cut religious discrimination saying further "International aid is mainly distributed through regional and therefore Moslem leaders and seldom or never reaches the Assyrian Christians." according to Assyrianchristians.com a website devoted to the Assyrian community worldwide.
Reflecting the widespread lack assistance to the minority community including the Assyrian Christians, Yazidis and other non-Moslem communities some view the whole situation as another example of ethnic cleansing in a more subtle way.
"This is our last cry for help" said a local Assyrian Christian. "If the world will not listen to us now then they do not care. Where are the Christians of the world when we need their voices and help? Why should we have to leave our own homeland where we were the first people to accept Christianity and where we have practiced our faith and lived in peace for 2,000 years?"
“The bombings are expected to increase as more and more responsibility is handed over to the interim Iraqi Government and the move toward elections proceeds, stated Ken Joseph Jr.
"We are calling on American Christians to appeal to their Congressman to have a ‘rider’ attached to the 18.4 Billion Dollar appropriations bill for Iraq that demands that according to Article 53 of the Iraqi Constitution the Assyrian Christians be provided with autonomy over their homeland as the only way for them to survive in this terrible situation and all aid and assistance to be provided without discrimination.
For further information, go to www.Assyrianchristians.com.
Dan Wooding is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). Wooding is the co-host of the weekly radio show, "Window on the World" and was, for ten years a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. Wooding is the author of some 42 books, the latest of which is his autobiography, "From Tabloid to Truth", which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, go to www.fromtabloidtotruth.com.
danjuma1@aol.com.
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.
August 3, 2004
Jeremy Reynalds
P O Box 27693
Alb., NM 87125-7693
Tel: (505) 400-7145
www.joyjunction.org
Terror Group Threatening European Countries Backing Bush has Alleged U.S.Cyber Home on Hosting Anime;
Host for a Number of Well Known Terror Groups
Radical Islamics claiming affiliation to al Qaeda have again posted threats against the United Kingdom, Italy, Bulgaria and other European countries backing President George W Bush’s policy on Iraq.
According to Bulgaria’s Sofia News Agency (SFN), the statement from Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades read in part, “We will urge our members in Italy, UK, Bulgaria and entire Europe to get ready for a new kind of battle. Be prepared to shed blood. We are launching a bloody and endless war.”
This is the third time that Islamic terrorists have threatened Bulgaria, SFN reported.
Last week the same group vowed a war on European countries, including Bulgaria. “We will not hesitate to shed blood in all parts of Europe, in Rome and other places, as long as countries move in the orbit of the pinnacle of unbelief, America,” SFN reported the statement said.
On July 21 an Islamic group named Tawhid, claiming to be al-Qaeda's European cell, threatened Bulgaria and Poland with bloodbaths unless they withdraw troops from Iraq.
Bulgaria is contributing a 485-strong light infantry unit to the international peacekeeping forces in the southern Iraqi town of Karbala, SFN reported. The troops are under Polish command.
Despite a deadly bomb attack on the Bulgarian base last December, and the death of two Bulgarian hostages, Bulgarian authorities have vowed they will not capitulate to the terrorist’s threats but stay the course in Iraq.
While it is was not immediately possible to determine whether the threatening message against Europe and other countries was posted on the group’s Hosting Anime web site, the group does have a presence there at www.hostinganime.com/abu-hafs.
Hosting Anime is an internet service provider that hosts a number of al Qaida and other terrorist web sites. It appears to operate by renting space on the servers of the Houston based Everyone's Internet (EV1), which has hosted sites in the past for groups such as the Hamas.
The radical sites hosted by Hosting Anime (and apparently EV1) include
www.hostinganime.com/meshawir
www.hostinganime.com/meshawir/aljhad.html
www.hostinganime.com/e3dad123/film.htm
www.hostinganime.com/e3dad123/files.htm
www.hostinganime.com/meshawir/moga63h.html
www.hostinganime.com/gim/GIMfaroq.htm
www.hostinganime.com/seer/index.htm
www.hostinganime.com/iraqnews1
www.hostinganime.com/iraqnews1/index.html
www.hostinganime.com/iraqnews2
www.hostinganime.com/iraqnews3
www.hostinganime.com/abu-hafs
www.hostinganime.com/neda5/sout
www.hostinganime.com/neda5/sout/index.html
www.hostinganime.com/neda5/sout/index2s.htm
www.hostinganime.com/neda5/sout/news.htm
www.hostinganime.com/neda5/sout/bttar.htm
www.onefreehost.com/neda4
www.onefreehost.com/neda4/index.htm
www.hostinganime.com/neda4
www.hostinganime.com/neda4/index.htm
www.hostinganime.com/neda4/new.htm
www.hostinganime.com/neda4/sout/index.htm
www.hostinganime.com/neda4/lqaa.htm
www.hostinganime.com/neda4/bdr.htm
www.hostinganime.com/neda4/aboomar.htm
www.hostinganime.com/neda4/yaammat.htm
www.hostinganime.com/neda4/alakat.htm
www.hostinganime.com/neda3/sout
www.hostinganime.com/neda3/sout/new.htm
www.hostinganime.com/neda2/sout
www.hostinganime.com/neda2/sout/index.htm
www.hostinganime.com/neda2/page/new.htm
www.hostinganime.com/neda2/pic/ww.jpg
www.hostinganime.com/sout19/b15doc.zip
www.hostinganime.com/sout19/s20pdf.zip
www.hostinganime.com/qaedoon/index.htm
www.hostinganime.com/qaedoon/sout.htm
www.hostinganime.com/qaedoon/replay16-07-2004.htm
www.hostinganime.com/qaedoon/replay.htm
www.hostinganime.com/sout19/s20doc.zip
www.hostinganime.com/sout19
www.hostinganime.com/sout19/index.htm
www.hostinganime.com/sout19/new.htm
www.hostinganime.com/sout19/bttar.htm
www.hostinganime.com/abuhagar/abuhager.htm
www.hostinganime.com/gim/GIMfaroq.htm
www.hostinganime.com/faroq/Osama2usa.htm
www.hostinganime.com/salahamza/book4.html
www.hostinganime.com/salahamza/book6.html
www.hostinganime.com/haramin/index.htm
Apparent parent host EV1 has not returned a number of e-mails seeking comment but did generate an automated response in the last few weeks which read in part, "We have received your report of possible abuse of our network resources. The current number of notifications that require investigations limits the number of personal responses from the staff to senders and this might be the only response you receive regarding your notification; however, we do investigate each report."
In addition, when asked a few weeks ago if EV1 administration would respond to an e-mail seeking answers about the company's continued relationship with Hosting Anime, a receptionist said, “If they're interested they will contact you. All we say is that they're unavailable and we can take a message.”
Writing on an SFN bulletin board recently (www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=37501), internet terror researcher Johnathan Galt commented about EV1, "The (Hosting Anime) site is hosted at EV1.NET in Houston Texas. They host *MOST* (of) the latest murder videos and terrorist announcements. We need an international furor to force the U.S. Govt. to release all the details of these two companies. Why is the identity of the murderers and the people helping them kept secret? Important clues as to the identities of the murderers are held in the server logs of EV1. A court order is needed in order to force the companies to make them public."
An attorney for the U.S. Dept. of Justice’s Counter Terrorism Division asked that written research about Hosting Anime’s alleged activities be faxed to her.
In March, Aljaazeera reported ( http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D2D48F79-B330-40E3-A17D-B4CDD01EE1A0.htm ) that Abu Hafs Brigades has been surfacing more and more recently.
It has claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad last April. The brigades were named after the training commander of al-Qaida network and were founded after his death in 2001.
Abu
Abu Hafs
He was an Egyptian national, who was nicknamed al-Masri meaning 'the Egyptian' in Arabic, Al Jazeera reported.
Following the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, American authorities put Abu Hafs’ name on top of the list of wanted people. He was one of the most wanted people in the US, dead or alive.
On 16 November 2001, a US air raid destroyed a house near Kabul reportedly sheltering Abu Hafs.
Al Jazeera reported that while news of Abu Hafs’ death was widely disputed inside and outside Afghanistan, it was confirmed three days later from Pakistan where the Taliban's Ambassador Abd Al-Salam Dhaif said “Abu Hafs al-Masri died from injuries he suffered after US warplanes bombed his house near Kabul.”
But who was Abu Hafs al-Masri?
He was a core member of the Islamic Jihad group, which successfully carried out the assassination of the Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat on 6 October 1981. He joined Osama bin Ladin in the early 1980s, Al Jazeera reported, when the two were fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan.
He also helped establish al-Qaida’s fundamental base, according to Al Jazeera. As a former Egyptian police officer, he was in charge of the group’s security.
Abu Hafs assumed control of the training camps after the former commander Abu Ubaida al-Banshiri was drowned in Victoria lake, Uganda, in 1996. His ties with Osama bin Ladin became stronger, Al Jazeera reported, when one of his daughters was married to one of bin Ladin's sons.
Abu Haf was associated with many deadly attacks in worldwide, Al Jazeera reported.
While al Qaida was based in Sudan in 1992-1993, Abu Hafs allegedly took part in attacks on American forces operating under the international military force in Somalia (Operation Restore Hope).
In 1997, Al Jazeera reported it was said he and another top bin Ladin aide, Ayman al-Dhawahiri, orchestrated the killing of 58 tourists in al-Uxur, Egypt.
In 1999, the FBI announced evidence of Abu Hafs’ links to the bombing of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, in which 250 people were killed. He was charged with killing US citizens.
Abu Hafs was also wanted, Al Jazeera reported, by a number of international security and intelligence agencies. An Egyptian court sentenced him to seven years in prison in absentia. The FBI put a five million dollar reward for information leading to his arrest.
Ten months before Abu Hafs al-Masri's death, Osama bin Ladin nominated him as his successor in the event of his death or arrest.
The nomination surprised many of bin Ladin's aides and inner circle, Al Jazeera reported. It was expected that bin Ladin's eldest son, Muhammad, would succeed his father in leading the controversial organization.
According to Al Jazeera, Abd Allah Azzam, the father of the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, was quoted by Arab fighters there as having expressed his annoyance at, “bin Ladin's favoritism towards Egyptian Muslim fundamentalists.”