Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat - Thread Thirty-Two

[nwctwx]

Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Thread Thirty-Two (Index)

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The Threat Matrix

The title refers to a daily report given to the president of the United States detailing the most serious terrorist threats against the country. To tackle those threats, the government has formed a top-notch task force to infiltrate the terror cells and cut off the danger.

"Every morning, the president receives a list of the top ten terrorist threats - this list is known as the threat matrix."

We here at FR are trying to be in conjunction with the daily reports around the world that involve threats. We try to provide a storehouse of information that takes hours of research.

YOU be the judge and get informed!

What's become of bin Laden since he gave us all the slip?
Full Story

Some think he is dead, others that he is hiding because he is scared of being killed.

Whatever the reason for the strange disappearance of Osama bin Laden, not seen alive since his last mocking video statement a year ago, he is no longer the face of the global "jihad" against the West.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi { TM 25,TM 27 }, the Jordanian responsible for some of the worst atrocities in Iraq, has become the hero of the hour on militant Islamist websites.

Related:
Can al-Qaeda Endure Beyond bin Laden?
Two Years Ago: Threat Matrix Begins

"I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat."

TM Terrorism Handbook	Link to Thread Thirty-One "Code Red Implications: Code Red - Stay Home and Await Word." From Tm'er and Freeper ~MamaDearest~	Tracking the Chatter with TM
TM 'Be on the Lookout'		Survival Preparedness Info.
Threat Matrix Book List		ExSoldier's Invaluable Tips
Arabic Links and Resources		Godzilla's Summaries

Threat Matrix HTML designed by: Ian Livingston

[appalachian_dweller]

>> kitchen = storage/workshop <<

LOL! Add to that butcher shop...rifle season (deer) starts 11/19.

[Godzilla]

bookmark

[MamaDearest]

Old chemical weapons found off west coast of Vancouver Island

Snip: The weapons were found in June but officials won't say exactly where. They also aren't certain who owns them. Canada and the U.S. dumped explosives, mustard gas and other chemical agents off both coasts of North America following the Second World War.

Mexico - Venezuela engaged in rift

Snip: Chavez and Fox recall ambassadors - Hugo Chavez has refused to apologise for his comments. Mexico and Venezuela have recalled their ambassadors amid a diplomatic spat between the two countries. Mexican President Vicente Fox announced the move minutes after Venezuela said it was ordering home its envoy.

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez refused to bow to Mexican demands to apologise for warning off Mr Fox - after describing him as a "puppy" of US imperialism.

Dole recalls 250,000 bags of salad

Snip: WESTLAKE, Calif. The Westlake Village-based Dole company is trying to determine the source of a possible salad contamination and recently recalled 250,000 bags from grocery store shelves, the Los Angeles Business Journal reports.

Dole Food Co. Inc. has been reportedly sued over the past few weeks by consumers in several states (including Oregon, Minnesota) who contracted a serious form of E. coli from its bagged salads, according to the Journal, out Monday.

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

Do you guys think from Canada, Cuba and Mexico could come nukes that we could not stop? (ANYONE)This article sent me on this train of thought.

Ahmadinejad lauds Cuba?s stance on Iran nuke
Monday, November 14, 2005 - ©2005 IranMania.com


LONDON, November 14 (IranMania) - Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad held talks with visiting Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, said MNA.

In the meeting, Ahmadinejad stressed the necessity for deep political, economic, cultural, and social ties between the two countries.

The president expressed appreciation for the new wave of revolutionary movements nurtured by the spirit of freedom and justice championed by some Latin American nations and leaders and expressed hope that Latin American countries would become free from the domination of hegemonic powers through more coordination, MNA added.

The president praised Cuba?s revolutionary and constructive stance toward Iran?s right to the peaceful application of nuclear energy and urged Cuba to confer with other Latin American countries to win their support for Iran?s civilian nuclear program.

?Through the coordination and joint efforts of the two countries and by using the great potential of the international community, especially the Non-Aligned Movement, and the expansion of cooperation between its member states, we can turn the current system of domination into one that would benefit nations,? the president noted.

For his part, the Cuban foreign minister expressed his government?s support for Iran?s nuclear program and called for the further development of Tehran-Havana ties, MNA noted.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry also confirmed on Sunday that Iran would not accept a compromise on its nuclear program that involved uranium enrichment activities being conducted outside the country.

"Enrichment should be carried out on Iranian soil, as other Iranian officials have said before," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi told reporters.

The position was spelled out on Saturday by Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Director Gholamreza Aghazadeh after a meeting with Igor Ivanov, the head of the Russian Security Council.

Under a proposal reportedly being floated, Iran would be allowed to carry out an initial step in nuclear fuel production -- converting uranium ore into the uranium hexafluoride gas that is the feedstock for the production of enriched uranium. But enrichment itself would be done in Russia under an offer said to be under consideration by the European Union and the United States, stated MNA.

"As far as I know, there is no such proposal," Asefi said.

Asefi stated that Iran wants to see a "balanced approach" to its nuclear program and repeated that talks needed to be expanded to involve countries other than the so-called EU3.

He also reacted to reports that U.S. intelligence officials have shown IAEA members a stolen Iranian laptop computer containing nuclear designs as proof the country is secretly pursuing a nuclear weapons plan.

When asked to respond to the report, Asefi laughed and said, "This is worthless and naive. We usually don't carry our secrets around in laptops."

http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=37724&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs

[MamaDearest]

Goods purchased by Islamic Jihad seized

Snip: Security forces and the customs authority confiscated shipping containers with goods worth tens of thousands of dollars at the Port of Ashdod on suspicion they were purchased by the Islamic Jihad terror group.

The goods were purchased by a Palestinian businessman in the Gaza Strip, Fayez Abu Aker, known to the security services for his connections with terror groups. Security officials suspect Islamic Jihad is resorting to money laundering in order to fund its activities.

Kuwait terror suspects seek leniency

Snip: Weapons, bombs and chemicals that could be used for making explosives were found in their possession. But the defense argued the six - three Kuwaitis and three stateless Arabs who live in Kuwait - were planning to go to Iraq and asked for leniency from the court.

"I believe those young men have been deceived, and the way to deal with it is not tough sentences," their lawyer, Khaled al-Abdul-Jalil, told the three-judge panel. "They readied themselves only for jihad (holy war) in Iraq," he said. After seeing the "crimes of the Americans in Iraq," including killing Muslim children and women, they believed that "jihad was their duty."

Jihad Unspun shuts down

Snip: November 11, 2005 Canadian Jihad Website Shuts Down Jihad Unspun, an English language website devoted to supporting terrorism, is shutting down. The Canadian based website was notorious for its overt support of terrorists actively engaged in fighting against fellow Canadian citizens.

The website claims it is shutting down because of a "decline in credible third party information sources and a lack of translation resources."However, sources close to The Jawa Report claim that Jihad Unspun and its publisher, Khadija Abdul Qahaarbeen, have been under criminal investigation by Canadian authorities for some time. In addition to calling for armed resistance against Canadian troops in Afghanistan the website routinely publishes content which could be construed as 'hate speech' under Canadian law.

In April the U.S. State Department posted on its Web site an article entitled, A Trio of Disinformers: Islam Memo, Muhammad Abu Nasr, and Jihad Unspun." After noting that the Web site was owned by a Canadian woman who converted to Islam the article commented, "'Jihad Unspun' has a track record of spreading very unreliable allegations."

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

Suspects found at nuclear reactor
Kara Lawrence and Lisa Davies
15nov05
THE top-security Lucas Heights nuclear reactor has emerged as a potential target of Sydney's alleged terror cell.
http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,17246099%5E953,00.html

US faulted on handling nuclear threat
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1311423

10,000 flee deadly chemical blasts in China
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,17244102%5E663,00.html

Iran backs Syria in face of mounting U.S. pressure
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=10123

Terrorist attack: Lal Chowk encounter continues
http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?template=Ceasefire&slug=Three+killed+in+Srinagar+terrorist+attack&id=18157&callid=0&category=National

[Rushmore Rocks]

I read that he went there to promote California products on a trade mission of some sort.

[Rushmore Rocks]

Welcome home, Mossad.

I've thought of you often and wondered about you. Hope things are getting better for you. Stay in touch.

[Cindy]

Butcher Shop?

Smiling again...

[Cindy]

FR Post no. 1512:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1513784/posts?q=1&&page=1512#1512


===
===

UPDATE to post no. 1512:

ON THE NET...
November 14, 2005

Note: The following post is an exact quote (minus the graphic):
---

Jeremy Reynalds, Ph.D.
P O Box 27693
Alb., NM 87125-7693
Tel: (505) 400-7145

IRANIAN RUN ANTI-JEWISH WEB SITE HOSTED IN U.S. TAKEN OFF LINE


Site Graphic

An Iranian administered anti-Zionist website formerly hosted in the United States is now off line.

The site was www.zionot.com. Its Internet Service Provider was the Fayetteville, NC-based Advanced Internet Technologies (www.aitcom.net/contactus.php).

Informed of his company's hosting of the site, Alex Lekas, Vice President of Corporate Communications for Advanced Internet Technologies said in a telephone interview, "We (have taken that domain down), in addition to the two mirrors that point to it. (www.321wwz.com and www.4-3-2-1-0.com).We will comply with the provision of the law that governs Internet connectivity(www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/rulings/ia060603.pdf), and we will also contact our regional FBI office in Raleigh to determine what other sorts of provisions we need to be aware of."

Lekas said the site(s) were probably "part of a resellers package, because (it) doesn't appear in our records as an independent account."

Later adding to his earlier comments, Lekas said by e-mail, "As a company founded by ex-Army members, AIT takes its legal responsibilities seriously and also has an acceptable use policy that restricts certain types of content."

There was a variety of anti-Jewish propaganda contained on the site. For example.

An article titled "A World without Zionists" read, "One day, the earth will be free of the influence and reign of the Zionists. One day, the oppressed will rule over the world. This is the promise of God and it will happen very soon ... our age is the age of Imam Khomeini. This great man of the recent ages taught us to enter rationalities and to open our eyes on the hidden realities of the world. In many countries of the world especially the Muslim countries; in Saudi Arabia where millions of Muslims gather every year for the Hajj congregation, in Lebanon, Sudan, Ethiopia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, India and wherever there is a trace of Islam, when they hear the name of Imam Khomeini, they smile and in different languages, talk of him in good terms and consider themselves indebted to him."

The writer said that he and others are not frightened by the Zionist name or network.

"For years, in many Muslim countries," he wrote, "when normal people talked about a political subject like the sudden appearance of the counterfeit Zionist government in the Middle East region, the more experienced and wise recommended them not to enter the domain of rationalities."

The writer continued by saying that it is said the "Zionist network" is powerful worldwide and supported by superpowers.

So powerful, he wrote, that "they say the famous powerful countries of the world do not drink water without the Zionists' permission. They say whoever looks at the Zionists left left will be damned by them. Such talks are babbled a lot, but the children of Imam Khomeini all over the world are waiting to see a world without the Zionists and are willing to put in all their effort for this aim."

Other articles on the site (www.zionot.com/Written.htm) included one titled, "Jewish Conspiracy."

It read in part, "The anti-human crimes, aggressions and murders committed by the Zionists and their inveterate rancor against Islam and Muslims are known to one and all. A boundless passion for usurpation and hegemony is typical of these professional criminals of history; a passion which they try to satisfy through their fickle logic of ‘From Nile to Euphrates.'"

Another article was called, Student Movement Mulls World without Zionism."

That reads in part, "The Student Movement last year concurrent with the World Qods Day and 13th of Aban (4 November) held a series of conferences titled "The World without the US" with the aim of triggering an anti-arrogance wave at national and international levels. Presently the Movement has pointed finger at the core of oppression and arrogance, considering a world free from Zionism."

One article was titled, "I wonder why Bush doesn't let Sharon run his press office," and read in part, "Put your flak jackets on, President George Bush has spoken. He wants a regime change in Palestine, just as he wants a regime change in Iraq. He reads the Israeli government press handouts and accurately quotes them to his American people."

The computer serving as home to the web sites (66.219.101.232) was hosting 386 Internet addresses. Some of those sites had names such as www.Tehranhack.com, www.Tehraniart.com,
www.Tehranpack.com, www.Tehranramian.com, www.Teleitc.com and www.elmpub.com, none of which were accessible as this story was being prepared.

In other news about Iran, the London Guardian newspaper reported (www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,12858,1641995,00.html) that Iran was under renewed pressure Sun. over its nuclear program after reports that American officials had found information on a stolen laptop computer that they claimed proved Iran was attempting to develop a nuclear warhead.

The Guardian reported that U.S. American intelligence agents briefed senior officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency on the alleged evidence contained on the computer, according to the New York Times.

The agency is scheduled to meet in Vienna a week from Thursday to consider referring the Iranian case to the UN security council.

[Cindy]

Note: The following post is an exact quote:
---

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1522187/posts


Bill Clinton to Israel: Iran No Threat
NewsMax ^ | November 17, 2005 | Carl Limbacher

Posted on 11/14/2005 8:28:13 PM PST by Kaslin

Ex-president Bill Clinton urged Israelis over the weekend not to overreact to comments by newly elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recommending that Israel be "wiped off the map."

Speaking at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem on Saturday, Clinton acknowledged that the remark was "outrageous," but he cautioned that the Iranian leader was "not elected because of his hatred for Israel or the West."

"He was elected because of the economic distress of ordinary Iranians, and which he promised to relieve by giving them financial assistance," Clinton explained, according to the Jerusalem Post.

He warned Israel not to act unilaterally when reacting to terrorist threats, saying that "true peace and security can only come through principled compromise."

Clinton urged Israelis to "organize their politics" so "their search for peace can continue" regardless of domestic policies.

On Oct. 27, President Ahmadinejad told a "World Without Zionism" conference that Israel is a "disgraceful blot" on the Middle East that should be "wiped off the map."

[bored at work]

bawmark

[Cindy]

Goodnight bored at work.
Rest well.

[doug from upland]

This man was a threat to this nation for the eight years he was in charge. Not being satisfied with the damage he did, he is remaining a threat and won't leave the stage. He is competing with Jimmy Carter for biggest ***clown ex-president.

[Cindy]

"He is competing with Jimmy Carter for biggest ***clown ex-president."

Yep.

[MamaDearest]

Border Patrol to add 265 agents to New Mexico

Snip: The Border Patrol is adding 185 agents at its Deming and Lordsburg stations, plus 80 in Alamogordo and Las Cruces. Richardson declared a state of emergency on New Mexico's border in August.

That freed state money for local governments and law enforcement to cope with what's been described as increasing crime and problems related to illegal immigration.

Mexico overstepping boundaries on immigration

Snip: After pressing us to educate Mexico's citizens, give them food stamps, deliver their babies, provide them with hospital beds and police their neighborhoods, the Mexican government also expects us to help preserve their loyalty — to Mexico.

Each of Mexico's 47 consulates in the United States has a mandate to introduce Mexican textbooks into schools with significant Hispanic populations. The Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles showered nearly 100,000 textbooks on 1,500 schools in the L.A. Unified School District this year alone.

Iran body launches drive to recruit suicide bombers

Snip: A film on “martyrdom-seeking operations” is planned to be shown at the gathering and a debate will be held regarding the guidelines for suicide operations from both Sunni and Shiite Islam’s perspectives and their impact on “the enemy”, the source added.

Earlier this month, radical fanatics signed up for suicide operations in Tehran to mark the end of the month of Ramadan. Samadi said that 40,000 volunteers for suicide bombing operations had already enlisted to attack targets on the orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Application forms for suicide volunteers to sign up were distributed at the gathering. The group’s organisers previously said that their targets were three-fold; U.S.-led forces in Iraq, Jews in Israel, and Salman Rushdie, who still has a fatwa against his head issue by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Two churches set ablaze in Pakistan

Snippets: LAHORE: Hundreds of Muslims attacked and burned two churches in Pakistan following reports that a Christian man had desecrated Islam's holy book.

Dogar said the allegations were apparently leveled by people who lost money while gambling with the Christian man Friday, but police had detained him and were investigating.

More than 1/2 of illegal El Salvadorans came in through South Texas

Snip: Federal authorities say more than three-thousand undocumented Salvadoran immigrants have been detained in the U-S Border Patrol's Rio Grande Valley sector so far this fiscal year. They account for about 54 percent of the national figure of more than 57-hundred.

Salvadorans now account for the largest group of illegal immigrants detained in the U-S aside from Mexican nationals. Previously, Brazilians and Hondurans had been among the largest groups immigrating through the Rio Grande Valley.

[Cindy]

Thanks to MamaDearest for pointing to this latest article:

ON THE NET...

FreeRepublic.com - Keyword: "IRAN" (Read More...)

MEMRI.org: "IRAN" (Read More...)

News.BBC.co.uk: "IRAQI BOMB KNOW-HOW 'FROM IRAN'" (November 4, 2005) (Read More...)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.US: "GREAT MOMENTS IN IRANIAN TECHNOLOGY TRANSFERS..." (October 30, 2005) (Read More...)

JIHAD WATCH.org (ASIA TIMES): "Ahmadinejad off the deep end: 'I say accomplishment of a world without America and Israel is both possible and feasible'" (October 27, 2005) (Read More...)

WASHINGTON TIMES.com: Ramallah, West Bank - "IRAN LEADER PREDICTS ISRAEL'S DEMISE" by Joshua Mitnick (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday predicted a wave of Palestinian attacks that would erase Israel "from the face of the Islamic world," just hours before a suicide bomber killed five Israelis in a marketplace.") (October 27, 2005) (Read More...)

IRAN FOCUS.com: "IRAN BODY LAUNCHES NATIONAL DRIVE TO RECRUIT SUICIDE BOMBERS" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Tehran, Iran, Nov. 14 – An organisation set up by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is holding a rally in a provincial centre in north-east Iran on Tuesday as part of a nationwide drive to recruit volunteers for “martyrdom-seeking” operations, Iran Focus has learnt. The event, dubbed “Palestinian intifada and martyrdom-seeking”, will be staged on the campus of the Industrial University of Shahroud. The keynote speaker will be Mohammad-Ali Samadi, the spokesman for the “Headquarters to Commemorate the Martyrs of the Global Islamic Movement”. Samadi is a senior officer of the Revolutionary Guards and his organisation is run by the IRGC in an effort to recruit potential suicide bombers. Organisers of the rally said the representative of the militant Palestinian group, Hamas, in Iran, Abu Othmama, will also speak at the rally.") (November 14, 2005) (Read More...)

MEMRI.org - Special Dispatch Series - No. 1018: "IRANIAN ANIMATED FILM FOR CHILDREN PROMOTES SUICIDE ATTACKS" (SNIPPET: "The following are excerpts from an Iranian animated movie for children, which aired on IRIB 3 TV on October 28, 2005, at 8 a.m. Iran time. To view this clip visit: http://memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=906 ") (November 3, 2005) (Read More...)

OnlineJihad.Blogspot.com: - Translating and Analyzing Jihadist Propaganda: "TEEN SUICIDE BOMBER - NATIONAL SYMBOL OF IRAN" (October 24, 2005) (Read More...)

MEMRI.org - Special Dispatch Series - No. 929: "Al-Arabiya TV Report: Iranian Volunteer Suicide Bomber Organization of 40,000 'Time Bombs; Recruited to Target Americans in Iraq and Israel" (July 6, 2005) (Read More...)

MEMRI TV.org - Transcript - Clip No. 736: "ON THE IRANIAN MOVEMENT OF 'MARTYRDOM SEEKERS'" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "TRANSCRIPT SNIPPET: "The following are excerpts from a report about the movement of "martyrdom seekers" in Iran. Al-Arabiya TV aired this report on July 2, 2005.) (Read More...)

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is an exact quote:
---

http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s05110076.htm

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com


Monday, November 14, 2005

PAKISTANI CHRISTIANS CALL FOR SEVEN DAYS OF MOURNING AND A ONE DAY STRIKE, TO PROTEST ATTACKS ON SANGLA HILL CHRISTIANS

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

LAHORE, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Christian schools throughout Pakistan will go on strike on November 17, in protest at the attacks on Christians in Sangla Hill, Punjab, this past weekend.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), says Hindu, Sikh and Muslim leaders have joined church leaders in condemning the outbreak of violence, and the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) has declared seven days of mourning. Church leaders are calling on the Pakistani authorities to bring the main instigators of the violence to justice.

CSW says: "In Pakistan's worst outbreak of anti-Christian violence since gunmen attacked a church on Christmas Day, 2002, a mob destroyed the Roman Catholic, Salvation Army and United Presbyterian churches in Basti Asyia, Sangla Hill village, accusing a Christian man of desecrating the Koran."

The mob, estimated to number between one and two thousand, struck at 10.30am on Saturday, 12 November, destroying the three churches as well as a convent, St. Anthony's School, a girls' hostel and a Catholic priest's home.

They burned Bibles, Christian literature, crosses and other Christian materials, and set fire to Christian homes. According to APMA, which sent a team to the area, "within minutes, the Christian residential area was blazing. Christian residents fled to save their lives."

CSW says that according to eyewitnesses, the attack appeared to have been premeditated, as the mob was brought into the village in buses.

More than 450 Christian families from the area had fled the previous night, after receiving threats, according to the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP).

Church leaders, including the Catholic Archbishop of Lahore, Lawrence Saldanha, the Moderator of the Church of Pakistan, Bishop Alexander Malik, representatives of the National Council of Churches in Pakistan and the National Director of the National Commission for Justice & Peace, Father Emmanuel Yousaf Mani, visited the Christian community in Sangla Hill today. Basti Asyia is a Christian area of Sangla Hill.

According to sources in Pakistan, Yousaf Masih won a gambling game with a Muslim group in the stadium. Soon after he left, a fire broke out in the Islamic library next to the stadium, and several books caught fire, including the Koran. The Muslim men who lost the gambling accused Yousaf Masih of starting the fire. The news spread, and announcements were made in local mosques urging Muslims to attack Christians.

The local priest, Father Samson Dilawar, informed the police twelve hours before the attack, requesting protection, but no action appears to have been taken by the police to prevent the violence. Subsequently, 88 people have been arrested and charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act. But according to APMA, the major instigators of the attack have not been arrested.

CSW reported: "The incident took place a day after Yousaf Masih, a Christian, was accused of desecrating the Koran and a case was registered against him under Section 295B of the blasphemy law. Yousaf Masih is still missing, but according to press reports his brother, Salim Masih, has been detained. No investigation into the allegations has been carried out, although initial reports suggest that they were falsely made in order to settle a score over a money dispute between the accusers and the accused."

In a statement issued immediately after the attack, the Catholic Archbishop of Lahore, Lawrence Saldanha, said: "In the wake of the earthquake ... this lawlessness is bad news for the country. The situation calls for serious action on the part of everybody concerned with the well being of the country."

He said that Pakistan's blasphemy laws are "the main sources and tools for creating social, sectarian and inter-religious disharmony. It is negligence on the part of the ministries responsible, who allow the misuse [of the blasphemy laws] at such a large scale, causing a huge amount of injustice."

The Archbishop, supported by the Convenor of the Joint Action Committee Shah Tai Qizelbash, NCJP Executive Secretary Peter Jacob, Member of the National Assembly Akram Masih Gill, Group Captain (Rtd) Cecil Chaudhry and Father Abid Habib accused the local police of being party to the attack.

They called for "an immediate judicial inquiry" into the incident, and disciplinary action against the police for "criminal negligence."

They also recommended that the judicial inquiry report into the violence in Shantinagar in 1997, in which an entire Christian community was destroyed, be made public, and those responsible brought to justice.

On February 6, 1997 Shantinagar, a Christian village, was attacked by over 30,000 militant Muslims. At least 75 per cent of the village was destroyed, including 16 churches, over 300 houses and three hostels and schools.

Group Captain (Rtd) Cecil Chaudhry, Executive Secretary of APMA and a leading human rights campaigner, described the Sangla Hill incident as "a replay of Shantinagar -- a pre-meditated act of terrorism."

Mervyn Thomas, CSW's Chief Executive, said: "This is a gross act of violence, which will further deepen sectarian tensions in Pakistan. We condemn the Sangla Hill attacks and urge the Pakistani authorities to take immediate action to bring the perpetrators to justice."

He added: "This violence demonstrates how badly misused the blasphemy laws have been. The rights of religious minorities have been neglected for too long. The time has come for Pakistan to repeal the blasphemy laws, and work for equal rights for all religious communities."

CSW is a human rights organization which specializes in religious freedom, works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and promotes religious liberty for all.
For further information, please contact Richard Chilvers, Communications Manager at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on 020 8329 0045 or email richard.chilvers@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk
** Michael Ireland is an international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service of Garden Grove, California. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982 and became a US citizen in September, 1995. He is married with two children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station.

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

[Cindy]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/11/14/karachi.explosion/index.html


"A bomb strikes Karachi Tuesday morning (2:56)"


ARTICLE SNIPPET: "(CNN) -- A powerful car bomb exploded in front of a government building in central Karachi Tuesday morning, police said, killing at least three people and wounding 12 others -- two seriously.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Police have been put on high alert.

"It seems to be the target was KFC, but yet we have to wait and see," said Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, Pakistan's information minister. He noted the 8:45 a.m. (10:45 p.m. ET Monday) blast also occurred in front of a Pakistani Industrial Development Corporation building."

ARTICLE SNIPPET #2: "In September, two nearly simultaneous explosions went off at other fast food restaurants -- another KFC and a McDonald's in Karachi's Defense district.

The first bomb detonated inside the KFC restaurant, followed about eight minutes later by a blast outside the McDonald's on the city's beach front. (Full story)

U.S. fast food outlets in Karachi have been targeted before. On May 30, a KFC restaurant was burned and six workers inside were killed during an outbreak of religious sectarian violence in the city."

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1522179/posts

"Pakistan - Explosion heard in Karachi"
Reuters | November 15, 2005

Posted on 11/14/2005 8:04:47 PM PST by HAL9000