World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #4.

Tehran & Damascus Move to Lebanon Lebanon-born Walid Phares is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Author of the recent book Future Jihad, he was also one of the architects of 2004’s United Nations resolution 1559, which called for the disarming of Hezbollah. NRO editor Kathryn Lopez recently talked to Phares about what’s going on in the Mideast, what happened to the Cedar Revolution, and this war we’re all in.

Kathryn Jean Lopez: What is “Future Jihad”? Are we seeing it in the Mideast now?

Walid Phares: “Future Jihad,” which has already begun, refers to a new and potent form of Islamic terrorism, characterized by a Khumeinist-Baathist axis. These are the two trees of jihadism, so to speak — the Salafism and Wahabism embodied in al Qaeda and the sort of jihadism led by Iran and also including Syria, Hezbollah, and their allies in Lebanon.

The alliance has not been in entire agreement as to strategy. The al Qaeda branch began its “Future Jihad” in the 1990s; its efforts culminated on 9/11 and have continued explosively since then. The international “Salafists” aimed at the U.S. in the past decade in order to strengthen their jihads on various battlefields (Chechnya, India, Sudan, Algeria, Indonesia, Palestine, etc.). “Weaken the resolve of America,” their ideologues said, “and the jihadists would overwhelm all the regional battlefields.”

As I argue in Future Jihad, bin Laden and his colleagues miscalculated on the timing of the massive attack against the U.S. in 2001. While they wounded America, they didn’t kill its will to fight (as was the case, for instance, in the Madrid 3/11 attacks). I have heard many jihadi cadres online, and have seen al Jazeera commentators on television, offering hints of criticism about the timing. They were blaming al Qaeda for shooting its imagined “silver bullet” before insuring a strategic follow up. But bin Laden and Zawahiri believe 9/11 served them well, and has put a global mobilization into motion. Perhaps it has, but the U.S. counter strategy in the Middle East, chaotic as the region currently appears, has unleashed counter jihadi forces. The jury is still out as to the time factor: when these forces will begin to weaken the jihadists depends on our perseverance and the public understanding of the whole conflict.

The other “tree” of jihadism, with its roots in Iran, withheld fire after 9/11. They were content to watch the Salafists fight it out with the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention within the West, as terror cells were hunted down. Ahmedinejad, Assad, and Nasrallah were analyzing how far the US would go, and how far the Sunnis and Salafis would go as well.

The fall of the Taliban and of the Baath in Iraq, however, changed Iran and Syria’s patient plans. The political changes in the neighborhood, regardless of their immediate instability, were strongly felt in Tehran and Damascus (but unfortunately not in the U.S., judging from the political debate here), and pushed the Khumeinists and the Syrian Baathists to enter the dance, but carefully. Assad opened his borders to the jihadists in an attempt to crumble the U.S. role in Iraq, while Iran articulated al Sadr’s ideology for Iraq’s Shiia majority.

A U.S.-led response came swiftly in 2004 with the voting of UNSCR 1559, smashing Syria’s role in Lebanon and forcing Assad to withdraw his troops by April 2005. In response, the “axis” prepared for a counter attack on the Lebanese battlefield by assassinating a number of the Cedar Revolution leaders, including MP Jebran Tueni. In short, the attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah and the kidnappings of soldiers were the tip of an offensive aimed at drawing attention away from Iran’s nuclear weapons programs and Syria’s assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri. Hezbollah was awaiting its moment for revenge against the Cedar Revolution too.

What we see now is 1) a Syro-Iranian sponsored offensive aimed at all democracies in the region and fought in Lebanon; 2) Israel’s counter offensive (which it seems to have prepared earlier); and 3) an attempt by Hezbollah to take over or crumble the Lebanese government.

Phares: Actually, it would be more accurate to say that the Cedar Revolution was failed. The masses in Lebanon responded courageously in March 2005 by putting 1.5 million people on the streets of Beirut. They did it without “no-fly-zones,” expeditionary forces, or any weapons at all, for that matter, and against the power of three regimes, Iran, Syria, and pro-Syrian Lebanon, in addition to Hezbollah terror. The “revolution” was for a time astoundingly successful; since then it has been horribly failed, and first of all by Lebanon’s politicians themselves. One of their leaders, General Michel Aoun, shifted his allegiances to Syria and signed a document with Hezbollah. Other politicians from the “March 14 Movement” then stopped the demonstrations, leaving them with the support of God knows what. They failed in removing the pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud and brought back a pro-Syrian politician to serve as a speaker of the house, Nabih Berri. Meanwhile, even as they were elected by the faithful Cedar Revolution masses, they engaged in a round table dialogue with Hezbollah, a clear trap set by Hassan Nasrallah: “Let’s talk about the future,” he said — with the implication, of course, that they forget about the Cedar Revolution and the militia’s disarming. While political leaders sat for months, enjoying the photo ops with Hassan Nasrallah, he was preparing his counter offensive, which he unleashed just a few days before the Security Council would discuss the future of Iran’s nuclear programs.

The Lebanese government of Prime Minister Seniora also abandoned the Cedar Revolution. His cabinet neither disarmed Hezbollah nor called on the U.N. to help in implementing UNSCR 1559. This omission is baffling. The government was given so much support by the international community and, more importantly, overwhelming popular support inside Lebanon: 80 percent of the people were hoping the Cedar Revolution-backed government would be the one to resume the liberation of the country. Now Hezbollah has an upper hand and the government is on the defensive.

The U.S. and its allies can be accused of certain shortcomings as well. While the speeches by the U.S. president, congressional leaders from both parties, Tony Blair, and Jacques Chirac were right on target regarding Lebanon, and while the U.S. and its counterparts on the Security Council were diligent in their follow up on the Hariri assassination and on implementing UNSCR 1559, there was no policy or plan to support the popular movement in Lebanon. Incredibly, while billions were spent on the war of ideas in the region, Lebanese NGOs that wanted to resume the struggle of the Cedar Revolution and fighting alone for this purpose were not taken seriously at various levels. Policy planners thought they were dealing with the “Cedar Revolution” when they were meeting Lebanon’s government and Lebanese politicians. The difference between the high level speeches on Lebanon and the laissez-faire approach from lower levels is amazing. Simply put, there was no policy on supporting the Cedar Revolution against the three regimes opposing it and the $400 million received by Hezbollah from Iran.

The Cedar Revolution was basically betrayed by its own politicians and is now essentially without a head. Nevertheless, as long as the international support remains, the Revolution will find its way and will face the dangers. The one and a half million ordinary citizens who braved all the dangers didn’t change their minds about Hezbollah’s terror. The resistance and counter-attack was to be expected. Unfortunately, thus far Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah have outmaneuvered the West and are at the throats of the Cedar Revolution. The international community must revise its plans, and, if it is strongly backed by the U.S. and its allies, including France, the situation can be salvaged. The good seeds are still inside the country.

[You will not believe these]

http://denver.yourhub.com/Boulder/Stories/Crime/Story~126414.aspx

Trouble is when even your alias is wanted
Contributed by: YourHub.com on 9/18/2006

Incidents reported by Boulder Police
~~~~~ ~~~
Perhaps the definition of real trouble is when even your alias is wanted by the law. That apparently was the case for a 45-year-old Denver man who was arrested on suspicion of criminal impersonation and a warrant for escape from Lakewood at a bar on the 2100 block of 13th Street at 1:24 p.m. Sept. 10, according to Boulder Police reports. Police said they initially contacted the man in regards to a reported theft of a purse at the bar, and when they ran his alias on the computers the name he had given them turned up wanted out of Texas for armed robbery. Quickly the suspect told police he had been using the name as an alias after finding a social security card about a week before, officers said. Police said the suspect's real name also turned up a non-extraditable warrant out of Oregon. The suspect was booked and held at Boulder County Jail.

~~~~~ ~~~
A 51-year-old Lyons man in the process of being booked on two warrants for driving without a valid license at about 12:21 a.m. Sept. 8 admitted to police he had given them an alias, according to police reports. Once police had the suspect's real name he was arrested on warrants from Boulder County for contempt of court on habitual traffic offender charges and a failure-to-appear warrant for speeding, as well as on suspicion of driving under a DUI revocation and criminal impersonation. He was booked and held at Boulder County Jail.

~~~~ ~~~
Attempting to escape with a $5.99 bottle of vodka from a liquor store on the 1200 block of 15th Street at about 5:49 p.m. Sept. 7, a 42-year-old Dillon man was held by store security employees until police arrived and the suspect's real trouble began. Police officers said the man tried to escape and had to be forcibly restrained as they made an arrest, which resulted in injuries to the suspect and a trip to a hospital on the 1100 block of Balsam Avenue for the suspect. While an officer waited outside of an examination room at the hospital, the suspect escaped from the hospital grounds and had to be restrained by several officers near the intersection of Cedar Avenue and 13th Street. During his escape, the suspect managed to kick the reporting officer in the groin area, reports state. "This caused me pain," the officer reported. The suspect was arrested on two felony warrants for contempt of court out of Arapahoe County, as well as for investigation of second-degree assault, criminal impersonation, resisting arrest, obstructing a police office and theft less than $100. The suspect was booked and held at Boulder County Jail.

~~~~~ ~~~
Other wacky crime stories from Boulder
The one and only Bridge Trolls story

[LOL, you gotta read this, photo at link, Boulder is liberal capitol of Colo. They even put up a phone line to call and talk about people who do things you don't approve of, the city paid for the line.........I heard all about it on the Denver station.]

http://denver.yourhub.com/BOULDER/Stories/Crime/Story~103117.aspx?contentsearch=Bridge+Trolls

Boulder bikers, joggers confront bridge trolls
Contributed by: Jeff Thomas/YourHub.com on 7/17/2006

As if Boulder didn't have enough to think about, what with attempting to singlehandedly stop global warming and the war in Iraq.

But now the myriad joggers and the bicyclists of this fair city have a problem that many might have previously believed confined to Scandinavian legends and fairy tales.

Bridge trolls.

According to reports from the Boulder police, several joggers encountered a modern-day variety of bridge trolls in a park near the intersection of Foothills Highway and Colorado Avenue shortly after noon on July 7, although the trolls may have taken it a step too far when they challenged an off-duty Boulder County sheriff's deputy.
Police said they came across the encounter about 12:27 p.m., in which the off-duty sergeant faced off with Robert Hibbs, of Boulder, armed with broken golf clubs.

As the police officers took Hibbs, 19, into custody he allegedly insisted he was a troll and claimed the bridge as his own, reports state.
Several witnesses noted that Hibbs and companion Bradley Boville, 19, were confronting joggers and bikers attempting to cross the bridge, demanding a dollar.

Boville, who lives nearby in an apartment on the 4200 block of Monroe Boulevard, did not tell police he believed himself to be a troll, but did offer an alternative explanation, telling police he thought Hibbs was having a bad trip.

Boville told police he had taken a single tab of LSD, and Hibbs had taken two tabs. The two had rolled a big joint, he allegedly told police and found themselves without either a lighter or a dollar with which to buy a lighter and had subsequently begun asking people for money who were crossing the bridge.

The off-duty deputy painted a more violent side to the situation, saying he came up on the bridge and apparently having neither a piece of gold nor a goat with which to gain passage forced his way past Hibbs, who responded by hitting the deputy's bicycle tire with a golf club.

The deputy was apparently able to secure a golf club himself, with which he struck Hibbs across the chest and shoulder, reports state, breaking the club, but not fazing Hibbs. Hibbs' bloodied his nose, police said they were able to ascertain, before meeting up with the off-duty deputy.

The off-duty sergeant and other witnesses said that after they crossed the bridge, Hibbs would tell Boville go stab them. Boville insisted to police that he had not stabbed anyone, which was apparently true.

The strangest part of the reports, however, noted that a large joint found in Boville's front pocket appeared to be rolled out of two one-dollar bills. Police said Boville took them to his nearby apartment, where they confiscated three more grams of marijuana, 11 marijuana pipes and bongs and a number of other golf clubs.

Hibbs was arrested for investigation off menacing and possession of a controlled substance. Boville was arrested for investigation of possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.

Both apparently finished their trip, or perhaps fantasy, lodged at Boulder County Jail.
___________________________________________________

Totally unrelated, but still funny: World Naked Bike Day ends in arrests

Please check out my blog at http://denver.yourhub.com/~fishinhell

http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Crime/Story~127005.aspx

DCSO detains witnesses in dragged body case
Contributed by: Daniel Smith/YourHub.com on 9/19/2006

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office says it has "detained" several witnesses as they seek the identify of a woman whose mutilated body was found beside Surrey Road after she was dragged behind a vehicle more than a mile through a quiet subdivision off Interstate 25 early Monday morning.

Sheriff's Office public information officer Kim Castellano said the witnesses are being interviewed, but could not elaborate. The woman was dragged after apparently being tied with a rope to the vehicle.

The woman was described by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office as possibly Causasian, Hispanic or Native American, about five feet tall and weighing about 130 to 140 pounds, with shoulder-length auburn hair, tied in a pony tail. An autopsy may determine the exact cause of death.

Castellano earlier said investigators found a photo of two people along the route the woman's body was dragged. It is not known if the photo of a heavy-set, dark haired couple is related to the crime, but the DCSO asked the couple or anyone who knew them to come forward with information.

Sheriff David Weaver said he wants to thank citizens who came forward with information in the case.

Arab leader: Muslims will rule Jerusalem sooner than you think

Head of the northern faction of the Islamic Movement Sheikh Raed Salah said Friday that "soon Jerusalem will be the capital of the new Muslim caliphate, and the caliph's seat will be there."

Salah addressed an audience of 50,000 attending the Islamic Movement's 11th annual rally in Umm al-Fahm. "Caliph" refers to a leader of the Muslim nation and in Arabic means the "heir" or "substitute" of the prophet Muhammad.

Salah noted that history tells of many occasions in which the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem was occupied by foreign conquerors, but the occupiers left after a short time, and thus will also be the fate of the Israeli occupation.

"The Israeli occupation will leave Jerusalem soon. It will happen sooner than is thought," Salah said at the rally, which was held under the slogan "Al-Aqsa endangered".

The former mufti of Jerusalem Ekrima Sabri and the archbishop of the Greek-Orthodox church who is considered close to the Palestinian Authority also spoke at the rally. Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Musa also sent his blessings to the assembly.

no link email

Army official: Imminent al-Qaeda threat to Eilat

Senior officer says terror cells being set up around southern town – in Sinai, Jordan, Saudi Arabia – and that defense establishment needs to stay alert in order to prevent attacks

Meir Ohayon Published: 09.19.06, 00:51

A senior army official said that the defense establishment needs to be prepared for the possibility of a global jihad attack in the southern town of Eilat. "Eilat is a target. In the last two years many global jihad attacks were carried out around it. The ability and
the intent to attack exist, and we must stay alert in order to prevent a strategic strike," he stated.

The escalation in infiltration attempts from the Egyptian border, al-Qaeda's threats to carry out a terror attack in Israel, and the formation of terror cells in Sinai, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, give the IDF further reason to step up operations to thwart infiltrations.

"The threat to Eilat is multi-dimensional: From the air, the sea, and of course – from land, and can be launched from Jordan or Egypt," the officer explained. "We have yet to see the Islamic jihad's fingerprints in this region, but nevertheless I consider it to be an imminent, worrying threat that I don't want to see nearing the area," he added.

The official recommended to close the western road along Egypt's border until an electronic fence is erected in the area.

Due to plans of the terror organizations across the border to hit tourist destinations, the IDF recently decided to establish a new base in Mount Sagi in the Negev, and station reserve and compulsory service units in the place that will reinforce the operations of army forces in the area.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3305586,00.html

Too many headlines to open, Pat Roberson was right!!!!

Venezuela

Venezuela tightens Iran links with trade pacts
Persian Journal - Iran
... Chavez's efforts to build an anti-US coalition received a boost on Monday following a visit by Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran's president, to Venezuela and the ...
See all stories on this topic

US raps Venezuela, Myanmar on illegal drug trade
Washington Post - United States
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States criticized Venezuela on Monday for doing too little to fight the drug trade, but said it would not cut off aid to the ...
See all stories on this topic

Iran, Venezuela start drilling joint oil well
Tehran Times - Iran
TEHRAN – Iranian and Venezuelan oil companies jointly started drilling of the first oil well in a field in Venezuela slated to be developed by the two ...
See all stories on this topic

Venezuela Says US Feeds Drug Deals
Prensa Latina - Havana,Cuba
Caracas, Sep 19 (Prensa Latina) Venezuela counterattacked the US for saying it has done too little in the anti-drug fight, reminding that drug producers exist ...
See all stories on this topic

US government seeks to isolate Venezuela
Party for Socialism and Liberation - USA
The United States and Venezuela are facing off in a global political battle. As the Venezuelan government, led by Hugo Chávez, consolidates ...
See all stories on this topic

Venezuela rejects US accusations about drug trafficking
Raw Story - Cambridge,MA,USA
... US President George W Bush reported to Congress that Venezuela has "failed demonstrably during the previous 12 months to adhere to their obligations under ...
See all stories on this topic

US government seeks to isolate Venezuela; block UN Security ...
VHeadline.com - Worth,IL,USA
Party for Socialism & Liberation (Sergio Rodrigues): The United States and Venezuela are facing off in a global political battle. ...
See all stories on this topic

Iran, Venezuela join forces against US power
Business Day - Johannesburg,South Africa
Ahmadinejad’s first trip to Venezuela at the weekend highlighted Iran’s backing for a bid by a fellow member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting ...
See all stories on this topic

[photo at link, an odd story, and more hints for dealing with imposters]

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/9887408/detail.html

TheDenverChannel.com
Related To Story
Do you recognize this man? If you do, contact the Weld County Sheriff's Office

Police Impersonator Searches Woman's Car For An Hour
Woman Pulled Over On Weld County Road

POSTED: 3:10 pm MDT September 19, 2006
UPDATED: 5:02 pm MDT September 19, 2006
Deputies are still trying to find a police impersonator who pulled a woman over in Weld County on Sunday.

The man had a red Chevrolet Tahoe truck with red lights on the inside of the car, near the visor, she said. He not only pulled the 20-year-old woman over, he detained her for almost an hour and searched her car before he let her go, she said.

He asked to see her driver's license and registration, telling the woman that he had reason to believe that her car was stolen. This incident occurred at about 4:30 p.m. on Weld County Road 74, between county roads 33 and 35, the Weld County Sheriff's Office said.

The young woman called police and helped them make a composite sketch that was released to the public.

The man is said to be white, between 35 and 40 years old. He has black curly hair and is about 5 feet 8 inches tall. He was wearing a blue uniform with a star badge on his shirt pocket, a black belt with equipment attached and sunglasses.

Anyone who has information on the man or the case is asked to call the Weld County Sheriff's Office at 970-365-4015.

If you're pulled over by an unmarked vehicle and it feels suspicious, you can protect yourself by turning on your hazard lights and the dome light inside your car, drive to a well-lit public area and ask for a marked unit.

If the officer resists, that signals something's wrong and you should call 911 to tell authorities that you've been pulled over, police said.

Copyright 2006 by TheDenverChannel.com. All rights reserved.

Fish Helps Fight Possible Terrorist Toxins
SAN FRANCISCO -- If you've ever gone fishing, chances are you've caught a type of fish that has now become a fighter in the war on terrorism.

Some big cities are using a monitoring system based on bluegills, sometimes known as sunfish or bream, to protect their drinking water supply.

The common fish are very attuned to their environments, and their vital signs change quickly when toxins are around.

The system is based on having a few fish swim in tanks constantly replenished with water from the municipal supply. Computers monitor their behavior and send an e-mail warning when something is wrong.

The fish do have their limits, since they can't reliably detect germs in the water.

San Francisco, New York and Washington, D.C., are among the big cities using the system. The company that makes it said more than a dozen others have orders in.
http://www.wmtw.com/news/9885789/detail.html

plane crashes

SMALL PLANE CRASHES INTO WATSONVILLE TOWNHOUSE
CBS 5 - San Francisco,CA,USA
A small, single-engine plane ran out of fuel and crashed into a Watsonville townhouse during an attempted emergency landing near the city's airport on Friday ...

Mosquito Control Plane Crashes, Killing Two
Polk County Democrat - Bartow,FL,USA
A mosquito plane spraying insecticides crashed outside of Fort Meade Thursday night around 8 o'clock, killing two Polk County mosquito control employees. ...

Plane crashes into sea
The Lowestoft Journal - Lowestoft,Suffolk,UK
A PILOT has been rescued off the Suffolk coast after his plane crashed into the sea. The crash happened about five miles off the ...

Military Plane Crashes in Nigeria
OhmyNews International - South Korea
17, when a Nigeria Air Force plane, a Dornier 228, carrying 15 senior army officers and three crew members crashed at Oko village in Vandeikya local government ...

Two injured when small plane crashes into Tennessee River
WATE.com - Knoxville,TN,USA
KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- A man and his nephew were slightly injured when their Mooney single engine plane went into the Tennessee River Monday morning near the ...

Russia’s Putin Calls for Restraint in Pope-Muslims Conflict
Created: 18.09.2006 11:02 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 11:02 MSK

MosNews

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday called on world religious leaders to exercise “responsibility”, amid fury in the Muslim world over recent remarks by Pope Benedict XVI. “We understand how sensitive this area is,” Putin was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

“I think it would be correct to call on the leaders of all world confessions to show responsibility and restraint,” he told a meeting of parliament speakers from the G8 (Group of Eight) countries.
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/09/18/putinpope.shtml

Moscow Bans Beslan School Siege Memory Picket — Rights Activist
Created: 31.08.2006 15:47 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:47 MSK

MosNews

The Moscow city hall has refused to sanction a picket that was to be timed to coincide with the second anniversary of the hostage raid on a school in Beslan, in Russia’s southern province of North Ossetia, that left over 330 people dead in September of 2004.

The Moscow city hall has denied a permission to hold the picket, scheduled for Sunday, September 3, Svetlana Gannushkina, head of the human rights group Civil Assistance, told the Interfax news agency.

“We received a refusal in response to the notification sent to the Moscow administration. We received an official ban,” Gannushkina told Interfax on Thursday.

Gannushkina said the city hall had reportedly decided to ban any actions marking the 2nd anniversary of Beslan. “The rallies and pickets are banned.”

According to a Russian human rights website, “the aims of the picket were stated as follows: to honor the memory of the victims of terrorism, to call the attention of the nation’s leadership and the public to the necessity of thorough investigation into the tragic events in the town of Beslan and other terrorist attacks and to make the officials accountable for negligence and abuse of authority.”

Over 330 people were killed during the terrorist attack on the school in the North Ossetian city of Beslan in September 2004.
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/08/31/beslanban.shtml

26 million Muslims in Russia just interesting...

Russia’s Muslim Leaders Slam U.S. Domination
Created: 01.09.2006 11:30 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 13:57 MSK

MosNews

Officials and religious figures from Russia and more than a dozen Islamic countries gathered in the Volga city of Kazan in central Russia to attend a conference that organizers said was aimed at deepening their dialogue and defending a “multipolar” world in the face of U.S. power, the AFP news agency reports.

“Values cannot be imposed by force,” Mintimer Shaimiyev, president of Russia’s mainly Muslim republic of Tatarstan where the three-day conference was being held, said in an opening address to delegates. “The example of Iraq has shown that democracy can only be the result of internal development. Liberal values can’t be exported like cars. A multipolar world without a system of equilibrium leads to tensions and civil war,” Shaimiyev said.

Representatives of more than a dozen Islamic countries, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, converged on Kazan for discussions led by former Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov, a veteran diplomat and respected Middle East expert.

In addition to historically close ties with numerous Islamic countries, Russia has 20 million Muslims among a total population of 142 million.

The country also gained observer status in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference in 2005, and “should feel that it is part of the Muslim family,” Ravil Gainutdin, president of the Russian Council of Muftis, told AFP. “As a member of the UN Security Council, Russia will be able to actively defend the rights of Muslims and prevent rules being dictated that they oppose,” Gainutdin said.

“The Islamic world wants Russia to return to the role the Soviet Union played in the Muslim world,” Gainutdin said.

The Soviet Union was a prominent supporter of Islamic countries in conflicts with Israel, including the Arab-Israeli War in 1967 and the October War between Egypt and Israel in 1973.

For Ramil Yunussov, imam of the Kul Sharif mosque in Kazan — Europe’s largest — the conference was meant to overcome what he called a lack of understanding between East and West. “It should explain the essence of Islam to Europe in a language Europeans can understand,” Yunussov told AFP.
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/09/01/islconf.shtml

FYI

Islam by country
One fifth of the world population share Islam as an ethical tradition. Muslims are the majority in 52 nations. They speak about 60 languages and come from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

3-11 million Muslims in the Americas (estimates vary greatly)
5-8 million Muslims in Canada and the United States
Statistics Canada 2001 Census counted 579,640 Muslims.[1]
<1-3 million Muslims in Latin America
84 million Muslims in Europe (including Turkey)
10 million Muslims in Western Europe, mostly in the UK, France, Germany
7 million Muslims in the Balkans, mostly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania and Republic of Macedonia
67 million Muslims in Turkey
284 million Muslims in the Arab League including Iraq (with about 15 million Shia, 60% of the population in Iraq)
254 million Muslims in Sub-Saharan Africa
67 million Muslims (90% of them Shia) in Iran
103 million Muslims in Central Asia
49 million Muslims in the former republics of the Soviet Union: Central Asia - in Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan
26 million Muslims in Russia
28 million Muslims in Afghanistan
420 million Muslims in South Asia
156 million Muslims in Pakistan
127 million Muslims in Bangladesh
137 million Muslims in India
289 million Muslims in East Asia
30 million Muslims in China
209 million Muslims in Indonesia (the largest National Muslim community in the world)
30 million Muslims in the rest of South-East Asia, especially Malaysia and Brunei.
Small populations in Japan, Mongolia, North Korea or the South Pacific
Over 1.5 billion in total
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_world

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100010_19/09/2006_74372

Gov’t rebuffs Ankara’s dig on minorities
Greek, Turk FMs meet in NY

The government yesterday spurned Turkish criticism of Greece's treatment of Muslims in the northeastern region of Thrace and urged Ankara to focus on European Union-oriented reforms.

The reaction came as Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis met late last night with her Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

«Turkey, like every other (EU) candidate state has undertaken the obligation to meet specific conditions,» Foreign Ministry spokesperson Giorgos Koumoutsakos said from New York. «Equality before the law, as practiced consistently by Greece with all its citizens, is not the appropriate platform for Turkey to use to distract attention from its lagging reform process,» Koumoutsakos added.

The ministry was reacting to remarks made by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday night, calling for Greece to respect the right of its Muslim minority in Thrace to elect its own religious leader, or mufti.

«If Greece respects its own minority rights and has expectations from Turkey on this issue, then it should do what is required,» Erdogan told a gathering of Muslims from Thrace. «If this issue is not resolved, there are certain things that Turkey can do under the principle of reciprocity,» he added. The matter was broached following the death of Mehmet Emin Aga, who acted as mufti in Thrace for years, despite Athens nominating a rival mufti.

Turkey's prime minister also suggested that EU member Greece's treatment of the Muslim minority in Thrace violated the Union's human rights standards. «Our aim is to allow our kinsmen to benefit from rights enshrined in bilateral and international agreements as respected and equal citizens of Greece,» Erdogan said.

Meanwhile, late yesterday a scheduled meeting between Bakoyannis and Gul got under way in New York. Bakoyannis, who also met with Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos yesterday, is today due to have talks with outgoing UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and US President George W. Bush. Gul is also due to meet with Annan for talks on the Cyprus problem.

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